Kingston Laser Masters - The Good, the Bad and the Unexpected

The last part of this video is interesting because it might be the first time ever that a Kiwi has helped an Aussie win a Laser worlds!

A Gentleman's Game?

Death Roll

by Rob Sykes (AUS)

Many thanks to Rob for his contribution in a comment that deserves to be a post.

A bit off topic, but helping sailors. I promised I would send this data to Doug (not sure if Pam was present at the time). I have just returned from Hyeres and was reminded of my promise by a photo on Thom Touw showing a master death rolling and doing it incorrectly.

Neither of these film clips were posed or acted.

http://youtu.be/nCKovYELmC8 

http://youtu.be/eXTLezMkgLU 

Death roll

This is about 12 knots, Note position of rudder (central) and how Mitch is holding the main sheet. Nice and fast.

Mitch starts an up turn to get speed to catch a wave. You see him sheet in and accelerate. Almost immediately he bears away to take advantage and jump to the next wave. He dumps the sheet but does not bear away enough so the boat begins a death roll.

He moves to lee trying to bring the boat upright, but sheets out (now the boat wants to bear away more) instead of sheeting in. He also pulls the rudder so as to luff up. This action tips the hull over to windward even more and he goes in.

He might well have saved the capsize by sheeting in instead of out during the death roll and also bearing away violently.  Saving a death roll. Running, rudder central (good) but the main sheet from the block. This is not as fast as Mitch. (He is very very much faster than me, particularly downwind).

Here the scenario of an up turn followed fast by a down turn is the same. The wind was a bit heavier (15 knots). I was under sheeted anyway as the stopper knot on the main sheet made the boom go out too far.

The up turn is ok, you see the boat accelerate. Immediately I dump sheet to do the down turn, but because the stopper knot is in the wrong place, the boom goes too far and the boat starts to go over to windward. Because I have the main sheet from the block, as I move to leeward, I tighten the main sheet (good) and note how the helm is in bear away mode, not luff up. The boat is not responding so I push the rudder hard and the boat comes upright. If I had pulled the rudder, I would have gone in. See how the water flows into the cockpit.

Summary

Think of the boat half over to windward. The rudder blade is only just in the water. If you pull the rudder, lift the transom up and twist the boat and increase the tipping motion of the death roll. If you push the rudder, you sink the transom and twist the boat decreasing the tipping motion of the death roll.

You may have to play the movie at super slow or single frame to see the sheeting and rudder positions.

Thanks to Steve Cockerill for showing me how to do it.

Get Out of Jail Free

by Pam

When the wind is up, Doug heads to the lake to practice what he calls his 'get out of jail free card.' He says that if you can tack or jibe in a breeze on demand without having to wait for a lull, then you can escape many situations. Below is a short 5 minute video of one of his practice sessions. The uncut raw video is a full 45 minutes and he tacks and jibes dozens of times. He cut the entertaining tips after he got tired at the end. My favorite was the 'uh oh' as he lost his balance and slipped backward and fell in the water. And a close second was seeing his feet in the air as the boat came over on top of him and he went under. 

2013 Butterfly Single-Handed Championships

By Doug

Pam's favorite class is called a Butterfly, and she has one that has been in her family for more than 40 years. A Butterfly is a small scow designed in the early 60's that is actually pretty neat. Its rounded bottom makes it very responsive and its over-rotating mast makes the mast bend to windward to give the sail a 3-D curve, so the rig is more powerful than a Laser/Torch. There are two things I do not like: 1) its name [and Pam sometimes makes me wear a t-shirt with a big Butterfly on the chest when I race against the Dallas Laser Fleet] and 2) the rudder is a metal plate that stalls out very easily. Scows are sailed mainly on lakes because they do not handle waves well.

Their national championship this year was in Spring Lake, Michigan which was on my way home after the Canadian Laser Masers, plus I had won this before, plus it's always a fun event. So I dropped in, borrowed a brand new boat from Windward Boatworks and was able to defend my title.

I wore my hat cam for some of the races and made three videos that Laser/Torch sailors may enjoy. The first is about starting:

The second is a race that shows the tactics needed to win a race. This was on the second day when the wind increased with gusts of 30 mph according to the local paper:

The third shows a series of bonehead mistakes that I made on the first leg and how I was able to come through the fleet once I got my act together.

Update: at the end of this last video when describing how I caught the leader on the final leg, I ran out of time because of YouTube's 15 minute limit . Here's more detail: I tried to get him to choose between covering me tacking on the shifts/pressure and his preference of staying close to the favored right shore. At one point, I went way close to the shore, he covered, ran aground in the sand, and lost his speed trying to tack away. I think this is where he slowed down enough for me to catch him. Another example of the perils of covering!

This is a really fun class that is a good training boat for Laser/Torch people who live near a lake. And the people it attracts enjoy good competition without the sometimes intimidating intensity of the Laser/Torch class.

Tom Slingsby - Good, Clean Fun!

Olympic Hopeful - Jeremy O'Connell

http://www.jeremyoconnell.org/ 

2013 Master Madness

By Doug

To remain competitive, I like to rest for several months over the winter. The year starts with three back-to-back events in Florida. We had a great turnout and some great sailing. The winners were clearly in better shape and a lot faster than me. Here's how the best of the best won in each of these events.

Master Midwinters East: flat water, light and shifty!

Midweek Madness: flat water, medium, patchy!

Florida Masters: windy, waves, like being in a big washing machine. On the first day, an experienced swimmer tragically drowned in the rip tide trying to save two young girls. The second day was windier and the race committee decided to cancel the racing.

Catching Waves on a Reach (sort of)

by Pam

In my efforts to learn the coordinated movements of catching waves, Doug and I went for a sail two up.  Doug steered and I sat forward.  What he described as he caught "waves" was minor compared to when I looked back and saw him doing a dance.  It all comes natural to him and he couldn't verbalize what he was doing.  So, we tried an experiment.  I'm not sure it was successful but it's at least a reference point for beginning the process of learning.  Because we were two up, running is too tippy so we reached and because we were heavy, his movements are exaggerated which actually helps me see the different weight shifts.  Next time, we try it with me at the helm.

Sometimes ya just gotta have fun!

By Doug

Sometimes we go sailing to compete. Sometimes we go to train. And sometimes we go just to have fun. Here we are playing at White Rock Lake on a gorgeous fall day when it was gusting up to 25.

Brett Beyer Coaching

by Pam

Most people have already seen this but it's still cool to watch.  Here's the caption on the video on YouTube: "Training off Hayling Island, 15-20 kts in big seas!  Big thanks to Brett Beyer for the video!"

More Video Tips - Taking Videos While Sailing

By Doug

Tillerman has asked for more tips when taking videos while sailing, so here are two more.

When I was coaching last year at Cabarete, I took videos of my students so they would have something to enjoy after they returned home. I used a Kodak PlaySport and held it in my right hand while holding the main sheet and tiller with my left - something that is easy to do on starboard tack and harder to do on port. In light air this is pretty simple, but it's difficult to see the little screen in the sunlight. So, my first tip when taking hand-held videos is practicing pointing and shooting without looking at the camera.

Sailing videos can be pretty boring and it's best to be close to the action. So, at 1:30 in this video you can see my second tip - learn to sail close to another boat, with your wrong hand, facing backwards, going down waves. What could be simpler?

Finding the Right Match

By Doug

Still shot taken from a Sail Pro video at the Aussie Nationals

Tillerman challenged bloggers to share their number one tip for capturing good water shots/video.  For me it came down to finding the right match between purpose, camera, mount, and software.

First came the purpose.  I began taking pictures and videos to teach Pam how to sail better.  Little did I know that she would become a full time project, not to mention my wife.  She still provides most of my motivation and purpose in the shots I take... 'get me a picture of this, take a video of that.'  Then she wanted to see what it was like to race along with me. And then she wanted a play by play color commentary. Pam constantly challenges me and my skills keep evolving.

Early on, I was simply using my Cannon PowerShot and Pam's waterproof Pentax Optio.  Both took decent shots and had some video capability, but there were some limitations with zooming the video and when cropping the shots later to capture more action and less boring background, I lost quality.  We liked the idea of having high definition video capability and saw this inexpensive little Kodak PlaySport that looked like a toy, but it took some impressive videos and pictures. We decided to give it a try, but the files brought both my laptop and iPad to their knees when editing.  So I upgraded my computer to an Intel I7 quad core (wicked fast processor) and tried again, but the editing was too crude. I bought some video editing software and got some help learning how to use it and presto, had the right match. I later bought a Sail Pro camera as well and we still switch between the Kodak and SailPro depending on the needs.

So after getting the right cameras, I had the challenge of how to mount them. Most people attach their cameras to the boat which, in my humble opinion, is interesting for about 30 seconds unless something really funny happens.  I'm more interested in the tactics, so I like to attach it to my hat. You can spend $25 for a fancy attachment but I use a 1/4" bolt, nut, and a few washers. But be careful because any attachment will point the camera too low, so I wedge in two bolts (in green) before I glue-gun everything.

The first thing that I noticed is that I moved my head around much more than I thought. A backwards glance off the starting line has no meaning to the viewer unless you hold your head still for a few seconds. Here are some early videos from Sunfish and Butterfly races with a video editor that I would not recommend. 

To sum up, here's what I use:

• Kodak PlaySport with this sample. Pros: picture quality, good audio quality when not at certain angles to the wind, you can turn it on and off, price. Cons: sound interference from the wind at times. 
• Sail Pro with this sample. Pros: much smaller, lighter, more professional, good video. Cons: very little audio, hard to turn on and off.
• There are lots of good video editing programs around. So far my perfect match is Adobe Premiere Elements 10.

One word of caution:  if you use a hat cam, your hat is now worth money so you may want to tether it. But be careful when tethering since this almost cost me my life. I once tipped (before I started wearing a camera), was under my boat, and could not surface because I was being held down from behind. After a few very confusing seconds, I did something you should never do - I took off my lifejacket. And surfaced.  I had tied my hat to my life jacket and the hat had come off but the tether wrapped around a line that was holding me under. So, any tether must have a release clip.

Also, when you tack, you need to keep your head way down or you'll catch the main sheet. Say "kiss the floor" each time you tack.

For a more appealing video, cut out the parts that only grandma would like.  And a good audio track helps.  I've found that if I watch the raw footage and then come up with a song, I can then edit the video to fit the song and it all falls into place rather easily.

Once you get everything working properly, the results are a lot of fun.

Great Heavy-Weather Video!

By Doug

Great coverage from the medal race at the Olympic Worldcup 2012 at Hyères France. Click on Laser - Day 6.

2011 ISAF World Championships - Laser Gold Medal Race

by Pam

When Doug was in Brisbane at the Master Worlds, a copy of the Gold Medal Race of the Laser World Championships was being passed around with the condition that it couldn't be made public and was for personal use only.  We had a request from a sailor in Ireland for a copy of that video but given US copyright laws decided to do some research.  Turns out the entire video was uploaded three weeks ago and has only been viewed a little over 500 times.  It appears the copy we have has been cleaned up but the video online is raw which Doug likes better.  Here it is. Enjoy!



2011 Easter Laser Regatta Highlights

by Pam

Short, fun highlight video from the Easer Laser Regatta.

Starting Video

by Pam

This is a video of several of Scott Young's starts at the 2011 Easter Laser Regatta.  Impressive!

Brett Beyer Coaching

by Doug

WARNING:  This is pretty boring stuff unless you are a sailing/racing enthusiast.

Brett Beyer has just won his 8th Master World Championship and is an Olympic coach for several countries. In a typical race, he gains 100 yards on the fleet on each downwind leg. Brett is rare because he is both a fantastic sailor and a fantastic coach.

Brett was kind enough to watch race 6 that I videoed with a hat cam at the Aussie Nationals. The race summed up my Nationals and Worlds that followed: good upwind speed and bad downwind speed.  In this race, I rounded the first mark 25 seconds in front. So far, so good. But by the end of the run I was reeled in by Adam French. Here is the full video of the inner trapezoid course in segments small enough to upload to YouTube:

2012 Aussie Nationals Race 6 - Video 1

2012 Aussie Nationals Race 6 - Video 2
2012 Aussie Nationals Race 6 - Video 3
2012 Aussie Nationals Race 6 - Video 4

Brett watched these videos with me. Thirty seconds into the first run he asked, "where would you like me to begin?"  I thought, oh boy, this is going to be rough.  His initial comments were:

• On a run, use the mainsheet to stop rocking sideways

• In small waves, go left to overtake, right to hold the waves

• As a rule, head up in pressure

• Need less vang tension, more twist, and the boom in more

Brett's comments came so fast after that I would stop the video, take a screenshot, and type what he said. Here's the rest of the race: 

At the moment, the waves are not at right angles, should go right as left is too long, right must be shorter. If waves can be overtaken, avoid big waves unless for surfing.

Waves are compressed ahead going right

Going to right to surf, left to overtake the wave

Right now, would probably go left

When buried, sheet in, dig left gunnel, go fast around the wave

Lots going on here, not a good time to look behind at boats, pressure

Going left or right depends on where the mark is, especially near the bottom of the leg

Enough speed/pressure to continue sailing by the lee

Look back when surfing and there is no need to make a decision

Upwind comments:

Look around only when no waves!!!!!

Pointing well compared to 3-time world champion Adam French

Want spray off windward side from punching with steering

Lack of spray means the wave has won

Waves should be hitting me in the face

Reaching:

Too much movement in the transition, not focused on the top waves

Go low if necessary, I went high, was slow, pissing around

Reach to run transition (mark is behind blob): too wide a turn unless on a big wave

Weeds: no need to check as you can see down

(Camera lens distorts mast bend)

Leach way too tight - should hardly see top batten when loaded

On a run, should sometimes head up, hike, really move

With slower smaller waves, look back for more pressure, not more waves

Left is too late, a good wave was to the right if acted sooner
But my boat is set up to bear off (heel, sheet) but trying to go right... slow

Should have sheeted in, leeward gunnel down, head heat up

Vang still too tight, boom out too far, too narrow a setting for carving

Good because lots of speed when going right

The goal is to overtake if possible

Good speed here but wasted for overtaking to the right

This is a good example of a wave to the right that could have been passed

Should have dipped gunnel, sheet in, squirt

Another example of jumping a wave

Thanks to Brett for his mentoring and friendship.

Brisbane Worlds Hat Cam

by Pam

If you aren't a sailing enthusiast, this might be really boring. 

Doug was planning to wear his hat cam for the Worlds.  What really happened was sort of amusing.  He wore it for the first race and was in 4th place until the last leg when he got "chicked."  Chicked is the term my boss tells me they use in triathlons when you get beat by a girl.  Now Doug is all about supporting and encouraging women in sailing but it seems that he suffers from the same affliction as most men I've encountered on the race course.  Women are just fine ... so long as they are behind you.  After the race, he decided the camera was a distraction and he took it off and didn't wear it again.  As a result, the only race he recorded is where Lyndall Patterson passed him on the last leg.  It's actually a really boring video but if anyone wants to know what it's like to sail in the Master Worlds (and get beat by a woman), it will give you a glimpse.  The translation for all four letter words you hear is "weeds".  The camera, a SailPro, does nonstop recording but saves it in 5 minute segments.  I didn't bother to join them so you'll have to click through them until you get bored and give up.

2012 Brisbane Laser Master Worlds - Race 1 - Video 1

2012 Brisbane Laser Master Worlds - Race 1 - Video 2

2012 Brisbane Laser Master Worlds - Race 1 - Video 3

2012 Brisbane Laser Master Worlds - Race 1 - Video 4

2012 Brisbane Laser Master Worlds - Race 1 - Video 5

2012 Brisbane Laser Master Worlds - Race 1 - Video 6

2012 Brisbane Laser Master Worlds - Race 1 - Video 7

2012 Brisbane Laser Master Worlds - Race 1 - Video 8

2012 Brisbane Laser Master Worlds - Race 1 - Video 9

2012 Brisbane Laser Master Worlds - Race 1 - Video 10

2012 Brisbane Laser Master Worlds - Race 1 - Video 11