First a good Breakfast, then the Apple Store..

We ate a nice breakfast at trendy cafe on Chestnut St. called "The Grove". Chestnut Street reminds me a lot of like Montana Ave in West LA. Bottom line.. nobody is in a hurry to get to work there :). Well.. maybe late for yoga or the spa.. It's definitely the good life. Eating a good breakfast is critical for me to have the energy to sail effectively up here. When I'm out on the water, I only get to drink my special mix of water and a product called "Hammer Gel". I't very limited on what you can bring out with you on a laser.
I also eat a high protein Cliff Bar to help refuel the body for a quick recovery between races. This being my seventh Master Worlds, I've found that being properly hydrated before, during and after a race, plus eating right is the key to me being successful at these regattas. The promise of sustained energy and rapid muscle recovery from these types of products is enough for me to buy into it and the science behind it. But this morning I'm at the Apple Store in SF getting a new iPhone. I'm with my good friend and host Russ Silvestri who needed his previous one replaced. Russ was a Olympian in the Finn class from the 2000 Sydney and finished a respectable 6th place. Russ and I were also teammate at USC back in college. He's currently in 4th place in this regatta and always in the hunt to win any race. He grew up sailing in San Francisco and knows the bay well. He's been an incredible resource for all of us and stay at his house couldn't be a better setup. Truly a great friend and competitor. Being in the Apple Store reminds me how badly I need an iPad!!! I actually started this blog entry while I was waiting for Russ.. Got to get back to the yacht club.. Racing starts at 2:00pm today.

Where's Chuck??

The Rest Day?...

On the layday Chuck, Kevin and I rode bikes to our regular breakfast place on Chestnut Street. It's our favorite San Francisco spot and we go there whenever we're in the bay area. Afterwards the plan was to ride over to Tiburon via the golden gate bridge. It was perfect weather but a bit windy :) . Riding or walking across the the bridge has always been on my list of things I wanted to do.. so today was the day. The ride started through Chrissy Field then up to the city side of the bridge. We were just getting to the top of the uphill climb when Kevin's chain broke on his SoCal beach cruiser. This hill to most standards would be considered a very "lite" but my quads from three days of full hiking up and down the bay were screaming... "What are you thinking?" "It's a rest day stupid!" Regardless we made the trek to Tiburon, have fish and chips and a few beers.. and then took the ferry back across to the city. The breeze as we crossed the bay was ripping in the high 20's. Maybe even more the Tuesday's grinder on the bay. After a short ride back to the Marina District from Fisherman's Wharf.. we were back at the StFYC. I'm looking forward to the racing on Thursday.. More to come. Peter

Day 3 Photos from the course...

all photos copyright Chuck Lantz

Day 3 Grinder

Day 3 was the windiest day of the championship so far with both races sailed in over 20 knots of wind. My first race started well but my decision to go hard right out into the ebb current didn't pay off like I planned. I was looking good going upwind in my group of boats till the big left shift launched half the fleet in front of me. This all happened right at the first weather mark. From that point on I was in major catch up mode trying to get back in the chase. When you're in the back of the fleet, you take more chances and more often make more mistakes. I was able to sail a good 2nd weather leg and get back into the high twenties for the last downwind and two reaches. The wind also started to really nuke by the end part of the race and stay upright became my first priority as I planned downwind. My fleet is packed with talent and experience but these conditions started to show its teeth. I shot past many a sailor who either lost control in the steep tide and wind generated waves or was just pushing too hard. The most common mishap is a maneuver known a "death-roll." A death roll is a long a is long and tiring personal disaster for any racer. You can lose many places in the race so I try to avoid this them at all costs. As I quickly approached the gybe mark at high speed I could see 3 boats with their centerboards pointing at the sky (flipped over). It resembled a sailboat graveyard when me and an Australia boat arrive on the scene. The AUS boat entered first and weaved between two flipped boats but lost control and flipped. It was my turn so I took a slightly different line through the chaos and make a cautious but clean gybe. I quickly gathered myself, hiked and sheeted and was shot out the other side. The short beat to the finish was merciful as I crossed the finish line in 25th. I was so exhausted I just luffed my sail and sat for a few minutes. My energy level was not good going into the last race of the day and I was feeling pretty spent. My goal was to just hang on and finish the next race. The race ended up being a grueling test of skill and endurance as the conditions just kept getting worse. We started in winds in the mid-twenties and I was in full survive mode... again. As I got on my final approach to the starting line, my position was shaping up to be pretty good. I noticed that I was starting right next to the regatta leader Brett Beyers from Australia. Brett is a 7-time world champion and arguable the fastest guy at this regatta. My start line strategy was once the starting gun goes off, he'll be moving so fast.. the bad air from his sail would be minimal as he drove over me quickly. Well.. it didn't quite work out that way.. Brett eventually did move to the front and lead from start to finish. But to my surprise (and my tried legs protest..) I moved up too into the lead group! Force by circumstance to play full out, I finished a respectable 12th at the finish. I was so exhausted I didn't think I could make the sail in but the thought of a hot shower and the layday ahead got me in safely. No sailing tomorrow.. more racing on Thursday! Peter

Be Fit or Go Home...

The San Francisco Bay issued a fierce warning yesterday... "Be fit or I'll send you packing." By the time I sailed out to the starting area it was a solid 22 knots of wind and building. "Fire hose conditions" in a laser. It was spray hitting you continuously in the face with the tops of the wave breaking off and adding to the drenching. Lucky from my pre-regatta intel I'm properly dressed and I'm relatively warm under my full winter sailing gear. The winds peaked for our races just under 30 knots and body is feeling every bit of it today. My regatta scores for four races (14-21-17-20) are starting to average out to the 16-20 spot but I think there's a lot of potential to improve. I haven't sailed my perfect race yet.. "perfect" is maybe not the right word... "complete race" is a better term to describe this experience. Breaking into the top ten should be achievable. Coming off a full broken collarbone just last September, my goals are to be competitive try to stay in the top twenty. I'm just achieving that now. But we are only approaching the 1/3 mark of the twelve race series. With a 2pm start each day, I got plenty of time each morning to go to leisurely breakfast on Chestnut Street. Organize my gear, repair or change any tweaks on the boat. Even watch a little of the morning group race out on the course. Today looks to be sunny with the forecast of maybe just a little less wind. I'm learning a ton about race in San Francisco with all it complicated tide changes and handling my laser in mid-twentys conditions. Tomorrow is our layday which means "rest day" and I know every master sailor is looking forward to that. More on my LMW adventure tonight.. Peter

Windy first day of LMW..

Today was the start of the Laser Master Worlds and it came in with a roar. Our first race was manageable with winds up to 18knots and relatively mild currents running. We sailed in the tail end of the ebb tide (water leaving the bay) for the first race of the afternoon. I had a good start near the committee boat which got better and better as we got lifted 10 or 15 degrees. I was happy.. at one point halfway up the beat I thought I was maybe even leading the race. I sailed up the middle of the course playing the wind shifts as they came down off the bridge. The last quarter before the weather mark is where the wheels fell off. Both side had much better angle into the mark in what now looked like a shifting tide to a flood. Tide and current is everything in these races. Most of the time the deciding factor of the race. I didn't play it well and I rounded in 17th which was disappointing after a good start. The rest of the race went pretty well as I caught a few but lost a few here and there. San Francisco is tough to figure out! The second race was quite different.. The wind had piped up to 20+ and the flood tide was now quite strong. This makes sailing the upwind legs of the course very difficult. I lined up for the start near the pin end but with 45 seconds to go it became clear that I wasn't going to be able to cross the line on that tack because of the 3-4 knot current. I decided to tack to port and find a hole. Not too easy in 20-25 knots to duck and take transoms of oncoming starboard tack boats in our 50+ fleet. I ended up ducking almost every boat but even worse I was going the wrong way and heading into the stronger deeper current. I continued on for at least 10 minutes before tacking back to starboard and then realizing that I was going to be very far back the the first mark. I sailed on hope to catch as many boats as I could and maybe get lucky with a big shift or someone else going the wrong way like I did. It was slow going to pick off boats in what turn into a 25 knot grind upwind to the mile and a half weather mark. The race was shorten to first at the second weather mark and I managed to get back to 21 at the finish. A long day on the water with a difficult launching and land ramp in the shore break of Chrissy Field State Park. My boat flipped over while I was trying to come into the beach but I finally made it in. New day tomorrow.. Peter