US NATIONALS 2013

4/9 August 2013 - Cabrillo Beach 

Overall: http://www.uswindsurfing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Nationals-13-Results-Overall.pdf
Slalom : http://www.uswindsurfing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Nationals-13-Results-Slalom.pdf
Formula: http://www.uswindsurfing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Nationals-13-Results-Formula.pdf
Photos: http://www.calcupevents.com/gallery/13%20Nationals/index.htm


 
 
DAY 1 - The 1st start of the Us Nationals was postponed form 1pm to 2pm. This was a good welcome move for some competitors who were still getting ready for the 1st race of the day. At 2pm the breeze was well established. So much so that I was a bit over powered. I managed to survive the first race and finished in 2nd just behind Phill McGain. I rushed back to the beach after the first race to change down. Looked like Phill did the same. The 2nd race was pretty much a repeat of the first one except that I was more comfortable on a smaller kit.  In the third race I went to close to the beach and I overlaid the first windward  mark. I was fourth at that point. I reclaimed the second position during the second downwind leg. Phill had an incident during the second beat. This gave me the opportunity to get slightly ahead. However Phill had more board speed than I so I finished the race just behind him again! That was it for the course racing for the day. We had 1hr and 15 minutes to make a switch to Slalom.  
The Slalom course had good length  reaches out at sea. My first start was not that good but I managed to make my way thought the fleet  at the first mark. I managed to finish 3rd behind Tyson Poor and Phill McGain.  I had a better start in the second race I ended up 2nd behind Phill McGain after the first gybe. Tyson overtook me during the last leg to the finish line. So I finished 3rd. Got another 3rd place in the third race with Tyson Poor in first and Phill in second. The 4th and last race of the day was not so good for me as I fell in  at the first gybe.  I recovered behind the leaders finishing in 5th place. It was a long day for those who did the course race and Slalom. The conditions were really good. End of day one..
 
                                   
DAY 2 - For those who competed in Formula and Slalom was a long busy day to rig up and derig for both disciplines. The results where not ready yet so everyone where trying to do their best without knowing who they were competing against. Quite often that is the best way to race. We completed 2 Formula races and 4 Slalom races.
DAY 3 - Was dedicated to the long distance race and freestyle. Peter Bonello has decided to emulate the early days of windsurfing competitions by organising a long distance race. This was a bold move now days with all the liabilities concerned. The course consisted of 8 miles downwind run in and out of the harbour followed by a 8 mile upwind leg on the opposite side of the seawall. The long downwind leg was preceded by a short upwind. I didn't choose the most daring option during the upwind leg so I rounded the upwind mark in 3rd place. Phill McGain was flying in front with a great board speed and tactics. Unfortunately on the beginning of the downwind leg one of my harness lines broke. That was bad timing considering that was 16 miles to go. After sailing for about 10 minutes without a harness line on the starboard tack I stopped for a few minutes to rig up a loop using the rear webbing of the harness line which had not broken. It was a huge relief to be back in the harness even thou it was dangling  and flimsy. The time of the repair dropped me from 2nd to 3rd place. We had to avoid the big container ship which was coming though "Angel's Gate". Phill McGain was smart by going though the downwind of the gate and he managed to stay in the plane. The rest of us go trapped
in a huge wind shadow of the ship for a short wile. After coming out of the "Queens Gate" the wind started picking up. We picked our way though the oil tankers during the first part of the upwind leg in the harbour. The second part of the upwind leg was quite windy as we were approaching Cabrillo Beach on the ocean side. In the end I finished 2nd Behind Phill in 1st by a long way..
 


 DAY 4 - Did not start very well for me. I missed the lay line by a few feet so I had to double tack at the top. I drooped my sail at the first Gybe, in the end I recovered 2nd place after a good battle with Jack Lundquist . I had a good battle with Phill during the second race. Then there was a short break for the free stylers to finish their round. It was good to see some professional level free stylers dazzling the crowd  with a few tricks. We switched to Slalom for  the second part of the afternoon. The start line was better laid than the previous days with some pin end bias. But for some reason I was struggling to take some good starts. 
 

DAY 5 - I managed to win the first Formula Race ahead of Phill McGain!!!  It was the first time I beat Phill ever!!! Yuuuupeeeeee!!!! Anyway, so I tried to reproduce this achievement in the second race but I got tangled up in the kelp bed... so that was the end of me.. I finished way back. 
There was no Slalom Race in the afternoon.
So I finished the Slalom Championship in 3rd place over all.  Equal in points with Casey Hauser in 4th place. It was nice to stay ahead of a bunch of young up and coming Slalom Racers..
Finished 2nd place overall, 3rd Slalom, 2nd Formula in the US Windsurfing Championships behind Phill McGain.
As you can see on the picture above, I was very happy!!!!!
 
A BIG Thank you to Peter Bonello for the iniciative of organizing the event at Cabrillo and to the Cabrillo Yacht Club for hosting it.