When last we checked, our four teams at the Sailing World Cup Miami (aka Miami Olympic Classes Regatta) had finished the first day. Derick Vranizan was the top US Laser sailor and Hanne Weaver was battling in the midst of a really competitive Radial fleet. Talia Toland and Ian Andrewes were learning their way around a Nacra 17 cat, and Kate Shaner and Caroline Atwood faced tough competition and a learning curve in the 49erFX class. Results here.
Thanks to the Sailing World Cup press officer Stuart Streuli for helping get these photos. All photos are ©Jesus Renedo/Sailing Energy/World Sailing.
When all was said and done, Derick was the third US sailor, and reports lessons learned and more sailing plans to come. We’re going to hear more from him in a few days. I’ll try to get Talia to give us another report on her foray into the cat class, and who knows, we might even hear from Kate.
For Hanne Weaver, this is another important step in her sailing career. Her positive attitude and enduring focus on learning have made her a great sailor (and a great fellow competitor). Here’s her regatta diary, borrowed with her permission from weaversailing.com. She’s headed back down to Miami for a US Sailing team clinic, and has plans to train harder in the coming months and has more clinics planned. Go Hanne!!
Miami OCR
Day 1
Moderate winds from the NW. The waves were about 1-2 feet tall. I started the day off pretty good. Had a decent start and then went left. This was the way to go for the whole day. I got stuck in bad air which pushed me back. My downwind sailing was good though and I caught a few boats. But I couldn’t make them back for that race. The next race had three general recalls. Started at the boat and had a good start. But the wind went more right than I and I couldn’t keep up with the fleet. Ended that day in the 30’s.
Day 2
Having had a tough day the day before, my goal was to keep pushing through. I knew I still had nothing to lose. But I over-thought today. My head wasn’t out of the boat and I kept second guessing myself. We also only had two races today. It was one of my harder days.
Day 3
Today was one of the tricky days. The wind was coming south, south-west. This made the chop at an angle and harder to carve. I didn’t have great starts and rounded the top mark in last.
But I didn’t give up. I passed boats and made it back into the 40’s. I wasn’t pleased on what I got but was better on how I worked the boat.
Day 4
Today I worked on keeping up my boat speed. I was sailing against world class sailors. We had one start that had 10 boats over early. I was happy to know that I was not one of them. This was one of my better days. I worked the boat hard with winds about 5-10 knots. I was keeping up with the other girls. Moved up a few spots and was ready for anything.
Day 5
Today was the last day. They started us later about 1:30pm. The boys went first and had light wind but when we came out the wind was about 10-15 knots. I started at the pin end every single race and nailed each start. I even won a start. Was around the top mark in the to 10 and finished in the top of the fleet.
Even though I started the event not on a good foot, I still ended it on a good one. I have some things I need to work on. I will be back in Florida in about a week! I can’t wait to better my sailing.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.