ORANGE BOWL REGATTA – 2005 (by Robert Dunkley)
The Orange Bowl Regatta is an event which is hosted by The Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami, Florida between December 26th and 30th each year. It is the second largest Youth Sailing event in the world. Over 600 kids from the ages of 7 to 19 participated in the event this year in the Optimist, Laser Radial, Laser 4.7 and 420 classes. These sailors (with their parents and families) were from many different countries in the world. This is where international and Olympic sailing starts – at events like these.
This is the first time The Bahamas has competed at this event. Six of our junior sailors took part and raced in the Optimist Class. In the Green Fleet (beginners) we had Andre 'Bruce' Hall, Michael Holowesko, Bianca Wagner-Illing and Daniel de Cardenas; in the White Fleet (Advanced Under 12) was Dylan Christie and in the Red Fleet (Advanced Under 16) was Benjamin Myers. There were roughly between 85 and 100 sailors in each of these fleets.
I was there to assist and coach them and must admit we were all challenged by the weather conditions. It was cold and blew over 20 knots every day.
At the age our kids are at it really doesn’t matter how well they placed. What is important is the experience gained and what was learnt.
Experience-wise our sailors:
- Met other sailors from other parts of the world like Chile, Canada, Bermuda, Peru and many parts of the USA and got to socialize and compete against them.
- Experienced extremely tough sailing conditions. Just sailing out to the course, in these conditions was a challenge. For the “Advanced” fleet this meant sailing three miles away from the club in open water with waves over three feet high.
- Experienced being on the stating line with 100 boats as well as participating in very high calibre and professionally run races (like at the Olympics).
What we learnt was:
A - How best to rig the boats for heavy weather and sail in these conditions. Key factors are:
For upwind: (Do a. to d. in the order below to flatten the sail)
a. Boom – bring this down as far as it will go on the mast (mark on sail to the bottom mark on the mast) and tighten up the vang.
b. Sprit – very tight. Pull this so there is a crease in the sail that runs from the tack to the top of the sprit.
c. Outhaul - very tight; so that the foot of the sail folds over itself.
d. Vang – push down on the boom and tighten further.
e. Dagger-board – pull this up about six inches.
f. Sit back further than usual and hike hard. Boom should be out further than normal (beyond the corner of the stern by as much as needed to keep the boat flat – six inches to a foot)
g. Bail & sail – in rough conditions this is imperative. When sailing upwind you need to bail the boat as best you can and try to steer so water doesn’t come over the bow. It is especially important to bail while approaching the windward mark so the boat doesn’t submerge when initially going downwind.
h. Depower more if necessary. If the sailor still has a hard time holding the boat down, loosen the sprit an inch or two. This will allow the leech to easily twist off and depower the boat. Pointing ability will suffer but the boat becomes much easier to manage.
For downwind:
a. Mainsheet – tie a knot in the mainsheet before going on the water so the boom does not go out more than _ to perpendicular (no more than 60 degrees).
b. Boom – DO NOT LET THIS OUT MORE THAN 60 DEGREES. If this happens the force on the sail transfers from around the centre of the boat to the bow which causes the bow to submerge.
c. Dagger-board – Bring this up half way.
d. Sit in the weather corner of the stern or as close to it as needed in order to keep the bow from submerging.
B - Clothing matters – When it is rough and it is cold you need to dress properly for it. And yes, it can be expensive.
Here is what’s needed:
- Sweatshirt or fleece top and waterproof/breathable
pullover and sailing pants (long) or full sailing suite.
- Ski hat
- Socks and sailing boots
- Sailing gloves
Remember, if you are cold you will quickly loose energy and afterwards the ability to think properly. The more comfortable you are the better you will do and the happier you will be.
Above all, we all had fun and by getting out and sailing in a 30 knot breeze, which all our kids did, sailing in 20 knots has become a whole lot easier.
As a group, our sailors nominated Bianca for the Sportsmanship award. We all felt she deserved recognition for rendering assistance to another sailor just before the start of a race. Way-to-go Bianca! It is interesting to note that David Hernandez from Miami won the award for a very similar act. The situation was, and I quote an e-mail from Fay Regan: “TJ Merker, a new 4.7 sailor, had flipped and was trapped under his boat for almost a minute. He was pretty traumatized. After TJ surfaced he then could not right his boat because the mast was stuck in the bottom of the bay. David was sailing by (in top 10 position), saw TJ and stopped to help him. David would not ask the race committee for redress.” This is impressive and I am sure any one of our sailors would have done the same.
In closing, I will just say that the kids were a joy to be with. They were all well behaved and courteous. Not only did they learn a great deal but I did too.
