2010 Event Blog
Find out what's going on behind the scenes for RYA Volvo Team GBR at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships in Turkey. RYA Youth Racing Manager Duncan Truswell blogs from the event....
Friday 16th July
Difficult end to a difficult day today – we went out after a short delay at around 1230, the 420’s had already launched once after a false alarm D flag (it went up for about 2 minutes by which time our 420’s had launched and then came down again!) so they had to come back.
They (Radials, RS:X’s never launched and 420’s stayed out all day [whilst bizarrely SL’s came in] then drifted around for a couple of hours in the baking heat and then came in (as the breeze was too fickle to start) delayed on shore briefly whilst the northerly won out, and then went afloat at around 1530 in a reasonable fresh – maybe 11 knots NE.
This hurricane has been easily the strongest breeze of the regatta so far! The wind played ball, whilst tracking progressively left and oscillating a lot with big gusts coming in from the left meaning the pressure difference across the course were significant.
Anyway after much hanging around we managed 3 races for both fleets on the Radial course, they did 2 on the 420/SL course and two on the RS:X course and three on 29er. I returned ashore at around 1930 by which time the rest had been in a short while.
The sailors all did a good job today – we had some good, consistent results in difficult conditions only to be marred by Cam losing a 10th (as his outhaul snapped – and he came 41st), the 420 girls losing a 1st (and 3rd overall) in a protest for a start line incident, and the 29er boys losing a 2nd (and 3rd overall) for a protest regarding room at the leeward gate.
So we had a pretty downbeat few hours in the protest room getting back at 2230 with two pairs of disappointed kids. I hope they will bounce back for tomorrow as both could potentially still medal if they sail really well tomorrow and the opposition don’t.
Izzy had a good day in the slightly more draughty conditions and now is our sole sailor on the podium.
Not a lot else to say right now, fingers crossed for a race tomorrow cut off time is 1400 and we have not started before 1400 since Sunday (day 1)!
There has to be some luck with GBR on it somewhere out there..........
Thursday 15th July
Yesterday was a tricky day – repeated AP’s until approximately 1530 when the breeze had built enough to get out there and give it a go. The organisers prioritised the 420/SL16 course and by the time the guys got out, the course was laid and they got straight into it.
SL’s managed two (420’s one) races before the breeze shut down prior to the switch to the Northerly drainage breeze. Laser Radials managed one boy race (with two recalls) girls zero, they got to the windward mark (as did the 420 boys in race 2) before it was canned. The final race on the 29er course was also very light indeed and the fickle conditions meant a lot of people fell afoul of OCS’s or just had a shocker.
The guys are all in reasonable spirits despite the frustrations of yesterday, but it was easier yesterday as the organisers kept a more regular stream of information coming and AP’d by the hour so the sailors could return to the air conditioning of the hotel, and we coaches took it in shifts to wait in the dinghy park and radio back the information.
We all met at 0720 this morning prior to the warm up, and hid behind the counter in reception resplendent with hooters and birthday regalia to celebrate Henry’s big day which was suitably embarrassing for him, he was also presented with a Yo-Yo from the coaches which may come in handy to while away the hours for the rest of the week and later we will celebrate with cake and candles (he knows nothing of this!).
The breeze today is the most promising we have seen so we are hopeful of a good day on the water to set the record straight for the finale of the week.
Fingers crossed for today’s three races! NB Change to SI’s.
Wednesday 14th July
Had a good day relaxing yesterday and now we are ready for action – all that is missing is the breeze.
We gave the sailors a lie in yesterday, which they relished and then did the boat trip which was good if a little long towards the end, there are only so many photos of mosque’s you can take!
The sailors took the opportunity to chat to sailors from other nations and took in some of the sights on offer. We met up with Henry’s mum for the boat trip who came equipped with a guide book so we could regale each other with facts for the duration. We also played some UNO with the Austrian team which passed a few minutes.
After that the sailors did some shopping, went for a swim and then we had a team meeting to chat through the next few days.
Not a lot of breeze today currently, will keep you updated with the progress.
Tuesday 13th July
We finally got afloat (having had an extremely warm time in the dinghy park) at around 1630. The D flag rule meant they could not start until 1 hour after that, so three course areas were set very close to the shore in the light North Easterly drainage breeze which was coming off the land (having had a very light south Westerly [sea breeze] all day).
So, the Radial course was despatched relatively quickly and got one race in – two good results here. Sophie and Cam both did a great job of plugging away and waiting for the chips to fall their way. Sophie made good gains downwind (from 16th) and also on the left (left breeze and pressure coming off the shore) on the outer loop windward leg earning her a 6th or 7th. Cam pulled a rabbit out of the hat on the final run when the wind went very light to get him in the top 8 and keep the consistent results rolling in – they have both leapt up the leader board.
On the other courses 29er and RS:X managed two races of mixed fortunes – highlight being Sam (Sills) getting his eye in and continuing his steep learning curve (with a 1st) as to what is required to succeed at this level.
420’s/SL16 – again mixed fortunes, SL’s were fast but did not quite convert the results, Mike and Hugh struggled for pace again in this light stuff and the ladies (who were relentlessly entertaining throughout the delay today) knocked in a 3rd – they are much happier.
The upshot is that with a good number of races gone we are in with a shot on a good number of the fleets, we just need a few things to go our way and wait for everyone else to start making mistakes, get ill, tired and crack under the pressure. The next few days should be where our guys should thrive and largely they have the pressure off them for the lay day which is good.
We got off the water in the dark (in a remarkable replay of last year in Brazil) at 2115 in the dark, so it was a pretty late one for all concerned.
Sunday 11th July
We all got afloat for the practice races today [Saturday] which took place in very unstable West North Westerly breezes, which swung hard right as far as 353 when we got rain clouds coming through.
It is a long way out to the Laser course in particular where the start line was set just beyond the flight path for Istanbul airport – this means every 3 minutes a jet roars overhead on its way to land which was quite distracting initially. The coach boats were all fine, nice even, and there were two laid on for the Laser course as one’s capacity was exceeded by the number of coaches.
The coaches are generally very nice and you learn a lot about the other countries systems chatting to them on the way out to the race track. Dom and Steve were similarly impressed by their coach boats but like me, they really struggled to get anywhere near the race track. We were a long way down wind of the start and my boat was dragging meaning we got further away all the time- in fact I could see a lot more of the 420 course than I could of the Laser’s (and Steve was same for RS;X/29er when he was trying to watch 420/SL16). This of course is the same for everyone and we have better binoculars than most giving us more chance to see what is going on, but it does mean the sailors are reluctant to come to the coach boat unless they are confident they have oceans of time for fear of missing their start.
The wind was pretty light and variable and there was a fair bit of waiting around punctuated by the odd general recall or AP’d start on my course, while some of the other course merrily got underway, the rain showers arrived pretty much as per the forecast (a little early) which strengthened the breeze rapidly to 12 – 14 knots and sound it hard right. On the Laser course this meant another AP for the boys, where for the 420’s they had a spinnaker leg to the windward mark. Ultimately the Laser’s did not race. On the other courses the sailors faired slightly better but the racing was equally random. Despite this I have to say our guys were in the frame so I think they all took a bit of confidence from an strange day.
We had another meeting last night chatting about what we have learned and reaffirming all the key points. This regatta will be ¼ over by tonight (hopefully). Day has dawned with a light Westerly wind (as per forecast) and we expect it to go round to the right up to about 9 knots and North Westerly (which was why it was important to stay out and have a good look at the race track yesterday.
Fingers crossed for a good first day!
Saturday 10th July
Here is the latest update from the not so glorious Istanbul.
First things first it rained. A lot. It is also meant to rain tomorrow. A lot. Some of us were a little more equipped for this than others, Dom (RS:X 29er coach) left his waterproof kit in Poland – error. It was proper rain, the sort you would rather have more than a gillet on for, Steve and I were pretty smug about this, my smile was short lived when I got my trainers wet helping the sailors launch anyway this was a minor hurdle in the context of our coaching day but one I feel compelled to share as it was not in the brochure – in fact we are reliably informed that it has not rained at this time of year for 8 years.
Unfortunately this did mean that they had put all their eggs in one basket for the opening ceremony which turned out to be an issue.
Anyway, we got up and went for a trot in the rain, pretty chilly actually. We had a quick stretch straight into breakfast and then meet to go to the competitor briefing which was pretty similar to the team leaders meeting with a little less detail. We were made to feel very welcome by the organisers and the locals are understandably proud to host the 40th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. The ISAF President and Vice-President were both in attendance to extend their welcome.
After that we were straight down to the dinghy park to get out there. Breeze was around 12 knots (initially) cross onshore (South Westerly).
Due to the direction launching and recovering on the new (relatively temporary) slipways was challenging but most coped with this pretty well – basically we carried the boats down the slipways and held them alongside the pontoon/ramps in the waves whilst the sailors jumped in and then pushed them off. This worked well going afloat – not so well coming ashore in more breeze and bigger waves.
The sailors all had a good session afloat, learned a fair bit (all be it in a direction which we would not typically expect) and are all feeling pretty confident about their speed having lined up against the opposition. We had a good chat afterwards about the conditions, pooled the knowledge and talked in more detail about turning the focus on to the regatta. Tomorrow we will be pretty meticulous about washing the equipment and getting down there and off the beach in good time.
The opening ceremony excursion to the Golden Horn was canned due to the weather, and so the organisers put together a good (under the circumstances) plan B around the hotel next door. Predictably the weather was nice which gave the sailors plenty of opportunity to banter with the opposition from all over the world. Cameron’s artistic skills were apparent from the Union flags he had drawn on most of the team.
We then paraded inside, listened to some speeches and had some official photographs taken. The one by the pool had a somewhat predictable ending, which led to a rather damp Hannah who was encouraged into the pool by a large shove from one of the other teams. I am only surprised more people did not find themselves in there, I have to say our team were well behaved as the victim in that little incident which was received in good humour by all.
After that was dinner and the team are now having an early night and hopefully refreshing their memories about the content of our team booklet which contains some useful food for thought about the venue, the NoR, the SI’s and some things to consider from a sports psych perspective. This was something we encouraged at the team meeting tonight.
Tomorrow is the first day where everything will get a proper test and we get to actually go afloat and see what the coach boats are like and how much support we can offer from there.
Hopefully, they will all have a good day and keep the momentum going into Sunday’s races. It has been a long build up, but as we pointed out to the sailors they really need to do some damage on day 1 as come the lay day (Tuesday after only two days of racing) the regatta is half way through as there is only 3,2,1 races respectively on the three subsequent days. In our experience if you start strong at this event it does seem to keep momentum through the week and with one race day less this year, it will be over before we know it.
Forecast for tomorrow (Sat) if for around 9 knots, from the north but a lot of rain (Dom is fashioning a poncho from bin liners as we speak) so whether we will see this much and whether it will be particularly stable will be interesting. Fingers crossed – luck favours the well prepared.........
P.S. I am campaigning for Dom/Steve to do a guest update tomorrow – so hopefully there may be a change of scene from my ramblings.............
Friday 9th July
We made it through registration without a hitch and were first nation finished despite being pipped in the queue by Australia, which was a blow but we came strong in the end!
Anyway at that point we got the goody bags (T-shirts, hats, Programme, Sailing Instuctions etc) and then commenced on building the boats – this was pretty easy and all happened without a hitch (I have to say the sailors were good meticulous and had prepared all the stuff they needed to make it happen) – the issues we did have were resolved promptly.
Other than that as predicted there was no intention of raising the D flag today, allowing the sailors to get on the water, so it meant we could concentrate on getting the boats sorted........
There was time to introduce ourselves to the mascot of the event “Windy” seems like a nice fella but he was not keen on giving Sam (Sills) a hug despite his asking!
It was easily the windiest we have seen today and much cooler which was pretty welcome given the task today – it did look around 20 knots out there, though it was cross offshore so difficult to tell. It dropped in the afternoon and was mainly North West which was unexpected in strength and direction.
Today (Thursday at this point) was first day of food as part of event, lunch was good (surprisingly good – much better than last year) breakfast was a little bit worse than yesterday as it is much busier and half of the people have to be served from tables outside on grass. At this point we are waiting to see what dinner is like, so far so good.
All sailors are fit and well, they really have been a strong team in last few days socialising and helping each other out round the dinghy park.
Hopefully we will get a good day afloat tomorrow (Friday) to check the settings, the kit and have a good look at the race areas – not sure if us coaches will get afloat but we do hope so.
Roll on practice racing Sat AM......
Thursday 8th July
Now we are starting to get into the real fun and games of the ISAF Youth Worlds as we get the kit today.
I shall be down at the dinghy park in plenty of time today AM trying to find where I need to queue to make sure we get our ships (and boards) in good time.
Yesterday was good if a little busy – did the run, had breakfast, met up had a chat, everyone went to the supermarket to by lots of water and sort out their individual snacks – we bought lunch from the supermarket and the bread was good, nice and fresh and i was impressed by the sailors culinary skills as it’s up to them to make their own lunches.
Water was entertaining – they weren’t keen to loan the trolleys so in the end we had to get a taxi, fill it with water and get it back here. I hope it lasts us a few days – we also distributed team hydration drinks (and boy do you need it) they should have enough to last four days. In the heat of battle berry is not the favourite flavour but they will have to learn to like it as that was what they mostly ordered!
Steve and I spent an hour or so in the dinghy park and it was unbearably hot – you could feel the heat from the floor through your flip flops. Challenge is; there is not much opportunity to get out of the sun, and not many/any (currently) places to put up a gazebo. Preparing themselves well with water, hats, sun-cream and being sensible about how much time they spend in the sun will be a huge factor.
We plan to enforce a break from the boat work in the middle of the day tomorrow as it was horrific, if we try too hard to get the boats finished they won’t be fit to sail them.
The site is coming on great, they have done a lot of work on that in last 24 hours, the Lasers are here, temporary slip ways and pontoons installed and a massive radio HGV lorry – should have loads of atmosphere in the dinghy park.
Sailors all seem happy – they are getting on well and have named our briefing room ‘the Death Star - I can only speculate that this is because it is where they will control the Universe from!
Last night saw the showbiz premier of RYA Volvo Team GBR the movie which is the motivational movie they filmed and made (most of at least) and it has been enhanced with good luck messages from Sarah Webb, Paul Goodison and Nick Dempsey all of whom sent a touching comment and some words of wisdom. Sailors enjoyed that – we had popcorn and had a right good laugh at the footage!
Izzy and Sam are going to send a response to Nick for his web chat tomorrow night which will be really nice – it does remind you how much this event captures the imagination of the media and also it is the one event that everyone round the world and our Olympic sailors follow to see how the guys get on.
Anyway – fingers crossed today is as smooth going as possible and I look forward to sending the next instalment.
Wednesday 7th July
We arrived at Istanbul from Heathrow trouble free at around 1400 yesterday all be it a little lighter in the wallet department after the excess baggage charge which was necessarily incurred.
Got time for some breakfast in the airport before the flight, got fed on the plane and when we landed they were hungry (again!?).
After briefly unpacking we found the local shopping mall (via the dinghy park – most of the kit is here barring the Lasers - then found a western 'safe option' place to eat to keep the wolves at bay.) After that we raided the local supermarket (named “MMM Mikos”!) and got the necessary boat/board washing material (buckets, sponges and washing up liquid – you are not permitted to use anything else) 1 – 2 cases of water each which has largely been depleted with the arrival of Steve and the 29ers - 18 cases of water does not appear to go along way between 14 people!
Early on the jobs list today is to see if we can easily get about 500 litres delivered to the hotel which would see us a fair way through the regatta.
Post water (it was a bit of a mission carrying two cases each plus buckets back to hotel, and called for several breaks) we decided to check out the local swimming pool. It is within the local Yacht Club which we are guests of and is situated on the end of the marina wall – I have to say it is the most amazing yacht club (more like a health spa) overlooking the marina one side and the sea the other (in a kind of infinity pool style). We coordinated the meeting with Steve Irish [420/29er coach] and the 29er boys who had just arrived from Spain where the 29er Europeans have just taken place, so they could all join in and get refreshed before dinner – Steve did not seem to think I had been working hard when he arrived and I was on my lounger reading a book (it was the event handbook and Sailing Instuctions!) I politely explained it was tricky negotiating the trip, getting everyone and their 23 bags to the right place – opinions differ!
Today has been good up to now, everyone slept well, we went for a walk and did some mobility stuff down at the dinghy park and had a look at the breeze, after that Steve and I went for a run to test the water and it is pretty hot for running (I think the sweating reflected this more than our fitness levels!) Breakfast at the hotel is excellent which makes our lives much easier.
Must dash as we are meeting at 1000 to dole out hydration drink and chat about today.
More updates to follow...