Baltic Cup Tallin Day 1&2

Even if there was no wind for formula racing yeasterday, we had nice action today.
All in all there were 5 races completed in gusty and shifty 10-20 knots strong wind. 2 races, lunch break and 3 races more.
Conditions reminded me Sopot, just the gusts were less agrresive. I like such conditions, perhaps not that I like them really much, but I get best results in such races.
Out of 5 races I scored well in 4 of them and messed up in the last one. 6  -  7  -  5  -  8  -  19.
In second, fourth and fift races I have had crashes. First two were stupid falls on gybes and the last one on tack. During my first crash I have bruises my knee and cracked my lip. So I was a bit bloody for some time :)
If you want to be in Top 10 in such conditions you have to be very good at anticipating conditions and at seeing gusts.
After 5 races I am in 5th position overall, first youth and first lithuanian.
Janis Preiss is leading the event, followed by two frenchies - Yoane Fleury FRA 730 and Valentin Brault FRA 873. After them Thomas Molder, - he wasn't  fast in the first two races, but he finished with tacking two bullets.

Surfline & Port Manana kauss 2012

Ha hoy everyone!

Last weekend we had a very nice competition held in Latvia, Pavilosta. The main goal of the competition was to make some great formula races and some slalom fleets if the conditions were strong enough.

Polish Open Day 3

Good morning from Sopot again.
Today everybody were rigging 11 or 12 meter sails. The wind was offshore so it was hard to decide which sail to take - fortunately I didn't have such problems as I only have 11. It was very important to have good equipment combination as there were 3 back to back races planned with no chances to come back.
The wind was about 2,5 - 10 m/s strong and of course very shifty. Can the wind be not gusty and not shifty here in Sopot? Honestly ? - I don't think so.
As every other day here it was a bit of lotery. Just today the wind was lighter and chop was smaller. Because of that I managed to go faster.
Even though I had missed some gusts and went to the wrong side, or once I was left standing on the starting line for 90 seconds, - I always managed to fight back and finish in Top 10. My places were - 10, 9, 8. The best day of the competition.
After all 10 races in the polish championship I finished 13th, second youth and first lithuanian.
During the prize giving there were a lot of prizes, but only one complect for formula. Nor master nor youth were given prizes.
I would say that organization was poor. In 70% of the races starting line was thrown bad.
All in all I am happy that I have gained a lot of experience, but I didn't like the conditions in Sopot.

Polish Open Day 2

Another windy, shifty and unpredictable day here in Sopot. The difference from yeasterday was the chop - one bigger wave from the sea ( up to 1 meter high) and the wind chop. Together they created very nasty water.
Another difference was that most of the guys were using 10meter sails.

There were 3 races today. All of them were done in 3 to 16 m/s shifty wind.
I was totaly lost in the suddenly changing shifts and the instability in the strength of the wind. In the first race I finished 17th and in the second 19th.
The third race is worth a book to be written about it. At first half of the fleet was late to the start - fortunately it wasn't me.
The first upwind was normal: wind shifting back and forth for about 20-40 degrees. Sometimes you are stand without the hope to plan, but the other second you are flying in 15 m/s strong wind - this is normal.

But when I took the first mark the wind shifted almost 90 degrees. On one tack I went to the downwind mark, on other straight to the upwind mark. Because of that half of the fleet was late to the start I finished 11th.
Now after 7 races I am in 14th place.

P.S all the day the temperature is between 6-10 degrees and it is raining a few times in every hour. The felt temperature is near 0 - perfect just like in Sylt.
I am starting to think that I won't experience real summer this year.

Polish Open Day 1

Hello from sopot!
Me, Karolis LTU 1001, Giedrius LTU 11 and Mindaugas LTU 646 are fighting with strong winds and strange shifts here.
The wind was side-offshore today acompanied with small chop.
Today we had 4 races back to back. When I sailed out for the first time the wind seemed to be strong (about 7-8 m/s) so I went back to the shore to adjust my equipment for high winds. But when the heat started the wind dropped and I was hardly planning. The distance was very close to the shore so the wind was very shifty. I messed up and finished 17th.
After the race I decided to adjust my sail and mastfoot for lighter winds, but when I came back on course the wind was strong again - I guess it could be up to 12 meters per second. Nevertheless I focused, didn't make any mistakes, had a good start and finished 8th. The next race was similar to the 2nd. Just this time on the second lap I went to the wrong side and finished 13th.
However the most exciting race was the 4th. With the gusts reaching up to 15m/s (28 knots), no one was feeling comfortably.
I think just 50% sailors crossed the starting line on time. Others including me and all lithuanian team were taking a swim. When I started going I though that I will go straight to the shore,but after I realized that 90% of the fleet is getting airborn I decided to continue racing. Without bathing and making tactical mistakes I managed to climb up to the 8th place.
All in all after 4 races I am standing 12th overall, 2nd youth and 1st lithuanian.