Grasshopper 2.0 reports....
Secretary
...from the manufacturing wasteland of Victoria:
The 2015 Victorian Youth Championships were held at Mornington Yacht Club in Melbourne over the weekend. The Co-Founder, and COO, of Team Alexander and I travelled down Friday night and set up camp onsite at the Yacht Club. Unfortunately, my travelling companion was unable to put up the Radial rig and compete due to his Apprentice Master status, so this time it was just me competing while the 2IC at Team Alexander supported me on the rib watching the racing unfold.
The first day of racing was held in light 5 knots of breeze on the bay. It made for some super tricky racing against the lightweight Victorians (ed: the economy is quite bad in the south with nutrition levels reaching North Korean standards). Some of the 4.7 sailors had just moved into the radial rig (ed: must be family members of the governing regime), so it was a challenge to race against the feather weights. After day one, I scored 1,1,2 which placed me in 1st overall with a handy lead.
Day 2 forecasted heavier breeze, with gusts of about 12-15knt, however, it was very shifty so there were some massive holes on the course and although they predicted heavier winds it definitely started very light… and I even got to enjoy sailing through pods of dolphins! Race 4 provided me with lots of challenge. Lights winds meant that I needed to sail smart and conserve my tacks. Overall, I ended up with a 4,1,1 putting me 1st overall with a 7 point lead to 2nd.
It was great to experience another regatta venue for the first time with all its new challenges and local knowledge but rest assured I was able to put my skills honed on the DBSC race track to good use!
All in all, a great success and lots of fun!
Speculating of tactics, Dear Leader, elaborated:
"Grasshopper 2.0 showed great maturity to push hard to win the psychologically all-important first heat and thus putting doubt in the minds of his competitors. Disconcerting, however, is that the 2IC of Team Alexander even contemplated sailing in a Radial - a strange reaction to a mid-life crisis - I strongly recommend to the CEO of Team Alexander that she authorise a new Laser with only a standard rig - a much cheaper option than the Porsche"
