Hyeres World Cup Day 5

Another very long hard day here in Hyeres.  We got in 3 races today and I scored a 4, 3, 12.  Overall, good results and we made distance on the boats in front of us today.  Going into the day I was 9 points off of 3rd place in the regatta and our aim was to be in a better spot with the points looking at the medal race tomorrow.

So I am now sitting in 3rd overall only 3 points behind 2nd place but also only 6 points ahead of 4th place between the three of us it is all to play for in reaching the podium.  There are also two other boats in 5th and 6th that can beat us given that we are in a double points medal race and we can lose a large amount of points in the race.  So the pressure is on tomorrow to see who comes out ahead.

Today was a good day and we really feel like we are making progress all around.  Our race is tomorrow at 1115 am and will be on live tracking on the regatta website at http://sof.ffvoile.net/

Thanks so much for the support and we will be racing hard to win a medal tomorrow!!

Zach

Hyeres World Cup Day 3 and 4

Hi Everyone!!

We have been having some really long days here in Hyeres waiting on the wind to come in and get the races off.  We have completed 3 difficult races over the last two days.  My results have been satisfying with a 6, 2, 2 which leaves me sitting in 4th overall right now.

The racing has been hard to predict and I have felt good about my choices of where to go on the course.  We are still not 100% up to speed but we are making adjustments and learning a lot of information about what steps we need to take.

Tomorrow the plan is to start at 10 am with a forecast of 8 - 12 knots so we will see how many races we get in tomorrow.  It is the last day of Gold Finals before the medal race on Friday for the top 10.  Most everyone is now holding a large score for their drops so the pressure is on to perform each and every race!!  Looking forward to another day on the water as we are making huge strides forward each day we are out there!!

Thanks for the support!!

Zach

Hyeres World Cup Day 2

Long day here in Hyeres.  We waited onshore this morning for the breeze to fill.  Finally we got a 5 - 9 knot breeze to fill in on our course.  Today we had two races and a 3rd that was attempted but was called off when the wind died off at the end of the day!!

I finished 9th in my first race today which was a good result, but I just missed out on being 5th.  I finished just behind a pack of boats that I couldn't quite get by before the finish.  One of those annoying could have been more moments.  I felt overall ok about the race as I was still a bit off pace of the guys in front of me but we did discover a setup improvement from this race.  Exactly what is was I can't broadcast, but it was a step in the right direction!!

The second race I finished a solid 3rd.  I am really satisfied with this race as I had a fantastic start at the pin and the breeze shifted 15 deg right not long after the start.  Really not what I was looking for but I was hoping the wind would come back left but that did not happen in time on the first beat.  I rounded in about 17th and passed about 7 boats on the reach and downwind.  On the second beat I was sailing fast with great speed and in phase with the wind to round 5th at the 2nd weather mark.  Picked off 2 more boats on the last downwind to get the 3rd!!  We for sure feel good about this one coming back that much and getting a good result, but most importantly we have learned a few things about the setup and felt my speed was better and that is most important right now.

We tried for a 3rd race but the wind just did not want to stay long enough and we were sent in for the day.  We have one more day of qualifying left tomorrow before the Gold and Silver Split for the last two days.  Looking to make up some more points on the boats ahead tomorrow.

Thanks for the support!!

Zach

Hyeres World Cup Day 1

Hello from Hyeres, France.  Sorry for the lack of communication but we have had limited access to internet.  First off,  Happy Easter to everyone hope that you are all enjoying the Holiday.

My Easter Sunday started with the 1st day of the World Cup Event here in Hyeres.  We had 2 races today in in 12 - 18 knots.  I finished 6th in the first race which was a solid result.  The 2nd race was one to be forgotten as I posted a score I hope to be my drop at the end of the week.

As you all know we have been making some major changes to the boat, sails, masts, and my body.  Some have been good and some still need improvement or are currently "under construction".  One of the areas we are struggling in right now is in wind over 14 knots.  My speed is not quite on par with the top guys and that hurts in events like these, but we are learning a lot each time we get out on the water in these conditions.  Today was one of those days where we have seen progress but also see the need to get better but we are confident in the direction we are headed.  We have certainly gone with the philosophy of one step back for two steps forward!!

We are looking forward to the rest of the week and making progress up the results each day!!  Thank you all for the support!!

Zach

Princess Sofia World Cup Medal Race

We are now on our way to our next training and competition venue in Hyeres, France.  The next few days we will take off and recover with some light fitness and then get back into full-time training over the next 12 days leading into the next World Cup Event in Hyeres.

I finished 5th overall in the Princess Sofia regatta which as an overall result we reached our goal of being in the top 5!!  The medal race was a unique race with 5 of the 10 boats all with the chance to finish in 5th position.  Including myself and 3 other boats it was a who beats who position in the race.

Our plan was to sail a clean race and try to get out in the front few boats on the first leg.  After winning the pin end of the line I was able to stay with the lead pack of 5 boats.  Two of the boats that I had to beat were 9th and 10th in the race while myself and one other were in 4th and 5th.  The race came down to who could beat who between myself and Ed Wright GBR for 5th overall.  I was able to get past Ed on the 1st downwind and stayed in 4th just ahead of him at the 2nd weather mark.  Going to the finish I was able to extend and pass the 2 boats in front of me to finish 2nd in the medal race to secure the top 5 finish.  This was a huge confidence booster to sail well in a situation where so many boats had the chance to succeed and to come out on top was a great result!!  Plus, I can't stand not reaching our goals so this was huge in getting the result we wanted!!

We identified a lot of aspects in the game that has improved dramatically since January at the Miami OCR which is a huge plus.  Had I come in the condition and focus I was sailing with at the Miami OCR I clearly would have not performed at the level I did here this week in Palma.  That being said there are a number of things that we need to improve to compete for medals at the events which will be our next focus.

We will be focusing on the execution to be more on point at the next event and also to maximize our boat speed in all conditions.  There were times during this event that my boat speed was average and it needs to be above average at all times.  This will help me to execute better on the course, but I also need to make a few adjustments on my positioning on the course as well as on the start line so I am always in the hunt in each race.  We are looking forward to making these adjustments looking toward using them at the next event in just under 2 weeks!!

I would like to thank everyone who supports the campaign and makes our dream a reality.  From my personal sponsors, the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics and their sponsors and all the individual donors who make this possible I cannot Thank You enough for all of your support!!  I would not be here without you!!


Zach

Day 4 and 5 Princess Sofia World Cup

Into the Medal race with a close battle to reach our goal of a top 5 finish!!

Tomorrow will be the medal race for the top 10 overall boats.  I am currently in 5th but with the boats behind me so close on points I can finish all the way down to 10th so tomorrow will be an exciting race.

The last two days have been a bit frustrating.  I was in 2nd in the first race for the Gold Finals when the race was called off with only 1 leg left in the race.  It was a really hard decision to accept as we were so far into the race, but the Race Committee felt that the wind had shifted too far on the last leg, but given that the race was almost over and there were not many changes in the standings of the race it would be fair to say that I was not pleased with the call to cancel the race.

On the restarted race I was not doing as well and had an incident with a large group of boats at one of the rounding marks.  We went into a protest situation with none of the parties of the protest knowing what rules applied and how to figure out the issue as it was very complicated and something many of us had never been a part of before.  Our leeward gate was only 4 boat lengths in distance and there simply was not enough room for all the boats rounding, but with overlapping 3 boat zones there was a lot of confusion as to who was giving who room.  In the end it was decided that I would be DSQ for violating a rule.  This was a frustrating result as I felt that in my situation I did not need to nor was there anything I could have done to avoid or prevent anything from happening.  This was a great learning experience for this situation and if it occurs again at another event I will be better prepared for it.

The 2nd race on day 4 was a solid race with a 9th overall finish.

This finally brings us to today's 2 races.  I felt really good about my starts today which have been a bit rough this week, but my boat speed simply was not there today.  I was pointing very well but not going fast.  The waves were much steeper and closer together today and I really had a rough time getting the boat moving.  Kenneth and I have some ideas on how to fix this and will test these out in our next training session after this event.  Even with my speed issues I was able to grind out some ok results to leave myself in the hunt for a top 5, but without a shot at the podium which is disappointing.

Our goal was to have a top 5 finish at this event and we are hoping to execute tomorrow to reach that goal.  We have had our ups and downs this week, but to still be in it with a shot to reach the top 5 is a positive!!  In the double points medal race anything can happen so it will take a good solid race.  I am involved with a 3 boat situation of who beats who in this race to determine who gets the 5th overall spot.  We also have a few other boats close enough to spoil the party so it will be an interesting race.

Not meeting my goals does not sit pretty with me so tomorrow is a big day!!

Zach

Day 3 Princess Sofia World Cup

Another really long day here in Spain getting on the water at 1045 am and off at 7 pm.  We had to wait for the wind again to fill here in Palma.  I had a 1st and a 5th in the races today!!  This was a solid day and currently puts me in 5th overall.  Tomorrow will be the first day of Gold Finals where all the top sailors will be in one fleet.  This will make the competition very close and hard and we are looking forward to the challenge as the points are very close and leave a lot to be decided over the next few days.

We feel really good about today's results.  In the first race I was able to get clear off the line and hit the shifts perfect up the 1st beat to round in 2nd.  I passed the boat in the lead on the first downwind and was able to extend from there to take the race win!!  Huge confidence booster!!

In the second race the fleet was really pushing the line hard and I did not want to risk being over the line.  12 boats ended up getting a Black Flag on the start, but by not pushing hard I did not start as well as I would have liked.  I was able to clear out pretty quickly and sailed a good race to finish 5th.  There were a lot of big shifts and pressure differences in the race so we were happy to take a solid result in the race.

The next two days will be very important to see how we race against everyone in the Gold Final as the final placings will really start to take shape!!

Zach

Day 2 Princess Sofia World Cup

Late day here in Palma!!

We had to wait for the breeze to show up in the morning and were delayed getting out on Day 2.  When the breeze filled it was off the land and very shifty for our first race.  I did not have a great first beat as I chose the left side and was looking good about halfway up the 1st leg coming in on port from the left side.  There was then a large right shift which put me back onto starboard heading back out to the left side.  The right shift looked like it was going to hold for the rest of the beat and I made the hard choice to tack back and minimize the loss to the lead pack.  This turned out to be the correct choice as the boats I was with on the left were not able to come back at the top of the beat and gave me a lot of confidence in my decision to minimize the loss rounding in about 18th at the first mark.  Things then got very interesting for the rest of the race with huge pressure differences and large shifts as the breeze died.  I had a great first downwind to round the bottom mark in around 10th.  We had two more laps of the Windward - Leeward course.  I was happy with my choices on playing the shifts but also not taking too many risks for the rest of the race trying to pick off as many boats as I could.  At the end of our race we finished in about 2 - 4 knots of wind and I felt good to get a 5th from a difficult race.

We then had to wait for the wind to fill and it came in from the normal seabreeze direction here in Palma.  The wind was much steadier than our previous races and we were really able to see how my boat speed was in this race.  After an ok start I sailed very well up the first beat to round in about 8th.  On the first downwind I passed a 2 boats to round in 6th and then had a battle with the boats in 4th to 9th for the rest of the race.  I was able to come away with another 5 to cap off a consistent and solid day.

Overall, there are still some mistakes I am making on the course and if I can eliminate those we will be in the hunt for some top 3 finishes in the races.  Looking forward to racing tomorrow and making some more gains!!

Thanks

Zach

Day 1 Princess Sofia World Cup

Hello!!

We just finished racing the first day of the Princess Sofia World Cup Event.  It was a windy and gusty day with winds getting up to just under 30 knots in the gusts.  We had 2 races on the Finn Course and in a change to our normal format we had split fleets.

In the first race we decided to try a new/old windy air setting and my speed was not as good as we would have liked.  This was a setting that I had used before the 2008 Olympics when it was windy and we wanted to see how it would perform now that I had lost weight from OCR.  We took the chance with wanting to see how it would go and it was a negative and a positive.  Negative was that my speed was off, but the positive being that we now know that this setting has to be adjusted with our new equipment and weight.  This is something we will improve after this event.

In the second race I was sailing very well and happy with my speed.  I was in around 3rd or 4th on the 2nd upwind protecting the left side at the top of the beat.  This was a misread on what I thought the wind was going to do at the top of the beat.  The wind ended up shifting right another 10 degrees and with the racing so close at the top I ended up dropping to 11th.  I was able to pull back a few boats before the finish getting 9th.

Overall, I would have liked to have a few more boats behind me in the races today, but I did have some mistakes that cost me some spots on the course.  I ended the day with a 10, 9 so not bad but we can do much better and are looking forward to the rest of the week and making up some ground on the boats in front!!

Thanks everyone for the support and I will be sure to post an update after racing tomorrow!!

Zach

Princess Sofia World Cup

Hello from Palma, Spain!!

I have been in Palma training for the last week and it has felt really great to get back into the boat.  Palma is located off the east coast of Spain and is one of the 7 stops on the Sailing World Cup Tour.  So far we have had fantastic conditions with 10 - 15 knots each day and 70 deg. temps really amazing!!

Before coming to Palma I spent a longtime out of the boat focusing only on my physical fitness.  We had identified this as a weakness and knew that this was something that needed to be fixed.  After the Miami OCR event in January I moved out to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and spent 6 days per week working out at least 2 times/day.  We also focused on my nutrition, mental fitness, rehab and hydration testing.  I was able to make some huge gains while living in Colorado and I would like to thank all the trainers, USSTAG and the USOC for the opportunity.

The event in Palma will be a real test of where we are at against the World's best Finn Sailors.  We have 85 boats entered in the event and everyone of the top ranked sailors are here in Palma.  This is really the first time that every top sailor has been at an event for quite sometime.  There are also some sailors returning from extended time off and it will be interesting to see how they affect the dynamics of the fleet.  Even though I have had a break from being in the boat we feel very confident that it was the correct decision.  Taking time away from the boat can be a very good thing at the correct moments, but make no mistake, even though I was not sailing I was working extremely hard off the water to make the gains for success on the water!!  

I am very excited about the opportunity to test myself against this high level of competition.  We have made some major adjustments in the campaign with my fitness, equipment and mental approach to the racing and are looking forward to using all these improvements this coming week!!  It will be a true test of where we are at and will give us the opportunity to evaluate myself at the highest level of competition.

We start racing on Monday and the competition runs all week.  I will be doing nightly blog updates here at www.zach2012.com.  You can also follow at www.twitter.com/zachsail or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zach-Railey-2012/137073106354040.

I would like to thank everyone who supports the campaign and makes our dream a reality.  From my personal sponsors, the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics and their sponsors and all the individual donors who make this possible I cannot Thank You enough for all of your support!!  I would not be here without you!!

Zach