July 9, 2003 Wednesday 7:32 pm
Today was the start of racing at the 470 European Championsips in Brest France. The last 2 days were for measurement, registration, and practice.
Our boat was a little underweight due to a tiller, spin sheet, jib sheet, and trap block changes so we had to add 600 grams (1.32 lbs) of lead. That was our only measurement fix.
Today was to be the first day of racing, but the wind never showed up so we tried to find some boatwork to do while everyone waited around.
Some nice ladies did show up and opened up a Crepe Stand. Good stuff. Kevin had the Crepe Complete (ham, eggs, cheese). Paul just enjoyed the aroma. He had some chocolate and banana crepes at Kiel.
Not much else to report. We do have a Ping Pong table at our hotel so we had some vicious games between me and Kevin. It looked like Kevin would be unbeatable until Paul found out Kevins weakness was his forehand.
WInd was forcast to be 2-3 knots today, but tomorrow we are supposed to get the big breeze of 10 knots. Time to find some dinner. More tomorrow, Paul and Kevin
Thursday 7-10-03 9:46 pm Team 2004 / We finally got a Race
We waited on shore until 5pm then headed out to sea. Good thing the sun stays up until 9 pm.
We got one race off in a 5-8 kn ot North breeze with current going from right to left across the course.
We tried to start at the pin end but noticed at about 40 seconds we would not make it becasue of the current, so we decided to come in on Port and see what happened.
We did OK and found a small lane to tack into on Starboard going left. We could not hang too well offf the Japanese hip though and had to do a double tack to clear ourselves.
We went pretty far left and found a good shift and puff to round 2nd behind the Japanese.
On the run we went too much in the middle and llost a little distance but were still in 2nd. A German boat passed us the 2nd beat by getting right of us be we almost got them both back when they got i to a Luffing match on the last reach. We just could not quite get through to Leeward so we finished 3rd.
We need 3 more races to complete the Qualifying but all races count towards the final. More wind forcasted for tomorrow. Paul and Kevin
Team 2004 / 3 races today!!!!!!!!!
Friday 7-11-03 9:38 pm
Today was the final day of qualifying. There are 2 courses because we have 5 fleets. 3 Mens fleets and 2 womens fleets. Yesterday we raced on the course that was in more open water. Today we raced on the course that was very close to land. This meant that it was very shifty and puffy.
Our start was at 1 pm and high tide was at 3:50 pm So the current would be going upwind during the first 2 races. Current would turn out not to be a factor because the puffs and shifts were so big.
Our first race we had a good start near the boat. It was so good we both thought we might be over early. We played the shifts well up the first beat and rounded the top mark in 3rd right on the Greeks Tail. As it turned out too close to the Greeks tail as Paul was not watching where her was going and ran into there stern. Well, this was not too good as there were 20 boats right behind us and after we got done doing our 720 we were in about 20th. Kevin was not too happy, in fact he was so mad he did not even speak. Any way we got going again and had an awesome second beat to round the top mark in 7th. We rolled one boat on the top reach then just passed an Italian boat right at the finish for a 5th. Thank God, otherwise Kevin might still not be speaking to me.
Race 2. Another good start and we played the left side and were winning but one Russian boat went hard left and rounded well ahead. We had a good battle with Turkey and the Greeks we had hit the race before but we managed to get the best of them and take a 2nd.
Race 3 The current was starting to go with the wind. We decided to start on Port at the Committee boat but there was going to be a big stackup there so we started on port at the Pin end. We ended up ducking everyone's transom and had Kind of our committee boat start that we had planned in the first place. We were lifted and going fast on Port but never got our good right shift so we rounded the top mark in about 6th. We had a good run staying in the Puffs and rounded the bottom mark in 4th right behind the Greeks that we hit in the first race. We passed them and the French the 2nd beat and now had the Slovenians in our sights for first place. We gained a little on the first reach then jibed into some nice puffs downwind and were right on their tail. Paul found the bottom mark and jibed on the layline and they overstood so we were now in the lead with one reach left to Finish. We kept our cool and kept our air clean to WIN!
A good day, except for that one little tap on the Greeks stern. All the good guys go into one fleet for the final 2 days of racing so it will be extremely tough tomorrow. We are in 2nd place and a British boat is winning but it is very close in the top 10. More tomorrow Paul and Kevin
Saturday, 7:13 PM No wind here again all day. Can you believe it. I could have stayed home in Texas and had no wind in the summer. Hot also, 95 degrees. So we hung out and watched Lance Armstrong take the lead in the Tour de France and did some boat work. We also found out that Kevin and I will get to go to Athens Greece in August to do the Pre-Olympic Regatta. The US 470 team that had qualified to go are no longer sailing together. So Kevin and I are scrambling to find Plane tickets. Anyway, for those of you that can read French, below was is the French Newspaper yesterday. Kevin talked to the reporter so who knows what he said. All I can make out is our names and Texas. Hopefully more RACE reports tomorrow
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2003 12:35 AM Subject: Team 2004 / Day 1 of Finals
We all went out to sea with our spinnakers up in a nice Northerly Breeze, but by the time we arrived at the starting line the Sea Breeze started to battle the northerly leaving us no wind.
So we waited for a couple hours then the RC sent us back to shore via a tow.
5 pm the Northerly breeze came back and we all went out again. We got one race off in a 8-13 knot northerly with the current going against the wind.
We had an OK start in the middle of the line but both the Boat end and the Pin end had a lot more wind. We went up the middle and we almost last at the first weather mark in a 37 boat fleet. One Israeli was behind us that got stuck o nthe mark and was goin backwards. We caught up some distance on the first reach by going the runmb line and got into the pack of tail enders, at least we had people to race against now. We had a OK run too which meant we had a crowded leeward mark rounding. vWe stayed out of trouble and after we got out of all the slop went right to have clear wind. We went all the way right and found a good puff and shift and a Current relief to make a big gain and get up in 15th place. Yeah. The run we lost one spanish boat so ended up 16th. Still a good comeback. We got in shore about 8 pm. 1 mile upwind against the tide, but we did get a tow part way. So it was a late dinner, at least no protests. Those guys are up until 2 am.
3 more days of racing. We are in 4th place but in a tie for 2nd. hot today here, 30 degrees celcius, good wind this morning as I write but the seabreeze usually stops the land breeze by our 1pm start time. More later Paul and Kevin
Monday July 14 Bastille day 11:30 pm
We thought we were going to have another boring day today, but the wind came in at 3:30 and we were ready to start our first race at 4:30 pm. Tide was incoming going kind of with the wind at the starting line and right to left at the windward mark with maybe less currnet to the right. Wind was 8-12 knots. We had a great start in the middle of the line 2 boat lengths ahead of the nearest boats. We tacked and crossed the guys above and headed right. We had OK speed and lead to the right when we tacked back we were lee-bowed by an Israeli both the rest of the fleet on the left was way behind. We rounded 2nd behind the Israeli but the guys behind were catching up due to a puff and we also sailed a little too low because the current was pushing us down. On the run we stayed in the puff and had good speed and passed the Israeli at the bottom mark to take the lead. The next beat we were a little too conservative and some boats got the right of us and we rounded the next mark in 3rd. We got passed by the Israelis downwind but hung on for a 4th. Not to bad considering it was a crazy race. Race 2 Big stack up at boat so we decide the other end of the line would be safer. Our start was OK and we tacked and crossed boats close to us but there was a lot more wind on the right and we could not get there and got Ping Ponged up the middle. It was looking bad wit the guys (most of the fleet) in the right trapezing and us on the left going slow. We finally got some breeze but we were way behind so the only thing to do was go left to have a chance to catch up. The TV crew followed us and Kevin showed them he was praying for a shift. Well, we got a puff and tacked doing a little better maybe mid fleet. Then we got a little shift and doing better. At one point Kevin's said, "If this holds we will be winning!" Well, it did not last all the way across but far enough for us to be in 4th. Whew!!! It was not too crazy after that we caught up to 3rd but they split with us on the 2nd beat and gained there lead back. So we took another 4th. Most of the good guys did not have such a good day. So we are now leading with one day left to race. Final outcome tomorrow. Paul and Kevin
Tuesday 5pm Last day of racing.
This morning we awoke to heavy haze/ Fog and 15 knots of wind. The Fog died off and so did the wind. The latest a race could start was 3 pm, but the wind never arrived. So the results stand as of yesterday and we are: THE 2003 OPEN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS!!!!
The opens means we won over
all the participants not just the
ones from Europe.
Feels good to have finally won
a regatta. It has been a while.
Our tactics here were very
good and we had some good
starts which helped a lot.
We won by about 20 points
over a French Team in 2nd and
a German Team in 3rd.
We still need a lot of work but
know we have the potential to
win the Olympic Trials in
November.
We have 2 more competitions
to before the Olympic Trials.
They are the Pre-Olympics in
Athens, Greece and the World
Championships in Cadiz,
Spain.
That's it from Brest, France
See you at home and thanks
For all your Support.
We could not be representing
our Country, THE USA, without
your help.
Paul and Kevin
470 European Championship and 40 years Trophy Brest, from 8th to 16th of July 2003
Daily report - 2003, 14th of july
In truly difficult conditions here in Brest (France) for the penultimmate day of competition in the 40th Anniversary Regatta and European Championships the fleets hit the water at 4pm local time. In a breathless morning and a record 34 degrees competitors waited until the gradiant NorWesterly finally filled in for racing to begin. Again as on previous days sailors tended to select a side of the course they felt best for current and breeze but with 38_ men's boats reaching the top mark within 4 minutes, boat speed was a premium as normal. Olympic Silver medallists Paul Foerster & Kevin Burnham of the USA sailed consistantly, risking when needed and consolidating when possible to register two 4ths for the day when consistant results were rare. In race 2 of the day far out on the left hand side the pair showed tremendous ability to hold height and speed to round in 4th place and to hold onto it. The 2 4ths put the Anericans in front by --- Points While Local hero Gildas Phillippe proved that no local knowledge was an advantage in this regatta.. (It's never like this) But stil the 1998 World Champion holds onto 2nd Overall. In the Woman's, the regatta was almost over at the second last mark with Olympic Silver Medallists Natalia Via DuFresne & Sandra Azon in 2nd Place before a desarsterous last run that saw them fall to 16th and be equal on points with overnight leader Slovenian VesnaDekleva & Klara Maucec and a consistant day brought rewards to the crew in 3rd . A 6th and 5th from the Swedish pair of Torgersson & Zachrisson creates a 3 way tie for 1st overall in the Women's 22 boat fleet. French Favorite Inki Petitjean sits just 4 points Back. With todays 2 races the Championships are a series and tomorrow teams will tussle for the final places, but with more hot conditions on the way anything is possible..
Darren Dunkley-Smith.
Overall results
Men / GOLD FLEET after 7 races
1: Foerster Paul / Burnham Kevin (19 pts) USA (Detail courses : 3,5,2,1,15,4,4,)
2: Philippe Gildas / le Berre Nicolas (32 pts) Douarnenez Voile (Detail courses :
5,1,7,3,2,14,22,)
3: Molund Johan / Andersson Martin (35 pts) NZL (Detail courses : 5,2,3,8,8,9,13,)
4: Zellmer Lucas / Krabbe Felix (36 pts) GER (Detail courses : 2,3,10,7,16,5,9,)
5: Rogers Nocholas / Glanfield Joe (40 pts) GBR (Detail courses : 2,3,2,1,27,15,17,)
6: Wilmot Nathan / Page Malcolm (42 pts) AUS (Detail courses : DSQ ,2,8,13,6,6,7,)
7: Kosmatopoulos Andreas / Trigonis Kostas (44 pts) GRE (Detail courses :
4,5,11,1,11,12,15,)
8: Kjaergaard Kristian / Moeller Mads (49 pts) DEN (Detail courses : 6,15,9,9,9,19,1,)
9: Vials Graham / Field Bevis (51 pts) GBR (Detail courses : 6,17,12,5,12,10,6,)
10: Cooke Simon / Nicholas Pete (53 pts) NZL (Detail courses : 7,8,1,2,1,36,34,)
11: Marinho Alvaro / Nunes Miguel (53 pts) Portugal (Detail courses : 9,7,19,3,13,37,2,)
12: Conte Javier / de la Fuente Juan (59 pts) ARG (Detail courses : 4,2,8,18,25,17,10,)
13: Braslavets Eugeny / Matvienko Igor (59 pts) UKR (Detail courses :
8,12,5,6,4,24,35,)
14: Patino Marc / Moreno Omar Juan (59 pts)ESP (Detail courses : 6,10,4,8,29,8,23,)
15: Yogev Yosef / Shahaf Amir (61 pts) ISR (Detail courses : 3,1,7,23,30,2,25,)
