Thanks to a generous sponsorship from the Western Cape Government and assistance from SASWC, the WC Optimist Class got to send a 6-member team (made up of 4 sailors, a coach and Team Leader) to Qingdao, China to partake in the Qingdao International Optimist Training Camp & Regatta. In the past, a popular and regular cultural exchange on the sailing calendar. This was the 1st time the exchange would be taking place since pre covid times in 2019. The team was made up from clubs across the province including MAC, HYC and ZVYC. And included, Justine Bailey, Joshua Keytel, Scarlet Celliers and Jack Cumming; Alex Falcon was the coach, and Michele Keytel who has plenty of experience looking after sailors (curtesy of her sailing family), led the team as the Team Manager. The event took place from 9th to the 17th of August.

The event kicked off with a colourful opening ceremony and with 106 Optimist Competitors alone (and other classes present too), sailors from around the world, it was by all accounts, a spectacular affair. Team RSA was well represented, with the South African flag being flown high.

The 1st two days of the event were reserved for the qualifying series, the sailors were split into 2 equal fleets, Scarlet and Jack were allocated Red Fleet whilst Justine and Josh the Blue fleet. Traditionally a light wind venue, the venue lived up to expectations and by the end of the 2nd day, only 3 races were completed by the Red Fleet and 2 by the Blue fleet, which meant the qualifying series had to be extended by another 2 days. And in those extra days, only another 3 races were sailed, 1 race for the Red Fleet and another 2 for the Blue fleet, leaving both fleets with 4 qualifying series races.

Meanwhile, in the Blue fleet, Josh finished with 12, 10, 7 and a well-earned 1st place after having port tacked the whole fleet at the start and led for the whole race, making for a very nervous coach Alex, who watched from the sidelines willing his sailor to the finish line.
Justine who was not only attending her 1st regatta (local or international) but 1st time leaving South Africa struggled on the 1st day with sea sickness and was not able to finish. Thanks to Michele who had prepared for this eventuality, provided Justine with sea sickness pills for the 2nd day of qualifying. Justine sailed well and gave it her all but fell fowl of the very short time limit.

Here follows some daily reports from coach Alex Falcon, I’d encourage you to read them, it seems the apple does not fall from the tree and Alex has inherited his dad’s quirky and amusing writing style, whilst still capturing the events of the day and making for a great read, enjoy!

Day 1: Hi all, thought I’d provide a quick recap for day 1 of racing here in Qingdao – technical conditions with wind shifts and current made the race course interesting for our fleets. Fortunately, the heat wasn’t too bad today.

Our sailors were divided into red and blue fleets. Scarlet and Jack were sent out with the red fleet first, and once they had completed two races, they were sent back in and Justine and Josh were sent out with the blue fleet. The two fleets did not race simultaneously, and therefore they encountered significantly different conditions.

Read more from Day 1

Day 2: We only have one race to recap from today, being red fleet’s race 3. After the blue fleet’s unsuccessful attempt at starting a race in extremely light wind this morning, the red fleet, still including Scarlet and Jack, started a race in a light but steady breeze.

There was a slight current coming across from the left side of the course. Our strategy was to go to the right side of the course, where a starboard lift was generated by land. This strategy paid off and after good starts by both our sailors, they found themselves in competitive positions.

Read more from Day 2

Day 3: after an efficient day on the water we have plenty to update. Yesterday was uneventful as we were unable to race, but today we were on the water after a brief postponement and the blue fleet soon started their first of two races. The fleets had not yet been changed, and therefore Josh and Justine were still in the blue fleet. We had flat water with similar wind and current to the past two days. The wind was slightly more to the left, and therefore the sailors did have a current which was lightly pushing them back on the upwind. We also had a course change, more along the lines of a traditional Optimist course, incorporating a reach after the top mark.

Read more from Day 3

Day 1

Hi all, thought I’d provide a quick recap for day 1 of racing here in Qingdao – technical conditions with wind shifts and current made the race course interesting for our fleets. Fortunately the heat wasn’t too bad today.

Our sailors were divided into red and blue fleets. Scarlet and Jack were sent out with the red fleet first, and once they had completed two races, they were sent back in and Justine and Josh were sent out with the blue fleet. The two fleets did not race simultaneously, and therefore they encountered significantly different conditions.

Scarlet and Jack experienced a strong current flowing parallel to the start line from committee to pin, with fairly flat water and about 6 knots of wind.

In race one they were strong during the start sequence, but both suffered penalties throughout the race and dropped back in the fleet. Scarlet had three turns off the start line, and Jack had two turns at the top mark and two turns at the gate mark. In this regatta the jury may also issue penalties on the water for collisions and other incidents, not only for rule 42. After a tough first race, a big improvement was made for the second race. They managed the current well on both the upwinds and the downwinds and had a clean race. We were all quite happy with the overall performance and learnt a thing or two.

Jack and Justine then proceeded out of the harbour to approach the race course, which had now been reset for a wind of about 8-10 knots that clocked 90° to the left. This meant that current was now going upwind, causing numerous general recalls as boats were continuously pushed over the start line during the start sequence.

Justine unfortunately suffered severe seasickness caused by the now onshore breeze creating swell and chop, and received a tow in from one of the support boats, who ensured she returned to shore safely.

Josh sailed race one well, but was caught out by the current when approaching the top mark and with the rest of the fleet overlayed significantly. He stayed focussed and made a good recovery, finishing well. Race two had less current, but otherwise similar conditions. It was good to see an improvement in execution of strategy in the second race. The same can be said for our red fleet sailors.

I was very happy to see everyone learning to factor the current into their tactics so quickly and noticeably, as these conditions are uncommon for us to come across and therefore are something we are working towards.

I am sharing a RIB with another seven teams, and therefore am not easily accessible to the sailors before the first race. Between races we have more time to communicate and make sure everyone is hydrated and fed.

We are meeting friends, and have a good dynamic within our team. So far this trip has been a great experience and there are smiles all round. I definitely enjoy the hotel buffet, but I promise there are other amazing things too.

I share a room with Jack and Josh. We have clogged the bathroom twice now. Team effort.

I think this sums up our day of racing and one or two other highlights around it, so I’ll save some details for the next recap and end off here.

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Day 2

We only have one race to recap from today, being red fleet’s race 3. After the blue fleet’s unsuccessful attempt at starting a race in extremely light wind this morning, the red fleet, still including Scarlet and Jack, started a race in a light but steady breeze.

There was a slight current coming across from the left side of the course. Our strategy was to go to the right side of the course, where a starboard lift was generated by land. This strategy paid off and after good starts by both our sailors, they found themselves in competitive positions.

Unfortunately, Jack started a bit too well and received a UFD. This did not cause too much of a setback though, as the wind died shortly before the first boat finished and aside from the second boat who finished with two minutes to spare, the rest of the fleet was cut off by the time limit.

The time limit from the first boat’s finish is set to only six minutes, so with the fact that the wind dropped during the last upwind, finishing in time with such choppy conditions became a stretch.

Scarlet also made some tactical decisions on the go, to avoid pileups around marks which lead to significant gains during roundings.

Thanks to Michele’s good planning we also had seasickness tablets to battle Justine’s seasickness, and today she handled the choppy waters very well. Despite no races starting for her fleet, we passed a milestone which is a big positive.

In todays debrief we focussed on the sailing, not the score. Our strategy worked well and was executed well. Despite the very light wind, our bigger sailors put up a good fight and stayed at the front. The decisions made by our sailors mid-race were textbook. These were our strengths. Had they not been cut off by time limit, the results would have been good. With a DNF and a UFD our margin for error becomes close to zero, but we will keep our heads in the game and keep pushing.

Now over to the blue fleet. Will be interesting to see how the committee decides to divide the fleets. We have discussed the potential options among us coaches but have not yet received any indication on what the outcome may be, so we await the surprise together.

That’s our “short” recap for day 2… Big day tomorrow. Will send updates when possible.

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Day 3

after an efficient day on the water we have plenty to update. Yesterday was uneventful as we were unable to race, but today we were on the water after a brief postponement and the blue fleet soon started their first of two races. The fleets had not yet been changed, and therefore Josh and Justine were still in the blue fleet. We had fairly flat water with similar wind and current to the past two days. The wind was slightly more to the left, and therefore the sailors did have a current which was lightly pushing them back on the upwind. We also had a course change, more along the lines of a traditional Optimist course, incorporating a reach after the top mark.

As the conditions were similar to the previous days, the right side was still favoured, and we decided to stick with our previous strategy. Josh started with a bold pin end start, far from the rest of the fleet. Justine started in the mid-line with a clear line ahead. Josh immediately tacked onto port and crossed the fleet, reaching the right side of the course and eventually touching the shift needed to space him away from everyone else. The nerves were definitely eating me up at this point, but eventually Josh made it around the top mark and reached off with a significant lead.

No tactics from here – just fast sailing until the bottom mark. There was one more upwind and downwind until the finish after that, in which the attacking boats spread out and tried to poke holes in Josh’s upwind defence, without success. The Australian coach probably wished she could have given me a sedative by now as I was jumping all over the crowded RIB. We reconnected with our race 3 winner at the finish, had a quick chat about the eventful race and sent him off with a few bananas as the boys are adamant that that’s the reason ‘monkeys never cramp’. Justine also approached to retune her sail, so we did that and awaited the next race.

Red fleet up. Scarlet and Jack are such good friends, that they even prestart together. Unfortunately, the start tends to be a ‘roll or get rolled’ scenario, and Scarlet had to tack off early after pushing past the committee boat, as clean air was running out. Heading to the right side early was not inconvenient though, and slowly but surely, she began her catch up. Jack unfortunately could not find an opening to break through the fleet and had to sail on further.

The wind then started to drop, and I had to remain in the waiting area downwind as the blue fleet had one more race to start. I watched Josh and Justine start towards the pin end in close proximity of each other, but a wind shift within the last minute of the start sequence meant that another port-tack start would not be possible.

Unfortunately with two fleets racing simultaneously the course was now fairly crowded, and the coach boat had to stay well-clear. I saw all four sailors round top and bottom marks from the outside of the course. Scarlet and Josh made significant gains during their second upwind. An incredibly short six minute time limit cased a DNF for Jack and Justine, who still had good races. In such light wind, most of the fleet tends to be cut out. As of tomorrow, the limit will be ten minutes.

We have looked at our finalised fleets, gold and silver. Josh and Scarlet are in gold, and Jack and Justine are in silver. Everyone has the opportunity to gain plenty of places tomorrow, as points are extremely tight between most sailors. As per the sailing instructions, we can sail a maximum of three races tomorrow. We discard a race at seven races, which will reshuffle the results significantly as many sailors are carrying a heavy DNF or something of similar value. Tomorrow will also be the last day of racing, so we will have our final results by late afternoon on our side, late morning SA time.

Kids are still smiling, attitudes are positive, and we are in the process of adopting a Singaporean sailor called Tiago into our team. There is a bit of a language barrier with the Russians but they know how to play uno, so communication between the teams is not entirely limited.

I think we can end off here. Breakfast is gradually getting closer, so bedtime. Hopefully we have plenty to update again tomorrow.

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In terms of positions from the qualifying series, Jack, in the Red fleet, placed 36, 20, BFD (as luck would have it probably potentially his best result) and a DNF. Whilst Scarlet placed 17, 15, DNF and 10, leaving her well up the results board. It’s interesting to note that the DNF’s were largely down to the fact that there was a very short 6-minute time limit from when the leader finished and in most of races, they were sailed in a dying a breeze, making it very tricky to make the time limit for those finishing behind the leader.

It’s worth mentioning that it’s not always about positions the sailors  achieve but the experience, and I’m sure that this was a valuable one, which will form part of the sailors future sailing endeavours.