Shields 7/23/25,

What a great night, with team 245 Hawk bringing home the bronze!

A few things culminated towards this placement. A few days before I received a text from one of the owners saying he wanted to talk with everyone about how to bump our performance up from top tier to "that upper one percent." On the dingy ride out to the boat we earnestly talked through what was working and what was working less well. It wasn't so much that we unlocked anything cataclysmic, but probably these talks served to help get our head in the game. I personally love a good debrief. After a race, before a race-- I love to hive-mind execution and performance, and receive tangible feedback. Practicing something is hugely crucial towards improvement, but I feel that practicing something and contextualizing it means exponentiallizing that improvement. (I may have just made that word up.) My notes were generally to be more intentional about my weight on the downwinds, to be more active in "painting a picture of the race" for the back of the boat, and to call wind.

I have really loved the assignment of painting a picture of the race-- it has forced me to be aware of the movement on the course, and asses it-- something I've never really had to do racing on bigger boats, where all of my attention is generally focused inward. And calling wind-- shield sailing is the closest to dinghy sailing I've ever done, and trying to spot the minutiae of shifts and breeze lines is also challenging me to not only a new way of seeing and perceiving, but also vocalizing it, and in a way that is useful.

Last night's breeze was a strong SW with the end of the flooding tide. I finally brought my spray pants and wore them, and was exceptionally happy to have a dry butt for a change.

We had a mediocre start at the boat end but tacked out right immediately over the line, and made good on that choice on the right-favored course, coming to the top mark in second. The first downwind leg we hovered right on Tinky's stbd quarter, breathing down their necks but unable to make gains. Our first leeward mark rounding was wide, and we let four other boats in who came out of the rounding on a better angle. We held that position in rough 6th through another upwind and downwind, but our second kite drop was clean and fast and we came out of the leeward mark the second time having gained back a boat or two. The last upwind beat to the finish came with lightening, gusting breeze, and we played it to full advantage as we delicately tacked up the course with 107, 217 and 201. As we got to the bridge we managed to come out ahead, earning us our first podium for the year.

Go team go! When the pre-race discussion pulls its weight...(!)