10th Place Finish

© Copyright 2004 Spruance Enterprises www.spruance.com Meg Gaillard

Sunday, February 22, 2004 - By Pat Dolan. The Olympic Trials wrapped up today for all by the Star Class. Laura finished 10th among those competing in the Europe Dinghy Class.

From personal observation, the Europe sailors who competed in these Trials are all outstanding young women who have devoted significant time, energy and personal funds (or often the bank of mom and dad) in an effort to represent their country in the Olympic Games.

Meg Gaillard dominated the fleet with a string of thirteen first place finishes to go with one second. She is highly ranked among the world Europe sailors and will represent the United States very well in the Athens Olympics.

Local 15 Year Old Does Well

© Copyright 2004 Spruance Enterprises www.spruance.com Approaching the Leewared Mark

Friday, February 20, 2004 - By Pat Dolan. Two races were run today with top flight efficiency by the Race Committee. Meanwhile the local paper had a half page story with pictures telling the story of a local 15 year old, Sarah Lihan, who began sailing a Europe Dinghy just a week before the trials began. Although in tenth place for the regatta, she had a 5, 7 and 8 leading up to the story being run. This is an outstanding accomplishment for a young woman.

While today's races went well from a Race Committee point of view, the conditions were particularly hard for Laura - and two 14th place finishes were the result. Two more days of racing remain - although Meg Gaillard has a string of firsts with only one second, and has this competition almost completely locked up.

Solid Sailing

© Copyright 2004 Spruance Enterprises www.spruance.com The Outer 1 Course

Thursday, February 19, 2004 - By Pat Dolan. It was a hard day of sailing today for everyone. Three races were sailed to get back on schedule. Big shifts dominated all three races and the wind speed ranged from 4 to 12 so there were some big holes. Laura scored two 9th place finishes and a 13th. I volunteered to help the Race Committee - and they took me up on my offer. The Committee did a solid job, anticipating wind shifts well and setting good courses. The race course is a trapezoidal course which permits the Committee to manage multiple fleets with good efficiency. Here, Europe Dinghys are started first and sail what is known as the outer course. Finns go about eight minutes later and sail the inner course.

Picture two windward-leeward courses set side by side. The Europes sail to the windward mark of the inner course, then on to the windward mark of the outer course. A leeward leg, windward leg and another leeward leg follow on the outer course. After rounding the leeward mark, the Europes finish on a reaching leg with the finish line to leeward of the start line.

Meanwhile, the Finns sail a windward leg, leeward leg and a second windward leg on the inner course. This is followed by a trip to the outer course, a leeward leg on the outer course and the reaching leg to finish to leeward of the starting line.

I am not a fan of this course - particularly because there are very few changes on the leeward and reaching legs for these boats to pass each other. But, from a race management point of view, the course is very efficient.

Lay Day Work

© Copyright 2004 Spruance Enterprises www.spruance.com On to the Outer Course

Wednesday, February 18, 2004. Today (Wednesday) is a lay day - a chance for all the competitors to get a little rest and make sure their boats are ready for the second half the the competition. Laura got eleven hours of sleep overnight then set out with Coach Krzysztof Machnowski to work on the boat. The major items on the fixit list were repairing a gouge in the bottom of the hull and releading the outhaul so it runs more smoothly. Cooler weather prevailed today with temps in the high 50's and low 60's. Sailors expect to awake Thursday to mid 40 degree weather - but rising to the 60's by mid day. By the weekend, temperatures are expected to be in the low 80's. Coach Krzysztof gave this take on the trials so far: Laura is surprising a lot of people here - her sailing is much stronger than a year ago. Physical conditioning is a key building block. If you are strong, your mind works better and confidence builds.

A One Race Day

Tuesday, February 17, 2004. Here is Laura's email after sailing Tuesday: The day started with two and a half hours of posponment as the wind did circles. This was followed by an attempt at a race and another hour long postponment. Finally at about 2 we started a race. I had a nice clean start and headed the right direction - rounding the first mark in fifth. I held this through the second beat where out of nowhere the wind came in from the right. Unfortunately I lost a few boats then and another boat downwind (speed issues in the light wind) and ended up 9th. The race commitee then decided to send us in because there was a banquet that night (just as the wind picked up to where I like it). Wednesday is a layday so I will just be relaxing and doing homework.

Tough Sledding

Monday, February 16, 2004. It has been a hard day for Laura. A 13th and a 9th on a low wind day. Here is Laura's email after sailing Monday: Today was a bit lighter in wind (4-8 knots) and I definitely struggled. I find it particularly difficult to sail in this breeze because I'm one of the heavier girls sailing in this class. There were all sorts of crazy shifts, including one that turned the second upwind beat into a reach.

My second race was slightly better. The first upwind leg was abandoned because it took the first boat 32 minutes to round the top mark and the time limit was 30 minutes. For the "real" second race my upwind speed was greatly improved after working with my coach while the race commitee reset the course. Several tactical errors upwind left me in 6th place around the top mark. Then interestingly, nervousness with my downwind speed led me to have bad downwind speed (my downwind sped is actually fine nowadays but it used to be terrible) and I lost 4 places. The rest of the race was a fight to stay where I was with the large shifts and I managed to gain one place to finish in 9th.

Solid Sailing

© Copyright 2004 Spruance Enterprises www.spruance.com Coming to the Windward Mark

Sunday, February 15, 2004. Laura scored an 8th and a 6th on day two of racing. This is very solid sailing in such a highly competitive group. With four races complete, Meg Gaillard is staking her claim on the top spot with all first place finishes. Krysia Pohl and Christin Feldman are battling hard for second place. Five women, including Laura, are closely bunched with between 20 and 27 points. A lot of sailing still remains. Here is Laura's email after sailing today:Day two is finished and I have narrowly held on to my sixth place spot. There are only two points seperating 5th through 7th place now so the fight for the last spot on the US Sailing Team is getting heated.

The breeze today lessened to 8-15 knots which was a nice break. Mile long beats get very tiresome in 18 knots.

My first race today went fairly well. After a less than perfect start I headed the right direction and rounded the first mark in 6th. I managed to hold this position for the next three and half legs - only to lose my concentration for a brief moment on the last run and capsize (again). I recovered to an 8th.

The second race went better. I rounded the first mark right behind the top 4 sailors, then fought off the group behind me and only lost a place to the girl currently in 8th. It was either losing her or possibly losing the 7th and 5th place girls and I did what I had to do. I finished sixth and that keeps my position the same for another day.

Seventy-five percent of the regatta is yet to be sailed - so who knows what will happen.

A Great First Day

© Copyright 2004 Spruance Enterprises www.spruance.com Laura Fights the Chop

Saturday, February 14, 2004 - Email from Laura Schmidt. I'm sunburned and sitting in an internet cafe printing out homework, etc. We just finished the first day of racing. Overall, a great first day. It was obvious as soon as I got on the water that all the training has paid off and my upwind speed was great (we won't talk about downwind). The first race went fairly well. A decent start and good speed to the shore helped me avoid the adverse current and I rounded the top mark in fifth after a mile long beat. I held on to this spot for the long reach leg. Then, halfway down the offwind leg I got a knot in my mainsheet and capsized in a puff. By the time I recovered, I was in tenth - but managed to get to eighth by the end of the race.

The second race went far better. I had another good first beat, rounding again in fifth. Then, at the second mark, the girl in front of me capsized and I managed to pass her. It was then a race for fourth. I battled last years fourth ranked sailor and this years ICSA Women's Singlehanded Champ and after two more legs and quite a few place changes I finished the race with a convincing half a leg lead over the fifth place boat. Not a bad first day.

Measuring - opening ceremonies

49ers Working Off the Wind Picture from US Sailing Web Site

Friday, February 13, 2004. Measurements have dominated the time of US Olympic Sailing Team hopefuls yesterday and today. Each boat and sails must meet strict measurement standards before being permitted on the race course.

Later today, Laura and the other competitors will participate in the Opening Ceremony at each host club. Racing begins tomorrow.

Olympic Hopefuls Arrive

Laura Sailing her Europe

Wednesday, February 11, 2004. Olympic hopefuls, including LSC member Laura Schmidt, are in Florida, getting ready for the Olympic trials in the Europe Dinghy, Finn, 49er and the Tornado classes. The competitors will have a couple of days of measuring before the racing starts on Saturday. Racing is scheduled every day through Sunday, February 22nd except for one lay day.

Laura goes up against thirteen other competitors in the Europe Class. Meg Gaillard, ranked number one in the US Europe Class, has to the be favorite.

Trials for the Lasers, 470 Men, 470 Women, Mistral Men and Mistral Women have already been held. Europe and Finn trials will be at the Fort Lauderdale Yacht Club. Yngling and 49er trials are at Key Biscayne Yacht Club and the Tornado trials will be at the Miami Yacht Club. Star trials will be held in March at the Coral Reef Yacht Club.