Thank You!

The list is long and we'd like to extend thanks to everyone, and highlight a few of the many that helped us along the way:

• Santa Barbara Youth Sailing Foundation
• Santa Barbara Yacht Club and Women's Group
• Willie McBride
• Tyler MacDonald
• Steve Keen
• The Pierce family
• The Screve family
• The Weston family
• The Fedde family
• Our family
• Team Opti Power
• Howard Hamlin
• Manny Resano
• CISA
• Clever Pig
• US Sailing
• Zhik
• Kaenon
• Atlantis
• Team Sperry Top-Sider
• Everyone in Ireland

Summary, The Making of a Champion?

It’s over. We’re home. The closing ceremonies were absolutely inspiring, and our visit post-event to Killarney in Southwest Ireland was amazing, wet, and a much needed mental respite. Thank you all for reading, supporting, sending the boys and the mom and dad well wishes throughout. Now it’s time for the cold, harsh reality of lessons learned.

All the way to the EU for just a single regatta seems a bit of a trek; however, the plan all along was based on priorities. DQ are relatively new to the fleet still only 9 months under their belts as a 29er team. In order of priority it was practice speed and boat handling like crazy at home and maximize every hour possible by skipping the tune up at Kiel Week. Then, go to Youth Worlds, soak in the experience and go fast, take copious notes and come home and plan for the next rung of improvement. All in all, it was a good plan. Interesting actually, as speed and boat handling is what solidified 4^th place at Youth Worlds and the post mortem reveals that some very simple racing techniques need perfected to move onto the podium. Simple yes?

Sure, in that competing at this level we’ve learned that it’s all about maturity and execution. The top three teams were near flawless in the latter, and observing the entirety of the event it was clear those same three teams had very few mental breakdowns that could be attributed to inexperience or stress. They were very mature competitors and it showed.

The same can be said for Team DQ to just a slight lesser degree. In the final analysis, there remain a few techniques to be added to their quiver, and their poise under pressure needing just a touch more seasoning, although much improved at event end as DQ demonstrated with their final day showdown with Germany, Great Britain and Australia to secure fourth overall. They calmly and joyfully tended to business and closed out the regatta. Now that we’re home, and with the exception of a road trip to Nationals and Youth Champs in August, the needed techniques will be the focus for the coming months.

Sailing is an interesting sport. Speed makes you look smart. Being smart can get you out of trouble, but diligence is where champions are made. Being fast and being smart makes for good story in bars among the grown ups. The reality is sailing is a vast array of scenarios and circumstances that are simply repeated at random race to race and regatta to regatta. Master each scenario and winning gets reduced to execution. The seeming impossibility of the variables is what makes it easy to explain away your failures. The reality is much of the randomness can be eliminated from a given race with the right preparation. Regattas are mostly won before they are sailed in the tediousness of practice. This event in Ireland was a great example. DQ’s strategy was to be in touch at the first mark and then pick away at the leaders one leg at a time to secure top three finishes. This strategy worked remarkably well with the exception of three races. In each of these contests the early deficit due to one flawed starting technique was then compounded by questionable decisions forced by stress. This is what stole away a podium finish.

It’s harsh, but only in retrospect. Looking forward it’s a confidence boost unparalleled. Because the post race analysis is so strikingly clear. Because time after time DQ made good choices based on clear input tactically on the racecourse; and, because their speed was equal to or better than all of the competition across nearly every wind range. And, because the Spanish team exemplified this lesson so clearly, the future is bright for Team DQ to emulate that example. The flaws in their game are easily remedied. Sailing an additional regatta in Europe was not necessary. They are primed to refine the missing technique in practice and then in the fall perfect it in International competition. The quest is to get back to Worlds and win. The Spanish team won Youth Worlds in 2011, and in 2012 won Orange Bowl, Kiel Week, Youth Worlds, and are poised to win Open Worlds. In any given race they are in the right place at the right time, and are fast 100% of the time. They’ve done their due diligence. Simple, yes.

With that said it’s time to congratulate Dane and Quinn. They’ve had many people helping them throughout and many contributors of funding and gear. They’ve had tuning partners and great coaching. They are members of a foundation that supports them at every turn, and have friends and family cheering them on from the sidelines. However the ultimate responsibility falls on their shoulders. They spent hours upon hours by themselves in the gym and on the water working on what was top of their priority list: Size, strength, speed and boat handling. They qualified in January, took a needed break, and then got to work in March and stuck with it up until the day before they stepped onto the plane to Dublin. They planned each day’s practice, invented their own drills, and measured their time on the water down to the minute. They fought and argued countless times about techniques, communication, and process. At the event they skipped much of the socializing in exchange for sleep. On the practice days they were on the water first and off the water nearly last. In the midst of the competition they sailed clean and took responsibility for their mistakes. They contended for the podium and not once offered excuses. In the end, they did their best and represented their family and country well and made their parents proud. As always trophies and medals are great keepsakes but it’s the intangibles that will stick with them for the long-term. So, good on ya boys and next year may the luck of the Irish be with you.

A Little R & R

Race Day Six and Prize Giving

Happy, sad, disappointed... proud, reverent, grateful, tired, and determined. That sums up a day and evening that would take pages to truly describe.

Day 5 Highlights Sans DQ

Race Day Five (Excuses, Excuses, Excuses)

Today's forecast was 8-10 knots. DQ were sitting just 6 points out of third place. They had reviewed their achilles heel, dealing with 23 other competitors that can all start exceptionally well, and made some dockside adjustments they felt would make the difference. They were ready to make a play for third overall. Then, the clouds rolled in and with them a very convincing 17 knots of breeze. Being the smallest team in the fleet, this was not ideal timing. The quest for third became a defense of 4th quicker than you can say "Erin go Bragh," which means "Ireland forever."

But it has inspired us to spend some time analyzing what went wrong, leading us post racing today to the always entertaining topic of excuses. The winners never need them and everyone else seems to revel in them. Seeing it is our duty, we decided to make a list:

• It was too windy
• Dane is sick
• Brothers
• The breakfast menu didn't have oatmeal
• Jet lag is still lingering (12 days later)
• There's no good psych up music in Ireland
• The Argentinians are too tall
• The Australians are too big
• Spain has too much experience
• The French are too smart
• Can't understand German
• It's cold
• It's raining
• It's windy...oops, used that one already
• The sun never goes down
• The sun comes up too early
• The hotel room is stinky
• Skype only works in the hallway
• Parking spaces are too small
• Brought too much sunscreen
• Miss Moki

Ah, the list could go on and on. The truth is there are a lot of great sailors here, the race committee has been superb, the host yacht clubs have been gracious and organized, the hotel accommodations perfect, and the sailing conditions challenging and awesome. Ultimately, there are no excuses.

The Fleet

Race Day Four

Today was the day the remainder of the event has been defined. The battle for first has very much been isolated to France and Spain. These two teams have demonstrated an amazing ability to get off the starting line early. They tend to just jump to the front. The tricky wind conditions are made much easier by sailing from in front due to the availability of clear lanes, which is really invaluable, and it's showing in the results. The next two teams, Argentina and USA have shown they are competitive with the top two teams, however, they just don't get in front early. In fact, they have both been challenged out of the starting blocks and are sailing a much more difficult regatta because of it. The fact they are able to wriggle out of trouble is a testament to both patience, picking good opportunities and being speedy fast when it counts. With all of that said they've entered into a two boat battle for the third spot on the podium. It should be a very interesting final three races that will determine the winners of these two battles.

Today's racing was relatively uneventful with the exception of about 15 minutes of a mid-20's knot squall that turned the fleet inside out and many boats upside down. The first time we've seen any sort of boat-handling issues from any of the teams. Oddly, once those 15 minutes were over the conditions returned to almost exactly what they were prior to the the squall. Unfortunately for some and fortunately for others the squall hit midway through the first beat and because of the significant windshift that came with it the race was abandoned, but not after the race committee let the sailors continue for a couple legs including one very exciting and fast downwind leg.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow for what should be a pretty exciting day!

Rest and Recovery

Given Dane is ailing, and the stress of being in the thick of the race for the podium, the rest day came at the perfect time. It was also the first day of balmy, yes balmy, weather. In fact, it was an absolutely beautiful day with blue skies, puffy white clouds, and a good thawing temperature.

As far as exciting things to report, the boys watched two movies, slept, had two large meals and a little Irish tea before bed. We did spend a fair amount of time debriefing from the previous three days of sailing. Lessons learned are almost all mental. We discussed early on that the speed, smarts and talent of the top 7-10 teams are most likely going to be very close. That’s turned out to be true, but the teams that demonstrate the most poise when things go wrong tend to gravitate to the top. No easy task, but definitely the area of greatest opportunity for DQ. As the story has played out thus far, they’ve demonstrated the ability to keep coming back; however, they’ve also been in a few situations where they've played it too conservatively and also at times have forced things a bit too much. A little "flow" would go a long way. And hence why we’re here, to learn how to manage these sorts of things as brothers… The Triple Tsukahara of teamwork.

Wishing them good luck for day four racing is all that’s left to do.

Race Day Three (No Doping!)

After the second day of racing our Laser Radial "boy" team member Mitchell Kiss was randomly selected for drug testing. He took the obligatory trip to the loo and despite a little dehydration did his duty. All good, except on the morning of race day two Dane awoke with a nasty head cold, most likely induced by travel, living with 350 other sailors and the crazy climate changes here in Ireland. We figured after sailing a little Sudafed would provide the necessary relief, but per Mitchell's experience we were cautioned to check the banned substances list... It's a long list. No Sudafed allowed. Not much allowed.

Tovi, the USA team leader, attended the medical tent to ask what they would prescribe for treatment. The morning of day three racing Dane got a nice little over the counter nasal spray and he's since been enjoying that and pumping himself full of fluids and herbal remedies any good hippie would recognize, and any good lab technician could care less about. The other good news early in the day was that although it was raining hard, it was relatively warm, cracking 60 degrees, and the forecast for day was for light winds. Due to the light air the sailors were held at the dock for roughly 45 minutes before the first Northwesterly established itself, which actually pushed out the rain for a bit. As the sailors launched and we spectators made the mile long trek to the seawall to perch and watch, a solid 15 knot NW wind kicked in, the clouds rolled back in, the clear air turned to a cold, driving drizzle, and racing had begun. So much for the good news nursing a sick competitor.

As for the racing, more of the same. Drastic shifts, unpredictable. Early on DQ looked smart, then not so smart, then smart again, rounding the leeward mark in 5th place. The roller coaster continued and unfortunately some immaturity crept into the brother dynamic and the post race analysis is indecision cost them on the second weather leg to the extent they recorded their worst race to date. Somehow, again, coachless on the water, they re-group. If there is anything team DQ show, it's resiliency.

The second race of the day was much more entertaining because now it's a four boat battle. FRA, ESP, ARG, and USA seemingly are in a constant flow of exchanging positions throughout each race. ARG seems to be most consistently sailing from in front, and have never really been deeper than 7th or 8th position at any time. A good trait. The other three have all had to battle back from deep at different times, unfortunately DQ are doing the most battling back. We joked yesterday that maybe the boys should just start each race at the weather mark in 15th place and see if they can still contend for a podium. Not advised, but definitely a joke not too far from reality. Anyhow, race two of the day was another crawl back from the depths as the first weather mark they rounded with FRA somewhere very close to double digits, tough to tell as the entire fleet was very compressed. Both FRA and DQ picked three good shifts downwind to round in 7th and 5th respectively. Upwind both again played things very smart in a bit windier leg in DQ's weak spot around 15-17 knots. FRA and DQ at the top mark in 6th and 5th, close on the heels of ESP, but ARG had extended and looked invulnerable in first.

More smart sailing by FRA and USA, three shifts later they are now in 3rd and 2nd, with DQ extending a touch with a seemingly safe lead on FRA, but making things very interesting as DQ have closed within a boat length of ARG. One jibe remained to the finish. ARG and USA on port, FRA split to the right on starboard. ARG jibes and inexplicably DQ continue three more boat lengths, jibe, FRA jibes and all three approach the finish, ARG to the leeward end, DQ the weather end and FRA the leeward... bang, bang, bang, ARG, USA, FRA. Done. ESP 5th. OMG. And, the two other players that are very fast, but have had a few rough races are definitely in the game... Great Britain with a very solid day three, and Germany who sailed very well on the first two days, but faltered on day three.

Dane's cold and DQ's brotherly love, all need a good rest day, then back to racing on Wednesday.  

Race Day Two (A Good Day)

Posting this one from the point of view of coach rather than parent... As parent I couldn’t be more proud. As a coach, the lesson learned was worth the long day of highs and lows.

Pain
Today was one of the most remarkable days of sailing I remember watching ever. Some details: The wind was rangy from 12 to 18 on average, but a few 15 minute squally bursts of 20, 20+.  It was warm, cold, shifty, and unpredictable. Today was about living in the moment. France and Spain both sailed very consistently throughout the day, which alone was remarkable as seemingly inexplicable puffs and shifts would "appear" and fade without a tremendous amount of clear indicators. Argentina also held very consistent positions throughout each leg, each race, that being a total of twelve legs over three races. Then there was everyone else, which was very much a string of tragedies, good intentions gone awry. In the case of Dane and Quinn, their story is hard to capture in words… Race one set the tone. Terrible start (not important to this tale), struggling for lanes and clear air, by the first weather mark DQ were double digits and minutes behind the leaders, as the fleet uncharacteristically got well spread apart. Downwind, uneventful, upwind, a little rally, a shift and gain here, there, and then a sprint for the starboard tack layline, looking good, then a squall that had been hovering over the beach throughout the race descended on the fleet and turned the final downwind leg into a relatively tight port reach in 18 knots.  Seemingly DQ were locked into 9^th place. Disappointing to say the least, no chance for a come back; however, illogically they don’t jibe but extend about 100 yards and then jibe, which in hindsight gave them the only passing lane available well to leeward. Pressing hard, fully trapping and planing like crazy they slowly real in the 3 closest boats as the breeze backs a touch and lifts the fleet above layline. More pressure, and DQ jibe, sail to port jibe layline and jibe to the finish, they are now in 5^th place and on port with two starboard jibe competitors converging on the finish. They barely take their stearns and bear off to the finish when a huge puff hits without warning and DQ are essentially launched at the committee boat with no where to jibe and headed straight into the finish boat. They drop the chute, chicken jibe and finish, 10^th.

Misery
Race two. US Sailing is a bit short on the coaching bench and so DQ are on the water without a coach for any assistance. Time to re-group. DQ win the boat end and sail a long starboard tack across the bay in varying breeze. The first shift goes to the left and they tack, and cross nearly to starboard tack layline, an uncharacteristically long interval between shifts, but one arrives from the right and they take that. Second place at the first windward mark, they round in second and fight downwind with France, Spain and another competitor jibing 3-4 times hunting for the right angle. 3^rd at the bottom mark and a drag race to the right corner ensues. Spain digs deep in to the right corner and France splits left. DQ split the difference. The three lead half way up the beat with the trailing boats splitting oddly to each corner. The quote of the day dockside from a coach from the Netherland’s team, describes the choices, “I don’t like the left, despise the right, and hate the middle.” Well, both sides conspire against DQ and fill dramatically with angle to leave the boys in 13^th at the top mark. A courageous last leg salvages 4 spots and they net a 9^th place.

If the lesson is not clear just yet it is persevere. Never give up. Two races that could have easily and handily been two top fives end up as a total of 19 points. It leaves one scratching one’s head. Watching from the sideline it was painful enough, to be on board, it must have been excruciating.  However, had DQ seen the point tallies they would have realized all was not lost, but they needed a solid finish in race three to save the day, but no one there to tell them.

Redemption
Race three. A hiccup bearing off leaves DQ struggling to accelerate and they get flushed out the back. They bail right and drag for a minute waiting for a lane to the left. Spain is poked out left and France to the right. They get a lane but it’s quickly undermined by the German team. DQ hang as long as possible in a lull and a lift, but eventually have to tack right again in a header, in a lull. They soldier on half way up the beat as the left and right fill. DQ are in 15^th. They pick away the remainder of the beat and round 11^th. Never give up. Downwind they jibe set and lock into a solid bit of pressure that takes them far left as the rest of the fleet scramble in the middle looking for the best breeze. Leeward mark DQ are back in touch with the leaders and now in 5^th place. The next windward leg was impossible to predict. Lulls, shifts and puffs came and went throughout. Spain faded from 2^nd to 4^th, France rallied from 4^th to 1^st and DQ kept the fleet at bay and compressed to the leaders maintaining their 5^th place. At the top mark, the leaders ignore what looks like another squally left shift, but DQ don’t, and immediately jibe set and go into full hike/trap and charge to the left. At the first opportunity they consolidate, in 2^nd place, France still on the right on port tack, DQ on starboard converging, DQ jibe and both boats continue left three-fourths of the way downwind. Puffs fill now in the middle France jibes to assure two boats on the right don’t get leverage, DQ continue left to the starboard jibe layline. France jibes, DQ jibe, too close to call, both boats converge and dive dead downwind to the finish. France 2^nd, DQ 1^st.

Race Day One

The fleet was greeted with the Northwesterly we saw the first couple of days we arrived in Ireland. Ranging between 10 and 15 knots it made for a shifty, puffy race course. Dane and Quinn sailed very conservative off the starting line, starting both races in the middle to be sure not to get stuck on the wrong end of a big shift or puff. The strategy paid off as they maintained touch with the leaders on the first leg and then slowly made gains on the following legs.

The photo below is the final downwind leg of race one. Team DQ in red on the right.

Opening Ceremony

ISAF Youth Worlds Opening Ceremony with 350 sailors from 61 nations aged 14 to 19.

Go Team USA

Great group of sailors, coaches and helpers!

• Team Leader, Tovi Kiss
• Coach, Steve Keen
• Coach, Rob Hallawell
• Laser Radial, Nikky Medley
• Laser Radial, Mitchell Kiss
• 420, Charles Bocklet
• 420, Harry Koeppel
• 420, Abigail Rohman
• 420, Megan Grapengetter-Rudnick
• RSX, Margot Sampson
• RSX, Lucas Gonazalez
• SL16, Sam Armington
• SL16, Jeremy Herrin
• 29er, Dane Wilson
• 29er, Quinn Wilson

Summer in Ireland

This is practice day two... and today is a practice race. Again, DQ were ready early to get on the race course to tune and scope out the conditions. Unfortunately the race organizers weren't cooperating and a scheduled launch time was postponed for an hour and a half for reasons unknown. Not much to do but wait and contemplate.

Dane in the Rain... Waiting

Practice Day One

We've been enjoying the chilly, windy, ever changing weather in Ireland so far. Luckily upon some good advice of friends and family we brought plenty of layers and per the locals we shed them and adorn them on a regular basis. Practice day is also registration, get your boat, and get on the water as fast as you can day. Our team leader, Tovi Kiss, did a masterful job organizing passports and paperwork to get the team their ID's and passes into the boat yard. Team DQ were among the first 29ers on the water and actually practiced a bit more than any other 29er logging two solid hours in 13-15 knots. The local wind recorder said gusts to 22, but we decided to not believe that tale.

Local Publicity

Happy... Smile... Happy

The Yacht

Chillaxing

Our first couple days in Ireland have consisted of sleeping in way too long, drinking tea, exercising, sitting in the sauna and castle touring... Based on our limited exposure to castles so far, it looks like living was easy. Wondering if we got that right?

From ISAF Youth Worlds Website:

The ISAF Youth Worlds was first held in Sweden in 1971 and has taken place every year since. The 2012 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship in Dublin Bay, Ireland will celebrate the 42nd year of the event. Throughout its history, the ISAF Youth Worlds has visited over 20 nations, covering every continent, and over 100 different nations have competed. France is currently the most successful nation, winning the Volvo Trophy on a record 10 occasions and holding a record 62 medals: 20 Gold, 27 Silver and 15 Bronze.

Some Famous Faces of the Youth Worlds - Since the first event in 1971, the ISAF Youth Worlds has earned itself a unique place in the sailing calendar. It is renowned for providing the sailing world with its first glimpse of future sailing superstars. Fifteen of the sailors who won medals at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are past medalists at the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship.

Just take a look at some of these ISAF Youth Worlds medalists and see what they've gone on to achieve…

Russell Coutts (NZL), Youth Worlds Gold (1981) and Silver (1979) medal winner in the Laser. Now, Olympic Gold Medalist (Finn 1984) and three times America's Cup winning skipper (1995, 2000, and 2003)

Ben Ainslie (GBR), Youth Worlds Gold (1995) and Silver (1994) medal winner in the Laser. Now, holder of one Silver (2006) and three Olympic Gold medals (2000, 2004, 2008)

Alessandra Sensini (ITA), Youth Worlds Bronze (1987) medal winner in the Mistral windsurfer. Now, the only woman to win four Olympic sailing medals (one Gold, one Silver and two Bronze)

Robert Scheidt (BRA), Youth Worlds Gold (1991) medal winner in the Laser. Now eight-time Laser World Champion, 2007 Star World Champion and four-time Olympic medalist (two Gold and two Silver)

Charlie McKee (USA), Youth Worlds Bronze (1981) medal winner in the Laser. Now, a two-time Olympic medalist.

Our Irish Home

Royal Marine Hotel

The 2012 ISAF Youth Worlds will take place on Dublin Bay and based at Dun Laoghaire. Dun Laoghaire is a historic town on the outskirts of Dublin. The harbour, opening on to Dublin Bay is a large man made port dating back to the 19th century when it was built for a visit of Queen Victoria.

The Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC) has been appointed by the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) to host the 2012 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship. The RSGYC will run the event in association with the National Yacht Club (NYC).