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Lara Dallman-Weiss
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Lara Dallman-Weiss2018-09-01 17:18:172018-09-09 17:34:31Lara at Richmond Yacht Club
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Return from Europe
Lara did the photos, except for photos of Lara which Nikki did, except for shots of both of them which were taken automatically or by a kindly bystander.
What an incredible experience! The 2018 World Sailing Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, in August, lit our competitive fire more than we could have imagined possible. After all, we sailed against 46 of the best Women 470 teams in the world. This included the Gold and Bronze medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics, sailors we intend to compete against again at the 2020 Summer Olympics. To everyone who pushed us to attend this event, a sincere and heart-felt ‘thank you’. One of the important lessons we learned is that results came and went. We finished 37th of 47 teams with a mix of finishes in the 30’s and 20s. However, the situations we navigated on and off the water
and the people we met were invaluable and life-changing. In this newsletter, we wanted to share with you – our Team Perfect Vision sponsors and supporters – a recap of the Aarhus event and preview of the next steps in our campaign for an Olympic medal.
The Pre-Start
As athletes, we have learned that preparation is the key to unlocking our full capabilities on the racecourse. Training, planning and conditioning combine to form readiness which leads to performance. We recognize that this should not be left to the last minute, but this is what happened when we decided to put together our plans for a World Championship at Aarhus just one month prior to the start. Our scores reflect this, but this event was exactly what we need in order to move forward by highlighting our weaknesses and our strengths.
Most teams prepare at least a year in advance of an event of this magnitude, for example, by setting up and sailing in a progression of training regattas and by relying on familiar coaching, well-oiled logistical support, and a program which permits their sailors to concentrate on their sailing.
By contrast, we started out for the event with no boat and a new coach. As it worked out, this uncertainty turned out to be our strength. First, we purchased the boat from an Australian 470 men’s team who stopped campaigning to design submarines. The boat was immaculate.
Networking with the Australian sailors gave us an opportunity…after the Aarhus World Championships…to meet with a boat builder in Germany. In his boatyard, we measured the new masts that we’ll need later in Japan and learned more about custom modifications for the boat that are specifically geared towards team perfect vision sailing.
Starting with the Australian sailors, networking was one of the most valuable “take aways” from the event. Everywhere we went off the water, we met people who were willing to assist us. Perhaps we did not seem very threatening in this regatta, so we took advantage and asked lots of questions, payed attention to what our competitors were doing.
Second, our coach, Israel’s Eyal Levine, agreed to travel to Denmark prior to the World Championships to help us with what we deemed our biggest weakness: sail setup. Levine, a former Men’s 470 competitor who represented his country in this class at the 2016 Summer Olympics, taught us several different modes to sail, introduced us to the class measurers and provided instrumental tips to move forward.
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The Regatta
Sailing in a World Championship offered an unmatched opportunity for us to pit our skills against other elite sailors and see how we measured up. That was far from all. There were many other smaller take-home messages that no other event could have taught us and that we now know never to do again.
● We were invited to join a training group of about 15 other 470 teams, mostly men. In the very first practice start, we ducked and hit the stern of one of the other teams. Although embarrassing, we did the right thing and arranged to have the hole in their boat repaired. It was tough to continue racing, to build our confidence up after that, but we shook it off, and we learned what to say to each other to refocus and keep moving forward.
● Boat parts are very expensive in Europe. A Harken traveler car (a piece about 2” X 1”) was over three times the price in Denmark that we could have purchased it for in the U.S. Traveling with a stock of spare parts is essential.
● The psychological component of the sport affected other teams in different ways. We stayed calm for the most part, and used adrenaline at the appropriate moments. From this we improved the way that we communicate with each other in tense situations. Discovering how to manage nerves and emotions was a lesson well learned.
● We received a scoring penalty for forgetting to check in after racing. The ramps were absolute chaos with Finns, 470 Men, 470 Women, Lasers and RSX sailors all in one place. This day, the Finns and Lasers returned at the same time we did. We helped several of them and took care of our equipment as well, meaning a thorough wash down and measuring settings. In doing so, we missed the time to return our tracker and sign in. The penalty was one point. That was the last point we will loose that way.
Debrief
Here are some of the extremely positive reflections that have us fired up and confident moving forward:
● Our Starts: The starting lines were chaotic as crowded starts, aggressive sailors and fluky winds were challenging for us. Our plan was pick our space, time the race and own the start. The final day of racing, we had several practice starts in fluky winds. For each of these, we were one of the only boats smack dab right on the line and not over, thus avoiding something that would have bogged our point score with a black flag penalty.
● Cross Fleet Work: By owning the start, we gain opportunities to cross the fleet. The one time we did were able to do this in the regatta, we came to the windward mark in the top 10. Because we missed the opportunity to do this, we have built close boat crossing into our training program.
● Upwind Speed: Our speed upwind is great. We never came off the water thinking, ‘dang, we were slow today’. Both of our coaches throughout the event continuously told us we were fast sailors and quick learners.
● Tactics: We make good tactical calls, and when we didn’t we knew what the right move would have been.
● Our Potential: After the first day of racing, we weren’t too jazzed about our scores. The upside, however, is that we were scouted by another coach to join with his team this winter as a training partner. He recognized our potential, which gave us confidence.
What we did well
One of our primary goals was to simply to get it done. Before the event, to pick up our boat from Germany, to transport it to Denmark, to register, have our sails and boat measured, figure out where we were staying, train with our coach, rig the boat. During the race, we planned to arrive at the starting line on time and start each race! We didn’t have any breakdowns and checked our rigging/settings every day, we were successful in ensuring our boat was always ready to race and always controlling the variables we knew and could. We have pieces of the puzzle, and are confident with our speed and starts, the parts of our race that need to fall into place can all be corrected with time on the water, communication among ourselves and our coach, and tactical coaching.
Looking Forward
The most difficult thing for us right now is to have patience. Patience, that is, that effective time in the boat will bring results and patience with ourselves knowing that we have a great foundation that will keep us on an upwards path.
We will be leaving for San Francisco to train during September and October with an excellent coach and the top German Women’s 470 team to make use of the US Sailing Team base at Treasure Island. After that, we move back to Miami to meet with training partners and prepare for the next Sailing World Cup Event in January. This January event will be our chance to officially qualify for the US Sailing Team.
Thank you for giving us your time, your energy, your resources, your knowledge and your support and for simply being there for us as we follow our dream of medaling in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
RatzRacing Fun
We raced with the mighty @ratzracing tonight, a great sea breeze that died by the end of the night but the kids never stopped racing! 
? Great to spend time with these future rockstars!
Bigger Boats in the NOOD regatta
Lara raced with Flash Gordon Racing this weekend and won the 2018 NOOD regatta!
Racing on a Bigger Boat
Nikki on the rail in the 164th New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta in Newport, RI. Little bigger than an Olympic 470! This was day one of the Race. Photo by Forster Photography Thanks Daniel. — at New York Yacht Club-Harbour Court.
Nikki and Lara – Back to Newport from Long Island
Met some great people in Long Island to help us load the boat! We are now going back to Newport to continue our training, we have some big updates this week so keep an eye out for more information! Don’t forget to smile!
Nikki and Lara — at Mattituck.
Farm to Table at Farm Country Kitchen
Getting a taste for Long Island! This week we are working hard on building our boat as well as building our bodies. We build our muscles through a balanced diet with the freshest ingredients. We tried out Farm Country Kitchen, a farm to table restaurant with healthy options! We will be posting more information on our fitness gains on Instagram @perfectvisionsailing.
Newport here we are.
We made it! We’re in Newport, Rhode Island, for a summer of training, competition and networking!
PVS Update for Week of May 16, 2018:
PVS Update for Week of May 16, 2018:
- We are currently passing through Georgia on our way up to Newport, RI for the summer training. It’s been a busy week with trying to squeeze in days on the water sailing with packing up but we are excited for the change in venue and some beautiful Newport breeze. Here’s our update for the past week:
- We sailed for three days last week where we continued to work on the foundation. Our last day of sailing was a late session where we had the opportunity to have Felipe Juncadella from Up Top Photography take some drone videos of us during the sunset. With his expertise we have already launched one video and have another one in the making. Our goal with this is not only to build our brand but also to show the public why the 470 is an incredible Olympic boat. The first video was featured in Scuttlebutt and is one of our first personal attempts at saving the boat for the 2024 Olympics. Current vote for 2024 is to have a mixed 470.
- We packed up two boats for the trip up North, the ODP boat and the donor boat so that we are able to have training partners join us in Newport. The donor boat needed rigging which we got from sailing services. We will finish rigging it in Long Island at Larry’s.
Heading to Newport!
It’s official! We’re on our way to Newport, Rhode Island for a summer of networking, training and competition!