A letter from Brad and Andy regarding the campaign:
To our Supporters,
Over the last few months we have taken the time to decompress, get back to our "other lives," and evaluate our entire campaign. Though the end result was not the gold medal that we had hoped for, our three-year campaign was incredibly rewarding for us. There is little we would change if we were to go back and do it all again. We ran an efficient, professional program and we knew the risks involved when we invested three years of our lives into a single event selection.

While we did not win the Olympic Trials, there were so many positives about the whole experience for us, and our sponsors. We finished this Olympic quadrennium with major titles in North America, Europe and Asia, earning the respect of our competitors, the attention of the sailing media, and proving that we are top contenders on the world stage. We were nominated for the US Olympic Committee Team of the Year Award and Named US Sailing Team of the Year in 2006.

We sailed 144 races, in 24 events, in 9 different countries, against 1914 sailors. During this time we sent out 243 newsletters and race reports and our website received 1,970,352 hits as Team Horton*Nichol supporters followed along. In the end, we won top 5 positions in 16 events and our sponsors received 2,544,624 promotional "hits" during the course of the campaign not including the countless newspaper, magazine, and web articles worldwide!

As the youngest team in the Olympic Trials – Brad was the youngest sailor in the top10, Andy was the second youngest – and one of the favorites to win, we received lots of media coverage while winning more races than any other team. The extremely light shifty winds played havoc with all the teams on the scoreboard, and did not favor us in the end, but it also made for exciting "virtual spectating" at our website and through our daily race reports that kept 2316 of our supporters on the edge of their seats following the daily progress of the trials.

The men's keelboat was just announced as an event for the 2012 Olympics in England and we are already talking about a 2012 campaign. We plan to continue sailing together, focusing on the biggest international events including the 2008 World Championships in Miami FL, the 2008 Western Hemisphere Championships in Geneva, NY, and defending our title in the 2008 North American Championships in Harbor Springs, MI.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your confidence and support over the past three years. We are most grateful for the avid support of our families, friends, and sponsors who encouraged us each day to dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of the Olympic dream. We look forward to the next year and possibly into the next "quad" towards 2012!

Cheers!

Andy & Brad

Star Olympic Trials: Day 6-8
We apologize to everyone for the lack of e-mail on the final few days. The racing improved for us after the disappointment of Day 5. Day 6 was a nice enough day that started with us taking a fifth. We were quick off the line in the second race -- possibly too quick. We were leading the race when we were notified before rounding the weather mark that we had started prematurely. We withdrew from the race, as did several other competitors who did not know they were OCS, in part because the Race Committee was late in signaling the individual recalls. The jury found that ultimately their notification was in fact too late (16 seconds after the starting signal according to the jury findings) and we deserved redress. Our score for that race was the average of our races for the series to that point, giving us a 6.4 -- better than the 19 points that would come with an OCS but not as good as a top 3 finish.

Day 7 also had light air. We stopped thinking and started sailing -- to the corner. This time, the left paid and we led wire-to-wire to win the day's first race and were second around the track the entire way in the second race. The top of the standings became even more compressed as the avid race fans know by now. We were happy with the day, but it was a case of "too little, too late." We only had one more race to sail on Day 8, which resulted in a third place finish for us on Sunday.

Our line for the regatta was 18, 7, 7, 1, 5, 11, 1, 3, 1, 17, 12, 5, 6.4, 1, 2, 3, putting us fourth overall for the Trials. Our four first place finishes were the most of any team but we had too many bad races to balance out our score.

Needless to say, the event did not go as well as we would have liked. We promise to send out a more detailed e-mail in the future once we have more distance from the Trials and more time to decompress from the months of training and weeks of racing to properly reflect on what happened.

We never would have gotten as far as we did over the past few years without the support of all of our friends, family, sponsors, training partners, coaches and general well wishers.

We send our heartiest congratulations to John Dane and Austin Sperry. To quote the US Sailing press release, "Attention, AARP --- you have a new poster boy" -- John Dane will compete at his first Olympics at the age of 57! They sailed a very strong event and had more top three finishes (8) than anyone else in the fleet.

You'll be hearing from us again. We hope everyone is well.

Best wishes and sincerest thanks,
Andy & Brad

Star Olympic Trials: Day 5
Another very light and very shifty day in Marina del Rey. Without making excuses, we can say it just wasn't our day and we have a large mountain to climb over the final five races of this event after scoring a 17 and a 12 today, dropping us to seventh overall. You know it's tough out there when the boat that wins both races (George Szabo/Andrew Scott) rounds the weather mark and exclaims "[expletive]! This is worse than China!" (as Qingdao, the Olympic sailing venue in 2008 is known for its light air). The two races finished just before the time limit expired despite the very short courses.

Race 10 began with the pin fifteen degrees favored. We won the pin and the wind proceeded to clock to the right, leaving us in the back of the pack as boats lifted off our hip to weather.

Race 11 featured similar conditions. We tried to work the middle of the course better but always seemed to be going the wrong direction with below average boatspeed. The battle at the top of the fleet became extremely tight today thanks to the perfect day by Szabo/Scott, followed by a 10,4 by Mendelblatt/Liljedahl and a 2,3 from Dane/Sperry, resulting in a tie at the top between Szabo/Scott and Mendelblatt/Liljedahl, with Dane/Sperry just six points back.

We're not entirely sure what happened today and can only go out tomorrow with the same approach and see what happens. Here is a link to a picture from Day 4, taken by Martin McCarthy: click here for picture
Series results are posted here

Star Olympic Trials: Day 4
Today featured the best conditions we've seen to date in the regatta with the tightest racing as well. It was glassy as we were towed to the starting area but the seabreeze settled in for the start of Race 7, building to 12 knots on the first beat. Boats were ping ponging all over the course with everyone seemingly lee bowing everyone else. We snuck around the top mark in first place by a whisker and extended slightly over the next three legs to cross the line 20 seconds ahead of MacCausland/Schofield.

The breeze continued to build between races and by the start of Race 2 we had 16 kts with 4 to 6-foot waves. This allowed the fleet to spread out more as fitness became a bigger factor. We led again at the weather mark and surfed downwind. The two boats behind (Londrigan/Strube and Mendelblatt/Liljedahl) split gates with us and managed a pass on the second beat. On the run, the breeze began to die back down but the waves were still there -- big enough to surf but without enough wind to push down the face, the sailing became very tricky. We reeled in the two leaders but weren't able to hold on, crossing the line in third, three seconds out of second place.

The Race Committee wasted no time getting ahead of the game and cranked out a third race before people knew what hit them in the dying breeze. The pin was favored, thanks in part to a half-knot current. We won the pin and had a five-length lead shortly after the start. George Szabo/Andrew Scott had great speed on the second beat and ground us back to the point that neither boat was sure who won at the finish -- the results say we got them by three seconds but it seemed much closer.

With our 1,3,1 scoreline, our spirits are high heading into tomorrow's lay day. At the start of the day, we were in sixth overall, 30 points behind the leaders. Now we are in third, just 12 points out of the lead with seven races to go. We'll use the downtime tomorrow to check our equipment and go for a quick sail before taking the afternoon off. California YC has been doing a great job getting results up in a timely manner -- click here for series standings and here for deltas in each race.

We hope everyone is doing well. Off to shower and have our midregatta dinner.

Star Olympic Trials: Day 3
Another fluky, funky day in the waters off of California Yacht Club. On a day where several other Olympic classes (most of whom are also having their trials right now in southern California) were unable to get off any racing, the CYC group managed to get one going in trying conditions. It was glassy until noon when a 6-7 kt breeze filled in that oscillated between 190 and 310 degrees (the latter being a very odd breeze direction for the area). 3 races were started and abandoned between noon and 2:30 p.m. (two of which were called off as boats were halfway up the first beat) thanks to the Santa Ana fighting the seabreeze. At 2:45 p.m., the RC started the official race, with a windward leg of just 0.8 miles at 255 degrees.

On the first beat, the wind went as far left as 230 degrees and the RC squared up the course and shortened at the first mark. We rounded in seventh, having been caught on the wrong side of the shift. The wind lightened on the run to 5 kts and the boats who were able to ghost around the leeward mark powered up on the second beat, making it difficult to catch the leaders. On the final run, we lost a few more boats to finish 11th. John Dane and Austin Sperry sailed a very good race to cross the line over a minute ahead of Team Too Tall (Lidecis/Marzahl) with regatta leaders Mendelblatt/Liljedahl in third. The course was around 3 miles long and took 1.5 hours to sail.

We remain in sixth overall and know that there's still over 60% of this regatta left to be sailed. Hopefully tomorrow's winds will be more stable. That's it for tonight from the west coast. Hope everyone is doing well.

Star Olympic Trials: Day 2
Today was a much better day. More beautiful Southern California weather, with Race 4 starting in 10-12 kts and crews hanging over the side. The racing was extremely tight and we rounded the windward mark in the top group, overlapped with several boats. After some gains on the run, we sailed a strong second beat and found a favorable shift on the right to move into the lead. We were able to hold off the fleet on the run and crossed the line 22 seconds ahead of John Dane and Austin Sperry.

Race 5 had even trickier conditions and more close racing. If it wasn't tight enough already, the boats who trailed at the first windward mark all gybed into better pressure, with the team of Fotis Boliakis and Mike Nichol (Brad's brother) moving from last to first on the run, with George Szabo/Andrew Scott close behind. We ground out a fifth place finish, only five seconds in front of MacCausland/Schofield and Londrigan/Strube.

With our 1,5 line, we had the low total on the day and moved into sixth overall. Mark Mendelblatt and Magnus had the other bullet and are sailing extremely well, with top 3 finishes in four of the five races. We knew they'd be tough heading into the event and Mark's Olympic experience in 2004 in the Laser is helping at this pressure packed event. We are glad we were able to shake off the disappointment from Day 1 and are looking forward to two more good races Monday.

Full results are posted at www.calyachtclub.com/cms/raceresults/RaceLink197.htm

Star Olympic Trials: Day 1
We might have known today was going to be a bit different. Yesterday a cold front came through with gusts at LAX to 38 kts -- the highest recorded gusts at LAX in the month of October in over 15 years. As a result, no one made it out of the harbor for a final day of practice before racing. As a bonus, the wind blew the smog out of the area, allowing us to see the Hollywood sign from the water for the first time in two months. California Yacht Club went all out with fantastic opening ceremonies, including Olympic flags and the national anthem, leaving everyone excited for racing.

Race 1 started in 9 kts. We liked the left until the wind shut off and filled in from the right, leaving us very deep. We finished 18th in the 19-boat fleet. So, that was a difficult way to start the regatta.

Races 2 and 3 saw more progressive shifts to the right -- the most right we've seen in our time in southern California, with the breeze parallel to the shore by the end of the day. We ended up seventh in race 2 in a close pack and in race 3 we rounded the windward mark with the top group but lost a few places to finish seventh again. The Race Committee opted for three races today instead of the scheduled two so they could stay ahead of the game in case the wind doesn't cooperate on future days.

We are in 10th place after Day 1. Mark Mendelblatt and Magnus Liljedhal had an excellent day with a 3,3,1 scoreline, but otherwise only two other boats avoided having at least one double digit finish. This will be a long regatta and even though it did not start the way we had hoped it is by no means over. Tomorrow is a new day and there are 13 races to go.

Olympic Trials Preview: Team Horton/Nichol
Nearly three years after we sailed our first Star regatta together, here we are in California, anxiously awaiting the first day of racing at U.S. Olympic Trials this Saturday. The Trials are 8 days of racing, with two races scheduled each day. The winner of the regatta goes to Qingdao, China in 2008 to represent the United States at the XXIX Olympiad. Everyone else has to wait again until 2012.

Registration and measurement began on Wednesday and we quickly got that out of the way so we could leave the venue and relax. There are 19 teams registered, including 9 teams ranked in the top 40 internationally. Most of the teams here wouldn't have traveled all the way to Marina del Rey and given up so much of their time, energy and money over the past four years if they didn't think they had a shot to win. We wouldn't be surprised if 8 different boats won the 16 races between October 6 and October 14 so it will be important to be consistent in such a deep fleet.

We know we have done everything possible to prepare ourselves for this event. We have spent the past two months in the Los Angeles area, learning about the venue and training. Over those two months, we only had two days of rain and had at least 6-12 kts of breeze every day, with a few days of 15-17 kts. The sailing here is beautiful, though traditionally the winds get lighter this time of year as the air gets cooler. Our coach James Lyne has been out here with us along with Mike Wolfs and James will be on the water during the Trials.

We will send you updates after each day of racing, with brief recaps of each race and our thoughts on the day. Our good friend Peter Beardsley is writing the recaps so we can spend time focusing on the task at hand. If you can't wait for your e-mail each night (which we hope Peter will send out before midnight EST), you can follow the action at US Sailing's website at www.ussailing.org/olympics/OlympicTrials or on California Yacht Club's website at www.calyachtclub.com/cms/index2.htm (click on the link for the Olympic Trials in the middle of the page).

Thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far. Your support has been invaluable.

Olympic Sailing Postmarks
Colorado Springs, CO - The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and Sports Philatelists International (SPI) have announced that five special postmarks will be available on opening day of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Sailing.

The Trials in seven Olympic sailing classes will be conducted over a 12-day period from Oct. 3-14, 2007, in five cities:

* Newport, R.I. (Laser Radial Class for women and Laser Class for men)
* Long Beach, Calif. (RS:X & 470 Classes)
* Marina del Rey, Calif. (Star Class)
* Newport Beach, Calif. (Finn Class)* San Diego, Calif. (49er & Tornado Classes)

Each postmark measurers 1½ inches in height, features the logos of the USOC and 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, and is customized for the city in which each event is held. Postmarks will be available on a handback basis on Oct. 3 at the following post offices (please contact individual post offices for times of operation):

* Newport (R.I.) postmark: 320 Thames St., Newport, RI 02840
* Long Beach postmark: 300 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90802
* Marina del Rey postmark: 4766 Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey, CA 90292
* Newport Beach postmark: 1133 Camelback St., Newport Beach, CA 92658
* San Diego postmark: 2535 Midway Drive, San Diego, CA 92110

There is a 30-day grace period during which collectors may mail in requests for the cancel by sending their self-addressed stamped envelopes to: U.S. Olympic Trials Station, Postmaster, [remainder of address below]

* Newport (R.I.) postmark: 320 Thames St., Newport, RI 02840
* Long Beach postmark: PO Box 140, Long Beach, CA 90801
* Marina del Rey postmark: 4766 Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey, CA 90292
* Newport Beach postmark: 1133 Camelback St., Newport Beach, CA 92658-9998
* San Diego postmark: PO Box 86530, San Diego, CA 92186-6530

The USOC is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the sole entity in the United States whose mission involves training, entering and underwriting the full expenses for the U.S. teams in the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games. In addition to being the steward of the U.S. Olympic Movement, the USOC is the moving force for support of sports in the United States that are on the program of the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games. For more information, visit their website at www.usolympicteam.org.

Sports Philatelists International is a not-for-profit educational organization dedicated to the study and collecting of postage stamps and related material dealing with the Olympic Games and all sports. Established in 1964, SPI is the U.S. philatelic arm of the IOC's Olympic Collectors Commission. Find out more at their website: www.sportstamps.org.

King of Spain Regatta 2007 - Day 2
For the second day of racing conditions reverted to the standard southern California sea breeze we have come to expect and appreciate. One benefit of the rain we had yesterday was that it cleared out the smog that usually hangs over LA and allowed us a nice view of the mountains around the LA basin. Unfortunately all of the dirt from the city went straight into the ocean.

The first race was sailed on a four leg, windward leeward in conditions that built from barely hiking to fully hiking through the race. John Dane and Austin Sperry opened up a big lead on the last run and won the race followed by Mendelblatt/Liljedahl and Szabo/ Davidson.

The sea breeze continued to build for the second race building the waves and allowing the race committee to stretch the course a little longer for the final race. There was a tight battle at the front of the fleet making for interesting mark roundings and great tacking duels. In the end Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada won the race with Horton/Nichol second and Mendelblatt/Liljedahl close behind in third.

King of Spain 2007
Final Results:

Horton / Nichol (USA) - 4, 4, 1, 4, 2 = 15
Mendleblatt / Liljedahl (USA) – 6, 7, 2, 2, 3 = 20
Scheidt / Prada (BRA) – 9, 3, 3, 6, 1 = 22

We now have less than two weeks until the start of the US Olympic Trials and the competition is getting very tough. All of the top teams are at the venue training hard every day. The “Last Chance Qualifier” Regatta will be next weekend followed by measurement starting a week from Wednesday. Stay Tuned!

King of Spain Regatta 2007 - Day 1
This weekend is the King of Spain regatta in Marina Del Rey, Ca. Sunny Southern California took a few days off with ominous clouds chasing the fleet in from practice on Friday, rocking the night with big thunder storms, and bringing New England conditions this morning.

The race committee was patient and let the storms clear and the thermal build before starting the first race in more standard Marina del Rey conditions. Mark Renolds and Hal Haenal got off to a good start by winning the first race followed closely by Team Corinthian (Eric Lidecis/Mike Marzahl) and Rick Merriman and Phil Trinter in third.

The second race continued to keep everyone on their toes with shifty conditions as the remnants of the storms cleared the bay. George Szabo and John MacCausland started at the pin end and held out to the left and never looked back as they were one-two all the way around the course. Current World Champions Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) worked their way through the fleet to finish third.

As the third race of the day got under way the strongest sea breeze push came in bringing more consistent conditions and more wind. Andy Horton and Brad Nichol lead the fleet around the course with Mark Mendleblatt / Magnus Liljedahl and Robert Scheidt / Bruno Prada right behind.

There are two races scheduled tomorrow with no discards allowed in the regatta.

Results after three races:

Horton / Nichol (USA) - 4, 4, 1 = 9
Mendleblatt / Liljedahl (USA) – 6, 7, 2 = 15
Scheidt / Prada (BRA) – 9, 3, 3

September 2007 Update - Harris Series Regatta
Since you heard from us a month ago, we have been very busy. After the long drive from Vancouver to Los Angles we set up base in Marina del Rey and started practicing at our Olympic Trials site. The California Yacht Club opened their doors and allowed us full use of their facilities and the local Star sailors invited us to join their Thursday night series.

We then headed back east for a weekend on Lake Sunapee including a clinic for the junior sailors from four yacht clubs and a fundraiser dinner. As a thank you, we donated a new Vanguard Opti to the junior program so they can continue to produce top level sailors.

After our fundraising weekend in New Hampshire we came straight back to LA for another three weeks of hard work on the water. In the middle of that training block US Sailing ran an intense race camp for the US Sailing Team where we raced 18 races in five days and did 54 practice starts….

After a few more weeks of training we headed into our first regatta since the North America Championship. This past weekend we raced the Harris Series Regatta hosted by the California YC. Saturday greeted us with August conditions of 14-16 knots with big waves. Mark Mendleblatt and Magnus Lillidahl owned the day posting three bullets with great speed up wind and they were untouchable downwind. The wind was a bit slower to build on Sunday and we raced in 8-12 knots in the first race that was won by Mendleblatt/Lillidahl again. The wind continued to build for the second race and Team Horton*Nichol snuck across the finish first ahead of a tight pack of six boats. Overall Mark and Magnus won the regatta convincingly we finished second and Will Stout/Rick Peters were third.

We now have less then a month to go before the US Olympic Team Trials. There is a lot of work to be done and everyday the competition gets tougher. We have another regatta on the trials site in two weeks and will keep you updated as that approaches.

Cheers!

Andy & Brad

Star North American Championships in Vancouver - Day 4
The penultimate race of the Star North American Championships proved more exciting then any medal race we have sailed in the last two years. Going in we led Ross MacDonald by one point, George Szabo by three, Mark Mendelblatt by six and Brian Ledbetter by seven. The race committee moved the course in towards the club and beach and the course was covered with spectators on British Columbia Day.

Going into this race to win the regatta we could be beat by Ross, but without any boats between us and we had to be in the top five. We could also be behind Szabo with 2 boats between us and still win. So, with that in mind we went into the starting sequence.

Just before the start Ross made an attempt to sail us away from the line, but we were able to get under him and make it back to the line for a pin boat start. After the start we put the bow down and headed for the beach for current relief. When the fleet made it to the shore we tacked up the edge dodging docks, mornings, kayakers, and dinghy sailors from three clubs. We were able to lee bow Ross a few times and push him out into the current, but this put us back a few places.

We made it to the weather mark in ninth, ahead of Ross but Szabo was leading the regatta in second place. So we spent the next 4 legs focusing on passing the boats ahead of us trying to get into the top 5 and close to Szabo. Slowly we were able to pick off a few boats here and there to get back into it. By the finish we had worked our way up to second place behind Andy MacDonald with Star class rookie Jud Smith in third.

Our second place finish was good enough to win the regatta with Ross in second overall and Szabo third. The English Bay Star Fleet and Royal Vancouver YC put on a spectacular awards dinner which was capped off by a fireworks competition between Canada, Spain and China.

We would like to thank our coach, James Lyne, for keeping us going in the right direction, our host and good luck charm Brent Foxall for a great place to stay and all the regatta volunteers who put on the event.

In the next few days are going to drive our equipment to Los Angles and then get back to the east coast for a big fund raising event at Brad's home club on lake Sunapee in New Hampshire.

Star North American Championships in Vancouver - Day 3
So, today was a little different.... We woke up this morning to some light rain, overcast skies and a light breeze from a completely different direction. It took the Race committee a little extra time to figure out where to put the course because there were 2 new arrivals last night (freighters). This brought the total up to 7 which made the bay a little tight.

Once the race started the right side became heavily favored and it was that way all the way around the track. Most of the top teams were on that side and posted good finishes. We miss judged the current advantage on the right and found ourselves way back in the pack. George Szabo won the race easily with Rohan Lord second and Ross Macdonald third.

All of this will make for an exciting day of racing tomorrow. We are still leading by a point over Ross with George two points behind Ross. Tomorrow is the final race and the forecast looks like another light sea breeze from the West. It should be a great day of racing. We will let you know how it turns out.

Star North American Championships in Vancouver - Day 2
In the first race of the day we raced in a light westerly with the current changing from the ebb to the flood. The pack of boats that were able to hold their lane all the way to the left rounded first including Andy Mac, Horton*Nichol, and Ross MacDonald. We were able to get around Andy Mac at the bottom of the run and hold off the attacks from the rest of the fleet for a win. Mark Mendleblatt made a great move on the last run to finish second followed by Brian Ledbetter.

For the second race all we could think of was our host "Fox". He told us all we needed to know about racing in Vancouver when there was a flood tide was to race to the beach and when you see the kids in the water, keep going until they run away and then tack. Until today we weren't even sure which beach he was talking about. When the flood tide started and the windward mark was put in place for the second race it became quite clear which beach we would be on. Literally at one point we were "on" the beach. Luckily for us it was only a touch and go in the middle of a tack and it was worth it. We were in the middle of a three way tacking dual as the front pack made it up to the windward mark. Ross Macdonald was leading, we were 2nd and Lars Grael was third. All three of us were fighting up the shoreline trying to keep our noses out of the current, but also keeping an eye when to break out into the "river" to get to the windward mark. We got out of phase with Ross early in the tacking dual. This made Ross always the first boat to push out into the current as we tacked up the shore. He went out one time and took a loss so we put the bow right in on the beach scarring away a few kids and actually touching the bottom. It was just enough of a gain to leebow Ross when he tacked back to starboard. But now we had to fight off Lars who also had pushed into the beach one extra time. We had just enough space to cross Lars and hip up on the layline while Ross was forced back out into the current. We were fortunate to make it out of that corner and around the mark in first, continuing on for another win. Ross finished second and Brian Ledbetter was third.

When we came in we realized our grounding was not that bad as there were a few stories of people jumping out of their boats to push them off the sand.... All in all it was a tricky day. Light air and current are a difficult combination even without 400 foot tankers and 50 great teams. So we feel quite fortunate to have such a good day.

We are now in first (9pts) with Ross two points back (11pts) and Brian Ledbetter in third with 16 points. There are two races remaining. After one more race we will all get to drop a race from our final score.

Looks like a different day tomorrow. A small low is pushing in to Vancouver so the conditions may change yet again....

Star North American Championships in Vancouver - Day 1
The North American Championships kicked off with a beautiful day of sailing. Two races were sailed in 6-10 knots out of the west under perfectly sunny skies. The freighters moored around the race course were the talk of the day as they hung like flags in the confusing English Bay current. Normally the tide comes in and the tide goes out but when 400 foot hunks of steel lay across the bay, balanced by the current and the wind, it's hard to tell which way the water is moving. If you started and sailed straight for 3 minutes in either race today you would hit a freighter. So, one of the big calls was to start at the pin and go behind the freighter or to start at the boat and go above the freighter....

Ross MacDonald continued to show the fleet how to navigate the bay posting a 4th place in the first race, followed by a commanding win in the second. One point behind the local hero was Eric Lidecis and Mike Marzahl with a pair of third place finishes and Andy Horton and Brad Nichol in third with a 1, 6 to start the regatta.

Racing continues though Saturday with six races scheduled.

Star North American Championships in Vancouver - Preview
Team Horton*Nichol has been in Vancouver, BC for the last week preparing for the North American Championships (NAs). Vancouver is a beautiful city on a big bay (English Bay) with 1000+ meter mountains rising straight out of the water, capped with snow. The tide rips in and out of the bay causing current up to 5.8 knots at max ebb.

James Lyne, (coach) has been here with us to make sure we are in top form and it was a productive week of practice. After a week practice we raced the District 6 Championships / North American Tune Up Regatta over the weekend in some very difficult conditions. Saturday we raced in an easterly breeze under downtown Vancouver and were able to complete three races. The race committee split the locals off from the visitors and Ross MacDonald was able to post three bullets. In the visitor fleet we posted a 4, 3, 3 to lead the day with Lars Grael (BRA) close behind after he won the last two races of the day.

On Sunday we waited for the sea breeze to fill and got one race off with breeze from the opposite direction (west). The race was interesting because the whole strategy came down to deciding to tack over or under the second freighter moored in the course area... We decided to go under and won the race clinching first place in the tune up regatta. Lars Grael and Marcello Jordao (BRA) were second followed by Jim Buckingham and Scott Pack in third.

Ross Macdonald won the District event with 4 firsts sailing with the new secretary of the Crew Union, Jim Vandermolen. Jimmer has a new respect for crews world wide and vows to never drag over the side of a Star boat again.

The North American Championships start today (Wed) with six races scheduled though Sunday. In addition to the Silver Star at steak, this is the second to last US Olympic Team Trials Qualifier where the top five US boats earn a spot. The fleet is packed with top sailors including six Olympic Medalists from three countries and an array of World Champions from multiple classes. It should be an interesting week of sailing.

We hope to have the wind gods on our side and will keep you in tune with the action.

Cheers!
Andy & Brad

ISAF World Championships - Live On The Web!
The Star Class Medal race will take place at 10am eastern time today. You can watch it live on sail.tv

Sail TV will be broadcasting live coverage of the Medal Races for two hours daily on July 9-13. The channel will be providing two modes of coverage from Cascais, with a daily news update which is free to view, and live programming coverage of the event will be available for a fee. Details at www.sail.tv

ISAF World Championships - Day 4
Trying Conditions for All out on the Star Course at the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships By Lynn Fitzpatrick

The loud moan that Mateusz Kusznierwicz let out as he tried to approach the first weather mark from the port tack lay line and watched Ian Percy and a number of other boats coast around it, said it all. There was no need for translation. The winds and the current frustrated the Race Committee and the sailors alike. The fleet followed the Race Committee halfway to Lisbon before the winds turned on enough to start a race. Unfortunately the wind did not settle down for a while. It took an hour of fits and starts and going from being fully hiked to standing up in the boat searching for breeze, before the first race was called for both the Gold and the Silver Star fleets.

Racing finally looked promising for the US team as Andy Horton and Brad Nichol rounded the first weather mark first with Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams and fellow countrymen John Dane and Austin Sperry close on their tail. The regatta leaders, Scheidt/ Prada, Percy/ Simpson and Kusznierewicz/Zycki were well off the pace. Horton/Nichol held a 15-second lead at the second weather mark, but split with Pepper/Williams and Dane/Sperry and fell into a big hole on the right. Pepper/Williams and Dane/Sperry stayed left in a little more pressure and moved into the lead. Dane/Sperry and Pepper/Williams challenged each other all the way to the finish line while Horton/Nichol paid the price and slipped to 14th in the race. Dane/Sperry gave the US their first bullet of the regatta. Americans George Szabo and Andrew Scott and Percy/Simpson moved up through the fleet to finish third and fourth, respectively.

Following a general recall, the second start of the Gold fleet was held up so that the fleet’s start would not interfere with the Silver fleet’s run and leeward mark rounding. As the wind died, the natives got restless and started to make a lot of noise. Within minutes, both races were abandoned. So, with many hours on the water, only one race was sailed in the Gold fleet.

The Gold fleet will attempt three races tomorrow before the medal race on Monday. You can follow the racing at www.cascaisworlds2007.com

ISAF World Championships - Day 1
Low clouds hung over the headlands and extended as far as the eye could see over the water. A small swell and 8-10 knots of breeze – that picked up to the point that it whistled through the halyards of some of the spectator boats – prevailed throughout the day.

The Star racing was dominated by the established names in the class. 2005 World Champions Xavier ROHART and Pascal RAMBEAU (FRA) and 2006 World Champions Hamish PEPPER and Carl WILLIAMS (NZL) share the lead with identical 3,1 score lines because of the split fleet racing.

Behind the leading pair, Diego NEGRI and Luigi VIALE (ITA) and Robert SCHEIDT and Bruno PRADA (BRA), are tied for third are both posted one second and one fourth place. Just three points further back are PERCY and SIMPSON and Mateusz KUSZNIEREWICZ and Dominik ZYCKI (POL). Providing a perfect example of the quality of the fleet in Cascais, between them the top ten of the Star fleet have won six Olympic gold medals.

Americans Andy HORTON and Brad NICHOL (USA) had a solid day with a 7th place in the first race and a 4th place in the second race leaving them tied with USA teammates Mark REYNOLDS and Hal HAENEL (USA) in 8th place in the 63 boat fleet.

Racing continues through July 9th for the Star Class.

ISAF World Championship Preview
Over 1,000 boats and 1,600 sailors from 76 nations including 77 U.S. competitors will meet at the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Championship in Cascais, Portugal beginning Thurs., June 28. This regatta is the first of two Olympic qualifiers for the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition in China. World titles are at stake as well as 75% of the national slots in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. With the teams now having arrived, the place is starting to feel the nervous buzz typical of the build up to a major competition.

Team Horton*Nichol has already completed one training session on the site to test equipment and learn the venue. Their newest boat is awaiting their arrival this Sunday for the final tune up before the event. Surprisingly, this will be Andy & Brad’s first time in a boat together since November. Andy recently finished the Louis Vuitton Cup with Luna Rossa (Prada) as their strategist, going out in the finals against TNZ. Brad has sailed a number of regattas with other top Star skippers to stay sharp and keep the team moving towards their goal of the Beijing Olympics.

There are 132 Star boats from 32 countries entered in the event including 37 of the top 40 ISAF ranked sailors and many top international sailors who have been away from the Star while sailing the America’s Cup. This event will prove to have the highest level of competition anyone has seen in four years.

Traffic to the ISAF Worlds’ website cascaisworlds2007.com is going to be huge, which means that they are going to need to bolster their capacity. Hopefully there won’t be a repeat from the 2004 Olympics (or the 2007 Miami Olympic Classes Regatta), where the websites crashed at the start of racing because of the higher-than-expected traffic volume.

Traffic to the Team Horton*Nichol web site is also expected to be high. Last year during the World Championships the site saw over 189,000 visitors and 65,000 picture downloads. Be sure to check in for daily reports and photos from Cascais starting next week. Of course, Andy & Brad will continue to send their daily newsletter to keep you apprised of the action.

Team Horton*Nichol is proud to announce they have extended their partnership with Sperry Top-Sider through 2008. Since 1935, Sperry Top-Sider has been the leading brand of footwear for those who love the water and remains the vanguard of high-performance amphibious footwear. Check them out at sperrytopsider.com

America's Cup Update: Luna Rossa wins by 2:19 over BMW/Oracle in Race 1
The Louis Vuitton Semi Finals kicked off today with our man Andy Horton calling strategy aboard Prada on the Luna Rossa Team. It was a shifty day with offshore wind making boat speed less important and strategy key as they teams had to pick the wind shifts to win. You can see a replay of the action on the Versus TV Network (formerly OLN) in the US at Noon today and again from 4:30-7:00pm. In the intro Andy is interviewed about his team and how it is organized.

The Louis Vuitton Semi Finals is a best of nine series (first to five) against BMW/Oracle with the winner to move on to the finals against either Team New Zealand (1-0) or the Spanish (0-1). Luna Rossa leads the series 1-0.

In other Team Horton*Nichol news, Brad just returned from Cascais, Portugal where he was training on the World Championships site with current World Champion, Hamish Pepper. The two have teamed up recently while their respective teammates are tied up with America’s Cup sailing. Hamish’s normal crew, Carl Williams, sails with BMW/Oracle.

Brad and Hamish had wonderful sailing conditions in Cascais and were able to train with eight of the world’s top sailors on the site of the 2007 ISAF Combined World Championships, which begin July 1st. The training session gave them valuable insight into the local conditions and allowed them to test different set ups before the event.

Euro Springs 2007 – Day 5
After finishing the Princess Sofia regatta with five bullets Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada followed it up with another great regatta locking up the Spring Championships of the Eastern Hemisphere with one race to spare. They did it with the kind of moves that leave you wondering if they have an engine hidden away somewhere on their boat. Yesterday Scheidt passed us TWICE on a reach TO LEEWARD. Today in very light conditions they rounded the first mark in 22nd and were 12th by the leeward mark and then rounded the 3rd mark in 10th and were in 2nd by the leeward mark. The Brazilians are showing impressive speed and smarts all the way around the race course.

The rest of the mere mortals struggled with a long day on the water. The rain and clouds disappeared but they too the wind along with them and left the Stars bobbing in the bay wondering how those two TP52s could move so fast with so little wind. Our first attempt at a race was aborted after two legs when the wind shut off completely. A light sea breeze filled in an hour later and we tried again in the opposite wind direction.

It was a long slow race and there was plenty of room to pass and be passed as the fleet split up the first beat and had miles of separation from the left to the right. Hamish and I were able to work our way from 14th at the first mark to a close 8th at the finish two and a half hours after the race started. We were just far enough back to be out of the battle for first between four boats including Robert Stinjek from GER, Scheidt, Flavio Merazzi (SUI) and Marc Pickel (GER).

Tomorrow is the last race of the regatta and four points separate second though sixth place. The mortals will battle it out for Scheidt's scraps!

Tip of the Day: Never give up. What makes a great sailor is the ability to turn what looks like a terrible race at the first mark into a keeper at the finish.

Euro Springs 2007 – Day 3
The phrase 'fools in the rain' came to mind this morning as Hamish and I de-rigged our mast and pulled it out of the boat in the poring rain with winds gusting up to 30 knots. When I finally made it into the cafe after getting the boat put back together I certainly looked like a drowned rat and received plenty of quizzical looks. It was worth it in the end as our speed was good after the adjustments we made.

The wind finally came to Palma after two weeks of light air sailing but the clouds and rain hung around. A few times today this bright yellow sphere appeared in the sky, but disappeared as quickly as it came. I'm not sure what it was but I hope it comes back.

Today we raced triangle courses with reach (across the wind) legs, which are fast and fun when it is windy. In the first race we thought the pin end was favored and started at that end but ended up getting held out to the left on a 15 degree header for the first half of the leg by the boats starting to weathe rof us. Luckily we had good speed and made it to the first mark in the top 10. On the two reach legs we were able to pass a few boats but the leaders put some good distance on the fleet and we were left to fight for 5th though 10th and ended up 7th in the fist race.

Our coach got on us a bit between races for sailing on the edges of the course and not engaging the fleet. The wind picked up to a solid 22 knots and we decided to start at the boat end. We hit the line with speed and out-hiked the boats around us to get clear air off the line. We had a good battle with Robert Scheidt (BRA) and Xavier Rohart (FRA) up the first leg and made it to the weather mark in first. On the first reach Scheidt caught us quickly and passed us to leeward and Rohart snuck in at the jibe mark. On the second reach we battled with Rohart, meanwhile Scheidt slipped away into the distance.

We held position the rest of the way around the course and only once looked like we had enough leverage to pass the two leaders. We crossed the line, wet, tired, but in third place. It was a good day.

Tomorrow was scheduled to be out lay day (day off or reserve day) but since we lost our first day of sailing to no wind, we will sail one race. The weather seems to be improving and we might see the sun by the end of the trip.

Tip of the Day: When reaching in planning conditions it is important to first get the boat planning and then look for the mark. In marginal conditions you can make gains in a boat like the Star by sailing high and fast (if planning) in the puffs and taking the lulls low since you will be in displacement mode anyway. A bit counter intuitive, but a good way to make gains

Euro Springs 2007 – Day 2
Cold and wet does not even begin to describe how miserable the conditions were today. Our coach had seven layers on including thermals, dinghy spray gear AND off shore foulies and he was freezing all day.

Our forecast was for winds out of the north around 20 knots with rain and squalls all day. When we got to the start line for the first race the wind shut off and we sat there for an hour with the rain soaking through our layers. When the next squall came though it brought enough wind to start but by the time the starting sequence had ticked down to the starting gun, the wind had died at the boat end of the line and the fleet was stacked up at the leeward end. General recall.

Another delay and the wind settled down enough to race and Hamish and I got off the line at the leeward end with some real heavy weights around us. We were able to pinch off Robert Scheidt and hold our lane with the Norwegians but five minutes after the start, the Polish and Norwegians were able to tack and cross us and the rest of the fleet. We were pinned for another few minutes and by the time we were able to tack it was too late to get to the right side of the course. The wind went right at the top, and we rounded the first mark deep.

As we started sailing down wind, we spotted wind filling in from the left and were able to line it up just right and pass a lot of boats down the run. We picked up and few more boats on the second beat and rounded the last mark in the top ten. An early jibe at the mark put us in clear air and allowed us to work the waves uninhibited. We passed three boats to finish seventh, a great result considering where we came from.

As we prepared for the second start we noticed a wind line on the top left side of the course. The first pressure was going to be at the boat end so we started there in a big pack of boats. The French had a great start and we were not able to hold our lane and tacked away from the pack. As we worked right we kept getting lifted and by the time we had an opportunity to tack, it seemed like the whole fleet was in front of us.

We approached the weather mark at the same time as another squall opened up on the fleet. This time we did see out 20 knot winds and Hamish and I were able to jibe out while the boats around us struggled to stay in control. We had a lightning fast run blowing by boat the whole way and got back in contention. On the second beat we pegged it to the right side and came up roses rounding the mark in 6th. We worked our way down the run fending off a pack of Italian boats but missed the right gate which was favored by 25 or 30 meters. That put us back into the pack of boat hot on our tail. There was a lot of passing and pass backs on the final beat to the finish and we crossed the line in 10th. It was not until our coach came along side that we found out we were OCS.

Tomorrow we have another two races scheduled with equally wet conditions and who knows what the wind will do. My forecast is for 0 to 30 with 100% chance of rain and 25% chance of hail.

Tip of the Day: There is no such thing as bad weather, only poor clothing choices. When you go to Europe to sail, bring everything you have and put it on under your dry suit. Two layers of Patagonia capaline underwear did wonders today.

Euro Springs 2007 – Day 1
After the first scheduled day of racing 54 boats are tied for first as we sat in the cafe all day. The good news is I won at hearts. Tonight the social committee, in true Spanish form, scheduled the party to start at 23:00h.

Tip on the day: (Back by popular demand of Marc Pickel) Pass the Queen of spades!

Princess Sofia – Final
We ended the regatta on a high note with a solid third in the medal race moving us up to third overall in the regatta. Friday night the awards ceremony was held in castle in the old city and Queen Sofia and King Juan Carlos of Spain handed out the trophies. It was a spectacular affair attended by numerous state officials, military figures in full dress and of course, plenty of VIPs. It was quite a special experience.

The medal race included the top ten boats in the standings after nine races and the finish points count double. Robert Scheidt had a big enough lead going into the race that he only had to finish the race last to win the regatta. He stayed out of everyone's was and finished last to win.

The real action was for second to sixth place where any one of the five boats could have finished anywhere in the group. After a long delay for the wind to fill in the race committee started a sequence in about 12 knots. With two minutes to the start a big left shift came in and all the boats bunched at the pin. The race committee wisely decided to postpone the start and try again.

On the second start, the line was square to the wind and we had just had a big left shift. Hamish and I decided to start at the boat end and try to control the fleet on starboard tack. We had good speed off the line and any boats that wanted to tack had to duck us. We let three boats go and stayed with the pack that we could pass in the regatta standings.

We had enough speed to pull ahead of all but two boat on our side and let others tack out behind us. Only Marc Pickel and Deigo Negri remained to leeward when another left shift came in and carried us to the weather mark in that order.

Downwind things happened fast and before we knew it we were on the layline for the single leeward mark, no gate. This is signifigant because a gate allows you to split for the boats around you while you have to follow the leader around a single mark.

After the leeward mark we threw in two tacks to try to engage Pickel but the other competition was too close behind and we had to sail fast. We held position around the course to finish third behind Pickel and Negri which put us in third for the regatta.

Hamish and I are taking three days to practice and test out some new sails before we start the Spring Championships of the Eastern Hemisphere on Thursday. I have posted some pictures of Palma on our web site. It is truly a beautiful city.

Princess Sofia – Day 5
I went on the record saying it was not that cold here in Palma… Well, I changed my mind. The mix of cold cloudy skies, HAIL, and cold water made for a very unpleasant day. Top it off with difficult shifty conditions and poor race committee work and we finished the day a bit sour and with some work to do tomorrow.

In the first, and only race of the day we had one general recall and a start that should have been a general. With one minute and thirty seconds to go the fleet was lined-up right at the line and a micro puff blew down the line and all the boats lurched forward a length. At thirty to go I told Hamish I saw my line sight and we were well over the line. The boats around us trimmed on at 20 to go and we went with them. We were a good three or four boat lengths over when the gun went off and there was only 1 boat called over -- the Spanish who sailed up the course before the start. This has been the case all week with the Finn class and really makes for bad racing.

The race went on and was dominated by big shifts. Hamish and I made it to the weather mark in 35th and jibe-set downwind because everyone ahead of us was reaching to the leeward mark. Four boats behind us split from the fleet on a flier (aka hail mary) and ended up rounding the second mark in the top ten after a big left shift.

On the second beat we hung it out to the right where we saw a big, dark cloud and caught a nice righty. Even though we over stood the layline, we still rounded in the top 15. Again, we could lay the finish line from the weather mark and reached towards the finish in a big pack. Right at the line the wind died and Hamish and I were able to keep the boat moving and squeak by the committee boat to finish tenth.

Our tenth place finish moves us back to 5th overall. Robert Scheidt won his fifth race in a row to lock up the victory as long as he takes his victory lap and finishes last or better in tomorrow's medal race. Second through eighth place is very tight going into the medal race with points counting double and we could easily end up anywhere from second to eighth in the regatta.

Princess Sofia – Day 4
It is always interesting to see how different teams deal with the Olympic Quadrenniam schedule when planning their campaign. We are now 15 months from the Olympics at a venue known for good sailing conditions with good competition. We have two grade 1 events back to back with five days in between. Most of the Olympic front-runners are here in Palma with new equipment, some aren't even racing the first event so they can work out the kinks. Everyone seems to have something new and different. If you look closely at the pictures, many sails don't have company logos, and rather then just Lillia and Folli, there are six different boat builders represented in the fleet.

With all that is going on there is one thing for sure, Robert Scheidt is fast. He won both races again today in very tricky conditions. Hamish and I were trying some new things, like many of the other boats in the fleet, but we just didn't feel right today. It is one of those things where we were not slow, but we just didn't feel good and so you start playing with things and loose focus. The end result was a 6, 9 today with keeps us in third place with two fleet races and a medal race remaining. Marc Pickel moved into second place and second through sixth is very close in the regatta.

Princess Sofia – Day 3
Even the best make mistakes…

Today's sail out to the racecourse felt like an early June day on Lake Sunapee with cool clear air and wind coming for every direction. You always wonder what the day is going to bring when you sail alongside someone 100 ft away in the same direction on opposite tacks! We drifted around the starting area for 45 min before the wind came up abruptly.

After Hamish and I completed a short warm up (4 min on port, 2 min on starboard) we turned back towards the start line and spotted our class flag (signaling less than 5 min to go) and after sailing a minute down wind realized the P flag was up too (less than 4 min to go). Just then the P flag came down (1 min to go) and we were still two minutes from the line. The fleet started and sailed by us as we raced back to the starting line. Other boats were caught out also, Xavier Rohart did not even have his main sail up when the race started and four other boats started late.

Hamish and I sailed our hardest as the wind built though the race, whipping up some decent waves allowing us to surf down wind. We were able to pass boats and ended up crossing the finish line 10th.

The second race saw the wind building even more and we made some adjustments to our rig and made it to the start line in plenty of time. Unfortunately, we hit the pin boat at the start and had to do a penalty turn. By the second weather mark we had moved into the top ten but when we tried to cut off a few boats at the weather mark we did not make it around and had to jibe out. By the time we found another gap on the layline we had let a dozen boats pass and were back in the cheap seat again.

We worked our way to the second leeward mark and decided to go left. Just after we rounded, the wind went 20 degrees right and continued to shift right. We did all we could just to hold our position, and to end a bad race with an exclamation point, a Russian boat hit us just before the finish line when we were on starboard.

With a 10, 17 on the day we moved down to third place. Mateusz Kusznierewic (POL) moved from 7th to first with a 2, 2 on the day and Robert Scheidt (BRA) showed incredible down wind speed winning both races and moving into second. We have two more races tomorrow and two on Thursday before Friday's medal race.

Princess Sofia – Day 2
It was another tricky day on the water and conditions in this Mediterranean paradise continued to be cold and overcast. Our sail out to the racecourse seemed to include wind from around the compass with a mix just left of the sea breeze direction filling in just after our scheduled start time.

The course for the first race was considerably longer then the previous day's courses with the weather mark just out of sight. Racing up the first leg the boats on the left looked to be in more pressure and had a better angel to the mark. Many of our competitors tacked out to chase the left but Hamish spotted some pressure further right and went for it. When we came ashore many of our friends commented that we "came out of nowhere" to round the weather mark second. The right shift that propelled us to the weather mark held and we reached back and fourth to the finish in second place behind Lars Kiewning from Germany.

Just before the second start of the day the wind built enough to churn up some white caps. Hamish and I dialed up our rig and started just below the pack at the boat. We had good speed off the line but were positioned between Robert Scheidt and Xavier Rohart (2nd and 3rd place in the World Champs) so we decided to tack out rather then fight with the best in the world. With one short tack onto port another right shift we were on the layline in no time and tacked just to leeward of Alex Hagen, World Champion from Germany. Rohart came and tacked on our bow and it ended up being three World Champions battling for air on the layline.

We rounded in the top ten and jibe-set to reach towards the leeward marks. Everybody held position on the next two legs as the course was so skewed to the right. At the second weather mark the race committee moved the course to square it up to the wind. The subsequent run brought the fleet together as the wind diminished down the run. The leeward mark caused quite a traffic jam and a nice game of bumper boats ensued with entirely to few protest flags.

We escaped with only three boats running into us and went for the only clear air we could find on the left side. The wind shifted right and we finished 8th to bring our point total to 26 over two days which puts us in first by seven points over Xavier Rohart.

Tomorrow we have another two races scheduled and the conditions look to be similar. We expect to have more wind by Wednesday. You can follow online with up to the minute results at: www.trofeoprincesasofia.org

Princess Sofia – Day 1
I am back in Europe for the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma di Majorca, Spain. Majorca is an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea to the south of France and to the east of the Spanish mainland. The regatta is an ISAF Grade 1 event and part of the fledgling World Cup of Sailing and includes all 11 Olympic Classes plus the invited Dragon class. I am sailing with Hamish Pepper (NZL) while his crew and Andy sail the Americas Cup.

Day one saw light and shifty conditions out on the water and many classes did not even get a race started. The Stars are the largest boat competing so our course was the furthest out to sea and we actually got a nice sea breeze. In the first race the boat end of the line was very favored so Hamish and I battled for a good starting position at that end. We tacked out immediately into clear air and were able to work our way up the right side of the course.

The conditions were very tricky with ocean swells coming from the right and lots of confused waves over the swell. We had to constantly move around the boat to keep it balanced and moving fast. We were able to succeed at keeping the boat going and made it to the weather mark first. The course was short and the wind was light so we were able to stay between our competition and the next mark for the rest of the race to finish first.

In the second race we were favoring starting at the boat again but with 3 min to go, Hamish saw a left shift coming. We sailed down to the opposite end of the line and were able to start and cross the fleet right off the line. The wind picked up and made the racing even more physical as we still and to move with the waves, but now had to hike hard also. We exchanged tacks with the lead pack of six boats for five legs and lost a few right at the finish by over-standing the finish line (sailing past the shortest distance) to finish fifth.

Robert Scheidt won the day with a 2, 2, followed by Pepper/Nichol with a 1, 5 and Matthias from Poland with a 6, 1.

We are scheduled to sail two races a day through Thursday and then the top 10 boats will sail a "medal Race" on Friday. We then take Easter weekend off and stay in Palma to race the Spring Championships of the Eastern Hemisphere next week.

Expert Olympic Garda – Race Report
I recently had the opportunity to travel to Lake Garda, Italy for the Expert Olympic Garda Regatta, a ISAF Grade 2 event, with World #1 ranked Star skipper Hamish Pepper from New Zealand. Hamish has recently won the World Champs, North American Champs, and the Bacardi Cup. Needless to say, he is hot right now.

As you can see from the pictures in the Gallery, Lake Garda is beautiful. It is a long (40 miles) narrow lake with mountains rising 2000 meters on either side. In the morning the wind drains off the mountains in the north and blows a cold 15-20 knots until it abruptly dies at 11am. At this point the sun has come up over the mountains and has started to heat the air on the snowfields. By 1pm the wind has filled in from the opposite direction and continues until the sunsets.

Racing in these predictable conditions is wonderful but provides for some very long days as Hamish and I would get out of bed and have breakfast before the sun was up so we could hit the water at 7am for our 8am start. We sailed two races in the morning, had a two-hour lunch and then attempted two races in the afternoon. The wind did not cooperate in the afternoon as much as we would have liked because of the haze.

The Star class attracted 37 boats, including some very strong Italian and German sailors, and provided for some great competition. We sailed trapezoid courses in the same race area as the Tornados (Olympic Catamaran). I have never raced a trapezoid course and even though the TV crews seemed to like the reaches, they did not provide anything but a parade for the competition.

Hamish was a pleasure to sail with, always calm and focused, and constantly trimming the boat for maximum speed. We won every race sailed in the morning northerly breeze, possibly because our European competition does not function very well after the hearty Italian meals served late the previous night, and held our own in the afternoon to win the regatta.

I would like to thank Hamish and his fiancée Annabel for a great week and I look forward to our next regatta together in Palma!

Pineapple Cup - Preview
The Pineapple Cup (aka Montego Bay Race) starts tomorrow off of Ft Lauderdale and I will be sailing on Harold Denton's 50 ft Cruiser/Racer "Valour." Valour was named boat of the year by Cruising World Magazine and has completed many of the blue water classics including the Fastnet and Newport-Bermuda Races.

The course from Florida, through the islands of the Bahamas and the Windward Passage, past Cuba to Montego Bay, Jamaica is a classic beat, reach and run, providing different challenges and conditions along the route. Frequently called "ocean racing's most complete test," the "MoBay" Race stretches the seamanship and navigational skills of even the most experienced blue water sailors.

The Valour Crew including Harold Denton, Tom Lawton, Pieter Van Geest, Jeff Jones, David Risby, Mark Scheffer, Charlie Marts, and myself will do our best to write race reports from sea and send them via satellite phone to be uploaded to the Horton*Nichol Web site. Bookmark this page and check back frequently for updates!

Conditions from the start look to be interesting with a 20 knot northwesterly blowing in bringing big waves and cold temperatures. We expect it to be down near 40 degrees tomorrow night! The upside is we will have the wind at our backs and will make short work of crossing the Gulf Stream.

I will be back in the Star Boat March 4-9 sailing the Bacardi Cup with Paul Cayard. The Bacardi Cup is a truly extraordinary event and worth watching if you can make it down to sunny Miami!

Thank you to Eli Lesser-Goldsmith at thehighest.com for his great work on the web site


US Sailing Rolex Miami Classes Regatta - Day 4 & 5
After posting two OCS's in the qualifying series Vince and I were relegated to the silver fleet at the split. While many people give up if they do not qualify for the gold fleet, Vince and I decided to continue racing since we were both here to learn and improve.

Thursday brought uncertain weather with a cold front forecasted to bring high winds, thunderstorms and cold weather. The race committee decided to hold the sailors on shore until the front passed but after a quick look at the radar, Vince and I decided we had time to take some pictures of a test sail. We snuck the quick sail in and made it back onto the trailer before the storm hit, and after it passed we were back out to race.

It was cold with gusty winds out of the WNW at 22-27 knots. We had good speed but kept getting caught in traffic and posted a 7th place. After the first race the race committee had trouble getting the line set in the strong winds and sent us in after 30 minutes of attempts to anchor. We slogged home in 25 knots of breeze, upwind, with temperatures in the low 50’s. It took almost two hors to get in and we were all spent.

Today brought sun and cool temps with nice wind out of the north. Conditions were very puffy and shift with the offshore breeze and we saw 40-degree shifts with large changes in velocity. Vince and I worked on putting ourselves in tough positions on the racecourse and digging ourselves out to continue to get better. We posted a 4th and a second and finished second to Colin Beashel in the silver fleet.

Overall, it was a difficult week for us but we both learned a lot and were able to test a number of sails and see how they worked in a wide range of conditions. As great as it was to sail with Vince, I can't wait until Andy and I are back in the boat together ripping it up!

Tomorrow we are going to go out and practice before watching the medal races. It will be my 8th day on the water in a row, but I need all the practice I can get!

US Sailing Rolex Miami Classes Regatta - Day 3
Well, I am having trouble recalling the day because my head is spinning from all the penalty turns we completed in the second race, but I do know that we are going fast. The end result of the day was a 17, OCS in the two races putting us in 38th place, counting one of our two OCS's. Tomorrow the fleet gets shuffled into Gold and Silver with the top 34 boats (1/2) in the Gold Fleet. Each fleet will sail four more races over the next two days and then the top 10 boats from the Gold fleet will race the medal race on Saturday. Essentially our regatta is over but we will continue to race and learn as much as we can because each day of racing is a day of training for the Olympics in August 2008 in Beijing!

US Sailing Rolex Miami Classes Regatta - Day 2
The day started out looking like a good day for golf. The two forecasts that we received included terms like "light and variable" and "the bay will glass over." The race committee postponed on shore and we were left to sit in the hot humid parking lot waiting for wind. Against all odds, a sea breeze began to fill and the race committee sent us out to try for a race. After a few hours of bobbing around in light air, the wind filled in enough for a race around 2pm

Vince and I were in the blue fleet again and were the first to start. The pin was favored and the sky was clear on the left side so we decided to work the left. Things happen in slow motion in light wind and the calamity at the pin was a long way coming and we could not avoid it. Three boats in front of us were over the line taking our air and one boat next to us was trying to go back to restart. By the time we cleared ourselves from the traffic jam things looked bleak. We stayed focused and were able to find some clear air up the first leg and made it to the top of the course in the middle of the fleet.

Down wind the fleet kept sailing high of the course to the leeward mark fighting for every bit of wind. We were able to keep clear and pick up a few boats. At the leeward mark we were working hard to stay ahead of a boat that was close behind and were late getting the boat ready to go upwind. I was very close to turning our brand new jib into a handbag but was able to correct the situation with a quick jog to the bow to clear the tangled sail. The botched rounding forced us to sail to the right side of the course and half way up the leg there were two miles of separation between the right and left side. At this point a large shift could have shifted the standings significantly but in the end, we all came to the weather mark about even.

The final leg was more of the same battle for clear air and we held our position to finish 7th, a great come back after a difficult start. Tomorrow looks to be similar to what we ended up racing in today with a light to medium sea breeze. Tomorrow is the final day of the "qualifying series" and after tomorrow's races the fleet will be split into gold and silver for two days of racing before the final medal race on Saturday.

US Sailing Rolex Miami Classes Regatta - Day 1
The 2007 edition of the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta brings interesting changes for the Star Class. This year the class is racing split fleets, meaning that only half the boats race at one time rather then having all 70 boats on the same race course. With only 34 boats on the line the courses can be shorter demanding more physical racing and putting a premium on top three finishes.

Today was another perfect day for sailing on Biscayne Bay with sun and 15 knots of breeze out of the south. We were in the Blue Fleet today, which started at 11am, the yellow fleet started at1pm and each day they will reconfigure the fleets. Vince and I sailed a good first race solidly in the top 10 but were disqualified for a false start along with 25% of the fleet.

In the second race we had a tough start at the boat end of the line but were able to sail a good first beat getting to the top of the course in the top five but as we approached the mark we fouled another boat. After we completed our penalty we were third from last. We continued to work hard and passed boats each of the next three legs to finish 11th (official results still pending).

Tomorrow looks to be light and tricky racing. You can follow along at www.rolexmiamiocr.org

US Sailing Rolex Miami Classes Regatta - Preview
Greetings from Valencia,
Today is the first day of the US Sailing Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta. This event is the largest gathering of Olympic class sailors in the USA and has over 850 athletes attending this year.
Unfortunately at the last minute I (Andy) was not able to make it to this event. As you may already know I sail on a team that is trying to win the America’s Cup - Luna Rossa Challenge. For the last two years the team has given me the time needed to compete in the Star. Now with only tree months left before the beginning of the Louis Vuitton Cup, I need to be here in Valencia helping my team win the Cup. Luckily Brad and I were able to get Vince Brun to step in again as a guest skipper on our boat for this regatta. Vince is a very talented sailor and has won the Star World Championship along with many other events.

I’m sure Brad and Vince will have a great regatta. The forecast looks good for the whole week. I wish I could have made it, but I am glad Brad is there to compete and absorb all he can from a great sailor like Vince.

Brad will be writing daily reports from the regatta starting this afternoon. I can’t wait to hear about the competition.
Andy