LOC 2012
Jesper Orth AUS 10 got 2’nd at the Lancelin Ocean Classic… and won the Slalom the next day.
“Flying start and 1’st to the 4-5km outside mark!!, – Volwater came and passed me on the very deep downwind”…
Here is the rest of Jesper’s story:
“The forecast was for light wind, so I started to prepare and tune the KArace 9.4 some days before. Normally I would not use this size but have 8.7 as the biggest. But I also know the downwind legs in the LOC are very off the wind and you would need the extra sail size to go deep with speed. My trim with the 9.4 felt great straight away, so I knew I was in with a good chance with this setup.
The day finally came for the race and I also rigged the KArace 7.9 , just in case if the wind would pick up unexpected. I did a few test runs on the 9.4 and everything felt good.
My start position was 9 on the line for our running beach start. Bjoern was 8th just upwind and next to me. It is always challenging to run with the gear and this year I changed a little my style to run with it and think it paid off.
The start went and I got relatively clean wind straight away. First leg was a long 4-5km half wind to slightly off the wind. Local long leg Dan Engdal did have the best start and he master this nearly every year. I followed Dan and was catching up to him slowly. Just below me was Danny Aeberli on the KArace 8.7 going the same speed as me on the half wind angle. Dan sailed towards the wrong boat, but realized his mistake just in time and corrected. Not sure how many sailors followed him?. Suddenly it was a deeper downwind to the 1st mark and I managed to get there first. At this stage I did not know where Bjoern, Diethelm, Wolvater, Lockwood where? But know I might see them soon enough, so I just focused to look forward and make the jibe. Stoked to make it in 1st to first mark as it shows the sail works 100% on the half wind and slightly off the wind!! Happy to see Danny there as well, right behind me on the KArace 8.7 and smaller board.
Sure enough Volwater came closer to me and passed on the deep downwind. I tried to hang on to him and for a while it seemed like the distance was the same. Next thing that happened was something I feared could happened… The helicopter that was filming and taking pictures came way to close to me. First I got a good gust and could hang on with the wind from behind but next thin the heli swung around and went to my leeward side. “You have to be kidding me” I thought when the head wind gust hit me straight from the front and flatten my sail into my face and next into the water… The water “was boiling” when Lockwood passed me from behind with a big grin on his face..
I finally got going again and could after a few more downwind legs get contact with Lockwood and pass him going a little deeper with more speed. Wolvater was at his stage too far ahead.
On the 2’nd last slalom leg Diethelm decide to “join the party” and we had a good fight for position. He managed to slip below me and get around the last mark just in front of me. Normally from here we would sail straight through the passage in the reef and into the finish on the beach, but under the light wind it was also a different direction than usual. So nobody could go deep enough and we were forces to make 2 extra jibes. The tricky part was to avoid the 200-300 long knee deep reef and also battle with rolling breaking swell. I did my first jibe before Diethelm and could gain a lot of ground as he could not sail over the reef. Next jibe was “for the kill” and here we faced not much wind at all between the waves. Lots of pumping was going on and I managed to sneak through the gate and make it to the beach in 2’nd place. Pretty stoked with that..
Congrats to Peter for 1st place”
1 Peter VOLWATER
2 Jesper ORTH
3 Patrick DIETHELM
4 Chris LOCKWOOD
5 Isaac DE VRIES
6 Rowen LAW
7 Steven STRATFORD
8 Daniel AEBERLI
9 Bjorn DUNDERBECK
10 Blair GAVIN
Party was big and fun (of what I remember).
Next day we had the Slalom event. Fun thing to do especially with a big hangover,,
We did 2 rounds and I could win both finals using the KArace 8.7.
Jesper / KA
