Ted Ferrarone Competes at 5o5 World Championship
August 23-29, 2009
San Francisco, CA
LYC’s Ted Ferrarone with crew Doug McKeige contested the 2009 5o5 World Championships in San Francisco on August 23-29. The Worlds were marked by typical August San Francisco Bay conditions with winds well over 20 knots that tested teams and equipment alike. Ted and Doug broke their mast on the first day and missed two races, but rebounded to finish 41st overall in an extremely competitive 97-boat fleet, mixing it up with the top 10 in the latter half of the event. We caught up with Ted to find out what it takes to compete in one of the world’s toughest and most enduring performance dinghy classes.
Ted Ferrarone and Doug McKeige (sail 8919) blast downwind at the 2009 505 World Championship
Chad Corning: How did you decide to go for the Worlds this year?
Ted Ferrarone: I have always wanted to go to the Worlds but it is a huge commitment and for a variety of reasons was not able to attend prior World Championships. With the 2009 Worlds in the U.S. and on the famed Berkeley Circle, this was a not-to-be missed event. I teamed up with Doug McKeige from American YC for the Midwinters this past February to see if things clicked. We had a great time and set a goal of competing at the top end of the Worlds fleet.
CC: How did you prepare?
TF: We did a ton of training, both on and off the water. We sailed eight regattas prior to the Worlds, including flying out to San Francisco for a warm-up event in June to test our gear on the Worlds course and get used to the conditions. We trained locally in the spring and in Florida during the winter. I also sailed ICs all winter at LYC, which was a huge help at the chaotic mark roundings and starts we experienced during the event. We made a real effort to dial in our gear and fitness as we knew that the Worlds would be a gear-buster. Even with all of our prep, we still pushed the gear pretty hard, including breaking a carbon fiber boom in half, cracking our rudder, and breaking our mast on a capsize (editor’s note: the Berkeley Circle is very shallow, and there were more than 30 broken masts during the Worlds, including the regatta winners and runners-up). In retrospect, while we developed great speed and boathandling in typical east-coast conditions, we were not able to spend enough time training in the big breeze and did not have the pace and confidence of the top teams once the breeze got over 18 knots.
Ferrarone and McKeige planing upwind in, over and through the
San Francisco Bay chop
CC: Tell us about the event. What went right? What went wrong?
TF: The event is a real marathon – 6 days of racing with a combination of one and two race days (total of 9 races). There is a lay day in the middle, and most teams sailed the Pre-Worlds as well, adding another 3-5 days of sailing. The courses are very long – 7 or 8 leg Olympic courses with 1.8 mile beats. It blew over 20 knots every day, and the sail home was approximately 6 miles upwind in the maximum breeze of the day, so the days were very long. There were 97 teams in attendance, with large contingents from the U.S., UK, Australia, Germany, and a smattering of other countries. 505s use a rabbit start, so the starts are relatively clean, but even with the long courses, the mark roundings can be very crowded. It gets pretty exciting when you are planing into the gybe mark, barely making it with the kite up, and the three boats ahead of you flip over!
We did not have a great finish overall, but did have a great learning experience. We had some tough breaks early on that resulted in two DNF’s and put us way back in the standings. We kept our heads up though, and had some great finishes in the latter part of the event. The last three races were in more moderate conditions (for San Francisco – 15-18 kts) and we were up in the top ten in all three at various points, which was exciting. We rounded the top mark in the last race in fourth, overlapped with 3-time World Champion Chris Nicholson and ahead of a number of other World Champs – pretty exciting. Of course if you make even a minor mistake, they are by you like you are on the mooring!
CC: What were your big takeaways/lessons learned?
TF: Attending a world championship is a huge undertaking, and takes a real commitment if you plan to compete at the top level. This is especially true at a windy venue like San Francisco Bay, where mistakes are really punished (e.g. if you capsized anywhere on the leeward half of the course it was almost certain that you would break your mast and get a DNF). The logistics of moving the boats/gear/team cross country, adequately preparing the gear and team, and then actually racing in a very large, competitive fleet are truly challenging. The good teams have been at it for years and their level of commitment and preparation is amazing. It is great to get out of your comfort zone and race against the best in the world. Although we didn’t end up with a great result at this year’s Worlds, we had a fantastic season and were going really well towards the end of the event, so we are game for more.
For complete results and more photos of the 2009 SAP 5o5 World Championships, please visit the event website.
