Up-and-Coming LIS 470 Team has Best Regatta Finish

Young Long Island Sound 470 Team Brendan Kopp and Mike Costello just finished sailing their best 470 regatta this past week at Rolex Miami OCR. We talked to Brendan about what made this regatta so successful and what he has planned for future 470 sailing.

SF: Could you describe the Miami OCR 470 regatta racing and conditions?

BK: OCR is one of the biggest events of the year for us, a chance to race against the best teams in the world right here in the US. This year 41 teams competed, with nearly all the top 20 teams in the world on hand. Over the 5 days of racing we saw all types of conditions -- from breezy and rougher conditions on days 1 & 2, to shifty up-and-down off-shore breeze on day 3, to near-drifting conditions on day 4, and finally finishing out with another day of shifty and puffy off-shore breeze on day 5. Throughout the event we were pretty consistent, managing to finish in or near the top 15 in 4 of 9 races. With such a tight fleet and such strong competition, mistakes were costly and unforgiving. Still, we did a pretty good job avoiding big errors, and when we did slip up our speed was generally good enough to recover. This was the type of event where every race is a constant battle. It was exciting to fight it out with the best in the world, and even more so to be confident that we could beat them!

SF: What contributed to your success this regatta?

BK: Preparation. It takes a long time to work your way up in the 470 fleet because of the high level of competition, the need for big regatta experience, and the practice time it takes learning sail the boat properly and maximize boat speed over a range of conditions. It is no surprise that the best 470 teams have been at it for years, some over a decade. We have come a long way in the two years since we started sailing the 470 (at the 2009 OCR!). The work we have put in since then has begun to pay off in that we understand the dynamics of racing at this level, and feel confident in our tuning, boat speed, and technique. In addition to this long-term effort, we spent about 3 weeks in December and January training on Biscayne Bay leading up to the event. This allowed us to work on boat-handling, starts, etc. and get back into the flow of things after a while out of the boat.

SF: What events or practices do you have planned in the near future?

BK: For now it's back to school, and college sailing this spring. We will be back in the 470 in the spring/summer. The most important event on our calendar is Sail for Gold in the UK this June. This is the first part of the US Olympic Trials, so we'll be doing everything we can to get ourselves ready. We definitely opened some eyes with a high level of sailing at OCR this year, and I think we'll prove we're even better at our next event!

SF: What would you tell younger sailors who are thinking of getting into 470 sailing and representing their country?

BK: The 470 is an incredibly challenging but rewarding boat, which I think is what draws so many people to it. All of the Olympic classes are really exciting boats to sail because of how competitive the fleets are, and this is certainly true in the 470 class.

Thanks Brendan! Check out more about Team Kopp/Costello on their campaign website: http://www.teamkoppcostello.org/TeamKoppCostello/Home.html