Sixth Time Is The Charm: Senior Jimmy Costakis goes to Singlehanded Nationals

It had long been my dream to qualify for Laser nationals. Every fall since sophomore year of high school, I would drive to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, or Chicago to compete in the Midwest qualifier. Each time I would fall short. But for me, the sixth time was a charm.
As a senior, I had one last chance. The qualifier was in Milwaukee in early October. After two days of extremely close racing, under conditions varying from drifting conditions to a stiff sea breeze of 15 knots, I clung to a qualifying spot by one point. I was on my way to nationals!
I arrived in cold, overcast Ithaca, New York on October 23rd. The next morning, a stiff breeze greeted the 18 men and 18 women sailors who had qualified for the event. Our brand-new boats were neatly arranged on the grass, dew trickling down their sides. After an hour-long procession, we obtained our sails, rigging, and spars, and got to work flipping, rigging, and inspecting the boats. Soon, all 36 of us were on the water, surrounded by pleasant fall foliage. I was very glad to be there.
But Friday’s five races would put that positive attitude to the test. In the first race, I fought my way to the first mark in 12th, but finished 16th after capsizing three times. The second race saw the same finish, as I sailed tentatively downwind, avoiding capsize. Exhaustion began to set in. In the third race, I capsized once, falling from 14th to 16th.
Then, in the fourth, I could no longer keep my composure. The upwind legs were endurance races: with winds above 20 knots, it was all I could do to keep my boatspeed in the same ballpark as my competitors. The air was cold, the water colder, and each
capsize brought me closer to exhaustion. As I rounded the weather mark, my boat hopped up onto a plane. I smiled. But keeping the 130 pound boat stable as it flew downwind was no easy task for me in my fatigued state. I capsized twice. Then, as I capsized a third time, I was thrown from my boat while grasping the tiller defiantly. I heard a cracking sound. But as I slowly crawled back into my righted boat, nothing appeared to be broken. I grabbed the tiller and sheeted in. I was no longer steering the boat – only half the tiller was in my hand: I was waving it through the air as the other half steered the boat toward a fourth capsize. I got control of the boat and sailed in toward shore. I had broken my own carbon tiller, but I had a backup on shore that
LaserPerformance had provided the boats. Helpful Cornell sailors held my boat as I grabbed the backup tiller and quickly swapped out my broken one. Another men’s division sailor was having trouble, so the race committee started the women’s division while I sailed quickly back out to the race course. I made it out to the course for the next race, but struggled with the shorter tiller, capsizing twice and finishing 18th. I finished the day 2 points out of 16th place.
Saturday was rainy and not as windy, but I was still thoroughly tired from Friday. I struggled to get off the starting line with my competitors. I would set up well, but sheet in a second too slowly, or hike a little too late. I remained in 17th place after Saturday.
Sunday I finally felt as though I was competing competently. The air was warmer and dry, and the wind had calmed a bit. In race 15, I gybed outside near the finish to catch a puff, narrowly passing 2 boats and finishing a regatta-best 15th. I was still not satisfied. In race 16, I saw a right favor, and won the boat. I hiked hard, sailed smart, and rounded the weather mark in 6th. After a mediocre downwind leg, I rounded the wrong gate, and stayed out left too long on the beat – I fell to 17th in a single leg.
This would be the pattern for the day – strong first beats, mediocre downwind legs, and poor decisions on the second beat.
In the next race, I rounded the weather mark in 7th after a bad start. I nearly pinched off Thomas Barrows, a sailor from Yale who competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the Laser. But again, I rounded the wrong gate, tacked off a lift, and fell to 16th.
As the warning sounded for the final race, I decided that I was not satisfied with my performance. I would sail my very hardest. A tricky start left me in the second row, but I hiked as hard as I possibly could, squirting out to the right with Billy Martin from Boston University. For several minutes we battled for first, trading positions with each header and lift. My legs burned. After two tacks in, I was in first by a hair, only 10 boat-lengths from the mark. Unfortunately for me, a lefty snuck in, winding six competitors inside of me at the mark – I rounded 7th. Again, the wrong gate, the wrong way on the second beat, and I fell to 16th. But now I was happy. Now I knew I could hang with the fastest college Laser sailors in the country.
I just have to learn how to sail downwind.
Special thanks go to the University of Wisconsin sailing team, and the Porter family. They were kind enough to offer me rides to and from the sailing venue and the airport. We ate meals together, and John Porter, a Wisconsin alum, helped me rig a sweet system using the stock LaserPerformance setup. John and his father helped coach me at the event.