My perspective at the 2014 World Championships in

Posted Yesterday, 05:32 PM I just got back from the event at Smith Creek located in the heart of the Nevada desert near Austin Nevada. Its about a 16 hour haul for me. I'm an avid iceboater up here in Montana and get to land sail a few times a year at the Americas Landsailing Cup and the HolyGale. in the Nevada deserts. Over the last few years I've been preparing for the Worlds. A new class called the 5.6 International Mini has emerged recently. Its caught on like wildfire all over the world. I decided to join the fray. I build all my equipment from scratch. From experience from bigger dirtboats I decided to take a different approach to the design that what was previously out there. I made mine more like a class 3 bigger dirt boat more than a stick framed mini. I concentrated on aero dynamics and function rather than the typical light weight approach. My mini weighs twice as much as most about 150 lbs. My sheeting system is a winch and drum system. I used 1/8'' spectra and made my own blocks with sliding glass door rollers rather than your typical Harken stuff. My traveler is also a home grown device made with skate board bearings from the local skate shop. I made it so you can pull it to weather. I completed the mini last fall. I converted it to an iceboat and sailed it for hundreds of miles and many many hours as an iceboat to get some practice for the event. I broke the boat 4 times prior to the Worlds. Its a good thing to sail some thing hard to find the weak spots. The framework of the boat started with a conduit bender I bought at Home Depot. The tubing bender radius set the tone for the whole boat and how big of round tubing I could use. The fuselage is also based off of the front wheel. I decided to go very aero to the front wheel is buried inside the fuselage. Everything gets complicated when you do that. After the frame work comes the aluminum sheeting. I worked with Bruce Peterson at Sailworks for the sail package. I had him do a few tweaks on the normal sail designs to suit my needs. A few weeks before the event I did a few more changes that really paid off for the conditions at the Smith Creek. The mini class is a brilliant class with 3 rules - #1 - 4.8x8 tires or the equivalent in size. #2 a round mast section 3# the boat must fit in a 5.6 meter rope that wraps around the wheels as they touch the ground. This leaves one with unlimited sail size and freedom in design. So if your a big or little person you still have a chance. The Minis race first two and a half days in the World Championships. The rest of the classes race the remaining days. The weather was awful! 95 to 100 degrees no wind for the first day. I've been racing dirtboats since 1980 and sometimes I still get sick to my stomach pre race. This was the most stressful racing I've ever done. I was going up against the European and prior World Champion.There were about a half dozen others that would be really though to beat. I have been watching those guys on the internet over the years so I knew what to expect. Most if not all there boats are a factory boat or a partial factory boat that I'm assuming are sponsored or partially sponsored by the manufacturer. In fact the French get paid by the government if they win or place at a World Championship. The sport is very popular in Europe compared to the US. There are even landsailing schools in France. They are usually dominate competitions. FISLY president Alan Watson told me I was mentioned as wild card with his correspondence with CNN Main Sail. I guess I was being followed on line as well. Day one- Not much wind but plenty of heat. We sat around from 10 am to about 7pm waiting for wind briefing after briefing every hour or so. It was tough to be filled with pre race nerves and staving off dehydration. I got a ripping head ache from dehydration and felt lethargic most of the afternoon. They started one race I lead most of the way only to turn about to find 3 Euros pushing like Jack rabbits toward the next mark while I'm trying to sail. The race was black flagged due to lack of wind. Racing cancelled at 7pm wind arrives 7:10 pm. Murphys Law. Day two - 10 am race briefing. I feel much better this am. My brother Scott a cyclist is helping me stay healthy. He is pumping me up with all kinds of fluids and go fast cycling supplements through out the day. First race I win but is black flagged due to the three quarters of the fleet not being able to sail. Second race I come in second just behind the former World Champion from Germany.Third race three boats are over early I hit the line at speed on the good side of the line. I stay in third but end up in first due to there mistakes. Race 3 the wind one eighties so the coarse is reversed. Its a short coarse with 4 to 5 marks wrapped around camp so spectators can view easily. I'm used to a windward leeward iceboat type coarse. My boat even tough its heavy does very well on the short circuit. I've got the sail set up for low end performance. I do most of my passing going down wind. The lighter the wind the better I do. You can see defeat in the eyes of a few that were expected to be favorites. Passed mid day a thunder storm is brewing in the distance. We see the dust from afar coming our way. I tip my boat over to secure it and other follow suite. The wind and dust hit and I can only see about 4 feet. We lay on our sails getting pelted by the lake bed getting ripped off itself. It feels like hail. It lasts about 40 minutes. Sven the German World champion gets off his sail after the storm and can't find his boat. It got loose with no mast or sail and blew down the dry lake 2 miles away. The gps revealed a top speed of 32 miles per hour with no rig. With the dust came rain which caked mud clods on to everything. It took a while to get things cleaner again. The storm went away as fast as it came leaving no wind for a while. The next race I am in second following the leader about 3 feet behind. We are tired from the heat. He starts rounding one of the marks the wrong way. I follow until just before the mark I get yelled at by a French pilot bearing down on me so we don't collide head on around the mark. Collision averted I round only to be fouled by The previous leader. I am rattled and sail to wrong way again. At the last second I looked over my shoulder to see 3 boats sail the proper course so I quickly jibe down to the mark in hot pursuit. In the end I clawed back a few spots after my stupidity. 2 more races and 3 more black flagged races later I'm leading mini class by one point. That night I collect 1 daily first award and another award for leading the class for the first day. I'm stoked and surprised at my success! Day three - I'm even more nervous than before since I'm in the lead. I have a huge target on my back. The 2 minute sailing start could do you in as 40 plus boats are wizzing around at 25 miles per hour jockeying for the windward pin at speed. One of the US guys get t boned at the prestart. The French boats front wheel ends up in the Americans lap badly cutting his knee with the front fork. Most of the French are really getting good at their starts. I am not. I hold back a bit so as not to foul anyone or get in a wreck in which there are plenty. I find the windward pin area is pretty clogged up. I choose the middle. I find I can claw my way back to the top if there are enough laps with in the 10 minute timed race. We race for 10 minutes who ever is in the lead after 10 minute wins. That usually translates into 3 to 4 laps. The first races goes well for me I come in second. Another race I'm way in the lead only to sail into a hole the rest of the fleet goes left as they see me floundering on the right. the lap before the right payed big. The race is eventually black flagged due to lack of wind. One more black flagged race. The next race I get a bad start and end up in fifth place. I am adding up numbers from the placements the night before I think I'm still in first. The second place boat the day before is mid fleeting. The third place guy now second is now my biggest threat. The cut off is 1 pm. Its 12:30 I just want the time to run out. The wind returns and off we go. I'm in third before the race is black flagged. As I'm pushing back I throw my helmet sky high knowing I won. Mean whilke back at the pre start area it's after 1:06 pm The race committee thinks its a good idea to hold one last one lap race. I feel screwed over someone shoot me with a gun. This thing is over I say to myself over and over. I don't get good starts and I need time to run the other boats down. The races starts I'm about 10th. I pass 4 boats before the weather mark and turn down wind. The wind dies the race is Black flagged and I become 2014 World Champion 5.6 International Mini !! Later that week I raced in class 2 and ended up in fourth place. My nephew Will raced class 3 and helped the USA get the team medals for that class. Thanks to FISLY and NALSA for organizing the event. Thanks to my family who kept me healthy during the racing. John Eisenlohr US772 Pictures posted below except the one with my nephew Will and I and Shirley Robertson and I www.pbase.com:443/waltercarels/wc14 are all taken by Walter Carrels If you look though his photos you will some spectacular photos of high speed capsizes in other classes. - press releases of the event www.nalsa.org...Pages/news.html as well as video of the event - www.youtube....h?v=tKqoYj_LoHU Dust storm via drone during Mini day 2 - www.youtube....eature=youtu.be





Photos top CNN Main Sail host and two time Olympian Shirley Robertson and I. CNN Main Sail will have a report on the Worlds next month

second from top my nephew Will and I. He got third in US pilots in class3 leading to a US silver medal in class 3 team effort. Dennis Bassano USA won every class 3 race and is class 3 World Champion. Phil Rothrock USA won class 2. I managed to come in 4th in class 2 overall.

third just thought it was a cool picture in my trailer

fourth a lot of carnage

next photos in the heat of battle

My class 2 boat a perspective from the air

last podium Xavier France ME and Sven from Germany.

The German team brought the Frog Bus. Very very cool people! The Bus was hopping with big celebrations late at night and early morning.

Well done, John!

Is there a build thread on the World Championship Boat? I know I'd love to see it if there is...