With two of the board members from the International Laser Class Association – North American Region moving up to positions at the international level I’ve been named as the interim Secretary of ILCA-NA. I’m excited about the new role and to work with the board and the perspective I can bring with my web savvy and experience as a local sailor and organizer.
I’ve had a lot of fun being the District 11 Secretary for the past 6 years. I’ve gotten to know so many great sailors around the District and I’ve gotten to help promote Laser sailing in the area. Whether or not I stay on this fall as the ILCA-NA Secretary or move to club leadership positions I think it is a good time to find a new leader for District 11. We’ll take care of that at our annual meeting at the District Championship in September. In the years to come I still plan on sailing many of the same events I’ve been sailing for years as well as running the Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship at FBYC. I’m looking forward to a fun and busy summer!
This afternoon I made the trip to Surf City New Jersey to sail the 41st Orange Coffee Pot Regatta. This is the oldest Laser regatta and has been on my list to do for some time. This year the event is also the US Sailing Singlehanded Championship Area C Elimination. Looks like we’ve got a great forecast for wind tomorrow and up to 7 races planned. The competition ranges from reigning North American Champion to first-time Laser regatta with a ~35 boat fleet expected. Should be fun racing tomorrow and thanks to Newt Wattis and his wife for putting me up for the night.
Saturday
Surf City Yacht Club’s 41st Orange Coffee Pot Regatta turned out to be a great day of sailing. We had wind that built from about 10 to the mid- to high teens by the last race. We had a very competitive fleet of 31 boats ranging from pretty elite sailors to those sailing their first Laser regatta. And we got off 7 races. Clay Johnson ultimately won the event taking bullets in all but one race. Granted, he didn’t exactly run away with it, Kyle Rogachenko and Peter Shope definitely gave him a run for it.
My own racing was a little ho-hum and I found myself getting bad starts and on the wrong side of the course more times than I care to remember. I had the speed to stay with the lead pack and in one race I had a stellar start and sailed my way to an 8th. All in all it was fun to make the trip and to sail in the oldest Laser regatta. Thanks to Newt Wattis and Surf City Yacht Club for hosting the event and everything they did to put it together.
On Friday the Annual Down The Bay Race starts in Annapolis, Maryland and races to Hampton, Virginia. I’ll be aboard Glenn Doncaster’s Sabre 42.6 Nanuq from Fishing Bay Yacht Club.
Here is the crew aboard Nanuq as we started the Down The Bay Race this morning. PHRF had a bit of a crowded start with some boats wanting to be in other boats space. The wind started out pretty light but we did get a couple hours of good wind as we passed Thomas Point light house. Later this afternoon the wind has died to under 4 and we are currently off Sharky’s Point lighthouse using all of the current we can find to get south.
This was shot over two days with the Nikon D7000, 3 GoPro Hero2, an iPhone 4s and a Canon SD-1400.
I arrived in Marblehead Massachusetts for the Laser Atlantic Coast Championship at Eastern Yacht Club. The wind was a bit light so I only took a short practice sail. Expecting close to 100 boats tomorrow.
In the first race I got a good start and worked my way up to the right. At the top mark I was about 8th and stayed there for the reach. On the downwind I went way right and I was the 4th or 5th boat through the gate. Upwind I lost a few more boats and ended up 15th.
The second race started in very little wind and I got a terrible start and just fell behind everyone. Up the first beat it got even lighter and we continued racing in 3 knots. I was near the end of the pack until the last upwind where I was able to claw back a few boats to finish 32.
The wind shifted about 40 degrees and picked up a tad for the 3rd race which we started around 4:30pm. I had an ok race and pretty much hung mid-fleet the entire way around the course. We finally got back to shore at 6pm having been on the water since 10:30am.
I’m tied for 22nd which puts me just into the top half of the fleet. We’re expecting another light day tomorrow.
Today was also an experiment with having the phone with me. I’ve got a waterproof case for it which is tied into my lifejacket. Between races I was able to take a few pictures and post tweets. I’ve been posting updates for the ILCA-NA on twitter:@LaserACC. The case makes it too cumbersome to do anything else other than tweet and take pictures.
Sunday
Sunday was another light day and we were on the water a long while for just 2 races. At mid-day we got a bit of breeze and got one race in while the wind waned. I had a pretty terrible start and was just never able to get far in moving up.
With just minutes remaining before the time limit we started another race. Determined not to have another bad start, I worked my way up 1/3 of the way from the boat and took advantage of the line sag to get a front line start and quickly punched out. I worked my way out to the right lay line and rounded the top mark in 4th. I lost a boat each on the next two legs. As I rounded the mark to the final downwind leg I lost the main sheet from the blocks and ended up sailing a crippled, jury rigged boat the rest of the way around the course to salvage a 10th.
15-32-21-36-10 finishes put me in 22nd overall which kept me in the top half of the fleet. Eastern Yacht Club was beautiful as was Marblehead. Having heard about Marblehead from Sonar and Flying Scot sailors from my club for such a long time- I’m glad I made the trip.
The conditions were perfect on Sunday for a nice long sail to Wolf Trap light house – 27 nautical miles round trip. At the beginning the wind was out of the SSW at 10-15 which meant after one tack in Fishing Bay by the marinas I was able to lay Wolf Trap 2 hours and 40 minutes later on starboard tack. As I approached the light house the wind dropped to 5-8 and moved to due South. On the run home it kicked back up to 10-15. Total trip time 5 hours 45 minutes.
Double Eagle got just enough breeze to get out and practice with 3 other J109s ahead of the 2012 Annapolis NOOD Regatta. Friday is the first day of racing in a boat of 12 boats.
Friday
Not much racing on the first day of the Annapolis NOOD regatta. The J109 fleet went went out to the course in fog and sat around postponed. The fog lifted when a thunderstorm came through just south of the racing area. There was a little wind after the storm and we got to do some sailing, but the race committee never had steady enough wind to set a course and blew off the day by 3:30.
We did get a little video from the top of the mast:
Stopped by the party and caught up with some of the other Fishing Bay Yacht Club members at the regatta this weekend.
Sunday afternoon we made a GoPro mount for the back of a J109 that I’ll be racing in next week at the Annapolis NOOD Regatta.
We took a 8′ white wood curtain rod, fit it in the flag pole and added a GoPro to the top of it. I have yet to add a safety line and bungee tensioner to help keep it from bouncing around. Look for video from this next week.
On Sunday Mike Toms and I ran a clinic for a dozen Laser sailors at Fishing Bay Yacht Club. Most of the group was new to sailing or at least new to the Laser and we spent most of the time going over the boat parts, rigging and basic maneuver techniques on a Laser. Then we took out about 7 boats in nearly no wind to putter around for an hour. Pictures.
Saturday’s Offshore Spring Series #3 at Fishing Bay Yacht Club wasn’t the best weather day. We did one race in very light wind against a stiff current for the first leg. The second race was abandoned after the wind died and many boats anchored to hold position on the ‘upwind’. Still in 3rd for the Series.
