Author: Jon

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.

Results

First day of racing for 83 boats at  the Laser Atlantic Coast Championship at Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead MA.  The wind was light and patchy for 3 races for the 44-boat Standard rig fleet.

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.

Results and a photos from the trip thus far.

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.