Fishing Bay Yacht Club‘s Laser Frostbite Regatta was the last sailing event of the year for the club and the last sailing event of the year for me as well.  We had nice winds about 5-8 out of the north east.  It was cool, but sunny and comfortable with a full set of layers on.  Having not sailed the Laser in 6 weeks I was pretty inconsistent on the water today.  Won 3 races, but wound up 3rd after some deep finishes were factored in.  Kudos to Ron Thompson and Michael Moore who both put up top 3 finishes in every race to finish first and second.  It was a great day of racing and it was nice having the Hampton Roads sailors come join us.

Results are here.

With that event my sailing for 2011 is complete.  I finished the year having sailed 54 days.  Up 5 days from last year.

On Saturday ECU played Southern Miss at home.  This week we were without JG and the RV so we tailgated old school on the back of an actual pick up truck.  It reminded us of how good we normally have it and how much appreciate JG bringing the RV.

11/5/2011 ECU vs Southern Miss - Ross, Erin, Jon, Heather, Chris, Chuck, Anne-Stewart, Preston, Jen, Billy, Marisa, Staci, Lauren

The game started out with a bang, but went downhill quickly.  We even had a streaker at the end of halftime.  We lost the game, but all in all it was a fun day at the game.

11/5/2011 ECU vs Southern Miss - Jen, Ross, Jon, Erin, Heather, Preston, Chris

More photos from the day begin here.

Original Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship trophy
original trophy

The Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship has been sailed by Laser sailors over the age of 35 since 1981.  In the early years of the regatta Alain Vincey had beautiful plates made that were given to the competitors as prizes.  The last of these plates was made into a perpetual trophy for the regatta.  About 10 years ago the trophy fell over, and the ceramic plate was shattered.  The plate was painstakingly repaired and has hung in the clubhouse ever since.

As great of a trophy as it was, I wanted to be sure the plate would be protected and that the regatta would have a trophy that would last for years to come.  With those goals in mind, I planned a trophy that looks like a serving tray with sides that would protect the plate mounted to it.  And although I’m not yet of age to sail in Masters regattas, I made sure there would enough room for winners to cover well past the time that I ‘age out’ of Laser masters sailing.

The trophy was built at the beginning of October out of 13 pieces of 3/4″ mahogany.

Laser Masters Trophy

 

Next chocks were made to hold the plate in place and the plaques were aligned and drilled.

Aligning plaques on the Laser Masters Trophy

The trophy was then finished in a natural glossy finish.

Laser Masters trophy finish

Then the rope border was mounted.

Laser masters trophy mounting the rope border

Finally the plate and plaques were mounted to complete the trophy.

Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship Trophy

Winners at the 30th Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship on October 15-16, 2011.

189794 Keith Davids, 199142 Newton Wattis, 186519 Dorian Haldeman, 121384 Mike Schmidt, 191498 Alain Vincey, 174236 Jacques Kerrest, 194512 Ted Morgan, 188095 David Schoene

More pictures of the trophy and the build process can be seen here.

I want to thank my father, Stan, for his help and tools.  And thanks to Alain Vincey for the kicking off the regatta years ago and providing the plate and original trophy for it.

This weekend Fishing Bay Yacht Club hosted the 30th Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship for Laser sailors 35 years of age and old.  Since I don’t yet meet the requirements to sail, I’ve been made the event chairman.  The event went off without a hitch and 36 sailors participated.  The RC did a fabulous job getting 7 races in, including 3 in 20+ knots of wind on Saturday.  Alain’s pork Ossobuco was fantastic as all of his meals were.  I just want to thank everyone who helped out and all of the sailors who came.

Results and photos have been posted.  Here are a few of my favorite photos:

188095 David Schoene, 188702 Roger Link

188095 David Schoene, 189794 Keith Davids

121384 Mike Schmidt, 187868 Margaret Podlich, 189774 Finn Hassing

199142 Newton Wattis