I traveled to San Diego California today to attend the US Sailing Leadership Forum. Getting up at 4am to make my flight made for a long day. Once in San Diego I met a friend, Karen, for lunch and we toured the USS Midway air craft carrier.
In the evening I attended the welcome reception and got to meet a lot of people whom I had heard about or even emailed with, but never met in person.
Tomorrow starts the 3-day conference.
Here’s the rest of the video from Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship after the wind picked up and the paddle board competition was over.
This weekend Greater Richmond Sailing Association invited Fishing Bay Yacht Club Flying Scots and Lasers to join them for frostbiting out on Swift Creek. Dan and I were the only two Lasers; there were 10 Flying Scots and 3 Thistles. The goal for the day was simply get back in the boat and try a few things out. I tried a new GoPro Camera (Hero 3+) and a new stern mount for it. I got to try out some new boots and I got to try sailing at a club I had never been at before. Thanks again to GRSA for inviting us to come sail!
Photos courtesy of Sharon Wake.
Saturday at the Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship started out with the wind too light for sailing. So what did we do with 45 Laser Masters sailors while waiting for the wind to fill?
PADDLE BOARD RACES!
Lucky for us the wind filled a short time later and we got to go racing! Regatta Results | Sailing Video
Saturday was the final day of racing for the offshore boats at Fishing Bay Yacht Club followed by an oyster roast. The race was a pursuit style race where the slower boats start first and the times are calculated so everyone should finish about the same time. I was aboard Wavelength and for once it was great having boats of all sizes all around us for most of the race. We ended up finishing 9th in the 17-boat fleet while sailing in winds that started around 8 knots and built to as much as 23 knots during the 1 1/2 hour race. On top of that we were short-handed with only 6 on board and flew the spinnaker.
After racing we enjoyed oysters! RESULTS | PHOTOS
Woke up to a pretty thick fog this morning and little prospect of wind. The race committee had bumped up the start time to 9am for a first warning hoping to get a few more races in. Most of the fleet headed out into the thick fog and in the distance I could hear the horns of a race starting and later being abandoned. In the picture above you can barely make out the lasers just behind the point.
Rather than race in nearly no wind, I decided to get on the road and get home at a reasonable hour, so I packed and headed out. Turns out no races ended up being run at all and Saturday’s results stood.
Despite the lack of wind, it was still a fun time and I got to meet a lot of cool D12 sailors. Thanks again to Columbia Sailing Club for having the Laser sailors back and putting on a great regatta!
At the Columbia Sailing Club for the 1st day of the the District 12 Grand Prix and South Carolina State Championship regatta and we had lighter than light wind to start the day. We postponed ashore for about 2 hours before a wisp of wind appears and we headed out.
We sailed around the corner from the club on the North side of the lake. This became important because those who sailed near shore got an incredible lift. Of course I didn’t learn that in the the first race and found myself out to the left on the first beat and deep in the fleet, settling for 11.
It amazed me how fast the top 10 boats were. Even though it was only 5 knots of breeze, everyone had good speed. So it really came down to picking the shifts right.
In the 2nd race I played the right a little better and climbed through the fleet for a 6th. In the 3rd and final race of the day I was doing well as the 2nd boat clear ahead on the first beat, but I still didn’t play the right as well as some other boats and found myself deep again, especially after a couple sailors made the left work and came out of nowhere.
So I’m in 10th a good few points out of 9th. They’ve moved up the start time to 9am in hopes of getting more racing in before the 1pm cutoff and before the remnants of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Karen come through late Sunday evening. Tomorrow’s another day and hopefully we’ll have something other than light air and flat water for me to work with and climb up in the standings.
After sailing we hung out on the fabulous porch at the club watching football, sharing sailing war stories and singing along to guitar with the other campers.
The trip to Columbia South Carolina for the Laser District 12 Grand Prix Regatta & South Carolina State Championship at Columbia Sailing Club was a smooth one. I hit only a little rush hour traffic on the way in to town, set up my tent at the club and went out to a nearby Italian restaurant for a nice dinner. This will be my 3rd weekend in a row of Laser racing and I’m just hoping we have some wind. Here’s my recap from last year at this regatta.
Sunday’s racing at the Laser District 11 Championship in Annapolis started out much like Saturday, but with less wind. We started the first race under mostly cloudy skies and 8-10 knots of breeze.
After a general recall under P flag the RC went straight to the black flag. I had a decent start near the boat end and worked my way out to the right along with Ted Morgan. Karen long hit the right even better than we did and rounded the mark first with me and Ted just behind her. Downwind I got ahead and put some distance between myself and the group just behind me. From there I just kept ahead on the remaining 3 legs and took the gun.
Sunday’s 2nd race didn’t go so well. My start wasn’t as good and I got behind early by being on the wrong side of the shifts on the first beat settling for a 12. The thing I learned in the 2nd race was that the mode I was using to make the boat go fast upwind in a little more wind and more chop, stopped working when the wind lightened and the water got flatter.
By the 3rd and final race the wind was pretty light and the chop was just the random power boat variety. We were moving, but it was slow going at times, particularly downwind. I won the boat at the start and again worked my way up the middle right. This time the far right didn’t pay. And much of the fleet had gone left hoping it would pay off like it did last race – it didn’t. I rounded 2nd just behind Brady White with Brett Morris behind me. Brady extended his lead and I was able to hold off Brett. We would go on to finish 1-2-3.
With that finish and knowing several boats would have black flags, I knew the top 2-7 boats would all be pretty close. The 1 & 2 today certainly helped, but the 12 meant I’d have to keep a 10. In the end it was the bullet that won me the tiebreaker for 3rd place overall.
Despite the light winds, it was fun to be competing at the top of the fleet – especially with some sailors who I’m usually following around the course. And with 34 boats there were plenty of sailors keeping the competition close. Thanks again to Steven Cofer and everyone at SSA for hosting our championship! And congratulations to winner Mike Russom who sailed a very consistent regatta with top 5 finishes.
We started the 2013 District 11 Championship with 32 standards and 9 radials at Severn Sailing Association. It was overcast with and the wind was blowing 8-12. Out on the water we had a bit of a time getting started with the current pushing us over and multiple general recalls and restarts.
I didn’t have a particularly great start in the first race, but I made my way to the right and picked the shifts up the beat catching boats on every upwind. As the race went on the wind started dropping and was 7 or 8 with left over lumps and chop. I ended up 7th.
In the 2nd race I had a terrible start and won the 6th row getting shut out at the boat. I worked my way up the first beat just looking for clear lanes and only had 4 boats behind me at the first mark. Downwind I picked up boats and I picked up another handful on the upwinds. Salvaged a 10th.
For the 3rd race we still had a 7-8 knots and the chop started going down a bit. I had a great start, but let Brady and Mike get ahead and to the right. I followed and when they broke to the left I hung out to the right and crossed both of them. I was first at the top mark and lost a boat downwind. Mike Russom was fast and made a good comeback. But Ted Morgan had the best lines and speed and beat everyone at the top mark. I held onto 4th.
After racing we had crabs and listened to a band on the SSA deck.
