7/28 Laser Practice
I’ve heard the way to get faster is to sail against boats who are faster than I am – even if they have 3 times as many sails and 5 times as many people on board.
Category: Sailboat Racing
2012 Deep Creek Laser Invitational
We had some nice weather and some wind for at least the first half of the Deep Creek Laser Invitational allowing us to get in 4 races on Saturday. I put up a 3-1-1-2 and finished 1st in the 19-boat Standard fleet. Sunday we went out, spent 25 minutes sailing 2 legs and they abandoned and eventually sent us in without any races having not had any wind all day.
Saturday, we went out at 10:30 in partial fog for our 11am start. After a brief postponement we got the first race underway. I had a good start, winning the boat end, but my first two tacks weren’t so good and I found myself 8th at the windward mark. From there I chipped away at boats and got to 3rd at the finish.
In the 2nd race I had another great start and just picked the shifts up the beat and got a nice lead. Darren Van Hutton and Meredith Hillyer, both on-the-lake sailors, both had great downwind speed and always seemed to catch up to me a bit. Upwind I seemed to be able to pick the shifts right and would pull back ahead. As we approached the last downwind mark with just a short beat left to the finish, there was a pontoon boat fishing just 5 feet upwind of the leeward mark. To make matters worse, he had a line out to the right of the mark and he was reeling in ‘something big’ and was refusing to move.
I wound up having to sail 20 feet to the right of the mark to get around his fishing line and just as I was rounding the mark and the boat, I realized he had another line out the other way. Only this one was in the air for about 40 feet so I couldn’t even attempt to sail over it. I was really wishing I had a pocket knife with me. The leader of the Radial fleet who was sailing a shorter course was right next to me with non of his competition in sight, and Meredith was about 10 lengths behind me with the rest of our fleet another 20 lengths behind her. All 3 of us ended up having to sail about 40-50 feet on starboard on a close reach just to get to where the fishing line hit the water where we could pull our boards up and sneak over it. Meredith almost caught up to me and I was able to stay about a boat length ahead of her at the finish.
For the 3rd race, I was going to try to win the boat again, but realized with about a minute and a half left to go that we were likely to get a big lefty at the start. I made my way down to the pin where I was all alone except for one other boat. At the gun I was able to tack onto port and built a pretty comfortable lead by the first mark. By the top mark of the 2nd beat Meredith caught up a bit and rode a nice puff around the mark and downwind on the inside lane putting her just ahead of me. Eventually that petered out and the wind filled back in from the outside and he angle allowed me to get back just ahead through the finish.
After a lunch break (where I filmed this cool time lapse of the fleet coming in) we went back out for one more race in the afternoon. At the start it was clear that left was favored so most of the faster boats were starting there. Right at the gun the wind went left which ended up rafting up 6 of us top of the pin. We couldn’t tack out because the rest of the fleet was on starboard so we just each took our turn bouncing off the pin, sailing out to the left, doing our turn and heading upwind. By then we were clear astern of most of the fleet.
I worked my way up the left and was about 4th at the windward mark. The lead pack went wide on the downwind leg and sailed into a hole while I headed down the inside with Meredith, Daryl and Margaret Podlich just behind me. They ended up reeling me in as they rode a puff down and just as Daryl and Margaret were passing me, Daryl death rolled. Margaret had just enough of an overlap at the mark to take it and I wound up following just behind her the rest of the course to finish 2nd.
With a 3-1-1-2 I was in 1st place in the 19-boat fleet with 2nd place 5 points behind me. We spent the evening with a nice dinner at the club.
Sunday we were initially postponed on shore and they sent us out once the wind filled in a bit. After chasing the wind around a few directions they set a course and started us. I had a pretty abismal start, but picked some shifts up the middle of the course in 2 knots of wind to round the mark in 6th. As we were at the top mark the wind was in transition and shifting about 100 degrees and a few minutes later the RC abandoned the race. We sat on the course for 25 minutes waiting for the wind to settle down and the RC sent us in for lunch. The wind never settled, so they never sent us back out and thus the regatta stood as is.
2012 Leukemia Cup Regatta
Last weekend was the Leukemia Cup Regatta at Stingray Point Harbor Marina with racing put on by Fishing Bay Yacht Club. I sailed on Wavelength in the PHRF-A division. We sailed 2 races on Saturday in pretty light air. We got in one more race Sunday morning in a dying breeze. I had to go up the mast Sunday morning to get the sail up. All in all it was a fun time and thanks to mostly Rob’s efforts our boat raised over $13,000 for the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society making our boat the 2nd place fundraiser. Included in that was a photo of mine that sold for $375 in the live auction.
(photos credit: Stephen Boling)
2012 Laser District 19 Championship
Friday
I arrived in Muskegon Michigan and got some practice in ahead of the Laser District 19 Championship this weekend. Dick Tillman was conducting a clinic with some of the sailors and I jumped in and did their practice races with them.
Saturday
Today we raced with 16 Standard rigs and 9 radials at Muskegon Yacht Club which is a lake-like bay connected to Lake Michigan. The wind started out around 6-8 and we did some short windward-lewards with a mid-course line. In the lighter winds in the first 3 races it was all about winning the starting and getting the shifts right. Everyone was getting to the windward mark at the same time which made for some interesting mark roundings. Later as the wind increased to 10ish the fleet spread out a little more on the first beat.
I finished 6-11-3-5-8 and am tied with 2 other sailors for 4th. More racing tomorrow!
After racing we went down to the beach at Muskegon State Park and got this photo of the sun setting behind the light-house:
Sunday
On Sunday a small weather system came through the area in the morning and pretty much sucked out all the wind. The RC initially postponed us. We had a whiff of air and they tried to send us out, but that went away before even all of the boats had launched and they abandoned it all and called it a regatta.
Final results and photos.
I got on the road shortly after 1 and arrived back in Richmond just before 2am. Easiest 800 mile drive I had ever done with almost no traffic and almost no construction.
2012 Flying Scot North American Championship
Monday
This morning we had plenty of wind for the first day of the Flying Scot North American Championship at Carlyle Sailing Association on Lake Carlyle in Illinois. We start by sailing 3 qualifying races over the first two days. From there the top half of the fleet will go on to sail the championship on Wednesday-Friday, while the lower half will sail the challenger division.
After the skipper’s meeting this morning we headed out in 10-15 knots of breeze and sailed 2 races back to back. We were one of the lighter boats crew-weight-wise and weren’t able to keep the boat flat in the breeze as well as some of the heavier boats. We did what we could and settled for a 12th and a 15th putting us in 27th overall for the first two qualifying races.
As a crew on a Flying Scot in breeze my job is to trim the jib and keep the boat flat. Unlike a Laser a Flying Scot doesn’t have a hiking strap to hook our feet under. All it has is a rope to hang onto while I sit back as far as possible. I can sort of hook my leg around it, but it still requires a pretty good grip.
And finally, here’s where we’re staying for the week:
Tuesday
Tuesday was the second day of qualifying for the championship fleet at the 2012 Flying Scot North American Championship. Sitting in 27th we needed a good race to stay in the top 30 and make the championship fleet. The wind started out around 15 as we were heading out and by the time we had started dropped to 12 and continued to drop from there. We were seeing pretty big swings in the wind and knew picking the shifts right would be key.
We had a ok start about a 1/3 of the way down from the boat and worked our way out to the left where we had seen more pressure. We rode a nice shift back to the right and continued to pick our way through the shifts and the slow boats from the fleet ahead of us. At the top mark we rounded in 1st! Downwind we stayed just ahead of Kelly and Heidi Gough and went high riding a puff around over half of the fleet that started 6 minutes ahead of us. At the gate mark, a clump of boats was rounding the favored gate just ahead of us so we bailed to the other gate and had a clean rounding in cleaner air. Upwind we continued to pick the shifts and wound up getting passed by two of the boats in our fleet. We held our position downwind to take a 3rd and put ourselves solidly into the championship fleet.
Since we got off the water well before noon I thought it would be fun to spend the afternoon playing tourist in St. Louis.
I got a tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery.
Visited Forest Park and the St. Louis Art Museum.
Had a nice dinner and went up the Gateway Arch.
Wednesday
Wednesday was the first day of championship sailing at the Flying Scot North American Championship. We sailed two races in the morning, took a lunch break and sailed another. With the fleets now split the competition got twice as fierce. These may be Flying Scots but there wasn’t an inch given away anywhere on the course from the front of the fleet to the back. Needless to say we were fighting in the back of the fleet in all of the races and are sitting deep.
With very high temperatures forecasted for later this week, the final two races are going to be run on Thursday ending the regatta a day early.
Thursday
The plan was to get out early, get 2 races in to complete the regatta and get out of the heat. The wind didn’t exactly cooperate with that and after going out at 9, starting a race only to abandon it 15 minutes later when the wind died, we were back on shore until the afternoon. With temperatures between 104-106 and a 6-10 knot breeze we headed back out to get our two races in. We had a great start in the first race of the day, were OCS and had to restart in the second race and ultimately put up a 26 and a 24 for 27th overall.
2012 Laser Canadian Nationals
Thursday
I’ve arrived in Toronto ready to sail the Laser Canadian Nationals tomorrow. Here’s a shot of the car/boat in front of the CN Tower downtown as I arrived at Etobicoke Yacht Club.
Friday
It was a light air day in Toronto for the first day at the Laser Canadian Championship. We sailed 4 races with the last one finishing just as the wind died. There’s a lot of good sailors here so the racing is very close and nobody will give an inch all the way around the course. I had some ups and downs and am sitting some where in the middle of the fleet.
Saturday
Being late paid off a little bit this morning, I was going to be one of the last to launch when we saw that the RC was sending boats back in due to no wind, so I left the boat parked and hung around for the 40 minute postponement on shore. When the wind filled we had a nice 8-10 knots out of the south. On the way to the course my watch died, which would make starts today interesting. Needless to say it didn’t help. In the end it was another nice day on the water.
Sunday
The prospect for wind today wasn’t very great. The RC initially postponed us for about an hour and a half before bringing AP down with the intent on towing everyone out in hopes of getting in a race or two before some showers moved in. Some of the locals weren’t too optimistic about it and with a 13-hour drive ahead of me I decided to get on the road. I packed and left just after 11am and found out later that racing was abandoned without actually sailing a race.
So I spent the day driving to Lake Carlyle in Illinois where I will be crewing on Len Guenther’s Flying Scot Wind Dancer (5055) in the Flying Scot North American Championship this week.
2012 Selby Bay Summer Solstice
Saturday
We arrived early to the Selby Bay Summer Solstice regatta to get some practice. I am sailing with Len Guenther aboard Wind Dancer and since we are sailing Flying Scot NACs week after next and I haven’t been on a Flying Scot since 2006 we went for some practice in the morning with his wife and regular crew Barb so she could show me how to do everything. Around noon we headed out with 17 other boats not far from Thomas Point in light and shifty winds.
In the first race we had a great start and stayed up in the front. In the second race we had a tough time picking the shifts and could only manage a 4th. In the final race we started ok and had a few boats ahead of us for the first leg and had a great second leg to catch up to the leader and we settled for a 3rd.
Rob Whittemore sailed 3 great races today winning all of them and did an awesome job picking shifts. With 2 races planned and 3 bullets in his pocket, we will have our work cut out for us to catch him. Day 1 Results.
Sunday
Day 2 of the Selby Bay Summer Solstice Flying Scot regatta brought over cast skies, light winds and chop again. The plan was for two races and we started the 1st race right at 10. We thought we had a good start at the pin end, but the wind quickly clocked right putting us behind the boats who got right sooner. We played catch up the rest of the race and settled for a 7th. That put us into a 3-way tie for 2nd going into the last race of the day. This time we protected the right after the start – a little too much- the wind went left and we were deep into the fleet at the first mark. From there we slowly picked our way through 5-8 boats to get back up to 5th.
Congrats to fellow FBYC sailor Rob Whittemore for winning it. We wound up 4th overall. Not the result we were looking for, but we accomplished our goal of getting some time on the water and being ready for NAC’s the week after next. By the end of the weekend our boat handling on the spinnaker sets and douces was superb and we were getting close to nailing some roll tacks in the light air.
2012 District 8 Championship
Friday
After driving all afternoon and sitting in evening NYC traffic I arrived at Sayville Yacht Club on Long Island for the 2012 District 8 Championship. They hosted this same regatta last year which I attended and finished 3rd. Sayville’s got a great club with a nice beach by the water and a great sailing area and they do a great job with their regattas.
After I got to the club this evening, Ted Cremer and I went out on the water to snap a few photos of the sunset and then we hung around a fire on the beach. Racing starts tomorrow with 20 boats expected and 5-10 knots of breeze out of the west with a slight chance of rain.
Saturday
Day 1 of the District 8 Championship at Sayville Yacht Club and we had 13 Standard Rig Lasers for 5 races in 5-8 and sometimes fluky conditions. I went 3-2-3-4-7 and am currently in 2nd overall.
In the first race I had the best start of the bunch at the favored boat end. I rounded the top mark in 2nd and lost a boat on the downwind which turned to a reach as the wind shifted around. Held on to finish 3rd.
In the second race I tried again for a boat end favored start, but I was 5 seconds early and got pushed over so I had to go back behind everyone else and restart. As the fleet went out to the left I banged the right corner and rounded the top mark in 2nd and hung onto that for the finish.
In the 3rd race we had a port end favored line. Ryan Schmitz wanted to port tack the fleet, but I won the pin on starboard and made him duck me and get tangled up with a bunch of boats further up the line. Once again we traded tacks upwind and I rounded the top mark in 2nd. Both Brian Raney and Ted Cremer had great downwind legs and passed me as the wind began to die. I kept close to Ted at the mark rounding and managed to get more left of him on the upwind so when the wind went left I was able to get in ahead of him and behind Brian.
The 4th race started in good wind and was only 1/2 the distance as the previous 3 races. With the shorter upwind 1st leg I wasn’t able to use my speed to get ahead of the pack and rounded in 3rd with a lot of boats right behind me. I went right downwind while the boats that went left made out and I was 6 or 7th at the bottom mark. Heading up to the finish I closed it up and made a couple nice tacks right at the end to beat out 2 boats by mere feet to take 4th.
The 5th race started in some wind, but a few minutes later the wind had died. I had a terrible start, went to the wrong side of the course and spent a lot of time trying to make up ground – which was hard to do in ~3 knots of breeze. The RC shortened course at the bottom mark and i settled for a 7th
Day 1 results are here. I’m 14 points behind Ryan Schmitz who has put up straight bullets. I’m 3 points ahead of Brian Raney in 3rd and 9 points ahead of Matt Doherty in 4th. All in all it was a fun day and I’m looking forward to racing tomorrow.
Sunday
We started with a 1 hour postponement on shore before the wind finally filled in for us to sail. From there we sailed 3 more races in 7-11 knots in very choppy conditions. I had some crummy starts and great speed upwind, but wasn’t always picking the shifts right. In all 3 races I was back in the lead pack usually with a few boats ahead of me. The racing was close and so were the points. There were about 5 of us going at it with any of us having a shot at 2nd place. In the end I lost the tiebreaker on the last race to Lindsay Hewett who sailed some great races today.
I had hoped for a little more boring of a ride home, but unfortunately just ahead of me on the Goethals bridge a car caught fire. I was trapped in traffic on the bridge for an hour and thus hit even more night construction on the ride back.
All in all it was another fun trip to Sayville. I enjoyed the racing and want to thank Ted Cremer and everyone else at Sayville Yacht Club for putting on a great regatta.
International Laser Class Association – North American Region Secretary
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!
2012 Orange Coffee Pot Regatta
Friday
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.