We had a great first day of the District 12 Championship at Columbia Sailing Club in Columbia South Carolina. We sailed 5 races that at some point in each of the races we had 4 knots and 10 knots. In the lighter winds I did well on the first upwind leg most races and worked hard to hold onto my spot on the downwinds. I put up a 3-2-8-1-2 and am currently 2 points out of first behind John Potter from Beaufort SC. Tomorrow will be another light air day and hopefully I can keep up the top 3 finishes to have a shot at the title.
Provisional Results (the winner in race 3 will be RET and everyone moves up one)
Here’s the back t-shirt design for the 2012 Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship. It’s based on this picture. The front will feature the plate logo.
We sailed another 3 races on Sunday to complete the District 11 Championship. The wind started out around 14-15 out of the north, north west and died off to about 8 by the end of the 3rd race. It was very shifty and challenging. I put up a 9-4-9 today to finish in 6th. Best part of the day was on the first beat in the 2nd race when I pulled off a perfect pick move when the Schooner Woodwind crossed behind me and blanketed the entire rest of the fleet (seen above).
We had an absolutely beautiful day in Annapolis for the first day of the Laser District 11 Championship with 33 boats. We did 4 races in 15-18 knots with each race taking about 45 minutes. We sailed in their area C which was just north of Tolly Point with the wind at 200-180. I did a reasonable job keeping up with the lead pack in winds that were right at the very top if not slightly above my competitive range. Having finished 5-7-7-10 I’m in 7th and looking forward to the slightly lighter winds predicted for tomorrow. Results.
We did 7 races today in light wind for the Laser Fall Regatta at Fishing Bay Yacht Club. I generally kept the boat moving and didn’t dig too far into any holes and maintained mostly top half finishes to end up 3rd overall.
We had plenty of wind for the first day of the offshore fall series at Fishing Bay Yacht Club and the race committee elected to head inside Fishing Bay to run the races. With winds over 20 at the start of the first race we all had our hands full getting around the course. By the end of the last race the wind was down to 8. We did well and put up a 4-3-4 for 3rd overall out with 3 excellent starts.
After racing we had to deliver a boat from Jackson Creek to Fishing Bay and we timed it to see a gorgeous sunset on Fishing Bay.
We took Wavelength out on Saturday for the Smith Point Race at Fishing Bay Yacht Club with a short 5-person crew of Steve U, John H, John W, Rick and myself. We were sailing against 2 other PHRF-A boats and started the 42nm course at 2pm just south of Stingray Point on the Piankatank. The race started as a beat and the wind eased from 15-18 down to 10-12 by 5:30 and down to about 6 at 8pm.
For the final 5 miles to Smith Point we went east expecting the wind to go right. We found a nice lane of wind and even overstood while the boats inshore to the west were left becalmed. We rounded Smith Point around 8:30 and just as we rounded and were setting up for a broad reach under spinnaker, the wind went even further east and we ditched our plans for the spinnaker under what would now be a close reach. I drove the 2nd half of the way back and we finished around 12:30am, beating a faster J105 to the line and ending up just 13 1/2 minutes behind the winning J109 on corrected time.
Another nice weekend of racing at Fishing Bay Yacht Club for the 73rd Annual One Design Regatta. We had 10 Laser and 3 Radials among the 112 boats total at the regatta. We got in 3 long races on Saturday. The first race was probably the most exciting. I led for most of the race and got passed in the last 50 feet to the finish line and a moment after the pass I death rolled just feet from the finish. I still managed to right the boat and finish in 2nd. I finished 2nd and 5th in the other two races.
We would have raced some more, but storms moved into the area and chased us off the water. Our course got off the water just fine, but the tail end of the Flying Scots coming in from the far racing area didn’t make it before the front hit and several boats were capsized near the club. Thankfully there were no injuries or damage to the boats involved. Dinner and the party got a slow start on account of the rain, but it did clear eventually and allowed for a good time.
On Sunday the wind was a bit lighter. We raced long courses which spread the fleet out quite a bit. In almost every race I would have a great start, miss a shift and find myself 2-4 at the first mark. On the 2nd upwind I could usually pick off all or most of the boats ahead of me. That’s what happened in the final race and passed upwind for the lead on the last 1/4 of the upwind to give me 2nd overall (results). All in all it was a good regatta and we had quite a few fun races.
More awards pictures and a few scenes from around the club are here. Below is a video of a few scenes from the regatta.
On Sunday at the Ware River Yacht Club Virginia Governor’s Cup Regatta we had a nice breeze and 3 more races. The way the wind funneled into the club from this particular direction you would have thought there was far more wind than there was. At least one fleet scratched out for the day and a few sailors in the other fleets sat it out as well.
Out on the water it was a perfect 12-16 knots all day out of the WSW with a light chop. Our first two races went pretty well and I put up a 3-2. Going into the final race the top 3 boats were all separated by just 3 points meaning whoever won the race won the regatta. Henry and I were both over early and had to go back. After restarting I worked my way out to the right while Henry went to the left with the other boat who had won the first two races today. I made the right work and had a pretty comfortable lead at the first mark. From there I extended on the long close reaches to the wing mark and back and on the final upwind I covered and stayed in front to win the race and the regatta.
Ware River Yacht Club always puts on a good event and it was nice seeing them bring the junior Lasers over to our course. It was fun starting in 10 boats and we had some pretty close competition. All in all a good regatta and a good tune up for FBYC’s Annual One Design Regatta next weekend.
