Category: Sailboat Racing

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.

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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

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District 11 has a new perpetual trophy to honor the Laser Radial District 11 Champions.  It was built around the original Standard Laser District 11 Championship trophy and features the names of the 7 champions we’ve had so far.

Original District 11 Championship Trophy
Original District 11 Championship Trophy

The original Standard Laser District 11 Championship trophy was built in 1979 by Mike Waters using a relief of a Laser created by his wife, Jane Waters.  Over the years this trophy was lost to time and in the mid-1990’s a new Standard Laser District 11 Championship trophy was created.  The original trophy was found about 5 years ago and the champions listed on it were used to populate the new trophy going back to 1972.

The original trophy was given to me when I became District Secretary and I thought it was a shame not to put such a nice piece of art to use and to loose a valuable contribution to our District.  We’ve started to have a consistent showing of Radials at our District Championship.  I thought – why not recognize Laser Radial champions and give Radials a trophy to sail for.

trophy plans
Trophy plan

The new Laser Radial District 11 trophy was designed to use the relief in the original trophy.  Since Mike was a boat builder and used the best boat-building adhesives to affix the relief to the original board, it would have been too difficult to separate the relief from the board without breaking it.  So the new trophy had to be built around it.

The new trophy would feature the relief in the center, a plaque with the name of the trophy at the top, room for the 7 known Laser Radial District 11 Champions and room for the next 36.

Construction of the trophy began at the end of August.  First the old board was cut away around the relief.  Then mahogany boards were joined and a hole cut for the relief.

Mahogany boards cut and joined around the relief.

Next a groove was routed around the edge and a frame was added to cover the threshold between the new wood and the old board that the relief was affixed to.

Groove and frame

Then the trophy was polyurethaned and the plaques were mounted to it.

Mounting plaques

The final touch was adding the rope to complete the trophy.

Laser Radial District 11 Championship Trophy

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.  I also want to thank Mike Waters and his wife for creating the original trophy and for the fleets and individuals who have helped fund the materials to build the trophy.

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The racing at the Crab Claw Regatta at Severn Sailing Association was marred only by a lack of wind this weekend.  On Saturday we had just enough wind to get out to the course and sail 1 shortened race.  On Sunday we ‘sailed’ out to the course in almost no wind and after waiting around for 2 hours we abandoned having not sailed a race.

In the one race we did sail, I got a good start on the favored port end and headed out to the left with the leaders.  I came right a little too early and was 9th around the top mark.  Downwind I picked up a couple boats and then the wind went right for the shortened course upwind to the finish and I was able to pick off one more boat to finish in 6th.

Even thought the sailing wasn’t so great, the weekend was still a fun time hanging out with the Laser sailors and catching up Saturday night with Lud and Blake who were delivering Impulse from Newport to Deltaville.

Still Annapolis Harbor Sunday morning
Still Annapolis Harbor Sunday morning

 RESULTS

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Fall Regatta StartThe weather for Sunday at Fishing Bay Yacht Club started out a little questionable.  The wind was blowing 20-25 out of the North at the buoy at the point.  There were 5 of us there to sail and we all decided to take radials out.  We raced inside Fishing Bay in winds in the teens and the Radial sails made for good close racing without any of us being over powered and having to fight the boat.

Ron Thompson and I traded for the lead throughout the races today.  Richard Biggs was not far behind pouncing on any mistakes we made.  With shifty winds in Fishing Bay there were plenty of passing lanes by picking the right shifts both upwind and down.

After 5 races in about 2 hours with off-and-on rain we called it day and retired to the clubhouse for chilli.  All-in-all it was a fun day of sailing and I had to work hard to finish 1-1-2-1-1.  I’m glad this weekend went how it did and I’m even more ready to head up to SSA next weekend for the Crab Claw regatta.

Results | Pictures

*Photo by Lud Kimbrough

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Southern Maryland Sailing AssociationSouthern Maryland Sailing Association on Solomon’s Island in Maryland had a Laser regatta this weekend.  Despite leaving a little late, I managed to make the first start on time time.  I haven’t been in the Laser for 4 weeks now, so it was good to be sailing again.  I didn’t quite have my mojo back in the first race and ended up 3rd.  Julio Vargas had some great downwind speed and pulled right away from us.

By the second race the wind was blowing 15ish with occasional sprinkles and overcast skies.  I had a good start and had my boat speed working.  I got to the layline out on the right and just stayed out in front of everyone.  For the 3rd race of the day I was in a close heat with Steve Barrett all the way around the course.  I followed him until I was able to pass him upwind on the final beat and led to the finish.

The RC tried to start a 4th race, but the Navy was out testing an RC submersible in the area and told us we had to vacate the area.  By then the breeze was nearing 20 which made for a fun ride in.  With a 3-1-1 it was a fun day on the water and nice to have some close, competitive racing with the Laser sailors at SMSA in preparation for the Crab Claw regatta at SSA next weekend.  I’ll miss the second day of the regatta while I sail in FBYC’s Laser Fall series tomorrow.

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Saturday I sailed in Fishing Bay Yacht Club’s Smith Point Race aboard the Farr 37 Excitation.  It was a 57 mile race out of the Piankatank River, east across the bay and then north near the mouth of the Potomac River and then back to the entrance to Jackson Creek.

It took about 13 hours to sail.  The first 2 1/2 hours were in little to no wind.  From the start most of the fleet continue on starboard towards the mouth of the Rappahannock before tacking towards our mark.  We spent our time in the light wind sailing on port along shore and out of the current.  We picked the layline pretty well from over 10 miles out and were first around the mark.  Being the furthest south and the first to catch the sea breeze certainly helped.

Aboard Excitation
Aboard Excitation

We led for a little while longer, but soon the faster J109, Afterthought, passed us heading downwind as we sailed North up the bay to Smith Point.  It was this leg where the sun set and the wind increased into the mid-teens.  After rounding  Smith Point around 11pm we slogged upwind for another 3 1/2 hours to the finish.

Afterthought
Afterthought passing us downwind as the sun set.

That was the longest offshore race I’ve ever sailed and doing most of the driving upwind was a good experience.  In the end we finished 2nd – only a minute and 43 seconds out of 1st place. We had a good crew, ate well, and we all enjoyed the trip.  Thanks Mayo Tabb for taking me along!

RESULTS

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Fishing Bay Yacht Club hosted another great Annual Regatta with some good Laser sailing and plenty of wind which is pretty uncharacteristic for FBYC’s annual regatta in the middle of August.  17 of the 114 boats at the regatta were Lasers and 8 were sailing standard rigs.  The Lasers were on a course set in the Piankatank River just outside of Fishing Bay along with the Albacores and Windmills.

All of our races were W2s with .7 mile legs on a slightly pin favored line.  In the first race I failed to port tack the fleet and ended up fouling Steve Wirt just moments after the start. I had to do a few penalty turns putting me just behind the entire fleet.  By the windward mark I caught up to 3rd with boats all around me.  I caught a boat on each of the next two legs and held on for the final downwind leg to the finish.

By the second race the wind had built to the upper teens with gusts into the low twenties.  The first leg of this race was a drag race upwind between Frank Murphy and I.  At the first mark I rounded just ahead of him and shortly after the rounding he death rolled downwind.  That was a wake up call for me to sail a little more conservatively and I stayed out front to get a bullet in this race.

By the time we were starting the 3rd race, the outer course with Flying Scots, Front Runners, Hamptons, Typhoons, and San Juans and already been adjourned for the day having only sailed one race.  I think the conditions on the outside sailing area were really putting a beating on the sailors and the race committee.

Broken GoosneckI botched the start of the 3rd race and basically had to park my boat at the pin while I let Brad Squires, who timed the start perfectly, sail by on starboard.  Once I got going again I had good speed to get back out front and lead the way around the course.  As I was rounding the final windward mark to the finish, I eased the boom out, but my mast didn’t rotate, poping the 3 rivets holding the gooseneck to the mast.  I held on to get me through the finish line and the minute I turned to reach into the club, the goosneck popped off.  With no more races for the day, I was thankful that if was going to break that it broke when it did.

Back on shore we packed everything, cleaned up and enjoyed some drinks in the pavilion before dinner and later drinks.

On Sunday the first start was a at 10.  Lasers were the 3rd start so I left the dock at 9:40 and arrived at the course just before 10.  Turns out I was the only Laser that left the dock.  When I got to the course the RC told us to go in and that racing was abandoned onshore.  All of the other Lasers had been held before launching.  They postponed us due to some approaching storms in the area.  The storms never did come and the wind was beautiful all morning and late afternoon and we never did get sent back out to race.

With 3 bullets in 3 races I won the FBYC Annual Regatta for the second year in a row.  All in all it was a fun regatta and I’m sorry my summer sailing has come to an end for the year.

Laser Awards
1st Jon Deutsch (FBYC), 2nd Jeff Moore (SMSA), 3rd Mike Toms (FBYC)

RESULTS

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Welcome to Corsica River Yacht ClubWe had some pretty hot racing at the Corsica River Yacht Club Annual Regatta this weekend.  The 100+ degree temperatures might have scared off a few sailors, but those who came were rewarded with nice breezes and some pretty close racing.

I sailed in the 11-boat Laser Standard rig fleet and the wind started out pretty light as we sailed to the course.  Once on the course the wind filled in and while we were racing we saw everything from 5 to about 10. The racing was a lot of fun with 6 or 7 of us really mixing it up at the front of the fleet.  One of the keys to the day was not making any mistakes – all it would take is one little mistake and someone else would be there to capitalize on it.

My day went pretty well with a 6-1-2-1-6.  Two sixes might seem like that would put me out of contention, but the racing was so tight between myself, Nicholas Place, Holger Hinsch and Eric Reinke after 5 races that we actually in a 4-way tie for first.

Saturday evening CRYC had a blue-grass band playing in the pavilion while they put on dinner.  Camping in that heat was a little rough, but bearable thanks to a slight breeze.

On Sunday we had a little more wind than Saturday, but it was even shiftier.  I had a great start in the first race and just got out front and stayed there to win it.  That put me into 1st overall – 2 points ahead of Holger in 2nd.

CRYC Cat BoatsThe second race was a bit more interesting.  I had an ok start, but got out to the right on the first beat which was not the place to be.  I managed to be 5th at the first mark and picked up a spot on the downwind.  Holger was leading the race at that point with Nicholas just behind him.  I knew if they beat me, I had to be right behind them or else they’d move ahead of me in the overall standings.  Holger, Nicholas and, 3rd place boat at the time, Mike Mays went out to the left in what looked like would be a parade.  I went somewhat left behind them but not as hard as they did.  The two boats just behind me went right and got a nice lift coming back and crossing ahead of me.  It looked like the wind would continue going right so I headed off that way.  It did and before I knew it I was on the layline and everyone who had gone left was way over stood.  So in the last half of the last beat I went from 6th to 1st to win the race and the regatta.

2011 Corsica River Annual Regatta Winners

1st Jon Deutsch, 2nd Holger Hinsch, 3rd Nicholas Place

Now that my wrist is starting to heal a bit, it was fun putting some of the things I learned at the laser clinic a month ago into my racing. Corsica River Yacht Club put on another great regatta and I had a great time sailing there and meeting all of the people there. I’m looking forward to going back again especially now that I’ve got my name on one of the perpetual trophies.

Results

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Friday was the final day of the Laser North American Championship at Brant Beach Yacht Club.  We went out for a 10:30 start in what we knew would be a dying breeze.  After one general recall I got a pretty good start in the middle of the line.  I was in the top 20 around the first mark and held that to the downwind where I lost a few spots.  On the second upwind I headed way out to the right, through the Radial Silver fleet that had just started, and found a lot better pressure putting me into the top 10 around that mark.  On the final downwind and reach the wind died and a light sea breeze came in.  I didn’t get far enough out to an edge and those who did were able to get around me.  I finished 26 and that ended up being the only race of the day.

All in all it was a great week of sailing and I was able to learn some things and show myself that I’ve got what it takes to at least be a competitor in a regatta like this.  Winning a race completed the week and was the highlight of my sailing year.  I’ve got 3 annual regattas planned for the next 4 weekends and I’m looking forward to the smaller fleets and fun times that go with them.

Results

Taking the Cape May-Lewes ferry

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