Any posts that contain videos that I’ve created
Last weekend I was up in Brant Beach New Jersey for a Laser clinic. I can’t say I am a better sailor just from being there, but I did learn a lot of things I need to practice and apply to my sailing that I hope will make me a lot better in the future.
One of the tenets of the training was to use practice to find where the ‘edge’ is. Here’s plenty of footage of me ‘finding the edge’.
This weekend was the wedding between two good friends from ECU JG Ferguson and Stephanie Eason. It was a great weekend seeing friends, playing golf, and celebrating Stephanie and JG. Congrats!
A few photos are below and the rest can be seen here.
Jon Deutsch, Chris Bowling, Chris Webster & JG Ferguson
Today was my driving day to get to the District 8 Championship at Sayville Yacht Club in Long Island. I left Richmond at 4:30 in t he morning and arrived at the club around 2:30 in the afternoon. I lost track of how many wrong turns I made. It took over two hours to cover 40 miles transiting New York City.
Sayville Yacht Club is located about halfway out Long Island on the south bay near Patchogue Bay. The forecast for tomorrow is for it to be a little on the lighter side – under 10 knots. Sunday we should have a little more wind with the south west sea breeze blowing through.
The forecast for today started out looking pretty dismal. 5 knots out of the North West at 11am building to all of 8 by the middle of the afternoon and then dying. We sailed out to the course in almost nothing. The committee set the line and right at the time we should have started the first race the wind started swinging around to the South. A 15-minute postponement later we had a 15-20 knot sea breeze.
My day consisted of some solid sailing with some moments of brilliance and stupidity thrown in to keep it interesting. I was able to stay with or in the lead pack in most of the races and I was pretty happy being competitive in the 15-18 knot range whereas I traditionally haven’t been able to keep up in that.
All in all it was good racing and a fun but grueling day on the water with 5 races. I finished 2-7-4-3-5 putting me into 3rd overall in the 14-boat fleet. After racing we relaxed on the deck of Sayville Yacht Club, ate burgers, met some new people and listened to some live music. I couldn’t have asked for a better day.
The regatta continues tomorrow with 3 more races planned. I’m really hoping for just a couple knots less of wind so I can show my speed and stay up front. Fingers crossed.
Winning the pin at one of the starts just a few seconds before the gun. More photos by Paul MacMenamin.
On Sunday for the second day of the Laser District 8 Championship Regatta we had 12-15 knots out of the east. We sailed three 2-lap windward-lewards just off the beach in front of the club. I stayed with the leaders and usually made the left side of the course work upwind. I had good upwind speed, but usually lost a spot or two on the downwind legs. I finished 3-4-5 on the day, good enough to hold onto 3rd place overall. (results)
The trip home went well considering I drained my EZPass account on the way up and had to stop at every toll booth on the way back. When I got into Richmond the warning lights on the dash started coming on and as I pulled into my driveway the car stalled. I’m glad to have made it home.
Was at a beautiful ceremony and an awesome reception on Saturday for friends Beth and Chris at the King Family Vineyards.
After a half day of work and an afternoon drive to Wrightsville Beach North Carolina I’m at Carolina Yacht Club for the Laser Atlantic Coast Championship this weekend. It looks like we’re going to have some beautiful weather with warm conditions and mostly sun. That also means the wind could be a little light at times.
This evening I hung out with the SSA crowd who have a house a couple blocks down from the club. We had a lasagna dinner and watched the sunset. Approximately 16 sailors from District 11 have made the trip down. We’ve all got D11 pinnies so we should be easy to spot.
First day of the Laser Atlantic Coast Championship at Carolina Yacht Club in Wrightsville Beach NC. I was on the fence and decided to go with the standard rig. We had mostly clear skies with 10-14 knots of wind. The first race started around 11:45 and I had a good start out to the left. On the very first tack of the very first leg of the first race my vang broke. I’m not sure if I just didn’t have the pin in all the way or what happened, but I spent two minutes getting that straight and being DFL at the first mark. I made up a little over 5 boats and ended up 37 out of 45 boats.
In the second race I had a great start and was able to hold my lane most of the way up the first beat. I hung with the main pack and managed a 26th place finish. In the 3rd and 4th races the wind calmed down a bit and the lumpy sea state made it tough to maintain boat speed. I was well into the 30’s boat races putting me in 33rd for the regatta.
After racing I cleaned up and put away the boat. We ate the regatta dinner and then hit downtown Wilmington with the Annapolis crowd.
Sunday just wasn’t my day. I sailed out to the course, but knew it was going to be a rough day for me. Overpowered with big waves and not feeling so great so I headed back in.
Saturday was my first time back to Deltaville since the Tornado came through last weekend. I was surprised to see how much had already been cleaned up and put back together. With last weeks racing cancelled, this was the first day of offshore sailing and I was aboard Wavelength. It was a bit cloudy, but warm and we saw 15 knots with gusts to 30. It was a bit wild at times with the kite up in winds over 25.
Here’s some video of the damage and some highlights from FBYC’s Offshore Spring Series #2.
No racing today for the first day of the Sunshine Open at Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis. With gale warnings and thunderstorms in the area we weren’t able to get on the water. Through the afternoon we saw winds topping 30 knots. The regatta dinner and band is still on for tonight. Here’s some video of the conditions.
On Sunday morning the wind was already well into the 20’s with a forecast calling for it to get into the 30’s and direction that would make it a difficult beat to get back to the club. There was no way it was going to be a fun day on the water so I headed back to Richmond instead.
Spent 3 days and 3 nights in Las Vegas for JG’s bachelor party. My first time in the city since I was 14 and it was quite different being able to go in places and gamble. We got to see a bit of everything from the south end of the strip to the old casinos on Fremont street.
This video clip from a day of practice on Saturday aboard Wavelength – a 37′ C&C sailed out of Fishing Bay Yacht Club. About halfway through the video are some clips when a squall came through with gusts of 28knots and hail.
This afternoon the James River crested around 15 feet according to the Westham gauge. The last time the water was up past this level was January of last year where it crested around 18 feet. Here are some scenes from Pony Pasture Rapids Park and Riverside drive earlier this afternoon.