This evening was our annual Parents Laser Race during Junior Week at FBYC. The goal is to get as many parents as possible, after the kids activities are done for the day, and get out on the water for some fun short-course racing right off the dock. Tonight was a superb evening for it. The wind started around 12 knots when we left the dock at 5:30 and died out around 7:30. We had about 10 boats come out and we got in at least 7 or 8 races.
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
On Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend I participated in my first Oyster Shell Triathlon. It’s an event that started about 4-5 years ago among a group of friends looking for something to do on Memorial Day Weekend and so they started this race. There were just under 30 participants this year and there have been as many as 40 in the past.
The course is a little nontraditional – it starts with swim which turns into a slog – a combination of running in water and swimming. Then a 2-mile bike ride followed by a swim back to the starting point. The final stretch is a ~1 mile run around the Deltaville Maritime Museum and back to the finish.
No times are kept and it’s all for good fun. Considering I signed up for it about 10pm at a party the night before, I felt pretty good about finishing mid-pack. It was a ton of fun and I look forward to doing it again next year.
Sunday was the Salsa Bowl Regatta and I borrowed a Front Runner from Mike Karn to take out and race. My crew was friend of a friend Bri Paxton, a recent William & Mary graduate who was on the sailing team there. Being my first time on a Front Runner since spring of 2010 and Bri’s first time sailing an asymmetrical spinnaker, we were a bit boat-challeneged for first couple races.
By the second two races we had most things running smoothly and were able to sail well upwind and hang with the fleet on the downwinds. We ended up 4th in a fleet of 5 in 4 races. It was a ton of fun and thanks Bri for coming and crewing!
More on-board photos from the day of sailing on the Front Runner can be seen here.
This weekend started with Saturday’s Laser Spring Regatta. We had 11 Lasers and Radials out at FBYC for the first day of club racing this year. The wind was light – in the 4-8 knot range. I continued to have good upwind speed, but terrible downwind speed. We got in 6 races and I finished 2nd.
Check out more photos from the awards and the rest of the weekend here.
Tim Zimmerman is a writer for Sailing World and was a competitor at the 2011 Laser District 11 Championship we hosted a few weeks ago at Fishing Bay Yacht Club and he’s written a nice blog article about his experience at the regatta:
Don’t get me wrong. The regatta itself, the District 11 Laser Championships, was not terrible. In fact, it was fantastic. Hosted by the smoothly-run, beautifully-situated, Fishing Bay Yacht Club down in Deltaville, Va., on the southern Chesapeake Bay, the regatta was blessed with excellent winds, a great crowd of sailors, and a Laser-loving chef, Alain Vincey, who cooked up a spectacular Saturday-evening dinner. Even the camping was nice.
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.