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.
Saturday
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.
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.
We’re all set for the District 11 Championship this weekend at Fishing Bay Yacht Club. I got down to the club this afternoon, got everything unloaded and met some of the out-of-towners who were trickling in. A few of us went out for some practice. After sailing 21 of us went out to dinner and then we hung out at the club before calling it a night.
Tomorrow we’ve got overcast skies and 10-15 out of the south east. We should have right around 40 sailors with about 12 or so in the Radial fleet. It’ll be some fun racing tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it.
Saturday-Sunday
This has been an awesome weekend both as a regatta organizer and as a competitor. The regatta ran great, we had nice weather, we got in 8 races, we had competitive fleets and David Lee and the race committee did a fantastic job with the on-the-water part of the regatta. Everyone enjoyed Alain’s dinner and we certainly couldn’t have made the regatta work with out the help of the many club members who pitched in – THANK YOU!
As a competitor I can’t say I had been thrilled with the sailing I’ve done this year. I was sailing really well last fall and even though I was going to big time regattas this winter, I just never put together anything more than a mediocre regatta for myself. With this regatta I was determined to put in a respectable showing and get my game back to where it was last fall. What better a place to do it than on my home waters.
Saturday’s racing saw 12-16 knots of wind for the day. That’s at the upper end of the range that I’m competitive in. I set my boat up right and hiked my butt off and managed to have all top-10 finishes except 1 in 5 races putting me into 8th in the 25-boat fleet. In that kind of wind keeping up with the tail end of the lead pack was a good showing for myself.
Saturday night we had 55 people for dinner and had a great time hanging around the club.
Sunday, the wind was right in my sweet spot for speed and out of the south. On the first race I had a great start, picked the shifts and led at the windward mark by a boatlength or two. It was such a thrill to be out ahead of so many great sailors. But I knew they were coming for me and I did my best to stay out ahead of them. Dan Herlihy and I traded for 1st place on the next 2 legs and on the final beat, he just picked the shifts a little better than I did to take the gun leaving me 2nd.
In Sunday’s second race I had a good start, but didn’t have the boat speed to pull ahead of the fleet. As a result I had a tough time going where I wanted, made way too many tacks and ended up really deep at the first windward mark. Luckily about half of the top 6 sailors were back there with me. Through the next 4 legs we picked our way back up to the front and I dug through about 10 boats to get back to 9th.
The 3rd and final race of the day was my best race. At the start there was a big lefty enabling Rob Overton to port tack the fleet at the pin. I had a good start in the middle and used my boat speed to get enough of a lead and clear lanes to start picking some shifts. At the first windward mark it was me and Rob Whittimore. I couldn’t have written it any better to battling for the lead with a good friend and fellow club member. I led Rob by about half a boat length down to the offset. Rob had a great run and jumped ahead of me at the downwind mark. The race committee changed the next weather leg to the left so I immediately went left on the 2nd windward leg and caught some great shifts to pull ahead of Rob and everyone else behind. The next two legs I felt like I had good boat speed, caught the shifts well, and covered the fleet to take the gun. That ended up being the last race of the day and it was such a thrill to sail my best and win a race against such a great group of sailors. That really made my weekend.
After racing we handed out awards, cleaned up and got on the road.
All in all it was a great weekend and I can’t wait to do some more Laser sailing!
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.
Saturday
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
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.
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.
The trip to Clearwater Florida for the 2011 Laser Midwinters East was an easy one. Ted brought brought my boat down last week when he came for Masters Midwinters and so this afternoon I was able to fly down. Once in town I settled into the hotel, got the boat checked in and went to dinner with Bob, Ted and Adam.
Tomorrow will be the first of 4 days of racing in the standard rig. The forecast is for lighter winds on Thursday with a little more on Friday and Saturday. There will be close to 80 other boats with me in the Standard rig fleet and over 200 total at the regatta. This is my first time at Midwinters and I’m looking forward to a great weekend of sailing.
Thursday
We had some light winds and chop for the first day of the Laser Midwinters in Clearwater Florida. They split the 78 boat standard rig fleet and I was sailing with the blue fleet with the 3rd start of the day. I was one of the last to arrive at the race course and after a quick postponement they got the fleets started. In the first race I had a bit of a slow start and was in the 30s around the first mark. As I got more comfortable in the boat I clawed back a few spots at a time and came back to 27th. On the last downwind leg I was going downwind on starboard with another boat sailing parallel to me on port. Our masts touched so I protested him. I normally wouldn’t follow through with a protest that doesn’t really affect my finish, but I wasn’t a fan of how the guy handled it on the water so he got tossed later that evening in the protest hearing that he failed to show up to.
We sat on the water for over an hour while the wind clocked around to the right and the course got reset. We started the 2nd race in about 8 knots of breeze. I had a good start and was on the favored side of the course. I had better boat speed than the first race and hung right behind the lead pack. Up until the last two legs I held my place pretty well, but by the last two races I made some positioning mistakes and let some boats sneak inside me and ended up 23rd.
All in all it was a good day of sailing. The weather was comfortable and the water is not too cold. I’m sitting in 50th and if I can put up some solid finishes tomorrow, I might be able to sneak into the top fleet going into the weekend. The forecast tomorrow is for more wind in the 10-15 knot range.
Friday
For the second race day at Laser Midwinters we had 12-14 knots all day. I sailed with the leaders all day long … that was the leaders of the fleet behind me. It was a beautiful day with warm weather and we sailed 3 races. It wasn’t my best day as I am not competitive in the top end of that range wind range. I’m getting more experience in that kind of wind and getting my muscles used to hiking again after a few month hiatus.
I was in the back of the pack so I’ll definitely be in the silver fleet. Looking forward to sailing with the back half of the fleet in what should be some laid back and competitive sailing at more my level.
Saturday
Light air day in Clearwater for the Laser Midwinters. To begin the day we were postponed on shore due to lack of wind at the racing area. There was a nice wind blowing through the sailing center which made it even that much harder to sit around. I did some sightseeing and walked across the street to see the beach.
Around noon the wind filled in enough at the race course for them to send us off. We waited around at the course for a bit while the wind settled and the Standard Gold fleet eventually started in 4-6 knots out of the West South West. Our fleet started under black flag and I had a reasonably good start towards the middle-pin end. I made my way to my left and kept my tacks to a minimum arriving in at the windward mark just behind the top 10 boats. I held my speed pretty well with the rest of the fleet and managed to stay ahead of the scrum of about 15 boats behind me. With 4 boats ahead of me black flagged, I ended up finishing 10th in the silver fleet.
Tomorrow is the last day at midwinters. The weather has been great and the sailing has been fun. We have an earlier start tomorrow and are hoping for a little more wind than we had today. And as soon as we are off the water tomorrow, Ted and I will start the long drive back to VA/MD.
Sunday
We started the final day of the 2011 Laser Midwinters east a little earlier. We had to check out of the hotel and be out on the water for a 10am first start. Despite being one of the first to leave the dock, I was one of the few without a coach boat and therefore one of the last to reach the race course. It wasn’t much of a problem because we were postponed on the water for over an hour before the sea breeze finally came in with 5-10 knots of breeze.
The silver standard rig fleet only got to sail one race before we reached the mid-afternoon time limit. The first start was recalled and we restarted under black flag. I had a terrible start and was so far behind so fast I just ended up ducking a couple stragglers and banging the right corner. It ended up paying off as I was in the 15-20 range at the top mark. I did pretty well reaching and downwind but lost a few more boats when the right DID NOT pay off on the second beat. I finished somewhere in the low 20’s.
The sea breeze made it an easy sail in and Ted and I got the boats and car packed up in record time to begin the drive back to Richmond and then on to Annapolis.
I definitely enjoyed my first trip to the Laser Midwinters East Regatta. I learned a lot, got to sail alongside some great sailors, met some new people, and got back into the boat after a few months off. I’m looking forward to getting a little more practice and going ready to compete at the ACC’s and NAC’s later this spring and summer.
I used Sunday’s Laser frostbite as an opportunity to get some of the cobwebs out. Last weeks’ frostbite at Hampton was good for getting the boat together, but with little wind, wasn’t much of an opportunity to do the kind of sailing I’ll be doing at Midwinters in Clearwater Florida in a little over a week.
The temperature on Sunday in Annapolis was in the high 40’s and low 50’s with winds 13-16 knots, overcast skies and a water temperature of 38 degrees. Generally it was good sailing in wind that I had to hike in and I got some of the feeling back in how to sail the boat and make it go. With boat handling being my priority, results of the 4 races I sailed in were secondary and the scoreboard was not friendly – finishing 15 out of 17 boats on the line including two DFLs.
All in all it was a good day on the water and I’m glad to have gotten that past me now rather than on the first day of the regatta. This was also an opportunity for me to practice filming with the GoPro. I had gotten several mounting locations set up and today I mounted the camera to the bow. Check out the video:
Made a trip to the ODU sailing center on Sunday to Frostbite with the Hampton Roads Laser Fleet. This was the first of two frostbite outings to tune up for the Laser Midwinters East Regatta in Clearwater Florida in a couple weeks.
The day was fraught with very little wind and thus we were only able to get in two short races before calling it a day. The video below shows just how light it was. This was also my first experiment mounting the GoPro camera to the Laser. It turned out pretty well and I can’t wait to try another mounting location next week when I’m frostbiting up at SSA in Annapolis.
Another great weekend in Deltaville. Saturday was probably the last regatta I am going to sail in for the year. It was the Sail Against SIDS/Indian Summer Regatta and we had 3 lasers out. I can’t say I sailed very smart, missing things like the number of laps and major wind shifts. But I made up for it by being fast and won 5 close races. It was fun sailing with Mike and Steve and I want to thank Allan’s crew for putting up with me always wanting our fleet to sail a different course than the other fleets.
Sunday was the Offshore Fall Series #2 at Fishing Bay Yacht Club. I ran the mark boat with Miles. With a strong, cool north wind, we sailed the races in Fishing Bay. Occasional light rain added a little misery. It’s always a sight seeing 15-20 twenty to forty footers racing in the shifty conditions in the Piankatank.
My only real responsibility as the mark boat: making sure the marks all line up with the committee boat.
Despite the bad weather, I was able to get some pictures of the action that can be seen here.
Today was the first day of the District 10 Championship at Corinthian Yacht Club of Cape May. The day started with a nice sail out to course out the channel and in the ocean. At that point the wind died and the confused seas were rather uncomfortable to try and sit in.
An hour later the wind picked up and the race was started. I had a great start in the middle of the line on Port! Found a great hole in the mid-line sag and jumped out to a 4 boat lead. I was first boat around the windward mark with one boat close behind. He got me on the downwind and I followed him to a 2nd place finish.
The wind picked up a little in the 2nd race, but I still wasn’t overpowered and managed a 5th. The wind picked up for the final two races and I finished 11th and 12th in the 26 boat fleet. What started out as a pretty miserable day sitting on the water really turned into a great day of racing.
Sunday
Day 2 of the District 10 Championship brought a lot more wind than we saw yesterday. Given that and the fact that the tide would be going out when we were coming in, the race committee decided to sail us in the harbor.
I got a great start in the first race and was hanging with the leaders until I botched a tack and dumped the boat. I was able to right myself and stay with the lead pack on the downwind.
On the next beat upwind a large yacht (130ft?) was transiting the channel and was about to go right through the middle of the course. I was a little behind the fleet and rather than being cut off, I figured it would be best to duck behind the yacht and sail upwind on the other side of the channel and by the time I got to the mark, the yacht would be well past the course.
I aimed to pass about 20ft behind the boat while knowing it was still going forward and would probably be even farther away by the time I got to it. I also was anticipating a bit of a wind shadow. What I didn’t anticipate were the other sailors in the fleet yelling to this boat that they had right of way (they didn’t) and cutting in front of it.
Just as I got behind the yacht in the wind shadow the captain stopped the yacht and put it into full reverse. In no wind I had no way to get out from behind the yacht as it got closer. The wind behind the yacht ended up sucking me towards it and caused me to capsize to windward with the mast on the swim platform. Thankfully I wasn’t further away or the mast would have hit the water and the yacht would have driven backwards over it. My sailboat eventually turtled and I swam it around to the side of the yacht. A couple parents, coaches and safety boats were there 20 seconds later and helped me right the boat and get away from the yacht.
I believe this was taken from the weather mark boat. At the point the picture was taken, I’m already along side the yacht, and my boat is on its side and I’m sitting on top waiting to right it.
After that scary experience I was pretty exhausted. In the second race I was making all kinds of dumb mistakes from being tired and ended up death rolling the boat a few times downwind. At that point I knew no more good was going to come out of this day and felt it was best to just hang it up before I get even more tired and frustrated, or worse, do damage to a borrowed boat.
An hour later I was packed and ready to go. I stopped on the shoreline near the racecourse and was able to get a few good photos of a radial start and a standard rig mark rounding.
To avoid some of the 95 traffic I decided to give the Cape May to Lewes Delaware ferry a try. The rest of the ride home was thankfully less eventful than my day of sailing.
All in all it was a fun trip. I had good results on day 1 and it was great meeting all the sailors from D10. CYCCM did a great job with the regatta and I want to thank Mark for the loaner boat and Dave for the place to stay.
Saturday I sailed the Laser out of Fishing Bay and circumnavigated Gywnn Island. The wind was out of the South-South East from 8-12 knots in the Piankatank to 14-18+ out in the bay. I started with a 2 hour beat upwind heading first east, and then south down the Chesapeake Bay. Out a mile offshore sailing upwind in 15+ in the standard rig was great with steady wind and some good wave action. At the 2 hour mark I entered the channel at the south end of the island and sailed the 1 ½ hour mostly downwind sail back to FBYC. I ended up sailing roughly 20 miles and I could not have asked for a better day of sailing.
