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1996 Laser 159785

This weekend Greater Richmond Sailing Association invited Fishing Bay Yacht Club Flying Scots and Lasers to join them for frostbiting out on Swift Creek.  Dan and I were the only two Lasers; there were 10 Flying Scots and 3 Thistles.  The goal for the day was simply get back in the boat and try a few things out.  I tried a new GoPro Camera (Hero 3+) and a new stern mount for it.  I got to try out some new boots and I got to try sailing at a club I had never been at before.  Thanks again to GRSA for inviting us to come sail!

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1/14 GRSA Frostbite
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1/14 GRSA Frostbite
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Photos courtesy of Sharon Wake.

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10/6 Columbia Sailing Club - D12 Grand Prix Regatta & SC State Championship

Woke up to a pretty thick fog this morning and little prospect of wind.  The race committee had bumped up the start time to 9am for a first warning hoping to get a few more races in.  Most of the fleet headed out into the thick fog and in the distance I could hear the horns of a race starting and later being abandoned.  In the picture above you can barely make out the lasers just behind the point.

Rather than race in nearly no wind, I decided to get on the road and get home at a reasonable hour, so I packed and headed out.  Turns out no races ended up being run at all and Saturday’s results stood.

Despite the lack of wind, it was still a fun time and I got to meet a lot of cool D12 sailors.  Thanks again to Columbia Sailing Club for having the Laser sailors back and putting on a great regatta!

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At the Columbia Sailing Club for the 1st day of the the District 12 Grand Prix and South Carolina State Championship regatta and we had lighter than light wind to start the day.  We postponed ashore for about 2 hours before a wisp of wind appears and we headed out.

10/5 Columbia Sailing Club - D12 Grand Prix Regatta & SC State Championship

We sailed around the corner from the club on the North side of the lake.  This became important because those who sailed near shore got an incredible lift. Of course I didn’t learn that in the the first race and found myself out to the left on the first beat and deep in the fleet, settling for 11.

It amazed me how fast the top 10 boats were.  Even though it was only 5 knots of breeze, everyone had good speed.  So it really came down to picking the shifts right.

In the 2nd race I played the right a little better and climbed through the fleet for a 6th.  In the 3rd and final race of the day I was doing well as the 2nd boat clear ahead on the first beat, but I still didn’t play the right as well as some other boats and found myself deep again, especially after a couple sailors made the left work and came out of nowhere.

So I’m in 10th a good few points out of 9th.  They’ve moved up the start time to 9am in hopes of getting more racing in before the 1pm cutoff and before the remnants of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Karen come through late Sunday evening.  Tomorrow’s another day and hopefully we’ll have something other than light air and flat water for me to work with and climb up in the standings.

After sailing we hung out on the fabulous porch at the club watching football, sharing sailing war stories and singing along to guitar with the other campers.

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10/4 Columbia Sailing Club - D12 Grand Prix Regatta & SC State Championship

The trip to Columbia South Carolina for the Laser District 12 Grand Prix Regatta & South Carolina State Championship at Columbia Sailing Club was a smooth one.  I hit only a little rush hour traffic on the way in to town, set up my tent at the club and went out to a nearby Italian restaurant for a nice dinner.  This will be my 3rd weekend in a row of Laser racing and I’m just hoping we have some wind.  Here’s my recap from last year at this regatta.

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Sunday’s racing at the Laser District 11 Championship in Annapolis started out much like Saturday, but with less wind.  We started the first race under mostly cloudy skies and 8-10 knots of breeze.

After a general recall under P flag the RC went straight to the black flag.  I had a decent start near the boat end and worked my way out to the right along with Ted Morgan.  Karen long hit the right even better than we did and rounded the mark first with me and Ted just behind her.  Downwind I got ahead and put some distance between myself and the group just behind me.   From there I just kept ahead on the remaining 3 legs and took the gun.

Sunday’s 2nd race didn’t go so well.  My start wasn’t as good and I got behind early by being on the wrong side of the shifts on the first beat settling for a 12.  The thing I learned in the 2nd race was that the mode I was using to make the boat go fast upwind in a little more wind and more chop, stopped working when the wind lightened and the water got flatter.

By the 3rd and final race the wind was pretty light and the chop was just the random power boat variety.  We were moving, but it was slow going at times, particularly downwind.  I won the boat at the start and again worked my way up the middle right.  This time the far right didn’t pay.  And much of the fleet had gone left hoping it would pay off like it did last race – it didn’t.  I rounded 2nd just behind Brady White with Brett Morris behind me.  Brady extended his lead and I was able to hold off Brett.  We would go on to finish 1-2-3.

With that finish and knowing several boats would have black flags, I knew the top 2-7 boats would all be pretty close.  The 1 & 2 today certainly helped, but the 12 meant I’d have to keep a 10.  In the end it was the bullet that won me the tiebreaker for 3rd place overall.

Despite the light winds, it was fun to be competing at the top of the fleet – especially with some sailors who I’m usually following around the course.  And with 34 boats there were plenty of sailors keeping the competition close. Thanks again to Steven Cofer and everyone at SSA for hosting our championship!  And congratulations to winner Mike Russom who sailed a very consistent regatta with top 5 finishes.

RESULTS | PICTURES

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We started the 2013 District 11 Championship with 32 standards and 9 radials at Severn Sailing Association.  It was overcast with and the wind was blowing 8-12.  Out on the water we had a bit of a time getting started with the current pushing us over and multiple general recalls and restarts.

I didn’t have a particularly great start in the first race, but I made my way to the right and picked the shifts up the beat catching boats on every upwind.  As the race went on the wind started dropping and was 7 or 8 with left over lumps and chop. I ended up 7th.

In the 2nd race I had a terrible start and won the 6th row getting shut out at the boat.   I worked my way up the first beat just looking for clear lanes and only had 4 boats behind me at the first mark.  Downwind I picked up boats and I picked up another handful on the upwinds.  Salvaged a 10th.

For the 3rd race we still had a 7-8 knots and the chop started going down a bit.  I had a great start, but let Brady and Mike get ahead and to the right.  I followed and when they broke to the left I hung out to the right and crossed both of them.  I was first at the top mark and lost a boat downwind.  Mike Russom was fast and made a good comeback.  But Ted Morgan had the best lines and speed and beat everyone at the top mark.  I held onto 4th.

After racing we had crabs and listened to a band on the SSA deck.

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9/27/2013 J/70 NAC - J/70 waiting around.

This weekend is the Laser District 11 Championship at Severn Sailing Association.  The J70 North American Championship is going on Thursday through Saturday with 90 boats and so I decided to come up a day early to go out and spectate.  The wind didn’t cooperate much and after 4 hours sitting on the water, racing was cancelled for the day.  While we didn’t get to see any sailing, it was still nice to get on the water.  Thanks to Brian Reagan for the ride out to spectate.

Tomorrow we’ll have 40+ Lasers and Radials out for our two-day championship.  Lighter winds are expected which just means – it’s anyone’s race to win!

9/27/2013 J/70 NAC - out spectating.

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We got an early start on Sunday of the Board Bash Regatta at Lake Norman Yacht Club with our first warning at 9:25.  My tent was only slightly wet through the overnight rain showers.

We started the race with winds in the mid-teens and out of a completely different direction than yesterday.  It was a bit cooler too.  I had a great start and made my way upwind just ahead of the pack of boats.  In these conditions I was fully de-powered and holding the boat down… but John Mellnik and Stanley Hassinger just kept the boat a little flatter and a little faster all the way around the course and I was never really able to catch them ending up in 3rd.

In the 2nd race I was OCS at the start and had to come back and restart behind the fleet.  This race was a 5 leg race with a finish to windward.  Stanley and John got away again and I was just behind the next pack – Mark, Stephen, Finn and Conner.  Downwind we mostly stayed the same.  Upwind I had just a little more speed despite some of them picking better shifts.  On the final upwind I was able to get ahead and finish 3rd giving me 3rd overall for the regatta.  I also won the social media award for posting to facebook and twitter during the regatta and racing.

9/20 Lake Norman Yacht Club Board Bash Regatta3rd place.

Having never been to Lake Norman Yacht Club I was incredibly impressed with the place and all of the people there.  I had a great time and will definitely be back again.  Thanks again to Bill and Angie Wiggins for all their work to put together the regatta.  I’m looking forward to sailing with some of the D12 Laser sailors again in Columbia in a couple weeks.

RESULTS

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Jon with New Board

There is no better way to spend a rainy day outside than sailing a Laser.  We might have had drizzle most of the day, but the racing in the Board Bash Regatta at Lake Norman Yacht Club was great.  I got a good sleep in my tent and put the boat together using the new board that I had recently rebuilt and gave a paint job.  I also ran into an old friend -Jaime Espinosa who I used to play club soccer with at ECU.

2013 Board Bash Jon & Jaime

We got racing with 14 Lasers and 11 Radials starting on one line shortly after 11 with wind 9-13 out of the south west. In the first race I had a good start in the middle of the line.  Just a short way up the first beat I miss-judged a cross as a port tack boat and ended up crash tacking, missing the hiking strap and going for a swim.  I recovered quickly and was able to pick my way back through the fleet to round 6th.  Downwind I picked off a boat and another in the upwind to finish 4th.

I had a good start in the second race, but just off the line my daggerboard stopper came apart and I stopped briefly to secure the parts.  The fleet sailed by once again and I had to pick my way upwind through the shifts.  One again I found myself in the top 5 and continued to pick off more boats to a 3rd place finish.

By the 3rd race I was determined not to make any mistakes or have anything fall apart.  While I was successful in there I didn’t have a good start and came to the line late getting pinned under a couple Radials.  At the top mark I was deep and tried to take the right side of the course downwind.  It didn’t work – I got passed by a bunch of boats and ended up 9th.

For the 4th race I had another poor start and had a bit of a time picking my way upwind.  Downwind I was around 4th, but deathrolled 2/3 down the leg and found myself just behind a pack of 10+ boats at the leeward mark.  I went left and picked a couple shifts and passed a bunch of boats to almost get back to where I was before the death roll finishing 6th.

The final race of the day was a Modified Olympic, two laps – a triangle followed by a windward leeward.  By now the wind had shifted left a bit so I  started at the pin.  I went left only for a minute and was able to tack and cross the fleet on the layline and rounded the top mark 1st.  I held ahead of Stanley Hassinger and John Mellnik on the reaches and we rounded the leeward mark bow to stern.  The upwind was a long beat on port and John just had a little more speed upwind and was able to stay ahead of me.  On the final beat Stanley got to the left and passed me, but John overstood the finish line allowing Stanley to finish 1 and me 2.

The final race was probably the best one of the day despite the skewed course.  I had a lot more fun racing John and Stanley closely than I did picking my way through the fleet after bad starts.  After racing we got to catch up with the other sailors and had a good dinner with a band for entertainment after racing. Tomorrow should see a little better weather for the 2nd day.

RESULTS

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This evening I arrived at Lake Norman Yacht Club for the 2013 Board Bash Regatta.  This is a regatta for ‘board’ boats such as Lasers, Sunfish and Optis and it looks as if 80 total boats are signed up with the biggest fleet being the Sunfish with 19 and 16 Lasers in the fleet I’ll be sailing in.

LNYC Porch Panoramic

I’ve never been to LNYC, but heard a lot about it from FBYC Flying Scot sailors and wanted to give it a try.  I’ve also wanted to do more events on the Laser District 12 Series and this will be the first of 2 events I’ll be at this year.

After setting up the tent in a primo spot on the point, I got the boat off the car and finished up my daggerboard project.  The club has a lot of property and I smartly brought my bike to get myself from one end of the property to the other.  All we need for tomorrow is for the rain to hold off and the wind to give us something to sail with.

Tent at Lake Norman Yacht Club

During the regatta I’ll be posting my updates at @jondeutsch and the regatta twitter account is @bbash2013

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