We had a great first day of the District 12 Championship at Columbia Sailing Club in Columbia South Carolina. We sailed 5 races that at some point in each of the races we had 4 knots and 10 knots. In the lighter winds I did well on the first upwind leg most races and worked hard to hold onto my spot on the downwinds. I put up a 3-2-8-1-2 and am currently 2 points out of first behind John Potter from Beaufort SC. Tomorrow will be another light air day and hopefully I can keep up the top 3 finishes to have a shot at the title.
Provisional Results (the winner in race 3 will be RET and everyone moves up one)
We sailed another 3 races on Sunday to complete the District 11 Championship. The wind started out around 14-15 out of the north, north west and died off to about 8 by the end of the 3rd race. It was very shifty and challenging. I put up a 9-4-9 today to finish in 6th. Best part of the day was on the first beat in the 2nd race when I pulled off a perfect pick move when the Schooner Woodwind crossed behind me and blanketed the entire rest of the fleet (seen above).
We had an absolutely beautiful day in Annapolis for the first day of the Laser District 11 Championship with 33 boats. We did 4 races in 15-18 knots with each race taking about 45 minutes. We sailed in their area C which was just north of Tolly Point with the wind at 200-180. I did a reasonable job keeping up with the lead pack in winds that were right at the very top if not slightly above my competitive range. Having finished 5-7-7-10 I’m in 7th and looking forward to the slightly lighter winds predicted for tomorrow. Results.
We did 7 races today in light wind for the Laser Fall Regatta at Fishing Bay Yacht Club. I generally kept the boat moving and didn’t dig too far into any holes and maintained mostly top half finishes to end up 3rd overall.
Another nice weekend of racing at Fishing Bay Yacht Club for the 73rd Annual One Design Regatta. We had 10 Laser and 3 Radials among the 112 boats total at the regatta. We got in 3 long races on Saturday. The first race was probably the most exciting. I led for most of the race and got passed in the last 50 feet to the finish line and a moment after the pass I death rolled just feet from the finish. I still managed to right the boat and finish in 2nd. I finished 2nd and 5th in the other two races.
We would have raced some more, but storms moved into the area and chased us off the water. Our course got off the water just fine, but the tail end of the Flying Scots coming in from the far racing area didn’t make it before the front hit and several boats were capsized near the club. Thankfully there were no injuries or damage to the boats involved. Dinner and the party got a slow start on account of the rain, but it did clear eventually and allowed for a good time.
On Sunday the wind was a bit lighter. We raced long courses which spread the fleet out quite a bit. In almost every race I would have a great start, miss a shift and find myself 2-4 at the first mark. On the 2nd upwind I could usually pick off all or most of the boats ahead of me. That’s what happened in the final race and passed upwind for the lead on the last 1/4 of the upwind to give me 2nd overall (results). All in all it was a good regatta and we had quite a few fun races.
More awards pictures and a few scenes from around the club are here. Below is a video of a few scenes from the regatta.
On Sunday at the Ware River Yacht Club Virginia Governor’s Cup Regatta we had a nice breeze and 3 more races. The way the wind funneled into the club from this particular direction you would have thought there was far more wind than there was. At least one fleet scratched out for the day and a few sailors in the other fleets sat it out as well.
Out on the water it was a perfect 12-16 knots all day out of the WSW with a light chop. Our first two races went pretty well and I put up a 3-2. Going into the final race the top 3 boats were all separated by just 3 points meaning whoever won the race won the regatta. Henry and I were both over early and had to go back. After restarting I worked my way out to the right while Henry went to the left with the other boat who had won the first two races today. I made the right work and had a pretty comfortable lead at the first mark. From there I extended on the long close reaches to the wing mark and back and on the final upwind I covered and stayed in front to win the race and the regatta.
Ware River Yacht Club always puts on a good event and it was nice seeing them bring the junior Lasers over to our course. It was fun starting in 10 boats and we had some pretty close competition. All in all a good regatta and a good tune up for FBYC’s Annual One Design Regatta next weekend.
Day 1 at the Virginia Governor’s Cup Regatta at Ware River Yacht Club. We had 10 boats out and started the day in 6-8. In the first two races I had good starts, picked the shifts right and led both races. In the final leg of the 2nd race the sea breeze came in at 13-15 knots and we did two more races in that wind. As I was out there hiking my butt off I realized I hadn’t sailed a single event this year in wind. I just didn’t have the muscles for it and my results showed. This was the wind for Henry Amthor and he put up two bullets in the final two races to take the overall lead today. I made a bad decision to put in an extra tack in the final leg of the 3rd race and dropped to 3rd. I managed a 2nd in the final race. With 1-1-3-2 I’m just one point behind Henry in 2nd place and we’ll be sailing day two tomorrow.
I’ve heard the way to get faster is to sail against boats who are faster than I am – even if they have 3 times as many sails and 5 times as many people on board.
