Saturday was the final day for the offshore spring series at Fishing Bay Yacht Club. With winds out of the north west at 8-10 it was expected to go west and die off. We didn’t end up with that – it built and went east!
On Wavelength we were a little late at the start of the first race, but we tacked out and were able to get some clear air. We were sailing a 3-lap .75 mile course. Not exactly our favorite to be doing so many turns. Luckily we sailing 10-up and had plenty of help to pack the chute just in time to need it for another downwind.
This being the 5 race day for us this year – we really had some of the crew-work down well. We were executing maneuvers with less notice and doing them faster with less loss of speed during them. And even when we did make some mistakes like dropping the sheet-guy over the bow on the take down and catching it around the keel – we recognized it and recovered immediately with little fuss.
In the 2nd race we had a great start and for the first lap we actually held our own with the faster Double Eagle and Voodoo 2. Eventually they stretched their legs and started pulling away from us.
In both races we were 3rd over the line and 2-3 minutes out of 2nd on corrected time. We knew we just need to finished today’s races to finish 2nd overall in the spring series. Another successful day to conclude a successful series!
It was another beautiful day for racing at Fishing Bay Yacht Club for the 3rd day of the Offshore Spring Series. I was again on Wavelength for the 3 races on a mostly sunny day with temps in the high 70’s and wind that varied from 19-8.
The first race had the most wind and we started out with the No2 and a reef in the main. We did well at the start by staying away from the faster boats that outpoint us and we were able to make progress upwind albeit a little under powered. On a tack halfway up the beet we shook the reef out. The rest of the way around the course went well, but we couldn’t catch the 3 boats ahead of us and settled for a 4th.
In the 2nd race we lined up next to Voodoo 2 and had to take their bad air off the starting line for a while until we could clear the B boats and tack out. We kept up on the upwind leg, but it was the downwind legs where we shined and made up time on each leg. By the 2nd upwind leg the wind had dipped even more and we put up the #1. We barely missed 2nd place by 15 seconds.
The 3rd race didn’t start so well for us. We were over early and had to park it and let the fleet sail by so we could turn around and restart. Starting so far behind everyone made us get creative on the first beat and we banged the right corner (photo above) while most of the rest of the fleet went left which had been working all day. Sure enough the wind went right and we caught right back up to the fleet. Unfortunately, we would get stuck with the bottom 2 boats trying to cover each other for a position and ended up as collateral damage never being able to break free and chase the boats ahead of us and we settled for 4th.
We’re currently in 2nd place for the series and we got one more race day left next Saturday. With a good result we should be able to hang onto 2nd.
Following racing a storm rolled through throwing a 420 into one of the RIBs onshore and bashing Mad Hatter at the dock. I’ve seen some storms roll through and I’ve been at the club for some pretty serious tropical and nor’easters, but I’ve never seen a storm come up so quickly and with such intensity. Thankfully everyone was ashore and safe.
Saturday I got to sail on a Soling for my first time in SSA’s Soling Frostbite. A Soling is a 27′ 3-person keel boat and I was sailing as the middle crew with skipper Mike Waters and bow Gretchen E. We had a bit of a slow start as we dialed in the boat and got through each of the crew mechanics the first time. We learned, we got better and while our results don’t show it, we were actually pretty competitive.
Today’s weather was perfect for frostbiting. Air temperatures on land in the high 50’s with a water temperature of 38. That created great thermal conditions and we had relatively steady wind that started around 8 and built to about 12 before coming back down to about 10 out of the SSW.
In the first race we had a good start, were 2nd at the windward mark and were the first boat to the leeward mark. Unfortunately for us we couldn’t get the spin halyard down and ended up sailing 1/2 mile past the leeward mark before we were able to free the halyard to retrieve it. We took a DNF in that one.
The 2nd race went much better for us. While we weren’t able to fix the core problem with the spin halyard, at least we knew the problem and could work around it. We ended up leading that race wire to wire. We did a great job picking the shifts on both upwind legs and kept a comfortable cover on the boats around.
For the 3rd race we had another great start, got to the windward mark first, but lost a boat downwind. On the 2nd upwind we got on the wrong side of the course as more pressure came from the other side dropping us back to 5th.
Overall the racing was really tight with only a few points separating the boats, but with our DNF we got the short end of the stick and wound up 5th overall. It was a great learning experience and I’m looking forward to going back in a couple weeks for the next frostbite day.
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!
Got to sail a Front Runner in the One Design Opening day with Paul as crew. Started out with winds reaching the low teens and it dropped from there through 3 races. The first race was mostly getting re-acclimated to the boat. In the 2nd and 3rd races we had great starts and got around the course in 2nd. We just couldn’t seem to catch the speed of David and Rob who had 3 bullets and won the day.
This article also appeared in the Fall 2012 Edition of The Laser Sailor and is now featured here as well. It was written with help from Kyle Martin.
Sport cameras are a relatively new breed of cameras that are compact, waterproof, durable and can be easily mounted on all kinds of surfaces. This makes them great for boats and sailing and especially the Laser. The footage from these cameras is great as a training aid, as a keepsake of your sailing and as a way to share sailing with friends and family – just don’t bore them with 20 minutes of you sailing upwind with nothing happening. Not only do most of these cameras do video, but they can also be used for time lapse photography either to watch the whole series, or just to pick key photos of maneuvers , scenery or technique.
Disclaimer: While great for training and pleasure sailing, cameras are not legal equipment for racing on a Laser.
There are several different brands of cameras on the market each with their own strengths, weaknesses, price points, features etc. Kyle and I both use the GoPro Hero2 cameras, but any of these cameras could be mounted in the shots below.
Bow Pro: Easy to set and forget, sees a great scene into the boat and all of the activity in the cockpit Con: Often submerged leaving wet spots on lens, risk of snagging others mainsheet Tip: Use a tripod mount on the bow eye for the most secure attachment. How-to Video
Mast Facing Forward Tip: For best results, angle slightly off center to port. This ‘looks’ ahead around a mark or down the line on a start. Pro: Shows boats ahead of you Con: Boring video if you are in front How-to:Go Pro Mast Mount
Side Mast Facing Aft Tip: To mount use a roll-cage mount with extra long screws Pro: Similar scene as the bow, but from a higher elevation. Con: Only works upwind
Masthead Pro: Wide view shows boats around and position in cockpit Con: Unsteady in waves, weight aloft
Mid-Mast Pro: Closer view of cockpit than masthead Con: Good video one tack, ok video other tack How-to Video
Side of Boat Tip: Use a suction mount on the smooth hull surface. Pro: Interesting angles Con: more likely to be underwater, greater risk of getting banged against something
Chest Pro: Great shots of hand-over-hand activity in the cockpit, putting the viewer in your seat Con: easy to obstruct the view with hands or bang camera with tiller extension and hiking out shows all sky
Head Pro: Nice point-of-view shots Con: Scene changes fast as the wearer quickly looks around the boat to sail
Boom Facing Starboard Tip: Wrist mount fits boom perfectly Pro: Unobstructed rear view downwind Con: Completely obstructed view on port tack by sail
End of Boom Facing Forward Tip: Use roll cage mount Pro: Shows sailor in cockpit and what’s ahead when sailing upwind
Stern Facing Forward Pro: Shows sailor plus what’s ahead Con: Slight risk of snagging your mainsheet Pro: Shows sailor in cockpit and what’s ahead when sailing upwind
Side of Dolly Pro: Can be used right-side up, or down
Jon Deutsch Races Lasers, PHRF boats and anything else he can find to race and usually has a video camera running. Check out his YouTube channel.
Kyle Martin Races Lasers and makes a variety of tips and tricks videos on how to make the most of GoPro Cameras. Check out his tips on his YouTube channel.
