Tag: ILCA

ILCA sailboats and sailing. (Prior to 2021 known as Laser)

Our yacht club has been working on a new long range plan and we’ve done a bit of age analysis to see how our membership has changed over the past 10+ years.  For the past 8 years I’ve run the Chesapeake Laser Masters Championship and I usually skimp on awards for the Great Grand Masters (65+) because historically there have only been a handful of competitors in that bracket compared to the more numerous competitors in the younger age brackets.  This was the first year that several competitors pointed out how many more GGM sailors there were and thus deserved trophies that went a little deeper.  And that has gotten me thinking about the age demographics of our Laser Masters regattas.

Here are the demographics of the Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship for all of the years I have available.  Laser Masters sailing starts at 35 years old and the brackets are Apprentice: 35-44, Master 45-54, Grand Master 55-64 & Great Grand Master 65+.  I’ve broken down each year by % of the fleet in each of the age groups to show how that has changed over the years.

Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship Age Demographics

Here is the same type of data for the US Masters Championship:

US Masters Age Demographics 2000-2012

Both regattas differ a little bit in what they show and which age groups are growing, but both clearly show over the past 3-4 years a smaller Apprentice category and slightly larger M, G and GGM categories.  What’s causing this?  It could be the aging Baby Boomer population who were in their teens-20-30s when the Laser became popular in the 1970’s and learned to sail on them.  There’s always been a bit of a boomerang in sailing where people go away during and after college and while they are starting families, and then they tend to come back and involve their family in sailing.  Could it be that the following generation (X) that was raised in Optis and spent less time in the Laser, is not returning to the Laser in the same numbers as the generation before them?  Or are more boomers just boomeranging back into the class later in life and skewing the pot? Time will tell, but there’s clearly a change underway.

What are your thoughts?  Leave them in the comments.

Raw Data:

Chesapeake Laser Masters

Year A M GM GGM Total
1999 12 19 9 9 49
2000 26 41 16 8 91
2003 8 11 9 1 29
2004 5 10 6 2 23
2005 4 7 7 1 19
2006 12 14 10 3 39
2007 9 12 11 1 33
2008 9 12 6 1 28
2009 3 13 5 4 25
2010 9 20 9 5 43
2011 7 17 7 5 36
2012 5 22 9 9 45
US Laser Masters

Year A M GM GGM Total
2000 26 41 16 8 91
2005 31 29 16 2 78
2007 19 33 10 5 67
2009 9 19 9 2 39
2010 14 48 12 12 86
2011 5 14 11 5 35
2012 8 27 22 5 62

Why Chesapeake Laser Masters and US Masters? 1) Because Masters events are the only events where we know the age bands of sailors.  While there are regattas that know the age of the competitors, it’s not typically published.  2) These are the events that I had the most and oldest data on.

By Posted on Posted in Life, Sailboat Racing 2 Comments Tagged with , , ,

20121104-010

I finished my sailing season off on Sunday with the FBYC Laser Frostbite Regatta.  We had 9 boats out in some light North and Westerly winds for 5 races.  It was fun close racing on a short course.  I won the last 3 races to win the day by just 2 points.

That makes for 55 days of sailing this year, one more than last year.  I’m looking forward to some time off and I’ll be planning next year soon!

By Posted on Posted in Life, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , ,

Last weekend was the 31st Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship at Fishing Bay Yacht Club.  We had a great fleet of 45 boats come to sail.  I was the event chairman and I also got to be out on the water during racing to take some pictures.  Here are a few of the best:

191980 Richard Biggs, 182374 Doug Keiler
158670 Ron Thompson, 179132 Donald Hahl, 203957 John MacCausland, 199142 Newton Wattis, 188702 Roger Link, 121384 Mike Schmidt, 175592 John Gebhardt
186519 Dorian Haldeman, 179132 Donald Hahl
121384 Mike Schmidt, 171628 Ken Swetka, 92 Gavin O'Hare, 50005 Henry Amthor
191967 Jeffrey Moore, 166892 Jolie Homsher, 175892 Jacob Donkersloot, 175592 John Gebhardt, 170642 Frank Patch Jr, 121384 Mike Schmidt, 166046 Bob Peronne, 50005 Henry Amthor, 166063 Jane Schmidt, 196080 Steven Schmidt, 200528 Lindsay Hewett, 92 Gavin O'Hare, 179132 Donald Hahl, 186519 Dorian Haldeman, 158670 Ron Thompson, 178857 Adam Glass, 188702 Roger Link, 203957 John MacCausland, 196023 Bob Tan, 188182 Anthony Burton, 195478 Michael Moore, 148542 Bill Lawson, 188102 Mike Toms, 180536 Steven Cofer, 171628 Ken Swetka, 189774 Finn Hassing, 199142 Newton Wattis, 191980 Richard Biggs, 151860 Rich Parolski, 272727 Had Brick, 200405 Michael Parramore, 152912 Chuck Lee, 157552 Frank Murphy, 195431 Len Guenther, 174236 Jacques Kerrest
Sunset on Fishing Bay Friday night.

All in all it was a great regatta.  I couldn’t have done it without the help of our race committee and all of the Laser Fleet members who helped out.  And it was nice to have all of the masters sailors I see so often on the regatta circuit come sail with us in Deltaville.

Results | Photos | Video

By Posted on Posted in Life, Sailboat Racing, Video No Comments Tagged with , , , , ,

Friday

Arrived at the Columbia Sailing Club this evening and ready to sail the District 12 Championship tomorrow!

Saturday

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)

Sunday

The forecast for the last day of the Laser District 12 Championship was for light air and as we were sailing out to the race course we had great wind – 10-12 knots.  By our 10am start it had dropped at bit and it continued to go down from there.  Today was a basically a two-boat race.  Unless I put up two DFLs it would have been hard not to get 2nd place.  Once a drop would be factored in, I was effectively 1 point behind John Potter, so it would come down to today’s races as to who won the regatta.

first race start tacked out to the right

In our first race today I had a crummy start – I just about won the boat, but had no boat speed at the start.  John was to leeward of me and was a boat length and a half ahead when I crossed the line.  I took a big duck and headed out right while he sailed to the left.  Wanting to consolidate I came back to the middle having made up some ground, but John tacked on me and forced me back to the right.   On the middle right of the course I had better pressure and got in front of John, but the boats who went left did much better than us putting me around 6th and John several boats behind me by the time we rounded.

Downwind John caught up a few boats and on the 2nd upwind I stuck to the middle of the course while John went to the left.   When we got to the top 3rd of the course a 50-degree righty came in and I laid the mark while John out to the left still had to tack to fetch it.  At the mark there was one boat between us and downwind I worked to  pass one boat on the way to the finish.  With two boats between us that put me 1 point ahead of John.

After the race we sat on the course for half an hour with no prospect of wind and the race committee abandoned racing for the rest of the day and I won the District 12 Championship Regatta.  Not only was John great competition this weekend, but so were sailors such as Rob Bowden who would have beat both John and I had he not been OCS twice.  All in all it was a fun regatta and I got to visit a an awesome club who put on a great and I got meet a lot of new District 12 sailors.

Results | My Photos | VIDEO

All but the last photo courtesy of Joe Reyes

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, Photography, Sailboat Racing, Video No Comments Tagged with , , , , , ,

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.

8/12/2012 Fishing Bay Yacht Club 73rd Annual One Design Regatta - Laser Winners.

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.

By Posted on Posted in Life, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , , ,

Saturday

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.

Sunday

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.

2012 Ware River Governor's Cup 1st Laser
By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , ,

We had some nice weather and some wind for at least the first half of the Deep Creek Laser Invitational allowing us to get in 4 races on Saturday.  I put up a 3-1-1-2 and finished 1st in the 19-boat Standard fleet. Sunday we went out, spent 25 minutes sailing 2 legs and they abandoned and eventually sent us in without any races having not had any wind all day.

Saturday, we went out at 10:30 in partial fog for our 11am start.  After a brief postponement we got the first race underway.  I had a good start, winning the boat end, but my first two tacks weren’t so good and I found myself 8th at the windward mark.  From there I chipped away at boats and got to 3rd at the finish.

In the 2nd race I had another great start and just picked the shifts up the beat and got a nice lead. Darren Van Hutton and Meredith Hillyer, both on-the-lake sailors, both had great downwind speed and always seemed to catch up to me a bit.  Upwind I seemed to be able to pick the shifts right and would pull back ahead.  As we approached the last downwind mark with just a short beat left to the finish, there was a pontoon boat fishing just 5 feet upwind of the leeward mark.  To make matters worse, he had a line out to the right of the mark and he was reeling in ‘something big’ and was refusing to move.

worst place ever to stop and go fishing

I wound up having to sail 20 feet to the right of the mark to get around his fishing line and just as I was rounding the mark and the boat, I realized he had another line out the other way.  Only this one was in the air for about 40 feet so I couldn’t even attempt to sail over it.  I was really wishing I had a pocket knife with me.  The leader of the Radial fleet who was sailing a shorter course was right next to me with non of his competition in sight, and Meredith was about 10 lengths behind me with the rest of our fleet another 20 lengths behind her.  All 3 of us ended up having to sail about 40-50 feet on starboard on a close reach just to get to where the fishing line hit the water where we could pull our boards up and sneak over it.  Meredith almost caught up to me and I was able to stay about a boat length ahead of her at the finish.

still trying to sail around the fishing line, fishing boat is just behind me.

For the 3rd race, I was going to try to win the boat again, but realized with about a minute and a half left to go that we were likely to get a big lefty at the start.  I made my way down to the pin where I was all alone except for one other boat.  At the gun I was able to tack onto port and built a pretty comfortable lead by the first mark.  By the top mark of the 2nd beat Meredith caught up a bit and rode a nice puff around the mark and downwind on the inside lane putting her just ahead of me.  Eventually that petered out and the wind filled back in from the outside and he angle allowed me to get back just ahead through the finish.

After a lunch break (where I filmed this cool time lapse of the fleet coming in) we went back out for one more race in the afternoon.  At the start it was clear that left was favored so most of the faster boats were starting there.  Right at the gun the wind went left which ended up rafting up 6 of us top of the pin.  We couldn’t tack out because the rest of the fleet was on starboard so we just each took our turn bouncing off the pin, sailing out to the left, doing our turn and heading upwind.  By then we were clear astern of most of the fleet.

tight quarters at the start.

I worked my way up the left and was about 4th at the windward mark.  The lead pack went wide on the downwind leg and sailed into a hole while I headed down the inside with Meredith, Daryl and Margaret Podlich just behind me.  They ended up reeling me in as they rode a puff down and just as Daryl and Margaret were passing me, Daryl death rolled.  Margaret had just enough of an overlap at the mark to take it and I wound up following just behind her the rest of the course to finish 2nd.

With a 3-1-1-2 I was in 1st place in the 19-boat fleet with 2nd place 5 points behind me.  We spent the evening with a nice dinner at the club.

Sunday we were initially postponed on shore and they sent us out once the wind filled in a bit.  After chasing the wind around a few directions they set a course and started us.  I had a pretty abismal start, but picked some shifts up the middle of the course in 2 knots of wind to round the mark in 6th.  As we were at the top mark the wind was in transition and shifting about 100 degrees and a few minutes later the RC abandoned the race.  We sat on the course for 25 minutes waiting for the wind to settle down and the RC sent us in for lunch.  The wind never settled, so they never sent us back out and thus the regatta stood as is.

More pictures, videos and results.

By Posted on Posted in Life, Photography, Sailboat Racing, Video No Comments Tagged with , , , , , ,