Tag: ILCA

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

The wind started out light for the 8 Lasers at the Fishing Bay Yacht Club Summer Laser Regatta.  We sailed 2 races in light air and then waited a short time for the sea breeze to kick in and gave us a little more solid pressure for another 4 races.

2/28 FBYC Laser Summer RegattaPhoto by Lisa Radtke

I got a great jump on the first race and lead wire-to-wire.  Other highlights include several 2nds including a couple races where I had to claw my way up there from 4-5 at the first windward mark.  I ended up 2nd overall.  Len Guenther was fast and consistent and put up 3 bullets to win the day comfortably.  Blake Kimbrough was a fast starter all day – too fast – he was OCS in 5 of 6 races and in the only race he wasn’t OCS he won.   Despite the restarts he still sailed fast enough to take 3rd overall.

2/28 FBYC Laser Summer RegattaPhoto by Lisa Radtke

The rest of the fleet – Brad, Mike, Rob, Frank, Alain all sailed good races and kept it close and competitive all the way around the course.  Thanks to Tom, Paul and the rest of the race committee for running races for us.  And thanks Lisa Radtke for a few photos.

2/28 FBYC Laser Summer RegattaBlake, Jon, Len

RESULTS

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The 2nd day of the Laser Atlantic Coast Championship started out early and started with no wind.  We had a 0930 first warning and they sent us out – towed most of us out to where we sat for 2 hours.  By 11 the wind started coming in from the south and built from there.  The Standard rigs got 3 more races in, 2 for the other fleets.  By the 3rd race we had solid hiking conditions.

I had a tough day.  I didn’t start well and the short first beat meant everyone went around the first 3 legs in a clump.  The 2nd beat was always where I made my gains picking out the shifts upwind and picking off 10+ boats to get me back closer to the middle of the fleet.  Thanks again to Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club for putting on  a good regatta and I had a great time meeting new people and seeing friends.

RESULTS | My Photos | Regatta Photos

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Quite a day for the first day of the 2013 Laser Atlantic Coast Championship at Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club on Long Beach Island NJ.  Looking at the scores – everyone was up and down  and very inconsistent.  We had 4 races with 4 very different conditions for each.

In the first race I had a poor start, but picked my way into mid fleet.  Right at the end I tapped someone at a mark rounding and had to do turns.  Finished 41.

2013 Laser ACC Race 2 start

By the second race we had 6-8 knots of breeze.  I picked out the pin end to start and nobody was down there.  I won the pin and just punched out and kept going out to the left and stayed out front.  By the top mark only Eric Reitinger was just ahead of me.  On the downwind a couple boats caught me and on the 2nd upwind I found a hole and lost 10 boats.  I held there and finished 15.

2013 Laser ACC Race 3 -a

In the 3rd race we started under black flag and had what I thought was a great spot, but suddenly I found myself bow out, chickened out and backwinded so I didn’t get black flagged.  As we went upwind the wind continued to die and it started to rain.  That continued throughout the race and by the last leg we were barely going along and I finished deep.

In the last race the wind came up to 9-11 with clear skies and I had another terrible start.  I immediately tacked out and got bounced further to the right and found myself on the layline at the mark about 25th.  Both downwinds I went way right mostly just to stay away from the other sailors and picked up a spot or two on each.  On the 2nd upwind we had a course change with the wind shifting.  I picked the phase perfectly and picked up at least 10 spots upwind.  Finished 13th.

All in all it was a tough day but still a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to day 2 tomorrow.  Keep an eye on Twitter on @LaserACC for my updates.

RESULTS | VIDEO

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Day 2 of the Orange Coffee Pot Regatta and Laser District 11 Championship was forecast to start a lot like Saturday finished: windy.  Already a number of sailors weren’t going out.  I rigged hoping to hang in there for as many races as I could.  As I was about to head to the launching ramp, I noticed that my traveler fairlead was starting to pull out of the deck.  Luckily Don Hahl had a spare hull sitting on a trailer (thanks Don!!!).  In a 10-minute mad dash we pulled everything off my boat and re-rigged it on the spare hull.

6/2 traveler fair lead pulled out of the deck. Also note the damage through the gelcoat from the traveller block.

I hung in there through 2 races in winds in the 20+ range.  There were some shifts to be found, but mostly it was just hanging on, keeping the boat moving and keeping it upright.  By the end of the 2nd race I started getting the tipsies.  I started the 3rd race, sailed to the windward mark and just sailed in for the dock.  At that point I was worn out and wasn’t really doing much racing anyway.  Back at the dock I packed up, made arrangements to get the boat fixed and got on the road (without the boat).

6/2

Pictures | Results

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We had a windy first day of racing at Surf City Yacht Club for the Orange Coffee Pot and Laser District 10 Championship regatta.  I sailed consistently with finishes averaging just out of the top 10 to be sitting 10th overall after the first 7 races.

Throughout the day the wind built from about 12 in the first race to over 20 by the 7th race.  The sailing location was slightly behind a shore that kept us the waves down.  In fact it was disorienting to have 18 knots of wind later in the day and only 1′ waves.  On the shorter courses that we had I found it was important to get good lanes, keep clear air and pick lanes to cross so I didn’t have to duck boats.

We’re looking at another windy day on Sunday.

Results

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I have arrived in Surf City NJ on Long Beach Island for the Orange Coffee Pot Regatta and Laser District 10 Regatta. I got here late in the afternoon and joined a few other sailors for about an hour of practice. The wind was in the middle to upper teens which is what we are going to see a lot more of this weekend.

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Wickford Regatta Jon Sailing Upwind

The forecast for Sunday called for wind to come up and build in the mid-teens shortly after mid-day.  We got exactly that and then some with gusts in the upper teens by the 3rd race.  With the failure of the outhaul/cunningham base block screw yesterday I rigged the cunningham normally and rigged the outhaul the old way on the boom.  Not as adjustable, but it’d get me through the day.

Wickford Regatta Outhaul Rig

We were the first start of the day and I didn’t do so hot on the first one.  I was coming to the first mark mid-fleet and the race committee abandoned us before the first boat go to the windward mark because a large fishing trawler was very close to the mark and on the rhumb line to our reach mark moving slowly.

We restarted and this time I had a good start and did well to hold my lane.  I had reasonable upwind speed, but still not quite as much as those who could hold the boat down better.  I rounded in 10-12, caught one on the reach, caught another on the run, and then picked up 2-4 more spots on the 2nd upwind where I picked the shifts well and held onto that for 8th.

Wickford Sunday Reach

In the 2nd race of the day I had another good start and held my lane well up the beat.  By now the wind had increase a few more knots and I just wasn’t moving the boat upwind as well as others who sailed more in heavy wind.  (It was probably some time last summer since I spent more than an hour racing in 15+).  I finished around 12-13, but a few folks were OCS pulling me up to 9.

The wind built more for the 3rd race and by new we were getting some 2’+ waves rolling through.  At that point I was just hanging on and just trying to keep the boat moving as fast as I could while trying to minimize tacking and slowing down.  I played the downwind pretty conservatively to keep the boat upright and finished 10th.

By 2pm the RC planned one more race and I could see we were going to be getting rained on within the hour.  I didn’t think another race was going to change my score much and I had accomplished what I came for which was competitive racing in wind and I decided I better get on the road so I don’t get back too late.

Traffic back was miserable in Connecticut.  What should have been the first 2 1/2 hours took over 4.  South of NYC everything cleared out and I got home at 1:30am.  Overall it was a good trip.  I got to sail a new venue, meet some new sailors and get some more competitive racing in before the D10 championship and ACC coming up in a few weekends.  Thanks again to everyone at Wickford Yacht Club for putting on a great regatta and to the Northrups for the great place to stay.

Results | Pictures: here here here here here here here

Top photo licensed from Cate Brown photo.

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2013 Wickford Regatta Saturday Reach

We had great wind and racing for the first day of the Wickford Regatta & Laser District 7 Championship. We had 24 boats and sailed 3 races in 10-15 out of the south and overcast skies with temperatures in the mid 60’s.

I got out to a bit of a slow start and continued to feel better in the boat each race and put up better results each race. In the first race I was a little slow at the start and got bounced around a bit on the first beat. I was fast on the reach and held on downwind to end up 14th.

2013 Wickford Regatta Saturday Start

In the second race I had a better start, but still had a tough time on the first beat and rounded the first mark deep. I had a great second beat and picked off some boats and ended up 11th.

After finishing the 2nd race I realized that one of the heads of the screws holding the outhaul/cunningham block at the base of the mast sheared off and was only being held down by one screw. I re-rigged the outhaul so it was fixed and not deck-led to relieve some pressure to get me through the rest of the races.

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As a result of fixing the outhaul and setting up for the start a little late, I didn’t have a good lane at the start and wound up tacking out early and ducking a lot of boats. That worked out pretty well when the wind started going right and I was able to pick the shifts to round top-5. Downwind I rounded 3rd and luckily went to the right gate (looking upwind) and went right upwind where we got a 30-degree righty, so I immediately found myself on the layline. I got out-ground in the higher winds, to round in 5th and then lost 2 more on the downwind to finish 7th.

The RC tried to start another race, first under P and then under I, but we general recalled both times and they sent us in as it was already after 4pm.

All in all it was a good day on the water and other than not being able to adjust the outhaul, I felt like I was getting into a groove and making the boat go well. Hopefully we’ll have another couple of races tomorrow.

Results

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This afternoon I arrived in Wickford, Rhode Island for the Wickford Regatta that’s also going to be the Laser District 7 Championship. I found the club and the beach across town where we are sailing out of and unloaded the boat and got to go for a practice sail in a dying breeze. In the evening I hung out at the club meeting some of the other members, sailors and volunteers and met the couple that is hosting me. This is my first time sailing anywhere on Narragansett Bay let alone anywhere in Rhode Island and I’m looking forward to a great Laser fleet and good racing conditions tomorrow!

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