Tag: ILCA

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

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

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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 | CSC Photos by Joe Reyes

All but the last photo courtesy of Joe Reyes

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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)

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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.

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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

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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.

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