Tag: SSA

Severn Sailing Association

Rigging in the rain for day 2 at the Sunshine Open at Severn Sailing Association.
Rigging in the rain for day 2 at the Sunshine Open at Severn Sailing Association.

Arrived for day 2 of the Sunshine Open at Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis to plenty of rain and even a little thunder. It looked like most of the weather coming was going to be light but likely to persist into the early afternoon. We launched on time and sailed in area C at the mouth of the Severn River.

After a short postponement we got racing in 8-12 knots of wind. For the first race I started at the boat just a tiny bit late and was able to rack out to the right into what looked like some better pressure. By the top mark I was in second just behind Bob T. Downwind I went low and easily passed Bob and extended. On the next upwind I held my position with James, Dave and others just behind me. I didn’t keep the boat going early in the final downwind and 4 boats went right around me leaving me in 5th.

By the second race the wind had picked up to 10-13 and my not so great start at the pin left me just in the top 10 at the top mark. As we went downwind the wind started to ease a bit. I went left seeing the wind going that way as it continued to ease while the rest of the fleet went mostly right. The wind got down to 4-6 and with the left over waves on top of the left to right current made going upwind a real slog. The left paid and I was in 3rd just on Luke’s stern with Dave just ahead of us. The downwind took forever but we finished in those places putting me in 3rd for the race and bringing me up to 5th overall. It had looked like they were going to shorten course for us and they eventually did for the radials sparing them from having to sail downwind again. With little wind we headed in. Congratulations to Dave who was able just ahead of James to win the weekend. It was fun sailing in the top of the fleet with Ted, link, Craig and others. Thanks to Scott, Kat, Gavin and everyone at SSA who made the weekend possible!

FINAL RESULTS | PICTURES | EVENT WEBSITE

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

The forecast for day one at the Sunshine Open ILCA Regatta at Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis wasn’t very good. After the skippers meeting, we postponed ashore for 25 minutes or so until we started to see a little bit of wind to sail in out in the harbor. It was cloudy and overcast with a very light air forecast. The cloudy conditions helped keep the power boats away enabling us to sail in the Severn River on a short course.

On the deck at Severn Sailing Association during the Skippers' meeting of the Sunshine Open.
Skipper’s meeting with little wind

The wind was out of the west and current was coming right out of the Severn River down the course. At the first start I misjudged my timing to the line on account of the current and ended up being late and 3 rows deep. I crossed behind almost everyone and did my best to go fast and find pressure arriving at the top mark around mid fleet. I managed to catch a couple boats on the downwind and after 2 laps finished 10th.

In the second race, I had the timing for the start about perfect and had Dave just below me and only Craig between me and the boat. Craig tacked out early; I kept going for a few more lengths before tacking out into pressure. Craig and I went up the first 1/3 of the leg on the right while most of the fleet was to the left. I started picking puffs and shifts and by the top mark I was a good 150 yards ahead of the guys behind me. I played it a little too conservative on the rest of the course and wound up getting passed on the next two legs, finishing 6th, as the wind started to taper off and the current picked up.

Without a good prospect for more wind we were sent in. James won both races and sits in first with Dave just behind him. Then there are 4 boats within a point of each other and a few more points back to another couple boats and me in 9th.

Tomorrow’s forecast is looking for good wind, but likely rain all day.

DAY 1 RESULTS | PICTURES | EVENT WEBSITE

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

Day 2 of the Crab Claw Regatta and Laser District 11 Championship at Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis and we were greeted light winds and a postponement ashore while we waited for the wind. It came soon enough and along with the clearer skies we ended up with 12-14 knots of wind out of the North. We were out in the north sailing area looking upwind at the bridge.

In 3 races I had pretty good starts usually winning the boat or close to it and crossed most of the fleet on the first upwind. I didn’t quite have the upwind speed as some of the fast guys, but held my own when I remembered to round the offset and didn’t hit any marks. By the 3rd race I started to get the boat dialed in a little better and had better speed and didn’t make any mistakes leading to my weekend best of a 4th. Ended up 15th overall and it was great to sail with some competition to tune up before the FBYC Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters in October. Luke, Eric, Mike, Scott and Dave all sailed great this weekend and were fast all the way around the course. Thanks to Scott, Dorian and the fleet for hosting!

One other bit of news coming out of the weekend – Scott Williamson is going to take over as the District 11 Secretary. It’s a post I’ve held since the end of 2006. The Laser fleets in the mid-Atlantic remain a great group of sailors and it’s been fun to see the ups and downs of the fleets and to help play a part in connecting sailor and getting them out sailing. Thanks for taking this on Scott and I look forward to continuing to see the sailors I’ve met throughout the district for many years to come.

PICTURES | RESULTS

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

Severn Sailing Association hosted the Crab Claw Regatta and 2019 Laser District 11 Championship Regatta.  It just so happened that East Carolina’s football team was playing at Navy this afternoon so I figured out how to do both.

The skies were overcast with temperatures in the high 70’s and the wind out of the North at 11-13.  I sailed the first two races in some lumpy seas making it critical to keep the boat flat to go fast upwind.  There were some shifts to hit as well.  Downwind it took a while to figure out how to catch the waves – by the 4th time I went downwind finally started to figure it out just before I headed in.

The fleet did 2 more races while I headed in to attend the ECU vs Navy football game.

I’m in 20th after day one and hope to improve once I can drop 1 of my DNS’s.

PICTURES | DAY 1 RESULTS

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

Day 2 of the District 11 Championship and Crab Claw Regatta at Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis started with light drizzle that would continue through out the day.  At least that kept the power boaters away.  The wind was in the mid-teens a little east of where it was yesterday and the temperatures just warm enough to wear summer attire plus a spray jacket.

I did a lot better in today’s races – generally staying close enough to the lead group to nip at their heels. Sailing upwind was tough with the rain – telltales were unusable because they stuck to the sail requiring me to sail only by feel. On port tack the waves were a little more square on making it a challenge of picking when to point and pound through the waves, or go low and foot through the waves at a better angle.

Downwind the waves were awesome – very little of the slop that we had yesterday and typically see in that sailing area (A) in Annapolis. I managed to catch the waves and S-turn in a way that I never have before.  Almost every downwind I made up 10-15 boat lengths on the boats around me – I’m usually the one loosing a few boat lengths down wind.

That was good enough for me to finish 12th and stay in the top half of the fleet.  Big thanks to Scott and Dorian for organizing the regatta, Steven for the place at to stay and to PRO Steve and everyone else on the RC who ran the races!

RESULTS | PICTURES

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

The first day of the Laser District 11 Championship and Crab Claw Regatta at Severn Sailing Association started with nice weather and winds in the upper teens out of the north. Despite the wind direction the temperatures will still warm enough for summer sailing attire, may just a spray top for some.

I got off to a rough start racing – I was taking it a little easy in the stronger winds, in part due to an emergency room visit earlier in the week,  to keep the stitches in my head dry and getting more comfortable not re-injuring my wrist. I also hadn’t figured out the right boat settings for the wind, and I was just plain tired. Note to self – don’t do these things again.  So that led me to to not be totally aware of the course on a downwind leg and to confuse where the leeward marks were with the separate finish and I ended up rounding the gate the wrong way.  I certainly wasn’t the only one, but I’d need to take a DNF.  That wasn’t my only trouble, I also deathrolled downwind.

By the 2nd race the wind eased a little bit – still in the mid-teens.  I had a great start and worked my way to the left getting almost to the layline.  Once there I tacked and proceeded to botch it and not get under the boom and flipped over.  When I came up, I reset the boat and I must have done something right because I was suddenly wicked fast.  Like somehow fast enough to catch a boat that is normally as fast or faster than I am from 8 lengths behind and to roll over over them.  I was back up with the lead group just behind them.  Downwind I played it conservative to keep the boat upright and on the 2nd upwind I picked the wrong side and didn’t play the shifts well and would end up 13th.

For the 3rd race the wind eased enough to be squarely in the 12-14 range that I am very fast in.  I had a good start and sailed with the leaders the whole race. I was a pinch slow downwind, but felt more comfortable in the boat and had more confidence in my wrist.

The 4th race was 11-13 and I did more of the same – this time getting as high as the top 4 or 5 at some marks. I actually start getting comfortable surfing the waves and actually had good speed downwind.   I would end up 7th.

The final race was a disaster again. The wind eased off to around 10 with lulls around 8 and the larger chop was still bouncing around making it tough to power over or through them. I had a good start, but didn’t keep my lane clear and got rolled – then I missed some shifts to put myself in the middle of the fleet. A deathroll and later fouling a boat to do turns meant I was racing for last and finished 20th.

All in all it was great to be out racing, the RC ran great races and folks like Mike and Scott were having great days.  After racing I took a van-nap and we had a crab picking feast.  I’m in 13th.

RESULTS | PICTURES

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

My first race of 2015 and why not do it at a District Championship.  Severn Sailing Association held the District 11 Championship in conjunction with their Sunshine Open Regatta.  27 Lasers and 16 Radials were out in what were nearly frostbite conditions on the first day.

I started with a great race sailing in 2nd most of the way around the course and loosing a spot on the final leg finishing 3rd.  I’d go downhill from there, but not before a few top 3 roundings before giving up spots downwind.  I met my goal of all top 10 finishes.

Back on short after 4 races I warmed up and enjoyed the dinner and band.

Sunday was a little better wind and we sailed 2 more races.  i had a tougher go of it finishing 1 in double digits followed by an 8 to finis 6th overall.

No pictures this time but results can be found here.  Big thanks to SSA for hosting, congratulations to Luke who sailed a great regatta to win it and thanks again for Steve for the place to stay.

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

Today’s forecast looked even worse than yesterday so the postponement flag was hoisted in the morning.  We then proceeded to do all of the things that ensure wind – namely other things like packing the boats, going power boating and canoeing. And by 10:45 the faithful who stuck it out were treated to a 7-9 knot breeze from the SSE.

We got 4 more races in before the time limit.  I won the first race using a similar strategy to yesterday.  But as the conditions changed in the 2nd and 3rd races and as I went into lead-conservation-mode – I found that everyone else was suddenly just as fast as I was and there weren’t many passing lanes.  I settled for 3rd in the next two races and not knowing if there was a drop or not in the last race, I just figured I just had to be better than DFL.  A 6 in that race ended up being my drop and I ended up 1st by 5 points.

It was great for me to finally put more than a just few races together and get a good result.  Thanks Steve, Dorian and everyone else for doing everything they did to put on the regatta.  I enjoyed sailing with the SSA Laser sailors and look forward to sailing with them again soon.

2014 Crab Claw Standard Winners

RESULTS

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

It was all doom and gloom on the forecast all week ahead of the Crab Claw Regatta at Severn Sailing Association and we were pleasantly surprised with the 3 races were were able to get in.  We headed out to the race course and got the first race off on time in a 6-8 easterly breeze just off Bembe Beach.  I had remembered sailing in this exact location and with this exact wind direction and I remember the strategy was to go right or to go left – I just didn’t remember which way.

At the start I wanted to be at the boat and to go right where there appeared to be more wind.  I took a second row start just behind Luke Shingledecker and tacked to the right as soon as I cleared the boat.  About a minute and a half later I realized it was the left that I wanted to be on because of the left-to-right current, so I tacked and continued, taking a few sterns, until I was left-most boat on nearly the lay line.  Once on the layline the current carried me to the mark in the lead.  I led the rest of the race favoring the right on the downwind and just doing my best to stay between myself and the pack of Jonathan Phillips, Luke and Bill just behind me.

2014 Crab Claw 1

After the first race was completed – the wind completely shut off – just as was expected.  We sat around in power boat chop for over 2 hours before the wind started to fill.  This wasn’t the 6-8 that we had earlier in the day but it was a solid 6 – enough to call it racing – and not punishment.

By the time we started the  current was supposed to have changed so I again took a second row start behind Luke and worked the right.  Once there I realized it hadn’t changed yet and again worked my way out to the left.  This time Luke came in ahead of me and I followed him downwind.  At the gate I saw some nice pressure on the lower right of the course so I stayed right while Luke went all the way to the left.  I came back to the left lay line and was 5-8 lengths ahead of him when we reached the top mark.  On the final downwind he closed the gap, but I was able to finish just ahead of him.

IMG_2854

For the 3rd race the pin was a little favored so I planned to start down by the pin with Carlos and Luke below me.  I got there a little too quick and was OCS and so was Luke so we both tucked around the mark and restarted.  I ended up with a nice lane and crossed behind most of the fleet on port until I got to clear air.  Once in clear wind I worked my way back across to left-most boat and rounded only behind one other boat who was ultimately tossed for OCS.

On the 2nd upwind of the 3rd race the course was moved to the left  and this time I played a conservative middle-left to stay ahead of the guys behind to finish 1st.

Despite the light wind and washing machine seas due to the power boat chop – it ended up being some fun racing.  I appreciate that the RC stuck it out and we were able to race. I had the upwind boat speed thing figured out and while there were some things I could have done better – I didn’t make any mistakes and that got me to the front and let me stay there.  It was a nice accomplishment putting a whole race day together after the mistakes I made last time I was racing at the Laser District 11 Championship in August.

The forecast for Sunday is even more dismal than today’s, but we do start an hour earlier so I’m hoping we get some more racing in and I can keep the streak going.

RESULTS

Photos courtesy of Carlos Linares

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