Summer 2009 Laser Sailor by Jerelyn Biehl

SUMMER 2009 6 continents, 122 countries - the biggest adult and youth racing class in the world

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Summer 09:Spring 05

6/26/2009

1:45 PM

Page 4

Official publication of the International Laser Class Association, North American Region

US Postal Service: Please return undeliverables to: ILCA-NA 2812 Canon Street San Diego, CA 92106 USA

Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement #40612608 Please return undeliverables to: Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2

Editors

Sherri Campbell & Jerelyn Biehl ILCA-NA

Officers

Tracy Usher Chairman PO Box 370701 Montara, CA 94037 Phone: (650) 340-1129 usher@slac.stanford.edu Eric Faust Vice Chairman 821 East 53rd Street Austin, TX 78751 Phone: (512) 791-8218 ehfaust@gmail.com

Clay Johnson Treasurer 26 River Bend Dr. Toms River, NJ 08753 Phone: 732-330-7281 clayton.e.johnson@gmail.com

Lauralee Symes Secretary 3576 SW Mt. Adams Drive Portland, OR 97239 Phone: (503) 274-2818 llsymes@comcast.net

Tommy Wharton At Large 705 King Street West, Unit 1514 Toronto, ON M5V 2W8 Canada Phone: 647-296-6544 twharton@sailing.ca Sherri Campbell Executive Secretary 2812 Canon Street San Diego, CA 92106 Phone: (619) 222-0252

www.Laser.org

Fax: (619) 222-0528 admin@Laser.org

S U M M E R

2 0 0 9

District Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Membership Stats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 From the Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 An American Perspective at Europa Cup . . . . . . . . . . .14 2009 Event Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

2010 Qualification System for Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Laser World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .center LaserPerformance Grand Prix Results . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Helping You Stay Hydrated this Summer . . . . . . . . . . 22

Regatta Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-27

ABYC OCR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Atlantic Coast Champs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Master North Americans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

No Coast Champs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Class Legal Equipment notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Membership Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 District Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Sailing Fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

SUMMER 2009 6 continents, 122 countries - the biggest adult and youth racing class in the world

Cover photo: Local Laser sailors took paint to the electric box near Mission Bay. Photo by Kendal Wild

BRITISH COLUMBIA

ALBERTA

SASKATCHEWAN

WASHINGTON

OREGON

HAWAII

CALIFORNIA

NEVADA

IDAHO

MONTANA WYOMING

MANITOBA

NORTH DAKOTA

WISCONSIN

SOUTH DAKOTA

ARIZONA

COLORADO

NEW MEXICO

KANSAS

ILLINOIS

OKLAHOMA TEXAS

IOWA

MISSOURI ARKANSAS

LOUISIANA

INDIANA

OHIO

KENTUCKY TENNESSEE

14 ALABAMA MISSISSIPPI

PENNSYLVANIA WEST VIRGINIA

7 7

VERMONT

NEW 9 YORK

MAINE

MICHIGAN

NEW BRUNSWICK

MINNESOTA

NEBRASKA UTAH

QUEBEC

ONTARIO

NOVA SCOTIA

NEW HAMPSHIRE

MASSACHUSETTS

RHODE ISLAND CONNECTICUT

NEW JERSEY

DELAWARE

MARYLAND

VIRGINIA

NORTH CAROLINA

SOUTH CAROLINA

GEORGIA

PUERTO RICO AND THE CARIBBEAN

FLORIDA

District 1

District 9

District 2

District 10

Brian Mills, 71 Bristol Street, Fredricton, NB E3B 4W2 506-457-1580, bnmills@nb.sympatico.ca Denys Deschambeault, 5120 Du Havre, Trois Rivieres, PQ G8Y 5Y9 819-372-0842 denys.deschambeault@tr.cgocable.ca

District 3

District 18

Chas Williamson, 9 Lagrand Court Ithaca, NY 14850 607-272-0630. cw26@cornell.edu

John Shockey 614-256-2254 jshockna06@yahoo.com

Eric Reitinger er4599@gmail.com New Jersey

Ken Swetka 27022 Koerber St., St. Claire Shores, MI 48081 248-635-5363 www.d29laser.org

District 11

District 19 District 20

Robert Koci, 804 Sammon Ave. Toronto, ON M4C 2E8 647-407-0754. robert.koci@rci.rogers.com D3 website: www.d3laser.ca

Jon Deutsch 3422 Blithewood Dr., Richmond, VA 23225 804-305-1244, jon@laserdistrict11.org http://www.laserdistrict11.org

Kyle Ross, 106 River Pointe Dr. Winnipeg, MB 2RM 5N6 204-803-3834, wkpr1990@hotmail.com

Glenn Walker Doug Sherwood: LaserDistrict12@gmail.com Wrightsville Beach, NC www.d12.laserforum.org

Mike Elson 2235 West 21st Street Minneapolis, MN 55405 621-377-8903 melson@visi.com d21@laserforum.org

Meka Taulbee & Michelle Davis Dunedin, FL 34968 727-631-7005, meka@sailfit.com www.laser.org/m/_general/d13.asp

Mike Gilbert, 1620 Gerald Ave. Missoula, MT 59801 406-327-7855, mike@gilbertarch.com

District 4 District 5

Mark Lammens 510 Cynthia St. Saskatoon, SK S7K 7K7 306-975-0833. sasksail@shaw.ca www.jdecm.com/laser

District 6

Andy Hunt, 111-2260 W 8st Ave, Vancouver BC, V6K 2A7 604-733-9663. Hotline: 206-525-5788. athunt@vcn.bc.ca www.cycseattle.org/slf

District 7

Sally Sharp, 39 Caleb Dyer Lane Enfield, NH 03748 603-632-4192. sally.sharp@dartmouth.edu D7 Newsletter Chris Morin abcmorin@maine.rr.com 207.775.5485 www.d7laserforum.org

District 8

Ted Cremer, 7 Maple Street Blue Point, NY 11715. 631-363-8830, tcremer@optonline.net www.laserd8.tripod.com

District 12 District 13 District 14

Cal Herman, 7038 Catina St New Orleans, LA 70124, 504-282-1770 callender.herman@wachoviasec.com

District 15

James Freedman, 8324 Horse Whisperer Ln. Ft. Worth, TX 76131 james.freedman@aa.com; 214-864-6024 www.cerebus.winsite.com/Laser/districts/d15/

District 16

Tim Fitzgerald, 2322 Bromfield Circle Wichita, KS, 67226, 316-650-3636 timfitz@cox.net

District 17

John E. Coolidge, Jr., 1113 Hanover St, Chattanooga, TN 37405, 423-309-1926 JC@Chattprint.com

Steve Dolan 21140 Chancery Ct. Brookfield, WI 53045 262-506-8879. dolan@mcw.edu http://d20.laserforum.org/

District 21 District 22 District 23

Fletcher Avery 23 South Pearl St, Denver, CO 80209 favery@gtri.com www.usdiscovery.com/laser

District 24

David Lapier 408-525-6396, dlapier@cisco.com www.technicalwizardry.com/d24laser/d24

District 25

Nils Andersson, 6929 Wyoming Avenue, La Mesa, CA 91942 619-463-6001. nilssail@cox.net groups.yahoo.com/group/nalaserdistrict25

District 26

Guy Fleming, 44-392 Olina St. #6 Kaneohe, HI 96744-2617 808-955-4405. guynsyd@hawaii.rr.com

SUMMER 2009

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President’s Notes TRACY USHER

Summer is here and by now we’re all back into our Laser sailing programs, hopefully sailing evenings midweek and hitting one of the hundreds of regattas listed in the Laser Class calendar on the weekends. We’re looking for a big summer, as I type this we’re approaching 200 entries for the North Americans at the Buffalo Canoe Club and are expecting big turnouts at the Canadian and US Championships as well. Its not too late to make your plans to get out on the water for one of these great events!

As the Laser Class continues to grow internationally, especially now that both the Laser Standard and Radial are Olympic Classes, there is growing pressure from ISAF and ILCA for increased scrutiny at major events to insure adherence to the Class Rules. In North America this primarily means stricter compliance with the Class Rules regarding sails. Did you know that displaying your national letters on your sail is a Laser Class rule? I’m guessing many don’t, but if you read paragraph 4(f) of the ILCA Class Rules you will see that national letters are required “at all World Championships, Regional Championships and events described as international events...” By definition, the North American Championship is our region’s Regional Championship. After that, the other three ISAF Grade 1 events fall into the category of “international champi-

onships” and you need to display your national letters in these events as well.

While on the topic of Class Rules, there is still time to vote on the proposed rule changes for 2009! There are five proposals on this year’s ballot: 1) allow non-builder supplied alternatives to o-rings in the bailer, 2) attaching outhaul blocks to the gooseneck, 3) allowing reference points for control lines, 4) specifically allowing the use of lubricants above the hull and 5) allowing more flexibility in the type of material one can use in the front corner of the centerboard trunk. All are worth your attention so please go to the ILCA website (www.laserinternational.org), follow the link to the ballot and vote today! The balloting period ends on September 1 so this is your last reminder!

Continuing a theme here... the new Harken ball bearing blocks for the boom and traveler have finally arrived! Currently LaserPerformance is marketing these as a complete set and not selling them individually - please check with your local dealer for availability. I’ve had a chance to try them out and its remarkable what a little bit less friction can feel like! Still, they have been carefully engineered to sheet the boom to the same height as the old blocks the only differences are in friction and appearance, so its not required to upgrade to stay competitive.

For completeness I should probably also mention here that the long awaited new centerboard brake is on track for release later this summer. Look for an announcement to be sent out when the release date is known.

One last thought on the “what’s new” front - thanks to Regatta Networks we have a new LaserPeformance - ILCA-NA Grand Prix results page! The nice feature of this new page is that, for events which use the Regatta Networks scoring system, the Grand Prix results page updates automatically at the end of the event, and within days for events which don’t use their scoring system. This lets you see very quickly where you stand in the rankings, giving you plenty of time to plan out attending the next GP event to get more points! To see the new page, go to www.laser.org and click on the “2009 Grand Prix Standings” link in the “Useful Information” box in the left column. Check it out! Its interesting to see a bunch of new names at the top of the leader board! Ok, fog has lifted, sun is out, breeze is in and its time to go sailing! See you on the water!

District 1 Secretary, Brian Mills passes along Laser 2892 to a new family BRIAN MILLS

It is truly amazing how a Laser built sometime between 1971 and 1973 has given so many sailing families fun and pleasure over the years.

Laser 2892 has been passed along to the Smart family consisting of Monica, 14, and Tom 13, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada by District 1 secretary, Brian Mills.

Complete with an original Elvstrom sail, wooden foils, original tiller and tiller extension, 2892 should be good to go for another 36 years or more.

SUMMER 2009

ILCA-NA Membership As of May 31, 2009

District 1

Members 5/31/09

5/31/08

5/31/07

5/31/06

136

109

111

109

101

212

217 34

106

104

106

131

106

196 92

117

7 8

115

220 33

118

141

147 73

147

158

143

120

18 18 15 61 66 88 55 2

142

122

134

155

97 4

93 6

82 8

Family, 1

148

129

139

112

Family, 3

Family, 2

TOTAL

1889

1837

1886

1898

Calling All Owners of Vintage Lasers

The Laser Executive Committee thought this might be an opportunity for the class to profile those who still have truly old Lasers which weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll define as the earliest 5% of hulls made, or the first 10,000 out of roughly 200,000. Please send Jerelyn your story about extant Lasers that qualify, and hopefully a picture of it still in use and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll publish them. Send to: jerelyn@odmsail.com

www.Laser.org

TILLERMAN

DVD Testimonial

I have had the pleasure over the past few days to review the Advanced Laser Boat Handling DVD produced by my friends at the Laser Training Center in Cabarete, Dominican Republic. And I must say I am very impressed. This is the best video training aid I have ever seen for teaching the techniques of Laser boat handling.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I raced in the Laser Caribbean Midwinters and participated in pre-regatta clinics in Cabarete in 2007 and 2008. The 2008 clinic was taught by the head coach at the Laser Training Center, Javier Borojovich, known to everyone as Rulo, and he is the brains behind the Advanced Laser Boat Handling DVD. Rulo is an excellent coach and I learned much from his classes in Cabarete. The best way to describe the DVD is that it has captured Rulo’s lessons on boat handling in a medium that you can use at home. If you can’t attend the Laser Training Center at Cabarete, then owning the DVD is the next best thing. And even if you have sailed with Rulo at Cabarete, the DVD is the best way to remind yourself about everything you learned there... and more. So why is this DVD so good? Essentially... attention to detail.

The DVD covers tacks, gybes, mark roundings and penalty turns. But it breaks down each of these maneuvers into several categories, e.g. the section on tacks covers light, medium and strong wind tacks separately. Then for each of these it breaks down the maneuver into a series of steps and illustrates each step with slow motion video taken from various angles: the coach boat, aerial shots, and even cameras mounted on the Laser. The coverage of exactly what to do in each step is meticulously and clearly explained in the commentary.

And the sailors in the videos are world class Laser sailors such as Brad Funk, Andrew Campbell, Anna Tunnicliffe and 3-time Olympian from Poland, Maciej Grabowski. I’ve never seen anything quite like this before.

I can imagine using the DVD before a training session to focus in on one aspect of technique before going on the water. Now let’s see exactly what to do with the sheet in a roll tack. Exactly when should I sheet in, when should I ease, how much should I ease, when should I sheet in again, and how fast should I sheet in? It’s all there. Attention to detail, as I said. Review the DVD. Remember the details. Go on the water and practice. You couldn’t wish for a better training aid. I’m sure I’m going to be using it a lot this summer. The Advanced Laser Boat Handling DVD is available from the Laser Training Center for $49.95. Full disclosure: I was provided with a review copy of the DVD for free but if Ari Barshi hadn’t sent me a free copy I would certainly have bought one at this price. Hell, don’t tell Ari but I would probably have paid even more for it; it’s that good.

One last point... I am really hoping that Rulo and his friends in Cabarete will produce a second DVD on the techniques for sailing a Laser upwind and downwind in those classic huge Cabarete waves. That would be make for an even more spectacular DVD.

As an example the section on light wind tacks has...

•a discussion on why good technique for light wind tacks is so important •overview of objectives of a light wind tack •two keywords to remember •detailed explanation of how to execute the four steps of the tack •heading up •heeling to windward •switching sides •flattening the boat •with several tips on each step illustrated with video taken from a coach boat... •close-up videos of the same steps from a camera mounted on the transom of the Laser picking up some more detailed issues such as exactly what to do with your hands and feet through the tack •a variation for extremely light winds •what to do if you come out of the tack too low •two ways you can go wrong and how to correct them •tips on how to improve Get the idea?

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From the Builder BRENT RICHARDS

It’s finally summer and for most of us, the weather is getting hot. We’re shedding layers of sailing gear and it won’t be long before we’re able to capsize just to cool off. The summer season gets us thinking about holiday and travel and brings back those memories of when we were kids with the summer off from school- sailing everyday and hanging out at the yacht club or boat park. Here in the north east, we had to deal with a dreadfully cold winter and spring and we at LP are itching to get out to support and compete in local, national and international events. LP will be supplying brand new Lasers and support staff for a whole array of regattas across North America including many US Sailing events, the Laser Worlds in Halifax and the College and High School National Championships. In fact, LP is supplying approximately 300 new event Lasers which means it will be a great year to get one of the coveted event Laser and dolly package. In past issues of the Laser Sailor and the Laser Word newsletters, we reported that at the Q4 2008 Laser Class Builders Meeting in London, the new upgraded Harken boom block package was given final approval. The LP office is buzzing with excitement as we have just received the 1st samples from Harken. The boom block package is the result of a number of years of development and collaboration between sailors around the world, all of the class builders, the Laser

Technical Committee and Harken. You may have seen some of the articles written on the new blocks but I will give you the quick highlights… •One piece traveler block – no more taping or searching for “the other half”. •Ball bearing blocks allow for lower friction – the main eases much easier in light air. Note that the lower block on the traveler is NOT ball bearing so the dynamics during a tack are unchanged. •Updated look •Stronger plastic construction – the new materials are significantly stronger than the current system. •Shape and size to maintain one-design continuity – distances between bearing surfaces are the same as the existing system.

The initial commercial deliveries of the Laser upgrade boom blocks will be here at the end of June and a number of dealers have already placed stocking orders. Many that have used the new blocks tell us that it will be a must have item regardless of whether you’re competing at the national or local level. The package sells for $96.00 and comes with the 3 blocks, rivets and instructions for installation on your boom. We look forward to seeing everyone at the boat park. As always, we welcome any feedback you have on current or future equipment for the largest one-design class in the world.

6HH \RX DW &25.

SUMMER 2009

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www.sailequipment.com.au 13

An American Perspective on the Europa Cup GLENN WALKER

HYERES FRANCE

The spring 2009 issue of the Laser Sailor gave a brief overview of the European Europa Cup series. The series of 13 regattas is spread over just as many countries, from Austria to Italy to Portugal to Hungary, there is a venue for everyone. According to the article, the Europa cup provides “a diverse range of venues, challenging competition, and is a rewarding annual challenge for laser sailors”. For me, it all started when my wife made plans for our family to visit her folks in Tourrettes Sur Loup, France, just west of Nice. I was not thrilled with the idea as we have a six year old son and eight month old baby girl, plus the dollar was weak against the Euro. As I moped and complained my dear wife suggested I do some research to see if there was a Laser regatta that might fit with our vacation plans in France. I immediately found a renewed sense of purpose in my life. I logged on to the ILCANA website, linked over to the European web pages and viola, the European calendar was in front of me in about ten seconds flat. I thanked God for the well organized ILCA administrators that made it this simple. The Olympic World Cup series fit our schedule but was a six day regatta; I thought that might be pushing my luck. I have never done a six day regatta in my life (except for Key West Race Week in 2000) much less a regatta in Europe, so I kept looking. The next regatta that fit the bill was the Europa Cup series regatta in Hyeres France, a four day event just two hours south of Tourrettes. I did a little more research about the venue, last years’ regatta report and entry list. There were 400+ sailors, it was very windy, and no Americans, sounds perfect!

I contacted Marcon Yachting for a charter boat; Xavier Leclair my email contact with the company wrote perfect English and kept it simple. My hotel, La Potiniere, was a quaint family-run hotel, just south of COYCH (regatta headquarters), on the waterfront with a nice beach, clean rooms, and breakfast.

Hyeres is known for big breeze and mistral wind. Races are postponed because it is too windy, not because there is a lack of breeze. YouTube videos of sailing in Hyeres show all kinds of boats blasting around on a plane, with spectacular wipe-

outs. With this in mind and my meager weight of 155lbs, I decided to register online for the Radial fleet, not an easy pill to swallow for an American who races a Standard rig. I rationalize my decision, “I am on vacation, it is a crazy breezy venue, and the Radial fleet was the largest fleet by far in 2008 with 228 boats”.

I arrive the day before the regatta after two trains and a bus ride, to see the five mile bay covered in ten foot wide snowwhite white caps. The water is crystal clear, almost an aquamarine color. It must have been blowing 30-35knts, and a few a boats were out but not many. The launch site, Port Hyeres Marina is home to no less than 1,000 keelboats, the singing in the rigging was impossible to talk over, almost deafening. I take a deep breath and think wow, what have I signed up for? I am no stranger to big breeze, I sail out of the Carolina Yacht Club on Wrightsville Beach, N.C. and train regularly in the Atlantic Ocean, but this breeze and venue looked to be a whole new experience. I spend the next couple of hours verifying registration, insurance (thanks US Sailing), and sail measurement. I locate Xavier of Marcon Yachting in the boat park and I get my pick of lasers. I choose a clean 08’ and go about prepping it with my lines, hiking strap and blocks. I decided to save my strength for tomorrow and not sail Wednesday evening.

Thursday rolls around and of course the breeze is nowhere to be found. I enjoy a relaxed breakfast of fresh baked pastries, fruit, and coffee; by the way that is the norm for the French. Good luck finding a scrambled egg, biscuit and grits. The view was to die for as was the weather; 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. By noon I check registration, as I expected, I am the only American registered out of 55 Standard rigs, 32 – 4.7 rigs and 193 Radials. The Radial fleet is subdivided into 3 groups of 64 or so. The colors of the groups are randomly drawn by computer daily, and for today I sail in the pink fleet.

1st Race. Light light air, beginning sea breeze 3-6 knots, no hiking, oscillating through about 20 degrees out of the west. I get a good line sight, “I” flag is up from the get-go, pink fleet is the third start. We run a trapezoid course all four days. We start, my first impression on the beat is man these kids point! Here I am in light air footing mode and some of these kids are almost two-blocked and going fast. I failed to mention earlier this regatta is a major one for sailors 19 and under as it qualifies them for the youth worlds; it is also a major deciding factor for 15+ countries which young women make their Olympic team. There are no less than 70 coach boats buzzing around before the starts. As we reach the windward mark I am in about 20th, round the leeward mark and I’m in about 30th, what just happened? 2nd race, sea breeze builds to about 8 and gusts to 10 knots; I can get in the hiking strap on the puffs. I get a good start midline really taking advantage of the midline sag. I round the weather mark 1st and maintain my lead through the reach and into the downwind leg; thinking to myself this is more like it. 2/3rds the way down the leg, the breeze dies and the fleet compresses and I round through the gate about 5th. As I head back up I apparently chose the wrong side and round the top mark in about 20th. I maintain my spot downwind only to rear-end another person at the leeward mark. I take my turns and lose another 8 boats for another abysmal finish. Results for the day have me in a 3 way tie for 75th out of 193. Day 2. RC redraws the fleets and I am now in the yellow fleet, I make friends with an English speaking Czechoslovakian

SUMMER 2009

named Viktor and another kid from Turkey, Utku. They have been “around” this circuit a while and know all the best sailors, turns out they are two of them, each representing their country and defending titles all at the tender age of 18 and 19. I tell them of my lack luster races and they said I was in the “hard fleet”, but that I had drawn the yellow fleet today and it was also the hard fleet for the day. I guess that was supposed to make me feel better. I had dozens of young women literally kicking my butt all around the course. Races 3-5 are a repeat of yesterday, light sea-breeze again 6-9 knots, no real hiking for me. I am getting good starts, rounding the weather mark in the top 1/3 but still finish around 30th out of 64 in each race. Line and course are near perfect with no current. I start to notice that no one does their penalty turns; it seems to be a free-for-all at the favored leeward mark.

Day 3. Light sea-breeze again, 5-7 knots. OK the regatta known for big breeze is really letting me down, but the sun is shining and it is still about 70 degrees, life could be worse. We get in one race after a 3 hour postponement on shore. I have my best finish yet at 27th and a protest to deal with. It’s a rule 18.2 violation. I don’t usually take people to the “room” but it was a blatant foul and cost me a few boats on what had been a decent race, I was done with the free-for-all French attitude. I file on time and am told to come back in 30 minutes. I got to thinking, the only American, protesting a Frenchman in his home turf, with an international jury with no Americans aboard. I show up but the Frenchman doesn’t, easy case right, right! I win the protest and he gets a DSQ.

Day 4, I wake up in our beach front hotel to see white caps; a nice breeze from the south in the 15 knot range. “I will sure-

www.Laser.org

ly do better today” I tell myself, I can hike, I can foot, no problem. 1st start, decent pin start or so I thought, as Sophie (former women’s European world champ) out hikes the crap out of me, she won the pin, I was two boat lengths up on her hip. She pulls out from under me and within five minutes is 10+ lengths in front of me and a little to weather. Wow I say! I was working my butt off. I round the top mark in maybe the mid 20s, Sophie was top 5, and the fleet was really tight. I immediately catch waves along with everybody else. It was amazing to see all these “juniors” surfing the waves like no tomorrow. I probably lose 5 boats on the downwind leg, to finish about 30th. We have two more races with about the same result. The last race, I totally lose focus, banging

the corners, soaking up the sun, and taking mental snapshots of the landscape, the rocky outcropping that encloses the bay, and the ability of these young adults or kids as I call them; after all, I am on vacation.

As I reflect on my experience in Hyeres, I have a newfound respect for European sailors. I learned that most are very talented, mature, and are truly focused on becoming better sailors. The French for the most part don’t care about the rules and bank on you not filing the protest form. The race committee is top notch on the race course. Off the race course the boat park was a great place to meet and share the days’ experiences with fellow sailors. Many times the language barrier was broken with a smile, a dumb look, and hand gestures referring to cold beer, food, and of course sailing. I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Glenn Walker is co-secretary for District 12 and attended the Europa Cup in Hyeres France April 30th-May 3rd 2009. For info about the Europa Cup and the vendors mentioned: go to www.laserinternational.org/ecup2009/index .htm, www.marconyachting.com, www.hotel-lapotiniere.com.

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SUMMER 2009

Regatta

Laser

St. Margaret’s Bay, NS

2009 Schedule

Radial

Laser 4.7 Buzios, BRA

St. Margaret’s Bay, NS

www.laserinternational.org

July 24-31

August 27-Sept. 5

June 25-28

May 15-17

Vancouver, BC

Wabamun SC Edmonton, AB

World Championship

www.laserinternational.org

Saga, Japan Women: July 25-Aug 2 Youth & Men: Aug. 3-10

NA Championship

Buffalo Canoe Club, ON

Ft. Lauderdale, FL www.lyc.org February 13-15

ISAF Grade 1

40 GP pts. ISAF Grade 1

North American

Women’s Radial Champs ISAF Grade 1

Canadian Championships

August 17-26

www.buffalocanoeclub.com

June 25-28

Vancouver, BC

www.buffalocanoeclub.com

June 25-28

Vancouver, BC

Buffalo Canoe Club, ON WrightsvilleBeach,NC www.buffalocanoeclub.com www.carolinayachtclub.org

Royal Vancouver Yacht Club

RoyalVancouverYachtClub

US Championships

Brant Beach, NJ

CORK

Kingston, ON

30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 2

30 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 2

30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 1

July 3-5

www.bbyc.net

August 7-9 www.cork.org

August 22-26

July 3-5

www.bbyc.net

August 7-9 www.cork.org

August 22-26

Midwinters East

Clearwater, FL

Midwinters West

Marina del Rey, CA

30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 1

30 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 2

Rolex Miami OCR ISAF Grade 1

Atlantic Coast Championships

25 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 2

Pacific Coast Championships

25 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 2

www.clwyc.org

Feb 19-22

www.calyachtclub.com

March 27-29 Miami, FL

www.ussailing.org

Jan 25-31

Annapolis, MD

www.clwyc.org

Feb 19-22

www.calyachtclub.com

March 27-29 Miami, FL

www.ussailing.org

Jan 25-31

Annapolis, MD

July 3-5

www.bbyc.net

August 7-9

Clearwater, FL

Sarasota, FL

Marina del Rey, CA

Calif. Masters

Annapolis, MD

Rock Hall, MD

www.clwyc.org

Feb 19-22

March 27-29

Cascade Locks, OR

CascadeLocks,OR

www.cgra.org

July 17-19

June 6-7

www.cgra.org

July 17-19

Gulf Coast Championships

www.southernyachtclub.org

No Coast Championships

www.grapevinesailing.org

Macatawa Bay, MI

25 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 3

Great Lakes Championships

25 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 3

www.Laser.org

New Orleans, LA Aug. 29-30 Dallas, TX

May 23-24

June 13-14

New Orleans, LA

www.southernyachtclub.org

Aug. 29-30 Dallas, TX

May 23-24

June 13-14

Feb 13-15

www.calyachtclub.com Mission Bay Yacht Club

www.laseracc2009.org

July 17-19

Monterey, CA August 14-16

www.laseracc2009.org

June 6-7

June 19-21

www.cork.org

August 22-26

www.laseracc2009.org

May 2-3

Masters

April 25-26

Oct. 4

San Francisco, CA

www.2009seniorgames. org

August 7-9

New Orleans, LA Ft. Walton Beach, FL

www.southernyachtclub.org

Aug. 29-30 Dallas, TX

May 23-24

July 11-12

Park City, UT Sept. 26-27

June 13-14

Senior Worlds

2010 Qualification System for ILCA World Championships

Basic Assumption: The North American Region will be allocated at least 9 berths to the 2010 Laser World Championship. The Canadian Yachting Association and US Sailing will each be permitted to allocate one berth by March 1, 2010. Overriding Rules: 1) Competitors qualify for the 2010 Laser World Championship through the first berth for which they are eligible. For example, a competitor who wins the Laser Mid-winters East and is first in the Laser Grand Prix rankings qualifies through the Mid-winters East berth. 2) In order to qualify for a berth at one of the ILCA-NA regattas listed below in Opportunity #1, the competitor must finish among the top-six ILCA-NA members, except that this rule will be relaxed to the top-nine for the North American Championship. Qualification Opportunities: Berths will be awarded at the following ILCA-NA major regattas subject to overriding Rule #2 with the following ranking: 1. Two berths at the 2009 Laser North American Championship. 2. One berth at the 2009 Laser U.S. National Championship. 4. One berth at the 2009 Laser Canadian National Championship 5. One berth at the 2010 Miami OCR 6. Two berths at the 2010 Laser Mid-winters East.

Any additional berths awarded to the North American Region beyond the nine mentioned in the Basic Assumption above, will be allocated using the 2009 Laser Grand Prix rankings as of December 31, 2009. If necessary, these berths may be allocated to ensure that the ILCA-determined country quotas are satisfied.

Womens Radial Worlds

Basic Assumption: The North American Region will be allocated at least 6 berths to the 2010 Radial World Championship. The Canadian Yachting Association will allocate one berth and US SAILING will allocate one berth by March 1, 2010. Overriding Rules: 1) Competitors qualify for the 2010 Women’s Radial World Championship through the first berth for which they are eligible. 2) In order to qualify for a berth at one of the ILCA-NA regattas listed below, the competitor must finish among the top-five female ILCA-NA members.

Qualification Opportunities: 1) Berths will be awarded at the following ILCA-NA major regattas subject to Overriding Rule #2 with the following ranking: Two berths at the 2010 Women’s Radial North American Championship Two berths at the 2010 Miami OCR.

2) Any berths beyond the six mentioned in the Basic Assumption above, not allocated through the Qualification Opportunities above, will be allocated using the 2009 Laser Grand Prix ranking as of December 31, 2009. If necessary, these berths may be allocated to ensure that the ILCA-determined country quotas are satisfied.

Mens Radial Worlds

Basic Assumption: The North American Region will be allocated at least 6 berths to the 2010 Radial World Championship. Overriding Rules: 1) Competitors qualify for the 2010 Men’s Radial World Championship through the first berth for which they are eligible.

2) In order to qualify for a berth at one of the ILCA-NA regattas listed below, the competitor must finish among the top-five male ILCA-NA members. Qualification Opportunities: Berths will be awarded at the following ILCA-NA major regatta subject to Overriding Rule #2 with the following ranking: Three berths at the 2009 Radial North American Championship

SUMMER 2009

2010 Qualification System for ILCA World Championships

Youth Radial Worlds

Basic Assumption: The North American Region will be allocated at least 9 berths for males and 5 berths for females to the 2010 Radial World Championship. Overriding Rules: 1) Competitors qualify for the 2010 Youth Radial World Championship through the first berth for which they are eligible.

2) In order to qualify for a berth at one of the ILCA-NA regattas listed below, the competitor must finish among the top-ten gender and age eligible ILCA-NA members. Qualification Opportunities: 1) Berths will be awarded at the following ILCA-NA major regatta subject to Overriding Rule #2 Three berths for males at the 2009 Radial North American Championship Three berths for females at the 2009 Radial North American Championship

with the following ranking:

Any berths beyond the six mentioned in the Basic Assumption above, not allocated through the Qualification Opportunities above, will be allocated using the 2009 Laser Grand Prix ranking as of December 31, 2009. If necessary, these berths may be allocated to ensure that the ILCA-determined country quotas are satisfied.

Masters Worlds

Basic Procedure: (this section will be updated as more information becomes available from the ILCA, in particular the dates) Approximately nine months before the start of the 2010 Master’s Worlds, to be held September 11-19, 2010 at Hayling Island, GBR, the ILCA will open an “application for entry” period for entry to the event. This period will run approximately 2 months during which time all sailors who wish to participate in the event MUST sign up. At the end of the application for entry period, the list of all North American sailors who have applied for entry will be returned to the ILCA-NA office for the purposes of verifying membership and ranking them to determine the order for offering a berth to the event. The ILCA-NA office will place all current ILCA-NA Class Members (who MUST be current no later than the date the application entry period closes) into one of the five groups listed below. The overall ranking will be by group and, within any group, by order of application for entry. Note: to qualify for entry in Groups 1, 2, 3, or 4, sailors MUST submit to the ILCA-NA office, via email to sherri@odmsail.com, evidence of the event and finish position for the group to which they belong. Sailors failing to send this information to the ILCA-NA Office by the end of the application for entry process will be placed into Group 5.

Group 1: Sailors who, within the past 5 years, were the champions in their division at a Masters Worlds, a Masters North American Championship, a Masters US Championship, a Masters Canadian Championship, the Masters Midwinters East or were the overall champions in their division of the Florida Masters Week. Group 2: Sailors who have attended a Masters World Championship within the past five years.

Group 3: Sailors who have competed, and finished in the top 80% of their division, in the most recent Masters North American Championship, Masters US Championship, Masters Canadian Championship, Masters Midwinters East, Florida Masters Week, California Masters, Masters Pacific Coast Championship, Masters Great Lakes Championship, Masters Atlantic Coast Championship, Masters Gulf Coast Championship, Masters No Coast Championship or Masters New England Championship.

Group 4: Sailors who have competed in an ILCA-NA Grand Prix event (Laser or Radial) within the past year and finished in the top 80% of their fleet. Group 5: Any current ILCA-NA Master sailor who wishes to attend the event.

Unused berths after the entry period expires: If, after the regular entry process has begun, the ILCA indicates there are more berths available, and there are no ILCA-NA sailors remaining in the five groups above, then further entries will be considered on a first come, first serve basis.

www.Laser.org

2009

Standings through June 15, 2009

Radial 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58

First Name Kiss Crain Martinez Rossi Rees Tunnicliffe Swikart Ross Stocke Shaw Vargas Lihan Dennis Merry Prokop Bove Wallace Abels Goethe Toole Railey deLisser Lihan

Last Name Mitchell Carson Greg Annie Dodge Anna Jack Lisa Christopher Chase Mateo Sarah Claire Claire Joanne Domenic John Fred Eric Oliver Paige Arielle Marissa

# Events 4 5 4 4 3 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 Bougie-Bastien Genevieve 2 Snow Nevin 1 Reineke Erika 1 Bertola Isabella 1 Crain Philip 2 Paine Olin 1 Barnard Chris 1 Padnos Sam 1 Heausler Ian 1 Spector Ben 1 Lopez Max 1 Scott John 1 Billing Emily 1 Dube Danielle 1 Babb Kaitlyn 2 Smith Colin 1 Hoffmann Evan 1 Heager Annie 1 Chung Kieran 1 Easton Kate 1 Baldridge Reed 1 Addison Brandon 1 Christopher Jim 1 Allen Elisha 1 Soto Julian 1 Post Alex 1 Pokras Adam 1 Brady Connor 1 Buechler Mallory 1 Hartman Colleen 1 Cummings Katie 1 Hoffmann Scott 1 Meers Hannah 1 Thompson Daniel 1 Schuurmans Leonie 1

Total 85 76 76 67 62 59 58 53 45 44 43 42 39 39 38 37 35 33 32 30 30 29 29 28 28 28 27 26 26 26 25 25 24 23 23 23 22 22 22 22 22 20 20 20 19 19 19 19 19 18 18 18 17 17 17 17 17 16

59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108

First Name

Last Name

# Events

Cobb Ariana 1 Guild Bret 1 Jacobs Alex 1 Jorgensen Jack 1 Adams Sky 1 Hartman Trey 1 Leland Richard 1 Bone Jamie 1 Mollerus Matthew 1 Listwan Blair 1 Lyon Brooke 1 Duler John-Bernard 1 Pereira Adrian 1 Kenny Alexa 1 Cannon Mike 1 Zonnenberg Michael 1 Halman Mark 1 Akers Connor 1 Magley Dillon 1 Jellison Parker 1 Seichsayndre Jacob 1 Kerrest Jacques 1 Finneran Dylan 1 Gurdal Karoline 1 Zacher Timothy 1 Bussin Isaac 1 Koppernaes Leif 1 Amos Eric 1 Atterbury Tucker 1 Nickbarg Max 1 Whitesides Arland 1 Coudert Alexis 1 Madigan Michael 1 WettergrenViktor 1 Hughes Emma 1 Wright Audrey 1 Schmidt Mike 1 McClatchy Bo 1 Schoene Matt 1 Vilcich Chris 1 Adams Edgar 1 Swenson Kyle 1 Dahl Michael 1 Leon Collin 1 Cannon Reid 1 Merry Ingrid 1 Lawrence Eric 1 Rice Cole 1 Shea Drew 1 DelBello Daniel 1

4.7 Total

16 16 16 16 16 15 15 15 15 15 14 14 14 14 14 13 13 13 13 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 9 8 8 7 7 7 6 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

First Name Gibson Hall Ellis Frost Fanning Reuss Schofield Shaw Goethe

Last Name Kayla Mary Kayla Christina Avery Wendy Matt Brad Hanna

Standard 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

First Last Name Name Yamamoto Haramitsu Shockey John Heinzemann Alexander Lewis Evan Peckover Doug Shockey Kevin Crane Rob Davis Robert Montemayor Ricardo

Freedman James Barnard Chris Johnson Clay Vranizan Derick Omara EJ Raab Chris Luttmer Bernard Ryder Matthew Funk Brad Ramsay Luke Parkhill Lee Shockey Kevin Hoeven Ryan Aguayo Raul Plutenko Roman Shaw Roy Fulmer Charles Lawrence Luke Eldred Mark Dold Chris RamshawTom Paine Caleb Nelson Stephen Morgan David Mace Mac Swetka Ken Cottrell Brian Buckingham Charlie Potter John Bourdow Stephen Hartman Trey Hiller Todd

# Events 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Total 43 25 24 21 20 20 19 19 18

# Events 5 4 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Total 67 56 51 42 42 41 41 41 40 40 30 29 29 29 28 28 27 27 26 25 25 25 24 24 24 24 24 23 23 23 23 23 22 22 21 21 21 20 20 20 20

SUMMER 2009

2009 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103

First Name

Last Name

Lamphere Gordon

Young Scott Abel Geoff Clunies Gregory Smith Colin Phelan Peter Holmes Lucas Garrison Rob Roy Andy Willard Martin Brikis Paul Usher Charles Hackett Ward Usher Tracy Summers Cameron Martinson Bruce Minth Ryan Jesberg Peter Vessella Peter Robinson Ken Walker Glenn Fox Andrew Toole Pat Jacob Mac Bishop Mike Phillips Andrew Leson Collin Tulk Eric Hurley Peter Bowden Rob Alexander Chris Symes Bill Cruickshank Tyler BiskabornBrad Buckingham Jim Bowers Erik Wilton Brendan Strilky Rick Boome Chris Bell Doug Reitinger Eric Hardage Max Shoemaker Andrew Schalka Michael Jensen Drake Atkins Forest Plaxton Bill Orosz Stephen Currie Jason Tillman Dick Holmes John Graef Richard Stang Christopher Burke Nick Tulip Christopher Baker David Dethorn JR Miller Howard Newton Pam Bell Simon Tee Barry Andrews Tyler

www.Laser.org

# Events

1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Total

20 20 20 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 17 17 17 17 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 13 13 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 10

104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155

First Name

Last Name

# Events

Martin Kyle 1 Dahlman Tony 1 Flato John 1 Lozier Philip 1 Zurinskas Martine 1 Wulff Ray 1 Paxton Phil 1 Sisson Steve 1 LaPier David 1 Mumma Butch 1 May Chris 1 Vallo Nick 1 Stubbs Robin 1 Ruais Renee 1 Swikart Jack 1 Sherwood Doug 1 Keckler Steve 1 Halman Mark 1 Marks Zack 1 Elliott David 1 Drasnin Peter 1 Lazzaro Michael 1 Lamphere Gordon 1 Schroth Fred 1 Hassing Finn 1 BiskabornJens 1 Cook Duncan 1 Mitchell Bill 1 Eillott Ian 1 Nowell Eddie 1 Spevak Walt 1 McAndrews Brendan 1 Shattuck Brendan 1 Humphreys Christopher 1 Collidge John 1 Love M. Ashley 1 Gibson Pat 1 Vallo Matt 1 Shingledecker Luke 1 Callahan Jerry 1 Stroppel Dave 1 Gallagher Trey 1 Deutsch Jon 1 Kiss Michael 1 Hutchenson Max 1 Hughes J.T. 1 Mazin Rodion 1 Ehlers Steve 1 Neilson Terry 1 Round Phillip 1 Raney Brian 1 Stubbs Thom 1

Total

10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1

Helping you Stay Hydrated This Summer

EVAN LEWIS H.B.KIN., CSCS

In a recent study by Gary Slater and Ben Tan (Complete introduction to Laser racing) published in the Journal of Sport Sciences, it was found that club level Laser and Radial sailors in Singapore, loose an exceptional amount of body water as sweat and are not following current sports nutritional guidelines for hydration while competing1. Most sailors in the study reported they did not have a good understanding of what they should be consuming on the water and where to seek that information.

The study was performed during a regional regatta in Singapore and after a three-race day, men lost on average 2325mL of sweat at a rate of 465mL/h and women lost 1140mL at a rate of 228mL/h1. Even though the study was conducted in Singapore, the race day temperatures (29 – 33°C) are common across North America in the summer. Many of the sailors in the study did not realize how much sweat they produced while sailing and where not aware of the current recommended guidelines for maintaining hydration.

While approximately 70% of your body is composed water, 90% of your blood volume is water. A mere loss of only 1-2% of your body’s water can have a performance hindering affect on muscular strength, endurance and decision making ability. As blood volume decreases from loss of water, bloods ability to transport oxygen to working muscles is impaired, decreasing the efficiency that they use fuel. To that end, blood is also essential for transporting vital nutrients such as glucose (carbohydrates) and fats to working muscles so stored energy within muscle are not fully depleted. Therefore, not maintaining hydration levels while training or competing can have a direct effect on your performance. Although the study did not examine a change in sailor’s physical capacity before and after the regatta, it can be assumed that there was a decrease in any or all of the mentioned categories.

Athletes may find it hard to detect dehydration and waiting until your body tells you that you are thirsty is often too long. The most basic method of monitoring hydration is examining the colour of your urine. A Light yellow to clear colour indicates that you are hydrated; darker yellow colours mean that you need to consume more fluids. If you are taking multivitamins

or other supplements, they may darken your urine so judging hydration by volume excreted may be more appropriate. A more accurate method to measure hydration can be performed by weighing yourself before and after your time on the water. Every pound of body weight lost, requires a minimum of 500mL of fluid to help restore hydration and water lost.

When the body produces sweat to cool the skin, water is not the only substance that is excreted; the minerals (commonly referred to as electrolytes) sodium, potassium and chloride are drawn out of the body. These minerals are essential for regulating cellular function and muscle contractions. Therefore, during prolonged exercise or activity in high heat and humidity, electrolytes need to be replaced in addition to water.

Commercially available sports drinks such as Gatorade, Powerade, Accelerade and many others provide a mixture of electrolytes, carbohydrates and water that help to maintain hydration by providing a mixture of electrolytes and water. Additionally, the flavouring and sodium in the beverage encourages you to drink more fluid at a time to help ensure hydration2. Consuming sports drinks with electrolytes, especially sodium, helps your body to absorb and retain water and the carbohydrates in these beverages provide your muscles with rapid energy.

Sports drinks typically contain 6-8% carbohydrates by volume, which is consistent with your body’s natural fluid balance, thus encouraging hydration and allowing the fluid to quickly pass through the stomach2. Drinks with a higher percentage of carbohydrates may negatively impact hydration, as they require water from your body to absorb and breakdown carbohydrates. As a result, when you are planning your race day nutrition - follow your high carbohydrate snacks with 250-500ml of water and then top up on sports drinks2.

once as it can cause cramping; steadily sip beverages to allow your body to digest and absorb both fluid and nutrients.

The best time to start rehydrating after a day on the water is on the back to the dock. Depending on how long the sail is, you can easily consume 500-1000ml, which will help you restore fluid lost throughout the day, help your body digest recovery foods and prepare you for the next day of racing or training.

As a final note, coffee and alcohol are both mild diuretics, meaning that they encourage the excretion of water from your body. Consumed in large quantities they can encourage dehydration. As it would be completely unrealistic to discourage any sailor to stop consuming either, I merely suggest striking a balance. When consuming either coffee or alcohol before or during a regatta, aim for a 1:1 ratio of water to coffee or alcohol. This will help to counter any negative effects of either beverage.

Please send questions and comment to sailstronger@evanlewis.ca. Evan is an MSc candidate at the University of Toronto where he is studying muscle health and aging and is a NSCA Certified Strength Conditioning Specialist. For more information and training tips visit www.evanlewis.ca. Resources 1) Slater, G., Tan, B. Body mass changes and nutrient intake of dinghy sailors while racing. Journal of Sports Sciences. 2007. 25:1129-1135. 2) Applegate, L., Clark, K. Selecting and effectively using sports drinks, carbohydrate gels and energy bars. American College of Sports Medicine (www.acsm.org). 2006. photo: Mark Lammens of Brad Funk

Current sports nutrition guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine recommend consuming 250ml per 15 minutes of intense physical activity or 6001200ml/h depending on temperature and level of exertion2. Since it can be difficult to drink while racing, make sure that you pre-hydrate before racing by drinking about 500ml of water in the hour before the start and then replace fluid after each race. Do not try and consume all missed fluid at

SUMMER 2009

2009 Alamitos Bay Yacht Club Olympic Classes Regatta

Moving back to its traditional early spring date, Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (ABYC), Long Beach CA hosted its Olympic Classes Regatta (OCR) March 2122. Scheduled the weekend prior to the Laser Midwinters West held just up the 405 Freeway in Marina del Rey, we hoped for a good turnout. Indeed seventeen Lasers hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area to San Diego arrived to take part, as well as three local Radial racers. From results of the light breeze first day ABYC’s Chris Raab was certainly in charge; however, the next five places were up for grabs. With Peter Jesberg from San Francisco & St. Francis YC, Cameron Summers from ABYC, Drake Jensen from Richmond YC, Julian Soto from Del Rey YC, and Pete Sutherland from Mission Bay YC all within two points of each other. Sunday’s final results didn’t change much, but the race conditions certainly did as you will read in this report from the official Regatta Press Officer, Rich Roberts.

There were no complaints. Observers had lost count of capsizes, most of them Lasers but also some Finns.

Vann Wilson is an ABYC member who prefers sailing his Laser in robust breeze, so he was keen for racing Sunday after finishing 7-8-8 and 10 the first day. But after winning the only Laser race in a runaway he noted, “you’ve gotta’ be careful what you wish for. I think I was 10 knots over my limit.”

Chris Raab, another (ABYC) local, hung onto his first-day lead achieved with a 3-1-2-1 afternoon by finishing fourth despite capsizing four times. But, like the others, each time he muscled his boat upright from the cold water and kept on sailing. “I haven’t flipped four times in the last five years,” he said. “Every time you flip it takes a lot out of you.”

“Day one (Saturday) of a sailing event for little single-handed boats this weekend was cold, gray and short on wind. Day two, Sunday, was everything Saturday was not: sunny, windy and, as Chris Raab described it, “Scary.” It blew so hard anemometers showed 25 to 27 knots, gusting to 35- that several boats were blown over…off their trailers in the parking lot.

So it was at ABYC‘s annual Olympic Crashes…er, Classes Regatta Saturday for Finns, Lasers and Laser Radials…all single-handed classes for daring people. Two red flags signaling a gale warning flew from the harbor master’s headquarters as the boats headed out to the course, and conditions became so rough during the first scheduled race that principal race officer (PRO) Mark Townsend decided before it was over that there would be no more.

www.Laser.org

Regatta Reports

photo: V. Wilson & C. Raab

Actually, he would have won without sailing at all because after five races he was allowed to discard his worst finish, and that was the only one sailed Sunday. Several others considered the conditions and took the bailout. Of the 43 boats entered in three classes, only 21 ventured out into the elements Sunday. Wise move. Even after (PRO) Townsend noticed the breeze build-

photo: D. Jensen & J. Soto ing from the west and moved the race course inside the breakwater from its previous location in the open ocean off Seal Beach, the competitors found seas building to short series of waves with troughs 10 feet deep.”

In the Radial fleet, Jack Jorgensen, Garrett Brown and Kevin Baumann, all from ABYC, finished the regatta in that order. The Radials faced the same conditions as the full-rigs as described in this I received from Margaret Jorgensen reporting on her son Jack sailing on Sunday: “Jack reports: He was reaching around the starting area when he flipped. When he was righting his boat he noticed his boom had detached from the mast. He was able to right the boat but due to the heavy wind and seas could not put the boom back together. He was towed in by Coach Brad (Schaupeter). Neither Jack nor Kevin (Baumann) was able to race Sunday. Jack said he was bummed because it would have been really fun to sail in that breeze.” For complete regatta report & results, go to: http://www.abyc.org/event.cfm?id=329 Steven Smith ABYC Laser Fleet Co-Captain photos by Rich Roberts.

Tricky Conditions for Atlantic Coast Champs

DORIAN HALDEMAN

The 2009 Laser Atlantic Coast Championship was held at Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis, Maryland. This year the competition was split into two separate events. The Standard Rigs competed May 2-3, and the Radials and 4.7s competed June 6-7.

Most of the competitors in the Standard Rig event hailed from the local MidAtlantic states of Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but many traveled from more distant states of Wisconsin and Ohio. Several international competitors arrived from Canada and the Dominican Republic. The scratch sheet read as a “who’s who” of Laser sailing with World Champion and Olympic Silver medalist John Bertrand, three-time Canadian National Champion Andy Roy, and the only female North American Champion Susie Pegel, to name a few.

Annapolis, known to many as America’s Sailing Capital, is home to the Naval Academy and soon, the National Sailing Hall of Fame. As many locals can attest, it is also home to very unpredictable spring weather. Eighty-four registered Standard Rigs were blessed with adequate wind on both May 2 and 3. Unfortunately overcast skies, rain, and slightly chilly temperatures accompanied it. The first day of Standard Rig racing saw a mild 5-8 knot northerly. After two failed starts, the first race began under threat of black flag. The leaders mostly stayed mostly to the right side of the Olympic course. The first couple of mark roundings were a little chaotic for the middle of the fleet as sailors adjusted to the large fleet and new rules. The judges kept sailors from violating rule 42 and approximately a half-dozen sailors did penalty turns. The bullet in race one went to Dave Perkowski of Crownsville, MD. He was followed by Raul Aguayo of the Dominican Republic in second and Ray

Wulff of Annapolis in third.

The wind picked up a bit for most of the second race before beginning an eastward shift during the last two legs. Again, most of the leaders held to the right side of the course. The bullet in the second race went to Ward Hackett from Virginia Beach, followed by Robert Pickens of Illinois in second and Evan Lewis of Canada in third.

Race three was delayed for about halfan-hour as PRO Mike Waters, Vice Chair Rod Mincher, and their outstanding race committee waited for the wind to settle in from a more easterly direction. Unfortunately, it became clear early on that the wind was not going to hold, and the race was abandoned.

Friendly volunteers helped out by towing sailors to the docks and assisting with dock landings. Saturday evening concluded with refreshments, snacks, and a tasty steak dinner provided by SSA’s own Dark and Stormy’s café. Raffle prizes from sponsors Spinsheet Magazine, Helly Hansen, Annapolis Performance Sailing, West Marine, Collie Sails, Sailregattas.com and the Boatyard Bar and Grill were given out through the evening. Racing on Sunday continued it’s competitive pace, but significantly different conditions brought a new batch of sailors to the front of the pack. The first race of the day (race 3) began with 5-8 knots out of the north and built to 10-12 knots as weather patterns blew across the bay. The shifty winds kept the race committee on their toes making course adjustments. The bullet in race 3 went to David Sliom of Severn Sailing Association, followed by Kevin Shockey of Old Dominion University in second, and Ted Morgan of Severn Sailing Association in third. The next race provided much-needed starting practice for the fleet. After 5 attempts the race began under a black flag warning. The adverse current didn’t help either. As the race progressed both the wind and the waves built, and the fleet spread out across five 8/10- mile legs. “With such a massive starting

line it was important to know which side was favored” said Kevin Shockey, Old Dominion University sailing team. The bullet in race four went to Andy Roy of Canada, followed by Evan Lewis of Canada in second and Rob Crane of Hobart College in third. The race committee did a phenomenal job with challenging conditions and a very competitive fleet. “I really enjoyed running the races. It’s really fun being associated with the Laser Class” Said PRO Mike Waters. “We had a wide variety of conditions and a great warm-up for the upcoming season”, said Eric Reitinger, District 10 Secretary. Evan Lewis of Ontario, Canada took first overall with a [14-3-2-1]. Raul Aguayo of the Dominican Republic took second [2-17-4-2] and Rob Crane, 2009 US Sailing Team member and student at Hobart College, rounded out third [10-9-36]. Tom Ramshaw, a member of the 2009 Canadian Youth Sailing Team, was the first junior and placed fifteenth overall. Ashley Love of Severn Sailing Association was first women and placed twenty-second overall. In the Masters divisions, John Gebhardt of Severn Sailing Association took first Great Grand Master; Roger Link of West River Sailing Club took first Grand Master; Andy Roy of Canada took first Master and Todd Hiller of Annapolis Yacht Club took first Apprentice Master.

SUMMER 2009

Severn Sailing Association was also the site of the 2009 Laser Radial and 4.7 Atlantic Coast Championship on June 6-7. It was a much different scene than the Standard Rig event. Many of the same faces from the Standard Rig event participated, but many young sailors, parents, and coaches brought a different level of energy to the competition. Thirty-two of the sixtythree Radials were juniors sailors, and all of the eight 4.7 entries were sailed by youth sailors. Many used this regatta as a tune up for the US Youth Sailing Championship in Greenwich, CT June 25-30.

Saturday began with very light and shifty winds. After a brief postponement, race one began with approximately 4-5 knots of northerly breeze. The fleet started cleanly under the I-flag. Shortly after the start, the breeze softened to 2-3 knots and continued its decline throughout the race. Those who got a clean air start shot ahead and were difficult to catch. By the fifth and last leg the wind was almost undetectable, but both fleets were able to finish before the time limit expiration. The bullet in the Radial fleet went to Christopher Stocke of Florida, followed by Greg Marinez of Texas in second and John Wallace of Florida in third. The 4.7 fleet was led by Mary Hall of Florida in first, followed by

www.Laser.org

Kayla Gibson of Texas in second and Connor Swikart of New Jersey in third. The race committee went into a brief postponement until a light easterly breeze filled in. The course was reset and the 4.7 fleet started, followed by the Radials. A general recall was issued for the Radial fleet as the result of a ripping flood current that pushed many boats over early and caused several others to get hung up on the pin boat. On the downwind leg the wind completely shut down and then filled in from the right, causing a mid-fleet reversal. After struggling against the current to lay the finish mark, the race committee wisely shortened the course to three legs. Christopher Stocke earned his second bullet of the day. Mateo Vargas of Florida placed second and Dylan Finneran of New Jersey placed third. In the 4.7 fleet the bullet went to Connor Swikart of New Jersey, followed by Matt Schofield of Annapolis in second and Mary Hall in third. Parents, coaches, and volunteers towed sailors in to a delicious chicken dinner at SSA. Sunday saw good wind conditions with a nice southerly sea breeze of 6-10 knots, but powerboat chop across the course made clear air and boat momentum key. Jack Swikart of New Jersey led the radials on Sunday [11-1-2-7], landing him in second place overall. Christopher Stocke [1-1-3-14] took first overall and was the first junior winner. Max Lopez of New Jersey was third overall [7-8-5-2]. The first woman radial was Joanne Prokop of Toronto, Canada and Mike Schmidt from Magothy River Sailing Association took first master.

Mary Hall won the 4.7 fleet [1-2-1-1], followed by Kayla Ellis in second place [41-2-3] and Kayla Gibson of New Jersey in third [2-3-3-2]. Under the leadership of PRO Dina Kowalyshyn and Vice Chair James Jacob, the race committee did an outstanding job of setting courses in challenging light air conditions. Judges Hugh Elliott, Tammy Kolbe, Brent Ostbye, Cole Allsopp, and Tim Borland kept the racing fair, judging rule 42 on water and running the protest committee. Special thanks go to the sponsors of the Radial / 4.7 event: Spinsheet magazine, Annapolis Performance Sailing, Helly Hansen, Zodiac, Sailregattas.com, West Marine and the Boatyard Bar and Grill. For both events, the regatta organizers worked with Sailors for the Sea to minimize the environmental impact the 2009 Atlantic Coast Championship regatta. These efforts included on-water collection of trash and water bottles for recycling, dedicated recycling containers on land, biodegradable corn cups for beverages, and recycled paper and bags for the skipperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s packets. As a result, the regatta achieved Bronze level certification by the Clean Regattas organization. Photos by Lori Pierelli: www.sailorpix.printroom.com

2009 Masters NA’s

May 17-19 Carolina Yacht Club, Wrightsville Beach, NC. ROB BOWDEN DISTRICT 12

After a 100 mile drive, I arrived at Carolina Yacht Club greeted by rain. The practice races scheduled for the day turned out to be a non-event as there was very little wind and a 6 foot left over steep swell. I rushed to get my gear on and get launched for some practice anyway. After my practice sail and a hairy ride in, my Motrin, Power Bars and Scotch – I felt prepared. Bring on Day 1! Day #1 opened with great weather and 97 registered boats. The registration check in process was well organized and completely painless. After a quick skippers meeting we were off.

For the most part all of the races were held in about 5-12 knots of breeze that came from the SSE and allowed us to get in 3 races. There was a bit of left over chop with the ever present ocean swell that made it a bit challenging to keep the boat moving up wind and teased you with the temptation to try and surf them down wind.

Everybody had their game faces and the mood in the boat park was a little more serious than what I remembered from the 2007 event. Several folks were using this event as their tune up for the Worlds in August. 93 boats made the starting line. The swell and chop made it impossible to get a truly accurate line site with the compass wobbling all around so you ran with a + or -10 degree margin of error on the line site. We managed to get going after only one general recall. I realized how line sites and all that other crap basically go out the window on a massive line with so many boats. You can’t hear any of the horns from the signal boat after the 1 minute horn and you just go with the fleet doing your best to keep your bow out, not get stuffed by the guy below you and pray you’re not over early cause there’s no way in hell you’re going back. Those of us who went left came out in decent shape at the top mark. The course was 2 upwind legs, 2 down wind legs followed by a short, tight reach leg from the left offset DW mark to the finish boat. The goal on the 2nd DW leg for me was to get left and protect the inside lane. I did that, rounded the final mark and finished 18th. This was ABOVE my expectations and I was quite happy.

Race 2 had 2 general recalls before the PRO went straight to the black flag. I was stuck 2nd row. I actually thought I had managed to recover from a bad start pretty well until I got to the weather mark and had to hunt for a spot on the starboard tack layline train. Let’s just say my ticket was not in the business class section. However, the highlight for me was trading tacks and jibes with Dick Tillman all the way around the course. We must have swapped positions 6 times. In the end I got the overlap on him and reached to the finish. After we finished he had a big grin on his face and said something to the affect of, “We were neck & neck through that whole race!” That was the coolest moment of the day for me. Race 3 was similar to race # 2. Concentrating was becoming more difficult and I just wanted to get in. This, my friends is the perfect mind set for a poor finish. So, up the first leg, down the DW, back up, back down, yada, yada, yada…….I finished in 46th. During the sail in I was motivated by the thought of a hot shower and a drink so I kicked in the afterburners to pass 17 boats on the sail in. The added bonus to this was the club had servers handing out rum punch when you beached your boat! One person brought my dolly to the beach while another had a tray full of rum punch drinks. I was not 3 feet out of the water before a drink was in my hand. That, my friends is what I call regatta management! Three rum punches, 1 hot shower, some great post race socializing and a Mexican dinner with our class president Mr. Usher and his lovely wife, some really expensive margaritas, 3 Motrin with my bedtime Miller Light and I had just ended a perfect day of Masters racing. Day # 2 brought the conditions that Wrightsville Beach and the Carolina Yacht Club are famous for. A great thermal sea breeze and nice

waves to surf/plane across. The RC was ready to roll and did not mess around throwing the black flag for the first start of the day. I think the black flag is now the normal starting procedure for masters sailing. It must be something new…….. Race 1- Breeze was out of the south at about 12. I made a late and ill fated attempt at a pin end start that was closed out. Several tacks later I was in clear air and heading in the direction of the weather mark. There was a bit of carnage on the course today. I noticed several boats getting pinned on the weather mark while try-

SUMMER 2009

ing to pinch in, a few capsizes, and some big pin wheels at leeward mark rounding’s with some bumping and grinding. You now what we say in the south, “Rubbin’ is Racin’”. Anyway, after the dismal start I worked my way up the weather leg and rounded near the tail end of the fleet. I felt I had pretty good game on with my downwind work as I caught/surfed a lot of waves. Race 3- This would be the final race of the day, (and of the event). We never saw anything near 20, but we had some solid 16-17 knot gusts. I tried to limit the damage off the starting line by going for the non-favored end. I rounded the weather mark with a TON of other boats and I managed to stuff my bow into a bury my boat up to the boom vang. Periscope Up!!!! I jumped to the back of the boat and the bow popped up filling my cockpit to the grab rails with water. The bailer was doing the best it could, but it’s just one small hole. So there I am on a semi-plane, rolling in

adverse waves. I have the tiller and mainsheet held across my chest with my right hand and I’m leaning down trying to throw water out of the cockpit with my left hand. All the while trying not to capsize or foul another boat. Party Time! The CYC and Arland Whitesides pulled out the stops with an open bar and awesome, local, shrimp and crab cakes. Maryland has nothing on Wrightsville Beach lump meat crab cakes! Then came the give aways! You always have to be present to win, but almost everyone is a winner! The door prizes were just fantastic. Even a new class sail was given away! Followed by an Intensity sail, Intensity gear bag, numerous hats, t-shirts, Zhik hiking straps, sailing gloves, Puma shoes, I’m sure I missed something, but it was great! After dinner everyone retired for the evening to rest up for the final day. The last day was cancelled due to a weather front that was forecasted to come through and bring heavy rain, lightning and

winds that would blow boats away from shore. It was a very difficult decision to make at 10:30 AM when the sky was sunny and a beautiful breeze was blowing. However, by the time the races would have been in progress the weather turned as forecasted and everyone was happy that the right call had been made. The Carolina Yacht Club stepped up with a burger roast and once again opened up the bar to serve drinks for everyone. This event lived up to be everything we have come to know and love from the race management and organizers at the CYC. The Laser sailors cannot express their thanks enough to the CYC and the race committee. In May of 2010 the Masters US Nationals will be held in D12. It is scheduled for the Carolina Yacht Club in Charleston, SC! This is another fantastic town and host club. Will we see 100 boats????? Stay tuned……………………..

RYAN MINTH The Grapevine Sailing Club in Dallas Texas graciously invited all Laser, Radial. and 4.7 Class members to their venue to compete for the “No Coast” Championship. The three-day forecast leading into the event deteriorated as the regatta drew closer to day one. It didn’t dissuaded the thirtysome sailors to head to the shores of Lake Grapevine Saturday morning to go racing. The sailors turned out to be the smart crowd as everyone enjoyed perfect weather of partly cloudy skies and comfortably warm temperatures. Once out at the race track, it was clear that any course set on the ‘fat’ end of the lake was going to be a short affair. The nice weather brought with it significantly lighter breeze than anticipated. With a center start/finish line, the first beats were very quick. Veteran Master sailor Doug Peckover showed the right to be his formula for success. Even as the left side of the line or even the beats would be favored, Doug marched off three of the first six bullets available on Saturday. What did hold true for light air racing strategies was getting to the edge of the race track and winning your side. In fact, once at lay line, it still paid to tack further out and get to it fast, even if it meant reaching down back to the race course with the new found velocity. The center start and finish lines were “closed” per the Sailing Instructions, much to the disdain of most experienced Laser Fleet members. It turns out that the hosts were doing the fleet a great service. Even on the runs, it was

never fast to be rumb-line or anywhere near the RC boat. The center caved in so hard during one Radial race that boats sat motionless just under the start/finish line for what must have seemed like forever as the deep end of their fleet inverted by sailing around the center on either side of the course’s second beat. Crazy and classic conditions for a No Coast (aka Land-locked Lake) Championship? Maybe. But in the end, most beats came out fairly even, with two boats from either side still ending up in the top five. One second beat, Doug sailed to the right side on port, never tacking and nearly laying the top mark. Even with this perfect lane and angle all the way to the top on the “long” second beat, he neither gained or lost to boats sailing to the extreme left sailing in more pressure but with “normal” beating angles to the top. OK, it was crazy. But it was fairly even sailing amidst the often slow moving insanity. I should admit that almost every one was able to fully hike out at some point during the day, albeit for about ninety seconds tops. After five races for the 4.7 Fleet and six for the Radials and Lasers, the PRO sent the fleet in for some heaping helpings of fried chicken, cole slaw, potato salad, and large quantities of age appropriate beverages for all. While not the dinner of Olympic Sailing champions, that really was not what was going on out on the water either. The friendly competition and camaraderie that ruled the day of racing merely washed ashore as everyone enjoyed the

warm and generous Texas hospitality. Doug Peckover, having held a small lead after Saturday, wrapped the regatta up by building a small picket fence on Sunday, scoring a 1-1-1. In the Radial fleet, Chase Shaw’s lead from Saturday narrowly slipped away by one point to Greg Martinez who sailed a 1-2-3 to pull the top spot. In the 4.7 fleet the youngest Shaw on the water, (of three; Dad sailed the Laser) Brad Shaw showed the most dominant performance of the weekend, scoring five bullets over his eight race series, and dropped a three in his final race. Second furthest traveled award goes to Harumitsu Yamamoto (Laser; JAP), who came in from Ohio and placed fifth. We should have country-coded his sail and upgraded the ISAF event grade status. Furthest away goes to Annie Rossi who placed seventh in the Radial and came all the way from San Francisco Yacht Club. It was a good chance for Annie to practice in conditions she probably rarely sees; light, shifty, and flat w/ motor boat chop. Safe bet that you will see more of them on the road this summer season at ILCA-NA’s Majors. Three cheers go to Event Chair, Mike Lipari, for pulling the whole event together with his “cast of thousands” volunteers. The event was easy to get to, well run, and fun. It was the perfect No Coast Regatta, and a great success. Overall and individual race results of all fleets may been seen at URL: http://www.grapevinesailing.org/race_re sults/2009_laser_nocoast.html.

2009 LASER NO COAST CHAMPIONSHIPS

www.Laser.org

photo: GGM Peter Seidenberg. By Susie Pegel

Note to District Secretaries -

TRACY USHER

Class Legal Equipment

With the passing of the Memorial Day weekend the summer sailing season is starting to kick into high gear, with several major events only weeks away. In addition, while we have had a few District Championships already, most of them lay ahead of us, so I‘d like to take a moment to discuss a growing issue for the Laser Class - the appearance of counterfeit equipment at championship level events.

The primary attraction to racing a Laser, and the reason for its tremendous success, is the strict one design nature of the boat, which results primarily from the concept of nearly everything on the boat being “builder supplied”. The primary benefit of this is that when you show up to race, be it evening beer can racing during the summer, or at the World Championship, you can tell with a simple glance that all the boats you will be racing against are Lasers and that nobody has a speed edge on you because they have “better” equipment. We do pay a slight premium for this (though the cost of sailing a Laser still pales in comparison to any other major sailboat class), but isn’t the strict one design nature worth a small premium?

Almost since the first Laser hit the water there has been a small market for sails and parts which are not class legal, primarily for use in non-racing situations, or as part of special fleets (e.g. hotels in the Caribbean), etc. Recently, counterfeit sails have been more aggressively marketed, with direct sales through the internet which significantly undercut the price of the class legal sail that you could buy from your local Laser dealer down the street. The result is an increasing trend towards seeing these sails appear in racing situations, primarily at the fleet level but increasingly at local regattas and, recently, at a few championship level regattas. Its worth remembering that these are NOT class legal sails and any boat using them is NOT a Laser as defined by the Laser Class rules. Any regatta sailed under the Class Rules should, therefore, NOT allow the use of these counterfeit sails, or any counterfeit parts. In particular, this includes the District Championship regattas which are part of the Laser Grand Prix.

I will agree that there is a fine line to be walked with these sails, in particular at the fleet level where they can help to get more boats on the water and grow the fleet, and its tempting to “avert one’s gaze”, so to speak, towards their use. However, I personally believe the same can be achieved with the purchase of a used class legal sail, especially from one of the Olympic campaigners who constantly discard sails well before they have really started to decay.

A problem that I see with the counterfeit market is that it is continuing to expand. Besides sails, in some parts of the world you can buy counterfeit blades and spars. And in a recent development, the leader in the counterfeit sails market has begun to market a part that is bolted to the boat and cannot be easily substituted by the sailor when they show up to a “real” regatta. All of this should be very much discouraged and the best way is to not allow ANY equipment which isn’t class legal - once you open the door for one part, you are opening it for all.

I recognize that the class legal sails have some well documented

failings and it’s quite tempting to look at an alternative that is so competitively priced. It’s worth nothing here that the builders are also aware of this and are looking at what can be done, from a now aggressive effort to produce a vastly improved Laser Standard sail, to trying to understand where they might economize and lower the price on the sail. The latter is tough, we have all grown used to the benefits of the dealer network they have put in place but part of the cost of this network is in what seems like elevated prices for parts. Still, whatever the solution will be in the end, it will NOT include allowing counterfeit equipment in to ruin our game.

Finally, with respect to the Grand Prix events, ILCA-NA do sail inspections at the major events and, as well, watch for counterfeit equipment. However, its the responsibility of the District Secretaries to ensure compliance with the Class Rules at their District Championship event, and in particular to make sure the Notices of Race and Sailing Instructions do not attempt to override the Class Rules. This is an important issue and if the ILCA-NA Office learns of a violation at a District Championship we will have no choice other than to not score that event in the Grand Prix - which could adversely impact sailors using these events to help gain entry to the various world championships. Thanks very much for holding the line on this issue at the big events in your districts!

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SUMMER 2009

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

ILCA of NA, 2812 Canon Street, San Diego, California USA 92106 619-222-0252, Fax 619-222-0528

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______Laser

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______Radial

______Laser 4.7

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All amounts are in US dollars. Canadian checks must be in US dollars. Regular - $40 for one year or $75 for 2 years Junior - $35 (Member may not turn 18 in 2009), or $65 for 2 years (Member may not turn 18 in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;10) Family, 1 year - $40 for the primary members and $25 for each additional member Family, 2 years - $75 for the primary members and $45 for each additional member

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District Reports

District 1 Brian Mills

During the course of writing theses quarterly District reports for Laser Sailor magazine, I have often wondered if anyone actually reads them.

While speaking to fellow Laser racers at the 2009 Bermuda International Invitational Race Week (sponsored by Barcardi) this April, talk got around to district reports. It turns out that fellow competitor Tobin Young from Toronto reads all the reports in which he knows the District Secretary. He listed off 4 Canadian and 3 American District secretaries that he knows. So I took the opportunity to ask him how mine compared to the others—-“Your’s are always long!” Rightly or wrongly, I took that as a good thing. Since there are no results to report, right now it is June 13, I will remind all readers to check the North American Laser Class Association’s website as well as the NB, NS, PEI and NF Provincial Sailing Association’s websites for information pertaining to all the 2009 local regattas. If you are travelling with your Laser be sure to browse the Districts you will be travelling through or visiting for local regattas. Who knows what you will find!!!

Again this year there will be a Masters component to the District 1 Championships. The venue for the regatta is the St Margaret’s Sailing Club. This is the same venue as the 2009 Laser Worlds and the 2009 Laser Masters Worlds. This is a great opportunity for Lasers racers of all ages to experience the same waters as the best sailors in the world.

District 2 Denys Deschambeault

Déja la moitie de l’été écoulé. Je dois admettre que jusqu’ici la météo favorise la voile a plein. Le camp d’entrainement du début de l’été a été un succès en ayant atteint la limite impose pour avoir un ratio entraineur élève qui favorise le maximum d’apprentissage. Si vous désires participer au prochain camp réservez vos places des que possible car la demande est très forte et les places seront encore très limitées. ( Les dates seront annoncées a la fin de l’hiver prochain). Merci a l’entraineur Robin Blanchard,son expérience nous a permis de voir un autre coté de la médaille, celui du gagnant; Merci au juge et arbitre international M.David Pelling pour ces points de vue sur les nouveaux règlements. et surtout sur ce que les juges regardent et pensent de nous . Merci a Louis Beauregard et au club de voile de Pointe-Claire pour l’excellente organisation et les super repas. J’allais oublier le liquide doré. Merci a Pierre jasmin de la brasserie “La diable” de Mont Tremblant pour la bière. Il y en avait beaucoup et heureusement il n’y a pas eu d’excès, donc un gros surplus de liquide; L’an

prochain je te promet que tu vas retourner a la maison plus léger. La première course a attirée une douzaine de Laseriste donc l’intensité et la vitesse étaient surprenante pour un début de saison. Sur le plan du district, nous avons encore augmenter le nombre de membres en règles; “Merci” aux nouveaux membres et aux anciens qui ont renouvelés. Le secteur Montréal va très bien ainsi que le secteur Sherbrooke , lesquels on me dit que tous les camps de voile et les cours pour l’été sont complets. La région de Québec est aussi très bien représentée le seul petit accrocs est que la ville n’a pas encore nommé l’administrateur pour la baie de Beauport ce qui en soit ne cause qu’un problème administratif qui devrait être résolue dans un avenir très proche. Je n’ai pas de nouvelle de la région de Gaspé, de l’Outaouais et du lac St Jean , donc messieurs un petit email pour que je sache que vous êtes encore a l’écoute. Bonne fin de saison a tous, et ne manquer le championnat du district 26-27 Sept. au Pointe-Claire YC. Il nous faut faire de cet événement une régate que personne ne voudras plus manquer. Bon vent, bonne voile

District 3 Rob Koci

Hope deferred makes the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12)

We did have a hope, here in Ontario (District 3 to Laserists). Buoyed by the promises of Al Gore and encouraged by our ever-increasing CO2 emissions, we truly believed we had a warm spring in store. We had done everything we could. We drove around the block for no reason. We tore the catalytic converters out of our cars. We purposefully provided false address information for FedEx deliveries so the trucks would travel aimlessly trying to find none existent addresses. We turned our thermostats up. We switched our subscriptions from the Toronto Star to the National Post! To no avail. The spring in Ontario was heartsickeningly cold and wet and very un-Global-Warming like. The ice was out of the bay a week late, and the first boat in the water on March 15 (mine or Joe Van Rossems’s, I can’t remember) had to avoid ice flows.

And when the regattas began, it was in icebreaking fashion. The TS&CC Icebreaker regatta was bitter. The cold wind howled at Fanshawe for their June Bug regatta (June!! For the love of God!) The Flat Water Freezeout in Guelph blew small dogs off big chains and dipped every competitor into the frigid waters of Guelph Lake at least once, except for Brad Biskaborn. The newly formed Ontario Master Racing Team (OMR Team), did the right thing by heading south to Wrightsville Beach for the North American Masters Championships. It was an excellent show of numbers if not results, with 11 of the 14 members making the trip away from 40-50F weather to more comfortable 70F-plus temps. I will leave it to District 11 to tell the story of the regatta, but I will say that our best, Andy Roy, was as fast as anyone on the wind, and rounded the top mark consistently high in the fleet of 90-plus boats. He finished the

regatta a well-deserved fifth.

Back at home, we could be forgiven for allowing the coming World Championships to overshadow much of the activity surrounding District 3. In both the Open fleet and the Masters, the numbers competing from District 3 are impressive. Of the 16 Canadians registered for the Open, nine are D3ers. Of the 70 Canadian Masters registered for the Worlds this August, almost half are D3ers. To prepare for the Worlds, the OMR Team had the first of its five planned clinics in Toronto in May with North American Open Champion David Wright coaching. Also gearing up, a number of the Senior Open competitors traveled to Holland to test their speed against the best in the world before coming back to Ontario to compete together in the Royal Canadian Yacht Club Open where the weather finally lived up to Globally Warmed hype—and coincidently killed the breeze. To attract them back home, RCYC offered the winner of both the Full Rig and Radial fleets a trip to England for the UK National Champs. 2002 Olympic rep Bernard Luttmer won the fulls ahead of David Wright and Chris Dold, and OMR Team member Nigel Heath won in the Radials over a fleet of hotshot youngsters. At time of writing, some of us in Ontario have become skeptical of the Gore promise. We await the weather’s decision for the North Americans we will soon host at Buffalo Canoe Club. Actually, I am not sure if District 3 is considered the district host, as BCC is a bit like Canada’s very own Guantanamo Bay. When I first competed at BCC two years ago my cell phone rang as I entered the driveway of the club and sent a text message saying, “Welcome to United States and Singular Wireless!” I ended up paying international roaming charges in my own country!

I got vertigo looking around at the Thistle fleet lined up in the dingy park (Nobody sails a Thistle in Canada). I honestly thought I had crossed the border by mistake as I looked at the surrounding American architecture and was welcomed by twangy accents, American beer and the faces of American presidents on all the dull-green, monochrome money being accepted at the lunch counter. The only thing missing was Omar Khadr bellying up to the bar (Wait. I think after five years in Guantanamo he’s still underage.) When the club recently posted a reminder to foreign travelers that they needed a passport to cross the border, it took a second for me to realize the reminder wasn’t for me. But let’s not get political. As odd as a Canadian’s first visit is, BCC truly ranks among the best places to sail in North America, whatever country it’s in. I am sure, as I look forward to the regatta, that you will have received by the time of your reading this an excellent report on the hospitality and efficiency of the club and how truly fantastic the regatta was. Canada’s Guantanamo will be welcome here till hell freezes over, which will be sooner that we think if our D3 spring is any indication.

District 5 Mark Lammens

Racing is on for the Dick Degner District 5 Ranking

SUMMER 2005

Events, and other District club events. Some of the spring sailing was a little cool, even by Prairie Standards. However, we are back to the dry heat, bring it on. Results are as follows, Payton Byrns won Wascana Short Course, Corey Coons won the Regina Icebreaker, Alex Heinzemann and Kate Easton won the Calgary YC Icebreaker Ian Elliot and Elisha Allan won both the Wabamun regatta and the Intercity regatta. Lewis Oteruelo, A, Barry Tee, M, John Dawson-Edwards, GM, and Doug Bell, GGM, in the Western Masters, and Lewis Otereulo won the Mountain Madness. In the Alberta Trials for the Canada Games, the athletes are responding very well to Coach Ian Elliot. Simon Schmitt, Brady Cook, Robin Stubbs and Liam Quinlan are fast and motivated, very good to see such a strong group. Schmidt had to win the laser trials, based on speed and math. The girls are fast too, still trying to find out those scores. Dominique Grell or Hannah Meers

Mike Simms, CYA Sailor of the year and 2nd in an Olympic trials is back to sailing Laser. Light air sailing is still hard on the knees, as reported by the knee lock up in Chestermere. More on this later.

The Wabamun SC is hosting the grey hairs at the Nationals. Fine sailing , RC and no one under 35, hope and can find my keys and stay awake.

District 6 Andy Hunt

The sailing and racing season in District 6 has now been in full swing for the last two and half months. In addition to the below reported regattas, there has been local weekend racing at the various clubs and evening racing which sometimes is the main focus of club racing. The spring regattas started off with the Spring Frostbite Regatta which was hosted by the Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle on April 4 & 5, 2009. There were 15 Lasers but no Laser Radials or Laser 4.7s. There were 6 races and one throwout race. The top five sailors were: Michael Cenname, CYC, 10.00; John Sturman, WSC, 13.00; Daniel Falk, CYC, 17.00; Rob Hodson, WSC, 20.00; Jay C Winberg, CYC, 24.00. The next regatta in April was the Flights of Spring Regatta. This regatta is always hosted by the Jericho Laser Fleet at the Jericho Sailing Centre. This year the regatta was on April 18 & 19. There was light wind both days and six races with one throwout race. There were 13 Lasers and 8 Laser Radials. Top four Lasers were: Richardo Montemayor, RVYC, 7.00; Al Clark, RVYC, 8.00; Chris Tulip, RVYC, 13.00; Sascha Smutny, JSCA, 26.00. Top three Radials were: Natalia Montemayor, RVYC, 5.00; Tony Henderson, RVYC, 12.00; Joanna Moore, RVYC, 16.00. The last regatta in April was also the first regatta of the BC Sailing Ciruit. The BC Sailing Circuit is a circuit of 9 regattas with regatta hosted in the Lower Mainland, BC Interior and Vancouver Island. The circuit runs from April to October. The regatta mentioned was the Kitten Cup. The Kitten Cup is hosted by the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and is one of their biggest regattas. One aspect of the regatta is that there is a swap meet of sails, clothing, gear etc. and there are usually some good deals to be found. This year, attendance was boosted by a sailor from New Zealand and one from Toronto.

www.Laser.org

There were 29 Lasers and 27 Laser Radials. The Kitten Cup was on April 25 and 26. There were 7 races and one throwout race. Top eight Laser Sailors were: Dan Slater, MBSC (New Zealand), 14.00; Ricardo Montemayor, RVYC, 15.00; Luke Ramsay, RVYC, 19.00; Al Clark, RVYC, 21.00; Jason Rhodes, RVYC, 28.00; Tommy Wharton (ILCA NA Region member-at-large), TS$CC (Toronto), 31.00; Kevin Grierson, RVYC, 40.00; Michael Schalka, RVYC/SYC, 47.00. Top eight Radial sailorswere: Isabella Bertold, RVYC, 7.00; John Renehan, SYC, 11.00; Mike Cannon, RVicYC, 21.00; Eric Servais, RVYC, 33.00; Natalia Montemayor, RVYC, 34.00; Thomas Roehrl, RVYC, 37.00; Joanna Moore, RVYC, 54.00; Dominic Fritz, RVYC, 55.00. The following weekend, May 2 & 3, saw the Royal Victoria Yacht Club host their annual Spring Dinghy Championships. There were 22 boats in both the Laser Class and the Laser Radial Class. Sailors were a mixed bag of Juniors, Open and Masters in the Laser Class. Most of the Radial sailors were juniors or open. Top six Lasers were: Kevin Grierson, RVYC, 9.00; Andrew Wong, RVYC, 17.00; Tim Stamper, RVicYC, 28.00; Ben Scott, RVYC, 30.00; Geoff Abel, RVicYC, 31.00; Ricardo Montemayor, RVYC, 36.00. Top six Laser Radials were: Alexander Heinzemann, RVYC, 8.00; Isabella Bertold, RVYC, 12.00; Maura Dewey, RVicYC, 27.00; Natalia Montemayor, RVYC, 30.00; Reid Cannon, RVicYC, 35.00; Aiden Koster, RVicYC, 39.00. As a result of their performances in the Kitten Cup and the Spring Dinghy Championships, Kevin Grierson and Isabella Bertold were selected to be the British Columbia sailors for the 2009 Canada Summer Games. Congratulations to both. The Central Okanagan Sailing Association (COSA) held it’s Springtime Regatta (also part of the BC Sailing Circuit) on May 16 and 17, 2009. There were enough races to have one throwout race. There were 8 Lasers and 11 Laser Radials. The top three Lasers were: Geoff Abel, RVicYC, 3.00; Mike Fischer, RVicYC, 8.00; Scott Cameron, RVicYC, 9.00. The top four Laser Radials were: Graeme Clendenan, WVYC, 3.00; Elizabeth Hind, RVicYC, 6.00; Grant Hardesty, KYC, 7.00; Alexander Shepard, RVicYC, 9.00. On the same weekend, May 16 and 17, the Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle and the Seattle Yacht Club co-hosted the second Sailing World NOOD regatta. There was no racing on the Saturday for the Lasers and three races on the Sunday. There were 17 Lasers registered but only 11 who actually raced. There were no Laser Radials. The top four sailors were: Philip Round, RVicYC, 7.00; John Purdy, WSC, 7.00; Dave Watt, CYC, 9.00; Jay C Winberg, CYC, 14.00. The Cultus Lake Sailing Club held it’s second Sockeye Cup on May 23 & 24, 2009. In contrast to the light winds of the NOOD, the Sockeye Cup had winds both days of around 20 knots. There were five Lasers and two Laser Radials and all boats started together. There was 7 races and one throwout race. There was not much change in the position of the sailors in each of the races. The pecking order was usually Kyle Martin, Jacek Suski, Tony Martin and Jonn Scott. The other three sailors, Dariusz Rosnowski, Andy Hunt and Michael Rodde bought up the rear. The latter three sailors were often a leg behind the big four. Kyle dominated winning six of the seven races. Results: Kyle Martin, RVYC, 6.00; Jacek

Suski, JSCA, 11.00; Tony Martin, JSCA, 17,00; Jonn Scott, RVYC, 24.00; Dariusz Rosnowski, CLSC, 34.00; Andy Hunt, JSCA, 34.00; Michael Rodde, CLSC, 43,00. The last regatta for this report was the Jericho Classic. This regatta was hosted by the Jericho Sailing Centre on June 6 & 7. Again, it was a predominantly light wind regatta although the easterlies made it interesting. There were 16 Lasers and 4 Laser Radials. There were 3 races on each day which meant that there was one thowout race. Top five Lasers were: Al Clark, RVYC, 9.00; Kevin Grierson, RVYC, 11.00; Derek Stanger, JSCA, 23.00; Peter Wall, JSCA, 25.00; Tony Martin, JSCA, 26.00. The four Laser Radials were: Alexander Heinzemann, RVYC, 5.00; Eric Servais, RVYC, 9.00; Dierdre Webster, JSCA, 15.00; Heather Sloat, LSC, 17.00. Upcoming regattas include: WAVES (2009 Canadian Laser and Laser Radial Championships), District 6 Grand Prix and Pacific Coast Laser and Laser Radial Championships (The Gorge) and the BC Youth Championships and the BC Master Laser Championships. Go to the District 6 website (www.cycseattle.org/slf) for dates.

District 7 Sally Sharp

The summer racing season is well underway here in the northeast. Weekly series have started at various clubs, I get regular reports from Malletts Bay VT (Al Russell’s the scribe), and Paul Dunay reports on Greenwich (CT) Laser Racing (they’ve got a cool blog going at www.greenwichlaserracing.com, with results and lots of photos). And in RI there’s a new Tuesday night series in Bristol, plus Wednesday evening informal Laser and Optimist racing at Sandy Point Beach. Greg Wilkinson heads up a Tuesday night series at Eastern YC in Marblehead MA.

For sure we’re into regattas-every-weekend season. The last weekend in May saw the spring’s first doubleheader, beginning with the inaugural Sail Salem Spring Open Laser regatta on Saturday. Peter Follansbee topped the talented 18-boat fleet, winning 4 of the 7 races, followed by Ben Richardson and Peter Seidenberg (6 and 8 points back). The next day it was Peter S’s turn to dominate the 14boat fleet at the Mascoma Spring regatta; his 5 wins in 9 races gave him a 14-point lead over 2nd place finisher Duane Delfosse, with Nat Cook, David Klebanoff and Gary Orkney rounding out the top five. Conditions were mighty tricky, with a strong gusty westerly blasting over the hills and fanning out in many directions when it hit the lake – up to 90 degree shifts at times! Lots of capsizes but only one broken top section - unfortunately defending Mascoma regatta champ Al Baker had to retire for the day after only three races.

Gary Orkney sent the following report on the second of the three New Hampshire spring regattas. Seventeen sailors from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine competed in the NH Spring Seacoast Open Laser Regatta sailed June 13 on the Piscataqua River. Five races were sailed in bright sunshine, warm temperatures, flat water and a steady eight to ten knots of sea breeze from the east. It does not get much better. Peter Shope bested Peter Seidenberg in a close competition for first place. A third Peter, Follansbee, broke his tiller in the first race forcing him to retire

for the day. Boats were rigged and launched from Hilton Park, an excellent facility a short distance from the Great Bay Yacht club where the skippers meeting was held and an outdoor barbeque was enjoyed before the awards ceremony. Every competitor received an etched glass position prize, and Seimar Marine Products donated raffle prizes. It was commented by most that they would return next year due to the set up and launching facility, good sailing area and well organized event!

The following day was the start of the District 7 “Super Series”; here’s Peter Seidenberg’s report on the Sunapee Laser Open Regatta. With the NH Spring Seacoast Laser Regatta run on Saturday in Dover, NH, some sailors took advantage of this doubleheader and sailed in both regattas - the venues are only two hours apart. Unfortunately, the extremely wet weather Saturday night and Sunday morning must have caused some sailors to change their minds. Not to be deterred, 14 hardy sailors showed up from as far as RI, CT, MA and ME. It was a day of uncertainty. Racing started out in light rain and light winds from the north and ended in sunshine and light winds from the east. In between, the wind died several times and shifted even to the south. Yet, thanks to the race committee’s patience and determination, 7 races were run on windwardleeward once-around courses. The top 3 finishers were Peter Seidenberg, RI, Peter Shope, CT and John Vrolyk, Yale University.

Sunapee was the first of five regattas to be counted for the D7 Super Series, which is so generously supported by The Vanguard Sailing Center. Super Series event #2 will be the Stone Horse Laser regatta in Harwich Port MA (7/25). Then the next three are Malletts Bay VT (8/15-16), the RYC Fall Laser Invitational in Riverside CT (9/20) and Fat Boys in Bristol RI in October. You need to sail in three of the five regattas (and be a current Laser Class member!) to qualify to win a brand new SAIL and other great prizes - many thanks to Vanguard Sailing Center for sponsoring our two series this summer! Sailors can also compete for a new Radial sail by going to at least two of these radial events: Newport, Hyannis & BBR. All the details are posted on the D7 website, http://d7.laserforum.org. Have a great summer, good luck in all your regattas - particularly to the many New England Masters who are heading up to the Masters Worlds in St. Margaret’s Bay, Nova Scotia in late August. Make District 7 proud ;-)

2009 District 7 Schedule July 11-12 – 2009 Coastal Living Newport Regatta Newport RI, Sail Newport. Lasers, Radials, 4.7s. D7 Radial Championship Series #1 July 11-12 - Lipton Cup - Quincy MA, Squantum YC. Lasers, Radials. New England Women’s Radial Championships July 25 - Stone Horse Laser Regatta - Harwich Port MA, Stone Horse YC. Lasers, Radials. D7 Super Series #2 July 25 - Maine Laser Championship #1 – OCEAN – Penobscot Bay – Belfast, ME. July 25 (tentative) - Merrimack River Regatta American Yacht Club, Newburyport MA. July 31-Aug 2 - Hyannis Regatta - Hyannis MA, Hyannis YC. Lasers, Radials, 4.7s. D7 Radial Championship Series #2

Aug 1 (tentative) - Ipswich Bay Laser Championship - Gloucester, MA - Annisquam YC Aug 7-9 - Buzzards Bay Regatta - New Bedford Community Boating, MA. Lasers, Radials; DISTRICT 7 RADIAL GRAND PRIX, D7 Radial Championship Series #3 Aug 8-9 - YRALIS Championship Regatta Greenwich CT, Indian Harbor YC. Aug 15-16 - Vermont Open - Malletts Bay VT, MBBC. D7 Super Series #3 Sept 12 - Maine Laser Championship #2 – LAKE – Cobbosseecontee Lake, Manchester, ME. Sept 12-13 - Massapoag YC 60th Annual Multiclass Regatta - Sharon, MA. Sept 13 - Ponce de Leon Laser & Radial Series (#1 of 3) - Marblehead MA, Eastern Yacht Club Sept 19 - Lake Mascoma Fall Regatta - Enfield NH. Sept 20 - RYC Fall Laser Invitational - Riverside, CT. D7 Super Series #4 Sept 26-27 - New England Masters - Newport RI, Third Beach. Oct 3 - Sail Salem Founders’ Cup Regatta - Winter Island MA. Oct 4 - Maine Laser Championship #3 – RIVER – St. George River, Thomaston, ME. Oct 10 - Eastern YC Laser Fleet Fall Frostbite Series - Marblehead MA. Oct 10 - QYC Last Blast Laser Regatta - Wakefield MA. Oct 11 - NH Seacoast Open Laser Regatta - Dover NH. Oct 24 - Fat Boys Regatta – Bristol(?) RI. D7 Super Series #5 Nov 14 - Cedar Point YC Fall Regatta - Westport CT. Lasers, Radials.

District 8 Ted Cremer

Greetings from rainy Long Island , , , The usual SW seabreezes have disappeared and we seem to be residing in a constant state of “SoEasters” as of late. I have a lot of catching up to so here we go!

Here is the Seawanhaka Winter Frostbite Series Report from past chair Eric Johnson. Eric is a true gladiator and managed a great series for four great seasons . . . I can not thank him enough for his commitment to our winter fleet!

It has been a great four years serving as the Chair for Winter Sailing and working with all of you to create some of the best competition available. Your constant support has really helped make this an easy job. My thanks to all the Committee; Lindsay Hewitt, Wids DeLaCour, Woody Glenn, Karl Witton and especially our Secretary Marianne Nash. Looking forward to next season, Marianne Nash has agreed to accept the nomination to become the next chairman for our 55th season. The next season kicks off October 24th with the sign-up cocktail party and our practice day will be on October 25th. The Winter results were as follows: Laser Fall Series: 1) Mo Fraklos 2) Matt Doherty 3) Lindsay Hewitt

Laser Spring Series 1) Mo Fraklos 2) Al Constants

3) Robert Blanco

Laser Overall 1) Mo Fraklos 2) Al Constants 3) Robert Blanco 4) Eric Johnson 5) John McGrane

Top Radial 1) Kia Olsson

Heading into the spring programs, D-8 had some good competition in some interesting venues and varied conditions:

Amityville Dinghy Shop Series - 5-09-09 ( DRIFTER) Seven races were completed in shifty and variable winds. Young Ryan Schmitz took first for the day, despite being OCS twice and having to restart. As the breeze died, he just kept getting faster! Special thanks to Jim Koehler for is gracious hospitality and for having the whaler ready with marks for me today... We’ll look to come back again in the fall and do a series where we can leave the boats and get a good month of sailing in. First Annual Sebago Regatta May 16, 2009 (FOG) Blake Mariner total points-7 Ted Cremer total points-13 Phil Krug total points-22 Bob Blanco total points-24 Holly Sears total points-36 Tracy Kornrich total points-40

Here’s Blake Marriner’s report on the Sebago regatta I had the pleasure to meet “Team Sebago” (Holly, Tracy and Chris) last year at one of the Dinghy Shop regattas and listened to them describe their club and sailing area (Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn no less!). I’m here to tell you, do not miss sailing here if they host an event again! The location of the club and the racing area are very cool and the members of the club went out of their way to make us feel welcome. The fog made watching jet airliners a nonevent, but perhaps that helped me concentrate on the racing, and there was plenty of that thanks to Jim Luton and his RC team. (I will admit to watching the people riding horses on the beach though) Folks, we even had spectators out, cheering us on at the leeward mark, which gave the racing a bit of that NY Marathon feel to it. We got in 8 races in about 3 hours of sailing. The conditions were really fun, a mix of everything - flat water, waves, current changes and breeze from about 8-14 kts, and oh yeah, the occasional fog bank. As we de-rigged back on land, the aroma of burgers and dogs cooking on a charcoal grill wafted thru the air. A perfect ending to a great day, chowing down on some tasty grub before saying our good byes and hitting the road. I sure hope Sebago does this again next year, I can’t wait to go back. The Seawanhaka Spring Fling Regatta May 23rd (Survivor Seawanhaka - Nuked!!!) The weather services got it wrong. It was supposed to be 8-10 from the ESE veering to the south and dying through the day. It was blowing a pretty good clip from the east at the Club and a discussion was held at the Skippers Meeting as to where the fleet

SUMMER 2005

would like to sail and they chose to go out to Long Island Sound so they could sail in some waves. Instead of the forecast, it was ENE 16-20, the light spots were 12 and the max was 22 as measured by the Race Committee. Triangles were the order of the day. Before Race 1 got started we had the first two boats suffering from fits of sanity and heading back in. Race 1 had Collin Leon launch off the start and lead around the course for his first win of the day. In Race 2, again Collin took off, he did capsize once, but was back up in time to hold his lead to the win. Two other boats decided that living without back pain would be a good idea and headed in. For Race 3 we were down to the final four. Collin again sailed around unchallenged, but the other competitors were spending a lot of time swimming. Two more boats voted to go back to the Island. And then there were two left for Race 4. Rob came in on port for the start and got hammered over in a puff. In a show of Sportsmanship, Collin waited until he was up and started before heading out around the course. By our count, Rob got knocked over 3 more times and then graciously spared the Race Committee from waiting for him to sail the course and took the DNF. Collin sailing across the finish line alone, the sole survivor.

Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club, May 30 (Getting Nicer) 7 sailors were greeted by better weather than forecast -sunny skies with 8-10 knots of breeze, some higher planing gusts, and a flood tide current to add to the mix. More or less rhythmic shifts kept the strategy interesting. For the most part, it paid to go left upwind, except for the times it paid to go right! 9 races saw positions changing constantly, and allowed for a throwout. All finishes were downwind, so the leaders of each race were under constant attack. Close scores - 3 points separated 1st and 2nd, 1 point between 3rd and 4th, and 1 point between 4th and 5th. Collin’s Dad Dan Leon did a great job as solo race committee. 1 Lindsay Hewitt 13 pts 2 Collin Leon 16 pts 3 Bob Terry 31 pts 4 Bob Blanco32 pts 5 Don Woodworth 37 pts 6 Ed Berenblum 38 pts 7 Dan Wexler45 pts

Southampton Yacht Club, June 6 (Better Yet) 7 sailors again, and once again, better weather than forecast. The day started with about 6 knots of breeze, increasing to 8-10 knots by the end of racing. It’s usually reliable sailing weather at beautiful Shinnecock Bay. The “sea smoke” (classic south shore advection fog) began rolling in just after the last race. 6 races sailed allowed for a throwout (although, as usual, if you count all the races, it doesn’t make a difference in finishing order!) Afterwards, we were all treated to Dr. Jim Hull’s fabulous gourmet cookout. Steak, salmon, Caesar salad, all the fixin’s. Thanks Jim! Thanks also to RC Kent Rydberg for his “one man band” act - solo RC is never easy! Place Name 1 Lindsay Hewitt 2 Bob Blanco 3 Bob Terry 4 Eric Stukey 5 Geoff Loffredo

www.Laser.org

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by the Manhattan Sailing Club. (212) 531-7600 www.libertystatepark.org Link to NOR: http://laserd8.tripod.com/libertynor.pdf If you have any questions email Mark at surfing42@yahoo.com. Hudson River Quadricentennial Edition Chelsea Yacht Club “ESG Substitute” Regatta Friday, July 24th, Saturday, July 25th, and Sunday July 26th It may be game-over for the Empire State Games, but it’s game-on at the Chelsea Yacht Club! CYC was selected to host the sailing competition for the now officially abandoned 2009 Empire State Summer Games. The Games may be off, but with encouragement and much appreciated assistance from the regional coordinators, the sailing is on. CYC will host a substitute regatta as part of the Hudson Valley’s season-long celebration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s exploration of the Hudson River. The regatta will feature all-day racing on Friday, July 24th, Saturday, July 25th, and morning races on Sunday July 26th. We’ll have breakfast all three days, on-water lunches Friday and Saturday, and dinner Saturday evening. As in 2005, you can tent on our lawn, but I’ve included a list of nearby hotels on the Notice of Race. NOR: http://laserd8.tripod.com/laser09notice.pdf New this year for the Adult and Masters Laser sailors. The Leukemia Cup Regatta at Sayville YC Multiclass regatta SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2009 Post-Race Party: 4 p.m. SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2009 Fundraising regatta - 21 and older Please turn out for a great cause!!! Contact tcremer@optonline.net Hope to see you on the water!

Ward Brooks James Hull

Upcoming Dates 2009 East End Laser Series

Special “thanks” to the incomparable Lynn Sexton and Michael Duran for their incredible focus in creating the fourth annual East End Laser Series. The NOR can be found at www.laser.org or www.laserd8.org. The fourth annual East End Laser Series is proud to welcome two new hosts expanding the series now to seven regattas.

We expect more than 50 Laser sailors to compete in the 2009 EELS. REGATTA DATES, HOSTS AND SPONSORR Saturday, July 4, 2009 – NBIBCLRA, North Haven, NY Saturday, July 11, 2009 – Old Cove YC, New Suffolk, NY Saturday, July 18, 2009 – Southold YC, Southold, NY Saturday, July 25, 2009 – Shelter Island YC, Shelter Island, NY Saturday, August 1, 2009 – Breakwater YC, Sag Harbor, NY Saturday, August 8, 2009 – Devon YC, Amagansett, NY Saturday, August 15, 2009 – Southampton YC, Southampton, NY Other Brand New Regattas The Liberty Laser Regatta July 18 at Liberty State Park, NJ Liberty State Park Morris Pesin Drive Jersey City, NJ 07305 Laser racing under the statue of Liberty! Organized

1-866-665-SAIL CALGARY, AB 1520 Meridian Rd. N.E. Calgary, AB. T2A 2N9 Tel: (403) 266-3055 Fax: (403) 266-3057

OPEN 6 DAYS A WEEK

EDMONTON, AB 6126 Gateway Blvd Edmonton, AB. T6H 2H8 Tel: (780) 434-0101 Fax: (780) 434-0079

info@glenmoresailboats.com

VANCOUVER, BC 1625 Powell Street Vancouver, BC. V5L 1H5 Tel: (604) 251-3455 Fax: (604) 251-3480

www.glenmoresailboats.com

District 9 Chas Williamson

So far this season we have had four regattas, of the ultra-shifty variety, and also a rather lovely regatta at Newport YC (Rochester) with a beautiful moderate breeze - as mentioned last year, a Westerly in these parts leads to high shift conditions, auto-tacks, with a great need for British burgees at the top of the masts. For my own part, I did too much yard work in mid-April, messed up my back again, and have only sailed at Newport last weekend, so for once in the last 14 years, I am writing as a spectator or rather than a sailor. Our four main regattas have been Ithaca, Willowbank, Saratoga Lake yacht clubs, followed by Newport. I only have the results here for Ithaca and Saratoga, so will write again properly in the next Laser Sailor about the missing bits from these opening regattas. Well done Jamie Moran and Mark Sertl for a great showing at Newport yesterday ! More on that next time....

ITHACA YC - 23 May 2009 Look - it is Ithaca, Right ? So I repeat the report from Ithaca for the last two years: “....this time it was really light and very shifty, but it was pleasantly warm and sunny”. I helped organise the thing ashore and watched all the races from the shore, while Pedro Gould and Sarah ran the racing from our committee boat. It was exceedingly good to welcome Dougster Turnbull back in town from the West - Doug was a star performer in the reion back 10 years or so, and he basically sailed the light stuff with Dave Filiberto really well - Together they finished equal on 7 points. Under the circumstances, they finished First Equal, and this marks a phenomenal finish for Dave who has superspeed in the light stuff and is always dangerous. Mike Hecky drove a long way to compete (and we look forward to seeing him again next year with his family), and finished third overall, winning race one. AJ Murphy and Eric Magnusson rolled into town from Willowbank, and sailed fast at times, depending on the vagarioes of the wind. Thanks Sooooo much to Pedro and Sarah Gould who ran the races superbly, and I look forward to sailing in the next Wine Keg, next year. Well done to our first and second Masters, Joe Miller and Clare Fewtrell, and youths AJ and Luke Miller! Bremnt Gillete is flying the flag of Keuka YC and we hope that his fleet rejuvenates themselves in the absence of Debby Koop. Thanks for coming Brent ! The final places were: 1=. Dougster Turnbull; 1=. Dave Filiberto; 3. Mike Hecky; 4. Eric Magnusson; 5. Brent Gillette; 6. AJ Murphy; 7. Jamie Rogers; 8. Clare Fewtrell; 9. Joe Miller of the brothers. Peter and Sarah Gould and Chas Williamson running racing, but will compete next time! SARATOGA DERBY REGATTA - SLSC - 14 June 2009. Report comes in from Allan Miller, but this BIG news here is that Mike Kitner won for the first time in a while. He is one of the most awesome sailors, when everything comes together, and certainly one of the most popular sailors in the region! WELL DONE MIKE ! I wish I had been there to witness his superspeed, but I recall last year how amazingly fast he was upwind - unbelievably fast. Here is the Miller Report: 2009 Saratoga Derby Laser Regatta: A great weather forecast, with brilliant sunshine and

a great breeze was just what the 16 sailors wanted from the annual Saratoga Lake Sailing Club Laser Derby. For close to 30 years this regatta has been held on Saratoga Lake near Saratoga Springs NY and this year was one of the best. The sailing was close for all 5 races and it came down to the last race to determine the eventual winner. Mike Kitner of the Saratoga Club edged out Peter Bushnell of Cazenovia by one point. Followed by Ray Cudney of Caz and Scott Meyer of Saratoga coming in third and fourth. Rounding out the top 10 were Richie Wait Webster NY (first Master, James Nichol (SLSC), Allan Miller (SLSC), John Howe (first Jr.) and Brett Howe. For Mike winning this regatta was special because he has sailed in it for about 20 years and never won. Frustrated by his old boat he bought a new one from one of the participants at the regatta last year. We are all now wondering how many of the regattas he would have won if he had a better boat all these years. Congratulations Mike!!! Allan Miller

DISTRICT 9 REGATTAS 2009 (still to come) Please look on the fantastic ILCA web site for more details: Youngstown YC - Open Regatta Sat 4 July Paul Hays 716-745-1279 11-12 July DISTRICT 9 Grand Prix CHAMPS (Centrals Regatta) ITHACA YC 24-26 July NY STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS Chelsea YC, Hudson Valley 31-2 Aug Rochester - Junior Olympics Youth Jon Faudree 339-309-9213 Sat 15 Aug Seneca YC Jim Gindling 315-521-6693 23-27 Aug C.O.R.K. Kingston, Ontario Sat 12 Sept Willowbank YC “Deathroll” Peter Bushnell 315-655-4671 Sat 10 Oct Henderson Harbor YC Canaan Leonard <hhsa-sailing@hotmail.com>

District 10 Eric Reitinger

The spring laser Series for District 10 was in full swing with currently over 60 different boats in all three fleets competing in the set of regattas. Although the series is unofficial this year, it will reboot next year. Marsh Creek was the first regatta of the year on April 18th. 21 boats sailed on what I was told the conditions were beautiful. Top 3: John MacCausland (Cooper River YC) Mike Hecky (Riverton YC) Had Brick (Island Heights YC) Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club held their regatta on May 9th to a crowd of 19 boats, one of the better turnouts. The wind didn’t cooperate in the morning so the sailors sat around chatting or looking at different riggings seeing what everyone was using. After lunch the wind picked up to a 5-10mph breeze out of the southeast. Conditions were puffy, challenging the sailor who could stay consistent. Top 3: Graham Mergenthaler (Surf City YC) Eric Reitinger (Brant Beach YC) John MacCausland Top Master: John MacCausland Radial: Max Lopez (Raritan YC) Woman: Sara Mergenthaler (Surf City YC) Monmouth hosted their spring regatta on May 16th. 7 boats arrived to very light conditions.

Top 3: Jack Swikart (Shrewsbury Sailing and YC) Mike Russom (Greater Wildwood YC) Ian Sanderson (Monmouth Boat Club) Top Radial: Sarah Mergenthaler The 38th Annual Jack Elfman Orange Coffee Pot was held at Surf City on May 30th. A great turnout of 33 boats (three 4.7s, four radials and twenty six full rigs) competed. The breeze started out as a north westerly (with drifting conditions for the first race) shifting to a westerly and eventually trying to battle with the sea breeze out of the south west. The westerly won causing one race to be a series of reaches about half way through the course. The westerly prevailed for the last few races and the velocity increased as well (5-8mph) going up to a solid 1015mph. Over the 7 race series Theo Ingram, recently graduating from UVM, posted consistent results (and convinced himself he was over one of the races, putting him out of contention) to win the series. Top 3: Theo Ingram (Shrewsbury Sailing and YC) Mike Russom Eric Reitinger Top Radial: Dylan Finnerian Top Master: Had Brick Top Junior: Jack Swikart

Brant Beach’s Annual Regatta was held on June 13th. Turnout was better than last year with a fleet consisting of 10 full rigs and 5 radials. Racing was close over the 7 college style races we had. The weather was beautiful with the wind out of the NNE-NE at 8-12mph. Courses consisted of W/L once or twice around. Top 3: Mike Hecky Eric Reitinger Mike Reynolds Radial Top 3: Jack Swikart Austin Neuman (Riverton YC) Rachel Bennung (Corinthian Yacht Club of Cape May) District 10 was represented well at various regional championships. There were around 10 boats each at the 4.7/Radial ACCs, Full Rig ACCs and the Master’s Nationals. After Districts, The summer sailing season mostly turns to club racing and junior and national regattas. Brant Beach is hosting the Laser/Radial/4.7 Nationals August 7-9. Once September hits, the adult Laser regattas start up again. Check the calendar on the Class’s site for all the up to date regatta info. The Laser class has also helped me create a website. It is modeled after Jon Deutsch’s great District 11 site. It’s still in the works and should be up momentarily.

District 11 Jon Deutsch www.laserdistrict11.org

We started out with two big regattas in District 11 this spring. Severn Sailing Association hosted the Standard Atlantic Coast Championship in May and the Radial/4.7 Atlantic Coast Championship in June. Both regattas went very well and I want to thank all of the volunteers and sponsors who made it possible. Check out the complete write-up and pictures elsewhere in this edition of the Laser Sailor.

SUMMER 2005

Elsewhere in the district Potomac River Sailing Association, Severn Sailing Association, Rock Hall Yacht Club, Fishing Bay Yacht Club, and West River Sailing Club have all had spring regattas. Complete results are posted to our website.

Our Masters sailors have been very active this spring. More than a dozen D11 Masters headed to the North American Masters Championship at Carolina Yacht Club at Wrightsville Beach. Another group went to the North Carolina Masters in Oriental in June. These guys and gals are all looking forward to and training for the Master’s Worlds which will be held at the end of the summer in Halifax, Canada. Good luck everyone and put on a good showing at Worlds for D11!

On the Junior front Bo McClatchy (SSA) was selected to sail a full rig at the US Youth Champs. Kyle Swenson (FBYC) was selected for the Radial. There are 3 big Junior events in our district this summer. We’re looking forward to having a great showing a junior sailors from around the Chesapeake Bay and D11 at these events: -Chesapeake Bay Junior Olympic Championship —July 11-12 Baltimore County Sailing Center www.bcsailing.org -Maryland State Championship —July 14 Gibson Island Yacht Squadron www.gibsonislandys.org -Virginia State Championship —August 15-16 Fishing Bay Yacht Club www.fbyc.net

Our District 11 Series continues later this summer with 5 of the 6 events yet to be sailed. Sailors who attend 3 of the events qualify for the series. The remaining events are: July 25-26 Corsica River Annual August 8-9 Annual Oxford Regatta August 15-16 Deep Creek Laser Invitational September 12-13 D11 Championship – West River SC September 26-27 Crab Claw Regatta – SSA

And finally don’t forget about our District 11 Championship. It will be held September 12-13 at West River Sailing Club. The NOR will be posted to http://www.laserdistrict11.org/championship Have a Great Summer and see you on the water!

District 12 NC-SC-GA Glenn Walker and Doug Sherwood

Remaining Schedule: June 27th-28th Oriental Dinghy Club - NC Laser Masters Championship June 27th-28th Annual Low Country Regatta- at the Beaufort Yacht and Sailing Club July 25th-26 CYC-SC D12 CHAMP EVENT RADIAL GRAND PRIX -qualifying race for all fleets #4. Open regatta for other classes.

August 1st-2nd: CYC-NC-SAYRA OPEN-D12 CHAMP EVENT - qualifying race for all fleets # 5.

www.Laser.org

September 26th-27th Columbia Sailing Club-D12 CHAMP EVENT - qualifying race for all fleets # 6. Final event, party, and Annual Meeting (Sept. 26th).

Regatta Highlights Since the Spring Issue: Championship Event #1-Beaufort Yacht and Sailing Club, April 3-4 49 Lasers came out from their winter hiatus to prove who was going to be a contender for the coveted D12 perpetual trophy. John Potter, Martin Willard, and Charley Usher were the guys to beat. Each were very conscience of the tide and shifty breeze that eluded the RC in the early going. However the RC prevailed and rewarded the fleet of 35 Standard rigs, 12 Radial rigs, and 2 - 4.7 rigs with 7 races. The Saturday party and dinner was prepared and served with genuine southern hospitality. John Potter’s consistency paid off in the end with only a 4th as his throw out. Foster Marshall emulated John’s consistency to win the Radial fleet, and Avery Fanning pulled straight bullets to win the 4.7s. Championship Event #2-Lake Norman Yacht Club, April 18-19 21 Lasers made the drive to Charlotte despite the low wind forecast and were rewarded with 6 races. Apparently the weather man didn’t receive a copy of our NOR so the wind didn’t show up on time. However the race committee reworked the racing schedule around what they were given beautifully. While waiting on shore for the wind to arrive one of the most popular pastimes was rudder measurement. That’s right, be careful asking questions about boat measurements because you never know who might have a rudder angel gauge with them. Thanks to Lake Norman Yacht Club for hosting a great regatta and being back on our schedule this year. Congratulations to Eric Oetgen as he showed the fleet how to do it in the light stuff. You an view his regatta report on the D-12 website. Master’s North American Championship-Carolina Yacht Club, NC, May 15-17 95 Lasers showed up in force for this year’s event and were rewarded with big waves, good wind, extremely competitive sailing, open bar, multiple prizes, and great food. Several onshore storms lurked in the background, but in the ocean there was nothing but smooth sailing. The three day event was however cut short on Sunday due to impending weather. By the way, nothing makes a race committee look better than weather turning for the worse during the award ceremony! Good call. All in all 6 races were sailed. Thanks to the Carolina Yacht Club for all they do to support our class! Championship Event #3 - Oday Semifinal Event for Standard Rig-Savannah Sailing Center, May 30-31 Three fleets sailed in this event with each having their own start; 20 Full rigs, 8 Radial and 3 4.7’s. Although it seemed hot enough, the sea breeze stayed at bay and the primary wind was out of the Northwest. Race committee didn’t waste any time and got in 5 races on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. There’s no doubt that the 8’ tide and two rivers played into strategies on the course. Personally I found due to the light wind keeping the boat moving forward was most important. One of the most memorable downwind runs for me was when a dolphin surfaced a few yards off my stern and blew. Well if you’re looking forward and concentrating hard on how to catch the boats in front of you this can be quite startling! While I did catch one or two of the boats in front, I lost out to the dolphin. Boys here’s your warning, keep up with your practicing, because

there are three girls sailing 4.7’s that are going to be tough competition. Thanks again to the Savannah Sailing Center and the Usher’s for hosting their 11th consecutive D12 regatta! DS As always visit the D-12 website for all the latest musings on what’s happening around our district. www.d12laserforum.org

District 13 Meka Taulbee

Well Florida pretty much slows down in pace for the summer, but you definitely can’t stop us.One of the most active series we have going on is the Treasure Coast Series. This series is all about getting on the water and having a good time. The last report I got reads as follows: The weather was “simply mavelous” as Billy Crystal used to say. East winds 8-16 on Saturday and Southeast 7-18 on Sunday. Couldn’t ask for more perfect weather for Laser Sailing and the Lasers were the largest class in attendance in what normally is a Sunfish stronghold. The race committee did an excellent job and got off 7 races that lasted 45 - 60 minutes each. It was great practice for Wrightsville beach next month. David Hartman took the weekend with seven bullets, but was pressed hard at times. The real battle was for places 2,3 &4. Hasty Miller was second with 23 points on a tie breaker with John Fox and Shannon Fox was 4th with 27. The final race was the decider. Complete score will be posted at http://www.sail-race.com/

Mark October 17th & 18th on your Calendars and plan on coming to the MYC Fall Regatta. If we again have the largest fleet, our class winner will also take the Charlotte Tuttle Perpetual Trophy.

Don’t forget TC #2 in Palm Beach on May 9th and TC #3 in Melbourne on June 13th.

Yep that’s right they have another one in June!! I really encourage everyone to try to make it out to one of these events.

I think a lot of people forget that the PanHandle is part of D13. It is getting much more active and I encourage everyone to check out the events. This month are the Florida State Championships at Ft.Walton Yacht Club. Check out what they have going on. www.fwyc.org. They will soon be hosting the Gulf Coast Championships so start making your travel plans!! The results from the Florida states are: Full Rig: 1-Stu Grulke 2-David Hartman 3-Russell Brown 4-Eric Robbins 5-Harrison Prochask

Radial: 1-Brandon Addison 2-Ben Herman 3-Mallory Beuchler 4-Mason Ryan 5-Derek Riddle

The Pensacola Yacht club will be hosting the Junior

Olympic Festival July 3-5. They have Ben Barger as an expert guest so it should be a really great time! www.pensacolayachtclub.org

D13 has a handful of sailors graduating and getting married this year! Congratulations to all and may many new adventures await you!

District 14 Cal Herman

April 25th and 26th District 14 Championships sailed out of Gulfport Yacht club saw Larry Frost besting the Laser Fleet and Dodge Rees winning the Radial Fleet. Light air on Saturday saw Radial newcomers Ben Herman, Mason Ryan and Sam Hopkins pushing the fleet. Big breeze on Sunday kept the Radial fleet ashore for the day. 5 of the 7 boats in the Laser Fleet braved the winds, 2 boats retired after the 1st race and the 3rd boat retired after the start of the 2nd race.

Also, District 14 sailors traveled to Ft. Walton Yacht Club for the Florida State Laser Championships on June 6th and 7th. Beautiful weather and 10 races were sailed Top 5 Results: Radials 1st Brandon Addison 2nd Ben Herman 3rd Mallory Buechler 4th Mason Ryan 5th Derek Riddle

Full Rigs 1st Stu Grulke 2nd John Poulson 3rd Russell Brown 4th Harrison Prochaska 5th Phil Pritchett

August 15 & 16 will be the Gulf Yachting Association (GYA) Laser Champs at Gulfport Yacht Club 2009 Gulf Coast Champs are coming in August at the newly built Southern Yacht Club. I would like to encourage all Laser Sailors to join us for a great time in New Orleans August 29th and 30th.

District 18 John Shockey

The highlight of the spring in District 18 came from the host club of our grand prix, Cowan Lake Sailing Association. I had always heard about the great environment of Cowan Lake, when they offered to host the D18 grand prix I couldn’t turn down the chance to test the venue out.. Cowan Lake Sailing Association did not disappoint. A total of 6 races were run in 5-15 knots of inland breeze allowing for one throw out. After the racing it was Gordon Lamphere of Chicago placing first, edging out Kevin Shockey and I who finished second and third. My favorite part of the event (besides the racing) was Saturday night when the host club took us out to the local country style café for a paid for dinner…perfect. District 18 will have a couple more regattas this fall with more information available on the District

18 website. I continue to urge everyone to travel to as many outside regattas as possible! I’ve had a couple of great experiences recently traveling to Atlantic Coast Championship and the Laser Great Lake Championship; it never hurts to go beyond your district. Good luck with all your racing and I hope to see many faces at North Americans and Nationals this coming summer! Sail fast.

District 19 Ken Swetka

Regatta’s and events are in full swing in Michigan. By the time you read this more will be in the books. Grand Traverse Yacht Club held their Spring Regatta on May 23rd where Tom Babel edged out a fleet of 14 boats. After 6 races it was only a two point margin over Pete Comfort who tied in points with Mark Lyon. Close racing! Full results can be found at www.d19laser.org. I just got back from the Great Lakes at Macatawa Bay Yacht Club. As usual this club and regatta organizer JP did a great job with the food and everything else it takes. The wind was pretty challenging for the race committee but they managed to get 2 races in on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. Sunday we had to be towed out to Lake Michigan and the towed back into Lake Macatawa since there was no wind out on the Big Lake. It made for some tight racing on the shorter courses. There were 33 full rigs and 14 radials! The Full rig champion was Kevin Shockey and the Radial champ was Sam Padnos. It was great to see the wide range of ages sailing the event. JP organized a lot of great raffle tickets and goodies to go with the trophy winners. Yours truly got a Laser Performance hat and Zhik hot top! Cool! Uhmm…I mean Warm (it will come in handy in Nova Scotia!). Full results are at http://web.me.com/jpdelsolarg/Laser/Result_GL.htm l or you can get to the link from the D19 or Laser.org sites. Here’s a brief list of events in D19. More info can be found at www.d19laser.org. July 9-12 Rick White Seminar at Leland Yacht Club July 30-August 2 USSailing Single Handed Championships (O’Day’s) - Hosted by Detroit Yacht Club and Crescent Sail Yacht Club August 1-2 Leland Laser Regatta - Leland Yacht Club August 8-9 D19 Grand Prix - Grand Traverse Yacht Club August 22 Annual Lake Lansing Regatta September 26 No Sweat - Portage Yacht Club October 4 Fall Regatta - Michigan Sailing Club If anyone is interested I have been maintaining a blog of Laser regattas on www.d19laser.org. Entries so far are for the Master and Open Midwinter’s, Master’s NA’s, and Great Lakes.

District 20 Steve Dolan

It’s mid June and we are a third of the way through the summer season. If your boat is still in storage, upside down on your trailer or hanging from your garage ceiling, you are missing out on the fun. Winter is coming, Art Mitchel is already training for next years Birkebeiner, come out and sail. So here is the season recap to date: Both the

Chicago and Milwaukee Fleets completed their frostbite season in late April and early May respectively. In Milwaukee, Dave Abbott, Eric Roman, Mike Blumberg, Terry McMahon and Mark Kastel duked it out on some cold windy Sundays where everyone was a winner in this don’t keep score, keep the shiny side down frost bite series.

As in years past, the first regatta in the 2009 D20 season was the Nagawicka Ice Breaker held over the weekend of April 25-26 on Dave Abbott’s home lake in Delafield, Wisconsin. It was a cold rainy weekend with light air punctuated by thunder squalls. Fourteen boats attended with 2 women, 4 juniors, some regulars, a smattering of masters and one grand master. Three D19 aces; Kurt Holtze, Michael Schmid and John Weiss made the trek down from Minneapolis to compete. Saturday was mostly about light air and rain. After getting soaked rigging in the rain, I ducked out a headed home when Dave wasn’t looking. I tried to do the same on Sunday but he caught me so off I went to sail in more light stuff but less rain. Don’t remember much of the details except that Juniors Nicolas Clemence and Chris Banholzer kept whizzing by me. After 4 races on Saturday and another 4 on Sunday, Kurt Holtze took top honors with 16 points followed by Chris Banholzer in second with 19 points and Nicholas Clemence in third with 20. Dave Poquette (apprentice) was top Masters and fourth overall and Whitney Kent was top female in 11th place. Regatta prizes were bottles of wine to those of legal age and hats to those that weren’t. As usual, Dave and his great team of volunteers at Nagawicka Yacht Club put on fantastic event despite the weather. Look for more fun at this venue this fall at the Nagawicka Oktoberfest, October 10-11th.

Next up was the 2009 Vlad Kobal Memorial Regatta sailed out of Belmont Harbor, Chicago Yacht Club over the weekend of May 2-3. Twelve boats attended with Matt Woodworth winning the 12 race contest with 23 points followed in second place by Roman Plutenko with 29 and Vincent Porter in third with 30. I couldn’t make this one as I had a work conflict but sailing on Lake Michigan is not to be missed. Mark your calendars for a Fall reprise, the Jimmy Talbot, at same venue same with the same tough competitors on October 3-4 The following weekend was the 2009 Mothers Day. A one day event held on the Saturday before Mothers Day and historically sailed on Lake Geneva was moved this year to Pewaukee Lake in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. When regatta founders, the Pegel Family and Lake Geneva Yacht Club asked to take a break from organizing and hosting the event for the past 2 decades, our tireless former D20 Secretary Dave Abbott stepped in to move it to Pewaukee. Fourteen boats sailed this one in another cold, overcast but this time windy event. Local E Scow multi year champion and former collegiate star, Kevin Jewett, borrowed a boat and won the 6 race event with 7 points followed by Carlos Abisanbra who made the trek up from Chicago in second place with 8 points. Dave Poquette was third with 17 points. Robbie Johnson sailing a radial rig took top junior and was 8th overall making some of us full rigs look silly as he whizzed by us both upwind and downwind with his smaller sail (arrgh!). Newcomer Buck Mercer, a Floridian transplant now residing in Racine, WI took 5th overall.

SUMMER 2005

After taking a spill in race two, Buck commented he was noticeably faster now that all his south Florida beach sand had washed off his boat.

The 2009 Memorial Day Regatta sailed out of Milwaukee Yacht Club was a bust this year with no wind and was not sailed. Too bad as there was a great turnout with many heavy hitters coming up from Chicago, to do battle.

Weeknight beer can racing continues to roll along in Chicago, La Crosse, Madison and Milwaukee the latter of which is up to 17 boats on the line. Come out and join them. Our only Grand Prix event in D20 for 2009 season will be the District Championship hosted by Dierk Polzin and the Warner Bay Laser Fleet in Madison, WI over the weekend of July 18, 19. Grand Prix points will be awarded so make sure you class membership is up to date and your boat measures in.

As always, look for complete results, regatta schedule and NORs, more detailed regattas reports as well as the D20 used boat clearing house on our district webpage: http://d20.laserforum.org Stay in touch, join the D20 listserve on topica.com. See you out on the water.

Mike Elson District 21

The Laser District 21 Championship regatta finished yesterday, just in time for this quarterly report. The regatta was well chaired by John Reed and race central was in his parents’ back yard on Bald Eagle Lake. Once again, I have to describe the Reed lakeside yard as the most laser friendly venue in the Twin Cities area. The yard easily held 25 of the 27 participating lasers. With everyone assisting, the launching and landings went quickly. Their deck offered a great view of the lake during the Saturday post-race party. Brad Nelson, the local Laser dealer, sponsored the party and the brats were grilled by Brad himself. Saturday’s winds were variable, in both direction and strength. The winds did improve as the afternoon progressed but one could gain or loose 10 boats on a shift. Light winds or strong, the usual sailors seem to come out on top. Kurt Holtze topped the regatta with 3 firsts and 2 thirds after a throwout. He would have won without throw-outs too. Consistency wins again. Mike Schmid was second overall and Bruce Martinson was third. The complete results are posted on D21.laserforun.org. On Saturday, the PRO, manning the race committee boat alone, was without and individual recall flag and that brings up a question of sportsmanship. If a sailor is obviously above the line at the gun and one horn is blown, is hailed as OCS, told by nearby sailors that he is OCS, is it then appropriate to protest the race committee and seek redress? Sportsmanship? I think not. That was the only unpleasant moment of the regatta. Our weekly Laser racing schedule for June, July and August is Tuesday evenings at Wayzata, Wednesday evenings at Calhoun, Thursday evenings at White Bear Lake and Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings back at Calhoun. That’s 5 days if laser racing a week in the Twin Cities area! D21 and Bill Reed (John’s father) are planning for the D21 Grand Prix event to be in Duluth. Stay tuned!

www.Laser.org

District 22 Mike Gilbert

Sailing activity is just starting up on Flathead Lake in NW Montana. The lake is up to full pool by midJune with turquoise-colored spring runoff from Glacier National Park. Full of minerals from deep in the ice fields, spring is a special time on Flathead. Chilly now, but heating slowly in the sun until late August when the surface temp can be in the 70’s.

JUST in time for the District 22 Championships! Scheduling is underway and the event will likely be the weekend of August 15-16 or 29-30. Great place for a side trip after racing. We hope to continue our tradition of attracting sailors from several NW states and Canada. A summer Saturday series has begun with the South Flathead Sailing Association on Dayton Bay. The SFSA has generously offered us separate starts and course from the keel boats for a very minimal fee. Our Laser people are scattered over a huge area, so the challenge will be to encourage them to travel to Flathead as well as generate local interest.

Planning is underway for the First Annual Whitefish Laser Regatta in late August on Whitefish Lake, at the foot of Big Mountain Ski Resort. It will be a fun, informal buoy racing with a party afterward at the city beech. We are looking at August 22. Hosted and organized by Peter & Cheri Aronsson.

The Second Lake McDonald Survival Sail will also be in August inside Glacier National Park. Plan on CHILLY water, unpredictable mountain winds, and UNbelievable views in all directions.

Cascade Locks Masters events, the Park City NoCoast Masters, and events in D5 / Alberta are calling some of us and we are hoping to take part in at least one.

District 23 Fletcher Avery

We are looking for a great summer of Laser sailing in D23 and the Rocky Mountains. Every Thursday night the competitive Denver Laser fleet races on Cherry Creek Lake in Denver. Our fleet has been growing rapidly as some great transplant sailors have moved to town, purchased new boats, and added to the fleet base. The Mountain regatta circuit winds up in July and August, with some of the country’s most beautiful Laser sailing. We are hopeful to bring the competitive No Coasts regatta back to the Dillon Open in 2010, and look forward to hosting an incredible event for neighboring districts than can make the trip. Any Laser sailors in the surrounding states can testify to the incredible events at Lake Dillon and Grand Lake especially. Here is the Regatta line-up for the summer:

Hornblower Regatta – May 16-17 – Cherry Creek Lake, Denver Mountain Regatta – July 18-19 - Lake Rudi, Aspen, CO Dillon Open – August 1-2 – Lake Dillon, CO Colorado Laser Champs – August 22-23 – Grand Lake, CO District 23 / No Coasts – September 26-27 – Lake Jordanelle, UT

We are continually updating our Laser website at: www.usdiscovery.com/laser

Come to the beautiful Rocky Mountain region for an unforgettable Laser experience this summer!

District 24 David LaPier

Laser sailing is off to a good start in northern California this year. Two new events were added to the calendar and new sailors are joining the fleet. Here is a summary of race results for this spring.

St Francis YC Spring Dinghy It was sunny, windy and very shifty this March on the City Front; but even so, Tracy Usher dominated the action with 5 first place finishes. On Saturday, Peter Vessella and David LaPier finished overlapped in several races. On Sunday, Mike Bishop came on strong as did Simon Bell to knock Dave off the podium. The Radials were mixed up too. Consistent finishes put Chris Boome at the top. Mark Halman charged back Sunday while Walt Spevak struggled after winning every race Saturday. Richard Leland’s efforts are starting to show; he was up front with a 2nd place finish Sunday. Full Rig: 1)Tracy Usher, 2) Peter Vessella, 3) Mike Bishop (10 boats) Radials: 1) Chris Boome, 2) Walt Spevak, 3) Mark Halman (10 boats) Richmond YC Big Dinghy The Big Dinghy is a fun event with a variety of classes participating on two race courses. This year, the Lasers were assigned to the inside course with the smaller boats. Usually we are out in the open waters of the bay where there is plenty of breeze. As a result, our starting time was delayed, but we still had a great time eventually racing several short races in moderate breeze and steep chop. The Sunday tradition at the Big Dinghy is a long distance Portsmouth Handicap Race. Round-the world racer Simon Bell was the first Laser on the long course and Mark Howe the first Laser on the short course. Results: 1) Chris Boome, 2) David LaPier, 3) James Vernon, 4) Tom Burden, 5) Simon Bell. (13 Boats)

Santa Cruz YC Nor Cal Championship Tracy Usher reports on the Santa Cruz classic; “Saturday was fairly normal with a westerly breeze building from the 8-10 knot range to push 20 knots by the end of racing, along with the world famous ocean waves which are just perfect for surfing Lasers. Eleven sailors, 9 Standard rig, 2 Radial, made the trip down to race on one of the best sailing venues in the world. As usual, racing was held in the general proximity of the famed “buoy of death”, with the standard windward-leeward twice around with the start-finish line acting as a “gate” on the second lap. Taking into account the somewhat sketchy forecast for Sunday, PRO Dave Wahle decided to run 4 races on Saturday, which, given the good sailing conditions of Saturday, was a good decision. Sunday was brilliant sunshine and windless until finally, round 1 pm, a light westerly filled in. Dave tried to start racing a bit earlier but had to abandon when a huge shift, signalling the impending seabreeze, scrambled the fleet. Once sorted out we had two good races in 5-8 building to maybe 10 by the end of the last race.

Peter Phelan, showing no signs of rust from 1) becoming a father, 2) breaking most of the bones in his body once or twice within the last few years due to a) mountain biking down cliffs, b) road biking on freeways, c) sailing on leadmines and running into something called a “winch” (??), d) generally not realizing he is now a master sailor. Tracy and Peter Vessella attempted to keep him honest but to no avail.” Results: 1) Peter Phelan, 2) Tracy Usher, 3) Peter Vessella (11 Boats). St Francis YC Elvstrom Regatta The district grand-prix regatta was sailed in lighter than usual winds that were more southerly than is typical at the golden gate. Steven Bourdow, Claire Dennis, Bill Symes, and Jim Christopher were on hand to make the competition much tougher. Full Rigs: 1) Steve Bourdow, 2) Peter Phelan, 3) Tracy Usher (16 Boats) Radials: 1) Claire Dennis, 2) Jim Christopher, 3) Kaitlyn Baab (12 Boats)

Richmond YC Dinghy Invitational Top RYC youth sailor Drake Jensen led the way in this new event on the spring calendar. Nick Burke won the last race to move up the standings in very close racing. Results: 1) Drake Jensen, 2) Mike Bishop, 3) Nick Burke (12 Boats)

Monterey Peninsula YC Fleet Championship It was a great day of sailing under beautiful skies on the clean Pacific waters of Monterey Bay. Racing was very close, especially in the last few races as

Jacques Kerrest started coming on strong. Ashley Hobson was tough on the starting line and won the Radials. Results: 1) David LaPier, 2) Mike Bishop, 3) Mark Halman (9 Boats)

Whiskeytown Regatta The famous Whiskeytown Regatta kicks off the season’s lake events. This year it was real battle as the local veterans Mike Eichwald, Bruce Braly and Jim Christopher won every race. Results: 1) Jim Christopher, 2) Bruce Braly, 3) Drake Jensen (8 Boats)

Scotts Flats Lake YC Go “For the Gold” The 28th annual “go for the gold” is a fun event for a range of one design classes. Camping is nice, and sailing is challenging on this mid-sized lake. Winners get gold nuggets in celebration of the area’s heritage. Results: 1) Drake Jensen, 2) Murray McLeod, 3) Tony Dahlman (4 Boats)

Bay View Boat Club Laser Invitational After two regattas at District 24’s most serene locations, it was back to what might be our most urban setting, the Bay View Boat Club, for their inaugural Laser Invitational. Racing is just south of the Bay Bridge and PacBell Park; you can hear the national anthem being sung at game time from the race course. The Bay View Boat Club’s bright yellow paint and glorious flower garden in an urban setting are just one of the many small things that makes San Francisco unique. After the races, Chris Boome, on behalf of the Laser fleet, gave PRO John Super a “Laser basket” of wine, cheese, and goodies to

thank him for his support of the fleet. In the early days of Laser sailing in the bay area with Don Trask, Laser baskets were the traditional prizes to build camaraderie and just make the regatta that much more fun. Results: 1) Peter Vessella, 2) Chris Boome, 3) Tracy Usher (7 Boats).

District 25 Nils Andersson

The summer is here with grey skies, it’s normal here in So Cal in June. Alamitos Bay YC hosted the Olympic classes Regatta on March 21-22. See separate report by Steve Smith. California Yacht Club hosted this year’s Midwinter West on March 27-29 and did a good job at it. It wasn’t easy with light wind and big shifts. See www.calyachtclub.com for day to day reports and results. Laser full rig was won by Chris Barnard and the Radial’s was won by Oliver Toole.

Mission Bay Yacht Club hosted the ninth annual California Laser Masters on April 25-26. Twentyeight masters, between the ages of thirty-five and eighty-one, entered the regatta. Some traveled from as far away as Florida and Seattle. At the skippers meeting there was a silent moment for Scott McKay who passed away last January. Scott was PRO for this regatta since its start 2001. It was Scott’s favorite event as a race officer. He called it “Nils’s Fun Regatta”. He was also the PRO for a number of Laser Midwinter West and Masters North American championships held at the club. He

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will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him! Staff Commodore, Roger Patterson was introduced as the PRO for the event.. The racing began with perfect conditions - 12-15 m/h wind and big waves - for a lot of fun surfing. The wind dropped a little for the second race then picked up again for the third race. At the end of the day Doug Hart had places 1, 2 and 3 and was leading Dave Leuck, with the same total points. The day ended with a keg of brew in the bar and a dinner in the dining room, all included in the $20 entry fee. One could see who the Laser sailors were in the Clubhouse; they had grins from ear to ear on their faces. A day of great sailing and great food! In the first race on Sunday we started out with less wind than the day before, but it picked up for the second race. The waves and surge the day before had done a number on the kelp beds so there was plenty of it floating around on the race course.

MBYC’s Doug Hart was unstoppable; he finished the regatta with a second and a fourth (which became the throw out). For final result see www.mbyc.org . Doug Hart has won this event five times before and will now have his name engraved in the perpetual trophy “The Old Silva” for the sixth time. Every participant received rewards; a bottle of Wine labeled “Commodore’s Reserve” and a Baseball hat embroidered with the Laser ensign. The Laser fleet owes a big thank you to Roger Patterson and his crew for a great job. A special thank you also goes to Ken Wild for his generous support in not only helping organize the event but also in getting the wine, giveaways and trophies.

www.Laser.org

Photos: right: Ville Roberts of Ft. Lauderdale.

Above: Kenyon Martin. Photos by Steve Ross.

Sailing Fit

MEKA TAULBEE ACE CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER SAILFIT INC

Cardio for Sailing

Cardio fitness for sailing seems to be a wide open topic and there are so many views and ways to go about it. In this article I present an easy to follow approach to improve your cardiorespiratory fitness for sailing. There are numerous trainers out there who can tell you to do X, Y and Z and the sad part is that they are telling every client to do the same X, Y and Z no matter what the sport. Even though sailors have long known that sailing is a very athletic sport, it is taking the rest of the training community a while to catch on. The same with any sport you want someone who understands your sport. You wouldn’t want a hockey coach out on the water with you would you? From my experience training sailors, the energy demand to make the boat go at the top speed is higher than most sailors and trainers think it is. Take for example when you are hiking upwind you need to hike full out, keep the bow down, be kinetic and still have the presence of mind to tactically stay in the game. That is a huge load for the body to handle. First we need to understand really what we are asking the body to do to be able to handle this load. That way we can make sure the exercises we are doing are working with our bodies and working towards our goal. You have no idea how often I see people who feel that they are “working out really hard”, but not seeing results. They are getting results, but just not the ones they were looking for. You and your body have to work together. What you are in essence trying to do is increase your cardiorespiratory endurance level. You goal is to increase the capacity of the lungs to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the blood. This in turn increases the circulatory systems abilities to transport the blood to metabolically active tissues for prolonged periods of time. If done efficiently then you don’t feel any undue fatigue. This last part is extremely important in sailing. Once fatigue sets in it is difficult to hike out completely, keep the bow down and be tactically sharp. Each aspect depends upon the other to function optimally. If you do not feel the fatigue just think how much more easily the other pieces will fall into place. So where do you begin and how can you increase your cardiorespiratory endurance level? First you should try to establish a solid base of cardio. Depending on your workout style this would be one hour of cardio at a moderate level. You can test by heart rate, the talk test, and just being in tune with your body. Using a heart rate

monitor can be a very good way to gage and measure your workouts. If you use a monitor I would suggest shooting for an hour at 60-70% of your max heart rate. If you use the talk test you should be able to complete a sentence, but not carry on a conversation. If you can listen to your body I think it will be the most useful tool to use while you are sailing. If you are 30 minutes into your workout and you feel like you are going to puke you need to slow down. If you haven’t broken a sweat you need to pick up the pace. You’ll start to get a better feel for where your body is at and how much longer you can go before fatigue sets in. Once you get a solid base level you can start working at increasing that base level. Interval training is a great way to do this especially for sailors. Training in intervals is similar to what your body will experience during any given race. You can do this with any type of cardio you prefer to do. This workout could be considered a staircase workout as well, but I feel these are the types of intervals that would really help in this particular case. If you use a machine like a treadmill, elliptical, spinner or rower you can do intervals in a few different ways. You can start at your base level for 5 minutes and then go up to another level for 3 minutes and then back down to your base for 5. So say your base level is a 7 you would raise it up to an 8 or 8.5 for three minutes and then back down to 7. Another option is to keep raising your level through your workout. If you start at a 7 for five minutes then every two minutes after your first five raise it up a small increment. So here you would be at 7 and after 5 minutes you would raise it up to 7.2, after seven minutes you would raise it up to 7.4, after 9 minutes it would be 7.6. Keep doing this all the way through your workout. When you raise the speed it isn’t by a huge amount and you gradually work into a much faster pace. If you like to train using a heart rate monitor you can do the same thing. You can also use the heart rate monitor on the machines as well as to go running, biking or swimming. In this case you would start for 5 minutes at 65% of your max heart rate. Then you can go up to 85% for three minutes and then back down to 65%. Again another option is to start at 65% of your max hear rate and then five minutes later go up to 70% for five minutes, then 75% for five minutes, then 80% and all the way up to 95%. If at some point you raise the interval and you really feel winded or sick then go back down to the previous one and just stay there, if that is starting to feel the same way then lower back down another interval. In both of these types of workouts you raise your heart rate and once you reach your desired max your can start to come back down in the same manner until you get back to your base. This is also similar of a pyramid workout, but again I feel it is appropriate for sailing. Another way to interval train is by using plyometrics. Plyometrics are movements in which a muscle is loaded and then contracted in

rapid sequence teaching the muscles to produce maximum force faster. An example exercise would be a tuck jump. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and jump up as high as you can bringing your knees up to your chest. Try to land softly and immediately repeat. Picture yourself on a trampoline and you are springing back up into the air. Do as many as you can in a row. These explosive movements get your heart rate up and can be extremely effective. You can incorporate these into any part of your workout by either doing a few different sets of plyometric exercises or adding them into your workout intermittently. You could be strength training and stop and do a set of a plyometric exercise then go back to your sets and reps in your strength program. You can do your cardio at your base level and then stop and do a set of these exercises then resume your cardio workout. When I say stop I don’t mean stop, rest and leisurely resume. I mean no rest in between each movement. The last example I am going to give is doing interval training while you are sailing. No not while you are racing, but while you are training. How you go about this depends on the type of breeze you have. If you have breeze then set your watch for a 20 minute countdown. Go upwind for one minute at a max hike. Full out as hard as you can go. Then rest a minute and then back on full out hiking for one minute. This will give you 10 intervals and will provide an excellent way to increase your cardio endurance as long as when you are on you are really giving it your all out. If you go on a day that is light air your can do a set of repetitive tacking and jibing. If you practice you will get a rhythm and propel the boat forward through kinetics. Once you get the hang of it try to get at least 8 tacks or jibes in a row and keep it going as long as you can. There are many different ways to increase your cardiorespiratory endurance level. First you want to a quality trainer who understands the sport of sailing and can help you implement a program that can help you reach your desired goal. Secondly you need to be realistic about where you are at physically and not try to overdo it. That will only lead to injury and frustration. As you start working you will see that your base level is getting higher and higher and each level get a little easier. Don’t be afraid to push yourself. Keep trying new levels and changing up your workouts. SAILFIT has a variety of programs to fit everyone’s needs. Each program is created specifically to the individual. Contact Meka at meka@sailfit.com or go directly to our website for more information. www.sailfit.com

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