SUMMER 2011 6 continents, 122 countries - the biggest adult and youth racing class in the world
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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
S U M M E R
2 0 11
District Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
President’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Recovery - Your Nutritional Order of Operations . . . . .10
The US Olympic Trials - Part One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 2011 Event Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Tips and Technique - The Laser Traveler . . . . . . . . . . .18
Secrets to Downwind Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Laser World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .center Regatta Reports
Atlantic Coast Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 District 8 Champs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
District Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Membership Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Clay Johnson Treasurer 26 River Bend Dr. Toms River, NJ 08753 Phone: 732-330-7281 clayton.e.johnson@gmail.com
Lauralee Symes Secretary 6901 SE Oaks Park Way, Slip 27 Portland, OR 97202 Phone: (503) 274-2818 llsymes@comcast.net
Evan Lewis At Large 4 Nursewood Road Toronto, ON M4E 3R8 Canada Phone: 416-804-6048 Lewis_racing@hotmail.com
Sherri Campbell Executive Secretary 2812 Canon Street San Diego, CA 92106 Phone: (619) 222-0252 Fax: (619) 222-0528 admin@Laser.org
www.Laser.org
SUMMER 2011 6 continents, 122 countries - the biggest adult and youth racing class in the world
Cover: District 4 sailor Ellyn Waschuk from Winnipeg Sailing Centre. Photo: Dean Waschuk.
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5
6 22 24 26
Hawaii
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District 1
Danielle Dube, 8 Sunnydale Dr, Glen Haven, NS B3Z 2T8 902-823-2802, danielle_dube947@hotmail.com
4 21
23
20 16
15
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District 2 District 3
Jon Deutsch 3422 Blithewood Dr., Richmond, VA 23225 804-305-1244, jon@laserdistrict11.org http://www.laserdistrict11.org
District 4
Christian Koppernaes weebee@hargray.com Wrightsville Beach, NC www.d12.laserforum.org
District 5
Antolin Rivera, PO Box 26674 Tampa, FL 33623 813-837-3013, shipajoy@yahoo.com www.laser.org/m/_general/d13.asp
Philippe Dormoy, 385 Place Desmarest, Ile Bizard, Quebec, H9C 2G8 514-620-8124 Philippe_dormoy@steris.com Robert Koci, 804 Sammon Ave. Toronto, ON M4C 2E8 416-442-5600 x 3203 rkoci@canadiancontractor.ca D3 website: www.d3laser.com Brigitte Smutny, Sail Manitoba; 409-145 Pacific Ave. Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2Z6 204-925-5647 sailing@sportmanitoba.ca www.sailmanitoba.com Mark Lammens 510 Cynthia St. Saskatoon, SK S7K 7K7 306-975-0833. sasksail@shaw.ca www.sasksail.com
District 6
Andy Hunt, 111-2260 W 8th Ave, Vancouver BC, V6K 2A7 604-733-9663. Hotline: 206-525-5788. athunt@vcn.bc.ca www.cycseattle.org/slf
District 7
Kim Ferguson, 12 Florida Ave. Jamestown, RI 02835 Laserd7@gmail.com
District 8
Ted Cremer, 7 Maple Street Blue Point, NY 11715. 631-363-8830, tcremer@optonline.net www.laserd8.tripod.com
District 9
Chas Williamson, 9 Lagrand Court Ithaca, NY 14850 607-272-0630. cw26@cornell.edu
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District 12 District 13 District 14
Cal Herman, 7038 Catina St New Orleans, LA 70124, 504-282-1770 callender.herman@wachoviasec.com 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
District 18
19
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10
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8
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17
District 11
District 15
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District 10
Eric Reitinger 7908 Normandy Dr. Mt Laurel, NJ 08054 er4599@gmail.com http://d10.laserforum.org
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13 District 19
Ken Swetka 27022 Koerber St., St. Claire Shores, MI 48081 248-635-5363 www.d29laser.org
District 20
Steve Dolan 21140 Chancery Ct. Brookfield, WI 53045 262-506-8879. dolan@mcw.edu http://d20.laserforum.org/
District 21
Kurt Holtze, 710 Summer St. NE Minneapolis, MN 55413 621-281-1447 kurt@kurtphoto.com d21@laserforum.org
District 22
Mike Gilbert, 1620 Gerald Ave. Missoula, MT 59801 406-327-7855, mike@gilbertarch.com
District 23
Nick Ondrejka PO Box 981897, Park City, UT 84098 nick@ondrejka.com, 415-748-6893 www.usdiscovery.com/laser
District 24
David Lapier 408-525-6396, dlapier@cisco.com www.technicalwizardry.com/d24laser/d24
District 25
Jorge Suarez, 7 Covina Ave, Long Beach, CA 90803 562-260-8116. jorgesuarez0@yahoo.com 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
John Shockey 614-256-2254 johnrshockey@gmail.com
SUMMER 2011
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7
President’s Notes TRACY USHER
Summer 2011 sure did arrive in a hurry for me this year! It only seems like yesterday I was stepping off the plane from England after the 2010 Master Worlds and here we are in the heart of the 2011 season already! The big events to look forward to this year include the Canadian Championship, June 23-26, sailed out of the Wabamum Sailing Club in Edmonton, Alberta. Not long after that is the main event of the summer, the North American Championship this year hosted by the Brant Beach Yacht Club in New Jersey with sailing July 12-15. The big three open events will round out with the US Championship sailed out of the California Yacht Club, in Marina Del Rey, with sailing August 3-7. For the Master sailors out there, the remaining two big events are the Canadian Championship July 8-10 at CORK and the US Championship hosted by the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club and sailed July 29-31. And, of course, with the Master World Championship in North America this year we’ll see a big group of nearly 100 US and some 20 Canadian sailors travel west to sail the world famous San Francisco Bay!
It’s now just a year to the Olympics and the selection process for the Canadian and US representatives is well underway. For the 2012 Olympics the US has gone away from its traditional “winner take all” Olympic trials in favor of a qualification system based on performance at specific international events, culminating with the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championship. The primary advantage of such a system is in finding an Olympic representative battle hardened in international competition. The disadvantage for us regular folks is in not being easy to really know who are the main contenders, much less following their progress. And many North American sailors have had the pleasure to take part in the selection process, creating for many lifelong memories, which they can no longer do. Anyway, to help clear the fog on the system one of the main contenders, ILCANA Treasurer Clay Johnson has stepped up and written an article which you can find in this edition of The Laser Sailor. Hopefully this will clear the fog and give us the insight needed so we can start rooting for our favorite candidates!
The Laser 4.7 continues to gather strength in North America and this year, with the world championship in San
8
Francisco, our region will see 31 competitors from the US and 3 from Canada attend the event. The 165 entries for this year’s worlds are slightly above the allocation limit making this the largest 4.7 event so far in North America. With entries from 29 countries including many outside of its stronghold (the European Region) the event also demonstrates the worldwide growth of the 4.7. North America does appear to be lagging a bit in the trend, for example the European Region will see over 400 competitors at this summer’s European Championship. It’s hard to pin down the exact reasons for this, but it does seem one of them is the difficulty in convincing young sailors to go to the 4.7 BEFORE going to the Radial. Still, we’re making forward progress and look forward to seeing ever growing fleets as time goes on!
Immediately following the Laser 4.7 Worlds is the Laser Master Worlds. The locals, of course, have been out practicing, trying to discern any secrets of San Francisco Bay that we can use to our advantage (and, sadly, it doesn’t appear that there are any as Scott Ferguson and Ari Barshi just flew into town recently to race with us and showed us that good Laser sailors will always figure it out). On the other hand, during many of our practices we are being treated to an amazing spectacle - Oracle’s two 45 foot America’s Cup catamarans literally flying around San Francisco Bay, often accompanied by a small group of kiters trying to keep pace with them! It’s incredible to watch, especially when they really get on edge of control and I can’t even imagine what’s going to happen when they step up to the 72 footers. Whatever one might think about what match racing is supposed to be, this looks to be the sort of event full of thrills and spills that will be exciting to watch on TV. Perhaps it is just the sort of thing to give sailing its long needed shot in the arm?
event website - www.sflaserworlds.com.
Finally, I would like to remind everyone that the period for voting on the proposed changes to the ILCA Class Rules continues through September 23. In particular, there is a very important proposal being put forward to change the Fundamental Rule, the rule at the very heart of what defines a Laser. The essence of the proposed change is to modify the definition of a builder to remove the direct reference to Bruce Kirby (or Bruce Kirby Inc.). ILCA have summarized the motivation for proposing the rule change on the main balloting page at http://www.laserinternational.org/rules2011. And, as well, there has been a long, detailed and sometimes spirited debate on various Laser sailing forums around the world, in particular in North America on The Laser Forum. This is an important rule change proposal and seriously needs the attention of all members of the ILCA so, if you haven’t already, please take the time to go to the ILCA website to see the proposal, and check out the discussion that has already gone on. If questions still remain don’t hesitate to drop me an email and I’ll be happy to try to address questions to the extent that I am able. Also, don’t forget the “other” rules changes to be voted on after the proposed change to the Fundamental Rule! Check out the LaserWorld insert to get caught up on those! See you on the water!
That’s not to say that the Laser sailing here won’t be exciting to watch either... the world famous StFYC Heavy Weather Laser Slalom will be sailed right before the Master Worlds and will feature a who’s who of Master sailors. This should also be great fun to watch and it is planned to make a video (like those that can already be found on YouTube), of which pieces should be available almost immediately on the
SUMMER 2011
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9
Recovery – Your nutritional order of operations EVAN LEWIS H.B.KIN., CSCS, CK
Recovery from exercise is a major area of interest for sport scientists and athletes alike. The ability to recover quickly from a day of racing or training is essential to help you perform your best the following day.
For many, the time after the last race when you are heading back to shore can be quite rushed, followed by derigging, chatting with friends to debrief the day and hurrying home for a shower. Often this can push recovery and nutrition to the back of your mind, when instead it should be at the front. In this article I will discuss three major nutrients involved in recovery and how you can use them to bounce back faster this summer and make informed choices on what to look for in your recovery meals.
Water Water is easily overlooked as an essential nutrient in your recovery nutrition. Replacing the water that you have lost through sweat during racing is essential for restoring your blood volume, which is essential for helping to flush metabolic waste out of your body and to transport nutrients from your digestive tract to your muscles.
Carbohydrates Your muscles use carbohydrates as a major energy source during exercise and almost exclusively during intense exercise. Additionally, your body only has a limited store of carbohydrates located in your muscles and liver, which can sustain approximately 2-3 hours of intense exercise. As a result, it is vital to replenish these energy stores for your next day of racing.
Protein During a day of racing, your muscles are broken down from constant use. Following racing, consuming protein will allow your muscles to repair damage and adapt to become stronger. Timing of Nutrition While it is clear why each of these nutrients is vital to enhance your body’s recovery, it is important to understand when they should be con10
sumed and how they work together.
There are two key time periods that are essential for post-exercise refueling for recovery: 20 minutes and two hours post exercise.
During the first 20 minutes after you stop exercising, your blood insulin levels are highest. This turns your muscles into sponges for carbohydrates, allows them to absorb greater quantities than they would be able to normally. Following the first 20 minutes, insulin levels slowly decrease but remain elevated until approximately two hours post-exercise, when they return to resting levels. This provides plenty of opportunity to maximize your recovery.
Carbohydrates and proteins have an interesting relationship. By consuming carbohydrates and proteins together, there is improved absorption of both nutrients. Additionally, the co-ingestion of these nutrients leads to a significant increase in muscle protein synthesis. How much While it may be tempting to try and stuff yourself full of food during the 20 minute window, this may actually be counter productive as it will take a long time to digest and you will feel full for a long time. Current research recommends consuming approximately 1.2 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight coupled with approximately 0.3g of protein per kilogram of body weight immediately post exercise (1). This translates into a 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio with the average Laser sailor consuming roughly 96g of carbohydrates and 24g of protein. This should be accompanied with 600-1000ml of water to aid digestion and encourage rehydration. This meal will take roughly one hour to digest, which should give you enough time to get back to shore and have another meal before the two hour window closes. This multiple small meal approach will allow you to digest, absorb and store as any nutrients as possible during both the 20 minute and two hour window.
Products There are many commercial products on the market that are formulated with the 4:1 ratio to maximize recovery; however, with some planning and research you can design your own recovery meals using whole foods such as fruits, nuts, smoothies and protein powders. If you are in a hurry, chocolate milk works well and has credible research behind its benefits as a recovery drink(2)! 1.
2.
Howarth, K. R., Moreau, N. A., Phillips, S. M., and Gibala, M. J. (2009) Journal of Applied Physiology 106, 1394-402. Karp, J. R., Johnston, J. D., Tecklenburg, S., Mickleborough, T. D., Fly, A. D., and Stager, J. M. (2006) International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism 16, 78-91.
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 and Certified Kinesiologist. For more information and training tips visit www.evanlewis.ca.
SUMMER 2011
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The US Olympic Trials, Part One CLAY JOHNSON
Every four years, US Sailing has a qualifier to select the representative for the summer Olympic Games. In years past, this regatta has been a one event, domestic only regatta for about 30 Lasers: For the 1996 Olympics, the Trials were in Savannah, Georgia; in 2000 they were in San Francisco, California; in 2004, Houston, Texas hosted them; and for 2008 the Trials were in Newport, RI. This time around, however, US Sailing has moved away from this one regatta selection process and has adapted a two regatta, international qualifier. The two events are: Sail For Gold Regatta in Weymouth, England, on June 6th-11th ISAF World Championship in Perth, Australia, on December 12th-18th
Sailors combine their finishing position for both events to get a total score. Whoever has the lowest score, with the tiebreaker being the Worlds, gets to go to the Olympics!
There are many advantages to the new system. By having two regattas instead of one, more data will be used to select the representative. Secondly, to be the top American, you must prove that you can sail well against an international fleet, something you will have to do at the Olympics, and something that is hard to replicate in the US. Finally, by having one of the qualifiers at the site of the actual Olympics (Weymouth, England), it’s important to show that you can sail well there.
At the same time, the old system had merits too. Perhaps most importantly, the old system forced the sailors to peak for one event, like the Olympics, in a similarly sized fleet to the one at the Olympics. There could also be something said about having the top 30 American Laser sailors descend on one 12
venue to duke it out over 8 days for the Olympic spot. The process was pretty cool!
There’s probably no way of knowing which system is better until it’s analyzed well after the selection has been made. But it is what it is, and the first of the two events took place last month!
The Sail For Gold regatta was held at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) on the Isle of Portland in England. It’s about three hours southwest of London and right along the coast. The Academy itself is a gorgeous facility. The Academy is fenced off, and inside there is plenty of space for all of the boats in every class. There are four or five gigantic concrete ramps with ample room for almost all classes to launch at the same time. There are hoses, plenty of floating docks, a gas dock, showers, a cafeteria, classrooms, a Learn-to-Sail program, windsurfing rentals, and even a Laser Performance store on site. The WPNSA is located at the base of a massive harbor with break walls well over a mile out. It’s all quite impressive.
Seven Americans traveled across the Atlantic Ocean for the first event of the Trials system: Charlie Buckingham, Rob Crane, Brad Funk, Clay Johnson, Greg Martinez, Kyle Rogachenko, and Derick Vranizan. Of the seven Americans who sailed, Rob, Brad, Clay, Kyle, and Derick have been campaigning for a few years now, Charlie Buckingham showed up after collecting his second College Sailor of the Year Award, and Greg Martinez is a top youth sailor, missing some high school to get the Olympic Trials experience. There’s no doubt that the seven Americans in the event are some of the top Laser sailors in the country. There were 124 boats registered and
the regatta started with three days of qualifiers before splitting into GoldSilver racing for the final two days. The five-day event was pretty physically and mentally demanding too, with cold temperatures, plenty of wind, and long days on the water. The worst part had to be the 45+ minute tow in everyday in big breeze, waves, and cold water. Even under our big off-shore jackets we were getting sprayed in the faces by salt water and dragged along, slamming our boats as we went. It was miserable, but it sure beat sailing in! On Monday, the first day of the event, we arrived to a light Northerly wind. The forecast was for the breeze to die and swing to the Southwest, so the RC kept the fleet ashore. Finally at 2 PM we were sent out, and after waiting on the water for a few hours, we got one race off late at night. The sole race on the first day proved to be the lightest of the event sailed in 6-8 knots. Clay Johnson had a great opening race finishing 7th, but there was still plenty of racing left.
Tuesday was the worst day by far! The Lasers were sharing a course with the Radials and both fleets had a race to make up from the previous day. The Radials were sent out at 11 AM, and the Lasers were kept ashore for a 1 PM start. At about 11:45 the Laser fleet launched and quickly got to the race course after a reach out. When we arrived at the course, the Radials were just finishing their first race. The RC made a note on a whiteboard that we were going to wait for the Radials to SPRING 2011
sail ALL THREE of their races before we started any of ours! So we sat on the water until after 3 PM in 20-25 knots, big waves, spitting rain, and cold temperatures before the Radials finished their races. When we finally started we had lots of breeze and tough conditions for three races. Clay Johnson had another 7th in Race Two.
Kyle Rogachenko got the “bad luck’ award, breaking a block on his boom 45 seconds before the race started that kept him from sailing. It’s too bad it didn’t happen during the three hours of waiting around! Brad Funk rallied a bit to have some solid scores at the end of the day too.
Wednesday was the last day of qualifying, and we sailed two more races in 20+ knots. Rob Crane had a good day, solidifying his place in Gold fleet with Clay Johnson and Brad Funk. Derick Vranizan had some tough luck, missing out on Gold fleet by ONE place! Kyle Rogachenko was six places out. So only three Americans made the cut.
Thursday was the fourth day of racing, and the first day of Gold-Silver racing. Clay Johnson had a 9th to open up the
up the first beat. Clay Johnson headed left and was on the wrong side of a one way track and was deep. Brad ran away with the race, finishing 10th
series, and Rob Crane rocked a 15th in the second race to close out another good day. Brad Funk was steady-eddy with two decent finishes on the day. Kyle Rogachenko had a great day with a 2-6 to move into the lead in Silver.
30th, Clay 34th, Rob 39th, Kyle 65th, Derick 68th, Charlie 98th, and Greg
close the gap a little, and heading into the last race Clay Johnson had an 11 point lead on both Rob and Brad. In a 62 boat, very talented Laser fleet, though, that was nothing! In the final race, Brad Funk crushed the start to jump out into the top group. Rob Crane was looking good too, before breaking his bottom section half-way
The regatta, though cold, windy, and draining, was a huge success completing all 10 races in breezy conditions. One thing is for sure though, the points among the top three are close, and it’s going to come down to who sails best in Perth! Stay tuned to see what happens!
Friday was the final day of racing, and the points were tight. Clay Johnson, Brad Funk, and Rob Crane were all pretty close for the spot as the top American. The day started out light and shifty, but eventually built to 10-15 and stabilized as the day progressed. Rob Crane had a 6th in the first race to
overall to claim the top spot.
In the overall standings, Brad finished
114th. These points will be added to the scores from the World Championship in Perth later this year to select the Olympic representative. In the meantime, as the top American, Brad Funk qualified to represent the US at the Pre-Olympics, a test event held one year prior to the actual Olympics Games.
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AMNESTY FOR MISSING PERPETUAL TROPHIES Is that silver bowl now your change collector? Was that large plaque moved to the garage?
ILCA-NA is missing some of our more pertinent perpetual trophies and we’d love to award them to the current champions. If you’re the holder or have seen any of the perpetuals – contact the ILCA-NA office – no questions asked! Deep Throat will remain anonymous here! sherri@odmsail.co or: 619-222-0252
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Regatta
World Championship ISAF Grade 1
NA Championship 40 GP pts. ISAF Grade 1
North American
Women’s Radial Champs ISAF Grade 1
Canadian Championships
30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 2
US Championships 30 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 2
CORK
30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 1
Laser Sr: Perth, AUS: Dec 3-18 Jr: LaRochelle,FRAJuly16-23
Brant Beach YC, NJ July 12-15
na
2011 Schedule
Radial
Laser 4.7
Brant Beach YC, NY July 12-15
Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA July 23-24
FtWaltonYC,FL May20-22
na
na
Wabamun SC, Edmonton, AB June 23-26
CORK,Kingston, ON www.cork.org July 8-10
Women's:Perth, AUS; Dec 3-18 Mens: LaRochelle,FRA,July16-23 San Francisco, CA Youth: La Rochelle, FRA, July 26-Aug 2 July 24-31
Lauderdale YC www.lyc.org February 17-20
Wabamun SC, Edmonton, AB June 23-26
Wabamun SC, Edmonton, AB June 23-26
Kingston, ON
Kingston, ON
California YC Marina del Rey, CA Aug 3-7 www.cork.org
August 20-24
California YC Marina del Rey, CA Aug 3-7 www.cork.org
August 20-24
Districts 6, 24, 25 Kingston, ON www.cork.org
August 20-24
Midwinters East
Clearwater, FL
Clearwater, FL
Clearwater, FL
Midwinters West
CaliforniaYC Marina del Rey, CA March 25-27
CaliforniaYC Marina del Rey, CA March 25-27
CaliforniaYC Marina del Rey, CA March 25-27
www.ussailing.org
na
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
Gulf Coast Championships
25 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 3
No Coast Championships
25 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 3
Great Lakes Championships
25 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 3
www.Laser.org
www.clwyc.org
Feb 24-27
www.clwyc.org
Feb 24-27
Miami, FL (men only) Miami, FL (women only) www.ussailing.org
January 24-29
Carolina Yacht Club,
January 24-29
Carolina Yacht Club,
www.clwyc.org
Feb 24-27
Masters
San Francisco, CA Aug 5-13
Macatawa Bay YC Macatawa, MI July 29-31
na Tampa, FL Davis Island YC Feb 18-20 na na
Carolina Yacht Club, New Bedford YC,
Wrightsville Beach, NC
Wrightsville Beach, NC
Wrightsville Beach, NC S. Dartmouth, MA
Seattle Yacht Club Seattle, WA June 4-5
Seattle Yacht Club Seattle, WA June 4-5
Seattle Yacht Club Treasure Island, Seattle, WA San Francisco, CA June 4-5 July 23-24
Jordanelle Reservoir Park City, UT Sept. 24-25
Jordanelle Reservoir Park City, UT Sept. 24-25
April 30-May 1
St. Petersburg YC Tampa, FL April 16-17
CORK Kingston, ON Sept 17-18
April 30-May 1
St. Petersburg YC Tampa, FL April 16-17
CORK Kingston, ON Sept 17-18
April 30-May 1
June 18-19
St. Petersburg YC Tampa, FL April 16-17
Seabrook SC, Seabrook, TX June 18-19
na
D16, D21, D22, D23
na
Royal Hamilton YC Hamilton, ON June 25-26
17
Tips & Technique The Laser Traveler
RYAN MINTH; C-VANE SAILING
The traveler is the most overlooked control line on the Laser. This probably is because one is highly likely to set it at the very beginning of the day, right after launching, and maybe eased just before hauling out.
The basic principle of the traveler is that it should be as tight as possible, while still allowing the traveler blocks to clear the tiller in tacks and gybes. In most breeze conditions and with a proper, flat or low-profile carbon-fibre tiller, this means as hard as physically possible. The sail-trim-end-result of an extremely tight traveler is that the blocks are more likely to drop all the way to leeward and create the correct sheeting angle for sailing, particularly critical upwind. It is more important to have the traveler rigged properly than to have the strength of the current Mr. Universe. Here is how:
Step one (see photo below of aft deck): Make the triangle formed by the traveler on the deck as narrow as possible when eased to its maximum. Imagine if the traveler were rigged double-ended and led up the gunwhale toward the cockpit. The effect would be essentially a one-to-one purchase system. Locking down the traveler to form a narrow triangle creates a bowand-arrow-type purchase/leverage system maximizing load placed at the clam cleat (how hard one pulls to trim the traveler).
BEST PRACTICE METHOD
Use Vectran. It needs to be replaced more often, but has zerocreep. As John McCausland (top-notch Master sailor, on-off again US Star Team member, and rigger) says, “Might as well be using shock-cord if you are using Spectra.” Create a soft eye splice at one end, pass tail through one eye, the blocks, then the other eye, and then the soft eye from fore to aft, return through core of tail, and up to clam cleat. (See close-up photo two) Essentially this forms and locks in a knotless, tight triangle for maximum purchase/leverage. ILCA Class Rule interpretations seem to have been off, but are now on again with this being Class Legal.
I personally then end the system with a spliced loop handle (see photo upper next column). It is a nice all-pro touch which also helps fatten the line at the clam cleat, helping the 3/16Ó line hold in the cleat without much ease as the line settles into the cleat. This handle method, as I understand it, is currently considered NOT Class Legal, for some insane reason (see non-load bearing rule). Hopefully, our World Council will either reinterpret this (as they have with the other splice) or at least put it out to a Member Vote. NEXT BEST NOSPLICE METHOD (see photo, right):
A) Use Spectra. Spectra lasts forever, even in direct sun, and is amazingly capable of surviving the chafing that can occur 18
at the traveler eyes. (Side note: Years ago, the eyes often had burrs that would quickly cut through traveler cordage. Sailors needed to file and smooth the metal fittings, but tooling must have been corrected and this is much less common.)
B) Form a long bowline, even longer than the one shown, to replace the soft-eye of the splice method above. This keeps the fat knot away from the tiller at its lowest point, dead center. Pass through one eye, blocks, other eye, then through the bowline loop from fore-to-aft. Form a half
hitch to lock down the triangle as tightly as possible. Take tail through clam cleat and form a (Legal) loop by simple bowline or daisy-chain. The last photo (see next page) shows the effect of a properly tight-
SUMMER 2011
ened traveler on a barely seasoned Laser. Notice the divots worn into the deck where the traveler blocks are supposed to sit. I first noticed this years ago on all (except for the brand new hulls) of Luke Lawrence’s boats. My thinking is that this further encourages the blocks to stay put to leeward while sailing. Five more tips: When initially tightening the traveler, ensure that the blocks are horizontal to the deck (after luffing the sail on a reach) and then wail away with full strength (legs if necessary). The small traveler block is thinner when not upright and will allow for more tension. Should your traveler not fall to leeward after a tack (particularly in light to moderate air), check your roll-tack exit technique. A good acceleration out should drop the blocks fully to leeward. If your traveler blocks are continually riding higher than an inch or two from leeward, check to make sure that your traveler is really tight. Using stretchy line and/or passing the traveler line over a high-profile tiller will never allow the blocks to perform as they should. When employing significant boomvang tension, the traveler blocks will be more likely to keep fully to leeward (and less traveler line tension will be necessary). This is more important for light air Radial sailing where reduced traveler line tension will help maneuvering though tacks and gybes (allowing the blocks to pass freely over the tiller) yet still keep the traveler blocks all the way to leeward.
New Stainless Sunfish Trailer
New Stainless Coupler
Sail flat, fast, and point the right way.
www.Laser.org
19
Regatta Reports
Atlantic Coast Masters Championship
PETER SEIDENBERG New Bedford Yacht Club June 1819, 2011 Friday’s weather could have turned off anybody from driving long distances to New Bedford – it rained intermittently all day long. However, those 41 sailors who were not deterred were treated to the legendary sailing conditions that Buzzards Bay is known for when a warm and sunny day generates a SW sea breeze of commonly 20+ knots. Saturday’s race day #1, was one of those days, although the sea breeze only made it up to 15 knots. Since the forecast for Sunday was not as favorable, the RC announced at the skippers meeting that they would try to run more than the scheduled 3 races for the day – and they did, stopping after 5 races. The courses were wwd.-lwd. DISTRICT 8 CHAMPION’S RYAN SCHMITZ AND GARY PRIETO
The 2011 District 8 Championship, hosted at Sayville Yacht Club, attracted 20 competitors from as far away as Denmark and Richmond Virginia. Saturday the sailors were blessed with our usual 12-18 knot SW breezes and PRO George Becza effectively ran 5 races on good sized WL courses. The downwinds were fun as the chop made for some good surfing, but it wasn’t so windy that folks were capsizing frequently. Really perfect conditions when you get right down to it!
Saturday night, the competitors were treated to a BBQ on the Sayville Yacht Club Deck with the band “The Flying Scots” and local “Blue Point” microbrew on tap for those of age. Sayville Yacht Club, headed by Commodore Nick Burford and Regatta Chair Paul Abel, did an outstanding job supporting the sailors. Sunday provided some challenging conditions with Race 1 held in 15 20
twice around with a short reaching leg from the lwd. gate to the finish line off the bow of the committee boat. As predicted, Sunday’s sailing conditions were challenging due to a cirrus cloud covered sky preventing the development of a sea breeze strong enough to overcome the gradient northerly, which pretty well hung in until the cut-off time of 3 p.m. Being also an offshore breeze, the wind fluctuated wildly both in speed and direction to the extend that it caused a start delay of over an hour and four postponements only minutes after the start. Finally, a N 10-5 knot “window” opened for what turned out to be the only race of the day. A second race had to be abandoned half way up the first beat when the battle between the northerly and southerly winds reached a stalemate. The beer boat offered a welcome relieve to the sailors, spread out over a wide area in search of the elusive private breeze advantage. An insufficient number of pre-registered Radials meant that rig-switching was in effect, which only one sailor
18 knots from the SE. The breeze held for a while and started to fade as the day went on and eventually shifted back to the SW after race 3 had been completed and the boats were all put away.
tried to make use of by switching after the first race. The age divisions were represented by 3 Apprentices, 18 Masters, 12 Grand Masters, and 8 Great Grand Masters. There were 4 women racing across two age divisions. Congratulations to the 2011 Atlantic Coast Masters Champion, Andy Pimental (M) who beat out Peter Shope (M) on a tie-break. The top three divisional winners are: Apprentices: Ben Richardson, MA; David Armitage, RI; Brian Fisher, RI Masters: Andrew Pimental, RI, Peter Shope, RI, Mark Bear, MA Grand Masters: Jorge Abreu, DOM, David Frazier, CT, Gary Orkney, CT, Great Grand Masters: Peter Seidenberg, RI, Joe Van Rossem, CAN, Amnon Gitleson, CT Women: Lynn Shore, RI, Susie Pegel, WI, Judith Krimski, MA For the overall and divisional results see the NBYC website: www.nbyc.com Our top Radial sailor was Gary Prieto followed by fellow Old Cove YC teammate Stefan Kuehn and Denmark’s Victor Thuroe. The Standard fleet title was captured by Ryan Schmitz who sailed very consistently winning the regatta by 10 points over Sayville Yacht Club’s Ted Cremer who was also the Top Master. Fishing Bay YC’s Jon Jon Deutsch (District 11 Secretary) rounded out the top 3. It was a pleasure having Jon in town and he sailed a very consistent regatta. Special acknowledgments go to past district 8 secretary Lindsay Hewitt who finished 4th overall and was the top Great Grand Master, and Bob Blanco who captured the top Grand Master honor.
SUMMER 2011
shifts came really fast and were really big, missing one could ruin your whole race so no side was really important, what was most important was to play any shift you could that would bring you closer to the mark.
Regatta Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/254720 30@N03/sets/72157626761507081/ Results: https://www.regattatech.com/scoring/ action/showResultsRoster?clubCode =SYC&eventCode=LaserD8GP11&d ivisionName=all
For me the most important part of races was the downwind. I felt that speed on the upwinds was pretty much the same within the top 3 or 4 boats... What gave me the edge and eventually the win was my downwind speed. Both days we had a lot of waves that were pretty equally spread apart. The best strategy
Winner’s report courtesy of Ryan Schmitz (Port Washington YC and LISOT):
Hello everyone, before I talk about the regatta I would like to start by thanking a few people. First, I’d like to thank Ted Cremer for helping and supporting me throughout the regatta as well as continuing to run District 8. There a lot of great sailors in our area and I am very lucky to get to sail against all of you. Speaking of great sailors that brings me to my next thank you... Lindsey Hewitt has coached me, supported me, and constantly challenged me since I began in the laser and a lot of my success so far has been due to him. Over all I think Sayville Yacht Club is owed a big thank you, the RC was efficient and fair, and even though there was a bit of drama on the first day everything was settled fairly and calmly so thank you for that.
Moving on to the regatta, there were some challenging conditions, especially on day two. That said to me there were a few keys to sailing the regatta smart and fast: Upwinds were tough and long so it was important to keep a flat boat. We were lucky to have such great wind but it could also really hurt if you did not hike. Working through waves and keeping your shoulders out was the only way to get around the top mark fast. On day two the wind was particularly shifty so you needed to be on your toes and looking around. Often times those www.Laser.org
and therefore onto waves was really important. Steering through the waves with the tiller could really hurt your boat speed and keep you off of the waves. It was important to watch the shifts downwind sometimes more so than on the upwind. Occasionally I was the only one on a certain gybe even though that seemed like the right one. The wind sometimes shifted so much that a by the lee angle could take you directly to the leeward mark, but only if you were on the right gybe. Finally, the last big key for me downwind was to watch the wave angle. A few times I was able to make really big gains by going low and then high around the starting line playing the waves and downwind angles. Over all the regatta was very challenging and I had a great time sailing against everyone. Thanks again to everyone helping out with the regatta and for all the competitors coming out, I hope to see you all around soon! Ryan Schmitz
Ted Cremer #162020 US Laser Class D8 Secretary Voice: 631-868-3726 Fax: 631-256-9164
Sailing photos by: Paul MacMenamin Sailing shots.
Winners photos: Jon Deutsch
was to get on a wave the second you rounded the off set mark worry about getting your lines completely set for the downwind mode once you are up to speed (the vang, outhall, and cunningham should have been partially taken off before hitting the windward mark). Once up to speed it was fastest to try and keep a rhythm with the waves even if it took big S turns staying at full speed was well worth it. Also, using your weight in the lighter stuff to steer the boat onto hotter angles 21
Secrets to Downwind Speed BRETT DAVIS
So you want to go downwind like Robert Scheidt? It’s as easy as taking the red pill. Well, not quite. As awesome as it would be to master your technique in a few sessions or from reading an article, the quick answer, as is the case with any complex activity, is lots of practice. The downwind leg (in surfing/planning conditions) is where the largest gains and losses are made on the race course because the speed difference between the leaders and laggards is huge. If you’ve ever been passed by someone like you’re anchored then you know what I’m talking about. This article will give you some of the keys to go fast but you must take the time to get on the water as often as possible to learn to execute like a pro. In a Laser the quickest path between two marks is not always a straight line. When going dead downwind there is no flow across the sail and this is slow. The boat sails fastest and is more stable either by the lee or broad reaching and usually a combination of the two angles is required. Like upwind sailing in moderate to light winds the speed difference downwind between the fast boats and slow ones is relatively small when strictly by the lee or reaching. The obvious problem with sailing the whole run like this is that you end up way off the rhumb line which we know is slow. Thus the need to transition from by the lee to broad reaching and this is the area where the pros make the majority of their gains. Maintaining or gaining
22
speed through this transition is critical and depends upon a number of factors. A smooth reversal of flow across the sail through proper positioning and turning of the boat on the wave, changing the angle of heel, and proper sail trim are the three major steps to a perfectly executed transition (S turn).
To run through the basic mechanics of an S turn picture yourself sailing by the lee in 15 knots with 3 foot swells and the next wave is coming up behind you. You’re heeling to windward (the natural angle when sailing by the lee) and as the wave starts to lift your stern and push the boat forward you lean inboard and press your weight to leeward while trimming rapidly three or four times. This causes the boat to flatten out and heel slightly to leeward which turns the boat automatically through the dead downwind angle and onto the broad reach. By using body weight to carve the boat rather than the rudder there is no excess drag created and the boat accelerates down into the trough of the wave and heads back up toward the rhumb line. Then before you start to slow down you immediately reverse the process by bearing away and allowing the sheet to run through your hands to so the boom returns to 90 degrees and the boat naturally heels to windward. The next wave approaches from astern and the process repeats. That’s the basic idea and it’s useful to have that mental picture in mind as your starting point if you’re new to this.
Of course there are a number of factors that will change the timing of your S turn. Each venue you race at will have a different wave pattern so it’s very important to get to an unfamiliar regatta site a few days early (in a perfect world) or at least get out to the course plenty
early each day to get a feel for the wave action. When the breeze picks up above 8 knots and some chop is starting to build you have the right conditions for S turns on the run. If you’re at a protected or shallow water venue and you’re only going to be dealing with choppy water (rather than swell) then your turns will b e relatively quick as the distance between the chop is small. As the breeze builds above 18 knots you’ll find that the boat will want to plane in the bigger puffs and then it pays to go over waves. Whenever you can plane and jump waves toward the mark you’ll be faster than surfing S turns on the same wave. A combination of planning and surfing becomes the mode in all but the windiest conditions as the S turns are executed in the lulls to keep speed and to position the boat for the next puff. When the next puff hits make sure you pop the boat up on a plane first (which might require sailing a hotter angle by the lee or broad reach) and then redirect the boat back toward the mark while planning. Planing is when you’re fastest so you wan to make sure you’re VMG (velocity made good) is not taking you off the course (“velocity made bad”)!
Now if you’re sailing in deep water with swell your style of S turn will typically be smoother and slower. There will be times when you can take long rides by the lee on a swell and as long as you’re going fast and passing boats there’s no reason to jump off the wave just for the sake of making an S turn. As the wind builds, chop will develop on and between the swells and a combination of longer rides mixed with S turns will be fastest.
Downwind masters are more like artists rather than scientists in that
SUMMER 2011
they’re spent so much time training and racing that all their decisions like weight placement (angle of heel), trimming, and turning on the waves are second nature. Their analytical mind is shut off and they are in the zone. For the few who have caught a glimpse of Robert Schiedt as he passed by them, I can guarantee they didn’t make eye contact. It’s not due to this Brazilian rudeboy attitude but simply because when one is in the zone they’re not aware of anything else but perfect execution in the present moment. Therefore the greatest advice I can give is to practice a lot. Each time you get out on the water you’re facilitating your body’s ability to get in the zone and allowing your mind to take the backseat as an observer. The boat will become an extension of your body and you won’t need to have your mind arguing whether you
www.Laser.org
should steer up onto a reach on this wave or continue by the lee. It will happen naturally.
One more thing that can really help those who are a bit conservative in their downwind sailing is to practice sailing more radically. What I mean by that is practice going really fast on extreme angles. Sail so far by the lee that the sail wants to jibe and you almost have to sit on the leeward side of the cockpit to keep the boat from capsizing. Then turn it up on a beam reach and plane like a madman. Once you (your body) have learned what it feels like to go really fast then you can access that memory again on the race course. When you feel stuck on a run you’ll automatically know to heat it up on a hotter angle, gain speed, and then make your move back down to the rhumb line.
Never get in your head that you’re a slow sailor. Use the tips here to jump start your program and get a fresh start on going fast!
23
District Reports District 1 Danielle Dube Nova Scotia
Let me start out this district report with a warning that I can probably never duplicate my last seasons article in either creativity or hours spent with a thesaurus in hand. That said, I may also have a little trouble recalling events that happened in D1 this spring as I’ve been gone for most of it. Along with CST radial sailors Lisa Ross and Erin Rafuse, I’ve been competing in world cup events across Europe, and missing out on what I understand was the loveliest spring weather-wise in recent history (NOT!!) So for this article I’ll stick with what I know… results from D1 radial sailors competing internationally, a look at this summers events, and something I’d like to feature in D1 articles periodically from now on… secrets to success from top sailors and coaches designed to help D1 laser sailors of all ages and abilities improve their game. First the boring stuff: Results World Cup Regatta #3- Princesa Sofia Regatta (Palma De Mallorca, Spain) 78 entries Lisa Ross- 23rd, Erin Rafuse- 45th World Cup Regatta #4- Semaine Olympique Francaise (Hyeres, France) 98 entries Lisa Ross- 26th, Danielle Dube- 64th, Erin Rafuse- 84th World Cup Regatta #5- Delta Lloyd Regatta (Medemblik, Holland) 59 entries Lisa Ross- 24th, Erin Rafuse 41st. World Cup Regatta #6- Sail For Gold (Weymouth, United Kingdom) 91 entries Lisa Ross- 33rd, Danielle Dube- 46th, Erin Rafuse- 64th Now the fun stuff: This summer’s regatta schedule. Unless specified as a youth regatta, masters are welcome at all events, and will be scored separately according to their age group. For more info on masters sailing, check out the New Brunswick Sailing Association website http://www.nbsailing.nb.ca/ and click on racing, then masters racing. Additionally, Sail East is this years D1 championship. ARK- July 16-17th, Bedford Basin Yacht Club (NS) RKYC Circuit Regatta- July 16-17th, Royal Kennebecasis Yacht Club (NB)
SMSC Bay Wind Regatta- July 23-24th, St. Margarets Sailing Club (NS) 420 + Laser Regatta- August 1-2nd, Lunenburg (NS)
Sail East (D1 championships)- August 4-7th, Shediac Bay Yacht Club (NB) Kennedy Cup- August 25-26th, Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron (NS… duh)
CYA Youth Nationals- August 29th-September 1st, St. Margarets Sailing Club (NS)
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CYA National Sailing Championships (NQRs)September 27th-October 1st- SMSC (NS) Rothesay Yacht Club Circuit Regattas- TBD (NB) And finally the educational stuff (some people call that boring too): An article on sail control settings (vang, cunningham, outhaul) across the race course and in different wind conditions by yours truly and proof-read by Canadian Sailing Team coach Brian Todd... just in case ☺ Sail Control Basics- As most of us are aware, lasers have only 3 major systems for controlling sail shape: the cunningham, vang, and outhaul. These 3 systems work together to alter sail shape for increased speed, increased handling and control, and for changing points of sail. The key is that they work together, not independently, and a change in one often requires a change to another. The cunningham controls the forward and aft movement of the draft (center of effort) in the sail. It is located along the luff of the sail just behind the mast, and is run through a grommet (little metal circle on the sail) such that pulling on it causes the grommet to come closer to the boom. This does NOT flatten the front of the sail. Pulling on the cunningham only a little will remove ugly horizontal wrinkles from the sail, but pulling on it any more will cause the draft in the sail to move forward. With loads of tension on the cunningham (read: as much as you can pull on with both hands), the top of the leech around the top batten will also open and spill air. If you don’t believe me about the draft moving forward, take a piece of computer paper and hold it in what your printer would call the “landscape” position. Hold it with a thumb and forefinger on each side, and pull as hard as you can. This simulates the pull of the cunningham on the luff of the sail. You will notice that the paper between your two pulling hands is no longer flat… it actually indents and forms a little trough. The “draft” of the paper, which was originally flat, moves to the area that is being stretched. The Vang, (or “kicker” if you’re British), controls mast bend and leech tension. It is probably the most important control as it is nearly impossible to sail without, and if it is in the incorrect position, the laser can be very slow and sketchy to handle. Pulling on the vang in a laser will bend the mast backwards, while at the same time tightening and closing the leech of the sail. With no vang tension at all, the sail is too drafty and open in the back, and it is difficult to establish proper air flow across the sail. Trying to accelerate with no vang on will lead to overtrimming of the mainsheet (as you have to keep pulling on it to achieve the feeling that there is any pressure on the mainsail), which in turn leads to an awful leech twist that spills turbulent air and never really establishes a proper air flow. Without flow over the sail, you can’t achieve flow over the centerboard and rudder, and the boat will slip sideways. Putting the vang on in a laser is equivalent to putting a car in first gear… you can’t accelerate without it. A good starting point for vang tension is to pull the mainsheet all the way in until the block on the back of the boom is touching the traveler block (we rather unimaginatively call this the “block to block” position). Then we tighten the vang until all of the slack is taken out of it. Then, with a permanent marker, we make a mark on both the primary and secondary vang lines, so that they line up every time the vang is at this block to block setting. When sailing upwind in lots of breeze, pulling on a lot of vang
is a great way to flatten and depower the sail, but it only works in conjunction with a lot of cunningham to keep ugly wrinkles out of the sail and to keep the center of effort in the right place. When sailing downwind, too little vang will lead to instability, while too tight a vang will close the leech, lead to stalling and loading up of pressure in the rig, and form another kind of instability. The end of the boom may also clip waves downwind, and lead to rounding up and capsizing. The Outhaul is in my opinion the control that requires the least fiddling with. If you want, you can set it in the right position for the wind strength before a race, and not look at it again until the downwind leg or in some cases, not adjust it at all. The outhaul controls the draft along the foot and midsection of the sail. It has a fairly small range in which it works best, which is somewhere between almost touching the boom, to being a hands length from the boom at the deepest part of the sail (put your wrist on the boom at the point where the first mainsheet block is, and adjust the sail so it touches your fingertips). If you mark both of these points on the outhaul, then look at the clew of the sail where it attaches at the end of the boom, and go between these two settings, you will see that the clew of the sail actually moves very little along the boom as compared to how much outhaul you feel you are pulling in or letting off. The outhaul is adjusted according to wind strength and wave conditions. As it gets windier, the outhaul should be pulled tighter to flatten the sail. In light air, the outhaul should be on the baggier side to gain power to go through choppy waves. In flat conditions, the outhaul can again be on the tighter side or in the middle range to give the sail a nice shape, promoting good air flow and thus better pointing ability. On the downwind, most people let the outhaul off to their baggiest upwind setting or even further depending on the conditions. When setting the outhaul the key is in asking yourself “how much draft can I handle in these conditions, and do I need unbroken flow today or is today a power day”? Putting it all together: Now that you know what effect each control has on sail shape and performance, I could provide a cheat sheet and explain all of the settings for each wind and wave condition, as well as all legs of the racecourse… but that would be too easy! Instead I challenge all of the sailors who soldiered through those explanations and learned something new to do the following exercises on the water… After all, sailing is more fun than reading or memorizing charts. Plus, if you can answer the questions associated with these drills, then you REALLY understand how everything works together. In light to medium air (no more than 10 kts), try accelerating from a stopped position with no vang tension and no Cunningham. In light air, scull the bow down, heel the boat to leeward, and at “go”, flatten the boat and sheet in. Now try it with the vang set at block to block, with a little bit of Cunningham on to take out horizontal wrinkles. You should notice that with the vang at block to block, when you flatten the boat there is more resistance against you (caused by a tighter leech) and greater acceleration. Play with how the vang and Cunningham work to change the center of effort. In 15+ knots, drive the boat head to wind, duck yourself into the cockpit (watch your head!) facing forward. Now pull on the vang (no more than block to block) and take off all Cunningham tension. Now enjoy trying to get out of that situation. You will be stuck in irons, drifting backwards, with
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almost no control. To get out of it, pull on the Cunningham and let off the vang entirely. The boat will drift to either side, depending on which way the rudder is turned. Knowing what you know, how can you explain this? In windy conditions (15+ knots), sail upwind on a close hauled course with a lot of vang on, but no Cunningham. Notice how tired your tiller arm gets from having to pull the bow down. Now keep the vang the same, but pull on as much Cunningham as you can. Don’t be afraid to pull the grommet on the sail to the gooseneck (unless it’s a new sail. Don’t do this to a new sail!). Suddenly steering becomes much easier. Why? Don’t do this one alone. On a windy day (15+, but not blowing the dog off the chain), sail downwind with your Cunningham and outhaul set for a regular downwind (Cunningham completely off, and outhaul in the middle to baggy range). Experiment with different vang tensions, including no vang at all, and pulled in as far as block to block. Try surfing waves and getting used to each vang setting. You will notice that too little vang is extremely unstable and leads to wiping out to windward, and too much vang will cause you to want to reach and will also lead to wipeouts. Finally, try rounding an upwind mark and bearing off A) without releasing your vang first. B) try releasing your vang and cunningham, then rounding the upwind mark to bear off. C) Finally, try releasing your vang and keeping the Cunningham on tight while rounding a mark. Notice how some roundings are tighter and easier than others? If it is really windy, what would be the appeal of the third type of rounding? Why might it also be unstable? In conclusion, its really important to know these things. These controls mean the difference between being fast or slow, and being in or out of control. But at the same time they are basics and if you practice them enough you shouldn’t have to dwell on them. When racing it is important to change your settings as the conditions change, and sometimes if your boat is feeling sluggish it is necessary to spy on the boats going fast around you to replicate their settings. However, there is a lot of other stuff going on that requires your attention, and it would be a mistake to think that anything you can do with your sail controls will make up for not hiking hard, getting a good start, and keeping your head out of the boat.
District 2, Quebec, Canada Philippe Dormoy Bonjour everyone,
The sailing season started very wet in Quebec: May and June has seen raining more than ever with the results than we didn’t sail a lot and started later than we wanted. The Montreal training camp was held May 28 and 29th with 12 participants. A BIG thank you from our friends Gary and Sally from District 7 who came for the camp. The wind was very light on Saturday and Sunday was raining (I told you, it has been horrible!)
The coach Robin Blanchard did a good job in using the time for weather forecast teaching and some very good boat handling videos.
Our first district race was help June 18th and 19th in “Trois Rivieres” located mid way from Quebec city and
www.Laser.org
Montreal. Well, it seems it is closer from Quebec city, as people from there showed up and, beside myself, nobody from Montreal : A bit disappointed!
We had a light wind day (5-6 knots)on Saturday and a breezy day (10 to 15 knots) on Sunday. Eight races were held with a mix of about 6 laser full rig and 6 radial, young and masters, all starting together. There was also windsurfing class, 420 and Optimist. It made fun races with a lot of energy! Results were: 1st Philippe Dormoy, 2nd Denys Deschambeau, 3rd Marc Ouellette (Note sure of your
family name Marc, pardon me).
We are looking forward for a better participation for next race in July 16th and 17th in “petit lac Magog” and July 23rd and 24th in Hudson.
Canadian masters is July 8th to 10th in Kingston. Have a wonderful Summer and good sailing
District 4 Brigitte Smutny Manitoba, CAN
We have scheduled lots of activities for our Laser sailors in Manitoba and now that the ice is off the lakes we just have to hope for the rain to stop. Our contingent is still small but we see slowly growing numbers. Highlight of the season is CYA Sail West from August 4-7 at the Gimli YC. The organizing committee is busy to get everything ready for approximately 100 sailors. We will also hold the District 4 Championship at this event.
The Manitoba Games at Wellman Lake in Duck Mountain will take place from July 15-19, 2012 and the qualifiers for this event will be sailed in 2011 in each of the 7 regions. The events are Laser radial for male and Laser 4.7 for female, age group 13-17. The qualifiers are scheduled as follows: Central Region Eastman Region Interlake Region Norman Region YC Parkland Region Westman Region Winnipeg Region
Sep 3 Jul 15 Sep 4 Jul 7
Aug 21 Jul 17 Sep 3
Winnipeg SC Falcon YC Gimli YC Precambrian
Wellman Lake Pelican YC Winnipeg SC
The Laser circuit includes 10 regattas (best 5 out of 10) and includes five out of province event. May 21/22 Jun 18/10 Jun 23-26 Jul 9/10 Jul 9/10 Jul 16/17 Aug 6/7 Aug 15-18 Aug 20-24 Sep 4
Regina short course, SK Viking Cup, Gimli YC, MB Laser Canadians, Edmonton, AB Prairie Wind Regatta, Newell Lake, AB Richardson Regatta, RLWYC, MB Zig Zag open, ZZYC, MB CYA Sail West, Gimli YC, MB CORK International, Kingston, ON CORK OCR, Kingston, ON Commodores Cup, Gimli YC, MB
District 5 Mark Lammens Saskatoon, Canada
Degner D-5 series is in full swing, Lewis Oteruelo back from training in MEX was in mid season form and won the Wascanna Short Course. Payton Byrns 2nd and Logan Campbell 3rd. Radial-Sydney Byrns 1st, Dean Waschuk 2nd and Bill Dawson 3rd. In the 4.7 Ellyn Waschuk 1st, Emma Williams 2nd and Nic Oteruelo 3rd. At the Mountain Madness, Ilia Rudnitskiy won, this is his first regatta win. Byrns 2nd (again) and Ben Pickford 3rd. Our best wishes go out to Graeme Strathdee, past champion in all of the prairie provinces and Western Canada. Graeme had a major ticker operation a few weeks ago as he wrote in a recent e-mail ``Fortunately for me, my rare, high risk OCS surgery did not turn into a permanent DSQ. This is really disappointing because I was preparing seriously for the Laser Nationals.`` Get well soon Graeme, he is a good tough competitor who races hard all the time. ML
District 6 Andy Hunt Vancouver, Canada
The 2011 edition of the Flights of Spring Regatta was held in mid April (16 and 17) due to the fact that Easter was late this year. Whether the early start had anything to do with it, the turnout was very low. There were 7 Standard Lasers and 2 Laser Radials. However, the excellent conditions on both days made up for the lack of participants. The winds were from the west on both days and Saturday had slightly more wind than Sunday. There winds were between 15 and 22 knots on Saturday and between 12 and 18 knots on Sunday. The Race Committee, headed by District 6 Secretary Andy Hunt, ran 4 races on Saturday and 5 races on Sunday. Michael France, returning after many years absence, dominated by winning 6 or the 9 races and finishing with 10 points. Sasha Smutny was second with 22 points and just behind Sasha in third place with 23 points was Andriy Kanyuka. Peter Woytkowiak was fourth with 26 points. Jacek Suski was fifth with 31 points. The last two places were taken by Michael Delage with 52 points and Connor MacGillvray with 54 points. Alexander Kroitzch
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was ahead of Miranda MacGillvray 14 points to 20 points. The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club hosted the Kitten Cup which is the first regatta on the BC Sailing / HellyHansen Race Circuit on April 30 and May 1, 2011. There were westerly winds of between 6 and 10 knots which meant that some of the lighter sailors in both the Standard Lasers and the Laser Radials were hiking while the heavier sailors were sitting on the side decks. There was a strong flooding tide which, unfortunately, meant that sailors immediately towards the beach after the start. It was easier and easier to overshoot the mark as the day progressed. Some sailors misjudged the current and hit the windward mark while trying to round it. There were five races for the Standard Lasers and four races for the Laser Radials and Radials and four races for the Laser 4.7s on Saturday and eight races in total for the Laser Radials and Laser 4.7s. There were nine races for the Laser Standards. There were 7 4.7s, 23 Laser Standards and 31 Laser Radials. The top three Laser 4.7s were: Alexander Fritz, RVYC, 7.00; Jake Cullen, RVYC, 11.00; Hayley Linton, RVYC, 17.00. The top 7 Laser Standards were: Al Clark (dominated as usual), RVYC, 12.00; Bob Britten, RVICYC, 35.00; Kevin Grierson, RVYC, 47.00; Reid Cannon, RVICYC, 47.00; Thomas Roehrl, RVYC, 48.00; Michael France, JSCA, 49.00; David Berry, RVICYC, 53.00. The top 10 Laser Radials were: Isabella Bertold, RVYC, 8.00; Cameron Ho, RVYC, 19.00; Alexandra Kroitzch, RVYC, 24.00; Natalia Montemayor, RVYC, 27.00; Joanna Moore, RVYC, 28.00; Jamie Bone, RVYC, 42.00; Adrian Vlasic, RVYC, 44.00; Chris Wilson, WVYC, 49.00; Hanne Weaver, SYC, 53.00; Maura Dewey, RVICYC, 58.00. Interestingly enough, the winners of each division had a drop out race of 4th.
May 7 and 8 saw the Royal Victoria Yacht Club host it’s annual Spring Dinghy Championships, As with the Kitten Cup, the regatta was part of the BCSailing/Helly Hansen Circuit. 21 Lasers, 18 Laser Radials and 5 Laser 4.7s showed up for the regatta. Out of the 21 Lasers, 8 were youths, 7 were open, 1 was an apprentice master, 4 were masters and 1 was a great grand master. In the Laser Radials, 16 were youth, 1 was an open and 1 was a master. 4 out of the 5 Laser 4.7s were youth. The only non youth was an open.I don’t know what the wind and weather conditions were like but the race committee ran a total of 4 races on Saturday and 3 races on Sunday. The top 7 Lasers were: David Berry, RVICYC, 14.00; Philip Round, RVICY, 17.00; Geoff Abel, RVICYC, 17.00; Robert Britten, RVICY, 18.00; Thomas Roehrl, RVANYC, 25.00; Aiden Koster, RVICYC, 32 and Reid Cannon, RVICYC, 42.00. The top 6 Laser Radials were: Max Gallant, RVICYC, 9.00; Maura Dewey, RVICYC, 17.00; Adrian Vlasic, RVANYC, 27.00; Matthew Turner, RVICYC, 29.00; Fillah Karim, WVYC,33.00 and Kate Easton, CYC, 38.00. The 6 Laser 4.7s were: Hayley Linton, RVANYC, 7.00; Jake Cullen, RVANYC, 10.00; Ben MacVicar, RVANYC, 19.00; Jim Donaldson (Club Unknown), 20.00 and Connor Black, RVANYC, 28.00. The Victoria Day Long weekend saw the Central Okanagan Sailing Association host it’s annual Springtime Regatta. This regatta is the first regatta of the season for the BC Interior sailing clubs. COSA is in Kelowna and runs regattas on Okanagan Lake. For 2011, there were 5 races run over the two days. There were 13 Laser Radials, 12 Lasers and 7 Laser 4.7s which also shared a start with a Byte. Results: Radials – Chris Wilson, NSST, 5.00; Adrian Vlasic, RVANYC, 8.00; Fillah Karim, NSST, 12.00 and Matthew Turner, RVICYC, 13.00. Lasers: Ian Elliott, RVICY/CYC, 5.00; Graeme Clendenan, NSST/EHYC, 7.00; Alex Shepard, RVANYC, 12.00 and Sebastian Fritz, RVANYC, 15.00. Laser 4.7s: Alexander Fritz, RVANYC, 4.00; Jake Cullen, RVANYC, 9.00 and Hayley Linten, RVANYC, 12.00. The Cultus Lake Sailing Club hosted it’s annual Sockeye Cup Regatta which was also part of the BC Sailing/Helly-Hansen Circuit and the 2011 District 6 Grand Prix. The
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Sockeye Cup was on May 28 and 29, 2011 and held at Cultus Lake. There were ennough Lasers (11), Laser Radials (13) and Laser 4.7s (6) for the regatta to count for Grand Prix points. Sailors arrived on Friday Night and Saturday morning to register and rig their boats. After a competitor’s meeting, the race committee flew the “AP” as there was no wind at the scheduled start time. Unfortunately for the competitors, the lack of wind held for the entire day and the competitors managed to find other things to occupy their time before dinner. Sunday morning had enough wind for the race committee to run three races before cutoff time. The courses were twice-round windward-leewards. In the Laser Class, Kyle Martin dominated the sailors by winning all three races decisively. Jacek Suski and Sascha Smutny gave chase but could not catch Kyle. Jacek had7 points while Sascha had 8 points. Fourth place went to Emerson Kirby with 13 points and fifth place went to Dariusz Roznowski with 18 points. Kyle, Jacek and Sascha all sail in English Bay while Emerson is a member of COSA and races on Okanagan Lake. Dariusz is a local sailor who races on Cultus Lake. In the Laser Radials, familiar names Chris Wilson, Adrian Vlasic and Fillah Karim held the top three positions. Chris had 5 points, Adrian had 6 points and Fillah had 10 points. Chris and Fillah are members of the NSST while Adrian sails out of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. Elizabeth Hardy (COSA) had 15 points in fourth place and Austin Stewart (NSST) was fifth with 17 points. In the Laser 4.7s, Jack Toland, a visiting sailor from Seattle, won all three races and finished with 3 points. Ben MacVicar and Connor Black, both from the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, finished second and third. Ben had 9 points as did Connor. The Jericho Classic Regatta was hosted by the Jericho Sailing Centre on June 4 and 5. The turnout for the event was one of the lowest that I have ever seen. I hope that the reason for this was that the Pacific Coast Laser Championships was on the same weekend in Seattle and that sailors decided to race in Seattle instead of in Vancouver. There were only 5 Lasers and no Laser Radials and no Laser 4.7s. I don’t know if having the District 6 Grand Prix the weekend before the Jericho Classic made a difference or not. I hope that next year more sailors will come to the Jericho Sailing Centre and compete in the regatta. Fortunately for the competitors, the wind and weather cooperated. It was sunny with westerly winds of between 8 and 12 knots on Saturday and between 10 and 15 knots on Sunday. The race committee ran 4 races each day and there was enough wind to include a reaching mark which was appreciated by the competitors. Results: Andriy Kanyuka, VSC, 7.00; Peter Woytkowiak, JSCA, 14.00; Jacek Suski, JSCA, 19.00; Mark Fitzsimmons, SSC, 26.00 and Ron (Last name not recorded), LSC, 39.00. Various clubs in District 6 are in evening racing mode. For those of you who have never tried evening racing, it is something that I recommend. The racing is usually less formal than weekend racing and the wind (for better or worse) is usually lighter. I am not sure about the Interior or Island clubs but both the Jericho Sailing Centre and the Surrey Sailing Club have evening racing throughout the spring and summer. Jericho has evening racing on Tuesday nights while the Surrey Sailing Club has evening racing on Wednesday nights. I (along with Bob Britten and Doug Bell) hope to have the new District 6 website up and running in the not too distant future. I will put more effort into making that a reality. Alta Lake, near Whistler BC, has a sailing program that operates in the spring and summer. There are plans in the works to have a regatta there in August.
District 7 Kim Ferguson Rhode Island
The “Masters” are laying it down and schooling the kids with Ben Richardson snatching the win at the Pete Milnes Regatta and Peter Shope edging out Ted Green for first place at the Wickford Regatta. Although the season has just barely started, these guys are training hard for the Master Worlds, which will be held on the windy bay of San Francisco, August 5-13th. After watching the footage of the AC 45’s…these guys need to be in shape!
At this point there is no other news to report. Check the laser D7 website for upcoming regattas and results. If you have news to report please email laserd7@gmail.com . Please send us some news on the juniors in district 7. Keep us posted as to what they are doing on the local, national and world level as well as the collegiate circuit!
District 8 Ted Cremer Long Island, NY
Happy Summer NY Laser Sailors
I want to lead off with some needed THANK YOUS!!!
Let me lead off extend my sincere thanks to Marianne Nash for running such a great spring series. Her dedication to Seawanhaka’s winter program is evident by the clear success of the series. 26 sailors hopped on their lasers in the spring, and more impressively 37 sailed during the fall. I also want to recognize Lindsay Hewitt for his continued dedication to the sport , , , the kids he has influenced have moved on to be successful on a regional and international level. Lindsay’s personal sailing successes are impressive, but I get the sense he appreciates Ryan’s success this season at deeper level. I have seen Lindsay leading in a race, only to peel off and work with a fellow competitor to help them improve. His leadership qualities make him one of the most admired people in the class. David Trinder also did a bang up job with the winter scoring - Dave, thanks for taking this task on!
Congratulations to Ryan Schmitz! Its been great to watch his development over the years. Ryan is talented, fast, and a real gentleman. Ryan is one of the few JSA kids (along with buddy Colin Kennedy) that has supported many of my Sayville YC events - the windier its gets, that happier those boys are! My hope is that the elite sailing teams recognize his capabilities and that he continues to sail in college. My advice - log some time in a doublehanded boat as the college scouts look for that as well. Final thanks to my faithful webmaster Robert Terry! Nearly 100% attendance, and really fast in the light tricky stuff, all while capturing every moment on video! The website is awesome and Bob really cares about the success of the district.
Thanks and congratulations to all the sailors that came out this winter!~ I want to congratulate two new fleets to the District 8 family
Jon Marsh NBC Laser Fleet Captain pjon@optonline.net The Laser fleet at Nyack was established in the spring of 2001. The Laser Fleet participates in formal racing on Sunday afternoons and informal racing using an automated starting device are held on Tuesday nights. Tuesday night race courses are short so that we can
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have more races and keep skippers with varying degrees of experience sailing together. Join us on Sunday afternoons or Tuesday nights and try Laser sailing! Here is the Nyack Laser Fleet Schedule for this year; May 30
Laser Lagoon Regatta
July 4
Firecracker Regatta
Aug 27
Leukemia Cup One Design
July 30
Sept 5
Half Moon Regatta with our clubs Jr. Sailing Afterthought Regatta
All our Regattas are part of a one design competition for the Hudson River Yacht Racing Association (HRYRA) and we also have two Regattas at other clubs. Aug 6 Chelsea Yacht Club
Aug 20 Minnesceonga Yacht Club
Great South Bay Yacht Racing Association (aka GSBYRA) - http://www.gsbyra.org/schedule/july.htm
Ted Cremer - Fleet Captain tcremer@optonline.net
The GSBYRA fleet has Laser racing weekday nights at multiple venues on the bay throughout the summer. Narracketuck YC , Unqua YC, and the Dinghy Shop sail on essentially the same race area in the greater Amityville area. There is interclub team racing held throughout the summer and a three day “Race Week” held in late July. There is also a Thursday Series in Bellport, NY, On to the spring sailing news:
Sebago Canoe Club May 7th, 2011
A big Thank You!!! to the great folks at the Sebago Canoe Club. Tracy, Holly and Jim hosted a great regatta. Conditions were perfect, weather was warm, and we had really consistent breeze out of the west. In all, six races were held, all W & L’a (3 or 5 legs) and the racing was tight at the top. I want to thank Dave Trinder for hailing on that first crossing on race one - really woke me up, and forced me to keep my head out of the boat! Top 3 were Dave Trinder in third, and Cedar Point’s Mark Foster and I tied for first with a slight edge going my way with more firsts. Here is a link for photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/93843138@N00/sets/7215 7626681350792/ PRO Jim Lutton’s report is below:
I’d like to report on another successful Laser District 8 regatta held at Sebago on Saturday. We had seven boats, down from 10 last year, but very competitive none the less. Wind was forecast light from the west, going northwest, but it filled in smartly from the southwest and blew from 8 or so at the start, building to 12 to 13 with higher gusts by the finish. Perfect Laser conditions. We were able to set a pretty long course with a start line in the middle, off the west corner of the Pol, a windward mark across the channel over by Bergen Beach (near the mouth of the little salt pond), and a leeward mark down the channel the other way across from Canarsie Pier. We could just see the buoys at either end from the committee boat. Thanks also to Sebago, and the board of directors for their continued support!
And thanks, too, to everyone who raced. From our club were Tracy Kornrich, Holly Sears, Justin Steil, and David Cripton. Dave Trinder came from Seawanhaka Yacht Club, Ted Cremer from Sayville Yacht Club, and Mark Foster from Cedar Point Yacht Club.
3rd- Dave Trinder 4th- Justin Steil 5th- David Cripton 6th- Holly Sears 7th- Tracy Kornrich
Seawanhaka Spring Fling Regatta, 5/21/11 Well, if the world’s coming to an end anyway, you may as well go racing! Seven sailors arrived at the club to find no wind. Not a problem, intrepid race committee John Mooney picked up the boats in tow and dragged us all out to the mouth of Cold Spring Harbor, where there was a bit of breeze. Lindsay, always fast, got there under his own sail power. There first two races were WL, downwind finish, sailed in very light air. Then a lull descended upon us, & we all figured we were done for the day. As we began to sail back to the club, a 7 knot breeze sprang up, giving us 5 more race, sailed WLW. During Race 5, a bunch of beautiful classic sailboats came through for a rendezvous. Unfortunately, most of them didn’t think too much of the Lasers racing in their path. Heading towards the finish line, I was covering David Trinder on port tack when we realized we wouldn’t be able to cross a NY 40 barreling along on starboard tack. We both tacked and went along just to leeward of him, but he was holding hard on the wind and was going to carry us right across the layline. David tacked first and ducked him, but since i was a bit further ahead, I had to make a really sharp duck to miss the NY 40. I wound up dead even with David, but just to windward, & was able to beat him to the line.
Here were the results: Matt Doherty -10 Lindsay Hewitt -11 David Trinder - 17 Bob Terry - 19 Bob Blanco - 28 Frank Seckler - 36 David Kruse - 39
Finally, It is with great appreciation that I get to acknowledge Mike Duran’s and Lynn Sexton’s hard work and excellent regatta planning.
The “East End Laser Series” is one of the great success stories in our district and rivals Cedar Point’s winter series in terms of overall registrants making it one of the most active series in the North East. We kick of at Bud’s on July 4th. That part of the bay is just great sailing and you expect 15 to 20 sailors there. Its just a great way to spend the 4th! The sailing there is so much fun and Bud Rogers is an excellent host! The 6th Annual East End Laser Series kicks off on July 4th and here is the schedule. Monday, July 4 – NBIBCLRA
District 9 Chas Williamson Ithaca, NY
Welcome to 2011 Sailors in D9! This season we have had some lovely regattas, all of which comprised enough wind for good action, and in two of them, we had several capsizes, mostly due to rusty sailing than really strong wind ! Our four main regattas have been Ithaca, Newport YC (Rochester), Willowbank, and Saratoga Lake yacht clubs.
ITHACA YC - 21 May 2010 Our first regatta started in sunshine and zephyrs, and for two races we struggled , but managed to get in two races, and then at last a nice breeze came in for the remaining three races. Chas Williamson managed to win the two calm races, followed by the Willowbankers Eric Magnusson and AJ Murphy. In the next race, Dave Filiberto, after his blistering start, came into view and led from start to finish, taking Race Three. A battle was developing between the two bankers Eric and AJ. In the nice semi-hiking fourth race, Dave kept up his strong performance with a second behind Chas. In the final race, Chas led, but was followed by AJ Murphy, and Joe Miller (of Ithaca). This was an irresistible race for Joe, as he kept in the hunt all the way round the two laps, and pipped Aj right on the finish line, for second place, and one of his best races ever! Well done Joe ! Chas won overall with 1-1-2-1-1, followed by Dave with 4-51-2-4. The rivalry between AJ and Eric was won on tie break by AJ! Once we got ashore, Joe Miller and Christen Bonacci brought in the pizza and beer, to end a marvellous day on the water. Many thanks to Steve Little for running the regatta like some military operation, with weeks of preparation and meetings. The final places were: 1. Chas Williamson; 2. Dave Filiberto; 3. AJ Murphy; 4. Eric Magnusson; 5. Clare Fewtrell; 6. Steve Leach; 7. Joe Miller of the Brothers; 8. Kenny Fourspring. NEWPORT YC (Rochester, NY) - 28 May 2011 This year the regatta was held in 8-20 knot winds, which were hugely fluky, as the wind clocked round from Southerly to Northerly. Sailing was inside Irondequoit Bay, and so matters were worse. Even Mark Sertl capsized in one race, as did Chas Williamson, Dan Fien and basically everyone in the fleet. The results were influenced by Dan’s OCS, pulling him down to third, after Mark Sertl and Chas. Mark is an absolute master, and very competitive. And it was great to see Dan Fien back on the water after several years. Many thanks to the PRO and to Kenny Fourspring. Well done also to Chris Wilson and Steve Leach for consistency in these regattas. The final places were: 1. Mark Sertl; 2. Chas Williamson; 3. Dan Fien; 4. Chris Wilson; 5. Steve Leach; 6. John Boettcher; 7. David Maier; 8. Kenny Fourspring; 9. Handel; 10. Dan Lawless; 11. Strong.
Saturday, July 9 – Old Cove YC
Saturday, July 16 – Shelter Island YC Saturday, July 23 – Breakwater YC
Saturday, July 30 – 1st Around Shelter Island Race Saturday, August 6 – Southampton YC
Saturday, August 13 – Devon YC
Saturday, August 20 – Westhampton YS
Saturday, August 27 – Southold YC
See everyone on the water!!!
Here are the results1st- Ted Cremer 2nd- Mark Foster (in a tie breaker with Ted)
www.Laser.org
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WILLOWBANK YC - 4 June 2011Willowbank was far different from last year’s hooligan wind. This year, we had some shifty wind (with some Westerly in it), but maximum of 15 knots. We tried a new course with downwind finish, which the committee were using as an experiment for Centrals. Finishes were at times quite inconsistent, but Chas managed 1-2-1-2-1 to finish first, followed by the ever fast and steady Peter Bushnell (23-3-10-3), pipping Luke Miller into third. Luke had two firsts and some nice speed, but was inconsistent, with his 5-1-6-1-5 score. AJ was fourth ahead of Campbell Woods who turned up from the Dinghy Shop with irresistible gear, causing my bank balance to diminish. This time AJ got Eric Magnusson handily. In essence, some sailors found the conditions difficult, caused by the usual culprit - the westerly blowing across the lake. Dave Filiberto struggled uncharacteristically, and so he needs to practice more with me at Ithaca - Doctor’s orders. Thanks so much to Peter Bushnell for the awards - Those glasses are beautiful. The final places were: 1. Chas Williamson; 2. Peter Bushnell; 3. Lucky Luke Miller; 4. AJ Murphy; 5. Campbell Woods; 6. Steve Leach; 7. Eric Magnusson; 8. Joe Miller; 9. PaulMartellock; 10. Dave Filiberto; 11. Mike Mueller. SARATOGA DERBY REGATTA - SLSC - 11 June 2010. “This year’s Saratoga regatta was run in solid rain the whole day, but it actually was excellent fun, with light to moderate very shifty winds“. I wrote that last year and this year it was precisely the same. Even the first two places in the regatta were the same. All 7 hours of driving were in driving rain, though I was able to hear the Sail For Gold regatta results on live BBC as I drove so that was actually quite fun.
Big Al Miller wrote an email to me summarising the regatta, as follows: “If we let the weather deter us from doing the things we wanted to do, we never would do anything. Looking at the weather Saturday morning would certainly discourage any sailor from getting out of a nice warm bed and going sailing in a cold downpour. Maybe that is why at 0830 there was only one competitor at the club for the Laser Regatta. The weather did not improve very quickly but people started showing up including some who drove through the rain including Chas Williamson from Ithaca , Chris and dad Bill Wilson and Aaron Holland from Seneca, Andy Hudson and Erick Beck from Nyack. Combined with the SLSC Laser sailors, we had 14 competitors who sailed four very shifty races in the rain and mist. It turned out really fun thanks to a great race committee of Jerry Burr, Jim Benson, Fred Barker, Devon Howe and Mike Hall. Paul Waterfield was the, on the water, photographer who got some great shots of each competitor that were framed by Dave Burtis for the trophies. Thanks also to Maggie Lock, our registrar and shore staff who made sure everything on shore went smoothly,. Thanks also to our fleet captain, Barbara Brown, who worked behind the scenes to get everything organized. The racing turned out to be challenging and fun to read the shifts and try to stay on the favored side of the course. This was executed nearly flawlessly by Dan Hesse who won the regatta with three firsts and a second. Chas Williamson who always sails really well was second with a first, 2 seconds and a third. Our Sailing Instructor for this season, Scott Meyer, was third. In fourth place and first Master was me. The rest of the field was Aaron Holland 5th, James Nichol 6th and second Master, Michael Kitner 7th (he sails boat #7 too), Chris Wilson 8th and first Junior, Dave Burtis 9th, Matt Beck 10th, Erick Beck 11th, Andy Hudson 12th, Bill Wilson 13th and Steven Olsen 14th. Despite a grey day, we had a great time sailing”. written by Allan Miller! Thanks Big Al for putting this event together!
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District 10 Eric Reitinger New Jersey
The District 10 spring series was in full swing starting at the end of April at Marsh Creek for the 30th. Breeze
was on making the conditions challenging for the fleet of 15 full rigs. Over the 6 race series Peter Madonna (Marsh Creek SC) took the series with Steve Ward (Cape May Corinthan YC) second and Mike Mays (Marsh Creek SC) third.
The next leg was 2 weeks later at Monmouth. Competition was close in the small fleet of 8. Had Brick (Island Heights) snuck ahead of Dan Vought (Monmouth Boat Club) and Peter Hurley to win the series of 6 races.
That same weekend 3 D10 sailors made the trek down to Fishing Bay Yacht Club in Deltaville VA for the District 11 champs which was also the Area C qualifier for US Sailing’s O’Day Championship. FBYC welcomed us with great wind the first day and decent weather. First day had 12-18mph winds which gave us 5 races in a fleet of 25 full rigs. We were treated to a wonder catered dinner by FBYC’s own Alain Vincey on Saturday night. Sunday the wind was lighter but we were still able to get in 3 races. John MacCausland (Cooper River) had no race out of the top 5 to win the event and will represent Area C. Eric Reitinger (Brant Beach YC) was 2nd and Mike Hecky (Riverton YC) was 6th.
Another weekend off brings us to Lavallette for a one day regatta on Memorial Day weekend. The sea breeze was in full force at this regatta letting everyone stretch their legs for 5 races. The PRO, who ran her first regatta ever (and did a great job!!), set 3 or 5 leg windward leeward courses. Eric Reitinger won the fleet of 9 full rigs with Ryan Bailey (Island Heights YC) in 2nd and Joe Paggi (Ocean Gate YC) in 3rd. There were 4 radials and Dylan Foreiep (Toms River YC) taking the win with Mac Feaster (Island Heights YC) in 2nd, Kayla Ellis (Brant Beach YC) in 3rd and her brother Jake in 4th.
The following weekend the 40th annual Jack Elfman Orange Coffee Pot was held at Surf City. The wind was light and the wind just wouldn’t settle down. We started with a north westerly and it slowly clocked to the south east only to go back to the north west since the conditions weren’t right for the sea breeze to stick around. Over the 6 races, racing was tight but Had Brick (Island Heights YC) stayed ahead of the pack to win the regatta with Mike Russom (Greater Wildwood YC) and Christian Henkel close on his tail. Between 2nd and 6th
was only 6 points. The series consisted of 6 races with no throw outs. Anthony Pacheco (Surf City YC) was top radial.
Following the OCP was the District 10 champs held at Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club. 16 radials and 20 full rigs arrived to a cloudy but cooler weekend than the heat wave during the week. Wind was puffy and shifty ranging from NE to ESE and from 5 to 10 mph. Ryan Bailey defended his title after beating Joe Paggi to break the tiebreaker going into the last race. Mike Russom sailed fast as well finishing third. Those three sailed very consistently, creating a gap between them and the rest of the fleet. Mike Hecky finished as first master. Hopefully by the time this is printed BBYC will have hosted the North Americans in the middle of July. The summer usually is full of club racing or adults using their other boats, but there is still plenty of Laser sailing around. The Jrs have regattas all throughout the summer. MAYRA hosts their events every Sunday at different clubs in their area. Check out http://www.mayra.org for the schedule. LBIYRA hosts Jr. events every
Wednesday starting in July. Check out http://www.lbiyra.org for that schedule. BBYRA does their Jr events on Wednesdays and/or Thursdays, http://www.bbyra.org As for all the JR regattas here’s what’s available:
June 30th Feed the Need Regatta @ Pine Beach YC July 1st Jr. Commodore’s Regatta @ Surf City YC
July 7th Iron Man Regatta @ Shore Acres YC (boys only) July 8th Powder Puff Regatta @ Metedeconk YC (girls only but SOLD OUT) July 15th Beachwood Blast @ Beachwood YC
July 16th Area C Smythe Qualifiers @ Shrewsbury Sailing and YC (Radials) July 18th Jr Team Race @ Lavallette YC
July 25-26th US Sailing Mid Atlantic Jr Olympic Regatta @ Island Heights YC August 5th Summer Sailing Classic @ Ocean Gate YC August 9th Jr. Regatta @ Bay Head YC August 24th Jr. Regatta @ Shrewsbury Sailing and YC August 27th Jr. Annual Regatta @ Surf City YC
District 11 Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, DC, West Virginia Jon Deutsch http://laserdistrict11.org
Our 2011 Spring/Summer season has gotten off to a great start with District 11 sailors participating in a number of events both at home and away. We’ve still got some marquee events to be held this summer such as the Corsica River Annual Regatta (7/23-24), FBYC Annual Regatta (8/13-14), SMSA’s 2-day regatta (9/1718) which should be a big hit this year and SSA’s Crab Claw Regatta 9/24-25. Our season will finish up with the Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters October 15-16 (30th Annual!!!) Recapping some results from the Spring:
The (snow-capped) Capital City Regatta at PRSA in Washington DC saw 17 boats for some frigid sailing after a little snow fell before the second day of racing. Ray Wulff (AYC) took the title followed by James Jacob (FBYC) and Steve Yelland (PRSA).
Hampton Roads Laser Fleet finished up the 13th week of Frostbite Sailing at the beginning of August. Mike Moore was the overall series leader with Robert Suhay and Glenn Atherton just behind.
SSA’s Sunshine Open was a blow-out on Saturday with the Thomas Point light house clocking winds well into the 60’s. This was the same evening tornados ripped through NC and VA with one passing within 3/4 of a mile of FBYC in Deltaville while over 100 people were at the club for an offshore event, thankfully nobody was hurt. The wind abated on Sunday and a dozen boats made it out for a windy 4 races. In the Standard Rig James Jacob (FBYC) beat out John MacCausland (Cooper River YC) for first. Luke Shingledecker (SSA) rounded out the top 3. In the Radials it was Dave Sliom (SSA), John Gebhardt (SSA) and Steven Cofer (SSA).
District 11 was well represented and well-threaded at the Laser Atlantic Coast Championship. Each of the District 11 sailors were wearing matching pinnies making us look like a team. Mike Schmidt (MRSA) was the top finishing D11 sailor in the Standard Rig fleet while Jacques Kerrest was the top finisher from D11 in the Radial Fleet. Our District 11 Championship was sailed at Fishing Bay Yacht Club in May with a 36-boat fleet. We had perfect
SUMMER 2011
wind aroudn 12-15 both days and mostly sunny skies. Our New Jersey neighbors put on a good showing taking the top 2 spots in the Standard Fleet. While the Radial Fleet was an all-D11 affair. John MacCausland and Dorian Haldeman were the top man and women each winning the right to represent Area C in the US Sailing Singlehanded Championship in Oregon in July. STANDARD 1. John MacCausland (Cooper River YC) 2. Eric Reitinger (BBYC) 3. Luke Shingledecker (SSA) 4. James Jacob (SSA) 5. David Tunnicliffe (NCYC) RADIAL 1. Matthew Schofield (AYC) 2. Austin Powers (FBYC) 3. Ben Buhl (FBYC) 4. James McKenna (SSA) 5. Dorian Haldeman (SSA)
Portsmouth Boat Club on the Western Branch of the Elizabeth River in the Tidewater area of Virginia hosted their annual Merrimac Memorial Regatta. In the Laser Class Robert Suhay finished 1st followd by Michael Austin and Tessa Nelson. Potomac River Sailing Association had a nice breeze to start the day for their Spring Regatta. Erich Hesse (PRSA) put up a solid string of bullets to win the regatta. Justin Pollack (PRSA) finished 2nd while Len Guenther (FBYC) finished 3rd in teh 16-boat fleet.
District 14
4 - 171628 - Ken Swetka - CSYC - 2 - 7 - 3 - 5 - 7 - -9 - 24
5 - 161082 - Brady Savage - CSYC - 5 - 5 - -8 - 6 - 3 - 6 - 25
Cal Callender
6 - 137086 - Craig Pearson - BBC - 7 - 1 - 6 - -8 - 8 - 4 - 26
New Orleans
District 14 is HOT and rolling along. With 3 of 7 Circuit Regatta’s complete in District 14, please find below the remaining Circuit Schedule:
Gulf Yachting Assn. Laser Radial Circuit July 2-3
US Sailing Jr. Olympic Fest
August 13-14 GYA Laser - Galloway September 10-11
September 24-25
Back to School Wadewitz
GYA Laser Full Rig Circuit
Pensacola YC
7 - 170757 - Susie Pegel - LGYC - 11 - 10 - 4 - 1 - 5 - 8 - 28
8 - 180079 - Leigh Savage - CSYC - 9 - 4 - 5 - 9 - 4 - 7 - 29
9 - 198420 - JP Mull - CLYC - 6 - -11 - 7 - 7 - 9 - 5 - 34 10 - 165966- Ken Griswold -MYC -10-8- 9 - 10 - 10 - 10 - 47 11-165907-BruceHansen-SLYC-8-9-10-DNF-DNS-DNS-51
Gulfport YC
Pontchartrain YC Fairhope YC
July 9-10 Meigs Regatta Fort Walton YCAugust 13-14 GYA Laser - Galloway Gulfport YC September 24-25 November 13-14
District 19 Ken Swetka Michigan
Wadewitz
Jubilee Regatta
Fairhope YC
Pensacola YC
Photo by Ralph Deeds: EJ O’Mara accepting the award
Photo by Ralph Deeds: Grace Pytell with the Area E trophy and medal
Fishing Bay Yacht Club hosted their Spring Regatta at the beginning of June in some lighter winds on an otherwise nice day. 6 races were sailed with Dan Herlihy taking the day followed by Jon Deutsch (FBYC) and Len Guenther (FBYC)
After years of searching we figured out who the 1988 District 11 Champion was - Nicky Anderson. If you know who won in 77-80, 83,90-93 I’d love to hear from you (jon@laserdistrict11.org) so we can get the names engraved on the trophy.
Be sure to check out our website http://laserdistrict11.org for more results, pictures, video and the schedule of all of the upcoming regattas this summer and fall in District 11. See you on the water soon! District 13 Antolin Rivera Florida
The biggest news is that our new District 13 web page is up and running. You can find us at http://www.laserdistrict13.org/ as most web pages, some tweaking will be necessary before we set everything in stone but the overall comments received by the web master have been very positive. Our area Laser regattas continue to develop. On the West side, we have already run 2 SunCoast Laser Series Regattas and soon enough we will have the third issue in the facilitates of the Clearwater Community Center. Now that the web page is functional, our next aim is to reach to all Laser sailing pockets across the State so that we can develop a global view of our D13. All Laser sailors in Florida should know of all the many different Laser sailing venues and the activities that all area clubs and sailing centers are conducting all year long. Another piece of good news is that two of our SunCoast-DIYC Laser fleet sailors have brought glory to our shores. Competing in the Laser Master North American Championship in Fort Walton, Buzzy Heausler finished 3rd overall and 1st in the Grand
Master division. John Paulson came in 7th overall and 1st in the Apprentice Master division!! Well done sailors!!
www.Laser.org
Radial Rig Results Photo by Ralph Deeds: Roman Plutenko on Sunday of D19 Championships
A few regattas including the D19 Championships have been completed and more on the way! Here are the reports:
June 11-12 D19 Championships / O’Day Area E Qualifiers - Crescent Sail YC, Grosse Pointe, MI - Ken Swetka
On Saturday a big low pressure was directly overhead so we watched the freighters go by in the fog for a couple hours. By about 2:30 some wind filled in and we were able to get a couple light air (5-7 KT) races done and were off the water by 5:00 pm. That was in time to get cleaned up and enjoy some of Joyce’s fine cooking. Some teams opted to stay on big boats in the harbor instead.
Sunday brought much better winds but cooler temperatures. The wind direction was NW and because the land was heating up some and the water was still cool it made for some shifty conditions. Wind velocity ranged from 15 kts to 10 kts and shifts were 30 degrees. It made for a some challenging conditions but EJ O’Mara of the Standard rig fleet and Grace Pytell of the Radial fleet managed just fine. Standard Rig Results
1 - 196162 - EJ O’Mara - LFSC - 4 - 2 - DNS - 2 - 1 - 1 - 10
2 - 196157 - Roman Plutenko - CYC - 3 - -6 - 1 - 4 - 2 - 2 - 12
3 - 196120 - Thomas LaBelle - LCYC - 1 - 3 - 2 - 3 - -6 - 3 - 12
Pl - Sail # - Skipper - From
-1-2-3-4-5-T
1 - 176019 - Grace Pytell - CSYC - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 5 2 - 181237 - David Griswold - MYC - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 10
3 - 183905 - Meghan Walter - NCYC - 3 - 3 - 3 -DNS-DNS-17 May 14 Grand Traverse Yacht Club Spring Regatta - Story Submitted by Tom Babel
The GTYC Spring Laser Regatta was held on West Grand Traverse Bay on May 14, 2011. Nine skippers were greeted with cold air/water temps, 12-18 Northerly wind and a driving rain. Perfect spring Laser Racing conditions in Traverse City. Jordon Owen RC/PRO) scheduled a 5 race/no throw out series. Ultimately, four races were sailed as the series was cut short due to thermal issues. A dry suit was the order of the day. The four legged, relatively short courses lead to some very close racing. First at the weather mark was often decided by the right of way vessel.
Than Dykstra GTYC) was very consistent, sailed strong in all four races and had no big mistakes. He posted finishes of 2,1,1,1 to win the series. Than is a past GTYC Fleet Champion and demonstrated that form to convincingly win this regatta. It was a tight race for second place. Jamie Stuursma and Patrick Gerber tied on 13 points. Jamie won the tiebreaker with a 1st in race one leaving Patrick with the bronze for the day. Both skippers sailed hard in the northerly breeze and waves. Jamie came back from an OCS in race two, and later a collision with Pete
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Comfort, to show a true test of survival.
Four Jr Sailors Participated. Pete Kirby-Miller was the top Jr in sixth place over-all. Elle Rivard was the top female in 7th. Fourteen year old Colton Gerber sailed very well all day, with no hat and no capsizes. Nicely done Colton. Racers were treated to some warm chili dogs from WARES FROSTY TREAT at the completion of racing. Special thanks to Jim Sorbie and crew of the safety boat. Results:
1.T. Dykstra 2.J. Stuursma 3.P, Gerber 4.G. Stauber 5.P. Comfort 6.P.Kirby-Miller 7.E. Rivard 8.M. Lyons 9.C. Gerber
5 points 13 13 16 19 22 Top Jr 28 Top Female/Radial 33 33
May 28 Gull Lake Spring Regatta – Gull Lake Yacht Club – Submitted by Chad Coberly
Another Grey threatening day greeted 14 Lasers on May 28 on Gull Lake- but that would not deter a great afternoon of tight racing! 5 races were held and the rain held off until the boats were in the drysail lot and the bride on the beach at the YC was married!) While several boats took their turn at the top the series came down to the last race between Chad Coberly and JP Del Solar with JP hunting Chad down on the starting line like it was the Americas Cup to take the win and put the required boats in between to take the series! A few boats went swimming and one boat nearly sank.. I won’t mention whom.. in the erratic 5-15 knot breeze. The event was wrapped up with a mini clinic by JP describing his boat set up and his technique-Thanks JP! Hopefully next year will bring better weather and we can get more folks going in the Spring! Pl Fl HelmName -
Club
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Total
1st LF - Goldsmith, J.P.D.S - MBYC 2 - 1 - 1 - 5 - 1 - 10
2nd LF - Coberly, Chad - GLYC 3rd LF - Pearson, Craig - BBC
1 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 4 - 11
3 - 2 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 14
4th LF - Miller, Curt - GRYC - 7 - 6 - 3 - 2 - 3 - 21 5th LF - Mull J.P. – CLYC
- 9 - 8 - 5 - 4 - 5 - 31
6th LF - Young, Charlie - GLYC - 6 - 4 - 7 - 10 - 7 - 34
7th LF - Griswold, Ken - MYC - 10 - 7 - 9 - 7 - 6 - 39 8th LF - Babel, Bill - GRYC - - 12 - 5 - 6 - 9 - 8 - 40
9th LF - Ulbrich, Eric – GLYC - 5 - 13 - 10 - 6 - 9 - 43 10th LF - Stefanski, Al – GLYC - 8 - 10 - 11 - 8 - DNS- 52 11th LF - Flook, Mac – GLYC - 11 - 12 - 8 - 11 - 10 - 52
12th LF-LaBelle,Tom–LCYC-4-9-DNS-DNS-DNS-58
August 27 Lake Lansing Annual Regatta – Doug Carlson Sept 24 No Sweat Regatta - Portage Yacht Club
Oct 1 Frosty Mug Regatta - Irish Laser Fleet, Little Traverse Bay, Harbor Springs Oct 2 UMSC Fall Regatta - Baseline Lake, Ann Arbor
Next up for the gray hair types is the US Masters Champs at Macatawa Bay Yacht Club on the other shore of Lake Michigan July 29-31. For the young guns, get out and support your local club weeknight racing. Milwaukee had 20 boats on the line last Tuesday.
Oct 15 Pumpkin Head Regatta - Grand Rapids Yacht Club Nov 25 Black Friday Regatta - Mid-Michigan Laser Fleet
See you out on the water
District 21 Kurt Holtze Minnesota
District 20 Steve Dolan Wisconsin sdolan@wi.rr.com 262-506-8879
shore side postponement allows for the sea breeze to develop leading to a 15-22 knots southeaster with 2-3 foot seas. Roman Plutenko 196157 takes all bullets in the 4 race event. Matt Woodworth 168196 was the runner up taking all seconds. Half the fleet retired after the third race and everyone decided to continue on the run and sail home downwind rather than complete the last beat in race 5 regatta making that the discard for all.
Spring maybe. More like winter. Still hoping those warm afternoons will make it here before Day Light Savings Time begins again. Despite the low temps and big air, some of the perennial D20 events have been able to roll along. Here’s how they went: May 14 & 15: Vlad Kobal abandoned due to high winds and cold temps May 21-22 Pewaukee Icebreaker. Nine boats attended. Roman Plutenko 196157 cleans up with 6 bullets in the 8 race event. Dave Abbott 187771 and Steve Dolan 198003 follow in second and third place respectively. Alec Bischoff takes the radial fleet. May 30 MYC Memorial Day Regatta. 16 boats sailing on the big lake (Lake Michigan). A timely one hour
D21 is in full bloom. We have lots of weekly racing going on. Weather hasn’t been great. Hopefully by the time you’re reading this, we will have already had great winds and temps every day we race. One can only wish right? We have had one regatta this year. Actually, it was two regattas in one. “The Heckl Memorial” and the Area K Qualifier were held at White Bear Yacht Club. Turn out was low with only 16 lasers. The weather did not help. If I remember correctly, we had a high temperature of 46. The sun finally came out on Sunday 2 hours after wards finished racing. The wind on the other hand was great. Big puffy breeze on Saturday 12 to 18 with gusts over 25. You had to hold on tight because you never really knew how strong the next shot was. Sunday was
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For an up to date schedule and reports go to www.d19laser.org. 2011 D19 Schedule
July 16-17 Lake Leland Annual Regatta – Leland Yacht Club July 29-31 Laser Masters US Championships – Macatawa Bay Yacht Club
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SUMMER 2011
stronger without the big puffs. Probably 18 to 22. It was still fun with some great rides. We split the 7 radials and 9 full rigs. In the Radial division, Anders Ekholm was 5th, Griffin Strayk was 4th, and Will Crary was 3rd. With 14 points, Giffin Robillard was 2nd, and with 12 points, Eddie Cox was 1st. Way to go Eddie! It was very cool seeing such a good group of radials. I think it was the first time in D21 that we were able to have a separate start for radial. We would love to do more if the turnout continues. In the Full rigs, we had Erik Ahlquist in 5th, Mike Schmid in fourth, and Bruce Martinson in 3rd. Lars Hansen made a small mistake which we will not discuss too much except to say it is true that he is human and can make a mistake. He missed 1st by just one point. I was the one who lucked out and beat Lars by a mere point. Personally I feel a little small for the Gorge so he will be representing us at the Gorge for the US Singlehanded Champs. Good luck and represent D21 well. Please check us out at http://d21.laserforum.org/index.html or on Facebook at our District 21 Laser Fleet Group. We have Events a list of weeknight venues posted at each site. We always welcome other laser sailors from afar. If you don’t have a boat with you, we can probably find you one. We work to get more lasers on the line. So if you’re in town, send us a message, and we will get you out for our next laser start. Sail Often
District 22 Mike Gilbert Montana
Hi Ho from green Montana!
A brief report on Laser activity over here in Eastern District 22:
We’ve had a long cold wet spring here Our rivers are wild and overflowing, and our lakes are cold. The peaks are all still covered with snow and the snowpack has just begun to melt - sorry South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, etc!
Skipper Tim Sauer has organized both youth sailing classes and adult sailing / racing on a small lake in Billings, MT. He furnishes most of the boats himself and has built a small fleet with all upgraded rigging supplied by SailMontana.com. Youth classes are Saturday mornings and there are many up and coming racers emerging. Adult sailing / racing / training sessions are held Thursday evenings.
The Annual Whitefish Lake Regatta will be held July 16-17 at the foot of The Big Mountain ski resort in NW Montana. Very informal racing, lot’s of fun and food, beginners are welcome and encouraged. The event will benefit The Whitefish Lake Institute (http://www.whitefishlake.org/), a non-profit, water quality science and education organization. Registration Fee is only $25. Contact Peter Aronsson for entry form and information: (aronsson@centurytel.net).
The Flathead Lake Laser Championship will be held August 19-21 at the North Flathead YC in Somers, MT. This was formerly the District 22 Championship before the recent district restructuring. The event will be run just as it has been and we encourage local, regional, and distant vacationing sailors to consider a trip to the spectacular Flathead valley and the cleanest big lake in the world. 30 miles long, 15 miles across, surrounded by mountain ranges, and 45 miles from Glacier National Park - It’s worth the trip, and the racing is great as well! Contact Tim Sauer of the NFYC: (tjasauer@msn.com).
www.Laser.org
District 23 Nick Ondrejka Utah
The Park City Sailing Association has continued to grow in its fourth year of existence with nearly ten new members finding Lasers in the local and surrounding areas. The first night of racing on June 7th saw 16 boats make it to the line and the Summer average is expected to be around 25-30. That growth for the Tuesday Night Racing series and the Junior Program which plans to offer sailing lessons to kids up to age 18 by next year, means continued growth with the Laser community as they’re on a constant search for boats. The PCSA is most excited, however, at being selected the host of the 2011 No Coast Championships which they plan to host with the District 23s on the weekend of September 2425, 2011. Check in with the fleet at www.sailparkcity.org for the 2011 No Coasts NOR and Registration information.
Kyle Larson, 4) Joe Carter, 5) Calum Finlayson (9 Boats) Radials: 1) Peter Seidenberg, 2) David LaPier, 3) Drake Jensen, 4) Walt Spevak, 5) Mark Halman (20 Boats) Full Rigs: 1) Al Clark, 2) Kevin Taugher, 3) Scott Ferguson, 4) Vilhelm Roberts, 5) Peter Vessella (25 Boats)
Commodore’s Cup – Half Moon Bay YC We raced inside the harbor at Half Moon Bay over a weekend of bright sunshine; with smooth water and huge puffs off the hills on Saturday, then light winds and big shifts on Sunday. All the competitors were glad to be invited to participate at this unique venue. An airshow was going on at the local airport, vintage planes passing low overhead provided extra entertainment. Jon Andron, who happens to be a jet pilot, sailed very well but an OCS with no throw-out hurt him in the final tally. Christy Usher was the first radial. Results: 1) Tracy Usher, 2) Jon Andron, 3) David LaPier. (10 Boats) Monterey Fleet Championship – Monterey Peninsula YC
The Colorado Laser Championships will be held at the Grand Lake Yacht Club in late August. More informa-
Everybody should sail at Tracy Usher’s boyhood home at least once, or preferably once a year. It is a really beautiful place. Conditions were somewhat unique this time with a light southerly breeze coming directly off the shore. It was hard to be consistent, but Dominic Bove was able to show us all how it was done. Christy was first Radial again. Results: 1) Dominic Bove, 2) Mark Halman, 3) Tracy Usher (11 Boats)
Laser sailors enjoyed an active spring season of racing across the entire rich geography of Northern California. We sailed in sunshine, battled fog and wind; slept under pines, chased whales, skied and sailed. So far it is a great year to be sailing a Laser.
District 25 Jorge Suarez SoCal
The Denver Sailing Association races on Thursdays at 6pm at Cherry Creek State Park. They have a Lobster Fest & Beach Party scheduled for July 9th. In their most recent Thursday race on June 9th, they had seven Lasers on the line. For more information, see their website at www.denversailing.org/.
District 24 NorCal David LaPier
Laser NorCal Championship– Santa Cruz The spring season gets going in April with the our O’Day qualifier at Santa Cruz Yacht Club. Saturday skies were somewhat unsettled. A large grey whale spent a fair amount of the day watching us from the middle of the race course, which was exciting. Sunday was light and sunny. Results — Full-Rig. 1) Steve Bourdow; 2) Peter Phelan; 3) Ben Leibowitz; 4) Tracy Usher; 5) Dominic Bove (15 Boats) Radials: 1) Mark Halman; 2) Chris Boome; 3) Christine Neville (11 Boats) Big Dinghy — Richmond YC The Big Dinghy regatta is a fun event attracting a many different fleets. Lasers always well represented, along with El Toro’s, the signature Richmond YC class. Results: 1) Simon Bell, 2) Roger Herbst; 3) Hendrik Bruhns (7 Boats)
Ski-Sail – Tahoe YC Only in California can you have an event with one day of sailing and one day of skiing – with the winner represented by the combined score. Stan Eriksson is our most accomplished combined ski-sailer, with Nick Pullen first in sailing, and Justin Roach first in skiing. Combined Ski-Sail Results: 1) Stan Eriksson; 2) Rick Raduziner; 3) Justin Roach (15 competitors) Elvstrom Regatta – St Francis YC Top competitors that came to the St Francis to prepare for the 4.7 and Masters Worlds saw the bay approach its most extreme conditions. Racing was demanding as big winds and a huge opposing tide created waves shaped like moving Jersey barriers. Results: 4.7’s: 1) Lola Bushnell, 2) Alexander Fritz, 3)
Whiskeytown Regatta The Whiskeytown Regatta, set among the redwoods, is a Memorial Day weekend classic. Results: Tim Sullivan, 2) Bruce Braly, 3) Jim Christopher (6 Boats).
Racing has accelerated in SoCal at a tremendous pace! With Grand Prix Points at stake and ISAF Grade 2 event, the Laser Midwinters West was held in Marina del Rey on March 25-27. 46 Standard rigs and 57 Radials Canada, Mexico, and as far away as Montana competed is a variety of conditions over three days of great racing and hospitality from Cal Yacht Club. I know it has happened before, but I do not recall the last time a brother and sister won their respective classes at the same event! Here are the top finishers: Standards Ricardo Montemayor – Mexico D.F. Olin Paine – MBYC Greg Martinez Radials Natalia Montemayor –Mexico D.F. Annie Rossi – Oxnard, CA Chris Vilicich More Racing! Cal Masters Champs held at Mission Bay Yacht Club where Doug Hart continues his dominance of the event. Alamitos Bay Yacht Club’s Memorial Day Regatta was won quite convincingly by Vann Wilson, who dropped a (1) against 18 other full rigs. Sky Adams from Santa Barbara Yacht Club won the Radials as well as the U.S. Sailing Single Handed Area J Qualifier. The Men’s Area J qualifier was held a couple of weeks before at ABYC where Dave Leuck from MBYC won by only dropping a (4). No slowing down in this summer as the breeze increases along with the temperature! More preparations will be had by all Laser Sailors as the 4.7 Worlds (July 26- August 2) and the Masters’ Worlds (August 513) will be held at St. Francis Yacht Club as well as the Laser U.S. Championships (August 3-7) at Cal Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey! No time to rest! Get to the gym! Hike hard and sail fast!
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