Laser Winter 2016 by Jerelyn Biehl

WINTER 2016 6 continents, 122 countries - the biggest adult and youth racing class in the world

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WINTER 2016

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 PO Box 25542 London, ON N6C 6BC

Editors

Sherri Campbell & Jerelyn Biehl ILCA-NA

WINTER 2016

District Contacts .....................................................................................................6 President’s Report....................................................................................................8 One-of-a-Kind: Christine Neville......................................................................10 10 Tips to Becomeing a Better Laser Sailor....................................................12 CrossFit Programming with Laser Sailing.......................................................16 Regatta Reports Peter Shope wins Fat Boyz....................................................................18 HS Singlehanded Championships........................................................19

Ofﬁcers

ICSA LP Men’s Championship............................................................20

Andy Roy Chairman 15 Claudette Court Peterborough, ON K9J 7Y7 Canada 705-750-0189 aroy187740@gmail.com

ICSA LP Women’s Championship.......................................................21

Meka Taulbee Vice Chairman Dunedin, FL USA 727-631-7005 meka@sailﬁt.com Eric Reitinger Treasurer 7908 Normandy Drive Mt Laurel, NJ 08054 609-206-2973 er4599@gmail.com

District Reports......................................................................................................22 Laser World Insert .........................................................................................center 2016 Event Schedule.............................................................................................25 Why Join the Laser Class?...................................................................................32 Membership Applications....................................................................................33

John Long Secretary 4707 Sierra Madre Road Santa Barbara, CA 93110 805-705-1435 jlonginsb@yahoo.com Al Clark Member at Large 337 E 6th North Vancouver, BC V7L1P7 604-988-4799 al.clark@shaw.ca Sherri Campbell Executive Secretary 2812 Canon Street San Diego, CA 92106 USA phone: 619-222-0252 fax: 619-222-0528 sherri@odmsail.com

www.Laser.org

WINTER 2016 6 continents, 122 countries - the biggest adult and youth racing class in the world

Evert McLaughlin (foreground) chases Robert Davis during a fall training session in Toronto, Canada. Photo by Canadian Sailing Team Laser coach Steve Mitchell.

NEWFOUNDLAND

6 BRITISH COLUMBIA

ALBERTA

SASKATCHEWAN

QUEBEC

MANITOBA

NORTH DAKOTA

VERMONT

MINNESOTA

WISCONSIN

SOUTH DAKOTA

IDAHO

WYOMING

IOWA

NEBRASKA

NEVADA

KANSAS

23 25

ILLINOIS

COLORADO

OKLAHOMA

ARIZONA

MISSOURI

MASSACHUSETTS RHODE ISLAND CONNECTICUT

NEW JERSEY

MARYLAND

NORTH CAROLINA

SOUTH CAROLINA

TEXAS

NEW HAMPSHIRE

VIRGINIA KENTUCKY

NEW MEXICO

7 7

NOVA SCOTIA

DELAWARE WEST VIRGINIA

TENNESSEE

ARKANSAS

LOUISIANA

PENNSYLVANIA

OHIO INDIANA

UTAH

CALIFORNIA

NEW 9 YORK

MICHIGAN

MAINE

MONTANA

OREGON

HAWAII

WASHINGTON

NEW BRUNSWICK

ONTARIO

14 ALABAMA MISSISSIPPI

GEORGIA

TIME ZONE

PUERTO RICO AND THE CARIBBEAN

FLORIDA

District 1

District 9

District 18

District 2

District 10

District 19

Danielle Dube, 8 Sunnydale Dr Glen Haven, NS B3Z 2T8 902-823-2802, danielle_dube947@hotmail.com Philippe Dormoy, 385 Place Desmarest, Ile Bizard, Quebec, H9C 2G8 514-620-8124 Philippe_dormoy@steris.com

District 3

Nigel Heath 416-417-0193; nigel_heath@manulife.com D3 website: www.d3laser.com

District 4

Brigitte Smutney, Sail Manitoba; 409-145 Pacific Ave. Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2Z6 204-925-5647 sailing@sportmanitoba.ca www.sailmanitoba.com

District 5

Mark Lammens 510 Cynthia St. Saskatoon, SK S7K 7K7 306-975-0833, sasksail@sasktel.net 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.district6x.ca

Peter Bushnell Cazenovia, NY 13035 315-655-4671- peter.bushnell@carrier.utc.com Eric Reitinger 7908 Normandy Dr Mt. Laurel NJ 08054 Er4599@gmail.com http://d10.laserforum.org

District 11

Finn Hassing likwidhsd@embarqmail.com www.d12laserforum.org

Matthew Thompson D21.sec@gmail.com D21.laserforum.org

District 12

District 13

Michelle Davis laserbrain2@hotmail.com www.laser.org/m/_general/d13.asp

District 14

Britt Drake 850-252-3829 cbdrakelll@yahoo.com

District 15

District 8

Tim Fitzgerald, 2322 Bromfield Circle Wichita KS 67226, 316-650-3636 TIMFITZ875@gmail.com

District 20

Troy Tolan Springfield, IL Carlyle Sailing Assn. 312-971-0420, ttroytolan@comcast.net Facebook: Laserd20

District 7

Frank Seckler laserd8@gmail.com www.LaserD8.org

Ken Swetka 27022 Koerber St., St Claire Shores, MI 48081 248-635-5363 www.d19laser.org

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

Griffin Orr Griffin.orr@me.com https://groups.google.com/ forum/?fromgroups#!forum/txLaser/

Judith Krimski Laserd7@gmail.com

John Shockey 216-386-1920 johnrshockey@gmail.com

District 16

District 17

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

District 21

District 22

Kurt Hoehne, 524 N 67th St Seattle, WA 98103 206-335-8776 kurthoehne@gmail.com

District 23

Geoff Hurwitch Geoffh437@yahoo.com

District 24

Stephen Aguilar 1809 Brier Way, Carmichael, CA sailsteve55@gmail.com 916-968-3554

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

WINTER 2016

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President’s Report BY ANDY ROY I was finally able to attend my first ILCA World Council meeting this past October in Dallas. I was not able to go in past years, but the NA Class Association has been ably represented at the annual meeting by Al Clark. My take away from the meeting is that the ILCA is well managed and healthy, and that the annual meeting is well planned and organized, and I left impressed with the professionalism and spirit of cooperation amongst the WC members, including from the two Advisory Council members (i.e., representatives of LP and PSA). On the first day of the meeting the ILCA Chief Measurer, Clive Humphries, presented his report of inspections he performed earlier in the year at both Laser Performance’s plant in England and at PSA’s production facility in Australia. Clive takes precise weights and measurements on a large number of hulls, spars, and blades. What is interesting is just how close the hull weights, mast rakes and other various measurements are and taken over a large number of boats (chosen randomly), and also how minimal the variances are between the builders. This satisfied me that Lasers in both factories are being built in accordance with the specifications and construction manual and are essentially identical. Several minor rule change items were also discussed with a few that will be put forward for member voting, including a vote on allowing use of a digital compass. The major regatta schedule was presented and bids are needed for the Masters, Open and Radial Women Worlds for 2017. It sounds like the Adelaide, Australia bid was pulled back. The 2016 Worlds of course are all set for Mexico, and the lead up to the Olympic sailing events this summer will also be interesting to follow. The Miami Olympic Classes Regatta will be hotly contested amongst Olympic hopefuls, with Olympic selections to represent Canada and the US in both the Radial Women and Standard Men to be decided.

When I look back on 2015 for the Laser Class in North America, the highlights had to be the three successful World Championship hosted by CORK in Kingston. What I think really impressed sailors visiting Kingston for the ﬁrst time is how close the race courses were to shore, yet with challenging and fair racing. Thanks once again to all the CORK employees and volunteers for putting on World Championship events that made us proud here in North America. A few of the upcoming winter regattas should be interesting from the point of view that it will be the ﬁrst real test (and of course comparison) of the new Standard Mk II sail. It looks like the turnouts at these upcoming regattas will be excellent, and I just glanced at the list of entries for the Miami Orange Bowl regatta. The 4.7, Radial and Standard rig entry list is approaching the 175 cap limit set by the organizers, and it’s good to see growth in the4.7 class. There’s also about 240 entry applications already for the 2016 Master Worlds (Radial and Standard rig combined), yet it’s still early days for entries (that reminds me – I need to sign up). Happy New Year to all Laser sailors and see you on the water in 2016.

WINTER 2016

h Brett Davis tune-up wit Pre-regatta ance Clinic

r Perform Gorge Lase 6-19, 2016 Â y Ju1 1 g ww.cgra.or details at w

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SAIL GORGE!

Newport’s One-Of-A-Kind Christine Neville BY JOE BERKELEY

– I got this” attitude that makes her capable of many things, if not anything: ﬁxing old cars, sewing ski-packs, making canvas covers for her Laser, backpacking in the wilderness, traveling around the world, sailing Lasers, and now being a strong contender for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Campaigning for the Olympic games in the Laser at the age of 35 is not a common choice. But Christine Neville is an uncommon woman. Her mother Susan Neville said, “I could count on Christine to push the limits as a child. She was the kid who made her teachers nervous and her coaches proud. She’s not one to follow others. She is always ﬁnding a new path to explore.”

As a teenager, she spent hours rigging and rerigging a chartered C-scow so that she could race it with her friend Mary Chamberlin. Mary recalled, “We dumped the boat repeatedly, even sunk it once or twice, but Christine always stayed calm and handled the situation. She would come back after racing and dissect the race; did we have our heads out of the boat? Could the rigging be tweaked? Why did that board get stuck? How was our start?”

Christine stands just shy of six feet tall. She is a lean, rangy athlete with piercing blue eyes, a quick smile, a blonde ponytail and a wingspan of 5’ 11” from ﬁngertip to ﬁngertip. But it’s her hands that set her apart. photo by Lisa Borden

Christine has strong, quick hands and she has used them to learn how to build sails, weld metal, do ﬁnish carpentry, craft a long board, repair boats and rig yachts. And that’s just for starters. Bill Fastiggi of Vermont Sailing Partners noted that Christine is the only woman he has ever met who owned a Saab for her primary car as well as a Saab parts car to keep it running. When her red Saab 900 broke down, and it broke down frequently, she took it apart and put it back together herself.

When Christine moved out west, Fastiggi watched as she built a trailer from spare parts to transport all of her possessions across the country. Identifying a problem and improvising a solution is something Christine has been doing all her life. Fastiggi recalled that when Christine had a 20-mile commute and limited resources, she economized by outﬁtting a bicycle she found with a 32 cc, one-piston motor kit she purchased for less than $100 on eBay. The motorbike was supremely dodgy, unsafe at any speed, especially its 30-mile-per-hour maximum velocity, but it propelled Christine to and from work for a summer.

photo by Chris Runci

Her personal engine may well be more powerful than the motorized contraption. Many cyclists train for a year before attempting to ride 100 miles, which in cycling terms is known as a “century.” Christine thought that sounded like a cool idea, riding 100 miles, so she did it without any training on a bike she borrowed from Lindy Kelly that was two sizes too small. Her best friend Rois Langner says Christine has a “no-big-deal

For Christine, sailing fast has always been more important than living comfortably. Mary noted, “Christine moved between house sitting gigs, the lodge of Cochran’s ski area, and a van while wind surfing at Hood River.” For Christine, sailing is a necessity. Electricity and running water are luxuries. Many dream of living in a mansion. At one point, Christine’s dream home was a yurt, a semi-permanent but movable structure because it would enable her to do what she loved most. All of that sailing, clean living and outdoor activity has given Christine exceptional fitness and when she suits up at Laser radial regattas, 17-year-old boys stop and stare slack jawed at her jacked biceps and think, “Whoa, I gotta hit the gym.” Her fitness is not for show. In the boat, there is a fast-twitchmuscle pop to all of her motions. Christine trims the vang with a sharp snap, roll tacks with controlled violence, and hikes the boat flat with bursts of power. Before she was a dedicated Laser sailor, Christine crewed in the 49erFX class, a skiff. Her skipper, Kristen Lane said, “She physically attacks sailing. She’s been blessed with an extremely athletic body. But she is one of the hardest working people I know. There was never ever a day when Christine didn’t want to go rip it up in the skiff. Even days when I thought it was too much, Christine was dressed, ready,

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looking at me like - get your ass on this boat!” At the European 49erFX Championship, there was a contest on land to see which crew could hoist a spinnaker fastest. Christine blew away the competition with a time of 2.9 seconds. Her skipper thought about removing the video from Facebook because she feared a Volvo Ocean Race team would recruit her.

On land, Peter is Christine’s life partner but on the water he becomes her sparring partner. A former Olympic campaigner in the Finn class, Peter, who recently won the Laser Grand Master World Championship, is an unapologetic perfectionist. The exchanges during starting drills, practice races, and boat handling exercises are intense. At one session, this reporter hails Shope, “tack or cross?” With the devil in his eye, Shope replies, “I’ll let you cross…but I won’t let Christine.”

Optimism and forward thinking are part of Christine’s DNA and she has very few regrets. One All the practice in the world of them is not trying out for the photo by Perry Grossman does not guarantee Olympic Volvo Ocean Race all-female glory. In other countries like the United Kingdom, Olympic boat, Team SCA. With her quick hands, high power to weight sailing is funded by a national lottery. In the USA, many athletes ratio, sunny disposition and sail maker’s background, she could including Christine are on their own to train, raise funds, and have been a strong addition to the team. somehow make both ends meet in the middle. To support her campaign, Christine works as a rigger at Brewer Wickford Cove But her independent streak made the Laser a better choice for Marina where she is equally comfortable working at the top of a her. After a seminar with the Irish coach Alan Ruigrok, Christine mast or painting the bottom of a keel. made it her business to sit further forward downwind and she now assumes a supremely uncomfortable yoga pose such that she is ahead of the centerboard trunk. With a loose vang and frequent course changes, she makes great gains. When you see Christine sitting in a position that is as fast as it is unstable, it is difficult to imagine that just five short years ago, she was in the middle of the Laser fleet. But she set her mind to improving and started practicing. And practice she did. She has built a graveyard of broken masts in her backyard, burned through 10 wetsuits, 10 mainsheets and approximately 30 pairs of sailing gloves. Her dedication has propelled her up the rankings in the local standings to be a regular in the top five and she was named to the US Olympic Development Team in 2014. Today, when she arrives at a Newport Fleet 413 regatta with Annie her dog, she is greeted by competitors of all ages. Christine has a reputation for sailing hard, sailing fast, and sailing fair. Parents of youth sailors enjoy having her in their midst and in an age of shallow reality-TV role models, Christine is a striking counter point, a woman of substance and character. Sure, she is fast on the racecourse but she is even quicker to offer a competitor a top tip on how to improve. As a coach, she is one of those rare sailors who has excellent skills but still has a sharp memory of what it was like to be mediocre, so it’s easier for strugglers to relate to her. Along with her boyfriend Peter Shope, Christine practices in the big waves off Third Beach, just a five-minute drive from the home she and Peter are renovating themselves. Beneath the St. George’s School chapel, Christine puts her faith in hard work and practice and sails until sunset then de-rigs in the dark.

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The General Manager of Brewer Wickford Cove Marina, Larry Colantuono is impressed with Christine’s problem solving abilities. Recently, he asked Christine to install electric winches on a Little Harbor 50 and she took care of the assignment with no fuss or drama. Larry said, “Christine raises the bar on guys who think they can slack off.” That said there was a Friday before a regatta Christine asked to be released early so she could practice in her Laser. Larry, who was also sailing in the regatta the next day, replied, “Fine, but you’re going to feel really silly if I kick your ass tomorrow.” Christine smiled and said, “That’s not gonna happen.” To keep her expenses as low as possible, Christine searches craigslist for gently used Lasers. Her most recent find is a boat named “Damselfly” that one competitor refers to as “Damn Selfie.” She car camps whenever possible, which works well for local regattas. But when it’s time to compete in international events, there is no getting around the plane fares, charter boat fees, and entry fees. The United States Olympic representative in the Laser Radial class will be selected based on the results of two regattas, the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Miami in January of 2016, and the Laser Radial Europeans in Las Palmas Gran Canaria, Spain in February of 2016. To follow Christine’s adventures, visit christinenevillesailing.blogspot.com Joe Berkeley sails in Newport Laser Fleet 413 and has written for the likes of Coca-Cola, AT&T, Fidelity, Nike, Liberty Mutual and Sailing World. His portfolio is at joeberkeley.com. Reach him at berkeley.joseph@gmail.com

Ten Tips to Becoming a Better Laser Sailor BY JUDITH KRIMSKI TIP #1: Lines Matter 1.0

As a Laser coach I believe there are two easy things you can do to make your boathandling more consistent and take the question mark out of sail trim. Are you still using the control lines for vang, cunningham and outhaul that come standard with the laser? Most of us have experienced the frustration of trying to ease a line to go downwind. We pull the line out of the cleat but nothing moves. Well if you are truly fed up then THROW THEM OUT! While they are pretty colors they are too stiﬀ and frictiony to work smoothly. To get true control from your lines I recommend an upgrade to FSE Robline 5/32”. The lines come in several colors so you can use a diﬀerent color for each purpose. More importantly they allow you to ease and trim smoothly AND are better suited for small incremental trimming.

may need a rest you still want to be competitive. So please send it to the retirement home for old mainsheets—I hear they love to knit themselves into hammocks.

TIP #3 Know your starting layline

I am always amazed at the blank stares I get when I bring up the subject of starting laylines. Why are starting laylines important? Knowing where the layline is for the start helps put you in the right place at the right time. There’s a big layline diﬀerence between a pin-favored layline and a boat-favored layline. The pin-favored layline is a shallower angle which means you can set-up much closer to the starting line. Note how the ﬂeet acts in this scenario. Boats closest to the pin will leebow the boats further down and behind them so their windshadow will cause boats to fall to leeward. A wedge- shaped area will open to the right. Don’t be afraid to sail into this area and get a great start.

TIP #2: Lines Matter 2.0

Here’s the scenario. It’s windy as spit and I’m on the layline to the windward mark. I ease the vang AND guess what? It comes off slicker than a seal escaping the jaws of a great white shark. Why? Because I’m using my FSE Robline! TA DA!! But I digress. As I enter the zone I proceed to try to run a few lengths of mainsheet through my hand but….there’s a huge %^$#(* KNOT IN THE MAINSHEET!!!! ARRGH!!!!! As I’m fumbling around with the mainsheet trying to get the knot out I remember that brand new line sitting in the trunk of my car. While there are several factors that can cause a tangled mainsheet one I see quite frequently is that the sheet is old. Think of your mainsheet and all the hard work it does running through blocks, your hands, etc. not to mention exposure to the elements. Eventually the mainsheet enters old age. It’s fibers break down and it just wants to lie in a tangled heap on the cockpit floor. While your mainsheet

The boat favored layline has lots of restrictions but there always seems to be a big pack of boats trying to win that end. If you want to win the layline you need to set up early and protect it from bargers. You also need to have very good downspeed maneuvers to maintain your spot. The better bet is to set-up below the big crowd because clean air is king.

TIP #4 Avoid the Triangle Packs of boats sailing downwind will blanket the boats ahead. So if you are rounding the windward mark ahead of a pack of boats try to go hard left or

WINTER 2016

right to stay in clear air. This is especially important in light air because boats going even ½ knot faster than you are going 50% faster.

TIP #5 Foot to the Next Header

When sailing in puffy/shifty conditions it’s important to be first to the next shift. The tendency for most sailors is to try to point high rather than go for speed but if you want to be first to the shift you are better off footing for speed. The sailor who reaches the first shift first will be launched ahead of other boats.

TIP #6 Look Before Tacking

Seems like a no brainer right? You wouldn’t cross the street before you look for traﬃc right? So do the same thing when sailing upwind. Making sure you are clear to tack avoids unnecessary collisions or the need to do a penalty. Remember Rule 13: While Tacking. You will be at fault if you tack to close and the other boat needs to change course to avoid you.

TIP #7 Don’t Deathrole

Doncha just hate that moment when you’re sailing downwind like a bat outa hell and all of the sudden the boat heals to windward – the point of no return comes and you fall over backwards into the water as the boat spirals into a death roll. I hate when that happens. If you’re like me you are pushing for max VMG. The problem comes when a puff hits and the leech is pushed forward of the mast. That’s when you get excessive windward heel and the probability of a death roll. So what’s the solution? You want to go fast but you should also be looking for stability. If the boat starts heeling a lot to windward then there are two things you can do. Trim in the mainsail (from 90 in light to 70 degrees in heavy air) and correspondingly trim the vang to tighten the leech. The leech should still flick back and forth but not go so far forward as to induce a deathrole. As the breeze comes up try to keep the boat flat and move back to sink the stern a bit. Stay on your toes because downwind it’s as much about control as speed. Death rolls are very slow.

TIP #8 Avoid the Leeward Mark Pinwheel

As a long-suﬀering high school coach I have notice that teenagers love to sail downwind in a line side-byside. While there may be some good conversation the end result is they all end up in the dreaded pinwheel at the leeward mark. If you

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are sailing downwind in a pack the easy way to avoid the pinwheel is to get on the stern of the inside most boat. Because the other boats are trapped to leeward you can then round behind her and upwind of the pinwheel. But remember this maneuver necessitates good boathandling and speed control skills.

#9 Avoid Dirty Air

Lots of us get in a spot where we are sailing in a wind shadow behind other boats, typically at the start of a race or when on the starboard layline to round the windward mark. The lighter the air the longer the wind shadow. How do you know when you are in a wind shadow? Look at the other boat’s wind pennant. If the pennant is pointing your way you are likely in bad air. Boats in front of you are tracking while you are headed and going slower. Tack out to ﬁnd a clear lane. If tacking isn’t an option foot oﬀ to a clear lane to leeward.

PRO-TIPS

Peter Shope is well-known as one of the finest and most competitive Laser sailors in New England District Seven. This past summer in Kingston. Ontario he clinched his first Laser Grand Master World Championship in a commanding manner winning the regatta with scores of 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 4, 5, 1, 1, 2, (DNC,) (DNC.) His sailing was so strong, he did not have to sail the final two races, hence the two DNC’s for “did not compete.” Peter is known for his great starts. He’s consistent and he has great acceleration. I asked him to give some tips on starting techniques.

TIP #10 Peter’s Advice for Successful Starts

We all know that to win a regatta you have to have good speed, tactics, and strategy. A good start can help you win a race. But to win a regatta you need a starting strategy to be able to put together an entire regatta’s worth of good starts. It’s too easy to lose site of that goal while thinking about the myriad of other things that

happen in a Laser race. Specifically, this means being able to start in a repeatable, low risk way, ending up at the gun with your bow just behind the line (or even with the boats next to you), full speed, no one on your lee bow, no one above you fast enough to roll you, preferably towards the favored end of the line or the first shift/good current. You don’t want to be the most punched (visible to the race committee), or the farthest to one end (again visible and high density) at the start because those starts increase the risk of having a poor race. Again, the goal is to have an entire set of good starts because the best average wins the regatta. Getting a good start every race is going to take intense focus before each race. There are three areas I think about before the race. General race strategy, my setup, and my start. General strategy is not being addressed here but suffice to say you need to spend some time thinking about it! My set-up is a little routine that I repeat often before each start and it consists of finding all the marks (they might have been moved), shooting the wind on the line near the committee boat to determine favored end (repeat often), then do start-like acceleration and sail upwind for thirty seconds to check angles and to find my control line/strap settings for the start, sailing downwind back to the line to check vang/outhaul tension, fastest jibe, wave riding technique, leeward mark shore site, and then check my line site for the pin end. The whole time I scan upwind to get a feel for the puff patterns coming down. Lastly, and this is where the most focus is needed, you have to think about your starting approach and start. As a general rule I don’t try to win an end at the start, and I stay out of high compression areas. I like to be on a port tack approach at a certain time on my watch each start. For example 1’30”. That time will vary depending on wind strength, number of boats, length of line, etc. I approach from the pin end on a lane below those already set up on starboard to scope out low compression areas and the best competitors. Once I find my hole I tack into it as non-aggressively as possible so the windward boat doesn’t defend. Don’t tack in front of someone on starboard - they may duck you during your tack and end up tucked to leeward. Also don’t tack with someone right on your tail – they may tack with you and end up on your lee side. If someone’s on your tail slow or luff abruptly and make them tack or go around you. After tacking into the weather side of my hole it’s all about defending my lee side and concentrating on time and distance to line. Defending your lee side is very, very important at this point. Obviously you want to have room to leeward of you at the start so you can sail fast but leaving too much

room can be enticing. Scan for port tackers approaching and those reaching behind looking for holes. If you see someone then you might be forced to bear oﬀ into your leeward space to make it unavailable. If that happens work to windward again and maybe do a quick little tack back to the windward boat to close the gap. A tight vang helps you stay high on the line. The last few seconds are about judging time and distance to the line. Ideally you’re not on the line but slightly back from it in the seconds before the start so you can pull the trigger before the boats around you and be full speed across the line at the gun. When I’m in doubt of where the line is I keep my bow even with the boats around me and try to accelerate slightly before they do. I have a time number in my head (depending on the wind strength) so I know when I have to pull the trigger and not be late. Thanks Peter! I will continue the TIPS articles through 2016 so if you have a suggestion please email me at: Judith Krimski, laserd7@gmail.com. I look forward to your input.

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䘀攀戀爀甀愀爀礀㄀㌀ ⴀ ㄀㐀Ⰰ 匀䌀夀䄀䴀愀猀琀攀爀猀䴀椀搀ⴀ圀椀渀琀攀爀猀Ⰰ 䄀氀愀洀椀琀漀猀䈀愀礀夀䌀Ⰰ 䰀漀渀最䈀攀愀挀栀Ⰰ 䌀䄀⸀ 圀攀戀猀椀琀攀㨀眀眀眀⸀愀戀礀挀⸀漀爀最䘀攀戀爀甀愀爀礀㈀ ⴀ ㈀㄀Ⰰ 匀䌀夀䄀䴀椀搀ⴀ圀椀渀琀攀爀猀刀攀最愀琀琀愀Ⰰ 䴀椀猀猀椀漀渀䈀愀礀夀䌀Ⰰ 匀愀渀䐀椀攀最漀Ⰰ 䌀䄀⸀ 圀攀戀猀椀琀攀㨀眀眀眀⸀洀戀礀挀⸀漀爀最䘀攀戀爀甀愀爀礀㈀㜀 ⴀ ㈀㠀Ⰰ 䌀愀氀椀昀漀爀渀椀愀䰀愀猀攀爀䴀愀猀琀攀爀猀䌀栀愀洀瀀椀漀渀猀栀椀瀀刀攀最愀琀琀愀Ⰰ 䴀椀猀猀椀漀渀䈀愀礀夀䌀Ⰰ 匀愀渀䐀椀攀最漀Ⰰ 䌀䄀⸀ 圀攀戀猀椀琀攀㨀眀眀眀⸀洀戀礀挀⸀漀爀最吀栀攀䴀愀猀琀攀爀猀攀瘀攀渀琀猀愀爀攀猀挀漀爀攀搀猀攀瀀愀爀愀琀攀氀礀⸀ 夀漀甀挀愀渀攀渀琀攀爀漀渀攀漀爀戀漀琀栀⸀ 䘀漀爀琀栀漀猀攀䴀愀猀琀攀爀猀猀愀椀氀椀渀最椀渀戀漀琀栀琀栀攀爀攀眀椀氀氀戀攀愀渀 ᰠ䤀爀漀渀吀椀氀氀攀爀ᴠ 愀眀愀爀搀昀漀爀琀栀攀戀攀猀琀挀漀洀戀椀渀攀搀猀挀漀爀攀⸀ 匀瀀攀挀椀愀氀䌀氀椀渀椀挀漀渀䘀爀椀搀愀礀Ⰰ 䘀攀戀㈀㘀琀栀愀琀䴀椀猀猀椀漀渀䈀愀礀夀愀挀栀琀䌀氀甀戀

www.Laser.org

CrossFit Programing with Laser Sailing CHRIS HERRERA, DPT, CSCS, USAW ARIEL SHORE, SPT ANNA TUNNICLIFFE Over the past 5 years, Strength & Conditioning has progressed in every aspect thanks to science, coaching, and the dedication of athletes of all ages and sports. Traditionally, athletes have trained for their sport by including a traditional strength and conditioning program focusing on some combination of strength, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, and injury prevention training. I have been and continue to use these traditional periodizations (linear, undulation, and block theories) to build the programs of hundreds of youth, collegiate and professional athletes. Over the past 3 years, I have found that my programing and theories have evolved and include many concepts and programing techniques utilized in Crossfit. I was first introduced to CrossFit in April of 2008 at the Princess Sofia World Cup event in Palma, Spain. I was traveling with the US team as the team physio and strength and conditioning coach. I got to spend some time at the end of the event with Anna Tunnicliffe who had been training at a CrossFit gym. We spent some time going over Olympic lifting techniques such as Cleans and Snatches along with her showing me her shoulder mobility techniques she uses to stay lose. At this time, I had only heard of CrossFit as the “alternative” type of training that was extremely aggressive and potentially dangerous. I did the best I could not to judge it negatively at that time, but definitely had my doubts. After spending an hour or so going through that, I digested it over night, did some research online, and had about 50 more questions I wanted and needed to ask Anna. Luckily, we were able to spend a couple hours together at the end of the event and I was able to ask every question I had. To my surprise, almost all of the fundamentals of CrossFit were born out of Olympic lifting, high intensity interval training, and the concept of mobility, cardiovascular training, and agility… All of which are the building blocks to my traditional strength & conditioning programing. From that time on, I started to introduce and incorporate CrossFit techniques or workout segments into the sailing athletes’ programs. As everybody in the sailing world knows, Anna is a 2 time Olympian, gold medalist, and also a 3 time CrossFit Games competitor placing as high as 9th in the world. In order to get the best information, I went straight to the source, Anna Tunnicliffe herself! Anna states: “Before I started

CrossFit training, I weighed 147lbs and could run a 5k under 20 minutes. I thought I was fit. I could lift some weights, but when tested on how much weight I could squat, I couldn’t back squat 150lbs three times to a 16-inch box. So I basically had cardio fitness, but I wasn’t strong. Now, I can back squat (full range of squat) close to 300lbs, still run a 5k under 20 minutes, and weigh 145lbs. CrossFit has evolved me into understanding what fit means. There are different types of fit depending what our sports are. But for a sport like sailing, we need to have strength, endurance, and stamina. We need to be able to push through pain while the race is going on and we need to learn how to recover quickly between races.” I asked Anna: How has it specifically helped your sailing? “I have learned how to use my body better. I understand more the muscle groups that need to be active, and how I can relax muscles that aren’t being used. I have a whole new appreciation to what “pain and tiredness” are! Additionally, I have learned how to bring my heart rate down quickly so that I can get recover and get ready for the next race.” Anna states “The idea behind CrossFit is Constantly Varied, Functional Movements, performed at a high intensity. The two big parts of this idea that are best for sailing are the constantly varied and the high intensity.”

Constantly varied: Its very easy for us to go to the gym and get in a routine. Every Monday we do the same movements. Tuesday the same movements, etc. In our workouts, we hardly ever repeat the same workout. Granted we have strength programs that we cycle through that last from about 6-12 weeks, and they are fairly similar, but the workouts are not in any way similar. We constantly trick our muscles which then allows them to get stronger and grow rather than settling into a routine. It gets our body used to not expecting something but being ready for anything. High intensity: There are

times in a race when the going gets crazy. Off the start line, at the top mark, at the leeward mark, reaches in big breeze. These are

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times when our heart rates soar higher than the rest of the race. It is at times like this that we really need to be on our “A” game and be sharp, but when our heart rate gets high, we tend to ﬁnd it hard to think as clearly. If we can get used to being functional when our heart rate is this high, then it will make decision making at these critical times in a race much easier. “Another massive improvement that I have gotten out of CrossFit is core strength and stability. As Laser sailors, I believe the most common pain complaint is our lower back. We work so much on strengthening our cores by doing ab work that we regularly forget to strengthen our entire core. All of the movements that we do in CrossFit start with the core and then span out to the extremities. We don’t really do core workouts as much as you would think because everything we do is a core workout in some way.” I also asked Anna what are some of her favorite exercises and lifts that she commonly does to improve in both CrossFit and Sailing. She states: “Some of my favorite movements to do are front squats. These force you to use your core and your quad strength and I think these really translate in to laser sailing quite well. Additionally, front rack holds. These show a lot about how strong your core is because it is very easy to collapse and get lazy and rely on our skeletal structure to hold the weight vs our muscles. As much as I don’t personally enjoy doing it, I think Rowing is very good too as it requires cardio and strength, particularly the quads, hamstrings and core. Also, a lot of shoulder exercises, strengthening all the little muscles in our shoulders. So felt raises, strict press, again another movement that requires a lot of core in addition to shoulders.” How do you answer the questions from critics that say: CrossFit is dangerous for athletes and they shouldn’t do it? “Just as in any sport, there is risk of injury, but the biggest risk of injury in this sport is your own ego. If you don’t listen to your coach and you try to lift too heavy before working on your form, then you will get injured. But you can put that into Laser sailing. The older and more experienced sailors competing will know what I’m talking about here...just think...if we had strengthened our cores properly from the beginning, front and back and we had learned perfect posture before pushing ourselves through 4 windy races a day for 5 days straight, we wouldn’t have had sore backs. But we wanted to do it and so we sacriﬁced form for fun. You absolutely cannot do that in CrossFit, but if you do the form correctly you quickly will add the weights onto the bar.”

Below is an example of a CrossFit Workout named: “Angie” For more crossfit workouts go to the link: http://library.crossfit.com/ free/pdf/13_03_Benchmark_Workouts.pdf 100 pull-ups 100 push-ups 100 sit-ups 100 squats for time Angie is a strongly aerobic workout and the intensity increases throughout the workout. It is approximately 20 minutes in length, simulating the challenge of maintaining control of body weight through grueling upwind sailing for 20 minutes. As long as you have a pull-up bar, this is basic calisthenics with movements most athletes could perform even in a hotel gym. It provides a full body workout while challenging the cardiorespiratory system and building strength in the lats, biceps, posterior deltoids, triceps, core, quads, and glutes. To increase the challenge of Angie, try one of the great HERO WODS, Murph (1 mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, 1 mile run, 1RFT). This workout, lasting approximately an hour in length, focuses on the same movements as Angie (except for the sit-ups), with the addition of 2 miles of running. This workout is focused more on endurance and can be used as a benchmark workout to measure muscular and cardiovascular endurance at various point in the training season. Two simple workouts that can be done periodically to build strength include Karen (Wall-ball 150 shots for time) and Grace (Clean and Jerk 30 reps for 135 lbs. for time). Weights should be scaled appropriately and make sure you can perform the movement without difficulty before performing them at high repetitions. Both wall balls and the clean and jerk are among the top Crossfit movements challenging full body fitness in a manner applicable to sailors. Another HERO WOD incorporating movements that apply to the muscular demands of sailing, is Jason (1 RFT, 100 squats 5 MU, 75 squats 10 MU, 50 squats 15 MU, 25 squats 20 MU). As the lower extremity demand decreases throughout the workout, there is an increasing demand on maintaining a tight core and upper extremity endurance.

Anna did a great job of not only explaining the theory and ideology behind CrossFit but also gave great training and programing tips! She is a true Olympian and great role model for all sailing athletes.

www.Laser.org

Peter Shope wins Fat Boyz Regatta BY JOE BERKELEY Peter Shope loves heavy air the way a fat man loves fried food. Before the first race, Shope let loose a war whoop. Then he went to work and won every race. Besting a field of 40 sailors, the reigning Laser Masters World Champion, Shope of Middletown, even won a race where he thought he was over the starting line early and rounded an end to restart properly. He thought the best he could do in that race was tenth, but at the finish line he was three feet ahead of the second place boat, sailed by his girlfriend, Christine Neville. Sportsmanship experts never said it, but it is entirely possible that if in the process of winning the race, you beat your girlfriend by a few feet, well, you my friend may spending some serious time with Annie the dog. Steve Kirkpatrick, who won the Fat Boyz trophy last year, was second overall. Normally when Steve is second he gnashes his teeth, rolls his head side to side, and mutters oaths beneath this breath. This year he was all happy Buddha. His oldest child Taylor, who takes after her mother, just gained admittance to the college of her choice and Steve is beaming. Third overall was Dave Moffet who was in top form. Between races, he offered his daughter tips on Laser sailing and she had a great day. Christine Neville was fourth overall despite the fact that she capsized in a race. She quickly righted the boat and made a terrific comeback. Brian Fisher of Middletown was fifth overall. He used to train with Shope and he will be making a few select appearances this year. Will Donaldson was sixth overall, your fleet scribe was seventh, and Peter Follansbee left his righteous Labrador retriever up north for the day to finish eighth overall.

Read was in the boat paddock having a look at the fleet and catching up with old friends. More than one competitor graciously invited the President of North Sails to go for a spin in a Laser. Scott Pakenham rounded out the top ten. About his performance, Pakenham said, “I have to thank Andy Pimental for flipping.” Pimental was not available for comment. Ed Adams was having one of his rock solid, consistent days when he had to retire from the last two races of the day due to a rotator cuff issue in his shoulder. One thing about being a Master sailor is bodies and boats do on occasion need maintenance. Peter Seidenberg, the 11-time World Champion is already making plans for the Worlds in Mexico. He is brainstorming ways to get the best value on equipment and has even entertained the notion of sending a shipping container packed with 10 boats to Mexico. At the moment, the numbers do not add up but Peter is still thinking. Perry Grossman found a free Laser in Warwick on Facebook. He had to repair the mast step and replace some worn parts but the boat sails and he enjoyed the competition. PJ Schaeffer who took some time off away from the fleet is back and he received a warm welcome. Moose, Lauri, and Karen ran great races. Mike, Emily and Chris ran the Safety boat. Jack McVicker was the Master of Ceremonies at the award ceremony and everyone was excited to start the new season next weekend. To register, visit newportlaserfleet.org Joe Berkeley is a professional writer and an amature sailor. He finished the Fat Boyz regatta in seventh overall. His work is at joeberkeley.com

Dan Neri was ninth overall and he had some good input about the new class legal sail. Dan has one of the new sails and decided not to use it today because he did not want to ﬂail it around in the sweet breeze. As the designer of the Laser radial sail, Dan had some insight on the new sail. He believes that the new sail could be better in breeze, as it has a more open leech. Dan believes we will all have to spend some time with the new sail to get the most out of it. One thing Neri is certain of: the new sail will last a lot longer than the old design. Just back from a trip to Sri Lanka where the new North Laser sail is manufactured, Ken

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ISSA Cressy Singlehanded Nationals Hosted by Old Dominion University, October 31-November 1 Saturday, October 31: Great work by the sailors handling the challenging light and shifty Northerly. The experience of master Principle Race OfďŹ cer Gary Bodie paid off as he eeked 4 good races of the subpar wind. Courses sailed were trapezoids and windward/leewards. There is a better breeze prediction for Sunday. Sunday, November 1: Sailors were welcomed with much better breeze Sunday morning. Race Committee was able to bang out races in the 4-10 knot southerly throughout the day. Congratulations to Paul Didham from Point Loma High for winning the Cressy Trophy in the Laser Full Rig and Joseph Hou from Newport Harbor in the Laser Radial. Thank you to the ODU Monarchs for hosting, Gary Bodie for running races, and our Umpires Bryan McDonald, Scott Wilson, Danielle Richards, and Jake Spracher for keeping things fair on the water!

Full Rig results

www.Laser.org

Radial Rig results

ICSA L ASER P ERFORMANCE M EN ’ S S INGLEHANDED C HAMPIONSHIP Hosted by Old Dominion University November 7-8 SPONSORED BY

Saturday, November 7: The great forecast predicting wind all weekend turned out to be just that, only a forecast. Reality was a bit harsher on Day 1 of the 2015 LaserPerformance Men’s Singlehanded Championship as the breeze spent a good part of the day somewhere other than the race course. Multiple races were abandoned and all the efforts to get good racing in resulted in 3 races completed in 3-6 knots of breeze on a combination of Trapezoid and Windward-Leeward courses. On the water judges led by Christine Accettella gave out 5 yellow flag penalties in the 3 races and the ODU Sailors did a great job moving marks and shuttling coaches in the rain. Freshman sailor Nic Baird from Yale leads the fleet but with only 3 out of the scheduled 14 races completed, it is anyone’s game. Racing resumes tomorrow at 9:30 and hopefully the breeze is a bit more helpful. Sunday, November 8: The final day of the 2015 LaserPerformance Men’s Singlehanded National Championship came to a close in dramatic fashion. Sailors were greeted with a nice 15 knot NE breeze that held for most of the day. The fresh conditions allowed the sailors to stretch their legs a bit and enjoy some classic Laser conditions off the wind as well. 8 races were completed with a short lunch break. After the break the breeze tapered down to 6-10 knots with large oscillations. The racing was tight throughout the fleet but the top 4 boats entered the last race with only 5 points separating them. By the halfway point in the race, Malcolm Lamphere of Yale and Juan Perdomo from Harvard began to separate themselves from their closest competitors. As Juan was able to hold his lead to the finish the points were close coming into the closing few boat-lengths. In the end, Malcolm was able to stay just close enough with a 3rd to take the championship by 3 points. One breakdown was heard and granted due to a broken hiking strap but otherwise no protests or requests for redress were filed. A big thanks to Christine Accettella and her crew of judges including John Pratt, Peter Johns, and Mary Hall. And thank you to John Hanna for providing his boat as a coaching platform. College Sailors are wonderfully supported by our title sponsor LaserPerformance, Official Supplier of Boats; the fleet was facilitated by Sturgis Boat Works, and we had supporting sponsorship from Patagonia. Congratulations to Yale’s Malcolm Lamphere ‘18 on the win. Photo by Keith Lucas of Malcolm Lamphere

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ICSA L ASER P ERFORMANCE W OMEN ’ S S INGLEHANDED C HAMPIONSHIP Hosted by Old Dominion University Saturday, November 7: The great forecast predicting wind all weekend turned out to be just that, only a forecast. Reality was a bit harsher on Day 1 of the 2015 LaserPerformance Women’s Singlehanded Championship as the breeze spent a good part of the day somewhere other than the race course. Multiple races were abandoned and all the efforts to get good racing in resulted in 3 races completed in 3-6 knots of breeze on a combination of Trapezoid and Windward-Leeward courses. On the water judges led by Christine Accettella gave out 3 yellow flag penalties in the 3 races and the ODU Sailors did a great job moving marks and shuttling coaches in the rain. With only 3 out of the scheduled 14 races completed, it is anyone’s game. Racing resumes tomorrow at 9:30 and hopefully the breeze is a bit more helpful. Sunday, November 8: Day two of the 2015 LaserPerformance Women’s Singlehanded Championship was quite different than day one. Sailors were greeted with a 15 knot NE breeze that tapered a bit after a lunch break. Several capsizes and exciting downwind legs kept everyone on their toes, but it was Georgetown’s Haddon Hughes who came storming back with a near perfect Sunday winning 7 of 8 races. With one race to go only 3 points separated Hughes from Brown’s Lindsay Baab. After rounding the leeward gate of the Trapezoid course, Hughes and Baab split leaving the outcome of the championship in question. Baab was able to pass on the upwind but not by enough to retake the overall lead. No protests or requests for redress were filed. A big thanks to Christine Accettella and her crew of judges including John Pratt, Peter Johns, and Mary Hall. And thank you to John Hanna for providing his Chesapeake Bay deadrise as a coaching platform. College Sailors are wonderfully supported by our title sponsor LaserPerformance, Official Supplier of Boats; the fleet was facilitated by Sturgis Boat Works, and we had supporting sponsorship from Patagonia. Congratulations to Georgetown’s Haddon Hughes ‘19 on the win. Photos by Keith Lucas of Haddon Hughes

www.Laser.org

District Reports District 4 Brigitte Smutny Manitoba & NW Ontario, CAN Although sailing doesn’t exist in the Prairies at this time of the year at least we are talking about sailing and we are busy organizing the upcoming season. We will be hosting Sail West from July 14-17 at the Gimli YC. Sail West will also be the District 4 Championships. The Manitoba Games will be held at the West Hawk Lake YC from August 7-9 with one male and one female athlete selected for each of the 8 regions. We will offer race ofﬁcial training and numerous Laser training camps and regattas from May to October, all in preparation for the Canada Summer Games in 2017 at the Gimli YC. For a complete schedule visit our website at www. sailmanitoba.com

District 5 Mark Lammens Saskatchewan, CAN The District 5 trophy has been found, repaired and updated! It is good to have a perpetual trophy, there is history on this. 24 winners from Alberta, 7 winners from Saskatchewan. Barry Tee is a 4 time winner, 1991, 1993, 2000 and 2014. That is 24 years in between wins. John

Dawson Edwards is a 3 time winner, 1999, 2001, 2002, There are a 5 x 2 time winners including Mike Been, Mike Simms, Stephen Huszar, Corey Coons and yours truly, Mark Lammens. 4 of these sailors were on the National Team. Mike Simms won Sail Canada sailor of the year in 1997. Stephen Huszar was a 2 time Canadian Windsurfing champion and a male model. Corey Coons finished 3rd in a Nationals, Lammens finished 4th at CORK 34 years ago. More history in the making. Stay tuned.

District 6 Andy Hunt Vancouver, BC Greetings to all District 6 sailors, volunteers and coaches. Since my last report, there has been 3 regattas in District 6, one in September, one in October and one in November. There are no more regattas scheduled until 2016. Also over (at least at some but not all local clubs) is the round the bouys racing for club sailors. The regatta in September was the Fall Dinghy Championships, held at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. The regatta, as always, was held on the last weekend of September. Despite having light wind (3-7 knots) all weekend, the race committee managed to run seven races for the Laser Standards and six races for the Laser Radials. Each ﬂeet had 19 boats registered. The top four sailors in the Laser Standards were: Max Gallant (8.00); Geoffrey Abel (16.00); Robert Britten (19.00) and Adam Sorenson (28.00). All of the above sailors use the Royal Victoria Yacht Club as home base. The top four Laser Radial sailors were: John Owen, 6.00, RVICYC; Chris Volkers, CBSC, 13.00; Alex Brown, CBSC, 14.00; Benji McMaster, RVANYC,

22.00. The regatta in October was held at the West Vancouver Yacht Club on October 17 and 18. As is often the case when a regatta is part of the BC Sailing Circuit (and this one was), Laser Radials (31) outnumbered the Laser Standards (13). There were also three Laser 4.7s. Winds were extremely light and there was only one race for each of the fleets over the two days. However, the Sailing Instructions indicated that if one race was completed, the regatta would count. The top 8 Laser Radial sailors were: Alex Brown, CBSC, 1.00; John Owen, RVICYC, 2.00; Josh Smithman, RVANYC, 3.00; Douglas Williams, RPSA, 4.00; Ally Irwin, RVICYC, 5.00; Austin Stewart, HSC, 6.00; Alec Coleman, WVYC, 7.00; Seth Rushton, RVANYC, 8.00. The top four Laser Standard sailors were: Max Gallant, RVICYC, 1.00; Jorge L Yanez del Castillo, JSCA, 2.00; Adam Sorenson, RVICYC, 3.00; Blake Bentzen, CYC, 4.00. The three Laser 4.7 sailors were: Adrian Conn, SYC / NSST, 1.00; Andy Hsiao, RPSA, 2.00; Owen Crickshank, CBSC, 3.00. The Kitsilano Yacht Club hosted its annual Bluenose Regatta on November 7 and 8. The KYC tries to schedule the Bluenose on the first Saturday of November, Unlike the regattas in September and October, there was lots of wind (gusts of 20 knots) on November 7. The wind died down on November 8, so much so that some sailors did not finish within the time limit of the lead boat on the last race. On both days, the winds were from the east. There were 18 Laser Radials and 4 Laser Standards. All of the Laser Standards came from the Jericho Sailing Centre. There were 4 races on Saturday and 2 races on Sunday. The four Laser Standards were: John Polglase, JSCA, 10.00; Nigel Clarke, JSCA, 15.00; Henry Bryant, MacSailng, 21.00; Xander Chen (not sure about affliation). 25.00. The top four Laser Radial sailors were: John Owen, RVICYC, 6.00; Talia Toland, SYC/RVANYC, 13.00; Hanne Weaver, SYC / RVANYC, 14.00; Natalia Montemayor, RVANYC, 17.00.

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2016 Schedule Regatta

Standard

World Championship

Vallarta, Mexico May 10-18

NA Championship

40 GP pts. ISAF 100 points

Colombia Gorge RA Cascade Locks, OR July 21-24

Canadian Championships

Laser 4.7

Masters

Kiel Germany July 30-Aug 7

Vallarta, Mexico Radial: April 22-30 Standard: May 20-28

Colombia Gorge RA Cascade Locks, OR July 21-24

Richmond YC Point Richmond, CA Aug 5-7

District 4-5

US Championships

District 16, 18-21

Eastern YC Marblehead, MA Sept 30-Oct 2

CORK

Kingston, ON www.cork.org August 20-24

Kingston, ON www.cork.org August 15-18

Midwinters East

Clearwater, FL www.clwyc.org Feb 18-21

USSC Martin County Jensen Beach, FL Feb 6-8

Midwinters West

Alamitos Bay YC Long Beach, CA March 18-20

Rolex Miami OCR

Miami, FL (men only) www.ussailing.org January 23-30

Miami, FL (women only) www.ussailing.org January 23-30

25 GP Pts. ISAF 50 points

Bellport Bay YC Bellport, NY June 10-12

Sayville YC Sayville, NY July 16-17

Pacific Coast Championships

District 24

Gulf Coast Championships

District 14

Sarasota SS Sarasota, FL October 8-9

No Coast Championships

District 9

Great Lakes Championships

District 20

ISAF 200 points

Radial Women: Vallarta, MEX April 12-20 Youth:Dun Laoghaire, IRL July 23-30

30 GP pts. ISAF 50 points

30 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 2

30 GP Pts. ISAF 50 points

30 GP Pts. ISAF 100 points

30 GP Pts. ISAF 50 points

ISAF 200 points

Atlantic Coast Championships

Beaconsfield YC Beaconsfield, QC June 17-19

25 GP Pts. ISAF 50 points

25 GP Pts

www.Laser.org

I have been informed that the Quilchena Sailing Centre on Nicola Lake and operated by the Kamloops Sailing Association will cease to operate in 2016. The land on which the QSC operates has a new owner and it looks like the new owners have no room for the QSC. This is unfortunate since the site (built for the 1993 Canada Games) has provided Laser sailors with some of the best sailing in the BC Interior. If you were arriving at Nicola Lake, you could tell if it was going to be windy by the number of kite boarders that were rigging their kites. I believe that a condominium complex and some sort of marina are in the works. I hope that dinghy sailing can still occur at Nicola Lake. The Quilchena Sailing Centre was also host to the BC Laser Master Championships which was founded by Trevor Owen. In all probability, a new host for the BC Laser Masters will be needed for 2016 (a few clubs have made enquiries about hosting the regatta). Finally, there is a possibility that a four-regatta circuit could happen on the west coast in 2016 (forgive me for including Alberta as a west coast site). If everything works out (and I have made some enquiries), the circuit would look something like this; Pacific Coast Championships in California (July 14-18), North American Championships at The Gorge (July 21 – 24), Canadian Championships in Alberta (July 28August 1) and the PCC Masters in Vancouver (Aug 6 & 7). With the exception of the North American Championships, all dates and specific locations are unconfirmed. All I know is that District 24 has been selected to host the PCCs and that Districts 4 or 5 have been selected to host the Canadian Championships (see 2016 regatta grid). Also, the Jericho Laser Fleet has a new webpage. Please feel free to check out: www.jscalaserfleet.wordpress. com. However, this site is still a work in progress. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.

District 7 Judith Krimski RI/MA

topped the fleet flowed closely by Bill Rothwell in 2nd place and Phil King in 3rd. Judith Krimski topped the radial fleet.

The fall in New England didn’t disappoint D7 sailors. Weather most weekends was warm and windy and continues to be so into frostbiting season. Thomaston, Maine was the venue for the ﬁnal of the 2015 Maine State Championship Series. A very tight race for the top spots resulted in an epic duel between Josh Saltmarsh and Hank Thorburn for MLC honors. Conditions were an absolute perfect 11-16 knots of wind out of the south. A small but talented and spirited group showed up to race with bluebird clear skies and temperatures in the upper 60’s. Colin Gowland won the regatta with Josh Saltmarsh second and Hank Thorburn third with just one point between them. Saltmarsh was able to ﬁnally clinch the Maine State Championship Series with this result combination and will be the man to beat in 2016!

On October 4 the Cedar Point Yacht Club hosted their Laser Fall Regatta. Early in the day winds peaked at 20-25kts steadily decreasing as the day went on. The waves were a laser sailors dream! Perfect for surﬁng downwind with some occasional monsters. Marc Jacobi, second overall for the day, said it best, “Having a good, hard thrash in the boat and being exhausted at the end of the day. It was so cool seeing the others sailors mentally prepared for a workout, doing their best and enjoying the conditions. Sometimes sailing is hard work, and that’s satisfying in its own right! So yeah, working hard. And some of those big surfs!”

A light turnout for a light-air regatta hosted by the Mascoma Sailing Club on September 26, but still a beautiful sunny day with just a tinge of color in the hills – fall has been slow to arrive this year. But enough breeze (from many directions!) to complete ﬁve very tricky and competitive races, and in the end it was Peter Seidenberg besting Chris Ross by a mere two points to claim yet another Mascoma Laser Regatta First Place ‘trophy’. Many thanks to John Brady for his help with hosting the event at the Dartmouth College sailing facility. On September 20 the Eastern Yacht Club, Marblehead, MA kicked off the fall season with the Ponce De Leon Regatta. The ﬂeet got off 8 races in breezy, shify conditions with heavy chop and it was close racing between the top four competitors who were separated by only 8 pts. Patrick Andreasen

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Huge gains were made by sailors who were able to ride the monster waves. Upwind the keys to success were adjusting controls for the different wind speeds and really working the boat to keep the bow from getting buried in a huge wave. In the end Andrew Scriven took top place with 6 pts., Marc Jacobi 2nd with 8 pts. And Bill Dickey in 3rd with 23 points. Frostbite racing continues throughout the winter at CPYC. For more info go to www.cedarpointyc.org Located at Sail Newport, Fleet 413 which hosts a very popular frostbiting fleet held their Fat Boys Regatta on November 1st when Peter Shope showed just why he is 2015 Laser Grand Master World Champion. Shope loves heavy air the way a fat man loves fried food. Before the first race, Shope let loose a war whoop. Then he went to work and won every race. Besting a field of 40 sailors, the reigning Laser Masters World Champion, Shope of Middletown, even won a race where he thought he was over the starting line early and rounded an end to restart properly. Finishing second was Steve Kirkpatrick and

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third Dave Moffet. Fleet 413 continues to sail every weekend with 40 boats or more turning up to race. For more information go to http://newportlaserﬂeet. org/ IN other news Eastern yacht Club of Marblehead Ma has been designated to host the 2016 Masters US Nationals. EYC has locked down Sept. 30-Oct 2, 2016 for the event. “The Fall provides some of the best sailing in our area. Said Patrick Andreasen, Laser Fleet Captain. “ The water is still warm and the breeze is consistent.” For more information check the ILCA class calendar at http://www.laser.org/ Thanks to all who contributed to this write-up!

District 8 Frank Seckler New York coast Enthusiasm in District 8 continues to build. This trend is a direct result of efforts by the men and women who have helped to organize the events and help get the word out. Leading the inﬂux of new inspirations are the following sailors: The celebrities of the East End, Bud Rogers and Ron Kank. Leading Lasers down the Hudson are ﬂeet captain Jon Marshall, Allen Feldman, Andrew Hudson, and Sally Wellens. New York City metropolitan organizers Holly Sears and Tracy Kornrich of Brooklyn, Philip Swanton of Harlem YC in the Bronx , Jason Viseltear of Huegonot YC in Westchester and Clemmie Everett of American YC in Rye on the western Sound. On the Eastern Great South Bay we have Tom Colin leading the ACCs’ at Bellport, Margarita and Jim Kohler in Amityville, Wyz Mooney and Eric Johnston in Oyster Bay, Christian Langendal at Shelter Island, Dr Hull and Kent Rydberg hosting the gourmet barbeque each year, Westhampton’s John Zambriski,

and Steve Kelley of Sayville YC. And, from a far, Mike and Lynn Duran, have continued to lend some assistance from their west coast location. These are only a handful of people who truly help make a difference in Laser Sailing in the district. Thanks to everyone for their efforts!

The Ward Bell Cup, in honor of the late Ward Bell, former owner of Laser # 102 - the first production Laser which now resides in the Long Island Sailing Museum - and the first Laser District Secretary of Laser D8. The Ward Bell Cup usually attracts about 30 Lasers and is held in August. The Laser District Championship will be held during the Grand Prix event which Sayville YC is once again hosting on August 13 and 14. Because of the venue and the first class support from Sayville YC this event naturally has a heavy turn-out each year. As this is going to print several of our fleets were finishing up their calendars all of which will be listed on www.laserd8.org as they are finalized. Should you have interest in hosting a clinic, regatta or laser introductory meeting for your group or club, please reach out to us on the district web page.

Laser frostbiting can be a great fun, bring your boat or borrow one! Usually a ﬂeet of twenty or so sailors gets in 7 races a day, Laser frostbiting may be more fun than sitting on the couch watching football. If you live in District 8, I would recommend you to try frostbiting a Laser in an area near you! At the time of this article, the weather for the month of November has been spectacular for frostbiting, and I say frostbiting loosely, as many sailors are still wearing a wet suit and going “barehanded and barefoot”. Frostbiting is taking place at Seawanhaka Corinthian YC, Manhasset Bay YC, Huegonot YC, Centerport YC, and Breakwater YC each weekend. Kicking off 2016 is the New Day Regatta at Manhasset YC, Breakwater YC’s Harborfest in Sag Harbor, and The Spring Fling in Oyster Bay, dates will be posted on www.laserd8.org.

Here is a preview of District 8’s 2016 racing calendar: April Harborfest @ Breakwater YC April 9th Spring Fling @ Seawanhaka YC May Warm-Up Regatta @Cold Spring Harbor May Westin Cup @ Dinghy Shop June 4th Dr Hull’s Feast @ Southampton YC June 10-13 Atlantic Coast Champs @ Bellport Bay July 4 NBLICLA @ Noyak Bay July 4 Firecracker @ Nyack Boat Club July 16-17 Atlantic Masters Champs @ Sayville YC July 23 District 8 @ Shelter Island YC Aug 6 GSBYRA Invit @ Westhampton YC Aug13-14 D8 Champs &GP@ Sayville YC Aug 29 Ward Bell Cup @ Hempstead Harbor YC Sept 3 District 8 @ American YC Sept 19 Eoin Delap Cup @ Sebago C & BC

Looking ahead: 2016 is shaping up to be a great year for racing both in and around District 8. We’re hosting the Atlantic Coast Championships, The Master Atlantic Coast Championships, The Laser Grand Prix, The Ward Bell Regatta, and NBIBCLRA , all of which will draw large ﬂeets. Our neighbors to the north will be hosting the New England Championships and US Masters. There’s plenty of great sailing within a reasonable drive for D8 sailors! Bellport Bay YC is hosting the Atlantic Coast Championships June 10-13, in Bellport. Expect plenty of breeze, a pristine bay, and great sailing. Sayville Yacht Club has hosted many a national sailing events including past ACC’s and will be hosting the Atlantic Coast Masters on July 16 and 17.

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Talk from the fleets: Sebago Canoe Club in Brooklyn, NY capped their 2015 sailing season with two very popular events: the Sebago Cup - a cruising style race approximately 8 miles long that circumnavigates the islands of Jamaica Bay, NY, the club’s home sailing waters and the Annual Fall Series that spans 6 Sundays (with 5-7 races each day). Kudos go to the top finishers of the Sebago Cup - Laser sailors Eoin Delap, 1st; David Cripton, 2nd; Holly Sears, 3rd; with 21 sailors. Twenty sailors participated in this year’s Fall Series over the 6 day event. The winners were Eoin Delap, 1st Laser; Tracy Kornrich, 2nd ; Holly Sears, 3rd . And in honor of his achievement, participation, and contribution to Sebago Canoe Club’s Sailing Program the Fall Series Award will now and hereafter be called the Eoin Delap Cup with Eoin as its first recipient. Eoin and his wife Clarisa are returning to Ireland to live and we wish them good luck in their new adventure. Eoin will be missed at Sebago and Laser District 8 where he placed in the top 3 spots of Winter Sailing at Seawanhaka YC for several years running including a 1st for the Winter Sailing Series this past year. Sebago CC, with their grass roots membership and home spun facilities continues to attract laser sailors from the NYC metro area, particularly individuals from out of the US. This affordable volunteer club offers fantastic sailing on the waters of Jamaica Bay and is an appealing venue for dinghy sailing. Contact www.sebagocanoeclub. org Miciengo YC – Hudson River: It was beautiful day to race Laser’s on the Hudson River, with plenty of sunshine and a steady southerly. 17 sailors competed in 6 races and competition was keen with lots of lead changes. The biggest smiles were had by our newest Laser sailors Nick Galletta and Liam Noonan. They both have just completed sailing in our sailing camp. Liam actually got a second in one race, and Nicholas was always in the pack. They did this with old boats, and shall we say, sails well past their prime. Liam also raced in the Chelsea laser regatta, where it blew. He was a real trooper there, completed all of the races, and got a trophy for the most capsizes. For the first time, the Hudson River races had participation from the Laser district. It’s nice to see new names on the list. Natalya Gontcharova; Daniel Paretti; Dave Foster; Andy Hudson; Michael Gunn; Gary Schneidman; Peter Broslkowski; Brad Dunn; Chris Frackiewicz; Betsy Turk; Liam Noonan; Nicholas Galletta; Carol

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exactly where everything is. He knows everything about everyone else’s boats and needs, too. If someone is missing a plug, he will know that and go ﬁnd one. If you give him warning he will also organize a boat for anyone!

Marsh; John Diamond; John Marsh; Frank Seckler; Ryo Sakai From the East End a note from Cris Brody, a world sailor from New Zealand, who has competed in the top sailing events of the world including the Volvo Ocean Series and Laser World Championships. As a Kiwi sailor new to the east end of Long Island I was keen to try to do some dinghy racing and as an ex laser racer I thought I would try the Breakwater sailing club as I had seen some boats there. I made contact with the sailing director Sean Elliott who told me there was someone who ran Laser racing from his house, would supply me with a free boat and a free beer after sailing. What? I said, there’s nowhere in the world like that! Turned out the gentleman he was talking about was local sailing legend and founder of the “Noyak Bay Informal But Competitive Laser Racing Association” (NBIBCLRA) - William Rogers whom everyone knows as Bud. Bud started this association around 1992 as a resident of Sag harbor and then moved to his current house at Noyak Bay which is still the HQ for the regular Friday night racing where no score is kept and the idea is fun, competitive racing with protests being

Bud also sails Wednesday nights in the J109 in Sag Harbor, Thursday nights in J24s in NYC, Friday lasers at NBIBCLRA, Saturdays he often does regattas, Sundays in JY15s in Sag during summer plus Sunday winter frostbiting in JY15s in Stamford, CT. I cannot think of anyone keener to sail in a variety of classes and beyond that, someone who really wants to get other people out there to enjoy what he loves. Everyone is welcome at NBIBCLRA from beginners to national champions. I would recommend anyone who has not competed at one of these events to put it on their bucket list of laser sailing so you can meet the man himself! He is really a generous amazing person that many of us are happy to call a friend.

District 9 Peter Bushnell Upstate New York settled with a beer after racing. His free regattas (no entry fee and a free t shirt) are always accompanied by amazing food made by his wife Cynthia (they have been married for over 40 years) and their extended family. He will share any boat or boat part and can ﬁnd anything in his shed. Though it looks messy to an outsider, he knows

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Bud’s right-hand man at these events is Marty. He is also a Breakwater Yacht club sailing stalwart and puts in a tireless effort and many hours to run the events. It is always reassuring to know that when we are waiting on the water for unpredictable wind shifts to settle there is someone in the RC that knows what’s going on and that the sailors are eager to race. Be assured that Marty will be doing his best to make it happen and to give us a fair competition.

The sailing season is over in District 9 and we are now moving on to plan for 2016, including the No Coast Championship. We wrapped up 2015 with the Glimmerglass Regatta. Here’s a report combining commentary from Kurt Ofer and Drew Porter. Six sailors survived heavy south breeze at the Glimmerglass Regatta held at the Otsego Sailing Club on 19 September in Cooperstown, NY. The regatta had Thistle, Flying Scott, and Buccaneer classes. The race committee was nice enough to grant the Lasers their own start. Because of the high winds, only two races were sailed. The wind was too much for the other fleets, causing racing to be canceled for the day. But not too much for the Lasers! True to form, they had some fun with some absolutely incredible screaming reaches across the lake, and then carried out some self-organized races using lake navigation buoys and a sailboat anchored in the harbor. At the start of the first race, the wind was a steady 15 mph, gusting to 20 mph on the beat to windward. Brad Dunn, from the Hudson Valley, had the lead at the windward mark with Drew Porter close behind. The leeward leg was a white knuckle ride as Porter closed in and was rail-to-rail with Dunn until he chose to ride out a gust on a slightly more stable broad reach while Dunn went deeper. Rounding the leeward mark, Dunn had a slight lead, which he held to the finish. Steve Leach of Rochester crossed third with Kurt Ofer, Tom French and Max Ofer rounding out the results.

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The second race saw the wind building to a solid 18 mph with higher gusts and Brad Dunn continued his upwind dominance, rounding the windward mark with a 5 boat-length lead. He held that lead downwind until he rolled to windward, recovered, then rolled harder and capsized to windward. He stayed upside down just long enough for both Porter and Leach to slip by. Porter held on to the lead on the final upwind, with Steve in second and Brad crossing third. Kurt crossed fourth, with Tom picking up another fifth place and Max just behind him. Four more informal races were held among the remaining sailors. Results for the two official races are: 1) Drew Porter, 2) Brad Dunn, 3) Steve Leach, 4) Kurt Ofer, 5) Tom French, 6) Max Ofer.

D12 2015 RESULTS We had a great season in D12 with 6 District Championship Regattas, 42 races, 77 competitors and there was a different Full Rig winner for each of the Regattas! D12 CHAMPIONS: Full-Stanley Hassinger Radial -Thomas Smith Junior-Henry Omirly Overall Master-Martin Willard Master-John Porter Grand Master-Martin Willard Great Grand Master-Finn Hassing REGATTA WINNERS - FULL: SYC-Peter Gamble BYSC-Robert Burke CYC-CS-Rob Bowden CYC-NC-Martin Willard

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REGATTA WINNERS - RADIAL: SYC-Collin Porter BYSC-Walter Gnann CYC-CS-Thomas Smith CYC-NC-Thomas Smith LNYC-Thomas Smith CSC-Glenn Walker Six regattas are planned for 2016. The conﬁrmed dates for the ﬁrst three events: BYSC-April 30 – May 1 SYC-June 4 – 5 CYC-SC-July 30 – 31 My last order of business is to notify the District that Finn Hassing will be the D12 Secretary in 2016. See you on the water!

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District 13 Michelle Davis Florida The D13 Champs just concluded over the past weekend (Dec 5-6), with 26 Standards, 44 Radials and 14 4.7’s competing on an ocean course off Virginia Key near Miami. Conditions were fun Saturday with long races in 10 to 18 knots with higher gusts later in the day, plus waves to ride! A big rain area just south of us dumped 6 to 9 inches of rain while we were racing and enjoying the day. We could not race on Sunday as winds were forecast to gust to 28 knots with large confused seas so we had to settle for one good day. Scott Rasmussen added another win to a great year for him in the Radial fleet, with Christina Sakellaris in second and Skylar Bayman in third. Daniel O’Farril was first in the 4.7 fleet, with Henryk Luczynski in second and Blaire McCarthy in third. The top of the Standard fleet was dominated by two young sailors from Texas, Max Guerriero in

ﬁrst and Ford McCann in third. Local Masters-age talent Ernesto Rodriguez kept the kids in check and ﬁnished second overall. D13 Champs in 2016 will likely be on the ocean again as Lauderdale YC has offered to host. I for one will train harder in the leadup to next year’s event! Some upcoming events: Orange Bowl Regatta (Juniors): Dec 26-30 2015, Miami Open Orange Bowl Regatta (adults, Masters): Dec 27-30 2015, Miami Boomerang Regatta (open): Jan 9-10 21016, Ft Lauderdale Lauderdale Ocean Regatta (open): Jan 16-18 2016, Ft Lauderdale Florida Masters Week (Masters) Masters Midwinters: Feb 6-8 2016, Jensen Beach Midweek Madness: Feb 10-11 2016, Jensen Beach Florida Masters: Feb 13-14, Palm Beach Midwinters East (open) Feb 17-21, Clearwater Some ongoing Laser series: Small Boat Sundays, Melbourne: Last Sunday/BBYRA, Miami: James 321-746-2471 or Michelle at vireoojorojo@hotmail.com Congrats to Erika Reineke for her 10th overall at the Women’s Radial Worlds in Oman last November!

District 15 Forest Atkins Texas 2015 was another successful year in D15. Since the last report our last three circuit events were completed at Palacios (Gulf), Arlington (North) and ﬁnally good ol’ Wurstfest at Lake Canyon (Central). Palacios has been a great place for us Texas Laser sailors to have a regatta ...in August! The gulf breezes and waves treated us to a great couple days racing. Skylar Bayman of our own Corinthian Sailing club in Dallas (CSC) won the full rig with Michael Morran winning the radial.

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Despite being forced by the city of Arlington to move their sailing club, Arlington YC has preserved with a new location and carried on with the 2015 LaserPalooza which provided a variety of snortin’ and drifting conditions …… all in one day! CSC sailor Grifﬁn Orr took the honors in that one. Jack Hattendorf and his AYC cohorts put on a great regatta in the face of much logistical adversity. THANKS AYC keep it up! This year our district 15 championship event was held at the Wurstfest regatta at Lake Canyon ( see pic above) which has been the perennial season wrap up in Texas right before the holidays. With this year’s torrential rains, a great collection of

32 participants from across the state ( north, central and gulf) were greeted with cool-stormy winds out of the north in the upper teens low 20’s on Saturday and eventually sun and more moderate winds on Sunday. For some odd reason yours truly felt compelled to trot out his new full rig Mk II sail. Thinking it worked pretty well for me. The weekend culminated in Ford McCann winning the full rig class and Charlotte Rose winning radial class. To top it off our circuit champ for 2015 is Skylar Bayman. It was pointed out by great grand master sailor Doug Peckover that the sum ages of the ﬁrst three places were approx... 2/3 his own……close to it in my case as well. Lots of great young talent coming out the Texas D15 area! After racing Saturday we held the District meeting to review the year, solicit inputs and unanimously elect our new district rep Grifﬁn Orr. Please welcome

Griffin in his new role. I also need to mention our iron man award for the most events participated in. This year the award was shared by Alex Goldberg and Greg Wallace. In my tenure as D15 guy, I have many folks to thank for mentoring, supporting, promoting, recording etc. etc. which includes, Bruce Moore, Fred Schroth, Greg Wallace as well as my co-worker Mark Calder who machined the new district champ trophies for each of the classes (see pic above). With strong junior programs, particularly in the Gulf (man those kids are good), the Gulf coast champs at TCYC in Kemah in May, 30 + boat CSC Wednesday night races and new folks Laser racing in Texas it was quite a year in D15. Definitely looking forward to Easter Regatta 2016. This is me keeping my fingers crossed for getting to Nueva Vallarta in May for the 2016 Masters…… looks like a really cool venue!

District 19 Ken Swetka Michigan Michigan is now cold. End of report. Seriously there was not a lot that happened since the last report. Some of the ﬂeets are getting late season Frostbiting in. Four of us sailed the Sunday after Thanksgiving on Lake St Clair and looking at the weather we may get one more Sunday in before we’re done. Many are tuning up their Iceboats and/ or making plans to sail down South over the Winter (that’s my plan!!) 2015 Regattas/Events – Watch for the same slate of events next year and possibly more! June 14 UofM Spring Regatta - Michigan Sailing Club - Baseline Lake June 20-21 D19 Grand Prix Championships Reeds Lake Fleet July 27 Leland Laser Regatta - Leland Yacht Club August 15 Lake Lansing Annual - Lansing Sailing

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Club Sept 13 UofM Fall Regatta - Michigan Sailing Club - Baseline Lake, Sept 12-13 Spring Lake Fall Regatta - Spring Lake Yacht Club Sept 26 No Sweat Regatta - Portage Yacht Club Sept 26 GTYC Fall Regatta - Traverse City Oct 3 Frosty Mug Regatta - Irish Laser Fleet, Little Traverse Bay, Harbor Springs Oct 11 Pumpkin Head Regatta - Grand Rapids Yacht Club That’s all for now from D19 (Michigan)! As always check www. D19Laser.org or www.facebook.com/D19Laser for even more schedules, more reports, and photos!

District 20 T. Troy Tolan Springfield, IL In this article I want to recognize Pewaukee, MYST and Chicago for their impressive growth in fleet participation. What they are doing is innovative, inclusive and focuses on fun. Their programs should be emulated/duplicated for overall growth in the district. Well done! Pewaukee, Fleet Captain--Kent Jones: What an incredible season here at PYC! 43 races with 30 different Laser sailors out on the course! Many of the Wednesday night races had 16-17 sailors on the line – basically a regatta. The addition of the 420’s racing with us the first half of the season also added to the excitement on the line! I also especially want to thank Katie Tinder for helping spur the involvement of our younger sailors. Of the 30 participants, 50% of them were under 18! The influx of these younger sailors into the fleet is fabulous and we look forward to seeing them and others back on the line next year! Thanks go to the judging team; Mark, Mary Carol, Tammy, Joby, Bill, who have done an incredible job this season. Their help and hard work making our races happen is invaluable!!! Also, thanks to the E 50th regatta team for bringing right here to Pewaukee some of the greatest Laser Sailors of all time; Laser world champions Terry Neilson, Dave Chapin and Peter Commette with whom, under normal circumstances, local Laser sailors would never have been able to have great conversation. With a summer of light, patchy, and shifty wind where you really had to concentrate, the results are: 10th = Susie Sternkopf – Susie got hurt early in the year and just didn’t sail enough. 9th = Carter Cooper – Carter is a great sailor and had a clean sweep for 1st place Laser Radial in one of his high school event a couple weeks ago. 8th = Joey Biwer – also got side tracked winning X boat races. Joey did have 4 1st place finishes 7th = Eric Wilson – who can make that older boat just fly, and I love it when he and I, a couple of the oldest sailors out there can still, at least once a year be 1-2 across the finish line. 6th = JP Friend – who got really side tracked winning too many other races in other fleets this year. 10 races in the top 3 and 3 of those were 1st place 5th = Matt Schmidt – this is his first year not in the metal – unfortunately too many missed races otherwise he would be taking home some silver instead of me! He had 13 – 1st place finishes = the most in the fleet! 4th = Katie Tinder – She had 5 -1st place finishes in the series. I’m pleased to give Katie the first place female trophy. What an amazing sailor, a wonderful person and teacher and the PYC is very fortunate to have this woman heading up the PLSS. 3rd = Kent Jones – Just snuck past Katie by 6 points--2 -1st place finishes. 2nd = Matt Webber – Matt still sails the oldest boat in the fleet but he did upgrade his vang and got a new sail this year so he’s become pretty much unbeatable except for one other sailor. 1st = Our own PLSS instructor Alex Bischoff – I think part of the secret is that he’s just having fun out there! His humor is a wonderful addition to the fun and camaraderie of the fleet! And his skill at handling the boat and finding the wind is like a 6th sense. Fun or not, he still placed 11th at Radial Nationals this year – an amazing finish in an incredibly competitive field!! He had 10 - 1st place finishes in the series. We also have youth awards for 18 and under. It’s great to have the younger sailors getting involved in the fleet this year: Red Tornehl, Christian Spencer, Chloe Frenzel, Matt Malone, Sam Spencer, Jack Schweda and others.

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The top 3 in this class are: 3rd = Joey Biwer, 2nd = JP Friend, 1st = Alec Bischoff The PYC Laser Masters results. Laser Masters: 3rd = Eric Wilson – Grand Master with 393 points, 2nd = Matt Weber - Master, with 199 points, 1st = Kent Jones Grand Master, with 174 points Laser Radials: Because this year there wasn’t enough overlapping of all the radial sailors, it was scored by the number of 1st place radial finishes you had: 4th = Lizzie Friend with 1, 3rd = Carter Cooper with 4, 2nd = Alec Bischoff with 5, 1st = Jordan Kaerek with 8 Thanks for a great and fun Laser year!!!! --Kent Jones Milwaukee Youth Sailing Team, (MYST): taking the top places in the Midwest Rankings: The rankings for the Midwest Interscholastic Sailing Association Fall 2015 Season. Rankings were based upon number of regattas attended as well as places earned in those regattas. Oconomowoc High School was ranked 13th overall out of 64 teams, Kettle Moraine was ranked 2nd and Arrowhead was ranked 1st. (Troy, KM and Arrowhead are Pewaukee Lake) Our MYST Sailors from Pewaukee Lake and other local clubs have been sailing well and putting in top finishes at every opportunity. We’re very proud of our sailors who have qualified for every event possible this fall - the Lawrence White at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT, The Great Lakes Championship in Chicago, the Atlantic Coast Championship in Norfolk, VA and the Great Oaks Championship sailed in New Orleans, LA . Regional High School Sailing - Kick Off Classic Sheridan Shores Sailing School, Wilmette, IL – Carter Cooper from University Lake School won the Laser Radial

Division with Patrick Schmidt from Catholic Memorial coming in second. Regional High School Sailing - Cressy Laser Singlehanded in White Bear Lake, MN – National Qualifier – Catholic Memorial’s Patrick Schmidt placed 3rd overall, Arrowhead’s JP Friend placed 4th overall, Kettle Moraine’s Christian Spencer placed 6th overall and Arrowhead’s Alec Bischoff placed 7th overall. PYC Sailor Alec Bischoff qualified for Chubb Singlehanded Nationals in Wianno, MA this summer and Carter Cooper was invited to compete in the Laser Worlds Regatta in Kingston, ON. Milwaukee Youth Sailing Team laser sailors are strong and a lot of that is attributed to time in the boat, and practicing in competitive fleets. Many of our sailors got involved in the Pewaukee Yacht Club fleet this summer where we had anywhere from 15-24 boats out each night and that has helped the ability level of all our sailors increase along a steeper curve. Getting young sailors involved in the fleet early in their lives, great competition locally, regionally and nationally, and positive encouragement from fellow competitors keeps the sailing fun and keeps the sailors coming back! --Katie Tender Chicago Corinthian, Fleet Captains Rick Strilky/Christa Georgeson: Rules Make the Game. People Make the Game Fun. The laser fleet races on Wednesday nights, Thursday nights and Sunday afternoons. We focus on skill building and knowledge sharing. We don’t worry about the scoring during club racing. We do keep score at regattas. We do employ the Racing Rules of Sailing.

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Wednesday Night: Leave the dock at 5:50PM, Laser Start at 6:40PM On Wednesday night, we race long course using the fixed pins on the CCYC OFFSHORE Course, East of the harbor. We sail the trapezoid course. The beat is 3/4 mile, then a close reach, then a long run, close reach, then another 3/4 mile beat. Here is the cool thing, if you find yourself off the pace and want to “cut the corner”, please do. In other words, sail a smaller trap inside of the big one and stay with the leaders. Do your best, have some fun, don’t worry about the scoring. Tips for Wednesday: Please keep your safety in mind when sailing anywhere near the big boats. Imagine crossing an interstate highway with blind semi trucks flying through. Sail inside the mark if rounding is unsafe. Don’t be shy about asking for a tow. Use your main sheet, do a bowline around the mast and bring the centerboard up about 1/2 way. Thursday Night: Leave the dock at 6PM, Warning Signal 6:30PM On Thursday night, we race outside the harbor mouth. The course is left up to the Race Committee’s discretion, though typically it is a WL, twice around inflatable marks. Sunday Afternoon: Rig at 11AM. On Sunday afternoon, we race using the fixed pins on the CCYC OFFSHORE Course, East of the harbor. We do an interesting style of racing. Basically its a Windward Leeward course from the center pin of the CCYC circle to one of the marks and back. 3/4 of a mile up and 3/4 mile down. Here is the hitch, when the top boats round the windward mark, everyone else turns down wind to sail to the finish. The finish is the pin end or the line “racing rounding”. In other words, round it like its a leeward mark, trim up, and then you are done. There are several reasons for this change in the normal rules. First, it compresses the fleet so there is no long waiting time between races. Second, it gives the lead boats a great challenge to catch and pass everyone. Third, it keeps the newer sailors in the game longer as the time of actually sailing with the faster boats should be more similar. Finally, the best part of this is ANYONE can win!!!!! Results from 2015 Racing: Fall Frostbite Series--26 Registrants, 3rd Roman Plutenko, 2nd Andrew Aronson, 1st Paul Wurtzebach Sept 19-20 Red Flannels Regatta--23 Registrants We had interesting conditions at this weekends Red Flannels Regatta. Saturday we sailed out to the race course in the biggest waves I’ve seen near shore. The winds progressively softened throughout the day. Leaving us windless on the final leg of the second race. It was the wave action moving us towards the finish line. Sunday the conditions were less than six with a bit of chop. Congratulations to the all of the competitors who came down to play. Results: 3rd Place - Paul Wurtzebach, 2nd Place - Rick Strilky, 1st Place - Dave Poquette (tie breaker) August 15-16--10 Registrants, 3rd Rick Strilky, 2nd Martin Bonsager, 1st Roman Plutenko

EXTENDED RETRACTED

Canfield, OH • Toll Free 1-800-282-5042 www.trailex.com July 25-26--17 Registrants, 3rd Place Garrett Gast, 2nd Place Jason Brown, 1st Place Rick Strilky --Christa Georgeson

District 24 Stephen Aguilar Nor Cal Season’s greetings from district 24. 2015 was a very unusual year for district 24 sailors. With a drought in California we lost a number of our lake events. The nice thing about our district is that we also have the beautiful Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay to sail in. Totally dinghy Richmond Yacht Club This event is part of the Svendsen’s Grand Prix which is a Series consisting of 10 events. After two days of racing in the standard class Emillio Castelli Took top honors with Roger Herbst finishing a close second and Rick Raduziner after making the long drive from Tahoe finished third. In the radial class Gabe Reuter a junior from the San Francisco Yacht Club took top honors with Stephen Aguilar in seconds and Toshinari Takayanagl finishing in third Fall dinghy St. Francis Yacht Club This was the final event of the Svendsen’s Grand Prix for 2015. After two days of racing on the beautiful city-front in San Francisco in medium air Rodion Mazin after making the long trip up from Los Angeles for top honors. Emillio Castelli finish second and Mike Bishop finished third In the radial class Nicholas Sessions a Junior out of the San Francisco Yacht Club took top honors follow closely by Toshinari Takayanagl in Second with T.J Mahoney finishing third. 2015 Svendsen’s Grand Prix champions Standard class First place Emillio Castelli Second place David Lapier

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Third-place Mike Bishop Radial class Stephen Aguilar Laser short course fleet championships Alameda community sailing Club This year the ACSC hosted our Second annual District fleet championships. This is a new venue for this event and we could’ve picked a more beautiful day with a great club and a fun time was had by all. 1) Alameda community sailing club 2) Lake Washington sailing club 3) Shoreline Lake sailing club Much thanks to Alameda community sailing club for putting on the 2015 District 24 fleet champion. Much thanks to Kami, Mike, Ryan and the Alameda community sailing club for putting on this fun event on such short notice. Roger for the great after sailing meal and Emilio for the wonderful wine and everyone who sailed. Laser / Byte Short course championships Richmond Yacht Club This is the second year that RYC has hosted this event. This year we had medium winds 10 to 15 mph and a really large radial fleet packed with juniors. After a tight day of racing in the standard fleet. Matthew Sessions from the San Francisco Yacht club took top honors follow closely by the Svendsens Grand Prix winner Emllio Castelli in second with Nick Pullen sailing out of the Tahoe yacht club in third. In the radial the competition was really tight with Neil Marceline taking top honors and Cecil right behind him in second was Caleb Yoslov followed by Toshinari Takayanagl in third. I think one of the most exciting and best things I’ve seen this year was the return of the junior sailors. Last year it seems that we lost all our juniors either they graduate from high school and went off to college or moved into another class of boats. Well that’s all change for this year with both Richmond yacht club and the San Francisco yacht club fielding large junior teams. I believe between the two clubs that’s about 20 new sailor to our class. Lasers where the young meet the Young at heart. Happy holidays.

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District 25 Jorge Suarez SoCal Jason Artof of Del Rey YC was kind enough to give the following report on the Turkey Day Regatta, perhaps the final major regatta for the year in D25: Alamitos Bay Yacht Club hosted the annual Turkey Day regatta on the weekend of November 21st and 22nd. As we’ve come to expect, ABYC put on a phenomenal regatta. The regatta was very well attended by many fleets – so many fleets that additional launching space was provided on the beach adjacent to the club. There were 23 standard rigs and 40 radial rigs participating in the regatta. Perhaps most noteworthy was the optimism that the ABYC race committee demonstrated. It really was admirable. The first day started out light. Most boats were towed out to the race course. The wind picked up after the first race. It looked to be building further. The RC flashed course 8 – twice around!! I’ll tell you it really boosted the spirits of the racers to see this. Course 8 meant that the wind was expected to continue to build. Unfortunately the building wind turned out to be a ruse. After the first lap the wind dropped down to virtually nothing. On Thanksgiving we traditionally give pause to appreciate all the things in life we are thankful for. The last leg of the race provided an unusually elongated pause. It was a good time to reflect. At the end of the pause, I was most thankful for the simplest accomplishment of crossing the finish line. We were only able to complete two races on the first day. The second day threatened to be a repeat of the first. Thankfully the wind started to build just before the first race. The RC seized the opportunity and sent us on four short courses. The racing was tight and fun. Congratulations go to Paul Didham from San Diego for winning in the standard rig. Top honors go to Lucas Pierce from Santa Barbara for winning in the radial fleet. There were plenty of smiles all around. Thank you Alamitos Bay Yacht Club! For full results visit www.abyc.org Finally, Alamitos Bay YC will be hosting Laser Midwinters West on March 18-20 2016. For more information and registration please visit www.abyc.org.

Photo below: nice shot of District 24 Secretary Stephen Aguilar taken by Mark Werder from the committee boat at the start of a Wednesday night race on Folsom Lake outside Sacramento

Why Join the Laser Class? What are some of the benefits of a strong class association? 

A strong class association means lots of boats to race against, near you and around the world!

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A strong class association with lots of racing attracts the world’s best sailors - giving you the best racing possible!

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A strong class association means major events scheduled at the best sailing locations and moving all over the North American Region - there will always be a big event near you!

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points when sailing in major events, ranking you against your fellow competitors and making you eligible for end of the season prizes, like new sails, carbon tillers, etc.

You get direct beneﬁt by joining the Laser Class!

What does the class association do with your membership dues? 

The ﬁrst $14.00 of your membership dues go to pay the North American staff who work incredibly hard to: make sure our North American events get scheduled every year and that these events follow the high standards of the Laser Class, to publish our quarterly newsletter, etc. Importantly, that money also makes sure that if you ever have a question you can simply pick up the phone, or send an email, and a knowledgeable person will answer you right away.

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$9.72 of your dues goes to the International Class where they use the money to pay their staff to make sure world level events get scheduled, ensuring all the boats are the same by inspecting the builders to make sure they are complying with the Laser Construction Manual, keep track of rules changes proposed by members, interfacing with ISAF on various levels, including keeping both the Laser Standard and Laser Radial as Olympic equipment, etc.

You receive the annual Laser Class Handbook with the current class rules, interpretations of those rules, class constitution, guidelines for events, useful information for keeping your boat in good shape, contact information for your district, etc.

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A little over $7.00 goes to the quarterly assembling, printing and mailing of The Laser Sailor to you for the year.

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Around $5.00 goes to support and promotion, ranging from direct support of the districts and regattas to the website.

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You receive the International Class Association’s quarterly publication “Laser World” which gives a roundup of international events sailed around the world, as well as information from the international ofﬁce.

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You receive the North American Association’s quarterly publication “The Laser Sailor” which is loaded with regatta reports, technique articles, fitness and nutrition tips, sailor profiles, reports from each of the North American Region’s 26 Districts and much, much more. In addition, the magazine also contains advertising from Laser dealers selling Laser specific gear and aimed entirely at Laser sailors - if you are looking for something for your boat you will see it advertised here!

Most of the remaining dues go toward all the things it takes to running an organization of 2400 members, from Executive Secretary travel costs, to federal income taxes all the way to mundane ofﬁce expenses. Your membership dues are used to keep the Laser Standard, Laser Radial and Laser 4.7 as THE singlehanded dinghy to sail and race in North America and throughout the world!

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A strong class association means solid class rules making all boats as identical as possible - you are competing against other sailors, not their pocket books!

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A strong class association means lots of people looking to buy boats keeping the resale value of your boat high.

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A strong class association keeps an eye towards the future and works with the builders to make improvements where needed while preserving as well as possible the competitiveness of older boats.

To be strong, a class association needs the support of its sailors!

What are some of the direct benefits of membership? 

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You will have access to the class website at www.laser. org containing all the latest news as well as the up to date calendar of events, complete with maps to show you how to ﬁnd the events. And you can also ﬁnd archived copies of The Laser Sailor as well as useful articles on how to sail your boat faster.

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Your membership makes you eligible to sail in any of the 50+ major Laser Class regattas scheduled every year throughout the North American Region, including open, masters’, youth and women’s events.

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Your membership makes you eligible for the LaserPeformance/ILCA-NA Grand Prix where you earn

Why should you join the Laser Class? 

To enable the Laser Class to remain a strong class association and continue to make the Laser the pre-eminent singlehanded dinghy of our time.

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To gain the beneﬁts of membership outlined above.

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To protect your investment in your boat, making sure that if the time comes to sell then you can be certain that the high demand driven by a strong class will enable you to get the best price for your boat.

The International Laser Class Association, North American Region is what it is today because of the support of its members. Keep that tradition alive, join or renew your membership TODAY!

WINTER 2016

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

Name_______________________________________________________ Address_____________________________________________________ City ___________________State / Prov. _____Zip / postal code ________ Phone ____________________ E-mail____________________________ Sail # ______________DOB (month/day/year) _____________Sex ______ Boat usually sailed _____Laser ______Radial _____Laser 4.7 Current Membership Fees All amounts are in US dollars. (Canadian checks must be in US dollars.) • Regular - $45 for one year or $85 for 2 years • Junior - $40 (Member may not turn 18 during term of membership), or $75 for 2 years (Member may not turn 18 during term of membership) • International - $55 (any member not living in the US or Canada), one year only

Amount enclosed __________________US$ Please make checks payable to ILCA of NA or provide credit card information as shown below. Thank you for joining the Laser Class. Credit Card payment by Visa, Mastercard or AMEX (Sorry – no Discover)

Name on credit card: ________________________________________________________ Credit card number: ________________________________________________________ Exp. date: _________ Credit card billing zip/postal code _________ Security code____ NOTE: Occasionally we make our mailing list available to our advertisers. If you do not want your name included on these lists, please check here: _________

RETURN THIS FORM TO: ILCA OF NA 2812 CANON STREET SAN DIEGO, CA 92106

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