Fall 2016 The Laser Sailor

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

WINNING

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Official publication of the International Laser Class Association North American Region

FALL 2016

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

District Contacts .....................................................................................................6 President’s Report....................................................................................................8 Laser Sailing-Recovery is Key.............................................................................10 Regatta Reports

Sherri Campbell & Jerelyn Biehl ILCA-NA

North American Championship.............................................................14

Officers

No Coast Championship..........................................................................16

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

NA Masters Championship.....................................................................18

Meka Taulbee Vice Chairman Dunedin, FL USA 727-631-7005 meka@sailfit.com

Masters Class - how did it start?..........................................................................20 2017 Event Schedule...............................................................................................21 District Reports.......................................................................................................22 Why Join the Laser Class?....................................................................................28 Membership Applications.....................................................................................29

Eric Reitinger Treasurer 7908 Normandy Drive Mt Laurel, NJ 08054 609-206-2973 er4599@gmail.com 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

FALL 2016

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

Cover photo: Gorgeous shot by Jan Anderson of the North American venue.

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

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HAWAII

District 1

Claire Sears 506-650-8821 clairesears1@gmail.com

District 2

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

District 7

Judith Krimski Laserd7@gmail.com

District 8

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

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District 9

District 18

District 10

District 19

Peter Bushnell Cazenovia, NY 13035 315-655-4671- peter.bushnell@carrier.utc.com

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

Eric Reitinger 7908 Normandy Dr Mt. Laurel NJ 08054 Er4599@gmail.com http://d10.laserforum.org

District 20

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

District 21

District 11

District 12

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

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

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

District 16

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

Sean Lennon 920-573-1922 spatricklennon11@gmail.com Facebook: Laserd20 Matthew Thompson D21.sec@gmail.com D21.laserforum.org

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

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

Jorge Suarez, 7 Covina Ave Long Beach, CA 90803 562-260-8116. jorgesuarez0@yahoo.com Groups.yahoo.com/group/nalaserdistrict25

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

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

District 17

District 26

FALL 2016

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President’s Report

BY ANDY ROY It’s always a bit of a downer having to write my article for The Laser Sailor fall issue, only because it signals the end of the summer sailing season. At least I have a couple regattas planned before the snow falls, including Fall CORK in Kingston plus the big event for many NA Masters Sailors; the US Nationals. This event is shaping up to be the highest attended NA Masters regatta for the past several years, with over 105 sailors registered before the regatta gets underway out of Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, Mass. It should be a good one. business, ILCA recently announced that on 12 August The 2016 North American Championships were sailed 2016, United States District Judge, Jeffrey Meyer, issued at the Gorge in Washington State, and saw 151 entries an order granting ILCA’s motion for summary judgment, competing in the Standard, Radial and 4.7 fleets. I meaning ILCA has to date prevailed in the litigation understand that conditions were picture perfect, with the process that had been brought against it. We are hoping Gorge handing out the strong breezes it’s famous for. this brings an end to the legal proceedings against the class Congrats to Christopher Barnard, Haddon Hughes, and Jacob Fisker-Andersen for taking their respective fleet titles association.

I intend to represent the North American region at the (Standard, Radial and 4.7), with all three coincidentally annual ILCA World Council meeting this November, and I totaling 13 points each over 11 races (with two drops). will update class members following the meeting.

Major Laser championships around the world have been attracting fantastic turnouts, particularly among younger sailor events. The U-21 Laser Worlds Standard Men and Radial Women, and also the 4.7 Worlds, were held in Kiel, Germany, and the total entries there hit about 300.

Congratulations to Canadian Max Gallant for pulling off a 6th overall in the very competitive Standard Men fleet (144 entries)!

The Youth Worlds, held in Dublin, Ireland, saw about 170 boys and 76 girls competing in the two Laser fleets. Congrats to USA sailors Sophia Reineke (4th), Anna Weis (8th) and Christina Sakellaris (10th) for cracking the top 10, and to Henry Marshall for bringing home the boys championship title in style! Henry (with 7 bullets Your Source for Laser Rentals in California over 11 races) and his brother William also took the top two podium spots Laser and RIB Coach boats at the 2016 US Nationals sailed out of Mentor Harbor Yachting Club in Rentals available for any event in California Ohio. I’m thinking that must be a first where two siblings grabbed a 1-2 at a major Laser championships. Quite the New boats for summer 2016. Reserve your boat today! season for Henry, who spent a lot of time training with Paige Railey before her lead-up to the Olympics where she qualified for the medal race and finished 10th overall.

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FALL 2016

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Laser Sailing: Recovery is Key BY: CHRIS HERRERA DPT, CSCS, USAW TARA O’BRIEN DPT Sailing is an extremely unique sporting event with 8-12 races over a course of 5-7 days. There are a variety stresses put on the body that accumulate over the course of the event. The body and mind starts the event at peak levels with proper mental focus, energy, strength, and flexibility. After each race, each of those start to loose their reserve and either slowly (when racing well) or quickly change from positive aspects to negative stressors. Over the last ten years, I have created a systematic RECOVERY PROTOCOL to implement after each race in order to delay and hopefully prevent any decrease in these reserves. The athlete that is able to race with a sharper mental focus and sustain the physical pounding on the body will finish the event stronger and have a better chance at the podium.

The recovery protocol will take 40-80 minutes and should be done as soon as possible after each race, preferably within 1530 minutes after coming off the water.

THE PROCESS The process is a systematic protocol and thus should be done exactly in this order to rejuvenate the body both mentally and physically, prevent accumulation of lactic acid, return muscles to their proper resting length ratios, prevent swelling both interstitially and within joints, and refuel the body with proper nutrients.

1. Nutrition a. Combination of complex carbohydrates, whey protein, and raw vegetables i. Complex carbohydrates: (oatmeal, brown rice, beans) ii. Why Protein: 18-30 grams of protein (i.e: protein drink, chocolate milk) iii. Raw Vegetables: (red & green peppers, carrots, broccoli) b. 32-48 ounces of Fluid i. Preferably 50/50 mix of water and electrolyte based drink (i.e: Gatorade) 2. Dynamic Cool down 3. Active Stretching 4. Myofascial Release a. Active Release b. Graston c. Cupping 5. Ice 6. Intermittent Compression Dynamic Cool Down (10 min) Why? The dynamic cool down is the key to starting the recovery process correctly. First and foremost, it allows the body’s cardiovascular system to safely and effectively adjust and return back to its baseline levels. As for your muscles, a dynamic cool down will prevent excessive muscular tightness from occurring and will allow the muscles to slowly acclimate to their resting length length ratios as well. When the body is not able to cool

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a full body, dynamic cool down.

down appropriately, blood flow becomes compromised and this excess blood will pool in the lower portion of your legs causing them to swell; toxins love to congregate and ultimately result in pain, muscle fatigue, and inflammation.

This will prevent the body from recovering and the ability to perform at a high level on continual daily basis.

How? Start with 10 minutes on a stationary bicycle going at a relatively constant speed of roughly 50-70 RPMs. A brisk paced walk, or a light jog can also replace biking as a form of

Active Stretching (7-10 min) Why? While active stretching prior to a workout is key, stretching post-workout is just as important in order to maintain muscle flexibility and prevent injury. Stretching promotes muscle relaxation, optimal muscle length, and muscle extensibility.

A regular stretching routine both preand post-workout will help keep your muscles working effectively throughout the entire joint’s range of motion which ultimately safeguards you against common injuries such as strains and tears. This is also a great time to use mental imagery and get ready to focus for the race or start the debriefing process post race.

How? Dynamic stretching of all major muscle groups is the easiest and cheapest way to stretch. The routine below will take 7-10 minutes and does not require any equipment: 1. 3 sets of 10 jumping jacks and 10 body weight squats 2. 2 sets of 10 walking lunges (5 steps each leg) 3. 2 sets of 10 yards high knees 4. 2 sets of 10 yards butt Kicks 5. 2 sets of toe to head kicks (see pic) 6. 10 bridges (laying on your back) 7. 10 iron cross kicks (laying on your back) 8. 10 scorpion kicks (laying face down)

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Myofascial Release (15-20 min) Why? Myofascial release techniques are key to recovery and muscle flexibility. While stretching and foam rolling are similar in the respect that they focus on muscular restrictions in order to restore muscle flexibility, myofascial release goes one step further by focusing on specific adhesions, taking into account the direction of the muscle fibers and its interaction with the surrounding fascia. The specificity of myofascial release techniques promotes restoration of the most injured and restricted areas of the muscle fibers. The goal is to break up adhesions, minimize scar tissue formation and maintain optimal muscle length. A variety of myofascial release techniques revitalize muscle fibers and fascia to ultimately prevent injury and promote recovery of the tissues post-workout or competition.

Foam Rolling: Foam rolling is another great way to keep your muscles loose and flexible; spend 30-60 seconds on each muscle; if you find spots that are more tender than others, spend 5-10 seconds specifically on those spots to work out the trigger point/ tenderness.

Graston: Graston Technique is unique in that it is an instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization that helps break up scar tissue, adhesions, and promotes optimal movement of the muscle throughout the entire range of motion.

Regularly scheduled Graston treatments with your physical therapist will significantly improve your performance & prevent injuries from occurring.

Cupping: Acu-cupping is a type of soft tissue mobilization and trigger point release used to release the muscles as well as relieve pain and soreness. Cupping is different than other forms of soft tissue techniques in that it using negative pressure; the skin, fascia, and muscle tissue are pulled up into the cup, causing blood & fluid to flow to the area. This blood flow flushes out toxins and brings oxygen and nutrients to the muscles to revitalize them. Cupping treatments typically take around 5-10 minutes and can be performed over any muscle, tailored to specific muscle groups based off your most recent workouts.

Similar to Michael Phelps at the Olympics, it is common to have circular bruises on the skin where the cups were placed that may last for 7-10 days.

Onset Muscle Soreness). Preventing DOMS is key to a rigorous training or competition schedule as DOMS can have a significant negative impact on your performance.

How? Ice pack, ice machine, ice bath? When it comes to icing down after practice or competition, your best bet is going to be an ice bath. However, ice machines have become more high tech and body part specific allowing more precise ways to ice specific areas.

Machines like the GameReady provide both ice and compression to a specific body part that is pumped from the machine into a sleeve, constantly revolving ice water to maintain a constant temperature of 34 degrees for the entire treatment (approx. 10-20 min). For laser sailing I recommend Icing both lower extremities and hips/low back for 10 minutes each (see pic). The added compression helps to flush out the toxins that pool and become stagnant post event.

Intermittent Compression (15-20 min) Why? Compression therapy has become more and more well known and developed in the past couple of years. The most recent technology allows for “intermittent” and “graded” compression of specific body regions via sleeves that are slipped on to the arms, legs, or hips/core. The most efficient device on the market is Recovery Pump which has sleeves for lower extremities, hips/core, and shoulder/arms. Graded compression means that the pressure is first applied at the end of your arm or leg and slowly increases up the leg towards the thigh or, in the case of the arms, up towards the shoulder. This allows for the pressure to be highest at the farthest point, pushing the blood, fluid, and lactic acid build-up back into the circulatory system to prevent inflammation and muscle breakdown from occurring.

Ice (10-20 min) Why? Icing down after practice or competition is vital to prevent inflammation and subsequent breakdown from occurring in your muscles. As a result, you will be less prone to DOMS (Delayed

www.Laser.org

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2016 Laser North American Championships

BY CHRIS BARNARD My 2016 Olympic Campaign came to a close with the Laser North American Championships, July 21-24 in Cascade Locks, OR. Although I came up short in my quest for Rio, I was excited to finish off the summer racing at one of my favorite venues in the world, the Columbia River Gorge. I raced at the Gorge for Georgetown University in the 2011 College Nationals and won Laser North Americans there in 2012. I can’t say I am completely objective because we all love the venues where we’ve been successful. But the Gorge is special. I’ll lay it out for you here in a few words: Breeze on, almost everyday. Upwind current makes for lots of downwind sailing. Hiking up to waterfalls. Trains sounding their horns as they roll up and down the river. Majestic green mountain peaks towering over the river. It just got even windier. Barges loaded with logs chugging down the river out to sea. Beautiful biking.

Scenic golf and ski resorts. Vang on and hike harder.

Dozens of windsurfers and kite boarders ripping across the racecourse. Microbreweries everywhere, craft beer capital of the world. This downwind is going to be epic. Great people as well!

playing the stronger current on the Washington side of the river as well as the always-changing wind direction and velocity as it winds and accelerates through the mountains.

My rules of thumb are simple: Upwind – stay in the current, and then play the shifts. Boat speed boost from a knot or more of current differential is greater than the boat speed increase from the wind increasing from 20 knots to 22 knots. Downwind – get in the puff, get the boat ripping, point at the mark or the next puff. The difference between being in the puff versus not was the difference between planing and not planing. Additionally making headway downwind, into the current, was critical.

After a twoday drive up from southern California, it was great to be on that final approach, winding up the river through those towering peaks to Cascade Locks, home to the host organization Columbia Gorge Racing Association (CGRA).

I was defending champion from last year’s event in North Carolina and won the event four years ago at this venue, so was pretty confident in the formula for success here.

Day two was chillier; overcast skies, winds still 1520 knots, with the occasional rain cloud.

Typically the rain clouds came from the north, so the lefties from Oregon weren’t as common, making the Washington side of the racecourse even more favorable. Another nearly perfect day, scoring a 1-1-2.

Although a windy venue that does favor fitter sailors with good technique, the Gorge also presents tricky strategic and tactical decisions that are often overlooked. You must balance the priorities, both upwind and downwind, in

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Day one brought classic Gorge conditions. Breeze started out at a moderate 15 knots and quickly built to 25+ knots under a blue bird sky. I played a smart game starting at the favored end, flopping onto port as quickly as possible to head towards the Washington shore, bow down to the favorable current, and aware of occasional left shift off the Oregon shore. I let boat speed take over from there, scoring a picket fence 1-1-1, a perfect start to the event.

Day three was back to blue bird skies, but much trickier as the gradient had shifted farther north than the common west direction, causing the wind to bend across and into the river. Race one was much puffier than normal, with winds around 6-12 knots. I found myself middle of the fleet for the first time at the top mark, rounding in 15th. I used those puffs to my advantage on the next lap and crawled back to

FALL 2016

a 2nd place. The thermal breeze finally found its groove, building to 20 knots for the final two races.

I managed a 1st and a 3rd despite flipping at the final windward mark. Everyone else took a spill sometime over the week; I thought I’d join in.

Having not sailed a drop race yet, with two throw-outs at my disposal, I was very much in control of my own destiny going into the final day. For the first time all week, there was no wind when we arrived at the venue that morning and the AP flag was up.

I took the opportunity to cool off by free boarding around the river on a Laser dagger board. The breeze eventually trickled up the river reaching a modest 8-12 knots, enough for the race committee to bang out two good races. I sailed a conservative first race to finish 5th and clinch the championship with two races to spare.

3-time North American Champion.

Darn good feeling.

Thank you to the CGRA for putting together a great championship as they always do. Thanks also to the Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation for the support they’ve given me over the course of my sailing career, and to my great support system led by my family, friends and campaign sponsors. Finally, thank you to the US Sailing Team Sperry, the staff, coaches, and all of my teammates, who put on a tremendous effort in Rio. I am fortunate to call all of them my close friends and they did our country very proud. I look forward to the Trek to Tokyo 2020.

2016 North American Championship Results Laser Standard (60 boats) 1.

Chris Barnard (Los Angeles, CA) 2.

Erik Bowers (Excelsior, MN) 3.

Max Gallant (Victoria, BC) 4.

Malcolm Lamphere (Lake Forest, IL) 5.

Derick Vranizan (Seattle, WA) Laser Radial (82 boats) 1.

Haddon Hughes (Houston, TX) 2.

Corinne Peters (Bedford, Nova Scotia) 3.

Leo Boucher (Annapolis, MD) 4.

John Kirkpatrick (Portsmouth, RI) 5.

Lindsey Babb (Saratoga, CA) Laser 4.7 (9 boats) 1.

Jacob Fisker-Andersen (Jacksonville, FL) 2.

Abbie Carlson (Seattle, WA) 3.

Conrad Miller (Portland, OR)

Keep training hard and see you on the water.

Photo Credit -Jan Anderson

www.Laser.org

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No Coast Championship

photo credits: left - Keith Rice.

BY PETER BUSHNELL

The 2016 Laser No Coast Championship was hosted by the Ithaca Yacht Club on Cayuga Lake on August 6-7. Conditions were absolutely perfect with sunshine and northwest breeze both days, nicely aligned with this beautiful deep water Finger Lake. Forty sailors participated, coming from nine states, Ontario Canada, and Northern Ireland with 27 Standard Rigs and 13 Radials. A team of 6 came from the Chicago YC in the Radial fleet.

About half of the full rig sailors were Masters. Ithaca YC and Race Chairman, David Filiberto did a superb job managing the regatta along with Principal Race Officer, Bill Topping.

To keep things manageable with the deep water mark sets, the PRO wisely chose windward-leeward courses with a gate and a mid-course start-finish. Both fleets raced the same course with the full rigs starting 5-10min ahead of the radials. All but one race were twice around and about 60 minutes start to finish.

The first race Saturday started at about 11:30AM as the northwest was still developing, so the first couple of legs were light, but by the end of the race a nice 8-12kt breeze had settled in. A brief course adjustment was made and races 2 and 3 were sailed as the wind continued to build into the 15-20 range with higher gusts. The courses were long with the bottom gate pretty much out of sight from the top mark. Race 4 was started at about 3PM and mercifully was once around (thank you very much). Marek Zaleski led day 1 in the full rig in close races with the teams from

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Ontario including father and son Wachholz. Laura Gilmore sailed perfectly with four bullets in the Radial fleet. Laura is from Belfast Northern Ireland and the 2014 IRL Youth Champion and a visiting sailing instructor at Ithaca YC. After racing, all enjoyed a range of beverages, buffet dinner and live music on the patio.

The breeze moderated a bit for day 2 with three more races in 8-15kt NW. Winds were generally steady and sailing was beautiful. However, there were some interesting “lake moments” in race 6 when the wind shifted to the SE for about 1 minute and then clocked right back to NW with some shifty/gusty conditions startling more than a few sailors and benefiting some. In the full rig, Marek dominated again with three more bullets. Competition for second was extremely tight, with a three-way tie-breaker between Patrick (Dad) Wachholz (2nd), Forrest (Son) Wachholz (3rd), and Ross Murdoch (4th) of Kingston, Ontario. Daniel Burmingham Cornell Sailing Team was 5th. In the Radial Fleet, Laura Gilmore continued with a strong 2,4,1 to win the Radial fleet with 7 points. David Grace of Annapolis YC was 2nd. 3rd place went to James Wagner of the Chicago YC followed by Rachel Grace of the Annapolis YC in 4th and Christian Myers of the Cedar Point YC in 5th. Awards for masters were given to district 9 sailors Kevin Morgan, Peter Bushnell and Bobby Bryant.

Thanks again to the Ithaca YC and all of the competitors for making this such a super event!

Top five detailed results are summarized below for each fleet.

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2016 No Coast Championship Results Standard Rig 1st Marek Zaleski, USA, Noroton YC 2nd Patrick Wachholz CAN, Barrie YC/OST 3rd Forrester Wachholz CAN, Barrie YC/OST 4th Ross Murdoch CAN, Kingston YC/OST 5th Daniel Burmingham USA, CCYC

1,1,1,(2.0),1,1,1 (6.0),2,4,1,2,5,4 2,5,2,3,4,2,(8.0) 3,3,3,4,(5.0),3,2 1 (9.0),4,5,5,3,4,6

6pts 18pts 18pts 8pts 27pts

Radial 1st Laura Gilmore IRL 2nd David Grace USA, Annapolis YC 3rd James Wagner USA, Chicago YC 4th Rachel Grace USA, Annapolis YC 5th Christian Myers USA, Cedar Pt YC

1,1,1,1,2,(4),1 2,2,2,4,5,2,(6.0) (9.0),3,4,2,1,6,4 (14),4,10,3,3,1,5 3,7,3,5,6,(11.0),7

7pts 17pts 20pts 26pts 31pts

www.Laser.org

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North American Masters Championship Unfortunatley we did not receive the regatta report as promised, so we give you some awesome photos by Laura Ramirez Pita and results.

Master Standard North American Results Top 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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Charles Buckingham Emilio Castelli Tracy Usher Will Benedict Mike Bishop Al Sargent Greg Jackson Peter Vessella Simon Bell Rob Hallawell

M GM GM AM M M GM GM M M

NHYC Richmond YC StFYC RYC StFYC StFYC Port Madison StFYC Richmond YC YCYC

11 23 31 34 38 44 62 64 83 91

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Master Radial North American Results top 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

www.Laser.org

Walt Spevak Doug Hart Jon Andron David Lapier Peter Seidenberg Doug Seeman John Bernard Duler Roger Herbst David Hartman Toshinari Takayanagi

GM GM GGM GM GGM GGM GM GM GGM M

Okoboji YC MBYC StFYC Sail Newport WSC StFYC SLF NOMAD Shoreline Lake

13 21T 21T 23 38 50 59 60 64 76

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Master Class - How did it all Start? reprinted from an early Laser Sailor

Evergreen Grand Master Jack Swenson (Commodore of the Royal Turkey YC in Florida, USA) wrote to us recently with a how, when, where and who? question about the starting of Laser Masters Sailing. Jack obviously has nothing better to do than to dream up difficult questions for us. However, like virile young stallions we rose to the challenge and dug into the Laser archives but couldn’t find anything to help us. Undeterred we dug into Jeff Martin’s brain (it was in even worse condition than the Laser archives and nearly as useless when after a long search, we found it!)

Jeff believes that the idea of Laser master sailing first surfaced in North America when a group of oldies in District 6 organized a regatta for the “over 30s” in 1978 which was known as “Gramps Champs”. Never one to miss a good idea, especially if it is someon else’s, Jeff Martin and the then European Secretary Jan Romme, formalized this idea and organized the first ILCA World Masters Championship for 1980 in Bendol, France.

The first championship attracted 67 entries from 14 different countries including several who were at the most recent World Masters - Alf Johnson, Michael Heath and Paul Millsom. Svend Carlsen (Denmark) won the Apprentices, Nick Paine (UK), the Masters with Sam Small (USA) took the Grand Masters title.

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FALL 2016

2017 Schedule Regatta

Standard

Radial

Laser 4.7

Masters

World Championship

Split, Croatia Sept 12-19

Medemblik, NED Women: Aug 19-26 Youth: Aug 11-18 Men: Aug 19-26

Nieuwpoort, BEL July 16-24

Split, Croatia Sept 12-19

NA Championship

40 GP pts. ISAF 100 points

Royal Vancouver YC Vancouver, BC June 21-25

Royal Vancouver YC Vancouver, BC June 21-25

Royal Vancouver YC Vancouver, BC June 21-25

Canadian Championships

District 3

District 3

District 3

US Championships

West District 22, 24, 25

West District 22, 24, 25

West District 22, 24, 25

CORK

Kingston, ON www.cork.org August 18-23

Kingston, ON www.cork.org August 18-23

Kingston, ON www.cork.org August 13-17

na

30 GP Pts. ISAF 100 points

Midwinters East

Clearwater, FL www.clwyc.org Feb 23-26

Clearwater, FL www.clwyc.org Feb 23-26

Clearwater, FL www.clwyc.org Feb 23-26

Davis Island YC Tampa, FL Feb 17-19

Midwinters West

California YC Marina del Rey, CA March 24-26

California YC Marina del Rey, CA March 24-26

California YC Marina del Rey, CA March 24-26

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Miami OCR

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

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

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Atlantic Coast Championships

Carolina YC Wrightsville Beach, NC May 6-7

Carolina YC Wrightsville Beach, NC May 6-7

Carolina YC Wrightsville Beach, NC May 6-7

Pacific Coast Championships

25 GP Pts. ISAF 50 points

Ventura YC Ventura, CA June 9-11

Ventura YC Ventura, CA June 9-11

Ventura YC Ventura, CA June 9-11

Gulf Coast Championships

District 13

District 13

District 13

No Coast Championships

TBD

TBD

TBD

Great Lakes Championships

District 18

District 18

District 18

ISAF 200 points

30 GP pts. ISAF 50 points

30 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 2

30 GP Pts. ISAF 50 points

30 GP Pts. ISAF 50 points

ISAF 200 points

25 GP Pts. ISAF 50 points

25 GP Pts

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25 GP Pts

25 GP Pts

www.Laser.org

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District Reports District 1 Claire Sears Nova Scotia This summer has been quite busy in District 1!

There was a total of 13 organised laser regattas since the beginning of June, which took place all over Atlantic Canada. The first large event in the region was the District One Laser Championships hosted by the BayWind Regatta (St Margaret Sailing Club), in Nova Scotia. The first day of racing saw winds of approximately 18 knots, with gusts into the low 20s. Day two had lighter winds varying around 10 knots and choppier conditions. The final day only one race was completed due to very light winds and dense fog. The top three finishers for the event are as follows: Laser Standard: 1. Nathan Dunn, RNSYS 2. Luke Ruitenburg, RNSYS 3. Henry Machum, RNSYS Laser Radial: 1. Spencer Dalzell, RNSYS 2. Ryan Anderson, RNSYS 3. Coralie Vittecoq, Canadian Sailing Team The second major event was Sail East, hosted by the Charlottetown Yacht Club, in Prince Edward Island. Both racing days had light winds, followed by thunderstorms rolling in later on in the day, bringing the breeze with them. The race course had lots of current, especially on day one, making for challenging conditions. The top three finishers in each class are: Laser Standard: 1. Danner Mosher, Charlottetown Yacht Club 2, Jeff Boudreau, SBYRA 3. Gordon Stevens, RNSYS Laser Radial: 1. Nick Yuill, RNSYS 2. Ben Ruitenburg, RNSYS 3. Alison Sears, RNSYS Overall, it has been an excellent summer in the Maritimes, and hoping to see lots of sailors brave the cold weather and make it out on the water this fall!

District 2 Philippe Dormoy Quebec, Canada

Bonjour everyone, Summer is hanging on and we like it! The weather is still warm, the water is still ok and the winds are really good in Montreal and hopefully all the district.

Still a lot of sailing to enjoy.

District 2 did it once again: The 2016 Canadian masters was held at Beaconsfield Yacht club June 17th, 18th and 19th. The regatta was also called “Ian Bruce memorial” to honor his memory and all he has done for the Laser class.

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The was 45 registered and we had a great regatta with Sunday solid breeze. Andy Roy was happy to win the trophy that will become a perpetual one.

Beaconsfield Yacht Club Laser fleet has grown this Summer. There is now over 15 Laser1 members and Sunday afternoon racing was fun. It is promising for next year.

The Quebec circuit has been also very busy this summer and last week-end championship saw a fleet of over 30 boats sailing in strong wind condition on Sunday (over 20-25 knots steady). The fleet was a mix of masters and young sailors. There were no standard sails on Sunday!

The district regattas are over, there is still the Cork fall and US masters held on the East coast end of September to cap the season for those who like larger fleets. Go and enjoy!

See you next year

ideal for younger or smaller sailors learning the sport. Whereas in Ontario we are blessed with so many warm fresh water lakes and so many fantastic places to sail and a regatta schedule that has events almost every weekend spread across these lakes around the province. We are so fortunate here in Ontario, but we don’t necessarily recognize it until we go elsewhere or compare notes with sailors from elsewhere such as John. Clearly for higher end sailors being close to an ocean with strong and reliable winds, big waves and tides provides for great

sailing conditions, but then we have Kingston.

Everyone has their favourite regattas from the summer, but for me this year’s most memorable sailing locations include the Muskoka regatta and the Buffalo Canoe Club, which were back-to-back weekends of fantastic weather at two spectacular locations for laser sailing. I truly felt blessed to be sailing a laser at these locations with good friends.

If you have never sailed at Buffalo Canoe Club it is located 15 minutes from the US border in Crystal Beach, Ontario and has one of the nicest beaches and yacht club facilities.

Check out d3laser.com for the winners of the Fogh Gold Cup series. Prizes can be picked up at Fogh Marine….gotta love those new sails.

Photos: Sailing in Beautiful Muskoka

District 3 Nigel Heath Ontario Wow what a summer for sailing in Ontario….super hot, warm lakes, little rain on weekends and pretty good winds. We are finishing up another summer jammed with laser regattas and it wasn’t until I had a conversation with John Sykes of Adelaide, Australia (at the Sturgeon Lake regatta) that I realized how fortunate we are here in D3. In Australia there are very few freshwater lakes to sail on and so most sailing is done on the ocean in strong winds. While that is great for high end sailors, it’s not necessarily

District 4 Brigitte Smutny Manitoba We are looking back on a busy season for our Laser sailors in Manitoba. After an extensive regatta circuit in the spring the Laser Canadians were held at the Gimli Yacht Club on July 16 and 17. High Performance Coach Angelo Tabanero from Spain flew in three days before the championships to share his wealth of knowledge with 12 Laser sailors.

He blew us away and we will have him back in 2017. Congrats to Laser Champion Austin Ross

FALL 2016

from MB, 18&under Laser Champion Andre Gagnon from SK, Radial Champion Corinne Peters from NS and 18&under Radial Champion Linus Schweizer.

The Laser District 4 Championships was held on September 3 and 4 at the Gimli YC. Congrats to Overall winner Mike Couture, 18&under winner Anthony Clark and our Master sailors in the following categories. Apprentice - Paul Gomori, Master - Mike Matter, Grand Master - Mike Couture, Great Grand Master - Bill Dawson.

With a few regattas left in September and October, the season is winding down. We will have to pack the boats away by latest October 23 and face another long and cold winter. Thank god for hockey to keep us entertained. ;)

District 5 Mark Lammens Saskatchewan Dick Degner series results, Icebreaker Regatta, CYC Issac Bussin 1st, Michael Hooper 2nd and Phil Paxton 3rd; Radial Connor Weicht 1st, Marin Rockliff 2nd and Lee Nagy 3rd. Saskatchewan Championships, Ian Elliot 1st , Issac Bussin 2nd and Stephen Huszar 3rd Youth sailors were Andre Gagnon 1st, Alec Watters 2nd and Rene Carter 3rd.

Thank you to Helly Hansen for the 2 Salt Power Jackets as prizes.

At Newell for the Prairie Wind had Paxton 1st, Thom Stubbs 2nd and Barry Tee 3rd. Radial has Ewa Stroemich 1st, Kevin Petrosenko 2nd and Marianne Goodwin 3rd. Alberta Championships had Paxton win again, Luke Harrison 2nd and Michael Hooper 3rd. Radial was Nagy 1st, Debbie Kirkby 2nd and Benjamin Brown 3rd.

Final scores for the Dick Degner series is Phil Paxton top master at 39 pts, Michael Hooper 2nd with 24 and Ton Stubbs 3rd with 20. Laser has Issac Bussin 1st with 29 pts, Ian Elliot 2nd with 27 pts and Luke Harrison 3rd with 13. Radial has Connor Weicht 1st with 13 pts Lee Nagy 2nd with 13, Debbie Kirkby 3rd with 7.

Paxton, Bussin and Nagy will be reflected on the Dick Degner trophy for 2016. Congrats. Thanks to the host clubs for their support for our laser events.

District 6 Andy Hunt Vancouver Greetings to all District 6 sailors, volunteers and coaches.

Here we are at the end of a spectacular summer in District 6. The weather for the last three months has been perfect. I can’t remember the last regatta I sailed when there was rain. Some of the regattas had less than ideal wind (aat least at the beginning) but waiting for wind in the sun is not the end of the world.

The first regatta I will report on was the WAVES regatta. This regatta is the biggest regatta of the BC Sailing Circuit. This year it was held over the Canada Day long weekend (July 1 – 3). Competitors came from all over the lower mainland, Vancouver Island, one from Calgary and several from the US.

www.Laser.org

There were 31 Laser Radials, 13 Laser Standards and 2 Laser 4.7s. Nine races were run over the three days. I wasn’t around to race but I believe that the weather was great. The top five Laser Radial sailors were: Talia Toland, RVANYC, 12.00; Benji Mcmaster, RVANYC, 35.00; Maura Dewey, RVICYC, 39.00; Tanja Smutney, JSCA, 41.00; Peter Woytkowiak, JSCA, 45.00. As you can see, the point differential between 2nd and 5th was only 10 points. I would like to congratulate Talia for putting on such an outstanding performance. The top three Laser Standard sailors were: Max Gallant, RVICYC, 18.00; Al Clark, JSCA, 28.00; Jorge Yanez Del Castillo, JSCA, 28.00. The weekend of July 9 and 10 saw the Squamish Yacht Club (with assistance from the West Vancouver Yacht Club) host the BC Sailing Championships. The driving force of this regatta was Garry Cotter and his wife (whose name I don’t want to print since I know I will spell it wrong, please accept my apologies). The winds were a little bit lighter on Saturday (8-12) than on Sunday (15 – 18). Some sailors (including myself) only sailed on Saturday and not Sunday. Courses were twice round windward-leewards. There were 3 races on July 9 and 4 races on July 10. However, there were only 5 races in total for the Laser 4.7s. There were 3 Laser 4.7s, 10 Laser Standards and 18 Laser Radials. The weather was nice and sunny. The top four Laser Radial sailors were: Ellie Ungar, 9.00; Benjie Mcmaster. 17.00; Ausin Stewart, 20.00 and Alec Coleman, 21.00. The top three Laser Standard sailors were: Fillah Karim, 10; Al Clark, 14 and Jorge L Yanez Del Castillo, 17.00.

The three Laser 4.7 sailors were: Seth Rushton, 6.00; Adrian Conn, 10.00 and Katherine Littleton, 16.00. The Comox Bay Sailing Club hosted a regatta on August 6 and 7 called the Comox Bay Sailing Club Fun Regatta. There was just enough wind on Saturday to run one race for all of the classes. The weather improved on Sunday to run 5 races although it went from sun to cloud to rain. The Laser Radials (6) and Laser Standards (3) were started together and scored both as one fleet and as separate fleets. The overall winner in the combined results was Sarah Clark (Radial) with 11 points. Second and third place boats were Laser Standards and the sailors were Tom Gornall (12) and James Volkers (12).

When the fleets were scored separately, the top three in each fleet were: Radials: Sarah Clark (7); Doug Bell (10) and Makeena Shepard (16); Standards: Tom Gornall (7), James Volkers (7) and Brendan Bugden (15). The following weekend (August 13 and 14) saw the master sailors (aka old fogies) compete in the annual BC Laser Master Championships. This event was hosted by the Cultus Lake Sailing Club and raced on Cultus Lake. In years past, this regatta was held at the Quilchena Sailing Centre on Nicola Lake but due to unforeseen circumstances, the venue had to change. On both days, sailors had to wait until the afternoon for the wind to show up although the weather could not have been better. Some sailors went for a swim to cool off before they went racing.

When the wind did show up, it was around 12 – 15 on Saturday and slightly more on Sunday (15 – 18).

The wind arrived a little earlier on Sunday which was a good thing as some of the sailors had to travel a fair distance to get home. There were two races on Saturday and two on Sunday although a third race on Sunday was run but did not count as it was after the time limit for the day. Most of the sailors raced the last race anyway. Even though the rig switch rule was in effect, no one changed sails during the regatta. There were 1 Apprentice, 2 Masters, 9 Grand Masters and 6 Great Grand Masters including

those who were over 75, When the handicap system was applied, Jorge L Yanez Del Castillo won the regatta with 6 points. Jorge, a grand master, won every race. Second place went to Great Grand Master Peter MacDougal (7 points) and third place went to another Great Grand Master, Jacek Suski (8 points). Fourth and fifth went to Doug Bell (GGM, 11) and Bob Ennenberg (GM, 22). Winners in each category were: Chris Carberry (A), Michael Lum (M), Jorge L Yanez Del Castillo (GM) and Peter MacDougal (GGM). Each of the competitors were awarded a prize, courtesy of the following sponsors: Evolution Sails, Rekord Marine / Victory Products, and West Coast Sailing. I think that I have forgotten the sponsors that founder Trevor Owen found and if so, please forgive me.

Evening racing at the local clubs is now over for the season. However, there is still some weekend racing going on. Please check out a local club to see if there is any fall / winter racing happening in your area.

Now is the time to start thinking about the 2017 season. Please let me (and Sherri) know if you want to host an ILCA NA regatta.

District 8 Frank Keckler New York First, special thanks to the Laser Leaders of District 8 for their relentless energy in the hosting and promoting the sport of Laser sailing. in no specific order thanks again to: Tom Colin, Ted Cremer, Bud Rogers, Jon Marsh, Holly Sears, Marguerite Kohler, Bob Terry, Anne Kochendorf, Bill Banks, Alex May, Andrew Hudson, Barry Meehan, David Kruse, Kent Rydberg, Rich Rubel, John Zambriski, Paul LaBossiere, and Christian Langendal as well as everyone who assisted. These leaders are the cornerstones to laser sailings continued success and to future growth of sailing in general.

Besides hosting a District event, each leader has coordinated some sort of regular grass roots laser sailing activity at their location. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday Nights seem to be the most popular nights for Laser weekday evening series racing. The clubs with youth programs still include Lasers as a choice for the young aspiring Olympian. Its obvious that activity breeds more activity, and having inspiring personal like the people above along with a few knock-about lasers to loan to new comers helps build fleets. Today’s Laser fleets continue to draw new faces to sailing; the 4.7 and Radial are ideal for women and juniors. Experience racers look to the boat as fast inexpensive way to fine-tune there racing skills.

Congratulations, to youth sailors Gerard Eastman 23rd place finish in the Gold Fleet and Alex Ellis 1st place finish in the silver fleet at the In the 82 boat fleet at the Radial North American’s, sailing in winds up to 30kts on the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon.

The 2016 Almost Labor Day NBIBCLRA Regatta, Twenty Five Lasers raced in 8-12kts from the NE in Noyack Bay. Because of the wind direction, we explored the far reaches of the bay where only the most intrepid sailors go. It was a shootout between Julian and David for Top Honors.

Our excellent RC Marty Knab, and his team (MaryAnn, Sarah, Dan and Naomi) did a superb job of getting off six races. Steve Tedeschi and his Drone Team took video from high above and special thanks to Cynthia and her team for a great spread and to Izzy and Carlina for excellent work getting all the scores in order.

Congratulations to the winners: Overall: Julian Barrowcliffe, David Berridge and

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Ryosuke Saki Radials: Ryosuke Saki, Rudy Ratsep and Jim Vos Women: Rachel Gruzen, Sara Nightingale and Joan Butler 4.7: Connor Rust and Joan Butler Juniors: Jake O’Brien, Connor Rust and Jean Michel The Rio Olympics are complete and the Laser Radial and Standard rig champions have received their Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. Likewise Hempstead Harbour champions have completed their 30th race season. This year Dan Rapelje won his second championship with Anne Kochendorfer as runner up. Completing the podium is Dave Rapelje.

Congratulations to all the qualifies and well as other racers who experienced the fun provided by the Laser this season. Obviously frost biters, Dan and Dave Rapelje, used last winter’s season kept them on their game in all weather conditions this summer Final prep was completed for the Ward Bell Memorial open regatta at the end of August.

Volunteers were extremely important to pulling off this annual event. Luddy, Bruce, Andy, Peter Rapelje, club manager Jim K and Meredith were key in assisting the Laser fleet in pulling off the third annual regatta.

Competition was intense for the Ward Bell with winds shifting between NE and N with 6 to 12 knots of wind. Lindsey Hewitt, a past World Laser Master Champion, placed second while last years champion Pedro Lorson from Manhasset Bay finished third.

Frank Seckler won the regatta. Frank is Laser District 8 Director this year. Hempstead Harbour was well represented with Bill Banks finishing 6th and Dave Rapelje in 7th. The awards were presented with the Race Committee present and some excellent eats.”

Sea Cliff YC has frostbiting starting the beginning of November.

(Right to Left Frank Seckler, Lindsay Hewitt, Pedro Lorson) Reporting from the Hudson.

The Nyack Boat Club Laser Fleet has had three Regattas as part of the Hudson River Yacht Racing Association series. On July 4, we had the Firecracker Regatta with 18 boats. The wind started as light, but by the last three races there were planning conditions. Tom Lawton took first, Rick Wood took second and Chris Henkel took third. First Radial went to Carol Marsh, first

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Junior went to Simon Curtis and Jon Marsh was best sailor over 65.

We had a regatta on July 16 at Shattemuc Yacht Club on the Hudson but unfortunately there was no wind and we never got to sail.

On August 13 we raced at the Minniceongo Yacht Club. It was oppressively hot

but the wind was good but very shifty. Thanks to the able management of Minniceongo’s PRO, Jesse Fitzgerald, we had 6 challenging races. There were 12 boat registered. First place went to Devin Keister and second went to Ryosake Sakai. Nyack sailors, Mike Gunn took third place and Carol Marsh took first Radial and Nicholas Galletta won top junior sailor at the regatta. Way to go Nick! Following the races, everyone cooled off with some refreshments in the pavilion. ( Kat Esswein PRO, and Carol Marsh Radial 1st Place Nyack Firecraker ) The 5th Annual Around Shelter Island Race took place on 8/13 off of the white sandy beaches of host Southold YC. This marathon of an event is a bucket list must do item for every Laser Sailor. First overall, Cole Colby 3hrs 56 minutes, followed in second place by a nose Oliver Marie 4:08:03 over Don Duthader 4:08:33. First Radial and female finisher, Suki Muller 4.26:21.

Shelter Island Yacht Club hosted its Second Annual Laser Clinic Regatta an starting on Friday July 22 with Boston University assistant sailing coach Conner Needham who also is SIYC head youth coach and capped with a Regatta on Sunday, all for just a token $20.00 donation. Friday’s clinic was a real hit on and off the water and Coach Needham really taught some technique for sailing in a 25 kt breeze along with the help of two coach boats. On Sunday, the wind started light but then built to about 13 knots, we had 17 boats on the starting line great competition.

The good folks at Sayville Yacht Club really know how to host a major event! The District Grand Prix a weekend of racing, August 20-21,32 racers saw a range of conditions in the legendary lumpy waters in the Great South Bay off of Blue Point. Saturday saw

gusts of up to 14 kts, dropping down as the day went on. Five races, the 1st three taking about 50 minutes, the last two taking about 30 minutes each. We sailed in hot sunshine while the cool air blew north over Long island & formed monster thunderstorms to the north of us! Lightning flashed & thunder boomed but the sailors stayed in the sunshine. Sunday saw gusts to 22 kts., with 3 races each taking about 50 minutes.

I don’t think any competitor escaped aches and pains!

Those of us who elected to compete in the Radial Division (most competitors) were no doubt happy to have the smaller rig. I usually race in smaller events, but if you race, it’s worth the experience to do a championship event. Get out there and have fun!

4.7 1st Place Connor Rust Radial 1st Place Gerald Eastman, Radial Junior 1st Place Matt Priebe Laser 1st Lawrence McGrath, Laser Masters 1st Jean Fillion Some sailors from this district have travelled outside the district to complete, hats off to those who have taken the challenge: 2016 Canadian Laser Masters@ Beaconsfield Canada: # 8 Ryosuke Saki, # 16 Lindsay Hewitt; 2016 No Coast Championships @ Ithaca YC: #6 Devin Keister, #8 Ryan Wood, #15 Brad Dunn, # 23 Frank Seckler ; Laser Masters Great Lake Championships @ Buffalo Canoe Club: #5 Paul Clifford, #16 Ryosuke Saki. If you are interested in travelling to an “Away Regatta” or “Training Event Down South” group ideas can be shared on www. laserd8.org.

Special recognition goes to everyone at Sayville Yacht Club for hosting the 2016 Atlantic Coast Master Championships and District 8 Grand Prix events.

Championships and to Bellport Bay Yacht Club for hosting the 2016 Atlantic Coast Championships!

Pictured below is District 8 Laser Chairman Ted Cremer

Fall and Winter sailing are well underway, Further enjoy the fun yet competitive fall and winter sailing by leaving your boat on site, at the venues for quick and easy set-up and breakdown. Check www. laserd8.org for further info.

District 9 Peter Bushnell Upstate New York

FALL 2016

The summer sailing season in the district has been fabulous with a bunch of one-day local regattas, the D9 Grand Prix, and the No Coast Championship behind us at the time of this report. Newport YC, held a one day regatta June 18. Conditions on were spectacular-gorgeous Irondequoit Bay thermal. Only 4 boats competed. However, a good time was had by all. Results as follows: 1) Steve Leach, 2) Kenny Fourspring, 3) Tom French, and First Master Connie Purdum. The Chautauqua Lake YC regatta was held on June 25, again with only four sailors. First place went to Rick Turner. Chas Williamson was second.

The District 9 Grand Prix was hosted by the Sodus Bay YC and Sodus Bay JSA on July 9-10. Thanks very much to Mike Foley race chairman of this event, Hank Stewart PRO, and Bill Topping race officer for the Laser fleet. Eight full rigs and eleven radials.

Two races Saturday and five on Sunday. Scott Possee dominated in the full rig with 7 straight wins.

Jessica Lietz led the radial fleet with 6 bullets and 4th. See photo of Jessica hiking hard into the finish line. Top five standard rig: 1) Scott Possee, 2) Peter Bushnell, 3) Brad Dunn, 4) Nicholas Lyons, 5) Chas Williamson. Top five radials: 1) Jessica Lietz, 2) Rhys Daunton, 3) Maclean Goodfellow, 4) Elizabeth Wolaver, 5) Tristan Altobelli.

Seneca YC in Geneva, NY held its annual oneday regatta on July 16. Twelve boats. No wind in AM. Finally got off 3 races in light and variable conditions. Wind finally kicked in after racing.

Still, as always great to get together. Seneca YC is a beautiful place. Thanks very much to Bill Wilson and family for running this regatta. Top five: 1) Chris Wilson, 2) Aaron Holland, 3) Charles Williamson, 4) Bryan Clark, 5) Peter Bushnell.

Thousand Islands Park YC regatta, July 2 (report

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addition to the District 9 Regatta schedule organized

by Tom French for Lasers and Sunfish sailors on the St. Lawrence River in what has been dubbed the TIPYC “International Invitational.” This year’s regatta included two Canadian entries. TIPYC has been working to build its youth program and is gaining momentum with a bunch of enthusiastic kids.

Several youth sailors raced in Sunfish while the US Sailing Certified Counselors participated in the Laser event. The setting on the river was amazing and conditions were excellent with a stiff west breeze and warm sunshine. Three races were held with winds building from 10 knots in the first race to over 20 by the last. There were eight boats in the Laser fleet including Gord Crothers of Wolfe Island. Everyone had a great time. Top five: 1) Peter Bushnell, 2) Gord Crothers (CAN), 3) Joe Miller, 4) Tom French, 5) Nicholas Pearson (TIPYC Counselor). Several Lakers and Salties (Ocean Vessels) passed along the St. Lawrence Seaway. See the photo of the action taken by TIPYC Treasurer Steve Baker with a ship passing in the background. This was the first wellpromoted sailing event at Thousand Island Park in many years, though it was a regular feature in the 1950s (See old, 90-second, 8 mm film at http:// riverstories.org/Riverstories/Sailing_at_TIP.html).

TIPYC is hoping to grow the event with an eye to building “notoriety for a hospitable location and friendly members.”

The 2016 Laser No Coast Championship was hosted by the Ithaca Yacht Club on Cayuga Lake on August 6-7. Conditions were absolutely perfect with sunshine and northwest breeze both days. Forty sailors participated, from nine states, Ontario Canada, and Northern Ireland with 27 Standard Rigs and 13 Radials. See the full report in this edition of The Laser Sailor for more information and photos.

District 10 Eric Reitinger New Jersey Er4599@gmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ LaserDistrict10/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/LaserDistrict10 There were lots of events going on for the juniors this summer. Just to list a few local events we have Junior Olympics at both Brant Beach and Island Heights which both had some decent turnouts. All the various YRAs had interclubs every week bring great junior turnouts all over the area. Many locals made trips to various US Sailing champs, whether it be the Smythe (both Lasers, Alex Fasolo and Nicholas Stefanoni were from D10) or Youth Champs (Carrson and Carrter Pearce, Nicholas Stefanoni, Alex Fasolo and Michael Ehnot). Nationals was also heavily traveled (Carrson and Carrter Pearce, Nicholas Stefanoni, Alex Fasolo, Margaret MacCormack, Thomas Quinn, Matthew Rossignol, Nicole Moeder and Michael Ehnot). The influx of 4.7s is a great sight this year, Long Beach Island alone has at least 16 of them racing.

District 10 Radial and 4.7 champs were a success with 25 radials and 4 4.7s. Conditions were great and congrats to Carrson Pearce on the win for the radials and Mark Totman for the 4.7s.

This summer was really the summer of Carrson Pearce. He won almost every event he sailed. He will be making a trip to New Zealand at the middle of December to represent the USA at Youth Worlds.

As we transition to the fall we had Surf City’s Annual

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regatta the Saturday after Labor Day. 3 Radials raced with Eric Reitinger winning the event.

Toms River is hosting their fall series, Monmouth has frostbiting, Marsh Creek may have their frostbite series and I’m hearing rumors of the return of the Cooper River Frostbite series returning.

October 2, 9, 16, 23 Toms River Fall Series October 15 Bill McLaughlin Memorial Regatta @ Marsh Creek SC November 5 Fall Laser Regatta @ Monmouth Boat Club October 30, November 6, 13, 20, 27, December 4, 11, 18 Monmouth Frostbite Series January 1st New Years Regatta @ Monmouth Boat Club

District 11 Jon Deutsch Maryland, Virginia District 11 is in need of a new District Secretary after 10 years - I’m ready to pass the baton to the next generation of Laser leaders. It’s been a great pleasure being a part of this district and meeting and sailing with so many great people. I’ll still be around sailing my laser, especially now that I’ll be an apprentice master next year, but it’s time to pass the leadership.

Duties include finding a venue for a District Championship, writing quarterly reports for The Laser Sailor and helping fleet and event leaders get their notices and results posted. Interested? email jon@laserdistrict11.org

District 12 Finn Hassing NC, SC In D12 we have now completed 4 out of the 6 scheduled Championship Regattas. They have been sailed in a variety of conditions from some light air to some very heavy air in Charleston and at Wrightsville Beach which was also our Grand Prix event. The competition for the overall series placings is close and most likely the final standings will not be decided until the last regatta of the series which will take place the first week end in November. 59 sailors have competed in one or more events and with two remaining all participants have a chance to place overall if they sail the last two events. Overall top 3 are: 1. Stanley Hassinger, 2. Robert Key 3. Peter Gamble. With several low scoring sailors waiting for a chance to catch up.

District 15 Griffin Orr Texas After the summer break from regattas, District 15 is charging ahead with 4 major regattas this Fall; the Palacios Cannonball Run, Arlingtons Laserpalooza, Gulf Coast Championships, and last but not least, Wurstfest!

The Palacios Cannonball Run took place the last weekend of August and over 30 competing lasers were met with cool temperatures and moderate breeze. Saturday consisted of 5 very well run races, however Sunday was cut short due to the threat of storms. Congratulations to Griffin Orr, Carson Shields and Deon Van Der Walt for topping the podium in the Laser Full!

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Up next will be the Arlington Yacht Club Laserpalooza, held the first weekend of October. This will be a fantastic warm up regatta for the Gulf Coast Championships held two weeks later at the Texas Corinthian Yacht Club. Following Gulf coast will be the Wurstfest Regatta held at the stunning Lake Canyon Yacht Club.

As the North is wrapping up sailing for the summer, Texas is just beginning our second sailing season of the year! Sail Fast!!

District 19 Ken Swetka Michigan Summer is in full swing but by this writing only one regatta has been held. It was Michigan Sailing’s annual Spring Regatta (details below).

The D19 Championships has a change of venue and date. It will be in conjunction with Lake Lansing’s Regatta which has been D19’s largest attended regatta for many years now.

finishing 2nd and Carey Jones in 3rd. Thanks to George Griswold for managing the PRO position, Robert Parker for providing lunch and all the volunteers for making the event possible.

There were 7 races and 1 throw-out.

Rank HelmName Net 1st Rick Lyons 10 2nd Craig Pierson 12 3rd Carey Jones 18 4th Varun Prabhakar 22 5th Ben Synder 25 6th Ovidiu Adam 31 7th Razvan & Izzy Adam 37 8th Jeanne Bisantz 50 9th Edson Chagas 51 10th Jane Tucker 52 11th Raveen Rajendran 70 That’s all for now from D19 (Michigan)! As always check www.D19Laser.org or www.facebook.com/ D19Laser for even more schedules, reports, and photos!

District 20 Sean Lennon Illinois, Wisconsin

2016 Regattas/Events June 12

UofM Spring Regatta - Michigan Sailing Club - Baseline Lake July 23-24 Leland Laser Regatta - Leland Yacht Club August 20 Lake Lansing Annual + D19 Grand Prix Championships - Lansing Sailing Club Sept 11 UofM Fall Regatta - Michigan Sailing Club - Baseline Lake, Sept 11-12? Spring Lake Fall Regatta - Spring Lake Yacht Club Sept 25? No Sweat Regatta - Portage Yacht Club Sept 25? GTYC Fall Regatta - Traverse City Oct 2 Frosty Mug Regatta - Irish Laser Fleet, Little Traverse Bay, Harbor Springs Oct 9?

Pumpkin Head Regatta - Grand Rapids Yacht Club ? – not confirmed date Michigan Sailing Club Spring Regatta June 12 – story by Andy Van Stavern On a perfect spring day at Baseline Lake, Rick Lyons from PYC won the Spring Laser Regatta. Winds were 10 to 15 mph with temperatures in the low 70’s. There were 11 lasers racing with Craig Pearson

District 20 had some great sailing this year. We have enjoyed a great summer of good winds, warm weather, and even warm water temperatures. How fantastic it was to both improve as a racer, myself, as well as watching the younger generation of racers grow on and off the water. Over all, it is great to see an increase in youth participation around the district.

Thank you to everyone who is a sailing parent, an instructor, and racing role model for our youth racers.

District 20 hosted the Laser Great Lakes Championship this year. The regatta was held at the Milwaukee Yacht Club on September 10th and 11th.

Winds were very strong and shifty on the first day.

This led to a challenging race for all competitors.

The Laser Standards and Radials sailed one race.

The second day provided even more interesting conditions. Winds were shifting from the west 20 to 30 degrees at a time, which kept our hard working race committee very busy! We did get in a total of five great races for this event.

The results were as follows: Laser Full: 1.

John Scherer 165896 2.

Roman Plutenko 203751 3.

Tom Adams 156895 4.

Sean Lennon 183847 5.

Steve Dolan 198003 6.

Jason Brown 199940 7.

Benjamin Rondini 177359 8.

Richard Trott 69377 9.

Lars Hansen 170756 10. Armand Candea 20375 \

FALL 2016

Laser Radial: 1. Douglas Wake 182769 2.

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SAIL WITH INTENSITY

Kent Jones 193968 William Rozanski 178893 Lars Orsell 183843 Hunter Keating 209743 Payton Schwieso 17735

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Many of our regattas for District 20 are yet to be raced, and many of our yacht clubs season series are just winding up now. Look for even more results and happenings in our next report.

To stay better connected with each other, we are starting a new Google group for all district 20 racers. If you are interested in joining, email me (spatricklennon11@gmail.com), and I will add you to the group. Or, you can email the group directly at laser-district-20@googlegroups.com

Laser • Optimist • Bic O’Pen • Sunfish • C420 • CFJ • JY15 • Flying Scott • Vanguard • Rhodes 19 • Pico Zuma • and more

District 22 Kurt Hoehne WA, OR, ID, MT The big event for the year was the NA Championship, sailed on the Columbia River Gorge.

See attached race report by winner Chris Barnard.

The Gorge once again delivered – great winds, warm weather and big, competitive Laser fleets. There were 60 full rigs, 82 Radials (gold and silver fleets) and even a small 4.7 fleet.

Haddon Hughes of Texas Corinthian won the Radial fleet in impressive fashion.

The US Sailing’s Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship (Leiter Cup) took place in near-perfect conditions at Sail Sand Point on Lake Washington in Seattle in late July. Talia Toland posted no worse a finish than 5th in the 28-boat fleet en route to the victory. Kiera O’Reardon of Houston Yacht Club was second and Abbie Carlson of Seattle was third.

Fall racing will include the Dale Jepson One Design Regatta in Bellingham in September and the District Champs in Seattle.

District 23 Geoff Hurwitch WY, UT, AZ, CO, NM The Lake Dillon Open led off the racing season for District 23 over the August 6-7 weekend. Seven boats arrived for the event with two in the Full division and five boats in the Radial. Peter Rupp won the Full division and Rudy Burki won the Radial division. Next up for D23 is the District 23 Championships that coincide with the Park City Sailing Association Fall Regatta. That regatta will be held on October 1-2 and the PCSA hopes to field a Full, Radial, and possibly a 4.7 fleet.

401-738-8000 District 7 Judith Krimski MA, VT, ME

windcheckmagazine.com

The District Seven summer season turned out to be a great one featuring beautiful weather and strong breeze most weekends. While local yacht clubs geared up for weekly racing, regattas abounded in all parts of New England from Vermont to Cape Cod. Highlights included the Wickford Regatta – a two day multi-class regatta which featured myriad conditions from poring rain to winds reaching upwards of 30 knots on day two. Competitors stayed hardy and in the end top honors went to those who sailed fast and hiked hard. Peter Shope took first place with an impressive first place throwout.

Peter Vessella finished second with Rodion Mazin in third place. In July, 50 radials and 20 standards gathered in Hyannis for the HYC Regatta/District 7 Championships. Contrary to the typical strong southwesterlies sailors anticipated they were faced with frustrating light and shifty winds. The predominantly youth radial fleet included sailors from as far as Chicago yacht club who showed impressive skills in the light stuff but in the end Peter Seidenberg (and 3rd overall) prevailed, winning the D7 championship in radials along with Mark Bear (1st overall) in standards. On the same weekend up at Marblehead NOODS Marek Zaleski from Connecticut gave the fleet a bit of a downwind clinic winning the regatta with an impressive nine points in nine races.

competitors were back at it in in Wickford, RI for the Dynamic New England Masters Regatta in somewhat of a repeat conditions-wise of the previous June event. Racing was close as usual but in the end Master sailor Steve Kirkpatrick prevailed with a total 34 points followed by Peter Shope (36 pts) and Andy Pimental (44 pts). In the Great Grand Masters the master of all Peter Seidenberg placed first. Some just keep on chuggin’.

As D7er’s move into fall sailing we look forward to hosting the Masters Nationals in Marblehead, MA as well as a season filled with fun fall regattas and frostbiting. See you all at the Nationals!

As the seasoned moved from summer to fall 60

www.Laser.org

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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

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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!

FALL 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

www.Laser.org

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FALL 2016

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