The Laser Sailor Spring 2007 by Tracy Usher

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SPRING 2007 6 continents, 122 countries - the biggest adult and youth racing class in the world

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Official publication of the International Laser Class Association, North American Region 2812 Canon Street San Diego, CA 92106 USA Phone: (619) 222-0252 Fax: (619) 222-0528 admin@Laser.org www.Laser.org

Editors Sherri Campbell & Jerelyn Biehl ILCA-NA

Officers Tracy Usher Chairman 22 Creekside Lane San Mateo, CA 94401 Phone: (650) 340-1129 tracy.usher@stanford.edu Eric Faust Vice Chairman 821 East 53rd Street Austin, TX 78751 Phone: (512) 467-1317 ehfaust@gmail.com Ben Richardson Treasurer 5 Beachmont Avenue Gloucester, MA 01930 Phone: (978) 283-6983 benjaminrichardson@postharvard.edu

SPRI N G

2 0 0 7

District Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Membership Stats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 From the Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Laser Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13 Technical Tips: Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 District Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16-20 2006 Event Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Laser World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .center 2007 Fleet Listing & Regatta Schedules . . . . . . . .pull-out 43rd Orange Bowl Open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Rule 42 Q&A with Bill Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22-23 Rule 42 - What are Those Judges Doing? . . . . . . . .24-25 Masters Sailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 2007 Vanguard NA Grand Prix Rules & Results . . 28-29

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

4.7; A Junior Sailors Beginning Step to Olympics . . . 30

Tommy Wharton At Large 118 Glouchester Ave. Oakville, ON L6J 3W4 Canada Phone: 647-296-6544 twharton@sailing.ca

Membership Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Sherri Campbell Executive Secretary 2812 Canon Street San Diego, CA 92106 Phone: (619) 222-0252 Fax: (619) 222-0528 admin@Laser.org

Caribbean Midwinters 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Sailing Fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Cover: 4.7 sailor Colleen Hartman of Palm Beach, Florida shows great form at the Miami Orange Bowl Regatta. Photo: Jacqueline Schmitz

www.Laser.org

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BRITISH COLUMBIA

ALBERTA

SASKATCHEWAN

QUEBEC

MANITOBA

NEW BRUNSWICK

ONTARIO

WASHINGTON NORTH DAKOTA

OREGON

VERMONT

MONTANA MICHIGAN WYOMING

19 IOWA

PENNSYLVANIA

NEBRASKA

HAWAII

NEW 9 YORK

WISCONSIN

OHIO

UTAH

ILLINOIS

WEST VIRGINIA

KANSAS

23 25

MASSACHUSETTS RHODE ISLAND CONNECTICUT

NEW JERSEY

MARYLAND

KENTUCKY NORTH CAROLINA

MISSOURI

16 OKLAHOMA

ARIZONA

NEW HAMPSHIRE

VIRGINIA

COLORADO

CALIFORNIA

7 7

DELAWARE

INDIANA

NEVADA

NOVA SCOTIA

MAINE

MINNESOTA

SOUTH DAKOTA IDAHO

TENNESSEE ARKANSAS

SOUTH CAROLINA

NEW MEXICO TEXAS

GEORGIA LOUISIANA

PUERTO RICO AND THE CARIBBEAN

14 ALABAMA MISSISSIPPI

29 13 FLORIDA

District 1

District 9

District 18

Andrew Childs, 5369 South Street #3, Halifax, NS B3J 1A3 902-423-5919. andrewchilds@yahoo.com

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

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

District 2

District 10

District 19

Denys Deschambeault, 5120 Du Havre, Trois Rivieres, PQ G8Y 5Y9 819-372-0842 denys.deschambeault@tr.cgocable.ca

Eric Reitinger er4599@gmail.com New Jersey

Sean Fidler Michigan smfidler@gmail.com

District 3

District 11

Heinz Gebauer, 2205 Soth Millway- Unit 109 Mississauga, ON L5L 3T2 905-820-8446. heinzgebauer@rogers.com D3 website: www.d3laser.ca

Jon Deutsch 411 N. Blvd. Apt. 2, Richmond, VA 23220 804-305-1244, jon@deutsch.com www.laserdistrict11.org

District 4

District 12

Tim Felbel, 10 Oakhurst Cres Winnipeg, MD R2P 2L6 204-334-1953, timfelbel@hotmail.com

Arland Whitesides, 14 W. Oxford St. Wrightsville Beach, NC, 28480 awhitesides@ec.rr.com www.d12.laserforum.org

District 5 Mark Lammens 510 Cynthia St. Saskatoon, SK S7K 7K7 306-975-0833. sasksail@smaw.ca www.jdecm.com/laser

District 6

District 13 Meka Taulbee, 953 Cedarwood Dr. Dunedin, FL 34968 727-631-7005, meka@sailfit.com www.laser.org/m/_general/d13.asp

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

District 14

District 7

Renee Ruais 512-266-7088 RMRuais@austin.rr.com www.cerebus.winsite.com/Laser/districts/d15/

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

District 8 Lindsay Hewitt, 17 Ridge Road Cold Spring, NY 11724. 631-692-4798 lymanthorne@optonline.net www.laserd8.tripod.com

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

District 15

District 16 Tim Fitzgerald, 2322 Bromfield Circle Wichita, KS, 67226, 316-650-3636 timfitz@ku.edu

District 17 John E. Coolidge, Jr., 1113 Hanover St, Chattanooga, TN 37405, 423-309-1926 JC@Chattprint.com

District 20 Dave Abbott, 2129 West Shore Dr. Delafield, WI 53018 262-303-4084. sailmc1983@yahoo.com www.cerebus.winsite.com/district/d20/

District 21 Mike Elson 2235 West 21st Street Minneapolis, MN 55405 621-377-8903 melson@visi.com www.cerebus.winsite.com/laser/district/d21

District 22 Orrin Webber, 460 Orchard Ridge Rd Kalispell, MT 59901 406-257-7757. compassgroup@centurytel.net

District 23 Larry Arbuthnot PO Box 132, Nederland, CO 80466 www.sailtherockies.com

District 24 David Lapier 408-525-6396, dlapier@cisco.com www.technicalwizardry.com/d24laser/d24

District 25 Nils Andersson, 13460 Hwy 8 SPC #92 Lakeside, CA 92040-5228 619-561-1722. nilssail@cox.net groups.yahoo.com/group/nalaserdistrict25

District 26 Guy Fleming, 44-392 Olina St. #6 Kaneohe, HI 96744-2617 808-955-4405. guynsyd@hawaii.rr.com

SPRING 2007

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Reports President’s Notes TRACY USHER

“The greatest raceboat ever.” Hopefully by now everyone has seen the April Sailing World and the series of articles about Laser sailing, including history, an interview with Robert Scheidt, a great story about the 1980 Kingston Worlds and an overview of Masters sailing in North America. The fun facts bar across the top was cool too, I’m certainly going to do my part to see if we can get the famed Heavy-Air Laser Slalom running again in San Francisco! A big Thank You to Sailing World for giving us such great press! Over the Winter months there was a fair amount of discussion of the racing rules, in particular Rule 42, on various forums and email lists. We thought it might be a good time to restart a series of articles on the rules and in this issue we start with an article from an on the water judge’s perspective by Bob Bowden and a Q&A with Bill O’Hara, a Laser sailor who not only helped draft the current Rule 42 but has also been tasked by ISAF to help train on the water judges around the world. These articles are not intended to be a one way street and if you have questions on either then we want to hear them! You can send questions to the Class Office and we’ll try to get follow up from the article’s author into the next TLS. As Summer rapidly approaches the final round of testing of a new composite spar for the Radial moves into high gear. Recall that the goal of this program is to a) reduce the advantage of heavier sailors in big breeze, b) widen the competitive weight range, c) reduce the minimum competitive weight and d) increase the durability of the top mast section. The candidate prototypes are being distributed to test groups through North America (and the world) to undergo a final round of “real life” testing through the early part of the Summer. In addition, some spars should be available for inspection at some of the major events giving all of us an opportunity to see what they look like. So, even if you don’t sail, if you are near a major event this Summer take some time to drop by and see what the future of Radial sailing looks like! See you on the water!

SPRING 2007

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ILCA-NA Membership As of April 26, 2007 Age Categories: • 324 Juniors (not 18 in 2007) • 992 Masters (35+)

Gender Categories: • 1463 Male • 238 Female • 20 “undisclosed”

Regular Junior Family, 1 Family, 2 Family, 3 International Total

Complimentary Honorary New Renewals Yacht Club

111 5 268 1334 3

Total

1721

1176 274 205 60 4 2 1721

Boat Categories: • 370 Radial • 12 4.7 • 1292 Full Rig District

Members

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

15 13 102 5 23 104 214 82 33 107 133 78 138 18 65 14 16 54 67 90 39 1 28 94 145 7

4.7 Sailors! Are you going to the 2007 4.7 Worlds in South Africa next December/January? If you are and would like to be considered for a US SAILING grant through ILCA-NA, please forward your resume to the ILCA-NA office by September 1, 2007.

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work well to have one team drive to the event, and then fly home. The other team will fly in and then drives the boats home after the regatta. This is one of my favorite schemes, as I love a road trip, but one way is enough. If you have picked a regatta that is simply too far to drive to, do not fret. Many regattas, especially larger well attended events, will be held at a venue that is serviced by Laser dealer that offers charter boats. A phone call or email, sent well enough in advance, is all it takes to reserve a hull and spars that will be sitting on a dolly at the regatta site waiting for you. Most often these boats are less than two years old and in great shape. Typical charter fees range from $100-$125 per day depending on the particular area. This may seem like a big sum to go Laser racing, but the value of arriving at the host venue from the airport with a new boat waiting there for you can not be underestimated. I think this represents one of the greatest strengths of the Laser Class. You may have caught on that this charter is for the hull and the spars and a dolly only. What about the rest of my Laser gear you ask. You must bring it, is the answer. Traveling with your blades, sail, lines and tiller is no big deal. There are several ways to approach this. I use hard case designed for a bow and arrow. I get funny looks at the airport, but it works well and holds the gear securely. These can be purchased through hunting outlets and other sporting goods stores. I place the blades in a soft blade bag and then inside the case. The folded sail, battens, lines, and tiller with extension all fit inside. This is a nice way to go for the blades are kept safe from damage. Pelican Products makes a case that fits the blades as well and it is very tough and durable. Now, when you head to the airport with these cases, leave extra time for inspection. At least 50% of the time the TSA will need to open and inspect the contents. TSA approved locks are a good way to go and I place a good webbing sail tie

From the Builder Take a Road Trip NED JONES By far one of the greatest benefits of Laser sailing is the ability to travel to a far away place and race a Laser as if it was your own boat. Practically no other boat can provide the satisfaction of sailing a borrowed or chartered hull and spars and feeling like it is your own equipment. Whether you take your boat with you, or fly in and charter a boat, the experience of traveling to another venue is one you should experience. Meeting new friends, learning new things and bringing those adventures back home is truly a wonderful part of the Laser experience. The first thing to do is pick an event to travel to. If you are new to traveling, picking a regatta that other sailors from your fleet are headed to is a great way to learn how to travel efficiently and share some costs. If you have already trekked the globe, there always is a regatta that you have not been to and may be worth attending. Often there are very fun events to sail in that are only a short road trip away. Driving to the regatta on Saturday morning, or the night before may be the call depending on your schedule. Call ahead and find out if you can stay with a local sailor, or if there are accommodations that meet your needs. Conversely, if you have the chance to host visiting sailors in your house, offer up your hospitality and the good Karma will be returned to you when you need a place to stay. Visiting and sharing time with fellow sailors on land is just as valuable as your time on the water. How do you get your boat there? Car topping on roof racks is the simplest way. I suggest a commercially made rack system such as Thule or Yakima, but there are other options. Home made racks can be made very easily, but be sure to engineer them to withstand the forces that will be imparted on them. Many carpeted wood 2X4 rack systems have successfully plied the interstates of North America. Trailering is the next option. This can be a great cost saver if your trailer can carry multiple boats. Almost any decent road trailer can be converted to a multi boat carrier with a simple rack system such as a Seitech rack. If it carries three boats, three sailors share the costs. If you are traveling a long distance, say over 300 miles, it can

around the whole case just in case of catastrophic latch failures. When I explain to TSA that the gear inside is â&#x20AC;&#x153;sailing equipmentâ&#x20AC;?, you can only imagine the looks I get. Another option that many use is simply using the blade bag. Adding protectors such as cardboard sheaths, molded covers, and the like to the tips of blades is important. Arriving at the yacht club only to discover the tip of your dagger board has broken off is not a fun way to start the event. Finally, put the blade bag in a heavy plastic wrap or bag like snow skis use. This will keep odds and ends from coming out and hopefully give the baggage handlers some sense that the contents are special. You can even put the whole blade bag in a shipping box and check it as baggage. I normally carry some additional supplies with such as a multitool, small spare parts, tape, extra lines, etc. I base what extra gear I carry on how much extra weight it will add and what may be available at the regatta. I can typically fly with just two pieces of luggage; the blade case and another bag with sailing gear and my clothes. I always try to remember to bring a large trash bag so I can pack wet sailing gear in with my clothes right after sailing for the trip to the airport. If you have never traveled away to a regatta outside your regular area, I highly recommend it. The adventure of sailing in a new place and meeting new people will not only improve your sailing, it will improve your outlook as well. If you are an ardent traveler, you know this already.

Laser 2007 New England Circuit June 14-17 Laser/Radial/4.7 NA Champs June 30-July 1 D7 Grand Prix -Saltmarsh July 27-29 District 7 Radial Grand Prix August 3-5 Buzzards Bay Regatta August 10-12 Laser/Radial US Champs September 8-9 New England Masters September 14-16 Laser/Radial Olympic Trials Q October 3-14 Laser/Radial Olympic Trials

Hyannis YC, MA New Bedford, MA Hyannis YC, MA New Bedford, MA Mallets Bay BC, VT Newport, RI Cedar Point YC, Westport, CT Newport, RI

See District 7 Website for more information: http://d7.laser-forum.org/

SPRING 2007

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Laser Profiles Name: Brady Savage

Burke : Sara e m a N hool igh Sc H : n o ati Occup t n e Stud e: ovinc te/pr a a t s / City lorid ater/F Clearw

Occupation: Junior at Grosse Pointe North City: Michigan Age:

I sail a full and radial Laser

I’ve been sailing since I was 4 and sailing a Laser ailing an d s 0 for 5 years 1 s a radial g since I w a l i I sa ailin years een s In the last year, I’ve sailed my Laser 100 or more a lot I’ve b for 2 (1/2) Laser r y number of days and raced in 15 or so regattas. e s m a ed aL e sail v ’ I , r ea s. last y gatta The last regatta I sailed in was Laser In the ed in 14 re t c s s a Midwinters East and this happened:we sailed until dark a r la w e d th in an ailed windy s y on the first day. I ll a a e t at as r st reg d It w The la rs East an te My hero is my dad because he introduced me to the Midwin it was fun! e has t se h u u l joys of sailing. b a ir c y g e a b d le ddad s a litt d n a o a r w o G g I w ce My tter ho ro is ing sin My favorite part of racing a Laser is reaching in My he ing me sail f my no ma o ak t d u heavy air, and having fun with my friends. n o e r e p b always y ll is a e d r n a er is I do. At the end of a long day of sailing, I like to a Las g or bad n i c a fr o t eat a big meal. r a p vorite to e k i l My fa aches. ling, I tub. re What other Laser sailor has helped you the most of sai windy y hot a d ng in the o l it with your Laser sailing? Mike Rehe, my coach for s a r f o end o hower the past 3 years. At the uper long s s the u o take a y rt I’d like to see more Laser sailors on Lake St. elped has h y coach, Ku r o l i a M s r ? e g d Clair. an ilin L as advice ser sa other What ith your La es us good w giv most always our best. , I’d e h , e count Taulbe ges us to do d bank ac Name: Graeme Lockett rld. ra ite encou unlim avel the wo n a d r t a h d n I If at a big bo Occupation: Student buy a

A g e:

City/province: Mississauga, Ontario Age:

I sail a full Laser I’ve been sailing since I was 7 and sailing a Laser for 7 years In the last year, I’ve sailed my Laser 80 number of days and raced in 8 regattas. The last regatta I sailed in was midwinters eastand there was a nice variety of conditions, I was disappointed with my downwinds and port tack reaches

SPRING 2007

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Laser Profiles Name: Fred Strammer

Name: Grady Timmins

Occupation: Student

Occupation: Student City: Naples, Fl

City: Nokomis, FL Age:

Age:

I sail a radial (full, radial, 4.7) Laser

I sail a Full Laser I’ve been sailing since I was 9 for approximately 4 years

and sailing a Laser

I’ve been sailing since I was 10 and sailing a Laser for 1 (1/2) years

In the last year, I’ve sailed my Laser approx 150 days and raced in 11 regattas.

In the last year, I’ve sailed my Laser 75 number of days and raced in 12 regattas.

The last regatta I sailed in was Laser Midwinters East and: I had a great time duking it out with Paul Goodison in Race 2. My hero is my dad because he’s hardworking, motivated and relentless. My favorite part of racing a Laser is learning to sail smarter and faster

The last regatta I sailed in was Valentines’ Day in St. Petersburg and this happened: it was very hot and we sat on Tampa Bay for a couple hours until a front moved through and brought good wind for racing. My hero is Brett Davis because he is a great coach and encourages me to sail better.

At the end of a long day of sailing, I like to eat, hydrate, stretch, chill and sleep.

My favorite part of racing a Laser is surfing the waves going downwind.

What other Laser sailor has helped you the most with your Laser sailing? Ian Lineberger; but there have been other former and non-laser sailors that have also substantially raised my sailing level and performance.

At the end of a long day of sailing, I like to relax with my friends.

If I had an unlimited bank account, I’d sail keelboats and dinghys all over the world and campaign for the Olympics. I’d like to see more Laser sailors training in Clearwater/Sarasota, FL

What other Laser sailors have helped you the most with your Laser sailing? Colin Page, Chris Taylor, Justin Doane, Kristopher Wood, Caroline Dixon, TWICE If I had an unlimited bank account, I’d buy B. Davis a better coach boat and get all new gear and equipment. I’d like to see more Laser sailors ….behind me

My hero is Joey Hill because of his leadership over the previous years My favorite part of racing a Laser is reaching in heavy wind At the end of a long day of sailing, I like to eat and relax What other Laser sailor has helped you the most with your Laser sailing? Lee Parkhill, Chris Dold, Evan Lewis, Conner Higgins, Grapes If I had an unlimited bank account, I’d sail full time s I’d like to see more Laser sailors at more regattas

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Technical Tips MARK LAMMENS SSCA SAILING TEAM COACH

Starting Some sailors get their reputations as top international sailors because they are good starters. They win (or lose) big regattas because of the quality of their starts. Here are a few strategies for your start (some of these may be used in the same start): Timed run (the old style Vanderbilt Start): get the boat up to full speed and hit the line at time “0” Luff on the line: try to hold your spot and your ‘runway’ to leeward for a timed run Port approach: late port tack approach into the start line and steal/find a hole with speed.

Lurking in the shadows: Windward side of the committee boat, late run when/if the boats leave the area of the RC boat, easier to get onto port earlier Coffin corner: start at the pin (it is a great start, or a very bad start) Absolute start values These are exact measurements. They are important to your start and define your first beat. Distance to the line (0, ﬁ, 1, 2 boat lengths) Favoured end of the line (side closer to the windward mark) Preferred side of the course Transit (3 points in a line) Time in start sequence Time to “top speed” When everyone is pushing the line hard, it is important to know precisely where you are in the timing sequence. That is why you should consider mounting your stopwatch where you can easily see it at all times. Also it is important to know how long it is going to take to get the boat up to top speed, a radial takes a while to get going in light air. Relative start values are relative to the other boats, the relative values to your start. ‘Bow back’ (you are bow back to the W/L boat) ‘Bow even’ (you are bow even to the W/L boat) ‘Bow ahead’ (you are bow ahead to the W/L boat) Narrow lane (there is a little space to the L boat) Wide lane (there is more space to the L boat Vanilla, (you are plain and are less noticeable/do not stick out)

Are you ‘bow back’, ‘bow even’ or ‘bow ahead’ to the boats you are beside? Is this at 10 seconds to the start, 5 seconds to the start? What is your distance to leeward and windward of your group of boats? You could have a bow back start, but if you have some space to leeward, you may be able to hold your lane. You could be bow out (poked) which translates into a wide lane. However if you are too bow out on your group, and the absolute value of your start is such that you are over, you will most likely be OCS, (especially if you are bow out). That is why sometimes a bow even start is at the very least equal. You could be 1 of a few boats that is OCS, or you could be hidden and “lost in the forest”. Starting in a high quality fleet is a test of your ability to maintain your lane against the boats you are near, and your ability to get up to full speed ASAP, relative to other boats. It is harder to get a very good start in an international fleet, if all of the boats you are near are good. If the boats you are near do things very well and they are fast, it is easy to be a bow back, a little slow, and a little low. Before you know it you have squirted out the back. You can see this with starts in the Gold fleet vs. starts in the Silver fleet. Having a bad start does not mean you will lose the race but it most certainly

will be more difficult to be in the top bunch. No one in the Laser or Radial fleet is that fast that they can have a bad start and win the race.!! “Vanilla” If you are pushing the line, trying to get a good start, you need to be very “plain”. You need to blend with the fleet. Look at the Star fleet!! Everyone is white. Almost everyone in the laser fleet has a blue boat. Some of the OCS’s went to the ‘different boat’: the red boat near blue

boats; the boat with different coloured or patterned sail numbers; the boat without country codes in a bunch of country codes; the boat with country codes in a group without; the boat that set up early; or the boat that is “bow out” very shortly after the start. What to practice? I find it very interesting when people practice starting, they want to win the drill, stroke their ego, and tend to be OCS. On top of this they do not restart. When you are practicing with quality people, pretend it is a real race and try to be bow even at time “O” with top speed and a lane. If the lane is small try to hold your spot as long as possible, this is the key to becoming an international sailor. Try to

stay in a tight difficult lane. The clearing tack and ducking transoms means you are sailing away from the top boats in the race. The race strategy is adjusted to hold on as long as you can until the situation gets better. When you are working on speed, with quality people, try to have a tight “Rabbit start”, be close to the boats to windward and leeward and see if you can hold your spot. Do not practice pinching people off or driving over them because that seldom happens off of the start line especially in a Grade 1 event. You just want to go as fast as possible without losing much height. If it’s a good training group you can realign and do it again and again. These are the reps sailors should do. With the training, change the variables because holding your lane and starting is easier when it is flat water. Add larger waves, stronger winds, light air and shifts, this drill becomes very challenging. During the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta 2007, it was very interesting to see what happened when the seas where bigger then the wind, and it got wavy and/or light. The fleet spread out very quickly off the start line. ….and then it is dirty air and 2nd choice on the wind shifts. Good luck. Mark Lammens was the national team coach for Barcelona and Atlanta and presently coaching the national team in the radial.

SPRING 2007

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District Reports District 2 Denys Deschambeault Trois Rivieres, Quebec After the extremely long off season the blue water is back. There are lots of eager sailors ready to get their bottoms wet. Over the winter we had a meeting with different sailing clubs to solve the problem we had with seniors (over 18) sailors attending junior events. Good news—it was agreed to let everybody race together and have separate results. On the other end the clubs reserve the right to limit entries for certain regattas to juniors only (ex. Fruitbowl) or any other event run by overworked sailors and parents. A big thank you to Louis Beauregard 188117 for creating a new web site. He bought the domain name and gave it to the district. You can visit at www.laserd2.org Here is a partial list of the racing schedule. PCYC Montreal Lac St Louis 28/06 to 01/07 514-695-2441 www.pcyc.qc.ca EVO Aylmer 19/07 to 22/07 819-682-6304 http://cvgr.qc.ca/evo/ Fruitbowl Hudson hyc 26/07 to 29/07 www.hudsonyachtclub.com-juniors only Quebec Games Regionals: check with your regions as dates varies Quebec games Sept Iles cotes nord 8/8 to 11/08 qualified only Regattes a Christian First saturday of August la Magog check with me for infos. Howson cup 16 and under lac Brome more to come later Tentative date for D2 champs CVL lac 2 montagnes 1/9 to 3/9 more infos to come Please make sure you contact the club before driving to these regattas. There has been a training camp for the Quebec team in New Jersey apart from the cold every thing went well. We are planing a training camp for all young and old on the 26/27 May please register before attending at the web site or contact Louis Beauregard at louisb@convivio.com I wish every body a windy season with lots of success.

District 4 Tim Felbel, Winnipeg, Manitoba Having just got back from the Gimli Yacht Club I can attest to the fact that spring has finally arrived. Although there wasn’t enough open water to go for the first sail of the season, the first glimpse of a snow-free shoreline was quite exciting. This season is going to be action packed as there are many great events scheduled. I am currently working on setting up an online race schedule and e-mail list however until it is up and running you can find the regatta schedule at

www.sailmanitoba.com/regattas/regattas.htm. See you on the water!

District 5 Mark Lammens Saskatoon, Saskatchewan District 5 Ranking Events ***, best 3 to count, 1 min per province, Scoring reflective of fleet size, 1st in 18 boat fleet =18 pts North American Grand Prix Points from District Championships Events may change, please contact host club May 19 Regina SC, Wascana Short Course May 20-21 *** Regina SC, Icebreaker Annual Regatta D-5 Ranking event May 26-27 *** Calgary YC, Icebreaker D-5 Ranking event June 2-3 *** Wabamun SC Open, D-5 Ranking event June 9-10 Blackstrap, Mountain Madness Regatta, SK Laser Ranking Event #1 June 23-24 Wabamun SC, Western Canadian Masters, June 30-2 Saskatoon SC, Annual Regatta, July 13-15 CYA, SAIL WEST Western Canadian’s, Radial/laser 16/18 and Open Championships Falcon YC, Sail West, MB July 28-29 Battleford’s SC, ***DISTRICT 5 CHAMPIONSHIPS Laser/Radial, Sask Laser Provincials D-5 Ranking event SK Laser Ranking Event #2 Aug. 3-7 Western Canada Summer Games, AB Aug. 9-14 CYA Canadian Youths, Hamilton, Ont. Sept.1-3 PASC Annual Regatta, Sept 1-3 *** Edmonton YC, AlbertChampionships, D-5 Ranking event Sept 8-9 *** Saskatoon SC Sask Short Course Championship Provincial Championships for Laser Masters and Youth D-5 Ranking event SK Laser Ranking Event #3

District 6 Andy Hunt Vancouver, British Colombia After a two month break, regattas in District 6 have started up again. Since the Turkey Bowl Regatta in Seattle in late November, there have been three regattas in District 6, one in Seattle, one in Vancouver and one in Victoria. The first regatta of 2007 was called the Frigid Digit Regatta. This regatta is one of the oldest Laser regattas in the Pacific Northwest. The Frigid Digit Regatta was hosted by the Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle and sailed on Puget Sound. There were six races on each day of the regatta. The first day, Saturday, February 10, saw the sailors race in a 10 knot North-Easterly. The fleet was tightly bunched at the mark roundings and if

a sailor made any mistakes during during the races, that sailor had a hard time making up for his/her mistake. The second day, February 11, saw the winds increase slightly to 10 - 12 knots with puffs in the 15 - 18 range. The sailors had to watch out for the shifts on the course and be aware of the puffs, both upwind and downwind. There was a tight battle for the overall lead between Dalton Bergan and Mike Karas. Each sailor won three consecutive races. Dalton emerged the winner with 23 points while Mike was second with 24 points. The top ten Lasers were: Dalton Bergan, CYC, 23.00; Mike Karas, CYC, 24.00; Brendan Fahey, NKSC, 44.00; Andy Mack, CYC, 56.00; Anthony Boscolo, CYC, 65.00; Bill Symes, WSC, 94.00; Jacek Suski, JSCA, 108.00; Michael Schalka, SYC, 110.00; Lindsey Bergan, SYC, 126.00; Michael Johnson, CYC, 130.00. There were no Radial sailors but there was one 4.7 sailor, Alexis Aird, who was awarded a prize. Bill and Jacek were the only non-Seattle area sailors and Anthony Boscolo made a return to Laser sailing after a long absence. Thanks to Jay Renehan and other volunteers for running the regatta. The second regatta in February was hosted by the Royal Victoria Yacht Club on February 24 and 25, 2007. This regatta is called the Frozen Assets Regatta. Ten Lasers and six Laser Radials registered for the event. There were no Laser 4.7s or Laser 2s. In fact, Laser 2s no longer show up at District 6 events. There was lots of wind on February 23, so much so that one of the registered sailors, Andy Hunt, decided it was better to be on the committee boat rather than risk breaking a set of donated spars and a donated hull. Winds were estimated to be between 20 and 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots. Surprisingly, there was very little damage to boats and sailors but there were lots of wipe-outs. The race course was held in Cadboro Bay, very close to the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. Three races were held on the Saturday, all a variety of windward-leeward courses. The sailors would have liked to have a reaching mark but the decision was made to not set such a mark. Winds were lighter on Sunday and there was a variety of courses, some windward-leewards and some triangles. There was five races on Sunday. Eight races meant that there was one throwout race. Greg Miller, the local Laser sailor, won every race. If he was not first at the windward mark, he was first at the leeward mark, sailing extremely well on the downwind portion of the course. Greg finished with 7 points. Jacek Suski, from JSCA, was second with 19 points. Philip Round, sailing a brand new boat, was third with 29 points. Bob Britten, back in Lasers for this regatta. was fourth with 37 points. Greg, Philip and Bob are all members of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. The top four sailors were the only Laser sailors who sailed every race. Karl Jensen was first in the Laser Radials. Robert Berry was second and Charlie Simpson was third. The results posted on the RVICYC website are incomplete and, unfortuneately, I don’t have a copy of the results with me as I type this report. The weekend following the Frozen Assets Regatta, March 3 and 4, 2007, saw sailors race in the March Madness Regatta. This regatta was hosted by the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. For the second year in a row, the entry fee was very low, $5.00 per person. There was no dinner but sailors received certificates from BC Sailing stating where they finished in either an open division or a youth division.

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Winds were very light south-easterlies. There were lots of shifts and lots of holes. There were three races on Saturday and two races on Sunday for a total of five races and one throwout race. Some of the sailors decided to head right on the first race on Sunday to get out of the tide but that did not pay off as those sailors who went to the shore were a lot further ahead at the windward mark. There were twelve boats registered in the Laser Class and nine boats in the Radial Class. Luke Ramsay, Abe Torchinsky and Kevin Grierson, all from the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, battled it out for the overall lead in the regatta. Luke came out on top with 8 points while both Abe and Kevin finished with 10 points each. Top non-RVYC sailor was Jacek Suski in fifth place and fourth in the open division with 20 points. Speaking of Jacek, he is the leading contender to win the iron-man prize for competing in three out of the four regattas of the District 6 Frostbite Series. There is one more regatta to go in the District 6 Frostbite Series and, more than likely, Jacek will compete in that regatta which is the Flights of Spring Regatta. Two sailors forom the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club have received honors lately. Al Clark, the head coach of the RVYC high performance team, won the recent Florida Masters Regatta. Congratulations Al! Luke Ramsay was named the 2006 BC Male Junior Athelete of the Year. Way to go Luke! District 6 will be host to two Master Regattas in the summer of 2007. The first Masters Regatta is called the BC Laser Master Championships and will be held at Nicola Lake on July 7 and 8, 2007. Contact Trevor Owen at: dtowen@telus.net for more information. The second Masters Regatta is the 2007 Canadian Laser Master Championships. This regatta will be hosted by the Jericho Laser Fleet and the Jericho Sailing Centre on September 1 -3, 2007. There might be a sponsor for the CLMC. Details are being worked out and more information can be obtained by contacting Andy Hunt at: athunt@vcn.bc.ca or bclaser@hotmail.com or phone him at: 604-733-9663. Finally, 2007 is the 20th. anniversary of WAVES. This is the biggest regatta on English Bay and is hosted by the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club on June 29 - July 1, 2007. An NOR is posted on the RVYC website (www.royalvan.com/waves) and for more information, please contact James McDonald, the sailing director at RVYC at: sail_dir@royalvan.com or phone him at: 604-224-1344. Please visit the District 6 website: www.cycseattle.org/slf for information on the racing schedule including NORs and results.

District 7 Sally Sharp Enfield, New Hampshire Just shoveling out of another nor’easter here in New England. A few frostbite fleets are in full swing (Newport, Cedar Point etc.) while others are just getting started (e.g. Essex CT and a new fleet in Stonington CT). And still more can be found on the updated fleet list on the D7 website (http://d7.laserforum.org), and on nalaser.org. And an action-packed summer lies ahead, with

www.Laser.org

ample opportunity to pit yourself against the best sailors in the country! Highlights include the North American Champs in Hyannis MA in mid-June, and the US Nationals in Malletts Bay (Lake Champlain VT) August 10-12. Then in mid-September Cedar Point YC will host the Last-Chance Olympic Trials Qualifier, which will also attract the top US sailors. Finally, Newport RI will be the site of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in early October. And in between is a full slate of regattas all around the region - a preliminary schedule follows below. The District 7 Grand Prix regattas are as follows: the standard rig GP will be held in conjunction with the Saltmarsh Trophy / Champ. of Buzzard’s Bay regatta in New Bedford, MA (June 24-25), and the D7 Radial GP will be at BBR in New Bedford. Again this year there will be a three-regatta D7 Radial championship series (at Newport, Hyannis & BBR - sail two to qualify). The new Laser (full rig) championship series will be similar: 3 regattas, score your best two: venues are RIISA (June 9-10), Saltmarsh Trophy (June 30-July 1) and the Lobster Bowl Classic in Maine (July 21-22). And we may still set up a separate “D7 Northern Series” - sail 2 of 3 regattas in ME/NH/VT. Please consult the D7 web schedule in May for more information – all the D7 series will be highlighted there as soon as possible. In closing – it’s the end of an era up here on Mascoma Lake in Enfield NH. Our Shaker Village Sailing Club was notified in January that we have to ‘vacate the premises’ - this historic 8-acre waterfront property has fallen into developers’ hands, and our SVSC boathouse site will be the first to be developed. We’re actively looking to relocate, but with all the uncertainty (and the horrible spring? weather) we’ve decided to cancel the Mascoma Spring Regatta. Sure hope to see you all in September though!

District 10 Eric Reitinger Skip has stepped down as District Secretary and I will be taking the position over from him. I thank Skip for the job he has done. Well another winter has come and almost gone. While many of us have their boats in storage, a few have made the trek down to Florida. Just after celebrating Christmas, many youngsters went right on the road to make it down the Orange Bowl. Kyle Rogachenko won the Lasers, Nicholas Pro was 17th in the 4.7, Suzy Reynolds was 18 in the 4.7, and Mike Reynolds was 31st in the Radials. The Miami OCR attracted a few District 10 sailors. Kyle Rogachenko was the top finisher in 39th, Clay Johnson 42nd, and Matt Goetting in 74th. Conditions seemed great after watching Gary Jobson’s daily reports online and should attract many more sailors next year. Midwinter’s East had Clay Johnson as the top D10 finisher in 7th for Lasers, Kyle Roggachenko in 12th, Randy Hartranft in 36th, Ian Sutherland in 38th, Jerry Tullo in 33rd and Matt Goetting in 3rd in the Silver fleet. The Masters had some action with Mike Hecky, Newt Wattis, and John Maclausland heading down south for the Midweek Madness. Maclausland won the regatta, Hecky in 7th, and Wattis in 30th. The schedule is slowly growing this year but as of 3-18-07 here’s what is planned: 4-15, 22, 29 Riverton Yacht Club – Ice Breaker 5-5 Marsh Creek Yacht Club – 26th Annual Philly

Championship 5-19 Cooper River Yacht Club – Spring Laser Regatta 5-19 Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club – Spring Laser Regatta 6-2 Surf City Yacht Club – 36th Annual Orange Coffee Pot Regatta 6-10 Brant Beach Yacht Club – Annual Regatta 10-6 Marsh Creek Yacht Club – Fall Laser Regatta There are many big regattas on the east coast this year all leading up to the Olympic Trials in Newport so there will be plenty of sailing opportunities for everyone. See ya out on the course.

District 11 Jon Deutsch Richmond, VA We’ve had a busy frostbiting season will 5 fleets sailing regularly. The fleets at Severn Sailing Association and Potomac River Sailing Association have had racing nearly every weekend and season standings are posted to their websites. Havre de Grace, Rock Hall, Fishing Bay and I think event the Hampton laser sailors got out for some frostbiting during the season. Check out the picture of the PRSA folks sailing in the snow. Mark your calendars, the 2007 District 11 Cham-

pionship will be held at Severn Sailing Association May 5-6. Come for two days of racing, dinner and refreshments on Saturday evening, and the District 11 Annual Meeting Saturday after dinner. Event website: http://www.laserdistrict11.org/championship This year the 2007 District Series has been expanded to 6 events. Any sailor who attends 3 or more events is qualified in the series. Events: Capital City Regatta (PRSA) 3/17-18, Crystal Bowl Regatta (WRSC) 5/26, Summer One Design Regatta (RHYC) 6/16-17, FBYC Annual Regatta 8/11-12, Deep Creek Laser Invitational 8/18-19, and Cab Claw Regatta (SSA) 9/22-23. See the district website for complete details. T hat’s about all for now. See you this spring and keep an eye on the district website for all of our upcoming events and news! www.laserdistrict11.org

District 12 Arland Whiteside Wrightsville Beach, NC Get your boat and body ready..we have lots of sailing coming up. Here is our full schedule for the D12 championship series. In addition we have the US Laser Masters Nationals in our region at Wrightsville Beach, NC, May 18-20. Come a day early and practice…how’s that for 4 days of racing in the Atlantic? We have the NC Masters race in Oriental to add to

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2007 Schedule Regatta

Laser

Radial

World Championship

ISAF Worlds Cascais, Portugal

ISAF Grade 1

July 2-13

NA Championship

Hyannis YC, MA

40 GP pts. ISAF Grade 1

June 14-17

Sept. 29-Oct. 6 Austin YC Austin, TX June 1-3

Ft. Lauderdale, FL www.lyc.org Feb. 1-4

Buffalo Canoe Club, ON

Jerico Sailing Center

www.buffalocanoeclub.com

Vancouver, BC

June 22-24

Sept. 1-3

30 GP Pts

Colchester, VT www.mbbc-vt.org Aug 10-12

CORK

Kingston, ON

North American Women’s Radial Champs ISAF Grade 1

Canadian Championships US Championships

Laser 4.7

Masters

Hermanus Rep. of S. Africa Dec. 26,’07-Jan. 4,‘08

Rosas, Spain

Colchester, VT www.mbbc-vt.org Aug 10-12

Wrightsville Beach, SC

May 18-20

www.cork.org

30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 1

August 18-22

Midwinters East

Clearwater, FL

www.clwyc.org

30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 1

Feb 22-25

Feb 17-18

Midwinters West

California YC, CA

30 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 2

March 23-25

March 23-25 na

Miami, FL

www.ussailing.org/olympics

ISAF Grade 1

Jan 22-27

Atlantic Coast Championships

Jensen Beach, FL USSCMC May 26-27

Rock Hall, MD

Treasure Island

San Francisco, CA

August 10-12

Lake Tahoe www.tahoeyc.com Aug. 24-26

Rolex Miami OCR

25 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 2

Pacific Coast Championships 25 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 2

Gulf Coast Championships 25 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 3

No Coast Championships

Southern Yacht Club Southern Yacht Club New Orleans, LA New Orleans, LA May 19-20 May 19-20

D21

Kingston Ontario, Canada Sept. 28-30

Sept 29-30

D13, 14 or 15

D16, 21, 22 or 23

25 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 3

Great Lakes Championships 25 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 3

D19 or 20

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District Reports - continued from page 17 the mix. Chip will link all of the NOR’s to the D12 site as we get them. Schedule of the D12 series for 2007: April 21-22 -LNYC-NC States-Grand Prix for Full rigs only-qualifying race #1 for the Radial series and #1 for overall series and #1 for 4.7 series June2-3 SSC –Savannah D12-in addition is US Sailing O’Day quarterfinals-qualifying race #2 for Radial series and #2 for overall series and #2 for 4.7 series July 28-29-CYC-SC Open-Grand Prix for Radials only-qualifying race #3 for Radials series and not a qualifying race for overall series nor 4.7 series August 4-5-CYC-NC Open-qualifying race #4 for Radial series and #3 for overall series and #3 for 4.7 series- the 4.7 course will be in the sound (Banks Channel) September 29-30 CSC-SC-Columbia D12-qualifying race #5 for Radial series and #4 for overall series and #4 for 4.7 series October 21-22 BYSC -SC States-qualifying race #6 for Radial series and #5 for overall series and #5 for 4.7 series-this is also D12 annual meeting You will notice that we are having separate grand prix events for full/standard and for radial. This will be our first try at offering these two separate grand prix events. One is on a lake and one is at the coast. We are mixing things up again. Scoring masters for the series is now in accordance with the masters handicap. This will be scored at the end of the series and not at individual events. We have also added 4.7’s to our series. Let’s encourage all of the juniors new to the boat and to the fleet. Take time to help them. Oriental Dinghy club will host the NC Masters, June 23, 24. That is always a fun event with many sailors from D11 crossing the border to race and makes for great competition and great friendships. During the summer there are so many open regattas which are good experience for racing in different venues, with different SI’s, marks, courses and fleets. Please try and go to these races. You will meet lots of Laser sailors and it’s a good practice to get out of your own water. Let’s try to get some of the junior women signed up for the Leiter Cup this summer. It has always been a wonderful training week for junior women in Radials. Thanks to all of the 2007 host clubs for the D12 event and to the event chairmen and race committees. Unless you’ve planned an event, you have no idea how much work it takes: Lake Norman Yacht Club, Savannah Sailing Center, Carolina Yacht Club-SC, Carolina Yacht Club-NC, Columbia Sailing Club and Beaufort Yacht and Sailing Club .

District 13 Meka Taulbee Dunedin, Florida The past three months have been just packed with top notch Laser sailing in District 13. The Miami OCR was in January and it had the biggest turnout in history. Sailors cam all over the world to participate and the US sailors had their second qualifying regatta to make the US Sailing Team. February hosted some great Masters Regatta’s on the east and

www.Laser.org

west coast. Also in February was the Mid-Winters East which was the last of the US Sailing Team qualifying regatta’s. I am proud to say that District 13 is the home to five out of the six US Sailing Team Members. Congratulations to Anna Tunnicliffe, Paige Railey, Sara Lihan Brad Funk and Kurt Taulbee. Must be in the water! It was great to have so many people here training from all over the world. WE had sailors like Paul Goodson, Michael Blackburn, Matias Del Solar, all of the Canadian Team and so many others sailing here. Things are just starting to wind down and we are looking toward seeing our sailors doing their best at the Olympic trials in October!

District 15 Renee Ruis Texas The 2007 Laser District 15 Circuit is well under way with strong participation. Our first event was held at Seabrook Sailing Club in Kemah, TX. Apparently everyone was very eager to start the official Circuit as we started the day with 3 General Recalls in the Full Rig Fleet. Thanks to the 15-20 mph winds, we still managed 2 races before lunch and three more after. Sunday was a bit lighter; maybe 12-15 and we had 3 more races. As this was the first event of the year for many sailors, I think everyone was a bit sore after sailing...but as they complained, they were smiling J . Yes, it may take another month or so for those Laser muscles to get back into shape...but we’ve got a good start! After 8 races, the top 5 in the full rig fleet were Mark Salih, Doug Peckover, Niall Martin, David Morgan and James Freedman. In the radials, Junior Sailor Rebekka Urbina held off a strong fleet of Junior and Masters sailors to take first place! Not far behind in 2nd place was Lawrence Maher. Our second Circuit event of the year was the 24th Annual Easter Laser Regatta, hosted at Austin Yacht Club on Easter weekend. The Easter Laser Regatta has always been memorable and it surely lived up to its reputation this year. Ordinarily, we start complaining about ‘cold’ when it’s less than 60 degrees here, so no one really thought we’d get in much racing after waking up to a balmy 38 degrees on Saturday morning. The high for the day, 42 had already passed and we were expecting temperatures to drop to near freezing. We did postpone until after lunch, though I’m not sure why, it just got colder! Maybe the objective was to let everyone build up some nerve! You’d think that people would just go home at that point (this is Texas afterall) but surprisingly, they didn’t. In the end, 27 Full Rig and 8 Radial Rigs ventured out onto the foggy lake. Racing was challenging with visibility limited to less than 20 feet at times and of course, there was a brief sleet shower to remind us how cold it was! We finished up 2 races and headed in to warm up. Dinner was held at a local restaurant up the street and we had the rare pleasure of driving over there in a swarm of Texas flurries! Sunday morning wasn’t much warmer but I guess we were all vested in the event by then and even those who didn’t sail on Saturday suited up for a couple of races. We tried for a third but the wind wouldn’t cooperate.

In the full rig class, 17 year old Gavin Rudolph placed first overall (placing 2nd in every race), proving that consistency pays off and earning his win over Scott Young (2nd) and Doug Peckover (3rd). Gavin goes to the O’Days as the Area F Representative. In the Radials, it was Patrick Ryan, Philip Crain and John O’Riordan in the top 3 spots. Our next District 15 Circuit event is Spring Dinghyfest at Rush Creek Yacht Club in Heath (near Dallas, TX) on May 19th and 20th.

District 16 Tim Fitzgerald Wichita, KS As I look forward to the new season of Laser sailing, I am reminded how great the conclusion of the previous one was. The 2006 District Championships were hosted by the Clinton Lake Sailing Assoc. (now the Kansas SA) at the site of their new sailing facility. I am told that by April they plan to have a fence in place and begin dock work which will make that a great venue for years to come. The 2006 districts weren’t only special because of the future of the new host venue, but the exciting conditions we finished in. For several, this was their first time sailing in the rain, which was at a near complete downpour by the finish of the final race. The rain let up just long enough to get the boats put away and the camaraderie among the D16 Laser sailors was obvious as we did trophies and goodbyes in soaked clothes as the rain began again. I think this kind of group is what makes the Laser fleet special, and I look forward to being a part of it again this summer. District 16 sailors have another great summer of sailing to look forward to. Last year’s circuit saw more than 30 competitors over 5 events. I am excited to tell you that numerous sailors have contacted me to tell me they’ve just bought a new boat and are excited to get involved. We have another great lineup of regattas planned for this year and you can find the schedule below. One big addition to the schedule is the Lighthouse regatta at Oklahoma City Boat Club. They always run great regattas, and I’m told they are planning a great party for Saturday night. I encourage everyone from our district and others from District 15 to meet at OCBC for a great big regatta. The best part is the proceeds go to a great cause. So far there are still a few tentative dates on the calendar as you will see below. Make sure to check back on the website frequently to see when the dates are available. It is my goal to get at least one regatta in May so we don’t wait until June to start the circuit. Remember, you can also sign up for the District 16 list serve which will automatically send you an email when these new updates are available! Tell your friends too! Just GOOGLE search LASER D 16, and it will take them right there! 2007 D16 Schedule to date June 9 Hummfest @ COSA: Lake Hefner: Oklahoma City **non points June 16-17 Lighthouse Charity Regatta @ OCBC: Lake Hefner: Oklahoma City July 21-22 Whitecap @ Ninnescah: Cheney Lake: Wichita, KS Sept. 1,2 or 3 (prob sat-sun) C.O.R.N. @ Ninnescah: Cheney Lake: Wichita, KS Dates still TBA: Weatherby Lake Invitational: WLYC: Kansas City,

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District Reports - continued from page 19 MO D16 Circuit: Walnut Valley Sailing Club: El Dorado Lake: El Dorado, KS Jr. Laser Sailing events (CSSA sanctioned) June 2 @ Oklahoma City Boat Club; Lake Hefner, Oklahoma City, OK June 30 @ Windycrest Sailing Club; Lake Keystone near Tulsa, OK July 7 @ Ninnescah Sailing Association; Lake Cheney, Wichita, KS August 4 @ Weatherby Lake YC; Kansas City, MO August 11-12 CSSA Jr. Sailing Championships @ Walnut Valley Sailing Club; El Dorado Lake, KS

District 18 John Shockey Per tradition, the Indianapolis Sailing Club launches the season with its Spring Regatta, April 14-15. Eagle Creek follows two weeks later with the Weekend Warrior. They have upped the ante with a twoday event on April 28-29. Leatherlips Yacht Club hosts the District Grand Prix on Mother’s Day Weekend, May 11-13. Jamie Jones is Certified Race Officer, George Griswold on-the-water judge. On Friday, May 11, District Champ Rick Rothenbuehler offers a coaching session, and Diebold Sailing will have a few 4.7 rigs available to try for free. In addition, at Leatherlips on Memorial Day weekend, the club hosts its 2nd Annual 24-Hour Endurance Race/Leukemia Cup. This time it’s a sanctioned event, listed on the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s website, meaning its winner will be entered in the drawing for big prizes. Last year 3 Laser teams were entered in the PHRF race and one of them came in second! Another “team” of one person sailed about 25 miles alone, never stopping over a period of 22 hours. Come for the fun and challenge, and see what you can do to raise money for this charity. Finally, in June, we have two 1-day regattas. The first is the Open Cattail Regatta on June 2 at Jolly Roger Sailing Club. If there are at least three Lasers, they get their own start. The second regatta is a Laser/Sunfish Regatta at Chippewa Sailing Club on June 30. See the District 18 website for more details on these locales. http://d18.laserforum.org

District 22 Orrin Webber Kalispell, Montana 2007 District 22 Grand Prix August 18 - 19, 2007 Host: North Flathead Yacht Club City: Somers State: Montana Contact: Orrin Webber Phone: (406) 755-1200 E-mail: compassgroup@centurytel.net

$20 and includes camping, dinner, beer and sailing. Call Orrin Webber at (406) 755-1200 of fax (406) 755-1543 or E-mail: compassgroup@centurytel.net.

District 23 Larry Arbuthnot Nederland, Colorado The snow is melting here in the Rocky Mountain West and the reservoirs are starting to fill up for what will be another beautiful summer in District 23. We have a full slate of events and regattas on tap this summer including the legendary and Laser friendly Aspen Open, Dillon Open and the Colorado Laser Championships held once again at the stunning Grand Lake. For those in the Denver area Cherry Creek will be hosting its Thursday night dingy series every Thursday night throughout the summer. We hear from our New Mexico sailors that Heron Reservoir, which has been a victim of low water levels, might once again be ready to host Laser sailing once again this summer. Check out our full schedule online. Nothing beats the mountain and desert sailing of District 23. Come join us this summer for a unique sailing experience and visit us online anytime at www.sailtherockies.com.

District 24 David Lapier NorCal The sailing season on San Francisco Bay goes on all year round. In the Winter, the breezes are often light since the thermal conditions are missing. Richmond Yacht Club holds a series for dinghys on the first Sunday of every month. Hundreds of sailors compete across three different race courses, It’s a big event that draws lots of Lasers. We had plenty of sunshine each month, but not much wind. RESULTS: (1) Steve Bourdow, (2) David LaPier, (3) Walt Spevak, (4) Mark Halman, (5) Claire Dennis, (6) Jean-Bernard Duler, (7) Eric Wilson, (8) Bill Buckingham, (9) Mike Rutledge, (10) Mike Scott. Honorable mention to the additional sailors that competed in every race: Ron Witzel, Rebecca Beard, Steve Hendricks, David Rassumsen, Derick Minihane, Evylyn Hull, and Nico Colomb. (50 Entries). Shoreline Lake had a good turn-out for its informal series, with 10 boats competing each month. Rodger Herbst did a great job keeping the events going. The Saint Francis YC Spring Dinghy regatta marks the change of the seasons. Tracy Usher writes, after a delay we had three races on Saturday in moderate breeze, maybe puffs to about 15 knots, on a

mild flood tide. The racing was really highlighted more by mistakes made by competitors (sailing into restricted areas, capsizing boat lengths from the finish line) than dominating racing by any one competitor. Sunday saw a longer delay brought about by the DST time change and we finally got out on the water and started racing by 3:00 pm in a light 8-10 knots of wind. The first race took some 45 minutes and set the first two positions (five races would include a discard) so the Race Committee mercifully shortened the second race after one lap and sent us in. The highlight of the weekend was a spectacular presentation by Paul Cayard on Saturday evening chronicling his adventure with the Black Pearl. If you saw that and didn’t think sailing was the greatest sport known to man then you need to have your DNA checked to see if you are human. RESULTS: (1) Tracy Usher, (2) Peter Phelan, (3) Mehmet Sevinc, (4) John Pearce, (5) Chris Boome (18 Boats). RADIALS: (1) Claire Dennis, (2) Katie Maxim, (3) Ben Lezin.(8 Boats). We are planning on holding our Summer Grand Prix series again this year, sponsored by Svendsens Marine. We will be racing on the mighty Pacific, clear mountain lakes, and the Golden Gate; plus a downwind distance race on the Sacremento River. The Treasure Island Sailing Center is hosting the Laser PCC’s this summer. Please plan on coming out to sail. The TISC is just south of the Berkeley Circle, so conditions are excellent for windy racing San Francisco Bay style. Plus, Ralph Pombo and the group at TISC are planning a fun event with good fun onshore too. Please join us.

District 25 Nils Andersson SoCal The only big event here over the winter season was SCYA Midwinters with races in Lasers both at Mission Bay YC and Alamitos Bay YC. See www.mbyc.org and www.abyc.org for complete results. Otherwise there has been a very active local season with fleets racing all over the place.

Family Affair Photo: The Buckingham family at Midwinters West: Charlie (3rd from left) with Uncles Bill (far left from San Francisco), Charlie (2nd from left from Hawaii) and Dad Jim, (far right). Out of the 64 competitors, Charlie Jr. was 2nd; dad Jim 15th, Charlie Sr., 32nd, and Bill, 43rd.

Don’t miss it. Come early or stay late because Glacier National Park is only 45 minutes away. I can take you to the park to climb a peak. Our next District 22 Championship Grand Prix Regatta will be held August 18 - 19, 2007. The entry fee is only

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43rd.ORANGE BOWL OPEN REGATTA D AVE ELLIS The 2006 Coconut Grove Sailing Club Open Orange Bowl Regatta took place December 28-30, 2006, the same time as the huge junior event at the clubs up the Florida Biscayne Bay coast. CGSC member Art Auwaexter and his 20-person race committee presented fine racing for the 22 Lasers in the fleet. It was not easy to find a place to put a race course with over 600 boats in the Junior Orange Bowl spread all over the water. Winds ranged from 8 to 18 over three days. The Laser winner was 22 yearold Clay Johnson of Toms River, NJ. Some may remember him as a winning Optimist Dinghy sailor of a few years ago. He is a very tall and fit fellow, as are all Laser sailors vying for the Olympic slot for the 2008 Games. Johnson was one of the many who were caught on left side of the course when the wind went right in the first race. Unlike some others, he recognized the shift early and used his speed to get back to third. In age groupings, Laser Apprentice Ernesto Rodriguez of Miami led, taking second in fleet. Miami’s Augie Diaz was first Master, Dave Ellis of St. Petersburg the Grand Master winner and David Hartman of Vero Beach the Great Grand Master champ. If the variable points system for age groups had been applied for scoring, Hartman would have jumped from tenth to

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fifth place and Ellis from eighth to seventh. Lake Lanier Sailing Club’s Warner Guedry deserves credit for finishing all eight races, placing second in Great Grand Master, at age 71. James Liebl won the first race of the event and was sailing well. On the other two days he opted to try out the Radial rig, now that it is allowed to be exchanged during a regatta for Masters sailors. Friday’s winds did not live up to advance billing, however, and he worked hard to finish above midfleet. He pushed a bit too hard in one start, resulting in an OCS. The windiest races on Saturday he finished 5-6, to show that a well-sailed Radial can hang with the big guns even in less than nuclear winds.

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Rule 42 Questions for OTW Judges TLS and your ILCA-NA Officers asked Bill O’Hara, lead Rule 42 judge around the world, to submit to a Question & Answer to help dispel myths of Rule 42. The questions are broken into five categories for Rule 42 and a final category for general RRS questions.

General Rule 42 Questions When you are on the water judging rule 42, are there one or two areas where you see the most infractions? BO’H: Most infringements occur at the start and on the downwind legs. It is unusual when dealing with experienced sailors to have problems on the upwind legs as they realize how easy it is for judges to see any flaws in their technique. ISAF has had a training program in place for judging rule 42 for over a year now. How do you feel about the general level and consistency of judging at major events throughout the world now? BO’H: The ISAF Rule 42 advisors role was intended to achieve a greater common understanding of Rule 42 between sailors, coaches and judges. The workshops try and make everyone part of the solution. The judges have been trying to develop better processes that lead to consistent calls. My main message to judges is to give the sailors the benefit of the doubt but when there is no doubt, protest the rule breach to protect the legal sailors. Whether rule 42 is being applied more consistently is difficult to assess. You rarely get people thanking you for a yellow flag protest and the sailors who have not been protested usually keep a low profile and don’t give you much feedback. I constantly ask sailors and coaches for their opinion and at the multi-class Grade 1 events I attend this year, I will be handing out written questionnaires to the team leaders to try and get feedback. Professional Olympic sailors spend around 200 days on the water each year practicing sailing techniques; it is unusual for volunteer judges to spend more than 20 days a year observing one individual class. The easy breaches anyone could judge. The difficulty comes when a sailor’s style combines a mixture of permitted and prohibited actions. In these very technical situations, knowledge of that boat and experience observing it in all wind conditions and wave patterns, are essential to make consistent calls. Do judges apply different standards of judging depending on the level of the event? For example, is there a different standard between the Men’s Laser World Championship and the Women’s Radial World Championship? Or between the Laser World Championship and the Master’s World Championship? If so, why? If not, how is a uniform application of rule 42 achieved? BO’H: Judges should apply the same standard at all events. I have never asked or been asked to apply a lesser standard. It is a disservice to sailors to go easy in one event, as inevitably they will come across a jury applying the rules correctly at a future event and they will get protested for techniques they assumed were permitted. Urban legend has it that to be yellow flagged at a major event, both judges must observe a repeated action and must

both agree that it is an infraction. Are there situations, for example at the start or, perhaps, at a mark rounding, where a single action observed by one judge can earn a yellow flag? BO’H: Sometimes urban legends are true. Judges divide rule 42 breaches into two categories, tactical and technical. Tactical breaches are clear breaches of the rule where a sailor tries to get an immediate advantage such as; sculling, body pumping or rocking at the start; approaching a two length zone; approaching the finish line; or crossing a starboard tack boat. In these situations one judge can protest independent of his fellow judge. With technical breaches (not clear breaches but involving a sailor’s technique) we want both judges to agree before protesting. Normally while scanning the fleet one judge will observe something that causes him concern. The judge will ask his fellow judge to observe the same boat and then try and verbalize what they are looking at. If they can connect the sailor’s actions to the effect on the boat and the action is prohibited, then they protest. The principle again is to give the benefit of the doubt to the sailor but when certain, protest to protect the legal sailors. Some people think rule 42 is not very clear, effectively existing in a large grey area between clearly illegal and maybe illegal. Because of this, sailors may have differing thresholds of what is “legal” and what is “illegal” on the water, which can lead to some feeling that others are “cheating.” How can we go about clearing up the “grey area” so people can better know what is allowed and/or not allowed? Or, how can we learn to exist with the grey area? BO’H: I sail a Laser at my home club usually with one or two sailors who are on the international circuit. Their defense for breaking RRS 42 is that everyone else is doing it overseas and they have to practice. In my opinion the sailor always knows first if he is breaking the rule, closely followed by his fellow competitors and finally the judges. The sailors are in the best position to police the rule because they know exactly how much rolling and trimming can be put down to the conditions. The best way forward for the sport would be for sailors to take responsibility for enforcing the rule. The grey area between legal and illegal is very small and I am convinced that in most cases the sailors know when they are breaking the rule. The problem they have is knowing when they will be protested for breaking it. Champions minimize risk. Sailing close to the limit of RRS 42 and letting judges decide the outcome of your event is high risk. We all have to self police in the sport and sailors who deliberately break the rules do themselves and our sport a disservice. Can you explain the concept of “stroke of a paddle” to us? Does this principle apply if I am accelerating from a stop and I add a small roll to help increase that acceleration? BO’H: A ‘stroke of a paddle’ is not a defined term but is a phrase used to describe the difference between moving your body to trim a boat and moving your body to propel the boat. You are not allowed to move your body to propel the boat but you are allowed to move your body to steer and trim the boat. At the start if you are below close hauled and roll to leeward to help steer the boat to a close hauled course it is permitted even if it results in a small increase in acceleration. The problem arises if you do it with such vigor that it goes beyond trim and has the effect like a ‘stroke of a paddle’

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A young sailor will say something like “my coach says the judges are a bunch of old men who have never sailed dinghies and don’t understand kinetics and that this is the way I am supposed to sail the boat...” What advice do you have for someone like this? BO’H: Well we are definitely a bunch of old men and woman with over 50% over the age of 60. As a volunteer group we don’t get to sail much because we use most of our free time judging. At the major events the average age is more like 50 and we get chosen for our class specific knowledge. We also work hard at developing processes to make judging kinetics more consistent by focusing on defining easily recognized techniques and tests to decide that a rule has been broken. . My advice to a young sailor is to accept that some judges might have a limited knowledge of their class and to develop a style that is comfortably inside the rule and doesn’t attract attention. It is also important to communicate with judges in a constructive manner so that they can understand their class better. If you had one thing in Rule 42 to change, what might it be? BO’H: I would not allow classes to opt for relaxing RRS 42 above certain wind speeds. I think it puts undue pressure on the race committee and jury in implementation and makes a mockery of the sport when the wind drops during a leg and the sailor’s rock and pump their way down the course.

Rule 42 at the starting line How hard is it for judges to see rule 42 violations on the start line? BO’H: Tactical breaches where one judge can protest are easy to see. What are the most common rule 42 mistakes you see people committing on the start line? BO’H: Sculling, a single roll (with the effect of a stroke of a paddle) rocking and body pumping Here is a typical scenario at the start: With about 30 seconds to go a boat is luffing head to wind (in, let’s say, 5-8 knots of wind and smooth water), effectively stopped, on the start line with a nice hole to leeward. Just before the start, the helmsman sculls down to a close hauled course, rolls the boat to leeward then back to windward to quickly accelerate into that nice hole to leeward. Is this legal under rule 42? Does it depend on the strength of the wind? The sea conditions? BO’H: Sculling down towards a close hauled course is permitted as long as it is not offsetting previous sculling and the sailor stops sculling when he gets to a close-hauled course. Rolling the boat once is permitted however, if the boat quickly accelerates, it is prohibited because it is having the effect like a stroke of a paddle. The same rules apply in all conditions but in strong winds and bigger seas it is harder to judge if the roll has propelled the boat.

Rule 42 Upwind What are the most common mistakes you see people committing while sailing upwind? BO’H: First, rocking in light air. Secondly, body pumping in hiking breeze especially when crossing a starboard tack boat or in close proximity to boats to leeward or windward. Finally, excessive torquing causing the leach of the sail to flick. What are the judges looking for when watching sailors going upwind? BO’H: We scan the fleet and look for differences in the way a boat or a sailor moves. Most of the time the judges are looking

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for body movement, rather than waves, causing the leech to flick. Rule 42 Downwind What are the most common mistakes you see people committing while sailing downwind? BO’H: Two main things: Repeated trim and release of the sail not connected to wind shifts gusts or waves. Rolling the boat repeatedly with no change in direction and not linked to wave patterns. Sailors should only roll the boat to help them steer it, not repeatedly change direction so that they can roll. If they do that they get in a habit of continual rolling it eventually doesn’t match up with the wave pattern or the direction their steering and they get protested. When the breeze is up some sailors find themselves on the edge of control. Is it possible to get a penalty for rocking when in reality you are really just trying to regain control of your boat? This can happen, for example, when recovering from a near death roll when it can take 4-5 oscillations of the boat to really get control back. Can judges differentiate between this and intentional rocking? BO’H: If a sailor loses control and the boat starts rolling he is not breaking any rules and will normally not get protested. If it’s happening repeatedly or at critical moments in the race the sailor will be under close scrutiny. A legal rolling boat becomes an illegal rocking boat if the sailor is inducing the rolling by body movement, repeated adjustment of the sails or centerboard or by steering.

Rule 42 at mark roundings Are there common rule 42 violations at mark roundings? BO’H: Normally tactical breaches (short duration breaches in order to gain an immediate advantage). Repeated tacks and gybes approaching the mark particularly in light air. Sheet pumping & rocking to try and get or break an overlap.

General RRS questions Are there any common RRS violations that judges observe on the race course? What would there be? BO’H: We observe the whole range of rule breaches and its disappointing when sailors don’t take action or protest. Do you think there is a “problem” with adherence to the RRS at major international events? If maybe or yes, what do you see as a possible way to help reduce these violations? BO’H: The 07 Rolex Miami OCR this year was an encouraging event with many boats taking voluntary penalties however we have all been involved at regattas where that is not the case. I think the answer lies with the sailors because direct judging is impractical in our sport and always results in sailors taking less responsibility for enforcing the rules. Some professional sailors might think that’s a naïve view but for them more than anybody the integrity of a sport they want to make a living out off should be paramount. Sailings only a game and to let someone break the rules, or to break the rules yourself at a game you are playing with your friends seems pointless and would make any results achieved meaningless. ..

Bill O’Hara is an International Umpire and an International Judge. He is currently the ISAF Rule 42 Advisor and a member of the ISAF Rule 42 working party. He has attended 5 of the last 6 Olympics, two as a Finn sailor, one as a coach, one as a team manager and one as a judge. More importantly he has raced Lasers since 1977 and still competes in club races, regional events and masters championships.

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RRS 42 and Appendix P…… What Are Those Judges Doing? BOB BOWDEN So, you’re a Laser sailor in a District Championship event. You’ve read the Sailing Instructions and notice there is a SI rule that states: “RRS Appendix P will apply.” You sail to the starting line and you are a bit early. You line up with your fellow competitors and scull to hold position. Just about the time the gun goes off, a couple of judges in a power boat come up behind, blow a whistle, point a yellow flag directly at you and hail your sail number! You start and finish the race only to find out you are scored DSQ without a hearing for not taking your penalty at the yellow flag. What’s going on here and what could you have done better? To start with, you’ve broken RRS 42.2(d) – sculling and Appendix P-2.1. RRS 42 covers Propulsion and lists the actions that are prohibited when racing. Appendix P details what penalties are taken when on the water judging is in effect. (Appendix P is not in effect unless it is in the Sailing Instructions) Laser regatta organizers in Area D-12 want enforcement of Rule 42 via on the water with on the water judges. There seems to be a feeling that ‘a few bad apples’ are cheating by using kinetics and Appendix P enforcement of the Rule is the best way to control the problem. I agree that is it extremely difficult for a competitor to protest under RRS 42. If kinetics are a problem, Appendix P is the only reasonable way to control them. As a judge, I don’t like it. It means I have to be on the water from the start of the first race until most boats have finished all races. And it requires 100% concentration. I have to take care of protests or requests for redress that come up after the racing is over. This makes for a very long day; it’s hard work, which we voluntarily do for our sport. Let’s look at what is involved in providing on the water judging and what the judges look for at different points in a race. There should be at least two judge boats with two judges in each boat. They should be familiar with the quirks of Laser sailing as often there is so much body movement going on, it is difficult to analyze whether the sailor is sailing the boat well or illegally propelling it. If they see an infraction, except at the start, both judges must agree before blowing the whistle. If there is any doubt, they must rule in favor of the sailor. They have to be sure about their decision and be willing to discuss what they saw with the competitor after the race. They generally will use a tape recorder to back up their observations. Now, let’s go sailing.

THE START AND UPWIND At the start, the judge boats will be behind the line; positioned so they can watch all boats and in radio communications with each other. After the start, one boat will follow the boats on Port tack while the other follows those on Starboard. Sculling: Lasers will often scull to either get into position or maintain one. RRS 42.3(d) allows you to scull onto a close-hauled course when you are above close-hauled and stationary or moving slowly. That’s

all. It does not allow you to back wind the sail and scull to hold position, or to scull if you are below close-hauled. Because sculling is a short duration action and there are a number of boats on the starting line, only one judge need see the violation to flag the penalty. Pumping: At the gun, we watch for the sailor who will rock the boat and roll tack at the start, which causes the boat to accelerate quickly. We know this as the “Laser Start”, but it is illegal. Rocking. The most prevalent offense I see is body rocking or pumping where the competitor rocks his body and therefore the sail. Are the body movements rocking the boat? Does the mast move from side to side? Does the movement cause the leach to flick? If so, yellow flag! Or, is the competitor sailing well by keeping the boat flat? Ooching: In light air, we watch for the “Laser Tack” where the competitor places one foot on the bulkhead and pushes back hard as they tack. If done well, this produces a ‘scoot’ where the boat accelerates much like the “Laser Start”. This looks like hard work to me for a small return, and it is illegal. Repeated tacks. We look for this more in light air. Is the competitor roll tacking more than all the others? Do the wind conditions warrant the action? Is he/she coming out of the tacks faster than they were when they started?

DOWNWIND Downwind, we will watch the fleet from both sides and/or behind. We scan all boats looking for the one that is doing anything different. Usually, the mast is moving back and forth while the other boats’ masts are not. When we see one, we will move closer to see: Rocking: Is the sailor causing the boat to roll by rocking? Pumping: Is the sailor pumping by pulling in and releasing the sheet? Ooching: In light air, is the sailor moving his/her body (or part of it) forward and aft in rhythm? Repeated gybes with no apparent reason. Again, does the boat gain distance as a result of these gybes? Pumping and Roll Tacking can happen on any leg of the course. Pumping: We look for repeated pumping to be rhythmic trim and release in light winds or more forceful in stronger winds and waves. The judging team will ask themselves the following questions: Are there surfing or planing conditions? If so, it’s perfectly legal so long as there is only one pump per wave. Is the boat pumping while surfing or planing? Could the trim and release be a response to conditions? Is the flicking leach caused by body movement? ROLL TACKING: When tacking, we look for those who delay righting their boat after the tack is completed and sheet pump the sail. The exception in Rule 42.3(b) only applies when the boat is changing course and at no time permits sheet pumping. If a boat has increased her speed through a tack, we see a sudden and significant decrease in speed after the tack is complete. Here, the judges must agree the boat came out of the tack faster than she went into it.

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TWO OTHER THINGS: If we have only two judge boats, we generally will pay more attention to the top 1/3 of the fleet than the rest of the competitors. Usually, we serve in the same geographic area. We see the same sailors often during the season. By doing this, we have our list of who sails fairly and who sometimes does not. As a competitor, I don’t want to be on a judge’s “who to watch” list. I hope this gives you a better idea of what we judges look for when applying Appendix P on the water. We do not serve as policemen; only to help ensure fair sailing. We may throw a yellow flag in or two a race but rarely over 4 or 5 in a regatta. Laser sailors in area D-12 are doing a great job following the rules. Again, it is hard work for us but we’re glad to do it if it helps to make racing fair. My advice to all sailors is to be aware of Rule 42 and avoid violating it. Also, read Appendix P. If you are ‘yellow flagged’, take your penalty turns and get back into the game. If you know why you were flagged, shame on you and stop doing it! If not, go see the judge that flagged you after the race and ask him/her to explain what they

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saw and why they ‘flagged’ you. It’s our job to help ensure fair sailing and to educate those who break a rule and we’re only too happy to do so. Sail fair, sail fast and sail often! Bob Bowden is a certified US Sailing Senior Judge. Bob has been sailing since the mid 1970’s and involved in race management and judging for the past 20 years; primarily in the Southeast. He serves as judge in 12-15 events per year and was chief judge for the 2005 Laser Nationals at Wrightsville Beach, NC. He lives in Charleston, SC and is well known by the competitors in area D-12 where he has served as judge for many years.

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Masters Sailing Florida Masters Championship 2007 BY PETER SEIDENBERG

The 24th Florida Masters championship was attended by 36 competitors from 8 states and 4 from Ontario. In doing so, they paid tribute to the originators of the event and founders of the “Royal Turkey Y.C.”, the late Jack Swenson and John Mayer. Originally run out of Jack’s backyard, the Florida Masters championship is now hosted by the Palm Beach Sailing Club. The location of the club provides easy options of either sailing on the Atlantic or on the Intracoastal Waterway, depending on the weather. This time, the weather was perfect for sailing on the ocean. It was sunny and warm both days with a 6–10 mph northerly on Saturday and an 8-12 mph northerly on Sunday. Three races were sailed each day, for a total of six, with five to count. The courses were wwd.-lwd.-wwd.lwd. with downwind finishes at the starboard side of the committee boat. The last race on Sunday was shortened after 1ﬁ laps and finished at the windward mark, closer to the way back to the club. Saturday’s racing was the most challenging. A fast-moving northerly current kept pushing the fleet over the line and caused many individual and general recalls. The presumably stronger current further out to sea, combined with a gradual veer of the wind to NE and increase in speed over the course of the day, favored the right side of the course, but not always. Significant gains could be made in the middle of the course by utilizing the many wind oscillations. On Sunday, the current was absent. Consequently, the right (ocean) side turned out to be a disappointment in the early part of the day until the wind, as expected, started to veer and increase in strength. Early detection of this development was key. The overall winner under the North American age handicap system and recipient of the “Dirty-Old-Man-of-theSea” trophy was Master John MacCausland with 21 points. Interestingly, John would have won even on straight points, with the tie-breaker

Al Clark on Masters Midwinters: First day a 2-hour sail out to the course against a strong current. No racing. Smart people didn’t go all the way out to the race course. The forecast for the next day was cold and windy. They got it right. Perfect for a Canadian. I won the first race, then had a few problems with capsizing upwind in the next race. I hit the finish line on a capsize. It was real difficult sailing near the top mark; we sailed inside, so the weather mark had either 25 kts or 5 kts. Won the 3rd race after a few capsizes, then again had a spectacular capsize at the weather mark in the last race. Caught up at the end to slip into 5th. Enough to win.

going in his favor. John also became the 19th winner of the “Green Jacket” which, as is typical, was presented to the winner by Jack’s widow, Molly Swenson. The top three Apprentices were Ernesto Rodriguez (a past Green Jacket winner), 2nd overall, James Liebl, 4th overall, and Ted Morgan, 16th overall. The top three Masters were John MacCausland, Rick Ericson (a past Green Jacket winner), 3rd overall, and Tim Landt, 6th overall. The top three Grand Masters were Alden Shattuck, 5th overall, David Frazier (a past Green Jacket winner), 9th overall, and Gary Orkney, 14th overall. The top three Great Grand Masters were Peter Seidenberg (a past Green Jacket winner), 7th overall, Joe Van Rossem, 8th overall, and David Hartman, 15th overall. No one sailed Radial. The regatta was expertly organized and run by Carl Schellbach, who has done this for close to 20 years now.

Check this out!!! **Bass Strait Laser DVD** The story of Michael Blackburn’s incredible crossing of the Bass Strait between Tasmania and Australia in a Laser $ 29.95 US or $34.95 CDN Check our website at www.sailcoach.ca for the best marine stores carrying these Books, CD’s, & DVD’s Sailcoach Consultants North America Inc 170 Kehoe Street Ottawa, ON, Canada K2B 6A5 Tel/Fax 613-820-7618

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2007 Vanguard NA Grand Prix Rules 1. Preamble

1. Laser: 10 2. Radial: 7 The intent of the North American Grand Prix is to promote 3. 4.7: 5 participation in iv. Events can only be re-sailed with permission of the Laser Class events at the District, Regional and Continental levels. Except where explicitly stated, the following rules apply ILCA-NA Secretary. d. Regatta results must be received by the ILCA-NA equally to the 2007 Laser, Radial, and Laser 4.7 Grand Prix. office within 30 days of completion of the event.

2. Eligibility a. Any member, in good standing, of the North American Region of the International Laser Class Association (ILCA-NA) is eligible to participate in any and all official Grand Prix events. b. Competitors who join ILCA-NA before the start of the first race of a Grand Prix event shall be considered to be members in good standing for the purposes of receiving a regatta score for that event (deemed eligible competitors).

5. Scoring a. Regatta Score i. The score for eligible competitors will be calculated as Total Regatta Points – finish position + 1 (e.g. the regatta winner will receive a score equal to the Total Regatta Points) down to a minimum of one point. ii. The finish positions of ineligible competitors will not be removed.

b. Grand Prix Rankings Score

i. The Grand Prix ranking will be the sum of the top five Regatta Scores for all eligible competitors. 3. Regatta Categories and 2007 Grand ii. For the purposes of awarding prizes only, ties will be Prix Regattas broken by removing points first from district events, if the a. For Lasers and Radials Continental Championship – Total Regatta Points: 40 Note: tie remains then removing points from regional events, etc. If a tie remains, the competitor who finished ahead in the Radial Women may score their best finish from either of the highest graded, and most recent, mutually attended Grand two events for which they are eligible. Prix regatta shall be the winner, unless neither competitor 2. Major Continental Regattas – Total Regatta Points: 30 faced each other, in which case the tie shall be broken by i. The US Nationals the ILCA-NA Executive Director by coin flip. ii. The Canadian Nationals c. The current Grand Prix standings will be published iii. CORK monthly on the ILCA-NA website at www.laser.org iv. Midwinters East v. Midwinters West 3.. Regional Regattas – Total Regatta Points: 20 i. The Atlantic Coast Championship ii. The Gulf Coast Championship iii. The Great Lakes Championship iv. The “No Coast” Championship v. The Pacific Coast Championship 4. District Regattas – Total Regatta Points: 15 i. District Championships for all ILCA-NA Districts

6. Prizes Prizes will be supplied by the sponsor of the Grand Prix program, Vanguard Sailboats: Competitors cannot win in more than one category. Categories and prizes to be announced at a later date.

b. For 4.7s 1. Major Continental Regattas – Total Regatta Points: 30 i. The US Nationals ii. CORK iv. Midwinters East 2. Other 4.7 Regattas – Total Regatta Points: 25 i. Buzzard’s Bay Regatta ii. 2007 Orange Bowl

4. Regatta Requirements a. The 2007 Grand Prix is for regattas which are sailed between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2007. b. The regatta location, dates and contact information for the NOR must be available from the ILCA-NA website at least four weeks before the event. c. For the purposes of awarding Grand Prix points: i. A regatta consists of an event scheduled to be sailed over consecutive days photo: Canadians Bernie Luttmer, Mike Kalin (last year’s ii. There must be a minimum of three races completed Grand Prix winner) and Conner Higgins in Hyeres, France. iii. A minimum number of eligible competitors must be in Luther Carpenter photo. attendance:

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2007 Vanguard NA Grand Prix Results Standings through March 31, 2007 for full results: www.laser.org

LASER Last 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7 9 10 11 12 13 13 15 15 17 18 19 20 20 22 23 24 24

Pearce Ramsay Torchinsky Buckingham Luttmer Campbell Funk Garber Horowitz Smith Grierson Johnson Raab Wright Kalin Paine Taulbee Wenner Deermount Rogachenko Toole Higgins Tullo Buckingham Lewis

www.Laser.org

RADIAL First John Luke Abe Charlie Bernard Andrew Brad Josh Zeke Colin Kevin Clay Chris David Michael Caleb Kurt Peter Adam Kyle Pat Conner Jerry Jim Evan

# of Events 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Total 46 39 38 36 29 27 26 26 26 25 25 24 23 23 22 22 21 20 19 18 18 17 17 16 16

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 16 16 19 20 20 22 22 24

Last

First

Railey Tunnicliffe Bertold Haeger Ross Crain Maxim Rasa Dennis Lihan Billing Griffin Dube Barnard Hoeven Crowder Doane Toole Montemayor Dugdale Smith Alley Cameron Vargas

Paige Anna Isabella Annie Lisa Philip Katie Keamia Claire Sarah Emily Genoa Danielle Chris Ryan Victoria Justin Oliver Ricardo Nick Colin Philip Rex Mateo

# of Events 2 2 3 3 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Total 69 68 60 60 60 60 53 49 48 44 37 37 36 29 28 25 25 25 24 22 22 21 21 20

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Laser 4.7; a Jr. Sailors Beginning Step to the Olympics SCOTT LINDLEY PALM BEACH SAILING CLUB SAILING DIRECTOR The Laser 4.7 was introduced in 2002 as an option for those sailors who were coming out of the Optimist Dingy who were too small for the Lasers bigger rigs. Once the Laser Radial was chosen to replace the Europe Dinghy as the Olympic singlehanded boat for Women, the 4.7 has become the singlehanded youth training boat and a pathway class for most youth sailors with Olympic aspirations. In 2003 the British Royal Yachting Association adopted the 4.7 as part of their youth training program and as their pathway class to the Olympic Radial and Full rig boats. In Europe, youth are assigned to this class dependent on size and age. The recommended weight for the 4.7 rig is 115 – 143 pounds. The recommended size for the radial rig is 143 to 163 pounds. The top end sizes tend to perform best in the full range of wind conditions. These recommended weight ranges are vastly different than those posted on American Web sites. Radial weight is 120 – 155, 4.7 is 80 to 120. Since its introduction to Europe in 2002, participation at 4.7 world championships has grown in size to over 320 participants. The 4.7 Rig is the perfect option for kids who may have started late in their Opti careers and for those who are weight challenged at the age of 14 coming out of the Opti. For those kids who started later in life and don’t fit into an Opti, they can gain their skills of tactics, boat handling and fitness in the 4.7 and have a fun time doing it. Have you ever seen a young sailor trying to learn to race in an Opti at 120+ pounds? You will rarely see a smile on their faces. Mastering technique and skill in all wind conditions, light to heavy, keeping your head out of the boat thus giving you a strategic advantage, allows sailors to grow into the rig at the proper time. Throwing kids into a Radial when not the proper size or maturity will only frustrate and pro-

duce negative self-esteem. On the other hand throwing a sailor who is beginning to intermediate and in the upper weight range into a fleet of well experienced Radial sailors can be a just as negative experience. This is where the beauty of the European System of Weight and Age come in. Sailors can be competitive and not be hindered by their size in the 4.7 until they or their coach feel that they are ready to move up. For those who are older and will most likely never reach the desired weight of the Radial or Full rig they can race against sailors there own age and size, no matter what gender. US Sailing programs need to take a closer look a the Laser 4.7 because they may be missing out on a perfect opportunity for increasing participation in their programs by filling the gap for those sailors who need more experience or who can’t compete otherwise due to weight. I can speak from experience that that Laser 4.7

changed the whole outlook of our program. In one year Palm Beach Sailing Club’s Jr. Laser Fleet went from 0 Laser’s to 10. We have kids starting to graduate to the Radial and are producing good results and sailing with confidence. Can sailors move to a double handed boat? Sure, but if you don’t have any High School Sailing in your area or don’t want to spend the money for a 29er (a high performance double handed boat which is the stepping stone for the 49er, an Olympic double handed boat) or to hassle with a crew, the 4.7 is the only choice. One last thing to remember is that Laser is also a collegiate boat as well, so the dual purpose of Olympic and college trainer make the Laser 4.7 the right choice for your program and youth sailors.

Photos by Jacqueline Schmitz

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Regatta Reports Caribbean Midwinters 2007 BY PETER SEIDENBERG There are probably not many places in the world where you can walk barefoot on a sandy beach from your hotel to the boat park and sail in warm air and warm water wearing just a rash guard under the life jacket, even in 20 knots of wind! And that in January! Cabarete in the Dominican Republic is one of those places. It is a small, charming “Third World” town located on a good-sized bay on the north coast of Espaniola Island. The bay is surrounded by a reef with a gap in the middle creating the option of either sailing outside on the ocean or inside the bay. The “Laser Training Center Cabarete” is located on a crescent-shaped beach as part of a “Windsurfer Club” created in 1988 by immigrants Ari Barshi and his wife Marie-Jose, or MJ as she is generally called. The facility has grown over the years to now include a store with beach and water sport apparel, a sheltered sailboard and Laser storage area, an outdoor shower, change and locker area, and an open-air “Eze Bar” for food and refreshments. Interspersed palm trees provide enough of a windbreak to allow rigging without struggling. Known as a “windy place” by windsurfers and kite boarders for years, Cabarete has recently been “discovered”,thanks to Ari, by ambitious Laser and Radial sailors from North America, South America and Europe, eager to work on their heavy air and wave sailing skills. The breeze, seldom less than 15 mph, develops usually in the early afternoon and hits you only yards from the beach. There’s no rush to go sailing until you’ve had your lunch at the Eze Bar. Ari’s boat boys are always around to help you launch and retrieve your boat. It can’t get any better! More food and a large variety of smoothies and cocktails await you when you return from sailing. I favor “Honey Rider” for refreshment and “Caipirinha” for celebration. The 5th Caribbean Midwinters took place January 12 -14, 2007, my second in succession. It attracted 30 sailors from 9 countries, including 5 locals. $5,000 prize money, put up by local real estate partners, George Cotou and Tim Landt, enticed even Laser greats Gustavo Lima (POR), Bernard Luttmer (CAN), Diego Romero (ARG), and Marc DeHaas (NED)

www.Laser.org

to compete. The attendance of local aces Raul Aguayo and Andre Martinie was a given. Friday’s racing started with a 2-hour postponement on shore to allow the surf to go down a bit. A huge stationary depression up north had developed overnight and generated swells that paid no attention to the reef and pounded the beach. This low also sent enormous clouds in from the NE which announced their arrival with frequent rain showers and sometimes squalls. But who cares if the temperatures are in the seventies! The “boiling” reef made the gap unrecognizable so that the decision was made to race inside the bay. Even inside the reef, 6 ft rollers were a common sight! In those conditions, boat-handling was key, as demonstrated by the aforementioned top sailors. Two races were run that day in E 15-20 on a fairly short wwd.-lwd. course with downwind finishes after 5 laps. Gustavo showed everybody how it’s done scoring two firsts. Raul, Marc and Diego followed in that order. The eventual runner-up Bernard Luttmer had a break-down in the first race but showed with his second-place finish in the second race that he intended to have a say in the outcome of the regatta. A beautiful and tasty opening dinner buffet, sponsored by Tim Landt, took place in the spacious and stylish “Tropicoco” restaurant that evening. Saturday’s racing again started out with a 2-hour postponement on shore to wait for the surf to ease a bit. The low up north had actually intensified overnight! Four races were run on the same course configuration as on Friday, but with only 4 laps. The wind was E 20-25, up a bit from the previous day. Gustavo started out with an unexpected fourth place after having led the first four laps, only to round the leeward mark for a fifth lap instead of crossing the finish line. His next three bullets of the day never left any doubt about who would be the champion in this regatta. Aside from Gustavo, it became evident that groups were forming and trading places within, like Bernard Luttmer, Diego Romero, Marc DeHaas and Raul Aguayo, like Ari Barshi, Mark Bear, Andre Martinie,

Ernesto Rodiguez and Matt Goetting, like Keith Wilkins, Ken Brown and Peter Seidenberg. The rest of the 17 sailors included some with break-downs, like Tim Landt, and others for whom the conditions were beyond their ability. Sunday saw no reprieve in the wind and wave conditions: it still blew E 20-25, the reef was still “boiling”, and the surf was still “up”. The only significant difference was the brilliant sunshine which made the conditions look a lot less threatening, more “Caribbean”. After a one-hour postponement, which was used by judge Eric Mehlbaum from the Netherlands to interpret Rule 42 to the competitors, the final three races of the regatta were sailed on the same course inside the reef with 3 laps each. Gustavo suffered his second defeat with a 3rd place in the last race but won the 9-race series convincingly with 7 firsts, one 3rd and one 4th. Bernard Luttmer, Diego Romero, Marc DeHaas, and Raul Aguayo rounded out the top five. Ari Barshi, in 6th place overall, was also first of the 14 Masters who were re-scored, with age handicap points applied to their overall score. Prize-giving on the beach was followed by a generous snack buffet at the Eze Bar. As is typical, the regatta was again preceded by a 4-day clinic, given this

time by Brett Davis with daily chalk talks and starting and boat handling drills on the water. About half the fleet took part in the clinic, and I’m convinced that this and the regatta itself was worth the effort to attend the 5th Caribbean Midwinters Regatta. I can hardly wait for the 6th. Take a look at the following website for complete results and incredible action pictures: www.caribwind.com. PHOTO: BERNIE LUTTMER, CANADA

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Sailing Fit Getting Ready: part 2 MEKA TAULBEE ACE CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER As a follow up to my last article I have asked about ten different sailors what they do to prepare for a regatta. I asked juniors to masters and novice to experienced. Needless to say I only got a few replies back. I take this as a good sign that everyone is just too busy sailing instead of sitting in front of their computers. Interestingly enough the responses I got were all from top level sailors on the current US and Canadian Sailing Teams. Before I get into what they all said I want to thank each of them for taking the time to help me out. These sailors are some of the busiest I know so I really appreciate the thought and time they took answer these questions. I think it will give all of you some great insight into what it takes to put together a solid program. Thank you Andrew Campbell, Mike Leigh, Ian Lineberger, Kurt Taulbee and Anna Tunnicliffe. I was hard to try to group the information because everyone is different and had varied responses. I decided to just out line the questions and give you what each person gave to me. As you read these think about what your own answers to these questions are. Do you do anything specific to prepare for a regatta? Andrew- Plenty of details come into play for the preparation for a regatta. But, I think success is in the details. Getting housing figured out more than the afternoon you arrive!, making sure that all the parts and pieces are in place and working order before the first day of the regatta, and having spent a ton of time training in the weeks leading into the regatta, not just the afternoon ahead of time are three easy steps Mike- Train on and off the water Kurt-I work on my fitness so I go into a regatta feeling good in the boat. I work on my boat handling and balance in the boat a for a few sessions before the regatta. Anna- I practice a lot in my boat…either at the location, or at home depending on the level of the regatta. I also fuel my body up with energy to be prepared for whatever conditions may bring. How far in advance in advance do you start preparing? Andrew- Fitness: months ahead, Housing/Flights: week(s) ahead, Proper food

intake: days ahead, polish/soap boat: the day ahead, proper breakfast/bars/hydration: hours ahead… Mike-11 months-The first month is mostly land training to get my fitness up to a reasonable level before I start working hard on the water. Kurt-For a big event 3 months. Anna- It depends…for worlds, I stat preparing right after the previous worlds, other regattas, I start preparing two days before…just depends again on the level of the competition How many hours do you spend in your boat on average? Andrew-2-4 hours a day 4-6 days a week Mike- Approx. 15hours/week Kurt- 4 hours a week until 3 weeks prior to the regatta then 8 hours a week Anna- Per week about 15 When you practice do you have specific things you want to work on each time? Andrew- Specific things are in the works every time. Having a focused understanding of things that you want to improve is the key to getting anything out of practice. If it’s as simple as having better windward mark roundings, or better tacks, each practice must have a certain focus so that there are specific gains made in each session. Mike- Yes, I always try to be focusing on one or two things when out training, or racing in a training event. Kurt- Yes, very specific boat handling or speed drills Anna- Yes…I set out a practice and focus on the little things for that day’s sailing Do you like to train with a partner/group/coach or would you rather train alone? Andrew- As much as possible train with at least one other person. Not to say that it isn’t possible to get something out of sailing by yourself. Sailing with a coach is the biggest luxury in the sport. Take the maximum advantage of those situations by getting marks, drills, and film prepared before the practice session. Mike-Training with a group of 3-5 quality sailors is ideal. Having a coach present is always an asset Kurt- I like to train a small amount alone and then with a group with any number of sailors for the majority of the practice time. This works best for me, but not always possible. Anna- Most of the time when I’m at home I train with my fiancé Brad, but when I’m else where, I train with other Radial sailors.

What do you do physically to prepare? Andrew- Weeks before the event strength training can still be in full force. I taper to only cycling in the week before the regatta. Mike- I am in the gym 3 days a week lifting weights, and then 1-2 days a week of cardio. Kurt- base aerobic fitness for several months then leading up to a competition I do plyometric work and hiking bench work( on the Quadzilla of course) and high heart rate cardio then balance and flexibility work. Anna-I go to the gym 4-5 days a week to lift weights and I run between 20-30 miles a week Do you work on your fitness goals regularly or just before the regatta? Andrew- I like to think that I work on them regularly, as much as possible. Mike- Ideally, I start working on my fitness about 10-11 months before the major regatta of the year. It just depends on how much lead up time I have before that event. Kurt- Regularly Anna- regularly How about Nutrition? Do you work on this regularly or just before the regatta? Andrew- Maintaining weight is the critical part of proper understanding of Laser sailing. Finding a healthy weight through proper nutrition should be a priority months ahead of a regatta that you are peaking for. That way you need not go through a crash diet or quick weight gain just before the regatta Mike- I try to consume as much fruit and vegetables as I can. I find I get sick when I am not eating enough veggies. Kurt- Generally, I eat pretty healthy all the time but during a regatta I have specific food and drinks that I use that are double, triple top secret! Anna- All the time…you should have a healthy lifestyle whether you’re competing or not Do you do anything to Mentally Prepare? Andrew- Mental preparation is focused in the details. The more details you’re sure you’ve already taken care of, the more at ease your mind will be. The more confident you are in every breeze condition, every sea-state, every current situation, every cross, duck, tack or jibe, the more at ease your mental state will be. Mike- I work with the Canadian Team psychologist Kurt- I think about and visualize the things I need to improve on to get the results I want. For example, my agility in the boat and maintaining a great attitude for the entire event.

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Anna- Visualization…very important for when you can’t get on the water one day, or you haven’t raced in a while. Do you like to keep your training program secret or do you share with anyone who asks? Andrew- Good sailors have some little secrets that they keep, but not many. The reason good sailors are good is because they don’t sit around and talk about their programs, they are constantly in the cycle of those training programs. Kurt- I share mostly everything. I don’t have many secrets. Anna- Share…if they can hang…then good on them…hehe…if I give help to someone, it’ll come around back when I need help with something. Ian Lineberger summed up what he does pretty well by giving an example of how he trained for one regatta in particular. He says: When I was training for the Masters in Ireland I sailed 9 major regattas in the 12 months leading up to the event. I remember practicing a few months before where I wasn’t able to get my legs tired after a 40 minute beat. That was a breakthrough for me, as I don’t really hike so well all the way around the course! I then took 30 days off right before flying over to heal and get my weight up to 190. No sailing, no running, no hiking bench, just sat on my butt. I really needed the extra weight as the food in Ireland was, well, hmm, that’s why the beer taste so good I guess. Nothing beats big regatta time, if you have to practice alone sail long beats and runs while working on straight legging upwind and S carving downwind. Get a training partner, I sailed with Tim Landt the whole year prior to the 2001 Master Worlds and it helped us both. I would be very careful not to overdo it. You can hurt your back, especially on a hiking bench. Been there, done that, don’t like it! If you can’t sail to train then I prefer swimming and biking to get in shape. But the reality is you need the T.I.T.B. (time in the boat). After training for that regatta which was the biggest master worlds ever (330 boats) I finished second in the 94 boat masters fleet.

Look at what these sailors have to say and compare your answers. They have all given you something to strive for if you are looking to improve your laser sailing. To learn more about what they are doing you can visit their websites. Andrew- Member of the 2007 US Sailing Team www.campbellsailing.com Mike- Member of the 2007 Canadian Sailing Team http://www.sailing.org/bio.asp?ID=CANML1 Kurt –Member of the 2007 US Sailing Team, Apprentice Master www.sailfit.com Anna- Member of the 2007 US Sailing Team www.annatunnicliffe.com Ian- Past president of the International Laser Class for 5 years and North American Laser class president for 10 years. Coach of Team4

Give these sailors some support they are all working hard to achieve their goals and dreams. They should be an inspiration to everyone.

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MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

ILCA of NA, 2812 Canon Street, San Diego, California USA 92106 619-222-0252, Fax 619-222-0528 admin@laser.org, www.laser.org

Name_______________________________________________________ Address_____________________________________________________ City ___________________State / Prov. _____Zip / postal code ________ Phone ____________________ E-mail____________________________ Sail # ______________DOB (month/day/year) _____________Sex ______ Boat sailed

______Laser

______Radial

______Laser 4.7

Want to pay by Credit Card? We accept Visa and MC:

Current 2007 Membership Fees All amounts are in US dollars. Canadian checks must be in US dollars. Regular - $40 for one year or $75 for 2 years Junior - $35 (Member may not turn 18 in 2007), or $65 for 2 years (Member may not turn 18 in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;08) Family, 1 year - $40 for the primary members and $25 for each additional member Family, 2 years - $75 for the primary members and $45 for each additional member Please provide family members names, DOB, boat type and sail number on an additional sheet of paper.

International - $50 (any member not living in the US or Canada), one year only Amount enclosed __________________US$

Name on card: _______________________________ CC #: Visa_____ MC ______ _______________________________ Exp. date:___________________ CC billing zip code: _____________

Please make checks payable to ILCA of NA. Thank you for joining the Laser Class. 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: ____

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

ILCA of NA, 2812 Canon Street, San Diego, California USA 92106 619-222-0252, Fax 619-222-0528 admin@laser.org, www.laser.org

______Laser

______Radial

______Laser 4.7 Want to pay by Credit Card?

International - $50 (any member not living in the US or Canada), one year only Amount enclosed __________________US$

We accept Visa and MC: Name on card: _______________________________ CC #: Visa_____ MC ______ _______________________________ Exp. date:___________________ CC billing zip code: _____________

SPRING 2007

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TO CLEAT OR NOT TO CLEAT? Accessories improve performance

Cage allows easy cleating at extreme angles.

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If a little extra support would make hiking more comfortable then these are the hikers to choose. The elasticized back has a wide covering band which can be pulled in and Velcro locked to give support. You can quickly adjust to suit the level of support you want and to customize the fit and feel around the waist and back.

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Neo Waist Lock Shorts

The award winning Keeper (patent pending) has been designed to overcome the problem of lines being cleated accidentally, as well as holding lightly-loaded lines in the jaws of a cleat. Full information on,

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SAILING TACTICS SIMULATOR: NEW! Create A Personal Race Area – Either your local area or future regatta site! Designate wind and current. Or, choose from 18 popular real-world racing areas! And more! Lots of tactical action in a 30-boat Laser fleet* or match racing. 1 or 2 players. Worldclass opponents. Precise boat performance. Sophisticated wind and current models require astute strategy. Many course choices, including downwind finishes and gates. Racing advice e-book. Coach. 2005-2008 Rule, Tactics, and Strategy Tutorials. Excellent pre-race tune-up! ADVANCED RACING SIMULATOR: NEW! Create A Personal Race Area – Either local or future regatta site! Designate wind and current. Or, choose from 12 popular real-world racing areas! And more! Precise boat performance and fine-tune controls of boat, sail and skipper position. Intense, realistic racing in a 20-boat Laser fleet* or match racing where boatspeed, boat handling and tactics count! Coach, tutorials, e-book. *24 other boat classes included for your racing fun!

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Sea-W004 Neoprene Hooded Parka

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OTHER PRODUCTS AVAILABLE • Breathable spray jackets & pants • Lycra shorts & pants • Boat covers • Clew Straps

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________________________________________ www.Laser.org

VISIT WEBSITE FOR STOCKLIST www.sailequipment.com.au

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KITTY HAWK

The Stainless Steel Kitty Hawk is truly beautiful. Always staying shiny never rusts or oxidizes as all other materials do. At 98 lbs, it’s the lightest available by far and you will appreciate this when using your Kitty Hawk as a launching dolly. When you get to the regatta you save time and are the quickest from road to water by simply disattaching from your vehicle and start rigging. When the regatta is over you are the quickest from the water to road. Even quicker by placing your spars on Spar Partners® and securing them with super shock cords. STANDARD FEATURES Lightest Weight • Welded Construction • Fewer Parts • Fewer Fasteners Pivot Bow Support • Molded Polymer at Boat Contact Points Stainless Steel Axle • Galvanized Rims

SPAR PARTNERS® Spar Partners® carry your spars on the Laser® deck. They are the quickest on/off to get you on the water and on the road fast. Made from durable foam rubber. Spars fasten on with shock cords. Your deck cover fits over your spars. Now the new Spar Partners® are available that fit over the cam cleat system on the forcedeck for the outstanding new cunningham / outhaul performance upgrade. And, we also have super shock cords available with Spar Partners®

PRICES Kitty Hawk 1, Stainless Steel

$755

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$650

Spar Partners® (pair)

$ 27

Spar Partners® (pair for cunn/ohaul upgrade)

$ 28

Spar Partners packed with a pair of supper shock cords ®

add $6.00

NEW Spar Partners (fits Thule or Yakima roof rack)

$ 28

Two-Boat Adapter (you glue together)

$160

(The TWO-BOAT ADAPTER lets you carry two Lasers ® on one trailer. There is room for seven spars (extra upper mast section) between the two boats.)

From your local dealer or from the manufacturer

Nautical America 604C4 Foxcroft Terrace • Statesville, NC 28677 (704) 878-6823 Spar Partners® is a registered trademark of Kenneth N. Hopkins. Laser® is a registered trademark of Vanguard Sailboats

SPRING 2007

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PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE

PAID 2812 Canon Street, San Diego, CA 92106

We’re here to make sure you have

fun.

When it all comes together, there’s nothing like it. But when somethings. not right, it can be a drag. For the past 15 years, Tackle Shack has been the South’s major supporter and dealer for Laser Class Sailing. We’re here to make sure you get what you need, when you need it - at the best price. New & Used Lasers *Expert Service* Parts & Accessories*Wetsuits, Dry suits & Wet wear *PFD’s *Thule Car Racks*Custom Trailers* Hard to find items...everything for the Laser Sailor. If we don’t have it you don’t need it! We charter Laser’s for all Florida events. call us at 727-546-5080 or 1-800537-6099 or stop by the store at 7801 66th Street N., Pinellas Park, FL 33781 Plus check out our web page www.tshack.com

San Dimas, CA Permit No. 410