The Laser Sailor Spring 2008 by Tracy Usher

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

SPRING 2008

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The MOJO Bag comes free with the “Colie Racing” Performance package – NOT the Dobro guitar (that stays with Dev down in the Toms River Delta).

Colie Deluxe covers Colie covers are the originals – the highest quality, sharpest looking, best fitting covers made for the Laser® worldwide! All our designs were born in Pt. Pleasant, NJ with input from sailors like you. Our covers fit right, are easy to use, last forever (Top Gun™ & Tenara®) and make you and your boat look sharp! Every Colie product is personalized with your name or sail number! ■ Same Day Shipping ■ Absolute Top Quality

S T I T C H E D

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We sweat the details so our customers don’t have to… As a supplier and outfitter of small sailboats our attention to detail is unprecedented. At Colie Sails Pro Shop we strive daily to source out the very best stuff for your sailing and to also determine that which is inferior. If you are unsure of exactly what gear, clothing, parts or performance upgrades are right for you – PLEASE call and discuss your needs with Dev, Steph or Marc. The favorite part of our business is helping Laser sailors and their families!

Laser/Radial/4.7 MOJO, Race & XD models are available fully upgraded “Colie Style”.

Call or email us to GET YOUR MOJO WORKIN’ 1649 Bay Avenue, Point Pleasant, New Jersey 08742 Same Day Shipping on nearly all of our products including numbered sails and stenciled covers! E S T A B L I S H E D

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version 2.0 released softerr, more flexible softer, base material

tighter radius bend, no friction with the vane

strongerr, box stronger, stitched strap stronger nger vane, with material mate erial added at axis bolder, bolderr, better looking lookin ng graphic

spare and repl replacement lacement parts available ava vailable through local cal dealers Made in U USA Patented d

www.c-vane.com ww ww w.c-vane.co .c-vane.com om

WORLD D CHAMP CHAMPION PION CO COACHING OA OACHING G S Equipment Sail Equ pment Australia and C-vane Sailing ar are e pleased to present prese ent the opportunity to learn learn ffrom fr om the e world’s wo orld’s best, t, develop d op new techniques, and maximize your our sailing potential. Let us share shar e our our world-class w world -cla ass knowledge know nowledge with you.

SERVICES SER VIC VICES A AVAILABLE VAILABLE AILAB LABLE •P Private vate & team coaching oaching •C Coaching Coa ach hin ng at a local, loca al, national and inter international nation nal events • Clinics and d training t ning camps • Boat B Boatt speed pe development d velopment camps • Strength S ren Str ngtth and nd conditioning onditioning training • Program Program og am development dev lopment deve All tra A training ain nin ng and an coa coaching aching sessions ar are e prepared prepared and d targeted exclusively for age, a age e, skill, sk killl, and a d experience expe erience levels. Do n not ott mis miss out o on this opportunity for top-level instruction ction for you or your team. Register Registe Reg R giste er your you ur interest interest e with Brendan Brendan or Ryan Ryan now to secure sec cure dates during the coming sseason as n or to o lear learn n more more about the services offered. offfered.

BRENDAN CASEY

RYAN R YAN ERIC MINTH TH

HAYDEN HA AYDEN COWIE E

• 2 times Laser Radial World Champion • 5 times Australian Laser and Finn National Champion • 2006 North American Laser Champion

• Laser Radial adial World World Champion Champ ampion on Coach, C 2006 20006 • US Sailing Team T am – Laser Laser, er,r, 2005 • Two-time wo-time NA Grand Prixx Radial Champion Champion

• FFive ive years sailing specific speccific strength and conditioning coaching • FFormer ormer US Army Master er Fitness Fitness Trainer, Trainer,, Medic, & OR Tech Tech • FFormer ormer two division Kickboxing ckboxing W World orld Champion

Brendan +61417604648 Skype kype - br brendan312353 e dan31 353 3 or ema email ail br brendancasey@hotmail.com rendancasey@hotmail.com endancasey@hotma ail.com or Ryan 212 292 7245 5S Skype ype - rryanericminth anericminth nth or email em mail ryan@c-vane.com SPRING 2008

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

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

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

Editors

Sherri Campbell & Jerelyn Biehl ILCA-NA

Officers

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

Ben Richardson Treasurer Phone: (978) 283-6983 benjaminrichardson@postharvard.edu Lauralee Symes Secretary 3576 SW Mt. Adams Drive Portland, OR 97239 Phone: (503) 274-2818 llsymes@comcast.net

Tommy Wharton At Large 705 King Street West, Unit 1514 Toronto, ON M5V 2W8 Canada Phone: 647-296-6544 twharton@sailing.ca

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

www.Laser.org

S P R I N G

2 0 0 8

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

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

Membership Stats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 From the Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Technical Tips: Finally Beating the Final Beat . . . . . . .12

2008 Event Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

ILCA Prototype Sail Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

US Youth World Qualifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Laser World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .center Fleet Profiles - Lake Lanier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Regatta Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-30 Midwinters East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

King of the Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Master Midwinters East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

District Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Membership Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Sailing Fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Cover photo: Lake sailing at itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best > Lake Lanier, Georgia at a low tide... photo by Martine Zurinskas.

BRITISH COLUMBIA

ALBERTA

SASKATCHEWAN

WASHINGTON

OREGON

HAWAII

CALIFORNIA

IDAHO

WYOMING

NORTH DAKOTA

UTAH

WISCONSIN

SOUTH DAKOTA

ARIZONA

COLORADO

NEW MEXICO

KANSAS

IOWA

ILLINOIS

OKLAHOMA TEXAS

QUEBEC

ONTARIO

MISSOURI ARKANSAS

LOUISIANA

INDIANA

OHIO

KENTUCKY TENNESSEE

14 ALABAMA MISSISSIPPI

PENNSYLVANIA WEST VIRGINIA

7 7

VERMONT

NEW 9 YORK

MAINE

MICHIGAN

NEW BRUNSWICK

MINNESOTA

NEBRASKA

NEVADA

MONTANA

MANITOBA

NOVA SCOTIA

NEW HAMPSHIRE

MASSACHUSETTS

RHODE ISLAND CONNECTICUT

NEW JERSEY

DELAWARE

MARYLAND

VIRGINIA

NORTH CAROLINA

SOUTH CAROLINA

GEORGIA

PUERTO RICO AND THE CARIBBEAN

FLORIDA

District 1

District 9

District 2

District 10

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

District 3

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

District 4

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

District 5

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

District 6

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

District 7

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

District 8

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

District 18

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

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

Eric Reitinger er4599@gmail.com New Jersey

Sean Fidler Michigan smfidler@gmail.com

District 11

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

District 12

Glenn Walker Doug Sherwood: LaserDistric12@gmail.com Wrightsville Beach, NC www.d12.laserforum.org

District 13

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

District 19 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

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

District 23

District 14

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

District 15

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

Cal Herman, 7038 Catina St New Orleans, LA 70124, 504-282-1770 callender.herman@wachoviasec.com Renee Ruais 512-266-7088 RMRuais@austin.rr.com www.cerebus.winsite.com/Laser/districts/d15/

District 16

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

District 17

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

District 24 District 25

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

District 26

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

SPRING 2008

www.Laser.org

Reports

President’s Notes TRACY USHER

It’s been a busier than normal winter this year with the Laser Senior and Master Worlds in Australia at the end of February and the Radial Worlds in New Zealand in March. The Senior Worlds were interesting to watch on the internet as it seemed a classic “it’s never like this” type of regatta. Still, with a full range of conditions, it was every bit the tough sailing you expect of a Laser Senior World Championship. North America had 15 sailors participating (9 Canadian and 6 US) and at the end Brad Funk, sailing an excellent series and showing top speed in both light and heavy wind conditions, finished ninth overall! Congratulations to Brad for an excellent finish!

As I write this the Radial Women’s Worlds has just been completed and was another tough event with the full range of conditions. Just to show how competitive this fleet is, the entire set of top ten sailors was completely shuffled in the last race, in particular the series leader who looked to have a commanding lead ending second overall! North America sent 11 sailors to this event (8 Canadian and 3 US) and congratulations go to Anna Tunnicliffe who sailed solidly, overcoming a few bumps in the road, to end sixth overall.

Both the Laser Senior and Radial Women’s Worlds served as the final selection trials for the Canadian Olympic Team (recall that the US Trials were last Fall in Newport, RI). His Canadian compatriots didn’t make it easy for him (e.g. up-andcomer Abe Torchinksy) didn’t make it easy for him, but in the end Mike Leigh put it together to earn the right to represent Canada this Summer in Qingdao. On the women’s side, Lisa Ross finished the Radial Worlds as the top Canadian to also earn a ticket to China. In the end North America has four top representatives to cheer on this summer and it should be fun to “watch” the Olympics!

I was fortunate enough to participate in the Master Worlds in Australia and, once again, it was well worth the time and effort (and cost!) to get down there. The Master’s Worlds have become so popular that in

Terrigal, as in Roses, it was necessary to cap entries at 370 making this possibly the second largest Laser Class championship ever held. While the event began with the remnants of the weather that had plagued the Senior Worlds by the end conditions had returned to “normal” and we had a great series. Even with the entry cap North America sent a large contingent of 33 sailors (9 Canadian and 24 US) to the event. Congratulations go to: James Liebl – 1st Radial Apprentice (his first ever Master Worlds!), Andy Roy – 4th Standard Master, Al Clark – 4th Radial Master and, of course, Peter Seidenberg who, in his 25th Master Worlds, once again completely dominated the Great Grand Master Division, winning 7 of 9 races! When I grow up I want to be just like him!

During its meeting in Terrigal, between the Laser Senior and Master Worlds, the ILCA World Council confirmed the 2009 Laser Senior and Master Worlds for St Margaret’s Bay in Nova Scotia, with likely dates to be the last half of August into early September. As most will recall, SMSC hosted a great 2006 North American Championship, and will also host the 2008 Canadian Nationals, and have lots of experience running other major events. Watch for more information by this summer.

Another item discussed by the World Council was the introduction of a new entry system to ALL of ILCA’s Championship events - Laser, Radial, 4.7 and, most importantly, Master’s too. In a nutshell, all championships will now have a “sign up” period where sailors who wish to participate in a given event will register with the ILCA office. At the end of the registration period the ILCA office will then submit the list of registered sailors from the North American region to the ILCA-NA office where the list of sailors will be “ranked” and then returned to ILCA office. If a regional quota applies to that event (e.g. the Laser Senior worlds or, most likely, the 2009 Master Worlds since it’s in our region), then the ILCA office will use the ranked list we provide to select the sailors who are then allowed to register for the event. In practice this means no real change to sailors wish-

ing to sail in the Laser Senior or Radial Women’s Worlds as we will continue to use the qualification systems that have always been in place. It does require some sort of system to be put in place for the other events, watch the ILCA-NA website for information on these over the next few months.

I’m writing this on the first day of Spring and here in San Francisco there is brilliant sunshine outside and a nice seabreeze has already filled in… just like summer! We’ve already had our first event of the year here and are definitely gearing up for the big Summer of Sailing with a host of events strung together here on the West Coast starting with the Laser/Radial/4.7 North Americans in San Francisco, followed by a revival of the Laser Slalom, then the Laser/Radial/4.7 Pacific Coast Championship in beautiful Monterey, then with the Laser/Radial/4.7 US Championship in warm and sunny Long Beach. And, as a bonus for being old, you can end it all with the Master’s North American Championship in the Columbia River Gorge right after the US Championships! Wow, I think my muscles are already sore! Even if you can’t make it out to the West Coast this year there are still going to be lots of great Laser sailing events near you. Be sure to check the calendar at www.laser.org to find an event near you! See you on the water!

SPRING 2008

Age Categories: • 283 Juniors (not 18 in 2008) • 930 Masters (35+)

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

ILCA-NA Membership

1098 227 168 66 4 1 1564

As of March 20, 2008

Gender Categories: • 1361 Male • 196 Female • 7 “undisclosed”

Complimentary Honorary New Renewals Yacht Club

67 6 244 1247 0

Total

1564

Boat Categories: • 352 Radial • 34 4.7 • 1128 Full Rig District 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

Members 17 23 112 6 30 99 196 86 29 97 114 80 149 16 46 13 11 38 47 76 32 2 26 87 107 3

Laser E-Mall

Have you tried out the new Laser eMall? Now you can support the Laser Class of North America every time you shop online. Go to www.laser.org and click on the Laser eMall button. From there choose your online store. When you make your purchase, a percentage of your purchase total goes to the class association at no cost to you. Every time you make a purchase from a store through the eMall, the class gets a contribution from the retailer. You get the same products for the same price through the eMall, but eMall allows you to support the ILCA-NA, at no extra cost to you. www.Laser.org

From the Builder BY NED JONES

Vanguard Sailboats is now LaserPerformance

It is now complete and official. LaserPerformance is the Laser builder for North America. Production will continue in our Portsmouth Rhode Island facility, with the bulk of the components being sourced elsewhere. LaserPerformance NA, as we are referred to, is part of a global concern with offices in the UK, Middle East, Asia and Australia. With the merging of Performance Sailcraft Europe and Vanguard Sailboats, LaserPerformance becomes the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest manufacturer and distributor of small sailboats.

The Laser, Radial and 4.7 that you purchase in North America will see some minor changes. The product offering in NA will mirror what is offered in the UK, Europe and most of Asia. The most significant changes are with the optional blocks, cleats and tiller, lines and hiking strap. The final product offering will be an upgrade and improvement over the Vanguard models previously offered. A huge amount of effort is being expended to increase the overall quality of the boats and equipment. This includes hull, spars, tillers, blades and rigging. LP has more control over the worldwide vendors and supply chain and we are confident this will translate to improved product quality.

Another area of the new organization where you will see improvement is the people and information side of the business. We have launched a brand new global web site www.laserperformance.com, and it will be an enhanced source for new product information, news and updates. The website is backed up by new customer service initiatives to better serve the end user and the LaserPerformance dealer. The net result will be an improved Laser product experience. While there will be growing pains for the dealers, LaserPerformance and you the customer, we are excited and motivated to make our new company the best source for the Laser lifestyle.

SPRING 2008

KITTY HAWK

BRENDAN CASEY INTRODUCES

NEW SEA PRODUCTS 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.

HIKING PANTS

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.

STANDARD FEATURES Lightest Weight • Welded Construction • Fewer Parts • Fewer Fasteners

Sea-HP005

Pivot Bow Support • Molded Polymer at Boat Contact Points

Neo Waist Lock Shorts

Stainless Steel Axle • Galvanized Rims

Sea-HP006 Airprene ¾ Waist Lock Pants

Sea-HP007

Sea-HP006

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.

Winter full length pants water repellent outer, metalite core, thermospan inner.

Sea-FW003

SPAR PARTNERS®

FOOT WEAR

New design has extended rubber outer to stop wear to side of boot

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®

Sea-FW003 Regatta Boot

PRICES $795

Kitty Hawk 1, Galvanized

$675

Spar Partners® (pair)

$ 28

Spar Partners® (pair for cunn/ohaul upgrade)

$ 29

Water repellent inside and out, generous cut and long length. Wear in the boat park, sailing out to the course or between races.

Sea-W004 Neoprene Hooded Parka

add $6.00

NEW Spar Partners ® (fits Thule or Yakima roof rack)

$ 29

Two-Boat Adapter (you glue together)

$180

(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.)

ULTRA WARM

Neoprene outer, metalite core, thermospan inner.

Sea-W003 Ultra Warm Top There is a sailing top to suit all weather conditions.

Sea-W003

Spar Partners® packed with a pair of supper shock cords

HOODED PARKA Sea-W004

Kitty Hawk 1, Stainless Steel

OTHER PRODUCTS AVAILABLE 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

www.Laser.org

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

VISIT WEBSITE FOR STOCKLIST www.sailequipment.com.au 11

Technical Tips

BY GAVIN O’HARE

INTRODUCTION Final beat strategy is important to anyone who intends to maintain or better their position on the final leg of the race course. It’s importance is obvious, but how often do racers set aside time to research the uses of final beat tactics. No matter what your position in a race, many options are available for you to manipulate a better finish. Strategy which is discussed here can be used for all upwind legs, not just the final beat. Descritpions of common final beat scenarios provide obvious and excellent examples to portray the common mistakes and trends discovered after observing many final beats. The enlightenment found in the following descriptive scenarios will help racers of all calibers of talent to understand what makes a successful final beat.

BUILDING A BEAT -The Tools Before the various positions and their respective trends are discussed, it is necessary to be aware of the many options about which a racer may ‘build a beat’. To start with the beginning of our interest, the leeward mark rounding must be understood. It is of vital importance to realize the advantages of a good leeward mark rounding. By executing a proper mark rounding, you set yourself up with many options; you will be able to stay on that tack (if desired) and maintain a controlling position. On the other hand, if you have made a poor rounding, you will fall off too leeward, placing your boat in the bad airof boats directly ahead, forcing you to tack out and clear your air. Even worse, if you ride in bad air too long, you will sag enough to leeward so that you may be pinned on that tack by a boat behind who has made a better rounding and now rides up on your stern weather quarter. Obviously, a good leeward mark rounding is necessary to commence a successful final beat. Now that we can assume a good leeward mark rounding has been made, lets consider some options to enhance the success of our final beat. If the boat ahead of you on the same tack is waiting for you to tack first, you could get him off your air by initiating a fake 12

FINALLY BEATING THE FINAL BEAT -Understanding the Final Beat... Strategy for Success-

tack and then resuming your course of the original tack. Another method to clear your air from opponents next to your is to try two consecutive tacks, the double tack . Usually, the opponent ahead who follows your first tack will think he is wasting tacks by attempting another, leaving you clear and uncovered going off on your original tack. A conservative move to consider when there is a gap between you and the boats behind is to split the difference of your lead. This is accomplished by rounding the leeward mark, continuing on that tack for half of your lead, tacking and sailing the other half of your lead, finishing up with one more tack. The result of your efforts is that your have placed your boat directly upwind of your closest opponent, leaving no potential for him to break out of your cover and beat you with an advantageous shift. This brings us to the next concept, covering. Basically, if you want your opponent to sail the other tack, such as a header wind shift or a longer distance of race course, you can tack directly on his wind , making him feel a strong desire to tack out and clear his air. On the other hand, you may want to insure that no one is going to beat you with a random wind shift from another part of the course. If this is a concern, you may want to place a loose cover on the competition.this is done by not sitting directly on anyone’s air yet not letting them escape from your effective zone coverage. In doing this, you make sure they won’t receive a more beneficial shift than you will, but you are not disturbing their wind. The result is a herding effect to bring the competition to where you want them. By closely ducking a boat that is on starboard, you give him little chance to tack on top of you

without placing himself in a position of high potential to be pinched off rather quickly. The result is that the clean duck deters the opponent from covering you out to the right. The next time you converge, assuming no shifts have altered your distances upwind and boat speeds are comparable, you will be coming back on starboard and he on port; but this time, he will have to either leebow or duck you! This is rather convenient when considering you have called the correct layline to the pin end of the line. If the opponent leebows you, he won’t lay the line. If he ducks you, he will sail the longer distance, either way, you beat him. As stated, this ‘starboard tack advantage’ is a useful tool when approaching laylines to both the finish line or a weather mark. Also to be noted is the option to tack on top of the opponent if he chooses to duck you. Even though he may have a clean duck on you, you will be able to hold off his pinching you off long enough to pin him outside a layline to either a finish line or a weather mark. When considering the finish line itself, you should always finish at the favored end . In fact, you should always finish at an end, regardless. The advantage of this is that you can better judge when to shoot the line in close finishes. When you are near an end, you really know where the line is. To shoot head to wind and gain that little bit of extra ground, finishing at the favored end will clearly gain you boats

SPRING 2008

in close finishes. Shooting the line in the middle will lose you boats as a result of incorrect judgment of where the line is.

FINAL BEAT STRATEGY Now that the tooIs to build a beat have been described, lets research an observable pattern that occurs regularly on final beats and try to understand the reasons for such patterns so that we may manipulate final beat situations to better our positions.

What Usually Happens... Most sailors and racers do not possess a complete appreciation for the final beat. Many collegiate racers rely on simple rules they learned from their junior sailing programs. Rules such as, cover second when in first, and tack out when in bad air after a leeward mark rounding. The result is that many racers fall into a predetermined order of events as they sail their way up the last leg of the race course. Let’s consider first, second, and third places. After the leeward mark, all three are waiting to see who tacks out. Second tacks out and first covers him. Third wants clear air so he keeps going. Second will either continue on until layline, for fear of coming back in first’s bad air, or get in a tacking duel with first. Either way, third has many things going for him: he may be sailing the lift, while second and first are riding the header, he makes less tacks, sails in clean air, and has the starboard tack advantage. So what usually happens is that third ends up second or even first at the finish. This observation illuminates many considerations. Considerations (1) To better your position, you must recognize a potential pattern and be aggressive to make moves that will capitalize on others lack of strategy or reliance upon an inferior knowledge of the rules. (11) To maintain your position, you must control boats behind you by understanding what moves they will probably make. (111)Everyone starts in the order they round the leeward mark. Boats in front have first choice and most options. You gamble by doing the different thing. Tacking out is the aggressive move, you usually initiate the domino effect following you out to the left. * For larger gains, you need to separate from other boats. You have high www.Laser.org

potential for gain if first tacks out and you keep going. You have low potential for gain if you go with the boat behind who tacks out. Are you in a lift or a header? Stay in phase! Which side of the course is favored? (ie. current or breeze) (IV) You can manipulate other boats to go the wrong way By tacking on their breeze, spurring them to tack. Using final beat tools to create a situation where you are not being covered (ie fake tack or double tack). * By setting up in a way that herds the competition behind by establishing a loose cover. * Manipulation is achieved by your actions to induce a situation, an understanding of what they should do in response, and proper use of the racing rules. (V) You can play your final beat conservative or aggressive!

FINAL BEAT SCENARIOS When in First... If you have a lead, split the difference. Do the right thing, don’t get caught up in a tacking duel. Stay in phase and place a hard cover if you want the opponent to go the other way, a loose cover if you want him to follow you. If he tacks into a lift, go with him. If you round in a large header, you should be the first to tack out. Remember, when second tacks out, he deters boats behind from tacking out to the left as they would be sailing in his bad air. When in Second.. Beware of the ‘second place dilemma’, described in What Usually Happens. Understand that if first places a solid cover on you and makes all the right moves, the best you can hope for is to maintain second place at the finish. Don’t set up so first can have a good cover on you. Make a good leeward mark rounding. No matter what, stay in phase. If you do the aggressive move and tack out onto a lift and first doesn’t follow ... G re at! Ride the lift then when the header

comes, tack out and ride the port lift. Stay in phase. If first is waiting for you to tack (he is watching you), try a fake tack to get him to tack, leaving you in clear air going the right way. If left is favored, and third tacks out, tack to cover. First will probably tack to cover both of you. Now, forget about first to weather and concentrate on going fast and rolling boats to leeward. If third tacks back and right looks favored, go back with him to cover. Expect first to cover you. Nevertheless, stay in phase. When in second and sailing out to the left on starboard tack but you want to go back to the right, don’t keep going until you can cross first. It may never happen before you get to the layline to the finish. Instead, get to a position where you can cleanly and closely duck first so that he won’t be able to tack on you (the clean duck as described in final beat tools). Then continue on until the pin end layline where you tack, or just short of it to insure that you finish but if he lee bows you, he wont lay the finish (starboard tack advantage). When in third.. The best thing that can happen is for the boat ahead of you to tack out. With a gap behind, a double tack could initiate the domino effect with out letting boats behind get out of your zone coverage. Remember, if first and second tack out and go left, boats behind you are deterred from going left until they have a lane. In this position, you have no loss to boats behind and high gain potential for boats in front. Keep going until you have made your gain; once you have clear air and a lane,

FINALLY BEATING THE FINAL BEAT -- continued come back with the Starboard tack advantage. The old ‘cross when you can’ rule is usually one to stand by. Hopefully, first and second have gone the wrong way, tacked with each other too much, and now converge passing behind you.

When... behind No matter what, stay in phase! Set up for maximum gains from your situation. Get a lane and take it. Try to get the boat ahead to tack out by verbally hailing to say he can cross you if he wants. If the domino effect starts from behind, try a double tack to get boats ahead to continue the effect and tack out, following the the dominoes, while you continue to the right in clean air with a lane. If you follow the domino effect and tack out with the rest of the boats, you must go fast forward, rolling boats to leeward. When you want to go back to the right, look for clean duck situations to deter boats from tacking right on your air.

CONCLUDING REMARKS Final beat strategy includes a fine appreciation for the tools to build a tactically sound beat. Tactics include playing the shifts and manipulating the competitors as described above. Of course the tactics and strategy described in these paragraphs are merely guidelines and may be broken when significant factors of wind shifts and current come into play. What is important is to know your potential for gains. Good policy doesn’t involve gambling with bad odds. It may involve placing yourself in positions on the race course with regards to expected wind shifts where you will have more leverage. In any race, the final beat is a significant component, one which a keen understanding of tools and strategy can enhance a competitors position consistently. Comprehension of scenarios on paper will lead to clairvoyance in complex situations on the water.

SPRING 2008

Regatta

Laser

World Championship

Terrigal, Australia

NA Championship

San Francisco, CA St. Francis Yacht Club July 24-27

ISAF Grade 1

40 GP pts. ISAF Grade 1

North American

Women’s Radial Champs ISAF Grade 1

Canadian Championships

30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 2

US Championships 30 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 2

CORK

30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 1

February 4-13

na St. Margaret’s Bay Nova Scotia July 18-20

2008 Schedule

Radial

Auckland, New Zealand Women’s March 15-20 Men & Youth March 24-29

San Francisco, CA St. Francis Yacht Club July 24-27 Ft. Lauderdale, FL www.lyc.org February 14-17 St. Margaret’s Bay Nova Scotia July 18-20

Long Beach, CA Alamitos Bay YC August 8-10

www.cork.org

Kingston, ON

August 16-20

Kingston, ON

August 16-20

Laser 4.7

Trogir, Croatia August 22-29

San Francisco, CA St.FrancisYachtClub July 24-27 na

Long Beach, CA Alamitos Bay YC August 8-10 Kingston, ON

Clearwater, FL

Midwinters West

San Diego, CA Mission Bay YC March 28-30

www.ussailing.org/olympics

Brant Beach, NJ Brant Beach YC July 12-13

Monterey Peninsula YC

Gulf Coast Championships

Ft. Myers, FL

No Coast Championships

April 19-20

Atlanta, CA Lake Lanier YC October 11-12

April 19-20

Atlanta, CA Lake Lanier YC October 11-12

April 19-20

Atlanta, CA Lake Lanier YC October 11-12

D20

30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 1

30 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 2

Rolex Miami OCR ISAF Grade 1

Atlantic Coast Championships

25 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 2

Pacific Coast Championships

25 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 2

25 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 3

Great Lakes Championships

25 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 3

www.Laser.org

Feb 21-24

Miami, FL

Jan 27-Feb 2

Monterey, CA August 1-3

Feb 21-24

Miami, FL

Jan 27-Feb 2

Monterey, CA August 1-3

February 17-23

New Bedford, MA

June 20-22

www.cork.org

August 16-20

Clearwater, FL

www.clwyc.org

Terrigal, Australia

Midwinters East

www.clwyc.org

Masters

www.clwyc.org

Feb 21-24

Melbourne, FL www.clwyc.org

Feb 15-17

Monterey, CA August 1-3

ILCA Prototype Sail Testing

BY TRACY USHER

Over the course of the past year, the ILCA has had several discussions with the builders over the possibility of improving the current standard sail. At a meeting of the ILCA Technical and Measurement Committee in Roses at the end of September 2007, a “challenge” was issued to the builders to produce a prototype of a new sail which would be of better quality and more durable than the current production sails, with no significant change in its performance, and which would not substantially increase the retail cost to the sailors. Takao Otani, from Performance Sailcraft – Japan, and a member of the ILCA Technical Committee, followed this up with representatives from Hyde Sails during last Fall’s ISAF meetings.

The result is the sail in the pictures associated with this article. The sailmaker chose to stay with Dacron for the material (though this sail has a nice yarn tempered cloth) to prevent long term supply issues that might arise from using a more exotic material. However, the cut changes significantly, with the sail now sporting a radial head and clew with a long vertical panel along the luff. Further lifetime enhancing improvements include significantly beefing up the corner patches, adding patches to the batten pocket endpoints, realigning the battens in the sail, etc. Two other nice features: nice draft stripes and a huge new window which removes nearly all of the blind spots found in the current producphoto above: Side view of prototype sail tion sails.

As can be seen in the pictures, the sail sets up well on the standard Laser rig, with the draft centering nicely without the need to use too much cunningham (as with the standard production sails). Importantly, gone also are the stress wrinkles that form when two-blocking upwind, as well as the leech flutter between the battens. In fact, the only noticeable “bad thing” left over is the wrinkle associated with the mast joint!

In order to better illustrate some of the improvements of the prototype sail, included is a picture of a standard production sail taken close in time and location to those of the prototype sail. In the production sail its possible to clearly see the stress wrinkles and leech flutter described above, as well as the amount of cunningham necessary to get the draft right. The overlay picture tries to make it even easier to compare the two and, as well, contrast the openness of the leech of the prototype sail.

During the first test sail in Terrigal, just before the start of the Master Worlds, there was not time to do any careful speed testing. However, it was possible to line up with a few of the other masters sailors out practicing and, happily, verify that the sail, in 12-15 knots of wind, does not appear to be significantly faster or slower than the current production sail. This was in upwind sailing, there was no chance to try really compare offwind performance.

The sail is currently in California where it is hoped to try to log some hours of sailing in some good breeze to verify durability and get more opportunities to do speed comparisons (up and downwind). After a few months here it is planned to send to Europe in time for some of the big European events. photo right: Prototype sail from astern

SPRING 2008

Photo left: Standard production sail

Photo right:

Prototype sail from astern

Photo right:

Side by side comparison/overlay.

www.Laser.org

Book Review

RYA Laser Handbook

author Paul Goodison

Not often do I shamelessly endorse a product, However I feel obligated to share the latest. The RYA Laser Handbook written by Paul Goodison is easily the best book to date on Laser sailing. I just read my copy, hot of the press. The progression photos for the ‘basic’ and ‘racing’ maneuvers are very clear. It is obvious it was not a “one afternoon with a friends camera venture”. The pictures are excellent quality and camera angles are of Paul Goodison sailing the boat very well. The Downwind sailing, specifically downwind in heavy air, is actually in very heavy air. Also a “Sail Setting Matrix”- an excellent guide for the sail controls plus Dagger board, body position, trim and a Goodie tips section. My favorite, “how to take a tow”. Goodison has been 1 of the top laser sailors for a few years now, 4th at the Olympics and at 2 World Championships but also 2 time European Champion. His reputation has always been flawless boat handling, but he is also a knows his way on the race course. Amazon also has the book. Mark Lammens

US SAILING ISAF Youth World Qualifier

Long Beach, Calif. (Jan. 22, 2008) For the young sailors competing in the US SAILING ISAF Youth World Qualifier and U.S. Youth Multihull Championship over the long holiday weekend, it was three days filled with exciting races and a lot at stake: a chance to represent the USA at the 2008 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Denmark and, for the multihull sailors, a national championship title as well as a chance to compete in the SL-16 World Championship in France. As a day of rainbows, rain squalls and sailing through a full range of emotions in chilly 55-degree breeze ground down to dusk on the last day of racing on Monday. Along with Laser winner Luke Lawrence (Palm City, Fla.), Laser Radial winner Anne Haeger (Lake Forest, Ill.), and girls 29er winners Emily Dellenbaugh (Eaton, Conn.) and crew Morgane Renoir (San Diego, Calif.), Andrew Mason and Chris Segerblom will represent the U.S. in the ISAF Youth Worlds in Denmark in July. Ryan and Henken in the 29er fleet related to that. “It was the toughest regatta I’ve ever sailed,” Ryan said. “We were just about dead even.” Henken said, “We just came from the 29er Worlds in Australia where we were practicing for this.”

Also qualifying for the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship is RS:X Boys’ sailor Cody Shevitz of Santa Barbara, Calif. Throughout the three-day regatta, there were no onwater protests requiring post-race hearings. For complete results, photos and more information on the US SAILING ISAF Youth World Championship and U.S. Youth Multihull Championship, please visit www.abyc.org.

The winners: SL-16 CATAMARAN (10 boats): Andrew Mason/Chris Segerblom, Corona del Mar, Calif. 2-1-2-2-(7)-2-1-1-3-1, 15 points . LASER (23 boats): Luke Lawrence, Palm City, Fla., (9)-1-5-2-1-1-2-7-5, 24. LASER RADIAL (9 boats): Anne Haeger, Lake Forest, Ill., (3)-1-2-2-1-1-1-2-2, 12. 29ERS (16 boats): Judge Ryan/Hans Henken, San Diego, Calif., (4)-1-3-2-3-2-2-1-3-1, 18.) GIRLS 29ER: Emily Dellenbaugh/Morgane Renoir, Easton, Conn./San Diego, Calif., 2-3-1-(7)-1-3-4-4-24, 24.

SPRING 2008

EVAN LEWIS

Laser Midwinters East

The 2008 Laser Midwinter’s East Championships proved to be another successful regatta hosted by the Clearwater Yacht Club. Although the total number of sailors was less than last year, the quality of racing was still high. The most notable decrease was seen in the Laser fleet since many North American sailors had just finished the World Championships in Terrigal. The first day of racing brought moderate easterlies off of Clearwater Beach. Racing close to shore I’m sure provided beachgoers great entertainment while it forced racers to pay attention to the shifts and puffs coming off the land. The first upwinds of race one and two had the leading group come out of the left side while the second upwind the right side was favoured. Towards the end of the day the sun began to poke out and gradually the sea breeze filled in halfway up the first beat catching some sailors off guard. As the race progressed the breeze continued to build with clearing skies.

Day two served up a healthy dose of strong breeze from the south. As the fleet sailed out to the course, the wind slowly built along with the waves. Race one began in 15tks, which built slightly over the day and three to four foot waves. The left side of the course held a consistent advantage throughout the day and nice ocean waves made for fast downwinds. After three long races, a tired group of sailors make their way in through the pass trying to rehydrate and refuel for another forecasted day of strong winds.

The forecast for wind held true on day three, but with the west wind came a long line of thunderstorms. The Race Committee wisely held sailors on shore as they kept close watch on the radar. After several single hour postponements, torrential rains and a large thunder and lightning display, racing was abandoned for the day with the start time for the final day of racing pushed to 10am.

On the final day of racing a weak cold front passed over the Clearwater area bringing light northerly winds. After a postponement on shore the fleet moved out to the course area to wait as the Race Committee waited for the breeze to stabilize enough to set a course. The 4.7 fleet managed to complete a race in very light

www.Laser.org

conditions. Finally the wind seemed stable enough to start the Laser fleet. However, after the first windward mark racing was abandoned for the day as the wind completely evaporated. Congratulations to Raul Aguayo (Laser), Paige Railey (Radial) and Cam Hall (4.7), winners in their respective

fleets. The Race Committee also deserves recognition for all the work they did through strong and light winds.

Best of luck to all the North American Radial sailors headed to New Zealand!

THE LASER TRAILER

LIKE NO OTHER

Canfield, OH • Toll Free: 1-800-282-5042 www.trailex.com

ILCA-NA Fleet Review

Lake Lanier Sailing Club

Lake Lanier, North East of Atlanta, Georgia District 17 www.llsc.com Fleet Captain: Robert Burke

Sailing Venue

Nestled in the foothills of the Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains, Lake Lanier is one of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favorite lakes with over 7.5 million people visiting a year. Constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, it encompasses 38,000 surface acres and 690 miles of shoreline. Lake Lanier Sailing club was established in 1959, shortly after the lake was filled. LLSC has 2 launch ramps, 1 launch beach, a beautiful campground and club facilities designed to support all types of events. Sailing conditions are fantastic with great wide open lake sailing offering a variety of wind conditions and directions.

Racing Program & Activities

Our largest laser sailing event is the Frostbite series which attracts over 40 local and regional sailors for 8 Sundays in January and February. The competition is tough averaging 20+ sailors every weekend, completing over 35 races in the series. We have a broad age range in our fleet from juniors to 70+ year olds all racing together. Lots of ladies and men complete in an assortment of rigs including a few 4.7 rigs in 2008. LLSC also offers a regular weekend laser fleet race series through out the rest of the year. LLSC Laser Fleet also plays host to 2 Annual OPEN regattas every year, Laser Southerns in March and GA State Championships in October. Both events average 30-40 sailors. We have formal training organized for our junior Laser fleet (18 sailors) and informal coaching for our adult fleet during our fleet races by our seasoned racers.

all photos courtesy of Martine Zurinskas

SPRING 2008

The best thing about the Lake Lanier fleet ....

The single best thing about our fleet is the diversity. We have such a huge range of ages, rigs and backgrounds it always makes sailing fun. Our fleet is unique in that many of our seasoned experts will reach out to our novice sailors and assist them between races making it a win-win situation for everyone! For 50% of our fleet members the Laser is an ‘off’’ season winter training boat (i.e. they own Thistles, M24’s, J24s, MC’s) so it is fun to watch the excitement for these sailors starting on the line with 30+ boats. They rarely get that opportunity in their primary boat and it is often a real reality check on the starting line to what large fleet one design racing is all about.

Attracting new sailors to the fleet

We attract new sailors via our Frostbite series. We have had many true beginner adults get lasers, join the club and learn how to sail during our series racing. Our fleet does a wonderful job of outreaching to those that want to learn.

Last Words

LLSC Laser Fleet host of the 2008 NO COAST CHAMPIONSHIPS October 11-12 – Come on down to Georgia!

www.Laser.org

BY JOHN MACCAUSLAND

As I drove home Sunday night form the Masters Midwinter’s East in Melbourne, Florida, I had time to reflect back on ten spectacular days of Laser sailing. The King of the Masters is an overall series championship including three Florida events (Florida Master Championship, Masters Midweek Madness and Master Midwinter’s East) and the Caribbean Laser Championship held in the Dominican Republic. The race for the title “King” is a coveted honor and the winner receives an invitation to the Dominican Republic to the Caberate Laser Training Center event in January.

The trip started at the Palm Beach Sailing Club, the site of the Florida Masters Championship. What could be better with sunny skies, warm breezes and fifty five boats out in the Atlantic? The fleet was deep with talent with many of the regulars and several new comers to the Florida Masters racing scene. However, we did miss Peter Sidenberg and the other sailors that were racing at the Master Worlds in Australia.

Racing started on Saturday out in the open water with a nice light southeasterly breeze. By the end of the second race the wind died down to almost nothing. I was able to just barely over take Ari Brarshi at the finish line to win the second race. Results were pretty mixed with Great Grand Master Joe van Rossem leading the way with a 4-4. We were all treated to a nice rain squaw with big wind for the plane back to the inlet.

Sunday dawned quite a different day with gusty breezes from the north. We sailed inside making it very interesting racing 22

with big puffs, big shifts and a big current. When the smoke cleared Mike Matan dominated the day with a 1-1-2-1. Not only did Mike win the day but also the Florida Masters Championship. Mike received the honor of wearing the coveted Green Jacket and the arduous task of reading the list of past champions at the prize giving. My experience as last year’s champion is that reading the names is a very humbling experience.

With a one day break, many of us went to the US Sailing Center at Jensen Beach for the Masters Midweek Madness. I have raced here the past two years and each race day has been windy. This year was no exception. Forty three sailors reached the starting line for the first race on Tuesday. Mike Matan came away form the day leading the pack with a 3-2-2. Ari Brarshi, just one point back, was hot on Mike’s tail. Wednesday welcomed in more wind, and in the end Ari, with a 2-1, was able to slip by Mike to win Midweek Madness. I finished third at this event and had plenty of steam left for the Masters Midwinter’s East.

With one more event to go, the race for The King of the Masters was heating up. Mike Matan had a 1-2 in the first two events. Ari Barshi had a 9-1 and John MacCausland (yours truly) was still in the running with a 23. In addition, Ari Barshi had won the Caribbean Championships making him a serious contender for the title.

With sunny skies, sixty six sailors arrived at the Melbourne Yacht Club for the Masters Midwinter‘s East. Nine races were spread over the three day event. We had conditions that ran the gambit from light and smooth water to breezy and wild waves. By Sunday the wind was kicking up. Ryan Minth was sailing well and had won four of the nine races. Alden Shattuck and James Jacob also had very impressive showings. Despite Mike Matan and Ari Barshi best efforts they did not finish in the top ten of this event. I was pleasantly surprised to see my name, John MacCausland, at the top of the leader board having the most consistent sailing results to win the Master Midwinter’s East. SPRING 2008

In the end, I was crowned the 2008 King of the Masters a great honor among many talented and remarkable individuals. Along with my title and crown I will receive a trip to the Cabarete Laser Training Center in the Dominican Republic. Many thanks to Ari Barshi for his competitive spirit, support and generosity donating this trip.

This has been my third year sailing in the Laser Master Series and each year the event gets better and better. Thank you to many people, but most of all David Hartman who seemed to be in the fore front of the effort this year. David was able to get many donations and ran a great raffle at the Midwinterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. The door prizes were donated by various businesses and several sailors won sails, covers, spray tops and a list to long to mention. Thank you David for all your efforts. Just as the sun is setting and my drive has a long way to go, I would hope that all the sailors who did not make it this year will put it on your calendar for next year. I know you will enjoy this spectacular event.

www.Laser.org

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

Overall Results

John Ari Mike Ryan David Peter Brian Jorge Joe Freddie Bob Gary Bruce Ted Rob Amnon David Mike Henry Rene Eric Newt Bill Marv Mike Finn Jack Charlie George Richard Allan Doug Ed Cindy John Andrew David Hollis

MacCausland Barshi Matan Minth Hartman Branning Raney Abreu Van Rossem Sambolin Tan Orkney Snelling Morgan Koci Gitelson Frazier Hecky Dewolf Bright Robbins Wattis Mitchell Pozefsky Taylor Hassing Pearce Buller Sechrist Leland Russell Bargar Rickard Taylor Weiss Buller Keane Caffee

Cabarete

1 5 9

FL Masters Midweek

2 9 1 4 8 6 13 17 17 15 11 15 23 21 10 19 34 25 20 26 31 24 28 42 30 27 37 29 44 42 46 35 39 53 45 48 50 54

3 1 2 12 8 14 4 6 11 9 21 10 15 16 26 18 5 13 19 17 20 24 25 37 33 28 22 35 27 30 29 31 32 36 38 41 39 42

MMWE

1 (19) 9 2 (28) 6 10 (34) 15 23 16 24 12 14 17 21 20 25 33 32 31 38 35 (58) 37 47 43 48 42 44 41 54 51 39 52 56 61 57

Total 6 11 12 18 21 26 31 32 43 47 48 49 50 51 53 58 59 63 72 75 82 86 88 98 100 102 102 112 113 116 116 120 122 128 135 145 150 153

Masters Sailing- continued 2008 Laser Masters Midwinter’s East

BY JOHN FOX

Sixty-Six Sailors from across the US, Canada, the Caribbean, and Europe came to Melbourne to sail in the 2008 Laser Masters Midwinter’s East February 15-17 2008. The event was sailed from Melbourne’s Ballard Park and was hosted by Melbourne Yacht Club. Friday brought sunny skies warm temperatures and a Northeast breeze of 5 to 7 kts. Peter Branning of Miami, was the man of the day with a 3rd in the first race and 1st in the second. A very impressive showing after an eight-year break from the class. John MacCausland of Cooper River NJ was hot on his tail with a 2-4 for second place. After the racing, 87 MYC club members joined our regatta guests for a welcoming barbeque dinner. Saturday brought more sunny skies. After a 40 minute postponement, the wind filled from the East and the Race Committee ran 4 more races. An OCS in the first race of the day, dropped Peter to 6th overall and Alden Shattock of Stuart Florida took over the lead after 6 completed races. John MacCausland held onto second only 2 points behind and James Jacob from Alexandria VA moved into 3rd. After Sailing the contestants were treated to a roast pork banquet back at MYC with door prizes donated by various businesses. On Sunday, the Melbourne sea breeze came in with winds at 15 knots for the first race of the day and building to 22 knots by the end of race 3. Mike Matan of New York reveled in the heavier winds to take the day with finishes of 2-1-5. In the end though John MacCausland proved to be the most consistent sailor to take the overall trophy. John was also the posted the best combined score from the four regattas in the Master’s series to earn the title of “King of the Laser Masters”.

Honey, we shrunk the cleats!

Results by Age Division Apprentice Master (35-44) 1) Ryan Eric Mynth 2) Mike Matan 3) Brian Raney Master (45-54) 1) John MacCausland 2) James Jacob 3)Mark Bear

Grand Master (55-64) 1) Alden Shattuck 2) Peter Branning 3) David Frazier

Great Grand Master (65+) 1) Joe van Rossem 2) Dick Tillman 3) David Olson Best Woman Sally Sharp

New CL268 is 50% lighter than CL211 Mk2.

CL211 Mk2

CL268AN CL270

Latest additions to the Micros range of cleats. Perfect for modern small size control lines.

Fit on flat or curved surfaces.

Alloy CL268 & CL270 Racing Micros are available in a silver or Hard Anodized finish. The nylon Micros, CL263 is available in Black or White. More Information at: www.clamcleat.com Ideal for tillers

Rigging the CL270 with Becket

1-4mmø

(3/64"-5/32")

CL263W CL263

SPRING 2008

Laser North American Championship

St. Francis Yacht Club July 24-27, 2008

Laser Slalom Championship St. Francis Yacht Club July 28-30, 2008

Pre-Regatta Laser Symposium St. Francis Yacht Club July 21-23, 2008 Featuring internationally renowned coaches. For more information contact Photo from the Laser Slalom in the 1970s!

Michael Kalin: mkalin@stfyc.com

For more information visit www.stfyc.com, email raceoffice@stfyc.com, or call (415)563-6363.

www.Laser.org

District Reports District 1 Brian Mills Fredricton, New Brunswick

Wow, this is going to be a banner year for high level Laser racing in District 1.The CYA 16 and under Eastern Intermediates are July 4-6 at the Silver Fox YC in Summerside, PEI. The Canadian Laser Championships will be held on July 18 to 20th at the St Margaret Sailing Club in Nova Scotia. Details of this regatta can be found at www.smsc.ca The following weekend, on July 26/27, the District 1 Championships and the first annual Atlantic Canada Masters Laser Championship will be held at the Shediac Bay Yacht Club and Marina in New Brunswick. See www.ablesail.ca and see the 2008 Activities link. The CYA Canadian Youths are going August 7-12 at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron in Halifax Nova Scotia. The Canadian Masters Championship will be held on September 26-28 at the St Margaret Sailing Club in Nova Scotia.

There are several more regattas and all dates and locations will be posted on the Laser Class Association’s website www.nalaser.org Follow the links to Districts/Fleets and then to District 1. Keep checking it on a regular basis. Also, a reminder that your Provincial Sailing Association’s websites are also great sources of information. Their links can be found at www.sailing.ca/organizations/provincial

With the financial help of the Laser Class Association, a poster promoting Masters Laser racing and a schedule of all known Lasers regattas in District 1 will be distributed to all the Yacht Clubs in the District . In addition, the Atlantic Boating News magazine, Moncton Boat show issue, is running a promotional piece on Masters Laser racing. It is hoped this exposure will increase attendance at all the regattas.

Don’t forget to renew your Laser Class Association membership and encourage other Laser sailors to do so as well. They will most likely be mandatory at the major regattas. Hope to see you on the water this summer

District 2 Deny Deschambeault & Louis Beauregard Trois Rivieres, Canada

While Quebec is the birth place of the laser, the class has seen few local events in the past few years. My goal as the new D2 Chairman is to restore our local scene to some of its former glory. All indications point to a revival in Quebec with new masters sailors joining our ranks and a strong youth team. Our objectives for 2008 include the following: Spring Training Camp Quebec Provincial Laser circuit (4-5 events)

2-day D2 Championships Title sponsor for the Quebec Laser Circuit Designated local fleet representatives (Montreal, Eastern Townships, Quebec City, others?)

Though we are well on our way to making this a reality, we desperately need laser sailors from all over Quebec to get involved in reviving our local organization. To this end, I’ve organized a toll-free conference call (March 19th) for all Quebec Laser sailors so that we may join forces and create something worthwhile together.

I will report back in the next edition of the Laser Sailor as to our progress. In the meantime, local sailors are invited to contact me directly at 514-8879807 or laser@convivio.com should they have suggestions or a desire to contribute to the local class in any way. I would also urge all local sailors to join our announcement list and consult the official D2 website: www.laserd2.org (RSS feed available).

District 3 Heinz Gebauer & Nigel Heath Mississauga, Ontario

By the time you read this, the ice on the lake will probably have melted and the early sailing season will have started. However, at present we are in the midst of a major snowstorm, with 30cm expected in Toronto (up to 50cm in the Niagara region) and sailing can only be dreamed about. There is so much snow at the Water Rats Sailing Club that not only can you not get into the club, but it would take some time to even find the boat and then dig it out. Apparently, this snow storm is expected to break the all-time record for the most snow accumulation in one winter! After two extremely mild winters, who would have thought we would suddenly be breaking snowfall records? What weather volatility! Well hopefully all this snowfall will result in higher water levels in the Great Lakes and other lakes and rivers, and make for better sailing conditions. We have recently finalized the details of the 2008 regatta schedule, which is posted on the District 3 website www.d3.laserforum.org. So if you see Paul Muldoon this summer, thank him for all his work, perhaps by offering him a free port-side crossing. If there are other events that your club would like to add to the schedule, please let one of us know (see contact info on the website). The general guidelines we use to set the regatta schedule include: (1) Spreading the Gold Cup events throughout the sailing season; (2) Spreading events around the region where the bulk of the sailing population is located; (3) Aligning with other major and minor events whenever possible; and, (4) Avoiding major scheduling conflicts whenever possible. Regarding the prizes for the 2008 Gold Cup series, the winners of the Laser, Radial and Masters fleets will win a new Laser or Radial sail (your choice), while other winners will receive Fogh Marine gift certificates. See the website for the complete Gold Cup guidelines. Thanks to Rob Koci for organizing the March Laser Clinic at ABYC, which I hear was highly successful. Also Rob posted a sailing diary on our website as he participated in the Florida masters circuit. Check it out. It makes for some entertaining reading that lets you re-live the excitement of sailing a regatta from the comfort of your own computer chair. For exam-

ple: screwing up the start of a race and having to cross behind numerous transoms, repeatedly choosing the wrong side of the course, missing major wind shifts, enduring gut wrenching pain sailing upwind in 20 knots of wind, and getting beat by Joe repeatedly….all usual stuff here in D3. Great job Rob. Maybe next winter I will join you.

District 6 Andy Hunt Vancouver, BC

Greetings to all Laser, Radial, 4.7 and Laser 2 sailors who sail and/or race in District 6. At the recent Vancouver International Boat Show, I had a chance to talk to Zig Burzycki, the west coast sales representative of Laser Performance. Zig was telling me that Laser and Radial sales were doing well in the Pacific Northwest. He did not mention the status of the Laser 4.7 or Laser 2. Although the winter months in District 6 are relatively mild, there were only a few organized regattas. There were no regattas in December or January. There were two regattas in February and one regatta in March. The first regatta in February was the Frigid Digit Regatta. This regatta was held on February 9 and 10 and hosted by the Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle. There were seven races on Saturday and three races on Sunday. Winds on Saturday were 8 to 15 knots and from the SouthEast. Winds on Sunday were from the South and were considerably higher (15 to 35 knots). There was one throwout race. Carl Buchan, making a return to Lasers, won in convincing fashion with a total of 19 points. Carl raced all ten races and had no problems with the high winds on Sunday (2, 1, 1). Second place went to Dalton Bergan (23 points) and third place went to Andy Mack (29 points). There were 17 Lasers and Radials (all boats started together). Full results and pictures are on the link on the District 6 website. The second regatta in February was the Frozen Assets Regatta. This regatta was held on Cadboro Bay (Victoria) and hosted by the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. The regatta was on February 23 and 24, 2008. There were five races on Saturday and five races on Sunday. The wind started out from the east and then shifted to the north during one of the races on Saturday. The wind remained from the north for the rest of the day and was from the north all day Sunday. Winds were moderate on both days. There were 6 Lasers and 11 Radials (the Race Committee started each fleet seperately). Geoff Abel, from the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, won the event with 13 points. Bob Britten, also from RVYC was second with 25 points and third place went to Philip Round (30 points), also from RVYC. Bob was racing his Laser for the first time in quite a while (about a year). Mike Cannon and Aidan Koster, both from RVYC, were first and second. Mike had 26 points while Aidan also had 26 points. Mike won on the tie breaker. Kate Easton, from the Glenmore Sailing Club, was third with 32 points. The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club was host to the March Madness Regatta on March 1 and 2, 2008. Sixteen Lasers and six Radials showed up for the regatta. All of the Lasers and Radials were from the Vancouver area (this includes two sailors from the Surrey Sailing Club, Doug Honey and Darren Redies). Doug also went to Victoria while Darren went to Seattle. There were four races on Saturday and three races on

SPRING 2008

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Sunday. Winds were light to moderate on both days but from the east on Saturday and from the west on Sunday. Luke Ramsay won the event with ten points. Second place went to Abe Torchinsky (just back from Australia where he competed in the 2008 Laser Worlds and was second Canadian). Abe had 22 points. Third place went to Ricardo Montemayor, who had 24 points. Kevin Grierson just missed out on third place since he had 26 points, good enough for fourth place. Luke, Abe, Ricardo and Kevin are all from the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. Diego Rejes and Alanna Vitteray were tied for first place in the Radial fleet with 7 points each. Diego won on the tie breaker. Third place went to Thomas Roerhl with 10 points. There will be on big addition to the District 6 schedule for 2008. The CYA Sail West Regatta will be hosted by the Royal Victoria Yacht Club on July 3 - 6, 2008. Please go to the Sail West website (www.sailwest2008.com) for more information. Other upcoming regattas include the Spring Frostbite (CYC Seattle), Flights of Spring (JSCA), Kitten Cup (RVanYC), Spring Dinghy Championships (RVicYC), NOOD (formerly SOCKS) at the Seattle Yacht Club, COSA Invitational (COSA) and the Jericho Classic Regatta (JSCA). The District 6 Grand Prix will be part of WAVES (June 27 - 29) at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. Dates for the above mentioned regattas are: Spring Frostbite (April 12 and 13), Flights of Spring (April 19 and 20), Kitten Cup (April 26 and 27), Spring Dinghy Championships (May 3 and 4), NOOD (May 17 and 18), COSA Invitational (May 17 and 18) and the Jericho Classic (June 7 and 8). The Spring Dinghy Championships are also an ISAF Grade 3 event. The NOR for the Spring Dinghy Championships is on the District 6 website. Local club racing (weekends and evenings) should begin soon. I would also like to congratulate Mike Leigh (RVanYC member and District 6 racer) on becoming the Canadian Laser Representative at the 2008 Olympics. 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, NH

Almost time to put the skis away and think about getting the Lasers out of winter storage up here in northern New England. Though elsewhere our District 7 sailors have seen a lot of action on the race course, from the busy frostbite meccas (Newport, Cedar Point etc.) down south to the Midwinter regattas in Florida, and way Down Under to the Masters Worlds in Australia. And while there were many success stories, nothing quite compares to that of our “super senior” Peter Seidenberg who captured the Great Grand Master’s trophy at the Masters Worlds, with an unbelievable 7 wins in 9 races. Congratulations to Peter, a World Champion indeed!!

Back here in District 7, we have lots to look forward to this summer - the schedule is as full as I’ve seen it, with quite a few weekends double-booked. A preliminary schedule follows below with lots of details, but a few items need special mention:

- The New Bedford Yacht Club is hosting the US Masters Championships, June 20-22.

- The District 7 Laser Championship and Grand Prix will be held July 19-20 in Barrington RI as part of the Barrington Yacht Club’s centennial celebrations. The coveted D7 Championship trophy will go to the winner of this ONE regatta! - The D7 Radial Grand Prix will be sailed at the Hyannis Regatta.

- There will again be a 3-regatta “District 7 Radial Championship Series” (Newport, Hyannis & BBR); each sailor’s best two regattas will be counted, and the overall winner will be awarded a brand new RADIAL SAIL - courtesy of our new sponsor this year, Vanguard Sailing Center. Needless to say we are very excited about this sponsorship, it’s certain to boost participation and generate lots of excitement about the series! - A similar sponsorship arrangement will also extend to the new “District 7 Super Series” for full rigs: sail at least three of the five designated regattas to qualify to win another terrific prize provided by Vanguard Sailing Center. Details will follow by the end of April and will be posted on the D7 website, http://d7.laserforum.org. Stay tuned!!!

Please note that it’s set up such that the two D7 series are entirely separate, so sailors can participate in both! Which no doubt means we’ll have to contend with that Super Senior everywhere we go ;-) Good luck to everyone, have a great summer!

Preliminary 2008 District 7 Schedule (lots more details, NORs etc. on D7 website)

April 12 - Cedar Point YC Spring Regatta Westport CT. Lasers, Radials. April 20 - Beverly YC Spring Frostbite Series begins (5 Sundays). Marion MA. April 27 - 2007 Peter Milnes Memorial Regatta Newport RI, Fort Adams State Park. Lasers, Radials, 4.7s May 10 - QYC May Madness Laser Regatta Wakefield MA, Quannipowitt YC. May 24 - NH Seacoast Open Laser Regatta - Dover NH. May 31 - Lake Sunapee Open - Sunapee NH. D7 Super Series #1 June 7 - Merrimack River Regatta - American Yacht Club, Newburyport MA. June 7-8 - RIISA / Leeds Mitchell Regatta Barrington RI. Lasers, Radials. June 14-15 - Opti & Laser 4.7 Challenge - Newport RI - Sail Newport. June 14-15 - Saltmarsh Trophy / Championship of Buzzard’s Bay - New Bedford MA, New Bedford Community Boating. D7 Super Series #2 June 20-22 - 2008 US Masters Champs - New Bedford YC, Padanaram MA June 28-29 - Laser Solstice Regatta - Old Greenwich YC, CT. D7 Super Series #3 June 28-29 - New Bedford Junior Regatta Padanaram MA, New Bedford YC. Lasers, Radials, 4.7s. July 12-13 - 2008 Newport Regatta - Newport RI, Sail Newport. Lasers, Radials, 4.7s; D7 Radial Championship Series #1 July 19-20 - Barrington Yacht Club Centennial

Regatta - Barrington RI. Lasers, Radials; DISTRICT 7 CHAMPIONSHIP Regatta & D7 GRAND PRIX (full rig). July 19-20 - Lipton Cup - Quincy MA, Squantum YC. Lasers, Radials. New England Women’s Radial Championships July 21-23 - Marblehead Junior Race Week Marblehead MA, Pleon YC. Lasers, Radials, 4.7s. July 25-27 - Hyannis Regatta - Hyannis MA, Hyannis YC. Lasers, Radials, 4.7s. DISTRICT 7 RADIAL GRAND PRIX, D7 Radial Championship Series #2 Aug 1-3 - Buzzards Bay Regatta - New Bedford Community Boating, MA. Lasers, Radials; D7 Radial Championship Series #3 Aug 2 - 6th Annual Come Boating! Small Boat Regatta - Belfast Harbor, Belfast ME. Lasers, Radials. Aug 9-10 - YRALIS Championship Regatta Greenwich CT, Indian Harbor YC. Aug. 9-10 - Stone Horse Laser Regatta - Harwich Port MA, Stone Horse YC. Lasers, Radials. Aug 16-17 - Vermont Open - Malletts Bay VT, MBBC. D7 Super Series #4 Sept 7 - Beverly YC Fall Frostbite Series begins (10 Sundays). Marion MA. Sept 13-14 - Seitech New England Masters Newport RI, Third Beach. Sept 14 - Ponce de Leon Laser & Radial Series (#1) - Marblehead MA, Eastern Yacht Club. (#2 on 9/21, #3 on 9/28) Sept 20 - Lake Mascoma Fall Regatta - Enfield NH. Sept 21 - NH Seacoast Open Laser Regatta - Dover NH. Oct 11 - QYC Last Blast Laser Regatta - Wakefield MA. Oct 25 - Fat Boys Regatta - Bristol RI, Bristol YC. D7 Super Series #5 Nov 15 - Cedar Point YC Fall Regatta - Westport CT. Lasers, Radials.

District 8 Ted Cremer Blue Point, NY

Frostbiting is Alive and Well

Seawanhaka Winter Sailing Char Eric Johnson reports that the Fall Series ended with yet another blow out. The wind looked to be dropping and then kicked back up to shut us down. Even with a couple of missed days because of the weather, there were approximately 42 races sailed throughout the fall. 45 Sailors in all participated with 15 sailing frequently enough to qualify for the season scoring. The Lasers were won by Leo Vasiliev with an average score of 2.09, Fred Abels in second with a 2.92 average and Mo Fraklos finishing third with 3.05 average score. Our top Junior was Bob Bolger who made the long trip west from the north fork of Long Island each weekend with his dad Scott. Bobby was the 2007 Sunfish Class Junior North American champion and is starting to sail well in the radial fleet. Welcome Bobby! Fall Series Final Place Name Average Qualify Races 1 Leo Vasiliev 2.09 71.43% 2 Fred Abels 2.82 80.95% 3 Mo Fraklos 3.05 61.90% 4 Lindsay Hewitt 3.12 85.71%

SPRING 2008

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Want to win in 2008 You have a competitive boat You have good sails You are phyiscally in top shape How is your mental game??? Sailing Mind Skills, volume 1 by Michael Blackburn An audio CD designed to improve your inner sailing Suggested Price $ 34.95 US $ 36.95 CDN Available at APS LTD and other Laser Shops SailCoach Consultants North America Inc 170 Kehoe Street Ottawa, ON, Canada K2B 6A5 Tel/Fax 613-820-7618

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5 Matt Doherty 5.38 54.76% 6 Robert Blanco 5.46 80.95% 7 Eric Johnson 5.50 52.38% 8 Bobby Bolger 5.64 71.43% 9 Robert Terry 8.61 97.62% 10 Richard Abbene 8.67 59.52% 11 John McCrane 9.09 71.43% 12 Ed Berenblum 9.50 59.52% 13 Alex Nadolishny 11.00 50.00% 14 Ryan Schmitz 12.86 52.38% 15 David Kruse 14.50 73.81% Eric reported that “I have a new hero in Kia Olsen, our 4.7 sailor. I had a chance to sail behind her on Sunday and she was working the boat hard in conditions where people with double her weight and a good multiple of her age were hanging on in Radials. She didn’t win any races, but she finished every one. Well done!”

Bob Terry, our faithful web master has plenty of short videos ranging from a great involuntary 270 turn for someone else’s penalty, to other screaming reaches and wipeouts. You can catch it at the Laser District 8 website in the News section at http://laserd8.tripod.com/news.htm Look for the video clip in the News clip titled “NASCAR” or the March 9, 2008 video. You’ll also want to check out the December 16th video , , , Talk about WINDY!!! The Annual Turkey Trot Regatta was hosted by Seawanhaka on 11-24-07.

The Turkey Bowl was a study in working the puffs in a strong tide to find your way around the course. Something that Fred Abels and Lindsay Hewitt excelled at. There were chocolate turkeys for everyone and Eric reported that he was the only person to capsize. “It was a bad case of fat boy and a tight vang.” Our thanks to Willets Meyer and Bill Mooney for a good day in tough conditions. Lasers 1 Fred Abels 2 Lindsay Hewitt 3 Al Constants 4 Eric Johnson 5 Gary Knapp 6 Ryan Schmitz 7 Tracy Dougherty 8 James Cardo 9 David Kruse 10 Matt Dougherty The Annual “Hair of the Dog “ Regatta was held on New Years day. Winter Sailing Char Eric Johnson ended up winning the tie break with Fred Abels in second and Lindsay Hewitt rounding out the top three in third. Fred Abels, Collin Leon and Bobby Bolger went to Florida for the Laser Mid-winters. Here is Fred’s report from the regatta. “Greetings from Clearwater...just wrapped up a grueling 3 day master midwinter’s at Melbourne..I finished 7th on final points and 6th without the masters handicap scoring system..We got in 9 long races. Rock Star John McCausland from the Star Class won the event. Colin Leon said he had a great weekend out on the Gulf with Kurt Talbee giving some excellent tips on down wind technique in big seas.” In the Laser Midwinter’s East Regatta, Colin Finished 21st with Boby Bolger finishing 42nd in

the Gold Fleet. Fred Abels was the top radial sailor in the Silver fleet and looks to have been second master overall. Upcoming Spring Season First Annual Dingy Shop May Laser Spring Series 334 South Bayview Ave, Amityville ,New York 11701 (631) 264-0005

First 4 Saturdays in May . . . 10:30 skippers meeting, 11 start. One start, fulls, radials and 4.7’s all together. Looking to try to get six to seven races in with the goal of having 3 hours on the water. We could be in by 2 PM and will have a debrief with the top sailors of the day explaining how they did it. We are looking into having coaching available. Special thanks to Jim and Susan Koehler for their continued support of our sport. New York Empire Games Sailing Trials May 31 - Southampton Yacht Club - 10AM skippers meeting. Southampton YC - Click www.southamptonyachtclub.org for website and directions.

June 7th - Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club - 10AM skippers meeting.

Cold Spring Harbor BC- Rte. 25A to Cold Spring Harbor at firehouse turn north on to Shore Rd. Bear left around gasoline docks, club on left. Contact: Lindsey Hewitt 692-4798

July 14-15 - Sayville Yacht Club, Blue Point, NY This will be affiliated with the Laser D-8 Championships. 9AM skippers meeting.

We are having the regatta earlier than usual this year as the dates flow better with the National schedule. Please consider coming to Sayville as a tune-up for the Master Nationals are to be hosted the next weekend in New Bedford, MA. SayvilleYC- . Click http://www.sayvilleyachtclub.org/ for website and directions. Contact: Ted Cremer tcremer@optonline.net.

District 9 Chas Williamson Ithaca, NY

Well it is freezing around here, but Spring is just about to start, so we should be planning our summer regattas. I attach below the Calendar for 2008, and you can find it on the Laser Class (NA) web site many thanks to Sherri and Jerelyn! Last year we had some marvellous regattas, some with a big breeze like our District Champs at Rochester, and many in rather light zephyrs. That is upstate NY for you. Here are some of the details from those regattas !

NEWPORT YC. 16 June 2007 Mike Wilde came into town after a long absence and cleaned up at Newport YC, like the olden days. I was not there, but it would have been great to see Mike racing again (preferably to see the bow rather than the stern) with young speedster Jamie Moran

right behind, also from Rochester. Peter Bushnell did superbly and finished a solid third in front of Travis Wright, and the consistent Richie Wait. 1. Mike Wilde; 2. Jamie Moran; 3. Peter Bushnell; 4. Travis Wright; 5. Richie Wait; 6. Kevin Doyle; 7. Andrew Zuber; 8. Doug Bargar; 9. Steve Leach; 10. Peter Gould.

CHAUTAUQUA LAKE YC 30 June 2007. It was a long early morning dewy drive for me to get to Chautauqua, but it was so worth it - this is one of the most beautiful venues in all of upstate. Peter Gould came with me from Ithaca; Jim Cuddihee came over from Newport YC; and Erik Nikerson came from far afield. We all had the most glorious day, with some strong winds in race 3 and 4, after lunch ashore. David and Cilla Menzies did a wonderful job as always, but we missed the Turner Cornellians, of which 2-3 normally sail. It was great to see Dick Turner after the racing. In the event, Nate Bargar, related to the bubbly uncle Doug Bargar, went so fast in the first two races, and hung in there for second place behind Chas Williamson, and he was followed by visitor Erik Nickeson. I reiterate that more people should drive from far to enjoy this wonderful venue and warm hearted club members. 1. Charlie Williamson; 2. Nate Bargar; 3. Erik Nickeson; 4. Kirk kelly; 5. Chad Covert; 6. David Menzies; 7. Peter Gould; 8. Steve Leach; 9. Cherise Robinson; 10. Cilla Menzies; 11. Jim Cuddihee.

SODUS BAY YC - Open Regatta and Junior District Championships. 7 July 2007. This event was ably run by Lory and Nancy Ghertner and their team - Thanks are due for the sunshine which they brought in later in the day. The wind was moderate but with good hiking conditions developing through the day, and enormous shifts really bigguns. Allan Miller and the Nicols came from Saratoga, and it was lovely to race with them. A contingent of youngsters came up from Ithaca, with the Rogers, and Luke Miller there, and of course Chris Wilson from Seneca, who is normally sailing Opties with my little guy. Chas Williamson finished consistently to take the regatta followed by Scott Possee, RJ Moon, and Allan Miller, James Nicol the Younger, and Richie Wait. Zuber sailed great except he had to count breakdown points for a couple of races. Marcus Costich won the District 9 Junior Championships, and he was really happy about this, including his sister Sarah! 1. Chas Williamson; 2. Scott Possee; 3. RJ Moon; 4. Allan Miller; 5. James Nicol; 6. Richie Wait; 7. Marcus Costich; 8. Andrew Zuber; 9. Owen Macdonald; 10. Brandon Colombo; 11. David Nicol the Papa; 12. Jack Jones; 13. Ricky Statt; 14. Brandon Garlock; 15. Tom King; 16. Mark Converse; 17. Jack Rogers; 18. Luke Miller; 19. Skye Helmar; 20. Chris Wilson.

DISTRICT 9 CHAMPIONSHIPS, Rochester YC. 14-15 July 2007 The District regatta spanned two days, and had some lovely strong winds, and it was won by a superfast sailor who had driven all the way from Wisconsin. Susie Pegel also rolled into town from the midwest, and had a very mixed regatta including a race win. The conditions were windy from the South-West, but with ginormous shifts coming from the land. I recall the first race vying for the lead with Gordon

SPRING 2008

Lamphere up the first beat, until the wind swung 30 degrees to the right and we were dropped, so Gordon made me laugh out loud as he shouted across “At least we won the left!”. We finished 6th and 9th, both places being our worst in the regatta. I also recall the last race - 6th one - when Gordon and I also had a strange beat to the first mark (probably went left again), but the shifted wind gave us the most fantastic reaching conditions to the next mark, and we went from 10-12 up to 1-2 placings just on that one long glorious deep reach. The most incredible planing in the whole season of sailing ! Gordon went upwind incredibly fast, playing the mainsheet the whole way as the winds gusted 25-26 knots, and so ended a superb championships. Gordon won from Chas Williamson, who were both comfortably in front, followed by Tim Jones, Jamie Moran from the home club, Zuber, and then Susie Pegel, who was a force to be reckoned with, especially when planing into the lee mark unable to gybe around - that was interesting. Mike Hecky was also moving fast. In the Radials fleet, we had 5 boats, and they were won by Merritt Moran pipping Max Buzzell by one place. Merritt was quite a star at the prizegiving. Overall, a great regatta, and the prizegiving on the lawn of the Rochester Yacht Club was so relaxing, not simply because of the ever-ready drinks... 1. Gordon Lamphere; 2. Chas Williamson; 3. Tim Jones; 4. Jamie Moran; 5. Andrew Zuber; 6. Susie Pegel; 7. Mike Hecky; 8. Travis Wright; 9. Jeff Robbins; 10. Scott Possee; 11. Richie Wait; 12. Matt Kepner; 13. RJ Moon; 14. Marcus Costich; 15. Graham Gardner; 16. Justin Groden; 17. Campbell Woods; 18. Kevin Hecky; 19. Thomas Shaw; 20. AJ Murphy; 21. Jim Cuddihee; 22. Cameron Roggeri; 23. Brandon garlock; 24. John Rogers; 25. Luke Miller; 26. Chris Rogers; 27. Richard Gunther.

Empire State Games, Ossining YC. 25-27 July 2007. The Empire Games this year were sailed on some fluky waters in the Hudson at a small but friendly yacht club - Ossining, run beautifully by Jasper Fox. Local Mark May played the shifts very well to win from Andrew Zuber. Chas and Richie finished tied on points and so shared the bronze medal ! Fortunately we found two of them, so we put away our hacksaw. Liam Faudree of the great Faudree team, finished 5th overall. It was a pretty testing event, with really the only wind being at the tail end of one day when racing was finished to make lots of time for the tea and dinner, cutting short the opportunity to hike out again. 1. Mark May; 2. Andrew Zuber; 3=. Chas Williamson; 3=. Richie Wait; 5. Liam Faudree; 6. Mike Kitner; 7. Allan Miller; 8. Campbell Woods; 9. Kyle Puchir; 10. James Nicol; 11. David Nicol; 12. Dan Kuehn; 13. Peter Gould; 14. Jeff Samalot; 15. Jeremy King. WILLOWBANK YC Deathroll Regatta. 8 September 2007 Ray Cudney won this regatta, and has now won it probably 5-6 times - he sailed very fast as always to beat some close competition after 5 races, from AJ Murphy, and Kate Evans coming down from Rochester. Peter Bushnell continued his speedy ways to pip Andrew Smith and Jason Evans. Altogether a very well attended and close regatta Well done ! It is especially nice to see Peter Gould

www.Laser.org

and Dave Filiberto making a trek to Willowbank, along with youth Luke (best race a 9th!) and Joe Miller his father - Well done Ithaca lads ! 1. Ray Cudney; 2. AJ Murphy; 3. Kate Evans; 4. Peter Bushnell; 5. Andrew Smith; 6. Jason Evans; 7. John Germaine; 8. Thomas Shaw; 9. Carl Boller; 10. Dave Filiberto; 11. Kyle Crandall; 12. Paul Martellock; 13. Mike Mueller; 14. Doug Collins; 15. Eduardo Solessio; 16. Luke Miller; 17. Dickybird Mitchell; 18. Peter Webster; 19. Mike Johnson; 20. Joe Miller; 21. Peter Colman.

DISTRICT 9 REGATTAS - - - 2008

Willowbank YC Sat 31 May Peter Bushnell 315-655-4671 Sat 7 June Ithaca YC “Wine Keg” Chas Williamson 607-272-0630 Sat 14 June Saratoga YC “Saratoga Derby” Allan Miller 518-885-5510 Sat 21 June Newport YC Jim Cuddihee 585-266-8686 Sat 5 July Youngstown YC - Paul Hays 716-745-1279 12-13 July DISTRICT 9 Grand Prix CHAMPS SODUS BAY YC Contact <tom.thurston@xerox.com> 24-26 July Empire State Games Cornell Merrill Sailing Center (Regional Q’s Only) 1-3 Aug Rochester Junior Olympics Youth John Faudree Sat 16 Aug Seneca YC Jim Gindling <Jim_Gindling@websterschools.org> 315-521-6693 16-20 Aug C.O.R.K. Kingston Kingston, Ontario Sat 6 Sept Willowbank YC “Deathroll” Peter Bushnell 315-655-4671

District 10 Eric Reitinger New Jersey

District 10 was well represented in many of the winter regattas. On the junior side, eight sailors were at the Orange Bowl. On the full rig course with 40 boats, Ian Donahue (Brigantine Yacht Club) was 30th. The radial course had 138 boats with Alex Bertrand in 29th, Mike Reynolds (Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club) was 29th and Max Lopez (Raritan Yacht Club) was 54th. The 4.7s with 36 boats had Jack Swikart (Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club) in 14th, Suzy Reynolds (Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club) in 17th, Chelsea Katz (Yacht Club of Stone Harbor) in 30th and Mackenzie McGuckin (Ocean City Yacht Club) in 31st. Radial Women’s NAs had one boat with Arielle Delisser (Barnegat Light Yacht Club in 6th. The Masters midwinter’s series had 3 sailors there where they raced the full series. Mike Hecky (Riverton Yacht Club) finished 13th, 25th, and 13th, Newt Wattis (Surf City Yacht Club) finished 24th, 38th, and 24th and John MacCausland (Cooper River Yacht Club) finished 2nd, 1st and 2nd becoming the 2008 King of the Laser Master’s series. Midwinter’s East had 6 sailors. Jack Swikart finished 6th out of 23 in the 4.7 fleet. In the radial silver fleet of 45 boats, Mark Sorbo (Manasquan Yacht Club) finished in 19th, Max Lopez finished 28th and Dylan Fineran (Toms River Yacht Club) finished 34th. In the 51 full rigs, Mike Reynolds was 36th

and Joe Lepis (Lavallette Yacht Club) was 31st. Monmouth Boat Club’s Sunday’s series is still going and the numbers are as popular as ever. Check out http://www.monmouthboatclub.org for results. Racing starts at noon. The schedule is up on the class site and is updated all the time. On top of all of these, the juniors on Long Beach Island (http://www.lbiyra.org and is only open to LBIYRA club members) have their interclub series every Wednesday in July and August. MAYRA (http://www.mayra.org some of those regattas are open to MAYRA member clubs only) has their weekend series starting in June and goes through August.

April 20, 27, May 3rd Ice Breaker series @ Riverton May 3 27th Annual Philadelphia Laser Championships @ Marsh Creek May 10 Spring Laser Regatta @ Shrewsbury May 17 Spring Laser Regatta @ Monmouth Boat Club May 24 Laser Regatta @ Lavallette May 31 37th Annual Orange Coffee Pot @ Surf City June 14 Annual Regatta @ Brant Beach June 28-29 Laser District 10 Championships @ Little Egg July 12-13 Laser ACCs @ Brant Beach September 6-7 Surf City Annual Regatta September 14, 21, 28, October 5 Fall Series @ Brant Beach October 12 Fall Laser Regatta @ Marsh Creek October 18 Fall Laser Regatta @ Cooper River October 18 Fall Laser Regatta @ Monmouth Boat Club November 9, 16, 23, 27, 30 Frostbite Series @ Cooper River November 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, December 7 Frostbite Series @ Monmouth Boat Club

District 11 Jon Deutsch Richmond, VA www.laserdistrict11.org

2008 is shaping up to be another great season in District 11. For starters our District 11 Series Events are now on the schedule. The series will consist of 6 events at different clubs in District 11. They will be: 3/15-3/16 Capital City Regatta - Potomac River Sailing Association 6/7-6/8 Dave Irey Regatta - West River Sailing Club 6/21-6/22 Summer One Design Regatta - Rock Hall Yacht Club 8/16-8/17 District 11 Championship - Deep Creek Yacht Club 9/20-9/21 Crab Claw Regatta - Severn Sailing Association 10/4 Indian Summer Sail Against SIDS - Fishing Bay Yacht Club Any ICLA member who attends 3 or more events will be qualified to be scored in the series. Women, Radial & Junior sailors qualify by attending one event less than half of the events which had fleets for the respective groups. There will be awards for 1-3 overall, 1st Radial, 1st Junior, 1st Woman and most traveled. Scoring will be based on a high point scoring system where a point is awarded for each

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SPRING 2008

boat a sailor finishes ahead of.

The rest of the District 11 Schedule has been posted to our website at http://www.laserdistrict11.org. Check it out and make plans now to attend your favorite events.

The first event in our summer sailing schedule - the Captial City Regatta - has already been sailed. Erich Hesse (PRSA) took 5 bullets in 9 races to win the regatta. He was tied for first after the first 5 races on Saturday with Robert Bennett (PRSA) who would settle for 2nd after racing on Sunday in heavier winds. David Teale (PRSA) would finish 3rd. Sam Dobbs (PRSA) edged out Jennifer Parrow (PRSA) to win the Radial Fleet.

Potomac River Sailing Association has finished their winter frostbite series. Forty sailors participated in 64 races over 14 race days from November until March. Erich Hesse won the series followed by David Teale and Stephen Yelland. The fleet also experimented with team racing while frostbiting and the Flying Fried Chopstix team beat the Fast Friends.

See ya on the water

District 13 Meka Taulbee, Michelle Davis Dunedin, FL

Florida is in full swing with all sorts of Master, Open and junior events. The Orange Bowl had a huge turnout and The Miami OCR brought in some international competition as well as a seasoned sailor now turned professional, Andrew Lewis. Ft.Lauderdale had some heated competition at the Boomerang and then St. Petersburg had its turn with the Valentine’s Day regatta. For the first in many years the Master Mid-Winters East took place on the East coast as one of a circuit of masters events. The following week we had the open Mid-Winters East in

Clearwater which also brought in some international competition. This regatta showed some funky weather but despite the weather it was still a great regatta with some good sailing. The spring is packed full of events including the Sarasota Sail Fest and the Gulf Coast Championships in Ft.Myers. This is going to be a great event. Everyone will be able to stay in a hotel on the beach and walk to their boat and then launch. On another note, I will be passing the torch of District Secretary over to Michelle Davis. Michelle is going to be awesome for this position and the district. I have watched her grow into a great competitive sailor while still sticking to the grass roots ideas of what sailing should be. She recently competed in the Olympic Trials in Newport and the Worlds in Australia. You can always find her at events like the Treasure Coast series and some other smaller venues. She is always trying to learn more and help others and is just a great person to be around. I hope you all give her a warm welcome. I’ll be helping the transition so feel free to contact either one of us. I will always be around to help any sailors be it through the District or through SAILFIT.Wishing you all fair winds-Meka

District 12 Glenn Walker Doug Sherwood Wrightsville Beach, NC

2008 – SCHEDULE Beaufort, SC April 19th-20th. Savannah, GA May 31st- June 1st, GRAND PRIX Wrightsville Beach, NC August 2nd-3rd Columbia, SC September 27th- 28th. Charleston, SC Late October

Our push to establish a strong Radial presence has been well received by all our race committees across the district as well as our sailors which now stands at 75 strong and growing and its only March!! Winter frostbiting is wrapping up in most areas. Carolina Yacht Club of Wrightsville Beach hosted several frostbite races with a great turn out of folks and weather each weekend. Thanks to all the travelers this year for keeping the competition close. Lake Lanier Sailing Club posted strong participation and rightfully so by hosting over 20 races with hot chili to boot. Finally Carolina Sailing Club of NC had a popular frostbite series on Lake Jordan. Rumors of a possible clinic have been swirling around for some time in May in the Charleston area. Keep an eye on the D-12 website for confirmation.

Finally, 3 of our esteemed racers traveled to the masters worlds in Terrigal Australia. Nothing but praise is all they have had to say since making it back safe and sound. Check our website often to see the latest regatta schedules, pictures, frostbiting and updates. http://d12.laserforum.org

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District 15 Renee Ruais Texas

There hasn’t been much formal activity in District 15 over the “winter”, but I know folks have taken advantage of some of the warm Texas winter days and done some Laser sailing, or they have traveled to other events. Especially that one guy in Austin who has a dry suit!

While our circuit races don’t start for another week or so, the Texas Junior circuit has a head start. The AYC Junior Road Runner regatta was held the first weekend in March and since they have dropped the sunfish as an alternative, the 4.7 fleet is coming on strong. While there were also Optis and a number of FJ’s and 420s, it was really great to see 100 boats all being sailed by juniors!

Our District 15 Circuit schedule is set, with just one date later in the year yet to be set in stone, so here are the events to look forward to:

Easter Laser Regatta – March 22/23 (Austin) Spring Break Regatta – April 19/20 (Seabrook) Spring Dinghyfest – May 17/18 (Dallas - RCYC) AYC Centerboard – June 7/8 (Austin) Summer Solstice – June 21/22 (Seabrook) CSC Laser Regatta – Sept (TBD) (Dallas - CSC) Wurstfest Regatta – Nov 1/2 (Lake Canyon)

I look forward to a great year for the circuit, continuing on last years growth in Radial and overall participation!

District 18 John Shockey

The District 18 is still battling the winter furies, but YES, Laser sailing is still on for the spring! The 24th annual Indy Spring is one of the favorites in the district, a few years back there was a gorgeous weekend that churned out 64 Lasers on Geist reservoir! (That’s more than this past years Midwinter’s East) Eagle Creek host’s the Weekend Warrior, that should make up a “proud” number of warriors sharpening their skills in a inland lake classic. Moving on to Cowan Lake Laser regatta May 17th and 18th which I’ll be going to for a tune up for the following weekend, the D18 Grand Prix and Championship moving back to my home waters, Vermilion, Ohio. Vermilion Boat Club along with myself will be putting on a great event that will potentially bring out a great crowd. This one is right in middle of the District, so let’s see how many we can get out there for hopefully a great event on Lake Erie, which has the potential to bring in some great Laser conditions! More regattas to come throughout this year, and pictures and more to come in the future. For now, its spring break here at Old Dominion, so I have a plane to catch back to Ohio. Cheers.

District 20 Dave Abbott / Mark Johnson Delafield, WI

District 20 had a tough winter – lots of cold and

snow. The snow screwed up the ice for much of the winter for those of who also iceboat. Rick Strilky, Roman Plutenko, Paul Wurtzebach and others headed south for training and regattas. It’s hard to believe that bunch could get any faster but that’s how they got that way – lots of lasering!

March 16 was supposed to be the start of frostbiting at Belmont. For the 2nd time in my memory, it was postponed for at least a week due to ice in the harbor.

Roman Plutenko won the Adrian Irving trophy again due to his strong performance in the Talbot last fall. Nakita would have won it but was back sat that regatta out. Roman has won the trophy for the first 3 years in its existence! This year’s qualifier’s will be the Vlad, Super Sail, and the Talbot. There may be a 4th qualifier as well, so stay tuned!

Our regatta season opens on Nagawicka, my home lake with The Ice Breaker on April 19-20. The V15’s have been up for this the last couple of times and have brought robust partying along with them. Camping is next to the club so finding bed or boat is never hard!

Other spring/summer events: May 3-4 Vlad Kobal Memorial CYC – Belmont May 25 Sailing School Fundraiser Milwaukee YC July 12-13 SuperSail Winnetka YC

In Chicago there will be big course racing on Wednesday nights and short course out of Montrose on Thursday nights. Milwaukee has had great growth in their Tuesday night program with racers coming from both MYC and South Shore YC. Pewaukee Lake has Wednesday nights going all summer as do other clubs. Give me a holler if your looking for folks to race with.

Mark Johnson has joined forces with me as CoSecretary for District 20. Mark is working hard on a Web Page, Web Calendar, and all sorts of good things to keep us plugged in and growing. Be there or be square!

District 21 Mike Elson Minneapolis, MN

The snow came right after the lakes froze over so there was not an ice boating season. But the snowkiting season started as soon as the ice was safe. We had several memorable sessions and fortunately Kurt Holtze did not have a camera for my first outing with my big kite. Three days of 40s and 50s has melted all of the snow on the lakes so the snowkiting season most likely is over, baring a late March snowstorm. Ice-out should be in early April and the first D21 event is the Heckl Invitational at White Bear Lake on May 3rd.. . Will Andy Heckl respond to the invitation?

Weekly Laser racing starts in April at Wayzata on Wednesdays. In June, Wayzata shifts to Tuesday evenings and Calhoun starts its’ Wednesday evening Laser racing. White Bear Lake also starts its’ Thursday evening series. Weekend Laser racing is back at Calhoun.

District 24 David Lapier NorCal

“The windiest series of the millennium!” — that is how Richmond Yacht Club’s 2008 Winter Series is recorded in the cultural history of District 24 . We usually have at least one drifter, which would be OK, except for the strong adverse current keeping us away from warm showers. This year’s Pacific storms coincided with the first Sunday of the month, so it made for good sailing days. With abundant winter rains, the ebbing tide from North out of the Sacramento River transforms San Francisco Bay into a wide river when sailing slightly to the North of Richmond Yacht Cub. It was stormy enough in December that only one race was held. The International 14’s and 29’s could not stay upright. In February, The PRO seemed to think that Lasers were as fast as Etchells, with the races appropriately long. March was sunny. The front had just passed, and the fresh Northerly wind was oscillating, but there was also a big veer off the Contra Costa shore, with less tide on the right as well, it was a battle to go right. Mark Halman sailed consistently well on the last day to be the overall series champion. December Results: Steve Bourdow, Tracy Usher, Mehmet Sevinc, Claire Dennis, Ben Lezin, Walt Spevak, Mark Halman, David LaPier, Simon Bell, Ariel Poler. (18 boats).

January Results: Steve Bourdow, James Vernon, Mark Halman, Ryan Nelson, Mike Bishop, David LaPier, Roger Herbst, Sean Kelly, Claire Dennis (19 Boats). February Results: Tracy Usher, Steve Bourdow, David LaPier, Mike Bishop, Claire Dennis, Simon Bell, James Vernon, Mark Halman, Jean Bernard Duler, David Rasmussen (15 Boats),

March Results: Sean Kelly, Michael Kalin, Mark Halman, Mike Bishop, David LaPier, Nick Burke, Claire Dennis Mike Rutledge, Richard Leland, Steve Hendricks (30 Boats).

Everybody was psyched for the St Francis YC Spring Dinghy Regatta on the City Front March 8 & 9. On Saturday, the sea breeze filled, and then kept on building. There were some big puffs, even by San Francisco standards. Sunday was more moderate. Tactics on the run were especially interesting, with some people headed for shore for tide relief, while others went down the rumb line. The favored route seemed to change with every lap. On the last run of the regatta, everybody blasted off when large ship wake rolled through, launching us on a series of 4 foot waves. A shout-out goes to Richard Leland, who is new to Laser sailing this year, yet he completed all the races in the severe conditions. Full Rig Results: Sean Kelly, Mehmet Sevinc, Michael Kalin, Tracy Usher, Peter Phelan, Peter Vessella, David LaPier, Peter Jessberg, Nick Burke, Mike Bishop. (18 Boats). Radial Results: Ben Lezin, Nick Dugdale, Claire Dennis, Jean-Bernard Duler, Dominic Bove, Ariel

SPRING 2008

Poler, Mark Halman, Drake Jensen, Christy User, Cindy Weitzman (10 Boats).

District 25 Nils Andersson SoCal

The spring is here and a new exiting Laser season. Although, sailing has been in full swing on a local club level, both here in San Diego, Long Beach and Santa Barbara and many other places all winter. However, we can’t really call it frost bite where we sail. First we have the Laser Midwinter West, this year hosted by the Mission Bay Y.C. on March 28-30. Then MBYC will host California Laser Masters, joint with the Women’s California Radial Championship on April 12-13. On May 3-4, Santa Barbara Sailing Club is hosting the Cinco de Mayo Regatta. This is a venue we want to help make a traditional Laser event. It’s a great place to sail, I’ll make sure that we can get a few boats from San Diego to that event. I know that Steve Smith and the guys at Alamitos Bay Y.C. are working hard to make this year’s Laser Nationals the biggest West Coast Regatta in the history of laser sailing (Vann Willson thinks it’ll be the biggest event ever in sailing on the west coast, period). The regatta will be held on August 8-10. Be there, you will never regret it. Great competition, nice sea breeze, nice club and good racing management, it can’t be beat.

District 26 Guy Fleming Hawaii

While February may be the shortest month it still packs a punch with activity. Three opening days for the Laser fleet were sailed in February including our own on Feb 2; Kaneohe on Feb 9; and Pearl Harbor on Feb 17. Our own event was covered in the last issue of WWB but the fleet continued to grow for the next two events. Twenty boats showed up for Kaneohe where the race committee was Jesse Andrews and the following sailors placed in the two skill classes:

Laser A—Guy Fleming 1st; Richard Argall 2nd; and Lance Miller 3rd. In Laser B—Fizz Foster 1st edged out; Morgan Merrill 2nd and Brock Wooldridge 3rd. Other WYC Sailors included Scott Melander 6th over all, Ian Marshall 12th, Sean Dave 14th. The wind was moderate trades with a nice oscillating shift. Flat water and flat sails proved to be the call of the day. It was hard to predict the shifts as the first 2 came out of the right and the next 4 came out of the left.

The fun continued the following Saturday with classes beginning on the Club’s actual opening day. Just to add to the chaos, it was also the beginning of high school sailing and Punahou school had their first day of tryouts. Winds were steady onshore for the first day with 18 sailors trying out for 8 varsity spots and 6 Junior Varsity spots.

Opening Day for Lasers at Pearl Harbor. Twenty one boats came out for the event which featured a light but steady sea breeze. The results in Laser A—Guy Fleming 1st; Chris Hossellman 2nd; Lance Miller 3rd. Thanks to Chris Hossellman’s fiancé for helping out with the pearl harbor race committee which was headed up by Ann Ford. In Laser B—Morgan Merrill 1st; Fizz Foster 2nd and Brock Wooldridge 3rd. Other WYC sailors at this event included Scott Melander 3rd overall; Sean Dave 11th; Ian Marshall 15th; and David Rex 16th. The next Laser event is the 2nd Saturday in May at the Laser Districts hosted by Hawaii Yacht Club.

March 1st marked a switch to the first of eight youth invitationals for the year. The event was held at Air Force Base’s Hickam Harbor and as always was superbly run. This event has a large group of volunteers in many committees and the RC was headed up by Gina Purvis and Alicia Mooradian. Thank you also to the volunteers who helped everyone get on base and made lunches and hosted the barbeque. Six Lasers competed in the event with Morgan Merrill winning overall, Brock Wooldridge in 2nd, Lance Miller in 3rd, Fizz Foster in 4th, Jackson Cook in 5th and Ian Towill in 6th. The event is always held in the beautiful flat light green waters of the harbor. This event looked bleak in the morning with no wind but a light and steady kona seabreeze filled in from the south east and offered up some of the best racing ever.

The next day, Sunday Feb 17 marked a light air

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Sailing Fit

BY: MEKA TAULBEE

ACE CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER SAILFIT INC

A Change in Menu

I’ve written a lot of articles that tell the sailors how they can improve their fitness and nutrition for a regatta. Now I’m going to switch things up a bit and talk about how the Yacht clubs can help the sailors during a regatta. There are different types of regatta’s that approach the idea of lunch on the water in different ways. Mainly in youth regattas you will find that at some point during the day the race committee stops and support boats hand out lunches on the water. Sometimes you will find the same in a larger regatta like a North Americans or US Championships. Yet still there are other regatta’s that do nothing for lunches and it is up to the sailors to provide themselves with some sort of nourishment on the water. At most every regatta you will be able to find water being passed out in between races. I don’t feel that any of these approaches are a bad idea, but I do think we can offer some better choices for the sailors that will benefit them and their regatta more. If any of you have gotten training from me or been to one of our seminars and heard me talk you know that one of my biggest gripes is the lunches that are served on the water. I would say that 95% of the lunches served on the water look something like this: -Sandwich on white bread with some variation of deli meat and cheese. -Packets of Mayo or mustard -Chips -Cookie While I wouldn’t recommend this lunch at any time I certainly would not recommend it while you are racing. Here are a few reasons why. White bread has the most sugar and the least nutritional content of any other type of bread. Deli meats and cheese are pretty heavy on your stomach and take a long time for the body to digest. Even if they are kept in a cooler they don’t last that long without starting to go bad. If they do last that long then we should wonder what they are putting in them to make them last. While some condiments have a great self

life they are hard to open and I have seen lots of them floating in the water. Sailors’ hands are slippery and so are those little packets! Chips are greasy and salty and hard for the body to digest. They give no nutritional value and certainly won’t boost your energy. Cookies are one of the worst. They are loaded with sugar and while they may give a quick sugar rush you will crash before you hit the first mark in the next race. Sugars and salts will leave you feeling thirsty and looking for more water than your stomach has room for if you ate the whole lunch. This type of lunch will make you feel full and give you a short burst of energy. The type of sugar in these items is a simple sugar and will breakdown quickly leaving your body feeling like it hit a wall rather then energizing it. Think about what you ate at Thanksgiving. It’s pretty similar to what this lunch looks like. Now think about what you did after you ate Thanksgiving dinner. Most people sat back and waited to digest so they could eat more. Did you loosen your belt buckle, take a nap, watch the game. I bet you didn’t feel like thinking on your toes and ducking under the boom a few times in hopes of crossing the line first! Yes, the food you eat can affect how you think as well. When your blood sugar levels get low it is hard for you to concentrate. If you can’t concentrate and think clearly then it is hard to make good tactical decisions on the water. You will get frustrated more easily which often times leads to loosing your focus. You have to keep your head in the game to put together a good regatta. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to help a yacht club with their meal planning for the North American Championships. It has always been my feeling that the money spent on those big lunches could be put to better use or to cut the registration fee. My suggestion was to provide the sailors with a nice breakfast each day and at least one nice dinner. On the water I suggested giving them a protein bar (key word here is “protein”) as much fruit as they wanted and as much water as they wanted. The first morning of racing came and the Yacht Club put out a wonderful breakfast. They had real bagels, cereal, toast, eggs, juice, milk, water and other traditional breakfast items. This same break-

fast was served every morning. I arranged for a company called EAS to help supply us with the bars. The Yacht club handed out as many bananas, apples, oranges and bars between each race as each sailor wanted. They also handed out tons of water. During the regatta they had a nice dinner as well. The cost of the regatta was down, as compared to most regattas, and the satisfaction of the sailors was up. I heard so many sailors stating that this was a better setup and how much they appreciated what had been done. I am encouraging the yacht clubs to consider revising their “traditional” meals and trying something like this. I am encouraging the sailors to try this out and to encourage their yacht clubs to adapt a new way of doing things! Let’s work together to make the sailors the best they can be. I am more than happy to help any club prepare for a regatta. On another note I would like to give a big congratulations to Anna Tunnicliffe ( www.annatunnicliffe.com ) and Andrew Campbell (www.campbellsailing.com ). They will be representing the Laser class at the 2008 Olympic Games. They have both worked very hard on their sailing and fitness and are a positive role model for all sailors. Please take a moment to look at their websites and don’t hesitate to make a donation. It takes a lot to put together a good campaign and it certainly doesn’t come for free. They are both very deserving. As always, if you want to hear about a certain topic or have any questions about this experiment feel free to contact me. You can always find me at www.sailfit.com or email directly to meka@sailfit.com. I look forward to hearing from you

SPRING 2008

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