The Laser Sailor Winter 2008 by Tracy Usher

WINTER 2008 6 continents, 122 countries - the biggest adult and youth racing class in the world

Winter Special!

25% off

January 1 - March 31, 2008

F ABRIC

ODYIII: 100% coated polyester with Softouch fleece backing. High-strength, abrasion and UV resistant. Gray. Harbortime: A soil, water and mildew resistant fabric of polyester for strength and UV resistance.

D ECK C OVER

Designed for trailering. Has 6" skirt with shockcord hem that wraps around hull. #8055 ODYIII ....................................................................$259.00

D ECK C OVER

WITH

S LEEVES

Trailering cover with three compartments sewn onto padding for mast & boom, to protect deck. #8058 ODYIII ....................................................................$369.00

E NVELOPE C OVER

Deck and hull cover joined by a zipper. The ultimate boat protection for trailering. #8054 ODYIII ....................................................................$329.00

H ULL C OVER

Designed for trailering. Has drain hole and 6" skirt with shockcord hem that wraps around deck. #8056 ODYIII ....................................................................$259.00

M AST & B OOM B AG

Order by phone 262-691-3320 or online www.harkencanvas.com

Three-compartment bag to hold mast and boom. #8057 Harbortime ...........................................................$109.00

B LADE B AG Three-compartment padded bag to carry rudder, tiller and daggerboard with large exterior mesh pocket. #8257 Padded Polyester ................................................$119.00

Custom Covers & Repairs

Prices do not include shipping or sales tax

1251 E. Wisconsin Ave., Pewaukee, WI 53072 Fax: 262-691-3008 â&#x20AC;˘ Email: canvas@harken.com

CANVAS

SPRING 2005

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

WINTER

2008

District Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Membership Stats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 From the Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Technical Tips: Be a Mentor- Help a Sailor . . . . . . . . .12 ILCA-NA Income Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 King of the Masters Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 2008 Event Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 US Olympic Trials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16-17 US SAILING Elite Youth Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Laser World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .center Fleet Profiles - Alamitos Bay & Wrightsville Beach . . . .20-23 Regatta Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-30 Pacific Coast Champs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26-27 Great Lakes Champs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28-29 ICSA & ISSA Champs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Ben Richardson Treasurer Phone: (978) 283-6983 benjaminrichardson@postharvard.edu

Canadian Youth Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

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

District Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34-39

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

2007 Vanguard NA Grand Prix Results . . . . . . . . . 32-33 Membership Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Sailing Fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Cover: Crowded mark rounding at Hawaii State Championships Photo: Sara Cox

BRITISH COLUMBIA

ALBERTA

SASKATCHEWAN

QUEBEC

MANITOBA

NEW BRUNSWICK

ONTARIO

WASHINGTON NORTH DAKOTA

OREGON

VERMONT

MONTANA MICHIGAN WYOMING

19 IOWA

PENNSYLVANIA

NEBRASKA

HAWAII

NEW 9 YORK

WISCONSIN

OHIO

UTAH

ILLINOIS

WEST VIRGINIA

KANSAS

23 25

MASSACHUSETTS RHODE ISLAND CONNECTICUT

NEW JERSEY

MARYLAND

KENTUCKY NORTH CAROLINA

MISSOURI

16 OKLAHOMA

ARIZONA

NEW HAMPSHIRE

VIRGINIA

COLORADO

CALIFORNIA

7 7

DELAWARE

INDIANA

NEVADA

NOVA SCOTIA

MAINE

MINNESOTA

SOUTH DAKOTA IDAHO

TENNESSEE ARKANSAS

SOUTH CAROLINA

NEW MEXICO TEXAS

GEORGIA LOUISIANA

PUERTO RICO AND THE CARIBBEAN

14 ALABAMA MISSISSIPPI

29 13 FLORIDA

District 1

District 9

District 18

Brian Mills, 71 Bristol Street, Fredricton, NB E3B 4W2 506-457-1580, bnmills@nb.sympatico.ca

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

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

District 2

District 10

District 19

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

Eric Reitinger er4599@gmail.com New Jersey

Sean Fidler Michigan smfidler@gmail.com

District 3

District 11

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

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

District 4

District 12

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

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

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

District 6

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

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

District 14

District 7

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

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

District 8 Ted Cremer, 7 Maple Street Blue Point, NY 11715. 631-363-8830, tcremer@optonline.net www.laserd8.tripod.com

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

District 15

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

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

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

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

District 22 Mike Gilbert, 1620 Gerald Ave. Missoula, MT 59801 406-327-7855, mike@gilbertarch.com

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

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

District 25 Nils Andersson, 6929 Wyoming Avenue, La Mesa, CA 91942 619-561-1722. nilssail@cox.net groups.yahoo.com/group/nalaserdistrict25

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

WINTER 2008

www.Laser.org

Reports President’s Notes TRACY USHER

Another sailing season has flown by, where does the time go? For me the big end to the season was the Master Worlds in Roses, Spain - at over 400 boats it was the largest Laser championship regatta ever held. Our Spanish hosts really did a fantastic job with not only great sailing but lots of fun events off the water. North America was quite well represented and it was fun to meet lots of “new” Masters sailors at the event. Congratulations to Peter Seidenberg and Deidre Webster for winning their divisions! Read more about this event later in this issue. The US Trials to select the representatives for the 2008 Olympics is now in the history books. Congratulations are in order to both Anna Tunnicliffe and Andrew Campbell for their well earned victories. Watching from afar, both the Radial and Laser Trials were nail biters with Anna and Paige Railey dueling through to the last day and Andrew locked into an epic battle with Brad Funk, finally winning on a tie breaker. I can’t tell you how many times each day I was hitting reload as I was trying to “watch” on the internet! The US will be quite well represented by Anna and Andrew next summer, let’s be sure to give them our support to help them bring home a medal. For those in the northern part of the North American Region, the Canadian Olympic Trials will be held as part of the 2008 Laser World Championship in Terrigal, in February, and the 2008 Radial World Championship in Auckland, New Zealand, in March. Since entries to these events are limited, there will be many fewer Canadians participating (than US sailors at the US Trials) especially as this is the last chance for countries to quality for Qingdao (hence “extra” berths are very limited). Still, the Canadian field looks tough and both fleets are shaping up to be a very interesting “regatta within a regatta!”

For the rest of us, its winter and many of us are thinking about other activities. But... remember that the only thing that can really stop a Laser regatta is frozen water! The days may be short, it may be cold or it may be raining (or worse) but if the water is liquid then there is no doubt a frostbite fleet near you out getting in some great winter racing. For example, things are already full blast for both the Cedar Point Yacht Club’s and Newport Fleet’s winter frostbite series. We’ve even gone into Frostbite mode here in San Francisco (which, strangely, feels about the same temperature as summer...) with 46 boats at our first event in December. So, no need to let those Laser skills get rusty over the winter! Check out the Laser Class website for a fleet near you!

As 2007 ends and we head into 2008, don’t forget to renew your Laser Class membership! By now everyone has received their first reminder in the mail, consider this your second! Renewing is easy, simply go to www.laser.org and renew online with a credit card. Renewing early helps us to better plan and organize events for the year, publish The Laser Sailor, maintain and improve the website, etc., everything that keeps the great game of Laser sailing marching forward. So, do it today! See you on the water!

Membership Reminder compliments of District 12 Its that time of year again, our membership letters are showing up in our mailboxes. If you didn’t know, you can renew your class membership through the ILCA NA website. For you junior sailors out there remind your parents that class membership letters fit nicely into your stocking.

Renew soon so you don’t miss out on a single issue of the Laser Sailor Magazine!

WINTER 2008

ILCA-NA Membership As of December 3, 2007 Age Categories: • 495 Juniors (not 18 in 2007) • 1251 Masters (35+) Regular Junior Family, 1 Family, 2 Family, 3 International Total

www.Laser.org

1566 495 248 84 4 1 2396

Gender Categories: • 2049 Male • 332 Female • 17 “undisclosed” Complimentary Honorary New Renewals Yacht Club

230 5 615 1545 3

Total

2396

Boat Categories: • 617 Radial • 12 4.7 • 1702 Full Rig District

Members

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

35 35 204 10 44 134 372 120 44 137 184 100 176 27 80 20 18 77 77 103 48 2 32 123 164 7

From the Builder 4.7 Sail Trim and Tuning NED JONES The 4.7 sail is very well designed. It works well through a broad wind range and makes Laser sailing accessible to sailors as light as 90 pounds and as heavy as 130 pounds. While sailing a 4.7 is very similar in most respects to sailing a full rig Laser or Radial, there are several sailing aspects unique to the 4.7. Because the sail is short along the foot, it must be moved aft in order to retain the proper sail balance. The bent mast moves the sail aft and correctly positions the center of effort of the sail over the boat. The 4.7 sail is easy to overtrim in light air. The sheet should not be brought in to two-block tension until the sailor is hiking. In light air, somewhere between 6 and 8 inches between the aft boom block and traveler block should be about right. In

moderate air, the blocks should be about 3 to 4 inches apart. Basically, if you are slow, try easing the sail. The point where you become overtrimmed will be obvious (you will slow down quickly) so keep easing the sail and trimming it in slowly until you find the sweet spot. In heavy air, tight sheet tension is needed to keep leech tension. 4.7 sailors should be extra careful to make sure and tie the clew tie down to get the clew tightened down as close as possible to the boom. Once you are easing the sail to keep the boat upright (instead of easing the sail to gain power), the vang should come on. The harder you are hiking, the more vang you should use. The bent mast means that there is always something of a hard spot in the sail right at the join of the two sections. Don’t use the Cunningham to eliminate this spot, as that will pull the draft too far forward, depower the sail and kill pointing. The Cunningham gets pulled on once the vang

starts coming on, basically in tandem with the vang. The outhaul is usually somewhat loose – about a hand span between the boom and sail (at the draft) should be right in most conditions. In overpowered conditions, you can pull on some extra outhaul, but don’t make it so flat that the sail loses all of its power down low. Downwind, the vang and Cunningham must be eased all the way. The speed loss from overtensioned vang and Cunningham is dramatic. One of the unique aspects of the 4.7 is that, in order to balance the boat downwind, it requires a bit more windward heel than the other rigs. This is because the bend in the mast is now positioning the sail further to leeward, consequently more windward heel is needed to position the rig directly over the boat. Sailing 4.7s seems to be great training for learning techniques that will serve sailors throughout their Radial and Laser sailing careers.

WINTER 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 $755

Kitty Hawk 1, Galvanized

$650

Spar Partners® (pair)

$ 27

Spar Partners® (pair for cunn/ohaul upgrade)

$ 28

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)

$ 28

Two-Boat Adapter (you glue together)

$160

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

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

Technical Tips Be a MentorHelp a new sailor MARK LAMMENS Sailing is a great sport for many different ages that participate. A typical club race could be won by a 15 year old and then the next race won by a 45+ year old. It is important that when the sailing gets a little more difficult, when it gets windy and physical, the young sailor or the new sailor still need to focus on their development, their technique, racing skills or mental skills, and not get frustrated and go in. Having the top veteran sailors helping with the new members of the fleet will make the apprenticeship into this type of sailing more pleasant and will keep them coming back for more. Having more quality sailors in the fleet ensures the racing is more enjoyable. Racing in a big strong local fleet benefits everyone, especially when it is your club race. A strong fleet at your club means you do not have to travel too far to get good racing. The good skilled sailor in the fleet helping out others is called mentoring. Mentoring focuses on the sailor’s development, it is first and foremost a relationship. It is a voluntary process that calls for a flexible and accepting environment. It provides support, the opportunity to acquire skills and knowledge and the camaraderie necessary to share needs and concerns. Good sailors become better as they refine their skills in a process of nurturing young and new sailors, while the young and developing sailor grows toward excellence in a supportive environment. Objectives for mentoring, 1. Assist in the integration of developing sailors into a culture of competitive environment. 2. Foster the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes consistent with competitive racing and sailors. 3. Offer experienced sailors the opportunity to share their knowledge and expertise. 4. Cultivate a commitment to life long learning. 5. Promote the personal and professional well being of all participants, sailors, coaches, officials and other sport leaders. Some sailors easily fill this role, some of the top racers are asked to come back to a club or regatta to help out youth sailors. Clubs and teams can ask top athletes or

retired racers to be a guest expert, and or youth/fleet mentor. Some of the required traits to becoming an effective mentor and effective quest expert are 1. Genuine interest in sailing and assisting others 2. Ability to gain respect and acceptance of other sailors 3. Ability to work with other sailors, youth and adult 4. Willingness to respect others. 5. Expertise such as a current or past ranked athlete, or other sport areas. 6. Demonstrate mentor like characteristics such as, •Pursuit of common vision or purpose •Help/empower others to make own decisions •Innovative, explores new ways of doing things •Model behaviors that are positive, consistent and appropriate •Celebrate other sailors achievements and show pride in their accomplishments Mentor Characteristics Sensitive

photo above: 4 generations of Laser sailors impart their wealth of Laser sailing experience to Colin Smith. l-r: Tom Lihan, Colin Smith, Peter Commette & Brad Funk. John Payne photo. ment into sailing. It is very crucial component to the local development for them and local racing. Sharing the information, strategies and techniques from a windy day of racing or training, the critical reflection of mutual struggles and challenges ensures a better more positive learning experience.

Patient

Creative

Kind

Concerned

Supportive

Sincere

Committed

Flexible

Secure

Helpful

Consistent

Caring

Skilled in Communication

Honest

Tactful

Encouraging

Empowering

People oriented

Intuitive

Energetic

Confident

Organized

Approachable

How does the sailing mentor work? Sailors that have goals to become a good sailor or a better sailor or want to qualify for the Youth Teams, National Teams or even Olympic Teams need quite a bit of assistance to get there. A mentor can assist them with ensuring they are doing the right activities as well as being a receptive, supportive and concerned voice of reason. Mentorship can be very formal with organized meetings or it can be very informal with casual discussion on the beach or dock after a day of racing. A mentor can also be a peer, the benefit of a very good functioning team. Being a good mentor gives back to the sailing, to the local fleet and club. A new sailor that interacts with an effective mentor gets significant support at an important time in their initial involve-

photo below: the before photo is above; after photo is below. All in fun...

WINTER 2008

ILCA - NA Income Statement for the Year Ended September 30, 2007 Actual

Actual

Oct 06-Sept 07

Oct 05-Sep 06

Oct 04-Sep 05

Oct 03-Sep 04

Ordinary Income/Expense Income Laser World Credits

2,006

Interest

1,435

The Laser Sailor Ad Sales

29,545

Mailing List Sales

350

Google Ad Sales

1,387

Merchandise Sales Membership Vanguard Payments Total Income

2,940

6,634

27,075

23,755

1 22,345

1,708

305

275

78,246 22,500

79,491 25,000

81,448 23,385

75,775 26,180

135,774

136,214

135,498

124,300

3,293

7,464

7,121 420

2,641 2,520

3,293

7,464

7,541

5,161

Expense ExCom Expense Executive Sec. Travel ExCom Expense - Other Total ExCom Expense Member support Misc. District Support

219 81

404 85

1,872

2,684

2,049

3,010

ILCA Dues

23,748

23,462

41,612

23,468

Insurance

1,864

1,843

2,050

2,540

2,319 96

2,318 18

2,573 194

1,521 339

2,415

2,336

2,767

2,034

14,916

26,754

29,158

13,430

5,682 122

6,362

5,439

7,439 569

20,720

33,116

34,597

21,438

Bank Charges Foreign Currency Exchange Credit Card Fees Bank Charges - Other Total Bank Charges

173

TheLaser Sailor Printing Mailing Costs TheLaser Sailor - Other Total TheLaser Sailor Association Fees

300

365

360

358

Web site hosting and design

1,363

1,002

600

583

Online data base design

5,205

495

1,000 0

495

1,000

833

370

Professional Fees Accounting Professional Fees - Other Total Professional Fees Advertising

390 390

375 375

1,417

Office Expense Printing

355

1,484

2,827

Phone

435

796

1,724

2,173

252

1,492

5,521 56

7,045

6,111 394

4,571 1,313

6,367

7,841

9,965

12,376

3,489 45,000

2,184 45,000

757 43,950

3,443 40,800

48,489

47,184

44,707

44,243

117,524

127,941

147,660

116,985

18,250

8,273

-12,162

7,315

Mail Machine Lease Postage Office Expense - Other Total Office Expense Contract labor Incentives Contract labor - Other Total Contract labor Total Expense Net Income

www.Laser.org

King of the Masters Series You can be King of the Masters for 2008! The winter Masters circuit will have four different regattas to determine who is the King or Queen. The circuit starts in Cabarete with the 6th Caribbean Laser Midwinter Regatta. The three other events are Florida Masters at Palm Beach Sailing Center www.pbsail.org/ , Midweek Madness at USSCMC, Jensen Beach www.usscmc.org/ , and Masters Midwinters East at Melbourne Yacht Club, www.melbourneyachtclub.com/ . Each event will run under the Master handicap system. Sailors will be allowed to alternate between Radial and Full Rigs as specified for Masters events. The ‘King of the Masters’, will be the sailor with the best overall position in the four events, allowing one event to be discarded. The King will be crowned at the last event, the Masters Midwinters East held this year at Melbourne Yacht Club. Dates for the events are: Caribbean Laser Midwinters Florida Masters Midweek Madness Masters Midwinters East

Jan 11–13, 2008 Feb 9-10, 2008 Feb 12-13, 2008 Feb 15-17, 2008

Notice of Race (NOR) for each event with additional local information will be on the ILCA – NA website http://www.laser.org/ as well as each sponsoring organizations site. The King will enjoy bragging rights in the Masters kingdom. The Laser Training Center, in Cabarete www.caribwind.com/ltc has generously offered to reward the King with a stay in a Cabarete hotel and participation in a high performance Laser clinic. The clinic will be held by Head coach Javier Rulo Borojovich, who has been the coach of many top 20 senior sailors. Can you see yourself wearing the crown?

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.

WINTER 2008

2008 Schedule Regatta

Laser

World Championship

Terrigal, Australia

ISAF Grade 1

February 4-13

NA Championship 40 GP pts. ISAF Grade 1

Radial

Laser 4.7

Masters

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

Trogir, Croatia

Terrigal, Australia

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

August 22-29

February 17-23

San Francisco, CA St. Francis Yacht Club

Ft. Lauderdale, FL www.lyc.org February 14-17

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

30 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 2

Long Beach, CA Alamitos Bay YC August 8-10

CORK

Kingston, ON

www.cork.org

30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 1

August 16-20

Midwinters East

Clearwater, FL

www.clwyc.org

30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 1

Feb 21-24

Feb 15-17

Midwinters West

San Diego, CA Mission Bay YC March 28-30

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

Miami, FL

www.ussailing.org/olympics

ISAF Grade 1

Jan 27-Feb 2

Atlantic Coast Championships 25 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 2

Brant Beach, NJ Brant Beach YC July 12-13

Pacific Coast Championships

Monterey, CA

Monterey Peninsula YC

25 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 2

August 1-3

Gulf Coast Championships

Ft. Myers, FL

25 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 3

April 19-20

No Coast Championships 25 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 3

Atlanta, CA Lake Lanier YC October 11-12

Great Lakes Championships

D20

Rolex Miami OCR

New Bedford, MA

June 20-22

Brant Beach, NJ Brant Beach YC July 12-13

25 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 3

www.Laser.org

The past three years of my life have been the most exciting and eventful years ever. I’m very happy that I have won the Trials and can go on to represent the USA at the Olympic Games in 2008, but even if I hadn’t have won, its like somebody once said...its about the journey, not the destination, and for that reason alone, I will definitely campaign again in the next quad.

Zeke Horowitz

Anna Tunnacliffe

US OLYMPIC TRIALS

Perspectives from the sailors and John Payne, photographer.

Amanda Taselaar

Andrew Campbell

This trials was by far one of the most difficult events that I have ever sailed physically, mentally and emotionally. The chilly weather, combined with the relentless breeze and open water, on top of eight days of racing over such a short period really exhausted everybody in the fleet. Keeping focused and motivated was a constant effort because all the conditions were really working against us. I really was not all that comfortable with my boatspeed in more than 12 knots of breeze and had worked extremely hard over the years leading into this trials, but to have a windy event be the Olympic selection criteria, there was no other option but to try and improve. An injury in the spring while training made it all that much more difficult to get back up to speed before October, but because the regatta was my third Laser trials (Apr 2000 in San Fran, and Oct 2003 in Houston) I knew what to expect and how to prepare myself to win. All the preparation in the world doesn’t make the regatta any easier. The US Olympic Trials was one of the most grueling experiences of my life. It toughened me mentally and physically. The many hours on the water made my legs burn and my arms tremble. Also, it took lots of mental strength in order for me to keep going. Since I was one of the smallest and youngest participating in the regatta, I had to push myself to start each race. However, I am so grateful that I completed the series because now I feel like I can sail any regatta that comes my way. This regatta was many levels up from what I am used to and because of that, I learned so much.

Kyle Rogachenko 16

Maggie Shea

The Olympic Trials event in Newport was such an exciting regatta because there was such a distilled fleet of girls who had been training hard and were all at the top of their game. The conditions were epic for the duration of the regatta, with the exception of one or two races. I know I wasn’t alone in being excited to watch Anna and Paige fight for the top spot. Those two really set the bar high for the next quadrenneum.

Sailing an Olympic Trials is unlike any other regatta. In the last couple weeks before the event starts, nothing matters except training your hardest and staying healthy. Sure everyone tries their best at a World or National Championship but at an Olympic Trials you will see who is sailing to the best of their potential and really wants to win. This year was a huge learning experience for me. I may not have finished as well as I wanted to but I saw how much more I need to do to prepare myself so that in four more years I will be ready to give it another shot.

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Ben Richardson

I was excited to hear that the Trials would be held so close to my home. With minimal time back in the boat I finished 4th in the Pre-Trials last year and began planning a concentrated campaign. I wanted badly to finish in the top-5, but I am happy to still be able to do it at this level at 32 and can't wait for the Master's Worlds. The important thing is that not everyone has a chance to compete to finish in the top-10. Everyone out there should make sure that they do a better job of enjoying it the first time when the pressure is on, because you won't necessarily have that chance to come back and do it right.

It was definitely one of the most challenging events and one of the best learning experiences I have ever had. One of the coolest parts was simply being there around all the excitement. My expectations were not all that high, but getting to watch and be a part of the close racing that decided our Olympic representative was an unparalleled experience. By far the best part of the whole regatta was hearing Andrew Campbell at the award ceremony brought to tears by his own words about how grateful he was for all the support he got from his family, and how proud he was of himself and of his “brother” Brad Funk who has been with him the whole time. It is that kind of friendship and camaraderie that draws me so much to this sport. I hope to be there in a few years.

Michelle Davis

I had a great time at the Trials. I knew I wasn’t going to win, so that meant I had nothing to lose and could just sail as well as I could and see where I ended up. It was such a long regatta so I was able to see changes in my performance; the first 3 days I was a little discombobulated and probably a little intimidated to be at ‘The Trials’ then the next 3 days I hit a groove, dropped the ball completely on the shifty 7th day, and was just tired by the last day. I left with a very clear understanding of my greatest weaknesses in the Radial (downwind mostly) and my performance ceiling, so I know better how to train for the Laser Masters Worlds in Australia this February. I am honored to have been able to spend a week sailing among some of the country’s best, and in mostly very nice conditions!

I was one of the youngest competitors at the trials and this experience has encouraged me to race again in four years. Hopefully I still have two more trials in me. I think I need to mature both physically and mentally to be at the top of my game. I now appreciate the dedication and commitment of those sailors that I raced against and this has inspired me.

Ian Sutherland

Katie Smith

For me, since I only had about 20 days of my life in a laser, the Olympic Trials was a time for me to try to improve every race and soak in as much as I could from all the talent around me, which was a drastically different approach than the majority of my competitors. I had to rely on my past sailing experiences to get me through this event rather than my laser sailing. I learned from this event about myself that even after I enter the working world (the sad world of not being able to sail 6 days a week), my desire to compete and take sailing to a higher level in a variety of boats was much further ignited. Even though this event was an Olympic qualifier, and the racing was competitive, I was reminded about all the reasons why I love to sail- the main being all the great people you meet along the way- and with that reminder, I will continue to compete as much as I can!

Alec Payne

Two days before the Trials started, the doctor at my boarding school told me I had pneumonia. I was so sad that I couldn’t sail in the trials. Susie Pegel, a nice sailor at the Last Chance Regatta, gave up her spot so that someone could get the experience of going to the Trials. When I finally got clearance to sail, most of the racing was over. But, that didn’t matter as much as I was so excited to sail. There are four moments that are most memorable to me: (1) Putting on my competitor badge at the Opening Ceremony at New York Yacht Club. (2) Getting a really good start for my first race (race 12). (3) Finishing my third race of the day after flipping and then smashing my finger under my tiller after a crazy jibe at t e last mark. (4) Being one of the first to hug Anna on shore when she won.

www.Laser.org

US SAILING Names Top Youth Sailors to 2008 Elite Youth Development Sailing Team US SAILING has named six of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top youth singlehanded sailors to the 2008 US Elite Youth Development Sailing Team. Launched by US SAILING in 2007, this team was created for young athletes who have been identified as future Olympic prospects. Three Laser Radial and three Laser Full Rig sailors were selected for the 2008 team from a pool of over 40 applicants. In addition, five individuals were named as Honorable Mention candidates.

organization provides leadership for the sport of sailing in the United States. US SAILING offers training and education programs for instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including National Championships and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Teams. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org.

The Laser Radial team members include: Emily Billing (Clearwater, Fla.), Anne Haeger (Lake Forest, Ill.), and Sarah Lihan (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.). The Laser Full Rig team members include: Luke Lawrence (Palm City, Fla.), Kyle Rogachenko (Collegeville, Pa.), and Derick Vranizan (Seattle, Wash.). Honorable Mention sailors are Claire Dennis (Saratoga, Calif.) and Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) in the Laser Radial, and Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.), Zack Marks (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Royce Weber (Surf City, N.J.) in the Laser Full Rig. The Elite Youth Development Team provides its members with national coaching, educational, administrative, and financial-support structure. To help these young athletes gain more sailing experience at the highest levels, team members travel to major international regattas and are supported by elite-level coaches. The Honorable Mention candidates, a new distinction added for the 2008 season, will be able to gain access to elite-level coaches at events attended by the team. The teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initial focus is on the singlehanded classes. Over time, the intention is to broaden the program to also include other Olympic classes. For more information on the US Elite Youth Development Sailing Team, please visit the team web site at www.ussailing.org/olympics/EYDT/2008/team. asp. The US Elite Youth Development Sailing Team is managed by US SAILING, national governing body of the sport. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, the 18

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ILCA-NA Fleet Review Alamitos Bay YC Fleet Long Beach California District 25 http://www.fleetracing.net/index.cfm?fleet_id=15 . Fleet Captain: Steven Smith salaor@sbcglobal.net

Sailing Venue The ABYC Laser Fleet launches from their paved boatyard via a ramp into the club yacht basin and the protected waters of Alamitos Bay. ABYC has direct access to one of the “Best Racing Venues in the U”S according to the Scuttlebutt Panel of Experts. Scuttlebutt has this to say about “Long Beach, CA. July-Sept, good breeze 12-18 kts, plenty of sunshine. “Water a little cool. No storms to worry about.” - Rick Merriman. “Great moderate breeze and fairly reliable”- Zack Leonard. “Dependable moderate winds pretty much year round. Great place to develop boat speed”.- Mark Reynolds. Casual club races and practice for our Junior program take place in Alamitos Bay. Scheduled regattas are mostly contested in the inner waters of Long Beach Harbor. If sailors make a short sail out the causeway and turn west, excellent racing conditions can be found behind the harbor breakwater. Other racing conditions are found if you turn east from the causeway, where sailors can encounter swells and breeze of the open ocean.

Racing Program & Activities The Holiday Regatta Schedule (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Halloween and Turkey Day) at ABYC attracts the largest Laser/Radial Fleets along with club events throughout the year. Due to our mild Mediterranean climate, racing takes place year-round. The Holiday Regattas each have a theme food, drink & social event while the club hosts seasonal social events for children and adults. During the summer, several Laser sailors do take advantage of long days to practice in the traditionally fresh late day breezes of Long Beach. Laser sailors also participate year round in race management with the Laser Fleet hosting one major racing event and one monthly ABYC membership 20

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meeting during the year. The signature aprĂ¨s sailing event on the ABYC calendar is the traditional Turkey Day Regatta dinner held following the first day of racing. A full-on turkey dinner with all the trimmings leaves no competitor hungry. The Labor Day Luau is also an annual treat with food, drink and music, while other regattas feature a post-race Burger Bash on the club house patio.

The best thing about the ABYC Fleet... The healthy and growing mix of female and male Juniors, young adults and Masters racing together.

Attracting new sailors to the fleet Word of mouth attracts sailors interested in dinghy racing to what many agree is the most active and accessible small boat racing yacht club in the Los Angeles area. Once they experience our easy access to Long Beach sailing conditions, fleet competition and the facilities ABYC has to offer, it is not difficult to get their signature on a membership application.

Last Words The ABYC Laser Fleet is hosting the 2008 Laser National Championships August 8-10, 2008 as well as Laser and Radial fleets for the 2008 US SAILING Youth Worlds Qualifier Regatta January 18-21, 2008. Along with the Laser Midwinters West, Laser North Americans and Laser PCCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all being held in California in 2008, we expect a busy season of Laser and Radial racing at ABYC next year. Come join us! photos courtesy of Rich Roberts, George Griswold and the Beckhams.

www.Laser.org

ILCA-NA Fleet Review Wrightsville Beach Fleet Wrightsville Beach, NC District 12

www.d12.laserforum.org Fleet Captains: Doug Sherwood Glenn Walker e-mail:LaserDistrict12@gmail.com

Sailing Venue

The Carolina Yacht Club is located at 401 S. Lumina Avenue; Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina and on the web at www.carolinayachtclub.org. Wrightsville Beach is a beautiful sandy beach separating inland waterways from the Atlantic Ocean. The club is located on the southern end of the island and can readily be found from land or water by looking for the water tower located near the lot full of boats. The club is very unique having two fronts, one on the Ocean and one on the sound. Both sides are equally important providing two very different and very challenging venues. The sound side is comprised of interconnecting channels and the Intercoastal Waterway providing a route from the sound to the ocean. With shifty winds and changing tides, the sound is far from simple. The sound side provides a wonderful launch site for Lasers, Sunfish, Lightning’s and anything else with a sail. With two concrete ramps, a sandy beach, and a lift, it makes getting in and out of the water too easy to resist. Now for the Ocean! Just a 45 minute sail from the launch area you round the jetty and can sail as far as you desire. The ocean winds are steadier and sometimes even predictable, but the waves bring a whole new variable into the equation. Some days are tranquil, smooth sailing where it is easy to be distracted by dolphin a few yards off the bow. Others are hike hard and hold on for the ride of your life! Some days will even make you question why you are sailing a laser instead of just swimming without an upside down boat next to you. Never the less, during the sail back in to the club, you will always remember that one wave you surfed downwind and smile.

Racing Program & Activities

The Carolina Yacht Club goes out of its way to take full advantage of the venues by providing boats, marks and most importantly experienced race committee. CYC hosts a weekly “Fun Sail” every Thursday during the summer providing an opportunity for both new and experienced sailors with an excuse to leave work just a little early. Fun sail racing takes place in Banks Channel which is for a short moment in time completely taken over by sailors. Summer Series consist of two venues, the Sound and the Ocean which continue into September. One Tuesday a month is devoted to the Sound Series and one Saturday a month going to ocean racing. This brings us to the Fall Series (October-December) with one race a month in the sound. Finally, for those of us that can’t get enough, frostbiting continues once a month through the winter until spring rolls around again. The best thing about sailing at Wrightsville Beach is that you never have to stop sailing!

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Martin Willard gonecat@bellsouth.net (one of District 12’s top sailors) serves at our Fleet Captain. Martin keeps us all both informed and inspired. Thanks Martin for all of the years of dedication and we wish you luck at this year’s Laser Worlds!

The best thing about the WB Fleet is....

One of the best things about our Laser Fleet in addition to the venue is the sailors. We have all levels from beginners and “returners” to sailors who seem to have been born on a Laser. On any one day you will easily find 13 Lasers on the line, waiting to challenge your skills.

Last Words

Regardless of how you finish you will always leave knowing something more than you did when you arrived. Whether trivial or complex, each sailor openly shares all knowledge that he or she thinks will make the Laser go faster. Some sailors in our fleet also know how to host a gathering. Special thanks to Chip & Arland Whitesides for kicking off last year’s Frostbiting New Years Day dinner and to John & Sophia Fragakis for the Frostbite Finale dinner.

www.Laser.org

Masters Sailing Spanish Lessons BILL SYMES For me, every race is a learning experience. The bigger the regatta, the bigger the lessons, and a world championship is the biggest regatta of all. So, following our recent trip to Roses, Spain, for the 2007 Laser Masters World Championships, I decided to sit down and record some of the lessons learned (or re-learned, since most of this stuff I should already know!). Pre-Regatta We arrive in Roses, a two-hour drive northeast of Barcelona, under gray skies, showers, and a building northeasterly (offshore) breeze. By morning, the skies have cleared and the Tramantana, as they call this wind, has built up to 30 knots with gusts in the 40s. The Med is a sea of white froth under a deep blue sky. I decide to skip my practice sail and instead Laura and I drive out to explore the white-washed coastal village of Cadeques, picture-perfect home to Dali and some of his pals. Lesson 1: Practice is good, but discretion is the better part of valor. The Tramantana continues to blow for the next couple of days, shutting down all sailing activities and turning the 400+ Lasers on the beach into big sand hills. Fortunately, there are more quaint towns to be explored and more Dali detritus to blow our minds. The training program is starting to suffer though; my new diet consists of lots of fried squid and vino tinto. Lesson 2: There’s more to a regatta than sailboat racing. On Friday evening, Laura (Madame Secretary of the NA Laser Class Association) throws a big party by the hotel pool for all the North American sailors, 29 from the US and 11 from Canada, plus assorted wives, partners, and offspring.

What a great group of people this is; what a thrill to be a part of it! Day 1 Racing gets under way Sunday afternoon in a fresh southeasterly and lumpy seas–full hiking conditions. The starting line is about 300 meters long (you can barely see one end from the other) but the 75-boat grand master fleet is very aggressive and front row seats at the favored pin end are hard to come by. I am too tentative, cannot find a lane, and wind up deep in the herd struggling for air while the leaders sail away. I round the top mark mid-fleet, but find another gear downwind (all those hours in the Gorge!) and, by the final run, I am counting less than 10 boats ahead. But in my zeal to squeeze out that last ounce of speed, I forget to stay right side up. After a particularly ugly death roll (literally: my falling mast missed fellow American John Bentley’s head by inches), I finish 13th. Race 2 follows pretty much the same script: dismal start followed by respectable recovery effort (no capsizes this time), resulting in a 12th. Lesson 3: Victory does not go to the timid. Nor does it go to the frantic. Day 2 Pretty much like Day 1: breeze on, big waves, hungry fleet, looooong starting line (but how cool is it to have an ancient hillside castle for a line sight?!). Hopefully got some of the bad stuff out of my system yesterday. In fact, my first start is stellar and I am launched, but it turns out to be a general recall. Back to my old strategy: spot the fleet a nice head start and spend the rest of the race trying to catch up. This actually works out not that bad (my downwind mojo is still working), and I’m happy to end the day with a 7th and an 8th. Lesson 4: Never, never, never, give up (or, as Yogi Berra says, it ain’t over ’til it’s over). I’m now sitting in 10th place, and the pecking order is starting to take shape. In front with three bullets in four races is 4time Laser Masters world champion and

2-time Olympian Mark Bethwaite from Australia. A major player in Laser Masters since the early nineties, Mark is a great sailor, especially in a breeze, and a heavy favorite to take home another title. Hot on his heels, though, are 2003 Laser Master world champion Anders Sörensson from Sweden and fellow Australian ace Jack Schlachter. Rounding out the top 10 are an ex-Finn world champion from Sweden and some impossibly young and fit-looking Germans, Brits and Aussies. I think we need to start checking IDs. Day 3 The sea breeze is starting to fade. Race 5 gets under way in sloppy seas and 8-10 knots. Conventional wisdom thus far has been to go left (towards shore) and turn right on the layline. But today the recipe is not so simple. Boats are arriving at the top mark from all directions, and there are a lot of new faces in the lead group. I find some fresh air on the right and, though my offwind edge is a bit duller in this stuff (we don’t get many light air days in the Gorge), I’m able to hold on for 10th. I get a few more breaks in race 6 and–finally!–break into the top 5. Several of the leading sailors wind up with throwouts today, and I go into the mid-week break standing in 7th place. Lesson 5: The pack is usually going the right way–but not always. Keep your head out of the boat and pay attention to what’s happening. Lay Day Good thing this is our day off; the sea is like glass. Laura and I meet up with Christie Usher and Rob and Marilyn Hodson for a day trip across the border to the fabled French town of Collioure. Rick Steves calls this place “paradise reclaimed” and Collioure lives up to the billing; a pristine little harbor surrounded by stone towers and castle walls, steep cobblestone streets lined with pastel shops and cafés, like something out of a painting by Matisse (which, in fact, it is). We settle into a beachside café to enjoy a leisurely lunch of croque monsieurs and a bottle of local

WINTER 2008

white wine, and the American girls make our French waiter Fredo’s day by posing with him for a photo (it’s in the mail, Fredo). Day 4 After sitting through nearly four hours of postponements and recalls, we finally get a race off in light air and lumpy seas. These are not my favorite conditions, but either everybody else is getting tired or the planets are lining up my way, as I am able to power over a flock of boats on the final reach to finish 4th (best yet!). Lesson 6 (with apologies to Donald Rumsfeld): You sail in the wind you have, not the wind you might wish to have. Later that evening, we put on clean shorts and walk across town to the official regatta party, a splendid affair in the ruins of a Roman fortress. They met us at the entrance with a glass of Cava (the champagne of Catalonia) and we proceed to eat, drink, dance, and laugh the night away with 400 other Laser sailors from around the world. The agonies and ecstasies of the race course fade away, and we are again reminded why we keep coming to the Laser Master Worlds. Lesson 7: See Lesson 2. Day 5 The breeze is getting really squirrelly now. More postponements, more recalls, more waiting around for the race committee to tweak the line or the course. Finally we get going on what turns out to be a real roller coaster of a race. First I’m up (decent start, clear lane, hanging with the lead group), then down (miss a shift at the top of the beat, sucked back into the peloton), then up (after a spectacular reach and run, rounding the leeward gate with the lead group), then down (running out of gas on the right side of the second beat), then upside down (sitting becalmed and watching a parade of white sails cross over on the left side), then, miraculously, back up–or at least back even–as an RC inflatable races down the course tooting its horn and flying the abandonment flag. Lesson 8: Practice often, hike hard, and sail smart, but don’t forget to say your Hail Marys. Day 6 Anxiety is running high on the beach

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today. It’s the final day of the regatta, with many top-10 slots still in play. I stand in 6th, with a slight chance of moving up (as high as 3rd) and a slightly better chance of moving down (as low as 8th). Adding to the tension is the forecasted return of the dreaded Tremantana, although as we leave the beach and sail out to the course, a light sea breeze is blowing. The RC holds us in postponement waiting for the wind to shift, and sure enough, after a couple of hours we get the first offshore puffs. As the new breeze fills in, the RC sets a course, tucking the windward mark up under that hillside castle that used to be our line sight. This is a whole new ballgame–flat water, puffs in the high teens, lulls under 10, very shifty. I elect to start at the leeward end and, overcoming my starting line insecurities at last, win the pin. I’m bow out, hiking hard, leading the charge to the left side–no one is going to roll me this time! Two-thirds of the way out to the layline, I tack to port and appear to be crossing the entire fleet. But before I can get across, a huge right-hand shift comes in and now it looks like 20+ starboard tackers are crossing me. I play the last quarter of the beat tacking on the headers, leading the fleet back into the middle (this is sailboat racing!) and arrive, out of breath, second at the weather mark. I take off toward the reach mark, but the lead boat, Nick Livingstone of the UK, turns downwind and I have to make a split second decision: which one of us is sailing the right course? I decide I am, try to hail Nick, and keep going (he eventually re-joins the parade in 4th). I lead to the leeward mark, but just barely; it’s very hard to make any gains downwind without waves to ride. As we turn back up the second beat, I start to stumble. Bethwaite crosses on the first shift, then Michael Nissen of Germany, then Doug Peckover and Ted Moore of the US (damn, these people are fast up here!). But I decided way back at the start this was going to

be my race, and, sure enough, after rounding the bottom mark in 4th, I split with the leaders, find a little booster shot on the left, and nip Bethwaite at the finish line for the bullet. Life is good (I just hope I wasn’t OCS) The thrill of victory is short-lived. Lining up for the 10th and final race, I promptly forget everything I learned in the previous race and revert back to form: fourth row start at the committee boat and a long, hard slog back to 10th place. But I sail back to the beach a happy man; any day you can win a race at the worlds is a good day. Lesson 9: Every dog has his day, but it can be a very short day. Enjoy it while it lasts. Afterthoughts My finishes on the final day hoisted me into 5th place (no OCS!), which means I get to take home one of the coveted Laser championship “cubes” and will get my name enshrined in the record book. So I’m happy, and will try not to dwell on what might have been had I not faded in the last race. That’s sailboat racing. Mark Bethwaite won a much-deserved 5th Laser Masters world championship. He is an awesome sailor. Michael Nissen, Anders Sörensson, and Jack Schlachter, all first year Grand Masters, wound up 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Every year, the fleet gets younger and faster. I guess I can take heart in the fact that in just five more years I’ll graduate into the Great Grand Master category, and then I’ll be the youngest guy in the fleet again! Who says growing old doesn’t have its rewards? Lesson 10: The older you are, the faster you were!

Regatta Reports The Fat Lady Sings Pacific Coast Championships on San Francisco Bay

JOHN MACELWEE

For those laser sailors who travelled to San Francisco from as far away as Canada, Long Island and the Virgin Islands expecting heavy air conditions for the Pacific Coast Championships (PCCs), well let’s just say that Mother Nature — Brunhilde — in her Viking helmet and pounding staff — did not disappoint. For the event, hosted by the Treasure Island Sailing Center (TISC) held on August 10th through 12th, the Grand Dame even mocked the local heroes who thought they could handle her as she delivered 30 plus knots of wind speed and giant enveloping swells. Some of us who sail out of TISC, which has its Thursday night laser series in the fairly tranquil harbor of Clipper Cove located on the south side of the Island, had a preview of what was to unfold on the Sunday prior to the PCCs. Our neighbor from the mainland, Laser class president and St. Francis YC fleet captain Tracy Usher, took us on a tag-along ride of the race course in San Francisco Bay, which was north of Treasure Island and east of Angel Island, an area I began to call the Abyss. Just as soon as you pass the northern tip of Treasure with your confidence high, the wind and the waves develop eerily and, before you know it, Brunhilde transports you back in time to when you weighed 105 pounds and the hull of the boat was either vertical or the boom was having bat practice on your noggin. Early on in the tagalong, as we rounded the channel buoy, I had my first of many turtles. When I righted the boat, fairly easily, I was surprised to hear the applause of a crowd assembled on the deck of a passing Golden Gate ferry. Indeed, that was just the first few notes of an overture to a very long Wagner opera. The festivities began on Thursday night when a number of visiting sailors raced in our evening series that we share with Vanguard 15 fleet at Clipper Cove, which I discovered is named for the Pan Am Airships that used to land there. While we follow the rules for our series, and have

female sailors, we are somewhat “brotherly” in our understanding. As I attempted to pass one of our Southern California guests on a downwind leg, he insisted on heading me up to the opposite shore of Yerba Buena Island. With my mind on the barbecue and the Sierra Nevada that was to be enjoyed shortly, I voluntarily depowered. It was at the barbecue, sponsored by our local laser dealer – Svendsen’s Marine — that we had a chance to meet the somewhat angelic, and probably immortal, brother and sister team of Derick and Erika Vranizan from the Seattle Yacht Club, sailing full and radial rigs respectively. The two would go on to dominate the event. On Friday, the first race day, 81 boats, about half full rigs and half radials and a few brave 4.7s, left the Cove for the Abyss. It was blowing 22 knots when we entered the starting area, certainly manageable although the swells were not, but when we left, it was blowing a steady 33. Many racing, and a few, like me, not, could handle the breeze especially the reaches and downwind legs. The reaches were indeed deafening — The Ride of the Valkyries turned up to Spinal Tap volume –“11.” For the downwind legs, it was the first time I had submarined on a laser, when entire hull goes completely underwater. As the boat rose to surface unscathed each time, I made a mental note to write a thank you to laser designer Bruce Kirby. After the first day, in the full rigs, Derick Vranizan was in first, Tracy Usher, who defies the age argument, was second and David Fagen of the US Naval Sailing Association was in third. For the radials, Adam Deermount of Newport Harbor YC was in first, Max Nickbarg of the St. Thomas YC (VI) was in second, and Alex Vaught of the Alamitos Bay YC and was third. Domenic Bove from San Francisco YC dominated the 4.7 fleet. On Saturday, the second day of racing, Brunhilde decided to turn up the volume a bit. Winds between Angel Island and Treasure Island were a steady 25 knots with gusts to 30 to 35 at the start of the first race. One of the 30 to 35 blasts came right at the start. There were many capsized and turtled boats (including mine) at the starting line and also around the windward mark where it was very difficult to the find

your magic six foot wave let alone your boat. I noticed a number of lasers headed to a distant reaching mark which puzzled me until I realized they were heading back to Clipper Cove. Reports of lost rudders and booms were heard and I am still recovering from the heartbreaking loss of my water bottle. Instead of the gun signaling the start of the second race, we heard the sound of two guns which was followed by the red and white flag and racing was over for the day. The fat lady had sung. We had surrendered to Brunhilde. For the Saturday race, Derick Vranizan again took first. Peter Vessella (St. Francis YC) was second, and Brian Malouf from Sequoia YC (Redwood City) took third. In the radials, Adam Deermount took his third first, Shoreline Laser Fleet captain Roger Herbst took second, and Simon Schmitt from Calgary YC took third. Back on Treasure Island we enjoyed (PCC Co-Chair) Ralph Pombo’s meaty ribs which tasted much better than my aching ones and, of course, more Sierra Nevada. A rumor was circulating that racing would be moved to the slightly more tranquil Emeryville Flats, a median in conditions between Angel Island and Clipper Cove, for the final day of racing. It was probably not a bad idea for us mortals. On Sunday morning, the rumor was confirmed; PRO John Super announced that the races would be moved to the Flats. Many of us were happy, but a contingent of young, blonde Southern California laserites were overheard saying “oh dude that’s so lame.” I heard the reply, “then sail a full rig kid,” which made me chuckle. Winds at the Flats started out light but by the fourth race were in the 8 to 12 range. We had four races of John’s favorite trapezoid courses which allowed for some very close finishes especially in the radials where the RC had to review the tape to confirm the results.

WINTER 2008

Overall, Derick Vranizan ensured his way to first place with two firsts on Sunday. Vessella edged out Fagen and Usher to take second, with Fagen, third and Usher, fourth. In the radials, Adam Deermount smoked his way to first place with two more firsts on Sunday accumulating just 10 points overall. Junior Max Nickbarg from St. Thomas YC, one of those radialers who is used to high winds back home on the islands, was second, and Colin Leon, who travelled all the way from the Seawanhaka Corinthian YC on Long Island Sound, edged out Rodger Herbst to take third place. In the 4.7s, Domenic Bove prevailed over Natalia Montemayor (Royal Vancouver YC) and Mariana Sosa Cordero (San Francisco YC), second and third respectfully. In the various categories, the winners included: Full Rig - Top Apprentice Master: David Fagen ; Top Master: Peter Vessella; Top Grand Master: Bill Symes (Willamette Sailing Club); Top Junior Matt Wenner (California Yacht Club); Top Female(Open): Katie Maxim ( San Francisco YC) ; Top Male (Open) Derick Vranizan. Radial Rig- Top Apprentice Master Ariel Porter; Top Master: Roger Herbst (not a Grand Master yet as earlier reported) Top Great Grand Master: Jim Christopher (Humboldt YC); Top Junior (Male) Max Nickbarg; Top Junior (Female) Jessica Bernhard (Encinal Yacht Club); Top Female (Open) Erika Vranizan (Seattle YC); Top Male (Open) Adam Deermount. Back home at the Treasure Island Sailing Center, it was more of the same – Ralph Pombo’s savory ribs and Sierra Nevada on tap. Many of us won great laser merchandise from our sponsors. I chatted with Derick Vranizan, whose sister Erika was the top female. Only 20 and integral part of the collegiate powerhouse sailing team at St. Mary’s College in Maryland, Derick loves sailing in all kinds of conditions. The average wind speed for his home base on Puget Sound, however,

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according to Derick, is “4 knots.” His sights are now on the Olympic Trials. I also had a chance to speak with Great Grand Master Jim Christopher from Eureka, CA (Humboldt YC), who, now in his early 70s, placed 8th in the radials. There aren’t that many lasers racing up on Humboldt Bay according to Jim and he credits some of his success with racing against a Thistle. His presence and success at the PCCs is certainly an inspiration to everyone, especially the masters, and we all hope that in the next 25 years we can sail as well as Jim, although he too is probably an immortal. All in all, it was one of “the most exciting PCCs ever,” said Tracy Usher. “A great turnout” of 81 boats, and conditions and an experience “that the juniors (and us mortals too) will remember for the rest of their lives.” According to Tracy, the conditions on Saturday were about as “heavy as he has ever seen it for a laser event” on San Francisco Bay. Congratulations are due to the Treasure Island Sailing Center, and the PCC and TISC Laser Fleet co-chairs Steve Orosz and Ralph Pombo, and all the volunteers from TISC, including the Laser and Vanguard 15 fleets, who worked on race committee, hospitality, and the seamless and smooth operation of launching and retrieving 81 lasers and their dollies. Sponsors for the event included: Treasure Island Sailing Center, Gill, the Laser Training Center (Cabarete)in the Dominican Republic, Harken, New England Ropes, Latitude 38, the Bayview Boat Club in

San Francisco, Ronstan, Annapolis Performance Sailing, Lyons Imaging Marine Photography, West Marine, and a special thank you to hospitality sponsors and laser dealers – Friday : Vanguard Sailing Center Southern California (Costa Mesa), Saturday: Svendsen’s Marine ( Alameda), and Sunday: West Coast Sailing (Portland, OR). The amazing t-shirt given to each sailor was designed by TISC radial sailor Rebecca Beard and her sister, Christina.

Great Lakes Champs Kingston, Ontario Canadian National Qualifying Regatta September 28-30 KEN DOOL CYA HIGH PERFORMANCE HEAD COACH

This year’s version of the Laser, Radial, and 49er NQR got underway with a bang. Awesome all be them tricky conditions prevailed on the day. Winds ranged from 10-14 knots with gusts to 16, swinging through 20 degrees consistently with a big right swing later in the day. The race committee did a quality job in getting in some fine racing before the weather took a turn for the worse, with some lightning and torrential rain ending a good day. On the Laser and Radial course, 3 races were completed with the preregatta favorites dominating the front positions. The 49er and 29er course area completed 5 races for the 49er class and 4 in the 29er event. Racing across both course areas was tight with multiple lead changes and a variety of race victors. The event leaders in the Laser class after three races are Luke Ramsay of Royal Vancouver YC, Abe Torchinsky of Royal Vancouver YC and Anthony Boueilh of ANBB, with scores after three races of 8, 11, 11 respectively, illustrating how tight the days racing was. In the Radial fleet there were three separate race winners, with Isabella Bertold of the Royal Vancouver YC, leading the way with a consistently solid score card of 2, 1, 4, not far of the pace are another pair of CST athletes with Danielle Dube of the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, filling the 2nd spot with a 6, 4, 1 on the day closely followed by Keamia Rasa of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club with a 1, 10, 2. It was a very positionally orientated day, opportunities were presented around the race course and although paying at times the corners were not consistent. It was the type of day where you were never out of it. The race committee should be commended for a fan-

tastic day of racing. With another two full days ahead lots of drama is to come. For results, click on www.cork.org Saturday, September 29 Day 2 Racing Another outstanding day of racing in Kingston. The day started off slowly with a dying North Easterly, but to locals that is usually a good sign and today was one of those days. After a brief delay in proceedings the South Westerly started to fill building through the day enabling solid racing in 7 to 12 knots with the odd puff of slightly more. Although not a typical lefty dominated day it was a great day for racing. The Laser and Radial course saw 4 quality races with multiple race winners. In the Radial fleet race winners included Isabella Bertold, Danielle Dube, Jen Spalding, and Tanja Smutny. After seven races and 1 drop, Isabella Bertold of Vancouver leads with 14 points, second is Danielle Dube of Nova Scotia with 19 points and third Jen Spalding of Vancouver on equal footing with 19 points. The Laser fleet followed a similar pattern with 4 separate race winners including Geoff Abel of Victoria, Chris Dold of Oakville, Abe Torchinsky of Vancouver and Luke Ramsay of Vancouver. In the overall standings Chris Dold holds a slim 1 point lead over veteran Mike Kalin of Kingston with Abe Torchinsky a scant 4 points from the leader. In the final race of the day veteran Mike “Old Man of the Sea” Kalin, finally saw the local lefty lift him to the front. Showing that old age and treachery can overcome youthful exuberance Mike lead most of the way only to be

overhauled by Luke Ramsay within meters of the finish. Now one must be fair when calling Mike old, but it is all relative when you look at the young faces he is challenging and challenged by. With 3 races scheduled for tomorrow the shots at the title are still far reaching as the potential for a second drop comes to the forefront, with much on the line and a decent weather forecast in the offing there will be high excitement in Kingston. Final Day: Another day another million bucks, three for three, it doesn’t get much better than this, whatever cliché you want to use Kingston served up three quality days of racing for this past weekends NQR events. A big variety of conditions, nice temperatures, and quality race management, we really could not ask for much more. Mike Kalin proved for all us slightly older folk that old age and treachery can still conquer, a string of three 2nd place finishes to wrap up the regatta cemented Mike to the top of the leader

WINTER 2008

board, leaving the younger folk only to look on in wonder. A model of consistency after stumbling out of the gates Mike demonstrated that his commitment to this sport continues to hold him amongst the elite in Canada, well done! Nipping at his heels throughout the event and for that matter taking turns leading for the lions share of the regatta a trio “younger stars” challenged Kalin down to the final gun. Chris Dold of RCYC putting on a consistent display throughout the event wound up 2nd overall a scant 3 points off the lead, other Canadian challengers for the title included Luke Ramsay of RVYC, who strung together a 1, 8, 3 over the last three races to leapfrog himself up the leaderboard winding up 4th overall and third Canadian behind Kyle Rogachenko of Toms River Yacht Club (USA). Abe Torchinsky of RVYC, who after struggling somewhat with the on-water jury maintained his form and rounded out the top 5. Isabella Bertold of RVYC continued her early regatta form finishing the event with a 1, 3 and ultimately dominating the Radial event. Her third place finish in race 8 in fact closed out the regatta for Isabella but showing wonderful form she stayed out for race 9 and closed the event with a dominating race win. Watch out Canada, watch out World for that matter, this is our current youth champion laying claim to the top position amongst our senior athletes. Congrats! Although the front runner was decided with a race to spare the remainder of the top 5 was far from clear. Ultimately Keamia Rasa of RVYC, Danielle Dube of RNSYS and Jen Spalding of RVYC all ended up tied on 30 points with the tie breaker resulting in a finish order of 2nd for Rasa, 3rd for Dube and 4th for Spalding, good excitement. Rounding out the top 5 was Tanja Smutny of the Winnipeg Sailing Centre. In the Youth World trials that were also part of this event, little needs to be said to reinforce Isabella Bertold’s selection, it was utter domination of the youth aged competitors but equal domination of the senior athletes. This victory will give Isabella another shot at the ISAF Youth

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World title, and event that she placed 7th in this year. In the Laser class Robert Davis will get a chance to also improve on his 2007 ISAF Youth Worlds performance as he bettered his competition winding up a solid 10th overall and well clear of his closest competition. Congrats to both of these competitors for achieving the next step towards representing Canada at the 2008 ISAF Youth World Championships. A special thank you to CORK and all the volunteers associated with pulling off this event. It was top rate and a great way to wrap up the season for these classes. With the Olympic trials just around the proverbial corner for the Laser and Radial classes, there will be little rest for these athletes as they prepare for that final hurdle in preparation for the Olympic Games. For complete set of results, please click on CORK website

Photos courtesy of Andrew Greer and Geoff Webster.

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e-mail pwood@magma.ca

Collegiate ICSA/Vanguard Singlehanded Nationals Glen S. Foster Trophy Janet Lutz Trophy NWICSA/U/Washington

35 sailors from around the country arrived in Seattle to sunny clear skies and crisp fall temps. Highs reached the low 50’s by the afternoon, but the wind was never strong enough to get a race started. Sailors were postponed on shore until 3:30 when a 3-5 kt. Southerly finally filled. Once everyone made it to the course, the wind had died off and the RC never got the chance to start a race.

and I think everyone was pretty tired after a long day on the water. All courses were W-4’s with a leeward gate and downwind finish. Big thanks to PRO Jay Renehan and the race committee who did a great job getting races off. And thanks to our judges: Charles Macauley, Wayne Balsiger, Tom Barrett, Mike Karas, and Zak Malbin who spent the day on the water keeping everyone honest. There was one protest which resulted in a DSQ and one redress granted.

After a day of no wind on Friday, sailors started the day at 10:00 with an 8-10 kt southerly. As the clouds cleared, the wind built to around 12-15 kts with some bigger puffs for most of the day before fading back down to around 8 kts for the final races in both fleets. Temps reached the upper 50’s

Sunday brought consistent North winds in the 8-12 knot range. The remaining races were sailed under partly cloudy skies and crisp low 50 degree weather. No protests were filed. And both fleets were off the water by 2:00. Thanks to our judges today: Charles Macauley, Wayne Balsiger, Tom Barrett, Lindsay

ISSA High School Cressy Regatta

the South Atlantic division. After 8 races on Sunday and a penalty that forced Zeke to retire, the leader board remained unchanged with David winning his first Cressy Cup National Championship. Both David and Zeke combined for 11 first place finishes, with Luke sailing a very consistent regatta. Except for his 11th place finish in race number 3, his lowest score for the entire regatta was a 5th place. The biggest moves up in the standings was from local sailor Michael Schalka who ended up in 6th position after sitting in 9th after Saturday, and Mac Mace of PCISA who ended up in 7th position, moving up from 10th. Way to go!

REGATTA HIGHLIGHTS:

Shilshole Bay, Seattle, Washington October 27-28, 2007 PETER SHORETT

36 competitors were greeted with fabulous but chilly sailing conditions throughout the regatta. Winds ranged from 20 knots for Friday’s practice races to 5 to 15 knots for the entire event. The sailors saw the complete package of winds. Northerlies prevailed on Saturday and Southerlies on Sunday. Tides became a factor when the flood hit hard around noon making for long legs against the tide and short fetches with the current that strengthened throughout the day. Air temps were in the mid 50’s – about the same as the water. After 10 races sailed on Saturday, the top three full rigs sailors were separated by only 5 points with David Hernandez in first, Zeke Horowitz second and Luke Lawrence third, all from

Bergan, Dalton Bergan and Jen Glass. Also, thanks to Jay Renehan our PRO and his race committee team. Also a huge thanks to all our sponsors: Vanguard Sailboats, Pentax, GTS Photos, Gill, Clif Bar, North Sails of Seattle, Kvichak Marine, Fisheries Supplies, Sail Sand Point, and all the generous volunteers who made the event possible. Congratulations to Krysta Rohde of the Coast Guard Academy for winning the Janet Lutz Trophy. And to Thomas Barrows of Yale University for winning the Glen S. Foster Trophy.

finished in 2nd place and Ian moving up to 3rd. The biggest mover in this fleet was local sailor John Renehan who jumped from 7th to 5th place overall with 2 first place finishes on Sunday. Surprisingly, not one sailor had more than 3 first place finishes (Renehan), showing that consistent sailing was the key to victory. Thanks to Vanguard for providing the boats! Thanks to Sean Trew for the free photos! More pics can be found at: http://www.pacificfog.net/

The scores in the Radial fleet after Saturday sailing were equally tight. Alex Bertrand and Mateo Vargas were tied for first with 53 points, a six point advantage over competitors Chris Barnard and Ian Heausler. Things changed on Sunday. Consistent sailing by Chris, an unwanted 13th place finish by Mateo and multiple double digit finishes by Alex shuffled the fleet with Chris Barnard taking home the Cressy Cup National Championship. Mateo

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Announcing the 2008 Canadian Youth Sailing Team Laser & Radial The Canadian Yachting Association is thrilled to announce the members of the 2008 Canadian Youth Sailing Team in the Laser & Radials classes! Congratulations to the following athletes: Laser Robert Davis (ON) Evert McLaughlin (ON) Geoff Abel (BC) Greg Clunies (ON) Andy Wong (BC) Oliver Darroch (ON)

Radial Isabella Bertold (BC) Julia Bailey (ON) Ingrid Merry (ON) Caroline Morgan (QC) Vanessa Dallaire-Lagace (QC)

The team is being recognized as Canada’s most successful racing sailors in 2007 – under the age of 19. The qualifying event for all classes was the 2007 CYA National Youth Championships. In addition, the sailors who represented Canada at the 2007 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships are automatically named to the 2008 National Youth Team.

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2007 Vanguard NA Grand Prix Results Standings through December 9, 2007

LASER

for full results: www.laser.org

Pos.

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Pearce Rogachenko Lewis Dold Torchinsky Johnson Ramsay Vranizan Parkhill Strammer Marks Richardson Buckingham Boueilh Grierson Kalin Crane Wager Higgins Raney Horowitz Goetting Lamphere Luttmer Campbell Hernandez Wilson Davis Moore Wright Lawrence Brikis Shockey Strilky Wilton Paine Fagen Hecky Plutenko Sterrett Garber Shockey Swetka Usher Toole Renehan Hood Savage Hancock Sutherland Tripp Fox Lockett

John 6 Kyle 5 Evan 6 Chris 5 Abe 7 Clay 4 Luke 5 Derick 5 Lee 5 Fred 4 Zack 5 Ben 5 Charlie 4 Anthony 4 Kevin 6 Michael 3 Rob 3 Emery 3 Conner 4 Brian 5 Zeke 5 Matt 4 Gordon 4 Bernard 2 Andrew 2 David 2 Vann 3 Robert 4 Trevor 2 David 2 Luke 3 Paul 4 Kevin 3 Rick 3 Brendan 3 Caleb 3 David 2 Mike 3 Roman 3 Matt 3 Josh 2 John 3 Ken 2 Tracy 2 Pat 2 Jay 2 Philip 2 Brady 2 Cleve 2 Ian 2 Chuck 2 Andrew 2 Graeme 2

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124 113 112 111 110 108 108 103 101 100 93 91 84 77 74 74 73 72 68 68 65 59 59 59 55 54 54 53 53 53 52 47 47 46 43 42 41 41 40 40 39 39 39 38 36 35 34 34 33 33 33 32 32

Cruickshank Drasnin Peckover Anderson Tullo Cullman Harrison Schmidt Symes Abel Curran Funk Lapier Bear Hartman Rodriquez Smith Steele Breder Loe Seidenberg Vessella Bowers Kelly Raab Roy Davis Pesch Clunies Hiller Johnston Shevitz Taulbee DeWolf Hansen Moulthrop Phelan Rudolph Shattuck Walker Wenner Wood Biskabourne Bugiak Deermount Dyer Kleinschrodt Malouf Martinez Potter Williamson Young Amthor

Keith Peter Doug Niklas Jerry Cam Vaughn Mike Bill Geoff Pat Brad David Mark David Ernesto Colin Alex Dave John Peter Peter Erik Sean Chris Andrew Michelle Ryan Gregory Todd Paige Cody Kurt Henry Lars John Peter Gavin Alden Glenn Peter Alex Brad Mark Adam John Karl Brian Rob John Charles Scott Henry

3 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 1 3 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1

30 30 29 28 28 27 27 27 27 26 26 26 26 25 25 25 25 25 24 24 24 24 23 23 23 23 22 22 21 21 21 21 21 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 18

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Clark Cremer Dickson Elliott Hodson Jones Liebl Martinson Mellnik Van Tol Fogh Gagnon Hulings Moran Rothenbuhler Schmitt Von Der Wense Willard Wong Aspland Buckingham Ingram Suarez Andrews Bentley Bernard Bowers Brousseau Buckingham Cooke Frechette Miller Pegel Spevak Cromwell Dunbar Forgione Howard Jensen Morgan Schmitt Subramanian Summers Aspland Coberly Duke Dusek Heinzemann Jones Landeau Lepis Orosz Oteruelo Scanlon Scott Thompson Van Schoor Wenner Willsie Wright Zinn

Al 1 Ted 1 Glenn 1 Ian 1 Robert 2 Tim 1 James 1 Bruce 1 John 1 John 2 Morten 1 Maxime 2 Mark 1 Jamie 1 Rick 1 Simon 1 Nick 1 Martin 1 Andy 2 Joseph 1 Jim 1 Theo 1 Jorge 2 Tyler 1 John 1 Andreas 1 Michael 1 Scott 1 Bill 1 Darrin 1 Rob 1 Kurt 1 Susie 1 Walt 2 Nick 1 David 1 Phil 1 Will 1 Karl 1 Ted 1 David 1 Ravi 1 Cameron 1 Emily 1 Chad 1 Alistair 1 Jeff 1 Alex 2 Ned 1 Steve 1 Joe 1 Stephan 1 Lewis 1 Alex 1 Ben 2 Keith 1 Colin 1 Chris 1 Todd 1 Travis 1 Jack 1

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Total

18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 16 16 16 16 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13

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Bell Foscue Garrison Hatton Jesberg McRitchie Robbins Round Stow Tan Tillman Ward Wright Wurtzebach Adolphs Aspland Brooks Evans Grogono Hall Japikse Kavanaugh Magno Suski Brochard Darroch Drake Hern Jacobi Pritchett Simon Usher Baker Donahue Hanson Herr Mitchell Murtomaki Sly Turnball Branning Elson Eno Ewanchuk Harmon Harris Jackson Kingston Larsen Laube Mercer Moulthrop Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Mara Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neill Scott Seynhaeve Bennett Hopkins Legg McNally Vallo

Simon 1 Chris 1 Rob 1 Cole 1 Peter 1 Thomas 1 Jeff 1 Phillip 1 Derek 1 Bob 1 Dick 1 Steven 1 David 1 Paul 1 David 1 Mark 1 Ward 1 Austin 1 David 1 Mitch 1 Jason 1 Peter 1 Dave 1 Jacek 1 Colin 1 Oliver 1 Elliot 1 Ian 1 Marc 1 Phil 1 Mike 1 Charles 1 David 1 Ian 1 Bill 1 Fred 1 Jay 1 Andrew 1 David 1 Kenneth 1 Chris 1 Mike 1 Billy 1 Robert 1 Dick 1 Bo 1 Chris 1 George 1 Greg 1 Tom 1 Doug 1 Michael 1 EJ 1 Luke 1 Michael 1 Guillaume1 Ross 1 Ken 1 Chris 1 John 1 Matt 1

Total

13 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 7

2007 Vanguard NA Grand Prix Results Standings through December 9, 2007 RADIAL for full results: www.laser.org Pos.

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

Bertold Crain Railey Wallace Maxim Rasa Griffin Dugdale Smith Dube Haeger Alley Lihan Doane Blouin Dennis Tunnicliffe Merry Vargas Montemayor McClatchy Billing Ross Leon Nickerson Schalka Michas Koubrak Abels Vittery Hoeven Smutny Taylor Heasler Seidenberg Barnard Crowder Bertrand Bussin Hope Zupon Nickbarg Spalding Faria Prokop Soto Christopher Gowell Cruickshank Moynahan Howard Davis Spector

Isabella 5 Philip 0 Paige 4 John 5 Katie 7 Keamia 4 Genoa 4 Nick 4 Colin 3 Danielle 4 Annie 3 Philip 3 Sarah 3 Justin 3 Sam 3 Claire 4 Anna 2 Claire 4 Mateo 3 Ricardo 3 Bo 4 Emily 3 Lisa 2 Colin 3 Dan 4 Michael 3 Jason 3 Olga 4 Fred 3 Alanna 3 Ryan 2 Tanja 3 Chris 3 Ian 2 Peter 2 Chris 2 Victoria 2 Alex 3 Isaac 2 Kristyn 2 Matt 3 Max 2 Jennifer 2 Brendan 2 Joanne 3 Julian 3 Jim 2 Matt 2 Tyler 2 Sean 2 Will 2 Michelle 4 Ben 2

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126 125 123 108 104 96 93 89 87 81 80 79 78 76 74 68 68 67 66 62 61 60 60 57 57 55 53 51 50 50 48 48 46 44 43 42 42 41 41 41 41 37 36 35 35 35 34 34 32 31 29 28 27

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Kiss Deermount Haeger Kana Lozier Toole Vaught Koci Swetka Cameron Herbst Scanlon Stubbs Vranizen Laube Liebl Renehan Tocke Wong Feldman Heinl Mace McLaughlin Whitesides Cremer Givens Green Harrison Heath Jesberg Peterson Quinlan Shea Shevitz Zacher Beck Huseby Kaschak Ross Samson-Do Dallaire Filbert Larsen Scott Sturman Vallette Bastet Graef Mademan Marshall Paice Post Robitaille

Mitchell 2 Adam 1 Will 2 Austin 1 Philip 2 Oliver 1 Alex 2 Robert 1 Kent 1 Rex 2 Roger 1 Alex 1 Emily 3 Erika 2 Kevin 2 James 1 John 1 Kathleen 1 Andrew 1 Christin 1 Nicole 2 Sally 2 Evert 1 Benton 1 Chistian 1 Matt 1 Ted 1 Luke 2 Nigel 1 Peter 2 William 1 Liam 1 Maggie 2 Cody 1 Tim 1 Geoff 1 Bill 1 Nick 1 Kyle 1 Myriam 2 Vanessa 2 Anne 1 Josh 2 Jon 1 John 1 Norman 1 Nicole 1 Richard 1 Emily 3 Foster 1 Ian 1 Alex 1 Dominique 1

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26 25 25 25 25 25 25 23 23 22 22 22 22 22 21 21 21 21 21 20 20 20 20 20 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 18 18 18 18 18 17 17 17 17 17 17 16 16 16 16 16 16 16

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Ruais Shattuck Stocke Yioulos Braly Corrin Knoles Lezin Rafuse Rohde Rupert Schmitt Strebel Weitzman Whitesides Antunes Bailey Codman Hern Johnston Liebowitz Lombard McLean Murphy Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Mara Stubbs Urbina Beaudoin-Cloutier Brockman Jensen Poler Vallo Wefer Dudenhoefer Holtzworth Jackson Japiske Leverich Merry Reichenfeld Roble Searle Smith Ahearn Duler Ramshaw Rountree Ryder Wilson Akers Croglia Jassin Kiss Mace Muhleman Muselet Palmer Redwin Whipp Winberg Witkowski

Renee 1 Alden 1 Chris 2 George 2 Bruce 1 Paloma 1 Lauren 1 Ben 1 Erin 2 Krysta 1 Janet 1 Simon 1 Jeff 1 Cindy 1 Chip 1 Jacob 1 Julia 1 Jane 1 Ian 1 James 1 Ben 1 Jessica 1 Ward 1 Ted 1 EJ 1 Robin 2 Rebekka1 Chanel 1 Erik 1 Drake 1 Ariel 1 Nick 1 Paul 1 Robert 2 Ian 1 Molly 2 Chris 1 Kent 1 Ingrid 1 Stephen 1 Stephanie1 Emily 2 Darby 2 Justin 1 JBernard 1 Tom 1 Liz 1 Matthew 1 Morgan 1 Nathan 1 Adam 1 Ben 1 Morgan 1 Mac 1 Jake 1 Caroline 1 Chloe 2 Roger 1 Peter 1 Jay 1 Kim 1

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16 16 16 16 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 13 13 13 13 13 13 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Wright Eichwald Jaykus Kelchner Robin Alfonso Dube Hall Houde-Shulman Lewis Moulthrop Palazzo Reynolds Adams Leech Wettergren Ahearn McNaboe Padnos Spencer Tulip Bernhard Beuchler Galdi Holtzer Morgan Whitesides Gurney Vincent Wands Allen Couranz Foscue Power Bougie-Bastien Bougie-Bastien Douglas Hall Kopitz Norris Rice Richartz Robinson Wands De Lisser Han Martinelli Richardson

Caroline Mike Matt Zach Allison David Tiffany Corey Cory Eastman Michael Mary Jake Sky Connor Viktor Cullen Ryan Sam Mackie Chris Jessica Nicole Vincent Ethan Caroline Arland Matthew Hanna Christopher Lindsay Kim Chris Rebecca Genevieve Veronique Robert Ryann Oliver Phillip Tyler Eliza AJ Christopher Arielle Lloyd Dennis Heather

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District Reports

District 3 Heinz Gebauer Mississauga, Ontario

District 1 Brian Mills Fredricton, New Brunswick

The fall sailing season was fairly short-lived here in Ontario, as we had a warm extended summer, but then winter hit with a vengeance in November, and that was it for sailing. I still have leaves waiting to be raked under the snow, something that should have been done on that Sunday in November when we were last racing. Oh well, I imagine they will still be there when we start racing again in the spring. What a difference from last winter, when we were sailing well into December, and serious snow didn’t arrive until the end of January. At least the skiing should be good this winter!

Hello Laser sailors in the Atlantic Provinces. I trust that you have your Laser safely tucked away for the winter and are looking forward to the 2008 sailing season. Those of you who read the “2008 Schedule” page in the last issue of Laser Sailor magazine will already know the big news…. The 2008 Canadian Laser and Canadian Radial Championships will be held in St. Margaret’s Bay, Nova Scotia from July 18 to July 20. In the year before the Canada Summer Games, this will be an excellent opportunity to race against top-notch sailors from other Provinces and countries right in our own back yard. For those of you who raced in the 2006 Laser North Americans, you will know that this venue provides excellent sailing and tremendous hospitality. You will be pleased to know that there will be a District 1 championship this year with the venue to be determined before the spring sailing season begins. I suspect this year it could be held in New Brunswick. Please feel free to contact me any time with your ideas and suggestions for Laser racing in District 1. My contact information is on page 6 of this issue.

District 2 Denys Deschambeault Trois Rivieres, Quebec Our water turned solid sometime around Nov.13 so our boats are stored for the long off-season . As of today we have about a metre and a half of the white fluffy stuff.That brings an end to a very succesful racing season where the Quebec racing team showed very impressive results in and with our upcoming youngsters pushing upwards on the alreaady progressing junior team.The full rig was dominated by Anthony Boueilh with the other men’s teams of Maxime, Dominique, Taylor and Thiery training, gaining weight,and polishing their tactics and technique. These five or six sailors push each other to even greater achivements. In the radials the womens teams will bring new names to the front Chanel, Vanessa, Paule, Myriam, Veronique, Genevievre, Jessica, Kathleen, Caroline and all the others that will join the team next spring. All that success is the effort of the coach Nicholas Kim who has worked up a new training ,conditioning and nutrition regime with the help of the volunteer parents backed by the Quebec Sailing Federation. There is a lot more work to be done and we are getting there and on schedule. Many members of the district are working to get more regattas organized as this is a major obstacle to the growth of the class. We are also working on coordinating regattas were the adults and the masters will be welcome. We are hopefull for greater succeses next year. May Santa bring a new Laser to all.Happy holidays.

The District 3 executive has been busy setting the regatta schedule for summer 2008, so if you have an event that you would like posted on our regatta schedule please get in touch with Paul Muldoon. All our email contact info is available on the District 3 website at www.d3.laserforum.org and the schedule will be available there. The prizes for the 2008 Gold Cup winners will be a new Laser or Radial sail (your choice) for each category of Laser, Radial, Master, Junior and Female, and gift certificates to Fogh Marine for the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. All the details are available on our website. Last but not least, once again we would like to thank Fogh Marine for their support of the Gold Cup series with these prizes, so be sure to support our local Canadian dealer. If you have any good regatta photos send them along and we will post them on our website. Ski Fast!

District 4 Kyle Ross Winnipeg, Manitoba Our sailing season in District 4 ended in September due to our cooling weather, but on November 9th we gathered for our provincial awards ceremony. Congratulations to Scott Brousseau for winning the provincial laser championship, and to Tanja Smutny for winning the provincial laser radial championship. There were two other laser sailors who were award recipients, with Julia Bailey receiving the Susan Mezaros Trophy for the Best 19 & Under female sailor in the Manitoba, and Kyle Ross for receiving the Charles Flemming Memorial Trophy for the Best 19 & Under male sailor in Manitoba. We are looking forward to our winter activities and resuming our sailing activities in the spring

District 5 Mark Lammens Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Glenmore boats-Nautical Reach and the Glenmore Yacht Club have agreed to name the District 5 series trophy after Dick Degner. In the District 5 Dick Degner Series, scoring from Regina, Calgary, Wabamun, Battleford’s, Edmonton and Redberry, The top 7 were Erik Tulk 48, Mark Bugiak 42, David Baker 41, Zak Grove 40, Barry Tee 39, Ian Elliot 39 and Ian Hern 36. Congratulations Eric.Top Female is Dominiue Grell.

The plan for 2008 Dick Degner Series is to follow the same format as last year, with the 6 regattas, 3 per province, best 3 to count, with a min of 1 event per province scored. This just in, The Wascana Short Course Championships is scheduled for May 17 at the Marina in Regina. Ian Hern wants to show his new technique for clew tie down, “at sea”, the battle of the brothers will continue, Baker boys and Otereulo’s. Frostbite and sun burn, a great combination. Dates are being finalized for all of the events and more news in the next newsletter. The Arm Chair coach, renamed “Coach Couch”, is a “news you can use” effort, to prepare for sailing and racing. This is on the D-5 laser list. Watch for updates as they happen. Put the call in for Laser goodies before the New Year, you will sail in April; why not buy the kit when it is cheaper!!!! See you in the New Year

District 6 Andy Hunt Vancouver, British Columbia As I sit in front of the computer typing up this report, it is actually snowing in Vancouver. All the regattas and evening racing is over in District 6 for the 2007 season. All that remains is frostbiting at the various clubs, especially the CYC in Seattle. The fall racing occurred at the Jericho Sailing Centre (Penguin Cup - results incomplete) and at the CYC. The JSCA had evening racing on Tuesday Nights. There were 18 nights of racing with an average of three races per night. The turnout averaged around 17 Lasers a night (Lasers and Radials started together). The evening racing at CYC appeared to be very successfull. They had over 30 Lasers turn out for their Thursday Night Racing program. They aveaged 15 races per session. The CYC had four seperate sessions, Spring, Interm, Summer and Fall. The Willamette Sailing Club had evening racing as well. They had lots of Lasers and Radials (an average of 42 per night for the Lasers). Results can be found by going to the club websites (www.jerichorace.com; www.cycseattle.org; www.willamettesailingclub.com). There were five regattas in late September, October and November. The Bellingham Yacht Club had their annual Bellingham Bay One Design Regatta on September 22 and 23. There were 17 Lasers and 7 races with one throwout race. Top five sailors were: Daniel Falk, CYC, 15; Rowan Xerza, CYC, 15; George Yioulos, WSC, 24; Micael Cenname, CYC, 28; Mike Johnson, CYC, 29. The Royal Victoria Yacht Club hosted the Fall Dinghy Championships on September 29 and 30. There were 20 Lasers, 32 Radials and 4 Laser 4.s. There was one sailor who was put down as registered although he was actually in Spain at the time. There were 4 races on the Saturday and no races on Sunday (too much wind). Top five Lasers were: Greg Miller, RVicYC, 6; Ryan Cutting, RVanYC, Philip Round, RVicYC, 14; Byron Roehrl, RVYC, 19; Sebastien Centmayer, UBCSC, 22. Radials Top ten. Ricardo Montemayor, RVYC, 6; Robert Berry, RVicYC, 10; Mike Cannon, RVicYC, 11;

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Diego Reyes, RVYC, 26; Sebastien Fritz, RVYC, 27; Graeme Clendenan, RVYC, 30; Scott Cameron, RVicYC, 39; Gina Chen, RVYC, 40; Isabelle Belanger, LSC, 43; Jamie Bone, RVYC, 45. Laser 4.7s. Alexander Shepard, RVYC, 6; Gabriel Frame, RVYC, 8; Mark McBride, RVYC, 14; Tony Henderson, WVYC, 19. This regatta had participants from all over BC. Sailors from the Kelowna Yacht Club, the Rocky Point Sailing Association, the Jericho Sailing Association, the West Vancouver Yacht Club, the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and the host club, the Royal Victoria Yacht Club all sailed in the regatta. The West Vancouver Yacht Club hosted the Pumpkin Bowl Regatta on October 20 and 21. There were Lasers, Laser Radials and Laser 4.7s The Lasers had the most races with 9 while the Radials had 8 races and the 4.7s had 7 races. There was one throwout race for each of the classes. The Radials had the most competitors with 42 while the Lasers had 9 and there was a three-way tie for first place with the three 4.7s. Alexander Shepard (RVYC), Tony Henderson (WVYC) and Gabriel Frame (RVYC) all had 11 points after racing was over for the 4.7s. Top ten Radials were: Ricardo Montemayer, RVYC, 18; Keamia Rasa, RVYC, 21; Mark Pataky, WVYC/RVYC, 26; Jon Scott, RVYC, 31; Alanna Vitteray, RVYC, 40; Diego Reyes, RVYC, 42; Sebastien Fritz, RVYC, 60; Thomas Roehrl, RVYC, 60; Gina Chen, RVYC, 64; Robert Berry, RVicYC, 67. The top five Lasers were: Kevin Grierson, RVYC, 22; Geoff Abel, RVicYC, 25; Ryan Cutting, RVYC, 26; Andrew Wong, RVYC, 32; Chris Tulip, RVYC, 35. The first regatta of the Laser District 6 Frostbite Series was the Bluenose regatta hosted by the Kitsilano Yacht Club on November 3 and 4. There were 8 races scheduled although one of the races for the Lasers was abandoned due to the time limit expiring. There were 16 Lasers and 6 Radials. Winds were easterly and light and flukey. Top 5 Lasers were: Luke Ramsay, RVYC, 9; Ricardo Montemayor, RVYC, 14; Kevin Grierson, RVYC, 16; Alexander Heinzemann, RVYC, 32; Chris Tulip, RVYC, 32. The top three Radials were: Jon Scott, RVYC, 12; Alanna Vitteray, 13; Diego Reyes, RVYC, 15. The last regatta for 2007 was the Turkey Bowl regatta, hosted by the Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle on November 17 and 18. There were 13 Lasers and no Radials or 4.7s. There were 7 races and one throwout race. Top five Lasers were: Dave Watt, 12; Michael Schalka, 17; Daniel Falk, 18; Jay Winberg, 30; Todd Willsie, 35. All of the sailors were from the CYC Seattle except for Gery Osowiecki. There are four regattas remaining in the 2007-2008 Laser District 6 Frostbite Series. The dates are more or less confirmed. The regattas are: Frigid Digit Regatta (CYC - February 9 and 10); Frozen Assets Regatta (Royal Victoria Yacht Club - February 23 and 24); March Madness Regatta (Royal Vancouver Yachtr Club March 1 and 2) and the Flights of Spring Regatta (JSCA - April 19 and 20). I hope that District 6 sailors will travel to other clubs (and other districts) and not just race at their home clubs. I would like to congratulate all the District 6 sailors who competed in the recent World Master Laser Championships especially Al Clark (2nd Master Full Rigs) and Deirdre Webster (1st Women Great Grand Masters). Good luck to all

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those District 6 sailors who will be competing in Australia for the 2008 World Laser Championships and the World Laser Master Championships.

District 7 Sally Sharp Enfield, New Hampshire After a very full regatta schedule through late summer and fall, frostbiting is now in full swing here in New England. The largest fleets are at Cedar Point YC in Westport CT, and Newport RI, while growing fleets can be found in Stamford & Stonington CT and at Cottage Park YC in Winthrop MA. Check out the D7 fleet list on laser.org or on the D7 website (d7.laserforum.org) – there could be a fleet near you-! I’m just beginning to work on the 2008 regatta schedule. It’s likely that we’ll try to promote a “bigger and better” D7 Championship/Grand Prix regatta, plus set up a new format for the District 7 Series - perhaps 6 one-day regattas over a 6-month period, one in each state, with a Very Nice Prize to the overall winner (counting one’s 3 best results). It’s all still in the planning stages - I’m still looking for ideas and comments before finalizing the regatta schedule in January. The Radial championship series will probably retain a three-regatta (sail two to qualify) format. Meanwhile I’d love to hear from all our regatta organizers - please send me your regatta dates as soon as you can. Then the full 2008 schedule and all the details on the D7 series can be posted on our website and will of course be in the Spring issue of TLS. Happy New Year to all – enjoy the frostbiting and the Midwinter regattas if you can get to them!

District 9 Chas Williamson Ithaca, New York There has not been much racing recently, but there has indeed been some sailing around these parts surprisingly so - right into the end of November! In fact some of our hardy fleet at Ithaca YC have still been sailing right up to this last weekend - Sunday 25 November 2007, just like the sailors at Willowbank do!! Well done lads! We had ten boats out during November weekends — it is not Cedar Point level (with 50 boats and all) but we are very proud of having this many enthusiastic sailors out on the water. Today we moved some of our Lasers back home, and had to brush off the snow, and so almost all of us now have our boats warm and snug for the chilly winter. One thing I would like to say reflects the same sentiment from last year - I am even more excited that Ithaca YC is building up its fleet more and more. Much of this increase is due to my prodigy Wade Leftwich, who looks out for the “Yeehaaa” weather as he calls it. White cap city ! However, much of the kudos goes to Peter Gould and Byrne O’Brien, recent Commodore of the club, and of course a fellow Queen Mary Sailing Club sailor from London and Oxford, namely Clare Fewtrell, who is always emailing enthusiastic messages for the coming weekends. We have another three new members who will become regulars next year, after their frostbiting this winter. Today we had a lovely “pub” meeting after

fiddling with out boats, and are already quite excited thinking about regattas for next season. Things are happening - Thanks to you great sailors!! This ground roots growth can happen at any club. Other clubs with a great ambiance are Chautauqua, and also Willowbank, and many others, which have a critical mass of enough older Laser sailors, so they can pull younger sailors up and into the class. One of our youth sailors of 2000, now a product of Scott Ikle’s HWS College national championship winning team, namely John Pearce, has been on the US National Team for the past 2 years - He finished FIFTH in the US Laser Olympic Trials, with Cam Hoard another Ithaca YC sailor as his Coach Boat driver. We were so proud to know that he had done so fabulously well in the fantastic conditions of Third Beach, Newport. WELL DONE JOHNNY P - WE LOVE YOU! John is now a Coach at Dartmouth, and I am looking forward to great things in the future from this great guy! I look forward very much to a fantastic season for 2008 - more concrete details will emerge in the next Laser Sailor magazine. More results from Summer 2007 will also be presented in the next magazine, as always!

District 10 Eric Reitinger New Jersey Brant Beach Fall Series: Three weekends in September brought us the annual Brant Beach Fall Series. Every year, Emma and Bub Kovacs with crew have brought us some great racing and relaxing on shore activities including tons of food as well as football and baseball games on the TVs in the clubhouse. A variety of conditions were presented to the competitors and racing was closer than it was on the results sheet. In the full rigs, 10 boats sailed with Eric Reitinger (BBYC) winning with Mike Russom (Greater Wildwood Yacht Club) in 2nd and Ian Donahue (Brigantine Yacht Club) 3rd. In the Radials, there were 3 boats sailing with Jack Swikart (Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club) winning over Nicholas Lojek (Little Egg Yacht Club) and Alex Kearney (Riverton Yacht Club) in third. The sailing has been great with racing starting at noon and people are back on land and eating by 2:30 just in time for football. Stop by next year. The Olympic trials showed great representation from the district with 6 sailors competing. Clay Johnson (Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club) was 3rd, Kyle Rogochenko (Tons River Yacht Club) 13th, Royce Webber (Surf City Yacht Club and USNA) was 14th, Matt Goetting (Lavallette Yacht Club) was 20th, Jerry Tullo (Toms River Yacht Club) was 25th, and Ian Sutherland (Toms River Yacht Club) was 28th. Some great results and hopefully we’ll see some Radials qualify next time around. Cooper River Fall Regatta: Some more great racing at Cooper River YC for the Fall Laser Regatta as the wind gods graced us again with west winds straight up the river at 10-20 knots with higher gusts. Six W4 courses and one W5 course all finished within 3 1/2 hours. John MacCausland, just back from the Star class Olympic Trials in California, proved he didn’t miss his keel as he dominated the competition scoring six bullets, discarding a 2nd. Rob Seidelmann was runner-up followed by Andy Oberg. Five skippers decided to use Radial rigs with Great-Grandmaster Dave Oberg

leading that division. So many crash-and-burns the RC lost count. Most recovered to finish their race. A few had the mark of the river’s Mud Monster on their sails. Only half the fleet was able to start the last race. Monmouth Boat Club started a frostbite series last year and it has been getting bigger every weekend. Almost different 30 boats have shown up this year and 15-20 on the line each Sunday. Results for each week can be found at Monmouth’s site (http://www.monmouthboatclub.org/). Hopefully with this much interest, we will see some new faces at some events during the rest of the year and keep District 10 strong. The series runs every weekend until the river freezes and starts up when it thaws. Contact George Harrington for more info (gharring19@yahoo.com). Racing starts at 12-12:30. Cooper River hosted their annual Frostbite series through the month of November. Radials came in strong this year and should be back in good numbers next year. Here’s the report from PRO Jim Greenfield for each sailing day. A huge thanks goes out to him for running this every year, we couldn’t do this without him. Full results can be found at (http://www.cooperriveryc.org/) 11/3 What a great day to start off this year’s Frostbite series. With fair skies and W to NW winds about 510 knots, the Lasers enjoyed six Olympic course races and the Radials sailed one Olympic and five T4 races. John MacCausland showed his prowess by winning the day by six points over Mark Oberg. Nick Pro won the Radials. 11/10 Another fine day...sort of. With fair skies and temps pushing 50 the wind gods were not very kind with variable 3-8 knot northerlies (well, the shifts came from somewhere in the northern semicircle). This general direction required a short windward leg followed by two longer reaches to stretch out the Olympic course enough to allow time to get two fleets started before the full rig Lasers finished their triangle. The Radials sailed T4 courses so they would finish about the same time as the full rigs, expediting the start of the subsequent races. In the full rig fleet, John MacCausland and Jim Irwin tied for first place. They also had identical race scores which meant going to tiebreaker #2 with Jim getting the nod for beating John in the last race. Jon Burnham, who was the only skipper to win more than one race, placed third. Even yours truly’s antique Laser (35 years and counting) scored a win under the superior helmsmanship of guest skipper Dave Graham. In the Radial fleet, newcomer Austin Neuman scored five bullets to win over clubmate Nick Pro. 11/17 Finally, a day worthy of the name of this series as a cold, nasty nor’easter blew into the area Sunday. But that didn’t keep 16 skippers from suiting up in their wetsuits and foulies for the chance to improve their overall series score. With the temperature never going above 40 and the 12-18 knot wind chill around freezing, most skippers stuck it out for six Olympic course races (or T4 for the Radials). Because of the wind direction and the river orientation (we are geographically challenged) the course had to be laid out for starboard roundings which kept things interesting at the weather mark. The forecasted rain held off ‘til the 5th race just to make conditions more miserable.

In the full rig Laser fleet John MacCausland tightened his lead in the series by beating out defending champ Eric Reitinger and Rob Seidelmann who tied on points for second and one point ahead of 4th place skipper Mark Oberg. In the Radial fleet Nick Pro aced all his races to win over Faye Flam who wisely decided to go Radial today. 11/22 Great weather on Thanksgiving made up for the horrible conditions last Sunday as a warm, shifty SW wind pushing temps up to 70 degrees blew in ahead of a cold front which fortunately came through after we had left the premises. The 5-15 knot winds with higher gusts allowed time to complete six races well before the 2 o’clock deadline. For the fourth day again the courses were Olympic for full rig Lasers and T4 for the Radials. We also had the biggest participation so far this year as 17 full rigs and 7 Radials were on the line. In the full rig fleet John MacCausland once again won the day over Eric Reitinger and newcomer Mike Russom. Bob Oberg, up from Annapolis for the holiday, was 4th. Just to add excitement to the normal capsizes, in the 2nd race Mark Oberg broke his mast, got a tow back to the club, borrowed another top mast section and was re-rigged and out to the line in time to make the start of the 3rd race. In the Radial fleet, Austin Neuman won the day over Nick Pro and Faye Flam. In the overall series so far John Mac looks to be unbeatable, but the big race will be for second place as defending champion Eric Reitinger is a mere 11/2 points ahead of Mark Oberg after 24 races with 6 races to go and with 5 discards allowed so far. Assuming we complete 29 or 30 races a total of 7 discards will apply, so try to do the math. Attached are the Thanksgiving results along with the overall scores to date. 11/24 Well, another Frostbite Series is on the books, our 21st year. Starting out in 1987 as a season extender for the die-hard Laser sailors who weren’t quite ready to go into hibernation at the end of October, it started with local CRYC skippers and maybe a few visitors and growing year by year as the word spread it was a low-key, inexpensive fun event. Eventually we had some entries from the upper Chesapeake and western Long Island Sound clubs as well as skippers from up and down the Jersey shore and even a few foreigners making the series an international event. Then about five years ago the Sunfish sailors wanted in on the action. OK, but only if they sailed on their own course. This year the Radials were officially invited and if more than two showed up they’d get a separate start. They started with three boats on day 1 and finished with seven boats on the last two days, so I believe the Radials are here to stay. On the final day John MacCausland again won the day over Jim Irwin of Riverton YC and Mark Oberg in the light WSW breeze, sailing a W4 course for four races then a W5 for the last race for the first time in this series as time ran out before getting to the scheduled sixth race. In the Radial fleet Austin Neuman from Riverton YC was first over Petra McAllister from Lunenberg (Nova Scotia) YC and Tyler Nemsdale from Pleasantville/Brigantine YCs. The schedule for next year is starting to form. The 37th Annual Orange Coffee Pot will be hosted at Surf City on the 31st of May, Districts will

be held at Little Egg on June 28-29, and BBYC will be hosting the ACC’s on July 12-13. BBYC will be hosting a regatta early in June but it is not known yet when weekend it will be held. Lots of great racing on the Barnegat Bay and will provide some great conditions to practice in for ACCs. Any more regattas please email me and I will add it to the schedule on the class site. I also set up a small message board on Yahoo to keep people up to date. It can be found at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LaserDistrict10/. There is no need to register but to be able to access NORs it will be necessary.

District 11 Jon Deutsch Richmond, VA www.laserdistrict11.org Our 2007 District Series Champions have been announced. Congratulations to our overall winner Jon Deutsch from Fishing Bay Yacht Club. Liz Hancock of Magothy River Sailing Association finished 2nd overall and Dorian Haldeman of Severn Sailing Association was 3rd. Liz was also awarded first woman and first master. The series consisted of 6 events throughout the district with some being two-day and a few being single-day events. To be eligible for series trophies, sailors needed to attend 3 of the events and this was accomplished by 8 sailors. 106 sailors participated in at least one event. Quinn Tobin was the most traveled sailor attending more events in the series than any other sailor. Finishing 4-8 was Ellen Thomas, Quinn Tobin, Trevor Prior and Jerry Smith. Frostbiting is well underway with 3 of our clubs hosting regular weekly frostbiting. Severn Sailing Association, Potomac River Sailing Association and Rock Hall Yacht club have frostbiting every Sunday afternoon. For more details, see the District 11 website at www.laserdistrict11.org. In other news, Potomac River Sailing Association announced their 2006 frostbite champion, Erich Hesse was recently awarded a brand new perpetual trophy. First through 3rd were separated by less than a point and Erich was followed by Stephen Yelland and David Teale. Severn Sailing Association announced their 2007 laser fleet champion. Dave Schoene and Luke Shingledecker both tied for 1st place, but by winning two out of the 6 regattas, Dave won the tiebreaker. Congratulations Dave. Our fleet leaders are busy working on our 2008 calendar which will probably published in draft form by the time you read this. Expect over 40 events in District 11 from the beginning of May through midOctober. There’ll be somewhere to sail every weekend so start marking your calendars now. Our district Championship is already planned for August 16-17 at Deep Creek Yacht Club and our 2008 District Series events will be decided soon. We’re looking forward to another great season. See you in 2008!

District 12 Glenn Walker Doug Sherwood What a year, 5 quality championship regattas, 1 tropical storm, and a Masters National Championship to boot. 2007 turnout to be another fine year of superb regatta and race management, thank you to all the fleet captains, PROs, and yacht

WINTER 2008

clubs who make racing in our district fun and the place to be for great competition. Our championship series this year had good participation with well over 35 boats on average at each start with the exception of our Savannah Sailing Center regatta which only drew 29 sailors due to tropical storm Barry coming ashore Saturday morning about an hour before the 1st start. That’s right, the 1st start, well the only start. My hat is off to those brave RC folks who weathered the storm so we could go get beat up by Mother Nature. What a party we had that night, thanks Charlie! Wrapping up this years’ regattas were Columbia Sailing Club (Sept. 27-28th) and Beaufort Yacht and Sailing Club (Oct. 20-21st). CSC hosted 41 lasers to a beautiful fall weekend of racing. A cool front came through over the weekend and provided excellent camping which there is plenty of room for and wind. RC squeezed in 7 races over the 2 day regatta in which proved to be very trying conditions; very shifty and filled with holes. It was not easy for them to move marks in 240’ of water. So kudos to the PRO for making the right calls. A battle for the lead was an understatement at Columbia. With 5 races having been sailed by Sunday morning there was a 3 way tie for the lead and still 2 races to go; In addition to that, it also affected the Overall Series Championship (the best 3 out of 5 championship regatta scores) outcome. Consistency was the bearer of truth for the weekend as Glenn Walker our 05,06 District Champ came out on top due to his consistency, racking up 7 races with nothing lower than a 4th place finish. CSC has firmly established itself as a District 12 Laser supporter for 2007 and our 2008 season. Welcome back CSC! Beaufort Yacht and Sailing Club hosted our year end regatta, party and annual meeting. This group of fine people ran the regatta like a well oiled machine. 35 sailors turned out for another great weekend of sailing, camping, and camaraderie. The RC did a bang up job of setting true courses and got in 7 races over the 2 days. Local knowledge quickly played into the scores as Peter Gamble established himself as the man to beat. John Potter a BYSC local was close behind, but an 8th in the 4th race sealed his fate for 2nd overall. Congratulations to Peter for sailing a great regatta. 2008 – SCHEDULE is in the works and here is what we have thus far. 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 May June or October TBA Changes for 2008 include a push to establish more participation by Radial sailors. We have the wind, the race management skills and now the Radials will get their very own start! We would really like to grow our Radial fleet in 08’ so please email us at laserdistrict12@gmail.com with comments and suggestions. All this great sailing and strong participation would not be possible without all the hard work and dedication put in to it by Arland and Chip Whitesides. For the past 2 years they have grown our fleet, hosted 2 national championships, spent countless hours calling, emailing, and driving to regattas around the country and maintaining our website. Words can not express our Districts’ gratitude for their service. Thank you both for 2 wonderful years as our District Secretaries!! Check our website often to see the latest regatta

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schedules, pictures, frostbiting and updates. http://d12.laserforum.org See ya on the water

District 13 Meka Taulbee Dunedin, Florida Florida is really getting back into Full swing. We started out with the Olympic Trials and we had a bunch of sailors from Florida! In Radials we had Anna,Paige, Emily, Michelle, Sara, Genoa, Carolyn and Reguli. In Full rigs we had Brad, Kurt, Luke, Zeke, Fred, Chris and David. What a great group of sailors and all of them made Florida look very Good. After that we had the River Romp and sad to say that was the last one on the beach. They had a phenomenal turnout and are planning another great event for next year. Thanks Ft.Myers for putting out a great regatta! After that we were off to Naples for the Naples Cup. Again a great time was had by all. The Thanksgiving Day Regatta in Davis Island followed suit and even though there was light air it was a tough regatta. Now everyone is getting ready for the District Championships and then the Orange Bowl in Miami.

District 15 Renee Ruais Texas We have wrapped up our 2007 Circuit for D15, and overall, it has been a banner year! We had approximately the same number of boats qualify for circuit scoring (5 vs 6 last year), but we had an increase of over 25 individual boats participating in the circuit this year. Overall, 6 of 7 events posted significantly greater numbers over last year. The Corinthian Sailing Club in Dallas actually doubled participation over last year and the Seabrook Spring regatta at SSC in Seabrook was up from 15 to 24 boats! We also had a notable increase in Radial sailing, with 3 of 7 regattas having their own Radial fleets! This is particularly notable because the TSA Youth Circuit generally has their own events and we don’t see the young sailors on the ‘so called’ Adult circuit. I have more to say on that subject, but first let me recognize our top sailors for the year. James Freedman, from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area earned this year’s Ironman award for attending all 7 Circuit events! Congratulations, James. Otherwise, only 5 sailors sailed in the required 4 of 7 events to be scored for the Circuit. The overall results are as follows…. Niall Martin (Houston) David Grogono (Austin) James Freedman (D/FW) Renee Ruais (Austin) Billy Eno (Austin) Now…back to the Radial/youth circuit issue. It is really great to see the Radials out in some numbers outside of the youth circuit. While the group is generally young, there are a number of adults who really belong in a Radial but can’t get enough competition on a regular basis. At the same time, there are some youths who can’t get enough Full Rig competition. I have been contacted by the youth circuit representatives and we are interested in combining some of our events next year. I am looking forward to getting all Laser sailors together for the best competition all around! 2008 will be my third term as District Secretary.

In 2006, I don’t think I really understood the role (I just thought they liked me (smile). In 2007, I think I started to understand, but got distracted and didn’t do as much as I would have liked. I’m happy to say that the 3rd time, I hope, will be the charm! Going into next year, I have a strong sense of what is happening in the District and have a number of ideas to build on our growth trends! I will share them here, with hope that they help in District 15 and in other districts as well. First, it is interesting to note that Austin sailors hold 3 of the 5 top spots. This, I think, is likely influenced not only by the talent of the sailors, by the fact that we have a multi-boat trailer (it holds 5….and we can thank Fred Schroth for the continued use of it). I must give a disclaimer, however, I am the District Secretary and I do try to drag other sailors with me everywhere I go, but they have gone to regattas without me! When it comes to out of town regattas, there is a lot of peer pressure to fill up the trailer and also to just come along and have a fun weekend traveling and sailing with your friends. I encourage other fleets to put the effort into buying or building a multi-stack trailer and taking the fun on the road! Second, we experienced significant local growth over the past 2 years, contributing to local regatta participation. This is really great, and I plan to call on local representatives to help us get more connected with these new sailors and make sure that they get added to email lists and are well informed about District events. If you are hosting a regatta, be sure to capture email and other contact information from the registrants and share this information with your District Secretary to help keep people coming back, and of course, encourage them to join the Laser Class, log into the Laser Forum for tips and read The Laser Sailor for fun and informative articles about Laser Sailing! With all that said, we are working on a 2008 calendar. The Famous Easter Laser Regatta, held at Austin Yacht Club, March 22 & 23, 2008. I’ll go out on a limb and guarantee that it won’t be colder than this year’s event was! We look forward to seeing everyone at these events as well as our other Circuit Regattas.

District 21 Mike Elson Minneapolis, Minnesota District 21 finished its’ last official event with the traditional N.U.M.B. It has been going on for so long I’ve forgotten what the acronym represents but it does seem intuitive, Actually it was an extremely pleasant day with 7 to 12 mph winds and it was up to the 50 degrees range by the finish time. Not numb by any measure. The skippers varied from a 15 year old, first season in the boat, to a many season great grand master to a complete newbie. The race committee was able to get off 6 back to back races in a little over 2 hours. Bruce Martinson, Kurt Holtze and John dyer were the top 3 finishers and in that order. The fleet then retired to a local restaurant for race analysis, rehydration and planning for the 2008 season. The highlights next year should be the D 21 champs in early June at John Reed’s on Bald Eagle Lake and the D 21 GP at Okoboji in September. Pat Flood has graciously offered to host the lasers one more time. Many thanks to John and Pat and the others who make D 21 a great area for Laser racing.

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WINTER 2008

But, it was not over yet. The D 21 extremophiles also have another traditional event : The Thanksgiving day FALR. That acronym is also intuitive. It was 20 degrees and snowing at the 10:30 start. There were only 4 participants this year, way down from last year when it was in the 40s. They had to set their own marks because the Minneapolis Park Board chases the Calhoun sailing club’s support boats off of the lake in early October. Rabbit starts rule. One of the more cognoscent extremophiles sloshed windshield wash (-20 degree) in his cockpit for soaking his mainsheet. That seemed to work well for most of the mainsheet, but the section of the main sheet that goes through the traveler block never gets to the cockpit …… and freezes like the sailors. It was fun watching the fleet round the windward mark and stand and lean, really lean on the boom to get it out for the run. By the third race, it was no longer effective. Reason returned and so did the sailors. For the rest of the winter, the sailing club has some small ice boats. But the snow is usually too deep so I have a small 4m2 parafoil the really gives a ride in 12 mph and up. Then comes Spring and the cycle resumes.

Michael Ramming, 10) Max Rollins. Results – Radials: 1) Chris Barnard, 2) Ryan Hoeven, 3) Claire Dennis, 4) Phillip Lozier, 5) Nick Dugdale, 6) Nick Kashak, 7) Sally Mace, 8) Ben Lezin, 9) Kevin Laube, 10) Julian Soto. On the larger stage, Katie Maxim finished 5th in the Radial Olympic Trials and Claire Dennis finished in 7th including finishing 2, 3 (Claire, Katie) in the last race. District 24 sailors are looking forward to the Richmond Winter Series. We will also be racing on Shoreline Lake in Mountain View each month. There are lots of big events planned on the west coast in 2008, with the St Francis YC hosting the North Americans in the summer. It will be great opportunity to race in the big breeze at this great venue.

outstanding job done by Brad Funk at the trials. The two guys put up a great fight to the end. However, I know Andrew will do his best in China. Good luck Andrew! On the home front we will sail some Midwinter Regattas. First we’ll have SCYA Midwinter Regatta on February 16-17, 2008. The Lasers are sailing at ABYC and MBYC. On March 28-30, 2008, MBYC is hosting the Laser Midwinter West for Standard Laser, Laser Radial and the 4.7. Please check www.mbyc.org for the NOR to be posted in February. On April 12-13, 2008 MBYC is hosting the California Masters and Women’s Radial California Championship, which is open for all ages, you just have to be a female, sailing a Radial. The NOR will be posted on MBYC’s web site.

District 25 Nils Andersson So Cal We are all proud of Andrew Campbell and the hard work he put in to win the one and only spot in the Laser to represent USA in the Olympic Games 2008. Too bad there is only one spot, considering the

District 24 David Lapier Nor Cal Each fall the Richmond Yacht Club hosts the Totally Dinghy Regatta, it’s a magnet for small boat racing, with over 100 boats on three race courses. Saturday’s racing was held in light air, but with enough air for 3 long races. On Sunday, the sea breeze filled in nicely. The party and awards were really fun. Every race was a real battle; Cindy Weitzman won the last race in fine style. Results: 1) David LaPier, 2) James Vernon, 3) Mark Halman, 4) Walt Spevak, 5) Roger Herbst, 6) Cindy Weitzman. (19 Boats). The Fall Dinghy Regatta at the St Francis YC ended the 2007 season. The 5 knot flood tide running with the wind made for long beats. On Sunday, the westerly failed to materialize, so racing was cancelled. In a three way tie for first, Mike Kalin came out on top by winning the last race. In the Radial fleet, Chloe Lepert won the first race. Tracy and Christy Usher were both on the water. Results – Full Rigs: 1) Mike Kalin, 2) Peter Vessela, 3) Mehmet Sevinc, 4) Tracy Usher (15 Boats). Radials: 1) Nick Dugdale, 2) Dave Palmgren, 3) Christy Usher, 4) Drake Jensen.(8 Boats). After the races were called on Sunday, Sean Svendsen presented the awards for the District 24 Grand Prix, sponsored by Svendsens Marine. Sean is our local Laser dealer and a strong supporter of the fleet. The Laser class is really fortunate to have such strong relationships with our dealers like Sean. Grand Prix Results: 1) Walt Spevak, 2) Peter Vessela, 3) Tracy Usher, 4) David LaPier, 5) KT Shun, 6) Simon Bell, 7) Roger Herbst, 8) Eric Wilson, 9) Steve Orosz. Single-handed high school sailors focused on the highly competitive Cressy Trophy. Clare Dennis finished 6th in Seattle in Radials. Peter Jessberg finished 15th in full rigs. Treasure Island Sailing Center and San Francisco YC hosted the PCISA qualifier regattas. Results – Full Rigs: 1) Caleb Paine, Peter Jesberg, 3) Mac Mace, 4) Max Hutcheson, 5) Cody Shevitz, 6) Austin Evans, 7) Matt Van Rensselear, 8) Chris Humphreys, 9)

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