2017 Florida Masters: Sunday
There would be no wind on Sunday and after postponing onshore for a little over an hour the days racing was called off and results were final.
Author: Jon
2017 Florida Masters: Saturday
It was a light air day at the Florida Masters with temperatures in the mid 70’s and wind out of the south at 5-10. I did a quick video of the grounds while people were rigging seen here. I also admired some of the other travel setups including some enclosed trailers and another sprinter van set up as an RV with the boat riding on the (low) roof.
46 standards and 19 radial launched and sailed south to the inlet and out onto the ocean. There were some large swells at time and when you were at the bottom – there were times you couldn’t see the tops of the sailboats at bottom of the other side of the swell. The lumpy conditions, wind swinging 50 degrees and the current pushing us down the course made for some challenging racing.
In the first race I had an ok start down by the boat and made my way out to the right side of the course. I hadn’t quite figured out how to make the boat go in the lumps and found myself midfleet at the top mark. At the bottom mark we had a course change to shorten the course and this time I banged the left side of the course mostly to get in clear air. It worked out great and I was 7th at the top mark and I held that to the finish.
In the second race I started mid-line and this time worked my way all the way out to the left. I caught up to the Radials who started 7 minutes ahead of us and rounded 5th or 6th. Downwind I played the right side of the course and was 2nd around the right gate and again decided to go out to the left. With the wind down a little bit and maybe a little more current further from shore on the left – it didn’t pay for me and I dropped 10 spots to the folks who played the right more and finished 12 at the shortened upwind finish.
In the 3rd race I had an atrocious start and had nothing but bad air anywhere I looked upwind. I think I was ahead of only a few boats at the top mark. Downwind I played the right side of the course, caught some puffs and passed quite a few boats. Upwind I played the middle right and passed another 10+ boats. On the final downwind I passed another boat to finish 20th.
I was happy with my sailing that I was having good speed especially upwind. I just need to get a little more consistent and work on starting to start out in a good position. After 3 races I’m in 12th overall and 2nd Apprentice.
A couple general observations – I was sailing with the Mk2 sail and in the light and lumpy conditions I found the looser outhaul gave me better pointing and power through the waves upwind. Today also highlighted for me how important it was to have clear lanes of wind. As big as the swells were – they blocked the wind – so it seemed as if only the top of the sail was always in the wind and so it made an even bigger difference without a clear lane of wind.
Following racing I did a quick run down the river front and cleaned up for a nice dinner at the club.
2017 Florida Masters: Friday
I’ve arrived in West Palm Beach for my first Laser Masters Regatta. I finally qualify (35 years old) and I am looking forward to the next 2 days of sailing at Palm Beach Sailing Club followed by a day off and another 2 days of sailing the Masters Midweek Madness regatta at Sarasota Sailing Squadron.
It took about 13 1/2 hours of driving to get here from Richmond having left late yesterday afternoon and spent the night in Manning SC. Palm Beach Sailing Club is located on the sound just a short sail from an inlet and the racing area will be out on the bay. They have beach and ramp launching with a small dock and a clubhouse with a big pavillion. I met up with some familiar NJ and MD friends and also ran into some far-flung sailors I’ve met at various regattas.
Racing starts tomorrow with temperatures in the high 70s and winds 10-14 out of the east. Can’t wait!
2017 February: Dallas
This February I had another chance to visit Jess in Dallas and we got to see and experience more of the city. This trip included visiting AT&T Stadium, Dallas Musuem of Art, seeing An American in Paris and going 2-stepping at a Cowboy bar.
2016 Favorite Photos
Another year of great memories. Here are my favorite photos from 2016:
Views from the top of the Stratosphere during a trip to Las Vegas
Tulips at the Dallas Arboretum
Lightning sailing on Lake Norman
Glasses and city views as seen from The Boathouse during Lauren & Patrick’s wedding.
Rainbow seen over Stove point during FBYC Offshore Spring Series #3
Laser District 10 Championship
FBYC J/70 Friday Night Series – August 26
Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship
City of Richmond as seen from the Tyler Potterfield Bridge
2016 James River Hike With Jess
Jess was in town for the holidays and with it being such a nice day I showed her the new pedestrian bridge over the James River and we retraced the hike I did early this month. We ran into Lauren and Patrick who took a couple pictures of us.
Beginning of a Snipe Adventure
My adventure with the Snipe sailboat began in early December. It’s a boat that has intrigued me since looking at pictures of the 1st Snipe World Championship at the Chautauqua Lake Yacht Club when I was growing up. My girlfriend Jess has been sailing them in Dallas and I think for a variety of reasons they could be a good boat at FBYC for those that would want something smaller and with fewer sails than a Flying Scot. A Laser sailing friend of mine has one that he hasn’t sailed for some time and said I could have it for a case of beer. So today I rented a trailer and went up and got it. It’s going to need some work, but it’ll make a good boat for getting started in the Snipe.
2016 ECU vs UVA Basketball
ECU Basketball was in Charlottesville playing UVA who was ranked in the top 10 at the time. I got to see the game with Patrick, Lauren and Jen. In the end it wasn’t much of a competitive game, but it was fun to root for ECU from the UVA section.
Richmond’s New Tyler Potterfield Bridge
Last night in Richmond was the grand illumination and the opening of the new Tyler Potterfield Bridge connecting Brown’s Island to the Manchester Flood Wall on the other side of the river. I got out there first thing in the morning to check it out and ended up doing a loop over and around Bell Isle. It’s a nice bridge and it has many more incredible views of the city and the river.
2016 ECU Football vs SMU
It was another fun weekend with the tailgate crew especially with one part having just gotten engaged and another part home for the game on baby watch.
It was also military appreciation day and we got to climb like kids on the equipment and see a pretty cool flyover.
