Category: ILCA Sailing

ILCA Sailing and Racing. (Prior to 2021 known as Laser Sailing and Racing)

Monday

This week the Laser North American Championship is getting underway at Brant Beach Yacht Club. I drove in yesterday evening and got the boat ready today and went for a short practice sail in 15+.  I’ll be sailing in the Standard Rig fleet with about 72 boats.  Another 142 boats will be sailing in the Radial fleet.

Brant Beach Sunset

Tuesday

Today was the first day of the Laser North American Championship Regatta at Brant Beach Yacht Club.  A few weeks ago I banged up my wrist so I had taken the last two weekends off from sailing other than just going out as ballast.  Yesterday and today were my first two days back out on my wrist.

We were racing with 70 Lasers in one start.  In the first race I had a pretty terrible start and took pretty much the entire race to get my wheels going and get back in the groove.  I finished in the 50’s.

On each start we had numerous general recalls and every start was ultimately under I over Z.  On the second race my tiller universal joint snapped right at the start.  I ended up spotting the fleet two minutes while I made a repair.  I managed to come back and wasn’t even DFL at the first windward mark.  I picked off boats on every leg and wound up 45th.

In the 3rd race I had a reasonable start, hung with the bulk of the fleet and mostly held my position to the finish ending up 44th.

Not my best day on the water, but reasonable given the level of competition.  My wrist held up and hopefully won’t be giving me any problems this week. With a little less wind forecasted  for tomorrow, I should have a better shot at keeping the boat flat and staying in the fleet.

Wednesday

We sailed 3 more races at the Laser North American Championship today after a 2 1/2 hour postponement on the water.  I won the second race of the day.  During the first race – in which I only beat 4 boats – I figured out the wind/weather pattern and used that to my advantage in the second race.  There were some dark clouds out to the left of the course and everyone was fighting for the pin and going left.  I knew by the pattern a righty was coming and was very close to the boat end at the start and immediately went right.

The righty started coming in and before I knew it I was on the lay line.  After I tacked it was pretty clear the fleet was well below me, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to go left and bring them back.  At the windward mark I had about a 20-boat lead.

It was great being all by myself up front because that meant I could sail the rhumb line and fast.  It felt like a 10-boat regatta where all I needed to do was not make any mistakes, go fast, and pay attention to the wind for any shifts.  I extended my lead on the next 3 legs and had close to a 40-boat length lead, on the boats behind me, after the second upwind.  By the last downwind the fast guys, like regatta leader Clay Johnson, had gotten back up to the front of the fleet and started to close in on me.

On the final upwind leg to the finish a rivet popped out of my gooseneck and fell to the deck.  I just kept racing and crossed the finish in first.  It was a relief I made it without falling apart or being caught and it was a thrill to win a race like that against such great competition.

As soon as I finished I set to work jury rigging my gooseneck to get me through the next race.  In the 3rd race I played the shifts pretty well and kept myself in the front part of the pack putting me in 29th for the race.

I’m currently in 39th with 6 races down and 5 races to go.  If I can finish half as well as I did in the second race today I should be able to stay in the top 40 and pick up some grand prix points.

Thursday

Today started out with winds over 20 and gusts even higher.  I sailed out to the course, but sailed right back in.  With self-preservation in mind I was too afraid of one bad capsize and re-injuring my wrist and missing more sailing, so I thought it would be best to sit these conditions out.

I spent the day going for a run and catching up on some reading and email. I missed 3 races, but there 2 more left for tomorrow.

Friday

Friday was the final day of the Laser North American Championship at Brant Beach Yacht Club.  We went out for a 10:30 start in what we knew would be a dying breeze.  After one general recall I got a pretty good start in the middle of the line.  I was in the top 20 around the first mark and held that to the downwind where I lost a few spots.  On the second upwind I headed way out to the right, through the Radial Silver fleet that had just started, and found a lot better pressure putting me into the top 10 around that mark.  On the final downwind and reach the wind died and a light sea breeze came in.  I didn’t get far enough out to an edge and those who did were able to get around me.  I finished 26 and that ended up being the only race of the day.

All in all it was a great week of sailing and I was able to learn some things and show myself that I’ve got what it takes to at least be a competitor in a regatta like this.  Winning a race completed the week and was the highlight of my sailing year.  I’ve got 3 annual regattas planned for the next 4 weekends and I’m looking forward to the smaller fleets and fun times that go with them.

Taking the Cape May-Lewes ferry

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , ,

Last weekend I was up in Brant Beach New Jersey for a Laser clinic.  I can’t say I am a better sailor just from being there, but I did learn a lot of things I need to practice and apply to my sailing that I hope will make me a lot better in the future.

One of the tenets of the training was to use practice to find where the ‘edge’ is.  Here’s plenty of footage of me ‘finding the edge’.

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, Sailboat Racing, Video No Comments Tagged with , , ,

This evening was our annual Parents Laser Race during Junior Week at FBYC.  The goal is to get as many parents as possible, after the kids activities are done for the day, and get out on the water for some fun short-course racing right off the dock. Tonight was a superb evening for it.  The wind started around 12 knots when we left the dock at 5:30 and died out around 7:30.  We had about 10 boats come out and we got in at least 7 or 8 races.

2011 Laser Parent's Night Races

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , ,

This weekend started with Saturday’s Laser Spring Regatta.  We had 11 Lasers and Radials out at FBYC for the first day of club racing this year.  The wind was light – in the 4-8 knot range.  I continued to have good upwind speed, but terrible downwind speed.  We got in 6 races and I finished 2nd.

Laser Spring Regatta Podium winners

Check out more photos from the awards and the rest of the weekend here.

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , ,

Friday

Today was my driving day to get to the District 8 Championship at Sayville Yacht Club in Long Island.  I left Richmond at 4:30 in t he morning and arrived at the club around 2:30 in the afternoon.  I lost track of how many wrong turns I made.  It took over two hours to cover 40 miles transiting New York City.

George Washington Bridge

Sayville Yacht Club is located about halfway out Long Island on the south bay near Patchogue Bay.  The forecast for tomorrow is for it to be a little on the lighter side – under 10 knots.  Sunday we should have a little more wind with the south west sea breeze blowing through.

Saturday

Laser in front of Sayville Yacht Club

The forecast for today started out looking pretty dismal.  5 knots out of the North West at 11am building to all of 8 by the middle of the afternoon and then dying.  We sailed out to the course in almost nothing.  The committee set the line and right at the time we should have started the first race the wind started swinging around to the South.  A 15-minute postponement later we had a 15-20 knot sea breeze.

My day consisted of some solid sailing with some moments of brilliance and stupidity thrown in to keep it interesting.  I was able to stay with or in the lead pack in most of the races and I was pretty happy being competitive in the 15-18 knot range whereas I traditionally haven’t been able to keep up in that.

Race 4 Start

All in all it was good racing and a fun but grueling day on the water with 5 races.  I finished 2-7-4-3-5 putting me into 3rd overall in the 14-boat fleet.  After racing we relaxed on the deck of Sayville Yacht Club, ate burgers, met some new people and listened to some live music.  I couldn’t have asked for a better day.

The regatta continues tomorrow with 3 more races planned.  I’m really hoping for just a couple knots less of wind so I can show my speed and stay up front.  Fingers crossed.

Sunday

IMG_6569

Winning the pin at one of the starts just a few seconds before the gun.  More photos by Paul MacMenamin.

On Sunday for the second day of the Laser District 8 Championship Regatta we had 12-15 knots out of the east.  We sailed three 2-lap windward-lewards just off the beach in front of the club.  I stayed with the leaders and usually made the left side of the course work upwind.  I had good upwind speed, but usually lost a spot or two on the downwind legs.  I finished 3-4-5 on the day, good enough to hold onto 3rd place overall. (results)

2011 District 8 Championship Awards

The trip home went well considering I drained my EZPass account on the way up and had to stop at every toll booth on the way back.  When I got into Richmond the warning lights on the dash started coming on and as I pulled into my driveway the car stalled.  I’m glad to have made it home.

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, Sailboat Racing, Video No Comments Tagged with , , , , ,

Friday

We’re all set for the District 11 Championship this weekend at Fishing Bay Yacht Club.  I got down to the club this afternoon, got everything unloaded and met some of the out-of-towners who were trickling in.  A few of us went out for some practice.  After sailing 21 of us went out to dinner and then we hung out at the club before calling it a night.

Tomorrow we’ve got overcast skies and 10-15 out of the south east.  We should have right around 40 sailors with about 12 or so in the Radial fleet.  It’ll be some fun racing tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it.

View from the top of the mast of our practice

Saturday-Sunday

This has been an awesome weekend both as a regatta organizer and as a competitor.  The regatta ran great, we had nice weather, we got in 8 races, we had competitive fleets and David Lee and the race committee did a fantastic job with the on-the-water part of the regatta.  Everyone enjoyed Alain’s dinner and we certainly couldn’t have made the regatta work with out the help of the many club members who pitched in – THANK YOU!

As a competitor I can’t say I had been thrilled with the sailing I’ve done this year.  I was sailing really well last fall and even though I was going to big time regattas this winter, I just never put together anything more than a mediocre regatta for myself.  With this regatta I was determined to put in a respectable showing and get my game back to where it was last fall.  What better a place to do it than on my home waters.

Saturday’s racing saw 12-16 knots of wind for the day.  That’s at the upper end of the range that I’m competitive in.  I set my boat up right and hiked my butt off and managed to have all top-10 finishes except 1 in 5 races putting me into 8th in the 25-boat fleet. In that kind of wind keeping up with the tail end of the lead pack was a good showing for myself.

Start of race 2 at the pin

Saturday night we had 55 people for dinner and had a great time hanging around the club.

Sunday, the wind was right in my sweet spot for speed and out of the south.  On the first race I had a great start, picked the shifts and led at the windward mark by a boatlength or two.  It was such a thrill to be out ahead of so many great sailors. But I knew they were coming for me and I did my best to stay out ahead of them. Dan Herlihy and I traded for 1st place on the next 2 legs and on the final beat, he just picked the shifts a little better than I did to take the gun leaving me 2nd.

In Sunday’s second race I had a good start, but didn’t have the boat speed to pull ahead of the fleet.  As a result I had a tough time going where I wanted, made way too many tacks and ended up really deep at the first windward mark.  Luckily about half of the top 6 sailors were back there with me.  Through the next 4 legs we picked our way back up to the front and I dug through about 10 boats to get back to 9th.

The 3rd and final race of the day was my best race.  At the start there was a big lefty enabling Rob Overton to port tack the fleet at the pin.  I had a good start in the middle and used my boat speed to get enough of a lead and clear lanes to start picking some shifts.  At the first windward mark it was me and Rob Whittimore.  I couldn’t have written it any better to battling for the lead with a good friend and fellow club member. I led Rob by about half a boat length down to the offset.  Rob had a great run and jumped ahead of me at the downwind mark.  The race committee changed the next weather leg to the left so I immediately went left on the 2nd windward leg and caught some great shifts to pull ahead of Rob and everyone else behind.  The next two legs I felt like I had good boat speed, caught the shifts well, and covered the fleet to take the gun.  That ended up being the last race of the day and it was such a thrill to sail my best and win a race against such a great group of sailors.  That really made my weekend.

Leading the fleet in the final race

After racing we handed out awards, cleaned up and got on the road.

All in all it was a great weekend and I can’t wait to do some more Laser sailing!

Read my write-up on the District 11 Website and check out the results.  I hope to have a video up later this week and I’ll link to photos when they are available.

 

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , , , ,

Friday

After a half day of work and an afternoon drive to Wrightsville Beach North Carolina I’m at Carolina Yacht Club for the Laser Atlantic Coast Championship this weekend.  It looks like we’re going to have some beautiful weather with warm conditions and mostly sun.  That also means the wind could be a little light at times.

Sunset on the sound at Wrightsville Beach NC

This evening I hung out with the SSA crowd who have a house a couple blocks down from the club.  We had a lasagna dinner and watched the sunset.  Approximately 16 sailors from District 11 have made the trip down.  We’ve all got D11 pinnies so we should be easy to spot.

Watching the Sunset on the sound at Wrightsville Beach NC

Saturday

First day of the Laser Atlantic Coast Championship at Carolina Yacht Club in Wrightsville Beach NC.   I was on the fence and decided to go with the standard rig.  We had mostly clear skies with 10-14 knots of wind.  The first race started around 11:45  and I had a good start out to the left.  On the very first tack of the very first leg of the first race my vang broke.  I’m not sure if I just didn’t have the pin in all the way or what happened, but I spent two minutes getting that straight and being DFL at the first mark.  I made up a little over 5 boats and ended up 37 out of 45 boats. 

In the second race I had a great start and was able to hold my lane most of the way up the first beat. I hung with the main pack and managed a 26th place finish. In the 3rd and 4th races the wind calmed down a bit and the lumpy sea state made it tough to maintain boat speed. I was well into the 30’s boat races putting me in 33rd for the regatta.

After racing I cleaned up and put away the boat. We ate the regatta dinner and then hit downtown Wilmington with the Annapolis crowd.

Sunday

Sunday just wasn’t my day. I sailed out to the course, but knew it was going to be a rough day for me.  Overpowered with big waves and not feeling so great so I headed back in.

PICTURES | VIDEO

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, Photography, Sailboat Racing, Video No Comments Tagged with , , , , ,

Wednesday

Welcome Laser Midwinter Sailors

The trip to Clearwater Florida for the 2011 Laser Midwinters East was an easy one.  Ted brought brought my boat down last week when he came for Masters Midwinters and so this afternoon I was able to fly down. Once in town I settled into the hotel, got the boat checked in and went to dinner with Bob, Ted and Adam.

Tomorrow will be the first of 4 days of racing in the standard rig.  The forecast is for lighter winds on Thursday with a little more on Friday and Saturday.  There will be close to 80 other boats with me in the Standard rig fleet and over 200 total at the regatta.  This is my first time at Midwinters and I’m looking forward to a great weekend of sailing.

Thursday

Jon sailing the start of race 2 at Laser midwinters

We had some light winds and chop for the first day of the Laser Midwinters in Clearwater Florida. They split the 78 boat standard rig fleet and I was sailing with the blue fleet with the 3rd start of the day. I was one of the last to arrive at the race course and after a quick postponement they got the fleets started. In the first race I had a bit of a slow start and was in the 30s around the first mark. As I got more comfortable in the boat I clawed back a few spots at a time and came back to 27th. On the last downwind leg I was going downwind on starboard with another boat sailing parallel to me on port. Our masts touched so I protested him. I normally wouldn’t follow through with a protest that doesn’t really affect my finish, but I wasn’t a fan of how the guy handled it on the water so he got tossed later that evening in the protest hearing that he failed to show up to.

We sat on the water for over an hour while the wind clocked around to the right and the course got reset. We started the 2nd race in about 8 knots of breeze. I had a good start and was on the favored side of the course. I had better boat speed than the first race and hung right behind the lead pack. Up until the last two legs I held my place pretty well, but by the last two races I made some positioning mistakes and let some boats sneak inside me and ended up 23rd.

All in all it was a good day of sailing. The weather was comfortable and the water is not too cold. I’m sitting in 50th and if I can put up some solid finishes tomorrow, I might be able to sneak into the top fleet going into the weekend. The forecast tomorrow is for more wind in the 10-15 knot range.

Friday

Laser Midwinters Day 2

For the second race day at Laser Midwinters we had 12-14 knots all day.  I sailed with the leaders all day long … that was the leaders of the fleet behind me.  It was a beautiful day with warm weather and we sailed 3 races.  It wasn’t my best day as I am not competitive in the top end of that range wind range.  I’m getting more experience in that kind of wind and getting my muscles used to hiking again after a few month hiatus.

I was in the back of the pack so I’ll definitely be in the silver fleet.  Looking forward to sailing with the back half of the fleet in what should be some laid back and competitive sailing at more my level.

Saturday

Just after the mark rounding at Laser Midwinters

Light air day in Clearwater for the Laser Midwinters.  To begin the day we were postponed on shore due to lack of wind at the racing area.  There was a nice wind blowing through the sailing center which made it even that much harder to sit around.  I did some sightseeing and walked across the street to see the beach.

Around noon the wind filled in enough at the race course for them to send us off.  We waited around at the course for a bit while the wind settled and the Standard Gold fleet eventually started in 4-6 knots out of the West South West.  Our fleet started under black flag and I had a reasonably good start towards the middle-pin end.  I made my way to my left and kept my tacks to a minimum arriving in at the windward mark just behind the top 10 boats.  I held my speed pretty well with the rest of the fleet and managed to stay  ahead of the scrum of about 15 boats behind me.  With 4 boats ahead of me black flagged, I ended up finishing 10th in the silver fleet.

Tomorrow is the last day at midwinters.  The weather has been great and the sailing has been fun.  We have an earlier start tomorrow and are hoping for a little more wind than we had today.  And as soon as we are off the water tomorrow, Ted and I will start the long drive back to VA/MD.

Sunday

We started the final day of the 2011 Laser Midwinters east a little earlier. We had to check out of the hotel and be out on the water for a 10am first start.  Despite being one of the first to leave the dock, I was one of the few without a coach boat and therefore one of the last to reach the race course.  It wasn’t much of a problem because we were postponed on the water for over an hour before the sea breeze finally came in with 5-10 knots of breeze.

The silver standard rig fleet only got to sail one race before we reached the mid-afternoon time limit.  The first start was recalled and we restarted under black flag.  I had a terrible start and was so far behind so fast I just ended up ducking a couple stragglers and banging the right corner.  It ended up paying off as I was in the 15-20 range at the top mark.  I did pretty well reaching and downwind but lost a few more boats when the right DID NOT pay off on the second beat.  I finished somewhere in the low 20’s.

The sea breeze made it an easy sail in and Ted and I got the boats and car packed up in record time to begin the drive back to Richmond and then on to Annapolis.

I definitely enjoyed my first trip to the Laser Midwinters East Regatta.  I learned a lot, got to sail alongside some great sailors, met some new people, and got back into the boat after a few months off. I’m looking forward to getting a little more practice and going ready to compete at the ACC’s and NAC’s later this spring and summer.

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, Sailboat Racing, Video No Comments Tagged with , , , , ,

I used Sunday’s Laser frostbite as an opportunity to get some of the cobwebs out.  Last weeks’ frostbite at Hampton was good for getting the boat together, but with little wind, wasn’t much of an opportunity to do the kind of sailing I’ll be doing at Midwinters in Clearwater Florida in a little over a week.

The temperature on Sunday in Annapolis was in the high 40’s and low 50’s with winds 13-16 knots, overcast skies and a water temperature of 38 degrees.  Generally it was good sailing in wind that I had to hike in and I got some of the feeling back in how to sail the boat and make it go.  With boat handling being my priority, results of the 4 races I sailed in were secondary and the scoreboard was not friendly – finishing 15 out of 17 boats on the line including two DFLs.

All in all it was a good day on the water and I’m glad to have gotten that past me now rather than on the first day of the regatta.  This was also an opportunity for me to practice filming with the GoPro.  I had gotten several mounting locations set up and today I mounted the camera to the bow.  Check out the video:

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, Sailboat Racing, Video No Comments Tagged with , , , , ,

Made a trip to the ODU sailing center on Sunday to Frostbite with the Hampton Roads Laser Fleet. This was the first of two frostbite outings to tune up for the Laser Midwinters East Regatta in Clearwater Florida in a couple weeks.

The day was fraught with very little wind and thus we were only able to get in two short races before calling it a day. The video below shows just how light it was. This was also my first experiment mounting the GoPro camera to the Laser. It turned out pretty well and I can’t wait to try another mounting location next week when I’m frostbiting up at SSA in Annapolis.

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, Sailboat Racing, Video 1 Comment Tagged with , , , , , , ,