ILCA Sailing and Racing. (Prior to 2021 known as Laser Sailing and Racing)
The conditions were perfect on Sunday for a nice long sail to Wolf Trap light house – 27 nautical miles round trip. At the beginning the wind was out of the SSW at 10-15 which meant after one tack in Fishing Bay by the marinas I was able to lay Wolf Trap 2 hours and 40 minutes later on starboard tack. As I approached the light house the wind dropped to 5-8 and moved to due South. On the run home it kicked back up to 10-15. Total trip time 5 hours 45 minutes.
Fishing Bay Yacht Club‘s Laser Frostbite Regatta was the last sailing event of the year for the club and the last sailing event of the year for me as well. We had nice winds about 5-8 out of the north east. It was cool, but sunny and comfortable with a full set of layers on. Having not sailed the Laser in 6 weeks I was pretty inconsistent on the water today. Won 3 races, but wound up 3rd after some deep finishes were factored in. Kudos to Ron Thompson and Michael Moore who both put up top 3 finishes in every race to finish first and second. It was a great day of racing and it was nice having the Hampton Roads sailors come join us.
Results are here.
With that event my sailing for 2011 is complete. I finished the year having sailed 54 days. Up 5 days from last year.
The racing at the Crab Claw Regatta at Severn Sailing Association was marred only by a lack of wind this weekend. On Saturday we had just enough wind to get out to the course and sail 1 shortened race. On Sunday we ‘sailed’ out to the course in almost no wind and after waiting around for 2 hours we abandoned having not sailed a race.
In the one race we did sail, I got a good start on the favored port end and headed out to the left with the leaders. I came right a little too early and was 9th around the top mark. Downwind I picked up a couple boats and then the wind went right for the shortened course upwind to the finish and I was able to pick off one more boat to finish in 6th.
Even thought the sailing wasn’t so great, the weekend was still a fun time hanging out with the Laser sailors and catching up Saturday night with Lud and Blake who were delivering Impulse from Newport to Deltaville.
The weather for Sunday at Fishing Bay Yacht Club started out a little questionable. The wind was blowing 20-25 out of the North at the buoy at the point. There were 5 of us there to sail and we all decided to take radials out. We raced inside Fishing Bay in winds in the teens and the Radial sails made for good close racing without any of us being over powered and having to fight the boat.
Ron Thompson and I traded for the lead throughout the races today. Richard Biggs was not far behind pouncing on any mistakes we made. With shifty winds in Fishing Bay there were plenty of passing lanes by picking the right shifts both upwind and down.
After 5 races in about 2 hours with off-and-on rain we called it day and retired to the clubhouse for chilli. All-in-all it was a fun day of sailing and I had to work hard to finish 1-1-2-1-1. I’m glad this weekend went how it did and I’m even more ready to head up to SSA next weekend for the Crab Claw regatta.
*Photo by Lud Kimbrough
Fishing Bay Yacht Club hosted another great Annual Regatta with some good Laser sailing and plenty of wind which is pretty uncharacteristic for FBYC’s annual regatta in the middle of August. 17 of the 114 boats at the regatta were Lasers and 8 were sailing standard rigs. The Lasers were on a course set in the Piankatank River just outside of Fishing Bay along with the Albacores and Windmills.
All of our races were W2s with .7 mile legs on a slightly pin favored line. In the first race I failed to port tack the fleet and ended up fouling Steve Wirt just moments after the start. I had to do a few penalty turns putting me just behind the entire fleet. By the windward mark I caught up to 3rd with boats all around me. I caught a boat on each of the next two legs and held on for the final downwind leg to the finish.
By the second race the wind had built to the upper teens with gusts into the low twenties. The first leg of this race was a drag race upwind between Frank Murphy and I. At the first mark I rounded just ahead of him and shortly after the rounding he death rolled downwind. That was a wake up call for me to sail a little more conservatively and I stayed out front to get a bullet in this race.
By the time we were starting the 3rd race, the outer course with Flying Scots, Front Runners, Hamptons, Typhoons, and San Juans and already been adjourned for the day having only sailed one race. I think the conditions on the outside sailing area were really putting a beating on the sailors and the race committee.
I botched the start of the 3rd race and basically had to park my boat at the pin while I let Brad Squires, who timed the start perfectly, sail by on starboard. Once I got going again I had good speed to get back out front and lead the way around the course. As I was rounding the final windward mark to the finish, I eased the boom out, but my mast didn’t rotate, poping the 3 rivets holding the gooseneck to the mast. I held on to get me through the finish line and the minute I turned to reach into the club, the goosneck popped off. With no more races for the day, I was thankful that if was going to break that it broke when it did.
Back on shore we packed everything, cleaned up and enjoyed some drinks in the pavilion before dinner and later drinks.
On Sunday the first start was a at 10. Lasers were the 3rd start so I left the dock at 9:40 and arrived at the course just before 10. Turns out I was the only Laser that left the dock. When I got to the course the RC told us to go in and that racing was abandoned onshore. All of the other Lasers had been held before launching. They postponed us due to some approaching storms in the area. The storms never did come and the wind was beautiful all morning and late afternoon and we never did get sent back out to race.
With 3 bullets in 3 races I won the FBYC Annual Regatta for the second year in a row. All in all it was a fun regatta and I’m sorry my summer sailing has come to an end for the year.
1st Jon Deutsch (FBYC), 2nd Jeff Moore (SMSA), 3rd Mike Toms (FBYC)
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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’.
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.
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.
Check out more photos from the awards and the rest of the weekend here.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.