Category: Sailboat Racing

For the 3rd and final day of the Severn Sailing Association Soling Frostbite we had another day of light thermals and mostly overcast skies.  I was once again the middle guy flying the chute and calling tactics on Mike Waters boat along with bowman Al Tierney.

In the first race we were a little late to the start and wound up behind the other 4 boats.  We worked the left while the rest of the fleet went right and wound up rounding the first mark in last.  While the rest of the fleet took the rhumb line to the mark in wind that had shifted to the right looking upwind.  We instead went downwind for a bit, straight out into the bay to meet the new breeze coming in and then gybed  downwind in pressure and carried that to the downwind mark.  That new wind took a while to reach the rest of the fleet and we found ourselves in 2nd at the leeward mark.

Going upwind we picked the shifts and pressure well and passed a boat to round in first.  Again we headed out into the bay while the boat just behind us did a tight rounding and headed down the rhumb line to the finish.  We were out of the wind barely making headway to the left of the course while our competition was nearly halfway to the finish.  Other boats were rounding and following the other boat and making better distance on the finish than we were.  And just like clockwork, the breeze came in from the left and carried us right by everyone and we won the race.

Al and Mike Waters

In the second race we got a good start and just played the shifts and pressure upwind and kept ourselves between the other boats and the next mark and were able to win that race as well.

In the 3rd race we had a pretty solid lead using the same strategy as the 2nd race.  On the final run we just tried to just stay ahead.  Unfortunately, the wind didn’t cooperate and brought some of the boats behind us right up to us and one boat was able to squeak ahead of us at the line.

In the end a 1-1-2 was enough to win the day and pull ourselves up into 1st overall for the frostbite series.  In the last 43 years the winter series has only been won by 3 different guys.  Congratulations to Mike Waters on becoming the 4th person to win the series.  I was glad I could be along for a ride, I enjoyed getting to try some Soling sailing and I can’t wait to do it again.

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For the 2nd day of the SSA Soling Frostbite we had a bit more variable conditions than 2 weeks ago.  This time we had 5 boats out and were able to get 2 races in.  Mike Waters was skipper, Josh Page did bow and I was in the middle flying the spinnaker and doing wind/tactics.

3/8 SSA Soling Frostbite

We did well in the first race by having good boat speed up wind and making the left work for us.  We finished 2nd having held that position all race.

3/8 SSA Soling Frostbite

In the 2nd race we had another good upwind and rounded in 2nd.  At the leeward mark, there was no committee boat and we mistaked which one of the two marks was our rounding mark and lost some distance to the leader.  The next two legs each had 180 degree shifts in them making it challenging, but it switched swiftly and did little to change the results as we still ended up second.

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I got to join Rob Whittemore on a Flying Scot for the 4th and final day of the Greater Richmond Sailing Association Frostbite Series.  We had an absolutely beautiful day with temperatures in the high 60’s and shifty winds from 5-12 knots.

We sailed in the cove right off the shore.  To windward, the weather mark is set right below a roadway on a berm which is pretty open, but makes it very hard to see the wind beyond it coming down the course. The starting line was short and with 9 boats the starts were all tight with boats barging the line on every start.

In the puffs the weather leg could be sailed in 2-4 minutes…. in the lulls it could take 5-8 minutes or more.  While we were never really able to figure out the exact patterns there were a number of things we used to help gauge which way we thought the wind would go and where we thought we’d find more pressure.  These things ranged from the fetch up the lake we could see under the bridge, the flag on the other side of the bridge, the flag at the yacht club and of course the wind on the water in what little fetch there was between the weather mark and the lee shore.

As shifty as it was – we definitely had to be on our toes.  Miss a shift – and we learned this the hard way- and we could be passed by a couple boats immediately.  We did well to stay in the front of the fleet around the course and our consistency paid off allowing us to recapture first whenever we let it slip and we were able to take 1st in all 5 races today.
2/23 GRSA Frostbite 4Rob Whittemore

Following racing Rob and I were asked to judge the chili cook off.

2/23 GRSA Frostbite 4Judging the Chili Cookoff

A big thanks again to GRSA for hosting this frostbite series.  All of the FBYC sailors really appreciated being able to get some winter sailing in so close to hope.  I’m looking to being back again soon!

2/23 GRSA Frostbite 4Jon Deutsch, Rob Whittemore, Jere Desvernine, Tracy Swartzchild, Andrew Spencer, Blackwell Knottingham

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Saturday I got to sail on a Soling for my first time in SSA’s Soling Frostbite.  A Soling is a 27′ 3-person keel boat and I was sailing as the middle crew with skipper Mike Waters and bow Gretchen E.  We had a bit of a slow start as we dialed in the boat and got through each of the crew mechanics the first time.  We learned, we got better and while our results don’t show it, we were actually pretty competitive.

Today’s weather was perfect for frostbiting.  Air temperatures on land in the high 50’s with a water temperature of 38. That created great thermal conditions and we had relatively steady wind that started around 8 and built to about 12 before coming back down to about 10 out of the SSW.

2/22/2014 SSA Soling Frostbite 1

In the first race we had a good start, were 2nd at the windward mark and were the first boat to the leeward mark.  Unfortunately for us we couldn’t get the spin halyard down and ended up sailing 1/2 mile past the leeward mark before we were able to free the halyard to retrieve it.  We took a DNF in that one.

The 2nd race went much better for us.  While we weren’t able to fix the core problem with the spin halyard, at least we knew the problem and could work around it.  We ended up leading that race wire to wire.  We did a great job picking the shifts on both upwind legs and kept a comfortable cover on the boats around.

For the 3rd race we had another great start, got to the windward mark first, but lost a boat downwind.  On the 2nd upwind we got on the wrong side of the course as more pressure came from the other side dropping us back to 5th.

Overall the racing was really tight with only a few points separating the boats, but with our DNF we got the short end of the stick and wound up 5th overall.  It was a great learning experience and I’m looking forward to going back in a couple weeks for the next frostbite day.

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Wednesday

I traveled to San Diego California today to attend the US Sailing Leadership Forum.   Getting up at 4am to make my flight made for a long day.  Once in San Diego I met a friend, Karen, for lunch and we toured the USS Midway air craft carrier.

2/5 USS Midway - Karen & Jon
2/5 USS Midway - Jon

In the evening I attended the welcome reception and got to meet a lot of people whom I had heard about or even emailed with, but never met in person.

2/5 US Sailing Leadership Forum Welcome Reception - Jon

Tomorrow starts the 3-day conference.

Thursday

The first full day of the US Sailing Leadership Forum was started early by west coast standards.  I ran the 1.5mi from my hotel to the beach in front of the event hotel and  we got to do a Stand Up Paddle Board fitness class.

2/6 early morning stand up paddle board fitness class

After running home and cleaning up we started the forum with presentations by Gary Jobson and Ken Read.  It was great hearing their views on sailing as well as it’s challenges and opportunities.  I attended sessions on:

  • Sailing Industry
  • How to Unleash the Power of Social Media
  • Lowering the Average age of Your Sailors
  • Fleet and Club Owned Boat selection
2/6 opening keynote with Gary Jobson on stage

Between the sessions and getting to talk to so many sailors from such a wide background was really a great experience and great way to share ideas and learn from others.  I took about 2 pages of notes from each session and after I get home I distill those down and share some of the biggest things I learned this week.

In the evening was the US Sailing Community and One Design Awards Ceremony held at the San Diego Hall of Champions.  I got to sit next to the President of US Sailing, Tom Hubbell, on the bus there and talked to him about being/having been sailors on Chautauqua Lake among other things. The Hall of Champions is a great sport museum and as a sailor I loved the full-sized Star boat on display as well as all of the sailing history and America’s Cup history in the rooms of sailing exhibits. I also got to visit with my sister and meet her boyfriend who came down from L.A. for the dinner.

2/6 Jon, my sister Cheryl and Dean at the US Sailing Leadership Awards Ceremony

The awards ceremony itself was neat to see and hear about all of the amazing and wonderful things that so many others were doing for the sport of sailing.  It was an honor to be among them and it was an even greater honor to receive the 2013 US Sailing One Design Leadership Award presented by my friend Margaret Podlich.

2/6 Jon with US Sailing Executive Director Jack Gierhart and Gary Jobson
2/6 2013 US Sailing One Design Leadership Award

Friday

This was the 2nd day at the US Sailing Leadership Forum with 1 more day left.  It was  really a great day of learning and connecting with people and meeting people in the sport I’ve never been able to meet in person.  I’d name some highlights, but I can’t name a highlight when just about everything from today was a highlight.

2/7 demo sailing

So what did I do today?

  • Listened to the state of the union on big boat racing.  Learned about the rating rules as well as their strengths and weaknesses; the universal measurement rule; keel failures; and the diversity of events.
  • Went to a seminar on creating sailing opportunities: Diversifying through outreach.  Learned about various demographics and opportunities to introduce new demographics to sailing and how to do it.
  • Learned about building and motivating an organization.  This was incredibly relevant for both sailing and my work.  Learned about having clarity, empowerment, excitement, respect and ownership; how to be a good leader as well as a good follower.
  • Found out how the rules apply to the electronic age including how some of the technology used at the America’s Cup for enforcing the rules worked and when it might or might not trickle down to other forms of sailing.
  • Got to see a variety of new boats up close and on the water and how they may fit as tools to bring new sailors to the sport
  • Saw Chris Love’s GoPro equipped quad copter and some pretty awesome shots of the beach front activity.

And to top it all off – there was a pretty kick ass party.

2/7 regatta party

Saturday

The final day of the US Sailing Leadership Forum started out with James Clark (founder of Silicon Graphics, Netscape) telling us about his j-boat programs and the new 100′ grand prix boat that will be launched later this year.

2/8 Jon with Silicon Graphics/Netscape Founder James Clark

Later in the day I attended sessions on Adult Lear To Sail Programs, Growing Membership and Increasing Participation, and regatta websites.  That was followed by a farewell party by the pool.

2/8 post-forum party

I came to this forum having previously only met 3 or 4 people in person out of the more than 600 attendees.  It was great to finally meet so many of the people I’ve emailed, conference called or worked with in some way over the years.  I’m also incredibly appreciative of all of the prominent sailors and leaders in our sport who I got to speak with for a couple minutes and thankful they attended to provide their insight and guidance.

I have to commend US Sailing on doing such a great job to bring so many people together.  It was informative in all the right ways and I got more out of it than I ever expected I would.

And finally – on the ride back into Richmond we came in directly over the city.  Thanks Delta for allowing us to use electronic devices during all stages of flight!

2/9 flying into Richmond directly over the city.
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This weekend Greater Richmond Sailing Association invited Fishing Bay Yacht Club Flying Scots and Lasers to join them for frostbiting out on Swift Creek.  Dan and I were the only two Lasers; there were 10 Flying Scots and 3 Thistles.  The goal for the day was simply get back in the boat and try a few things out.  I tried a new GoPro Camera (Hero 3+) and a new stern mount for it.  I got to try out some new boots and I got to try sailing at a club I had never been at before.  Thanks again to GRSA for inviting us to come sail!

IMG_2460

1/14 GRSA Frostbite
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1/14 GRSA Frostbite
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Photos courtesy of Sharon Wake.

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10/26 Closing Day RegattaSteve Utley, Rob Whittet, John Hoar, Eric Brendle, John Watlington

Wavelength Need CrewSaturday was the final day of racing for the offshore boats at Fishing Bay Yacht Club followed by an oyster roast.  The race was a pursuit style race where the slower boats start first and the times are calculated so everyone should finish about the same time.  I was aboard Wavelength and for once it was great having boats of all sizes all around us for most of the race.  We ended up finishing 9th in the 17-boat fleet while sailing in winds that started around 8 knots and built to as much as 23 knots during the 1 1/2 hour race.  On top of that we were short-handed with only 6 on board and flew the spinnaker.

10/26 Closing Day Regatta

After racing we enjoyed oysters!  RESULTS | PHOTOS

10/26 Closing Day RegattaOyster Roast

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Saturday

At the Columbia Sailing Club for the 1st day of the the District 12 Grand Prix and South Carolina State Championship regatta and we had lighter than light wind to start the day.  We postponed ashore for about 2 hours before a wisp of wind appears and we headed out.

10/5 Columbia Sailing Club - D12 Grand Prix Regatta & SC State Championship

We sailed around the corner from the club on the North side of the lake.  This became important because those who sailed near shore got an incredible lift. Of course I didn’t learn that in the the first race and found myself out to the left on the first beat and deep in the fleet, settling for 11.

It amazed me how fast the top 10 boats were.  Even though it was only 5 knots of breeze, everyone had good speed.  So it really came down to picking the shifts right.

In the 2nd race I played the right a little better and climbed through the fleet for a 6th.  In the 3rd and final race of the day I was doing well as the 2nd boat clear ahead on the first beat, but I still didn’t play the right as well as some other boats and found myself deep again, especially after a couple sailors made the left work and came out of nowhere.

So I’m in 10th a good few points out of 9th.  They’ve moved up the start time to 9am in hopes of getting more racing in before the 1pm cutoff and before the remnants of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Karen come through late Sunday evening.  Tomorrow’s another day and hopefully we’ll have something other than light air and flat water for me to work with and climb up in the standings.

After sailing we hung out on the fabulous porch at the club watching football, sharing sailing war stories and singing along to guitar with the other campers.

Sunday

10/6 Columbia Sailing Club - D12 Grand Prix Regatta & SC State Championship

Woke up to a pretty thick fog this morning and little prospect of wind.  The race committee had bumped up the start time to 9am for a first warning hoping to get a few more races in.  Most of the fleet headed out into the thick fog and in the distance I could hear the horns of a race starting and later being abandoned.  In the picture above you can barely make out the lasers just behind the point.

Rather than race in nearly no wind, I decided to get on the road and get home at a reasonable hour, so I packed and headed out.  Turns out no races ended up being run at all and Saturday’s results stood.

Despite the lack of wind, it was still a fun time and I got to meet a lot of cool D12 sailors.  Thanks again to Columbia Sailing Club for having the Laser sailors back and putting on a great regatta!

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10/4 Columbia Sailing Club - D12 Grand Prix Regatta & SC State Championship

The trip to Columbia South Carolina for the Laser District 12 Grand Prix Regatta & South Carolina State Championship at Columbia Sailing Club was a smooth one.  I hit only a little rush hour traffic on the way in to town, set up my tent at the club and went out to a nearby Italian restaurant for a nice dinner.  This will be my 3rd weekend in a row of Laser racing and I’m just hoping we have some wind.  Here’s my recap from last year at this regatta.

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Friday

9/27/2013 J/70 NAC - J/70 waiting around.

This weekend is the Laser District 11 Championship at Severn Sailing Association.  The J70 North American Championship is going on Thursday through Saturday with 90 boats and so I decided to come up a day early to go out and spectate.  The wind didn’t cooperate much and after 4 hours sitting on the water, racing was cancelled for the day.  While we didn’t get to see any sailing, it was still nice to get on the water.  Thanks to Brian Reagan for the ride out to spectate.

Tomorrow we’ll have 40+ Lasers and Radials out for our two-day championship.  Lighter winds are expected which just means – it’s anyone’s race to win!

9/27/2013 J/70 NAC - out spectating.

Saturday

We started the 2013 District 11 Championship with 32 standards and 9 radials at Severn Sailing Association.  It was overcast with and the wind was blowing 8-12.  Out on the water we had a bit of a time getting started with the current pushing us over and multiple general recalls and restarts.

I didn’t have a particularly great start in the first race, but I made my way to the right and picked the shifts up the beat catching boats on every upwind.  As the race went on the wind started dropping and was 7 or 8 with left over lumps and chop. I ended up 7th.

In the 2nd race I had a terrible start and won the 6th row getting shut out at the boat.   I worked my way up the first beat just looking for clear lanes and only had 4 boats behind me at the first mark.  Downwind I picked up boats and I picked up another handful on the upwinds.  Salvaged a 10th.

For the 3rd race we still had a 7-8 knots and the chop started going down a bit.  I had a great start, but let Brady and Mike get ahead and to the right.  I followed and when they broke to the left I hung out to the right and crossed both of them.  I was first at the top mark and lost a boat downwind.  Mike Russom was fast and made a good comeback.  But Ted Morgan had the best lines and speed and beat everyone at the top mark.  I held onto 4th.

After racing we had crabs and listened to a band on the SSA deck.

Sunday

Sunday’s racing at the Laser District 11 Championship in Annapolis started out much like Saturday, but with less wind.  We started the first race under mostly cloudy skies and 8-10 knots of breeze.

After a general recall under P flag the RC went straight to the black flag.  I had a decent start near the boat end and worked my way out to the right along with Ted Morgan.  Karen long hit the right even better than we did and rounded the mark first with me and Ted just behind her.  Downwind I got ahead and put some distance between myself and the group just behind me.   From there I just kept ahead on the remaining 3 legs and took the gun.

Sunday’s 2nd race didn’t go so well.  My start wasn’t as good and I got behind early by being on the wrong side of the shifts on the first beat settling for a 12.  The thing I learned in the 2nd race was that the mode I was using to make the boat go fast upwind in a little more wind and more chop, stopped working when the wind lightened and the water got flatter.

By the 3rd and final race the wind was pretty light and the chop was just the random power boat variety.  We were moving, but it was slow going at times, particularly downwind.  I won the boat at the start and again worked my way up the middle right.  This time the far right didn’t pay.  And much of the fleet had gone left hoping it would pay off like it did last race – it didn’t.  I rounded 2nd just behind Brady White with Brett Morris behind me.  Brady extended his lead and I was able to hold off Brett.  We would go on to finish 1-2-3.

With that finish and knowing several boats would have black flags, I knew the top 2-7 boats would all be pretty close.  The 1 & 2 today certainly helped, but the 12 meant I’d have to keep a 10.  In the end it was the bullet that won me the tiebreaker for 3rd place overall.

Despite the light winds, it was fun to be competing at the top of the fleet – especially with some sailors who I’m usually following around the course.  And with 34 boats there were plenty of sailors keeping the competition close. Thanks again to Steven Cofer and everyone at SSA for hosting our championship!  And congratulations to winner Mike Russom who sailed a very consistent regatta with top 5 finishes.

RESULTS | PICTURES

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