Category: Sailboat Racing

The forecast for the last day of the Laser District 12 Championship was for light air and as we were sailing out to the race course we had great wind – 10-12 knots.  By our 10am start it had dropped at bit and it continued to go down from there.  Today was a basically a two-boat race.  Unless I put up two DFLs it would have been hard not to get 2nd place.  Once a drop would be factored in, I was effectively 1 point behind John Potter, so it would come down to today’s races as to who won the regatta.

first race start tacked out to the right

In our first race today I had a crummy start – I just about won the boat, but had no boat speed at the start.  John was to leeward of me and was a boat length and a half ahead when I crossed the line.  I took a big duck and headed out right while he sailed to the left.  Wanting to consolidate I came back to the middle having made up some ground, but John tacked on me and forced me back to the right.   On the middle right of the course I had better pressure and got in front of John, but the boats who went left did much better than us putting me around 6th and John several boats behind me by the time we rounded.

Downwind John caught up a few boats and on the 2nd upwind I stuck to the middle of the course while John went to the left.   When we got to the top 3rd of the course a 50-degree righty came in and I laid the mark while John out to the left still had to tack to fetch it.  At the mark there was one boat between us and downwind I worked to  pass one boat on the way to the finish.  With two boats between us that put me 1 point ahead of John.

After the race we sat on the course for half an hour with no prospect of wind and the race committee abandoned racing for the rest of the day and I won the District 12 Championship Regatta.  Not only was John great competition this weekend, but so were sailors such as Rob Bowden who would have beat both John and I had he not been OCS twice.  All in all it was a fun regatta and I got to visit a an awesome club who put on a great and I got meet a lot of new District 12 sailors.

Results | My Photos | CSC Photos by Joe Reyes

All but the last photo courtesy of Joe Reyes

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We had a great first day of the District 12 Championship at Columbia Sailing Club in Columbia South Carolina.  We sailed 5 races that at some point in each of the races we had 4 knots and 10 knots.  In the lighter winds I did well on the first upwind leg most races and worked hard to hold onto my spot on the downwinds.  I put up a 3-2-8-1-2 and am currently 2 points out of first behind John Potter from Beaufort SC.  Tomorrow will be another light air day and hopefully I can keep up the top 3 finishes to have a shot at the title.

Provisional Results (the winner in race 3 will be RET and everyone moves up one)

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DCIM\100GOPRO

We sailed another 3 races on Sunday to complete the District 11 Championship.  The wind started out around 14-15 out of the north, north west and died off to about 8 by the end of the 3rd race.  It was very shifty and challenging.  I put up a 9-4-9 today to finish in 6th.  Best part of the day was on the first beat in the 2nd race when I pulled off a perfect pick move when the Schooner Woodwind crossed behind me and blanketed the entire rest of the fleet (seen above).

Results | Pictures

Here’s a picture from sailing on Saturday that was posted on SpinSheet’s website.

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2012 D11 Championship Saturday on the water

We had an absolutely beautiful day in Annapolis for the first day of the Laser District 11 Championship with 33 boats.  We did 4 races in 15-18 knots with each race taking about 45 minutes.  We sailed in their area C which was just north of Tolly Point with the wind at 200-180.  I did a reasonable job keeping up with the lead pack in winds that were right at the very top if not slightly above my competitive range. Having finished 5-7-7-10 I’m in 7th and looking forward to the slightly lighter winds predicted for tomorrow.  Results.

2012 District 11 Championship Crab Feast

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Wavelength winning the start.Photo by Bruce McConnel

We had plenty of wind for the first day of the offshore fall series at Fishing Bay Yacht Club and the race committee elected to head inside Fishing Bay to run the races.  With winds over 20 at the start of the first race we all had our hands full getting around the course.  By the end of the last race the wind was down to 8. We did well and put up a 4-3-4 for 3rd overall out with 3 excellent starts.

After racing we had to deliver a boat from Jackson Creek to Fishing Bay and we timed it to see a gorgeous sunset on Fishing Bay.

Results | Photos

Top Photo by Bruce McConnell

Melissa, Mark, Matt, Jon

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We took Wavelength out on Saturday for the Smith Point Race at Fishing Bay Yacht Club with a short 5-person crew of Steve U, John H, John W, Rick and myself. We were sailing against 2 other PHRF-A boats and started the 42nm course at 2pm just south of Stingray Point on the Piankatank.  The race started as a beat and the wind eased from 15-18 down to 10-12 by 5:30 and down to about 6 at 8pm.

For the final 5 miles to Smith Point we went east expecting the wind to go right.  We found a nice lane of wind and even overstood while the boats inshore to the west were left becalmed.  We rounded Smith Point around 8:30 and just as we rounded and were setting up for a broad reach under spinnaker, the wind went even further east and we ditched our plans for the spinnaker under what would now be a close reach.  I drove the 2nd half of the way back and we finished around 12:30am, beating a faster J105 to the line and ending up just 13 1/2 minutes behind the winning J109 on corrected time.

Final Results | Photos | 2011 Smith Point Race

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Another nice weekend of racing at Fishing Bay Yacht Club for the 73rd Annual One Design Regatta.  We had 10 Laser and 3 Radials among the 112 boats total at the regatta.  We got in 3 long races on Saturday.  The first race was probably the most exciting.  I led for most of the race and got passed in the last 50 feet to the finish line and a moment after the pass I death rolled just feet from the finish.  I still managed to right the boat and finish in 2nd.  I finished 2nd and 5th in the other two races.

8/12/2012 Fishing Bay Yacht Club 73rd Annual One Design Regatta - Laser Winners.

We would have raced some more, but storms moved into the area and chased us off the water.  Our course got off the water just fine, but the tail end of the Flying Scots coming in from the far racing area didn’t make it before the front hit and several boats were capsized near the club.  Thankfully there were no injuries or damage to the boats involved.  Dinner and the party got a slow start on account of the rain, but it did clear eventually and allowed for a good time.

On Sunday the wind was a bit lighter.  We raced long courses which spread the fleet out quite a bit.  In almost every race I would have a great start, miss a shift and find myself 2-4 at the first mark.  On the 2nd upwind I could usually pick off all or most of the boats ahead of me.  That’s what happened in the final race and passed upwind for the lead on the last 1/4 of the upwind to give me 2nd overall (results).  All in all it was a good regatta and we had quite a few fun races.

More awards pictures and a few scenes from around the club are here. Below is a video of a few scenes from the regatta.

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