SPRING 2010 6 continents, 122 countries - the biggest adult and youth racing class in the world
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S T I T C H E D
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E S T A B L I S H E D
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TM
WORLD CHAMPION
COACHING
Sail Equipment Australia and C-vane Sailing are pleased to present the opportunity to learn from the world’s best, develop new techniques, and maximize your sailing potential. Let us share our World Class knowledge with you.
SERVICES AVAILABLE • Private & team coaching • Clinics and training camps • Boat speed development camps • Strength and conditioning training • Program development • Coaching at local, national and international events
RYAN MINTH Photo: courtesy of www.timwilkes.com
HEAD COACH
• 2009 US Sailing Deve lopmental Coach of the Year • Top Four Places - Radia l Grand Prix Rankings 20 09 • Top Two Places - 4.7 Grand Prix Rankings 20 09
World Champion Coaching Staff and C-vane Sailing wish to congratulate the following Team Members and for their outstanding achievements during the 2009 season GREG MARTINEZ 1st ILCA-NA Grand Prix Radial Champion 4th NA Championship, Radial (1st USA/2nd Youth) 5th U.S. National Championship, Radial 1st No Coast Championship, Radial 3rd Pacific Coast Champs, Radial (1st Youth) 4th Great Lakes Champs, Radial
KAYLA GIBSON 1st 4.7 ILCA-NA Grand Prix Champion 2nd 4.7 North American Championship 3rd 4.7 US National Championship 3rd 4.7 Atlantic Coast Championship 4th 4.7 Midwinters East Championship
MITCHELL KISS 2nd ILCA-NA Grand Prix, Radial 6th North American Champs, Radial 6th Midwinters West Champs, Radial 2nd Great Lakes Championship, Radial 4th Pacific Coasts Champs, Radial
REECE BERNET 2nd US Sailing Youth Champs, C420 2nd SoCal Juniors Olympics, Radial 5th CORK International Regatta, Radial
Contact World Champion Coaching at ryan@c-vane.com or +1 (212) 292-SAIL
NEVIN SNOW 1st Interscholastic Single-handed Championship (Cressy) 2nd US Sailing Youth Championship, Radial 3rd (under 17) Radial Youth World Championship, 17 overall 3rd Radial Midwinters West Championship
CARSON CRAIN 3rd North American Radial Grand Prix 2009 6th Radial North American Championships 10th Radial US National Championships 3rd Radial Gulf Coast Championships
OLIN PAINE 1st FJ National Championship 2nd CORK International Regatta, Radial 2nd CORK International Youth Fest, Radial 5th Radial Midwinters West Championship
CHASE SHAW 5th ILCA-NA Radial Grand Prix 2nd Radial Gulf Coast Championship 2nd No Coast Championship Radial 2nd Gulf Coast Championship Radial 10th Radial North Americans
Official publication of the International Laser Class Association, North American Region
US Postal Service: Please return undeliverables to: ILCA-NA 2812 Canon Street San Diego, CA 92106 USA
Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement #40612608 Please return undeliverables to: Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2
Editors
Sherri Campbell & Jerelyn Biehl ILCA-NA
Officers
Tracy Usher Chairman PO Box 370701 Montara, CA 94037 Phone: (650) 340-1129 usher@slac.stanford.edu Eric Faust Vice Chairman 821 East 53rd Street Austin, TX 78751 Phone: (512) 791-8218 ehfaust@gmail.com
Clay Johnson Treasurer 26 River Bend Dr. Toms River, NJ 08753 Phone: 732-330-7281 clayton.e.johnson@gmail.com
S P R I N G
2 0 1 0
District Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
President’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Membership Stats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 From the Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 A Week in Paradise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 An Open Letter to District Sec and Members . . . . . . . .15 2010 Event Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Protein Intake to Support your Training . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Laser World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .center US SAILING Leadership Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Interview with John Bertrand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Regatta Reports
Midwinters West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 CYA and USSTAG Teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Manning Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Membership Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 District Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Sailing Fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Lauralee Symes Secretary 3576 SW Mt. Adams Drive Portland, OR 97239 Phone: (503) 274-2818 llsymes@comcast.net
Tommy Wharton At Large 705 King Street West, Unit 1514 Toronto, ON M5V 2W8 Canada Phone: 647-296-6544 twharton@sailing.ca
Sherri Campbell Executive Secretary 2812 Canon Street San Diego, CA 92106 Phone: (619) 222-0252 Fax: (619) 222-0528 admin@Laser.org
www.Laser.org
SPRING 2010 6 continents, 122 countries - the biggest adult and youth racing class in the world
Cover photo: USSTAG coach Luther Carpenter tows boats back after Midwinters East in Florida.
5
N
BRITISH COLUMBIA
5
ALBERTA
6
SASKATCHEWAN
WASHINGTON
OREGON
26
HAWAII
24
CALIFORNIA
IDAHO
WYOMING
NORTH DAKOTA
UTAH
21
WISCONSIN
SOUTH DAKOTA
ARIZONA
23
COLORADO
NEW MEXICO
KANSAS
20
IOWA
ILLINOIS
16
OKLAHOMA TEXAS
QUEBEC
ONTARIO
MISSOURI ARKANSAS
15
LOUISIANA
18
INDIANA
OHIO
KENTUCKY TENNESSEE
14 ALABAMA MISSISSIPPI
10
PENNSYLVANIA WEST VIRGINIA
7 7
VERMONT
NEW 9 YORK
19
1
MAINE
MICHIGAN
17
NEW BRUNSWICK
2
3
MINNESOTA
NEBRASKA
NEVADA
25
22
MONTANA
4
MANITOBA
11
8
NOVA SCOTIA
NEW HAMPSHIRE
MASSACHUSETTS
RHODE ISLAND CONNECTICUT
NEW JERSEY
DELAWARE
MARYLAND
VIRGINIA
NORTH CAROLINA
12
SOUTH CAROLINA
GEORGIA
13
PUERTO RICO AND THE CARIBBEAN
29
FLORIDA
District 1
District 9
District 2
District 10
Brian Mills, 71 Bristol Street, Fredricton, NB E3B 4W2 506-457-1580, bnmills@nb.sympatico.ca Denys Deschambeault, 5120 Du Havre, Trois Rivieres, PQ G8Y 5Y9 819-372-0842 denys.deschambeault@tr.cgocable.ca
District 3
Robert Koci, 804 Sammon Ave. Toronto, ON M4C 2E8 647-407-0754. robert.koci@rci.rogers.com D3 website: www.d3laser.com
District 4
Brigitte Smutney, MSA: 224 200 Main Street Winnipeg, MB 3RC 4M2 204-925-5647, sailing@sport.mb.ca
John Shockey 614-256-2254 jshockna06@yahoo.com
Eric Reitinger 7908 Normandy Dr. Mt Laurel, NJ 08054 er4599@gmail.com http://d10.laserforum.org
Ken Swetka 27022 Koerber St., St. Claire Shores, MI 48081 248-635-5363 www.d29laser.org
District 11
Jon Deutsch 3422 Blithewood Dr., Richmond, VA 23225 804-305-1244, jon@laserdistrict11.org http://www.laserdistrict11.org
District 12
District 5
Christian Koppernaes Doug Sherwood: LaserDistrict12@gmail.com Wrightsville Beach, NC www.d12.laserforum.org
District 6
Meka Taulbee & Michelle Davis Dunedin, FL 34968 727-631-7005, meka@sailfit.com www.laser.org/m/_general/d13.asp
Mark Lammens 510 Cynthia St. Saskatoon, SK S7K 7K7 306-975-0833. sasksail@shaw.ca www.jdecm.com/laser Andy Hunt, 111-2260 W 8st Ave, Vancouver BC, V6K 2A7 604-733-9663. Hotline: 206-525-5788. athunt@vcn.bc.ca www.cycseattle.org/slf
District 7
Kim Ferguson, 12 Florida Ave. Jamestown, RI 02835 Laserd7@gmail.com D7 Newsletter Chris Morin abcmorin@maine.rr.com 207.775.5485 www.d7laserforum.org
District 8
Ted Cremer, 7 Maple Street Blue Point, NY 11715. 631-363-8830, tcremer@optonline.net www.laserd8.tripod.com
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District 18
Chas Williamson, 9 Lagrand Court Ithaca, NY 14850 607-272-0630. cw26@cornell.edu
District 13 District 14
Cal Herman, 7038 Catina St New Orleans, LA 70124, 504-282-1770 callender.herman@wachoviasec.com
District 15
James Freedman, 8324 Horse Whisperer Ln. Ft. Worth, TX 76131 james.freedman@aa.com; 214-864-6024 www.cerebus.winsite.com/Laser/districts/d15/
District 16
Tim Fitzgerald, 2322 Bromfield Circle Wichita, KS, 67226, 316-650-3636 timfitz@cox.net
District 17
John E. Coolidge, Jr., 1113 Hanover St, Chattanooga, TN 37405, 423-309-1926 JC@Chattprint.com
District 19 District 20
Steve Dolan 21140 Chancery Ct. Brookfield, WI 53045 262-506-8879. dolan@mcw.edu http://d20.laserforum.org/
District 21
Mike Elson 2235 West 21st Street Minneapolis, MN 55405 621-377-8903 melson@visi.com d21@laserforum.org
District 22
Mike Gilbert, 1620 Gerald Ave. Missoula, MT 59801 406-327-7855, mike@gilbertarch.com
District 23
Fletcher Avery 23 South Pearl St, Denver, CO 80209 favery@gtri.com www.usdiscovery.com/laser
District 24
David Lapier 408-525-6396, dlapier@cisco.com www.technicalwizardry.com/d24laser/d24
District 25
Nils Andersson, 6929 Wyoming Avenue, La Mesa, CA 91942 619-463-6001. nilssail@cox.net groups.yahoo.com/group/nalaserdistrict25
District 26
Guy Fleming, 44-392 Olina St. #6 Kaneohe, HI 96744-2617 808-955-4405. guynsyd@hawaii.rr.com
SPRING 2010
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J U R D U J F Z Z Z www.Laser.org
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President’s Notes TRACY USHER
Spring is here and the 2010 sailing season has begun! Already in the books are the Women’s North American Championship, and both Midwinters East and West! The Women’s North American Championship saw a very competitive fleet of 29 sailors with the victory going to Anna Tunnicliffe, back in the Radial after her match racing win in Miami. Interestingly, at this event the top eight finishers were all from a different country! Women sailors who want to sail a highly competitive regatta against women from around the world should be sure to put this event on their calendar for next year! The international theme was carried on to the Midwinters East with 198 boats from 38 countries participating! This was a top level event with world champions, Olympic medalists, the top ISAF ranked sailors, etc., all racing in an open event here in North America - a great experience for all the “average� sailors in North America! Our region had a great showing against the tough international competition, with Paige Railey and Lisa Ross taking first and second in the 94 boat Radial fleet, Lee Parkhill and Mike Leigh taking second and fifth in the 89 boat Standard fleet, and Ravi Parent finishing third in the 15 boat 4.7 fleet. Finally, the Midwinters West made a long overdue return to San Francisco this year with sailing out of the Richmond Yacht Club and racing on the Berkeley Circle. 54 Laser Standards and 50 Radials raced for three days under sunny skies and a range of breezes and enjoyed the fantastic hospitality of the “club built for fun!� After 7 races in both fleets, Sean Kelly won in the Standards, followed by Kevin Taugher and Steve Bourdow and Kieran Chung won in the Radials, followed by Mitchell Kiss and Olin Paine. As I type this the “real� season is starting: the District 15 Championship will be sailed this weekend as part of the 27th annual Easter Laser Regatta in Austin, Texas. The District Championships, like the Easter Laser Regatta, are the place to help build your Grand Prix point total, which not only helps to qualify for world championships but also makes you eligible to win some really nice prizes! Check out the LaserPerformance/ILCA-NA Grand Prix page at www.laser.org to get more information on the Grand Prix and start mapping out your circuit of Grand Prix events now! And now is also the time to start plan-
8
ning for this year’s major events! In 2010 we will be focusing on the middle section of North America for our major events with the North American Championship in Houston at the end of June, the Canadian Championship in Quebec in July, and the US Championship in Milwaukee in August - all just a “short� drive from either coast! Last year saw great turnouts at our major events, let’s see if we can get even more boats on the water this year! Finally, as I type this many of the Districts are in the process of finalizing their season schedules and we will be working hard over the next month to get every event into the calendar at www.laser.org. The calendar is meant to be for ALL Laser events in North America, from major regattas, to District Championships, to local regattas to Spring/Summer/Fall evening “beercan� racing! Getting your event, no matter how small, into the calendar at www.laser.org is
a great way to expose it to more Laser sailors and help get more boats on the water, so don’t hesitate to enter it, or send the info to the webmaster and ask them to get it in. On the flip side, the Laser Class calendar contains hundreds of events each year, far more than any other racing class in North America. If you are looking for an event near you, with good sailing and great fun with people who love sailing, check the calendar at www.laser.org! See you on the water!
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#ARRY SPARS ON THE ,ASER $ECK 1UICKEST ON OFF TO GET YOU ON THE WATER AND ON THE ROAD FAST $URABLE FOAM RUBBER 3PARS FASTEN ON WITH SHOCK CORDS $ECK COVER FITS OVER SPARS
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#ARRY TWO BOATS ON ONE TRAILER
2OOM FOR SEVEN SPARS
30!2 0!24.%23 0!)2 30!2 0!24.%23 0!)2 FOR CUNN OUTHAUL UPGRADE 47/ "/!4 !$!04%2 9OU GLUE TOGETHER
47/ "/!4 !$!04%2 #OMPLETE
A LOT OF GLUEING ASSEMBLY REQUIRED
COMPLETE WITH FOUR COATS SPAR VARNISH š
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SPRING 2010
ILCA-NA Membership 2010 Memberships as of March 31, 2010
District Members 3/301/10 1
17
3
97
2 4 5
34 2
37
6
104
8
80
7 9
10
148 37 94
11
120
13
125
15
67
12 14 16
91 26 5
17
22
19
40
18 20 21 22
28 52 3
28
25
118
29
7
26
82 2
Family, 1
113
Family, 3
44
Family, 2
TOTAL
Full Rig winner: Emil Cedergårdh, Sweden Radial winner: Paige Railey, USA 4.7 winner: Esteban Echavarria, Colombia
22
23 24
Photos from Midwinter’s East. For full results: www.nalaser.org and view videos on www.sailgroove.org. Photo above: start of MWE: below: Paige Railey(photo Luther Carpenter)
22
1488
Calling All Owners of Vintage Lasers
The Laser Executive Committee thought this might be an opportunity for the class to profile those who still have truly old Lasers which we’ll define as the earliest 5% of hulls made, or the first 10,000 out of roughly 200,000. Please send Jerelyn your story about extant Lasers that qualify, and hopefully a picture of it still in use and we’ll publish them. Send to: jerelyn@odmsail.com
www.Laser.org
9
From the Builder BRENT RICHARDS
What is going on at LaserPerformance‌?
Spring is at our doorstep here in Rhode Island, while a small area of North
America may still be under snow or looking out at a lake that is still frozen, the fact is our major sailing season will be upon us in no time. No place is that more evident than in our factory. The LaserPerformance warehouse is starting to see more and more Lasers stacked up on the wall. Trucks are leaving on a steady pace set to make deliveries to dealers across North America. February was a big month for LaserPerformance‌ we made the announcement of our partnership with Simon Cook. Simon cut his teeth in the foil market and is known for producing some of the world’s most desirable dinghy blades. How does this effect the Laser sailor? Right now it doesn’t as LaserPerformance builds exactly to the Laser Class Construction Manual, but look for more information in the
months to come as LaserPerformance strives to build the highest quality products in the market place. We also signed a new contract with US Sailing through 2014 as an Official Sponsor of US Sailing Team Alpha Graphics. Both help build the LaserPerformance brand and demonstrate the commitment LaserPerformance has to the sport. If you recall from the last Laser Sailor we talked about programs that as a builder LaserPerformance could support to help retain and grow Laser sailing at the local level. LaserPerformance has received a bunch of great ideas from varying areas ranging from the Executive Council to local fleet captains. Our feeling is that the 4.7 has the greatest potential to drive this growth. If we get young sailors in Lasers when they age or weigh out of the Optimist they have the possibility of never outgrowing the “Laser Formula�.
So what are we doing‌? Let’s try a national program that gets more 4.7 sailors on the water; we had done one in the past in the lead up to the worlds in 2005. Does anyone feel that a local program would work well on the national stage? With the 4.7 worlds slated to be in San Francisco Bay in 2011, it just makes sense to expose as many young sailors to the Laser with the opportunity of sailing in a world championship so close to home. As always feel free to contact me at the office or pull me aside at the boat park. Get out and sail your Laser.
HARKEN LASERÂŽ CLEW SLEEVE Pulling the sail flush with the boom, the clew sleeve slides smoothly without binding. Rigging is fast and simple; the hook locks the clew securely in a single motion.
HARKEN LASERÂŽ VANG Enjoy power and efficiency with the Harken 15:1 LaserÂŽ vang. This class standard allows you to get the most out of the boat regardless of your size.
X-TREME ANGLE FAIRLEAD This design breakthrough lets you finetune outhaul and cunnigham controls while hiking. Lines cleat and release at angles as great as 90 degrees. It features a stainless steel bail for a smooth turning point. 4EL s %MAIL HARKEN HARKEN COM Visit www.laserperformance.com to find your local dealer
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For more information on Harken hardware for the LaserÂŽ visit www.harken.com
SPRING 2010
1RZ ERRN L Q J I RU W KH V HDV RQ $O O L Q F O X V L Y H H Y H Q W V ERD W F KD U W H U V D Q G 7 H D P W U D L Q L Q J &O L Q L F V I RU /D V H U ) X O O 5L J /D V H U 5D GL D O 2SW L
7+( %2$7 63((' (;3(576 ZZZ L QW HUQDW L RQDO VDL O L QJDFDGHP\ FRP (PDL O Y D XJ KQ#L QW HU QD W L RQD O V D L O L QJ D F D GHP\ F RP
www.Laser.org
11
Vintage Lasers
I grew up in the early 1970’s just two hours west of the first Montreal Laser Factory. A friend brought a prototype Laser #112 to our weekend races and while the early boat had a series of malfunctions it was easy to see that the boat was super fast with a ton of pick up. I fell in love immediately. I started saving and around my 16th birthday bought a second hand Laser, a green hulled #4362. The attached photo shows some of the original parts which are now stored for a better day while replacement performance parts take their place. Official Laser Elvström sail, mahogany daggerboard, rudder and tiller, as well as real wood grab rails. How about the tiny rope clew tie down and simple vang setup? A lot has changed in the last 35 years but my Laser still sees action every year and can beat hulls that are generations younger. During the college years we held things together with duct tape and sailed practice with the very unofficial denim sail lpatch, broken battens ane hocky stick tiller. The boat has been hit fore and aft requiring fiberglass surgery as well as mast step repairs after heavy wind sailing
on two different occasions. The last one, two years ago required professional help with a full mast step kit and deck strengthening as well as a hull leak test. I am happy to report that it went right back to competitive sailing along with Laser #188670 which my 16 year old son picked up second hand last year and which has been sailed in races up and down the eastern seaboard. As all things come full circle, we now live two hours west of the current Rhode Island Laser Factory. My boat has been well sailed every year since it was built and I still consider it the best $600 I ever spent. David Neal Haddam, CT
Canada’s Largest LaserPerformance Dealer •Boats •Boat Parts •Clothing •Latest Hardware and Accessories •Online Store •Mail Order
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SPRING 2010
Waist lock hiking pants Sea-HP007
Sea-HP005
Sea-HP006
Sea hiking pants
Allows for restriction free movement of the upper body while providing you with a little extra support to make hiking more comfortable. The elasticised back has a wide covering band that can be pulled in tight and Velcro locked to give support. You can quickly adjust the level of support you want and to customise the fit and feel around the waist and back.
Ultra w hiking arm p are be ants tt for co er o condit ler ions.
Sea hiking pants are the original and still the best performing wetsuits for Laser Sailors. Sea hiking pants have the following features: • Non-flex fibreglass battens • Reinforced small diamond seat • Reinforced kneepads • Super stretch neoprene Functional • Func ctional designs desigg
ne Airpre nts a p g in hik al ur ide are yo er m m su . choice
Also a vail Airpr able & Neo ene Hikin Shorts g
Sea-HP004 Sea-HP002
Neo lycra
Sea-LP001 Sea-LP006 S ea-LP006
• 2mm Thermospan lined neoprene chest and back with spandex sides and neck • Perfect Perfect to wear in mild weather weatther • Available in both short and long sleeve
lycra wet shirt • 50 + UV protection • Use to stay cool and keep the sun suun off • Colours aavailable vailable - White, Grey yal. Grey,, Black & Ro Royal.
Sea-LP009 Se ea-LP009
Fleece lycra •W Warm arm snug fit • Moisture wickingg material material • Ideal base layer
Sea-LP010
Meettaalilite hottoop • Ultra thin and flexible • Light weight water shield with body heat reflection • 0.5mm neoprene with lycra neck • Colours available Black and Navy / Red
Ultra warm • 2mm Super stretch neoprene • Water repellent outer coating • Inner layers are Thermospan and metalite • This top will make you smile on those cold sailing days.
ing a sail All Se porate ncor tops i mance or a Perf making Fit n Desig onal functi le them tab omfor and c ear. to w
Sea-MS001 Sea-W003
Sail Equipment Australia
www.Laser.org
www.sailequipment.com.au 13
A WEEK IN PARADISEFOR LASER EYES ONLY ROB HODSON
Hey Laser Dudes! If you are looking for a place for warm weather sailing over the winter months to knock off the rust and clear the sailing cobwebs, it is easy to get there. The International Sailing Academy (ISA) and the town of La Cruz, 30 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta (PV) provided it all for me the first week in March. ISA Laser camp would be a good Laser training experience for anyone with intermediate ability and up. I am a master sailor in pretty good shape and I felt I was able to keep up with the pace.
La Cruz is a typical Mexican small town with cobblestone streets and friendly smiling local people located on the northern end of Banderas Bay. After a 20-30 minute cab ride north from the airport we settled into a house on the beach, a 5-10 minute walk down the beach from the marina. We arrived on the day of the big earthquake in Chile. We learned the next day that about 8 hours after the earthquake, about noon local time (before we arrived) there had been three very low tides each followed by a high tide, about 10 minutes apart. There was no flooding or damage, just a little reminder to keep the people of Chile in our hearts and minds.
La Cruz is a usually a quiet fishing village. However, the week we were there was part of the Regata Copa Mexico, which was a major multi-venue event in the nation-wide bicentennial celebration. There were 2 visits from El Presidente Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa, a big boat regatta, Tania Elías Calles’s record setting 65 hour unassisted Laser sail from Cabo San Lucas to La Cruz, 60 J-24s rigging up for a week
14
long regatta, and of course our ISA Laser camp. The security in La Cruz was impressive when El Presidente was in town. The locals were all busy getting the place ready for him with more paint than anyone had seen in a few years. The rumors were that in addition to high level meeting and receptions, El Presidente was firing the signal gun on the committee boat for the big boat regatta and that he was staying in one of the nearby beach front condos. Based on the activity around one of the condos and the 3 man military details with M-16s and full battle gear stationed every 100 yards on the beach, the rumors were believable. In addition, the military craft in the bay, in the air and the caravans of Suburbans with tinted windows racing through town made those “visit days” a bit surreal, like something out a Clancy novel.
ISA is owned and operated by Vaughn Harrison (Vaughner) and Chris Dold (Dolder), both native Canadians from the Toronto area. Vaughn and Chris spend the winter months training, coaching and running Laser training camps. The charter boats are new and in great shape and located in a secure boat yard near the ramp in the marina. Water to rinse was plentiful. The marina is a modern recently constructed facility.
The typical Laser Camp is an all-inclusive weeklong intense workout for 8-10 people. Accommodations include a berth in a nice 5 bedroom condo on the beach, 3-5 minutes walk from the boat yard with a surfing break out the front door. The usual schedule for the intense week is first getting in a light breakfast at the condo, surfing for the morning, 11 am brunch and briefing at PV Sailing Loft, on the water at 12:30, sail until 3:30-4:30, after sailing snack, dinner at 6-7 pm ending up with a workout at the gym in the evening. (I didn’t do all of this.) Brunch and dinner are
prepared by Leah at PV Sailing Loft. Leah considers herself the “Frat Mom”. Mike and Leah of PV Sailing have been in the PV area for several years and previously had a sail business in Hood River. Brunch started with local breakfast breads, juice and coffee, followed by a course of local fruit, and then a main course of eggs, meat and potatoes that varied from day to day. It sounds like a lot of food, which it was, but was very good and very much required for the afternoon workout.
The ISA format was accommodating to my personal preferences; I am a master after all. We stayed in a house on the beach just down a little ways from the condo frat house. My schedule was a bit more civilized as I was on vacation with family and not campaigning for the Olympics. Getting up before 8 am, I would have coffee, juice and light breakfast at our house, read by the pool and maybe take a swim until about 10:45, walk 10 minutes down the beach to brunch at 11 am, sail, walk back to the house by 4:30 for a swim and happy hour and then wind up the evening with dinner out with family in one of the many great authentic restaurants in La Cruz. It made for a great week of activity and relaxation in the sun.
The sailing workouts were a solid 3 hours of boat handing drills, speed drills, downwind sprints and endurance training. The briefing covered the planned sailing activity of the day and discussions about specific technique questions, race strategy, starting, finding the balance between “thinking” and “going fast”. After the briefing we would first start with mark rounding drills just outside the marina entrance for about 20 minutes. Then the next hour or so we would sail upwind on starboard doing sprints, speed drills and tacking drills with rabbit starts. The pace was rapid fire with little time between sets
SPRING 2010
to chug some water. The speed drills also included endurance training with 3 minute sprints the first day, and adding a minute each day until the 4th day we were doing 6 minute sprints on starboard. After about an hour on starboard, we would be well out in the middle of Banderas Bay. The next 3045 minutes were spent going down wind in 8 minute sprints, regrouping and then going another 8 minutes until we were almost to PV. The last day the downwind was follow-the-leader reaching and gybing all the way to PV. The daily upwind trek back to the marina included more endurance training with a pyramid course of 6 minutes on port, 5 minutes on starboard, 4 minutes on port etc. until we were off the marina entrance, then a tight reach into the harbor. We were frequently distracted by sea life including schools of feeding tuna and humpback whales. On one return beat to the harbor we sailed into fin-slapping and breaching whales. Awesome!
was a light cloud cover delaying the sea breeze until after 4pm. The previous days’ breezes would start early in the day with an off shore breeze that by midday would clock around to 230-240 degrees and settle in to a steady 12-15 kt breeze. The waves were medium short chop and seemed to get bigger the farther downwind and the closer to PV we were. As the sun set the breeze would continue to rotate to the right and come out of the north for a while after dark
We sailed every day for 5 days. My schedule was to include a 6th day, but there
La Cruz seemed like a very nice inexpensive place to spend time. We were told one could rent a clean studio apartment in town with a view of the water for as little as $200/month. We noticed houses for rent for $450/month. The food was excellent and we can recommend Jorge’s Street Tacos, La Cruz Inn’s restaurant Arriba, La Cava de la Martinez, La Glorietta, Hidden Paradise and Frascati. We walked everywhere.
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and then die completely until dawn. In discussing the seasonal patterns, breeze in Banderas Bay is usually light at other times of the year unless there is a storm or weather system. Beginning in late February or early March the sea breeze starts up as the daily temperatures climb and the days get longer and this pattern continues until about June when the winds die.
Bucerias is a larger town about 10 minutes south toward PV. PV and Nuevo Vallarta are the hot resort areas with prices to match. Staying in these areas would require a car or cab ride to La Cruz. For those interested in more surfing options, beautiful Sayulita is a short 20-30 minute drive north for ocean waves. Additional sights include more beaches and beach towns north of Sayulita. Bucerias has a very large outdoor market on Sundays. La Cruz has a smaller market on Wednesdays. So take a look at the web site. Plan your next Mexican vacation around some Laser sailing. There is a masters clinic scheduled for April. Get your local club or training group organized for Laser camp.
http://internationalsailingacademy.com/ http://regatacopamexico.com/ http://www.eldesafio2012.org/ http://www.marinarivieranayarit.com/
15
An Open Letter to District Secretaries - and Members Hi Everyone, It’s hard to believe its February already and the sailing season is kicking off down in Florida! The Women’s NA’s finished last week, with Anna Tunnicliffe back in the Radial to take the victory, the Masters’ Midwinters East just ended yesterday with 65 Masters racing in some good breeze at Jensen Beach and in only 10 days we have the start of the ISAF Grade 1 Midwinters East! To date they have nearly 165 sailors from 26 countries signed up making this one of the biggest international events in North America! The point is that the sailing season is rapidly approaching for all of us! Among the things we would like to see this year is a bit more outreach to the local Fleets to encourage more people to join the Laser Class. We have some plans we are finalizing right now, lots more on them in a later email, but key to all of this is to have an accurate list of Fleets, and Fleet contacts, so we know who is out there. We need this
sooner than later because the first thing we are getting set to do is to modify the Laser Class member database to include the possibility that members can associate themselves to a Fleet. The idea is that when they register or renew and they select their district that they are then presented a list of Fleets in that District that they can be associated with (only one for now!). For example, say Scott Ferguson goes to renew his membership and he resides in District 7, then he can also associate himself with the “Newport Fleet #413” Fleet. And we will have a mechanism to “back fill” for those already joined/renewed for this year. To make this work we need to put into the database the list of Fleets in each District. And right now our list of Fleets (and contacts) is what we have listed with each District at www.laser.org. To check the Fleet list for, say, District 24, go to http://www.laser.org/index.php?option= com_content&view=category&layout= blog&id=90&Itemid=210 and look at
the list of fleets in the left column. Similarly, you can use the drop down menus off the main page at www.laser.org to find your and check your Fleets. Note that some Districts don’t currently have any fleets associated with them and this is a great time to rectify that problem! In any case, this is also a good time to do a bit of Spring cleaning by going through the list in your area adding any that are missing, maybe removing any that are known to be dead, etc. We’ll be adding the Fleets to the member database in the next week and hope to have it finalized by the end of the month. Please take the time to help us make this as useful a feature as possible! Thanks very much!! Tracy Usher ILCA-NA President
Make sure to cast your vote for the 7 proposals presented for consideration. You can view these proposals in the Laser World insert or go directly to www.laserinternational.org. You’ll find on the Int. website an online form for eelctronic voting. Postal votes may also be sent using the form on the Laser World insert. All votes are checked with national records to confirm class mamebership.
Our class rules require that the voting process has to remian open for 6 months. The changes also have to be approved by ISAF. During this process some minor rewording can occur without changing the principle. Make sure to vote - your vote counts!
16
SPRING 2010
Regatta
World Championship ISAF Grade 1
NA Championship 40 GP pts. ISAF Grade 1
North American
Women’s Radial Champs ISAF Grade 1
Canadian Championships
30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 2
US Championships 30 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 2
CORK
30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 1
Laser
2010 Schedule
Radial
Laser 4.7
Hayling Island, GBR Aug 27 - Sep 5
Largs, GBR Women's & Men: July 6-14 Youth: July 17-24
Pattaya, Thailand March 31- April 8
Hayling Island, GBR September 11-19
Texas Corinthian YC June 23-27, 2010
Texas Corinthian YC June 23-27
Texas Corinthian YC June 23-27
AlamitosBayYC August13-15
na
na
na Quebec Club de Voile des Laurentides July 15-18
Milwaukee YC Milwaukee, WI Aug 12-15 Kingston, ON www.cork.org
August 21-25
Lauderdale YC www.lyc.org February 5-7
Quebec Club de Voile des Quebec Club de Voile Sturgeon Lake Sailing Club, Sturgeon Point, Laurentides des Laurentides ON July 23-25 July 15-18 July 15-18
Milwaukee YC Milwaukee, WI Aug 12-15 Kingston, ON www.cork.org
August 21-25
Milwaukee YC Milwaukee, WI Aug 12-15
Carolina Yacht Club May 14-16
www.cork.org
na
Kingston, ON August 21-25
Midwinters East
Clearwater, FL
Clearwater, FL
Clearwater, FL
Midwinters West
Richmond Yacht Club Richmond, CA March 26-28
Richmond Yacht Club Richmond, CA March 26-28
Richmond Yacht Club Richmond, CA March 26-28
www.ussailing.org
www.ussailing.org
na
30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 1
30 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 2
Rolex Miami OCR ISAF Grade 1
Atlantic Coast Championships
25 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 2
Pacific Coast Championships
25 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 2
Gulf Coast Championships
25 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 3
No Coast Championships
25 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 3
Great Lakes Championships
25 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 3
www.Laser.org
Masters
www.clwyc.org
Feb 18-21
Miami, FL
January 24-30
www.clwyc.org
Feb 18-21
Miami, FL
January 24-30
Sayville Yacht Club, Sayville, NY June 5-6
Sayville Yacht Club, Sayville, NY June 5-6
Seabrook Sailing Club, Kemah, TX June 19-20
Seabrook Sailing Club, Kemah, TX June 19-20
www.clwyc.org
Feb 18-21
USSCMC Jensen Beach, FL Feb 6-8 na na
Sayville Yacht Wianno Yacht Club Club, Sayville, NY Osterville, MA June 5-6 August 28-29 Columbia Gorge RA
Santa Cruz Yacht Santa Cruz Yacht Club, SantaCruzYachtClub, Cascade Locks, OR Club, Santa Cruz, CA Santa Cruz, CA SantaCruz,CA July 24-25 June 4-6 June 4-6 June4-6
Lake Dillon, CO July 31-Aug 1
Sandusky Sailing Club, Sandusky OH Aug 7-8
Lake Dillon, CO July 31-Aug 1
Seabrook Sailing Club, Kemah, TX June 19-20 Lake Dillon, CO July 31-Aug 1
D13,D14,D15
D23
Sandusky Sailing Club, Sandusky Sailing Sarnia Yacht Club, Sandusky OH Club, Sandusky OH Sarnia ON Aug 7-8 Aug 7-8 June 26-27
17
Protein Intake to Support Your Training EVAN LEWIS H.B.KIN., CSCS, CK
Following my article in the winter edition of TLS I had a great question about how much protein is required to support proper immune function, especially during training. This is a great question for many reasons. Protein is an essential nutrient in our diets as it is an integral component of numerous body structures and necessary to support health and growth. This includes the production of immune cells to help fight infection and to support the development of muscle in response to training. I will answer this question by providing information on current protein recommendations for athletes, as research findings can provide guidance for proper dietary protein intake to support health and adaptations to training.
Proteins are tiny complex molecules that are composed of smaller subunits called amino acids. There are 20 naturally occurring amino acids in nature, of which the human body is able to synthesize 12. The remaining 8 amino acids must be absorbed from our diets in order to support the ideal human function. Skeletal muscles are primarily composed of proteins making them the main storage depot for amino acids in the body. Within muscle there is a constant turnover of protein as proteins are constantly broken down and re-synthesized. This process is necessary to ensure the integrity of muscle and to make sure that the pool of free amino acids within muscle remains large enough to support protein synthesis in other tissues. After a meal is consumed there is an increase in circulating free amino acids, which are absorbed by muscle causing an increase in protein synthesis. This increased synthesis promotes adaptations to training by muscle growth and increased muscle protein content. Based on this understanding of muscle protein metabolism it is evident that consuming an adequate amount of protein is essential to maintain the body’s pool of amino acids, otherwise muscles will decrease in size in order to supply amino acids to vital organs. Inadequate protein consumption can therefore lead to fatigue, slower recovery from training, increased risk of illness and injury. The current Government recommendation for individuals 19 years of age and older is to consume 0.8g of protein per kg of body weight per day (1). This recom-
18
mendation is understood to be adequate for all persons to support growth and body functions yet it does not account for increased needs due to physical activity. Fortunately, over the past 20 years there have been numerous studies suggesting the ideal amount of protein to be consumed by athletes and active individuals. One particularly relevant study examined the effect of three different dietary intakes of protein (0.86g/kg/day, 1.4g/kg/day and 2.4g/kg/day) for a group of strength trained athletes (5). It was found that athletes consuming the low protein diet were unable to support necessary levels muscle protein synthesis for growth and adaptation. When the moderate and high protein diets were compared, there was no difference in muscle protein synthesis; however, athletes on the high protein diet were found to be excreting protein, indicating that their dietary intake was to high for their muscles to absorb. When examining the protein requirements of endurance trained athletes, protein requirements have been found to vary based on exercise intensity (4). Low to moderate intensity training has been found to marginally raise requirements, with a daily intake of 1.0g/kg/day being sufficient. The maximal protein requirement for endurance trained athletes was found in elite athletes at 1.6g/kg/day. So where do we fit in? As Laser sailors, our sport requires both endurance and strength training to prepare for the demands of the boat. Therefore, based on current available data from the analysis of athlete’s diets and the protein metabolism response to training, an ideal consumption range exists between 1.1-1.4g/kg/day (2). This accounts for individual differences in metabolism, dietary habits and training load.
While many athletes supplement with protein powders, it is important to note that the type of protein consumed can have a dramatic effect on muscle protein synthesis (3). The three most common protein supplements are whey, casein and soy proteins and have unique properties. Whey and casein proteins are derived from milk, while soy is a plant protein. Whey is rapidly absorbed by the digestive tract, leading to a quick increase in muscle protein synthesis. In comparison, casein is slower digesting, which can lead to a longer but moderate increase in protein synthesis. When these three proteins were compared at rest, whey and soy promoted similar
increases in protein synthesis above caused by casein; however, following resistance exercise, whey protein promoted a dramatically higher increase in muscle protein synthesis compared to casein and soy (3).
Before adding another serving of protein to your day it is important to examine your diet as many North Americans already consume sufficient amounts of protein. To do this, write down everything you eat for three days then add up the amount of protein you consume and divide by your body weight. This will give you an idea of how much protein you are consuming and if you should consider modifying your diet. Please send questions and comment to sailstronger@evanlewis.ca. Evan is an MSc candidate at the University of Toronto where he is studying muscle health and aging and is a NSCA Certified Strength Conditioning Specialist and Certified Kinesiologist. For more information and training tips visit www.evanlewis.ca.
1. Institute of Medicine. Dietary reference intakes for energy, carboydrates, fiber, fat, fatty acids, cholesterol, protein and amino acids. National Academies Press. Washington, D.C. 2005. 2. Philips SM. Dietary protein for athletes: from requirements to metabolic advantage. Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism 31: 647-654, 2006. 3. Tang JE, and Phillips SM. Maximizing muscle protein anabolism: the role of protein quality. Current Opinions in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care 12: 66-71, 2009. 4. Tarnopolsky M. Protein requirements for endurance athletes. Nutrition 20: 662-668, 2004. 5. Tarnopolsky M, Atkinson S, MacDougall J, Chesley A, Philips SM, and Schwarcz H. Evaluation of protein requirements for trained strength athletes. Journal of Applied Physiology 73: 1986-1995, 1992.
SPRING 2010
US SAILING LEADERSHIP AWARD
Park City Laser Fleet’s Geoff Hurwitch is recognized for his efforts in the growth of their Laser fleet. LEADERSHIP AWARD To recognize individual initiative, enthusiasm, organizing ability and leadership in creating the one-design fleet building program of the year. Winner: Geoff Hurwitch (Park City, UT) • A skilled one-design sailor and former boat builder, Geoff has been the driving force in growing the Park City Sailing Association (PCSA) and is a strong proponent of establishing a serious one-design presence in the thin, dry air of the Wasatch Mountains in Utah. Starting two years ago with two boats and two skippers, Geoff has since grown the fleet to over 40 skippers. • Geoff fostered growth by acting as a clearinghouse for used Lasers. He has put forth strong efforts to build the Laser fleet from the ground up. • Geoff has worked with the International Laser Class Association to bring the No Coasts Masters Championships to Park City in 2009. • Geoff started a Yahoo user group which allows communication for race updates, boat availability, and for scheduling weekend training sessions. • He facilitated a Fleet Purchase Program to grow
the fleet, created an enclosed boat/rig storage area, and built a custom trailer, which allows PCSA sailors to support other events in Colorado, California and the Northwest.
Congratulations Geoff Hurwitch!!
NEW
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e-mail pwood@magma.ca
www.Laser.org
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19
Interview with John Bertrand
Masters Committee chairman Bill Symes caught up with two-time (1976, 1977) Laser World Champion John Bertrand and got him to share some thoughts on his recent return to Laser racing. Here they are: What made you decide to get back into Laser sailing after 30 years? I was aware of the Masters racing circuit, and my good friend Chris Boome sent me emails over the past few years encouraging me to come to some of the regattas. At the time, I was supporting my son’s and his friends’ Radial sailing and traveling around the US. I was also coaching Brad Funk and helping manage campaigns for other Olympic hopefuls. I also didn’t think I could physically get back into top Laser shape after spending so many years sailing big boats. It seemed to me that it was in the past and never to be revisited again. But after my son left for college and the lull in the America’s Cup and other pro sailing opportunities, I had the time to focus on getting fit. I ultimately had the goal of sailing the Laser at a high level as motivation for working out. I now wonder why I didn’t do this years ago! How has the game changed since your first go around? The control systems make a big difference in how the boats are now sailed. The feel is still the same but the technique, especially downwind, is radically different. Upwind as the breeze comes on, the vang sheeting makes it easier to depower. It doesn’t mean you hike less hard but you can now sheet the main outboard and pick up a big jump in speed. I was one of the early pioneers of developing a sailing fitness program (cross training) and now I have found that it has advanced to the highest possible level. In the Open fleet, the top sailors will blend in with any other Olympic level athletes and the Masters group is equally as fit for their “advanced” ages. You reached the very highest level of the sport in the 70s. How much of that do you feel you’ve retained? What skills had to be re-learned? What new skills had to be learned? I hit my peak as a 20-year-old after four years in the class. Those four years were a time of discovery. I have the same sense of discovery now, but the big difference is that I have the experience of already having done it. The same questions are present: can I physically get to where I need to be, and can I master the boat handling and technique in different conditions to be the
20
best in the world. I have the tactical ability and experience but need to regain the intuitive, less analytical side that is the cornerstone of winning in the big Laser fleets. I did a lot of work with Brad Funk in this area and his results in the big international regattas radically improved. How do you think a master’s training program differs from that of an open competitor? Ideally, there shouldn’t be much difference. The Masters should be doing as much of the cross training exercises and disciplines as the Open sailors. The major difference is that the amount and intensity depends on the base fitness level of the individual. It is no different for the youth sailors who are stepping into the class. When building your base, sometimes less is more (to prevent injury) but once you have a solid base it is easy to ramp up to a fairly aggressive program. It took me about a year to build my base but now I feel I can train as hard as any of the Open sailors. I credit this with working with the US Sailing Team Alpha Graphics trainer, Chris Herrera, and his Jaguar PT online training program. Chris works with professional athletes and sailors (like Zach Railey Finn silver medalist), and customizes and personalizes online workouts to your particular needs and regatta schedule. What are your sailing goals for this year? I’m already signed up for the 2010 Masters World Championship. I plan on doing a couple of international Open events and a number of US Laser Grand Prix events. My goals in order of importance are to get fitter, improve my all around boat speed, and to transition from “learning” mode to “racing” mode at these regattas. What is your strategy for achieving them? First and foremost is to continue the cross training in the gym and on the bike. I plan to really focus on my weakest boat handling areas, with emphasis on holding my position at the starts. Finally, just getting out there racing and having fun is important. At my most recent regatta, the Midwinters East in Clearwater, FL, I experienced a tremendous boost in confidence. I was amazed how much my Laser sailing has improved in four months of focused training. What do you think it will take to win Master Worlds? Seeing that Hayling Island is on the
south coast of England and the racing is in the bay, I am guessing it will be quite tidal. Therefore, being comfortable sailing in strong current, especially around the marks, and finding the laylines will be important. The weather in that part of the world revolves around fronts coming across the Atlantic, and could produce strong conditions, so fitness will likely play a big role. Otherwise good starts, being fast, and smart sailing is the golden formula for the winner. What’s your advice as a coach to masters aspiring to raise their performance level? Anyone, no matter age or experience, can improve their sailing. I personally enjoy the process of getting better as much or more than what the final results may eventually be. The first step is to honestly analyze your strengths and weaknesses. Once you have this, you can map out a strategy to improve your weaknesses. The process of recognizing a weakness is 50% of solving the problem. Once you see how a small improvement can make a big difference, then the motivation is greater to keep working on it. That’s the process of ultimately turning a weakness into your biggest strength. Are you having fun yet? Is this a rhetorical question? I am greatly enjoying this period of rediscovery, and I’m doing something that just one year ago, I thought wasn’t possible. I am documenting my return to Laser sailing on my blog at john.bertrand.blogspot.com. There you will find my latest race reports and insights as well as older posts that may give others ideas on how to improve their Laser sailing. I also will be blogging about my fitness routine and will have interviews with some of the top Open and Master Laser sailors.
SPRING 2010
JOHN DUKAT
Killer Green Blog – Richmond YC
Day 1 Thank God the wind filled from the right direction—-finally. Nobody really appreciated starting both groups off to San Rafael only to abandon midway up the weather leg as the breeze slowly filled in from the Gate. Good breeze it was too, building up to 12 maybe more at the top with a sedate little chop. The RC was glad to get in three races. According to PRO Del Olsen, “Didn’t want to give up on such a nice sailing breeze and in before sunset.” He was almost embarrassed starting the last race a wee bit before 5. After only two general recalls. Thereafter said Del, “The black flag does a lot for the appearance of the line. John Betrand with a (5-1-13) is fifth in standings. According to John “Today I had 2 good starts.[The 13th ] “ was a self inflicted” bad start in the third race. It was the short one so he ran out of time to make up ground. “The courses were set really well having with beats, reaches and runs and a lot of opportunities for passing.” He’s a Bay Area product. John said, “It’s like a walk down memory lane.” His old coach from San Rafael, Bill Monti, even came over to visit. Otherwise John has been busy. He says he’s at his Finn weight now. “This is great motivation to get back in shape. Been training in Florida.” Kieran Chung(24-2) of Newport Beach called it “a very tricky day” He credited a good starts at the pin end for his success. In one race he could see the starboard tackers were headed so he kept on to port and consolidated once everyone had gone over. Today’s chop was pretty good. Master Simon Bell said, “It’s big fleet when they’re all in front of you.” Betcha’s he’s tired but a cup of tea will get him right. Still the only divisions are
www.Laser.org
Regatta Reports
Midwinter’s West
between Standard and Radial, but the masters know who’s who. Chris Boome had a long day. “I get better each race. First I was in the 40’s next race in the 30’ and finished in the 30’s. Great day”
Day 2 Oh the dreaded black flag. Start with the i-Flag get a general recall and then doomsday black gets run off the yardarm. The unlucky or unskillful who get OCS then get run up the yardarm with a BFD (Black Flag Disqualification) for the next race. So with the breeze @290° coming out of San Quentin a race was got off with about 8 or so bad boy Lasers sitting it out. Same thing happened to five in the Radial fleet. Stephen Bourdow, now 3rd in Lasers, explained his black flag strategy, “The trick is in knowing whether the race is going to count. If it doesn’t then you back out.
The racing was well light for two races. The calibrated wet index finger on the pin boat skipper said “4.3 knots” then PRO Del Olsen “put every piece of change in the wind machine” which obligingly cranked it up to 13+ from the west. Maybe topping 15 at the weather mark. In the breezy race Stephen said, Sean Kelly (1,3,2,5,[26],1) went the right way on the second beat. He really got dialed in. Tried to hang in there on the run and last reach…” Sean credited his San Francisco upbring-
ing and Kept my head out of the boat and stay in clear air.” In the heavier last race “I like the breeze here. It’s hard when it gets light and lumpy.” OIiver Toole got a “horizon job” bullet in the first race. Said he “Had a good start & caught puff in the downwind. It was a pretty short course.”
In the Radials perhaps other than Kieran Chung having a 3 point lead over Mitchell Kiss, maybe the real news was that breakaway group of three: Kieran, Mitchell and Annie Rossi. Her dad gave Annie’s quick curriculum vitae “5’2”, 118#
Radial Sailor girl.” She’s no stranger to competition or the Bay Area having spent time with the San Francisco Yacht Club Junior Program and came up from the Southland for the programs and the competition. She raced 32 weeks last year. Annie while having dinner with her coach and fellow team members described the race, “Pin was obviously favored. I chose the middle and tacked right. Took it to about the layline. It was me, Keiran & Mitchell once we rounded the weather mark. We got out before the wind died.” photos: RYC Photo
21
2010 CANADIAN SAILING TEAM Laser Standard
Sailor Robert Davis Greg Clunies Mike Leigh David Wright Christopher Dold Luke Ramsay Lee Parkhill Evan Lewis
Home Club Kingston Yacht Club Kingston Yacht Club Royal Vancouver Yacht Club RCYC RCYC RVYC RCYC RCYC
Sailor Isabella Bertold Lisa Ross Jennifer Spalding Alanna Vittery Claire Merry Erin Rafuse
Home Club Royal Vancouver Yacht Club RNSYS Royal Vancouver Yacht Club RVYC RCYC RNSYS
Laser Radial
2010 US SAILING Team Alphagraphics Laser (One Person Dinghy) Kyle Rogachenko Rob Crane
Hometown Collegeville, Pa. Darien, Conn.
Laser Radial (Women’s One Person Dinghy) Paige Railey Clearwater, Fla. Claire Dennis Saratoga, Cali.
Yacht Club/Sailing Association Toms River Yacht Club Noroton Yacht Club
School Old Dominion University Hobart&Wm Smith Colleges
St. Francis Yacht Club St. Francis Yacht Club
University of South Florida Yale University
Yacht Club/Sailing Association Newport Harbor Yacht Club American Yacht Club Little Egg Harbor YC, Eastern YC
School Georgetown University Yale University Harvard University
Lakewood YC/Gulf Coast YSA San Francisco YC& St. FrancisYC Macatawa Bay Yacht Club Lauderdale Yacht Club Texas Corinthian Yacht Club Pensacola Yacht Club Lauderdale Yacht Club San Diego Yacht Club Sarasota Sailing Squadron St. Petersburg Yacht Club St. Petersburg Yacht Club
St. John’s School Yale University Black River High Yale University The Kinkaid School Pensacola High School Saint Thomas Aquinas Cathedral Catholic HS Sarasota High School CATechs/Lakewood HS St. Petersburg Catholic High
2010 US SAILING Development Team
Laser (One Person Dinghy) Charlie Buckingham Cam Cullman Clay Johnson
Hometown Newport Beach, Calif. Rye, N.Y. Toms River, N.J.
Laser Radial (One Person Dinghy) Carson Crain Houston, TX Claire Dennis Saratoga, Calif. Mitchell Kiss Holland, Mich. Sarah Lihan Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Greg Martinez Houston, TX Dodge Rees Pensacola, Fla. Erika Reineke Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Nevin Snow San Diego, Calif. Christopher Stocke Sarasota, Fla. Mateo Vargas Treasure Island, Fla. John Wallace St. Petersburg, Fla.
22
SPRING 2010
Lasers Race in the ABYC Manning Regatta
STEVEN SMITH Laser race at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (ABYC)?...round up the usual suspects. So it was for a dozen Laser racers who braved what threatened to be cold, rainy weather on a March weekend for the Southern California Yachting Association annual E.E. Manning Regatta. The usual suspects were a stalwart group of ABYC and frequent guest Laser racers plus a couple new faces. Sailing out to the traditional ABYC race area in Long Beach harbor, racers faced cool temps, partly cloudy skies and threats of rain and a fresh Force Four winds. Lasers shared the windward-leeward course with 42 CFJ’s that started four minutes before us. This presented no problem most of the weekend, but in the second race, several CFJ General Recalls caused the Lasers to sail into the bulk of the CFJ’s, creating quite a challenge at the leeward gate as well as dicey port-starboard situations upwind. Setting the tone for the regatta, a trio from ABYC; Vann Wilson, Chuck Tripp & Jay Golison fought it out for the top four spots with newcomer Ben Leibowitz, newly arrived from the east coast. Interviewed by Regatta Reporter Rich Roberts; “Leibowitz, 19, likely will soon
become better known after defeating a strong group of locals with two firsts and four seconds in the two-day small boat classic (Manning Regatta) that dates to 1935 and this time drew 174 sailors in 120 boats in five classes, all of 15 feet or less. He’s going to love it here. “It’s beautiful, absolutely beautiful,” Leibowitz raved afterward. “The big plus is the ability to sail year-round.” He didn’t plan to move cross-country just to sail, but when USC accepted his application to its business school the decision was made for him. Sailing was a bonus. Light morning rain preceded both days of racing, generating a stiff chop with up to 15 knots of wind even on the Long Beach outer harbor inside the breakwater where the Lasers and CFJs sailed… Leibowitz said, “I’ve been training here the last few weeks. It’s really nice breeze. You have to stretch out the legs because it’s kind of hard to get through the chop.” His coach is Rob Coutts from New Zealand, an older brother of Russell Coutts, the four-time America’s Cup winner. But Leibowitz’s competition—-including veteran Laser racers Chuck Tripp, Vann Wilson, Jay Golison, Jorge Suarez and Chris
Raab—-also helped to push him over the weekend. “The boat speed of some of those guys is awesome,” he said. “I had to step it up a bit.” Some of that “boat speed” was evident in race two where Vann uncharacteristically wandered off from the start line with mere minutes to go. By the time he realized his error we were minutes ahead; however, Vann did manage an impressive come back to finish the race in third. Four more racers joined us Sunday for the last two of a six race series. We all enjoyed another sparkling day with snow capped mountains clearly visible to the north. The Force Four breeze of the previous day continued but the results did not vary between the top four racers. Finishing in order were Ben, Chuck, Vann and Jay, followed by Peter Drasnin from Westlake & Cal YC’s rounding out the top five. In addition to racing, Peter attached a small camera to the bow-eye of his boat and shot a video on Sunday, available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8w8Jqr HAiE For complete results, regatta reports and photos go to: http://www.abyc.org/event.cfm?id=372
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District Reports
District 1 Brian Mills New Brunswick, CAN
Attention all young Laser sailors!!! Last summer the Canada Summer Games were held in Summerside PEI. Were you a competitor??? Why not??? If you have not done so already, right now is an excellent time to think about and write down your long term racing objectives and establish your 2010 sailing and racing plan. Do this with a view towards making your Provincial Sailing Team. Remember, the 2013 Canada Summer Games will be held in Sherbrooke, Quebec which gives everyone a number of sailing seasons to improve your racing skills before the team tryouts. To this end, there will be plenty of regattas here in the Maritime Provinces where you can test and hone your skills as well as make new friends and establish friendly interclub rivalries. Masters sailors, remember this is not all about the younger generation!!!! For sailors 35 years of age and older, there are plenty of opportunities to race in regattas dedicated to your age group. If you missed the World Masters Laser/Radial Championships held in St Margaret’s Bay in 2009, with 298 competitors from 29 countries, do not despair. You will have another chance in 2011, when I understand they will be held in San Francisco on the west coast of the US. Remember theses Championships are so popular that one has to meet some qualifying criteria and then apply to be accepted to the regatta. For more information on this process, search the North American Laser Class Association or the International Laser Class website.
District 1’s District Championships will be held in New Brunswick in 2010. The practice of rotating the venue of this Championship between the Atlantic Provinces could not be continued this year as Prince Edward Island declined the invitation to be involved. And so it goes to the next Province in the rotation i.e. New Brunswick. It is a matter of attaching the District 1 Laser and Radial Championships title and the Atlantic Canada Masters Laser and Radial Championship title to an existing regatta which ideally comes near the end of the sailing season. For 2010 the Rothesay Yacht will be hosting the event on the 14th and 15th of August. Just for your information results of all District Championships are sent to the North American Laser Class Association. They are complied and published in this magazine. For many racers, it is a competition to see who can amass the most amount of points by attending as many district Championships as they can and ,of course, finishing as well as they can. In the past several racers from Maine, USA have come to District 1 to compete in our championship.So if you plan to do some travelling with your Laser, remember you can find the location and venues of most regattas in North America, by searching the NA Laser Class Association website. Almost all regattas are posted there by the various District Secretaries. The following is a listing of regatta dates, along
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with the regatta names, host Yacht club and locations that I know of at the time of this writing. For more information you can call or email me, contact your Provincial Sailing Association or your Provincial sailing coach. June 26/27, NB #1regatta, Royal Kenebecasis Yacht Club, Saint John NB: July 8/9 , YOTS, Bedford Basin Yacht Club, Halifax NS: July 10/11, ARK, Bedford Basin Yacht Club, Halifax NS: July 17/18, Bay Wind Regatta, St Margaret Sailing Club, Glen Haven NS: July 21/24, Sail East, Northern Yacht Club, North Sidney NS: July 31/Aug 1, NB #2 regatta, Shediac Bay Yacht Club, Shediac NB: August 14/15, NB #3 regatta and D1 and Masters Championship, Rothesay Yacht Club. Rothesay NB Hope to see you on the water this summer
District 2 Louis Beauregard Denys Deschambeault Quebec, CAN
Oh No, Laser Temptations, Yet Again
The Montreal Laser fleet is bugging me. They annoy me pretty consistently around this time of year. They had a lot of gall announcing their spring training camp yesterday. It’s January. It’s snowing outside right now. I’m watching it accumulate on the outdoor furniture this very moment. According to the official demographic experts, sailors are commonly skiing right now. Louis and those sly marketing dinghy people even say they are going to make training camp less expensive this year. Don’t they know the same demographics I read? Demographics of a Sailor
* 94% of sailors are male * The average age of a sailor is 55 and married. * 78% are college graduates * 48% have post grads or degrees * Average household income is $239,500 * Average household net worth is $1,360,000 * 94% of sailors own their own home. * 91% of sailors fall into the managerial, professional or technical fields Sources: SAIL Magazine Subscriber Study 2003 MR! 2008, MMR 2008. Sailors hike, backpack, swim, cycle, ski, jog, or play tennis.
Okay, so listen up District 2 Laser class. You have no right successfully drumming up another one design fleet. Don’t you know sailboat racing decreased in popularity in Montreal last season? Supposedly, we’re all too old! We make way too much money to sail wee little boats. And, I repeat, it’s winter, so we really aren’t supposed to be tempted into thinking about a much more exciting boat. Please go skiing.
It’s almost unscrupulous to tempt us now. I just received a new fitted winter cover for my old Shark (keelboat) to replace the torn, heavily snow-laden plastic tarp. That is all I am supposed to be thinking about right now. I just finished paying big yacht club bills last month. I’m trying to figure out how to
buy new a new windward sheeting car and a big genoa. How did you know I don’t fit the wealthy old man demographic? Now, you go and get me thinking about the same thing as last year: inexpensive sailing. C’mon, what an oxymoron! Don’t you know I’m way too rich, and way too old for a Laser? I should be buying a brand new Etchells and paying some rock star to guide me around the course in Florida, or at least go up against the very friendly Etchells gang competing here. Oh no, you go and post notices of 2nd hand lasers that cost less than I paid for sails, and freakin’ boat and trailer maintenance last season. Just stop it you guys. And, if I hear there might be a few good lookin’ women in your fleet, well that would be the last straw. Source: http://montrealsailing.blogspot.com/2010/01/oh-nolaser-temptations-yet-again.html The D2 Laser Training camp is tentatively scheduled for May 29-30 at PCYC. This year the camp will be more affordable and the format made even better. Keep an eye of the District website for the latest info: www.laserd2.org. In addition, the following events will be held in D2 this summer (more to come): 29-30 May - D2 Masters Training Camp 2010 (PCYC) 12 June - D2 Masters #1 (Venture) 15-18 July - Canadian Laser Championships CVL 31-1 August - D2 Masters #2 PCYC 25-26 September - D2 Masters Championships
Finally many Masters sailor are joining Beaconsfield Yacht Club to race on Wednesday night (3 races/night). BYC is an affordable option with first rate facilities, we strongly encourage all Masters Laser sailors in the Montreal area to consider joining BYC. Every body is working hard to get the season going. First CVL is well ahead in organising the Canadians, it will be one champ to be remember. Please book early. Secondly the season opening training camp is taking on a new format that will serve a lot more sailors. You must book early for that event, this is a limited participants event , Thirly there is a lot of work going on rebuilding the Quebec team , most of the members have choosen to put their schooling ahead of there sailing carreer and drop the winter sailing, so now they do not meet the new requirements to qualify as Quebec team member by the sailing association. More on that point will come later as discussions are still going . For date of events, regattas schedule,boats and equipments for sale,and general infos consult the web site. Please consult the blog, it is loaded with stuff we think will be useful just for you http://laserd2.blogspot.com/ Have a windy and succesfull sailing season. I will meet you on the start line.
District 3 Rob Koci Toronto, CAN
The following was pulled from a young D3ers Facebook page.
SPRING 2010
Miami OCRs, OMG! How’d you do? The wind and wave combo was like, slurpee… I was a pylon. How’d Parkhill do? Sweeeet. Duce. Whoa. What about the Radies? Girls gone bad. Top was, like, waaaay back. Like, 34th. But condits were nasty. Wrong way and you were wack. They did good, considering… Lot o’ D3ers tho? Yea. Like, 25. Crazy. Onts all over the place. And they been training for months. Hey, D3 is 3D backwards! Avatar*, baby! Who was down there from 3D? Uh... D3? Wright, Kim, Merry x 2, Bowskill, Everybody. RCYC condo madness. What about the Mids? Better. Light tho. Check out Sailgroove.com interview with Parkie and Lee vs Leigh in 4th race. Lee vs Leigh! Did they sail by the Leigh or by the Lee? LOL not. Yea. Ended the race 1-2 with D3 Lee tops. Pretty cool. What about the old guys? Masters Mids? Not bad. Geezer grade tho. IMHO Koc needs to show a little more sumpin sumpin. And Sidenberg wins Fla Masters? He’s like, 100! He used to be from D3. Can we have him back? What? Would you move from Newport RI? Don’t think so. What about Koci’s DNC quad at the Mids, day two. WTF? The upper collar pop rivet popped. His pants fell down. Not a good look. Who else was there? Fullerton, Awesome Van Rossem. Stewart Lawrie, but SL busted a rib skiing just before going down. Too bad. So, what now? March madness, baby. Already on the water in T.O. Who? The Davys—King Kon and his dad at EYC. They went out, like March whatever. Dodged ice flows. Air, 7C. Wind, 10 kts. Water, 1C. Priceless! Nice. Where are you? Stayin’ in D3 South Huh? Miami. They got Buffalo Canoe Club. Why can’t we have Miami? Nice try. C U LTR @ HPR What about FWFO? In Guelph May 2? There’s water in Guelph? Glossary: Avatar: Academy award winning movie directed by D3-born James Cameron (Kapuasking, Ont.) See footnote. Radies – Radials Condits – conditions Wack - bad Onts – Ontarians. (AKA District 3) Poobad – very bad IMHO – “in my humble opinion” Koc – D3 Secretary Rob Koci. DNC Quad – scoring four Did Not Competes in a row. WTF - ….never mind. “his pants fell down” – the experience of the sail getting smaller and smaller when the mast collar breaks and the upper mast slides inside the lower mast section. C U LTR @ HPR – “See you later at the High
www.Laser.org
Performance Regatta.” (held at RCYC in early May) FWFO – Flat Water Freeze Out Regatta, held in Guelph, Ontario.
*Footnote: Cameron was recently quoted saying that from now on all his films would be “done in the 3D.” As he is a Canadian citizen and born in Ontario, we were immediately suspicious that this was intended as a message to Laser sailors in Ontario. We checked with reliable sources in Kapuasking’s medical community and discovered that Cameron was diagnosed with Dyslexia as a child. He actually meant to say, “done in the D3!” Further investigation revealed his love of sailing. His next film, shot at Studio 4 in Toronto, says more reliable sources, will star Brenda Bowskill, Claire Merry and Konrad Davy in leading roles. The movie, which will tell the story of the environmental devastation that results when a sailor leaves his wet gear in the trunk of his car too long, has the working title, “The Gross Locker” and has a budget of $2 billion dollars.
District 4 Brigitte Smutney Manitoba, CAN
Greetings to all Laser, Laser Radial, Laser 4.7 and Master sailors who sail and/or race in District 5! The winter months in our district normally last from October until May with lots of snow, very cold temperatures and thick ice on the lakes. At the recent Mid Canada Boat Show in Winnipeg, one could only admire a Laser radial on display but that’s where our provincial winter sailing ended... This season is going to be action packed with many great events scheduled. Our Master fleet is growing steadily and I would like to encourage all seasoned sailors to participate in the Master Circuit. You can find the regatta schedule at www.sailmanitoba.com/regattas/regattas.htm. See you on the water!
District 6 Andy Hunt Vancouver, BC, CAN
The sailing season in District 6 is now well underway. There was one regatta in January, one regatta in February and one regatta in March. The January regatta was the Frigid Digit Regatta in Seattle. This regatta has been going on for over 35 years. Sometimes, like this time, the regatta is held on Puget Sound. Other times, it is held on Lake Washington. Sailors came from the local Seattle area as well as from Portland and British Columbia. The wind was from the south and was light and shifty. There were 14 Standard Lasers and 3 Laser Radials. The top 5 Standard Lasers were: Bill Symes, WSC, 34.00; Josh Larsen, CYC, 41.00; David Brink, SYC, 44.00; Jim Barrett, CYC, 50.00; Doug Honey, SSC, 53.00. The three Radials were: Alexis Aird, Sarah Mackey and Nate Clemett. Alexis had 12 points, Sarah had 13 points and Nate had 20 points. The next weekend, February 6 and 7, saw the Royal Victoria Yacht Club host their annual Frozen Assets regatta. The wind was about 5-10 knots on Saturday and 2-5 knots on Sunday. The race committee ran 3 races on Saturday and two races on Sunday, for a total of five races which meant that there would be no throwout race. There were 16 Standard Lasers and 7 Laser Radials. Out of the sixteen Standard Lasers, 12 were from the
local Victoria area and all of the Laser Radials were from the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. The top five Standard Lasers were: Philip Round, RVICYC, 9.00; Robert Britten, RVICYC, 16.00; Geoff Abel, RVICYC, 21.00; Ian Elliott, RVICYC, 23.00; David Berry, RVICYC, 32.00. The top three Laser Radials were: Maura Dewey, 6.00; Elizabeth Hind, 12.00; Max Gallant, 17.00. The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club hosted the March Madness Regatta. This regatta was completely free. All a sailor had to do to register was to sail by the committee boat and the race committee then recorded his or her number. There was hiking conditions on Saturdan, March 13 and a complete mixed bag on Sunday. The race committee ran five races on Saturday in 8 – 12 easterlies and two races on Sunday. One of the races on Sunday was in a light westerly and the other race was in an easterly to begin with and then changed to a westerly. There were 13 Standard Lasers with two of the sailors coming from outside the English Bay area. Both of these sailors, Doug Honey and Darren Redies sail out of the Surrey Sailing Club and have competed in all of the local winter regattas, the Bluenose Regatta, the Frigit Digit Regatta, the Frozen Assets Regatta and the March Madness Regatta. The top five Standard Lasers were (I happen to know most of the Standard Laser sailors and their sail numbers): Luke Ramsay, RVYC, 10.00; Ricardo Montemayor, RVYC, 16.00; Al Clark, RVYC, 23.00; Kyle Martin, RVYC, 26.00: Andrew Wong, RVYC, 27.00. Unfortuneately, I don’t know the names of the Laser Radial sailors so I will list their sail numbers and points. There were a total of 8 Laser Radials and the top three were: 2662, 9.00; 4572, 13.00; 1544, 22.00. Local weekend racing and evening racing will commence at various clubs, starting in early May. For those sailors who do not or cannot travel to regattas, local club racing is very rewarding. On a good day, there can be over 20 boats competing. I encourage all local sailors to give their club racing a go. For those of you who are interested in competing in regattas, here is a list of some of the upcoming events: Flights of Spring Regatta JSCA April 17/18 Andy Hunt athunt@vcn.bc.ca Kitten Cup Regatta RVYC April 24/25 James Macdonald: sail_dir@royalvan.com Spring Dinghy Champs RvicYC May 1/2 Steve McBride: sailing@rvyc.bc.ca NOOD Regatta SYC May 15/16 Brian Ledbetter 206-325-1000 Sea-to-Ski BYC May 15/16 Steve Kersey: juniorsailing@byc.org
Springtime Regatta COSA May 22/23 cosa@okanagan.net Sockeye Cup CLSC May 29/30 Chris Carberry 604-793-0462 Jericho Classic JSCA June 5/6 Andy Hunt athunt@vcn.bc.ca One Design Late Days CYC June 26/27 Club Manager 206-789-1919 Please see the District 6 website: www.cycseattle.org/slf for more information
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District 7 Kim Ferguson Rhode Island, USA
District 7 sailors have had a busy and successful winter season!
First off, big congratulations to Scott Ferguson of D7 for his part in bringing home The America’s Cup! For the last 2.5 years Scott has been busy managing the rig program for BMW Oracle Racing. The last 10 months leading up to event were especially demanding, as it was in that time that the rig program shifted into a full on wing program. During those 10 months, Scott was able to take a 10-day respite to compete in the Laser Master Worlds, which he won, before returning to San Diego to continue on with the BOR wing. Not only was Scott one of the engineers behind the wing but he also sailed aboard the giant trimaran during the practice days helping the sailing team to understand and get comfortable with the monster wing. He will tell you that although this was probably the toughest project that he has ever worked on, it was also the coolest!
Yes, Scott admits that he has been envious of all his laser “masters” buddies competing in all the midwinter events and he has taken notice of the marked improvements of many, especially Peter Shope and John Bertrand! Needless to say, he’s totally ready to get back into his Laser and might show up at the Masters US Nationals in May. He also knows full well that he’ll probably get his butt kicked!
The 2010 Master’s midwinter circuit had many sailors from D7 competing with regular standouts being Peter Shope, Peter Seidenberg and Mike Matan. The three started with a warm up to the Florida circuit by competing in the Caribbean Master’s and finishing in 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively. The three then went on to compete in the Master Midwinter’s East with 65 competitors and finished 3rd, 5th and 10th again, in the same respective order. Peter Shope then went on to win the Florida Masters Mid Week Madness regatta with Peter Seidenberg finishing in 4th. It looks like Mike Matan didn’t compete in that event-perhaps he had to work? Places would change at the Florida Masters with Peter Seidenberg taking 1st, Mike Matan in 2nd and Peter Shope in 3rd. Although Peter Seidenberg took home the “Green Jacket” he was quick to give credit to Mike Matan and Peter Shope commenting, “I have to say that I only won because of the Masters age handicap system. Without it, I would have been third overall, behind Mike Matan and Peter Shope.”
At the 2010 Miami OCR regatta, hats off to Rob Crane of the Noroton YC with a 15th place overall finish. Apparently the conditions were dicey and super shifty and we know, the competition stiff! Out of 104 registered Standard Laser sailors, only 18 represented the US!
The 2010 Laser Midwinter’s was also a light and shifty event with a few D7 juniors turning some heads. Both the Radial and Standard fleets began with 90 sailors in each division eventually paring down to a “Gold” and “Silver” fleet within each division. In the Radial Gold fleet, OJ O’Connell of Mystic River YC finished in 9th overall while in the Silver fleet, Callie Naughton of the Eastern YC fin-
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ished in 10th overall. In the Standard division, only 12 competitors were juniors with only two qualifying for the Gold fleet! The top junior in the Gold fleet was Lucas Adams of Sail Newport finishing in 41st overall. In the Silver fleet was Matt Gowell of the Conanicut YC with a 9th place overall.
As far as Frostbite fleets, the only news reported was from Fleet 413 in Newport. Out of 75 registered sailors, Ed Adams won the Fall Series hands down, finishing 1st for the day in eight out of nine Sundays sailed…he was RC on the ninth Sunday! In 2nd place was Steve Kirkpatrick with Peter Shope in 3rd. The results from the Winter Series are in and in 1st place is Andy Pimental with Steve Kirkpatrick in 2nd and Will Donaldson in 3rd. Lastly, for latest news and updated schedule, check out the Laser D7 blog http://laserdistrict7.blogspot.com/
Upcoming regattas: April 25 The Pete Milnes Regatta Newport, RI May Madness Regatta Wakefield, MA May 8 May 15-16 Cedar Pt Spring Regatta Westport, CT Wickford, RI May 22-23 Wickford Regatta June 5 Lake Sunapee Regatta Lk Sunapee, NH Lake Mascoma Regatta Enfield, NH June 6 TBA RIISA Leeds Mitchell Barrington, RI June 13 NH Spring Seacoast Wentworth, NH *June 19-20Area A’s New Bedford, MA Saltmarch Trophy & The Buzzard’s Bay Champs June 26-27 Nutmeg Masters Westport, CT July 10-11 Coastal Living Regatta Newport, RI July 17 Sunfish & Laser Regatta Sharon, MA July 24 Stone Horse Regatta Harwich Pt, MA July 30-Aug 1Hyannis Regatta Hyannis, MA *August 6-8 District 7 Championship Marion, MA Buzzard’s Bay Regatta * Must be a Laser Class Member
District 9 Chas Williamson New York, USA
We have a warmish rainy foggy spell of weather right now, like this time last year, and again our great Luke Miller, a super enthusiastic sailor today has been asking the golden oldies to get their Lasers out of mothballs and take them to the club. That is great ! For my own part I am leaving for 6 weeks sabbatical in Euopre - Oxford and Marseille. So I am waiting to get ye olden Laser out at the end of April.
The Spring 2010 season will start with Ithaca YC Wine Keg on 22 May 2009, and we will be off to a good start with guaranteed good breezes, followed by Newport YC (29 May); an early start this year for Willowbank YC (5 June); Saratoga Lake SC (12 June) and Chautauqua Lake YC (26 June). For these and later regattas see the calendar below, and also check out the D9 Schedule on the ILCA - North America website put in place by top physicist and President Tracy Usher, and the San Diego Team of Sherri and Jerelyn. There you will find complete schedules and information on the fleets and clubs, all over the country. The Empire State Games (New York State Games) will be happenig again this year, after a year of
absence. It will be a weekend affair in Buffalo, although the venue details are still to be set. We are now a Masters sport and this just means sailors over 18 years old, and Albany ESG HQ are very strict and determined about that for whatever reason. Also the event will be open, without the old limit on boat numbers from each region, but sailors will need to coordinate with their Regional Coaches rather than just turn up unannounced. Spring is just about to start, so we should be planning our summer regattas. I attach below the Calendar for 2010.
DISTRICT 9 REGATTAS - - - 2010 Skippers Meeting 10:00 am for each regatta. Sat 22 May Ithaca YC “Wine Keg”. Chas Williamson. 607-272-0630 Sat 29 May Newport YC. John Boettcher. 585-671-9639 Sat 5 June Willowbank YC. Mike Mueller. 443-465-2687 Sat 12 June “Saratoga SC Derby”. Barbara Brown. 518-446-0426. Sat 26 June Chautauqua Lake YC. David Menzies. 716-488-3027 Sat 3 July Youngstown YC. Paul Hays. 716-745-1279 10-11 July Sodus Bay YC and SBJSA. DISTRICT 9 GRAND PRIX CHAMPS Mike Foley. 585 748 7006 24-25 July Empire State Games Buffalo (Details to be confirmed) 7-8 Aug Rochester YC Junior Olympics. Jon Faudree. 585-314-9760 Sat 14 Aug Seneca YC. Jim Gindling. 315-521-6693 16-19 Aug C.O.R.K. Junior Regatta. Kingston, Ontario. http://www.cork.org/ 21-25 Aug C.O.R.K. OCR Regatta. Kingston, Ontario. http://www.cork.org/ Sat 11 Sept Willowbank YC “Deathroll”. Mike Mueller. 443-465-2687
District 10 Eric Reitinger New Jersey, USA
The winter had many District 10 sailors making the trip down south to sail all throughout the winter. Just after Christmas, the annual Jr. Orange Bowl was held.
Orange Bowl Full Rigs (25 total boats): Dylan Finneran (GPYC/Toms River YC) 10th
Radials (135 total boats): Jack Swikart (Shrewsbury Sailing and YC) 32nd Max Lopez (Monmouth Boath Club) 22nd Nick Pro (Riverton YC) 72nd Arielle Delisser (Coral Reef YC/Barnegat Light YC) 19th The Masters had their week long circuit in mid February. Masters Midwinters East was held at the US Sailing Center of Martin County, Master’s Midweek Madness and Florida Masters were both held at Pine Beach Yacht Club and Royal Turkey Yacht Club. Masters Midwinters East (61 total boats):
SPRING 2010
John MacCausland (Cooper River YC) 7th Overall, 5thMaster Mike Hecky (Riverton YC) 9th overall, 7th Master Don Hahl (Brant Beach YC) 18th overall, 4th Grand Master Newt Wattis (Surf City YC) 25th overall, 5th Great Grand Master
Masters Midweek Madness (43 total boats): John MacCausland 3rd Overall, 3rd Master Mike Hecky 10th Overall, 6th Master Don Hahl 24th Overall, 7th Grand Master Newt Wattis 25th Overall, 5th Great Grand Master
Florida Masters Champs (42 total boats): John MacCausland 6th Overall, 5th Master Mike Hecky 13th Overall, 8th Master Don Hahl 31st Overall, 8th Grand Master Newt Wattis 22nd Overall, 7th Great Grand Master
Miami OCR had another great international turnout for the 2nd event of the ISAF World Cup. Full Rigs (103 boats): Kyle Rogochenko (Toms River YC) 3rd Clay Johnson (Little Egg Harbor YC) 21st
Radials (57 boats) Arielle Delisser 35th
Clearwater YC hosted the Youth World’s Qualifiers for the radial boys and girls. 34 total boats raced with Jack Swikart 15th (13th boy) and Arielle Delisser 19th (2nd girl).
Clearwater also held the Midwinter’s East a few weeks later with one of the most challenging fleets I’ve raced against before. The international turnout was amazing.
Full Rigs (90 total, fleet split evenly) Clay Johnson 6th Gold Eric Reitinger (Brant Beach YC) 5th Silver
Radials (94 total) Jack Swikart 24th Gold Max Lopez 10th Gold Jake Ellis (Brant Beach YC) 47th Silver 4.7 (15 total) Kayla Ellis (Brant Beach YC) 12th
Women’s North Americans were held at Lauderdale Yacht Club just between the OCR and Midwinters East, creating a nice women’s radial circuit. 29 Radials Arielle Delisser 17th
Back in the District, Monmouth’s Spring series just started back up for the month of March. The spring series starts up in April running through June with 5 total events.
April 17 29th Philadelphia Laser Championship @ Marsh Creek May 8th Shrewsbury Spring May 15th Monmouth Spring June 5th Jack Elfman Orange Coffee Pot Regatta @ Surf City June 12th Brant Beach Annual
Riverton hosts their Ice Breaker for 3 Sundays starting April 18th and Toms River hosts their Spring
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series APRIL 18, 25, May 2, 8 (Sat), 16
District 10 champs will be held at Corinthian Yacht Club of Cape May on September 25-26. The plan is to sail in the ocean so come and join in for the fun.
Good luck to Kayla Ellis at the 4.7 Worlds in Thailand.
District 11 Jon Deutsch Virginia, USA
The 2010 Season for District 11 is looking good and our fleet captains have been busy this winter getting all of the details ironed out so that we can have another successful season of sailing. We have events for Radials, Women, Juniors, Masters and everyone else in between. And in addition to the great events we have every year like the Sunshine Open, Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters, District 11 Championship and Bay Open JO’s we have a district series and many more local events. There’s a regatta in District 11 almost every weekend between May and the middle of October. To recap some recent news: Severn Sailing Association will be holding the Men’s and Women’s US Singlehanded Championship Area C Elimination. This event will run alongside the Sunshine Open and although the elimination is only open to sailors who meet certain qualifications, the Sunshine Open is open to sailors of all ages, home clubs and rigs. The event will have starts for both Standard Rigs and Radials. Come to Annapolis on April 24-25! On New Years Day Potomac River Sailing Association had a fabulous day of racing on the Potomac River for their annual Hangover Regatta. A total of 22 boats got in 6 races on a course set up in the Cove just off the docks of the WSM. Erich Hesse (PRSA) won the day with Dave Teale (PRSA) taking second and Robert Bennett (PRSA) in 3rd. Results are in from the 2009 District 11 Series. Congratulations to Bob Tan (SSA) who won the Standard Rig and Josh Dragon (BCSC) who won the Radials. Samuel Dobbs wins the road warrier trophy by attending all 6 events by sailing one rig or another. Karen Long (SSA) was first woman. For the standard rig we had 98 sailors take part in at least one of the 6 series events. That’s a 15-boat increase over last year. We had 8 sailors qualify for scoring (5 last year). In the Radial fleet we had 34 sailors attend at least one event which is over twice as many as last year (14) Standard Rig: 1. Bob Tan (SSA) 70 points 2. Nicholas Place (CRYC) 64 points 3. RJ Bay (WRSC) 52 points 4. Samuel Dobbs (PRSA) 46 points 5. Quinn Tobin (SSA) 42 points 6. Roger LInk (WRSC) 31 points 7. Jerry Smith 25 points 8. David Sliom (SSA) 25 points
Radial Rig 1. Josh Dragon (BCSC) 14 points 2. Matthew Schofield (TAYC) 13 points The events for our 2010 District Series had not been finalized at the time this was written, but will be posted on the District 11 Website http://laserdistrict11.org by the time you read this. A number of District 11 sailors went south this win-
ter to compete in events such as Midwinters, Florida Master’s week and Caribbean Laser Midwinters. Alden Shattuck (SSA), Len Guenther (FBYC), Mark Hillman (AYC), David Sliom (SSA), Mike Carr (AYC), Ted Morgan (SSA), Scott Houck (AYC), and Mike Schmidt (MRSA) all went to at least one event. Laser Sailing in the Norfolk/Newport News/Portsmouth and Hampton areas is experiencing a resurgence thanks to the Hampton Roads Laser fleet. They’ve recently started a Facebook page to keep sailors in that area informed of all of the happenings in their area. http://tinyurl.com/hrlaserfleet The fleet has sailing on a few weekends in the winter and most Sundays in the late spring and summer. Also newsworthy is that the Sunset Creek ramp in Hampton is back open after repairs. CBYRA has launched a new Junior sailing website. Check it out at http://www.cbyrajuniorsailing.org/ The site has news, calendar, results, links and all kinds of other information for junior sailors in the Chesapeake Bay region and their parents. CBYRA Announced their high-point winters for 2009. In the standard rig was Brady White (SSA), Radials Alex Jacob (FBYC) and Radial Girls Nicole Hause (TAYC). Several of our fleets are wrapping up their frostbite seasons. The snow and cold conditions kept sailors off the water a few more weekends than normal, but the sailors made the best of the weekends when the sailing areas were not frozen over. We’ll have a complete recap at the conclusion of the Frostbite season in the next edition of the Laser Sailor. Make your plans now for the 2010 District 11 Championship. Corsica River Yacht Club will be hosting it on August 28-29 and we’ll have starts for both Standard Rigs and Radials. The 2010 Laser sailing season is right around the corner and now is the time to get ready for the upcoming year. We’re looking forward to another great season. Here is a list of goals for the upcoming season. How many of them will you be able to complete this year? 1 Join the Laser class association, or if you are already a member, get one other laser sailor to join 2 Travel to at least one other regatta outside your home waters 3 Take someone sailing who is new to the sport or new to the Laser or make your boat available to a new or visiting sailor for a local event when you are not available 4 Volunteer to help in at least one capacity to plan, organize or run a local regatta 5 Vote on the proposed class rule changes
District 12 Christian Koppernaes & Doug Sherwood North Carolina, USA
31 years and counting the D12 Laser Championship Series has been going on making it the STRONGEST and LONGEST running championship series within SAYRA. What makes this D12 laser class so popular so long? That is easy variety of ages, diversity (men and women), and variety of rigs for the boat, great venues and lifetime friendships! District 12 borders are actually defined by the Laser Class as North Carolina, South Carolina and the lower ½ of Georgia. D12 is one of 26 Districts that make up the North American region and our membership in 2009 was 91 showing a steady increase in
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the last 5 years! We now have 4.7 members and radial memberships that have really increased or membership the last 2 years. D12 is well known for a long standing Championship series that started in 1978. First winner was John Gervais out of Charleston. Looking back at those early days those names continue to be the legends of sailing within SAYRA (and US
Sailing)– John Gervais, John McIntoch Jr., Stewart Walker Jr, Randall Swan, Patrick Kennedy, Robbie Wilkins and Chris Larson winning in 1985 just to name a few. Robbie Wilkins remembers…. Laser sailing in the 70’s was wild. We had the Larry Laser Regatta at Walter Earhardts house on Sullivans Island and always had 30-40 boats launching in the ocean and most all sailors staying at his house! He remains nameless but someone always brought a gallon of grain alcohol which was always consumed! Some of the most fun racing was in Colonial Lake in Charleston, and a small lake in a big park in Savannah. You could not put your board all the way down or turn over because the water was only 3 feet deep. Even Ed Beard, laser sailor from St. Pete (now on Allinghi) made it up to several of the D12 events back then and we whipped up on him! In the early 90’s, Laser sailing, D12 and the Championship series made a very strong come back with the Savannah and the Laser being named for the 1996 Olympics. A group of juniors out of Columbia Sailing Club (spear headed by father Keith Rawlings) reinstituted the D12 Series making it very close to the version it is today. David Loring (‘92), Martine Rawlings (’93) were very active during their college years traveling to the coast, the lakes and all over the south east as much as possible. In 2000, the series was fully loaded with 5 sometimes 6 events located all over the Carolinas and Georgia. We had some events with as many as 70 sailors participating. The Radial Series was introduced in 1999 as a way for juniors and women to participate in a championship series. Top Junior and Top Females were added along the way reflecting the changing fleet and the growth within our district. Most recently a 4.7 series was added again reflecting the growing needs of our district. What makes this series and these sailors so special are the people. We have sailors coming back to the Laser that were active in the 70’s to now race with their kids and some holding out to race with their grandkids! Many of those racers – Randall Swan, Robbie Wilkins, Lee Estes, Keith Rawlings, Arland and Chip
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Whitesides, Carrie and Dan Rhode can tell you there is no great joy than to watch your kids pass you on the course or slam dunk you at the start - you taught them well! Not a race weekend goes by that I don’t look around in awe of the friendships that have been created and survived this long! From the early laser lessons I got sailing on Charleston harbor with Randall Swan to the yearly race course battle I have with my good friend Charlie Usher who I have been racing against for 23 years, I love it all! But I especially want to thank my parents for getting me into the boat when I was 14, Lasers, D12 and SAYRA have defined so much of what I do today with sailing and I am thankful everyday for the chance to race my laser. I know have the joy of taking my children for rides on my boat and can only hope I will be shopping for a 4.7 rig in the next 8-10 years! A toast to D12 and hopeful for another 30+ great years of Championship Sailing!
District 13 Meka Taulbee Florida, USA
Clearwater Yacht Club hosted 199 Laser sailors representing 30 countries for the 2010 Laser Midwinter’s East, February 18- 21. After four days of racing, the winners were Emil Cedergardh from Sweden in Standard Lasers, Paige Railey of Clearwater Yacht Club in Laser Radials, and Esteban Echavarria from Colombia in Laser 4.7s. The competition was very stiff and a moderate breeze on the first day was followed by three lighter days. There were teams at the venue training for two weeks before the event and in the gold fleet finals in the full rig, 33 out of the 45 competitors were from other countries! Thank you Clearwater Yacht Club and Clearwater Sailing Center for running such an outstanding event! The Florida Masters Series held February 6th to 14th was another huge success this year! The main event, Master Midwinters, was held at the US Sailing Center in Martin County and drew 65 masters from all over the place. In a tight series, Peter Vesella from San Francisco got the win by only 1 point! The other two events held at the Palm Beach Sailing Club were Midweek Madness and the Florida Masters. The respective winners were Peter Shope from and Peter Seidenberg, both from Newport. A big thank you to David Hartman and crew for creating, organizing and promoting such a successful Master Series! Check out the D13 website for next year’s dates.
In youth sailing Mateo Vargas from St. Petersburg won the ISAF Youth World Qualifiers held in Clearwater, January 16th to 18th. He beat the best youth radial sailors in the country…and won by 22 points over 10 races! Mateo will represent the USA at the ISAF Youth Worlds this July in Istanbul,
Turkey. Mateo is also a member of the US Sailing Youth Development Team. Way to go Mateo!
Check out d13.laserforum.org for all of our upcoming events.
District 14 Cal Herman Louisiana, USA
Last year, 2009 District 14 saw the birth of the Gulf Yachting Association Laser Circuit for Lasers and Radials. This GYA Circuit increased the participation to larger fleet numbers than previous years. 2009 GYA Circuit winners were: Dodge Rees, Pensacola Yacht Club Radial Laser Andrew Phillips, Birmingham S C
Year 2010 will see the GYA Circuit Regatta’s consist of:
Laser Full Rig Circuit Best 4 of 7 17 Preemie, Pensacola Beach YC April April 24/25 D-14 Champs, 3 Regatta (Grand Prix Event), Gulfport YC May 15/16 Spring Regatta, Buccaneer YC 12/13 O’Day Qualifiers, June Birmingham Sailing Club June 18/20 ILCA Gulf Coast Champs, Seabrook Sailing Center (Grand Prix) August 14/15 GYA Laser Champ’s Galloway Regatta, Gulfport YC November 13/14 Jubilee Regatta, Pensacola YC
LASER RADIAL CIRCUIT Best 4 of 7 April 10/11 Mobile Bay Youth Champs, Buccaneer YC April 24/25 ILCA D-14 Champ’s, 3 Regatta (Grand Prix), Gulfport YC June 18/20 ILCA Laser Gulf Coast Champs (Grand Prix), Seabrook Sailing Club Aug 14/15 GYA Laser Champ’s Galloway Regatta, Gulfport YC Sept 11/12 Back to School, Pontchartrain YC Sept 25/26 Wadewitz, Fairhope YC Nov 13/14 Jubilee Regatta, Pensacola YC We hope to see even better participation in 2010 as the Laser and Radial Fleet in District 14 continues to grow.
District 15 James Freedman Texas, USA
All, the schedules are finalizing and the snow is melting. Please see the latest in the District 15 schedule for 2010. Let’s try and have more participation this year over last year. Our first event is in Austin. The Easter regatta is our District 15 championships and always brings a crowd. District 15 Events AYC Centerboard Regatta - May 1/2 - Austin Y C RCYC Spring DinghyFest - May 22/23 - Rush Creek Yacht Club SSC Summer Solstice Regatta - Jun 5/6 - Seabrook Sailing Club CSC Laser Regatta - Sept 11/12 - Corinthian S C FWBC Laser Regatta – Sept 18/19 – Fort Worth BC LCYC Wurstfest Regatta - Oct 30/31 - Lake Canyon Yacht Club * Best 4 of the 7 events listed above will be used to
SPRING 2010
score the Texas Laser Circuit. An Iron Man award will be presented to the sailor(s) who competes in every Circuit event.
National Laser events in Texas GCC Gulf Coast Championship - Jun 19/20 Seabrook Sailing Club North American Championship - Jun 23/27 - Texas Corinthian Sailing Club
Other Texas Laser events White Rock Leukemia Cup Dinghy Regatta - Apr 24/25 - Corinthian Sailing Club RCYC Fall Dinghyfest - Oct 16/17 - Rush Creek Yacht Club
District 19 Ken Swetka Michigan, USA
We are finally seeing open water in Michigan and getting our drysuits ready for the first sail. It is still a bit early for a full schedule but below is a brief list of events in D19. Go to www.d19laser.org for a more complete list of event. May 15 GTYC Spring Regatta - Traverse City, MI June 12 O’Day Area E Qualifiers - Crescent Sail YC, Grosse Pointe, MI August 1-2 Leland Laser Regatta – Lake Leland, MI Aug 14 Grand Traverse Yacht Club Annual Aug 28 Annual Lake Lansing Regatta - contact is Doug Carlson Sep 18 GTYC Fall Regatta - contact is Mark Lyons Sep 25 No Sweat - Portage Yacht Club Oct 2 Frosty Mug Regatta - Irish Laser Fleet, Little Traverse Bay, Harbor Springs, Nov 26 Black Friday Regatta - Mid-Michigan Think Spring and we hope to see you soon sailing in the waters of Michigan!
District 20 Steve Dolan Wisconsin, USA
Another Bikie (www.birkie.com) under my belt, another thrashing by the wife. I am getting slower while she is getting faster. Arrgh!! Luckily soft water is returning in time for me to save face on the home front bragging board. Frostbiting begins in Chicago this weekend [3/14/10]. Milwaukee and coastal Lake Michigan ports north soon to follow. It will be another month before the ice is out for the Inland lakes here in cheese land. Keep the training up and get out and frostbite. This summer will be a big one for D20. Here are some quick notes on what’s going down: The D20 book end Dave Abbott Regattas [Ice Breaker and Oktoberfest] move to a new venue this year, Pewaukee Yacht Club. Get your dry suit out; the Vlad will be our first event on Lake Michigan over the first weekend in May. After a year sabbatical, The Pegel’s have lobbied for the Mothers Day regatta to return to Lake Geneva. The perennial sail off the beach mid summer event returns to Winnetka in mid July and rumor has it they may be staring their own Laser Fleet with weeknight racing. South Shore Yacht Club had such a blast hosting their first ever Laser Regatta last summer that they have signed on to host Districts this year over the first weekend in August. Milwaukee Yacht club will be throwing down the big event, the Laser US
www.Laser.org
Championship August 12-15. This is an all ages all fleet event with 4.7, Radials and Full rigs invited. Expect the big guns and the slow pokes (me) to be there. Don’t be bashful, keep the training up, hit the regatta circuit and come out and join the fun. If nothing else, I will be way back there to keep you company around the race course. Fall will see the Folks from Green Bay host their Title Town Regatta. LaCrosse Sailing Club will host their annual Border Challenge on the Mississippi. The first weekend in October Chicago Yacht Club will host its perennial fall highlight, The Jimmy Talbot. As always, stay up to date with the Laser happenings in D20 by checking out http://d20.laserforum.org SIs, NORs, regatta results and used boat clearing house all posted there. See you on the water.
District 21 Mike Elson Minnesota, USA
Sun! Warm winds! Slushy lakes! It appears we have survived another Winter. Unfortunately, it was a Winter with no ice boating. Heavy snow hit right after the lakes froze and there was no thaw/refreeze to make clear ice. When the warm weather hit it also was warm at night so we went straight to slush. And I don’t have any slush runners. No snow kiting due to failure of an original part. Replacements scheduled so next Winter should be better in several ways. Setting the D21 schedule has been unusually slow this year. Our opener, on White Bear Lake, the Heckl Invitational (it’s been so long since Andy Heckl participated my favored “Memorial” would be more suitable) has been moved later to June 13, a date which will have much warmer water than the old first week of May dates. Wednesday evening Laser racing will start at Wayzata YC in May but shifts to Tuesdays, June through August. Wednesday evening Laser racing begins at Calhoun YC in June and continues through September. Thursday evening Lasers racing begins on White Bear Lake in June and continues through August. One of the bigger Laser events of the season is part of Calhoun YC’s traditional Aquatennial Regatta, July 17 & 18. The organization that is now sponsoring Minneapolis’ Aquatennial events wants $1000 from CYC to use the name Aquatennial! The regatta has been part of Aquatennial every year, starting the year after Aquatennial begain. So, that’s the story if you see the regatta under some other name. We’ll get the full schedule on our web site as soon as it’s set.
District 22 Mike Gilbert Montana, USA
As you read this, the ski hills will be shutting down and spring will be here in the northern Rockies. We have more activity planned this year for D22, focusing on where most of the Laser activity is, NW Montana. First, we are planning the first Montana East vs West Laser Challenge this spring, wherein the sailors from western MT will face off against those
from eastern MT on neutral Nevada Lake above the famous Blackfoot River (the river that runs through it). It will likely be our Flathead group against Tim Sauer’s upstart Billings group. The winning side gets to select the lake for next year’s regatta, which could be anywhere from Glacier National Park to Fort Peck Reservoir.
We hope to get a regular turnout for the South Flathead Sailing Association’s Saturday KISS series at Dayton Bay. Racing every Saturday morning at 10AM for only $5 a weekend with a professional race steward, committee boat, the whole show. Two or more Lasers will give us our own start after the keelboats. July 10 brings us to The Second Annual Whitefish Regatta (formerly the First Annual Whitefish Lake One-Lap Laser Regatta). This year’s event will be sponsored by the Whitefish Lake Institute, which is committed to protecting and improving Whitefish Lake resources. The regatta will be based at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake, a beautiful facility with outdoor dining, lawns to the water, and a private marina. The racing, in Monk’s Bay with a view of the Big Mountain ski resort, will be in conjunction with and following the first Whitefish Wine Auction Thursday & Friday, July 8th & 9th which is a benefit for The Whitefish Lake Institute. The District 22 Championship and Flathead Laser Championship will be held August 20-22 at the North Flathead Yacht Club in Somers, Montana, at the far north end of the lake. We hope to attract many of the local boats we are finding in the area, as well as sailors from the greater Northwest and our District 5 friends in Alberta to the north. If all goes well, it could be a turnout not seen on Flathead Lake in years. We’ve had California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, British Columbia, and Alberta sailors in the past. It is a stunning setting, something everyone should see once. As we grow, we hope to introduce new sailors to racing, coax former sailors back into the water, and hold some coaching clinics to help everyone improve.
District 23 Fletcher Avery Colorado, USA
We are looking for a great summer of Laser sailing in D23 and the Rocky Mountains. There is a growing surge of transplant Laser sailors moving to our District and very competitive fleets race weekly at Lake Cherry Creek in Denver, Union Reservoir, North of Denver, and the Jordanelle Reservoir in Park City, UT. At Cherry Creek we have broken ground on a great new clubhouse and facility and are looking to add some Lasers to our inventory to lease back to new sailors moving to town. Thursday nights beginning in May through September see very competitive club races at CC with as many as 15 Lasers on the starting line. The Mountain regatta circuit is anchored this summer with the No Coasts
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Grand Prix coming to the Dillon Open July 31-Aug 1. With Lasers enjoying their own launch and sailing area in the Frisco area, as well as the fun and camaraderie of the entire Dillon Open weekend, we look forward to hosting sailors from around the country. Positive responses are already coming in from the Bay Area, Twin Cities, Kansas City, and TX respectively. The Park City Sailing Association* continues its growth with new additions of members and boats throughout the Winter months. Their growth has taken a new direction with the addition of a Junior Sailing Program to be sailed in Lasers and Optimists. Below is the Rocky Mountain line-up for the summer: May 15-16 Hornblower Regatta –– Cherry Creek Lake, Denver June 12-13 Utah Summer Games Regatta –– Deer Creek Reservoir, Midway, UT. Lake Union Regatta (details coming) June ?? July 17-18 Aspen Mountain Regatta –- Lake Rudi, Aspen, CO July 31-Aug1 No Coasts Grand Prix at Dillon Open – The Dillon Yacht Club, Lake Dillon, CO August 20-22 Colorado Laser Champs –– Grand Lake Yacht Club, Grand Lake, CO -Friday, Aug 20 Laser Race Clinic w/ Masters World Champion Doug Peckover Sept 18-19 Colorado Governor’s Cup –– Cherry Creek Lake, Denver *Of note: US SAILING’s Announces 2009 OneDesign Award Winners and Park City’s Geoff Hurwitch wins US Sailing LEADERSHIP AWARD through many initiatives and has grown this overall fleet dramatically in the past two years. We are continually updating our Laser website at:
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www.usdiscovery.com/laser Come to the beautiful Rocky Mountain region for an unforgettable Laser experience this summer!
District 24 David LaPier NorCal , USA
Richmond Midwinter’s The first Sunday of every month from December thru March brings dinghy sailors from around the bay area, Sacramento and Fresno to the Richmond Yacht Club. With the El-Nino this year, we had more active weather systems and so avoided any real drifters; it was an excellent series with outstanding race management. Results: 1) Mark Halman, 2) David LaPier, 3) Ryan Nelson, 4) Mike Bishop, 5) Dominique Bertrand (31 Boats) Richmond Sunday Series The Richmond YC fleet is working to continually improve and have fun while they are at it. This year, they raced each Sunday afternoon in a frostbite format (except no-frost!). Lots of short races every week focused on the Juniors in a supportive multi-generational setting gave everybody a chance to learn and excel. Mark Halman organized the event and writes about the last week of racing and provides the wrap-up. “With 7 Lasers and 8 races, we all enjoyed a wonderful warm sunny day and a great 10 knot breeze. Drake Jensen dominated the day with eight bullets. Joe Carter sailed really well and was in third place before his tiller extension broke. Well done to both the Juniors!” “A huge thank you to Tim Stapleton for the Race
Committee work for this series. Thanks to everyone who came and joined us. Having a bunch of Lasers on the start-line every afternoon really helped us learn short-course racing.” “John Barrere sailed a great series and had a chance to win but couldn’t attend the last two days. John Duler also sailed well, especially light-air downwind, and always was in the hunt. Ryan Nelson was always there and improving. Drake Jensen continued to improve in both speed and tactics as the weeks went by and was unbeatable by the end. Nico Colomb sailed solidly all series and Joe Carter showed that when the wind was right and he sailed full rig he was right-up with the leaders.” Londerville Cup The Half Moon Bay Yacht Club postponed racing one week to make room for the Maverick’s Surf Contest. Laser sailors raced inside the harbor the following week. Was it to avoid the 40 foot waves? Or the Great Whites! (I think staying inside the harbor is a very good idea under the circumstances.) Unfortunately rain cut the event to one day only. Results; 1) Kevin Wasbauer, 2) Jim Margeson, 3) Jacques Kerrest. International Laser Academy Mexico Clinic Laser sailing is a great for sailors that really want to improve their sailing performance and have fun seeing new places. We can practice, learn, and have a great time doing it with friends. J.B. Duler is one member of our fleet that is really getting a lot better with results to show it, who writes: “Six members of District 24 went to a Master’s Laser clinic in Mexico. A Vanguard 15 sailor was invited along and was converted to Laser instantly. He committed to buy a Laser back in San Francisco.”
SPRING 2010
“Weather was great, nice afternoon thermals, with great coaches and organization. Water was warm, around 80F, probably higher than normal (El Nino year), plenty of sunshine, abundant life in the water: we saw whales, had dolphins racing with us, and the whole sea seems alive with fishes jumping everywhere.” “I was so enthusiastic about the whole trip that he is planning to return to the International Sailing Academy, located in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, a small town 30 miles North of Puerto Vallarta. Transportation from San Francisco was easy, with rental housing on the beach at the entrance to the marina, with a pool nearby. Food was my main concern, and they had it covered. Filtered water, all food washed and clean, and great nutritious meals by Leah, an American living in Mexico for the past 10 years. Her husband has a sail loft. That is where we take breakfasts, lunches, and breaks. I can’t find enough good words about the quality of the meals: veggies snacks, fresh fish, and great tacos. All 100% safe and healthy. Frankly, it does not get any better. Warm evening breezes, view over yachts at anchor, great sunsets.” “Vaughn Harrison and Chris Dold are Canadian nationals and were our coaches. Coaching was top notch with video footage, debrief before and after the day.” St Francis Spring Dinghy Picture post-card conditions at the Golden Gate ushered in the start of our summer season. Following the front passing Friday night, a cool northerly backed to the west through the afternoon as the sea breeze established itself. Sunday was closer to a typical City Front summer day, with a massive 4 knot ebb tide running into a relatively moderate 815 knot Westerly. Starting with the current was challenging, you had to set up what was fundamentally a timed-run well below the line to avoid OCS. Then getting back to restart against the tide seemed to take forever. We had a good turnout in all the fleets, with separate starts and more 4.7’s than ever. Results: 4.7 : 1) Joe Carter, 2) Lauren Cefali, 3) Lola Bushnell, 4) Markus Suorsa, 5) Mariana Sosa Cordero. Radial: 1) Trevor Rowedder, 2) Mark Halman, 3) Dominique Bertrand, 4) Jacques Kerrest, 5) Christy Usher Standard: 1) Peter Phelan, 2) Steve Bourdow, 3) Drake Jensen, 4) Chris Boome, 5) David LaPier
District 25 Nils Andersson SoCal, USA
The 2010 Laser racing season started out with The Southern California Yachting Association Midwinter Regatta which is conducted by 33 yacht clubs from San Diego to Santa Barbara and east into Arizona. Mission Bay Yacht Club, San Diego hosted the Senior Laser and Radial fleets. The SCRA Midwinters was a success for the Lasers and Radials. We had 19 Radials on the starting line. Saturday started out with light wind and some really big swells. On Sunday the wind had increased somewhat and it was still very lumpy. It was not easy out there in the challenging conditions because of passing rain storms resulting in big shifts. After 6 races in the Radial fleet the winner was Olin Paine, second Kevin Laube and third Matt Morris, all jun-
www.Laser.org
iors from MBYC; great sailing guys.
The full rig Laser fleet had 15 starters. Oliver Toole from Santa Barbara beat Evan Hoffmann, MBYC, Brian Cottrell, KHYC third, Andy Dippel, MBYC fourth, and Scott Hoffmann MBYC fifth, all juniors here too. Among all the juniors in the Radial fleet we had our So-Cal oldest Laser sailor, Leif Gihbsson, SCRA, at the age of 81 scoring a sixteen’s place. Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (ABYC) in Long Beach CA hosted a fleet of eleven Laser Masters as part of this regatta. Here is a report I received from ABYC’s Fleet Captain Steve Smith: (he is so good) A sparkling, partly cloudy day greeted the Laser racers along with a nice fresh breeze as we sailed out to the traditional ABYC race area in Long Beach harbor. Once there, we searched in vain for the Race Committee signal boat Patience. Turns Patience had broken down on the way out delaying the start of races for an hour. Add to this, the wind was not cooperating forcing further delay of the Laser start. Once underway in breezes ranging from 10-15 knots, the Masters enjoyed three races on windwardleeward courses. One challenge was a noticeable amount of trash in the water, no doubt run-off from recent rain storms. The trash floated in huge patches you could not avoid consisting of what appeared to be tiny pieces of sawdust that washed onto your deck with any wave. I even sailed by the carcass of a dead sea lion. At the end of the day two racers from ABYC lead the regatta…Kevin Taugher, followed a mere one point back, by Chuck Tripp. Day two looked to be a repeat of day one with clear
skies and promise of more Force Four winds. This being the case, your author and Tucker Strassen from Del Rey YC, decided to exercise our Masters Option and switch rigs to the Radial. Well, as Tucker and I sailed out to the race course, a light breeze made it look like we had picked the wrong day to use the smaller rig…boy were we wrong! A nice cool 15-18 knot breeze filled-in by the first start and stayed with us all day. With the steady breeze, we had three wonderful, challenging races back to back in quick succession around a windward-leeward course with short, steep chop upwind and nice waves to surf downwind. Thankfully the tide or wind moved the trash and wood chips out of the race course. Our first day leaders Kevin and Chuck did not race on Sunday leaving the first day third and fourth place racers; ABYC’s Vann Wilson and from Westlake YC, our good pal Peter Drasnin, to duke it out for first place. Peter came out of the blocks with two firsts, but Vann lead wire to wire in the last race. Reversing their standings from Saturday, Peter emerged with a one point victory to win the regatta. Following Vann in third was our ABYC Laser Fleet Co-Captain, Jorge Suarez showing good speed in the conditions and placing second in the penultimate race Sunday. Other racers finishing in order were; ABYC’s Jay Golison, your author, Jonathan Cressy from Balboa YC, Scott McKenney from South Coast Corinthian YC, Tucker Strassen from Del Rey YC and Ed Feo from ABYC. Other activities reported by Steve at ABYC. Remember we are sailing the Masters NA there in August and I’m looking forward to it
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Cold Water
About 10 years ago I was asked how I felt about the effects of drinking cold water vs. warm water. At that time we were at a very hot regatta and you probably could have sold ice water for a pretty penny. I gave a rather non-committal answer and said I didn’t think it was a big deal to drink the cold water as long as the sailors were drinking something and staying hydrated. Later that day I saw another sailor who was so completely dehydrated that he was sick. The next day I watched him bring out a big cooler of ice water on his support boat. I have thought about this question and scene many times and every time I wish I could go back and change my answer to the first sailor and then better help that other sailor. Our core body temperature can range anywhere between 97-100 degrees Fahrenheit. We are like a big walking furnace. When you introduce cold water to the fire it starts to extinguish it. When the fire starts to die everything moves slower and cannot function properly and efficiently. Consider this analogy. If you are inside your warm house with the fireplace going and you step outside, do you move very quickly and efficiently…no you shiver which is the body’s way of trying to create heat. If your body has to compensate for these reactions, due to the consumption of cold water, then how can your body put out its full effort for you to physically and mentally sail at an optimal level. When you are cold the body tends to constrict and contract. This is one of the reasons I am always trying to get people to make sure they stretch before going sailing(to counteract the tightening of the muscles). This is the same effect consuming a cold beverage is going to have on the body internally. As much as I am trying push water on everyone, most times by the time they drink it they are already thirsty and therefore already dehydrated. If you are dehydrated and you drink cold water you are letting everything contract internally. Severe dehydration, as with the sailor that I mentioned earlier, causes symptoms such as dry heaving and abdominal cramping. The last thing you want in this situation is for your stomach and abdominal region to con-
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preserve shelf life are already hard for the body to digest. Consuming some cold water on top of that poses a real challenge for the body. We are eating food on the water to help us maintain power and replace lost energy. In turn this will keep our blood sugar levels stay at an even keel further leading to the ability to make better tactical decisions and more efficient physical movements. You can see how this creates chain effect and that if your body has to focus the majority of its energy to digestion the chain gets broken. A healthy digestive system leads to a strong immune system. If you suppress digestion it can lead to illness and fatigue. Again this is the last thing you want to deal with while trying to be competitive on the water. I am not saying that you need to drink hot water, but room temperature water is going to serve you much better than cold water. I know it is a change for many and it was for me too. However, after you become accustomed to it you will notice a big difference in how you feel on and off the race course. I am happy to go into more detail or answer any questions about the topic, but this should at least give you something to think about! SAILFIT creates fitness and nutrition programs using mind-body techniques to enhance sport performance. Each program is created specifically to the individual. Contact Meka at meka@sailfit.com for more information or go directly to our website www.sailfit.com. Notes: Barlow, J. S. (1999). Acupuncture in the Treatment of Children. Seattle: Eastland Press, Inc and Chinese Medicine Publications. Reid, D. (1994). The Complete Book of Chinese Health & Healing. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Paige Railey bundled up at MWE. Photo: Luther Carpenter.
Sailing Fit
tract any more. This will only make the symptoms worsen. Something else to consider when you are sailing or doing any physical activity is that you need to be able to flush out the lactic acid buildup and any toxins in your system. If your body is in a constricted state rather than a relaxed state it will be more difficult for you to do this and can hinder your performance. It is said that cold water leaves the body quicker. While it may leave the body quicker than warm or room temperature water it is not being absorbed by your body and getting the chance to hydrate you. This is really defeating the goal of trying to keep you hydrated and using hydration to help prevent injury. I can attest to this from personal experience. During a long, hot training run where I brought water with me I was drawn to a water fountain that had ice cold water. Mine was already warm so I stopped and while it felt good at the moment I started to not feel so good shortly after. I continued to sip on my warm water and started to recover. Later in the run I was met by some supporters who brought me new water to carry that had ice in it. Again it seemed so refreshing, but I started to have abdominal cramps and became very slow. After a few runs where I noticed this trend I knew it was the cold water. On some days the cramping lasted for hours after the run. It is so hard to concentrate on anything and to keep a pace that this is really the last thing you want to happen when you are going to be on the water and competing for a few hours. In addition to hindering hydration, consumption of cold foods and beverages weakens your digestion. While I have high hopes that all of you are eating clean and healthy foods on the water I know that race organizers are still handing out lunches that are far below par. These heavy foods that are often high in sugar and chemicals that
SPRING 2010
District Reports - continued from
Page 31
Laser Fleet Winter/Spring Series a Success
The ABYC Laser Fleet is hosting a series of fleet/practice races during this winter and spring season. The idea is to have an afternoon of short races with tight start lines in order to have as many starts as we can accommodate. The second of these races was held Super Bowl Sunday, just prior to the big game. Vann Wilson and Kevin Brown from ABYC ran the races that day. Here is Vann’s report: “We had a fantastic day of Laser sailing Super Bowl Sunday. There were 11 standard rig and one Radial that enjoyed eight races in winds ranging from 8-12 knots with big swells off Seal Beach. The racing was very tight. Kevin Taugher won seven of the eight races and only missed out on the perfect day by finishing six inches behind Jim Kirk who surged past Kevin at the downwind finish of race six. Trust me though; Kevin was working for those bullets. You have to love a 12 boat fleet that included; a former U.S. SAILING Single-Handed Champion (Kevin), a U.S. SAILING Mallory and Prince of Whales Champion (Jay Golison), a top four finisher in the Laser Masters World Championship (Chuck Tripp), and one of the top former Youth Champions (Cameron Summers). The rest of the fleet was not chopped liver. The racing was close! Everyone was on the line in each start. Truly fun to watch… Kevin Brown and I teamed up to run the races. Kevin B. certainly got my vote for MVP with his efforts in running these races.” Coming up on April 24-25, 2010, the annual California Masters Championship; be there.
Kieren Chung, MWW Radial winner. RYCPhoto credit
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