Wow, another long day on the water. I got to the club at 10:30, and once again, blue sky was popping through the clouds in places. However, after our very long sail to the race circle, the clouds were thick and the wind was out of the south around 10 knots. The RC set a course and started the Apprentice Master fleet with one general recall and immediate black flag. They then started the Masters red fleet, who also had a general recall. Before they could start another sequence, the wind went from 195 to 245 to 270 in short order. They abandoned the Apprentice Master race, and proceeded to reset the course.
It takes a while to move a couple of hundred Lasers and all the marks needed for a trapezoid course with gates. While they were moving their water toys, the sun started to shine, and I joked with Andy Roy that it was going to go back to the south as the sea breeze started to fill. Sure enough it did, so we had to wait again while they reset the course again.
Finally around 3:00 they got our race off, after another general recall for the Apprentice Masters. The wind had not gone all the way to the south yet, so I felt that the left side would be favored as the sea breeze filled from that direction with a left shift. I won the pin in good shape, unfortunately we were in a bit of a right phase and things didn't look too good initially. Once the left shift came in, things looked brighter, and I held off the last boat on that side and tacked on his windward hip. Sure enough we got more of a left shift, and after battling through the spinnakers of the fleet in front of us, I rounded the windward mark in 16. I held my position on the reach leg, and on the next downwind, I was able to pass a few boats, rounding the leeward gate in 12. Things were looking good, but the wind was fading fast. The next upwind was light and very shifty. I tacked on every shift, since I didn't mind roll tacking at all, it kept my speed going, although roll tacking in rolling swells with choppy waves on top is interesting to say the least. I held my position downwind, but right at the leeward mark, the wind shifted hard to the left (finally the seabreeze coming in) and although I had the inside at the mark, I was hung out to dry in everyone's bad air. Finally after the jibe, we had to run down on what should have been a reach leg, and had a reach to the finish. I lost a lot of boats on the last two legs, and finished 22. Not too bad, better than yesterday, but it felt good to be playing with the front of the fleet.
Sea breeze now fills in and starts to honk at around 15 knots, and they get another start off after another general recall for the Apprentice Masters. By the time we got started the wind had dropped to 10 and was very shifty. Working the shifts up the first upwind was difficult, and the reach and downwind were slow, but the next upwind, it dropped out completely, and left the fleet scattered all across the course struggling to get to the windward mark. They sounded the three horns for the abandonment shortly thereafter, although we weren't sure until a judge boat told us to go home.
I was lucky to hitch a tow with a faster powerboat and talked him into planing us his tow string in. We were first to the beach of all the Standard rigs by a long shot.
Tomorrow looks sketchy at best, not around 68 for a high with partly cloudy skies and a light northerly breeze. Not much chance of a sea breeze apparently. So let's see what the light and shifty on the Chesapeake has taught me.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Day 1
We awoke this morning to the trailing edge of Danny, and by the time I was driving to the club, there were breaks of blue sky, it looked good to get some racing in hopefully. When I got to the club, it was blowing about 10 from the west, and I got my fleet color and rigged the boat. Our race circle was 5.4 miles from the club, and naturally straight upwind. Had a beautiful sail out on St. Margaret's Bay, and then the wind shut off, and we had to get towed to the race course, not usually a good sign. Andy Roy assured me that the sea breeze would fill in, and sure enough 3 p.m. it come in, and in no time we had 15 knots steady. We did have some gusts higher, but we mostly saw 15 knots out there today.
First race started at 3:30 p.m. and believe it or not, all fleets got off without a single recall. I got a good start at the pin end, Tracy Usher won the pin, and I was next, with an Australian on my hip. Started off the the left side and sure enough along came the right shift, and we were hung out to dry. My upwind speed was rather poor, but I made up for it with some blazing downwind speed, but not enough to make a dent in this really solid fleet. I ended 37 in the first race.
We finished the first race around 4:45 p.m. and as we were finishing, they already had the Apprentice Masters fleet going for the second race. No time for even a protein bar, right up to the line, set the stopwatch and go. I decided to try the boat end, and got a decent start, working out to the right side of the course, only to once again get hung out to dry, this time by a left shift. Just not my day I suppose as I finished with another 37.
Oh well not the end of the world, had a lot of fun sailing, and then had a great planing reach all the way to the cove at which point the sea breeze shut off as fast as it had started, and it shut off dead, leaving a couple of hundred Lasers drifting. We had to get towed into the ramps, and hauled out boats up the big hill to the parking area (luckily they had tractors to help us out). Wow, what a long day, we didn't get in until 7:30 p.m. Having left the dock at 11:30 a.m. that was a long day on the water, but I am glad we got our two races in.
Tomorrow I am assigned to the yellow fleet, which means I start third and sail the outside loop of the trapezoid, different to today. So let's hope the results are different as well. Sea Breeze is supposed to fill tomorrow at around 1 p.m. but then it looks like it will go to the west and shut down in the mid afternoon. I hope the sea breeze holds.
I was surprised that there were no boats with water available for the competitors out there. I will have to bring my own water tomorrow.
First race started at 3:30 p.m. and believe it or not, all fleets got off without a single recall. I got a good start at the pin end, Tracy Usher won the pin, and I was next, with an Australian on my hip. Started off the the left side and sure enough along came the right shift, and we were hung out to dry. My upwind speed was rather poor, but I made up for it with some blazing downwind speed, but not enough to make a dent in this really solid fleet. I ended 37 in the first race.
We finished the first race around 4:45 p.m. and as we were finishing, they already had the Apprentice Masters fleet going for the second race. No time for even a protein bar, right up to the line, set the stopwatch and go. I decided to try the boat end, and got a decent start, working out to the right side of the course, only to once again get hung out to dry, this time by a left shift. Just not my day I suppose as I finished with another 37.
Oh well not the end of the world, had a lot of fun sailing, and then had a great planing reach all the way to the cove at which point the sea breeze shut off as fast as it had started, and it shut off dead, leaving a couple of hundred Lasers drifting. We had to get towed into the ramps, and hauled out boats up the big hill to the parking area (luckily they had tractors to help us out). Wow, what a long day, we didn't get in until 7:30 p.m. Having left the dock at 11:30 a.m. that was a long day on the water, but I am glad we got our two races in.
Tomorrow I am assigned to the yellow fleet, which means I start third and sail the outside loop of the trapezoid, different to today. So let's hope the results are different as well. Sea Breeze is supposed to fill tomorrow at around 1 p.m. but then it looks like it will go to the west and shut down in the mid afternoon. I hope the sea breeze holds.
I was surprised that there were no boats with water available for the competitors out there. I will have to bring my own water tomorrow.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Rainy Day Danny
This morning started out well since I got to watch South Africa defeat Australia in Rugby, and are now on the verge of winning the Tri-Nations tournament. We had rain and no wind this morning, Danny starting to rear his ugly head.
We awoke to news that Danny was a week tropical storm soon to be downgraded to a tropical depression. Good news, although we will still get much rain and heavy winds tonight. The morning was gray, with not much wind, and soon started to rain, not many people went sailing, as most racers spent a few minutes getting wet while turning their boats upside down with the dollies on top. Since there was not much breeze and rain, I decided in the early afternoon to put my boat upside down as instructed. Quite interesting seeing all these Lasers upside down with dollies on top.
We were also told at the club that the opening ceremony and dinner had been postponed until Tuesday night. This was due to predicted torrential rainfall at the time of the opening ceremony. Not much reason to hang around the club then, so I returned to Halifax to "hunker down" for the coming tropical depression. Right now we are getting surges of rainfall and wind, but nothing terrible. It is supposed to get quite windy and very rainy tonight into Sunday morning. Supposedly by noon tomorrow it should be through, with sunshine and 15 knot breezes behind. We shall see, but it sounds wonderful. Will head to the club as if there is to be the regular 1 p.m. start for the first race (civilized isn't it?). I imagine if the storm looks like it is close to blowing over they will hold us ashore until it does and then send us out to race. Perhaps an hour or two delay. Hopefully we will get in our scheduled two races tomorrow.
Hopefully my next post will be after we get some races in tomorrow. Now I am going to take it easy and get mentally prepared for tomorrow.
We awoke to news that Danny was a week tropical storm soon to be downgraded to a tropical depression. Good news, although we will still get much rain and heavy winds tonight. The morning was gray, with not much wind, and soon started to rain, not many people went sailing, as most racers spent a few minutes getting wet while turning their boats upside down with the dollies on top. Since there was not much breeze and rain, I decided in the early afternoon to put my boat upside down as instructed. Quite interesting seeing all these Lasers upside down with dollies on top.
We were also told at the club that the opening ceremony and dinner had been postponed until Tuesday night. This was due to predicted torrential rainfall at the time of the opening ceremony. Not much reason to hang around the club then, so I returned to Halifax to "hunker down" for the coming tropical depression. Right now we are getting surges of rainfall and wind, but nothing terrible. It is supposed to get quite windy and very rainy tonight into Sunday morning. Supposedly by noon tomorrow it should be through, with sunshine and 15 knot breezes behind. We shall see, but it sounds wonderful. Will head to the club as if there is to be the regular 1 p.m. start for the first race (civilized isn't it?). I imagine if the storm looks like it is close to blowing over they will hold us ashore until it does and then send us out to race. Perhaps an hour or two delay. Hopefully we will get in our scheduled two races tomorrow.
Hopefully my next post will be after we get some races in tomorrow. Now I am going to take it easy and get mentally prepared for tomorrow.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Measured and Settled In
This morning started early, checking out of the hotel and off to the St. Margaret's Bay Sailing Club. What a beautiful setting, I will make sure to take some pics tomorrow, today was just a little too hectic.
Got to the Yacht Club and proceeded to unload the boats, and fortunately got very quickly in the measurement line. They were very quick and efficient with the measurement process. The only thing I had to remove was the little piece of sticky back velcro I had on the front of the daggerboard case. One of the new rules that is soon to be adopted will allow this, but until then, we have to use electrical tape and replace every day. Everything else measured in just fine, and everything got a stamp, from the boat, to the sail, to the foils, to the battens. Got into my assigned boat parking spot (furthest from the water), and put the boat away. The weather was beautiful today, but I could not check into my condo until 4 p.m. and I had Samson with me. We did find a beautiful park in Halifax (five minutes from the condo) that allows dogs to walk off leash on all the side roads and paths. Sam really enjoyed that.
Got checked into the condo, great place, and quickly had to head back to the Yacht Club for the ILCA-NA welcome party where Team USA and Team Canada were given our team shirts, and we enjoyed some good talk and Canadian beer.
Then back to the condo, get some groceries on the way, and cook a late dinner. All unpacked now, and have food available as well, so everything is good that way.
Now for the fun part......yeah, that tropical storm that is taking aim right at us....ummm Danny???? Well, since I could not sail today, I am hoping that tomorrow will allow me at least a short practice. However, Mother Nature has something else in mind I am afraid. Looks like very little breeze all day, with rain starting in the afternoon, and then after midnight.....Danny comes ashore. Looks like we will be getting 40-50 knot winds at some point on Sunday. All competitors were given strict orders today to be off the water no later than 4 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday), then we were all to place our boats upside down on the grass, with the dollies strapped to the bottoms. So it looks very unlikely that we will be able to race on Sunday, which is our first scheduled race day.
The Masters Standard fleet will be split for the first three days of racing. Tomorrow evening I will be given my fleet color for the first day of racing, and each subsequent day, the fleets will be shuffled and I will have to go get a new assignment each day. It appears that there will be two race circles. I will be racing on the race circle with the Apprentice Masters Standard fleet, the other Masters Standard fleet, and the Grand Masters Standard fleet. On the second race circle will be the Apprentice Masters Radial, Masters Radial, Grand Masters Radial, and Great Grand Masters Radials.
Alright, I am off to bed now, I am going to wake up at 7 a.m. to watch the Australia South Africa Rugby Test from Perth. Go Bokke!
Got to the Yacht Club and proceeded to unload the boats, and fortunately got very quickly in the measurement line. They were very quick and efficient with the measurement process. The only thing I had to remove was the little piece of sticky back velcro I had on the front of the daggerboard case. One of the new rules that is soon to be adopted will allow this, but until then, we have to use electrical tape and replace every day. Everything else measured in just fine, and everything got a stamp, from the boat, to the sail, to the foils, to the battens. Got into my assigned boat parking spot (furthest from the water), and put the boat away. The weather was beautiful today, but I could not check into my condo until 4 p.m. and I had Samson with me. We did find a beautiful park in Halifax (five minutes from the condo) that allows dogs to walk off leash on all the side roads and paths. Sam really enjoyed that.
Got checked into the condo, great place, and quickly had to head back to the Yacht Club for the ILCA-NA welcome party where Team USA and Team Canada were given our team shirts, and we enjoyed some good talk and Canadian beer.
Then back to the condo, get some groceries on the way, and cook a late dinner. All unpacked now, and have food available as well, so everything is good that way.
Now for the fun part......yeah, that tropical storm that is taking aim right at us....ummm Danny???? Well, since I could not sail today, I am hoping that tomorrow will allow me at least a short practice. However, Mother Nature has something else in mind I am afraid. Looks like very little breeze all day, with rain starting in the afternoon, and then after midnight.....Danny comes ashore. Looks like we will be getting 40-50 knot winds at some point on Sunday. All competitors were given strict orders today to be off the water no later than 4 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday), then we were all to place our boats upside down on the grass, with the dollies strapped to the bottoms. So it looks very unlikely that we will be able to race on Sunday, which is our first scheduled race day.
The Masters Standard fleet will be split for the first three days of racing. Tomorrow evening I will be given my fleet color for the first day of racing, and each subsequent day, the fleets will be shuffled and I will have to go get a new assignment each day. It appears that there will be two race circles. I will be racing on the race circle with the Apprentice Masters Standard fleet, the other Masters Standard fleet, and the Grand Masters Standard fleet. On the second race circle will be the Apprentice Masters Radial, Masters Radial, Grand Masters Radial, and Great Grand Masters Radials.
Alright, I am off to bed now, I am going to wake up at 7 a.m. to watch the Australia South Africa Rugby Test from Perth. Go Bokke!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
In Halifax!!!
Just got into Halifax, and am settling into the hotel for the night. I am staying in a hotel for one night since the condo will not be available until tomorrow after 4 pm. Wow, interesting trip up here. Drove from Annapolis to Bangor, Maine yesterday and shared a hotel room with Ted Morgan (who is also an SSA member that is competing in the worlds). Ted had to leave very early to make it to the Halifax airport to meet some more SSA members who are competing. I left 1/2 hour after Ted, and before I could get to the highway, my power steering pump and steering gearbox decided to die a rather smelly death. Due to some very helpful and friendly folks in Bangor, I was able to get the pump and gearbox replaced and back on the road by 11 a.m. PHEW!!!
Everything went smoothly from there, and the folks at Canadian customs seemed more interested in Samson than me. I had never been to Maine before, but what a beautiful state. Just driving over some of the rivers, heavily wooded with pines right to the banks, reminded me of some river fishing I did a long time ago. I think it is time to do it again (Bob, get that old flat back canoe ready, let's go!). Also driving through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia was no less beautiful. I'm really glad I did this drive, even after the expensive vehicle repair this morning.
The boats are here safe and sound, and tomorrow I will go to the club first thing to see if I can get registered and measured tomorrow. It seems we have another Hurricane coming our way (Danny), and looks set to hit between Saturday night late and Sunday morning. Can you believe that after how long of no hurricanes, here we have two hitting Nova Scotia in a week. The Standard Laser Worlds was hit by a hurricane last week. I expect that Saturday will be a fairly nasty day, so we will have to see how much practice we can get in. I have a feeling I may have to pack up my boat and move it back to Halifax in the condo garage to keep her safe from the hurricane. So, who knows if we will be able to start on Sunday or not. I suppose the earlier it gets here the better, so we can get it by us and start racing. I would imagine the 24 hours following the hurricane will be exceedingly light.
It's cold up here, I needed to dig out some fleece last night, but I'm still fairly adamant about wearing shorts and flip flops! Begrudgingly I have to admit I did pack a pair of jeans and some khaki pants, but I really hope I don't need them. Sailing I'm sure will be cold, so I found that packing for sailing was easy, I took every piece of dinghy sailing gear I owned, except for my drysuit. Those Gul 3mm farmer john hikers are looking really good right now. Thanks to Intensity Sails for the great price!
Well, I'm going to grab a bite to eat before the restaurant closes. More hurricane updates tomorrow!!!
Everything went smoothly from there, and the folks at Canadian customs seemed more interested in Samson than me. I had never been to Maine before, but what a beautiful state. Just driving over some of the rivers, heavily wooded with pines right to the banks, reminded me of some river fishing I did a long time ago. I think it is time to do it again (Bob, get that old flat back canoe ready, let's go!). Also driving through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia was no less beautiful. I'm really glad I did this drive, even after the expensive vehicle repair this morning.
The boats are here safe and sound, and tomorrow I will go to the club first thing to see if I can get registered and measured tomorrow. It seems we have another Hurricane coming our way (Danny), and looks set to hit between Saturday night late and Sunday morning. Can you believe that after how long of no hurricanes, here we have two hitting Nova Scotia in a week. The Standard Laser Worlds was hit by a hurricane last week. I expect that Saturday will be a fairly nasty day, so we will have to see how much practice we can get in. I have a feeling I may have to pack up my boat and move it back to Halifax in the condo garage to keep her safe from the hurricane. So, who knows if we will be able to start on Sunday or not. I suppose the earlier it gets here the better, so we can get it by us and start racing. I would imagine the 24 hours following the hurricane will be exceedingly light.
It's cold up here, I needed to dig out some fleece last night, but I'm still fairly adamant about wearing shorts and flip flops! Begrudgingly I have to admit I did pack a pair of jeans and some khaki pants, but I really hope I don't need them. Sailing I'm sure will be cold, so I found that packing for sailing was easy, I took every piece of dinghy sailing gear I owned, except for my drysuit. Those Gul 3mm farmer john hikers are looking really good right now. Thanks to Intensity Sails for the great price!
Well, I'm going to grab a bite to eat before the restaurant closes. More hurricane updates tomorrow!!!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Finally a Day to Sail in Annapolis
After two weeks of really hot and humid weather with very little wind, we finally had decent breeze for a bit of training today. It was a beautiful day until 3 p.m. when the skies opened up with plenty of pretty flashes in the sky, but the boat was put away by then. Sunny and hot during the three hours I got in, sailing in about 15-17 knots of breeze. Got in several upwind/downwind legs in (thanks to J-World for putting out marks for me...oh yeah, and the J80s as well). I needed the time in the boat, and it was good to stretch my legs so to speak. It took a while for me to settle into the session, had a hard time focusing initially, have to remember that and go for a bit of a run or bike ride before hitting the water at the Worlds. Sailed with a tighter hiking strap today because I felt the breeze was a little puffy, lots of hiking in and out, and it seemed to work well. Nice now to be able to adjust the strap while I am sailing. All the systems seemed to be working well, so nothing to be concerned about ahead of the Worlds.
I am doing Race Committee duty tomorrow at SSA, and it looks like rain...wooooohooooo. Sunday should be much nicer, so will try to get out for a couple of hours on the water, do my last load of laundry before I leave, and maybe pack a little. This is going to be fun!!!!
I am doing Race Committee duty tomorrow at SSA, and it looks like rain...wooooohooooo. Sunday should be much nicer, so will try to get out for a couple of hours on the water, do my last load of laundry before I leave, and maybe pack a little. This is going to be fun!!!!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Welcome
Well, here I am, once again doing something I have never done before (blogging), why not, it sounds like fun.
About 2 years ago, I started thinking about getting back into Laser sailing, I had taken a break of over 20 years sailing lead-draggers. I found a 1982 Laser that was maintained beautifully and was in excellent condition, and jumped back in with both feet. I have to admit, that even with 8 years of Laser sailing in the past, the first time back in the boat felt like I had never sailed one before. The new rigging upgrades make the boat so different to sail, and it has take quite some time for me to start figuring out what seems to work.
This year, I decided to go to Florida to compete in the Masters Mid-Winters East in Sarasota Florida. I had a blast sailing in this event, and became hooked, and decided to enter the 2009 Laser Masters World Championships, in St. Margaret's Bay Canada (just south of Halifax).
I went to the Masters North Americans in Wrightsville Beach, and the sailing was spectacular, but I learned that my older boat was not quite as stiff as the newer ones, and her performance suffered a little in the conditions. So.....I bought a bran new boat, my second bran new Laser after 43737. This sail number is 194520, and just plain white hull (as I like it).
And now I am off to the Worlds! The plan is to drive up leaving Annapolis on August 26 with 2 boats. I will convoy up with another Laser sailor from Annapolis, and should be at the event location by late on August 27. I will post more on schedule at a later date. I think this might be some fun!
About 2 years ago, I started thinking about getting back into Laser sailing, I had taken a break of over 20 years sailing lead-draggers. I found a 1982 Laser that was maintained beautifully and was in excellent condition, and jumped back in with both feet. I have to admit, that even with 8 years of Laser sailing in the past, the first time back in the boat felt like I had never sailed one before. The new rigging upgrades make the boat so different to sail, and it has take quite some time for me to start figuring out what seems to work.
This year, I decided to go to Florida to compete in the Masters Mid-Winters East in Sarasota Florida. I had a blast sailing in this event, and became hooked, and decided to enter the 2009 Laser Masters World Championships, in St. Margaret's Bay Canada (just south of Halifax).
I went to the Masters North Americans in Wrightsville Beach, and the sailing was spectacular, but I learned that my older boat was not quite as stiff as the newer ones, and her performance suffered a little in the conditions. So.....I bought a bran new boat, my second bran new Laser after 43737. This sail number is 194520, and just plain white hull (as I like it).
And now I am off to the Worlds! The plan is to drive up leaving Annapolis on August 26 with 2 boats. I will convoy up with another Laser sailor from Annapolis, and should be at the event location by late on August 27. I will post more on schedule at a later date. I think this might be some fun!
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