Dancing Bear Sailing (Laser, J24, and Sportboat Racing)

Finally a Relatively Ligth Air Day

2010-09-18T11:25:00.001-07:00

Interesting day today. Started off very cold, in the upper 40s, but sun was shining and it wamed up nicely. Wind was light around 5-8 knots as we sailed out, and then sat around for 2 hours waiting for the wind to fill. If this was the Chesapeake, we would have completed three races during the postponement, as there was at least 5 knots almost all the time. and it was a relatively steady direction. Of course, nobody else thought that it was racing conditions. Finally around 2:00 the wind filled into 10-12 and they started racing. First time this regatta, the boat was favored, so I set up on the right side of the line. At about 40 seconds to go, a Swedish boat sailed right into me on port, and forced me to tack to port and back to starboard, totally ruining my start. Not fun, but it was right in front of the judges. I started second row, and immediately tacked to the right side, and worked the right side shifts. It paid off pretty well as I was in top 10, but I made the fatal mistake of hitting the starboard layline too early, I got tacked on, and tacked on, and tacked on, and so on, until I was so far outside and overstood, I lost at least 10 boats. Silly mistake, I also hit the mark and had to do a turn, and lost 3 more boats. I was able to work the boats back on the downwind leg, and then worked the shifts on the next upwind. There was a point I made out very well, but went back left and lost all my gains. I rounded the weather mark in the 20s and worked well downwind, and on the reach, I was able to just get an overlap at the last mark on Nick Place, and passed another boat on the upwind, ending around 20. Not bad.

After a couple of general recalls in the first two fleets, we finally started our second race. For the first time, the line was square, so I started in the middle, and shortly after the start the wind started to die down to around 5 knots. There were 6 boats that went hard to the right side and made out well. I worked the shifts, roll tacking well, and managed to latch onto the boats that went right, and rounded the weather mark in 7. Once again, I hit the mark, did my turn and lost one boat, and started on the reach in very light air. I passed one boat on the reach, and another on the run, and rounded the leeward mark in 6, with 3 boats close behind and then a huge gap to the rest of the fleet. Lots of shifts on the next upwind leg, and I worked them with the other leaders, gaining and losing from time to time. Then about 100 yards from the weather mark, the wind filled in at 20 knots, yes, from 5 to 20 just like that. Once again, my size got me as the boats I was working with passed me just before the mark. I rounded the weather mark in 8th and didn't get my vang eased quickly enough while bearing away, and capsized. I managed to get on the board without going in, and righted her hopped back in and immediately started planing downwind, I didn't lose a boat, good job. Screaming plane downwind, around the leeward mark, screaming reach to the last mark, and then hike hard for the short upwind, covering the Swiss boat. I finished just ahead of the Swiss boat in 8th place. Nice race, but it just shows what a light wind wimp I am, or to be nice, what a Chesapeake Bay saliior I am.

Fantastic reach to the club in about 20 knots, dolly waiting for me as I was first to my tally point, and even had a hose to myself. Nice day but only because of the light air I am sure. Tomorrow looks like 20 knots all day, so another tough one for me, but hopefully with the breeze we will get in a little earlier than today.

My Rental Car is a Six Speed

2010-09-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

After a week driving my rental car, I just figured out today that it is a 6 speed transmission and not a 5 speed. Winds today started around 10-12 for the first race and around 14 for the second race. Wind was very shifty today with very big shifts, some as much as 40 degrees. First start, pin favored, and I won the pin easily only to find out that we had a general recall. Ah well, next start, and 1 minute before the start, 40 degree left shift, sailed hard to the pin, tacked and would have crossed the fleet, but postponement because of the shift. Then a very long delay to wait for the fleets that had started to finish so the course could be changed. Finally got a start off on a square line, started in the middle, and worked to the left side of the course. Picked up a nice left shift, and got to the weather mark around 20. Held on the reach and took back a boat on the downwind leg. Looking at the shifts, I was sure we would see a right shift on the secind upwind leg, so worked the right side. The shift came in, and it was big, turning the fleet inside out. Since I was closer to the middle, I held my position, and finished in 19 overall. Better race but on the last tack to the finish, my mainsheet block shackle blew out, I have no idea why. Luckily it happened right at the finish. Luckily John Bertrand's girlfriend was out in a RIB and she had the tools I needed to repair the block, very lucky and appreciative to both of them.

Second race, wind has increased and started to work right, no more left shifts. Of course the line was very pin favored, so how to start on the favored end and go right. At a minute to go, I had the entire pin side to myself, everyone else was on the boat. I got a great pin end start, tacked over and crossed everyone except for the few boats that went right at the boat. It was kind of funny, even the guy on the pin boat cheered on my start, I told him I was lonely by myself on that end of the line. Going well, worked right and rounded the weather mark in 18th. I slightly overstood, so was able to reach over several boats at the mark, launch onto a plane and passed four boats on the reach. Nice, then took another boat on the downwind, and rounded the leeward gate in 13th. Good stuff, I rounded the right gate and went right looking for a small right shift as the wind continued to clock. The right shift came in, but it was not anything like small, it was huge, and there I was well overstood on the right side, and last to the weather mark as everyone worked up the leg inside me. Very frustrating. I passed 2 boats on the downwind leg and another two in the reach leg, and held them off to the finish. Not good finishing 34. Ah well, some very good things happened today.

It was great to pass boats on the reach, I think it was borderline planing conditions, and being the lightest guy on the course, I was able to plane just a little easier than the rest. Still more reason to sail Radial. Second, on one upwind leg, I tacked 3 lengths to leeward of another boat. I was able to work up on him until I was right next to him to leeward, then I pulled on hard vang, eased a little mainsheet, and hiked extra hard, and sure enough just pulled away from him, onto his lee bow, killing him and forcing him to tack away. That felt good, especially since we were on the layline, and when he tacked back, he was 10 lenghts behind me. When one is doing poorly in a regatta like I am at this regatta, small victories like this are cherished.

Finally Two Races Under my Belt

2010-09-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

Well the most I can say about my performance today is that I got two races under my belt, and that is a good thing. I hate to keep harping on the weight issue, but it got me again today. Even though it was only 15 with much lighter spots, on the reaches I was hiking as hard as I could and was still getting passed. I spoke with Steve Cockerill today and he is the same height and weight as me, and is sailing Radial. He said he is just too light for standard now.

For some reason this Race Committe is setting a very skewed line for all races, with the pin always being favored. I got a good start in the first race, pin third of the line, tacked to port, hit first shift and tacked back to Starboard, all in clear air and in a great position to the boats on both sides of me. It was very shifty, and I worked the middle, tacking on the shifts, I was looking solid, top 15 with about 200 yards from the mark. I had to take two hitches, and believe it or not, I lost about 15 boats in those two tacks. Very frustrating. I was able to pass a couple boats downwind, went for the left gate, and went back upwind. Tacked on the first shift and worked to the right side, which was a mistake. Rounded the weather mark around 30th and promptly lost two boats on the reach. Held on the downwind, and reach then on the short upwind, I thought was able to cross a Swedish boat, but no such luck, he tagged my starboard quarter and I had to spin two turns and finish, losing even more boats. Ending around 37 or 38.

Second Race again line skewed, started well on pin third of line, but for some reason could not find a clean lane. After several tacks to clear my air, I was hung out on the left side, not where I wanted to be. And sure enough, in comes a massive right shift, and with the boats on the right side making the mark on one tack, I was very deep. Naturally the RC was unable to change the trapezoid course, so we ended up with reaches instead of runs, a run instaed of a reach, and a one tack to the weather mark. This made it impossible to fight my way back into the fleet, and ended up deep once again. Not what I wanted, but I did get in two races today, and had a wonderful reach into the club planing all the way.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday are looking like lighter days, which should help me, although the lulls with the chop and waves today was frustrating. I hope it flattens out a bit if it does drop. Now that I am firmly entrenched in the silver fleet, it is time for some fun for the next three days. Let's see how I can do in the light stuff.

This will be my last major (heavier air) regatta I will sail standard rig. I will be moving to Radial after this, mostly because I would rather lose a little weight than try to bulk up. Unfortunately with all the light air we get on the Chesapeake, practicing with the Radial is difficult. I will do frostbite in a Radial this year.

Racing Postponed Again Today

2010-09-15T06:44:00.000-07:00

All racing was postponed today due to the nasty sea state. Wind against current along with leftover waves from the gale yesterday. Winds were 22 - 25 with gusts to 30, which in an of itself is not so bad, but combined with the sea state made it impossible to get any races in. The RC boat reported taking waves over their bow while at anchor, and that is a pretty big boat.

Tomorrow and Friday look like 15 with Saturday dropping even lighter. Then Sunday, perhaps another day of big breeze.

Had a great Ploughman's lunch at the Maypole on Hayling Island, along with a couple pints of Seafarer's Ale. Nice to have a proper English Pub lunch. Check back tomorrow hopefully for some sailing reports.

Gun Wharf and HMS VIctory

2010-09-14T11:44:00.001-07:00

Since I had the day off from racing today, I decided to take some time to visit the Gun Wharf and the HMS Victory. The Victory is still a commissioned Royal Naval Vessel and even though she is in dry dock permanently, she is still manned by naval personnel. I had the opportunity to chat with the night Watch Captain, which was very interesting. It took 10,000 English White Oak trees to build the Victory and she is a triple deck line of battle ship. I have seen the Constitution (the oldest floating naval vessel in the world), and what I noticed is that the Victory is not much longer, but is much bigger than the Constitution. She has massive amounts of free board, and draws 21 feet at her waterline. The rudder is absolutely huge, and is at least 2 feet thick with approximately a 6 foot cord. The rudder has to be 15 feet deep as well. A fine entry is not something this ship can boast, as she seems to reach her maximum beam just a few feet from the bow. It is incredible how big a hole this ship makes in the water.

The watch Captain informed me that there were 6 Americans on board at the Battle of Trafalgar. Apparently, when the Victory was on the way to the battle, they encountered an American Sloop of War, sunk her and took the 6 surviving crew members on board, and they remained on board throughout the Battle of Trafalgar.

I also got to see the HMS Warrior (circa 1860) which is a sail/steam frigate. Also quite impressive, she is probably a little longer than Victory, but still not as big in all other aspects. While eating at a nice Indian restaurant, I noticed three very tall black carbon rigs across the harbour. I could see the hull of one boat, and it looked like some sort of maxi race boat, impressive. The other two rigs were taller and I could not see the hulls. I wonder if those were America's Cup boats.

Good news is that I was able to walk around the Gun Wharf without limping, which tells me my back is well on the mend. I realized today that the injury is the same injury I gave myself goofing around on the little powerboat the week before I left on this trip. One of the passengers on the boat had his shoulder in the water when it happened. I really must be more careful, but I do enjoy having fun. Forecast for tomorrow is for winds around 25 and quite chilly. I wonder if they will send us out tomorrow.

All Racing Postponed for the Day

2010-09-14T04:02:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to very overcast skies and blustery winds. My back was still sore, but it does feel like it is on the mend. I went to the club, and sure enough, the conditions offshore were incredibly rough. 30 knot winds, waves breaking and it looks like rain to top it off. The Race Committee made the decision to postpone all races for the day, I did not see a single competitor complain about the decision. The plan is to come back tomorrow and see what the conditions bring. Unfortunately the forecast for tomorrow looks very much like today, so there is a significant chance that races will be postponed tomorrow. That being the case, we will race on the lay day (Thursday) to make up for the lost day.

Forecast for the remainder of the week looks like the wind going a little lighter on Thursday, but with rain. Then nice and sunny for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, however the lows will be in the 40s with highs only around 60. It will be interesting to see what the wind dows on those days. Any time anyone says anything about the weather here, the response is "welcome to England." I can imagine that it can get quite depressing here not seeing the sun for such long periods of time.

Since I have the day off today, I am going to the Gun Wharf here in Portsmouth to visit the HMS Victory as well as the newly recovered Mary Rose. I have been looking forward to seeing the Victory for some time, I have never seen a true Line of Battle Ship, The Victory is a triple decker with around 300 guns. Compare that to Old Ironsides (the Constitution), which is a single decker frigate with less than 100 guns, and that is as big as it got in the US. I have visited the Constitution and the Constellation (small frigate or sloop of war), and I imagine the massiveness of the Victory will be something to behold.

Big Winds....Big Waves

2010-09-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

Good news, I found a little computer shop just around the corner from the hotel, and he had the power supply I needed for my laptop. Super nice man, and I think 26 pounds for the power supply and cord is quite a fair

Unfortunately that was the extent of the good news today. I went to the club with a forecast of 10-12 increasing to 16-18 in the afternoon with gusts no more than 20. Sounds good, boat rigged, hit the water, and already it was well above the forecast, with the breeze around 20 when we went out. Of course by the start of the race, it had increased to 25 steady with gusts to 30, a guy at the Yacht Club said it was blowing 23 steady, but I still say 25 ;-). Ok, quite windy, and the waves were really big and steep with a relatively short wavelength. I drew the red fleet for the first day, which meant the second start, and I got off the line, about mid line in very good shape. The RC had set a massively long line, so there was no problem finding space and being on the line. I started out left, took one hitch right to clear air, and then worked back left. It seemed to pay off as I approached the weather mark in the top half. So far so good, exacly an 18 minute beat, just like last year. Then as I reached the weather mark, released vand and went to the offset (we had the inside loop), I hit a huge wave, biggest one all day, launched off the back of the wave, completely airborne, and when I hit the trough, extremely hard, I did something to my lower back on the left side. It hurt really badly, and I immediately knew that I had no chance to finish out the race, let alone the day. I went further upwind past the mark and sat there to let the fleet by so I would not interfere with anyone, seeing as I was retiring, then started to head downwind. I had to go downwind all the way to the club, and it was incredibly hard especially with a bad back. With the huge waves, the cockpit seemed to always be filled with water. If my back was not hurting, it would have been an amazingly fun ride downwind, but trying to avoid a deat roll with a bad back, is hard and painful. Only two death rolls later, I made it to the entrance to Chichester Harbour and flew in on a screaming reach to the club. The helpers at the club were great, pulling my boat up the beach for me.

I was not the only boat coming in at that time. There were several Radials and a few Standard rigs that were also coming in with me, and by the time I had packed the boat, even more boats were coming in, as the conditions were worsening. Here is what I figured out today, I am just too light for a standard rig now in heavy air. I am afraid that 170-175 is just too light. The last time I sailed in winds like this was the Laser No Coast Championships in 2008 on Lake Lanier. It was flat water there though, and I was about 30 lbs heavier then. There were many Radial sailors I saw that were bigger than I am, so perhaps I should have picked the Radial for this regatta. I don't really want to gain more weight now, so I think that I need to drop about 10 lbs more to be a full time Radial sailor. I am also at a disadvantage because I am shorter than most, being light and short is just not a good combination for a Laser.

I went to the race office to tell them I had retired for the day, and there was a gentleman from the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), who seemed very concerned about my back. He informed me that there was a Physio available to help if he could. I went to see the Physio, and after checking me out, seemed confident the problem was muscular and not skeletal, which was really good news. I have the back iced right now, and hopefully with racing possibly being canceled tomorrow, I may very well be ready for Wednesday, I am hopeful.

We know the conditions were really hairy because there were New Zealanders and Australians coming in early as well, and those guys just love the heavy stuff. When I came in, I met a guy from New Zealand who was quite a bit heavier than me sailing a Radial, and even he decided to come in early.

Tomorrow looks like it will be heavier than today, and the word is that they probably will not race tomorrow. That's really not good, because with a lay day on Thursday, that means only two more races for the qualifying round, which means I have no chance of making the gold fleet. Time to just relax and enjoy the rest of the regatta. I will keep the blog going, so please check back.

Practice Day and Oxford

2010-09-12T14:20:00.000-07:00

A wonderful day here in England today, started out with bright sunny skies, and I was told to enjoy while I could. Breezes at around 12-15, and a high in the low 70s. Went to the club in the morning, and had a bit of a practice sail after fixing my bailer. Beautiful out there, but the waves were still quite impressive. Sunday is race day at the Hayling Island Sailing Club so there were many dinghies and keel boats out racing, both adults and juniors. The juniors knew that the Masters are old guys, so when I walked by any of them, they all said "hullo sir".

Today I had planned to visit my former bowman and his wife in Oxford. He has just graduated with an MBA from the School of Business and was leaving tomorrow for a trip to Italy before returning to the US. Had a wonderful time walking around Oxford. Today was the one day a year they open all the halls, colleges and libraries to the public, so it was quite impressive to see everything. We also had a chance to visit Christ Church in Oxford and it was really impressive. The cathedral and the grounds are massive, with a cow pasture right in the middle of Oxford. Amazingly beautiful stained glass windows, and also incredible to see the tomb of John de Nower. This Knight who died in 1386 was 6'6" tall, incredibly huge for his time. He must have looked like Goliath on the battlefield to his enemies. The statue of him lying down on his tomb, in life size, is really impressive. With an average height of 5' back in the 14th century, people must have really thought this guy was a true giant. The drive to and from Oxford is not bad, only about an hour and a half, and it certainly was worth it.

Sam and Laura took me to the Trout Inn (of Inspector Morse fame). We had a wonderful dinner, and of course topped off with some English pudding. I watched a culinary tour of England on the television last night, and there are a few more English foods I have to have before I leave. Unfortunately so many of the "native" dishes are centered around the north of England, so I will have to do with the southern imitation. Of course I have to find a chip shop for fish and chips, perhaps something with forced rhubarb in it, and some Liverpool Scouse. I think I will be able to do without the tripe and blood pudding.

It is just after 10 p.m. now, and tomorrow is the first race day of the regatta. Our first start is at 1 p.m. tomorrow with two races scheduled. All remaining race days start at noon. The Masters Category will be split into two fleets because of the 100 or so entrants. I have drawn the red fleet for tomorrow. I got to check in with a few friends that I have not seen since last year, which is really nice. It is kind of funny with the Laser Masters Worlds, it does not really matter what part of the world you are in, once you get in the club, it all seems the same, same sailors, same process, etc.

The workers here at the hotel are extremely nice and helpful, by far the best customer service I have seen since being in England. Most of the people seem nice and polite, but not particularly interested in helping another person. This country is really in conflict about the metric system. All the road signs are in standard, miles and mph, but the directions and so forth are all in metric. The fuel consumption is miles per gallon, but the petrol (gasoline) is a little over a pound a liter. Very confusing, not sure if temperatures are in farenheit or celcius.

Yikes, laptop charger just burned out, so this might be it for the week for me. Will have to see what I can do.

Checked in and Measured

2010-09-11T06:57:00.000-07:00

After my very long day yesterday (and the day before), I fell asleep at 6 p.m. and didn't wake until 8 a.m. Hopefully that got me over the jet lag quickly. I headed over the Hayling Island Sailing Club to get my assigned boat and check in. I got my boat assignment but none of the boats were in any sort of order, so I had to pull the back of the cover off every boat until I found mine, one of the last I looked at of course. I was shocked at the very poor condition of so many of these boats, they are all new and only used at the Standards Worlds last week. My boat had a large chip in the gel on the deck, and scratches all down the starboard side of the boat. It was also missing the bailer plug and the transom plug. Apparently I was lucky enough to get blades in fairly good shape, from what I understand, the blades have all been awful. The GRP foils here in Europe are very different to the North American and Australian GRP foils. The Euro ones are all two piece, and the seam is very poorly done, with a crack line all the way around the edge of both foils. I am not impressed at all with the Euro boats.

Rigged the boat, and noticed that the hiking straps are longer, I went through the measurement process and everything measured well, and again I should consider myself lucky because apparently there were a lot of battens that were too long. Checked in at the registration desk, got my SIs and wrist band, for the three social events associated with this regatta. They were custom printing the t-shirts, but I really didn't want to wait in the line, it was taking a very long time, and that was by far the longest line.

The tides here are massive, and I have been told that if you want to take a short practice sail and come back in, you have to go out and come back in on a slack tide, if you go out on an outgoing tide, you will not make it back to the club until the tide changes. It is quite amazing seeing the harbors here at low tide, it is really incredible how many millions of gallons of water flow in and out of the harbors twice a day. Most keel boats on moorings are high and dry at low tide, hence the huge number of boats with full keels or double keels so the boats do not fall over at low tide. I suppose low tide is a good time to clean the bottom. The current right in front of the club is massive, it is quite incredible seeing a keel boat doing 6 knots but clearly making 12 over the bottom.

For some reason many of the USA boats are all together on the boat park, so it was nice to see some of the US competitors that I see at the North American regattas. Nick Place from Corsica River is here and getting checked in, and he is parked right next to my boat.

Tomorrow is a practice day, and I need to decide if I should go up to Oxford to spend time with some friends. Today is a English Premiership football (soccer) match at the Portsmouth Football Club stadium between Portsmouth and Ipswitch. The stadium is right next to my hotel in Portsmouth, and it took me a very long time to get into town with all the traffic for the match, and the hotel is currently completly surrounded by soccer supporters from both Portsmouth and Ipswitch. The Kentucky Fried Chicken by the stadium was completely full, with a line that went out the door, all soccer fans.

The roads are all narrow here, very narrow with no shoulders. All the street vendors look very American with signs saying "Hamburgers and Hot Dogs", even if they sell fish and chips. The bread here is much better than back home, and the sandwiches are very tasty. Getting used to driving on the left is not too bad, but I still tend to go to the left side of the car to get in. I usually nonchalantly put something in the passenger seat and then walk to the other side like I meant to do it all the time. I have been unable to find a single caffeine free diet drink. No diet sprite, diet ginger ale, diet 7up, if on a diet, you have a choice between diet Coke or diet Pepsi. The Kentucky Fried Chicken only offer corn and fries as sides, no coleslaw, mashed potatoes, beans or anything else. No extra crispy, but the original recipe tastes the same. I find it funny they call it original recipe when there is no alternate recipe, like extra crispy in the US. They don't have popcorn shrimp, but they do have popcorn chicken. I think we call those nuggets in the US.

I have noticed that businesses focus very little on customer service here. The customer is always wrong, and workers have no problem just ignoring you and walking away if they do not like what you are asking for. Having worked the retail trade, I can assure you that many people in the US have been fired for treating people the way I have been treated by many retail workers here. I consider myself lucky that when I was stuck on the side of the road for 5 hours waiting for Hertz, the people I met were all extremely nice, and funnily many of them either had lived in the US or Canada or were actually now living in the US. A very nice police officer stopped by where I was, and made a telephone call to Hertz telling them to immediately get someone out there because the car was a hazard. One would think that would make them jump, but no, they still took another 4 hours to get there, and then had the gall to charge me 180 pounds, ($300) for the flat tire, I will be fighting that with Hertz since the spare was the wrong one for the car and I could not change the tire and drive on.

I will head back to the club this evening for the opening dinner and ceremony, first of the three social events. Thursday is a mid-week barbeque, and Sunday is the closing ceremony and awards.

In Portsmouth......Finally

2010-09-10T09:43:00.000-07:00

Checked in at the hotel in Portsmouth......finally. Lesson learned, never ever rent from Hertz again. Halfway to Portsmouth, flat tire, go to change it, and the spare does not fit the car, yep, Hertz gave me a spare tire that does not fit the car. I had to wait 5 1/2 hours on the side of the road waiting to be picked up and taken to Hertz in Southhampton, then when I get to the Hertz office, they charge my credit card 180 pounds sterling for the tire, unbelievable, especially since I had to wait over 5 hours because the spare was wrong. So I didn't get a chance to go to Hayling Island and get my assigned boat and measure in. I will head over there tomorrow to hopefully get all that done.

Why do all the cars here have such poor visibility from the inside? Small back windows, and really hard to see around the car. Not to mention getting used to driving on the left side of the road, and shifting a manual with my left hand. Lots of fun. Of course it is chilly and overcast here, which from what I understand is the case 97% of the time. Supposedly it got so cold in the south of England in August, they had to turn on their heat. Glad I brought warm gear.

Tomorrow I go to the yacht club, get my boat, get measured in and hopefully get to sail a little bit. Now off to an early bed to try to make up for some of this lost sleep. Talk with you soon.

2010 Laser District 11 Championships

2010-08-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Awesome turn out for the 2010 Laser District Championships at Corsica River with 60 Lasers in attendance. Unfortunately the wind gods did not understand the importance of this Championships and refused to provide much breeze for both days. Forecast for Saturday called for north easterly breezes peeking at about 7 knots at 9 a.m. and decreasing to nothing for most of the rest of the day, it did not look good for racing, especially with a significant current running out the river, in the south west direction, giving light winds with the current, really didn't look good for any races. After a short postponement on shore we sailed slowly out of the creek, aided by the current, we got to the race area with about 4 knots of breeze from the north easy with 20 degree oscillating shifts. Boat was favored in our sequence, and with the current pushing the fleet away from the line, I had no trouble getting a front row start 2nd from the boat, and with speed. Nice, step 1 done, now work to the right side and try to get some current relief, bur remember, don't approach on starboard layline because the current will prevent you from getting to the mark, no matter how much you seem to over stand. I tacked right immediately, good roll tack, speed to the right, first shift, and tack back, another roll tack done well. Great going well. Now work the shifts up the right side, and nail every roll tack, no gifts. The right side paid off big, and the few boats that hit the right corner did well, I rounded in top 20, good place to be, then start downwind with the current. Wind dropping, and I used two roll jibes to pass a boat, then hit the right gate, and start to go upwind. The Race Committee seeing the wind dropping, changed the next mark to a shorter distance upwind against the current, and shortened the course to that mark. Wind kept dropping, and the first few boats finished, I worked the right side again, passed several boats, and was able to get within about 2 boat lengths of the finish line when the wind died completely. Now up to the finish against the current with almost no wind, 8 roll tacks later, all done well, I was able to cross the line in 14th, passing Bob Tan in the last 2 lengths to the finish. Wow, not sure how legal that was, but the only way we could finish, only 4 more boats were able to finish within the time limit and the wind died to nothing and I tied up to a powerboat and enjoyed some great conversation and beers with the southern bay folks, hats out to the Swenson's super nice family and Kyle just getting better and better on the Laser, very hard to beat now. Tow back to the club for some more beer, and then I had to head home to take care of Samson. Would have been nice to camp there, it is a beautiful location, with very nice facilities, rustic, and awesome camping. There were 18 sailors from SSA, largest contingent, and we had our own "base camp" and "yacht" (thanks Leo Wilson). I heard the dinner was awesome, and the party on the "yacht" even better.

Sunday forecast looked very much like Saturday, except now from the southeast. Wind dropping all day. OK, now we have wind against current, and a nice boost upwind. Quinn Tobin went left for 3 minutes and I went right before the start, and I crossed about 10 lengths ahead, even though I was in a hole most of the time, OK, good current right side, start on the boat and kick out that way. Got a great start, but no, now that we have current pushing us over the line, general recall. One more general recall later, I had a poor start, first time of all the general recalls, and it is a clean start, figures. Well, get right when I can, but for the first third of the leg, I am pinged around just hunting for lanes. Still have to nail every roll tack. But wait, left side is paying off, huh??? Doesn't make sense, right side is the channel and faster running water theoretically. Well very deep when I get to the weather mark, back of the fleet, well long downwinds against the current to make this up. Excellent downwind speed and working left course side to the left gate, I passed several boats and rounded the gate cleanly and went out left this time, good idea, as I pick off several more boats, good, this is how it should work, keep nailing roll tacks, and shifts. Hit the next weather mark in about 30th place and worked to the left course side again, at the approach to the gate, I roll jibed to pass a boat to my left, went to a boat to my right on starboard, roll jibed back to starboard to pass him and set myself up inside a third boat that was ahead of me. Nice work, passing 3 boats on one mark rounding set up. Head back to the left side upwind and work the shifts, staying out of the holes and let the current carry me up to the finish to somehow work myself back to 16th. Wow, nice come back, but really got to keep myself from getting deep like that. OK, another race, not going to make the right side mistake again. Go for the pin and win the pin end at the start, only to be called back for another general recall. Ah well, back on the good starts. Next start, back to the pin end, and start cleanly on the right side with two boats to leeward, and a gap to windward where I was not pinned. Nice, work out left, a couple of small shifts, roll tacks nailed, great, then wind starts to shut off, and sure enough, it shuts off from the left, giving all those on the right a little breeze to help them to the mark. I rounded with only about 4 boats behind me, yikes, not good especially with no wind downwind against the current. Start working hard now, roll jibing to every zephyr, roll jibing to keep the boat moving, and somehow picking off boats, then just a hint of a breeze to get us into the shortened finish after two legs. Yikes, that sucked, but did some good things downwind to finish in 28th.

This left me at 14th for the regatta and third master behind Hiramitsu Yamamoto in 8th and Bob Tan in 13th. Very respectable considering the conditions and quite happy that I was able to climb out of some deep holes. That is so important to doing well at any regatta, sometimes things conspire to go wrong, but the best sailors somehow manage to fight their way back to respectable finishes nonetheless.

This is it before Laser Masters Worlds. TESOD on Tuesday looks like no wind again, and the Melges 24 class is not looking good for Annapolis Race Week, so I may get the Labor Day weekend to practice anyway. Then off to England September 9. Getting close now, and I feel my boat handling skills and kinetics are streets better this year than last. I guess those days on the beach laser doing 50 roll tacks and 50 roll jibes really helped. Fitness level was good too, and I was happy to do 8 roll tacks right at the finish of the first race, when others were reluctant to do so.

Preparations for Masters Worlds

2010-08-25T07:03:00.001-07:00

Well, I think I am finally, ready for the trip to England for the Laser Worlds, well mostly ready. After much searching and talking to Laser Performance Dealers around the country, I was finally able to get a folded North sail for the Worlds. The problem is that the airline won't let me take anything longer than 80 inches on the plane, and the rolled sails are 108 inches. Well I finally have the sail with numbers and national letters, thanks to West Coast Sailing. I built a container for the tiller and tiller extensions I need to take with me, and did my twice annual replacement of my traveler line. Now just waiting for my jumbo sized duffel bag to arrive, hopefully this week. I have to take all lines and my tiller and extension with me, as well as the sail since those are not provided with the boats for the Worlds.

My flight leaves on September 9 and I arrive in England on the 10th. I will head straight to Hayling Island from the airport and hopefully get my boat for the regatta and get it measured in. Then off to the hotel in Portsmouth to check in. I am looking forward to spending some time in Portsmouth, I have heard there is a lot to see. The first race is scheduled for Monday (9/13) with 2 races a day with a lay day on Thursday. Since this is a Masters regatta, all us old guys really appreciate that day break in the middle of the regatta.

Preparation on the Chesapeake has not been very good this year, with light winds for all Laser events so far. I have been getting out on the beach Laser by my house (on the South River) on a fairly regular basis which has been helpful. Lots of opportunity to drill roll tacks and roll jibes. The practice has been evident with my roll jibes, using them often in both Tuesday evening races and weekend races to get past a competitor when needed. I was able to stay with a much lighter competitor on a Tuesday by roll jibing downwind effectively.

Not many more opportunities to sail before the Worlds now. This weekend is the District Championships at Corsica River Yacht Club. Unfortunately the forecast looks like we will once again have very light air for this event. The following weekend is Annapolis Race Week, but I do not think I will be sailing which will give me some practice time (hopefully). Then off to the worlds. Keep checking in and I will try to keep you all updated as things progress.

2010 Laser Masters US Championships - Day 1 - 13th Place

2010-05-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

A beautiful spring day in Charleston, SC, 90 Laser sailors enjoying a beautiful day with breezes from the south in the 10-15 knots range with some higher puffs. The first three races saw a strong ebb current, which indicated that the right side should be favored. I started race one a little way down from the boat, but definitely on the right side of the line. The current was sweeping from right to left along the starting line. I was able to get out quickly to the right in clear air. Ali Meller led out to the right side, and hit the corner hard and was first at the windward mark. I worked a few shifts on the right side and rounded in the top 20. Downwind I went to the right side (course side) and allowed the current to sweep me down to the leeward gate. This was quick and I had good downwind speed and passed a few boats. I followed the same pattern for the remaining upwind and downwind legs, and was able to finish in 15th, a nice solid finish. The next two races saw very similar conditions, and I followed the same pattern on starts and upwind and downwind legs. I finished 16th in race 2, and 11th in race 3. I was feeling good and while preparing for the last start of the day, I noticed that the signal boat was now sitting on the wind and not the current, indicating fairly slack current. I knew the pin was favored, but stayed away in the first three races to work the right side. Unfortunately I didn't settle on a strategy and ended up starting in the middle of the line and working the shifts right to middle. Left paid off big, and even right was better than the middle. Ended up very deep, but still worked the right middle on the last upwind and didn't make any gains finishing 45. This put me in 13th place overall, even carrying the 45. Hope is that 45 will be a drop race for me.

Conditions tomorrow look similar with a little less wind. Current will hold an hour later, so should not see anything but an ebb during racing tomorrow. Right side should once again be favored, both up and down, so that is my strategy. Let's see how it works out. Solid finishes in the top 20 will see me well in this 10 race regatta.

Check back tomorrow night for more updates. Cheers for now.

Light and Sloppy

2010-02-19T20:56:00.000-08:00

Friday was cool again with partly cloudy skies and light winds from 4 to 7 knots. We were only able to get off two races today, and to be quite honest this was not a good day for the Dancing Bear. However, a bad day sailing is still better than almost any good day doing almost anything else!

We started late today, after the Radials, and after a postponement to reset the course for the continuing left shift. Set myself up for a start at the pin, and got away well second from the pin and with good speed, only to find out it was a general recall. Second try, went for the pin end again, and this time set myself up on the pin, but pulled the trigger a hair early, I could have sworn I was over early and black flagged, but for some reason I dodged the flag. I still got set into the pin by the current, and after sliding down the pin, had to duck under the transom of the pin boat tack, clear their anchor, do my 360 and then finally get under way. Worked hard to get back in touch with the fleet and passed a few boats, on the upwind by working the shifts. Solid reach and downwind to pass another couple boats, and held the upwin, actually passing one more boat. Then tried to work the left on the run to protect at the left turn to onto a reach and lost one boat. Passed a group of boats that went high on the reach and tried to work the middle on the last short upwind, big mistake, lost all the boats I passed on the last three legs in about 200 yards. Some went right and some went left and all passed me.

The last race I would just as soon forget, the RC went into sequence as I was taking a nature break. Had to gear back up, and make it to the line in time for the start, and never could set up right. The rest of the race went just like that, from bad to worse, every tack was onto a header, and every wave seemed to stop the boat dead. I guess those kinds of races happen.

Tomorrow promises more light wind and slightly warmer temperatures. I could use the warmer temperatures, but light winds are abundant back home, it would be nice for some fun wind and waves. I think the water will be flatter tomorrow, as today I think we saw a lot of residual wave action.

Long Day on the Water

2010-02-18T20:26:00.001-08:00

Long day today, with the skippers meeting, getting fleet assignments, and then three long races, it was quite the day. Cold too, only in the low 50s with water temperatures not much warmer than that. Appropriate cold weather gear was essential to making it through the day. Wind was out of the north and went left through the day, starting around 15 knots for the first beat of the first race, and generally declining from there. Good size waves, but a very confused sea state, which made downwind surfing challenging and an opportunity to make big gains.

Race 1, got a good start toward the pin which I wanted since I wanted to protect the left. The first beat made it clear I had not been in a Laser much this winter as I was rusty and not up to speed. Started loosening up a little on the downwind, and passed a couple of boats, was able to hold this position through the race, and was able to pass a couple more boats on the reach leg and the short upwind to the finish. Not a great finish overall, but felt good to be back in the boat.

Race 2, OCS, ouch, had to go back and restart. It was much lighter and shiftier and I was able to work back into the fleet on the first upwind by working the middle and the shifts. Had excellent downwind speed, and good reaching speed today, and managed to pass boats on upwind, downwind and reach legs. That felt good, it really was good to be back, but this fleet is so deep with international talent at the open level and few masters, it is hard to hang, but a great challenge for us older folk.

Race 3, big lefty before the start and best option was to tack on port in the boat third and take off with clear air. I could not lay the start line on starboard. Was able to work well into the fleet again on this upwind by working the shifts. The current was ripping and I misjudged the layline to the weather mark and ended up hitting it. Had to do a penalty turn, and was happy to be able to catch and pass everyone that passed me when I did my turn. Worked the next upwind well, and lost one boat on the reach leg, but both of us separated from the boats behind us. I launched on the downwind on a good surf in the puff, but in my excitement forgot to ease vang. Was really slow downwind and lost one boat. Once I realized my mistake, eased the vang, and then was able to get a little separation on the way to the leeward mark. Worked the reach and upwind well.

Long day, last race did not end until 5 p.m., so with leaving the beach at around 10 a.m., and getting back around 6 p.m., that was a long 8 hours on the water in cold weather. Tomorrow looks to be light and a little warmer.

Florida Finally!!!

2010-02-15T20:48:00.001-08:00

Well after two large snow storms that threatened to delay my departure for Florida for the Laser Midwinters East, I was able to get out of Annapolis after much digging and piling of snow. The drive to Atlanta started well, but deteriorated once I got to South Carolina where it was snowing quite heavily and traffic was horrendous. Atlanta had about 3 inches of snow when I got there, I really just could not get away from the cold white stuff! My plan was to spend the weekend with family in Atlanta, and then drive ot St. Pete on Monday. Of course once again snow got in the way, with the predicted snow for Sunday night in Atlanta, I left on Sunday and got to St. Pete on Sunday night. Got a bit of a bike ride in on Monday and helped to put a J80 away after St. Pete NOODs.

A good day all in all. Some nice blues tonight with dinner, and finally some time to relax and not freeze! Weather is quite chilly here in Florida with temps in the 60s today and not expected to get out of the 50s for the next couple of days, still streets better than what Annapolis is getting right now. Tomorrow will be another light day, with a bike ride and some fun around town, then Wednesday off to Clearwater for a day of practice on the water and register for the regatta. I will be updating this blog as often as I can, so please keep checking back.

Cheers,

Dave

Packed Up and Ready to Go

2010-02-11T21:05:00.000-08:00

All packed up and ready to go. Vehicle loaded up and trailer hooked up. Worst part of the trip will probably be getting out of my neighborhood. The streets still have not been plowed, but everyone has been driving, so it is well stamped down. I'll be stopping in Atlanta to spend some time with family for the weekend, and then off to St. Pete. Look back, I will be posting.

Snow, Snow and More Snow

2010-02-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

The plan was to leave Annapolis on Friday (February 12) but Mother Nature has chosen to conspire against me leaving. Last Friday and Saturday, we had 32 inches of snow, we had to cancel frostbite racing on Sunday. With the forecasts, I decided to pack the boat up and bring it home on Friday before the storm hit, good move it would seem. I am dug out from the first storm, got the boat and trailer dug out and ready to go, and last night and today we are getting hit again. 10 to 20 inches this time, so hopefully not as bad, but it is blowing around 40 today, so snow is going everywhere. I will have a lot of shoveling to do tomorrow, and hopefully the city will get the roads plowed. Explorer has been doing well getting through snow and streets the plows had not touched, but I don't think dragging a trailer through the snow is a good idea. Still hope to get out on Friday.

Been hitting the gym whenever I can (weather permitting), I'm really starting to like these spin bikes, great cardio workout. It will be great to feel the difference at the midwinters. I will keep blogging as I make the trip to Atlanta and then St. Pete. Stay warm and dry everyone!

Last Wednesday Night Race

2009-09-11T05:45:00.000-07:00

We had our last Wednesday Night Race in Annapolis this week, and I jumped at the opportunity to get back out on the Esse. Driving sportboats is so much fun. It is rather unusual to have a northerly on a WNR but that is what we had, and our course called for a downwind start on port with a broad reach to the first mark. The two Esses and the Melges 24s jumped out ahead from the start, and started working on the sort of upwind leg. It was a long port tack with a short starboard hitch. We took our hitch early which was a good move as we picked up a puff and gained to within a couple of lengths of the other Esse. Another broad reach to the day marker and a fetch to the dolphin. We decided to go low and get away from the J35s that started 5 minutes ahead of us, and the other Esse went high, and tacked when they had enough water. We gained again on this leg, and approached the mark on the port tack layline just ahead, but they had a little puff that got them around the outside of a bit of a pinwheel well, we tacked inside and just behind and launched the spinnaker. We worked off a few Etchells that started 10 minutes ahead, kept a very high lane to windward of everyone and kept the boat moving. The other Esse did the same, but in the creek, they dove below an Etchells, not sure why, but it was the break I was looking for. We rolled over both to windward, they jibed away, and we did as well to cover, went to the other side of the creek, jibed back, went hot right at the bulkhead, and then ran down to the finish. We beat them bt just under a minute in the end, and it was lots of fun.

Great to get out on bigger boats sometimes. Packing the boat up today to head to the District Championships in West River this weekend. Keep llooking for updates.

Day 7

2009-09-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

It's all over, and Scott Ferguson is the 2009 Laser Standard Masters World Champion. It was a really tough fleet with several former world champions and national champions. Today there was no racing. We went out in a light and dying Northwesterly. By the time we made the committee boat, they had postponed the race due to no air. I promptly removed my lifejacket, neoprene rash guard and undershirt and took a nice nap in the cockpit in the sun. The wind started to fill around 2:30 p.m. from the north, and they moved us closer to the top of the bay. They tried to start the Apprentice Master fleet, and right after their start, there was a big right shift so they abandoned the race. The wind kept oscillating but slowly chunking to the right, but the RC refused to change the course, and when the wind came back left, they went into another sequence for the Apprentice Masters which was a general recall. Same thing, race abandoned, then general recall, then race abandoned again, and one more general recall, all for the Apprentice Masters and it was almost 4 p.m. the time limit to start a race on the last day, so we all started in, only needing a tow. Was towed in and got the boat washed off and packed up with Margaret's boat on top, and it was off to Halifax for the closing ceremony and party. Had a great time chatting with the South Africans there, especially Campbell Alexander who is Commodore of Point Yacht Club in Durban, the yacht club I grew up in and learned to sail as a junior.

What a wonderful experience this was, somewhat humbling, but everyone out there is a very good sailor. One does not spend the money to travel from Australia or New Zealand, or South Africa or Europe, if you're not a decent sailor, plus there was a level of qualifying for this Worlds. I am thrilled I did it. Lessons learned:

1. Get time in breeze and chop and sail upwind a lot, and then some more, and then some more.
2. My fitness levels need to be higher. I need to straight leg hike all the way up the weather leg, not just in stretches.
3. I still need more time in the boat, and better fitness so I can forget about sailing the boat and focus on course management, fleet management and tactics. I am not nearly close to where I was in this regard in 1981.
4. Get APS to give me a damn penney or whatever those things you wear over lifejackets are, with there logo on it. Every time I told someone I was from Annapolis, they said, "oh the home of APS".

Next year the event is in Heyling Island which apparently is close to Portsmouth. I definitely would like to do this again.

I leave tomorrow and hope to arrive in Annapolis some time on Labor Day (September 7). Take the boats to SSA, wash her off, and pack back up to go to the District Championships in West River next weekend. No rest for the weary (or the wicked). Keep checking back if you are interested, I will keep this blog updated with stuff from all the fall regattas the Dancing Bear Sailing Team will be participating in. Thanks for taking the time to follow along, and I really hope you enjoyed my somewhat warped view of the 2009 Laser Masters World Championships.

Cheers!

Day 6

2009-09-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, tough day out there today. Beautiful day, sunny skies, and the sea breeze once again filled in strongly. Start was once again at 1 p.m. and I watched to two fleets ahead of us work up the windward leg, and it looked like the right side was really paying off. Set myself up perfectly on the boat for a good start and got fouled by a Dominican twice at the start. He did his turns, but it slowed me getting out to the right like I wanted. There were about 5 of us that worked the right side pretty hard, and early it looked good, but at the top of the leg, it was horrible as we all trailed the fleet to the mark. Held my position on the reach and passed a couple of boats downwind, and went for the right gate, and went hard left on the upwind. This helped as I was able to claw back about 12 or 13 boats on the upwind leg, and passed a couple more downwind to finish 26.

It was getting tough out there, and I forgot my protein bars on shore. Mistake as I could feel I did not have the energy I needed out there. Wind seemed to increase a little to 17 or so in the 2nd race, and I went for the pin, and went left, but would you believe but the right side paid of big this time, and once again I was in a position with lots of opportunity ahead of me. Once again worked through the fleet through the race, only to find out when I got ashore that I was over early on the start. From the pin end it is impossible to hear the sounds from the signal boat, and with everyone over your shoulder, there is no looking back to the boat for the X-Ray flag. Ah well, not like I was doing that great anyway, and if I am never over early I guess I am never close enough.

Once again the plane in was awesome, that is one of the reasons I love to sail Lasers so much. Tomorrow is not looking great with regard to wind, so who knows what will happen. I am not sure why they don't think the sea breeze will fill since it will be about the same high temperature as today, and sunny skies (I think). Should be prime for a sea breeze. Ah well, we will see. I am going to pick up the trailer on the way over tomorrow so we can pack up right after racing. The closing ceremony is in Halifax at the Cunard Center starting at 8 p.m.

South Africa playing Australia at 7 a.m. tomorrow again, a win secures the Tri-Nations title for South Africa.....Go Bokke!!!!!

Day 5

2009-09-03T15:34:00.000-07:00

Finally the famed St. Margaret's Bay sea breeze came in solidly today, with steady winds around 15 knots and gusts as high as 20. It was quite choppy and the waves definitely built as the day went on. The decision to start at noon was a good one since we were able to finish two races and be back at the club by 4 p.m. The weather mark was toward the mouth of the bay, and the sea breeze tends to be a little right around the mouth. I felt the left side would be good for the bottom part of the upwind with the right side paying off up top.

Since I wanted to go left, I should have set up closer to the pin, but in both starts I was too close to the middle of the line. After a few tacks to find a clean lane, I ended up further right, but came back with a nice lift on starboard tack to work into the middle of the fleet. My upwind speed felt bad in the heavier breeze and chop, particularly the chop, but when I looked around, most everyone else was slow too. You could get patches of really good performance upwind in a little flatter water, but pounding into those waves was slow going for everyone. Rounded the weather mark around mid fleet, and launched on a fun plane to the next mark, then a tricky downwind, with surfs and a few capsizes, I was able to pass a few boats on this downwind. I rounded the right gate to go left early on the upwind, but when I tacked back, I had lost all the boats I had passed that went to the other gate. Arrrrr, more work to do. Worked a few boats back on the upwind, passed one more boat on the down wind, but as I got toward the leeward mark, I picked up some weed on my rudder, and that allowed a big gain on the boats behind. I had to park after the leeward rounding and clear the rudder, and lost another two boats. Nice plane again to the last mark, and actually passed two boats on the last upwind, just nipping a Swedish boat at the finish.

We were lucky to have about 10 minutes between races because the fleet ahead had a general recall. The RC was popping the races off as quickly as they could. Again with the poor start in the middle of the line, and again hunting for lanes upwind, and said what the heck and went hard right. Not a huge mistake as I came back about mid fleet at the weather mark. Reach was a lot of fun and passed two capsized boats, then downwind was lots of planing and surfing, again lots of fun. Went around the right gate, started left then went right again, not bad, solid downwind, held my position, and then planed by a Japanese boat on the reach leg, held the upwind to the finish, and ended the day with a 24 and a 26. Not bad, as it leaves me in 23 in my fleet with opportunity to improve my position into the teens.

We got in early, and it looks like tomorrow my bring similar conditions, sounds good to me. The plane into the club was awesome, never got off a plane from the finish mark all the way to the flag pier at the club. FUN!!!!!

Rest Day

2009-09-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

Well I decided to use our "rest day" literally and rested. Spent the day wandering around Halifax which was lots of fun, then planned to go back to the club for the dinner and band. I left with plenty of time, and promptly cruised into some pretty horrible traffic. about 40 minutes of sitting in traffic and still being in Halifax, I decided there was no point in going to the club, so instead I took Samson back to Point Pleasant Park.

Took a nice walk with him down to the water and lo and behold, stumbled on a beautiful vantage point to watch the Halifax Wednesday Night Races. Saw 30 to 40 keel boats racing on a beautiful crisp evening in about 12 knots of breeze. Then just turning a little and glancing up the river past a marina or two and there were smaller keel boats racing there. Great place!

Tomorrow the word is racing is to begin at noon instead of 1 p.m., and with the traffic I experienced this evening, I better leave myself plenty of time to get there. I hope that starting early is a good call and we get two races in earlier in the day.

Day 3

2009-09-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day of sailing, albeit a little frustrating. We were greeted at the club with beautiful sunny skies, crisp cool temperatures and a solid northerly breeze. We got on the water around 11:30 a.m. and for a change had a nice reach out to the race circles which they tucked away in the NW corner of the bay. I think they were concerned that the sea breeze would compete with the prevailing northerly, so they tried to set the course as far from where the sea breeze fills from as possible. It was a long sail to the course, but it was lots of fun, 15-20 knot reach planing all the way across the bay. The ride was so quick we got there 1/2 hour early. I ended up having a very nice conversation on the water with a local that was just getting into soft water sailing (he is a long time ice boater). I learned a lot about the area from him.

RC had a short postponent as the wind went to the right and set the course at 20 degrees. No general recalls, and I got a good start toward the pin end. I was able to pinch off an Italian at the start, and was treated to some delightfully colorful swear words in Italian, I wasn't sure if he was upset with me, but when I glanced back, he was clearly upset with himself and his poor start. We immediately saw a left shift, and tacked right away, in very good position, with most of the fleet to leeward on the right. It was quite shifty, and spent most of the first upwind crossing tacks with Andy Roy and a New Zealander. I went right at the top of the leg, and that was a mistake, as I lost about 10 boats, rounding the windward mark in 12 overall. Downwind was solid, held my position, and on the next upwind, playing the shifts kept pushing me to the right side, which is not where I wanted to be, and sure enough lost a lot of boats on that upwind. I was able to pass a couple boats on the reach, and took one more on the downwind, but then on the reach leg, which was very puffy, I sailed into a puff and jumped out to hike, unfortunately, I missed the hiking strap, and went in the water backwards. Not a pretty site! Lost two boats as I righted the boat, and ended up 36 in that race, disappointing because I was in good shape after the first upwind and downwind.

The next race was started shortly after we finished. For some reason, once again, we had a huge left shift at the start, and we could not make the line on Starboard. I tacked immediately onto port, and again had most of the fleet to my right. Again worked the shifts and rounded the windward mark in 10th. Much better, downwind was solid, held my place, and on the upwind, I worked the shifts, but made the mistake of going right at the top of the leg, and lost some boats. I went very low with Ari Barshi on the reach leg, and we passed about three boats, and started downwind. I was able to pass about three boats, and put some distance on the boats behind us downwind, and I was quite happy with myself, until I looked up and saw that Ari had launched on the downwind and had put a significant amount of distance on me. Wow, I thought I was doing well, and in fact was since I did pass three boats, but not nearly as well as he did. About half way down the downwind leg, I was to leeward of an Aussie, I pointed out, politely, that I was leeward and pointing straight at the gate so please don't come down. We both held our course, and there was no contact although we were close, and he started chattering away, and to be honest, I didn't understand a word he said (and I thought I was pretty good at understanding Aussie accents). Anyway that was fun for a while, and on the reach leg, a Swedish boat was able to work down on me with speed and just break the overlap. On the short upwind leg to the finish, I went to the left, and the Swedish boat went right, and I passed him before the finish, and ended 21.

Beautiful day of sailing, very challenging as it was quite shifty, but we had about 10-15 knots all day. We had a nice reach back to the club as well, after going around the Radial race circle, and got in at a very reasonable time around 5 p.m. Great day of sailing! Best of all, I was entertained by a frustrated Italian and his colorful language, he was not very loud, but he talked to himself for quite a while, fun! Then I learned a lot about the local area from Bob (the ice boater), and he has invited me up for some hard sailing (ice boating) some time. He races DN ice boats, and builds everything except the spars and sail himself. He even builds his own blades (skates). Oh, and I also apparently had a conversation with an Aussie, but didn't understand a word he said. All in all, a very fun international day.

Tomorrow is our "rest day", so no racing scheduled. I think I will take a ride down the coast of Nova Scotia and check out some of the lighthouses they have here, should be fun. Samson will get to come along, so he will be quite happy about that. Around 5 p.m. they have a band and social at the club tomorrow, so will try to make it back for that. Thursday we are back on the water for three more days of racing. Now let's see if I can find me a therapeutic massage somewhere tomorrow, I need it.

Day 2

2009-08-31T18:39:00.000-07:00

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.

Day 1

2009-08-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

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.

Rainy Day Danny

2009-08-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

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.

Measured and Settled In

2009-08-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

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!

In Halifax!!!

2009-08-27T16:48:00.000-07:00

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!!!

Finally a Day to Sail in Annapolis

2009-08-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

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!!!!

Welcome

2009-08-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

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!