The Laser Sailor Fall 2007

FALL

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www.Laser.org

Official publicationof the InternationalLaser Class Association,North American Region2812 Canon StreetSan Diego, CA 92106 USAPhone: (619) 222-0252Fax: (619) [email protected]

EditorsSherri Campbell & Jerelyn BiehlILCA-NA

OfficersTracy UsherChairmanPO Box 370701Montara, CA 94037Phone: (650) [email protected]

Eric FaustVice Chairman821 East 53rd StreetAustin, TX 78751Phone: (512) [email protected]

Ben RichardsonTreasurerPhone: (978) [email protected]

Lauralee SymesSecretary3576 SW Mt. Adams DrivePortland, OR 97239Phone: (503) [email protected]

Tommy WhartonAt Large705 King Street West, Unit 1514Toronto, ON M5V 2W8 CanadaPhone: [email protected]

Sherri CampbellExecutive Secretary2812 Canon StreetSan Diego, CA 92106Phone: (619) 222-0252Fax: (619) [email protected]

F A L L 2 0 0 7

District Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

President’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Membership Stats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

From the Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Laser Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14-15

Technical Tips: How to Post Results Quickly . . . . . . . .16

2008 Event Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Technical Tips:Why Do You Get Excited Sailing Lasers? . . .18

Treasure Coast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Laser World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .center

Fleet Profiles - Cedar Point & Newport . . . . . . . . . .20-23

Masters Sailing: Master’s PCC’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Pan Am & Pre-Olympic Gold Medals . . . . . . . . . . .26-27

Regatta Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-33

2007 Vanguard NA Grand Prix Results . . . . . . . . . 34-35

District Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36-45

Membership Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Sailing Fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

5

Cover: Keamia Rasa of Canadain good form in Cascais whereshe finished 18th in the Worlds.

Photo: Mark Lammens


FALL 2007

District 1Brian Mills, 71 Bristol Street,Fredricton, NB E3B 4W2506-451-1580, [email protected]

District 2Denys Deschambeault, 5120 Du Havre, Trois Rivieres, PQ G8Y [email protected]

District 3Heinz Gebauer, 2205 Soth Millway- Unit 109Mississauga, ON L5L 3T2905-820-8446. [email protected] website: www.d3laser.ca

District 4Kyle Ross, 106 River Pointe Dr.Winnipeg, MB 2RM 5N6204-803-3834, [email protected]

District 5Mark Lammens510 Cynthia St. Saskatoon, SK S7K 7K7306-975-0833. [email protected]/laser

District 6Andy Hunt, 111-2260 W 8st Ave,Vancouver BC, V6K 2A7604-733-9663. Hotline: [email protected]/slf

District 7Sally Sharp, 39 Caleb Dyer LaneEnfield, NH 03748603-632-4192. [email protected] Newsletter Chris Morin [email protected]

District 8Ted Cremer, 7 Maple StreetBlue Point, NY 11715. 631-363-8830, [email protected]

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FLORIDA

ALABAMA

MARYLAND

CALIFORNIACOLORADO

CONNECTICUT

DELAWARE

ARKANSAS

GEORGIA

IDAHO

IOWA

KANSAS KENTUCKY

LOUISIANA

MAINE

MASSACHUSETTSMICHIGAN

MINNESOTA

MISSISSIPPI

MISSOURI

MONTANA

NEBRASKA

NEW HAMPSHIRE

NEW JERSEY

NORTHCAROLINA

NORTH DAKOTA

OHIO

OKLAHOMA

OREGON

PENNSYLVANIA

RHODE ISLAND

SOUTH CAROLINA

SOUTH DAKOTA

TENNESSEE

TEXAS

UTAH

VERMONT

VIRGINIA

WEST VIRGINIA

WASHINGTON

WISCONSIN WYOMING

INDIANA

ILLINOIS

NEW MEXICO

ARIZONA

6

5

22

NEVADA

24

23

25

15

4

3 2

7

810

NEW YORK

9

17

14PUERTO RICO AND

THE CARIBBEAN

29

ALBERTABRITISH COLUMBIA

NEW BRUNSWICKMANITOBA

NOVA SCOTIAONTARIO

QUEBECSASKATCHEWAN

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HAWAII26

District 9Chas Williamson, 9 Lagrand CourtIthaca, NY 14850607-272-0630. [email protected]

District 10Eric [email protected] Jersey

District 11Jon Deutsch411 N. Blvd. Apt. 2, Richmond, VA 23220804-305-1244, [email protected]://www.laserdistrict11.org

District 12Arland Whitesides, 14 W. Oxford St.Wrightsville Beach, NC, [email protected]

District 13Meka Taulbee, 953 Cedarwood Dr.Dunedin, FL 34968727-631-7005, [email protected]/m/_general/d13.asp

District 14Cal Herman, 7038 Catina StNew Orleans, LA 70124, [email protected]

District 15Renee [email protected] www.cerebus.winsite.com/Laser/districts/d15/

District 16Tim Fitzgerald, 2322 Bromfield Circle Wichita, KS, 67226, [email protected]

District 17John E. Coolidge, Jr., 1113 Hanover St, Chat-tanooga, TN 37405, [email protected]

District 18John [email protected]

District 19Sean [email protected]

District 20Dave Abbott, 2129 West Shore Dr.Delafield, WI 53018262-303-4084. [email protected]/district/d20/

District 21Mike Elson 2235 West 21st StreetMinneapolis, MN 55405621-377-8903 [email protected]/laser/district/d21

District 22Mike Gilbert, 1620 Gerald Ave. Missoula, MT 59801406-327-7855, [email protected]

District 23Larry ArbuthnotPO Box 132, Nederland, CO 80466www.sailtherockies.com

District 24David Lapier 408-525-6396, [email protected]/d24laser/d24

District 25Nils Andersson, 6929 Wyoming Avenue, La Mesa,CA 91942619-561-1722. [email protected] groups.yahoo.com/group/nalaserdistrict25

District 26Guy Fleming, 44-392 Olina St. #6Kaneohe, HI 96744-2617808-955-4405. [email protected]

6


www.Laser.org

6th Caribbean LaserMidwinter Regatta

January 11-13, 2008

Reserve your boat now!

7


FALL 2007

Reports Vice-Chairman’sNotes

ERIC FAUST

8

End of the SummerWith the days growing shorter, yes-

terday saw the end of this year’s Wed-nesday night Laser racing on LakeTravis in Austin. The wind didn’t coop-erate, and only a handful of hardysouls rigged up to race. The rest of usstayed on shore and did what sailors dowhen the wind is light; we told talltales about our recent sailing experi-ences and made plans for upcomingregattas. It was a great reminder of oneof the main reasons that many of uschoose to sail Lasers – the camaraderieand the friends we make in this sport.Good times.

Those of you who live in colder cli-mates may have already closed downyour sailing for the year, while thelucky ones in the south may be lookingforward to the coming autumn winds.Regardless of where you live, as theseasons change I would like to make asuggestion for your fleet. Laser sailorseverywhere should make a point tohold an end-of-season or holiday partythis winter. It’s always a good way tokeep people thinking about Laser sail-ing and helps keep the group togetherwhen sailing may not be available.Make it a point to invite all the newsailors who came out during the sea-son, and you just might see them againin the spring too.

Florida SailingAnd those holiday parties are also a

great time to make your plans to get agroup together for the trek to Floridafor the early season circuit next year.Things are shaping up nicely for 2008from the Miami Olympic ClassesRegatta to the Midwinter Champi-onship in Clearwater. Masters sailorshave the opportunity to really overdoseon regattas with the Florida Masters,the Masters Midweek Madness regattaand Masters Midwinters all held over a10-day period. If you’ve never made itto Florida for these regattas, you reallyowe it to yourself to try it. You’re guar-anteed to improve your sailing andprobably make some new friends in the

process.

Olympic SailingAs I write this, the U.S. Olympic

Team Trials are just a few weeks away.Over the past years, some of ouryounger sailors throughout NorthAmerica have been working hardtoward their quest to represent theircountry in the Olympics, while the restof us are eager spectators to theirendeavors. I have to applaud the effortsof these sailors who put school andcareers on hold in pursuit of theirdreams. But as all eyes turn to New-port to watch the competition, it’sworth taking a moment to rememberwhere we’ve been. When the Laserwas first announced as an OlympicClass in the early 1990s, many fearedit would mean the demise of Laser sail-ing as we knew it. The Laser wouldbecome just another class where onecouldn’t compete without spendinglarge amounts of money or being giftednatural athletes.

But after more than decade in theOlympics, it appears that predictionjust doesn’t hold water. Laser sailingon the grassroots level is still goingstrong. New boats are being sold andnew people are coming into the sport.The effect of our Olympic status forthe Laser, (and now the Radial too)seems to be an overall rise in the levelof competition at major regattas whilenot compromising our local sailing.Average competitors also benefit fromthe improved quality of judging atmany events, with on the water judgeskeeping the playing field level foreveryone. In my opinion, as a class weshould continue to embrace the higherlevel of competition and the increasedvisibility that the Olympics bring to alllevels of our sport.

Keeping our Class StrongAnd speaking of the grassroots of

our sport, we should all make it a pointto promote being a Laser Class mem-ber to all of our fellow sailors. I knowthat if you’re reading this I’m preach-

ing to the choir, but maintaining ourmembership numbers is critical to sus-taining the long-term health of thegame we all love to play. More mem-bers means bigger and better regattas,bigger and better magazines, a biggerand better website etc. etc…. Withoutthe funds to support our central organi-zation, all the things we now enjoyabout Laser sailing could fizzle away.Yes, this is a shameless plug for peopleto spend money, but no, as an officerof the Laser Class I don’t get a pennyof your dues. I’m just dedicated toleaving the Laser Class in North Amer-ica stronger than I found it. If youmake it a point to get a new sailor intothe Class, we will all benefit.

Finally, go Laser sailing. If it’s toocold, call a friend and talk about Lasersailing. If you don’t have a friend,think about Laser sailing. Believe me,it’s fun!

See you on the water.


www.Laser.org 9

District Members1 35

2 33

3 197

4 10

5 43

6 129

7 359

8 113

9 44

10 130

11 173

12 95

13 169

14 25

15 76

16 20

17 18

18 76

19 77

20 102

21 48

22 2

23 31

24 102

25 160

26 729 24

ILCA-NA MembershipAs of August 31, 2007

Regular 1526

Junior 476

Family, 1 238

Family, 2 87

Family, 3 4

International 1

Total 2332

Complimentary 209

Honorary 5

New 579

Renewals 2334

Yacht Club 3

Total 1980

Age Categories:

• 402 Juniors (not 18 in

2007)

• 1097 Masters (35+)

Gender Categories:

• 1997 Male

• 320 Female

• 17 “undisclosed”

Boat Categories:

• 562 Radial

• 10 4.7

• 1353 Full Rig


FALL 200710

From the Builder

NED JONES

I write this installment as I am in theUK on the Isle of Wight in Cowes. This isonly significant because the conditions hereare cold and grey. Cold and grey in NorthAmerica means summer has ended and thefall and winter seasons are arriving. Formany Laser sailors (and selfishly for me inthe northeast) some of the best Laser sail-ing all year is upon us. This year in particu-lar is significant. The Laser and Radial USOlympic trials will take place this Octoberin Rhode Island. While this regatta is forthe elite sailors in the Class in the US, it isan opportunity to reflect on the state of ourbeloved Laser Class. The Class thrives atall levels. From the growing 4.7 Class upthrough the Olympic Team members head-ed to China, our Class is strong. Thestrength is based in the Laser Class philoso-phy. The competition is based on sailingskill, and sailing skill alone. The LaserClass rules are tight, controlled, well man-aged and serve the membership well. As Ihave said in this column before, the latestmodern technology may not be in theClass, but there is no stronger class in theworld. That being said, the Laser Class isconstantly looking at new technology basedopportunities to improve the viability andsailing qualities of the boat.

The composite upper mast for the Radi-al is the latest initiative. Testing is under-way, and perhaps approval will come in thenear future. As with any equipment change,different camps can have differing opin-ions. The Radial composite upper mast isno exception. Do we need it? Will it bemore expensive? Why are we doing this?Legitimate concerns all. Do we need it?Certainly the Class and the builders believethat it is worth doing the dedicated and dis-ciplined research to determine if it will ben-efit the Class as a whole. Therein lies theoverriding principle of any rules or equip-ment change. Will it benefit the Class? Inthe case of the composite Radial upper, itcertainly can. A greater weight range ofsailors can be competitive in the Radial.This leads to more sailors, increased regattaattendance, higher international profile, andgreater accessibility for more sailors. Will itbe more expensive? Sure it will. Newer,better and more modern will almost alwayscome with a higher price. Certainly one ofthe chief benefits can be that replacing yourtop section will occur less often. Since thecomposite top section can be more forgiv-

ing, the Radial bottom section could lastlonger as well. These are ancillary benefitsto including a greater number competitiveRadial sailors in our Class. That is why theLaser Class along with the builders is pur-suing this project. It has to be a commongoal of all of ours to keep our Class strongand develop opportunities for more sailorsto enjoy the competition and camaraderiethat we experience.

I mentioned fall sailing earlier. This isworth discussing as I feel one of ourClass’s greatest strengths is the sailing andracing that exists at the local fleet level.Frostbiting fleets embody all the reasonswe sail Lasers; Competitive racing, cama-raderie, practice, and a base from whichincreased growth can be fostered. It can farless intimidating, and more helpful for anew sailor to experience Laser sailing at thelocal level than at the Miami OCR. Localfleets are motivated to sustain and growtheir numbers through information sharing,

cooperative scheduling, social activities andhosting regattas. It is contagious and wholelot of fun. There are numerous examples ofsuccessful fleets throughout North America.Cedar Point CT, Newport RI, Alamitos BayCA, to name a few. Do not hesitate to con-tact someone involved in an establishedfleet to learn more about how to make ithappen for you at your local fleet. As Imentioned earlier, it is our collective com-mon goal to keep our Class strong andspread the word.

In closing, I want to emphasize that weare involved here because we sail Lasers. Ifone chooses to rig their boat with gear thatis other than Laser Class approved, they arenot sailing a Laser. This might seem like aminor detail, especially at the local fleetlevel, but that is where it is most signifi-cant. Our success is founded in the onedesign principle of using identical boatsand the let the sailing skill make the differ-ence between boats. If you ever have aquestion as to what is legal, illegal, corrector not, you can always find the answer, andoften you will find it within your localfleet.

Dress warmly and hike hard.



FALL 200712


www.Laser.org 13


FALL 200714

Laser Profiles

Name: CarolineMuselet

Occupation: engi-neer/researcher

City/state/province:St.John’s/Newfoundland and Labrador/Canada

Age: 36

I sail a Radial

I’ve been sailing since I was ~10 and sail-ing a Laser for 3 years

In the last year, I’ve sailed my Laser 40days and raced in 5 regattas.

The last regatta I sailed in was CORK and Iachieved my goal of qualifying for the gold fleet

My hero is Ellen McArthur because she’s agreat sailor, she’s mentally strong, and she pur-sues her dreams

My favorite part of racing a Laser is thesurfs, and the experience of racing in largefleets

At the end of a long day of sailing, I like torelax with friends

What other Laser sailor has helped you themost with your Laser sailing? Many havehelped some. To name just one: Robert Deckerwho encouraged me to buy my Laser and startin the class, and helped me in my training andracing.

If I had an unlimited bank account, I’d cre-ate and fund programs that would allow kidsfrom all backgrounds to discover and enjoy sail-ing. Oh, and if it’s truly unlimited so that, aftergiving all I can to fight hunger and poverty,there is still unlimited money left, then for fun Iwould mount a strong Canadian Challenge forthe America’s Cup!

I’d like to see more Laser sailors sail inNewfoundland.

Name: Kurt Miller

City/state/province:Boulder, CO

Age: 47 years young

I sail a full rig Laser

I’ve been sailing sinceI was 8 and sailing aLaser since I was 12for 10 years, retiring from sailing for 23 years.Returning to Laser racing in 2005 thesailors from Long Beach convinced me tomake a return. I was able to sail 23 daysin 2005 and compete in Brazil at the WorldMasters, finishing 3rd behind NZ and AUSand the first American. I have now saileda total of 3 times in the last eyar which isnot good. My hope was to sail in Australiabut it looks like I will aim for some bigraces next summer.

My heros are Paul Evström and Buddy Melges My favorite part of racing a Laser is that theboats are all even and you don’t have to spend100’s of hours making your boat competitive.At the end of a long day of sailing, I like toenjoy sharing stories from the race course overa cold beer.

What other Laser sailor has helped you themost with your Laser sailing? Early in mysailing days Paul Cayard, John Bertrand andCam Lewis helped me on and off the racecourse. My college coach Jim Jorgenson gaveme the most guidance and set me up to be suc-cessful in racing and life.

I’d like to see more of the Master sailorscome back and do some dinghy racingincluding Paul Cayard, John Bertrand andCam Lewis.


www.Laser.org 15

Laser Profiles

Name: Indrek Aavisto

Occupation: Retired Professional Engineer

City/state/province: Sudbury, Ontario

Age: 60

I sail a full rig, mostly

I’ve been sailing since I was 15 and sailing aLaser for 27 years

In the last year, I’ve sailed my Laser ~40number of days and raced in 4 regattas.

The last regatta I sailed in was Ottawa valley masters at Lac Deschenes. It was windy thefirst day, and I decided to try a radial rig. It was the first time I had sailed a radial for overthree years and I got a few breaks and managed to come in as the first radial in the regatta.

My hero is Heinz Gebauer because He is a real gentleman on the race course and showsthat he is still extremely hard to beat almost ten years after becoming a GGM

My favorite part of racing a Laser is The camaraderie

At the end of a long day of sailing, I like to Relax with a beer

What other Laser sailor has helped you the most with your Laser sailing? It’s hard topick out a single individual, so many sailors have helped me with advice over the years.

If I had an unlimited bank account, I’d Outfit our local sailing school with new equipment

I’d like to see more Laser sailors Out on the race course


FALL 200716

Technical Tips -- for regatta organizers

THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPTFROM THE NATIONALS WEBSITE

We just wrapped up hosting the 2007Laser Nationals and have received positivefeedback regarding the live updates andhow quickly we were able to post accurateresults. Here is a little insight into how wewere able to post provisional results on theInternet within a half hour after the lastboat in an 80+ boat fleet finished.

The key is having good people on thefinish boats. All the technology in theworld does not matter if you don’t haveaccurate finish orders to post.

We had two finish boats, one at eachend of the line. The primary boat wasanchored at the starboard end of the finishline. The secondary finish boat anchoredjust beyond the pin end of the line so thatthey could sight the line back towards theprimary finish boat.

Each boat was set up with a personsighting the line, two people recordingresults, a person videotaping the finish, anextra person to track down sail numbers ofboats that were obstructed as they crossedthe line, and a driver. The primary finishboat also had a race communications per-son on it (more on this later).

The person sighting the line called outthe last four digits of each sail number asthe boat finished. If a sail number was

blocked as it finished, she called ‘boat’ sothat the people recording numbers knew toleave a space. One of the two numberrecorders would never look at the finishwhile numbers were being called. The sec-ond number recorder acted as a secondarybackup for any missed boat numbers.

As soon as the last boat finished, thetwo written lists on each boat were consoli-dated into a single list. It’s important tonote that 1) the finish team “practiced” call-ing and recording numbers 2) there wereno discussions that could distract the personcalling numbers or the people recording thenumbers, 3) the person sighting the line andcalling the numbers removed herself fromthe final resolution of provisional list and4) all agreed that we would do our ownjobs and not “help” another unless askedspecifically.

If there were questions, the resolvedlist from the secondary finish boat waschecked. Finishes that needed to bechecked on the video were marked. Thename of the communications person waswritten on the top of the list with the provi-sional finish order, which denoted that thiswas the list to be published to the web.

The communications person’s responsi-bilities were to make sure the finish linewas in the right place, handle radio trafficwith the Race Committee, and post webupdates and scores. Having the separate

communications person allowed the finishteam to concentrate solely on recordingaccurate finish orders. After each start, theRace committee would call with the list ofOCS boats for that start. If they needed toverify the OCS boats on video, a note thatno OCS boats were included was added tothe provisional results. The communica-tions person also watched and recorded thefirst fifteen finishers of each race so that aprovisional top five could be posted imme-diately.

The primary finish boat was set up withan IBM laptop (actually a pretty oldThinkPad) with Sailwave and FrontPageloaded on to it. All the competitors wereentered into the software during registra-tion. FrontPage was used to update thewebsite. We used a wireless card that pro-vided high-speed access to the Internet.

All live updates were done to the mainpage of the event web site. That page wasalways open in FrontPage so that all thecommunications person had to do was typein the update and hit save to publish it.Doing all the updates to the main page sim-plified updating and also gave our sponsorsmaximum exposure.

Once there was a provisional finish listfor the race, the communications personwould enter the results into Sailwave, pub-lish the results to HTML files, and thencopy them to the website.

We also had two designated press peo-ple who wrote the press releases, createdthe videos, and posted pictures. Thereleases were sent to the communicationsperson, who then published them to theweb site and sent them to the media.

There was also a great deal of workdone behind the scenes to ensure that theweb site remained available during theevent. We made a complete backup of theweb site the day before the event. Weremoved all edit access from the websiteexcept for a single User Id and password.We alerted the company that hosts our website that we would be seeing at least 100times more traffic at our site during theevent. The web site remained available forthe entire event and was not hacked.

Please feel free to contact us if youhave any questions.

How did we post results so quickly?Tips from the US Nationals in Mallets Bay, Vermont

Laser E-MallHave you tried out the new LasereMall? Now you can support the LaserClass of North America every time youshop online. Go to www.laser.org andclick on the Laser eMall button. Fromthere choose your online store. Whenyou make your purchase, a percentageof your purchase total goes to theclass association at no cost to you.Every time you make a purchase from a store through the eMall, theclass gets a contribution from the retailer. You get the same prod-ucts for the same price through the eMall, but eMall allows you tosupport the ILCA-NA, at no extra cost to you.


www.Laser.org 17

2008 ScheduleRegatta Laser Radial Laser 4.7 Masters

World Championship

ISAF Grade 1

Terrigal, Australia

February 4-13

Auckland, New ZealandWomen’s March 15-20

Men & Youth March 24-29

Trogir, Croatia

August 22-29

Terrigal, Australia

February 17-23

NA Championship

40 GP pts. ISAF Grade 1

San Francisco, CASt. Francis Yacht Club

July 24-27


July 24-27


July 24-27

North American

Women’s Radial Champs

ISAF Grade 1

naFt. Lauderdale, FL

www.lyc.org na na

CanadianChampionships

30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 2

St. Margaret’s BayNova ScotiaJuly 18-20

St. Margaret’s BayNova ScotiaJuly 18-20

D1

US Championships

30 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 2

Long Beach, CAAlamitos Bay YC

August 8-10


August 8-10


August 8-10

New Bedford, MA

June 20-22

CORK


Kingston, ONwww.cork.org

August

Kingston, ONwww.cork.org

August

Midwinters East


Clearwater, FLwww.clwyc.org

Feb 21-24


Feb 21-24


Feb 21-24


Feb 15-17

Midwinters West

30 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 2

San Diego, CAMission Bay YC

March 28-30


March 28-30


March 28-30

Rolex Miami OCR

ISAF Grade 1

Miami, FLwww.ussailing.org/olympics

Jan 27-Feb 2

Miami, FLwww.ussailing.org/olympics

Jan 27-Feb 2na na

Atlantic CoastChampionships


Brant Beach, NJBrant Beach YC

July 12-13


July 12-13


July 12-13

Pacific CoastChampionships


Monterey, CAMonterey Peninsula YC

August 1-3


August 1-3


August 1-3

Gulf CoastChampionships


D13D13 D13

No CoastChampionships


Atlanta, CALake Lanier YCOctober 11-12



Great LakesChampionships


D20 D20 D20


FALL 200718

Technical TipsBY LAURALEE SYMES

The word arousal occurs in variouscontexts of conversation. I’m going tofocus on the kind of arousal that affectsperformance in sailing (sorry). Accordingto Webster, arousal means to rouse or stim-ulate to physiological readiness for activity.The intent of this article is to help youidentify how your arousal level can influ-ence your ability to win sailboat races.

In 1908 two psychologists conductedexperiments and discovered that too muchor too little arousal leads to a decrease inboth physical and mental ability. Theirwork is commonly known as the Yerkes-Dodson Law. The idea has been furtherresearched and popularized by MihalyCsikszentmihaly (pronounced chick-sent-me-high), who has become well-known forhis work on “flow.”

We know from this research that thebest performance comes when challenge isslightly higher than skill level. Optimumperformance occurs when the individual isin a state of “flow.” Complete immersionand concentration on a task, with midrangelevels of arousal, often leads to flow.

The problem with high arousal

High arousal decreases our ability torecognize subtle stimuli and cues in ourenvironment. As a Laser sailor, this equatesto errors like missing wind shifts or notnoticing a course change. An overload ofarousal will affect your brain chemistry sothat you focus on the negative instead ofthe positive. Elevated arousal will causeyou to suddenly doubt that you even havethe skills or abilities to sail your boat welland win. High arousal (also called stress,overload, anxiety, hyperactivity, or mania)puts your body in the state of fear known asfight or flight. Rapid physiological changesoccur to get your mind and body into sur-vival mode. While sometimes it may feellike it, a Laser race is rarely a life-threaten-ing endeavor.

The problem with low arousal

Low arousal is a state of boredom andexists when the skill level of an activityexceeds the challenge. Low arousal willimpede concentration, increase irritability(more yelling at the marks) and, on theextreme end, can cause hallucinations.While all of your practice and training hasled to strong boat handling skills, the repet-itiveness of the task can frequently lead toboredom. You may have noticed this play-ing out as a feeling of clumsiness in theboat and an increase in “dumb” mistakes.

Here are 10 methods to maintain opti-mum arousal and performance while racing:

1. Visualize being at your best

Write a short description of a timewhen you were at your best. Create a strongvisualization that utilizes all your senses(sight, hearing, smell, taste, and feel) torecall the strength you felt at the time. Onceyour story is recorded, write it on a 3x5card and place it in your PFD pocket. Takeit with you to the race course. When youfind yourself doubting your skills or abili-ties, pull out the card in your pocket.

2. Use routine to improve focus

In drivers ed they teach you to “checkyour mirrors.” Drivers are encouraged to dothis in a routine or orderly fashion, such asscan the driver side mirror, then therearview mirror, then the passenger sidemirror, repeat. Try devising a scanning rou-tine of your own.

3. Breath through your nose

As arousal escalates, you may findyourself holding your breath or takinggulps of air in through your mouth. Thiswill decrease the amount of oxygen to yourorgans and extremities, which will furtherincrease arousal. Include “check my breath-ing” as one of your routine focus points.Conscious breaths through your nose andall the way down to your diaphragm and aslow exhale can be very calming.

4. Turn unexpected events into a positive

Every race presents you with unexpect-ed events. This is true for your competitorstoo. Your ability to seize the moment willkeep your arousal level from elevating tothe danger zone.

5. Find fresh opportunities forchallenge

I have heard of (and know a few) Lasersailors who practice 15 or 20 hours a week.Finding an extension of your skills withthis much repetition can be difficult. Con-sider identifying new challenges around theinner game of sailing. For example, using a1 to 10 scale (10 being the best), what rat-ing would you give yourself on ability to

stay focused during a race? If you arebelow an 8, you’ve just found a new goal.

6. Set as many mini-goals as you can

You probably already break the racedown into segments, such as windward leg,reach, and run. Try breaking each of theselegs down even more and set mini-goals forthings like level of heel, exactness of trim,concentration, catching waves, avoidingcapsize or getting a lane. The key to suc-cess with this technique is to acknowledgethe task as a goal. Do this by saying toyourself, “My goal for this segment isto…..” Continue this process with each seg-ment.

7. Establish a feedback method for

mini-goals

Motivation and self-confidence increasedramatically when we know we are making

progress towards a goal. Find away to measure each of yourmini-goals. Keep an eye on theprogress. Go for the goal, checkyour progress, adjust your tech-nique. Repeat. Most important,acknowledge progress!

8. Refrain from yelling at com-

petitors

Yelling at a competitor willalways raise your arousal to thedanger zone. Don’t do it! Ever.

9. Use positive self-talk only

Always!10. Engage all of your skills

This will be the most difficultof all the suggestions thus far. But, notimpossible! Competitive Laser sailing takesmany skills, and a sailboat race presents asailor with both planned and unplannedobstacles. Full engagement of all yourskills in this complicated environment willoccur naturally when you are in a state offlow. During a flow state, you will be fullyimmersed in what you are doing. You willbe energized and completely focused on theactivity of sailing.

While it is difficult to get oneself into aflow state, it can be achieved with practice.These ten tips will help you get into theflow. Happy Sailing!

LauraLee is a LicensedProfessional Counselor. She specializesin helping individuals improve per-formance and achieve their personalgoals. She has served as the secretaryof the North American Laser ClassAssociation for the last two years.Contact LauraLee Symes [email protected].

Why Do You Get Excited Sailing Lasers?


www.Laser.org 19

Randy Reigns!!!

Consistency paid off big time forRandy Rea, Treasure Coast Series Champi-on for 2007. The series consisted of fiveone day regattas sailed at various venuesaround an expanded Treasure Coast area ofFlorida, starting with Lake Eustis in May,Melbourne in June, Titusville in July,Jensen Beach in August, and Palm Beach inSeptember. Competitors must sail four ofthe five legs to qualify for the overallseries. Forty five different sailors compet-ed in the series. Kevin Ratigan was theironman as he was the only competitor tomake all five events. The goal of the seriesis to have a great afternoon of sailing at a

low cost. Races start late enough to enablesailors to do some early morning chores, orsleep late, go sailing, have a little refresh-ment and get home that night.

Always in the hunt, but without a victo-ry in any of the legs he sailed, Randyworked his 200 lb plus frame around thecourses in an impressive display of beingclose to, or in the lead in every race hesailed. Randy did this in mostly lighter air,as the sea breeze let us down, or stormactivity sucked up the wind, at most of theevents. So there is hope for the heavy-weights! James Liebl, who was an instiga-tor of this series, gave Randy a little breath-ing room when he showed up later thanusual and missed the first start at PalmBeach. James also has sacrificed sailing to

do the RC work at the Titusville (KellyPark) venue.

We saw some new faces this year –several juniors and some “older” folks whohave gotten the Laser bug. We also hadmany familiar faces sailing, although mostdid not schedule their life well enough tomake at least four events. They know whothey are and need to improve on that aspectfor next year!

On behalf of all the participants, thanksto the volunteers and organizations who

took the time to promote and run the racesfor us. And thanks to all who came out and

sailed! We’re doing it again next year.Those of you who missed the sailing this

year, make sure you come join us in 2008. 2007 Treasure Coast Series-Cumulative Results: top 10

Name Rig Eustis Melb Tville JB PB Total Evnts Sailed Drop NetEntrants 15 17 14 16 24 86

Races 4 4 3 4 3 18

1 Rea S 12 72 6 11 12 113 4 72 41

2 Liebl S 24 10 45 5 25 109 4 45 64

3 Hartman S 19 20 15 68 17 139 4 68 71

4 Sayler S 64 38 34 27 26 189 4 64 125

5 Miller, H S 64 50 24 28 29 195 4 64 131

6 Ratigan R 34 51 24 41 48 198 5 51 147

7 Clark S 64 50 34 26 37 211 4 64 147

8 Canfield S 64 6 45 18 72 205 2 205

9 Davis S 64 28 16 68 33 209 3 209

10 Jones S 64 21 45 13 72 215 2 215


FALL 200720

ILCA-NA Fleet ReviewCedar Point Yacht Club FleetBluff Point, Westport, CTDistrict 7www.cedarpointyc.org

Fleet Captain: Stephen Fisk 203-557-3618 or [email protected]

Sailing VenueThe Laser Fleet has been racing out of the CPYC in

Westport CT for over 25 years (or thereabout, I think). Sitting on a spit of land in a quiet residential area, theFleet is fortunate to have a fantastic sailing venue with easy access to Long Island Sound via an in-basin boatramp or the more preferable beach launch. Located less than an hour from of New York City right off I-95, theclub is centrally located, making for one of the most active Laser programs on the east coast. The club has alimited winter membership option for the general public. Last season we had 83 winter members, several whohave become full time members. While most of our winter sailors are from Connecticut, we do have all levels ofsailors coming from New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts.

The CPYC Laser Fleet has three summer regattas but our program really shines in the winter when itmorphs into a frostbiting program. As most fleets pack away their boats the Frostbiters are gearing up for anadditional 21 day racing season.

Our season is split into a fall and spring series of 10 consecutive Sundays each. Starting on the secondSunday of October at noon and running for 10 weeks. We take a mid winter break and starts up again on thesecond Sunday of March for the spring series. Between the two seasons we host one of the longest runningactive Laser regattas in the world, the infamous New Years Day Hangover Bowl Regatta. A lot of ice picking andvarious forms of hydration are needed to get out on the water.

Racing Program & ActivitiesMy introduction to the fleet occurred almost twen-

ty years ago in the late 80’s after my brother went to col-lege and his then new 1986 Laser was stored in our par-ents’ garage. Like so many boats in storage, it languishedfor a while, gone but not forgotten. I had been sailing ina summer junior program crewing on a 420 and neverthought of single-handing as an option. Trapezing was toomuch fun and sailing on a boat with just one sail with aminimum number of lines did not seem interesting or chal-lenging (was I in for a surprise). Plus, who do you talk towhen the wind goes light, which it often does on LongIsland Sound in the summer? Eventually fall rolled aroundand I got back into the routine they call high school andreally began to miss the wind and water.

By mid-October a friend noticed my distress and suggested I join the CPYC Laser Frostbite Fleet forsome fun winter sailing. “Fun winter sailing” sounded like an oxymoron and I thought he was kidding.However, I thought of myself as a pretty rugged 120 lbs. teenager and considered it a decent opportunity tokeep up my sailing skills. After buying a used drysuit for $80 I traveled down to Cedar Point Yacht Club where Imet a small and hardy group of older sailors, they must have all been at least over 24!

The sailing scene at the club was everything I could have hoped for. After a few weeks of heavy windsand fast planning spray-in-your-face sailing, a big departure from the light summer winds of Long Island Sound,I was hooked. Besides being in a fun overpowered dinghy, the group ran competitive short course racing in allkinds of winter conditions. No whining allowed when it was snowing, blowing snot and the salt water was freez-ing in your cockpit, the sailing attitude was just go out there sail and have fun. The Fleet was an energetic anddedicated group of sailors who really loved to sail and proved it every Sunday in the middle of winter.


www.Laser.org 21

Back then it was a smaller group with participation thataveraged in the low teens so RC was able to run college styleshort courses that were fast paced, close and exciting. It wasnot uncommon to have over twelve races crunched in a 3 and ahalf hour race day. With a full rig I had a lot to learn and most-ly watched from the back of the fleet but enjoyed every minuteof it. That learning curve is always steep in the beginning butthe racing and enjoyment only gets better with time.

After two seasons I went to college, dropped out ofsailing for a few years, traveled a bit post college but never for-got about those winter races. Fate brought me back toConnecticut where I once again dusted off the boat and re-joined the Fleet, which had grown and become more organizedover the years. The sailors were still just as dedicated to racingand having a good time as the first group I met years ago. Weare now a more varied group combining juniors to great grandmasters, men, women, standard and radial rigs,all on the same line. To keep everyone engaged the Fleet has post racing activities including pizza parties,house parties and the all popular winner chalk talks. The talks are a favorite as novice sailors get key insightsand suggestions from national level sailors.

The best thing about the CPYC Fleet….Because there are so many activities our Fleet relies heavily on member participation. After working my

way through various Fleet functions, such as the honorable positions of beverage buyer and club newsletterwriter, I eventually became the Fleet captain a couple months ago. It is pretty exciting to be part of such of avibrant program. Last season we averaged 43 boats a day and had a record high of 62 participants for our2006 Fall Regatta.

Even with a high yearly turn over of approximately 40%, we manage to increase participation year toyear due to the Laser fun factor and the high quality racing the Fleet provides. The races and starting lines area lot longer than the ones we had in the late 80’s and the Fleet has been averaging 6-7 races a day to keep thelarge number of competitors spread out on the course. Race committee participation is mandatory for everyoneover 17 and is factored into season participation. The RC is supported by an additional two crash boats staffedby our volunteers who monitor fleet safety and keep the courses square – a tough job when the winds arenortherly and our the course is positioned at the mouth of a tidally influenced river flowing into Long IslandSound.

Attracting new sailors to the fleetOur marketing relies heavily on our members’ word of mouth and after decades of killer Laser sailing the

word has gotten out and participation is at an all time high. To supplement, we also send out mailers, inter-clubcommunications, emails, and use a webpage. Our Fleet page has been refined over the years and can be foundon the CPYC website at www.cedarpointyc.org.

The website is well traveled and contains all the necessary information our members and potential mem-bers need. We post our daily results, season averages, and the most popular reading of all… the daily winner’sdebrief. There is also an extensive photo gallery takenby various RC members. It contains some great shotsof the good, the bad, and the ugly that is winter racing.

Last WordsIf you ever find yourself in western Connecticut

from October to May and are in need of a Laser fix,come visit our Fleet. We have a club boat we lend outand a one day race option if you just want to check usout, I guarantee a good time. Give me a call, we wouldlove to hear from you!


22 FALL 2007


ILCA-NA Fleet ReviewNewport Laser FleetNewport, Rhode IslandLaser Fleet 413 District 7www.newportlaserfleet.org

Fleet Captain,Will [email protected]

Sailing VenueFleet 413 is located in Newport, RI. We launch andstore our boats at Sail Newport and race inside Newport harbor Sundays from November through April, first race1pm. Radials and full rigs race on the same course, you are welcome to switch between rigs as long as youhave the same sail number on both. Most people roll their sails on the mast and store indoors at Sail Newportthe boats stay on the dolly outside. Racing Program We run multiple races every Sunday with all thefleet members rotating through to handle RC andcrash boats. RC gets scored first for the day. For thedaily races there are no drops, but for the seasonyou drop your worst score for every three days rac-ing. After Race ActivitiesThe winner each week is required to divulge all oftheir secrets in a “words of wisdom” column thatgoes out with the scores. The fleet is so greatbecause of the member’s willingness to help get everyone up to speed, and to volunteer theirtime to get things organized. We discourage protests, if you foul someone you are encour-aged to do your circle and get on with the day.The Best thing About the Newport Fleet….There is a variety of conditions we racein(it is New England after all) from gor-geous sunshine to snow and ice. Postrace activities are held at IYAC. Last season we had 143 sailors sail 99races with an average of 38 boats on theline each week. This year we are startingNovember 4th, if you are interested justshow up!

2007-2008 Frostbite Schedule: Sundays11/4/07 through 4/20/07

www.Laser.org 23


FALL 200724

Masters SailingBY BUFF WENDT

The Laser Master’s PCC’s was held onthe North Shore of Lake Tahoe over theweekend of August 25th and 26th. Twentyfour racers convened in the Lake ForestBoat Ramp parking lot Saturday morningand surveyed the mounting wind and wavesas the registration staff held onto theirpapers. “Bay area conditions in Tahoe; fan-tastic!” said a beaming Tracy Usher aseveryone launched from the ramp. Localfleet volunteers were also cheered to seesuch good breezes fill in as they preparedto set courses. “This breeze is unusuallyfierce. We’re prepared for a fun and excit-ing day.” said local fleet member CarolineMcNally.

The first race was held in solid breezeswith Tracy Usher and Nick Pullen battlingoff the line until Pullen had an unexpectedcapsize a few minutes into the first weatherleg, leaving Martin Hartmanis and DavidLaPier as Usher’s nearest contenders.Usher won the race with Hartmanis andPullen finishing in second and third respec-tively.

The next race saw the wind start to beless consistent and the beginning of reallychallenging sailing conditions which rangedbetween 25 knot gusts to periods of deadcalm. “It was the start of the battle of thewinds between going to the inside shore orstaying far left on the course. If you triedto go up the middle you could find yourselfon the edge of a huge hole. This wasimmensely painful, because you wouldwatch people on either side sailing in 18knots while you drifted.” said local sailorStan Eriksson who managed to keep him-self mostly out of this area. He later com-miserated and got some laughs out of thosestuck in the hole by claiming that “Whoev-er was operating the wind switch was real-ly inconsistent!” Ultimately Hartmanispersisted to win the race followed byPullen and LaPier.

The final race of the third day wasagain held in the similar conditions withthe sailors barely floating over the start linein almost non-existent winds only to becapsized as they crossed the middle hole toencounter a 20 knot blast with a 60 degreewind shift. Chris Boome and Les Bartlettwere some of the many subjected to suchauto tacks. “Those of us on the leadingedge of these shifts often ended up swim-

ming, as the gusts just seemed to hit thewater with no warning. It was almost bet-ter to be behind at this point, as those com-petitors had enough lead time to tack andstay dry.” Usher found his way back intofirst place, with Eriksson finishing secondand Buff Wendt slipping into third. As theboats hit the shore for the evening, Wendtcould not contain her smile. “This is aonce in a decade event where I actually getto best my husband Nick Pullen, especiallysince we had some breeze. He won’t livethis down for awhile!”

Back on shore, the sailors were greetedby another local fleet volunteer Luke Fred-erick, who took it upon himself to set up arum and appetizer bar in the parking lot.This instantly became a social event thatwas ultimately attended by the entire regat-ta and the parking lot attendant. “I loveMaster’s regattas.” said Don Blythe “Theyare just so friendly and accommodating.First we have the Tahoe Yacht Club and thelocal fleet putting on great races and offer-ing us water and clif bars between races.Then we come in to be greeted with smilesand drinks in the parking lot. I only get achance to sail a few regattas a year, and I’mglad that I chose this one.”

The fleet made their way to the TahoeYacht Club where they were fed dinner andbeers. Much of the talk was about thewind, and from the apprentice mastersabout how it was plain wrong that they hadto give points to the likes of Usher, Hart-manis, Eriksson, Hauserman, Boome,Blythe and LaPier. “Let’s face it, thoseMasters are fast and I’m thrilled to be beat-ing them in head to head condition. Thefact that I have to give them points just

makes me ill.” teased Pullen who was sit-ting between Usher and Hartmanis. Thenearby masters looked smug as the appren-tices continued to groan about their oldercompetition. “Worse yet, look at some oftheir boats!” said local Matt Clark.“Boome is still sailing the same one that Iswear he had ten years ago, Blythe too!He hasn’t even sailed this year and he’sgiving me a run for my money.”

Teasing aside there was definitelygroup consensus that the Great GrandMasters of which there were three, LesBartlett, Tim Knowles and Leif Gibbssonwere the heroes of the regatta. “Those guysare impressive.” said competitor and theTahoe Yacht Club sail committee chair DanHauserman. “I’m sore from sailing outthere and they are all spry and chipperbouncing around socializing tonight. Ihope that I sail as well as they do when I’ma Great Grand Master.”

On Sunday, two races were held in sim-ilar conditions to the first two races held onSaturday. “For once it appeared that wehad our best winds going on the reachinglegs of the trapezoid courses.” said Boome.“I had a lot of fun planing in the freshwater waves.” Boome definitely capital-ized on his solid heavy air sailing techniqueas Mike Bishop and Matt Clark battling forthe overlap at the jibe mark had a dramaticdual death roll into each other allowingBoome to slide in and take off on the nextjibe. Once again, that race saw Usher infirst, followed by Hartmanis and Pullen.With more great wind, the last race waswon again by Usher, with Pullen and Eriks-son in second and third.

Tight Racing, Great Camraderie onLake Tahoe for Masters

Pacific Coast Championships

Apprentice Master — age 35-44

1. Nick Pullen - 4 points2. Matt Clark - 9 points3. Buff Wendt - 11 points4. Mike Bishop - 13 points5. Todd Jackson - 17 points6. Ralph Silverman - 25 points

Master — age 45-54

1. Tracy Usher - 4 points2. Martin Hartmanis - 8 points3. Stan Eriksson - 11 points4. Dan Hauserman - 17 points5. David LaPier - 21 points6. Justin Casey - 25 points

Grand Master — age 55-64

1. Chris Boome - 5 points2. Donald Blythe - 6 points3. Tony Dahlman - 11 points4. John Barere - 15 points5. John Notman - 24 points

Great Grant Master — age 65-plus

1. Les Bartlett - 4 points2. Tim Knowles - 8 points3. Leif Gibhsson - 9 points


www.Laser.org 25

The awards were held at the Yacht Club where the topthree in each class were presented with beautiful etchedglass trophies. Winning the entire regatta, and not needingthose much desired Master’s points was Tracy Usher. ChrisBoome gave an informative speech regarding the perpetualDon Trask trophy and how instrumental Trask was to bring-ing lasers to the West Coast. A gracious Usher accepted thesolid steel and perhaps heaviest laser trophy ever, andthanked everyone for the fun time and the Tahoe Yacht Clubfor a great event. Special thanks was given to local fleetmembers Justin Casey, Dan Hauserman, Luke Frederick,Caroline McNally and David Adolphs for time and effortthey put into making a really smoothly run event with lots ofperks such as bags and t-shirts for each competitor. “Eventhough I tossed everything that I had at him, I’m happy tosee Tracy win,” said Hartmanis. “He’s the epitome of whatlaser sailing should always be, a good and fair competitor,someone you never feel bad losing to. We’re extremely for-tunate to have him as our North American Class President.”

However, the biggest round of applause just might havebeen for the oldest competitor, Leif (pronounced ‘life”)Gibbsson age 79, as he received his award with a smile onhis face. Someone from the crowd yelled “Leif is good!”summing up a wonderful weekend of master’s racing.


FALL 200726

Pan Am Gold for 2 North American Sailors!Campbell & Railey Take Gold in Pan Am Games

With the US team preparing for the Olympic Trials duringthe TLS preparation phase, rather than bother the gold medal-ists with details, we took excerpts from various sources to com-pile this story.

The “official story”US Sailing press releaseIn the final, double-point Medal Races, Campbell stumbled

his first beat, but scrambled to catch up to Brazil’s Robert Schei-dt, a two-time Olympic champion and eight times world champi-on, who led the entire final race. Campbell rounded the lastwindward mark before the downwind finish in fourth place, butafter a self-described risky split, he was able to get around theArgentinean and Chilean boats to finish overlapped with thirdand take second in the race behind Scheidt. “He made it prettytough on me,” said Campbell, whose second place in the double-point Medal Race translated into a gold medal.

Railey, US SAILING’s 2006 Rolex Yachtswoman of theYear and ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year, enjoyed singledigit scores, including three bullets, throughout the week. Herimpressive performance caused her to secure a gold medal aheadof Mexico’s Tania Elias Calles Wolf, who shared 25 overallpoints.

The “inside story”www.CampbellSailing.com BlogAfter three hours of sitting around in drizzle and 60 degree

temperatures, we sailed a 30 minute-long, double-points medalrace this afternoon for all the marbles and the Pan Am Gamestitle. Fifteen knots filled in from the southwest and a race wentoff without much hesitation before our four o’clock time limit. Ihad a dismal first beat followed by a lot of catching up. RobertScheidt made it pretty tough on me, leading the entire wayaround the race course. I had to finish right behind him to securethe gold medal position. I rounded the last windward markbefore the downwind finish in what seemed like a hopelessfourth place, but after a risky split I somehow got around theArgentinian and Chilean to finish overlapped with third and takesecond in the race.

As for the belated Monday Morning Tactician, I had a clas-sic last-race scenario this past week in Rio that probablydeserves a bit more description and discussion. I’ll give you theoverall theme right up front: Don’t Ever Give Up! If you thinkthat’s a cheesy cliche, you had better read on…

Scenario: The Medal Race in Rio consisted of the top fiveboats. The points from the race would count double (1stplace=2pts, 2nd place=4pts, etc.) I entered the race three pointsahead of Robert Scheidt, and five points ahead of Julio Alsoga-ray. So, I was guaranteed a medal, and in reality, so were theother two contenders. Matias Del Solar and Mike Leigh were 10and 12 points behind, so to catch bronze a miracle would havehad to happen.

Strategy: Because there were three of us involved in poten-tially winning the regatta, it was not a classic match race sce-nario. However, the possibility for pre-start cat and mouse wasconsidered. In retrospect, sitting in the armchair of the MondayMorning Tactician, when there were more than two boatsinvolved in any of the many medal races of the Pan Am games,normal fleet-race-style tactics prevailed over cat-and-mouse.

What Actually Happened: After two and a half hours ofwaiting around on the water, a 12-16 knot southerly filledthrough a big enough part of the bay that we could get a race in.

The Radial race startedfirst and went away upthe beat. After they hadgone around the wind-ward mark and were ontheir way back down,we went into sequence.

I kept Robert closeon the starting line, butat about 1 minute to gobroke off and wentdown the line to makesure I was in clear air.He was pinned aboveMatias at the boat, so Ifigured I would let himdo that. We had figuredout that both sides couldpossibly win the beat, soI figured being one boataway, I could stay withhim no matter where hewent. As it turned outthe Radial fleet was conveniently coming around the leeward marksas we went into our first hundred yards upwind. We were fully over-lapped with the girls as we both raced towards the same windwardmark.

Robert tacked out almost immediately to prevent being pinchedoff, and Matias went with him. I tacked shortly thereafter only tomeet the Mexican radial sailor Tania coming at me, bow-to-bowwith starboard tack advantage. Instead of taking a big duck, I lee-bowed and headed off to the left with Mike Leigh. By the time Taniatacked off my hip, Mike and I were sufficiently behind the pace get-ting to the now favored-looking right side of the course. Uponarrival at the top mark, I was in fourth about five boat lengths out ofthe lead, but in silver-medal position nonetheless.

The run did not treat me any better, as Mike Leigh, no slouch,managed to skate around my on the inside of the downwind. Irounded the leeward mark, with only two short legs to go in last andin bronze medal position. I desperately needed to grind back, butthere was not much room from the four characters ahead of me to domuch grinding.

I got right on the next beat, shadowing Robert, who was suffi-ciently in control of the race. The other four of us were nicelybunched at the leeward mark, but well spread across the second beat.I caught Mike in the upwind split by the time we got to the topmark, and was in silver-medal position within two boats of Julio,and it looked unlikely he could catch Robert. I needed to pass Julioand Matias to win the regatta.

After a couple of good looks upwind beyond the mark while Iwas still going upwind, I made a firm decision that I would stay onthe right side, looking downwind, regardless of the fleet. The under-sized fleet had gone left following Robert down the run, and I sawan opportunity to split right. A puff made it down my side, and thestreaky nature of the wind more or less isolated me from the group. Idid all I could to get myself back to the middle when possible as Ibegan to sail bow-even with Matias and Julio. The last puff into thelast third of the 3-5 minute run was from the middle of the course,and I sailed across dangerously into Julio’s bad air to make sure thatMatias could not catch me from the left (looking downwind). I was


www.Laser.org 27

just bow ahead and back in Gold medal position, and Robert had crossed the finish line in first. As I sailed the last hundred yards my armsstarted to tighten up, and tension ran through my feet. I realized that I could make it to the anchor line of the finish boat and still be bowahead of Matias. He made one more carve away from me, and I went hard by-the-lee to go with him. I snuck my nose around the anchor-line of the finish boat, and overlapped with Matias three feet away from my boom, I crossed the line in second totally out of Robert’s con-trol, one point ahead of him in the series and in gold medal position.

Monday Morning Tactician Says: We have the benefit of retrospect to help us, but I probably should have done a better job of get-ting right with Robert on the first beat. That said, the most important lesson that I learned in the process of that last race was that weshould never give up on the battle to catch boats. You hear the cliche: catching one boat at a time, and it is absolutely the truth. In situa-tions where it looks like there is no hope left, it still needs to be the first priority to stick to the fundamentals of boat racing and catch asmany boats as possible. One of the college sailing lessons that I think is most important: every point counts. Of course this is doublyimportant in the medal race, but the mentality needed to constantly be looking to better my position in the fleet, even in the high-stressenvironment of the Pan Am Games is something that every sailor should have.

The “Real” StorySan Diego Union“The win was a big one for me personally,” said Campbell. “Certainly, it was one of the highlights of my sailing career. Now I’m

going to rest a bit before training for the Olympic Trials (in October). But winning the Pan-Am gold medal was a milestone. The Laserfleet was really deep. Plus, the conditions were very demanding, the wind coming off the high mountains and the swirling current. It wasreally fun to try to figure it out each day and made it much more enjoyable from the tactical side of things.”

Tunnacliffe Wins Pre-Olympic EventWith one year to go to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games

Anna Tunnacliffe of the US won the Gold Medal in the Pre-Olympic Regatta held in Qingdao in August.

Team USA’s Anna Tunnicliffe is riding high today after win-ning a gold medal in the Laser Radial class at The Good LuckBeijing - 2007 Qingdao International Regatta in Qingdao, China,the second test event before the 2008 Olympic Games.

With a new gold charm circling her neck and arms out-stretched in victory, Tunnicliffe basked on the top step of thepodium in front of an American flag.

“The awards ceremony was an amazing experience,” saidTunnicliffe. “It really makes me want to come back and do itagain next year at the Olympics.”

The Radials enjoyed a southeasterly breeze of approximately8-10 knots for today’s Medal Race, and raced close to the break-water, where spectators watched the action. Heading into theMedal Race, Tunnicliffe held an 11-point cushion and the prom-ise of a medal. Today proved to be a match race between her andher long-time competitor, New Zealand’s Jo Aleh, who she didn’tlet out of her sight. Tunnicliffe said her primary goal was to slowAleh down as much as possible, forcing her to stay far enoughaway from the rest of the fleet. Even though Aleh finished aheadof Tunnicliffe, who finished tenth, she wasn’t able to put enoughboats between them to grab Tunnicliffe’s gold medal.

Tunnicliffe felt the pressure early on in the regatta, but shequickly changed her tune in order to reach her goals. “I had amind switch, which allowed me to sail fast, smart and have fun atthe same time,” she said. Strong current and little wind con-tributed to “tricky” sailing, which Tunnicliffe said was mentallydraining. “Keeping the fun around was key.”

Final Standings:Anna Tunnicliffe - USA GoldJo Aleh - NZL SilverEvi Van Acker - BEL BronzeCanadian Lisa Ross finished 16th overall in the fleet of 30.

Many of the competitors at this year’s event will be sailing inQingdao next year.


FALL 200728

Regatta ReportsCascais World

ChampionshipsRadial 2007

BY MARK LAMMENSWelcome to Cascais, Portugal! Eleven

Olympic Classes, 5 racing circles, 900boats, 1,315 of the best sailors from aroundthe World, 915 more sailors then theOlympics, 256 new lasers for the men andwomen, and the first event to qualify coun-tries for the 2008 Olympics. This was large.

After losing the selection for the 2007America’s Cup venue, Cascais put theirefforts towards the large ISAF 100thanniversary multi-class world champi-onships. They did not disappoint. ISAF hasscheduled multi-class world championshipsin the past, - ESP, AUS and GER - but thisregatta had all of the classes sailing out ofthe same venue, an old historic Fort’s Har-bour with plenty of water front cafes. Thisregatta requires a level of organization andevent management that would be veryrestrictive for many countries. Nice job byPOR and ISAF.

Before the racing began, InternationalJudge Bill O’Hara and ISAF officials ran aRule 42 clinic to ensure all athletes andcoaches knew the specifics of the rule andwhat the Jury is looking for. Many haveconcerns about Rule 42. The issue is con-sistency. Perhaps in the future, as with NFLFootball, ISAF should consider shootingvideo of the violating situations, if not for ahearing then for teaching and educatingsailors and coaches. It would be very bene-ficial to have video of international sailors,not club sailors, as the difference in tech-nique is significant. Some classes such asFinn and 470 have internal rules such asunlimited pumping after a certain windspeed. One North American sailor was per-plexed about a yellow flag call in 20 knotsof breeze. Perhaps Rule 42 will continue tobe a challenge, like judging for figure skat-ing, diving or gymnastics.

The Racing was staggered to allowfleets to access different racing circles.Each day of racing was in a different racingarea. The Women’s Radial started racing onJuly 4th at 13:00 on course 2, day 2 oncourse 1, then day 3 on the around the pointwindy course 5. After these 3 days and 6races the fleets were split into Gold and Sil-ver. Racing resumed after a reserve day. It

was off to course 3 at for a 16:00 start timefor one of the strangest days of racing everat a World Championships.

Wind was 2 knots to 18 knots, withpuffs and shifts coming from above,straight down. The fleet had plenty of mix-ing. The scheduled 2nd day on course 5never happened, as it was 40 knots, -racingwas postponed until it was finally can-celled. The last day had the Gold and Silverfleets on course 4. The top 10 “medal race”was scheduled at 17:00 right off of thebreak wall, with helicopters and live TV.

Racing was very different than theISAF Grade 1 regattas held earlier in thespring. Cascais had more breeze than inESP, FRA and NED. There were manytimes when leading the group back into themiddle of the course would not work out.Ducking sterns and getting to the side ofthe course had higher angles and lifted outon the fleet, sometimes because of windand sometimes because of current. In race#1, a boat that looked to be in the bottom10 just 200 meters from the top mark, wassoon winning the race. In some races thefleet was very tight with 1st and last allwithin minutes and meters. In other races,boats were very spread out, 50 or 100meters between boats at the top mark. Alead was very seldom safe. A local conceptcalled “Nortada” influenced the breeze,right was mostly good, but on day 4 therewas some big left.

On day 1, Sarah Lihan, USA had a verystrong day but lost a protest for a DSQ.Tania Elias Calles Wolf, MEX had anamazing run with 4 top 3’s to go into themedal race in 2nd. Tania also had a 2ndoverall at Princess Sophia regatta so is con-tinuing her top results. Anna Tunicliff, USAalso had strong consistent scores, with 7top 10’s going into the finals, 8 pointsbehind first. Defending champion Lijia Xu,CHN had 3 firsts in the first 4 races, but aDSQ, and a 21st and 22nd on day #4 dayreally dropped her. She was the last boat toqualify for the medal race, and was 18points from first.

Evi Van Acker, BEL who won the ISAFGrade 1’s,- Princes Sophia, Hyeres andHolland- was unable to put her typicalstrong string of races together in Cascaisand finished out of the top 10. Past WorldChampion Paige Railey, USA had 3 top 5’sand flashes of her past success. However,her good races could not negate her badones and she finished 17th. Keamia Rasa,CAN had a 3,4,and 6 to finish 18th, abreakthrough event for her. Other NorthAmerican Gold fleet finishers included Lisa

Ross CAN, 31st; Daniel Dube, CAN, 33rd;and Sarah Lihan, USA, 36th.

The medal race was also full of drama-very windy and shifty. The top boats wereGER 37, MEX 39, ISR 39, BLR 43, FIN44, and USA 45. Tania and Anna werelooking for left shift off of the start line, butat the top mark a right shift came in.China’s Xu was strong on the first beat,until she was stuck in irons at the windwardmark. POL and FIN also benefited from theright shift at the top. Very fast sailing, thelate passing on the downwind and the closefinishes made the race very exciting. Droz-dovskaya, BLR won the World Champi-onships by finishing 2nd and ahead of Mul-tala, FIN. FIN finished 2nd overall becauseNiemann, GER finished 7th and GER wonthe bronze. There was a 3-way tie for 4thwith the tiebreaker going in favour of whoscored better in the last race. POL finished4th, Anna 5th and Tania finished 6th.

As the competitors came into the dock,young sailors were there to sail the top 3boats to the ramp. The medalists still intheir racing clothing were quickly on thepodium, to receive their medals and heartheir National Anthems.

The 2007 World Championship alsoreflects the strength of the Laser Radialclass internationally. Obviously, all of theNational Sport Organization’s work inpreparation for the Olympics has createdparity. Seventeen countries in the top 20.Thirty-one countries in the Gold Fleet.USA, MEX and CAN have all qualified forthe 2008 Olympics. USA has trials inRhode Island, CAN will race off at the2008 World’s, and Tania has already quali-fied for MEX.

For a little roof top boat modified forsmaller sailors back in 1984, and with therecent inclusion of women in the Olympics,the Laser Radial has certainly come of age.


www.Laser.org 29

August 10 - 12, 2007 Malletts Bay

Boat Club, Colchester Vermont

50 of the World’s best sailors came tothe Malletts Bay Boat Club to competein the 2007 Laser National Champi-onships. The three day event crownednew National champions for the LaserFull, Radial, and 4.7 rigs. Set on thescenic Outer Malletts Bay, competitorsrace against a backdrop of the GreenMountains to the east, and the Adiron-dacks to the west. “It’s nice beingable to sail in fresh water,” said PaigeRailey, 2006 Rolex Female Sailor ofthe Year and World Champion Radialsailor regarding sailing on Lake Cham-plain, “and I love the scenery, in Flori-da we don’t have trees with so muchgreen, we just have palm trees.”Racing kicked off on Friday withstrong breeze and high winds. Afterfour races, David Wright of Toronto,Canada, led the full rig fleet with eightpoints, Cameron Hall sat atop the 4.7fleet with five points, and Paige Railey

dominated the radial fleet with four 1st

places in four races.It is fitting that a National Champi-

onship test all the skills of the sailors,and Saturday brought the direct oppo-site of Friday’s conditions, with verylight and shifty breeze. In betweenperiods of sailable wind, competitorssat for several hours before getting arace off. An overanxious full rig fleetcaused several restarts, but after sever-al attempts, they managed to get overthe line without mishap.Saturday’s racing created a bit ofchange in the Full rig fleet as a 3rd forVermonter Trevor Moore moved himinto 3rd place overall after Chris Doldof Ontario, Canada, was over the lineearly in the one and only race.Cameron Hall took another 1st to stayon top of the 4.7 fleet, and Paige Rai-ley showed why she is a world classathlete, taking another 1st despite abecalming of the fleet right before thefinish.Day 3 rounded out the weekend nice-

ly, with a consistent 11-13 knot windfrom the SW. This medium-heavy airwas a good balance between theintense heavy air of Friday, and thedrifter of Saturday, testing all the skills

Wright, Railey, and Hall are the 2007 Laser National Champions150 Sailors Compete on Lake Champlain for the 2007 Laser US National Championship

of each racer. It is unusual that in athree day event, all three different windconditions are exhibited.With two races on the final day for theFull rigs, David Wright held onto hislead with a 7th (his discard), and 3th,to finish with 15 points over all,enough to win the regatta comfortably.Second place Kyle Rogachenkojumped into second with , 2nd and4th place finishes. He was 5 points infront of third place, Vermonter TrevorMoore, who had two 1st and an 8th

on the final day. Moore’s third placefinish will qualify him to compete inthe Laser Olympic Trials this Octoberin Newport, RI.The Radial fleet sailed three races on

the final day. Paige Railey survived alate charge by Mateo Vargas to win the

Radial fleet with finishes of 1st, 2nd

and 10th in the final three races. Var-gas won the last two races, but wasunable to surmount the early lead Rai-ley had built, finishing second overallfor the regatta. Rounding out the top 3was John Wallace with finishes of five,three andtwo forthe finalday.The 4.7

fleet com-pleted 9races inthe threedays tocrowntheirNationalchampion.CameronHall con-tinued todominatewith three1st placesand a 2nd

(discard),taking the4.7s with9 points.OJO’Con-nell

rebounded after a DNF in the 8th raceto win the final race. He finished sec-ond for the weekend with 16 pointsoverall. Coming in 3rd was TealStrammer with 21 points overall.Along with new National Champions,

there are a couple of competitors thatdeserve special mention. Andrew Cre-mer competed in the 4.7 division andappeared to have a huge smile perma-nently attached to his face. Hethanked the Race Committee veryenthusiastically after every one of hisfinishes. One of the people on the fin-ish boat commented that his parent’sshould be very proud.The race held on Saturday saw very

light conditions, which allowed theLaser Full rig sailors to catch the endof the Laser 4.7 fleet. While on hisway to his best finish of the regatta

(2nd), Fred Strammer caught up withthe final 4.7 competitor, who wasstruggling to finish within the timelimit. Many words of encouragementfrom Fred helped the 4.7 sailor reachthe finish line before the time limitexpired.


FALL 200730

DISTRICT 3 GOLD CUPRESULTS

We have just completed the lastrace of the District 3 Gold Cup Seriesat Bay of Quinte Yacht Club inBelleville, and we have just finishedcalculating the results.

In the Laser fleet this year we hadone of the closest three-way battlesthroughout the series that we have everseen. In the end Robert Davis (36points) just came out ahead of GregDouglas (45 points) to win the GoldCup Series. In third place was GregClunies. Rob Davis takes home a newlaser hull, while the 2nd and 3rd placefinishers receive $100 gift certificatesto Fogh Marine. Congratulations!

The Radial fleet was another close-ly fought battle, with Tom Ranshawcoming in first place, Matt Ryder insecond place and Rob Koci in third.Tom Ramshaw takes home a new hullas the top Radial sailor and Matt Rydertakes home a new hull as the TopJunior sailor. Rob Koci receives a $100gift certificate.

The top master sailor in the Laserfleet is Andy Roy, second is Joe VanRossem and third is Richard Sewards,with $100 gift certificates for each. Thetop female sailor in the Radial fleet isOlga Koubrak ($100 gift certificate).

On behalf of District 3 and FoghMarine, congratulations to all the win-ners of the 2007 Gold Cup series. Ifyou haven’t already done so, pleasecontact Morten at Fogh Marine tomake arrangements to pick up your

prizes. The deadline for the hullexchange is Saturday December 1st.

For the 2008 Gold Cup series, FoghMarine has agreed to provide new laser(or radial) sails for the winners, withthe exact number to be confirmed. Inaddition, gift certificates will be pro-vided as prizes. We may return to thehull exchange program in future years.Sail Fast.


www.Laser.org 31

District 22 ChampionshipAugust 18-19 2007North Flathead Yacht Club, Som-

mers, MTJIM CHRISTOPHER

Saturday’s first three races got off in a 4-7knot northerly, which by race 3 had started toclock south. Races 4, 5 and 6 were sailed in 8-14knots out of the South. A final race was complet-ed Sunday morning in 10-15 knots out of the north. Phil Healey was assisted oncommitte boat by Bob Healey and Cheri Aronsson.On mark boat were Kirk Kalbfleisch, assisted byMandy, who also took pictures on Sunday .Thanks to Jeri Healey, who prepared Saturdaysdinner, to Tony Devoe for the pictures from races1-3, posted at www.j34whitestar.com/laser, to Tay-lor Sailmakers for the awards, and to Mike Gilbert, for his enthusiasm for Laser sailing onFlathead Lake

1. Hayley Siegenthaler...158725....Kingston, WA ...........4-2-1-1-2 -2-1........9

2. Jim Christopher.........174350....Eureka, CA................1-1-3-3-4-1-3........12

3. Alexander Mineev.....170685....Kenmore, WA............2-3-2-2-1-3-2........12

4. Galen Healey.............13739......Kalispell, MT.............3-5-6-4-4-4-4........23

5. Peter Aronsson..........175143...Whitefish, MT............5-4-8-6-5-5-6.........31

6. Scott Galbraith..........0..............Coeur d’Alene, ID......6-7-4-7-6-6-5.......34

7. Nelson Roosendahl...156842...Whitefish, MT......DNC-8-5-5-8-7-DN.....43

8. Mike Gilbert..............160965...Missoula, MT............8-6-7-8-7-8-DNF....44

9. Josh “Bones” Mohler..21350...Bigfork, MT...............7-9-9-9-9 -9-7........50

The Hawaii Single Handed StateChampionships were held Sep 8 and 9th inKaneohe Bay. Winds were 8-12 knots onSaturday and 4-10 knots on Sunday. PROJesse Andrews ran an eight race series with30 boats participating. There was a verylarge Masters turnout (over 35 years old)and a big group from the University ofHawaii.

John Myrdal won the event with sevenfirsts, PJ Wenner was 2nd with 19 pointsand Charlie Buckingham was third with 32.Sailing for HYC were Morgan Merrill,Laura Hughes, and Jordan Kaneshige.Thanks to the race support staff of TedMiller, Tom Pochereva, Katie Merrill, DonBrown, Connie Smales, Kim Ickler, JesseAndrews, and Alicia Mooradian.

Laser States

SKIPPER’S NAME GroupLaser A

Myrdal, JohnWenner, PJBuckingham, Charlie MastersSpector, MarkFleming, Guy MastersHigham, John MastersPeterson, WilliamArgall, RichardMeade, AndrewDenzer, Mark MastersMelander, ScottStephenson, Bob MastersCox, SarahRomagnoli, DaveArgall, EmilyPochereva, Thomas MastersNottage, David Masters

Laser BMiller, Lance

Foster, FizzPochereva, RichardTowill, Ian RadialHarrison, Richen RadialTuson-Turner, Hannah RadialWoodridge, Brock RadialMerrill, Morgan RadialFischer, BrettMarshall, Ian RadialDave, Sean RadialDoyle, JustinHughes, Laura RadialGolovinov, Dima Radial

Myrdal Wins Hawaii Single Handed

State Championships

1. Hayley Siegenthaler...158725....Kingston, WA ...........4-2-1-1-2 -2-1........9


FALL 200732

MIKE GILBERT

After our District Championships, afew of us wanted to get back out sailingright away, maybe at another location forsome adventure. Whitefish Lake was men-tioned (near the famous Big Mountain skiresort). I said that I have always wanted tosail on Lake McDonald in Glacier NationalPark, a reasonable day trip for most of us.Eyes lit up. “Me too!” was the reaction.Our initial five boats weeded out to threecommitted to the adventure.

After much shuttling of boats and peo-ple, we all met at the rocky beach acrossthe stream from historic Lake McDonaldLodge. Tourist milled around and waitedfor the next tour boat arrival at the dock.We had been watching the weather servicereligiously, with a forecast of early calm,building to 15-18 mph by afternoon aheadof a cold front. The first one there hadrigged already, and as we ate a nice picnicon the beach his sail began to wail. Welooked at each other thinking “hmm.”

We quickly rigged and shot off on areach across the waist of the lake. Thewind was from the SW, blowing through agap in the mountains at West Glacier andthen up the length of the lake. Two hoursof fantastic fire hose reaches, some goodpractice beating into a breeze, and somecareful running. Exhilarating. The settingis magical. The water is turquoise. Thesheer peaks tower all around.

Glacier National Park Adventure

In the middle of ourfun, the cold front arrivedmany hours early and itgot wild. Big, turquoise,closely spaced, crestingrollers with blowing spray.Not 18 mph. We were put-ting on a good show forthe tourists, but gettingknocked down a lot. Oneof us went turtle and brokehis daggerboard shockcord, and was headed for the rocks. Hemanaged to get upright, but was tired bythen and got knockeddown several more times.I tried to get upwind tohim, but he was in a covewith weird winds and awave-driven current. Hedecided to drift in to thebeach, but the currentdragged him right past it.

Conditions got worse,and we had out hands fullsurviving, much lessassisting. We managed tobeach the other two boats,but not without someswimmers assisting me, and some hullscratches. I appreciated the help, as I wastired as well. People on the beach wereleaning into the wind.

The youngest of us, who is a sailinginstructor and race steward, shot out intothe surf in a kayak as the turtled boat head-ed up lake into the mountains. They man-aged to switch boats, and he sailed the

Laser back to the beach after somecapsizes. The kayak swamped androlled, and the first sailor was in thewater again. He disappeared fromview below the waves, which weregetting quite large. He is a very fit 65-year old triathlete, but the waves werestirring up the 40-degree water ten feetdown and he was getting fatigued.

The tour boat company has nosafety or rescue responsibility, so wedecided to ask the Park for help. Even-tually two very professional Rangerssnapped into action and took a Zodiacout to scoop him up. He came backgrateful and chilly, and we began thetask of retrieving our boats from downthe rocky coast. The evening wascapped with a fine dinner and much

discussion of the events. In spite of ourscare, we had a fantastic sailing day.

Several lessons were re-learned andreinforced, and we would like to remindothers to be careful when sailing in out ofthe way places or wild places.

Experienced sailors know when tocome in (oops). Plan for the conditions,and expect worse. Plan to be self-suffi-cient. Dress for the conditions (we did).Use a buddy system and keep track of eachother. Check all equipment, line, shockcord, and centerboard brake condition.Don’t turn down help if you think youmight need it. Don’t assume a powerboatis available or will come help because it’sthere. A small speedboat or open outboardis not safe in these conditions. If it’s cold,you will tire very quickly. Perhaps twopeople should have sailed the Laser in andleft the kayak.

And finally, don’t mess with the Griz-zly Bears!

Photos by Cheri Aronsson


www.Laser.org 33

Mid-Ontario ReportThe Sturgeon Lake Sailing Club hosted

its Mid-Ontario Championship Regatta(Gold Cup No. 4) over the weekend of July14/15, 2007. Over 100 boats in five classesparticipated, including 38 lasers and 28radials. Two new champions were crownedin the Laser and Radial classes – EvanLewis in the Lasers (after placing oh soclose in prior years) and Dirk McLaughlinin the radial class.

On Saturday, sailors braved intermittenttorrential rains and steady cold tempera-tures in good winds to complete four races.The day started out cloudy with strongsouth winds. Then the rains came. By theend of the first race, the wind had shifted tothe southeast and, while sailors ate lunchon the water, a new course was set. Themark setters were posted at each of themarks but the rain finally got to their radiosand they went dead. So hand signals beganin earnest to confirm the placement ofmarks. Except that the setters were so farapart, it wasn’t unusual to see them jump-ing up and down and flapping their arms intheir boats. It made for quite a sight on thewater. Eventually three more races wererun, with everyone, other than a few die-hards, happy to get off the water to thaw.

A memorable quote from Saturdaycame from Sean Clynch, an SLSC junior

sailing a Byte. When asked at the end ofthe day if he wanted someone to sail hisboat in for him so that he could warm up,he replied “No, I think I will just sail it in”.

On Sunday, the prevailing SturgeonLake west winds were blowing nicely and,by the start of the first race, the sun wasshining and lots of clouds were generatinggood gusts. The strong winds oscillatedpretty severely during the races. The RaceCommittee placed the course in the middleof the swings and three more races wererun to complete the regatta.

The first race on Sunday was notablefor sailors falling out of their boats aftermissing hiking straps. Our laser winner,Evan Lewis, was not immune to the phe-nomenon. Among the leaders nearing thefinish, he missed his strap on his last tackand went flying. With his vang on tightand his mainsheet stuck, he dumped hisboat three more times while trying to rightit, eventually crossing the line an un-Evan-like 19th (needless to say – his drop).

Dirk McLaughlin was the model ofconsistency in the Radial class. With fourfirst and three third place finishes, he out-battled Rob Koci and Tom Ramshaw forthe new MidOntario Radial Fleet perpetual

Trophy. Other winners were Jeff and Sarah Gib-

son in the Laser II, Murray McCulloughand Sam Benson (of the home club) in the420 and Dave Mori in the Byte.

The Mid-Ontario Championship Regat-ta was first run in 1972, characterizedalways with the legendary hospitality ofSturgeon Pointers making the Regatta a notto miss weekend in the regatta schedule.Sailors were billeted at local cottages,where tents were pitched on lawns (somemasters were provided beds) and heartybreakfasts were served at the “host” sites.Joe Van Rossem thanked his hosts with avirtuoso solo jazz trumpet concert on Sun-day morning before heading out on thewater. Volunteers produced lunches onboth Saturday and Sunday and a huge com-munal dinner was served Saturday to fuelcold and tired racers.

The Regatta ran like clockwork underRichard Roberts’ Race Committee team.Sailors were off the water by 2:00 p.m. onSunday, de-rigged, presented their awardsand on their way home by 4:00 p.m.Thanks to Evan Lewis who said “This isthe best local regatta”. The Sturgeon LakeSailing Club community has taken threedeep breaths and will begin planning thenext bi-annual Mid-Ontario ChampionshipRegatta for the summer of 2008. We lookforward to welcoming you all back.Results are posted on the Mid-Ontario web-site at www.jamas.net\mids2007.


FALL 200734

2007 Vanguard NA Grand Prix ResultsStandings through September 21, 2007

for full results: www.laser.orgLASER

1 Pearce John 6 124

2 Johnson Clay 4 108

3 TorchinskyAbe 6 104

4 Vranizan Derick 5 13

5 Strammer Fred 4 100

6 Lewis Evan 5 96

7 RichardsonBen 5 61

8 RogachenkoKyle 4 90

9 Dold Chris 4 87

10 Ramsay Luke 4 86

11 BuckinghamCharlie 4 84

12 Parkhill Lee 4 82

13 Crane Rob 3 73

14 Marks Zack 4 73

15 Wager Emery 3 72

16 Raney Brian 5 68

17 Horowitz Zeke 5 6518 Grierson Kevin 5 6220 Goetting Matt 4 5921 Lamphere Gordon 4 5919 Luttmer Bernard 2 5922 Boueilh Anthony 3 5723 Campbell Andrew 2 5524 HernandezDavid 2 5425 Wright David 2 53

Wilson Vann 3 54Moore Trevor 2 53Lawrence Luke 3 52Higgins Conner 3 50Kalin Michael 2 49Shockey Kevin 3 47Paine Caleb 3 42Fagen David 2 41Hecky Mike 3 41Sterrett Matt 3 40Brikis Paul 3 39Garber Josh 2 39Shockey John 3 39Swetka Ken 2 39Usher Tracy 2 38Davis Robert 3 37Toole Pat 2 36

Renehan Jay 2 35

Hood Philip 2 34Hancock Cleve 2 33SutherlandIan 2 33

Tripp Chuck 2 33

Fox Andrew 2 32Strilky Rick 2 31Drasnin Peter 2 30

Peckover Doug 2 29

Wilton Brendan 2 29Anderson Niklas 2 28Tullo Jerry 2 28

Cullman Cam 3 27

Schmidt Mike 2 27Symes Bill 2 27Curran Pat 2 26

Funk Brad 1 26

Lapier David 3 26Bear Mark 2 25Rodriquez Ernesto 1 25

Smith Colin 1 25

Steele Alex 2 25Breder Dave 2 24

Loe John 1 24SeidenbergPeter 2 24

Vessella Peter 1 24

Bowers Erik 1 23

Kelly Sean 2 23

Raab Chris 1 23

Roy Andrew 1 23

Abel Geoff 2 22

Hiller Todd 2 21

Johnston Paige 2 21

Lockett Graeme 1 21

Shevitz Cody 2 21

Taulbee Kurt 1 21

DeWolf Henry 2 20

Hansen Lars 1 20

Harrison Vaughn 1 20

Moulthrop John 2 20

Phelan Peter 1 20

Plutenko Roman 2 20

Rudolph Gavin 1 20

Shattuck Alden 1 20

Walker Glenn 1 20Wenner Peter 1 20Bugiak Mark 1 19DeermountAdam 1 1Dyer John 1 19Malouf Brian 1 19Martinez Rob 2 19Potter John 1 19WilliamsonCharles 1 19Young Scott 1 19Amthor Henry 1 18Clark Al 1 18Cremer Ted 1 18Dickson Glenn 1 18Elliott Ian 1 18Hodson Robert 2 18Jones Tim 1 18Martinson Bruce 1 18Mellnik John 1 18Van Tol John 2 18CruickshankKeith 2 17Fogh Morten 1 17Hulings Mark 1 17Moran Jamie 1 17RothenbuhlerRick 1 17

Schmitt Simon 1 17Von Der WenseNick 1 17Willard Martin 1 17

Wong Andy 2 17

Aspland Joseph 1 16BiskabourneBrad 1 16BuckinghamJim 1 16

Ingram Theo 1 16

Savage Brady 1 16Suarez Jorge 2 16Andrews Tyler 1 15

Bentley John 1 15

Bernard Andreas 1 15Bowers Michael 1 15BrousseauScott 1 15

BuckinghamBill 1 15

Frechette Rob 1 15Gagnon Maxime 1 15Miller Kurt 1 15

Pegel Susie 1 15

Spevak Walt 2 15Cromwell Nick 1 15

Forgione Phil 1 14Howard Will 1 14

Jensen Karl 1 14

Morgan Ted 1 14Schmitt David 1 14

SubramanianRavi 1 14

Summers Cameron 1 14

Aspland Emily 1 13

Coberly Chad 1 13

Duke Alistair 1 13

Dusek Jeff 1 13

Jones Ned 1 13

Landeau Steve 1 13

Lepis Joe 1 13

Orosz Stephan 1 13

Oteruelo Lewis 1 13

Scanlon Alex 1 13

Van Schoor Colin 1 13

Wenner Chris 1 13

Willsie Todd 1 13

Wright Travis 1 13

Zinn Jack 1 13

Bell Simon 1 12Foscue Chris 1 12Hatton Cole 1 12HeinzemannAlex 1 12Jesberg Peter 1 12McRitchie Thomas 1 12Robbins Jeff 1 12Round Phillip 1 12Stow Derek 1 12Tan Bob 1 12Tillman Dick 1 12Ward Steven 1 12Wright David 1 12Adolphs David 1 11Aspland Mark 1 11Brooks Ward 1 11Davis Michelle 1 11Evans Austin 1 11Grogono David 1 11Hall Mitch 1 11Japikse Jason 1 11KavanaughPeter 1 11Magno Dave 1 11Suski Jacek 1 11Brochard Colin 1 10Darroch Oliver 1 10

Drake Elliot 1 10

Hern Ian 1 10Jacobi Marc 1 10Simon Mike 1 10

Usher Charles 1 10

Wood Alex 1 10Baker David 1 9Clunies Gregory 1 9

Donahue Ian 1 9

Hanson Bill 1 9Hartman David 1 9Herr Fred 1 9

MurtomakiAndrew 1 9

Turnball Kenneth 1 9Branning Chris 1 8Elson Mike 1 8

Eno Billy 1 8

Ewanchuk Robert 1 8Harmon Dick 1 8Jackson Chris 1 8

Kingston George 1 8

Larsen Greg 1 8Laube Tom 1 8

Mercer Doug 1 8

Moulthrop Michael 1 8O’Mara EJ 1 8

# ofPos. Last First Events Total

# ofLast First Events Total



www.Laser.org 35

RADIAL

photo by John Payne

1 Railey Paige 4 123

2 Crain Philip 5 119

3 Wallace John 5 108

4 Maxim Katie 7 104

5 Bertold Isabella 4 101

6 Griffin Genoa 4 93

7 Dugdale Nick 4 89

8 Smith Colin 3 87

9 Haeger Annie 3 80

10 Alley Philip 3 79

11 Lihan Sarah 3 78

12 Doane Justin 3 76

13 Blouin Sam 3 74

14 Rasa Keamia 3 72

15 Tunnicliffe Anna 2 68

16 Dennis Claire 4 68

17 Vargas Mateo 3 6618 MontemayorRicardo 3 6219 McClatchy Bo 4 6121 Billing Emily 3 6020 Ross Lisa 2 6022 Dube Danielle 3 5923 Nickerson Dan 4 5724 Leon Colin 3 5725 Schalka Michael 3 55

Michas Jason 3 53Hoeven Ryan 2 48Merry Claire 3 48Koubrak Olga 3 47Taylor Chris 3 46Heasler Ian 2 44SeidenbergPeter 2 43Barnard Chris 2 42Bertrand Alex 3 41Bussin Isaac 2 41Zupon Matt 3 41Faria Brendan 2 35Soto Julian 3 35ChristopherJim 2 34Gowell Matt 2 34Abels Fred 2 32Moynahan Sean 2 31

Vittery Alanna 2 30

Howard Will 2 29Davis Michelle 4 28Smutny Tanja 2 27

Spector Ben 2 27

Hope Kristyn 1 26Crowder Victoria 1 25Deermount Adam 1 25

Kana Austin 1 25

Lozier Philip 2 25Toole Oliver 1 25Vaught Alex 2 25

Koci Robert 1 23

Swetka Kent 1 23Cameron Rex 2 22Herbst Roger 1 22

Scanlon Alex 1 22

Stubbs Emily 3 22Vranizen Erika 2 22Laube Kevin 2 21

Liebl James 1 21

Prokop Joanne 2 21Renehan John 1 21

Tocke Kathleen 1 21Wong Andrew 1 21

CruickshankTyler 1 20

Feldman Christin 1 20

Heinl Nicole 2 20

Mace Sally 2 20

McLaughlinEvert 1 20

Whitesides Benton 1 20

Cremer Chistian 1 19

Givens Matt 1 19

Green Ted 1 19

Harrison Luke 2 19

Heath Nigel 1 19

Jesberg Peter 2 19

Peterson William 1 19

Quinlan Liam 1 19

Shea Maggie 2 19

Shevitz Cody 1 19

Beck Geoff 1 18

Huseby Bill 1 18Kaschak Nick 1 18Ross Kyle 1 18Filbert Anne 1 17Larsen Josh 2 17Scott Jon 1 17Sturman John 1 17Vallette Norman 1 17Graef Richard 1 16Mademan Emily 3 16Marshall Foster 1 16Paice Ian 1 16Robitaille Dominique 1 16Ruais Renee 1 16Shattuck Alden 1 16Stocke Chris 2 16Yioulos George 2 16Braly Bruce 1 15Corrin Paloma 1 15Knoles Lauren 1 15Lezin Ben 1 15Rohde Krysta 1 15Rupert Janet 1 15Schmitt Simon 1 15Strebel Jeff 1 15

Weitzman Cindy 1 15Whitesides Chip 1 15Antunes Jacob 1 14

Bailey Julia 1 14

Codman Jane 1 14Hern Ian 1 14Johnston James 1 14

Liebowitz Ben 1 14

Lombard Jessica 1 14McLean Ward 1 14Murphy Ted 1 14

O’Mara EJ 1 14

Stubbs Robin 2 14Urbina Rebekka 1 14Brockman Erik 1 13

Jensen Drake 1 13

Nickbarg Max 1 13Poler Ariel 1 13Spalding Jennifer 1 13

Vallo Nick 1 13

Wefer Paul 1 13DudenhoeferRobert 2 12

Holtzworth Ian 1 12Jackson Molly 2 12

Japiske Chris 1 12

Leverich Kent 1 12ReichenfeldStephen 1 12

Roble Stephanie 1 12

Smith Darby 2 12

Ahearn Justin 1 11

Duler J-Bernard 1 11

Ramshaw Tom 1 11

Rountree Liz 1 11

Samson-DoMyriam 1 11

Wilson Morgan 1 11

Akers Nathan 1 10

Croglia Adam 1 10

Kiss Morgan 1 10

Mace Mac 1 10

Muhleman Jake 1 10

Palmer Chloe 2 10

Redwin Roger 1 10

Whipp Peter 1 10

Winberg Jay 1 10Witkowski Kim 1 10Wright Caroline 2 10Dallaire Vanessa 1 9Eichwald Mike 1 9Jaykus Matt 1 9Kelchner Zach 1 9Kiss Mitchell 1 9Robin Allison 2 9Alfonso David 1 8Dube Tiffany 1 8Hall Corey 1 8Houde-ShulmanCory 1 8Lewis Eastman 1 8Moulthrop Michael 1 8Palazzo Mary 1 8Reynolds Jake 2 8Adams Sky 1 7Haeger Will 1 7Leech Connor 1 7Wettergren Viktor 1 7Ahearn Cullen 1 6McNaboe Ryan 1 6Padnos Sam 1 6Rafuse Erin 1 6

Searle Emily 1 6Spencer Mackie 1 6Tulip Chris 1 6

Bernhard Jessica 1 5

Beuchler Nicole 1 5Galdi Vincent 1 5Holtzer Ethan 1 5

Whitesides Arland 1 5

Gurney Matthew 1 4Vincent Hanna 1 4Wands Chris 1 4

Allen Lindsay 1 3

Couranz Kim 1 3Foscue Chris 1 3Bougie-BastienG. 1 2

Douglas Robert 1 2

Hall Ryann 1 2Kopitz Oliver 1 2Norris Phillip 1 2

Rice Tyler 1 2

Richartz Eliza 1 2Robinson AJ 1 2

Wands Chris 1 2De Lisser Arielle 1 1

Han Lloyd 1 1

Martinelli Dennis 1 1

# ofPos. Last First Events Total




FALL 200736

District ReportsDistrict 1Brian MillsFredricton, NBGreeting Laser sailors in the Atlantic Provinces. Myname is Brian Mills and I am your new District 1Secretary.

For those of you who raced in the 2006 NorthAmericans in Nova Scotia or in the 2006 and 2007regattas in New Brunswick, I am the “old” guy whowas racing the lime green boat, number 11883.

To give you a bit of background on myself, Istarted sailing in a Sabot pram at age 14. Howeversailing was put on a backburner till I was 30 yearsold at which time I bought a 20-foot keelboat. Fouryears later I bought my first Laser, which I raced forfour years before moving onto a Wayfarer and even-tually another keelboat. However three years ago, Ileft the Douglas 32 on land, acquired another Laser,and began racing once again.

Over the years I have been President of the NewBrunswick Sailing Association, Coach of the NewBrunswick Canada Games sailing team, member ofthe Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, and an instruc-tor for the Canadian Power and Sail Squadron. In1996, I was part of a four-person crew that sailed aSwan 65 across the Atlantic Ocean.

So why do you ask, would I volunteer to be yourDistrict 1 Secretary?

Well I was bothered not to see any reports fromDistrict 1 in the Laser Sailor magazine; I had noidea where to go in the Atlantic Provinces to racemy Laser; and I discovered I was the only MasterLaser sailor attending NB regattas.

So my personal objective for 2008 is to improveon all the above.

PLEASE, if you have ideas and/or suggestions ofhow I might better serve the District 1 Laser sailingcommunity, please let me know by emailing or tele-phoning me this winter. ([email protected] 457 1580 )

Looking forward to hearing from you this winterand better still meeting you in person some timeduring the coming year sailing season. Brian

Distrct 2Deny Deschambeault & Martin RobitailleTrois Rivieres, QuebecPour la première fois de ma vie, j’allai au Grandprix. Arrivé sur place, couvert d’une épaisse tuquecontre le froid et la pluie, je partis voir les coureurs.Plus nombreux que j’aurais espéré, on se ramassafinalement pour la réunion des barreurs avec envi-ron 25 régatiers alors qu’on m’avait dit qu’on allaitêtre que cinq ou huit. La petite régate que j’avaisimaginée se transforma alors en une vraie compéti-tion digne de son nom, le District 2. La deuxièmecourse fut la plus spéciale. Lors de notre deuxièmemontée de près, le bord de près se transformasoudain en un bord de travers avec des rafales prèsde vingt nœuds. Mes cent-quatre-vingt-trois lb sur lasangle de rappel, je réussis aisément à maintenirmon bateau plat et dépasser quatre ou cinq Lasersqui avaient chaviré ou perdu contrôle. Le vent etle froid ayant pris de l’ampleur, quelques bateaux seretirèrent. À la troisième course, j’avais si froid,

que mes dents se mirent à claquer, je mis donc toutmon cœur à faire du rappel pour me réchauffer. Aubout de mes six pieds et quatre pouces, je traversaila ligne en deuxième position, (devant Paul, ce quiest tout un honneur). Ayant compris que ma tac-tique était efficace, je fis de même pour la qua-trième course. Antony Boueilh fit de même. Il arri-va donc premier dans le classement final dans lacatégorie Laser Full Rig. Quant à Paule, en radial,qui fut l’une des courageuses à rester quasimentjusqu’à la fin, eu elle aussi une médaille. L’ar-rivée sur terre était très sociale. Les bateauxdégréés, le monde commencèrent à parler de leurhistoire de voile inédite, bière à la main. Je partischez nous tuque à la tête, mouillé comme uncanard et médaille au cou, laissant derrière moi unede mes plus belles journées de voile. Je remercietous les bénévoles et les organisateurs pour cettejournée mémorable.

District 3Heinz Gebauer & Nigel HeathMississauga, OntarioWe had another great sailing season here in Ontariowith a lot of participation, particularly at the GoldCup events, which continues to be very popular. Thenumber of Radial sailors attending Gold Cup eventsis now equal to the number of Laser sailors (after 5events), so competitiveness of the Radial fleet istougher than ever. If the trend continues, we willhave more Radial sailors than Laser sailors in thefuture.

At the time of writing, we are approaching the lastrace of the Gold Cup series at Bay of Quinte YachtClub in Belleville. Congratulations to all the win-ners, particularly those who take home new laserhulls. The Gold Cup winners for each category arelisted elsewhere in this newsletter. Also, the GoldCup results and rules governing the series are avail-able on the District 3 website at www.d3.laserfo-rum.org. By the way, a special thanks goes out toMark Arcieri who has done a great job setting upand running our new website. Mark, we ALL oweyou a port/starboard on the race course for yourwork….just don’t redeem them all on the same day!

To change the topic slightly, for the first time inover 30 years the Canadian dollar has hit par withthe US dollar. Monopoly money no longer! For lasersailors and other sailors alike in Canada, this isGREAT NEWS for the following reasons: (1)Cheaper to travel to regattas in the U.S.; (2) OurLaser Class fees (paid in US$) are now at the samelevel as U.S. sailors, as they should be; (3) Newboats and equipment will get cheaper. In recent dis-cussions with Morten Fogh we were told to expectsome very attractive pricing for new boats at theJanuary boat show. So you might want to hold offbuying a new laser until then.

Again we would like to thank Fogh Marine forsupporting District 3’s Gold Cup racing series withthe great prizes they provide. As previously men-tioned, the winners of the Laser fleet, Radial fleetand top junior sailors take home new hulls and 2ndand 3rd place finishers in the Laser and Radial fleetswin $100 gift certificates to Fogh Marine. For the2008 Gold Cup series we will have new sails for thewinners of the series. The exact number will bemade clear in the next newsletter, but winners willhave their choice of either a Laser or Radial sail.Sail fast!

District 4 ReportKyle RossWinnipeg, ManitobaManitoba started the regatta season at the FalconOpen where we had no wind the first day so wewent cliff jumping at the end of the lake, fortunatelythe wind picked up and Sunday we got in 4 greatraces. For the Canada Day long weekend we were atRoyal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club which was aqualifying regatta for laser radial males for theWestern Canada Summer Games (WCSG). The fol-lowing weekend we were down the lake at Zig ZagYacht Club where it was the qualifier for laser maleand laser radial female. We had selected our teamfor the games, Scott Brousseau and Chris Bradley inlaser, Julia Bailey, Jocelyn McClaren, Kyle Rossand Van Bailey in the laser radial. Kyle Ross won asilver medal and Scott Brousseau won a bronzemedal at the games.

We were back at the Falcon Yacht Club for SailWest, Western Intermediate Sailing Championshipand the District 4 Grand Prix Championship; a lotfor one regatta and thank goodness the wind godswere with us. Eleven races were sailed and thewinds were gusting over 25 knots at times so it wasa wonderful regatta. Tanya Smutny won in the LaserRadial, Geoff Abel won in the Laser and AustinRoss was the lone 4.7 at Sail West. The RichardsonRegatta was the next weekend, prior to the regattawas a terrific racing camp with Kelly Hand and thewind was steady and a lot was learned by all.

Team Toba was on the road for most of August,after the WCSG in Edmonton we went to Hamiltonfor the Open Nationals and Youth Nationals andthen Kingston to CORK. Julia Bailey came 3rd atthe Youth Nationals and we had 4 radials in the goldfleet at CORK, 1 radial and 3 lasers in the silverfleet and Austin Ross came 4th in the 4.7.

The busy regatta circuit for 2007 is complete andnow we are training at the Gimli Yacht Club onweekends for as long the weather holds. Manitobahas a short but intense sailing season.

District 5Mark LammensSaskatoon, SKSail West was hosted at Falcon Lake Yacht Club inManitoba. Cliff Loganberg, Dave McBride andBrian Baker’s on water team did an amazing job ofhosting the event. This was the Western CanadianChampionships for Laser and Radial as well as theage group championships. Racing was in a mix ofconditions with gusts of 25 plus knots on the Friday,shifty hanging breeze on Saturday and light air flatwater on the Sunday. In the Radial Tanja Smutnyshowed her winning form again. Tanja is training forthe National Team qualifier in September. YouthSailor Liam Quinlan was 2nd and top youth. KyleRoss was 3rd. In Laser Geoff Abel from BC wontop youth and overall, Mark Bugiak 2nd and IanElliot 3rd.

The Western Canada Summer Games in Strath-cona County, Alberta had Radial Youth and Lasercontested for the Boys and Radial for the Girls.Wabamun SC was host and all of the volunteers didanother stellar job; Keith Driver, Duncan Cook andPeter Van Muyden must be thanked personally forthe efforts of making a sailing regatta work withinthe Games format. Sydney Byrns, SK won Gold inthe Radial with Isabella Bertold, BC 2nd and SarahHornett, AB 3rd. In the Laser the top 2 were Kevin


www.Laser.org 37

Grierson and Andy Wong of BC and ScottBrousseau, MB 3rd. Scott continues the family tra-dition of winning medals as Royden won in 2003. Inthe boys Radial, Ricardo Montemayor, BC gold,Kyle Ross MB silver and Liam Quinlan, AB bronze.

At the District 5 championships Mark Bugiak wonwith Ian Elliot 2nd and Eric Tulk 3rd. Top Masterwas David Elliot and 2nd Doug Bell. Top Radialwas Sydney Byrns. The senior Elliot has been train-ing hard for the World Masters, as displayed by hisboat handling and his “TSN Best Save” in race 4.Logan Campbell made an appearance and was in3rd in the first race. He also won the SaskatoonAnnual Regatta. Good to have him out again andrace.

District 5 sailor Keamia Rasa finished 18th at theWorld Championships in Cascais, POR and hasqualified CAN for the 2008 Olympics. The Olympictrials to select the CAN rep will be at the 2008World Championships. CAN did not send a sailor tothe 2004 Olympics in Athens GRE, as no CAN boatmade the standard for entry. Way to go Keamia.Mike Simms, new father and 2nd in the OlympicTrials in 2000 made an appearance at the ABprovincials…and won. Great to have him back inthe fleet to help us all improve.

In the District 5 Series, scoring from Regina, Cal-gary, Wabamun, Battleford’s, Edmonton and Red-berry, scoring was very tight, specifically the top 7.Erik Tulk 48, Mark Bugiak 42, David Baker 41, ZakGrove 40, Barry Tee 39, Ian Elliot 39 and Ian Hern36. Congratulations Eric. Top Female is DominiueGrell who has been on a hot streak since losing theWestern Canada Games Trials.

Western Canadian Masters championships werehosted at the Wabamun SC in June. Very good entrynumbers with unfortunately 1 very notable DNC.Dick Degner from Calgary was unable to competebecause of his battle with Cancer. During theDistricts, Sailors made a motion to dedicate a trophyin his honour and to tell him while he was still alive.Dreadfully Dick passed away the next morning.

Glenmore boats-Nautical Reach and the GlenmoreYacht Club have agreed to name the District 5 seriestrophy after Dick Degner. This trophy is very mean-ingful, in what you need to do to win and what theman stood for. The trophy will be permanently ondisplay at Glenmore boats and a keeper trophy tothe winners. Thank you for honouring him this way.

We all remember Dick as a very active and fitsailor who was always smiling after the day of rac-ing, no matter what happened on the water. When-ever you saw him in the spring he would talk abouthow many days he spent on the ski hill. One image Iwill always remember is at the Master NA’s in theGorge, after a windy 4-race day his sunburned, fire-hosed face at the BBQ, his comment “Wow, thatwas windy, what does a Radial rig cost”. A trulygreat man that was always fun to have in the fleet,Dick you will be missed.

District 6 Andy Hunt Vancouver, BC First of all, I would like to apologize for this shortreport. There has been the usual slate of regattas inDistrict 6 for the months of July and August and onespecial event in September. I indicated that I wouldcompile a list of evening results from the variousclubs that run evening racing. I do not have thetime to compile such a list and I apologize to anysailor who was waiting for the results. If any sailoris interested in those results, please contact me and Iwill try and get the results to that sailor. There wasone regatta missing on the District 6 schedule andthat regatta was the KSA Invitational/BC LaserMasters. This event was held on the weekend ofJuly 7 and 8, 2007. The event was held at NicolaLake and attracted 8 Lasers. Jacek Suski, from theJericho Sailing Centre, edged local Kamloops sailorTrevor Owen for the title of BC Laser MasterChampion. Winds at Nicola were around the 15 to20 knot range (typical for Nicola Lake). Some ofthe sailors camped at the sailing site and othersstayed at the local hotel. The weekend before theBC Laser Masters was the annual WAVES regatta.This is one of the biggest regattas on English Baybut attracted a little less boats than usual. Thismight be because the regatta ran from Friday, June30 to Sunday, July 2. Some of the sailors whoshowed up for the event could only sail on theSaturday and the Sunday (due to work commitmentson the Friday). It would be better for the competi-tors to have the regatta run from Saturday to Mon-day as most working people in Canada have theMonday off work. That said, there were 35 Full RigLasers and 41 Radials. Winds were around the 8 to12 range. There were some delays waiting for thewind to appear. There were 11 races over the threedays for each fleet and two throwout races. Fullresults can be found on the Royal Vancouver YachtClub’s website which is www.royalvan.com (go toregattas/races and click on WAVES week 2007).The big event in August was the District 6 GrandPrix. This event was held at Cascade Locks andsponsored by the local Laser dealer, West CoastSailing. George Yioulos, the owner of West CoastSailing, provided the t-shirts and the dinner onSaturday night. According to Scott Weiss, the windswere slightly less (17 knots on Saturday and 15 orless on Sunday) than what is normal for The Gorge(usually 20-25 knots). There were 16 competitors ineach fleet. The Lasers had 11 races and two throw-out races while the Radials had 10 races and onethrow-out race. Results can be found by going to www.cgra.org (goto District 6 Laser Championships). The last bigevent of the summer of 2007 was the CanadianLaser Master Championships. This event was heldat the Jericho Sailing Centre on the Labor Dayweekend (September 1, 2 and 3). 37 Master sailorsshowed up for the event. As event chair, I wouldlike to thank Julian Clark (from New Jersey), DavidLapier (from California), Mike Gilbert (from Mon-tana) and Rob Hodson (from Oregon) for taking thetime to come to Vancouver for the event. The RaceCommittee got of five races on Saturday and threeraces on Sunday. The last race on Sunday had to beshortened to one leg when the wind died. Therewere no racing on Monday due to uncooperativewinds. The master category had the most sailorswith a total of 13 competitors. I would also like to

thank the following companies for providing food orprizes for the regatta: Cuppa Joe Coffee, RoosterSailing (www.jdemarine.com), Specialties West andWest Marine. There were almost as many draw prizes as therewere competitors. The top five overall competitors(with age handicap added) were: Al Clark, RVYC,22.00; Jacek Suski, JSCA, 41.00; Rick Hewitt,JSCA, 55.00; Peter Wall, LSC, 55.00; David Lapier(don’t have the registration form in front of me sodon’t know his home club), 62.00. Some of thesailors did not pay the ILCA membership fees andso were not eligible for prizes. One sailor had anillegal sail and retired from the regatta after beingwarned that he would be disqualified if he continuedto use the illegal sail. All in all it was a good event.Full results can be found at: www.jerichorace.com.

District 7Sally SharpEnfiled, NHI’m just back from the New England Masters inNewport, RI, which was a large and very competi-tive event with 65 masters from all over the north-east, plus Canada and Bermuda! Sailors were treat-ed to 20+ knots and big seas on Saturday, and quitea bit less on Sunday so everyone had something tolike. Congratulations to Scott Ferguson who pre-vailed in all conditions to repeat as champion, and toPeter and Fran Seidenberg for organizing such agreat regatta.

It was the summer for BIG regattas here in NewEngland, with Hyannis hosting the NAs in June,then the US Nationals up in Malletts Bay VT inmid-August. Along with all the midsummer regattaswhich were also really well attended. Radial fleetstopped the standard rigs at both Hyannis (51 vs 32boats) & Buzzards Bay regattas (67 vs 64); withNewport Regatta forming the third part of theDistrict 7 Radial Series, a total of 24 sailors quali-fied for seasons awards by sailing in 2 of the 3events. New D7 Radial champ this year is TedGreen, with a total of only 4 points. One pointback was Dan Nickerson, followed closely by Bren-don Faria, last year’s winner. Chloe Palmer wasfirst woman, in ninth place overall. And winner ofthe D7 Radial Grand Prix (at BBR) was Peter Sei-denberg – he must have been training for the MasterWorlds coming up in Spain this fall! Congratula-tions to all – full results are posted on the D7 web-site (http://d7.laserforum.org).

On the full rig side, the D7 series regattas weresmaller again this year, with only the Saltmarsh Tro-phy/Champ. of Buzzards Bay attracting more than20 boats. Our D7 Grand Prix winner there was BenRichardson, who scored 4 bullets in 5 races! Thenone of the highlights of the summer was definitelythe Lobster Bowl Classic in Portland ME, where


FALL 200738

Jack Zinn went all out and arranged for a fabulous‘down east’ lobster feast after sailing on Saturday!Sure hope we get invited back next year ;-) Sevensailors qualified for the D7 series trophies, and ournew District Champion is Jim Porter (who was alsothe only sailor to race in all 3 regattas!). Runner-upwas Nick Cromwell, just 3 points ahead of JohnBentley who took third place; first woman was JoanPorter, only one point behind John. It hasn’t beendecided yet whether to stick with a 3-regatta seriesfor 2008 or return to a ‘best 3 of 6’ format. Pleasesend me your thoughts.

Still lots more sailing happening in New Englandthis fall: Newport is hosting the Olympic Trials ofcourse, plus there are a few one-day events in Octo-ber before the frostbiting gets started - then grabyour wetsuits and come on out and join those hardysailors in Newport , Westport CT (Cedar Point YC),Stonington CT etc.. Check the fleet list on the D7website for the club nearest you - newcomers arealways welcome!

District 8Ted Cremer Sayville, NYWelcome D-8 sailors! This spring and summer saw

a lot of great laser racing in all rigs spread outthroughout the region. Clearly the shining stars inmy mind are Lynn and Mike who over the course ofthree years transformed the summer “Hampton’s”sailing scene from a once a year stop at Devon YCto a full on five week series with tight competition.All participants received a cool laser hat with theburgees of the five hosting yacht clubs displayedacross the back. Racing in three of the five regattasqualified a sailor for series standings.East End Report - Mike Duran and Lynn Sexton

A total of 40 Laser sailors raced in 24 races thissummer on the east end of Long Island . The 2007East End Laser Series consisted of 5 races in 5regattas at 5 yacht clubs on 5 Saturdays. Thank youto the clubs Old Cove YC, Shelter Island YC,Devon YC, Breakwater YC, and Southampton YC.

Many thanks to the series sponsors-Amagansett Beach & Bicycle Company

www.amagansettbeachco.com- Sailaction, www.sailaction.com- The Dinghy Shop, www.dinghyshop.comResults, photos, video and much more are availableat www.laserd8.tripod.com.

Reports from the Great South Bay - SummerRegattas - Ted Cremer - Sayville Yacht ClubJuly 27-29 - Great South Bay Yacht Racing Associa-tion Race WeekBay Shore Yacht Club graciously hosted the GreatSouth Bay Race week during the last weekend inJuly. The three day regatta was blessed with a vari-ety of sailing conditions with Friday and Saturdaygetting the good southwest breezes and Sundaybeing a lot lighter. In all 10 lasers and one radialcompeted in a 14 race series. What made the regattaparticularly unique was that at least 50% of the fleetconsisted of sailing instructors from various clubsfrom the GSBYRA. They all agreed to race oneanother in borrowed boats and had an awesometime! District 8 sailors Ted Cremer, Dan Desmondand Ward Brooks took the fist three places in theFull Rigs and the top radial sailor was SayvilleYacht Club’s Spencer Olsson. Full results:http://www.gsbyra.org/archives/2007/racing/2007-raceweek-div-2-results.pdf

July 7 -8 D8 Grand Prix at Sayville Yacht Club...DISTRICT 8 LASER GRAND PRIX — LASERFULL RIGCedar Point frostbite sailors Phillip Hood and BrianRaney excelled in the two day regatta that wasblessed with strong sea breezes, great waves forsurfing, and huge patches of seaweed to take the toptwo positions for the full rigs. Brian came frombehind in the points win the last race which put himahead of Ted Cremer who finished 3rd.

Seawanhaka Corinthian YC winter frostbitesailors Colin Leon and Fred Abels took first andthird in the radial division with Sayville’s ChristianCremer finishing second.Full results:http://laserd8.tripod.com/news.htm

July 1, Babylon Yacht Club. This year’s 4th ofJuly regatta presented a variety of conditions rang-ing from a shifty southerly which developed into agood sea breeze in the afternoon to a gusty norther-ly on Sunday. Ted Cremer and Bob Blanco tradedoff and found themselves tied after day one with Tedahead on the tiebreak. Bob sailed a brilliant race twonailing two big shifts to put himself well in the leadat the top mark. Dan Desmond continued to improveover the weekend sailing faster and faster upwind.Spencer Olsson, a Sayville YC junior sailor sailedwell in a radial consistently trading places with thefull rig sailors. Special thanks to Joe Mule andPete Capitain from Babylon YC for running a greatregatta and for getting 10 races off for the sailors.

Spring RegattasFor the spring regattas, all results can be found on:http://laserd8.tripod.com/news.htmThanks to Bob Terry for manning the helm at thewebsite for as long as I can remember

Spring ReportsJune 23, Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club. Six Radi-als and a full rig saw winds that varied from 10-18knots. Ted Cremer showed up a bit late, but sweptthe field of full rigs. Likewise, Anne Kochendorfertook first in the ladies’ division.

June 16, Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club. Elevensailors found themselves testing the light air, whichvaried from puffs strong enough to put them into thehiking straps to dead calms. Shifty conditions put apremium on picking the correct sides of the courseand staying in phase.

June 9, Dinghy Shop Regatta in Amityville.Lindsay reports very tricky conditions with windsswinging between northeast and north, varying 8-15knots with strong current. A good turnout of Juniorsailors, which is always nice to see. Seven raceswere run.

June 2, Southampton YC, wind at about 12-18knots with a one foot chop, enough to make surfingpossible on the downwind legs. Eleven sailors com-peted, then chowed down on a great barbecue after-ward.

Seawanhaka Spring Fling Laser RegattaReport by Eric Johnson - Seawanhaka Winter Sail-ing chair

Memorial Day weekend got started with annualLaser District 8 Regatta. The forecast was not greatwith a predicted light northerly. 10 boats came tosee how it would work out and it worked out fine.Principal Race Officer Paul Nardone found a spotjust south of the club where the wind was funnelingin and set up his course. The first race became areaching event when the wind back to the North-west, but the Race Committee got the shifts downand the rest of the races ran truer. There was a lot oftide running through and that rewarded the sailors

who paid attention to it. The overall winner wasCommodore Al Constants followed by LindsayHewitt and the top Junior, Jake Evans The topRadial was Bobby Boger.Special thanks Eric for running an awesome winterlaser series at Seawanhaka Corinthian YC.Some Final ThoughtsI need to thanks two individuals that have served theclass very well over the years and have really men-tored my kids and me along during the way. Thesailing in D-8 is great largely because of their effortsand vision. Good sportsmanship, having fun andfree exchange of knowledge is the underlyingemphasis at the regattas. I never leave a day on thewater without having really learned something rele-vant. Don Woodworth who has been missed as oflate, served as the District Secretary when I got backinto the class as my oldest son was starting to growout of his Opti. Don made a point of getting to knowall of the new sailors as they entered into the classand I believe still hikes harder than many of the 20year olds I see racing at the majors.

Lindsay Hewitt has faithfully served as the dis-trict secretary for the last couple of years. All of thesailors in District 8 have a tremendous appreciationfor his efforts and for further fostering the districtsunderlying philosophy of good sportsmanship andfree exchange of knowledge. Lindsay is a real advo-cate for junior sailing and has been tremendouslyinfluential in the sailing lives of all the CremerLaser sailors. It is really out my genuine apprecia-tion for his efforts that I have taken on the positionas secretary as I want to see his vision grow andexpand throughout the region.

I can be contacted via e-mail at [email protected]. Look forward to seeing more sailors on thewater this fall . . . Frostbiting starts soon!!!

District 9 Chas Williamson Ithaca, NYWe have had a good second half of our season inupstate New York in 207. This report is a brief ver-sion of a more detailed description of the regattasfor the next Laser Sailor. At Newport YC, back inJune, Mike Wilde returned to the sailing scene local-ly, and won the regatta. Chas Williamson returnedfrom the duty of going to a conference in CorfuIsland in the Med, to win the Sodus regatta, andMarcus Costich won the Laser District 9 JuniorChampionships at the same event. Well done Mar-cus, and thanks to your great sister for running sucha phenomenal junior program with the Sodus team !At the District Championships at Rochester YC, wehad a lot of lovely wind over 14-15 July, and Gor-don Lamphere rolled in from Wisconsin, with SusiePegel, and they spiced up our fleet. Gordon wonfrom Chas Williamson, and Susie went fast tobecome easily the first woman and 6th overall. TheChautauqua Lake YC regatta on 30 June was wonby Chas Williamson, followed by Nate Bargar andEric Nickerson, in some wonderful breezes. TheEmpire State Games were held this year over theperiod 25-27 July at Shatemmuc YC, with manythanks to Jasper Fox for staging this at his old club.The racing was not of the most immense excitingkind owing to the light and very shifty winds, butMark May sailed beautifully to first place, followedby Andrew Zuber, then equal third were Chas Wil-liamson and Richie Wait. Finally, the Deathrollregatta was won by Ray Cudney. Nice work, Ray !


39www.Laser.org


Name_______________________________________________________

Address_____________________________________________________

City ___________________State / Prov. _____Zip / postal code ________

Phone ____________________ E-mail____________________________

Sail # ______________DOB (month/day/year) _____________Sex ______

Boat sailed ______Laser ______Radial ______Laser 4.7

Current 2007 Membership Fees

All amounts are in US dollars. Canadian checks must be in US dollars.Regular - $40 for one year or $75 for 2 yearsJunior - $35 (Member may not turn 18 in 2008),

or $65 for 2 years (Member may not turn 18 in ‘09)Family, 1 year - $40 for the primary members and $25 for each additional memberFamily, 2 years - $75 for the primary members and $45 for each additional memberPlease provide family members names, DOB, boat type and sail number on an additional sheet of paper.

International - $50 (any member not living in the US or Canada), one year onlyAmount enclosed __________________US$

FALL2007

Name_______________________________________________________

Address_____________________________________________________

City ___________________State / Prov. _____Zip / postal code ________

Phone ____________________ E-mail____________________________

Sail # ______________DOB (month/day/year) _____________Sex ______

Boat sailed ______Laser ______Radial ______Laser 4.7

Current 2007 Membership Fees

All amounts are in US dollars. Canadian checks must be in US dollars.Regular - $40 for one year or $75 for 2 yearsJunior - $35 (Member may not turn 18 in 2008),

or $65 for 2 years (Member may not turn 18 in ‘09)Family, 1 year - $40 for the primary members and $25 for each additional memberFamily, 2 years - $75 for the primary members and $45 for each additional memberPlease provide family members names, DOB, boat type and sail number on an additional sheet of paper.

International - $50 (any member not living in the US or Canada), one year onlyAmount enclosed __________________US$

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He is irresistibly fast at this annual well-attended regatta. Many more detailsand the full winner lists will be presented in the next Laser Sailor magazine.Good luck to all the East Coast Masters sailors who have set sail for Spain forthe Masters Worlds, especially Peter Seidenberg - - Go Mein Herr ! I will beat the Worlds in Sydney in February 2008 to join these guys again.

District 10Eric ReitingerNew JerseyThe summer was busy here in District 10. LBIYRA did their junior interclubsevery Wednesday in July and August with every club on Long Beach Islandhosting a regatta. Full results can be found at http://www.lbiyra.org. MAYRAdid their weekend racing for juniors and adults with every club hosting aregatta a weekend. Full results can be found at http://www.mayra.org. Laser Nationals were held up at Mallets Bay Boat Club in Vermont. There wasthree days of great racing and the conditions couldn’t get any better. It wasbreeze on two out of the three days, beautiful weather, and fresh water. Theclub did a great job welcoming everyone ran things very well. A few districtfull rig sailors made their way up there. Kyle Rogachenko was the top districtfinisher and finished second overall in a fleet of 83. Matt Geotting (LavaletteYacht Club) was 27th, Eric Reitinger (Brant Beach Yacht Club) was 32nd,Billy Martin (Riverton Yacht Club) 41st, and Mike Hecky (Riverton YachtClub) 48th. Surf City held their 52nd Annual Regatta on September 8-9. Matt Geottingwon the full rig fleet of 8 with Eric Reitinger 2nd and Clint Neuman (RivertonYacht Club) 3rd. There were 8 Radials and Alex Bertrand (Severn SailingAssociation) winning, Kelly McGlynn (Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club) 2ndand Ian Donohue (Brigentine Yacht Club) 3rd. Conditions were challengingwith Saturday bringing winds of 15-20mph and 5-10mph on Sunday.CORK had a few district members racing. Clay Johnson (Little Egg HarborYacht Club) was the highest placing district member finishing 2nd, Pat Curran(Riverton Yacht Club) 12th, Matt Geotting 22nd, Kyle Rogochenko 26th, IanSutherland (Island Heights Yacht Club) 35th, and Joe Lepis (Lavalette YachtClub) 55th.Olympic Trials will have at least 3 District members sailing. Good luck toKyle Rogochencko, Clay Johnson, and Matt Geotting. The Last Chance regat-ta may also bring another district member or two to the regatta.I created a yahoo group to try to get an email distribution list going. You haveto create a username with yahoo and then sign up for the group. I’d like to getscheduling to posted, results, and anything else pertaining to the district up onthere ASAP. You can sign up athttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/LaserDistrict10/. Next summer will be packed. June has 3 regattas with the Orange Coffee Pot,the BBYC Annual Regatta and the Laser Districts at Little Egg Harbor YachtClub. BBYC will be hosing the Laser ACCs on July 12-13.

Schedule for the rest of the year:Cooper River Fall Regatta: October 20thNJYRA Laser Championships: October 28thCooper River Frostbite series: November 4, 11, 18, 22, 25Monmouth Boat Club Frostbite series: October 28th- New Years, Every Sun-day See ya out on the water

District 11Jon DeutschRichmond, VADistrict 11 has had a busy season with over 20 events since the beginning ofJune. Our District Series events have seen great turnouts and our serieschampions will be crowned after our final event in September.

Throughout the summer our sailors have traveled far and wide competingin Nationals, Youth Worlds, Canadian Champs, CORK, Buzzards Bay andseveral other regattas around the country.

Two new fleets have emerged this summer. The first is at Southern Mary-land Sailing Association located in Solomons Island, Maryland. The fleetsails on the Patuxent River Thursday nights May-September and has a regattaplanned for the end of September.

Another Burgeoning fleet is located in Willoughby Bay in Norfolk and inconjunction with Broad Bay Sailing and Norfolk Naval Sailing center is brin-ing regular organized laser racing back to the Virginia Beach area. The fleetraces Sundays September-October.

Deep Creek Yacht Club at Turkey Neck hosted their annual laser invita-


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tional regatta at the end of August. It was attendedby 9 ‘off-the-lake’ sailors from around the districtwho made the trek into the mountains of WesternMaryland. All of the sailors were treated to great,well-run regatta won by Joni Palmer. Deep Creekwill be hosting the 2008 District ChampionshipAugust 16-17.

Our 2007 season is starting to wind down, butplanning for our 2008 season is already underway.Check out our new fleets as wells as news andresults from this past season and our upcoming 2008schedule at http://www.laserdistrict11.org

District 12Arland WhitesidesWrightsville Beach, NCWe’re 2 regattas away from the D12 championshipseries awards and we have 2 masters (John Potterand Charlie Usher) duking it out with a junior (JohnMelnik) for first overall. This is going to be goodespecially since the junior is a lake sailor (our nextregatta is on a lake) and the two masters are coastalsailors (our last regatta is on the coast). Stay tuned.

We had a very successful first time having a sepa-rate Grand Prix for radials. This was held at theCarolina Yacht Club-SC Charleston, SC Open inJuly. 18 Radials and 1 4.7 were given separate startsfrom the 16 Fulls. Benton Whitesides took 1st radi-al. Jerry Callahan took 1st full. The RC kept all ofthe spinnaker boats on another course so we were inheaven with just Sunfish sharing our course. Thankyou Carolina Yacht Club-SC for all of your greatRC work. Charleston is busy revving up their Laserfleet. We have contacts for the Charleston area onthe D12 site if you are new to Lasers and or new toCharleston.

Carolina Yacht Club-NC Wrightsville Beach, NCwas the next venue for our 3rd in the full and 4.7series and 4th in the radial series event in our cham-pionship series. We had 35 Lasers in the ocean in avery light air on Sat…make that almost a drifter.Sunday was much better. Martin Willard took 1stoverall and Foster Marshall took 1st Radial. In thesound there were 2 juniors sailing radials.

There are plenty of races left in our South AtlanticYacht Racing Association where you can race yourLaser. Many of these are opens where you will meetlocals who do not travel to our series. These racesare great opportunities to sail out of your localwaters and we are very lucky to have ocean, har-bors, lakes and rivers as venues. Go to www.sayre-sailing.com for a calendar of all of these fall races.

For the next D12 event, let’s all meet in Columbiaat the Columbia Sailing Club, Sept. 29-30th. This isthe D12 Central regatta as it is in the very center ofour district and not a bad drive no matter fromwhere you are driving. It is at the center of 2 Inter-states. How’s that for planning an event that all canget to easily?

Our last event will also be the annual meeting atBeaufort Yacht and Sailing Club. Last year 56Lasers attended. How’s that for participation? Wewill be awarding all of the D12 series trophies,which are:1st overall, 1st junior, 1st female, 1st radial, 1st 4.7,1st overall master, 1st apprentice master, 1st master,1st grand master, and 1st great grand master.

The D12 Fun Police will also be awarding a seriesof awards for all sorts of situations, participationand general nonsense. No one is safe from the FunPolice.

The annual meeting will take place at the lastregatta in Beaufort, which is Oct. 20-21, under thelive oaks and moss.

D12 would like to thank all of the sailing/yachtclubs and their race committees and volunteers forgiving us such a great summer of racing. D12 alsothanks the D12 sailors who act as event chairs forthese championship series races.

We are looking forward to these last regattas thisfall and to awarding all of the trophies to some greatsailors in our district. All of the NOR’s are online onthe D12 site.See you on the water.

District 13Meka Taulbee & James LieblDunedin, FLWith 4 of the 5 Treasure Coast series events com-pleted, there is plenty of news to report. Words justwon’t do justice to the most important piece ofnews-how much fun I’ve had doing the events thisyear. If you’re looking for racing to hone, or prove,your skill in a format that allows you to combinesailing and real life, this Series is for you.

Other pieces of news started with the giganticgarfish on the starting line at the first event, LakeEustis. I don’t know if garfish eat people, but Ihope I never find out as this was one vicious, prehis-toric looking monster, maybe 5’ long. Get me backto salt water-sharks don’t look nearly as scary!

Lake Eustis Sailing Club, led by Sam Chapin dida wonderful job of kicking off the Series with topquality race committee work. Providing two markboats and an RC boat, plus a ton of volunteers, for asingle afternoon of racing says how committed thisclub is to being one of the top clubs in Florida (or isthat the Nation?). Sam’s son, Dave Chapin, sort of aname from the past (didn’t he win a couple of WorldChampionships somewhere along the way?),showed he remembered a thing or two about singlehanded sailing by winning more of the races thananyone else to capture the day’s top podium spot inthe 1 to 15 knot breeze. Having the event in theirbackyard enticed some new speedy guys, like RobKrentel, to join the Series.

Next on the schedule was Melbourne, where SkipCanfield just put the hammer down on the fleetupwind in the 10-12 knot breeze. If Skip didn’tgrind you on the first weather leg, he would get youon the second one.

At one point I’m going downwind hoping to getenough of a lead on Skip to hold him off upwindwhen I catch up to Tom McNally. With Tom on myleeward bow, I can’t bottom turn the waves so I’mstuck. Just about when I finish my “lecture” to himabout the importance of surfing, he deathrolls. Myproblem is solved! I should feel really guilty, but Idon’t!

Flip the calendar and we’re going to the third legof the Series, Titusville/Kelly Park. Sea breezestarts off early, about 12:00 p.m, but that brings inthe thunderstorms early. That means only 3 races,starting in 14 knots and diminishing to about 2 knotsjust before the “Harbor” flag flies.

Before that head home flag, Freddy Sambolin, akaGhandi, uses those coaching smarts to squeak a winfrom Randy Rea. Chris Lowrie, the multi-boatSavant, in a beater boat, beater sail, beater blades,beater everything, ends up third.

I’ve got this great view from the committee boatof Dave Hartman getting totally hosed on a 180degree windshift within about 20 yards of the finish

of the last race. At least three boats go right overthe top of Dave, and there is nothing he can dobecause Mother Nature gave a gift puff to thosethree boats and snuffed Dave. This time I feel bad,because we’ve all been in Dave’s shoes!

Also from the committee boat I can see the diver-sity in the fleet. Check it out, Jackie Herbert, afemale and grand master sailed this event. Thatreminds me that each event has at least two females,and fast ones at that, think Michelle Davis or CindyTaylor.

The following month is August, so we’re rollingto the US Sailing Center at Martin County. I seeDon Lasky will be the RC, so no worries about thecourse. I also see Skip Canfield, so worries abouthow we’re going to beat him. It turns out he beathimself by hitting the starting pin at least twice,heading to the wrong mark, etc. When Skip sailedto the wrong mark, he forced Scott Jones to go wayhigh with him. Bad news for Scott as a bunch of usgot to sail by him well to leeward.

Hasty Miller demonstrated what this series can dofor you with a dramatic improvement at MartinCounty. He ended up with at least 2 seconds, andmultiple times he crossed the entire fleet. Uh-oh,this means we’ve got to start keeping track of whereHasty is.

With the final stop yet to come at Palm Beach inthe ocean, the only final result close to guaranteed isKevin Ratigan winning the Iron Man award for sail-ing all 5 events. That is if Kevin comes and sails!Well, I guess there is one other guaranteed result,and that’s more fun. Keep your calendars open fornext year and come join us.

District 17John CoolidgeChattanooga, TNThe fall sailing season in District 17 is some of themost wonderful sailing the year has to offer, withcrisp breeze and warm water. There are severalevents remaining in 2007. Bring your Laser and joinus!

The 33rd annual Lotsa-Lasers Regatta inNashville TN, will be September 22-23. This Year’sevent at Harbor Island Yacht Club is our D-17Grand Prix. Contact Bruce Richards,[email protected]

After the Grand Prix, come to the Georgia StateLaser Championship, hosted by Lake Lanier SailingClub. Held October 13 and 14. This promises to bea big event. In 2008, it will be held in conjunctionwith the No Coast Championship. Have no worries,there is plenty of water, friends and hospitality.Email Robert Burke for additional [email protected]

If you are in the traveling groove, head over toD-12 the following weekend for the remaining D-12event of the year. Beaufort Yacht & Sailing Clubwill host the South Carolina Laser ChampionshipsOctober 20-21. Last year was a lot of fun. Wow,those D-12er’s can throw a party. I’ve never seen aLaser sail look so good… Email Rob Bowden,[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> for info.

November this year will have some new surpris-es. Atlanta Yacht Club will host the No More Turkeythe 3-4. But don’t pack your boat up on Sunday!The Frost Nip will be sailed on the remaining Sun-days in November. AYC has graciously offered toallow non-members to store the boats during the


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new series. So mark your calendar, November 11,18, and 25. Email MichaelCarlson, [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>for info.

After all that wonderful sailing, rest for December, and on the first day ofJanuary 2008, let your resolution be to sail in every race of the 2008FROSTBITE SERIES! Be it in Nashville, at Harbor Island Yacht Club, or be itin Atlanta, at Lake Lanier Sailing Club. Racing Begins on Sunday, January 6.Starts are at 1pm. Nashville, contact William Hofmeister [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Atlanta, contact Robert Burke for additional [email protected]

Every one will want to head to Atlanta the first weekend in March for the2008 D-17 Grand Prix. Lake Lanier Sailing Club will host the Laser South-erns, March 1-2. This will be a great time to sail, as the Frostbite will haveeveryone’s edge sharpened. This will also be a good time to visit the venue ofthe No Coast Championship, to be hosted in the fall of 2008.

District 20

David Abbott

WisconsinThe spring laser season started with the Nagawicka Icebreaker – a new annualevent on our schedule at my home lake. Friends of sailors loaned boats soover half the fleet were juniors – and many new to Lasering! Mark Kastelwon the event as he did in the fall Octoberfest event on the same lake. Need-less to say, Mark has this lake sailing down! The V-15’s came up from Chica-go to make for robust partying and camping. Camping is a short walk fromthe yacht club for convenience and safe partying. Come back to Nagawickafor Octoberfest ’07!

The next event was the Mother’s Day event at LGYC. This is a one dayevent for the Bob Pegel Trophy and is always well attended. RomanPlutenko, “the Ukranian flash”, won with local ace Susie Pegel 2nd followedby Mark Kastel.

The next event was the Vlad Kobal Memorial hosted by Chicago YC – Bel-mont. This is the 1st regatta in the Southern Great Lakes Champs. Romanalso won this annual event but was followed closely by fellow Ukranian NikitaMazin. Both Nikita and Rick Strilky have become forces to be reckoned withfor the chase for the Southern Great Lakes Champs that Roman has won thelast 2 years (Adrian Irving Trophy).

Nikita won the Hobelman at Chicago Corinthian in June and was 2nd atWinnetka’s SuperSail in July to put him in the SGL Champs lead prior to theJimmy Talbot on September 29 and 30 at CYC – Belmont.

Other events filling out our fall action:Sept. 23 Border Challenge – LaCrosse, WiSept 29-30 Jimmy Talbot - CYC-BelmontOct. 6 Wandering Moose – Milwaukee YCOct 7 Start of Sunday am frostbiting, CYC BelmontOct. 13-14 Octoberfest Regatta – Nagawicka Lake YC

These are all annual events with new ones being added every year!The Talbot this year is the biggy – serving as our Grand Prix event, District

20 Champs, and the Great Lakes Masters.On the fleet side Chicago has had great growth in frostbiting and fleet racing

based at Belmont and Corinthian. In Wisconsin the big growth occurred inMilwaukee Bay where 20 – 30 racers from several clubs have raced togetheron Tuesday evenings again this summer. Growing fleets race in Madison,Green Bay, Pewaukee, and other locales. The high school action has also beengreat with many of the top teams coming to the Talbot where there are enoughradial sailors for a separate start. This has made the Talbot the best attendedregatta with over 40 boats racing.

So in summary, come out and join the fun. Fall is the best – warm water andgood wind.

District 21Mike ElsonMinneapolis, MNIt certainly has been a season of good winds in the Minneapolis area. TheAquatennial regatta is the Calhoun Yacht Club’s big event, Aquatennial is a 10day celebration for Minneapolis to counter St. Paul’s Winter Carnival. The tra-ditional dates were selected to have the lowest historical probability of rain.Consequently, the Aquatennial Regatta has a well deserved reputation for lightwinds. Not so, this year. Great winds! The PRO is laser friendly and was ableto give the lasers 2 races for each C scow race. He was able to get 9 races for

the lasers in the day and a half event. Mark Kastel from District 20 climbed thefence at the border and won narrowly over Mike Bowers. Jeff McIntosh came outof a self-imposed exile to take 3rd and Kurt Holtze was just a point behind in 4th.

The winds were back for the Northstar Games. The Northsar Games are a oneday event that was started to salvage some sailing during the Uptown Art Fair. TheFair draws so many people that the CYC corner of Lake Calhoun is inaccessible.So the lasers launch from a beach on the South end of the lake early, before thecrowd builds too much. Again, this year the winds were great. Quoting David Gar-diner, “The winds were everything but steady.” The PROs were able to get in 9races. Bruce Martinson was ready for every type of wind and finished first. JohnDyer was second and Lars Hansen was third. The winds were really with us for the D 21 No Coasts at Duluth. With NW windsthere is several hundred miles of fetch and we had waves! They were the biggest Ihave sailed on/in. Probably the biggest challenge was just getting on the lake. It isa fairly long haul over the Park point sand dunes and then the waves, They werebreaking about 30 yards out from the beach. I waded out pointing the into thewaves. The first breaker filled my cockpit. So, I thought I would just pull the boatover to dump out the water. Not a good idea. The next breaker caught my boatbroadside, picked it up and threw it about 5 boat lengths toward the beach. I man-aged to get to it before it was beached and then waded out again trying to miss thebreakers. After a little dancing about I got out deep enough to get the board andrudder down and sailed on out. Getting to the start line was interesting because thepin and J boat would disappear, appear and disappear again. On a beat, I almosthad to plot a course to miss the biggest waves. Once, when healing too much, I lit-erally slid down the wave face. I need a lot more time to figure out the down windruns. Sticking the bow into the back of a wave is really slow. In spite of myself, Ihad several stretches of going from wave to wave. That is amazing! I just wish Icould make it happen by design, not just by chance.Sunday was a real blowout. So the venue was moved to the harbor. The windswere very puffy and shifty after coming over the Park Point dunes. Racing wasdifficult and after 2 races the participants decided that they had had enough. (I haddecided that before the start.) Bruce Martinson made it look easy and finishedwith 6 bullets. His throw out was a 2nd. Eric Hegstrom made his first appearanceof the year and finished 2nd. Charlie Igo was 3rd. Many thanks to Jim Sharrow,DSSA prez, Justin Aulie, DSSA director, Doug Wendlund, laser fleet captain and


FALL 2007

Tom Maloney, PRO, for a great No Coast regatta.Yes, the winds were back for the Low Key (a.k.a.Calhoun Classic), strong enough to keep the Cscows on their lifts. The laser friendly PRO was ableto got in 7 races in very shifty winds. Kurt Holtzefigured out most of the shifts and was 1st, BruceMartinson was 2nd. Kurt Schroder who also had toclimb that border fence from D 20, and finished 3rd.

Wednesday evening racing continues on Calhounthrough the end of September, The D 21 N.U.M.B.one day event comes up in October and the seasonfinal event is the Thanksgiving Day regatta on LakeCalhoun.See you there?

District 24David LapierNorCalIt was an exceptional summer for Laser sailing inNorthern California. The growing San FranciscoBay Fleet at Treasure Island Sailing Center (TISC)set the standard for activity and enthusiasm hostingthe open PCCs, Summer Sailstice, and a ThursdayNight series.

TISC has an outreach program to teach sailing tounder privileged and handicapped communities.They host a fundraiser regatta, Summer Sailstice,with a big party and lots of racing for all ages.Chris Humphries put together a great series on day1, but then broke his mast on Sunday when thebreeze came up. Results: 4.7: 1) Chloe Lepert, 2)Domenic Bove, 3) Mariana Sosa-Cordero (7 Boats).Full Rigs: 1) David LaPier, 2) Walt Spevak, 3) PeterVessela, 4) Ryan Nelson. (27 Boats). Radials: 1)Cindy Weitsman, 2) Jessie Bernhard, 3) MeganHayes. (8 Boats).

The Pacific Coast Championship at TISC was abig success. Steve Orosz writes, The PCCs hosted81 boats in 3 classes (full rigs, radials and even4.7s!). Friday’s winds combined with bigger seas forsome amazing carnage on the water on Saturday thatlead to calling off the racing after only one race!Sunday the course moved to the more protectedEmeryville flats but the wind didn’t quite fill in asexpected letting some of the lighter sailors have achance, especially in the Radials. Results: Full Rig:1) Derick Vranizan, 2) Peter Vessela, 3) DavidFagen. Radials: 1) Adam Deermount, 2) Max Nick-barg, 3) Colin Leon, 4) Roger Herbst. 4.7: 1)Domenic Bove, 2) Natalia Montemayor, 3) MarianaSosa-Cordero.

The range of successful activity at Treasure Islandreinforces for me the fact that our sport depends onits volunteers. My friend Ralph Pombo did not getto sail at the PCC’s, he gave his weekend over tocooking food and entertaining 200 people! After theevent, he wrote the following letter to the districtsailors. I think it expresses what is important in thesailing community – to appreciate volunteers, and tovolunteer yourself!

“Well the 2007 Laser Pacific Coast Champi-onships are complete. This is just a personal note toeveryone that volunteered or attended the event. Iam so happy to have met many new faces. Some ofyou have only been a name that I have read on pastscores sheets or maybe just a familiar sail numberthat I had sailed against on occasion…Did you havefun at the PCCs? Did you leave a better sailor withtons of big wind experience? Did you get enough toeat?

I was exhausted by the time the awards ceremo-ny came around and I forgot some of the biggest

things that I wanted to say. First of all, I cannot giveenough credit to Steve Orosz and John Super. Johnwas the acting PRO and was responsible for on-the-water activities and race management. I think that hedid a fantastic job. Steve was the brains behind theentire event. His years of experience in SouthernCalifornia and all of his time racing on the water hasmade him a priceless commodity when we neededto run this event. He added dock space, added hotshowers, found more committee boats, tables andchairs, scored the races online, posted advertisingeverywhere, and on and on and on.... He is alwaysthe first one there and the last one to leave. Then inhis spare time....he raced in the event himself. Theman is tireless! A thank you could never be enough,but it’s all that I have to offer.

Also to be thanked are the sponsors (see thePCC website for links to the company sites). Pleaseshop with our sponsors. They sent or brought dozensof items and gift certificates. Did you like the giveaway items? Fantastic weren’t they? These peoplereally show how much they appreciate the Laserclass. Honorable mention would have to go toGeorge at West Coast Sailing for all of his contribu-tions and Sean at Svendsen’s Boat Works (our localLaser dealer). These sponsors not only sponsoredthe evening festivities each evening but donated tothe give away prizes and/or supplied spare parts tocompetitors. Make sure to visit them online the nexttime you need something. They deserve our busi-ness.

A huge thank you goes out to the volunteers.Did you know that this was an all volunteer event?We had no paid staff. I had so many people helpingthat I didn’t even get all of their names. Parents,wives, husbands, coaches, friends and fellow sailorsall came out to help feed you and give you a niceweekend sailing. I wish that I could name them allhere but I can’t. We actually had the entire eventcleaned up and put away before dark last night. Thatincluded taking down the tents, taking out thegarbage, and loading all of the cars. Awesome!Some of the standouts would have to be theVranizan family, the Goldberg family, the Hendricksfamily, Catherine King, the Shum family, JamesSmith and many others. Walt Spevak was the mus-cle behinds the give away items, Ariel Poler andCindy Weitzman handled the tee shirts, and RebeccaBeard along with her sister Christina designed thetee shirt graphics. I am not going to name any moredue to the fear of forgetting too many. Just Thanks!That’s all...thank you... The biggest thank you goesto my wife, Shelly.

Okay so the main point that I would like to makeis “Pay it forward”. That’s right. If you had a goodtime, or at least appreciate the effort. Do the samefor the next sailor. Volunteer for an event soon. Itmay only be a couple of hours that you can spare,but it means so much to the event committee and thesailors. Also support the sponsors. This is a greatsport and without supporting each other, it willnever survive and prosper. Please pass this to othersthat have not been included in the addresses.”

Later in August, Tahoe Yacht Club hosted theMasters PCC’s. Justin Casey organized a greatevent and the race committee was excellent. Every-one should experience the incredible blue skies andeven brighter blue water of Tahoe. There were 23entries, including Leif Gihbsson from San Diegoand 6 boats from the bay area. It was breezy withbig puffs (and unfortunately, big lulls), but all-in-alla really fine event. The trophy for the regatta is

dedicated in honor of Don Trask, certainly one ofthe most beloved individuals in bay-area sailing.

Chris Boome wrote, in Scuttlebutt, “Nice to seeTracy Usher earn a convincing win at the LaserMasters PCC’s – held recently on Lake Tahoe, CA –to win the Don Trask Perpetual Trophy. Don is aWest Coast sailing legend (now living in NorthCarolina) who introduced the Laser to the San Fran-cisco Bay in the early 1970’s and is the major rea-son the class became so successful so quickly in California. Although Masters Laser racing (age 35and above) did not become official until much later,Don was a superb Laser sailor who never set foot inthe boat until he was a “Master”. The Don Trask Trophy was established to recognizeDon’s tremendous sailing skill as well as his dedica-tion to making the Laser class a success. I cannotimagine a better recipient than Tracy on bothaccounts. Tracy has been in the top tier of the LaserMasters World competition for several years, is theNorth American Laser Class President and the primemover of all things Laser related in Northern Cali-fornia. It was a great event, thanks largely to thegreat people at the Tahoe Yacht Club, a beautifulplace to sail, challenging conditions, and theabsolute best Rum Truck ever.”

Tahoe Yacht Club also has a very active fleet, thatraces every Monday night in two fleets. I under-stand that Mark Oshiro will soon be racing in the“A” Fleet after all his great wins this summer.Results A-Fleet: 1) Stan Eriksson, 2) Matt Clark, 3)Nick Pullen. B-Fleet: 1) Mark Oshiro, 2) ZackThomas. 3) RB Clark.

The Lake Washington Sailing Center on the Sacra-mento River is building up a great new all downwind event, following in the footsteps of a famousDelta keelboat classic, the new event is the “DinghyDelta Ditch”. Ralph Pombo reports, “

“Well, you missed a good one. First a little back-ground about the race might be helpful. This is thethird annual DDD that runs from Rio Vista to thePort of Sacramento up the Sacramento River. Therace committee carefully plans the event to take fulladvantage of currents and winds to make the mostenjoyable racing possible. The single day race ofover 30 miles takes 3-6 hours to complete on aver-age. With the beautiful river delta as scenery, a nar-row channel as a race course, and fantastic summerconditions, you just can’t go wrong.

In my opinion, this year was by far the best todate. Having enough wind was definitely not anissue. Picture yourself sailing a 30 mile course on areach/run for over 4 hours. I am no expert, but myguess would be an average wind of 10-20 knots allday with gusts in the high 20s, 30s, and maybemore. It was the gusts that kept things exciting.Most of the race, the river level is 10-20 feet belowthe top of the river bank. With variations in directionof the river, river bank vegetation, direction of thewind, current speed, height of the river bank, motorboat traffic (minimal), and other variables cause thesailor to experience huge shifts in direction (90+degrees) and velocity.

If you were macho enough to physically handlethe breeze, then your vessel must also endure theshifts and frequent capsizes. Many tried, manyfailed, and few survived. The word “carnage” wasrepeated continuously all day long. The masts, cen-terboards, rudders, sails, hopes, dreams, and pridewere all broken, torn, or took a tremendous beating.Several boats were towed to the finish as ‘survival’took on new meaning.

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By comparison to the standard racing, a sailorfinds himself struggling to maintain concentrationover the entire journey. Just as your mind starts towander, a gust of wind reminds you of the watertemperature and how hard a metal boom feels as itslaps across your temple. This was truly a test ofhow few capsizes it would take before you crossedthe finish line. The fewest number wins. Josh Lind-say won this battle leaving me a distant second.”Results: 1) Josh Lindsay, 2) Ralph Pombo, 3) DrakeJensen.

Youth Sailing in San Francisco Bay is buildingwith the a new organization, “Bay Area Youth Sail-ing” and an increasing number of 4.7’s and Radialsto bridge the gap up from El Toros and Optis.

The 2007 BAYS summer race series came to anexciting conclusion as Tiburon Yacht Club playedhost to BAYS #5 over Labor Day weekend - thefinal stop of the five regatta season championships.The regatta was a real treat for sailors and spectatorsalike, as great weather, a beautiful venue and an out-standing job by all the TYC volunteers combined toput a perfect punctuation on a highly successfulBAYS season. Sailors got an additional thrill aslocal sports hero and Olympic Skiing Gold medalistJohnny Mosley was on hand to pass out awards andsign autographs. But the real stars were the 113 jun-ior sailors who competed hard, demonstrated goodsportsmanship, and simply had a blast throughoutthe weekend!

For the BAYS summer series, overall participationgrew for the 4th year in a row, with 171 sailors com-peting in one or more BAYS regattas, an increase of52% from 2006. Fleets include Optis, 420s, andLasers. Results: Full Rigs: 1) Chris Humphreys, 2)Connor Leech, 3) Thomas Maher. 4) Mike Scott.Radials: 1) Jessica Bernhard, 2) Cody Young, 3)Megan Hayes, 4) Drake Jensen. 4.7: 1) DominicBove, 2) Tom Parker, 3) Max Brodie.

In the Junior Olympic Regatta, results were: FullRig: 1) Michael Radziejowski, 2) Michael Scott.Radial: 1) Drake Jensen, 2) Jessica Bernard, 3)Daniel Thompson. 4.7: 1) Max Brodie, 2) TomParker, 3) Lauren Cefali.

Another fleet that is growing stronger sails on tinyShoreline Lake in Mountainview. Steve Hartman,Stefan Jaquet, and Dave Braginsky used to own a J-24, but they gave that up because it wasn’t enoughfun, and now they sail every week at Shoreline.

Marin Yacht Club’s 2007 Laser Challenge washeld in beautiful sunny conditions with excellent 8-11 knot breeze. The sounds of Caribbean SteelDrum music wafted in the breeze as exciting matchracing took place in the San Rafael Canal in front ofthe Clubhouse. Ron Witzel, a spirited grand mas-ter, was in the fray with Phil Stolp and Zia Ahari.

Special congratulations to Nick Dudgale, whoplaced 2nd in the radial fleet a CORK. Along withour other adventurers — John Pearce, KatieMaxim, Claire Dennis, Tracy Usher, David LaPier,Peter Vessela, Jim Christopher, J.B. Duhler, WaltSpevak, Mike Eichwald, Matt Clark – and more –who make the effort to get out and compete aroundthe USA, Canada, and the world.

It’s hard to put into words what makes sailingsuch a worthwhile lifelong endeavor. I would liketo end with a note I received from Stephanie andJohn Jensen, in regard to getting their son into sail-ing. “What we found so far in this Laser racing isit’s challenging and highly educational for kids tohave to think for yourself and make the decisionsinstantly. Plus it’s fun as hell and the laser racers are

a society of all ages looking for a good time wherever you go. The high lakes, reservoirs, rivers, bays andoceans all around the world whether it be high end competition or recreational racing, people are enjoyingthemselves family style. Win or lose you still win.”

District 25Nils AnderssonSoCalThe heat is on. I’m talking about the heat wave with hot tropical moisture we have had here in So Cal lately.The moisture over land has put a damper on the normal sea breeze we use to enjoy at this time of the year.That even affected our District championship at Long Beach. It was a great event and one of the best venueson the west coast, but we did not get the wind velocity we are used to there.

There have been some talks about the practice sail in the class lately. There was one participant in the D25Championship using such a sail. I told him that we could not accept that, and as he said, he did not have anyother sail we would allow him to sail, but not score (finish outside the line). However, he scored every raceand I had to do something I never thought I had to do; protest on a class rule like that.

We are trying to spread out some of the Laser events throughout the district. Pat Toole has offered to makethe Cinco de Mayo Regatta in Santa Barbara a major Laser event. He’ll even give up sailing his J 24 for hisLaser on that weekend. So mark your 2008 calendar for that regatta. I’ll go for that as the 5th of May is mybirthday (why do you think Mexico is celebrating that day), and the one on 2008 will be my 70th.

2007 Laser District 25 ChampionshipsSTEVEN SMITH, ABYC FLEET CAPTAIN

ong Beach CA offered Southern California sailors a cool respite from an oppressiveheat wave blistering the Los Angeles area Labor Day Weekend. Fifty Laser Radial andtwenty-three Laser Full-Rig racers came to the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (ABYC) to con-test for the 2007 Laser District 25 Championship held in conjunction with the annualABYC Labor Day Holiday Regatta.

The ABYC Labor Day Holiday Regatta is an open, multi-class event this year attract-ing 168 boats divided between; Thistles, Cal 20’s, Finn’s, C-15’s, Snipes, I-14’s, Etchells,Sabots and Lasers. Lasers raced a windward-leeward course shared with Cal 20’s andThistles on ABYC’s traditional race area, set inside the breakwater of Long Beach harbor.

Lasers began their racing with a General Recall but restarted in a moderate 10 knot seabreeze and confused seas with enough wind chop and boat wakes to make one pay atten-tion. Abe Torchinsky of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, British Columbia quickly tookcontrol in the Full-Rig fleet with three straight bullets and a second to end the day. PatToole of the Santa Barbara Sailing Club, Santa Barbara and Vann Wilson of host ABYCfollowed in order with Pat taking the last race of the day.

In the Radial fleet, Nick Dugdale, representing the, can you believe, San Francisco, St.Francis and Richmond Yacht Clubs finished day one in first place with Chris Barnard ofNewport Harbor YC, Newport Beach and Greg Dair of the California YC, Marina del Rey.Waiting in the wings; however, was Ryan Hoeven from King Harbor YC, Redondo Beach.Ryan was OCS failing to restart, in the first place, giving him a whopping 51 points tobegin the series. Well, that did not deter Ryan, as he scored bullets in the last three racesof the day. Dropping those 51 points would make a huge difference when the throwoutskicked-in day two.

Abe Torchinsky continued his winning ways in Full-Rigs day two, with two more firstplace finishes and a fourth for his throw out. Pat Toole scored another first place finish onday two, but fell four points behind the consistent Vann Wilson who finished second over-all and first Master.

Day two featured variable and lighter breeze with holes that caught the leader of racefive, Caleb Paine at the penultimate mark moving him back to an understandably frustrat-ing 18th place finish. Caleb did recover nicely for a second and first to take fourth overalland was first Junior in Full-Rigs. Cody Shevitz finished in fifth place overall. Jim Kirkfrom ABYC was first Grand Master, Steve Landeau from ABYC was first ApprenticeMaster and Nils Andersson was our first Great Grand Master.

In the Radial Fleet, Ryan Hoeven did not dominate as in day one, scoring a fourth,fifth, second, but by virtue of dropping an OCS, won the regatta by a mere two points overNick Dugdale. Ryan collected quite a variety of awards; receiving the ABYC Labor DayRegatta award, District 25 First Junior Radial & First Radial Overall and the imposing ArtHall Fiesta de la Playa Perpetual Trophy awarded by ABYC to the winner of the largestclass of boats competing at the Labor Day Regatta. Rounding out the top five were; NickKaschack from San Diego YC moving up to third, Katie Maxim from the San FranciscoYC moved up nicely, from 9th on Saturday, to finish fourth and Greg Dair fifth.

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As many of you may know Kurt and Ihave spent a lot of time on the road travel-ing to and from regattas. Along with that,it’s pretty well known that we pay prettyclose attention to what we eat. At somepoint during the year most of you will trav-el to a regatta that is not close to home.Contrary to popular belief traveling be it byplane, train or automobile is not a license toeat fast food. Good nutrition needs to startway before you leave for the regatta andcontinue right up until the end. If you aregoing to put effort into a nutrition programto get ready for a regatta you will onlydefeat all of the work you have already putin by eating poorly on your way there. Ifyou have never thought about what you eatbefore, during or after a regatta there’s notime like the present to start.

First of all you may want to knowwhy this is so important. It may not seemlike a couple of quick meals could do thatmuch damage, but whenever you travel youare usually sitting down for a long periodof time. Your metabolism slows down andcannot digest food as well or as quickly aswhen you are able to get up and movearound. When you eat fast food or food thatis mass produced, like airplane meals, it ismade with ingredients that will help pre-serve its shelf life and in most cases with alot of salt. All of these added ingredientscan tend to make you feel stiff and slow.They have most likely made you retainwater and all of the sitting has made yourblood pool in different areas instead offlowing freely. This is why they tell you toget up and stretch on long plane rides or tomake sure you stop and get out and stretchand walk around if you are driving. Thiswill get things moving and help your bodyrid itself of the unwanted additives andpreservatives.

It may seem that when you are travel-ing your choices are limited. Most timesyou just want to get something quickly soyou can keep going. With a little creativityand planning you can still eat well withouthaving to stop for a long period of time.Not to mention you will probably save afew bucks too. The best strategy is to planahead. If you are flying you may want topack some snacks to hold you over untilyou get to your destination. Some sugges-tions would be fruit, trail mix, granola bars,protein bars or energy bars. It’s alwaysgood to bring along an extra bottle of water

Nutrition On The RoadMEKA TAULBEEACE CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER

time you stop and you are also giving your-self a great way to get out of your seat andstretch out.

If you are more of the restaurantgoer you can do that also. A rule of thumbis if it is a restaurant with a drive throughyou should not be going! Restaurants areobviously the least desirable choice, but adefinite option. You can stop and eat at arestaurant as long as you are making wisemeal choices. Salads and plain vegetablesalong with a source of protein are the bestchoices. You just need to be aware thatmost restaurants use ingredients with lots ofpreservatives as well. You want to steerclear of anything that is marinated, fried orsautéed. Choose instead things that arebroiled or steamed.

In all of these scenaros you want to besure to include a protein source. Proteinwill make you feel full and digest moreslowly. This will keep you from incessantlysnacking or making choices that are full ofempty calories. As always water is a mustand staying hydrated will only benefit you.Even if it means you have to stop moreoften!

I know this is only a brief summary ofsome of your options, but hopefully it willhelp get you headed in the right direction.There are lots of different alternatives soyou just need to pick the one that worksbest for you. For more information you canalso go to www.sailfit.com and find morearticles to read on nutrition. As always I amhere if you have any questions or wouldlike to have a certain topic covered. Feelfree to contact by going to www.sailfit.comor email me at [email protected].

and to stay away from the soda that isalways available on a flight. When youfly it is best to drink extra water and besure to stay hydrated. For one thing it willmake you use the restroom more oftenforcing you to get up and stretch. It willalso keep your system flushed so yourblood keeps circulating and you won’tfeel so slow and thick.

If you are driving you have manymore options than when you are flying.The same as with flying I would packsome snacks. Driving tends to get a littlemonotonous and this is when we tend tograze more. Healthy snacks will fill youup so you don’t eat so much and will bemuch kinder on your body than a bag ofchips or a candy bar. The next suggestionis to pack a cooler. You can pack food tomake sandwiches (or make sandwichesahead of time), water and other snacks.You can pack cut up fruit and vegetables.Such items like melon and celery have ahigh water content and will help keep youhydrated and keep your blood flowingmuch like drinking water would. If youare not a big fan of planning ahead with acooler there are still more options for youto chose from. Most signs on the highwaywill advertise supermarkets at the upcom-ing exits as well as restaurants. Find asupermarket and put together your ownmeal. This doesn’t mean get the friedchicken that you can smell cooking all theway at the back of the parking lot. Getjust enough to make a sub, get some trailmix or nuts, or pick out a salad. Manystores now have salad bars in them. If youare up to it you can also find health foodsupermarkets that will offer more in theline of salads and healthy meals to go.You can pick up some fruit that is alreadycut up andstock up onwater andother drinks aswell. Stoppingthis way oftenprovides moreof a variety ofchoices. Manytimes I findthat what Ipackedalready is def-initely notwhat I amcraving at thatmoment. Mur-phy’s Law Isuppose! Thisway you canget somethingdifferent each

Sailing Fit

below: Brad Funk hydrating betweenraces in Hyeres, France. MLammensphoto





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The Laser Sailor Fall 2007