Lasersailorspring 2011

SPRING 20116 continents, 122 countries - the biggest adult and youth racing class in the world

SPRING 2011:Spring 05 3/25/2011 1:36 PM Page 1

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HEL

PI

NG SAILORS SINCE1976

2011 Colie Laser ad_0310.indd 2 3/10/11 4:28:43 PM

Official publicationof the InternationalLaser Class Association,North American Region

US Postal Service:Please return undeliverables to:ILCA-NA2812 Canon StreetSan Diego, CA 92106 USA

Canada PostPublications Mail Agreement #40612608Please return undeliverables to:Bleuchip International,P.O. Box 25542,London, ON N6C 6B2

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]

Clay JohnsonTreasurer26 River Bend Dr.Toms River, NJ 08753Phone: [email protected]

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

Evan LewisAt Large4 Nursewood RoadToronto, ON M4E 3R8 CanadaPhone: [email protected]

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

S P R I N G 2 0 1 1

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

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

Sleep: an Intimate Relationship with Success . . . . . . . .10

From the Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Coaching Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Remembering Bob Riggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

2011 Event Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Tips and Technique - Mast Inspection & Care . . . . . . .18

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

Regatta Reports

Florida Masters Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Whitefish Lake Regatta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

40th Orange Coffee Pot Regatta . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Mastery in Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

District Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Glimpses of Midwinters East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Laser Sailing in Guam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Membership Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

5

SPRING 20116 continents, 122 countries - the biggest adult and youth racing class in the world

Cover: Paige Railey on herway to a RMOCR win in theRadial. Photo: AmoryRoss/US Sailing

www.Laser.org


District 1Danielle Dube, 8 Sunnydale Dr,Glen Haven, NS B3Z 2T8902-823-2802, [email protected]

District 2Philippe Dormoy, 385 Place Desmarest,Ile Bizard, Quebec, H9C [email protected]

District 3Robert Koci, 804 Sammon Ave.Toronto, ON M4C 2E8647-407-0754. [email protected] website: www.d3laser.com

District 4Brigitte Smutney, MSA: 224 200 Main StreetWinnipeg, MB 3RC 4M2204-925-5647, [email protected]

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

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

District 7Kim Ferguson, 12 Florida Ave.Jamestown, RI [email protected]

District 8Ted Cremer, 7 Maple StreetBlue Point, NY 11715.631-363-8830, [email protected]

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

District 10Eric Reitinger7908 Normandy Dr.Mt Laurel, NJ [email protected]://d10.laserforum.org

District 11Jon Deutsch3422 Blithewood Dr., Richmond, VA 23225804-305-1244, [email protected]://www.laserdistrict11.org

District 12Christian [email protected] Beach, NCwww.d12.laserforum.org

District 13Antolin Rivera, PO Box 26674Tampa, FL 33623813-837-3013, [email protected]/m/_general/d13.asp

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

District 15James Freedman, 8324 Horse Whisperer Ln.Ft. Worth, TX [email protected]; 214-864-6024www.cerebus.winsite.com/Laser/districts/d15/

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

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

District 18John [email protected]

District 19Ken Swetka27022 Koerber St., St. Claire Shores, MI 48081248-635-5363www.d29laser.org

District 20Steve Dolan21140 Chancery Ct. Brookfield, WI 53045262-506-8879. [email protected]://d20.laserforum.org/

District 21Kurt Holtze, 710 Summer St. NEMinneapolis, MN 55413621-281-1447 [email protected]@laserforum.org

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

District 23Fletcher Avery23 South Pearl St, Denver, CO [email protected]/laser

District 24David Lapier408-525-6396, [email protected]/d24laser/d24

District 25Jorge Suarez, 7 Covina Ave,Long Beach, CA 90803562-260-8116. [email protected]/group/nalaserdistrict25

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

SPRING 20116

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www.Laser.org 7

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President’s NotesTRACY USHER

SPRING 20118

As I write this the major winter regattas inNorth America have ended. With just over ayear to the Olympics the world’s sailors arestarting to get into final form and the com-petition is getting fiercer. With that in mindit’s clear that Paige Railey is really hittingher stride with dominating performances atthe “big three”: Rolex Miami OCR,Women’s North American Championshipand the Midwinters East. On the Men’sside, Luke Ramsey turned in a solid per-formance at Miami to finish 7th, followednot far behind by Clay Johnson and RobCrane, all great performances in a solidinternational field. Midwinters East did notsee the strong international presence ofMiami but, in a still very tough field, BradFunk showed that he is planning to be astrong contender for the US Olympic spot.It’s great to see such strong performancesfrom North American sailors as weapproach the end of another quadrennium,clearly a testament to the long hours andhard work they are putting in!

During the winter months we often putaside sailing as we wait for the weather toimprove... or in some cases wait for thewater to return to liquid form! No More!With the ease of modern travel it’s nowpossible to get a temporary escape fromwinter while getting in some great Lasersailing in a nice, warm and tropical loca-tion. In this edition of The Laser Sailor, andthe accompanying Laser World insert, aretwo excellent articles on winter trainingoptions in warm weather locations: theInternational Sailing Academy in La Cruz,Mexico, and the Laser Training Center inCabarete, DR. As you can see from the arti-cles, both offer fantastic sailing possibilitieswith top level coaching - all while in abeautiful vacation setting and, importantly,at an affordable price. Sticking with thegeneral winter theme, this time of yearbrings two things to the Laser Class: a newrule book updated with the results of theballoting for the previous years proposedrule changes AND a new set of proposedrule changes for next year. Normally therule changes almost always fall into the cat-egory of adjusting the wording of existingrules to allow for common practice. Thisyear is a bit different with two importantrule changes: a modification of the rule oncompasses aimed at being more specificabout the use of electronic devices, and avery important change to the FundamentalRule.

As it stands right now, the compass rulebans the use of electronic compasses andthe more general category of electronicdevices are banned through theFundamental Rule (i.e. they are not explic-itly allowed). There are a number of smallproblems with this, for example most peo-ple wear digital electronic wrist watches,including some that contain compasses, andallowance needs to be made for this. Moreimportantly we are seeing increased use oftracking devices, primarily during regattasto provide live racing positions via theinternet. And more and more people arefinding use in mounting small cameras ontheir boats to record their sailing. Afterwhat seemed like endless discussionsweighing the benefits of allowing certaindevices (e.g. more regatta exposure) versusthe real concerns of opening the rule com-pletely (e.g. rich sailing federations instru-menting boats and gaining an unfair advan-tage for Olympic level sailors). In the end,the Technical Committee and WorldCouncil were in favor of allowing for theobvious (electronic digital watches), mak-ing it possible for regatta organizers to pro-vide something that could help promote thesport, while keeping the boat as simple aspossible for the average sailor. The result isthe proposed change to rule 22 which islisted as rule change #4 in the discussion inthe accompanying Laser World insert.

A short side note: the World Council is notyet ready to open to digital electronic com-passes (specifically TackTick) because theprice is still considered to be too high for

the average sailor in many regions of theworld. This is a continually reviewed item,do not think that voting yes to the currentrule change means NO to electronic com-passes in the future. It will happen eventu-ally!

The really major proposed change is to theFundamental Rule. There is not much I canreally ad to the discussion over the excel-lent summary by Jeff Martin and HeiniWellmann that you can find in the LaserWorld insert. I strongly urge all members ofthe Laser Class to carefully read their arti-cle and thoughtfully weigh their pointsbefore voting as this is clearly an extremelyimportant rule change!

Ok, time to pack the boats and head toMidwinters West!

See you on the water!

AMNESTY FOR MISSINGPERPETUALTROPHIES

Is that silver bowl now your change collector?Was that large plaque moved to the garage?

ILCA-NA is missing some of our more pertinent perpetual trophiesand we’d love to award them to the current champions. If you’re theholder or have seen any of the perpetuals – contact the ILCA-NA office– no questions asked! Deep Throat will remain anonymous here!

[email protected] or: 619-222-0252


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UPCOMING LASER CHARTER EVENTS:

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Photo ©Carter Kelly Kramer ©2011 Landfall Navigation. Logos shown are trademarks of their respective companies. LaserPerformance and associated logos are trademarks used under license. All rights reserved.

YOU BRING THE TALENT.

We’ll Bring the Boat.

LASER SALE


SPRING 201110

EVAN LEWIS H.B.KIN., CSCS, CK

After spending five semi-restless nightson an uncomfortable mattress during MidsEast, I wanted to look into how important agood nights sleep is for sports performance.

Why sleep important?Athletes are constantly search for a

competitive edge against their competitors.As a result there has been a large emphasisput on recovery from training and competi-tion. This is a logical area to maximizeyour advantage, as (i) how you recover isdirectly under your control; and (ii) thefaster or more effectively you recover theharder you can train or better you can racethe next day, ultimately resulting inimproved performances.

When you are asleep there a numerousdifferent process that occur throughout yourbody, which facilitate recovery and regener-ation. After a day of training, your mindand muscles have learned new skills thatrequire complex adaptations within yourbody. Sleep has been proven to enhancememory, learning and the acquisition anddevelopment of new skills (1). During thistime your brain works to reorganize infor-mation and create new neural programs andpathways to carry out freshly learned skills.After learning new skills, especially com-plex skills (e.g. tacking, downwind tech-niques etc) individuals have been shown tohave higher success at executing theseskills following sleep.

From a muscle point of view, time dur-ing sleep is essential for rebuilding dam-aged tissue. The changes in hormones thatoccur during sleep and your proper dailynutrition combine to provide an ideal envi-ronment for muscle repair and growth,especially in youth and teen athletes.Additionally, muscle glycogen stores arealso topped up during sleep, which pro-vides you with necessary energy for intensetraining and racing.

What happens when you do not getenough sleep?

Within the general population, sleepdeprivation is a common occurrence. Sleepdeprivation can result from many factorsbut most commonly from high training vol-ume, school/work commitments and gener-ally having a busy lifestyle. The obviousside effects from lack sleep include fatigue,irritability and mood changes. These factorscan have a direct effect on mental perform-ance through reduced concentration and

patience, which are especially important onlight air days (2).

In a collaborative study between theUK Sport Council and QueenslandAcademy of Sport, researchers examineddifferences in rugby pass execution whenelite athletes had 7-9 hours of sleep and 3-5hours sleep (2). The results clearly showedthat the athletes performed significantlyworse in pass accuracy after 3-5 hours ofsleep.

Additionally, researchers in NewZealand examined muscle energy storesand sprint performance on three consecu-tive days, which included one night ofsevere sleep deprivation (3). The morningafter sleep deprivation, athlete’s muscleglycogen stores were significantly reduced,which resulted in less stored energy for thatday’s sprint trials. When sprint performancewas measured, participants experiencedreduced average speed, lower total runningdistance and impaired quadriceps activationand force production.

What is the bare minimum?While every individual can have differ-

ent needs for sleep depending on trainingvolume or other influencing factors fromlife, it is necessary to have at least 7 hoursof quality sleep per night. Teens generallyneed 9-10 hours of sleep per night to facili-tate growth, especially increases in musclemass. Adults in comparison require 7-8hours.

Good sleeping environmentsThere are several simple changes you

can make to ensure a good night sleep:Do not eat 2 hours before you go to

bed, this includes late night snacksDaily exercise promotes sleep but exer-

cising close to when you sleep can keepyou awake

Keep the room that you sleep in as darkas possible and

Falling asleep before midnight can givebetter quality sleep and recovery

Developing a personal sleeping routinehelps to regulate your body’s rhythm

SummaryIt is clear that a good nights sleep is a

key component to training and regatta suc-cess. The recovery and adaptations thatoccur during this time are critical. So thenext time you consider crashing on yourfriend’s couch or sleeping in your van thinktwice, because at the end of the day, the lit-tle bit extra it may costs for a good nightsleep is insignificant considering how muchit is costing you to be at a regatta anyways.

1. Van der Werf, Y. D., Van der Helm,E., Schoonheim, M. M., Ridderikhoff,A., and Van Someren, E. J. W. (2009)Procedings of the National Academyof Science 106, 18926-30.

2. Cook, C. J., Crewther, B. T., Kilduff,L. P., Drawer, S., and Gaviglio, C. M.(2011) Journal of the InternationalSociety of Sports Nutrition 8.

3. Skein, M., Duffield, R., Edge, J.,Short, M. J., and Mundel, T. (2010)Medicine and Science in Sports andExercise Epublished.

Please send questions and commentto [email protected].

Evan is an MSc candidate at theUniversity of Toronto where he isstudying muscle health and aging andis a NSCA Certified StrengthConditioning Specialist and CertifiedKinesiologist.

For more information and trainingtips visit www.evanlewis.ca.

Sleep: an intimate relationship with success


www.Laser.org 11

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BRENT RICHARDS

Spring is right around the cornerand while some areas of NorthAmerica may still be under snow, thefact is our major sailing season will beupon us in no time. No place is that

more evident than in our factory. TheLaserPerformance warehouse is packedand we’re continuing to bring in stockof components in anticipation the highseason. In the first quarter of 2011,we’re selling boats at pre-recession

2008 levels. Trucks are leaving at asteady pace making deliveries to deal-ers across North America.

2011 will see the Fleet Grant pro-gram return for the 2nd year. Thepremises of the program being thatyour local fleet can purchase a Laser at

a significant discount. The idea is touse the boat creatively to generateactivity and enthusiasm in emergingfleets. Use the boat for Guest Skipperof the Week or give the boat to the par-ticipant from the prior week that “wonthe middle of the fleet”. At the end of

the sailing season your fleet can keep itfor the next year or sell/auction/raffleoff the boat (restrictions apply) to helpfund the fleet.

LaserPerformance places a highmark on providing charter LaserSailboats for different championshipevents in North America. This year wewill be providing over 500 Lasersalone in North America this summer.Events include ILCAWorlds, numer-ous US Sailing events, ISSA and ICSASingle Handed Champs. These eventswill span over 4 months and 1,000’s ofman hours to making it all happen.Something we love to do to help keepthe Laser as the best and largest onedesign class in the world.

As always feel free to contact me atthe office or pull me aside at the boatpark.

From the BuilderWhat is going on at LaserPerformance?


SPRING 201112

Coaching FeedbackMARK LAMMENS

Preface: Many coaching clinics in avariety of sports work on the technicalcomponents, for effective performance.Coaches try to manipulate the drill or activ-ity to create a learning situation or opportu-nity to address one of the identified per-formance factors. Coaches and athletesneed to ensure straight talk, positive com-munication that is clear and focused andbuilds partnerships that are based on inter-dependence and self-reliance. There shouldbe a focus on empowerment where athletestake responsibility for how they practiceand perform through development of astrong sense of personal power and confi-dence.

Coaches need to be sensative to the fol-lowing issues, which also vary based on theage and level of the athlete.

What to say.What is it that the sessionis focusing on, what are you trying toimprove? Although some coaches feel thatthere is so much an athlete needs toimprove, it is important to focus on 1 or 2specifics and ensure it is something theycan change today. If their bum is draggingin the water when going upwind, it couldbe because the strap is too lose, boat ishealing to windward or their legs are weak.Some of these things are easy to adjust; fit-ness may take a little longer. Feedbackneeds to be specific.

When to say it. Research indicates thatit is important to give feedback almostimmediately, that is why on water sessionsare so important to address improvement.Waiting until you are off the water may bethe only option in a race, but try to giveinput to technique, racing situations, boathandling or set up when it is actually hap-pening. Coach boat rafting up to the boatafter a drill after the maneuver is good forindividual specific feedback. Feedbackneeds to be immediate.

How you say it. Sport can be a veryemotional, ensure that the communicationis not negatively affected by it. Coachesyelling at sailors may not have the positivechange in behaviour and if it does, it maynot be a change that was done by appealingto the athletes, ‘student of the game’ philos-ophy, but instead using fear. Feedbackneeds to be precise.

Other elements to be concerned with

Embarrassing your athletes, Researchshows that young girls 11 to 15 quit sportbecause they felt people where laughing atthem, did not want to be ‘stupid’ or couldnot do the task to the correct level. Beaware of the gender issues, learner style ofthe athlete, and adjust your message toensure they are having fun playing sportand being young.

Praise cleanly and towards positivebehaviour. Research shows that you do notneed to be a cheerleader and positive all thetime, to effect intensity of work or supportpositive behaviors and outcomes.Strategically placed positive comments canhave incredible affecton self-esteem, levelof effort and have apositive effect on yourrelationship with theathlete.

Non verbalCommunicationSunglasses, crossedarms, bad posturewhile you are givingfeedback will certain-ly taint how the feed-back is received.

Celebrate.Whenyou see somethingthat is done well, andis not related to thetheme of the trainingsession, praise them.Athletes sometimesare trying to impressthe coach and if youmiss an opportunity topraise when it is war-ranted, athletes mayfeel the coach is notinto it so why shouldthey be. If you catchit, athletes feed into it

trying to create other positives.

Sailing is a difficult sport to assess. Wedo not have a world record time for lasersailing; we lack visible quickly measure-able variables. It has a significant relativecomponent; it is the first boat to cross theline. As a coach we have seen athletes sailpoor and score well and sail well and scorepoor. The challenge is trying to figure outwhat went wrong and what to change orimprove, then how to help it happen. Goodluck.

CL268AN

CL277

Rigging the CL270 with Becket

1-4mmø

(3/64"-5/32")

More Information at:www.clamcleat.com

NEWSide Entry cleatsextend the range

Micros cleats aresmaller, lighter and

more compact than anyother cleat, making them

ideal for use with moderncontrol lines.

Can be mounted on flat or curved surfaces.

Ideal for tillers and furling lines.

Alloy CL268, CL270, CL277 and CL278 Racing Micros are available in a silveror Hard Anodised finish. The nylon Micros,CL263 is available in Black or White. CL268

CL270ANCL823

Side entry cleats gives thebenefit of a fairlead but use oftemporary cleating.

CL263W


www.Laser.org 13

San Francisco Masters Worlds Training ClinicsThe International Sailing Academy is teaming up with John Bertrand to puton an array of clinics in preparation for the 4.7 and Master’s WorldChampionships this summer! No one knows how to teach the challengingcurrents of the San Francisco Bay better than Bertrand. Learning this newdynamic is a must, so don’t miss out!

All clinics will take place on the City Front on the same course as theWorlds. There are 10 charter boats available for each clinic at a cost of$500. The cost of each clinic is $1000/person. After attending:

you will have learned Bertrand’s “fool proof” current methodbe able to exploit the current in a large laser fleet racebecome a master in heavy air boat handlinglearn heavy air straight line techniquelearn heavy air starting/down speed techniqueand learn how to survive downwind in 30 knots!

ISA is also offering :Pre Master’s World charters from July 25 August 2: $700Master World charters from August 3 13: $7004.7 and Master’s World event coaching

John BertrandOlympic Medalist

World Champion Coach

Finn Silver Cup World Champion

Coach in San Fran Bay

Chris DoldNorth American Laser ChampionISA Coach

Vaughn HarrisonISA Head Coach

[email protected]

Master’s Clinic #1June 27 July 1

Master’s Clinic #2July 4 July 8

Master’s Clinic #3July 11 July 15

Master’s Clinic #4July 18 22

4.7 World’s PrepClinic:

July 21 24

WWW.INTERNATIONALSAILINGACADEMY.COM

Fantastic accommodation... amazing facilities... and great sailing! -Paul Goodison


SPRING 201114

Canfield, OH • Toll Free: 1-800-282-5042www.trailex.com

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SPRING 201116

901 Oxford St.Toronto, Ontario M8Z 5T1 [email protected] 1-800-342-FOGH (3644)

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Bob RiggleSeattle Laser sailor Bob Riggle and his partnerPhyllis Macay were killed by pirates off the coast ofOman in the Indian Ocean on Feb. 22, 2011. Bobsailed with the Seattle Laser Fleet for several yearsuntil his focus shifted to offshore cruising. He didseveral traveling regattas, including to Cork for LaserMaster Worlds in 2001. His former boat remains inthe fleet, actively sailed by Mike Johnson.Bob was always quiet and thoughtful, but onecould tell he enjoyed sailing Lasers greatly. At theCelebration of Life gathering of the Seattle SinglesYacht Club, an endearing picture emerged of Bob andPhyllis, something we in the Laser fleet generallydidn’t see. Phyllis, a dynamo of energy and enthusi-asm, put Bob front and center of her antics. In themeantime, Bob’s quiet competence and good naturecertainly brought a great deal of adventure to Phyllis.They’d cruised Bob’s J/109 for three years and manytens of thousands of miles.Some things many of us didn’t know: Bob was

also a polo player, a retired veterinarian, a volunteerwith the SPCA, and a volunteer with the Nightwatchhomeless program. He was an officer of the SeattleSingles Yacht Club and an active organizer of theJ/109 fleet in Seattle. Phyllis sounds like the kind ofperson you’d want on your boat, as a friend andcertainly to organize a party.Rest In Peace, Bob and Phyllis.


2011 ScheduleRegatta Laser Radial Laser 4.7 Masters

World Championship

ISAF Grade 1

Sr: Perth, AUS: Dec 3-18Jr: LaRochelle,FRAJuly16-23

Women's:Perth,AUS; Dec 3-18Mens: LaRochelle,FRA,July16-23Youth: La Rochelle, FRA,

July 24-31

San Francisco, CAJuly 26-Aug 2

San Francisco, CAAug 5-13

NA Championship

40 GP pts. ISAF Grade 1

Brant Beach YC, NJJuly 12-15

Brant Beach YC, NYJuly 12-15 TBD

FtWaltonYC,FLMay20-22

North AmericanWomen’s Radial Champs

ISAF Grade 1

naLauderdale YCwww.lyc.org

February 17-20na na

CanadianChampionships

30 GP Pts. ISAF Grade 2

Wabamun SC,Edmonton, ABJune 23-26

Wabamun SC, Edmonton,AB

June 23-26

Wabamun SC,Edmonton, ABJune 23-26

D1-D6

US Championships

30 GP Pts, ISAF Grade 2

California YCMarina del Rey, CA

Aug 3-7

California YCMarina del Rey, CA

Aug 3-7

Districts 6, 24, 25 Macatawa BayYCMacatawa, MIJuly 29-31

CORK


Kingston, ONwww.cork.org

August 20-24


August 20-24


August 20-24na

Midwinters East


Clearwater, FLwww.clwyc.org

Feb 24-27


Feb 24-27


Feb 24-27

Tampa, FLDavis Island YC

Feb 18-20

Midwinters West

30 GP Pts., ISAF Grade 2

CaliforniaYCMarina del Rey, CA

March 25-27


March 25-27


March 25-27na

Rolex Miami OCR

ISAF Grade 1

Miami, FL (men only)www.ussailing.org

January 24-29

Miami, FL (women only)www.ussailing.org

January 24-29na na

Atlantic CoastChampionships


Carolina Yacht Club,Wrightsville Beach, NC

April 30-May 1

Carolina Yacht Club,Wrightsville Beach, NC

April 30-May 1

Carolina Yacht Club,Wrightsville Beach, NCApril 30-May 1

D7, D8, D10,D11, D12

Pacific CoastChampionships


Seattle Yacht ClubSeattle, WAJune 4-5



D6, D24, D25

Gulf CoastChampionships


St. Petersburg YCTampa, FLApril 16-17



D13, D14, D15

No CoastChampionships


Jordanelle ReservoirPark City, UTSept. 24-25

Jordanelle ReservoirPark City, UTSept. 24-25

na D16, D21,D22, D23

Great LakesChampionships


CORKKingston, ONSept 17-18

CORKKingston, ONSept 17-18

naRoyal Hamilton YC

Hamilton, ONJune 25-26

www.Laser.org 17


SPRING 201118

Tips & TechniqueMAST INSPECTION

AND CARERYAN ERIC MINTH, C-VANESAILING

Top Laser sailors recognize thatmast inspection, set-up, and adjusting(aka bending) is often a daily routine.Performed correctly, it all but ensuresthat your rig stays together with nomajor failures as well as helps your sailshape.

The Laser spars are dramaticallydifferent from each other (upper versuslower section) when compared to thoseof a Radial or the 4.7 rigs. While thetips here make the most difference onthe Laser, Radials and 4.7 alike willbenefit from these suggestions as well.As a result, when Laser is stated below,it applies to all rigs.

Step one is a performance issue.The upper section needs to fit into thelower as tightly as possible. This mini-mizes the differing bend characteristicsbetween the two sections and promotesan even bend across a wider arc, help-ing the mast behave more like a one-piece spar. A loose connection at thejoint (especially when paired with asoft upper) will insure that the ‘ugly’Laser-wrinkle running from the mastjoint to the clew will be the worstamidst the fleet. The mast sleeve of aLaser sail already struggles at the jointarea, where it wraps around a fat lowersection then is forced to immediatelyadapt to the thinner diameter of theupper. Distortion in this area off theluff is going to happen (until cunning-ham tension takes over).

Tape must be applied to the collarsof the upper carefully so that no wrin-kles appear in the tape. Thin packingtape is a great, low-cost material forthis, allowing for a slow buildup untilthe proper thickness has been applied.Adhesive-backed teflon tape is verynice, but also expensive. The teflon

helps the tight fitting upper into thelower, but McLube may be applied tohelp glide them together. Tyvek tape isanother durable, albeit expensive mate-rial that works well. This particularspar combination took almost a dozenwraps of this tape at the top and aroundten turns at the lower collar.

The spars will likely not go com-pletely together by hand. Get theupper inserted as best as possible andalign the rivet straight aft along withthe boom gooseneck fitting. Whensighting down the mast, the exposedrivet on the upper mast collar shouldalign between the sides of the goose-neck fitting, dead center. The rivethole acts as a perforation to the sparand will corrode due to saltwater expo-sure and dissimilar metals (mast andrivet). This is a terrible combinationfor a high stress area, and having therivet always aft places the hole in com-pression, greatly reducing the risk offailure. Once your rivet is perfectlyaft, draw an arrow where the rivetshould be set for reference.

The best way to fully insert theupper into the lower is to gently tapdown the spar using its own weight.Chase Shaw (4th in the 2009 Radial

GP) illustrates theprocedure well.Only a four to sixinch drop ontosomething fairlysolid is required.Nice touch using theflip flop protectingthe plastic cap onthe mast base. Tooradical of a blowwill sheer the rivetsholding the uppercollars in place, sodo not go nuts.

While we are onthe mast bottomcap, ensure that the hole is open andclear to allow water to drain throughinto and out of the step. The lower isnot sealed and after a flip to turtle, thewater is able to at least drain down tomast deck/step level. This particularlower was new and the hole was sealedover. A car key was able to pushthrough the spot in the center. Anupper should be sealed to keep waterout at all times and provide somefloatation to a capsized Laser.

Once the mast is fully together, it isnow legal to tape the connection pre-venting the upper from rotating in thelower (and exposing the rivet or a per-manent bend of the upper to asymme-try tack to tack). If the connection isquite snug (as it should be) this shouldnot be too much of a concern. Duringextended regattas and training sessionsit is a nice touch. It remains illegal totape above the plastic collar, presum-ably to prevent any fairing at the jointand further minimizing the ‘ugly’ wrin-kle (remember the sleeve wrappingaround two diameters next to eachother?).


www.Laser.org 19

At the end of the day to inspect themast, the sail must be removed (a goodsail should not be wrapped around themast as it promotes an odd, almost ver-tical wrinkle at the head). Keep thespars connected as this will allow for amore accurate look at where the mastis bent and how far off straight it hasbecome. Sight down the spar from themast head to base. This was the worstspar in the lot and was chosen to illus-trate the bend.

At some point in time, and withsome spars it is EVERYDAY, the mastwill bend and need to be realigned. Infact, it is a Class Rule that spars are tobe straight. The best method forreturning a spar to straight is to bend itback, again while the mast is connect-ed. Many times the mast will needradical corrective bending to return itto straight, to the extent that the vangand gooseneck fittings are close to bot-toming out! This spar was pretty closeand we were also hesitant to go nuts onsomeone else’s stuff (even if we were‘helping’). No need to risk buying aspar for the sake of this article. Chaseagain shows where to apply the pres-sure to get the spar straight again.

It is a bit safer to have abuddy hold the mast top, butshould you be in the parking lotlate or just training alone, aneight foot fence works almost aswell.

A recently newupper spar when bentmay be flipped around

and sailed rivet forward forthe first couple of monthsfairly safely three or fourrotations. While illegal forracing, the spar will settleback to straight and eventu-ally re-bend aft. This work-hardens the aluminum and is probablybest for the spar and one’s budget.After this period, do not take a chance,and stay rivet aft. After sailing

straighten ashore immediately for sev-eral reasons. One, if it breaks here aday of sailing is not lost. Two, a sailsleeve repair is avoided. Three, youhave avoided the likely need for a towand/or Coast Guard assistance. Andfour, it allows at least an overnight orearly morning time frame to find areplacement.

One last tip for all true budgetconscientious Laser sailor. If youhave a particularly good, stiff sparthat is relatively bend resistant, butare concerned about its age, youmay lengthen its life by end-for-ending the upper extrusion. Makesure the spar is straight. Removethe collars and mast head cap (maybe a good time to replace these)and flip the mast head for the col-lar/mast joint section. Carefully installthe (new) collars inside the widthrestrictions of the Class Rules and drillthe new exposed rivet hole in line with

the old one, keeping the old rivet ft andoff the mast sleeve of the sail. Re-poprivets into the old holes to help main-tain the strength of the spar and makesure that the upper is sealed. The sparbelow has been end-for-ended and riv-ets sealed.

Radial Lower mast sections are cer-tainly capable of bending. The bendalmost always occurs just above the

mast stiffener. Ensurethat the mast base is wellsupported, at least aswell as if in the mast stepof the boat. A sharp cor-ner at the end of the sup-port is likely to ding thespar and probably kill italtogether. It will proba-bly take several Radial

sailors to bend the lower back straight.It is probably best to straighten lowersout by themselves (mast disconnected).While not easy, it can be done. ALaser Standard Lower is a telephonepole and will not bend. If it does, seekwarranty replacement or if twelvemonths have passed, your nearest alu-minum recycling center (drill off yourfittings for spares!).

One last note, do not try to straight-en the bend out of a 4.7 Lower. Thatone is supposed to be there!


SPRING 201120

Regatta Reports2011 Florida MastersWeek

Florida Laser MastersChampionship, Feb. 12-13The 2011 mid-winter masters’ migra-tion to south Florida started with abang and ended with a whimper.Things got off to a rousing start at theannual Jack Swenson Memorial FloridaLaser Masters Championship, where55 competitors were greeted with bigwind, big waves and the warm hospi-tality of the Palm Beach Sailing Club.The RC elected to send the geezersoutside on day one despite 20 knotwinds and epic seas. After two races,much carnage, and some confusionabout the exact coordinates of the lee-ward mark (resulting in a protest, laterdisallowed, of 19 boats), the tiredtroops were sent in, John Bertrand andErnesto Rodriguez leading the packwith a first and a second each. Day twodawned sunny and brisk, but no lessbreezy. This time the RC set a courseinside the channel, and the gang pro-ceeded to duke it out in four tightlyfought windward-leewards in a stiffnortherly. Ernesto put the pedal downhard, taking three bullets and beatingthe masters’ handicap to win firstApprentice and the coveted champi-on’s green jacket. Bertrand hung on totake second overall and first Master.Grand Master Jorge Abreu and GreatGrand Master Peter Seidenberg tiedfor sixth, each taking first in his agedivision, but Peter winning the tie-breaker based on the masters scoringrule of age before beauty. MichelleDavis was the first woman, and alsothe artistic talent behind the handsomeprizes. Food, drink, and race manage-ment were all first rate, thanks to thegreat team at PBSC.

MidweekMadness, Feb. 15-16After a (way tooshort) day to restand recover, thefleet reconvened atWest Palm Beachfor MidweekMadness.Meanwhile, thetemperaturewarmed up and thewind calmed down,resulting in the kind of champagnesailing conditions that lure sailors fromthousands of miles away to sail inFlorida in the winter. The 42-boat fleetincluded entries from Germany,Denmark, Mexico, Canada, DominicanRepublic, Hawaii, and the far cornersof the continental US. But it was localboy Ville Roberts from Ft. Lauderdale(via Finland) who crushed it the firstday, recovering from a first race restartafter being over early to finish 13-2-1-1 and end the day in a dead heat with

Cooper River, NJ, rock star JohnMcCausland. Day two brought alighter, shiftier, easterly breeze andsome major shakeups in the finishingorders. Still, at the end of the day itwas the same two names at the top,McCausland finally getting the best ofRoberts in the last race to win firstMaster and first overall by three points.Third overall and first Great GrandMaster was Peter Seidenberg, and BillSymes’s fifth overall was good enoughto win the Grand Master division. JayVann finished first in the Apprenticedivision and Michelle Davis onceagain took home the prize for firstwoman. Blissful but bleary-eyed afterfour magnificent days of sailing, thehappy band packed up their Lasers,bid a fond farewell to Palm Beach, andheaded west to the big one–MastersMidwinters East.

Masters Midwinters East,Feb. 18-20By the time the masters fleet arrived atDavis Island Yacht Club for the 2011Masters Midwinters East, its numbershad swelled to 71, but the wind hadshrunk to zero. Fortunately for thecompetitors, the race committee waspatient and the kitchen was proficient.As everyone sat gazing across the per-fect glass of Tampa Bay on Fridaymorning, the Davis Island YC staffwas serving up whopping plates ofBill Symes

David Hartman


www.Laser.org 21

eggs, bacon, grits, biscuits and gravy.Then, just when we feared all thiscarbo loading might go to waste,zephyrs started to appear out of thenorthwest. The breeze filled in, the APcame down, and the fleet hit the wateraround 4 pm, just in time to knock offtwo brisk races before sundown.Showing the way around the coursewas the amazingly youthful lookingMatias Del Solar, followed in the firstrace by his amazingly youthful lookingbrother Juan Pablo and in the secondrace by the amazingly youthful lookingEric Oetgen (is nobody checkingIDs?). Just beyond the finish line, thebeer boat was handing out pre-openedcans of Bud Light to refresh the com-petitors for their reach back into theclub, where more Bud Light and hotappetizers awaited.

Saturday morning looked like aGroundhog Day of day one. Sailorslined up at the breakfast buffet andhunkered down to wait for wind. Outon the front lawn, amid a sea of limpLaser sails, Juan Pablo Del Solaroffered an impromptu seminar on thelatest rigging tricks. Then around 2:30,

the RC detected whispers of adeveloping sea breeze and sentthe fleet out. Race three got offto a hopeful start in an 8-knotwesterly, but the breeze faded,then veered hard right on laptwo. 2010MastersMidwinterschamp Peter

Vessella figured itout to take the bullet,followed home byJohn McCauslandand Laser legendDick Tillman. As thebreeze filled in andsteadied, two-timeworld champion John Bertrand foundhis groove, leading Matias Del Solarand Mike Matan across the finish linein race four. There was just enoughtime and just enough wind to squeezeoff one more heat, at the end of whichMatia Del Solar was once again at thefront of the pack, followed by PeterShope and Eric Oetgen. The beer boatwas on duty at the finish line, and theweary competitorssailed home to hotshowers and a boda-cious regatta dinner.

And that, as it turnedout, was that. With nowind lines in sight bylunch time Sunday,the RC called it aregatta and fired up

the barbeques.Over burgers andbeers, the hard-ware was handed out to thesailors in the box to the right.

Masters Midwinters Eastwas also the grand finaleof Florida Masters Week,which combined scores forall three regattas to determine top

dog for the week. Ville Roberts ofLauderdale Yacht Club took the overalltitle with scores of 3-2-6 in the Mastersdivision. Age group winners ar in thebox at bottom:

Many thanks to the huge team of vol-unteers that put on this terrific sail-ing/dining extravaganza, especiallyRegatta Chair Eric Robbins and PROJane Anne Pincus. Full results can befound at http://diyc.org/results.asp.

Photos by Cal Landau Photography;www.callandau.com

Masters Midwinters East Top FinishersApprentice Grand Master1. Matias Del Solar 1. Peter Vessella2. Eric Oetgen 2. Bill Symes3. Juan Pablo Del Solar 3. Alden Shattuck

Master Great Grand Master1. John Bertrand 1. Peter Seidenberg2. Peter Shope 2. David Hartman3. John MacCausland 3. Dick Tillman

Overall1. Matias Del Solar2. Peter Vesella3. John Bertrand

Florida Masters Week FinalApprentice: Matias Del SolarMaster: John MacCauslandGGrand Master: Peter Seidenberg

Ville Roberts

Peter Seidenberg

Charlie Buckingham


SPRING 201122

Whitefish LakeRegatta

A steady and consistent wind greet-ed sailors July 10 for the second annu-al, and still very much informal,Whitefish Lake Laser Regatta. This afree regatta, with a great after-racelunch at Peter and Cheri Aronsson’shouse above the lake.

After meeting at Heather Mull’shouse near the ramp at 5:30 a.m., adozen Laser sailboats launched fromCity Beach at 7 a.m. and raced anOlympic triangle course in the middleof the lake.

Race organizer Peter Aronsson setbuoys in 85-foot deep water. Each ofthe day’s three races featured one lapand tight competition at the front.

Aronsson took an early lead in thefirst race, but his mainsheet came

loose, forcing him to drop out. JohnUnderwood took over the lead andended up winning all three races. ScottGalbraith was a close second, finishingeach race less than one boat lengthbehind Underwood.

“Those two guys were dueling thewhole way around,” Aronsson said. Infact, the entire pack of boats stayedwithin earshot of Underwood, with thelast-place boat never more than oneminute behind.

“That’s the goal in this kind of rac-ing,” Aronsson explained. “It getsdown to the minute differences,and that’s really good.”

Mike Gilbert and PeteYoung tied for third with 12points. Underwood was award-ed an engraved beer mug, andsponsor Flathead Lake Lodgesupplied the grand prize of acruise on Doug Averill’s classic

racing yacht, the Nor’Easter V, one oftwo Herreshoff-designed “Q boats.”

A goal of the regatta is to promotethe non-profit Whitefish Lake Institute,Aronsson said. The Institute research-es water quality in the Flathead Lakewatershed.

The regatta will continue next sum-mer and expand to a two-day affairJuly 16-17. There are 10 boats com-mitted as of mid-February. Aronssonsays as many as 75 Laser sailors residein the North Valley.

Taken from the Whitefish Pilot


www.Laser.org 23

40th Orange CoffeePot Regatta

The historic Jack Elfman OrangeCoffee Pot Regatta will celebrate its 40Year anniversary on Saturday, June 4th

at Surf City YC on Long Beach Island,New Jersey. We believe this is thelongest running laser regatta in theLaser Class. The regatta was started in1972 by a group of local Laser sailorsincluding Jack Elfman. Jack donatedan old orange porcelain coffee pot thatbecame the perpetual trophy. The ini-tial OCP winner was Skip Whyte. Thenext 2 years Gary Jobson was the win-ner and Clay Johnson has been theonly 4 time champion. In the earlyyears there were 40-50 Lasers partici-pating. This great one day regatta isfor Lasers, Radials and 4.7 rigs has agoal of 40 boats for the 40th AnnualRegatta. Plenty of good racing, foodand awards so hopefully many Laser

sailors will include this regatta on theirsailing schedule. The NOR will be onthe Surf City YC website (scyc-nj.org).Any questions contact: Newt [email protected] Ph: 609 4942801

1972 Skip Whyte1973 Gary Jobson1974 Gary Jobson1975 Dave Gray1976 Shawn Kempton1977 Shawn Kempton1978 Shawn Kempton1979 Had Brick1980 Frank Edelblut1981 Had Brick1982 Bill Mergenthaler1983 Mike Waters1984 Jim Deering1985 Had Brick1986 Chris Larson1987 David Applegate1988 Dave Magno1989 Stephen Rhodes1990 Jim “T” Thieler1991 Jim “T” Thieler

Orange Coffee PotChampions

1992 David Applegate1993 Max Skelley1994 Peter Hurley1995 Richard Colie1996 Richard Colie19971998 Travis Weber1999 Clay Johnson2000 Clay Johnson2001 Glen Dickson2002 Dave Breder2003 Clay Johnson2004 Reed Johnson2005 Royce Weber2006 Clay Johnson2007 Jerry Tullo2008 Eric Reitinger2009 Theo Ingram2010 Mike Hecky

Calgary1520 Meridian Rd

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SPRING 201124

Mastery in MexicoWALT SPEVAK

Fourteen Masters sailors from the U.S.and Canada gathered in early Marchfor the International Sailing Academy(www.internationalsailingacademy.com )Laser Masters Racing Clinic andMexican Masters Championships insunny Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Thoseof us from San Francisco were happyto leave the Bay’s frigid waters. Ourmates from Canada were happy toleave the frigid temperatures oftheir home towns!

The format was to trainfor four days and thenrace for three withcoaching from ISA co-founder VaughnHarrison and formerLaser World Championand Olympian JohnBertrand

(http://johnbertrand.blogspot.com/).Just days before, the ‘internationals’(Paul Goodison, Nick Thompson,James Espey and others) had beentraining at ISA and John was deter-mined to have our training drills mirrorthe younger stars of our sport. Johnalso encouraged us to have a “go for it’mentality which provided great enter-tainment for the locals as we practicedroll tacks and invariably rolled the boaton top of ourselves when initiating thetack or missed the hiking strap alto-gether when jumping to windward andquickly executed a head over heels flipwith tiller extension and main sheetstill in hand. With air and water tempsin the 70s who cared!

One day we were towed an hourupwind followed by several hours ofdownwind drills “just like the interna-tionals”. Knowing the distance gainswhich can be made downwind this wasa particularly important day, video-taped as was every day, which wewould watch in the evening to debriefthe days sailing. For many of us thiswas the first time seeing our starting

techniques, markroundings and S-curves (or lackthereof) on film.Sessions includedcomparing ourrather statue liketechniques tothose of the rockstars and theirnon-stop activityin the boat.

A huge part ofwhat makes ISA such an ideal venue is

the truly extraordinary,healthy cuisinecooked up by LeahHolsten-Danielsonwhose homeand North SailsPuerto Vallartaloft served asour daily gather-

ing spot. Breakfastprovided fuel for the

day and got us started.Then, after our daily on-the-water ses-sions, we returned to Leah’s where, aswe settled our weary bodies into oh socomfortable chairs, we were providedcold towels to clean up, myriad choicesof fruit juices and snacks and later din-ners which topped any restaurant foodavailable,except perhapsfor the won-derfullynamed “Tacoson the Street”.

After fourdays of train-ing it was timefor racingwhere wewere joined byseveralMexican Lasersailors, of allages, including3-timeMexicanRadialOlympianTania Elias-

Calles, who had also run through drillswith us, and aspiring Olympian PabloRabago. Even in the lighter air racesTania, in her Radial, kept up and usual-ly led most of the Standard rigs, mas-terfully surfing downwind in condi-tions where few of us could find awave. In the breeze Pablo was ridicu-lously horizontal keeping his boat flatand saying adios after the start.Pablo’s conditioning reminded John toencourage us to check out US SailingTeam partner, Bow Down Trainingwww.bowdowntraining.com , if wewanted any chance to ‘be like Pablo’ inthis August’s windy worlds of SanFrancisco Bay.

Photo: View at the start from the top of KurtWessel’s mast

Photo: Christy Usher leading the pack out ofthe leeward mark.


www.Laser.org 25

John joined us for the first two days ofracing and it was inspiring to see histalent level after rejoining the Laserclass just a few years ago. Tracy Usherproved victorious in the Masters divi-sion, Richard Quinlan the top GrandMaster, David Elliott the top GreatGrandmaster, and Kurt Wessels led theApprentice Group. Of note was thesuperb race committee work who effi-ciently set up trapezoid courses toagain mirror the configurations we’lllikely see in SF Bay.

Throughout the training sessions andracing we enjoyed the added bonus ofbeing photographed by talented andcreative photographer, Jen Edney. Jenhad some very creative ideas on anglesfor photographs, from her taking pic-tures from the water, to mounting acamera at the masthead. I encourageyou to check out her websitewww.jenedney.com and see Laser pho-tography like you’ve never seen itbefore!

After seven days of morning to lateafternoon sailable breezes, videodebriefs, sumptuous food and balmyevenings in shorts and t-shirts it wastime to say adios amigos and headback to the realities of winter, taking acold bow wave racing again in SF Bayor a cold blast of Canadian air for theAlberta sailors amongst us. We allagreed to come back next March as anexcellent way to kick off the sailingseason with superb coaching from John

and Vaughn combined with Leah’s hos-pitality and cuisine. Thanks Vaughn,John, Leah, and Jen for making ourweek so memorable.All photos courtesy of Jen Edney

Photo: Nearing the end of the downwind prac-tice day.


SPRING 201126

District ReportsDistrict 1Danielle DubeNova Scotia

There once was a man named Rob Koci

Who lives in Toronto and writes for D3

He wrote a poem for the winter issue

And I laughed so hard I needed a tissue

And for better or worse it’s inspired me

So now onto the daunting task at hand

I’ll tell a tale of escape from frozen land

Where sailors from all over District One

Flocked south like birds

To greet the southern sun

It began in January at the Miami OCR

Where sailors came from near and far

To get our hands dirty in the first world cup event

And after 5 days we all were spent

And Lisa came 17th, I was 25th, with Erin Rafuse inthirty.

Next on our list was the Women’s NA’s

In Ft. Lauderdale we had light winds for days

The courses sailed were windward-leewards

The competitors were world-class and eager

I placed 11th, Erin came 12th, and to our amaze

Lisa placed 3rd to showcase her winning ways

Now during this time, back in Miami

Where the palm trees sway and the beaches aresandy

Laser sailors Greg Simms, Bryant Woods andBrandon Brown

Lived and trained out of the Squadron house in town

And I heard their training was quite dandy

From mid February in Cabarete, D.R.

The Dunn brothers were training and narrowlyescaped the E.R.

They were sailing their lasers in big wind and waves

But bailed on a reef, leaving coach Agustin in a daze

They made it ashore, and we’re glad they’re okay

With smiles on their faces they sailed the next day

The last regatta in February was the midwinter’sEast

Which takes place in Clearwater and is a whole dif-ferent beast

We packed the car and loaded the trailer badly

And took off from Miami to cross Alligator Alley

Unlike past years Clearwater was hot, sunny, andsweet

The type of conditions that couldn’t be beat

In the radials Erin was 17th, I placed 18th, SandyBeatty 85th,

And Greg Simms 87th, and Maggie Kennedy withsome unfortunate BFDs,

Placed 104 in a hundred-and-something boat fleet

And in the full rigs, competition was tough

A lot of sailors found the light conditions rough

Bryant Woods and Brandon Brown were numbers58 and 66

They learned a lot and found some skills to be fixed

And in Master’s news, Gerry Giffin went to com-pete

In Tampa at the Laser Masters Midwinters East

Where there was a seventy-one boat fleet,

And Gerry placed 48th, so many boats he did beat.

And now, like winter, this poem must conclude

I hope I didn’t do something rude

And forget to mention someone’s glorification

If I did, send me an email

And it will be in next season’s publication.

District 2Philippe DormoyQuebec, CanadaYes , Laser is really getting into my head!

It was with great pleasure that I proposed my candi-dature for the district 2 secretary position, and I amon as the new district 2 secretary.I want to thanks very much Louis Beauregard forhis work and for bringing me to the class last year.

What a great class and dynamic group you guys are!

When I decided to get into Laser sailing last Spring,I found a good boat , I registered to the class and atraining camp in Montreal. With all my sailing back-ground and my physical training, I thought it wasgoing to be a piece of cake. What a wake-up call Igot!

The training camp was help with winds up to 27knots and I spent half of my time in the water! I hadnot putt my hiking pants (what is that for?) and

found out what they are all about. What a first con-tact it was! But I also found a nice group of passion-ate guys, and a great dinghy, and I rarely give up!

So a few weeks after that I went to the CanadianLaser Championship in Quebec and I had, again, asevere lesson… but a few good legs. I was so beat-up after this championship that I told my wife thatLaser was stronger than me. But, I told you, I rarelygive-up.

So a few weeks after, I went to the Canadian mas-ters and things started to fall in place. It has been agreat championship, a great event, where I met abunch of great people.

And that was it: It was totally intoxicated to theLaser and the Masters Class Association! But mywindsurfer friends are not happy about my move.

We, unfortunately, had not a great participation toour district championship that was windy enough tobe really fun. I broke my mast at the first race so Ionly race 3 of the 7 races. Jean-Pierre Kikens wonthe district title in front of Pierre Jasmin and DenysDeschambeau.

So what’s next? The boat in at rest, winter is comingto an end:

We, as a group of Québec Laser sailors, want tobring more people to the races. I know that there area lot people not coming to the regattas and I want tofind out how to change that.There will still be the training camp in spring andour Quebec race agenda will most probably be inline with the “Fédération de voile du Québec” asthey already have organized races that we can go to.

I want to organize weekly “fun practice races” andgroup practices followed by BBQ’s

I also want to work closely with our friends fromDistrict 3, try to have common events/Activities andlearn from them.

This year the Canadian master is in Kingston and itshould be a great regatta. Let’s make sure that theQuebec Laser 1 sailor’s participation will be signifi-cant.

I am open to any suggestions, ideas, help to bringmore sailors to the class and the association. It needsto be fun and rewarding and it is up to us to createthis climate.

I wish you all a good end of winter, good springtime and back to sailing as soon as possible.

My biggest problem this summer will be to choosebetween Laser sailing and Windsurfing when windswill be above 20 knots, I think I will do both!

Good sailing.

District 3Rob KociToronto, CanadaSpring is here. Whew.

The single most important development in the D3this spring is the change to our Gold Cup Series,sponsored by Fogh Marine. This year, the series willbe renamed the Fogh Gold Cup and registration willbe necessary to qualify for the regatta points andoverall winner prizes.


www.Laser.org 27

To register for the series, contact Fogh Marine byphone, fax or email to let them know you want to bescored for the six regatta series. There is no registra-tion fee. You’ll need to give them your name, con-tact information, sail number, age and NA LaserClass Association number.

The six venues this year are:Toronto Sailing and Canoe Club Icebreaker,TS&CC, Toronto, May 21-22Water Rats Spring WAR, Water Rats SC, Toronto,June 4-5Sailfest Sarnia, Sarnia Yacht Club, Sarnia, July 9-10Fogh Boorman Regatta, Royal Hamilton YachtClub, Hamilton, July 23-24Mid Ontarios, Sturgeon Lake Sailing Club, SturgeonPoint, August 6-7National Capital Regatta, Britianna Yacht Club,Ottawa, Aug 13-14

As usual, your best four of the six regattas counttowards the overall results. The prizes will be as lastyear; Fogh Marine is supplying new sails to the win-ners of the Full Rig fleet, the Radial fleet, and topJunior and top female in the Radial Fleet. TopMaster will be awarded a gift certificate from FoghMarine.

Beyond the Fogh Gold Cup, there are a number ofexcellent regattas in the D3. Two Masters regattas towatch for are the Great Lakes Masters in Hamiltonand the Canadian Masters held this year inKingston, Ont. As well, the Great Lakes OpenChampionship will take place in Kingston duringFall CORK. For information on all regattas thissummer, go to www.d3laser.com and click on“Regattas.”

The winter was good to us this year. The OntarioMasters Racing Team organized a trip to theDominican Republic for training. The group includ-ed 18 sailors from Ontario along with their friendsand family. Local coach Rulo and Thomas Peister,national coach for the German sailing team, were onhand to point the sailors in the right direction. Theclinic included the Laser Training Center’s firstdownwind training day, where the fleet left fromCabarete Bay and sailed downwind about 10k toSosua Bay. Joining the team was Raul Ayago, repre-sentative for the Dominican Republic in the last

Olympics. His presence and the presence ofDanielle Dube, international Radial sailor fromHalifax, were enough to show just how far weMasters have to go avoiding the spanking we nor-mally get downwind.

District 4Brigitte SmutnyWinnipeg, Canada

On August 4-7, 2011 the Gimli Yacht Club will behosting CYA SAILWEST, the Western CanadianSailing Championships. The event is expected toattract participation of 180 athletes from BritishColumbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.The four day event will consist of a two day YouthOlympic Training Seminar with expert coaches fromacross the country, followed by a two day sailingregatta. “I am excited about competing at Sail Westin Gimli this year. I was in Edmonton last year forSail West and it was great. I am looking forward tocompeting with home field advantage where myfriends and family can come and watch.” saysEmma Williams, a sailor from Team Manitoba whotrains in Gimli.

The Gimli Yacht Club was founded as a part of thelegacy from the 1967 Pam Am Games. Sailboat rac-ing was the “raison d’être” for the establishment ofthe club. “Gimli Yacht Club has been host to multi-ple title events over the years, including two PanAm Games in 1967 and 1999, many National andNorth American Championships, Western CanadaSummer Games, Western Canadian Championships,and even a World Boardsailing Championship in1994.” says current Commodore Eric Turner. “ForSail West we will have over 50 volunteers workingtogether to make the event a success. We want toshowcase one of the best sailing venues acrossNorth America. Lake Winnipeg provides for someof the best inland sailing West of the Great Lakes,and the Gimli harbour has a world class dinghybeach.” For more information about CYA Sail Westvisit www.sailwest2011.com

District 5Mark LammensSaskatoon, CanadaThe Dick Degner District-5 Summer Series eventshave been secured. Mostly the same as last yearexcept Newell has been added to the scoring eventswith hosting the District’s, a first. DDD-5 scoring is3 regattas in AB and 3 in SK, best 2 and 1 fromeither province, inverse scoring. Basically the sailor,(Master, Open, and Radial) that has finished in frontof the most sailors gets their name on the DickDegner trophy. Take a look on the D-5 link on theSask sailing web site.

There has been discussion about the formalizing theHIKE AND HACK event, golf and sailing, to bedone with the Western Masters/SK regatta in Meota,

SK. 9 holes of golf, 9 races in sailing. Scoring to bedetermined. Do we drop a hole for DSQ, “Did Shoota Quall”, or for OCS- “One Crap Shot”…..and howto score the foot wedge? Basically it will be addingboth numbers to get 1 number. A 52 is tacking upthe course too much.

Other news, Calgary Yacht Club should have its newclub house for 2011, weather projections are hot,spring run-off should be at a 20 year high andoil/gas/potash rich Alberta and Saskatchewan shouldthrive. Another good year to be sailing laser in D-5.

District 6Andy HuntVancouver, CanadaThis report will be shorter than usual due to lack ofactivities in District 6 in the winter. There was oneregatta in February and one regatta in March. I havebeen informed that there is no longer any formalfrostbite racing going on in Victoria. In the olddays, there was a consistent group of sailors thatwould show up on Saturdays for some winter rac-ing. This is no longer the case and now they dosome training exercises and some short informalraces. Since Washington State now is in District 22,the only frostbiting that I know of in District 6 is atthe Surrey Sailing Club(www.surreysailingclub.bc.ca.The frostbite racing is now over and all the clubswill be starting their spring racing which I hope toreport on in the next Laser Sailor. I have found outthat there is a new sailing venue on VancouverIsland. The information on the new site is listedbelow:Port Alberni is the hottest Valley on VancouverIsland in the summer and due to the long inlet thatopens to the west coast,it draws world-class, consistent, predictable thermalwinds up the Alberni canal. A real plus to the sail-ing here is the warm water. Where else onVancouver Island can you play in the windy water inanything less than a wetsuit. Due to the heat of thevalley, the water is warm enough to swim in just abathing suit for the summer months.Last summer, we (Wild West Watersports) createdwater access to the warm windy inlet for watercraftof all kinds. Historically, Port Alberni had no rea-sonable, safe water access, since the waterfront hasbeen locked up in industry for years.Now, there’s plenty of room for parking, rigging andsailboat launching from the Wild West Watersportsaccess point.In addition to the predictable, consistent thermalwinds, Port Alberni is a city that offers plenty ofother activities/amenities for visitors. Many options for lodging,restaurants, and shopping, not to mention hik-ing/biking trails, kayak tours,scuba diving, and other adventures.For more information on Port Alberni, please visit


SPRING 201128

www.albernivalleytourism.com. Wind conditionscan be found at:www.bigwavedave.com Port Alberni Harbour Quay.There is a new Laser Performance dealer onVancouver Island. They are Trotac Marine which islocated in Victoria on Dallas Road, near the OgdenPoint Breakwater. They took over when the Bosun’sLocker closed doors.Now, on to the real stuff, ie what happened in thetwo above mentioned regattas.The first regatta was in Victoria on February 5 and 6at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. There were 4races on the Saturday and five races on the Sundayfor each fleet of Standard Lasers and Laser Radials.Winds were about 5 – 8 on Saturday and quite a bitmore on Sunday, about 10 – 13. There were 13Standard Lasers and 6 Laser Radials. Competitorscame from the Island and the lower mainland(Vancouver and Surrey). Top three Standard LaserSailors were: Phil Round, RVicYC, 21.00; DougHoney, SSC, 33.00; Peter Woytkowiak, JSCA,35.00. There was a mix of master, open and youthsailors in the Standard Lasers. In the Laser Radials,there were 6 sailors and there were 4 youth sailorsand two master sailors. Maura Dewey, who sailedbetter in the lighter winds, edged out Mike Cannon14 points to 16 points. Max Gallant was third with22 points.My thanks to Darren Redies for the following reporton the March Madness Regatta:The March Madness Regatta was hosted by theRoyal Vancouver Yacht Club on March 12 & 13 aspart of the District 6Frostbite Series. 24 competitors from the RoyalVancouver Yacht Club, the Jericho Sailing Centre,the Surrey Sailing Cluband the Royal Victoria Yacht Club did battle in arange of conditions. On day one, the race commit-tee was recording wind speeds of 21 knots prior tothe first start, but the winds gradually faded as theday progressed ending the day with about 12 knotsof breeze. Day two was forecast to be a gale, butinstead greeted the competitors with a more steadybreeze of about 18 knots. After two days, 7 raceswere completed. Al Clark showed his customaryboat speed and prowess around the course, and dom-inated the Standard fleet with an 11 point lead overhis nearest competitor. Similarly, Isabella Bertoldwas able to wrap up with a comfortable 8 point leadin the Radial fleet. Full results are available forboth regattas on the club’swebsites (www.rvyc.bc.ca & www.royalvan.com.There are plans in the works to have the 2011District 6 Grand Prix at Cultus Lake on June 18 &19. I hope to have this confirmed with the com-modore of the Cultus Lake Sailing Club, ChrisCarberry, as soon as possible. Finally, plans are alsoin the works for a new District 6 website. Detailswill follow when the site is up and running. Forthose of you who want to check out the regattas inDistrict 6, please go to: www.cycseattle.org/slf.

District 7Kim FergusonRhode IslandOne thing that needs to be on every Laser sailor’s“bucket list” is a trip to The Laser Training Centerin Cabarete, Dominican Republic! Scott was invitedto sail in a Laser clinic over March run by well-known coach Dr. Rulo and what a trip it was. Iended up tagging along and sailing as well and all Ican say is that, a few days in Cabarete with coachRulo, is the place to go if you want to get better sail-ing a Laser in breeze and waves.

Whether you are a beginner Laser sailor or a familymember that wants to hang on the beach, there isplenty to do in Cabarete! I had a huge smile on myface at the end of each day. The breeze, even whenit’s up, is softer than sailing in the harsh East Coastoff the US and the water, so warm. Even on thewindiest days, with big waves and soaking wet, younever felt cold, not once. Cabarete is by far thenicest place that I have ever sailed a Laser! Check itout at www.caribwind.com

As far as big news in the D7 fleet, Rob Crane ofNoroton YC takes the cake with a 10th place finish(out of 103) at the 2011 Miami OCR!

In the Master’s fleet, Peter Shope of Sail Newportwas 3rd place overall out of 58 competitors in the2011 Florida Laser Masters. Peter Seidenberg alsoof Sail Newport finished in 7th withMike Matan ofCedar Point finishing in 8th.

For the juniors, Lucas Adams finished in 7th placeoverall in a competitive standard fleet at the OrangeBowl Regatta.

Despite the frigid winter and multiple “snow days,”the frostbiting across D7 was strong with the biggestturnout and least amount of cancellations beingNewport’s Fleet 413.

Please put your emails on the email list for the blog(http://laserdistrict7.blogspot.com) to get the mostup-to-date stories and photos. Also, check the“Regatta NOR/Results” page on the D7 website forNOR and results!

You can promote your own events and boost theenthusiasm by sending me photos and stories.

District 8Ted CremerLong Island, NYHappy spring Laser sailors!

Lets lead off with acknowledging our travelingsailors!

Laser Midwinters East saw that district 8 was wellrepresented and the weather couldn’t be better. Itwas in the 70s everyday, mostly sunny, and wind forthe most part was good. District 8’s Vic Thuroe andDaniel DelBello finished a respectable 23rd and27th respectively in the Laser Gold Fleet!

LISOT Radial sailors did well although they sailedunattached this time around as coach Rob Crane wascompeting as he embarks on his Olympic campaign.http://robcraneracing.com/Welcome.html

Colin Kennedy (12th)Gary Prieto (20th)Ryan Schmitz (24th)Nick Valente (25th)Stefan Kuehn (51st)Matt Lyons (35th in Radial silver)

Colin Kennedy and Nic Valente were supported byLauderdale YC. They have been sailing in the LYCWinter away program where they sail at LYC twicea month and get supported by them for all theFlorida Regattas. Ryan and Matt were supported byBrett Davis. LYC coaches Anna

Tunnacliff definitely helped as did LukeLawrence. Some of the D8 sailors also participatedin the USA Development team practice the weekendbefore. They open 4 practices a year to up and thesailors and are Coached by Ryan Minth and headCoach Leandro Spina.

Thanks to Larry Kennedy for his report - definitelycheck out his pictures!

https://picasaweb.google.com/klarry123/MidwintersEast20112

While we are speaking about travelling sailors,judging from Mike Matan’s facebook page, he’sbeen all over the globe training and racing and wona big masters event this winter down in Florida -story below!

Matan wins Florida Laser Masters54 Sailors from 5 countries and 15 states gathered atPalm Beach Sailing Club to experience great oceansailing in an 6 to 8 knot southerly on Saturday inbalmy 80 degree sunshine. The RC wisely decidedthe 25 knot breeze in the ocean could make forunsafe conditions for the fleet so we enjoyed “lakesailing” in 20 plus northerlies on Sunday. MikeMatan showed his speed in the heavier winds onSunday to emerge as the winner. John MacCausland,last year’s winner, was 4 points behind to finish asrunner-up. Ian Lineberger beat out Ryan Minth on atie breaker for third overall. Full Results are at:http://www.pbsail.org/LaserMasters2008.htm

I look forward to seeing Mike back at Sayville YCwhen he’s back in the area . . . the windier it is, thefaster he goes!

On to local winter sailing and upcoming plans!Seawanhaka’s winter program is a great success,thanks for Maryanne Nash’s great leadership andDave Trinder’s reports. Seawanhaka continues to bean awesome host to the district, and there is no wayto thank Seawanhaka enough for their great effortson our behalf. Special congrats go out to RyanSchmitz who looks to be on a roll leading the springseries with an average score of 1.45 points over 18races. Ryan is fast , , , if he keeps up with this, he’llbe sailing in college for sure! Fred Abels andLindsay Hewitt are second and 3rd respectively withMatt Lyons in 4th. Geoffrey Loffredo had a strongfall season and is currently fifth in the springs series.He’ll be a force to recon with next summer in theEast End Laser Series! In all, 19 folks dragged theirlasers out and at one time or another sailed in thespring series. Congratulations to all involved!

I want to thank my loyal webmaster Robert Terry(currently 7th for the spring season!) for his contin-ued commitment to the website. You really need togo to the site and check out all of his videos... goto video archives. http://laserd8.tripod.com/

Upcoming regattas

May 7th Regatta at Sebago Canoe Club -Brooklyn, NY

June 4th-5th Laser District 8 Grand Prix -Sayville YC

June 11th Southampton YC regatta - sailing inthe Hamptons followed by a killer feast!

June 18 AYC Spring Laser Regatta - AmericanYacht Club, Rye, NY


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Southold Yacht Club is excited to announce theaddition of the Laser class to its annual AroundShelter Island races, July 30, 2011.

NOR’s will be available on the district websitehttp://laserd8.tripod.com/ as they become avail-able.

Finally, I need to Thank Mike Duran and Lynn forkeeping that east end series together and cranking. Itrepresents one of the best summer laser series in thecountry in terms of numbers... well done! We’llhave his schedule up soon, and I look forward togoing back to North Haven July 4th weekend forBud’s regatta.

See you on the water!~

District 9Chas WilliamsonIthaca, NY

We have a beautiful day today - mid-50’s and thesnow is melting fast, telling us to get out on thewater soon, and especially after Spring Break.

The Spring 2011 season will start with Ithaca YCWine Keg on 21 May 2011, and we will be off to agood start with guaranteed good breezes, followedby Newport YC (28 May); an early start this yearfor Willowbank YC (4 June); Saratoga Lake SC (11June) and Chautauqua Lake YC (25 June). Forthese and later regattas see the calendar below, andalso check out the D9 Schedule on the ILCA - NorthAmerica website. There you will find completeschedules and information on the fleets and clubs,all over the country, plus any changes to this calen-dar, although all the regattas have been confirmedwith the various yacht clubs.

Last year, we had 3 regattas in the second half of theseason, which have not been reported on as yet. Iwill be receiving results from Seneca YC and theWillowbank YC Deathroll very soon. We shouldfocus first on the results of the DistrictChampionships, held on 10-11 July 2011 at SodusBay YC and SBJSA, very ably coordinated by MikeFoley of SBJSA. The Laser Standard was won byMike Hecky, who finished on equal points withChas Williamson, but with placings of 1-2-2-1-4-5-11, he had a tie-break advantage over Chas whoscored 4-1-4-8-3-2-1. Chas, and fantastic CoachPhil Alley, thought he had won, for around 2 hours,until the tie-break realisation came! AnotherWilliamson did well in the Radial fleet - Philippefinished first with a 2-2-1-1-1-2-3 score, beatingColin Lange by one point. The wind was full hikingweather on the Saturday, and slightly lighter on theSunday. Scott Possee and Jamie Moran also wonraces to finish 3rd and 4th, followed by Junior sailorIan Ikeda, coached by the great Rochester YC teamincluding Jon Faudree. Luke Miller of Ithaca fin-ished very well in 6th place. Mike Kitner andRichie Wait did awesomely to finish as the two topMasters sailors.Overall placings:Laser Standard: 1. Mike Hecky; 2. ChasWilliamson; 3. Scott Possee; 4. Jamie Moran; 5. IanIkeda; 6. Lucky Luke Miller; 7. AJ Murphy; 8. TomShaw; 9. Mike Kitner; 10. Richie Wait; 11. NicholasBalta; 12. Alex Steo; 13. Chris Wilson; 14. DaveFiliberto; 15. Alexander Grassl; 16. Justin Reisch;17. James; 18. Alden Kwy; 19. Marcus Costich; 20.Peter Fleckenstein; 21. Joe Miller of the Brothers;22. Jared Caughill.Laser Radial: 1. Philippe Williamson; 2. Colin

Lange; 3. Grant Gefell; 4. Alana Macdonald; 5.Dalton Carison.

District 10Eric ReitingerNew Jersey

Winter set in for the district with some folks bravingthe cold up here and many making the trip downsouth for the warm weather.

For many the way to end the year is to head down tothe Orange Bowl. Many sailors leave on Christmasday and make the trek down to Miami.

4.7 (20 boats)

Connor Swikart (Shrewsbury Sailing and YC) 7th

Full Rig (30 boats)Ryan Bailey (Island Heights YC) 17th

Nick Pro (Riverton YC) 25thRadial (139 boats)Jack Swikart (Shrewsbury Sailing and YC) 25th

Andrew Puopolo (Marsh Creek SC) 39th

The Miami OCR was the big international regatta ofthe winter for many. A few D10 sailors made thetrip. Congratulations to Clay Johnson for his 9thplace finish and acceptance onto the US SailingAlpha Graphics Team. Kyle Rogachenko finished16th and Billy Martin finished 87th.

Before the open Midwinters, the Masters get a weekof sailing all over Florida. The first two regattas,Florida Masters and Masters Midweek Madnessboth took place at Palm Beach Sailing Club andthen Masters Midwinters East at Davis Island YachtClub. Four made the trip down and sailed the entirecircuit.

Florida Masters:

John MacCausland (Cooper River YC) 11th

Mike Hecky (Riverton YC) 24th

Newt Wattis (Surf City YC) 20th

Don Hahl (Brant Beach YC) 16th

Midweek Madness: Mac 1st,Mike 11th , Newt 18th ,Don 22nd

Midwinters East:Mac 6th ,Mike 29th ,Newt 38th,Don 37th

Just after that the open Midwinters took place atClearwater Yacht Club with perfect weather (muchwarmer than last year). The District was well repre-sented.

Laser Gold FleetClay Johnson (3rd) Little Egg Harbor YCKyle Rogochenko (14th) Toms River YCEric Reitinger (29th) Brant Beach YC

Laser Silver FleetRyan Bailey (7th) Island Heights YCJoe Lepis (10th) Lavallette YCMac Feaster (21st) Island Heights YC

Radial Gold FleetJack Swikart (35th) Shrewsbury Sailing and YC

Radial Silver Fleet

Andrew Puopolo (2nd) Marsh Creek SCIsaac Cohen (28th) Toms River YCJake Ellis (52nd) Brant Beach YC

4.7Kayla Ellis (5th) Brant Beach YCConnor Swikart (7th) Shrewsbury Sailing and YC

Monmouth Boat Club had frostbiting that went inthrough December then stopped when the iceformed on the river. They started up in March andwill finish up at the end of the month.

The calendar for the District can be found at theLaser class site. Most of the adult events are in thespring and fall while the junior events dominate thesummer. Brant Beach is hosting the NorthAmericans July 12-15 so please come and join usthen. The Districts will be held at Little Egg on June11-12.

Spring and early Summer Schedule

April 10 and 17 Ice Breaker @ Riverton YC

April 30 30thAnnual Phil Champ for Lasers@Marsh CreekMay 14Monmouth Spring Regatta@Monmouth BCMay 28 Lavallette Laser Regatta @ Lavallette YCJune 4 2011OrangeCoffeePotLaserRegatta@SurfCityYCJune 11-12 Laser District 10 Championship@Little EggHarborYCJune 12 Rust Removal @ Island Heights YCJune 18 Shrewsbury Spring Regatta @ ShrewsburySailing and YCJune 30 Feed the Need Jr. Regatta@Pine BeachYCJuly 1 Jr. Commodore’s Regatta @ Surf City YCJuly 7 IronMan Jr. Regatta (boys only)@ShoreAcresYCJuly 8 Powder Puff Regatta (girls only) @Metedeconk River YCJuly 12-15 2011 North American Championship @Brant Beach YCJuly 18 Jr Team Race @ Lavallette YCJuly 25-26 US Sailing Mid-Atlantic Junior OlympicRegatta @ Island Heights YC

District 11

Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, DC,West VirginiaJon Deutschhttp://laserdistrict11.org

Our frostbite season has wrapped up and we’ve gota great summer season of sailing ahead of us. Ourpremiere event of the season is our District 11Championship. It will be May 14-15 at Fishing BayYacht Club and it will also serve as the US SailingSinglehanded Championship Area C elimination.Fishing Bay is a great place to sail and if you aretoo young and haven’t been to a Master’s regatta,now’s your chance to sail there. There will be startsfor Standards and Radials and the NOR is posted onthe District 11 website at http://laserdistrict11.org

The best thing about District 11 is that there is sail-ing somewhere almost every weekend. TheHampton Roads Laser fleet will start an early springseason in April. SSA will kick off their season withthe Sunshine Open May 7. West River Sailing Club,Rock Hall Yacht Club and Potomac River SailingAssociation all have spring regattas and race days aswell.

Not only will do we have a number of great regattas


SPRING 201130

for Standard rig lasers, but we’ve got a number ofregattas for Radials too. There will be Open Radialstarts at:

-Sunshine Open 4/16-17-District 11 Championship 5/14-15-SSA Spring Series 5/8, 6/19-Corsica River Annual 7/23-24-Crab Claw 9/24-And more.

We’ve also got a number of junior laser and radialevents around the Chesapeake Bay this summer.These include:

-Virginia Junior State Championship 6/25-26 FBYC-Maryland Junior State Championship 6/30 RHYC-West River Junior Regatta 7/5 WRSC-Sandy MacVickar Regatta 7/21 SSA

Check out the District 11 calendar online for all ofthe events in district 11 at http://district11.org/events

Our winter frostbiting has gone well with greatturnouts at Severn Sailing Association, PotomacRiver Sailing Association, Hampton Roads LaserFleet, Corsica River Yacht Club and others. It has-n’t wrapped up just yet, but we’ll have a recap in thesummer edition of the Laser Sailor.

Potomac River Sailing Association held their AnnualHangover Regatta and 33 sailors were treated to airtemperatures in the 50’s on the Potomac River inWashington DC. The wind was in the 7-12 rangewhich made for about a nice of weather as onecould ask for that time of the year. Tim Zimmermantook line honors winning 4 out of 5 races. He wasfollowed by Erich Hesse and David Teale.

CBYRAAnnounced their high point awards in theOpen and Junior categories.

Open Laser Standard:1. Brady White (SSA) 2. David Schoene (SSA) 3.Matthew Schofield (SSA/AYC) 4. Jon Deutsch(FBYC)

Open Laser Radial:1. Matthew Schofield (SSA/AYC) 2. Harrison Hawk(AYC) 3. Brian Bay (WRSC)

Junior Laser Radial:1. Alex Jacob (FBYC) 2. Ben Buhl (FBYC) 3.Austin Powers (FBYC)

Junior Girls Radial:1. Nicole Hause (TAYC) 2. Madeleine Alderman(FBYC) 3. Mary Peyton Sanford (FBYC)

We’re looking forward to another great season. Seeyou on the water!

District 12Christian KoppernaesNorth CarolinaThe 2010 Season Grand Finale was held inColumbia, South Carolina at the Columbia SailingClub. The final results were:

1st 4.7 – Christina Glover1st Female – Devon Rhode1st Radial – Avery Fanning1st Junior – Avery Fanning


New Stainless Sunfish Trailer

New Stainless Coupler

www.Laser.org 31

1st Full – Eric Oetgen1st Apprentice Master Eric Oetgen1st Master John Potter1st Grand Master Joel Lambinus (Volvo NED!!!)1st Great Grand Master Finn Hassing1st Overall Master John Potter (This one came downto the final regatta!)

After the racing the annual meeting was held andreally cool trophies were distributed to the winners.Doug Sherwood stepped down as district co-secre-tary after serving for 3 years. During that time thedistrict has nearly doubled in size. Of course he hadhelp during the first two years by Glenn Walker.Thank you Doug and Glenn! During the festivitieswe had our raffle where fantastic prizes were award-ed. If you missed this one you really missed out.

Here is schedule of some notable events in D12 for2011:

March 26-27 Beaufort BYSC D12 Grand Prix FullRigs and Radials Season Opener

April Friday22-23 Charleston D12 CYC SC (Inconjunction with the easter regatta)April Thursday28-May 1 AtlanticCoast Championships CYC NC

June 4-5 Savannah D12 SYCJune 11-12 Hobcaw Open HYCJune 18-19 James Island Open JIYCJune 25-26 Lowcountry Open BYSC

August 6-7 Wrightsville Beach D12 CYC NCAlso Rockville Open SIYC

September 17-18 Columbia Sailing Club D12 LakeMurray + Annual MeetingSeptember 24-25 Leukemia CupCharleston

Please check out the district website for any updates.

Our District has many new rising stars that are aboutto graduate from the Opti Fleet. We are currentlylooking for donations of 4.7 lower sections to helpfacilitate the growth of the class. The Idea is to lendlower sections to sailors during the short periodbetween 4.7 and Radial. Allowing parents to pur-chase Radial or Standard rigged boats for theiryoung sailors. Please contact me directly at [email protected] for more information about theprogram.

District 13Antolin RiveraFlorida

Our District 13 is blessed with Laser sailing weatherevery day of the year. As such, we constantly haveregattas going on all over the State. Presently, weare transitioning our Secretary position; MekaTaulbee has been our D13 Secretary for many yearsand we owe her gratitude for all her efforts throughthose years. It is interesting to witness how much ittakes to get things done and how little recognitionfolks get.

As the new D13 Secretary I have several goalswhich basically follows Meka’s mantra of “gettingmore Laser sailors on the water”. There are severalactive pockets of Laser sailing around the State andthis year we are aiming to sponsor even more activi-ties and to have more communication between those

active fleets so we can make them even stronger andexpand to other geographical areas interest of Lasersailing. The Laser sailors on the East coast have alovely model of Saturday races with a super afford-able entry fee schedule, one day event, trinkets forawards and an easy formula to attract Laser sailorsand have them engaged and excited all year long.We are copying that model here on the West coast aswell and given that I am a convert, we will try toreplicate it all over the place. Our schedule for theSunCoast Laser Series this year will consist of sixSaturday regattas (constituting a “series”) visitingfive different venues along the West coast includingmy local SunCoast-DIYC Laser Fleet out of theDavis Island YC. The clubs or sailing centers beingvisited are (in no particular order) Tampa SailingSquadron, St Petersburg YC, Clearwater CommunityCenter, Sarasota Sailing Squadron and Davis IslandYC. Having a bunch of Laser sailors participate inthese events provides a sense of travel to differentsailing venues, a chance to sail in other watersbeyond everybody’s local waters, a great opportuni-ty to make new Laser friends and a fantastic oppor-tunity to boost the local Laser sailors numbers forthe event thus exposing more people to our awe-some Laser sailing platform. Local youth sailingprogram kids get in on the action and we ALL win.As we get into a more global vision for the State, Ican foresee events when alike a championship, allour little fleets come together for a true District 13Laser sailing festival.

Another particularity of our State is that we havelots of Youth Sailing Programs and while those pro-grams keep our kids active, once they start collegetheir focus in life changes a little to favor academicpursuits (as it should be), I want to align thoseyounger sailors with our Saturday events so they toocan have scheduled races in a laid back environ-ment, often.

And so we will strive to grow our numbers andwork with local dealers, SailLaser outfits around theState (we have three of those stores in the State),organizations such as the Florida SailingAssociation, yacht clubs and sailing centers to con-vey the idea that we exist to serve the Laser sailorsand the Laser sailor’s needs are the driving forcebehind our existence. We need to focus on whatMeka has said all along, “get more Laser sailors onthe water”.

District 14Cal HermanNew OrleansDistrict 14 began 2011 with 2 Radial sailors attend-ing the 2011 ISAF Youth World Qualifiers atHouston, TX. Clerc Cooper and Dustin Brennanboth Southern Yacht Club Juniors made the trip toLaPorte, TX to compete against some of the bestLaser Radial sailors in the country. Looking aheadwe have the D-14 Championships at Gulfport YCand the GYA Laser and Radial Circuits which willcount 4 of the regatta’s slated for the circuit. All arewelcome to join us at any of these events.

GYA Laser Radial Circuit – (score 4/7)

March 19-20 DChamps Alfonso Sutter Gulfport YC

March 26-27 Dogwood Regatta Fairhope YC

June 4-5 Area D Smythe Semis Atlanta YC

July 2-3 US Sailing Jr. Olympic FestivalPensacola YC

August 13-14 GYA LaserGalloway Regatta Gulfport YC

September 10-11 Back to toSchool Regatta Pontchartrain YC

September 24-25 Wadewitz Regatta Fairhope YC

GYA Laser Full Rig Circuit – (score 4/6)

March 19-20 DChamp Alfonso Sutter Gulfport YC

April 16 Preemie Cup Pensacola Beach YC

July 9-10 Meigs Regatta Fort Walton YC

August 13-14 GYA Laser - Galloway Gulfport YC

September 24-25 Wadewitz Fairhope YC

November 13-14 Jubilee Regatta Pensacola YC

District 15James FreedmanTexas

Last year we had a total of 60 competitors. This wasdown from the 2009 total of 69 competitors. We hadsome really great racing, and welcomed NorthAmerica into our backyard down in Houston. TheDistrict 15 2010 Circuit results are in.Jacques RoyJames FreedmanDoug PeckoverStephen NelsonBrad WinslettEric FaustForest AtkinsMike HansenMark EldredDavid Morgan

The District 15 2011 year will begin April 23-24 forthe Easter regatta. See below for our full schedule.

AYC Easter Regatta April 23-24 Austin Yacht Club

RCYC Spring Dinghyfest May 14-15 Rush CreekYacht Club

CSC Laser Regatta June 4-5 Corinthian Sailing Club

SSC Summer Solstice / GC Masters / Area F O’Dayqualifier Regatta / District 15 Championships June18-19 Seabrook Sailing Club

AYC Centerboard Regatta September 3-4 AustinYacht Club

FWBC Laser Regatta October 1-2 Fort Worth BoatClub

LCYC Wurstfest Regatta November 4-6 LakeCanyon Yacht Club


SPRING 201132

D19Ken SwetkaMichigan

As of this writing Michigan is still a frozen tundra.Some of our Laser “crossover” sailors have beenracing DN’s. Ron Sherry (photo above) won yetanother DN World Championship and his nephew,Mike Rehe, won the Silver fleet. Congrats and wehope both join us often in Lasers this summer.Others have travelled south for some Mid-Wintersailing. Tom Labelle and Leigh Savage sailed in theFlorida Masters held in West Palm Beach. OtherD19 sailors Mitchell Kiss and EJ O’Mara sailed theMiami Rolex and Midwinters East Regattas. Therest of us are just cold and envious…

The 2011 schedule is taking shape. Below is rough-ly what it should be but for up to date listings checkout www.d19laser.org.

2011 Schedule (in process) – If you see a “?” nextto the date this means it is an annual regatta but thedate is not 100% confirmed.

May 28? Gull Lake Spring Regatta – Gull LakeYacht Club

June 11-12 D19 Championships / O’Day Area EQualifiers - Crescent Sail YC, Grosse Pointe, MI -Ken Swetka

June 18 Muskegon Regatta - Bruce Hansen

June 18? UMSC Spring Regatta - Baseline Lake,Ann Arbor

July ?? Lake Leland Annual Regatta – LelandYacht Club

July 29-31 Laser Masters US Championships –Macatawa Bay Yacht Club

August ?? Lake Lansing Annual Regatta -

Sept 24 No Sweat Regatta - Portage Yacht Club

Oct 1 Frosty Mug Regatta - Irish Laser Fleet,Little Traverse Bay, Harbor Springs

Oct 2? UMSC Fall Regatta - Baseline Lake, AnnArbor

Oct 15 Pumpkin Head Regatta - Grand RapidsYacht Club

Nov 25 Black Friday Regatta - Mid-MichiganLaser Fleet

Anxiously waiting for the “thaw” in D19!

find that dry suit and “summarize” those skis.Come out and join us. Pewaukee Lake Frostbitingwill follow once the ice is out.

Here is a short list of what is in store for the newseason:We have gone to the dogs with social networking.Thanks to District stalwart, Dave Abbott we nowhave a Facebook Page: Laser Racing Dist. 20.Check us out and stay connected. We will bemigrating the content of our old web page,d20.laserforum.org, to our new Facebook page inthe months ahead

With the Vince Lombardi Trophy returning to TitleTown this past January, it is only fitting that we sailDistricts nearby. The Green Bay Laser Fleet andWindjammers Sailing Club will be hosting the 2011Laser District 20 Championship on the waters ofGreen Bay in Suaimico, Wisconsin next fall. Markyour calendars now for the weekend of September10-11. Great venue and great folks.

For those of you who have missed sailing off thebeach on Lake Michigan fear not. Another Districtstalwart, Mark Kastel has missed that too and hastaken it upon himself to find an alternate venuewhile we wait for the return of Super Sail inWinnetka. With Mark’s help, Lake Bluff Yacht Clubhas stepped forward and will be hosting a Laserevent over Labor Day Weekend.

For us grey haired types (and you wannabees) theLaser Masters US Champs is coming to HollandMichigan next July. Time to plan your trainingschedule as a lead up to that event.

As always, the full sea-son schedule along withNORs and SIs as theybecome available can befound onD20.laserforum.org

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District 20Steve [email protected]://d20.laserforum.orgFacebook: Laser Racing Dist. 20 (IL and WI)

Still winter. Snow on the ground and area lakes stillunder solid ice here in cheese land. Different pic-ture south of the border in Chi town. So much sothat spring frost biting is gearing up at BelmontHarbor, Chicago Yacht Club in 2 weeks. Time to

District 21Kurt HoltzeMinnesotahttp://d21.laserforum.org/index.html

The snow is melting,and sailors are gettingrestless. Time to trimthe fat back and getready to race lasers. Bythe time you read this,D21 will to be in fullswing. Average ice outon Minnetonka is April15th. And yes, we don’twaste any time once theice is moving out. Thisyear we will be havinglots of evening races. Ifyou are in town even fora night and want tocome race with us,please let us know. Ifyou need a boat, we willfind you one. Wealways want more boatson the line and newsailors to race against.

Tuesdays: WayzataWednesdays: Calhoun and Bald EagleThursdays: White Bear and the Saint CroixSundays: Minnetonka

Upcoming Events“The Heckl Memorial”/ O’Day Qualifier: @ WhiteBear May 14th and 15th“Aquatennial”: @ Calhoun July 23rd and 24th“The D21 Champs”: @ Minnetonka July 30th and31st

Some upcoming events are listed below. We will behaving more, so check our website. If you’re inter-ested in coming to any of these, please let me knowhow we can help you. Again, we want more boatson the line. Happy sailing to everyone. Lets makethis year a fun one!

District 22Mike GilbertMontanaLaser events planned in Western Montana for 2011begin with the 3rd Annual Whitefish Lake Regatta,benefiting the Whitefish Lake Institute, the weekendof July 16-17.

The Flathead Lake Laser Championship will be heldAugust 19-21 at the north end of spectacularFlathead Lake in northwest Montana. The regatta isgenerously hosted by the North Flathead Yacht Clubin Somers. The NOR will be available later thisspring.

Flathead Lake is huge, clear, clean, beautiful, andthe north end is about 45 miles from Glacier


www.Laser.org 33

National Park, one of the bucket list places everyoneshould see.

Last year the District 22 Championship was held atthe same venue, and we were greeted by 4 footwaves and strong winds, making it a challenge forus lightweights and a total blast for the experiencedracers who attended from two countries and severalwestern states.

We plan to work on several Saturday clinics for allskill levels on the west shore at Big Arm Bay orDayton Bay earlier in the summer. Recruiting andfleet-building efforts continue, with several newpeople shopping for boats.

District 24David LaPierNorCalWe had a good rainy winter here in northernCalifornia. Pacific storms started early and are con-tinuing now into mid-March. People were preparingfor the upcoming Laser 4.7 and Masters Worlds herein San Francisco with some sailing, clinics, and inthe gym.

Richmond YC Midwinter SeriesOn the first Sunday of every month from Decemberto March hundreds of sailors in classes ranging from8 ft El Toros to 23 ft Wylie Wabbit keelboatsdescend on Richmond Yacht Club.We had a mix of conditions this year: light air andrain in December; shifts and big puffs with smoothwater and freezing cold air in January. SuperbowlSunday brought beautiful sunshine with big shiftsand sea lions out to feed on herring. In March wehad high overcast tending toward rain, thousands ofmigrating birds were resting on the mud-flats as wewarmed up in the light southerly, but the breeze diedand we could not race. Mike Bishop missed the firstweekend but consistently led the way in January andFebruary; if we had raced in March, it is highly like-ly he would have won overall after discards.

Results:Standard: 1) Mark Halman, 2) Christine Neville, 3)Mike Bishop, 4) Ryan Nelson, 5) Simon Bell.(23Boats)Radial: 1) Olivia MacDonald, 2) Kaitlyn Baab, 3)Dominique Bertrand, 4) Lindsay Baab, 5) MaddiePont. (13 Boats)

Richmond YC JuniorsMark Halman writes, “Every year between Octoberand the next March, Richmond YC runs its juniorprogram. Most kids sail El Toros and Opti until theyare 15 years old. They then graduate to FJ’s orLasers. Coaches, Mark Halman and Tim Stapleton,have encouraged adults to join in the afternoons andintroduced a Laser series – 12 afternoons andaround 65 races. This has given the Laser kids moreboats to race against and the adults have proved tobe great role-models. It also added a venue whereBay Area Laser sailors, Junior parents, and clubmembers who had or could borrow a Laser wereable to get out on the water and have some fun rac-ing for $10. After the first season we were able tobuy a video camera and have added a video debriefof starts after racing. Over the weeks, 20 differentadults joined in. Everybody involved has enjoyedthis casual approach, and raised their sailing skillsthrough the winter. Joe Carter managed to fight offthe group of Masters to win this year.”

Results: 1) Joe Carter, 2) Mark Halman, 3) John

Barrere, 4) Christine Neville, 5) Haydon Stapleton.(13 qualifiers)

St Francis Spring DinghyThe new season starts traditionally at the St FrancisYC in mid-March, with two days of racing on theCity Front. Tidal remnants of the Tsunami fromFriday, which evidently pulled masses of water outof the bay, the together with big spring run-off fromthe Sacramento River Delta created unique weekendof tides with incoming floods eddying along theshore that persisted all day. On Saturday, the fleetwould split; with most boats short-tacking up theshore for relief (at least on the first beat), but othersheading out for the middle to catch favorable outgo-ing water. The strange thing was, different boatswould go out to the middle or into the shore onalternating beats –go figure.

Many of us observed the significant improvementsthat many sailors in our fleet have made. RyanNelson, Mike Rutledge, Kurt Wessels and NickBurke are making our Standard rig fleet muchstronger. More folks are practicing a lot, travellingto regattas, attending clinics, studying the greatvideos that are on the market, and getting their boatsand bodies in better shape. It is really fun to com-pete with friends that show such dedication to thesport.

Results:Standard: 1) Stephen Bourdow, 2) Russ Silvestri, 3)Tracy Usher, 4) Jon Andron, 5) David LaPier (18Boats)Radial: 1) Dominic Bove, 2) Mark Halman, 3)Christine Neville, 4) Walt Spevak, 5) RichardLeland. (10 Boats)4.7: 1) Joe Carter, 2) Markus Suorsa, 3) MichaelTan, 4) Oliver Meldrum, 5) Kyle Larsen (7 Boats)

District 25Jorge SuarezSoCal

It is no secret that Laser sailing does not stop throughthe winter in District 25! There are training sessionsand regatta’s going on from Santa Barbara to SanDiego, which, I will wager, there is always a Laser onthe water every weekend!

The largest event this winter was the SouthernCalifornia Yachting Association’s 82nd AnnualMidwinter regatta held February 19-20, 2011. 26yacht clubs ran races for hundreds of races in scoresof classes up and down the Southern California coastand Lasers were no exception. A strong showing of24 Radials and 13 Standards raced at Mission BayYacht Club with the following top three results:

Radials

Matthew Morris – SDYC

Stephen Long – SBYC

Richard Didham – SDYC

StandardsOlin Paine – MBYCDoug Seeman – MBYCEvan Hoffman – MBYC

Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach hostedStandard rigs in the bay with Gator Cook of BYCbeating five loyal Laser sailors in the rain. AlamitosBayYacht Club hosted the Laser Master Midwinter’s,

which employs the Master handicap system wereexperience and cunning won over youth and strength!Here are the top three finishers:Chuck Tripp – Great Grand Master ABYCKevin Taugher – Apprentice Master ABYCJay Golison – Master ABYC

Although I don’t think the temperature droppedbelow 55 degrees, Racing was called on the first dayafter the second race when lightning and waterspoutswere observed in the harbor!

The 76th annual SCYA EE Manningregatta was also held at ABYC on March 5-6. Thisregatta is held each year specifically for non-keelboats of 20 feet or less. 13 Standard rigs raced inideal conditions that attracted sailors fromWashington State andArizona! Here are the top threefinishers:Vann Wilson – ABYCChuck Tripp – ABYCJorge Suarez – ABYC

On the same weekend, the Santa Barbara SailingAssociation held their annual Opening Day Regatta.Pat Toole of Santa Barbara won solidly with DavidKlatt from Ventura in second and George Witter inthird. Pat and David are making good use of theseregattas in preparation for the Laser Master Worldsthis August in San Francisco. Finally, there is moreLaser sailing in Ventura as the Ventura Yacht Club’sFriday night series begins in March, thanks to day-light savings time!

Last Friday, a devastating earthquake and tsunami hitJapan. All of the West Coast had tsunami warnings.In Long Beach, CA, beach locals walking their dogswere asked to leave the beach by lifeguards; no sail-ing or fishing was allowed. At about 8:30AM, thefirst of 1-3 foot waves hit and was seen as rapidreceding water level followed by a surge, mostnotable in marinas and harbors. The next day, ourregular group of Laser sailors went out to train andfound ominous currents just outside the jetties andbreakwater. It was a grim reminder of the devastationand loss of life of the day before. Our thoughts andprayers go out to all in Japan and everywhere affect-ed by the tsunami.


SPRING 201134

Glimpses of Midwinters EastPhotography by Robert Dunkley: http://dunks.smugmug.com/sailing


www.Laser.org 35

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SPRING 201136

Laser Sailing in Guam

MIKE JOHNSON

I’m over in Guam for a few days on a work assign-ment and while walking off the ship this pastSaturday, I saw a fleet of Lasers in Apra Harbor rac-ing in a wonderful 18-22 knot sunny breeze. Soafter work I drove to where I thought they werelaunching and found the Marianas Yacht Club and asuper friendly bunch of people sitting under a palapawith the after race glow on their faces. Turns outthey were having the 34th annual Guam JapanGoodwill Regatta. Not sure how many years it hasbeen in Lasers, but the locals have memories that goway back and the perpetual trophy has survived severaltyphoons. Long story short I was provided a charter boatfrom MYC and was able to join the 5 races on Sunday.They start at 10:30 for 3 races, come in for lunch, and thengo out for 2 more. Very civilized and the mid day breakunder the palapa (out of the sun) was welcomed by every-one. We had a big buffet feed Sunday after racing andthen another big party at the organizers home on Monday.The Japanese brought some special elixer and played sometraditional musical instruments.

On Sunday winds were steady 22 with gusts up to 30.Sailing with old school rigging and no hiking pants orshoes in the 84 degree water was a real challenge. A fewphotos are attached. Looking fwd to coming back toSeattle for some real frostbiting. (NOT).

Photo above: Kuni & MJ

Photo above: KuniBelow: Series Winner MORI ChampionLeft: Ross


www.Laser.org 37

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Lasersailorspring 2011