What a difference a week makes. As sailors were freaking a week ago Friday about potential winds of 60 knots, this past weekend turned out to be a whole lot more docile than was wished for, at least for the SYC Grand Prix organizers.
Jan Anderson was only on hand for Saturday’s drifter, but got some good shots. (Jan’s photo site.)
The J/105s on a glassy Sound
Smoke on the water, but no wind
Slowmo intensity onboard Tango
As usual, Grand Prix kicked off on Friday for those of us who could get away for the afternoon. Only about 30 boats participated, and there was more than a little head scratching on how to improve that in the future. SYC’s Sailing Director Brian Ledbetter, for instance, would have been much happier getting his father in law Bill Buchan’s Sachem on the racecourse than being on the committee boat Portage Bay.
Friday’s racing was excellent, with steady mid-teens winds across the course for the two round the buoys races that sent grinders home with some sore muscles. After Friday several of the classes were tight including the ORC 1 class where Smoke and Glory were tied, and PHRF class 3 which had a three-way tie for first. Onboard Tango, I got to witness that one firsthand.
Yes, another shot of Tango, but hey, it’s my ride and this is a great shot courtesy of the SYC race committee.
The second race for that class was particularly close, with Tango edging out Joy Ride by just three seconds and five boats correcting to within a minute!
Saturday and Sunday’s conditions were nothing to write home about, but a race was sailed each day and of course there is no intensity quite like light air intensity. In addition to Jan Anderson’s shots, some enterprising members of the race committee were able to get some good shots here.
At this SYC web page, scroll to the bottom and then click on the appropriate class for results!
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.
Once again, a few little items have rolled over my screen that seem worthy of sharing and/or commenting on. Please share with sailors who you think might be interested.
Stormageddon
Last weekend we in Seattle braced for “stormageddon,” but fortunately it largely passed us by. Bruce Hedrick did a great job with his first, second and third updates. In that last update, he “unwarned” us about the storm. “By 5 pm you could see it was heading more offshore,” he said. “I wish I had a good explanation, but I don’t. That’s why the National Weather sends people the Pacific Northwest for training. It teaches humility.” Cliff Mass discusses the challenge of forecasting this storm and Northwest storms in general in this blog post.
Jeanne Socrates is set to sail around the world nonstop again, this time at age 74. Once again, she’ll start and finish in Victoria.
Jeanne Socrates Heading to Sea Again
Have you heard that Jeanne Socrates is planning yet another solo, nonstop circumnavigation! At age 74! (She finished her first one in 2013, setting the record for the oldest woman to do so.) The Northwest connection? She’s starting and finishing from Victoria, BC. I hope to have a conversation with her in the coming weeks.
The kids from Stevens Middle School got a ride across Lake Crescent when the road was blocked.
USCG on Lake Crescent
What do you do when 40 kids and 6 adults are stuck in the sticks at Lake Crescent, the road’s blocked and bad weather is coming? If there’s water involved, call the US Coast Guard! It took half a dozen trips across Lake Crescent and more than 7 hours, but everyone was ferried from Camp David to the Marymere trailhead. Here’s the USCG press release.
120 sailors were at the skipper’s meeting. Adults may not be racing as much, but the kids sure are!
Youth Season Fall Wrapup
The Pacific Northwest youth sailing programs have absolutely exploded, both in numbers and in enthusiasm, in recent years. And Sail Sand Point has been a big part of that. Their Communications Director Jeanne Currie wrote a nice piece in 48 North about the final regatta of the Northwest Youth Racing Circuit that reveals just how big these events have become, something I find a lot of people are unaware of.
The plan is for men and women to share grinding opportunities. How great is that?!
Volvo Ocean Race Makes Bold Changes
No, this doesn’t have any particular relevance to the Northwest, but it’s just fun to talk about. The Volvo Ocean Race has a new Director in Mark Turner, and is nearing the end of ten major announcements. My favorite change this year is the new system of gender makeup on the boat, intended to have mixed crews in addition to the all-men, all women crews we’ve seen for the last few editions. Mixed crews are, for the most part, how we race. It’s certainly how I prefer racing. The options are: (men/women) 7 men/0 women, 7 men/1 or 2 women, 1 or 2 men/7 women, 5 men/5 women, 0 men/11 women. In addition to creating more diverse crews, the change was made so that women can tap into the experience of long-time Volvo Ocean Race racers on the race course. Of course there’s a clear incentive for mixed crew. Other changes include a new scoring system that incentivizes tactical risk-taking, and the construction of an eighth boat, team to be named later. Long live the Volvo Ocean Race.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.
While Sunday’s racing may have determined PSSC winners and losers, it’ll be Saturday’s gusty chaos that will be remembered. The CYC-Seattle series was once again sailed on two courses off Shilshole, with the North course races abandoned after two races. The South course enjoyed a full day of four races Saturday and Sunday.
Unfortunately the Dibley 250 sportboat Carbon, new to owner Iain Christenson, didn’t even make it to the first start. While flying along at about 15 knots, the bow buried in a wave and “the boat stopped, rig kept going….we just couldnt’ get through that one wave,” explained Christenson.
If you haven’t been there already, it’s well worth heading over to Jan’s site to see all the photos.
All photos by Jan Anderson
The Glory crew with John Buchan driving
The San Juan 24 Snappy Tom
Wet
Given their history, it came as no surprise that one of the Sierra 26s got in real trouble. While in all likelihood flying along, Uno broached and turtled, leaving at least one person separated from the boat in the aftermath. And, once again, the photo team of Skip and Jan Anderson stood by for the rescue and were prepared to tow Uno when the Farr 30 Nefarious took care of that task while the Andersons returned the crew member to shore. It should be noted that the other Sierra 26, Dos, finished both races that day. On Saturday the two Sierras walked all over the cruiser racers in their class to finish first and second overall for the weekend. I am bothered by both the fact that a boat in this event can turn turtle, putting crew and rescuers at risk, and that they can come back to finish second (broke the tie with Different Drummer) after a DNF and DNS in a six race, no throwout series.
Here and Now’s broach on race 4.
Songs could be written about one epic Here and Now broach, that showed while J/29s don’t go turtle, they can certainly lay down for a while. The broach came when a 35 knot gust hit during a gybe. Proving that even more traditional keelboats can leave a trail of bodies in the water, the crew had to scramble back aboard before finishing the race.
But the real story for this PSSC was the Moore 24 class. Ben Braden rightly credits the boat – it’s a great design, fast and seaworthy – for the resurgence. His blog post says it all.
What goes up gets to go down!
As one would expect, the Moores were quite happy flying chutes.
But it’s always more than the boat: It’s always about the people as well. Ben’s wife Jennifer and fleet captain Sarah Mars drummed up the interest for the event and Sail Northwest hosted a well-earned feast on Saturday night. It was easily the best racing out there with 12 identical boats on the line and a great mix of winners in Sunday’s milder conditions.
A word about the race committee. It wasn’t easy on the RC boats, bouncing at anchor and getting seasick. One member of the team on the South course’s YC6 committee boat even ended up injuring a hand that required surgery that night. She was on the water the next day! Competitors can be thankful that the North course was shut down when it was, South course stayed open and the race committee stuck it out on the water. Well done, CYC.
CYC’s Racing fleet captain, Matt Woods, provided a lot of the above information and added “We were expecting big air on Saturday. Perhaps not quite as much, and not right off the get-go. West Point wind showed 25 to 33 consistently, with a peak gust of 38 around 130 PM. Temperatures were mild though.
Here and Now looking strong going to weather.
“One of the issues on the North course was that we were unable to securely anchor the weather marks, and it was unsafe to continue to expose the whaler drivers to those conditions. Plus many competitors were leaving the course.
“One of the biggest incidents I was aware of was Here and Now‘s broach. She laid there for a good minute until the boat rotated and got back on her feet. Several of the crew ended up on the water, and climbed back on board. They doused the kite and finished the race. Very sport. Happened right behind us on the J/29 Wings.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.
Saturday’s Foul Weather Bluff Race seemed to start with whimper but end with a bang. We don’t have a report from Edmonds YC, and I was unable to attend, but we do have photos from Jan Anderson and a video from Boomer Depp who was sailing on the Davidson 34 Karma.
Jan’s Photos.
Yes, you need to visit her site to see the rest and, yes, BUY some.
Smoke (foreground) and Glory reaching fast and looking serious. Not too many colors in TP52 chutes these days.
Don’t know how this turned out, but White Cloud seemed resolute to climb over Madrona. Madrona won the class and White Cloud was second.
The Beneteau 38 Au Vent’s happy crew.
Alex Simanis’ Poke and Destroy was fast after some recent on-shore TLC, winning her class easily.
The J/105 fleet remains healthy and active with a five boat fleet at FWB.
The Freya 39 Freeflyte scooting along the shore.
Persistence, a Seascape 27, shows a bit of tenderness under A-sail, and again headed upwind (see video)
Tapes were left flying when Magic Button’s chute blew.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.
Like a lot of other people, I find the Internet can be the best of times and the worst. I can sit in front of my computer and in five minutes find some gem of information that truly improves my life. At other times, I get sucked into site after site and an hour later have to extract myself to realize I learned absolutely nothing. So, this “Smartest Sailor” post is simply me plucking out a few stories that I found interesting and that you might too. To qualify they have to be sailing related, Salish related and pass my completely subjective relevant/interesting/amusing/useful filter. If others find it worthwhile, I’ll keep doing it.
John Harrison Doucet
Sailor Electrocuted, A Warning to Us All
20-year-old sailor John Harrison Doucet of Gulfport, Mississippi was electrocuted when his J/22’s mast hit an overhead wire and his hand was on the trailer hitch. Story here. He had both legs amputated and is fighting for his life. This happened in Gulfport, but could easily have happened here in the Northwest. Next time down at your dry storage area, check for dangerous power lines. If there are any, make sure the yard operators are aware of the problem and do something about it.
Photo: Alethea Leddy, Port Angeles Whale Watch Co.
Humpback Rescue Team
Humpbacks save sea lion from orcas. In fact, they have quite a reputation for intervention. Chris Dunagan has the story hereof a recent rescue in BC waters. Yes, that’s right, boatloads of whale watchers got to see a pod of humpbacks come to the rescue of a sea lion from a pod of transient orcas. While that’d be a great scene to see play out, it’s not something we’d want to be in the middle of!
Unguided Transatlantic
Everybody seems to want to send automated, high tech boats across the pond these days. Kaitlyn Dow, a high school junior in Waterford, Connecticut succeeded with a low-tech approach. She sent a 3′ essentially unguided boat with a dubious sailplan across pond to Ireland. Young Irish girl Méabh Ní Ghionnáin (don’t you just love that name even if you haven’t the foggiest how to pronounce it) of Galway, got word through the coasts Pubnet (my name for Ireland’s pub network, which, by the way, is far more efficient than the Internet) that the boat was coming and was on the lookout when it arrived. I think it’s remarkable that an unmanned, essentially unguided, boat can do a transatlantic. I also wonder what my feelings would be if I ran into it while taking my own boat transatlantic. Regardless, congratulations to Kaitlyn and Méabh for sending and receiving that little boat.
Suhaili during reconsctruction, it wasn’t all pretty.
Suhaili Relaunched, Ready to Race without Sextant
A couple weeks ago Sir Robin Knox-Johnston relaunched Suhaili, the 32-footer he sailed around the world nonstop in 1968. She’s in great shape, and by the sounds of it Knox-Johnston did much of the work with his own hands. His 312-day voyage to win the Golden Globe Challenge was the first nonstop trip of the kind and marks the beginning of what has culminated to this point in the Vendee Globe Race. A couple interesting things here. First, Sir Robin restored Suhaili to sail in the recreation of that Golden Globe Race. This new race requires 32-36′ full keel boats that were designed before 1988 and displace at least 6200 kg. Furthermore, while they’ll have electronic navigation tools onboard in case of emergency, they won’t be using them. Yes, Virginia, back to sextants. And there are 26 provisional entrants. One of those entrants is none other than Sir Robin, who at age 79 will be sailing Suhaili. If this ironman finishes, he’s a god. If he wins with that boat, he’s a god’s god. The idea of the race is just so out there it might draw a lot of attention.
Overdue Saltspring Sailor
Finally, Saltspring Island sailor Paul Lim is way overdue from Hawaii. He left Hilo August 1 with his Spencer 35 Watercolour bound for Victoria, BC, and had not been heard from as of September 30. The US Coast Guard searched an area between Hilo and Victoria with a C-130 aircraft to no avail. The USCG continues to search and asks that anyone with information on the whereabouts of Mr. Lim or the Sailing Vessel Watercolour is asked to call the U.S. Coast Guard at 510-437-3701. USCG press release here, Vancouver Sun article here.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.
Yes, it really is that late and Halloween is just around the corner, scary. It has been a great week and this weekend starts the first of the great fall regattas with the Foulweather Bluff Race out of Edmonds and the Thermopylae Regatta at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club.
As you can see from the surface charts, the weather picture is still not settled. This afternoon’s surface chart shows a dissipating front extending from a very weak low pressure system (1017mb) off the coast headed towards us. This is confirmed by the coastal Doppler radar. This probably means we’ll stay dry for the Husky game tonight however there may be showers around tomorrow morning and Sunday. Regardless, there simply isn’t much rain in our future.
Friday Surface Map
Saturday a.m. Surface
Sunday a.m.
Sunday a.m. Surface
Friday 500mb map
Saturday 500mb map
October 4 500mb map
The other interesting feature is this very elongated high pressure system over the Pacific. At 1039mb it is still fairly strong however when they are anything but round they can be easily pushed around by low pressure systems and the jet stream. Note the jet stream for today and then 96 hours out. Mother Nature doesn’t like big bends so as you can see that bend in the 564mb line goes away and the jet stream takes on a much more direct shot into the Pacific NW. This should be of interest to all of us because in the years following an El Niño event and going into a neutral or minor La Niña phase, like this year, remnants of typhoons can hitch rides on the jet stream and come into the Pacific Northwest as high wind events. Remember the Columbus Day storm in 1962? This was a remnant of Typhoon Freda. Nothing out there now. However, southeast Asia has been hit by two Super Typhoons recently and you can bet we’ll be tracking where those remains are going. Remember also that Typhoon/Hurricane season doesn’t end until 1 December.
So what does this mean for the Foulweather Bluff Race? Unfortunately it looks like a real mixed bag of light southerlies for the start, with slightly more wind west of Scatchet Head. This will gradually drop to light and variable by mid afternoon, becoming a light westerly before switching back to a 5-10 knot southerly in the early evening. Try to finish before 1400 hours.
Tides at Admiralty Inlet
0935 max ebb 2.9 knots
1300 slack
1535 max flood 1.8 knots
1800 slack
Slightly better news for Victoria as the southeasterly could be in the 15 knot range and last until mid afternoon before it becomes light and variable. Sunday looks like a light, drainage northerly until a weak westerly comes down the Straits in the late afternoon.
Have a great weekend and if you’d like a customized forecast for your event, just drop me a note.
Ed. note: Some of you race organizers should take advantage of Bruce’s offer. Competitors have a much better time if they have a sound basic weather outlook to work from (or disagree with!) and it sets a tone for an event and future ones of good seamanship and competition. I made the Bruce email link to my email address. Trust me, I’ll get anything you send me to him – I certainly don’t want the pressure of forecasting if I’ve got Bruce to lean on!
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.
The J/24 fleet in Seattle remains strong, in fact one of the strongest in the country. And it seems that nearly every year one or more crews head to the far corners of the world to attend international regattas. So it’s no surprise the Northwest was well represented by Michael Johnson and Mark Laura and their crews at last week’s Worlds in Japan. Friend and Pearl crew member Joy Okazaki was kind enough to give us some insight into the regatta. Thanks, Joy. If anyone else wants to provide a report on their Salish sea racing or cruising, email me.
What Seattle boats/sailors there?
Joy on the deck of Pearl.
Two of the three U.S. Boats were from the Seattle fleet – Pearl, skippered by Michael Johnson with local sailors Gabrielle McCoy (trimmer), Joy Okazaki (logistics/mast) and Gavin Brackett (bow), with guest tactician Chip Till from Charleston, SC – and Baba Louie, skippered by Mark Laura, Lance McDonough (trimmer), Craig Suhrbier (mast), and Melanie Edwards (bow), with guest tactician Steve Cucciaro from Boston, MA.
Baba Louie
The regatta also drew two teams from Germany, three teams from Korea, one team from Singapore, one team from Peru, and one team from England. A total of 41 boats participated.
Did you feel the Seattle fleet had good speed? Were they charter boats?
The Seattle boats were both chartered boats in Japan. The boat that Pearl Racing Team chartered was originally commissioned in 2002 as “Ragtime” by JBoats owner Rod Johnstone for the 25th Anniversary of the J/24 and was later sold to an owner from Japan. The Pearl team had to make a few improvements to optimize it for racing.
The boat that Team Baba Louie chartered was originally owned and sailed by Mark Laura when he won the J/24 North Americans in Long Beach in 1994 . The boat had changed hands a few times and required extensive bottom work to get it race ready for the regatta.
Both boats had various bursts of speed, but it was more about getting a good start (there were many general recalls and U Flag starts), going the right direction, finding clear air and figuring out the current than it was about the boat speed.
Did you bring your own sails?
We brought our own sails (main, spinnaker, genoa and jib, plus practice genoa and spinnaker), halyards, running rigging, extra blocks and cleats, compass, tools and bottom kits. We’ve learned from chartering boats in Mexico (2007) and Argentina (2011) it’s better to be prepared with many spares, tools, tape, extra line, etc.
What kinds of shore side activities that were a little different in Japan?
The Japanese hosted a fabulous regatta, complete with opening and closing ceremonies featuring local sake, a taiko drumming performance and a masterful tuna carving.
Opening ceremonies
Daily prizes included post-racing beer accompanied by table-top barbecues, grilled fish and deep fried fishcakes, rice balls, and tube steaks, allowing teams to socialize and get to know each other. Protests were surprisingly minimal, though there were a handful of penalties scored every race.
What was it like for you personally?
While we would have liked to have done better (we placed 16th out of 41 boats; Baba Louie was 14th) we were out sailed by the competition and we learned a lot, while having a great time. The Japanese did a wonderful job of planning a top notch regatta – the hotel and sailing venue was amazing, and the warm hospitality of all of the Japanese teams, both on and off the water, was unparalleled. Many foreign sailors had never been to Japan before so it was truly an experience. Mark Laura said it best: “They really rolled out the red carpet for all of the competitors.”
Anything else of interest?
September is traditionally a very warm and humid month in Japan – and often threatened with typhoons. This year was no different, and the regatta ended up losing a day of racing to Typhoon No. 16 “Malakas” which hit Wakaura Bay on Tuesday, September 20. Winds were clocked 11.2 m/s (22 knts) with peak gusts of 15.7 m/s (31 knts), but the accompanying torrential rains caused local flooding, slides and minimized visibility. The post-typhoon wind was light and very shifty making races very challenging, and the runoff left lots of debris to dodge in the marina and bay.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.
Ever since the RS Aero first appeared, everyone seems focused on the question “Which is the better boat, the Aero or the Laser?” As the Melges 14 gains steam, the question will be which is best of the three. That’s not the important question. At all. Both the new boats are surely better than the Laser. They’re 40 years newer and have the advantage of current materials and construction techniques. If they’re not better, RS and Melges have really screwed up. Which they have not. Both companies are clearly committed to making a great product.
No, the real question is, what’s the future of the Laser class? Most of the 210,000 boats built are still around. There are active fleets worldwide and an extremely well-established class association. And you know what? It’s still a great sailing boat. Thanks Bruce, Bruce and Hans.
My LTR with the Laser and Fleet Demise
For me personally, it’s painful. I pined for the boat when it was new and I was too small. I fussed over my first used lime green Laser to no end as a teenager. Since then I’ve sailed a succession of Lasers, dragged them all over the Midwest and Northwest to regattas I would never win. I’ve been beaten up by the boat more often than I can remember. Many times my extremities have required hours to get back proper circulation and my muscles days to relieve soreness. I’ve been sunburned and bruised to the extreme.
Yet, I love her so.
Last year’s District 22 Championship in Belligham
The Seattle Laser Fleet (SLF) is giving all appearances of dying. As ground zero for the RS Aero movement in North America, the new boat has lured away most SLF stalwarts. And through attrition and lack of promotion recently, the fleet has dwindled. To make things interesting in our weekly racing, we (~5 Lasers) start on the (~7) Aero’s preparatory signal (one minute ahead on a three minute sequence) and try to hold them off to the finish. It’s not as satisfying as, say, 12 boats of the same kind.
Admittedly, I’m an SLF evangelist. I’m also currently the District 22 secretary. Many of my strongest friendships can trace their source to Laser sailing.
So, yes, it’s painful to watch the dwindling fleets. And I’ve gotten a bit grumpy about it.
But sailors have voted with their booties and have either quit sailing or made the move to the younger, sexier Aero.
Maybe it’s even time for the Laser and SLF to die.
Maybe not.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that it’s not time for the Laser or my dear SLF to die, but to adapt.
A Quick Word about the Quick Aero
The Aero is certainly a very good boat. I’ve only sailed one for about 30 seconds, but I’ve watched them sail past me and better sailors than I think they’re great. Its rigging is far superior to a Laser’s. It’s a planing machine and has a beautiful carbon rig. Oh yeah, and it’s way lighter, which makes a managing on shore a lot easier. With the “9” rig it’s just plain fast in light air. There have been some teething problems, but not many and RS is very responsive.
Talia Toland winning the Leiter Cup this year on Lake Washington. Jan Anderson photo.
Best of all, the RS Aero appears to be drawing sailors who, for one reason or another, aren’t interested in sailing a Laser. A couple weeks ago, champion sailor Libby McKee and my mini transat friend Craig, came out in loaner RS Aeros and both are thinking about jumping back into the singlehanded dinghy world. With the Aero’s “9” rigs, sailing in light air, they ended up first and second and appeared to enjoy themselves enormously.
When the RS Aero first came out, I recognized it as a viable Laser replacement, giving the local Aero (and Laser!) dealer George Yioulos (West Coast Sailing) a forum for promoting the boat in the post Laser Killer? way back in June 2014. I’ve referred plenty of people to the Aero fleet here.
I don’t know much about the Melges, but I know the family and they’ll make a great boat and provide superlative support to fleet building.
The future of high-end, simple singlehanded sailing is probably in good hands with either the Aero or the Melges. May the best boat win.
Laser Problems
The Laser has always had its problems. So, for all you haters out there, here’s my list of top Laser “issues,” to which I’m sure you can add.
LaserPerformance continues to do its best to kill the class. When Dave Reed of Sailing World points out that a potential advertiser is screwing up so badly, then it’s common knowledge.
So, here goes with the bad:
Crappy builder support, including parts availability
Poor construction currently (including spars)
Stupidly silly high cost for new models of such an ancient boat
Painful to sail
Difficult to sail well – with the result of widely spread fleets
Limited competitive life of the equipment (hulls get soft and spars break)
Questions in play about future of brand due to the Kirby lawsuit
Ancient technology
Top 10 Laser Strengths
One of my Laser sailing friends, who’s been near the top of the Laser fleet nationally for several years, asked rhetorically, “If it’s not an Olympic boat, why would you sail a Laser?” He’s about done with the boat, and after the thousands of hours he’s put into it, I can’t blame him.
But I do see plenty of reasons to sail a Laser even if you’re not dreaming of the Olympics:
The great feel
Can sail in virtually any wind
Great competition, especially internationally
It develops fitness and toughness
They’re ubiquitous (arguably the best regatta in the world is Laser Masters Worlds)
They’re near indestructible for casual sailing/racing
Cheap for used boats, good for kids coming up
Best teaching boat ever
The full, Radial and 4.7 rigs make the Laser a very flexible and effective platform for wide variety of sailors
They’re just flat out good looking.
So Where Should the Laser Point?
Jan Anderson photo.
Many classes have been “out-designed” and live happily on. The Star, Opti, 505, Thistle, Snipe, Daysailer, and Shields are some that come to mind. Several of these have a development aspect that keeps sailors engaged. Others are so ubiquitous and accessible that they just keep going. When the pressure of super-competitors has moved to other classes, some have even thrived more.
I hope that as some wealthier and more “serious” singlehanders move to the Melges or Aeros, and the Laser starts to get supplanted as “the” boat, profits will go down and LaserPerformance will sell the product line into more committed hands. And hopefully the class will lose its Olympic status. Everybody talks about Olympic status as a great thing. I’m not sure it is. I was sailing Lasers long before it was an Olympic class and it was just as fun and popular, if not more.
It is an experience to sail with those Olympic guys, maybe even round the first weather mark alongside them (if I go the right way and they go the wrong way). But otherwise, their presence doesn’t really mean much to my sailing. I’m more interested in beating my friends (you Scott and you Joe and you Carlos), who, like me, can’t keep up with the pros.
At the same time, the Laser Class will have to take a good hard look at itself and decide whether it wants to improve the boat or protect the fleet. IMHO, now that there is finally a new sail, the mast is the area of greatest need. A carbon top section (or entire set of spars) has been discussed ad infinitum. Creating a lighter, safer and more importantly, longer-lasting set of spars would make the boat so much better. If the Laser is no longer “the” boat, maybe it will be easier to get that done.
There are a lot of us of all ages who just like sailing the boat, and we’re going to be around for a long time to come. I’m guessing that with a shift in builder and Olympic status, Laser sailing could become more energized. While sometimes we take breaks from sailing, a lot of us tend to come back to Lasers. In my experience, we love to help newbies get to know the Laser’s quirks quickly and don’t mind it too much when we’re surpassed. We’ll still enjoy great racing and still have those awesome international events to attend.
Leiter Cup racing on Lake Washington. Jan Anderson photo.
The class could then refocus on getting young sailors into the boat. Basically, at the national and local levels we can reach out to high school sailors and others who can’t spend a lot of money on the new RS or Melges, but who would get just as much fun out of sailing a Laser. If it’s not an Olympic class, gone are the coach’s boats and the intimidation factor.
And maybe the broader thinkers among the Aero and Melges proponents will see that it will do them little good to decry the Laser as a has-been to potential sailors. Lasers have started many thousands of sailors down a path that ends up with them buying a lot of different boats.
In other words, don’t kill the Laser, it can still do the sport (and those builders) a lot of good by introducing folks to dinghy sailing. Just as it’s done for decades.
Basically, I see the Laser returning to its humble, non-ultra-competitive roots. I believe it can live happily there coexisting with the new boats while providing a good option for a lot of sailors, especially the crop of great high school sailors coming up.
Me enjoying Thursday night Corinthian YC sailing off Shilshole
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.
Flying Junior dinghy found. Skipper and crew nowhere to be found. Where are the kids?
That scenario has got to be a race organizer’s worst nightmare. But that’s what the race organizers at Bellingham YC’s Dale Jepsen One Design Regatta faced for a few moments on Saturday.
Quickly, skipper and crew were found on shore, quite healthy and happy and somewhat oblivious to the commotion they’d caused. Regatta chairman Mike Poulos let them know that they’d freaked everybody out and if you leave the course, particularly if you leave your boat there, TELL SOMEBODY.
The good news is that everybody was fine. Even the boat came through unscathed! No doubt lessons were learned all the way around.
But the regatta’s real hero was Carlos Abisambra. When the wind squalls ran through Bellingham Bay just as the dinghies were reaching the starting area for an 11 am start, the Bay was littered with overturned boats. At least eight were over simultaneously. It was quite a sight.
I’d say a couple of gusts were in the low to mid 30 knots, but the Bellingham Buoy never recorded more than 30. However, the private “Viewpoint” station on shore, cited by Sailflow, had a gust of 45 mph (39 knots) and another of 40 mph. Regardless, it was nasty.
Carlos smartly tucked himself and his Laser in some protected waters to wait out the worst of the winds and see how things played out. Sure enough the race committee rather pointedly sent those of us in the starting area home, probably about the time they found the empty FJ. Carlos wondered if he could help, and headed to a different, nearby capsized FJ with two tired and cold girls who were clearly struggling. With the help of the less exhausted of the two girls, Carlos righted the boat and saw them on their way home. In the meantime, he was returned to his drifting Laser and sailed back in.
Carlos Abisambra in action.
Once in the harbor, he and others including Mike Powell and Miles Johannessen of the 505 fleet heard that an abandoned Laser Radial was just about to run up on the rocks, so the two grabbed a RIB and headed out. Carlos once again took to the water, swam to the Radial, righted it and sailed it home. A video of that rescue by Peter Hallett is here.
Carlos took a well-earned nap that afternoon, but found the energy and courage to sing karaoke that night. And the next day he overcame a rough start to finish third in the Laser fleet.
All Photos by Peter Hallett.
While Bellingham Bay dished up unsailable conditions Saturday, it came through with flying colors on Sunday. The day started with 12-15, diminishing to <8 for the sixth and final race. The RC did a great job keeping everything moving, and all the classes enjoyed great racing. The 505s were out in force with a fleet of 21 boats, with Paul Von Grey and Kerry Poe winning by a single point over the second and third place finishers who finished tied. The Tasars showed up with five boats, the Lasers had 11 starters and the Radials and FJs has six boats each. Results here.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.
