Every year Bellingham Yacht Club puts the great Dale Jepson One Design Regatta (DJOD), and this year it will be really special for Lasers. The 2019 Laser Pacific Coast Championships will be held as part of the event but on a separate course.
Laser Standard, Radial and 4.2 classes will be run on a championship trapezoidal course overseen by PRO Blaine Pedlow. A separate course will run on the bay for other dinghies racing in the annual DJOD which sees and large 505 fleet. The organizers would love to see the Aeros show up too!
With the ongoing interest in the Lasers as an Olympic class, and the burgeoning 4.7 class, this should be a great regatta. Bellingham can deliver some great September sailing, and BYC is a hugely welcoming club.
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.
There was a national championship in Seattle last weekend, the Mallory Cup. It was the doublehanded high school championship, and it was a big deal sailed from Sail Sand Point on Lake Washington. If we get more info or photos from the regatta, we’ll run ’em. In the meantime, here’s a scene setter and a brief recap courtesy of the Interscholastic Sailing Association.
We haven’t been able to locate any sailing photos yet, but this photo by Sandy Skeel of the mothership Maris Pearl tending to the fleet of 420s on Lake Washington.
Saturday, May 11:
The 2019 ISSA Fleet Race National
Championship (Mallory Trophy) was hosted out of Sail Sand Point in
Seattle, WA this weekend. Thank you to our PRO Jonathan McKee, regatta
chair Nino Johnson, and the many other volunteers who donated their time
to help run this regatta.
Saturday began with clear, sunny skies,
warm temperatures, and a shifty ESE breeze 5 knot that averaged around 5
knots. Courses were adjusted to variable winds. Around 3pm the wind
lightened considerably, causing a postponement of race 4B until a 8 knot
SW wind filled in. Course was moved to account for new wind, then moved
again for race 5B as the wind moved further south. Wind died around
5:45pm, at the end of race 5B, and the decision was made to postpone
further races and then eventually call racing for the day. 10 races
total were completed on Saturday, 5 in each division. Four protests were
heard, 3 resulting in DSQs and 1 being dismissed.
After racing,
sailors, coaches, and volunteers were treated to a banquet dinner and
raffle that couldn’t be beat. Thanks to Seth Muir and Erin Timms for
putting on the dinner, and to guest speaker Helena Scutt for providing
an inspirational talk geared towards these top young athletes.
Sunday, May 12:
Sunday
was the beginning of a new weather pattern, with overcast skies and
cooler temperature. The wind was decidedly southerly, and at 8:30am the
decision was made to have the course south, around Sand Point, and into
better breeze. Coaches and substitute sailors were loaded onto the Maris
Pearl, a tugboat that served as a rotation dock, and moved to the day’s
new course location. Races were sailed in an 8-10 knot S breeze until
around 1pm when the clouds began to lift and the wind died down. The
course was moved back to the location of the previous day to take
advantage of a shifting 5-7 knot ESE breeze. Around 3:40pm the wind
lightened considerably and moved south, causing an abandonment of race
15A and the postponement of 15B. As per the SIs, no races were to be
started after 4pm, so Sunday ended with a total of 18 completed races, 9
in each division. One redress hearing was heard, but was dismissed.
After
a total of 28 races, 14 in A division and 14 in B division, Point Loma
High School took home first place, followed by Severn School in second
place, and Christchurch School in third. Congratulations to those
sailors and to all of the sailors that made it to the 2019 ISSA Fleet
Race National Championships! Thank you to our PRO, regatta chair, race
committee, and judges, as well as all of the parents, coaches, sailors
and volunteers who helped make this a great regatta!
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 report on the Battle of Four put on by World Sailing to choose a singlehander for the 2024 Olympics is in. Read it here.
Lasers in Seattle
The decision apparently still hasn’t been made on which boat to choose for the Games, but the evaluation panel came up with the conclusion that the RS Aero and Laser are the ones to consider.
I’m going to sit down with a beer to read the report in full to see their procedures and specific conclusions. Good to know that our active fleets in the Northwest are the frontrunners.
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.
Dieter Creitz has arrived in Chile for the South American Optimist Championship and is enjoying the pre-race camaraderie that goes with an international regatta. You can see from the photos what this kind of event means to kids. You can also see how serious and competitive the teams are with the measuring in process and keeping the team focused. Here’s the report from Dieter’s dad Nate (who got to race on a Soto 40!):
We are having a great time In Chile. Team USA just headed out for their final practice. Dieter is truly enjoying himself and making new friends. It’s been great to see our friends from around the globe and his teammates from Bermuda who helped him get here. We haven’t spent much time with him as he is with his team and coaches staying together.
Racing begins tomorrow and opening ceremonies are tonight with a parade through town which will be quite a show. It’s very impressive how IODA operates and the infrastructure in place for this event. Big tents, food everywhere and lots of sponsors showcasing products. Lots of flags & banners blowing in the wind. The measurement process yesterday was long and grueling. The team sat down with the committee and were briefed on the process. Dieter’s sail numbers were incorrect and had to be redone and his daggerboard was too heavy and had to be sanded down. It was surprising the deviation of equipment manufactured here in South America and how many items did not measure correctly. Boats & foils we use back home are manufactured much more consistently.
Beginning tomorrow parents are not allowed into the sailors boatyard. Parents are also not allowed access to the cabins where our team is housed.
Yesterday I sailed three races on a Soto 40 with a Chilean crew who spoke Spanish the entire race! There are feral dogs everywhere who are well fed, friendly & happy.
Thanks to Nate we’ll keep track of this one. Young sailors out there – get inspired!
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.
World Sailing just finished evaluating the Laser, Devoti Zero, Melges 14 and RS Aero in Valencia, Spain as part of the decision which one will be the singlehanded class used in the 2024 Olympics. Don’t know which was chosen yet.
RS Aeros and Devotis
I’ll just say up front I don’t have a lot of faith in World
Sailing or the Olympic Committee. Both bodies have seen their images tarnished
by dubious decisions in recent years. I can’t help but wonder if all this
testing is window dressing for a decision which has already been made. I don’t
have any evidence, just a hunch.
I’ll add that being chosen as an Olympic class is not the end-all. The future of any class lies more with its class association and builders than it does with World Sailing or the Olympic designation. The Laser became the go-to singlehanded boat long before Olympic designation. The Olympics didn’t make the Laser a success.
Melges 14s
And there are plenty of examples of Olympic designations that never vaulted a class’s numbers. The Tempest, Flying Dutchman, Yngling, Soling, 470, Euro, 5.5 Meter and Dragon are all fine boats with active fleets. But did the Olympics create active fleets throughout the world? The Star seems to shrug off Olympic designation as it might a nice jacket. OK to wear, OK to put on a hanger. I see more interest in the Finn class outside the Olympics than inside it, so I doubt its ouster will have much effect.
Devoti
While my point isn’t exactly, “who cares?,” I must say that for those of us ordinary folk sailing any of the four singlehanders in the running, it’s not worth getting too excited about. Chances are good that all four of those classes will live on based on their own merits. Young sailors planning on Olympic campaigns will be going to where the competition is, regardless of which boat it is. This isn’t going to affect local fleets that much.
That said, I’m following World Sailing’s sea trials with interest. From a non-sailor’s standpoint, none of these boats are going to seem remarkably different from the others. Sail a mixed fleet of Lasers and Aeros, the Lasers are going to get their asses handed to them. Watch a fleet of Aeros go at it, then a fleet of Lasers, and it’s not going to seem all that much different.
So I guess the testing was to see which boat best tests a sailor’s skill. There are lots of considerations here revolving around the size of the sailor. The Laser Radial has been immensely unpopular with many women because of the size it requires to be competitive (~150 lbs). The newer boats with squaretop sails and bendier carbon rigs naturally depower a lot easier. I still wonder how, on a breezy day, a 125 lb woman depowering is going to fare against a 150 lb. woman totally powered up. On the men’s side of things, that combination will theoretically allow a wider range of sailor sizes. Dinghies have been, are and will be weight sensitive.
For me, the most important issues are worldwide availability, durability and builder support. The Olympics have the potential to popularize sailing. Laser would be the obvious choice with these criteria, except for the builder support. The primary builder, Laser Performance, has done an atrocious job of supporting sailors with parts. Its feuds with designer Bruce Kirby and the International Laser Class Association are epic. So the Laser’s main drawback doesn’t have much to do with its speed.
The upshot is, I’m watching this all with interest, but I’m not going to get too upset no matter the result. It’s just the Olympics. The more important question is: who’s bringing the sandwiches after Sunday’s frostbite racing.
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 Laser in its smaller sail configurations remains the class of choice around the world for youth sailors aging (or sizing) out of Optis. In Europe the big regattas draw hundreds of boats.
This year the Youth World Championships for both classes are going to be at Kingston, Ontario sailing in the challenging fresh waters of Lake Ontario. The Radials will sail the last week in July and and the 4.7s will go August 16-23rd.
There’s a limit on competitors (240 in each class), and a qualification and application process, so if you’re planning on going it’s a good idea to get started early. Registrations are open now. Here are the links: Radials, 4.7s.
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.
If you ever wonder why Kiwis are so damn good in virtually all kinds of sailing including foiling, Volvo Ocean Race and the Olympics, look no further than the just-concluded OK Dinghy Worlds.
Close racing at the OK Dinghy Worlds.
This design predates the Laser by a lot, and was originally supposed to be a training boat for the Finn. It’s a great boat, and there’s substantial freedom in the setup so in a lot of ways the boat is constantly upgraded and improved and very modern. Many of the hulls are quite old and wood. See the article by Noj Henderson in February edition of 48 North for a lot more about the class including its history in the Pacific Northwest.
You don’t see the Kiwis wringing their hands about whether or not it’s the fastest or best singlehander out there, or if it’s going to be the Olympic boat or not, they just get out there and race at a high level. 110 of them! The PNW can claim two of the competitors, Noj and my old shipmate Eric Rone. And they both sailed under the NZL, not the USA, flag. Makes sense. They just got out there and raced!
The other thing, the Kiwis as a whole value sailing. The regatta had videos, photos and all kinds of coverage daily. The video shows the 100+ boat starts, something that’s not seen very much any more. And the mark roundings, which appeared epic but orderly. Check it out, especially the offhand humility of the leaders interview. “Yeah, well, I really didn’t have that great a speed….” OK….sure.
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 upon a time when there were 50 Lasers lining up for the Seattle Laser Fleet‘s Frigid Digit regatta, there wasn’t much thought of adding other classes. Over the decades the event has moved to various spots around Lake Washington, but now appears to have found a home with Cortinthian YC-Seattle doing the race management as a multi-class event on Puget Sound.
The history of Frigid Digit dictates that coverage starts with the Laser class. As was seen during the Turkey Bowl/Laser Districts last fall, the Laser class is definitely seeing a youth movement in the region. And, as if right from the brochure, it was growing young men making the move up from the smaller Radial rig to the Standard rig. Owen Timms, Max Doane and Kit Stoll all made the switch and were sailing at the front of the fleet all weekend. It was David Brink, a bit older but not that far removed from the Radial, who won the weekend and had his name written on the back of the trophy (for the second time!). His boat name, TCB, stands for Taking Care of Business. That he did.
Photos courtest of Brad Greene. Thanks, Brad!
Aeros
Aeros off the start
Bob Ennenberg of Jericho
Tasar jockeying
Optis rule
Jim Santroch
Radials rounding
There weren’t many capsizes, but a few.
Lasers
The Tasar fleet had “arranged” among themselves for it to be a one day regatta. While both days were good sailing days, they definitely picked the better of two. Bright sunshine and 8-14 knots ruled the day. On top of the frighteningly talented six boat fleet was Jay Renehan who won all four races entered.
Renehan and fellow Tasar skipper Jonathan McKee returned Sunday to have some fun in the biggest class, the 21-boat RS Aero fleet. It was Dalton Bergan who won the last three races to dominate that fleet in Sunday’s lighter air, with Dad-in-law Carl Buchan second. Third was Mike Johnson, one of the more recent Laser-to-Aero transplants, who is clearly getting the hang of the lightweight Aero.
In the Laser Radial class, Seattle’s young Erik Anderson class came up with a convincing victory over Bob Ennenberg of the Jericho Sailing Association of Vancouver, BC. Ennenberg had a smile on his face the entire time, and proved that the Radial is a great place for smaller adults or those that don’t want to risk the wrath of the standard rig if conditions deteriorate. Three Radial sailors made the trip from Bellingham.
There were three brave Opti sailors on the course as well, and without a doubt they had the biggest smiles all weekend. Sam Bush won all the races except one.
This regatta showed that singlehanded sailing, and dinghy sailing in general, is alive and well in Seattle. The RS Aero continues to attract a large group of top-flight competitors and the Lasers are the premiere venue for young people moving up the sailing ranks and honing their skills.
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.
As a strong (zealous?) promotor of the Laser, this video gives me strong emotions in both directions. I’d love to see the Laser evolve faster, but I dread the idea of such a dramatic change that might kill the fleet. The same old questions that has faced the class at every turn.
This C5 rig is intriguing. It has the square top and carbon spars that would certainly add to performance. Julian Bethwaite (29er etc) certainly has the skills to do the changes right. But while the Laser hull shape is certainly timeless, the construction technology is long past its due date and the foils can do with updating.
What to do – with the RS Aero and Melges 14 having raised the bar in the singlehanded classes and gaining traction fast, there are plenty of good reasons to update the Laser. I’d love to see how that rig fares against the Aero. Then again, Laser is still the class internationally and that big a change may capsize it forever. Would changes like that be beating a dead horse that isn’t dead? Hmmm.
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 sailing gods must have had a meeting and decided that this year’s CYC-Seattle Turkey Bowl, sailed this past weekend, was going to be spectacular. I can hear them having a chuckle: “Let’s see if we can send everyone home really sore and tired. And while we’re at it, let’s see if they wore warm enough clothes.”
Those gods succeeded. With winds in the high teens on Saturday and into the low teens on Sunday, the race committee could run race after race. And they did. Seven class raced, and eleven races were sailed, except in the Tasar class which only participated on Saturday. The physical nature of each of these boats, and the hiking demands of boats like the Laser and Aero, meant some very sore bodies. The temperatures weren’t all that bad, reaching into the 50s, and the sun was spectacular, but the wind chill tested everyone’s gear and more that a few of us came back to the dock not even in the neighborhood of toasty.
It’s easy to forget what we can have here in the Pacific Northwest. The weekend’s snowcapped mountains, sparkly blue waters, fresh northerly and a contingent of organizers, volunteers and parents made this an event to remember for a long time to come, and a poster-event for future Seattle dinghy events. It’s not always like this, but it can be!
The event also served as the Laser 22 Districts. Thanks to a coordinated effort between kids, coaches and parents the Laser Radial fleet saw 24 entries and the Laser 4.7 class saw three boats. The 4.7 is following the European lead and becoming a popular alternative in the U.S. for kids transitioning out of Optis. There was also a healthy and competitive fleet of a dozen Standard rigs. In the Standard fleet Matthew Stranaghan of Canada overcame the early lead of Brian Ledbetter to win comfortably. Amongst the Radials, Kit Stoll and Owen Timms picked up their rivalry with Stoll coming out on top this time. In the 4.7s, the brothers Cruz and Chase Custodinho were one and two with Delfino Li coming in third.
For me, the quote of the day came from one youngster to another – “Bye – See you at Frigid Digit!” referring to the Seattle Laser Fleet’s big January regatta to be held on the same waters.
In the very competitive RS Aero class, Dan Falk won a hard fought battle over Dalton Bergan and Carl Buchan, ahead of Bergan by a single point. Finishes were very close and the fleet often very tightly packed.
Matts Elf and Brent Campbell won the 505 class, Jacob Posner dominated the Opti class with straight bullets and Jonathon and Libby McKee won Saturday in the Tasars. Jonathan came out on Sunday and sailed in the RS Aero fleet.
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.
