Dieter Creitz is at it again, putting PNW youth sailing in the limelight. This time down in San Francisco Bay where the St. Francis YC is putting on a heavy weather regatta, the slalom portion of which just concluded. Format details are a little unclear, but it looks like 35 boats started in groups of four or five, and after each heat the top 2-3 boats moved to the next round. Dieter (can we call him “our” Dieter?) made it all the way through to finish 3rd overall. Here’s a gallery of photos, a video of what I believe is the final race and then the results sheet.
Here’s a video from the St. Francis Facebook Page:
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 Key West Race Week is relegated to the history books, Charleston Race Week seems to have become the go-to East Coast big-time regatta. And the Pacific Northwest even has a top finisher to brag about as Mike Goldfarb and the War Canoe team duked it out to third overall at the very top of the Melges 24 class. Goldfarb has put several successful teams over the years here in Seattle in classes such as the 1D35, Olson 30 and Farr 30, so it’s no surprise to see his success in Charleston.
Also on the War Canoe crew were Seattle’s David Brink and professional sailor Mark Strube. Strube’s impressive resume includes several America’s Cup campaigns and Star sailing, most recently crewing for Paul Cayard at the Bacardi Cup. Strube sent along this review of Charleston:
“Charleston was a great regatta for the War Canoe team. We arrived early to train on our Melges 24, and it really paid off. The tacks, gybes, roundings and tactics were crisp as we learned the venue. We won one race and earned three second place spots, finishing the regatta third only one point behind second. Charleston is a very challenging place to sail with big tides and currents that come out of the two rivers. We had 31 boats in our class with 246 total boats in the in multiple classes. It has grown to one of the great regattas in the US. Next up for the War Canoe team will be in Portoroz, Slovenia next week. We hope to improve and sail well against the Europeans.”
War Canoe (825) in the thick of things at Charleston. Photo Melges 24 class association.
The Melges 24 remains at the top of the list of serious racing classes, and the level at which they’re sailed is quite astounding. It will be interesting to see how War Canoe does in Slovenia.
And for those who want the class insider view of Charleston, check out this report.
Here’s one of the slick videos produced for Charleston Race Week by videographer Mauro Melandri (zerogradinord.it) Looks fun.
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.
Rerun with permission from our friends at Pressure Drop. Seattle’s I14 fleet is well represented with Kris Bundy/Jamie Haseler, Kris Henderson/Martin Fabianssen and Matt Pistay, Leith Shenstone.
The Kaneohe Yacht Club played host to 22 teams of International 14’s over the past 4 days
for the 2018 Pacific Rims. Conditions varied from light and rainy to semi sunny with 15 -20 knot over 4 days of racing.
The RC managed to squeeze in 9 races on the 1st 3 days and concluded the regatta with the Hawaiian State Championship
Pursuit Race today, the boats at the bottom get a head start o help level the playing field.
The Aussie duo of David Hayter and Shaun Thompson claimed top spot, edging out Dalton Bergan and Evan Sobsted with a tiebreaker,
with Garrett Brown and Alex Throop taking 3rd.
The 14’s pack up and head to the San Francisco Bay now and will compete in the i14 Nationals at the St Francis at the end of May
and then the Richmond Yacht Club for the Worlds in August!
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 and Conrad Miller finished third in the RS Feva Worlds in Clearwater, Florida. (results) They had a blistering series and were in the hunt for the championship until the last, tremendously windy, day. Their remarkable effort broke the stranglehold the Brits had on the podium and there was only one other US team in the top half (13th). I’m planning on doing a detailed report when Dieter’s home. Our rising youth scene, Dieter and Conrad’s talents, and great support from Seattle Yacht Club and West Coast Sailing are all factors in this achievement. As I said, more later. In the meantime check out these stills and then a video from yesterday’s conditions:
(click on a photo to enlarge)
Dieter, George of West Coast Sailing and Conrad.
SYC Coach Cameron Hoard, Conrad Miller and Dieter Creitz.
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.
Owen Timms of Seattle has been steadily moving up through the Laser ranks and finished a very impressive second in Laser Midwinters West in Santa Barbara last weekend. He also graciously provided his impressions from the regatta. Here they are:
What a great weekend of sailing in Santa Barbara for the Northwest Laser sailors! The majority of us showed up on Thursday, in driving rain and dark clouds, but the forecast showed great weather on the way for the weekend. Friday was light to moderate, with the wind slowly building. Ending the day with a third, I was sitting in second place. Saturday was supposed to be more breeze, but the first race was sailed in under five knots. Then it turned on, and boy did it turn on!! 6 foot swell with breaking waves and 20+ knots of breeze is no joke. I think the biggest takeaway for everyone on Saturday was fitness is key, and dressing warmly (even while in sunny Southern California) is even more important. I got in on Saturday with numb feet, and shaking from the cold and I know everyone felt the same. On Saturday I scored a 3, drop of 13th, and a 4 to end the day. I was still in second place, and with the first place boat (Ed. note: Isabella Bertold) not sailing on Sunday, it was anyone’s regatta to take. Sunday was forecast to be about the same, with just a little bit less breeze. My goal was to stay consistent, play it pretty conservative and keep top three overall for the regatta. In the first two races of the day I managed a 3 and a 4, just what I wanted. After the second race, the wind switched about 110 degrees, blowing directly off the land. The Race Committee hustled, and we got the last start in with just minutes to spare. I never have sailed in a sea-state like that, swell pushing you upwind, wind chop against you. Steering through swell on the downwind is definitely an experience! Getting a tenth in that race, it secured my second place finish, with my buddy Marcus Huttunen from San Diego taking the win.
Of course Timms wasn’t the only Northwest Laser sailor to attend. I count 13 Radials from the Pacific Northwest and at least three more in the standard rigs. There was a significant Northwest presence. Victoria’s Isabella Bertold had a dominating performance of 5,1,1,9,2,2 to start with, sailing knowing she’d miss the last day’s racing because of work commitments. “All good though,” she said. “because it was just a tune-up for the Europeans in May.”
And, lucky fans get to live vicariously through photography. Here are some from Sharon Green that should get a few people to pull their Laser out from the back of the garage and get out racing! To see the rest of her shots, click here. (It’s worth it!) For the shots in the gallery below, click to enlarge. Also check out the great photography by Tom Walker by clicking on either of his photo credits.
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.
This week we have a little Bacardi Cup wrapup. Florida’s Bacardi Cup is one of the gathering places of the sport’s elite, in particular Star boat sailors and J/70 sailors. There were some notable performances by PNW. In the Stars Derek DeCouteau and Jamie Stewart were 43rd and in the J/70s, Andrew and Mallory Lowe plus Ben and Jen Glass were 12th overall and second among Corinthians (non-pro). Results. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of sailing action in this video, but there’s enough to make most of us wish we were there. I’m really hoping to have some video bubble up from local races in the coming weeks.
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 at the Sunshine State Optimist Championships
There are a lot of reasons to highlight 10-year-old (soon to be 11) Dieter Creitz. Sure, he’s a really talented sailor. And he shares his love of the sport with other kids. As a parent, I can only imagine how cool it is to have him an enthusiastic and integral part of his family’s Olson 25 Three Ring Circus. He hasn’t let all his success go to his head, and loves to do other sports as well.
But most of all, he exudes happiness around the water. It’s great to be around. If we could just bottle that….
Right now Creitz is in the middle of a very busy racing season. He just won the White division of the Sunshine State Optimist Championship sailed from the US Sailing Center in Martin County. For all of you who thumb your nose at the boxy, underpowered and overpriced Opti, consider this – over 200 kids from all over the U.S. came to this event, many trying to qualify to go to the upcoming International Events including the Optimist Meeting on Lake Garda which will have 1000-1200 competitors.
Creitz, in fact, was getting a little bored with the Opti, but the Sunshine State Champs appears to have cured that. He’s excited to be going back to Florida for the United States Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA) for the US Team Trials in April. According to his dad Nate, Creitz is up against “professional” sailors. With program budgets exceeding $100K and multiple coaches for some kids, professional is a pretty apt description. This goes way beyond Mommy Boats, which can be bad enough.
But before the team trials, Creitz is headed to Florida with crew Conrad Miller to sail in the RS Feva World Championships. With sponsorship from West Coast Sailing, this team will be waving the PNW and West Coast Sailing flags for this up and coming youth class. The kids are even blogging about it here. Creitz loves going fast, and the RS Feva delivers, as you can see in this short video.
The Sunshine State Optimist Regatta
Creitz is no stranger to big regattas, and it’s a good thing because the logistics of them weren’t easy at this regatta. With over 200 boats, there were four fleets. There was a round-robin between the fleets, so everyone got to sail against everyone else at least some of the time. There were three races per day. There was no gold/silver fleet, the scores are simply tabulated. But within the entire fleet results, kids are scored in their respective age group fleets: White for 10 and under, Blue for 11-12 and Red for 13-14 year olds. Creitz handily won the white division (and was 51st overall) by 29 points over the second place boats.
Nate was just about giddy to watch as his son Dieter applied so many skills to the fleet racing that he’d been learning over the years. “Getting off the line in an Opti race is everything. It was so cool to see him open up the tool bag and use these tools to get off the line. It was the best regatta he’s ever sailed.” Dieter found the fleet a lot more challenging than he’s used to around here. And a key to his success in Florida – hiking harder!
But of course there’s more to the story than just starting and the results. Creitz and his dad arrived in Florida early for two days of practice with the Canadian team before the two-day regatta. And it blew 25 knots every day. Several of the “pro” kids could look forward to unending weeks of training following the regatta.
But our Dieter Creitz needed to make it back to the Pacific Northwest. For skiing. After all, he’s a member of the NW Freeride freeskiing team. Yes, Creitz does jumps and stunts with skis. He’s got the 360 down and is working on the 540. It’s no surprise that a Northwest kid both skis and sails, but to do both so well is a real accomplishment. Asked if he likes skiing or sailing, he says skiing. “I guess I like it better because I only get to do it part of the year. You can sail all year long.”
It all started….
Dieter grew up sailing with his dad and mom Wanda. Dad Nate is a very active sailor and was in his youth, having sailed the US Youth Champs several times and finishing as high as fourth.
One big key to Dieter’s sailing was the “big boat,” the Creitz Olson 25 Three Ring Circus. Anyone racing around Seattle has seen Dieter’s bright smile aboard Three Ring Circus for the last decade. Lately Nate has pared the crew to just the family, having his son drive (seems logical to me!) while he trims and Wanda does bow.
The upcoming Race to the Straits will be the first father and son effort. Dieter has done several, of course, starting when he was six months old. But at this point it seems only fair that he be considered a full half of a doublehanded team. And Wanda? “Well, she knew this day was coming,” Nate explains.
Not surprisingly, Dieter finds himself on other boats occasionally, including the TP52s Glory and Smoke. His days of grinding and calling tactics may still be ahead of him, but Dieter still finds things to do. “I help on the bow and with the hoists,” he explains. And of course he finds himself as the “squirrel” on takedowns, helping get the spinnaker down the forehatch.
Through it all, Dieter’s love of sailing continues. His thoughts on sailing to a non-sailing 10 year old: “It’s a good way to open up, be free, get to travel and hang out with friends.”
And the future?
When a kid like Creitz makes his mark so clearly on the race course, the question has to come up “What next? Olympics?” Nate Creitz knows that possibility is out there, but like his son he has his head on straight and feet on the ground. “We’ll see what he wants to do,” he says. Nate’s not pushing, and doesn’t see any $100K “program” for Dieter. (“I’m not in that tax bracket.”) but he’ll do everything possible to enable Dieter’s dreams as they come. It’s safe to say that Nate and Wanda’s supportive, not pushy, approach to Dieter is a big reason why Dieter’s smiling at regattas.
The PNW sailing community has rallied with support for Dieter. Seattle Yacht Club and West Coast Sailing have both teamed up with support for Dieter. The rest of us can and should just root him 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.
Seattle Yacht Club and several ambitious parents put together yet another regatta trek for some lucky young Laser sailors. This year’s Laser Midwinters East were held in Clearwater, Florida. I’m hoping to get a first-hand report about the sailing conditions in a few days. But it seems clear from this picture that there were some happy sailors!
From Kara Carlson:
The SYC team had a great time!!
We got lucky with the weather 80s and sunny.
As a group, we rented a house and had the sailors staying with 3 moms cooking and doing laundry 😉
We had an SYC team dinner and had Hanne Weaver and her mom over on Tuesday night for our special chicken and fajita night (We even found a butcher shop in Clearwater). Teenagers eat a lot!!
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.
Fujin is of course a sailish.com favorite, and several Northwest sailors are lucky enough to race on the high performance Paul Bieker catamaran. In the Caribbean, no less. So it was a little scary when the news came through that Fujinhad capsized in the Caribbean 600, but fortunately the news came with the rather important detail that all were safe.
Brad Baker
Brad Baker took the time to chat with me between flights on his way home this evening. It was pretty clear that while the capsize certainly caught everyone’s attention, the level of preparation and the skills of those onboard made the whole thing a lot less traumatic than it could have been.
At about 2200 local time Fujin was in a very competitive position, rounding Saba Island while avoiding a nearby reef. Baker was in the salon helping navigate – at ~20 knots there’s not a lot of room for error. It was puffy and shifty, and when a big puff of about 35 knots hit, combined with a big lift, Fujin flipped, and quickly. Dumping the main in such a situation is of course the primary way to depower, but it happened so quickly, Brad said, “I’m not even sure we could have dumped the main fast enough.”
While all the details are not clear, Baker remembers thinking “Ah, crap, we’re going to tip over. My first thought wasn’t about survival, it was we weren’t going to finish the race. It didn’t take long to switch to survival mode though” Brad and Mike Leslie were in the Salon. The owner Greg Slyngstad who had been driving, made his way to the salon as well. They then migrated to the cockpit and did a head count, to make sure all were accounted for. Then out the back of the boat where Fritz Lanzinger was already atop of the overturned boat and was able to help the others up. Personal EPIRBs were activated and rescuers came quickly. One of the keys was that Mike Leslie had the composure to flip the outside lights breaker before leaving the cabin. That extra light helped the situation enormously.
A fishing boat came out, got the crew onboard and towed the overturned boat to Saba. All of Fujin’s crew (Greg Slyngstad, Brad Baker, Fritz Johnston, Paul Bieker, Gina Borza, Fritz Lanzinger, Michael Leslie, Jonathan McKee) were rescued with no major injuries.
One key was clearly the preparation. They had a safety meeting before they left the dock so they knew what to do and where the safety gear was located. “I learned a lot – about myself – in those situations. I learned I don’t freak out. I learned it really is important to have the tools we need to get through an event like that.” It was the first time Baker and Jonathan McKee had been rescued before.
Fujin
Has this experience soured Baker on catamarans? An emphatic no, although he points out that “the reality is the high performance ones can go past the point of no return and flip. The cruising catamarans are very hard to flip.” Now when Baker teaches the Safety at Sea Course, he’ll have quite a first person story to tell.
Baker and Bieker are confident that Fujin will fly again. I’m planning on talking to Paul Bieker as Fujin is righted and he can fully assess what needs to be done, plus any lessons learned.
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.
Greg Slyngstad’s American Bieker 53 multihull Fujin has capsized during the RORC Caribbean 600. All eight crew are safe.
Stephen Cucchiaro’s Gunboat 60 Flow stood by until Dutch/ French authorities organised a rescue vessel. Preparations are now underway to transfer all crew to the safety of Port Saba.
RORC Race Manager Chris Stone issued a statement on behalf of the race organisers, The Royal Ocean Racing Club:
“On Monday 19th February at 20:20 AST, Fujin capsized close to Saba Island and the eight-man crew were observed standing on the up-turned hull. All of the crew are now safe. Stephen Cucchiaro’s Gunboat 60 Flow stood by while rescue agencies co-ordinated the rescue efforts.
Jens Kellinhusen’s German Ker 56 Varuna altered course to assist, but has now continued racing. The Coastguard at Fort De France Martinique has been co-ordinating the rescue.”
The highly experienced crew on Fujin from Seattle, Washington, USA include the skipper Greg Slyngstad, the boat’s designer, Paul Bieker and Olympic Gold medallist Jonathan McKee.
Fujin’s Crew: Greg Slyngstad, Bradley Baker, Peter F Johnston, Paul Bieker, Gina Borza, Fritz Lanzinger, Michael Leslie, Jonathan McKee.
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.
