RS Aero

The Racing Season is Just Starting for Frostbiters

Kurt Hoehne Laser Sailing, Racing , , 0 Comment
The Racing Season is Just Starting for Frostbiters

For some Northwest sailors, it’s time to get the skis and boards in for a tuneup and make sure last year’s skiing gear still fits. For Laser and RS Aero sailors in Seattle, it’s just beginning.

Well, not exactly, since we’ve been sailing all year. But it IS the start of the fall and winter frostbiting season. Last Sunday was the first event of the year, with 17 Aeros, 5 Lasers and even three intrepid Optimist sailors. The conditions weren’t great, with a dying northerly. However, it wasn’t cold and with the fleet tucked in close to Meadow Point, approximately 6 races were sailed. Afterward, most of the racers gathered in the Corithian YC clubhouse and enjoyed a simple, but ample feast.

The Seattle Laser Fleet follows a successful formula of short races in quick succession, with a race committee of fellow Laser and Aero sailors and borrowing small powerboat from one of its members for race committee work and safety. Racing is always followed by a social and eating time, with the food provided by one of the fleet volunteers. It’s low key, and results are not recorded. National and Olympic champions dot the fleet and the wide ranging conversations afterward circle back often to what makes these little boats sail their best.

The RS Aero fleet continues to grow dramatically and the Laser fleet is planning for it’s District Champs, which should draw a number of sailors from all over the Northwest to the CYC Turkey Bowl.

Sunday’s was the first of six events. Loaner boats are available on a first come, first served basis.  Visit the SLF website for details.. To register for frostbiting, follow this link.

If your fleet has frostbiting planned, share the info here (email me). There’s room for sailing and snow sports around here!

To provide a little flavor, here’s the post race reports provided by the Seattle Laser Fleet captain Mark Ross and the race committee Mike Johnson.

Mark Ross:

A very good start to the 2018-2019 Frostbite season as 17 RS Aeros, 5 Lasers and a 3 Optis hit the water for a noon-time start.
     Races began in a light fog, slowly turning to sunny skies and light but very sailable wind. To many of us the tricky current and a big flood was challenging and frustrating but by and large the boats stayed fairly close together, keeping the sailing competitive from start to finish. A perfect starting line made for great practice as boats were gunnel to gunnel with no space to spare, then splitting to opposite sides of the course and vying for room at the marks. Thanks to Race Committee volunteers Jacques Garrigues, Mike Johnson and Naomi Medley for setting a great course, and in-keeping with frostbite style we completed five or six solid races, each about 20 minutes long before the wind died off, finishing the day a little early but still rewarding. Thanks Mike for the pictures. Keep an eye out for the sailish.com blog with a more detailed review of the sailing.
     Almost everyone hung out after racing for an excellent meal put together by food & beverage volunteer Glen Wisegarver. Choice of chili or vegetarian soup, salad and pumpkin pie were plentiful and of course well received. And good conversation ensued as we got to know a bunch of participants new to the program this year and catch up with those we hadn’t seen much of since last season.
 
Frostbite #2 is on November 11, 2018: 
Volunteers for RC and for Food & Beverage are needed.
     The RC Driver will be Doug Stumberger. We need a second volunteer to be RC Assist with Doug.
     We need someone to volunteer for Food & Beverage. 
Volunteer here. Or directly contact Jacques Garrigues (RC Coordinator) and Glenn Wisegarver (F&B Coordinator) if you’re unsure of what to do as they know how to make it simple.
      If you cannot volunteer for Frostbite #2 please go to this link and sign-up for a subsequent frostbite event.

To participate in a Frostbite Event register on-line here.  If you are unable to register on-line bring cash or check.

Fee options: 

(1)  All 6 race days for one low price of $70
(2)  Single race day fees are $20 
(3)  Students thru college fees $5 per race day.
Note: Seattle Laser Fleet membership is NOT required in order to participate. Drop-ins are welcome

Mike Johnson:

     Starting lines were all very close with absolutely no sag in the middle and no second row.  It was almost as through we were starting in an ebb. Boats were evenly distributed down the line, so we did not see a need to adjust the angle.  We did lengthen the line after R2 due to a perception that things were a little too tight. The massive flood was tricky with the weather mark set in 40 ft of water just off Meadow Point requiring sailing around the shifting back eddy.
     I did not get to watch the upwind legs much due to starting the Opti’s in sequence. We watched downwind and did not see one side pay predictably.  There always seemed to be a big East-West split. Downwind it seemed conventional wisdom was to head West to ride the flood, but several times more wind made East pay. Feedback from the fleet was welcomed and most feedback was to keep racing till about 3. We were planning on running two more races to finish up the day, however the wind altered that decision for us and we shortened the last race.
     Our target was 15 to 20 minute races and for the most part that is what we got.  In most races the first boat was to the weather mark in 6 to 8 minutes. For the benefit of future RC teams, it would be good to get a consensus from the fleets if this is ok.

PSSR Small Boats – RS Aeros Ascend

Kurt Hoehne 505 Dinghy, Racing , 0 Comment
PSSR Small Boats – RS Aeros Ascend
Hobie 18 punching through a wave in 2017

I was hoping some pictures my bubble up from last weekend’s CYC-Seattle Small boats regatta, but alas none have (So I’ve resorted to using last year’s). But there was some good racing across several classes this year. The Hobie 18s had a nice 5-boat fleet, with Ethan Salkind showing his winning touch extends to the 2-hulled vessels he sells, with straight bullets. There were two Hobie 16s as well. It’s great to see the multihulls in the CYC events, and hopefully those classes grow at major events.

505s, Stars and J/24s all featured small fleets but a dominant performance in each. Results. Jay Winberg was the lone Laser out there as others in the fleet were off traveling.

The biggest and most competitive fleet was the RS Aero fleet, which now boasts Jonathan McKee as one of their own. We have a report from one of the original fleet members, Jacques Garrigues:

PSSR was a challenging first regatta. The Seattle Aero fleet has some of the very best sailors and now Jonathan McKee has joined us to add to class acts like Dalton Bergan, Carl Buchan and Dan Falk.

Jacques Garrigues in an Aero in 2017.

Top Tasar sailor Michael Karas was sailing our loaner Aero and is a terrific talent.

Saturday was raining, the breeze was 5-7 kts early and built to 9-14 kts from the south running against a strong flood tide. On Sunday thank goodness the rain was gone and the breeze had switched to a northerly, 8-10 its early, building to 15-24 kts late. We had three very experienced new additions in Jonathan McKee, Jim Barrett, and Michael Karas all of whom were fast from the first horn.

The regatta though was dominated by Dalton Bergan who has phenomenal speed upwind, downwind, 9 rig, 7 rig, you name it he is showing the other Seattle Aero sailors how it is done. Congratulations to him. As usual, other consistent performers were Todd Willsie (second) and Eric Becker (third) despite some “kissing” by them at the leeward mark followed by a swim to cool off!! The swimmer will remain nameless.

We were on the water for about four hours each day with full on hiking and gathered at the end for well earned drinks and food.

All in all a really good start to the season in the Pacific Northwest for our very competitive and growing Seattle RS Aero fleet.

 

Thanks, Jacques!

Youth Movement at Turkey Bowl

Kurt Hoehne 505 Dinghy, Laser Sailing, Racing, Youth Sailing , , , 1 Comment
Youth Movement at Turkey Bowl
Laser Radials lining up for a start on Saturday. Matt Wood photo.

Corinthian YC’s Turkey Bowl doesn’t always attract the biggest fleets (something about sailing in November), but last weekend, thanks to the efforts of kids, coaches and parents, it was a remarkably well attended regatta. Nearly 60 boats were entered including 505s, Vanguard 15s, RS Aeros, Lasers, Laser Radials and Optimists.

Mats Elf won the closely contested 505 class, while Dieter Creitz won the Optis with straight bullets and Nate Walgren won the 4-boat Vanguard 15 fleet.

Lasers setting up for a start Sunday.

The singlehanded fleets each had a strong showing with 14 Aeros, 9 Laser standard rigs and 13 Laser Radials. Dan Falk, winner in the Aero class, “couldn’t remember having that much fun” as the last heavy air duel against Carl Buchan. They finished a foot apart, with the nod going to Buchan. Oregon’s Doug Seeman made his trip worthwhile, winning the Laser standard rig on the strength of a dominating performance on the light air first day. In the Radial class, it was Owen Timm taking the win over Abbie Carlson and Kit Stohl. The Radial class is really coming into its own and is a great place for younger and smaller sailors to compete at a high level

Results here. 

One of the groups of young sailors came from the Mount Baker Rowing and Sailing Center, a City of Seattle racing program based on Lake Washington and now headed up by Kaitlyn Van Nostrand. It would be great to have a city-based program turning up at regattas! Here’s Kaitlyn’s report from the weekend:

Mt. Baker Youth Sailing Team culminated its first fall practice series by attending CYC’s annual Turkey Bowl with 4 lasers and 2 Opti’s. Three of our novice sailors had never raced on the Sound before and for one of our Opti sailors, it was her breakout regatta! They were tough kids, considering most juniors start and stop when the weather is warm and dry.  

With some nervous laughs, the junior sailors joined the 505’s, RS Aero’s, Lasers, Radials and Optis for 6 great races on Saturday. Our team learned about the current, being scared then excited about the waves, swell and lots of ah ha moments when we talked about how the current would affect the mark rounds, and connecting the theory to practice when the current did just that. For two of our Radial sailors, their goal was to finish the races. Finish they did and by the end of the day, the race committee was cheering them on as they crossed the line!  For the other two second year Laser sailors, it was to see their great improvement that all the sailing they did this fall paid off. As they were able to finish closer to the fleet of great year around juniors sailors from SYC’s race team! Our Opti sailors learned how to stay out of the way of 505’s screaming past and got a few helloss from our laser master’s friends! After over 5 hours on the water and some warm chili, our sailors were falling asleep at the Clubhouse. Needless to say, they had a good night sleep! 

The forecast was wild for Sunday, but we did manage to get two great races off in the funny west/south west direction. Then the real fun began, the swells started getting larger before the big gusts came just as the second laser race was finishing. Race committee abandoned racing for the junior classes and the parade of laser radials and opti’s made their way back to the docks. It was a wild ride in huge gusts and big swell for our lake sailors! They were pleased enough to be done early after the long day Saturday. We washed our boats, packed up and headed back to Mt. Baker. Lots of smiles, lots of excellent experience gained and excited to start up again in the Spring.

If any Junior Sailors are interested in joining our youth sailing team at Mt. Baker, we will be starting Laser and Opti practice again on the weekends in April 2018. Sailors must know how to sail, but do not need racing experience. All our boats are owned by Mt. Baker Rowing & Sailing Center and we have scholarships available. We practice April to November! Email Coach Kaitlyn at mtbakersailingteam@gmail.com to find out more. 

Thanks, Kaitlyn, and I’ll second her call for more sailors. Whether it’s Mount Baker, Sail Sandpoint, CYC, SYC, high schoolers or any of the other great junior programs around, competitive sailing is definitely on the upswing in the Northwest. There are plenty of great coaches, parents and other sailors to help and keep things safe.

Have a great Thanksgiving all!

Youth Sailing Heats Up at Frigid Digit

Kurt Hoehne Racing, Youth Sailing , , , 0 Comment
Youth Sailing Heats Up at Frigid Digit

I was headed downwind passing about 10-15 boatlengths from the Opti’s weather when I heard the jawing. Two Opti kids, one was Dieter Creitz and the other I assume was Jack Carroll, rounded it nearly overlapped, and there were words. Oh oh, I thought, the plague of my racing generation’s yelling has infected the kids. But something different was going on. As they eased off onto the run, I’m pretty sure I heard singing coming from both boys. Singing. How great is that?

There was a distinctive youth movement at this year’s Frigid Digit Regatta. Seven Optis sailed their own course, and as Matt Wood noted, “They were great. After every race they thanked the committee, and they had a great time!” I asked one kid, swishing up the dock bundled up in a drysuit and seemingly carrying more gear than his own body weight, “Did you have fun out there?” Bright eyed, he looked at me and said “Yes! Did you?” How great is that? If I hadn’t had fun (which I did), seeing his enthusiasm would have made the whole weekend for me.

But it wasn’t just the Optis. Ten Laser Radials were out as well, with kids from Portand to West Vancouver coming to Seattle for a weekend of great camaraderie – err – competition. Grant Gridley of Portland managed to beat locals Owen Timms and Abbie Carlson. As the beautiful hat-trophies were handed out, the tightness of this group of Radial sailors was evident.

Of course it was pretty hard not to have a good time out there. On Saturday the wind was light but the air was warm, and on Sunday a good breeze, building to hiking conditions in the last few races, definitely cleared some of  those winter blues from our sailing psyches. Ten races were sailed, except for the Aero class which got an extra race in.

Here’s a sampling of photos from the event. I’m going to try to get some videos up as well. Thanks to Cameron Hoard, Eric Arneson and Erin Timm for taking photos and making this happen.

 

 

This was a sea change for Frigid Digit. It’s been a Seattle Laser Fleet event for 40 some years, managed by the Laser sailors. It’s been held several different places, from Union Bay at UW to Shilshole Bay on the Sound to Sail Sand Point to Leschi. Its history is profound, from the days of 60 boat fleets to barely surviving the down cycles. This year, the fleet decided to give up much of the race and food management of the event to Corinthian YC. Laser sailor Mark Ross worked with Matt Wood of CYC to produce a spectacularly successful event, helped no doubt by the sailing conditions. PRO Geoff Pease took our pleas for lots of races, little downtime, to heart and races got reeled off one after another even  through 55 degree windshifts.

The RS Aeros have certainly taken root in Seattle, and drawn in many top sailors. Carl Buchan managed the win over Jay Renehan in final race. Third in the 13 boat fleet was the mightily-bearded Dan Falk, but only one point ahead of Derek Bottles, who had recently placed third in the Aero Midwinters. Libby McKee is back on the water in her new Aero, and was fourth after the first day but had to miss day two.

A dozen Lasers raced, and it was Dalton Bergan showing that even after Moth sailing and fatherhood, he still knows how to make a Laser go ridiculously fast. Second, but always big in Dalton’s rearview mirror, was David Brink. Blake Bentzen won a race and finished third overall. Carlos Abisambra, who just announced he was leaving Seattle for a new job in Colorado, was fourth and left us all a reminder about just how on it he always is by being the only one to sail the correct course in the last race. (btw, the results at CYC have it as race 8 when it should really be race 10)

Rumor has it that a number of our young Radial sailors are headed to Laser Radials Midwinter East, and that should be yet another milestone in their development. I’ll track what they’re up to there and ask for on-the-scene reporting. I understand that youth no longer do emails. Maybe I can get them to text some reports.

Yeah, I hope they tear up the fleets back east. But mostly, I want them to keep having fun.