Racing

Yes, John may hit the line at full speed. Bill could possibly pinch me up at the line and leave me stalled. David has lots of room to leeward to accelerate without risk. But where am I?

I can see Scott heading for a mid-line start. The other David looks like he wants to play it safe and slide off to the right as soon as he gets a chance. But what am I doing?

Getting my head out of the boat is all well and good, but too much awareness and I become merely reactive. I’m trapped in the space between Bill’s Laser and mine. I’m caught by the few feet of difference between my possible start and John’s. I’m already sailing up the right side and trying to gauge the wind pressure on the left side where David will be. I’m not sailing my race!

A good size front came through on Saturday. The wind looked challenging, but the club races are on Sunday and by then we had a more manageable breeze.

At race time the wind was still in transition and for those of us who weigh in at under the 180 pound ideal weight for a standard rig, it was decision time. I’ve written about this before and each time I swear it is completely covered, but I realize that it is an ongoing struggle that I will probably return to again.  

QYC May Madness Laser Regatta Results

When you plan a regatta you haven’t the faintest idea what kind of weather you’ll have, so it was with a pretty profound degree of disappointment that the weather for our May Madness Laser regatta began to make its self known out of the long-term forecasts – rain and thunder with moderate to light winds.

I ended up with stress fractures in my foot after a recent ocean regatta. It isn’t quite clear what caused the injury, but it kept me off the Laser for three weeks in the midst of three regattas I’d been aiming toward this year. Finally this past weekend I was able to sail in the QYC Last Blast Laser regatta. The wind speeds were in the mid twenties with higher gusts and even with the radial I was struggling. It was some of my worst racing this year – a few reflections.

The Boston area winds were fine yesterday for my weight and a full Laser rig. We, Master sailors and women who have to choose between full and radial rigs, love it when we don’t have to make close-call decisions; yesterday started as clearly a full-rig day for me.

From the beach area, the wind ripples on the lake gave the water a deep green/gray hue. The monotone surface suggested no puffs and no lulls, just a steady consistent 8 to 10 knot breeze that should place a premium on sail trim and boat handling in the upcoming club races. This eyeball assessment didn’t come close to forecasting the squirrelly shifting breeze that played games all across the race course a half hour later with gusts that flogged the Laser’s sail and lulls that had me crowded up against the centerboard.

The Sunapee Laser regatta was held in very light air broken up by a few very mild puffs and regularly periods of drifting. None of this seemed to bother Peter Seindenberg who sailed five firsts out of seven races. With his throw-out race taking away one of the non-firsts, that didn’t leave much for the rest of us.

At the start my bow was just below the line and I was three-quarters hiked with good speed. All the boats to windward were holding the same line I was and I was matching their speed.  The boat to leeward had pulled in below me at the last minute and at first looked like he could keep his air clean, but he was only half hiked and began to fall back where my wind shadow was going to threaten him. He had lots of room to bear off and kick his speed back up, but instead he pinched up until his sail luff started breaking.  I had to eke up to stay clear and by the time I adjusted my head to the need to force the boat above me way up, three boats were rolling over both of us. The best I could do then was to hang in until I had a clear lane to tack toward the right side and clear my air.