The Spring Series NOR is posted on the CPYC website at: http://www.cedarpointyc.org/Laser/LaserIntroduction/tabid/76/Default.aspx

Our regular Spring Racing begins Sunday, March 11 at noon and runs 9 Sundays plus our grand finale on Saturday, May 12 which is also our Spring Regatta. To kick the season off properly, we have a season-opening special event on Saturday, March 10...

• Check it out!! First Event – The Ski and Sail Regatta on Saturday, March 10th.
• The Ski portion of the Ski and Sail Regatta will be held at Thunder Ridge Ski Area in Patterson, NY… only a hop, skip and jump away…
• Adults $30 – includes lift ticket and lunch
• Adults $40 – includes lift ticket, SLALOM RACE COURSE and lunch
• Kids 12 and under $22 – includes lift ticket and lunch
• If you pre-register (by sending me your name and # in your party to jnice1@optonline.net) your name will be entered into a raffle for groovy prizes… MUST be present to win.
• If you need ski rentals or lessons, just let me know and I’ll put you in contact with the right people at the mountain
• The sailing portion of the event will be held on Sunday, March 11 – this is part of our Spring Series too and there will be no additional fee for those signed up for the Series

 

How’s winter in Connecticut? On December 17th and 18th I raced in 80 degree sun, 10 – 30 knots and launched from a pristine sandy beach. WHERE? Mui Ne, Vietnam. I live in Hanoi but made the journey down for the regatta and did the same in early September. The racing standards might not have been CPYC quality but the fun was. Teams rotated through Laser, Laser Radial, RS Feva, RS Tera and Open BIC and sailed altogether through a handicap system. All the boats belong to MANTA Sail Training Center, a growing sailing school in Mui Ne, Vietnam, who also managed the races. In both regattas there was a mix of sailors, foreigners living in Vietnam, travelers and some local speedsters. Mui Ne is famous for kitesurfing and windsuring (google it for some cool shots!) but sailing is still up and coming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first regatta went very well for me. I hadn’t touched a tiller in many months and was alittle rusty but sailing down wind on a full rig Laser in 20+ knots shook it off, more like washed it off. Sailing short courses with a handicap was new to me but I just focused on good starts and clean air, especially in the smaller sails. After 2 days and 11 races I was the clear winner but my toughest competition came from local kitesurfers who figured out sailing with ease!

The second regatta was very similar but with a few less racers because of harsh conditions. Before the first start 2 boats already had already torn sails! There was another American who was great competition. The first day we were very close on time in all the races. The final beats were interesting because in the faster boats, covering was stupid as you wanted to put the maximum time between the next boats but still being careful not to leave them alone. Gusty winds up to 28 knots made it difficult conditions in short courses and watching the gusts downwind was essential. The second day we changed to rotation to put the top 2 in the same boats all the time. We had some great mini America’s Cup racing but this time Team Cali beat Cedar Point YC by a few points.

I still do not know starboard in Vietnamese but yelling loud works everytime, even on the V-15 course back home! If any sailors are traveling in Vietnam I recommend a sail with MANTA! www.facebook.com/MANTA.Sail.Training.Centre There are some pictures from the regattas there.

Happy Holidays from Vietnam
Philip Myerson
 

 

By Britt Hughes

After about a 1 hour delay, and it looked dismal, our RC headed by Jay Lurie and Steve Fisk sent us out in drifting conditions. I don't think that I was alone in thinking that racing was unlikely to happen but hey, it was the last day and we were all there chomping at the bit to sail. From that point things improved quickly and our crack RC crew got the course set and racing started in short order. I believe that we started racing at 1pm and got 6 W/L races in 4-9 knots of SW wind. Racing location was in our default area due south of the launching area. Current was outgoing and quite strong especially relative to the wind strength.

Starts/First beat:
I started in different locations on the line however the 3 pin end starts that I did worked best and we were left shifted hard on all 3 occasions - on 2 of the 3 starts I had to shoot the pin in order to start with the left shifted breeze and strong opposing current. On 2 occasions prior to the start I sailed beyond the pin by a few hundred yards and noticed that there was a distinct left shifted (20 degrees) "lane" of breeze that existed out  there. So with a pin end start and sailing into a further left shift it was pretty simple as I would tack and be either fetching the windward mark or close to it. There would be additional big shifts along the first beat but I would simply tack back left into that "lane".

The above may sound simple but during these 3 races at least twice boats sailed out of the right hand side in right shifted breeze! In these cases the middle was death and the
sides seemed to work. Hitting the first shift was important to these first beats as well. I did successfully start at the boat 1 or 2 times as it was an oscillating breeze throughout the day - it would have been easy to conclude that my above mentioned left shifted "lane" existed all day, but it didn't so you had to keep your eyes up the course and not get lazy.

Speaking of lazy, in race five after I had a couple of bullets, I got lazy, assumed the left would work again - and it didn't. Not only did I go the wrong way but I lost the weather mark in the sun and overstood on the left - wrong side and overstood, hello, NOT GOOD! So that was what we were dealing with all day.

Downwind:
You needed to look for the lanes of pressure coming down the course and set up for them well in advance. I sailed mostly pretty deep and sometimes by the lee. Very eased outhaul, no vang and lots of weather heel was my overall mode - I have a lot to learn sailing downwind so I will leave this alone although I was happy to lose fewer boats than is normal for me downwind yesterday. The nice thing about this sport and especially the laser is that there is always something that you can do better so the struggle to improve never ends. In general, I often get a great/good start, sail smart and fast upwind then lose boats downwind - so this is the area where I am trying to improve. I ask questions, sail as often as possible, may buy a laser training DVD etc. but the bottom line is that if I can improve my downwind sailing, my results will improve greatly - next year...

Good sailing to Brendan who I beat on a tie breaker for the day and thanks to the RC for a great last day of racing.
 

 

 From left, Ed Rickard, Halsey Bullen, Amnon Gitelson, Marv Pozefsky

 

Our own Daniel del Bello finished second in the Laser Full Rig division at the ISSA High School Singlehanded National Championship hosted by Chicago Yacht Club in Chicago, Il on October 28-30, 2011. Daniel, representing Fox Lane High School, won 5 of the 18 races. James Barry, representing Brunswick School, finished 7th in the 18 boat fleet. In the Radial Fleet, Jack McGuire, representing Greenwich High was 7th, while James Harvey, also representing Brunswick, finished 14th.

Results:

http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=561
 

This past Sunday we had light and shifty conditions but we still had a good turnout and a fun day of sailing. The radial fleet sailed with the standard fleet which was great because we got to practice starts with lots of boats on the line.

The key today for me was trying to stay in the breeze, by sailing in the puffs and not letting boats block your breeze downwind.  Before the race, I would stand up in the boat to see where the puffs were coming from. Standing up makes the puffs more obvious on the course than trying to look for them sitting down. The first two races I was mostly playing the left side upwind to get past the current line but when the wind shifted further west and the course moved I was mostly trying to find the biggest puffs. I occasionally found myself on the right side, especially the top half of the course, but generally today I was finding more breeze on the left.

I also tried to start with clear air. The first two starts I was fighting for the favored end of the line but I ended up starting in a cluster of boats with no speed so for the rest of the day I opted for clear air and starting with speed. I was trying to keep a big hole below me and bearing off into it earlier than I normally would so I would get off the line without boats too close to me. I would then focus on getting to the first puff. I also tried to stay with the pack I was with. It was hard to know what the wind was going to do so I didn't want to take any risks.

One thing I noticed today was that since we were rounding the marks so close together, a good mark-rounding made a difference in speed coming onto the next leg. A couple times I caught boats by coming around the windward mark onto the leeward leg with speed, while the other boats stopped because they focused on their sail controls after rounding the mark.  Approaching the windward mark, I prepped my boat for the rounding. I made sure my mainsheet was fully untangled and put the slack on the deck. The vang and cunningham were already pretty loose but I loosened them to their downwind setting. About a boat length out, I let the outhaul go, pulled up the board as I was rounding the mark, and eased the mainsheet, making sure I was keeping the sail full as I eased it.
By coming around that mark with speed, I got away from boats right near me and into clear air quickly. If I started to get covered by boats behind me, I altered my course to clear my air and I tried not to get too close to groups of boats going downwind.

Thank you to the race committee and I look forward to seeing everyone next Sunday!

- Megan Spurling Marsh

Standard Rig Results
Radial Rig Results

 

for week 2 results, see link:

http://www.cedarpointyc.org/Laser/LaserLibraryRaceResults/tabid/101/Default.aspx

Congrats to standard rig winner Mike Matan, dude can rock it in the breeze and lets not forget our #1 radial and GM to boot, Amnon Gitelson.  (Either Mike/Amnon, send me a winners chalk talk to post!  heard Sunday was killer, my 20 yr hs reunion kept me up to 3am . . . thats another story)

Note from our fleet captain, all hail the new fleet captain!


My Fellow Frostbiters~

My name is Joseph Nice and I am your new fleet captain.  I’ve only been on the job for about a month now, so I’m a little new to the process and am excited about the season ahead – as I hope you are!

I’m reaching out to you all to say “Hi, Welcome and Let’s have an awesome season.”  I really look forward to sailing with you and learning from each other on how to be better sailors.  The season has kicked off to a great start with 2 beautiful weekends with very different conditions.

I know we all have a lot going on these days, but it’s important to remember that this fleet is for YOU by YOU and I welcome your ideas and input.  Volunteers are our lifeblood that keep the fleet alive and kicking.

I’m giving you the opportunity to step forward and be an active member of the collective; if my pleas for action go un-noticed then I’ll be forced to open up a can of Eric Robbins!

So, if you have an interest in helping organize the fall and spring regattas or would like to take photos or keep a weekly laser journal to be shared with the fleet, please email me.  I’d love to hear from you!  And let’s not forget that publicity of the fleet is in all our hands.  Talk us up to your friends, family and acquaintances.  Bring a friend for a free trial day or to help out with Race Committee – get ‘em involved!  Just get the word out – We’re here, we’re fun, come sail!!!

See you all on Sunday~

Joe

Questions:  Call Joe, fleet captain a 203-912-6855. or email him at jnice1@optonline.net, or read the NOR, it chock full o fun facts.  Don't reply to this email, unless...

 

CP Fall Frostbiting Week 1. 80 degrees and 2 days in 1.

We had 6 great races on Sunday in beautifully warm temperatures. By looking at the results it would seem that there were almost 2 different races days out on the course. Some people faired far better in the first 3 races than in the last 3 and vice versa. Somehow I managed to hang in the through the varying conditions to finish ahead of McGuire in 2nd, Kristiansenin 3rd, Barry in 4th and Hughes in 5th. Apparently Sunday was the day to either be a Junior or new to our fleet!

I train with Jack Mc Guire and James Barry every weekday and knew they would be quick. Jack is about 140 lbs and clearly had the best boatspeed upwind. Jack rounded the top mark in either 1st or 2nd almost every time, I am just glad we were not scored at the top mark!

I found Sunday to be a rather difficult day to develop a solid upwind game plan. In retrospect I now can see why since some of the races the leaders came out of the left and some came out of the right. Besides my OCS I found myself in the top 4 at every weather mark rounding. I made almost all of my gains on the downwinds. Here is what I focused on:

- Angle. When in flat water I try really hard to ensure that I am always on the closest by the lee angle to the next mark. I do this by pointing at the mark for a moment or 2 and then I look up at masthead fly. Which ever side my masthead fly points to, I get my boom on that side. Now I am on the closest by-the-lee jybe to the next mark.

- To do this well you need clear air and a mast head fly! J

- Pressure. Once on the correct jybe I play my mainsheet from 90 degrees and in. I trim to 80 or more when the puff is on and point at the mark or a hair lower. When the breeze goes light I ease back to 90 and sail as hard by the lee as I can to get pressure on my leach.

- Heel. My boat is changing heel fairly constantly. Every time I trim in and head up (back to the mark) I am flattening slowly to allow the boat to head up and allow the boat to heal to windward again so that I can bear off with ease. I am careful to only do this in coordination with trimming the sail and steering.

- Feel. When in the lull and on the by-the–lee angle I induce as much heel as possible to create feel. When the boat is healed to weather and on the edge I can feel the ¼ kt puff and can trim, flatten and head up with it.

- Steering. I actually try not to lead my turns with the tiller. I always think of the rudder blade angled in the water and creating drag. Drag is a speed killer so I avoid it like the plague. I turn the boat by trimming in and out as well as with the heel of the boat. When you do this the rudder just really follows the natural arc of the turn of the boat.

- I have my mainsheet marked at 90 degrees at both ends (so I can end for end the mainsheet when ever I rig and avoid excess wear to one end). In the light air/flat water I get as far forward while still locked into the strap and play the sheet between the ratchet and the boom block. This lifts the stern to reduce drag as well.

- My mainsheet is a 6 mm Roster rope. Coupled with the Harken ball bearing boom blocks I can feel a great deal of minute pressure differences. I also use a 40 cc Ronstan auto ratchet. In the breeze I have great control over the sheet since the sheet and v-groove of the ratchet mate perfectly. Next time you rig lay your mainsheet in the ratchet groove and see how well they mate. Chances are they do not mate well.

- Controls. My vang is just about all the way off. If I got a puff I may take an inch out but would be ready to ease off again to power up. C-ham is all the way off and I pull the slack out of the purchase. Outhaul is no more than 1 ft from max draft to the boom.

- Currently I am in the low 180 lbs range. I feel comfortable at this weight and enjoy the extra 5-10 lbs in the breeze. Most int. laser guys sail around 175 lbs and adjust from there based on where the next World Championships will be.

- Within my boat I play a game of searching to find the next puff. I like to think I am looking behind more than ahead. I look at all the boats around and key in on the boats that are moving a touch faster than the others. If I can, I get ready to match their angle and jybe. Sometimes the game gets tricky and I simply sail for clear air and pressure on my own sail until something behind me develops.

For me down wind in flat water and light air is a game of inches, patience and observation. Everything moves a lot slower so you have time to predict and see it all unfold.

See you next week and bring a friend.

- Andrew Scrivan