Future Olympian takes to the water on Quincy Bay
Gary Werden from Sharon, MA. takes the lead on day two
Regatta report written by Judy Krimski
Photos by Leighton O'Connor
After a week of more than extreme heat, Saturday morning dawned steamy with temps in the 80’s. I was excited though to get going down to the beach and rig up for the Lipton Cup, a multi-generational regatta hosted by the Squantum Yacht Club here in Quincy, MA. As I pulled my laser down to the beach (4 blocks away) I thought about what a fantastic venue Quincy bay is for a dinghy regatta. Hopefully this weekend wouldn’t disappoint. The lasers accompanied by club 420s and radials headed out to the Charlie course at 10:00. Fortunately SYC takes a civilized approach to sailboat racing; the course isn’t more than a 5 minute sail from the club and courses are short so you can actually see the windward mark. The RC did a fantastic job of adjusting the course for the wind shifts and was able to get off 5 races before a severe squall came through at about 2:30. For most of the day winds were southwest, 8-10 knots, oscillating approximately 40 degrees most of the day. This made for some very exciting tactical races. The course used was a box course; windward mark with a reaching mark, downwind to a gybe mark, another reaching mark, and upwind to a separate finish. Leads changed hands numerous times and it was pretty much anyone’s race on the last leg. If you misread the shifts, you were toast. Several times the lasers, which started second, overtook the 420 fleet, which made for some interesting tactical maneuvers. We finished the day, beers in hand, and happy to be know that we had one more day of sailing on the bay. On Sunday, we set sail for the Charlie line in brilliant sunshine and a light sea breeze hoping that the wind gods would smile on us. We sailed the box course in two light wind races in about 5 knots. Again the breeze was shifting but finally settled down into a true 10-12knot sea breeze. Since Quincy Bay is so shallow and the northeast fetch is so long it accentuates the swell giving us great downwind sailing. We got off another four races before calling it a day. It was all great fun with good friends and better competition. I am already looking forward to next year. I have to say the sailing this weekend was super fun but interacting with the kids made the whole experience really rewarding. There’s something really cool about seeing kids out on lasers, the new rig configurations help this a lot and it’s awesome. And Congratulations to Gary Werden and Erik Aker, Both from Sharon, MA, for finishing first and second respectively. See you guys down at Massapoag next Saturday for the MYC laser regatta. Can't wait for a rematch!
Many thanks to Leighton O'Connor, nautical photographer, for his great photos! To see more, go to http://www.leightonoconnor.com/
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