April 2023 View this email in your browser Click here for the D7 website to see the season schedule and find a fleet near you Upcoming Events    Peter Milnes Regatta, April 15th, Fleet 413, Newport, RI This is a great early-season regatta that honors Pete Milnes, who founded Fleet 413 in 1988. This year, the regatta is the first to count towards the D7 Gran Prix. Come sail the famed Newport Harbor. Check the Fleet 413 website for further information.  Stonington Harbor YC starts its spring small boat race series Join the fun on Saturdays April 15-June 10th. Check out the SHYC public race site for details  Great Bay Yacht Club\ PSA Spring 2023 Laser Regatta, May 20th, Dover, NH The PSA 2023 Laser Regatta will be sailed on Saturday, May 20th at the beautiful Hilton State Park in Dover, NH.  This is the second 2023 regatta to count towards the D7 Gran Prix.  Don't miss it. Find the NOR here Wickford Regatta, June 3-4, Wickford, RI Registration is open for the Wickford Regatta June 3-4. (Skip doesn't mess around.)  This one counts for the D7 Gran Prix. The only acceptable excuse not to be there is that you're obligated to one of those June wedding affairs. Get to Wickford! Lipton Cup, July 29-30, Quincy, MA Registration is open for the Lipton Cup. This event is great for junior and senior ILCA sailors. Before COVID, ILCA participation was strong, and the Squantum YC wants us back. Come join the dinners, live music, cookouts, and, oh yeah, RACING with friends, old and new.   News from around the district Prizes? I like Prizes. The International Sailing Academy has generously donated a very special prize for the winner of the 2023 D7 Gran Prix.  Since the winner clearly likes to travel, Colin, ISA's fearless leader, is offering a tuition-free clinic in Mexico. This will be available across a wide range of dates. You just need to get yourself there and cover food and housing; however, support may be available for housing in special cases. ISA clinics are a lot of fun and incredibly helpful for all levels of sailors. The winds are perfect every day, starting light in the morning and honking in the afternoon, so you get to practice with excellent coaches in all conditions. Thanks ISA!! About the D7 Gran Prix: This year, you can win fortune and fame by hitting the road and visiting other great fleets in D7. Eight regattas covering all six D7 states have been selected to be a part of this informal Gran Prix. For each regatta sailed, you gain points toward the District Gran Prix, which will culminate with the D7 Championships in Marblehead, October 21-22. You do not need to sail all 8 regattas, but the more you sail, the more points you get. Attend all of the regattas and win the iron tiller prize! (We're not sure what that is yet, but it will be great. Maybe a fine aluminum laser tiller mounted to a 2x4 :) There is no fee to participate and no sign-up. We'll automatically pull scores from the following regattas: Peter Milnes (RI) New Hampshire Spring Regatta (NH) Wickford Regatta (RI) Portland Pilot (ME) Mallets Bay Boat Club, (VT) Atlantic Coast Championship (MA) Fontelieu One Design (CT) District 7 Championship (MA) You can find information about all the regattas at the D7 website Marblehead junior sailor training in Italy for US Opti Team One of the greatest things about ILCA fleets is that they are breeding grounds for up-and-coming sailors. Last fall young Sanders Skaane started to make the Marblehead laser line, and he's been busy this winter in the Marblehead tech fleet. Sanders is doing us all proud at Lake Garda, Italy training to represent the US Opti Team.  Here's Sanders cruising the lake in 27 knts. Sweet! Annisquam YC is rebuilding its ILCA fleet for summer The Annisquam YC Race Sail committee is eager to grow the sport of sailing and engage the community for summer weekend laser racing. The Annisquam YC Laser Bay Series consists of One-Day series on most Sundays in July and August. Non members are welcome to put-in and haul-out from the AYC boatyard for purposes of racing in the Laser Bay Series. If you are interested in joining us on Sundays, please email AYC Laser Fleet Captain, Zaak Beekman (zbeekman@gmail.com), and he will work with you to try to find a way to help get you on the water–even try to find a place around town to help store your boat if needed.   Around and Around We Go A great warm up before every race day Got a job? Homework? Kids that need to be ferried around town? Yep, ILCA sailors are busy people, often too busy to get on the water purely for practice. Here's a classic drill to keep building your skills and warming up before each race day. Try to arrive a bit early and hit the water with a little time to spare before the first gun.  Find two buoys (moorings, lobsterpots, or the like) that are across the wind from each other and about ten boat lengths apart. The essence of the drill is to circle the buoys, leaving them to port, just like you will leave marks in a race. The trick to making this a great drill is setting yourself up to make each rounding. Start on starboard tack at the right-hand buoy and sail close-hauled until you are about half-way between the buoys and a bit to windward of them. Now you can head off for the left-hand mark at an angle more typical of a real downwind leg. Once you jibe around the left-hand mark, come up to close hauled and get the boat moving until you are about half way between the buoys. You should be a bit to windward of them before you head down and round the right hand mark. Once you round the right hand mark, harden up again and get the boat going to windward before tacking onto starboard and  repeating the cycle.   Things to focus on: As you fall off to round the left-hand mark, focus on maintaining flow on the sail. This means you have to sheet out as you head down, then take in a few handfuls to set up the jibe and then sheet fast once you round and head back upwind. This will help you avoid lazy sheeting around a leeward mark, when some of us don't bother to ease and then sheet during the the final approach, loading up the boat and going slow. As you round the right-hand mark, focus on getting to close hauled just as you pass close to the mark. This requires starting your turn a bit further away from the mark than you might think. This will help you defend against your buddies sneaking in at the leeward mark rounding. (Love those guys and ladies, hate that move unless I'm the one making it.) As you go around and around, you'll figure out what you are good at and what is a challenge. For those of us coming to laser sailing later in life, it may be helpful to consciously think about where you put your feet and how you move your hands. We don't have the same ingrained muscle memory as some others but that can be overcome. No problem! This is a classic drill but I learned it from Kurt Taulbee at Sailfit. Thanks Kurt Ledyard McFadden 5 Quick Tips for Better Starts:   In short course racing starts can make or break your game. It’s key to have good routine and ability to manage your position. Here’s some quick tips for improving starts. Links to informational videos are collected at the end of the article.   The main principles: 1.      Be on time, on the line and at full speed: This is about getting a clear lane and have ability to sail fast. Downspeed boat handling and positioning are critical factors in achieving this goal. 2.      Ability to do what you want - tack or sail straight: All that knowledge accumulated about the course pre-race doesn’t mean diddly squat if you get shot out the back and are forced to ping pong up the leg.     Boathandling: 1.      Down speed maneuvers: luffing on the start, backwards sailing, double tacks, shoot-ups, sculling, and stopping the boat, are all invaluable boat handling techniques that help you keep and protect your place on the line. 2.      Accelerations: There are a number of factors—waves, current and wind direction among them—that affect boat acceleration. So get out early and practice at least 5 accelerations off the starting line. Why? It will help you determine timing and distance from the starting line. AND improve your accelerations!   Practice these techniques before the start of racing. 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there will make a big difference over time and also give you the confidence you need to defend your position on the starting line.   Get to know the starting area - use a checklist: •   Line sight with landmarks both sides (if possible). •   Line bias - check the laylines for both boat and pin. •   Find the windward mark. Is it skewed right or left? •   Check current: Set you boat up next to the RC. Drift for 30 seconds. Which way are you drifting and how fast? •   Head to wind: which way is the bow pointing in relation to: either side of the line, the windward mark (If you can see it) •   Correct trim set-up for first leg   Preparation and positioning 1.      Set up trim for the conditions: Before the start the cunningham and outhaul should be pre-set. Set the vang for maneuverability. The boom parallel to the water is a good setting for the pre-start. At 20 seconds make sure your sail is trimmed to close-reach - Put on vang at 10 seconds and prepare to accelerate. 2.      On a puffy shifty day the goal is to stay in pressure and in phase. In a boat favored start—set up to leeward of boats at the RC so when the header arrives you’ll have the opportunity to tack and cross. For a pin favored start— set up to windward of the favored end. The goal is to tack as soon as possible and if you “win” the pin you may not have that option until boats close to you tack. 1.      Know the laylines: In a pin favored start the layline will be more shallow - that’s means staying closer to the starting line. A boat favored start features a more acutely angled layline. This means stay low and go high.    There’s tons of stuff on YouTube about Laser starts. Here are a few links.   1.      ISA video Starts Boathandling. 2.      Erik Bowers/Erica Reineke Practice Starts 3.      Backwards sailing from ISA 4.      The Pre-Start boat handling techniques with Mikey Beckett 5.      Hold your lane from ISA   If you have questions about this article don’t hesitate to email me at Coachnotes Sailing Cheers! Judith Krimski Here's a free video lesson from ASA on one of the most important ILCA skills. Holding your lane after the start or while making your way to the front on a beat. Enjoy!