2024 Regatta Schedule Updates
Here comes September! The developing schedule is posted on the D7 website and at the bottom of this newsletter. Here are the latest calendar updates:
September
Duck Island Yacht Club ILCA District 7 Regatta
September 7th, DIYC is hosting the grand finale of the D7 Grand Prix in Westbrook, CT. We are very excited to have CT represented in the D7 Grand Prix this year. This is a beautiful spot to sail. Who will win the free tuition to the International Sailing Academy? Sign up for this fun one-day event. Registration is open.
Ponce De Leon Regatta, September 8th, EYC in Marblehead
This is the opening of the Marblehead fall frostbiting season. Show up at 11 AM & register on site. Prizes and party afterwards. Contact tomdailey15@gmail.com
Double whammy masters sailing with the New England Masters and the US Masters back-to-back:
New England Masters, Sept 14-15
Registration is now open for the New England Masters, September 14-15 in Wickford, RI. It’s so great that the New England and US Masters are back to back!!! To celebrate, we have a fantastic combo deal for you. If you register (and pay) for both regattas by August 24th and compete in Wickford on September 14 and 15 at the New England’s, the New England's will provide a $20 rebate after our regatta concludes. That means you end up paying only $55, after the rebate, for the New England's, one of the best annual regattas. You’ll also have an amazing tune up for the US Masters. Incredible, right?
Ready to sign up? Go to https://www.regattanetwork.com/event/28475 Do it before August 24th because after that the price goes up and the rebate is off. When you register, please add on tickets for Saturday’s regatta dinner. These are not automatically included in your registration, but the evening is always a great event, and we don’t want you to miss out!
If you aren’t competing, but want to join us for the Endless Beer, Wine and BBQ dinner on September 14th, we’re happy to be your host! Register at the Storefront option using the link above, or go directly to regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_storefront.php?regatta_id=28475&clear_session=1 and you will be able to buy tickets for the Saturday regatta dinner.
US Masters, September 20-22
Now is a great time to sign up for the US Masters, September 20-22 in Marblehead MA. We recently topped 80 boats and are on course for 100 competitors! If you know you are coming, please register now and help us get accurate head counts for the delicious meals and complementary beers you will enjoy. Check out the NOR at the link above.
October
Hyannis YC Oktoberfest Regatta 2024. October 6th
Register here. Join this fun fall event with a regatta potluck to warm you up after a day on the water.
Do you have an event planned but don't see it on the calendar at the end of this newsletter? Please let me know: laserd7@gmail.com |
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District News
District 7 Championship
What makes for a great weekend? Try warm water on the Cape, breeze and waves left over from Hurricane Debby and the hospitality of Stone Horse YC. Sixty one competitors enjoyed two great days of competition with a strong showing of youth sailors. Hurricane Debby passed off shore on Saturday, blessing the fleet with a good breeze and fantastic waves. Stone Horse boasts an awesome venue with easy launching on the beach and racing just off shore. The Race Committee set a challenging WL, twice-around courses with long beats to work the abs, and sleigh rides back to the leeward mark. Sunday was more of the same with a moderating breeze. We had seven races over the two days. Regatta Chair Vicky Wiseman and her crew of volunteers took great care of us.
In the ILCA 7, Bryce Andreasen of Eastern YC took honors in a tie breaker with Aleksei Lopatin of Severn Sailing Association. Nicolas Regnault took third. In the ILCA 6, Grayden Mott of Sail Newport was first with an eye-popping total of 6 points. Bodhi Becker, also of Sail Newport, took second and Christopher Chwalk of Barrington YC, was just three points behind Christopher.
Many thanks to Stone Horse for an excellent event. This is a great step forward for the revived D7 championship with an increase in boats over 2023. Who wants to host next year? Let me know @ laserd7@gmail
Malletts Bay Regatta
A small but spunky group completed eight races in breezy conditions at the beautiful Malletts Bay Boat Club on Lake Champlain. Will Boyd won first place, followed by Sam Royal and Ken Grillo. 
Lake Sunapee
Twelve ILCA sailors duked it out over two days of light and variable breeze on Lake Sunapee. Peter Herlihy took first, Chip Kreuzkamp second, and Sally Sharp third.
Update on D7 Grand Prix
We have now completed five of the six Grand Prix events for 2024. Just one more to go at Duck Island YC next weekend. Over 103 sailors have been entered in the Grand Prix. The top prize is a free tuition to an International Sailing Academy clinic, a $2,500 value! Sailors receive a percentage score for each regatta attended. For example, 1st place earns 100 for that regatta. If you don't attend a given regatta, you get 0 points for that event. Here are the current top ten:
| | | | | | | | | | | First Name | Last Name | Wickford | TB S. Evans | D7 Champ | M. Bay | Sunapee | Duck Island | Total Score | | Dave | Crawley | 100.00 | 52.63 | 87.50 | 0 | 0 | | 240.13 | | Ledyard | McFadden | 55.56 | 89.47 | 69.23 | 0 | 0 | | 214.26 | | Jamie | Carter | 94.44 | 100 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | | 194.44 | | Sean | Giunness | 88.89 | 94.74 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | | 183.63 | | Adam | Cook | 66.67 | 42.11 | 61.54 | 0 | 0 | | 170.32 | | Jeff | Beckwith | 61.11 | 84.21 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | | 145.32 | | Dave | Frazier | 0.00 | 73.68 | 0.00 | 0 | 50 | | 123.68 | | Don | Packard | 33.33 | 0 | 75.00 | 0 | 0 | | 108.33 | | Frederico | Bediaga | 100.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | | 100.00 | | Grayden | Mott | 0.00 | 0 | 100.00 | 0 | 0 | | 100.00 |
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Building a fleet in Newburyport
Joppa Flats Racing at the American Yacht Club
-Nat Coughlin, Fleet captain
Six or seven years ago, the Laser fleet at the American Yacht Club was gone. The old fleet organizer had passed away years prior. Efforts to keep the fleet going dwindled, until racing was pretty well nonexistent. Today is a different story. This season, we usually put 10-15 boats on the water, have lots of juniors and masters racing together, and the fleet really feels like a growing program.
Hopefully imitation is the highest form of flattery because I started out pretty much copying what the Marblehead Laser fleet does! Also, I used to crew in the Annapolis Lightning fleet in the 90’s which was a high level fleet that also had been rebuilt from the ashes, and their fleet captain Phil Grotheer had a great article about how he did it. Those examples inspired me to take a run at rebuilding the AYC fleet, and then a lot of hard work, good luck, and core supporters helped build that early momentum.
From the beginning, I’ve tried to remove obstacles that can frustrate sailors. The tidal and river currents on the Merrimack can make racing, launching, and landing pretty difficult so all of our races are scheduled around high tide. We race every other Sunday, with different start times for each week. Though a little unusual, this has been a great decision.
Building a loaner program has been a challenging, but indispensable, part of our growth. It gets new sailors and juniors on the water. Several laser owners at the club don’t race often and have been willing to share their boats. We have a few juniors with their own boats, and they come out when their sailing friends can also get in loaners. Most days, we will have 4-8 juniors on the water, which is incredibly fun (and wow, they learn fast).
I’ve watched fleets struggle with race committee, so lots of effort has gone into making sure we have a quality RC every single race, without forcing our racers to get out of the laser and into the RC boat. For several years, I would steal the paid junior stewards (teenagers) off the club docks and press them into RC. More recently, we have built Race Committee volunteer teams that have been a game changer.
We are fortunate to have the American Yacht Club’s enthusiastic support which helps in countless ways both logistical and emotional. We have a great yard, committee boats, a great ramp, and building facilities. Also, the members are proud of what regattas have meant to the club’s history and culture and really enjoy seeing the sails go up in the yard and watching the fleet from the clubhouse decks.
With our location in Newburyport, we reach sailors that don’t want to travel to more distant fleets, and Joppa Flats on the Merrimack can be a remarkably good and reliable place for dinghy sailing.
There is a great core fleet and a steady influx of new members, juniors, and guests. This is a fleet that should have its best years ahead of it. We are just working for that first 20 boat day!
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