Laser Weekend in New Hampshire!

Racing on Lake Mascoma

It's going to be a beautiful weekend to do some lake sailing!

Saturday, June 4th -  Lake Mascoma Spring Regatta
Sunday, June 5th - Lake Sunapee Regatta

NOR

Peter Shope edges out Ted Green to win the 2011 Wickford Regatta

The Wickford Regatta hosted 17 Lasers (16 standard and 1 radial) in a two-day event with a tally of 6 races.

Day one started off cold and foggy with little wind but opened up just in time for racing, with classic  Narragansett Bay conditions, sunny with a Southerly breeze around 15 knots.  Peter Shope clearly dominated in these conditions ending the day with three bullets.

Day two was a bit different ... cold and overcast skies with a dying North Easterly which eventually faded into nothing. In these conditions Ted Green (Wickford Yacht Club) remained consistent with a 3, 2, 2 and Dan Nickerson (Ram Island Yacht Club) pulled out a 1,7,1.

Peter Shope went on to take the prize only one point ahead of Ted Green and three points ahead of Mark Bear (NBYC).


Results

Ben Richardson wins the Pete Milnes Regatta

Ben prepping his boat at the 2010 Laser Master Worlds

In a very competitive 36 boat fleet with super puffy and shifty conditions (auto-tack style) Ben Richardson takes the win with Steve Kirkpatrick and Brian Fisher close behind. 

Several of the competitors in the fleet are practicing and gearing up for the 2011 Laser Master Worlds, which will be held August 7-12 on the very windy San Francisco Bay.

Pete Milnes Regatta results

2011 Laser 4.7 and Master Worlds

2011 Laser Atlantic Coast Masters Championship - June 18-19

Hello Masters Sailors,

This is to inform and remind you that this year's Atlantic Coast Masters Championship will take place on the weekend of June 18-19 at the New Bedford Y.C. It is unfortunate that the spring issue of "The Laser Sailor" failed to list this regatta on the 2011 Regatta Schedule, page 17, even though it has been shown on the ILCA-NA "Masters Events" website since December.

As many of you know from past experience, most recently from the 2008 US Masters, the New Bedford Y.C. knows how to make us sailors feel welcome and give us the top-notch, no-nonsense racing we are looking for, and that on wonderful Buzzards Bay as a bonus!

The pre-registration deadline is May 19. It saves you $25 and guarantees you a fleece jacket.

Please spread the word.

The NBYC website and the NOR (with accommodation suggestions) can be found here.

Peter Seidenberg
401-846-2618 H
401-954-8496 C

D7 May Regatta Schedule

May 1st
Pete Milnes Regatta - Sail Newport, Newport, RI NOR
May 7th
May Madness - Quannapowitt Yacht Club, Wakefield, MA NOR
May 15th
Laser Spring Series & Area B Eliminations - Cedar Point Yacht Club, Westport, CT NOR
May 21-22
Wickford Regatta -Wickford, RI Preliminary NOR

May 1st - The Pete Milnes Regatta

From Fleet 413:

Good afternoon everyone,

I hear that it's going to be Mid-50s by Sunday, so no more excuses for idle boats. We're down to the last three weeks, and then the big season-ending send off...the Legendary Pete Milnes Memorial Regatta. Be there, or well...be lame.

Attached is the official NOR and SIs...everything you need to know so you don't have to ask questions at the skipper's meeting, right?

We've got a real, live professional PRO, the lovely and talented Sue Reilly, coming up from Connecticut to make sure the line is square and the courses are perfect (not that they aren't always....) If anyone would like to volunteer themselves or friends/spouses/out-of-commission sailors for mark boat and RC boat assistance, please let us know soon so we have the right number of bodies in each RC boat.

You can come on down early for registration (at 10 a.m.), where the Milnes family will be dishing out breakfast treats and hospitality. Get your paperwork squared away early and get out for some practice runs.

See you Sunday.

Dave & Stu (who's itching to get back out there!)

Season schedule & NORs

Register now for the Wickford Regatta!

Hi to everyone,

Registration is now open for the Wickford Regatta.  Apologies for being a little slow this year, but the website has been redone and it took longer than expected. Portions of the site are still under construction, but the entry process is up and running.  The dates are May 21-22, as previously announced, and we guarantee wind both days this year! 

Registration is open now, but there may be a few bugs in with the url in the NoR, so use http://wickford2011.sailspace.net/ if you have any trouble through early next week

We have set cash back incentives for all classes again this year, so please check the NOR for your classes cash back threshold.  We hope to be handing out lots of the stuff at registration.

We will be offering limited housing with members once again this year.  We will entertain requests only after you have completed registration, so please encourage your members to sign up soon.

See you in May,

Skip Whyte

1st Place Sailing

High Performance Coaching & Consulting

Frostbiting is back in Marblehead...

From Tom Dailey:

Dear Fellow Yachtsman,

Last Fall we were solidly in double-digit boats on the line, with 14 qualifiers.

The more, the merrier.

16 April is the first day of the spring season – it continues for a total of just six Saturdays, so don't miss it.

Team1 has good deals on dry suits, etc.

http://www.team1newport.com/

Hope to see you out there, and/or back ashore for beer and pretzels and stories,

Tom 

Prizes

·     Daily first

·     Corinthian Daily first: low-point score among those who’ve not previously won the day

·     Season top 5, top Junior, Ironman: starting 100% of races in the season

Amenities

·     Hot showers, cold beer

Schedule 
·     6 Saturdays 16 April through 21 May 
·     People who make the first start arrive: 1145 
·     Skippers Meeting: 1215 
·     Harbor Start: 1230; First Signal: 1300; Last Signal: 1500 
·     Presentation of Prizes: 1600 
·     Other details: just show up 
·     Eastern Yacht Club  47 Foster Street  Marblehead, MA

For more information email Tom Dailey at:  Tom.Dailey@gfk.com

Enter to win Laser #200000 - Renew your Laser Class Membership before April 1st!!!

If you want a chance to win Laser #200000, renew your membership to the class and enter to win here before April 1, 2011

Enter here to win in Laser # 200000

Renew your class membership here

Newport Fleet 413 Laser racing & BBQ this Sunday...

Fleet 413ers,

Spring is right around the corner. You know, those warm mornings full of promise and warm sunshine that are always followed around 1 p.m. by a bone-chilling sea breeze and fog and or marine-layer clouds. All the while Providence and Boston bask in the 70s and the evening weathermen tell us how great the day was. Good thing you've all been out frostbiting this winter and toughening up. 50 degrees with a misty fog will seem like bikini weather (if, of course, that's your beach outfit of choice).

Sunday is, however, looking pretty sweet, mid 40s and a moderate northerly breeze. Tim Pitts and Kay VanValkenburgh will be running races for us. We had close to 30 boats last week. Let's get over the hump this week!

In honor of the longer days and better weather, we figured we'd take a break from the bar and the Fleet would sponsor a Fleet 413 BBQ on the sail shed patio after racing. We'll bring burgers, dogs, chicken, and a few other munchies, you bring yourself and whatever else you like to enjoy with your burgers, dogs, chicken, etc. Invite your family and friends, too, if you like. Everyone is welcome. Let's celebrate better weather and of course the camaraderie of suffering together each Sunday all winter. It'll be sort of like if the characters from "The Breakfast Club" gathered for a reunion once a year. It's not that they like each other, they're just bound by a common painful experience.

See you on Sunday!

-Stu & Dave

Masters Midwinters East - Final day

Report from Peter Seidenberg:

There was no racing today. The warning gun for the first race of the day was supposed to be at 10:30, but the postponement flag went up instead at 9:30 with the announcement that there would be no race attempt after 12:30.

The bay looked glassy for most of the morning convincing the RC at around 12:00 that it would be useless to wait any longer, and so they pulled the plug and let us de-rig and pack up. The cook-out at 12:30 was followed by the price-giving at 1:00, and most sailors were on their way home or over to Clearwater Beach for the Open Midwinters East by 2:00 p.m. Some had even packed up and left earlier.

There were no complains, though. We had five fair and square races, including a throw-out, over 3 days in warm and sunny weather - and a lot of time to socialize with Masters sailors from all over the US, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Chile, and Dominican Republic.

Results

Masters Midwinters East - Day 2

Day 2 report from Peter Seidenberg:

Today started out like yesterday: waiting for wind. The warning gun should have been at 10:30 today, but we had to wait on shore until 1:30 p.m. when a light WSW breeze had developed and covered the whole surface of the bay. The earlier start (over yesterday) allowed us to get 3 races in and, thus, get our throwout.

Race 1 started in WSW 4-5 kn and ended in NW 8-10. The "righty" came in just as the leaders rounded the second wwd mark for the final run to the finish which, of course, turned into a broad reach.

After resetting the course, race 2 was started in NW 8-10 and finished in NW 10-12.

Even though the sun was getting low, the RC decided to go for a third race, which was started, after a general recall, under a black flag. The NW 10-12 held up throughout the race. De-rigging was done, again, under a glorious sunset across the bay.

We have 5 races completed now, the minimum necessary for a throwout. Results can be found here

Master Midwinters East - Day 1

Peter Seidenberg

Report from Peter Seidenberg:

There's a huge turnout: 70 boats. There was plenty of sunshine, but no wind most of the day. We waited on shore until 3 p.m. when a little NW breeze came up. It took another hour for the wind to stabilize to an unexpected NW 8-12 and a couple of general recalls for the first race to get underway. The course was wwd -lwd twice around, with a short reach from the lwd mark to the finish line off the bow of the committee boat. The wwd leg was 1 nm. The wind was very stable across the course.

The second race followed in short order in essentially the same conditions. It finished not much before a glorious sunset. Unfortunately, the results are not available at this point.

The weather forecast for today (and the next two weeks!) is much like what we had yesterday.

Results are in for Florida Laser Masters & Midweek Madness

The results have been posted for two of the three Florida Masters events. The final in this triple crown of Masters events will happen this weekend with 63 boats registered!

Click the links below for results as well as the Masters Midwinters East entry list.

Florida Masters results

Midweek Madness results

Laser Masters Midwinters East entry list

2011 Florida Laser Masters Week

We are still waiting on the results.... in the meantime, here is a video put together by Cal Landau to give you a taste for the exciting conditions!

Best of Both Worlds sailing clinic (March 10th-13th)

The best of both worlds sailing clinic.

The most effective sailing clinics contain two key elements; excellent coaching and world class training partners. The Laser Training Center in Cabarete, can claim both March 10th to 13th 2011,  when internationally acclaimed head coach Rulo teams up with two-time Laser Masters World Champion Scott Ferguson for the: Best of Both Worlds clinic.

Rulo is probably one of the most sought after coaches today in the Laser and Opti class. His ability to help sailors make great speed and boat handling improvements in a short time is well known. The sailing and racing abilities of Scott Ferguson are almost legendary. Scott’s unflappable character and extraordinary skills have been amply demonstrated not only in his successes in the Laser class but also as a key team member of BMW Oracle in the Americas Cup.

There are still some spots available in this clinic.  Don’t miss this exceptional opportunity. This event of world class coach, with current world champion sailor is a real once in a life time experience.

Read a sample of the day in the life at the Laser Training center! Click here

For more information contact Ari Barshi
The Laser Training Center

Great article and video from Scuttlebutt...

Performing While Having to be Conservative by Craig Leweck

oh, and look at the photo of Paige hike...now that's hiking! Her tip toes are barely under the strap!

Page Railey

NOR is posted for the Area A's

Sailing on The Gorge

The Area A's will be held again at the New Bedford Community Boating Center on June 25-26th. Let's see a bigger turnout this year from the ladies and the junior sailors. Last year only one female showed up and just a few under the age of 35.

The winners get to go on to compete at The Gorge!

Area A NOR

The Columbia Gorge Racing Association

Laser Clinic in beautiful Cabarete - March 10-13th

Scott Ferguson will be the guest expert at the Laser Training Center's March 10-13th clinic.
       

From Seahorse Magazine:
"He won it last year and we thought, OK that's a pretty good effort from someone who spends most of his life over a computer designing rigs for the world's fastest boats.  Then he won again this year, at a windy and enormous regatta in the chilly tides of the English Channel to defend his title as Laser Masters World Champion.  Scott's now gone and raised the bar..."

Come sail with Scott, hear his comments while being coached by no other than our head coach Dr. Rulo.

For more details and contacts:
http://www.caribwind.com/

Only the hearty... Fleet 413 Lasers sailors head out during NFL Playoffs!

Last Sunday in Newport it was snowy, windy, freezing cold, and the final of the "wild-card" NFL playoff games so where were you?

Read more and check out the video!