Laser District 8 News

Revised July 05, 2008

East End Schedule is up! Go to "Regatta Schedule" page.

New Upcoming regattas!   District 10 Championships (June 28-29) Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club, Beach Haven NJ

Babylon YC July 4th regatta   Saturday & Sunday, July 5 & July 6, 2008 Go to "Schedule" page for details on both

I've already done a "music video" of the May 17th Dinghy Shop Regatta, but since I haven't done a video in a while I thought I'd give everyone a "blooper reel" of my mistakes that day. No music, just the real sound this time.

Click on image for video

Race Report - Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club - May 31--Its sloooow good! Bob Blanco took 1st in the light air one race event. The video proves that even a light air day of racing Lasers is better than mowing the lawn!

Click on image for video

Race Report - Southampton YC May 31 -Hi All,   Saturday was FULL ON racing with really strong winds from the south. Ten hearty sailors competed and we did a total of seven races in gusty and rainy conditions.   Blake Marriner from Cedar Point YC took first for the day, with Christian Cremer being the top Radial and Junior sailor finishing third, just behind his dad in second.   Due to a mix up on my end, most of the fleet arrived early. Special thanks go to Lindsay Hewitt for leading some on the water coaching and keeping everyone psyched for the day.   Southampton YC are EXCEPTIONAL hosts . . . the spread after sailing is the best I have seen anywhere! Special "thanks" need to go to Kent Rydberg and the good doctor, and to Malcolm and Jim for racing.    Please enjoy Blake's comments on the Winner's page and I'll see everyone at Cold Spring Harbor on Saturday. They are likely to have everyone on the water by 10 AM so arrive early! Remember, entry fee is $15.   It looks like it will be sunny with the breeze building throughout the day.   Sat W winds around 5 kt...becoming S with gusts up to 20 kt in the afternoon. Seas 1 ft or less...then around 2 ft in the afternoon.  
Best regards,   Ted Cremer
District 8 Secretary

Race Report - Seawanhaka YC May 24, 2008

Six sailors showed for an inauspiciously predicted day of light to no northerlies. The wind was good with 4 to 8 knots with rare lulls but ‘interesting’ as it wandered between N to WNW with one gust from the NNE.  Six races were run.  Lindsay Hewitt spent most of the races couching the younger sailors.  As the results show, he did well helping good sailors.  On the first windward Bob Blanco pulled out his mainsheet block, we regretted losing him for the day.  

Race Report - Dinghy Shop, Amityville May 17 - Last Saturday started out NW, and shifted over to the WSW and really picked
up. The sailing sebago team from Brooklyn came out and thanks to Brooklyn Jame for running our races! Unfortunately, my whaler broke down and thanks to Chris for towing us in and for moving the marks.

My friend Blake Marriner from Cedar Point YC came down and taught us all how to sail downwind and was the winner for the day, followed by me in second, and Lindsay Hewitt in third. Ryan Schmitz was our top junior for the day. Full results will be up on the website after I upload the spreadsheet.

Please remember to visit our very generous hosts, Jim and Susan Koehler, of the Dinghy Shop sailing center if you are ever in the area.
http://www.dinghyshop.com/

Here's a video of the event. Blustery!

click on image for video

Race Report - Dinghy Shop, Amityville May 10 - A great start to the new season! Here's the report from Ted:

Hi all,

All in all a fun day on the water. When we all arrived, it was blowing hard out of the north, and then the southerly tried to come in and it did a good job of shutting down the northerly. In total, we had 10 sailors, and we were able to get off 6 races. Lindsay and I shared RC duties and he even loaned me his boat for 2 races.... Lindsay, thanks, as always, for everything that you do for the district.

Keith Hennessey tied with Bob Blanco on points, but Keith's two bullets gives him the lead for the day. I have the better average, but given that I
only sailed in two races, Keith gets the win for the day.

I want to welcome the newcomers to the group.

-Keith Hennesey, from Manhattan, and Holly Sears from Brooklyn who both sail a full rig in breeze so strong that the numbers fly off sails!
-Chris Dager, Ryan Schmitz and Victoria Stivanello, all junior sailors with
new radials!

New Feature - check out Keith's report on this event at Notes From the Winners

Next week, we are hoping for more sailors and a less dramatic wind forecast.
Again the goal is to be racing from around 11:30 to around 2 PM. I will be collecting the standard $15 D-8 Saturday regatta fees which will go towards getting food, beverages and prizes after the races. We are looking to do a total of 6 races, which would make this a 12 races series. I am hoping to have volunteer RC next Saturday. I'll bring my whaler, and hopefully Chris Schmitz can move marks and I can get a volunteer or two to sit in the whaler. Please e-mail me if you can help.

The event on video...click on image to play

Seawanhaka Frostbite Results! If you haven't tried it yet, you're missing out on something great. Sunday, 11/11 saw 30 Lasers on the course, along with two Dyers and two Optis. For registration form, click here.

For practice day results, click here. ________For Turkey Trot results, click here
For 11/04 results, click here
For 11/11 results, click here
For 11/18 results, click here
For 11/25 results, click here
No sailing 12/02, no wind :-(
No sailing 12/09, no wind :-(
No sailing 12/16, too much wind!
For 12/23 results, click here
For 12/30 and "Hair of the Dog" results, click here
No sailing 1/06/08, no wind again! :-(
For 1/13 results, click here
No sailing 1/20, too much wind!
For 1/27 results, click here
For 2/03 results, click here
For 2/10 results, click here
For 2/17 results, click here
For 2/24 results, click here
For 3/02 results, click here
For 3/09 results, click here
For 3/16 results, click here
For 4/06 results, click here
For 4/13 results, click here
For FINAL results, click here

Which will win a race - sail or power? I can't embed this "race" from the BBC, but check it out - its hysterical! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzxuEOxYSLE

Oddities...strange, weird things seen by the water

click on image for video

March 9, 2008 - Time to catch a plane! Lots of wind, check out the "raw" video (no music or special effects.) Listen close, you can hear the blades humming!

click on image for video

Time for a commercial break...

click on image for video

Ever have one of those days? Last Sunday (2/17), I went to duck a starboard tacker, young Kia Olsen, when I couldn't turn down due to a gust. I hit her boat (mea culpa) and fell out of mine. The only good thing, I got it on video.

click on image for video

I guess I jinxed myself. I turtled my boat while wearing the goggle cam on 1/13/08. Unfortunately, the camera died! I've ordered the next generation camera, which is supposed to be (somewhat) waterproof. Hopefully, I'll be making some new videos soon. Late News... The camera I ordered Sunday came on Tuesday! I've got it rigged to my goggles already, and I'll try it out this weekend.

NASCAR at Oyster Bay! I've yet to record myself capsizing with the old Goggle Cam, but I managed to record a collision at last (with me on the recieving end!) Here's an uneditied quickie from 12/30/07, featuring a loud crash and a 270 degree spin. Names are omitted to protect the guilty. Crank up the sound!

click on image for video

Since Eric e-mailed the Frostbite Fleet about the video taken on December 23rd's race, I felt compelled to put together a little film. I'm going to put some of this into a video covering the whole season, but I had enough from one day to do a theme on a "Pirate Christmas." (I got into the right mood by editing this while drinking a big tumbler of rum.)

click on image for video

First no wind, then too much. If you were considering frostbiting at Seawanhaka on December 16, here's what it looked like. click on image for video

The SEAWANHAKA winter sailing season kicks off this Sunday  at SEAWANHAKA CORINTHIAN YACHT CLUB in Centre Island, NY.  All information needed is on their website http://www.seawanhaka.org/. Click the "Sailing Activities" link and from there you can access  "Winter Sailing" which will give all the appropriate registration, course and schedule information.   Formal Schedule:  Sunday afternoons from November 5, 2006 to April 8, 2007 (22 weeks).   This weekend will serve as a practice race day and Lindsay Hewitt has generously offered up his services to coach on Saturday. Why not get the boat up to the YC on Saturday morning (10 AM Rigging Clinic) and get reacquainted with the new rigging and throw in some coached tacks and Gybes by a Radial Master World Champion so you'll be ready to rip on Sunday?   My thoughts on scheduling. . . The Cedar Point Laser series and the JY-15 winter series at the Snapper Inn in Oakdale both have first gun at NOON . . . This allows for more time on the water, more races . . . even longer courses. Just a thought.   Also, for those who plan on committing to the season, please sign up early for Race Committee duties.   I can be contacted via e-mail at tcremer@optonline.net.

A note from District Secretary Ted Cremer -

Hi all,  

Hope you are all enjoying the fall. My regrets regarding no scheduled laser racing during the fall here on Long Island. The fallout associated with the "Mortgage Meltdown" has had me preoccupied so my apologies...    I want to encourage all regional laser sailors to support their local frostbite series.  The Seawanhaka frostbite series, including the famed Turkey Regatta,  are must attends, and until the Seawanhaka season kicks off,  Cedar Point YC in Westport, Ct has a great series every Sunday. You can pay just for the day if you want and November 17th is the annual Cedar Point Fall Regatta . . . expect at least 50 boats on the line and some great sailing.  

I need to thank two individuals that have served the class very well over the years and have really mentored my kids and I along during the way. The sailing in D-8 is great largely because of their efforts and vision. Good sportsmanship, having fun and free exchange of knowledge is the underlying emphasis at the regattas. I never leave a day on the water without having really learned something relevant. Don Woodworth who has been missed as of late, served as the District Secretary when I got back into the class as my oldest son was starting to grow out of his Opti. Don made a point of getting to know all of the new sailors as they entered into the class and I believe still hikes harder than many of the 20 year olds I see racing at the majors.

Lindsay Hewitt has faithfully served as the district secretary for the last couple of years. All of the sailors in District 8 have a tremendous appreciation for his efforts and for further fostering the districts underlying philosophy of good sportsmanship and learning how to be a better laser sailor. Lindsay is a real advocate for junior sailing and has been tremendously influential in the sailing lives of all the Cremer Laser sailors. It is really out my genuine appreciation for his efforts that I have taken on the position as secretary as I want to see his vision grow and expand throughout the region.

On a final note, we are looking to grow class memberships and want to encourage everyone to join the class. Laser racing continues to be some of the best sailing you will find in our area on a year round basis and your membership support assists in accomplishing that goal.  

I can be contacted via e-mail at tcremer@optonline.net. Look forward to seeing everyone on the water! Last Sunday was great sailing . . . lets see about getting 60 boats this Sunday up at Cedar Point!!!!

  Ted Cremer Sayville YC D-8 Secretary