Laser District 8 News

Revised January 14, 2012

News from Ted: Greetings! Hope everyone had a great summer sailing Lasers!   We have some folks to be very proud of here in District 8. Lindsay Hewitt finishing 4th at the Masters Worlds in San Fran (ahead of some guy named Heineken!) , and Junior Nick Valente (Wet Pants Sailing Assoc) winning the US Sailing Junior Singlehanded, followed closely by Old Cove's Gary Prieto.  Also kudos to Great Grand Master Doug Mercer for being a constant inspiration to all in the district and sailing at worlds!

The 2011 East End Laser Series is in the record books! In our 6^th season, the schedule included 8 regattas and had a break in the middle to allow the East End Laser fleet to race in the 1^st Annual Laser Race around Shelter Island. Unfortunately, the series was cut short by tropical storm Irene and we missed Southold Yacht Club which was scheduled for Saturday, August 27.

Many thanks to all the venues – Noyac Bay Informal but Competitive Laser Racing Association, Old Cove Yacht Club, Shelter Island Yacht Club, Breakwater Yacht Club, Southampton Yacht Club, Devon Yacht Club, Westhampton Yacht Squadron, and Southold Yacht Club.

In total, 59 racers contested 37 races in 7 regattas on 7 Saturday afternoons at 7 different venues on Long Island, New York’s east end. The fleet included 11 Juniors (18 and under), 2 Great Grand Masters (65 and over) and 7 women. Laser racing is a family sport – 17 racers were on the water with and racing against a loved one (boyfriend / girlfriend, brother / sister, father / son, or husband / wife). Nice!

To be included in EELS final standings, racers were required to compete in at least 3 regattas; but since the season was cut short by one week, that requirement was relaxed to at least 2 regattas. 16 racers competed in 2 or more regattas. Gary Prieto, a Junior, was first overall. Matt Doherty was the first Master, George Prieto was first in the Open age group, Doug Mercer was the first Great Grand Master, Mark Webber was the first Grand Master, Peter Vakjo was the first Apprentice Master, Joe Slawek was the first Radial, and Lynn Sexton was the first woman. Congratulations to all the racers!

Race details, results, comments, pictures and videos are posted at www.laser.org

We are actively planning the 2012 season and welcome your feedback, questions, observations or complaints.

See you on the water,

Mike Duran, 162043, Lynn Sexton, 100550

Race Report: Saturday, Devon Yacht Club hosted the sixth of eight regattas in the 2011 East End Laser Series. Many thanks to DYC Fleet Captain, Ed Coleman, and Sailing Director, Mike DiSario for their support. DYC in Amagansett, NY is our home club, with a terrific membership and picturesque setting for yacht racing.

A fleet of 7 enjoyed 6 races in a near-perfect 6 to 8 knot southerly sea breeze on Gardiner's Bay. A mild current and the proximity of the top mark to the beach made for some excitement in a relatively tight fleet. The fleet graciously asked to hold up the start of race 4 so that Mike could get back from the beach with a new boom; a race where he then proceeded to flip, get his mast tip stuck in the bottom and DNF. Matt Doherty won the day with 3 firsts. John Shanholt was the top DYC finisher and first Grand Master. Jack Kratz was first in the open age group. Joe Slawek was the first Radial and first junior, and Lynn Sexton was the first woman. Congratulations to all the racers!

Correcting last week's results, please join me in again thanking Southampton YC for hosting and congratulating Brendan Hannon on his first place finish.

Through 6 regattas 55 racers have contested 32 races. The fleet has included 9 Juniors, 5 women and 1 Great Grand Master (age 65 and older).

The 2011 East End Laser Series continues this coming Saturday at Westhampton Yacht Squadron. August 20 & 21 WYS is hosting a 2-day Great South Bay Yacht Racing Association Invitational Regatta. Racing on Saturday will count toward the East End Laser Series; although we encourage Lasers to race both days. Please note the earlier-than-usual start - 9:30am skippers meeting.

East End Laser Series, Devon Yacht Club, August 13, 2011

Here is the remaining EELS schedule.

Saturday, August 20, Westhampton YS, Remsenburg, NY

Saturday, August 27, Southold YC, Southold, NY

For the full results, videos, photos, race analysis and details of upcoming regattas visit www.laser.org a

See you on the water,

Mike Duran, 162043, Lynn Sexton, 100550

Race Report:Saturday, Southampton Yacht Club hosted the fifth of eight regattas in the 2011 East End Laser Series. Many thanks to Kent Rydberg for organizing. Southampton Yacht Club has a way of making guests feel so welcomed.

A fleet of 6 enjoyed 5 long races in spectacular weather on Shinnecock Bay. Conditions were the best of the series so far, steady 8 to 10 knots southerly and flat water. Everyone was a winner! Southampton's own Brendan Hannon was first overall. Mike Duran was the first Master. Joe Slawek, visiting from New Jersey, was the first Junior and first Radial. Peter Vajko was the first Apprentice Master and Lynn Sexton was the first woman. Congratulations to all the racers!

Through 5 regattas 53 racers have contested 26 races. The fleet has included 9 Juniors, 5 women and 1 Great Grand Master (over 65 years old).

See you on the water,

Mike Duran, 162043,
Lynn Sexton, 100550

Race Report: Inaugural Round Shelter Island Laser Race 2011 by Steve Fisk

Conditions could not have been better for the 2011 race, warm weather, bright sun, good breeze (NW 5-14knts).  For an inaugural race a 12 boats fleet was a good turnout (I was there for the inaugural 420 race, 2 boats).   Overall, hats off to the SYC and race management for opening up the race to Laser fleet and running a great event.

Race tactics off the start should have been pretty easy; with a clockwise race the pin was heavily favored (closer to the rumb line- favorable current -better angle) yet I got lazy and ended up at the boat. Within ten minutesI was in 5^th.  The top two boats did a great job beam reaching and using the marginally planning conditions to pull away from the rest of the pack.  Tactically not much going on, stay in the current and sail the shortest distance before rounding the furthest NW point of Shelter Island’s Hay Beach Pt, hike hard in the gusts and bear off when possible.I managed to pass Ted and Bob before rounding down into Gardiners Bay.

Five years ago in a Sunfish I rounded that point in first and managed to lose it all by going into the bay and not sticking to the coastline like the rest of the fleet, not again.This time with the long, long, downwind run I played it safe sailing a mostly straight line by the lee towards the tip of Rams Head.  I learned that any unnecessary easting would put you into a current pulling you out into Gardiners Bay and away from the island.  Downwind pressure across the course seemed consistent.  Once within a mile of Rams head I heated up my angle to get within the rocks off the beach and seemed to close down the gap with the two front runners where I could read the sail number on the #2 boat.

Rounding Ram’s Head I tried to stay west of the rumb line to avoid any remaining outgoing current.  Passing Coecles Harbor I was surprised by the strength of the easterly current still coming out so I decided to cut the Nicoll’s point corner.  The rocks indicated that the current had changed and was coming in, very surprising and confusing but this tidal change was confirmed as we got close to heading up around the most south-easterly point of the island, Mashomack Pt (where I managed to wet sand the lower part of my rudder).  

At this point we were more than half way through the race and my lack of local knowledge would hurt, but thankfully we started 30 minutes after the Sunfish and the Lasers were now beginning to pass the tail end of that fleet.  The leading Sunfish were proving to be a good predictor of conditions ahead and I figured that the locals would know how to cross that portion of the bay heading to the South Ferry.   

This was the pivotal part of the race as the top two Lasers were hugging the Shelter Island shore yet the Sunfish fleet were mainly crossing the bay on starboard tack. With the top two boats 20-30 boat lengths ahead I decided to split and cross the bay.  I was pleasantly surprised by the good pressure and incredible NWerly current flow taking me up the course (wasn’t the tide supposed to be slack 5 hours after high tide?).  By the time we got close to turning the point to cross the ferry path I had closed the gap to ~4 boat lengths from the top boat sailed by Connor, who graciously congratulated the move.

I passed him on the next tack, tried to cover but he had better speed in the very light and confused winds coming off the southerly shore and pulled away.  The drag race on starboard across the Shelter Island Sound began.  Going further into Noyack Bay the wind built to where my 190 lbs came into play and I was able to grind out the deficit and sail below and in front on the long tack approaching Paradise Point.  After a quick port tack we rounding the red nun into Southold Bay where the rest was a close cover on a tight reach to the finish after 3 hours and 50 minutes.

Someone at the party mentioned I need to defend this new world record, so see you all next year!

Click Here forMary Loffredo's photos of the event

Race Report: Yesterday, Breakwater Yacht Club hosted the fourth of eight regattas in the 2011 East End Laser Series. Many thanks to Mark Webber for organizing and Mary Ann Eddy and crew for race committee.

A fleet of 10 enjoyed 4 races off Havens Beach in a dying northerly. Jim Vos was the first overall. Doug Mercer was the first Great Grand Master. Peter Vojko was the first Apprentice Master. Will Fortenbaugh sailing in his first Laser regatta was the first Radial and first Junior. Lynn Sexton was the first woman. Congratulations to all the racers!

Halfway through the 2011 EELS, 51 racers have completed 21 races in 4 regattas. The fleet has included 8 Juniors, 5 women and 1 Great Grand Master (over 65 years old).

The East End Laser Series does not have a regatta this coming weekend; so, on Saturday, July 30, we encourage you to consider the Inaugural Laser Race around Shelter Island

See you on the water,

Mike Duran, 162043, Lynn Sexton, 100550

Race Report: This past Saturday, Shelter Island Yacht Club hosted the third of eight regattas in of the 2011 East End Laser Series. SIYC is a picturesque club with a serious racing tradition. A fleet of 7 were towed over to Pipes Cove in no wind, but shortly enjoyed 5 races in a steady 4 to 6 knot southerly.

Connor Needham was first overall. John Kenny was the first Master. Peter Needham was the first Grand Master. Bill Rizzi was the first Apprentice Master, and Lynn Sexton was the first woman. Congratulations to all the racers!

46 racers have competed in 17 races over 3 regattas so far in the East End Laser Series. These things are already clear. 1) Laser racing is growing in popularity. Each regatta so far has been larger than 2010. 2) Laser racing is a family sport. 17 racers have had a family member racing against them – father/son, husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, or brother/sister. 3) Youth rule! Experience is nice, but youth have won every regatta so far. (So old age and treachery doesn't prevail over youth and enthusiasm? - Bob)

See you on the water,

Mike Duran, 162043, Lynn Sexton, 100550

Race Report: Saturday, Old Cove Yacht Club in New Suffolk, NY hosted the second of eight regattas in of the 2011 East End Laser Series. OCYC is a casual family-oriented club with a strong group of juniors. The fleet of 20 racers included 6 juniors and 4 Radials. The race committee set a short course in a 6 to 8 knot northerly and got off 6 races including 3 one-lap sprints, a triangle and 2 doubles.

Gary Prieto, a junior, was first overall. Matt Doherty was the first Master. Geoff Loffredo was first in the Open age group. Doug Mercer was the first Great Grand Master.  Rich Prieto was the first Grand Master. Edouard Lair was the first Radial and Lynn Sexton was the first woman. Congratulations to all the racers!

For a great photo slide show, go to http://www.northforkmemories.com/eels_07_09_2011oldcove

On Saturday, July 30, during a break in the East End Laser Series, we encourage you to consider the Inaugural Laser Race around Shelter Island

Correction, in the initial report from the July 4^th EELS event, the overall winner, again Gary Prieto, was listed in the 19+ Open age group and not properly recognized as the outstanding Junior that he is.

See you on the water,
Mike Duran, 162043, Lynn Sexton, 100550

Race Report - Southampton YC, June 11, 2011
Well, the heat wave certainly ended by the weekend! It may have been late Spring, but the day turned out chilly, drizzly, foggy - and breezy! :-) (the breezy part's the only thing that counts, right?) Six triangular races, with fast, spray-filled reaches. Of course, Dr.Jim was there with his terrific gourmet barbecue, enjoyed by the roaring fire in the club's fireplace. Yes, it wasn't as severe as frostbiting, but that fire did feel good!

1. Lindsay Hewitt
2. Ted Cremer
3. Geoffrey Loffredo
4. Bob Blanco
5. Bob Terry
..................................................................................

CONGRATULATIONS TO DISTRICT 8 CHAMPION'S RYAN SCHMITZ AND GARY PRIETO!!!   The 2011 District 8 Championship, hosted at Sayville Yacht Club, attracted 20 competitors from as far away as Denmark and Richmond Virginia. Saturday the sailors were blessed with our usual 12-18 knot SW breezes and PRO George Becza effectively ran  5 races on good sized WL courses.  The downwinds were fun as the chop made for some good surfing, but it wasn't so windy that folks were capsizing frequently. Really perfect conditions when you get down to it!    Saturday night, the competitors were treated to a BBQ on the Sayville Yacht Club Deck with the band "The Flying Scots" and local "Blue Point" microbrew on tap for those of age. Sayville Yacht Club, headed by Commodore Nick Burford and Regatta Chair Paul Abel, did an outstanding job supporting the sailors.   Sunday provided some challenging conditions with Race 1 held in 15 -18 knots from the SE. The breeze held for a while and started to fade as the day went on and eventually shifted back to the SW after race 3 had been completed and the boats were all put away.    Our top Radial sailor was Gary Prieto followed by fellow Old Cove YC teammate Stephan Keuhn and Denmark's Victor Thuroe. The Standard fleet title was captured by Ryan Schmitz who sailed very consistently winning the regatta by 10 points over Sayville Yacht Club's Ted Cremer who was also the Top Master. Fishing Bay YC's Jon Jon Deutsch  (District 11 Secretary) rounded out the top 3.  It was a pleasure having Jon in town and he sailed a very consistent regatta.     Special acknowledgments go to past district 8 secretary Lindsay Hewitt who finished 4th overall and was the top Great Grand Master, and Bob Blanco who captured the top Grand Master honor.   Regatta Photos:   http://www.flickr.com/photos/25472030@N03/sets/72157626761507081/   Results:  https://www.regattatech.com/scoring/action/showResultsRoster?clubCode=SYC&eventCode=LaserD8GP11&divisionName=all

Winner's report courtesy of Ryan Schmitz (Port Washington YC and LISOT):   Hello everyone, before I talk about the regatta I would like to start by thanking a few people.  First, I'd like to thank Ted Cremer for helping and supporting me throughout the regatta as well as continuing to run District 8. There a lot of great sailors in our area and I am very lucky to get to sail against all of you.  Speaking of great sailors that brings me to my next thank you... Lindsey Hewitt has coached me, supported me, and constantly challenged me since I began in the laser and a lot of my success so far has been due to him.  Over all I think Sayville Yacht Club is owed a big thank you, the RC was efficient and fair, and even though there was a bit of drama on the first day everything was settled fairly and calmly so thank you for that.
Moving on to the regatta, there were some challenging conditions, especially on day two.  That said to me there were a few keys to sailing the regatta smart and fast:  Upwinds were tough and long so it was important to keep a flat boat.  We were lucky to have such great wind but it could also really hurt if you did not hike.  Working through waves and keeping your shoulders out was the only way to get around the top mark fast.  On day two the wind was particularly shifty so you needed to be on your toes and looking around.  Often times those shifts came really fast and were really big, missing one could ruin your whole race so no side was really important, what was most important was to play any shift you could that would bring you closer to the mark.      For me the most important part of races was the downwind.  I felt that speed on the upwinds was pretty much the same within the top 3 or 4 boats... What gave me the edge and eventually the win was my downwind speed.  Both days we had a lot of waves that were pretty equally spread apart.  The best strategy was to get on a wave the second you rounded the off set mark worry about getting your lines completely set for the downwind mode once you are up to speed (the vang, outhall, and cunningham should have been partially taken off before hitting the windward mark).  Once up to speed it was fastest to try and keep a rhythm with the waves even if it took big S turns staying at full speed was well worth it.  Also, using your weight in the lighter stuff to steer the boat onto hotter angles and therefore onto waves was really important.  Steering through the waves with the tiller could really hurt your boat speed and keep you off of the waves.  It was important to watch the shifts downwind sometimes more so than on the upwind.  Occasionally I was the only one on a certain gybe even though that seemed like the right one.  The wind sometimes shifted so much that a by the lee angle could take you directly to the leeward mark, but only if you were on the right gybe.  Finally, the last big key for me downwind was to watch the wave angle.  A few times I was able to make really big gains by going low and then high around the starting line playing the waves and downwind angles. Over all the regatta was very challenging and I had a great time sailing against everyone.  Thanks again to everyone helping out with the regatta and for all the competitors coming out, I hope to see you all around soon!
Ryan Schmitz   I look forward to sailing with everyone again soon . . . See you on the water!  

Ted Cremer #162020
US Laser Class
D8 Secretary
Voice: 631-868-3726
Fax: 631-256-9164

Race Report: Seawanhaka Spring Fling Regatta, 5/21/11
Well, if the world's coming to an end anyway, you may as well go racing! Seven sailors arrived at the club to find no wind. Not a problem, intrepid race committee John Mooney picked up the boats in tow and dragged us all out to the mouth of Cold Spring Harbor, where there was a bit of breeze. Lindsay, always fast, got there under his own sail power.
There first two races were WL, downwind finish, sailed in very light air. Then a lull descended upon us, & we all figured we were done for the day. As we began to sail back to the club, a 7 knot breeze sprang up, giving us 5 more race, sailed WLW.
During Race 5, a bunch of beautiful classic sailboats came through for a rondezvous. Unfortunately, most of them didn't think too much of the Lasers racing in their path. Heading towards the finish line, I was covering David Trinder on port tack when we realized we wouldn't be able to cross a NY 40 barreling along on starboard tack. We both tacked and went along just to leeward of him, but he was holding hard on the wind and was going to carry us right across the layline. David tacked first and ducked him, but since i was a bit further ahead, I had to make a really sharp duck to miss the NY 40. I wound up dead even with David, but just to windward, & was able to beat him to the line. Okay, he beat me overall anyway!

-Bob

News from Ted: Just got the results for the Area B champs held at Cedar Point YC. Congratulations to D-8 sailors Dan Delbello and Fred Abels for their top 3 finishes, and special recognition to GSBYRA's Ward Brooks who pulled a top 20 finish and somehow got his laser up from Blue Point to Westport despite having car troubles! Thanks to the great folks at Cedar Point for hosting!     Full Rig results:  http://www.cedarpointyc.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=SVA3qQ9AAeY%3d&tabid=101&mid=544  
Radial results:   http://www.cedarpointyc.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=s2EwN532DGw%3d&tabid=101&mid=544  

News from Ted: A big Thank You!!! to the great folks at the Sebago Canoe Club. Tracy, Holly and Jim hosted a great regatta. Conditions were perfect, weather was warm, and we had really consistent breeze out of the west. In all, six races were held, all W & L'a (3 or 5 legs) and the racing was tight at the top.  I want to thank Dave Trinder for hailing on that first crossing on race one - really woke me up, and forced me to keep my head out of the boat!  Top 3 were Dave Trinder in third, and Cedar Point's Mark Foster and I tied for first with a slight edge going my way with more firsts.   Here is a link for photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/93843138@N00/sets/72157626681350792/
(videos to come - I'll send you all the link when I get it)

PRO Jim Lutton's report is below:       I'd like to report on another successful Laser District 8 regatta held at Sebago on Saturday. We had seven boats, down from 10 last year, but very competitive none the less. Wind was forecast light from the west, going northwest, but it filled in smartly from the southwest and blew from 8 or so at the start, building to 12 to 13 with higher gusts by the finish. Perfect Laser conditions. We were able to set a pretty long course with a start line in the middle, off the west corner of the Pol, a windward mark across the channel over by Bergen Beach (near the mouth of the little salt pond), and a leeward mark down the channel the other way across from Canarsie Pier. We could just see the buoys at either end from the committee boat.

Thanks also to Sebago, and the board of directors for their continued support!

And thanks, too, to everyone who raced. From our club were Tracy Kornrich, Holly Sears, Justin Steil, and David Cripton. Dave Trinder came from Seawanhaka Yacht Club, Ted Cremer from Sayville Yacht Club, and Mark Foster from Cedar Point Yacht Club.

Here are the results-
1st- Ted Cremer
2nd- Mark Foster (in a tie breaker with Ted)
3rd- Dave Trinder
4th- Justin Steil
5th- David Cripton
6th- Holly Sears
7th- Tracy Kornrich  

GSBYRA Westin Trophy - Bay Singlehanded Champion was crowned on Sunday,,, "Mother's Day" match race event with Ward Brooks emerging as the victor. Ward was runner up last year so it was great to see him come out get the prize. Tom Baumfalk also raced and it was great to see him back in a laser once again!  

I want to welcome a new fleet to the District 8 Family!!!   The Laser fleet at Nyack was established in the spring of 2001. The Laser Fleet participates in formal racing on Sunday afternoons and informal racing using an automated starting device are held on Tuesday nights. Tuesday night race courses are short so that we can have more races and keep skippers with varying degrees of experience sailing together. Join us on Sunday afternoons or Tuesday nights and try Laser sailing!

For Info please contact: Jon Marsh NBC Laser Fleet Captain - pjon@optonline.net

For those that inquired as to whether we would sail on January 9, if you had to ask, you probably didn't want to go out! Or, like I've said for years, better to be onshore wishing you were out there rather than out there wishing you were onshore. For a short video of me chasing Ryan around the course, and of me frantically avoiding a death roll, click HERE.

Eric Johsnson was kind enough to put his tactics lecture into print - Click HERE for the text.

For a short video of Woody Glenn sailing his sloop around us Lasers, click here.

Congratulations to District 8's own Lindsay Hewitt, 6th Place Great-Grand Master at the Laser World Championships at Hayling Island, England. Lindsay was the 2nd high scorer from the U.S, & got a bullet in Race seven! Nice job Lindsay!

For all the armchair sailors out there (if you're not frostbiting, you know who you are!), check out Dylan Winter's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/dylanwinter1. He's into year 2 of his series "Keep Turning Left". It chronicles his ongoing circumnavigation of England in a 19 foot pocket cruiser, one weekend at a time. Great video, great commentary (Dylan is a BBC announcer).

A note from Bob - Over the years, every now and then, I get a note from someone asking how to join a race. The short answer - just show up! We'll get you signed in at the site. We don't need advance notice, and we don't hold anyone responsible if they can't make it at the last minute (flashback to last years Southampton YC Regatta, when the alternator on my tow vehicle failed halfway there!) There may be an Invitational or some other event that requires qualifying, check the Schedule, but the vast majority of our events have no pre-registration. Anyhow, just bring your boat to the next regatta that looks good to you and you're in!

Check out District 8's videos at https://www.youtube.com/laserd8

News, events, interesting happenings?  New boat, career change, new baby?  Let me know and we’ll share it on the site!  This site is more than just race reports – it’s a great way for all of the good folks in District 8 to keep in touch.  Just e-mail me your info for posting.

For 2010 News and Scores, click here

For 2009 News and Scores, click here

For 2008 News and Scores, click here

For 2007 News and Scores, click here

For 2006 News and Scores, click here

For 2005 News and Scores, click here

For 2004 News and Scores, click here.

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