Sailors may find this interesting: http://www.ted.com/talks/cesar_harada_a_novel_idea_for_cleaning_up_oil_spills.html

'The Frostbiters'

Those of you who sailed when Thurston Smith was filming, will be pleased to see the following . Several members were interviewed and will appear in the film which will be released shortly.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiJypz7wFmk 

Frostbiting Report:

Sunday, April 14th

It was not blowing as hard as last week, but it was still a breeze for the big guys. Coming over the Island from the north, there were shifts that were critical as we approached the windward mark and made for some very interesting downwind legs. More than one sailor was seen doing the famous death roll and the only sad part was that Bob's ubiquitous camera was not on hand to record some of the more dramatic sounds of masts smacking the water. It was a gorgeous day and a perfect way to end the season. We had a great year and only missed a couple of days due to adverse weather. Hard to believe it is over. 

EELS Wrap-Up - from Mike & Lynn:

67 racers competed in 46 races over 8 regattas this summer in the 7^th annual East End Laser Series setting a series record! 8 picturesque venues on the eastern end of Long Island, New York hosted 8 afternoon regattas on 7 Saturdays in June, July and August, and Wednesday, July 4^th. Many thanks to Old Cove Yacht Club, Southold Yacht Club, Noyac Bay Informal but Competitive Laser Racing Association, Westhampton Yacht Squadron, Shelter Island Yacht Club, Breakwater Yacht Club, Southampton Yacht Club and Devon Yacht Club.

Racers competing in 3 or more regattas were scored for the series. Geoff Loffredo was first overall for the 2012 East End Laser Series with a win at Old Cove YC, a 2^nd at Southold YC and a 7^th at NBIBCLRA. Jim Vos was the first Master. Nick Klinger was the first junior. David Berridge was the first Grand Master and Minna Scholl was the first female. The series fleet included 15 juniors, 15 Radials and 15 females. Congratulations to all the racers!

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

It was a last-minute notice & we all tried to keep mum to surprise Lindsay (not sure how that worked out) but 14 sailors (plus Lindsay & his family!) converged on Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club for a series of six races on a really nice day, with enough wind to keep everyone going. I won't say how old Lindsay is, you're going to have to ask him yourself! Most of the fleet had really close scores, an indication of how well matched we're all getting. When the day is topped off with dinner and birthday cake, how much better can it get? Happy birthday Lindsay!!!

Its a little out of order but I just finished the video....

It was blowing out of the north at about 12, but when you go around an island you're going to get blanketed areas where it just sort of drops - no different on this race!
14 Lasers showed, there were enough that the committee decided to score the full rigs & radials seperately.
The tide was with us at the start, it turned when we got to the southern tip of the island so we had a bit of a tide boost coming back too. On the long, long beat to windward on the way home, boats started to grind past me. I figured I couldn't gain following in ther wakes, so I sailed out to the deeper water to try to catch a tide boost. Not a bad idea, but the powerboat wakes were so bad that I flipped, then had a hard time getting it righted. Oh well, the scenery was great & the experience unique. If you weren't there, give this one a try next year! Congrats to Stephen Fisk of Cedar Point for his second win in a row, and a big thank you to Southold YC, our hosts for the event.

Less heat and more wind? Priceless!

On Saturday, July 21, Shelter Island Yacht Club hosted the 5^th of 8 regattas in the 2012 East End Laser Series. SIYC is a picturesque club with a solid racing program. A fleet of 10 Lasers, including 4 juniors, raced in the mouth of Dering Harbor in an uncommon 6 to 8 knot easterly. The race committee did a terrific job to get off 6 races in fluid conditions. With a throw-out, Connor Needham was first overall. John Kenney was the first grand master. In a tie-breaker, Allie Maurillo was the first junior, first radial and first female. Congratulations to all the racers. Many thanks to Courtney Kling, Nancy Koltes, Jeff Bresnahan and the crew at Shelter Island YC for a terrific afternoon.

Here is the remaining schedule for the 2012 East End Laser Series.

                Saturday, July 28, Breakwater Yacht Club, Sag Harbor, racing off Havens Beach

                Saturday, August 4, Southampton Yacht Club, Southampton, skippers 1100

                Saturday, August 11, Devon Yacht Club, Amagansett

From Bob: It was a dark and stormy night...
The next day the bay was warm and lumpy, like my wife's oatmeal....

 Well, the bay off Blue Point was its usual lumpy self, & the water was warm. Light and shifty winds gave a challenge, but it sure was fun to meet and sail with sailors from all over.  A typically huge championship course, so even with the light airs, I got quite a workout & I'm still sore Tuesday evening.  It was a healthy workout, & it hurts so good! Best of all, I scored better than I thought I would.

The results are at http://www.regattatech.com/events/SYC/LaserACC12/results. Its a pretty complex system, but if I'm reading it right, the overall results are handicapped, with Great-grand masters scoring as finished, grand masters getting one point added per race, masters getting two points added per race, and apprentice masters getting three points added.

From Ted: I trust that everyone got home safely and had a great weekend.  I just wanted to send along a note of “Thanks”  for attending our regatta and for making this such a great event.  I think what I liked best was the diversity of sailors,,,,many new faces, and some very fair and competitive sailing.

A sincere thanks to our winner Marc for sharing his knowledge Saturday after racing…I was thinking about my downwind vang setting on Sunday and hoping the leach was flapping the right way! Marc is a real talent, and as long as I have known him he has always tried to make everyone a bit faster.  Thank You Marc!!!

Congratulations to our other winners who all sailed brilliantly is some rather uncharacteristic conditions for us. I think patience paid off in the long run.

Below is an email with a link to some of Steve’s photos.

http://sycphotos.smugmug.com/Sailing2012/Laser-ACC-Masters-2012/

We are halfway through the 2012 East End Laser Series. Tell me it isn’t true! Is summer half over?

As part of the Great South Bay Yacht Racing Association Invitational, on Saturday, July 7, Westhampton Yacht Squadron hosted the 4^th of 8 regattas in the 2012 East End Laser Series. While the old-timers were racing in Sayville, a Laser fleet of mostly juniors beat the heat in a multi-fleet regatta. The Lasers completed 5 races in a light westerly that was blowing right down the bay. Kia Olsson was first overall. Nick Klingler was the first Radial and Todd Klinger was the first Masters. Congratulations to all the racers. Many thanks go to WYS for hosting. They are growing a Laser fleet and are the most recent addition to the EELS.

There is no EELS regatta scheduled this coming weekend. Here is the remaining schedule for the 2012 East End Laser Series.

                Saturday, July 21, Shelter Island Yacht Club, Shelter Island

                Saturday, July 28, Breakwater Yacht Club, Sag Harbor, racing off Havens Beach

                Saturday, August 4, Southampton Yacht Club, Southampton, skippers 1100

                Saturday, August 11, Devon Yacht Club, Amagansett

- On Wednesday, July 4, the Noyac Bay Informal but Competitive Laser Racing Association hosted the 3^rd of 8 regattas in the 2012 East End Laser Series. A record 34 boats rigged in Bud’s back yard and enjoyed 4 good races and a picturesque afternoon BBQ on Independence Day. 3 general recalls in the first race calmed the big-fleet jitters and the deep fleet spread wide across the flat waters of Noyac Bay in an uncharacteristic 7 knot dying northerly. Gary Prieto was first overall. Nick Klingler was the first Radial. Connie Zeckendorf was the first female. Lynn Sexton was the first grand master. Geoff Loffredo was first in the open age group. Brett Morgan was the first apprentice master, and Barry Allardice was the first great grand master. Congratulations to all the racers and many thanks to the Rogers for hosting.

For the second year, NBIBCLRA used a handicapping system where the radial sailors started after 2 minutes in the 3 minute starting sequence, and all the boats were scored as one fleet. This gave the radials front row starts and clear air. We are interested in your comments on this system.

On Saturday, June 30, Southold Yacht Club hosted the 2^nd of 8 regattas in the 2012 East End Laser Series. SYC is lovely family-oriented club with a beautiful beach and a crisp race committee. A fleet of 13 pushed of the beach in a solid 8 knot northerly that swung 90 degrees in race number 5, but stayed full for 6 races.  Gary Prieto, a junior, was first overall. Geoff Loffredo was first in the open division. Matt Doherty was first in the masters group. Richard Prieto was the first grand master, and Sydney Mandelbaum was the first radial and first female. Congratulations to all the racers. Many thanks to Celest Flick and the crew at Southold YC for a terrific day.

The video, of course!

The 2012 East End Laser Series has started! It’s official! Summer is here!

On Saturday, June 23, Old Cove Yacht Club hosted the 1^st of 8 regattas in the 2012 East End Laser Series. Our friend and Laser sailor, Bob Terry, predicted the conditions perfectly. We arrived at noon to a dead calm and by 3pm it was ripping. For both of us, the day turned into a biathlon: sail, swim, sail. 9 boats eventually made it to the racecourse and enjoyed 6 races in a solid and building 8 to 10 knot northerly. Geoff Loffredo was first overall with 3 bullets. Our host, Tom Samuels, was the first Grand Master. Mack Fluehr was the first Junior. Tyler Rochon was the first Radial and Lynn Sexton was the first woman. Many thanks to OCYC for hosting. Look for pictures shortly at laserd8.org. 

The schedule gets busy from here. On Saturday, June 30, Southold Yacht Club will host the 2^nd of 8 regattas in the 2012 East End Laser Series. SYC is a sweet club with a great beach and consistently good sailing. That regatta is followed quickly by the first-ever midweek EELS event. On Wednesday, July 4, the Noyac Bay Informal but Competitive Laser Racing Associate will host the 3^rd of 8 regattas in the 2012 East End Laser Series. The NBIBCLRA venue screams ‘Independence Day backyard BBQ’ – gracious hospitality, impeccably flat water and shockingly consistent afternoon breeze. Note, the NBIBCLRA regatta will have a 1200 skippers meetings and 1300 start. Finally, here is an early reminder that on Saturday, July 7, Westhampton Yacht Squadron, will host the 4^th of 8 regattas in the 2012 East End Laser Series. WYS is a beautiful Club with a growing Laser fleet.

- Southampton once again hosted Laser District 8 for their late Spring regatta.
7 sailors came, one went home early due to the wind. 14 kts, 5 races, triangle courses.
The results don't tell the whole story - very close racing at the front of the pack. After Race 4, Frank and Bob were tied with 8 points each, while Ed and yours truly were tied for third with 12 points each. The final race determined the outcome! Left was the way to go upwind, but Frank found plenty of speed on the downwind legs, generally catching the pack mid-race & passing us.
I had the most fun in Race 4. I rounded the windward mark in the lead with Bob close behind. By the time I got to the bottom mark, Frank had powered up right behind me. Starting up the final upwind leg, he initiated a tacking duel, & I kept a loose cover. He finally tacked to the right & I let him go. Good thing - Bob had hit the left, favored side hard & was coming into the finish on port tack, vying for the lead. I stayed in front but he just managed to nip Frank at the line for second place.
Thank you to Kent & Malcolm for putting on a great race, followed by a great meal.

- Bob

The video! Good meal, no, they didn't serve the clam chum! ;-)

EELS schedule posted 6/04/12 - See the "Schedule" page

Day 1 of the District 8 Championship at Sayville Yacht Club and we had 13 Standard Rig Lasers for 5 races in 5-8 and sometimes fluky conditions.  I went 3-2-3-4-7 and am currently in 2nd overall.

In the first race I had the best start of the bunch at the favored boat end.  I rounded the top mark in 2nd and lost a boat on the downwind which turned to a reach as the wind shifted around.  Held on to finish 3rd.

In the second race I tried again for a boat end favored start, but I was 5 seconds early and got pushed over so I had to go back behind everyone else and restart.  As the fleet went out to the left I banged the right corner and rounded the top mark in 2nd and hung onto that for the finish.

In the 3rd race we had a port end favored line.  Ryan Schmitz wanted to port tack the fleet, but I won the pin on starboard and made him duck me and get tangled up with a bunch of boats further up the line.  Once again we traded tacks upwind and I rounded the top mark in 2nd.  Both Brian Raney and Ted Cremer had great downwind legs and passed me as the wind began to die.  I kept close to Ted at the mark rounding and managed to get more left of him on the upwind so when the wind went left I was able to get in ahead of him and behind Brian.

The 4th race started in good wind and was only 1/2 the distance as the previous 3 races.  With the shorter upwind 1st leg I wasn’t able to use my speed to get ahead of the pack and rounded in 3rd with a lot of boats right behind me.  I went right downwind while the boats that went left made out and I was 6 or 7th at the bottom mark.  Heading up to the finish I closed it up and made a couple nice tacks right at the end to beat out 2 boats by mere feet to take 4th.

The 5th race started in some wind, but a few minutes later the wind had died.  I had a terrible start, went to the wrong side of the course and spent a lot of time trying to make up ground – which was hard to do in ~3 knots of breeze.  The RC shortened course at the bottom mark and i settled for a 7th

I’m 14 points behind Ryan Schmitz who has put up straight bullets.  I’m 3 points ahead of Brian Raney in 3rd and 9 points ahead of Matt Doherty in 4th. All in all it was a fun day and I’m looking forward to racing tomorrow.

Sunday - We started with a 1 hour postponement on shore before the wind finally filled in for us to sail. From there we sailed 3 more races in 7-11 knots in very choppy conditions. I had some crummy starts and great speed upwind, but wasn’t always picking the shifts right.  In all 3 races I was back in the lead pack usually with a few boats ahead of me.  The racing was close and so were the points. There were about 5 of us going at it with any of us having a shot at 2nd place. In the end I lost the tiebreaker on the last race to Lindsay Hewett who sailed some great races today.

I had hoped for a little more boring of a ride home, but unfortunately just ahead of me on the Goethals bridge a car caught fire.  I was trapped in traffic on the bridge for an hour and thus hit even more night construction on the ride back.

All in all it was another fun trip to Sayville.  I enjoyed the racing and want to thank Ted Cremer and everyone else at Sayville Yacht Club for putting on a great regatta.

Click HERE for Jon's photos

The report from Ted:

Sayville Yacht Club once again hosted the annual District 8 Grand prix and contrary to tradition, it was a light air regatta!  Friday night we welcomed back our good friend District 11 Secretary Jon Deutsch and the club set up a bonfire to welcome him back to town.  Kudo’s to Jon for this great shot!

In all 8 races were completed over the two days and PRO George Becza did a fine job keeping the course square despite some rather dramatic shifts.  The breeze was mostly easterly . . . we live on a SW seabreeze here, so a lot of mark moving was needed over the weekend.  The tricky and fluky conditions ended up being to Ryan Schmitz’s liking.  Could it be all that Charles River sailing that Ryan is doing at Boston College is starting to pay off?  Ryan sailed a perfect regatta dropping a first. I had asked him what he had learned at BC this year “Sail faster than everyone and make high percentage decisions”.  Ryan had clean starts and essentially sailed all the shifts up the middle of the course and had great downwind speed.  Ryan won last year’s regatta so he is our only back to back winner we have had in recent history.

Regatta Winner Ryan Schmitz

Perhaps the most interesting part of the regatta was how close second through fifth was.  Past D8 Secretary Lindsay Hewitt and current D11 secretary Jon Deutsch sailed a statistically even regatta with the tie break being determined by who beat who in the last race!  Lindsay’s 3^rd in Race 8 was the deciding factor.  Jon gets the repeat third as he finished 3^rd in 2011!   The same applied to 4^th and 5^th where it came down to Geoff Loffredo’s 2^nd place finish in Race 8 to just pass Brian Raney who finished 5^th,

Full Rig Winners – Jon Deutsch, Lindsay Hewitt, Ryan Schmitz

The radial fleet was dominated by LISOT sailor Roger Dorr who also sailed a near perfect regatta dropping a 2^nd.  Sayville Yacht Club’s Kia Olsson was the top female sailor of the event and she finished second, just ahead of Shelter Island’s Sydney Mandelbaum.  Special thanks to Sayville’s Aiden Campbell for racing on Sunday so we could get the needed number of radials so the fleet could qualify for grand prix points.

Radial Winners - Sydney Mandelbaum, Kia Olsson, Roger Dorr

In all a great event, and congrats to the winners!

The Master’s ACC’s is scheduled at Sayville for July 7-8^th and that will certainly be a great event!  Hoping for the SW Sea breeze and you can count on Blue Point White IPA on tap, some acoustic music on the deck, and an awesome barbeque!  Please make the trip . . . You won’t regret it!

Lindsay Hewitt with the Radial winners and regatta winner Ryan Schmitz

District Secretaries

Photo Credits

Paul Mac Menamin, Steven Birkeland, Jon Deutsch

Ted Cremer

US Laser Class District 8 Secretary

For a detailed breakdown by age category, click HERE.

- Ten racers responded to the last-minute barrage of e-mails & got to the starting line. A shifty, on and off breeze - but don't let anyone convince you that thare's never any wind on the North shore! The breeze, about 10 kt most of the day, did catch most of us on the wrong side at one time or another. That is, all but Ryan Schmitz, who always seemed to know where to go. (His seventh place was when he decided to give his sister Becky a ride around the race course. He passed me anyway!) Thank you's to Karen Doherty on Race Committee, and Chris and Becky Schmitz on mark boat. Another thank you to Lindsay Hewitt, who put the race together at the last minute. Next stop, District 8 Grand Prix at Sayville YC, go to http://www.regattatech.com/events/SYC/LaserD8GP12 to register.

If you haven't been getting e-mails in the past week, send me an e-mail at robertterry@optonline.net and I'll get you on the list.

The Results:

Four racers showed up for this year's season opener - lots of e-mail responses, but unfortunately, lots of scheduling conflicts, quite a few people sent "regrets." That didn't stop it from being a nice day out on the water, with sun, mild warmth, & water just cool enough to be refreshing. The 20 degree windshifts? Well, they hit us all & each of us had a chance to play "catch up" after picking the wrong side. The racing was so close (with Lindsay telling the leaders to do 360's when they got too far ahead!) that we wound up with a three-way points tie for First place! Kudos to the race committee for working out all the different levels of tie-breaking. It seems a three-way tie is a different order of magnitude over a two -way tie.

Lindsay is trying to put together a last-minute race at Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club next week, June 2, 2012. We're hoping to bring former racers "back to the fold" as well as sailing with our current stalwarts. New sailors, of course, are always welcome. Some of you may have been away because of new families, or the like. So....please feel free to bring (drag?) along your significant other, kids, what have you. Lindsay will try to arrange a means for spectators to watch at CSHBC, maybe a boat or at least a shuttle boat to the committee vessel. We're hoping to make District 8 sailing something more than showing up, racing, going home. We want to have something for all the sailing widows/widowers out there! Any ideas? Please e-mail me at robertterry@optonline.net. Hope to see lots of folks at CSHBC.

Race results:

From Ted: Team,   I'm off to Sachem pool this afternoon for the "Suffolk County Swim Championships". My son Andrew (also a laser sailor) is coming back for finals. That being said, I cannot make the dinner tonight. I was in the same boat last year - I don't want all y'all to think I don't value the great strides you have accomplished at Seawanhaka.  You guys are absolutely awesome and all should stand up and take a bow!  

Favor,   Please extend my sincere thanks to Marianne Nash for running such a great series. Her dedication to Seawankha's winter program is evident by the clear success of the series.  I also need to recognize David Trinder for his commitment to keeping all the scores in order, and for getting the newsletters pushed out to the distinct.  I also want to recognize Lindsay for his continued dedication to the sport , , , the kids he has influenced have moved on to be successful on a regional and international level. Lindsay's personal sailing successes are impressive, but I get the sense he appreciates Kia Olsson's success this season at deeper level. I have seen Lindsay leading in a race, only to peel off and work with a fellow competitor to help them improve. His leadership qualities make him one of the most admired people in the class. Eric Johnson also deserves a shout out for his rules seminars and for sailing real well!  7 bullets one day, right!!!!    Congratulations to Fred Abels!  I was pleased to see him sail so well this season and to come back "home" and support our series. On a personal note, it means a lot to me as I've known him since my sunfish days even.  I tend to see Fred more at places like Wrightsville Beach, or Mallets Bay Vermont. He is a great supporter of the regional and national regattas and even heads over to England to visit family and train.  He is an exceptionally talented laser sailor and a friend to the district.  In the past, Fred has supported many of my Sayville YC events, and I hope to see him at the Master ACC's at Sayville weekend of July 7th and 8th.    Final thanks to my faithful webmaster Bob Terry! My guess 100% attendance, and really fast in the light tricky stuff, all while capturing every moment on video! The website is beyond awesome and Bob really cares about the success of the district.,   Thanks and congratulations to all the sailors that came out this winter!~   See you on the water soon! The kids swimming season is a wrap this weekend and I can't wait to get back into my boat!  

Ted Cremer #162020

A milestone - Last week, the YouTube site broke 100,000 page hits!

Southold Yacht Club plans to invite Lasers again for their annual "Around Shelter Island Regatta." This was lots of fun last year, & a great experience. If you've been thinking of racing but are a little hesitant to try aroun-the-buoys stuff, this race is a great intro. Very low-key, no crowded mark roundings, & incredible scenery. Mark the date: Saturday, July 14.

Frostbiting at Seawanhaka 2011-12
Scores:

...

Danger Danger!! Will John survive his battle with the elements?

David's sequence of Eric "demonstrating" the fastest way to recover from a "teabag." See the video at the bottom!

The video! Click HERE for Windows Media Player

A humorous "safety" warning, taken during last year's Seawanhaka frostbiting - click HERE

Eric Johsnson was kind enough to put his 2010 tactics lecture into print - Click HERE for the text.

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 2012 News and Scores, click here

For 2011 News and Scores, click here

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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