2010 Treasure Island Sailing Center Thursday Night Laser Series Champion!
It came down to the final night! After 23 weeks of sailing I was leading the series by 5 points. After doing the math several times I realized that I was not untouchable going into the last night. The top 4 four boats were close enough in points to shake things up for the overall victory. Fortunately for me I saved my best night of the season for the last, I won 4 out of 5 races! I claimed the overall victory for the season! A hard fought second place was earned by Jon "Geezer" Andron, followed closely in third place was Mike Bishop.
Special thanks to the Treasure Island Sailing Center for providing the facilities for us. The volunteers that help organize the whole series week after week. Super Jr. and Super Duper for running the races. Finally the Laser fleet for continually pushing each other to sail faster!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Geezer North Americans!
Okay Okay, it's not the Geezer North Americans...
It was the Laser Masters North American Championships in Long Beach, California. In the Laser class there is a whole separate series of regattas for sailors over the age of 35. One of my laser buddies, Jon Andron, has coined the phrase "Geezers" instead of Masters, hence Geezer North Americans. What does this have to do with me? Since I am not of age, i.e. lacking life experience... I was propositioned to coach/babysit a group of Masters from the bay area with whom I regularly race against. Jon set the whole thing up and put together an offer I could not refuse.
So there I was, 10 o'clock on a Thursday morning and I should have been at work hours ago. Instead, I was busy picking out my seat on a private jet with my wife Keely and several other Laser sailors bound for Long Beach. Yes, a private jet... piloted by none other than the main geezer himself, Jon. The bar has been raised when it comes to "Regatta Mobiles."
Details Details Details
Thursday we landed in Long Beach and drove to our home-base: the house of World Champion Sailor Howard Hamlin, just a few blocks from the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. Once the boat transport arrived (Mike Bishop and three Lasers) we rigged up for a late afternoon of tuning and boat prep. The highlight of the day happened early on during practice as I was following Lasers out of the harbor in the chase boat. Kurt Wessel's boat had a bad reaction to the cold water in combination with the warm air temperature... his boat attempted to implode! The hull sucked in about four to six inches in several places. Thankfully, after the the drain plug was removed, the boat took a deep breath of air and it popped back to normal. So what did we learn? Make sure your hull's breather hole is never plugged!
The 7 Amigos?
Not quite! During the event I was responsible for seven different sailors: Mike Bishop, Jon Andron, Nick Burke, Tracy Usher, Christy Usher, Kurt Wessel, and Peter Vesella. Luckily, Howard let me borrow his awesome chase boat for the weekend. This enabled me to tow the group to and from the race course, chase them around on the water, do wind checks across the course, keep them hydrated, store their spare clothing, and be there for anything else that they needed throughout the weekend.
SFB Fleet!
Over the course of the weekend the San Francisco Bay (SFB) Fleet established their presence. Tracy, as usual, showed his dominance in breeze. David "Mr Consistent" was always in the hunt in the top group. Kurt experienced the full spectrum of the fleet and finished the weekend with several strong results. Nick had a few finishes in the teens and occasionally mixed it up with the big dogs. Jon was finding his groove mid-fleet, occasionally venturing into the lead group to point out how much older he was than them. Mike was consistently hanging with the lead group of the fleet and had a couple strong finishes which landed him third for the weekend in the Apprentice fleet. Christy continually kept improving throughout the weekend to finish her last race in 5th place and securing the overall win in the Women's division. To round out the gang was Peter, whose consistency and sportsmanship earned him the victory in the Grand Masters Division.
Way to go Team!
Conclusion
Overall it was great weekend! I had a blast watching the group sail in some really challenging conditions, and learned a ton. We had a great time hanging out off the water, whether it was pounding Bud Lites, wandering Second Street, or inhaling some glorified cafeteria pasta. We all survived, slightly sun burned, bruised, and fatigued. Good times! Special thanks to my wife for allowing me to do this on our Anniversary Weekend. A special thanks to Howard for letting me borrow his boat, and giving my wife and I a place to stay. Oh yeah and another special thanks to Jon for organizing the whole production, and flying us all down there and back in the lap of luxury.
Tracy getting ready to pounce!
Mike doing some pre-race tuning.
Kurt cruising to the finish.
It was the Laser Masters North American Championships in Long Beach, California. In the Laser class there is a whole separate series of regattas for sailors over the age of 35. One of my laser buddies, Jon Andron, has coined the phrase "Geezers" instead of Masters, hence Geezer North Americans. What does this have to do with me? Since I am not of age, i.e. lacking life experience... I was propositioned to coach/babysit a group of Masters from the bay area with whom I regularly race against. Jon set the whole thing up and put together an offer I could not refuse.
So there I was, 10 o'clock on a Thursday morning and I should have been at work hours ago. Instead, I was busy picking out my seat on a private jet with my wife Keely and several other Laser sailors bound for Long Beach. Yes, a private jet... piloted by none other than the main geezer himself, Jon. The bar has been raised when it comes to "Regatta Mobiles."
Details Details Details
Thursday we landed in Long Beach and drove to our home-base: the house of World Champion Sailor Howard Hamlin, just a few blocks from the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. Once the boat transport arrived (Mike Bishop and three Lasers) we rigged up for a late afternoon of tuning and boat prep. The highlight of the day happened early on during practice as I was following Lasers out of the harbor in the chase boat. Kurt Wessel's boat had a bad reaction to the cold water in combination with the warm air temperature... his boat attempted to implode! The hull sucked in about four to six inches in several places. Thankfully, after the the drain plug was removed, the boat took a deep breath of air and it popped back to normal. So what did we learn? Make sure your hull's breather hole is never plugged!
The 7 Amigos?
Not quite! During the event I was responsible for seven different sailors: Mike Bishop, Jon Andron, Nick Burke, Tracy Usher, Christy Usher, Kurt Wessel, and Peter Vesella. Luckily, Howard let me borrow his awesome chase boat for the weekend. This enabled me to tow the group to and from the race course, chase them around on the water, do wind checks across the course, keep them hydrated, store their spare clothing, and be there for anything else that they needed throughout the weekend.
SFB Fleet!
Over the course of the weekend the San Francisco Bay (SFB) Fleet established their presence. Tracy, as usual, showed his dominance in breeze. David "Mr Consistent" was always in the hunt in the top group. Kurt experienced the full spectrum of the fleet and finished the weekend with several strong results. Nick had a few finishes in the teens and occasionally mixed it up with the big dogs. Jon was finding his groove mid-fleet, occasionally venturing into the lead group to point out how much older he was than them. Mike was consistently hanging with the lead group of the fleet and had a couple strong finishes which landed him third for the weekend in the Apprentice fleet. Christy continually kept improving throughout the weekend to finish her last race in 5th place and securing the overall win in the Women's division. To round out the gang was Peter, whose consistency and sportsmanship earned him the victory in the Grand Masters Division.
Way to go Team!
Conclusion
Overall it was great weekend! I had a blast watching the group sail in some really challenging conditions, and learned a ton. We had a great time hanging out off the water, whether it was pounding Bud Lites, wandering Second Street, or inhaling some glorified cafeteria pasta. We all survived, slightly sun burned, bruised, and fatigued. Good times! Special thanks to my wife for allowing me to do this on our Anniversary Weekend. A special thanks to Howard for letting me borrow his boat, and giving my wife and I a place to stay. Oh yeah and another special thanks to Jon for organizing the whole production, and flying us all down there and back in the lap of luxury.
David Lapier pounding upwind!
Nick Burke doing his thing.
Christy crushing the Radials!
Nick Burke doing his thing.
Christy crushing the Radials!
Tracy getting ready to pounce!
Mike doing some pre-race tuning.
Kurt cruising to the finish.Monday, June 7, 2010
Number 18!
My Season High!
After competing in the Mid-Winters West, District 24 Championships and the Pacific Coast Championships I achieved a 2010 International Laser Class Association North American Grand Prix Standing of 18th place. Unfortunately I will not be attending anymore ranking regattas this season so my standing will drop.
The Future!
I do not have any big regattas for the next few months. My focus for now is on the Svendson's Thursday Night Series at Treasure Island which I currently sit 3rd place overall. I also plan on sailing as much as possible, after work, weekends, when ever, it's the summer and I live in the Bay Area and it is one of the best places to sail!
After competing in the Mid-Winters West, District 24 Championships and the Pacific Coast Championships I achieved a 2010 International Laser Class Association North American Grand Prix Standing of 18th place. Unfortunately I will not be attending anymore ranking regattas this season so my standing will drop.
The Future!
I do not have any big regattas for the next few months. My focus for now is on the Svendson's Thursday Night Series at Treasure Island which I currently sit 3rd place overall. I also plan on sailing as much as possible, after work, weekends, when ever, it's the summer and I live in the Bay Area and it is one of the best places to sail!
Laser Pacific Coast Championships
Wind, wind and more wind! Three days of fun in Santa Cruz at the 2010 Laser PCC's. Twenty of the best guys on the west coast. Friday was typical Santa Cruz, Fog in the A.M. followed by nuking winds and decent size waves. Saturday there was no fog in the A.M., but the breeze showed up in full force with a bit more swell. Sunday ended up being a no race day due to two different wind patterns fighting over the same area and they both lost, which meant no wind.Hmmm my weekend in review...
I struggled to find a rhythm and found my self constantly over powered and lacking speed and height. I had great starts all weekend long but was unable to hang with the big dogs in the long run. My surfing background payed off and I was able to make huge gains on the runs with the big swells. By Sunday afternoon I was able to finally get into a groove upwind and makes some gains. Overall I had an OK regatta, I did not get the results that I was looking for, though I did gain a ton more experience that will help me excel in the future.
| 171314 | stephen bourdow | Sequoia YC | [16] | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 1 | ||
| 196139 | Tracy Usher | St Francis Yacht Club | 3 | 1 | 2 | [12] | 1 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 2 | ||
| 192079 | Ben Leibowitz | ABYC | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | [20/OCS] | 4 | 18 | 3 | ||
| 176124 | Peter Phelan | Santa Cruz Yacht Club | 1 | [8] | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 4 | ||
| 185557 | Peter Vessella | saint francis | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 6 | [14] | 27 | 5 | ||
| 192051 | Michael Bradley | Long Beach Yacht Club | 9 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | [12] | 9 | 39 | 6 | ||
| 173666 | Mike Bishop | StFYC | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | [10] | 41 | 7 | ||
| 171638 | Nick Burke | RYC | 5 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 13 | [17] | 43 | 8 | ||
| 184619 | Max FRASER | SANTA CRUZ YACHT CLUB | 8 | 11 | [13] | 9 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 49 | 9 | ||
| 179426 | Stephen Orosz | SSC | 7 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 | [16] | 50 | 10 | ||
| 164243 | Kieron Kavanagh | SBYC | 11 | 10 | [12] | 10 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 53 | 11 | ||
| 188709 | jon andron | st.francis | 14 | [16] | 10 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 6 | 66 | 12 | ||
| 195948 | Ryan Nelson | West Marine | 10 | 12 | 11 | [15] | 13 | 7 | 15 | 68 | 13 | ||
| 155477 | Will Lowe | RYC | 12 | [15] | 15 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 8 | 78 | 14 | ||
| 191555 | Paul Foley | N/A | 15 | 14 | 16 | 13 | 16 | 11 | [20/RAF] | 85 | 15 | ||
| 162032 | Alexander 'Zan' Drejes | scyc | 13 | 13 | 14 | 18 | 15 | [20/DNF] | 20/DNF | 93 | 16 | ||
| 194053 | Michael Kraft | MPYC | [20/DNF] | 20/DNF | 20/DNF | 17 | 17 | 10 | 13 | 97 | 17 | ||
| 173200 | Sean McGinn | Cottage Park YC | [20/DNF] | 20/DNF | 20/DNF | 16 | 18 | 16 | 11 | 101 | 18 | ||
| 7 | Joseph crum | scyc | [20/DNF] | 20/DNF | 20/DNF | 19 | 19 | 20/DNF | 12 | 110 | 19 |
Monday, May 17, 2010
Caught in Action!
Good Form! This is a roll tack sequence from the Big Dinghy regatta. These shots are one second apart. Thanks to John Liebenberg on the chase boat for taking these photos. 
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thursday Night Fever!
Thursday Night Fever? I had a great Thursday night of racing out a Treasure Island. We had 11 boats and 5-15 knots of breeze. I had great starts, great up wind speed, insane down wind speed and great tactical awareness! I had a 3rd, a 4th and three bullets! Heck Yes! Super Special thanks to GU Energy for giving me that extra bit of energy to pull away from the fleet! I went threw two bottles of GU-2-O and 4 packets of GU Roctane Energy Gel! Man does this stuff work!
I also want to thank Zhik Sailing Equipment for giving me a spread of there new sailing gear! The "Power Pads" are freaking awesome! They took a couple days to get them dialed in and now they are a huge part of my performance gains!
Oakland yacht Club Beer Can?
Beer Can? For the past three years one of my co-workers has been begging me to go sailing on his boat. And I have always been busy racing my own boats and stuff, so when my friend John Foster asked me for the millionth time, my soccer game for the night had been canceled so why not!
We were racing on John's Non-Such 22 "Blue Berries" which is kind of like a combination of a tug boat, a laser and a windsurfer. We only had one race which consisted of sailing around several different buoys, channel makers and other obstacles that are spread through out the Oakland/Alameda Estuary.
The wind was light and shifty but some how I was able to figure that funny little boat out and we managed to win our fleet for the night. We were so far ahead that by the time we got the boat back into our slip, the second place boat just crossed the finish line just as we finished putting the boat away. Not bad for my first time driving a Tug-Surf-Laser!
We were racing on John's Non-Such 22 "Blue Berries" which is kind of like a combination of a tug boat, a laser and a windsurfer. We only had one race which consisted of sailing around several different buoys, channel makers and other obstacles that are spread through out the Oakland/Alameda Estuary.
The wind was light and shifty but some how I was able to figure that funny little boat out and we managed to win our fleet for the night. We were so far ahead that by the time we got the boat back into our slip, the second place boat just crossed the finish line just as we finished putting the boat away. Not bad for my first time driving a Tug-Surf-Laser!
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