Next ILCA Master Worlds - Thailand!!

by Doug

 

February in Thailand.  Mark your calendars.  The ILCA 6 Master Worlds will be from February 8-16 and the ILCA 7 Master Worlds will be from February 18-26. The NOR can be seen here. I checked the airfares from the US and they were a surprisingly affordable $1,100.  I interviewed Richard Vine about the event and  it looks like it will be great venue.

Peter Shope on winning the 2018 Master Midwinters

By Doug

Peter Shope (195425) was the fastest at the 2012 Master Midwinters but he did not win because of high-risk starts like this one.

This resulted in an OCS, while the winner of this event cannot be seen because he's hidden in the middle of the line. Peter changed his style to start more conservatively and won the 2015 Laser Master Worlds.

In this video, Peter talks about how he easily won the 2018 Master Midwinters by more conservative starts, his downwind speed to win a race, and other things that have kept him at the top of his game. Thanks to Dave Morton for the great aerial footage.

2018 Florida Masters

By Doug

I took a five month sabbatical from sailing after breaking my ribs training for the Croatian Master Worlds and am happy to be back on the water again. The final day of the Florida Masters was held in the open water with a strong gulf stream and the biggest waves I’ve sailed in for five years. Note to self: no practice + big waves = a bad result. I was embarrassed to be the top GGM.

Or maybe others are getting faster. Former GM world champion Peter Shope finished 5th. Mike Matan just retuned after training for 2½ weeks in Cabarete and was fast, finishing 4th. Dave Chapin and Ari Barshi were fast and finished 3rd and 2nd respectively. But the event was easily won by Ernesto Rodriguez who finished 3rd at the Master Words in Croatia last year. Ernesto had great speed and explains how he won both races on the final day.

Peter Vessella sailing upwind in a breeze

by Doug

The Florida Masters Midweek Madness was a two day event that started light on the first day but then got breezy on the second. Peter Vessella (USA) won the event with finishes in the breeze of 4, 1, 1, 1 against a competitive fleet. Here, he explains his starts, upwind strategy, Mark II setup, and how he adjusted his controls. There's a lot to be learned from  Peter's simple explanation.

Stay in the Football

By Doug

Over Super Bowl weekend, we had the inaugural Rock the Ice Regatta that attracted a small but competitive fleet. It seems appropriate that we can use a football metaphor to describe the racing.

Steve Bourdow is a great sailor and coach, and would say that when sailing upwind you need to stay inside the football (translation – don’t bang the corners). The first day’s racing was a textbook example of why this works.

In each of the six races I found myself in the lead with my main competition sailing to either the right or left corners. If you want to beat that person, you have to go with them, but there’s always the risk of losing to the rest of the fleet – winning the battle but losing the war. Even when someone on the edge was in more pressure, I resisted the temptation and gave up the lead.

This strategy paid off – four of the six races were won by one one of my main competitors banging a corner while I settled for sailing in between what looked good and the rest of the fleet. As a result, I had four seconds in those races. This ‘percentage sailing’ paid off – at the end of the day I had 10 points while my two main competitors were less consistent and had 15 and 25 points (results here).

After the racing, I told the juniors that if you want to win the occasional race, bang the corner. But if you want to win the occasional regatta, stay in the football.

Florida Masters Week - Part 2

By Doug

Peter Shope won the second event called Midweek Madness. Peter is the current Laser Grand Master World Champion and he describes how he wins events.

Notice how flat Peter sails in lighter conditions... very fast!

Florida Masters Week - Part 1

by Pam

I received an email from Doug with stuff to add to the blog. I guess we'll have to fill in the blanks.  I do know that Doug is one pooped boy.  He even retired from the last race today because of an injury that is so bad he couldn't pull on any controls.  If he doesn't bounce back, he may call it quits, skip the last event and head home early.

In the meantime, Al Clark, won the first event in the full rig fleet and he is now competing in the second event in the Radial and I believe he is winning that too. Quite the switch hitter so Doug is obviously interested in what he has to say.

2014 Easter Laser Regatta

by Pam

As always, Fred's Easter Laser Regatta draws the biggest turnout in Laser District 15 and has some of the best talent in the area. What is interesting is that trends in the district can be seen from the attendees at this event. 

There were 54 Lasers in all, 33 full rigs and 21 Radials. The average age in the Radial fleet was 15 and the average age in the full rig fleet was 40. Overall, 63% of the sailors were not Masters. The event was used as the Area F qualifier for US Sailing's Junior Singlehanded Championship (the Smythe trophy). Fred and Austin Yacht Club had to jump through a lot of hoops to accommodate US Sailing's lengthy requirements. Fred isn't known for jumping through hoops for anyone but he's all about supporting the game so he stepped up and hop, hop, hopped. He has even posted the results and annual picture already.  Unprecedented!

In recent years, the local junior programs, especially in the Houston area, have been gaining momentum. The junior girls are just as talented as the junior boys. The coaching and parental support is fantastic. Some of the support trailers these kids travel with would make a sailor drool.  One trailer carried eight Lasers and a rib. 

The adult sailors are getting older and this year seemed to be a bit of a changing of the guard. Scott Young has been the favored winner of the event for years but this past February he went to the Laser Masters Week in Florida, checked it off his bucket list, sold his boat to a friend before the last event began and retired his Laser hiking pants. There were several other regulars that were also absent from the event and in their place was the beginnings of a new generation. Usually the top sailors are at least Masters but this year, if you combined the ages of the top three finishers, it was about the age of the 4th place finisher … Doug. 

The racing was the usual for the Easter Regatta. Wind, less wind, puffy, shifty and fun. I sailed passed Doug in the first start sequence and he was in the water with a hand on the centerboard. I looked back again and he was sitting on his boat chatting with a coach and pointing at the committee boat, not looking like he was in a hurry to start. I didn't see him again until the start of the second race and he was pretty far off in the distance and clearly going to miss the second start. He started about three minutes late, caught up to me and sailed with me for a leg or two and in the last half of the last leg he said we can pick up 10 boats here and he tacked. I got pinned by someone who wanted to sail me to the other side of the course and by the time I broke free, Doug had put 8 boats between us.

So, what had happened with Doug in the first race was that in the start sequence he pulled on his Cunningham and the sail came down.  He tipped the boat and checked the damage.  The strap at the top of the sail was shredded so he had a very long sail back to shore, a frantic search for a spare sail, and he was back in business but still late for the second start. 

By race three, he should have been on his game but he just wasn't.  His finishes on day one were 31, 14, 10, 6, 7.   In race three, I tacked in a puff and went straight into irons.  I uttered some four letter words and the boat fired back with a wappity, bap, bap … with the boom hitting me with a left, right, left.  I uttered some more four letter words and the boat promptly started sailing backwards rather rapidly.  Uncle!  I finished the race sailed back to the start with Doug and asked him to tell the committee boat I'd retired.  I had a leisurely sail back in, had a shower, some cookies and returned just in time to bring Doug his dolly. I'd had a wonderful day and Doug had decided he was a washed up has been and his glory days were over.

I've always known that Doug sails significantly better when I'm not on the course with him.  He isn't worrying about me in the back of his mind.  Am I having fun, are people being nice to me, am I being picked on, did I make it back to shore okay, etc.?  The Laser isn't my race boat. I'd met my goal of not being last and not having the committee wait for me and not having the Radial fleet catch up or pass me. So, on day two I opted not to sail and had a relaxing day getting ready for the long drive back home. 

The boats started coming in and Doug was one of the first to return.  He was faking a dejected look of disgust but I can read him like a book and said, 'three bullets, huh?' 'No' he said, 'it was 1, 2, 1'.  He was higher than a kite.  In the last race, he'd gotten into a tacking duel with the leader who was 45 years younger than him and they tacked about 20 times in the last leg and the young 18 year old clearly out sailed him but Doug out experienced him on the finish line and protected the right and forced the guy to duck him and Doug won by a few inches. Doug then decided he still had it in him.  It just takes him longer to get warmed up these days. He can't wait to meet Keen on the race course again soon. 

I bought a new camera a couple of weeks ago and had a blast playing with it. It beautifies people's faces. I tried to sneak shot after shot of Fred but the camera wouldn't recognize his face with his beard and glasses.  Finally, Doug got him to take his glasses off for a second and I grabbed this shot and beautified it. Sort of an angelic Fred.

Oman Worlds - Who's Ready?

by Doug

Good evening ma'am

The competitors have had up to five training days including the practice race that we just finished. It's interesting to listen to people speak about their experiences so far. There is a consensus that it will be light, it's hard to see the wind patterns on water, there are some very strange variations in pressure, big shifts, and even talk of how current may be a factor. Some countries with lighter competitors could do very well.

Here's an example: yesterday I was sailing with a fellow from SUI on my hip just 10 meters away. In the light breeze, he was faster and he started to roll me. I thought, no problem, I'll get the breeze in a moment. Well, he rolled me and I never did get that breeze. Just 10 meters away!!! I told this story to a quick Aussie and she said that I had done this to her the day before. Go figure!

Normally light conditions are familiar to me because I sail in Dallas which is inland and only has small lakes. But nothing that works in Dallas works here - it's like learning all over again. This really gives you an appreciation of how consistently good Robert Scheidt was last week.

Our practice race confirmed what the conditions will be like - changes in pressure, shifty, and very tactical. And there are some people in our fleet with some real speed. One thing for sure - it will be important to look around to watch others for clues on the water.

I may have to use others to spot the pressure because of something that happened on Thursday evening. The US team had a Thanksgiving dinner, and at the entrance I was polite, smiled, and said 'Hi' to our hostess standing at the entrance ... only to realize is was a wooden mannequin. Boy, am I glad that no one was watching.

Oman Open Worlds - Day 7 - Scheidt Wins!

by Doug

They held everyone on shore waiting for the breeze to fill in. We went out at about 1:00 and then sat and waited some more. With a few minutes before the 3:00 cutoff, the gold fleet finally got off. Here's the moment just before the gun taken by Brett from a different angle. It's a great example of why Robert, in the middle, gets off the line so well.

Robert went left with good height, tacked on the first shift, and led at every mark to win. There are a lot of people very happy to see him win. It was really an honor to have him back sailing Lasers.

Robert wins the last race and his 9th Worlds.  I took lots of video, hope some of it's usable.

Oman Open Worlds - Day 6

by Doug

More torrential rain overnight and some rooms in the hotel actually got flooded. The little boat I've been using had about 8" of water in it. I wouldn't be surprised if the local farmers try to get another Laser Worlds ASAP because of all the rain that we bring.

There was lots more talk about yesterday's racing. The key part of the race was being in the right place when a shift hit, and of course the first shift is really important. With all those boats with good speed, being on the outside of a circle really hurt, especially at the top of the course. The last shift is always persistent and being on the wrong side cost many people many places. So the most important shift for many was the last shift of the first beat.

The other thing that I noticed was how Robert managed the top of the first run. He was on the left and the outside of a rightie at the first mark and rounded in 14th place. Robert is known for his downwind skills, so it was interesting to see at the end of the top reach that he continued past the mark for about 20 seconds. This looked more like trying to stay in clear air than looking for pressure. Playing the right worked until the bottom of the run because the boats in the middle had a better angle with the breeze. But the right/clear air certainly worked for most of the run.

                 

With so much to learn, I focused again on Robert today and saw something I had not seen before in a race. With 2 minutes to go, he wanted to check upwind from the boat end of the line, so sailing on port while planing, he stood on the back of the deck for about 8 seconds looking upwind. He must have liked what we saw on the right. With a good lead and being conservative, he started in the middle of the line. After a few recalls, you'll see Robert set up and defend. A minute after the start, he tacked and won the first race.

In the second, you'll see another way that he defends by tacking twice. In this race, he had a bad first leg and finished 26th.

Pavlos sailed really well and had finishes of 3 and 6, so he is now just 1 point back with one more day to go.

  

Oman Open Worlds - Day 5

by Doug

The fleets were split into gold and silver and, of course, all of the coach boats wanted to watch the gold fleet. This video is not going to win any Academy Awards - the conditions for videoing were good but with the slop, I had trouble holding the camera still as you'll see. 

Picking the correct side was important and the leaders played the right on the first beat. I talked briefly with race winner Nick Thompson (GBR) and he played the middle right and led at each mark. It's amazing how important the first beat is as the positions rarely change much after that. The rich get richer... 

Neither Robert or Pavlos had a stellar first leg or finish. 

We only got in the one race because of the big front that came through. You'll see a part of it at the end of the video. One of our roommates is Colin Leonard and after standing on our balcony he said, "that is the quickest I got soaked ever." And he's from Ireland!!! 

Like the locals say about the weather at so many Laser Worlds: it's never like this.

Oman Open Worlds - Day 4

by Doug

A lot of people are enjoying Robert Scheidt (BRA) in this competition and he's well-known for his speed, especially downwind. Here's something that may not be as well-known - his reading of the wind going upwind.

One of my roommates is Kristian Ruth (NOR) and he told me an interesting story about Race 5 yesterday. He and Robert were about even in the mid-teens on the run, and for the first part of the next beat. There was no speed difference between them. Robert then tacked away for 30 seconds and then tacked back again to catch the edge of a wind line that put him in more pressure sooner and longer. When Kristian tacked, Robert was 50 meters in front and went on to finish 2nd. Kristian finished 15th. I asked Kristian if he saw what Robert saw and he said no.

The breeze today shifted to the north and was lighter. The first race started in about 4 knots and this increased to about 8 knots. The waves are the gentle chop you can expect in open water. The shifts were 20º and pretty random. People feel that rolled sails are an advantage in these conditions. There were about 20 yellow flags handed out today and you'll hear the whistles in the video.

Robert had a 28, his drop, and another bullet. I tried to focus on him and between races, you'll see a short close-up video of his setup for these conditions. You'll also wee a video of him starting the next race near the boat, waiting for a port-tack lane to develop, and then tack and duck one boat to go right and win the race.

One other thing to report... others are carving, jibing, and trying to catch waves going downwind. In the conditions today, Robert heads straight downwind.

Olympic Silver Medalist Pavlos Kontides (CYP) has sailed with great consistency and is 5 points back but has a drop of only 10, which is pretty amazing. I've watched him start and he likes being near the pin and always seems to get away with a good lane.

[Warning - this video might make you seasick]

Rain on the way ...

Oman Open Worlds - Day 3

By Doug

The size of my little boat for veiwing

The forecast was the same but it felt windier because the waves were bigger and I had a lot of trouble taking videos while being bounced around. And I was under doctor's orders not to have much sudden movement after my eye surgery last week. And the boat did not have an anchor. So the videos are pretty bad, but I learned that even bad videos can be useful as you will see.

I'm always looking for something different, something special to remember, but this can difficult in an event that lasts for 7 days. I saw something at the end of the first race today that I thought would be the highlight of the day. It was the bottom reach in the first race and at the beginning the two leading boats had a comfortable lead and were very close. By the end of the reach, one had pulled ahead by what looked like about 100 meters. I thought, both are world-class sailors... how can one be soooo much faster? And who was it?

Two minutes later, they finished and it was Robert Scheidt (BRA) who had pulled away from Nick Thompson (GBR), who is not at all slow. I thought wow, that was fantastic!

Nick is also in this report because in the next race there was a collision and he was disqualified. While unfortunate, that's not news. What is news is that he was in the 40's, which shows how brutal the conditions can be. Here's your new phrase of the day, spoken by an Aussie: anyone can have a shitter of a race.

But what made this day memorable happened back on shore. There was an unsolicited comment from one of the coaches about a US sailor who was 'yellow flagged' twice today. Translation - too much kinetics. Translation - cheating. The comment was made in the context of coaching. I added how US coaching at the college level is a disgrace because of the illegal (by international standards) kinetics that are actually encouraged. The international judges aren't stupid and know this, so the US coach here has a tough job having to un-train their sailors of the techniques that helped them get here. It's unfair, and the results were seen today. The coach I was talking with summed it up by saying that talented US sailors are nowhere close to their potential.

Robert had a great day with a 1, 2, 1. I congratulated him after the racing and the first thing he said was "I got a 2." From anyone else in the fleet, this would have been a statement of pure joy. From Robert, it sounded more like an apology.

The highlight from this memorable day happened after dark. There was an incident at the end of race 4 when Kristian Ruth (NOR) was fouled on the finishing line by another boat and I happened to video the incident. So my video was used as evidence which several people have told me is very rare because it has to be conclusive. The other boat also had a witness from Korea. We waited several hours before the protest hearing was held which Kristian won. It was the Korean's word against my video.

Here's the funny part - it could be the first time in sporting history when it was the Asian who did not have the camera.

[Warning - this video might make you seasick]

Oman Open Worlds - Day 2

by Doug

My first day in Oman happened to be His Majesty's birthday and the customs fellow at the airport said that I should be very happy. He was right, but perhaps for a different reason. I got to the hotel at 5:30 AM local time, having taken more than 50 hours to get to there. It was great to see Brett again, meet the fellows from Norway and Ireland he's coaching, check out the hotel (very nice), food (excellent), and start to get settled in.

Coach boats are extremely rare and Brett was unable to get his own, so he is sharing one with the Japanese coach. Everyone was a bit shocked when I was offered my own tiny boat by simply asking. The offshore breeze dies before the sea breeze kicks in, so there was a delay. We headed out just after noon.

So, here's my first Oman trivia question: what's the one thing that should never be hard to find in this part of the world?

Answer: Gas!! My boat had perhaps a liter and the coach from Tunisia had none and, get this, they stop selling gas at the marina at noon!!

It was one of those we-didn't-come-this-far-to-sit-on-the-shore moments, so I asked my new Tunisian friend if he would like to jump in, go 2 km upwind, drop the anchor, watch the starts and finishes, and then come (drift?) back to the harbor. He had no other option.

There's a joke amongst Laser sailors that the conditions for the Worlds are never what's expected. It only rains here 5 days a year and, sure enough, the outdoor opening ceremonies gala on Saturday was marred by, you guessed it, lots of rain. And the winds here have not been above 12 for the last month, so the first day was "fresh" as the Aussies like to say.

This second day was also windy - perhaps building to 15. But it's shallow so some the waves make it feel stronger. The waves reminded me a little of the Melbourne Worlds that was also in shallow water.

A rule is that no coach/media/spectator boat is permitted within 100 meters of where a competitor could sail, so getting good pictures is always a challenge. Add to this the bouncing around in our little boat, using a hand-held camera, using the zoom, and the sunlight reflecting off the tiny screen all made it hard to imagine what I was capturing ... but then I was having trouble seeing anyway.

We limped out to the starting area where all of the coach boats park behind the starting line. There were none at the pin so I suggested we park there, so here's the pin-end report.

The 120 competitors are split into 2 fleets for the first few days, so there are 2 starts.

Robert Scheidt (BRA) is back in Lasers and he has a very predictable starting sequence that I first noticed at the Ireland Worlds. He stands up with 2-3 minutes to go at the pin (part of the reason I wanted to be there), watches for about 20 seconds, and only then makes his final decision about where to start. No ones else does this.

The first fleet had 4 recalls and under a black flag about a dozen were disqualified including leader Nick Thompson (GBR). It's interesting to note that the middle of the line is where a lot of boats started early - there was no line sag. I also got a video of the end of the run of the second fleet, and you'll see Robert in the lead. He went on to win his race which is the second-to-last part of this video. On the way in, the fleet converged at the harbor entrance and a sailor beside was sailing hard by-the-lee, so I grabbed the camera and got a few seconds of that as well.

Sailing in the Middle of the Fleet - Putting It All Together

By Doug

I tried putting all of my sailing-in-the-middle-of-the-fleet tips into an actual event at the final Texas circuit event of the year, which was the Wurstfest Regatta at Lake Canyon Yacht Club. It was a good turnout with 23 boats that included Olympic Coach Luther Carpenter, who I had not had the pleasure of sailing with before, and Hank Saurage, former runner-up at the Sunfish Worlds. It was a good fleet with lots of speed.

Do your circles. I checked the wind direction several times before the start of each race and had good compass readings. Surprisingly, I was the only person in the top five sailing with a compass.

Using the unfavored end. The line was short so the bias didn't really matter. I started at the committee boat end most of the time to be able to tack away to stay in clean air if needed.

Clean air right after the start. Starting beside the committee boat worked except for race 6 where a junior got in the way (I refuse to yell at kids). I ended up in the third row, tacked away, and missed the first shift. Being out of phase, my position at the first mark was about 15 ... such is the luck in sailing. It was by far my worst race.

When is someone ahead or behind? This was really important in the last few races because Luther was within a few points and there were lots of shifts. Knowing when to tack was important because it was a balance between staying in the pressure and keeping track of where Luther was. Several times he got away and had the speed to stay in front.

What to do with clean air. You could see the wind velocity on the water and the fleet that started ahead gave us good clues about the direction, so sailing with your head out of the boat was really important.

Staying in clean air. The fleet tended to stay together so it was really important making sure to stay in a lane with good pressure. With so many good sailors in this fleet, lack of pressure could cost you many places very quickly.

Windward mark strategies. The courses were windward-leeward and some of the mark roundings were crowded. The trick was not getting to the starboard tack layline too early and then getting away from the crowd ASAP after the rounding.

Finding clean air downwind. This was really important. It was balancing the need to stay in the pressure while staying out of others' wind shadows. At one point I thought I was OK until I looked at a flag at the top of the boat behind me and realized that what I felt and what I saw were different. I often changed sides to stay in the pressure and this worked well.

These factors worked and the results can be seen here. OK, I admit that my boatspeed was better than your average middle-of-the-fleet-sailor because of my training for the Oman Worlds that start later this month. But without these sailing-in-the-middle-of-the-fleet tips there would have been no way to stay with Luther, Hank, and several of the other great sailors in these tricky lake conditions.

Next stop... Oman.

From Pam:  Oh now he's just screwing with us. Yeah, right! Just get a good start, stay in clean air, go the right way and avoid the crowds and you too can win the regatta. Sure you might have one bad race but you can always throw that out. Not real helpful for those of us whose best laid plans just don't work out quite like we expect them to. So, what I'm hearing is that even the top sailors are following some of the same basic rules of thumb as the rest of us but they are just doing it better. 

I get the opportunity to debrief Doug after racing. He loves the close racing and loves it when he's able to do something that others can see happening but can't quite figure out how to copy. So, here's a shift, while Doug writes about how easy it is for middle of the fleet sailors to do well. I'll write about how easy it is for top of the fleet sailors to do better.

This past weekend was light and gusty. Doug is surprisingly consistent in that stuff and I've figured out one of his secrets. He doesn't rely on tell-tales and feels the wind and anticipates better than most. That makes his gear shifting super smooth and he doesn't lose momentum which pays bigger dividends in the light stuff. Middle of the fleet sailors aren't good at shifting gears period. Top of the fleet sailors have an easier time shifting gears when the wind picks up than when the wind lightens up. 

When Doug see a puff coming, he hikes out and heels the boat to windward and traps the puff so that when it hits, it brings him vertical instead of knocks him down and spills the puff. He gains. When Doug feels the puff lighten up (the boat begins to go slow), he eases everything and powers up so that he keeps moving. He can gain two boat lengths this way. Yeah, I mean that's so simple, don't know why all the top guys can't do that. 

Laser Sailing at Age 74

Pam:  In response to my 'Am I Too Old For This?' post, we received an email from Joe who sailed in the recent Canadian Laser Masters Championship with Doug.  After an incident on the water many years ago in which Joe wondered if Doug had eyes in the back of his head, these two have been sneaking up behind each other all over the world, covering the other's eyes, disguising his voice and asking 'guess who?'  Joe sent us an excerpt from his personal journal which we asked if we could share.  Clearly, he didn't do as well has he expected, but under the circumstances, he's a winner in my book. From Doug's cryptic messages, I understand that they 'never get those conditions' and everyone struggled to string together a consistent series.  In 3 days they had huge shifts (Doug claims one was 90 degrees), 1 mile legs against the current, and wind that really picked up for several races, plus it was cold and wet. Challenging conditions for any age, let alone age 74. We all hope that we'll still be sailing a Laser at that age ... Joe is living the dream.  Thanks for sharing!

by Joe van Rossem

Home Monday morning after the Canadian Masters in Beaconsfield Quebec. Sitting on the sofa in my house coat with my coffee reflecting on the last four days.

What happened? Well let me tell you, S#!+ happened! However, there is no one to blame except me, for sailing a bad regatta.

Maybe, I'm getting too old!  And my memory is fading as well, if I can't even put my finger on what went wrong! All those thoughts come into my head as I sit here reflecting on the past weekend. Then, a thought came to me, why don't you write it down and maybe learn a bit from all this. Then again (at seventy four) if I don't know it all by now, I'll never will. However, hence this writing.

Friday, first race, started at the pin end, and wanted to sail the first leg in the middle right side of the course and ended up doing the exact opposite. Fighting bad air and lifted the wrong way and trying to catch up.

Second race. Same as the first.

Third race. Started at the committee boat, approached the line on port and saw an opening and just continued, worked the middle right   Ended up in front at the top mark with no air, however, after rounding, the wind picked up again nicely (now from the North), half way down the leg, the mark boat greeted us with the checkered flag, calling off the race. Miller time? Swenson would say.

Learned what?

If before the start, you have decided to sail the fist leg in the middle right, you should at least try to start in the middle right of the line? Right!

Saturday's racing started with a nice breeze that did not hold leaving us with waves and little wind. Then the wind came back but the struggle remained, the old '78 Laser I was using for this regatta was groaning and moaning in the short steep waves like saying enough is enough. Never mind my legs. Back to the bike (maybe twice a day for an hour each, starting today). The whole day was a struggle that's all I remember.

Sunday's racing, umm? Dressed light, for light air prediction. However the wind pick up nicely at starting time. Picked the port end again, nobody there and started on port way too late. If you attempt a port start, at least be on the line on time. Ha ha, you old fool, I screwed that start! Anyway, got to the top mark deep with no chance to catch up, in any case, the race committee shortened course to just two and a half legs. After the finish, we drifted around in the rain for quite some time and got really cold. The committee boat, after a while, moved close to shore. Assuming they were going to can it for the day, so I sailed in and packed up only to find out that there was another race on the way and I missed it.

So, shit happens to us all from time to time. If we were perfect, we would win everything and that would be disastrous. It is always easy to blame someone else for your problems but that just would not work. To be critical of a race committee who are there for you and volunteer their time freely for the sailors, is not very productive for anyone. Although, I must admit that, at times, race management leave a lot to be desired and can get you down before racing even starts.

Final thoughts: Never too old, going to lose some weight, going to work a little harder on my fitness.

2013 Canadian Master Laser Championship

by Pam

Overall results
Group results

Doug held his 2nd place.  Woohoo!  Now he's headed to the Butterfly Nationals in Spring Lake, Michigan, then he flies home and without so much as a full night's sleep, he will drive straight to Houston for a Laser circuit stop.  The man is addicted to sailing.

Apparently, there are some really good pictures and the conditions were fairly challenging.  I'll post a link when I can figure out where they are.

Beaconsfield put on a great event. 

With Joe and his Pam.

By Doug: OK, here's what happened.

Day one had a crazy first leg in race one with the wind shifting right 90 degrees by the time the last 10 boats rounded. Many good sailors got caught on the left including me. Thank goodness for drop races.

Day two started light and built to the 20's with some wild rides downwind. Rob, Tobin, Philippe, Richard, and others were great, especially on the one mile downwind sailing by the lee. For a light person, Nigel had awesome speed in the breeze but his boom vang tang broke. My speed was mediocre at best and I missed too many shifts.

Day three had Rob showing great speed upwind in the light chop in the first race. The committee kept us on the water as the cold rain killed the wind. When it reappeared from the east, we had lots of shifts for the final tricky race.

Rob won easily with good speed when it counted. For me, it was a wake-up call - too much rust and an urgent need to practice with people who are faster and smarter than me.

2013 Canadian Master Nationals - Day 2

by Pam

Doug is in Montreal for the Canadian Master Nationals. He had a horrible first day, and exhausting and non-noteworthy second day but when the guy walked by the the scores (which I can't find online anywhere), he snapped a picture and sent them to me. Tomorrow is expected to be light and variable. The first day was like that and he claims he got caught on the wrong side of a 90 degree shift.  

I'm going to post the scores while he's in 2nd place because I don't have high hopes that he'll be able to hold that position. 

Trivia question - there are two sailors who list their home club as NOMAD. Who knows what that stands for?

LASER Trademark for Running Regattas

by Pam

By now everyone believes that Karaya (Jersey) Limited is the holding company that owns the LASER trademark in the US. After all they were even named in the recent Kirby lawsuit. Well, that would be only half right. Karaya holds the trademark in the class of goods that pertain to sailboats, parts, accessories and sails. A close look at that registration reveals that the title is all jacked up and the actual owner of the LASER trademark is a dissolved entity. Maybe that can be fixed and maybe it can't. I’ll post the details of that jacked up registration later.

For now, did you know that Velum Limited, an Antigua and Barbuda entity with an address is Switzerland also owns the LASER trademark in the US (not to mention the UK)? In the US, Velum holds the trademark in the class of services that pertain to “organizing sporting events, namely, sailing competitions, and regattas; sailing schools.” In the UK, Velum holds the trademark for both the goods and services mentioned above. 

Now I ask you, who organizes and runs LASER regattas? How many times have you personally organized and run a LASER regatta? How many times has Velum or LP done that for you? For what purpose do you suppose LP would be interested in obtaining the exclusive rights to the business of running every freaking LASER regatta in the US and UK?  

Now here’s the kicker.  To obtain a trademark you have to provide proof of your use of the mark "in commerce" in connection with the "services" you are providing. Below are the “specimens” that Velum submitted as proof of their use in the US:

 

  

 

But wait, there's more ...

The “Statement of Use” indicates that: "… VELUM LIMITED, … is using or is using through a related company or licensee the mark in commerce on or in connection with the goods and/or services."

The “Declaration” on the Statement of Use affirms the following:

"Applicant is the owner of the mark sought to be registered, and is using the mark in commerce on or in connection with the goods/services identified above, as evidenced by the attached specimen(s) showing the mark as used in commerce.

The undersigned being hereby warned that willful false statements and the like are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, under 18 U.S.C. Section 1001, and that such willful false statements and the like may jeopardize the validity of this document, declares that he/she is properly authorized to execute this document on behalf of the Owner; and all statements made of his/her own knowledge are true and that all statements made on information and belief are believed to be true."

I’ll let you decide what conclusion to draw. My favorite part is "punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both."  If only we could be so lucky.