2007 Laser Master North Americans

Laser Master’s North American Championship

Earlier in the year in one of my prior articles, I laid out my sailing goals and objectives for this year. I talked about my plan for preparing myself for competing in the Laser Master North American’s here in Austin. I had planned to attend two other major events to prepare myself for this one.

Unfortunately, mother nature took its toll on the first event and still reeling from being shut out at the Midwinter’s, I elected not to make the trip to North Carolina for the Nationals. Instead, I decided to spend as much time as I could sailing with my good friends Mark Salih, Matt Romberg and Doug Kern to prepare for the Master’s NA’s. The only problem was really self discipline on my part. In recent years, I have had problems forcing myself to endure the pain associated with sailing a Laser upwind when it is blowing over 15….especially when my windsurfer is sitting there, waiting to be ridden effortlessly at 30 mph.

In any event, I was able to learn a few subtleties from my friends such as sailing with less vang tension downwind than I ever had prior; not letting the mainsheet out past 90 degrees; having a stopper knot in the boomvang so that I could un-cleat the vang completely when I rounded the weather mark in order to bear-off faster; getting all of my control lines marked in the appropriate settings; getting my sail broken-in properly; working on better tacks and jibes; sitting more forward in the boat downwind. The list goes on. Minor nuances….that really make a difference in a Laser. After that, I had to rely on getting in some good Wednesday night races against folks that I will argue make up one of the most competitive Laser fleets in the country.

All this together resulted in me being probably more prepared that I actually thought I was to do well in the regatta. The following is my account of how the regatta went with a few lessons learned sprinkled in as well as re-visit of many of the concepts that I have talked about in many of my prior articles.

Race 1…..With about a minute to go, I saw that the wind was swinging to the right and decided to setup a few boat lengths down from the weather end. The wind was way right of the norm and I felt like the shift would be short lived so I wanted to try and take advantage of my position at the gun and go for speed. I noticed a lot of the regatta favorites were down at the leeward end and I anticipated the wind would eventually shift back so I decided to go for maximum speed and tried to foot over the top of the fleet. This worked pretty well and I was eventually able to round the first windward mark in 1st, just ahead of Dave Maguire and Matt Romberg. The first beat was good for a couple of reasons.

One, it put me in a good position to do well in the race but more importantly, it told me that the work that I had put in over the last few months was going to pay off and that I would be competitive enough to have a chance to win. That is all you can ask for. Things started going a bit downhill after this. Dave and Matt took advantage of the wind shifting to the right on the race course and were able to work low and get inside of me at first jibe mark of the Olympic course. With the wind still from the right, it made the 2nd reach pretty tight and they were able to open up some distance on me and the rest of the pack closed on me considerably.

I was suddenly starting to question my reaching ability which I knew was the point-of-sail that I had practiced the least. Plus, I really thought I was launched when I rounded the weather mark 1st and suddenly I felt like I was getting reeled in. Things only got worse on the 2nd beat when one of the pre-race favorites, Al Clark, winner of the abbreviated Mid-winters and 2nd in the Nationals, who had gotten stuck near the leeward end at the start when the right shift came in, had managed to claw his way all the way back up to fourth and was now on my tail. He had made up a lot of distance and it seemed only like a matter of time before he passed me.

That is the problem with not traveling much. It is hard to know how good you are relative to top sailors from around the country. At this point, my confidence was seriously shaken and my inability to get any races in at the mid-winters (due to weather) and then not attending the nationals was weighing heavily in the back of my mind. On the run, the wind had begun to increase and the “S-turn” technique for sailing downwind was starting to play big dividends. Al Clark was clearly very good at it. The only local that really seemed to have it down was Eric Faust. I understood the concept but had not sailed in waves enough to really have it down. Also, my motivation to go out and suffer on a Laser when it was windy was often replaced with my desire to windsurf when the breeze is up.

Anyway, it appeared this weakness was going to be exploited and I was kicking myself and not working at this harder. Meanwhile, Matt was sailing a beautiful race and did not look like he was going to be challenged. Al Clark had easily passed me going downwind and was now in second and I had fallen to 3rd and was looking over my shoulder. On the last weather leg, I had started to accept the fact that I was going to be 3rd (or worse) and was seriously bummed. I kind of got myself worked up a bit and decided that I was going to see if I could make a come-back. I really hunkered down and focused on playing every shift and trying to make every tack perfect. After about 5 minutes or so, I realized that I was starting to cut into Matt and Al’s lead. I slowly started getting re-energized and realized that it was realistic that I had a chance to catch Al so I kept grinding away. I could also start to hear Al yelling at himself so I knew he knew that I was coming. Finally, with only about a hundred yards to go, I had caught him. Matt won the race and I must confess, I was very, very pleased with being able to pass Al. My confidence was still not strong but I was happy with being able to rally.

Race 2…..The 2nd race was to be a Windward – Leeward, twice around. The breeze was slowly continuing to build and with about a minute to go, the wind shifted to the left. Since the wind had been oscillating back and forth so much, my starting plan was to hang towards the middle of the line and at about 1.5 minutes to go, assess the situation and then bias one end or the other based on what I was seeing. It seemed like a lot of people were caught off guard with the left shift and no one seemed to be really fighting for the pin-end so I decided to go for it. I sailed on port tack and did a tight lee bow on Matt Romberg and tried to keep his bow stuck up above my weather quarter so he could not bear off and try and duck below me. I was able to regulate our speed so as to burn off some time and was making sure that no one was going to come charging in at the last second. With about 10 seconds to go, I realized that the pin-end buoy was attached to the motor boat about mid-way back in the boat. The problem with was that the line was being sighted from the buoy but I still had to clear the bow of the motor boat and the anchor line. In a larger displacement boat, this would not be a problem because you could shoot the boat up and the momentum could carry you past the boat. No such luck in a Laser though.

I decided to hold a few seconds longer and not get too close to the pin and thankfully was able to eek around without slowing down too much. It was a good start but Matt did a good job of keeping clear air and maintaining his lane. I really wanted to tack right away and get in phase but there were a few boats on Matt’s hip that were preventing him from going. If we could tack, we both would be in control of the race since the pin was so favored. Finally, Matt was able to tack and I went right with him. We both looked golden. Sure enough though, the wind started to clock back to the right and I could see some boats to leeward starting to move forward in my window. In strong wind, one shift is never going to take you all of the way to the mark on Lake Travis. Plan on at least 3 oscillations to come through if the windward leg has any length to it. Much to my chagrin, the lead boat coming off of the right was Al Clark. He rounded the weather mark 1st and I rounded pretty closely with I think Fred Schroth. Al did a great job sailing downwind and started to stretch his lead out.

On the next beat, I was able to maintain a pretty strong 2nd and on the last downwind leg, Al opened up what I thought was a pretty insurmountable lead. On the last beat, I thought there was no chance of catching him but I continued to hike hard and stay in phase with the wind shifts. He was so far ahead that he was in a different oscillation pattern than I was. I kept sailing lifts and he kept tacking on me to cover but he was tacking out of phase. Slowly, I started gaining ground on him. It seemed like each tack I made, I was able to gain a boat length. I could start to hear him getting agitated which only made me hike harder. As we approached the last 100 yards, he tacked on me on what appeared to be the starboard tack lay line. I decided to tack off and hope for a better breeze right. I went only about 4 or 5 boat lengths and tacked back to starboard. As we sailed to the finish, he fell into a hole and was no longer laying the finish line.

Meanwhile, I got a nice right hand shift and a puff and I was eased out and planning to the finish line. He had to tack back to port to get to the finish line and he tried to sail to me and tack on my lee bow. Realizing this, I kept bearing off and going faster to force him to tack back before he could get up to speed. Just as he tacked, to starboard, I shot the boat back up to weather and trimmed in and shot up towards the line and was just able to nip him at the finish by a few feet.

I was as shocked as he was that I was able to catch him. Looking back on it, this race completely changed the complexion of the regatta. I think I gained a ton of confidence and I think he may have lost an equal amount. When two boats are of equal talent, speed and preparation, the difference is usually psychological. I think I gained the edge from this race.

Race 3….I don’t remember as much detail of this race as I do the others but the breeze continued to increase. I remember thinking that it was a going to be a long day with so much breeze and hiking. At the first weather mark, I rounded just behind Tracy Usher from San Francisco and a few boats ahead of Al Clark. I still wasn’t super confident in my down-wind speed and trusted that Tracy and Al would be in good form. On the first run, I was able to hang pretty close with Tracy with Al slowly gaining on us. At the leeward gate, we all 3 rounded the right gate (it was the closest of the two) and we started working towards the left side of the course. Only a few boat lengths separated us. We were still on a pretty good starboard tack angle so I decided to work hard at keeping my air clear from Tracy so I wouldn’t be forced out of phase.

Al decided to tack off to port and head to the other side of the course. My decision to be patient and stay in phase paid of when finally I detected a header and I tacked to port with Tracy almost immediately tacking above me. I looked to leeward and realized that we both had gained several boat lengths on Al who had tacked prematurely. Tracy still led at the weather mark but I was right on his tail. We had both opened up some distance on Al. On the run, a pretty big puff hit and I just let it all hang out and tried to hang on to the edge without capsizing (the fastest way to sail a Laser downwind) and I managed to get past Tracy. On the final beat, I just covered him with a “herding” type cover where I tried to encourage him to stay with the rest of the fleet by giving him a bit more clear air when he was going the direction that I wanted him to. He is a very good heavy air Laser sailor so each tack and to be good and I couldn’t quit hiking until the finish. I was able to win with Tracy 2nd and Al in the 3rd.

Race 4……The race committee elected to shorten the weather leg in response to the weary look on the competitors’ faces. Just before the start, there was a right shift to the wind. I decided to try and get a good start in the middle of the line so I could be flexible to either direction. With the shorter beat, there would be fewer oscillations so you have to get on the right tack quickly. In this case, the right shift lasted almost the entire beat and several boats came in from the right in good shape. I had to duck a pack of boats that came in from the right at the weather mark and rounded about 5th or 6th. Al Clark came off the right and was one of the first 2 boats to round. The fleet was very tight and there was a lot of jockeying downwind. I sailed very low after rounding the weather mark and kept me air clear and was able to get around the leeward mark in 2nd. Al held on to his lead and I could not catch him this time. Eric Faust sailed a nice race to grab 3rd.

Overall, a very good day and although exhausted, I felt good about the tenacity I was able to muster up to be able to rally to pass boats.

Race 5….. Saturday dawned with a very light southerly breeze. I had picked up stomach bug over-night and spent most of the night sick in the bathroom. At 7:00 in the morning, I honestly didn’t think I would be able to sail. Fortunately, the start wasn’t till 11:00 so I had a chance to pull it together. The course was moved closer to the main basin. With the start line fairly close to the right shore, there is often an advantage for the boats that tack at the committee boat and sail parallel with the shore line. I am not sure what causes this but usually, the leeward boats on port tack seem to have the best wind and angle. After a general recall, the fleet got off. The port end of the line was pretty favored and most of the fleet tacked to port immediately. I could tell that I was moving faster than the boats on my hip and the boats to leeward were doing better than I was. About 2/3rds of the way up the beat, a big right shift came in. It looked like I was going to be about 12-15th. Fortunately, my closest competitor, Al Clark was stuck on the left side of the course and was in serious trouble. I picked a couple of shifts near the weather mark and was able to round in the top 10. Fred Schroth sailed a masterful race in very light and tricky conditions and held on to win.

I was able to slowly work my way up to 3rd. Considering the conditions and how I was feeling, I was very happy with the result. The race committee sent the fleet to shore and I secretly crossed my fingers that we were done for the day because I was still feeling very sketchy. Sure enough, the wind did not fill in and we were finished for the day. Before a throw-out I had what seemed like a good lead but if we got one more race in, each competitor would be able to throw out their worse race. If Al Clark threw out his DNF in the prior race, he would only be a few points behind so the regatta was far from over. Doug Peckover, Tracy Usher, Eric Faust and Matt Romberg were all still very much in the hunt after a throw-out.

Race 6….Sunday brought a light and shifty westerly breeze which we seldom see on Travis. This is probably the hardest condition to race in because it seems that the pressure can fill in from either side and there is not usually an oscillation pattern. It can be very random. So, in these conditions, you have to constantly scout for wind pressure but you also must be careful not to chase the wind. You have to sail what you have and make the best of it. I wanted to make sure that I stayed near Al Clark but not focus too much on him at the risk of sailing myself into a bad position. I decided to start near the windward end in response to a pretty big right shift that had come in. The right side of the course looked like it had more breeze but my gut told me that eventually the wind would try and go back to the south.

Sure enough, a few minutes after the start, the right faded hard and the left was looking much better. I played a few shifts in the middle and was not looking good. The good news was that Al Clark was trying to stay right of me and when the big left came in, I was able to take advantage of it and he could not recover. I rounded the weather mark about 12th or so and just concentrated on trying to slowly work my way back up. Meanwhile, my closest competitor in the standing was in serious trouble.

Eric Faust sailed a great race and held on to the win and I was able to rally back to a 2nd. Al never was able to recover and even after a throw-out, I was now comfortably ahead and could breathe much easier. In these conditions though, and with the prospect of possibly two more races, I needed to continue to stay focused.

Race 7…. The breeze was still generally from the same westerly direction but the holes in the breeze were becoming more pronounced. My goal was simply not to commit to one side and take the risk of getting stuck if a big shift came in. I took a pretty conservative mid-line approach and got off on to port tack pretty quickly. I ended up rounding the first weather mark in the top 5 with Eric Faust and Matt Romberg both sailing well. I just tried to sail the wind that I had was able to stay near the front of the pack. At the finish, Matt held on for the win and I took second. At the finish, the race committee said that the regatta was over. Matt and Eric ended up tying for 2nd so Austin Yacht Club ended up 1, 2, 3 in the regatta.

In retrospect, this was a really rewarding victory. I had established this event as one of my primary sailing goals for this year. Mark Salih and I spent a lot of time sailing together leading up to the regatta. He was able to offer me some great insight to a few tips for improving my downwind speed and just having another person to help keep you motivated to spend time on the water and in the boat is invaluable.