Laser Master's Nationals

The Laser Master's Nationals will be held in Charleston, SC beginning this Friday.  The event already has 70 standard rigs and 25 Radial rigs registered.  I haven't sailed in Charleston since I competed in a team race there during my college days.  I believe we were racing Solings and I remember a race where we had to anchor several times due to the strength of the current.  We would get a puff and pull up the anchor and then when the wind died we would drop anchor again.  In fact, with the anchor down, it gave the illusion of actually moving forward at a pretty good clip relative to the other boats around us who were all traveling backwards.

I have done a fair amount of practicing but I am unsure of how much having intimate knowledge of the current and tides will come into play.  The obvious areas that I will need to pay close attention is the direction and velocity of the current at the start and of course at mark roundings.  I will also try and watch the chop and wave action for clues.  When the current is going the same direction as the wind, the water tends to flatten out.  Conversely, if the water appears more choppy or the waves are standing up, the water is probably going against the wind.  

I anticipate that there will be differing strengths and direction of the current around the race course and I will have to be on my toes for direction changes occurring during the race. I hope to have the opportunity on Thursday to get out on the water for a few hours and try and get my arms around the water flow.  I am counting on there being enough winds shifts out there that I can play to hopefully equalize my disadvantage...we shall see.

I was lucky to find a way for my boat to get down there so at least I will have the comfort of sailing my own boat as opposed to chartering.  You would think that chartering would be easy but it takes a few hours to get the boat rigged up with all of your stuff.  Hopefully, as soon as the trailer arrives early Thursday afternoon, I will get rigged and on the water.  Big thanks to my good friends Keith Zars and his wife Barbara for driving the rig down and to Fred Schroth for getting his trailer in good traveling shape for the trip.  This will be Keith's first Laser regatta after many years of being an excellent Snipe and J-22 sailor.  I am looking forward to having him out on the water with us.


The big decision for me is whether to use a new sail that I have never sailed with.  I made  a last minute decision to order a new sail and was unable to get it before the boats had to leave.  My old reliable has worked well for me at the last 3 Master's Nationals and has been a really good sail.  It is getting a little long in the tooth though and probably is starting to suffer a bit in the breeze.  The trouble with new sails is that they do require a little bit of a break-in period and they can be a little stiff and draft forward in lighter winds when they are new.

I will probably go out on Thursday with the new sail and see how it looks.  If the forecast for the first day is light to medium wind, I will probably go with my older sail and hope for the best.  If it looks to be a breezy forecast, I will go with the new sail and take my chances.

The competition looks to be tough with last years winner Peter Vasella entered along with Mark Bear and Peter Shrope from the Newport, RI fleet registered.  I am sure there will be others that I haven't raced against before who will be tough.  Hopefully, I can figure out who the top local is and try and keep an eye on where they are going and sail well enough to be in the hunt!