13: Thursday night Laser sailing has started at Niantic Bay YC. We had two very light air races with seven boats. I managed to drift to the front of both races.

Madcatter Pictures from Michael Walker

12: Madcatter
We sailed out to the course this morning and started to get tuned up but the wind was so strong I didn't think they would even get a race off. We sailed back to the beach along with most of the fleet. They did get one race off with about 9 finishers total.
Mark and Sandra won the race and the regatta on a tiebreaker.
Rich and Bev were second.
Team Bisesi was third.

Results

11:Madcatter
Only one race today before the storm came through. We had a good start but Cliff was pinching below us. The Korz team rolled us to windward so we tacked. We did ok on the right side but were a bit too raked. We rounded the top mark in about fifth. We had a good run but didnt pass anyone. On the second beat we found some holes and lost a few boats. Towards the end of the second run there was a big right shift. We rounded the starbord gate behind a pack of boats but we were able to tack before the group. By this time the shift was bringing lots of wind and we were close reaching towards the windward mark. We rounded in second and had a nice trapeeze reach to the finish. A lucky second. Figueroa/Burrios won the race. Cliffy and DIane wereg right behind us in third.

Liza's plate. Now that's dedication.

The Speedy Ricans
I just like this video.

10: Four races today. I was winning by a point going into the last race then had my worst race of the series with a 6. I got third for the day. T Hotch won with D Peck in second. I won the series.
Can't wait for MadCatter!

9: Went for a nice harbor tour after work.

8:What a day. It was about 80 deg with wind. Dave Peck showed up and we had nice duels all afternoon. Race 1 had wind out of the North, puffy and shifty. Dave got a better start and got to the first mark well ahead. He got stuck in a few holes on the reaches and I closed the gap. After a last beat with lots of tacks I just got around him at the finish. Race 2 played out the same way but this time Dave held me off on the last beat. In race 3 Dave won the start but I got a little more wind to the right and rounded in first. He gained a bit when the wind shifted 180 deg as the seabreeze filled in but I held him off by a boat length.
Race 4 had nice wind out of the south. We rounded the windward mark overlapped with Dave ahead but I got inside at the jibe mark and won the race. Race 5 we were both over early and Doug took the win. I won for the day with Dave in second and Doug in third.

7: After drifting around for a while the wind filled in from the south at about 15 knots. I had a good start in race one and managed to hold off (the new guy) Dave Peck.
The second race was playing out the same way but I had a terrible leeward mark rounding and the tiller extension detached. I thought it was broken and started to head in until I realized that it just came unsnapped and could easily be re-attached. Last place for that race.
I won the next two races after some great battles with Peck. He got me in the last race of the day. Dave Peck won the day. I hope he comes back next week.
The RC took some pictures of the racing today.

6: Good day today. I won all the races. It was rainy but the wind was good.

5: Another beautiful day, over 50 degrees with nice wind but very shifty. I started off with two bad races, two fours. The rest of the day was a little better, two 2’s and a 1.
I think Matt Flood won the day. He sailed great winning more than half the races.

I got video of the first three races before the battery went dead. It's not too exciting but it's fun to play around with.

Working on the 2009 Regatta Schedule

May 3 Last Day of Frostbiting
May 16-17 Madcatter
June 6-7 Sandy Hook
June 13-14 Spray Beach
July 4 Statue of Liberty
July 11-12 Sail Newport Regatta
July 20-24 North Americans, Kingston, ONT
August 3-8 Europeans, Lake Como, ITA
August 29-30 Barnegat Breezer
September 12-13 Shore Acres
September 19-20 Roton Point
October 3-4 Sharkey’s Cup

4: No wind today. We went out for about a half an hour then canceled racing. I did get to check out a new camera mount I made for the Laser. I made some boring video.

3: Tim Hotchkiss takes the day by a point. We went back and forth all day and went one two in the last race with Hotch taking it. We were both over early in separate races Hotch ground back to a second in his and I only got back to third in mine.

Some bad footage below of my OCS race from the lifejacket cam.

2: Another beautiful day Laser sailing on the river. The wind was a little lighter than last weekend but still a bit over five knots. I only won few races but stayed consistent to win the day.

1: Great day on the water. Temperatures were in the 50's and the wind was about 15 knots out of the North West. The wind died out about half way though the day. I won most of the races but they were all close.

Laser sailing starts this Sunday and the weather looks like it will be nice.

There are bigger, faster, fancier boats. And we have bigger, faster, fancier boats too. But the 16 is tough to beat, and was the real key to everything.. If I was going to recommend a boat to a friend for he and his wife want to sail and maybe get into racing, I'd say “get a 16.” They’re easy, they’re not overly expensive, you’ve got a big class to race in – and you can use your wife or kid as crew. When you start getting a little bigger, you’re kinda taking the wife out of the crew thing. With the Tigers and those boats flying hulls and everything it's much more athletic, but the 16’ class is just perfect for couples. With the more modern race boats, unless you've got an old enough kid, you've got a bunch of guys racing against each other – it kind of breaks things up. With the 16, with you and the wife doing it, you spend the whole weekend together. That's what the boat did – it put people together.

- Hobie Alter