It doesn’t really stave off the Corona Virus, but singlehanded practice racing on Thursday evenings has sure made the social distancing we must all do a little easier to take. Thursday a couple nights ago we had a count of 21 RS Aeros and 15 Lasers at various times. Reports from Kaitlyn Van Nostrand and Mike Johnson. This photo courtesy of John Beaver – the rest here. Photos below by Doug Frazer. – Kurt Hoehne
Lasers by Kaitlyn van Nostrand
This week we were greeted with a beautiful 10+ knot northerly blowing down the sound. Once again the Aero sailors, out in force, beat most of the Laser out on the water. The Aero’s started right on time for a first race at 6pm. It was beautiful sailing conditions with a warm breeze and nice waves to play in. The Lasers started with only about 6 Lasers on the line, but as the racing continued, more joined in for a total of 13. We older sailors made a joke, as there were only 3 laser sailors older than 23! Well done to the youth and college sailors for coming out. The Aero fleet was 20+ sailors strong, nearly all adults and very close finishes!
After the start, it was a race to get to the wall for current relief for both fleets. Making the boat favored at the start. It was a game of who could get to the right first. The courses were windward leeward twice. Each lasting about 20 minutes. There was a lot of hiking in the first race and those hiking hard showed at the top mark! The first race did get some aero and laser mixing with both fleets sailing upwind together. Making for lots of great action with close ducks. The second race was spaced out a bit more, so the fleets did not overlap as much.
As the races continued, the wind slowly subsided. Making the right even more favored with the current flowing. We still had good waves though! Four races were sailed overall for both fleets. Making it a beautiful evening out on the sound. Looking forward to next week. Thanks to the race committee Jared for keeping us going and Mark Ross for organizing.
(Ed. Note – in at least 3/5 races the winners were overlapped, sometimes 3 boats! And there were always Radials at or near the front of the fleet with the full rig, even as the wind dropped.)
RS Aeros by Mike Johnson
An evening of sailing does not get much better than May 28, 2020 in Puget Sound. A warm (80F) “Meadow Point Hurricane” with a fleet of 21 competitive boats and 5 races each about 25 minutes duration. The range of conditions (wind and current) beginning with a puffy 12 to 15 knots and dropping to 5-12 knots at the end varied enough each race to ensure a fresh perspective was required in pre-race strategy. What better way to take ones mind off the current pandemic and gain a sense of perspective after being home bound for 2 months. Kudos to the RC for recognizing the fleet dynamic of wanting to go right and then biasing the pin end of the start line to spread people out down the line. It worked beautifully.
Over the course of the evening, the front of the fleet was populated almost every race by Jay Renehan, Andrew Loe, Dalton Bergan, and Carl Buchan (last 3 races). These four have a gift of balancing all the variables and priorities to consistently play the odds in their favor. This high standard certainly keeps the other 17 boats on their toes. Any sailor who desires to improve his or her game would do themselves a favor to come out and join this group.