Author: Charles Fulmer

AERO & LASER SAILORS, SAVE THESE DATES

The Seattle Laser & Aero Fleet FROSTBITE SERIES schedule for 2022-2023 is as follows “SLF Frostbite #”.

The CYC Regattas are CYC events and included for your reference; CYC regatta registration is through CYC Seattle.

Sat-Sun October 1-2, 2022 CYC PSSC Small Boat Regatta

Sunday October 16, 2022 SLF Frostbite #1

Sunday November 6, 2022 SLF Frostbite #2

Sat-Sun November 19-20, 2022 CYC Turkey Bowl Regatta

Sunday December 4, 2022 SLF Frostbite #3

Sunday January 8, 2023  SLF Frostbite #4

Sat-Sun January 21-22, 2023 CYC SLF Frigid Digit Regatta

Sunday February 5, 2023 SLF Frostbite #5

Sunday February 26, 2023 SLF Frostbite #6

Sunday March 12, 2023 SLF Frostbite #7

Seventeen boats made it out for a lovely afternoon of racing on Shilshole Bay this afternoon. Wendy and I ran a mix of races, using the Sloop Tavern start mark and one of our own buoys as the starting line, with a mark to weather. The fleet enjoyed 10 to 15 knots of northerly, with the tide going slack towards the middle of the series. We used the starting line as a leeward gate for several of the races. This made it possible to keep the whole fleet to windward of the chase boat- a safe way to run races with one boat. On a couple of races, we ran the Grady White offshore for the fleet to use as a reaching mark. The final race was on the longer side for the day, with a beat to Meadow Point, followed by a port rounding of the original weather mark, and a reach into Shilshole. We sailed for about two hours.

A couple of things we noticed about folks who were sailing well.

Andrew L. favored starting at what would be the boat end of the line. Although the leeward end of the line was slightly favored, Andrew preferred being free to tack to the break-water when he chose rather than risking being hung out to the left by boats to weather. At the tide change, Andrew made the most of a lane of upwind current, tacking often to stay in the favorable current.

Jay sailed flattest of everyone upwind and had very good speed. His vang was one of the tightest. Downwind, Jay favors deep broad reaching angles. While lots of other sailors hunted hard for waves and did lots of S turns, Jay’s sailing was notable for his lack of turns and good speed. Mike Johnson continues to impress with his ability to drive waves downwind.

Charles, Jay, and John sail with the backs of their legs pressed hard against the deck of their boats. There isn’t any daylight between the backs of their knees and the deck. This looked fast to me.

Finally, the best insurance each of us has of the continued strength of this sailing fleet is merely showing up to race. It’s great to see every single one of you on the racecourse!

Joe B will be running the races on November 7th. Anyone else interested in running the boat, please drop me a line and I’ll work with you to set it up.

Finally, a big thank you to Wendy for showing up and lending a hand. I’m a very lucky man.

Dan

Every year around this time, the days are notably shorter; storm fronts begin rolling in bringing strong southerlies and heavy rains, and people like us start to get a little stoked because that means it’s Seattle Sailing Fleet Frostbite Season.  Below you’ll find a schedule of the season, with our first race coming up on October 17th.  More news will follow, along with requests for volunteers and season race fees, but for tonight, please put these events on your schedule and get ready to enjoy one of the greatest small boat sailing traditions in the country. 

Date	Event	Host
October 2-3	CYC PSSC Regatta SMALL Boat	CYC
October 17	Frostbite #1	Seattle Sailing Fleet
November 7	Frostbite #2	Seattle Sailing Fleet
November 20-21	Turkey Bowl	CYC Seattle
December 5	Frostbite #3	Seattle Sailing Fleet
January 9	Frostbite #4	Seattle Sailing Fleet
January 22-23	Frigid Digit	CYC and Seattle Sailing Fleet
February 6	Frostbite #5	Seattle Sailing Fleet
February 27th	Frostbite #6	Seattle Sailing Fleet

PSSR Laser Fleet Report by Andrew John Holdsworth

It was great to finally open up the racing this season at the PSSR hosted by the CYC just outside the Marina at Shilshole. The conditions provided excellent racing in a range of Southerly wind strengths in a building flood tide. Being fairly new to this venue I can see why the locals are so good and the venue can be so tough and breeds incredibly talented sailors. Just when the left of the course paid the right came back, just when you felt the wind was dropping it came back in again, just when you think you understand the current you find yourself fighting it and this mixed with a chop from all directions just keeping the boat boat moving fast and powered up and moving is a challenge in itself. In the laser standard rigs Owen Timms and I renewed our rivalry from last fall with 10 close races that were a lot closer than either of us could believe. In summary one puff, shift or wave could decide the race it was that close. As for the sailing upwind, I am finding myself pulling more and more sail controls on and focussing on sailing flat and keeping the tell tails streaming and doing everything to avoid pinching. Downwind seemed to reward hard work with upturns to catch waves early in the downwind leg and then as we got into better breeze further down the course chasing waves sailing deep by the lee to get back to the mark. I think we all tried gybing onto Port Gybe once but it never seemed work. I kept tactics simple over the weekend, Be super careful not to be over the line in the flood tide then line up next to Owen and sail as fast possible! A big thanks to all the volunteers who ran the races, all the visitors who travelled for the event and friendly atmosphere both ashore and on the water.

PSSR Aero Fleet Report by Dan Falk

With a weekend of varying moderate southerlies, the Aero fleet reached an informal consensus that the 9 rigs were in order. The race course was fairly flat all weekend and the entire regatta was raced in strong flood tides, so there was a premium on downwind boat speed. I can speak from experience that reaching the weather mark in a good position did not guarantee a top result at the finish. This fleet is getting fast downwind. CYC ran a good event! Southerlies come with strong shifts in Shilshole Bay, and the committee wisely set the starting line for the average wind angle so both ends of the starting line came into play at different starts. The weather legs were sometimes port biased and, on Saturday, “A” mark was close enough to the Magnolia bluff to make the final third of the weather legs below par sailing conditions. However, these are minor complaints after a regatta that was a refreshing return to form for the CYC race committee. As this fleet ramps up to the World Championship being hosted in Cascade Locks in ‘21, the sailing level seems to be getting better and better. While Dalton Bergen had another standout performance, many sailors had strong finishes. Andy Mack continues on form and took second with this author rounding out the top three. Thursday night racing is on and there are large Aero fleets showing up weekly. Looking ahead to the Columbia Gorge One Design regatta at the end of July, there’s talk of some guys heading down to the gorge for some training.

Racing this past Sunday (March 14, 2021) marked the last of the scheduled Frostbite Series for the 2020-2021 season hosted by the SLF Laser & Aero Fleet.THANKS TO EVERYONE for participating in this Frostbite Series, to the parents who faithfully shuttled the youth sailors, and to all the sailors who volunteered to run racing in lieu of sailing on those days.

My appreciation to John Beaver for once again taking it upon himself to document our racing with photographs, and making them accessible here:2021-03-14 Frostbite #7 – John Beaver’s Photos (smugmug.com) I always pick out just a few pictures for this RECAP to whet the appetite, but it is really fun to go through all of the photographs as you’ll likely see yourself and your friends duking it out.

Once again Jared Hickman offered to run the races (solo!) and we always appreciate the excellent courses and square starting lines. Thank you Jared.

In the pictures I’m counting up to 13 Aeros and about a dozen Lasers participating on this day; I neglected to count participants when I was out on the course so I hope I have this about right. The Lasers were a mix of 4.7, Radials and Standards, and most notably all but 2 of the Laser sailors were youth. 

We started the day rigging in the rain and it continued to rain lightly on/off throughout the afternoon. The forecast was for a healthy wind but it in-fact turned out to be fairly light for the first 2 races, mostly ESE-SE. While it looked like the wind might drop completely it suddenly picked-up from the S-SW to make for the best race of the day. SYC Coach Cam Hoard helped make that work by running the rib up to the windward mark and moved it west to be perfectly positioned. Twice around made for a nice long race, finishing downwind, and then all headed to the docks.

On April 24-25, the Corinthian Yacht Club Seattle hosts their annual Puget Sound Spring Regatta (PSSR) – Small Boat which includes starts for Laser and Aeros. Registration is through the CYC website cycseattle.org If you purchase the CYC Seasons Pass, the PSSR, PSSC, Turkey Bowl and Frigid Digit Regattas are all included, along with the week-night series racing from April thru September. 
For those Laser sailors who are participating in the new ILCA Grand Prix Series (District 22), this PSSR regatta is the first regatta from which scores will be used to build points.

Cheers, Mark Ross

Laser and Aero Sailors,

Thanks to Laser Sailor Erik Skeel for a nice summary of the day.

Sunday started off with a strong 15+ knot Southerly making for competitive races with only a few capsizes. The wind brought regular puffs and shifts providing ample opportunity for gains and losses. Both fleets we’re tight with close finishes showing that everyone who chose to spend the last day of February sailing meant business. Race committee did an excellent job running races on a square course with only the occasional over early. The day was called after five races in each fleet.

Erik found an issue with his Radial bottom section at the end of the day. Here is a link to a couple of pictures when he was de-rigging. These bottom sections have been known to break, but even with failure 75% of the way around, this one still managed to stay up. Kind of amazing!

https://johnbea.smugmug.com/Children/2021/Seattle-Laser-Fleet/2021-02-28-Frostbite-6/i-LDvVGZJ

One of our youth sailors Alex, who is proficient Laser Radial sailor, tried an Aero with a 5 rig for the day. Here are some impressions from his first experience in an Aero.
I found that this was a pretty simple boat to jump in and sail. I enjoyed how maneuverable it was on the starting line and how quickly you can accelerate and decelerate. It did take me a bit of time to get used to the fact that it wasn’t quite as stable as a Laser downwind, but of course, that is what makes it fun!. I think my favorite feature was having the outhaul and cunningham led to each side of the boat- I play them a lot.

I really liked how it had a place to put a masthead wind indicator vs on my laser I have to slide it in between my mast and sail- I really like a top windex. I appreciated how easy the boat was to rig and derig especially with the outhaul and cunningham knots that slid into the boom. I also thought it was helpful that the daggerboard had reference numbers on it- I often found myself putting it around the #4 mark. Two idea’s I’d use from my laser is a pvc tubing handle on the vang to make the loop easier to pull on in heavier breeze, and instead of the vang shackle it would be easier if it was a quickpin- especially for de-rigging.

Thanks for sharing your first impressions Alex.

John Beaver provided a place to upload all of my photos and short videos from last Sunday. Here is that link.

https://johnbea.smugmug.com/Children/2021/Seattle-Laser-Fleet/2021-02-28-Frostbite-6-Mike-Johnsons-Videos

John also took photos from his inflatable boat. As usual, they tend to be heavily weighted towards his kids, but have decent coverage of the Laser fleet and some of the Aero’s as well. About his photos, John says: “They start out kind of bland, but get more interesting as I warmed up. 🙂”

https://johnbea.smugmug.com/Children/2021/Seattle-Laser-Fleet/2021-02-28-Frostbite-6/

The last Frostbite session for this season is on March 14th and Thursday evening racing begins in April. See the CYC website for the schedule and registrations details.

Cheers,

Mike Johnson
Aero 1377

Our appreciation to volunteer race committee Giancarlo Nucci and Andrew Loe for running Frostbite #4 races on Sunday, January 3, 2021. They did a superb job of clicking off the races in difficult mark-setting conditions. Approximately 15 Aeros, 8 Lasers a handful of Optis participated. What a great way to start off the new year.

Fantastic winter sailing conditions with warm temperature (upper 40’s), wind shifty (predominantly from the S and SSE), and wind strength hovering in the mid to upper teens and puffing into the mid 20’s. There were some good waves for planing downwind and also a lot of chop. It looked to me like quite a few boats went upside down at one time or another. When sailing by the lee downwind the waves were rolling into the leeward side. My death roll was a result of getting hit simultaneously by a hard gust and a nice rolling wave. Looking at the pictures provided by Giancarlo Nucci and John Beaver you’ll see some  awesome dark threatening clouds and others with blue sky–I don’t remember seeing any blue sky but the pictures don’t lie! And no rain.

The next SLF Frostbite series race is Sunday afternoon February 7, 2021.

Be sure to register for the annual CYC/SLF FRIGID DIGIT REGATTA on January 23-24, 2021. Sign-up through cycseattle.org

Thanks to John Beaver for the photo of Lasers and Giancarlo Nucci for the Aero photo.