The 2008 No Coast Laser Championship was sailed on Lake Lanier on October 11 and 12, hosted by Lake Lanier Sailing Club and managed by Martine Zurinskas. Martine and her volunteer helpers had gone all out to provide a quality event. Practice sailing on Friday afternoon, pizza and beer on Friday night, breakfast on Saturday, huge breakfast on Sunday, steak dinner and two lunches all for $60.00; the most bang for the buck I have seen at any regatta I have attended.

The event attracted sailors from as far away as Utah, with a number of other states represented. D12 was represented by Chip Whitesides, Benton Whitesides, Chris Stang, Kent Leverich, John Fragakis and myself. 49 boats in total, split between 14 radials and 35 full rigs.

The forecast called for 10 to 20 mph on Saturday and more on Sunday so there was a  possibility of entering the radial fleet. I held off on the decision until 10:00am on Saturday when I spotted the whitecaps in the distance and decided on the radial. This proved to be the right call.

At the first warning at 12:30 it was blowing in the 18 to 20 knot range with higher gust. The conditions were quite shifty and the waves were a couple of feet tall and very disorganized so I did not make any attempt to steer through them but instead focused on keeping up my speed and keeping the boat as flat as possible. My upwind sail settings were as tight as I could get them and the vang as tight as I could get it without have to loosen it at each tack, since the shifty conditions necessitated a lot of tacking.

The length of the starting line was determined by the number of boats in the full rig fleet so the radials had plenty of room and by staying near the favored end of the line any particular precise maneuvering was not necessary in order get a decent start.

The first race was long with three upwind legs and two downwind so a lot of hiking was called for. I didn’t really get going until the last leg when I moved from fourth to 2nd. It turned out to be a first as the lead boat was disqualified for not completing the required penalty turns following a rule 42 violation. During the next two races I seemed to find a better rythm and ended the day with a 3rd and a 2nd putting me in first overall.

This led to some strategic considerations for  Sunday which provided us with even more and shiftier winds than Saturday. I decided to go for it in the first race and if I did well be a little more conservative in the last race.  By hiking hard and working the mainsheet with diligence I managed a second and was now in a position to win the regatta as long as I could avoid a really bad score in the last race. Upwind strategy was no different than the other races and I rounded the weather mark in  third. On the downwind leg I was very careful to avoid a capsize. I did not try to adjust rig settings other than the vang and I chose the leeward gate mark to avoid gybing even when it was clear  that the other mark was the favored one.  I finished 3rd and that was enough for a first place overall.

The full rigs,as far as I could tell, were having their share of fun with capsized boats everywhere and close competition for the top spots. D12’s Chip Whitesides distinguished himself by taking 1st grand master.

Overall, this was a terrific regatta providing really exciting sailing an great social activities.

I am sure that all my fellow D12 sailors share my opinion and will join me in extending our thanks to Martine and everyone at LLSC  who worked so hard to make this a memorable week end.

Finn  

 

No Coast Scores