2012 Laser US Master Nationals

58 Boats contested the 2012 Laser US Master National Championship (standard rig) Sept 14-16 in Brant Beach, NJ. Brant Beach Yacht Club did a stellar job, running 10 races in a wide variety of conditions and providing generous hospitality ashore.

I came into the event a bit disorganized, but arriving a day early helped me get focused and sort out the new sail I was planning to use. Was fortunate to line up with Dominican sailors Ari Barshi, Jorge Abreau and Canadian Great Grandmaster (65+ years old) Joe Van Rossem for an hour of speed tuning in the flat water of Little Egg Harbor Bay, and found I had competitive speed and point against these quick sailors. Boat OK, speed OK, registration completed--I was ready for racing the next day!

Friday was rather light, and we sailed 3 races. I started off strong with a 1, 2, and just when getting cocky got a 13th to bring me down to earth. VanRossem was also fast out of the gate, posting finishes of 3, 4 that, with handicap points, placed him tied with me after two races!

Dodged a bullet between Races 2 and 3 by noticing the front of my hiking strap ripping away from the screws. Had just enough time between races to cobble together a preventative retaining line--a good thing as the strap failed during Race 3!
 
At the end of the Day 1 it was Grandmaster (55-64 yr age group) and New Jersey local Had Brick who led the fleet with sold Top 10 finishes. Canadian Andy Roy was in 2nd and I held down 3rd.

Saturday dawned cooler and windy, with a gusty, oscillating Nor'Wester pumping down the bay. After consulting with Clay Johnson from event sponsor Colie Sails, I chose a new hiking strap and its accompanying boots, together forming a hiking system designed to really lock one into the boat. Normally I don't like to change more than one major item before/during a regatta but this was a necessary fix that turned out to be a big improvement. After fitting the new strap and doing a thorough survey of my rig, it was time to go sailing!
 
Grandmaster James Jacob would have won Day 2 if the races were just to the weather mark. Getting a clean start and hitting the first shift were crucial to success on the first legs, and James was nailing it! I was getting great starts at the favored pin, but because I was so far down the line I couldn't tack until the fleet above had cleared out. Often this meant having to sail through the first shift, then waiting, waiting WAITING for the next lefty to flop over, often above the layline. This wasn't as bad as it seems because I was in fresh breeze, planing into the top mark above those who were on the layline. The difference in speed usually made up for the extra distance sailed.
 
At first my downwind speed was way off. In the shallow/choppy water of the bay, wakes of boats ahead were a greater factor than in deeper/wavier locales. Sailing a bit further to the sides had the intended result: my downwind speed was back to normal.
 
After three races I got tired of having Jacob and others beating me to the top mark and tried starting near the boat. I was perfectly set-up at the boat for Race 7 but somehow got stuck in irons as the fleet took off. Managed to get up to 6th by the end of the second reach of the outer trapezoid course, but on the second beat I made a big error.
 
Port tack and the left gate (looking downwind) were initially favored, so I rounded that one behind three of the 5 boats ahead. The lead boat soon peeled back to the left in a small righty, but the guy directly in front of me would NOT listen to my pleas that we also flop over. Why not just tack myself, you might ask? I was concerned he would then tack on me, giving me dirty air all the way back to the middle of the course. Instead of recognizing this guy's stubborn love of the right corner and just tacking, I tried to out-stubborn him by trying to foot out from below him. We ended up way right when the next shift (a lefty, natch) came barreling in. Mr. Stubborn and I lost 5 boats on that leg. If I had just tacked over sooner I could have easily been Top 5, but instead had to settle for 10th.
 
The last race of the day was very interesting. Again I was about 5th at the leeward gate, and again I rounded the left gate and headed right in a left lift. Again, the boat ahead of me tacked back to the middle, and again I didn't tack back. Had I not learned my lesson? What was wrong with me??
 
THIS time, I had reasons. First, I was nearly pointing to the weather mark in the solid part of the left phase, which meant the next phase would be...RIGHT. I saw the Radials up ahead on their first beat also very high on port, so I knew there was little-to-no-more left shift to come. The boat ahead that tacked onto starboard was eating a bad header to get left and falling down into the boats to leeward. There was no reason to head left. Yet.
 
About 1/3 up my beat, I saw the lead Radials ahead on port starting to sail lower, meaning the righty was on its way. I concentrated on just sailing fast forward on port, waiting as the breeze first dropped in strength, then started nibbling right, then building right before I flopped onto starboard.
 
By this point I had huge leverage on the guys to the left. They were coming back on port with decent angle, but as we converged the right filled in and I started lifting up and up while the left collapsed. Soon I was in full foot mode in pressure and gaining tons. Mike Matan, the lead left boat, ducked me about 20 lengths downwind of the weather mark, eventually rounding in front because he only had to do 1 tack to my 2. Managed to scoot ahead of him on the run and extend on the last reach to take the gun.

This final bullet gave me a real confidence boost and seemed to have a psychological effect on the fleet. My day's finishes (4, 1,  1, 10, 1: 17 points) were dominant--the next best finishers for the day were counting 27 and 28 points, and they'd started the day with more anyway. Only two more races were scheduled, and the forecast for Sunday wasn't promising.

After some pizza and chatting with sailors at the club I went home and had a nice dinner with my hosts and some of their friends. These non-sailor friends were very encouraging when they heard I was standing in first, saying stuff like "you're going to WIN," etc... Usually such talk makes me anxious, but this time I just observed the energy being focused at me, noticing how similar it was to what was coming my way at the club. Momentum was on my side, people seemed convinced, and my job was to not get in the way of things playing out the way they expected.
 
As predicted, Sunday's breeze started out pleasant but quickly petered out, causing the RC to postpone ashore. We waited around for a few hours, the RC saying they would abandon racing for the day at Noon. The smooth-as-glass water on the bay made it seem increasingly likely we weren't going to sail, and I started allowing myself to get excited about being the national champ. Then, at 11:50, definite lines of breeze on the water encouraged the RC to drop the postponement flag--we were going racing after all!

Despite having a 10 point advantage over the next-closest boat, I allowed myself to get a little nervous about what was to come. It was light, anything could happen in two races! Old doubts and fears, old negative voices started clawing their way into my mind as we sailed out to the race course. I had a nice talk with (1988 Olympic Gold Medalist) Lynne Jewell-Shore and decided I was going to do a few things: 1) my pre-race preparation rituals; 2) get a front-row start; 3) be steady, not brilliant; and 4) give those negative thoughts and people the attention they deserved--none!

Ryan Minth punched out from the pin, bee-lined it for the left corner and came out way in front at the first mark. I started more conservatively about 1/4 up from the pin and was relieved to see my major competition behind. After that I resisted the urge to move higher, just staying between my main competition and the marks to finish 4th. Andy Roy made a remarkable comeback after being called OCS, eventually clawing his way all the way back to 6th!
 
The drama wasn't over yet. After finishing I sailed toward the start boat, tacked over, and immediately heard a loud metallic "TWANG." The lower fitting on my mast had sheared off, rendering the boom vang and downhaul useless! It took a long time to fashion a jury rig, but at 2:30 to the start I finally joined the hunt for a spot on the line. The breeze was building and I had tepid confidence in the repair--it was going to be a tense race.

Roy, still fired up after his amazing charge through the fleet in the prior heat, started almost at the pin and led at the first mark. Minth had another great start and rocketed off the line, pinching me off after a few minutes. I did a few clearing tacks then called the port tack layline perfectly to round a few lengths behind Roy. The two of us quickly separated from the fleet, me nursing my compromised rig and Andy pulling out to a healthy 10 length advantage. He extended further on the run and had me by a solid 15, then rounded the right gate (looking downwind) to once again go left upwind.

While sailing downwind I took a look upwind to see what conditions would be like for the next leg. Screaming down the course from the right was a pack of Lasers in a big black puff! Instead of following Andy left, I jibed around the other gate, sailed on port for 3 lengths, hit the shift, tacked and was beam/close reaching on starboard to the weather mark! Poor Andy on the left was caught outside of the righty and dropped way back. Ari Barshi moved up from 3rd to 2nd on this leg and easily held to the finish, capping off a remarkably consistent event to place 2nd overall. Grandmaster Mark Bear from Massachusetts snagged the final podium position by finishing 7th in the last race, just topping the unlucky Andy Roy in the race and overall series standing.
 
For me, it was a satisfying ending to an exhilarating event. I'd only made a few big errors and ground my way back after those. Starts were basically good, speed was fine, tactics and strategy were basically sound. It was also a great event in that I got to see my sailing friends again. We had some pretty intense discussions off the water, arguing everything from civil rights to global warming!
 
I had the pleasure of staying with Stephen Marshall and his family during this regatta. Stephen was my training partner for the 1996 quadrennium (Atlanta Olympics), and is now married with two adorable young daughters. Stephen's wife Nicole was the consummate hostess, their home lovely, and the kids entertaining, which helped keep my head somewhat screwed on during the many hours between race days!

Event results: http://www.bbyc.net/lm-results/