2016 RS Aero Atlantic Coast Championship

The inaugural RS Aero Atlantic Coast Championship (held in conjunction with the Newport Regatta, Newport RI) was a tremendously successful 3-day event, with 17 boats representing 7 states!

A clinic on Friday gave attendees a chance to get to know each other, share rigging/sailing tips, and dust off the cobwebs with practice starts and even a few practice races. This was followed by lunch (generously provided by RS Sailing's Todd Riccardi) then the Speed Run, for which we had a nice (if not record-enabling) 12-18 knots of wind. Max 10-second average was recorded by me in a 7 rig (13.5 knots, 14.2 peak), nearly 1/2 knot faster than my earlier run in the bigger 9 rig. Video of Judith Krimski & me: https://www.facebook.com/judith.krimski/videos/10209718704384017/
Sailing World Editor Dave Reed tearing it up: https://www.facebook.com/todd.riccardi/videos/10100504224552101/

If only we had that much breeze for the actual racing! Our circle was set in the lee of Goat Island, making for shifty, variable 5-10 knot wind and lots of tidal influence to challenge the fleet. We had five "9" rigs racing, which proved very fast in the light and variable conditions; most comments here will relate to my interactions with them.

Peter Shope (2015 Laser Grand Master World Champion), Christine Neville (2016 US Laser Olympic Aspirant) and Scott Pakenham proved to be quick studies, having no trouble beating yours truly to the first mark in most races. Christine and Peter generally had fine starts, while Scott played the shifts beautifully. I was a bit lax at the starts (those who read this blog can recognize the trend) and frequently had trouble going the way I wanted or taking full advantage of shifts as a result.

The Aero's incredible pointing ability, acceleration and speed when cracked off offers many tactical options not available on other boats. Shope loves to foot upwind, and in an oscillating breeze that was devastatingly fast. I had success at times using the Aero's high mode to hold lanes off the start and to stay in bands of pressure longer. 

There was plenty of experimentation going on downwind, with Christine most willing to sail higher angles in search of speed. The wind wasn't quite strong enough to plane while broad reaching, meaning those who stayed in pressure and pointed the boat more to the mark saw bigger gains. Peter was especially quick, gybing frequently and decisively going for bands of pressure and fast angles. I think many people gybed too soon after rounding the weather mark, keeping them in the lee of buildings to windward and boats on the starboard tack layline. I tried to soak down on starboard for a few lengths before gybing, and that generally went well.

Being pushed by such excellent sailors really helped me figure out some things. My big takeaway from Saturday was to sail with much less vang than I had in the past, both upwind and down. Of course, upwind in breeze some got dialed on, but the boat was just plain faster sailing with it a bit eased.

Later in the day the tide shifted, making the right side a bit less favored than it had been earlier. In one race this allowed me to claw back to 2nd from 5th or 6th at the first leeward mark. It definitely was a day to be decisive and patient, waiting for pressure and a shift before tacking!

It was also a long day, with 6 races being run by the RC and little time to regroup in between. Going into Sunday I led with 4 firsts and 2 seconds (6 points with throwout), Shope was in 2nd with 8, steady-as-she-goes Scott had 16 in 3rd with Christine only one point back. With an unlimited number of races to go and a second throwout looming at 12, it was anyone's regatta!

Sunday dawned a bit gloomy, with the wind more left than the previous day and definitely lighter. The course was now parallel with Goat Island, and there seemed to be a bit more pressure on the left upwind, especially in the earlier races.

Christine was on FIRE, having beautiful starts and fine boatspeed to lead at every mark in every race, sometimes by huge margins! Shope was OCS in Race 5 but rebounded annoyingly well to finish right behind me in 3rd. We had some very close racing, and from what I could see, the 7 rigs were TIGHT, often having 4 or 5 boats overlapped at the finish of a 30 minute race!

Christine's perfect Sunday scorecard allowed her to leapfrog Scott into 3rd, while I held onto 1st, 3 points clear of Peter. In the 7 rigs, Chuck Allen (collegiate all-American and North Sails rep) prevailed over Dave Reed and class stalwart Doug DuBois, who flew out from Park City UT to attend the event. Other notable travelers included Tony Corkell from Raleigh NC, Gregory Popp from Ormond Beach FL and Simeon Thomas from Colorado.

More info about the regatta and the boat on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/rsaeroclassnorthamerica/)
Class website: http://www.rsaerosailing.org

RS Aero - Racing against 38 Lasers (including 2012 US Olympic Rep) with an Aero 7

Posted this on Facebook last November, but thought I'd share here as well. This day of racing convinced me to buy an Aero. That's me to the far left in the pic, tacking immediately after the start.

Race day!

38 Standard and Radial Lasers vs. 1 RS Aero 7 in 12-3 knots. NW breeze with big phases, holes and puffs; mostly WL courses, except one double-Harry Anderson (look it up). I was hobbled by a top batten that was too tight, making run-to-run gybes pretty much impossible in the light air and thus limiting tactical options downwind.

Since the rest of the fleet was racing "for real," I started at the unfavored boat end of the line in all but one race, tacking immediately to stay out of the way. Rarely was this the right way to go, but the Aero's quick acceleration and option of high or low modes meant I rarely rounded the weather mark out of the top 3. 

The Lasers seemed to go by-the-lee better than the Aero, which accelerated faster in puffs and favored less windward heel. The Aero seemed a bit more sticky in traffic but generally held its own on the runs. 

The committee set pretty broad first reaches on the one double Harry Anderson course, but the second reaches were on the beam and really showed off the Aero's light weight, excellent blades and superb acceleration. The poor Lasers didn't have a chance and I pulled out to a commanding lead, despite hitting very light winds on the final beat to the finish. 

Between races I let a few people try out the boat for a few minutes. Everyone enjoyed the boat's light responsiveness and comfy hiking position. 

On yeah: in my second time in the boat, starting at the unfavored end, racing against the 2012 US Laser Olympic rep and other fast locals, my on-the-water scoreline was 2-1-1-1-1-1.

Statement made!

RS Aero - first impressions

Actually wrote this on Facebook last November, but thought I'd share here as well.

Went out for a practice sail in the RS Aero 7 (there are 3 Aero rig choices: 5, 7 and 9) today in 5-10 knots and relatively flat water. Also sailing were two Lasers, one helmed by a very good local Laser sailor (Andrew Scrivan). Some observations:

Upwind I could foot or point at will, pulling away in either mode. In the lulls I could ease the vang, stay high and just VMG the hell out of them. In puffs it was hike hard, vang on, smidge downhaul, ease sheet and just accelerate away (or stay up and climb 3-5 degrees higher). The good Laser guy was sailing with the new radial-cut full sail and working very hard, sailing lower but not pulling forward. He mentioned that there was no way he was going to start above me in tomorrow's actual races...

Running it was closer, as my technique was still adjusting. The Aero has a higher aspect ratio main that takes some getting used to, plus the boat is so much lighter. In the puffs I just accelerated away though. Overall, running I would call it about even or Aero slightly ahead. Impressive, considering this was my first time in the Aero and one of the two guys I was trialing against is *very* fast downwind and also a former Olympic campaigner. 

Reaching it wasn't close--the Aero blew them away. I was able to sail lower than the two Lasers and stay planing, which allowed me to head up in a lull approaching the leeward mark while they had to sail lower and slower on the final approach. After less than 2 minutes I'd pulled out a 4 BL advantage after starting 1 BL astern and passing them to leeward. 

Other observations: - the boat and rig are SO LIGHT pulling around on the dolly! - the blades are nice and quiet (no humming) - the boat accelerates (and decelerates) beautifully - it's more difficult to roll-tack because the hiking strap isn't as high off the deck (making it harder to really fly over to the other side with confidence) - the boom is quite high making it easy to get around without fear of getting conked in the head. - the mid-boom sheeting makes for effortless gybes and roundings - slow-speed sailing is challenging because the boat just stops when hit by waves. I found it easy to get into irons or knocked onto the other tack when maneuvering at low, pre-start-like speeds. - the halyard tail came off the mid-mast mushroom and slapped against the sail going upwind (minor niggle). It's really nice not having to step the mast every time, and dropping the sail with the halyard is a breeze at day's end. 

The vang on the boat I'm sailing seems to be missing one of the cascade portions so it's quite hard to pull the last bit on. The side-deck-led downhaul and outhaul were a bit fiddly, the shock cord wasn't really doing it's job on the downhaul tail and the outhaul wasn't easing out well when bearing off to a run (McLube-ing the hell out of everything might help). 

Overall, the boat was enjoyable, light and quite responsive. Imagine less-skilled sailors might have a bit of a learning curve getting used to such a light boat, but it rewards the effort. Great fun!

Laser Master Midweek Madness Regatta, Stuart FL - First Day

First day of Laser "Midweek Madness" regatta in Stuart FL. Another day of crazy oscillating winds but I'm definitely getting the hang of them (even if my scorecard doesn't show it).

Race One started in a light Northerly that ended up dying while many boats were on the second-to-last leg of the course. I had a solid Top 10 score, maybe even 7th or 6th, when the breeze shut off completely, then filled-in from behind. Ended up 16th out of 50-something boats. Cest la vie.

Race Two started after a long wait for the breeze to fill-in and settle down. Started well near the pin, rounded first mark in the top 10 and worked my way up. It really paid to foot and hike HARD in the lifts, keeping the boat going fast upwind to the next header before going into pinch point as the header first hit, then flipping over and tacking to cross boats to windward. I lost boatlengths trying to go low on the first reach, but found my downwind mojo to gain on the first run, then defend and extend on the second for a comfortable 2nd place finish.

Race Three was a repeat of Two, but I capsized at the second leeward mark (the wind slacked off *just* as I rolled to boat to gybe, causing the boat to over-roll and that was it). Lost two boats to that, ended up 4th.

In Race Four I had a superb start 5 or 6 boats up from the pin, rolled the boats to leeward and 15 seconds into the race the vang bail on my mast blew up, meaning I had no boom vang or downhaul adjustment in 8-20 knots of wind! Still managed to be in the top 10 at the first mark, didn't lose that much distance on the first reach and run, actually *gained* some distance on the second beat!

I was really amped up trying to keep the boat going in its paralyzed state, approaching the weather mark on port then tacking inside 4 or 5 boats that had overstood on starboard and were planing in in a huge puff. Right after tacking I noticed Star World Champion John McCausland had capsized right onto the windward mark and I now had nowhere to go, plowing into his sail between the mark and his hull. We stayed wadded up like that for awhile, I hit the mark, which got wrapped in my mainsheet. Ended up dragging the mark a nice long ways while trying to extricate the mainsheet, losing tons of boats and distance. At that point I retired.

SO... Despite being well down in the standings without a throwout, I feel quite good overall with how things went. Today looks like a different condition, with a light northerly predicted. Fingers crossed!

Laser Master Worlds - Day 5

So, two out of three good races yesterday (and the middle one was *terrific* but I was yellow-flagged again while in second and therefore forced to retire). Going into today was in a three-way tie for 4th with Aussie Brad Taylor and Benoit Meesemacker from France. Ari Barshi from the Dominican Republic was in 3rd 12 points ahead, but looking vulnerable after his 12, 22, 7 finishes yesterday. Lots on the line, with two races today deciding everything!

Race 11
Another meh start at the boat, requiring me to tack fairly soon onto port. Not a good situation because the left was very favored. Rounded in the 20s, gained some on the run then bee-lined it to the left corner on the second beat. Gained a few places, but more importantly, a lot of distance on the boats ahead, allowing me to catch a few more on the run, then one last boat on the final reach to land in...13th. Again.

Taylor had a decent race in 10th, Meesemacker was one of the boats I caught on the run and ended up 15th. Barshi had a solid 3rd place, so 4th overall was the best I could hope for, with one race to go and 3 points to gain on Taylor.

Race 12
A decent start at the boat allowed me to hold my lane a bit longer than usual, but Ari Barshi, who started about 3 boats further down the line, had great speed and point and I fell down into his line. This is an extremely tough place to stay, as the disturbed wind and waves from the boat ahead make it hard to keep the boat going. That said, I seemed to be staying pretty close to Barshi, and I was determined to do everything I could to not tack for as long as possible.

Somehow I managed to hang on til just shy of the port layline and tacked, with Barshi flicking over a boatlength or two later. Managed to round the top mark in 3rd behind Barshi and regatta leader Brett Beyer from Australia. From that point it was just trying to not catch the eyes of the judges on the two downwind legs before once again bee-lining it to the left corner. Barshi tacked back to the middle to cover Beyer and some of the fleet and I was able to pass him, but Beyer caught a nice right shift in the top quarter of the leg and moved into first about 7 lengths ahead of me.

The competitor in me wanted to hunt Beyer down, but Rational Marc understood he couldn't afford another yellow flag from the jury. I behaved myself and consolidated the second place, holding it comfortably to the finish. A quick look back revealed my two closest competitors for 4th overall were well back--I'd done it!

Looking Back
The fellows ahead sailed beautifully and deserved their finishes. Brett Beyer was in a class by himself, Peter Hurley of NYC sailed smart and fast for 2nd, and Ari Barshi put it together when he had to for a solid 3rd place showing,

My (first?) cube!

While I'm a bit disappointed to place 4th, it's a bit of a miracle it happened considering the three 13th place finishes I had to carry. I also won a "cube" (for placing in the Top 5 at a World Championship), an honor that had eluded me for over 30 years of Laser sailing, so that was fun.

Obviously starts were an issue, specifically being too conservative. Not helping boldness on the line was getting two yellow flags from the jury--I couldn't afford to be too aggressive and risk being over early. Like so many of us, I can look back at the event and think of places where a boat was lost here, and length there, and those losses made big differences--ramping up the intensity on the racecourse is needed. Watch out for the Terminator at the next regatta.

Finally, I'd like to thank Guy Rittger for letting me borrow his nice fast hull for this event!

Final results: http://www.cork.org/past-results/results2015/MASTERS/STD.html (scroll down to "Standard Master Fleet")

all photos courtesy of www.sailingshot.com

Laser Master Worlds - Day 4

The forecast called for 10-20 knots out of the South, but that wasn't looking likely at 9 this morning, as a light easterly was blowing through the boat park. The overcast skies weren't promising for a southerly change either, but nonetheless it came through, allowing the race committee to get three races off before a light rain descended on the boat park.

OK, I'm just too tired to write. Short story (for now): I have my mojo back. Wasn't keeping the boat powered up enough before. Great starts, great speed upwind and down, saw scores of 3, Retired, 1 for the day. In the second race I was in 2nd grinding down 1st on the run and the jury yellow-flagged me, saying the boat was rocking. I didn't think so, but because this was my second "offense" of the event, I was forced to retire. Would've been 1st or 2nd in that one for sure. Shoulda, woulda, coulda...

Am in a three-way tie for 4th place going into the last day of racing tomorrow, but my bullet in the last race has me ahead of the others. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

Results: http://www.cork.org/past-results/results2015/MASTERS/STD.html (scroll down to "Standard Masters Fleet")

Laser Master Worlds - Day 3

A puffy northwesterly breeze pumped through Kingston all night, rocking the camper like it was a boat out at anchor. By 11am the wind had dropped substantially, and continued dropping through the course of two races from near 20 knots down to perhaps 10, with tremendous pressure variation around the course. Lots of opportunities, for advancement, and loss...

Race 6
Had a meh start about 1/4 way down from the committee boat. In the oscillating breeze it was important to get in-phase with the shifts right away, and because of my poor start I wasn't able to do so. Things actually didn't look too bad until right near the weather mark, when a right shift came through while I was off to the left.

Rounded the top mark in the 20s, with a large clump of boats ahead and just a few behind. The breeze was in a right shift, and the clump ahead sailed high to protect themselves from each other, which took them closer to a headland to windward as well as away from the mark. Sensing an opportunity, I sailed low toward the mark in decent pressure. This is often a scary thing, because logic would say the boats to windward will get any new wind first, even if they are sailing extra distance. I was also concerned about the wind possibly going left, which would allow them to reach down over the top.

All that just inspired me to work every little puff and wave as best as I could. It seemed things would work out, because the fleet above wasn't moving forward on me--they had sailed all that extra distance without any noticeable advantage! In the latter half of the leg I resisted the urge to reach up to the mark early, staying far enough to leeward to avoid dirty air while the peloton above started slowing each other down on the now-broad reach to the mark. A few nice waves and the odd puff of wind and I'd taken a huge bite out of their lead, jumping from the 20s to nearly the top 10!

In my zeal to go fast on the reach I didn't spend enough time thinking about how to attack the run. The breeze was still in a right phase (looking upwind), which meant I should have sailed dead-downwind, course high/right of the leeward mark in anticipation of the next shift (a leftie), which I could then ride back to the middle and the leeward marks. Instead, I sailed by-the-lee toward the leeward gate, falling out of the pressure and allowing the boats to the right of me to sail ahead, then get the left pressure first. Silly boy.

The next beat is a blur at this point. The wind was shifting about 20 degrees either side of median, requiring one to be patient and not tack right away when headed off the high (10 degrees off 20 degrees up is still 10 degrees high!). There were so, so many opportunities to gain, but many people either banged one side or the other, or tacked too often or early. I was with the latter camp, but managed to pretty much hold my own to the top mark.

On the next run I let myself get sandwiched by American Scott Ferguson to my left and Benoit Meesemacker from France on the right. Between their two wakes, there was no way I was going to move forward, but Scott found some clean waves and gained a solid 10 boatlengths. I held on for a 13th.

Race 7
Finally a halfway-decent start! Held my lane for a bit but had a Canadian guy basically reach over the top of me about a minute after the start. That wasn't so bad, but had two Americans to windward who just *wouldn't* tack in the first shift so we got a bit out of phase and again I was in the 20s at the top mark in a right phase.

Remembering the prior race, I again went low on the first reach, with Benoit from France just a smidge to windward of me doing the same. The wind started moving forward as we went down the leg, and darned if we didn't end up smelling like roses, he rounding in 4th or 5th and me right behind!

Again I dove down to the inside, but because of the left phase this was the right place to be. I was on starboard and a Kiwi sailor was slightly to the left of me port. We were moving up on the guys to our right, with little glimpses of the impending right shift offering a promising latter half of the leg.

Then, it happened. The jury boat zoomed up, a dreaded whistle and a yellow flag was pointed at me--according to them, I had done some illegal movements and was required to do a 720 degree circle to exonerate myself! I still have no idea what they saw, but there is no arguing with the jury. I gybed to initiate my 720, then tacked. Right as I was bearing away from the tack the breeze went very still and the boat capsized to weather! Got it up, but of course it capsized again. Another recovery, then completion of the 720 and I was back in the 40s. To add further insult to injury, I lost my favorite warm hat!

I'm ashamed to admit I was cussing a blue streak throughout all this, down the remainder of the run and at the rounding. Then I settled down and got to work, playing shifts pretty much up the middle. I didn't feel especially great about the leg, but looking around I had pulled forward quite a bit on guys who went further right or left of me on the leg. Just how well I'd done was revealed at the weather mark--I was now definitely in the top half, maybe even top 20!

Again I worked the shifts downwind, staying to the left of boats ahead. I picked off a few who sailed high initially, then set my sights on Harvard sailing coach Bern Noack about 30 boatlengths ahead. By the leeward mark I'd more than halved the distance between us, and was happy to see him and a group ahead sail high on the final reach in light pressure. Sailing low (rhumb line, actually), I got a nice left puff that brought me right up to Bern's transom, and within a few lengths of 2 boats just in front of Bern--game on!

I quickly flicked onto starboard to get back to the left shift, with Bern tacking immediately to cover. We sailed for a short time then he tacked off along with the other two guys, leaving me alone on the left. Further up the course, the leaders were looking very high on port near the finish line so I was hopeful, but at the last moment the right filled in slightly, allowing the other two guys to cross. Still there was Bern, hiking hard on starboard. I tacked to leeward and ahead, hiked my aSS off but it wasn't quite enough--Bern got me by about 4 feet. It had been a miraculous recovery, but still the worst race my series: a third consecutive 13th finish. Ugh.

So... At this point I'm in 5th, but with a second throwout (that is soon to come into play) I would be in 8th or so. A few solid top 5 finishes would be a nice end to the event, and would allow me to remain where I am. Let's see how it goes!

(No racing on Thursday, next report on Friday's racing before the Saturday finale!)

Results: http://www.cork.org/past-results/results2015/MASTERS/STD.html (scroll down to "Standard Masters Fleet")