2006 Laser Worlds underway!

College Nationals Berth Allocations… NCAA-Style Hype? (Campbell Sailing)

The ICSA College Nationals Berth Allocation list went out across the newsline last week in a timely fashion and stirring some controversy among the districts.Â*The announcement of the slight changes of the allocations is surely unintentionally timed during the weekend of Selection Sunday for the NCAA Basketball National Championship Tournament, but the parallel selection systems [...]

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Monday Morning Tactician (19 March 2007) Working With What We Have (Campbell Sailing)

It usually goes without saying, the best sailors in the world are those consistently the best prepared for the racecourse before they get there. Those competitors who have spent more hours on the water, more hours sanding, fairing, buffing, rigging, re-rigging, testing, more hours training in the gym or with their teammates are generally those [...]

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Monday Morning Tactician (26 Mar 2007) - EnviroSailing (Campbell Sailing)

Travel is one of the unavoidable necessities of our sport. Sailboat racing, I suppose, was a sport ultimately derived from travel in the fishing and transport industries where boats would struggle against the sea in the pursuit of profit from the wealth of the oceans. Having a boat that could go further to sea, faster [...]

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Re: Monday Morning Tactician (12 March 2007) Leebow Effect: Debunked (Campbell Sailin

Sorry to disagree, but I've been lee-bowed, and it ain't any fun. Maybe the laser can scoot through those deadly swirlies and find clean air in front, but my Lightning has been stopped dead-like someone out the brakes on-in someone's shadow.
 
Re: Monday Morning Tactician (12 March 2007) Leebow Effect: Debunked (Campbell Sailin

Sailing in another boats bad air puts the brakes on most boats. Leebow effect seems to be one of those personal philosophy things. Personally, I've got a long way to go before worrying about miniscule advantages like that.:D

I'd like to know how Global warming will effect my first windward beat on a course with no current at all, flat water, and a BBQ waiting on the shoreline. If GW doesn't exist will I make gains? :cool:
 
Re: Monday Morning Tactician (12 March 2007) Leebow Effect: Debunked (Campbell Sailin

anything that stops you should be avoided-like the anchor lines of marks. global warming has brought more wind to Nyack, more northerlies and more erratic westerlies
 
Re: Monday Morning Tactician (26 Mar 2007) - EnviroSailing (Campbell Sailing)

A big cheer to Andrew Campbell for being the first high profile sailor (that I know of) to ever bring up the issue of the environmental impacts of competitive sailing!!!!!!!!
 
Re: Monday Morning Tactician (26 Mar 2007) - EnviroSailing (Campbell Sailing)

When I was a bit younger than I am now, I followed the examples of two of my heroes: Uffa Fox and Ernest Hemingway. Jesus, what a combination!

Uffa sailed his boat to meets in France and beyond. I could imagine bailing a International 14 for hours in the pitch black English Channel in 45knot winds.

:eek:

No radio, no back up, no built in boyancy tanks either.

Then on arrival he dragged it up from the water on a cart pulled by a mule, put on his dinner jacket and went to tea. What class! :D

I looked at the photos and thought, "I can do that. He's a better man than me and he did it. I'd be a fool not to try".

I didn't have a mule or a dinner jacket, but I lived within a five minute walk of the beach, downhill and across an old farm paddock. I put my 12 foot skiff on a trolley I welded up in the garage and pulled it to and from the water everytime I went sailing. I learnt a bit about balance and trailer construction during that time too. After four hours of sailing, pushing and pulling a boat up a hill is quite a workout. :eek:

That is where Ernest came in:

He said before the time of ski lifts, he and his wife walked up every mountain they skied down. It built them up for the strength needed for the ride downhill. They were strong and strong bodies don't break so easily.

Mine didn't break, but it sometimes hurt, and I got pretty strong too.:cool:

It's not practical to do that now. A fossil fuel burning combustion engine is better. I'm a bit further from the sea and the hills are bigger (and I'm older). But I know the value of doing things purposely.

I'm a realist and realists do not let their ideals surpass reality. I respect the places I sail, but I do not elevate them to god-like status. I have no time for the political lies and hypocrisies of environmentalists.

I hope that lasers will continue to be built in fibreglass, with the associated resins and solvents and the gases those products emit. I hope we will not have to go back to horse drawn carts, strip planked sustainable radiata pine hulls, caulking, bronze fastenings, tar and canvas sails because of a "enviro-fashion" and irrational fear of the future.
 
Re: Monday Morning Tactician (12 March 2007) Leebow Effect: Debunked (Campbell Sailin

Guys....The article isn't talking about the tactical lee-bow. It's talking about the effects of current. The article is correct, current doesn't affect pointing in any special way when perpendicular, it just pushes you accross the course.
 
Re: Monday Morning Tactician (12 March 2007) Leebow Effect: Debunked (Campbell Sailin

sorry-don't know article-
BUT-i sail on the hudson in current-i have many times raced buoys.
current doesn'e affect pointing, but it does affect my relationship to the mark. do lasers have more leeway than other boats? they're very slight, and the daggerboard is so short. so what are they taling about anyway. wind shadows are not theory, they're all too real.
 
Re: Monday Morning Tactician (12 March 2007) Leebow Effect: Debunked (Campbell Sailin

Because lasers are so light, they will be more adversely affected than other boats. Daggerboard length will have to do with pointing ability, not current. The article is dispelling the myth that when sailing through a cross-current one tack is lifted because the current changes the direction of flow on the CB and draws you to windward. When sailing in current, the angle of attack on the CB doesn't change; Your boatspeed will change as a function of current direction.
 
Re: Monday Morning Tactician (12 March 2007) Leebow Effect: Debunked (Campbell Sailin

Ok-read the whole article-or most of it.
NOW- to address it
I have raced my Lightning and race patrolled for Lasers a lot. We have very bad current in Nyack. If current and wind are same or similar directions the tack across the current can bring you back to the starting line over a 1/2 mile. Most skippers do their dirty work early in the leg, hugging the inside as much as they can. I want to go close to the current, not across it.
Does evener flow across the foils add lift?
 
Trofeo Princesa Sofia – Day 1: A Fluke (Campbell Sailing)

What a tough day for boat racing here in Palma. The seastate left over from two days of southerly breeze was a steady south-swell of about 3 feet, and another foot of chop and slop on top of the rollers. The morning seemed to last forever after waking up at 8 o’clock, I went downstairs [...]

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Trofeo Princesa Sofia - Day 2 - Shifty, Again (Campbell Sailing)

Another day of crazy conditions and big swings in breeze direction and velocity. Many fleets looked as though they did not even manage to race. On the Laser circle, however, half of the Men’s fleet sailed two races, while the other half and all the Radial women only sailed one race. We arrived at the [...]

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Monday Morning Tactician - 2 April 2007 - Mark Roundings (Campbell Sailing)

The late-winter sun still manages to singe the skin a little in San Diego. Under that hot sun, I was home training and coaching after returning from the winter circuit in Florida. I watched Naples Sabot races slouched on the bench of one of SDYC’s Junior Program whaler. “An easy Sunday of racing,†as John [...]

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Re: Monday Morning Tactician (12 March 2007) Leebow Effect: Debunked (Campbell Sailin

not an original idea people--see dave perry's chapter in "winning in one-designs" appropriately titled "there is no lee-bow effect"

great book, by the way.
 
Guest Monday Morning Tactician: Dave Wright (9 April 2007) (Campbell Sailing)

Dave Wright is a current member of the Canadian Sailing Team, former Intercollegiate National Singlehanded Champion during his career at Kings Point (USMMA),Â*and finished 13thÂ*at the recentÂ*PrincessÂ*Sofia Regatta in Spain.Â*The past week in Palma led to heated discussion regarding common excuses made by sailors, and this week’s race committee was an easy target. The apparent [...]

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Re: Guest Monday Morning Tactician: Dave Wright (9 April 2007) (Campbell Sailing)

A sloppy race comittee can cause problems on the course and they should hold themselves to the same evaluation as recommended for sailors.

If the RC can act below acceptable standards, the whole concept of an organised race falls apart. Technically, competitors should be able to race without a RC, but having one makes life a whole lot easier. What is the RC's purpose if they cannot exercise their responsibilities skillfully? If the the same errors and 'accidents' keep happening, I would guess that the RC do not evalute their performance at all, and don't really care.

While this won't effect experienced racers much, within a club scene that has new comers each season, the acts of the RC can build or destroy the growth of a class fleet.
 
Re: Guest Monday Morning Tactician: Dave Wright (9 April 2007) (Campbell Sailing)

Chainsaw:
every single sailor should take up the responsibility in their club to run RC at least once every season. Do not take for granted that someone takes up this job and will be bitched at by all those sailors who blame their loss upon the "sloppy job" of the RC.
Also, do not blame the RC of loss of new sailors. How can they possibly screw up so badly?
 
Re: Guest Monday Morning Tactician: Dave Wright (9 April 2007) (Campbell Sailing)

Maybe you'd like to tell me how you got the assertion that a sailor can blame a race loss on a sub-standard RC from my post? In fact I state the opposite.

The RC has responsibility to post onshore instructions, set a good course, rule over penalties and do all these things in a timely and professional manner. You cannot have a couple of old hands assuming that 'everyone knows' and so leave out some of those things. It's like setting up a chess board - it's done that way so there is a defined area to race in under specific rules. If you want new comers to contribute to a club, they must be assisted into that club by knowing the rules will stand. A casual rule of using the shoreline grapevine for race instructions is self defeating. If the RC assumes everything, and is not available to be asked, a newcomer will not be inclinded to continue in the face of apparent confusion.

Sloppiness I have experienced:

No course instructions. "Just use the usual course" is casually remarked at one end of the beach. What's the usual course? Wander along the beach and try to find a competitor who will 'reveal sensitive information'. Best of luck.

OOD nowhere to be seen.

Bad time keeping, missing signals, courses set badly.

No chase boat in bad weather over longer courses.

No finish line - RC boat where?

It's not rocket science. If you can race a course as a competitor you should be able to run a course. There is no excuse for sloppiness - there is only apathy and reluctance. Like I said, if you have experience, none of these things may stop you racing the course.
 
Re: Guest Monday Morning Tactician: Dave Wright (9 April 2007) (Campbell Sailing)

Chainsaw: with "loss of new sailors" I was referring to your destruction of fleet growth.
I have experienced all the problems that you state above, but that has never kept me from enjoying the sailing.
Again I would like to re-iterate that no one should simply take for granted that this is all in place. Who are the people who run the RC? Volunteers, who could go for a sail. Instead of doing just that, they have to write Sailing Instructions, get enough volunteers who also will give up a day of sailing, run a skippers meeting, make sure the boats are filled up, drag the marks into the boats, and after racing they have to clean up everything again, while the sailors are already hanging out at the bar.
Of course, some do a better job than others, but do not forget to thank also those who did do a sloppy job. It will often encourage them and in the end they will get better. Without their sloppy job, you would not have had a race at all.
Georg
 
Monday Morning Tactician - 16 April 2007 - The First Beat Blues (Campbell Sailing)

Enough of the guest editorials and abstract tactical philosophies, we’re going to get back to business this week. I should thank Dave Wright for last week’s contributions. I am proud to say that the Laser Campaigners are the most underrated philosophers in the spectrum of sailing. For every ten off-the-wall theories we come up with, [...]

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Hyeres Report - Headed Home Early (Campbell Sailing)

Sailing in Hyeres has lived up to its many expectations. When we first arrived after a four-hour fast-ferry and eight-hour drive from Palma, the weather was decidedly similar and miserable as it had been in during the Princess Sofia regatta.Â* Rain and cool temperatures never above 60 degrees fell from heavy clouds. This weather did [...]

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Monday Morning Tactician: 23 April 2007 - Postponed…? (Campbell Sailing)

This week’s column of Monday Morning Tactician ™ has gladly only been postponed to Tuesday morning because of the last couple of days of travel back from France.Â*But,Â*I figure I am still way ahead of the Louis Vuitton Cup matches in Valencia that have been on hold almost all week waiting for better weather. Even [...]

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Monday Morning Tactician: 30 April 2007 - Judge and Jury (Campbell Sailing)

I had the good fortune, if you will, to be an umpire this past weekend for the Pacific Coast High School’s qualifiers for their Team Race National Championships and the Baker Trophy. WithÂ*a certain amount of jealousy,Â*I rode around in the whaler all weekend, wielding the rasta-colored red, green and yellow jury flags. Accompanied by [...]

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In the News (Campbell Sailing)

The cover of the May edition ofÂ*SAIL Magazine featured a great shot from the US Olympic Pre-Trials in October. I thought I’d pass it along seeing that itÂ*aptlyÂ*fits the category: Any press is good press! I can’t thank all my supporters enough, so this will have to suffice until I can get back on the [...]

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Monday Morning Tactician: 8 May 2007 - Lucky Break (Campbell Sailing)

“Oui,” mumbled the technician from behind the protective glass that separated him from me sitting at the white table in a white-walled room with only one x-ray machine in it for all of the breaks, cracks, fractures of Hyeres. On the otherwise blankÂ*wall of the x-ray room strikingly blue, bright and filled with motion hung [...]

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Monday Morning Tactician: 14 May 2007 - In the Room (Campbell Sailing)

With the days counting down until my cast comes off my wrist and thumb, I found myself on the water as a judge again, this time for the 2006-2007 ISSA High School Double-handed Nationals for the Mallory Trophy held this past weekend off Long Beach Pier in Southern California. While spending the two days and [...]

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Monday Morning Tactician: 21 May 2007 - A Pin and a Hard Place (Campbell Sailing)

My apologies for a slightly delayed edition of Monday Morning Tactician. To give a glimpse of the glamour involved with an Olympic sailing campaign, I spent most of yesterday driving back and forth to the Brazilian Consulate in north Los Angeles attempting to attain a passport visa for the upcoming Pan Am Games. No excuse [...]

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Monday Morning Tactician: 30 May 2007 - Layline Battles (Campbell Sailing)

Getting a jump start on Monday morning did not do me much good getting it up onto the site this week. Internet access is a tricky process here in Hyeres. I was doing my best not to doze off before my connecting flight left from Paris to Marseilles two days ago when I started the [...]

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Laser European Championships: Day One from Hyeres, France (Campbell Sailing)

I find myself in France yet again. After four days of training back from a five week off-period on the disabled-list with a thumb injury, the first day of the Europeans went off just fine today after a light air postponement kept us ashore this morning. Luckily we did not have to wait too long [...]

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Monday Morning Tactician: 4 June 2007 (Campbell Sailing)

Don’t marginalize yourself on the racecourseThat seems like sound enough advice. The easiest way to prevent marginalization is better anticipation of your future positioning and the potential moves of your competitors.Sailing up the last short beat to the finish in the first race today, I found myself with an opportunity to catch one last boat. [...]

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Europeans Second Day Update (Campbell Sailing)

ResultsÂ*are available at: http://coych.nikopo.com/?page=affnews&id=34Â*The second day of racing here in Hyeres turned out lighter than the first. Originally forecasted as the lightest day of the week, a trickle of weak thermal began to fill across the boatpark much earlier today than yesterday. After a very short postponement ashore, we ventured out into five knots, or [...]

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Europeans Day Three Report (Campbell Sailing)

Two more hours ashore started off a warm day in Hyeres. Just after noon we headed out on the water to sail one race ahead of an impending thunderstorm that rose steadily overhead while we raced in its shadow. The wind filled to about five knots and no more from the west as we sailed [...]

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Europeans Qualifier Series Ends Today (Campbell Sailing)

Today???s racing could easily be wrapped up in one phrase: Hurry up and wait. After arriving to the boatpark in humid 75 degree temperatures and drizzling skies, we watched the AP flag go up on shore yet again. We waited until noon for an announcement telling when the next announcement about the extent postponement would [...]

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All in Vain on Day Five at Euros (Campbell Sailing)

‘A lost cause’ mutters Pearce as we stare blankly into the still western sky, the sun setting behind the hills surrounding the Port d’Hyeres. The horsetrack in the foreground is quiet, and the airport just behind the trees is the only source of detectable sound besides my rattling keyboard and the occasional blues tracks coming [...]

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