2007 MWE's for the average Joe.

MScott

Member
So, I'd like to know, before throwing in my own opinion, how other people thought Laser MWE's were last week. Venue? Race Management? Off the water? Lets hear it!
 
Full disclosure: I skipped sailing the Midwinters and was on the RC Signal boat Thursday and Friday.
It must have seemed like a lot of waiting around for some fleets, especially the 4.7. Let me tell you why. It was mandated, not by the RC, that there not be a fleet sailing upwind while the inside of the trapazoid had a fleet sailing downwind to the gate. In light air this took some time.
Then there was the problem of a fleet rounding the outside of the trapazoid course when a change of course needed to be made before a start could be sent off. If they got to the windward mark before the outer fleet rounded, the new course mark may have been able to be set, but it would have put the new fleet right through the other fleet. The Olympic overseer types wanted quality racing, not just racing.
181281
 
I did an NA level event 2 years ago that had 3 fleets, (Laser, Radial, and 4.7). I believe the SI's were similar. I remember it was cold and the wait between races for at least the full rigs was awful. From a sailors perspective I would have much prefered shorter courses which would have translated into more races and less sitting around being cold between races. I'm sure opinions differ.
 
Personally, I thought the race management was excellant overall. The only time the delays between races bothered me was on Sunday when we waited for an hour in between races. It got so freakin cold and it was painful to sit there flogging my brand new sail! That said, I know they were just trying to keep marks on their anchors and get it going.
 
I agree with MScott; the race management was excellent. The conditons in Clearwater can be quite a headache, and they did a good job of getting almost everybody their 10 races in (4.7's lost out on one and the Radials were racing 'till sunset practically on the first light day ). 5 fleets sailed around the trapezoid with things going smoothly, at least on the days with enough wind to sail the course in a reasonable amount of time, but not so much wind that the marks were dragging anchor. There were some inevitable delays when the wind would shift enough that the course needed to be changed, and we had to wait for all the fleets to finish until it could be moved. Fleets occasionally overlapped each other but they seemed to blend smoothly for the most part. As just an average Jane I preferred MWE without split fleets. How often do you get a chance to start in a 90-boat fleet?

We did sometimes sail up the inner course when another fleet was going down the same leg, but they timed our starts so that the passing happened when most of the boats were in the middle of the leg and therefore spread out enough that avoiding the oncoming boats wasn't a problem.
 
Well, I thought more people would have chimed in by now, so I'll put in my 2cents.

I thoroughly enjoyed the racing at this regatta. I was totally impressed by the RC's ability to manage so many boats, I had to sail in another fleet's traffic maybe three times at most. They were committed to getting all ten races in and they did a great job.

Once on shore, however, I was pretty much bored out of my skull. This is probably because I went by myself and knew very few people. Lets just say me and my ipod spent a lot of time together. I know Laser events (especially grade 1 events) are pretty competition-focused, but its the only class I race in where no organized social events take place. They fed us on two of the nights but only 20-50 people came and hung out.

My second beef is that Clearwater is a really boring place to visit. Its like a second-rate MTV spring break episode. Traffic is backed up everywhere and the restaurants are ho-hum. Then again, isn't most of Florida?

All in all, a fine event. I just think there needs to be more of a cohesive social atmosphere on shore.
 
It can be lonely at MWE your first time if you don't go with buddies. I didn't know anybody at my first MWE in 2003 and ended up glomming on to people from Severn Sailing Center and Cedar Point and made them be my friends!

So, we gonna have a good party at ACC's in Jensen Beach?
 
Well, I think that Jensen is much more fun to hang out at. They don't get the nice big waves to surf, but their sailing center is an awesome place to have a regatta, especially a big one.

So I hope more people are going to hang out and have a party or something!

See ya'll there!
 
been trying to ignore this post.....

MWE's are all business. Mostly a kids/parents/coach sportsnazi thing...

going for the Olympics or a entry into a college they wouldn't otherwise qualify for, via the sailing team route.

the ony real social activites I have ever seen is at the Masters stuff...so you just gotta get older!

if you actually want to have fun OFF the water, there are other classes out there.

Yes
 
Olympic status must have taken a lot of the shore side fun out of Laser regattas. In earlier days there were always beer kegs to look forward to after a day's racing, which was a great way to meet other sailors and trade BS stories from the racecourse.
 
Bingo - that's why the Master's events are so much fun, it's just like it was in the good old days..
 
four more years...

I could never just race lasers, the quality of racing is unbeatable but...

its actually the only boat I own presently, but I have to get into other classes with more fun on shore and camaraderie on the water.
 
I'm an average Joe just getting back into lasers since college and was surprised to find out that I am masters age. When the heck did that happen? I defer to race management for official social stuff, but if any of you need a keg on shore to enjoy at the US champs in August, I live in VT and can supply that.
 
I'm an average Joe just getting back into lasers since college and was surprised to find out that I am masters age. When the heck did that happen? I defer to race management for official social stuff, but if any of you need a keg on shore to enjoy at the US champs in August, I live in VT and can supply that.

Pity that the social scene was "down" at MWE, Clearwater is such a
great place to sail.

Hoffy, thanks for supplying the "required" refreshments for the regatta, will make the long trip worthwhile.

G.
 
Whoa, hey, easy now. Along with getting old ("masters age") comes getting cheap. I'll set something up if something isn't set up, but we're all chipping in!:)
 

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