News 2007 Pacific Coast Championships August 10-12

sorosz

Member
The 2007 Pacific Coast Championships will be held August 10, 11, & 12 at Treasure Island in the center of San Francisco Bay. Summertime conditions in the Bay mean good strong wind and waves for awesome Laser sailing with Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge as a spectacular back drop. Classes in attendance will be Lasers, Radials and 4.7s. An ISAF grade 2 event worth 25 Grand Prix points, the PCCs will be THE big Laser regatta on the West Coast this summer.

The Notice of Race and Entry forms are posted online at the event website: www.pcc2007.laserforum.org The early entry deadline is July 20.

Limited number of charters may be available through the local Laser dealer Svendsen's (510.521.8454).
 
Re: Only 60 days until the PCCs! August 10-12, 2007

Only 60 days left until the PCCs at Treasure Island in the heart of San Francisco Bay, the best Laser sailing venue in the world! August winds on San Francisco Bay tend to be in the high teens to mid-twenties. The PCCs course will also have great waves and limited current and power boat traffic with the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island and San Francisco skyline providing a stunning back drop.

Get your entries in now (NOR & Entry forms on the Regatta Web Site) -- early entry deadline is July 20!
 
Only 45 days until the 2007 Laser PCCs held August 10, 11, & 12 at Treasure Island, in the heart of San Francisco Bay -- the best place on earth to sail a Laser!

Online Registration is now up and running at: http://pcc2007.laserforum.org/
The early entry deadline is July 20! Don't wait!

An ISAF grade 2 event worth 25 Grand Prix points, the PCCs will be THE big Laser regatta for Lasers, Radials and 4.7s on the West Coast this summer.

The Notice of Race and Entry forms are posted online at the event website: www.pcc2007.laserforum.org. An informal practice race will be held on Thursday evening (August 9).

Limited number of charters may be available through the local Laser dealer Svendsen's (510.521.8454). Some private party boat charters are already listed on the regatta forum at: http://pcc2007.laserforum.org/
 
Early Entry Deadline this Friday, July 20 for 2007 PCCs (August 10-12)

The early entry deadline for the 2007 Laser PCCs held August 10, 11, & 12 at Treasure Island, is this Friday, July 20! That's just 6 days away!

The is the same weekend as the US Nationals with NO entry limits. So if you didn't get in to the Nationals, come out West and sail on San Francisco Bay -- the best place on earth to sail a Laser!

Online Registration is now up and running at: http://pcc2007.laserforum.org/
 

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The early entry deadline for the 2007 Laser PCCs held is this Friday, July 20! After that registration goes up by $35 (but it goes to a good cause!).

See where people are coming from. So far there are representatives from Oregon, Washington, Texas, Alberta and the Virgin Islands as well as California.

The is the same weekend as the US Nationals with NO entry limits. So if you didn't get in to the Nationals, come out West and sail on San Francisco Bay -- the best place on earth to sail a Laser!


Online Registration is at: http://pcc2007.laserforum.org/
 
Only 2 weeks left until the PCCs. It's shaping up to be a great regatta with a good turnout and great conditions!


This is the same weekend as the US Nationals with NO entry limits, August 10-12. So if you didn't get in to the Nationals, come sail on San Francisco Bay -- the best place on earth to sail a Laser!

See where people are coming from. So far there are representatives from Oregon, Washington, Texas, New York, Alberta and the Virgin Islands as well as California.
Online Registration is at: http://pcc2007.laserforum.org/
 
It’s shaping up to be a great regatta with over 50 entries from across the Pacific Coast, Canada, Colorado, Texas, New York, and the US Virgin Islands! (Hey 4.7s where are the rest of you guys, there’s only 3 entries so far – are you going to let them get a guaranteed trophy?!?)

Current Registrants Map for 2007 Laser Pacific Coast Championships

The post race festivities will be great thanks to the generosity of three Pacific Coast Laser dealers who are hosting one night each of hospitality. Many thanks to Svendsen’s (www.svendsensmarine.com) for representing District 24, Vanguard Sailing Center (www.vanguardsailingcenter.com) for representing District 25, and West Coast Sailing (http://www.westcoastsailing.net) for representing District 6! Please show your appreciation for supporting us by support your local Laser dealer – you know there’s probably something you want or need!

If you haven’t signed up yet, you still can – there’s no entry limits like the Nationals but to help guarantee there’s enough food, drink and t-shirts to go around sign up now!
http://pcc2007.laserforum.org
 

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Less than a week to go to the PCC's... attached is the view from Treasure Island looking towards the Golden Gate Bridge (taken Aug 5 at around 4:00 pm). Note fog in the distance, sunshine (and warm temps) in the foreground. Also note plenty of wind. Should be good sailing!

Just for fun there is also a picture of the San Francisco skyline as seen from
Treasure Island. Unfortunately, my little snapshot camera has a wide angle lens... it is a much more impressive view in person.
 

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Will any new/used Laser's be for sale in your vendor booths?
There will not be any vendor's booths. Representatives from Svendsen's, and West Coast Sailing will be in attendance though. If you really have questions about their stock, visit them on the web and email them.
Thanks,
Ralph
#175237
 
that was the worst race comittee ever. if you are going to hold a high level laser regatta on the SF bay you better have a RC that knows what they are doing. the pin boat was an 8 foot long inflatable, unable to handle the conditions, the RC boat was a sailboat swaying 40 degrees back and forth in the chop. the marks were drifting all over the place. the RC lost control, not knowing who was finishing, who was still racing etc in the challenging conditions. once on shore and the support boats were in i heard a RC member ask how many dollies were left! that was how the checked to make sure everyone got in!! 12:00 starts were scheduled but the first 2 days the RC didnt leave the dock untill 11:45 and we were postponed due to lack of RC preparation. they only got in one race the second day, when if they got out on time they could have had 3 races before it got too gnarly. the final day the RC decided to race us inside, in 5-10 knots when outside there was a solid 15+ outside. people travelled from all over the country and spent thousands of dollars to sail in the reliable SF bay conditions, but got an unproffessional RC and newport harbor conditions on the final day. finally, there were many problems with scoring in the radial fleet. i can understand if this was all fine with nor cal weekend sailors, but for those of us who travelled far and spent much money this regatta was a dissappointment. regardless, the sailing was fun, and on land everything was well managed, thankyou to all the volunteers who helped with launching and food. in the future i would reccomend that for high level regattas (especially regattas that are expected to be very windy) proper preparations for the RC are made in terms of safety boats and staff.
 
Well thank you for your comments and suggestions. Next time it would be more helpful to everyone involved if you would express your feelings directly to us during the event, so that we can make changes and improvements over the course of the event. If this was brought up during the event, changes would have taken place immediately. Although this is more for private conversation than a public forum, I also welcome the comments from others. If you had any concerns or compliments, please share them with me.
Thank you,
Ralph Pombo
[email protected]
 
sorry if my response was a little harsh. dont get me wrong it was a great regatta. the volunteers made the launching process as painless as possible, and the food was great. steve did an amazing job. however, there were definitely some problems in terms of race management that i highlighted earlier. i am not alone with these sentiments, i know all the top sailors (at least in the radial fleet) who travelled to come to the PCCs , the parents i talked to (whose money was being spent), and all the coaches at the event felt this way. it is too bad nothing was said during the event, but i am sure future regatta planning will take this into consideration and i look forwards to sailing in this venue again.
 
that was the worst race committee ever. if you are going to hold a high level laser regatta on the SF bay you better have a RC that knows what they are doing. the pin boat was an 8 foot long inflatable, unable to handle the conditions, the RC boat was a sailboat swaying 40 degrees back and forth in the chop. the marks were drifting all over the place. the RC lost control, not knowing who was finishing, who was still racing etc in the challenging conditions. once on shore and the support boats were in i heard a RC member ask how many dollies were left! that was how the checked to make sure everyone got in!! 12:00 starts were scheduled but the first 2 days the RC didn’t leave the dock until 11:45 and we were postponed due to lack of RC preparation. they only got in one race the second day, when if they got out on time they could have had 3 races before it got too gnarly. the final day the RC decided to race us inside, in 5-10 knots when outside there was a solid 15+ outside. people traveled from all over the country and spent thousands of dollars to sail in the reliable SF bay conditions, but got an unprofessional RC and newport harbor conditions on the final day. finally, there were many problems with scoring in the radial fleet. i can understand if this was all fine with nor cal weekend sailors, but for those of us who traveled far and spent much money this regatta was a disappointment. regardless, the sailing was fun, and on land everything was well managed, thank you to all the volunteers who helped with launching and food. in the future i would recommend that for high level regattas (especially regattas that are expected to be very windy) proper preparations for the RC are made in terms of safety boats and staff.

Having served on many race committees in half the conditions we had at the PCC's this year.. I personally would like to thank all race committee members, stake boats, shore crew, judges and all the volunteers for running a first class event in arguably some of the most challenging difficult conditions for any venue. Sitting on a anchored committee boat in 30+ knots in breaking waves while orchestrating multiple starting sequences, mark placements, coordinate rescue boats, record check-ins and finishes and be accountable for every other problem that arises.. Thank you. My money and long travel was 100% worth the price. The final day’s racing in the sheltered area on Sunday was the right choice to assure a full day of sailing. It is easy for some to criticize race organizers but ultimately we are all responsible knowing where you finished, safety on the water and knowing one’s limits and ability. At the end of the day, all the boats were scored properly, everyone launched and arrived safely and all the racing was fair and challenging. It’s a privilege to race in these events and I look forward to sailing out of Treasure Island again.

Peter Drasnin
 

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Paul Kamen here, your friendly neighborhood Rule 42 judge on San Francisco Bay.

First things first: Yes, on Friday I played hooky with the judge boat for a few minutes to take some photos. and they are on the web and available for download at:

http://www.well.com/user/pk/photos/Laser-PCC-2007/

All 16 frames are from the third race on Friday, at the end of the reach across the top of the trapezoid.

Feel free to use them in any way you like, but I would appreciate if my photo credit and email are retained if they are used on a website or in a print publication. Thanks!

They are cropped and photoshopped, so let me know if you want the unprocessed .jpg as it came from the camera (sorry but no .raw file available).

On other stuff - I was a small cog in the RC machine, but it was clear that a few things could have been done more efficiently. Specifically, I think the RC over-estimated its logistic capability with the double courses. Perhaps a single trapezoid would have worked better on Friday and Saturday - it would have cut the required number of marks and RC boats in half. I think with only two big fleets, even allowing for some recalls, it would have been much easier to keep both fleets out of phase on the same course rather that attempt to set what amounted to two separate courses in those conditions. Also, I think the fleet that didn't get the trapezoid with the fast reaches missed out on some real fun.

But I wasn't PRO, and as with all these volunteer efforts, the person who does all the work gets to do it their way.

In hindsight it's easy to see that it would have been better if Saturday's races were in the protected area behind T.I. and Sunday was back out in the Central Bay. But that's hindsight, and it was not an obvious call at the time.

On RRS 42 calls: Clearly with two fleets it's just about impossible to be a continuous presence. Ideally there should be four judge boats, two per fleet, one on each side of the course.

I couldn't find any obvious violations on Friday or Saturday, but made three calls against three different boats on Sunday. Will be happy to discuss, email me offline at [email protected].
 
Having served on many race committees in half the conditions we had at the PCC's this year.. I personally would like to thank all race committee members, stake boats, shore crew, judges and all the volunteers for running a first class event in arguably some of the most challenging difficult conditions for any venue. Sitting on a anchored committee boat in 30+ knots in breaking waves while orchestrating multiple starting sequences, mark placements, coordinate rescue boats, record check-ins and finishes and be accountable for every other problem that arises.. Thank you. My money and long travel was 100% worth the price. The final day’s racing in the sheltered area on Sunday was the right choice to assure a full day of sailing. It is easy for some to criticize race organizers but ultimately we are all responsible knowing where you finished, safety on the water and knowing one’s limits and ability. At the end of the day, all the boats were scored properly, everyone launched and arrived safely and all the racing was fair and challenging. It’s a privilege to race in these events and I look forward to sailing out of Treasure Island again.

Peter Drasnin


Amen. This was a great regatta, very well managed in very difficult conditions. It's easy to second guess RC decisions after the fact; much more difficult the morning before the race when you are trying to figure out what the wind is going to do. Many of us would have preferred to sail out in the bay Sunday, but I certainly cannot fault the RC, who needed to complete four races, for moving the venue to a more predictable site.

But here's my pet peeve: if you feel the need to file a public complaint, at least have the decency to sign your name to it.

Bill Symes
 
I think that the race committee did a good job running the races, but they could have used some more volunteers on the finish boat to record finishes and since they started late they should have put up the postponement flag at the scheduled start time and not fifteen minutes after. I really appreciated that they put up the I flag after one general but then went back to the prep flag for the first start the next day. Most race committees don't give the fleet a second chance. One major problem though was the lack of safety preparations. This was the first regatta I've been to that I can remember (excluding high school regattas) that competitors weren't required to check in with the RC before the first race each day. Also, considering the typical conditions of SF Bay, there should have been more boats dedicated to safety. The coach boats were doing a wonderful job filling in on this, but there just weren't enough of them. The sailing was great though, and I'm glad that the RC gave us the opportunity to sail in a bit less wind on Sunday.
 
Paul Kamen here, your friendly neighborhood Rule 42 judge on San Francisco Bay.

First things first: Yes, on Friday I played hooky with the judge boat for a few minutes to take some photos. and they are on the web and available for download at:

http://www.well.com/user/pk/photos/Laser-PCC-2007/

All 16 frames are from the third race on Friday, at the end of the reach across the top of the trapezoid.

Feel free to use them in any way you like, but I would appreciate if my photo credit and email are retained if they are used on a website or in a print publication. Thanks!

They are cropped and photoshopped, so let me know if you want the unprocessed .jpg as it came from the camera (sorry but no .raw file available).


Thanks for some really nice photos in there, especially after you get past the first four!

And now we have an actual measurement of the wind speed: it was windy enough to blow numbers off a sail!
 

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