Competitive Laser Sailing

Jeff Gallo

New Member
Hey guys just had a few questions that i wanted to ask. i have been sailing laser for over 2 years now and have been on a 420 for over 5 years. before that i was on an Opti. I am 16 years old and right now is the prime in my sailing career. I have sailed 420 competitively and have traveled all over the northeast to compete at regattas and other sailing events. Now is the time when i am making a full switch to laser. so the real question is where do i start? I want to move away from stranded regattas and do some high level races. If any of you can hel me out in anyway please do so.
 
Where are you located ?
How far can you travel to attend a regatta ?

I live in Connecticut and I am willing to travel anywhere in the northeast untill I prove myself in the laser since I'm switching from 420. However afterwards I am able to travel in the USA
 
start by finding a boat to sail. how much do you weigh. im assuming your going to sail with the club you have been.
 
Laser District 7 Home will have all of the district 7 events posted once they have a schedule. You could also look at districts 8, 9, and 10 for their events as some of them would not be too far from you. There are also frostbite fleets in Essex, , Cedar Point, and Newport for winter racing.
 
As mentioned above, Cedar Point in Westport, Frostbite Yacht Club in Essex and Newport Fleet 413 are good places to start asap. Cedar Point and FBYC start up again in March, Newport is sailing right now. In terms of competition, at Cedar Point you will be sailing against the 2012 Olympic US Laser rep, as well as a few guys that are at his level (or higher occasionally) In Newport, you'll sail against some of the top old guys in the world, in a body of water where boat speed is second or third in terms of importance. Essex is river sailing, so it's more shifty, with more current to contend with.

Cedar Point will sail in more open water once it's warm (safe) enough to sail outside the harbor - there you can work on boat speed.
Fleet size - Newport/Cedar Point will get 30+ boats (check the results), Essex about 1/2 that amount.
 
Jeff, I can't speak for Cedar Point, but Newport Fleet 413 and Essex have fleet boats you could use for frostbiting. PM me if you want some more info, hope to see you on the water!
 

Back
Top