SFBayLaser
Member
Just posted to the Laser e-mail list... now off to get some sleep and let my body start to recover (getting old is definitely not fun!):
85 Lasers, 63 Radials and 9 4.7s made their way to the Carolina Yacht Club in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, for the 2005 Laser/Radial/4.7 US Nationals, including participants from the US, Canada, Mexico, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and even Great Britain. They came to Wrightsville Beach looking to sail in breeze and waves and were not disappointed. Thursday and Friday saw the normal sea breeze, peaking in the upper teens on Thursday and a bit lower on Friday. Saturday saw a passing front ruin the day's racing with strong winds and adverse tide making the opening to the ocean impassable. Sunday's offshore breeze was strong (and brisk!) but more tide friendly and the Radials and 4.7s got in two races, while the Lasers had one. By the time the fleet headed for the shore the gusts were pushing the high twenties making for an epic trip back to the Carolina Yacht Club, especially the final reach down the channel to the launching area. Wow!
In the Lasers the regatta was a battle between Brad Funk (from the US) and Andrew Childs (from Canada) with the two of them trading back and forth between first and second, resulting in a tie for the series. Brad Funk won the tie breaker which came down to who beat who in the last race of the regatta. These guys are looking sharp and we're barely at the start of this Olympic cycle! And there was no shortage of good sailors in the fleet... for example: past Laser World Champion Terry Nielson (Sardinia 1982) getting back in the boat and showing he can still lead a fleet to the weather mark (and finish in the top ten)!
In the Radial fleet, Anthony Kouton (US Virgin Islands) seemed happiest in the windiest races but was still at the top even in the lighter air, in the end sewing up the series before the last race - which he then went out and won. This against a strong fleet of up and coming youth sailors, Olympic hopefuls and even some sage masters with years of experience!
Puerto Rico appears to have embraced the 4.7, sending a strong contingent of 4 young sailors to this event. Adrian Hernandez (Puerto Rico) dominated the racing but with Stephanie Roble (USA) definitely nipping at his heels. This was the first "big" Laser Class event leading to this summer's 4.7 Worlds in Rhode Island, it looks like the kids that showed up in Wrightsville Beach are getting a great jump on everyone else! And for what it is worth, the 4.7s sure looked great sailing in the breeze, even holding their own when near the Radials.
Wrightsville Beach has a well deserved reputation for its sailing conditions, especially during the Spring, and this year's event only served to enhance that. Still, what makes this one of the finest Laser sailing venues in North America has to be the combination of these sailing conditions with the fine facilities available at the Carolina Yacht Club AND the warm hospitality extended to the sailors by its members. At the end everyone had a great time at this regatta!
Finally... regattas like these don't happen without someone stepping up long beforehand and putting in a lot of time and effort to make sure it all goes well. The Laser Class sends a huge THANK YOU to both Chip and Arland Whitesides for first wanting us there and then devoting themselves for at least the last six months to making sure it all happened and went according to plan. I only hope that this week they can catch up on all the sleep they didn't get last week!
Final results are posted on the web at: http://www.carolinayachtclub.org/lasernationalsresults.html
85 Lasers, 63 Radials and 9 4.7s made their way to the Carolina Yacht Club in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, for the 2005 Laser/Radial/4.7 US Nationals, including participants from the US, Canada, Mexico, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and even Great Britain. They came to Wrightsville Beach looking to sail in breeze and waves and were not disappointed. Thursday and Friday saw the normal sea breeze, peaking in the upper teens on Thursday and a bit lower on Friday. Saturday saw a passing front ruin the day's racing with strong winds and adverse tide making the opening to the ocean impassable. Sunday's offshore breeze was strong (and brisk!) but more tide friendly and the Radials and 4.7s got in two races, while the Lasers had one. By the time the fleet headed for the shore the gusts were pushing the high twenties making for an epic trip back to the Carolina Yacht Club, especially the final reach down the channel to the launching area. Wow!
In the Lasers the regatta was a battle between Brad Funk (from the US) and Andrew Childs (from Canada) with the two of them trading back and forth between first and second, resulting in a tie for the series. Brad Funk won the tie breaker which came down to who beat who in the last race of the regatta. These guys are looking sharp and we're barely at the start of this Olympic cycle! And there was no shortage of good sailors in the fleet... for example: past Laser World Champion Terry Nielson (Sardinia 1982) getting back in the boat and showing he can still lead a fleet to the weather mark (and finish in the top ten)!
In the Radial fleet, Anthony Kouton (US Virgin Islands) seemed happiest in the windiest races but was still at the top even in the lighter air, in the end sewing up the series before the last race - which he then went out and won. This against a strong fleet of up and coming youth sailors, Olympic hopefuls and even some sage masters with years of experience!
Puerto Rico appears to have embraced the 4.7, sending a strong contingent of 4 young sailors to this event. Adrian Hernandez (Puerto Rico) dominated the racing but with Stephanie Roble (USA) definitely nipping at his heels. This was the first "big" Laser Class event leading to this summer's 4.7 Worlds in Rhode Island, it looks like the kids that showed up in Wrightsville Beach are getting a great jump on everyone else! And for what it is worth, the 4.7s sure looked great sailing in the breeze, even holding their own when near the Radials.
Wrightsville Beach has a well deserved reputation for its sailing conditions, especially during the Spring, and this year's event only served to enhance that. Still, what makes this one of the finest Laser sailing venues in North America has to be the combination of these sailing conditions with the fine facilities available at the Carolina Yacht Club AND the warm hospitality extended to the sailors by its members. At the end everyone had a great time at this regatta!
Finally... regattas like these don't happen without someone stepping up long beforehand and putting in a lot of time and effort to make sure it all goes well. The Laser Class sends a huge THANK YOU to both Chip and Arland Whitesides for first wanting us there and then devoting themselves for at least the last six months to making sure it all happened and went according to plan. I only hope that this week they can catch up on all the sleep they didn't get last week!
Final results are posted on the web at: http://www.carolinayachtclub.org/lasernationalsresults.html