My First Laser Regatta

L

Lloydw

New Member
I have been in big boat sailing all of my life, but I competed in a Laser for the first time ever this past weekend, at age 51!
What a rush.
It was a small local regatta with only 9 Full Rig boats, 6 Radials and 4 4.7's, along with a fleet of Opti's sailing nearby.
I ended up 6 out of 9 in the full rigs with a best finish of 3rd.
By far the most fun I have ever had sailboat racing.
Looking forward to the next regatta.
Pure sailing, pure competition, pure fun! :D
 
if you have the means to do so you should take a crack at skiff sailing its another great rush
 
My first regatta was a district event, I was stoked, convinced that I was going to finish dead last (which I didnt). I was nearly last place for all of the races, but I had one spectacular start and managed to get around the windward mark in 5th or 6th place... I nearly jizzed... of course I ended up finishing pretty well last, but that one good leg was awesome.
 
This is awesome!

I'm going through the same thing. Years ago, I sailed Lasers in college... competent, but not "expert." I had access to "rental-house" boats, and learned as I went along, but I always knew I wanted more. I went on to race Finns for a couple years, and then bigger boats after that, Lightnings, Stars, "small-ish" one-design & PHRF keel boats and offshore sleds .... until, mid-forties, I'm that guy that shows up, walks the length of the boat to give a final check that the "kids" in their 20s and 30s did everything right, and then take my position in the back of the boat, trimming head-sails, watching wind shifts and fleet positions, drinking beer, and calmly telling the helmsman where and when to turn.

There were the off years, married, raising children, of whom I am extremely proud. Their interests and sports and activities growing up through high school, didn't include sailing. But my youngest, now entering high school, has shown more than a spark of interest, and I am taking full advantage of the opportunity!

My son has come along with me on a few big boat races and enjoyed it, but I always wanted to get back into dinghy sailing, and knew the best way for him to learn boat handling is of course in small boats, and lasers are the perfect choice.

I looked at a couple of used boats, found one reasonably priced, and bought it. We cleaned it up, bought a new sail (Ouch), and headed down to the bay (with the old sail).

The first thing to do was learn how much rigging a laser has changed in 25 years. Then I gave a quick lesson, complete with some simple drawings in the sand, and talked him through what to do when (not if) the boat capsizes and he finds himself in the water. I took the boat up- and downwind around some nearby buoys and then watched him from the beach while he crawled in and took a few laps back and forth across the bay. There was more wind than I would have "chosen," but it all worked out great. My son spent a lot of time in the water that day, got lots of practice getting the boat back to an upright condition, overall having a lot of fun and not getting discouraged. For my "turns" in the boat, I started to remember just how technical and physically demanding this little boat can be.

Back to the original post -- two weeks later (last week) I joined a small local club and sailed in my first laser regatta in 25 years. My son isn't quite ready, but he'll get there. Like Lloyd, I fully expected to be the last place finisher. There were 17 boats sailing 6 races that day. Each race I learned a little more and finished a couple places better. I did much better than I expected to, though certainly not a threat to any of the lead boats, but I'm pretty sure my fun and enjoyment level exceeded everyone else in the fleet by at least a factor of ten!

My body hurt for a couple of days after that and I kept smiling thinking about that last beat when I didn't think my legs would hold out all the way to the finish line. (I picked up two more boats on that beat!) And now I can't wait until the next race (2-1/2 more weeks), and I'm firmly committed to buying a second boat, because when my son is ready to come out on the race course, I'm sure I won't be happy sitting on the beach watching him.

Of course I called up all my "grown-up" big boat friends and bragged about how much fun I had. I think I may have won a few of them over. We'll see. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top