Charley Williamson and I pose with our awards after the US Nationals. As a teenager, I spent my summers practicing with Charles, who is also a world reknowned physics professor at Cornell.
Last week the Laser Tour took us to Mallet's Bay, Vermont, just north of Burlington, for the 2007 US Laser Nationals. Mallet's Bay is just off of the main body of Lake Champlain, and is surrounded by green mountains on three sides. I arrived at the Mallet's Bay Boat Club on Tuesday evening, and I was happy to see about 15 lasers ready to go out for the local Tuesday night race! I joined the group for the evening races, and it was a great opportunity to get to know the local sailors and enjoy a really nice sunset. Sometimes Laser sailing is pretty nice. I retired to the van/RV for the night, excited about the week to come.
After practicing on Wednesday and Thursday out in the main bay, the racing started up Friday with a great 10 to 15 knot breeze and warm weather. I was feeling pretty sharp that day, and my new boat was all dialed in and going well. I scored a 2nd and three 4th's based mostly on good starts and staying out of trouble around the course. That put me in 2nd after the 1st day.
Day two was a trying day, because there was hardly any wind. After sitting on the water for 5 hours in postponement, we finally raced starting at 3 pm, but the wind completely died half way through, and we were left to drift to the finish. The race took two hours and was very frustrating for everyone, but it is the regatta organizer's decision to keep racing.
On the last day, we managed to get in two races in a variable wind that ranged from 0 to 15 knots. In race one I put my faith in the left side of the course, but it soon became clear that the right was going to pay. And to add to that problem, the 1st place competitor, Canada's Dave Wright, was putting a tight cover on me and forcing me further to the left side! Dave knew that I was the closest threat to his lead, and so he decided to focus on me rather than the fleet, putting me in a tough position. Meanwhile, USA's Trevor Moore was in the lead in the race, with Kyle Rogachenko in second! They sailed a great race, and that shifted the results so that Kyle placed second overall and Trevor placed Third. I finished 4th and training partner Emery Wager was 5th out of 83 total competitors.
After practicing on Wednesday and Thursday out in the main bay, the racing started up Friday with a great 10 to 15 knot breeze and warm weather. I was feeling pretty sharp that day, and my new boat was all dialed in and going well. I scored a 2nd and three 4th's based mostly on good starts and staying out of trouble around the course. That put me in 2nd after the 1st day.
Day two was a trying day, because there was hardly any wind. After sitting on the water for 5 hours in postponement, we finally raced starting at 3 pm, but the wind completely died half way through, and we were left to drift to the finish. The race took two hours and was very frustrating for everyone, but it is the regatta organizer's decision to keep racing.
On the last day, we managed to get in two races in a variable wind that ranged from 0 to 15 knots. In race one I put my faith in the left side of the course, but it soon became clear that the right was going to pay. And to add to that problem, the 1st place competitor, Canada's Dave Wright, was putting a tight cover on me and forcing me further to the left side! Dave knew that I was the closest threat to his lead, and so he decided to focus on me rather than the fleet, putting me in a tough position. Meanwhile, USA's Trevor Moore was in the lead in the race, with Kyle Rogachenko in second! They sailed a great race, and that shifted the results so that Kyle placed second overall and Trevor placed Third. I finished 4th and training partner Emery Wager was 5th out of 83 total competitors.
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