Half Moon Bay Laser Team Race 2025 regatta report
19 views
Skip to first unread message
Al Sargent
May 26, 2025, 12:36:24 AMMay 26
to International Laser Class Association District 24, joe rockmore, sodar...@gmail.com, TerriLahey, comm...@hmbyc.org
Half Moon Bay Yacht Club hosted a fun one-day team race regatta yesterday. HMBYC always has chill coastal vibes, and today was no different – foggy, cool, flat water, and 6 to 8 knot breezes. Perfect for tactical team racing.
With 10 sailors signed up, the race committee formed three teams of three boats each, with a couple of people floating between teams. At the sailors' meeting, we were treated to a short briefing on team racing by umpire Vicki Sodaro, then rigged up our ILCA 6 rigs. The smaller rigs were a good idea, since we had a broad range of sailors, from 120 pound kids to elder sailors doing their first ever Laser regatta.
For those who haven't done team racing, it's a great way to bring the fleet together. In fleet racing, the less experienced sailors would be in the back in every race; in team racing, they're regularly sprung to the front of the fleet using tactics like mark traps, so they get many more "moments of brilliance" out on the water.
Team racing also a great way to work on boathandling and the rules, since you'll do moves you'd be unlikely to ever do in a fleet racing, and since you have an umpire who immediately flags any rules infractions. Also, in team racing, rules infractions are low-stress; you get flagged, do your penalty turn, and no one is upset since it simply means you're racing hard.
If you have team raced in other types of boats, such as college dinghies or small keelboats, Laser team racing has a few wrinkles. For example, it's harder to slow boats behind you, since you can't luff your jib to create a bigger wind shadow. Downwind, you go hard by the lee on starboard to maintain inside overlap (assuming port roundings) and leeward boat advantage.
HMBYC were wonderful hosts, running the races a short two-minute sail from the beach, along with a break for lunch included in our reasonable $25 entry fee.
In the end, the Red Team of Stephen Woodward and Stan Martin, with floaters Pablo Scanziani and Tyler Handel, won the reatta with 7 wins out of 12 races. The Blue Team of Al Sargent and Lucy Gilles, with floaters Tyler Handel and Cooper Furtoss, took second with 3 wins. And the Yellow Team of Ernie Galvan, Chris Cooke, and floaters Cooper Furtoss and Carl Hage rounded out the podium with 2 wins.
Many thanks to organizers Joe Rockmore, Terri Lahey, and Karen Allanson, along with umpire Vicki Sodaro, for making this regatta happen!
Results: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/aelunm4g804dj00wuws8i/Laser-Team-Racing-2-Results-May-2025-Half-Moon-Bay-YC.pdf?rlkey=7knbrn7cuir5byhj62vfd9hqw&dl=0
Photos: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/oh0kqdh8sjkkzodenn48x/ABE2t2XTzGR8qgWyXI1sLv4?rlkey=i58ouc9j67il667zlrarhl4ee&dl=0
With 10 sailors signed up, the race committee formed three teams of three boats each, with a couple of people floating between teams. At the sailors' meeting, we were treated to a short briefing on team racing by umpire Vicki Sodaro, then rigged up our ILCA 6 rigs. The smaller rigs were a good idea, since we had a broad range of sailors, from 120 pound kids to elder sailors doing their first ever Laser regatta.
For those who haven't done team racing, it's a great way to bring the fleet together. In fleet racing, the less experienced sailors would be in the back in every race; in team racing, they're regularly sprung to the front of the fleet using tactics like mark traps, so they get many more "moments of brilliance" out on the water.
Team racing also a great way to work on boathandling and the rules, since you'll do moves you'd be unlikely to ever do in a fleet racing, and since you have an umpire who immediately flags any rules infractions. Also, in team racing, rules infractions are low-stress; you get flagged, do your penalty turn, and no one is upset since it simply means you're racing hard.
If you have team raced in other types of boats, such as college dinghies or small keelboats, Laser team racing has a few wrinkles. For example, it's harder to slow boats behind you, since you can't luff your jib to create a bigger wind shadow. Downwind, you go hard by the lee on starboard to maintain inside overlap (assuming port roundings) and leeward boat advantage.
HMBYC were wonderful hosts, running the races a short two-minute sail from the beach, along with a break for lunch included in our reasonable $25 entry fee.
In the end, the Red Team of Stephen Woodward and Stan Martin, with floaters Pablo Scanziani and Tyler Handel, won the reatta with 7 wins out of 12 races. The Blue Team of Al Sargent and Lucy Gilles, with floaters Tyler Handel and Cooper Furtoss, took second with 3 wins. And the Yellow Team of Ernie Galvan, Chris Cooke, and floaters Cooper Furtoss and Carl Hage rounded out the podium with 2 wins.
Many thanks to organizers Joe Rockmore, Terri Lahey, and Karen Allanson, along with umpire Vicki Sodaro, for making this regatta happen!
Results: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/aelunm4g804dj00wuws8i/Laser-Team-Racing-2-Results-May-2025-Half-Moon-Bay-YC.pdf?rlkey=7knbrn7cuir5byhj62vfd9hqw&dl=0
Photos: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/oh0kqdh8sjkkzodenn48x/ABE2t2XTzGR8qgWyXI1sLv4?rlkey=i58ouc9j67il667zlrarhl4ee&dl=0
New ILCA sailor Cooper Furtoss takes off on a reach while teammate Al Sargent luffs opponent Chris Cooke to create some breathing room for Cooper.
A typically close fleet in the final seconds before the start. HMBYC kept the line short to make things interesting.
"Don't go in there!" is some friendly "advice" from Al Sargent to opponent Stephen Woodward, as he creates a gap for teammate Lucy Gilles.
laird henkel
May 26, 2025, 3:41:03 PMMay 26
to Al Sargent, International Laser Class Association District 24, joe rockmore, sodar...@gmail.com, TerriLahey, comm...@hmbyc.org
That sounds like a ton of fun! I really hope HMBYC continues hosting team racing regularly--I was sorry to miss this one!
Laird
--
Discussion forum for International Laser Class Association District 24, covering northern California and Nevada. Topics should include all things Laser (ILCA) and not idle chit chat which should be taken offline from this forum. This site is rated PG.
--
To join this group, email:
international-laser-class-ass...@googlegroups.com
--
To email this group:
international-laser-clas...@googlegroups.com
--
To mute this conversation:
On web Gmail: press m
On the Gmail mobile app, select ... > Mute
--
District 24 Google calendar:
bit.ly/d24-calendar
--
District 24 website:
bit.ly/d24-home
--
View past discussions here:
bit.ly/d24-group
--
Get 10% off West Coast Sailing https://westcoastsailing.net/d24
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ILCA District 24" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to international-laser-class-asso...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/international-laser-class-association-district-24/CAP8fJny7Gw9vDKpViTgqFiX1QjN2CC7LDf-zhayjMU0qr4Yb9A%40mail.gmail.com.
Stephen Woodward
May 26, 2025, 8:54:25 PMMay 26
to laird henkel, Al Sargent, international-laser-clas...@googlegroups.com, joe rockmore, sodar...@gmail.com, TerriLahey, comm...@hmbyc.org
Great write up Al and a lot of fun on the water, the best part, I think everyone learnt something new or had a rule cross-examined by Vickie. Definitely join us at HMBYC the next time to have a team racing event.
Stephen
Chris Cooke
May 27, 2025, 4:09:25 PMMay 27
to Stephen Woodward, laird henkel, Al Sargent, international-laser-clas...@googlegroups.com, joe rockmore, sodar...@gmail.com, TerriLahey, comm...@hmbyc.org
Super fun day, it was really inspiring to see the more experienced sailors helping out the youth sailors and new ILCA sailors, this is fleet building!
Also so many "situations" created in such a small amount of time with low cost, so great practice for those fleet races as well.
Looking forward to an even bigger group next time!
C
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/international-laser-class-association-district-24/18E23AAE-1947-463B-AE96-618DE17BC898%40googlemail.com.
Chris
c...@chris-cooke.com
c...@chris-cooke.com
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages