Tahoe Fleet Championships 2025 Regatta Report
Al Sargent
Laser Tahoe Fleet Championships 2025 Regatta Report
Lake Tahoe Sept 6-7 - by Nick Pullen
Normally held on Stampede Reservoir, this year’s Tahoe Laser Fleet Championships was stationed out of the Lake Forest Boat Ramp just outside Tahoe City. This allowed the Tahoe Yacht Club to bring more support boats and assets to the event. This is a fabulous venue with affordable on-site camping and is within walking distance to the club and downtown Tahoe City.
We could not have asked for better wind! Both days saw a beautiful, gradient-reinforced thermal breeze of 8-20 knots and sunny skies. The water color was an incredible indigo blue with concentrated choppy waves putting a premium on bow down, upwind sailing.
I have to say, this was the best race committee work I’ve seen in a long time in challenging, shifty conditions. Lake Tahoe is ringed by mountains, and the wind funneling through the valleys provided blasts of wind from the left and right. It was incredibly difficult to stay on the right side of the shifts, and everyone experienced the pain of seeing competitors who were once well behind suddenly cross in front. Leads changed multiple times, and there were many photo finishes where it was tough to tell who won the race. Despite the challenging shifts, PRO John Siegel and his team set almost perfect courses. The start lines were square, the windward mark and gates aligned with the average wind bearing. First Class!
Saturday saw six races completed with five double windward leewards, and it was fun to sail one triangle course with some reaching. Sailing was physically demanding, and I was reminded, once again, how humbling and challenging it is to sail a Laser when it's windy and choppy. Any other form of sailing is not nearly as rigorous and physically difficult. It was a full workout with short choppy waves, and the bow sometimes punched through a wave, slowing the boat. Cockpits were often full of water.
In the ILCA 4 class, Asher Bauerly dominated the day with six straight bullets, proving that he who sails most and trains hard wins. Local Sailor, Ethan Mooiweer, finished second, consistently followed by other Tahoe locals: Oliver Hoffman, CJ Fogg, and Polina Lerner. For several of these young sailors, it was their first real Laser Regatta in windy conditions.
For some really odd reason, no ILCA 6s were racing. What’s up with that?
In the ILCA 7 class, with 20 competitors, racing was incredibly tight on the first day, with multiple race winners slugging it out in the physical conditions. Eliot Drake from St. Francis Yacht Club posted consistent scores to take the lead on day one with a 2,1,1,3,2,2. In second was Al Sargent posting at DNS (due to a flat tire on the way up), 4,2,3,1,5, and not far behind was Tahoe Local, Nick Pullen with a 3,6,5,1,2,1.
Day 2 brought more of the same conditions and some sailors really found their stride, like James Bauerly (Asher’s Dad, how great is that?), posting a 1,7,2,2. Eliot Drake hung on to win with scores of 2,1,5,3. Nick Pullen advanced to second with 5,3,3,1, edging out Al Sargent, with scores of 7,2,4,4. James Bauerly finished fourth, winning absolutely NOTHING!
A big shout-out to one of the new Master Sailors in our local fleet, Randy Thomas of the Tahoe Yacht Club. At age 60 (I think), he just started sailing Lasers this spring in our local Monday night races. On day one, he received the hard end of the boom on his cheekbone after a capsize and had one of the most impressive shiners I’ve ever seen. Normal people would have quit, but Randy completed all the races on both days and, as a result, won the most important trophy of all, “The Whitey” Cup, named after our dear departed friend Eric “Whitey” Conner, exemplifying enthusiasm and resilience.
I want to express a huge thank you to John Siegel, his team, and the Tahoe Yacht Club for putting on a first-class event. It was great to see many old faces returning to race and many new ones too, who will forever be part of our fabulous tribe of Laser Sailors.
- Nick Pullen
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