High Sierra Regatta 70th anniversary 2023 regatta write up

[Julian Soto]

I’m still at the campsite and going to hit the hay soon, so this will be short.

This regatta was amazing!
I’m glad we had as many as we did. There new and old faces. And lots of improvements in the fleet.
>>A few shout outs:
Chris Simenstad Has made a big improvement in skill in the laser these last few years. Keep it up!!
Al Sargent for showing how hard work in the laser and dedication to the class pays off. He put up a good fight. We had some awesome “Congressional Cup” moments, as Chris Boom would call it.
Cooper and Toshi for being neck and neck the whole weekend. It was fun watching these two.
And
Welcome…
Bob Smith and Michelle Slade!!!
It looks like we will be seeing these two more often in the coming years. Yay!

>>A few things that worked for me:
Starts:
- I ran the line and had a line sight. The shore end of the line was often favored, because it was higher up however it was better to start in the middle as it would carry you to the boy scout camp point where there are some favorable lifts and pressure.
- Make sure to have your settings right. Set your boat up for the LULLS, in this breeze the main should be trimmed to Block to block when going through the lulls. And eased to 2-6” off the deck when in pressure to accelerate the boat. Also, I liked a deeper sail up here for more power since the pressure was kinda soft on the sails. So lots of DH and some BV but a deeper sail to keep a powered boat.

Upwind:
- settings as mentioned above
- before hitting chop ease some as the boat will slow and apparent wind moves aft.
That last race 1st upwind was so long!! 🥵

Downwind:
- gibe to stay BTL, know which cube is better BEFORE rounding the top mark
- to sail through the chop downwind since out speed was generally faster than the chop:
The goal was to point at the leeward mark as often as possible.
1. Set up BTL with the main in at 75 degrees the same as if you were on a broad reach
2. Vang is tight but when you drop sheet the top of the leech opens up and snaps back.
3. Center board was 1 ft. up
4. Sit forward but with weight on both feet. Knees up, the back leg folding you in using the strap.
5. Now is the fun part:
(Pressing BTL to overcome chop, MAX POWER!)
load the boat BTL with the sail at the 75 degree. Then ease out to 90 degrees as you press the leeward rail. But gently. Then trim back in immediately but only a foot or so. Trim according to the “tug” in the Mainsheet. The tug is the pressure on the leech which is good!
You are not changing course at this point.

(Going to DDW to power through the waves.)
Start again BTL at 75 degrees. Ease out the main and come into the cockpit slowly. The boat will round up on its own. As you sail through the chop keep the boat flat. Then when it is done trim back in to 75 and press to windward… WAIT for the wind vane or when you feel the apparent wind hit you on the left side of your face when on Starboard or right side of your face on Port. Then ease out when pressure build on the leech again.

And on a side note:
Al and I had an interesting conversation about perpetual trophies. The first 5 years that I sailed at HSR I raced against Jack LaLanne named Jim Christopher from Eureka. He was like 11x my age and kicked my butt. He was such a nice guy and an inspiration. I would like to start a conversation on perpetual trophies for some of the lake regattas for example. Like stampede and Huntington lake. I mean, the I14 class had at least 6 perpetual trophies. It would cool to see what your thoughts are…

Keep sailing! Good luck to those of you sailing at the PCCs next weekend at STFYC. I’ll be down south coaching the ILCA NAs.
See you all on the water again soon!! 🤙
-Julian
181847



Sent from my [fill in the blank]

[Robert Smith]

OK, so the server says it bounced my earlier email... so here it is again but sending one photo at a time....

Hi Everyone,

Two photos of the Laser winners from High Sierra...

Bob Smith (aka Cooper's Dad)

On Mon, Jul 10, 2023 at 9:38 AM Robert Smith <robert.s...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Everyone,

Two photos of the Laser winners from High Sierra...

Bob Smith (aka Cooper's Dad)

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[Robert Smith]

2 of 2

[Chris Boome]

Great shot 

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Heaven Is For Real

[Julian Soto]

I’m forwarding this, because I was hoping to start a conversation about the topic of downwind technique.

Subject: High Sierra Regatta 70th anniversary 2023 regatta write up



[Emilio Castelli]

What’a a BV?

And a cube?

E

 

Emilio Castelli

www.castellivineyards.com

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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.
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[Al Sargent]

Since we have a tradition that the second-place finisher in a regatta traditionally does a write-up; mine is below. I'll send separate notes with photos, to ensure that this doesn't bounce. 

Anyone else have photos? If so, please share!

--

The 2023 High Sierra Regatta was held at Huntington Lake, California on July 8-9. Conditions were on the cool side, probably due to late snowmelt after an epic winter. Lake water temps were 51 degrees and air temps topped out at 68. Definitely a far cry from past years where we've seen air temps as high as the 80s. 

The cool weather meant we had plenty of breeze with winds topping out around 10 or 11 knots. In the first race, Julian and Al sped towards Boy Scout Camp, arriving at the shore overlapped, with Julian calling room. Al tacked onto port slightly above layline to the weather mark, Mark 3. Julian, meanwhile, continued sailing up the lake, thinking the first mark was #4. Despite his error, Julian was able to pass a few boats, then engaged with Al on a bunch of match-racing tactics before passing him for the bullet.

Race two has Julian and Al battling it out once again. Al stayed ahead until the second reach when he decided to try to pass a couple of San Juan 21s to leeward. Bad idea. Their massive wind shadow stopped Al in his tracks, and Julian zipped by. 

Race three had the race committee giving us a longer upwind leg, to mark 4. Because hey, what's better than hiking for 20 minutes at 7000 feet? Hiking for 30 minutes, and throwing in a dozen tacks to boot. I don't know about the rest of you, but that upwind leg kicked my butt more than any Cityfront course. Oxygen is in your friend. Anyways, at the start, Cooper Smith in the Radials (sorry, Tracy, ILCA 6) and Al were both over early. Both had to sail through the fleet, with Cooper staging an impressive comeback to finish second, not too far from Toshi, who won that race. 

By the end of day one, in the IlCA 7s, Julian was in first with a picket fence, Al in second with a 2-2-4, and Packy in third with a 4-4-5. In the ILCA 6s, Toshi was in first with a 2-1-1 and Cooper one point behind with a 1-2-2. Palmer Mays was in third with 3 threes. That evening, some great BBQs ensued, and we watched the sun set over the lake with Courtney's absolutely charming daughter. 

Day two, everyone seemed to be dragging a bit, but we all got rigged up just in time for our start. You have to love the fact that the starting line is about 3.5 minutes from the beach. In the first race, in the ILCA 7s, Al was again first to the Boy Scout Camp, but Julian went beast mode on the port tack to the weather mark and sailed over him. Al, feeling a bit too relaxed on the downwind, capsized but got his boat back up before third could catch up. Packy got another third, and Boomer a 4th. 

In the ILCA 6s, Cooper took the win from Toshi to even the score. 

In the fifth and final race, Julian started at the pin and got the mother of all righties to sail up and around the entire fleet to arrive to the shore in first, and never looked back. Chris struggled with a vang tang that broke -- not a good thing for our windiest race. Packy got another third, and Boomer a 5th. Once the throwout kicked in, this tied them on points, with Boomer winning the tiebreaker as a result of his second in race 3. 

In the 6s, Cooper took the win to beat Toshi by one point. Palmer Mays, super consistent, took another pair of thirds to finish third in the series.

--

That's my regatta report for High Sierra '23. Now on to some things I learned... as usual, it's a long one. Buckle up! 

Gear

• I recently got a new wind indicator that's a game-changer: a Davis Instruments Horizontal Carbon Fiber Wind Vane. It's super sensitive to wind direction changes, even in light air downwind. It gave me confidence that I always knew my downwind angles, and helped me immediately detect puffs (headers) that I could soak down on to reduce distance to the mark. 
• Carrying a VHF radio, clipped to your PFD, was crucial. When resting/conversing on the beach, you can't hear any communications from the race committee. Also, they'll start boats out of the original sequence, for no clear reason. It's also handy to hear which courses the fleets ahead of you have, so that you can use them for guidance in finding which marks to go around -- this was an issue for me for the first couple of races, since I was in first place. Lastly, they'll often count the last 10 seconds to the start.
• The lake was chilly. On Saturday, I went out with just a rashguard, based on my experience with past High Sierra Regattas, but it was not warm enough. The lake water temperature was 51 degrees with 68 degrees of air temperature. It served as a disincentive to hike out hard enough. On Sunday, I went with a lightweight, 1.5mm neoprene top, which was perfect.
• Stash extra layers -- one cooler, one warmer -- on your dolly, since you don't have enough time to go to your car between races.
• If you need to fill your water bottle, the bathroom above race headquarters has drinking water.

Prestart

Each morning, head out to race headquarters on the point, in order to study the line sight. It's much easier to do on land versus drifting around on the water. This is crucial, since you need to stay out of the starting area until your five minute gun, and other tasks will require your time during the sequence. This year, the linesight was the first burned-up tree to the right of the big tree at the saddle point in the two ridges.

When you first launch, bear away and check out the finish line to see how it's favored. It will vary with the shifts, but this will be your only chance to get a reading.

Next, head out to the little cove above the starting line and check out the starboard tack wind headings at Mark 1. This will inform if you tack after rounding Mark 1 during the race, since you'll have some data points on whether you're headed or lifted.

Next, lock in your upwind sail settings. Go with an outhaul on the deep side, and then depower more with the vang and cunningham. You'll hit some light spots as you sail to the Boy Scout camp.

Wait for your five-minute gun and watch the fleets that are starting ahead of you. In particular, note which boat reaches the rocks that the Boy Scout point, and whether they cross ahead once they tack onto port.

Once your five-minute gun fires, figure out where on the line you need to start, such as that you're pointed at the beach of the Boy Scout camp. You should lift up the rocks at the point below. The amount of lift was greater when it was windier. (See diagram below.) Figuring out where on the line to be will require a bit of trial and error. It will be mid-line, so your linesight will be crucial. Note that this approach worked even though the right end of the starting line was further upwind... be patient since about 2/3 of the way to the left shore, the boats on your windward hip (when on starboard tack) will start to drop into you.

On your final approach to the line, ensure that your cunningham and vang are easily accessible while hiking on starboard.

Start to Mark 3

On the upwind legs, play your cunningham and vang so that you have the max power you can carry while keeping the boat flat and tellales straight back. One thing that was working well for me (at 180/185 pounds) was to aggressively pull on the vang as a puff hit. (Others, like Julian at 165 pounds, had to sheet out in the puffs.)

Since we're at 7000 feet altitude, it's easy to get winded on the long upwind to the Boy Scout camp. Hang in there!

The layline to Mark 3 was actually a bit before the rocks at the point, maybe 5 boatlengths prior. So, consider tacking before you reach the rocks so that you don't overstand. I'm not 100% sure of this, since Julian managed to plane over me, even though he went further. I'm unsure if this was to do with puffs reaching him first, or straight-line speed.

On the long port to Mark 3, bear away in the puffs maybe five degrees below the mark. Then head up to close hauled (no more than 5 degrees above Mark 3) in the light spots. This will keep you in the breeze longer. Keep your cunningham and vang handy, since you'll find yourself switching from depower to power-up modes.

There were never any righties on the way to Mark 3, so no need to do anything but come in on the port layline.

Start to Mark 4

Same as above, but go all the way to the rocks to stay on the lift as long as you can. Tack on the first rightie you get -- even if it's just a few boatlengths from the shore. Seems to work well. I did several tacks, once every 30 to 60 seconds, and more than most people, and it helped me pass a lot of boats. It's exhausting to do this at altitude, however.

When you're on starboard tack, approaching the shore with a boat to leeward of you, proactively say, "You tack". This does a few things: first, reassure your fellow sailor that they can tack when they want, which is good sportsmanship. Second, if they hit something, they can't protest you, since you already indicated that they had room to tack. Third, when they do tack, you can time your tack to exit right to leeward of them, and gas them on port.

Exit the left shore when Mark 4 is about 5-10 degrees off your bow when on port tack. This will let you utilize a rightie that will likely come through before you reach the mark. This is in contrast to the approach to Mark 3.

Marks 3/4 to Mark 1

In general, four downwind legs out of five, there was more breeze in the middle of the lake than close to the downwind left (north) shore. So, it paid to do a smooth jibe (typically an overhand jibe) and then go BTL while aiming just to the right of the island north of Mark 2.

While doing this, vary your course by no more than 5-10 degrees to get into puffs sooner and then soak down once you're in them.

Also, watch any boats that go in closer to shore. In one downwind leg, we saw boats gain by doing closer to the downwind left shore. In two other legs, boats closer to shore had an initial gain, which later petered out by the time they got to the island.

You can pass the island on either side. You need to give it around 3 boatlengths of clearance; look to the water to be sure.

Past the island, if it's light (5-6 knots), you'll want to favor the outside (downwind right) side to stay in more breeze. If it's windier (9-10 knots), still favor the outside, but keep an eye out for puffs rolling in off the shore that you can sail to and then bear away to soak down.

There's often a convergence of boats from multiple classes at Mark 1, so you must also keep your air clear while playing puffs and waves.

Just before the leeward mark, if you're outside boats from another class, slow way down. A Laser will accelerate on the upturn from downwind to close-hauled, as you pass through a beam reach and briefly hop onto a plane. But other boats will slow down as they turn since they are heavier and have less efficient foils.

A good rule of thumb is to ensure your bow is about three feet behind the other boat's aftmost point (transom or rudder). This should allow your bow to swing past them in case they do a wide rounding (highly likely). Or, if they round properly, it will keep you from running into them from behind.

Mark 1 to Mark 2

After rounding Mark 1, you'll have some decisions to make.

First, are you in bad air from a boat in another class? If so, get out of their bad air; their wind shadow is MUCH worse than a Laser's. If it's light (5-6 knots), perhaps you can reach off so you go left in more breeze. If it's winder (9-10 knots) and/or you're headed, perhaps a tack is the quickest way to clear your air.

In the absence of any bad air, then your typical ideal track from Mark 1 to 2 is, in light air, to go left initially to stay in more breeze, only tacking in a leftie on the final third of the beat. Of course, you'll need to find a lane to avoid wind shadows from other boats.

If it's windier, the ideal track is to go left initially, then start tacking on lefties (or if you aren't headed but see righties coming down the course) about one-third to halfway up the leg. You'll want to "ratchet" your way to the starboard layline by the final third of the beat. If you're not sure if you're headed or lifted, or in a neutral heading, stay to the right of boats around you. The wind can shift as much as 20 degrees from Mark 1 to 2 in windy (9-10 knots) conditions.

Mark 2 to Mark 7

This is the first reach. Initially, aim five degrees high of Mark 7, so you accelerate into more breeze in the lake's center. Once in this increased breeze, I like to steer an average course of about five degrees low of the mark, as you go up and down in the lulls and puffs.

On the final third of the leg, the wind will shift behind you -- this is the same geographic shift you see on the way to Boy Scout camp. At this point, you can steer up to Mark 7 and should be on a quick broad reach. At this same time, the waves will be bigger, and you might be able to get ahead by surfing on some waves. 

As you approach Mark 7, get ready for a tight reach: outhaul to upwind position, vang to two block, cunningham stays off, board up a touch from its downwind position.

Mark 7 to Mark 8

You'll start off on a tight reach. Point above the island by a few boatlengths and/or sail OVER any slower boats in other classes. It doesn't matter if they're sailing too high -- if you go below them, you'll get stuck in their wind shadow doing three knots while your competitors are doing 10-12 knots.

Once you get over the island, bear away and power up your sail (ease outhaul and vang). In general, it seemed like puffs typically came from the downwind left side of the course above 70% of the time. Stay to the left of any other classes sailing downwind as you play the puffs. This will keep you out of their bad air, as well as inside at the final leeward mark.

Mark 2 to Mark 8

Let's back up and assume we're not going to the reach mark, but instead downwind to Mark 8.

In this case, start by pointing maybe 5-10 degrees right of the southern end of the starting line, which is restricted. This will get you into the stronger wind in the middle of the lake. Once in that, then point at the pin of the starting line as you play the puffs. Pass the starting line mark to port.

The next mark is the starting area mark; this is not restricted, so you can pass it to starboard, i.e., go north of it, if necessary.

The next mark is the finish mark. Pass this to port since the finish line is restricted. As mentioned above, favor the downwind left side of the leg to catch the predominant puffs, stay in clear air, and gain the outside.

Mark 8 to finish

You'll be in one of three tactical modes on this leg -- subject to avoiding bad air from other classes with huge wind shadows:

• Cover. In this case, it's good to sail on port to the right until your competition behind is about to round the leeward mark. At that point, tack to starboard. You'll end up dead upwind of them and can cover them either way.
• Split. If no one behind is at risk of catching you, then do the opposite of the boat ahead, in case you can get a puff they don't.
• Catch up. Default to going right (puffs tend to come from that side ~70% of the time), but look up the course to see which side has the predominant puffs, and go there, while staying out of bad air.

Sometimes you'll want to tack for the favored end of the finish, but doing so will put you in the bad air of another class. In that case, it's often better to favor clear air over finishing at the favored end.

--

As Julian mentions, it'd be interesting to consider a Jim Christopher Perpetual trophy. Jim is a Laser legend. He races Lasers from the 80s (or earlier?) to at least 2011, when he won the No Coast Regatta in his late 70s (without the benefit of the Masters scoring handicap). His quiet commitment to the class and fitness were legendary. Jim passed away in 2018 -- here's his obituary with a guest book you can sign. 

Since Jim excelled on lakes, it seems natural to have a perpetual for him for one of the bigger lake regattas. There's already a perpetual trophy for the Stampede Regatta, so that leaves Huntington Lake. Anyways, something to noodle on.

Best regards,
 
Al

asar...@stanfordalumni.org | +1 650 269 2176

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/international-laser-class-association-district-24/CAH703EucY9FaHPpNETfro7MmVqkRifHVXLOV%3DXbh0FmASAutNA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Al Sargent]

Google Groups requires that photos are less than 8 MB in size. 😡 So one email per photo...

First photo: Al, Julian, and Boomer.

Best regards,
 
Al

asar...@stanfordalumni.org | +1 650 269 2176

[Al Sargent]

Chris' broken vang tang which hurt him in the last race.

Best regards,
 
Al

asar...@stanfordalumni.org | +1 650 269 2176

[Al Sargent]

Huntington Lake morning vibes... Toshi scored the coolest tent location.

Best regards,
 
Al

asar...@stanfordalumni.org | +1 650 269 2176

[Courtney Clamp]

Email is great, but shouldn’t we have a better location to share photos (ahem, social media…)?

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 13, 2023, at 11:27 AM, Al Sargent <asar...@stanfordalumni.org> wrote:



To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/international-laser-class-association-district-24/CAP8fJnwKEV6mbXe7EUQ4CEP5WyhS0Wq9imb7qVK8SvTT8%2BnOfw%40mail.gmail.com.

<HSR Course Chart _ fresnoyachtclub copy.pdf>

[Courtney Clamp]

Email is great, but shouldn’t we have a better location to share photos (ahem, social media…)?