May 27 -28 Calgary Yacht Club Icebreaker Regatta (Albert Gold Cup #1)
Laser Fleet best 4 of 6 races
1 Stefan Dalberg
3.00 Calgary YC, Chestermere, AB
2 Dave Stroppel 10.75 Glenmore Sailing
Club, Calgary
3 Stephen Reichenfeld 17.00 Calgary YC
4 Doug Bell
18.00 Calgary YC
4 Dick Degner 18.00
Glenmore SC
6 Goran Cotra 19.00
6 Bruce Kendall 19.00
8 Roger Redwin 28.00
9 Ralf Southwell 29.00
10 Andreas Grabe 31.00
11 Barry O'Flynn 35.00
June 3-4 Western Canada Laser Championships, SailWest, Wabamun Open (Alberta Gold Cup #2)
The dreaded light winds and sun returned after several days of strong winds before the regatta. No waves, no hiking, no pumping, but a good fleet and good sailing--weather that Fred would hate. Only four of the seven scheduled races were run, three on Saturday and one on Sunday as the wind died away to nothing. The benefactor of all this was Alberta Sailing Association Executive Director and Alberta Sailing Team coach Krzysztof Machnowski. He won the main event and the masters division. Neither he nor second place District 5 secretary and master John Dawson-Edwards won a race, but consistency in the shifting wind was order of the day. Close behind in third place overall was apprentice Barry Tee and Manitoba youth sailor Sascha Smutry.
While the wind at Lake Wabamun is normally from the west, the high pressure ridge that brought the warm (24 -27 deg C) temperatures blew in some shifty southerlies. The winners needed to find both the wind shift and the wind pressure, finding the shift was not enough, you had to be far enough into the shift to get some pressure with it and then hope you were in phase as you approached the windward mark.
In race 1 John D-E lead at the first mark and for most of the race until the last downwind stretch and the reach to the finish when lightweights Smutry and Machnowski blew by. In race 2 it was close at the end of the first lap when Barry Tee went right (with your reporter going left into the toilet) on the second beat and took an easy lead by sailing with the shift and pressure around those who tried the play the shifts or went left. In race 3, Erika Vines, CYA's racing coordinator took the lead on the second beat by getting in phase as she approached the top mark and stretched out the lead to the finish. At the end of day 1, Mr. Konsistency Machnowski led with 6pts from Barry Tee on 10 pts and John D-E on 11 pts. Sascha Smutry showed was easily the top youth sailor on 12 pts. His 8th place position in race three was to cost him dearly in the series.
Sunday was another scorcher (for Alberta) with the wind staying in the south in the early morning. Race Officer Peter van Muyden delayed the start hoping for steadier conditions which materialized around 10 am with some new wind from the west. The race was started with the wind being more steadier but unfortunately dropping off to almost nothing causing requiring the shorten course flag to be hoisted and finished at the bottom of the first downwind leg of the trapezoid course. After a general recall John D-E and Graeme Strathdee had led at the first mark, closely followed by Sascha Smutry. At the wing mark Graeme took the lead as the fleet slowed with the dropping wind. On the downwind drift to the finish Graeme Strathdee pipped John D-E by a few feet to take the win. Results with no discards (with CYA scoring of 0.75 for 1st place) were:
1 161055 Krzysztof Machnowski M 2 2 2 5 11.0 2 98117 John Dawson-Edwards M 3 5 3 2 13.0 3 37682 Barry Tee A 5 1 4 4 13.8 4 168393 Sascha Smutry Y 1 3 8 3 14.8 5 161425 Erika Vines F 7 6 1 6 19.8 6 162295 Graeme Strathdee GM 8 4 11 1 23.8 7 148763 Mark Lammens A 4 10 5 10 29.0 8 73683 Jim Goodvin M 14 8 6 8 36.0 9 162419 Goran Cotra A 6 11 14 7 38.0 10 157870 Dick Degner GGM 12 7 10 9 38.0 11 22349 Ian Chisholm Y 10 9 9 13 41.0 12 51263 Jason Valen 9 16 7 11 43.0 13 11 Bruce Kendall M 11 15 12 12 50.0 14 105270 Patric Byrns 13 12 13 15 53.0 15 116940 Rozer Renwin 15 13 17 14 59.0 16 150138 Barry O'Flynn 16 14 16 17 63.0 17 133924 Chris Patterson 17 17 15 16 65.0
The Masters results, run as a subset of the main event had John D-E lose his unbeaten Canadian masters record to Krzysztof Machnowski who had turned 45 over the winter (without telling John). Graeme Strathdee took third with Barry Tee and D5's first GGM Dick Degner from Calgary getting fifth.
June 3-4 Western Canadian Masters Championships
1 161055 Krzysztof Machnowski M 1 2 1 4 15.5 2 98117 John Dawson-Edwards M 2 4 2 2 18.0 3 162295 Graeme Strathdee GM 5 3 7 1 19.8 4 37682 Barry Tee A 4 1 3 3 22.8 5 157870 Dick Degner GGM 7 5 6 6 24.0 6 73683 Jim Goodvin M 8 6 5 5 32.0 7 148763 Mark Lammens A 3 7 4 7 33.0 8 11 Bruce Kendall M 6 8 8 8 38.0
Apprentices 35-44 (+3pts per race) Masters 45-54 (+2pts) Grand Masters (+1pt) Great-Grand Masters 65+ no handicap
Keamia Rasa of the Alberta Sailing Team cleaned up the Radial fleet before she heads off to Turkey for the Youth and Women's worlds in July.
Radials
1 10683 Keamia Rasa 1 1 1 2 4.3 2 148869 Erin Flanagan 2 2 2 3 9.0 3 698 Margaux La Casse 3 4 3 1 10.8 4 157871 Dana Miller 4 3 4 4 15.0 5 148855 Meghan Chisholm 5 5 5 DNC 21.0
June 23-25 NA Region Midwest Championships. District 5 GP #1
27 lasers hit the water for the Midwest Championships at Wabamun Sailing Club, 40 km west of Edmonton. Practice was held on Friday afternoon with racing beginning on Saturday morning. Races were trapezoid courses finishing downwind.
Race 1 A change of course proved the undoing of the front end of the fleet leading to many DNF's. Race committee changed the course by moving the weather mark to the right but the leaders were too busy watching each other to find the new mark. Unfortunately the wind had shift back making the new mark far to the right of the true windward course. The leaders were confused by the dory in the position of where they thought the mark was going to be, but it was actually pulling the old mark out. No one protested although there probably would have (in my opinion) a reasonable cause for redress. The sailing instructions noted that the mark may not necessarily be in place when the leaders rounded the leeward mark. The replacement mark was much less visible than the standard dayglo orange marks. The SI's also only require the Race Committee to advise via red or green flags the direction it has been moved - no compass courses are given.
For detailed results see WSC results page for standard rig and masters
The rest of report hopefully will follow one day, but your webMaster sailed like a drain for most of the event and seems to have a memory lapse regarding the event.
District 5 sailors were given a lesson by Jonathan Beskin and Mike Leigh from Vancouver on their way back from the Olympic trials where they achieved 16th and 20th respectively. Third was Keamia Rasa who sailed a full rig at the last minute when no other radials showed up. Pity for the rest of us. Keamia showed she has what it takes and appears to have "come of age" this year as her Radial results in Turkey show.
July 8-9 Newell S. C. Southern Alberta Laser Championships - District 5 GP #2
For the second year running, the Prairie Wind Regatta ran out of wind and only a few lasers showed up. Only four lasers sailed, Dick Degner and Goran Cotra from Glenmore S. C. in Calgary and John D-E from Wabamun S. C. Only three of us were really racing with A. N. Other cruising around at the back of the fleet. With four boats the lasers did not have their own fleet, but were scored in the X-class. The main opposition were a bunch of fireballs. Starts were everyone together which caused a lot of excitement especially when the cruiser guys start yelling "up up up" just before the gun aiming at you like it was demolition derby night.
Saturday started with lightish winds that faded to nothing. Three races were run. John D-E won all the laser races and was leading handicap class thanks to a few lucky puffs which allowed the lasers to close up to the fireballs at the end of race three. On Sunday two (or three - I can't remember) races were held with Goran Cotra breaking John's laser clean sweep. The courses suited the fireballs with the spinnaker reaches so that on handicap the fireballs claimed first and second from John. Dick Degner was second laser with Goran Cotra third.
A disappointing turnout (its only an hour from Calgary) at a great lake - its clean warm fresh water being fed by the Bow River. Given the democracy movement within D5 to allow sailors in specific areas to choose their own Grand Prix events this may be the last time for a while that we have a D5 event at Newell. We don't have a minimum turnout requirement for a GP result to count as yet but that may need some pondering.
August 5-7 NA District 5 Championships - Saskatchewan Provincial Championships - District 5 GP #3
Report by Ben Pickford, District 5 Saskatchewan Rep
The 2000 Sask. Provincial Laser Championship at Jackfish Lake Aug. 5-7 sponsored by the Battlefords Sailing Club was a great success with 11 races sailed. Included among the 16 Lasers were 4 sailors from Alberta, 3 women, and 11 masters.
On Saturday, the winds started light, but soon filled in for good racing in shifty conditions and 3 races were completed. Sunday saw stronger winds with small whitecaps for some races, but the wind continued to be very shifty. Big gains and losses were experienced so everybody had their chance to lead the fleet for awhile but Barry Tee showed his superiority by finishing 1, 2, 3 in every race except one. Even when he capsized right behind me as he very aggressively rounded the windward mark, he soon caught up.The winds were very light Monday morning so only one race was completed. Dick Degner, the master of light wind sailing, took an early lead, played every puff perfectly, and was never to be challenged. Personally, I felt my performance is improving as a result of lots of racing in regattas and club races the past 2 years along with instruction by Mark Lammens. Practice does make a big difference. Another highlight for me was renewing an acquaintance with Doug Sevick who I raced against in the 1960's in Enterprises as teenagers. It brought back good memories of the early days in my sailing experience. I hope we will see more of him. I understand Bruce Kendall has also recently returned to Laser sailing and it's obvious he knows how to sail.
On Sunday night after eating steak and drinking beer in Meota, many of us returned to the Club site to witness a wild prairie storm which blew over some of the boats and toppled a good many of the tents. My 'No Face' tent was quite a tangled mess, and when the wind died and I reconstructed the tent, it was a damp sleep that night.
Thanks to Barry (Commodore) from the Battlefords Sailing Club for hosting the Regatta along with his club members. Thanks to the ladies who put on the Sat. night buffet. And thanks to Mike Heseltine (from the PA Sailing Club) for running races in shifty conditions. Barry Tee won the overall Laser Championship, Dick Degner, the Masters event, and the top woman was Jamie Hogan.
Battlefords Aug 2000 Overall Results - Discard Worst
1 37682 Barry
Tee Sylvan
Lake 3 1 2 1
3 2 2 7 2
2 25.00 18.00 A1
2 148763 Mark Lammens
Blackstrap 1 4 1
5 10 1 1 3 1
3 30.00 20.00 A2
3 18922 Ben Pickford
Saskatoon 5 2
4 6 4 5 3
2 3 10 44.00 34.00 M1
4 157870 Dick Degner
Glenmore 6 5
3 7 5 3 4 11
7 1 52.00 41.00 S1
5 00 Bruce Kendall
Royal Victoria 7 7 6 2
7 6 5 1 4
5 50.00 43.00 M2
6 162295 Graeme Strathdee Blackstrap
9 3 5 3 1
7 7 4 6 9 54.00
45.00 G1
7 166130 Pat Byrns
Blackstrap 2 6 8
9 17F 4 6 10 5
4 71.00 54.00 A3
8 97811 Jamie Hogan
Blackstrap 8 12 17F 10
2 9 11 12 9 8 98.00
81.00 O1 F1
9 162425 Jon Ferguson
Saskatoon 4 9 12
11 9 10 12 8 14
6 95.00 81.00 O2
10 162419 Goran Cotra Glenmore 12 8
7 4 8 17F 8 9
8 17F 98.00 81.00 A4
11 80212 Mark Drozda LMLSC
14 10
9 8 12 11 10 13 12 17F 116.00
99.00 A5
12 142650 Rachelle Lidington Blackstrap 17F 17F 17F 17F
6 12 13 5 10 7 121.00 104.00 O3
F2
13 101935 Gayvin Franson
Saskatoon 13 17F 10 13 11
14 9 6 15 17F 125.00 108.00 G2
14 148162 Sarah Green
Blackstrap 11 14 14 12 13
8 14 14 11 11 122.00 108.00 O4 F3
15 12557 Doug Sevick
Battlefords 15 13 11 14 14 13
15 15 13 17F 140.00 123.00 M3
16 148764 Drew Bertwistle Blackstrap
10 11 13 17F 17F 17F 17F 17F 17F 17F 153.00 136.00 O5
Masters Results on handicap
1 157870 Dick Degner 41.00 S1
2 37682 Barry Tee 45.00 A1
3 148763 Mark Lammens 47.00 A2
4 18922 Ben Pickford 52.00 M1
5 162295 Graeme Strathdee 54.00 G1
6 00 Bruce Kendall 61.00 M2
7 166130 Pat Byrns 81.00 A3
8 162419 Goran Cotra 108.00 A4
9 101935 Gayvin Franson 117.00 G2
10 80212 Mark Drozda 126.00 A5
11 12557 Doug Sevick 141.00 M3
Aug 19-20 District 22 Championships, Kalispell, Montana
Ist John D-E
2nd Barry Tee
full results to follow
Aug 25-27 North American Masters, Cascade Locks, Oregon - see this link
Sept 2-4 Alberta Provincial Regatta, Wabamun SC
Sail no skipper 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total
1 37682 Barry Tee 1 2 1 [ 2 ] 1 [ 2 ] 1 1 5.8
2 151039 Keamia Rasa [ 5 ] 3 3 [DNS] 2 1 2 3 13.8
3 98117 John Dawson-Edwards 2 1 2 [DNS] [ 5 ] 3 3 4 14.8
4 156694 John Russell 10 [DNC] [DNC] 1 4 4 4 2 24.8
5 157870 Dick Degner 4 4 4 5 5 5 [ 6 ] [ 6 ] 27.0
6 162419 Goran Cotra 7 7 5 3 3 [ 9 ] 8 [DNF] 33.0
7 73683 Jim Goodvin 6 5 [DNF] 4 6 8 5 [ 8 ] 34.0
8 133924CP Chris Patterson 3 8 6 [DNC] 7 6 [OCS] 9 39.0
9 150138 Barry O'Flynn [ 9 ] 6 [DNF] 6 8 7 7 5 39.0
10 131611 Eric Flanagan 8 DNF DNC DNC DNC [DNC] [DNC] 7 63.0
11 AB David Summerville 11 DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC [DNC] [OCS] 71.0
Notes:
John Russell of 470 fame weighs 120 lbs. Can you guess the heavy wind, medium wind and light wind races he sailed? Is the laser a weight sensitive boat?
John D-E and Keamia Rasa had identical results going into the last race. They had a match race being no more than ten boat lengths apart for the whole race. Keamia pulled ahead as the course was shortened at the bottom of the run and the wind moved 180 degrees. John did not cover tightly enough and should have positioned his boat directly in front of Keamia's boat as the wind move around. Lesson learned.
Note the DNS/DNC on race 4 for Sunday morning. A few later starters for the race. John D-E started three seconds after the allowable time limit of three minutes? and even though he finished fourth, the result was thrown out. In race three he was out ahead but dropped the mainsheet bearing away at the last windward mark and capsized to windward. That cost second place in the regatta.
Barry gave us a sailing lesson in consistency dropping a second place. On Monday only one of the three races was sailed due to lack of wind.
Dick Degner was winner of the masters division.
Sept 9-10 End of Summer Hummer, Sylvan Lake SC
Light winds on Saturday when the forecast 30-50 kph winds failed to materialize for the small but high quality fleet. On Sunday it was around 4-5 deg and blowing a steady 22 gusting 30 mph at 8:30 am. By consent the sailing was cancelled for the Sunday due to adverse (too cold) conditions. John D-E blew his chance of catching Barry in the D5 Grand Prix with an OCS in the second race when he was first across the line. Barry led the first race but sailed to the wrong mark letting Keamia take the lead. Keamia led the second race until the wind died on the last upwind leg on the shortened course when John D-E showed some light air prowess to sail away from Keamia and Peter Wilson but all to no avail with the OCS. Peter van Muyden from Wabamun was guest race officer for the dinghy fleet, other than handing out more alphabet soup characters to your webmaster, his presence was much appreciated.