District 5 Regatta Results  1999 Season

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May 29-30, Calgary Yacht Club, Chestermere - Alberta Gold Cup Race 1 of 7

Youth showed the way at the Alberta Gold Cup race at Calgary Yacht Club.  This was the first of two selection trials for the Alberta team to for the Western Canada Games to be sailed at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan over July 14-17.  With predominately light winds Stefan Dalberg and Dale Miller fought a close duel over the first five races, but then Stefan pulled out a couple of bullets to win.   Dick Degner was upset to be protested, and subsequently disqualified, after a Hobie sailor in a different fleet had to alter course (only slightly, said Dick!) in a Port/Starboard incident. (Next time Dick, tack right between his hulls and see how he likes that!).

Laser Standard Rig

Laser >>

A nail-biter in the Laser >> class.   It was all down to the last race to decide the first three places.  

June 5-6 District 5 Championships - Wabamun Sailing Club, near Edmonton - Alberta Gold Cup 2 of 7, D5 Grand Prix 1 of 5

Laser Standard Rig
Saturday - 3 Races - Light shifting easterly winds provided some testing times for the 15 Lasers, 3 Radials, and 6 Laser >>s on the first day of the District 5 Championships.   Alberta's Erin Smith, past Canadian Youth Champion showed the boys the way home in no uncertain terms.  She notched a 1,2,1 to take an easy lead at the end of the first day.   All three races were completed before lunch.  After lunch the wind disappeared as a front came through with the winds picking up in late afternoon, again light, but from the north west.   Stefan Dalberg, Dale Miller, and Mike Terriff ("The Terrible Trio") of the Alberta Sailing Team continued their battle for the two U23 laser spots for Alberta in the Western Canada Games.  Stefan had a good lock on first place with his results the previous weekend, but Dale had to watch out for Mike Terriff, especially if the wind freshened, being the lighter of the two.  With five fleets racing (Including handicap, Fireballs and Bytes) variations of the trapezoid course were used.  A separate finish line was used to leeward of the start line.  As soon as a fleet finished it was required to head up to the start line for the next race.  (A very efficient way of pushing boats out on to the race course without going through multi fleet starts for each race but with the disadvantage for some of losing a windward leg.)   Due to the light wind the courses were relatively short putting a extra incentive on getting that good start.

Race 1 - Erin Smith got the best start at the pin end of the line and was never headed.   Barry Tee chased hard but had to settle for second.  The terrible trio filled the next three spots with Dale, Stephan and Mike finishing 3, 4, and 5.

Race 2 - Erin and John D-E fought it out at the pin end but both returned after being over at the start.   Most of the fleet went right but John saw more wind inshore to the left, and rounded first closely followed by Goran Cotra with Erin third .  Goran picked up the lead on the first run but John got the better shifts on the second beat to pull out a good lead. 

Race 3 - Yet again Erin and John fought for the pin end with John getting the better start (finally!!).  Erin showed her stuff by outpacing  John on the long port tack to the mark to round just ahead.  She held the lead until the the race committee shortened the course with the wind suddenly picking up and threatening to squall.  After lunch the wind died right off and racing was abandoned at 3:30 P.M. for the day.   Dale got the second of his two thirds places and started to look good for the second Alberta team spot, but had an OCS in Race 2.

Sunday - 4 Races - The prairie wind came back with a vengeance on Sunday with gust up to 30 knots recorded before the racing.  The wind during the racing was  15 - 20 knots with occasional gusts to 25 knots, but starting to fade to 10 to15 knots on the fourth race.    The racing started at 9:30 am (Yes, that's right 9:30 AM!) and the four races were run without a break.  Power bars and Gatorade were in demand for on-the-water refreshments. The early strong wind forced some of the competitors into spectators.   Races 4-7 ended up being the John and Barry show with John D-E and Barry Tee sharing the results each with two firsts and two seconds.  Erin Smith showed continued good form in the heavy air but did not have the upwind pace of the John and Barry.  As for the fight between Dale and Mike for the second Alberta spot, it was Mike just pipping Dale over the two events, thanks in no small part to the three stronger wind races on  Sunday morning.  Erin Smith had already been given the Europe spot with her previous record and experience with sailing the Europe.

General comments -  Excellent race management by the Wabamun Sailing Club, combined with the mix of wind strengths made this a fantastic regatta. On Sunday morning the waves had been building over the length of the lake so we all had lots of practice at "S" curves and sailing by the lee in strong winds - and even the odd submarine impression.  The shifts were always present so places could be made by finding those "lucky" shifts even in the breeze.   Next weekend another regatta at the other end of  Lake Wabamun at Seba Beach with Edmonton Yacht Club, and then its east to Saskatchewan for CYA's SailWest event and the Western Canadian Laser Championships - (a grade 3 world ranking regatta).  Lots of action in D5.  Results are below.  One discard in seven races.  The old Olympic bonus scoring system was used.  First = 0. Second =3, Third = 5.7, Fourth = 8 etc.

Laser Standard Rig Results

Laser Radial Results

Laser >> Results

D5 Championship photos have moved here

June 12-13, 1999 - Edmonton Yacht Club Intercity Regatta, Seba Beach, Lake Wabamun.  Alberta Gold Cup 3 of 7

Barry Tee got his revenge after his second place last week at the D5 Championships.  A first and two seconds over five races in mostly light winds was enough to clinch the regatta.  Krzysztof Machnowski, the Alberta Sailing Team Coach graced the regular laser sailors and his team members with his presence and ended up in second place with a first, second and a third. Ian Chisholm was the first youth and Alberta Sailing Team member in third place.  (A big improvement on his previous 9th and 12th place regatta results this year.) His ghosting skills on Saturday pushed him into first place overnight with a first and second.  

Saturday - 2 Races - Wind Strength- Light to none.  A weak high pressure system wandered through Alberta on Saturday effectively killing any hope of wind.  Clam conditions greeted the competitors with only  one race was held before lunch with Mike Lemieux (D5's answer to Fred Schroth) overcame a considerable weight handicap to squeak a win from Ian Chisholm. Keamia Rasa, Alberta's top Byte sailor grabbed third spot in what was her first regatta in a standard rig laser.  Much to everyone's surprise the Race Committee announced at 3:30 that a race would start at 4:00.  The Fireballs stayed on shore but the Lasers and handicap class took to the water.  Ian Chisholm won the the search for huff and puff  followed by Dick Degner of Calgary. Third was Keamia Rasa again.

Sunday - 3 Races - A light shifting easterly wind set in with the high pressure system moving on.  It slowly built during the day to give some good racing  on large almost Olympic size courses.  An early 9:30 start caught a few people napping including your illustrious reporter. Even with the light wind, a waves had built over the 10 mile length of the lake providing a testing short chop when the wind faded from time to time.  Shifting winds caused some testing times for most.  The variation was 20 degrees either side of the mean, so big gains and losses were the order of the day.  Twice big starboard lifts came in to shuffle the pack.  Eyes on the Fireball fleet ahead was order of the day to see the big changes coming.  Barry and Krzysztof fought over the first two races trading firsts and second.  Keamia picked up her hat trick of third places by race three.  Race four saw  John Dawson-Edwards finally start to wake up and take third place after pushing Barry and Krzysztof for most of the race.  Race five was close for the first lap.  John lead at the first mark closely followed by Barry.  On the second reach the wind dropped, with Krzysztof and big Mike caught up the leading pair.  John headed up to defend his position leaving Barry to gain the lead at the leeward mark.  Big shifts were the order of day on the second beat, John saw the big starboard lift coming in the Fireball fleet and  tacked right before it hit to get the take most advantage and held on to win the last race.

Comments:  Tough competition in D5!  The first seven boats were covered by nine points. 

Latest Alberta Gold Cup standings 

June 18-20, 1999  Western Canadian Laser Championships/SailWest - Fort Qu'Appelle, SK  District 5 GP 2 of 5.

The 1999 edition of SailWest was held at HMCS Qu'Appelle, the Sea Cadet Training Facility at Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan.  Distance and school exams served to limit the number of sailors with only 13 standard rig lasers making the event.  Barry Tee and John Dawson-Edwards made the trip from Alberta to continue their D5 battle, along with one sailor from Manitoba.  Mark Lammens brought his Saskatchewan sailing team to the event and also sailed the event himself.  Accommodation was provided at the Training Facility (an old TB Sanatorium) from Friday night through Sunday Lunch.  Friday afternoon and evening saw some practice drills with short windward leeward legs then start again (and again...)  

Saturday.  Racing was set to start at 10.00 am but local thunderstorms caused a postponement until some heavy rain and very close lightning strikes had passed.  Strong South Easterly winds set in following the thunderstorm with winds in the 30 to 40 km/h range.  Courses were traditional Olympic courses with the start/finish line set in the middle of the beat.

Race One.  Mark Lammens lead at the first mark putting his 250 or so lbs to work driving his boat through the short chop, John D-E followed with Barry Tee third.  John took the lead on the first reach being a relative flyweight at 190 lbs only to capsize at the first gybe.  He held second ahead of Barry at the leeward buoy.  Mark made it interesting by capsizing upwind a couple of times when he failed to get under the boom (ex-Finn sailor says it all) but held on the win a close one.  Finishing order was Mark, John, Barry .

Race Two. First mark was Mark, Barry and John with the positions staying in that order at the finish.  Wind shifts made the beat a very long port tack with little chance of passing.

Race Three.  Mark lead Barry and John at the end of the first lap, but John's 20lb advantage? over Barry told upwind.  John closed on Mark on the final leg but too little too late.

Race Four.  The usual suspects in the lead again.  John took the lead from Mark on the run as the wind lightened slightly to pull into a 10 boat length lead starting the last beat.  Mark started a tacking duel and dutifully John followed, the pair tacking around a dozen times up to the finish line.  Mark closed the gap but not enough, leaving John with the win.  Points at the end of Day one was Mark 1,1,1,2 = 4 1/4, John 2,3,2,1=7 3/4 and Barry 3,2,3,3 = 11

Sunday.
Race Five.  Light winds in the 10 km/hr range greeted the sailors at the 9:00 am start. John lead at the first mark only to be passed by Barry on the first reach.  John and Barry got the shift rights on the second beat to haul out a good lead but Barry just sailed away and was not challenged for the win.  Graeme Strathdee held on to a good third place pushing Mark Lammens down to fourth.  The points now tightened up with John gaining on Mark and Barry on both of them, but five races now allowed a discard.  

A sixth race was started with light airs with John, Barry and Graeme pulling away from the fleet as the wind dropped off.   The race committee first shortened then abandoned all racing for the day as all wind disappeared.   A relief for Mark who was down the fleet and may not have held on to the regatta lead.  Steady fourth places for Doug Feaver from Winnipeg (District 4), and a good light weather showing for GM Graeme Strathdee on the Sunday ensured his fifth place. The results for the laser fleet are below.

First Master was John D-E (M), second was Barry Tee (A) and third was Graeme Strathdee (GM)

(ILCA Members are shown in Bold)
Latest District 5 Grand Prix Standings

Laser II Results

A clean sweep for the Grant brothers for Saskatoon in Laser II's

July 10-11  Newell Sailing Club, Lake Newell - Prairie Wind Regatta - D5 Grand Prix Race 3 of 5, Alberta Gold Cup Race 4 of 7

Event was a mostly light wind affair won by Stefan Dalberg.  

July 31- Aug 2   Battleford Sailing Club - Jackfish Lake - Saskatchewan Provincial Championships and Masters Championships - D5 Grand Prix 4 of 5

Where's all the wind gone?  Another light to no wind regatta.  Light winds allowed racing on only one day.  Five shortish races were completed with Barry Tee the convincing winner. 

Saskatchewan Masters Championship 1999

September 4-6 - Alberta Provincial Regatta - Calgary Yacht Club, Chestermere Lake

No report, however, Mike Terriff said the wind was light for the first two days, then some wind on the last day.  Apparently John Russell is even lighter than Stefan and got blown back on the windy day.  The old geezers (master laser sailors) went off to Vancouver for the Canadian Masters.  To see how they did against the west coast hot-shots click here.  (They did OK!).  The biggest D5 laser fleet of the year turned out.