SSA Frostbite Results: January 8

Standard Rig

Sunday’s racing was challenging to say the least with wind shifts and pressure that was not consistent across the race coarse. In conditions like these you really have to keep your head out of the boat and monitor the other boats across the course. You need to be aware if you are on the favorable tack and on the proper side of the coarse. It seemed that the first few minutes after the start could make or break your place at the windward mark. I really was conscious of keeping myself positioned with boats that were in better wind(direction and strength) than others. Down wind huge gains or losses we’re made if you managed to be in the breeze the difficulty was the side it came from was inconsistent which meant to me constantly looking back.

Bob Tan

Radial Rig

I made a few big mistakes like being over early two times and capsizing to windward when the wind disappeared momentarily in race 4 but made back several places with boat speed. It seemed important to get clear air and work on finding the flat water groove. I was two-blocked whenever the wind was over 5 knots although this isn’t supposed to be fast with a Radial, and listening to the helm when the boat asked to inch up to windward a bit. Upwind I mostly followed shifts up the middle since you could be left out to dry on either side. Downwind, the north side of the course was almost always faster. Dorian went by me twice over there so later in the day I tried to be farthest left, sailing ridiculously far away from the rhumb line, duking it out for that position and it paid for me as it did for her. There were better puffs on the north side and maybe some swells from the Severn to ride downwind. For several races the finish line mark was way favored so the race was to that mark, definitely not to the boat end. The huge left shift in the middle of the day occurred before one of our starts and was very entertaining. Most of us got disoriented and were over early. Kudos to the RC for calling out numbers and allowing us to restart. May we be so lucky as to have a few more nice sailing days this frostbiting season!

John Zseleczky

Division: Laser (12 boats) 

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total Points	Pos
1	183826		Tan, Robert J.	4	1	1	2	2	3	3	16.00	1
2	92		OHare, Gavin	2	2	6	1	5	1	2	19.00	2
3	157905		Maxwell, J.R.	6	6	3	6	1	2	1	25.00	3
4	170058		Fishback, Bryan	1	5	4	4	3	5	4	26.00	4
5	200369		Petty, David	3	4	2	7	6	4	6	32.00	5
6	187741		Clifton, Tip	8	7	7	8	4	6	8	48.00	6
7	169781		Wesdyk, Russell	7	3	11	5	10	7	7	50.00	7
8	180536	Cold Feet	Cofer, Steven	9	8	8	3	11	8	9	56.00	8
9	185776		Smith, Jerry	5	10	5	12	9	9	10	60.00	9
10	172523		Goscha, Jason	11	9	9	11	12	11	5	68.00	10
11	152989 (3889)	Wanda	Futcher, JR	13/NoFin	13/NoFin	10	9	7	10	11	73.00	11
12	213072		Wrangle, John	10	11	12	10	8	12	13/NoFin	76.00	12

Division: Laser Radial (7 boats)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total Points	Pos
1	200204		Zseleczky, John	5	2	1	2	1	3	1	15.00	1
2	186519	TBA	Haldeman, Dorian	2	1	2	4	5	1	2	17.00	2
3	191513 (13)		Beiger, Read	4	3	4	5	2	2	3	23.00	3
4	175592	sailregattas.com	Gebhardt, John	1	6	3	3	3	4	4	24.00	4
5	153006	Flight Risk	Westphal, Sandy	6	4	5	1	4	6	6	32.00	5
6	176087		Gibb, Victoria	7	7	7	6	6	5	5	43.00	6
7	188921		Schoene, Andrew	3	5	6	8/NoFin	8/NoFin	8/NoFin	8/NoFin	46.00	7

Notes

(1)	Scoring System is ISAF Low Point 2009-2012

Cumulative Results

SSA Frostbite Results: December 18

It wasn’t really a day that felt successful for, but plenty of people had bad races to go with their good races. It was one of those days where it was easy to make one mistake and end up in the back of the fleet. The wind was highly variable, with large shifts and patchy puffs all day long. The wind was from the North when we launched, and it clocked right throughout our day, ending up a bit South of East. The least wind we saw was almost nothing, about 3 knots, and at its best it was around 8-9 knots. There was a strong ebb current, which was an interesting variable since the weather mark was out in the river near the academy. We had the river to ourselves and the river was totally flat all day long.

Viewing the results, the key to success was not having a really bad race or two. My strategy in most of the races was to go for a good but safe start, sail the lifts upwind to the new breeze in clear air, keep clear air downwind on the side of the course where the new breeze would arrive, and stay alert near the end of the race for opportunities to pass boats and avoid others passing me.

Getting a solid but safe start sometimes meant yielding the end of the favored side to many boats. This was particularly true when the pin was strongly favored as the line was not very long and many had trouble getting up to the line. When the boat was favored, it was difficult for boats near the boat end not to sail over the line early. Upwind, it wasn’t always possible to see what was going to happen ahead of time, but sometimes we were sailing towards new breeze, and there was almost always a favored tack. The shifts were very local, so I felt that it was important to sail in the breeze you had and stay aware of quick short shifts. Just because a boat 50 yards away got a puff or a shift doesn’t mean you’re going to get it, at least not right away. This was especially true near the top mark – I felt that I gained and lost many positions there.

Downwind I tried to sail near the edge of the course where I expected the next new breeze to fill in. Often boats would sail up from behind in a new puff, but it seemed relatively easy to stay in front when I was on the edge of the course and kept clear air. One thing that I think is important downwind in light air is knowing exactly what point of sail you are on. A lot of people are set up to run or sail by the lee, with the sail all the way out and heel to windward. But in these light, shifty conditions, you often end up on a broad reach or surprisingly tight reach. I find its important to trim the sail correctly and to have the boat flat or heeled to windward to keep the boom down.

Upwind was often skewed to one side of the course, so it was important to be aware of the laylines as we rounded the leeward mark and try to keep clear air.

It was a tough day for the race committee, kudos to them for working hard to make the best of it. They must have moved at least one mark every race. In these conditions, it’s impossible to keep every leg and line square, but I thought that most races were still competitive. The I flag was definitely helpful for controlling the starts, even if not all the competitors seem to be aware of it! – Luke Shingledecker

SSA Frostbite Results: December 11

From the Standard winner Bryan Fishback:

I am not sure how it happen, but I am writing up the report from last Sunday’s Laser Frostbite. I am pretty sure that everyone that was ahead of me most of the day either had to go in early or came out late or they weren’t registered. You know who you are. That being said, I will not be able to impart any great gems of wisdom from what I really thought was just an OK day on my part. So we are left with the travel log version of the day’s event.

It was a bright and slightly cooler day than we have had for the previous two Sundays. The wind was 3 to 8 out of the NE and E and occasionally the N and SE. The race course was set mostly directly down wind from Greenberry Point, so the breeze would fill in alternately from the NE over the North Severn anchorage or E around the end of the point.

There was an unusually strong current flooding in the river that made going left without breeze hazardous. During the earlier races the right seemed to pay a little more than the left, but the key was looking upwind and staying in the small circles of wind as they came down the course. Later, the left was more consistently better than the right, but only when there was enough breeze to overcome the current. I most always lost boats down wind, so that’s all I am going to say about that. The last upwind leg was were I was able to gain most consistently.

It can be a matter of luck how you round the bottom mark and whether you have a lane or not, but after the crap house downwind legs I was having, I made sure that I had a tight rounding and had the option of tacking right way. This seemed to work often, because the left had a bit more breeze and the current was not as strong at the bottom of the course.

From the Radial winner John Zseleczky:

The wind forecast was marginal but this turned out to be a really fun light air sailing day; we were always moving and there were always surprises … a miniature golf type of sailing day. The wind not only shifted back and forth but was patchy and you had to get to where the wind was or be left behind. In the earlier races the right side sometime paid off when sailing the first and final windward legs but as the day wore on the left side almost always had more wind and it was worth suffering through headers to get there. It took me a few races to change my mindset and get to the left but once I did those legs went better. A few times I found myself on a port lift winding up the course. This was nerve wracking knowing a final tack was needed but usually the wind went back and all was well. Other times there were quick, brief shifts that you had to tack on and stair-step up the course or be left behind by someone more aggressive.

On a memorable finish leg I tacked four times on Reid Beigel, felt like a mean old man and tacked off to cover the other (wrong) side. Reid went off to the left on starboard to sail in more air to finish well ahead. I learned from that and got to do the same to him on a later race.

Downwind, finding and staying in puffs seemed very important. Sandy and Dorian sailed by me a few times in some mystery puffs that I couldn’t find. The finish leg offered lots of opportunities to get back from poor downwind legs though, by tacking immediately after the leeward mark and getting to the windier left side of the course. As the finish line approached it was always nice to be on starboard when other boats were coming in from the left.

Thanks again to our race committee!

Division: Laser (18 boats) 

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total Points	Pos
1	170058		Fishback, Bryan	6	4	3	1	2	2	3	21.00	1
2	183826		Tan, Robert J.	1	2	5	3	3	7	2	23.00	2
3	157905		Maxwell, J.R.	3	7	6	2	5	4	6	33.00	3
4	175881		Jacob, James	5	1	4	9	7	3	5	34.00	4
5	198025		Shingledecker, Luke	8	9	1	7	1	5	4	35.00	5
6	155315		Whitacre, Hal	19/NoFin	13	8	5	4	1	1	51.00	6
7	187741		Clifton, Tip	10	10	10	6	6	8	7	57.00	7
8	169781		Wesdyk, Russell	11	6	12	8	8	6	12	63.00	8
9	173641		Wilson, Leo	13	5	7	11	11	11	8	66.00	9
10	152814		Alexander, Ramsey Murray	2	3	2	4	19/NoFin	19/NoFin	19/NoFin	68.00	10
11	185776		Smith, Jerry	12	12	9	12	9	13	10	77.00	11
12	168440		Leonard, Greg	7	11	11	10	10	10	19/NoFin	78.00	12
13	172523		Goscha, Jason	9	14	13	13	13	9	13	84.00	13
14	10270	Mini-Heeler	Pickering, Matt	17	17	15	15	15	15	9	103.00	14
15	196049		John, Edward	15	16	17	16	14	14	11	103.00	15
16	178857	Second Life	Glass, Adam W	14	19/NoFin	14	14	12	12	19/NoFin	104.00	16
17	182815		Reinke, Eric	4	8	19/NoFin	19/NoFin	19/NoFin	19/NoFin	19/NoFin	107.00	17
18	213072		Wrangle, John	16	15	16	19/NoFin	19/NoFin	19/NoFin	19/NoFin	123.00	18

Division: Laser Radial (8 boats)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total Points	Pos
1	200204		Zseleczky, John	1	3	1	2	4	1	12.00	1
2	191513 (13)		Beiger, Read	2	6	2	1	2	2	15.00	2
3	180001		Dudley, Elizabeth	4	1	3	5	1	3	17.00	3
4	153006	Flight Risk	Westphal, Sandy	3	2	5	4	3	5	22.00	4
5	186519	TBA	Haldeman, Dorian	5	5	4	3	5	6	28.00	5
6	176087		Gibb, Victoria	6	4	6	7	6	4	33.00	6
7	162156		White, Anne	7	8	7	6	7	9/NoFin	44.00	7
8	[no number]		Martin, Katherine	9/NoFin	7	8	8	9/NoFin	9/NoFin	50.00	8

Notes

(1)	Scoring System is ISAF Low Point 2009-2012

SSA Frostbite Results: December 4

From the Radial winner John Zseleczky:

Dave asked me to write something about the races last week but most memories from last week have already been purged and replaced with memories from this week’s sailing. One image clearly remains though and that is how much fun it is to sail in our SSA Radial fleet. With ages ranging from below 20 to over 60 and a near equal male – female mix, this is some of the most fun racing I have ever done. Gary Jobson wrote something along these lines about mixing ages and genders in his Sailing World column last month. We are really fortunate to have this kind of fleet right here in Annapolis in 2011.

In below 10 knots, it sure helps to be at the low end of the weight scale. My boat gets in a groove upwind in these conditions where I just let the helm loose and allow the boat to scallop up a few degrees at each puff. This happens most often in clear air and if you don’t get the perfect start it is easier to find this groove by starting at the boat end so you aren’t pinned down and can to tack away if needed. That’s not so easy in the Full Rig fleet with all the starting traffic but our thinner Radial fleet is more forgiving. The only gains I made downwind were by catching puffs. It seems to be worth the added distance to reach over to a side where boats are clearly going faster.

No other words of wisdom but many thanks to the people who have spent their Sundays running races for us!

Division: Laser (20 boats) 

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total Points	Pos
1	92		OHare, Gavin	1	2	2	4	1	1	5	1	17.00	1
2	200369		Petty, David	4	6	4	6	3	2	3	8	36.00	2
3	188095		Schoene, David	6	4	1	2	4	5	8	10	40.00	3
4	155315		Whitacre, Hal	2	3	7	1	5	4	14	12	48.00	4
5	198025		Shingledecker, Luke	3	16	11	5	2	6	2	5	50.00	5
6	170058		Fishback, Bryan	7	5	6	12	6	13	7	2	58.00	6
7	157905		Maxwell, J.R.	10	7	13	7	10	9	6	4	66.00	7
8	179226		eyring, andrew	8	10	5	13	9	8	10	6	69.00	8
9	168574		Schofield, Matt	9	9	9	3	15	11	1	13	70.00	9
10	187741		Clifton, Tip	11	15	8	9	14	7	11	3	78.00	10
11	701	Chitter Charter	Brady, Christopher	12	11	10	17	7	3	12	15	87.00	11
12	156631	none	Johnson, Eric	21/NoFin	14	14	11	8	10	4	17	99.00	12
13	… 2814		Alexander, Ramsey	5	1	3	8	21/NoFin	21/NoFin	21/NoFin	21/NoFin	101.00	13
14	194547	Liana Laser	Caruso, Jeffrey	21/NoFin	8	15	16	13	17	9	11	110.00	14
15	173641		Wilson, Leo	15	18	16	10	11	14	17	9	110.00	15
16	169781		Wesdyk, Russell	16	12	12	14	16	15	13	14	112.00	16
17	180536	Cold Feet	Cofer, Steven	14	17	17	18	12	16	16	7	117.00	17
18	185776		Smith, Jerry	13	13	18	15	17	12	15	21/NoFin	124.00	18
19	203072			17	20	20	19	19	19	18	16	148.00	19
20	196049		John, Edward	18	19	19	20	18	18	19	18	149.00	20

Division: Laser Radial (8 boats)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total Points	Pos
1	200204		Zseleczky, John	1	4	4	1	2	2	3	1	18.00	1
2	191513 (13)		Beiger, Read	3	1	5	3	5	4	7	5	33.00	2
3	153006	Flight Risk	Westphal, Sandy	5	3	8	6	1	7	1	3	34.00	3
4	186519	TBA	Haldeman, Dorian	2	5	3	8	7	8	2	2	37.00	4
5	199585		Schofield, Phillip	7	7	1	2	8	1	6	7	39.00	5
6	188921		Schoene, Andrew	6	8	2	4	6	3	8	4	41.00	6
7	180001		Dudley, Elizabeth	4	6	6	7	3	5	5	6	42.00	7
8	175592	sailregattas.com	Gebhardt, John	8	2	7	5	4	6	4	8	44.00	8

Notes

(1)	Scoring System is ISAF Low Point 2009-2012

SSA Frostbite Results: November 20

 From the Standard winner Gavin O’Hare:

First note I can share is to remind all that if you want to capitalize on lessons learned from a day of racing, try to write them down in a timely manner so that accurate reflection can be performed.  Secondly, review your lessons learned often; and if not often, certainly when you expect similar conditions or same competitor groups. That said, I am recalling now what happened a couple of weeks ago and did not write them down in a timely manner.  I do recall that having a good start was helpful, but not critical.  Winning the day was the result of consistent results.  My starts were not all spectacular, but I was able to capitalize leveraging each side as I sailed upwind to the windward mark.  The middle was never my choice on this day and I was patient on the sides waiting for my shift or breeze as a reason to tack back to the mark.

The downwind legs were painful and slow.  Keeping the boat moving and picking a side seemed to be key.  I constantly played my vang and tightened when the puff hit and loosened when the wind softened.  I usually got passed on this leg by not choosing a side.

Looking upwind before rounding the leeward mark was helpful to chart a successful path to pass boats on the final beat.

The competition was great and I look forward to doing battle with you all again shortly.

 

From the Radial winner Kim Couranz:

It was great to get out sailing again with the SSA Laser crowd! It had been a loooong time since I had been out on my Laser so I definitely learned as the day went along. Two big lessons helped me do well:

1. Every year when I start frostbiting I have to relearn a major lesson: The big boat sailors likely will not respect that port-starboard applies even when the starboard boat is a dinghy. Rather than get frustrated (waste of energy) with that and end up getting pushed to the wrong side of the fleet (to avoid collisions with large heavy boats), just accept the fact well ahead of any interaction that they’re not going to alter course to avoid you, and plan accordingly.

2. Trimming a Radial main is very different than trimming a Snipe jib! I hadn’t sailed the Radial a lot recently, so I didn’t have a very good feel/memory for sail trim, good angles of heel, etc. So basically if I felt slow or noticed I was going slower than boats around me, I always tried changing something. Angle of sail, trim in a bit, ease off outhaul…anything. Don’t just sit there and accept suboptimal speed–try something!

What I’ll do better next time:

1. Nutrition. I had a good breakfast, but by the time I got out on the water, I was HUNGRY! I need to eat lunch or at least a substantial snack before sailing.

Division: Laser (19 boats)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	Total Points	Pos
1	92		OHare, Gavin	5	1	4	7	1	18.00	1
2	155315		Whitacre, Hal	4	3	9	1	2	19.00	2
3	198025		Shingledecker, Luke	1	5	3	6	4	19.00	3
4	157905		Maxwell, J.R.	2	2	6	5	5	20.00	4
5	170058		Fishback, Bryan	3	13	5	3	3	27.00	5
6	183826		Tan, Robert J.	6	9	2	9	10	36.00	6
7	168574		Schofield, Matt	7	10	12	2	6	37.00	7
8	179226		eyring, andrew	13	6	1	10	11	41.00	8
9	187741		Clifton, Tip	12	4	10	11	8	45.00	9
10	200369		Petty, David	11	8	11	4	12	46.00	10
11	701	Chitter Charter	Brady, Christopher	8	18	7	8	7	48.00	11
12	182815		Reinke, Eric	10	7	8	17	9	51.00	12
13	180536	Cold Feet	Cofer, Steven	9	12	15	15	14	65.00	13
14	194547	Liana Laser	Caruso, Jeffrey	15	11	13	12	16	67.00	14
15	178857	Second Life	Glass, Adam W	14	17	20/NoFin	14	13	78.00	15
16	172523		Goscha, Jason	17	16	14	13	18	78.00	16
17	185776		Smith, Jerry	18	15	16	16	15	80.00	17
18	179458		Singer, Charlie	16	14	17	18	17	82.00	18
19	196049		John, Edward	19	19	20/NoFin	20/NoFin	20/NoFin	98.00	19

 Division: Laser Radial (5 boats) 

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total Points	Pos
1	194577		Couranz, Kimberly	2	4	1	2	1	2	12.00	1
2	199585		Schofield, Phillip	4	3	3	1	3	1	15.00	2
3	196168		Gerratt, Aaron	3	2	2	4	2	3	16.00	3
4	186519	TBA	Haldeman, Dorian	1	1	4	3	4	4	17.00	4
5	162156		White, Anne	6/NoFin	5	5	6/NoFin	6/NoFin	6/NoFin	34.00	5

Notes

(1)	Scoring System is ISAF Low Point 2009-2012

SSA Frostbite NOR

2011-2012 Laser Frostbiting NOR

RULES: RRS, USSA prescriptions, Laser Class rules, SI’s with the following changes:

1. Competitors shall wear a personal buoyancy aid at all times while on the water. For the purpose of this series, a drysuit or wetsuit is not considered a buoyancy aid. This changes RRS 27.1 and 40.

2. A boat that may have broken a rule of RRS Part 2 may take a penalty by making a 360 degree turn. This changes RRS 44.1.

3. No boat shall leave the basin(s) until the safety boat has left.

4. Competitors shall wear wet or drysuits at all times while sailing.

5. There will be separate starts for Laser Standard, Laser Radial and Vanguard 15s. Therefore, there is no switching of rigs during the series, sailors must select which rig they choose at the beginning of the series. Non-class legal sails (i.e. Infinity sails) are permitted.

6. The 2011/2012 Frostbite Racing will be divided into two series, November 20, 2011 through January 15, 2012, and January 22, 2012 through March 18, 2012. Each series will consist of seven race days. It is strongly encouraged that competitors use the same sail number throughout both the series. Competitors shall not register with more than two different sail numbers. Sails without numbers are not permitted.

DATES: The series will take place on the following Sundays: Series 1 – Nov 20, Dec 4, Dec 11, Dec 18, Jan 1, Jan 8, Jan 15. Series 2 – Jan 22, Feb 5, Feb 12, Feb 19, Feb 26, Mar 11, and Mar 18.

SCHEDULE: Registration Sunday, November 20 11:00am -12:30pm, and every

Sunday thereafter for newcomers. The First warning signal every Sunday is at 1:00pm. No races started after 4:00pm. Register once for the entire season. No registration, no scoring, no exceptions.

COURSES: Windward/leeward;start/finish in the middle. Sometimes triangle. Rarely Olympic. Always per the discretion of the RC. Length is 10-15 minutes per race.

SCORING: Low point system. DNS equals number of competitors for the day plus 1 point. All competitors must volunteer for at least one RC/ mark boat duty day for each of the two series (each competitor will provide RC duty on two days, one day for each series). All Non-SSA members doing race committee duty will be assigned with an SSA member. There will be no redress on scoring for RC/ mark boat duty. Competitors must participate in 50% of the series’ race days to qualify for series scoring.

AWARDS: Trophies for all competitors who participate in 50% or more of the 2011-2012.series. RC duty counts as a participation day.

ENTRY FEE: The SSA standard entry form must be filled out completely and signed. There is no entry fee for SSA members, but you will be expected to pay your 2011 fleet dues at registration ($25). The entry fee is $90 for non-SSA members. Make checks payable to Laser Fleet 10. This Fee does NOT include winter storage. There is NO winter storage available to non-SSA members. Sorry, we just don’t have any room at the inn.

INFO & ENTRIES: David Sliom – dave@dancingbearsailing.com

DIRECTIONS: US Route 50 to Exit 24, Rowe Blvd (MD 70). Bear right onto Rowe Blvd. Cross Weems Creek and College Creek. Continue on Rowe Blvd as it bears right after College Creek. At Church Circle you must turn right – continue about 180 degrees around Church Circle to Duke of Gloucester Street – the Maryland Inn is on the corner of that intersection – turn right. Follow Duke of Gloucester Street and turn right at end. Cross Spa Creek Bridge and take the first left onto Severn Ave. (Shell Station). Go 5 blocks; turn left onto First Street. SSA is at the end of the street on the right.