Kingston Pilgrimage

Today was a non-racing day and so I performed the pilgrimage to worship before the holy relic on display at the Marine Museum - Laser # 1.

On display is Bruce Kirby's own first Laser which debuted at the 1970 New York Boat Show where 400 were sold.  It is on loan from the Mystic Seaport Museum.

Overall, it looks a lot like today's Laser, although, just as with Tillerman's old Laser, the outhaul is simply a line from the clew to a cleat halfway down the boom and the vang was a fairly rudimentary affair.

Kingston Day 2 and 3

Day 2 - boring. No wind. No racing.  The Radials were sent out at the end of the day but returned before any racing.  The standards never got on the water.

Day 3  - Not boring.  We sailed 3 races, one in the rain.  The wind was predicted to be 20+ knots, but it never got that high - probably above 15 at most but then slackening.

Overall I was happy with the day.  I think I am starting to get the feel for working over waves a bit better.  Coming up as I go up the front of them, with a slight easing of the sheet, and at the top a slight bear away with sheeting in.  I could feel the rhythm every once in a while.  I tried torquing but frankly I am not strong enough for it to be very effective.  But sometimes the waves are too close together for anything to work other than slamming through them.

Had some good downwind, catching a couple of boats and a very good reach at the end of the second race, overtaking a boat.

One poor start, one average one and one very nice with a very clear lane, although I was about a boat length behind the leaders on the line. But with the U flag up all the time, better to be prudent.

In the evening, a barbecue at Fort Henry and a show by the drum and bugle corps.

Kingston Day One

Opening ceremonies and barbecue last night at the Kingston Yacht Club.  Jeff Martin noted that Kingston is the only venue to have hosted the Laser Worlds twice.

Today, the first day of racing, it was a beautiful day with around 8 to 10 knots of breeze.  Just great to be out on the water.

And sailing in fresh water is really great – nothing to rinse off after and no stinky clothes after a bit.  What a treat.

The organization is very good overall. Yes, there is a queue for launching at the main ramp but it moves relatively smoothly and there are friendly volunteers to help with the trolleys at both the launch and return.  What a treat.

The Race Committee is using the U flag for all starts, but even that didn’t prevent 2 general recalls in the Grand Master start just before our start.  Those youngsters just need to be more disciplined.

In the first race, I had a mediocre start and even though the wind was relatively light, there was a chop that killed me upwind – I still can’t manage waves very well.  But it was lots of fun – there are several of us who battle it out at the back of the fleet and I actually managed to do some good downwind sailing, catching a boat or two.  And at the last turning mark, I had an inside overlap and did a nice rounding – my competitor tried to cut inside me but I closed the door and he hit the mark.  So, at least one decent maneuver.

The second race, I had a better start but fell behind the leaders quickly.  Battled it out at the back of the fleet and did manage to catch one fellow downwind, but he finally got me on the last leg with a better mark rounding.

I know I am at the Laser Masters

I arrived in Kingston and found it to be a lovely little town with an excellent sports facility - but as an ex-Olympic site that is not surprising.

I also knew without a doubt that I had arrived at the Laser MASTERS event.

The area where the boats park is grassy area with a little playground in one part. I parked my boat next to the playground area and there were several children playing in it, including one little boy, perhaps 5 or 6, with his grandmother watching. She was talking to him about his upcoming birthday - on July 19, which is mine also.  So I went over to him and said to him and his grandmother that we had the same birthday, although I was a bit older than him.

He looked at me and said, "yeah, I think you must be 200 years old".

Welcome to the Masters.