It took 8 weeks of ice, e coli, and disadvantageous wind, but our fleet finally got back on the water Sunday for our first round of frostbite sailing since January. I was honored to share the course with Tom, Steen, Brian, and James Reilly Sunday for five excellent races. We had a consistent 8-12 knot breeze out of the ESE with oscillating puffs that reached into the mid-20s. The weather was cloudy but the air and water weren’t cold enough to give me hypothermia when I death rolled (more on that later).

Sunday was a tale of two kinds of races for me. My first race was a banger. The start took place in the tail end of a starboard-favored shift. I started closest to the RC boat and tacked to port immediately, gambling on the next shift being a lift for me and header for everyone else. I was, in a total rarity, right, and managed to win the race to the first windward mark. The rest of the course was short, so I played conservatively and held off a late charge from Steen to win. The lesson here is to do your homework before the start. Look around the course before the sequence, and if the shifts oscillate consistently, try timing out how long occurs between them. Sometimes you can make an educated guess, break from the fleet, and make out like a bandit.

The next two races showed how far I still have to come, even after 12 years (half my life!!) of Laser sailing. At the first windward mark of race 2, I tacked inside Steen and had to pinch to make the mark. A puff hit just as we rounded the mark and I couldn’t turn the boat down in time, leading to me fouling him. After the race, he asked if I was fully hiked out and moving back in the boat. I told him I was not, and he diagnosed that as part of why I was out of control. Next week I’m going to try out a new windward mark checklist of: vang off on the starboard approach to the mark, move back in the boat, full hike as I get to the buoy, and ease the main as I round down. Hopefully that will help with my control. My lack of boat handling skills showed in other scenarios during those two races. I hit Brian when I tried to bear off on port tack without easing my sail. I hit two marks. I deathrolled after a bad gybe. I was last twice in a row.

The moral here is that you can make all the right strategy calls, but when boats meet, you need to have the physical skills to escape those confrontations. Using your tiller isn’t enough in the Laser – you need to use your sails and your bodyweight, too.

Shoutout to Steen for winning the last three races and the day and to James Reilly for hanging tough with some of the best sailors in the fleet all afternoon. Thanks to the race committee duo of Sean Reilly and Dan Miller for helping us get five races off in some variable conditions. I hope to see a big fleet out next Sunday to warm up for the Capital City regatta (this is your reminder to sign up for that regatta now!!).

v/r

Connor Lothrop

NOTE: NEXT WEEK IS THE LAST WEEK OF THE FROSTBITE SERIES. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR ISSUES WITH THE SCORING, PLEASE REACH OUT TO THE SCORER AT CONZO4468@GMAIL.COM ASAP.

Results: 25-26 PRSA FROSTBITE #17

Season Summary: 25-26 PRSA LASER FROSTBITE SEASON SUMMARY

Totals Only: 25-26 PRSA LASER FROSTBITE SEASON TOTALS #17