Racing Continues...

Best of luck to all my Laser friends out on the water today. Winds look to be a perfect 10-14 knots in cloudy but sunny skies.
This photo is from yesterday's full rig master standard fleet.

Interviewed...

Early Exit...

Unfortunately my Laser Worlds is over prematurely. I broke my collar bone today. I was going from the beach to the boatyard hopping over rocks carrying the my camera while getting ready to rig my boat. Going up the rocks I tripped and stumbled. I ended up falling into the front of a trailer hitch parked at the top of the rocks. My two good friends from Portland drove me to the closest hospital for X-rays. I’m on strong pain killers at the moment and will try to sleep tonight. I'll decide what to do for the rest of the week in the morning. I’m ok but disappointed.. Peter

Too much wind at the moment...

Way too much wind to race at the moment! An AP over A flag is flying from the yacht club which means "do not launch" or "do not leave the harbor". 380 sailors are anxiously awaiting the call to go. It's a solid 22-25 knots out on the race course with higher gusts to 30s.

More details later.

The Layday came early...

Today ended up being a "layday" with all races cancelled. With winds of sustained speeds of 25-30 knots racer were not arguing. An all competitors meeting was held at 10am in the event tent to announce what the race committee was going to do for the rest of the week. At previous Masters Worlds the forth day is generally a “layday” or rest day or day to plan a little vacation time with the significant other or friends. Cancelling today meant that the planned layday on Thursday would be eliminated for later in the week and now spent on the second day rather then the forth. Jeff Martin the Laser Class President ruled the meeting with his distinctive “I’m the King” style that makes him so effective at running these events. He’s a classic Brit in every way and no one runs a championship better in my opinion. So my day was free to go explore the south coast of England. My good friends and partners in crime.. LauraLee and Bill Symes adopted me as travel buddy along with Christie Usher. Christie’s husband Tracy is is the North American Laser class president and had to stay behind to go over details for the next Laser Master Worlds being held in San Francisco. So the four of us head for historic Portsmouth about 45 minutes away. From there we took a 45min car ferry to the Isle of Wight. We had an incredible lunch at the "Folly Inn" right on the water. Our general plan for the day was to visit the Royal Yacht Squadron in the famous yachting town of Cowes. Along the way we stopped and walk the entire ground of the Queen’s summer palace. It had totally amazing gardens throughout with historic buildings from the eighteenth century or older that stood lonely on this massive acreage.The miles of walking almost felt good on the tried and sore leg from only one day of sailing. The town of Cowes was a sailors haven where every brand of English sailing gear had it’s retail store. All kinds of cool stuff to see. And what a spot for sailors partying in the streets during it's legendary Cowes Race Week held every August. As it turns out, the RYS closed 10 minutes before we got there. The guy at the gate said we should of made arrangements in advance and in writing before just showing up. He did know of the laser worlds that was going on. Oh well.. we saw it. The Isle of Wight was like one giant countryside and a great place to visit. It reminded me a lot of Newport RI with everything revolving around sailing or boats. I could easily live there if not for the brutally cold winters. On the way home we stopped at a popular pub called The Olive Inn thats right outside the little town near the yacht club. It was no surprise that the place was filled with Laser Masters. Most of the Canadians and some Aussies were putting down the pints.. Fun day in all.. The forecast is for the same breeze to still be honking in the morning. It seemed to be subsiding to me compared to this afternoon. I’m looking forward to reeling off a few low numbers to move up in the standings. This time I’m going to charge the line with a little more vengeance. or even start to leeward with the boys.. Power out to the left..then tack and cross the fleet.. That's the Hummel strategy in a nutshell.

More Photo...

More Photo..

The Wind, Rain and Wave Machine has officially been turned ON!!

OMG!!!! What a difference a day makes! Today was more like the England I always heard about. Cold, Windy, Rainy and Huge Waves were the big story today. Sailing Upwind.. fully sheeted out a foot or more steering in any direction you can to keep from pounding on the square faced waves.. Sailing Downwind.. hanging on for dear life on an endless roller coaster drop. All while praying that you don't flip or fill the cockpit by burying the bow. The waves tossed you around in all directions which kept you wide eyed and very focused. The short wave length (only ten feet apart) meant the laser had no place to go unless you kept it weaving and bobbing down the course. Most waves were the size of SUVs but some closer to motorhomes by the second race. Guys were wiping out on all sides of me out there downwind and on he reaches. My results were kinda mixed but I'm slowly improving on every leg. The ebb tide/current maybe has me holding back too much at the starts. I got rolled by a big group to weather of me both times. I was banking on it being a recall.. but no luck. I ended up tacking to port and ducking a lot of boats. First race I started middle and there must of been a lot of line sag I didn't account for. Wind was blowing solid 22knots with gusts every few minutes to 25+. Slogged it up the track filling the cockpit constantly. Not fast. Ebb was starting to rip by the time we got to the weather mark and I overstood badly. I rounded in the back third. Maybe in the 30's. We were sailing the inner course, so the first run was my chance to make some sort of comeback. Full sketchy conditions with some out of control rocking because of the confused sea state. Good speed and I started to pick off big groups of boats on both sides. Plus I passed every boat that flipped in front of me.. Rounded the leeward gate in maybe 25th and headed upwind again in what seemed to be an even more building breeze. I started working the high road that has served me before in these conditions. I know it frustrated more then a few people around me but I could tell I was gaining distance to the weather mark quicker then the bow down reachers. Rounded the next mark in about 23rd and headed down the first reach. In the first ten seconds I fill the cockpit flush to the deck as I plow through the back on a wave. Very slow. With cockpit full, I take off on the low road. After the good practice I got from high speed reaching at the ABYC Master's North Americans, I'm noticing no one has passed me to windward. And I'm closing big time on the guy 10 boat lengths ahead of me. We come into the mark going ballistic and fairly quickly he flips on the next run. Then another.. I look back behind me and I've stretched a huge gap from the guy I rounded the weather mark with. Time to go into full safety mode. routine gybe to the second reach and almost catch the French guy by the last mark. Just a short beat to the finish. I count at least 15 boats in front of me out of my fleet of 42 boats in my age group (Master full rigs are split into to two fleets for qualifying). Second race is blowing just as hard or harder. First I pick up my waters and power bars from a support boat they call the "mothership". It is anchored between the starting line and the finish line. They're actually separated by quite a bit. The mothership is owned and manned by my hosts which is great for me. It's like have my own coach boat to store stuff that I normally would carry. The second race I just plain sail smarter. Started near the boat end but still got rolled by guy I swear were over. I wait a bit and tack out to the right. It's blowing mid-twenties and I thinking people are not going to want to tack much because you lose a lot of distance. No one dumps on me.. Good lane going right. I notice a big group of boat that headed right early now coming back to the left. I've got them by a mile. I figure the left must be so favored by current or something. I tack in front of the lead group and head back left. I sail this for a while and start to see boats coming from the left. they look lifted so I tack again underneath them and head back right. This is a new group of boat I don't recognize from the fist race. All my tacks have put me right under the weather mark which seem good for judging laylines in this heavily current influence leg. I overstand the layline again! It's really tough to judge it unless you come from right underneath it. Good downwind speed. A couple flips and I'm now sure I'm in the top ten group. Andy Roy (CAN) and Hummel (NED) aren't too far away. The second weather leg is a tight battle with the guys around me. I could be slipping or I could be gaining.. hard to tell. I round the top mark in about the same place but with a bigger group all packed together. Surprisingly good breakaway reaching speed again.. I leave my group behind and start focusing on the guy in front of me. On the offset run, I pull even with two AUS boats and a SWE guy. Mad planning down giant monstrous waves beyond the edge of "out of control". Another guy flips in front of me. I end up out surfing the two other guys around me as we approach the lower reaching mark. I come flying out of my gybe totally "on fire" and quickly close on the next guy 10 boat length ahead. I round right on his transom and almost get him at the finish. There's no gas left in the tank at this point. I flipped on the way in from exhaustion. The day's results have me in 24th overall with a 19th in the first race and a 7th in the second. Not too bad I'm thinking.. Tomorrow could be a blowout with gale force winds forecasted to be upwards of 26-32 knots and heavy rain. I'm Ready! Peter

Practice Day..

It's was an easy day at the LMWs for me. Lazy morning. Bright sun out. A building breeze to about 15knots looks promising. I rigged the boat at about 2:00... left the beach at around 2:30.. I got to hike a bit and then reached down to the race course against a flood tide. The practice raced started at 3:00pm. The Apprentice Master (35-44 yrs) go first. Boat end looks favored. The wind seems to be subsiding a few knots every 15 minutes or so. Big positive current pushing you towards the weather mark at about 2 knots or more. Almost a downwind start just to stay behind the line. The 1st gun goes off and I'm way over! But so was the rest of the fleet which means it's general recalled back to start again. The black flag is up now for the second start ( this means auto disqualification if over the line at the gun). But its the practice race? should I care? Everyone's seems to be respectful and holds back a bit as best they can. Second start I start near the committee boat again but this time I'm ill-prepared to go. Centerboard was up (I was trying to slip sideways to get back behind the line), my cunningham was too loose, also vang was too loose. The leeward boat jumps me (John Bertrand USA) and I end up following him for the first 20 boat lengths. Now some big shifts are roll through.. I'm feeling the definition of "out of phase"! so time to tack and go right.. but I get slammed on by the boat directly in front of me (JB).. not good. I need to get out to the edges I'm thinking. So I sail through a few headers to get terminally right. It didn't pay.. the boat that slammed me is now up to tenth.. I'm maybe in 25th or worse and leaking! My luck slowly starts to change as I hit a little righty coming into the mark. Note to self.. don't overstand with a tide going upstream. Everybody makes it below me. Right after the weather mark I pick up maybe two more boats that went too low. The current is now going more right to left it seems. And because the downwinds are directly into the current, the leaders aren’t too far away.. they running on the treadmill and going nowhere! They're not far away at all I’m thinking. So I pull off the quick gybe at the offset mark and head off right to fight the current early. I'm feeling good half way down the run. The Jury boat(s) start to exercise their whistle muscles and proceed to passing out yellow flag (rule 42 infringements) like candy on halloween.. My downwind style seems different then everyone else's and maybe its ok with the judges? Consequently I'm able to pick off another six or seven boats this run. At the gate, Every boat in front of me goes safely to the left gate which is down current and closer. well.. It's a practice race right? Time to try the right gate Einstein. It's a much longer distance to sail but I'm best situated to get there then most others.. and I really like the idea of an open clean lane going off to the right. I'm all alone for a little bit of the lower beat but then decide to tack back to the middle on the first good shift. It payed off! I'm in now moved up to about 12th! So I round the weather mark smugly and reach towards a strange mark I'm not sure is part of the course. I think its the outer loop though. Boats are really heading off on strange angles maybe in anticipation of a foul current recking havoc later on? not sure why? Way too much hedging in my opinion.. so I sail more of a direct line towards the mark then the guys I rounded with. Well.. big Opps.. I've definitely lost big distance to my group by the time we get to the reaching mark. Andy Roy (CAN) puts 10 boat lengths on me at least. So the next leg is a dead downwind to the lower trap and again more boats are hedging to the right again of rumline. Now a Jury Boat is hovering right around me. A loud whistle sound shrieks out and it appears to be directed directly at me!!! I turn quickly to look in guilt.. Man! Luck has it that they've flagged the guy directly behind me that’s on my wind! Thank bro.. teach you to sit on my air! The rest of the way I'm doing the good "ABYC downwind surfing thing" and making money. Connecting the dots and charging down the middle of the track. I’m really closing on the leaders now! They're coming in from the sides as we approach the second to last mark. I round the lower trap mark and head for the last leeward mark feeling kinda ..Faaast! There's lots of good company around and right behind me at this point. I round the final mark in... shoot I better count.. 6th place! The gift of "no passing lanes" to the finish boat gives me the finish of 6th! (in the practice race). But I'm feeling pretty good about the whole practice.. Speed downwind is a good weapon when trying to catch up. I'm top US boat in my fleet (The Red fleet.. seem to be the tougher group today). Maybe 45 boats started the race. Now its a long sail in against the tide that is now ebbing out of the bay furiously. Opening ceremonies tonight at the club and then off to an early bed. Tomorrow we race for real.. Aloha.

It’s incredible here!

So many lasers..what a sight! What an amazing gathering of sailors, friends, athletes and champions from all corners of the globe. I feel like I’ve been so lucked already on this trip! My trip started with a wonderful visit with my sister and her family... I managed to see a little of London in that short time. What a neat place so full of history and rich in culture. Trish and her husband Harvey have been so nice and actually drove me all the way to Hayling Island. The drive was about 2 1/2 hours away from their house in Northern London. It was great to spend some quality time with them and get the quick tour through London by car. Once we arrived to Hayling Island (which is in the southern part of England), I was so happy (and relieved) to see my the housing accommodations Trish had setup for me. Until I had her look into it.. my trip planning skills had me staying off the island about 45 minutes away by car! Now.. I’ve arguably got the best spot in the regatta! I’m staying at this beautiful English beach house right on the bay. I have my own room and bathroom with it’s own entrance that looks out into a beautiful garden patio. I share a small kitchen with a well known Australian sailor and wife with their little daughter. He is actually the four time Apprentice Master World Champion. Not bad company to discuss my morning tactics with over toast and coffee! Our house is the closest house to the Hayling Island Sailing Club where the 350+ boats are all idling on the beach waiting for this event to start. The sailing club is the center of all activities with a beautiful restaurant and bar. I just have to walk out my door and I’m right there! Very cool! My host couple is an extremely nice retired couple. They’re big sailors with many ocean miles and are actually are helping in the running of this regatta. Last night a group of the neighbor host families had a little wine and cheese mixer at the Lifeboats Rescue Station. This facility is approximately 100 yards out from my back patio and overlooks the bay and ocean. What an incredible facility that’s setup much like our fire stations in the states. It’s all volunteer run and privately funded by donors in the community. There collection of rescue boats and safety equipment was very impressive with carbon fiber RIBs setup to launch in just a few minutes by tractor. Team Photo last night with most of the North American contingency.

The sun is just coming up... Its beautiful out. I’m still acclimating to the time change. It’s 8 hours ahead of my time zone. Today (Sunday).. goal for today is a practice race at noon and just get the boat tuned up for the first races tomorrow. Two race a day, layday on Wednesday.

I’m also going to try to keep up with “Blog” while I’m here. Hopefully post photos later today or tonight.

Peter