2015 - Single-Handed Nationals

by Doug

Grand Rapids Yacht Club is on the western shore of Lake Reed. People had warned me that "reed" stood for the many reeds in the water and not a Mr. Reed, but reeds were not a factor. The part of the lake we sailed in was about 1/2 a mile long. Normally, the wind comes from the west but blew from the east for the championship. While I tended to play the right side of the course along the southern edge, there were times when left paid big time. This made the racing very tricky because it was not possible to play one side and stay in touch with the other side at the same time.

John Hayashi supplied me with another great boat with a new sail. We rigged it on the morning of the first race and the boom seemed too high, so I moved it back two notches. The wind was light and there was a delay until after lunch, so I decided to go for a quick sail to see if the mast rake was OK. A confession: I really do not know much about tuning a BF and gauge it by the height of the boom when close-hauled, and any weather helm in a breeze (which we never got).

Before I had the chance to return to shore for lunch, people were rigging and launching, so I guess me having a little breeze convinced the race committee to start racing right away. So, my quick tuning clothes turned out to be my racing clothes for the first two races (and I had not stretched which I find really important to reduce injuries).

The lines were a good size but many of the juniors tended to barge. In a Laser, this is aggressively discouraged but in this fleet with all of the juniors, I let this happen. As a result, my starts were pretty bad and I usually tacked ASAP to go right and get some clean air.

It became clear on the first leg of the first race that some of the juniors were very fast. The first race was won by Noah Wolters from Spring Lake. He was smart upwind and at just 110 pounds, he went like a rocked downwind. At the end of the first day, Noah had finishes of 1, 4, 2, and 1 to my 3, 2, 1, and 2. So we were tied, but with a drop race he would be 1 point ahead.

The second day had a little more wind with the occasional shower that makes it really hard reading the wind patterns on the water. In the next race, I tried a pin start where the committee boat was located, but got caught in a jam of about 6 boats that got locked together. I heard "protest" from the boat below me, got free, did my circles, and started in second-to-last place with Noah leading the race.

With no speed advantage against the leaders upwind or downwind, playing the shifts was my only hope to catch up. And I got lucky playing the right shore on the W2 course to win the race. The final race was a W3 course and I led going into the third beat, covering the boats in second and third. Sure enough, several caught up from the left including Noah, making the final run downwind very tense. On the final short beat, I was in second and decided to put a lose cover on Noah rather than go for the win. My 1 and 2 on the final day to his 4 (drop) and 3 made it a close result.

GRYC has great facilities and a great junior sailing program. Regatta Chairperson Danielle Ralston and her team put together a first class event. And it's wonderful to have John and Windward Boatworks providing support for the class. My main class is the Laser and there are serious shortages in quality and parts (new Laser sails for example are backordered up to 5 months). BF sailors are very fortunate to have excellent support at the club level as well as the class level.

Too bad John does not make Lasers!