In February I competed in Laser Midwinters East which is a regatta held off the coast of Clearwater, FL. I sailed in the Laser Radial class in yellow. There were two groups in the beginning, blue and yellow, because of the large number of boats. Even with a split in the fleet, there were still at least 50 boats on the line at once. There were people from many places outside the United States including, Canada, Guatemala, and the Bahamas.
The first day was 14 to 15 knots all day and sunny. It was getting a bit hard for me to keep my boat flat upwind and also there was chop that made it hard to steer upwind. Everyone sailing in the fleet was skilled and there were no inexperienced sailors. The first race was very difficult because it was hard for me to get off the line in the heavier air. I didn't really have very good starts and I was slow upwind because of having to consistently ease my main out to flatten the boat. I did not do very well the first day of the regatta.
The second day was 10 to 14 knots and was a lot flatter. The first race I had an ok start and tacked out early. The right side was favored so I was quite ahead and got a 15 or 18 in that race until I realized that I was actual "U" flagged that start. I did ok the next two races and ended up in the silver fleet because of getting "U" flagged and not performing well. Looking back on the day I realized that I should have committed to the sides of the course that I was going to. Also, I could have done a better job steering my boat with my weight downwind.
The third day was around 8 to 13 knots and very shifty. The wind was mostly left but everyone went right because it looked better. The first race I was doing well but I chose the wrong side of the course downwind and got passed by 10 boats. The next race I went left and played the left and ended up in 15th. One of the most difficult challenges that day were to be in a good lane to a side of the course. Luckily, I was able to get a good start at the pin and lead left. Sadly the right came in and about 14 boats passed me from the right. I learned that leading from a side of a course is very important in shifty venues. The 3rd and final race were canceled because the wind shifted 100 degrees right and died.
The final day was light at around 4 to 7 knots. We started the race in about 4 knots of breeze and the pin was very favored. I started at the pin but was not able to port tack the fleet like a few other boats had. I was second row going upwind on port when I tacked early and went left. I tacked a little under port tack layline and rounded the mark in 5th. One boat in front of me was extremely slow on the reach and I was able to roll him. The next boat was a boy from Canada doing a crazy amount of kinetics. He went left looking downwind on a reach and I went right by the lee knowing that there was more wind there. I easily passed him and caught up to the top two boats because they were having a luffing battle. Around the windward mark, the first place boat tacked and the second place boat kept going. I sailed to about 3 boat lengths away from pin finish layline and then was on starboard at the first place boat, who was on pin finish layline, on port. It was still about 4 knots and the starboard boat was not crossing. So instead of making him tack or duck, I did a buttery tack and lee-bowed him. I was now about a boat length ahead of the boat when I saw the originally second place boat coming out of the left in a fat puff. He slammed me and won the race, I got second.
I was disappointed in getting 25th in Silver but felt like I learned a lot from sailing in a venue outside of California. I learned a lot of tactics like committing to sides, playing sides of courses, and steering downwind with my weight. The next big regatta I feel that I will excel because of my experiences at this regatta thanks to San Diego Yacht Club. I would like to thank the competition fund for their support.
Sincerely,
Taisei Hatter