JAM 2009

The Jam regatta was last weekend and was pretty fun. There was very flukey wind the majority of the regatta and many lulls, but we had some pretty good races. I cannot think of anyone who did well in every race. I placed 4th and 6th in two of the races, but also had some races that were not very good. The second day of racing was delayed for a few hours, but eventually got under way, with conditions about the same as the first day. It was great practice in light wind and I cant wait to do it again next year!

JO's

It has been awhile now since the NW Junior Olympics at Shilshole, but now I finally have the chance to write about it. They were a blast and although there was no wind the majority of the time, the wind picked up some at the end of both days, especially Saturday. I did decently, receiving 11th of 23 boats. I was pleased with my performance in the light air with the current and even received a 5th in one of the races. I sailed my laser radial and can't wait to sail in JO's again next year.

Lido 14 Senior National Championship

My dad and I sailed in the Lido 14 Senior National Championships on Mission Bay in San Diego from August 9-12. We chartered a boat and flew to San Diego. Our traveler was loose a few inches so when we tried to pinch the boat slowed down a lot. This hurt our racing in the qualifiers for silver or gold fleet. We realized the malfunction in the 2nd of 3 races the day of the qualifiers. We ended up finishing 2nd overall in the silver fleet for the qualifiers. We raced in silver fleet for the next few days and had some very close races. We made many mistakes but also did many things very well. In many races we were close to Dave Carrol and Grant Williams, both fantastic sailors in our opinion. In the very last race we received our only 1st place finish. Winning the last race placed us in first of the silver fleet for the whole regatta. There were about 23 boats in each fleet and 46 in the whole regatta. We were very pleased with our finish. At the annual class meeting, many new board members were elected. In the end it was a great regatta with parties, racing, and great weather. We will hopefully be sailing in the nationals again next year at Hunington Lake in California!

Lido 14 Women's National Championship

On August 8th, I sailed in the Lido 14 women's national championship. It took place on mission bay in San Diego. It was a fantastic event with 12 participating boats. I sailed with my dad's friend's daughter, Maggie Nolan. We sailed pretty well but had a few malfunctions with the Lido 6000 series centerboard and after the event realized that the traveler was a few inches loose, which didn't allow us to point as well as I am usually able to. I thought it may have just been the boat since we chartered it and I wasn't used to it, but that was the problem. We ended up finishing 5th. In the end I was pretty proud of our overall performance.

The Gorge- Wind Clinic/District 6 Laser Championship

I just got back from a week of sailing at the Columbia River Gorge.  I arrived last tuesday, sailed wed-fri in the WIND clinic.  Then I sailed in the district 6 laser championships (sat-sun).  All in a laser radial!  I brought my 4.7 laser rig with me as well and shockingly did not use it.  It was pretty windy the first two days of the clinic, but the last day there was a really light easterly.  I learned so much from our three coaches Ben, Bret, and Dingo.  Then I was planning on racing in the WIND regatta, but switched to the District 6 Championship for a greater challenge in my radial.  The first day of the regatta was CRAZY windy with gusts over 30.  It was way too much wind for me to handle in my radial (especially considering I was the lightest sailor in the regatta).  Therefore, I started the first race and tried to stay out but came in during the race when the boat just would not stop capsizing.  The next day (sun) I went back out in my radial after telling my dad, "You have to go big or go home."  It was not a windy as the day before, but was still a lot of wind to handle.  Even though it was extremely difficult to keep the boat flat, death-rolled multiple times, and didn't have the best scores, I kept sailing.  I learned a ton from looking at how other people sailed their boats and trying different techniques I saw them using.  Although I am now covered in bruises, have many cuts, and am extremely sore muscles, I would go back to do it all again in a heartbeat.   

Vancouver Lake - Junior Regatta

The Vancouver Lake Junior regatta (June 20-21) was really fun.  Although there were a lot of postponements we did get about 8 races in.  I sailed a laser radial.  I ended up in 9th out of 15 boats.  Our class was the largest.  Hanging out with everyone was tons of fun too.  There was some strong winds and some really light winds, but it was still a great regatta.

The Gorge Practice Weekend

WOW the gorge was a blast!  I couldn't believe the wind.  It was 20-30 mph each day!!!  I was there Saturday and Sunday to practice for the WIND clinic with other SYC race team members.  The location is absolutely beautiful and as long as you don't wake up to the sound of the trains you will have tons of fun camping there (like I did)!  Anyways, I flipped a lot and sailed some of my radial but mostly in my 4.7 rig.  Two 29er jib halyards, and my coach's 505 mast broke.  In the end it was a super fun weekend!!!  I can't wait to go back there.  Did I mention the amount of bruises I have from the laser...

Vancouver Lake - Lido 14

Two weekends ago I went to Vancouver Lake, WA for the Vancouver lake Regatta with my dad.  There were 16 Lido 14s and they were split into an A and B fleet.  It was a really fun weekend with 4 total races.  I wish we could have gotten a few more races in because 5 were needed for a throw out.  If there was a throw out we would have gotten 3rd based on our scores, but without it we ended up getting 4th place.  I felt we sailed very well, receiving two 2nds one 3rd and one 12th (our bad race :( ).  Anyways it was a really great venue and we had some great racing.

NOOD

The NOOD regatta was fun.  There was no wind the first day, but it was sunny and warm.  We waited from 8:30-4:00 for wind, but it never came up.  The second day was more light wind, but we ended up getting 3 races off.  It was very tricky.  I sailed my full rig, but my light weight didn't really help because most of the time I was in 0 knots of wind.  In the end, it was a decent regatta which would have been much better with a little more wind.

Opening Day

Hey everyone,

I haven't posted anything in a while so I thought I would give you an update along with telling you about opening day!  We have practiced a lot in the last month, but haven't been to that many regattas.  Anyways, recently I went to opening day with my dad.  It was a blast; we met tons of people who live on Lake Sammamish and could be interested in joining the Lake Sammamish Yacht Club!  The parade was amazing and we ended up having some sunshine in the middle of the day (even though it was rainy a lot of the time).  The ceremonies were fantastic as well, and I loved the decorated boats.  Maybe next year we can have a LSYC junior boat in the parade!!!  This weekend is the Nood Regatta and I will give you another update after that.

~Sarah Mackey

Open Regatta - Central Kitsap

On Saturday I raced Vanguard 15s in the Open Regatta in Silverdale, WA.  Along with my teammates John, Helena, Andrew, and Adam we won 2nd place in this High School regatta.  It was a beautiful day with no wind when we arrived, and then a great amount of wind when we were about to start the races.  Although it was shifty and light at times, we stayed in good spirits, especially since it was sunny in seattle!  I crewed for John in the A fleet and we took a 3rd and a 1st.  I also crewed for Andrew in the B fleet for one race and skippered with him as my crew in another.  I crewed for Helena in one race as well.  Although I love to skipper I learned a lot by crewing for various team mates of mine.  It was definitely a blast, thanks to everyone who helped put it on!  Here are some pictures of our racing:

Open Regatta - Sail Sand Point

This High School regatta was very interesting. Yesterday, March 14th we sailed CFJs at SSP. It was pretty windy and very cold. In the first race I went out with Maddie, a teammate of mine and our shroud snapped right as the starting whistle was blown. We pulled our rig all the way down and the crashboat towed us in. Then two other teamates of mine went out for 3 races. When they came back in, I went out with Colin. It was his first regatta. We started the race and were doing ok, we sailed to the windward mark and rounded no problem. Then, at the gybe mark, we were close to 3 other boats. When we all gybed, there was a huge gust which blew us all over. After that we went in because I didn't want Colin to be too cold or to have a really bad experience in his first regatta. I decided no to go back out after that. Something went wrong everytime I went out, but in the end I had a pretty good time.

High School Kick-Off Regatta

Wow.  Today was fun.  I raced in the first HS regatta of the season and my team got 3rd out of 17 teams!!!  We had every weather and wind condition you could think of well racing 420's at Seattle Yacht Club.  There was snow, hail, rain, and sun!  Luckily I wore my HH drysuit.  Also, everything from no-wind to large gusts and white caps.  I sailed with 2 different crews, dani and kate.  They were amazing.  Some of our roll-tacks were perfect!  I got a 5th, 8th (we were fouled 5 times), 6th, and 3rd in the B fleet and a 5th and 2nd in the A fleet.  Not to mention, 2 people from my HS came to see if they wanted to join and they are going to!  YAY!  Another person my join as well which would be fantastic because we would have a full team.  It was a lot of fun and I can't wait for the regatta next weekend at Sail Sand Point!

Over the weekend (Feb 7-8) I went to the Frigid Digit regatta at Shilshole.  It was a blast with a great race committee, competitors, and door prizes from West Coast Sailing.  I sailed my laser radial and ended up getting first place.  I finished with 8 firsts and 3 seconds.  On saturday we sailed 4 races and I won 1 of the 4 races and got 2nd in the other 3.  On Sunday I had a fantastic day finishing first in all 7 races.  The conditions on Saturday were nice.  It was sunny for part of the day but still chilly.  The wind was light some of the time but steady for most of it.  On Sunday the conditions were even better.  It was partly sunny with some clouds.  The wind was great.  It started out in enough wind to sail and then picked up.  A few boats capsized, but if they had the right gear on they ended up pretty good.  Others were a bit cold after falling in if they didn't have a drysuit.  Luckily I didn't flip, but I was wearing my drysuit just in case I decided to take a dip into the frigid Puget Sound waters.  We did get some great pictures:

Dry Suit

Today my new Helly Hansen drysuit arrived in the mail from Great Britain.  It is all red.  It was so hard to find a bright colored drysuit that was affordable and in my size.  It ended up fitting perfectly even though I ordered it online.  They do not yet sell this drysuit in the US but I found it being sold online in the UK.  I tried it on as soon as it arrived and jumped into the lake.  I stayed completely dry which was great.  It has full feet and neoprene wrist and neck seals so it is really comfortable but the water still does not come in.  Dry suits are great for winter sailing because they keep you warm when it is really cold outside.

Crazy Conditions

1/25/09

WOW today we had some crazy sailing conditions for race team practice.  5 other girls from my team, my coach, and I went out to practice at Shilshole.  The wind was blowing 20-25 mph and we sailed a 29er.  There were snow flurries as well as large swells on the sound.  We rotated between the 29er and the coachboat.  The 29er flipped a few times before we went in.  Two of us were wearing drysuits (including me) and we were still cold.  Our fingers, faces, and toes were cold even with gloves, boots and hats on.  It was crazy but was a great experience.  Coming form California I never would have imagined sailing in these conditions, but remember...don't be a fair weather sailor!!!

 These are pictures of Dick Rose who gave a great seminar on rules 18- 20.

Sailing Rules Seminar

Going to a Rules Seminar tomorrow night at Manuson Park Theater in Seattle.  It is going to be conducted by Dick Rose.  It should teach me a lot about the rule changes in 2009.  If you didn't know the racing rules of sailing are changed every 4 years.  One major change is on rule 18 this year.  There is going to be a change from the two boat length circle around a mark to a 3 boat length circle.  The seminar will hopefully be very helpful.