Sarah's sailing blog

December Laser Practice

2011-02-05T15:54:00.000-08:00

I was the only one who went to this Laser Practice in December. It was a little winter practice on a cold ESE day at Shilshole. Wind was 10-18 with a building wind chop.

Laser Practice with Sarah 12/18 from Ben Glass on Vimeo.

SYC Race Team Awards Dinner

2011-02-05T15:23:00.000-08:00

January 23, 2011 was the race team awards dinner for the Seattle Yacht Club Junior Race Team. It was great to see so many people from the team, especially those who are not always at practice. I was presented the McCurdy Cup team race trophy again with the other sailors from that team. I was also presented the Joe Duthie Trophy which is for the top SYC girl at the Intracub Championship, which I won overall as well. I also won the Brent Nichols Trophy, which is the most prestigious award, and is for the most Outstanding Sportsmanship and Inspirational Sailor. I was ecstatic that I won this trophy and did not expect it at all. I was especially happy when my coach said, "Sarah was the obvious choice for the award, attending every practice and workout, and with her great attitude despite some of the worst finishes and her great improvement this season." I won 3 of the 7 award presented which was amazing to me, and encourages me to continue working hard!

McCurdy Cup Trophy:

Joe Duthie Trophy:

Brent Nichols Trophy:

The Team:

Frigid Digit 2011

2011-01-31T15:31:00.000-08:00

This winter, I have been trying to stay in shape for sailing as much as possible! It has been very cold and I sailed in Frigid Digit at Corinthian Yacht Club last weekend (January 29-30). The regatta was freezing as usual but also very fun. There were only 5 radials and 24 full rigs who sailed. I sailed a radial. It was rather windy the morning of the first day, but as the wind got a little lighter, I did much better with 2 1sts and 1 2nd. The next day was even windier with wind from 20-30 kts and freezing cold weather. We had 3 races that day, in which I recieved 3 3rd places. Overall, the first day I was in 2nd, but after the second day, I slipped into 3rd place. It was a great regatta though!

2010 Intraclub Race Team Championship

2010-11-15T21:03:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, November 13, 2010 was the SYC Intraclub Race Team Championship. This was a fantastic regatta which we sailed in V15s and completed almost a full rotation of all the sailors who attended. There were light and shifty winds for the majority of the day, which ended up working out in my favor because I won overall with a fourth as my worst score. This means I win the girls trophy for this regatta which I will be presented at the Race Team awards ceremony in January. This was a fantastic regatta with great competition and close scores. I will post pictures of the awards in January.

McCurdy Cup

2010-11-08T22:27:00.000-08:00

In the McCurdy Cup regatta on October 30-31, 2010 at Seattle Yacht Club, I sailed on SYC Team 1. It was a fantastic regatta with smooth rotations and great halloween costumes on sunday. Our team was undefeated (other than by the 1 collge masters team) allowing us to win the cup and bring it back to Seattle Yacht Club. I had tons of fun racing with Burgess, Andrew, Alexis, Michaela, and Hanne in this regatta. A great success for team racing with a turnout of 10 teams.

Pumpkin Bowl

2010-11-08T22:20:00.000-08:00

In the Pumpkin Bowl regatta at West Vancouver Yacht Club on October 16-17, 2010, I finished 19th out of 40 boats. I raced in a Laser Radial and there was a large fleet. It was freezing cold and we had many postponements. Unfortunately I also lost a protest at this regatta. Overall, it was not my favorite regatta, but was a good experience.

WIND Clinic/CGOD

2010-11-08T22:10:00.000-08:00

The Wind clinic and CGOD regatta were lots of fun this year at the Columbia Gorge in Oregon. They took place from August 2-8, 2010 and were fantastic with tons of wind, typical for the location. The clinic was very useful, because we learned many new techniques to further improve our heavy wind skills. On the day in-between the clinic and regatta, some of the more experienced sailors sailed all the way to Hood River, which is about a 4 hour long downwind sail. The winds varied with gusts of up to 34 knots. It was an intense sail, but I was determined to finish it and did, earning a new name from my coach "the warrior". In the regatta, the skills I learned from this long sail helped immensely and I finished 7th of 24 boats. This was a great accomplishment for me, since I am still on the small side to be racing in a Laser Radial. Overall, it was a fantastic regatta.

Leiter Cup

2010-11-08T22:04:00.000-08:00

Last Summer I raced in Leiter Cup (US Singlehanded Women's Junior National Championships). It took place at Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami, FL from July 17-24, 2010. It included a clinic followed by a great regatta. The conditions were quite windy, and one day of racing was canceled because of a tropical storm, steady winds of 45 knts and gusts to 60knts. I placed 30th of 40 which was good considering it was my first time attending the regatta and my light weight for the wind conditions. It was really exciting because we had fantastic college coaches, a personal trainer, and even got to meet Laser Radial Olympic Gold Medalist Anna Tunnicliffe. It was an amazing opportunity and I am excited to attend next year in Richmond, CA.

Octoberfest/NYRC

2010-11-08T21:59:00.000-08:00

Octoberfest took place October 25-26, 2010 at Sail Sand Point. I raced in my Laser Radial and got 3rd overall of 10 boats after a tight race. It was a blast and included people racing from both Canada and the northwest. At this regatta I also learned that I received 3rd place overall in laser radials for the Northwest Youth Racing Circut.

Johnny Adams Memorial Regatta

2010-11-08T21:50:00.000-08:00

The Johnny Adams Memorial Regatta (JAM) took place on Bainbridge island this year on September 11-12, 2010. I raced in a Laser Radial and got 2nd of 16 boats. This was a fun regatta with great competition! It was also a part of the northwest youth racing circut.

Lido 14 Junior National Championships 2010

2010-11-08T21:42:00.000-08:00

The Lido 14 Junior National Championships were a blast this year. They took place on August 22, 2010 at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach, CA. I sailed with Mackenzie Wilson in this regatta as well. After a day of racing practice, we did not do as well as we had hoped, finishing 8th overall of 15 boats. I recieved the Barbara Caroll Perpetual Trophy for being the top female skipper, which was a great accomplishment. Overall, the trip was a great success even though our finish was not as great as we had hoped for with shifty winds that were unpredictable in the area.

Lido 14 Women's National Championship

2010-11-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

The women's national championship took place on August 21, 2010 at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach, CA this year. It was a fantastic regatta with great racing. My crew for the regatta was Mackenzie Wilson from Anacortes, who is a great sailor. We had a great time and were able to use Mark and Sarah Ryan's Lido for the regatta. We sailed very well together in this fantastic boat and ended up in 4th place with four 4ths in the regatta and one 1st which we were very proud of considering the great competition. We were the first junior team and overall had nothing but positive feelings about this regatta.

Lido 14 Senior National Championship 2010

2010-08-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

I just got back from many sailing trips and finally have time to write about the Lido 14 National Championship 2010 which took place at Huntington Lake, CA from July 13-15 and the High Sierra Regatta on July 10 and 11.

Both of these races were very fun. I crewed in our lido 14 (4284) with my dad in the High Sierra regatta, but skippered for the nationals. The wind was great at huntington lake as usual and we placed 11th in the B fleet with consistent races (12, 12, and 11).

The Nationals was even more fun then the High Sierra because I skippered. We did not do very well during the qualifiers and ended up in the bottom of silver fleet. The first day of racing we did very well with an 8th, 6th, and 6th which put us in 3rd place because many people received an OCS in a race. The second day we received a 16th because I tacked too close to someone and had to do circles. The last race we sailed well in and then were fouled at the leeward mark and then were disqualified because I had fouled someone and did not do my circles since I still believed, and still do believe I had done nothing wrong. Therefore, we ended up in 13th place overall. I still think the racing was worth the 40 hours of roundtrip driving!

2010-04-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

I went to see the America's Cup Trophy won by BMW Oracle at Seattle Yacht Club last Sunday night. It was absolutely amazing to see. Hearing from the crew about their journey was fantastic. It was an amazing opportunity to meet some major sailors. Here is a youtube video that they made of the cup at SYC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB-Wc_-3mfU

Laser Midwinters West

2010-03-29T21:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went down to Richmond Yacht Club to sail on the San Francisco bay in the Laser Midwinters west. It was a tough regatta for me because it was really windy, the sailors were amazing, and I capsized every day. By the end of the 3 day regatta I was so sore. Every day we had a postponement waiting for the wind, but when the wind came, it was super strong. The swells were huge because the bay is so shallow. The first day I battled the up-winds and needed a looser rig going downwind. My starts were also not very good. In the second race, I capsized downwind and my centerboard had problems staying in so that I could swim around and right the boat. I eventually righted the boat and finished the race, but got passed by all the other boats after my capsize. The second day, I finished in 44th in the first race by hiking hard and having good reaches, but not a very good start. I finished 47th in the second race of the second day. In the 3rd race I was doing pretty well until i flipped downwind and ended up in 43rd. The last day we waited for wind and it came in really strong in the middle of the 1st race that day. I was doing well probably in the 30's when the wind stormed in and when I hit the downwind leg my sheet slipped out of my hand. I capsized after hitting a 4-5 ft. swell. Ben (my coach) came over to see if I wanted help, but I wanted to keep racing so I grabbed my rudder which fell out because of a broken pintle. I also shoved my centerboard into the trunk and did everything I could so that it would stay out even a little bit to pull it out and right it since the centerboard kept falling out. I finally righted the boat and realized the rudder was not in right so i had almost fixed it when I flipped again. At that point, I had no energy left and realized i wouldn't be able to finish the race within the time limit. Therefore, my coach assisted me in getting my boat back upright and we took the rig down. Then I couldn't sail the last race either. Overall, I was proud of my sailing and knew that I tried my absolute hardest.

Interlake High School places 4th in state!

2010-03-18T22:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Mark Feeney (senior), Adam Schnitzer (junior) , and I (sophomore) sailed at Sail Sand Point against 150 other students. We placed 4th of high schools in the state behind Bainbridge Island, North Kitsap, and Orcas Island. We beat 10 high school teams and 1 college team. Only high schools located on an island or peninsula beat us. I will be sailing this weekend near Western Washington University, then will be going to San Francisco to sail in the Laser Midwinters West Championships, but after that we will be back together for another regatta.

Also, sorry to not have updated my blog in such a long time.

Recently, I have sailed in the High School Kick-off regatta at SYC. There were 25 boats and 130 sailors. It was our first team Interlake regatta and we got 17th.

I sailed in the frigid digit as well where there were 3 radials and I placed 2nd, losing first by getting 2nd in the last race to Alexis Aird.

JAM 2009

2009-09-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-18T21:56:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-27T22:53:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-13T00:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-17T15:33:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-14T16:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-07T19:03:00.035-08:00

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!

2009-02-10T15:51:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-28T21:38:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-25T21:45:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2009-01-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

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

Sailing Rules Seminar

2009-01-15T18:53:00.000-08:00

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.

My first blog

2008-12-30T13:20:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

Sarah here. I am just starting this blog on sailing. I will update it with pictures, links, and other information. After every regatta I participate in I will tell you all about it. I will also update you on any other cool sailing stuff like articles, pictures, and gear. Please read my blog and I will try to keep you interested.

Sail fun, Sail fast

Sarah