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: