Laser Masters: Be careful what you wish for

The masses gathered at the 2014 U.S. Laser Masters Championship on September 12-14 hardly resembled the age-based label of the event. With a minimum age of 35 years, this event was more a collection of eminently skilled sailors that prefer not to be reminded by the kids how good they used to be. But as Joe Berkeley reports, this group of senior sailors had the opportunity to meet their master. Read on…

Be careful what you wish for. After four light-to-medium air races in Rochester, New York, the fleet was pining for more breeze. Lake Ontario, the 14th largest lake in the world, obliged.

Prior to the fifth race, the black storm cloud on the horizon moved from left to right. Against the black sky, 90 white Laser sails waited as the RC posted course D, a windward, leeward, windward, reach, gybe, leeward, finish. At the gun, the breeze had filled in at a solid 20 knots. Up the first beat, the breeze increased to 30 and then to 35. Rain fell in a great white sheet and visibility became near to zero. There were no atheists in this race; everyone said a prayer.

While some made deals with their particular Gods, and others struggled to survive, two were out to kill. Tracy Usher of San Francisco started at the pin, and with his hiking strap as loose as possible, he hiked and hiked and then hiked some more. Peter Shope of Newport started closer to the boat, and with his strap just as loose and his legs just as straight, joined Usher in this display of big wind domination.

In the 35 mile per hour breeze, Scott Pakenham observed that Shope was actually tacking on the shifts. His red yacht named Fluffy, a tribute to the cat sleeping in his Toyota minivan, was a red burst against the white out conditions, going up the breeze not so much sailing as flying, pressing the bow down driven by adrenaline that had been locked away during the previous races. Shope would go on to win the race and the regatta with a 2, 1, (8), 5, 1, 1, throwing out a race that many sailors in the middle of the fleet would love to pluck from the discard bin and call their own.

At the weather mark in race 5, one boat missed the layline, tacked, and capsized. Soon, there was a multi-boat pileup of carnage, boats stuck together, upside down. The more humble competitors overstood, sailed around the carnage and focused on survival.

Downwind, the waves had kicked up to five-foot steep moguls and the leaders were dancing down them with loose vangs, sitting in the back of the cockpit, rooster tails flying from the transoms. For these sailors, like Mark Bear who sailed to a third in race 5 and a second overall with finishes of 4, 3, 12, (20), 3, 3, “Master” is a term of sailing skill rather than one which denotes entrance into that august organization, the AARP.

Scott Pakenham and Peter Hopple, who travelled together, are among the characters in the class. If you could outfit their pickup truck with go-Pro cameras, you could have the makings of a great reality TV show.

Hopple, who sails with whatever clothes he can get his hands on, reflected upon the fact that when he first returned to the Laser fleet, he didn’t pay much attention to gear. He often sailed with a wooden tiller and rather than buy hiking boots he just laced up his construction boots. After one heavy air day, where he had a couple of strong races, Dan Neri, the man of very few but very powerful words, approached Hopple with a question. “You beat me? With. A. Wooden. Tiller?” The question was rhetorical as Neri did not expect an answer and turned on his heels and walked away.

Between races, I came up with an idea worthy of consideration. During postponements when the fleet is waiting, when the race committee flies Code Flag V, it is an invitation for the fleet to vote. By sailing to the left of the committee boat, you are voting to sail in and cancel for the day. By sailing to the right of the committee boat, you are voting to stay out and wait for breeze. The vote is not binding, but informs the committee’s decision. The thinking is Master sailors are not youth sailors. The centuries of wisdom on the starting line is worthy of the race committee’s consideration.

As always, the camaraderie on land was quite good and it was great to have competitors from all over the country in the mix. The housing was first rate, the RC figured out how to get 6 races off in tricky conditions, and the staff of the Rochester Yacht Club was hospitable.