LaserPerformance Men's Singlehanded Nationals

November in Santa Barbara provided epic conditions for the visiting sailors from across the country. Arriving to a morning of pure stillness, there were questions of an on shore postponement, however it was decided by the RC to be prepared for the tentative build that would ultimately begin to occur at 10:27am, a mere three minutes before the scheduled first warning signal. The race committee gave the sailors 20 minutes to warm up and get used to the venue a bit and then the races were off. Initial breeze was 5-7 knots from an average of 215 degrees, but as the day moved on, the breeze shifted right and peaked at 15 knots from 235 degrees. The majority of the day was averaging between 10 and 12 knots and fairly consistent. Amazingly, there was no individual recalls, one general recall, and the race committee was able to run 10 races in the men's full rig fleet and nine races in the women's radial fleet. There was one request for redress that was denied and no protests were filed.

Later, there was a dinner for the racers at the Santa Barbara Yacht Club, along with a bit of entertainment including drone coverage of the races by Greg Smith (available to view at https://youtu.be/iWfe22iWuM8). There were also amazing photos taken by Eric Andresen (available at https://flic.kr/s/aHsmJhc6oP).

The competition remains extremely tight at the top in both fleets with only one point separating Jacksonville's Charlotte Rose, Boston College's Sophia Reineke, and Stanford's Christina Sakellaris. In the men's fleet, Gage Schoenherr of Coast Guard, and Marshall McCann of University of Miami are tied for the lead, while Leo Boucher of St. Mary's College of Maryland, (who led most of the day), is a mere 6 points behind in 3rd place. Still plenty of racing to do and with a quite different forecast for Sunday, it could be interesting.

Thank you to the amazing work of the race committee and regatta organizers including the Santa Barbara Yacht Club, the UCSB Sailing Team, the Santa Barbara Youth Sailing Foundation, and of course the title sponsor, LaserPerformance.

Day 2 of the LaserPerformance College Singlehanded National Championship: After an incredible day of sailing on Saturday where the men finished 10 races and the women 9, Sunday provided a much less hospitable forecast in Santa Barbara, albeit with beautiful sunny skies and warm temperatures. A short on shore postponement was lifted when a light southwest breeze began to fill. The women's fleet was started just after 11am in 3-5 knots with a bit of bump in the sea state. The breeze eventually filled more consistently, but it never reached more than 6 knots. The conditions were shifty and presented a much different type of racing than Saturday for the competitors. Shift from as far left as 180 degrees to 235 degrees were seen testing competitors' abilities across the spectrum for the weekend. The race committee worked diligently to keep things squared to the breeze and ultimately finished all 14 races for both fleets by 2:30pm. 40 lasers were loaded in the container and awards were presented by 4pm. There were no protests filed.

Close competition in both fleets made for exciting spectating as Sophia Reineke (Boston College), Christina Sakellaris (Stanford), and Charlotte Rose (Jacksonville) duked it out for the top position in the women's fleet, while Leo Boucher (St. Mary's), Marshall McCann (U. Miami), and Gage Schoenherr (Coastguard) fought it out in the men's. On top of that Charles Calloway (HWS) won every race on Sunday and was quickly closing in on the front three as they fought for each point they could get. Ultimately, Leo Boucher from St. Mary's College of Maryland won the hard fought battle in the men's fleet, while Sophia Reineke from Boston College with careful consistency avoided mistakes, leading her to the win in the women's fleet. Congratulations to all of these competitors on their incredible athleticism. A head nod and thank you to Vir Menon of Christopher Newport who was exceptionally gracious to the race committee throughout the regatta.

Thank you to the Santa Barbara Yacht Club, the UCSB Sailing Team, the Santa Barbara Youth Sailing Foundation, Kent Pierce (regatta chair), Scott & Leslie Deardorff (RC Boat / housing judges / RC), Eric Andresen (photos), Greg Smith (drone video), John Vincent, Geoff Fargo, Matt Wilson, Robin Donaldson, Jeanene Pierce, Francie Lufkin, Bill Blazer, Bill Guilfoyle, Chris Gabriel, and Richard Nahas (SBYC GM). Thank you as well to our exceptional team of umpires: Glenn Oliver (Chump), Vicki Hood, Don Becker, Jeff Keenan, Bill Lannan and Sky Adams.

Photos are available at: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmJhc6oP (by Eric Andresen) Video is available at: https://youtu.be/iWfe22iWuM8 (by Greg Smith)

The following chart shows the relative rank of the teams as of the race indicated. Note that the races are ordered by number, then division, which may not represent the order in which the races were actually sailed.

The first place team as of a given race will always be at the top of the chart. The spacing from one team to the next shows relative gains/losses made from one race to the next. You may hover over the data points to display the total score as of that race.