Jay's blog

I have no idea whether or not the new replacement blocks for the mainsheet will be difficult to acquire at first or not, but I do expect them to be a major help getting the sheet to run out in light air. They are available to pre-order and I’ve decided that they are too appealing to not get in the front of the line.

Yesterday’s May Madness Regatta at QYC was a great start to the Massachusetts’s 2009 Laser regatta season, great for me and a great overall regatta – 20 Lasers, a full range of wind conditions, an efficient well-run race committee, close competition, warm air and friendly people. I find it pretty hard to beat that.

I arranged to meet a group of relatively new Laser sailors at the club a couple of days ago. I was there to finish upgrading hardware on one of the club Lasers and then to go sailing, and they came to get some advice and support from me to get their Lasers rigged and into the water for the first sail of the season. All of us qualify for Master’s category.

Every spring, for over thirty years, I’ve owned and launched one type of sailboat or another. Every spring I’ve been scared, perhaps the better word is anxious, but it felt like fear.

Between now and September 1, 2009, members of the International Laser Class Association (ILCA) have an opportunity to vote on changes in our one-design rules. None of the current proposed changes are major, but each will affect how you are allowed to set up your Laser for sanctioned regattas.

For the last couple of years the Laser fleet at QYC has struggled to provide a club Laser that would give prospective Laser sailors a real sense of what sailing a good Laser feels like. By good, we meant we wanted the prospect to experience the easy to use “new” rigging. Our club Lasers are all pre-2000 vintage.

We put the docks in at the club today. It was cool and misty so we retired occasionally into the club house for warm-up breaks. A couple of times the conversations turned to the Laser fleet and how fast we were growing. As I listened to snatches of conversation I didn’t hear any other fleet being mentioned as often.

I took my Laser down to the club and put it in the rack this week. The lake has been ice free for a number of weeks. I’ve been working out. I have a wetsuit and neoprene boots. Why is drizzle a deterrent?

I’m amazed at the challenge of a rainy day in the spring. Suddenly 50 plus degrees seems cold rather than the warmest it’s been in months.  Hypothermia seems more of a threat in the rain than it did a few weeks ago in the sleet storm we had.

What is need? I start to look at all the possible things I could buy online and I quickly lose track of what I need and what I want takes over.

Yesterday I went to the club to facilitate a new-rules discussion. The sun was out the lake was sparkling, wind sufferers were zipping around and I was inside being distracted by them. It would have been cold, but a fun day for the season’s first sail, but first things first.