Laser Master Worlds 2014: Race Day 1- So Many Sailors, So Little Wind

Just a few of the Radials

A long day was spent onshore waiting for breeze. The forecast looked grim and Scott had packed his boat up half expecting the day to be called off. We then drove home and went for a walk on the beach. As we arrived home Scott realized that he had left his life jacked at home ... good thing we went home!

At about 2:30 pm Scott saw that the breeze was up at the airport so we headed back down to the event. At 3:00 pm the guns started firing and the flag calisthenics began. Instead of the scheduled Apprentice fleet starting first (which would have given the Masters group another half hour to prep) the flags were signaling for the Master class to head out ASAP. The frenzy began and Scott worked to keep his head together and just do what he normally does, “stick to the basics as it’s pretty easy to get distracted by the fact that this is a world championship. It was hard to stay focused on what I normally do especially with being rushed into a race that I had all but packed up and thought wasn’t going to happen.”

The Master Standard fleet is broken up into two fleets which alternate daily. For race #1 Scott and his archrival and good friend, Arnoud Hummel of the Netherlands were in the same fleet. Both Scott and Arnoud hold two World Championship titles each.

On the race course the breeze was shifting right which caused the race committee to change the line several times. Once things settled in, Scott wasn’t sure when and if the breeze would swing back left so he went for the middle of the line. Again, stick to the basics: clean start, hike like hell and look for pressure.

At the start, Scott saw the fleet pushing hard and many set up way too early so he ducked down, found a spot on the line with no one on either side of him where he was able to hang back in clean air. At the gun, the breeze was at about 12 knots and Scott was in clean air and hiking hard. He often hikes really hard for the first two minutes with just a few quick glances over his shoulders. He then looks for pressure and when he looked over his right shoulder he saw that he could cross the fleet and be lined up for pressure on the right. Once he tacked and was well into the pressure he tacked back to consolidate. At this point he was launched out in front and chose to play the middle to cover both sides. Soon he could see the guys on the far edges of each side closing in. As he came into the weather mark he met up with Arnoud who had started at the pin end. They continued overlapped 1,2 around the second mark. Downwind, Scott was able to grab a puff and break free, which put him out ahead of Arnoud by about three boat lengths. He was then able to extend another three boat lengths and finish the race in first place.

Amazingly enough, finishers #1 and #2 in the each of the two standard master fleets are all former world champions! (Brett Beyer/AUS, Arnoud Hummel/NED, Al Clark/CAN and Scott Ferguson/USA) It’s going to be an exciting series for sure with a mix of conditions expected!