An team of intrepid Laser sailors will set out January 30th on wheels to travel to where the water is not frozen to compete for best in the world. Thanks to driver John Cormack and navigator Phil Paxton they will set out January 30th for the first stop, Florida. Six others will meet them there to compete in the Laser Masters’ Midwinters: Feb 6,7,8th at the US Sailing Center, Jensen Beach Florida, then the Laser Masters’ Midweek Madness Feb 10 &11th also at the US Sailing Center, then Florida Masters’ Championship Feb 13 &14th down the road at the Palm Beach Sailing Club in West Palm Beach. Here the gang will host a US vs Canada street hockey game and a Stampede Breakfast. Which is why, in between those Lasers in that trailer, are hockey sticks, pucks and the requisite white hats and maple syrup for the breakfast. The Master Sailors (Master [45-54 years old], Grand Master [55-64 years old] and Great Grand Master [65+]) in this team are CYC members Stephen Reichenfeld, Phil Paxton, Mike Hooper, Dave Elliott, Thom Stubbs; a former Chestermereian, Doug Bell now sailing out of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, and John Edwards an Edmontonian and member of the Wabamum Yacht Club. All Florida regattas will have a mixture of Radial Laser rigs (5.7m sails) and standard rigs (7.06m sails), the same boat but different sail sizes. The wind will determine which rig is used, the smaller one if the winds are high.
From Florida, a small contingent will head to La Cruz Mexico to deposit the trailer and motor home where training will start for the World Championships in April. They will sail the boats down to the Vallarta Yacht Club in Nuevo Vallarta, and leave them there for the week of the regatta. The Mexico competitions are the Laser Masters’ World Championships – Radial sails April 22-30, and the Laser Masters’ World Championships Standard sail May 20- 28. In 2011 the CYC was proud of team member Lesley Reichenfeld who won the Laser Masters’ World Championship Women’s Grand Master Radial Fleet in August of that year. Lesley will join her fellow sailors in Florida to cheer them on. Here’s hoping there will be another championship coming home to CYC in May! Dave Elliott, one of the oldest Masters racing in the Great Grand Masters fleet plans to race in both the Radials and a month later in the Standards. Thom Stubbs, Master; Stephen Reichenfeld, Grand Master; Doug Bell, Great Grand Master and Dave Elliott, Great Grand Master will sail in the Radial regatta. Mike Hooper, Master; Phil Paxton, Grand Master; Richard Quinlan, Grand Master (a CYC member who sails on St. Mary’s), John Dawson-Edwards Great Grand Master, will all be sailing in the Standard regatta in May.
And a note about John Cormack without whose help this trip would not happen. John is a mostly retired farmer out of Brooks whose son was racing Lasers at a Junior level. He trained at CYC where most of the junior racers were and John was the designated boat driver to the regattas back then. He was also the Commodore at the Newel Lake Sailing Club which hosts a big regatta every year. John was a natural fit to the Masters gang and it was at a regatta in 2014 that the sailors got talking about going to the US for early season regattas, so they weren’t so out of practice by the time the World Masters’ were on. They’ve been toying with doing a European circuit one year and John is all excited about being the boat ‘roady’ again. John does sail, just not a Laser and not on a competitive basis. He can fix anything and as you can imagine, is a great addition to the CYC team.
Just before Christmas on load-up day, the eight Lasers were secured in the trailer with the requisite dispensing of Champagne to smooth the ‘launch’. Lesley was asked to give a toast and enjoined the crowd, “We are here because we have all hearkened to the warning ‘it’s later then you think.’ We aren’t in this sport of sailing just because it is fun. Ask any athlete and most of them hate it but they couldn’t imagine their life without it. It’s part of us, this love /hate relationship we have with being competitive sailors.” And in her final words, quoting Ricky Skaggs, ” You can’t control the wind, but you can adjust your sail. ”
Best wishes to the CYC team, their support crew, and those family members who will travel to join them and cheer from the docks. It is amazing and heartening that here in landlocked Alberta there is a team of Laser sailors whose expertise puts them on the world’s stage of sailboat racing!
