Reported by Mike Carlson

The First Annual AYC Laser Frostnip series was sailed three weekends in November. Over the three Sunday's of the series we had 21 different competitors of which 10 competitors sailed 50% of the races to qualify for the final standings. The first two weeks of the series felt like a continuation of summer sailing with very mild temperatures and light shifty winds. However, the last day of the Frostnip Series was the complete opposite of the weeks previous cold, windy, and spitting rain. It was 46 degrees with 12 mph winds at the time of the first race. The new weather was a welcome change to some sailors and distasteful to others.

The series saw Woody Norwood return to dingy sailing with the purchase of a new Laser. He finished very strongly in the light wind conditions. A good group of AYC juniors attended, including Sam Tischner in his new boat. A competitive and skilled group of juniors came over from LLSC for the series. College students Anna Lee and Kate attended the last day of racing. Stefan Worm of Germany raced one of John Coolidge's boats during the series. The Frostnip first place standing was a tie between Chris Jackson of LLSC and Mike Carlson of AYC. The tie was broken by looking at 1st place finishes and then 2nd place finishes. Mike had 4 second place finishes to Chris's 3 so Mike was awarded 1st place. Small laser gear awards were given for 1st through 3rd place. We had one sailor complete 50% of the races in a Radial rig. Congratulations to Woody McLean for showing great persistence as he won the 1st place for Radials. Congratulations to Lauren McLean for being the top qualifying women's sailor.

Carlson, Michael - AYC
Jackson, Chris - LLSC
Coolidge, John - Chattanooga
Worm, Stefan - Germany
Dixon , Clayton - AYC
Norwood, Woody (Top Master)
Martin, Ryland - LLSC
Shipp, Trey - AYC
McLean, Lauren (Top Female)
McLean, Woody (Top Radial)

The Laser Fleet would like to give a big thanks to Carl Owens for supporting the creation of a new event and recruiting RC. PRO's Al Daniel, Jim Smither, and Al Thompson did a great job in either shifty light or cold and wet conditions. Thanks to Pete Tischner, Craig and Gayle McLean, Susan Carlson, and David Jackson (LLSC) for RC duty, scoring, fetching dollies, and pulling trailers up the launching ramp.

Used lasers were recently purchased by Ian Elliot and Terry Bihary. Ian and Terry are generous and selfless individuals that have purchased and restored lasers for the training and enjoyment of their children. Moreover, we will be seeing Terry and Ian personally testing the seaworthiness of their boats by competing in the LLSC Frostbite Series. Only through racing the boats themselves will these men be sure that the boats are safe for their children. The Laser Fleet commends these fathers for their vision.

The 2008 LLSC Frostbite started on Sunday January 6th and runs for 8 weeks. The first week had attendance of around 35 Lasers arriving with 10 of the boats being from AYC. Unfortunately, the unseasonably hot weather brought unseasonably light winds and 3 races were completed in marginal conditions. Historically, the Frostbite sees the best winds of the year and usually favors the heavy wind sailors.

See you Laser racing the winter!

02/08

The Laser is a single-handed sailboat for intermediate to advanced sailors, and is also used extensively in the Atlanta Yacht Club's training program. The laser weighs only 115 lbs. but sports 110 square feet of sail area for an often exciting ride. This boat is used in the Olympics and is sailed worldwide. The Atlanta Yacht Club hosts two annual Laser Regattas: Laser Super Saturday in March and the No More Turkey Regatta in November.