George
Sechrist with the Oriental Dinghy Club provided this report
on the races:
The Oriental
Dinghy Club ("ODC") and the Oriental Laser Fleet hosted
the ninth annual NC Masters Championship this past weekend,
June 25&26. Twenty Lasers made up the race fleet.
The Laser is an International and Olympic sailing class, and
is a 14 foot single handed boat.
| 
Making the way to the mark
|
Male
& female sailors came from North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland,
and Georgia for this event. There are 4 classes of Laser Masters:
Apprentice, age 35-45, Master 45-55, GrandMaster 55-65, and
Senior 65 and over.
Besides the intense competition in each age group, the overall
awards are adjusted for penalty points for the “young
“ guys, that is the younger the group you are in, the
more points are added to your final score.
Saturday provided challenging conditions for these small boats,
with winds gusting out of the east at 15-17 kts and 3 ft waves.
Many sailors went for one or more unintentional swims in the
Neuse, due to some unexpected gusts and wind shifts.
| 
Saturday's high winds tipped a few boats over - three
sailors take a dunk in this photo
|
The ODC race committee gave us 5 great races Saturday, with
15 of the 20 completing all 8. The championship battle was set
in the 1st race with Mike Schmidt from Annapolis beating Martin
Willard, and they traded first & second until race 5 when
Henry Amthor of Hampton, VA separated them with a 2nd, which
gave Martin a slim lead going into Sunday over Mike & Henry,
whose worst race was a 3rd.
Sunday was more to the liking of the older and smaller sailors,
although the 1st race started out with gusts of 15, the wind
settled down in the 8-12 range with lots of shifts, allowing
3 good races, each one a different course.
| 
Ken King prepares his boat on a wet and wind Sunday morning
|
The championship was settled with Mike Schmidt having a 1,7,3,
and beating out Martin Willard by 1 point with a 5,5,2. David
Wright of Charlotte came out of the pack to win the last two
races.
Local ODC sailors finished as follows: Chuck Lee 3rd Grand Masters,
George Sechrist 5th GM, Ken King Seniors 3rd, Gordon LeGrand
S4, and Stanley Bryant Masters 5th.
Congratulations to Stan Bryant competing in his first Laser
Regatta. The top female was Kim Couranz from Annapolis, who
was also visiting her family in Pamlico County.
| 
Race winners
|
2005
NC LASER MASTERS RESULTS |
| Place |
Name |
Home |
Score |
| 1 |
Mike
Schmidt |
Pasadena,
MD |
27 |
| 2 |
Martin
Willard |
Wrightsville
Beach |
28 |
| 3 |
Henry
Ampthor |
Hampton,
VA |
34 |
| 4 |
Bob
McCormack |
Norcross,
GA |
48 |
| 5 |
Ted
Morgan |
Annapolis,
MD |
52 |
| 6 |
John
Fragakis |
Winston
Salem |
61 |
| 7 |
Ken
Hopkins |
Statesville |
64 |
| 8 |
Rob
Frechette |
Apex |
65 |
| 9 |
David
Wright |
Charlotte |
66 |
| 10 |
Chuck
Lee |
Oriental |
68 |
| 11 |
Chris
KaKavis |
Burlington |
88 |
| 12 |
George
Sechrist |
Oriental |
95 |
| 13 |
Finn
Hassing |
Hickory |
95 |
| 14 |
Warner
Guedry |
Atlanta,
GA |
97 |
| 15 |
Kim
Couranz |
Annapolis,
MD |
99 |
| 16 |
Ken
King |
Oriental |
102 |
| 17 |
Margaret
Podlich |
Severna
Park, MD |
111 |
| 18 |
Gordon
LeGrand |
Raleigh |
125 |
| 19 |
Jane
Schmidt |
Pasadena,
MD |
134 |
| 20 |
Stanley
Bryant |
Oriental |
155 |
The Oriental
Dinghy Club thanks the race sponsors: Triton Yacht Sales, your
local Laser & Sunfish dealer; M&M’s Restaurant;
The Inland Waterway Provision Company; and West Marine in Oriental.
Also thanks to Grace Evans for the use of her lawn, and Gordon
LeGrand for the use of his boat parking & storage area.
Related Sites:
Learn more about The Oriental Dinghy Club at their web site -
towndock.net/odc
The local dealer for Laser sailing boats is Triton Yacht Sales
- online at
TritonYachts.com
The 2004 Laser Masters
