2014 MASSA Cressy Qualifiers (Laser Full Rig and Radial)

Sailors:

Connor Bayless (Radial)
Carson Collier (Full Rig)
Stephen Duncan (Full Rig)

Venue:

The Waterfront Center, Oyster Bay, Long Island. It is anywhere from a four to six hour drive depending on traffic… New York can get really bad. It is on the north side of the island, so ideally get a hotel up there. Conditions were similar to the Magothy with puffy, shifty wind. The first day started off lighter but then got heavier and steadier (pressure and direction). The second day was the opposite, starting off heavy but then dying down and becoming shiftier. The sailing area was sheltered from the Long Island Sound and there was not a large fetch. Current did not seem to be a big factor.

There was a nice, large beach for launching adjacent to a big parking lot. Watch out for overhead power lines! They run between the beach and parking lot. Coaches did not have a good view from the Waterfront Center so often spectators would drive, or walk, to another beach that was closer. Be careful though, if the tide comes in, it can block your way back.

Overnight storage is in a small lot, aside from the beach, owned by the Waterfront Center; it is locked and safe.

Race Committee and Host:

The regatta was very well run. Lunches were numbered and placed in support boats for so that sailors didn’t need to take them with them. Support boats also had water bottles and granola bars in case. The race committee generally seemed to set up a fairly square line; it was long and open for the fifteen full rigs but was very full for the 38 radials resulting in many general recalls. The line was open the first day but closed the second. We raced modified windward-leewards with a leeward gate once or twice around. They messed up the timing of the starts twice by starting the radials just as the full rigs were passing the starting line back upwind. The schedule was held to pretty well and they got off all ten races they wanted to.

Accommodations:

There is a Best Western on the south side of the island. It was a 40-minute commute without traffic. It had a good, big continental breakfast. There were plenty of fast food places around such as Moe’s or McDonalds or Five Guys, there were small fast pizza/deli places, and there were some diners too.