8-24-2005 - Race: Wednesday Night - I was a little late on the water, so I started the first race a few minutes after everyone else. Oh well. Huge turnout, must have been at least 15 Lasers running around. Almost got t-boned after the start of one race by some guy coming up on port tack while I was on starboard. I called right of way but it was too late, so I had to veer off. Roy and Simone came out in a Laser for the second or third race, then wandered off to some other part of the lake to chill out. Not my best racing night, but except for the first race I didn't come in last, so it wasn't that bad. This whole sucking on the upwind leg is getting old. It is especially getting old on the final leg of a race when some guy three boatlengths behind me at the mark catches up and beats me by a boatlength. I need to figure out what it is that I am doing wrong. Also, I should figure out what the trick is to rounding the leeward mark with minimal mainsheet fuss.

8-21-2005 - Practice - Hit the lake for a few hours in some highly variable conditions. Super gusty, with long lulls where I would drift for a bit. Found a frisbee-like dog toy floating around in the lake, so I grabbed it. Got close enough to Hippy Hollow to see a bunch of naked people (either that or everyone was wearing flesh-colored clothing, which I doubt). Practiced tacking a bit, then headed in and went over to Windy Point to go swimming and kite flying.

8-17-2005 - Race: Wednesday Night - Missed the first race because I was chatting on the phone with Pro Kitesurf down in Corpus about possibly buying some kiteboarding gear. Turned out to be a nice evening out on the lake. There was only really one race that felt slow, the others had enough wind to keep things interesting. Didn't finish last in any race, and in one or two races I beat several people. I think I am nearing the point where I am enjoying the two-lap races just as much as the one-lap races. Decided to try out a zip tie to hold down the hiking strap during a lull between races, which totally did not work - the strap broke about 10 feet before the finish line the next race. The boat capsized, of course (probably the only capsize for all boats the entire night). Oh well, I totally made up for that in another race where I caught up to another boat and won by a fraction of a boatlength at the last second. I passed close enough to the RC boat to hear them calling off the number from the other boat, then say "Scratch that!" and read off my sail number instead. Nice!

8-13-2005 - Fun - Jessica, Julia and I ran out to the lake on a great Saturday afternoon. The sisters Forbess took turns riding with me on the Laser. Capsized twice with Jessica, once with Julia. No hats lost this time, although the water bottle made several unsuccessful escape attempts. I was especially pleased to get the boat planing for a minute or so with Julia onboard, so that she could really feel the sensation of speed. Next time out, I think Jessica will be ready to take the boat out solo. The lake kept getting more and more crowded as a big sailboat race got underway, so we decided to quit while the boat was unsunk and everyone was uninjured. We stowed the boat without incident and headed back to the Gardens for a night of heavy drinking.

8-7-2005 - Fun - Dang, missed a few race nights - was sick for a week with bronchitis, then had a good friend visiting from out of town. Headed out to the lake with Julia and Chris. The weather station reported 12-ish knot winds, but it had settled down to 6-ish by the time we got there. Rigged up Roy's boat and sent Chris out on the lake, then rigged up mine and took Julia out for a spin. It was really amusing to hear Chris make all the same comments that I made the first time I took out a Laser (like "What's up with the ridiculously long tiller extension?" and "What do you mean there are no mainsheet cleats?"). It was Julia's first time on a sailboat. She seemed like she had a good time, although of course we all wished it was a bit windier. Ended up hanging out on the lake for a bit while some thunder and gray clouds approached, hoping for a few minutes of gusty winds before heading in, but no luck. Hopefully I can drag them back out to the lake in the next month or so when it is windier.

7-21-2005 - Race: Wednesday Night - Interesting night on the lake. The first several races started out with light winds in the high single digits. After rounding the leeward mark in the second or third race, a line holding down my hiking strap snapped, and I flipped backwards off the boat (the boat capsized, of course). Finished the race without the strap, then hastily tied it back down for the next round. Right about then some gusty winds hit. The next several races were rather lively, and featured bunches of people capsizing. I think I went over at least three times. Got frustrated that my hiking strap wasn't tied down tight enough. Mid-way through the last race I remembered the spare zip ties I keep in my life jacket pocket which would have helped out tremendously, but of course by then it was too late. I REALLY need to work on my upwind sailing in medium-to-heavy air. Of course, that's usually the time I wish I had about 30 pounds in lead weights strapped to my chest to help keep the boat flat. Hopefully this weekend it won't rain and the wind will actually blow (unlike the last several weekends) so I can get out on the water and practice a bit.

7-6-2005 - Race: Wednesday Night - I remembered my gloves! Amazing. Only five or so Lasers showed up. We raced one WL, then the wind completely died. Almost everyone (myself included) flopped into the water to cool off and chatted while we watched some dark clouds roll in. After seeing a lightning flash or two, we scampered (well, technically we slowly drifted) over to the docks and called it a day. Got the sail down just as the wind hit. Frustrating to watch the whitecaps on the lake from the sidelines, but it's better than getting fried by a bolt of lightning.

6-29-2005 - Race: Wednesday Night - Forgot my gloves, but remembered that Roy's right glove was under his sail cover (where I left it last week), so I grabbed that. Ended up losing a bit of skin on my left hand. Felt like I did a halfway decent job. In the first race, I crossed behind the pack on port tack at the start with full speed, pulling ahead of a bunch of people. Maintained high boat speed on the first leg, but gave up a lot of distance as a result. No capsizes the whole night. Managed to park the boat right at the start line for one of the races (but drifted back a bit too far before the whistle). Lots of triangle-shaped races, which was a nice change from the WL races the previous week. The wind faded in the last few races, and in the last race I was able to take advantage of the light wind and beat 4 or 5 people, which is a personal best.

6-22-2005 - Race: Wednesday Night

6-19-2005 - Fun - Jessica and I spent a while running around the lake. It wasn't nearly as windy as the previous Sunday, so there were fewer capsizes and we didn't lose our hats.

6-12-2005 - Fun - Roy and I took out our Lasers and brought Jessica and John along for the ride. We were out for almost six hours. The lake started out empty, filled up with sailboats for some type of race, and then a bunch of power boats came cruising through. Got to try out Roy's radial sail, which was interesting. Lost my hat.

6-9-2005 - Practice - Zipped out to the lake after work to practice tacking and jibing, but was still kind of wiped out from racing the previous day. Noticed that my centerboard was cracked slightly about halfway up, which probably happened while I was trying to recover quickly from a capsize when racing. Oh well, I will need to research how to fix that. Ended up just zipping around the lake for a bit and then heading in.

6-8-2005 - Race: Wednesday Night - Skipped a week-plus of sailing due to visitors and low winds. Roy was on RC duty. I capsized three times during the first race, and once in a later race when another boat ran into me while I was trying to roun the upwind mark. Did halfway decent in a few races. I feel like I am getting better at hiking out. Got some advice while out on the course, and more from David back at the docks.

5-25-2005 - Race: Wednesday Night - A fun night of racing in medium-fading-to-light air. There was a very nice turnout of a wide skill range for the Lasers, so for the first time ever I had to think about positioning and tactics (and not running into other boats). Roy came out on his radial, which I think was the first time we've sailed together this year. Either he was rusty or I've gotten a bit better, because I was able to almost keep up with him on a few races, and in one race finished either a second in front or behind him (I'm waiting for the race results to go up to see how it turned out). Did a deathroll on the first or second race and turtled the boat, but scrambled and recovered fast enough to beat at least one other person (who capsized at some other time in the race). Pulled off an amazing downwind mark rounding on race three and jumped ahead of two boats. Between one of the races I got the mainsheet caught on the joint between the tiller and tiller extension when tacking, which caused me to run into another Laser. Doh! Luckily both of us were able to recover in time to start the next race. Hopefully I can make it out for some practice on the three-day weekend coming up, but there will be some visitors in town, so sailing may take a back seat to margarita drinking.

5-24-2005 - Practice - The weather was great all weekend long, but there was no wind, so I ended up seeing a few movies and slacking. There was about 10 knots of wind Tuesday afternoon, so I zipped over after work. Switched to a new rigging style using a quick-release pin for the vang. Will need to redo the handles to make them a bit bigger. It was a hot day, so no wetsuit. Capsized twice but was able to climb over both times, so I never got dunked. Saw a kite surfer zipping around the lake with a gigantic kite - looked like fun. I feel like I might be getting marginally better at the upwind stuff, but it still hasn't clicked. Need to do some more research.

5-18-2005 - Race Committee - Did Wednesday night Race Committee with David and Jonathan. They had done RC duty numerous times before, so I pretty much just hung out, held up signs before races, wrote down sail numbers as people finished, and helped haul up the anchors at the end of the races. It was interesting to see how tricky it is getting two different groups of sailboats (that sail at different speeds) going around the same course without winding up with both groups at the same mark at the same time, or, even worse, one group finishing while another is preparing to start. There were some very close shaves, notably a Sunfish start followed by a Laser finish 15 seconds later. The two-lap races helped to spread the groups apart and keep them apart. Didn't glean any particularly useful information from watching the boats race, but it was rather interesting to look at the variations in rigging between boats.

5-17-2005 - Practice - There was a comedy of errors getting out on the water. I messed up the rigging, got it sorted, then headed out. As soon as I passed the no wake buoy I realized it was a bit too chilly to just be wearing boardshorts. So, I turn around, go back, stuff myself into the wetsuit, and head out, forgetting my gloves on the dock. So I go back again, get the gloves, and finally start the practice session. Planed a ton, which was fun. Did something like 20 or 30 tacks.

5-15-2005 - Practice - Got out to the lake to practice on a beautiful warm day. In fact, it was warm enough that I didn't bother putting on the wetsuit, which is a first for the year. Made a trip to West Marine yesterday to pick up a few rigging bits, so I spent some time getting the outhaul set up all fancy-like. Also busted out with the super-cool knot handles for the vang, cunningham, and outhaul, which proved very handy while out on the boat. The first race in the Summer Series was going on, so I moved further up the lake toward the dam and cruised around for a while. The winds were super shifty and somewhat gusty, which made for interesting sailing. During a lull, I figured out how to do hand-over-hand mainsheet pulling! This will speed me up dramatically on almost all tacks and jibes. Ended up back on the dock at the same time David was coming in from the race. Showed off my handles, and he pointed out a few tricks to use that will let me leave the handles permanently tied and really speed up rigging/derigging. I'll have to try that out next time. Meanwhile, I've got RC duty on Wednesday, so hopefully I'll be able to glean some useful info by observing the races.

5-11-2005 - Race: Wednesday Night - Wow, it was a rather interesting night on the lake. According to what I've heard, it was blowing close to 20 knots, with gusts up to 26. This was the first time that I've needed assistance stepping the mast - I just couldn't hold it upright and lift it simultaneously. Time for more pushups. Managed to put the boom on strangely, which ultimately added a twist in the mainsheet between the two rear blocks. Eventually got the boat into the water and got out to the race course. Thankfully, everyone was running late due to the high winds, so I didn't miss the first race. I actually beat three people, which was shocking. I think they must have capsized at some point (or maybe started late?). Got smoked in the second race. In race three, I barely lost (less than half a boatlength) to another guy, whose name I didn't catch. I would have won if I didn't suck at beating so incredibly bad. I'm not being self-deprecating here, either - these guys are just screaming upwind while I am puttering along. It's not even a "who can hike the hardest" sort of thing either. Anyways, between race three and four, I capsized (I only capsized between races tonight). When I brought the boat back up, the mainsheet was tangled around the end of the boom and wouldn't shake loose. I had about ninety seconds until the start of the next race, so I quickly pointed the boat into the wind and started pulling the boom closer to me to untangle the sheet. This was a mistake. When it was about a foot away, the wind caught the sail and the boom slammed into my face. Naturally, this was immediately followed by the boat capsizing, featuring yours truly clutching his nose while being dumped into the lake. I then dripped blood from my nose all over the place while I tried to get the boat situated. Four or so capsizes later, I was sitting off to the side of the racecourse, pinching my nose while I waited for the Lasers to finish their race. Thankfully, it was a two-lap race, so I had time to regain my composure and stop the bleeding. The last two races went very well - I lost one race to the same guy who barely beat me earlier, then during the final race he capsized during the downwind leg, enabling me to jump ahead of him and barely hold onto the lead long enough to finish the race. Capsized twice while trying to get the boat up on the dock, plus I took a while putting the boat away, so I missed my chance to chat with the guy I was competing with tonight. Should be able to figure out his name by looking at the race results when they are updated. Grabbed a giant burrito from Chango's and thought about how totally sexy the new Laser Vago is while I headed home.

5-10-2005 - Practice - Got two solid hours of practice in some nice 15-ish air after work. Need to make summary pages for the different points of sail while racing, plus look up how to make those cool handles for the vang/cunningham/outhaul. Speaking of outhaul, I should research better ways of rigging it. Also, I need to memorize the exact sequence of how to get out of irons in strong wind. I don't expect to do noticeably better in the races tomorrow night, as I haven't had any major breakthroughs. I feel like I am making minimal progress practicing by myself, although I am having fun zipping around the lake. If I tuck in and make those cheatsheets, that might help, but to make the kind of progress I want to make in a short amount of time, I may have to investigate private lessons of some sort.

5-7-2005 - Practice - Stopped by the Sailboat Shop and grabbed a new mast tiedown line and a piece of shockcord to fix the windex, along with a small shackle to help rig the outhaul faster. It was a windy (15 knots), overcast day on the lake. Missed the battens when putting up the sail, so I had to take it back down. Ended up out on the water for 3-plus hours. I planed on a beam reach down past the island, which was a ton of fun. Then, I then zipped over to Arkansas Bend. I was originally pondering going all the way to Yacht Harbor to see Eric's boat, but I wasn't sure how long it would take to get back. Had a series of capsizes when going downwind, which I am sure greatly amused all the powerboats. The Sheriff's boat actually stopped by at one point to make sure I was ok. Need to rig up a decent water bottle setup in the cockpit.

5-4-2005 - Race: Wednesday Night - First Wednesday night race of the year! The elastic on the windex broke while I was putting it on the mast, which vexed me. Missed the first race because I had to circle back to the dock to get my clew tie down. One of these days I will rig the boat with no mistakes. Really. No, seriously, I can do it. Finished the rest of the races with zero capsizes. I was last in all races, of course. One guy offered the advice to power up the rig fully, then point into the wind. Also spent some time watching how other sailors raced. Need to work on pretty much all skills, but I think I will focus on upwind movement, tacking, and mark rounding for now. Sat down after the race and watched some of the videos on the Laser 2000 cdrom - now that I have a few hours of sailing/racing experience to form a framework, the advice is starting to gel and stick in my brain.

4-30-2005 - Practice - What's this, practicing two days in a row? Hell yeah. Stopped by the hardware store on the way and rigged up a velcro-plus-keyring mainsheet loop on the boom. Not the most elegant solution, but it does the job. I'll probably stop by the Sailboat Shop in the next week or two and see if they have a replacement loop (plus rivets). Felt like I am picking up speed on the whole rigging thing. Only mistake was leaving the outhaul in the cleat on the top of the boom, which was easy enough to fix. Hit the water around 6pm, did 20-plus tacks, a few jibes, zipped around a bit and headed back in, as I was scheduled to meet a vendor at the data center to replace some busted hardware. Hopefully next weekend I can get out for a good three- or four-hour practice session.

4-29-2005 - Practice - After trying unsuccessfully to leave work on time Wednesday (I was there until after 7pm), I got things wrapped up at the data center, tore across town, and was on the water right at 6pm. The wind was blowing in a different direction than usual, which in turn put the sail in a different position while I was rigging, so the vang ended up on the outside of the outhaul, or something to that effect. Also, the little plastic loop on the boom that the mainsheet runs through broke, so I had to avoid the mainsheet wrapping around my neck every time I tacked or jibed. Spent about 90 minutes tearing around in some nice wind. Capsized a bunch, mainly because I was trying some quick jibes around a buoy. On the bright side, I am getting halfway decent at flopping myself over the boat as it capsizes so I don't get dunked in the water. The wetsuit and wetsuit boots help a ton with this - I can toss myself around a bit and stick to the hull, spiderman-style. Did a bunch of tacks and practiced pointing. Frustrating not to have a proper set of marks to round. I'll have to ponder what to do about that.

4-23-2005 - Race Committee - I was on Race Committe for the AYC Spring Regatta. I ended up on Chase 3 with Bruce and Susan. Turns out Bruce is a hardcore windsurfer, so we got to chat about that for a while. Towed in a cat with a busted rudder, watched the starts of the two races, and kept an eye on the sailboats to make sure none disappeared. I got to drive the boat for a fair amount of time while Bruce snapped photos. It was tons of fun. I finally understand the start sequence, and it was cool to be able to check out all the boats.

4-16-2005 - Practice - Renee put together a Racing Newbie class for Laser/Sunfish sailors. We sat down and went over all of the different race courses and the starting sequence, which was very helpful. Then we rigged up the boats and headed out on the water. Almost all of the lines are now sorted out on my boat. The only remaining line that needs to be replaced is the mast tie down. I've got spare line, but none of it is small enough to fit through the holes. Once out, we ran a bunch of test races. I didn't do that great, but still had a good time. I feel way better about the upcoming Wednesday night races.

4-?-2005 - Practice - Snuck out of work for a lunchtime practice session. I was totally surprised to see that my sailboat cover had been completely shredded by the severe weather over the weekend. Several other boats on the dock had also had their covers torn up. It was blowing pretty hard and I got a bit nervous being out on the lake completely alone (no other boats anywhere in sight), so I only stayed out for about 30 minutes. After I got back in, I ran down to Bartlett's and grabbed a new teal-colored cover for my boat, then ran back to AYC and put it on. Looks good!

2-21-2005 - Practice - Got out to AYC on a gloomy Saturday and spent an hour or so swapping out the crappy pink lines on the outhaul and cunningham with nice, lengthy lines I picked up at the Sailboat Shop earlier in the week. Need to bring scissors and a lighter out next time to trim things up a bit and melt the ends correctly. Got out on the water and spent 30-45 minutes fiddling with different settings and working on sailing as close to the wind as possible (per David's advice). Lots of pondering about angles. During that time, about 15 or so keel boats came out and started preparing for a race. Right about then the five knot wind faded and the lake turned to glass. It occasionally picked back up to 2 knots or so for a few minutes, but the whole thing was pretty sad. I practiced rounding the mark on a no-wake buoy six or seven times, then called it a day. No capsizes, but I had to circle around once to get up next to the dock properly. Some sailing training materials showed up in the mail a few days ago - hopefully I can get some helpful tips out of the stuff.

2-5-2005 - Race: Muy Frio Regatta - Renee appeared to put this brand-new regatta together through sheer force of will. The weather was nice enough, with the wind shifting and gusting over the course of the day. The Sunfish and CBH turnout was rather weak, but there were nine lasers (including myself), which made for good racing. We did five long races (I think it was G, G, 2WL, G, G), and I can at least say that I finished all of them, even if I consistently came in a very distant last. After the first race, the RC boat got tired of waiting for me and would sound the five-minute signal before I finished the previous race, leaving me with about two minutes to get into position after crossing the finish line. On the last two races, different sailors who had already finished circled back around and sailed alongside my boat, offering some good advice. David was nice enough to let me pester him with questions for the entire trip back to the dock. Got the boat up on the dock and back into the cradle without incident, making for an injury-free outing. Had some excellent chili and cornbread (and conversation) in the lounge area, then ran home to prep for Carnaval. I capsized three times, all on poorly executed tacks/jibes: a full dunk on the first leg of the second race (icy water rushed into the boots and gloves, but the neck of the wetsuit wasn't under long enough to let anything in), then a comically slow slide down the underside of the hull right after crossing the finish line and trying to round the buoy. On the third capsize, I managed to pull off a neat trick that I've seen other Laser sailors do and straddle the side of the boat as it goes down, then step on the centerboard to flip it back up and dive under the boom as it swings across, remaining totally dry! First time racing without Roy. Dropped in mast plate and strapped on new windex. Also finally remembered to bring a watch, which proved useful. I ended up missing out on the two races that happened on Sunday because I stayed up very, very late (didn't go to bed until after 8am). Still haven't decided whether or not to put on the super-wide hiking strap - I will probably wait and try it out during a practice session. Definitely need to make a trip to the Sailboat Shop and replace all the slightly-too-short lines on the boat so I can tie proper knots when rigging. Also, it's about time to pony up for a book or two on Laser racing. Next weekend is Jugglefest, but perhaps the following weekend I will be able to make it out to the lake.

1-30-2005 - Boat Fiddling - Yeah! Roy drove me out to AYC for what will hopefully be the last use of his trailer hitch for a long, long time. I put on my fany new wetsuit outfit and we dropped the unrigged boat hull in the water. I got immersed to waist-height, which was enough to prove that the wetsuit would work fine (couldn't feel the wind at all!). I hopped on the boat and used the rudder to scull over to the docks while Roy dragged the mast sections over to meet me. It only took about five minute to get the boat settled and put the cover back on (need to find a good knot for tying the boat to the ring on the dock), then we tucked the trailer away off to the side with a bunch of other rarely-used trailers. A quick and highly successful trip.

10-24-2004 - Race: Fall Series, Part II - The weather wasn't nearly as nice as it was the previous weekend, but it was a fun day nonetheless. Overcast with light-to-medium winds. Roy helped me stick numbers on my sail, so I actually got to race For Real. Finished both races! Zero capsizes! In the first race, I finished 7th out of 10 (beat one Laser, and had Roy beat on the downwind leg, but got cautious and went around a pair of J-24s), and in the second race I finished 8th out of 8 (technically I beat a Sunfish, but the handicap rules bumped him up a notch, alas). The day would have been flawless, except I totally flubbed docking the boat - I came in too fast and managed to fall off the boat and clock my knee on the dock pretty hard on the way down. Then, it started drizzling while I was putting the boat away. Regardless, I am still declaring Victory (but not Supreme Victory, mind you). Need to get better at folding the sail. Also need to get some kind of bag to hold the water bottle and snack.

10-17-2004 - Race: Fall Series, Part I - An absolutely incredible day, light clouds in a bright blue sky and a nice strong breeze that only faded in the last hour. Roy was out with some friends on his Dad's Harbor 20. For the third time in a row, I completely botched the first race with a capsize, then managed to complete the second race (coming in last, naturally). I actually overtook a Sunfish on the downwind leg, but then proceeded to hose up the jibe when rounding the mark, which he took advantage of to zip ahead. Really, at this point just finishing the race is a major victory for me. Capsized a lot. The first capsize actually turtled the boat, with the centerboard popping out in the process (thankfully, I was able to shove it back in before the boat completely inverted). At least half the capsizes were directly related to the mainsheet catching on one of the aft corners of the boat after tacking/jibing. Extremely frustrating. Need to practice the wrist flick that will prevent that from happening. Got laid flat in the water a few times by gusts, twice staying on the boat only to lose my balance and roll off the back, tagging the centerboard on the way down. Yay life jacket padding! Also, I narrowly avoided a collision with a large sailboat that was zooming downwind and got smacked pretty darn hard in the head by my boom. Note to self: Next time, bring more water and more snacks in bar form.

September and Early October 2004 - Various - Well, it didn't occur to me to make sailing notes until the Fall Series races, so I'll do a quick recap of what happened leading up to that. First, Roy points out the new deal that the Austin Yacht Club has to lure in people younger than 30. I was intrigued, and after Roy took me out sailing in his boat, I was hooked. After scouring the web, I eventually got hooked up with an almost-new Laser that had been sitting virtually unused on a trailer on the AYC grounds for a year or two. I took the boat out for a test sail (Roy kindly provided a lesson in Laser rigging), and we both agreed that it was a fine, seaworthy vessel (the only real issues were some scratches/chips along the hull, a chipped centerboard, a bent tiller extension, and the lack of the vang/cunningham/outhaul performance upgrades). Roy amused himself by counting how many laps he could do around my Laser as I wobbled along. About a week later, I exchanged a money order for the boat and trailer, then promptly laid out another nice hunk of change to get the performance upgrades, a lifejacket, and a blade bag to store the rudder and centerboard in. Roy assisted in the installation of the upgrades, and then sat me down for some lessons in right of way and laser racing. He then dragged me out to two Wednesday-night AYC races - both times I tipped the boat over during the first race and then managed to complete the second race. Unfortunately, that was the last of the centerboard-only Wednesday-night races. Somewhere in this time period I applied to, interviewed with, and was admitted into the Austin Yacht Club. Perhaps a week or two before the first Fall Series race, Roy and his dad headed out in the Harbor 20 while I tagged along in my new-to-me, sexy-performance-upgraded Laser. Fun stuff.

Right of way:
- Starbord over Port.
- Overtaking Steer Clear.
- Leeward over Windward.

Race Start Sequence (Laser/Sunfish):
3 Minutes - 3 long whistles, Class Flag up, Course Marker up
2 Minutes - 2 long whistles
1.5 Minutes - 1 long whistle, 3 short whistles
1 Minute - 1 long whistle
30 Seconds - 3 short whistles
10 Seconds - 10 short whistles

Race Start Sequence (Standard):
5 Minutes - Class Flag up, One sound signal.
4 Minutes - Prep Flag up, One sound signal.
1 Minute - Prep Flag down, One sound signal.
Go - Class Flag down, One sound signal.

1 knot = 1 nautical mile per hour = 6076 feet per hour
1 mph =1 mile per hour = 5280 feet per hour

5 Knots = 5.8 MPH
10 Knots = 11.5 MPH
15 Knots = 17.3 MPH
20 Knots = 23.0 MPH
25 Knots = 28.8 MPH
30 Knots = 34.6 MPH
35 Knots = 40.3 MPH

• Austin Yacht Club
• AYC Lasers
• The Sailboat Shop
• Sailing Texas
• Austin Windsurf Club
• Lake Travis Map

Weather

• Lake Travis Weather (AYC)
• Lake Travis Weather (UT)
• Surface Winds (KXAN)
• Doppler (KXAN)
• Austin Weather (weather.com)
• Austin Weather (Weather Underground)
• Central Texas Radar (Weather Underground)
• Texas Infrared Satellite Image (unisys)
• Windfinder
• Beaufort Scale

Lasers

• Vanguard Sailboats: Lasers
• laser.org
• Laser Sailing
• Laser Forum
• Luther's Laser Corner

Vendors

• Annapolis Performance Sailing
• Rooster Sailing

Miscellaneous

• Sunsail - Club Colonna, Antigua
• Bruce McDonald Sailing Photos
• Sailing Anarchy
• Sailing Videos
• Real Knots
• International Marine Signal Flags

Interesting Stuff

• Vanguard has a lengthy and very informative Laser Tuning Manual. They also have a PDF about Laser Rigging and a new rigging FAQ.
• The University of Iowa Sailing Club has a fantastic page on Racing Basics. They also have several pages with Racing Drills, Hiking Excercises, and Laser Clinic Notes.
• Rooster Sailing has a bunch of hints and tips.
• Mark Spicknall put together a nice presentation on Winning On Lakes.
• LaserSailboat.com has page on Rigging The Laser.
• US Sailing has a summary of racing rules.
• Here are the complete ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing.