Poetry in Motion
Published in the Islander 06/16/00
BY FRANK SACCENTE
Correspondent
Published in the Islander 06/16/00
BY FRANK SACCENTE
Correspondent
Imagine sitting low, like in a Ferrari, barely eight inches off the water's surface, on a slab of fiberglass 14 feet in length. An aluminum mast towers 18 feet above your head carrying seven square meters of sail, which on a light wind day will catch the slightest breeze and effortlessly propel the boat forward. But racing sailors want more than a slight breeze. They crave wind ... big wind. Wind so strong that it rips the tops off waves and almost capsizes their vessels. Then, while holding onto a hiking strap on the floor of the hull by their toes, they hang a major portion of their body weight over the side of the hull to prevent the boat from flipping. This gymnastic dance allows them to finesse the force of the wind into boat speeds in excess of 15 knots, which in the sailing world is the equivalent of breaking the sound barrier. This is Laser Class sailing.
It is Saturday, June 10th and the sight borders on the surreal. Thirty-seven small sailing vessels crammed into several hundred square feet of sailing area that makes up the starting line, all within boat lengths and striking distance of one another. But there are no collisions. Sailors of all ages and both sexes, maneuvering their vessels in close quarters, turning them on a dime, as if powered by engines and jockeying for position to be first over the line. To the uninitiated watching from shore, it is like magic but to racing sailors, it is a rehearsed poetry in motion. It is the start of the Laser Class Orange Coffee Pot Regatta.
Jack Elfman is the founder of the regatta, which is in its 28th year and hosted by the Surf City Yacht Club, and speaks to the origins of the regatta and its name.
"The Laser Class is about 30 years old and back in 1970, myself and six other guys bought seven of the first hulls manufactured from a local dealer and we figured we needed to start a regatta for our new class. We approached the Surf City Yacht Club and asked them to host the race and I picked up an orange porcelain coffeepot from a hardware store to use as a trophy and the rest, as they say, is history. It's been running ever since and is the oldest laser class regatta in existence. Today, over 170,000 Lasers have been manufactured and sold worldwide and the class is also sailed in the Olympics."
Over the years the regatta has attracted its share of sailing talent, such as sailing celebrity and Beachwood New Jersey native Gary Jobson who won the event in 1973 and 1974. In addition to serving as tactician aboard the America's Cup Yacht Courageous in her successful defense of the cup in 1977 and other major racing events, Jobson is a sportscaster for ESPN and hosts much of the network's sailing coverage.
Another local rising star competing in the Orange Coffee Pot Regatta is 15 year old Toms River resident Clay Johnson. Sailing since the age of six, Johnson has experienced competition at the national level by sailing in the recently held Laser Class Olympic Trials in San Francisco.
"It was a great experience sailing up against all those guys. We had 20 knot winds and big seas out in the middle of San Francisco Bay and I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to go." When asked what it is that draws him to the sport, Clay's answer is short and concise. "It really is a great sport. It makes you feel free and I just love it!"
Many who entertain the notion of learning how to sail quickly dismiss the idea for reasons that run the gamut from too costly to not possessing a boat, deck shoes or membership in a yacht club. However, sailing is no longer a sport solely dominated by blue bloods and the blue blazer crowd. Over the years, sailing has become more accessible to those wishing to try the sport, due in part to the efforts of U.S. Sailing, which is the national governing body of the sport. The thrust of the organization has been to steer those wishing to get involved with the sport in the direction of sailing schools and sailing clubs in their area.
To get in touch with U.S. Sailing, you can log onto their web site at www.ussailing.org and then click onto the "where to learn" link or call (401) 683-0800. Information on sailing and the Laser Class can also be accessed through the Surf City Yacht Club web site at www.scyc-nj.org.
So before too much more of the summer passes you by ask yourself this question. "Should I continue to sit on shore and spectate or should I get involved with a sport that will get me out on the water, in fresh air and sunshine and be a part of the magic that is sailing?" If you choose to take that first sail, you will be hooked. Hooked so well that next year at this time you may be finding expressions like "mast abeam" and "tacking" slipping into your conversations and will eventually spend your sunsets sailing down the bay with only the sound of a bow wave rippling past your hull.