Photo By Cpl. Nathan Knapke | Laser sailboat competitors blow off the starting line during the Hawaii Youth Sailing...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII - A consistent brisk wind out of the west to northwest blew over Kaneohe Bay as the base marina hosted a Hawaii Youth Sailing Association No. 2 regatta, March 16, 2013.
The race allowed sailors ranging from ages eight to 20 to compete. El Toro, Open Bic and Laser boats gathered in Kaneohe Bay.
Sailors were separated into divisions based on their experience, allowing each a fair chance to place high in the race.
The 8-foot fiberglass, single-mainsail boats glided through the bay, turning at each of the three buoys that created a triangular course for the sailors to navigate.
A pontoon boat on the starting line sounded a horn signaling to the sailors when to begin the race.
The Laser boats raced first. The six Laser sailors kept their boats behind the starting line, awaiting the horn to signal the start of the race. When the horn blasted, they turned their sails into the wind hoping for maximum speed.
The wind was so strong at times, sailors leaned a large portion of their body over the side of the boat.
Sailors occasionally needed to hike their bodies far over the side of the boat to counterbalance the force of the wind on the sail. When competitors came to a buoy, they had to turn left to continue toward the next buoy.
Sailors had to remember during the turn, a pole along the bottom of the sail, the boom, would blow past the sailor's body, nearly hitting their head.
Every sailor performed these boat operations skillfully, making it look easy.
“The races were really fun. We had some consistent wind which helped us move real quick,” said Lars Von Sydow, 13, from Hawaii Kai, who sailed an Open Bic and placed second in the competition.
“I really like coming here to Marine Corps Base Hawaii,” Von Sydow said. “People here are a lot nicer than in other places we race at.”
The next boats to race were the 28 El Toros, followed by the group of 12 Open Bics.
Every group of sailboats - Laser, El Toro and Open Bic - waited on the other side of the pontoon boat for their turn to race.
Each group completed the triangular course five different times on Saturday.
Association officials on the pontoon boat recorded everyone’s finishing positions for each of the five races.
“Last year was the first time we hosted the race, and it continues to run smoothly,” said Ken Bwy, lead sailing instructor at the base marina.
“The community doesn’t get to come on the base often,” Bwy said. “It’s good to have the public come on base and interact with Marines.”
| Date Taken: | 03.16.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 03.22.2013 16:56 |
| Story ID: | 103980 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, HAWAII, US |
| Hometown: | HONOLULU, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 152 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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