Smooth Sailing for 17th RC Laser Midwinter Championship Regatta

It all came down to the final race of the day at Sunday’s 17th annual RC Laser Midwinter Championship Regatta at Mackle Park. The two kingpins were tied with the championship on the line and the wind was fresh.

“Nerves, excitement—everything goes up,” expressed Barr Batzer as he prepared for the final race of the day. “All that just from sailing a little boat, it’s pretty amazing. Because it’s a race. Because of the competition, everything’s on the line.”

Batzer said it’s different than sailing on a full-sized sailboat where you are part of a crew. “It’s a little different. I think it’s because you’re all by yourself. You’re making all of the decisions. There’s a little more into it because it’s you. You’re all alone. It’s amazing. It’s pretty wild. This keeps me sharp tactically for big boat racing. It’s great competitiveness. The competition is what I like. And it’s even—we’re all sailing the exact same boat.”

The remote-control Laser Model is a scale version of the famous “one-design” Laser, the most popular “real boat” sailing class in the world. The RC Laser is 41.5” long with a 12.5” bean and a 17” draft. It is 73” tall.

“He’s my closest competition, stated Jim Kaigin, a multi-year winner of the event. “Every race has been tight, tight, tight. We’re in each other’s shadows around the whole course. You look at the scores, if I get a first, he gets a second, if he gets a first, I get a second. It’s just so close.”

“I echo what he said,” Batzer said. “What’s interesting is I knew he was the guy to beat at this regatta because he’s won it 8,000 times. He’s a good sportsman. It’s always fun to sail against someone who’s good and fair at the same time.”

Batzer jumped off to a lead in the final race, but he felt Kaigin gaining on him as he rounded the first mark.

“It was neck-and-neck, Batzer described. “I had the punch on the first rounding. And upwind he caught a couple (wind) shifts and caught me. So, we rounded the top mark, double-wide. It was a dead heat right at the top mark. I literally was so focused to get to him at the top mark that I completely forgot about the offset mark. I’ve never done that in my life. I guess it just shows how much I was focused on beating him to that mark. It was heart dropping to realize I missed a mark and had to go back. It was a momentary lapse—and a painful one. It was pretty cool no matter what happened, because it was who beat who in the last race of the day. I think it would have been cool to see how it would have shaken out. I’m really kicking’ myself right now.”

Living up to his reputation, Kaigin felt empathy for his challenger after the win.

“Oh, boy, I feel bad for Barr. He was leading all around and he went for the wrong mark. He just forgot. When you’re the leader and you make a mistake, they don’t always tell you about it all the way. It would have been interesting. He’s a great sailor. I feel for him.”