Try to imagine over 200 Laser, Laser Radials and Laser 4.7s sailing on Manhasset Bay. Sails would probably fill the horizon - it would be a beautiful sight. That's just what happened recently at the Sayville YC on the south shore of Long Island, when 203 juniors sailed in the United States Laser, Laser Radial and Laser 4.7 Championships. The event drew 114 Lasers, 80 Radials and, for their first US Champs, 9 Laser 4.7s, making it the largest US Champs in recent memory. Conditions on the Great South Bay gave the competitors a range of challenging conditions - a southwesterly sea breeze on the first day, with up to about 20 knots of wind, to puffy winds on the second day, to a final two days of shifty, northwesterly breeze. The competition was fierce in all the fleets, particularly in the Laser fleet with many North American Olympic hopefuls present as well as top talent from Australia and New Zealand. At the end of the day, Andrew Childs, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, sailing a consistent series came in first, Clay Johnson took second for top US finish, Brendan Casey from Australia rounded out the top three. Todd Hawkins took first in the Radial Fleet, followed by Patrick Curran and Ryan Minth. John Moulthrop took the first ever Laser 4.7 US Championship. Local juniors who competed included Tedd Himler (Laser 4.7), Tommy Matesich, Marissa Diaz and Laura Browning (Laser Radials). Ryan Eric Minth, president of the International Laser Class Association from the North American Region had this to say about the Laser 4.7 Class, and the regatta in general, "These youth are the future of our Class and sport. Their exposure to top-level Laser events is critical as they see and experience firsthand what sailing a Laser regatta is all about."

The Seawanhaka Corinthian YC held the Sonar Class Team Racing Championship, The Kirby Cup, on Aug. 23. Participating teams were from Houston, Texas, Manhasset Bay, NY, Noroton, CT, Oyster Bay, NY and Rhu, Scotland. Twenty-nine races were run virtually back-to-back in a double round robin won by Noroton. In the best of five finals the wind ran up from 8 to 20 knots and Oyster Bay bested Noroton 3-2 to win the regatta. Rick Jordan, John Browning and Sue Miller represented Manhasset Bay in this event

Thirsty Thursday results for Aug. 21: There was a tie for first place in Division I (Course BC, 5.95 nm, 6 boats) between Solution, John Thomson and Promise Kept, Sandy Lindenbaum. Third place went to Grace, Gene Gold. Division II (Course BC, 5.95 nm, 6 boats): 1. Excite, Yalcin Tarhan, 2. Vision, Marc Epstein, and 3. Happy Daze II, Tom Egan. Division III (Course BI, 4.98 nm, 4 boats): 1. En Passant, Bob Ebenau, 2. Sundance, Joel Ziev, and 3. N Joy Two, Israel Gerber.

Port Washington YC was Race Committee for the weekend of Aug. 23-24. On Saturday, the winds were from the NNW at 8-10 knots, with gusts to 15. Results for the Sonar Class, Race One: 1. #396, Delight, Bob Kirtland, 2. #682, Puff, Ralf Steitz, and 3. #368, Tzuris, Stanley Rosenberg. In Race Two the top honors go to: 1. Puff, 2. Delight, and 3. #356, Laurie B, Robert Baskind. The MBO fleet also completed two races. Winners in the first race: 1. #11, Old Gray Foxes, Bob Adams/Curt Champlin, 2. #17, Frolic, Bill Martin, and 3. #5, Escapade, Ned Baker/Dick Moore. In race two: 1. Frolic, 2. Escapade, and 3. Old Gray Foxes. Results for bay racing on Sunday, August 24th were unavailable at deadline.

It's Official. The two names for the 2003 America's Cup Hall of Fame have been released by the Herreshoff Marine Museum. Alan Bond of Fremantle, Australia and Gary Jobson of Annapolis, MD have been named the 2003 inductees to the Hall of Fame, and will be honored at an official Induction Ceremony on Thursday evening, Oct. 16 in 6:30 p.m., at the Union League Club in New York City. The event is a black-tie affair sponsored by longtime HMM supporter Rolex Watch U.S.A. This will be the 11th such Induction Ceremony that the HMM has hosted.

Gary Jobson, an accomplished sailor and television commentator, was an All-American collegiate sailor three times and was named College Sailor of the Year (1972, 1973), was sailing coach at the US Merchant Marine Academy and US Naval Academy, and in 1977 was the tactician for Ted Turner on Courageous during their successful defense of the Cup against Australia. He covered the Olympic Games again for NBC in 2000 and will be doing so again in Athens in 2004. Jobson won US SAILING's most prestigious award, the Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy, which is given annually to an individual who has played a pivotal role in the sport in the U.S. Alan Bond, who after three defeats in the America's Cup, tried a fourth time and made America's Cup history. For the 1983 Cup, Bond challenged with the breakthrough Lexcen designed 12-Meter Australia ll. The combination of a radical "winged keel," a well organized syndicate and superb crew set the stage for the "race of the century." Australia II had a win-loss record of 44-5 before her final series with Dennis Conner's Liberty. Australia ll, skippered by John Bertrand, won 4-3 over Liberty, and the America's Cup left America for the first time in 132 years.

Halsey C. Herreshoff, president of the HMM and America's Cup Hall of Fame will preside over the ceremony. Tickets are available to the public by contacting the America's Cup Hall of Fame at 401-465-7610 or e-mailing j.russell@herreshoff.org. Proceeds from the ceremony will benefit the America's Cup Hall of Fame.

In a related story: Ed du Moulin was in Bristol, RI to dedicate the establishment of an America's Cup database which will list all participants in Cup activities since 1851. The purpose of this database is to give recognition to all those who have participated in the Cup, in particular crew. Since the database is a "work in progress," all those who have been involved in America's Cups over the years (and in our area that includes more than 30 sailors) are invited to view the database and make additions and/or corrections. Just go to the museum website at www.herreshoff.org, click on America's Cup Hall of Fame, and then choose the database. During the same ceremony, James Russell, from The America's Cup Hall of Fame, introduced The Era of the 12s, featuring the history of the 1958 defender Columbia, with artifacts from the Romagna and Dougan collection. Readers may recall Vic Romagna, who sailed out of Port Washington YC and was on board Columbia in 1958 with skipper, Briggs Cunningham, when they won the Cup. Ginger Marshall Martus, who grew up in Port Washington and delivered many of the Romagna artifacts to the Herreshoff Museum, was on hand to enjoy the ceremony. The Annual Herreshoff Regatta rounded out the weekend, with the beautiful and graceful Herreshoff-designed S boats and 12.5 footers sailing in Bristol Harbor on a gorgeous New England day with great wind and sunny skies.

The North Shore YC will hold their 2nd Annual Moonlight Regatta on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2003. The first warning gun will be made no earlier than 7:25 p.m. A breakfast party to follow racing will be at NSYC on Sunday morning, September 14th, and awards will be given at the club's annual fall dinner dance. Information is available at the club 883-9823, or at www.nsyc.org.

Save the date! The 2003 18th Annual Cannonball Regatta will be held on Saturday Oct. 4 and will be sponsored again by Manhasset Bay Marina and LaMotta's restaurant. Details to follow as they become available.