This was the third attempt at the SEISA Singlehanded Championship. Originally scheduled for Lake Pontchartrain Yacht Club (LPYC) September 10-12 to coincide with the ILCA Gulf Coast Championship, when LPYC was damaged by a hurricane the event was postponed. Rescheduled to coincide with the Houston Yacht Club’s (HYC) HOOD Regatta September 18-19, a hurricane blew through early in the week and as high pressure settled in the wind shut off, so no racing.
The third attempt found us back at Houston Yacht Club with just the SEISA regatta scheduled October 23-24 and no hurricanes. The US Sailing Mallory Cup and Harvest Moon Regatta took all the local race officers, so the regatta chair brought in Tom and Elaine Conlin from Bellport, NY as PRO and scorer. Parents and coaches helped run the Signal boat and move marks. 
The organizers scheduled a late start so competitors from northern Texas and Colorado could travel that morning. Competitors meeting was at 1230 and we launched by 1 PM. When we launched, the partly sunny morning was now overcast. We did a beach launch with 3 ILCA 7s and 8 ILCA 6s. We had pretty good wind in the 12-17 knot range out of the southeast with building waves. Located on shallow northern Galveston Bay, the biggest waves we saw were 2-3’, good enough to surf. Photos show boats hull down from time to time: https://www.flickr.com/photos/191992072@N07/sets/72157720072033241
You had to work it upwind to keep from getting stopped, especially in tacks. After a race or two, the lake sailors got used to sailing in waves again. Light rain showers brought a few pulses of southerly wind closer to shore. Those of us who got on the wrong side of those pulses dropped back. Race committee set a square line and course but the line was bigger than necessary, maybe 175’ long. The wind was strong enough that the lighter sailors were at full hike most of the time and had sheets cracked off a foot, maybe more, in the puffs. Most sailors spent a lot of time extended and working the sheet off two-blocks in the waves.
In the first ILCA 6 race, I didn’t see the offset mark until looking back saw other boats rounding it. Going back to round it correctly, I had dropped to 7th. Ava Anderson (‘23), from Clear Falls, had great downwind speed and great hiking form upwind. I made up a lot of distance but couldn’t catch her, and finished second. She won the first two races. Tony Slowik (‘22) from West Lake High School swapped places with me in the first two races. Ava was chasing the leader downwind in Race 3 when she capsized to weather but righted quickly and regained 2nd place before the finish.
In ILCA 7s, Aston Atherton (‘22) of Rockwall-Heath High School had really good upwind speed and led every race from start to finish Saturday. In these hiking conditions he quickly jumped ahead usually by the first tack. Alex Horne (‘22) from Stargate made a good show and closed the gap on downwind legs. He pushed a little hard and capsized on race 3. Alex would win race 6 on Sunday and place second in the event over Zach Aronson (‘23) from Vista Ridge High School.
Just as the last ILCA 7 was finishing Race 4, a loud crack of thunder broke across the race course. Race Committee and coaches sent us in at 4:40, well before the 5:30 cut off time. Ava Anderson led the ILCA 6s with 6 points, Barclay 7 points, and Slowik and Lucas Tenrreiro (‘23) of Cedar Park had 15 points. In ILCA 7, Atherton with 4 points led Horne with 8 and Aronson with 12 points.
Saturday’s thunderstorms kept going till late in the night. The cold front cleared early Sunday morning. Unlike in the northeast when a front blows through, it remained warm, just less humid, and the breeze was still out of the southeast. Sunny, and with wind at 18-20, there were big whitecaps on the course. We launched and reached out to the weather and offset marks. Before Race 5, the wind dropped to 12-14. With the earlier start and more westerly wind the water was flatter but still required lots of body movement in the waves.
Barclay and Atherton won race 5. In Race 6, the wind shifted 20-30 degrees to almost due south and dropped to about 8 knots. Aston and I sailed to the wrong side of the shift and dropped back. Alex Horne played the shift well in the ILCA 7 to win Race 6. Tony Slowik did likewise in the ILCA 6 to win Race 6. Aston Atherton earned his ILCA 7 berth to the Cressy Championship in Race 8. In ILCA 6, all I needed was not to DSQ the last race. This is the first time Aston or I will attend an ISSA National Championship.
Tony Slowik and Lucas Tenrreiro deserve credit for creating and registering their own school teams in SEISA. Hayden McCready of Kingwood, the Horne brother-sister pair from Stargate School, and Nick Carew from McAllum also created their school sailing team. I think Zach Aronson from Vista Ridge did too. Stargate is the only high school sailing team in Colorado. As a result of the sailors’ efforts, there are five or six new teams in SEISA.
The organizer said HYC will hold more of these events during the winter and spring.
The Houston Yacht Club provided a cookout buffet afterwards and as the results were announced and prizes given the sailors shared stories and ate before heading home.
-Hamilton Barclay (‘23)
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