2023 Liberty RC Laser League: The 12/2 West Jersey Regatta Report and Overall Results
Submitted by Dave Branning, Region 2 Director on 12/4/2023
The fifth and final leg of the 2023 Liberty RC Laser League concluded on Saturday, December 2nd at Cooper River YC in Collingswood, NJ. This venue has long since been a go-to site for RC sailing but has been quiet for several years. This year we were able to coax back some of the old (and young) gang to tune up or borrow an RC Laser and join us for an alumni reunion regatta. Tammy Brunker, Dan Walsh, Ryan Lippincott, Terry Rapp and Robbie Seidelmann all taped the ankles for this one.
We divided the 16-boat fleet into three random fleets with two of the fleets racing at a time. We shake up the fleets again after lunch and go at it again. Everyone typically gets a break every third heat. This is a good format to keep the starting line volume smaller and everyone knows when they are in the water. This was a forecasted light air day and mother nature got this one right. A-sails all day and we ended at the right time as the afternoon warmed up a bit and the little wind we had was dying.
For the “league” you must sail in 3 of the 5 regattas to count and several skippers used the West Jersey Regatta as their needed third event to qualify. We count your best three regatta finishes as your final net score.
Fortunately for Sean Bradley he already earned First Place in the 2023 league prior to the final event with a 1st at the Bunny Bowl, a 1st at Beesleys Point and a 3rd at Cold Turkey last week. He actually didn’t need to race the final as no-one behind him could surpass his net score. For this final regatta, Sean demonstrated his light air prowess winning the West Jersey final event handily, winning five of the eight races sailed. Sean pitched a shut-out with three league regatta wins. Raritan Yacht Club’s Frank Scalisi, five points behind Sean, was second in the regatta and that secured a second in the overall league standings. Metedeconk’s Tom Sollas, who finished 3rd in the regatta and fifth in the overall. Toms River’s Stuart Challoner finished 7th in the regatta and that was enough to grab third in the overall league series. A special mention to Cape May Ray Szulczewski, who finished 5th in the overall league standings one point ahead of Tom Sollas.
My personal appreciation to Robbie Seidelmann for successfully working with the club to secure the venue as host and paying attention to the details. A tip of the hat to Becky Seidelmann for pictures and a big assist to husband, Robbie, for the lunch arrangements and to long-time friend, Victor Oberg who put up with me at the finish line recording distant fuzzy sail numbers for the day.
Summary of the 2023 West Jersey Regatta and the 2023 Liberty RC Laser League series.
Date:December 2, 2023
Location: Cooper River YC, Collingswood, NJ
Host Club: West Jersey MYC
Entries: 16
Winds: NW 3-7 mph
Heats Completed: 12; everyone sailed 8 heats
Scoring: Low point; one throw-out
Race Committee: PRO, Dave Branning; Finish Line/Scoring, Victor Oberg, Photos: Becky Seidelmann.
| RESULTS | ||
| Place | Skipper | Points |
| 1 | Sean Bradley | 11 |
| 2 | Frank Scalisi | 16 |
| 3 | Tom Sollas | 23 |
| 4 | Mike McGuckin | 25 |
| 5 | Kevin LeCompte | 25 |
| 6 | Ryan Lippincott | 25 |
| 7 | Stuart Challoner | 26 |
| 8 | Ray Szulczewski | 42 |
| 9 | Rob Seidelmann | 43 |
| 10 | Dan Walsh | 44 |
| 11 | Martin Besant | 45 |
| 12 | Greg Bammel | 46 |
| 13 | Konrad Richter | 49 |
| 14 | Roger Baldwin | 59 |
| 15 | Terry Rapp | 60 |
| 16 | Tammy Brunker | 65 |