D19 has passed the Secretary Torch from Sean Fidler to me, Ken Swetka.  Sean will help as needed and we thank him for all his efforts in keeping D19 going.  I sail out of Crescent Sail Yact Club, www.crescentsail.com, just North of Detroit (no mayor jokes please...).  I also get a chance to do one or two major regattas per year and have been doing some Masters events.  The big one for me this year will be the Masters Worlds in Nova Scotia.  At least a few D19 Lasers will be going.

Recently I have been working with Tracy Usher to integrate events from www.laser.org to www.d19laser.org.  Both sites use the same Content Management backend.  It has been very educational for me and hopefuly not to tedious for the teacher...Tracy (he REALLY knows this stuff!!). 

Last year we had success with D19 sailors posting their own regatta notices and results on the site.  Anyone can sign up and get authorized to write articles and then be allowed to modify them.  This allows each fleet captain to go and update their own articles.  This really helps keep the site fresh when so many people are addding info throughout the year.  We look forward to more people singing up and helping to keep other D19 sailors informed.

There is also a post by email Blog function on D19Laser.org.  This allows one to easily post to a blog for regatta reports.  This past winter I did one for the Midwinter events.  As I was getting ready to sail in the morning or winding down in the evening I could send an email from my phone and it would post to the site.  If you have a camera phone pictures can be posted too.

Like all classes it would be nice to see some grass roots fleet building.  I think in these economic times the Laser is an easy sell.  From fleet sailing to regattas it just makes sense.  Where else can you get high level and just plain fun sailing for so little cost?  In just a short drive you can go and meet some great people at different regatta venues....stay overnight in a tent...a couple days of fun sailing...and then home in time for dinner on Sunday. 

Here's a brief list of events in D19.  More info can be found at www.d19laser.org.

May 9-10  Think Spring Regatta - Crescent Sail Yacht Club
June 13   Spring Regatta - Michigan Sailing Club
June 13-14   Great Lakes Championship - Macatawa Bay Yacht Club
July 9-12   Rick White Seminar at Leland Yacht Club
July 30-August 2  USSailing Single Handed Championships (O'Day's) - Hosted by Detroit Yacht Club and Crescent Sail Yacht Club
August 1-2  Leland Laser Regatta - Leland Yacht Club
August 8-9  D19 Grand Prix - Grand Traverse Yacht Club
September 26  No Sweat - Portage Yacht Club
October 4  Fall Regatta - Michigan Sailing Club