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December 16th was a fleet race.

Fleet Race for November 2023 (November 12)
This year has been a strange one, with unusually hot weather and summer days of 25 degrees or more recorded even in November, but a cold wave began to move in yesterday, and the weather suddenly turned colder and more November-like at last.

The wind was stable at 310 degrees northwest. Wind speed was 6 to 7 mph with occasional 8 to 9 mps blow.
Since it was a northwesterly wind, there was not much swell, and although the wind was a little strong, the conditions were perfect.
The 5 boats that sailed (K Naito, Shin, Kotaro, Tsutsumi, and Arthur) all decided to gut it out and sailed in standard.
Commitees were Ta, Ma, Yuka, and Sakka.

Race 1
Shortly after the start, Kotaro's traveler line broke and he had to retire from the race (the entire race was lost because it could not be repaired), so we had to race with 4 boats.
K. Naito took advantage of the strong wind to take first place. On the lower mark, Tsutsumi, who was in third place, made a late catch-up and finished in second place.

Race 2
In the second race, K Naito again took advantage of the strong winds to take first place, followed by Shin, who had finished third in the previous race.
At this point, the two were tied with Tsutsumi, and the battle for second place was brought to the third race.

Race 3
K. Naito, who is unbeatable in these conditions, is in first place.
In the crowded battle for second place, Tsutsumi was bowed out, allowing Shin to take second place and second overall.
Arthur was unusually weak in this month's races, finishing in 4th place from the first to the third race in a row.

The wind was strong enough for him to enjoy the race, and the fourth race was cancelled due to the cold weather.

The winner of this month's fleet race was K. Naito, who finished first in all three races.

Sakka

The five boats were very brave, moving freely through the shaking waters, splashing in the water and moving freely.
With winds at 7 m/s and waves at 1.5 m, today's conditions were interesting and not too boring for those who know how to sail.
However, there were several chances to see the yacht recover even when the mast was just about to the surface, or to see the yacht deftly raise itself up even when it had flipped over. This was also a highlight.
I also learned a little more about strategy than just going forward. There was a strategy to take the wind out of the rival's sails at a distance where contact was likely, and a gamble to choose a left diagonal course while many were going right diagonally.
And I felt that there are frequent tucks and gybes, both during the race and while waiting. It is also busy to go through agilely while swinging up and down, left and right. (This also increases the difficulty level for me.)

Anyway, I could see that he was at one with the lasers and understood the wind and waves and rode them well.
After watching the boats for a little over two hours, my semicircular canals were still shaking when I got home, but I didn't have time to get seasick while watching the boats. I still admire lasers.
Chizu

September 10th was a fleet race. The winner was Mr. Massan! congratulations!

August Fleet Race
　The event was held in quite hot weather with 8 boats entered.
Mr. Tsukasa joined this year. His family also participated in the race on the management boat.
　A large group of up to six people were on the management boat to watch the race.

　The course this time was a sausage course, and the race started with the promise that after three races, a majority vote would be taken to decide whether a fourth race would be held.

　In the first three races, Mr. Naito led the race from start to finish.
　However, Mr. Tsukasa, who was competing for the first time, was in the top position many times.
　He is indeed an experienced racer! After the race, he declared his challenge to Naito-san again.
　
　Now for the fourth race, which was to be decided by majority vote.
　Since Mr. Gokou had attended the Yama University alumni meeting during the first three races and went to recruit volunteers for the upcoming Chinese Championships, he had to start from the fourth race. Therefore, the race committee chairman (me) decided to hold the fourth race at his own discretion with the approval of Mr. Naito, the leader, and Mr. Tsutsumi, the second place finisher.

　After the race, I apologize for making them feel so exhausted that they were unable to work the rest of the week.

　We are not trying to convince you, but please stay well hydrated when sailing in the heat and enjoy sailing without overexerting yourself.
　The above is from a captain who has hardly been able to participate in the event that is an event.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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