Cowabunga! ILCA Racer Jayden Benedict Conquers Steamer Lane

It was another magical August weekend for both sailing and surfing Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, when the 51st running of the Laser (ILCA) NorCal Open (second-longest running Laser regatta in North America) took place.

Chris Boome sent in the video below and wrote, “A beautiful mild weekend in Santa Cruz with excellent courses and RC work. In the Full Rig (ILCA 7s) there was a three-way battle for first, until Jayden Benedict decided that the lure of the surf at Steamer Lane was just too much fun to pass up. So Tracy Usher, who is rounding into his old form after repairs and replacements of various body parts, came out on top just ahead of J Denton.”

“In the Radial (ILCA 6s), Toshinari Takayanagi dominated the fleet with good speed upwind and blazing speed downwind. Jon Andron had a great day on Sunday and was the only one to cross the finish line ahead of Toshi the whole weekend, only to find out later that he was over early at the start by a few feet.”

Chris went on to say to us, and we suppose everyone, “If you have not sailed in Santa Cruz in August, you really owe it to yourself to remedy that hole in your sailing résumé … great sailing, great place, great people and great RC work.”

Click for complete results: ILCA Northern California Open and District 24 Championships

Do you have a race report from your weekend sailing or Friday night race? Send a couple of photos and a paragraph to [email protected].

For example, here’s a photo from our Friday night race. That’s Ben Well’s Morris 36 Sea Witch as we approached the finish line. You wouldn’t know from the photo that 20 or so minutes earlier we were in 25-knot gusts while rounding Easom buoy, and that not long after this shot was taken, enough breeze came up for us both to have a close finish.

You’re probably wondering whether the rest of the fleet was ahead of us or behind us, and who won. Hey, it’s a Friday night race; we do it for the fun of it.