With strong winds from the north on Friday, the catamarans may have set records for the race of nearly 12 miles from the Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis to the WRSC dock in Galesville. Ed Mills finished first with a time of 53 minutes and 14 seconds. Five boats finished within one hour, and three more finished within the next five minutes. Robin Hartge skippered the first Chesapeake 20. Gabor Karafiath skippered the first Flying Scot with Roger Schemerhorn as crew. Barney Harris skippered the first Albacore with Mike Chabala as crew.
Prior to the Saturday cancellation, the Coast Guard had specifically requested that WRSC state specific criteria for race cancellation due to bad weather. On Friday evening, the WRSC board with Hartge, PRO for the Billy Heintz race, and representatives of each of the four fleets racing determined that, on the basis of the forecast for Galesville and West River at 7 a.m. on Saturday morning, if steady winds of greater than 20 knots were predicted over the racing period from 11 to 4 p.m., the race would be cancelled. Indeed it was.
Although the storm forced cancellation of the Saturday races, Sunday dawned with sunshine and moderate winds for a good day of racing. Harris was the lead skipper with Chabala as crew in four races for the Albacore class. Reed Wickner skippered the leading Flying Scot in four races with Yang-Ja as his crew. Ed Mills skippered the first catamaran over four races.
The overall winner for the day on Sunday was Barney Harris of the Albacore fleet because the Albacores had eight boats competing, more than any other class that day. Find results and more at westriversc.org.
