Well hold on to your hats, sailors, because the Fall Racing Season is finally here.
First up: the J/30 North Americans proved that old boats know plenty of new tricks, thank you very much. Eastport YC hosted the fleet and brought in some of the best sailing of the year so far, which is great because so many of the J/30s were from out of town.
On top was Zephyr 2.0, skippered by Scott Tonguis. Zephyr 2.0 is a New Orleans-based crew whose regular owner and driver is the J/30 class president, Dave Erwin. He was mainly on shore and RC duty for the event, but the crew knew how to get things done in his absense. The original Zephyr was sunk during Hurricane Katrina.
RESULTS:
1. Zephyr 2.0, Scott Tonguis
2. Cannonball 2.0, Doug Wallop
3. Bebop, Bob Rutsch and Mike Costello
All of Dan Phelps's photos are here.
Racing out of the Herrington Harbour Sailing Association, the first annual West River Race brought in 15 boats in four classes for some point-to-point racing. The race was a hit with competitors - nice work, HHSA.
RESULTS:
Spin A:
1. Resolute, Frank Albert
2. Jubilee, Keith Mayes
3. Lady Grey, Joe Laun
Spin B:
1. Defiant, Fred Caison
2. Gitana, David McCullough
3. Endeavor, Steve Howard
Non-Spin
1. Avalon, Jim Murtland
2. Second Wind, Joe Howell
3. Kayak, John Uelmen
Cruising
1. Velocity, John Schafer
2. Tuanis, Dmitrii Kischukov
There was some great team racing action happening around Annapolis with the Annapolis InterClub Regatta, put on by Annapolis YC. Five area clubs came in to compete, and the close quarters sailing in heavy air made for some tight maneuvering. After four round robins, the results stood with Fishing Bay YC on top.
1. FBYC
2. Eastport YC
3. Annapolis YC
From one of the team captains,Tim Herzog:
Adult keelboat team-racing is a cool trend that is catching on everywhere. Events are usually 3 boats vs 3 boats, though it can sometimes be 2v2. It's fast paced action and a ton of fun. Many events are even with spinnakers which adds a whole other element! Events are usually either open (any mix of ages), masters (at least 45 to steer), and grand masters (at least 60 to steer). Nearby on the Bay, Tred Avon and Gibson Island have started programs with club-owned boats. Likewise, in Annapolis, AYC and EYC have done with same. AYC has 8 club-owned J22's and EYC hosts 3 of Annapolis Match Racing Center's J22's. SSA was able to contribute the use of their club owned J22 to the event, to hit the "magic number" of 12 for this event (two 3v3's can happen at the same time). A great deal of enthusiasm is brewing at SSA for keelboat team racing. Saturday's performance shows they have the potential to put it together. With a little practice, watch out!
Check out the full gallery here.
Down in the Southern Bay, the CCV Fall Race Series brought out 27 boats for some bumpy fun. From Lin McCarthy:
Sailing off of Buckroe Beach in a shifty 5-7 knot NNE breeze with sloppy seas, twenty-seven (27) boats finished the middle distance race yesterday, Sunday. PHRF A and B fleets raced on an 11.35 nm course, while PHRF C and Non-Spin went 6.85 nm. Racing began at 11am and the last boat to cross the finish line did so at 3pm straight up. RESULTS: PHRF A (11 boats) – 1.Will Roberts, Remedy; 2.Pete Hunter, Wairere; 3.Gordon Edwards, Cowboy. PHRF B (6 boats) – 1.Ben Weeks; Rumble; 2.Bob Archer, Bad Habit; 3.Rusty Burshell, Cool Change. PHRF C (4 boats) – 1.Ben Cuker, Callinectes; 2.Andrew Norris, Papahu; 3.Justin Morris, The Hunter. PHRF Non-Spin (6 boats) – 1.Bumps Eberwine, Sea Star; 2.Jake Brodersen, Midnight Mistress; 3.Chris French, Elixir. Principal Race Officer–Tom Connors; Signal Boat (Tramp)-Henry Hudgins; Official Scorer-John Ritter. The final day of CCV Fall Series, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9th will feature 2 drop mark course races in the HARBOR. After the racing, CCV invites race participants to the awards presentation and complimentary beer and hot dogs generously sponsored by David Bouchard and the crew of Ganar!
Lin also asked us to remind Southern Bay sailors about the Neptune's Atlantic Regatta and Hospice Turkey Shoot coming up this weekend. In Annapolis, a whopping 81 boats are already registered for the Annapolis Fall Series. Good times, sailors. Good times.
