What a difference a day makes..
Today dawned with clearing skies, cooler temps and a solid northerly breeze as competitors arrived with still soaked shoes and foul weather gear, an unpleasant reminder from yesterday. PRO Wayne Bretsch and his very able RC crew got things started on time this morning and cracked off three races in a strong ebb and northerly breeze which quickly became very unstable in both direction and velocity. Cornell came out with all guns blazing to convincingly win the first race with Navy next in 2nd. Coast Guard stayed close posting a 3rd . In the second race, the wind gods wreaked havoc throughout the race and it was not over until the finish. KP led at the first two marks having worked the right side. Nursing a small overall regatta lead, Coast Guard found themselves deep at the first weather mark and not much better by the leeward mark. They saw opportunity to the left however and tacked out to get into the resurging northwesterly while the remainder of the fleet struggled on the right. Coast Guard popped out on top at the second weather mark and held the lead to the finish. Cornell also came on strong to nail 2nd moving them up to a tie for 2nd overall. KP continued their improved showing finishing 3rd while Navy finished 4th but took an I flag penalty for a leeward mark parking lot incident with Cornell. With the breeze wavering it was debatable whether a 7th race would be run. The wind did fill in again from the hard left (straight down the Severn) and the RC got race 7 underway. Going into the race, Coast Guard held a 7 point lead over Navy and Cornell who were tied for 2nd. St. Marys lurked 2 points back. But with the random shifts, puffs and holes randomly scattered around the course, it was certainly still up for grabs. At the start, Coast Guard and Cornell got off the line clean and charged left. St. Marys was a bit late and ultimately fell back from the leaders and was forced right. Navy was early at the boat end and had to circle around to avoid an OCS and looked to be out of it halfway up the beat. The breeze filled left while cruelly leaving little for those who chose/were forced right. Mass Maritime hit the left hard and led at the weather mark by ¼ mile and held the lead to the finish. Cornell sailed well to hold onto 2nd for the race and the regatta while KP again showed great form pulling in a 3rd. Army got it together again to post a 4th. Coast Guard finished 5th but smartly took an I flag penalty for a leeward mark dust up with Cornell still finishing the regatta with a two point margin of victory. Navy managed a 6th to hold on to third overall. Many thanks go to our Race Committee team which in addition to PRO Bretsch included Jan Richardson, Frieda Wildey, Fred Dertsch, Peter Sarelas, John Yanick, and members of the Navy Offshore Sailing Team. Thanks also to our jury chaired by Dan Trammell and his judges Dick Morin and Marino DiMarzo. Thanks are also due to our volunteer onboard safety observers Chris Upham, Dick Lunsford, Harry Gamber, Mike Ramsden, Bill Maclay, Mike Brownlee, Henry Morgan, Don Worm, Dick Morin, Dan Trammell and Bruce Buckheit. Next up for big boat Sailing at Navy will be the Kennedy Cup November 6, 7, and 8. Best regards, Jahn Jahn S. Tihansky Director, Varsity Offshore Sailing Team United States Naval Academy 410-293-5608 [email protected] 1. Coast Guard 1,9,1,1,3,1,7 23 2. Cornell 6,2,6,5,1,3,2 25 3. Navy 5,3,3,4,2,6,6 29 4. St. Marys 3,5,5,2,4,6,10 35 5. Kings Point 9,8,2,7,5,2,3 36 6. Mass Maritime 8,4,4,6,6,10,1 39 7. NY Maritime 2,6,7,3,8,7,7 40 8. Maine Maritime 4,7,10,8,7,5,8 49 9. Army 11,1,8,9,10,9,4 52 10. Queens 7,10,9,11,9,8,9 63 ________________________________________________ icsa mailing list [email protected] http://www.collegesailing.org/mailman/?listname=icsa
