Saturday, October 20th: Eight teams arrived at King's Point on Saturday morning for the MAISA Match Race Championship, the qualifier for Sloop Match Race Nationals. After an extended delay due to the lack of breeze, at 12:15 PM the RC decided to send teams out on the water in a filing 10 -12 knot Westerly. The plan for competition included a single round robin followed by a first to 2-points semi-final, first to one point petit-final and first to 2-points final.
Courses were starboard rounding windward-leeward twice around, with a target time of 18-20 minutes per race. A tri-color windward mark spread allowed for quick adjustments to variances in breeze direction, a course management feature that has become commonplace in match racing. With smooth RC work and efficient boat rotation (eight teams using 6 boats), the event proceeded through Flight 7 of 10 flights by 6:00 PM on Saturday afternoon. Though seven matches remained to be sailed on Sunday, the top four teams had been mathematically established - St. Mary's College, Georgetown, Navy, and ODU. Sunday, October 21st: Teams arriving at King's Point were greeted by a steady westerly at approximately 10 knots, which progressively built and veered through the day. Racing commenced with Flight 8 at approximately 10:15 AM. The crux Flight of the round robin occurred in Flight 9, with matches between undefeated St. Mary's and Georgetown to establish the first and second place teams; and between 4-win Navy and ODU to establish the third and fourth place teams. Following the single match completion of the round robin, scores were as follows: St. Mary's 7-0 Georgetown 6-1 Navy 5-2 ODU 4-3 NY Maritime 2-5 Queens 2-5 Kings Point 1-6 Hobart 1-6 Semi-final pairings were based on scores from the round robin, with St. Mary's facing off against ODU; and Georgetown facing off against Navy. In each semi-final, the racing intensified from the round robin level, but the outcome in each case was in favor of the higher seed. St. Mary's defeats ODU, 2-0 Georgetown defeats Navy, 2-0 In the Petit Final, ODU took a hard fought victory over Navy to claim 3rd place in the event. In the Finals, The breeze began building and rotated to a N-North-West direction at 15 - 18 knots. After re-setting the course, racing resumed with close matches between the two finalists. St. Mary's used their pre-start advantage of starboard entry to control through the first start, maintaining control for the entirety of Match 1. The tables were turned in Match 2, with Georgetown establishing control. However, racing was very tight with penalty flags and multiple lead changes around the course and at the turning marks. Georgetown came from behind to win the second match and force a deciding third match. The Third match was also a closely fought race, with a penalty taken during the first run which ultimately decided the race, as St. Mary's was able to hold off Georgetown on the final run, claiming the MAISA Match Race Championship. St. Mary's defeats Georgetown, 2-1 Congratulations go out to the St. Mary's Seahawks and Georgetown Hoyas for qualifying for the ICSA Match Race Nationals. A huge thanks goes out to the midshipmen and staff of Kings Point who assisted with preparations and race management; PRO John Sweeney; and umpires Bill Weiner, Sue DiSanti, Mike Quaglia, and Ben Jarashow. Jon Singsen Director of Offshore Sailing U.S. Merchant Marine Academy - Kings Point 300 Steamboat Road Kings Point, NY 11024 C: 917-301-0697 ________________________________________________ icsa mailing list [email protected] http://www.collegesailing.org/mailman/?listname=icsa Unsubscribe: Send a blank email to [email protected]
