Nine teams from around the country came to Annapolis over the weekend to take part in the Shields Trophy Regatta, an early fall regatta hosted by Navy Offshore Sailing. Details:
PRO Fred Dertsch and his race committee ran four races in a building southeasterly that peaked in the mid-teens by the end of the day on Saturday, bringing a cold front into the Mid Atlantic from the north on Sunday. For Navy, senior Midshipman Charlie Morris was on the helm with his crew.
All photos by Dan Phelps for SpinSheet
SUNY and Cal Maritime came out blazing with Cal passing on the final run to take race 1. After a 4th in the first race, Queens University came on strong to win race 2 with Cal in second. For race 3, all but three boats were called OCS which sprung Cal, Queens and Army out to a huge lead with Cal going on for the win. In race 4, the Midshipmen from Navy finally found their mojo and came off the line fast and went wire to wire for the win with Maine sailing strong to grab second. Racing continues tomorrow with forecast for windy conditions.
For the first race on Sunday, Dertsch opted to restrict use of genoas and spinnakers, putting a premium on winning the upwind legs as well as mastering wing and wing with the spin pole. Navy and Cal battled around the course with Navy finishing ahead by a half length.
For the second race, the wind abated slightly and spinnaker restrictions were removed. Kings Point led at the first two marks but suffered sail handling problems at the leeward mark and dropped back. Queens pounced on the opportunity and went on to win with Cal just behind in second.
For the final race, a five-leg course was selected again with no spinnaker restriction. Cal and Navy got off the line clean and were 1, 2 at the first two marks. Cal had a poor leeward rounding opening the door for Navy who came around clean. They battled upwind swapping the lead in the puffy and shifty conditions. Navy hit the last shift to lead around the second windward mark with a comfortable gap on Cal and Queens who rounded overlapped. Cal and Queens got into a skirmish at some point which resulted in protest flags flying and ultimately Queens dropped back, suffering a 7th while Navy held on for their third win of the series and Cal taking 2nd.
Final Results:
- California Maritime Academy Keelhaulers (17)
- Queen's University Gaels (22)
- U.S. Naval Academy Midshipmen (26)
- U.S. Coast Guard Academy Bears (35)
- Maine Maritime Academy Mariners (37)
- Massachusetts Maritime Academy Buccaneers (40)
- SUNY Maritime College Privateers (41)
- U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Mariners (45)
- U.S. Military Academy Black Knights (53)
