It was a bright and Stormy day! Nearly a dozen Albacores, a handful each of Flying Scots, A-Cats and Weta trimarans, along with a couple of intrepid Chesapeake 20s, came out for the Dave Irey Regatta at West River Sailing Club on May 30-31.
Winds on Saturday were fifteen knots gusting to twenty, resulting in some pretty exciting sailing, and Sunday was nearly as windy. Several capsizes, lots of planing on the off-wind legs (even the Scots!), and some surprisingly narrow tacking angles were featured.
The races were held near the mouth of the West River between the Rhode River and Parish Creek - an area with plenty of space and lots of wind. The Albacores, at their request, got a triangular course with two LONG planing reaches, while the other classes sailed windward-leeward courses. The excitement of planing on the runs was mitigated by the risk of plowing into the very substantial surf.
The wind shifted from SW to S before the start of the first race on Saturday, and stayed quite steady for both days. Boat speed and dealing with the waves seemed to be more important than dealing with headers. PRO Constantine Seremetis offered the Albacores SIX races on Saturday (at least those with the stamina to do so) and merely four on Sunday, while the Scots were satisfied with three Saturday and two on Sunday.
Barney Harris dominated an otherwise very competitive Albacore fleet, and made off with the Dave Irey Memorial Perpetual Trophy for the winner of the biggest fleet in the regatta. Gabor Karafiath won the Flying Scot first place trophy with consistently strong finishes, and Bob Patterson led the Weta trimarans.
