Holy cats, sailors. Saturday was one of the gnarliest days on the water in recent memory, with multiple regattas being canceled (or postponed) around the Bay.
That, however, did not stop the Baltimore City Yacht Association from holding their annual Harbor Cup. Here's an update from RC member and photographer Adam Podbielski:
57 boats registered for the race, 25 boats started the race, 10 boats finished the race (including a freaking Capri 22!) in the most harrowing and death-defying Harbor Cup we've ever seen. Sustained winds over 25 knots with gusts to 40 made for quite the day on the water. Everything was soaked, and everything hurts ... and we were on RC. Here's hoping everyone made it home safely, and here's hoping that the many of you with large repair bills looming aren't hit too hard by your boatyards and sailmakers.
Serious congratulations to all who went out onto the water on Saturday and made it back in one piece. You don't mess around in Charm City.
Cruiser Gold
1. Andiamo, J. Byrne Murphy
PHRF A
1. Windborn, Richard Born
2. Slush Fund, Jim Connelly
3. Rosalita, Rick Hanson
4. Kristany, Glenn Harvey
5. Carina, Will Pasano
PHRF B
1. Flyer, Doug Abbott
2. Incommunicado, Ed Tracey and Tim Polk
PHRF C
1. Actaea, Michael Cone
2. .45, Patrick Seidel
In Annapolis, the Storm Trysail Club sailed on Friday and Sunday, and with plenty of wind they decided to not mess around and got in five races (the distance race on Friday and four on Sunday). All photos by Dan Phelps for SpinSheet.
RESULTS
Farr 30
1. Ramrod, Rod Jabin
2. Tangley, Peter Toombs
3. Gotcha, Brad Kauffman and Nate Tower
C&C 30
1. Extreme 2, Dan Cheresh
2. roXanne, Kip Meadows
3. BobSled, Bob Moran
ORC SPort Boats
1. Rattle n Rum, Mike Beasley
2. Hall Pass, Jim Carkuff and Ken Schmidt
3. Endorphin, Erik Wulff
ORC
1. Sitella, Ian Hill
2. Baby Bella, Jim Gundy
3. Darkhorse, David McCreight
The J/70 class association held their inaugural Corinthian National Championship out of Eastport Yacht Club over the weekend. Boats raced six races on Friday and Sunday, choosing to hang out on shore for Saturday's gust fest. Check out Dan Phelps's photo gallery here.
It was certainly not an easy weekend of sailing, with plenty of boats having a hard time keeping the keel in the water, while others were so calm that they made going 20 knots downwind look as easy as driving to the market.
1. Alice and Wonderland, Peter McChesney
2. Reach Around, Liebel/Rubin/Walsh/Britts
3. E Ball JT, Jack Franco
4. Joint Custody, Jenn and Ray Wulff
5. Sea Bags, John Wilsey
6. Tea Dance Snake, Peter Bowe
7. Wild Child, Henry Filter
8. Moxie, Cole Allsopp and Bill Jorch
9. Tsunami, Todd Olds, Thomas Iseler, and Preben Ostberg
10. Vitesse, Robert Sweet
Congratulations to the U.S. Naval Academy, who took bullets in all three races during the McMillan Cup! This is the third year in a row that Navy has won the regatta - this year, it was by a bit of a long shot.
PRO Taran Teague held racing off on Saturday, choosing instead to move start times up on Sunday to allow racers to get as many races as possible in (we love it when race committees do this). Ten competing teams were met with gusts out of the west around 15 knots.
RESULTS:
1. USNA
2. USCG
3. SUNY Maritime College
4. Massachusetts Maritime Academy
5. US Merchant Marine Academy
Severn Sailing Association hosted their Soling Fall Bowl, with 10 boats showing up to compete.
RESULTS:
1. Mandred Kanter/Anne Marine Willan/Kevin Dutra of Port Stanley SA
2. Tom Mitchell/Steve Lacey/Tom Freeman of Port Stanley SA
3. Andrew Dize/Matt Sturr/Mary-Sophia Smit of Severn SA
Annapolis YC hosted their Lippincott Memorial Regatta, with 19 Stars and 10 Etchells coming into town to compete.
RESULTS:
International Star Class:
1. M, Arthur Anosov/Richard Burgess
2. Mother's Pickled Fish Hors d'Oeuvres, Phillip/Douglas Schofield / Bob Schofield
3. Stella, John MacCausland / Kevin Murphy
Etchells
1. Zehn, Mark Fleckenstein
2. Caramba, Jose Fuentes
3. Ca$h Money, Matt Lulumiere / Warren Richter / Monica Morgan
And in the little boats, AYC hosted their annual Halloween Howl for 45 Optimist sailors who showed up to race in some challenging conditions.
1. Matthew Budington
2. Guthrie Braun
3. Skylor Sweet
That's all for this week, although photo galleries are still being uploaded to our SmugMug site, so check back soon.