I know, I know, dear readers. I say this every weekend. But holy cats was this a great weekend for sailing on the Bay or WHAT? Yes, everyone's face melted off on Saturday and we became a bunch of sailor zombies (hello, Halloween, you're right around the corner). But Sunday had to be one of the most exceptional days of sailing in the last six months. Gorgeous skies, puffy clouds, and a nice little breeze clocking in at 8-12 steadily. Here's what happened around the Chesapeake.
First up, the Naval Academy Sailing Squadron kicked off the annual Race to Oxford, with a whopping 134 entries showing up! Kudos to the SpinSheet Racing Team members who showed up to race, getting in their distance race if they hadn't already (Steve Young looked great at the helm of Project Mayhem). The PHRF fleets dominated the scratch sheet, but it's such a great thing to see so many multihulls on the water, and as usual the shorthanded CHESSS fleet. Quick question: are they trying to sink AirMail with their crew weight? I feel like AirMail and Aunt Jean are in a constant battle to see who has more sailing friends.
All photos are by Dan Phelps. Full gallery is here.
Without further ado, here are your results:
Alberg 30:
1. Wicked, Ross Arnett
2. LinGin, Tim Williams
3. Laughing Gull, Jonathan Adams
Beach Cat
1. Gertie, Chris Allen
2. The Expletive, John Geiger
3. Arete, Sam Carter
CHESS
1. Off the Hook, Robert Dunigan, Jr.
2. Coyote, Richard Griner
3. Dianthus, David Tabor
Cruising Gold:
1. One Love, Mark Hillman
2. Moonlight Sail, Marshall Steele
3. Cheap Sunglasses, Irv Buck
Cruising Silver
1. Mischief, Peter Henry
2. Janus, Steve Burkholder
3. Anneliese, Joe Zebleckes
J/105
1. USA 113, John White
2. Wind River, Mark Elert
3. Singularity, Stanley Shortz
J/30
1. Rag Doll, Rob Lundahl
2. Infectious Smile, Tristan and Shelia Keen
3. Avita, Thomas Watson
J/35
1. Aunt Jean, Jerry Christofel
2. T-Bone, Bruce Artman
3. Maggie, James McNeely
Multihull A
1. Fair Curve, John Nicholson
2. Thrill Ride, Jim PArrott
3. Trinity, David Way
Multihull B
1. Flipper, John Wayshner
2. Entourage, Ben Carver
3. Endurance, Jeffrey Short
PHRF A0
1. Rival, Bob Cantwell
PHRF A1
1. Velocity, Martin Roesch
2. Darkhorse, David McCreight
3. Crocodile, Scott "Gus" Ward
PHRF A2:
1. Integrity, Mike Sagan
2. Valiant, Matt Robbins
3. AirMail, Marty Hublitz
PHRF B
1. Nicole, Tad duPont
2. Elvis, Pat and Amy Teeling
3. Flyer, Doug Abbott
PHRF C:
1. Odyssey, David Shiff
2. Big Time, Mike Rajacich
3. Restless, Eric Crawford
PHRF N
1. Divide by Zero, John Lanigan
2. Skylark, Bradford Decker
3. Eclipse, Stephen Toner
The Miles River Yacht Club hosted six log canoes for the Log Canoe Labor Day Series. Check out this great photo by Al Schreitmueller:
Results:
- Jay Dee, Dan North
- Island Bird, John North
- Island Blossom, Corbin Penwell
In the Southern Bay, we had the Hampton Middle Ground Light Race. The fun class to watch down south is the Viper class, which is building very quickly around the Bay. For this race, they had five boats out breaking up the PHRF fleets. From Lin McCarthy: "Saturday proved to be a beautiful racing day in Hampton Roads Harbor, the venue for this annual event presented by Hampton Yacht Club. Twenty-eight (28) boats, skippers, and crew, turned out to race. The PHRF A and B boats sailed a 12.40 nm course, PHRF C 10.10nm, and PHRF Non-Spin and the Viper 640 class went 8.90. Each course included a rounding of Middle Ground Lighthouse."
PHRF A
1. Mirage, Christian Schaumloffel
2. Diablo, Greg Cutter
3. Cowboy, Gordon Edwards
PHRF B
1. Rumble, Ben Weeks
2. Cool Change, Rusty Burshell
3. Ganar!, David Bouchard
PHRF C
1. The Hunter, Justin Morris
2. Incentive III, Louie Lewis
3. Roundabout, Alan Bomar
PHRF Non-Spin
1. Sea Star, Bumps Eberwine
2. Midnight Mistress, Jake and Pat Brodersen
3. Black Widow, Gade and Giardin Copeland
Viper 640
1. Tyler Moore
2. Mark Wheeler
3. Steve Taylor
If you were around Annapolis, you may have seen the US Women's Match Racing Championships happening on AYC J/22s. We have loads more information here, but you need to check out this fun video that gives you an idea of the action involved in a match racing start. Here, Nicole Breault (who won the overall championship) and former AYC junior sailor Janel Zarkowsky go head to head.
Breault is only the second skipper to win back-to-back in the championships (Genny Tulloch won back in 2009 and 2010). She hails from San Francisco and sailed with Molly Carapiet, Karen Loutzenheiser, and Hannah Burroughs.
Commemorating September 11th, the Tri-Services Regatta hosted by Langley Yacht Club brought out 42 boats off Buckroe in the Bay. From Lin: "This is the annual event where boats supporting our military services race for club as well as individual awards. In the “team” competition, Norfolk Naval Sailing Association bested Old Point Comfort Yacht Club (Army) and Langley Yacht Club (Air Force). All of the fleets were Non-Spinnaker and the course was 6.1 nm in the Thimble Shoal Light area. The wind was consistently 10-12 and all but 3 of the starters made the time limit. All in all, a delightful day."
We need more sailor selfies! Thanks to Larry Svihla for the fun shot.
PHRF NS
1. Elixir, Chris French
2. Ali-Ru, John Lones
3. Charis, Dick McCrillis
CRUISING 1
1. Encounter, Dave Hulse
2. Old Crow, Scott Nielsen
3. Tempo, Jonathan Romero
CRUISING 2
1. Charisma, Gary Kirchner
2. Red Frog, Randy Goodman
3. Chesapeake Bay Dreamer, Richard Phillips
CRUISING 3
1. Study Hull, Dianna Luce
2. Miss B Haven, Richard Basye
3. Yankee Mistress, Rick Strong
Fishing Bay Yacht Club brought out 15 boats for the Wolf Trap Race, a 24-nm distance race that took everyone around the lower Bay.
Results:
PHRF A:
1. Nanuq, Glenn Doncaster
2. Afterthought, Craig Wright
3. Excitation, Mayo Tabb
PHRF B
1. Trilogy, Wayland Rennie
2. Shenanigan, Miles Booth
3. Rhapsody, Jim Raper and Matson Roberts
PHRF C
1. Cheeky Monkey, Paul Wash
2. Kobayashi, Clark Dennison
3. Catitude, Lew Thatcher
PHRF NS
1. Wendas, Studry
2. Juggernaut, Mike Dale
3. Sleigh Ride, John Kalinowski
J/70
1. Matt Braun
2. Holly Graf
3. Dave Hinckle
