Weekend Racing Wrap Up

The Race Committees for both the Fall Race to Solomons and the J/30 North Americans were on pins and needles waiting to see if they lucked out with better than predicted conditions, and BOTH were rewarded in the long run for their patience.

The J/30 North Americans kicked off on Thursday evening with a competitors meeting sponsored by North Sails, with Allan Terhune, Jr., presenting a local knowledge overview for the out-of-towners as well as a weather update. The Race Committee, led by PRO Peter Gordon, had a great first day on Friday and were able to knock out four races to kick off the three day Championship event. Looking at the forecast on Friday afternoon, P/C Gordon and DRO Taran Teague made the decision to push the first warning for Saturday back to 1200 in hope that the breeze would fill in later in the afternoon, and a great decision it was as they added races 5 & 6 to the results board before sending competitors back to shore to attend their Competitors dinner at the Sailing Center.

With one last race scheduled for Sunday the first warning was slated for 1030 and the competitors headed to the course on time. With input from the mark boats around the course, P/C Gordon held off for close to an hour and set the warning for 1130 and off they went with enough sailable breeze to get everyone around the course and send them back to put away their boats and head to the Clubhouse for the awards party.

Commodore Ellis greeted everyone before the trophy presentation and surprised many in the room with his long, personal history with the Class, having competed for years on two of his own J/30s: Valhalla with partner Ron Peterson and Valkyrie which was rechristened as Blue Moon. The competition was fierce and we’re pleased to announce that the perpetual trophy will be staying in Annapolis, as the winners of the Championship are Doug and Amy Stryker from Eastport Yacht Club and their team on TOTALed MAYHEM. Congratulations to Bob Rutsch and Mike Costello on Bebop for their top 5 finish! 2019 J/30 North American Championship Results

The 2nd Annual Fall Race to Solomons had all the makings of a “hurry up and wait” contest, but with patience comes success and when the Signal Boat, PRO Jim Capron’s Racketash, was on station just before 0900 they had 7kts in the starting area. By the time the A0/A1 class had started at 1020 it had dropped to 5kts but competitors persevered and headed south to Solomons Island.

Racketash shadowed the fleet after dropping the starting team off at the Sailing Center, which allowed Capron and finish team representative from SMSA Don Behrens to discuss whether or not to shorten at 77. By the time Racketash was in the vicinity of 77, the breeze had picked up and the first band of finishers was making good forward progress. The decision was made that the course of just over 35NM would stand and the finish boat recorded the first over the line at 17:39:06, the Melges 32 One Trick Pony owned by Solomons Island residents David and Jacki Meiser. The first AYC member to finish was Ben Capuco’s ZUUL at 17:55:37. Capuco competed in PHRF A0/A1 and was dual scored in ORC. In the J/105 class, Richard Hines’ Breakaway took 2nd, with Peter Henry’s Mischief taking first overall in CRCA Performance Cruiser Division.

It was a late night for many as competitors took their own time once the finish team was off duty at 2000 and the last boat to cross was at 22:21:22 having started the race at 0940 that morning! Many competitors gathered around the bar at the Holiday Inn and Marina where Event Chair and Master of Ceremonies Will Keyworth handed out trophies to competitors who were on hand to celebrate. This event, as well as the Spring Race to Oxford, has proved to be a winning combination of both a great point to point race for performance and cruising boats but also great destination sailing. 2019 Fall Race to Solomons Results