Floatline - Chesapeake Bay News

IRC East Coast Championship Preview

For decades the Annapolis YC's Fall Series was an important stop on the east coast big boat circuit. Annapolis was well-positioned on the east coast migration route and it was just far enough south to enjoy a slightly extended sailing season relative to Long Island Sound and New England areas. In recent years, the Storm Trysail Club's annual early November regatta has emerged as a favorite among the southbound crowd and has also proven popular among local big boat sailors. The regatta is now in its third year as an IRC-specific event (it was run for the four years prior as the IMS Mid-Atlantic Championship). 

Host:
Storm Trysail Club (social activities hosted by the Annapolis YC and supported by Annapolis Yacht Sales)

Entries:
"Sold Out" at 45 entries, including 35 boats racing in four IRC classes and 10 Beneteau 36.7s racing in their own class.

Boats of Note:
Numbers, Dan Meyers, Boston - New J/V 66 with more than half of its crew hailing from the Alinghi America's Cup team including tactician Brad Butterworth.

Samba Pa Ti John Kilroy, Jr, Los Angeles - TP 52 with a stacked crew including former Team New Zealand tactician Terry Hutchinson calling the shots this weekend.

Amelia, Bandit, Tiburon, and Tsunami - New York YC Swan 42s.

Teamwork Robin Team, Lexington, NC - New J/122 with top Bay sailors Jonathan Bartlett, Dave Askew, Kevin Ryman, and John White among the crew.

Renaissance U.S. Naval Academy - Debut of the new Navy 44 MKII.

Zingara/Dreamboat Annie Richard Reid, Ontario - Reid and Zingara won the 47-boat 2007 Beneteau 36.7 North Americans.

Sjambok R/P 45 Michael Brennan, Potomac, MD - Gavin Brady, tactician.

Racing:
Friday November 2 - Distance Race (approximately 35 miles for smaller boat classes and 50 miles for larger boat classes).

Saturday November 3 - Windward/leeward racing off Annapolis.

Sunday November 4 - Windward/leeward racing off Annapolis.

Wind Forecast via NOAA:
Friday: N 15-20 knots
Saturday: N 10-15 knots
Sunday: W 5-10

Closest Buoy Report to Racing Area:
Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse

Keep Track of the Geography:
AnnapolisLocalKnowledge.com

You're Invited:
Happy Hour with Gary Jobson at Carrol's Creek Cafe in Eastport. Thursday November 1. 6-8 p.m. Tax deducatable donation of $25 per person benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (evening includes Bombay Sapphire Cocktails and Hors d'oeuvres). Contact Brittanie Oakley at Carrol's Creek, (410) 263-8102 or boakley@carrolscreek.com.

Documents:
Notice of Race (PDF)
Sailing Instructions (PDF)
SI Amendment #1 (PDF)
Scratch Sheet

Linkage:
Event Website
Storm Trysail Club Website

Photo Above:
Sjambok crosses Tsunami at the 2007 Annapolis YC Fall Series.
Photo by Dan Phelps / SpinSheet

J/105 North American Championship Preview

J/105s are rolling into town for the class's North American Championship which unfolds on the Chesapeake over the next five days.

Host:
Annapolis Yacht Club

Entries:
69 boats representing 15 states and two nations.

Seeding:
The image of a starting line packed with 69 34-foot boats will not be part of the regatta. The first two days of racing will feature a fleet divided into four "qualifying fleets." Boats with strong 2007 records were "seeded" and spread among the four qualifying fleets. The balance of the entrants were randomly distributed amongst the four fleets. Boats will be assigned to final series Gold (Championship) and Silver fleets on the basis of their qualifying series scores.Thirty-five boats will race in the Gold (Championship) fleet and 34 boats will race in the Silver fleet.

A PDF explaining the seeding procedures is available via AYC.

Boats of Note:
BAT IV Andrew Kennedy, Annapolis, 2007 Sail Newport Regatta class winner

Dreadnaught and Allegiance, Annapolis, Crewed by Naval Academy Midshipmen

Gumption Kevin Grainger, New York

Hey Jude James Rathbun, Ontario, 2007 Toronto NOOD class winner

Indefatigable Phil Lotz, Newport

Inigo Jim Konigsberg 2006, East Coast Championship winner

Jester Hugh Bethell, Baltimore, 2007 Annapolis Race Week class winner

Kincsem Joerd Esdorn, New York

Kokopelli Peter McChesney, Annapolis

Le Renard Steve Phillips, Annapolis, 2000 and 2002 North American champion

Masquerade Thomas Coates, San Francisco, 2006 North American champion

Perseverance Bennet Greenwald, San Diego, 2007 Long Beach Race Week class winner

Re Tern David Shaver, Ontario, 2007 Canadian champion

Savasana Brian Keane, Massachusetts, 2007 Block Island Race Week class winner

Team Storm Trysail, Annapolis, Crewed by junior sailors led by helmsman Harry Scott

Practice Race:
Wednesday October 31, 2 p.m.

Racing:
Seven races are scheduled. A four-fleet, four-race, round-robin qualifying series and a two-fleet, three-race final series.

Thursday November 1
(Round Robin)

Friday November 2
(Round Robin)

Saturday November 3
(Championship Round)

Sunday November 4
(Championship Round)

Wind Forecast via NOAA:
Wednesday: S 5-10 knots and building
Thursday: SW 15-20 knots
Friday: N 15-20 knots
Saturday: N 10-15 knots
Sunday: W 5-10

Closest Buoy Report to Racing Area:
Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse

Local Geography:
AnnapolisLocalKnowledge.com

You're Invited:
Happy Hour with Gary Jobson at Carrol's Creek Cafe in Eastport. Thursday November 1. 6-8 p.m. Tax deductible donation of $25 per person benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (evening includes Bombay Sapphire Cocktails and Hors d'oeuvres). Contact Brittanie Oakley at Carrol's Creek, (410) 263-8102 or boakley@carrolscreek.com.

Race Documents:
Notice of Race (PDF)
Sailing Instructions (PDF) 
Seeding Procedures (PDF)

Linkage:
Event Website
Event Site Results Page
Annapolis YC Event Results Page
Preview in The (Annapolis) Capital

Photos On This Page:
Top photo: Spa Creek and the Annapolis YC on Tuesday October 30.

Middle photo: Rum Puppy racing at Screwpile 2007 off Solomons.

Bottom photo: Jester racing at Screwpile 2007 off Solomons.

Screwpile J/105 photos by Jack Hardway, www.hardwayphotos.com - www.heli-photo.org

November SpinSheet is On The Docks

The November issue of SpinSheet Magazine was delivered from the printer this morning and distribution is underway throughout the mid-Atlantic.

That's a Crosscurrent 33 on the cover, sailing off Annapolis earlier this month in the busy stretch of demos and boat tests immediately following the U.S. Sailboat Show.

The issue also came together after the show and, as a result, includes some "late-breaking" coverage including photos and results fro the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race and the 505 North Americans as well as a comprehensive wrap-up from the Show. Classic boat fans will enjoy photos and reports from the Hospice Turkey Shoot Regatta on the Rappahannock and the Good Old Boat Regatta off Annapolis. Both of these events attracted large fleets earlier this month.

Also included in the November issue is a briefing on renovations underway at the Annapolis City Dock, a Chesapeake Calendar, Cruising Club Notes, a winter charter section, and  holiday gift idea section. Southern Bay race management guru John McCarthy is the subject of the APS Performance Sailor profile. As usual, a boatload of geographically-applicable ads round out the package. We hope you have as much fun reading it as we did putting it together.

Championship Season Rolls On

Championship season in Annapolis rolled on this past weekend with three events  contested in breezy and challenging conditions.

Fifty-three J/24s raced in the Hillman Capital Management J/24 East Coast Championship out of the Severn SA. After eight races, Connecticut sailor Chris Zaleski emerged from the fray one point ahead of Annapolis's Mark Hillman by a single point after eight races.

San Diego skipper Chuck Nichols topped an 11-boat fleet and captured the Lloyd Phoenix Trophy emblematic of U.S. Sailing's national Offshore Championship. The event was hosted by the U.S. Naval Academy and sailed in Navy 44s. 

The Annapolis YC hosted its Fall Etchells and Star Regatta. Gary Jobson notched a four point win in the 19-boat the Etchells fleet with ahead of Al Terhune, Jr. in second

In the 19-boat Star class, Annapolis sailor Peter McChesney overcame a four point deficit after day one to beat Lee Dayton sailing out of Indian Harbor YC by one point after five races. 

The photo above, from Dan Phelps, shows Dayton (8059) and McChesney (8264) enjoying thre fresh breeze on opening day.

Up next are the J/105 North American Championship and the IRC East Coast Championship. Boats and sailors have begun assembling for these regattas and the forecast is looking fall-like and beautiful. Stay tuned!

Photos:
J/24 East Coasts from Dan Phelps / SpinSheet
U.S. Sailing Offshore Championship (Lloyd Phoenix Trophy) from U.S. Sailing
Stars and Etchells from Dan Phelps / SpinSheet

Results:
Hillman Capital Management J/24 East Coast Championship
Annapolis YC Fall Etchells and Star Regatta
U.S. Sailing's National Offshore Championship for the Lloyd Phoenix Trophy

Game On!

October and November have delivered an unprecedented string of championship regattas to the Chesapeake Bay and, particularly, the waters off Annapolis.

The Albacore Internationals and the 505 North Americans are already in the books but things are just heating up. Over the upcoming weekend, October 26 to 28, the Naval Academy hosts the U.S. Sailing Offshore Championship and the Severn SA hosts the J/24 East Coast Championship.

The Annapolis YC is hosting the J/105 North Americans (68 boats!) October 31 through November 4, and the Storm Trysail Club runs the IRC East Coast Championship (“sold out” at 45 boats) November 2 through 4.

In an unexpected turn of events straight out of an Al Gore slideshow, low water levels forced organizers to move the J/80 North American Championship from Lake Norman, NC to Annapolis where the Eastport YC hosts November 9 through 11.

Photo: J/105s at Screwpile 2007. Photo by Mark Talbott / SpinSheet

Farrah's Story

After the 16th and final race of the Olympic Trials earlier this month, Annapolis native Farrah Hall--a Broadneck High School and St. Mary's College of Maryland grad--thought she had won the women's Olympic berth in the RS:X windsurfing class. But a redress hearing pushed her back into second.

Read Bill Wagner's account of the proceedings in The (Annapolis) Capital.

Photo by Britt Viehman

Melges 24s in Annapolis

Terry Hutchinson--sailing with Scott Nixon, Morgan Trubovich, Brian Janney and Tara Thomas--won the 19-boat  Melges 24 Northeast District Championship hosted October 20 and 21 by the Eastport YC in Annapolis. 

Eastport YC hosts the 2008 Melges 24 North American Championship October 20-26 and the 2009 Melges 24 Worlds October 20-November 1.

 Race Results

Photo by Dan Phelps / SpinSheet - More of Dan's photos.

Five-Oh-Fun!

The 505 North American Championship wrapped up this afternoon in a big gray breeze off Annapolis. Severn SA hosted the 32-boat regatta. The team of Ethan Bixby (St. Petersburg, FL) and Erik Boothe (Annapolis) took overall top honors with a day to spare and watched today's rolling scene from a spectator boat. 

Photo from Friday's racing by Bob Grieser. The German team of Boris Herrmann and Julien Kleiner, who ultimately finished second overall, round with Ramsay Key and Andrew Buttner (in the orange boat).

Official Event Website

IRC East Coasts: "Maxed Out"

Ten Beneteau 36.7s, five NYYC Swan 42s, four Beneteau 40.7s, two TP 52’s, and various J/109s, J/122s, and Swan 45s will be joined on the race course by two new state-of-the-art Reichel-Pugh boats, Rima2 and Sjambok, the Farr 60 Hissar, and the new J/V 66 Numbers next month for the 2007 IRC East Coast Championship. The event will be contested November 2 through 4 and is organized and hosted by the Storm Trysail Club’s Chesapeake Station.

“This US-IRC East Coast Championship will be the biggest IRC event ever on the Chesapeake,” said Race Chairman Bill Kardash. “We are at 45 entries and that is our max limit. There is now a wait list for prospective entries."

The regatta is now in its third year as an IRC-specific event—which was run for four years prior as the IMS Mid-Atlantic Championship—and has benefited from the excellent race management reputation of its host. The racing format calls for a Friday distance race (approximately 35 miles for smaller boat classes and 50 miles for larger boat classes) and up to six windward-leeward races over the following two weekend days.

The IRC East Coast Championship is sponsored by Annapolis Yacht Sales, Lewmar and Beneteau USA. Social events will be held at the Annapolis YC.

Complete Current Entry List

For more information about the event, visit www.stormtrysail.org.

Photo: Downwind at the 2006 IRC East Coasts off Annapolis.
Photo by Dan Phelps / SpinSheet

505 NAs Underway in Annapolis

Thirty-two teams are racing for the 505 North American Championship October 15 to 19 out of the Severn SA in Annapolis. The regatta got underway yesterday with a single late-afternoon contest in light air. The powerful combo of Tyler Moore and Jesse Falsone won the race. The breeze is expected to pick up as the week wears on and so is the action.

Stay tuned at the official event website.

Photo of the Annapolis-based team of Amie Boothe and Ted Huebner tuning up off Annapolis on Saturday, October 13 by Dan Phelps / SpinSheet.