Lawrence A. White Invitational

Sunny skies and a light northerly breeze greeted competitors to begin The 2016 Lawrence A. White Invitational Regatta. The Thames River offered its share of tricky conditions, serving up a strong ebb current and shifty winds. One race was completed in each division before the northerly breathed its last for the day.

A southerly appeared from under the bridge after the lunch break and a short postponement ashore. The breeze held on and built to about 8 knots by mid-afternoon. The ebb current was in full effect. During races two through six the strong current contributed to several general recalls, a pair of OCS's and often compressed the fleet as they approached the leeward gate. The southerly fought with a westerly for races seven and eight. The resulting pattern of wind shifts added another tactical wrinkle to an already challenging day.

All races were sailed on W4 courses with an average duration of 18 minutes. Two protests and one request for redress were heard at days end. Both protests were disallowed and the request for redress was granted.

Racing will resume tomorrow at 1000 with A division in Z420's and B division in CFJ's.

A much more promising forecast held true for Sunday's racing. 8 races per division were completed in a west-southwest breeze that ranged from 5 to 15 kts. Racecourses alternated between W4 and W3's with the windward marks and upwind finish line set just under Jacob's Rock. Average race duration was 16 minutes. Only one protest was filed resulting in a DSQ.

Coast Guard would like to extend a special thanks to our Judges CDR Greg Hall and Bob Austin-LaFrance. Regatta management was provided by Assistant Offshore Sailing Coach Kevin Dooley and Sailing Director Doug Clark.

The Race Committee would also like to thank our Offshore and Dinghy Team members for volunteering their weekends to help keep the event running smoothly. The RC team included 2/C Alex Paggi, 3/C Derek Sillman, 3/C Micah Larson, 3/C Zach Groce, 4/C Eric Gimple, 4/C Emma Compaignoni, 4/C Sophie Kay, 4/C Leah Schweigert-Oppas, and 4/C Phillip Whittlesey.

Congratulations to Ransom Everglades and the winning team of Tucker Weed '18, Maddie Sharp '18, Paul Lobree '18, Alex Sidi '17, and Mcleod Kennedy '18.

The following chart shows the relative rank of the teams as of the race indicated. Note that the races are ordered by number, then division, which may not represent the order in which the races were actually sailed.

The first place team as of a given race will always be at the top of the chart. The spacing from one team to the next shows relative gains/losses made from one race to the next. You may hover over the data points to display the total score as of that race.