MASSA Fall Keelboat Championship 2023

Coaches and Sailors,

Annapolis Yacht Club Welcomes everyone to the MASSA FAll Keelboat Championship (National Qualifier) 2023!

Attached are the NOR and SIs, Liability Waiver, and Code of Conduct for Sunday’s MASSA Keelboat Qualifier. Please review in detail with your team. The OA will need a signed Liability Waiver (posted on Notice Board) for each sailor participating in the 2023 MASSA Keelboat Qualifier by Sunday, October 22nd @ 0930 hours.

Please report to AYC’s Sailing Center around 0930 hours or as soon as possible for “Weigh In” and Rigging of the boats. Please note that there is a $500 Damage Deposit Check must be submitted before rigging of the boats. Please make checks payable to Annapolis Yacht Club, Inc. Coach Boats will be provided free of charge this year by Annapolis Yacht Club!

Regatta Report (10/22/2023):

MASSA Fall Keelboat Championship 2023 hosted by ANNAPOLIS YACHT CLUB:

The MASSA District held a one-day Keelboat Qualifier for Nationals on Sunday, October 22nd, 2023. Key School and St. Mary's High School (MD) co-hosted the Championship with the Annapolis Yacht Club in their Fleet of J22s. Nine teams out of the 12 berths from MASSA District competed for the top 2 qualifying spots. Team weigh in, rigging of the boats, and dock call was approximately around 0930 hours and Harbor Start was around 1045 hours. The first race commenced around 1156 hours. The Race Committee completed 7 races before 1600 hours cut off. Winds ranged from 17-18 knots with some gusts reaching 24 knots throughout the Championship with temperatures in the lower 60s. This championship was a true test of heavy air stamina for our High School Keelboat Teams, spinnakers were allowed to be flown throughout the championship and RRS #3 (“Decision to Race”) was put to the test, where some teams flew their spinnakers, and some did not. Overall, the regatta was extremely challenging, but also very rewarding for building heavy air keelboat sailing confidence throughout the District. Signal Boat Docking Time was approximately 1635 hours. There were 2 protests filed in regards to damages/breakdowns and one port/starboard filed at 1659 hours with a filing deadline of 1705 hours. Port/Starboard Protest was disallowed due to improper filing of protest. No flags were flown when required for sailboats over 6 meters. Final Results were posted at 1728 hours.

Congratulations to Severn School for qualifying for the 2023 Fall ISSA Keelboat National Championship hosted by St. Petersburg Yacht Club on December 9-10th, 2023. Scores were very tight and the top three teams were only separated by a couple of points! A big congratulations goes out Severn School "Admirals" for winning the 2023 MASSA Keelboat Qualifier Championship title!

Key School and St. Mary's School would like to thank the Annapolis Yacht Club's Waterfront Staff (Dockmasters, Race Management Team, and Jr. Fleet Staff) for hosting the event in their club's Fleet of J22s and allowing coaches to use AYC's coach boat resources. A special thanks to our Mark Boat Volunteers (Chris Conway and Mike Beasley). Thank you to all teams for traveling so far to compete this weekend!!

Good Luck to our MASSA Teams traveling to Florida for Keelboat Nationals!!!

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.