MDISA AYC Spring Fling - MDISA Fleet Race

Annapolis Yacht Club kicked off the High School Sailing Season with the very 1st Fleet Race MDISA “In League” Qualifier on Sunday, March 19th, 2023. The AYC Spring Fling Fleet Race dawned cold and breezy in Spa Creek. Weather conditions included 12-18 knots steadily, with gusts up to 23 knots. Drysuits were mandatory for all competitors. The first race commenced at 1033 hours, with B division (in 420s) beginning the rotation ahead of A division (in FJs) who had the second start. After one rotation was completed, the fleet remained in their boats for the remainder of the race day to save time and maximize racing and to test the Varsity Sailors stamina. While a majority of the MDISA Varsity-Level Teams struggled to stay upright with the strong wind gusts and lacked enough warm layers to be able to last a full day of racing. Sunday’s Racing was a great learning experience for all Varsity-Level Teams who attempted to give it their all throughout the day. Key take-aways are to always bring enough warm gear to be able to last a full day of racing, make sure your drysuit is fully zipped up, pack a snack pack/drybag to clip into your boat so that you can stay well nourished, bring multiple bailers for every division. Overall great job by all in the challenging & breezy conditions. The Race Committee even saw some keelboats cartwheeling and getting knocked down with their keels popping out of the water, while the remainder of the fleet persevered through 8 races in each division. Congratulations to the top 9 teams for qualifying to move onto the next qualifier event, which will be the MDISA Fleet Race Qualifier at Severn Sailing Association on April 22-23rd, 2023.

A big shout out goes to one of the league’s top teams for clenching this year’s title as the AYC Spring Fling Champions. Congratulations goes to Archbishop Spalding for sailing really well in all divisions and being able to dominate in the big breeze!

Annapolis Yacht Club would like to thank our Regatta Co-Host: Severn Sailing Association and MDISA League Director Travis Carlisle for helping us to run this event with shared boats and facilities. We would also like to thank Mr. Carty for helping on Saturday and Sunday with rotations, protests, and land operations. Our Race Committee comprised of John Deruff as the Windward Mark Boat/Safety Boat, Kelly McMurray as our Leeward Gate Boat/Safety Boat, Travis Carlisle as additional Safety Boat, Bobby Lippincott and Hollis Barth as the Signal Boat.

Looking forward to a warmer Spring Sailing Season ahead!!!

-Annapolis Yacht Club's Junior Fleet Management

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.