MDISA Fleet Race Qualifier

The 2024 Spring MDISA Fleet Qualifier Regatta was held at Sailing Center Chesapeake at Chancellors Point Park in Historic Saint Mary's City on April 20th and April 21st. A total of 20 races (10 for each division) were completed to determine the teams that will represent Maryland in the Gold and Silver MASSA Championships.

Day 1, Saturday April 20th 16 teams at roll call with one B Fleet remaining on the beach due to a crew illness.

At the competitor's meeting at 9:00 AM it was noted that winds were light and not really raceable but the forecast was to fill in so it was decided to set the course and launch the boats.

Also on the river this morning was the Saint Mary's River Yacht Club for their Early-Bird Regatta who positioned their race area to the south, and a Saint Mary's College rowing competition being held to the north. All 3 events were coordinated and de-conflicted.

The wind was forecast to be from the northwest but hadn't made an appearance. The Race Committee Boat and 3 Safety RHIBs were on-station by 9:20 AM. At approximately 10:00 AM the winds began building to 4-5 knots from the south. A course was set to allow for a relatively quick rotation between the divisions.

A-division completed 2 races and went in for the rotation and B-division came out with 3-4 knot breeze still from the south. The race was started, but after 2 legs the breeze dropped to <2 knots and began to clock. One team managed to complete the race before the race was abandoned due to the near 180-degree wind shift.

SCC support boats did a great job quickly repositioning the entire course to the north as wind built to 3.5 -5.0 knots.

Conditions in 3A saw some 20-degree oscillations and some pressure fluctuation also.

Races appeared to be close and competitive. No gear malfunctions were reported to the Race Committee and the SCC race sails looked very crisp.

At approximately 1:30 PM, (7th race of the day) the winds backed from north to west requiring a total course re-set but it settled in steady for the rest of the day.

For time considerations the B-Division stayed out for a 3rd race in their second rotation (B5) and returned to swap out with A-Division for one race. The last race of the day (A5) concluded at approximately 3:30 PM.

Day 2, Sunday April 21st Several teams camped-out at Chancellor’s Point Park and awoke to cooler, cloudier, and breezier conditions than Saturday.

The course was set before all the boats were off the beach; course length was generally set for 17-20 minute races. Winds were 9 knots from the northeast. Racing started with A-division (A6) at 9:35 AM.

(A7) was also 17 minutes and at its completion a rotation occurred.

Course reset 15 degrees for a right shift to the north.

(B7) Slight rain started at 10:52 AM and remained steady, harder at times, and cold. No complaints were heard from the racers or the RC staff.

Protest calls were heard called by the RC and some were resolved on the water and some were resolved ashore. The Race Committee overhead examples of good sportsmanship and courtesy (and some frustration).

For time consideration (no race start after 2:00 PM), after completing race B9, B-Division stayed out for a third race in the rotation (B10), and then A-division came out for the final race of the regatta. The last boat was back on shore by 1:40 PM.

Thanks to the RC team of PRO Mark Gyorgy and Jen and Ian Lilyquist, and those that brought their boats to serve as Race Committee, Nancy Clay (Saturday) and Ted Warren (Sunday) for a worthwhile qualifying event. Thanks also extends to the many involved on the shore side of things, including regatta chair Brooke Sullivan and all the rest of the parent volunteers. Congratulations to the Severn Admirals for winning the event, and to the many teams who will use this result to advance to the MASSA Gold and Silver Championships next month. We look forward to hosting many more regattas on the St. Mary's River!

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.