Oct 11, 2024 @ 22:02:09 EDT
After a short wind delay, racing began around 11AM. 46 races were run in a ESE breeze starting around 3kts and building into the teens by the end of the day. A few bigger puffs added some excitement to the racing. One black flag hearing was held at the end of the day for a collision causing "significant damage" resulting in a race win deduction for St. George's. Racing should commence on-time tomorrow with race 47. The RC's intention is to complete the second round robin before moving into the scheduled double round robin of the top four teams.
Sailors arrived this morning to overcast skies and light rain. A 6-12kt southeasterly breeze allowed racing to begin at 10:10AM. As the clouds moved overhead the racecourse saw significant oscillations to the left and right that often shuffled the deck and kept the racing exciting. The second round robin was finished by midday and the fleet was quickly split for a double round robin of the top four teams. The final six flights saw close racing and the championship ultimately came down to the last race of the regatta between St. George's and Hotchkiss. St. George's won the race on the water, however a breakdown request from that race added a little more suspense to the afternoon. The umpires deliberated on a start line collision and found St. George's at fault but deemed the damage did not affect the outcome of the race. The hearing resulted in a half race-win deduction for St. George's. Congratulations to St. George's School for winning the 2024 President's Trophy. Also a congratulations to St. George's and Hotchkiss for earning berths to represent NESSA at the ISSA Team Racing Championship for the Baker Trophy and to Tabor, Brunswick and Barrington for earning berths to represent NESSA at the ISSA Invitational Tournament.
As always, this regatta would not be possible without the help of many volunteers. Roy Williams served as the PRO with Janet Costello assisting in the start boat and Joakim Karlsen and Wyatt Fogg managing the finish boat. John Alofsin and Taylor Rock worked tirelessly to keep the course square and assist in recovering capsized boats. Richard Davis served as the NESSA rep. Lastly, ChUmp Greg Kiely and his team of umpires kept the racing fair. The umpire team consisted of: John Pratt, Andrew Houghton, Miles Bailey, Kate Bjerregaard, Megan Roach, Abby Cook, Johnny Norfleet, Matt Knowles and Pearson Potts. Scoring was done remotely by Carl Zimba in Boston.
