An interesting first day...
Despite no F18 or A-Class presence (due to scheduling conflicts with their NAs), we have nearly 40 entries at the 57th annual Fall Multihull Regatta at Roton Point!!!
Light air in the morning subsided even further when boats arrived on the course. To keep people occupied, we ran a practice start for each fleet.
By the end of the practice round, we had decent breeze from a reasonably consistent easterly direction, at about 5 knots, so we set marks and started everyone.
Amazingly, most of the fleet arrived at the gate at about the same time, as the wind came and went. When boats separated from each other, they were moving well through the water, so we let it ride (all sailors thanked us and agreed later, as otherwise they would have bobbed around on the water or sat around on the beach)...
The wind eventually died after much of the fleet finished, then did a 180, and came in stronger out of the southwest.
We grabbed all the marks, and reset for Race 2. An awesome race, in 7-8 knots of wind with most boats finishing within seconds of one another.
We quickly spun into Race 3 at around 1600, cognizant of the party and band's schedule. Most boats finished after 1700, and wanted to keep sailing!!!
We sent everyone in, got dinner going, had some protest hearings, and enjoyed the music and all the amazing beauty that can only be experienced at Roton Point.
Results link: http:/
Mike
First race underway, started on time at 1030, goal is 4 races today, racing the weather (may get nasty later).
Mike
Race 4 H16, new winner: Joe Cracco.
Slight shift to the right, made for an interesting start of Race 5, Division 3 (TheMightyHobie18, H21, Open Non-Spin).
Breeze has dropped from 10 to 7 knots.
Mike
Cracco wins Race 5, and is leading at the gate for Race 6!
Mike
We're done, preliminary results are up, one protest pending in the Getaway fleet.
Great job (as always) by Roton Point Sailing Association! The volunteers and staff here are second to none.
Mike
Some highlights:
H16: While Joe Cracco took a shot with three bullets on Sunday (trying to overcome a DSQ for an incident on Saturday), Mike Lemme and Dave Heroux were consistent enough to hold onto first and second overall.
TheMightyHobie18: Colin Walklett put on an impressive show, with a 1 for a throwout. This is despite having been used as a punching bag on the starting line more than once over the weekend.
H21: Another aggressive bunch, who seemed to love attacking one another as late bargers charged the signal boat in race after race. John Byrne dominated in the end, with a 2 for a throwout.
Open Spinnaker: Joe Valente and Kelly Romans won this class, which appeared closer than the results show. They retired from Race 2 after missing the offset in leg 1.
Open Non-Spinnaker: George Seary raced his beautiful wooden Shark, and emerged victorious against two Nacras.
The Hobie Getaway class continues to grow! Roton Point has a very forward-looking approach, and has purchased a fleet of Getaways for members to use throughout the year. This is getting non-sailors onto cats at a frenetic pace. Rob Hammer was the driving force to get so many folks out this weekend, and we're looking forward to even more in 2017! Richard Sellschop won this class, which was held in a semi-round-robin format.
Goslings Rum was a major contributor to the great success of the regatta and parties!
Mike