RRYC Rappahannock Cup (Sep 9)
Overall Placings
1st Yankee Point
2nd Silver Fox
3rd Hot Air
4th Bombshell
5th Freedom
6th Irrational Exuberance
7th Mojo
8th Raven
9th Spirit
10th Da Noi
RRYC Retains Rappahannock Cup… but Newcomer Todd Patterson, YPYC, in Yankee Point Wins Regatta
Light South winds shifting to SSW, 3-6 kts were the order of the day and PRO Hal Starke waited for them to settle in to assure the first race could be completed within the time limit.
Ten boats participated, six RRYC, three YPYCC and one Regent Point YC.
The first race was a 2 mile windward leeward course with the wind building at the start but lightening as the boats rounded the windward mark. Bombshell, John Congdon’s XP-44, with a PHRF rating of 33(yes that is a big fast boat!) took line honors in this and all three races. But, on corrected time Yankee Point was first, followed by Win Schwab in Silver Fox and Tom Chapman in Hot Air and Glenn Solt in Freedom.
For race 2, PRO Hal Starke Jr. lengthened the course to 2.5 miles and moved the windward mark further West to accommodate the shifting wind. With the current ebbing the whole day the strategic move was to spend as much of the windward leg on port tack. All boats started on starboard tack but Hot Air was called over early and had to restart. This proved an advantage as Hot Air restarted on port tack taking advantage of the ebbing current. Order of finish in race 2 was Hot Air, Yankee Point, Silver Fox and Bombshell.
With a thunderstorm due to come later in the afternoon, PRO Hal Stark Jr wisely shortened the course to 1.5 miles and switched to a triangle course versus the windward-leeward courses in the first two races. Bombshell led around the course and made it to the leeward mark before the wind dropped below 3 kts. The remainder of the fleet was moving very slowly on the first and second reachs…barely moving in the ebbing current until a little more breeze filled in from the Southeast. Finishing first on corrected time was Bombshell followed by Silver Fox, Yankee Point and Hot Air.
With boats rating from 33 to 240 PHRF it was interesting to see how boats of such a large rating range performed in light up and down winds. As the results show, smaller well sailed boats tend to do better in these conditions as with each puff or gust they can get up to speed more quickly than the larger boats. Handicaps can only correct for so much.
As shown in the table below, first overall was Yankee Point (6 points) making quite a statement in its Rappahannock River debut. Second was Silver Fox (7 points), third Hot Air (8 points), fourth, Bombshell (12 points) and fifth, Freedom (14 points).
RRYC retained the Rappahannock Cup 53 to 68 over YPYC.
Congratulations to all participants for sailing a very competitive, and in the light winds a little frustrating regatta.
During the post regatta awards at RRYC. PHRF Fleet Commander noted the flawless race management, perfect start sequences, constant and accurate information provided to the competitors, quick course changes, not to mention very accurate course alignment with all races tailored to the existing conditions. Also, getting us back to the dock just before the thunderstorm started and forced the awards to be moved inside the club. This is all par for the course when HAL Starke is the PRO. Making Hal’s job easier was his outstanding crew consisting of Mike Kennedy (AKA Mikey), Peter Porteous, Steve Kimmeth and Linda Caron on signal boat, and Greg Kirkbride and Blair Nelsen on mark boat.
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Overall Results
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Boat Name
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Skipper
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Club
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R1
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R2
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R3
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TOTAL
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Place
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Yankee Point
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Todd Patterson
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YPRCC
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1
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2
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3
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6
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1st
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Silver Fox
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Win Schwab
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YPRCC
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2
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3
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2
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7
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2nd
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Hot Air
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Tom Chapman
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RRYC
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3
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1
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4
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8
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3rd
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Bombshell
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John Congdon
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RRYC
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7
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4
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1
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12
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4th
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Freedom
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Glenn Solt
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RRYC
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4
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5
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5
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14
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5th
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Irrational Exuberance
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Jesse Swartz
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RRYC
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6
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6
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7
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19
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6th
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Mojo
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Jay Hornick
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YPRCC
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9
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7
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6
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22
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8th
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Raven
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Gary Hooper
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RRYC
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5
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8
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8
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21
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7th
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Spirit
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Sam Van Saun
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RRYC
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8
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11
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11
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30
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9th
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Da Noi
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Ted Petrocci
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RPYC
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10
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11
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11
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32
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10th
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