NE Fall Tournament

Rain. wind and snow were de riguer for the day. Gusts only to 15 with average breeze 8-12. As there were only 7 teams the decision was made to combine divisions in order to have a more competitive line and regatta. 14 boats instead of 7 on the line made it more challenging and fun for all. No vang on downwind made for entertaining watching. The I flag was up for all 7 races. Lots of capsizes, cold sailors and the wish to go take a hot shower for the next three days was felt by both sailors, coaches and the Wildcat Mark Boat Crew. Courses were windward leeward twice around with offset and gates. We completed 7 races in anticipation for tomorrow forecast. Difficulty with scoring with Techscore had us hand scoring the event. Hopefully all is accurate.

Thanks to Lizzie Resnick, Brendan Sleight, Devlin Keogh and Sarah Martin for support today. Sitting in the rain all day is true teamwork.

After some initial difficulties with Techscore (operator error) scores were entered and results are up to date.

Don't forget to set your clocks back and hour. Bring goggles and more warm and dry clothes as the forecast is for snow, rain and breeze in the low 20's.

Great breeze and spitting rain greeted teams this morning. Having measured a gust at 35 mph teams were reminded about vang, forestay tension as well as capsize recovery to windward. An explanation on how to reef the mains was provided and one team took advantage of that feature. A modified port triangle twice around minimized the downwind death roll but many teams didn't heed the vang suggestion and capsizes and death rolls abounded on the reach legs along with wipeouts upwind. Amherst chose not to sail as crew were inexperienced and one had sustained a hit to the head yesterday. Two races in snow and driving 18-25mph breeze was exciting for sailors. Breeze was shifty coming down from the NNW in between the island and shore creating crazy shifts. Teams able to capitalize on reading the shifts and remaining relatively flat and upright, with sustained gusts in the high 20's, made out. Teams battled to stay upright. Starts were aggressive and getting off the line and into a clean lane paramount. After two spectacular races displaying sailing (survival) skills in increasing breeze teams were sent in as multiple boats continued to capsize and struggled to stay upright. Great boat handling was displayed today by WPI's A division winning both races handily and more importantly under control. Many lessons were learned today and the Wildcats appreciated the coaches assisting in the two safety boats. All in all a fun event.

Sacred Heart B was granted redress for their two races today. One protest was reported by MSM against Middlebury but addressed by the competitors back on shore and withdrawn.

Thanks again to Wildcats Lizzie Resnick and Lia Windt for assistance on the RC boat with scoring.

Congratulations to the Middlebury Panthers for winning the 2014 NE Fall Dinghy Tournament with a total of 66 points and to the UNH Wildcats for a second place finish with 77 points.

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.