Oct 10, 2022 @ 01:32:48 EDT
Shields Trophy Regatta
9 teams are on hand to contest the 2014 Shields Trophy Regatta aboard the Naval Academy’s Navy 44s on the Chesapeake Bay in Annapolis. After a brief delay due to a breakdown, PRO Fred Dersch and his NASS Race Committee got racing underway and ran three 4 leg windward/leeward races in a light and shift southwesterly breeze that rarely topped 6 knots. Competitors had to contend with the additional challenge of a building flood tide which factored into the last part of race one then more significantly in races 2 & 3.
Cal Maritime came out of the blocks strong winning races 1 & 2 then settled for a 3rd in race 3 to hold the lead. Queens University posted a solid 2, 2, 4 to hold second place in a tie breaker with SUNY who scored 3, 3, 2. Navy is currently a distant 4th with a 5, 9, 1, a point ahead of Mass Maritime.
Racing continues tomorrow with the hope of more breeze!
Day 2 in Annapolis dawned with overcast skies, a light northerly breeze and a building ebb. PRO Fred Dersch and his NASS Race Committee set up shop between Thomas Point Lighthouse and Tolly Point ensuring another tricky day for the the competing teams.
Cal Maritime picked up where they left off coming back to win race 1 while Coast Guard found their mo nailing a second. Mass posted another solid score coming in third. For the fifth and final race, a three leg course was selected.
The breeze actually built a bit for the start and showed right shift. This caused a pile up at the boat end of the line with Coast Guard forced OCS. The ebb was beginning to fade which allowed more options up the first beat. Army avoided the congestion and blasted off to leeward of the fleet and led by a large margin at the weather mark. Being conservative with their insurmountable lead, Cal elected to not take chances and found themselves back in the pack for the first time. Army relinquished the lead to Maine Maritime up the final beat but held on to place second while Maine suffered an I flag penalty which turned into 40% due to not reporting their infraction to the RC. Coast Guard came back to get third while Cal Maritime finished 4th.
In the end, Cal had put on an impressive show winning by ten points over Queens University who generally sailed a very strong regatta to take second. NY Maritime won the tie breaker with Coast Guard to get the last podium spot in third.
Thanks to our PRO and his many helpers on RC as well as our safety officers and jury who luckily had little to do this regatta.
Jahn Tihansky
Regatta Chairman
| School | Team | A | TOT | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | California Maritime Academy | Keelhaulers | 10 | 10 | ||
| 2 |  | Queen's University | Gaels | 20 | 20 | ||
| * | 3 |  | SUNY Maritime College | Privateers | 25 | 25 | |
| * | 4 |  | U. S. Coast Guard Academy | Bears | 25 | 25 | |
| 5 |  | Massachusetts Maritime Academy | Buccaneers | 26 | 26 | ||
| 6 |  | U. S. Military Academy | Black Knights | 27 | 27 | ||
| 7 |  | U. S. Naval Academy | Midshipmen | 28 | 28 | ||
| ** | 8 |  | U. S. Merchant Marine Academy | Mariners | 36 | 36 | |
| ** | 9 |  | Maine Maritime Academy | Mariners | 36 | 36 |
| Sym. | Explanation |
|---|---|
| * | Head-to-head tiebreaker |
| ** | Number of high-place (4) finishes |
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.
