Emma Biagioni/Laker Showdown

The Emma Biagioni / Laker Showdown began Saturday October 1, 2016. The Report time for sailors was 0800 at the Macatawa Bay Junior Center. At 0900 the skippers meeting commenced with Hope College's Regatta Chair, Libby Reeg, Grand Valley State's Vice Commodore / Regatta Chair, Gary Micu, Jr., and race PRO Roger Gamache. The weather conditions for the morning were reported as an easterly wind at 5-10 knots, mist interchanging with rain, and temperatures holding in the mid to high 50's. First warning was scheduled for 1000 and boats were launched, from the floating docks on the East end of the Yacht Club, in time for the scheduled start. The first rotation had a small hiccup with some crews making the rotation at the front of the MBYC and part of the fleet returning to the floating docks. This was due to the rotations being announced at the skippers meeting at the floating docks and a later PRO decision to move to the front of the MBYC for ease and expedience. The remaining rotations went without issue, from the front of the MBYC, and were extremely efficient at getting A and B fleets back out to the racecourse. As the morning progressed Grand Valley State University Lakers 1 took an early lead with the Hope College Flying Dutch closely behind. The remainder of both the A and B fleets remained competitive and kept scoring interesting. Racing consisted of one and two lap races determined by the PRO due to wind and weather conditions. There were minimal boat issues, the only notable event being a boat losing its center board downing line in between racing. However, the center board downing line was fixed in between racing with only a small (5 minute) delay to racing. As racing continued to the afternoon the wind conditions held steady at 5-10 knots with some sporadic gusts reaching close to 12-13 knots. Wind conditions died off to 3 knots by 1600 hours when racing was wrapping up for the day. The club was also hosting a wedding at 1700 hours on the front lawn of the Yacht Club which led the race organizers to shift some of the spectators back toward the junior center while the last race was completed in order to show respect and give the wedding party and planner space to prepare for the ceremony. The wedding did not affect racing. Day one was completed at 1630 hours with Grand Valley State University Lakers 1 in 1st place, the Hope College Flying Dutch in 2nd, and Michigan Tech Husky One in 3rd.

Day two began on time at 0900 October 2, 2016 with the skippers meeting, where a 60 minute postponement was announced. Updates were provided on the half hour until 1030 when the determination to call the regatta due to lacking sailable wind was made by the PRO and race organizers. The breeze was at that time was 1-3 knots and projected to die as the morning progressed, weather was clear and cool in the high 50s. Awards were held at 1100 in the front of the MBYC.

FINAL STANDINGS A fleet: 3rd Place Western Michigan University (40 points), 2nd place Hope College Flying Dutch (30 points), and 1st place Grand Valley State University Lakers 1 (22 points). B fleet: 3rd place Hope College Flying Dutch (30 points), 2nd place Grand Valley State University Lakers 1 (28 points) , 1st place Michigan State University Spartans (21 points). Overall: 3rd place Michigan Tech Husky One (78 points), 2nd place Hope Flying Dutch (60 points), and 1st place Grand Valley State University Lakers 1 (50 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.