Phil Harman Cup

A steady N/NW breeze was present in the morning. After a 0930 skippers meeting, sailors headed out to East Penobscot Bay. The regatta started in a dying 8 knots of breeze. After the first race, waters were becalmed. Given the forecasted thunderstorms and no breeze outside, the course was re-established in the harbor. The decision was made at this point to rotate after every race. After about an hour postponement, racing resumed. In the harbor, the course was shorter given land restrictions and limited navigable water. With a shorter course, it was difficult to keep up with mark changes. That being said, some legs consisted of a single tack/gybe. Teams were very respectful of the boundaries and the boats. Race 2 was complete before the lightning became a considerable threat. Race 3 was abandoned about half way through and boats were sent to their moorings. After about 20 minutes, the coaches all agreed the threat had passed and boats were rigged up and headed back to the course. Two more races were held and completed to make a total of 4 races for the day. A total of 4 boats were OCS but all restarted properly. One protest was heard, and disallowed. The races ran an average of 19 minutes. Given all the moving around, and lightning, the sailors remained focused. Hats off to them as the conditions were challenging.

A beautiful northern breeze blew strong in the morning (up to 15 kts), but lessened through the day. In the interest of completing a full rotation (given no race could start after 1400), the boats were sailed in the harbor again. The same limitations for the course were there, so the fleet sailed a course 5 in order to add an additional leg for more racing. This brought the average race time up to about 25 minutes. This allowed teams to get organized on the downwind leg and then rotate at the start line. After a brief skippers meeting, racing started at around 1015. A persistent, oscillating 20 degree shift was present throughout the day. Within that shift there were many unpredictable puffs. This is not a typical wind pattern for this area at this time of year, but it made for an interesting and challenging race course. A strong flood resided until 1330 (which helped to keep the boats from being over). Two protests were hailed on the water and both were accepted. Races 5 and were completed by about noon. At which point the sailors took a brief lunch break and RC re-set the course to avoid rocks on the starboard layline. Races 7 and 8 saw a dying breeze, but still well above 6 knots the entire time. A north wind here can be rather capricious, so we were very pleased it held throughout the day. A big thanks to Brown and MIT coaches who helped facilitate the rotations and general race management.

***Please note: the DSQ in the scores refers to teams that took the 20% penalty ******

The final tally is correct, but the score for that race shows 'DSQ'

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.