Battle of Lake Erie

When teams arrived Presque Isle Bay was calm as glass. By 10:30 the breeze filled in at 5-8 knots with a little bit more of a southerly component than we would have liked. Racing began at 10:30 and the wind finally clocked to the familiar WSW at 8-10. But the shifty breezes kept the Erie Yacht Club volunteers (committee boat, markset boat, and two safety boats) busy most of the day trying to keep the course as square as possible. About 3:00 the wind started going light and by 3:30 racing was stopped for the day after 10 races. The day finished with RIT holding strong in first place and Penn State Behrend solidly in second. In the battle for third place Syracuse and Pitt but two bullets for Pitt in the last two races left them in third place. Thanks to the Gannon and Behrend sailors for prepping the boats this week and to the many Erie Yacht Club volunteers who spent the whole day on the water. And, a big thanks to the Erie Yacht Club Foundation that generously continued its tradition of providing a catered lunch for the competitors and volunteers. Much appreciated! The prediction for Sunday is looking good for the final six races with the wind from the West closer to 15 and puffy.

The conditions today were more favorable for some good racing: WSW Winds 10-12 and gusting to 20 made short work of the W4 courses. There were a couple boat issues that had to be resolved, and one capsize between races. The committee boat, markset boat and two safety boats were all on station crewed by generous Erie Yacht Club volunteers. RIT finished their last A rotation with two bullets and ended solidly in First Place, followed by Penn State Behrend in Second Place. The Battle for Third was the rivalry of the day with Syracuse and Pitt going back and forth all day; and Syracuse ended in Third by one point. All the teams also learned a lot and got better with each race. Racing was finished by 1:00. A big thanks to EYC's Greg Gorny for doing great work as the PRO for the event, especially yesterday in the light and shifty conditions. And thanks all around for the hosts Penn State Behrend and Gannon University as well as the Erie Yacht Club.

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.