Oct 15, 2022 @ 23:15:33 EDT
The women arrived at the Halifax Sailing Center in Daytona Beach, Florida to rig their boats on a rainy morning for the Sunshine State. The passing showers obliterated the local gradient wind field, so we took some time to get all the sail numbers entered, and after a modest 30-minute delay we had our skippers' meeting and took to the water.
Racing began just after 10:30 a.m. in 6-8 knots from the east. Showers were on the RADAR all around the area, and our suspicions were that it was just a matter of time before they crossed our location. Race 2 had a steady 10+ knot breeze, while races 3, 4 and parts of 5, had 13-16 knots. Those were some fun leeward legs to watch. Huge speed differentials led to lots of position changes on all six of those downwind legs!
As race 5 was underway, we decided that going to shore for a lunch break was risky. We might end up having bad weather later, and a delay in racing would be bad for everybody's plans. With no lightning in the area (closest all day was a few events at 30-40 miles, moving away) we decided to sail on! The women on the course were fine with this decision. (Thanks for the spirit in this fleet!)
Races 6 and 7 were sailed under very shifty conditions, likely due to nearby showers; again we stayed in the drizzle zone. We postponed racing long enough to rotate the course counter clockwise, to accommodate the new prevailing winds. Kudos to the Mark Boat that did a great job all day (skippered by HSA volunteer Dave Dunn and mate from HSA/HYS Mike Orlando, ERAU students rotated through the day).
Races 8-10 were run on a more NE trajectory for the windward leg,, and perhaps a bit longer too. While the changing tide (now coming from the south) was likely a factor that was bigger than some sailors were aware of, the new angle made the current vector less significant. Kudos to those that saw this effect! I noticed your tactics.
Over all, this was some great racing, at least watching from the R/C boat. Finishes were so tight that multiple times we went to our video of the finish to confirm the order. I am, personally, thrilled with the competition this fleet exhibited. Thanks!
Congratulations to Emily Allen ('25, Jacksonville U.) who qualifies for the Women's Singlehanded Nationals from this event. Great job! Emily could have finished a full position lower in every one of our 10 races and she still would have won by a few points!
The rest of the women in this fleet have shown that they are contenders. Most of the races had boats finishing with overlaps for more than half the fleet. Those who want to submit a resume for the nationals can use me as a reference. We have video of every start and finish, I think. (I have not yet worked to collate the many efforts that exist. There might be holes.) You are all great sailors!
Again, we would like to thank our friends at the Halifax Sailing Association, where we sail from. HSA has been a supporter of sailing since 1957, and that is a legacy that will only continue by our college sailors helping to support their future community sailing centers too. We have no doubt that you will.
Submitted on behalf of the ERAU Sailing Club, who was the host of our event. Chris Herbster
Dr. Chris Herbster ERAU Sailing 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.
