Battle of Lake Erie

When the competitors arrived at the Erie Yacht Club for the 9:00AM Skippers Meeting they were greeted by the remnants of last night's offshore breeze, about 6 knots from the south. At 10:00, after the boats were rigged, and the committee boat, two markset boats and two safety boats were ready to set a course the wind promptly shut down and the waiting for the thermal onshore began. About Noon it looked like the wind was beginning to fill in, but not yet. We sent the boats out, but the course was still full of holes, so the boats returned to the docks and everyone ate the lunch generously provided by the Erie Yacht Club. Finally, about 1:00 the wind settled in at about 6-8 knots from the north, and racing began about 1:30PM. Even then the winds were challenging, and the markset boats stayed busy keeping the course square. Despite the conditions, we were able to complete three A rotations and two B rotations before calling it a day at about 4:45PM. The University of Toronto dominated the day with several bullets in their first appearance in this regatta. RIT, Penn State Behrend and Penn State Main were battling for second and third, and Syracuse and Rochester separated by only one point for fifth place. One protest was heard, resulting in a DSQ. The forecast for tomorrow looks similar to today, and we could be waiting for that onshore again in order to finish our rotations.

As expected, the weather was a repeat of yesterday. We arrived at the boathouse with the offshore still blowing at about 4-6 knots from the south. Our hope was to get the boats rigged as quickly as possible and get the competitors out on the water so we could use the offshore before it shut off. That way we'd be able to sail two B races to even out the races sailed. The course was set by 10:00AM and the first race was sailed in light and shifty conditions. The teams handled the conditions as best they could, but unfortunately by the end of that race there was not enough wind to start another race. The boats were towed back to the dock and the decision was made to end the regatta because in the PRO's experience the probability of an onshore building was low. After dropping one A race to even out the divisions, Toronto, RIT and Penn State Behrend took the top three spots. Congratulations and thanks to all the teams for their patience in tricky conditions and their Corinthian spirit. Special thanks Bill Lasher for his great work as PRO, and even the loan of his boat as the committee boat. We also need to recognize the volunteer members of the Erie Yacht Club who handled two markset boats and two safety boats efficiently over both days. And thanks to members and leadership of the Penn State Behrend team for all the work they did in the background to host a quality regatta experience. See you next year.

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.