Sep 10, 2023 @ 22:10:52 EDT
Saturday morning started with calm conditions on the Halifax River. At the competitors meeting at 9:30, the wind had “built” to just three knots. Our goal was to sail in winds of at least 4 knots with no visible holes across the racing course. Racing was to be in our 12 FJs, with both Divisions on the water combined. While we took to the water with hopes of racing at 10:30, nature did not agree with our plan. We waited. The sea breeze is our reliable friend here at the Halifax Sailing Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. Just a few minutes after 11, almost like clockwork, the breeze was light but uniform. We began our first race at 11:13 with a 5 knot southeasterly and a very strong outbound tide. We raced the first three races with slowly building conditions that also shifted slightly to the east. Once we got the marks adjusted, they proved to be true for the remainder of our first six races.
The sailors were sent to shore after race six for some food, water, and much appreciated shade. The boats were on their dollies before 1:30, we had them back on the water by 2:00 to complete another six races (two rotations). The second half of our regatta was sailed in steady SE winds of 8-10 knots. While we were ashore the tide had reversed, and the tactics on the course were very different with a strong current working diagonally across the course from the windward mark down course. Kudos to some great sailing by all. Every race had multiple boats finishing overlapped with others. However, there were a few outstanding performances. From the JU team, Owen Bannasch and Kayla Putzke sailed exceptionally well, finishing first in seven races, and never lower than third! Just 20 points in a 12-race regatta with a 12-boat fleet!
FIT sailed similarly well, with the A division sailors Brendan Smucker and Lara Sloep compiling just 37 points. Keegan Mackinnon and Jeppe Nielsen sailing in B division scored just 58 points, 9 fewer than the next B division team, the UF Gators. Kudos to the Gators, who beat the ERAU Eagles by 10 points to advance to the conference championships!
This regatta was run with a long list of volunteers. Thanks to Dave Dunn for running the primary mark boat for our event. Thanks to Todd Stebleton who ran a second mark boat. This made adjustments to the race course much faster when they were needed! Thanks to the many ERAU sailors that helped to run our extra safety boat, as well as starts and finishes on the R/C boat. Thanks to the Halifax Sailing Association for making their facility available for our event. Finally, thanks to all the sailors that made this event go so smoothly! Thanks!
Chris Herbster PRO Faculty Advisor for the Sailing Club at ERAU
| School | Team | A | B | TOT | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Jacksonville University | Fins | 20 | 70 | 90 | |||
| 2 |  | Florida Institute of Technology | Panthers | 37 | 58 | 95 | |||
| 3 |  | University of Florida | Gators | 91 | 67 | 158 | |||
| 4 |  | Embry-Riddle University | Eagles | 97 | 71 | 168 | |||
| 5 |  | University of South Florida | Bulls | 71 | 109 | 180 | |||
| 6 |  | Rollins College | Tars | 125 | 121 | 246 |
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.
