Fall Foliage

The foliage wasn't quite at its peak this year for the Peak Foliage. However, it was still a colourful background with a blue sky, white clouds and a heavy whitecap foreground. The day began with a northerly firing spicy staccato wind and wave trains in the high 20s and then settling for a few minutes to the high teens before piping back up. Racing was postponed as the wind was predicted to lie down a bit in the early afternoon. Around noon, a wind reading registered at 39 mph, and subsequent breeze wave trains rolled in in the mid to high 20s. At about 1 pm, A fleet was sent out to sail a butterfly course (thanks, Franny). Prior to the start, the breeze toppled several boats. A wind wave rolled through at the top of the course, dumping 6 more boats, so now we had 8 boats down out of the fleet. Racing was postponed again, and A division sailed back to the dock under jib alone, sustaining only minor boat damage after several boats collided with the dock. About an hour later, it was felt that the breeze had subsided enough to go back out. A sailed three races in oscillating breeze, registering in the mid 20's for its height and 18 for the baseline. Boats on the downwind final reach shot bow waves many feet, soaking anyone near them. The videos were awesome to watch afterwards. B fleet went out to markedly calmer oscillations. The wave and wind train visited them occasionally, but the breeze hovered in the mid to high teens.

Congratulations to BU, who won the Peak Foliage, followed by UNH in second. One request for redress was filed and denied by the judges. Thanks to all the sailors who were patient while racing and entertained themselves watching a dock section break off the end of A dock and the many wind and wave trains as they roared through, bouncing the docks and boats while racing was postponed.

Many thanks to the Wildcats who managed the mark/safety/photography boats. It was fun having former UNH Commodore and professional photographer Dave Curtis there to shoot the regatta. Check out his pictures on HDFA Instagram and Facebook. Special thanks to the coaches who kept themselves busy assisting with rescues and to Jared Reineke, who served as the NEISA rep.

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.