Sep 29, 2025 @ 10:56:49 EDT
Saturday started with a glassy Halifax River for the ERAU Greg Popp Trophy. All teams reported, and the boats were on the water before 10 am. There had been a steady 4-5 knots from the southwest since just before the competitors meeting began.
As we approached the racing area the winds got lighter. The sailors waited patiently, while the R/C and mark boats rotated the course clockwise, again and again and again, from a due-south windward leg to a due-east windward leg, as the thinning clouds allowed for the reliable sea breeze to develop. Racing began at 11:50 when the breeze had filled across the course area.
The first two sets went off in a modest 4-6 knot slowly oscillating breeze. Thanks to our mark boats for their persistent efforts to keep the course as square as it could be. All along, the tide could not be ignored as it flooded across the race course, making it essentially impossible to sail close-hauled on port tack in the righthand shifts. Kudos to the teams that really leveraged the strong tide that persisted most of the day.
Racing was competitive with boats overlapped at the finish at all locations in the fleet. The scores were tight at the top of the fleet (as well as elsewhere), and it came down to the last race of our second set for the overall points! Congratulations to the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish! We are thrilled to have your team added to the trophy! Just one and four points behind were the JU Fins and Dolphins. Great racing on the Halifax!
We are grateful to the Halifax Sailing Association for hosting our event at their venue, and for letting us use one of their motor boats to shuffle the marks on the course. Thanks also to Greg Popp for his continued support of our program. This time operating his personal motorboat as a second mark boat. This allowed us to adjust the course regularly throughout the day with no delay in racing! The list of ERAU volunteers that helped make this happen is long, and at risk of missing people we will thank you all en masse. All of your efforts helped to make this event fun and competitive!
| School | Team | A | B | TOT | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Palm Beach Atlantic University | Sailfish | 12 | 27 | 39 | |||
| 2 |  | Jacksonville University | Fins | 24 | 16 | 40 | |||
| 3 | | Jacksonville University | Dolphins | 22 | 21 | 43 | |||
| 4 |  | University of South Florida | Bulls | 39 | 22 | 61 | |||
| 5 |  | University of Miami | Hurricanes | 44 | 19 | 63 | |||
| 6 |  | Embry-Riddle University | Eagles | 47 | 25 | 72 | |||
| 7 |  | Florida State University | Seminoles | 27 | 49 | 76 | |||
| 8 |  | University of Central Florida | Knights | 27 | 60 | 87 | |||
| 9 | | University of South Florida | Bulls Women | 47 | 51 | 98 | |||
| 10 |  | Florida Institute of Technology | Panthers | 47 | 60 | 107 | |||
| 11 |  | University of Florida | Gators | 62 | 52 | 114 | |||
| 12 | | Embry-Riddle University | Blue & Gold | 70 | 66 | 136 |
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.
