Sep 28, 2026 @ 15:16:12 EDT
The weather through down a challenge for the return of the Philly Fleet Race at Drexel this weekend with a Nor'easter threatening to shutdown the regatta before it started. Constantly shifting forecasts meant constantly shifting evaluations of the sailing conditions, but by the night before the forecast for the venue held winds in the low teens, not 20 knots plus as had previously threatened.
The morning of the event, there was one remaining squall line from the overnight rain we held a 90 minute postponement for to be safe. It was more of a downpour than a gusty squall as it passed, proving conditions would be ok for sailing. Once the course was set and racing commenced sailors experienced winds out of the North starting out at 15 kts and ramping down to under 10 as the day went on. We tucked the course into the lee of the land a bit to keep a little bit of a wind break, at the expense of the top of the course being a bit shifty. The fleet experienced occasional gusts, mostly below 20 kts. The Northerly direction made for some cross course current problems for sailors to solve in the Delaware's tidal shifts.
Three Full rotations were completed as we pressed on later into the day taking advantage of the sailing conditions. A good time and a few capsizes were had, once breakdown was filed by Princeton and awarded. One protest was also heard, which resulted with no penalty.
Thank you to Corinthian Yacht Club of Philadelphia for partnering with us for the event, visiting coaches for hearing the protest before I was in off the water, and our Alumni Scott Davidson who ran the starts in spite of the weather.
Congratulations to KP 1&2 and Drexel for taking the top spots in some nautical conditions out there.
Racing was cancelled for the day, results stand from Saturday.
| School | Team | A | B | TOT | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | U. S. Merchant Marine Academy | Mariners 1 | 18 | 9 | 27 | |||
| 2 | | U. S. Merchant Marine Academy | Mariners 2 | 19 | 17 | 36 | |||
| 3 |  | Drexel University | Dragons | 21 | 28 | 49 | |||
| 4 |  | Rutgers University | Scarlet Knights | 24 | 28 | 52 | |||
| 5 |  | Washington College | Shoremen | 23 | 33 | 56 | |||
| 6 |  | Princeton University | Tigers | 28 | 37 | 65 | |||
| 7 |  | Villanova University | Wildcats | 44 | 24 | 68 | |||
| 8 |  | University of Delaware | Blue Hens | 43 | 44 | 87 | |||
| 9 |  | University of Maryland/Baltimore County | Retrievers | 53 | 56 | 109 |
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.
