Gill Coed Championships

Racing got underway around 11 a.m. today. There was a steady Northeasterly breeze around 8 knots to start the day. Temperatures were warm in the 80s. This morning the competitors had an opportunity to practice in the boats, Club Flying Juniors (CFJs), before racing got underway. They are sailing on a trapezoid course.

Teams were eager to get going today and it showed when the first start of the day was a general recall. The racing got underway after the next start in good dynamic conditions including large, but short puffs and shifty conditions. The puffs made for tricky racing and allowed boats to have big gains or losses on the beats. The left side of the course was also along the shoreline making its own influence on the breeze on the course.

Around lunch time the breeze lighten up to around 5-6 knots. It started to rain on and off creating a lot of holes on the course where the winds got light and shifty. The race committee was able to get off five races in both divisions, but had to call off the sixth A-division race due to a big wind shift. They postponed the racing on the water, but the winds did not settle down and recover to continue the racing. Racing was called around 3:30 p.m.

Teams arrived to great winds this morning and racing got underway at 9:45 a.m. Temperatures were in the 80s and Easterly winds built to around 17 knots with higher gusts in the afternoon. The breeze also brought wavy conditions making a lot of the racing about boat speed. A lot of teams changed up their pairings to get more weight in the boat to handle the bigger breeze.

The race committee was able to run a lot of races quickly due to the strong winds. It was a long day for the competitors with few breaks, but the racing stayed competitive. The University of Florida, St. Petersburg and Eckerd College volunteers have been running a quality event and have used good judgment with the sailing on and off the water.

College of Charleston managed to hold onto their lead today sailing consistently in the top of the fleet. Sixteen points behind them in second place is Georgetown University who moved up from fourth place after yesterday’s racing. Brown University is another 16 points behind Georgetown in third place having moved up from ninth place after yesterday’s racing.

The race officials, the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg and Eckerd College volunteers ran an incredible series of events. All three National Championships were expertly handled. Allison Jolly from the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, executed a stellar set of Championships with great decisions on and off the water.

Today, competitors hit the water for the first race at 9:45 a.m. The wind was already up to about 18 knots blowing from the East. It was windier and choppier conditions than yesterday. It was another warm day with temperatures in the 80s.

Eight races total, four in each division, were completed today making the event total 18 races in both A and B-divisions. College of Charleston was hot out of the gate and won the first race of the day in A-division. Both divisions sailed well for Charleston and finished in the top of the pack in all the races today.

Charleston’s solid sailing this regatta and consistency helped them win the Championship and the Henry A. Morss Memorial Trophy. The trophy was donated by a group of nationally known yachtsmen as a memorial to Henry A. Morss, a Boston yachtsman and 1907 Bermuda Race winner, as well as an MIT alumnus and benefactor.

Sailing for College of Charleston was Juan Maegli '13 with Septima McAdams '16 and Corinna DeCollibus '13 in A-division and in B-division Ben Spector '13 sailed with Alicia Blumenthal '15, Brooks Clark '13, Sarah Somes '13 and Jeffrey Aschieris '13. Mac Mace ’13 also skippered in B-division.

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.