Graham Hall Team Race

The first day of the 2014 Graham Hall Team Race was a very pleasant day in Annapolis. The regatta got off to a bit of a slow start, with light winds and a strong ebb current delaying the rotation. As the skies cleared throughout the morning and the temperature rose, the winds rose along with it, with gusts into the 20s by mid afternoon. The wind was out of the West most of the day and the course was set in the Severn River, right off the Robert Crown Center. This is the first year we tried to sail the 16 team round robin on one course and PRO Kyle Assad and his team of Midshipmen made significant progress, completing 84 out of the 120 scheduled races. We also tried a new scheme of regional umpiring which proved very effective. Our Umpire team of Rob Overton, Carol Robinson, Rob Rowlands, Richard Sullivan, Larry Sill, Jon Wright, David Clinnin, Alana O'Reilly, Wilson Stout, and Dillon Paiva did a great job of making the calls on the water and hearing the 5 protests that were filed on shore. Tomorrow, we plan on completing the round robin and having as many teams as possible sail in additional rounds.

Sunday was a much cooler day on the Severn River with temperatures remaining in the 30s and 40s throughout. The wind was light at 5-10 knots out of the Northeast, leading to some very shifty conditions and making it challenging to run races. After the round robin was completed, we went into round robins for teams ranked 1-4 and 5-8. The Final 4 round was completed, but we were not able to get off all of the races int eh other round robin before the 3 PM time limit arrived. Our Race Committee and Umpire teams did a great job again today keeping the racing moving. Congratulations to Georgetown for winning the 2014 Graham Hall Team Race.