2015 SailPack Oriental Intercollegiate

For the inaugural Oriental SailPack Invitational regatta, sailors from eight colleges and universities converged on the "Sailing Capital of North Carolina," the quaint hamlet of Oriental, and the conditions did not disappoint. Saturday morning found cooler temperatures and a consistent 5-7 mph breeze on Neuse River at the Oriental waterfront. After breakfast provided by Bow-to-Stern and NC State, sailors rigged and launched the 24 boat fleet and made their way to the race course where the river opens up into the Pamlico Sound. There were several spectator boats, kayaks and rotating sailors and coaches stationed on twin Endeavor 32s, and also plenty of shoreside spectators watching from a waterfront park in Oriental. Starting around 10AM with a W4 course and despite light chop and rain, consistent breeze from 8-10 mph made for great racing. As midday approached, the chop turned into sets of 3-4 foot waves and the wind started coming in stronger. The rain and wind continued to build as a storm front moved across the Sound, so with several capsizes and some harrowing rotations, race committee moved the course back inside the bridge to the mouth of Greens Creek where a more protected inlet would allow the largely developmental fleet to continue racing.

After the move inside the bridge, racing continued. So did the rain. All in all it was an exciting, competitive and sometimes gnarly day out on the water. Sailors and gear were soaked thoroughly so as B-fleet finished the 6th set of races and the storm front made its way inside the bridge, sailors returned to Bow-to-Stern Boating finishing the regatta at 3PM. Special thanks to the super-dynamic race committee and PRO Bill Michne, the numerous volunteers, supporters and our awesome new friends in Oriental including those who fed, housed and delivered nothing but world-class hospitality to all visiting sailors and coaches. Congrats to the College of Charleston Cougars for their regatta win and to all the teams and sailors for great sailing all day.

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.