Feb 19, 2022 @ 11:38:33 EST
The first day of racing for the Southern Collegiate Offshore Regatta began with a promising start from both fleets on an ebb tide & 2-4 knot northerly that eventually died out around noon. Race one saw COFC Soul out in front, with CofC Illyria and Coast Guard just on their heels.
After an elongated postponement and an accompanying tidal switch, the wind shifted around to a 3-5 knot southerly, allowing the contestants to start another long distance race. As the afternoon progressed the breeze began to lie down yet again making for a slow motion finish at the Carolina Yacht Club dock. This finish was more of a nail biter. CofC Illyria won the start and continued to build their lead almost catching A fleet. As the wind started to shut off, fleet started to claw their way back. CofC Soul came back and finished first with the Wolf Pack in 2nd and CofC Illyria and Coast Guard finishing within seconds of each other.
Everyone headed back to the club for a great dinner with a promise of better wind tomorrow.
The second day of racing for the Southern Collegiate Offshore Regatta began with less breeze then originally expected. This led to a land postponement while teams and the race committee watched and hoped for the breeze to fill in. A promising west wind started to fill in as the teams headed out into the harbor around 11AM.
A consistent 3-4 kt. Breeze allowed the race committee to start race 3. CofC on Soul won and CofC Illyria and the CG Bears finished 2nd & 3rd.
The race committee was eager to get as many races off as possible, rolling right into race 4 with the breeze still promising. The B fleet had an exciting but not successful start when all but Coast Guard were over early, RC decided on a general recall. The second attempt at race two was successful sending B fleet upwind. There was a disappointing change in breeze killing hopes of a third race and bringing into question whether the fleet would be able to finish the second race of the day. A fleet successfully finished and waited as B fleet slowly made it back down to the finish line. The Coast Guard Bears took the win with USC Gamecocks finishing and CofC Soul rounded out the top 3.
Although we felt a bit disappointed in our less than typical Charleston breeze we were happy all teams were still able to complete 4 races. This allowed them all to showcase the rising level of competition from bottom to top. US Naval academy took the overall honors having won all of their races in A Fleet, The College of Charleston on Soul finished first in B fleet and second overall, Coast Guard winning the tie to move up to second in B and 3rd overall and CofC Illyria finishing in third in B Fleet.
It was great to have this event again this year after a missing the 2021 event. We hope to have an even stronger turnout in 2023!
| School | Team | A | TOT | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | College of Charleston | Soul | 6 | 6 | ||
| 2 |  | U. S. Coast Guard Academy | Bears | 10 | 10 | ||
| 3 | | College of Charleston | Illearia | 12 | 12 | ||
| 4 |  | University of South Carolina | Gamecocks | 17 | 17 | ||
| 5 |  | North Carolina State University | Wolfpack | 19 | 19 | ||
| 6 |  | Georgia Institute of Technology | Yellow Jackets | 20 | 20 |
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.
