FREE
Sunday September 4, 2011
race week DAILY by
A Strong Start
Racers Welcome Steady Breeze on Day One of Annapolis Race Week
I
t’s a familiar tale to Bay sailors, who have gathered once again for a Labor Day Weekend tradition: Saturday began with a light, flukey southwesterly breeze for the three-day Chesapeake Bay YRA (CBYRA) Annapolis Race Week (ARW) 2011. “The breeze settled in at about 12 noon and piped up to 10 to 12 knots,” says on-thewater chair Bobby Frey. “It was beautiful, very comfortable.” According to all racer reports, the wind cooperated much better than anticipated, making for a pleasant and competitive day one. Racing unfolded on three racing circles, with fleet 1 led by Annapolis YC (AYC) PRO Chip Thayer. Based on preliminary results, in the four-boat Farr 40 division, Kevin McNeil on Nightshift, who placed third in 2010, is in the lead with five points, with Larry Bulman’s team on Yellow Jacket in second and last year’s winner, Erik Wulff on Endorphin, in third.
by Molly Winans Grady Byus and Kristen Berry, who sail regularly in ARW, generally on boats beginning with a “J” both crewed for Moran on Ragin’ and expressed how pleased they were with the decent breeze. Berry, who trimmed the mainsail, refers to himself as “the screw-up of the day or the minister of mistakes” and admits that they did not sail the right course. “I’m going to write a great blog post on this one,” says Berry. “I read the sailing instructions three times and did a briefing with the tactician before the race.” After accidentally sailing a four-leg race, the team retired after finish (RAF) and still managed a third-place overall. North Point Yacht Sales, a sponsor of ARW, has the Photo by Dan Phelps J/111 Ragin’ on display for the public at the City Dock for this sitting in second, with the Bad Company event. Check it out to the left of the syndicate in third place. stage at the Susan C. Campbell Park. 2010 ARW winners, Ennio Staffini’s Craig and Dotty Saunders’s crew JV 52 Anema & Core team, proved on Monkey Dust posted two bullets victorious in the eight-boat PHRF A1/ in three races in the 22-boat PHRF A2 A0 division yesterday. Martin Roesch’s division and has a solid nine-point lead J/111 Velocity team trails behind in over John Eyring’s second-place team second by only two points, with Bob on Hero Squad. Stephen Bowes’s crew Moran’s J/111 Ragin’ crew in third place. Peter Scheidt’s Maggie team is already on the way to bumping up its second-place finish from 2010 and holds the lead in the J/35 division with two seconds and a first place on day one. Charles Kohlerman on Medicine Man ended the day with a bullet and is
Continued on page 5