First completed Varsity regatta report

On Saturday September 22 we competed at NYCC in the first VISA varsity regatta of the season. We entered two teams (Crusaders 1 and Crusaders 2) in the varsity A/B divisions and one boat in the JV division. 

Here is a description of the conditions on the varsity and JV courses from the event organizers:  

Today was a beautiful day with a high of 81 F. There were a total of 16 teams with a total of 24 boats racing for Varsity. The JV course had 11 teams and boats on the water. The top Teams for Varsity are: Norfolk Collegiate Oaks 2; Christ Church Seahorses 1; Norfolk Collegiate Oaks 1. The top Teams for JV are: Norfolk Academy; Kecoughtan; Maury. Winds were a high of 8 MPH with some gusts to 15 MPH. 

Our results are below. The highlighted line shows each finish position, the cumulative points accrued and the relative placing in the fleet. High points for the day include Nolan skippering in his first regatta and taking 5th of 12 boats on the JV course, with a highest finish of 3rd, Josh finishing above mid-fleet in one race on the varsity course with a 9th out of 24 boats, and muffins by Margaret.

First Nolan and Cam's finishes, placing 5th of 12 overall, ahead of teams from York, Christchurch, Granby, Norfolk Collegiate, Poquoson, and Walsingham:

Here are the finishes of Jake and Josh with their crews of Maria and Chase sailing as Crusaders 1, placing 21st of 24 overall, and finishing ahead of teams from Walsingham and Poquoson:

And here are the finishes of Charlie, Mark, and Maggie with their crews of Oliver, Margaret, and Chase sailing as Crusaders 2, placing 24th of 24 overall:

Some pics from Mrs Brittain. I will add additional pictures as I get them.

Florence puts us on hold

Even though the storm shifted south and missed Hampton Roads, we had to pull all of our equipment from the Naval Base for safety.

Thanks to Jake, Charlie, Josh, and Margaret who helped de-rig and load the boats and to Nick, and Mr Campbell and the cross country team who helped unload the boat from the roof.

Weather permitting, we'll probably start moving equipment back on Monday or Tuesday with practice re-starting on Wednesday. The regatta schedule has been obviously affected. The Maury regatta scheduled for the 15th has been cancelled. No word on whether it will be made up. The Moth Nationals have been postponed with an anticipated date of October 6th and 7th.

Stay tuned!

Fleet regatta at Christchurch

The picture above pretty much sums up the event. Drifting conditions on the varsity course resulted in only 2 A division races. B division was shuttled out for their races but never even got a start. Then the rain came. Then the wind came. Then the lightning came. Then we went home.

The JV fleet did manage to get 3 triangle races in, the minimum to count. Since one of our sailors couldn't make the trip, we were one person short. Nolan crewed for another unpaired sailor from NSA (a 7th grader) and they won their event with finishes of 4 - 2 - 1. It didn't hurt that Leila (the skipper) had raced Optis for 4 years and knew how to manage starts pretty well.

The regatta summary from the regatta organizers is here:

Saturday, September 8:

Sixteen teams representing 11 high schools arrived at the Rappahannock River to light winds, high humidity and temperatures ranging from the mid-70's to the mid 80's. Initial northerly winds around 5mph oscillated west and died by noon. JV racing was then concluded before the afternoon pop-up thunderstorms commenced. Three single division races were completed on a port triangle course. Bishop Sullivan took first place with 8 points, followed by Kecoughtan in second with 11 points, and Norfolk Academy Team 1 in third place with 14 points.


On the varsity course, further out in the river, eighteen varsity team one A Division boats (FJ's) were able to complete only two W-4 races due to diminishing winds, resulting in a non-event. Had those scores counted for anything, CCS Team 2 would have taken first place, followed by CCS Team 1 in second, and Kecoughtan High School winning third place with the tiebreaker against Norfolk Collegiate Team 1 and Poquoson Team 1. On the team 2 course, again only two A division races were completed which resulted in a non-event. Had those scores counted, CCS 1 woud have taken first place, followed by CCS 2 in second, and Norfolk Academy 1 in third place.

			School	Team	A		TOT
	1		Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School	Crusaders	8		8
	2		Kecoughtan High School	Warriors	11		11
	3		Norfolk Academy	Bulldogs 1	14		14
	4		Maury High School	Commodores 2	20		20
*	5		Norfolk Collegiate School	Oaks 3	21		21
*	6		Norfolk Collegiate School	Oaks 2	21		21
*	7		Norfolk Collegiate School	Oaks 1	22		22
*	8		Grafton High School	Varsity	22		22
	9		Poquoson High School	Islanders 2	27		27
	10		Maury High School	Commodores 1	29		29
	11		Walsingham Academy	Trojans	33		33
	12		Christchurch School	Seahorses	34		34
*	13		Norfolk Academy	Bulldogs 2	35		35
*	14		Poquoson High School	Islanders 1	35		35
	15		Hampton Roads Academy	Navigators	36		36
	16		Granby High School	Granby	40		40

This week we'll be preparing for a visit from Florence. Stay tuned.

Practicing starts

Another day of crew tryouts on Willoughby Bay. This afternoon skippers were given a start line and a leeward gate to practice timing of starts and leeward roundings. The aeronometer on the Willoughby degaussing tower showed about a 11-14 mph breeze from 4-6 p.m.