CYC Home
September 19-20, 2009
By Joe Burcar
It's not everyday that you attend a regatta where you see smiles across the faces of all competitors.
Maybe it was the sunny 70-degree weather when the forecast was for rain, or the steady breeze that just kept getting better throughout the day, or it could have been the great BBQ on Saturday with homemade salads and brownies. No, it must have been the ice cream cone the race committee handed out on the water on Saturday.
Regardless, Bruke Thomas and PRO Scott Boye, supported by many Sail Orcas and Orcas Island Yacht Club volunteers, put on a great Team Race event the weekend of September 19-20.
Photo credit: Sail Orcas
Dinghies head down wind during team racing weekend on Orcas Island.
The tone of the open team race regatta was set early at the skippers meeting with a clear emphasis on 'having fun' and sharing team racing knowledge.
The ten teams registered for the event represented a variety of team racing experience from former collegiate sailors to developing high school or junior program teams. Sail Orcas ran 72 races over the weekend providing a complete round robin involving all 10 teams followed by a second round with the fleets split into a Gold (top 6-teams) and Silver (remaining 4-teams) fleet.
Despite the range of team racing experience on the race course, all ten teams were able to get at least one win during the first round robin. Adding to the focus on fun and learning, all the teams sailed hard, but also shared tips or made suggestions on the water or after the race to less experienced teams.
The team racing format and especially the Orcas double round robin format made for a very positive learning experience for the range of sailors competing.
Congratulations to Team Rainer Bears, who were undefeated throughout both round robins. Testimony to how tight the racing was; Team Peduncle (Google it), Leeroy Jenkins and CYC were in a three way tie for second place with 7-wins at the end of Saturday, and Peduncle and Leeroy Jenkins remained tied with 10 overall wins through the completion of the second round robin.
Team Banana Phone found their rhythm in the second round robin scoring three wins in 5 races. Team DogFish, a young high school team showed some amazing speed throughout the event qualifying to sail in the Gold fleet during the second round robin. CYC changed their team name after the first day of sailing to "Extra Lap", for which the team took the camp pledge when arriving on the Island, i.e. "whatever happens on Orcas, stays on Orcas." Therefore you are not going to hear the reason for the name change here.
Again in the Silver fleet, all of the teams got at least one win in the second round robin, with Business Kats going undefeated followed closely by Tunas, Mercer Harbor and team Cheese & Quackers.
It is great to see a mix of high school, junior sailors, collegiate teams and alumni competing together in team racing. More frequent mark traps, pass-backs and less yelling were clear signs of the progression all the teams made over the weekend. A big thank you to Burke, Scott and the rest of the Sail Orcas/OIYC volunteers for hosting a great event and opening it up to all teams young and old!