Congratulations to Dan and Jimmy Attridge on Blue Moon for winning the season long high point competition. In the eight races she participated in, Blue Moon finished with three firsts, four seconds and a third. Congratulations also to Jack and Marti Detweiler on Skimmer and Jason Goscha on Halcyon for racing in all 14 races of the six regattas. Their consistent, strong finishes earned them second and fourth places, respectively, in the high point standings.

Full year scores for all the participants are:

The overall winner for the year was determined by the CBYRA-sanctioned high point scoring system. In each race in a regatta, boats received points equal to the number of boats she beat, plus one point for starting and one point for finishing. The total points earned were converted to a decimal fraction. Blue Moon had the highest High Point Score at the end of the season and will be recognized with a plaque on the Perpetual Trophy and a tray commemorating the achievement.

AYC SERC Fall Regatta -September 7, 2013

Jack Detweiler reports:

We sailed our last regatta of the one design season on Saturday off of Back Creek, with three Alerions racing along with 14 other Harbor 20's and Herreshoff's. The first race started at 11:03 in light, shifty winds out of the WSW. The course was a triangle plus 2 windward/leewards. It was a very slow race in those light air conditions; some of the lighter Harbor 20's even passed us despite starting five minutes later. At the last weather mark, the wind backed 90 degrees as the sea breeze filled in out of the SE. 

The race committee set a new weather mark and ran two more windward/leeward races, three times around. The wind was a consistent 8-10 knots for the last two races. Jason Goscha and Stacy Anderson with their 5 year old son Findlay, who has been on the boat for all of the races this summer, took three first place finishes to win the regatta. They were joined by a friend and his young son and they still did well despite the fact that four tiny bare feet were occasionally dragging in the water.

Awards were given out at the Annapolis Yacht Club after the races. Here are the official results for our fleet:

SpinSheet photos of the Alerions in the event are available here.

BB&G Regatta to Benefit CRAB - August 24, 2013

Sixty-eight boats started the pursuit-style race in nearly perfect conditions. Among them, six Alerions competed amongst themselves and against the other boats for top honors.

Jack Detweiler reports:

We were again rewarded with a beautiful day and a nice breeze, 8 to12 knots out of the north. There was a strong outgoing current all day that was a determining factor in the order of finish. It made for an interesting race.

The course was a triangle of 7.2 miles, from the R-2 at the mouth of the Severn east to G-87 then south to the green and red can off of Thomas Point Light and then back to R-2. The start was very unusual, because you crossed the starting line that was square to the north wind and then had to take an immediate right hand turn to head to the first mark. We had nine boats in our start as three non-Alerions also had a 174 rating.

Blue Moon won the start with several of us close behind but she slowly began to pull away on the first reach and then, with blazing speed downwind to Thomas Point, continued to pull away from the rest of the Alerion fleet. The beat back was arduous with the strong outgoing current. Boats that went to the western shore to avoid the strongest current made out in spades. The Attridges on Blue Moon and Bob Spann on Resilient took that route and finished 1st and 2nd, respectively, while Dick Franyo and Dave Gendell on Juice just sailed fast and finished 3rd. 

Here are the official results for our fleet:

Some of us gathered at EYC afterward for drinks and good conversation. The awards given out to our fleet for first and second place overall were consumables:  a fifth of Mount Gay Rum and a four pack of Dark and Stormy’s.

SpinSheet photos of the Alerions in the event are available starting here.

AYC Summer One Design Regatta - July 27, 2013

Jack Detweiler reports:

Five Alerions raced in the One Design Regatta. Special thanks to Bob Spann who came all the way up from Herrington Harbor to race with us and Paul Rohrkemper, who drove over from Oxford to crew with him.

We have been fortunate with good wind so far for our regattas and yesterday was no exception. We had 10-15 knot winds out of the south and a strong ebbing current kicking up a nice chop on top of two foot waves. The Alerion fleet was the fifth scheduled to start. It seemed to take forever as the J/22's, with a strong current setting them down on a short line, had two general recalls before the race committee finally flew the I flag and the 22's behaved and started cleanly.

We got in two competitive windward/leeward races, twice around, with positions on the race course changing frequently. It seems to be more fun every time we go out as the racing gets closer and closer. With threats of bad weather and black sky to the west, the race committee sent everyone home after the second race. After a great broad reach back to Annapolis, we met afterward at the AYC Sailing Center for beer, after race discussion and awards.

Here are the final results for our fleet:

EYC One Design Classic - June 29, 2013

Jack Detweiler reports:

The EYC One Design Classic marks the seasonal midpoint of our Alerion Express 28 head-to-head racing program and it turned out to be a great day, with six boats competing for the honors.

After waiting a couple of hours for the sea breeze to fill in, we got in three closely contested races.   At the 12:30 start of the first race, winds were south-southwest at 10 knots, gradually building to 12 knots for the second and third races. We shared the windward/leeward course with six J/80's and 8 or 9 J/70's. The Catalina 27 fleet was supposed to race as well, but all their skippers ran out of patience waiting for wind and went home before the first start.

There is steady improvement among all of the boats as our fleet does more and more of these regattas and everyone learns from the experience.  The boats are raced by a diverse group of sailors, in age, experience and number of crew. While most sail with only two people, Halcyon earns special recognition for sailing with two dads, two moms and three young children. The youngsters were troopers and got to enjoy some swimming while waiting for the wind to arrive.

Complete results are as follows:

Some of us gathered at EYC afterward for drinks and good conversation. The awards given out to our fleet for first and second place overall were consumables:  a fifth of Mount Gay Rum and a four pack of Dark and Stormy’s.

Leukemia Cup Regatta - June 1, 2013

Jack Detweiler reports:

A fleet of seven Alerions got in three good races in southerly winds of 8 to 10 knots and a strong flooding current.  It was a lot different conditions than last year’s Leukemia Cup Regatta where we had 20 to 25 knot winds and plenty of broken gear. Still, the main halyard shackle on Jim Kizziar’s Escape let go and he missed the first race while getting help ashore to retrieve the halyard.

The Eastport Yacht Club Race Committee did a great job managing the five different fleets that started and raced on the same windward/leeward course, altering the leg lengths to accommodate the different boats’ speeds.

For the second regatta in a row, Caroline took first overall honors with three bullets; another second went to Blue Moon. Halcyon, in just its second AE28 regatta, took third.  Complete results are here:

SpinSheet photos of the Alerions in the event are available starting here.

SERC Spring Regatta - May 11, 2013

Jack Detweiler reports:

The first regatta of the new season was sailed in light to moderate southerly, shifty winds of about 5-10 knots and cloudy skies with the sun peeking through on occasion. The Annapolis Yacht Club Special Events Race Committee did a great job running the races made up of three classes with six Alerion Express 28's, twelve Harbor 20's and four Herreshoff 12.5's.

The Alerions’ first race was on a course of a triangle plus two windward/leeward legs and the second race a course of a triangle plus one windward/leeward. The third race was not run due to impending severe weather conditions. Since two boats in our fleet had a first and a second and two boats had a third and a fourth and two boats had a fifth and a sixth, the race committee scored the regatta based on the last or second race sailed.

After the racing, owners and crew met at AYC for awards and some social time. Caroline was awarded first, Blue Moon second and Escape  third. Complete results are here:

SpinSheet photos of the Alerions in the event are available here.