Saturday Series on 10/24/2020
Saturday, October 24 Report
The last Saturday race for the club in 2020, at SPIRE Institute in Geneva. The weather was cold, cloudy with a few sprinkles, 46 degrees F. with winds from the North, at about 9 MPH. We had a decent turnout of five Gold Fleet racers, plus Gold Fleet sailor Wayne Forbes as Race Director, and three Silver Fleet competitors.
With three sailors in Silver, we had separate Starts but identical courses for the two Fleets; Race Director Wayne Forbes set the course for Heats 1- 3 to be windward to Mark 7, passing it to Starboard, then a run downwind to Mark 1, followed by an upwind leg to the Finish line. Starting with Heat 4, the RD changed the course to be a port rounding of Mark 7, and then shortened course for Heats 7- 12 to round Mark 8, still to the North, but closer to the start. They were all good courses, offering a few upwind tacks on the first leg to windward, a long run to mark 1 in the South, and especially, tight racing for the last upwind leg from Mark 1 to the Finish.
The season was on the line in Silver Fleet- with Brad Ferrell leading the Fall Series by just ONE point after a discard over Scott Westrum, and two points ahead of Larry Ward. It was Ferrell at 7 points, Westrum at 8, and Ward at 9. Unfortunately, Scott Westrum could make the event, and the DNC (did not compete) moved him to third in the Series; by 1 point, and Larry moved from Third to Second, three points behind Brad.
In Gold Fleet- the Fall Series was pretty much already decided, and no places changed. For today, Rick Lawler won with 27 points, 3 ahead of second-place Doug Rieger; Mike Wyatt was third, tied on points with Doug. Doug won second on the “Most Firsts” tiebreaker.
All in all, 2020 was a good year, despite “THE VIRUS” and a resultant late (June) start. Although attendance was lower by about 4 boats on the average (with most of the deficit in the Silver Fleet), the racing was good, the weather was good, and the location at SPIRE was excellent.
The last Saturday race for the club in 2020, at SPIRE Institute in Geneva. The weather was cold, cloudy with a few sprinkles, 46 degrees F. with winds from the North, at about 9 MPH. We had a decent turnout of five Gold Fleet racers, plus Gold Fleet sailor Wayne Forbes as Race Director, and three Silver Fleet competitors.
With three sailors in Silver, we had separate Starts but identical courses for the two Fleets; Race Director Wayne Forbes set the course for Heats 1- 3 to be windward to Mark 7, passing it to Starboard, then a run downwind to Mark 1, followed by an upwind leg to the Finish line. Starting with Heat 4, the RD changed the course to be a port rounding of Mark 7, and then shortened course for Heats 7- 12 to round Mark 8, still to the North, but closer to the start. They were all good courses, offering a few upwind tacks on the first leg to windward, a long run to mark 1 in the South, and especially, tight racing for the last upwind leg from Mark 1 to the Finish.
The season was on the line in Silver Fleet- with Brad Ferrell leading the Fall Series by just ONE point after a discard over Scott Westrum, and two points ahead of Larry Ward. It was Ferrell at 7 points, Westrum at 8, and Ward at 9. Unfortunately, Scott Westrum could make the event, and the DNC (did not compete) moved him to third in the Series; by 1 point, and Larry moved from Third to Second, three points behind Brad.
In Gold Fleet- the Fall Series was pretty much already decided, and no places changed. For today, Rick Lawler won with 27 points, 3 ahead of second-place Doug Rieger; Mike Wyatt was third, tied on points with Doug. Doug won second on the “Most Firsts” tiebreaker.
All in all, 2020 was a good year, despite “THE VIRUS” and a resultant late (June) start. Although attendance was lower by about 4 boats on the average (with most of the deficit in the Silver Fleet), the racing was good, the weather was good, and the location at SPIRE was excellent.