Hyannis Regatta
Hyannis Yacht Club, July 26-28, 2013
This years Hyannis Regatta got off to a wet, windy and slow start. The regatta was scheduled to start on Friday but puffs to 30 knots and heavy fog kept all fleets on shore for the day. We all spent the morning rigging in torrential rain for nothing but at least we were ready to go for a beautiful Saturday.
Saturday was what we all come to Hyannis for, an 18 knot sea breeze on a sunny day. Five races were held in building breeze. Tyler Burd marked his turf, after an 8 week absence, by winning four out of the five races to win the day with skipper Bob Merrick. Heavy air hammers Brendon Scanlon and Todd Riccardi where the only team that managed to beat Burd and Merrick in a race by winning race two of the day. It was a breeze on boat speed day but navigation also played a bit of a role with Scanlon and Riccardi missing out on a second race win by over-standing the mark on a tricky run.
Following racing on Saturday, five boats stayed in the water to continue a Hyannis Regatta tradition and take 420 and Opti sailors for blasts around Lewis Bay. The rides were a regatta highlight for the youth sailors and F18 sailors alike, with huge grins on the faces of everyone all afternoon. For most of the youth sailors, it was the fastest they had ever gone on a sailboat, and one 420 sailor remarked “that made my summer!” The rides were a tremendous way to build excitement for performance catamaran sailing among the youth competitors, and the fleet received extremely complimentary feedback from parents, coaches, and regatta organizers.
The sun remained through Sunday but the wind did a 180 and turned to a very light Northerly. It was looking so dismal in the morning that a few teams pulled the plug, but we got a bit more wind than expected and had three good races. Light air scientists Jeff Dusek and Brooks Reed engineered a consistent performance on a tricky day finishing with a 1,2,1 to win the day and overtake Scanlon and Riccardi to finish second with Burd and Merrick holding on for the win.
Thirteen boats competed in the event which was a bit down from previous years due to a conflict with the first Olympic class Nacra17 Worlds going on in the Netherlands.
Thanks again to the Hyannis YC for being such gracious hosts.
Complete results are at: http://www.hycracing.com/uploads/7/4/3/5/7435746/pc1_f-18_cats_overall.pdf
Pictures are at: http://www.hycracing.com/2013-regatta-photos.html
