2007 West River Annual

 

 

 

The weather gods really smiled on the six boats which sailed in the West River Annual Regatta on September 1^st. With temperatures in the mid 80s and light to medium northeasterly winds backing gradually during the course of the afternoon the racing was always challenging and the same strategy didn’t necessarily work the second time around.

 

Bud Dailey, sailing with first time Penguin sailor Jack Pennington, proved that being on the lifted tack quickly is as important as starting at the favored end of the line – most of the time. Most of the time going right paid early and in at least two races Ed Lutz showed us that the right corner was also a pretty good idea.  It was important to find some little something to get left on, some little puff and lift. But if you went left too early it fizzled as it did a couple of times on Charlie Krafft sailing with Douglas in, you guessed it, the wrong boat. (earth to Charlie – stay with Wooden Bucket). So, for what it’s worth, a persistent shift made going up the middle look good for a while  but the breeze was more reliable on the outside of the wheel.

 

The Krafft clan was also represented by Amy sailing with Brendan Ziebarth.

 

As you may have guessed this was not an easy regatta.  Three boats won races including Scott Williamson who won the last race by a whopping two or three feet. In fact the top four boats in the last race, which decided the regatta, finished within a length of each other and the race committee didn’t get the final results sorted out until the next day.

 

The West River race committee did a good job this year and moved the mark and the starting line for the last race. This is an encouraging sign for future regattas.  We were all lucky to have the best sailing conditions for a couple of months.

 

Dailey        1    1    3    2

Hull            2    3    1    4

Lutz            5    2    2     3

Williamson   4    4    5     1

C. Krafft     3    5    4    5

A. Krafft     6    6    6    6

 

Paul