(Annapolis, MD)- The 2013 edition of CBYRA’s Annapolis Race Week opened
Saturday to Chamber of Commerce conditions. Clear blue skies and a
steadily increasing breeze made for great racing action across the three
courses off Annapolis harbor where 79 J-boats were doing battle in six
separate classes. The annual three-day event, saw smaller turnouts in
some of the classes, but by far the largest one design on the water were
the J/70s. The class posted twenty-eight boats for the weekend, most
of whom were tuning up for the North American Championship to be held
here later this month.
On
Sunday, conditions deteriorated somewhat as an approaching frontal
system imposed steadily decreasing wind speeds that saw the final races
of that day staged in less than 10 knots. While this was bad enough,
the fleets were also plagued by a roaring 2 knot current that the
skippers had to manage through for all three days. Thankfully, the
weather turned again on Labor Day, again freshening to 10-15 for the
final day of racing.
Starting
from the southern course, Hugh Bethell on JESTER lead the fifteen boat
J/105 fleet for all three days and finished 3 points over Cedric Lewis’
MIRAGE. Taking third for the class was Carl & Scott Gitchell's
TENACIOUS. Using the same strategy, Peter Scheidt’s J/35 MAGGIE took
1st place honors in the six boat fleet, staying 9 points ahead of both
Charles Kohlerman’s MEDICINE MAN in second and Bruce Artman’s T-BONE in
third.
On
the J/70 & J/80 course, it was Peter McChesney who edged out Joel
Ronning’s CATAPULT team to win the twenty-eight boat J/70 fleet by just
3-points in the closely fought battle for the top three spots on the
podium. Sailing well was young James Allsopp's MOXIE, grabbing third
overall ahed of Marty Kullman's TOUCH 2 PLAY in fourth and Brian Keane's
SAVASANA in fifth. Extremely close competition produced seven winners
in eight races, no one had all top five finishes and, in fact, nine of
the top ten boats all posted at least one or more double-digits counters
in their scoreline! Amazingly, a better than 5th average won the
regatta in the J/70s!
Showing
lots of consistency, Will Crump’s R80 team kept the J/80 fleet on their
toes with a string of bullets marred only by one 2nd in race six,
winning by the comfortable margin of ten points. John White's team put
up a valiant effort to match the Crump's performance, but had to settle
for a strong second place. Third was David Andril's VAYU. Behind them
was a gritty battle for the balance of the top five with four boats
dueling hard for the three days-- namely, Andrew Beeler from NAVY
SAILING, Derick Lynch on OUTLAWS, Gary Panariello on COURAGEOUS and
Bill Blank on BLIND SQUIRREL. Ultimately, the last race determined
their finish positions since just four points separated them in the
final scoring. Beeler snatched the fourth position while Lynch took
fifth.
The
Northern-most course saw Peter Rich in USA 4006 hold on to the lead on
in the J/24s, beating Paul van Ravenswaay and Pete Kassal who finished
the regatta with 25 points apiece, with Ravenswaay getting the second on
count-back tie-breaker. 
Finally,
Bob Rutsch and Mike Costello drove the J/30 BEPOP to a 7-point victory
in their seven boat fleet as they traded bullets much of the weekend
with David Moss who finished in second on THE WHITE BOAT. Close aboard
in the bleacher seats was Ron Anderson's INSATIABLE, thirsting for a win
or two but not quite cutting ahead of the two leaders, counting a
string of 2nds and 3rds to take the bronze for the regatta.More than 200 photos of all the boats on the water are up in the photo gallery at SPINSHEET.com (http://www.SpinSheet.com). Thanks for this contribution from Dan Phelps at SPINSHEET.com. For more CBYRA Race Week sailing information
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