(Riverside, CT)- It was not to be, based on the NOAA weather forecast.
And, indeed it wasn’t. For once, the weather forecasters got it right.
Lightish breezes all weekend and warm weather means only one thing on
Long Island Sound- a perfect “mill pond”. Great for powerboaters,
fishermen and wakeboarders. Not so hot for a fleet of offshore racers
hoping to sail the Riverside YC’s 85th annual running of the Stratford
Shoals Race. The attrition rate was so high, that is had to be a record
number of DNF’s as teams simply dropped out due to little or no wind on
the Sound. Nevertheless, some boats persevered in the mind-searing
conditions to collect their silverware come hell or flat water!
Starting with the J/105 one-design division, there was only one finisher
in the fleet, with George & Alex Wilbanks’ crew on REVELATION
taking the class title by default- just for finishing!
The scenario was true for the rest of the divisions sailing PHRF
handicap. In the PHRF Double-handed division, Chris Hall’s J/122 WILY
SILVER FOX grabbed the silverware for second place. And, that was about
it for J/teams! Over a dozen J/crews took the DNF and headed home.
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more Stratford Shoal Race sailing information
