Chris Loder Trophy

Mendums didn't disappoint today. Shifty, breeze on, breeze off, 45 degree shifts, 90 degree shifts, windward mark shut off, racy runs, and did I say shifty? Fall colors still abound with water temps dropping as one team discovered. Three A races and three B races were sailed with the lead changing several times. The sun set on Vermont who is sitting in first place.

One protest was filed and disallowed.

Wildcat Muffins will be served tomorrow morning starting at 9:15 and Chris Loder will speak briefly to the competitors. Hot apple cider will be available to take the chill off between sets and teams are encouraged to bring something to put of the grill for lunch.

Thanks today to the many Wildcats who helped out in mark boats, on shore and in the photo boat. Thanks also to Parker for taking photos all day which will be made available to all competitors along with the pictures Chris Loder will shoot tomorrow.

Mendums greeted sailors with the opposite of yesterday with breeze 10-15 with a few higher gusts, decreasing to 8-10 with occasional wind holes around the course. Oscillating breeze from the NNW settled into a westerly late in the day. Shifty conditions abounded with sailors capsizing, auto tacks and more. What seemed a favoured side or tack on one beat was not to be had on the next beat.

Chris Loder spoke about the importance of coaching, volunteering to coach and sharing the passion of sailing, with younger folks. He addressed the PSA from Vt. to ask for people willing to coach any spot to step forward so that others might benefit.

Wildcat Muffins were served upon arrival and midway through the day hot spiced apple cider was available from the grill. 8 races per division were completed with Vermont (Ryan Potter/Maddy Safer and Gavin Sanborn/Alice Thompson) edging out Salve Regina for the win.

Many thanks to the many Wildcat team members who helped out both days. Special recognition to Clay Greig for managing all the motorboats, engines, creative radio solutions and mark boat along with Sarah Wilkinson; Will Rudaz who managed all things on shore, from helping with launch and recovery, protests or needed solutions for sailboats, docks and first aid. Thanks to Kathleen Hanson who did yeoman duty with scoring and solving a tricky question with aplomb. Thanks also to Emily Zaleski who managed the Wildcat Muffins and Cider. Super special thanks to alumni Kevin Buruchian who solved a boat conundrum, Parker Finklstein team photographer and of course Chis Loder for inspiring reminders, prizes for first and last place and over 2000 pictures shot - each team will receive a flash drive in the mail with pictures to show both parents - and team members.

The following chart shows the relative rank of the teams as of the race indicated. Note that the races are ordered by number, then division, which may not represent the order in which the races were actually sailed.

The first place team as of a given race will always be at the top of the chart. The spacing from one team to the next shows relative gains/losses made from one race to the next. You may hover over the data points to display the total score as of that race.