MCSA Sloop Championship

It was a beautiful sunny day with the temperature in the low 80's, The wind wa light as the 5 teams rigged their Flying Scots which had been checked over by a very enthusiastic group o volunteers from the Detroit Yacht Club and friends of the regatta Chair Bill Heller. The sails and spinnakers were checked over to make sure that each boat would be competitive relative go the others. The volunteers were ready to help with any questions as the teams rigged their first boat in the double round robin.

A Competittor's meeting was held shortly after 9 am. The posted course was discussed along with the conditions that might be expected including the 3-4 knott current and techniques that could be used to avoid being OCS and mark roundings. Other items discussed included some of the non-standard rigging used on the Club's boats and how to get the boats iin and out of the slips at the dock.

Alan Minsterman prepared the prepared the Orange turning marks and the Yellow pin-mark for the start/finish line. The Signal boat headed for the Detroit River just up stream from the Club. The mark-set boat followed with the pin-mark. The wind had just begun to increase so ther was a small delay in setting the course. The wind was shifty as it increased in strength.

The first race was a W4 at a direction of 215 at 4.5 knots and started at 10:34. The boats of all five team crossed the start line on starboard within 2 ft of the line, an indication of how competitive the regatta was going to be. Hillsdale after 28 minutes was at the winner closely followed Grand Valley, and Indiana.

The second race was also a W4. The wind had backed a little bit to 230 and increased to 6 knots. This time Indiana was the winner 20 minutes followed closely by Hillsdale and Grand Valley. The teams went ashore for a boat rotation following Race 2.

The Race Committee adjusted the course during the rotation to 230. Race 3 was a W4 in 7 knots. Grant Valley port tacked the fleet at the start and did a horizon job to finish in 19 minutes. Hillsdale and Hope finished close together with Indiana.

The Race Committee adjusted course again to 240. Because the wind was more across the river, race 4 was sailed as a W6 to give more sailing time although the wind was down to 6.5 knots. Again Grand Valle was the winner in 28 minutes. The teams went ashore for a rotation and a lunch break

Races 5 & 6 were sailed as W6 with the course being set at 240. Races 7 & 8 were sailed as W4 with the course being adjusted again to 230. At the end of the day Hillsdale lead by one point, followed by Miami and Indiana tied and Grand valley 1 point back.

There was an overcast sky which changed to partly sunny. The temperature was in the low seventies. A short Competitor's meeting was held. The boats were rigged and all the teams got on the water without incident. The course was set by 9:56 as the wind direction had changed to 240 degrees it was possible to set a longer course in line with the river. A course of W4 was sailed. in average winds of 7.5 knots Again as with Race 1 all 5 boats were on starboard within 3 ft of the line at the start. At the finish of Race 9 there were three boats overlapped. Hillsdale lead the way over Miami and Indiana.

The Race 10 was sailed using W4 in winds of 7 knots. Hillsdale, Indiana, and Miami all got good starts. While Hillsdale finished 4th they were able to hang on to first place by one point.

The boats were put away, and the teams had a chance to get lunch before the Awards ceremony. The trophies were supplied by Ed Theisen. who had served as tlhe Judge for the event. Robin Heller who scored the regatta announced the final results and George Griswold who was the PRO for the event presented the trophies.

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.