Battle of Lake Erie

Saturday morning started with pleasant temperatures (for Erie) in the 60s, but light breezes from the East at 5 to 7 knots. The competitors assembled at the Rickloff Boathouse at the Erie Yacht Club for a skippers meeting, and then began rigging the 420s. The breeze held and racing began at 11:00 AM. As the day went on, the race committee, consisting of Erie Yacht Club members, spent most of the day chasing the ever-changing breeze and keeping the line square. For the first part of the day the wind clocked almost 90 degrees to the SSE. Then, around 2:00 the wind dropped below the 4-knot requirement. We went into postponement, and then the wind reappeared from the North for about an hour, then the breeze dropped again and returned to the East. We used the next hour and a half to get another few races in to bring us to Race 4B. That race started with about 5 knots but by the end of the race the sailors were just able to finish a W4. By 4:30 the water was flat and racing was concluded for the day with a little bit of rain to complete the mix.

The top three teams -- Queens, RIT and Penn State -- fought each other for the top spot through the day. A couple times there were ties for first place and third place. When racing concluded Queen's University was ahead of RIT by just one point. Syracuse was chasing Penn State, and the two local teams -- Penn State Behrend and Mercyhurst University -- got some good experience while they're in rebuilding mode.

The final placings will be decided tomorrow. As of this writing the forecast is for rain with moderate winds. We hope to get four races in to complete the Round Robin and then get the teams on the road home.

The Bay was quiet when the teams arrived at 9:00 AM. We hoped to finish the last four races of the Round Robin. Luckily, by the time the boats were rigged and gathered around the committee boat, the Bay filled in with a nice steady 10-12 knot ENE breeze. Racing began on time at 10:00 AM.

At the end of the day yesterday Queens and RIT were separated by only one point for first place. The final four W4 races in the better conditions scrambled things a bit. Queens, with three out four first places, stretched out their lead while RIT locked in second place. The battle for third place went to Penn State, while Syracuse took fourth place. The wind cooperated for all four races with a bit of a right shift that was picked up by the race committee and the markset boats and they adjusted the course quickly. The nice steady conditions also allowed Penn State Behrend and Mercyhurst to compete a little more closely. Overall, all of the teams showed improvement over the two days of the regatta. The teams are also to be commended for their sportsmanship and positive attitude. The Round Robin was completed by noon, and the teams were on their way home before 1:00.

Finally, we thank the Erie Yacht Club and more than ten Erie Yacht Club members for providing the facilities and manpower for a positive weekend of college sailing.

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.