Oct 4, 2026 @ 13:45:59 EDT
Sailors arrived for the Greg Popp Trophy at the Halifax Sailing Association in Daytona Beach, Florida to overcast skies and little wind. The competitors met under the pavilion as planned at 9:30 AM. Mr. Popp, a club supporter for many years, was on hand to give the sailors a warm welcome and reminded them that the number one reason they came was to have fun!
The sailors were on the water by 10:00, but the wind was patchy and only 2-3 kts.
The R/C planned for the southerly we had to build in place, and a course was set. Our first set of W4 races started after a general recall, where the outbound tide was sweeping the sailors across the line early. The same thing happened for the second race, but the current had slackened a bit, and the wind had built to about 6 kts in the stronger periods. By 12:40 we were starting the B Division on their first set of races, now with a building inbound tide. Throughout the first two sets the wind slowly backed towards the SE and then more easterly, as the local sea breeze slowly developed under partially clearing skies.
The second round of races for the A Division had few boats OCS, as the inbound current kept much of the fleet from being on the line at the start. The flooding tidal current continued to play a role in the races throughout the afternoon. Our 12th race of the day finished at 3:39, under scattered clouds and a steady 8 kt sea breeze. There were protests hailed and circles done. No protests were filed with the R/C, and the sailors all left before thunderstorms arrived later in the evening. Congratulations to the Jacksonville University Fins! It will be our pleasure to have your name added to the Greg Popp perpetual trophy!
Thanks to all the students that helped prepare the fleet and grounds for this event! Well done, thanks! Thanks to Michael Dolan and his crew Kevin Allison for their excellent services as Mark Boat. They were at the windward mark to move it before they were asked to do so, many times. (The windward mark was updated for almost every race, and the whole course was rotated and relocated between sets twice.) Thanks to Tristan Baird for help with coordinating the sailors on shore, making the rotations as timely as possible.
A special thanks to Todd Stebleton, whose boat served as R/C and services on the water played a huge role in making our event a success!
Finally, thanks to the Halifax Sailing Association’s continued support of our club’s activities. We all appreciated the use of the pavilion and grounds to help make this event go off without any issues.
Chris Herbster Embry-Riddle Sailing Faculty Advisor / Race PRO
| School | Team | A | B | TOT | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Jacksonville University | Fins 1 | 13 | 9 | 22 | |||
| 2 |  | University of South Florida | Bulls | 19 | 17 | 36 | |||
| 3 | | Jacksonville University | Fins 2 | 22 | 21 | 43 | |||
| 4 |  | Florida Institute of Technology | Panthers | 19 | 34 | 53 | |||
| 5 |  | University of Miami | Hurricanes | 33 | 21 | 54 | |||
| 6 |  | University of Florida | Gators | 32 | 29 | 61 | |||
| 7 | | University of South Florida | Bulls JV | 35 | 39 | 74 | |||
| 8 |  | University of Central Florida | Knights | 52 | 47 | 99 | |||
| 9 |  | Embry-Riddle University | Eagles | 53 | 59 | 112 | |||
| 10 |  | Flagler College | Saints | 56 | 65 | 121 | |||
| 11 |  | College of Coastal Georgia | Mariners | 71 | 59 | 130 | |||
| 12 |  | Palm Beach Atlantic University | Sailfish | 63 | 68 | 131 |
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.
