(Annapolis, MD) - This year's J/80 East Coasts were hosted by Eastport
YC in Annapolis, MD. Ramzi, who was sailing the J/80 STACKED DECK, had
this to report of the crazed weather and conditions that sailors faced
this past weekend on the Chesapeake Bay: "What an amazing weekend we had! We had windy, choppy and shifty weather on Friday but had solid racing... getting in four races! We knew that the weather would be questionable for Saturday so we did all we could to get in all we could with races starting at 10:30 and ending at 4-ish. We had a fun event Friday night with one of our sponsors hosting wings and beer. We decided to cancel for Saturday after our party Friday night when we learned that AYC had cancelled the J/105 regatta. We figured that if they were concerned... perhaps we should follow. Although the weather didn't get as awful as predicted... it was still pretty bad and the right decision.
Saturday we had a big BBQ party at the EYC clubhouse... lots of raffle goods and auction item. A lot of food, beer and fun. We were able to make the most of the situation given the weather.
We
started early on Sunday (10:30) and targeted for as many races we could
get by extending the "no later than" time to 3pm. We shared the course
with the J/22s and got in three races (almost four but had to abandon
the 4th race due to unfair wind situation)... on a sunny day with good
but shifty breeze."At the end of the day, the J/80s can say they made the most of the weekend despite the weather conditions. After completing seven races over the three days, Chris Chadwick's team on CHURCH KEY sailed a solid regatta to win by 10 pts. John White's crew on US 1162 was second, narrowly beating Will and Marie Crump's JEFF's BOAT by just two points. Fourth was class up and comer Kristen Robinson keeping the wheels on their shopping trolley and hanging tough on ANGRY CHAMELEON to get snag fourth. Bill Hunt's FIREBOLT started strongly with a 1-3-5-2 winning the regatta Friday to fade to fifth on Sunday's racing with some deep finishes in the shifty conditions. Sailing photo credits- SailFast Photos For more J/80 East Coasts sailing information
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