Congrats to Smee Again on winning our fleet season opener, the Colors Regatta! I wasn’t able to participate so I’ve reconstructed the below account from a few conversations.
Hosted by Columbia Yacht Club on two warm sunny days with southerly breezes that, typically for Lake Michigan in June, ranged from SSE – SSW and 6-20+ knots, the Colors saw 76 boats sailing the buoys and an additional 22 in the distance race. Seven 109s made it to the line.
Ripping off an almost unbroken string of bullets, Mssrs Miz, Dreher, Hatfield, and Neenan bulldozed their way to victory. Described by their competitors as “always nailing the start” and “doing a great job getting into phase with shifty breezes,” the Smee boys never let off the gas and were even seen going wing-on-wing at one point to sail below the remainder of the fleet!
Over six starts, their lead had built to a level that they didn’t need to sail the last race to win the regatta. But they did sail. And they won that one too!
The rest of the fleet described a terrific regatta and a pitched battle for the other two spots on the podium. Starts were hard-fought, mark roundings often contested by multiple boats. The standings weren’t settled until the final race on Sunday. With Liquid Lounge sitting on 16 points and a familiar trio of Full Tilt, Blackfin, and Courageous on 20, 21, and 22 points, respectively, it all came down to race seven.
A major righty during the pre-start made race seven an odd one. The boat end was strongly favored, with the fleet needing just two tacks to lay the first mark. A quick hoist at the windward mark and a snappy gybe at the offset were critical to keeping leverage on the fleet on the downwind legs. In the end, after multiple passing moves, it was Smee, Courageous, Liquid Lounge, Full Tilt, Blackfin across the line in that order.
Congrats to Smee (1-1-1-3-1-1, 8 pts), Liquid Lounge (3-2-2-4-5-3, 19 pts), and Courageous (2-7-4-6-3-2, 24 pts) on the podium!
Scoring Reminder
We use a day scoring system in Fleet 11 for buoy racing and our Nearshore Championship. Each day is scored as a separate event. We count your best seven days of sailing out of a total of thirteen days. Sail more days, get more discards! After two days of racing, the current inshore standings are as follows:
Boat Points
Smee Again 2
Liquid Lounge 6
Courageous 7
Blackfin 7
Full Tilt 8
Slapshot 12
Vanda 13
Next up is this weekend’s Chicago NOOD. We’ve got eight boats registered. Who will prevail? Will Smee Again bring the heat (again)? Will someone else seize the season lead? Come find out! See everyone out there!
Jim Murray
