Day Two:Racing was delayed due to light winds. One race was finally competed in the late afternoon. Winds finally settled in at 6-10 knots from the south after having clocked from the north during the long waiting period.
2006 Western Hemisphere Championship
May 23-26
First race report:
The first day of racing for the Western Hemisphere Championship was under sunny
skies but with a cold, gusty northwest wind of 15 knots with a temperature in
the high 50s (F). The US Navy's "Blue Angels" jet acrobatic team were flying
over the course practicing for the US Naval Academy's Commissioning Week
(graduation) celebration.
The first race was a 2 mile, four leg windward-leeward course set at 325 and changed to 335 for the 2nd upwind leg. Dane/Sperry were first around the windward leg of the first leg after having stayed to the left side of the course, taking advantage of the lessening ebb current at the top of the leg. Following them were Reynolds/Haenel, O'Connell/Peel, Murray/Palfrey and Anosov/Caesar.
At the leeward gate, Dane/Sperry were still leading, Murray/Palfrey were 2nd, and O'Connell/Peel 3rd. Dane/Sperry played the middle left of the course, but being rightish was paying this leg, and VanderMolen/Wolfs were first at the 2nd windward mark. Following them were Murray/Palfrey, Reynolds/Haenel, Dane/Sperry and Conde/Hunn. This order held to the finish, except with Reynolds/Haenel and Dane/Sperry exchanging places and Cramer/Bjorn taking 5th ahead of Conde/Hunn.
The second race brought lighter, but still gusty winds with larger shifts up to 45 degrees.
Day Two:
Racing was delayed due to light winds. One race was finally competed in the late
afternoon. Winds finally settled in at 6-10 knots from the south after having
clocked from the north during the long waiting period.
Day Three:
Warmer but cloudy with temperatures in the mid 60sF. The wind slowly built from
the south and at noon there was 15 knots. The first race of the day was won by
Rick Merriman/Rick Peters, followed by Andy MacDonald/Brian Fatih and George
Szabo/Eric Monroe for a southern California sweep of the top three.
In the 2nd race the southern California contingent continued strong with Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel winning the race and Erik Lidecis/Michael Marzahl finishing 2nd. John Dane/Austin Sperry were third and are tied with Reynolds/Haenel for first overall in the regatta. Just one point back is Australia's Iain Murray/Andrew Palfrey.
Last day:
The fleet had to wait until early afternoon for the wind to show up from the
south at 12-14 knots. John Dane and Austin Sperry, with their 6th in the race,
won the Western Hemisphere Championship followed by Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel in
2nd and George Szabo/Eric Monroe in 3rd.
Winning the final race (their 2nd first place in the regatta) were Rick Merriman/Rick Peters, followed by George Szabo/Eric Monroe and Argentina's Fabian MacGowan/Frederico Engelhard.
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