From the left (in boats): Cryptic (Dolphin Moth), Lucy (Mleges-24), Susi (Bandit IF), Carlota (Bandit IF), and Jackson (Bandit IF).
On the dock: Joshua, Beane, Gabi, and Petra.
Smooth sim weather, some fun sailing, and a nice turnout featured in this weeks North Sea Open Regatta. The sims were fairly behaved for both races of the regatta as there was only one DNF in the small boats portion and two DNFs in the big boats portion. The sailing was fun and competitive as both fleets saw impressive starts and some tight racing. Spectators once again turned up in large numbers along the coast of the Eden Alabatros region, the beaches along Lighthouse Isle in the Ziziphus region, at the Poseidon Centre Spectator Pier in the Eden Puffin region, and at the committee boat dock in the Breadnut region.
The small boat fleet, racing on the NS-SOL-13A course, was made up of a majority was made of of five Bandit IFs. Two Quest Melges-24s, two TMS Nacra 17s, a TMS Laser One, a Shields Class, a TMS Flying Shadow, and a Dolphin Moth made up the remainder of the fleet. The fleet started quick as more than half got across the start line before 20 seconds had ticked off on the race clock. Beane was first across, in her Melges-24, at 00:00:01, while I followed right behind, in my Dolphin Moth, at 00:00:02. Jackson, in his Bandit IF, was right on my stern, crossing at 00:00:03. Dess, in her Flying Shadow, was next to cross the start line at 00:00:08 followed by Lalia, in her Nacra 17, and Lucy, in her Melges-24, both at 00:00:09. Neil, in his Bandit IF, crossed the start line next at 00:00:16 followed by Peter, in his Laser One, at 00:00:19. Carlota, in her Bandit IF, was across next the start line at 00:00:25 with Alexandre, in his Bandit IF, crossing the start line right after at 00:00:38. Luna, in her Shields Class, crossed the start line next at 00:00:41 with Susi, in her Bandit IF, following right behind at 00:00:42. Cole, in her Nacra 17, had some problems on her pre-start but corrected and crossed the start line at 00:01:31. I quickly jumped out in front of the fleet, in my speedy Dolphin Moth, as Lalia, in her Nacra 17, Lucy, in her Melges-24, and Beane, in her Melges-24, tightly fought for position between each other. Peter, in his Laser One, settled in behind them with Luna, in her Shields Class, following along not far behind. Cole, in her Nacra 17, proceeded to make her way up from the rear of the fleet, in her speedier Nacra 17, passing seven along the way. Alexandre and Carlota, both in Bandit IFs, caught up to Jackson, as he fell back from the speedier boats, in his Bandit IF, and fought tightly for position. Neil, in his Bandit IF, was not far behind them with Susi, in her Bandit IF, right behind. Unfortunately Dess, in her Flying Shadow, crashed and recorded a DNF. I maintained the lead ahead of the fleet and crossed the finish line first, taking line honors. Lalia was next across the finish line, followed right away by Lucy and Beane, who were neck and neck. Peter was next to cross the finish with Luna, Cole, Alexandre, Carlota, Jackson, Neil and Susi following.
The big boat fleet, racing on the North Sea Copacabana course, was made up of a majority of three Wildwind RC-44s. Two TMS Ushuaias, a TMS One Design 65, a Trudeau 12 Metre, and an ACA33 made up the remainder of the fleet. The entire fleet got off to a great quick start with the last boat crossing the start line as 34 seconds ticked on the race timer. Cole, in her ACA33, was across the start line first, at 00:00:03 followed by Dess, in her RC-44, at 00:00:04. Bean, in her One Design 65, was next to cross the start line at 00:00:09 followed by Susi, in her Ushuaia, and Lucy, in her RC-44, both at 00:00:14. Peter, in his Trudeau 12 Metre, was next across the start line at 00:00:16. I was next across, in my Ushuaia, at 00:00:21 followed by Luna, in her RC-44, at 00:00:34. Beane, in her speedier One Design 65, jumped out front to lead the pack with Dess, in her RC-44, and Cole, in her ACA33, falling in right behind her. Peter, in his Trudeau 12 Metre, settled in just ahead of the middle of the fleet, as Susi and I, both in Ushuaias, held tightly right behind. Unfortunately both Lucy and Luna, in RC-44s, crashed and recorded DNFs. Beane held her lead and crossed the finish line first, taking line honors. Dess crossed the finish line second with Cole coming across third, right behind her. Peter was next to cross the finish line followed by myself and then Susi.
Race Director: Petra
Wind: SW (225°) 18kts
Note:
Did Not Finish (DNF) = number of finish +1
Did Not Start (DNS) = number of start +1
Today’s winner was Cryptic (Cryptic Resident), with Peter (PeterSailor Resident) second, and Beane (beane Bade) in third place. Congratulations to all of you. Thank you to everyone who came to sail and spectate and to the SLCG for helping with race duties..
Race Note:
Cole (Colette Verino), Carlota (Carlota Dufaux), and Lucy (LucyInTheSky Afarensis) all finished tied with 13 points. Rule A8.1 of Guidance on Scoring under Appendix A to the Rules of Sailing is used to break this tie:
“If there is a series score tie between two or more boats, each boat’s race scores shall be listed in order of best to worst, and at the first point(s) where there is a difference the tie shall be broken in favour of the boat(s) with the best score(s). No excluded scores shall be used.“
| Skipper | Best Finish | Next Best Finish |
| Colette Verino | 1 | 12 |
| Carlota Dufaux | 4 | 9 |
| LucyInTheSky Afarensis | 6 | 7 |
With the race results rearranged in best to worst finish order, per A8.1, the tie breaks in Cole’s favor with having a first place finish over Carlota’s fourth place finish and Lucy’s sixth place finish as their best. Subsequently, Carlota’s fourth place finish places her ahead of Lucy, with her sixth place finish.
North Sea Racing 