From the left (in boats): Cryptic (Dolphin Moth), Beane (Melges-24), Neil (Bandit IF), Cole (Nacra 17), Asami (Teleri MX 20), Kurt (Patchogue II), Traeumer (Shields Class 2.0), Kristaly (Shields Class 2.0), Carlota (Bandit IF), and Lucy (Melges-24).
On the dock: Jene, Karen, Peachie, and Petra.
This weeks North Sea Open Regatta featured a varied fleet and some decent sim weather. The fleets in both portions of the regatta saw a nice variety of boats with no dominant majority from anyone class. The sims behaved with only 1 DNF in the small boats portion and 2 DNFs in the big boats portion recorded. Spectators again turned out in impressive 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 a 2 lap affair on the North Sea Short Loop course, was made up of a triple majority of two Quest Melges-24s, two Bandit IFs, and two Shields Class. A Dolphin Moth, a TMS Nacra 17, a Ktaba 20 MX Teleri, and a Trudeau Patchogue II made up the remainder of the small boat fleet. Things got off really quickly as the entire fleet was over the start line before the race timer ticked off 20 seconds. Lucy, in her Melges-24, was across first with an almost perfect 00:00:01 followed by myself, in my Dolphin Moth, Asami, in her Teleri, and Kurt, in his Patchogue II, all at 00:00:02. Kirstaly, in her Shields Class, was next to cross at 00:00:03 followed by Beane, in her Melges-24, and Neil, in his Bandit IF, both at 00:00:04. Traeumer, in his Shields Class, was next to cross at 00:00:10 followed by Carlota, in her Bandit IF, at 00:00:16, and Cole, in her Nacra 17, at 00:00:19. I quickly jumped out in front, in my speedier Dolphin Moth, to pace the fleet with, Beane, in her Melges-24, Cole, in her Nacra 17, and Lucy, in her Melges-24, falling in right behind me. Kristaly, in her Shields Class, settled in the middle of the pack with Asami, in her Teleri 2, Carlota, in her Bandit IF, Neil, in his Bandit IF, and Kurt, in his Patchogue II, all falling in behind her. Traeumer unfortunately crashed and recorded a DNF. The fleet order held from there with myself crossing the finish line first, followed by Beane, Cole, Lucy, Kristaly, Asami, Carlota, Neil, and finally Kurt.
The big boat fleet, racing on the North Sea Inner Outer Loop (NS-OIL Rev1) course, was made up of a split majority two Wildwind RC-44s, and two TMS One Design 65s. The remainder of the big boat fleet was comprised of a Trudeau 12 Metre, a Bandit 55, and a TMS Ushuaia. The big boat portion start was almost as quick as the small boat portion, with the vast majority of the fleet crossing the start line before 30 seconds. Cole, in her Trudeau 12 Metre, and Lucy, in her Wildwind RC-44, got things started with both crossing the start line at 00:00:06. Beane, in her One Design 65, was next to cross at 00:00:08 followed by myself, in my Ushuaia, at 00:00:18. Traeumer, in his RC-44, was next to cross the start line at 00:00:20, with new comer to North Sea racing Jene, in her One Design 65, following at 00:00:30, and Riv, in his Bandit 55, crossing at 00:01:16. Beane, in her faster One Design 65, quickly jumped into the lead with Lucy and Traeumer, each in their own just as speedy RC-44s, falling in right behind her. Jene, in her One Design 65, settled in right behind them with myself, in my Ushuaia, following along behind. Cole, in her Trudeau 12 Metre, and Riv, in his Bandit 55, both unfortunately crashed and recorded DNFs. Beane held her lead, crossing the finish line first followed by Lucy, Traeumer, Jene, and then myself.
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 Beane (beane Bade), with Cryptic (Cryptic Resident) second, and Lucy (LucyInTheSky Afarensis) in third place. Congratulations to all of you. Thank you to everyone who came to sail and spectate.
Race Notes:
Cryptic (Cryptic Resident) and Lucy (LucyInTheSky Afarensis) both finished tied with 7 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 |
| Cryptic Resident | 1 | 6 |
| LucyInTheSky Afarensis | 3 | 4 |
With the race results rearranged in best to worst finish order, per A8.1, the tie breaks in Cryptic’s favor with having a first place finish over Lucy’s third place finish as her best.
Neil (eager2discover Resident) and Cole (Colette Verino) both 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 |
| eager2discover Resident | 5 | 8 |
| Colette Verino | 6 | 7 |
With the race results rearranged in best to worst finish order, per A8.1, the tie breaks in Neil’s favor with having a fifth place finish over Cole’s sixth place finish as her best.
Jene (jene Bekkers) and Asami (Alisiea Resident) both finished tied with 5 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 |
| jene Bekkers | 5 | 11 |
| Alisiea Resident | 8 | 8 |
With the race results rearranged in best to worst finish order, per A8.1, the tie breaks in Jene’s favor with having a fifth place finish over Asami’s eighth place finish as her best.
Riv (Rivernaut Piers) and Kurt (Kurt Calamity) both finished tied with 17 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 |
| Rivernaut Piers | 6 | 11 |
| Kurt Calamity | 8 | 9 |
With the race results rearranged in best to worst finish order, per A8.1, the tie breaks in Riv’s favor with having a sixth place finish over Kurt’s eighth place finish as his best.
North Sea Racing 