Saturday's light and tricky air and Sunday's big wind shifts made things difficult, but not impossible, for the Annapolis Yacht Club's second weekend of its traditional Fall Series.
With 112 boats registered in the Saturday cruising one-design, PHRF C and MORC classes, and 115 signed up for Sunday's PHRF A-1, A-2 and B, IMS and J/35 starts, AYC Fall Series is going strong this year and competition in many classes and fleets remains very close.
In Saturday's fleet, only Michael Bay and his crew on Babe, returning to racing after an absence early in the season, have scored two aces.
But in the Sunday fleet, J/35 leader Jeff Todd and his Hot Toddy crew, as well as IMS overall fleet and division II leader Will Keyworth and the team on Imp and Peter Gordon and his Gaucho crew in IMS I, each has a pair of bullets.
Bay's victory in PHRF C over 10 other starters was an impressive one, with a winning margin of nearly nine minutes over the second-place boat, Carey Martien's Morning Star.
"I feel kind of sorry for Annapolis Yacht Club," Keyworth said of Sunday's shifty winds, in which he eked out victory by five seconds over Steve Kaminer and his Predator crew. "Ten minutes before our start, it was blowing out of 210 [degrees] at 18 knots, and 10 minutes after our start, it was 265 at 10 knots. Then right as we got to the bottom mark, it went back again, but the committee had already moved the mark to 245."
Keyworth said AYC did a good job in the difficult conditions, even though its attempts to bring the course true to the wind were somewhat less than successful and left the racers with extended reaching work rather than square beats.
"Annapolis Yacht Club really did as good a job as it was possible to do, particularly with that many classes,"
he said. "I think it was a difficult race for the bigger boats. It was one of those days when you had to change gears all the time."
AYC Fall Series Provisional results through Race 2 Saturday fleet MORC (15 entries): 1. Mirage, Lewis/Salvesen Annapolis/Edgewater, 2.75 (2-1); 2. Rude Awakening, Chuck O'Malley, Annapolis, 4.75 (1-4); 3. Stingray, Robert Muller, Annapolis, 10 (8-2).
PHRF C (14 entries, protests pending): 1. Babe, Michael Bay Edgewater, 1.5 (1-1); 2. Allegro, J. T. Sliter, Washington, 9 (3-6); 3. (tie) Natural Motion, I. Lawton, (address unavailable), 10 (2-8); Marilyn, Marty Kiely, Berwyn Heights, 10 (7-3); and Finnegan's Wake, John O'Brien, Pasadena, 10 (5-5).
Alberg 30 (12 entries): 1. (tie) Limerick, Pat Gorman, Annapolis, 5.75 (5-1) and Incredible, Karl Gerhard, Crofton, 5.75 (1-5); 3. (tie) Sundance, Bert Nye, Annapolis, 9 (7-2); Lingin, Burce Rankin, Annapolis, 9 (6-3); and Mustang, Joseph Credit, Baltimore, 9 (3-6).
Cal 25 (6 entries): 1. Riders Up, David Wooldridge, Annapolis, 4.75 (4-1); 2. (tie) White Cap, Tim Bloomfield, Chevy Chase, 5 (3-2); and Ronin, David Godwin, Arlington, Va., 5 (2-3).
J/24 (34 entries, protests pending): 1. Latent Defect, Spettel/Mowry, Alexandria, Va./Annapolis, 2.75 (1-2); 2. Predator, Steve Hankin, Annapolis, 9.75 (9-1); 3. Rainbo, Cramer/McBee, Alexandria, Va./Lancaster, Pa., 10 (5-5).
J/30 (28 entries): 1. Valkyrie, Ron Peterson, Annapolis, 9 (4-5); 2. (tie) Be Bop, Rutsch/Aras, Chevy Chase/Annapolis, 10 (8-2); and Valhalla, Steve Bardelman, Sherwood Forest, 10 (7-3).
Pearson 30 (6 entries): 1. Kinvarra, D. Kral (address unavailable), 2.75 (2-1); 2. Vahevala, David Sharp, Edgewater, 3.75 (1-3); 3. Constellation, Henry Starr, Silver Spring, 5 (3- 2).
Sunday fleet
IMS Fleet Overall (40 entries, protests pending): 1. Imp, Purcell/Keyworth, Palm Beach, Fla./Annapolis, 1.5 (1-1); 2. (tie) Privateer, David Dodge, Annapolis, 8 (5-3); and Gaucho, Peter Gordon, Annapolis, 8 (3-5).
IMS I (10 entries): 1. Gaucho, Gordon, 1.5 (1-1); 2. (tie) Merrythought, King, 6 (4-2) and Moxie, Collins, 6 (3-3).
IMS II (12 entries, protests pending): 1. Imp, Purcell/Keyworth, 1.5 (1-1); 2. Privateer, Dodge, 6 (3-3); 3. Predator, Kaminer, 7 (5-2).
IMS III (18 entries, protests pending): 1. The Knife, Mack Latz, Atlantic City, N.J., 2.75 (2-1); 2. Fast Track, Yeigh/McFadden, 5 (3-2); 3. Hilite, Len Eastman, Annapolis, 6.75 (1-6).
PHRF A & B Fleet Overall (64 entries, protests pending): 1. Enduro, PP & D Summers, Annapolis, 7 (4-3); 2. Moonlighting, Tom French, Annapolis, 14 (12-2); 3. Cinnabar, Mid. 1/C Matt Arny, USNA, 15 (2-13).
PHRF A-1 (25 entries, protests pending): 1. Cinnabar, Mid. Arny, 2.75 (2-1); 2. Chesapeake, Lawlor, 3.75 (1-3); 3. Airwaves, Michel, 7 (5-2).
PHRF A-2 (23 entries, protests pending): 1. Enduro, Summers, 3.75 (1-3); 2. Moonlighting, French, 4 (2-2); 3. Rude Awakening, O'Malley, 8.75 (8-1).
PHRF B (16 entries, protests pending): 1. Flying Circus, Jervis Dorton, Columbia, 2.75 (1-2); 2. Witch's Flower, John Sherwood, Annapolis, 3.75 (3-1); 3. Teaser II, Steve von Christierson, Arlington, Va., 9 (2-7).
J/35 (8 entries): 1. Hot Toddy, Jeff Todd, Annapolis, 1.5 (1-1); 2. Hot Spit, Jim Capron, 6 (2-4); 3. Wild Thang, Bill Chambers, 9 (7-2).