2008 York River Cup

The YRC suffered through the hottest day of the year so far. The heat was relentless with barely a whisper of wind. The non-spin and spinnaker fleets got off just after 1 pm in a couple of knots of fickle wind but it was a hard slog to the windward mark and even harder running back against the current. Luckily a sea breeze filled in with a hundred and eighty degree wind shift, so those beating back up the course suddenly had to get their spinnakers back on deck and those still on a run found themselves again beating to windward. Eventually enough wind materialized to make a proper race of it and Movin’ On led the spinnaker fleet home and Jade crossed the line well in front of the non-spin boats. It had been a long, hard slog for all the boats but particularly for the non-spin group who decided to call it a day, leaving the spin fleet to try again with a second race. A short course with multiple legs was set. This put a premium on boat handling skills as spinnakers were going up and down every 10 or 15 minutes. The wind held up although it veered way to the east and all the boats got their sea legs going and had a spirited race. The crew of Movin’ On had the seamanship to capitalize on the short course and easily won the race. The final results were:

Non-spin — 1st Place Jade/Barry Campbell, 2nd Place Elixir/Joran Gendel

Spinnaker — 1st Place Movin’ On/Mike Austin, 2nd Place Hornet/Missy Southworth, 3rd Place Dream On/ Steve Bowen

Congratulations to all those who braved the conditions to come out and race, you were, indeed, brave souls. Brian Gregory/Race Captain