Army 2-on-2
This event was one we enjoyed tremendously last year. But this year it featured conditions that were, honestly, worse than any I have ever seen in 50 years of sailing. The combination of strong tides and light extremely variable winds was incredible. The Army sailing site is great for launching, viewing and team rotations. But located deep in the Hudson River gorge, when the winds are anything but fresh and blowing directly north or south, the shifts and changing velocities can produce some of the most demanding conditions imaginable.
That said, the Army folks are fantastic hosts and we again found this to be a most enjoyable and instructive event. When Monmouth and Drexel no showed, we had six teams and this called for 15 races to complete the full round robin in which each team would sail against each of the others. At the outset, there was hope that we might do two round robins, but the light winds made that an impossibility. The attending teams were Army, CNU, Columbia, Webb Institute, Maryland, and the Royal Military College of Canada.
One of the great things about 2on2 racing is that even with a smaller number of teams, since the racing is one team against another, the actual races do not suffer, although we sail against fewer teams. While Army struggled last year to win a single race, this year they were the class of the fleet. But, going into the last two races of the day on Saturday, if Webb won both (against Columbia and RMC) they would win the regatta. Otherwise Army had the event with four wins. Their only loss was to Webb. Webb beat Columbia and was leading the Royal Military College right to the last mark of the last race. But a penalty 360 cost them the race and the regatta. Army was the very popular winner.
IMAGE: Max and Meghan in #3 and Tyler and Brennan in #1.
The CNU team had its high points and low points, but the tides and the winds did us in. Actually, just running the event was difficult. With tides that can run well over five knots and depths that were over 150 feet, setting marks was a major endeavor. With the amount of scope needed to anchor, we got a major surprise in one race when the tide changed during the race and the committee boat moved nearly 50 yards as it swung from the outgoing tide to the incoming tide! Like all events, win or lose, we learn and for Maxwell Plarr, Meghan Magee, Tyler Myers and Brennan Russell this was a major learning experience. With regard to our tactics and race planning, we did quite well, winning almost every start. But, again, the currents and winds were our undoing and we finished with two wins and 4th place.
| Scores | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Army | 4 | 1 |
| 2. Maryland | 3 | 2 |
| 3. Webb | 3 | 2 |
| 4. CNU | 2 | 3 |
| 5. RMC | 2 | 3 |
| 6. Columbia | 1 | 4 |
Maryland won the tie breaker with a win over Webb and CNU won the tie breaker over RMC by beating them in the race between them.
With the entire round robin completed on Saturday, dire predictions for the weather on Sunday, and exams starting for many of the schools this week, it was decided to call it an event after one day’s racing. After a good night’s sleep we made the long drive back on Sunday.
IMAGE: Sorry, we couldn’t resist doing the team picture in front of this bit of Army ambition.
We extend our most sincere thanks to MAJ Justin Platt and the entire Army Sailing Team for a lot of hard work setting marks, lunch on Saturday, a van tour of the Academy, and the friendly competition that made the whole weekend great fun.