May 18, 2026 @ 10:07:58 EDT
Top sailors from 12 teams around the nation met in seasonably cool temps at the Rappahannock River for the annual ISSA Team Race Championship for the Toby Baker Trophy. Racing started promptly at 2:00Winds were 7-10 mph with gust higher and significant 45 degree wind shifts and 90 degree oscillations. Race committee and mark boats handled the shifts efficiently. The shifts brought a couple of lulls. The regatta was called at 5:30 after a postponement on the water.
The regatta was able to complete the first 30 races in the qualifying round. Racing ended with St. George in first place with 5 wins and 0 losses, Point Loma in second with a 4/0 record, Ransom Everglades in third with 4/1, and Severn School winning the tie-break for fourth place with 3 wins and 1 loss.
Report time tomorrow is 8:30AM
Teams returned early to sunny skies and SSE winds ranging from 7-15m mph with gusts reaching the low 20's for a brief period. Race committee managed large oscillations throughout the day, ending racing around 6PM. Low tides resulted in moving the course further offshore, resulting in mark and auxiliary boats became rotation boats ferrying sailors to meet the sailboats at the bottom of the course.
We started with a re-sail of race 4. The initial qualifying round was completed with 36 additional races. A tie for 6th place between Christchurch and Tabor resulted in Christchurch qualifying for the gold division. Teams were sorted into gold/silver rank groups. The regatta then followed the format moving into and completing a silver/gold round with another 30 races before going ashore for the evening. Racing concluded with Severn School holding first place with a 15/1 record. Point Loma and St. Georges tied for 2nd place, and Ransome Everglades sat in 3rd.
Report time tomorrow will be 8:30 for teams.
Teams arrived to find sunny skies and summer air temps and sailable, but low wind. An SI amendment announced the intention to run a top 6 with a final 4 imbedded at the beginning of the round. After launching and making their way to the race course, the wind died and sailors postponed on the water for over an hour before being sent in to postpone on shore. At 1:00 the intention was announced that we would proceed directly with a final 4 when the wind filled in. We got some breeze, launched, put the coaches in boats, set a course off shore, and started racing at 1:45 in at 6mph SSE and quickly built to sustained 10 SSE with gusts in the mid teens to support some fine competitive racing.
Severn School ran away with first place with an impressive 17/2 record. Point Loma broke the tie and took second with 15 wins and 4 losses. St. George came in third with 12 wins and 7 losses. Ransom Everglades followed closely in fourth with 11 wins and 8 losses. Congratulations to the top 4 teams for both their skill and excellent sportsmanship!
Thanks are owed to the many people who made this event a success. PRO Kyle Assad, and the race committee did a great job managing the racing with in the varying conditions. CHUMP Carter Little and his umpire team worked long hours and kept the racing fair. Special thanks to Rusty Deane who kept the rotations moving from land. Thanks goes to Christchurch School for hosting. Amanda Gravatt arranged for food for the event. Louise Branflick arranged for PRO and umpire housing, and brought team tents. ODU, Fishing Bay YC, Branflicks, the Coastal Virginia Youth Sailing Foundation lent boats. Thanks goes to all of the individuals who gave time on start, finish, and mark boats, and those who helped ashore.
