Press Release from Krista Paxton. Pictures by Andrew Jowett.
Sept 16th 2019
The day began as all regattas do, with anticipation and last minute boat tuning.
Race 1 started with 8-10kts but quickly dropped to 5 knots with a right shift, challenging competitors to adapt to the new conditions. Todd Riccardi/Dalton Tebo lead the fleet down the first run to win the race after PRO Matt Bounds shortened course due the drop in wind. Sam Carter/Mike Christensen finished second with Robbie Daniel/Gary Chu, Maxime Loiselle/Oliver Pilon and Ulrich Gollwitzer/Liam Walz rounding out the top 5.
After a brief postponement to allow the wind to settle, race two was started in the always difficult light conditions. Robbie Daniel/Gary Chu lead the entire race, finishing first as the rest of the fleet spread out. Ken Marshack/Eric Marshack, Maxime Loiselle/Oliver Pilon, Todd Riccardi/Dalton Tebo and Ulrich Gollwitzer/Liam Walz rounded out the top 5.
After race 2 the wind continued to drop and PRO Matt Bounds wisely cancelled racing for the day.
Competitor Oliver Pilon, crewing with Maxime Loiselle, summed it up best, “Little wind but big fun.” Maxime added, “Great competition. We started at pin in the first race and went to the shore up the first beat with good success. In the second race with the right shift, we started at the boat end then went hard right which set us up well for first leg. There was tight racing with a lot of tactical factors.” He continued, “Fantastic job from RC to get in two races and then get us off the water to enjoy the club and our F18 friends!”
Currently, Robbie Daniel/Gary Chu lead the series with Todd Riccardi/Dalton Tebo, Maxime Loiselle/Oliver Pilon, Ken Marshack/Eric Marshack, Michael Christensen/Sam Carter tied with Ulrich Gollwitzer/Liam Walz to complete the top 5 overall.
Claus and his daughter Jesse Schnabel ended the day as the top mixed team in 8th overall. Lise Duchesne with Patrick Caux as crew is the top female skipper for the day while Alex and Samantha Hart are the top Classic boat on a Hobie Tiger.
Racing is scheduled to continue at 11am Tuesday Sept 17th through Thursday Sep 19th. Results can be found at https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=6144, or check out the USF18 Facebook page.