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A line of mid morning
thunderstorms bedeviled the organizers of the 15th running of
the North American Challenge Cup and 17th running of the
Independence Cup, but did not prevent them from getting in 2 races per
fleet. The early storms brought little rain, and even less wind until they
had cleared the area. After some “quality time” at the clubhouse, we were
left with a southerly breeze in the low teens that bedazzled the fleet
when compared with our early morning frustrations. The seas built and
made it a wet affair, but it did nothing to deflate the spirits of our
competitors, who had some real great racing in the afternoon.
After seven races the 2.4m
class is extremely tight with John Ruf of Pewaukee, WI and Roger Cleworth,
Lithia, Fl and member of the US Paralympics sailing team both with 11
points. John is currently ahead on the tie breaker, but there’s still a lot
of racing ahead of us.
It’s almost baffling in
that the Freedom 20’s also still have a tie at the top, with defending
champion Karen Mitchell of Deerfield Beach, FL and Chicago native Mike Jaffe
still locked in a tie with 9 points after 5 races. No doubt their
respective crews Michael Grimm, Miami Beach, FL, and Dan Daniher, Oak Lawn,
IL will be pushing their skippers to perform as they would love to be
bejeweled with a championship medallion!
The racing concludes on
Monday, and the forecast is for heavy air and big seas. Should make for a
beautiful finish to a great regatta.
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