ISSA News

The Duxbury High School Sailing Team hosted the second qualifier of the season for the Herreshoff Trophy this past Sunday at the Duxbury Bay Maritime School. Regatta attendees arrived early to attempt to get 6 races in before low tide approached and the sailors would run out of water to race. Unfortunately the forecasted breeze conditions did not play out as expected. The days weather report suggested a steady 15-20 knots all day out of the south with sunny skies, but the Race Committee saw and overcast bay with moderate breeze at best.The group got an early start with the first race starting around 9:30. The first A set went smoothly and finished quickly. B division started with a nice 10 knot southerly but the wind quickly vanished during the 2nd upwind and the race had to be abandoned. After a 45 minute postponement, the breeze did a 180 and filled softly from the north . The Race Committee and the competitors got back on the water quickly to try to make the most out of the light conditions. Two B races were sailed in the northerly as the breeze started to clock right. North Kingstown got out to an early lead with two 2nd place finishes in A Division and a 2nd and 1st in B Division. The breeze settled in from the east as A division’s 2nd set started. Unfortunately it did not last long. A couple races were attempted but abandoned shortly after. Once again PRO Matt Smith decided to postpone and the competitors went into a holding pattern. After about 15 minutes of drifting on the water the clouds started to clear and with it came the expected wind. Quickly the breeze picked up to 15-20 knots from the south and races began to flow quickly. The A Division set finished with North Kingstown extending their lead while Portsmouth Abbey, East Greenwich and Barnstable were also towards the top of the leaderboard. As B Division’s second set started the breeze continued to build. The best two races of the day were sailed as the waves started to grow and the water started to empty out of the bay. After B finished up their 2nd set, the bay started to become unsailable with merely 5 feet of water remaining. Race Committee decided that no more races could be sailed and the regatta was finished early as expected just after 2 pm. With no protests, results were posted quickly with North Kingstown was on top of the leaderboard. 2nd place was taken by Portsmouth Abbey, followed by East Greenwich in 3rd, Barnstable in 4th and Bay View in 5th. Since the Abbey previously qualified for the Championship event a week earlier at the first qualifier hosted by Tabor, teams 1,3,4 and 5 received a spot in the Herreshoff Finals.