Storm Trysail Club-Chesapeake Station to host the Annapolis Fall Regatta

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Storm Trysail Club-Chesapeake Station to host the Annapolis Fall Regatta

by Bill Wagner Sep 29 06:00 PM UTC
22-24 October 2021

Meridian XI, a Carkeek 40 skippered by Hampton Yacht Club member William “Sled” Shelhorse, is one of the best entries to the 2021 Annapolis Fall Regatta © Bill Wagner

A diverse fleet of cutting-edge designs will compete at the Annapolis Fall Regatta, October 22-24, hosted by the Storm Trysail Club-Chesapeake Station. This regatta also serves as the ORC Mid-Atlantic Championship and combines distance and buoy racing over three days in Chesapeake Bay.

Several strong Chesapeake Bay programs such as William “Sled” Shelhorse’s Meridian XI and Erik Wulff’s Endorphine will clash against such strong entries out of town as John Cooper’s Cool Breeze.

Shelhorse, a legendary sailor from the southern Chesapeake Bay region, has enjoyed sustained success with a series of racing sailboats bearing the same name. The Virginia Beach resident’s 14th meridian is a Carkeek 40 and earlier this season that design brought the veteran skipper a long-awaited victory.

Shelhorse led the race boat designed by Shaun Carkeek and built by McConaghy Boats to overall victory in the 71st annual Down the Bay race. Shelhorse has now completed that 120 nautical mile passage from Annapolis to Hampton 35 times before without capturing the Virginia Cruising Cup.

The 73-year-old Hampton Yacht Club member, who battles Parkinson’s disease, would like to end the 2021 season with an ORC Mid-Atlantic Championship.

It will be interesting to see how Meridian XI fares against Cool Breeze, a custom-designed Mills 43 with an impressive CV. While Cooper is based in Springfield, Missouri and Aspen, Colorado, the boat is docked at Pilots Point in Westbrook, Connecticut.

Cool Breeze has been a regular at regattas as important as Block Island Race Week, Charleston Race Week and the Southernmost Regatta in Key West. Cooper led the 43-footer to victory in the ORC B class at the annual New York Yacht Club regatta last June.

Coming to Annapolis to run is always special for Cooper, whose uncle Harry graduated from the Naval Academy in 1953. Cooper was extremely close to his uncle and they were business partners in many businesses until Harry passed away. a few years.

This will be the fifth year that the Annapolis Fall Regatta has been staged using the ORC scoring rule, which continues to grow internationally and in the United States. Dobbs Davis, director of communications for ORC, said the number of certificates issued in the United States this year has increased from 300 to almost 800.

After serving as the ORC East Coast Championship in 2020, the Fall Annapolis Regatta will crown the ORC Mid-Atlantic Champion this year. The race kicks off Friday with a distance run around government marks on the Chesapeake with a scoring gate producing two separate results.

Race director Dick Neville hopes to complete up to five buoy races on Saturday and Sunday. Storm Trysail Club-Chesapeake Station will host an awards night on Sunday afternoon at Forward Brewing in Eastport.

“This event pioneered the mixed distance running and buoy racing format, which has proven to be a popular way to test a wider range of skills in the same event,” said Davis.

Endorphine, a Soto 40 owned by Erik Wulff, is one of the many local entries that could make noise. Wulff, a member of the Herrington Harbor Sailing Association, raced with a consistent crew of several top professional sailors from the greater Annapolis area.

Skippers Ed Hartman and Ben Capuco are at the head of the competitors capable of beating the fastest boats in corrected time. Hartman’s J / 122 M’am’selle and Capuco’s Aerodyne 38 Zuul have both enjoyed enormous success on the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association circuit and each crew brings a wealth of local knowledge and understanding of the conditions. variables off Annapolis.

Storm Trysail Club-Chesapeake Station is still accepting entries for the Annapolis Fall Regatta. Visit yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=14720 save.

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