2013 Soling 1Meter “CanAm Challenge” Regatta – Stowe, VT
Submitted by: Charlie Berry, Stowe YC
The 5th Annual CanAm Challenge Regatta for Soling 1M’s was held in Stowe, VT on September 6th & 7th. We tried a Fri/Sat format to allow skippers to also participate in the Soling 1M Region 1 Team Race in Worcester, MA on Sunday.
We had 25 entries this year, maintaining the trend of a few more boats added each year. There were 9 Canadian entries (with the largest contingent from the Halifax, NS club), and we are aware of a conflict with a major RC event out in the Kingston, Ontario area. George Dean and Bob Letwenski, our RD’s, dealt with light & variable winds on Friday, and even lighter winds on Saturday, but managed to keep the pace moving along. We ran two-fleet racing under the Odd/Even system, which works well with the regatta’s theme: “A Friendly Cross-Border Rivalry”.
The racing was based on individual performance – no team racing allowed. Yet, in addition to individual scoring, we also took the top 4 scores from each country for the team results for that race. In this manner, any sailor could help out his team by scoring in the top 4 for their team in any given race. Nine races (18 heats) were run on Friday, with 1 throw-out. The variable conditions made things interesting. No one was immune from “getting Stowed” in at least a few races.
At the end of the first day, Jim Goddard (18 pts) and Boots Boutilier (19 pts), both hailing from Halifax, NS, held slim leads over Bruce Nourjian (20 pts) and Charlie Berry (20 pts), both from Stowe. In team scoring, the USA (87 pts) held a 16 pt. lead over Canada. That evening, the Commodores Inn held a great buffet dinner for the sailors & guests. Lots of talk about “how tomorrow would be different”.
Well, it was different on Saturday. The winds were even lighter and shiftier. The RC managed to run 5 races (10 heats) in these challenging conditions for both the skipper and for the RC. Despite these conditions, Jim Goddard and Bruce Nourjian began to pull away from the rest of us. A close battle ended with Jim in 1st (24 pts) and Bruce in 2nd (29 pts). Boots held onto 3rd, with Charlie finishing 4th. Jim Child, from NH, had a very strong day and moved up to 5th overall, despite having to keep a DSQ in his final score. Jim Linville, from MA, was in 10th place after Day 1, and having the second-best scores on Day 2 moved him up to 6th overall. The Team Award once again went to the USA group. And once again, the chant from Team Canada: “Wait ‘til next year!”
The camaraderie both on and off the water said that there will, indeed, be a next year. This “friendly cross-border rivalry” is now an established tradition. It was great to see a new group of 4 skippers from the NH Boat Museum club (Lake Winnipesaukee) join us this year. The 2014 date will be determined and promoted well in advance to avoid as many conflicts as possible and to build support from other U.S. and Canadian clubs.
2013 S1M CanAm Challenge:
Top 10 — 14 Races (28 Heats); 2 Throw Outs
Place Skipper Club Points
1 Goddard, Jim Dartmouth, NS 24
2 Nourjian, Bruce Stowe, VT 29
3 Boutilier, Boots Bedford, NS 35
4 Berry, Charlie Stowe, VT 42
5 Child, Jim Wolfeboro, NH 47
6 Linville, Jim Hull, MA 50
7 McKinney, John Woodstock, ON 51
8 White, Bob Dartmouth, NS 54
9 Griswold, Bob Green Pond, NJ 55
10 Bugden, Gary Bedford, NS 58
