Fall Soling Bowl 2019 at the Severn Sailing, Annapolis

written by Andrew Dize  on  October 24  of  2019 and read by 503

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The wind gods finally provided the Severn Sailing Association Fall Soling Bowl with typical fall weather which over the past few events has included no wind, fog, or blowing a gale. Saturday greeted the 8 boat fleet with a light easterly that required a short delay before heading out to sail under beautiful sunny skies with a 10 to 14 knot southerly sea breeze. In the first race, Henry Thomas (USA 852) dialed in the start at the committee boat just right. At the start, he tacked onto port and headed to the western shore of the Severn River. When he tacked back to starboard he led the fleet to the weather mark and subsequently held on to record the bullet. Now that the fleet got their cobwebs out, everyone become more competitive and worked the course and wind direction to provide for close competition. Cookie Kanter (CAN 231) and crew worked the courses perfectly and won races 2 and 3. Tom Freeman (CAN 233) stayed in the mix to keep the local SSA boats on their toes. All enjoyed a great evening going over the events of the day with the SSA Soling Fleet standard fare of oysters and beer. In addition to the five SSA Soling regular members (Thomas, Vickery, van Gieson, Campia, Dize), a possible member from Texas, Will Turner, participated in the event.

Sunday met all with a substantially wet and overcast day. Notwithstanding the rain aspect of the day which dumped 36mm on the fleet, the wind reverted back to the east but was a steady 14 to 18 knots that built into the low 20's with gusts to 25 knots by the second race. Cookie and crew again were unstoppable sailing well and picking up the shifts to win races 4 and 5. Andy Dize (USA 798) was able to match race Tom Freeman successfully in Race 4 to finish second. Race 5 with the wind increasing left Thomas, Freeman, Kanter, and Dize to enjoy the last race as the other competitors had breakdowns. Race 5 turned into a match race between Thomas and Dize to vie for 3rd place in the regatta which came down to a final jibe at the finish for USA 798 to secure 3rd place in the race and for the regatta on a tie-breaker with USA 852.

We are looking forward to all joining us at the 2020 North Americans next April in Annapolis. Please keep an eye out for the Notice of Race and a confirmation for the race dates. Hard to believe the season has come to a close. Next up for the Chesapeake Soling Fleet is Frostbite sailing and the Ice Bowl on January 1.



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