Victor Gorokhov Steve Howard Tom Walsh John Ebell

Photos Link: https://www.marylandmyc.org/mmyc-regattas/2024-victoria-r2cr-photos

The Regatta was held at the Melford Pond in Bowie, MD. The course was set up on the southwest end of the pond opposite the Fibonacci Fountain. Winds in the morning clocked all over the compass with many 180deg shifts, variable from 0-4mph. In the afternoon, things stabilized increasing to 3-5 from the east. 17 races were completed. One drop per seven races, so there were two drops. Start and finish marks were specified by the SIs as hot while rounding marks, in accordance with MMYC general practices, were not hot. The racing course was established with a windward gate, coming from the outside in, and a leeward gate, coming from the inside out. The course remained the same for the day, accept for shortening the windward gate to make races more reasonable.

The start of racing was delayed from 10AM by approximately 15 minutes as winds were dead on the pond and to allow for late skipper arrivals. Racing ended promptly at 3pm and one hour break for lunch was allowed as local pizza delivery was served.

Once the action got going, competition was fierce as Walter House, John Ebel, Craig Huzway, Tom Walsh, and Steve Howard took turns acquiring bullet wins. Walter and John did well sailing a shortest path south side route while Tom, Craig, and Steve accessed the higher wind of the longer north side route of the course. As the day went on, Walter solidified his lead with consistent wins and good challenges from John Ebel and Craig Huzway. Tom Walsh sailed consistently all day while a late day effort allowed Steve Howard to mount a come back to finish his last 3 races in the top 3 and a last race bullet.

Rounding off the top 5 finishers, in points order, were:
1) Walter House
2) John Ebel
3) Craig Huzway
4) Tom Walsh
5) Steve Howard