LYC Team Race Debrief-John Payne

IX° Lauderdale Yacht Club Trophy a Huge Success.

The ninth running of the Lauderdale Yacht Club Trophy International Opti Team race Regatta took place over the weekend of October 25 and 26. Twenty teams took part in four against four team races under the watchful eye of six umpires.  The twenty teams, each comprised of four or five young skippers, came from all over the eastern United States.

When originally begun, in 2006, the format of this regatta was unique in US Opti sailing. Because the area of water used for racing is rather constrained, it was decided to limit the number of boats on the water.  The best way to do that was for the Organizing Authority to provide all of the Optis, and not allow on the water coaching. 

As the regatta developed, brightly colored sails were added to the mix.  With six sets of four sails, this makes it easy for spectators on shore to follow the action.  No part of the race course is farther than 150 yards from the docks of Lauderdale Yacht Club. This aspect, when combined with not needing to bring or charter an Opti, has made the regatta a huge favorite among parents. The regatta format has become so popular that it has been copied for Opti team race regattas all over the USA.

For the uninitiated, in team racing, races are won or lost based on the cumulative score of each team’s boats in a race.  Points are assigned: one for first, two for second, and so forth.  (In the case of a tie, the team whose boat finished first LOSES. They weren’t team racing.)  All of the skippers try to keep their team in a winning combination while forcing the other teams’ boats into losing combinations. There is lots of jockeying for position.  Thus, in team racing, knowledge of the rules is of utmost importance.

This year, the weather conditions proved to be ideal with lots of sun, low humidity and steady breeze from the north-northeast direction. The race course we use is called a “Digital N” and features five legs in the shape of a digital N.  (Clever, huh?) After starting, the boats race up to a weather mark, then across to a reach mark, then downwind to a leeward mark, followed by another reach leg across to a reach mark, and finally upwind to the finish.  The course is laid out so that each race takes approximately six to eight minutes. There are usually two races taking place simultaneously, following one after the other.

Here is more about our scoring procedures. A Modified Swiss League, customized for this regatta, is used for placement or ranking.  All teams start out even and are randomly divided into five groups of four teams each.  Each group sails a round robin, and one point is awarded for each win.  The teams are then divided into five new groups based on points earned.  The four teams with the most points go into group Alpha; the next four teams go into Bravo, and so forth.  Our intention is to run three or four full round robins with all of the teams being re-seeded into the five groups after each round. Generally, this means that by the third or fourth round the top teams race against each other, while the less experienced teams race the other less experienced teams.  It is hoped that by the end of the weekend, every team will have won at least one race.  This year, over the course of the two day regatta we ran 97 races! 

Coming out on top, and winning the IX° Lauderdale Yacht Club Trophy was LIMA Yellow, a team comprised of sailors from Long Island sound and the Middle Atlantic States.   They were followed by Coral Reef Yacht Club Yellow, Coral Reef Yacht Club Pink, Team FOR Black and Team Lauderdale Yacht Club Terminators.  Trophies for the top four were made possible through the generous assistance of Atlantis WeatherGear and Magic Marine.  Atlantis has helped with trophies all nine years.  This year’s winners took home beautiful Atlantis Microburst jackets. Second and third received Magic Marine gear bags or backpacks.

This event would not be possible without the hard work of the Lauderdale Yacht Club parents, sailors and coaches.  A special shout out to Bob and Robin Meagher who, this year, took on the duties of regatta chair, allowing Jorge Agnes and myself to step back.  Jason and the LYC staff make sure everyone has a great experience.  Thank you to everybody who pitched in to help.