Twenty six A-cats from around the country showed up last week for five days of racing held at the Islander Resort in Islamorada, FL. The fleet included two boats from Sweden and multihull rock stars Robbie Daniels and Randy Smyth.
On Sunday, January 11th, 8 boats raced two informal races in 3-6 knots of wind to warmup for the upcoming week. Woody Cope scored a 1-3 to be the best of the day.
All twenty six boats raced the Cocoanut Grove Classic on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday the breeze started at 6-8 knots from the NE and slowly built to 12 knots by the end of the day. Four races were held. On Tuesday, the fleet raced four races in 12-16 knots from the south with some challenging wave and chop action. At the end of the day, Ben Moon took the overall series. Great competition with a lot of lead changes and different sailors winning races.
Wednesday is typically a lay day but the sailors decided to keep racing and start the next series since Friday was forecast as a blowout. Two races were held in a shifty northerly that went from 12 knots at the start to around 8 knots at the end of the day. On Thursday, two races were held in 18-21 knot conditions again from the north. The chop was big so it made the downwind sailing exciting with some capsizes. Woody Cope sailed steady and consistent to just take the overall from Ben Hall.
A big thanks to John Schieffer for doing all he does to organize this very fun and relaxing week of racing and socializing. Also thanks to the race committee and chase boat teams, you all did a fantastic job!
