Cheverus Cup

April 4, 2009 - Cheverus High School/SailMaine - Casco Bay Community Boating Center

On Saturday, April 4th the first annual Cheverus Cup Team Race was held in Portland at SailMaine. Cheverus hosted teams from Barnstable, Cape Elizabeth and Southern Maine.

The thick morning fog was cleared away by 10 am by a strong Westerly breeze. Teams were met with a shifty 12 to 18 knot Southwesterly breeze with clear visibilty.Course for the day was a Digital N. Three - 6 race matches were anticipted to be raced.

Cheverus raced in the second race against Barnstable and dominated with a 1,2,3 finish. The next race against Cape also resulted in a 1,2,3 finish for Team Cheverus! It was apparent that the sailors were communicating well and having excellent 'zone' starts. Last race of this set was sailed against Southern Maine, this race proved to be more of a challenge but the team prevailed with a 1,3,4 finish. As the day progressed it was quite obvious that the right side of the course was favored due to right shifts and less tide.

The second set of races found Cheverus continuing the list of victories with a 1,4,5 finish (this after two Cheverus boats had poor starts but still fought their way back), then a 1,2,3 finish followed by a 1,2,4 finish. Winds remained a solid 14 to 16 knots with gusts. The teams that were able to hike harder were able to keep their boats flatter. Cheverus team sailed with flatter boats - maybe six weeks of dryland practices really work?

The third set of races had Cheverus winning over both Cape and Barnstable with 1,2,3 finishes. During the last 'set' of race from the perspective of the commitee boat it appeared that the other teams were looking a bit tired. Cheverus remained strong and finished up the day with a close battle against Southern Maine with a 2,3,5 finish over Southern Maine's 1,4,6.

There were two protests that were withdrawn.
Final results: