At Fishing Bay Yacht Club, the year 2011 will probably be remembered as the year the tornado wiped out numerous trees and more than 20 buildings in Deltaville the day of the Club’s Opening Day ceremonies in April. In July, the scars left behind by that event are still plainly evident, and the week preceding Leukemia Cup was notable for a humid and unstable air mass that hung over southeastern Virginia all week, delivering daily thunderstorms. Though the torrential downpour on Friday turned the grassy parking area at regatta headquarters into a morass (in places, a pond), a front passed through the area Friday night, and by Saturday morning, the weather had cleared, with clear skies and light to moderate northerly breezes.

Five Fleet 15 boats were registered for the regatta, and four started the two races Saturday. The fifth boat, Rich Payne’s Hampton-based “Flying Colors,” was still enroute to the regatta, having aborted Friday’s planned delivery trip because of weather. The two races Saturday yielded identical results. “Inevitable” took first place, “She Crab Soup” (with a pickup crew) took second, and “Loose Cannon” took third. On Sunday, conditions started out light and stayed that way. With a strong ebb current and a weak northerly breeze that started out at 7 knots and got progressively lighter, finishing the two mile first race was a challenge. Strother Scott’s “Loose Cannon” won the light air sailing contest, beating “Inevitable” by two minutes and “She Crab” by three. After the last boat on the course had completed her painful progress to the finish line, the Race Committee kept the spinnaker boats in the start area, in the hope that the breeze would fill in. After about 45 minutes of bobbing around with no prospect for better wind, the Race Committee bowed to the inevitable and sent the racers home, with only one race completed for the day. That meant that “Loose Cannon”’s first place finish provided the tie-breaker in the regatta standings and moved “Loose Cannon” up to second place overall, with “She Crab” taking third.

In the Fleet 15 Series standings, the absence of “Veloce” and “Corryvreckan” from the regatta allowed “Inevitable” to move into first place and “Loose Cannon” into second. Since the three races completed at Leukemia Cup means that a total of nine races have been scored, one throwout for the series is included in the series score. Rumor has it that “Veloce” may come down for the Stingray Point Regatta Labor Day weekend, so the rubber match of the series could be very interesting. Complete regatta and series results and standings can be found on the “Results” page.