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Boston Yacht Club Wins Inaugural Halloween Team Race, NYYC Second
October 31, 2010The Boston Yacht Club saved the best for last, coming from behind in the final series of races to claim the Boardman Bowl as the winners the Eastern Yacht Club's first-ever Halloween Team Race this weekend at the Eastern Yacht Club. With one last chance to claim the top prize, the Eastern Yacht Club team was beaten soundly by the New York Yacht Club in the final race of the 2-day regatta, relegating the hosts to third place overall, with NYYC taking second. Seawanhaka YC and Corinthian YC 4th and 5th overall.
The final day of the regatta was sailed under bright skies in building breeze. Eight races were sailed on Sunday morning to complete the preliminary round of the event - a thirty-race triple round robin. At the conclusion of the prelims, the top three teams - NYYC (10 points) , EYC (7 points) and BYC (6.5 points) advanced to the medal round., where the races would be worth two points each. Team racing events are sailed with cumulative totals, so the tight scores among the three finalists meant that every race would be crucial to possibly prospects for winning the event.
In the final round, each team would face each other finalist twice. After the first three races were concluded, the scores actually tightened up. Although 33 races had been completed over two and one half days, all the finalists had an opportunity to win the entire event. Everything rested on the results of final 3 races. The first of the final three races pitted NYYC against BYC, a victory by NYYC would eliminate BYC chances. Likewise, a BYC victory would eliminate NYYC from contention. With their backs against a wall, BYC earned a hard fought race. BYC's victory, put the Eastern in the driver's seat, all they would need to do was win either one of its final two races to claim the Boardman. However, if EYC lost both races, Boston would take the Cup match. The first of Eastern's final races was sailed against NYYC, and although EYC held the advantage for much of the race, a finish line incident resulting in an EYC penalty turn cost EYC the race. The final race of the event pitted Eastern Yacht Club against the Boston Yacht Club, and with everything hanging in the balance, the Boston Yacht Club came up with one its best races of the event, leading and controlling the Eastern team around every mark of the race course. By saving its best for last; BYC won the Halloween Team Race over NYC by one half point - the narrowest of margins.
At the awards ceremony, PRO Susie Schneider and EYC race committee were commended by the competitors for two days of outstanding race management. Commodore-for-just-a-few-more-hours Robbie Doyle capped the day by presenting the Boardman Bowl to the victorious BYC team. All the competitors expressed their thanks and lobbied hard for return invitations.
By all accounts, the EYC has created an outstanding event to close the summer team racing calendar. The conditions were fantastic, the completion hard-fought and the hospitality of the club was outstanding. With the racing taking place right off the Eastern pier, the brightly colored team racing sails providing a fantastic backdrop to the club's closing brunch. Next year's event will take place on October 29th and October 30th, 2011. Book your space in the dining room now!
