Twenty-one boats from 5 of the 6 active 1st District fleets participated in the 1st District Championship, held at Cedar Point Y.C. in Westport, CT. At the request of the organizing committee, Star Class Course Format B was used even though there were less than 30 boats participating.

While 5 races were scheduled, with 2 on Friday and 2 on Saturday, the wind was not wholly cooperative and only 4 races were run.

Two races were run on Friday in relatively light winds out of the southeast. Fotis Boliakis / Mike Nichol sailed most consistently and ended up with a 1,2. The son-and-father team of Tomas and Luis Hornos scored a pair of fours to come in second for the day.

Saturday began in a very light southerly. The first race proved to be a bust, since no one rounded the windward mark before the 40-minute time limit. This was just as well, because shortly thereafter the wind shut down completely. There followed some hours of waiting around, during which there was quite a bit of socializing between the various boats. Carroll McCallum and Trevor Nederlof in particular were more in the water than out and had a good time swimming from boat to boat. When the wind finally did come in a nice course 3 race was run in a southeasterly. However, during the final leg upwind there was a substantial right shift which put some boats nicely ahead and others in the cheap seats. After a difficult first day Ben Cesare and Bjorn Wisecup were able to put it all together to win race 3.

Sunday also began in a fairly light wind, but this time out of the southwest. In fact, the wind was so light that a couple of boats didn’t make it to the starting line by the time the race was started. However, luckily for these boats the wind dropped and once again the time limit of 40 minute for making it to the windward mark was exceeded. Again, there was some period of waiting about but finally the promised wind came in. In terms of wind strength the final race proved to be the best of the series, beginning in about 12 knots and ending in about 18. Ched Proctor and Witold Gesing led most of the way and won the race. Fotis Boliakis / Mike Nichol came in 7th which was enough to earn them the Blue Star. The other winners are:

Green Star: Ched Proctor
Junior: Tomas Hornos
Master (50-59): Ched Proctor
Grand Master (60-69): Joe Bainton
EGM (70-infinity): Jack Button
Marshall Brown Trophy (1st race): Fotis Boliakis
Walter Brachtel Trophy (last race): Ched Proctor

Special thanks to Guy Gurney for organizing the event, and Rich Gordon and Nelson & Mary Stephenson cooking up a storm for both Friday and Saturday evening dinners.

With a turnout of 21 boats in the District Championship the 1st District may send four boats as District representatives to the 2008 Worlds.