Thirteen Mid-Connecticut Star Fleet boats and two visitors participated in the combined 2007 Memorial Day Series / 2008 Qualification Series which took place on Saturday and Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend.

Three races were run on Saturday in winds which ranged from 0 to 10 knots. Bands of wind would come through, generally out of the West, making for difficult if not interesting sailing. At the end of the day Bear Hovey and Lee Dayton were able to find out where the wind was and put together the best set of races.

Sunday’s forecast promised less wind than on Saturday so there was not much hope of getting the races in. However, the fleet sailed out into what appeared to be a building easterly and was pleasantly surprised by a much better day with good sailing conditions. The first race was run in an 8-10 knot breeze, and Peter Cusick / Serge Leonidov took the race. At the start of the second race the wind had increased to a nice 12-15 knots. In the jockeying for position at the start two of the front runners plus the previous race winners pushed a little too hard and were ocs. These three boats, plus the other top 5 boats, finished the race within a 30 second period, making it a hair-raising experience for the members of the Race Committee.

In the end the series leaders were Rodrigo Meireles / Blake Mariner and Jock Kohlhas / Josh Revkin (Saturday) / Carroll McCallum (Sunday) who were tied on points with the win going to Meireles / Mariner. There was a three-way tie for third with Bear Hovey / Lee Dayton taking third place on the tiebreaker. The top five boats all within one point! Pretty tight racing.