2009 J/24 Hoxsie Regatta Final Results

Eight J/24s braved an ugly weather forecast to come out for this year's Howard C. Hoxsie Regatta. Threats of 80% chance of heavy rain and thunderstorms just couldn't keep our intrepid racers away from the starting line.

The forecast was for 5-8 kts from the southeast, going east later in the day. Mother Nature had obviously not watched the weather channel that morning; she dished up a nice 10-12 kt northeasterly as the RC anchored a little before noon. That was the most wind we would see all day, with most races sailed in 4-8 kts. The wind axis kept moving around, with upwind courses anywhere from 000 to 060.

Fleet 61 is usually a pretty wild bunch, but not today. Everybody held back at the starts. There wasn't a single recall all day and the I and Z flags never even got unwrapped, let alone deployed. There were a few half-hearted hails of "Up, up, up!", but the conversation stayed strictly G-rated and the protest flags stayed firmly wrapped up.

In Race 1 (Course W4), Express won the start at the pin end and never looked back. Jeepers was hot on their transom, and stayed there the whole race for a second (their best finish of the day). Unfortunately, the second beat turned into a port-tack fetch as the wind went left and Express led the parade to win by a wide margin.

By time time race 2 (Course W4) rolled around, things got a bit wet. Showers moved in just as the starting sequence began and lightning was visible in the distance. The committee could see on the radar that the worst of it was passing to the north, so we kept the clock going and sent the fleet off on a soggy 4 legs. Express grabbed their second bullet of the day.

Race 3 (W4) started in 7 kts from 030. It took a few attempts at resetting the line, but eventually the wind and the race course both decided to do the same thing at the same time and the fleet got a good start. A big shift (and a glance at the weather radar) had the RC cut the race short after just 2 legs, with Grania edging out Express for the win.

With the weather radar starting to look ugly again, the committee set a W3 course for the 4th and final race, to get everybody back to the clubhouse before the next cell rolled in. This ended up a near-drifter at the finish, with Express once again taking line honors, and Grania once again right behind them. Heat Wave, Wow, and Trinity all gave their best showings of the day, while Jeepers and Force-G4 both decided to see what the back of the fleet looks like after a string of solid finishes in the first three races.

The overall results had Express (Harlem YC) solidly in first with 5 points, and Grania (Noroton YC) in second with 8 points. Jeepers (Harlem YC) came in third with 14 points.

Thanks to Principal Race Officer Eben Hansmere, for running an excellent regatta in tricky conditions. The shifting winds kept the RC busy moving marks, and the AP came out several times during starting sequences as the committee struggled to keep the course square.