Hosted by Richmond Yacht Club on:

12/7/25 (races 1-4), 1/4/26 (races 5-6), 2/1/26 (races 7-8), 3/1/26 (races 9-12)

Sunday March 1 was the fourth installment of the Richmond Yacht Club midwinter series. It started off a little cloudy with the possibility of rain.

The Northeast wind was weak, promising an early arrival for the westerly. The races were postponed for a bit while the wind filled in to a gentle westerly which built steadily from 4-6 knots in race 1 to about 12-14 in race 3. The breeze decreased gradually during the fourth race. With a strong ebb developing, the smooth water in the morning developed into small to moderate Southampton lump as the day progressed.  It made for challenging conditions with swirling currents and lots of wind shifts. The conditions ensured lots of lead changes up the windward legs and close racing downwind. The course was set up with an offset mark to windward and leeward gate marks. The finish was offset from the start line after rounding the closest gate mark. This made for a tremendous amount of action around this mark and a close reach to the finish.

Five boats attended:
537 with John Ravizza and Jim Coggin;
580 with Ben Bradley and Andrew Batjiaka;
436 with Shaum Sinawi and Jeff Holder;
429 with Dave West and Chris Krueger;
548 with David Bacci and Chris Davis. 

Before racing commenced 537 retired. In the sailing and tuning before racing Jim Coggin fell overboard and after the struggle and exertion to get him aboard and time in the cold water, they decided to call it a day to go get warm and dry.

The four boats that were left enjoyed a really great sailing day. It became obvious early on that West/Krueger in 429 had found a different gear than the rest of the fleet as he earned four bullets rounding the windward mark first in all races. 429 enjoying champagne sailing.  The next three, close behind, were experiencing more of a “knives and clubs” version of racing. Lead changes, close crosses and very tight rounding’s as well as downwind jibing duels meant lots of close racing and skillful boat handling. It looked like there might be a lead change in the third race as both West/Krueger and Bacci/Davis hit the windward mark, but their lead held!  

It was a fun day with lots of close racing just like the Mercury brochure promised!

Thank you, Richmond Yacht Club, for hosting such a great series for so many sailors.

By Dave Bacci

Final Results

Congratulations to Dave Bacci for winning this regatta two years in a row!