Annapolis HS Wins Mendelblatt Trophy

St. Petersburg, FL (November 19, 2017) – The top high school sailors from around the county gathered November 18-19 to compete for the Mendelblatt Trophy, which began in 2014 and is given annually to the top keelboat team. The St Petersburg Yacht club hosted the 4th annual ISSA National Keelboat Invitational.

Teams raced in St Petersburg Yacht Club’s fleet of identically matched J/70’s.

Corona del Mar High School from California were back as the defending champions and were pushed hard by Newport Harbor High School, Olympia High School, Minnetonka High School, Annapolis High School, Clear Falls High School, Archbishop Spaulding High School, Falmouth High School, North Kingstown High School and St Petersburg High School.

On the first day of the event, racing began in a dying easterly, and after the first windward-leeward, the wind completely shut down, the race was abandoned, and boats were towed back in. After a prolonged postponement on shore, the predicted southwesterly filled in, 5-8 knots, and races 1-4 were completed, with the fleet returning to the dock just prior to sunset.

The weather, as promised, was much more favorable for the final day of racing. Race 5 was started promptly with 10-14 knots of breeze from the SW. Races 6 though 8 saw a building breeze, up to 16-20 knots out of the west as the front approached.

“Frontal passage” occurred during race 9 marked by a thin band of rain which lasted about 10 minutes. After the brief rain, the winds actually lightened considerably for the final race of the series.

Two teams were awarded breakdown points, one a main halyard splice which failed, the other a forestay swage that also failed. One protest was filed and disallowed.

Annapolis High School, who found their fourth year to be the charm, prevailed as they won the event handily this year.

Event Details and Results

Source: ISSA