Bonanni nearly perfect at E-Scow Nationals

Beach Haven, NJ (September 12, 2015) – Nothing is better than starting the regatta with three bullets, which is how Jeff Bonanni and his team of Mike O’Brien, Matthew Goetting, Maggie Condon have begun the 2015 E-Scow National Championship. This team won the last two races of the 2014 National Championships, so they came into this regatta with a lot of a confidence and it showed on the race course.

The T-73 Limelight team won the first three races on Friday (Sept. 11) in tough conditions. In the first race winds were strong enough that teams choose to have an extra pair of hands and more weight. The wind let up for the last two races of the first day. Here is a wind chart the RC compiled for the first day (direction across the top and time of day along the left edge):

It seemed that when the new shift came in it was big and lasted fairly long which created a lot of separation in the fleet. That made it very hard to catch up if you got caught on the wrong side of favorable shifts. That is how some of our best sailors found themselves fighting it out in the back half of the fleet.

The winds today were from the opposite direction with fun conditions were having all four crew hiking all day. The left was more favorable, probably the current from the outgoing tide had something to do with that. PRO Bruce Golison squeezed in two races before the storms moved in. He has done a terrific job of getting the second race underway. The highlight of the day was we had a new race winner! Yes, BONANNI won the first race, now four in a row. However, Kyle Rogachenko (T-76), and team, Ian Sutherland, Will Demand, Alissa Rogachenko, won the second race of the day. A clean sweep for the Toms River Yacht Club.

The final races will be held Sunday, September 13.

Event details – Results – Facebook

Report by E-Scow class.