Marsh Creek Sailing Club

The 43rd annual Philadelphia Championship for ILCAs was held at Marsh Creek Lake on Saturday April 27th.
11 Sailors came out for 6 races in good conditions with a southerly breeze at 7-10 kts. with higher gusts and some lulls. Shifty throughout the day, but never changed its median direction. Easy on the mark-boat.
Thanks for all who run the regatta and congratulations to all competitors. Thank you, all the guests come anytime. We have a boat for guests. Hope to see you again soon we have great regatta in Fall. We always host early regatta in Spring District 10 and last one in the Fall.

Here are the results:

By Commodore Vince Harris.

On April 29 2023 we hosted a successful 42^nd annual Philadelphia Laser / ILCA Championship Regatta at Marsh Creek Lake.

The weather had been forecast to be nasty: cool, rainy, and very windy, with cold water in the lake too.  Instead, things were benign.  The weather wasn’t very much anything- not very cold, very rainy, nor very windy.  What they call a ‘soft day’ in Ireland.  Well, it was very adequate for some sailboat racing.  So those who stayed away to avoid extreme conditions needn’t have done so.

Six races were sailed in an Easterly that began at about 8 knots but eased up a bit through the day.  What started as something like 6-8 with gusts to 10, ended up at about 4-8.  Good shifts, as usual, but no big blasts, and the base direction never changed significantly. Races were Windward-Leeward, with a couple of triangles thrown-in.

The racing seemed to be quite strategic, with the leaders often choosing the right side where there seemed be more pressure toward the inside of the point on the eastern shore of the lake, but gains were to be seen across the course, what with the shifts.  That said, boat speed was still important.

Connor Demming of Wayne, PA (Conestoga HS) and Barnegat Light YC was dominant, winning every race, but Chris Houston was impressive in finishing 2^nd, challenging Connor in nearly every race.  Connor sails several days a week.  Chris sailed last week for the first time in about 6 months.  Mark Sanford was very consistent with only one score worse than a 3^rd (and that was a fourth), to finish only two points behind Chris in 3^rd place.  Jim Knab from Rehoboth Bay SC was fourth.

Thanks to all the race committee volunteers (Charlie Lindsay, Susan Huffington, Eve Walters, Bob Myers, and Dan Walters) our commodore Vince Harris for organazing and managing the regatta, Dan for lunch and Jerzy Sliwinski for breakfast goodies.

We had great conditions ! 9 knots of wind from the N/NW. Partly cloudy 60 degrees. 14 competitors. Visiting sailors from NJ, DE and MD/VA. It was typical Marsh Creek with shifty winds, gusts from odd directions and some big oscillations in wind strength. Excellent job by the RC (chaired by Charlie and Vince ) with help from Caitlin, Eve, Dan, Fred and Jen. We had 6 races, 1 throw-out, mostly 2 laps. Pete Madonna MCSC won the event (3 bullets) with 7 pts, 2nd place Jim Knab RBSA (3 bullets) 9 points, Dave Cliffel MCSC 3rd 16 pts, Mike Colbert SSA 4th 20 points, Mark Sanford MCSC 5th 27 pts. Jerzy MCSC 6th 29 pts. Lots a fun was had by all!!

We had 13 racers participated. Wind was light but steady, 5 knots from the South. 62 degrees and cloudy. 6 W/L races completed. Allyn Miner won the regatta. She put on a bit of a clinic finishing 2,1,1,2 in the 1st 4 races. In 2nd with 14 points was Jim Knab. Friso Fremer finished strong later in the day and was 3rd overall, 18 pts. Chris Houston 4th , 23 pts. Vince Harris 5th 27 pts. Thanks to all who travelled to the lake to race (we had an International field this year). Everyone had a lot of fun on the water and afterwards. Race committee kept everything moving fast and smooth. Thanks to Charlie , Susan , Fred , Bob and commodore Pete for your fine effort. Vince and Jerzy for breakfast and Wegmans for fine hoagies.

Pictures are here: https://1drv.ms/a/s!AoFLBYVUqTYElSRBvwzA-Oiwpfc5

If you did not pay your 2022 season membership dues check check the Membership and treasurer on this site or Facebook. If you would like to join the club please contact us via Facebook all are welcome.