U.S. Sailing's
Prince of Wales Bowl Regatta
US Match Racing Championship

Results:
Thursday, Sept. 17
Friday, Sept. 18
Sat., Sept 19
Sun., Sept. 20 - Final

Friday, Sept. 18
Light rain overnight signaled the passage of another weak cold front. The first Attention Signal at 0930 found the course looking and feeling more like it was set off the coast of Maine in July than on the Chesapeake Bay in September. A low damp overcast and haze covered the course but a nice 8-9 knot northerly promised good racing.

With all of the sailors now totally at home in the J/22's, those watching were treated to lots of excellent matches. Local entry, Tucker Thompson with crew Ted Kaczmarski and Bruce Nairn gave Davis Island Yacht Club entry Jeff Linton his first loss of the series. Jeff, with crew Tom Barry and Mike Gable, led the series at the end of the first Round Robin. Tied for second are California Yacht Club's Bob Little, Ben Mitchell and Kevin Crane, Yale Corinthian Yacht Club's Charlie van Voorhis, John van Voorhis and Ryan Costello, and Annapolis Yacht club's Tucker Thompson. In fifth Place is Balboa Yacht Club's Geoff Becker, Chuck Simmons and Chris Hemans. At 1415 the sun broke through and the wind dropped as the skies cleared. One flight of the second Round Robin was sailed as the breeze began to fade. Just before the start of the second flight the committee abandoned the race and after waiting a half an hour brought the sailors in for the day.

POS.	PTS.	AREA	CLUB	SKIPPER
1	8	D	Davis Island YC	Jeff Linton
2	7	J	California YC	Bob Little
3	7	E	Yale Corinthian YC	Charlie Van Voorhis
4	7		Annapolis YC	Tucker Thompson
5	5	E	Balboa YC	Geoff Becker
6	4	C	Metedeconk YC	Betsy Alison
7	3	F	New Orleans Y.C.	Benz Faget
8	2	A	Vineyard Haven YC	Paul Wilson
9	2		Annapolis YC	Scott Nixon
10	1	B	Norwalk YC	Ed Cesare

Saturday, Sept. 19
Déjà vu again! Another gray morning with a light northerly. With the breeze at about 5 knots the J/22's were significantly slower to accellerate than they were yesterday making the pre-start maneuvers more of a slow dance than the frenetic activity of yesterday. Some different tactics evolved. AYC's Tucker Thompson and Metedeconk YC's Betsy Alison held their boats stationary side-by-side, just a foot or so apart for nearly two minutes about 8 boat lengths above the line, then backed down to the line together for the start. A major addition to today's spectator fleet was the 90' motor yacht My Marilyn, owned by AYC member Ray Greenberg. She carried a contingent of spectators on an outing to watch the races arranged by the Yacht Club's Regatta Resource Committee. Three flights were run before the wind dropped below 4 knots and the Race Committee postponed until about 1430 when the northerly returned and the racing continued for three more flights in 5-6 knots. The last flight ended under cloudless a late afternoon sky and a steady breeze of about 6 knots. With two flights remaining to be run tomorrow, Davis Island Yacht Club's Jeff Linton, Tom Barry and Mike Gable continue to lead the Regatta with 13 points. California Yacht Club's Bob Little, Ben Mitchell and Kevin Crane are one point back in second. Tied for third with 10 points are Annapolis Yacht club's Tucker Thompson, Ted Kaczmarski and Bruce Nairn with Balboa Yacht Club's Geoff Becker, Chuck Simmons and Chris Hemans. Yale Corinthian Yacht Club's Charlie van Voorhis sailing with John van Voorhis and Ryan Costello is in fifth place with 8 points.

POS.	PTS.	AREA	CLUB	SKIPPER
1	13	D	Davis Island YC	Jeff Linton
2	12	J	California YC	Bob Little
3	10	E	Annapolis YC	Tucker Thompson
3	10		Balboa YC	Geoff Becker
5	8	E	Yale Corinthian YC	Charlie Van Voorhis
6	6	A	Vineyard Haven YC	Paul Wilson
6	6	F	New Orleans Y.C.	Benz Faget
8	5	A	Metedeconk YC	Betsy Alison
8	5		Annapolis YC	Scott Nixon
8	5	B	Norwalk YC	Ed Cesare

Sunday, Sept. 20 - Final Results
When the fleet gathered at 0915, the Chesapeake Bay may not have been as glassy as a mill pond but there sure was not any distrubance due to air moving.  At noon the outlying mark boats reported the stirrings of a southerly, and the Committee took the fleet out of the Severn River and south into the Chesapeake Bay.  Today's last two flights were run in a light but very slowly building breeze under sunny skies.

An outstanding group of competitors sailed a lot of tough matches.  A total of 90 matches were sailed.  The race committee, the umpires and the competitors congratulate Jeff Linton, Tom Barry and Mike Gable, the 1998 US Sailing Match Race Champions and winners of the Prince of Wales Bowl.  Second place was won by California Yacht Club's team of Bob Little, Ben Mitchell and Kevin Crane, and third place was taken by Balboa Yacht CLub, represented by Geoff Becker, Chuck Simmons and Chris Hemans.