On January 31st, 2010 San Diego Yacht Club hosted the SCYA Harold Adams Team Race Classic. Team racing is on the rise across the country, and this year’s record turnout of 12 teams from throughout the region showed that So Cal is right on track with this movement. If you have not witnessed or experienced a team racing regatta, you owe it to yourself to find out what it’s all about. Most commonly the format is three on three, with teams sailing some version of a round robin against other teams. The course is a short “digital n”, emphasizing tactics and boathandling. With first through sixth totaling 21 points, your team must have ten or less to win. It’s all about knowing what “combo” you have: 1, 3, anything is a winner. 2, 3, 4 is a great stable winning combination. So is 1, 4, 5. Friends don’t let friends finish last, so it’s common to see boats drop back to free a team mate from an opponent’s cover. Passbacks and mark traps are the tools of the trade, and colored sails help the sailors and the spectators keep it all sorted out.

To get 12 teams through a round robin, we needed to sail 66 races, all in a one day event! Luckily the wind cooperated and we had good pressure all afternoon and didn’t have to shift the course once. Using 18 CFJs, we were able to have two races on the race course at all times, with the next set of teams rotating off the dock. Five and a half hours and 1452 whistle blasts later, we had completed an entire rotation. Competition was tight with no team going undefeated or lacking at least one victory. In the end, Point Loma High School’s Red Team (10-1) kept the PL streak going for a fourth year, prevailing via the head to head tiebreaker with Corona del Mar. Cathedral Catholic ranked 3rd with a score of 9-2. All enjoyed the camo trophy caps, and a big thanks goes out to Monty Groutage for locating and delivering the Harold Adams Perpetual, which had been missing for a few years. Seriously a weekend to remember! View Race Results