Wind Shortens College Regatta On Toms River; Ocean County College 10th

The Ocean County College sailing team placed 10th over the weekend out of 18 teams as it hosted the two-day Ocean County Fall Open regatta on the Toms River, which was curtailed Sunday by heavy winds.

The event, a promotional regatta in the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association, included 17 colleges (SUNY Stony Brook sent two teams) and was won by St. Mary’s College of Maryland, which tallied 51 points. Fordham was second with 87 points and the U.S. Naval Academy Squad was third with 93 points. The winner is based on the lowest point total, with points awarded based on race finish.

Regatta organizers said in a report on a college sailing website that the winds Saturday started out light, out of the southwest at 8 to 12 knots, but picked up quickly and shifted to the west at 10 to 18 knots for most of the day. One coach said the regatta decided to race as many races as possible Saturday because predictions were for the wind to increase significantly on Sunday. All told, 20 races were sailed Saturday, with four protests and one disqualification.

On Sunday, they said, the day began “with a puffy northwest breeze at 14-18 knots. We started race 11A . The puffs were coming in at 22-26 knots. After sailing one rotation both A and B, the race committee called the regatta due to excessive winds and unsafe conditions.

In addition to St. Mary’s, Fordham and the U.S. Naval Academy, colleges competing at the regatta were: Bucknell, Christopher Newport University, Colgate, Cornell, Drexel, Penn State, Princeton, Rutgers, Stevens Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, Washington College and William and Mary.

Complete results, including race-by-race finishes, can be found here.

Check out a photo gallery from Saturday’s racing on the Toms River Patch Facebook page, here.