Manhasset Bay Yacht Club hosts the 2016 JSA Pixel/O’pen BiC Race Week
The Manhasset Bay Yacht Club was lucky enough to host 17 Pixels and 11 O’pen BiCS at the 2016 JSA Pixel/BiC Race Week event on July 28th and 29th. As a JSA qualifier for the Pixel Class, the event promised strong competition – if the wind cooperated. Kimberly Kuester headed the team of volunteers that worked tirelessly on everything from lunches, to housing, parking, and launching. Coordinating over 50 sailors is no easy task, and Manhasset Bay was fortunate to have hard working group of individuals to pull off 6 Pixel and 5 O’pen BiC races.
With William Siener as the PRO, Manhasset Bay hosted instructors and skippers meetings early on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, the wind did not agree with the early start time and the sailors postponed on shore, having lunch and enjoying the pool until around 3 o’clock. Once hitting the water, the sailors were able to complete 2 Pixel races and 1 Open Bic race in 8-12 knot breezes out of the South West. After some boat breakdowns but plenty of smiles, the Race Committee sent the sailors back to land to get showered and changed for the evening activities of dinner and a DJ.
Friday July 29th brought another weather delay due to spotty thunderstorms and rain but the Race Committee was able get the kids out on the water at 10:30. With the ability to race up until 2 o’clock and a steady 8-10 knots from the East, the sailors knew that there was plenty of racing to be done. 4 Pixel and Open Bic races later, the racing was complete with a “drop” stirring things up a bit in the Pixel class. Once on shore, a protest concerning a windward mark rounding was heard and disallowed with lessons about procedure and practice being learned by both parties.
Winning the Pixel class were Amelia Jessop and Clara Kruijtzer from American Yacht Club who totaled 11 points in 6 races (after dropping an 18 point OCS). Following behind them in 2nd and 3rd were Lauren Krim and Jack Cyprus from Manhasset Bay Yacht Club and Courtney Garrison and Jillian Fitzpatrick from Northport Yacht Club, respectively. Garrison and Fitzpatrick were the most consistent boat in the top 3 finishers having four 4th place finishes!
In the O’pen BiC fleet, Riley Carroll of Manhasset Bay Yacht Club defended his title as champion from the 2015 competition and finished with 12 points in 5 races. Close behind him was Bella Feigin of Port Washington Yacht Club who finished with 13 points. Adelia DeRose of Manhasset Bay Yacht Club also was in the running with 14 points and a bullet in the final race of the day!
The awards ceremony began with Commodore Paul Strauch giving a big round of applause to all the competitors, volunteers, and parents for making the event one to remember. Sailors enjoyed lunch and desserts while the trophies were handed out, including a Sportsmanship Award, which was presented to Thomas Day of Manhasset Bay Yacht Club for jumping out of his boat to gather the belongings of other sailors and help right a boat in distress, resulting in a poor finish for his own boat. Kimberly Kuester was proud to award Thomas with the trophy as well as thank her volunteers for their hard work throughout the event.
Courtesy of Manhasset Bay Yacht Club
