Baxters/Pletsch Repeat at

Interclub Midwinters

January 30-31, 2010

Annapolis, MD

The LYC team of John and Molly Baxter, Danny Pletsch and former LYC junior sailing instructor Megan Magill repeated as Interclub Midwinter champions.  Hosted by Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis, Maryland, the Midwinters feature a college-style A/B format where one team shares a boat, alternating time on the water every two or three races.  The 2010 event, attended by 19 teams and 76 sailors, was marked by extreme conditions, including six inches of snow on Saturday and sub-freezing temperatures that created ice floes in the Chesapeake Bay. 

 

   The winners derigging their IC after sailing on Saturday

 

Conditions were brutally cold for the event with snow on the ground and in the boats, and ice breaking required to get the ICs out to the race course.  Baxter and Pletsch, who between them have won the past three Interclub national championships, won the majority of the nine races sailed in each division to win A and B fleets handily.  Eight LYC winter sailing skippers made the trek south for the northernmost midwinter championship of the year, with Winter Member Paul-Jon Patin finishing fourth in A and second overall as a team.  Other LYC racers included Winter Member Kevin Morgan finishing fifth in B and fourth overall as a team, Winter Member Simon Strauss finishing ninth in B and fifth overall as a team, Winter Member Keith Taboada (10th in A), Winter Member Jamie Ewing (13th in A) and Stephane Lautner (18th in B).  Results.

 

   Teams struggled to launch boats in Saturday’s driving snow