Day Sailer Spring Series
The Day Sailer 2026 season at SSA kicked off on May 16 with a fantastic sailing day on the Chesapeake. Eight teams turned out for the two-day regatta that was unfortunately cut to one day, as our final day was called for lack of wind.
The Day Sailer shared their Spring Series with the EWE Foundation Spirit Cup. Members of Fleet One contributed over $500 to the annual Annapolis tribute regatta honoring Spinsheet Magazine founder Geoff Ewenson. Also on the racecourse with us were the Melges 15s, the Snipes, and the Harbor 20s. Interestingly, the Day Sailer held true to its Portsmouth rating, and even with rolling starts we paced very evenly with the Snipes and Melges, although we were substantially faster than the Harbor 20s.
Conditions were perfect — a southerly that started at 10 to 12, built to 16 to 18, with the final race seeing gusts over 20. It was exciting racing with close action, hard hiking, and some crazy spinnaker surfing downwind.
The final race on Saturday was a nail-biter, with Robin Richards and Chan Owen in Kanaka edging out Morgan Wittrock and Matt White in Bluebird on the final wave across the finish line. Who knew that an OCS in the first race would prove so costly for Robin, as we didn’t have racing on Sunday.
In the end, the family teams prevailed — husband and wife Bill and Collette were third in Blinky, father/daughter Lauren and Dave were second in Constant, and winners were Morgan and Matt.
Special thanks to Steve Kling and Chris Young for pulling off 4 great races with four different fleets, well done.
