Two Days of Sailing Test International Field with a Variety of Conditions

Light air and large ocean swells on Saturday, followed by gusty offshore winds on Sunday gave the seven all-female teams competing in the first-ever EYC Women’s IOD Invitational everything they could have hoped for, and more.  2004 US Olympic team member Isabelle Farrar and her team of sailors from Fishers Island, New York – Erin Maxwell, Beth Scholle, Jennifer Parsons, Meris Enright and Megan Raymond – earned five first place finishes and one second place finish to dominate the event.  Local sailor Hanna Vincent led the team finishing second, with Jordan Hecht, and her team from the Downtown Sailing Center of Baltimore taking the final spot on the podium. 

Ameila Lewis, from Bermuda, Mia Thompson from Maine, and local sailors Carolyn Corbet and Emily Jennings led the other teams in the event. 

The conditions on Saturday were challenging.  Competitors were towed to the starting area in very light winds, and once there, slatted about waiting for the breeze. Large ocean swells swept through the racing area, and without enough wind to fill the sails, the boats bouncing the boats about like leaves. It was uncomfortable for all.  After a delay of about one hour, the sea breeze developed enough strength for racing. Three races were successfully sailed, and the finishing order — Farrar, Vincent, and Hecht – was the same in all three.

The competitors were only too happy to leave Saturday sailing behind. They adjourned to a local home for a simple regatta dinner and talked the night away.

On Sunday morning, conditions could not have been more different. A strong offshore breeze developed overnight, and teams geared up for a very different kind of sailing test. Hanna Vincent claimed the first race of the day, which opened the possibility that the regatta might still hang in the balance. Alas for Vincent and her team, the Fishers Island sailors took Sunday’s second race to clinch the overall victory.  To leave no doubt, Farrar and Co. won the final race of the series as well, ending their week with an impressive 1-1-1-2-1-1 line. 

The Eastern Yacht Club’s Susie Scheider led a crack Race Committee team for the weekend, and they responded to every challenge that mother nature threw at them changing mark locations frequently to present the sailors with the best possible tactical challenges.  An all-female Jury, led by Marblehead’s Danielle Lawson, stood by in case there was an incident that would require adjudication – thankfully there were none.

The Marblehead IOD Fleet was instrumental in creating, promoting, and running the Women’s Invitational. Their generous owners made their boats available to the guest sailors, providing them with a closely match racing fleet. Competitors drew for boats on Saturday morning, and to ensure that there was no advantage afforded any team, no team could sail in the boat regularly sailed by her skipper or any crew member.

It was a wonderful weekend featuring great sailing at a very high standard by all the teams.  Unfortunately, events like the IOD Women’s Invitational are not common. As she accepted the first-place trophy, Isabelle Farrar thanked the Eastern Yacht Club and the Marblehead IOD Fleet for putting the regatta together, and shared her hope that this would not be the last Women’s IOD Invitational.  The enthusiastic applause from the thirty-eight women, tired, but very satisfied from their two days in Marblehead, loudly supported Isabelle’s wish.