Goon Squad Wins the CJ Buckley Team Race to become Club 420 National Team Race Champions!
Justin Assad
Goon Squad crushes the CJ Buckley Team Race to win the Club 420 National Team Race Championship.
Early last week, event organizer Justin Assad, was hoping to match last year’s total of 24 entries at the Club 420 Junior Team Race Championship. But, come race day, 32 teams from all over greater New England, as well as Minnesota, Texas, and the US Virgin Islands were ready to embark on three days of exciting racing at the CJ Buckley Team Race. For all those involved, it was an exciting sight to behold; almost 200 competitors were putting their boats together on the beach at Goddard Park in East Greenwich, RI. In a summer already overloaded with big regattas in the area, this huge turnout shows that team racing is really growing on the junior level and there is now a bridge between 4 v 4 Optimist team racing and the organized efforts seen in high school and college.
CJ Buckley was a junior sailor at Greenwich Bay Sailing Association and Tabor Academy, who lost a valiant battle with cancer in 2002 at the age of 17. CJ was passionate about sailing, and most enjoyed team racing, where he was a spirited and fierce competitor. The CJ Buckley Regatta began in 2003, and became a team race in 2004. In 2009 and 2010, the event has also crowned the Club 420 National Junior Team Race Champions. Parents and sailors from GBSA, Tabor, and elsewhere come out to celebrate the life of an individual who touched so many people, and to remember him by playing the game he loved.
Thirty-two teams were randomly split into four groups of eight and sent out on to two courses to complete a round robin. From there the groups were reshuffled into Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron, and 3 more rounds were completed. At the conclusion of each round the teams with the best record moved up and the teams with the worst record moved down. For an event of this scope, the modified Swiss-league system is super because it allows teams of similar skill and knowledge to continually race each other, the result is close, action-packed racing fun for all.
Over the three days, conditions were ideal for team racing – sunny and warm with light to medium breeze and flat water. Over 391 races were sailed, giving each team 31 races. Races on the Gold and Silver line had limited umpiring and on the Bronze and Iron course some competitors got a quick education on the expedited protest procedure often used in College Sailing where the protestor get about 1 minute to make their case, the protestee gets about 1 minute to make their case and the two umpires get about 1 minute to make a decision.
As Chief Umpire, Amanda Callahan had front row seats to the action. On the final day of racing, fireworks were expected, and the first race of the finals between the Goon Squad and Pleon did not disappoint. Off the line the teams were fairly even, but half way up the beat the Good Squad looked to be in a 2,3,4 with the pair who went right coming in hot. But Pleon was able to get a piece of Goon Squad when they tacked back to the mark, and Goon Squad was forced to tack back and then held out past layline. At Mark 1, Pleon had moved into a 1,3,4 and shortly after the offset had a commanding 1,2,5.
With a 1,2,6 around the leeward offset, Pleon looked as though they were going to start off the finals with a “W”. Three-quarters of the way up the beat, the pair on the left took a hitch back to the middle then back out to the edge; meanwhile, the next Hotchkiss boat close ducked the Pleon second boat and tacked on his windward hip. Soon enough the solid 1, 2 wasn’t looking so solid anymore. And the Goon Squad went on to lock it up just before the line. Goon Squad, of the Hotckiss School, would go on to win the next race, and in doing so they won the 2010 CJ Buckley Team Race and became this year’s Club 420 National Team Race Champions. Pleon brought home second place, FAST-Zim Sailing claimed third, and Gnartic Circle rounded out the top 4. Full results will be available soon at www.cjbuckleyregatta.net.
Thank you goes out to the fantastic team of volunteers from East Greenwich Yacht Club, and to the Buckley family. Parent leaders Ned and Karen Murtha, Doe Baeder, and the rest of the GBSA families, who came together to provide three meals each day, including “world-famous flying lunches,” and helped organize check-in and housing for the teams at this event. Former GBSA coach Kyle Assad led the registration and scoring team, and masterfully orchestrated the complicated swiss-league format. PRO Justin Assad led a huge group of volunteers, most of whom had either sailed with or coached CJ at GBSA, in running nearly 400 races on two full digital N race courses. Finally, Chief Umpire Amanda Callahan led a dedicated umpire team, who performed fantastically while meting out justice on the gold and silver race courses. Sponsors for this event included Doyle Sails, Harken, LaserPerformance, Vineyard Vines, Gill North America, Team1Newport, and others, all of whom donated the awards for the top three finishers of every division and the sportsmanship awards. Thank you again to all volunteers, and we hope to see you here again next year!
Written by Justin Assad and Amanda Callahan
------------------------------------------------Justin Assad
m: 917.846.6852
em: justin.assad(at)gmail.com