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2003 US SAILING
Championship of Committees
Regatta |
Each year
at its Annual General Meeting the United States Sailing Association
concludes three days of committee and board meetings with a fun regatta
called the Championship of Committees, which has traditionally been sailed
in two or three man dinghies. The 2003 meetings were held in St. Louis, and
M3SC
ran the C of C regatta, as a series of match races in radio controlled
sailboats furnished by our club and the Creve Coeur Model Yacht Club. A
perfect day and the unique format drew a record number of entries (12)
and a large crowd of spectators to the venue at the
Bandstand Basin in Forest Park. Here are a few pictures of the event.
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A little history |
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| This photograph, which was originally
published in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat in 1930, was
discovered in a book about the history of Forest Park written by
Loughlin and Anderson and published by the University of Missouri
Press. The accompanying text and a map of the park from the 1930s
indicate that the pond shown here, although its appearance has changed
considerably, is the same venue that we used for the Championship of
Committees. |
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The Crowd |
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| Over the course of the afternoon, with
multiple shuttle buses carrying spectators back and forth between the
headquarters hotel and Forest Park and many non-sailors dropping in as
well, it is estimated that over 150 people watched part or all of the
racing. |
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The Finals |
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| The Council of Sailing
Associations'
boat (blue) leads the Women's Sailing Committee around the final
windward mark, and heads for the downwind finish. |
CSA fails to cover, and Women's
catches more pressure on the left side. |
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| Women's pulls even while CSA belatedly heads up and the puff begins to die. |
Women's is becalmed near the
island, while CSA rides the dregs of the puff back down toward
the finish and Line Judge Hugh Elliot. |
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| Both boats are now becalmed,
with CSA tantalizingly close to the finish. |
The last puff arrives from the
right side of the course, and the Council of Sailing
Associations
crosses the finish line to win the 2003 Championship of
Committees. |
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