9/4/2023: Ida May Wins the 64th Annual Deal Island-Chance Lion's Club Skipjack Race Again!!!!

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The skipjack Ida May, captained by Shawn Ridgley and owned by Gordon Gladden, won the 64th Annual Deal Island-Chance Lion's Club Labor Day Skipjack Race again for the second year in a row and the 6th time in 7 years.  We had the able crew of Lee, Jenny, Meghan, Ella, Robert, Keith, Bill, David, Tara, Mike, and Tom helping out.

The day was perfect for sailing! There was a light breeze, and on the water, it wasn't too hot.   Twelve skipjacks came to Deal Island for the race.  

The Ida May didn't have her best start; she was third to last over the starting line, but Capt. Ridgley made sure to stay on the port side of the starting line, which gave our boat the best chance to overtake the rest of the pack.  By hugging the port starting line buoy, we ensured that no other boat could steal our wind.  We could, however, steal their wind, and that's just what we proceeded to do! We passed by the Somerset first, and then quickly passed most of the other boats headed up to the first buoy. 

The Rebecca Ruark was in first for most of the first leg of the trip, but she was not pointed directly to the first buoy like we were.  She was going to have to cover a lot more of the water than the Ida May to get around the first buoy.  We also were faster than the Rebecca on this tack and steadily gained on her and finally overtook her.  We tacked around the first buoy well ahead of Capt. Wade Murphy and the Rebecca Ruark.

This next tack took us down the Tangier Sound south towards Wenona.  Although we kept the lead in the race, the Rebecca Ruark steadily gained on us and closed the gap considerably.  If he'd had another quarter mile to race down the Tangier Sound, he probably would've caught us, but luckily, we jibed around the second buoy before he did.  

On this tack, back to the starting/finishing line, the Ida May was faster than the Rebecca, and we actually put some distance between us.  This was our second win in a row and other than 2021, when we were unable to race due to repairs, we have the race in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, and now 2023.  That's 6 of the last 7 races!!! Congratulations Capt. Shawn Ridgley and owner Gordon Gladden

Deal Island Race results:

First place - Ida May

Second place - Rebecca T. Ruark

Third place - Messenger

Fourth place - Fannie L. Daugherty

Fifth place - Somerset

Sixth place - Han Em Harv

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