9/4/17: Ida May Wins 2017 Deal Island Labor Day Skipjack Race

[ida may]

The Ida May came in first place in the 2017 Deal Island Labor Day Skipjack Race!!!!

Thanks to Capt. Shawn Ridgley for sailing a great race!!! Amazing!!! What a great day.  Elbert and Gordon Gladden are very proud.  

We blew away the competition, stealing the other boats' wind and passing the fleet on the way to the first buoy.  We then kept our lead the entire race and put much distance in between us and our nearest competitor.  It was a perfect day to sail, steady but light winds that increased as morning turned to midday.  The Ida May did great on the long run to the #14 Buoy near Wenona.  Shawn kept her nose pointed into the wind and we made the mark in one tack.  We were so far ahead of the other boats that we met only one boat on our return to the starting/finish line.   The rest of the fleet had either given up and gone back to harbor, or they were still negotiating the first buoy!  To give you another example of how fast we were sailing, let me tell you this story.   Three boats crossed the starting line early before the gun went off.  The Rebecca Ruark turned around to start again, but the Somerset and the Helen Virginia sailed on.  Those two boats didn't turn around, but decided to run the race anyway, even if they were disqualified.  Well, we passed both of those boats, taking their wind and leaving them in our wake.  Wow, what a day!