World Match Racing Tour Detroit Cup, August 2024
The International Match Race for the Detroit Cup was one of six North American stops on the 2024 World Match Racing Tour.
The Detroit Cup is hosted by Bayview Yacht Club and races are conducted on the Detroit River in equally equipped Ultimate 20 sailboats. In 2024, this prestigious, four-day event attracted nine competitors representing three countries; the US, France and Australia.
Scott served as the windward markset officer for this event, a role that proved to be very challenging in light and extremely variable winds that blew from nearly every possible direction.
Setting properly competitive racecourses was further complicated by an ever-present 2.5 knot current. When the breeze blew with or directly against the current, typical white and green starboard rounding marks were deployed. When the breeze blew across or perpendicular to the current, red port rounding marks with an offset were deployed.
Every one of these frequent course changes required the Signal Boat to display different signals to keep the competitors informed during their start sequences.
The course rarely stayed in one configuration for more than a few races. Many races were abandoned or postponed as the conditions changed frequently. The quantity of course changes, refinements, and total resets quickly became too numerous to count.
Fortunately, Scott and the equipment we own/utilize played a key role in the Principal Race Officer’s ability to quickly and appropriately respond to the ever-changing conditions. In the end, the competitors praised the Race Committee’s efforts to provide quality racing under such challenging conditions.
While Scott was busy setting marks, Lisa served on the Signal Boat.
In addition to observing and taking notes in preparation for a collegiate match race qualifier that Scott & Lisa will run in October 2024, Lisa assisted several of the many critical signal boat staff roles including deploying some of the many signal flags that are flown during the start sequence in match racing.
The days were long but the racing was very close. A large team of Umpires representing several countries, many with International Certifications, maintained a vigilant presence on the water.
In Match Racing, many of the typical Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) are modified, and several rules are added that govern how the skippers and the boats interact with each other and can influence and control the actions of their competitor.
The competitors included several with years of experience as well as a few up and coming young skippers and sailors who are making names for themselves in high school and college sailing in the US.
One of these young skippers recently won the US Hinman Trophy Team Racing Championship.
Despite the challenging wind conditions, the weather was beautiful for five straight days, which created fantastic opportunities for spectators to view the action up close from both inside and along the shore in front of the Bayview Yacht Club clubhouse.
The waterfront lawn in front of the Bayview clubhouse also served as an excellent setting for post-race news conferences and the final awards ceremony.
ILCA Laser US National Championship, August 2023
Scott and Lisa were recruited to serve on the Race Committee for the largest ILCA Class event East of the Mississippi in 2023. Because this prestigious event offered World Ranking Points to the top finishers, it attracted 161 competitors from North America and beyond, including several sailors with Olympic aspirations.
The course for this regatta was the “double-trap” format used at World Championship events and utilized robotic MarkSet Bots. Scott served as the markset boat on the outer course and the finish line.
The Race Committee team for this event included numerous Judges and Umpires with National and International certifications.
On the water, Lisa led and directed all the actions of the Finish Boat. Off the water, Lisa served as the primary Scorer for the event.
2023 Ensign National Championship, August 2023
The Pentwater Yacht Club and the entire resort town of Pentwater Michigan came out to welcome Ensign sailors from across the US and Canada. 
After a traditional boat parade out the channel onto Lake Michigan, 35 competing boats enjoyed beautiful and occasionally challenging conditions over the first three days of competition.
Racing on the fourth and final day was cancelled due to gale force winds, 9 foot waves, storms, and lightning. Sadly, lightning struck one of the competitor boats tied to one of the moorings in front of the clubhouse. Fortunately, nobody was on board at the time and the owner had substantial insurance. The entire fleet eagerly assisted local emergency resources and the local shipyard to extinguish the fire and promptly retrieve what was left of the boat. The delightfully positive spirit and camaraderie of the Ensign Class was abundantly evident throughout the event.
On the water, Scott and Lisa served as the windward markset boat and provided numerous pieces of equipment required by the others on the mark set team. Off the water, Lisa served as one of the Judges on the Protest Committee.