LOCAL KNOWLEDGE. The winds came up Sunday for the Melges 17 championship.

Day 2 had the forecast of big wind and that was getting the racers excited. It doesn’t take much breeze for these boats to plane, so the fleet was excited. There were many wipeouts in the days racing, but the boat is easily righted and sailed dry, which lets you get back racing fairly quickly after any capsizes. The regatta championship was coming down to a race between two boats. With four races on the last day, well run by PRO Mike Sherin, the fleet was tired, but each and every sailor whether it went well or poorly had a big smile on their face after ripping around in these fun boats. Overall champions for the second year in a row were Art Brereton and Harry Melges, closely followed by Andy and Iggy Labanauskas.

I have enough toys, right?

This event had teams coming from just about everywhere. The teams ranged in ages from young to old and you had both women and men skipper and crew combinations. Young guys sailing light and some heavier teams out racing as well. The boat is light, only 300lbs all rigged and ready. The 17's have a roller furling jib, large roached mainsail and an asymmetrical spinnaker with a dousing tube. These boats are certainly fast. They are sailed like a scow, but have the feel of a very fast skiff. Practice and organization is the key to this boat and it was evident that the teams that have been racing these boats from the beginning were the teams to beat.

Hmmm ...