Saturday
Gloucester Schooner Festival Race and Hurricane Earl In most cases the decision to postpone or cancel racing is made the morning of the event in order to avoid giving Mother Nature the opportunity (along with the weather services) to make the Race Committee look like complete idiots. Given the current weather situation which has a high probability of extreme seas and high winds that will follow the departure of Hurricane Earl on Saturday it is unlikely that there will be an opportunity to have small boat racing off of Eastern Point on September 4th . The starting area is notorious for heavy swells even without the recent passing of a hurricane, and so it would not be a fun day on the water. Since this is a festival and not a racing championship the Race Committee will be most sensitive to the safety of all participants and quite deaf to the desires of a few that may want to explore the limits of their gear and their expertise! There will definitely be a Skipper's Meeting at 10am in Solomon Jacob's Park, but I hope this update gives sufficient insight into the odds of racing at this time. Since the Mayor's Race with the bigger boats is on Sunday, there is no make up day for the small boats, but next year's prizes might be enhanced! Regardless of the racing situation on Saturday, we hope that the skippers and crew of all participating small craft join us at the Crew Party at the Gloucester House on Saturday evening and the Awards Dinner at the BirdsEye Building on Sunday evening. - Peter Bent Race, Committee Chair Cape Ann
Chamber of Commerce Posted 9/2/2010 1:00 p.m. |