2023 Dead Crab Regatta Report

After a Maryland racing day on Saturday, some of us grabbed the Lewes to Cape May ferry as a relaxing and convenient way to avoid the time in the car.

Cape May Harbor (New Jersey) was the best place to be for RC Laser racing on this Sunday. We were blessed with chamber of commerce weather plus new floating docks and a great host club. The wind stayed in the same quadrant giving us a full day of racing long two lap courses.

Ray Szulczewski, Eric Leitner, John Santoro, David Rothenberg and Glenn Chalder, all brought their A game on this day. At the break, Rothenberg, in a borrowed boat, held a slight lead, but all were bunched within six points after everyone had sailed six races.

In the afternoon, the wind stayed at the high end of the B-sail. John Santoro sailed a drop race but then took control with three firsts and a third in his final four races. David Rothenberg sailed his three throw outs to slip to second place while Cape May Ray started the afternoon on a hot streak, but slipped in the last two races to finish third one point behind Rothenberg. Eric Leitner kept it consistent with some top five races to garner fourth, only two points behind Ray. Seven out of sixteen skippers won a race showing a good depth of talent in this regatta.

Summary of Dead Crab Regatta
Date: June 11, 2023
Class: RC Laser
Chevrons: Green
Location: Corinthian YC of Cape May, Cape May, NJ
Host Club: South Jersey Model YC #390
Entries: 16
Winds SE 7-15
Format: Random three fleets. Last three races were full fleet.
Races Completed: Thirteen races scored: low point with a generous three throw-outs.
Race Committee: PRO, Dave Branning; Scoring, Amy Forrester; Chase/buoy/line calling, Bob Herzog, Jay Kopp

RESULTS
Place Skipper Points
1 John Santoro 18
2 David Rothenberg 27
3 Ray Szulczewski 28
4 Eric Leitner 29
5 Glen Chalder 32
6 Dom Bonanno 33

Other finishers: Martin Besant, Kevin LeCompte, Tom Bird, Mark Daddino, Dick White, Karthik Selvarajan, Bob Shapiro, John Parker, Jim Forrester, Ed Andrews

Dave Branning, PRO; John Santoro, 1st, Cape May Ray, 3rd, David Rothenberg, 2nd. Jim Forrester, Regatta Chmn., Eric Leitner, 4th.