Left to right: Kyle Swenson, Rob Emmet, Ken Mangano

The 2022 ILCA Crab Claw Regatta drew 44 participants to Severn Sailing Association this past weekend. There were a handful of past winners in attendance, including Lauren Pollak (2008), Kim Couranz (2011, 2017, 2018) and Kelly McMurray (2021) in the ILCA-6 fleet, as well as Jim Knab (2003), Bob Tan (2007), and James Jacob (2021) in the ILCA-7 fleet. 1997 champion Alden Shattuck made a surprise shore-side visit Sunday morning to catch up with old friends!

On the racing front, the wind gods did not cooperate on Saturday. PRO Steve Podlich and his team did a great job of getting one race completed in what one might describe as a sketchy southerly breeze. Sunday turned out much nicer with the wind again coming in from the south and fluctuating in velocity throughout the day, anywhere from 5-18 knots. Once again, the race committee work was flawless, as we were able squeeze in a total of 5 races.

In the 15 boat ILCA-6 fleet, Brooke Bogdan secured the win with a very consistent scorecard (4,2,2,4,3) over 5 races. Coming in second place, just 4 points behind Brooke, was Dorian Haldeman. Matt White (21 points) took home the bronze.

The ILCA-7 fleet had 29 competitors. History repeated itself with a USNA midshipman taking top honors for the 13th time in the 51 year history of this regatta. The winner this year was senior Gavin McJones. He was in complete control, winning all six races by a fairly significant margin. The Crab Claw served as a tune up for Gavin who will be competing in the Carl Van Duyne MAISA Men's Singlehanded Championships later this fall. Coming in second place was Luke Shingledecker (21 points). Fun Fact: this year marked the 21st anniversary of Luke’s first Crab Claw regatta (2002) in which he placed 3rd. Rounding out the top three was David Waiting (29 points).