08/18/2026
The Region 2 IOM Championship is in the books and what a regatta.
Hosted by Chesapeake Performance Models and Cedar Point Marina in Grasonville, MD, August 14–16
Friday check-in and practice with 42 entries proved to be a great day for weighing in and catching up with fellow IOM sailors from all over the country who had come to Maryland. With this number of sailors, we were divided into three fleets for HMS racing.
Saturday sailing started off with a poor ENE wind direction, forcing a course move out to the Large T Dock for two race sets before shifting back to the NE and allowing the fleet to sail from the new 240-foot floating dock on the east shore of the marina.
Saturday racing was held in fairly light winds (A Rig), but the breeze continued to shift slightly left and right throughout the day, keeping the fleet on their toes. Eight races were run Saturday, consisting of 24 heats. Racing was super tight in all three fleets, with amazingly close finishes at both the top and bottom of each fleet as skippers fought to move up a fleet or prevent dropping a fleet.
After one day of sailing, the top six skippers were Peter Feldman (18 pts), Barr Batzer (22 pts), Brian Shoires (23 pts), Tony Gonsalves (25 pts), Mark Golison (31 pts), and Mike Feldman (32 pts).
Sunday brought overcast skies, an increase in wind strength, and a switch to a SSE direction. The breeze built and ebbed throughout the day, accompanied by occasional rain showers. This wind direction brought with it a good chop, so the decision to sail with an A Rig to power through the chop or a B Rig to sail higher had some skippers changing rigs between races, only to switch back for the next race. With the increase in wind strength came some amazing sailing, with frequent lead changes and heavily contested mark roundings.
Special thanks go out to our Host Rick & Laura Boulay and Cedar Point Marina for their generosity and allowing access to their facility our RD, Judy Bonalnno (Head Chick in Charge), who was amazing throughout the weekend, even though she had knee surgery just a few weeks prior to the regatta. Thanks, Judy!
Helping Judy with scoring were Cindy Bongiovanni, Nicole Ramos Meraz, and Dr. Julie Waldrep. Manning the chase boat and helping throughout the regatta were Steve McLaughlin, Scott Todd, and Graham Mattonen. These people deserve special thanks, especially with a super hot and sunny Saturday and, particularly, Sunday, when high winds prevented us from putting up the tent covers to keep them out of the rain. Thank you so very much to all of you!
Super-tight racing on Sunday brought position changes throughout the fleet. We had to halt racing a little early due to lightning strikes just east of us from an approaching front, but six more races (18 heats) were sailed on Sunday for a total of 14 races (42 heats).
1st Place – Barr Batzer came out on top of the fleet with super-consistent sailing and 44 points.
2nd Place – Brian Shoires with 46 points.
3rd Place – Peter Feldman with 52 points.
4th Place – Tony Gonsalves with 59 points.
5th Place – Mark Golison with 71 points.
Thank you all for coming and to the number of people that helped out during the regatta. Something like this take a great group of people and I am lucky to have had all your support.
Dave Ramos
Judys photos -
Loves taking pictures for others to enjoy
