Congratulations to Annoying Orange who bested the Defending Champion Boys of Summer to claim the top prize in Team Challenge II with Team BS coming in 3rd!
Teams Green, Orange and Black advanced directly to the Finals, while Red, Blue, Yellow and White duked it out in the sudden-death Wild-Card Bracket:
Team Red emerged the victor to join the Finals:
In the Finals, Annoying Orange ran the table and won the championship (having lost only a single race in Stage 1 to 2nd Place Boys of Summer).
Videos courtesy of OCMSC and Larry Grant:
Thanks to Len Bose & the Orange County Model Sailing Club for hosting the Event and providing logistics, mark management (and ice-cold bottled water!)
Congratulations to ‘The Boys of Summer’ (Larry Grant and Jim Sears) who managed to ‘Outwit, Outplay, Outlast‘ the competition and win the coveted top position in the first Region 8 Team Racing Event of 2026!
With 8 Teams, the day began with a Stage 1 Round-Robin of 28 Races. The winds were good, the course was tight, the competition was fierce and many matches were decided in the last few feet before the finish. Team Bueno (John Rogers and Scotty Harris) piled up 6 wins with only a single loss to ‘The Boys‘ who also lost only a single race to the ‘Trap Rioters‘ (Doc Elliott and Stephen Cohen). Meanwhile, ‘Annoying Orange‘ (Dennis Rogers and Jess Atkinson) managed 5 wins to round out the Top 3 and join the Boys and Bueno directly in the Finals (Stage 3).
The remaining 5 Teams were seeded into the Stage 2 Wild Card Knockout Bracket where sudden-death awaited each losing Team. The Bleve Bombers (Len Bose and Chuck Simmons) crept from the cellar and ran the table to win 3 straight races and earn their way into the Finals!
Proof that no matter how poorly a Team does in Stage 1, the Team Management System (TMS) allows everyone a second chance.
In Stage 3, it all came down to the 2 FINAL RACES to determine the first 3 Places! In the penultimate race, the Bleve Bombers defeated Annoying Orange to claim 3rd Place. Then, in the final race of the day (RACE 38), the Boys beat Bueno to clinch 1st Place!
Kudos to Team ‘Dry Heat‘ (Rod Sturgess and Mike Fruciano) who traveled all the way from Arizona to compete!
If you missed out on all the fun, you have a second chance to participate in Team Challenge II on August 16th at Mason Park in Irvine. Don’t miss it!
