by Ken Legler
St. Mary’s College of MD, Horseshoe Bend on the St. Mary’s River
The sailing conditions of St. Mary’s College of Maryland on the St. Mary’s River are superb for college sailing. The river is lined with scenic estates and farmland. The area is best described as bucolic. The river runs seven miles North from its mouth on the Potomac to Horseshoe Bend where the river turns West, then Northwest to its head another two miles up. The Bend creates a circular sailing area directly in front of the Teddy Turner Waterfront with a nearly one mile radius. As such every wind direction allows for ample space but with protection from any large waves. The current is gentle with a bit more at the entrance to the Bend on the south side of the racing area. An additional course area is just around Church Point at the opening to the South and can see more waves and a steadier wind in Southerlies. This South course in Southerlies can have some geographic shifts toward either shore but not too close to shore where it gets lighter. This area also gets used in Southerly winds but in any other wind direction they prefer to sail inside the Bend for great viewing from The James P. Muldoon River Center. If the course is set just outside the opening formed by Church and Pagan Points, the current can have enough push and variation to be worth noting and playing. Otherwise current is rarely a factor this far up the narrowing river.
The SW wind is shifty with winds blowing off Pagan Point, which has a lovely estate standing like a sentinel guarding the inside of the Bend. The West and WNW winds provide the longest fetch from up river but Westerlies are rarely steady anywhere on the East Coast, including here despite the fairly low topographic profile on this coastal plain. Strong Northwest winds are rapidly shifty like anywhere in the east. The mean wind direction always seems to return to the same place requiring few mark changes. North and Northeast winds can be light and fluky and almost as crazy as Navy. They call the NE wind the “bridge-breeze” as there is a little bridge at a creek on the NE edge off the bend. It is unquestionably their least favorite wind direction.
There can be a seabreeze coming across the land from the Chesapeake but it takes a while to develop and does not occur very often except in late spring/summer. It will develop after a cool morning with cool air aloft moving seaward from the Northwest. The North wind keeps getter lighter and more variable until finally replaced by a mid-afternoon seabreeze from the ESE. Light Southerlies can also die and turn into seabreezes but not very often. In this East or ESE wind the inside course works just as well as the outside course and is closer to campus. Expect oscillating shifts and wind variations between five and ten knots or lighter but you might want to watch for a persistent shift ahead of the next weather system wind. For example, if cooler air is filtering in from the North, this ESE wind can persistently shift left to East, then ENE while building in velocity. Likewise, the seabreeze can fade and go right in late afternoon as the South or SW gradient starts to take hold.
A new palace of a boathouse, The James P. Muldoon River Center, is one of the crown jewels of a very pretty campus, which all fits in with the local “Tidewater” architecture, rolling forests, and farmlands. The boathouse has every amenity for sailors and spectators with an upper deck that affords a fabulous view of the race course, particularly in a West or NW wind with the course set just outside the large pier that protects the many floats and boats.
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