West River Spring, the traditional season opener for 505 fleet 19, has a reputation for unpredictability. Some years it blows like hell. Other years, racers are bummed out by too much tank sitting time and keep praying for a little time on the wire. This year, the two day regatta was pretty close to ideal, with strong nearly 30 knot breezes on day one and lighter 5-12 knot conditions on day two. The 10-boat fleet, including a solid showing from local fleet 19, included some impressive resumes.
Ethan Bixby made the very long drive from his homeport in St. Petersburg, Fla., so he could sail with Cam Lewis. Lewis was on a stopover in the area between legs of the Whitbread race. (West River Spring was one week earlier than usual to avoid the hoopla surrounding the Whitbread set to start off Annapolis on May 3). Racers Tim Collins and Bill Smith dropped in as well before heading up to New England for the summer. Gary Bodie also made an appearance, driving Barney Harris's boat with Jesse Falsone on the wire. No one could say for sure where Barney had gone for the weekend. "Some work thing or something," according to Jesse.
The ride out to the race course on day one seemed to hold the promise of a light air day and an easy transition into the season. But it was not to be. The breeze and the chop quickly built, making for some demanding sailing. In race one, for example, there was more breeze on the left near the approach to the mark, and boats that went hard left to get into the wind line got some dividends. The breeze tended to roll in at rather odd moments, like as soon as you rounded the windward mark and were getting set to do a jibe set. Macy Nelson and Monty Schumpert dumped in just such a blast on the downwind slide in race one.
The conditions also made for some epic and rather strange moments. Ali Meller, sailing with newcomer Clayton James, caused mouths to drop on the committee boat when he did a bag boat skipper douse, with Clayton driving from the wire. This was SOP for Ali (though a first for Clayton), but the RC was used to a more relaxed brand of sailing. It was reported that James had the look of fear during the turn of events. De la Rie and Freedman perfected the art of sailing without a rudder and asking the eternal question, "When can we get a tow in. All this sitting around on the committee boat is making me seasick." Gusts to 28 knots were noted by nearby leadmines with instruments.
After racing,the fleet retired to the lawn of WRSC, engaged in its annual flag raising ceremony. The contrast of well dressed men and women and 505 racers in their wet suits added necessary flavor to the event. Day two lacked much of the drama of day one. The RC managed to get in three races, much to their credit, including the last one right under the two O'clock cutoff . The team of Ethan Bixby and Cam Lewis recorded five straight bullets, and picked up top honors. Though they were not usually in the lead early on, they were in the lead when it mattered at the finish line. Following up in second, Collins and Smith recorded four seconds and a fourth to capture third, and Englert and Melton took third.
| Pos | Sail# | Driver | Crew | Club | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 | TotPts | Pos |
| 1 | 8018 | Ethan Bixby | Cam Lewis | SPYC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -11DNC | 5.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | 7771 | Tim Collins | Bill Smith | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -11DNC | 12.00 | 2 | |
| 3 | 8645 | Jim Englert | Thad Melton | HYC | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | -11DNC | 20.00 | 3 |
| 4 | 8191 | Macy Nelson | Monty Schumpert | WRSC | -8 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 20.00 | 4 |
| 5 | 8643 | Gary Bodie | Jesse Falsone | HYC/WRSC | 5 | -6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 21.00 | 5 |
| 6 | 8263 | Ali Meller | Clayton James | WRSC | 4 | 2 | 7 | -8 | 8 | 3 | 24.00 | 6 |
| 7 | 8085 | Rene De la Rie | Allan Freedman | WRSC | 6 | -11DNF | 1DNC | 3 | 5 | 2 | 27.00 | 7 |
| 8 | 8351 | Tom Price | Eric Johnson | WRSC (soon) | 7 | -11DNF | 6 | 9 | 10 | 11DNC | 43.00 | 8 |
| 9 | 6987 | Lauren Abramson | Tom O'Toole | 10 | -11DNF | 11DNC | 10 | 9 | 5 | 45.00 | 9 | |
| 10 | 6985 | Dylan Breton | Michael Breton | WRSC | 9 | -11DNF | 11DNC | 7 | 7 | 11DNC | 45.00 | 10 |