With the return of Attack Sub to the Century group by membership vote, 34 skippers turned out to test their undersea wiles, including no less than seven previous champions. The new double elimination format ensured that no player was eliminated early due to a single case of bad luck, and as it turned out no one got past the quarter finals without acquiring an initial loss. Also, the limitation of only being able to play a given side in a scenario once during the tournament forced players to have to win with a non-favored side at times, and the two finalists demonstrated their ability to do just that In the semi-finals Daniel Hoffman playing the Soviet sub group defeated David Buchholz's Seawolf in Scenario C, and Bruce Young as the Renegade boomer defeated Andrew Fedin's pursuing surface force in scenario E.

In the finals Daniel played the NATO surface group in scenario B where Bruce had the Soviet sub group. Daniel drew first blood, quickly detecting the Molniya and sinking her with one shot. He then tried to disengage for the win, but Bruce maintained contact, hitting the Simpson but not sinking her. Daniel repaired the damage and changed tactics, closing to engage the remaining Soviet sub. The Simpson was hit again, but again stayed afloat. Now both sides were at point blank range (detect level 4), and torpedoes flew like arrows in each direction. Daniel finally hit the Skortsov, but it too stayed alive. He hit it again, and when the water finally stopped boiling, Daniel Hoffman had emerged victorious with his second WBC wood. Congratulations to the new champion who went 7-1, defeating three previous champions in the process.

Besides the finalists, notable players included defending champion Steve Caler, who with a big target painted on his chest went 0-2 and was eliminated right at the start. Andrew Fedin had the distinction of surviving longest without a loss, going into the quarter-finals as the only 5-0 player, but then losing two in a row. Scott Edwards was the best beginning player, going 4-2 and handily beating the GM among others (I'm going to have to stop giving out all those tips at the demo session!), and previous champion John Emery put the lone loss on new champion Hoffman before being taken out himself by David Buchholz.

With the larger number of players and the DE format the event went longer than usual, with the finals finishing just before 4 PM Sunday. We didn't quite have to turn out the lights as we left but it was close. So next year the event start time will be moved up to 9AM on Sunday, just after the Armistice meeting. Also expect some additional scenario tweaks to work on new play balance issues. Hope to see you there at the new sub pens in Lancaster!