J/120 CAILIN A MARA First Overall
(Portland, ME- August 7-8)- The annual Monhegan Island Race hosted by the Portland Yacht Club in Falmouth, ME had a relatively fast race this year, not the oft times light winds feeling your way through the fog around Monhegan Island at dawn the next day.
The report from Tom Crotty, skipper/ owner of the J/120 CAILIN A MARA follows: "After 129 miles we beat both the Tripp 47 and Aerodyne 43 that were in front of us boat-for-boat as well as the rest of the fleet for a first in class B and a first overall in the primary 2009 Monhegan Race.
The race was a fast one with the best finishers 10 hours ahead of boats the year before. On CAILIN A MARA we had speeds up to 15 knots for brief periods of time. Normally, the breeze in the Monhegan builds into the classical afternoon sea-breeze, softens at dusk and remains light and fluky overnight. This year saw the sea-breeze, but then a front came through and the wind swung to the North-Northwest at 8 to 18 knots for the rest of the race. This produced some beating, and some tight reaching.
It was the versatility of the J/120 that came to the fore in this race. We had five sails and would not have won without any one of them. And, it is worth observing that CAILIN A MARA was the only real cruising boat in the top finishers. BOREAS, another J/120, finished 3rd in class B. For more info.
