75th Stamford-Vineyard Race Dominated by J's
(Stamford, CT- September 4th)- The 238-mile Labor Day weekend race has always been one of the highlights of the racing season on Long Island Sound. The Vineyard is also the culmination of the Doublehanded Ocean Racing Trophy (DHORT) awarded to the best doublehanded crew racing under IRC in the same events as those for NORT. Five boats are in the running for the trophy with two entered in the Vineyard Race: Jason Richter’s J/35 PALADIN and James Wilson’s J/42 CEOL MOR.
With light winds forecast for the weekend the Vineyard Race Committee decided to use a shortened course to ensure boats would finish in a timely manner. The 65 boats racing the Vineyard course will now stay within Long Island Sound for a total of 143 nautical miles instead of the traditional 238 miles out to Buzzards Bay and back. “We talked to a lot of competitors before the race and the consensus was that a shortened course was the way to go,” Goodrich said. “The number of boats that withdrew due to the lack of wind and the comments we received by those who finished I think show that the right decision was made.”
Seventy six boats started the race Friday afternoon off Bell 32 at Stamford, CT. Fifty-five of those boats raced under IRC. The J's that raced did well, winning six of the eight divisions.
The J/122 PARTNERSHIP, sailed by David and Mary-Ellen Tortorello from Fairfield, CT, won the Stamford Vineyard Race in IRC40 Class and IRC Overall. Rick Oricchio's J/120 ROCKET SCIENCE from Fairfield, CT finished third just ahed of George Petrides' J/120 AVRA in fourth.
In the IRC 45 class, Philip Gutin's J/44 BEAGLE from New York NY won its class. Another J/44 VAMP X raced by Len Sitar of Holmdel, NJ was third.
The IRC Doublehanded division saw Jason Richter's J/35 PALADIN from Mt. Sinai, NY win class and the overall Doublehanded Ocean Racing Trophy. In third was Andrew Berdon's J/109 STRIDER from Hartsdale, NY. Just behind in fifth was Hewitt Gaynor's J/120 MIRELLE from Fairfield, CT and in seventh was Mike McCormick's J/105 GAUCHO.
The J/32 AMY BETH II, raced by Dana O'Brien of Riverside, CT won PHRF Non-Spinnaker and Michael Sullivan's J/33 SIRIUS from Fairfield, CT ended up third.
In PHRF Spinnaker, Adrian Little's J/100 FLASHPOINT from Westport, CT won with Todd Aven's J/92 THIN MAN from Brooklyn, NY was fourth and David Spence's J/105 SYNERGY from Maplewood, NJ was fifth.
David Rosow's J/109 LOKI from Southport, CT won the IRC35 Class. Another J/109, Paul Steinborn's 3 CHEERS finished in third place. Yet another J/109, Jeff Warren's ARIEL from Easton, CT finished seventh.
