J/109 STORM, J/105 SAVASANA & J/122 PLUM CRAZY Are Class Winners
(Larchmont, NY- September 12-13)- Rick Lyall's J/109 STORM, from Cedar Point YC (Conn.) has been a perennial participant at the Sperry Top-Sider Larchmont NOOD Regatta, but somehow every year the math used to determine the overall winner just hasn't fallen in his team's favor. But, the ten boat J/109 class is plenty competitive and this year it was real tight at the top, tight enough for Lyall's squad to earn the overall title, awarded to the winner of the regatta's most competitive fleet. The win, of course, earns Lyall and crew an invitation to the Sperry Top-Sider Caribbean NOOD championship in November where they'll race against winners from the other eight NOOD regattas.
STORM entered the second day of racing on Long Island Sound 3 points behind Greg Ames and Steve Kenny's GOSSIP, but on a day with brilliant sunshine and shifty 10-knot northerly Lyall's team excelled, winning both races and setting themselves up on the better end of a 10-point tie-breaker. Lyall's STORM has been on a roll all season long in the J/109 one-design class events, having won Storm Trysail Club's/ Rolex Block Island Race Week, New York Yacht Club Regatta and the J/109 North Americans in Chicago. Finally, third in the fun J/109 one-design racing class was Adrian Begley's MAD DOGS & ENGLISHMEN.
The largest class in the Larchmont Sailing World NOOD event was the twenty-one boat J/105 one-design class. It was difficult to outsmart Joerg Esdorn's KINCSEM, which aced the last day with a pair of bullets (and won three of seven races). However, KINSCEM's collision on the opening day, and subsequent retirement, was too much to make up to be on the leaderboard, so the real battle went down between Damien Emery's ECLIPSE and Brian Keane's SAVASANA. SAVASANA, overall winner from the Annapolis NOOD, put in a solid effort match racing ECLIPSE and keeping the right amount of boats between them to win the regatta. No doubt they'll be the team to beat at the J/105 North Americans in November. Finishing third in this tightly fought class was George and Alex Wilbanks' REVELATION.
The seven boat J/122 class was also a very closely fought and competitive fleet with the top three podium finishers only separated by five points, the outcome resting on how they all finished in the last race. Coming out of the fog of war and taking the lead after a very shifty, tactical last day of racing in the moderate Northwesterlies on Long Island Sound was Andrew Skibo's PLUM CRAZY II. Despite two firsts on the last day, the trio of Mike Bruno, Tom Boyle and Jim Callahan onboard WINGS could not overcome a slow start for them on the first two days and finished second overall. Just behind them having a very strong finish to their regatta, too, with two seconds was perenial campaigner David Askew and his indefatigable team onboard FLYING JENNY VI.
