Rolex NYYC Race Week

WINGS Hat Trick Leads to Win

(Newport, RI)- The forecast was promising for the first half of this year's Rolex NYYC Race Week.  Sunny days, southwest winds, nearly postcard perfect conditions for the fleet of 100+ boats sailing in a variety of classes, punctuated by the J/122s and J/109s sailing their North American Championships and the J/105s sailing their East Coast Championship.

For the first day of racing, it was a busy day on Narragansett Bay when hundreds of athletes swam across it in the early morning, then 1,200 more plied its waters from mid-morning to afternoon.  While the annual early-morning 'Save the Bay' swim finished, 100+ boats left their berths in Newport Harbor to converge on three race circles: two 'outside' on Rhode Island Sound and one 'up the Bay,' or north of the iconic Pell Newport Bridge, which serves as gateway to historic Newport and frames the sweeping view of the city from Harbour Court, where host New York Yacht Club has its on-water clubhouse.  "It was everything you could hope for in a day of sailing," said NYYC Race Committee Chair John "Tinker" Miles, noting sunshine and warm temperatures cooled by manageable 12-15 knot breezes from the Southwest.

For leaders in seven of the 12 classes, when it was good it was very good. The conditions enabled them to post nothing but first-place finishes in multiple races. What was the common denominator for many of them?  The experience of sailing in highly competitive J one-design classes to hone their competitive edge.  Mike Bruno/ Tom Boyle’s (Rye, NY) WINGS was three-for-three in the tight J/122 fleet, but it was only because it had the "slightest edge" on speed over David Murphy’s (Westport, CT) PUGWASH, which finished right behind in every race. "We’d come off the starting line and two miles later we were only two boat lengths ahead," said Mark Ploch (City Island, NY) whose job it is to concentrate on boat speed. "With the boats all stacked together, I’d say it was a combination of things that kept us ahead, great teamwork, Stu Johnstone's (Newport, RI) remarkable tactical calls and Mike's and Tom’s ability to concentrate on the long beats."  Regatta favorite Andrew Weiss sailed a solid three races but could not crack the top 2, getting a 3-4-3 to take third position after the first day. 

A former J/105 champion, Phil Lotz (Newport, RI) sailing ARETHUSA posted three bullets in as many races in the 15-boat NYYC Swan 42 class, further attributing his stellar performance to "essentially good starts and speed, and conservative plays, which were more or less up the middle of the course." Another J/80 and J/105 champion, Glenn Darden (Houston, TX) was second in the same class sailing HOSS. In fact, Glenn was fresh off a win the previous weekend in the SailNewport Regatta sailing his J/80 EL TIGRE against an impressive fleet of former J/80 North American and World Champions.

Other leaders with perfect scores over the three races on Saturday included Bob Armstrong (St. Croix) on the J/100 GOOD GIRL in the PHRF 1 class. Bob had this to say about his two J/100s, "Good Girls get to live in Newport, Bad Girls get to live in the Caribbean".  And a "good girl" she was, simply eviscerating their PHRF 1 contemporaries with a 1-1-1 record.

The other common theme on the first day of sailing was "defending champions"- most of them emerged to maintain leadership in their respective J/105 and J/109 classes.  Defending Race Week champion Damian Emery (Shoreham, Ny) won two of three races on ECLIPSE in the J/105 class, sailing for its East Coast championship and the largest at the event with 20 boats.  Chasing Damian hard on the first day was class veteran Joerg Esdorn (Katanah, NY) sailing to a 6-2-1 record and just behind was another class champion/ veteran Brian Keane (Marblehead, MA) sailing SAVASANA to a 3-3-5 tally to be just two point back.

The J/109s, which were fighting for their North American title, were led Saturday by defending Race Week champion Ted Herlihy (South Darmouth, MA) after he posted a 2-1-1 with GUT FEELING.  Just behind them was David Filippelli's (Amagansett, NY) CAMINOS with a 3-2-2 score and in third was GOSSIP, sailed by Steve Kenny & Greg Ames (Wainscott, NY) with a 1-3-4 record.

On Sunday, Newport served up three more races in dazzling conditions that were similar to Saturday's sailing. By the conclusion of Sunday's racing, it was clear that competitors were aware of the early leaders and ensured that none of them could repeat their performances of the previous day...in other words, no one had perfect records the second day.  Perhaps the only near exception was the Boyle/Bruno team on the J/122 WINGS, which nearly pulled off a "hat-trick" again with a 2-1-1 score Sunday. 

As it turns out the six races sailed on Saturday and Sunday were the final results for the event.  Monday dawned with a terrible forecast, light southerlies with a front pushing in from the west that could swing the wind WNW and throw in a few hailstorms, thunderstorms and heavy showers for good measure.  The NOAA forecast was not wrong.  Both courses canceled all races Monday as the front pushed in with winds gusting over thirty knots with lightning bolts spraying all over the race course and curtains of rain hiding the entire fleet from one another, hiding some of the typical damage like torn sails, huge broaches with bruised egos, busted vangs and the sort.

In the end, the Boyle/Bruno team on WINGS won the J/122 North American Championship with a remarkable record of five firsts and a second.  In behind them was a vastly improved team on PUGWASH, led by skipper/owner David Murphy and a crackerjack team of sailors giving the WINGS team a serious run for the money (including an 8 tack tacking-duel in one race) to count five seconds and a first.  Third was the always well-sailed CHRISTOPHER DRAGON led by Andrew Weiss, proving yet again a well-honed family team can be very competitive, sailing into third with five thirds and a fourth.

The J/109s saw a repeat winner for their J/109 North Americans.  Ted Herlihy's GUT FEELING is overall champion with three firsts, two seconds and a fourth.  Second was Dave Filippelli's CAMINOS with three seconds and three thirds.  Third was Steve Kenny and Greg Ames' GOSSIP with a 1-3-4-2-3 score.  As it is in many one-design events, consistency, speed and the ability to recover paid off big in the J/109 class.  At times, any one of the top three boats looked like it was "toast", but a bit of serendipity, perseverance and the right shift/ tactical move paid off big to keep them in the hunt.

A previous winner of the J/105 East Coast Championship, Damian Emery's ECLIPSE, seemingly found another gear after their lackluster performance the week before at the SailNewport regatta.  ECLIPSE won by 14 points with a 1-1-4-1-3-1 record.  Never far off the pace was another J/105 class champion, Joerg Esdorn's KINCSEM, with a 6-2-1-4-5-7 score.  Rounding out the stellar cast of characters (champions, too) on the podium was another J/105 North American champ, Brian Keane's SAVASANA with a 3-3-5-12-1-5 tally.  The J/105 Class is wishing Brian's J/80 SAVASANA team "good luck" in the upcoming J/80 North Americans and Worlds this fall.

Bob Armstrong and the "good guys and good girls" team sailed their fire-engine red J/100 GOOD GIRL to a PHRF 1 dominating performance, racking up an enviable 1-1-1-2-2-1 record for 8 points to dominate some well-known local boats like SETTLER and ACT ONE.  Bob- whatever happened in those two second places? 

Finally, it's worth mentioning that J class one-design champions who've cut their teeth racing J/24s, J/80s, J/105s and so forth swept the NYYC Swan 42 class- with Phil Lotz's ARETHUSA winning, followed by Glenn Darden's HOSS and John Hele's DARING.  In other words, you can never go wrong starting with strong J one-design classes to learn what it takes to win in larger one-design keelboats (some are still learning- Larry and Ernesto sound familiar?)!   For more Rolex NYYC Race Week sailing information