J/122, J/109s, J/120s, J/92 Winners IRC/ PHRF
(Stamford, CT)- Imagine fifteen classes of offshore keelboats racing
from the middle of Long Island Sound, out through the infamous "Race",
out around Buzzards Tower and back, then imagine one brand of boats and
their fun-loving owners that passionately enjoy the sport of sailing and
you most likely have a pretty good recipe for success on a race course
that provides its participants the ultimate challenge in all-around
sailing. That's exactly what happened in this year's edition of the
Vineyard Race. Six class wins by one brand, nearly 50% of the podium
silverware went to J owners across the spectrum.
Labor
Day weekend's Vineyard Race is a classic American yachting event; a
238-mile course stretching from Shippan Point, through the swirling
currents of the Race or Plum Gut, past Block Island, and on to the light
tower at the entrance to Buzzard's Bay, to return leaving Block Island
to starboard en route to the finish in Stamford Harbor. Begun in 1932,
it has attracted the finest sailors and fastest boats for over 70 years,
and its intricacies and challenges bring them back time after time.
Those who are successful nearly always credit local knowledge of these
tricky waters and a good deal of luck. The event now has three courses
to accommodate the needs of various sailors, from the shorter Cornfield
Point course, to the middle-distance Seaflower Reef course, to the
original Vineyard course.The formula for winning was apparently straightforward for most of the class winners. Andrew Weiss' J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON was perhaps the textbook example of how to win. On the way out, most of the faster boats sailed rhumbline towards the Race. Going through the eastern end of Long Island Sound, DRAGON went just north of Plum Island and south of Gull Island, staying in stronger southerly breezes with better current. From there DRAGON sailed down the middle of channel between Point Judith and Block Island, staying further to right (south) of the fleet. After rounding Buzzards Towers at the opening of Buzzards Bay, DRAGON headed off on starboard tack for several miles offshore before tacking onto port tack and laying the Block Island mark. From there, DRAGON headed through Plum Gut between Plum Island and Orient Point and stayed just south of rhumbline headed back to finish line off Stamford's Shippan Point.
On the middle-distance Seaflower Reef Course with three PHRF divisions, Todd Aven's J/92 THIN MAN won PHRF S3, followed by Dave Spence's J/105 SYNERGY in third and Mike Sullivan's J/33 SIRIUS in 4th.
The
long-distance Vineyard Course had both IRC and PHRF divisions. The IRC
Doublehanded group was won by Hewitt Gaynor's J/120 MIRIELLE, followed
by Jason Richter's J/35 PALADIN in third (pictured here).IRC 35 class saw Dave Rosow's J/109 LOKI win followed by Mark Parry and Lawrence McGrath's J/35 BLUE MOUSE in third and by Mike Sleightholme's J/109 in fourth.
IRC 40 class saw Andrew Weiss' family crew on the J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON sail a terrific race to easily win their class, followed by Norm Schulman's J/44 CHARLIE V in fifth.
IRC
45 class had Tom Carroll's well-campaigned J/133 SIREN SONG finish
third. IRC 50 class saw Mark Hansen's beautiful J/145 SWEET LORRAINE
finish 5th in a very competitive class of Long Island Sound's top
offshore racing teams.PHRF 8 class was won by Cao Deambrosio's J/109 RHIANNON III. PHRF 9 class was won by Steve Levy's J/120 EAGLE, leading home a pack of J/120s that included George Petrides AVRA in third and Joe Healey's SOULMATE in fourth. For more Stamford-Vineyard Race sailing information
