(Newport, RI) - A highlight of the Newport summer offshore season is the
only round trip distance race to begin and end in Newport, the Ida
Lewis Distance Race. The event, which enjoyed its seventh edition this
year, is a qualifier for the 2011 New England Lighthouse Series (PHRF);
Northern and Double-Handed Ocean Racing Trophies (IRC); and the US-IRC
Gulf Stream Series. Furthermore, the race incorporates something that
was a first amongst all known offshore races- the Youth Challenge. The
Youth Challenge is comprised of teams that have more than 40% junior
sailors to qualify for a special trophy. In fact, one of the fastest
growing divisions in this end of summer event is the Doublehanded PHRF
Division!There are five courses the RC can choose from depending on wind and weather conditions that range from 70 nm to 150 nm. This year the IRC Class sailed the longest version, the 150 nm Block Island Course. Sailing in this class were two J/122s, Marc Glimcher's CATAPULT and George Shaw's TUMBLEWEED, they finished fourth and seventh in class, respectively.
The 104 nm Buzzards Tower course was used for the Doublehanders. The top boats made it back to Newport by 6:00 a.m. after starting on Friday off Forth Adams at 1:05 p.m., with the rest of the 35 boat fleet. Jason Richter’s (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) J/35 PALADIN sailed a very solid race which turned out to be a sprint for them, finishing second overall.
In the PHRF Class, the largest class in the fleet with 20 boats, the fleet sailed the No-Man's Course (122 nm). The J/111 FLEETWING sailed by Bob Johnstone and crew sailed the race in just over 19 hours-- a fairly fast pace. “After rounding Sakonnet Point Bell we decided to stay on the offshore (southern side) of our competitors to hopefully get some better breeze on the windward beat in S/SW winds to Montauk Point Bell. That strategy seemed to work out pretty well,” said Johnstone. "Furthermore", he said, "the highlight of the race had to be the bright moon-lit night providing us a brilliant path towards the No-Man's Bell, the numerous meteor showers and the pod of porpoises playing in our wake and diving under the boat leaving blazing phosphorescent trails behind them made for a spectacular and memorable evening!" By the time FLEETWING passed the R-2 Brenton Reef Bell before turning into the East Passage to finish the race off Ida Lewis YC in Newport Harbor, it was clear the J/111 had a strong opportunity to win PHRF overall. However, a strong, late-filling S-SW breeze of 7-12 knots after 9:00 am enabled two other boats to take advantage of FLEETWING's finish in light 2-4 kt winds and beat her on corrected time by just 11 minutes! As a result, FLEETWING earned a tough third place overall in the fleet of twenty boats.
For more Ida Lewis Distance Race sailing information
