(Newport, RI)- Known as the "triathlon of ocean racing", The Onion Patch
Series is a diverse three-event series of international races that
challenge the complete range of a yacht's capabilities and a racing
crew's skills. Yachts compete in the Onion Patch for both individual and
three-boat team prizes.The Onion Patch starts out with the high-level competition of the New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta, with a focus on fast-paced, round the buoys racing. The Series then moves on to the historic ocean racing of the Newport Bermuda Race, complete with the challenges of the Gulf Stream and the joys of "Happy Valley" in the approach to Bermuda. As a fitting reward, the Onion Patch concludes with Royal Bermuda Yacht Club's Anniversary Regatta's delightful and exuberant racing on the Great Sound and surrounding bays and harbors.
Among the three-boat teams racing for the Onion Patch Trophy the NYYC Red is in second place with 37 points led by Andrew Weiss's J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, the famous M&R 48 CARINA skippered by NYYC Rear Commodore Rives Potts, and Jim Bishop's J/44 GOLD DIGGER. This trio of boats all have class wins and even overall wins in the Bermuda Race St David's Lighthouse Division; we expect to hear good things from this team after the smoke clears on the fields of battle on the onion patches in Bermuda!
Lenny Sitar's J/44 VAMP had a brilliant weekend in the New York Yacht Club 158th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex but is still 13th in the Onion Patch Series. "I just did what I was told by my tactician," Sitar said. " I had a great crew and they pointed the way to go and I just had to do my job driving the boat. We caught up with the Class 4 boats who started ahead of us, so we know we were doing well." Sitar and crew came first in class and first in the Blue Circle fleet. VAMP sailed in IRC Class 5 and on Sunday they sailed in the Blue Circle on the Rhode Island Sound. The White Circle went up Narragansett Bay looking for wind there while the bigger boats went outside.
Rives Potts, skipper CARINA, tied with Sitar for the regatta and both had a first and a second for three points. The official results list VAMP in first and CARINA in second.
On the White Course, CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, Andrew Weiss's J/122 is sixth in the Onion Patch Series. She was the top Onion Patch boat for the Annual Regatta on that circle. Matt Brooks' Classic S&S yawl DORADE was the second in the annual Regatta, but stands ninth in the series. For more Bermuda Onion Patch Series sailing information
