(Newport, RI)- This coming weekend the 160th New York YC Regatta
presented by Rolex will be hosting sailing’s biggest players on
Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound. The three-day event,
distinguished as America’s oldest continually run regatta, is scheduled
for Friday through Sunday, June 13-15, and hosted by the New York Yacht
Club at its on-the-water clubhouse, Harbour Court, in Newport, RI. So
far, the fleet may be blessed with 8-15 kt winds all weekend long and,
with any luck, may provide the “round island” racers on Friday a quick
romp around Conanicut Island.Team Alvimedica, the Rhode Island-led team preparing for the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, will debut its just-launched Volvo Ocean 65 in the Around-the-Island Race on Friday. Leading the charge on-board is skipper Charlie Enright, a top J/24 sailor from the famous Newport J/24 Fleet on Narragansett Bay! Needless to say, they will be applying their years of experience sailing against the world’s best J/24 sailors to ensure they sail well this weekend!
For
this classic event, many of the 24 J’s racing will also be in
preparation for the upcoming Bermuda Race. In the IRC Classes, the
queen of the J fleet will be Jonathan Bamberger’s J/145 SPITFIRE from
National YC in Toronto, Canada. They will be facing a trio well-sailed
J/122s that include Mike Bruno’s WINGS (a past NYYC winner from American
YC in Rye, NY), Jamey Shachoy’s AUGUST WEST (from Beverly YC in Marion,
MA) and Paul Milo’s ORION (from NYYC and Leesburg, VA). The J/44s will
be racing as class and IRC, including the renowned GOLD DIGGER sailed
by Jim Bishop, Jack Neades and a US Coast Guard Academy crew on GLORY,
famous J/105 sailors Joerg Esdorn & Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM, Len
Sitar sailing VAMP and Chris Lewis (from Lakewood YC in Houston, TX).
After spending her entire winter in the Caribbean, Marcus
Cholerton-Brown will be sailing his J/120 SUNSET CHILD and may have to
contend with two championship winning J/109s- Bill Sweetser’s RUSH (from
Annapolis YC in Annapolis, MD) and Ted Herlihy’s GUT FEELING (from New
Bedford YC in S Dartmouth, MA).In the PHRF classes, the J/105s will have several well-traveled teams in attendance, including Mark Lindquist’s STERLING (Beverly YC), Fed Darlington (East Greenwich YC) and Mark & Jolene Masur sailing TWO FEATHERS from Ft Worth Boat Club in Ft Worth, TX).
While the J/111s will be racing in PHRF handicap, they will also be scored as one-design. The J/111s should have a pretty evenly matched fleet as most teams have all finished on the podium over the past season, including Doug Curtiss’s WICKED 2.0 from New Bedford YC in S Dartmouth, MA; Fred Van Liew & David Brodsky’s ODYSSEY from NYYC and Newport, RI; and Sedgwick Ward sailing BRAVO from Shelter Island YC. After winning their class in the first major J/111 regatta on the Solent, the dynamic duo of Chris Jones and Louise Makin (from Royal Southern YC in Hamble, England) will test their mettle against some of the top East Coast teams sailing the newly-launched WILD CHILD.
In the “Navigators” classes (both PHRF & ORR), the teams will be sailing “random leg” courses around government marks all over Narragansett Bay and offshore in Rhode Island Sound. In the ORR group is the J/42 ARROWHEAD sailed by Steve Berlack from NYYC and Franconia, NH. One-third of the fifteen boat fleet in PHRF are J’s, including Dawson Hodgson’s J/100 GRIMACE from NYYC and Slocum, RI; the J/24
NIGHTHAWK
sailed by Richard Barker from Sail Newport in Newport, RI; the J/29
MEDDLER X skippered by Brian Kiley from Rhode Island YC and Cranston,
RI; and the J/92s SPIRIT sailed by E.C. Helme from Coasters Harbor Navy
YC and Newport, RI.Finally in the cool to amazingly awesome department, you armchair sailors, navigators, strategists and tacticians may be able to replay the race in 3D on RaceQs.com. Go there after racing each day to see 3D replays of all racing classes on all three race courses! For more New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information
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