J/Teams Predominate In Class/ Overall(Larchmont, New York)- They have done it again facing the most extraordinary odds; and they overcame all manner of challenges to pull off yet another stunning victory in their class and overall. If you may recall, the American Yacht Club Junior Offshore Team have seemingly made the extraordinary seem ordinary. After winning the Stamford Vineyard Race on a club member’s J/122 PATRIOT last year (seen here), they can now add 1st in PHRF 2 Class and 1st PHRF Overall sailing their J/105 YOUNG AMERICAN in the Edlu Distance Race. As a result, they also picked up the Commodore Wilfred Kluss Trophy for the PHRF yacht with the best-corrected time.
Larchmont Yacht Club’s 60th Annual Edlu distance race was held on Saturday May 9, in pea soup fog with visibility of only about one-quarter mile. Thirty-seven yachts from fourteen yacht clubs competed in six divisions of IRC and PHRF ratings. The course for the IRC and PHRF spinnaker boats was approximately 32 miles to Buoy 11B off Eaton’s Neck/Stamford. The non-spinnaker division sailed a 16.4-mile course to the red bell off Lloyd’s Neck. The first start went off at 0911 in an easterly breeze of 8-10 knots with a flooding tide. The final boat crossed the finish line off the Larchmont breakwater just a few minutes before the time limit of 7 p.m. to hearty cheers from the Race Committee.
In this year’s race, the fog was the real challenge – several boats withdrew after reporting to the Race Committee that they had rounded the wrong mark due to poor visibility. According to sailmaker Butch Ulmer from UK Sails, “Navigation became the key since every boat was sailing in a 200-yard bubble with no sense of what was going on around them!”
According to Doug Mckeige, the “adult supervision” on board the J/105 YOUNG AMERICAN, “the kids really had a fun time sailing the race. It was quite a challenge for them, especially working on their charts, navigation, currents and strategy. My son Will was on board along with a bunch of his junior sailing buddies- Hector McKemy, Richard O’Leary, Malcolm, TJ and Chris. We mixed up the roles along the race to ensure everyone had a hand in trying the various roles on the boat. In the end, Will and Hector did most of the driving. It was tough on anyone wearing glasses to be peering through the thick fog for so long!”
Whether they knew it or not, the YOUNG AMERICANS had another J/105 hot on their tail for most of the race, Za & Libby Jelliffe’s ARETE, finishing only two minutes behind them to take 2nd in Class/ 2nd Overall! Other J/Teams did well in PHRF 2 including George & Alex Wilbanks’ J/105 REVELATION in 5th, Ken Hall’s J/100 NEVERMORE in 6th, Bill Komaroff’s J/100 TEXAS ROSE in 7th and Russ Stokes’ J/88 BLUE FOR YOU in 8th.
Former LYC Commodore Carl Olsson won first place in PHRF 1 Class in his new J/109 MORNING GLORY. He also won the AYC Spring series in his first outing in the new boat. Dr. Olsson has won the Edlu trophy twice, in 2005 and 2013. They were followed by another J/109, Paul Steinborn’s 3 CHEERS in 3rd place.
In PHRF Double Handed division, half the class was J duos. Sailing another good race was Todd Aven’s J/92 THIN MAN, taking the silver. Only 47 seconds back on corrected time and placing third in class was Marcus Wunderlich’s J/105 STRATOS, Two more J/105s filled out the top five, including Marc Berkowitz’s CLEAN SLATE in 4th and Charlie Cannam’s ENGARDE in 5th.
PHRF Non-Spinnaker had a nice fleet of boats and Chris Roe’s J/32 ECLIPSE managed a 3rd in class.
The IRC Division saw just nine boats sailing. Making the most of “flying blind” at 9 kts was John Pearson’s J/122 RED SKY, taking 4th in class. Feeling their way through the “pea soup” and getting home safely to tell a few sea stories was Cory Eaves J/109 FREEDOM in 7th place. For more Edlu Distance Race sailing information
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