(Rye, New York)- The American YC Spring Series is the traditional
“opener” for the Long Island Sound offshore sailing season. This
spring-time event held over the weekends of April 25-26 and May 2-3 can
have the entire range of sailing experiences. From boiling hot, total
glass-outs that Long Island can be famous for in the summer to
spectacular, crystal-clear days of sailing in 8-12 kt winds or even
thunder, lightning and hail with winds blowing dogs off chains with rain
serving as horizontal bullets pelting your cheeks, one never knows what
to expect in the spring on the Sound.No matter the weather forecast, the boats are dusted off after having been buried in mounds of snow all winter and the boats from around the western Sound gather together for their first weekend of sailing at American YC’s wonderfully warm, hospitable location on their peninsula in Rye, NY. There were lots of J’s participating in the series, in fact 52 of the total of 85 boats (61% total) in both one-design classes (J/70, J/105, J/109, J/44) and offshore handicap classes (J/88s, J/111s, J/122s, J/133).
This year’s two weekend were marked by super light and fluky conditions most of the time. In the offshore IRC 2 Class, it was Mike Bruno & Jim Callahan’s J/122 WINGS that sailed a nice series to grab 2nd in class. Their friend John Pearson on the J/122 RED SKY crushed it in the last four races (a 2-3-1-1) to climb onto the podium to secure 3rd in class.
PHRF 1 Division was treated to an amazing display of speed, seamanship, and tactical superiority by the two J/111s. Repeating a past win was Paul Strauch’s ANDIAMO, screaming home to a class win with a closing 1-1-2-1 tally to take the class with 15 pts. Just off the mark on the last day was Sedgwick Ward’s BRAVO, recuperating well enough to hold onto third and some more pickle dishes for the trophy case.
The teams in PHRF 2 must have wished there were no J/88s and J/29s sailing against them. Loving the conditions both weekends and fresh off her big win in Charleston Race Week was Iris Vogel’s J/88 DEVIATION, winning four of nine races and taking an emphatic class win with just 13 pts net. Second was the always-fast J/29 masthead SMOKIN J sailed by Tom & Julie Sinatra, winning three races themselves. Fourth was Kevin Marks’ J/88 VELOCITY with 34 pts and sixth was Jason Viseltear’s J/80 UPSETTER.
While a big fleet of J/70s were sailing on the Chesapeake Bay and struggling with “de minimus” weather, the Long Island Sound J/70s were able to post 8 races over the two weekends with an excellent fleet of 15 boats (the largest fleet in the regatta). Going fast was Peter Duncan’s RELATIVE OBSCURITY, counting six wins on their scorecard to easily win the event with a mere 9 pts. Scott & Alex Furnary’s ANY COLOUR were easily in the hunt for the lead after the first weekend, but somehow discovered a case of the “slows” the second weekend, falling off pace to just barely hold onto second overall for the series with 18 pts. Sailing steadily both weekends were Madelyn & Megan Plock on SUGAR DADDY, counting all top four finishes for 19 pts total. The balance of the top five were Carrie & Ed Austin on CHINOOK in 4th and Andrew Shea’s SHAKE’N’BAKE in 5th.
The
J/105s had a good showing with ten boats with many of the Sound’s top
teams in attendance. Paul Beaudin’s LOU LOU had a three-way fight for
the lead with George & Alex Wilbanks’ REVELATION and the AYC JR Big
Boat Team on YOUNG AMERICAN. In the end, LOU LOU prevailed by just two
points over the REVELATION gang, while “the kids” took a well-deserved
third place! Fourth was the team of Harald Edegran & Jeremy
Henderson on CONUMDRUM and only one point further back in 5th was Za
& Libby Jelliffe’s ARETE.Sporting a bit of a comeback on the Sound were the J/109s, with a nice fleet of ten boats making it to the starting line for both weekends. To say the top five places would be as easy to predict as the Kentucky Derby would be crazy. In fact, the top six boats traded places so many times from race to race that enormous bottles of Advil and beer were being consumed by tacticians at the end of each day, such was the level of anxiety! After what seemed like six Tasmanian Devils whipping up a dust-up between them, emerging from the clouds of battle was Carl Olsson’s MORNING GLORY with 25 pts to take the J/109 crown. Bridesmaid somewhat reluctantly must’ve been Jim Vos’ SKOOT, posting a “dumb-bell” scoreline of great races at either end, but some brain fades in the middle. Nevertheless, SKOOT was on the redemption trail in the last two races with a 2-1 but it was not enough to chase down MORNING GLORY, losing out the top spot by one point. Similarly, Adrian Begley’s MAD DOGS & ENGLISHMEN had a slow first weekend, but came on strong the second weekend to nearly pull off a win. However, after winning two races in a row, they closed with a 5-3 to settle for third with 27 pts. Fourth went to Steve Chronert’s ZUMA with 29 pts and fifth was secured by Bill Rogers’ BIG BOAT with 30 pts. Jonathan Rechtshaffer’s EMOTICON crew got the short end of those battles, scoring 31 pts for 6th.
The J/44 Class continues to enjoy excellent competition and it seems that each weekend produces a different winner and, amazingly, a different top three! Sailing like a mad-dog possessed was Phil Gutin’s BEAGLE, nailing three bullets in 8 races to take home the crown by just one point over Don & Dick Rave’s RESOLUTE. Having a legitimate shot at the top of the podium was Jeff Willis’ CHALLENGE IV, but a last race DSQ tossed them out of the running, leaving them in 3rd overall. Bill Ketcham’s MAXINE snagged fourth and Len Sitar’s VAMP place 5th. For more American YC Spring Series sailing information
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