(Newport, RI)- This coming weekend the 161st 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 12-14, and hosted by the New York Yacht
Club at its on-the-water clubhouse, Harbour Court, in Newport, RI. The
fleet may be treated to good breezes all weekend long with a seabreeze
on Friday for a quick round-trip of the classic Round Conanicut Island
Race and for the weekend, variable winds from the north, east and south
with seabreeze development.The single largest offshore one-design fleet ever assembled in New York YC Annual Regatta history will be the J/111 class of nineteen boats. As part of their preparation for the J/111 World Championship taking place next week, many of the twenty-five boats entered in that regatta are using the fun weekend of sailing off Newport to familiarize themselves with the weather conditions in Rhode Island Sound. Take any one of the teams mentioned above in the J/111 World’s review and you will get an idea of what each team is facing for the weekend’s competition. The most challenging event for eleven of the teams will certainly be Friday’s Round Conanicut Island race- a 20nm circumnavigation around Narragansett Bay that has seen some of the world’s top sailing teams simply implode because of the tricky currents and shifty breezes.
In the IRC division, there will be a trio of well-sailed J/122s in IRC 4 class that includes Mike Bruno’s WINGS (a past NYYC winner from American YC in Rye, NY), Paul Milo’s ORION (from NYYC and Leesburg, VA) and Rupert & Jan Thouron’s DUNDER (from Middlesex, VT). The J/44s that are racing include WHITE GOLD sailed by Jim Bishop in IRC 3 class and the others in IRC 4 class are Jack Neades and a US Coast Guard Academy crew on GLORY and Chris Lewis from Houston, TX on KENAI.
The IRC 5 class features several top 35 footers from the J drawing board, including the J/35 LEADING EDGE sailed by Tom Sutton from Houston, TX and a trio of J/109s getting ready for their J/109 North Americans at Block Island Race Week: Carl Olsson’s MORNING GLORY, Bill Sweetser’s RUSH (a past J/109 NA Champion and NYYC winner) and Brooke Mastrorio’s URSA from Lakeville, MA.
In the PHRF Navigators Division, the three J/105s will have several well-traveled teams in attendance, including Mark & Jolene Masur sailing TWO FEATHERS from Ft Worth Boat Club in Ft Worth, TX; Donald Santa’s SANTAS REIGN DEAR from Annapolis YC in Annapolis, MD; and Fred Darlington’s TONTO from East Greenwich YC in East Greenwich, RI. Joining them are Kenn Fischburg’s J/111 WILD CHILD from Stonington Harbor YC, Marcus Cholerton-Brown’s J/120 SUNSET CHILD, EC Helme’s J/92S SPIRIT from Coasters Harbor YC, Dawson Hodgson’s J/100 GRIMACE from New York YC, Brian Kiley’s J/29 MEDDLER X from Rhode Island YC, and the Barker/ McVicker/ Ryan trio aboard the J/24 NIGHTHAWK from SailNewport. For more Rolex New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information
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