J/111 EAGLES DARE Wins Double-handed Class(Newport, RI)– The Ida Lewis Distance Race, a popular sailing overnighter hosted by Ida Lewis Yacht Club in Newport, R.I., wrapped up its 11th edition this weekend with the entire 36-boat fleet finishing within the time limit – a stark contrast to last year when many entries had to retire due to inclement weather.
The race started Friday (August 14) at 12:30 p.m. off Fort Adams, near the mouth of Newport Harbor, with a steady breeze and calm seas that remained consistent on two courses: the 153-nautical mile Block Island Course for the IRC Class and the 121-nautical mile Point Judith Course for PHRF and Doublehanded Classes.
Although the fleet was divided on two courses, all boats had to incorporate an approximately 37nm upwind leg from Buzzards Bay to Montauk Point off the eastern end of Long Island, New York. The “tricky beat” called for teams to decide whether to head right or left around Block Island; most boats chose the left because of the wind angles.
The Youth Challenge saw a repeat victory with Fred Van Liew’s (Middletown, R.I.) J/111 team aboard ODYSSEY winning the Arent H. Kits van Heyningen Trophy for the second year in a row. When asked about how her experience on ODYSSEY differed this year compared to last, 18-year-old Kate Nota (Newport, R.I.) said, “We definitely approached racing with a different mindset. Last year, the wind was pretty crazy. With calmer conditions this year, we were able to focus on all the little details and make every second count. It’s good to have different conditions to test us as sailors and build up our experience.”
The Youth Challenge was developed by the race organizers nine years ago as a stepping stone for junior sailors interested in transitioning into offshore racing. This year, the Youth Challenge hosted five teams. (To qualify, more than 40% of the crew had to have reached their 14th birthday but not turned 20 prior to August 15, 2015.)
Nota added that the ODYSSEY team consisted of seven junior sailors and two adults: Van Liew and David Brodsky. “We had a few junior sailors on our team that were new to the event and one who had never sailed in an overnight race before, so it was fun to go through the experience with them and see how excited they were.”
In the PHRF A Division, the J/109s URSA (Brooke Mastrorio) and VENTO SOLARE (Bill Kneller) took 3rd and 4th place, respectively. Just behind them, Paul Grimes’ J/35 BREAKAWAY placed fifth and was the 2nd Youth Challenge team overall. Then, in 7th place was Doug Mckeige’s J/88 JAZZ with a Youth Challenge team that took the 3rd spot in that group.
The PHRF B division had six J/Teams, basically 60% of the class. Taking 2nd was Jack Gregg’s J/122 TARAHUMARA, followed by Greg Leonard’s J/120 HERON in third position. Yet another J/120, Bob Manchester’s VAMOOSE took 6th, followed by Dan Heun’s J/122 MOXIEE in 7th.
Finally, in the PHRF Doublehanded division, the J/111 EAGLES DARE skippered by Jonathan Green from Wakefield, MA took class honors.
Starting Line Sponsors for the 2015 Ida Lewis Distance Race include Bluewater Technologies, the City of Newport, Helly Hansen, New England Boatworks and Newport Shipyard; Contributing Sponsors are DYT Yacht Transport, Flint Audio & Video, Gosling’s Rum, Mac Designs, Toni Mills Graphic Design, Triton Insurance, North Sails, Rig Pro Southern Spars and Stella Artois. Sailing photo credits- Megan Sepe/ Newport. For more Ida Lewis Distance Race sailing information
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