(Stamford, CT)- Labor Day weekend's Vineyard Race was a classic. This
238-mile course stretches from Shippan Point through the swirling
currents of The Race, past Block Island, and on to the light tower at
the entrance to Buzzard's Bay. Once reached, sailors return by leaving
Block Island to starboard en route to the finish in Stamford Harbor.
This year, a massive offshore Low was spinning away, producing strong
Northerly winds that ultimately swung East as the fleet rounded Buzzards
Bay Tower. Needless to say, under such idyllic conditions, several
records were broken.
The
race had many J/teams from J/97s up to J/160s. Of the 103 keelboats
registered to sail this weekend, twenty-six were J/crews (representing
one-quarter of the fleet)! The race has expanded its format to include
three races being run simultaneously. The “classic” is the “round
Buzzards Bay Tower” and back. The two additions are the Cornfield Point
Course (the shortest) and the Seaflower Reef Course (middle distance).
Remarkably, J/crews won virtually every division they were sailing in
on every single race track!Winning the PHRF 2 class in the Cornfield Point course was John Krediet’s J/97 PARTICIPANT II from Stamford, CT.
Winning the PHRF 3 Doublehanded class in the Seaflower Reef course was Greg Imbruce’s J/109 JOYRIDE. On the same track, sweeping the top six in PHRF 4 class were all J/crews- 1st was Frank Conway’s J/105 RAPTOR, 2nd Al Minella’s J/88 ALBONDIGAS, 3rd Iris Vogel’s J/88 DEVIATION, 4th John Pearson’s J/88 RED SKY, Todd Aven’s J/92 THIN MAN, and 6th Ken & Drew Hall’s J/88 NEVERMORE.
On the “classic” Vineyard Race track, Gardner Grant’s famous J/120 ALIBI crushed it in IRC 5 Doublehanded class. In PHRF Class 7, American YC’s Young American Jr Big Boat Team, took 2nd place racing their J/105 YOUNG AMERICAN!
Then, in PHRF 8 class Chris Nicholls’ J/109 RHIANNON took 4th, Jim Farrell’s J/35 SAPPHIRE 5th, and Mike Greene’s J/35 LOBLOLLY 6th place!
PHRF
9 class saw J/crews sweep the top two spots and take 6 of the top 8!
Winning was Greg Leonard’s J/120 HERON, 2nd was William Ingraham’s J/124
TENEBRAE. Fourth was Brian Spears’ J/120 MADISON, 5th John Greifzu’s
J/109 GROWTH SPURT, 6th the Young American Jr Big Boat crew on the J/120
VAREKAI, and 8th was Steven Levy’s J/120 EAGLE.Winning PHRF 10 class MaryEllen Tortorello’s J/111 PARTNERSHIP, followed by John Donovan’s J/111 LIBERTAS in 3rd place, Abhijeet Lele’s J/111 VARUNA in 4th and Kevin Kelley’s J/122 SUMMER GRACE in 5th place.
Finally, winning IRC 11 class Len Sitar’s J/44 VAMP followed by SUNY Maritime’s CHARLIE V in 4th place..
Follow the Vineyard Race on Facebook here For more Vineyard Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
|
