(Newport, RI)- The forecast was not the rosiest one might expect for an
offshore race. However, with an impending front with rain showers
forecast to roll into New England over the next twenty-four hours after
the start, the slowly strengthening south to southwesterly winds
eventually gave the fleet a reasonably quick race. In the end, the
entire J/fleet finished before noon time in the 120nm long track they
were given- start to “NB” buoy (traffic separation scheme buoy at the
entrance to Narragansett Bay), then east to Buzzards Tower, back west to
Montauk Bell, back east to Buzzards Tower, then round “NB” again to the
finish. A simple course, but devilish in the details on how to
maximize VMG (both upwind and downwind)!Fifty-plus teams raced the 14th annual Ida Lewis Distance Race that started August 17th in the Eastern Passage of Narragansett Bay between Jamestown and Rose Island in Newport, RI. Starting first, fast out of the blocks was David Southwell’s J/121 ALCHEMY, taking the lead right off the starting line in the PHRF Doublehanded Class and never looking back, winning their fleet on corrected by over three hours.
Then,
in the PHRF A Spinnaker division were three more J/121 sisterships. In
their inaugural race, it was Greg Manning’s SARAH that took J/121
honors and was second on corrected, just a few minutes off from the
lead. Though finishing only ten minutes back on elapsed time, Don
Nicholson’s APOLLO finished 5th on corrected. What was fascinating
about this duel was the differences in performance from the Montauk
Point mark back east to the Buzzards Tower mark- a long starboard tack
reach/ run under spinnakers. After the first four legs, APOLLO was
leading boat-for-boat. However, Manning’s SARAH sailed lower and faster
on the long leg back to Buzzards, passing APOLLO to leeward.
Thereafter, it was close-reaching back to the “NB” entrance buoy to
Narragansett Bay, then a quick spinnaker run to the finish.All five (5) J/Crews in PHRF Spinnaker B simply eclipsed their class, occupying all top five spots. Perhaps unprecedented in offshore sailing history, all teams sailed hard and fast and it was a duel to the finish on handicapped time for every boat. Winning was Bob Manchester’s J/120 VAMOOSE, followed by just 57 seconds (!) by Greg Slamowitz’s J/111 MANITOU in second, Paul Grimes’ race-winning J/35 BREAKAWAY Collegiate in third, Bill Kneller’s veterans on the J/109 VENTO SOLARE in 4th and “the kids” on the J/105 YOUNG AMERICAN YCC YOUTH taking 5th! Congrats to all, an amazing performance overall! For more Ida Lewis Distance Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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