(Greenwich, CT)- Hosted by the Indian Harbor Yacht Club, 2019 marked the 64th edition of this classic 46.0nm race. Run annually, the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend, competitors typically race to Stratford Shoal and back. The nickname "Gearbuster" attests to the usually boisterous weather sailors enjoy in October on Western Long Island Sound. The racing includes fully crewed and double-handed divisions, plus a shorter 19.0nm course for non-spinnaker divisions.
Twenty J/Teams (35.0%) participated in a field of fifty-seven offshore boats in all classes. In virtually every division that had a J/Crew sailing, they either won, podiumed, or swept the podium.
STRATFORD SHOAL RACE
Starting with PHRF 1 Doublehanded Class, J/Crews swept this podium handily. Winning was Barry Purcell’s J/27 LUCIDA by ten minutes corrected over Josh Burack’s J/105 PEREGRINA. Third just SIX seconds astray was Sara & Josh Reisberg’s J/120 ABILYN! That was close racing after 46 nautical miles!
The PHRF 2 Class of eleven boats was won by Bill & Jackie Baxter’s J/111 FIREBALL. Third was Andrew Clark’s J/122 ZIG ZAG. Fifth place went to Steven Levy’s J/121 EAGLE and sixth was Abhijeet Lee’s J/111 VARUNA.
The eleven-boat PHRF 3 Class saw Ken & Drew Hall’s J/88 NEVERMORE taking second place, while Paul Kueffner’s J/36 ECLIPSE placed fourth.
Winning the seven-boat PHRF 4 Class was John Cutting’s J/92 EASY RED. Then, in the six-boat PHRF +1 Class, winning was Arthur Hanlon’s J/112E DAUNTLESS, with David Cielusniak’s J/122 J-CURVE taking the silver.
EATONS NECK RACE
In the shorter Eaton’s Neck Race, taking second in PHRF 6 Class was Jim Reichel’s J/105 SCAPEGOAT, while Jim Farrell’s J/35 SAPPHIRE placed fifth.
In the PHRF 7 Non-spinnaker division, taking second was David Kaplan & Ray Gustin’s J/92 REDLINE. Sixth was the original classic J/24 one-design- the SILVER FOX, skippered by Jasjeet Sood. For Gearbuster results, please see here For more “Gearbuster” Stratford Shoal Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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