Thursday, May 6, 2021

SPRING SPRANG ON LONG ISLAND SOUND

J/88 one-design sailing on Long Island Sound
(Rye, New York)- The first weekend of the 2021 American Yacht Club Spring Regatta on April 24-25 had over 50 boats entered in the One Design, PHRF, and ORC classes to compete in Rye, NY.

Racing began with a light, variable wind on day one, but the breeze built significantly as the day progressed. The Race Committee was able to complete four races for the Short Course ORC and J/44 classes, and one distance race for the Coastal Racing course, which included PHRF, Doublehanded, and Mixed Doublehanded classes.

Day two began with a wet and chilly morning, but the rain tapered off just in time for the start of the first race. The day proved to be somewhat more challenging for everyone, with 50-degree wind shifts combined with dramatic changes in wind velocity and direction.

All the races were conducted by Principal Race Officers John (“Tinker”) Myles on the East Course, and Commodore Nicholas Everett on the South Course, along with their respective Race Committee teams.

Amongst the five-boat J/44 class, it was past New York Yacht Club Commodore Bill Ketcham's familiar navy-blue MAXINE that leads the series by just one point with finishes of 3-1-4-1-1-3 for 9 pts. Just behind them is Don & Dick Rave's RESOLUTE with a 1-3-2-2-2-4 tally for 10 pts. Lying third is Tom Blackwell's BREAKAWAY with a 2-4-1-4-3-1 record for 14 pts. 

The PHRF Coastal Division saw a near clean sweep of the top ten by J/Crews. Sweeping the podium were Cory Eaves' J/109 FREEDOM in first, Bob Schwartz's J/109 NORDLYS in second, and Steve Levy's J/121 EAGLE in third!  Finishing fifth was Jim Weil & EJ Haskell's J/92 VIXEN, and seventh was Jason Viseltear's J/80 UPSETTER.

The J/88 one-design class saw Iris Vogel's DEVIATION press the pedal-to-the-metal and firewall it all the way around the race track, winning the first three races on Saturday and completing the weekend on Sunday with a 2-3-1 for 6 pts net! Behind her it was a full-on duel between Larry Cutler & Andrew Weiss' ONE TOO MANY and Justin Scagnelli & Tim Price's ALBONDIGAS. Just one point separates the two after six races. 

The always-competitive J/105 class of seven boats saw tight racing amongst the top three boats. Currently leading by two points is Paul Beaudin's LOU LOU, followed by David Willis' SOLUTION in second, and just two points further back is Gareth Lester's ECHO. 

In the J/70 one-design class, it's Jean Marc Papin's PEN SEGAL leading after winning five races, with Ben Hunt's NO NAME in second with 10 pts and Gibbons Sinclair's HALF MINE II in third place. Add to Flipboard Magazine.