Gorgeous New York YC Annual Regatta

J Sailors Winners Across the Board!
NEWPORT, R.I. (June 16, 2013)  – The New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex—the oldest regatta in the country—has entered the history books for the 159th time. With 153 teams competing, the 2013 edition also was the largest Annual Regatta on record, with enough action on the water and ashore to guarantee the event’s venerable reputation into the next century.  The regatta was blessed with great sailing conditions all three days, starting with the immensely popular Around Jamestown Island Race, a 20nm affair that can challenge the best sailors anywhere.  A massive frontal system was moving offshore, greeting the sailors with 20-30 kts of NNE breeze on Friday's Round Island race. Saturday saw beautiful SSW breezes in the 6 to 13 kts range with partly cloudy skies and balmy temperatures.  By Sunday, a weak cold front presented the fleet with dazzling blue skies and a cool fresh Northerly blowing 8-15 kts in the morning that slowly died off by noon, followed by 6-14 kts of classic SSW sea-breezes under sunny skies in the afternoon.

“We are proud and privileged to be able to open our home to this many yachtsman and sailors that come from all over the world, both professional and Corinthian, with great crews,” said Commodore Thomas Harrington after an Annual Regatta dinner that hosted 800 sailors and is as much of a tradition as the racing. “We extend the hospitality of the New York Yacht Club both on the water and off, because what we are about is sharing in our traditions. And like anything else, to have a great party you need people to come, and they came.”

J/Teams were a significant part of the regatta, and the parties!  One-design J's included J/70s, J/80s, J/105s and J/111s.    Sailing outside on Rhode Island Sound were the Blue, White and Green race courses.  Both sailing days brought challenging conditions to these fleets.  In the J/111 class, Henry Brauer's FLEETWING sailed a very consistent series, taking two 1sts and three 2nds to win with 8 pts, 5 pts clear of the fleet.  In a donnybrook behind them were Marty Roesch's VELOCITY and Doug Curtiss's WICKED 2.0 helmed by designer Rod Johnstone.  The last two races determined the outcome, with VELOCITY taking a 1-3 to take second overall while WICKED 2.0 sailed a 4-2 to finish third overall behind by one point!  It could not have been closer racing overall for the 111s, with positions changing virtually every leg.  Of note, was that FLEETWING never rounded the first mark in first place and three boats won races, including Dave Brodsky and Fred van Liew's ODYSSEY.   Sailing photo credits- Rolex/ Daniel Forster   For more New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information

New York YC Annual Regatta Preview

(Newport, RI)- An impressive lineup of J sailing talent will be participating in the oldest regatta in America, with over a century and a half’s worth of history and lots of family fun. For three days, yachts sailing in IRC, J one-Design classes as well as a PHRF Cruiser-Racer division will be hosted at New York Yacht Club’s Harbour Court and will race on Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound.  The leading brand by a significant margin are the forty four J's (29%) sailing in the fleet of 153 boats.

“Newport is a great place to sail and offers a very impressive nautical town steeped in tradition,” said Terry McLaughlin, the Canadian Olympic silver medalist, J/24 Canadian Champion, current J/105 owner and former America’s Cup skipper who will be at the helm of John Hele’s 42 footer (himself a past J/24 Canadian champion). “As well, the New York Yacht Club always does a bang-up job on and off the water. The event has a long history and a lot of competitive classes, so it attracts a wide range of boats and people. I’m a great proponent of one-design racing, because I like to cross the finish line and know immediately how we did,” said McLaughlin.  McLaughlin & Hele and the rest of the fleet have been invited to kick off the event on Friday, June 14 with a separately scored 21nm Around the Island Race. The circumnavigation of Jamestown remains a favorite among racing sailors visiting Newport, and at stake in the IRC division is a Rolex Submariner watch, which will be presented to the overall winner during that evening’s festivities at Harbour Court.

Following Friday’s Around the Island Race competitors will split into four fleets with IRC and PHRF classes and one-design classes for J/111, J/105, J/80, J/70 for two days of racing over the weekend.

The J/111 class has a half-dozen boats participating and virtually all boats have podium silverware in their trophy rooms!  No "one-trick ponies" in this group, all boats are well-sailed with good crews and it will be excellent one-design sailing.  Recent Annapolis-Newport Race IRC Class winner, FIREBALL will be sailing with Kristen Berry leading the charge.  Challenging them around the track will be Sedgwick Ward's BRAVO, Henry Brauer's FLEETWING, Dave Brodsky/ Fred Van Liew's ODYSSEY, Marty Roesch's VELOCITY and Doug Curtiss's WICKED 2.0.  For more New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information

J/Teams Support "Sail for Hope" Regatta

(Newport, RI)- This year's regatta marks the 11th running of Sail for Hope. In the wake of the 9/11/2001 attacks on America, a few local sailing enthusiasts scrambled to organize a regatta to honor and support those affected.  The event is the classic "Around Jamestown Island" race that is about 19.5 nm around the East and West Passages of Narragansett Bay.

The first Sail For Pride Regatta rallied over 180 boats and $110,000 designated for charities to support the NYFD firefighters, police and the victims of the attacks and their families. The display of patriotism and generosity on and off the water made a lasting impression in the sailing community.

After the inaugural year, the organizers retired the name Sail For Pride, but continued the event as Sail For Hope, reflecting the Rhode Island state motto and aimed at supporting local charities. Charities supported over the years have included RI Red Cross, Seamen's Church Institute, Newport Harbormaster's Emergency Equipment Fund, local public high school sailing teams, US Olympic Sailing Trials and many more, including a huge fund-raising year in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.  To date, over $800,000 has been raised for a wide variety of charities, including RI Red Cross and the Wounded Warrior Project- an organization that actively puts forth a rehabilitative effort in assisting our warriors to recover and transition back to a civilian lifestyle.

On Saturday, the 6th of October, seventy-seven boats participated, including a large fleet of eleven J/22 one-designs and several PHRF classes. In the J/22 one-designs, it was Whitney Slade and crew that took home the silverware by 3 min 26 secs over Matt Chao's team in second.  Third was Alan Renfrew another 2 min back.  Fourth was Rufus Van Gruisen and third was PJ Maltais.

For the PHRF 6 handicap class, the J/111s sailed well with Doug Curtiss on WICKED 2.0 taking second place and class newcomer David Brodsky and Fred Van Liew sailed their new J/111 ODYSSEY to 5th overall in their first outing!  The J/111s in New England "welcome" Dave and Fred and look forward to sailing with them in the 2013 sailing season!

In the PHRF Non-Spinnaker class, the J/28 WHALAYED sailed by John Whaley finished 3rd overall.  In PHRF 4 class, the J/30 RHAPSODY sailed by Bill Kneller was 2nd overall and the J/24s NIGHTHAWK (Barker, Ryan, McVicker) and BUCKSHOT (Larry Colantuono) were 4th and 5th, respectively.    Sailing photo credits- George Bekris   For more Sail for Hope Regatta sailing information

STORM Wins J/109 NAs @ NYYC Race Week

FLEETWING Wins 111s, KESTREL Wins 105s
(Newport, RI)- It was an unseasonably wet, dreary day in Newport for the start of the Rolex New York YC One-Design Race Week, but at least somewhere, someone was having fun. That somewhere was Rhode Island Sound where nearly 100 teams are competing in the New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex on the second day of the split-format event's final four days of buoy racing.

The J/109s had individual recalls in their first race that saw yesterday's leader STORM, skippered by Rick Lyall (Wilton, Conn.), return to the start line to successfully clear. The team fought back to eighth and finished first in the second race, but the performance was only good enough for a third in overall scoring. It left the proverbial door open for Ted Herlihy's (S. Dartmouth, Mass.) GUT FEELING to take the top spot after that team finished 4-2 today. With nine points, GUT FEELING's overall score is shared with SKOOT, skippered by Jim Vos (New Canaan, Conn.), which sits in second overall, so both teams are a slim one point ahead of STORM.

The J/111 Class's first day of competition went well for Henry Brauer's (Marblehead, Mass.) FLEETWING, which took bullets in each of two races. "The first race was great, because it was good breeze; the second race was a bit more challenging because of the lighter wind and the lumpy seas," said Brauer, who is new to the J/111 Class this year after having sold the J/105 Scimitar that he co-owned with Stewart Neff (serving as his tactician here) and with which he won the 2011 J/105 North American Championship. "We got good starts, Stewart put us in the right place, and the team did a great job trimming the sails and keeping us going the whole time. The important thing to racing well is having a good team, so there are a lot of the same people onboard that I've sailed with in the past. Having that nucleus is very important."

Saturday saw three new classes join the racing action, switching on to sunshine and light breezes that made yesterday’s rain but a memory. Sean Doyle's (Cos Cob, Conn.) J/105 KESTREL finished the day in the lead after posting two bullets for today’s two races. "The conditions were challenging with fairly light wind and patches," said Doyle, who is only in his second year competing with this boat. "We really enjoy the one-design aspect. Everyone in this class has a great attitude and is very welcoming to us as newcomers."

In IRC Class 4, Andrew Shea’s (Annapolis, Md.) J/122 DOLPHIN seemingly came out of nowhere to challenge for the lead with finish positions of 5-1-1, moving the team up to second from sixth yesterday and leaving Dolphin only one point out of first.

In IRC 3 Class,  Jim Bishop's J/44 modified IRC boat from Jamestown, RI is lying in second only 3 points out of the lead by virtue of having won two races in a row, surrounded by the latest in IRC hardware, a Ker 50 in first place and an HPR Carkeek 40 Decision in third place.

The J/109 STORM, skippered by Rick Lyall (Wilton, Conn.), took advantage of the building southeasterly on its course to finish the day with a nine-point lead in the J/109 Class ahead of Ted Herlihy's GUT FEELING.  Just one point back from Ted is Bill Sweetser's RUSH from Annapolis, MD.

In J/111 Class, Henry Brauer’s (Marblehead, Mass.) FLEETWING continued to lead with Rod Johnstone's JAZZ in 2nd and Doug Curtiss' WICKED 2.0 in 3rd.

The final day of sailing saw weather conditions that couldn’t have been more perfect for the sailing teams racing off Newport. In the end, the Rolex timepiece was awarded to Rick Lyall (Wilton, Conn.), skipper of STORM, which simultaneously won the J/109 class here and the 2012 North American Championships. It wasn’t easy with 17 boats and an assault by Bill Sweetser’s (Annapolis, Md.) RUSH, which finished second, and three-time and defending North American Champion Ted Herlihy’s (South Darmouth, Mass.) GUT FEELING, which finished third.

“It’s beyond words how happy we are,” said Lyall, who won the North American title once before in 2009. He explained that STORM went into today with a nine-point lead, but there was reason for concern when the Race Committee announced that three races would be conducted instead of the expected two and the team had started the day with a sixth-place finish.

“We knew we had to sail today to defend our title, and there was certainly an opportunity that we could give away our lead,” said Lyall. “We had a bad start in the first race, which put us much closer to our two closest competitors, but after that, we went back and won the next two. We sailed well and consistently, and the boat is fast.”

In the 14-boat IRC 4 class, Andrew Shea’s (Annapolis, Md.) J/122 DOLPHIN finished second overall in a very tough fleet.  In IRC 3 Class of 8 boats, the J/44 WHITE GOLD sailed by Jim Bishop gave his more modern IRC hardware a tough time, finishing just 3.5 points out of first place, placing second for the regatta.

After winning today’s first race, Avalanche widened its point spread to four over DownTime, which had finished third, and five over Dolphin, which had finished fifth. Then in race two, Dolphin switched the tables, finishing first and leaving fifth place for Avalanche while DownTime split a corrected-time tie for third with Mike Bruno’s (Armonk, N.Y.) J/122 Wings. Dolphin, once again, had put itself within one point of winning, with DownTime only .5 of a point behind. Needless to say, the two teams were ecstatic that the Race Committee would run a third and final race. With one last shot to win, DownTime finished second to win the nine-race series by a mere .5 points over Dolphin, which finished third in that race, while Avalanche finished eighth, leaving it to collect third overall.

On his second day of racing here in IRC 3, Art Santry (Oyster Bay, N.Y.), skipper of the Ker 50 Temptation-Oakcliff, had said that if his crew – comprised partially of Oakcliff Sailing Center students – kept up its stellar work, his team was going to be tough to beat. The self-fulfilling prophesy played out today, when the team finished 4-2-1 to post 16.5 points over the 20 posted by Jim Bishop’s (Jamestown, R.I.) J/44 White Gold on merit of a 2-1-2 today. Tempation-Oakcliff, also with Oakcliff’s Executive Director and veteran America’s Cup/offshore sailor Dawn Riley aboard, established its dominance early in the nine-race series and had four victories plus a tie for first in their score line.

Henry Brauer’s FLEETWING won the J/111 Class by 8 pts, followed by an incredibly toughly fought series that led to a tie-breaker between Rod Johnstone's family crew on-board JAZZ and Doug Curtiss' WICKED 2.0, each finishing with 20 pts with JAZZ getting the nod on the tie-break.

Remarkably, the scenario for the top three in the 111s played out the same for the 105s.  In this case, Sean Doyle's crew also won by 8 pts, but it was Damian Emery's ECLIPSE winning a tie-breaker on 22 pts each over Fred Darlington's TONTO!   For more Rolex New York YC Race Week sailing information

WINGS Flies In Rolex NYYC Regatta

(Newport, RI)- After a rousing 19-mile Around the Island Race on Friday, sailors at the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) 158th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex had to face light winds on Saturday and Sunday and a subsequently abbreviated race schedule where every move counted as critical to final results.  With 104 boats entered in Friday’s race (separately scored and optional) and 133 entered in weekend racing, this 2012 edition of what is revered as America’s oldest regatta will go down in sailing history as having its biggest fleet ever-- and, for some, the most intriguing last-minute victories.

In the IRC 5 Class, the expected competition between the J/111 and J/122s was tough.  Henry Brauer's J/111 FLEETWING was up against a quartet of exceptionally well-sailed J/122s and managed to finish in the middle of them, finishing 7th in fleet overall with a 6-7.  However, past J/122 North American champion Mike Bruno and Tom Boyle (Irvington, N.Y.) finished 2-1 in the regatta’s two races to take IRC 6 on his J/122 WINGS. Second in class was  Andrew Weiss' J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON sailing to a 1-5.

Amongst the J/44s there were familiar top class teams in the lead of IRC 5 Class.  Leonard Sitar’s (Holmdel, NJ) J/44 VAMP took class honors with a 2-1 in his series.  Second J/44 and 5th in class was Jim Bishop's GOLD DIGGER with a 4-5.

IRC 7 Class has often been the domain of the J/109s taking the rest of their class to task for the top of the podium.  This year was no different, with the J/109s taking four of the top five! Winning with a 1-1 was past J/109 NA Champions like Bill Sweetser on RUSH with local champions Rob Salk and John Sahagian on PICANTE finishing 3rd with a 4-3, Rick Lyall's STORM in 4th and Paul Milo on VENTO SOLARE finishing 5th.

In PHRF Navigators Division, the J/105s sailed well with Fred Darlington's TONTO taking 2nd and Nelson Wiederman's KIMA taking 5th.  In the big boat Navigators Division, the J/160 TRUE sailed by Howie Hodgson finished 3rd in class.  For more Rolex New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information

Rolex New York YC Regatta Preview

(Newport, RI)- The oldest and longest running regatta in America, New York Yacht Club’s Annual Regatta presented by Rolex will be held for the 158th time from June 8th-10th in Newport, Rhode Island.  Racing starts on Friday, June 8th, with the Around-the-Island Race. This classic 19 nautical mile race around Conanicut Island offers the sailors many challenges and beautiful scenery. J sailors will be racing both handicap and one-design during the event.  With 25 boats of the 133 entered, J's represent the largest brand participating in the regatta, nearly 20% of the total boats sailing in IRC, PHRF and One-Design.

In the IRC 5 Class, expect to see some spirited competition between the J/111, J/122 and J/44s.  Henry Brauer's J/111 FLEETWING will be up against a quartet of exceptionally well-sailed J/122s and J/44s.  In the 122 group are past NA Champions and Offshore Champions, like Mike Bruno and Tom Boyle's WINGS, Andrew Weiss' CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, Dave Murphy's PUGWASH and George Shaw's TUMBLEWEED.  Amongst the J/44s are familiar top class teams like Jim Bishop's GOLD DIGGER, Len Sitar's VAMP and Jason LeBlanc sailing the US Coast Guard's GLORY.

IRC 6 Class has often been the domain of the J/109s taking the rest of their class to task for the top of the podium.  Over the last several years, the J/109s have won their class and often take up much of the top three.  Look for past J/109 NA Champions like Bill Sweetser on RUSH and Rick Lyall on STORM to be dueling for class leadership.  And, local champions Rob Salk and John Sahagian on PICANTE along with Paul Milo on VENTO SOLARE will certainly be in the hunt for silverware in this competitive class.

In PHRF, the J/105s will have Dudley Norstrands JADED, Nelson Weiderman's KIMA and Fred Darlington's TONTO fighting for the top spots.  Jose Manuel Ugarte from Santiago, Chile recently bought SCIMITAR, last year's J/105 North American Champion boat to ultimately go sailing in Chile's booming J/105 fleet-- it will be interesting to see how Jose's team sails on Newport's often challenging weather conditions.

A fun addition to the regatta has been the PHRF Navigator's Race, a "tour" of Narragansett Bay and even Rhode Island Sound for a large fleet of boats that include the J/33 SIRIUS sailed by Mike Sullivan, the J/42 ARROWHEAD skippered by Mike Chapman, the J/92s SPIRIT sailed by EC Helme, the J/160 TRUE fresh off the FIGAWI Race sailed by Howie Hodgson and the J/24 NIGHTHAWK sailed by Rich Barker and Mike Ryan.

Saturday evening after the racing, the Annual Regatta always has a fabulous dinner on the lawn in front of the club along the waterfront.  Be sure to join the crews for some fun and entertainment, which includes the famous, hot local group featured on Thursday nights at the delicious Mexican restaurant "Perro Salado", Steve and friends from "Honky Tonk Nights"!  For more Rolex New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information

NEW! J/111 Speedster Sailing Video

(Newport, RI)- Since August, we'd been waiting for the perfect day to do a video/photo shoot of the J/111 off Newport with world-renowned yachting photographer Onne Van der Wall in a helicopter.  Incredibly, the intersection of wind, light, sea and tide conditions didn't materialize until the second Friday in October.  The results were stunning.  Spectacular photos and video of the J/111 sailing in 15-20 knot SSW winds off Newport, in big seas with an ebb tide flowing fast past Castle Hill and Brenton Reef.

As Onne remarked on the radio after 90 minutes in the air (they were about to run out of fuel), "it's a wrap, perfect day, the best!"  Little did we know how good it was.  Later, Onne said, "I've never seen a boat sail to windward so smoothly, the bow just lifts so naturally, leaving little spray or waves rolling over the deck, it's just magic! And, you guys were sailing in at least 3-6 foot seas with breaking waves!  Plus, it was obvious from the air the 111 just accelerates like a scalded cat downwind with that big red spinnaker!  How fast were you going?"  To answer Onne's question, while sailing in just 15-20 kt wind and waves, the J/111 was easily planing along at a steady 10-12 knots with bursts to 16 knots!  Quite a remarkable performance, an extraordinary experience many 111 owners already had in the past year!  See it for yourself in the latest J/111 YouTube video here.   Video and sailing photo credits- Onne Van der wal   For more J/111 sailboat information.