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
