IRC East Coast Championship and One Design Regatta on Chesapeake Bay

by Kirsten Ferguson on 31 Oct 2012 The Storm Trysail Club’s 2012 IRC East Coast Championship and One Design Regatta took place on Chesapeake Bay in Annapolis, Md this past weekend with a shortened 2-day format due to the impending threat of Hurricane Sandy. The regatta got underway on Friday, October 26th with a 29.6 nautical mile distance race and continued through Saturday, October 27th, hosting four inshore races for IRC, Farr 30 and HPR (High Performance Rule) Divisions.

The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) sailed its newly acquired TP52 Flying Jenny 7 to victory in IRC 1 and HPR, which dual-scored all sport boats between 38 and 52 feet. The team also took IRC Overall honors. David and Sandra Askew (Annapolis, Md.) donated Flying Jenny 7 to the USMMA Sailing Foundation just two weeks ago. 'I’m extremely proud of our crew being able to step on a new boat and sail it so well against some very tough competition,' said the Foundation’s President Ralf Steitz (Kings Point, N.Y.). Just one point behind Flying Jenny 7 was defending IRC East Coast Champion Marc Glimcher (New York, N.Y.) aboard his Ker 40 Catapult.

In IRC 2 Phil Lotz’s (Newport, R.I.) Swan 42 Arethusa and Ken Colburn’s (Dover, Mass.) Swan 42 Apparition showed off some match racing skills on Saturday, with Lotz winning by a hair, one point ahead of Colburn.

In IRC 3, the J/109s battled it out, with Paul Milo’s (Leesburg, Va.) Vento Solare posting a bullet in the final race, which pushed the team ahead of Bill Sweetser’s (Annapolis, Md.) Rush by a half point.

In the Farr 30 Class, Annapolis Yacht Club Commodore and STC Member Kevin McNeil (Annapolis, Md.) took first place in Sea Biscuit, with a five-point lead on Brad Kauffman’s (Annapolis, Md.) Mummbles.

Top-three results:

IRC 1 (eight Boats)

1. Flying Jenny 7, TP52, Ralf Steitz USMMA, Kings Point, N.Y., 1.5, 3, 4, 2, 4 (14.5)
2. Catapult, Ker 40, Marc Glimcher, New York, N.Y., 4.5, 1, 3, 4, 3 (15.5)
3. SPOOKIE, Carkeek HP 40, Steve and Heidi Benjamin , Norwalk, Conn., 7.5, 2, 2, 3, 2, (16.5)

IRC 2 (five Boats)

1. Arethusa, Swan 42, Phil Lotz, Newport, R.I., 4.5, 1, 1, 1, 1 (8.5)
2. Apparition, Swan 42, Ken Colburn, Dover, Mass., 1.5, 2, 2, 2, 2, ; 9.5
3. Ragin, J 111 11.14, Kjell Dahlen, Plattsburgh, N.Y. 3, 3, 3, 4, 4 (17)

IRC 3/J 109 (four Boats)

1. Vento Solare, J 109, Paul Milo, Leesburg, Va., 1.5, 4, 2, 1, 1 (9.5)
2. Rush, J 109, Bill Sweetser , Annapolis, Md., 3, 1, 1, 2, 3 (10)
3. Saykadoo, J 109, Stephen McManus, Severna Park, Md., 4.5, 2, 2/RDG, 5/DNS, 5/DNS (18.5)

Farr 30 (five Boats)
1. Sea Biscuit, Farr 30, Kevin McNeil, Annapolis, Md., 3, 1, 1, 1, 1 (7)
2. Mummbles, Farr 30, Brad Kauffman, Annapolis, Md., 1.5, 2, 2, 4, 2 (11.5)
3. Farr 2 Tangley, Farr 30, Peter Toombs, Charlottetown, PEI, CAN, 6, 5, 3, 3, 3 (20)

HPR Class (eight Boats)

1. Flying Jenny 7, TP52, Ralf Steitz USMMAA, Kings Point, N.Y., USA - 1.5, 2, 3, 2, 3 (11.5)
2. Interlodge, IRC 52, Austin and Gwen Fragomen, Newport, R.I., 10.5, 3, 1, 1, 1 (16.5)
3. Spookie, Carkeek HP 40, Steve and Heidi Benjamin, Norwalk, Conn., 9, 1, 2, 3, 2 Storm Tryail website