A Q&A with Doug Wefer and Jim Aikman on the Around Long Island Regatta
by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 24 Jul 2017
Around Long Island Regatta Courtesy of the Around Long Island Regatta
Having grown up sailing in Connecticut on the waters of Long Island Sound, the Around Long Island Regatta (ALIR), hosted by Sea Cliff Yacht Club, in Sea Cliff, New York, was always one of those races that I’d hear stories about. It’s one of the area’s longer distance events, and its late-July starting date means the days are long and the weather relatively moderate, aside from afternoon thunderstorms, which can occasionally add punctuation marks to log book entries. While I sadly never had the chance to do the race before relocating out West, its course is an interesting one, starting in the shadow of lower Manhattan and exiting towards the open ocean, keeping Long Island to port until crossing the finishing line in Hempstead Harbor for a total of 205 nautical miles.
Beyond these basic instructions, the rules and the course are up to the navigator’s discretion and imagination.
The ALIR, which began in 1977 and has been run every year since, is open to all sailboats 24 feet and up, and welcomes sailors of all skill levels, from polished maxi-yacht crews to families out for a long-weekend adventure on their modest cruising boat, with a bit of everything in between. Most crews take between one and three days to complete their circumnavigation, however the course record is a proud sub-sixteen hours (and isn’t likely to be toppled anytime soon).
The 2017 ALIR begins on Thursday, July 27, at 1400 hours, and this year the race ushers in a new starting venue. Rather than firing the starting guns a few miles east of New York Harbor, the Race Committee will instead conduct countdown sequences in New York Harbor itself, giving shore-side spectators quite a show.
I caught up with Doug Wefer and Jim Aikman, regatta co-chairmen, via email, to learn more about the ALIR and their plan to relocate their starting line to New York Harbor.
What’s new for the 2017 edition of this storied event?
For the first time in ALIR’s 41-year history we are moving the starting line 14 miles due north into New York Harbor! We have teamed up with Manhattan Yacht Club, and will be starting the sequence from their beautiful floating yacht club, the Honorable Willie Wall, [which will be] anchored just north of Ellis Island with One World Trade and lower Manhattan as a backdrop. This adds a whole new dynamic to our race, [and] the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive!
What are participation numbers like for the 2017 ALIR compared to previous years? Up, down, or stable? Also, has the LOA changed compared to ALIRs in the 1990s and 2000s?
We are currently about five boats ahead of where we were last year at this point, and are getting two to six boats a day. [We] anticipate 100+ [boats] by the deadline.
Our average [LOA] is 36 feet at this stage and growing.
Do you anticipate a lot more spectators with the decision to move the starting line to New York Harbor? Also, any insider tips on the best vantage points in the Big Apple to watch the start?
Never have we been able to offer spectators and club members the ability to watch our start, and this is partly the reason we are moving to NYC. Frankly, NOBODY knew we were two miles off Brooklyn, starting the ALIR. Now spectators can view from the upper deck of the Willie Wall alongside the race committee, or from spectator boats, Battery Park, Ellis Island, or the ferry pier just in front of the old Liberty Landing train station.
Historically, what are the most tactically demanding sections of the course? Also, can racers sail where they choose (e.g., entering/exiting LIS via Plum Gut or the Race?) or are there pre-defined boundaries?
That is what is special about the ALIR-we have harbor racing, ocean racing and [Long Island] Sound racing all wrapped up in one race. The tacticians have to manage the currents with the escape from New York Harbor, then sail the best coarse to Montauk, then into Gardiners Bay where it really gets interesting.
This to me is the most challenging part because if you choose Plum Gut, it’s less distance sailed but more current; if you choose The Race, it’s longer distance but less current. Westward down the Sound the boats have to deal with shifty winds and currents again.
The only rules are stay outside Government marks and keep Long Island to your left.
Long Island Sound often gets a bad rap in the summer months for not delivering too much breeze-historically, has this been an issue for the ALIR?
It has gotten frustrating for some on the last run down the Sound over the years, that’s why you really need to work the currents, choose to hug Connecticut coast, Long Island coast, or right down the middle, and hope the wind is not out of the west.
If you could give one piece of advice to race newcomers, what would it be? Also, what about a single piece of advise to race regulars looking to improve their performance and results?
I would say to newcomers to lay out the charts, tide charts and plot your course before hand, come up with a plan so to speak, and try to keep your distance sailed to a minimum. [For example, we used to head out into the Atlantic on huge tacks looking for wind, realizing only when we tacked back to the Island, we had only gained a couple miles Eastward.
Again, to veterans, keep the distances down and try to plan on being at a certain place at a certain time, such as hitting Plum Gut just as the currents are slack or turning favorable.
If you were looking to break the ALIR record and could choose any vessel for the mission, what would your steed of choice be? A foiling multi-hull? A maxi yacht?
It’s really fun watching the multi-hull crews tearing down the South Shore of Long Island; we had a catamaran enter a couple years back, they only had one bunk in each hull, so they were suited-up like America’s Cup sailors because they spent the race on an exposed trampoline.
I would have to say I would choose the big comfortable maxi. I finished Rambler on their record ALIR sail in 2010, 15 hours, 42 seconds, they looked like they just came back from a day sail.
Anything else that you’d like to add, for the record?
Just that we welcome all levels of racers and cruisers, it’s a great race for hard-core racers to hone their skills and beginning cruisers to see how well they can race their boats.
The US Naval Academy and US Merchant Marine Academy have entered two boats respectfully, so you will be racing among America’s best!!
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