Frisky day Rolex Swan American Regatta

by Dana Paxton on 26 Jul 2005 After a windy and wavy first day at the Rolex Swan American Regatta in Newport, every team had a story to tell, many grinning from ear to ear about their 30 plus knot adventures on the Atlantic Ocean.

Today (local time) was a day about holding it all together and avoiding major errors. In many cases, this was easier said than done.

For the Swan 601, Moneypenny, it looked like a normal day at the office. The team executed the race with a clinical efficiency that would have made James Bond proud. This 60-foot thoroughbred was launched two weeks ago and today was its first major outing on the race course.

Owner, Jim Swartz (Edgartown, Mass.), has pulled together some of the biggest names in professional yacht racing to crew this yacht, including Dee Smith on tactics.

‘We just wanted to stay out of trouble, and keep it clean,’ said Smith, who reported a top speed under spinnaker of 17 knots. ‘We started five boat lengths down from the committee boat, just where we wanted to be.’

Moneypenny led from start to finish, crossing the line almost eight minutes in front of the 68ft Chippewa, owned by Clay Deutsch (Newport, R.I.). Smith leads Class A on corrected time, by almost three minutes over second-place 56ft Lolita, owned by Frank Savage (Stamford, Conn.).

Chippewa would have done better if it had not taken a penalty turn immediately after the start. Deutsch steered the 68-footer through the 360-degree penalty turn as a precautionary measure after a starting line incident with his great friend and rival Frank Savage.

‘We had a disagreement about available space,’ laughed Deutsch, in good humour back on dry land. ‘It was a good day to be a big boat out in those conditions, but we should have done better. I think if we can avoid those errors, then we can give Moneypenny and the others a good race.’

Martin Jacobson and Leon Christianakis’ (Greenwich, Conn.) 44ft Crescendo dominated Class B, beating Gordon Ettie’s (Miami, Fla.) 40ft Sazerac by exactly four minutes on corrected time.

Things were much closer in the non-spinnaker Class D division, however, with one minute separating the first four boats on corrected time. Joseph Huber’s (Wynnewood, Pa.) 44ft Reef Points, beat Carel Paauwe’s (Lunteren, NED) 60ft Marie Blue, by 25 seconds under the Swan rating system.

Although two races had been scheduled today, the New York YC race committee sent the fleet in after the eventful first race – except for the Swan 45s of Class C. These are among the best handled yachts in the fleet and the committee decided to hold a challenging second race for the nine-boat division.

By this time, the wind was gusting to over 30 knots and with steep waves; conditions were proving a handful, even for the 45s. Spinnakers were blowing out and, as one sailor noted with a smile, ‘it was a good day for the sailmakers.’

One 45 relishing the conditions was Goombay Smash, which owner William Douglass (Stamford, Conn.) helmed to a first-race victory of 40 seconds over Massimo Ferragamo’s (New York, N.Y.) Bellicosa. He followed this up with a 1 minute, 28 second victory over defending champion, Craig Speck’s Vim, in the second race of the day.

Goombay Smash tactician, Brad Read, was still buzzing when he stepped ashore. ‘The second race was full on nuclear,’ he said. ‘We had a bad start and were fourth at the top mark. Plenty’s spinnaker was flagged out to leeward and we were going 17 knots, trying to pass them. We snuck through a 10-foot gap, where there was a boat wiped out to leeward of us, another one wiped out to weather of us - and within about 30 seconds, we were in first place. Then, boom - we won.’

Preliminary Overall Results – July 25, 2005

Race one-top 3 in all classes

Class A

1. Moneypenny, Swan 601, Jim Swartz, Edgartown, Mass.

2. Lolita, Swan 56, Frank Savage, Stamford, Conn.

3. Aqua Equinox, Swan 56, Filip Balcaen, BEL

Class B

1. Crescendo, Swan 44, Leon Christianakis/ Martin Jacobson, Greenwich, Conn.

2. Sazerac, Swan 40CB, Gordon Ettie, Miami, Fla.

3. Vixen, Swan 44, John Wayt, Jamestown, R.I.

Class C – Swan 45 One-Design, Two races

1. Goombay Smash, William Douglass, Stamford, Conn., 1-1, 2 points

2. VIM, Craig Speck, Boston, Mass., 3-2, 5 points

3. Bellicosa, Massimo Ferragamo, New York, N.Y., 2-3, 5 points

Class D

1. Reef Points, Swan 44, Joseph Huber, Wynnewood, Pa.

2. Marie Blue, Swan 60, Carel Paauwe, Lutheren, NED

3. Amanda, Swan 53, Roland Bathory, Weston, Mass.

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