Reef Points continues winning streak on day 2

by Dana Paxton on 27 Jul 2005 The second day of the Rolex Swan American Regatta brought much lighter wind than the blustery first day, calling for very different sailing skills from the 39 teams competing in Newport, Rhode Island.

Yesterday was all about brute force and courage in the face of very challenging conditions. Today was about boat speed and smart tactics around the race course, with the wind blowing a very warm and pleasant 8 to 12 knots from the southwest.

The change in weather had remarkably little effect on the leaderboard of the four divisions. In Class D, the non-spinnaker division, Reef Points, Joseph Huber’s (Wynnewood, Pa.) Swan 44 added two more victories to its win from the yesterday. On the morning’s triangular race course, Reef Points stayed in touch with the bigger boats to finish by three seconds ahead of Neal Finnegan’s (Cohasset, Mass.) Swan 56 Clover III on corrected time.

For the second and final race of the day, the New York Yacht Club race committee set a zig-zag course that took the fleet to a finish inside Narragansett Bay, off Fort Adams State Park. ‘We played the current perfectly; in fact we got so close to the shore we could have grabbed a beer off the rocks,’ laughed Huber, who admitted at this point he was beginning to question the wisdom of his navigator Jeff Kentzen. ‘Fortunately we had some good local knowledge on board, and the crew said the bow would hit before the keel!’

Huber also paid tribute to his tactician Fletch Perkins. ‘He did a great job of getting us off the start line in both races,’ he said. ‘We had really good upwind boat speed and we were always in touch with the bigger boats. In the second race we actually led around the first mark.’ Considering that the Swan 44 is up against a number of Swan 56s and even a Swan 60, that was no mean feat.

In Class A, the big boat division, Jim Swartz’s Swan 601 Moneypenny displayed similar dominance, winning both races with ease. In the morning race, Moneypenny’s corrected time victory was almost five minutes ahead of Clay Deutsch’s (Newport, R.I.) Swan 68 Chippewa. ‘We had a fantastic day,’ said Swartz. ‘The boat was performing beautifully. We had some brilliant tactical calls from Dee (Smith) picked up a couple of shifts – we just couldn't be happier. It was a walk in the park after yesterday.’

Leon Christianakis and Martin Jacobson maintained their lead in Class B with a two-minute victory for their Swan 44 Crescendo in the first race of the day. With results factored in from the final race, Crescendo still leads its class.

The Swan 45 one-design fleet had the busiest day, with three races held. Following a dominant display in the windy conditions on day one, Goombay Smash, owned by Doug Douglass (Stamford, Conn.) proved equally adept at the more delicate conditions of today. He notched up a useful scoreline of 1-2-1. In the third and final race, heavy fog rolled in across the race course and turned the race into a game of hide and seek. ‘It was fantastically close sailing and particularly fun in the fog,’ said Douglass. ‘Vim and Bellicosa were hunting the mark with us and it was extremely tight, but we just clinched the win.’

While Douglass’s Goombay Smash is leading the Swan 45 class, there is a protest between Craig Speck’s VIM this evening. Even if Goombay Smash were to be disqualified, however, it would still maintain its lead over second-place Bellicosa, owned by Massimo Ferragamo (New York, N.Y.).

Tomorrow the fleet embarks on the long distance race. Although the course is yet to be decided, the race committee would like to send the fleet on a 19-mile course around Conanicut Island.

This evening's prizegiving was hosted by Nautor's Swan supplier INAMAR, Recreational Marine Insurance, one of the ACE group of companies. Dick Rucker, Vice President of INAMAR, presented prizes to the first placed Swan in each class.

For more information about the Rolex Swan American Regatta, visit www.nyyc.org or www.nautorswan.com.


Preliminary Overall Results – July 26, 2005, Top 3 in all classes

Class A – 3 races
Place, boat name, type, owner, hometown, race 1-2-3, total points

1. Moneypenny, Swan 601, Jim Swartz, Edgartown, Mass., 1-1-1, 3 points

2. Aqua Equinox, Swan 56, Filip Balcaen, BEL, 3-4-2, 9

3. Chippewa, Swan 68, Clayton Deutsch, Newport, R.I., 5-2-3, 10


Class B – 3 races

Place, boat name, type, owner, hometown, race 1-2-3, total points

1. Crescendo, Swan 44, Leon Christianakis/ Martin Jacobson, Greenwich, Conn., 1-1-1, 3 points

2. Vixen, Swan 44, John Wayt, Jamestown, R.I., 3-2-2, 7

3. Xenophon, Jeffrey Rabuffo, Middletown, R.I., 4-3-3, 10


Class C – Swan 45 One-Design, 5 races

Place, boat name, type, owner, hometown, race 1-2-3-4-5, total points

1. Goombay Smash, William Douglass, Stamford, Conn., 1-1-1-2*-1, 4 points

2. Bellicosa, Massimo Ferragamo, New York, N.Y., 2-3-4*-3-2, 10

3. Plenty, Alexander Roepers, New York, N.Y., 5-5-2-1-7*, 13
*discard race, does not factor into the total points


Class D – 3 races

Place, boat name, type, owner, hometown, race 1-2-3-4-5, total points

1. Reef Points, Swan 44, Joseph Huber, Wynnewood, Pa., 1-1-1, 3 points

2. Amanda, Swan 53, Roland Bathory, Weston, Mass., 3-3-3, 9

3. Marie Blue, Swan 60, Carel Paauwe, Lutheren, NED, 2-4-8, 14