Storm Trysail Club's 61st annual Block Island Race

by Media Pro on 2 Jun 2006 While 103 boats started, only 15 finished the Storm Trysail Club's 61st annual Block Island Race, which began late Friday afternoon, May 26, on Long Island Sound.

The annual distance race (185 nm) hosted one of its largest ever fleets of IRC- and PHRF-rated boats; however, two uninvited guests -- light wind and fog -- caused much mischief, prompting most of the fleet to retire instead of spending endless hours worrying about when, and how, to get home.

For overall performance winner Gary Grant, who sailed his J/120 ALIBI in the IRC doublehanded division with fellow Westport, Conn. sailor Steve Fisk, the Block Island Race was long but rewarding in the end.

'It was a lot of hard work, a lot of sail changes and little sleep,' said Grant about his difficult round-trip journey from Stamford, Conn., to Block Island. 'The beginning of the race gave us encouragement, as we got off the start line with speed and pulled ahead of the fleet before the fog rolled in. After a long night pushing through light shifty winds and fog, our forward progress was stalled early Saturday morning by a foul tide. We dropped anchor off the north shore of Long Island and waited for the wind to build or the tide to turn – but our spirits remained high, as we were in the company of bigger, fully crewed boats.'

Grant explained that there were two more episodes of agonizing waiting. The first was on Saturday night, when they were at the southeast corner of Block Island with no wind and a high swell that caused the boat to rock violently. Grant and Fisk chose to drop sail for two hours, since they were making no headway. 'Thankfully, the tide was sweeping us in the right direction and the wind filled in before we saw any other boats round the corner behind us,' said Grant.

The second was when they sat--for three hours this time--in a wind hole Sunday morning after making it through 'The Gut,' one of two current-ridden passageways (the other being 'The Race') for entering and/or leaving Long Island Sound.

'To have the sun rise on the Sunday morning of a Block Island Race before you've even re-entered the Sound is a discouraging experience,' continued Grant, 'but the fuzzy-headed doubting of whether one should continue to race or start the engine was quickly forgotten when we crossed the finish line and received a hail of 'well done!' from the Race Committee boat.'

Winning the Harvey Conover Memorial Trophy for the best performance overall was particularly meaningful to Grant, who explained that; 'being the only boat to finish in a class in a light-air distance race might speak more to the fact that you're stubborn rather than fast, but receiving the overall trophy signifies that we did more than just outlast the other guys. We also sailed well against an extremely talented fleet.'

Colin Rath's Googolplex turned in the best corrected time (53:25:19) for IRC, while Ron Weiss's Crazy Horse turned in both the best corrected (50:40:02) and elapsed time (50:40:02) for PHRF and best performance by a vintage yacht. Beau van Metre's Running Tide turned in the best elapsed time (38:16:56) for IRC.

'For comparison,' said STC Commodore Rich du Moulin, 'Boomerang broke the record in 2002, completing the race in 16 hours, 20 minutes and 50 seconds.'

'At the turning mark for the top of Block Island we spent five hours doing everything we could not to be swept back over the shoals, said Crazy Horse's Weiss. 'For us it was a test of perserverence, concentration and testament to how crew camaraderie can help you through that.'

Googolplex's Rath said his crew's secret was staying close to the Long Island shore. 'Those who went to the Connecticut shore suffered. We never even discussed withdrawing, but we listened to the radio--boats were frustrated in the fog, some of them got vertigo, and there were lots of tugboats going through, so it wasn't easy.'

The Storm Trysail Club, reflecting in its name the sail that sailors must use when facing the most adverse of conditions, is one of the world’s most respected sailing clubs, with its membership comprised strictly of skilled blue water and ocean racing sailors.

Storm Trysail Club’s 61st Block Island Race Finish Results:

Finish Position, Yacht Name, Skipper Last Name, Corrected Time

Class 9 Doublehanded (9 boats)
1. ALIBI, Grant, 54:13:9

Class 8 PHRF (9 boats)
no boats finished in this class

Class 7 IRC 3 (14 boats)
no boats finished in this class

Class 6 IRC 2 (11 boats)
1. Googolplex, Rath, 53:25:10
2. Galadriel, Santa, 55:35:49
3. Pursuit, Dawley, 59:19:44

Class 5 PHRF (12 boats)
1. Crazy Horse, Weis, 50:40:02
2. Tenho, Howells, 52:27:34

CLASS 4 J/44 (11 boats)
1. Vamp, Sitar, 54:17:24

Class 3 IRC 1 (13 boats)
1. Chris Dragon, Weiss, 55:10:37
2. Bacchanal, Smeets, 55:50:18
3. Siren Song, Carroll, 55:59:40
4. Better Than, Rojek, 57:16:54

Class 2 IRC ZERO (14 boats)
1. Aera, Lykiardopu 54:28:21
2. Bambakou, Coumantaro, 54:46:00

Class 1 IRC SuperZero (12 boats)
1. Rima, Brim, 54:45:14
2. Running Tide, Van Metre, 58:43:30

Event website visit http://www.stormtrysail.org