Crescendo takes Onion Patch prize

by Talbot Wilson on 24 Jun 2006 Crescendo, the Swan 44 MkII owned by Martin Jacobson of Greenwich CT, was ahead in the Onion Patch Series going into the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta. With a fourth place today in Bermuda, Crescendo took first in the series. The Henry B. du Pont Trophy will be awarded to Crescendo at the Newport Bermuda Race prize giving at Government House in Bermuda on Saturday [today].

Jacobsen was joined on Crescendo by a crackerjack crew including Australians Hugh Trehame as a watch captain/navigator, Robert Wilmot as a watch captain and Jeremy Whitty, the co-navigator.

Brilliant was the word of the day on Bermuda’s Great Sound. Brilliant sailing; brilliant wind and brilliant sunshine as the record Onion Patch Fleet sailed two races in the Anniversary Regatta: a windward-leeward in the Great Sound and a longer ‘flexi’ course around the Sound, Garanway Deep and Royal Bay.

In the Second race, East winds at 15 to 20kts made for perfect sailing including a long beat between Bermuda’s many islands in the passage from the Great Sound into Granaway Deep and a nice run back into Royal Bay.

Standing first, second and third after the Newport Bermuda, Crescendo, Kalevala II a Grand Soleil 37 owned by Tapio Saavalainen of Washington DC, and Swift a Navy 44 skippered by Evan Scott of the US Naval Academy. The standings after the Anniversary Regatta were unchanged. The ocean race was a light air affair that favored the smaller boats in the fleet. All three boats sailed well in the RBYC Regatta to hold their places for the silver in the series.

Onion Patch team results will be announced Saturday at the Newport Bermuda Race prizegiving at Government House in Bermuda.

Blue Yankee is pace-setter for the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta. The new Blue Yankee, a Reichel-Pugh 66 Skippered by Bob and Farley Towse, took two firsts in Class 1 in the Anniversary Regatta, clearly outpacing all their competition. ' This Blue Yankee is just three weeks old and we are still learning, but early results including three top finishes in the New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta earlier this month are encouraging,' Bob Towse said modestly.' Had the Newport Bermuda Race been good for the big boats, Towse would have been in the hunt for Onion Patch awards.

Aera, a Ker 55 skippered by Jeremy Fanstone of Lymington UK was second. Monneypenny, a Swan 601 owned by James Swartz of Park City UT was third.

DSK Comifin (3,1) a Swan 45 owned by Andrea Casale of Genova Italy took Class 2 on a tiebreaker with Richie Shulman’s IMX 45 Temptress (1,3) out of Barrington RI.

Class 3 was led by three J44’s. Brown-eyed Girl owned by Scott Dinhofer of Chappaqua NY took first. Maxine owned by William Ketchem of Greenwich CT was second. Third was Golddigger owned by Jim Bishop of New York NY.

Kalevala II won Class 4. Swift was second and Googolplex owned by Colin Rath of New York took third.

Final Onion Patch rankings are posted on http://www.onionpatchseries.com/.

The 2006 Onion Patch series was raced under the IRC rating rule and was open to yachts with endorsed IRC ratings that entered in the Newport Bermuda Race and were also eligible to compete in the NYYC Annual Regatta and the RBYC Anniversary Regatta. These were also the final races of the US-IRC Gulf Stream Series.

In 2006, all IRC races of the NYYC Annual Regatta in Newport June 10-11th were part of the series schedule. The Cruising Club of America/Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Newport Bermuda Race that started June 16th was the ocean race for the series. The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta sailed June 23rd in Bermuda was the final event.

See http://www.bermudarace.com/