Block Island -Tricky Winds and Currents

by Barby MacGowan on 19 Jun 2007 The wind came slowly and bearing gifts for those who could unlock its secrets on this, the first day of racing at the Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race Week XXII presented by Rolex.

Some of the nearly 2000 sailors on 183 boats waited two hours for a northeasterly to die and switch to a light seabreeze from the southwest. Two of three racing circles -- one designated 'White' for one-design classes and the other 'Blue' for PHRF handicap -- completed two races while the 'Red' circle for IRC racing completed only one.

'It was worth the wait,' said Jon Zier (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), a crew aboard Donald Nicholson's (Scotch Plains, N.J.) Farr 395 Drumbeat in IRC Class 3, 'since otherwise we would have all been sitting on the low side trying to get around the course.' Nevertheless, the 7-9 knot winds were tricky and Drumbeat performed some excellent crew work for a second-place finish behind another Farr 395 Avalanche, owned by Craig Albrecht (Sea Cliff, N.Y.). Six of the 395s are competing in this 10-boat IRC class and four of those took the top four spots. (A total of seven IRC classes are competing for class honors and a shot at the Rolex US-IRC National Championship title.)

Skipper Helme (Middletown, R.I.), tactician aboard Gibb Kane's (Rye, N.Y.) winning NYYC Swan 42 Mutiny in IRC Class 1, said current also played a role in today's racing. 'We were the most western circle near the gap between Block Island and Montauk,' said Helme, 'so it was significant. It paid to play the correct side; we were third at the first through third marks and passed Arethusa (Phil Lotz, New Canaan, Conn.) and Bandit (Andrew Fisher, Greenwich, Conn.) on the last leg.

On the blue PHRF course, the wind switched 180 degrees at the end of the first race, so that the finish was unexpectedly upwind rather than downwind. 'We saw it coming,' said Cory Wingerter (Millstone, N.J.), crew aboard David Alldian's Sabre 36 Cymotheo in PHRF Class 4, 'so that's how we picked up boats on the second and third legs.' Alldian explained that his team had started prematurely, so restarting and finishing fourth in that race was hard work. 'We are the largest PHRF class (16 boats), and there is only six seconds difference among all of our ratings.' Cymothoe followed with a fourth in the second race as well, to take fourth overall, behind John Storck's (Huntington, N.Y.) J/80 Rumor, Christian Uecker's (Ridgefield, Conn.) S2 9.1 Hound Dog and Richard Correll's (Huntington, N.Y.) Loki III, also an S2 9.1.

Today, Heineken and Wind Check Magazine are official party sponsors under the event tent. Compliments of Rolex, daily video shows of each day's racing, produced by Annapolis-based T2Productions, will be shown and broadcast on-line each night by 9 p.m. on www.t2p.tv. Race Week sponsors are Rolex, Jeep, Mt. Gay, Caithness Energy, Vineyard Vines, Lewmar, B&G, Gill, Hall Spars, J Boats, the Rhode Island State Yachting Committee, Sailing World, UKHalsey Sailmakers, West Marine, Gowrie, Barden & Brett, Summit Performance Yachts, WindCheck Magazine, Sailing World, Heineken and Yellow Tail wine.

Race administration and scoring is by Yacht Scoring (www.yachtscoring.com. For more information, visit www.blockislandraceweek.com

Top Three Results:

PHRF1 (PHRF - 10 Boats)
1. XLR8, Carrera 28, Brad Porter, Westbrook, CT, USA - 1, 1; 2
2. J Bird IV, Olsen 30, David Janes, Newport Beach, CA, USA - 4, 2; 6
3. Banjo, J/92, Rodney Johnstone, Stonington, CT, USA - 2, 4; 6

PHRF2 (PHRF - 8 Boats)
1. Freightrain, Frers 36, Dick Hyde, Belmont, MA, USA - 1, 1; 2
2. Sirprize, Sirena 38, Bill Healy, Hartford, CT, USA - 2, 2; 4
3. Borderline, C&CMK35, Bishop / Asch, Greenwich, Ct, USA - 3, 4; 7

PHRF3 (PHRF - 6 Boats)
1. Hustler, J/29, John & Tony Esposito, Mohegan Lake, NY, USA - 1, 1; 2
2. Divided Sky, J/29, Vin & Kristy McAteer, Warwick, RI, USA - 2, 2; 4
3. Cool Breeze, J/29, John Cooper, Springfield, MO, USA - 3, 3; 6

PHRF4 (PHRF - 16 Boats)
1. Rumor, J/80, John Storck, Jr, Huntington, NY, USA - 1, 3; 4
2. Hound Dog, S2 9.1, Christian Uecker, Ridgefield, CT, USA - 2, 2; 4
3. Loki III, S2 9.1, Richard Correll, Huntington, NY, USA - 6, 1; 7

PHRF5 (PHRF - 6 Boats)
1. One Up, Wyliecat 30, Lincoln Schoenberger, Shelton, CT, USA - 1, 1; 2
2. Air Express, San Juan 30, Chris Fesenmeyer, Norwalk, CT, USA - 2, 2; 4
3. MadCow, J/24, David German, Tampa, FL, USA - 3, 3; 6

Navigator Non Spin (PHRF - 6 Boats)
1. Xenophon, Frers/Nautor Swan 44, Paul Pakos, Sudbury, MA, USA - 1; 1
2. Glass Slipper, Catalina 320, Douglas Dalessio, Stony Brook, NY, USA - 2; 2
3. Rascal, J/34C, Kel Weber, Wilton, CT, USA - 3; 3

IRC Super Zero (IRC - 6 Boats)
1. Blue Yankee, Reichel Pugh 66, Bob and Farley Towse, Stamford, CT, USA - 1; 1
2. T-Squared, Davidson 52, Chuck Townsend, Middletown, RI, USA - 2; 2
3. Decision, TP 52, Stephen Murray, New Orleans, LA, USA - 3; 3

IRC Zero (IRC - 7 Boats)
1. Magic Glove, Ker 50, Colm Barrington, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, Ireland - 1; 1
2. Devocean, Swan 45, Stephen De Voe, Stamford, CT, USA - 2; 2
3. Sjambok, RP45, Michael Brennan, Potomac, MD, USA - 3; 3

IRC1/NYYC Swan 42 (IRC - 8 Boats)
1. Mutiny, NYYC Swan 42, Gibb Kane, Rye, NY, USA - 1; 1
2. Arethusa, NYYC Swan 42, Phil Lotz, New Canaan, CT, USA - 2; 2
3. Tsunami, NYYC Swan 42, Preben Ostberg/John Aras/Bud Dailey, Rockville, MD, USA - 3; 3

IRC2 (IRC - 10 Boats)
1. Jammy Beggar, Melges 32, Tom Lee, Essex, CT, USA - 1; 1
2. Cracker, Ker 11.3, Hunt Lawerence, New York, NY, USA - 2; 2
3. Yellow Jacket, Farr 40, Bulman, Scholz, D'Amato, Bethesda, MD, USA - 3; 3

IRC3 (IRC - 10 Boats)
1. Avalanche, Farr 395, Craig Albrecht, Sea Cliff, NY, USA - 1; 1
2. Drumbeat, Farr 395, Donald Nicholson, Scotch Plains, NJ, USA - 3; 3
3. Coyote, Farr 395, William Clemens, Riverside, Conn., USA - 3; 3

IRC4 (IRC - 14 Boats)
1. Tumbleweed III, J/122, Jim Johnstone, Newport , RI, USA - 1; 1
2. Christopher Dragon, J/122, Andrew Weiss, Greenwich, CT, USA - 2; 2
3. Partnership, J/122, David Tortorello, Fairfield, CT, USA - 3; 3

IRC5 (IRC - 14 Boats)
1. Xhibition, X-35, Richard Casner, Dedham, MA, USA - 1; 1
2. Troubador, Express 37, Schumacher 37, Mort Weintraub, Larchmont, NY, USA - 2; 2
3. Cabady, Taylor 42, Randall/Matt Baldwin, Ridgefield, CT, USA - 3; 3

J/44 (One Design - 6 Boats)
1. Resolute, J/44, Don & Rick Rave, Huntington Bay, NY, USA - 3, 1; 4
2. Gold Digger, J/44, James D. Bishop, New York, NY, USA - 1, 3; 4
3. Challenge IV, J/44, Jeffrey Willis, Huntington, NY, USA - 2, 2; 4

J/120 (One Design - 6 Boats)
1. Peregrine, J/120, Dan/ Hunt Coughlin/ Lawrence, New York, NY, USA - 2, 1; 3
2. k2, J/120, Luis Gonzalez, Grand Isle, VT, USA - 1, 3; 4
3. Windborn, J/120, Richard Born, Lutherville, MD, USA - 3, 2; 5

Beneteau 36.7 (One Design - 7 Boats)
1. Volition, Beneteau First 36.7 36, Curt Schwab, Washington, DC, USA - 1, 1, ; 2
2. Quokka, Beneteau First 36.7 35, Tom Peelen, Dartmouth , MA, USA - 2, 3; 5
3. Whirlwind, Beneteau First 36.7 36, William Purdy, New York, NY, USA - 6, 2; 8
J/109 (One Design - 19 Boats)
1. Jibber Jabber, J/109, David Jannetti, Southampton, NY, USA - 4, 1; 5
2. Mischief, J/109, Mike Brown, Yardley, PA, USA - 3, 2; 5
3. Taste Like Chicken, J/109, Stephen Tedeski, St. Petersburg, FL, USA - 2, 3; 5

J/105 (One Design - 24 Boats)
1. Savasana, J/105, Brian Keane, Weston, MA, USA - 1, 3; 4
2. Andiamo, J/105, Paul Strauch, Douglaston, NY, USA - 3, 2; 5
3. Eclipse, J/105, Damian Emery, Shoreham, NY, USA - 2, 10; 12