Onion Patch Series Amendment 1 announced

by Talbot Wilson on 16 Jun 2008 The New York Yacht Club hosts the first event of the 2008 Onion Patch Series, the 154th Annual Regatta of the NYYC. In order to accommodate the diverse fleet entered in the Annual Regatta and organize for multiple races each day, the Onion Patch Committee has revised the Notice of Series to include only the first completed race of each day within the Onion Patch Series.

'We wanted to insure that all the boats, big and small, got in the best racing they could in the New York YC regatta,' said Onion Patch Chairman Richard Shulman. 'The New York Yacht Club committee made this recommendation and the Onion Patch Committee agreed that the change would allow great racing for the series and allows the bigger boats to sail a longer course in later races each day. The change will also get the larger and faster boats off on their second race without a major delay waiting for the smaller yachts to finish their first race.'

The Onion Patch attracts a wide spectrum of yachts. The varied racing formats of the three component regattas – the NYYC Annual Regatta, The Bermuda Race and the RBYC Anniversary Regatta in Bermuda - levels the playing field offering an opportunity for amateur 'Corinthian' crews on smaller yachts to compete fairly with professional programs on state of the art racing machines. Competition is keen for individual as well as for three member teams representing yacht clubs.

The series ends in the Onion Patch… Bermuda. The Onion Patch Series started purely as a national team competition in 1964 open to all nations having entries in the Newport Bermuda Race. That first year racing consisted of a 25-mile race off the Ida Lewis Yacht Club, the Ocean Race and a 25-mile race off the South shore of Bermuda. The first Onion Patch Trophy was won by the American team with other entries from Bermuda and Argentina.

In 1984 the Henry B Du Pont Trophy was raced for in a separate series for individual yachts on the same course as the Onion Patch Series. A greater number of entries were on the line that year as yachts used the racing in the US to warm up their crews for the thrash to Bermuda. Eventually, racing for both trophies has come to be known as the Onion Patch Series and consists of racing for both team and individual prizes.

http://www.onionpatchseries.com/