A Classic Day Wraps up Classic Racing

by Barby MacGowan on 21 Jul 2008
Racing concluded today for the first half of the New York Yacht Club's (NYYC) Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex. For 53 classic yachts it was the culmination of a colorful tribute to the Golden Era of yachting that included a 100th birthday party for one of yachting's greatest and most prolific designers, Olin J. Stephens (who attended the celebration at the New York Yacht Club last night).

While a fleet of historic 12 Metres raced north of the Newport Bridge, one-design classes for S Boats and 6 Metres took up some of the real estate south of the bridge for around-the-buoys racing. Four more classes of mixed designs headed off on a circumnavigation of Conanicut Island, a course famous for showing off the scenic shores of both the East and West Passages of Narragansett Bay. The sum total was spirited racing in a variety of conditions for each fleet.

Joe Loughborough (Newport, R.I.) said his yacht Belle saw a good 20-22 knots at one point, racing in the 6 Metre class today in a single race that covered several miles and wound around several government marks. 'Alana (Thomas Rodes, Cambridge, Mass.) had us beat going up the last leg. There it was -- the committee boat and the finish line, and we were behind Alana, so they were going to win the race. Then they crossed the line the wrong way and realized their error. By the time they turned around and re-finished, we had gotten the gun and won the race.' Loughborough also topped that class overall on the strength of his 1-2-1 finishes.

The S Boats sailed the same course as the 6 Metres, with Paul Del Nero (Newport, R.I.), skipper of Vindex, adding a fourth-place finish to yesterday's two bullets to take the class victory. His boat, a Herreshoff design, is just one of the many fine examples here of wooden boats lovingly restored to their original beauty and maintained as veritable maritime masterpieces. 'When we're not racing, I'm saying 'stay off the varnish!,' said Del Nero. 'But when we're out racing, all rules are out the door. We tension everything full-on, we're all over the boat and we do whatever it takes. We really have Vindex dialed in to go fast.' Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's S Boat Osprey handily won today's race to take second overall. He co-skippered with Newporters Dyer Jones and Michael McCaffrey.

After the 12 Metres staged an all-inclusive start as a photo opportunity, they then split into their four classes to race two races. Leaders from yesterday who became overall winners today were Ralph Isham (New York, N.Y.) on USA 61 in Grand Prix Division; Stephen Glascock (Middletown, R.I.) on Courageous/USA 26 in Modern Divison; and, with a perfect scoreline, Elizabeth Tiedemann (Newport, R.I.) on Northern Light/USA 14.

It was not a cakewalk for Tiedemann, however. 'The first day of racing (the 12 Metres started a day earlier than the rest) we were well ahead; we got lucky,' she said. 'The second day it was harder and today it was really hard--we won the first race by only three seconds.' Northern Light's captain, Kyle Dufur, noted that the boat is completely original from stem to stern. 'We don't even have wind instruments like everyone else. The boat didn't have them in 1938 and it doesn't have them now.'

Anthony Chiurco (Princeton, N.J.) won both races on American Eagle/USA 21 to move into first overall in the Traditional Division. In a mishap between races, Ernest Jacquet's (Boston, Mass.) Freedom, lost its mast after a deck chain plate let loose. It now lies at the bottom of the Bay, but will be retrieved.

For top-performance overall among all the classic divisions, Tom Hill won a Rolex timepiece. His Around-the-Island Race finish of fourth today in his 52-foot 'Q' Boat Falcon was good enough to keep him at the top of the scoreboard in Class 2, but it was a surprise to him. 'We didn't think we had won at all,' said Hill. His closest competitor was Edgar Cato's (Charlotte, N.C.) 52-foot Dorade, one of the earliest and perhaps the most famous of all S&S designs. Dorade finished second overall.

Trevor Fetter's (Newport, R.I.) 68-foot S&S-designed Black Watch, built in 1938, finished first overall in Class 1 and was awarded the Sparkman & Stephens Award for top performance by an S&S design.

In Spirit of Tradition/Modern Division, Angus Davis (Bristol, R.I.), sailing Kestrel, won today's race to complete his perfect score line and take victory overall. Likewise, Don Glassie (Newport, R.I.), sailing his Custom Schooner Fortune, won today to take Class 3.

In a series that ran yesterday for the Shields class, Peter Clark (Newport, R.I.), sailing Virginia, won three of four races to take overall victory.

Summing up the emotions of the weekend was Bill Doyle, a classic yacht enthusiast who sailed with fellow Newporter Jed Pearsall (Newport) aboard the 6 Metre Clarity, which won a Silver Medal at the 1924 Olympics: 'It has been simply amazing, seeing all the boats here that have been restored to their original form, most to diamond-perfect perfection. And to have Olin Stephens walk among us, I'm just in awe. It's so important for the yachting community to come together like this to recognize one of our sport's living legends. It's like getting to meet Picasso.'

Race Week's Second Half

For the second half of the New York Yacht Club's Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex -- from Thursday, July 24 through Sunday, July 27 -- 123 modern racing machines will converge on Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound for IRC, PHRF and one-design competitions.

The event is part of the 2008 US-IRC Gulf Stream Series, and three one-design classes - the NYYC Swan 42s, J/109s and Melges 32s - will use the event to determine their 2008 North American or National champions. In addition, the event will serve as the J/105 and J/122 East Coast Championships and the Beneteau First 36.7 Northeast Championship.

On-demand video will be available after 9 pm each evening of Race Week at www.nyyc.org, where complete results also can be found.

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex

FINAL RESULTS Classics Regatta

Place, First name, Last name, City, State, Boat Name, Type, Finish Positions, Total

CLASSICS 1 - Non-Spinnaker
1. Trevor Fetter, New York, Newport, RI, Black Watch , S&S, 1-1-5/DNC, 7
2. Edward Kane, New York, Concord, MA, Bolero, S&S, 2-4-1, 7
3. Scott Frantz, New York, Riverside, CT, Ticonderoga, Herreshoff, 3-2-3, 8

CLASSICS 2 - Spinnaker
1. Tom Hill, New York, San Juan, PR, Falcon, Burgess Q, 2-2-4, 8
2. Edgar Cato, New York, Charlotte, NC, Dorade, S&S, 4-1-5, 10
3. Peter Cassidy, Rochester, Mass., Siren, S&S NY32, 3-5-2, 10

CLASSICS 3 - Non-Spinnaker
1. Don Glassie, New York , Newport, R.I., Fortune, Custom Schooner, 2-1-1, 4
2. Alfred Sanford, Nantucket, Mass., Impala, S&S, 1-2-5/DNC, 8
3. Alfred Slanetz, Cohasset, Mass., Cara Mia, Herreshoff NY30, 5/DNC-3-2, 10

CLASSICS 4 - SPIRIT OF TRADITION/MODERN - Non-Spinnaker
1. Angus Davis, Bristol, R.I., Kestrel, Herreshoff FI31, 1-1-1, 3
2. Glenn Walters, Newport, R.I., Poia, Catalina 38, 3-2-2, 7
3. Bernard Gustin, New York, Newport, R.I., Say When, Herreshoff BBay 25, 2-3-3, 8

12 METRES - DIVISION A GRAND PRIX
1. Ralph Isham, New York, New York, N.Y./USA 61, 1-1-1-1-1-1, 6
2. Mercedes Tech, New York, N.Y., America II/USA 46, 2-2-3/DNS-2-2-2, 13

12 METRES - DIVISION B MODERN
1. Stephen Glascock, Middletown, R.I., Courageous/USA 26, 2-1-1-1-1-2, 8
2. Jack Curtin, New York, N.Y., Intrepid/USA 22, 1-2-3-3-2-1, 12
3. Ernest Jacquet, Boston, Mass., Freedom/USA 30, 3-3-2-2-3-6/DNS, 19

12 METRES - DIVISION C TRADITIONAL
1. Anthony Chiurco, Princeton, N.J., American Eagle/USA 21, 2-3-2-1-1-1, 10
2. Jon Wullschleger, Sarasota, Fla., Nefertiti/USA 19, 3-1-1-2-2-2, 11
3. Alain Hanover, Newport, R.I., Columbia/USA 16, 1-2-3-3-3-3, 15

12 METRES - DIVISION