New York Yacht Club Race Week - For some a perfect day

by Barby MacGowan on 18 Jul 2010 New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex, day one.

It was a busy day on Narragansett Bay when hundreds of athletes swam across it in the early morning, then 1200 more plied its waters from mid-morning to afternoon, sailing the first day of the New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex.

While the annual early-morning 'Save the Bay' swim finished, 107 boats left their berths in Newport Harbor to converge on three race circles: two 'outside' on Rhode Island Sound and one 'up the Bay,' or north of the iconic Pell Bridge, which serves as gateway to historic Newport and frames the sweeping view of the city from Harbour Court, where host New York Yacht Club has its on-water clubhouse.

'It was everything you could hope for in a day of sailing,' said NYYC Race Committee Chair John 'Tinker' Miles, noting sunshine and warm temperatures cooled by manageable 12-15 knot breezes from the Southwest.

For leaders in seven of the 12 classes, when it was good it was very good. The conditions enabled them to post nothing but first-place finishes in multiple races. Phil Lotz (Newport, R.I.) posted three bullets in as many races in the 15-boat NYYC Swan 42 class, further attributing his stellar performance to 'essentially good starts and speed, and conservative plays, which were more or less up the middle of the course.' Sailing with Lotz for the class’s National Championship were his wife Wendy and son Doug (age 23), while another Newporter Martha Parker, who worked the bow, also enjoyed having family aboard--her 13-year-old son Frasier. 'There was enough variation in the wind velocity and seaway, however, that we were changing gears and sail trim constantly,' said Lotz, who is the 2009 national champion in this class and also represented the New York Yacht Club last year in its victory at the first-ever NYYC Invitational Cup, which hosted yacht club teams from around the world.

Thomas Boyle’s (Irvington, N.Y.) Wings was also three-for-three in the tight J/122 fleet, but it was only because it had the 'slightest edge' on speed over David Murphy’s (Westport, Conn.) Pugwash, which finished right behind it on every account. 'We’d come off the starting line and two miles later we were only two boat lengths ahead, ' said Mark Ploch (City Island, N.Y.) whose job it is to concentrate on boat speed. 'With the boats all stacked together, I’d say it was a combination of things that kept us ahead, including Tom’s incredible ability to concentrate on the long beats.'
Other leaders with perfect scores over three races were Robert Armstrong (St. Croix) on Good Girl in the PHRF 1 class; defending Race Week champion John Hammel (Arlington, Mass.) on Elan in the Beneteau First 36.7 class; Dennis Williams (Hobe Sound, Fla.) on Victory 83 in the 12 Metre class; Alan Silken (Newton, Mass.) on Firefly in the S Class; and Richard Mentelos (Guilford, Conn.) on Park Place in PHRF 2.

Defending Race Week champion Damian Emery (Shoreham, N.Y.) won two of three races on Eclipse in the J/105 class, sailing for its East Coast championship and the largest here with 20 boats. The J/109s, which are fighting for their North American title, were led today by defending Race Week champion Ted Herlihy (South Darmouth, Mass.) after he posted a 2-1-1 with Gut Feeling.

Racing for the first half of Race Week continues through Monday for the five One-Design classes and concludes tomorrow for Classics, Herreshoff S Class, 12 Metre, 6 Metre, and PHRF. The second half is scheduled for Wednesday through Saturday when the Rolex US-IRC National Championship will take center stage. To date, 38 IRC-rated racers are registered for the fourth annual competition.

July 17-24, 2010
Preliminary Results – Saturday, July 17, 2010
Top three in each class

Place, Boat Name, Skipper, Hometown, Finish Positions, Total Points
Blue Fleet – 3 races completed

Class 1 – NYYC Swan 42 (15 boats)
1. Arethusa, Phillip Lotz, Newport, R.I., 1-1-1, 3 points
2. Hoss, Glen Darden & Williamson, Fort Worth, Texas, 2-6-5, 13
3. Apparition, Kenneth Colburn, Dover, Mass., 4-2-9, 15

Class 2 – J/122 (7 boats)
1. Wings Thomas Boyle, Irvington, N.Y., 1-1-1, 3 points
2. Pugwash, David Murphy, Westport, Conn., 2-2-2, 6
3. Christopher Dragon, Andrew Weiss, Mamaroneck, N.Y., 3-4-3, 10

Class 3 – J/109 (13 boats)
1. Gut Feeling, Ted Herlihy, South Dartmouth, Mass., 2-1-1, 4 points
2. Caminos, David Filippelli, Amagansett, N.Y.., 3-2-2, 7
3. Gossip, Steve Kenny & Greg Ames, Wainscott, N.Y., 1-3-4, 8

White Fleet – 3 races completed

Class 1 – PHRF 1 (10 boats)
1. Good Girl, J/100, Robert Armstrong, St. Croix, 1-1-1, 3 points
2. Settler, Peterson 42, Thomas Rich, Middletown, R.I., 2-3-2, 7
3. Act One, Sloop, Charlie Milligan & Tom Roche, Newport, R.I., 4-2-3, 9

Class 2 – Beneteau First 36.7 (8 boats)
1. Elan, John Hammel, Arlington, Mass., 1-1-1, 3 points
2. Resolute, Junius Brown Ridgefield, Conn., 2-2-3, 7
3. Kea/Slipstream, Chick Pyle, San Diego, Calif., 3-3-5, 11

Class 3 – J/105 (20 boats)
1. Eclipse, Damian Emery, Shoreham, N.Y., 1-1-4, 6 points
3. Kincsem, Joerg Esdorn, Katonah, N.Y., 6-2-1, 9
2. Savasana, Brian Keane, Weston, Mass., 3-3-5, 11

Green Fleet – 2 races completed; CRF 1 and CRF 2 completed one distance race

Class 1 – CRF 1 (3 boats)
1. Bolero, Edward Kane, Concord, Mass., 02:43:35
2. Black Watch, Trevor Fetter, Dallas, Texas, 02:46:25
3. Sumurun, Robert Towbin, Camden, Maine, 03:06:10

Class 2 – 12 Metre (5 boats)
1. Victory 83, Dennis Williams, Hobe Sound, Fla., 1-1, 2 points
2. American Eagle, Carol Swift, Hoboken, N.J., 4-2, 6
3. Courageous, Ralph Isham, New York, N.Y., 2-4, 6

Class 3 – CRF 2 (5 boats)
1. Chips, Jed Pearsall, Newport, R.I., 03:08:04
2. Sonny, Joseph Dockery, Newport, R.I., 03:11:05
3. Fortune, Don Glassie, New York, N.Y., 03:18:00

Class 4 – 6 Metre (6 boats)
1. Syce, Bob & FarleyTowse, Stamford, Conn., 2-1, 3 points
2. Ranger, Thomas Rodes, Cambridge, Mass., 1-4, 5
3. Cherokee, Jerry Goldlust, Concord, Mass., 4-3, 7

Class 5 –S Class (10 boats)
1. Firefly, Alan Silken, Newton, Mass., 1-1, 2 points
2. Aquila, Geoffrey Davis, Providence, R.I., 4- 2, 6
3. Osprey, Mike McCaffrey, Newport, R.I. , 2- 4, 6

Class 6 – PHRF 2 (5 boats)
1. Park Place, O'Day 34, Richard Mentelos, Guilford, Conn., 1-1, 2 points
2, Wolverine, Frers 33, David Nauber, Higganum, Mass., 2-2, 4
3. Dirty Harry, J/29, John Lavin, East Greenwich, R.I., 3-3, 6

On-demand video by T2p.tv will be available after 9 p.m. each evening of Race Week at www.nyyc.org where complete results also can be found.