Annapolis to Newport Race features largest fleet in 28 years

by Chip Thayer on 27 May 2011 Annapolis to Newport Race 2011 entry list has now been completed. 71 entries are registered, making it the largest in the past 28 years.

Back in 1983 there were 72 boats. This year there actually happened to be 74 entries, but three have had to withdraw for various reasons. The entry list with information on owner, navigator, boat type, yacht club and home port is posted on the website.

The fleet has an international flavor due to the influx of boats competing in the Atlantic Ocean Racing Series. This series is made up of the Transatlantic Race, two races in the Caribbean, the Annapolis-Newport Race and three after the Transatlantic on the other side of the pond.

Twelve boats in the Annapolis to Newport Race will be sailing the Transatlantic which starts from Newport in late June and early July. There are entries with home ports in Germany, the UK, Antigua, Australia and the Cayman Islands, plus eight states ranging from Rhode Island to Louisiana.

In 2007 the Annapolis to Newport Race became the first of the east coast offshore races to provide the capability to follow the race via an internet race viewer. The organizers are pleased to announce another enhancement in 2011. Each boat will carry a Yellowbrick GPS transponder that transmits boat speed and position information every 30 minutes via the Iridium satellite system. Every hour and half-hour all of the boats will automatically send a position report simultaneously.

This will result in a real improvement in the accuracy of the race viewer when compared to the previous system which collected data from the transponders a few at a time over the course of an hour. The track and current position of each boat will be displayed on the race viewer. You can watch the tactics unfold in near real time and see the gains and losses for each boat and yacht club team. There are links to the race viewer available here.

The capability to increase the transponder update rate remotely at critical points on the course will allow us to once again offer trophies for first out of the Bay. Many years ago these trophies were based on reports from personnel on the Chesapeake Lightship off the mouth of the Bay. They had to be discontinued when the lightship was replaced by an unmanned tower.

The race course runs south on the Chesapeake Bay for 120 miles to the Bay Bridge Tunnel, then 20 miles out into the Atlantic to the Chesapeake Light Tower and finally up the coast to Newport for a total of 473 miles. The update frequency will be increased at the bridge tunnel, at the light tower and again at Block Island.

Annapolis to Newport Race website