New York Yacht Club (NYYC) 158th Annual Regatta overall

by Barby MacGowan on 11 Jun 2012 Sailors at the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) 158th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex had to face light winds on Saturday and Sunday.

An abbreviated race schedule meant every move counted as critical to final results.

With 104 boats entered in Friday’s race (separately scored and optional) and 133 entered in weekend racing, this 2012 edition of what is revered as America’s oldest regatta will go down in sailing history as having its biggest fleet ever…and, for some, the most intriguing last-minute victories.

One for the record is Alex Jackson’s (Riverside, Conn.) trumping of the nine-boat Melges 32 class with Leenabarca in the second of two races today.

Two of the class’s world champions (Doug Douglass on Goombay Smash and Pieter Taselaar on Bliksem) were tied for first going into that race, which was the last of three in the regatta series, and Jackson trailed in scoring by one point. According to Douglass, who exchanged friendly banter with Jackson back onshore, 'We both went right, and Alex schooled us by going left and winning—he stole (the series) from us!'

Jackson joked that while the competition was incredible, 'we were just better,' but in all seriousness, the stakes are high for this class as it prepares for its world championships here later this summer. 'More teams will be showing up as we get closer to that event,' said Jackson, who finished sixth two years ago at the worlds, 'so I wouldn’t say that this was the biggest fleet of Melges 32s we’ve ever had, but it sure included some of the toughest teams.'

Also winning on the final note today was defending champion Mike McCaffrey (Newport, R.I.) aboard Osprey in the Herreshoff S class. Stephan Sloan’s (East Greenwich, R.I.) Argument was leading the regatta until it was forced over the start line prematurely in today’s second race and had to restart. 'That gave us the opportunity to salvage a first out of what was looking to be a second or third,' said McCaffrey.

Andrew Fisher (Greenwich, Conn.), winner of the Swan 42 class with Bandit, said his team also had an 'incredibly bad start' in today’s first race, but it battled back to finish fifth.

'Luckily, we were very much in phase in the second race,' said Fisher, 'and we picked more of the right wind shifts than the wrong ones and won. It was a little bit of luck, a little bit of skill.' His closest competition was John Hele’s Daring, which represented the Royal Canadian Yacht Club to win last year’s New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup presented by Rolex and is helmed by Canada’s Terry McLaughlin, an America’s Cup veteran and 1984 Olympic silver medalist in the Flying Dutchman class.

Among the largest boats in the fleet was George Sakellaris’s (Framingham, Mass.) Mini Maxi 72 Shockwave, which won IRC 1.

'We had a conservative day,' said the boat’s captain and crew member Reggie Cole (Newport) after today’s single race. 'We just wanted to beat (George David’s) Rambler today, because that’s what we had to do to win, but it was just by happenstance that we also beat (Hap Fauth’s) Bella Mente. She blew out a spinnaker and we passed them to finish first.'

Ptarmigan, Larry Dickie’s (Greenwich, Conn.) Ker 43, came from behind to win today in IRC 3. Skipper Bill Lynn (Marblehead, Mass) said that Saturday it had been hard to get out of the shadow of James Madden’s (Newport Beach, Calif.) Swan 601 Stark Raving Mad, which won the day on the merit of posting victory in a single race. 'There was massive wind sheer and shifts to deal with,' he said, explaining that on the first beat his team had looked good, but 'after that, we were struggling' and finished third.

Though today proved more manageable, playing shifts was still the name of the game and Ptarmigan made the most out of them to finish first to Stark Raving Mad’s fourth and post four points to its five (for second place).

Steered by Lexi Gahagan, Dennis Williams’s (Hobe Sound, Fla.) Victory 83 dominated the 12 Metre class, posting three victories in as many races, while in IRC 5 class, Leonard Sitar’s (Holmdel, NJ) J/44 Vamp took class honors with a 2-1 in his series.

Past J/122 North American champion Mike Bruno and Tom Boyle (Irvington, N.Y.) finished 2-1 in the regatta’s two races to take IRC 6 on his J/122 Wings, while past J/109 North American champion Bill Sweetser (Annapolis, Md.) on the J/109 Rush topped IRC 7.

David and Sandra Askew’s (Annapolis, Md.) IRC 52 Flying Jenny 2 won IRC 2, while winning IRC 4 was the Taylor 45 Africa, skippered by Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Jud Smith (Marblehead, Mass.).

Peter Kellogg’s (Short Hills, N.J.) Catboat 33' Silent Maid won CRF 2 Non-Spinnaker, and Lars Forsberg’s (Greenwich, Conn.) S&S Yawl Black Watch took CRF 1 Non-Spinnaker. In PHRF Navigator’s class, 22 boats competed, proving that this relatively new concept (begun last year) is popular for those who prefer a classic government buoy course to the more prevalent short-course racing on Saturday and Sunday.

Defending champions Ben Hall and Bill Berges (Tiverton, R.I.) won Class 5 on their Evelyn 32 Bluto, while Paul Koch’s (East Greenwich, R.I.) Freedom 35 Jazz Fish took Class 6. A Rolex timepiece was awarded on Friday evening to the overall IRC winner in that day’s Around the Island Race.

Accepting the Rolex was Takashi Okura (Tokyo, Japan), owner and skipper of the IRC 52 Sled, which also won its IRC 2 class.

Known for attracting a diverse range of boats, NYYC’s Annual Regatta presented by Rolex is the first major sailing contest of the season in historic Newport, Rhode Island. In even-numbered years, the regatta draws a large number of competitors who compete a week later in the Newport Bermuda Race and who use the Annual Regatta to gear up prior to the start of that distance race.

Part of the 2012 US-IRC Gulf Stream Series, NYYC’s Annual Regatta presented by Rolex is the first event in the NYYC Classic Yacht Series. Additionally, IRC yachts are eligible to enter the Onion Patch Series which consists of the Annual Regatta, the Newport Bermuda Race and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta.

The first race completed on Saturday and Sunday during NYYC’s Annual Regatta counts toward the Onion Patch Series.

Results - NYYC 158th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex
June 9-10, 2012

Blue Class 1 - IRC 1 (IRC - 3 Boats)
1. Shockwave, Mini Maxi 72, George Sakellaris , Framingham, MA, USA - 1, 1, ; 22. Bella Mente, J-V Mini Maxi 72', Hap Fauth , Minneapolis, MN, USA - 3, 2, ; 53. Rambler, RP 90 W B 90, George David , Hartford, CT, USA - 2, 3, ; 5

Blue Class 2 - IRC 2 (IRC - 5 Boats)
1. Flying Jenny 7, IRC 52 52, David and Sandra Askew , Annapolis, MD, USA - 1, 2, ; 32. Vesper, TP 52 52, Jim Swartz , Park City, UT, USA - 3, 1, ; 43. Interlodge, IRC 52 52, Austin and Gwen Fragomen , Newport, RI, USA - 2, 4, ; 6

Blue Class 3 - IRC 3 (IRC - 9 Boats)
1. Ptarmigan, Ker 43 43, Lawrence Dickie , Greenwich, CT, USA - 3, 1, ; 42. Stark Raving Mad, Swan 601 60, James Madden , Newport Beach, CA, USA - 1, 4, ; 53. Defiance, Marten 49 49, Hamnett Hill , Montreal, Que, CAN - 4, 2, ; 6

Blue Class 4 - IRC 4 (IRC - 13 Boats)
1. Africa, Taylor 45 45, Jud Smith , Marblehead, MA, USA - 1, 2.5, ; 3.52. Nasty Medicine, Corby 41 41.5, Stephen Sherwin , Hamilton, BER - 2, 2.5/Protest, ; 4.53. After Midnight, CTM 41 41, Paul Jeka , Atlantic Highlands, NJ, USA - 4, 1, ; 5
Blue Class 5 - IRC 5 (IRC - 9 Boats)
1. Vamp, J 44 44.9, Leonard Sitar , Holmdel, NJ, USA - 2, 1, ; 32. Carina, Custom 48 48', Rives Potts , Essex, CT, USA - 1, 2, ; 33. Cygnette, Swan 441 44.36, William Mayer , Dover, DE, USA - 5, 3, ; 8

White Class 6 - IRC 6 (IRC - 12 Boats)
1. Wings, J 122 40, Mike Bruno & Tom Boyle , Irvington, NY, USA - 2, 1, ; 32. Christopher Dragon, J/122 40, Andrew Weiss , Mamaroneck, NY, USA - 1, 5, ; 63. Old School, Farr 395 39.5, Ganson Evans , Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, USA - 3, 6, ; 9

White Class 7 - IRC 7 (IRC - 10 Boats)
1. Rush, J 109 35.25, Bill Sweetser , Annapolis, MD, USA - 1, 1, ; 22. Dorade, S&S Yawl 52.5, Matt Brooks , Fremont, CA, USA - 5, 2, ; 73. Picante, J 109 36, Rober Salk & John Sahagian , Jamestown, RI, USA - 4, 3, ; 7

White Class 8 - Swan 42 (One Design - 10 Boats)
1. Bandit, Swan 42 42, Andrew Fisher , Greenwich, CT, USA - 3, 5, 1, ; 92. Daring, Swan 42 42, John Hele , Newport, RI, USA - 1, 3, 9, ; 133. Vitesse, Swan 42 42, Jon Halbert , Dallas, TX, USA - 6, 1, 6, ; 13

White Class 9 - Melges 32 (One Design - 9 Boats)
1. Leenabarca, Melges 32 32, Alex Jackson , Riverside, Conn., USA - 5, 1, 1, ; 72. Bliksem, Melges 32 32, Pieter Taselaar , Newport, RI, USA - 2, 3, 4, ; 93. hedgehog, Melges 32 32, Alec Cutler , Pembroke, BER - 4, 5, 2, ; 11

Green Class 1 - 12 Metres (One Design - 8 Boats)
1. Victory 83, 12 Metre 65, Dennis Williams , Hobe Sound, FL, USA - 1, 1, 1, ; 32. Courageous, 12 Meter 68, Ralph Isham / Alexander Auersperg , New York, NY, USA - 2, 4, 2, ; 83. USA, 12 Metre 65', Guy Heckman , Newport, RI, USA - 4, 2, 4/Protest, ; 1

Green Class 4 - Herreshoff S Class (One Design - 9 Boats)
1. Osprey, Herreshoff S Class 27.6, Michael McCaffrey , Newport, RI, USA - 2, 2, 3, ; 72. Argument, Herreshoff S Class 27.5, Stephan Sloan , East Greenwich, RI, USA - 1, 1, 7, ; 93. Swallow , Herreshoff S Class 27.5, Leeds Mitchell IV , Providence, RI, USA - 3, 4, 2, ; 9

Green Class 2 - CRF 1 Non-Spinnaker (PHRF - 6 Boats)
1. Black Watch, S&S Yawl 67.86, Lars Forsberg , Greenwich, CT, USA - 3, 1/Protest, 1, ; 52. Angelita, 8 Metre 50.33', Samuel Croll , Greenwich, CT, USA - 1, 5/Protest, 2, ; 83. Sonny, S&S Custom 53 53, Joseph Dockery , Newport, RI, USA - 2, 2, 4, ; 8

Green Class 3 - CRF 2 Non-Spinnaker (PHRF - 7 Boats)
1. Silent Maid, Catboat 33', Peter Kellogg , Short Hills, NJ, USA - 1, 4, 1, ; 62. Belle, Luders 24 38.25, Jonathan Loughborough , Newport, RI, USA - 2, 2, 2, ; 63. SYCE, 6 Metre 34, Bob and Farley Towse , Stamford, CT, USA - 3, 5, 3, ; 11

Green Class 5 - PHRF Navigators Race (PHRF - 14 Boats)
1. Bluto, Evelyn 32-2 32, Benjamin Hall , Tiverton, RI, USA - 2, 2, ; 42. Tonto, J 105 34.5, Fred Darlington , Cumberland, RI, USA - 6, 1, ; 73. Blockade Runner, Farr 30 30, Bruce Bingman / Taran Teague , Annapolis, MD, USA - 1, 8.5, ; 9.5

Green Class 6 - PHRF NS Navigators Race (PHRF - 8 Boats)
1. Jazz Fish, Freedom 35 35, Paul Koch , East Greenwich, RI, USA - 1, 3, ; 42. Duck Soup, C&C 40 39'6, Bill Clavin , Warwick, RI, USA - 2, 2, ; 43. True, J 160 52, Howard Hodgson , Ipswich, MA, USA - 5, 1, ; 6

New York Yacht Club’s website at nyyc.org