Please select your home edition
Edition
X-Yachts X4.0

Block Island Race Week ends as winners named in 17 classes

by Barby MacGowan on 27 Jun 2009
IRCZERO class won by Roger Sturgeon’s STP65 ROSEBUD TEAM DYT (white boat) with US Merchant Marine Academy’s STP65 VANQUISH in second place - Block Island Race Week Rolex / Dan Nerney

A single race today decided the fate of 153 boats entered in the Storm Trysail Club’s Block Island Race Week XXIII presented by Rolex. The event, which began Monday, hosted 1500 sailors on the tiny land mass of Block Island, which for five days in every odd-numbered year becomes the epicenter for sailing in New England.

Of the 17 victors named in as many classes today, three were new leaders since yesterday, illustrating best how the tough got going when the going got tough.

In J/122 class, which was using the event as its North American championship, Doug Shaffer’s (Bayview, Texas) Gambler had three points to make up on yesterday’s leader Flying Jenny VI, skippered by David Askew (Annapolis, Md.). Gambler accomplished that at the first weather mark when all the boats converged at the same time. 'Everybody was ducking boats; we were in fifth place and jibed out to the left and picked up three boats (to finish second),' said Shaffer. 'That was the regatta right there. Flying Jenny had to take more boats at that mark (and finished eighth for second overall).' Shaffer, who has owned a number of different J boats over the years, says this is the first time he has won a regatta on a national level and gave credit to his crew, which included co-helmsman Eric Olving (Long Branch, N.J.) and tactician Jay Lutz (Seabrook, Texas).

In IRC 40B class, the Farr 395 Avalanche, skippered by Craig Albrecht (Sea Cliff, N.Y.), started his series with a DNS (did not start) due to a broken rudder but proceeded to win five races, including today’s, in the eight-race series. After today’s performance, the boat climbed to first over yesterday’s leader Katabatic, an IMX 40 skippered by Gordon Hall (Marblehead, Mass.).

Loki, the S2-9.1 skippered by Richard Correll (Huntington, N.Y.) in PHRF 4 class, also rose to the top today, pushing yesterday’s leader Boondoggle, a Frers 30 skippered by Scott Kirkpatrick (Wellesley, Mass.) to third.

For Rick Lyall (Wilton, Conn.), skipper of Storm in the J/109 class, sailing 'clean and competitively'– and winning today’s race -- was the key to securing his Block Island victory and the 2009 J/109 East Coast Championship title. 'It was very exciting, sailing in 18-19 knots today,' he said. 'The boat was prepared and performing tremendously; we were spot on with our navigation and tactics, and we’re just thrilled with the victory.' Caminos, skippered by Donald Filippelli, (Amagansett, N.Y.) was the only boat that could mathematically beat Storm today, and that’s who Lyall defended against initially. After Caminos made the 'mistake' of going to the right gate, however, Storm was free to establish its lead on the second downwind leg, and the rest was history.

All eyes were on the IRC 40A class to see if Cool Breeze, the Mills 43, skippered by John Cooper (Springfield, MO) , could maintain its lead over the contentious King 40 Act One, owned by Bill Titus/Allan Stern/Charlie Milligan/Tom Roche (Newport, R.I.). It did, as the breeze shifted hard right and the fog rolled in. 'It was a mystery to find the weather mark,' said Cooper, 'but the navigator (John Crutcher) made the right calls, and we were out in front fortunately.' Cool Breeze won the race with Act One taking fourth to secure its second overall. Cooper has done Block Island a half dozen times but this is his first victory.

In the biggest class here, for J/105 one-designs, Bruce Stone and Scott DeWeese (San Francisco, Calif.) drove Power Play to overall victory with a third today in a photo-finish with second-place Savasana, skippered by Brian Keane (Weston, Mass.). Stone said his biggest drama this week, however, was that his team sailed Saturday and Sunday in San Francisco and still made it here for Monday’s start. 'We traveled by plane, taxi and sportsfishing boat to get to our borrowed boat here with seconds to spare.' Stone, originally from Providence, R.I., says he loves Block Island Race Week, where the race management is superb and the venue is beautiful. 'Ours was a tough class,' he added.

Paul Pakos' (Sudbury, Mass.) Swan 44 Xenophon , sailed entirely by retired Coast Guard captains and admirals, won Navigator’s class for non-spinnaker sailing. Pakos said the class is nothing close to what the term 'cruising canvas' (a traditional name for such a class) suggests. 'Some of us have carbon spars and Kevlar sails, and it’s still very competitive,' he said, explaining that the class sails longer courses, between eight and 17 miles, while the others are short-course buoy racing.. 'Our crew gets together only once a year and it’s to sail in Block Island.'

In PHRF 1, XLR8, an Evelyn 32, skippered by Brad Porter (Westbrook, Conn.), maintained its two-point lead from yesterday to win, but yesterday’s second-place boat, the Beneteau 34 L’Outrage, owned by Bruce Gardner (Annapolis, Md.), fell to fourth while the U.S. Naval Academy’s Navy 44 Swift, skippered by Kenneth Endicott, took its place.

In IRC 35 class, Mort Weintraub’s (Larchmont, N.Y.) Express 37 Troubador finished third today, adding that to its untouchable score line that included six first-place finishes over eight races. Driving was Jamie Anderson (Larchmont, Conn.).

In IRC Zero class, the STP65 Rosebud/Team DYT, owned by Roger Sturgeon (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) prevailed over Vanquish, owned by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) and steered by Ralf Steitz (Kings Point, N.Y..

For best overall performance on their respective race circles, the skippers of Hustler (winner of PHRF 2 class, skippered by John & Tony Esposito, Mohegan Lake, N.Y.),Troubador and Power Play each received a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner timepiece.

Other Trophy Winners

Everett B. Morris Memorial Trophy for Best Overall Performance: Powerplay

Isbrandtsen Overall Perpetual Trophy for the second best performance: Troubador

Justin Wasley Memorial Trophy for the overall winner of the one-design class with the largest number of entries: Powerplay

U.S. IRC Trophy for the IRC boat that triumphs in the most competitive IRC class: Troubador

Island Sailing Club of Cowes Perpetual Trophy for the first overall IRC rated boat in the Around the Island Race (also won a Rolex oyster Perpetual Submariner timepiece): Rosebud/Team DYT

Vintage Yacht Trophy for the yacht 15 years or older with the best performance of the week: XLR8

John Alden Reed Perpetual Trophy for the best performance by a Service Academy Yacht: Nimbus (USMMA)

Governors Perpetual Trophy for the foreign yacht with the best performance of the week: Nasty Medicine

Shelter Island Team Trophy: Storm Trysail Club White (Rumor, Lora Ann, Challenge VI)

Race administration and scoring is by Yacht Scoring (www.yachtscoring.com). For more information, visit www.blockislandraceweek.com.


Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race Week XXIII presented by Rolex - June 22-26, 2009

Final Top-Three Results


Place, Yacht Name, Type, Owner/Skipper, Hometown, Results, Total Points

Beneteau 36.7 (One Design - 6 Boats)
1. Quokka, Beneteau First 36.7, Tom Peelen, So. Dartmouth, MA, USA - 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 2, 3, ; 12
2. Crossbow, Beneteau First 36.7, Roy Halvorsen, Tenafly, NY, USA - 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 3, 1, ; 13
3. Whirlwind, Beneteau First 36.7, William Purdy, New York, NY, USA - 4, 4, 3, 4, 2, 1, 5, ; 23

PHRF 1 (PHRF - 10 Boats)
1. XLR8, Evelyn 32, Brad Porter, Westbrook, CT, USA - 1, 5, 2, 3, 1, 2, 4, ; 18
2. Swift, Navy 44, Kenneth Endicott, Annapolis, MD, USA - 3, 3, 1, 2, 5, 5, 1, ; 20
3. Freightrain, Frers 36, Dick Hyde, Belmont, MA, USA - 5, 1, 4, 1, 4, 4, 3, ; 22

PHRF 2 - J-29 (PHRF - 6 Boats)
1. Hustler, J 29, John & Tony Esposito, Mohegan Lake, NY, USA - 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, ; 8
2. Showdown, J 29, Bijan Rasadi, Groton, CT, USA - 3, 4, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, ; 20
3. Mighty Puffin, J 29, Steve Thurs

sMRT AIS Man Overboard Beacons AUS / NZAllen Dynamic 40 FooterVetus-Maxwell 2021 v2 FOOTER

Related Articles

Transpac 2025 underway
Sixteen boats hit the line for the first start, departing LA for Hawaii Sixteen boats hit the line for the first start of three in the 2025 Transpac. Next stop: Hawaii.
Posted today at 1:13 am
GKSS Match Cup Sweden & Nordea Women's Trophy D2
A challenging southerly breeze and short three-lap course put teams to task A challenging southerly breeze and short three-lap course put teams to task on the second day of racing at the GKSS Match Cup Sweden and Nordea Women's Trophy in Marstrand, Sweden.
Posted on 1 Jul
Admiral's Cup 2025 | Interview with the CYCA Team
A highly experienced team for the revived Admiral's Cup regatta from July 17 The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia is fielding a highly experienced team for the revived Admiral's Cup regatta that will be run from Cowes on the Isle of Wight in the UK, from 17th July 2025.
Posted on 1 Jul
Australian Hobie Cat Nationals entries rolling in
With at least three World Champions already entered, the racing is sure to be exciting too! There is excitement in the air for the Pitts Design and Construction 53rd Australian Hobie Cat National Championships.
Posted on 1 Jul
Rolex TP52 Worlds in Cascais - Practice Day
Will Platoon Aviation's big breeze, big pressure experience prove key to their fourth world title? Of the three past and present world championship winning crews which completed their final practice today in typically muscular 25 knot breezes and big waves out of Cascais, Portugal it was Harm Müller-Spreer's Platoon Aviation which showed best today.
Posted on 1 Jul
Some thoughts on provisioning for distance sailing
A new perspective on provisioning and time spent at sea One of the great joys of distance racing unfurls the moment that the dock lines are untied. Suddenly, the myriad packing lists that inevitably define most trip-planning efforts become about as relevant as a tax return from eight years ago.
Posted on 1 Jul
LA28 sailing venue decision driven by politicians
The LA28 Olympic "dinghy" events will be sailed alongside a working container port. The decision to stage the Los Angeles "dinghy" events alongside a working container port appears to have been a determination by local politicians.
Posted on 1 Jul
Freestyle Pro Tour Paros day 3
The return of Super X Day 3 at the FPT Paros 2025 was a slower one - with a lay day with no wind anticipated and a late skippers meeting at 13:00 to assess the conditions, there wasn't much initially filling up the schedule.
Posted on 1 Jul
McIntyre Mini Globe Leg 2 update
The Mad Bastard may be right! When the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race set off—the first solo, non-stop circumnavigation—many thought it impossible. But one sailor proved them wrong: Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, sailing his beloved Suhaili!
Posted on 1 Jul
Young Sailors Invited to the 2025 Fireball Worlds
A special discounted entry fee for eligible youth participants for the event at Lake Garda Circolo Vela Arco and Fireball International are inviting young sailors from around the world to take part in the 2025 Fireball World Championship at spectacular Lake Garda, with a special discounted entry fee for eligible youth participants.
Posted on 1 Jul