Race Week at Newport - Day 2 brings relief

by Media Pro International on 26 Jul 2008 In contrast to yesterday's black skies and Force 6 winds, today brought relief to 120 teams entered in the New York Yacht Club's (NYYC) sixth biennial Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex. Under sunny skies, light winds delayed racing but settled in from the southwest at 7-11 knots by mid-afternoon. Residual six-foot storm swells added to the challenges on Rhode Island Sound for the eight classes -- two each for IRC and PHRF and six for one-design.

Two of those one-design classes had not raced yesterday but started their three-day series today, as scheduled. They were the Melges 32s and J/105s, the former group sailing their National Championship and the latter vying for their East Coast Championship. They also were among the three largest classes here, with 22 and 20 entrants respectively, which inherently made for exciting action in two windward/leeward (twice around) races.

In fact, in the Melges 32 class's first race today, the finish between David Hoyt's (Stowe, Vt.) Goat and Jeff Ecklund's (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) Starwas so close that spectators weren't exactly sure who won. It was Hoyt, in the end, however, who claimed the victory, his first of two for the day.

'Even though we started dead last in both races, we found a major shift each time that put us ahead,' said Hoyt. In the first race, Ecklund, the National Champion from 2006, was following Hoyt and decided to split tacks after the final leeward mark. The effort was valiant, bringing Ecklund to a convergent course with Hoyt near the finish. According to Hoyt, however, his crew held out on a starboard tack as long as possible so that a jibe to port would have them surfing in on a wave when they hit the finish line. The brilliant move gave them the slightest edge needed to claim the race.

Knowing that Ecklund will be out for blood tomorrow, Hoyt, who got back into racing two summers ago and said his crew has 'started to click,' said he'd take it in stride, 'He was at our heels all day today and will be tomorrow. But it's just like the market, you've got to get up and read what's going on.'

In J/105s, Damian Emery's (Shoreham, NY) Eclipse also showed early dominance with two victories today.

In IRC Class 2, Blair Brown's (Newton, Mass.) Taylor 45 Sforzando took the lead today after adding a 3-3-2 to his 2-2 scoreline from yesterday. Close on Brown's heels is Charlie Milligan/Allan Stern/Tom Roche's (Newport, R.I.) King 40 Act One, which posted a 1-2-1 today after taking it on the chin yesterday with a 3-7. 'We were five minutes on our ear yesterday in the second race,' said Stern about a knockdown in the high winds. 'Today we were more up to the task. We hope to maintain our performance level; we have confidence in our ability.' Two points separate the two teams.

Tom Rich's (Middletown, R.I.) Peterson 42 Settler still leads in PHRF 1 after two races today, while Ben Hall's (Tiverton, R.I.) Evelyn 32 Blutoclimbed a position to first in PHRF 2

In the J/109 class, which is sailing its North American Championship, Ted Herlihy's Gut Feeling (South Dartmouth, Mass.) edged out yesterday's leader Donald Filippelli (Amagansett, N.Y.) on Caminos to top the scoreboard.

Andrew Weiss's (Rye, N.Y.) Christopher Dragon added two more victories to yesterday's perfect scoreline to maintain his lead in the J/122s, sailing their East Coast Championship.

John Hammel's (Arlington, Mass.) Elan still leads in Beneteau First 36.7 class, which is contesting its Northeast Championship.

In NYYC Club Swan 42s, which are sailing their U.S. National Championship, Mark Watson's (Newport, R.I.) Tiburon has taken over the lead.

Roger Sturgeon's (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) Rosebud/Team DYT still leads IRC 1, while Andrew Weiss's (Rye, N.Y.) Christopher Dragon leads the J/122s.

Handicap Rating Classes - Top 3 in each class (Day 2 of 4)

IRC 1 (6 boats) -- Four races completed
Position, Boat, Boat Type, Owner, Hometown, Race 1-2-3-4, Total points
1. Rosebud/Team DYT, STP65, Roger Sturgeon, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 1-2-3-1, 7 points
2. Blue Yankee, R/P66, Bob & Farley Towse, Stamford, CT, 3-3-1-3, 10
3. Aquarius, Swan 601, Sam Fleet, East Greenwich, RI, 2-4-4-4, 14

IRC 2 (11 boats) -- Five races completed
Position, Boat, Boat Type, Owner, Hometown, Race 1-2-3-4-5, Total points
1. Sforzando, Taylor 45, Blair Brown, Newton, MA, 2-2-3-3-2, 12
2. Act One, MILLS/KING 40, Charlie Milligan, Newport, RI, 3-7-1-2-1, 14
3. Avalanche, Farr 395, Craig Albrecht, Sea Cliff, NY, 4-3-5-1-7, 20

PHRF 1 (5 boats) -- Four races completed
Position, Boat, Boat Type, Owner, Hometown, Race 1-2-3-4, Total points
1. Settler, Cust. Peterson 42, Thomas Rich, Middletown, RI, 2-1-1-1, 4
2. Gambler, Frers 41 TM, John Downey, Canton, MA, 3,-2-5-3, 13
3. Integrity, Navy 44, Jahn Tihansky, Annapolis, MD, 4-3-4-2, 13

PHRF 2 (5 boats) -- Four races completed
Position, Boat, Boat Type, Owner, Hometown, Race 1-2-3-4, Total points
1. Bluto, Evelyn 32, Benjamin Hall, Tiverton, RI, 1-1-4-2, 8
2. Freightrain, Frers 36, Richard Hyde, Belmont, MA, 4-3-1-1, 9
3. Bloody Hell, Evelyn 32, Mike Perry, Somers Point, NJ, 2-2-2-3, 9

One Design Classes - Top 3 in each class
NYYC Swan 42 (20 boats) -- Four races completed
Position, Boat, Owner, Hometown, Race 1-2-3-4, Total points
1. Tiburon, Mark Watson, Newport, RI, 9-2-2-1, 14
2. Apparition, Kenneth Colburn, Dover, MA, 4-9-1-2, 16
3. Tsunami, Preben Ostberg & Bud Dailey, Rockville, MD, 1-7-3-5, 16

J/122 one design (7 boats) -- Five races completed
Position, Boat, Owner, Hometown, Race 1-2-3-4-5, Total points
1. Christopher Dragon, Andrew Weiss, Rye, NY, 1-1-1-1-1, 5
2. Flying Jenny VI, David Askew, Annapolis, MD, 3-2-2-2-4, 13
3. Gambler, Doug Shaffer, Bayview, TX, 2-4-5-5-3, 19

J/109 one design (15 boats) -- Five races completed
Position, Boat, Boat Type, Owner, Hometown, Race 1-2-3-4-5, Total points
1. Gut Feeling, Ted Herlihy, South Dartmouth, MA, 4-4-2-1-4, 15
2. Caminos, Donald F. Filippelli, Amagansett, NY, 2-1-3-11-1, 18
3. Gossip, Steve Kenny & Greg Ames, Wainscott, NY, 6-2-6-6-2, 22

Beneteau First 36.7 one design (9 boats) -- Four races completed
Position, Boat, Boat Type, Owner, Hometown, Race 1-2-3-4, Total points
1. Elan, John Hammel, Arlington, MA, 1,-1-5-1, 8
2. Whirlwind, William Purdy, New York, NY, 3-4-1-3, 11
3. Quokka, Tom Peelen, So Dartmouth, MA, 2-2-4-6, 14

Melges 32 one design 22 boats) -- Two races completed
Position, Boat, Owner, Hometown, Race 1-2, Total points
1. Goat, David Hoyt, Stowe, VT, 1-1, 2
2. Star, Jeff Ecklund, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 2-7, 9
3. Taboo, Stephen Pugh, Sausalito, CA, 4-6, 10

J/105 one design 19 boats) -- Two races completed
Position, Boat, Owner, Hometown, Race 1-2, Total points
1. Eclipse, Damian Emery, Shoreham, NY, 1-1, 2
2. Gumption3, Kevin Grainger, Rye, NY, 5-2, 7
3. Savasana, Brian Keane, Weston, MA, 2- 5, 7

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.