An interview with Tim Irwin and Kim Garrett about the 2018 Viper 640 North Americans
by David Schmidt 3 Jul 2018 08:00 PDT
July 5-8, 2018
Viper 640 International Regatta at Bermuda day 3 © Beau Outteridge
If you’re reading this article and have been to Marblehead, Massachusetts, odds are good-to-excellent that you’ve frequented Maddie’s Sail Loft, an establishment that has long stood as the town’s official sailing pub. Given Maddie’s infamous reputation, it’s not surprising that, in 2004, when a group of local Viper 640 owners gathered to discuss the future of racing these high-performance, Brian Bennett-designed rocket ships, their choice meeting spot was none other than Maddie’s upstairs bar. By the evening’s end, the owners had formed a class association that today helps to foster high-octane events including the 2018 Viper North American Championships (July 5-8), which is being co-hosted by the Kingston Yacht Club (KYC) and CORK/Sail Kingston. Racing will take place on Lake Ontario's fresh waters, while social events will take place at the KYC's facility.
Bennett’s original concept of a “simple, clean and effective” design clearly worked, as there are now hundreds of Viper 640s plying international and domestic waters, however the class’ original fleet is still based in Marblehead. That said, the design has become popular in states as far flung as Arizona, California, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, not to mention international locales including Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
While the class’ sheer numbers will never compete with hyper-popular, mass-market designs like the J/70 or the Melges 24, the Viper 640 consistently attracts talented sailors seeking a high-performance experience and the ability to sail and campaign the boat without crushing the family’s recreational kitty.
As with other high-octane One Design class championships, the Viper North American Championships change venue locations from year to year, and 2018’s regatta is set to unfurl on the beautiful waters of Canada’s Lake Ontario, which is usually known for its breeze-on conditions. Additionally, the 2018 Viper North Americans will help to kick-off to this year’s CORK, which is known and internationally recognized as Kingston’s annual freshwater sailing festival, thus giving Viper sailors an opportunity to rub elbows with other top One Design sailors. (N.B., CORK was the host site for the sailing portion of the 1976 Summer Olympics, which were based in Montreal.)
I interviewed Tim Irwin and Kim Garrett, event co-chairs of the 2018 Viper North American Championships, via email, to learn more about this high-octane regatta.
Will the Viper 640 North Americans be run as a separate event or as part of CORK?
CORK is hosting two events to kick off the summer! The Viper NA's and the Laser Master Canadians...they will each have their own race course.
Sailors will enjoy plenty of time to socialize after sailing!
What kind of conditions do you think the sailors can expect on Lake Ontario in early July?
The thermal will be kicking in by then, so we expect the usual great Kingston conditions. Fifteen to 20 knots, with big waves to surf down.
Provided that the weather gods deliver the goods, how many races do you expect the regatta to entail? Also, are we talking about windward-leeward courses?
The maximum number of races scheduled for the regatta is 20, with a five per day maximum. We expect to complete 15 (races) overall.
Yep, windward-leeward courses.
What kinds of onshore entertainment can competing sailors look forward to after a long day on the water?
The Viper class has events planned for the entire regatta!
Local craft beer will be introduced to our visitors along with a debrief of that days sailing at Kingston Yacht Club (KYC), two evening dinners will be hosted at KYC, and two evenings the sailors will be free to enjoy our great city at their leisure.
Tourism packs have been gathered for the Skipper’s Bag along with discount cards that have been provided through Cork.
Can you tell us about any steps that the Viper NAs/CORK have taken to reduce the event’s environmental footprint?
In 2017, CORK took part in the Sailors for the Sea Clean Regattas program. CORK was awarded the silver level in its first year of participation. This was largely based on reducing our use of single-use plastic water bottles. CORK is striving for Gold this summer, focusing on promoting a few main areas.
[Additionally,] the City of Kingston has a great onsite recycling program, Kingston Transit [has] a special event pass for unlimited travel, and The Utilities Kingston water buggy will be onsite so that all CORK participants can easily fill their own reusable water bottles.
Anything else that you’d like to add, for the record?
We are looking forward to welcoming the Viper class back to Kingston again this summer! We invite everyone to come to Kingston and check out the racing every afternoon, and [we] invite everyone to come to Kingston for our annual August and September regattas. Check out our schedule at www.cork.org
CORK’s goal is to host annual international sailing competitions and Championship during the summer months.
In the 42 years since the Olympics, CORK has hosted 43 World Championships, and as many as double that number of North American and Canadian Championships. CORK is well respected in the world sailing community as an organization able to consistently and expertly manage large and high profile events.
To continue to attract world-class International events to Kingston, CORK continually works with Sail Canada (the national organization for sailing) and World Sailing (the International Federation) to seek bid opportunities.