J/Teams sweep PHRF B/ Two-Handed Ida Lewis Race

Twenty seven boats from PHRF A and B started on the same line at the 2018 Ida Lewis Distance Race. Irie 2 was squeezed out but eventually won PHRF A and PHRF overall © Michele Almeida / MISTE Photography

The forecast was not the rosiest one might expect for an offshore race. However, with an impending front with rain showers forecast to roll into New England over the next 24 hours after the start, the slowly strengthening south to southwesterly winds eventually gave the fleet a reasonably quick race.

In the end, the entire J/fleet finished before noon time in the 120nm long track they were given, start to "NB" buoy (traffic separation scheme buoy at the entrance to Narragansett Bay), then east to Buzzards Tower, back west to Montauk Bell, back east to Buzzards Tower, then round "NB" again to the finish. A simple course, but devilish in the details on how to maximize VMG (both upwind and downwind)!

Fifty-plus teams raced the 14th annual Ida Lewis Distance Race that started August 17th in the Eastern Passage of Narragansett Bay between Jamestown and Rose Island in Newport, RI. Starting first, fast out of the blocks was David Southwell's J/121 Alchemy, taking the lead right off the starting line in the PHRF Doublehanded Class and never looking back, winning their fleet on corrected by over three hours.

Then, in the PHRF A Spinnaker division were three more J/121 sisterships. In their inaugural race, it was Greg Manning's SARAH that took J/121 honors and was second on corrected, just a few minutes off from the lead. Though finishing only ten minutes back on elapsed time, Don Nicholson's Apollo finished fifth on corrected. What was fascinating about this duel was the differences in performance from the Montauk Point mark back east to the Buzzards Tower mark, a long starboard tack reach/ run under spinnakers.

After the first four legs, Apollo was leading boat-for-boat. However, Manning's Sarah sailed lower and faster on the long leg back to Buzzards, passing Apollo to leeward. Thereafter, it was close-reaching back to the "NB" entrance buoy to Narragansett Bay, then a quick spinnaker run to the finish.

All five (5) J/Crews in PHRF Spinnaker B simply eclipsed their class, occupying all top five spots. Perhaps unprecedented in offshore sailing history, all teams sailed hard and fast and it was a duel to the finish on handicapped time for every boat.

Winning was Bob Manchester's J/120 Vamoose, followed by just 57 seconds (!) by Greg Slamowitz's J/111 MANITOU in second, Paul Grimes' race-winning J/35 Breakaway Collegiate in third, Bill Kneller's veterans on the J/109 Vento Solare in fourth and "the kids" on the J/105 Young American YCC Youth taking fifth! Congrats to all, an amazing performance overall!

More Ida Lewis Distance Race sailing information