J/Teams Dominate Vineyard Race at Stamford Yacht Club
by J/Boats 7 Sep 2019 12:44 PDT
2019 Vineyard Race © Rick Bannerot / ontheflyphoto.net
The 2019 edition of the Vineyard Race was a relatively fast race, with many J/crews covering the track in over a 6.6 kts average. The 238.0nm course stretches from Shippan Point through the swirling currents of Plum Gut past Block Island, and on to the light tower at the entrance to Buzzard's Bay. Once reached, sailors return by leaving Block Island to starboard en route to the finish in Stamford Harbor. The shorter Seaflower Reef Race is run entirely within Long Island Sound.
Vineyard Race
Leading the sweep of the top two spots in IRC 6 Doublehanded Class was Gardner Grant's J/120 Alibi and Mike Greene's J/35 Loblolly took the silver!
The PHRF 9 Class was swept by three J/109s- John Greifzu's Growth Spurt was 1st, Dan Nash's Mistral took 2nd, and Cao Deambrosio & Chris Nicholls' Rhiannon III placed 3rd. Jim Farrell's J/35 Sapphire ended up sixth. Brian Spears' J/120 Madison won PHRF 10 Class, while Rick Oricchio's J/120 Rocket Science took the bronze.
In IRC 11 Class, Len Sitar's J/44 VAMP took the silver, while Don Dwyer's J/122 Blue Yonder finished fourth. Two J/111s swept the top two spots in PHRF 12 Class. Winning was Bill & Jackie Baxter's Fireball, with John Donovan's Libertas taking the silver. Finally, in IRC 13 Class, Steve Levy's J/121 Eagle placed fifth.
Seaflower Reef Race
Winning the PHRF 4 Doublehanded Class was Greg Imbruce's J/109 joyride! Then, in the fully-crewed PHRF 5 Class, Justin Scagnelli's J/88 Albondigas led a sweep of the podium by J/Crews. Second was Frank Conway's J/105 Raptor and third place went to Todd Aven's J/92 Thin Man.
For complete Vineyard Race results. More Vineyard Race sailing information here.