2019 Annapolis Y.C. Double Handed Distance Race at Annapolis Yacht Club
by J/Boats 4 Oct 2019 15:39 PDT
28-29 September 2019
2019 Annapolis Y.C. Double Handed Distance Race © Alan R Schreitmueller
Annapolis Yacht Club hosted a new 24-hour distance race for mixed double-handed crews that started on Saturday, September 28, 2019 off the entrance to the Severn River. The inspiration for the event came from the announcement by World Sailing that the Olympic Games will host a mixed double-handed, long-distance competition beginning with the 2024 Paris Games in France.
The fleet took off on a race course designed to be sailed in about 24 hours across the vast expanse of the Chesapeake Bay. The AYC event featured two divisions: one for mixed gender crews in J/105s and a second division open to male or female teams in boats of 25 to 42 feet using the ORC handicap rule to score the different size boats.
The seven-boat J/105 fleet had several famous offshore sailors participating. Winning the race was Randy Smyth, a two-time Olympic medalist and winning America’s Cup sailor. He was paired with his friend Christina Persson on-board Mirage. Taking second was a U.S. Naval Academy Team comprised of Midshipman 2/C Donald Poirier and USNA Coach Nancy Haberland. Third was the duo of Bill Bomar and Bri Grenier on Peregrine. Rounding out the top five were RJ Cooper & Courtney Cumberland’s Priscilla/ Tenacious and Ethan Johnson & Cat Chimney’s Oakcliff Sailing/ Rum Puppy.
In the ten-boat ORC Division, the two J/Duos racing; Roger Lant & Mike Welin’s J/35 Abientot and John Loe & Matt Schubert’s J/33 Hornet, finished second and third, respectively.
More AYC Doublehanded Distance Race sailing information here.