Another Year of Record Turnout

The 2011 Heineken High Performance Dinghy Open was held at Amnerican Yacht Club in Rye New York  this past Columbus Day Weekend. The wind gods need to take a break every once in a while. After two years of gear busting wind, Long Island Sound dished up a more mellow rendition this Columbus Day weekend. A high pressure system camped out over the Northeast giving us summer like temperatures with equally summer like winds. The average wind speed was 5-8 knots on Saturday and Sunday's courses.

This event served as the platform for the Flying Dutchman North Americans, Fireball North Americans, International Canoe National Championships and 49'er Atlantic Coast Championships.

In total, 125 boats competed with crews from the United States, Canada, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, England, New Zealand and United Arab Emirates.   The Fireball Class enjoyed three days of racing in an extended series which began on Friday October 7. 

To accommodate the 125 boats, racing was divided into two circles Orange Course (F-18, K6, Viper 640 and 505), under PRO Sandy Weil and Yellow Course, the Class Championship Course,  (Fireball, Int'l Moth, 49'er, Flying Dutchman, International Canoe, Tempest and Weta)  under PRO Ian Dunn.

The Racing:

Orange Course 

F-18

This two person, trapezing catamaran with a kite had a predominantly strong US fleet won by Canadians Maxime Loiselle and Louis-Phillipe Éthier from Isle-aux Coudres in Quebec besting Bob Merrick and Tyler Burd of Branford CT.   10 boats competed from all over the North East Coast of the United States and Canada.

Viper 640

For what was supposed to be an "off" year for this class, the Vipers saw 28 boats hit the line with Larchmont Yacht Club's Jason Carroll beating the fleet from all over the United States and Canada.  Second place finisher was Brad Boston and crew from Sarnia Yacht Club fresh from a win at the hotly contested Viper 640 North Americans on Lake Huron in Canada.

K6

Local and K6 Fleet Captain Jim Wilson with crew Stu Saffer beat 11 other boats from the New York region with five bullets. Second place finishers Rob Fear/Jean-Yves Fillion followed closely behind with only five points separating them in the seven race series.

505

Twenty five boats from all over the United States, Canada and Australia competed in what was described as the "Pre-North Americans".  505 legend Pip Pearson was present to speak at the Saturday evening dinner for all competitors. Perennial class stalwart Ethan Bixby and Chris Brady of Annapolis won the event handily with a twelve point lead over the second place finishers Henry Amthor and Dustin Romney of Virginia.

Yellow Course 

Fireball

The Fireball class's North American Championship was decided one point over 8 races held from Friday, October 7 to Sunday, October 9. What a difference one point makes. Patrick Crump and Jane Millican of Davis Island Yacht Club in Florida beat Guy Tiptan and Matt King of Nova Scotia by one point.  Each team had three first place finishes going into the final race. Third place finisher Robert Levy of Montreal was similarly behind by only one point. Fifteen boats registered for the event with competitors from all over the United States and Canada. Mianne Erne from Switzerland flew in to compete with Arizonian Clay Poulson.

49'er

This marks the second appearance of the 49'er class at the HPDO and a marked increase in attendance. Three nations were represented, England, Canada and the United States fielded boats for this event.  Jean Luc Robitaille GBR 97 won the event handily with four bullets, besting Matt Dubreucq and Trevor Parekh of Canada. Enthusiasm for the event was high among all participants and more boats are pledge for next year's event.

Flying Dutchman

Seven boats competed from New Zealand, Holland and the United States.  New Zealand's Paul Scoffin and Pavel Ruzicka won over Lin Robson and Tim Sayles with four bullets in five races.

International Moth

One of the most spectacular classes at the event saw six "boats" competing in mostly sub-foiling conditions. Local Peter Becker bested the tied second placers Joe Bousquet and Bill Hall.

Portsmouth

16 boats composed of seven International Canoes, four Tempests, four Wetas and a lone International 14 assembled on the starting line for the Portsmouth Class. Racing was easily won by Cam Puckey of Oyster Bay, New York on a Bieker 6 hull with a bullet in every race.  Two International Canoe sailors tied for first, John Kells of Maynard Massachussetts and William Clark for the International Canoe National Championships. David McComb of Lake George, New York won the Tempest fleet. For the Weta class, Ben Arthur of Ithaca was the top placing boat in their inaugural showing at the HPDO.    

Thanks also to sponsors Ronstan, Tri-Beach Holdings, APS. Ltd,  Zhik.

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