2009 Race Results
WRAP UP:
We had it all – Location, Location, Location and Wind, Wind, Wind!
Over 90 boats registered. 85 dared brave the conditions and made it onto the water this past weekend at what is commonly known as the most beautiful piece of real estate on Western Long Island Sound, American Yacht Club.
That’s 155 courageous souls, from the US, Canada and the UK, who chose to face Mother Nature on a weekend of wind conditions that performance sailors dream of.
Saturday’s winds were approximately 15kts with gusts to 30kts. Sunday’s winds were approximately 10kts, with gusts to 16kts. On both days, the NW wind continued to build over the course of the day.
With so many competitors, so many varied boats, this year we tried something different. We ran two racing circles, Orange circle (FDs, 505s, K6s, Vipers) and Yellow circle (A-Cats, F-18s, Moths, ICs, I14, Tempest, Fireballs, & Contenders).
As usual, it’s all about the stories so here are a few:
Most notable: A Viper640 got holed on Saturday. Class pulled together, a new hull was delivered to AYC by 7AM Sunday morning, and he was back on the race course. GO TEAM!
A 505 flipped on the finish line and cleaned the bottom of the committee boat with their mast and main.
An A-Cat sailed by the committee boat without its helm, who was rescued and dropped off at his errant Cat by the nearby Tempest.
A Fireball capsized just above the starting line and then was blown down on the Committee boat with one guy in the water and one guy trying to right the boat……RC was on the bow and fended the top of the mast over the stanchions and back over the top of the cabin where they were finally blown free, righted the boat, climbed aboard and sailed off.
A Moth gybing at the finish in probably 15kts and he nearly made it but his wing caught the water and the thing stopped in mid-gybe and his sail draped over the back deck of the Committee boat. He quickly recovered, did his penalty turn and then finished
As if conditions on Saturday were not challenging enough, RC watched in amazement as another Moth chose to do 6 laps instead of the required four. He claims he was concentrating too hard on just getting around, and lost track. Some of us think he was just having too much fun and didn’t want to stop.
The Portsmouth Fleet is a symbol of the determination shown by competitors to get out there and race. On Day 1, they had 3/4/3 of 10 competitors in the first 3 races respectively. In Sunday’s racing it was 6/8/8 as everyone kept on trying to get a race in, trying to finish.
Many competitors from both courses made it out but never actually made it to the starting line of any race, due to equipment failures en route.
There are so many people to thank! Beyond the obvious of AYC and those who collaborated to pull this all together, huge Cheers! to Heineken for not letting the economic downturn dampen their enthusiasm for performance racing.
Thanks also to sponsors Ronstan, Tri-Beach Holdings, APSm Zhik, and Hathaway, Reiser & Raymond. PhotoBoat.com courtesy of Heineken as well.
Pics:
On-The-Water Courtesy of PhotoBoat.com
Results:
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