Projo Sailing Blog

Dan Meyers at the helm of Numbers -- Dan Nerney photo

Anticipation ran high throughout the New York Yacht Club's 154th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex, in Newport over the weekend.

"Competitors, designers, journalists and spectators alike were anxious to see how the newest, hottest IRC boats measured up against one another in seven IRC classes," said Barby MacGowan, spokeswoman for the event. "Five other classes (one each J/105 and Farr 40 one-designs, one each for 12-Metre Modern and Classic Traditional, and one for Classics) stirred up their own excitement. A total of 110 boats competed.

"In the end, it was Dan Meyers' Numbers that took IRC Class 1, where most of the attention focused. The boat sails out of Newport. In that class were such show stoppers as the 99-foot super maxi Speedboat, owned by Alex Jackson of Old Greenwich, Conn. and skippered by Mike Sanderson of New Zealand, and Il Mostro/Puma Ocean Racing, skippered by Ken Read of Newport, which both suffered around the buoys, due to their size and optimization for straight-line speed, which will be better tested by next week's Newport to Bermuda Race. Numbers instead contended primarily with Hap Fauth's Belle Mente out of Newport, which trailed Numbers by seven points in overall standings after Numbers won the last three of that class's four races."

In IRC Class 3, Blair Brown's Sforzando out of Newport won overall, with Bermuda's Star class Olympian Peter Bromby serving as tactician. "Yesterday's winds were patchy," he said, after his boat had won the day. "You were either in it or you weren't."

In IRC Class 4, which was comprised entirely of NYYC Swan 42s, new owner Phil Lotz of New Canaan, Conn. aboard Arethusa, made his initial power play yesterday as well, winning two races before posting a 1-5 yesterday to seal the deal.

Kevin Grainger of Rye, N.Y. won the J/105 class with his Gumption3 after six races in his series.

The Great Corinthian Trophy, awarded to the yacht club team with the best score in the two-day series went to Annapolis Yacht Club, with team members Rush, Flying Jenny VI and Tsunami.

Complte results are available by clicking here.

If you want to see the most spectator-friendly sailing ever, come to Fort Adams over the weekend and watch the best college sailors in the country duke it out for the Inter Collegiate Team Race National Title! More information is found at either New York Yacht Club's Web site or at www.collegesailing.org.

Halfway Rock Fleet Growing.
Sail Newport's 2nd Annual Halfway Rock Regatta will take place Saturday and Sunday and race North of the Bridge in the East Passage of Narragansett Bay. Onshore activities will be at the Newport Shipyard.

Saturday will feature some exciting windward / leeward races followed by an "Around the Island" (Jamestown) race on Sunday. All details are at sailnewport.org
Puma Ocean Racing will be sailing their Volvo Ocean 70 in the regatta as will scores of Narragansett Bay boats. Come race against the "big cat"!

Feel Free to call Sail Newport at (401) 846-1983 for any additional information.

The Intercollegiate Sailing National Championships are being held in Narragansett Bay off of Newport Harbor. Fantastic spectating is available from the shore at Fort Adams State Park. Sailors can also see the event from their boats (please monitor channel 77).
Recap of the Women's Championship: from collegesailing.org

Newport, Rhode Island (May 28, 2008) - Only eight races - four in both A- and B-Divisions - were left to be contested on the third and final day of racing for the 2008 ICSA Women’s National Championship. The dramatic finale of the women’s college sailing year got underway with cooler temperatures and 10-12 knots of breeze coming down Narragansett Bay out of the north courtesy of a front that had passed through the area overnight.

The Brown University (Providence, R.I.) freshman team of skipper Elizabeth Barry (Riverside, Conn.) and crew Maria Mahler-Haug (Branford, Conn.) clearly were comfortable with the new wind direction - they won the first three races of the day to maintain their lead position in B-Division. Sophomore skipper Charlotte Lipshitz (Chevy Chase, Md.) sailing with senior Meris Tombari (Fishers Island, N.Y.) contributed finishes of 5-5-8 in A-Division to move Brown to the top of the overall leader board with 178 points - a slim two-point advantage heading into the final set of the series.
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FULL REPORT

Report by Jan Harley, Media Pro

Newport, Rhode Island (May 26, 2008) - Folks enjoying their Memorial Day parades and picnics could hardly have a complaint with the weatherman’s efforts today. But when the opening round of the 2008 ICSA Women’s National Championship got underway at noon, the blustery conditions that greeted racers were just a hint of what was in store for rest of their day out on Narragansett Bay.

Facing water temps in the upper 50s, air temps in the mid-60s, and a southerly breeze around 10 knots, the racers quickly added foul weather protection and layers for warmth as conditions built over the afternoon to a gusty 25-knot southwesterly that triggered the issuance of a NOAA small craft advisory.

Full Story

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The Intercollegiate Women's, Team Racing and Coed Sailing Nationals are being Sailed May 26 - June 4th in Newport RI.

Brown University, Salve Regina University and New York Yacht Club are the hosts. Come to Sail Newport and the Museum of Yachting in Fort Adams State Park to watch these amazing athletes compete at the highest level of the sport.

More information

Welcome to the sailors' place to talk about what is happening In Narragansett Bay!
Newport sailors won't be cutting back on any traveling on the race courses this summer with the ample sailing power fueled by Narragansett Bay's spectacular sailing weather and consistently good southerlies.

The season is chock-full of annual sailing events and headliners including the 635-nautical mile biennial Newport to Bermuda Race (starting June 20) and New York Yacht Club's Rolex Race Week (July 19-27). Sail Newport expects record participation in 20 classes of One-designs at this year's Coastal Living Newport Regatta July 11-13. For a full regatta schedule, check Sail Newport's website.

Silver lining in every cloud...
This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the loss of the America's Cup. America's monopoly of the trophy, and the sporting world's longest running winning streak, ended abruptly in the late afternoon of September 26, 1983. It was a monumental loss for the country; however, a group of local community leaders were inspired to start an organization to attract sailing events to the Ocean State and Sail Newport was born.

Twenty-five years later, the nonprofit Sail Newport has evolved into a dynamic public sailing center with dozens of others across the country modeled after the Fort Adams-based organization. Anyone who wants to sail can learn and enjoy boat rentals at minimal prices. There are scholarship and financial aid programs for the many youth programs as well.

Barrington Yacht Club turns 100
Another key anniversary this year is Barrington Yacht Club's (BYC) 100th. Anniversary plans, activities and events this season can be found at the link.

The big cat is prowling...
Of course, the absolutely coolest thing on campus this summer is the PUMA Ocean Racing team training for the grueling around-the-world Volvo Ocean Race which starts in October and ends in June of 2009. Check out the two-boat training program at the Newport Shipyard at Newport Harbor.

Skipper and hometown boy Ken Read said at a recent Sail Newport event, "I ask myself why I am doing this every day" of the race, which will take his sailing team to 11 international ports over nine months. The ocean marathon will span some 39,000 nautical miles starting from Alicante in Spain, including stops in South Africa, India, Singapore, China, Brazil, United States (Boston), Ireland, and Sweden with the finish in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Fast forward to July 2009 when Read will be back in Newport to give the helmsman's report of what he did over the winter. Look for PUMA to race locally in the Halfway Rock Regatta. It will be a sight to see that big cat buoy race!

News gathering
Please email kim.cooper@sailnewport.org your newsworthy sailing items, photos and anecdotes for this blog. Sincerest "Thanks!" to the projo.com team for allowing the sailors on Narragansett Bay a place to put results, stories and photos of sailing series and events on the net.