Feature

Back to Work Today on the North Sound

Published on October 31st, 2013

By Tom Leweck, Scuttlebutt
Virgin Gorda, BVI (October 31, 2013) – The 11th Annual Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Championship, sponsored by Gill at the Bitter End Yacht Club, was just about as good as it gets in this sport we all love so much. Immodest? Of course, but methinks few (if any) would disagree.

After enjoying a layday on Wednesday, it was ‘”back to work” today on the North Sound. Five double sausage races were sailed in rock-solid Caribbean trade-wind conditions in five perfectly matched IC24s – the same boats used for the BEYC’s Pro Am Regatta. But for this event there were no pros aboard. The five skippers were BEYC resort guests who came to the BVI to crew for the rock star skippers in the Pro Am Regatta. This was their turn to shine. Each had qualified earlier in the week by racing Hobie Waves, Hobie Escapes, and Lasers.

The competition could not have been closer. After five races, the championship was decided by less than half a boat length. Defending Champion, I-14 sailor Ron Boehm from the Santa Barbara Yacht Club in California, nicked former Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Champion George Huntington, from New York’s Manhasset Bay Yacht Club, by a single point. Both Ryan Raber and John Paul Bilodeau from Maine’s Portland Yacht Club had qualified for the championship, but elected to team up and race an IC24 together. They finished in third place.

Earlier in the day the pros completed their final four Pro Am fleet races with the BEYC guests rotating through the crew spots on their boats. Match racing for the championship, based on the fleet racing standings, begins on Friday.

Standings after 12 races:
1. Zach Railey, 40
2. Alec Anderson, 46
3. Dave Ullman, 48
4. Dave Perry, 53
5. Paul Cayard, 58
6. Brad Dellenbaugh, 59
7. Stephanie Roble, 63
8. Taylor Canfield, 64

Pro Am Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/54187931019/
BEYC website: http://www.beyc.com/