HPDO: Great racing, Great friends, Great beer

For the past decade, the High Performance Dinghy Open has lived up to three claims: great racing, great friends, great beer. This year’s event on October 11-12 already promises to offer another spectacular weekend of racing and on-shore activities to an ever-growing gang of high performance dinghy racers from the USA and beyond.

The HPDO features two courses for numerous one design classes and two wide-open Portsmouth divisions. Over thirty Vipers will be on the starting line of one course, which also will include F18s, 505s and K6s, while the other course will host Fireballs, WETA trimarans, International Canoes, Flying Dutchmen and just about anything else with a go-fast PY rating.

Hopefully Mother Nature will repeat last year’s performance and contribute wind and waves to give competitors a real workout and something to talk about during the post-race kegger on the lawn (thanks, Heineken!) and the sumptuous Saturday-night dinner hosted inside American Yacht Club’s beautiful clubhouse in Rye, NY.

One of the strengths of this regatta is the large turnout – from as far south as the Gulf Coast to the always strong Canadian contingent. Another is the diversity of sailing craft, particularly in the Portsmouth division which opens the door for all types of high performance boats to participate (rumor has it that this year may see the first HOOT sighting and that 49ers may return). Additionally, the rigging and tactical discussions in the parking lot, before and after each day, foster the exchange of ideas and information.

Event details – Facebook page