American Yacht Club Spring Series

Seventy boats ranging from 50 footers in the IRC class to the ever popular J70 class competed over the course of two weekends in the 38th Annual AYC Spring Series Regatta (Rye, NY).

This year was no disappointment as the final weekend brought breezes and sunny skies to challenge racers as they prepare their boats and crew for another sailing season in the Northeast. The Spring Series saw 8 classes complete 10 and 11 races on the East and South courses respectively, over April 29-30 and May 6-7.

On the East Course, John McNamara’s Lir took the IRC class with a convincing 15 point lead over second place Daring, owned by John Hele. Andrew and Linda Weiss’ Christopher Dragon placed third just two points behind Daring. IRC had the second largest fleet in the regatta with 12 boats.

In the J44 class, Challenge IV, owned by Jeffrey W. Willis sailed consistently to a first while Vamp and Maxine followed for second and third respectively.

In the PHRF 1 class, Craig Albrecht’s Farr 395, Avalanche posted a picket fence of perfect scores during the second weekend of the Spring Series and won the class with a comfortable lead. The Custom 40, Desperado placed second and the J111, Andiamo took third.

Over on the South course, David Rosow of Southport, CT and his Loki won the J109 class. Emoticon and Big Boat took second and third respectively.

Paul Beaudin’s LouLou walked away with the 9 boat J105 class victory at 14 points keeping Thom Hering and his Trifecta at a safe distance in second. Third place was hotly contested as three boats posted 38 points each. The Junior Sailors of American Yacht Club, however, topped the group by winning two races during the series. The junior team, made up of high school age 420 sailors, began their keelboat racing experience led by US Sailing’s “Volunteer Coach of the Year,” Peter Becker. Peter had coached and nurtured these young sailors to unprecedented success in the 2016 Newport to Bermuda Race.

The largest fleet of the AYC Spring Series was the J70 class with 16 boats. In preparation for the J70 North American Championship, which will be held at American Yacht Club October 9th to 15th of this year, Scott and Alex Furnary on Any Colour won not only the fleet but also the Reggie Imamura Family Sailing Trophy. The trophy is awarded annually by J70 Fleet 15 to a family of 2 or more sailing together on the Long Island Sound. Locomotion skippered by Daan Goedkoop took a close second only two points behind. Third place went to Carrie and Ed Austin on Chinook.

In an equally competitive J88 fleet, Iris Vogel and Deviation won the event with 23 points while only 1 point separated second place Nevermore, third place Wings, and fourth place Escape.

Finally, PHRF 2 was won by William Purdy on his Beneteau 36.7 Whirlwind showing only perfect scores for these last two days. Second and third were earned by Maudelayne and Crazy Train respectively.

Event details – Complete results

Results – Top 3 in each class

IRC (IRC – 12 Boats)
1. Lir, John McNamara , USA – [4] -2 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -2 -1 -2 ; 12
2. Daring, John Hele , USA – [7] -5 -2 -2 -6 -2 -4 -1 -4 -1 ; 27
3. Christopher Dragon, Andrew & Linda Weiss , USA – 3 -1 -4 -[8] -2 -4 -3 -3 -6 -3 ; 29

J 44 (One Design – 5 Boats)
1. Challenge IV, Jeffrey W. Willis , USA – 1 -[3] -1 -3 -1 -3 -2 -2 -1 -2 ; 16
2. VAMP, Leonard J Sitar , USA – 3 -[4] -2 -1 -2 -1 -3 -4 -4 -1 ; 21
3. Maxine, William Ketcham , USA – [4] -1 -4 -2 -4 -2 -1 -3 -3 -4 ; 24

PHRF 1 (PHRF – 8 Boats)
1. Avalanche, Craig Albrecht , USA – 1 -1 -[7] -3 -1 -2 -1 -1 -1 -1 ; 12
2. Desperado, Leo Vasiliev , USA – 2 -2 -3 -1 -3 -1 -[5] -3 -3 -3 ; 21
3. Andiamo , Paul Strauch , USA – [9] -4 -1 -5 -6 -5 -3 -4 -4 -2 ; 34

J 109 (One Design – 9 Boats)
1. Loki, David Rosow , USA – 2 -1 -2 -2 -2 -1 -1 -2 -1 -1 -[4] ; 15
2. Emoticon , Jonathan Rechtschaffer , USA – 4 -3 -3 -8 -4 -2 -2 -1 -2 -[9] -5 ; 34
3. Big Boat, William Rogers , USA – 1 -2 -9 -1 -6 -3 -5 -3 -[10] -6 -3 ; 39

J 105 (One Design – 9 Boats)
1. loulou, Paul Beaudin , USA – 1 -1 -[2] -1 -2 -2 -1 -1 -1 -2 -2 ; 14
2. Trifecta, Thom Hering , USA – 2 -3 -1 -[7] -3 -4 -2 -3 -3 -1 -7 ; 29
3. Young American YCC, Young American Jr. Big Boat Team , USA – 4 -4 -5 -4 -1 -1 -3 -6 -4 -6 -[8] ; 38

J 70 (One Design – 16 Boats)
1. Any Colour, Scott and Alex Furnary , USA – 5 -2 -2 -1 -1 -2 -4 -2 -2 -4 -[9] ; 25
2. Locomotion, Daan Goedkoop , USA – 1 -1 -1 -5 -5 -1 -2 -4 -4 -3 -[8] ; 27
3. Chinook, Carrie & Ed Austin , USA – 2 -6 -4 -6 -[10] -5 -1 -7 -3 -1 -10 ; 45

J 88 (One Design – 7 Boats)
1. Deviation , Iris Vogel , USA – 1 -3 -3 -1 -1 -3 -3 -3 -4 -[5] -1 ; 23
2. Nevermore, Ken & Drew Hall , USA – [4] -4 -2 -4 -2 -2 -1 -4 -3 -2 -4 ; 28
3. Wings, Mike Bruno , USA – 2 -2 -1 -2 -[5] -4 -2 -5 -5 -3 -3 ; 29

PHRF 2 (PHRF – 7 Boats)
1. Whirlwind, William Purdy , USA – [4] -1 -3 -1 -2 -3 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 ; 15
2. Maudelayne, Frederick Heerde , USA – 1 -2 -1 -2 -[3] -1 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 ; 17
3. Crazy Train, Patrick Croke , USA – [5] -5 -5 -4 -5 -4 -3 -3 -3 -4 -4 ; 40

Source: AYC