Heather Gregg, Robbie Doyle dominate celebrity fundraiser

The annual Nantucket Race Week IOD Celebrity Invitational Regatta on August 14-15 once again attracted an elite list of accomplished North American sailors to serve as tacticians for entering skippers and teams in a benefit for Nantucket Community Sailing.

Organizers generally don’t make the same skipper/tactician pairing two years in a row, so when skipper Heather Gregg of Stage Harbor YC won in 2012 with Celebrity Tactician Robbie Doyle, she couldn’t test the magic last year. But when the two paired up again last week, the magic was alive again, never finishing worse than second, winning the 14 boat event without sailing the final eighth race.

Nantucket Sound delivered optimal race conditions for the fleet of International One Design sloops, with 15-17 knot westerly winds and moderate seas.

Gary Jobson helming, with Jud Smith calling the shots, took second, begging the question “Which ones aren’t celebrities?” Peter Bromby of Bermuda as tactician, with skipper Ted Moore of Marblehead, both first-timers at the event, took third.

The consistency of top finishes, amongst the deep and high level competition, earned Gregg the Nantucket Race Week Overall Best Performance Award from event sponsor Porsche.

Event website – Results

Report by event media. Photo by Michael Obuchowski.