2015 Around Jamestown Record Season Sets New Targets

Sailors and crews who successfully completed and set new records for the Mount Gay Rum Around Jamestown Record were recognized at a prize giving party hosted by the IYAC in Newport, RI on November 14. With five months of attempts and record breaking, it was the MOD70 Phaedo3 who took top honors, setting the new outright record.

On June 27, 2015, Phaedo3 broke the outright record, sailing the 18nm course with a time of 56 min and 33 seconds, shedding 2 minutes off of the previous record set by the GC32 Argo during the 2014 season. Phaedo3 skipper Lloyd Thornburg was awarded his weight of 170lbs, which is equal to 4.3 cases, in Mount Gay Rum for setting the outright record.

“We had only once chance to break the record this year,” noted Thornburg. “We’d like to come back next year and do it and we’d like to have a little more breeze, as it was a little light for us. 20 knots of wind out of the west is my dream and I think we could shave another minute or two off it.”

Skipper Jason Carroll of Argo and Carl Funk and Jan Majer of KWYJIBoat were also recognized for their 2015 record attempts. After four attempts, Argo was unable to best their 2014 time, however they did take home top title in the 2015 multihull under 32’ division. In addition, the HT18 KWYJIBoat was recognized for their performance in the 2015 Multihull Under 32’ Division with a time of 1 hour, 46 minutes and 13 seconds.

“We took two shots on Argo in the same day [October 28],” explained Funk. “The first attempt we were pretty far off the pace. The second time we went at it, we were pretty close. We were beating all the goals we set going around the island until we got back to Beavertail and the breeze shut down and that was it for us. The breeze has to stay where you want it the entire way around and that’s the challenge, but Argo will be back out there and there’s a few minutes at least still left in the record.”

In addition to the prizes of Mount Gay Rum, Team One Newport presented each of the skippers with a signature Scrambler jacket and a professional Predict Wind subscription was awarded to Carl and Jan on KWYJIBoat.

Five categories of sailing boats are recognized for annual divisional honors with the overall perpetual trophy going to the boat with the outright fastest time. The 2015 record was open from Memorial Day, May 25th until Halloween, October 31st during the hours of daylight.

Outright Record Holder – 2015: MOD70, Phaedo3, 00:56:33
Monohull 32’ & Above – 2014: 72’ mini-maxi, Bella Mente 01:19:35 (No attempt in 2015)
Monohull below 32’ – 2013: Shaw 6.50, Manic, 2:00:29 (No attempt in 2015)
Multihull 32’ & Above – 2015: MOD70, Phaedo3, 00:56:33
Multihull below 32’ – 2015: HT18, KWYJIBoat, 1:46:13
Kiteboards & All Foiling Craft – 2015: GC32Argo, 0:59:22

About Around Jamestown Record
The Around Jamestown Record presented by Mount Gay Rum in association with IYAC is a perpetual all out record for sailing the 18 nm course around Conanicut Island (also known as Jamestown) in lower Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Similar to other outright speed records, contenders decide when to make their record attempt and also which direction they will sail around Jamestown. This means contenders choose the most advantageous weather conditions and tidal flow in which to attempt the record. Details.

Source: Julianna Barbieri, Manuka Sports Event Management