Interclub Dinghy Nationals 2017

The 2017 Interclub Dinghy National Championship was held April 8-9 at Cottage Park Yacht Club in Winthrop, MA. Twenty-seven boats made the trek to battle it out among some of the best dinghy sailors in the Northeast.

With sailing taking place right off of Logan Airport, the first day greeted the teams with a strong breeze from the Northwest which continued to build throughout the day…topping out at 25+. Although many teams were hoping the wind would die down enough to sail in the afternoon, the Race Committee smartly made the decision to cancel racing and looked for a better day on Sunday.

The forecast proved correct for day two, and with temperatures reaching the mid 60’s, the race committee under the direction of PRO Sue Hardy knocked out 10 great races in a shifty 10-15 knot breeze.

Ten-time National Champion Jim Bowers and crew Lydia Brown started strong, and while looking good with 3 wins in the first 5 races, fell victim to a capsize in race 6 caused by the “down draft” of an incoming plane to Logan Airport. In the ‘no-throw-out’ regatta, Bowers/Brown had to count a “29” to their scores and all hopes for an 11th National Championship were all but gone in the tight fleet.

The top spot became a battle between multiple IC National Champion Steve Benjamin and Brooks Daley, 2011 IC National Champion Paul-Jon Patin and Felicity Ryan, and long-time Larchmont standout Ted Ferrarone and Meredith Killion.

In the end, it was Ferrarone/Killion who pulled away to win their first IC National Championship by 19 points. Ferrarone/Killion were by far the most consistent in the fleet with no race worse than a 6th and finished with 37 points. Benjamin/Daley finished 2nd with 56 points and close behind was Patin/Ryan with 57 points.

Rounding out the top 5 was the husband/wife team of Art and Jen Rousmaniere in 4th place with 60 points and Bowers/Brown in 5th with 66 points.

Class details – Full results – Photos

Source: Bill Rothwell