Experience counts for Offshore 160

The biennial Offshore 160, held in the off-year from the Bermuda ONE-TWO, attracted a record number of singlehanded competitors for two courses of 114 and 142 nautical miles starting July 13 in Newport, RI. Eighteen skippers, 14 of which were new to this race, started in Narragansett Bay just outside of the Newport Harbor and headed south into open waters past Block Island.

The winds were predicted to be very light until the following evening, but aside from some typical early morning calms, the racers had 10-15 knots with reaching for most of the course which resulted in a very fast race. Elapsed times ranged from 21:45 to 31:05.

Winning the shorter race on elapsed and corrected time was Granuelle, an Olsen 34 sailed by Bermuda One-Two veteran Marcus Cochran. The first boat to finish the long course was First Light, a Class 40 in Class 1 sailed by Sam Fitzgerald, however, Bermuda One-Two veteran Tristan Mouligne sailed the Quest 30 Samba to first place on corrected time in Class 1. Meridian, a Tartan 4600 sailed by another Bermuda One-Two veteran Murray Beach, was first to finish in Class 2 and also the winner on corrected time.

Many of the fourteen new skippers expressed plans in participating next year in the Bermuda One-Two which is a singlehanded race to Bermuda and a doublehanded race back to Newport. Other skippers that have participated in past Bermuda One-Two races are Ken Bordieri and Paul Grimes.

The following is a summary of the corrected time results:

Class 1
1. Samba – Tristan Mouligne
2. Kincora – Paul Cronin
3. Breakaway – Paul Grimes

Class 2
1. Meridian – Murray Beach
2. Lark – Stanley White
3. Sea Gate – Michael DiMella

Class 3
1. Granuelle – Marcus Cochran
2. Selkie – G.J. “Chip” Bradish
3. Corvus – Chris Terajewicz

Event details – Results

Source: Roy Guay