Outfit Sailing claims CJ Buckley Regatta

Over 150 sailors from around the USA and USVI converged on the Goddard Park Carousel for the 17th running of the CJ Buckley Regatta on July 29-30 in East Greenwich, RI. The event, which doubles as the Club 420 US National Junior Team Racing Championship, was hosted by Greenwich Bay Sailing Association and East Greenwich Yacht Club.

Buttressed by the usual army of over 70 volunteers, the 2019 edition continued with full umpiring, made possible by the generous support from Freedom Boat Club, Christchurch Sailing Team, and parents and friends who provided umpire boats. This again allowed race committee to implement a Swiss League format.

PRO Justin Assad got sailing started promptly on day one, completing 10 flights of racing in conditions ranging from 4-14 mph shifting from W to SSW. Sailors were quick to adjust as conditions changed, and classic “Flying Lunches” powered the group through the day.

Teams hit the beach at 4:30pm due to threatening storms. They enjoyed a classic Italian dinner followed by College Night where fifteen coaches and college sailors from top ranked college sailing programs around the country met and spoke with competitors and parents.

Day 2 brought more of the same! Perfect Team Racing conditions saw races get started in 4 mph ESE and build to 10-12 mph SSE for the Gold Cup Championship Races ending at 2:30pm. Four more flights were completed followed by knockout rounds for every position on the board.

Racing was fast and furious, yet the squadron of judges led by Chief Umpire Clinton Hayes kept tempers cool by dispensing justice. Outfit Sailing 1 – Josh Bartoszuk, Liam O’Keefe, Huck Whittemore, Mitchell Callahan, Justin Callahan, and Libby Redmond – steamrolled their way to the final four knock out with only 1 loss. CTO and scoring official Kyle Assad was able to provide near instantaneous results to race fans throughout the event.

Outfit Sailing 1’s dominance continued through the knockout round to take the title. Second place went to Ship Happens, the punniest team name of the event, and Revenge of the Sith rounded out the podium. Winners were able to take home the coveted awards belts by Doyle Sails. Zim Sailing provided 4th place awards to Clark Sailing, whose excellent record squeezed them in as a top four team after 14 flights.

This year was notable in that both the sportsmanship award and team spirit award were awarded to the same team as voted by their peers. Revenge of the Sith, perhaps joining the Light Side, won the Team 1 Newport/Ronstan Sportsmanship and Team 1 Newport Spirit Award dressed in full Star Wars uniforms. A Jedi was seen sailing with a Storm Trooper! Dynamic Dollies provided a significant gift certificate that was won at the raffle. Harken also provided gear that was raffled to competitors.

Event information – Results

The CJ Buckley Regatta is held every summer in East Greenwich, RI by a group of 70+ entirely volunteer race committee members, umpires, and administrative team. It is in memory of CJ Buckely, a talented junior sailor who passed away from brain cancer in 2002. The event is co-hosted by East Greenwich Yacht Club and Greenwich Bay Sailing Association, out of EGYC, GBSA and Goddard Memorial State Park.

Source: Kyle Assad