Preview for 166th Annual Regatta

Newport, RI (October 2, 2020) – With the 166th Annual Regatta set for tomorrow, a preview got underway today as 47 boats raced around Conanicut Island on a course which has become a fixture on the day before North America’s oldest annual sailing competition.

Conditions offered a shifty, puffy breeze that gusted as high as 20 knots and dropped as low as 5 knots, along with a moon tide and rain showers looming on the horizon throughout the day, but never quite pushed across lower Narragansett Bay.

Elsewhere, fleets of Sonars and Shields enjoyed their debut at the Annual Regatta with four buoy races off Goat Island while the 13-strong Melges IC37 Class, in what is also their 2020 US National Championship, grunted through an equal number of contests on lumpy Rhode Island Sound.

Aside from the Melges IC37 Class, today’s results elsewhere are scored separately and do not carry over to the Annual Regatta on October 3-4.

Event information – Regatta details – Results – Melges IC37 Results – Facebook

RESULTS (Top Three)

Melges IC37 National Championship (One Design – 13 Boats)
1. Pacific Yankee, USA022, Drew Freides / Bill Ruh – 1 – 3 – 1 – 2 ; 7
2. Blazer II, USA012, Christopher Culver – 6 – 1 – 8 – 3 ; 18
3. Waka Jawaka, USA006, Michael Goldfarb / Laura Grondin – 2 – 6 – 5 – 7/ZFP ; 20

ORC 1 (ORC – 2 Boats)
1. Vesper, TP52, David Team , Newport Beach, CA, USA – 1 ; 1
2. FOX, TP52, Victor Wild , San Diego, CA, USA – 2 ; 2

ORC 2 (ORC – 6 Boats)
1. Impetuous, Swan 42, Paul Zabetakis , Jamestown, RI, USA – 1 ; 1
2. Rikki, R/P 42, Bruce Chafee , Boston, MA, USA – 2 ; 2
3. Pterodactyl, R/P 45, Scott Weisman , White Plains, NY, USA – 3 ; 3

ORC 3 (ORC – 6 Boats)
1. Leading Edge, J 109, William Sutton , Houston, TX, USA – 1 ; 1
2. Entropy, Tripp 41, Patricia Young , Jamestown, RI, USA – 2 ; 2
3. Vento Solare, J 109, Bill Kneller , Newport, RI, USA – 3 ; 3

PHRF 1 (PHRF – 11 Boats)
1. Vamoose, J 133, Bob Manchester , Barrington, RI, USA – 1 ; 1
2. Intrepid, 12 Metre, Michael Patterson , Middletown, RI, USA – 2 ; 2
3. Weatherly, 12 Metre, Steven Eddleston , Bristol, RI, USA – 3 ; 3

PHRF 2 (PHRF – 10 Boats)
1. Cavalino, W-37, Mike Toppa , Newport, RI, USA – 1 ; 1
2. Incognito, J 121, Joe Brito , Bristol, RI, USA – 2 ; 2
3. Das Blau Max, Farr 30, Cory Sertl , Jamestown, RI, USA – 3 ; 3

PHRF 3 (PHRF – 7 Boats)
1. Scoundrel, 6 Metre, Jamie Hilton , Tiverton, RI, USA – 1 ; 1
2. Mischief, Lyman-Morse 40, David Schwartz , Bristol, RI, USA – 2 ; 2
3. Odyssey, S&S 48, David Brodsky/ Alfred Van Liew , Middletown, R.I., USA – 3 ; 3

PHRF – Non-Spinnaker (PHRF_ToT – 7 Boats)
1. Wildhorses, W Class 76, Donald Tofias , Newport, MA, USA – 1 ; 1
2. Jazz Fish, Freedom 35, Paul Koch , East Greenwich, RI, USA – 2 ; 2
3. Star Dancer, Freedom 35, David Pedrick , Newport, RI, USA – 3 ; 3

Shields (One Design – 14 Boats)
1. Grace, John Burnham/ Reed Baer , Middletown, RI, USA – 3 -3 -1 -1 ; 8
2. Bit~O~Honey, Ken Deyett , Marion, MA, USA – 1 -1 -3 -3 ; 8
3. Mahi, David Bush-Brown , Newport, RI, USA – 2 -2 -2 -4 ; 10

Sonar (One Design – 10 Boats)
1. Jager, John Bainton , Rowayton, CT, USA – 1 -1 -2 -4 ; 8
2. Fast Attack, Matthew Bergantino , Fairfield, CT, USA – 6 -2 -1 -2 ; 11
3. Resonance, Brian Doyle , Hanover, NH, USA – 4 -3 -4 -1 ; 12

First sailed in 1846, New York Yacht Club’s Annual Regatta is traditionally held at the start of the Newport sailing season, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was pushed back first to late August before finally settling on October 2-4.

The three-day format includes a race around Conanicut Island on Friday and two days of buoy racing or navigator-course racing on Saturday and Sunday. The 166th Annual Regatta also includes the 2020 Melges IC37 National Championship.

Source: NYYC, Scuttlebutt