Block Island Race Week presented by Rolex - Day 3
by Rolex Media Centre 23 Jun 2005 11:08 BST
19-25 June 2005
David Ford's Transpac 52 at Block Island Race Week © Dan Nerney / Rolex
Third day is no charm
After a generous amount of sunshine and wind yesterday, the Weather Gods opted to play mischievous tricks today on the more than 1000 sailors competing at the Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race Week presented by Rolex. A little rain mixed with sun, plenty of dramatic windshifts, some waiting around.but in the end, the only rise it caused was the one to the challenge by the competitors and dozens of race committee personnel capable of staying one step ahead of the changing conditions.
We started a race in a westerly," said Paul Murphy (Annapolis, Md.), a crewman in the J/105 class aboard Mopelia (Dennis Seynnaeve, Annapolis), "and the race committee smartly abandoned it. We then waited for a northerly to come in and started again." In fact, four classes on the white circle had to abandon a race today, but all six classes sailing there managed to complete a single race to be counted in what is now a five-race scoreline for each of them.
"On the first leg, a lot of us were on the right side of the course when the wind shifted solidly to the left, and for those who were there, it took one tack on port to the weather mark," said Murphy, whose team ended up fifth in the race, with class leader and defending champion Pretty Sketchy (Tom Enright, Bristol, R.I.) finishing right behind. "The really odd thing is there was a knot of adverse current, so eight boats hit the offset mark. On the second windward leg 45 minutes later, with the windward mark reset 40 degrees to the left, there was a knot of current with us, so you had to watch the current lines and what was happening on either side of them."
Also on the white course was the J/109 class, competing for its East Coast Championships. "Yes, the race committee kept very busy today," said Storm skipper Rick Lyall (Wilton, Conn.), who finished sixth today to maintain his third overall position from yesterday. "We had one minute to go when the race committee abandoned our first start. There was less that two knots of breeze while we coasted, waiting for the weather to stabilize. It's great to try to get in races in these kinds of conditions, but it is difficult to be competitive in 30-40 degree shifts. It's a challenge, but it's all part of the game."
The key today for Lyall was that the two boats ahead of him in overall scoring did relatively poorly today, so he lessened the scoring gap. "We were too far right on the first upwind leg and were down somewhere between 10th and 12th, but the right side paid off on the second weather leg, and we picked off three or four boats."
Seemingly infallable in the blue circle's Beneteau 36.7 class is M&M's (Mark and Mara Ploch, New York, N.Y.), which added two victories today to its perfect four-bullet record. According to Mark Ploch, his closest competition is from Quokka (Tom Peelen, S. Dartmouth, Mass.) and Jubilee (Cal Huge, Summerville, S.C.), currently second and third in the overall standings. "We always are close when we start out, but then we just seem to get a leg out on them, and they have to give up and try to protect second." With the Beneteau 36.7 and the 40.7 classes competing for their New England Championships, M&M' s is looking good to be a titlist.
Two races were held on the blue and the red circles, where five classes are sailing on each. A fourth green circle saw one race for its one class (PHRF Non-Spinnakers). The event also serves as the Farr 395 North American Championship. Racing continues tomorrow and concludes on Friday.
Compliments of Rolex, daily video shows of the racing, produced by Annapolis-based T2Productions, are broadcast on-line each night by 9 p.m. on www.t2p.tv. The videos also are shown each day under the "Big Top" tent where all of Race Week's sponsors have a presence. Sponsors are B&G, Gill, Hall Spars, Heineken, J Boats, Jeep, Lewmar, Mt. Gay Rum, 1bigthink, Power Water, the Rhode Island State Yachting Committee, Sailing World, Samson Ropes, UKHalsey Sailmakers, Vineyard Vines, West Marine and Yellow Tail wine.
To follow the racing, go to www.blockislandraceweek.com
Results after Day 3:
RED 1-IRC SUPER ZERO
1. Titan, Rp75 (1-2-1-1-2-1), 8.5 pts;
2. Numbers, Farr 60 (4-1-2-2-4-1), 14.50;
3. Hissar, Farr 60 (2-3-5-4-1-3), 18;
RED 2 - IRC ZERO
1. High Noon, Ilc 40 (2-1-2-1-3-1), 10 pts;
2. Bandit, Swan 45 (1-2-4-5-1-2), 15;
3. Better Than, Swan 45 (4-4-1-3-2-4), 18;
RED 3 FARR 40
1. Warpath, Farr 40 (1-3-2-2-1-1), 10 pts;
2. Groovederci, Farr40 (2-4-3-4-2-2), 17;
3. Mean Machine, Farr 40 (7-6-1-1-4-3), 22;
RED 4 - IRC ONE
1. Rum Funny, J133 (2-2-1-1-2-3), 11 pts;
2. Settler, Ctm42 (3-3-6-2-5-2), 21;
3. Chris Dragon, J130 (4-1-5-3-3-9), 25;
RED 5 - IRC TWO
1. Troubador, Express 37 (1-5-3-2), 11 pts;
2. Lora Ann, Exp 37 (2-1-5-1), 9;
3. Cabady,(4-7-2-3-3-9), 28;
WHITE 1 - FARR 395
1. Tsunami, Farr 395 (2-1-6-1-3), 13 pts;
2. Coyote, Farr 395 (1-5-4-3-1), 14;
3. Avalanche, Farr 395 (3-3-1-2-6), 15;
WHITE 2 - J/44
1. Challenge Iv, J44 (1-1-3-6-2), 13;
2. Gold Digger, J44 (2-2-2-3-6), 15;
3. Maxine, J44 (4-6-1-8-1), 20;
WHITE 3 - BEN 40.7
1. Down Time, Ben 40.7 (3-1-3-2-2), 11;
2. Dame Blanche, Ben 40.7 (1-3-4-1-4), 13 pts;
3. Moon Racer, 2-6-2-DSQ-1, 10
WHITE 4 - J120
1. Sarah Beth, J120 (3-2-4-3-3), 15 pts;
2. Ricochet, J120 (1-3-1-7-7), 19;
3. Euro Trash Girl, J120 (2-4-3-5-5), 19;
WHITE 5 - J109
1. Gut Feeling, J109 (1-2-2-7-7), 19 pts;
2. Electra, J109 (2-1-4-6-11), 24;
3. Storm, J109 (3-6-7-2-6), 24;
WHITE 6 - J105
1. Pretty Sketchy, J105 (2-4-1-3-6), 16 pts;
2. Indefatigable, J105 (1-5-7-2-7), 23;
3. Eclipse, J105 (10-1-3-4-10), 28;
BLUE 1 - BEN 36.7
1. M&m's, Ben36.7 (1-1-1-1-1-1), 6 pts;
2. Quokka, Ben36.7 (3-3-2-2-3-2), 15;
3. Jubilee, Ben 36.7 (2-2-3-3-2-3), 15;
BLUE 2 - PHRF 87-108
1. Remedy, Evelyn 32 (2-1-1-2-1-6), 13 pts;
2. Xlr8, Carrera280 (1-2-10-1-10-1), 25;
3. Freightrain, Frers 36 (5-3-3-6-2-11), 30;
BLUE 3 -PHRF 111-123
1. Cooch, J29 (2-1-1-3-2-3), 12 pts;
2. Showdown, J29 (4-2-2-2-1-2), 13;
3. Exhilaration, X332 (1-3-3-1-6-8), 22.5;
BLUE 4 -PHRF 129-135
1. Chinook, J30 (1-1-1-7-1-8), 19 pts;
2. Pirate, Abbott 33 (3-3-5-3-3-3) 20;
3. Cymothoe, (8-4-4-2-4-2); 24
BLUE 5 -PHRF 156-171
1. Big Time, Cal 33 (1-1-1-1-1-3), 8 pts;
2. Air Express, (3-5-2-4-2-1), 17
3. Hocus Pocus, J24 (2-4-3-3-4-4), 20;
GRN 1 - PHRF NON-SPI
1. Xenophon, Swan 44 (3-1-1), 5 pts;
2. Rascal, J34c (1-4-2), 7;
3. Rogue, Taylor 38 (2-2-3), 7;