159th New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta

159th New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta - Day 1

by Rolex Media Centre 15 Jun 2013 16:11 BST 14-16 June 2013

159th New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta Presented by Rolex © Rolex / Daniel Forster

After yesterday's severe weather warnings for today, northeasterly winds of 20 knots and intermittent sunshine came as a welcomed surprise at the start of the Around the Island Race, a Friday prelude to this weekend's 159th New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex. The 19 nautical mile race, which is optional and scored separately from the weekend but always hosts a majority of the Annual Regatta fleet, became a true sprint for 94 teams as they circumnavigated Conanicut Island counter clockwise. The wind lightened on the backside of the island; however, there was still plenty of it at the finish...and the clearing skies promised that forecasts for a sunny, warm—and more important, dry–weekend would be more on target.

Though the largest boat in the fleet–George David's (Hartford, Conn.) 90-foot Rambler–finished the course in just over an hour and a half, line honors were not as important as corrected-time victories in each of five IRC, three PHRF and three Classic classes as well as one 12 Meter class. Also, for IRC classes, a Rolex watch as prize for best performance hung in the balance. Its winner was Jim Swartz (Park City, Utah), who steered his TP52 Vesper to victory in the nine-boat IRC Class 1.

"It's always special, but it's the team that loves winning the watch more than I do. I end up with it, but they are very proud to deliver it," said Swartz, who called today's race a classic by Newport standards. "It was a great day to be sailing. The weather started off a little nasty but got mellower toward the end and the sun came out."

As for the weekend competition, Swartz expects the IRC classes to be divided similarly to how they were today, so stiff competition from the likes of Rambler, which finished third, and Takashi Okura's (Tokyo, Japan) TP52 Sled, which finished second and won the Around the Island Race last year, is something to which he looks forward. A record total of 153 boats are signed up for the weekend competition.

Austin and Gwen Fragomen's (Newport, R.I.) Swan 42 Interlodge, which finished second in IRC 3, teamed up with Sled to win the Rolex Bowl, given to the two-boat team with the best individual finishes. Two class winners were defending champions: Rives Potts (Westbrook, Conn.) with his custom 48 Carina and Joseph Dockery (Newport) with his custom S&S 53 Sonny, in Class 5 IRC and Class 12 Classics (non-spinnaker), respectively.

Because of its North Americans and World Championships scheduled for later this summer in Martha's Vineyard and Newport, respectively, the Farr 40 Class opted to conduct two buoy races today instead of joining the rest of the fleet. The scores were added to those from three races yesterday; therefore, the cumulative scores after the weekend will include four days of racing and determine the Annual Regatta champion in this class. Held north of the bridge, the races were described by Night Shift's tactician Andy Horton (Burlington, Vt.): "We had one good race, but the second was a drift-off. The wind shut off and six of the nine boats (including Night Shift) didn't finish within the time limit." Jim Richardson's (Boston, Mass./Newport, R.I.) Barking Mad currently leads this class.

The tradition of the Annual Regatta—the oldest regatta in the country--began at the New York Yacht Club's original clubhouse in Hoboken, N.J., in 1845, during its second year of existence. Racing takes place on Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound, with daily awards and social activities at Harbour Court, the New York Yacht Club's on-the-water clubhouse in Newport, R.I. Engraved overall trophies in each class are given at the Rolex Awards Party on Sunday night. Rolex also awards a timepiece to the overall winner (determined by the organizers) of Saturday's and Sunday's combined series of races, which officially constitutes the 158th New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex. This special prize, as well as the Great Corinthian Trophy for yacht club teams of three or more boats posting the best class finishes, will be awarded at the November 14 Annual Awards Dinner at the New York Yacht Club's main clubhouse in New York City.