2021 American Yacht Club Spring Regatta Day 1 & 2

2019 Spring Series © American Yacht Club

A buzz of excitement filled the air as the sailors and Race Committee prepared their boats and equipment for day one of the 2021 AYC Spring Regatta. In addition to the nervous tension that accompanies any competition, the growing anticipation of racing in a big fleet once more after a two-year hiatus was palpable. American Yacht Club was pleased to see so many people headed out for a fun weekend on the water.

With many events from the 2020 sailing season being reduced in scope or outright canceled, the sailing community is once again coming back together on the water for this long-standing, traditional regatta hosted by American Yacht Club. With over 50 boats entered in this year's One Design, PHRF, and ORC classes, the competitors were both thrilled and grateful to be racing together again while also taking all precautions necessary to reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure for everyone involved.

The first weekend of the regatta started off with a light, variable wind on Saturday, but the breeze built significantly as the day progressed. The Race Committee was able to complete 4 races for the Short Course ORC and J/44 classes, and one distance race for the Coastal Racing course, which included PHRF, Doublehanded, and Mixed Doublehanded classes. Rear Commodore Elizabeth and Robert Alexander on Byte won the Coastal ORC Mixed Doublehanded distance race and saw a stronger breeze than other parts of the courses on their sailing round different parts of Long Island Sound.

Day two began with a wet and chilly morning, but the rain tapered off just in time for the start of the first race. Sunday proved to be somewhat more challenging for everyone, with 50-degree wind shifts combined with dramatic changes in wind velocity and direction.

All the races were conducted by Principal Race Officers John ("Tinker") Myles on the East Course, and Commodore Nicholas Everett on the South Course, along with their respective Race Committee teams. Myles & Everett both have many years of Race Committee experience and expertly directed changes to each course as needed during the first weekend of the regatta to provide fair racing to all competitors in the variable conditions.

The AYC Spring Regatta will continue over three days next weekend, on April 30-May 2, with a virtual awards ceremony held over Zoom that is scheduled to begin after racing is completed on Sunday afternoon. Racing on Friday has been reserved for the Melges IC37 class only, as the first day of the Melges IC37 East Coast Championship.

Results - Top 3 in each class

East Course Racing

J44 (One Design - 5 boats)
1. Maxine, William Ketcham, USA - 3, 1, 4, 1, 1, 3 [9]
2. Resolute, Don and Rick Rave, USA - 1, 3, 2, 2, 2, 4 [10]
3. Breakaway, Thomas Blackwell, USA - 2, 4, 1, 4, 3, 1 [4]

ORC Division (ORC Short Course - 14 boats)
1. Zammermoos, David Fass - 2, 2, 7, 1, 2, 5 [12]
2. Peacemaker, Leo Vasiliev - 3, 1, 4, 7, 3, 2 [13]
3. Members Only, Jay Cross - 1, 5, 1, 3, 9, 8 [18]

Coastal ORC (Doublehanded - 5 boats)
1. Groupe 5 YCC, Vlad Shoblinsky and Will McKiege - 1, 2 [3]
2. Lora Ann, Richard du Moulin - 3, 1 [4]
3. Byte, Robert & Libby Alexander - 2, 4 [6]

Coastal ORC (Mixed Doublehanded - 2 boats)
1. byte, Elizabeth and Robert Alexander - 1
2. Thin Man, Todd Aven and Barbara Karpinska - 2

PHRF Division (Coastal PHRF - 10 boats)
1. Nodlys, Robert Schwarts - 1, 2 [3]
2. Freedom, Cory Eaves - 3, 1 [4]
3. Eagle, Steven Levy - 2, 4 [6]

South Course Racing

J88 (One Design Division - 5 boats)
1. Deviation, Iris Vogel - 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 1 [6]
2. One Too Many, Lawrence Cutler and Andrew Weiss - 3, 3, 2, 1, 1, 3 [10]
3. Albondigas, Justin Scagnelli and Tim Price - 2, 2, 3, 3, 2, 2 [11]

J105 (One Design Division - 7 boats)
1. loulou, Paul Beaudin - 3, 2, 1, 1, 1, 4 [8]
2. Solution, David Willis - 2, 1, 4, 3, 3, 1 [10]
3. Echo, Greth Lester - 1, 5, 2, 5, 2, 2 [12]

J70 (One Design Division - 4 boats)
1. Pen Segal, Jean marc Papin - 5/DNC, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 [5]
2. No Name - YCC, Benjamin Hunt - 1, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2 [10]
3. Half Mine II, Gibbons Sinclair - 2, 2, 2, 3, 5/DNC, 5/DNC [14]

Event Details can be found at www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=14291