Ida Lewis Distance Race: Youth and collegiate sailors to have their night
by Barby MacGowan 19 Jul 17:14 BST
August 15, 2025
The saying goes that "everyone has their day"; however, for youth and collegiate sailors competing in the 20th running of the Ida Lewis Distance Race it's how their overnight goes on Friday, August 15, that will count. That's when tacticians on all 40 or so of the boats expected to enter the race will be making decisions in the dark about how fastest to reach a finish line in Newport (where they started). The race can be anywhere in length from 129 to 230 nautical miles, depending on the weather and which courses the Race Committee deems most appropriate for delivering a 24-hour race to classes sailing in either ORC, PHRF or PHRF Double-Handed divisions.
"On the teams with 40% or more youth sailors aboard, and those with 40% or more collegiate sailors aboard, there is more at stake than class victories," said Event Chair Anselm Richards. "There is the prospect of winning the Arent H. Kits van Heyningen Trophy for the Youth Challenge or the equally prestigious William Tuthill Collegiate Trophy."
Coming back year after year with a team that mixes sailors under the age of 20 with veteran ocean racers is Bill Kneller (Newport, R.I.) with his J/109 Vento Solare. His team won the Youth Challenge in 2022 and will sail in Coronet class this year.
"Many times things happen at night and the 2024 race was no exception," said Kneller, explaining that the course included an exclusion zone for wind farm construction that boats were not allowed to enter. Vento Solare passed the southern boundary of the zone on a reach, then just after midnight turned North to sail the eastern boundary under spinnaker.
"The spinnaker became wrapped around the headstay, and there were only two ways to fix this," said Kneller. "One required sending a person up the mast in the dark while continuing on course in challenging conditions. The safer way was to turn the boat towards the exclusion zone at reduced speed to blanket the spinnaker and wrestle it down without sending anyone up the mast."
Kneller elected the safe approach, which meant slowing down and entering the exclusion zone. Once the spinnaker was down, the team was able to sail out of the exclusion zone and reset the spinnaker to continue racing.
"This provided a learning experience for the youth that safety is paramount," said Kneller, adding that the Ida Lewis Distance Race provides the challenges of offshore sailing in a compact 24-hour event. "It requires the crews to plan for everything. This includes watch rotation, meal planning, preparation for varying weather conditions, night sailing, and safe navigation."
Winning the Youth Challenge in 2024 as well as 2023 was James Phyfe's (Cranston, R.I.) J/44 Digger, and the team, also sailing in Coronet class, is coming in hot again to win. It will have its hands full, however, with the new entry from Community Boating Center of New Bedford: the Baltic 50 Crazy Horse in ORC 1. It just won its class in the Marblehead to Halifax Race and finished third in class at Edgartown Race Weekend's 'Round-the-Island Race.
"We are very excited to be coming back," said CBC's Executive Director Andy Herlihy. "The Ida Lewis Distance Race has had a big circle on our calendars for the past few years now. We love it, and our youth sailors always have a blast!"
Vying for Collegiate Challenge honors in ORC 2 class is returning skipper Brad Gibbs (Providence) and his crew aboard the JPK 10.30 Rumble. Also sailing the Collegiate Challenge in ORC 1: the Mills 41 Hunter, entered by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in ORC 1.
With the race starting at 11 a.m. on Friday, the fleet is expected to return mostly in the mid-morning to early afternoon the following Saturday. Each team, no matter what their finish, will be greeted on the water with a bottle of Prosecco (or sparkling cider for Youth teams) to celebrate their efforts.
Ida Lewis Distance Race Gold Sponsors are Hogan Associates/Christie’s International Real Estate, Palm Beach Motor Yachts, and Van Liew Trust Company. Silver Sponsor is Contender Sailcloth, and Bronze Sponsor is Hilb Group. Contributing Sponsors are Toni Mills Graphic Design, Gosling’s Black Seal Rum, and Stella Artois.
For more information, go to www.ilyc.org/distancerace or contact Race Chair Anselm Richards, .
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