Championships in Newport

Second half of Rolex's New York YC Race Week gets underway

The second half of New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex kicked off today with outstanding conditions and plenty of racing for the 83 entries competing here in eight classes. Major championships are being determined this week including North Americans for the Farr 395, Henderson 30 and J/35 classes; East Coast for the Farr 40 class; and Southern New England for the J/105 class. Other one-design classes competing are the J/109, J/120 and Swan 45. The best performing yacht overall will be awarded a Rolex timepiece at Sunday's Rolex Trophy Ceremony.

Race Committee Chair John Mendez continued his standard of running "as many races as possible" by dividing the fleet among three racecourses on Rhode Island Sound and completing four races on each one. Steady 10- to 12-knot breezes gave seasoned competitors a chance to grab an early lead on this first of three days devoted to one design yachts.

A casual glance at the scoreline for all of the class leaders gives the impression that there is one clear "fast boat" in each fleet. Most have at least one first-place finish. But, when the conditions are as consistent as they were today, with wind shifts at a minimum, boat handling was the secret to success in these highly competitive fleets.

"Our impeccable crew work made the difference today," said Marty Kullman, the driver on Michael Carroll's Henderson 30 New Wave, which leads its class. "Sailing the Henderson 30 is like sailing a dinghy, and all eight of our crewmembers have significant dinghy experience. The Henderson 30 is a lively, quick boat and the dinghy mentality on board made the difference in our scores." Dave Mendelblatt, U.S. Olympic Team member Mark Mendelblatt's brother, is on board, and Kullman credits him along with
John Jennings, the past U.S. Masters champion, calling tactics.

Jeffrey Gale's Beautiful World is in second place.

Leading the J/109 class is Craig Crossley while Dana Seniff leads the 11-boat J/35 class, and in the J/120 class is Thomas Lee's Ricochetin the lead.

In the Blue Fleet, the Farr 395, Swan 45 and Farr 40s duked it out for daily honours. Returning to Newport waters after a recent victory at the NYYC 150th Annual Regatta is Jim Richardson, who owns and skippers the Farr 40 Barking Mad, with Terry Hutchinson calling tactics. He is using the regatta to tune up for the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds later this year in San Francisco. With scores of 3-3-3-2, Richardson leads the ultra-competitive fleet, just three-quarters of a point ahead of Virago, owned by Stuart &
MarrGwen Townsend, with Chris Larson sailing as tactician.

Richardson explained that a bad start in the final race of the day almost cost him the overall lead. "With 10 seconds until the start, Appreciation forced an overlap and caused
us to go over the line," he said. "We were able to jibe around, go back around the pin and start off. We did a good job fighting back in the fleet and ended up at the top mark in third. We lost Appreciation on the run to the leeward mark and had a good second beat, catching up to Virago. On the last downwind leg coming into the finish, we had a good position on Virago. We threw in a couple of gybes and rolled over the top of them. That's why we're in first and not second place."

According to Richardson, on board Barking Mad, small mistakes don't add up. "We have been sailing together a long time. We have great teamwork, great crew work and a little luck always helps."

Roger Wagner's Endurance leads the Farr 395 class, and Massimo Ferragamo's Bellicosa leads the nine-boat Swan 45 fleet.

The largest fleet competing is the J/120 fleet with 26 entries. The popular one-design is assigned to its own racecourse. Ed Cummins is in the lead with his Bold Forbes, over Ken Darden's Hoss.

Racing continues tomorrow and Sunday.


Results (pending protest)

Top 3 in each class

Place, skipper, hometown, boat name, boat type, race finishes, total points

BLUE FLEET

Farr 395 (8 boats)
1. Roger Wagner, Upper Saddle River, N.J., ENDURANCE, 1-2-4-2, 8.75 points
2. Craig Albrecht Sea Cliff, N.Y., AVALANCHE, 5-3-1-1, 9.5
3. Bill Clemens Riverside, Conn., COYOTE, 4-1-3-3, 10.75

Farr 40 (9 boats)
1. James Richardson, Newport, R.I., BARKING MAD, 3-3-3-2, 11 points
2. Stuart & MarrGwen Townsend, Chicago, Ill., VIRAGO, 2-6-1-3, 11.75
3. John Thomson, Port Washington, N.Y., SOLUTION, 4-2-2-5, 13

Swan 45 (9 boats)
1. Massimo Ferragamo, New York, N.Y., BELLICOSA, 3- 4- 2- 1, 9.75 points
2. Craig Speck, Grand Rapids, Mich., VIM, 5-1-1-6, 12.5
3. William Douglass, Stamford, Conn., GOOMBAY SMASH, 2-2-5- 4, 13

GREEN FLEET

Henderson 30 (6 boats)
1. Michael Carroll, Clearwater, Fla., NEW WAVE, 1- 2-2-1, 5.5 points
2. Jeffrey Gale, Abaco, Fla., BEAUTIFUL WORLD, 3-1-1-2, 6.5
3. John Savage, Norwalk, Conn., GIRLFRIEND, 2-4- 3-3, 12

J/109 Class (8 boats)
1. Craig Crossley, Barrington, R.I., ELECTRA, 4-1-1-1, 6.25
2. Rod & Al Johnstone, Newport, R.I., BANDWAGON, 1- 6- 2- 2, 10.75
3. Rick Lyall, Norwalk, STORM, 3-2- 3- 3, 11

J/35 Class (11 boats)
1. Seniff Nickerson, S. Glastonbury, Conn., SPLIT DECISION, 1-1-32, 6.5
points
2. Christofel Sagerholm, Annapolis, Md., AUNT JEAN, 2-7\SCP-1-1, 10.5
3. Stephen Clarke, Portsmouth, R.I., USHUAIA, 4-6-2-3, 15

J/120 Class (6 boats)
1. Thomas Lee, Essex, Conn., RICOCHET, 1-1- 2-2, 5.5 points
2. Robert Carballal, New York, N.Y., SUNDAY DRIVER, 3-3-1-3, 9.75
3. Rob Campbell, Noroton, Conn., BRAVEHEART, 2-5-5-1, 12.75

WHITE FLEET

J/105 Class (26 boats)
1. Ed Cummins, San Francisco, Calif., BOLD FORBES, 2-1-3-3, 8.75 points
2. Darden/Hilliard, New York, N.Y., HOSS, 1-2-1-6, 9.5
3. Philip Lotz, New York, N.Y., INDEFATIGABLE, 3-3-7-2, 15

More photos on page 2...