Victory at last

Storm Trisail Club lift Sigma 33 Team Race Championship

After several years of finishing second best, the Storm Trysail Club has won the Sigma 33 Team Race Championship. The early May event, held in Hamble was contested by eight yacht clubs representing the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States, each fielding three boats for a double round robin event sailed on The Solent near the Isle of Wight.

Held annually since 1987, the Sigma Team Race Championship alternates between Hamble and Dublin, Ireland. 2005 hosts Hamble River Sailing Club and the Royal Southern Yacht Club provided race management for the event, with 24 boats provided by the local Sigma fleet.

On the first day of racing, 20-35 knot winds on The Solent contributed to an accidental gybe aboard a New York Yacht Club boat that sent overboard one crew who was quickly recovered by the umpire boat, and injured helmsperson and team captain Heather Gregg, who was evacuated to the hospital with lacerations and a broken nose.

Storm Trysail Club was undefeated on Saturday in eight heats and in 15-35 knots on day two lost only one race - to rival New York Yacht Club. Storm Trysail Club posted a 13-1 overall record to unseat defending champion Royal Thames whose 11-3 record earned them second overall, followed by New York with a 10-4 record. Hamble River Sailing Club, Royal Southern, Ida Lewis, UK Sigma and Irish Sigma rounded out the standings.

The Storm Trysail Club Team was captained by Commodore Richard du Moulin with Tony Parker skippering the club's second boat. The Storm Trysail Club's third boat was manned by the Royal Victoria Yacht Club and helmed by Trevor Hayward with Storm Trysail tactician Casey Nickerson. Rounding out the team were Chip and Lynne Whipple, Lora du Moulin, Karl von Schwarz, Peter and Charlton Rugg, Richard Ackrill, Nick Banks, Roger Bailey and Terry Macartney and Nick Lykiardopoulo, Jack Kelly and Ann Parker and the respective generous (and intrepid) boat owners.

The Storm Trysail and Ida Lewis Yacht Clubs will host the ninth Patriots Cup - the companion event to the Sigma Team Race Championship - from September 24-25, 2005, in Newport, R.I. Storm Trysail will work to oust reigning champions Hamble River when they return to defend their title on Narragansett Bay in Shields sloops outfitted with matching suits of sails donated by the late Russell Hoyt especially for the championship. The Patriots Cup is chaired by Storm Trysail members Peter and Marshall Lawson (Barrington, R.I.) who also lent their expertise to help the British clubs organise the Sigma event.