Record numbers for Onion Patch Series

Bermuda Race centennary fuelling other east coast events

As of May 4, 190 of the 288 Bermuda Race entry applicants are eligible to enter the Onion Patch Series. This should be a record year for the three-event Series. The previous high was 45 set in 1994, The 150th anniversary of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, when the series format was changed to include the RBYC Anniversary Regatta in Bermuda.

As of May 4, there were 32 entries, well above the pace set in previous years. Entries tend to increase in the last few weeks before the New York Yacht Cub’s Annual Regatta starts off the series. In recent years, about one-third of the eligible boats in the Bermuda Race have entered the Onion Patch Series. That would be 60 individual boats, possibly 20 teams and well above the record.

“While skippers and crews are all busy preparing for the centennial Bermuda Race: Newport Bermuda 2006, they need to remember that this race is also the central event in the Onion Patch Series,” said series chairman John Mendez. “We hope they will make an effort to visit the website and enter this exciting event both as an individual entry and as a member of a three-boat team.”

“The Onion Patch series starts with the racing at New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta on June 10/11, followed by the Bermuda Race and concludes with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club’s Anniversary regatta on June 23 on the beautiful blue waters of the Great Sound. “We would also like to encourage team entries which may also be made on the website. Please go to the site today and get your entries in… there is no additional fee for participation in the series!” Mendez concluded. All the details and entry information and forms are accessed from www.onionpatchseries.com .

The 2006 Onion Patch series will be raced under the IRC rating rule and is open to yachts with endorsed IRC ratings that are entered in the Newport Bermuda Race that are also eligible to compete in the NYYC Annual Regatta and the RBYC Anniversary Regatta. Entry in all three events is required.

The Notice of Series for the Onion Patch series is posted on http:/ www.onionpatchseries.com/ . The notice of Race for each event is hosted on each organizing authority’s web site: www.nyyc.org , www.bermudarace.com , www.rbyc.bm. These are also the final races of the US-IRC Gulf Stream Series.

All yachts will race as individual entries in the series, but are encouraged to form three-boat teams to compete for the Onion Patch Trophy. All the details and entry information and forms are accessed from www.onionpatchseries.com . Click the Onion Patch logo on the right of the web page at “Sign up here”. Team entries are made by selecting the RACE DOCUMENTS button and completing the Team Entry form and following the directions that it contains. Individual entries should be made by pressing the SIGN UP button. All boats on a team must enter individually.

The Henry B. du Pont Trophy is awarded to the best scoring individual yacht participating in the series. The first yacht on IRC corrected time in the Bermuda Race that is a competitor in the Onion Patch Series will be awarded the Catherine Hollis Memorial Trophy. Onion Patch prizes will be awarded at the Newport Bermuda Race Prize Giving Ceremony Saturday June 24 at 18:30 by invitation.

In 2006, all IRC races of the NYYC Annual Regatta in Newport June 10-11 will once again be part of the series schedule. The Cruising Club of America/Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Newport Bermuda Race that starts June 16 is the ocean race for the series. All races of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta are scheduled for June 23 in Bermuda.

The Onion Patch racing in Bermuda will continue to use the new format introduced in 2004. The RBYC plans one short Windward/Leeward race in the Great Sound and a longer “round the buoys” course planned with the start in the Great Sound, a course around multiple marks, with the finish in HamiltonHarbour near Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. The club marina will provide an excellent spectator vantage point to view the finish of the series and will tie into the special celebrations planned for the Centennial Bermuda Race.

Yachts that cannot enter the entire series may enter the Bermuda Race or either of the other individual regattas held at NYYC or RBYC.