112th Race Week Features

Variety of Conditions

July 10-18, 2010
Larchmont, NY

Sailors in the 112th Larchmont Race Week saw a variety of conditions that allowed for sailing on most days and a full slate of races for all divisions, while the usual copious amounts of Ben and Jerry’s and Mt. Gay Rum kept the good times rolling ashore for the 607 boats that competed over eight days. 

Tight finishes were the norm in the ultra-competitive Vanguard 15 division.   Photo by Tom Spelman

 

Senior Race Week - Racer/Cruiser

Weekend one was light, shifty and quite warm – typical summer conditions for the 25 racer-cruiser boats entered.  Roger Widmann’s NYYC 42 Quintessence had a fine run in the IRC/PHRF class winning three of her four races with Bud Heerde’s X-34 Maudelayne close behind. 

The six-boat J/105 class frequently saw the entire division rounding marks within seconds.   Photo by Maureen Koeppel.

 

Weekend 2 saw improved conditions with a stronger WNW breeze blowing into the teens on both days.  The wind was no less shifty than the first weekend and great anticipation and course management was essential for success.  Maudelayne went on to win both the IRC and PHRF classes, and with it, the Vincent Monte-Sano Memorial Trophy for best overall performance and the Jan Brassem Trophy for top combined performance in the Edlu Race and Race Week for an LYC boat.  George and Alex Wilbanks from Cedar Point YC dominated the J/105 division in Revelation and in doing so, also won the Charles Vanderlaan Trophy.  Perpetual champion Art Karpf of Huguenot YC won the non-spinnaker division in Snow Goose and Ted and Sheila Graves of Indian Harbor YC won the newly reconstituted Classics division in their gorgeous Q-Class yacht Nor’easter. 

The Q-Class yacht Nor’easter enjoyed the conditions on the opening day of Race Week.  Photo by Maureen Koeppel.

 

Senior One-Designs, Ideal 18s and Vanguard 15s

The larger divisions and the shifty conditions made consistency difficult for the 45 senior one-designs.  However, past LYC commodore Dave Smalley managed the conditions brilliantly in the Etchells 22 class, never finishing worse than second in the regatta.  Smalley’s string of four bullets on the final weekend allowed his team to win the Stanley King Turner perpetual over the Marx brothers.  Smalley also won the Anne Kathleen Cullen Trophy, which is awarded to the one-design yacht with the best performance in Race Week. 

Smalley and his team accept the trophy haul for winning the Etchells 22 class.  Photo by Howie McMichael.

 

In the Shields class, Skip McGuire rose to the top of the talented 14-boat Shields class with a string of consistent finishes on weekend 1, with many rivals were close behind, including defending national champion H.L. DeVore and defending Race Week champs Com Crocker and Dual Macintyre.  The second weekend brought more competitive racing, with seven different boats winning races over the nine-race series.  Popular class stalwart Mike Carr led after the final Saturday and topped Crocker and Macintyre by a point heading into the final race on Sunday.  A final race bullet for Crocker and Macintyre gave them the Shields class win and the Thomas Fitzsimons Trophy.

The Joseph Weed Trophy for winning the five-boat IOD class went to Marion Maneker and Black Arrow, edging out Ed Briganti by three points.  Richard Beck sailed his beautiful Iroquois to victory in the six-boat S Boat class.

Photo: V15 class winners Scott Hogan and Joy Macdougal (sail 650) position on the run ahead of third-place finisher Megan Magill. 

Photo by Tom Spelman.

 

The second weekend also saw the Ideal 18s and Vanguard 15s come out to play both with large fleets.  In the Ideals, brothers Jamie and Pierce McCreary were in their usual dominant form and won the 15-boat class with five straight bullets.  It was not so clear cut in the 26-boat Vanguard 15 class, where current and former collegiate All Americans occupied six of the top seven places.  LYC’s Scott Hogan and crew Joy Macdougal sailed a great event, finishing just ahead of past national champion Danny Pletsch of LYC, and LYC junior instructor Megan Magill to win the V15s for the second straight year. 

 

Junior Race Week

270 boats competed for the three days of Junior Race Week, which was marked by great breeze on Monday and Wednesday but a lack of wind on Tuesday.  Pearson Potts traveled up from Southern YC in New Orleans to win the William S. Luckett Memorial trophy, for top performance in the 97-boat Club 420 class for the second straight year.  His teammate Caitlin Connerney was awarded the Crew Prize.  Sarah Stubbs from Indian Harbor YC won the 89-boat Laser Radial class and with it, the Commodore’s Trophy for best overall performance at Junior Race Week and the O’Donnell Trophy for the female junior sailor exemplifying sportsmanship and seamanship.  Dan DelBello continued Indian Harbor’s dominance of the singlehanded classes by prevailing in the Laser full rigs to win the George Hill Trophy.  Taegan Blackwell of American YC won the 57-boat Pixel class and the Al Bamberger Trophy. 

Large fleets of Pixels and 420s attended 2010 Junior Race Week.

Photos by Lisa Schinella

 

Opti Day

226 Optimists raced on Thursday in Opti Day.  Sean Walsh from American YC won the Le Boutillier Trophy for his two firsts and a second in his 49-boat division.  Matt Kaplan of LYC bested several Opti National Team members to win the red fleet.

Special thanks to sponsors Mt. Gay Rum, Ben & Jerry’s and Good Humor for keeping competitors cool throughout the regatta.

Senior Race Week/One-Design Results
Junior Race Week Results
Opti Day Results