LYC Teams Compete in 2011 Vineyard Race

Sept. 2-4, 2011
Stamford, CT

Gus Carlson’s Aurora, shortly after the start of the 2011 Vineyard Race

 

LYC teams competed scored podium finishes in the 2011 Vineyard Race.  Winds were back to normal this year after the fleet sailed a shortened course the prior two years due to light airs in 2009 and high winds in 2010.  The 2011 Race was instead characterized by a tremendous amount of floating flotsam after floods from Hurricane Irene. 

The Vineyard Race starts off Stamford, Connecticut, heading east to Buzzards Bay Tower, leaving Block Island to starboard on the return trip back to the Sound before finishing the 238-mile odyssey off of Stamford Harbor.   The 2011 Race was an interesting and relatively quick race, because a southeast breeze at the start rotated right and allowed spinnakers to be hoisted for a reach out to the Tower.  Once there, much of the fleet learned the hard way that the Tower light was out, causing a bit of “hunting”, especially for the faster boats that rounded in the dark.  A beat to Block Island ensued, followed by a jib reach back into the Sound , where the faster boats encountered light headwinds, which were replaced by a good southerly later Saturday afternoon, allowing for a fast jib reach home. 

Gus Carlson’s R/P 66 Aurora was second to finish, with an elapsed time of 28.5 hours, placing second in the IRC Zero division.  Her trip was not without drama; they impacted a semi-submerged log while sailing at 11 knots and knocked a big chunk out of the boat’s bow.   Other LYC members aboard Aurora included Rich duMoulin, Mark duMoulin, and Lucas Marrero.

Andrew Weiss’s J/122 Christopher Dragon was the clear winner of the IRC 40 class by over an hour on corrected time.   Christopher Dragon was also named the winner of the prestigious Northern Ocean Racing Trophy, a perpetual trophy awarded to the boat with the highest cumulative score in a series of northeastern offshore events.  Tom Carroll’s well-travelled J/133 Siren Song placed third in the hotly contested  IRC 45 class.  Siren Song also teamed up with Aurora and John Santa’s Galadariel  from Pequot YC to win the Nirvana Trophy on behalf of the Storm Trysail Club Red Team, which is awarded for the best performance by a three-boat team.  Mark Hansen’s J/145 Sweet Lorraine sailed with a majority LYC crew, including Kerry Klingler, Doug Lynn,  John Baxter and Ted Ferrarone.   After a tough leg back from the Tower that involved getting mired in a debris field, Sweet Lorraine ended up fifth in the IRC 50 class.   Results.