2006 Atlantic Coast Championships
The 110 class held its Atlantic Coast Championships during the Newport Regatta, held by Sail Newport. It was a successful regatta for Sail Newport with 254 boats in 18 classes. Boats headed out to circles all over the bay and offshore. The 110’s shared a circle with the beach-cats, 210’s and J-22’s. Everyone played nicely together for the most part although there is always bound to be confusion when you are sailing a keelboat and catamarans are zipping around in the teens, sailing the same angles upwind and downwind.
Day one started with a light, light northerly. Josh Hill, owner of US Blues, was attending a wedding over the weekend and was generous enough to let me race his boat. My crew, Ryan Scott, and I left the dock early in the hopes of getting to the start in time and to continue familiarizing Ryan, a newcomer to the class, with the boat and its quirks. We arrived against an outgoing tide just before the wind shut down completely, threw out the anchor and waited. The committee tried to get a couple of classes off, which did not work. Eventually the southerly arrived and we were able to start racing.
Once racing began, the committee did what they could in the space provided along with wind versus an impressively strong tide. The combination resulted in the inability for anyone to cross the start line on starboard all day. The impressive part was that, except for one race, everyone started remarkably clean. I think it is because everyone had to start on port. Beyond trying to be first off the line the play for the entire day was to go right, nail the layline, if you could with the tide, and go off on starboard gybe down the run as every time you gybed onto port you were headed twenty degrees higher than you thought you would and the boat felt horrible. Once in a while someone would take an early dive to the left on the beat and look like rock stars for a bit while you tried to fight the temptation to go and cover in case it would pan out. Strength in your convictions was the big battle of the day.
Ryan and I started the day off pretty well winning the first race and a second in the second. Jeff Adam, sailing with his wife Joanne, is proving to have this pesky downwind speed edge and he took the second race off us. The third race was, well, annoying. We decided to start being conservative which does not work when you have to have the best of a port tack start, apparently. We found ourselves second row, having to tack at the worst times and far enough behind that we started to get mixed up with J-22’s and the like for the rest of the race. After battling back to third in the second beat we made some bad decisions, had to duck a catamaran and who knows what else and gave back two boats to finish fifth. The last two races provided us with another second and another first. At the end of day one we were tied with Jeff and Joanne with us winning on the second tie-breaker and Stewart Craig with dad Tom crewing three points behind on Pow Wow.
Day two started off much better wind-wise. The southerly was in and forecasted to stay in with pressure. Ryan and I left the dock early again. In fact, a little too early as we spent a lot of time trying to scrub speed towards the race committee so we would not have to reach around for an hour. We went over to see the Lasers milling around, beat up to the windward mark and got back in good time for the first race. Every race was proving to be a tight one. Ross Weene seemed to like the heavier air and got second between us and Jeff in the first race of the day. The second race was a great battle between us and Jeff with the lead changing a couple of times before we (okay, I) called a bad layline to the finish and Jeff surfed by below us while we sailed VMG to the line.
The third race was looking to be a great one with Ross, Jeff, Stewart and ourselves battling hard. Somewhere in the mix, though, we lost track off Jeff and Joanne who had mysteriously left the race and were on their way in. Most of us found out when we got back in that day that they had wrapped some lines around the forestay from a recreational fishing boat on the coarse and after evading one Joanne caught the second right in the hand. She was quickly transferred to a committee boat and brought in to the paramedics while Jeff sailed the boat in. By the time we caught up with Jeff at the regatta tent Joanne was back at home after a trip to the hospital. I have caught a fishing line around the headstay once but never saw the hook at the end. I don’t think I am going to ask for the details. The biggest disappointment was that the regatta was shaping up to be a great battle between the two boats. I would have much rather raced against them until the end.
The fourth and fifth races were tight with Stewart and Ross. The breeze was getting good by then and… did I mention that Ryan weighs over 200 lbs? If it were a lighter day we would have had some issues but with that kind of crew on the trapeze you can traveler up, sheet harder and go faster. The gains we had upwind were enough to fight them off downwind and we were able to win the last two races taking the regatta with Ross getting two seconds and Stewart with two thirds. With Jeff and Joanne missing the last three races, this put Stewart and Tom in second overall and Ross in third.
There were definitely some other points of interest through the weekend. On day one, Tom Rizzo and crew showed some flashes of great speed and point, showing potential to be a force come Nationals. Day two had a great start with us, Jeff and Stewart headed to the Navy base exclusion zone with Stewart holding the cards and us to leeward. We took a crack at tacking ahead of the other two and had to slam one back to avoid Jeff. So, three boats, an exclusion zone, add an exclusion zone buoy somewhere in the middle and next thing you know we are all on port tack with Jeff passing Stewart to windward, us passing them to leeward with a bow out on Jeff and no one really knowing how we all ended up there. No flags were thrown though I think we could have been in a room for a week figuring the whole thing out. We will have to revisit that one over a beer at the Hull Yacht Club because I honestly don’t know how it worked out so well for us. Ross showed some speed through the weekend, coming off a Friday night win with his new sails. Lastly is the grin I get on my face every time I hear Herb Dreher yelling starboard at someone over my shoulder because everyone knows Herb never messes around when it comes to having rights.
In the end, I think everyone would call the weekend a good one and one not too miss next year. We had eight boats in all but would really like to see over ten or fifteen. The Newport Regatta might be a bit more expensive than most 110 fare but it is not everyday you can race a good fleet of 110’s in Narragansett Bay for two days. Thanks to Sail Newport and the volunteers, thanks to the out of town boats who made the trip to our neck of the woods, and thanks to Josh for the boat and Ryan for the hard work.
Every time I try to post results on this page I fail so you can find them on the Sail Newport site here.
Mark Van Note
#631 – US Blues
Day one started with a light, light northerly. Josh Hill, owner of US Blues, was attending a wedding over the weekend and was generous enough to let me race his boat. My crew, Ryan Scott, and I left the dock early in the hopes of getting to the start in time and to continue familiarizing Ryan, a newcomer to the class, with the boat and its quirks. We arrived against an outgoing tide just before the wind shut down completely, threw out the anchor and waited. The committee tried to get a couple of classes off, which did not work. Eventually the southerly arrived and we were able to start racing.
Once racing began, the committee did what they could in the space provided along with wind versus an impressively strong tide. The combination resulted in the inability for anyone to cross the start line on starboard all day. The impressive part was that, except for one race, everyone started remarkably clean. I think it is because everyone had to start on port. Beyond trying to be first off the line the play for the entire day was to go right, nail the layline, if you could with the tide, and go off on starboard gybe down the run as every time you gybed onto port you were headed twenty degrees higher than you thought you would and the boat felt horrible. Once in a while someone would take an early dive to the left on the beat and look like rock stars for a bit while you tried to fight the temptation to go and cover in case it would pan out. Strength in your convictions was the big battle of the day.
Ryan and I started the day off pretty well winning the first race and a second in the second. Jeff Adam, sailing with his wife Joanne, is proving to have this pesky downwind speed edge and he took the second race off us. The third race was, well, annoying. We decided to start being conservative which does not work when you have to have the best of a port tack start, apparently. We found ourselves second row, having to tack at the worst times and far enough behind that we started to get mixed up with J-22’s and the like for the rest of the race. After battling back to third in the second beat we made some bad decisions, had to duck a catamaran and who knows what else and gave back two boats to finish fifth. The last two races provided us with another second and another first. At the end of day one we were tied with Jeff and Joanne with us winning on the second tie-breaker and Stewart Craig with dad Tom crewing three points behind on Pow Wow.
Day two started off much better wind-wise. The southerly was in and forecasted to stay in with pressure. Ryan and I left the dock early again. In fact, a little too early as we spent a lot of time trying to scrub speed towards the race committee so we would not have to reach around for an hour. We went over to see the Lasers milling around, beat up to the windward mark and got back in good time for the first race. Every race was proving to be a tight one. Ross Weene seemed to like the heavier air and got second between us and Jeff in the first race of the day. The second race was a great battle between us and Jeff with the lead changing a couple of times before we (okay, I) called a bad layline to the finish and Jeff surfed by below us while we sailed VMG to the line.
The third race was looking to be a great one with Ross, Jeff, Stewart and ourselves battling hard. Somewhere in the mix, though, we lost track off Jeff and Joanne who had mysteriously left the race and were on their way in. Most of us found out when we got back in that day that they had wrapped some lines around the forestay from a recreational fishing boat on the coarse and after evading one Joanne caught the second right in the hand. She was quickly transferred to a committee boat and brought in to the paramedics while Jeff sailed the boat in. By the time we caught up with Jeff at the regatta tent Joanne was back at home after a trip to the hospital. I have caught a fishing line around the headstay once but never saw the hook at the end. I don’t think I am going to ask for the details. The biggest disappointment was that the regatta was shaping up to be a great battle between the two boats. I would have much rather raced against them until the end.
The fourth and fifth races were tight with Stewart and Ross. The breeze was getting good by then and… did I mention that Ryan weighs over 200 lbs? If it were a lighter day we would have had some issues but with that kind of crew on the trapeze you can traveler up, sheet harder and go faster. The gains we had upwind were enough to fight them off downwind and we were able to win the last two races taking the regatta with Ross getting two seconds and Stewart with two thirds. With Jeff and Joanne missing the last three races, this put Stewart and Tom in second overall and Ross in third.
There were definitely some other points of interest through the weekend. On day one, Tom Rizzo and crew showed some flashes of great speed and point, showing potential to be a force come Nationals. Day two had a great start with us, Jeff and Stewart headed to the Navy base exclusion zone with Stewart holding the cards and us to leeward. We took a crack at tacking ahead of the other two and had to slam one back to avoid Jeff. So, three boats, an exclusion zone, add an exclusion zone buoy somewhere in the middle and next thing you know we are all on port tack with Jeff passing Stewart to windward, us passing them to leeward with a bow out on Jeff and no one really knowing how we all ended up there. No flags were thrown though I think we could have been in a room for a week figuring the whole thing out. We will have to revisit that one over a beer at the Hull Yacht Club because I honestly don’t know how it worked out so well for us. Ross showed some speed through the weekend, coming off a Friday night win with his new sails. Lastly is the grin I get on my face every time I hear Herb Dreher yelling starboard at someone over my shoulder because everyone knows Herb never messes around when it comes to having rights.
In the end, I think everyone would call the weekend a good one and one not too miss next year. We had eight boats in all but would really like to see over ten or fifteen. The Newport Regatta might be a bit more expensive than most 110 fare but it is not everyday you can race a good fleet of 110’s in Narragansett Bay for two days. Thanks to Sail Newport and the volunteers, thanks to the out of town boats who made the trip to our neck of the woods, and thanks to Josh for the boat and Ryan for the hard work.
Every time I try to post results on this page I fail so you can find them on the Sail Newport site here.
Mark Van Note
#631 – US Blues
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