Typically, a reference to “battle of the Melges” conjures up images of a sail-off among like one-design boats, but tomorrow at the International Rolex Regatta, it will mean that Chris Stanton’s (Christiansted, St. Croix, USVI) Melges 24 Devil 3 will have to fend off a Melges that is eight feet longer to win. Going into today, Dave West’s (Road Town, Tortola, BVI) Melges 32 Jurakan was leading in the CSA-handicapped Spinnaker Racing 2 Class but tied with Devil 3 on points. When Devil 3 added finish positions of 1-2 to its score line today, it not only broke the stalemate with Jurakan, which posted a 4-1, but also established a two-point margin on the leader board.

“They (Jurakan) are a much faster boat,” said Stanton, thinking about tomorrow. “Bigger sails, more people, and they give us about seven minutes every hour, and today we had a two-hour race, so it’s not like it will be a boat-for-boat race. They’ll round the first mark, then we’ll take a stopwatch and time ourselves around the same mark.”

Some teams farther down in the standings had talked about yesterday’s perfect conditions for the planing sport boats in Stanton’s class (among them two more Melges 24s and an Olson 30, currently in third), but Stanton was quick to point out that the fair balance is that making the high-performance boats go fast means “you have to work really, really, really hard.”

“We have a guy onboard who normally sails on a bigger boat, and he’s really getting an appreciation for the fact that it’s a lot of work. On some boats you don’t have to hike in lighter wind, but with these boats you have to. Upwind it’s a tactical battle and downwind it’s always a tactical battle with the asymmetrical chutes. Yesterday, it was more sport-boat conditions, but today we were just like the others. We weren’t planing in the 12-15 knots this morning, or the lighter 10-12 knots this afternoon.”

The course for Stanton’s second race today took him to the southern coast of St. Thomas’s neighboring island of St. John where his team enjoyed long reaches that required lots of navigational decisions, local knowledge and consideration of current. It was likewise for the IRC class, where Richard Oland’s (Rothesay, NB, CAN) Vela Veloce is now tied on points with Austin and Gwen Fragomen’s (New York, N.Y.) Interlodge for the lead.

“It was beautiful and let us see some country we would not have gone to see,” said Oland. As for tomorrow, Oland’s situation is indeed more boat-for-boat than Stanton’s, since Vela Veloce and Interlodge are the same size. “The question is how well will each of the teams sail,” he said, adding that he thinks his team is primed for rising again to the occasion, continuing its good starts and tight teamwork.

The IC 24s, which had snuck in an extra buoy race yesterday after the rest of the fleet headed home from the races to Charlotte Amalie and back, managed eight races today. Leading the 15-boat fleet is Puerto Rico’s Fraito Lugo aboard Orion, but with as many races likely for tomorrow, it’s anyone’s guess whether Lugo can hold out against the great depth of talent in this class.

Elizabeth Brookes’ Farr 65 Spirit of Isis (Antigua) leads CSA Spinnaker Racing 1, while Antonio Sanpere’s (Christiansted, VI) J/36 Cayennita Grande has maintained his lead from yesterday in the CSA Non-Spinnaker Racing Class. John Holmberg’s (St. Thomas) Hobie 16 Time Out now leads the Beach Cats while James Dobbs’ (Antigua) J/122 Lost Horizon is leading Spinnaker Racing/Cruising Class.

Before racing this morning, a moment of silence was observed in honor of well-known island sailor and long-time International Rolex Regatta competitor Guy Eldridge (Road Town, Tortola, BVI), who died yesterday after racing. He had skippered Luxury Girl to fourth in Spinnaker Racing/Cruising Class.

Breeds Apart

They may be at the back of the pack in the Non-Spinnaker Racing Class, but MuMu Sunset and Winds of Glory are still standouts at the International Rolex Regatta.

MuMu Sunset, a Freedom 40 with its cat ketch rig, two freestanding masts and distinctive hull design featuring a “pirate ship” style cabin at the stern, simply looks like no other race boat here. Its skipper Jean Braure, a Frenchman who has been living in the islands over 50 years, is quite unique as well. The 75-year-old, who sailed for the USVI three times in the Olympics (’84, ’88, ’92) in Soling and Tornado classes, is also an accomplished mountaineer and still skippers MuMu Sunset as a charter boat in the Islands. If that’s not enough, his book, The Sailor Who Climbs Mountains, hits the book stores this month. “I have sailed the regatta 15 times on other people’s boats, and even won it twice as skipper, so when I didn’t have another ride this year, I decided to finally enter my own boat.”

With three races under his belt, Braure is sitting in eighth out of eight boats, but takes it all in stride as one more adventure. “Unfortunately we suffer from our rating, and the boat doesn’t go well to windward – it is more perfect for chartering,” said Braure. “Our was a beautiful race around Buck Island today. It was the perfect day for racing and sailing in the Virgin Islands.”

In the seventh position above MuMu Sunset and feeling proud about it is the team aboard the Cal 30 Winds of Glory, comprised of students from the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School here in St. Thomas. They are lead by teacher Stan Lorbach, who teaches a course at the school on how to build boats and sail, the only one of its kind offered at any public school in the USVIs. “We really want to build the program and get it going across the territory,” said Lorbach, noting that it might have been fortuitous that the engine aboard Winds of Glory ceased earlier this season; it allowed Lorbach to introduce engine repair to the curriculum. And though the admitted goal of the team is to survive the Rolex Regatta, they are happy not to be last. “It’s a learning situation and it’s fun,” said Kean senior Jeremy Ronan. “Not everyone gets to do this kind of stuff, so we feel blessed.”

 

Top-Three Results as of Saturday March 27th
Place, Boat Name, Boat Type, Length, Skipper, Hometown, Finish Postions, Total Points

IC 24 (One Design – 14 Boats)
1. Orion, IC 24 24, Fraito Lugo, Ponce, PR, USA – 2, 3, 2, 1, 4, 4, 5, 1, 9, 7, 1, ; 39
2. LIME, IC 24 24, Colin Rathbun, Road Town, Tortola, BVI – 10, 6, 1, 5, 8, 2, 6, 5, 1, 1, 3, ; 48
3. Brand-New Secondhand, IC 24 24, Christopher Curreri, St Thomas, VI, USA – 6, 2, 4, 3, 9, 7, 4, 8, 2, 4, 8, ; 57

Spinnaker Racing 1 (CSA – 2 Boats)
1. Spirit of Isis, Farr 65 65, Elizabeth Brookes, Falmouth Harbour, Antigua, WI – 1, 1, 1, 1, ; 4
2. Kialoa V, Frers 80 78, Freddie Mills, Lake Placid, NY, USA – 3/DNF, 2, 2, 2, ; 9

Spinnaker Racing 2 (CSA – 11 Boats)
1. Devil 3, Melges 24 24, Chris Stanton, Christiansted, St. Croix, USVI – 1, 2, 1, 2, ; 6
2. Jurakan, Melges 32 32, Dave West, Road Town, Tortola, BVI – 2, 1, 4, 1, ; 8
3. Rushin Rowlette, Olson 30, Kevin Rowlette, Tortola, UK – 7, 4, 3, 4, ; 18

Non-Spinnaker Racing (CSA – 9 Boats)
1. Cayennita Grande, J 36 36′, Antonio Sanpere, Christiansted, VI, USA – 1, 1, 1, ; 3
2. SAGA I, Frers F3 36′, Gerd Petersen, Pembroke Pines, FL, USA – 2, 2, 2, ; 6
3. Bermuda High, Hanse 400 39′ 7, Martinus van Breems, Norwalk, CT, USA – 4, 3, 6, ; 13

Spinnaker Racing/Cruising (CSA – 17 Boats)
1. Lost Horizon, J 122 12.21, James Dobbs, Antigua – 2, 1, 1, 1, ; 5
2. Three Harkoms, Beneteau 442 Oceanic 44.5, James Hudleston, Yarmouth, Great Britain, England – 1, 2, 3, 4, ; 10
3. El Ocaso, J 120 40, Rick Wesslund, Miami, FL, USA – 3, 4, 4, 2, ; 13

IRC (IRC – 8 Boats)
1. Interlodge, JV 52 52, Austin and Gwen Fragomen, Newport, RI, USA – 1, 2, 1, 4, ; 8
2. Vela Veloce, Southern Cross 52 52′, Richard Oland, Rothesay, NB, CAN – 3, 1, 2, 2, ; 8
3. Equation, Andrews 68 68, Bill Alcott, St. Clair Shores, MI, USA – 6, 4, 4, 1, ; 15

Beach Cats (Portsmouth – 5 Boats)
1. Time Out, Hobie 16 16, John Holmberg, St. Thomas, VI, USA – 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, ; 7
2. Auto Manic, Hobie 16 16′, Chris Schreiber, Christiansted, VI, USA – 1, 1, 3, 2, 2, ; 9
3. Puma, Prindle 19 19′, Jason Siska, St. John, VI, USA – 6/DNS, 6/DNS, 2, 3, 3, ; 20

 

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While history didn’t quite repeat itself today, it came pretty close.  The final races of the 2009 12 Metre World Championships were sailed on a sparkling Rhode Island Sound as helicopters buzzed and spectator boats jockeyed for front row seats to the action – evoking memories of 26 years ago to the day when the longest winning streak (132 years) in sporting history ended with the loss of the “Auld Mug” to Australia.  On this day, however, instead of just two Twelves there were 17 making their way around the old America’s Cup stomping grounds off Brenton Point and with many of the same spectators there to pay homage as the helicopters droned above.

Notable for traveling the furthest to be part of this largest gathering of Twelves since the Cup left Newport:  Challenge 12, which William Borel (Paris, France) had shipped from Europe early in the summer, and Australian Skip Lissiman who was onboard the Cup-winning Australia II in 1983.  “It’s fantastic to be back in Newport,” he said.  “I wanted to be back in particular for the anniversary and [to celebrate] I will be going down to O’Brien’s Pub where they have the original boxing kangaroo flag.  We’re going to exchange it with one that the entire crew signed last year when we celebrated the 25^th and take the original flag back to the museum in Australia.”

For the final act of the world championships, two races were sailed in all four divisions – Grand Prix, Modern, Traditional and Vintage – before The Candy Store Cup was re-run after being abandoned on day two of racing. Bill Koch (Palm Beach, Fla./Osterville, Mass.), on Kiwi Magic-KZ7, won the  Grand Prix division after adding finishes of 1-3 for a net total of seven points.  Lexi Gahagan (Wilmington, Del.), driving Wright on White-KZ3, finished 3-2 to place second overall in the division standings, one point back.

More Photos Of The Action Can Be Seen HERE

The Traditional Division saw the only real upset of the championship as Charlie Millikin and Carol Swift (both Newport), on American Eagle-US21, fought back from a three-point deficit with a 1-2 today to tie Weatherly’s Clay Deutsch (Newport) who finished 2-3.  With eight points apiece, the tie-break went in favor of American Eagle earning Swift a surprise swim off the dock at Bannister’s Wharf courtesy of the crew.  In the Vintage division, Einar Sissener (Oslo, NOR), on Gleam-US11, was one point out of first when the day began and placed first in both races to win by three points over Kip Curren (Middletown, R.I.), on Northern Light-US14.

“In the Modern fleet, on any given day any boat can win, they’re all that close,” said Dennis Williams (Hobe Sound, Fla./Mashpee, Mass.) after winning that division on Victory ‘83-K22.  He explained that it was Courageous who was their biggest competition after they had “two good races today and in conditions that were really pretty crazy.  They had a first and second and I think we were two points apart with one throw out, so very close.  The wind was shifting left and right and the velocity was up and down …it was a very crazy day, it was not predictable.  Everybody worked hard trying to keep the boat on track with the shifting winds.”

In addition to winning his first world championship title, it was “nice to put a little icing on the cake,” said Williams about winning The Candy Store Cup which gave a single start for all divisions and sent them on a course back from Rhode Island Sound, past Castle Hill Light, and into Newport Harbor for a finish off Bannister’s Wharf where champagne was awaiting all the teams.  “It was great,” said Williams of the 2009 12 Metre World Championship.  “Everyone on the boat enjoyed it, we had a great time, great crew.  It was just fabulous.  The competition was great.”

2009 12 Metre Worlds Final Standings

Place, Boat Name-Sail Number, Skipper (Hometown), Finish positions, Total Points

Division I – Grand Prix

1. Kiwi Magic-KZ7, Bill Koch (Palm Beach, Fla./Osterville, Mass.) 2-2-1-1-1-(3), 7

2. Wright on White-KZ3, Lexi Gahagan (Wilmington, Del.) 1-1-2-2-(3)-2, 8

3. USA-US61, Richard Matthews (W. Mersea, GBR), 3-3-3-(3)-2-1, 12

4. America II-US46, Michael Fortenbaugh (New York, N.Y.), 4-4-DNF-4-4-4, 20

Division 2 – Modern

1. Victory 83-K22, Dennis Williams (Hobe Sound, Fla./Mashpee, Mass.), 1-1-2-1-3-(3), 8

2. Courageous, US26, Stephen Glascock (New York, N.Y.), 3-2-(DSQ)-2-2-1, 10

3. Freedom-US30, Ernest Jacquet (Boston, Mass.), 4- 5-1-4-1-(5), 15

2. Intrepid-US22, Jack Curtin (Toronto, CAN), 2-3-4-5-(5)-2, 16

5. Challenge 12-KA10, William Borel (Paris, FRA), (DSQ)-4-3-3-4-4, 16

Division 3 – Traditional

1. American Eagle-US21, Charlie Millikin/Carol Swift (both Newport, R.I.), (4)-2-2-1-1-2, 8

2. Weatherly-US17, Clay Deutsch (Newport, R.I.), 2-1-1-2-2-(3), 8

3. Columbia-US16, Alain Hanover (Weston, Mass./Palm Beach, Fla.), 1-3-3-3-3-(DNS), 12.5

4. Nefertiti-US19, Sears Wullschleger (Nantucket, Mass.), 3-4-4-4-4-(DNF), 19

5. Easterner-US18, Paul Callahan (Ft. Meyers, Fla./Newport, R.I.), 5-5-(DNS)-5-5-1, 21

Division 4 – Vintage

1. Gleam-US11, Einar Sissener (Oslo, NOR), (3)-1-2-1-1-1, 6

2. Northern Light-US14, Kip Curren (Middletown, R.I.), 1-2-1-2-3-(3), 9

3. Onawa-US6, Morten Kielland (Geneva, SUI), 2-DNF-(DNS)-3-2-2, 13

More Photos Of The Action Can Be Seen HERE

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There were no surprises in the finishes posted by the 17 Twelves who completed only a single race today at the 2009 12 Metre World Championship.  After sailing out to the old America’s Cup racecourse off Brenton Point, the wind speed took a nosedive as it changed direction from WSW to NNW, leaving the competitors drifting for close to two hours.  With one race completed, the four divisions were given a combined start for the Candy Store Cup, sending them on a course back into Newport Harbor to the finish line at Bannister’s Wharf.  The wind, however, continued to be uncooperative and the race was abandoned when the Twelves were unable to make the time limit for the race. 

Yesterday, racing in the Modern division was quite contentious, with the outcome of numerous protests resulting in Challenge 12 and Courageous each picking up a DSQ when the jury decisions did not go in their favor and causing a complete shake up in the results for that division.  Unscathed by the protests, Dennis Williams (Mashpee, Mass.) at the helm of Victory ’83 is reaping the benefit of having assembled a crew that includes several who have sailed together for close to 30 years, including Heart of America veterans Wally Henry (San Diego, Calif.) and Jim Gretzky (Storrs, Conn.), along with three father and son pairs – Jerry and Rome Kirby, Bill and Randy Shore (all Newport, R.I.) and Larry and Matt Mialik (both Madison, Wisc.), making for a well-oiled effort as evidenced by the 1-1-2 they posted on day one. 

Peter Stalkus (Newport, R.I.), navigator aboard Victory ’83, has the distinction of having been navigator with four America’s Cup campaigns (’80 Clipper, ’83 Defender, ’87 USA 61 and ’97 Young America).  His take on Victory ‘83’s impressive performance here is that Dennis Williams, its owner, has been meticulous in his approach.  “The boat is well prepared and it shows,” said Stalkus after the team picked up their third win in four races.  “It has good speed and we’ve practiced ahead of time.” 

While the fallout from the protest decisions catapulted Intrepid from fifth into second and Freedom from fourth to third, today’s result did not do much to help either.  Intrepid added a fifth-place finish today and dropped back to fourth overall, while the Freedom’s fourth-place finish held them in place.  For Courageous, who had slipped from third to fourth overall after the protest, their second-place finish today moved them up to second overall.  Challenge 12, dropping from second place to fifth after the protest results, was third in today’s race and did not move in the overall standings.  

Bill Koch (Palm Beach, Fla./Osterville, Mass.), on Kiwi Magic,  leads the Grand Prix division, while tied on points – six each – with Lexi Gahagan (Wilmington, Del.) on Wright on White.  In the Traditional division, Clay Deutsch (Newport, R.I.) on Weatherly leads with six points, three ahead of American Eagle being driven by Charlie Millikin and Carol Swift (both Newport, R.I.).  Kip Curren (Middletown, R.I.) on Northern Light is leading by one point over Gleam, driven by Einar Sissener (Oslo, NOR), in the Vintage division.

Images By George Bekris

(click on image to enlarge)

Legends Forums – The Legends Forums are a unique sidebar to the 2009 12 Metre Worlds, bringing together the biggest names of the America’s Cup 12 Metre era for question-and-answer sessions moderated by Gary Jobson (Annapolis, Md.), who won the America’s Cup with Ted Turner in 1977 and went on to become the voice of sailing for television.  Held after racing each day dockside at Bannister’s and Bowen’s Wharves, with a finale forum planned for Sunday, as well, at the awards ceremony at Harbour Court, the forums are designed to include representation from a varied – and knowledgeable – group of personalities in the categories of Syndicate Representative, Crew, Design, Journalist and Other Notables.  On opening day, the panel included Skip Lissiman (AUS), Gianfranco Alberini  (ITA), Russell Coutts (NZL), and Americans Charlie Hovey, Harry Anderson, Dave Pedrick, Andy MacGowan, Bill Koch and Dick Enerson.  The questions ran the gamut from “Who was the best 12 Metre skipper?” (all of them who won, it was decided in consensus) and “What was the best Twelve ever?” (Intrepid for being the biggest departure, changing all future designs) to “What will win the next America’s Cup, a trimaran or a catamaran?” (that one was a toss-up).  Clearly, the audience was enjoying  the up close-and-personal encounter, and they lingered to talk about the exchanges long after the luminaries had left, some even discussing what questions would be best to ask a different group tonight.

Racing resumes tomorrow, Friday, September 25, and concludes Saturday, September 26.  

2009 12 Metre Worlds Results for Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009
Place, Boat Name-Sail Number, Skipper (Hometown), Finish positions, Total Points

Division I – Grand Prix

1. Kiwi Magic-KZ7, Bill Koch (Palm Beach, Fla./Osterville, Mass.) 2-2-1-1, 6

2. Wright on White-KZ3, Lexi Gahagan (Wilmington, Del.) 1-1-2-2, 6

3. USA-US61, Richard Matthews (W. Mersea, GBR), 3-3-3-3, 12

4. America II-US46, Michael Fortenbaugh (New York, N.Y.), 4-4-DNF-4, 17

 

Division 2 – Modern

1. Victory 83-K22, Dennis Williams (Mashpee, Mass.), 1-1-2-1, 5

2. Courageous, US26, Stephen Glascock (New York, N.Y.), 3-2-DSQ-2, 13

3. Freedom-US30, Ernest Jacquet (Boston, Mass.), 4- 5-1-4, 14

2. Intrepid-US22, Jack Curtin (Toronto, CAN), 2-3-4-5, 14

5. Challenge 12-KA10, William Borel (Paris, FRA), DSQ-4-3-3, 16

 

Division 3 – Traditional

1. Weatherly-US17, Clay Deutsch (Newport, R.I.), 2-1-1-2, 6

2. American Eagle-US21, Charlie Millikin/Carol Swift (both Newport, R.I.), 4-2-2-1, 9

3. Columbia-US16, Alain Hanover (Weston, Mass./Palm Beach, Fla.), 1-3-3-3, 10

4. Nefertiti-US19, Sears Wullschleger (Nantucket, Mass.), 3-4-4-4, 15

5. Easterner-US18, Paul Callahan (Ft. Meyers, Fla./Newport, R.I.), 5-5-DNS-5, 21

 

Division 4 – Vintage

1. Northern Light-US14, Kip Curren (Middletown, R.I.), 1-2-1-2, 6

2. Gleam-US11, Einar Sissener (Oslo, NOR), 3-1-2-1, 7

3. Onawa-US6, Morten Kielland (Geneva, SUI), 2-DNF-DNS-3, 13

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 Some of the competitors at the 2009 12 Metre World Championship are certainly experiencing déjà vu as a veritable “Who’s Who” of sailing walked the docks at Bannister and Bowen’s Wharves this morning as the first day of this long-anticipated event got underway.  From current America’s Cup poster boy Russell Coutts (Auckland, NZL), who is sailing on Kiwi Magic with Cup patron and skipper Bill Koch (Palm Beach, Fla./Osterville, Mass.), to Dawn Riley (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) who broke ground as team leader of the first women’s entry in the Cup, to noted British sailors Harold Cudmore (Cowes, GBR) and Andy Green  (Lymington, GBR), there is a surfeit of recognizable faces.  Twenty-six years ago when the America’s Cup was won by Australia (in 1983) in Newport, it ended the longest winning streak in sporting history (132 years).  Four years later, two more milestones in the event’s history were marked:  Dennis Conner became the first person to lose and then win the Cup, and the Twelves were sailed for the last time as the America’s Cup yacht of choice after 29 years.  

“It’s wonderful to wander about the docks at Bowen’s and Bannister’s Wharf and see the 12 Metres here again, where they were in ’83, many of them with their same crews from then,” said Robin Wallace (Newport, R.I.) who was a member of Race Committee for the Challenger Series in ‘83 and is the Principal Race Officer for this event.  “With the current legal squabbles going on, people have become disenchanted with the America’s Cup, but this is like a re-awakening of the class, a reinvention of a competition that celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the 12 Meters first being used in the Cup.”

Divided into four divisions – Grand Prix, Modern, Traditional and Vintage – the 17 competing yachts sailed three races today, all in different wind levels in the Twelves old stomping grounds off Brenton Point.  The southwesterly breeze went from light, increasing to 12 knots for race two, and into the mid-teens for the third race, with a relatively flat sea state until race three.  

 We broke a couple of sails,” said Dawn Riley who came to the event to participate in the Legends Forums and wound up racing on America II.  “But, we’re kind of a slower boat in the Grand Prix so we were happy to beat one of the boats to the top mark and almost to the bottom mark.  And, we improved from the first race to the second race and everybody on board had fun.  The bad news is you break sails and you can’t race, the good news is it was full-on physical, athletic, screaming, swearing . . . and everyone came out with smiles.”

All Images By George Bekris

(click on image to enlarge)

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Newport Bucket Regatta Image Gallery by George Bekris

 

(click on image below to view gallery)

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Athena, the 295′ Huisman yacht and this year’s race committee boat, was even hard to make out in the foggy start conditions on Saturday for the first race start .  Soon after the start the sea breezes kicked in and blew the fog out leaving a beautiful New England summer day. The breeze held for the afternoon at around 20kts. The 19 boat  Bucket Regatta fleet flew around the course in the ideal conditions.

Timoneer, the 147′ DuBois/Vitters Ketch, dominated the day. Her seasoned crew racing flawlessly and furnishing first by 5 minutes. The new Perini Navi Performance 125′ Sloop, P2, came in second.

The two J Class yacht entries Ranger and the newly launched  Hanuman (Endeavour II)  were reminiscent of the old America’s Cup days with their beautiful long lines. The New Hanuman took third place after a close contest between the two boats. They beat Ranger ,who placed fourth, by only 38 seconds. Avalon finished fifth, followed 13 seconds later by the Swan 100, Virago in 6th, and the Swan 80, Selene 36 seconds later in 7th.

(click on images to enlarge)

Broken down into classes the results were: Les Gazelles des Mers (Racing Division), P2 finished first, Hanuman second, with Ranger in third place. Among Les Grandes Dames des Mers (Cruising Division), Timoneer is in first place, Avalon in second and Taza Mas in third place.

It was hard to tell which boat team won the party following the race.  Clearly a great time was had by all the crews.

In another Bucket first, the 156′ Pendennis Shipyards, MITSEAAH, engineered to power at over twenty knots and sail with respectable performance, was challenged on day one in keeping up with the racing yachts on the upwind leg.  Respecting the fact that the Bucket is also here to showcase the best attributes of each yacht while cultivating good racing, MITSEAAH was invited to start the race under full power, then execute a high speed 360 degree turn and roar off to the windward mark, where she re-converted to a sailing yacht, shut down the power and got into the race!   Her left-field handicap worked well too; she crossed the finish line in fifth position.

Sunday’s racing started out with Mitseeah blasting across  the start line  at 20 kts without a bit of sail up.

The  racing  started out with light wind but sea breezes filled in during the afternoon. Summer Wind placed first, followed by Taza Mas in second , Sea Diamond took third for Sundays racing.

Jerry Kirby must not have gotten enough sailing time in during the Volvo Ocean Race. He was onboard Hanuman  as Bowman.

These awards, first through third, are presented for the best performance overall for combined results, all classes, all races
Overall

1st     P2
2nd   Avalon
3rd   Timoneer

Les Gazelles   (Racing Class)

1st       P2
2nd    Hanuman
3rd      Wild Horses

Les Grand Dames   (Cruising Class)

1st       Summerwind
2nd     Taza Mas
3rd      Timoneer

All Star Crew Award presented by Holland Jachtbouw
(also presented by The Yacht Report and Crew Report Magazines)

At each Bucket Event, every yacht is asked to cast a ballot for the yacht crew among the fleet that demonstrates the most professional service in all tasks, while maintaining the best voie de vivre, camaraderie, teamwork and respect among the crew.  This is the crew that displays the pinnacle of the profession and has the most fun at it – the yacht that everyone wants to work aboard.   Because the award is earned by peer recognition, it has earned serious stature within the marine industry.

Sea Diamond

Vitter’s Shipyard Seamanship Trophy

The Vitters Seamanship Trophy is awarded to the yacht that demonstrates the best seamanship and sportsmanship in the interest of promoting safety on the race course.  All participants in the Bucket acknowledge that superyachts have serious limitations operating safely in close quarters and therefore, the RC has always valued safety well above performance.  This award will recognize the yacht that best demonstrates that understanding.  It also goes to prove that nice guys don’t always finish last!!

Taza Mas

Skullduggery Cravat

Avalon

Newport Bone

Easterner

The  Chippewa Bomb

MitSeaah.

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Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 Boston, USA  to Galway, Ireland

(click on image to view gallery)

Volvo Ocean Race Boston To Galway Start Images

 

Volvo Ocean Race Boston In Port Race

Volvo Ocean Race Boston In-Port Race Images

Volvo Ocean Race  Leg 6  Finish  -  Rio de Janeiro, Brasil to Boston, USA

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 6 Finish In Boston Images  – Ericsson 4 Wins

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Challenge and Adventure Image Galleries of Newport Bucket Regatta by George Bekris

(click on image to view gallery) http://www.challengeandadventure.com/Newport_Bucket2009/ http://www.challengeandadventure.com/Newport_Bucket2008/ http://www.challengeandadventure.com/Newport_Bucket2006/ http://www.challengeandadventure.com/Newport_Bucket2005/ .

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