2010 IRC East Coast Championship

[MLovett]

Storm Trysail Club’s IRC East Coast Championship Attracts Notable 52-Footers, Competitive fleet

Annapolis, Md. (Oct. 25, 2010) – Five TransPac 52s that have been optimized for IRC are among the fleet of 27 IRC boats entered so far in the Storm Trysail Club’s IRC East Coast Championship set for a long Halloween weekend in Annapolis, Md. Joining the three Judel-Vrolijk 52s--Ennio Staffini’s (Annapolis) Anema & Core , Austin and Gwen Fragomen’s (Newport, R.I.) Interlodge, and Manouch Moshayedi’s (Corona Del Mar, Calif.) Rio--will be Richard Oland’s (Saint John, NB, CAN) Southern Cross-designed Vela Veloce and the Naval Academy’s newly acquired IRC 52 Invictus (nee Samba Pa Ti , a Botin Carkeek design). The 52s will have to work hard to win against Dan Meyers’ (Boston, Mass.) Numbers, the professionally loaded Judel-Vrolijk 66 that is making a comeback on the East Coast and whose predecessor (Meyers’ 60-footer with the same name) won the event in 2006.

Locals and defending class champions Ed and Molly Freitag will be racing their brand new Summit 40 DownTime after its Annapolis Sail Boat Show appearance as the latest product from Summit Yachts. Scratch boat in their highly competitive IRC class (for boats in the 40-foot range) will be Pat Eudy’s (Charleston, S.C.) Big Booty, a Lutra 42 from Luctor Yachts in the Netherlands. Characterized as a “junior TP52,” the boat should be good for an exciting performance. Also entered in the class, following a winning summer on the Great Lakes, is David and Sandy Askew’s (Annapolis) J/122 Flying Jenny IV,

The only dedicated IRC rating event on the Chesapeake, the IRC East Coast Championship was the IMS East Coast Championship before 2005. This marks the tenth year that the championship has been organized by the Storm Trysail Club’s Chesapeake Station and the sixth year it has been run under the IRC rule. The format of a distance race Friday followed by a weekend of windward-leeward racing has added to its popularity over the years. The Annapolis location is a late-season stop for big boats transiting from New England and heading to Key West and/or the Caribbean.
For more information or to register, visit www.stormtrysail.org <http://www.stormtrysail.org> or contact Event Chair Dick Neville, (410) 353-0477.

About the Storm Trysail Club
The Storm Trysail Club, reflecting in its name the sail which sailors must shorten when facing adverse conditions, is one of the world’s most respected sailing clubs, with its membership comprised strictly of skilled blue water and ocean racing sailors. In addition to holding various prestigious offshore racing events (among them the Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race and Pineapple Cup Montego Bay Race), STC hosts the biennial Block Island Race Week presented by Rolex and works year-round to grow the sport of ocean racing. It was one of the early leaders in establishing and promoting the use of the IRC rating system in North America/ With an added mission to encourage young sailors to become big-boat racers, the Storm Trysail Foundation hosts the annual Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta in addition to several Junior Safety-at-Sea Seminars.

[MLovett]

By the Numbers:

Kirby/Butterworth a Victorious Combo at IRC East Coast Championship

Annapolis, Md. (Oct. 31, 2010) – With a well proven design and an almost all-Alinghi crew, Numbers wasn’t a shocker to win the Storm Trysail Club’s IRC East Coast Championship, but it didn’t walk away with easy victory either. The 66.5’ Judel-Vrolijk design was minus its owner Dan Meyers (Boston, Mass.) but loaded up with plenty of go-power, including the young Rome Kirby (son of Volvo Ocean Race veteran Jerry Kirby) who helmed while Brad Butterworth (of America’s Cup fame) served as skipper.

According to the captain of Numbers, Pete Balash (Muskegon, Mich.), his team was constantly tested by five IRC-optimized 52 footers in the same class, in particular Richard Oland’s (Saint John, New Brunswick, CAN) Vela Veloce, which finished second. “The 52s were tough to sail against,” said Balash. “Especially when we were on a two-mile track and they were sailing in a totally different wind than us--they could be a lot stronger and coming up fast from behind.” Friday’s distance race saw 30 knots of wind, while the weekend brought 10-15 on Saturday and 20 on Sunday during buoy races that numbered five in each class by weekend’s end.

“The breeze was fantastic,” said Regatta Chair Dick Neville, “more like San Francisco than Annapolis at this time of year, and it was nice to see Numbers vindicate itself after it missed winning this event three years ago, basically losing on the last run of the last race.” (Meyers’s 60-footer with the same name won the event in 2006.)

Neville pointed out that Numbers also won the event overall on the merit of having the fastest average corrected speed, calculated between the winners of the four IRC classes. (The IRC 52 Class and the Beneteau 36.7 Class were scored in their respective IRC divisions but were also scored in classes of their own to make six scored classes). The differential, however, was only nine seconds a mile faster than Pugwash, the winner of IRC 3. The J/122 owned by David Murphy (Westport, Conn.) posted a string of five first-place finishes in the buoy races for a series score of 7.25 points. In second was Flying Jenny VI, a J/122 owned by David Askew (Annapolis, Md.), which posted 16.25 points.

In IRC 2, Nightshift, a Farr 40 owned by Kevin McNeil (Annapolis) posted victories in all of his weekend races for 9.5 points to beat out Preben Ostberg/Todd Olds/ Bud Dailey’s (Rockville, Md.) Tsunami.

In IRC 4, Rush, the J/109 owned by Bill Sweetser (Annapolis, Md) also held a huge lead for first, with 8.5 points to 23 points posted by Kalevala II, the Grand Soleil 37 owned by Tapio Saavalainen (Washington, DC).

The only dedicated IRC rating event on the Chesapeake, the IRC East Coast Championship was the IMS East Coast Championship before 2005. This marks the tenth year that the championship has been organized by the Storm Trysail Club’s Chesapeake Station and the sixth year it has been run under the IRC rule. For 2011, the event will be part of the Storm Trysail Club’s Block Island Race Week presented by Rolex, scheduled for June 19-24.
For more information and full results, visit www.stormtrysail.org

Storm Trysail Club IRC East Coast Championship

October 29-31, 2011, Annapolis, Md.

Place, Yacht Name, Type, Owner/Skipper, Hometown, Results, Total Points



IRC 1 (IRC - 6 Boats)

1. Numbers, JV 66.5', Daniel Meyers, Boston, MA, USA - 1.5, 2, 4, 1, 1, 2, ; 11.5

2. Vela Veloce, Southern Cross 52, Richard Oland, Saint John, NB, CAN - 4.5, 1, 1, 2, 2, 4, ; 14.5

3. Interlodge, JV 52, Austin and Gwen Fragomen, Newport, RI, USA - 3, 5, 2, 3, 3, 1, ; 17

4. Anema & Core, JV 52, Ennio Staffini, Annapolis, MD, USA - 10.5/DNF, 3, 3, 4, 6, 3, ; 29.5

5. Invictus, TP 52, Peter Gibbons-Neff, Annapolis , MD, USA - 6, 6, 5, 6, 4, 5, ; 32



IRC - TP52 (IRC - 5 Boats) Also scored in IRC 1

1. Vela Veloce, Southern Cross 52, Richard Oland, Saint John, NB, CAN - 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, ; 10

2. Interlodge, JV 52, Austin and Gwen Fragomen, Newport, RI, USA - 1.5, 4, 2, 2, 2, 1, ; 12.5

3. Anema & Core, TP 52, Ennio Staffini, Annapolis, MD, USA - 9/DNF, 2, 3, 3, 5, 2, ; 24

4. Invictus, TP 52, Peter Gibbons-Neff, Annapolis, MD, USA - 4.5, 5, 4, 5, 3, 4, ; 25.5

5. Rio, JV 52, Manouch Moshayedi, Corona Del Mar, CA, USA - 9/DNF, 3, 5, 4, 4, 6/DNF, ; 31



IRC 2 / Farr 40 One Design (IRC - 4 Boats)

1. Nightshift, Farr 40, Kevin McNeil, Annapolis, MD, USA - 4.5, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, ; 9.5

2. Tsunami, Farr 40, Preben Ostberg/Todd Olds/ Bud Dailey, Rockville, MD, USA - 1.5, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2, ; 13.5

3. Yellow Jacket, Farr 40, Bulman Scholz, Bethesda, MD, USA - 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 3, ; 16

4. Flash Gordon, Farr 40, Helmut Jahn, Chicago, IL, USA - 7.5/DNF, 5/DNS, 5/DNS, 5/DNS, 5/DNS, 5/DNS, ; 32.5



IRC 3 (IRC - 9 Boats)

1. Pugwash, J 122, David Murphy, Westport, CT, USA - 2.25, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, ; 7.25

2. Flying Jenny VI, J 122, David Askew, Annapolis, MD, USA - 2.25, 3, 4, 2, 3, 2, ; 16.25

3. Plum Crazy II, J 122, Andrew D. Skibo, Ocean City, NJ, USA - 4.5, 2, 2, 10/DNS, 2, 3, ; 23.5

4. Big Booty, Lutra 42, Pat Eudy, Charleston, SC, USA - 6, 9, 3, 6, 4, 6, ; 34

5. Upgrade, Farr 395, Peter Gibbons-Neff, Rosemont, PA, USA - 7.5, 6, 6, 7, 6, 5, ; 37.5



IRC 4 (IRC - 9 Boats)

1. RUSH, J 109, Bill Sweetser, Annapolis, MD, USA - 1.5, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, ; 8.5

2. Kalevala II, Grand Soleil 37, Tapio Saavalainen, Washington, DC, USA - 3, 7, 5, 4, 2, 2, ; 23

3. Seaweed, Beneteau First 36.7, Don Finkle, Youngstown, NY, USA - 9, 2, 6, 2, 5, 7, ; 31

4. First Today, Beneteau First 36.7, Gary Tisdale, Lewiston, NY, USA - 13.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, ; 31.5

5. Jubilee, Beneteau First 36.7, Keith Mayes, Tracys Landing, MD, USA - 10.5, 6, 3, 5, 7, 4, ; 35.5



IRC - Beneteau 36.7 (IRC - 4 Boats) Also scored in IRC 4

1. Seaweed, Beneteau First 36.7, Don Finkle, Youngstown, NY, USA - 1.5, 2, 4, 1, 2, 2, ; 12.5

2. First Today, Beneteau First 36.7, Gary Tisdale, Lewiston, NY, USA - 6, 1, 1, 2, 1, 3, ; 14

3. Jubilee, Beneteau First 36.7, Keith Mayers, Tracys Landing, MD, USA - 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, 1, ; 17

4. Pegasus, Beneteau First 36.7, Peter Firey, Vienna, VA, USA - 4.5, 3, 3, 4, 3, 4, ; 21.5










[MLovett]

Check out these photos from IRC ECCs by Dan Phelps.

[thirst_quencher]

Looks like they had great wind for racing. Numbers looks like a beast.

“... we were on a two-mile track and they were sailing in a totally different wind than us..."

Friday’s distance race saw 30 knots of wind, while the weekend brought 10-15 on Saturday and 20 on Sunday

Yep, sounds like fall sialing on the Chessapeake