After three days and six races, just three seconds separated Stephen Murray Jr.’s (New Orleans, La.) TP 52 Decision IV from Mike Williamson’s (New Castle, N.H.) King 40 White Heat in the battle to claim the overall title at the 2009 IRC East Coast Championship. In total, 38 yachts raced in five classes at the event, held October 30-November 1, 2009, with overall results calculated on average corrected speed for each of the class winners for the entire regatta. (Decision IV sailed in IRC Class 1 while White Heat sailed in IRC Class 3.)
“This is a very prestigious regatta, with great race management and top-notch competition,” said Murray, who also raced in the 2007 IRC East Coast Championship. “We really wanted to make the commitment to win it. We came to Annapolis a month before this regatta so we could race locally, tune the boat and improve our performance. I’m happy to say that effort paid off.”
This marked the ninth year that the East Coast Championship was organized by the Storm Trysail Club’s Chesapeake Station and the fifth year it was run under the IRC rule. The Storm Trysail Club has long been a strong advocate for IRC racing in the U.S.
Conditions ranged from 7-23 knots over three days of racing, with light rain leading ahead of a cold front on Sunday. In Class 1, the standings couldn’t have been tighter with Decision IV scoring 17.5 points vs. 18.0 points posted by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s (King’s Point, N.Y.) STP 65 Vanquish (ex-Moneypenny); third place went to Richard Oland’s (Rothesay, New Brunswick, Canada) Southern Cross 52 Vela Veloce, which amassed 24 points.
Class 2 featured a one-design start for six Farr 40s. Matt Beer’s (Washington, D.C.) Sundance won the class over Preben Ostberg/Todd Olds/Bud Dailey’s (Annapolis) Tsunami; third place went to Kevin McNeil’s (Annapolis) Night Shift. Racing was very close, with four of the six boats winning at least one race each.
Class 3 was won by Williamson’s White Heat on the strength of three bullets in six races; second place went to David Murphy’s (Westport, Conn.) J/122 Pugwash, followed by Marc Glimcher’s (New York, N.Y.) J/122 Catapult.
In Class 4, Ed and Molly Freitag’s (Annapolis) Beneteau 40.7 Down Time won, followed by Bill Sweetser’s (Annapolis) J/109 Rush. This broke Sweetser’s multi-year dynasty in the class, while third place went to Mdsn. Jason Mazzoni’s (USNA-Annapolis) Navy 44 Swift.
Class 5 held a one-design start for seven Beneteau 36.7s, with Peter Firey’s (Vienna, Va.) Pegasus narrowly defeating Jim Keen’s (Solomons, Md.) Foxtrot Corpen and Don Finkle’s (Youngstown, N.Y.) KA’IO coming in third.
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 Block Island Race, 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, and it has developed, with the Transpacific Yacht Club, the Storm Trysail Transpac 65. 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.
Place, Yacht Name, Type, Owner/Skipper, Hometown, Results, Total Points
IRC 1 (IRC – 8 Boats)
1. Decision IV, Botin-Carkeek 52 52, Stephen Murray, New Orleans, LA, USA – 1.5, 3, 2, 2, 4, 5; 17.5
2. Vanquish, STC 65 65′, USMMA Sailing Foundation Steitz, King Point, NY, USA – 12, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1; 18
3. Vela Veloce, Southern Cross 52 52′, Richard Oland, Rothesay, NB, CAN – 9, 1, 5, 4, 2, 3; 24
IRC 2 – Farr 40 (IRC – 6 Boats)
1. Sundance, Farr 40 40, Gary Beer, Washington, DC, USA – 1.5, 1, 2, 2, 6, 2; 14.5
2. Tsunami, Farr 40 40, Preben Ostberg / Todd Olds / Bud Dailey, Rockville, MD, USA – 6, 2, 4, 1, 4, 1; 18
3. Nightshift, Farr 40 40, Kevin McNeil, Annapolis, MD, USA – 3, 5, 1, 4, 2, 5; 20
IRC 3 (IRC – 10 Boats)
1. White Heat, King 40 40, Mike Williamson, New Castle, NH, USA – 4.5, 1, 2, 3, 1, 1; 12.5
2. Pugwash, J 122 40, David Murphy, Westport, CT, USA – 3, 4, 1, 1, 3, 3; 15
3. Catapult, J 122 40′, Marc Glimcher, New York, NY, USA – 1.5, 3, 5, 4, 2, 5; 20.5
IRC 4 (IRC – 7 Boats)
1. DownTime, Beneteau First 40.7 39.25, Ed and Molly Freitag, Annapolis, MD, USA – 7.5, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1; 14.5
2. Rush, J 109 35, Bill Sweetser, Annapolis, MD, USA – 1.5, 5, 4, 2, 2, 2; 16.5
3. SWIFT, Navy 44 MkI 44, Jason Mazzoni, Annapolis, MD, USA – 6, 1, 1, 5, 5, 4; 22
IRC 5 – Beneteau 36.7 (IRC – 7 Boats)
1. Pegasus, Beneteau First 36.7 36, Peter Firey, Vienna, VA, USA – 1.5, 3, 4, 1, 3, 2; 14.5
2. Foxtrot Corpen, Beneteau First 36.7 36, James Keen, Solomons, MD, USA – 3, 6, 1, 3, 2, 1; 16
3. KA’IO, Beneteau First 36.7 36, Don Finkle, Youngstown, NY, USA – 7.5, 1, 2, 2, 1, 6; 19.5
