While Hurricane Lee didn’t impact Connecticut directly, its remnants left a sea state and gusty northwesterly breeze for the start of the Shearwater Regatta held September 16th and 17th at Riverside Yacht Club. Windward/Leeward and Navigator competitors followed the same course on Saturday, which took them back and forth across the sound, ending with a sunny reception on the lawn at RYC.
Fortunately, the afternoon was warm and called for refreshing cold beverages provided by sponsors, Regatta Craft Mixers and Litchfield Distillery, though the Club thoughtfully provided hot chocolate, which many of our youngest sailors happily enjoyed. Sunday reverted to the planned two courses, both a slightly shorter navigator course due to lighter air from the SSW and three completed W/L races, the last of which finished a leg sooner than planned due to a fading breeze.
At the end of the weekend, Bill and Jackie Baxter's J/111 Fireball dominated the W/L fleet with all bullets followed by fellow Riverside Yacht Club member and Rear Commodore, Ty Anderson's SKYE with 11 points. On the Navigator's course it was another Riverside Yacht Club member, NEVERMORE, Ken and Drew Hall's J/88 that took the top prize.
Results:
| Place, Yacht Name, Sail, Owner/Skipper, Results, Total Points |
| Navigator Course - PHRF (PHRF_ToT - 6 Boats) 1. Nevermore, USA81, Ken & Drew Hall - 3 - 1 ; 4 2. Hamburg II, USA51709, Albrecht Goethe - 1 - 3 ; 4 3. Sweet Caroline, USA239, Christopher Ercole - 4 - 2 ; 6 4. Rumba, USA61132, Ove Haxthausen - 2 - 4 ; 6 5. Rushmore, HKG2101, Charles A. Taus - 7/DNS - 7/DNS ; 14 6. Mischief, US61523, Eric & Maggie Deichmann - 7/DNS - 7/DNS ; 14 Windward/Leeward Course (PHRF_ToT - 8 Boats) 1. Fireball, USA16, Bill & Jackie Baxter - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 ; 4 2. Skye, USA39534, Ty Anderson - 4 - 3 - 2 - 2 ; 11 3. Blue Fire, USA60351, Mark Parry - 3 - 4 - 3 - 4 ; 14 4. Strange Brew, USA 175, Randy Bourne - 2 - 2 - 5 - 7 ; 16 5. Trifecta, USA274, Thom Hering - 9/DNS - 6 - 4 - 3 ; 22 6. Wizard, USA31, Adam Zakka - 5 - 7 - 6 - 6 ; 24 7. Rift, 341, William Maher - 9/DNS - 5 - 7 - 5 ; 26 8. First Light, USA10104, Dana OBrien - 6 - 8 - 8 - 8 ; 30 |
Photos from Rick Bannerot: © 2023, Rick Bannerot, Ontheflyphoto.net or Cindy Cornell
