2008 New England Summer Series -

Museum of Yachting Classic Regatta

The 6mR fleet gathered on Sat for the climax of the series; three windward leeward courses that would allow for the standings to be shaken up if anyone had a particularly strong day.  The wind, however, had other ideas.  The fleet bobbed around on perfectly flat water for several hours before the RC finally abandoned racing for the day.  This meant that Sunday, a day held in reserve, now mattered.

When sailors awoke, they were greeted by sunny skies and a strong Northerly that was exepected to die into a Westerly.  RC sent the fleet out for one race of 14 miles.  As the Northerly faded in and out, being on the right side of shifts was essential to making progress on the fleet.  Madcap seemed to sail in her own private breeze up Conanicut Island, cleverly being on the right side of some shifts that knocked the rest of the fleet.  Off she went, smartly reaching to the windward mark first with enough time for a relaxed spinnaker set, letting her large main do most of the work downwind. At the leeward mark, despite her lead, Madcap retired to the bar in company with Flapper, both boats suffering from time constraints that did not allow them to finish the race.  That left Alana in a duel with Belle.

Belle took advantage of a bad tack from Alana and squeezed inside at the top of Gould Island and took the lead all the way to the finish line for a 20 second advantage.  Clarity finished third.  Belle's victory sealed her triumph in the 6mR Open Series, a cup awarded the fastest 6mR irrespective of vintage and including any yacht invited to participate by the fleet.  In this case, Belle, a Luders 24, proved too quick and well sailed for the fleet to catch.  In the Olin J. Stephens II Cup, Alana proved consistency can be more valuable than speed and captured the Cup.

The fleet looks forward to one last regatta in September, the Boathouse Cup, to be contested in the upper Naragansett Bay.

Olin J. Stephens II Classic North Americans - Overall Results

Newport Summer Series Overall

Herreshoff regatta and cumulative scores

The 6mR fleet was treated to two starts at the Herreshoff Rendezvous over the weekend of August 23rd and 24th as well as to front row seats of Eleanora, the replica of Herreshoff's 110ft 1910 Schooner Westward

The first race had a light air start with the fleet splitting tacks off the line.  Madcap, making her debut, chose port tack with Alana in search of fresher breeze and the hope of a lift near the first mark.  Flapper, Belle (Luders 24) and Ranger went left on starboard choosing to get out from underneath Prudence Island.  Going right paid dividends for Alana as she reached the first mark in the lead.  A quick set from Flapper brought them right back into the race as the fleet jibed back and forth, jockeying for position.  Alana went out, while Flapper stayed near the shore and the wind went right, sending Alana, Ranger, Belle on a tight spinnaker reach with good pace.  Flapper, betting that the fleet could not hold their course, put up the genoa and their bet did not pay.  On the long beat back to the finish line, Alane barely held off Belle at the finish line, Ranger third, Flapper fourth and Madcap 5th.

Day two was a 15 mile beat from Bristol to Newport, with a finish off of Goat Island.  Alana again started on port at the pin and hoped for a repeat of the previous day.  Flapper and the rest of the fleet started on starboard.  All boats converged on the first mark largely together and tacking duels ensued.  Alana, pointing lower than Flapper, but with a good turn of speed managed to just keep her air clear and give back air to the competition, giving Alana the chance to control the tempo of the race.  Should roles have been reversed, Alana would have had little opportunity to work her way out from under the higher pointing Flapper.  With Belle not starting and Ranger sportingly withdrawing from the race owing to confusion about the course, the finish order was Alana, Flapper and Madcap.

2008 Olin J Stephens II Classics (chapter 1) at NYYC Race Week

The New England 6mR fleet received separate starts and class scoring at the NYYC Race Week Olin Stephens Classic regatta on the weekend of July 19th and 20th.  The fleet welcomed Joe Loughborough and his Luders 24, a hull that measures 6mR dimensionally, but is too light to meet the scantling rules – to serve as a jack rabbit on the course.  The fleet also consisted of US 112, a modern Gary Mull design, two Fifes, Clarity and Alana, as well as the beautifully restored US 56 Jill, from Olin Stephens design board. 

Racing was close, with every boat having her day.  Race 2 saw Ranger take off in moderate breeze, pointing high and fast.  The closest racing was in the classics, with Clarity, Jill and Alana keeping close cover on each other.  Jill proved very fast downwind, true to her history, Alana showed her strength in heavy weather and Clarity proved her pointing ability and versatility in all conditions.  

In the end, it was Belle, the Luders 24 that was low score over the three races.

Racing for the Olin J Stephens II Cup will continue at the Herreshoff Rendezvous over the weekend of August 23rd/24th as well as the MoY labor day regatta.  The deed of gift specifically calls for at least 5 races.  The fleet hopes to welcome Elizabeth X, Madcap and Flapper for the remaining two regattas to fill out our numbers and continue to process of learning how the boats are matched under the various conditions.