By Craig Thompson – Eleven teams made their way to the first Region 1 regatta of the season. The Wickford Regatta takes place annually at the start of the season and never disappoints with great sailing, great race management, and great food. This year, the 505’s were sharing the Bravo course with the F18 catamarans. It was a great opportunity for sailors to shake off the rust from the long New England winter and get back out on the race course.
Day 1 greeted sailors with a strong Northerly breeze, which is very atypical for this venue. 4 races were sailed in winds ranging from 8-14 knots. The wind was strongest in the first race of the day and moderated slightly in races 2-4 of the series. The forecast was for a much stronger breeze than what we saw on the racecourse. 505 newcomer Tracy Smith, sailing with Drew Buttner had a strong day, making great tactical decisions and showing good speed around the course. Craig Thompson and Mike Curtin had good speed, especially in the higher end of the wind range, but could not stay in front of the Smith and Buttner toward the end of the day. Tom Kivney and Gordon Russell ended the day with a strong 2nd place finish.The dinner on Saturday night was excellent and included barbecue chicken with all the fixin’s and homemade ice cream sandwiches for dessert. Wickford Yacht Club does an excellent job with running this regatta with a great support group of members and volunteers. Please consider attending this event next year if you have not done it yet; you will not be disappointed.
Day 2 started with a brief postponement on shore as the southerly thermal began to develop. 3 races were sailed in moderate seabreeze ranging from 10-14 knots. Drew Buttner had a new skipper for Sunday, but the same results; 505 legend Tim Collins made a guest appearance back in the boat and the team posted a strong 1-1-3 scoreline to seal the regatta win. Tom and Gordon posted the second best score of the day to challenge Craig and Mike for the second place position. The displaced Irishmen Peter Scannell and John Dunlea showed great downwind speed and were always in the mix.The next Region 1 event is the Newport Regatta July 11-12. The schedule for this season in Region 1 is fantastic so please be sure to consider making the effort to come enjoy the great sailing New England has to offer in July and August!
All photos copyright Cate Brown Photography. l Fulgallery: http://www.catebrownphoto.com/#!/portfolio/C0000LDcwxFmyyag/G0000qdA837ouzkw
Event Website: http://wickford.sailspace.net/
Pos, Sail, Skipper/Crew, Results, Total Points
1. 8830, Tracy Smith/Tim Collins/Andrew Buttner, 2-1-1-1-1-1-[3]- ; 7
2. 8854, Craig Thompson/Michael Curtin, 1-2-2-3-[4]-3-2- ; 13
3. 9005, Thomas Kivney/Gordon Russell, 3-3-[4]-2-2-4-1- ; 15
4. 8987, Peter Scannell/John Dunlea, [12/DNC]-7-3-5-3-2-5- ; 25
5. 8821, Michael Komar/Carson Turowski, 4-5-5-[7]-5-5-6- ; 30
6. 8808, Ben Greenfield/John Ingalls, [12/DNC]-4-10-6-8-6-4- ; 38
7. 7773, Duane Delfosse/Sol Marini , 6-6-6-[8]-6-8-8- ; 40
8. 6985, Michael Breton/Unknown, 7-[9]-9-9-7-7-7- ; 46
9. 8184, Whit Duncan/Unknown, 5-[10]-8-10-9-9-9- ; 50
10. 8939, John Wyles/Gareth Fletcher, [12/DNC]-11-7-4-10-10-10- ; 52
11. 8767, Dylan Breton/Kelly Shea, 8-8-[12/DNC]-12/DNC-12/DNC-12/DNC-12/DNC- ; 64
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