By Airwaves Writer Martha Pitt
January 21st – 25th marked the 2013 Quantum Key West Race Week, and over the five-day period, numerous new champions one- design champions were born. Though the number of competitors has been down in the past few years, 2013 has nonetheless been marked as one of the most competitive in event history. To further highlight the success of the event this year were fantastic conditions – great weather and breeze spanning across all five days, allowing for a lot of good, competitive racing. Standing out among the champions was Brian Porter skippering the Melges 24 Full Throttle. Porter and his crew of Andy Burdick calling tactics, Sam Rogers trimming the spinnaker, and Matt Woodworth on the bow sailed an impressively consistent regatta, winning six of the twelve races, and finishing out of the top three only once! Close on their heels was Alec Cutler of Bermuda aboard hedgehog, but the Full Throttle crew was able to maintain their lead through the last race, not letting Cutler extend and finish out of reach, despite hedgehog winning the final race of the event. Cutler finished just three points behind Porter. Bora Gulari on West Marine Rigging/New England Ropes finished in third, Argyle Campbell on Rock n’ Roll in fourth, and Don Wilson on Convexity rounded out the top five.
The Melges 24 fleet consisted of twenty-three boats, the second largest at the regatta behind the new J/70 fleet with thirty-nine boats. Porter of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin has won the Key West Race Week Melges 24 title twice before, but given the intense competition, this might be considered an extra sweet third victory. “I really have to credit my crew,” stated Porter for the final Race Week press release. “My team is really exceptional. As a group, we really work well together. Our biggest edge was downwind sailing. We had really good speed going downwind and I think that was a big difference.”
To top off the event, Full Throttle was named Mount Gay Rum Boat of the Day on Wednesday of the regatta, and ultimately won the prestigious Quantum Sails Boat of the Week “presented to the boat which triumphs in the class with the closest, most competitive racing” (for more information on the Boat of the Week award, visit the Boat of the Week webpage). The team triumphed, fighting hard through tight racing over the course of five days, and for that has been named Sail1Designer of the Month for January 2013. Congratulations, and best of luck to the team on their path to Melges 24 Worlds in San Francisco this fall.
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