49th annual Buzzards Bay Regatta at New Bedford Yacht Club
by J/Boats 14 Aug 2022 09:34 NZST
5-7 August 2022
49th annual Buzzards Bay Regatta © Fran Grenon / Spectrum
As everyone was hoping for, the 49th Annual Buzzards Bay Regatta was blessed with nice weather and good breezes over the three-day weekend from August 5th to 7th.
Hosted by New Bedford Yacht Club, the sailors enjoyed good race management on the water and wonderful "apres-sail" events ashore every day.
PHRF 1 Division
This division was treated to a sweep of the podium by three very hot J/Teams. Returning to defend their title was Doug Curtiss' J/111 WICKED 2.0, one of the best offshore teams sailing on Buzzards Bay. However, their efforts were squandered when an altercation on the water forced them to take a DSQ.
Despite a first and four seconds, they missed winning the regatta by two points and had to settle for the silver medal this year! Winning the regatta was Mark Verville's J/120 ISURUS team from Beverly Yacht Club.
Mark's team started the regatta in second place with a 2-2 tally, but rallied like champions and won the last three races to take the gold medal! Not far off the mark, winning two races and counting three 3rds, Ted Herlihy's J/109 North American Champion team could not overcome the consistency of the top two boats, taking the bronze medal.
PHRF 2 Division
For those who've sailed throughout New England over time, there is a very familiar J/29 that has sailed most of the major regattas, like Edgartown, Nantucket, Buzzards Bay, New York YC, Block Island, FIGAWI, etc. As they've done before, Ira Perry's J/29 SEEFEST more often than not ends up on the podium. However, this year may be the first major event where they simply eclipsed the fleet with six bullets in six races! Needless to say, they ran off with the gold medal!
Event website: www.buzzardsbayregatta.com