Gorgeous conclusion to American YC Fall Series 2023
by J/Boats 8 Oct 2023 06:37 NZDT
30 September - 8 October 2023
2023 American YC Fall Series © Annapolis Yacht Club
This year's American Yacht Club Fall Series ended up being a one-weekend affair as a result of having to deal with the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia during the first weekend of sailing.
The first weekend saw 23 to 35 kts easterly winds, driving rain, and massive 4-7 foot breaking waves rolling the length of Long Island Sound. Sunday dawned with similar conditions with slightly less winds in the 19 to 26 kts range with even larger seas, the result of powerful easterlies for the third straight day. After two days of "AP over A's" on the first weekend, the fleet was eager to get sailing on the second weekend.
However, everyone was experiencing a bit of a "deja vu" as Friday had yet another similar storm as the previous week moved up the northeastern shore dumping torrential rains on New York, powerful 25 to 40 kts winds again from the east/ northeast and such heavy flooding of highways that all trains operating in and around New York city were canceled! Can you imagine the chaos in downtown NYC? Saturday morning dawned with drizzle and heavily overcast, but by noon the weather had cleared up enough for the American YC Race Committee to run three races for all divisions. Sunday dawned clear, cool, and sunny with a gentle north/northeast breeze in the 6 to 9 kts range, enough for the AYC RC to run two more races for the fleet.
J/44 Class
Winning the seven-boat J/44 one-design class was Bill Ketcham's MAXINE with five straight bullets for a mere 4 pts after a discard race. June & Amanda Kendrick's PALANTIR 5 counted three 2nds and two 3rds for 9 net pts to secure the silver medal. Then, rounding out the podium in third was Willets Meyer's BEAGLE with three 3rds and two 2nds for 10 pts.
J/109 East Coast Championship
Having similar results as their colleagues in the 44 fleet, it was John Greizu's GROWTH SPURT that walked off with the J/109 East Coast Championship title with four bullets and a 2nd for a total of 4 pts net. The balance of the podium was determined by tiebreaker at 9 pts each. Winning the countback to take the silver medal was Trevor Roach's INCENDIARY with a 3-3-4-2-1 tally. On the short end of that stick was Bud Rogers's BIG BOAT with a 2-2-2-3-3 record.
J/105 Class
As a pre-North Americans warm-up, the AYC Fall series J/105 fleet benefitted from several boats joining in to make a dozen-boat fleet. In the end, it was a local team winning the class, David Willis's SOLUTION took home the title with a 2-5-2-1-1 scoreline for 6 pts net. Second was determined on a tiebreaker at 10 pts each. Taking the silver medal on countback was Dwight Greenhouse's SKIPPERDEE with a 1-2-4-3-6 tally. Rounding out the top three in the bronze medal position was Bill Zartler's DEJA VOODOO with a 3-3-1-4-3 scoreline. The balance of the top five included Bruce Stone & Nicole Breault's ARBITRADE in 4th and Damian Emery's WARLOCK in 5th place.
PHRF 1 Division
The eleven-boat PHRF 1 coastal racing fleet saw Andrew Berdon's J/111 SUMMER STORM win, with Erik Asgeirsson & Tom Stokes's J/45 ACADIA in third place. Finishing in fifth place was Ove Haxthausen's J/133 RUMBA.
PHRF 2 Division
The ten-boat PHRF 2 coastal racing fleet saw a clean sweep by J/Teams. Winning was Kevin Marks's J/99 VELOCITY 2, followed by Todd Aven's J/99 THIN MAN in second, and Bill Ingraham's J/124 TENEBRAE in third place.
PHRF 3 Division
The half-dozen boat PHRF 3 division also saw a few good performances by J/crews. Taking the silver was JC Zucconi & Jim Townsend's J/92 EASY RED. They were followed in third place by Jason Viseltear's J/80 UPSETTER.
PHRF 4 White Sails Division
As has been the case all season long, starting in the spring, the burgeoning and resurgent fleet of J/100s are having a fun time sailing their beautiful dayailers around the race track. Leading a sweep of the podium by J/100s was William Hennes's LIBERTY, followed by Drew Fung & Pat Jakobson's FREEDOM in second and Clemmie Everett's RESOLUTE in third place.
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