22nd New England 100 Recap

AUGUST 9-10, 2014 : QUONSET POINT, RI: Saturday morning greeted sailors with a light northerly.  The race started promptly at 10:00am, taking some teams by surprise.  It was a downwind Le Mans start to a leeward mark about 100 yards off the beach of Quonset Point.  John and I were able to jump out to an early lead as the rest of the fleet stalled in the rounding.  The ride north to Patience was slow as teams battled an outgoing tide.  At more than one point our GPS indicated negative ground speed.  There was a bit of breeze as we passed Patience, however that died completely as the fleet neared the first mark off Conimicut Point.  The fleet regrouped as all struggled to round the mark.  John and I were able to round just ahead of Kenneth and Bastian.  Mike and Tripp were close on their heels.  We all enjoyed a spectacular site as a couple dozen Cigar boats tore up the channel deafening us with their open exhaust.   

The old Capricorn proved its worth once more as it kept moving enough in the light stuff to connect with a southerly.  We worked our way against the now outgoing tide.  Apparently no one else was able to find the southerly, as they fought on with chutes up.  There was just enough breeze to carry John and I to the light off Hog Island.  Soon after our rounding, the Race Committee shortened the course.  The breeze built, giving us a fun ride past Prudence and a lovely reach to the finish.  Sandra and Max finished in second, and Mike and Tripp in third.  On shore, all sailors were treated to an amazing dinner of clam chowder and stuffed quahogs thanks to Sandra’s parents. After dinner, a pickup game of Sloshball took place until the beer was finished. An excellent time was had by all with the official final score being a tie. Brendon Scanlon took home the award for the least productive member of the team for kicking the most fly balls which were caught for outs.

Sunday seemed a bit more optimistic with a stronger (maybe 6 mph) Northerly.  Mike and Tripp had a good start giving them the lead as the fleet headed south toward Beavertail.  They crossed under the Jamestown Bridge in first, followed by Sandra and Max, John and I, and Chris Titcomb and Lyndsey.  There was a fun battle for second as we all continued to exchange positions approaching Beavertail.  And that was where the wind died.  We were left stranded at the southern tip of Jamestown with an outgoing tide, next to no wind, and a fair amount of chop.  Some of us were able to find slight thermals and a little current relief against the rocky Jamestown shore. Others retired, and were towed out.  The battle up the West Passage was slow.  John and I chose the mooring field along Jamestown and Mike and Tripp headed for the Newport side.  Finally the sea breeze began to fill.  Sandra was the first in it, and flew under the Newport Bridge in first.  The fleet began to regroup as the boats would outrun the filling southerly.  Position changes were frequent.  Mike and Tripp were able to get ahead in the sprint to the finish.  Sandra claimed second in a battle at the northern tip of Jamestown.  John and I followed to finish the day in third, but were close enough to have defended our lead of the previous day.  A big congratulations to all that stuck out the light sections to finish the race.

We would all like to thank Rick Bliss for his efficient running of this event.  Also, we’d like thank Sandra for providing the trophies, Dave Heroux for making Quonset Point available, and Kenneth Madsen for arranging the chase boat and helping Rick organize the event.

Report by Pete Giuliano, USA 94, Capricorn

Overall Results

Day 1

Day 2

Overall

Scoring codes used