Sail Newport
July 13-14, 2013
The USF18 Eastern Area Fleet returned to Sail Newport over the weekend of July 13-14 for the perennial favorite Newport Regatta. A fleet of 15 F18s were joined by 17 A-cats , 12 49ers, and 18 505s, leading to the beautiful site of the Sail Newport lawn full of high performance boats for the entire weekend. Because of the rapidly approaching Nacra 17 World Championships in the Netherlands, the Team Ronstan Nacra Infusion MKII of Mike Easton and Tripp Burd was on loan to A-cat powerhouse Ben Moon and 2011 North American champion crew Hunter Stunzi for the weekend- no drop in talent there!
Saturday morning dawned slightly grey, with a light Northerly giving little hope of the classic Newport sea-breeze filling in from the South. The race committee was able to get off one good race in the fickle North breeze before the increasing current and battling breeze directions made racing impossible. Race one was won in dominating fashion by John and Pete Giuliano who displayed outstanding speed in the light conditions. During the long postponement that followed race one, the fleet took advantage of the Adelman family’s keelboat moored near the course to avoid being swept away by the current, and for proper hydration. When racing was cancelled for the day after a failed attempt to sail a second race, the Adelman’s even provided a tow for 13 A-cats, 49ers, and F18s behind their Catalina 36- what a sight!
After a great evening enjoying the Bacardi sponsored regatta party hosted at Ft. Adams, the fleet returned Sunday to the promise of bright sunshine, warm temperatures, and a sea-breeze. Five races were sailed Sunday in a shifty Southerly that rewarded teams that committed to finding and staying in the elusive lines of pressure. Ben and Hunter were the best boat all day, scoring three race wins to win the day and the regatta. Just behind team Ronstan was Bob Merrick and special guest Garth Fasano, sailing consistently fast to finish second on their C2. Third place went to Sandra Tartaglino and Tripp Burd, using the event as a warm-up before flying off to the Netherlands on Monday morning to pursue Olympic glory.
The USF18 Eastern Area fleet would like to once again thank Sail Newport for their support and excellent hospitality, we will be back in Newport August 17-18 for the New England 100.
Full result and photos: http://www.sailnewport.org/regattas/newportRegatta/2013newportregattaresults.html