By Isak Peterson
Block Island Race Week / Storm Trysail Club / Block Island, RI / June 18-23, 2017
This regatta served as the:
- IRC North American Championship, Three Divisions
- J44 North American Championship
- C&C 30 North American Championship
- J109 North American Championship
- J88 East Coast Championship
- J105 East Coast Championship
- PHRF East Coast Championship, Four Divisions
- P0erformance Cruising and Multihull Divisions
Block Island Race Week started off slow due to fog and low visibility that postponed competition for all of Monday and most of Tuesday. The race committee was able to sneak in the first race on Tuesday afternoon and the second and third races on Wednesday.
In the IRC 2 division, Ker 50 ‘Temptation’ earned some of the most consistent scores in the fleet. “We were lucky to have conditions that favored Temptation.” noted Skipper Art Santry, as he reflected on the success of races 1 and 2. “This boat is hard to stop in 20 knots of breeze. Add in great crew work from 15 good guys and it really makes a difference.” The crew of Temptation included students from Oakcliff Sailing Center, a non-profit sailing development program in Oyster Bay, New York.
Wednesday afternoon brought a new challenge to the race week competitors in the form of an around Block Island distance course that would count as race 3. Temptation earned another first place point in the IRC 2 division. “Our tactical position never put the crew in a difficult sail handling condition. The crew work put us in a high speed mode around the course,” said Bill Rudkin, Tactician for Temptation.
Navigator Suzy Leech stressed the importance of layline calls in the distance race. “The keys to navigating the around Block Island course were all about laylines, which were to set marks – not Government marks. I was nervous that a few calls would be off because of the fog” As the fleet bore off around the north end of the island, thick fog made it tricky for sailors to locate marks of the course and the finish line. (Leech) “Thankfully the Gods were smiling on us and took us around nicely!”
Block Island Race Week is a biennial event hosted by Storm Trysail Club. Below are the results for the one design fleets:
- Kenai, J44 North American Champion
- Xtreme2, C&C 30 North American Champion
- Loki, J109 North American Champion
- Jazz, J88 East Coast Champion
- Good Trade, J105 East Coast Champion
For full results: https://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=2954
results: https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=2954
Photos (2) courtesy of Block Island Race Week Facebook page @blockislandraceweek
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