Rambler Takes Top IRC Honors at 62nd Block Island Race

May 29, 2007 0 comments

"Nobody could touch him," said Block Island Race Chairman Ray Redniss about George David after David's 90-foot Reichel/Pugh-designed Rambler took line honors at the Storm Trysail Club's 62nd Block Island Race. By wide margins, Rambler also secured both IRC fleet and Super Zero class victories on best corrected and elapsed times. The 186 nautical mile race, which began late Friday afternoon, May 25, sent Rambler and 61 other IRC- and PHRF-rated boats off on a course from Stamford, Conn., down Long Island Sound, around Block Island, R.I., and back. The conditions, which included 8-14 knot breezes at the start, favored the larger boats, which exited the Sound before adverse current kicked in and returned to their starting point before the wind lightened enough to turn the last mile of the race into a one-hour slog for some smaller boats.

“Nobody could touch him,” said Block Island Race Chairman Ray Redniss about George David after David’s 90-foot Reichel/Pugh-designed Rambler took line honors at the Storm Trysail Club’s 62nd Block Island Race. By wide margins, Rambler also secured both IRC fleet and Super Zero class victories on best corrected and elapsed times. The 186 nautical mile race, which began late Friday afternoon, May 25, sent Rambler and 61 other IRC- and PHRF-rated boats off on a course from Stamford, Conn., down Long Island Sound, around Block Island, R.I., and back. The conditions, which included 8-14 knot breezes at the start, favored the larger boats, which exited the Sound before adverse current kicked in and returned to their starting point before the wind lightened enough to turn the last mile of the race into a one-hour slog for some smaller boats.

“The big boats got ahead early and stretched their leads based on the current and the wind,” said David. “Reaching in 15 knots, Rambler can move along at about 18-19 knots, which we saw at times.” David explained that Rambler (the former Shock Wave, built in 2002) had just emerged from undergoing major modifications, including a deeper draft and added bowsprit. “We got a whole new sail plan out of that,” said David, “so we were pretty powered up. I thought we got out of the blocks pretty well.”

Rambler finished the race in 18 hours, 57 minutes and 41 seconds, a marked improvement over last year’s best time by Running Tide of over 38 hours, yet short of Boomerang’s record in 2002 of just over16 hours.

Teri and Pete Binkley’s (Branford, Conn.) Quest 33 Wildeyes turned in best corrected and elapsed times for the PHRF fleet, finishing nearly 23 hours behind Rambler. Best performance by a doublehanded boat went to Kevin Grainger’s (Rye, N.Y.) J/105 Gumption 3.

Winning the Harvey Conover Memorial Trophy for the best overall performance among all entrants at the regatta was Ron O’Hanley’s (Ipswich, Mass.) Farr 50 Privateer. The Flag Officers and Race Committee awarded the prize after Privateer won its IRC Zero class and posted the greatest margin of time over the second- and third-place yachts to win the Commodore’s Trophy.

Other trophy winners were Daniel Galyon’s (Binghamton, N.Y.) X-Yacht 37 American Girl for best corrected time in IRC below 1.08 rating; Steve and Simon Frank’s (Rowayton, Conn.) Concordia 70 Gracie for best performance by a vintage yacht; the New York Yacht Club for best team race performance, and Andrew Berdon’s (Hartsdale, N.Y.) J/109 Strider for the best combined IRC scores in the Edlu and Block Island Races, awarded as The Tuna Trophy.

While the Block Island Race is a qualifier for the Gulf Stream Series (IRC), the Northern Ocean Racing Trophy (IRC), the New England Lighthouse Series (PHRF) and the Double Handed Ocean Racing Trophy (IRC), many of its competitors used the 2007 event as a shakedown for the Storm Trysail Club’s quickly approaching Block Island Race Week XXII presented by Rolex, a popular biennial event that takes place June 17-22 and will serve as the first-ever Rolex US-IRC National Championship.


Storm Trysail Club’s 62nd Block Island Race
Top-Three Finish Results

Finish Position, Yacht Name, Designer, Skipper, Hometown, Race Position, Total Points

IRC Super Zero (IRC – 5 Boats)
1. Rambler, Reichel Pugh 90, George David, Hartford, CT, USA – 1; 1
2. Blue Yankee, Reichel Pugh 66, Bob and Farley Towse, Stamford, CT, USA – 2; 2
3. Bon Bon, Reichel/Pugh 81, Stephan Reith / Mass. Maritime, Hamburg, Germany – 3; 3

IRC Zero (IRC – 5 Boats)

1. Privateer, Farr 50, Ron O’Hanley, Ipswich, MA, USA – 1; 1
2. Gracie, Concordia 70, Steve & Simon Frank, Rowayton , CT, USA – 2; 2
3. Snow Lion, Ker 50, Lawrence Huntington, New York, NY, USA – 3; 3

IRC 1 (IRC – 13 Boats)
1. Conspiracy, Frers 42, Conspiracy Syn., Greenwich, , CT, USA – 1; 1
2. Christopher Dragon, J/122, Andrew Weiss, Greenwich, CT, USA – 2; 2
3. Rocket Science, J/120, Rick Oricchio, Fairfield, CT, USA – 3; 3

IRC 2 (IRC – 10 Boats)
1. Cabady, Taylor 42, Randall/Matt Baldwin, Ridgefield, CT, USA – 1; 1
2. Cygnette, Swan 44, William Mayer, Greenwich, CT, USA – 2; 2
3. Strider, J/109, Andrew Berdon, Hartsdale, NY, USA – 3; 3

IRC 3 (IRC – 8 Boats)
1. American Girl, X-Yacht 37, Daniel Galyon, Binghamton, NY, USA – 1; 1
2. Lora Ann, Schumacher 37, Richard du Moulin, Larchmont, NY, USA – 2; 2
3. Cayo Loco, Quest 30, Christopher Rosow, Fairfield, CT, USA – 3; 3

IRC 4 (IRC – 6 Boats)
1. Choucas, Jeanneau SF36, Frederic Cosandey, New York, NY, USA – 1; 1
2. Emily, Custom Nielsen 43, Edwin Gaynor, Southport, CT, USA – 2; 2
3. Light Fantastic, Carter 39 38.96, Sylvan Shemitz, Woodbridge, CT, USA – 3,; 3

IRC-DH (IRC – 6 Boats)
1. Gumption 3, J/105, Kevin Grainger, Rye, NY, USA – 1; 1
2. Paladin, J/35, Jason Richter, Mt. Sinai, NY, USA – 2; 2
3. Alibi, J/120 40, Gardner Grant, Westport, CT, USA – 3; 3

PHRF 1 (PHRF – 7 Boats)
1. Wildeyes, Quest 33, Teri & Pete Binkley, Branford, CT, USA – 1; 1
2. Gringo, Pearson 37, Mike McGuire, Rowayton, CT, USA – 2; 2
3. Tenacity III, Hunter 46, Peter Gould, Stamford, CT, USA – 3; 3

PHRF 2 (PHRF – 2 Boats)
1. Thirsty Tiger, Hunter 31, Billy Jurgensen, Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ, USA – 3/DNF; 3
2. The Real Macaw, S. Kiwitt 34.5’, Sidney Kiwitt, Stroudsburg, PA, USA – 3/DNS; 3