J/Crews Smoke Ida Lewis Distance Race

(Newport, RI)– For a 15th year the Ida Lewis Distance Race indulged competitive racing sailors in an overnight sprint that proved both challenging and extraordinary. Thirty-one teams, in five classes for boats of 28 feet and longer, set out after noontime on Friday, August 16 to engage in a 110-mile course that took them from the start off Fort Adams, past Castle Hill to Buzzards Bay Tower, then to a mark southwest of Block Island (near Montauk) and back to Buzzards Bay Tower before returning to Newport Harbor where a finish was sighted from the deck of host Ida Lewis Yacht Club and teams were greeted on the water with a bottle of Prosecco. The course was the shortest of four options chosen by the Race Committee prior to the start in anticipation of extremely light breezes.

“The goal is always to have the bulk of the fleet back to shore by late morning/early afternoon,” said Event Chair Pat Kennedy, “and we were concerned at one point that even our shortest course might not accommodate that, but in the end, the fastest boat – the Volvo 70 Warrior (skippered by Stephen and Steve Murray of New Orleans) – made it back before last call (12:30 a.m.), and the last three boats finished just before 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.”

“The wind was east and southeast when it’s usually from the south and southwest. It was the first time we’ve put up a spinnaker coming from Buzzard’s Bay Tower back to Newport; usually it’s a reach. And coming from Montauk to Buzzard’s Bay, we were tacking, which is unusual,” commented skipper Brian Cunha. His team saw 7-12 knots of breeze the entire time, which was more than the smaller boats experienced. “They had a more challenging time getting around the Montauk mark because of the dying wind and the current against them.”

This year marked the first time for the PHRF Spinnaker Aloha class (for smaller boats with PHRF ratings of 55 and higher). Winning that was the J/35 BREAKAWAY skippered by Paul Grimes Portsmouth, R.I. and dual scored as a Collegiate team entry. Grimes enlisted the talents of five college sailors (daughter Megan Grimes (Yale), Aili Moffet (Conn. College), Colin Moffet (Princeton), Spencer Dellenbaugh (Brown Univ.) and Victoria Boatwright (Georgetown Univ.).

“This year was a nice change from last year, which had thunderstorms and lightning,” said Colin Moffet. “It was tough getting by Block Island with two knots of current and two knots of breeze, but it was nice once we got out of there.”

BREAKAWAY led a sweep of the PHRF Spinnaker Aloha class. Taking second was DC Helme’s J/92S SPIRIT and third was Bill Kneller’s J/109 VENTO SOLARE.

In the PHRF Doublehanded, taking second was Jonathan Burt’s J/130 LOLA from Hingham, MA.  For more Ida Lewis YC Distance Race sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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