Winds from 3 to 30 at Bermuda International Invitational Race Week. IOD sinks Etchells in t-bone crash.
Racing in Bermuda International Invitational Race Week April 25th through April 30th hosted by Royal Bermuda Yacht Club gave competitors from Norway, Sweden, Australia, Scotland, UK, Canada, Bermuda and the USA sailing in all conditions as a true test of sailing skill. Six classes- International Etchells, J-24, IOD, Comet, Laser and Snipe sailed on two courses. The week offered a variety of wind from 3kts to 30kts with weather from brilliant sunshine to light scattered showers.
Some sailors handled the heavy going better. With North winds gusting up to 30 knots in Bermuda’s Great Sound the chop never gets more than a foot to two feet at the most. In the light stuff sailors who can read the wind well and get in phase with the shifts prevail. Everyone had a chance to show their strengths and weaknesses as well.
The Etchells Class sailed six races with one drop. Bailey was 4,8,2,1,6,4 and dropped the 8 for a total of 16.75 pts. Andreas Lewin (Bermuda), brother of women’s match race champion Paula Lewin, also had 16.75 points with 5,10,1,4,4,3. Bailey’s 2nd in the 3rd race gave him first place. Peter Bromby was 3rd with 18.5.
Going into the last race four boats had a chance to win the series. Winds were 10-12 with 20 degree shifts not uncommon. Many of the leaders ended the day in the double digits, but Bailey and Lewin held their position by playing the conservative middle.
On Tuesday, the 30kt day, an I.O.D. sailed by American Tony Huston sank an Etchells sailed by Bill Steele an Aussie who lives in Hants UK four months per year and sails out of Lymington. Steele was approaching close to the starboard layline for the finish when the crash occurred.
The jury awarded him n 11th place finish. For races 4 and 5, Steel was given another boat to sail, but it had a sloppy tiller that made the boat dangerous to steer, and he retired. The jury awarded him average points from races 1 and 2. Steele got a 5th in the final race and finished in 10th place with 33.75pts.
At the IOD class dinner, Huston was served a special meal… the best t-bone steak the yacht club could find. Huston was served last to chants of “T-bone, T-bone”
Bruce Dyson (Marblehead, Mass) dominated the International One Design class.
The I.O.D. racing is nine races divided into three parts. The Bermuda Race Week Championship “A” is the first five races. Dyson won this with 7.75 points (one race score is dropped). The Norwegian Series “B” is the final four races. Dyson won this with 10.5 points (no drops). All the races combine in competition for the Vrengen Gold Cup. Dyson won this with 13.5 points (two drops). For the nine race series Dyson had a 2,6,2,1,1,5,4,1 record.
Second in the The Bermuda Race Week Championship “A” was Harry Powell (Bermuda)with 14 points and Urban Ristorp (Sweden) was third with 14.5. Second in the Norwegian Series “B” was Jan Petter Roed (Norway) with 11.5 and third was J.C. McAulay (Scotland). Second in the Vrengen Gold Cup series was Jan Petter Roed and third was Harry Powell.
J-24 racing was an eight race series (one drop) led by Stuart Jardine (UK) who had races of 2,1,4,3,1,4,1, 1 for a total of 12 points. Second was Jonathan Corless (Bermuda) with 21 points and third was Frank Keesling (Denver) with 27.25 points. Keesling would have been in the hunt for first, but he got “DND”s in the last two races for flying an unapproved second spinnaker.
On the dinghy course Comets, Snipes and Lasers had their own exciting competitions. The Dinghys competed on all the days except when the wind was over 25 knots
The Comet Class was dominated by Rudy Bailey ( Bermuda ) with a 1,2,1,1,5,1 record and a total of 5 points. Second was Howard Simmons with 13 points and third was Mark Garriga with 17.
The Snipe Class was won by Don Bedford with races of 1,2,1,1,5,1 and a total score of 5 points. Second