Racing News
37th Biennial Annapolis to Newport Race – One For
the Books
Linda Ambrose, Regatta Manager
It was one for the
books with a dismasting, two boats with minor electrical fires, multiple
entries dropping out due to seasickness, a double-handed entry winning its
start against fully crewed boats, and a new location for the awards party and
trophy presentation. The 37th biennial running of the
Annapolis to Newport Race is a wrap!
A large contingent of Naval Academy midshipmen
attended the Annapolis-to-Newport Race prize-giving ceremony, looking sharp in
their dress whites.
Navy needed all hands on deck in order to carry away
all the hardware its offshore sailing team received in recognition of its
performance in the 37th biennial running of
Annapolis-to-Newport.
Jahn Tihansky, head coach of the Navy varsity offshore
sailing team, was beaming with pride as he watched a dozen midshipmen box up
all the trophies that needed to be hauled away following the prize-giving,
which was held at The Deck at Waite’s Wharf.
“I’m really happy for all these Navy sailors. They
didn’t win everything, but they won an awful lot!” Tihansky said. “These
trophies are the reward for working really hard preparing for, and competing
in, this great race.”
Navy boats finished one-two in both the ORC 1A and ORC
2 classes, earning the varsity offshore sailing team a total of 13 trophies.
Navy entered two Farr 40-footers in ORC 1A and they
sailed in extremely close proximity for the entire 475-nautical mile passage, with Ranger capturing class honors by beating Zephyr by just under 16 minutes
on corrected time.
“We had a great battle with Zephyr and were within
sight of them almost the whole way until we disappeared into the fog off Block
Island,” Ranger skipper Hayden Kuzemchak said. “Having Zephyr pushing us was
great in terms of keeping up the intensity and motivating the crew.”
The Midshipmen registered two of the program’s Mark II
44-footer training vessels in ORC B and that matchup was not quite as close, with
Gallant beating Defiance by 2 hours and 18 minutes on corrected time.
“Our competition with Defiance was a lot different
than what Ranger and Zephyr experienced,” said Gallant skipper Christian
Hoffman, noting the two Navy 44s split in the Atlantic Ocean. “We went about 30
miles offshore while Defiance tacked a lot earlier. There is still that same
sibling rivalry about wanting to beat your sister ship, but in the case of
Gallant and Defiance we sailed completely difference races.”
Along the way, the Midshipmen displayed superb
seamanship and boat-handling while racing in heavy winds and high seas
throughout the Atlantic Ocean portion of the race.
“I couldn’t be more proud of my team. It was a very
tough, grueling race and our crews were more than up to that challenge,”
Tihansky said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better race to challenge our
sailors. This Annapolis-to-Newport gave them the opportunity to be tested in a
tough environment and see what they’re made of.”
Paul Jervis served as navigator aboard Ranger, which
posted the second-fastest elapsed time of the entire 52-boat fleet. Jervis was
presented with the Cary Arthur Memorial Trophy for navigating, for the Service Academy
entry with the best corrected time.
“We thought the race could be done on two tacks, and
that turned out to be the case. Our goal from the get-go was to sail the
shortest distance possible,” Kuzemchak said. “We never got more than about 12
miles west of the rhumb line. Our crew worked really hard from start to finish.
All told, I thought we sailed the boat to the best of our ability.”
Gallant was presented with the Blue Water Bowl
for best overall performance in ORC, with navigator Adam Lance receiving the City
of Newport Trophy. Gallant posted a corrected time of 4 days, 2 hours, 40
minutes, and 6 seconds in registering the largest margin of victory among the 19
ORC entries. The Navy 44 also earned the newly-created Chip Thayer Perpetual
Trophy for lowest elapsed time among Friday starters (non-foiling).
“I think the key was having our crew stay totally
focused. We didn’t see another boat for six hours and it’s easy to take the
foot off the pedal when that happens,” Hoffman said. “We kept pushing, even when
we were sailing in 25-knot sustained winds with eight-foot waves.”
Phantom, an XP 44 skippered by Chris Schoen of
Larchmont Yacht Club, was the winner in ORC 1B Class. Jeffrey Feehan was
navigator on Phantom, which finished with the fastest elapsed time (60 hours,
12 minutes, 24 seconds) in the entire fleet. That accomplishment earned Schoen
and crew the Commodore Peter H. Magruder Memorial Trophy.
“It’s amazing to me and very rewarding given
all the time, effort, and energy that goes into getting ready for this race, not
to mention the work we did out on the water in very challenging conditions,”
said Schoen, who was making his Annapolis-Newport debut. “We were just looking
at the names of some of the boats on this trophy and it’s amazing. You’re talking
about some of the most famous boats in sailboat racing history and now my boat
will be on there with them forever, which is really cool.”
Rick Hanson has always named his sailboats in honor of
a Bruce Springsteen song. The North East River Yacht Club member was the PHRF 1
winner in the 2017 Annapolis-to-Newport with a J/109 named Rosalita.
Hanson replicated that feat in the 2019 edition of A2N
while racing a J/120 named No Surrender. Kyle Hanson, 29, once again served as
tactician for his father and helped No Surrender notch the best elapsed time
among 18 PHRF entries.
Hanson had three College of Charleston offshore
sailing team members aboard as crew in Will Hundahl, Shane Kilberg, and Jordan
Wiggins. As a result, No Surrender was winner of the Youth Challenge
competition for entries with three or more crew members under the age of 25.
“We had four returning crew members from 2017 and that
consistency and experience helped,” said Hanson, an Avondale, Pennsylvania
resident. “All three of the college guys knew how to drive and that was
important as far as pushing the boat. As an overall group, we worked really
hard in a real difficult race and I’m quite pleased with our performance.”
A bonus round to their successful trip was the awarding
of a trip for Hanson and his wife Sue to Barbados. The 2019 sponsor of the trackers for the race
sponsored this award as part of their partnership for this year’s race, and the
trip was presented to the Hansons by Petra Roach, Director USA of the Barbados
Tourism Marketing, Inc.
Skipper Albert Bossar led the J/42 Allegiant to victory
in PHRF 2 class, which had all six participants finish the grueling
475-nautical mile passage. That marked a major turnaround for the Herrington
Harbour Sailing Association entry, which finished 13th out of 14
boats in PHRF 3 during the 2017 A2N.
“We’ve had a lot of crew turnover since the last
Annapolis-Newport and there’s a more harmonious atmosphere onboard. I thought
the vibe was incredible this time around,” said Bossar, a Shady Side, Maryland
resident. “We’re just a better team all-around.”
Twiga, a J/109 skippered by David Esseks, was the
first PHRF 2 boat to exit the Chesapeake Bay, but was overtaken by Allegiant in
the Atlantic Ocean. Bossar and navigator Noah Kanter made good use of routing
software to plot a course, choosing to sail offshore for a good ways before
turning left toward Newport and holding fairly steady to the rhumb line.
“We’re a pretty blue-collar group of sailors. We
trained hard for this race and our goal from the outset was to be aggressive,”
Bossar said. “I thought we did a really good job of putting the boat in the
best position to be successful.”
Nicole, a Cal 40 with an impressive pedigree, captured
class honors in ORR 2 – a 10-boat fleet with six finishers. Tom Campbell bought
the boat from fellow Oxford resident and Tred Avon Yacht Club member Tad
DuPont and was fortunate to inherit most of his crew.
Navigator Doug Campbell, strategist Alan Campbell,
watch captains Bob Mathews and Andrew Devlin, along with Jim Ryan and Harry
Seemans, have approximately 25 Annapolis-to-Newport races under their collective
belts.
Nicole started
on Friday and had no choice but to head 40 miles offshore, almost to the edge of
the Gulf Stream before picking up the right-hand shift that enabled her to tack
toward Newport.
“We had great crew work and I would say we sailed the
best possible race we could,” Tom Campbell said. “We’re pretty pleased and
excited to win our class.” Nicole was
also presented with the James Alsopp Memorial Seafarer Trophy for best combined
performance in the 2018 Bermuda Race and 2019 Annapolis to Newport Race.
Divide by Zero (PHRF Performance Cruising), Revonoc
(PHRF Classic), and Temptress (ORR 1) were the only finishers in their respective
classes.
Temptress, a Taylor 41 owned by Jay Gowell of East Greenwich,
Rhode Island, experienced some drama aboard as an engine fire caused
considerable concern around 3 p.m. Sunday. Gowell said the crew was charging
the batteries and it caused an electrical fire.
“We saw a lot of smoke coming out of the engine box so
we got the life rafts into the cockpit and harnesses on,” he said.
After waiting 40 minutes, Gowell looked into the engine
box and realized the motor was fried. All the electronics aboard Temptress had
to be shut down and that meant sailing with a hand-held VHF tuned to Channel 16
and sailing using the Windex.
“We were about 90 miles south of Delaware Bay and had
no instruments for the rest of the race, but we were able to keep the hammer
down and just kept racing like we were sailing a dinghy,” he said. “We had some
good helmsmen."
This was the first Annapolis-to-Newport Race for
Gowell as a boat owner. He previously completed the passage in 2005 as crew
aboard a J/160 named Aquarius. Gowell is the current chairman of the 2020
Newport-Bermuda Race and a felt a certain responsibility to support a similar
event.
“Annapolis-Newport is an iconic race and a significantly
challenging one. Our preparation and buildup to the race was a lot of fun,” he
said. “I thought Annapolis Yacht Club provided tremendous hospitality and the
sendoff party was one of the best I’ve ever attended.”
Meanwhile, Revonoc is a Sparkman &
Stephens-designed yawl that was first launched in 1946. Owner Richard Herbert and his sons Thomas and
William have put considerable effort into restoring this classic yacht,
replacing almost all of the deck hardware and rigging at some point.
William Herbert had to be in Philadelphia on Friday
afternoon because he sponsored his wife for a green card and she was going
through the interview process. Revonac asked the organizing committee for
permission to start the race on Friday then immediately anchor in order to wait
for William.
Annapolis Yacht Club staff ferried William Herbert out
to the boat and Revonac remarkably managed to overtake several slower boats
before exiting the Chesapeake Bay. Despite getting a 3 ½-hour late start,
Revonac wound up winning its class.
“It was a very good feeling to finish because we had a
rough slog for about 48 hours in the ocean. It was like being in a washing machine,”
William said. “We got headed up into New Jersey at one point and things started
getting a bit hairy. We tacked out to deeper water to regroup and give
ourselves a better sailing angle.”
Overall results are available on the Cumulative Results Page. Additional trophy information can be found here.
Previous articles:
Annapolis to Newport Start Reports
History Made as Double-Handed Team Takes Line Honors for Annapolis-to-Newport Race
Phantom Captures Line Honors Among Saturday Starters
La Defonce Presented with C. Gaither Scott Trophy for Corinthian Spirit
Click here to see photos from the 2019 Annapolis to Newport Race.
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