Larchmont Race Week 2011 (July 23-24)

[Peter Beardsley]

With the country's newest Viper fleet at Larchmont YC, the Vipers finally, for the first time in the 113 years of Race Week, will get a start.  We're only racing the second weekend (July 23-24), so if anyone wants to come in as a tune-up for Marblehead NOOD, you should stop by.  At minimum, we'll have 6 Larchmont YC Vipers on the line (5 + Bliksem).  Entry fee is $75 for the second weekend. 

Online registration is available at http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=511

FAQs:
Q: I thought there wasn't any wind in Larchmont in July?
A. Not necessarily.  Historically the Etchells only race the second weekend of Race Week also.  Here's how many races the Etchells have completed in recent years: 2010: 8, 2009: 4, 2008: 4, 2007: 6, 2006: 4.  So there's always been some wind, and sometimes there is outstanding wind.  First warning is 1225, so at least you won't be drifting around all morning.

Q: Are there any good parties?
A: Yes.  Ben & Jerry's and Mt. Gay Rum are sponsors.  Unlimited free ice cream post racing (good for the family teams too).  At least one day per weekend has a Mt. Gay Rum tent.  This also means that there are red hats for participating teams with your entry fee.  Sunday afternoon everyone is on the lawn in full effect as LYC is under attack post racing, with the Club and RC firing cannons back and forth at each other to celebrate the end of the week.  It's quite the spectacle if you've never been.

Q: Are there cool trophies?
A: Yes, some 100-year old ones to be precise.  If there are enough Vipers to dwarf the other keelboat one-design classes, and if whoever wins is judged to have the best performance at Race Week, there's some significant hardware. 

Q: Can I leave my boat at LYC for the week between the end of Race Week and the Marblehead NOOD if I am traveling from down south and want to save some driving time?
A: Yes, probably.  We'll have to confirm, but we should be able to make that happen. 

Q: This is a multi-class regatta.  Will the Vipers get to start ahead of the other classes?
A: Yes, Vipers are the first start, and we'll have the "A" team out there on the RC end for Race Week for anyone who was confused about the Memorial Day courses or who wishes we had another race or two. 

Q: Will you guys have housing for visiting teams?
A: We'll do the best we can.  First come, first serve.  If you give us enough advance warning, we can probably make it happen.

Q: I want to sail, but need crew.  Do you have any spare crews?
A: Yes, there's no Vanguard 15 racing that weekend, so there will be a multitude of potential crews around who can hike hard all day.  Again, if you give us enough advance warning, we can probably make it happen.

[Peter Beardsley]

Now up to 6 entries, with at minimum 2 more who say they will be there from the LYC fleet, not counting the other WLIS boats and maybe a couple of other travelers.  Scratch sheet: http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_scratch_sheet.cfm?eID=511 -- register online -- late entry fee kicks in on July 15

[Peter Beardsley]

We have at least 2-3 more boats who say they are coming who will be registering shortly -- pretty close to double digits.  If anyone needs crew or housing, we will do our best to accommodate -- there should be a bunch of Vanguard 15 sailors around that weekend (future Viper owners -- some much sooner than others, possibly as early as 2012).  

Scratch sheet:
40 Bainton
69 Taselaar
94 Nye
95 Holden/Delany
121 Healey
159 Bauer
160 Carroll
161 Beardsley/Owen
162 Matthews
163 King/McKnight/Vucelic

[Peter Beardsley]

9 official entries so far for this coming weekend.  No Taselaar now unless plans change, which only means that the Race Week title is even more up for grabs!  If anyone wants to come down and race pre Marblehead, sign up and come over this weekend.  Preliminary forecast is warm, sunny and light to medium (or as Drew would call it "very light"). 

[Peter Beardsley]

Race Week recap
9 entries, racing only the second weekend of Race Week, with a dire forecast of high heat and low wind.  The battle of attrition began Friday night with boat 94 being stuck at work for the weekend and continued Saturday morning with boat 40 not wanting to tow to Larchmont to wait for wind in 100 degrees.  So we had 7, including all 5 of the candy-cane Larchmont fleet for the first time, plus visitors Joe Healey and Hale Holden/Greg Delany.  Saturday was as hot as advertised, but after a 90-minute postponement on the water (which had some SWer to practice in), a cold front passed to the south of Long Island at 2pm, allowing for northerly flow to develop and build through the afternoon for 2 very solid races (WL 2x around).  

The Vipers were the first class to start in the multi-class senior one design course (Etchells, IODs, Shields and S-Boats going off in 5-minute intervals), and the Vipers finished Race 1 as the first Shields were rounding the leeward mark.  There was a tight pack at the first weather mark, with Wild Hogs (159), Live Wire (121) and Eclipse/Red Stripe (163) enticing the pack to gybe to port early.  Vicious Panda (161) and Bob Matthews (162) continued on starboard, found a puff and a 25-degree lift to gybe onto the port layline and take 50+ boatlengths out of the leaders (top speed on the Novasail 360 was 9.2 kts what was at most 10 kts of wind), rounding 1-2 at the leeward mark.  Us Larchmonters are learning various Viper lessons the hard way, and Bob discovered the "don't put a giant cooler of water underneath the deck on the port side of the mast" lesson, and went from 2nd to 6th in the time it took to unsnarl the mess with the sprit.  Vicious Panda held on through the second beat and run to take the win, with Live Wire and Wild Hogs close behind.  

Race 2 saw the breeze edging more left, and Jason Carroll, fresh off his Melges 32 win in Italy, won the pin and got the first lefty to cross the fleet along with 121, 95 and 159.  The big black spinnaker on Argo (160) rounded with a sizeable lead at the first mark, which they held for the entire race.  Live Wire and Wild Hogs battled for 2-3 the entire race, with Live Wire extending on the second beat and final run, while Vicious Panda was unable to grind back past 4th.  

On Sunday, the RC postponed on shore -- cooler air temperatures by a bit, but the clouds kept the wind away.  At 1:30pm, the RC blew three horns, allowing everyone to watch the finals (LYC vs. NYYC) and consolation (St. Francis vs. Southern) of the Long Island Sound Challenge Cup team race from the lawn.  And of course, post 2pm, the wind filled to 10+ kts, as is the custom at Larchmont.  We'll work on race timing for future years.   Final standings below.  Next up for the WLIS Viper fleet will be YRALIS Champs at Indian Harbor Aug. 6-7, followed by a standard YRA Saturday on Aug. 13.  6-8 boats are expected out for each event.  

1. 121 - Live Wire - Joe Healey  4 pts (2,2)
2. 161 - Vicious Panda - Beardsley/Owen 5 pts (1,4)
3. 159 - Wild Hogs - Peter Bauer  6 pts (3,3)
4. 160 - Argo - Jason Carroll 8 pts (7,1)
5. 162 - TBD - Bob Matthews  9 pts (4,5)
6. 95 - Hells Bells - Hale Holden 12 pts (5,7)
7. 163 - Eclipse - Cam McKnight 12 pts (6,6)
8. 40  - Joe Bainton (DNS, DNS)
9. 94 - Jonathan Nye (DNS, DNS)