J/70 SAVASANA and J/105 MERLIN Win @ Sailing World Regatta Marblehead
(Marblehead, MA)- This past weekend, the trio of yacht clubs along the shores of Marblehead Harbor hosted their annual summer sailing festival known as the Sailing World Marblehead Regatta. The three famous clubs hosting the event were Eastern Yacht Club, with the support of Corinthian Yacht Club and Boston Yacht Club. The regatta featured many one-design classes, including the J/70 and J/105 classes. Here is how it all went down for those two fleets over the weekend of sailing on Massachusetts Bay.
J/70 Class
The fleet featured several of New England’s better J/70 teams. However, in the end, it was not entirely surprising that the “superstars” amongst the fleet would win quite convincingly: Brian Keane’s SAVASANA team of Conner Harding, Thomas Barrows, and Charlie McKee. They “whitewashed” the fleet with five bullets in 7 races!
Taking the silver medal with a rash of second places, and the only boat to “steal” two bullets from SAVASANA, was Paul Green’s PROGRESS crew of Stu McNay, Ron Weed, and Andy Nowak. While no “wallflowers” themselves, with some Olympians and pro sailors thrown into the mix, they could not match SAVASANA’s outright speed and tactical brilliance on the racetrack, finishing with 12 pts. Rounding out the podium to take the bronze medal with 24 pts was Patrick Andreasen & Tim Guy’s JUMPER along with crewman Nathaniel Morrissey.
J/105 Class
The perennially strong J/105 class in Marblehead continued to show why it’s one of the top fleets in America. However, for the first time in years, the J/105 also experienced a similar “whitewashing” of the fleet to that of their J/70 colleagues. Winning 8 of 9 races to finish with 10 pts to take the J/105 title was Charlie Garrard’s fabulous MERLIN crew of Jack Garrard, Alec Torrie, Scott Alexander, Gretchen Fisher, and Doug Dabin.
The balance of the podium proved to be a worthy battle between two local boats with strong crews. The silver & bronze medals were not determined until the last leg of the last race. Finishing the regatta strongly with a 1-2-2 tally, Ric Dexter’s BROUHAHA team of Anthony Warren, Nathaniel Herring, Bob Swirlbalus, Stephen Gleason, and Alison Dobbertin sealed the deal to take the silver medal with 27 pts. Just two points back to garner the bronze medal was Matt Herbster’s NO QUARTER crew of Julia Femino, Jonathan Dragonas, Charles Twombly, Noah Flaherty, and Ted Johnson.
For Marblehead regatta results
https://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu/50512
For more Sailing World Regatta Marblehead sailing information
https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series-marblehead/