Long Island Sound Championship

Storm Trysail Club and Riverside Yacht Club provided two days of quality one design racing. Eight J/105s turned out for this inaugural event which proved to be very challenging, testing all the competitors with an unexpected 15-20 knot easterly on day one with huge swells and a shifty northerly on day two. Competitors included new owners Kirk Stirland on Bangarang and Greth Lester who just purchased Ghostdog, but crewed with Paul Beaudin on loulou to get a crash course in 105 sailing and all the latest go fast techniques. loulou showed superior point and straight line speed in the first two windy races to take two firsts. Race three had Za Jellife on Arete take his first fleet win by successfully getting the jump on a big outside shift and staying spot on to hold off loulou. Riverside had one of the better apres race spreads with a complementary slider feast which included a variety like fried oyster and pulled pork sliders. Day two had lighter but extremely shifty conditions with the race course close to the lee shore. The Wilbanks family Revelation controlled the day taking race one after several lead changes in the 20-30 degree shifts, followed by loulou and Morning Glory. Loulou had what they thought to be a comfortable three-point edge going into the last race when a finishing boat in another class got trapped in the middle of the 105 start and tacked right on top of loulou off the line. This put them in the ‘way back machine’ well in last place, with Revelation, Bangarang and Arete launching into what seemed like an insurmountable lead. But the loulou team clawed back over 50 boat lengths to nip Arete at the finish and take the regatta by one point over Revelation. Carl Olsen and Morning Glory sailed a solid event for the bronze.