Edlu Race

They have done it again facing the most extraordinary odds. And they overcame all manner of challenges to pull off yet another stunning victory in their class and overall. The American Yacht Club Junior Offshore Team have seemingly made the extraordinary seem ordinary. After winning the Stamford Vineyard Race on a club member’s J/122 Patriot last year, they can now add first in PHRF 2 Class and first PHRF Overall sailing their J/105 Young American in the Edlu Distance Race. As a result, they also picked up the Commodore Wilfred Kluss Trophy for the PHRF yacht with the best corrected time. The Larchmont Yacht Club 60th Annual Edlu distance race was held on May 9 in pea soup fog with visibility of only about one quarter mile. Thirty seven yachts from 14 yacht clubs competed in six divisions of IRC and PHRF ratings. The course for the IRC and PHRF spinnaker boats was approximately 32 miles to Buoy 11B off Eaton’s Neck/Stamford. The non spinnaker division sailed a 16.4 mile course to the red bell off Lloyd’s Neck. The first start went off at 0911 in an easterly breeze of 8-10 knots with a flooding tide. The final boat crossed the finish line off the Larchmont breakwater just a few minutes before the time limit of 7 pm to hearty cheers from the Race Committee. The fog was the real challenge as several boats withdrew after reporting to the Race Committee that they had rounded the wrong mark due to poor visibility. According to Doug Mckeige, the “adult supervision” on board the J/105 Young American, “The kids really had a fun time sailing the race. It was quite a challenge for them, especially working on their charts, navigation, currents and strategy. My son Will was on board along with a bunch of his junior sailing buddies: Hector McKemy, Richard O’Leary, Malcolm, TJ and Chris. We mixed up the roles along the race to ensure everyone had a hand in trying the various roles on the boat. In the end, Will and Hector did most of the driving. It was tough on anyone wearing glasses to be peering through the thick fog for so long!” Whether they knew it or not, the Young Americans had another J/105 hot on their tail for most of the race, Za & Libby Jelliffe’s Arete, finishing only two minutes behind them to take second in Class/second Overall. George and Alex Wilbanks’ J/105 Revelation placed fifth. In the PHRF Double Handed division, only 47 seconds back on corrected time and placing third in class was Marcus Wunderlich’s J/105 Stratos. Two more J/105s filled out the top five, including Marc Berkowitz’s Clean Slate in fourth and Charlie Cannam’s Engarge in fifth.