Pictures from the Sonar Long Island Sound Championships

Pictures from the Sonar Long Island Sound Championships at Noroton Yacht Club:

St. Francis burgee hanging in the clubhouse.

Team St.FYC: (left to right) John Collins, Cathy Hoyt, Holt Condon, Harrison Turner, Matt Gregory, Russ Silvestri, Peter Scott, Chris Smith

Hectic finish to Race 1. About 10 boats overlapped at the finish

Russ and his boat training in light air on Friday

Boat prep on Friday


More pictures are available HERE

Results are available HERE

St. Francis Team Racing

Sonar Long Island Sound Champs, Day 2 Recap

Day two of the Sonar Long Island Championships started out with more typical Long Island Sound conditions (read: no wind). The race committee at Noroton Yacht Club decided it was best to postpone the fleet on shore for half an hour. Once the AP went down we headed out to the sound only to find drifter conditions and another postponement. As we sat around, telling jokes, complaining that the coach didn’t have a wakeboard, and other tomfoolery the breeze started to fill in from the south.

The start line for race 3 of the regatta, race one of the day, was slightly skewed towards the boat end side. Russ and Harrison both started down at this end with Harrison being called over early. Harrison and the boats around him being over the line helped Russ to get a great lane out to the right side of the course as Harrison restarted and also headed out right. Russ rounded the mark in 3^rd place with Harrison in the middle of the 28 boat fleet. On the downwind leg, Russ and Harrison passed boats, Russ passing one to move into second and Harrison passing 4 or 5 boats to get into the top half of the fleet. On the second upwind, Russ extended on the fleet and Harrison made a big charge back into the top 10 of the fleet. On the last downwind, the boat in 1^st place jibed away at the top mark which allowed Russ to sail right past him into the lead. Russ finished the race strong and took the bullet. Great job Russ. Harrison found a nice lane of pressure on the downwind and moved into 7^th place for the race.

After the first race the race committee announced that they were getting set to do another race but because it was getting later into the day, Team St.FYC decided it was time to head in and de-rig the boats. Russ was sitting in 1^st place overall when we left the course and Harrison was around 6^th or 7^th overall. It was a good thing that we decided to call it early as we heard there was a large shift on the last race and a nice squall to greet the sailors as we pulled out of the parking lot and they pulled into the dock.

It was a great event despite the lack of breeze and we hope to do more in the future. Thanks to St.FYC for allowing us to do the event. Big thanks go out to John Craig for setting up our coaching and setting up the charter of the boats. And also a big thanks to the Lotz’s from NYYC for letting us stay at their great house in New Canaan.

Sailing for Team St.FYC on Sonar 753 was Russ Silvestri with crew John Collins, Holt Condon, and local sailor Cathy Hoyt. Sailing on Sonar 752 was Harrison Turner with crew Matt Gregory, Chris Smith, and Peter Scott.

Stay tuned for photos from the event!

St. Francis Team Racing

Long Island Sound Champs, Day 1

Hello race fans! Team St.FYC is coming to you from Darien, CT for the 2010 Sonar Long Island Sound Championships. The team is using the event as a training event for the 2010 NYYC Invitational Cup qualifiers which is later this summer in Sonars. Sailing for Team St.FYC is Russ Silvestri with a crew of John Collins, Holt Condon, and local star Cathy Hoyt. On the second boat is Harrison Turner with crew Matt Gregory, Peter Scott and Chis Smith.

After some boat maintenance including a thorough sanding job on the bottom of the boats, the team went out for a quick training session on Friday. The wind was out of the southwest at 3 knots (and that is being generous). We learned a lot about how much little movements in the boat and on the sail plan affect the boat speed. Coach Ed Adams set a mark and we did some simple mark roundings before the wind finally had enough and totally quit on us.

We arrived to the boat park on Saturday morning to a "typical" Long Island Sound setting... no wind and perfect water skiing conditions. The race committee posponed the racing on shore for about 2 hours before the seabreeze started to fill. The first race was run in an easterly breeze at about 5 knots. Russ and his his team started towards the boat and went out right on the first beat while Harrison won the pin end and headed out left. Russ and his team found themselves in 3rd at the first mark while Harrison did not get to the pressure at the top right of the course and found himself around 11th at the first mark. On the run Russ and another boat extended from the pack while Harrison ground down the leaders. At the leeward mark, Harrison found a great hole and snaked the inside on the mark, passing 5 boats in the process and escaping to the right side. At the 2nd weather mark, Russ was comfortably in second and Harrison was in 4th. Harrison passed another boat on the last downwind and finished 3rd while Russ held on to 2nd place.

After the first race, the breeze quickly shifted from an easterly to the natural sea breeze direction of south. The breeze also came up a bit to 7 knots for the start. Unfortunately, the current was coming down the line which forced the fleet over for 5 or 6 general recalls. The committee became impatient and threw up the black flag. This is what was required as the first black flag start was all clear and we were off racing. Russ and Harrison were at the middle of the line, towards the pin end. Russ got away clean while Harrison had to do a clearing tack. Both boats then headed for the right side. Because Harrison had to duck so many boats while Russ crossed them, Russ was in a far better position. This was also complicated for Harrison as he felt he was tacked on by everyone on the starboard tack layline. Russ rounded the first weather mark in 3rd and Harrison rounded near the back of the fleet after a tough windward leg. On the run, Russ extended while Harrison passed a few boats. Things did not change much during the race except for the breeze dying. Russ finished 3rd in the race and Harrison caught up a few boats and finished in 17th.

After the first day, Russ is sitting in 2nd overall with a 2-3 and Harrison is in 8th with a 3-17. As I type we are sitting on the shore here at the Noroton Yacht Club waiting for wind again. Hopefully we can head out racing before the front passes through and we miss our flight home.

Until next time,

St. Francis Team Racing