- Marblehead Vipers keeping it fresh… August 17, 2020
With COVID19 putting a hurt on the normal sailing season, the Marblehead Viper Fleet has been starting to return to a sense of normalcy. Since mid-June, the 6 (out of 10) local boats who felt safe to do so, have been out sailing with the Marblehead Racing Association. The fleet has had some great days on the water, with highly competitive racing. The teams on the water have been far more stable than in past years, with people wanting to maintain their ‘COVID bubbles’, a bit more shorthanded racing, and less recognizable than normal faces hiding behind masks; however, the sailing has been familiar: very close racing, fast and fun boats, and good socially-distanced camaraderie surrounding the Saturday’s racing… The local fleet is keeping things local this year through the end of September–keeping skills sharp for the next time we have ...
...read more - Southern Yacht Club Wins 2020 GYA Junior Lipton Challenge August 13, 2020
Gulfport Yacht Club, August 1-2, 2020
This year’s Junior Lipton Challenge was the 75th running of this historic regatta, one of the crown jewels of the Gulf Yachting Association’s Capdevielle interclub championship series. Hosted by the Gulfport (MS) Yacht Club with their Sailing Director and Viper sailor Sam Vasquez as Event Chair, the regatta reached its 6-race limit for the ten teams participating.
Of interest to those not familiar with the Capdevielle series, it is a twelve club-vs-club events with its own team composition requirements. For the six races sailed, any member can crew for all of them, but nobody can helm more than two races. This results in a cadre of sailors from each club participating with helms and crews jumping into and out of the boats constantly.
Saturday saw winds in the 8-12 knot range with Sunday’s wind peaking at around ...
...read more - Matt Kaplan and Harry Koeppel win Viper 640 2020 Atlantic Coast Championship – David Owen wins Larchmont Race Week August 13, 2020
Sailed over the first weekend of Larchmont Race Week, July 11-12, nine Viper crews contended with face masks, social distancing, and light, fickle Long Island Sound winds. In the end, however, it was the host Club’s Matt Kaplan and Harry Koeppel sitting atop the leader board and taking the win with a scoreline of 3-1-2-2. On the opening day, the light southwesterly wind that (at first) made the right side of the course look favorable proved to be a loss leader. Matt and Harry bailed out and went left on the first leg and were able to climb back into the hunt among the boats on the left. From there out it was a crap shoot to pick a side, look for pressure and, if possible, stay in phase.
Matt, a 2019 All-American from Bowdoin, and Harry, All-American Honorable Mention from ...
...read more - Announcing 2021 and 2022 World and North American Championships June 17, 2020
The LiveTiles North American Championship, scheduled for September 30 ,2020 at Noroton Yacht Club in Darien, CT, has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We knew that we could not expect teams from all over North America to make advance plans due to Covid-19 to travel to Noroton in September,” explained Steve Chapman, North American Class President. “With so much uncertainty about the situation postponing this year’s Championship was the right decision.”
The Class is pleased to announce, however, that the Noroton Yacht Club and Long Island Sound Viper 640 fleet will host a week of exciting events in October 2021.
The first Women’s Viper 640 International Championship will be held October 2-3, 2021. This is an open event for women-helmed teams, with entries expected from the U.S., Canada, Spain and Australia.
The 2021 Viper 640 North American Championship will be held ...
...read more - No such thing as a heavy weather gybe drop… June 5, 2020
Or so believes Peter Beardsley. But you know, having been there and having tried to do that, he’s right. Click HERE and read his whole story in the Viper Forum. Thanks, Peter.
Peter wrote:
Have been meaning to write this since after the February Sarasota event, but it seems like we need some content and as weather improves and people open up, maybe now is a good time to think about your boathandling and visualize some maneuvers.
Generally there are four types of spinnaker douses in Vipers:
Left hand turn (i.e., port rounding), coming in on port gybe = windward douse
Left hand turn, coming in on starboard gybe = gybe drop, aka “a Mexican” or a “Kiwi” (not sure on the origin of the Kiwi phrase – Mexican allegedly goes back to the 1992 America’s Cup when you did this takedown when the boat ...
...read more - Vipers returning to Miami next week as part of Bacardi Cup Invitational February 26, 2020
UNIQUE BLEND OF RACING AND SOCIALS WELCOMES INTERNATIONAL FLEET TO BACARDI CUP AND BACARDI INVITATIONAL REGATTA IN MIAMI, USA
More than 500 sailors to race on Biscayne Bay from March 1-7, 2020
For Immediate Release (MIAMI, FL.) United by an equal passion, more than 500 sailors from around the world will race in Biscayne Bay, Miami, at the 93rd Bacardi Cup and Bacardi Invitational Regatta from March 1-7, 2020.
Holding ninety-three years of tradition the Bacardi Cup is a member of an exclusive club of historic and long established sports events. First staged as a three-day regatta in Cuba in 1927, with less than ten Star boats, the event has grown year on year in partnership with BACARDÍ® rum, which has sponsored the event since its inception.
Offering a unique blend of world-class racing, atmosphere and social events, the Bacardi Cup and Bacardi Invitational ...
...read more - Ill wins Sarasota Viper finale, Benvenutti holds on for overall win February 11, 2020
Sarasota Winter Series Wraps Up
As reported by Steve Chapman
This past weekend was the final regatta of three weekends of the Sarasota Winter Series. This last event saw 14 Vipers sailing in great weather. The arrival of a cold front Saturday morning couldn’t keep the heat out of the sailing. With racing starting in 14 kts. and gusting to 18 kts., everyone had a chance to hike hard and have fun downwind. The wind eased all afternoon with the 4th race of the day raced in light 4-6 kts. It was all about shifting gears and adapting to the changing conditions all afternoon. Team Great Scott! (Peter & Rachel Beardsley with Jay Rhame) finished the day in the lead with an impressive 1-2-1-6, followed closely by Team Caterpillar (Peter Ill, Austin Powers, Alec Chicoine, and Abby Lockler, 6-3-3-2).
The North Debrief followed ...
...read more - Spectacular Conditions for Sarasota Winter Series #2 January 21, 2020
Sarasota Winter Series #2 is in the books, and once again the Viper fleet enjoyed spectacular conditions and very close racing.
Saturday came in with a bang. As we sailed out the channel and down to the racecourse it was straight into high speed running once we cleared the shallow area. After some aggressive starting practice, the fleet was able to begin racing in earnest. A smaller contingent of 15 boats escaped the clutches of winter from all parts of North America, and four races were completed in a forecasted right trending and fading breeze.
The big tactical question was when the shift would happen and whether there would be any breeze afterward. Each race had a different winner, and the very close racing meant, at the end of day one, the scores were very tight for the top spots. Race wins ...
...read more - Sarasota Sailing Squadron Viper 640 Winter Series – Weekend 1 Recap December 16, 2019
Early Christmas Present Sailing
Over the December 14-15 weekend, the seventh annual pilgrimage of Viper 640 and VX One sailors to Sarasota, FL, took place. In this, their version of a laidback winter series, those that made the trip were well rewarded by great sailing and great shore-side activities. Kicking-off on Friday night at Lynches Pub, the fun started off strong. The fun continued as 19 Vipers and 13 VX Ones sailed four solid races on Saturday in southwest Florida poster-worthy conditions: 12-18 kts with temps in the upper 70s. This was all followed-up with class debriefings, a group dinner, the perfunctory beverages, and a viewing of the Sarasota Holiday Boat Parade.
Sunday dawned crystal clear. When the 1000 warning signal went off, the fleet was greeted by an 8-12 kts easterly that allowed the sailors to rest their tired hiking muscles ...
...read more - The Viper 640s are headed back to Miami next March October 23, 2019
Don’t be left out. Make your plans NOW to be part of the Bacardi Invitational Regatta next March.
Viper Winter Cup – Monday/Tuesday, March 2-3, 2020
Viper Miami Scorch – Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Bacardi Invitational Regatta – Thursday, March 5 – Saturday, March 7, 2020 Info and registration HERE.
https://youtu.be/bcwu59_Op6M
...read more - Mo’ Grins Smiling after Lake Champlain Viper Open Win September 26, 2019
Lake Champlain Viper Open is in the Books
The Viper fleet has returned for a 6th time to the beautiful Lake Champlain for some top notch racing and hospitality. The driving force behind the event, the Hyerstay Family (Dale, Alice, and Jason) has once again rallied eager volunteers at Lake Champlain Yacht Club in Shelburne, VT, to organize perhaps the best ‘grassroots’ regatta in the Class. From the warm welcome on Friday night from Dale on the lawn in front of the Club, to the amazing hospitality of Club members who put-up the fleet for two nights of the regatta, to the ‘magic’ beverage coolers that seem to always stay full in Vermont, the event is just straight up ‘easy’ to do. The central location to many Viper teams is just right as well—we had 7 boats from the Marblehead fleet, ...
...read more - Marcus Eagan wins Viper 640 World and North American Championships August 25, 2019
Congratulations to Marcus Eagan, Andrew Eagan, and Jackson Benvenutti (Mandeville, LA) for winning both the Goslings 2019 Viper 640 World Championship and the 2019 Viper 640 North Americans. Hosted by Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (Long Beach, CA), the four-day Championship consisted of 13 races in atypical Long Beach conditions – light, 8-10 knots except for the final race on Day 2 and the last two on the final day when winds were mid to high teens. It was a regatta where sailors were faced with a wide range of conditions and those atop the podium had to be capable of dealing with them all.
Eagan ended with 33 points after five of the races atop the 41-boat fleet. In second was Geoff Ewenson (Annapolis, MD), Ryan Cox, and Jon Ziskind with 44 points having won an extremely consistent series with 11 ...
...read more - Sharon Green Photos from the Goslings 2019 Viper 640 World Championship August 25, 2019
Award-winning photographer did an absolutely superlative job capturing the color, flavor, and texture of the Goslings Viper 640 World Championship. Many have been posted in low resolution on this website and on Facebook, but if you want a photo from Sharon, simply click on this link.
2019 VIPER 640 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PHOTOS
Great images, great sailing, great Vipering!
...read more - Faces in the Crowd – Goslings Viper 640 Worlds August 24, 2019
From 1958 to 2006, in the back of Sports Illustrated was a column of editorial called Faces in the Crowd. These started out being the super stars…but transitioned into both pro and amateur athletes who made a difference in the world of sports.
In the world of sailing, particularly in the world of the Viper 640 World Championship, there are many Faces in the Crowd.
Award-winning photographer Sharon Green (UltimateSailing.com #ultimatesailing) has been capturing the faces of the 2019 Viper Worlds. Here are just a few:
...read more
