- Mike Pentecost pulls off a tight weekend on Nice ASP to win the 2018 ABYC Turkey Day Regatta November 28, 2018
November 17-18, 2018
Reported by Nick Kofski
Alamitos Bay Yacht Club In Long Beach, CA, hosted their annual Turkey Day Regatta and was well attended with 12 Vipers showing up for great weekend of racing. Saturday had light to moderate winds with temps in the low 70s. The Ocean Course committee pulled off three races and, at the end of the day, there was a three way tie for first place between Mike Pentecost, Nick Kofski on FNG and Mark Folkman sailing Amateurs out of King Harbor in Redondo Beach. Three more races on Sunday and the breeze was a bit better but more of the same but in the end Nice ASP held off FNG to pick up the fattest turkey trophy by one point.
Big thanks to ABYC for putting together another awesome Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday night where staff and volunteers fed over 250 hungry sailors and race ...
...read more - Viper Fun at the 2018 Hampton Fall Fling November 7, 2018
Maximizing the northern sailing season before the migration south to Sarasota for the winter, the Viper fleet found its way to Hampton YC this past weekend to mix it up in the Hampton Fall Fling. In champagne to windy conditions over three days, the 9 boat fleet, which consisted of sailors of all ages and experience engaged in close, tactical racing out on the Hampton Flats.
The winners on the weekend, sailing their new boat Evil Hiss, were class veterans Mary and Geoff Ewenson sailing with their friends, and newbie Viperers, Dave Armitage and Erica Conway. Through good tactics and teamwork when it mattered, they edged out Meow!, which was sailed by Cole Constantineau, Dave Nickerson, and Marcelo Pereira (maybe we call the boat Mo Patched Up Grins right Meow!). Rounding out the podium was Vapor Trails, piloted by Mark Wheeler, Jeremiah (Miah) ...
...read more - Veni Vidi Vici — The Canadians came. They saw. They conquered! 2018 New England Champs October 16, 2018
The 2018 Viper New England Championship was conceived by Peter Beardsley as an informal local regatta to act as a rendezvous regatta that rotates around the New England Viper fleets each year. There is no perpetual trophy, the emphasis is on some great sailing and good friends from the North East Viper fleets getting together.
This year the event was hosted by Noroton Yacht Club where we are celebrating opening our new club house. We were thrilled to host 25 boats overall. A special feature this year was Class President Steve Chapman and team Oshunmare from Ottawa, leading a delegation of 5 boats to visit us from Canada.
The Canadians made their mark on the regatta. Team Jackpot from Sarnia (Brad Boston, Curtis Florence and Eric Vigras) won on the water, with Mo’ Grins’ Dave Nickerson and Moise Solomon and Mambo Kings Justin Scott ...
...read more - Brad Boston wins Viper 640 New England Championship October 15, 2018
October 14, 2018
Sailing eight races over two days, 24 Viper 640s competed for the 2018 New England Championship at Noroton Yacht Club on Long Island Sound in Darien, CT. Both days started off with the sailors having to bundle up as unseasonably cool temperatures were joined by variable winds for which the Sound is known. In the end, it was Brad Boston, Curtis Florence, and Eric Bigras with 15-points taking the regatta by a margin of twenty points over Dave Nickerson, Moise Solomon, and Scott Leming in second. Finishing a single point behind Nickerson in third was Viper International Class Chairman Justin Scott and Bill Nightingale with Will Felder and Maarten Eenkema van Dijk each splitting the regatta as Scott’s third.
Boston, from Sarnia, Ontario, summed up the event, “The racing was well run, Noroton Yacht Club’s new clubhouse is beautiful, ...
...read more - 2018 Vermont Voyage Validates Viper Verve October 3, 2018
Reported by Cole Constantineau- who loves alliterative headlines and personal names
Once again, the Lake Champlain Yacht Club, in Shelburne, VT, welcomed the Viper 640 fleet for another fun weekend of racing and comraderie. Twenty Viper teams duked it out on the water over seven races in quite variable conditions; the sailors also caught up over rigging, drinks, the LCYC fireplace, and the welcoming lawn in front of the club. The racing was extremely tight throughout the fleet, with several teams scoring some of their best regatta finishes ever; but it was Steve Chapman’s Oshunmare (with Quinton Gallon and Christophe Ledent) that came out victorious after the final race on Sunday.
Day 1 of racing saw the fleet sailed inside Shelburne Bay under clear skies and a howling northerly (25+ knots). By the time racing began, the winds had subsided to a ...
...read more - Mark Zagol wins Fishers Island Sound Viper Champs September 26, 2018
1 island. 2 days. 3 parties. 6 family teams. 9 Vipers.
September 1-2, 2018
Reported by Dave Nickerson
Perfect end of summer weather with breeze in the low to mid-teens for a 15 mile ‘Round Fishers Island course on Saturday. It was a quick 2.5 hour clockwise lap around Fishers with a shifty, tactical first beat to the east end and a long tight spinnaker reach down the south side of the island to Race Rock. The reach was exactly the kind of conditions where vertical rudders earn their keep. Vipers (largest of the 6 one design fleets racing) were the first 3 boats around the course. The fleet then took power boats over to Fishers for a great party at Fishers Island YC followed by a big dinner at the Nickerson’s back on the mainland.
Breeze was lighter on Sunday but allowed ...
...read more - Sarasota Viper Winter Series September 6, 2018
Having fun in the sun, with great people, on fast boats is what it is all about this time of year in Sarasota. Big thanks to Elliot Evins for his work in getting this video together! Music credit to Joakim Karud
2018-19 Sarasota Viper Winter Series is Locked and Loaded
The Red Tide is gone and Sarasota Bay is ready to hose some great winter Vipering again this year! Actually, Sarasota will be in popping up in your sailing news feeds here soon as the Sarasota Sailing Squadron will play host to the F18 Worlds next month in addition to Downtown Sarasota hosting the annual World Sailing General Conference.
The format this year will be very familiar to those of you who have made Sarasota your winter Viper home for the past 5 years. Three 2-day events (Dec, Jan, Feb) leading us back ...
...read more - Jeff Grange Viper 640 Pacific Coast Champ for 2018 August 22, 2018
Viper 640 Pacific Coast Championships – Cabrillo Beach YC.
This years Pacific Coast Championship did not disappoint. Conditions where perfect with the typical summer Southern California sea breeze. The fleet sailed in a variety of conditions from 10 to 18 kts. Racing was held outside in the ocean on Day One and inside the breakwater on Day Two. Both course locations made for exciting racing with lots of smiles in the Viper fleet.
Jeff Grange and his Team Venom, all hailing from Santa Barbara including Caden Scheilbauer and Tedd White, put on a clinic for the west coast boats winning 5 out of the 7 races. The podium was rounded out by Geoff Fargo’s Boomslang in 2nd and Jay Golison’s Its All Good in 3rd place.
Special Thanks to Mike Pentecost for putting together an excellent championship event. The Viper Fleet looks forward to ...
...read more - Tom Loutrel’s Choppy Seas Wins 2018 Marblehead NOOD July 30, 2018
July 28-29, 2018
Tom Loutrel, sailing with Hunter Stunzi and Jeff Frohock reclaimed this year’s Marblehead NOOD title, besting the 13-boat fleet by 8 points. Cole Constantineau, Robin Weatherill, and Niels Warburton ended the weekend in 2nd place, with Moise Solomon sailing with some Nickersons not named Dave (Dan and Sarah Nickerson Enright) rounding out the podium in 3rd.
Great conditions greeted the fleet on Friday, with moderate 10kt breeze propelling the fleet through a classic Marblehead combination of chop and swell. Downwinds were extremely interesting, with gains being made by boats that were best able to pop out and surf the right waves. Day 2 saw similar conditions, but with the final race ending with breeze topping 16kts on parts of the course. As they had done during the previous 9 races, Tom Loutrel’s Choppy Seas team sniffed out the breeze ...
...read more - 2018 North American Championship, Kingston, ON July 22, 2018
Great drone footage of one of the “lighter” days we enjoyed at the Kingston NAs. Some exciting mark rounding footage at the 3:00 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeJqh8oANIs
...read more - Buccaneer Yacht Club first to podium with all-women Viper 640 team July 17, 2018
Over the July 13-14, 2018, weekend, Mobile (AL) Yacht Club ran its annual Summer Regatta including both Capdevielle and Open Viper 640 racing. In the Capdevielle series, John Dane (Pass Christian Yacht Club) took the event by one point over Max Albert from Pontchartrain Yacht Club. A single point back in third was Gulfport Yacht Club’s Sam Vasquez.
While the Capdevielle racing was close and exciting, perhaps the biggest news is how the Buccaneer Yacht Club (Mobile) placed third in the Viper 640 Open Division with its all-women team. Led by Amy Kleinschrodt, Buccaneer was one of two all-women team racing (host Mobile Yacht Club was the other) in preparation for the GYA Knost Regatta.
Photo: BYC’s Lisa Huffstetter, Judy Giles, Amy Kleinschrodt, MYC Commodore Josh Murray, Georgia Huffstetter (who skippered her first Viper Race at age 13). Not pictured Ashley Kleinschrodt
The ...
...read more - Brad Boston, Lee Shuckerow, and Nick Lounsbury named 2018 Viper 640 North American Champions July 8, 2018
After four days of sailing in big winds and sixteen races, the team aboard JACKPOT won the 2018 Viper North American Championship. This is Brad Boston’s (Port Edward, ON) sixth title, having won many with his boat partner Lee Shuckerow (Detroit, MI); this is their crew Nick Lounsbury’s first North American title.
Boston’s team took the points lead as of Day 2 and extended their lead throughout the remainder of the championship. The event was sailed out of CORK/Sail Kingston and hosted by the Kingston Yacht Club who, together, staged a world-class regatta.
In addition to the podium prizes, the following awards were presented:
Top Corinthian Team – GREAT SCOTT! Peter & Rachel Beardsley and Jay Rhame
Top Masters Skipper (over 55) – Justin Scott
Youngest Competitor – James Owen
Furthest Traveled – Somers Kempe’s and Butch Agnew’s crews from Bermuda and Jay Golison’s crew from ...
...read more - Brad Boston sets his sights on sixth Viper 640 North American Championship July 7, 2018
The 36-boat fleet of Viper 640s, sailing out of Kingston (ON) Yacht Club and CORK/Sail Kingston in the waters where Lake Ontario meets the St. Lawrence, had a looooooooong day on the water for Day 3 of the 2018 Viper 640 North American Championship. The wind returned to the south and built from the low teens for the day’s first of five races to the high teens with puffs up to 23 knots. “Puffs? There were some pretty big ones!” noted Jackson Benvenutti who is crewing for Zeke Horowitz and sitting in second place. As the breeze built, the ideal flat water with breeze went away as the chop built, rewarding those who could skillfully manage the waves.
When the exhausted sailors returned to shore, everyone agreed that four races would have been just enough…but that the fifth race was epic. ...
...read more - Boston dominates Viper 640 NAs Day 2 as leaderboard shuffles July 6, 2018
It was “breeze-up at the Viper 640 North American Championship being hosted by the Kingston (ON) Yacht Club and being sailed out of CORK/Sail Kingston. Day 1 saw moderate winds from the south but Friday’s northerly came with a cold front dropping temperatures to the low 70s and increasing wind up to the mid-20s in puffs. Boats with lighter crew weights that enjoyed an advantage on Day 1 found today’s sailing a bit of a challenge. The northerly wind was full of puffs and holes at the bottom of the course with massive oscillations and shifts on the top half.
Brad Boston (Port Edward, ON) took over the lead of the 36-boat championship with a two-day 14-point total. Boston entered the day in second two points behind Jay Rhame/Peter Beardsley; but Brad reminded everyone why his name is on the North ...
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