Larchmont Yacht Club
July 16-24
Sailed over the weekends of July 16-17 and 23-24, the historic 118th running of Larchmont Race Week concluded Sunday afternoon with the Viper class participating in the second annual Around Execution Lighthouse Race – a winner-takes-all event with Vipers, classic Herreshoff S-Boats, PHRF racers, and a Gunboat 62 sharing the same starting line.
Preceding that race, however, were three days of solid racing with 21 Vipers competing. From the first Saturday, it was David Owen sailing #222 Ghost Panda in the lead. With a 2-2-1 on the first weekend, Owen and team would never look back. Joined by boat partner, Peter Beardsley the second weekend, the duo managed to win both of Saturday’s races and placed 8th overall in the Execution Light Race.
In second, also with a consistently strong scoreline, were Cardwell Potts and Ted Ferrarone in #88. LYC Vice Commodore Andy Kaplan’s #122 Sizzler was third for the regatta helped by a second in the distance race. But the talk of the fleet on Saturday was that Bob McHugh in his new #252 caught the light breeze on the left side of the distance race’s first windward leg and rode that home to victory. Needless to say the traditional PHRF boats were not thrilled after their first handicap encounter with Viper 640s.
Future Viper Sailors???
It should not be overlooked that during the week between the senior Race Week events, Larchmont Junior Race Week was staged. Whereas in the past the typically light July winds on eastern Long Island Sound can literally take the wind out of the juniors’ sails, this year, there was wind in abundance for three days of racing for the 350+ juniors sailing Lasers, C420s, Pixels, and Fevas. That was followed by excellent conditions Thursday for the 150+ boat Opti Day. And, while there was no racing on Friday, LYC was still abuzz as LYC hosted the Storm Trysail Foundation’s Junior Safety-at-Sea Seminar for over 150 junior sailors.
