Sailing out of Eastport Yacht Club in Annapolis, MD, over the May 19-20 weekend, Peter and Rachel Beardsley (Brooklyn, NY) and Simon Karstoft Jensen won the 2018 Viper 640 Atlantic Coast Championship…Beardsley’s second ACC win. The Championship’s two days’ conditions seemed as though they were from two totally different weather worlds. Saturday found everyone dress in full kit as rain drove away the wind after a single race. On Sunday, however, everyone broke out the shorts and sunscreen for four races in light-to-moderate winds. The wind shifted steadily left with plenty of holes and oscillations. It was a true test of “changing gears” as wind velocities were up and down in virtually every leg.
Beardsley’s GREAT SCOTT! took Saturday’s sole race by focusing as much on maintaining light air boat speed as staying in phase. After days of drenching rain, the runoff from the Severn River had became a factor in the racing. Dave Nickerson’s (Noank, CT) bow-down approach to light air speed plugged him into the second position in that race followed by local Geoff Ewenson.
Ashore, after drying out, the participants enjoyed a triumvirate of sailor grub: pizza, beer and chocolate cake!
As noted, compared to Saturday, Sunday’s weather was from a different planet. Sunny skies with temperatures in the 70s met the sailors as they sailed an outside course with winds that varied from 3 to 12 knots. In Race 2, Beardsley and eventual second place finisher Zeke Horowitz, led at the second windward mark and opted to gybe left after they set. As they sailed into a huge hole, the rest of the fleet found pressure to the right and race went to Nickerson and Ewenson. That was the last time either Beardsley or Horowitz would see many transoms; over the next three races, Beardsley finished 3-2-1 while Horowitz placed 1-1-2.
As the boats sailed back to Eastport Yacht Club, the scores were tallied showing Beardsley winning with 15 points, Horowitz winning a tie-breaker for second 21 points over Ewenson, and Nickerson just four points behind in fourth.
The Viper 640 Class Association would like to thank the Eastport Yacht Club for hosting an excellent regatta and “wrenching” as much racing out of the conditions they could. The Class will definitely be returning to Annapolis as the local Viper fleet continues to grow. And, hey, maybe there’ll be some chocolate cake left over!
ACC ChampsPeter & Rachel Beardsley, Simon Karstoft Jensen
EYC Cdre. Ed Wells, Emmy Stuart, Zeke Horowitz and PRO Sharon Hadsell
Geoff Ewenson, Curtis Hartman, and Mary Ewenson
Dave Nickerson, Andy Stoddard and Chris Annino.
