- Big Breezes and Big Thanks at the Sarasota North American Champs December 15, 2024
Flat water, gusty breezes, and BIG shifts— Viper 640 sailors had their hands full this past weekend.
With breeze ranging from 8 to 22+ knots it was all about keeping your head out of the boat, staying on the lifted tack, and nailing those gear changes.
Huge congrats to Mark Zagol, Drew Buttner, and Tim Desmond on NESS for taking the win. Their consistent sailing and sharp tactics in the final race secured the regatta victory. Past NA champion Brad Boston took 2nd just one point back. Shoutout to Geoff Fargo, North expert Jackson Benvenutti, and Spencer Steffen onboard Boomslang for their 3rd-place finish.
Amazing regatta, thank you to all the volunteers, competitors, race management, safety team and the Sarasota Sailing Squadron for hosting a perfect weekend of sailing. SSS has been an amazing host over the years and they are still rebuilding ...
...read more - The Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta returns to Miami for 2025 August 2, 2024
The Viper 640 class is invited once again to participate in this prestigious regatta.
Join us from March 5-8, 2025 and expect intense competition and thrilling finishes as top teams battle it out on the water. Don’t miss out on this unforgettable event! ⛵️🏆
Registration now open
...read more - From Kansas To Marblehead – Jensen’s lovin Vipering! July 31, 2024
Doug and Jay Jensen, a father/son team from Topeka, Kansas, jumped at the opportunity to race Viper 640s at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series at Marblehead Race Week. For these East Coast first times, the sailing is as sweet as the oysters served up by the class. Click on the image below to get their reactions to New England and the Viper 640.
...read more - Team Z Crowned Viper 640 New England Champs July 30, 2024
Since coming into the class a few years ago, Team Z has been a force to be reconned with. Helmed by Marek Zaleski with his father Chris and Jake Bradt as steady crew, their boat handling, course management, sailing handling, and willingness to share ideas with other Viperers have become an inspiration for the Class. Coming off their win at the 2024 Seawanhaka Viper 640 Open in June, Team Z with their stealthy all-black outfits were consistently atop the leaderboard in last weekend’s New England Championship sailed as part of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Marblehead (MA) Regatta. There was a strong 21-boat turnout for the Nes and the competition was pretty tight.
The waters off Marblehead Neck gave everyone two races on Friday and Saturday – of note there were four races with four different winners. Sunday, despite the best ...
...read more - Rolling Thunder Rides First Day Bullets to Victory at Southern Bay Race Week June 21, 2024
Hampton Yacht Club hosted its annual premier event, Southern Bay Race Week in early June. Hampton will be the site of the 2025 Viper North Americans in early October of next year. Nine Vipers sailed the Friday, Saturday, Sunday nine-race event.
Vir Menon, Brian Fox, and Marian Williams took all three of the Friday races in medium breeze to set the pace. The wind stopped cooperating in mid-afternoon and the fleet headed to the Goslings party ashore. Saturday brought similar moderate breezes with some larger shifts. The team of Mary Ewenson, Jane Moore, Rob Gorman, and Sarah Moore on Plymouth Satellite challenged, winning the last of three races. Mark Wheeler, Charlie Brewer, and Gordon Stokes saved their best for the last day notching two bullets and a second to come within two points of Vir Menon and team, but could not catch them.
Results
Vir ...
...read more - Lake Sunapee Invitational Regatta – Viper Mountain Climbing June 19, 2024
As reported by Event Chair Mike Deyett:
June 15-16, 2024
We had boats arrive from as far south as Virginia and as far north as Ottawa. This was not your local typical regatta. Lunches were provided both days and a spectacular dinner on Saturday overlooking Lake Sunapee and the surrounding Mountains. Most teams were provided a place to stay from one of our generous club members. Mike Lebov coined Lake Sunapee as “a summer sailing camp for adults.” I never thought of it that way, but after this weekend, it’s hard to disagree.
The inaugural regatta brought many firsts. Alexi Schwartzkopff skippered her first Viper Race in winds from 17-26 knots. She was joined by another first-time skipper, Anders Hudson, from Lake Keuka. Sal Rosen had a first in chartering Viper 83 for the summer. It was also the first time I’ve seen ...
...read more - Team Z Wins SCYC 2024 Viper 640 Open June 10, 2024
Oyster Bay treated Viper sailors to champagne sailing at the 2024 Seawanhaka Viper 640 Open, with Saturday’s winds ranging from 8-18 knots and Sunday’s first race ranging from 4-14 kts before the wind clocked right and built to a steadier 15-18 kts for the final race. Team Z (Marek & Chris Zaleski and Jake Bradt) towed their Viper across the Sound by water and sailed well all weekend to take the win. Team Z finished all seven races in the top three including four firsts.
Peter Beardsley captained a pick-up Glory Days squad that included a novice sailor competing in her first ever race to a respectable second overall, just ahead of SCYC Past Commodore JP Blaise with Dwight Leblanc and Tina Blaise.
Seawanhaka rolled out the blue and white carpet as usual, with a sumptuous post-race spread on Saturday night that ...
...read more - New Northeast Lipton Cup Interclub Challenge crushes it! May 21, 2024
May 18-19, 2024
Justin Scott has done more for the Viper 640 Class over the past two decades than anyone. Now he adds to his list of credits pulling off the first major interclub regatta in the northeast corner of North America. This event was hosted by the Noroton Yacht Club, Darien, CT.
Here’s Justin’s write-up on the event:
The Lipton Challenge Cups are one of the oldest one design competitions between clubs in North America. There are three Lipton Challenge Cups, one hosted on the Gulf Coast by the Gulf Yacht Association (GYA) since 1920, one hosted on the West Coast by San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) since 1904, and the new kid on the block launched with the blessing of the GYA and SDYC is the Northeast Lipton Challenge Cup.
Altogether, 45 clubs compete in the three Lipton Challenge Cups.
Held May 18-19, ...
...read more - Jimmy Praley, Austin Powers, and Max Vinocur take ’24 ACC May 6, 2024
This has been an impressive 12 months for Jimmy Praley, Austin Powers, and Max Vinocur and their Team Robot Flamingo. In September, the three won the ’23 North American Championship. Then, over the winter, they were on top for the Sarasota Sailing Squadron’s Viper Winter Series. Now, this past weekend, they turned in a dominating performance in Annapolis winning the ’24 Atlantic Coast Championship sailed as part of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series. Over the May 5-3 weekend, the Vipers competed in nine races…four of which Robot Flamingo won.
Jimmy, Max, and Austin came out of the blocks fast on Friday taking the first race and holding onto the lead through the regatta with all but two finishes in the top-3 for this no-throw-out event.
In the mix throughout the weekend, Glory Days, sailed by Jay Rhame and Rachel & ...
...read more - GYA ’24 Capedevielle Series opens May 3, 2024
Fairhope (AL) Yacht Club is hosting the Gulf Yachting Association’s Opening Regatta this weekend. Eleven club teams will be duking it out as the 2024 Capdevielle Series begins.
Team registered:
Pensacola Yacht Club
Bay Waveland Yacht Club
Pontchartrain Yacht Club
New Orleans Yacht Club
Fairhope Yacht Club
Gulfport Yacht Club
Mobile Yacht Club
St. Andrew Bay Yacht Club
Jackson Yacht Club
Southern Yacht Club
...read more - In March it was Back To Bacardi for the Vipers April 6, 2024
After a spectacular winter series in Sarasota, 23 Vipers migrated east to race in Miami in the Bacardi Cup from March 7-9. Day 1 found the boats ashore in the morning waiting for the breeze to fill in, but once it did, the fleet was off and running. Three races were completed on Thursday with some of the Class’s top sailors making their first venture onto Biscayne Bay. Returning back to the Bacardi bar Miami newbie Marek Zaleski (1-5-1) held a one-point lead over reigning NAs champ Jimmy Praley (3-3-2), but there was more sailing ahead. Also in the mix were Mary Ewenson and Mike Deyett.
In the first race on Friday, Zaleski’s Team Z had to retire followed by a 5-7 in the remaining races in the somewhat unusually moderate breezes on the Bay. Praley had a 7-13-3 day but commanding the day were Moise Solomon and ...
...read more - WA VIPERS TRAVEL SOUTH TO GEOGRAPHE BAY RACE WEEK February 13, 2024
Six Vipers from Fremantle’s South of Perth Yacht Club drove the 225 km south along Western Australia’s southwest coast and joined the 74-yacht fleet for Geographe Bay Race Week in February 2024. The Vipers sailed a 10 race, 3-day mini regatta. Day 1 saw gusty 20+ knot conditions which tested the crews and resulted in a number of wipeouts. The weather returned to pleasant with a 5 – 15 knot offshore breezes in warm sunny conditions for the following 2 days of racing. Racing was tight on the windward leeward courses with a number of different individual race winners.
After sailing, drinks at the “Shentika” bar led to presentations at the Geographe Bay Yacht Club and sampling of sponsor drinks from Shelter Brewing and West Winds Gin.
Congratulations to Rod Beurteaux, Jon Stubbs, and Simon Wilder on their win. Results below
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...read more - Jimmy Praley’s Team Robot Flamingo wins ’23-’24 Sarasota Winter Series February 13, 2024
The February 10/11th third stop of the Sarasota Viper Winter Series saw intense competition and impressive performances from the participating teams. Crazyhorse Mongoose, sailed by the Fanberg family team of Zak, Connor, and Anders, emerged as the overall winners. Team Robot Flamingo secured second place and Glory Days rounded out the podium with a strong showing that saw them never finish out of the top five in the 8-race event.
Sarasota continued to produce the goods in terms of winter sailing weather in Florida with a third weekend of ideal conditions for the Viper Fleet, with sunny skies and temperatures reaching 80 degrees both days. Saturday’s five races were sailed a southerly breeze of 12-16 knots, while Sunday’s three races offered full planning conditions for the 20-boat fleet with the breeze topping out with gusts touching 20kts.
The Sarasota Viper Winter Series, ...
...read more - Robot Flamingo continues winning ways in Sarasota. December 11, 2023
Sarasota Sailing Squadron
Viper 640 Winter Series #1
December 9-10, 2023
NEWS FLASH – SSS has expanded registration to 25 boats for January and February so there’s now room for you!!!
Sarasota Viper sailing is back and in epic form! The Sarasota Sailing Squadron was super excited to host the Viper 640 Winter Series again and the southwest Florida weather came thru in a huge way. Keven Eiber and Ed Furry teamed up on the PRO/Race management duties and utilized the MarkSetBots to perfection, running nine great races for the fleet. Under full sun with temps in the mid 80’s on Saturday, five races were run in 10-13kts, with the breeze moving from SE to SW over the time the fleet was out. Sunday saw a fresh 14-19kts (and fun gusts) with a solid and warm southerly for the final four races.
Reigning ...
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