- Consistency pays off as Mark Wheeler wins Southern Bay Race Week June 27, 2022
Southern Bay Race Week
June 2-5, 2022
Hampton (VA) Yacht Club
Mark Wheeler, sailing with Charles Brewer and Austin Powers, gave a lesson in consistent sailing during this year’s SBRW. Tossing an eighth, in the nine scored races, Wheeler and crew posted five firsts, three seconds and a seventh for 18 points…a nine-point lead over Justin Morris in second with 27 points and Peter Ill in third with 31 points, one ahead of Henry Amthor.
Henry got off to a fast start and was winning after the first day; however, when Mark turned on the after burners in his VAPOR TRAILS with two bullets on Day 2, the lead changed hands for good. Also sailing an excellent regatta was Justin Morris winning three races and placing second twice.
Mark Wheeler had been close to winning in the past, but this regatta was his going away. ...
...read more - Grace Howie Wins 2022 Viper 640 Women’s Atlantic Coast Championship June 26, 2022
Day 2/Final Recap
June 26, 2022
Noroton Yacht Club, Darien, CT
From the moment the first sailors arrived at Noroton Yacht Club this morning, it was “iffy” if there would be any sailing. Flags all around were hanging vertically…but the forecasts said we’d have wind sooner than later. Oh, well, that didn’t happen.
Despite the Harbor Hurricane starting at about 1100, the predicted southerly never filled in on the Soud. It was a tease as for one moment it looks promising only to have any progress moving away. It was like Charlie Brown with Luch holding the football!
At 1300 PRO Howard Seymour and Event Chair Justin Scott blew three horns and hoisted November over Alpha.
Saturday’s three-race results stand with New Yorkers Grace Howie and Elizabeth Hupp sailing with Louisiana sailors Max Allen and Andrew Brennan winning the Championship with a 1-2-1 scoreline for four ...
...read more - Grace Howie leading Viper 640 Women’s ACCs after Day 1 June 25, 2022
Viper 640 Women’s Atlantic Coast Championship – Day 1 Recap
June 25, 2022
Noroton Yacht Club, Darien, CT
Here’s another regatta that felt the ongoing impact of Covid-19. Of the original 14 boats registered to sail I this Championship, only 11 made it to the starting line today due to numerous sailors testing positive for Covid.
For those that sailed, however, there were three races and the Race Committee under the leadership of PRO Howard Seymour wrenched all they could from the initially filling and then dying wind.
Despite the “Harbor Hurricane” everyone felt in the morning, the Long Island Sound was a wind dead zone. After a 2-hour postponement, racing got off in a 6-7 knot southwesterly wind. The originally set windward mark quickly turned into a near port tack fetch as the wind backed 30 degrees. Reset marks progressively moved left throughout the ...
...read more - June 23, 2022
Below are the Booking Links for both groups to begin making reservations.
Should guests wish to stay for the duration, they would need to make 2 separate reservations…
Book your group rate for Women’s Youth Viper 640 North American Championship
Book your group rate for Viper 640 North American Championship
COURTYARD GULFPORT BEACHFRONT
1600 E Beach Blvd.
Gulfport, MS 39501
...read more - Ewenson, Cox, and Hillmyer win 2022 Viper 640 Atlantic Coast Championship May 20, 2022
May 13-15, 2022
PHOTOS Courtesy of Spinsheet Magazine
Sailed as part of the 2022 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series, this year’s Viper ACCs were a light-air challenge, requiring expert boat handling, tactics, and the ability to change gears.
With Annapolis Yacht Club as the primary host club, most of the Vipers were across the Sevrin River at Eastport Yacht Club. If you looked at YachtScoring a few days before the event, you would have seen 27 Vipers registered, but thanks to everyone’s friend, Covid-19, a number of boats had to withdraw at the last moment creating a number of crew swaps resulting in hybrid crews.
The plan was to race three days sharing the same circle with the J/70s and J/30s. Interestingly, the J/70s have a 5-knot minimum wind speed for starting a race, and, at one point on Friday, when the wind ...
...read more - Vipers in Miami – The Bacardi Invitational 2022 March 31, 2022
Sunshine, warm weather and a strong sea breeze on Biscayne Bay welcomed a very international group of Viper sailors in Miami for the Bacardi Invitational Regatta. Add in the Bacardi hospitality and the night life in Coconut Grove and you have all the elements of a great sailing event.
We started the week with the traditional Miami Scorch, a fun race across Biscayne Bay to the Boaters Grill where we were warmly welcomed with cold beer and Cuban style seafood.
The return race (LeMans start) showed valiant seamanship as teams worked to fix inter-team attempts at minor sabotage while flying spinnakers out of the tiny harbor (the Mambo King turned into the Mambo Joker….).
The visiting teams from Ireland (perennial Bacardi participant Anthony O’Leary and his crew of Clive O’Shea and Neal Fulcher) on 296 and Italy (Oriano Lanfranconi and Giulia Puccetti, who ...
...read more - North Americans Registration Now Open March 30, 2022
Registration now open for the 2022 Viper 640 North American Championship.
Event Details
Coed Register Here
Women’s & Youth Register Here
...read more - 2022 Bacardi Invitational Regatta Final Recap March 18, 2022
Here is another amazing video from Miami courtesy of Skylla Filmworks. This really sums up what it is like to sail a Viper in Miami!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqK6jtNABNQ
...read more - Bacardi Invitational Regatta ’22 – Day 1 recap – 2 videos March 11, 2022
Front of fleet results were spread around, with a fairly even performance amongst the top boats on day one.
Three races down and their 1,4,5 scorecard gives Caterpillar’ helmed by Peter Ill the lead. ‘Evil Hiss’ who finished 2nd in 2020, under the expert helm of Mary Ewenson raced a solid series, picking up a win in race 2 to end the day in nd.
Escaping from the snow in Ottawa is Canada’s ‘Jackpot’ skippered by Van Sheppard, Brad Sheppard and Quintin Gallon, who have only recently started sailing together and compete for the first time in Miami. Crew member Quentin Gallon grinned, “We are loving the sunshine and loving the people!”
“We had a phenomenal breeze all day,” continued Gallon on their fifth overall. “Awesome races. As we sailed throughout the day we just got better. We found our starts were our key thing, just bow down ...
...read more - Vipers in Miami for Bacardi Invitational Regatta – Video Preview March 10, 2022
A Sweet Sixteen fleet of Vipers starting racing at the Bacardi Invitational Regatta today with results found HERE.
Check back every day for a video update.
...read more - A Down East Adventure in Vipers March 2, 2022
If you are among that cadre of Viper sailors who like to venture to beautiful parts of the world to race sail boats, and you are not averse to throwing in a couple of tablespoons of adventure on top, then the Viper trip to Maine this summer might interest you.
A group of Vipers is heading up to the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club Regatta on July 23rd -24th with the option to join a 2-day Viper Cruise and Scorch across Muscongus Sound from Boothbay to Port Clyde on July 25-26.
The Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club Regatta combines one design racing with the Shipyard Classic Yachts Regatta. There will be some great one design racing surrounded by some of the most spectacular vintage racing yachts on the eastern Seaboard.
Marylee : a Herreshoff One Design NY 40 foot class sloop built in 1926 is ...
...read more - 2022 ACC Registration now open! February 7, 2022
Viper 640 Class 2022 Atlantic Coast Championship will be part of the
2022 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series – Annapolis
Vipers will sail all three days
Registration is now open for Viper ACCs in Annapolis May 13-15 HERE.
...read more - New Class Rules effective 1/1/22 January 25, 2022
2022 Class Rules – plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (The more things change, the more they stay the same!)
In an electronic vote that closed on December 31st, the Viper 640 International Class Association members passed 21 amendments to the Class Rules with an average vote in favor of 89%. The rule amendments came into effect on January 1, 2022.
What has changed as a result of 21 amendments?
The answer is “Not Much.”
Many of the amendments were part of an effort to overhaul the existing rules to make them clear, simple, and easy to use. We hope the new lay out helps owners understand the rules and spend even more time sailing.
Plus c’est la meme chose
The Viper emphasis on simplicity, fun, one design, easy to sail, and affordable remains unchanged. The fundamental concept of racing the boat as supplied ...
...read more - Winning Thoughts – Sarasota #1 winners share their secrets December 17, 2021
One of the many things that distinguishes the Viper Class from others is the willingness of those at the front of the pack to share their techniques with those in the middle and bottom. This happened again in Sarasota. Here are a few words of wisdom from the top 3 finishers on how their regatta went. Hopefully you will find some hidden gems in these few paragraphs that will help you in the future.
1st place – NESS (#158) Mark Zagol
Viper Sailors…Just some thoughts from this past weekend in Sarasota on the starting line
So what goes into preparing for a good start or at least a decent start? Here are some quick thoughts.
Do some run throughs. Go upwind on Starboard tack from the boat end and the pin end, this should give you a good sense of your time and distance ...
...read more
