Malcom Smith and his crew Damien Payne sailed to victory in the 2018 Edward Cross Long Distance Race that finished off the West End Sailboat Club.
Smith who was clocked at 2:19:21 had to hold off a strong challenge from Heath Foggo and his crew Stephen Dickinson who finished six seconds back and Rudy Bailey and his crew George Bailey finished third clocking 2:19:37.
The race got underway with boats tacking feverously with Smith first out of the channel, with Foggo second and Bailey third. Smith still had a lead when the boats made their way around Fort St. Catherine, with the final boat making the turn 31 minutes into the race.
At the 45 minute mark of the race, Smith, Foggo and Bailey continued their battle, off the oil docks with the remaining fleet led by Gladwin Lambert and his crew Stefan Maybury several boat lengths back.
One hour and thirty minutes in and Bailey had taken the lead with Smith second and Foggo third, the difference in the race at that point was the wind shifts with Bailey and Smith getting the better of the wind closer to the shore, while Foggo made a straight line for the finish.
Two hours in and things were very interesting Foggo although trailing kept his line but was picking up speed, while Smith had made a move on Bailey and go on top of him and was able to sail through and take control.
In the end the experience of sailing by Smith was able to hold off a closing in fast Foggo and claim the 2018 title.
2018 Edward Cross Long Distance Race
2:19:21 Malcolm Smith & Damien Payne – Summer 2:19:27 Heath Foggo & Stephen Dickinson – Kitty Hawk 2:19:37 Rudy Bailey & George Bailey – My New Mary 2:21:10 Gladwin Lambert & Stefan Maybury – Melody 2:22:09 Maxwell Curtis & Wesley Tucker – Rumor Has It 2:22:31 Rajae Woods & Cleveland Maybury – Outlaw 2:24:37 Quinton Simons & Gregory Proctor – Stir de Pot 2:25:20 Ross Smith & Ambyr Smith – Punisher 2:28:27 Anthony Smith & Winston Paynter – Rebel 2:28:52 George Hayward & Treshun Smith – Mai-Lucy 2:31:59 Zaniko Hendrickson & Randolph Joynes - Radical
Sunday, June 17, 2018
Bermuda Fitted Dinghy Racing Round Up
Racing in Mangrove Bay
IslandStats.com
There was plenty of action on the waters of Mangrove Bay as the Bermuda Fitted Dinghy Racing Season continued.
The day featured three different winners and two sinking’s in tricky conditions.
Elizabeth II out of the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club came away with the first win of the day to claim the Gilbert Bowl. Challenger II out of the Sandy's Boat Club would take the line honors in the second race of the day the Cambridge Cup race, while Victory IV out of the St. George’s Dinghy and Sports Club won the final race of the day winning the Sandy’s Boat Club Shield race.
Gilbert Bowl
1. Elizabeth II 2. Challenger II 3. Victory IV 4. Contest III
Cambridge Cup
1. Challenger II 2. Elizabeth II 3. Contest III 4. Victory IV - Sunk
Sandy’s Boat Club Shield
1. Victory IV 2. Elizabeth II 3. Contest III 4. Challenger II - Sunk
Saturday, June 16, 2018
Newport Bermuda Race 2018 Day Two
Newport Bermuda Tracker
IslandStats.com
Day Two saw the fleet of 169 boats in the 51st Newport Bermuda Race continue their track toward Bermuda.
Leading the pack is Rambler skippered by George David, David Askew sailing Wizard is second, while Warrior skippered by Steve & Stephen Murray, Sr. & Jr is currently in third place.
Sailors have been Texting and Tweeting, Andy Burton say’s Life on Masquerade is pretty nice right now. After an incredible cool night of sailing 8-9 knots through the stars, we are trying to keep speed above 6.5 with our tiny cruising kite. But the weather is sunny and warm and we’re not bouncing around too much. Sam Howell, our navigator is below trying to decide what we should do next. This is the kind of race that turns navigators into men’s hair club clients! Yesterday morning we thought there was a good possibility the race committee would have to postpone for lack of breeze, but it filled in and the start went off.
Friday, June 15, 2018
51st Newport Bermuda Race Underway
IslandStats.com
A light southeast wind and more than one knot of current flowing out of Narragansett Bay helped send the fleet of 169 boats in the 51st Newport Bermuda Race on their way.
Only one boat among the 170 entries in the race failed to start: Araucaria, a 55-footer sailing in the Finisterre Division for amateur boats using cruising sails. Setting a pre-race course past Whitehawk, the 105-foot starting line boat, a misjudgment of the current resulted in a collision between the boats and the retirement of the smaller.
During the starting sequence, a McCurdy & Rhodes 38-footer named Selkie came too close to Whitehawk, but after taking its penalty turns, Selkie was able to continue.
Class 15 in the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division, a group of high-tech, high-speed, professionally crewed boats, the 88-foot Rambler 88, a former record holder for the Newport Bermuda course, started a little behind several smaller boats but made its way through the middle of the closely packed fleet.
The race continues for the next three to six days, depending on the size of a boat and the strength of the winds between here and Bermuda. Currently, the forecast is for lighter winds.
“Preliminary projections are for a very strategic race,” Chairman of the Bermuda Race Organizing Committee Jonathan Brewin said in a press release, “which could involve several restarts when the wind dies and the fleet compresses.”
Thursday, June 14, 2018
2018 Annapolis to Bermuda Race Round Up
Bob Fox dramatically increased his chances of capturing line honors for the 2018 Annapolis to Bermuda Race when he took ownership of an XP 44 last month.
On paper, the performance-cruiser produced by X-Yachts was the fastest boat in the entire fleet. It proved a real challenge due to difficult conditions, but Fox skippered his new boat named SLY to the elapsed time victory in the 21st Annapolis to Bermuda Race.
SLY overcame extremely light winds during the early portion of the Atlantic Ocean crossing along with a couple nasty squalls between the Gulf Stream and Bermuda to beat a trio of Navy 44-footers into Hamilton.
SLY crossed the line at 1:18 a.m. on Thursday to earn the Charles N. Bozenhard Trophy as first to finish the biennial race, which began last Friday afternoon on the Chesapeake Bay. Greg Dupier served as navigator aboard the XP 44, which completed the 753-nautical mile course in 5 days, 10 hours, 43 minutes and 34 seconds.
“All things considered, I was really happy with the boat and the crew,” Fox said during a telephone interview from Bermuda on Thursday. “It certainly took a lot longer than anyone anticipated. We had hoped to get here on Tuesday night. We had some obstacles to overcome and ultimately I thought we sailed the boat about as well as we possibly could have.”
Tenacious, one of three Navy Mark II training vessels entered in the race, finished just shy of two hours behind SLY. Chris Cantillo, who graduated No. 1 in the Naval Academy Class of 2018, skippered Tenacious to an elapsed time of 5 days, 12 hours, 22 minutes and 30 seconds.
