2004 Photos by Cory Silken Photography Click his name to go to see more photos and purchase one of your boat.
Volkswagen Newport Regatta Wrap Up
Accelerated Racing and NO Traffic Jams
NEWPORT - Forget who won the first place trophies, this event was about all of the racing. Almost 800 sailors traveled to Sail Newport in search of spectacular sailing, challenging competition and a rigorous racing schedule. The race management team of the 2004 Volkswagen Newport Regatta provided all of that and more for the 146 races they ran in perfect New England summer sailing conditions for the 276 boats in the event.
Forget which powerhouse team raged through the Farr 40 fleet with a string of bullets (RIOT, Marc Ewing-IL), never mind the J/24 sailor (Anthony Kotoun- VI) who switched classes the night before the event and dominated the 61-boat Laser fleet, skip past the all-star line-up in the Etchells, 18HT and J/105 fleets, the real rock stars this weekend were "back-stage" at the Volkswagen Newport Regatta on the race committee running five circles of racing on Narragansett Bay. The accelerated racing format was run by the all-volunteer race committee for the 15 one-design classes and newly added PHRF Class. A remarkable 1,312 finishes were taken just on the dinghy circle by Sue Reilly and her team on the Nancy B signal boat. Other race officers included Peter Reggio as PRO and circle chairs Tom Duggan, Dr. Robin Wallace and Ron Hopkins
Sail Newport Executive Director, Brad Read says, "As race organizers, we have listened carefully to what the sailors want. Our race committee has a formula that works and we call it 'Accelerated Racing and No Traffic Jams'. Everyone says that the best race committee is made up of sailors and it's true. Our superior team is assembled with Sail Newport volunteers and volunteers from from five Narragansett Bay sailing clubs including Ida Lewis Yacht Club, Newport Yacht Club, New York Yacht Club, Barrington Yacht Club and Frostbite Yacht Club in Essex, CT."
This year's event marked the 20th Anniversary of the regatta which originated as a local Shields-only regatta. Today, the Volkswagen Newport Regatta is headquartered at Sail Newport's sprawling Sailing Center located on the southeast side of Fort Adams State Park in Newport Harbor. Sailors registered from 15 States and also Canada, Puerto Rico and Australia. A total of 150 volunteers were recruited to run the huge water and shore side operations.
Other Volkswagen Newport Regatta inside stats you need to know include: signal boats, weather mark, pin, gate and support boats totaling 27. Over 90 race committee professionals volunteered along with 12 judges and four scorers. In addition, it is estimated that anywhere from 50 to 75 mark sets were accomplished for the event.
SIDE NOTE: Classes included Farr 40, Frers 33, J/105, Etchells, J/24, Shields, PHRF, 18HT, Freedom Independence 20, J/22, 110, Club 420, Laser, Laser II, Vanguard 15, Laser Radial and Jet 14.
Register for the 2005 Volkswagen Newport Regatta
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