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Ian Donahue Wins Opti New Englands
Zelda
Scores........Opti NE Home
Sail Newport and nearly 100 volunteers ran the 2004 Optimist New England Championship Regatta from it’s headquarters in Fort Adams State Park. 245 Championship Fleet Sailors competed in the Gold Fleet and 64 new racers took part in the Green Fleet for beginner racers. Sailors and their families came from 12 US States, the USVI, Canada, Barbados, Bermuda, Spain and New Zealand. Many of the World’s best Opti sailors took part in this championship, which started on Tuesday August 10 and ran through Thursday August 12. Newport Rhode Island and Narragansett Bay had fantastic sailing weather with 12-22 knots of breeze throughout the regatta.
Ian Donahue from Brigantine NJ came from behind in the final race to win the 2004 Optimist New England Championships at Sail Newport in Newport Rhode Island. Donahue had his work cut out for him in the last race of the New England Championship. After a very tough 1st race on Thursday where many competitors received Z Flag starting penalties, the outcome was in question until the results were read at the awards ceremony. Going into the final race of the final day of the Championship, Donahue, was in second place 2 points out of the lead. Sean Bouchard from Bermuda had 26 points, Donahue had 28 and Atlantic Brugman from Spain had 29 points. Of the three, Donahue was the only one with all top 10 finishes throughout the week. His streak would continue.
The last race was a tough one for Brugman and Bouchard, as both sailed races out of the top ten. Ian Donahue continued his form, capturing a 2nd place in the last race to launch himself in front of Bouchard for the overall title.
1 Ian Donahue: Brigantine NJ 31 points
2 Sean Bouchard: Royal Bermuda Yacht Club 38 points
3 Atlantic Brugman: Spain / GOST 42 points
4 Matthew Wefer: Sea Cliff YC/LISOT 42 points
5 Max Lopez: Raritan YC/SSYC 45 points
Top Female: Atlantic Brugman: Spain / GOST
Blue Fleet Winner: Matthew Wefer: Sea Cliff YC LISOT
White Fleet Winner: Raymond Bay: Severn Sailing Association/West River Sailing Club
Luke Adams (Middletown, RI) was the top Narragansett Bay sailor finishing 7th in Blue Fleet. Luke is a product of the Sail Newport Program and is on the Rhode Island Opti Team RIOT. RIOT is a group of atheletes from all over the bay that have been invited to team up to share coaching and to travel as a team to away events.
Full Results and Story at www.sailnewport.org
Volunteers from Sail Newport, Barrington Yacht Club, New York Yacht Club, Ida Lewis Yacht Club and Conanicut Yacht Club pitched in to help run the regatta.
The Event was the 3rd largest Optimist Regatta ever held in North America. The 2001 Nationals in Barrington RI and the recently completed Nationals in Belport NY were the only two larger than the 2004 New England’s.
The 245 boats in the championship fleets were split into 6 divisions. That allowed for approximately 80 boats on the line in any one start. Watching these atheletes compete at the highest level of their class is quite rewarding and I think that the sailors from around Narragansett Bay really learned a lot.
Primary Sponsors included: Crystal Spring Water, the Rhode Island State Yachting Committee, The USODA and their group of Platinum Sponsors.
The New England’s was a great event for all of the sailors and thanks go to all of the parents that make the Optimist Class so great. Without the support network of coach and MOM boats on the water, these mega regattas would not be possible.
Day 2 Mini Report
REPORT FROM THE FRINGE:::::
Received today from a parent of a first time red white and blue fleeter:
Our youngest just out of green fleet at the Nationals decided to move on to the "big league" at New England's.
At 53 pounds things were at best difficult for him on Wednesday. DNS/DNS/DNF/DNF=ouch.
But here is the good Story on Wednesday:
Race 8 / Flight 2 there goes ouor guy trying to "feather it" up wind. From the coach boat things looked OK as I looked up the course from the start of the 3rd flight. All boats had made it up to the weather mark and no boats capsized. Things turn interesting as we motored up to see where the little guy was.
To our surprise he was pasted to the weather mark. When I say pasted I mean like a wet napkin on the mark. He obviously thought the mark a good place to "rest the boat".
As we approached to ask if he was OK; as he bailed, he said that maybe he needed help getting the boat emptied of the 50-80 gallons.
He said yes but could he keep the fish?
What!
Dad I caught 3 fish when I swamped my boat.
No #$$%@ there were 3 fish swimming around the boat!
As the front of the 3rd flight were bearing down hard on him/ the mark we let him know that on the race course it is a "catch & release" policy! We chunked the boat into the inflatable and dumped the catch of the day. When he got home that evening he was so proud of trying to sail in tough conditions for him but he will never forget the day that
he was the only sailor to catch fish!
Oh to be 8 again!
The 2004 USODA Optimist New England Championships started Tuesday and continued today with perfect Southwesterly breezes of 8-18 knots. Green Fleeters led by Tom Coleman and Pam Kirk did an outstanding job of getting our first time racers some high quality races and they had some really fun clinics and games ashore. They unfortunately did not sail on Wednesday as the breeze was topping 18 knots in the Rose Island Course.
Full report to come......Green Fleet Scores
The Gold Fleet....After a long day Tuesday, the fleet was out there a bit later, but we still got 4 more races to give us a total of 8 races run for the Gold Fleet. Ron Hopkins and his RC team did a wonderful job of running races. Not one penalty flag was raised for any start! (AND ONLY 1 General RECALL) That has to be a new record. With a less than stellar forecast for Thursday, the regatta committee decided to keep the Red, White and Blue Fleets out for a fourth race in ideal Narragansett Bay conditions.
Full Report to come....All Scores
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Important Forms:
ALL SCORES
The Lay of the Land....Sail Newport's Site Map
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