Sailors from all over the U.S., Barbados, and the U.K. traveled to Newport to participate in this weekend’s DF95 National Championship at Sail Newport. Entrants were required to qualify at regional events to earn a berth in Newport for the remote-controlled sailing event.

Today was the last day of the three-day series of racing.  October sailing is considered premium from local sailors, and this weekend did not disappoint with a variety of challenging conditions for the sailors.

Today, the reliable Newport sea breeze delivered nine knots of southerly and steady wind, which built to an average of 14 knots at the end of the race day. Five more races were completed, bringing the series to a total of 14 races of four flights each.

The racing took place adjacent to the Sail Newport Sailing Center.  A crowd gathered to watch the intense competition of tiny boats zip across the water in Brenton Cove.

After Brad’s first-place win, Ken Read won second place, three points behind his younger brother.  Brian Shores (Lakewood, TX) won third place, with Peter Feldman (Harrison Township, MI) in fourth and Tony Gonsalves (Bridgetown, Barbados) in fifth.

Among the fleet, the racing was tight at the starts, around all of the marks, and across each finish line.

Perhaps the fiercest competition was between the two brothers, Brad and Ken.  Both world class sailors, with dozens of regional, national, and world championships between them, the Newport sailors were embroiled in a racing duel right to the end.

Brad won the day Friday, Ken overtook the first-place position Saturday,  It came down to the final day of racing today to determine  which brother would emerge victorious.

“After the first race today, I felt like I was going pretty quick and I didn’t have to take chances,”  Brad says about his strategy to retake the top of the leaderboard.  “I was pretty conservative at the start and didn’t battle at the windward end, where all the congestion was.  I stayed away from people,” he says.

In the first two races, Brad got around the top mark in the top three, which would position him to keep the pressure, score well and ultimately win the regatta.

The racing continued to be a drag race though, as Ken had a couple of comebacks to close the gap and finish well in the last few races.  It still wasn’t enough to take first place back, as Brad cinched the national championship before the last race was called.

It’s been a lifetime of training and fun rivalry for the Read brothers.

“I’d like to think that Kenny is so good because I push him. But certainly, I would not be nearly as good as I’ve gotten without him pushing me. The local fleet is just so good and so deep that we’ve all gotten better together.  But certainly Kenny pushed me super hard, and the success I had this weekend was due to the push,” Brad adds.

The Newport Model Sailing Club, which co-hosted the event with Sail Newport, fleet burst in popularity during the COVID pandemic as a weekend sport.

“I had no idea what we were doing at first. But, it’s addicting, I love it, and it’s made me a better sailor,” Ken, who was recently inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame, says.

“Remote-controlled boat racing makes my sailing on big boats better because it makes you sharper.  You have to do everything,  and you have to figure out whether your leverage is good or bad and ask, Am I taking too much of a risk? Am I not taking enough of a risk? What about the start? Should I have a conservative start? Should I have an aggressive start? You have to do everything,” Ken says.

“It’s like being back to being a solo sailor versus sailing on the big boats that I sail on all the time. When I get on the big boats, I understand everyone’s job better,” he says.

Brad agrees and adds, “You are a helmsman, a tactician, jib trimmer, main trimmer, you’re everything about what makes a sailboat go. To me, that makes us better sailors,”

“We expect the remote-controlled sport to continue to grow and come back to Newport with more events,” he adds. Sailing in legendary Newport is epic for all sailors he says and the race committee skill is second to none.”

As one visiting competitor put it,  “Oh, we’ll be back, It’s like walking into Fenway Park for us.”