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Bermuda International Invitational Race Week - Day One

by Regatta Press 30 Apr 2001 09:47 BST

Day one of Bermuda Race Week dominated by locals

Bermudians welcomed their guests on the first day of Bermuda International Invitational Race Week by taking the lead in five classes out of six in racing Sunday. Bermuda sailors took the early lead in the Sunfish, Lasers, Snipes, J-24 and Etchells classes. The IOD leader is Charlie Van Voorhis(Mattapoisett MA).

Racing got underway for keelboats at 11:05 on course Alpha and at 12:05 for dinghies on Bravo. Winds were 8-10 knots from the northwest with mares tails just forming to indicate more wind on the way. Clouds increased during the day and for race 2 the wind had built to just over 12 knots with whitecaps just breaking and the wind shifting more westerly.

The International Etchells raced one practice and one real race. Local sailors dominated by taking the first four places. Tim Patton led much of the way, but Paul Fisher was able to pass him upwind as they went through the IODs and J-24s on the second beat. Patton was forced to stay left while Fisher escaped his cover up the right side of the course. Fisher got ahead and in clean air. He had a temporary problem with a spinnaker wrap, but the crew worked out the tangle and protected their position. Fisher said he was happy with his boat speed and was looking for more good luck tomorrow. Patton finished 2nd, Andreas Lewin was 3rd and Star Class champion Peter Bromby was 4th.

The J-24 class sailed two races with Bermudian Jon Corless taking a 1st and a 2nd to lead Halifax sailor Sean McDermott who finished 5th and 1st. Coreless has 2.75 pts and McDermott has 5.75. McDermott , who is defending champion in the class, said he happily left behind the snow of Nova Scotia to sail again in Race Week. Coreless got an excellent start in Race 1 and went up the middle in clean air. He said he had good boat speed upwind and seemed to be faster downwind. He picked up 2 boats on the last downwind leg to move from 5th to 2nd at the finish. "New sails are working out well," he said, "and were looking forward to 7 more races." Don Wagoner(Phoenixvile PA) is 3rd and tied for 4th are Thomas Hakansson (Nova Scotia CAN) and Stuart Jardine (Milford-on-Sea, Hants UK).

The first IOD race went off smoothly with local Harry Powell leading the pack. He had a battle with Charlie Van Voorhis who got a perfect start at the committee boat and led around the first mark. By the 2nd weather mark Powell had taken the lead and went on to win. Van Voorhies finished 3rd. In Race 2, Van Voorhis got another perfect start but was led around the course by winner Bobby Napier (Stirling UK). Napier who had finished last in Race 1 finished 1st in Race 2 while Powell finished 1st in Race 1 and second to last in Race 2. Powell had been in 3rd at the third weather mark when Mike Burpee was knocked overboard on a jibe. Picking up the crewman cost him five places. Van Voorhis is in 1st , Peter McCausland (Wyndmoor PA) is in 2nd, Napier is 3rd and tied for fourth are Bruce Dyson (Rye NY) and Courtenay Jenkins (Owings Mills MD). Protests are pending following a three-boat altercation at the third weather mark.

On course Bravo the dinghies kept pace with locals domination the action. The 505s were scheduled to race but decided on just having a practice.Snipes, Lasers and Sunfish did one practice race then went at it for real.

Pre-race favorite in the Sunfish Malcolm Smith took 1st ahead of Donnie Martinborough (Nassau). They were followed by Martin Vezina and Jim Stuart. The Laser class saw Brett Wright take 1st. Todd Olson was 2nd, Ted Wood 3rd and Mile Lewis 3rd. All are Bermudians. Snipe class winnerin the 1st race was Stevie Dickinson, 2nd was Ian Brown (CAN), 3rd was BillWelch (St Petersburg FL) and 4th was Chris Hains (Oakville ONT).

Racing continues Monday with two races scheduled in all classes.

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