Dorade wrapped up the Around The Island Race portion of the NYYC Annual Regatta presented by Rolex today. The 19-mile course took the team and the rest of the fleet around Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay.
Though the day started with a strong northwest breeze (between 10 and 15 knots), about three quarters of the way through racing, the conditions took on a lighter tone and the fleet began to condense off Castle Hill Inn in Newport, R.I., all reaching the finish line at about the same time. Results have not been posted yet.
Dorade was doing great all the way around the course, well in front of the rest of the fleet except the gunboats, who passed the team as they rounded the island toward Fort Adams. Then suddenly the breeze died and Dorade was parked up with the gunboats until the rest of the fleet caught up with the team for a finish that was a first for everyone concerned. Dorade was less than a boat length from a dozen boats, all at once, on all sides, all converging on the same finish line. There were more than a dozen protests and at least two boats (no less than Carina and Courageous) that ended up on the rocks. The team was grateful to make it through unscathed and is looking forward to another day of racing tomorrow.
“We probably had about 60 boats finishing at the same time,” said Dorade Boat Captain Rasmus “Razz” Bregenhoj. “However, we were able to finish the race unscathed. Overall it was a great day on the water and we learned a lot.”
This weekend, the team along with the rest of the fleet will shift gears to compete in buoy to buoy racing. Dorade will be competing up the Bay in the Classics Class, racing around government marks.
Stay tuned for race updates this weekend on our website as well as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.