Will Logue from Riverside Yacht Club in Connecticut, USA clinched the 2011 Bermuda Open Championship by a narrow 3 point margin on Sunday. Logue was in a heated battle for the top spot all weekend with top female sailor, Justina Pacheco, sailing in the 54 boat Championship Fleet. All the glory came down to the eleventh and final race where Logue had to finish in front of the Dominican National Champion to claim the title. He did just that, securing a third ahead of her fourth place result. Logue who sails with Team LISOT in the U.S. adds the Bermuda Open title to his resume just weeks after winning the USODA Southeast Championship in Naples Florida. Jack Parkin, also from the Riverside Yacht Club, placed third in the 11 race regatta organized by the Sandy's Boat Club in conjunction with the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association. After losing Friday due to a brush with Tropical Storm Sean, sailors enjoyed steady 10 - 16 knot winds throughout the rest of the weekend in the Great Sound.
Top Bermuda Sailor Rory Caslin had a similar close battle with Chase Cooper and had to win the final race to secure the title of Bermuda National Champion which he did, finally placing eighth overall to Cooper's ninth in the Open series. Other major prize winners included Lucy Wilmot from the San Francisco Yacht Club who was awarded the Peter Mitchell Sportsmanship award and Top Junior (11 and under) was Ronja Gronblom of Finland. Top Bermuda Junior was Mikey Wollmann.
On the Green Fleet (Novice) course, Bermudian Sean Tucker was the top sailor followed by American Riley Kloc of Barrington, Rhode Island. Bermudian Jordan Etimadi was third. 30 sailors between the age of 5 and 13 took part in the ten race Green Fleet Regatta and Clinic in Hamilton Harbour. The clinic was run by "Green Fleet Guru" Tom Coleman and was sponsored by Riihiluoma's Flying Colours. All Green Fleeters were presented with medals of participation.
Government Minister for Youth, Sport and Recreation, the Hon Glenn Blakeney, JP MP was on hand at the Sandys Boat Club on Sunday evening to present the prizes to the deserving winners alongside Regatta Chairman Martin Siese. Siese congratulated the young sailors for a successful weekend of racing and thanked the volunteers and sponsors, Bermuda Container Line, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Bermuda Dept of Tourism, Salt Rock Grill, McLaughlin Boat Works, Barritt's and JSails.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Sunday Forecast
Marine Synopsis - High pressure now centered to our northwest will pass by to our north today, then continue on to our northeast. This high will maintain a ridge southwest across Bermuda as it moves away, providing mainly fair weather and light to moderate winds throughout the forecast period. The next cold front will move off the U.S. east coast Thursday and approach to our northwest.
Today - Winds northeasterly 5 to 10 knots, increasing 10 to 15 knots by this afternoon... Seas inside the reef 2 to 3 ft... Outside the reef 5 to 9 ft, decreasing... Sunrise: 6:46 am.
Today - Winds northeasterly 5 to 10 knots, increasing 10 to 15 knots by this afternoon... Seas inside the reef 2 to 3 ft... Outside the reef 5 to 9 ft, decreasing... Sunrise: 6:46 am.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Saturday Wrap Up
The Bermuda Open and National Optimist Championships got underway on Saturday, a day later than planned due to high winds from TS Sean which slid by the island on Friday. The event is hosted by the Sandy's Boat Club (SBC) and is run in conjunction with the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association (BODA).
Race Officer Peter Bromby started the day off setting the Championship course in Mangrove Bay, which was a new experience for the 20 locals as well as the 34 foreign guests making up the record fleet this year. A number of general recalls (false starts) forced Bromby to hoist the Blag Flag to keep the anxious sailors behind the line prior to the start. A Blag Flag Penalty is given to a boat who is over the starting line within a minute of the start gun. Boats getting one of these penalties must retire from the race by the first mark and are given maximum points. 14 such penalties were given in Race 1 which set the no-nonsense tone. Once the first race was completed, Bromby realized that he would need more space for the large fleet and headed to the Great Sound for 5 more races. The Great Sound provided ideal 8 - 12 knot conditions from the NNW.
At the end of 6 races American visitor Will Logue from Riverside YC in Connecticut finds himself at the top the leaderboard with 13 points. Logue was winner of the 2011 US Team Trials and was also the runner up at the U.K. Nationals this summer. Close behind is Dominican National Champion Justina Pacheco with 15 points, followed by Audrey Giblin of the Shewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club in New Jersey with 16 points.
Top Bermuda sailor and contender for the 2011 National Championship title is the RHADC's Rory Caslin who is in sixth place with 39 points. Chase Cooper of the RBYC is 2 points behind in seventh and Ceci Wollmann (RHADC) is in ninth with 51 points.
The 28 boat Green Fleet for novice sailors raced in Hamilton Harbour on Saturday. Part regatta and part clinic, the 'fun' aspect of racing is emphasized as sailors get pointers and encouragement from Tom Coleman, the "Green Fleet Guru" from the U.S. SBC Race Officer Lisa Siese completed 5 races. The RBYC's Grace Reeves is currently the leader with 6 points and has Jordan Etemadi right on her heels with 7 points. Jordan is the grandchild of RBYC Past Commodore Jordy Walker. In third place with 12 points is Sean Tucker, also from the RBYC.
Racing continues on Sunday. Prizes will be presented at the Sandys Boat Club starting at 5pm on Sunday.
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