Overall honours to Ptarmigan

Larry Dickie's Ker 43 wins the Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race

For a 67th year, the Storm Trysail Club’s Block Island Race, which started on Friday at 1400, was a good excuse for sailors to start the long Memorial Day weekend early. And no team was more pleased with how their holiday sailing went than Larry Dickie’s aboard the Ker 43 Ptarmigan, which won its class and took overall honours in IRC after making the traditional 186 nautical mile voyage from Stamford, Conn. (where host Stamford Yacht Club is located) to Block Island Sound, around Block Island, and back.

A total of 84 boats participated, with nine classes (seven IRC and two PHRF) sailing the traditional long course while a third PHRF class tried out this year’s new 'all inside' Plum Island Course (126 nm) option.

“The first two-thirds of the race was medium air so it provided good fair sailing for everyone,” said Dickie, adding that his team’s big break came on the way back into Long Island Sound when they began to match race two Ker 50s, Arthur Santry’s Temptation–Oakcliff and Larry Huntington’s Snow Lion. “We had sent a guy up the mast looking for wind bands,” explained Dickey. “We saw the Ker 50s near shore and figured since they were in our (IRC 50) class we needed to at least go cover them. Little did we know they were leading at the time. Even though we are a newer design, they are faster in a lot of conditions, so we had to make up our difference with smart sailing.” (Temptation–Oakcliff and Snow Lion ultimately finished second and third in class, respectively.)

For Ron O’Hanley’s team, which won IRC 0 class aboard O’Hanley’s Cookson 50 Privateer, it was all about calling the breeze, which he described as “higher than expected but incredibly variable within even short distances.” While typically this race is won or lost on making the correct call on exiting or entering Long Island Sound through either Plum Gut or “The Race” or even Fishers Island Sound, this was not so much the case this year.

“We kept extremely close to shore to minimize current on the way out (through the The Race),” said O’Hanley. “Coming back (through Plum Gut), the current was on the nose but just changing, so we really never had to worry about it.”

The team did “park up twice” because of no breeze and watched the King’s Point entry Conviction, an IRC 52, catch them from five miles behind. “They very smartly sailed very close to the Long Island shore until almost abreast of us,” said O’Hanley, “but the three-quarters of a mile (lateral) distance between us was enough for us to get started up quicker when a new breeze came. It was a nice win, especially since it was fairly miserable fog-wise, so it’s nice to do well when you have to endure those conditions.”

George David’s 90ft Rambler was the first boat to finish, a bit after 1330 on Saturday, and the last boat finished at 1715 on Sunday. Dickie, in addition to claiming the William Tripp Jr. Memorial Trophy for best corrected time in IRC Fleet, also claimed the Harvey Conover Memorial Overall Trophy, awarded to the boat that has won her class and, in the judgment of the Flag Officers and Race Committee, had the best overall performance. In PHRF, the Beneteau First 36.7 Shooting Star, skippered by Steve Cain, won the Terrapin Trophy for best corrected time.

The Block Island Race was first held in 1946 and is a qualifier for the North Ocean Racing Trophy (IRC), the Double Handed Ocean Racing Trophy (IRC), the New England Lighthouse Series (PHRF), and the Gulf Stream Series (IRC). The Block Island Race is also a qualifier for the Caper, Sagola, and Windigo trophies awarded by the YRA of Long Island Sound and the Tuna Trophy for the best combined IRC scores in the Edlu and the Block Island Race.

Overall Results

IRC - Doublehanded (IRC - 10 Boats)
1. Paladin, J 35, Jason Richter , Mt Sinai, NY, USA - 1; 1
2. Oakcliff, Ker 11.3, Michael Tolsma , Haledon, NJ, USA - 2; 2
3. Mireille, J/120, Hewitt Gaynor , Fairfield, CT, USA - 3 ; 3

IRC 35 (IRC - 10 Boats)
1. Dreamcatcher, Swan 48, Stephen Kylander , Hingham, MA, USA - 1; 1
2. Lora Ann, Express 37, Richard Du Moulin , Larchmont, NY, USA - 2; 2
3. Glide, J 42, C. Tanner Rose, Jr. , Palm Beach, Fl, USA - 3; 3

J/44 (IRC - 5 Boats)
1. Beagle, J 44, Philip Gutin , New York, NY, USA - 1, ; 1
2. Charlie V, J 44, Norman Schulman , Glen Cove, NY, USA - 2; 2
3. Vamp, J 44, Leonard Sitar , Holmdel, NJ, USA - 3 ; 3

IRC 40 (IRC - 10 Boats)
1. Christopher Dragon, J 122, Andrew Weiss , Mamaroneck, NY, USA - 1; 1
2. Lapin, Beneteau First 40.7, Chris Clark , Greenwich, CT, USA - 2; 2
3. Old School, Farr 395, Ganson Evans , Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, USA - ; 3

IRC 45 (IRC - 14 Boats)
1. Barleycorn, Swan 42, Brendan Brownyard , Bay Shore, NY, USA - 1; 1
2. LIR, Swan 45, John McNamara , Darien, CT, USA - 2; 2
3. Dragonfly , J 130, Colin McGranahan , Larchmont, NY, USA - 3; 3

IRC 50 (IRC - 8 Boats)
1. Ptarmigan, Ker 43, Lawrence Dickie , Greenwich, CT, USA - 1; 1
2. Temptation - Oakcliff, Custom Ker 50, Arthur Santry - Oakcliff Sailing , Arlington, VA, USA - 2; 2
3. Snow Lion, Ker 50, Lawrence Huntington , New York, NY, USA - 3; 3

IRC 0 (IRC - 4 Boats)
1. Privateer, Cookson 50, Ron O'Hanley , Newport, RI, USA - 1, ; 1
2. Conviction, TP52, Jon Singsen , Kings Point, NY, USA - 2; 2
3. Rambler, RP 90, George David , Hartford, CT, USA - 3 ; 3

PHRF 2 (PHRF - 7 Boats)
1. Threebeans, Santa Cruz 37, Christopher Rosow , Southport, CT, USA - 1; 1
2. Dragonfly, J/109, Skip Young , Guilford, CT, USA - 2; 2
3. Leverage, Schock 40, Arthur H. Buhr III , Port Washington, NY, USA - 3; 3

PHRF 1 (PHRF - 13 Boats)
1. Shooting Star , Beneteau First 36.7, Steve Cain , Larchmont, NY, USA - 1; 1
2. Kyrie, Tartan 4100, John DiMatteo , Centerport, NY, USA - 2; 2
3. Gadzooks, C&C 38, Geoffrey Beringer , Darien, CT, USA - 3; 3

PHRF-PI (PHRF - 3 Boats)
1. Terrapin, First 40.7, Paul Dunay , Cos Cob, CT , USA - 1; 1
2. Flashpoint, J 100, Adrian Little , Westport, CT, USA - 4/DNC; 4
3. Penguin, Pearson 35, Steven Dane , New York, NY, USA - 4/DNF; 4

67th Block Island Race – Overall Trophies

George Lauder Trophy - Best performance by a Vintage boat (15 years old +)
HIGH NOON Peter Carey/Sam Hallowell

Commodore's Grail Trophy - Best corrected time in IRC below 1.08
LAPIN Chris Clark

Governor’s Race West Trophy - Best elapsed time in the IRC Fleet
RAMBLER 90 George David

William Tripp Jr. Memorial Trophy - Best corrected time in the IRC Fleet
PTARMIGAN Larry Dickie

Terrapin Trophy - Best corrected time – PHRF
SHOOTING STAR Steve Cain

Governor’s Race East Trophy - Best elapsed time – PHRF
LEVERAGE Arthur H. Buhr III

Gerold Abels Trophy - Best Performance Double-Handed
PALADIN Jason Richter

Roddie Williams Team Race Trophy
Storm Trysail Blue CHRISTOPHER DRAGON/SNOW LION/CHARLIE V

Tuna Trophy - for the best IRC combined scores in the Edlu (40%) and the BI Race (60%)
PTARMIGAN Larry Dickie

Commodore's Trophy - To the boat that has won her class and has beaten the 2nd and 3rd place boat by the greatest margin of time.
BEAGLE Philip Gutin

Harvey Conover Memorial Overall Trophy - Awarded to the boat that has won her class and, in the judgment of the Flag Officers and Race Committee, had the best overall performance.
PTARMIGAN Larry Dickie