Bruce Kirby (at left) for whom the Kirby Cup is named, with the winning team from Vineyard Haven Yacht Club Copyright 2019, Photo courtesy of Rick Bannerot/OntheFlyPhoto.net
Noroton Yacht Club in Darien, CT hosted the 2019 Kirby Cup Team Race on the weekend of October 5 & 6. With champagne conditions and many of the top team racers in the country doing battle in Sonars, the regatta was an amazing boat handing skills, attacks, defenses and general mayhem, with hardly a clatter of fiberglass and nothing busted in two days of playing chicken on Long Island Sound.
After a perfect southerly that built to 10-15 knots on Saturday, sailors were greeted with a typical puffy and shifty north-northeasterly on Sunday morning that tested the race committee and racers alike. The Noroton YC race committee did a great job of managing the super-shifty breezes and had the marks constantly dancing back and forth to keep an approximate rectangle/parallelogram fair for the competitors.
The regatta went to three full round-robins, and congratulations to the team from Vineyard Haven Yacht Club for the tie-breaking win. Larchmont Yacht Club finished second, with the home team taking third.
The regatta was sailed in beautiful fall conditions. Copyright 2019, Photo courtesy of Rick Bannerot/OntheFlyPhoto.net
Results
- Vineyard Haven YC
- Larchmont YC
- Noroton YC
- Pequot YC
- New York YC
- Seawanhaka Corinthian YC
A huge thanks the many who made this event possible:
- Regatta co-chairs Michael Rudnick and IG Schottlaender
- PRO Glenn Morrison and the Race Committee for staying on top of a lot of shifts and ripping current to get off 45 races
- Chief Umpire TK and umpires Lee Morrison and Michael Rudnick, who were accompanied by competitor umpires
- Sailing Director Connor Brady, who handled bosun duties and also manned a mark boat
- The 12 Noroton YC Sonar owners who graciously loaned their boats to make this event possible
- The Spadtasitcs, for a great night of live music on the Noroton YC Terrace following a perfect sunset buffet after sailing on Saturday
- All the sailors, whose sportsmanship and camaraderie made for an enjoyable and competitive regatta
It was great to have legendary Sonar designer, Sailing Hall of Famer and longtime Noroton YC member Bruce Kirby present the awards. At age 90 Kirby is physically failing, but he was hell-bent on being there both days to greet sailors and attend the awards ceremony.
Founded in 1928, Noroton Yacht Club is dedicated to promoting family participation in sailboat racing and recreational sailing. To learn more, log onto nototonyc.org. ■
