Our friends at Stamford Yacht Club in Stamford, Connecticut hosted the 55th edition of one of the best events on Long Island Sound, the Valeur-Jensen Stamford Denmark Race, on September 13.
Rick Bannerot of On the Fly Photography shot these great photos, and Race Chairman Ove Haxthausen reports.
Vikings Ho!
By Ove Haxthausen, Race Chairman
On Sunday, September 13 at 10.25 AM, Principal Race Officer (PRO) Ray Redniss aboard On The Line sounded the first signal of the 55th Valeur-Jensen Stamford Denmark Race. Eighty-three boats had signed up in ten divisions, up from last year’s numbers, despite the pandemic. And with a partly covered sky, dry weather and a southerly breeze in the mid-teens, sailing conditions were perfect.
The boats ranged in overall length from 23 to 53 feet. A race for everybody from the small coastal cruiser/racer non-spinnaker with a limited crew to the large, fully-crewed, spinnaker-rich ocean racers, and everything in between.
Nineteen of the boats had also sailed in the Vineyard Race the previous weekend. Of those boats, thirteen had sailed the full Vineyard Course and qualified for the Redniss Cup, named in honor of Stamford YC’s Ray Redniss, longtime PRO of both events. The idea of the Cup is simple: If Ray can run both events back-to-back, you can sail them too!
By 2 PM, all boats had finished the race and were heading back to their respective ports. Because of the pandemic, all social events ashore had to be cancelled, including the traditional race dinner Saturday evening and the popular post race lawn party. At 6.30 PM, Redniss announced the race winners in an online virtual awards presentation. During the presentation, race sponsor and SYC member Peter Hansen also talked about the exciting plans for next year. Plans include a “Friendship Cup One Design Regatta” series with the Royal Danish Yacht Club, with racing in Denmark, as well as in Stamford in conjunction with the annual Stamford-based Denmark Race.
Results highlights: Stamford YC won back the King’s Memorial Cup from defender New York Yacht Club for the club with the best performing boats, and James Coffman’s Hanse 375 Gemini from Cedar Point YC and NYYC won the Redniss Cup. SYC’s Fantasy Girl, a Danish-made X-332, won both her PHRF class and overall PHRF performance for the regatta. While Peter Hansen’s J111 Wild Child didn’t make it to the podium, she indisputably won the sartorial prize for her crew donning Viking helmets on the race course.
Thank you to all race volunteers, sponsors and participants for a great event!
For the full list of race results and perpetual trophy winners, please go to www.yachtscoring.com and type in “Denmark Race” in the search bar.
