Sixth Edition of Ida Lewis Distance Race
Friday, August 20, 2010 Newport, RI
The 2010 edition of the Ida Lewis Distance Race will feature a 177nm and 150nm race course over some of the most storied and beautiful sailing grounds in the world. With a spectacular start off Fort Adams in Narragansett Bay, the race includes turning marks at Castle Hill, Brenton Reef, Block Island, Montauk Point, Martha's Vineyard and Buzzards Tower on its way to a signature champagne finish inside Newport Harbor off the historic Ida Lewis Yacht Club.
The race's sixth edition is scheduled for Friday, August 20 2010, with classes for IRC, PHRF (including Cruising Spinnaker and a new Youth Challenge), One Design (including Club Swan 42) and Double-Handed boats of 28 feet or longer. It is a qualifier for the New England Lighthouse Series (PHRF); the Northern and Double-Handed Ocean Racing Trophies (IRC); and the US-IRC Gulf Stream Series.
Friends and family are invited to the Awards Ceremony on the deck of the Ida Lewis Yacht Club during a Barbecue Fest Saturday evening.
Put the date on your calendar!
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Shortened Courses Deliver
Overnight Challenges, Satisfaction
 NEWPORT, R.I. (August 22, 2010)—George David (Hartford, Conn.) was shocked at how much wind there was during the sixth annual Ida Lewis Distance Race, even if 17 knots is nothing compared to what his crack crew aboard the 90-foot Rambler has endured before on its many race outings around the world. When Friday’s (August 20) 1p.m. start had to be delayed an hour due to a dieing gradient wind, David wasn’t hopeful that the shortened 122-nm course set for his IRC class would offer much in the way of thrilling winds, but Rambler wound up averaging an impressive 10 ½ knots of speed throughout 12-plus hours of racing, finishing at 2:18 the next morning and correcting out two hours ahead of Ron O’Hanley’s (Boston, Mass.) Privateer.
“We put ourselves in the right places most of the time,” said David, explaining that wind in the teens appeared mostly between turning marks at Montauk and Noman’s Land, and the rest of the legs had navigator Matt Wachowicz and tactician Peter Isler collaborating doggedly on weather transitions, avoiding light spots and determining whether going north of Block Island rather than south had its benefits. Turns out it did—Rambler and a few others in the 36-boat fleet that chose that route gained considerably—and for its spot-on decisions Rambler received the event’s Navigator’s Award in addition to trophies for best elapsed and best corrected time in the five-boat IRC class. Read More
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Ida Lewis Distance Race
High Noon Start Will See
36 Boats on the Line
 NEWPORT, R.I. (August 19, 2010)— At high noon tomorrow (Friday, Aug. 20), the sixth annual Ida Lewis Distance Race will see 36 IRC, PHRF and Doublehanded boats on the line for what organizers expect to be a 150 nm course out to Block Island and back. With winds forecasted at 6-12 knots, the Race Committee has banked on the smallest boat finishing before 1800 on Saturday night, just before a full-on Finish Line party—for competitors and club members—commences at the Ida Lewis Yacht Club to top off the event. The event has come a long way in six years, with subtle tweaks aimed at attracting a bigger field, and it seems to have worked.Read More
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Ida Lewis Distance Race earns
"Great Event" Designation
Countdown to Early Entry Deadline
 NEWPORT, R.I. (August 2, 2010)— Less than three weeks away, the annual Ida Lewis Distance Race is making an all-call for early entries with discounted fees (through this Friday, Aug. 6) and is preparing for its sixth running on Friday, Aug. 20, starting at noon off Ft. Adams in Newport, R.I. In June, the event, hosted by Ida Lewis Yacht Club, was named one of Sailing World magazine’s “14 great events” in its guide for “The Ultimate Summer.” The designation came in large part because the event starts when Newport’s busy sailing schedule is actually winding down, and it offers two race courses--the 177 nm Montauk course and the 150 nm Block Island course)--which, as Sailing World reports, “has developed a loyal following of IRC rockets and PHRF warhorses.”
New This Year
The addition of a Youth Challenge has attracted teams like Greg Manning’s aboard Sarah, an X-41 that won its class and finished second overall in this year’s Newport to Bermuda Race. Including Manning and his son Benjamin, the team will consist of six kids, ranging from ages 14 to 18, and five adults, meeting the majority-youth crew requisite.Read More
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Sponsorship Support from
KVH Industries
Enhances Racing Experience
NEWPORT, R.I. (June 8, 2010)--Fans of the annual Ida Lewis Distance Race, which is scheduled to begins its sixth edition
on August 20 off Newport, R.I., will have a new way to follow the action and a new trophy to cheer for, thanks to KVH Industries. The company, headquartered in Middletown, R.I., and known globally for its mobile communications solutions for commercial, leisure and military markets, has signed on as one of the major “Finish Line” sponsors of the event in support of two new initiatives: the use of Kattack LIVE (not affiliated with KVH Industries) for bringing real-time race tracking to the Ida Lewis Distance Race website and the commissioning of a new perpetual trophy for the PHRF Cruising Spinnaker Class. The trophy will be named after Arent H. Kits van Heyningen, age 94, who is a member of host Ida Lewis Yacht Club and finished third among 17 entrants in the PHRF Racing Class in 2009, sailing with his son, Robert W.B. Kits van Heyningen, aboard his IMX 45 Temptress. Read More
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New Youth Challenge Introduces
Juniors to Offshore Sailing
 NEWPORT, R.I. (March 4, 2010)--Junior sailors from Narragansett Bay and the surrounding region will be able to extend their summer sailing season this year by 150 miles. The Organizing Committee of the Ida Lewis Distance Race has announced the introduction of its Youth Challenge--aimed specifically at introducing junior sailors to offshore sailing--for this year's sixth edition of the race, scheduled to start on Friday, August, 20, 2010.
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