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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.

“It’s at a time of year where it seems a lot of things are going on, but it’s actually a weekend where you are looking for something,” said John Fryer (New York, N.Y.), who will sail on Rick Oricchio’s (Fairfield, Conn.) J/120 Rocket Science in the five-boat IRC class with such boats as George David’s (Hartford, Conn.) 90-foot Reichel/Pugh Rambler and Ron O’Hanley’s (Bosotn, Mass.) Cookson 50 Privateer.  Fryer alluded to the fact that many of the boats are “between regattas,” with this being good practice for the upcoming Vineyard Race.  “It’s like a long buoy race, with the weather mark being 40 miles away.”

Rocket Science did the Bermuda Race, which Fryer called a “drag race to the Gulf Stream and then a drag race to Bermuda.”  This event he describes as crocheting back and forth across Block Island Sound for some intriguing navigational challenges.  The race features a signature champagne finish inside Newport Harbor and was named one of Sailing World magazine’s “14 great events” in its guide for “The Ultimate Summer.”  (It is also a qualifier for the 2010 New England Lighthouse Series; Northern and Double-Handed Ocean Racing Trophies; and the US-IRC Gulf Stream Series.)

For the newly inaugurated Youth Challenge, six boats have turned out.  One of those is Phip Hallowell’s Quest 32 Jest.  Hallowell’s son Sam Hallowell, Dylan Scott and Casey Brown are no amateurs, as they are flying in today from a bid at the Sears Cup and will join 14-year-old Hugh McGillivray (three years their junior) to comprise the necessary 40-percent youth component on the team.  “These guys are all old hands,” said the elder Hallowell about his “kids.”  “Sam and Dylan will drive and Anson Stookey (the other adult onboard) and I will do the bow.”  Hallowell also said a dream of the young crew is to someday do the Volvo Ocean Race, “but they haven’t smartened up enough to know that’s really hard work!”

As for the ever-growing doublehanded class, new entrants William Marsh (Chatham, Mass.) and crew Bill Riley (also Chatham) know they have their work cut out for them aboard the Swan 44 Ruse.  “It was a thought that we turned into a goal,” said Marsh about their first-ever attempt at double-handing, with Riley adding, “We have a powerful rig, and the boat is very seaworthy over a distance, going well to weather, but perhaps on the downwind legs where we are setting and dousing, we might lose time by taking our time.”

For the first time ever, fans can follow real-time race tracking through Kattack LIVE.

KVH Industries (which made possible the follow- through on the tracking initiative and a new trophy for the Youth Challenge) is the lead Finish Line Sponsor while ATC Tech has joined veteran Starting Line sponsors North Sails and New England Boatworks. Contributing sponsors are Dockwise Yacht Transport, Gosling’s Rum, Mac Designs, Narragansett Beer, Newport Shipyard, Newport Tent Company, Rig Pro Southern Spars, Sea Gear Uniforms, and Z Blok. 

The 2010 Ida Lewis Distance Race includes divisions for IRC (five boats), PHRF (23 boats in two divisions) and Double-Handed boats (8 boats).

For more information, visit www.ildistancerace.org and its Facebook Page or contact info@ildistancerace.org.

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