Longtime SA’er and Annapolis bowguy extraordinaire Owen Miller grabbed this overhead shot of the all-conquering Grundoon after her big win.. James Grundy went back to his classic Columbia 50 (after a mostly frustrating experience in his Carkeek 47) to get the big time silverware, taking first in class and first overall in the Bermuda Race.
The first year of multihull action at the Bermuda Race was mostly embarrassing thanks to Race Organizers rejecting the entry of the record-setting ORMA 60 ARETE. Yes – you read that right: this committee at the Crusing Club of America told the owner and designer of a well-maintained and raced version of one of the most lauded racing classes ever that he couldn’t enter a one-day long race to Bermuda from Newport. A boat designed and built in 2003 (by one of the world’s most experienced ocean racing designers) to cross the Atlantic Ocean with just one or two sailors aboard simply ‘didn’t meet the race requirements’ for ocean worthy boats.
We try to never overestimate the uselessness of the bluehairs that seem to run racing up in the NE, but this decision was one of the oddest we’ve seen. Is it possible they were protecting the 3 New York Gunboat owners from racing against a real racing multihull? Meanwhile, only one of the three Gunboats seemed to be actually racing: Jason Carroll’s Gunboat 62 Elvis beat in two other 60′ Gunboats – including a sistership – by one and a half days on a 3 day race. In the world of the CCA, this is apparently known as progress…
Meanwhile, in a seriously touchy-feely moment for us, the Mudratz won their class too. We’ll have more on them later this week.
