NYYC Newport Race Week preview – Gunboat class adds variety and style

by New York Yacht Club on 6 Jul 2016 Among sailors, there is plenty of debate regarding what qualifies as a race week, let alone what makes one particularly noteworthy. The name signifies a temporal requirement—weekends don't cut the mustard—but there's more to it than four or five days of competitive sailing.

A centralized regatta hub, especially when it's located in an iconic sailing port, is a hallmark. Variety also seems to be essential. Just one class of yachts constitutes a championship, it's takes some diversity to earn entry into the pantheon of great yachting race weeks.

It's the latter area where the 2016 New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex, which will take place July 9 to 16 at the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport, R.I., is proud to keep pushing the boundaries. In 2016, the addition of a strong Gunboat fleet adds yet another element to what is already one of the most anticipated Northeastern regattas in even-numbered summers.

Four of the sleek, luxurious catamarans competed in the 162nd New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex in early June. For Race Week, the fleet has grown by 50 percent, adding a fifth 60-something-foot Gunboat and Fujin, a 53-foot catamaran designed by renowned high-performance guru Paul Bieker.

New York Yacht Club Vice Commodore Phil Lotz took possession of his Gunboat 60 Arethusa last summer, but Race Week will be just his second serious Gunboat event. A veteran one-design sailor who enjoyed regular success in the Etchells, J/105 and Swan 42 classes before purchasing his first catamaran, Lotz has enjoyed the transition to multihull sailing.

'In many ways it is more casual [than monohull one-design racing],' he says. 'But the group is trying to add a bit more structure on ratings and racing format, now that there are more boats racing a year-round calendar. I think everyone wants to keep it fun, with a good social scene and as much sharing of racing tips as of cruising tips and itineraries.'

But once the starting gun sounds, it's still a competition and no quarter is expected or given. Last month, while racing in the 162nd New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex against three crews that are intimately familiar with squeezing every last knot out of the Gunboat platform, Lotz and his team struggled to keep pace.

'The learning curve is steep,' he says. 'We learned a lot about our mechanics on board as well as how to sail the boat.'

And then there was the finish of the final race, sailed in a building northwesterly breeze that touched 30 knots on occasion. 'After the beat upwind to Beavertail in 25 to 30 knots, we were looking forward to a pretty fast reach to the finish off Fort Adams,' he recalls.'So we set up with our J1, which is the smallest reaching sail we have. Unfortunately the wind took a break shortly after rounding Beavertail, so we shook the reef and settled into an underpowered reach till we got about one mile from the finish, then the windspeed roared back over 20 knots. We had the perfect set up and angle; we crossed the line doing about 23 knots. The boat was stable and under control, and everyone had a big smile on their face.'

This coming weekend, Commodore Lotz and his team will aim for a repeat of that finish, only with a few more boats following in their wake.

In contrast to the sleek, modern Gunboats is the fleet of Metre yachts and classics that will also race during Part I of Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex. But much like the Gunboat owners, racing for classic yacht owners is as much about furthering the enjoyment of a special boat as the competition itself.

The fleet for Part I will include five S Boats (at left), a Nathanael Herreshoff design that is one of the world's oldest active one-design classes. Also bringing in a fleet is the 12-Metre class, whose place in sailing history is cemented by the design's use in the America's Cup from 1958 to 1987. Three of the six 12-Metres competing—Weatherly, Intrepid and Courageous—are former winners of the America's Cup.;

'I have always admired the grace and beauty of 12-Metre yachts from the shore,' says Jay Schachne, the skipper of Weatherly (below, sailing against fellow 12-Metre Nefertiti). 'They are truly majestic works of living, breathing art. But they must be more than preserved, they must be sailed.

'When we are racing hard, and the team is coming together, we all realize what an incredible privilege it is to try to make her go fast and in the right direction. No one ever really owns a boat like Weatherly. They maintain it and keep it pristine for the next generation. But I have to tell you, sitting leeward and driving upwind in the groove and feeling her responsiveness like a dinghy, I get a smile on my face that no one can wipe off.'