The Storm Trysail Ted Hood regatta held Friday, Aug. 15 through Sunday, Aug. 17 was an opportunity for 27 boats in five divisions to race on one line, with three different courses. This meant that, to the observer, the horizon resembled five very different races going on the same board or playing field.
The race committee did a spectacular job not only running so many different boats on one line, but they pulled off six races altogether, three each day on Saturday and Sunday and a pursuit race on Friday.
For the uninitiated, running so many different boats through one starting line with three separate courses is a daunting task, but as many agreed Ted Hood would have loved it for its innovation and sheer beauty, seeing so many boats racing close together.
“Ted Hood would have thought the challenging courses were great,” said Susie Schneider, executive race officer at the Eastern Yacht Club. “He would also have enjoyed seeing a lot of young people out racing and getting more experience on the big boats.”
Ward Blodgett and his team on his J33 Sirocco placed third in the PHRF 2 division, with the Beneteau 36.7 Agora owned by Tom Powers and David Crimmins placing second. Jud Smith placed first on his Farr 44 Africa B Squad.
“Ted Hood would have loved what he saw out there today,” said Blodgett, who raced on Saturday and Sunday. “The one to beat in our division was Jud Smith, and I believe that Ted Hood might have been the only one who could have done it today.”
Winner Smith also agreed that Hood would have really loved the conditions. Bill Kaull, who raced on board Alan McKinnon’s Swan 53 Triology, in PHRF-1 agreed that the kind of boat on which he raced (a Swan 57) on the shorter course, with young people operating the foredeck, would have delighted Hood.
Kaull, Smith and Blodgett were all around 17 to 22 years old in 1974 when Hood won the America’s Cup. Like many their age, Hood was a very big influence on their lives, and they raced in part to honor the contributions Ted Hood made to the world of sailing, knowing that he always loved great competition on any given day racing on Marblehead waters.
In the J70s fleets, Marblehead’s own Jim Raisides and Charlie Pendleton placed first with 13 points, followed by Tyler Doyle in second and Dave Franzel in third place. Pendleton and Raisides felt like this regatta was great preparation for the J/70 worlds in Marblehead in September.
“There were a lot of shifts, and we could play the shifts, and the steady breeze definitely kept our boat speed up,” Raisides said. “One other factor is we have been sailing for five years with the same crew, and we feel that has a lot to do with it.”
The top finisher in the PHRF-1 was Tim Guy on board the IMX 45 Lynx with 10 points, beating Gary Weisberg and Bump Wilcox on Matt 120 Heat Wave, who finished second with 11 points, and Eben Moulton on his Swan 42 Revolution.
In the J105 fleet, the win went to Matt Herbster on No Quarter, second place went to Ric Dexter on Brouhaha and third place went to Marty Galligan on Atalantia.
