The entire fleet finished the 231 nautical mile leg within 45 minutes and 20 seconds of each other
Closest Finish in Atlantic Cup History
Newport Inshore Series May 25-26, Final Prize Giving May 26
by Julianna Barbieri
The Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing completed its second leg of offshore racing with #118 Bodacious Dream, skippered by Dave Rearick and Matt Scharl, crossing the Jamestown FiSH Finish line first with an elapsed time of 30 hours 9 minutes 39 seconds on Sunday, May 19, to complete the 231 nautical mile leg from New York Harbor to Newport, R.I. The race, featuring an international fleet of Class 40s competing in the only carbon neutral sailing race held in the United States, saw Bodacious Dream beat out #121 Lecoq Cuisine (30:14:38) by 4 minutes 59 seconds, followed 5 minutes and 12 seconds later by #106 Gryphon Solo 2 (30:19:50).
The second leg of the Atlantic Cup set sail at 2:05 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 19th from New York Harbor en route to Newport Shipyard with international competitors from the USA, France, Great Britain and New Zealand. After starting in a light southerly, the teams raced the entire way down the Jersey Shore in short course fleet racing mode. After the turning mark, the teams were within sight of each other through to the finish. The major decision of the race came at determining which way to round Block Island deciding on wind (to the east) or current (to the west). Those choosing to round Block Island to the west saw that decision pay off. The last five miles to the finish were incredibly tense as the first three teams to cross the finish line were separated by 10 minutes and 11 seconds.
Bodacious Dream skipper Matt Scharl: “We’re pleased with our performance, but it was a very tough race. Halfway through the second leg all the boats were within a half a mile. There’s just no let up, you just can’t take any breaks during the entire thing.”
Bodacious Dream skipper Dave Rearick: “It was a lot of hard work, we hung in there until the end and it turned out we came out on top”
Scharl added, “We wanted to go right from a historical point of view around the Island, but once we found that they (Gryphon Solo 2) were passing us going to the right, we threw up a spinnaker that we probably shouldn’t have that forced us all the way to the left and they (Gryphon Solo 2) let us go which is the miracle of the race.”
Comprehensive results available here: http://atlanticcup.org/race/
RESULTS FROM THE SECOND LEG OF THE 2013 ATLANTIC CUP
1st #118 Bodacious Dream – USA (Dave Rearick, Matt Scharl) 30:09:39 14pts
2nd #121 Lecoq Cuisine – USA (Eric Lecoq, Conrad Colman) 30:14:38 12
3rd #106 Gryphon Solo 2 – USA (Joe Harris, Tristan Mougline) 30:19:50 10
4th #54 Dragon – USA (Michael Hennessy, Rob Windsor) 30:27:28 8
5th #116 Icarus Racing – USA (Tim Fetsch, Ben Poucher) 30:37:36 6
6th #90 40 Degrees – GBR (Hannah Jenner, Peter Harding) 30:41:37 4
7th #39 Pleiad Racing (Ed Cesare, Chad Corning) 30:54:59 2
COMBINED POINT STANDINGS AFTER FIRST TWO LEGS OF OFFSHORE COMPETITION
#118 Bodacious Dream – USA (Dave Rearick, Matt Scharl) 28
#121 Lecoq Cuisine – USA (Eric Lecoq, Conrad Colman) 24
#106 Gryphon Solo 2 – USA (Joe Harris, Tristan Mougline) 16
#116 Icarus Racing – USA (Tim Fetsch, Ben Poucher) 14
#90 40 Degrees – GBR (Hannah Jenner, Peter Harding) 14
#54 Dragon – USA (Michael Hennessy, Rob Windsor) 12
#39 Pleiad Racing (Ed Cesare, Chad Corning) 4
