Two of three podium positions for this double hander were powered by UK Sailmakers.
The Bitter Ender Race, co-hosted by Larchmont Yacht Club and the Storm Trysail on Saturday, October 19, was aptly named for most years. Mid-October conditions on Long Island Sound tend to be chilly and windy (the Bitter reference) and this is the last major Long Island Sound race of the season (the Ender). This year’s race retained its Ender status; but the conditions were far from Bitter.
In that this was only the second running of the Bitter Ender, not everyone is aware of its unique configuration. First, it’s a double-handed race. That’s not so unusual; however, whereas traditional races start at specific times, the Bitter Ender uses a “starting window.” With the course announced the evening before, sailors are able to combine wind speed and direction projections with current shifts to optimize exactly when to start during the 4-hour starting window.
This year’s starting window opened at noon with the start set right off the Larchmont Breakwater. Given the forecast for very light winds on Saturday, the race committee decided that a third, shorter course would be sailed. The longer course options are 82 and 60 nm, but reflecting the forecast, a third, 32 nm course was designated, sending boats around Eaton’s Neck and the Cows off Stamford before returning to Larchmont.
Eight boats competed in this year’s Bitter Ender ranging in length from Sarah and Josh Reisberg’s scratch boat ABILYN, a 40’ J/120 to Andrew Weiss’ 29’ J/88 ONE TOO MANY. The doldrum that existed at noon was forecast to fill with a sea breeze so, when the starting window opened at 1000, no competitors chose to start. The starting window was ultimately extended until 1600. It wasn’t until around 1500 that the southerly sea breeze appeared. Andy Lubimov’s Sun Fast 37 SANGUINE from Huguenot Yacht Club was first across the line at 15:27. By 1552, all eight boats had started their first leg, a 16-mile reach to Eaton’s Neck buoy.
Off the line, depending on the sails available, boats set spinnakers, code zeros, or large jibs. Although there was a following current and a fair wind direction, the boats split north and south of the rhumb line. Some of the larger boats including Peter McWhinnie’s JPK 1080 IN THEORY (with Rich du Moulin as crew) and Reisberg’s ABILYN hugged the Connecticut shore with spinnakers hoping for an overshoot of the sea breeze while eventual winner Andrew Weiss, Rear Commodore of Larchmont Yacht Club and Vice Commodore of Storm Trysail Club, sailed south of the rhumb with a closer reaching code zero anticipating the wind to fill in without the overshoot. Weiss’ prediction proved accurate and his ONE TOO MANY (sailing with Colin Fitzpatrick) got the wind first and rounded Eaton’s before the competition.
Once around Eaton’s, the wind had shifted to 210 o -222o making the leg to the Cows a close reach. With a longer waterline, ABILYN passed ONE TOO MANY on that leg and rounded Cows first. The 11-mile leg back to the finish was a port-favored beat. Near Flat Neck Point in Greenwich, Reisberg tacked south out into the Sound whereas Weiss continued to hug the shore to stay out of the foul current that was now ebbing. When these two lead boats converged again off Rye Weiss was again in the lead only to be overtaken again by the larger boat in the final 2-3 miles. Reisberg finished in the dark at 2223 with an elapsed time of 6:47 with Weiss four minutes behind.
Ultimately, it was Weiss who corrected out as the winner with Reisberg in fourth. Second place went to Leopold Brandl and Luis Vieira from Lion Sailing aboard SANGUINE, a J/100 with Todd Aven and Gerard Girstl on Aven’s J/99 THIN MAN from City Island Yacht Club and the STC in third.
Weiss summed-up the race, “This was an interesting double-hander on a boat with no autopilot. At times, we put the tiller extension on the gear shifter to steer while we handled the boat and sails. The key to our success was staying to the south on the leg to Eaton’s. Us getting the new breeze first pushed us ahead of the fleet…all of which were bigger boats. The second leg to Cows was straight forward, but our playing the shore back to Larchmont from Stamford protected our lead. There was some good competition out there in these flukey conditions. Also, as a Flag Officer of both of the host Clubs, I was very pleased to have won this new race’s second running. I’m also glad that we had really nice sailing conditions and that the ‘bitter’ aspect of the Bitter Ender didn’t materialize.”
This was Bertrand Amezcua’s first double-handed race. He sailed his Hanse 418 TOBOLA with fellow LYC member Nic Buc. Racing against more racing-focused boats with a lot of double-handed experience, Bertrand and Nic had a memorable, positive experience despite not finishing until 0104 on Sunday morning.
Thank you race committee for staying on station until all boats had finished. Amezcua’s takeaway from the race was, “At the end of the day, a cruising boat designed for a couple and their kids is the perfect double-hander. My boat was super fun to sail in the Bitter Ender. It would have been better if the wind hadn’t died two miles before we finished, but it was still a great day of sailing. I look forward to next year’s Bitter Ender…and the spring’s Edlu!“
