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15 July 2002, 01:50 pm
Dirty Harry Keeps Edge Over Hustler
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New York Yacht Club Race Week
New York

Sirena and Sforzando Collide at New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex.

An early fog gave way to faint sunshine and a gentle 8-10 knot breeze that allowed a second day's prompt 11 a.m. start for five classes on the white course at the New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex. Two miles away, where the regatta's green course was hosting four classes of PHRF boats, yesterday's double-victory leader Dirty Harry, a J/29 owned by John Lavin of Johnston, R.I., was engaging in pre-start tactical maneuvers with Hustler, another J/29 owned by the father-son team of Tony and John Esposito (New Rochelle and Mohegan Lake, N.Y., respectively) Though PHRF's purpose is to handicap different boats racing in the same class, for these two identical J/29s, the racing is boat-for-boat and the first over the line claims victory over the other, but not necessarily over the remaining 10 boats in Class 4. Nevertheless, Dirty Harry posted a 6-1 to Hustler's 2-2 today and maintained its lead over the fleet and a .75 edge in points over Hustler, who stays in second.

"We had a horrible start in the first race and couldn't capitalize on anything after that," said Dirty Harry's bowman Brian Anderson of Warwick, R.I., whose crewmates are all from Rhode Island as well. "For the second race, we had a great start and a lot of other boats were over early. Hustler's been taking first in a lot of races lately, so it's interesting that they're behind us."

The Espositos have owned Hustler since 1981 and have a cache of silver to show for their efforts. They are two-time defending champions at this third-biennial event and also won the J/29 classes this year at Key West and the St. Petersburg NOOD regattas. At the recent Block Island Race Week, they also cleaned up with the same crew that they plan t take to the J/29 North Americans this August in Rochester, N.Y.

"We really focused on Block Island as our preparation for that," said the younger Esposito, who steers the boat. "Here, we've got a little different crew. We just like to get to Newport at least once a year to sail, and this is a very well-run regatta--a class act."

Anderson say his team, which has been sailing together for five years, also plans to compete in the North Americans.

In Class 3, where six IMS 40s were racing in heated competition, a port vs. starboard rules situation resulted in a collision between Sirena, a Tripp 43 owned by Steven Loeb of Stamford, Conn., and Sforzando, a custom 45 owned by Blair Brown of Newton, Mass. According to Jack Slattery of Marblehead, Mass., tactician aboard Sforzando: "We were coming in on starboard a few boat lengths from the second weather mark in the first race. Sirena attempted to cross us on port and bore off when they realized they couldn't. Their starboard side met our starboard side, where the crew was sitting with their legs out over the rail." Slattery confirmed that two crew aboard Sforzando were taken to the hospital and released, while another refused treatment but suffered scrapes and a hurt leg. Sforzando had to retire from the regatta due to a damaged headstay and Slattery thought Sirena would have to withdraw due to equipment damage as well. Sirena had been leading after yesterday's two races, with Sforzando a mere .25 points behind in overall scoring. Sirena was disqualified from today's first race after a formal protest.

Race Week at Newport, which offers a unique split format for racers, incorporates IMS, PHRF and AMERICAP II handicap racing into its first half and one-design championship racing into its second half. Sixty-six entries are divided into nine classes for this opening segment, which continues through Tuesday. (Some PHRF entrants are dual-scored for AMERICAP II.) The one-design racing segment, scheduled for next Friday through Sunday, will host 84 boats. A distance race on Wednesday splits the two segments and will see 53 boats on the starting line.

Results

White Fleet
IMS Racing Class 1 (eight boats)
1. Carrera, FRR60, Joseph Dockery, Stamford, Conn., 1-2-1-1, 4.25
2. Idler, N/M50, George David, Hartford, Conn., 2-1-2-3, 7.75
3. Uarshek II, FRR49, Ennio Staffini, Annapolis, Md., 6-4-3-2, 15

PHRF Class 2 (three boats)
1. Irie, Brian Cunha, Newport, R.I., 2-2-1-1, 5.50
1 (t). Rumours, CSTM35, Tim Woodhouse, Newport, R.I., 1-1-2-2, 5.50
3. Stars & Stripes, RP50, Dennis Conner, San Diego, Calif., 3-3-3-3, 12

12M Class 2 (two boats)
1. Hissar, 12M, Edgar Cato, Newport, R.I., 1-1-1-1, 3
2. Fiddler, 12M, Alfred Van Liew, Newport, R.I., DNC-2-2-2, 9

IMS40 Class 3 (six boats)
1. More War Stories, ILC40, Robert Bayer, Greenwich, Conn., 2-4-1-2, 8.75
2. Pterodactyl, CSTM43, Scott Weisman, White Plains, N.Y., 6-3-2-1, 11.75
3. Raven, TRP43, Gino Bottino, Stamford, Conn., 1-5-3-4, 12.75

PHRF Class 4 (ten boats)
1. Wairere, T30, Chris Bouzaid, Jamestown, R.I., 1-1-4-1, 6.25
2. Hooligan, EVE42, Peter Brinckerhoff, Fishers Island, N.Y., 2-2-2-3, 9
3. Avalanche, FRR395, Craig Albrecht, Glen Head, N.Y., 4-3-5-5, 17

Green Fleet
PHRF Class 1 (six boats)
1. Odyssey, SWN55, David Brodsky, Newport, R.I., 2-2-2-2, 8
2. Different Drummer, FAST40, Ted Naughton, Marblehead, Mass., 1-1-4-4, 9.5
3. Katabatic, CSTM40, Gordon Hall, Marblehead, Mass., DNF-DNC-1-1, 15.5

PHRF Class 2 (six boats)
1. Troubador, EXP37, Morton Weintraub, Larchmont, N.Y., 1-1-2-1, 4.25
2. Gambler, FRS41, John Downey, Canton, Mass., 2-2-1-2, 6.75
3. Shadowfax, EXP37, Mike Shuttleworth, Newburyport, Mass., 4-3-5-3, 15

PHRF Class 3 (13 boats)
1. Vixen, SWN44, John/Bunny Wayt, Jamestown, R.I., 1-4-5-1, 10.5
2. Ubiquitous, TRP37, Patrick Keane, Darien, Conn., 2-3-2-7, 14
3. Vigilant, NAVY44, Robert Aho, Annapolis, Md., 3-2-7-2, 14.5

PHRF Class 4 (12 boats)
1. Dirty Harry, J29, John Lavin, Johnston, R.I., 1-1-6-1, 8.25
2. Hustler, John Esposito, Mohegan Lake, N.Y., 3-2-2-2, 9
3. Bada Bing, EVE322, Jonathan Davis, Orange, Conn.,wn, R.I., 6-3-2-9-4-3,
18

AMERICAP II White Fleet
Class 1 (five boats)
1. Syrocco, SWN51, Samuel Fortenbaugh, Greenwich, Conn., 2-1-2-1, 5.5
2. Amadeus, IMX40, Udo Schroff, 1-OCS-1-2, 9.5
3. Avalanche, FRR395, Craig Albrecht, Glen Head, N.Y., 3-2-3-3, 11

Class 3 (one boat)
1. Stars & Stripes, RP50, Dennis Conner, San Diego, Calif., 1-1-1-1, 3

AMERICAP II Green Fleet (11 boats)
Class 2
1. Troubador, EXP37, Morton Weintraub, Larchmont, N.Y., 1-1-2-1, 4.25
2. Freight Train, F36, Dick Hyde, 3-4-1-4, 11.75
3. Carronade, NY40, Bob James, Greenwich, Conn., 7-3-3-5, 18
Barby MacGowan/News Editor
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