by BERG Propulsion
"The competition on the water stemmed from some good natured trash-talking between the PUMA team and the crew of Rambler 100 when we stepped off Rambler and onto our new Volvo Open 70," said skipper Ken Read. The race used a staggered start handicap format, allowing the slower boats to start ahead of the faster boats with the first boat over the line declared the winner.
“The Volvo 70 is quite a bit slower than the massive Rambler 100 and they owed us a bit of time, so we were looking over shoulders the entire race,” explained Read. “We thought they were going to pass us the entire time and the race really came down to the wire. The win makes for good bragging rights until we face off next."
With the win under their belts, the team then went on to prepare for the weekend's 157th New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta in Newport, R.I.
Achieving four firsts and a second in the five races, PUMA’s Mar Mostro posted an overall win in the IRC 1 class, ahead of Numbers, skippered by Daniel Meyers and George Sakellaris’ Shockwave. Numbers is sailed by the Alinghi Sailing Team, which has twice won the America’s Cup.
The entire crew was stunned by the unexpected win, according to Read, who could not be happier with his crew and with the boat. “I think it says a lot about the gear, the sails, especially the crew – a really, really solid effort,” he said. The chance to race in the oldest regatta in the US and have some fun against strong competition was not the only motivation for taking part, however.
“A big reason to do this regatta is to practice our boat handling in tight, closed course situations. It’s really the only time we’re going to have to practice around the buoys. We’re taking this on as our in-port practice session; then we go back to spending the rest of the summer training offshore.
“You don’t just jump on a boat and become an offshore sailor; you’re a dinghy sailor and an around the buoys sailor first. Even though this is not our priority, it is certainly a nice change of pace from the monotony of just sailing offshore.”
The team will now turn the focus back to offshore racing when they leave Newport on 3 July for the Transatlantic Race 2011.
From Volvo Ocean Race
