NEWPORT, R.I. — The 20th Ida Lewis Distance Race provided a demanding offshore test for 35 teams that started Friday morning in blustery east northeasterly winds of 12-15 knots outside Newport Harbor.
The 24-hour endurance race extended to 25-27 hours for some competitors due to stretches of light to no wind, with 10 boats retiring before finishing the courses that ranged from 104 to 150 nautical miles.
Beau Van Metre’s S&S 60 Running Tide from Middleburg, Virginia, finished first at 10:13:46 Saturday morning after completing the 114-nautical-mile course in just under 22½ hours. The boat won the PHRF Coronet class and the Lime Rock Trophy for PHRF best corrected time overall.
One of the smallest boats, Tommy Henshaw’s Hobie 33 Mod Captain Sluggo from Newport, crossed the finish line next Saturday morning after sailing for just over 23 hours and 20 minutes to win the PHRF Bagheera class.
“It was the same start as we did when I crewed to win on the J/99 Agent 99 last year,” Henshaw said. “On the Hobie 33, we can head deeper with the same boat speed, so we had the fleet where we needed them.”
Henshaw’s team encountered a complete wind shutdown east of Fishers Island, where the boat went backwards and “did a full 360 degrees with no steerage.” The crew decided to wait for wind rather than motor home.
Other class winners included Charles de Coquet’s Class 40 Concise 8 from Savannah, Georgia, in PHRF Aloha; Will McKeige’s Figaro 2 Groupe 5 from Mamaroneck, New York, in ORC 2; Chris Benzak’s Sunfast 3300 Low Profile from Newport in Doublehanded; and Elliott Merrill’s LM 46 Arcadia from Stonington, Connecticut, in ORC 1.
“It was like three races in one,” said Benzak, who sailed doublehanded with Ben Chafee. “From a breezy start to a full stop at the MOA mark, then a fresh start after the boat did a full pirouette in zero breeze.”
The fleet included strong youth and collegiate participation, with 11 boats carrying high school sailors and nine boats with collegiate sailors. Bill Kneller’s J/109 Vento Solare won the Youth Challenge, while William Denker’s J/99 Falcon won the Collegiate Challenge.
The race featured six classes: two ORC, one Doublehanded and three PHRF divisions. The racecourse sent boats from Narragansett Bay to Rhode Island Sound and as far as Block Island Sound.
