Sail Salem

Gusty winds and cold temperatures made for tough racing today. But, thanks the the hard work of all involved, an exciting 5 race series was held off of Derby Wharf today. Special thanks to the race organizers, race committee volunteers, the staff at Winter Island, and our event sponsor Atlantis Weather Gear.

Pete Kane knew it was going to be a tough regatta to win when a sudden gust capsized his 14-foot Laser class sailboat at the start of the second race of the new Sail Salem Founders’ Cup regatta, held off Derby Wharf today in gusty winds and cold temperatures. “A sudden shift of wind flipped the boat over to windward, and when I was in the water I had the mainsheet wrapped around my feet so it was hard to recover,” the 27-year-old sailor from Boston said. But he got untangled, righted his boat, and battled back for a fourth in the 11-boat fleet, his worst race of the day. With a score line including two firsts and two seconds in the other four races, he won the event by four points over local sailor Chris Hufstader, 47, of Salem.

Hufstader got off to a steady start, scoring second-place finishes in the first three races, but fell to a fifth in Race 4. He stayed ahead of Phil King of Ipswich, the winner of two of the races, who finished in third, just five points back. The strong, gusty winds got the best of many of the sailors: some huge puffs turned over as many as three boats at the same moment, leaving sailors struggling to right their capsized boats and continue racing. One sailor, Jason Yarrington of Salem, had to retire after two races due to a broken mast. For the sailors who remained upright in the biggest gusts of the day, the downwind legs were fast and went by in a blur of spray as the high-performance Lasers planed down to the leeward mark, positioned just yards off Derby Wharf.

While the strong winds made the conditions look daunting, the race organizers were able to take advantage of the sheltered waters off of Derby wharf and get in a quality 5 race series. The racing right off of Derby Wharf provided a spectacle for Salem residents and tourists and a great place for family members to watch the races. What other venue has a coffee shop 200 yards from the starting line.

Jackets and vests were presented as awards to the top finishers in the full rig and radial rig classes thanks to the support of event sponsor Atlantis Weather Gear.

Final Results, top 6:

1. Pete Kane, Boston 10

2. Chris Hufstader, Salem 14

3 Phil King, Ipswich, 19

4. Wayne Colahan, Marbehead, 22

5. Nick Burke, Hamilton, 28

6. Bill Graves, Marblehead, 31