Western District Regatta Hosted by Sea Cliff Yacht Club

Feva sailboats wait for wind

On Thursday, June 30th, the Sea Cliff Yacht Club hosted the annual Western District Regatta. The 61 boat fleet from Westchester, New York City, and Long Island yacht clubs spanned Club 420s, Laser 7s (full rig), Laser 6s (Radials), Laser 4s (4.7s), and RS Fevas.

The day was gorgeous but lacked wind until about 1:30 PM. At that time, a light northeasterly (4-6 mph) backfilled the bottom of Hempstead Harbor and with that, the Race Committee mobilized. Fortunately, two trapezoid races were completed before the 3:30 time limit and so sailors qualified for their respective class championships that will be held later in the summer.
 
The C420 fleet had 16 boats. Gabriella Collins & Penelope Hall from Larchmont took two bullets to lead the fleet. Kai McCulloch & Zachary Wirth from American were second and AnnDaly McManus with Brittany Engel, from Larchmont, was third.
 
The Laser Standard class (ILCA 7) had 4 entries. James Bergstrom from Shelter Island was first, Henry Morash from City Island was second, and Erik Fontanella from Larchmont was third.
 
 The Laser Radial (ILCA 6) was the largest fleet with 20 entries. The competition was stiff with Liam Farrel from Larchmont first, Dylan Braner from Shelter Island second, and Jackson Bachner from the host, Sea Cliff, third. 
 
The Laser 4.7 (ILCA 4) class is showing some nice growth. There were 11 entries. Michelle Kaneti from Larchmont took the title with Oliver Puris from Devon second and Lanie Ferrarone from Larchmont third.
 
The fifth class in the Western District Regatta was the RS Feva. There were 10 entries. American Yacht Club’s Layla Bursor and Hunter Simandl were first while Helen Halvorson with Adam van der Wateren, also from American, was second. Third was Luca Dekkers and Paul Panagos from Sea Cliff.
 
 
 

Regatta report contributed by Principal Race Officer, Douglas Wefer
Photo of Fevas waiting for wind at the Western District Regatta by Henriette Rohl