Sailing in Annapolis Maryland USA - News and Videos

Less than a week after wrapping up at the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, Jim Richardson and his crew on Barking Mad arrived in Annapolis, where their Mumm 30 sailboat was waiting for them. Not showing any ill effects from two grueling weeks of sailing, the team went on to dominate the fleet, posting a low score of nine points in the eight race series. The only blemish on their perfect scorecard came in the fourth race of day 1, when Bodo and Nick von der Wense’s Turbo Duck led wire to wire to claim the race win. Entering the final day, Barking Mad had a comfortable 11 point lead over Guy Stening’s Optimum from Sydney, Australia. With only two races to go, the only real question was whether Richardson’s team could maintain its dominance for one more day.

Race 7 of the series began in a cold and damp 10 – 15 knot nor-easter with the fleet spread out evenly across the line. The current was running against the wind and Jeff Maludy’s Adrenalin was pushed over early and forced to restart. The bulk of the fleet tacked out to the right in search of favorable current in the middle of the bay, but Jim and James Allsopp decided to use their local knowledge and continue out to the left on their own. The gamble paid off as Moxie was able to cross the entire fleet and capture the lead approaching the first mark. Optimum followed and, with most of the fleet overstood, Barking Mad was able to cut into the lead the top two boats had at the mark. Moxie wrapped its spinnaker during the first hoist and the two boats behind had the opportunity to catch right up, with Barking Mad going to Moxie’s left and Optimum to the right. Both boats were able to get around on the run and Optimum lead into the gate before choosing the further downwind gate mark. The mistake allowed Richardson and the Allsopps to pass into leading positions they would hold to the finish. Barking Mad’s streak of victories was intact with only one race to go for the series.

After the finish of race 7, the Race Committee waited for the other fleets on the course to finish before resetting the course for a longer 5 leg race to close out the series. M 30 sailor Taran Teague served as the PRO on our course for this event and she did a fantastic job all weekend, getting quality races off in challenging conditions. Her job wasn’t easy with light winds and Melges 32s, M 30s, J 35s, C&C 115s and Beneteau 36.7s sharing the same course, but she handled it beautifully and the class thanks her for her efforts.

The delay between races gave the current time to switch directions and with it, the apparent wind on the water dropped a few knots. In these conditions, most of the boats headed left to get out of the deep water and the first leg became a test of getting a good start and holding a lane off the line. Barking Mad and Optimum did the best at both of those skills and were locked in a tight battle up the first leg. At the mark, Optimum was able to use starboard tack advantage to claim the lead heading down the run. The positions held until the second beat, when Richardson’s team split away out to the left and was able to pick up a favorable shift along with the current relief and pass Stening’s team for the lead. With how fast this team had been all weekend and how smart they had been sailing, there was no way they were going to give up the lead in the final race and they held on to claim the victory in the eighth race and the series.

-- Congratulations to the sailors on the winning teams --

On Barking Mad, Jim Richardson sailed with Terry Hutchinson, Morgan Trubovich, Ben Allen, Derby Anderson, Stuart Streuli, and Matt McDonough. Guy Stening finished second helming Optimum with Darren Jones, Stephen McConaghy, Zack Seymore, Tim Davis, Tristam Eldershaw, and Curtis Florence on board. The crew of third place Turbo Duck was Bodo von der Wense, Nick von der Wense, Vicki von der Wense, Chris Morgan, Mike Finch, Jeff Linton, and Alison Rowe.

• Video 1: The fleet rounds the first mark in race 7
• Video 2: The gate rounding in Race 7
• Video 3: The fleet finishes race 7

Photos and videos by Ian Burman