Classic Regatta to Kick Off Race Week Action

Stephens, of Sparkman & Stephens design fame, will have the pleasure of watching several S&S designs compete among the large fleet of classics expected over July 18-20. They will include Dorade, one of his very first boats off the drawing board (at the ripe young age of 21), now owned by Edgar Cato (Charlotte, N.C.), as well as Sonny, Joe Dockery's (Newport, R.I./Greenwich, Conn.) 1935 cutter sloop, which was rammed by a German submarine in WWII, then refloated and repaired.

"Every classic yacht has a unique story behind it, it seems," said Dockery, who also is officially the chair of the Classics event that serves as the first half of Race Week. (The second half picks up Thursday, July 24 and continues for four days with handicap and one-design racing.) "And Olin, of course, has a story for every one of his designs," he added, noting that when Dorade was launched in 1931 it sparked a revolution in sailboat design. "It's very special and quite an honor to be chosen to chair an event that celebrates his life."

Dockery said that in addition to the "standard" things like a huge tent on the lawn at Harbour Court and 250 people gathered under it for social functions, there will be S&S designs--both old and new--on display at the dock and ashore. A special Bolero-themed birthday cake will be part of the celebration for Stephens at a sit-down dinner under the tent on Saturday night. Bolero, an S&S design owned by Edward Kane (Concord, Mass.), belonged to John Nicholas Brown, commodore of the NYYC (1952-54), who owned Harbour Court, now the NYYC's on-the-water clubhouse.

Along with Bolero, other S&S designs competing are Black Watch, sailed by Trevor Fetter (Dallas, Texas), Palawan, sailed by G. Scott Gazelle (Hingham, Mass.), Puffin II, sailed by James Koss (Point Richmond, Calif.), the 6 Meter Jill, sailed by Martha Coolidge (Camden, Maine), and five 12 Meters: two-time America's Cup winner Intrepid, sailed by Jack Curtin (N.Y.,N.Y.); one-time Cup winners Columbia and Freedom, sailed respectively by Alain Hanover (Newport, R.I.) and Ernest Jacquet (Boston, Mass.); and Enterprise and Gleam, sailed respectively by Jan Slee (Newport, R.I.) and Alfred Van Liew (Middletown, R.I.). The 12 Meter fleet also will include racing on Friday for its series.

Race Week's Second Half
For the second session of the New York Yacht Club's Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex -- from Thursday, July 24 through Sunday, July 27 -- over 100 modern racing machines will converge on Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound for IRC, PHRF and one-design competitions.

The event is part of the 2008 US-IRC Gulf Stream Series, and three one-design classes - the NYYC Swan 42s, J/109s and Melges 32s - will use the event to determine their 2008 North American or National champions. In addition, the event will serve as the J/105 and J/122 East Coast Championships and the Beneteau First 36.7 Northeast Championship.