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Raymont Wins 2001 J/92 North American Championship  In a strong showing, John Raymont won the 2001 J/92 North American Championship sailing his boat "Quixote" to 5 firsts and 2 seconds. Held on Western Long Island Sound during the Sailing World National Offshore One Design (NOOD) regatta on September 7, 8, and 9, the three-day event was managed by the Larchmont Yacht Club in a professional manner. Tight competition in southerly winds of 8 to 12 knots on windward-leeward courses put an emphasis on tactics and hitting the wind shifts.
The Larchmont NOOD saw one hundred thirty boats competing in 14 one-design classes from 10 states and Canada. Five of those one-design classes held their championships at this year’s Larchmont NOOD. The J/80 class held their East Coast Championships, the J/27s, J/92s, and Henderson 30s classes competed for their North American Championships, while the Soverel 33 class held their class Nationals. To handle the large number of fleets and boats, the fleets were split on two race circles in the middle of Western Long Island Sound off of Larchmont, NY.
The high-pressure system holding over the Northeastern United States created a second straight day of gorgeous weather and spectacular race conditions on Saturday. Southwesterly breezes oscillated across the race circles with wind velocity from 9 to 14 knots but the 40-degree shifts made for tactically challenging racing. With the splendid race conditions both circles got off three races. Margo Taylor on Quetzal showed her winning ways with a 3, 1, 2, but J/92 class leader John Raymont maintained a firm grip on the class’ North American title with a strong 2, 2, 1 showing.  The third and final day of the Larchmont NOODs saw a delay in racing until noontime when the wind filled in enough out of the SSW to get off one long race. Until the wind filled in, all 130 boats circled idly waiting for the competition to begin and many crewmembers swam in Long Island Sound to cool off from the unseasonably warm 80-degree weather. But when the warning guns sounded on the two circles the final racing of the series got even hotter. Raymont secured the J/92 North Americans winning the last race and finishing the regatta with 5 firsts and 2 seconds.
Raymont, who sails on Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina, trailered Quixote about 800 miles to get to the North Americans. Raymont credited the near flawless boat handling by his crew of Eugene Van Rynbach, Bob Markisello, Luca Nencetti, and Thomas Kelly for his winning edge. The top three J/92 North American finishers were: 1) John Raymont – Columbia, SC #45 QUIXOTE – 9 Points 2) Elizabeth Taylor – New York, NY #67 QUETZAL – 16 Points 3) Jeff Britton – West New York, NJ #21 KILLER PUPPY – 17 Points For a complete listing of the competitors and more pictures and information on the Larchmont NOOD, see the SAILING WORLD web site. |
Racing got underway on Friday under bright sunny skies and a 10-knot breeze out of the SSW. John Raymont’s Quixote recorded three wins to pull into the early lead over Jeff Britton’s Killer Puppy. Raymont came from behind in all three races with good tactics on the runs to take the lead.