Captain's Log — The Anchor Club

Captain's Log: Connett Family Regatta, August 12 2017

On August 12, 2017, members of the Connett Family raced in the annual Connett Family Regatta on Quogue, New York.

The three race series was organized by the Shinnecock Yacht Club in Weesuck Creek of Shinnecock Bay, with Doug Adams servicing as Race Committee. This year, the series was raced for the North American Celebrity Yacht Champion Bowl, originally commissioned by the International Celebrity Class Yacht Racing Association (ICCYRA) in 1956. The previous winner of this Bowl had been Robert De Young of East Quogue in 2014. Participants raced for the 2017 Bowl in Celebrity Class sailboats.

Racers and spectators arrived the night of August 11 and partook in the annual pre-race beach bonfire ceremony. A bright red “blood moon” was witnessed from the shores (an omen of sorts?) as Hartley Connett Sr. (aka Pop Pop) led the singing of traditional whaling songs. Marshmallows we roasted as good times we toasted!

Earlier that afternoon, skippers Albert (Abby) and Bradford (Brad) Connett were spotted at the Yacht Club helping to rig SS 124 with owner George Carmany, a longtime and accomplishedsailor and winner of the 2016 Connett Bowl. George would not be racing due to a conflicting SS race. George was, however, planning to return the following weekend to race in the 2017 Harold Connett Bowl.

With 2016 Harold Connett Bowl Winner, George Carmany III.

The morning of August 12, 2017 arrived. Prevailing winds were light and from the south and west. The weather was overcast with grey skies. For reasons of fairness, and to test the abilities of each crew, the race committee (Past SYC Commodore Jim Schelter) determined the day’s race would be held in a “round robin” format. Each team of two sailors would race one of three Celebrities in a total of three rounds.

The racing boats were CC904 (“Red Sky”), the most recent Celebrity Class sailboat co-owned by Abby and Ian Connett; CC901 (the unnamed “Club Boat”), previously owned by Jim Shelter and purchased by the Shinnecock Yacht Club earlier in the year; and CC895 ("Noelle Too"), owned by Robert De Young, who previously held the North American Celebrity Yacht Champion Bowl.

Pop Pop captained the power "supply boat" with Co-Captain Hartley S. Connett Jr. out of Hampton Bays to enable family and friends to spectate from Shinnecock Bay.

The first race commenced at 1:13 PM with Abby skippering Red Sky and co-owner Ian Connett as crew. Brad skippered the unnamed Club Boat with daughter Tristan crewing, while Ginger Connett skippered Noelle Too, with daughter Jessica in crew.

Red Sky opened the first race with an excellent start at the sound of the gun and did not look back, taking a commanding lead to finish in first place while displaying strong tacking and clear improvements on the vessel over last year, including a smoothened hull with superior glide.

Brad and Tristan finished in second in the Club Boat. Ginger and Jessica followed in third in Noelle Too to close out the first heat.

The second race commenced at 2:04 PM, with Ginger and Jessica sailing to victory aboard Red Sky, and Abby and Ian finishing closely behind in Noelle Too. A theme of dominance by the vessel Red Sky was developing, with skippers Abby and Ginger taking victories in both the first and second races. Perhaps this had something to do with the bright red “blood moon” seen the night before from the beach?

The results of the first two races created an interesting scenario going into the final heat. Focus was placed on the outcome of the battle to be fought between Abby and Ian, sailing in Noelle Too, and Ginger and Jessica, sailing in the unnamed Club Boat.

Victory for Noelle Too or the Club Boat would result in the Bowl being won by the skipper commanding either vessel. But, this was unlikely, given the dominant performance of Red Sky displayed in the first to races with Brad, a capable seaman with excellent knowledge of the bay, at the helm.

The third race commenced at 2:55 PM with tremendous excitement. Brad and Tristan took a commanding lead from the start and finished first!

Captain Abby and Ian, aboard Noelle Too, were cruising to what appeared to be a safe second (and overall championship) after a terrific tack on the lay line of the weather mark that Ginger and Jessica had missed entirely. Noelle Too proceeded downwind, with the gap widening, as Ginger and Jessica attempted to regain lost ground.

As Noelle Too crawled downwind, Ginger and Jessica rounded the second and third mark and proceeded to gain significant time. Noelle Too maintained second position after rounding the final mark, but in an epic scramble to the finish line, Ginger and Jessica came charging up, surpassing Noelle Too and beating Abby and Ian by a single boat length! This resulted in a three way tie.

The race committee was consulted. The ruling was that the winner of the final race would be the proclaimed winner of the day. This effectively secured the 2017 North American Celebrity Yacht Champion Bowl to skipper Brad Connett and his very pleased crew, Tristan Connett. Congrats to Brad and Tristan!

2017 Winners of the North American Celebrity Yacht Champion Bowl!

“It’s not the vessel, but the man at the helm” Abby proclaimed later that evening, quoting Captain Andy Harris. Legendary SYC captain of the 1930’s and 40’s. A ceremony was held to celebrate the gathering of family and completion of the race. Although Red Sky had been dominate in all three races, it was a testament to the abilities of skippers, not to mention their crews, to achieve victory aboard the vessel in each of the three races. A fine job all around.

As friends and family cheered, Abby presented the Bowl with instructions to take it on home to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, to be sailed next year. Brad politely declined, donating the Bowl to the residence of older brother Hartley and wife Abby, to maintain the Bowl in Westhampton, so it could be sailed in future years on Shinnecock Bay as had been done in years past.

As a special award for winning the regatta, the winners were also presented with a small loving cup inscribed “Great South Bay Yacht Racing Association” with the date of 1953. To everyone’s surprise and pleasure, Hartley Connett Sr. announced that he first won this trophy during race week in 1953 aboard the family SS FIJI (#96). More will be written about FIJI in later postings.

Thus concluded a wonderful gathering of friends and family on the shores of Long Island and the 2017 Connett Family Regatta sailboat race. Next year, the Shinnecock Yacht Club will announce a date for the North American Celebrity Yacht Bowl race so that Brad can defend. We hope you all can join us next year!

FINAL RESULTS: CONNETT FAMILY REGATTA 2017

FIRST PLACE: BRADFORD CONNETT, WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH

SECOND PLACE: GINGER CONNETT, WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH

THIRD PLACE: ALBERT CONNETT, SHINNECOCK Y.C.