September 2021 marked the return of the American Yacht Club Fall Series and its famous after-racing lawn parties on Milton Point in Rye, New York. Seven Long Island Sound J/109s showed up for the event and some extremely close racing in a variety of conditions over the course of two weekends.
The first Saturday (Sept. 25) was light air from the East. Competitors had to connect the puffs to make it around the four-leg course. John Greifzu, Jr.’s Growth Spurt took Race 1, with Trevor Roach’s Incendiary in Second and J.R. Rechtschaffer’s Emoticon in Third. Sunday (Sept. 26) was completely different. The fleet was greeted with 15-20 knots from the Northwest—a direction that always brings tricky, big shifts on the racecourse. The AYC Race Committee rolled through three races with Bud Rogers’ Big Boat winning Races 2 and 3, and Growth Spurt winning Race 4. After the first weekend, the leaderboard was tight from top to bottom, with very few points separating all boats.
On the second Saturday (Oct. 2), the breeze was out of the West, with about 10 knots, and some strange oscillations. The right side of the course (along the Rye shore) looked great—until it didn’t! Left shifts at the top of the course paid dividends for the boats in phase. David Rosow’s Loki, a boat familiar with the podium at AYC, found its groove and posted a 1,4,1 to win the day, and the leaderboard was even more compressed.
The last Sunday of the regatta (Oct. 3) had the receding westerly on the course for the first and only race of the day, which the Race Committee had to shorten after 3 legs. Patience was key for Emoticon–it passed Loki and Growth Spurt at the finish in a slow-motion battle for Race 8.
In the end, Growth Spurt was First with 15 points, Emoticon was Second with 19 points, and Incendiary was Third with 20 points.
Loki’s strong finishes on Weekend 2 sealed the East Coast Regatta Series win (combined scores from Cedar Point One-Design Regatta, NYYC Annual Regatta and AYC Fall Series).
J 109 AYC Fall Series Results (One Design – 7 Boats)
1. Growth Spurt, USA261, John Greifzu, Jr. – 1 – 4 – 2 – 1 – 2 – 2 – [6] – 3 ; 15
2. Emoticon, USA200, Jonathan Rechtschaffer – 3 – 3 – 4 – 3 – 3 – [5] – 2 – 1 ; 19
3. Incendiary, USA168, Trevor Roach – 2 – 2 – 3 – 2 – [5] – 3 – 4 – 4 ; 20
4. Loki, USA125, David Rosow – 4 – [5] – 5 – 4 – 1 – 4 – 1 – 2 ; 21
5. Big Boat, USA360, Bud Rogers – 6 – 1 – 1 – 6 – 6 – 1 – 3 – [7/TLE] ; 24
6. Freedom, USA1111, Cory Eaves – 5 – [6] – 6 – 5 – 4 – 6 – 5 – 5 ; 36
7. Nordlys, USA267, Robert Schwartz – [9/DNC] – 9/DNC – 9/DNC – 9/DNC – 7 – 7 – 7 – 7/TLE ; 55
