To all boats sailing lower Long Island Sound (Specifically Chinook, Pale Rider, Excalibur, and Anticipation...and Paddy Wagon if he is still out there): My club (Raritan Yacht Club) in Perth Amboy is hosting our annual "Red Grant Regatta" July 9th and 10th. We will have a one design start if we can get five J30's on the line-meaning three LIS boats would need to come down. This is a great regatta with excellent race management and terrific parties (the quarter races have to be seen to be believed!). Please come on down-if you catch the current right, you can make it from City Island in 5 hours or less!

Raritan Yacht Club, Perth Amboy, NJ, hosted the 59th Annual Red Grant Regatta, Raritan Bay’s premiere race weekend of the season. The hotly contested 7-boat Division 7 (PHRF 132+) came down to a J/30 match race between the Bengt Johansson’s Fuzzy Wuzzy and Steve Buzbee’s Blue Meanie, with Fuzzy Wuzzy taking the tie-breaker with a line of 2-3-1-1-1 over Blue Meanie’s 1-1-2-2-2.

Blue skies and shifty but strong 15-18 knot breezes characterized both days. Running light crew, the Fuzzy Wuzzy team stuck with their #3 for all but one leg, while the fully-crewed Blue Meanie was able to carry the #1, which proved to be the difference on Saturday’s two races. Leaving behind their 5-year old (and the source of the boat’s name) on Sunday, the Fuzzy Wuzzy team was able to pull out the overall victory by doing what they had to – three bullets.

Saturday’s racing was halted during the sequence for a planned third race as a strong thunderstorm gathered over Staten Island and blew through the race course with cold driving rain and 50 knot gusts. Blue Meanie was awarded the Tony Leitner Trophy for Outstanding Sportsmanship for rescuing two spectators whose craft had swamped and subsequently sank in the storm.

Full results available at: http://www.ryc.org/Racing/2004redgrant/index.htm