As a summer nor’easter reluctantly released its grip, sailing got underway on Narragansett Bay for the eighth annual C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Regatta.  The race committee kept competitors ashore this morning while they waited for the tide to ebb and the northerly breeze to diminish and allow for a calmer sea state, and by early afternoon, conditions had improved enough to send the sailors out to the race course between Rose and Goat Islands, south of the Newport Pell Bridge.   

In the five-boat Sonar fleet, 2008 SKUD-18 Paralympic Gold Medalist Maureen McKinnon Tucker (Marblehead, Mass.) and Gerry Tiernan (Falmouth, Maine) crewed for John Porter (East Troy, Wisc.) to win all five races and the lead position in that fleet on five points.  Standing second overall with 10 points is the team of Paul Callahan (Newport, R.I./Cape Coral, Fla.), Brad Johnson (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Tom Brown (Castine, Maine) who placed second in all five races. 

All three have represented the U.S.A. in Paralympic Sailing, with Brown bringing home a bronze medal from the 2000 Games in the 2.4 Metre class.  Eric Roberts (Reno, Nevada), Jim Thweatt (Sacramento, Calif.) and Dennis Moran (Framingham, Mass.) are third overall with 17 points and hold a slim two-point lead over Ted King (Brentwood, N.H.) sailing with Dan Rugg (Centreville, Md.) and Dirk Johnson (Middletown, R.I.).   Charlie Croteau (Framingham, Mass.) and Jody Hill (Seabrook, Texas) with Kitty Mears (Brighton, Mass.) hold fifth place with 24 points.

Cohesion, confidence and continuity made the difference today for Britain's TeamOrigin who lead the Caja Mediterráneo Region of Murcia Trophy off Cartagena. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero won the GP42 Practice Race.

Buoyed by their team’s recent success, winning on their own home waters against the America’s Cup defenders, Britain’s TeamOrigin emerged with a third and a first place from the opening two races to lead the Caja Mediterráneo Region of Murcia Trophy regatta TP52 Series fleet by a single point ahead of the Argentinian flagged team on Matador.

Skipper Ben Ainslie pointed to their team's heightened levels of confidence, cohesion and the fact that for the first time of this Audi MedCup Circuit season they are sailing with exactly the same crew as they had at the previous TP52 regatta as key components of today’s strong opening.

(Photo - Nico Martinez Audi MedCup) 

Artemis win the Practice Race for the TP52 Series today in light winds off Cartagena.