Advertisement

Around the Island with the Oakcliff All American Offshore Team

We hopped onboard Vanquish, an STP65, with five members of the Oakcliff All American Offshore Team for the 2011 NYYC Around the Island Race. Photos by Meredith Powlison.

Ralf Steitz, one of AAOT’s coaches and the head of the Kings Point Sailing Foundation, gives the team a prep talk before the start.
Teammembers Colin Orsini (also an SW blogger) and Nathan Fast get the main ready to go.
Nathan Fast goes up the mast in the prestart. Says teammate Mark Towill, “Everybody brings a different skill set, and that’s what makes a good team.”
Practicing a douse before the start.
Sailing World
Sorting through sails down below.
Sailing World
A look inside the boat, which will start the Transatlantic Race on July 3rd. Says Towill, “We want to be safe, have a good time, and–beyond that–be as competitive as possible.”
Approaching the Jamestown-Newport Bridge after the start.
Sailing World
Fast gets ready for a sail change. Says Towill, “It’s cool to go sailing on an awesome boat and be around your friends.”
Sailing World
Jesse Fielding helps find the breeze in the light conditions after the start.
Vanquish was quick even in light air. Towill looks forward to their upcoming offshore training session:  “We haven’t had a lot of time sailing in big breeze. We  want to try to find some kind of weather system, get into it, test the boat and test ourselves.”
Sailing World
Towill drove for the race with input from Steitz and teammate Jan Majer.
Numbers was just ahead of us around Conanicut Island.
Sailing World
According to Towill, “We had an awesome crew come out today, and I think it went really well. This wasn’t a required event on the schedule– we raced against some of our teammates today on other boats.”
As we sailed up to the finish, the boat got into a fast upwind groove and hit 11 knots in the moderate conditions.
We approach the next bridge behind Shockwave. On their team dynamic, Towill says, “We’ve gelled as a group and a unit very well.”
Orsini chats with Steitz after the finish. To get a firsthand perspective on the AAOT, check out Orsini’s blog here.
The sails are lowered as another day on Vanquish comes to a close. The team will keep training in Newport until the start of the Transatlantic Race. Says Towill, “It’s a big race and I think we’re all really excited about it.” Afterwards, the team plans to keep the boat in England and sail the Fastnet Race.
Advertisement

Email Newsletters and Special Offers

Sign up for Sailing World emails to receive racing tips, tactics and techniques, and reviews on the latest boat models as well as special offers on behalf of Sailing World’s partners.
By signing up you agree to receive communications from Sailing World and select partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You may opt out of email messages/withdraw consent at any time.

More Racing

Advertisement

Read More

SUBSCRIPTIONS
ABOUT US
FOLLOW US
BONNIER BRANDS

Many products featured on this site were editorially chosen. Sailing World may receive financial compensation for products purchased through this site.

Copyright © 2023 Sailing World. A Bonnier LLC Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.