Annapolis-Newport 2023: Catsailors dominate 1 Hull Racing

by Editor · June 15, 2023

First boat Photo by Willy Keyworth/Annapolis Yacht Club Skadi, a J/120 owned by Todd Berget, was winner of ORC 3 class and posted the best corrected time among all boats competing in the 39th biennial Annapolis-to-Newport Race
Class winners crowned for 2023 Annapolis-to-Newport Race

Great work for this group of US Catsailors winning the ORC Class at Annapolis-Newport 2023 Edition. Happy for our mate Sam Carter and company. Jeff Losapio sent the news:

“Figured I’d see if you found this interesting. A group of beach cat sailors just won overall in the Annapolis-to-Newport race on a J/120.

The captain/owner, Todd Berget, is an F16 & F18 sailor. The navigator, Sam Carter, is an A-Cat & F18 sailor. The rest of the crew includes a couple of A-cat and Nacra 20 sailors. Only one of the crew is not a cat sailor. All members of the West River Catamaran Racing Association (WRCRA), and West River Sailing Club (WRSC) in Galesville, MD (just south of Annapolis).

The team won the J/120 class in the 2021 A2N. This year they won J/120 class, ORC 3, and best overall on corrected time.

Cheers”

Official Regatta Release www.annapolisnewportrace.com:

Class winners crowned for 2023 Annapolis-to-Newport Race

For the seven class winners of the 2023 Annapolis-to-Newport Race, there was a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Simply finishing the 475-nautical classic was a real challenge this time around as horribly brutal conditions in the Atlantic Ocean made for an absolutely miserable experience.

The 39th edition of the biennial Annapolis-to-Newport Race will be remembered for the fact 31 of the 60 starters retired rather than risk damage to boat or crew in extreme conditions offshore. Most boats pulled the plug while still in the Chesapeake Bay after carefully reviewing the forecast and confirming the worst — the fleet would be welcomed into the ocean by 20 to 30 knot winds and 10 to 12 foot seas.

Making matters worse was the fact that heavy air would be on the nose from the moment boats rounded Chesapeake Light, ensuring an upwind pounding that would rattle the bones and try the souls of all participating sailors.
“Those first 24 hours in the ocean were extreme and really, really difficult. We had to hang on for dear life and find a way to get through that rough stretch in one piece,” said Todd Berget, skipper of ORC 3 winner Skadi.

This was a serious test of seamanship that required determination, toughness and willpower. Sea sickness was rampant throughout the fleet that elected to go offshore and not even the most experienced ocean racer was immune.
“We were just trying to survive the heavy air and big waves. Four members of the crew were seasick, two of which were really bad. At one point we thought we might need to retire,” said Stephen Hale, who skippered Cookie Monster to victory in ORC 4.

Berget and Team Skadi made their Annapolis-to-Newport Race debut in 2021, finishing fourth overall in ORC 3 and winning the J/120 sub-class. Berget echoed the sentiments of Hale when discussing the strategy out in the ocean.
“We knew things were going to get hairy out in the ocean and my goal from the get-go was to not break the boat and crew during the first day offshore then get back into race mode thereafter,” Berget said.

Skadi endured the rough patch much the same way and when it was over Berget along with watch captain Chris Allen did a thorough assessment. They were pleased to determine the
J/120 was structurally sound and most of the crew was

“Once the rough stuff subsided we really put the hammer down. I thought the boat really handled well and the crew was top-notch. When we called for a sail change at 3 a.m., they were up and on it. You couldn’t ask for better crew work.”

Sam Carter served as navigator aboard Skadi, which wound up with the best corrected time among the Saturday starters. Skadi’s corrected time of 3 days, 18 hours 42 minutes and 23 seconds surpassed that posted by ORC 1 winner Rikki (3:20:18:54).

During Wednesday afternoon’s prize-giving ceremony, Berget and the Skadi crew were presented with the Blue Water Bowl for best overall performance. Carter received the City of Newport Trophy as navigator of the boat with the best corrected time.

Rikki, a Reichel-Pugh 42 skippered by Boston resident Bruce Chafee, posted the fastest elapsed time among the three classes (ORC 1, ORC 2, ORC 3) that started Saturday. Rikki captured line honors for the entire 60-boat fleet, finishing Tuesday at 6:42 a.m.

“It was a tough, challenging race. We saw everything from heavy air and huge waves to totally becalmed. We had a big park-up north of Delaware Bay,” Berget said. “This race kind of threw everything at us then we had some champagne sailing coming into Newport.”