Video features Rumshine Racing's Mike McLaughlin and Will Beery's Soverel 33 Celeritas duel with sister ship and arch-rival Evil Monkey on the first leg from Bell 32 (The Cows) 1 nm south of Stamford (CT) Harbor Breakwater, to the upwind turning mark around Mid-Sound buoy Bell 32A, 2.5 nm at 206˚ on August 30, 2022, in this final race of the 2022 Breakwater Irregulars summer series.


At the Western Long Island Sound Research Lighted Buoy located 1.7 nm west of Bell 32A, meteorological data show breezes from 180˚T backing to 170˚T at ~16 kts, with gusts to ~25 knots. Ebbing tidal currents (flowing eastward) were ~1.4 kts in Mid-Sound.

Evil Monkey, helmed by owner Dave Schmidt, sailing under full mainsail and #2 genoa jib takes an early lead over the seemingly underpowered Celeritas. Both boats punch into a building chop as crews hike the weather rail.

Celeritas, helmed by co-owner Will Beery, is sailing with a single reef in the mainsail and #3 genoa jib. The boat is on its feet, but not keeping pace with Evil Monkey.

Halfway up the windward leg of the course Evil Monkey's genoa jib suddenly split from its leech to luff. Evil Monkey's crew scrambles to clear the shredded sail and hoist another headsail. Celeritas takes the lead and doesn't look back.

Upon rounding Bell 32A and with no competitors nearby, Celeritas' foredeck crew quickly set up spinnaker gear for a starboard jibe set. With thunder and lightning storms rumbling just three miles inshore and with daylight waning, Celeritas' braintrust prudently delayed a spinnaker hoist until safely passing beyond the cluster of boats that often fish the shoals under Bell 32A.

Once safely in the clear, it was game on. The big kite went up and Celeritas marched out at a steady 8 knots with regular bursts to 12+ knots. The gusting southerly breeze on a following sea combined to make this downwind leg a romp to the finish in surfing conditions.

Summer 2022 series race results https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=15389

Thanks to Station 44040 - Western Long Island Sound weather buoy, owned and maintained by University of Connecticut, Department of Marine Sciences and to NOAA Meteorologist Wayne Presnell for help accessing past weather data downloads from https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_history.php?station=44040