Top racers will make waves here

By Tony Chamberlain, Globe Staff  |  June 12, 2004

Never have so many top-level international sailboat races descended on New England at the same time.

The UBS Trophy race in Newport, R.I., starts a week from today and will feature America's Cup winner Team Alinghi from Switzerland in a week of match racing with archrival BMW Oracle from San Francisco. The two last met in the 2002 Louis Vuitton Cup final series in New Zealand.

In Boston Harbor, The Transat Race continues its two weeks of activity after the top boats finished in record time this past week. The 34 solo-piloted yachts in the Open 50 and Open 60 classes will sail to Marblehead a week from today for a reception at Corinthian Yacht Club before the fleet takes off for Europe. The next day, Bill Koch's 2004 Sea Scout Cup race at Mass. Maritime Academy on Buzzards Bay will bring together a fleet of young sailors from Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Norway, and Canada in a weeklong regatta.

"As home of the America's Cup for half a century, Newport has long been recognized as sailing capital of the world," said Rhode Island's governor, Donald Carcieri. "This marks the first time that we have hosted a race of this kind [with America's Cup boats] for more than two decades."

The UBS Trophy Race, featuring the two America's Cup Class 70-footers, will match race in the waters off Fort Adams, giving spectators access to the matches.

"This venue is absolutely perfect," said Gavin Brady, helmsman of Oracle II, in reference to the historic and sporting significance of Newport. "As the host city for the America's Cup from 1930 to 1983, Newport has witnessed many thrilling duels off her shores. The UBS Trophy will feature exciting sailing at the highest level. The conditions here surely are among the best anywhere."

The America's Cup champions regard the UBS Trophy race as the official launch of their campaign for the 2007 Cup, to be raced in Valencia, Spain.

Alinghi's skipper, Russell Coutts, and tactician Brad Butterworth will take time out from the Newport races to visit Bill Koch's regatta and address the young racers. Koch, who is trying to create a high-level international youth regatta, said the idea goes back to his own sailing experience.

"I learned to sail when I was 13 years old at Culver Military Academy," said Koch. "And it has been with me the rest of my life. And so we started this event because there is no real good avenue to compete on the international level without going through yacht clubs."

The Koch Cup sails about 100 entrants who have qualified through local regattas. They use a fleet of 420s and swap boats in order to put as little emphasis as possible on expensive technology, Koch said. "The best sailor rises to the top."

Winner of the 1992 America's Cup in San Diego, Koch says this regatta, though a fleet race at this point, was designed in the spirit of a junior America's Cup.

"It's sort of a youth version of the America's Cup without the huge emphasis on technology," Koch said.

Meanwhile, the Newport-Bermuda Race, a biennial staple of Newport yachting, gets under way Friday. The event combines boats with cutting-edge design, along with several classes of the cruising division. The high-tech boats have evolved from many of the larger international races that have arrived in New England this spring. The 560-mile Newport-Bermuda race takes 4-5 days to complete.

And still coming in are the competitors in The Transat Race. Two Bostonians, racing in the Open-50 monohull class, are dueling in the event that began in Plymouth, England. Joe Harris, who is sailing Wells Fargo-America Pioneer II, is trying to hold off Kip Stone, aboard Artforms.

At daybreak Wednesday, as Harris phoned his headquarters, a small triangular shape appeared on the horizon. Harris knew it was the sails of Artforms, whom he had passed Sunday. Tuesday night had been frustrating because the wind died and "an icy cold damp settled on the boat."

"But they died completely and I guess I finally hit the wall," Harris said. "I was so tired and it seemed that the moment I would put my head down the wind would change direction and I would have to go up on deck to trim the sails."

At their present rate, the two Boston sailors could get their first glimpse of the city skyline by Wednesday.