The Buzzards Bay Regatta is saddened greatly by the news that Sandra Tartaligno passed away while racing her F 18 this past weekend in the New England 100. Just last week, Sandra handily won the F 18 class at BBR, and I had a chance to meet this amazing woman. She was an active organizer and supporter of catamaran sailing for many, many years. Among many other tasks she was Treasurer of the F 18 Class and we are told was a regular supplier of brownies to the sailors against whom she sailed. The sport needs more people like Sandra. We will miss her.

Don Watson
2019 BBR Chair and fellow multihull sailor

The 47th annual Buzzards Bay Regatta is in the books, and it provided three days of sunshine filled racing for 3 classes of kite boards, seven one-design classes, 2 PHRF classes and one NEMA multihull class. Shields and J 80s raced in Marion, hosted by Beverly Yacht Club and F 18 catamarans, Melges 20s, 505s, Laser Masters, Marshall Sandpipers, AV 8, Foil and Leading edge Kites, PHRF Race and Multihulls raced from the New Bedford Yacht Club. These fleets make BBR one of the most diverse racing fleets anywhere, and being buzzed by a foiling kite on the way in is an unforgettable experience.
The three days featured light, but eventually raceable air on Friday, 10-15 knots Saturday and a good 9-12 knots Sunday. While some fleets got a head start toward home Sunday morning, those that waited were rewarded with 2 additional races for all fleets. Within the regatta, the Marshall Sandpipers held their national championships and  first place went to Paul Gelenitis of Metedeconk, NJ followed by Jim Gelenitis, also from the same club in New Jersey and Dan Harley from nearby Mantoloking, NJ finishing third.  The top 5 boats in class all came from the same region of Barnegat Bay, NJ.  Top local finisher was NBYC’s  Dick Hitchcock in Black Cat in 6th.
 
The NEMA multihull fleet had a competitive fleet of ten boats which included two Morelli and Melvin TF-10 foiling trimarans.  Will Saltonstall topped the Fleet in his Corsair Cruze 970
PHRF handicap classes got in 5 races over the weekend with Beverly YC’s “Isurus” with Mark Verville taking first place in Class I. Finishing second was the C&C 30 One Design “Nyabinga” sailed by Peter McClennan of Chatham, MA, and in third place Newport’s “Salicia” , a J-120 driven by Mark Naninni.  Class 2 went to Bristol RI’s David Schwartz on “Mischief” followed by the J-29 “Seefest” of Ira Perry of Dartmouth and the New Bedford Yacht Club.
 
New to the BBR was the Melges 20 one design class and the speedy sport boats found ideal conditions in Buzzards Bay.  Leading the way was John Bailey representing the New York Yacht Club followed by Alexis Michas of Wadawanuck YC, and third going to the Mudratz youth team skippered by Kayleigh Morgan of Barrington YC.  Racing in the same area of the Melges fleet was the F-18 Catamarans and was won by Sandra Tartaligno with both Michael Christiensen and Todd Riccardi tied for second.
 
In the Laser Masters division, Newporter Peter Shope dominated competition with a 10 point victory over Peter Vessella representing the St. Francis YC of San Francisco.  Rounding out the podium was NBYC Laser Grand Master Mark Bear in third place out of 21 boats competing. 
 
The 505 class held their East Coast championships at BBR and completed nine races with Matthew Barry taking the title overall leading Peter Scannell and Barney Harris in the standings.
 
At Beverly YC, two classes finished their racing with Dan Cooney winning the J-80 Class over Jack Gierhart and William Snyder.  Both Cooney and Gierhart represented BYC and Snyder sailing out of Sail Newport.  Beverly YC home cooking carried over to the Shields event with 8 races leading to victory by Ken Deyett beating William Berry.  Paul Mitchell’s boat “Amusing” rounded out the top 3 in the Shields division.
 
Back for the third straight year, three kiteboard classes were limited to one day of racing due to the lightish air, but they got nine races completed on Saturday with Brendan Healy taking honors in the Cabrinha AV 8s, Eric Schwarm in the Leading Edge Class and world champion Nico Parlier ran the table in the Foil Class
 
The Buzzards Bay Bowl for outstanding performance went to perennial competitor David Schwartz on Mischief who managed five bullets in five races.
We wish to thank our primary sponsors and all the sailors who participated and made it a great event.

Hope we see everyone back in 2020. ​