TP52 Decision 2009 IRC East Coast Champion

Decision IV Named 2009 IRC East Coast Champion

Annapolis, Md. (Nov. 2, 2009) – After three days and six races, just three seconds separated Stephen Murray Jr.’s (New Orleans, La.) TP 52 Decision IV from Mike Williamson’s (New Castle, N.H.) King 40 White Heat in the battle to claim the overall title at the 2009 IRC East Coast Championship. In total, 38 yachts raced in five classes at the event, held October 30-November 1, 2009, with overall results calculated on average corrected speed for each of the class winners for the entire regatta. (Decision IV sailed in IRC Class 1 while White Heat sailed in IRC Class 3.)

“This is a very prestigious regatta, with great race management and top-notch competition,” said Murray, who also raced in the 2007 IRC East Coast Championship. “We really wanted to make the commitment to win it. We came to Annapolis a month before this regatta so we could race locally, tune the boat and improve our performance. I’m happy to say that effort paid off.”

This marked the ninth year that the East Coast Championship was organized by the Storm Trysail Club’s Chesapeake Station and the fifth year it was run under the IRC rule. The Storm Trysail Club has long been a strong advocate for IRC racing in the U.S.

Conditions ranged from 7-23 knots over three days of racing, with light rain leading ahead of a cold front on Sunday. In Class 1, the standings couldn’t have been tighter with Decision IV scoring 17.5 points vs. 18.0 points posted by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s (King’s Point, N.Y.) STP 65 Vanquish (ex-Moneypenny); third place went to Richard Oland’s (Rothesay, New Brunswick, Canada) Southern Cross 52 Vela Veloce, which amassed 24 points.