Triad Wins New England Solo/Twin

MULTIHULLS MAGAZINE, September, 1995 -- The eight multihulls, sailing in this year's Doublehanded Championships, held off Newport, Rhode Island, August 10-11, were blessed with steady wind for the duration of the 126-mile course which took them from Narragansett Bay to Cererus Shoal, around Block Island to Normans Land, back to the Point Judith Whistle Buoy, thence to the finish line off Castle Hill, also in Narrangansett Bay. The 12-15 Knot southwesterly breeze, for the noon start off Fort Adams, dropped to 5-10 knots on Rhode Island Sound, causing flat seas for the duration of the race. Around 2 a.m. the wind veered to the northwest bringing pea soup fog and a challenge to navigation for the bulk of the fleet which was then closing with land and finishing the course. Also challenging was the tricky tide flow which swirls around Block Island and the Sound.

The first-place finishers on corrected time, Tom Cox and Spencer Merz aboard Triad (a 42' wing-masted Newick trimaran), were pleasantly surprised for she is a ruggedly built cold-molded racer/cruiser designed for high winds and rough seas. This was thought to be a disadvantage in the mild conditions encountered during the race. Second-place finishers on both corrected and elapsed time were Keith Burrage and Phil Steggal aboard Skateaway, Burrage's superbly finished, self-designed and constructed, composite wing-masted 40' trimaran. Debby Druan and Dave Koshiol aboard her ultra-light Formula 40 trimaran B.E.D. Toshiba broke their own elapsed time record set the previous year by over five hours, to finish third on corrected time.