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Recap: 210 First Chance Regatta

Last month, several racers met up for the First Chance Regatta for a bit of a close call in scoring early in the season. Quantum Sails Newport's and 210 Class Guru Randy Shore recaps the event below.

On April 30th and May 1st, Newport Yacht Club welcomed the 210 class for the 2016 First Chance Regatta and the presentation of the Hunt trophy. Saturday morning looked dicey, four knots and competing wind lines, but by the time the race course was set, it developed into a beautiful 10-12 knot day with gusts to 15 over the flat waters on Newport Harbor. Eric Langley and the Newport Yacht Club team fired off an ample six races on day one, which proved worthy of clearing out the winter cobwebs and getting the class off to a great season.

Mark DeShong started off strong with two, first-place finishes, but Oakley Jones edged ahead towards the end of the first day, finishing with three firsts and a second.  Tom Lemaire, the event organizer, spent most of the first day in third place, but pulled a bullet in race five.  It was nice to see Chris Sheldon racing “Raven”, Bill Rockford filling in for Greg Sullivan on “Relentless 2”, and Quentin Walsh making the trip down in “Top Hat”, firmly establishing himself in the fourth spot before practicing a man-overboard drill in race five.

With only two more races scheduled on Sunday, pressure was on Oakley and Mark to see who would come out on top. Showing off some match racing prowess, Mark won the first race with Oakley finishing third, and Tom finishing second, to really close the gap.  With it coming down to the final race, Oakley and his team did a solid cover job to all corners of the course to stay in front of Mark, letting Tom extend to a commanding first-place finish, with Chris Sheldon picking up second place, literally inches in front of Oakley and only a foot in front of Mark.  Members of the class were seen at Midtown Oyster Bar, discussing over drinks, the calculations of the timing differential on a one-inch and one-foot photo finish. Results have yet to be concluded!

Even more hotly contested, was the debate on how to break the tie between Oakley and Mark when the throw out race was factored in. In the end, Oakley Jones Jr., sailing with his son “Juice” and Tim Corbett took home the Wells Bowl, and all were left looking forward to next year’s First-Chance.

First Chance Regatta - Oakely Jones' Pig Pen takes home the top prize.

RESULTS:
Oakley Jones Jr. sailed with a six-year old set of Quantum sails.  Mark DeShong used his nationals-winning Quantum Genoa from 2014.  Tom Lemaire raced with last year’s inventory, including the newly designed Quantum mainsail on display.
 
Quantum Newport's Randy Shore was on hand crewing for Mark on Sat, and doing some photo work and RC assist on day two. Helly Hanson and Quantum Sails also donated some raffle items for Saturday's dinner, and Quantum Sails donated a new banner advertising the Nationals making a return to Newport in August. Keep an eye out for it.
 
 Congrats to the Quantum-powered teams!
 
1st – Oakley Jones’ 210 Pig Pen
2nd – Mark DeShong’s International 210 Chartette Too (partial inventory)
3rd – Thomas Lemaire’s International 210 Q4
4th – Bill Rockford’s International 210 Relentless II
5th – Chris Sheldon’s International 210 Raven

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