USNA’s TP52 ‘Invictus’ maintains individual Onion Patch lead.

NYYC Blue top team going forward.

By Talbot Wilson

Hamilton, Bermuda June 20, 2012- Although the Carkeek 40 ‘Decision’ owned by Steve Murray (New Orleans LA) was the top Onion Patch boat in the Newport Bermuda Race, the United States Naval Academy (USNA) TP52 ‘Invictus’ maintains first place for individual entries with a second in the 23-boat fleet. 'Invictus' had a first in the NYYC Annual Regatta June 9-10 in Newport.

The Onion Patch combines boats from all IRC classes in the Newport Bermuda Race. Results under IRC in the ocean race favored the more modern boats. ‘Decision’ just launched in 2012 and 'Invictus' a modern TP52 were followed by Lawrence Dicky (Greenwich CT) in his new Ker 43 ‘Ptarmigan’, Jim Madden (Newport Beach CA) in a Swan 601 ‘Stark Raving Mad’ and Hamnett Hill (Montreal CAN) in a new Marten 49 named 'Defiance'. The standings within the Onion Patch fleet in the Newport Bermuda Race were scored with a 1.25 multiplier.

Of the boats doing the whole series— racing in Newport, doing the Newport Bermuda Race and sailing the Royal Bermuda YC Anniversary Regatta presented by the Butterfield Group— the TP52 ‘Invictus’ from the US Naval Academy leads ‘Ptarmagan’ by just 3.25 points going into Friday’s Anniversary Regatta presented by the Butterfield Group at the RBYC.

Among the three-boat teams racing for the Onion Patch Trophy the NYYC Blue team of ‘Stark Raving Mad’, ‘Temptation-Oakcliff’ and ‘Dorade’ leads coming out of the Bermuda Race with 47.25 points. NYYC Red has 69.5 points led by Andrew Weiss’s ‘Christopher Dragon'. 'Carina' skippered by Rives Potts, and Jim Bishop’s ‘Gold Digger’. The USNA team in third with 73.25 points includes ‘Invictus’, ‘Defiance’ (NA23) and ‘Swift’.

Royal Bermuda YC Anniversary Regatta

The Onion Patch Series concludes Friday, June 22 with the RBYC Anniversary Regatta presented by the Butterfield Group. The first race, a windward-leeward course, starts at 10:00 ADT in Bermuda’s Great Sound. It will be followed by a second race that is a “Tour of the Islands” in the Great Sound the Granaway Deep, Port Royal Bay and Hamilton Harbour. The 23 Onion Patch Series entries will compete along with 11 boats just entered in the Anniversary Regatta.

For complete Onion Patch Series results see www.onionpatchseries.com/

Onion Patch Series Scoring

Each yacht's individual final score in each event of the Onion Patch Series is determined by her finish position within the total Onion Patch fleet. The yacht’s score for the Onion Patch Series is the sum of the weighted points of all three events.

For races 1 and 2 of the Onion Patch Series (the first race of Saturday, June 9 and Sunday, June 10, 2012 of the NYYC Annual Regatta), the scoring was based on a formula that converted the yacht's corrected time into a time on distance (i.e., seconds / mile) number and the competitors ranked in order of the fastest sec / mile to the slowest sec / mile. Points are awarded according to ranking, and these points are used in the compilation of the overall scores in the series.

Each individual yacht's scores for the events are weighted as follows: the finish positions in the Newport Bermuda Race are multiplied by 1.25. The total points gained in the NYYC Annual Regatta are multiplied by 1.00 and the total points gained in the RBYC Anniversary Regatta are multiplied by 1.00. The lowest individual score wins.

Team scores are the sum of each team yacht's individual qualifying scores. The lowest team score wins.

Racing for the Onion Patch Series includes the first race each day in the 158th NYYC Annual Regatta presented by Rolex, the Cruising Club of America-Royal Bermuda YC Newport Bermuda Race starting June 15th in Newport and finishing several days later in Bermuda and the Royal Bermuda YC Anniversary Regatta presented by the Butterfield Group on June 22nd.