Devon Yacht Club Hosts Final PGJSA Qualifier Of The Summer

Devon Yacht Club in Amagansett was the site of what was the final Peconic Gardiners Junior Sailing Association Qualifier on August 11.

Clubs from both the North Fork and South Fork were represented in last week’s regatta and nearly all made it to the winner’s circle in the seven different fleets that were competing last week. With winds between 12 to 18 knots and gusts over 20, conditions were a bit challenging for the young sailors.

Anders Siewert of Shelter Island Yacht Club was crowned champion of the optimist races finishing with a low of 12 points. Matteo Ammirati, Siewert’s Shelter Island club mate, finished second with 24 points. Brian Lynch of Old Cove Yacht Club in New Suffolk finished just a point behind Ammirati for third place, Southampton Yacht Club’s John Gargiulo placed fourth and Leo Hackett of host Devon Yacht Club finished fifth out of 37 boats that included red, white and blue optis.

In the opti green fleet, the youngest sailors, four of the top five finishers hailed from Devon. They included Beatrix Wiedenmayer, who had the low of 12 points on the day, followed by Henry Ginnel, Jack Dempsey and Brooks Beshara. Otto Harris of Old Cove rounded out the top five.

A trio of Southold Yacht Club members — Joanna Anderson, Aislinn Callanan and Grace Lyons, respectively — swept the sunfish single races. Anne Clifford-Levy of Devon, Mickey Smith of Southold and Whitney Pickett of Devon rounded out the rest of the finishers.

Brianna Burns of Mattituck Yacht Club won the laser 4.7 races with 12 points. She was followed by John Spicer and Mason Miller of Southold Yacht Club. Tomasa Tenaglia of Southampton Yacht Club and Kelsey Young of Southold Yacht Club finished fourth and fifth, respectively, out of the 15 boats that competed.

Will Stork of Southampton Yacht Club won each race of the laser radial fleet to win with a regatta-low five points. Robert Finora of Old Cove, Richard “Mickey” Kalich of Mattituck, Phoebe Fogarty of Old Cove and Dylan Braner of Shelter Island all followed in a race that included eight boats.

In the laser full division, the smallest fleet of the regatta, James Bergstrom of Shelter Island and Oliver Vulliez of Southampton tied for first place with eight points apiece. Tristan Stump of Southampton and William Simms of Shelter Island placed third and fourth, respectively.

In the biggest boats of the regatta, the C420s, Alexander Von Lehe and Christian Doscas won what was a very competitive race, finishing with 17 points, one point less than Eli Shainker and Rufus Burnes Heath of Orient Yacht Club. Oliver Puris and Nolan Jennings of Devon placed third, Julian Dahiya and Jackson Suter of Old Cove placed fourth and Avi and Nate Rosan of Southampton rounded out the top five of the 14-boat fleet.

The 52nd annual Lawrence I. Clarke Memorial ’Round Gardiners Island Race, Devon Yacht Club’s signature event, is set for Saturday, August 28. The club is expecting around 20 boats that will represent both forks. There will be a skipper’s meeting prior to the race at 5:30 p.m. and there will be post-race awards. All information on the race can be found at devonyc.com/Sailing/RGIR.