The International Sonar Class Association held its 2024 World Championship at Noroton Yacht Club, Darien, CT, September 12-15 on the Long Island Sound. Thirty-one boats competed from across the USA, Canada, and Ireland.
Long Island Sound is known for its hot summer days, but nobody would have expected those conditions to extend until mid-September. On day one, despite her best efforts, PRO Shannon Bush couldn’t conjure up enough breeze to send out the fleet. Day two started the same way, but after an extended shoreside postponement, the fleet went out and got in one light-air race before the wind disappeared again. With only one race in the books and four races required for the Championship, it was hoped that the third day would hold the key. On Saturday the fleet got in two more relatively light-air races. All eyes turned towards the final day, with forecast models hoping that the 8-12 knot easterly would materialize.
On the Sunday, the first warning was moved up to 0930 in hopes of running four more races. In the end, it turned out to be a spectacular day with four races in the forecast breeze and everyone came ashore with big smiles on their faces.
Local Noroton Yacht Club sailor Morgan Connor and his crew won the Championship. The team’s consistency ultimately led to their victory, with finishes of 2-3-1-3-7-2 with a UFD in the seventh and final race being their dropped score. Their 17 net points gave them a 6-point margin over Gavin Pace in second (23 points) and TK Kinney in third (36 points).
While the first three days had light conditions, Sunday’s 10-12 easterly working against an ebbing current made for a challenging racing in the confused sea state. Drew Buttner, sailing as Connor’s tactician, said they set the jib cars differently when sailing into vs. across the waves and event co-chairs Janet Grapengeter and Michael Rudnick, who were also racing, noted they were constantly trimming their jib and main in the wave and breeze conditions.
Connor also noted that the competition was tough throughout the Championship, with race wins spread across top competitors and 15 of the 31 boats scoring at least one top-5 finish. However, perhaps the most interesting aspect of Connor’s win was the composition of his crew. Sailing for the first time since college with Drew Buttner, Morgan also had his 16-year-old son, Wells, doing bow. On top of that, Jan Raymond, the boat’s owner, became the oldest sailor to win a Sonar (and perhaps any) major one-design World Championship at 81 years young.
The International Sonar Class Association would like to thank Noroton Yacht Club for its hospitality, Commodore Katie Mitchell who was there to cheer the boats all weekend, and Class President Paul Steinborn who sailed on his own boat with Gavin Pace at the helm finishing second.
The 2026 Sonar Class World Championship will be held in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Of Note: At Saturday’s dinner, US Sailing’s Betsy Allison presented US Sailing’s President’s Award to longtime Sonar Class member and measurer Gene Henkel recognizing his contributions to the Class and, in particular, his leadership in adapting Sonars and other classes for Paralympic sailing.
Full Results: https://norotonyc.org/regatta/IWnyVTfMaq/results
Contact: Ed “Buttons” Padin, Sonar Class Administrator
Sailing photo credit: ©2024, courtesy of Noroton YC and Rick Bannerot, Ontheflyphoto.net
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