Marblehead Race Week is the "homecoming" regatta of  the Viper circuit. The class association was born in the upstairs bar at Maddys sail loft in Marblehead five years ago and that gathering of the original half dozen early Viper owners has grown into a national class of well over 100 boats. Marblehead Race Week is where we invite local North East Vipers and Vipers from around the country to come back to Marblehead, enjoy a dinner at Maddys on Thursday evening, have some fun sailing for three days off Tinkers Ledge and see where it all started. It is a rendez vous regatta, with the emphasis as much on catching up with friends as it is on the typicaly close and tactical racing.  

What is not to love about this charming New England Town in July, with its narrow winding streets full of sailors and the pageant of one of the largest One Design regattas in the country? We had two Vipers from the Ontario - Canada fleet, and another from the Savannah- GA fleet but the winner of the "Furthest Travelled award" was undoubtedly Tony Chapman and the crew of Hydra who brought their boat all the way from the Arizona YC and and wore their unmistakable "Desert Fleet" technical shirts.

Friday's racing was blown off with breeze in the high twenties, gusts in the thirties and limited visibility for the RC to manage three lines and twelve fleets. One of the highlights of the racing over the next two days  was the duel for first and second place between the "Mambo Kings"  and "3 Grins"

"The profile of the stage suggested it would suit strong climbers and  cunning, powerful and daring descenders" - Tour De France Progress Report July 11th 2009.

We were slumped exhausted in our Viper communal house at Newport after the first day of racing, watching stage 8 of the Tour De France, and the analogy was not lost on us. Five races of 4 legs apiece. A sixth race of 3 legs Each leg of 1.1 mile. A 3 mile ride to and from the race course. You do the maths! In stunning weather of sunshine and breeze of 14 - 18 knots, at the Coastal Living Newport Regatta, the Viper North East circuit had definitely hit the "mountain stage".

  Category one uphill legs and Yeee Haw planes downwind certainly suited the strong climbers and daring descenders. The Barrington YC Race Committee took full advantage of the breeze to start racing at 11.00 am and keep running them all day until the weary but exultant teams were allowed to head home at 4.00 pm. 

Sail Newport and Coastal Living Magazine hosts a great party on Saturday evening under the tent right on the regatta site, a few paces from where we haul our boats with a beautiful view down the Newport harbor. Our bodies were crying out for Motrin but copious supplies of rum from sponsors Goslings, seemed to do the trick. The entry fee for the entire regatta was only $130 and included wristbands to three evenings of entertainment under the tent for all three crew. That is the kind of stimulus package that this economy needs. 

  The second day was forecast to be lighter, but the local breeze kicked in again so we tightened our uppers and girded our loins for another mountain stage. Several teams with their supplies of Motrin running low sailed by the boat and diplomaticaly reminded the RC that the SIs specified no race starts after 2.00 pm. The RC responded by announcing that there may be a couple less races and then they got us underway promptly.  We eventually added another three x 4 leg races to our scores, for a total of 9 races and over 60 miles as the crow flies (double that for distance sailed) in one weekend of sailboat racing!

“Is this Heaven?”  “No, it’s Iowa.”

… a simple, yet memorable exchange of lines in a classic movie about the creation of the ultimate playground to satisfy one’s dreams.  Well, Field of Dreams was created by a Hollywood studio, Long Beach/Alamitos Bay was created by Mother Nature and it is without a doubt the ultimate playground to satisfy any sailor’s dreams, especially if they happen to be racing a Viper 640 on ‘C - Charlie Course’: a consistent western afternoon breeze, building to 12-18 knots every afternoon under clear, sunny SoCal skies and inside the breakwater of Long Beach Harbor.  Heaven…, why not?

Long Beach Race Week has come and gone, and this year like last, it provided all in attendance with three of the most perfect days of racing for which any of us could hope.  For the Viper 640 fleet, 6 boats were in attendance, a 100% growth from our inaugural visit last year, which gained us not only a fleet start, but further recognition as a growing fleet in the west after many years of a but a few stalwarts keeping the faith in PHRF fleets.

In typical Long Beach fashion, Day 1 racing began with 8-10 knots and finishing strong with 12-18, always clocking to the right as the afternoon progressed, as it would for the following days as well.  Scores were flip-flopping as locals were ready for the “Long Beach afternoons” and others were not, a mistake that would not be made the following days.  

The list of quotes about the Viper has been growing recently with folks like Scott Nixon, Craig Lewis, and Brad Boston joining the list of fans. Check them out on the bottom of this page :- http://www.viper640.org/the-viper-640    There is even some grudging admiration from a Melges 20 owner and a ringing endorsement from the past president of the Melges 24 class. If you have any quotes that are either amusing or aptly describe why sailors love their Vipes, feel free to send them to us and we will add them to the list.