North Tonawanda sailor wins prestigious
Richardson Trophy for YYC

by Terry Duffy
Tribune, Dispatch, Sentinel, October 12-14, 2006

Amidst high winds, heavy rains and very choppy Lake Erie waters over the weekend of Sept. 30-Oct. 1, North Tonawanda resident Adam Burns, who sails out of the Youngstown Yacht Club, overcame competitors representing six racing associations that comprise the Yacht Racing Union of the Great Lakes to win the Richardson Trophy Regatta.

A prestigious Great Lakes sailing event that dates back to 1912, Burns reported that the Buffalo regatta, run out of the Buffalo Yacht Club, stood out because for the first time it comprised two entries each of the six participating associations, and also due to the difficult Lake Erie conditions the visiting sailors experienced. “Saturday morning broke with winds from the south at 15-20 knots and seas from the west at three to six feet, indicating that the race course would be anything but typical,” Burns said.

He reported that, as a result, participants had to adjust to compete in two separate courses on Saturday’s opening round. One – Course Nirvana – was set up behind the inner break wall on the Buffalo Harbor. The second – Big Kahuna – was situated about a quarter mile outside Buffalo Harbor, providing for a rather difficult environment for the five teams racing out there. “Two races into Saturday’s event, Course Big Kahuna had to re-set behind the Buffalo Harbor break wall due to the building seas,” Burns said.

Only one final race was completed on the outer harbor, he said. “With wind guests exceeding 26 knots and seas still building, both courses postponed the balance of Saturday’s schedule and returned to the harbor at BYC to reflect on how to proceed.” Burns said.

Race officials determined that Sunday morning would open with the completion of Saturday’s scheduled events. The top two teams would be selected to vie for the best of three semi-finals, and then best of three finals, with the winning skippers coming out of the semi-finals.

Sunday opened with lighter winds but heavier rain, Burns reported, with winds coming out of the west at 10 knots and three to five foot seas. “The saving grace was that the seas and winds were coming from the same direction,” he said.

However, as the day wore on, Lake Erie’s winds again built up, forcing the planned best-of-three finals to be shortened to a single race final. Burns, representing the YYC and the Lake Yacht Racing Association, took the Richardson Trophy by besting Chris Van Tol of the Bayview Yacht Club of Detroit, and the Inter-Lake Yachting Racing Association.

He returns the trophy to the YYC for the first time since 1981 when Elmer J. Doyle Jr. won the event.