Racing
Mini Maxi Shockwave Dominates at Key West
Shockwave Dominates in Battle of the Mini Maxis
Shockwave Wins 7 Races in 2013 Quantum Key West Race Week
Strong turnout in the Reichel/Pugh designed Melges 24 & Melges 32 Classes
George Sakellaris’ RP72 Shockwave sailing in the 2012 Key West Race Week, Photo Courtesy of Rick Tomlinson
2012 Key West Race Week 2013
January 20th-25th 2013, Key West, Florida -USA
Congratulations to George Sakellaris and the crew of the Reichel/Pugh designed/engineered and McConaghy built 72’ Mini Maxi SHOCKWAVE for winning the Mini Maxi Division in the 2013 Key West Race Week. In epic Key West race conditions, George Sakellaris match raced his Reichel/Pugh mini maxi Shockwave to seven bullets over Hap Fauth’s new Bella Mente to win the Mini Maxi class with a day in hand.
The crew of Shockwave have gotten the 2013 season off to a superb start with the Key West result. Their Key West result followed a convincing win over Bella Mente off Palm Beach in December’s Sailfish Ocean Challenge, by winning three of four races in the eight boat IRC Class.
In 2012 Sakellaris helmed Shockwave to an overall win in the 635nm Newport – Bermuda race.
Under the prior ownership of Neville Crichton, Shockwave was the overall winner of the 2010 Mediterranean classic, the 243 nm Giraglia Race and the 2009 Mini Maxi Rolex Cup.
Melges 32 Racing in the 2012 Key West Race Week, Photo Courtesy of Joy Dunnigan
The Reichel/Pugh designed Melges 24 and Melges 32 also had some terrific racing with Full Throttle earning the ultimate honor of being named Quantum Boat of the Week.
Brian Porter (Lake Geneva, WI) and his team on Full Throttle battled it out with Alec Cutler (Pembroke, Bermuda) and the Hedgehog crew in the Melges 24 class of 23 boats. Full Throttle won Race 9 to build a cushion then placed third in Race 10 to seal a three-point victory over Hedgehog, which got the gun in the final start.
“It couldn’t have been a nicer week. We had great wind, great competition and great race committee work,” Porter was quoted saying, who has now captured Melges 24 class three times at Key West.
Andrea Pozzi of Italy took up the sport of sailing a year and a half ago and showed he is a quick study, winning the Melges 32 class in just his fifth regatta. Bombarda finished first or second in six of 12 races and led the 11-boat fleet from start to finish, holding off a late surge by Leenabarca (Alex Jackson, Riverside, CT). “This is a dream. It is the first regatta we have won so that makes its particularly special. We will always remember Key West 2013,” Pozzi was quoted saying. “It was a tactically difficult regatta with a lot of wind changes. It was very exciting sailing, lots of adrenalin every day.” Third place in the 32 class went to Keisuke Suzuki’s Swing from Japan.
Visit the builder’s websites for the yachts at:
www.mcconaghyboats.com for McConaghy Boats (builders of Shockwave)
www.melges.com for Melges Performance Sailboats (builders of the Melges 24 and Melges 32)
Newport Beach, CA (August 25, 2019) – Congratulations to Alec Oberschmidt and his team for the overall win (and B division win for the third year in a row) at the 2019 Long Point Race Week aboard their Reichel/Pugh-designed 50’ racer Staghound. David Clark’s ULDB 70 Grand Illusion with Reichel/Pugh-designed keel and rudder appendages was 2nd in ORR Division. Grand Illusion won the Transpac overall in 2015. 
Cowes, Isle of Wight (August 17, 2019) – Mark Rijkse’s Reichel/Pugh-designed GP42 42° South (ex-Seawonder 007) shone brightly at the 2019 COWES WEEK, scoring four bullets in six races to win Class IRC 0, winning the prestigious Brittania Cup and New York Yacht Club Challenge Cup in two of those races. 
A piece of Dr. Skip Sheldon’s legacy lives on as his 66’ racer-cruiser Zaraffa continues to win with the grateful U.S. Naval Academy Varsity Offshore Sailing Team.
As the 50th Transpac kicks off this week Reichel/Pugh wishes all owners and crews a safe race, especially our very own Naval Architect and Structural Engineer David Oliver who is navigator aboard the 60’ Good Call.
Porto Cervo (June 8, 2019) – The 12th edition of the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta was organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in the waters of Porto Cervo, Sardinia and hosted 20 boats ranging from 25 to 52 metres in length. Reichel/Pugh-designed 100’ Magic Carpet3, owned by YCCS member Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, won Class “A” ahead of the 33-metre Inoui and the Wally 107 Open Season with a perfect scoreline across all three races. The Silver Jubilee Cup, assigned to the top yacht over 30 metres with an interior cruising set-up and in the division with the most competitors, also went to the WallyCento Magic Carpet3. Jim Pugh was apart of the racing team.
Ensenada, Mexico (April 28, 2019) – Congratulations to all competitors in the 72nd annual Newport to Ensenada (125nm). On the heels of its 2018 Sydney-Hobart victory, the Australian-based Reichel/Pugh 66’ Canting Keel Mini Maxi ALIVE (formerly Black Jack & Stark Raving Mad) earned the NOSA Trophy for overall best elapsed time, the Amigo Trophy awarded to a first-time skipper and the Lahaina Yacht Club Trophy for best elapsed time all PHRF. Congratulations to owner Phillip Turner, skipper Duncan Hine and the entire Alive Yachting team. 
RP100 Black Jack is Winner of 2019 Brisbane to Gladstone Line Honors and Four Cities Cup for best performing yacht.
St. Barths (April 21, 2019) — Launched in 2010, Les Voiles de St. Barth is an event created specifically to keep the long, colorful history of racing on the island vibrant — building on Loulou’s Regatta back in the 1970’s with its 100 sailboats to the Transat AG2R, the Route du Rose, and the St Barth Bucket Regatta. The 2019 regatta marked the 10th anniversary and fielded scores of teams across nine classes, despite the remaining traces of hurricane Irma, which ravaged the island in September 2017.