The 2022 Atlantic Nationals at Niantic Bay Yacht Club were won by Niantic member Bill Healy sailing A65 Challenger II, crewed by Art Landry and Bill’s two daughters, Caroline and Kristen. A sailing coach at Yale, Bill has won the Nationals twice previously, in 1996 and 2004, both times when they were held at Niantic. Second was David Peck in A130 Miss April, also from Niantic, and third Scott Reichhelm from Cedar Point sailing A142 Shucks, beating out Steve Benjamin’s Cassidy (A128) on a tie-breaker.

Conditions were intensely challenging for competitors and race committee alike. The first day’s racing eventually was abandoned through lack of wind, but the next day three races were squeezed in, the first two in light and fluky winds with a full moon creating extra strong spring tides. To minimize the advantages of local knowledge, courses were set out in the Sound away from Niantic Bay, but in a southerly wind direction the weather mark had to be anchored where it was deep and the tide was now ebbing at three knots. A reasonable breeze arrived for the third race, and the ebb had started to slow down to make life easier, but the final day started with a northerly which slowly dropped in strength. The fifth and last race was really strange, the wind shifting from northerly to southerly then back again, then repeating, with every other wind direction thrown in for good measure. Healy clinched the championship with an impressive show of consistency in the inconsistent conditions.

Click here for results and here for a full list of competitors.