Doyle-powered Interlodge takes first place at The Southernmost Regatta in Key West, Florida.
Husband and wife, Austin and Gwen Fragomen spent the week racing onboard their yachts at The Southernmost Regatta. The annual event is held in pristine sailing conditions in the Florida Keys. a near-perfect start to the year for Gwen and her crew. After a week of close racing in the sunshine and turquoise blue waters, Interlodge IV, the Botin44, saw top-notch results on the scorecard. Fragomen’s team dropped a second-place finish as their worst result of the 8 races.
Austin Fragomen had a trickier week onboard the couples Botin TP 52 “Interlodge VII” rounding out the regatta in 4th place in the fiercely competitive ORC 52 division. an unfortunate disqualification in race three saw the team fight back with a couple of 1st place finishes.
The Interlodge team is unique in that the owners actively race both the TP52 and the ORC 44, in Europe and in the US. Both boats are Botin designs and both sail with a full complement of Doyle upwind and downwind sails. Onboard the 52 were Dave Armitage from Doyle Newport and Luke Molloy from Doyle Palma. On the 44 were Tony Rey, Paul Tingle and Richard Bouzaid from Doyle Newport.
“There is no better place to sail in the wintertime than Key West, Florida, and it really delivered this year with five days of racing in 8-18 knots, turquoise water and sunshine. ” says Tony Rey of Doyle Newport “The two teams shared a coach, a shore team, and a chef to keep the big group fed and happy! Kris Matthews, the Fragomen’s long-time project manager, makes it all happen.”
“The 52 squad had a real battle with three other 52s, racing on handicap but the four boats were never more than a few lengths from each other over 10 races. It was great training for the upcoming Superseries in the Med. Our crew on the 44, we had a unique opportunity with Gwen Fragomen at the helm for all 8 races. Gwen is a life-long sailor but rarely at the helm, so she took on a big challenge. We were successful not only because we won the event with a race to spare, but she had a ton of fun climbing up the learning curve over the week.
We are so fortunate to have Austin and Gwen Fragomen as teammates and friends. They are owners who really understand the benefits of building a team over the long term. It should be an exciting summer season in Newport with the Gwen racing the 44 in a fleet of similar ORC boats.” said Rey
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