XS 52 SUPER SERIES Newport RI Trophy Practice Day

by 52 Super Series 10 Jun 17:56 PDT
June 10-16, 2024

Just on cue, after a somewhat wet weekend, Newport RI turned on both sun and wind for the official practice race day for XS 52 SUPER SERIES Newport RI Trophy, the second event of the 2024 52 SUPER SERIES season. And the good news is the breezes look set to be in for the full wee, according to some of the fleet’s top navigators.

With a sea-breeze today of between and 15 and 20kts conditions were ideal for the final tune up before racing starts Tuesday. Two different boats won the practice races – Takashi Okura’s Sled from the historic host club the New York Yacht Club and Tony Langley’s Gladiator won the other race. The British owner is also a club member and has enjoyed racing here for five or more years.

And over the two races Quantum Racing powered by American Magic, skippered by young Victor Diaz de Leon with Harry Melges IV steering, also proved they are poised to go one better than at the season opener, May’s 52 SUPER SERIES PalmaVela Sailing Week, where they were runners up to Ergin Imre’s Provezza.

With a second and a fourth today helm Melges says they are in good shape and have clear targets to improve on, “We feel at home here, it is great to be in the USA. And now, after today, we are happy going into the first day of the regatta. We came off a pretty good high after that last event in Palma, we need to keep carrying that forwards but just keep improving on every little thing. We had good starts and good boat speed there. We need to piece that together more and the key for us is closing it out on the last day, not cracking under pressure.”

The Sled team would also love to deliver on their owner-driver Takashi Okura’s club and they, too, will be contenders here as the circuit visits Newport for the first time ever.

Strategist Ado Stead reported, “We had a couple of good starts today and really we are going quite well, and feel like we are picking up where we left off at PalmaVela. We were the last boat to go sailing this season so we knew we needed to be sharp there. We sailed well. And this is Mr Okura’s home yacht club which is more fun, we love the history of this place and this is his club, so we are really looking forwards to this.”

Of the keys to the race course here, Stead explains. “You have to be open minded here, sail with what you see. There is always something going on. We know that in this SW’ly breeze there are little shifts. Everyone has sailed here so many times. I think it is a lot tighter here than in Palma where it was very unstable and there were lots of opportunities. Here there is swell, with some current that chops it is up. To win you just need to keep bashing away, keep going forwards, every metre, every top mark rounding, every bottom mark rounding, don’t give anything away and make it as hard as you can for the opposition.”

This second event of the season again sees 10 TP52s racing representing seven different nations. Hasso and Tina Plattner’s Phoenix return to the circuit after missing out on the first regatta of the season. With Hasso driving today they were in the mix and should be podium contenders.

Racing starts Tuesday and runs to Sunday. Friday is devoted to the host club’s Around The Island Race which is not part of the season long championship.

And following the sustainable initiatives on the agenda this week the circuit ran a young peoples’ Kids workshop today with CISF (Connecticut Island Sailing Foundation) their visit including time aboard the Interlodge TP52. And there was a well attended beach clean up at FT Getty, run in collaboration with the NGO ORCA (oceanrecoverycommunityalliance) where we recovered more than 50kg of rubbish.

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House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi assured reporters Friday night that a proposed tax law rewrite requested by Citizens Bank was not dead, despite its glaring absence in the revised fiscal 2025 budget.

Less than 72 hours later, the Warwick Democrat produced the proof: revised legislation authorizing the shift in state bank income tax calculations, with hearings before both chambers’ finance committees Tuesday.

What changed?

“It wasn’t ready,” Shekarchi said, speaking to reporters at the State House Monday afternoon. “Taxation was opposing it. The administration was opposing it. I certainly wasn’t going to put it in the budget for debate. Now, those two House priorities have been met.”

He added, “I wanted to make sure the taxpayer was protected.” 

McKee pushes state tax rewrite to keep Citizens Bank rooted in Rhode Island. But will it fly?

The updated companion bills, sponsored by Rep. Joe Solomon, a Warwick Democrat, and Sen. Lou DiPalma, a Middletown Democrat, come after months of behind-the-scenes negotiations between state officials and bank executives dating back before Christmas, Shekarchi said.

The tax change, in essence, offers banks the option to calculate their taxable income based only on in-state sales, replacing the longtime “three-factor” calculation encompassing in-state sales, property and payroll. While not explicitly written for Citizens, the financial services giant has the most to gain from the proposal; unlike other banks in Rhode Island, Citizens makes most of its money from services outside state borders, yet its physical presence and payroll are weighted toward the Ocean State.

Other states, including neighboring Massachusetts, have already moved to a similar tax calculation method, a trend referenced by Mike Knipper, executive vice president and head of property and procurement for Citizens Financial Group Inc., in an April letter to state lawmakers.

Knipper in his letter warned that without a similar tax update in Rhode Island, the company “would strongly consider expanding its corporate footprint and employee base outside of Rhode Island because of differing tax treatment among the states.”

On May 10, Gov. Dan McKee proposed a budget amendment offering up the requested rewrite of the bank income tax calculation, with an estimated $15.6 million in state tax revenue loss for a full fiscal year.

However, McKee’s proposal did not make the cut when lawmakers unveiled their revised fiscal 2025 spending plan on May 31, with Shekarchi citing lack of detail and time to vet the proposal before finalizing the state budget.

Yet Shekarchi also said he would not be responsible for losing one of the state’s top employers, which boasts a 4,200 in-state payroll and a $285 million Johnston headquarters.

Negotiations ramped up in earnest over the last week and half, with Shekarchi texting key players in the tax proposal from the rostrum of the budget debate Friday night. A weekend of closed-door meetings and phone calls later, the deal emerged.

Key to Shekarchi’s change-of-heart was the OK from the Rhode Island Division of Taxation, which had initially expressed concerns with the legislation when first introduced by Solomon in March. Tax officials gave the green light to the revised proposal Sunday, Shekarchi said.

The updated legislation clarifies the way taxes are calculated to avoid double-taxation — one of Citizens’ concerns —  and refines the information the state tax division must collect and review, with a report to lawmakers detailing the impact of the tax change due no later than March 2027.

“Citizens is encouraged by recent progress and greatly appreciates the leadership of Governor McKee, Speaker Shekarchi, Senate President Ruggerio and all others involved,” Keith Kelly, president of Citizens Bank Rhode Island, said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to work closely with the state towards an outcome that is a win for both the business community and Rhode Island.”

Citizens declined to offer further comment Monday.

‘Vigorous and robust debate’

The tax calculation change is still expected to reduce state tax revenue by $7.5 million in tax year 2025, with a forecasted $15 million revenue loss in fiscal 2026. While the policy is not accounted for in the state’s fiscal 2025 budget, there won’t be any cuts or structural imbalances, Shekarchi said.

Instead, the state will take $6.5 million from the $55 million set aside for a supplemental rainy day fund in fiscal 2024, with another $1 million siphoned from the state surplus, to make up for the expected revenue shortfall in fiscal 2025.

“It was a judgment call,” Shekarchi said when explaining his decision to not include the policy change in the fiscal 2025 budget. “I didn’t want this one unsettled article to be the focus of the budget.”

He insisted multiple times, however, that the proposal will have plenty of time for a thorough vetting by lawmakers; the House Committee on Finance hearing Tuesday marks the third time a version of the tax change has been considered, with prior hearings held on Solomon’s bill and the governor’s budget amendment.

“There will be a vigorous and robust debate,” Shekarchi said. 

There’s still no guarantee that the hours of closed-door negotiations prevent Citizens from uprooting anyway, Shekarchi acknowledged.

However, he added, “I think Citizens would be hard-pressed to move. They wanted this very badly.”

As for concerns raised by some lawmakers that changing state tax law to benefit one business will set a precedent for other corporations, Shekarchi dismissed the logic.

“In my mind, there’s no precedent,” he said. “Just because you do it for one, doesn’t mean you do it for another.”

McKee and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio also expressed support for the tax deal in statements on Monday, stressing the importance of parity between Rhode Island and Massachusetts, which is scheduled to move to the single-factor tax calculation starting Jan. 1.

Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, also welcomed the revival of the tax change, having issued an email warning last week when it appeared the policy would not make it into the fiscal 2025 budget.

“Happy to see that all sides are working towards finding a solution,” White said in a text message Monday. “I applaud the progress being made by Gov. Dan McKee, Speaker Shekarchi, President Ruggerio and Citizens.”

If signed into law, the tax change would take effect Jan. 1.

The House Committee on Finance will take up the revised tax change at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at the State House. The Senate Committee on Finance will follow suit with a hearing on companion legislation Tuesday night.

PROVIDENCE — Three men were arrested on separate charges by Rhode Island law enforcement agencies, including a suspect in a first-degree rape case, authorities said Wednesday.

Lazarous Berrios, 19, of Providence, was taken into custody on June 5 by the Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force.

Berrios faced an affidavit and arrest warrant for first-degree rape issued by the Pawtucket Police Department.

Following his arrest, he was transported to the Pawtucket Police Department for arraignment.

On the same day, the task force also arrested Scott Lindsey, 47, of North Providence.

Lindsey was wanted on several charges, including felony domestic strangulation, violation of a no-contact order in a domestic violence case, failure to register as a sex offender, breaking and entering, and aggravated assault.

He was transported to the Providence Police Department for his arraignment.

In a separate operation on June 6, the Auto Theft and Intelligence Units, along with the Lincoln Barracks, apprehended Carlos Moreira Vargas, 32, of Pawtucket.

Vargas faces multiple charges, including obtaining property by false pretenses, computer access fraud, forgery and counterfeiting, and making a false statement to obtain a license or registration.

After being processed at the Lincoln Barracks, Vargas was arraigned in Third District Court and presented as a Superior Court probation violator.