J/22 North American Championship Preview(Buffalo, NY)- The 2017 J/22 North American Championship will be hosted from July 20th to 23rd at Buffalo YC in Buffalo, New York. Thirty-two boats are registered to compete for one of the most coveted titles in the J/22 class worldwide, after all the top USA team is often a World Champion.
There is no question this year’s event is deep with talent for a modest-sized fleet. There are a number of local “hotshots” that will be defending home turf from the various upstate New York fleets that range from Rochester to Youngstown and Buffalo to Lake George. Amongst those teams hoping to top the leaderboard are Tim Finkle’s TOOTS, Kevin Doyle’s MO’MONEY, Chris Doyle’s THE JUG 4 1, and Travis Odenbach’s HONEY BADGER.
Taking the local mafia head-on will be past J/22 World Champion, Terry Flynn’s TEJAS from Houston, Texas. Another Texan team to be reckoned with will be Mark Foster’s PRESSURE DROP from Corpus Christi, a place famous for super hot, super windy conditions! From the formidable Annapolis fleet is Zeke Horowitz’s UNCLE FLUFFY and Jeff Todd’s HOT TODDY. Yet another J/22 Champion will be sailing from the Newport, RI fleet- Mike Marshall’s BAD NEWS; indeed “bad news” for those who know how fast and smart they can be! Then, the visiting Canadian team is Johan Koppernaes’ RAISED J from Ottawa, Ontario. Finally, from Tawas Bay, MI is Chris Princing’s EVIL DR PORK CHOP!
The teams will most certainly be challenged by the weekend’s weather forecast. For Thursday there are thunderstorms forecast with a frontal passage, blowing 10-20 kts from the WSW. Friday looks to be the nicest with lighter, variable winds from the NW but swinging around the clock. Then, Saturday’s forecast is partly sunny, turning to rain, with variable winds. And, Sunday yet another frontal passage with a lot more thunderstorms! Hold on to your hats, may need to bring along the old trusty fisherman’s hat to keep the rain from soaking down through your neck! For more J/22 North American Championship sailing information
Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race Preview(Port Huron, MI)- When it comes to send-offs for distance races, nobody does it better than Bayview Yacht Club with their Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race, which starts Saturday, July 22nd for 229 teams. Friday is “Boat Night,” when entries line up their boats along both banks of the Black River for some last-minute frolicking with friends and fans during the coinciding Blue Water Fest in Port Huron. The next morning, the fleet will motor to the starting line in a parade that passes under the Bluewater Bridge and past more fans that set up lawn chairs on the shore and cheer on their favorites. Then, after logging either 259 or 204 nautical miles on their choice of two courses (Cove Island Course and Shore Course, respectively), all “Bayview Mac” sailors will be welcomed on Michigan’s magical horse-and-carriage island of Mackinac with more celebrations, including a giant awards party at the Grand Hotel’s Woodfill Park on the Tuesday after the start.
“It’s like no other race in this country,” said Greg Thomas (Gross Pointe Park, Mich.), who is set to sail the Cove Island Course. “The fun factor is huge, but more important, it’s a 92-year-old tradition where whole families live 12 months for the next race.” Moreover, while the race is a platform for family fun, it’s also a true test of fortitude, says Thomas.
“First of all Lake Huron is a big lake. You’re alone, it’s cold and there are no cities along the way (as opposed to Chicago Mac where you are passing towns with hundreds of thousands of people). Then, on the Cove Island Course you are near the Canadian shore, so you are very alone – there weren’t even cell phone towers until five years ago. You experience this significant challenge of survival instincts and your sailing abilities, so when you finish the race you feel like you’ve really done something: you’ve met a challenge and prevailed.”
And because the race happens at the height of July and finishes at a fairy tale destination, there’s a migration of families and friends to Mackinac Island, instead of sailors getting on a plane to get out of there as fast as they can.
“It’s truly out of a postcard, with the clop, clop, clop of horses everywhere, no cars, the fudge, the cannons going off…it’s a place turned back in time,” said Thomas. “It’s no wonder Bayview Mac racers who get there Sunday night and Monday morning want to stay through to the awards party on Tuesday and then head back on Wednesday. It’s a great challenge followed by a great festival.”Imagine these scenes each year of the Bell's Beer Bayview Mackinac Race (from top left: Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, camaraderie after racing, overall winner Il Mostro near the finish, the fleet at Mackinac Island. (Photo Credit: Martin Chumiecki/Bayview Yacht Club)
The weather forecast for the race is intimidating from a tactical point of view, and a challenge for the crews based on the recent experiences of the Chicago-Mackinac racers from the previous weekend. Shown here, the forecast wind direction (streamlines) and wind speed (color contours) 0200 hrs on Sunday morning is from the GEFS forecast model. The GEFS is the ensemble version of the GFS, a long-standing global model used by the
National Weather Service. The image shows the center of the low passing over southern Lake Huron and its counterclockwise wind field (red arrows have been added for clarity). Check out the dramatic differences in wind direction based on low's quadrants along with the very weak winds associated with the low's center (1.7 knots). As mentioned above, modest differences in the timing and low's track across Lake Huron will have a dramatic impact on the wind forecast; and to adopt the correct strategy to play the wind field as it moves over the lake and switches from N/NE to SE/SW and around the clock, FAST, to W/NW! Most of the J/Teams are sailing on the longer Cove Island course that takes the teams up to the Canadian shoreline “turn left” to head to the famous Mackinac Island finish line with the candy red and white lighthouse marking the offshore end of the line. In Class D there is an eclectic mix of J/35s, J/109s and J/111s- all about 35 to 36 feet in length, representing nearly the entire history of offshore racing J/designs in one class!
The J/111 crews include Don Hudak’s CAPERS, Jim Cooper’s FREEDOM, Dave Irish’s NO SURPRISE, Jeff Schaeffer’s SHMOKIN JOE, and Dan Kitchen’s SKULL CRACKER. Amongst the J/105s, top teams will include Mark Denuyl’s GOOD LOOKIN, Mark Symonds’ PTERODACTYL (recent J/105 class winner in the Chicago to Mackinac Race and hoping to complete a class double!), Doug Livermore’s VENOM, and Jim Murphy’s WINDSHADOW. The leading J/109 teams include Jim Murray’s CALLISTO, Bob Evan’s GOAT RODEO (recent winner of the J/109 class in the Chicago-Mac and also hoping for a class double!), Bill Hamilton’s PHOENIX, and Chris Mallett’s SYNCHRONICITY. Finally, thrown into the mix for good measure will be John Stromberg’s J/92 KOHATSU and Bob Klairmont’s J/133 SIROCCO 3!
Class C, a.k.a. the ten-boat one-design J/120 class, will have a number of the top dogs competing, such as Frank Kern’s CARINTHIA, Charlie Hess’ FUNTECH RACING, Mike & Bob Kirkman’s HOT TICKET, and Dave Sandin’s J-HAWKER.Class F will have only one competitor from the J/stable, Dick & Dan Synowiec’s very fast and well-sailed J/33 SHENANIGAN.
The Level 35 Class G will have a record-setting participation of ELEVEN J/35s in the race (at least a recent 20 year record!). So many new owners and faces on the J/35s, but for sure some of the veterans will be teaching the “newbies” a thing or two about the race. These crews have done well and won class or overall Bayview Macs more than once! They include Tim & Amie Ross’ BLACKHAWK, Ed & John Bayer’s FALCON (his 50th Mac??) and, of course, perhaps the most famous J/35 of all time in the Great Lakes- Bill Wildner’s MR BILL’s WILD RIDE!
Finally, in the Class I- Cruising division, Gary Gonzalez’s J/42 DOS MAS will be looking to cruise faster than everyone else for the coveted class win— something J/42s are known to do with relative ease!
Sailing the shorter “Shore Course” that goes from the start and straight up the Michigan shoreline to Mackinac Island are two J/crews. In Class K is the J/34 IOR KNEE DEEP sailed fast and smart by Brett & Katie Langolf from Lake Erie- hoping to add another class win! Then, in Class N is another famous J/classic, Donald King’s J/30 CONUNDRUM. For more Bayview Mackinac Race sailing information
J/FEST Great Lakes Preview(Toronto, ONT, Canada)- The first Lake Ontario J/FEST regatta will be held July 21st to 23rd at Ashbridges Bay YC, just west of downtown Toronto, sailing on the beautiful, but way, way too full Lake Ontario! That has been the big story of the year for sailors on the lake. As of July 11, almost all of the ABYC docks were above water. The water level is likely to go down by another couple of inches by the regatta weekend and the club was hard at work getting ready to accommodate all competing boats. Most classes will be rafting and a small number of slips will be available for larger boats.
Geoff Moore of North Sails will conduct on-water and on-shore workshops on Friday afternoon and evening. Practice starts on the water and sessions on rules and protest hearings are also planned.
JAUNTY J, a J/88 family speedster, will be on display on Friday July 21 from about 11am to 7pm. Check out the electric motor, available as standard from J/Boats, enjoy a demo sail, and see what makes this 29 footer such a fun speedster for the whole family!
The inaugural Lake Ontario J/FEST Regatta is off to a great start with forty boats registered and strong fleets of J/105s, J/27s, and J/80s. Plus, J/33, J/35, J/109, and J/120 crews will be racing in the PHRF division.
With seventeen boats, the J/105 fleet on the lake has turned out in force with most of the top teams from the Toronto region looking forward to a fun weekend of racing and the gracious hospitality of ABYC! Amongst the top boats are two past J/105 North American Champions; Jim Rathbun’s HEY JUDE and Terry McLaughlin & Rod Wilmer’s MANDATE! Giving them a good run-for-the-money will be Mike Mountford’s LIVE EDGE, Mike Champman’s SENTIENT, Ian Farquharson’s SONIC BOOM, and Allan Megarry’s STARCROSS.
The J/27s have enjoyed a bit of resurgence on the western end of the lake, seven boats have registered to compete for class honors. Familiar faces in the top teams include Andrew Riem’s CURVED AIR (a past J/27 NA Champion), Robert Kelly’s LINE DRIVE, Andre Beese’s MESSING ABOUT and Christian Greenfield’s MISS TRIXIE.
Similarly, the six J/80s will enjoy some nice racing, led by their class cheerleader Lawrence Alexander on the mighty JIGGERS! Chasing them will be Dave Doyle’s INNOCENT BYSTANDER, Owen Schneider’s ENIGMA, and Trudy Murphy’s FEISTY!
In the PHRF class will be a mix of teams from J/24s up to the J/120s. Those teams include Bob Eckersley’s winning J/109 BLUE STREAK, Murray Gainer’s champion J/109 LIVELY, the two J/120s that are fast offshore (Matt Emerson’s RED LEAF and Graham Toms’ THE CAT CAME BACK), Sean Matthews’ famous J/33 WEE BEASTIE, and four smoking-hot classic masthead J/35s (Paul Cavanaugh’s TOP GUN, Geoff Roulet’s JEANNIE, Chris Cumming’s BATTLEWAGON, & Paul-Angus Bark’s CRIME SCENE). For more J/Fest Great Lakes sailing information
Fiesta Cup Regatta Preview(Santa Barbara, CA)- In what has become a new tradition for the SoCal J/70 fleet, a number of good crews will be participating in the extremely fun Santa Barbara YC Fiesta Cup over the July 22nd to 23rd weekend. It’s not hard to see why the event attracts so many good crews, Santa Barbara is regarded as “America’s Riviera”, with beautiful Spanish mission-style buildings, a spectacular waterfront that features beaches for miles and the famous Stearns Wharf with lots of seafood, the famous Santa Barbara Zoo, lots of shopping and excellent restaurants downtown, and spectacular vistas and hiking up in the mountains that rim the bay.
In addition to all the local attractions, the amazing venue for the SBYC allows nearly stadium-style racing to take place. Situated high on a sandy bluff next to the harbor, sailors can enjoy spectacular views from the second story bar, restaurant and balcony; the sweeping 270 degree views permitting everyone to see the sailing taking place before them on the ocean. The SBYC members make sure everyone has fun; especially on Saturday night when the famous Fiesta Cup party takes place with an excellent band or DJ and gallons of margaritas and Mexican beer flow along with delicious tacos, salsa, chips and guacamole.
Looking forward to great sailing offshore by SBYC’s expert RC and PRO teams will be eight crews that range from San Francisco to the Los Angeles/ San Diego areas. Amongst the leading teams should be local hero Pat Toole and his 3 BIG DOGS crew, famous for having won the J/24 North Americans in recent years. Challenging him on his home turf will be renegade outsiders like Chris Raab’s SUGOI from Newport Beach, CA; Steve Wyman’s NUNUHUNU from Dana Point, CA; Curt Johnson’s AVET 2.01 from California YC in Marina del Rey, CA; and Tony Collis’ FLY from Kings Harbor YC and Redondo Beach, CA. For more J/70 Fiesta Cup sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
It was a world championship kind of week last week for sailors in Europe as well as in the offshore community in the Americas. For starters, the J/80 World Championship was hosted by Royal Southern YC on the Hamble, England for yet another incredibly talented fleet of sailors from over a dozen nations. And, yet again, it was yet another amazing display of fire-power by both the Spanish and French teams! Off to their east on the Continent, the Swiss J/70 Sailing League Act IV took place on Lake Geneva and was hosted by Societe Nautique de Geneve. Similarly, the Italian J/70 Sailing League 2nd qualifier for the National Finals, was held on the Adriatic Sea at YC Porto Piccolo in Trieste, Italy- a gorgeous place to sail by the way!Then, what many consider to be one of the most competitive offshore events in the world, attracting top sailors from 5 continents and the 7 seas, took place over this past weekend. The Chicago to Mackinac Race was hosted by Chicago YC for 290 boats, an epic event where a third of the fleet dropped out after succumbing to a wild “dry squall” with 50 knot winds, followed by a bruising 20 hour beat to windward in 6-12 foot “square waves” to the first turn at Point Betsie. Several brilliant ORR handicap performances were given by a J/109, J/35, J/122, J/88s. Plus, there was amazing one-design racing for J/105s, J/109s, and J/111s- all with teams separated by just minutes after 50 hours of racing! Then, out west was the conclusion of yet another epic, highly competitive bucket list event- the Transpac Race hosted by the Transpac YC- there were some outstanding performances by a J/105 and two J/125s. Also, on the California coast, the St Francis YC hosted the San Francisco Sportboat Regatta for J/70s and J/111s- it also counted as the J/70 Pacific Coast Championship. Then, out east, the annual summer-fun event on the Chesapeake Bay- the Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge- was enjoyed by several J/crews on a J/70, J/105s, J/111s, and a J/80.
Finally, up north in Canada, the Port Credit YC hosted the Lake Ontario 300 offshore race on Lake Ontario for J/109s, J/33, J/122 and about forty other boats.
Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below has many entertaining stories and news about J/Sailors as well as cruising blogs about those who continue to enjoy the Caribbean and the South Pacific, staying warm while others are trying to stay warm up north. Check them out! More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page Below are the summaries.
Regatta & Show Schedules:
Jul 20-23- J/22 North American Championship- Buffalo, NYJul 21-23- J/FEST Great Lakes- Toronto, ONT, Canada
Jul 22- Bayview Mackinac Race- Port Huron, MI
Jul 22-23- Fiesta Cup Regatta- Santa Barbara, CA
Jul 27-30- Marblehead NOOD Regatta- Marblehead, MA
Jul 28-30- CAN-AM Challenge- Youngstown, NY
Jul 28-30- J/88 North American Championship- Youngstown NY
Jul 29- Aug 5- Cowes Race Week- Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
Jul 29- J/FEST Annapolis- Annapolis, MD
Aug 3-5- J/70 Corinthian Nationals- South Dartmouth, MA
Aug 3-5- Buzzards Bay Regatta- South Dartmouth, MA
Aug 10-13- U.S. J/70 Youth Championship- Newport, RI
Aug 11- 40th Anniversary J/24 Round Island Race- Newport, RI
Aug 12-13- J/Fest New England Regatta- Newport, RI
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Tabares Three-Peats J/80 World Championship(Hamble, England)- Rayco Tabares (ESP) is the 2017 J/80 World Champion, retaining the title for the third consecutive year, racing HOTEL PRINCESA YAIZA with a crew of Alejandro Bethencourt Fuentes, Alfredo Gonzalez, Hector Gonzalez, and Francisca Torres Jorge.
Rayco Tabares has now won the J/80 World Championship four times! The Spanish team from Lanzarote, Canary Islands, led the regatta from the first day to the last, but did survive a jitter on the penultimate day. On the last day of racing, the team scored two second place finishes to clinch the world title.
A northerly breeze ranging from 10-18 knots, with shifts both to the west and the east, provided yet another testing race course in the Central Solent. All fourteen scheduled races were completed, much to the satisfaction of the competitors, which roundly showed their approval for a World Championship that was extremely well run.
"It has been amazing.” commented Rayco. “This is the fourth J/80 World Title for us, and we are really, really happy. I want to emphasis the incredible work done by the organization of this J/80 Worlds. On the water it has been perfect with a great team running the races, and ashore the Royal Southern has been looking after all of us in a great way- Perfect organization!”
"I am really proud of my team. We are colleagues, we are friends, and we are a family. The team had worked brilliantly, leading to winning the Worlds. Except for yesterday, when we raced in a conservative mode, we have raced as normal, and the results have been great. The race area is quite complex due to the currents, but I have felt really comfortable with the medium to strong winds; it´s quite similar to the average wind speed we sail in Lanzarote.”
Eric Brezellec (FRA) was runner up for the second year in a row. The team from Northern Brittany, racing COURRIER JUNIOR, scored seven podium finishes, but it was not enough to win a highly competitive regatta.Simon Moriceau (FRA), racing ARMEN HABITAT, won both races to finish the championship in third position. The team from Nantes had scored five podium finishes, including three race wins, to take third by just two points, from Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg (ESP), racing VSA COMUNICACION.
Javier Chacártegui Cirerol (ESP), racing HM HOTELS, was the top Corinthian Boat. Runner-up for the Corinthian Class was Pepequin Orbaneja (ESP), racing CENYT HOSPITAL MARBELLA TEAM, and third was Luc Nadal (FRA) racing his famous GAN’JA.
Top Lady helm was Capucine Vitel’s VITEL SAILING TEAM- CDV 22 from France in 20th place. Top all-women’s team was another French team led by Elodie Bonafous, racing J’AIME VOILE BAIED DE MORLAIX in 22nd position. Luke Patience, racing RYOKO MEKA, was the top British boat in 6th overall, suffering from a DSQ and a last race 29th that severely affected their otherwise fantastic results. Patrick O’Neill, racing MOJO was the top Irish entry in 13th place and Peter Paul de Vries, racing LED 2 LEASE was the top boat from the Netherlands in 23rd spot. Here is how it all evolved over the course of the five-day racing series.
Day OneThe J/80 Worlds got off to a flying start with two spectacular championship races for the 48-boat fleet. A southwesterly wind of 12 knots built during the afternoon, piping up to over 20 knots in the gusts. With wind over tide shortly after the start, the combat zone boiled up with the J/80s powering upwind, and then surfing downwind, in a full-on foam up. Rayco Tabares (ESP) took the early lead, with Kevin Sproul (GBR) in second and Luke Patience (GBR) in third.
PRO Stuart Childerley held a practice race in the morning, and after a big wind shift, moved the course to the east. “It can be a devil of a race area but we got two good races in today, helped by the competitors who settled into the tidal conditions very well at the start, but I expect that from this fleet, which is full of talented sailors,” commented Childerley.
Reigning J/80 World Champion, Rayco Tabares, who was atop the leaderboard, won the battle of the day but the Spaniard did not have it all his own way. Reigning UK National Champion, Kevin Sproul won Race One but Rayco scored a 2-1 to Kevin's 1-4. The battle is due to continue all week.
"Coming from Lanzarote, we are used to sailing in strong winds. But the tide and short chop is something different for us,” commented Rayco. “There are strong local teams, which have better knowledge of the Solent, and there are other high quality teams from overseas as well.”
Olympic 470 Silver Medallist, Luke Patience was in third. “It is great to score two keepers on the first day, as we have only just put this team together,” commented Luke. “The plan is to try and improve our performance as the regatta develops, so we are happy to have got off to a good start in a very good fleet.”
Spain's Javier Chacártegui scored an 8-2 to finish the day in fifth. 2012 J/80 World Champion, Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg, scored a third in Race One but was over eager in Race Two, and having returned to re-start correctly, finished the day with a poor result.
Day TwoTabares (ESP) stamped his authority on the fleet with two bullets and a second to open up a commanding lead for the regatta. But, it was a game of snakes and ladders for the rest of the fleet.
Simon Moriceau (FRA) climbed to second place after an 8-3-1, and Luke Patience (GBR) put into two great races, but slipped up in the last race to remain in third place.
Sproul’s (GBR) team had a shocker, dropping eight places after a 19-24-13. 2012 J/80 World Champion, Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg (ESP), had a good day, scoring a 5-2-5 to move up to fourth. Whilst last year's runner up, Eric Brezellec (FRA), was called OCS in Race Four, and slipped down to fourteenth.
PRO Stuart Childerley and his team set three good races, resulting in a highly competitive start and mark roundings. It was a tough day on the Solent for the competitors; a low-pressure system brought poor visibility and rain for much of the day. With the wind oscillating in speed and direction, making the correct tactical decisions was difficult.
“We had good speed today, especially downwind, and we made the right tactical choices,” commented Frenchman Simon Moriceau. “Today, we worked well as a team, and there was good communication. When we were down in the fleet, we remained calm, and just concentrated on passing one boat at a time. Coming from Brittany, we are used to this kind of weather; it is not a problem for us.”
Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg (ESP) had a great day on the water scoring a 5-2-5 to finish the day in eighth place, which is likely to improve once the discard kicks in tomorrow. Among their crew is the youngest competitor in the championship, Luis Miro, just 12 years old. “Jose Maria is a good friend of my family, I sail Optimist normally, so this is very exciting for me!” smiled Luis. The current French National Champion, Simon Bertheau, scored an impressive 4-6-6 to place fifth.
Day ThreeTabares (ESP) retained his lead after day three, but a crack appeared in the Spanish team's seemingly invincible armor, scoring eighth in the last race of a tricky day in the Solent.
Luke Patience (GBR) took his first race win, to move up to second place, and Eric Brezellec (FRA) had the best day of all, scoring a 3-3-1 to move up to third for the championship. Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg (ESP) scored 10-10-2 to move up to fourth.
PRO Stuart Childerley moved the scheduled start an hour earlier for racing, and it proved to be an excellent decision. “The low pressure system that came through last night had gone through and we were expecting the weather to become unstable in the afternoon, which is exactly what happened. The wind oscillated through an axis of about 45 degrees today, causing plenty of potential traps for the competitors, and the Race Committee had to adjust the course on many occasions to compensate for the bigger shifts, the mark layers and race management team did a fantastic job today.”
Today's top team was skippered by Breton Eric Brezellec; the last time Eric competed in the UK at the J/80 World Championship was in Falmouth, 2005. His team sailed the boat over 200 miles, from St Malo, with tents on board for regatta accommodation. “Time on the boat is very important, we train a lot,” commented Eric! “Today, it was important to take the shifts as they arrived, it was much more open than yesterday. Rayco (Tabares) looks very strong, it looks very hard to beat him, but this regatta has not finished, it is still possible.”
“It would have been very easy to have a shocker today,” commented 470 Olympic Silver Medallist, Luke Patience. “Chris (Grube) did a great job reading the shifts, especially in the penultimate race, but that was a far from an easy race course today. When the wind is coming off the land like that, it can shift both ways. Personally, I tried to concentrate more on driving the boat and that has also paid off.”
Day FourBrezellec (FRA) had an outstanding fourth day, scoring a scintillating 1-7-1-2, and was now within striking distance of Tabares (ESP). The defending world champion, from Lanzarote, is still in pole position, but a 4-1-16-18, has cut his championship lead to just seven points, with two races remaining. Coincidentally, the 14th July is French National Day, and everyone expected that Brezellec would be coming out with all guns blazing.
“Today was a very tricky day, with plenty of shifts in the wind and changes in the tide, and we did not get the best results, especially in the last two races, but tomorrow we will be strong and sail better,” promised Tabares.
Spain’s Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg (ESP) scored 8-4-11-1 on the day to move ahead of Luke Patience (GBR), in the fight for the podium. Simon Moriceau (FRA) slipped up in Race 10, but came back with a third in Race 12, to have a chance of making third for the regatta.
With high pressure and a light southerly gradient wind forecast, there was the possibility that the gradient breeze would be fizzled out by a sea breeze in the afternoon. PRO Stuart Childerley, moved the scheduled start an hour earlier, and made a late call to change the starting area to East Knoll. The two decisions proved to be spot on, providing great races and enough time to get four races sailed on a top class race course.
Jon Powell (GBR) had his best day, scoring a 6-2-3-4, to move up three places. Rétho Rémi scored an impressive 11-3-4-5, to move up five places. Chris Body (GBR) came within inches of winning his first J/80 World Championship race, but was just beaten to the line by Brezellec.
“We know we had speed coming into the regatta but that is not enough in this fleet, you have to get off the line well, stay in pressure, and play the shifts. Today, we had four races that were both physically and mentally exhausting, so to post the second best results of the day is very satisfying,” commented Jon Powell.
Royal Southern Yacht Club Commodore, Karen Henderson-Williams, and Regatta Director Jane Windsor, officiated at the J/80 Worlds Prize Giving Ceremony, sponsored by Raymarine, who provided a wealth of top marine electronics for the winners. Harken and Baltic Lifejackets provided even more prizes.
J/80 Worlds sailing videos- Day 1 Highlights Day 2 Highlights Day 3 Highlights
For more J/80 World Championship sailing information
An Epic Challenge- The Chicago Mackinac RaceJ/Teams Win Four Divisions, J/109 Wins Mackinac Cup!
(Mackinac Island, MI) – This year’s 109th Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac will go down in the history books as one of the toughest races ever, sharply reminiscent of the wild near gale bashing the fleet experienced decades ago when Ted Turner’s 12 Meter American Eagle won the race and he later on quipped, “that was the roughest and hardest race I’ve ever sailed in my life!” How tough was it this year? Just 200 of the 297 starters completed the 289.4 nm course (e.g. about one third of the fleet dropped out).
A frontal passage hit the fleet at midnight on Saturday, just hours into the race, producing a rare “dry front” that looked menacing as it came over the water but had no rain over Lake Michigan, but was pummeling the shoreline with rain, hail, and thousands of lightning bolts racing across the sky, thunder echoing over the water to remind everyone that Nature was King! As the front passed over the fleet, a blast front of 35-50 knot winds flew across the water that no one could see, other than the fact that boats just hundreds of yards away from you would suddenly flip over into a wild broach with spinnakers flailing away and, in many cases, simply blowing up into a thousand pieces of nylon! Look at the NOAA Radar Archive.Shortly thereafter, the front passed by, pulling behind it a far stronger northerly breeze than forecast, so the fleet settled into a 20+ hour beat to windward in 15-30 knot winds from the N/NE and punching into a classic 6-10 ft Lake Michigan “chop”- steep faces, no backs and constant slamming of the bow into the
next wave. To say it was unpleasant experience would be an understatement. By the time the fleet reached the famous first turning point at Point Betsie about 163nm up the track, about a third of the fleet had dropped out for various reasons- equipment damage, boat damage, sail damage, or simply human damage (people got sick or hurt and physically could not take it any longer). Ironically, after the first trial by fire to get around Pt Betsie, the winds rapidly shut down between the Manitou Island Straits and the open waters headed to Grey’s Reef- the next major turning point. In fact, it was a glass-out for several hours for most boats. Talk about extremes! From there on end, many felt they could swim or crawl faster to the Mackinac finish line than drift at “triple naughts” on their speedo’s!
At the end of it all, the major highlight from J/sailor’s perspective was the amazing performance by the J/109 TOA owned and raced by Bruce Danly (Lake Bluff, IL) and Jim Mitchell (Chicago, IL), winning the Mackinac Cup, the overall win for the smaller boats in the fleet! More importantly, there’s was a “family affair”, with young sailors, husband and wife on board!
The race has always been popular with J/Teams. The enormous contingent of sixty-nine J’s (23% of the entries), sailed in both one-design classes (J/111, J/109, J/105) as well as ORR handicap classes ranging from J/88s up to a J/145.
J/111 One-Design FleetThe nineteen teams in the J/111 class knew it was going to be another battle for the entire 289nm, from start to finish. After running through the storm front, the top five boats quickly emerged, sailing consistently faster than the rest of the fleet and employing strong overall tactics and strategies up the race course. Once the fleet hit the Michigan shoreline around Little Sable Point, it was a frenetic game of playing shoreline shifts versus offshore streaks, the leaderboard constantly shifting between Marty Roesch’s VELOCITY, Rich Witzel’s ROWDY, the Brummel/ Henderson duo on KASHMIR, Brad Faber’s UTAH and Dave Irish’s NO SURPRISE. It was like watching a heavyweight boxing match for those boats that were behind them. In the end, emerging bruised, battered and grinning from ear-to-ear was none other than Marty Roesch and his amazing Annapolis YC team on VELOCITY that consisted of James Allsop, Camden Bowdren, Andrew Eyring, Jarrett Hering, Paul Luisi, Derrick Reig, and Chris Teixeira. Taking second after the long battle was Rich Witzel’s ROWDY crew (Jim Calto, Chris Doubek, Colleen Duncan, Tom Elliott, Keith Love, and Zac Schramm). The final step on the podium went to a familiar Chicago crew, Karl Brummel and Steve Henderson sailing KASHMIR with crew of Ryan Clulo, David Guba, Mark Lyons, Andy Ray, and Tom Roop.
Of note, kudos to Dave McCreight’s J/111 DARK HORSE from Annapolis. It was a scary Saturday night on July 15th, when rough weather rolled in quickly, as it does on the Great Lakes, and a catamaran flipped. McCreight’s DARK HORSE was one of the boats to stand by to assist when the Coast Guard showed up to help the five sailors in the water. Although the crew’s assistance was not needed, we’d like to acknowledge the team for their sportsmanship, safety consideration for fellow sailors, and thoughtful conduct.
Here is the report from J/111 class winner, Marty Roesch’s VELOCITY: “This was an interesting race because the navigation and strategy seemed like they were more obvious than in the past two Mac races I've done. We were looking at SE winds at the start that were forecast to slowly build and clock to the SW before a gusty front would come through with NW winds and possible storms, followed by strong northerly winds with big waves on Sunday, then light shifty winds under a passing high pressure system on Monday. So the plan was to stay left of rhumb until the front came in and then get across the lake, then inside at the Manitous and then see what we had to do to get across the finish on Monday.We had a great start, winning the boat end of the line and quickly transitioning into our Code 0. We peeled to A1.5 and then A2 as the winds slowly clocked as per the forecast. The sailing was absolutely fantastic on the first day as we picked our way though the larger fleet and kept an eye on the competition. We spent a fair amount of time scratching our heads as No Surprise pulled in front of us a couple hundred yards up the course (where did those guys come from??) and kept an eye on Utah and Kashmir while we kept the boat speed up and waited for the front.
When the sun went down we could see a big display of lightning to the northwest that was slowly approaching and putting on a huge cloud-to-cloud light show that was beautiful to watch. When the NW winds finally hit it, was a very quick transition and we worked to get our A2 down and our short hoist J4 up. We saw wind speeds build quickly into the 30s despite not feeling it on the water and in short order we saw high 30s and low 40s and then it landed. The top wind speed we saw was 46 knots and we hit 15 knots of boat speed blast reaching under the J4 in the crazy winds and rapidly building sea state.
The was a lull for a bit after the front came through and we put the Code 0 back up, but that proved to be the wrong sail after a few minutes so we switched to the A3 and I got back on the wheel. Due to the clouds, it was pitch black on the water and very hard to see the waves so the first 10 minutes or so were very disorienting and hard to drive in. Luckily, a bright star popped out under the cloud deck and I was able to use that as a steering reference and get things smoothed out.
We were bashing through big waves at 15-17 knots boatspeed for a couple of hours as we headed northeast and across the lake to get to the Michigan side. Once the jib went up, I went down for the night.
When I woke a couple hours later, we were in pounding conditions close-hauled and heading up the coast of Michigan between Big and Little Sable Points. We could see a few other J/111's around us and we spent pretty much all day on Monday dealing with mild seasickness among several crew members, trying to stay upright in 20-25 knot northerly winds and 6-10 foot waves, and chasing boats. We spent a lot of time crossing and being crossed by Utah on Monday, which was alternately good and bad for morale. These were some of the roughest conditions that I've sailed in for the amount of time we were in them and it was very challenging for the whole team. We did a great job staying in contact with the leading contingent of 111's and staying in the game that day.If I were to pick a point where we made a call that put us into a position to achieve our ultimate victory, I'd say it was very early in the morning on Monday. We were south of Beaver Island and we knew the winds were forecast to clock NE to SE and we also knew that we were on the outside of the pinwheel of leader group and that that was not going to be a great place to be. We made the call to gybe away to an angle that took our VMG to almost zero and spent a half hour sailing to the inside of the pack and much closer to the rhumb line. Shortly after we gybed back to course the winds did exactly what was predicted and the move paid off big. As the sun came up on Monday we saw Kashmir about 2 miles in front of us, Utah and No Surprise over near Beaver Island and not moving very quickly, and Rowdy to the north of us with a group of boats from other classes.
The conditions that morning were 0-4 knots of wind and very glassy. As the sun came up we could see patches of breeze on the water so we played the "connect the dots" game we play so frequently in Annapolis to get ahead of Kashmir and pull up even with Rowdy, slowly pulling past both them and No Surprise. Once we got to Greys Reef, we were in a position to consolidate and defend against Rowdy and No Surprise and we spent 6 hours sailing the last 25 miles and staying out front through the whole afternoon. Once we got to the bridge we felt like we had a very comfortable lead and the breeze was moving Velocity along very nicely at 6-7 knots with the lighthouse in sight.
That's when the bottom almost fell out.
A mile or so past the bridge the winds started to go light on us again and it looked like the other two boats had connected with some breeze on the south side of the Straights of Mackinac so we decided to cover. As we came out of our covering gybe, I looked over my shoulder and saw No Surprise maybe 6-8 boat lengths back! After 282nm and just 7nm left to go, we were within seconds of each other and we still had a lot of battling to do. With me on the wheel and Chris Teixeira trimming the kite, Derrick Reig and James Allsop managing the tactical picture, we got back to work and managed to extend on both them and Rowdy, finally gybing away for the finish after about an hour of dueling in the last 3 miles. As we approached the finish line there was one last challenge - the wind completely shut down! With “triple naught” (0.00 knots of boatspeed) on the B&G displays we found that we had about 0.8 knots of current pushing us towards the finish line. As I looked around in a bit of a panic, I saw that everyone else was being shut down as they approached the line as well. It took us 30 minutes of getting tossed around by ferry wakes and doing everything we could to get the boat moving to cross the finish line!
The conditions on this race ran the full gamut from 0-45 knot winds, flat water to 10 foot breaking rollers, cold to hot temperatures. The crew of Velocity did a great job of overcoming it all, staying in the game and capitalizing where we could to win the prize in what was one of the toughest races I've ever sailed!”
J/105 One-Design FleetAnother large, very competitive J/Class were the twenty-one boats sailing J/105s. Like their colleagues in the 111’s, many of their top contenders in past Mac Races, Chicago NOOD regattas and other offshore events were quite well-prepared to do battle for the entire 40-50 hours on the race course. In the end, a familiar crew led everyone home to claim class honors- it was Mark Symonds and his crew on PTERODACTYL (Tim Kerr, Michael Morin, Thad Nguyen, John Quinlan, Trey Rose, and Duane Rose). Taking second after a 15 minutes scoring penalty was Vanessa Gates crew on STRIKING that included Will and Steven Knoop, Richard Martin, Patrick Rice, and Leslie Washburn. Third on the podium was another top Chicago boat, Clark Pellett’s SEALARK crew that consisted of Shane Montgomery, Russ & Steve Radke, John Schussler, Nathaniel Sher, and Craig Warner.
Here is the J/105 class report from the winner, Mark Symonds on PTERODACTYL: “It was one of the most challenging Chicago Mac races I have sailed. It started out like a typical Mac Race- a pleasant sleigh ride under spinnaker. By late Saturday, though, we could clearly see the storm system coming down the lake. Thankfully, the really bad stuff seemed to be tracking over the Wisconsin coastline off to the west of us. We kept our spinnaker up a little too long and suffered a knockdown in a sudden increase in winds to 40+ knots. It seemed like we were at a 90-degree angle forever, but more likely about 30-40 seconds. We were able to retrieve our spinnaker (in several pieces) and all the control lines. From there, the wind turned north for over 24 hours. North winds on Lake Michigan create big, powerful waves. We slammed upwind all of Sunday. We were very grateful and probably lucky that no one was hurt, being tossed around the cabin or deck. We soldiered on trying to catch Buzz and SeaLark who were launched in front of us.
When we reached the Manitou passage, we had momentary cell coverage and found that we had caught them, but that Striking had also caught up. Four of us were bobbing for hours or ghosting along at very low speeds for quite some time. We tried everything to get going - jib and main, spinnaker and main, spinnaker only. We constantly worked it to try to accelerate out of the doldrums. Three of us were neck and neck getting to Grays Reef. This is the reason I love one-design racing - after two plus days of racing, we were in a clump of competitors who all had the same capabilities. When we finally got past the reef and turned toward the bridge it was a drag race with the wind out of the south. We were able to barely hang on flying a spinnaker at a tight angle the whole way.
Kudos to the whole J105 fleet. They are a great bunch of talented and well-prepared competitors. While many had to drop out, we were very happy there were no serious injuries. We are looking forward to a challenging fleet this Saturday for the Bayview Mackinac Race, our division is nearly all J/Boats, including J/105s, J/109s and the very fast J/111s!”
Another notable development in the J/105 class was the confidence of women owners to assemble top-notch teams and pursue top-level performance with great teams. Perhaps inspired by the likes of J/88 owner like Iris Vogel’s champion team on DEVIATION, Vanessa Gates’ STRIKING team is forging new paths for women owner/skippers, as well as Nancy Glover’s TEMPEST crew, the Petzold gals on GREEN FLASH, and Barbara Dael’s Y-NOT!! Add in four husband/wife teams and there is no question the easy-to-sail J/105 with a nice, easy to manage wheel, is less intimidating and easily managed by women sailors in all extremes of weather conditions!
J/109 One-Design FleetWith ten teams, the J/109 class will always be tough and competitive and this year was no different! Taking class honors after a long battle through the Manitou Straits to Grey’s Reef was Robert Evans’ GOAT RODEO with his Chicago crew consisting of Lorna Bath, Brian Evans, Christian Goebel, Michael Kearschner, Daniel Rylance, Cameron Rylance, and Keith Stauber. Taking the silver was a nearly all-family crew- Woody, Max, John & Will Hansmann’s BLOODLINE, adding in Jim & John Lynch as well as Will & Katie Wells from Newport, RI! The third spot on the podium was taken by Scott Sims’ SLAPSHOT II crew of Melanie Derleth, Matt Gartner, Ashley Hunsader, Preston Scruggs, John Stevenson, Rich Vedder, and Kurt Wittenberg. What was notable about the J/109 fleet?? All of the top three had women sailors on board as part of their winning teams!
Level 35 Class Fleet
The Level 35 Class of eight teams included a trio of J/35s, such as Rick Stage’s ALPHA PUPPY, Larry Taunt’s BAD DOG J, and Mitch Weisman’s THE FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER. Needless to say, they all did well. In the end, bragging rights went to Rick Stage’s J/35 ALPHA PUPPY team of Gene Benedict, Justin Kalb, Kristian Kobernus, Steve Krasowski, Kevin Starr, Aimee Strittmatter, Jon Van Norman, and Andrew Winter. While it was an “almost sweep” of the podium, the bronze went to Larry Taunt’s J/35 BAD DOG with crew of Bruce Bustin, Denny Dryer, Brad Fisher, Jeff Fuller, Timothy Graham, Dan Nikesch, Philip Wujkowski, Jim Wujkowski.
The class make-up for Section 2 was rather diverse, including a half-dozen Farr 40s plus the J/145 MAIN STREET sailed by Bill and Jean Schanen of SAILING magazine fame from Port Washington YC. In the end, the Schanen family’s pretty red speedster took 5th in class with a crew that included most of the Schanen family (Bill 3, Bill 4, Bill 5, Erin, Greta, & Jean) plus a cast of characters from “da hood” of Milwaukee to Sheboygan (Dan Branson, Mike Burt, Scott Fruechtl, Nick Hayes (famous writer on all things sailing!), Dale Peters, and Richard Reichelsdorfer). For the Section 3 division, it was a battle of the J/130s versus the J/133s. In the end, taking J/crew honors was Tom & Beth-Ann Papoutsis’ RENEGADE in third place; their crew consisted of Paul Bader, Devin Bader, Steve Curtis, William Dooley, David Galen, Larry Kwiat, James Lowe, Joey Papoutsis, and Matthew Pinsky. Settling into 4th place after a tough thrash was Doug Petter’s WILLIE J, with crew of Brendan Hagman, Todd Labaugh, Andrew Lauten, Doug/ Andrew/ Juli Petter, Dell & Amy Todd, Brian Turuta, and Bert Vanderweele.
Fighting for brand and class honors all by themselves in Section 4 was Randy Kuhn & James Richter’s J/44 CHEAP’N’DEEP, a proven winner based on their performances off the Chicago waterfront this summer. For a tough Mackinac Race for a completely family crew, there’s was a notable performance to take 5th in class- their undoing was the classic “black hole” known as the Manitous to Greys Reef “depression”. Otherwise, as contenders to win class going past Point Betsie, it was an awesome performance. The crew included Alex Bott, Jay Butler, John Conway, Dylan Hahn, JJ Kuhn, Chuck Norris, George Richter, Pete Robinson, and Justin Theodore.
Crushing the Section 5 class was the J/122 GOTTA WANTA skippered by Bob Mampe, from Grand Traverse YC. To say this was a veteran team of a few dozen Mac Races would be an understatement. Perhaps Dick & Doug Devos would wish to have this “all-star” team of amateurs and friends on board instead of their payroll of pro’s aboard WINDQUEST. Needless to say, this crew knew what to do, where to go, and played all the nuances of the Michigan coastline to just crush their class. The crew included Tom Babel, Andrew Berge, Michael Burns, Mark Clark, Jim Elvart, Eric Geiser, Karen Nemecek, and Scot Zimmerman.
Then, crushing the huge Section 7 was a past winner of both the Bayview-Mackinac and the Chicago-Mackinac Races. Winning the Mackinac Cup overall was the extraordinary crew on the J/109 TOA. A slightly modified J/109 it was, with masthead massive spinnakers, giant squarehead main with dual running backstays. They flew up the course in what were arguably perfect J/109 conditions; beating upwind into giant waves, big winds, knife-like bow chopping through the waves. Not convinced?? Ask anyone in the UK or the Netherlands why the LOVE their J/109s. Plain and simple, it can go uphill in nasty conditions when nothing else can— except, maybe a J/122 or J/111!! Therefore, to no one’s surprise, that is what Jimmie Mitchell and Bruce Danly did with their J/109 TOA. Equipped with awesome sails from Rodney “Dangerfield” Keenan at Evolution Sails in New Zealand, they just sent it. They crushed their fleet by hours; beating the next boat by seven hours elapsed time and nearly five hours corrected time- e.g. a “spanking” of the fleet! The TOA crew included Mike Beasley, Rodney Keenan, Dirk Kruger, and Richie & Lori Stearns. Six hours back on corrected time to take 2nd place was another classic J/Boat, the J/35 BOZO’s CIRUCS sailed by the Metcalf family (Bruce, Chris, Eric, Chris Jr) and Ally Haramia, Eric Larsen, Tim Lathrop, Glenn & Christina McCarthy, and Brendan Walsh.
Here is the first-hand account of why TOA managed to do what they did by two of the crew- Richie & Lori Stearns (the J/Boats dealer in Chicago):“The 2017 race to Mackinac had just about every condition you could imagine. We were not sailing in the 109 section because “Toa” was sporting a new black square top main which was more than noticeable to everyone sailing around before the start. Co-owner Jim Mitchell started the race with the east-northeast wind a bit heavier than forecasted. We started with a code 0 with a genoa staysail under it. Once we got away from the line we began to slowly pull away from the fleet. Our sailmaker, Rodney Keenan from Evolution sails in Auckland New Zealand, was quick to want to change to our other code 0 for more speed. Yes, we had two code zeros, one sheets to the stern and one sheets about two thirds aft. They are both spinnakers and are tacked to the end of the pole. With the larger code 0 up, we then launched the genoa staysail, which is a very small sail but really fits in the slot nicely. Soon the wind shifted to more of a broad reach and Mike Beasley, Clay Danley and Dirk Kruger put up the A2 spinnaker. The genoa staysail was already up so we decided to add the spinnaker staysail. WOW! Talk about slots for directing wind! I have sailed all my life and had to go below to get my camera… four sails flying perfectly and the boat just kept pulling away from the fleet.
The storms forecasted for later were coming from the northwest so we just sailed north instead of rhumb line. The VMG was faster to track north than to point at Point Betsie over 100 miles away. Also, the wind was forecast to swing to a beat and we wanted to get north as far as we could.The wind had shifted before the storm and when it hit we just had the A2 up. The wind kept building, but the J/109 was perfectly under control, and we continued to track north. There was some discussion of how to get the sail down and a letterbox takedown won. We were seeing high winds but the boat was still under control, we got ready for the take down and then the spinnaker was “gone”. The front tape and part of the sail jumped forward and wrapped around the head stay and the rest of it was torn/ blown-off somewhere on the other side of the main in 35 knots of breeze. However, we were still going 11.5 knots in a very good direction so even though it took quite a while to get the sail down, just sailing the right direction under main was perfect.
As forecasted, the wind shifted to the north and we set in for 20 hours of heavy beating. The waves built all night and increased to 10 to 12 feet. Before daylight, we were on the Michigan shore and although we were having to short tack up the beach there was much less wave action on the shore. We were with faster boats so it was hard to keep up when we were in waves, but in smoother water we hung in there much better. Rail meat was everything at this point, so anyone trying to get sleep had to change bunks every time we tacked (which was a lot). The upper bunk was hard to get into so it was really better to be on deck.
Keeping with the projected forecast, the wind continued to blow hard from the northeast until Sunday around 4:00 PM when it shifted and moderated. We rounded point Betsie at 5:30 pm Sunday night, and we felt lucky that the wind was still blowing as we got into the Manitou passage, giving us a direct shot though the passage. Early Monday morning the wind dropped under 5 knots. It was a very light, tight reach and really was hard to say where the wind was coming from. We put up the small code 0 and really got the boat going. I had never steered a sail like this on a beat. With no light on the tell tails and using the compass and speedo and feel as a guide, we started to really go fast. As the sun came up, I realized I was sailing better in the dark than when I had things to look at, generating your own wind is an odd edge to sail on. This sail caught us back up to the larger boats that had passed us the day before! However, true to the forecast, the wind completely died. Even cigarettes couldn’t find any wind and the boat at one point did a 360. With the help of the wind seeker, which is a fairly large light jib that has full battens, we were able to get going again. Once we got going, it was the A1 Spinnaker in light air, jibing to Greys Reef. Co-owner Bruce Danley did a great job steering through this stretch with Lori Stearns trimming the spinnaker. Looking at the tracker after the race, we noticed this was an area we really extended our lead. After Greys Reef, the A1 was still the sail and it took us under the Mackinac Bridge to about one mile from the finish, where the wind died. Thank goodness for the wind seeker, it kept us going and we crossed the line with no one behind us in sight. The door had shut and now we just had to wait to see if anyone corrected over us.”
Finally, the Section 8 class of 28-33 footers that often produces huge surprises in the Mac Race nearly delivered, yet again! Nevertheless, on “digital” based YB Tracker, the J/88s were crushing it up to Saturday midnight’s squall. Thereafter, it was a long 20+ hour slog upwind in massive, breaking, cliff-sided waves. While 29 feet with a knife-like bow can go fast most times, it’s a tall order of fries for a J/88 to beat a J/122 or J/111 upwind based on handicap time! Nevertheless, the tables turned rapidly in the glass-out in the Manitou Island straits going to Grey’s Reef. The J/88s flew in their conditions and nearly pulled off the mother of all upsets overall…just wishing a few more miles left!! In the end, winning class was Tim Wade’s J/88 WINDSONG with crew of Todd Anderson, Andy Camarda, Kristin Olson, Tripp Wade, and Andrew Waters. Leading the J/88 sweep with their colleagues was Ben & Amanda Wilson’s J/88 RAMBLER crew that consisted of Mark Ewing, Peter Fray, Rj Mills, Ed Montano, and Jim Nachtman. For more Chicago to Mackinac Race sailing information
Fast, Record-setting TranspacJ/125's and J/105 Sail Fast to Silver!
(Los Angeles, CA)- The 49th edition of the 2017 biennial offshore classic, the Transpac Race that started on July 3rd, 5th, and 6th from Point Fermin in Los Angeles to the finish at Diamond Head in Honolulu 2,225nm away has finally come to a conclusion. Among the fifty-five teams, the J/crews fought hard the entire way and had their moments of stark terror interspersed with their days and days of sheer joy surfing the giant Pacific swells to Honolulu’s Diamond Head.
No question, the welcoming committee is one of the highlights of the race for the three J/crews entered in the race. After crossing the finish line, all boats are escorted to the narrow (sometimes treacherous) entrance to the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor, a safe haven from the Pacific swells. Donned in their flowered shirts, the crews stand on deck to be greeted like conquering heroes by the amplified sounds of native drums, slack key guitar music and a loud and resounding “Aaaahhh- looohhh – haaaaah” given by staff commodore Howie Mednick from the second deck of the Hawaii YC.
“We welcome you to Hawaii, and ask only that you do Drink well, Sing well, Eat well, Sleep well… and Drink well some more!”
Boats then proceed to their assigned slips, get boarded and inspected for rules compliance, and then are released to the awaiting leis and hugs of family, friends and well-wishers. Regardless of the time of day or night, every crew is given an Aloha Party of food and drink, some more traditionally Hawaiian than others, with the unshaven and weary crews growing their smiles with each re-told story and re-acquaintance with terra firma.This is a unique feature of Transpac among the world’s ocean races: nowhere else will you find this intimate and embracing level of hospitality and respect. Finishers of the Volvo Ocean Race and Vendee Globe will experience their re-entry into life ashore under the glare of TV lights, crowds and microphones, whereas at Transpac it will be under the flickering flames of a tiki torch and the inner glow from a Mai Tai.
The lore of this hospitality reaches far and wide, as evidenced by not only entries who come every two years from around the Pacific Basin, but also those who come from the other side of the world. This year two entries from Europe were here to have the Aloha experience.
In the end, Ed Sanford’s J/105 CREATIVE team from San Diego YC sailed in 2nd place for most of the race in Class 6 and that is exactly where they finished; just four hours corrected time behind a surfing machine known as a turbo’d Hobie 33! Not bad for a 24 year old family day sailor! Congrats to Ed and his crew for a job well done!
Then, in Class 3 were the two notoriously fast J/125s- RAISIN’ CANE and RESOLUTE. Both teams had been blogging via Inmarsat satellite service almost every day. The “Golden Feather Scribe Award” for the race must go to the crew on RESOLUTE- with just about all crew members offering their personal perspectives and updates on the race! Kudos to Tim Fuller’s RESOLUTE for keeping us abreast of the experience! They nearly won the race, both in class and overall, having been in that position for days going into the last 48 hours! However, being just a step behind the bigger boats hurt their chances for the ultimate outcome, with much, much lighter winds hitting them just before the finish. Even then, Fuller’s RESOLUTE took 2nd in class and 4th overall! Congratulations to Tim and his intrepid crew that included long-time J/sailor Trevor Baylis! In the early stages of the race, Frank Atkinson’s RAISIN’ CANE from Palm Beach, FL was amongst the race leaders, both in class and overall along with their stablemate RESOLUTE. However, going a bit too far south slowed them down and hurt their chances for a possible 1-2 for the J/125s! Nevertheless, it was a great performance and their 5th in class and 17th overall in a fleet of 55 boats is something to be proud of for a bunch of Floridians playing the West Coast offshore game!
To catch you up on the blogs, here were the final installments from the crew on RESOLUTE:
July 11, 2017, 1100- Tuesday
Around 11:30 this morning, it seemed like it was time to gybe (turn) and head toward Honolulu with a wind shift we'd gotten. And then, we got another one and gybed back. My right arm has been getting a workout for the past six days trimming, so I WAS happy to get a little left arm work in. Alas, it was not meant to be. I'll just have to keep having right-handed arm wrestling contests.
For anyone who has not been reading the Facebook page, you probably haven't heard about the savage flying fish attack last night. Matt got hit right in the face. The flying fish have been trying to get us for days, but have been missing (although there have been a couple of close calls). We've found a bunch on the deck and thought we had the upper hand, but I guess they're sending in their best pilots now. We'll see what happens throughout the rest of the race.
Good news: Just as I came down here to write this, the distance to our waypoint (the finish) ticked to under 700 miles! That's a real morale booster -- although things get a little trickier from here on out. Brian says we're doing well, so every decision is an important one and every knot of boatspeed counts.
We're romping happily along out here. But, the boat dreams have started to become really weird (maybe Jimmy Buffett should have written a song about boat dreams instead of boat drinks). I'm going to have to sell my car because of my dream that there was a rattlesnake inside that WOULD not leave (mom and dad, if you could handle that before I get home, that would be great) and Tim had a dream that we were waiting for an uber to finish the race. I checked my app and we're a bit out of the service area here.
I'd like to report that everything is still smelling sweetly, but it's not. It's pretty gamey down below on the boat. Almost like there are five guys living in a confined, closed in space in the tropics. But, it's only four guys... and me... and let me tell you, I'm definitely part of the problem.
Congrats to the boys on Mighty Merloe. Artie, I guess this means you're up 2 to 1 now. -Alli
July 11, 2017, 1600- Tuesday- Resolute Turns Left... Finally
Well this morning was a great change of pace for all of us. After 5 days and 10 hours on Starboard and slowly turning right I figured Hawaii was somewhere to the left of us. That being said we made the call to gybe in hopes of finding the island. If it looks like we are going the wrong way on the tracker, please let us know. (-;
Daily standings also came out and we moved up to 2nd overall! Unfortunately, the breeze has died slightly which gives a significant advantage to the bigger boats. Needless to say, we are all giving maximum effort and doing what we can to sail as fast as possible. That includes continuing to stack our pipe berths on top of each other to the windward side. If you haven't seen the pipe berth setup on Resolute imagine a coffin 6' long, 4' high, and 2' wide. Very claustrophobic and a total bitch to get in and out of. To make things worse, A) we haven't showered in 6 days and smell fantastic B) we move the leeward pipe berth into the same coffin... Yes, we are literally sleeping on top of each other give or take 6".
Currently we are 742.1 miles to the finish. Averaging 12kn and 9.5 vmg over the last hour. Wind speed is 13-16. Waves are 4-6'. Until next time, Brian
July 12, 2300- Wednesday- Night Sky/Day Sky
Did you guys know that if the moon is still up and bright around dawn, there is a clear demarcation between what is night sky and what is day sky? I didn't, until last night/this morning. Trevor and I were on watch and the moon was super bright. I looked behind us and dawn was just starting to break and there was a CLEAR line between what sky was still the night and what was the day. It was pretty cool.
Speaking of night, for the first time we really saw some stars last night. And, the day star came out today for the first time since the start. Before night fell yesterday, I was just making the comment that we'd seen a total of about six stars including the sun our whole trip. I wouldn't say we had a LOT of stars last night, but it at least quadrupled our count. The sun has been out most of the day today, so I'm hoping that we'll see the Southern Cross (Traci, counting on you to back me up here) tonight or tomorrow because...
...we're in the final countdown! Right now, we're thinking we probably finish Friday afternoon-ish -- which is SO soon! And that's probably a good thing because things are getting a little loony out here. Or maybe more appropriate to say "terny". This morning after Tim and Matt came up on watch, we heard a loud squawking sound. Turns out, it was Tim shouting at (to?) the terns circling overhead. The bird whisperer.
It's getting hot and stinky down below, but today has been shower day for at least some of us (so far: me and Brian), so that's always a relief. For those of you wondering, showering consists of throwing a bucket with a string overboard off the back of the boat (we're going kinda fast through the water), filling it, dumping it over your head, shampooing and soaping, and doing the bucket thing again to rinse. This far south, the water is warm and it's really a pleasant experience. To the disappointment of all on board, I'm sure, my shower was in a bathing suit rather than my birthday suit.
Everything is going well aboard Resolute, although we could use some more breeze down this final stretch! BTW, I know Brian said we turned left, but... we turned back -Alli
July 13, 2017, 1100- Thursday
Good evening Resolute fans. Well things are changing out here, and I wish I could report for the better. The weather forecast is calling for decreasing winds tonight and tomorrow. Unfortunately, that makes it more difficult to hang in there with the bigger/faster boats in front of us. Today's position report of 1st in class and 2nd overall is clearly in doubt tomorrow if things don't improve. Tomorrow too will be a scorcher in the heat made 100 times worse if there is no breeze. I've seen this movie before and didn't like it in 2013, but all we can do is push on to the finish and play the cards we are handed. On another note, today was the second time Matt has been punished by a flying fish. The first to the face and the last to the chest. The guy cannot get a break. Anyway more to follow, and thanks for hanging in there with us. Tim Fuller - Skipper. Sailing photo credits- Sharon Green/ Ultimate Sailing. Watch the Transpac sailing highlights Youtube video here For more Transpac Race sailing information
Circolo della Vela Bari Win Italian J/70 League Qualifiers(Trieste, Italy)- Organized by the CV Barcola & Grignano with the collaboration of the YC Porto Piccolo and sponsored by Banca Aletti, the second qualifier for the Italian J/70 Sailing National Championship took place in the Gulf of Trieste under simply spectacular sailing conditions. Thirty-two races were completed in three days for the sixteen teams participating in the event. They saw the classic “bora” winds on the first day up to 25 kts, then near perfect 10-15 kt winds for the next two day, perfect for sailing the J/70s in the short-course racing format!
The event was won by the Circolo della Vela Bari, with Simone Ferrarese at the helm. Their team was at ease in the rampant and challenging weather conditions; never finishing worst than a fifth place. In fact, the CV Bari team collected five 1sts and six 2nds, closing at 36 points! Fourteen points behind was the Societe Canottieri Garda Salo team; they were also extremely competitive and gathered three 1sts on their way to a well-deserved silver. Third place went to Circolo Nautico della Vela Argentario.
"What a fantastic race day," commented Simone Ferrarese, the skipper of CV Bari, "I am excited to have qualified our Club and won the stage! Now, we prepare for the Crotone Finals. These races have challenged us a great deal: the format and wind from the ground made the races very difficult, but extremely enjoyable! And, thanks to the boats, these beautiful J70s that are a great fit for these conditions and for this kind of racing!"Also happy with the outcome of the regatta was the President of the Italian Sailing League, Roberto Emanuele de Felice: "Trieste has confirmed once again to be an outstanding sailing venue. There is no ingredient missing: this second seasonal selection has seen strong, thunderstorms, strong winds, the launch of the Legavela Servizi fleet and a unique location like Porto Piccolo. I thank the CV Barcola & Grignano and YC Porto Piccolo for organizing an exceptional event and also the team of the Race Committee, with its President Costanzo Villa, and the Race Officer Joseph D'Amico. They have done outstanding work to complete all 32 races!"
"This regatta,” said Executive Vice President Legavela Alessandro Maria Rinaldi, “has highlighted the high quality of sailing by the Club teams. Amazingly, thirteen of the sixteen crews actually won a race, showing the high level of competition! Another element of great value for the Legavela development across Italy is that many teams had young crews and women in their mix. The young sailors bring great promise for the future of the Legavela; in fact in October we are organizing the kick-off event for a Legavela Under 19 regatta!”In addition to the six qualifiers from the Porto Cervo event, the eight qualifiers from the Trieste event are CV Bari, Societe Canottieri Garda Salo, CN Vela Argentario, Aeronautica Militare, Diporto Nautico Sistiana, CV Bellano, YC Adriatico, and Reale Circolo Canotierri Tevere Remo. Trieste Italian J/70 Sailing League Highlights video Day 2- highlights video Video interview- Simone Ferrarese, skipper of winning team Circolo della Vela Bari Video interview- President Roberto Emanuele de Felice of the Lega Italiana Vela J/70 Follow the Italian J/70 Sailing League on Facebook here For more Italian J/70 Sailing League information
SN Geneve Leads Swiss J/70 Sailing League(Lake Geneva, Switzerland)- It was a sunny weather and an optimal north wind of force 2 to 4 for the 40 races this past weekend for the Swiss Sailing Super League that was raced on Lake Geneva. As both host and the home team, the Societe Nautique de Geneve clearly dominated the three days of competition. The Genevan’s won most of their races and won the fourth stage with just 41 points! The Yachtclub Bielersee narrowly secured second place in front of the St. Gallen team of the Regattaclub Bodensee.
On Friday, the SN Geneva team (Guillaume Rigot, Marc Stern, Nicolas Kaufmann and Mathieu Fischer) set the stage for their victory. After four straight wins, they were already leading the intermediate standings with a solid lead. Four more victories were added to this on Saturday, just like Sunday, thus allowing SN Geneva to win twelve of its twenty races in total. A high-level, very slick performance by the Genevan’s, a level that none of the other competitors could match.
On the other hand, the other spots on the podium were fiercely contested. On Saturday night, after 28 races, six clubs from second to seventh place had just a three-point spread between them! In second place, the winner of last year, the Regattaclub Bodensee, was one point in front of Bordee de Tribord- La Neuveville. Behind them, followed the Yachtclub Bielersee, the Zürcher Yachtclub, the Société Nautique Rolloise and the Regattaclub Oberhofen, the leader of the league's intermediate standings.On the third day of racing, the presence of perfect conditions in the morning enabled the first race to be launched shortly after 10am and then another 12 races, bringing the total to 40 races for the entire event.
Lorenz Müller, a regular on the circuit, managed to win four races on Sunday with his team from YC Bielersee; they managed to break away from their pursuers and take second place. At the end of the competition, YC Bielersee and RC Bodensee were tied at 48 pts each, the tie-breaker going to YC Bielersee on countback. It was a well-deserved second place for the Bielersee crew, considering that top Swiss skipper Julian Flessati was racing for Regattaclub Bodensee! Follow the Swiss J/70 Sailing League on Facebook here For more Swiss J/70 Sailing League information
Sportboat Fun- San Francisco!J/70s & J/111s Thrash City Front Course
(San Francisco Bay, CA)- City Front sailing at its finest! Last weekend the St. Francis Yacht Club hosted the J/70 Pacific Coast Championship and the J/111 Sportboat Regatta. Bennet Greenwald's Team PERSEVERANCE prevailed after three days of racing over the 9 race series with an impressive 6 bullets. Conditions overall were mild, warm, and sunny on the City Front making this San Diegan right at home! And, feeling right at home on the Bay was St Francis YC member Peter Wagner, guiding his J/111 SKELETON KEY to six straight bullets to win the J/111 class!
Congrats to Team PERSEVERANCE (pictured L-R including crew Dirk Johnson, owner/driver Bennet Greenwald, Ben Mercer and Victor Diaz de Leon) and to all the competitors who came. It was a small but highly competitive J/70 fleet with challenging and rewarding racing.
Second place overall went to David Schumann’s Team Bottle Rocket with crew Cody Shevitz, Terre Layton, Shana Phelan and Willem Van Waay. Sailing with a crew of five paid off for this team, as did their two days of training with Willem Van Waay before the event.
Fleet 19 was happy to welcome Paul Cayard back to the J/70 fleet almost 10 months after sailing with one of Italy’s top Italian J/70 Teams Calvi Network at the J/70 Worlds in San Francisco last fall. If you may recall, Cayard is a Whitbread Around the World winner, Star World Champion and America’s Cup helmsman sailing on Chris Kostanecki’s JENNIFER. Cayard will continue to sail with Fleet 19s Team JENNIFER in the J/70 Worlds in Sardinia and they found the PCCs to be a great tune up for their newly formed Worlds team. Team JENNIFER came in third overall at the PCCs.Tom Kassberg’s Team PICKLED HERRING is always a top contender and this weekend was no different. Kassberg came in fourth place overall at the PCCs.
Several Corinthian teams sailed the PCCs including Tracy Usher's Team CHRISTINE ROBIN. Despite some epic and memorable tacking duels up the City Front with the top teams, they managed to land 5th overall just one point out of 4th place and were the first Corinthian team.It was a family affair for Corinthian Justin Foox’s Team FLOTEK. At the PCCs, in addition to sailing with his wife Shar, which he does regularly, Justin also sailed with his sister and brother-in-law who were visiting from Australia. His sister and brother-in-law hadn’t sailed a J/70 before this weekend and loved the boats, no surprise! Justin and his sister hadn’t sailed together in 40 years so it was an especially fun experience for them all.
Further enhancing the PCCs were daily debriefs from sailing Pro’s Willem Van Waay and Victor Diaz de Leon who ran informative debriefs post racing each day for the J/70s, which one attendee referred to as “liquid gold.” In addition, Paul Cayard had nothing but praises for the pros and their debriefs.As always StFYC Race Committee executed flawless race course management. In addition to the gorgeous overall and Corinthian perpetual trophy, donated last year by Justin Kromelow’s Team LOOSE LUCY, the StFYC provided frames with plaques for the winners with line drawings of the J/70.
Gorgeous images of the racing with the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background say it all... Here is the link to photos from the 2017 PCCs by Leslie Richter. Here’s another photo link from the 2017 PCCs by Chris Ray. For more J/70 Pacific Coast Championship sailing information
J/Cruz Lake Ontario 300(Port Credit, ONT, Canada)- The eighty-six boat fleet sailing the Lake Ontario 300 Challenge presented by drive.HG started on Saturday July 15th, 2017 with little expectations to finish the race in record time. In fact, for the 300nm race, it was quite the opposite scenario that was being entertained by the intrepid adventurers on the flooded body of water known as Lake Ontario.
Despite every possible obstacle thrown at them, like a few fronts, no wind, lots of wind and what not, the J/crews prevailed from east to west on their 300nm transit of Lake Ontario. In the end, it was Bruce Pierce’s J/122 HOOLIGAN II that placed 2nd in IRC 2 Class. Then, Murray Gainer’s J/109 LIVELY was 2nd in PHRF 1 Class and Sean Matthews’ J/33 WEE BEASTIE III placed 4th in PHRF 3 class! For more Lake Ontario 300 Race sailing information
J’s Lovin’ Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge(Annapolis, MD)- The event is a popular one for J/sailors on Chesapeake Bay. Organized down the Chesapeake Bay and run out of a local hotel, the event is welcomed as a wonderful summer reprieve to enjoy the Bay in about 100 degree heat each summer. Many die-hards love this regatta; it is totally laid back, heat-coma induced, and a great time to catch up with friends that cannot escape the summer heat of the Chesapeake Bay in the middle of the summer.
Despite the often oppressive heat conditions, the sailing can be quite good. While classically light in the mornings, the land does get much hotter than the 70 F temps of the Bay, so when you get a 30 F temp differential, you actually get local thermals across the famous oyster beds on the Bay!! If a cool front rolls through from the Midwest, all the better!!Taking part in PHRF A1 Class were two J/111s; Jim Whited’s BAD CAT (a past regatta winner) and also Jim Connelly’s SLUSH FUND. At the end, Connelly’s SLUSH FUND won that match race and took third overall in the regatta.
Finally, in PHRF B class, Neal McKinney’s J/80 HOMEGROWN nearly took class honors over a bunch of crooked PHRF-rated boats called Tripp 26s. Instead, having to settle for third place. SPINSHEET Magazine is the official media sponsor- visit them here. Spinsheet Photos here. For more Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* What exactly is a Blockhead? Innovators in all forms of boat rigging, the “adults” at Harken want to see kids messing about in boats like they did. Bill Faude, Director of Marketing Strategy/Creative for Harken, explains how their latest initiative – Harken Blockheads – seeks to heighten the connection between youth sailing and boat preparation.What’s the genesis of the Blockhead program?
Harken CEO Bill Goggins and myself have young kids getting into sailing (four kids between us between the ages of 6 and 12 with younger Goggins kids to age in soon) and so were logically remembering what kind of great sailing experiences we had growing up.
We remember drilling and pop riveting…moving cam cleats and changing between cam cleats and clam cleats and rigging twings and then going back to guy hooks…moving hiking straps around…flipping boats and wet sanding…really taking care of our boats to make sure they fit us better and in the balance learning to be self-reliant.
In the midst of this, we came to the realization that kids don’t do that now. The boats they sail are MUCH better than a generation ago. They all come well rigged, and not much breaks. Even second-hand Optis and 420s work beautifully.
As Harken employees, we are charged with growing our Brand. So we’ll never disguise the fact the existence of a sailing generation growing up without learning to screw or pop-rivet an eye strap to the deck, looked like a potential business risk. We felt the obligation to expose the next generation to the link between high-performance rigging applied effectively and better results. That link was not well understood.
All told we both wanted and needed to launch a program like this.
And what kind of program have you launched?
We want to help the next generation of sailors love sailing as much as we do. Sounds like BS when I say it, but it’s true. Personally, I like sailing because it lets me go ‘off the grid’ for a few hours. There are no curbs and gutters and lines on the racecourse, so I can call my own shots.
I actually still remember what it felt like when I first took my Laser (13095) off the dock and out of hearing range of my instructors. On my own. We think once kids feel that, they’ll imprint on the sport better.
Emotionally, we want kids to feel the confidence sailing can uniquely bring. Rationally, we want there to be less Helicoptering for parents to do. Sailors should know how to maintain their own boats…the earlier they start this the better.
We’re looking to engage the kids in the media they choose. So Blockheads is an old school fan-club model bolted to a video-infused website with social media opportunities for them to share their experiences and results.
Importantly, we’re really conscious of staying in our lane, so the content we’re trying to create is all about boat care, rigging, go-fast ideas and shared experiences. We’re working hard to curate it so we don’t get into areas where others are already excelling.
So there won’t be tactical discussions or sailing technique lessons. That’s not Harken’s niche. We explain how rigging works and how to upgrade for performance.
Who can join the program?
Anyone can join and it’s free, but we’re writing for a target between the Opti Green Fleet and the end of College Sailing. There’s free SWAG when you become a Blockhead. And we hope the program will grow so we can offer the benefits of becoming a member to more kids. Right now, we’ve budgeted for 1000 new members kits for this year. Thanks for contribution from HARKEN and Scuttlebutt.
• Additional details at http://www.harkenblockheads.com.
• Contact us at blockheads@harken.com
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