Vice Admirals Cup Preview(Cowes, England)- This coming weekend, the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, based in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, will be the host of the Vice Admiral’s Cup that runs from May 9th to 11th. It also represents the first stop for the J/111 European Circuit that ultimately leads to the J/111 Europeans and Worlds also being hosted in Solent waters.
Since it’s introduction the event has gone from strength to strength with its simple close racing format and fun social programme making it enjoyable for the competitors. This year there will be eight classes, including the familiar fleet of J/109s, which have become a regular fixture of the regatta in recent years.
The event will once again provide the inshore element for the 2014 GBR Team trials for the British Commodore’s Cup Team as the RYA selectors have chosen the event as its inshore qualification event again this year.
Fifty-one boats have signed on with seventeen of them being members of the “J” Navy, representing one-third of the fleet and by far the dominant brand at the event. In fact, the weather forecast appears favorable for many of the “J” teams participating. An enormous depression is rolling in from the North Atlantic across the northern UK islands all weekend, producing winds of 15-25 kts from the SW-W with showers and squalls on Saturday and Sunday.
In the one-design J/109s, seven teams are vying for selection, amongst them are a remarkable cross-section of past class winners and team members who’ve jumped boats and are ‘hotting up’ other teams. Ladbroke’s Betting Parlour selection on these teams? Impossible to tell based on past and present performances. Nevertheless, you have STALKER (Steven Tapper), JUMPING JELLYFISH (David Richards), JUKEBOX (Chris Copeland), JYNNAN TONNYX (Owain Franks & Jean Lockett), DESIGNSTAR 2 (Roger Phillips), JUBILEE (Tony Dickin) and TIGH SOLIUS II (Iain Mackinnon) all hoping to post “scorched earth” scorelines, like running the table with straight bullets! Not. Nevertheless, the dream of many a team.
The newly ascendant J/111 one-design class has eight incredibly talented teams lined up on the starting line. Like their 109 brethren, the talent aligned onboard each team overcomes any past performances- good, bad or indifferent. Literally, just about every boat has won one or placed in every major UK offshore event over the past two years. Watch this space! As the top teams here may be odds-on favorites for the Europeans and the Worlds held later in the season in the same Solent waters. Who’s the “marked” boat today? After winning the Warsash Spring Series, it must be Chris Jones & Louise Makin on JOURNEYMAKER II, past veterans of the J/105 offshore RORC wars. A talented bunch they are. Nevertheless, perhaps holding some “powder in reserve” are teams like SHMOKIN JOE (Duncan McDonald), J-DREAM (David & Kirsty Apthorp), McFLY (Tony Mack), ICARUS (Andrew Christie & Chris Body), BLACK DOG (Stu Sawyer), JITTERBUG (Cornel Riklin), and JEEZ LOUISE (James Arnell).
In the handicap portion of the event, we find in IRC Class 0 two J/109s competing against a rogues gallery of IRC—optimized competitors from Ker, Corby, Mills, Farr, et al. Nevertheless, aligned against them are two J/109s being sailed in IRC-configuration by well-sailed crews; Richard Sheldon on YEOMAN OF WIGHT and Robert Stiles on DIAMOND JEM. For more Vice Admirals Cup sailing information
Edgartown YC & North Sails J/70 Tuning Clinic
(Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard)- How would you like to spend an early summer weekend getting tuned for a competitive J/70 season? Please join with the members of the J/70 fleets of Edgartown, Vineyard Haven, Newport and Marblehead for this epic program. Learn from the tuning clinic, on-water analysis and evening chalk-talks with North Sails pros and coaches in race strategy and sail trim.
Have fun on beautiful Martha’s Vineyard and get the opportunity to get to know your fellow class members while you relax and enjoy yourselves at beautiful Edgartown Yacht Club. Let us know how we can help you attend. We are working on arrangements for launching from Falmouth, MA and sail over; or take your trailer across on the Martha’s Vineyard ferry. Call Hal Findlay at 203-219-5266 (haraldfindlay@gmail.com) with any questions. For more J/70 North Sails tuning clinic @ Edgartown YC
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
The first week of sailing in May brought sailors around the world an enormous amount of activity, and options, on where to spend your weekend (or week in some cases) pursuing their passion.Starting off in Europe, the massively popular EDHEC College sailing event took place in Les Sables d’Olonne, France with a fleet of 38 J/80s sailing one-design (in addition there were a number of other classes). Teams from all over Europe and the USA participated (including Tufts, Georgetown, and the University of Chicago). 1,600 college students sailed in the event over a full week of sailing on the Bay of Biscay. In Spain, there was also a fleet of J/80s sailing in that famous Mediterranean “glam” spot of the rich & famous, Palma de Mallorca. The 80s were sailing in the famous PalmaVela Regatta, one of the highlights of the Med’s summer sailing season.
Heading still further south, the J/22s just recently completed their World Championships sailing on the gorgeous lake that surrounds Deneysville, South Africa. Not surprisingly, there was a large turn-out of South African J/22 teams, but visiting teams also came from the USA, Germany and the Cayman Islands!
Over in the Caribbean, the last of the famous winter regattas took place last week, the enormously popular Antigua Sailing Week sailed out of English Harbour- a most spectacular setting. Partaking in the fun & frolic in sunny, breezy conditions were a J/105, J/109, J/120 and J/122.
On the continental USA, there were no less than six regattas taking place simultaneously! On the eastern seaboard there was the Sperry Top Sider Annapolis NOOD regatta taking place in Annapolis, MD with an overwhelming presence of J one-design teams taking over every race course and the party tent every single night. Attending were EIGHT J one-designs, including J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s, J/105s, J/30s, J/35s and J/109s! Then, in the greater New York region the J/24s were having fun in the J-Daze Regatta hosted by Canandaigua YC on Canandaigua Lake in the spectacular Finger Lakes region in the north. On Long Island Sound, the American YC was closing out its Spring Series Regatta for both IRC boats (like J/122s and J/133s) and J one-design fleets of J/70s, J/105s, J/109s and J/44s.
Out west in virtually every major sailing region, three events took place in Seattle, WA; San Francisco, CA and San Diego, CA! In the Pacific Northwest, the infamous double-handed event hosted by the Sloop Tavern YC, the so-called “Race To The Straits Regatta”, took place in much, much windier conditions than sailors have been accustomed to in years. A one-design fleet of J/105s joined PHRF handicap fleets that included J/29s, J/30s, J/35s, J/36, J/109s, J/35c, J/37c and so forth. Down in San Francisco, a plethora of J’s sailed the crazy, but fun, “Great Vallejo Race” hosted by Vallejo YC- a mad dash of 21.0nm “downwind/ upstream” on Saturday followed by an equally mind-numbing “upwind/ downstream” race back. Several J teams simply thrashed their competition. Finally, the long-standing tradition that marks the start San Diego YC’s summer sailing season was just held- the famous “Yachting Cup” Regatta. As usual SDYC rolled out the red carpet for all and did a magnificent job of running the event. The Fast 40s class had three J/125s sailing in the “south bay” along with one-design classes of J/109s and J/120s. In the “north bay” were one-design classes of J/70s, J/80s & J/105s.
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:
May 16-18- J/22 North Americans- Annapolis YC- Annapolis, MDMay 16-18- Seattle NOOD Regatta- Seattle, WA
May 24-26- Swiftsure Race- Royal Victoria YC- Victoria, BC, Canada
May 27- Jun 9- Delta Lloyd North Sea Week- Scheveningen, Netherlands
May 28- Jun 1- J/22 Europeans- Cameret-sur-Mer, France
May 29-Jun 2- Italian J/24 Nationals- Tirano, Italy
May 30- Susan Hood Trophy Race- Mississauga, ONT, Canada
May 31- Delta Ditch Run- Stockton Sailing Club- Stockton, CA
Jun 6-8- Chicago NOOD Regatta- Chicago YC- Chicago, IL
Jun 6-9 Norseewoche- Heligoland, Germany
Jun 9-15- Normandy Sailing Week- Le Havre, France
Jun 13-22- Cleveland Race Week- Cleveland, OH
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J/Teams Prevail @ Yachting Cup Regatta(San Diego, CA)- Record temperatures and the sizzle of Cinco de Mayo celebrations set the stage for the 42nd running of the Yachting Cup Regatta on May 2-4. Hosted by San Diego Yacht Club, 11 fleets competed in one design and PHRF handicap divisions.
The regatta kicked off with a single random leg “Beer-Can style” race inside San Diego Bay, with 80 degree temperatures and winds gusting to 13 knots providing near Caribbean conditions. “By having today’s start at 3:00pm, it gave crews and skippers a chance to get organized, work a half day, or just gradually ease into the regatta,” noted event Chair Julie Servais. “The idea was to provide some diversity to the race schedule, and since random leg racing typically requires fewer crew, boats that couldn’t gather their full crew wouldn’t be a disadvantage.”
For the balance of the weekend, windward-leeward buoy courses were scheduled on two ocean courses. Keith Magnussen, crewing on the J/125 TIMESHAVER which finished second in the Fast 40 class, liked the challenge. “The conditions are moving all the time, and not every leg is square to the wind, but that gave us the ability to try out some of the things we had learned on the offshore and coastal races. Given the changing conditions inside the bay, it forced everyone onboard to pay attention the entire time. Gaining or missing a puff or a shift shuffled the fleet.”For the second day of racing, the fleets on the “Near Roads Course”, closer to Point Loma, got enough wind for three races. “It got up to 11 knots,” noted Rick Goebel, who was second in the J/105 with his SANITY, “but it was far from steady. Huge shifts during the day, with the wind dropping to about 4 knots in the last (third) race.”
Conditions at the “Far Roads Course”, closer to the Mexican border (like actually “turn-yer-cell-phones-off-close” to Telefonos de Mexico), were clearly on siesta. When the wind got down to 2 to 3 knots during the second race, that was it for the day. However, mastering the spotty winds was Chuck Nichols, whose CC RIDER posted two bullets in the J/120 fleet.
“The first race reversed itself about three times, where we went from first to sixth to first to sixth a few times,” noted Nichols. “Lucky for us we got to the finish line with us again in the lead. We were more consistent the second race despite the spottiness. Keeping the boat quiet and keeping the crew weight smartly positioned all helped to maintain speed through the wind patches.”Leading their fleets after Saturday were Viggo Torbensen’s TIMESHAVER (Fast 40), David Boatner’s J/35 RIVAL (PHRF C), John Shulze’s LINSTAR (J/109), Hurlburt/Driscoll’s BLOWBOAT (J/105), Kownacki/Jenkins’s DFZ (J/70), and Curt Johnson’s AVET (J/80).
For the last day, the heat wave that had hovered over California began to give way. As coastal clouds and the cool Pacific put locals on notice that “May Grey” weather may soon return, it proved to be only slightly cooler and only slightly windier than Saturday. But progress nonetheless.
The Near Roads Course, closer to Point Loma, fit in three races for its six fleets. Making the most of the day was Rick Goebel’s SANITY team, posting all bullets to move up and win the J/105 fleet. Behind their blitzkrieg was the BLOWBOAT duo of Hurlburt/ Driscoll with 17 pts and the crew on VIGGEN led by DagFish! Rounding out the top five were Sean O’Keefe’s DeColores 2 and Steve & Lucy Howell’s BLINK!, in 4th and 5th, respectively.
Chris Mewes’ SHADOWFAX team, whose 3-1-2 on the last day, sealed their bid to win the J/109 title. John Shulze’s gang on LINSTAR couldn’t hang on to their first day lead to settle for a 5-5-3 for 17 pts to just hang on to 2nd overall. Third by the “blink of an eyelash” was Tom Brott on the famously fast ELECTRA with 18 pts. It was close for the top five, the last day being the deciding factor. Just two points off the top three was a tie-break for the 4th & 5th position, with Daylen Teren’s GREAT BALLS OF FIRE taking the break over Alice Leahey’s GRACE O’MALLEY’s cast of characters at 22 pts each!
After their dominating first day, the Kownacki/Jenkins team on their J/70 DFZ took top honors with a closing scoreline of 4-1-3 to win with 14 pts total. World renowned world champion in all things dinghies and keelboats, David Ullman, managed a strong challenge to DFZ to take 2nd overall with 17 pts. Third was John Fuller sailing BLISS in his first major J/70 regatta, taking the tie-break over Dave Vieregg’s SOGGY DOLLAR team at 21 pts each. Fifth in the 70s was the Gribble/ Weise duo on GO-RILLA at 27 pts.The J/80s had a somewhat predictable outcome, with long-time West Coast champion Curt Johnson sailing AVET to another most excellent scoreline of five 1sts and one 2nd in just seven races. Second was Steve Wyman’s NUHUNU taking the balance of the 1-2 scoreline Johnson missed. The balance of the top five finishes were taken by J/World San Diego’s Wayne Zittel, ending up in third overall.
The Far Roads Course, closer to the Mexican border, also completed three races for its five fleets. Conditions were an improvement over Saturday, offering a relatively steady 4-9 knots, and the leaders remained at form to lock in their victories.
In the Fast 40s Class, Viggo Torbensen’s J/125 TIMESHAVER took class honors with just 6 pts! Tim Fuller’s J/125 RESOLUTE was 3rd and Mark Surber’s J/125 RESOLUTE was 4th.
On the same course, the J/120s saw “the Commodore’s” take the silver, with Chuck Nichols’s and crew on CC RIDER win with just 12 pts. Mike Hatch’s J-ALMIGHTY took second by virtue of winning the last race convincingly. Third was John Laun’s CAPER.
Finally, PHRF C Class saw the only “chicken scratch” winner of all classes in the entire weekend! Yeah, baby! David Boatner’s classic, lovely lookin old J/35 RIVAL just simply crushed all comers with nothing less than straight bullets (e.g. all 1st’s) for six straight races. Most importantly, they blew away many “wannabe’s” in the division who’ve been known to win far too many SoCal events in the past like Larry Leveille (ex J-29 star now on a Shocking 35) and Lindy Thomas (ex-chicago rockstar on a Thomas 35). Sadly, history repeats itself here (J/35 is simply a better boat).
After reviewing the competition within all 11 fleets, the SDYC YACHTING CUP Committee selected Rick Goebel’s J/105 SANITY team as the Overall Winner of the Yachting Cup. No surprise for such a fun, like-able, competitive crew.For those of you who appreciate the “insider’s story” on such events, enjoy Ullman Sails’s Keith Magnussen’s report on the SDYC Yachting Cup:
“After a stunning yet disappointing Ensenada race (second overall) we moved to the next weekend which is always Yachting Cup in San Diego. We went into this regatta knowing we had good boat speed in the offshore and coastal racing configuration but had never lined up against other J-125's in buoy racing (well since I have been on the boat). Our expectations were to be competitive against two well sailed 125's and a Farr 400. One of the 125's, Resolute, had an all-star crew with Chris Busch and Ben Mitchell aboard. I brought along Erik Shampain from Ullman Sails to trim main and we just wanted to be competitive.
Well, to our surprise, we were more than fast. Day one was a random leg race that toured Dan Diego Bay, the same course they use in the wed night beer can races. We had a mediocre start and had to tack over towards the shore (which was sort of our game plan as we saw more pressure on that side). We got where we wanted and tack onto starboard with the fleet below us. We rode a nice lift and puff to the first mark and crossed the other 125's who were in a little less breeze. The run towards Coronado Bridge was a battle with Derivative crossing us at one point. We got the starboard advantage at the bridge and rounded before the 125's and just behind the Farr 400. A battle to the finish ensued and crossed the line just behind Bernie Girod’s Farr 400 and good enough for second place, we owed the 1D35 10 minutes and could not correct.
The next two days were W/L and the first start saw us get off the line a little slow. That seems to be ok when your boat speed is blazing fast! At one point Derivative tried to lee-bow us and we rolled her easily. We went 1-1 for Saturday.
Going into Sunday we knew it was still anyone's regatta as the one throw-out was about to come into effect. Once again our speed was superior as we sailed out from under Resolute and in front of her. The first race the Farr 400 got away on a nice downwind leg and we pulled a second. The next race was the turning point. We had a close race with the fleet and the final downwind leg saw us tactically take advantage of the race and finish a comprehensive first... this was the regatta. With one more race to go we settled down a bit and really just wanted to enjoy the sailing. We kept the Farr 400 below us and behind and marched away from the fleet crossing the line first with a little wing-on-wing action to celebrate.
Viggo Torbensen has given me the keys to the boat in regards to the Ullman Sails inventory and we have been working so hard to get up to speed with the other guys. This was a great reward for all the hard work and I would like to thank Viggo and the rest of the crew for believing in the program.” Thanks for contribution from Scuttlebutt Sailing News. Sailing photo credits- Bronny Daniels For more San Diego Yachting Cup sailing information
Vallejo Race- J/Dreaming
(Vallejo, CA)- With their “playground” at the mouth of the Napa River and the Carquinez Straits “venturi” at the top of the Bay, it’s not uncommon to encounter 2-3 current changes during the course of a 2 hour race. The Spring and early summer races typically find sailors battling closely spaced 4-6 ft rollers pushed up by a stiff 20-25 knot westerly over San Pablo Bay opposing a strong ebb out of the strait. Sailors can often expect some wet & wild rides! Short tacking up the rock wall is every bit as challenging as a beat up the San Francisco City Front in a flood. Even heavier boats can catch a few surf rides if their willing to brave the spinnaker set on the run back to the leeward mark. Perhaps Jack London described it best in his book, “Tales of the Fish Patrol”:
“Here the Vallejo Straits and the Carquinez Straits rushed directly at each other. Through the first flowed all the water from the Napa River and the great tide-land; through the second flowed all the water of Suisun Bay and the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. And where such immense bodies of water, flowing swiftly, clashed together, a terrible tide-rip was produced. To make it worse, the wind howled up San Pablo Bay for fifteen miles and drove in a tremendous sea upon the tide-rip. Conflicting currents tore about in all directions, colliding, forming whirlpools, sucks, and boils, and shooting up spitefully into hollow waves which fell aboard us as often from leeward as from windward. And through it all, confused, driven into a madness of motion, thundered the great smoking seas from San Pablo Bay. I was wildly as excited as the water. The boat was behaving splendidly, leaping and lurching through the welter like a racehorse. I could hardly contain myself with the joy of it. The huge sail, the howling wind, the driving seas, the plunging boat – I, a pygmy, a mere speck in the midst of it, was mastering the elemental strife, flying through it and over it, triumphant and victorious.”
As the local sailing season officially got underway this weekend, it seemed that every San Francisco Bay sailor was out racing somewhere. Cherie Sogsti sailed in the Great Vallejo Race with some old friends. She summed up the weekend: "The Great Vallejo Race started like a lamb with no wind and postponements and went out like a lion with big winds and and waves. This race is about so much more than sailing," she added. "It's about sharing the love of the sea with fellow sailors; it's about dedicating time to something you are passionate about; it's about surfing ebb tide waves in San Francisco Bay, and it's about simply being happy on a boat. Nothing forces you to be in the moment like the sport of sailing."
A perfect Great Vallejo Race would be a fast drag race run to Vallejo Yacht Club and a nice gentle tactical beat back on the next day. Speed on Saturday and Brains on Sunday. In the 115 years it's been run it's had a variety of conditions, but this year may have been one of the best to meet that criteria. On Friday the weather forecasters called for a strong northwest breeze for Saturday and many racers were looking forward to a fun romp up San Pablo Bay to Vallejo. But when Saturday's starting sequence went off at 1000 in the Berkeley Circle, the weather didn't look very promising for the 149 boats that showed up to race.
After a short postponement and with a fickle, light southwest breeze, the race committee sent the first two divisions off to fight a building ebb for the long 21 miles to Vallejo. Then the wind died. It was looking dire for the RC and the boats waiting for the promised northwest wind to arrive. The clock ticked and after another two hours of postponement just enough breeze filtered in to try starting the divisions again.
Once half of the divisions were started, the northwesterly finally arrived at 1330, as wall of wind hit the boats, and within seconds they were off. Once around the windward turning mark they had a one tack beat to get into San Pablo Bay for the real fun to begin. After Point San Pablo the boats turned down just enough that some chose to set the chute. A building breeze, ebb and big waves created surf city all the way to Mare Island.
The buzz of adrenalin wore off as the rum was kicking in, and Vallejo YC hosted the Saturday night party amid discussion of lighter winds and maybe even some rain for Sunday's race back.
The racers woke up Sunday morning under gray skies, and some drizzle fell before the sun came out. At noon the starts were off with a bang in plenty of wind to get out of the Napa River and into San Pablo Bay.
The weather forecasters were right about the lighter breeze, and although it was building as the day wore on it was nothing like Saturday's 25 knots. It was a tactician's dream, and if you played the wind shifts and current right you were rewarded with glory. And if you got it wrong, well it was a nice sunny day for a sail. And that's what it should be in the Great Vallejo Race. Brawn and brains and just about perfect.
On Saturday’s 21.5nm race down the bayou, the J/111s sailed a one-design start. Winning by just 24 seconds was Rob Theis on AEOLUS over the hard-charging MADMEN skippered by Dorian Mckelvy. Third was Dick Swanson on BAD DOG. In Sportboat 1 Class, the J/90 RAGTIME sailed by Trig Liljestra took fourth while the J/70 DFZ sailed by Eric Kownacki and Tom Jenkins won the Sportboat 2 Class- fellow classmate Alex Knox on SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY took fifth. PHRF 3 was won by the J/105 RACER X sailed by Mary Mcgrath with the J/35 JARLEN skippered by Robert Bloom in third. In the one-design J/105 class, the top three were ARBITRAGE (Bruce Stone), GODOT (Phil Laby), and ADVANTAGE 3 (Pat Benedict). In PHRF 5, the J/32 STRATOCASTER helmed by Lewis Lanier took fifth. In PHRF 7, two J/24s took the top of the podium, including Val Lulevich’s SHUT UP & DRIVE and Jasper Van Vliet’s EVIL OCTOPUS. Finally, in the Short-handed Division, it was Marc Sykes’s J/35 PEGASUS that took second in their 21.5nm race.
On Sunday’s 14.5nm race back, the J/111’s didn’t sail. In Sportboat 1 Class, the J/90 RAGTIME led by Trig Liljestra won their class quite handily, easily beating a Melges 32, Henderson 30 and a Flying Tiger 10 on both elapsed time and also corrected time! The dynamic duo on the J/70 DFZ (Kownacki/ Jenkins) again repeated their performance of the day before and took another first to win their weekend, too! Bob Jarlen’s J/35 JARLEN did the same, taking 2nd in PHRF 3 class. Bruce Stone’s ARBITRAGE continued their winning ways, bulleting the race and winning class overall. The two J/24s ended up taking 2nd and 3rd, so Lulevich’s SHUT UP & DRIVE took class honors with Van Vliet’s EVIL OCTOPUS in 2nd. Sykes’s J/35 PEGASUS again took 2nd to finish in that same position for the weekend. For more Great Vallejo Race sailing information
SAVASANA Overall Annapolis NOOD Winner!
J/Crews Enjoyed Awesome Weekend of Sailing
(Annapolis, MD)- With 200+ boats participating in the Annapolis NOOD the crew at Sailing World officially announced the end of winter on the East Coast. Earlier this year, Ken Read challenged the sailing community to step up and build better events. “Field of Dreams” was not referencing sailing when that voice whispered to Kevin Costner “if you build it they will come,” but that is a great movie and sailing should take the advice. Build a better regatta experience and chances are your event’s participation will grow.
The Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regattas is a perfect example of an event that is working hard to grow participation. With three down and three to go, NOOD Regattas are working with partners to add more onshore activities to the regatta program. Event organizers, Sailing World and long-time event supporter North Sails have teamed up to offer sailing performance analysis, One-Design Dock Talks, awards for the top performing local sailor, and after sailing parties.
The end goal? Make regattas fun for all sailors. Because who doesn’t want to have fun?
Annapolis NOOD got off the a soggy start as eager sailors crammed into the tent on Thursday night to attend a local weather knowledge talk with North Sails’ Chris Larson. “North Sails Local Knowledge is a program we added to the NOOD Regattas this year,” said Larson. “It’s an opportunity for both local and out-of-town sailors to brush on local conditions. May offers the most diverse and enjoyable sailing conditions in Annapolis. As the ‘local guys,’ we want to arm people with as much knowledge as possible so they can maximize their regatta experience.”
If you were sailing a J-Boat during Annapolis NOOD, chances are you had a chance to join one of the many scheduled Dock Talks. The highly competitive J/70 class boasted the event’s highest entry list with 54 boats. Rumor is 70+ sailors almost sunk the dock during a post race chat with North Sails’s Tim Healy and Will Welles!
For the first day of racing on Friday, breezy conditions on Chesapeake Bay welcomed the sailors. The favorable winds granted a full day of racing for competitors with most classes getting in three races.
A dominating performance in the J/80 class came from local sailors Will Crump, Marie Crump, and Thomas Klok. The Annapolis team, which also has world champion sailor Chris Larson on board calling tactics, leveraged their local knowledge of the Chesapeake finding lanes of pressure and managing the shifts with perfection in 5- to 10-knot westerly winds. They won the second race of the day by several minutes. “We were able to get away right after the start,” said Will Crump, “so we only had one tack. Everyone else had a lot more.”With 56 entrants, the J/70 class is by far the largest of the regatta, and one of the most competitive. As expected, mark roundings were crowded, putting a premium on boat-handling and positioning. Skipper Martin Kullman from St. Petersburg, Fla. improved race-by-race throughout the day, culminating with a first place finish for Touch2Play in the final race of the day and holds the class lead. Skipper Joel Ronning and crew aboard Catapult, one of the class’s top professional teams won the first two races, but stumbled slightly in the third race, and currently sits in fourth place overall. The Minneapolis-based team is keen to avenge a narrow defeat in last year’s regatta to Bennet Greenwald, the regatta’s overall champion in 2013.
On Saturday, when southerly winds finally filled in the afternoon, racing got underway and most classes completed one race. The light-winds and strong current, however, made it extremely challenging, even for the most experienced local teams that are accustomed to such conditions.
Still, local knowledge contributed to individual wins, including that of skipper John White, who’s team won the only race of the day in the J/80 class. White’s hard-fought win earned him North Sails “Local Boat of the Day” honors, awarded to the top performing local sailor of the day.
“Off the starting line we were confident the east side of the course would be best, for stronger winds and better current,” said White, who’s team is preparing for the J/80 World Championship in Annapolis later this year. “We had a great start and won our side, but Will Crump [the current J/80 class leader), who was over early and had to restart, worked the opposite side and was right behind us at the first mark. Those guys are so good, and so fast, but they made one little mistake on the last leg to allow us to win this one.”
The J/70 class finally started after two general recalls, sailing in extremely challenging conditions that required boat speed and patience. Brian Keane’s Savasana showed their experience early in the race as they built a lead that no other team came close to challenging. Keane’s win put them solidly in the series lead going into the final day of racing.
Other area skippers leading their classes after Saturday’s “drift-a-ton” included J.R. Maxwell, of Arlington, Va., in the J/22 class, with all top-five finishes after five races. Pat Fitzgerald’s Rush Hour, from Annapolis, topped the J/24 class. Bob Rutsch and Mike Costello’s Bebop led the J/30’s, Stephanie Reuer’s Dakota Girl led the J/35s, and Bill Sweetster’s Rush topped the J/109s.
For the third and final day skipper Brian Keane on SAVASANA had a single goal to preserve his lead in the J/70 class- to avoid any “dingers.” “It was the biggest flood effecting the Chesapeake in 15 years, which meant there would be a lot of current ripping out, and the wind was all over the place,” said Keane. “We knew everyone was going to be up and down, so we wanted to make sure we’d be consistent and just sacrifice the first and seconds to makes sure we had top finishes.”
“With the tide as strong as it was it really played a factor on the starting line, and we saw boats clustering and we avoided them in order to be able to get away, use our speed, have a lane, and tack when we wanted to tack.”
In the first of two races on the day Savasana finished ninth, its highest finish in the six-race series, which preserved their lead with one more to go. In the last race, sailed in shifty 10-25-knot westerly in the shadow of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, they did all they could to avoid high-risk situations. Their final result was a sixth, which gave them an 8-point victory over Doug Strebel’s Black River Racing, from Kemah, Texas.
“We felt really fast downwind,” said Keane, whose crew included Olympic 49er sailors Thomas Barrows and Joe Morris, and Ron Weed. “The key in the they type conditions we had today is sensing when to step up and put the boat an plane. That was key and I think we were doing better than anyone else, especially in the second race.” As overall winner of the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta in Annapolis, Keane and his crew have earned a berth at the NOOD Championship in the British Virgin Islands in October, which will be sailed in 44-foot charter boats provided by Sunsail.
Behind Keane’s SAVASANA and Strebel’s BLACK RIVER RACING, the balance of the top five in the J/70 class was Martie Kullman on TOUCH2PLAY in third, Bryan Cameron on B-SQUARED in fourth and Allan Terhune on OCHO CINCO in fifth (aboard were current J/22 and J/24 World Champions and J/70 Key West winners)!
Top dogs in the J/22 class were determined by a tie-breakers for 1st through 4th! Mike Marshall on BAD NEWS TOO foiled the chance for Vic Snyder’s MO’MONEY by winning the lats race and the regatta. JR Maxwell’s SCOOBY nearly blew it in the last race with an 8th, but still won the tie-breaker over Jeff Todd’s HOT TODDY to take third.
The J/24s saw Peter Rich’s USA 4006 and Pat Fitzgerald’s RUSH HOUR battle it out to the final race with Rich taking top honors with just 14 pts. One point back was RUSH HOUR. Third was Pete Kassal’s SPACEMAN SPIFF with 19 pts.
After a very strong start on the first day with a 1-2-1, the Rutsch & Costello duo aboard the J/30 BEPOP took their class win by just three points over Dave Moss’s THE WHITE BOAT (a past Annapolis NOOD winner). Third was Ron Anderson’s INSATIABLE.
With four 1sts a 2nd and 3rd, it was pretty clear “the Crumps & Klok” aboard RASH DECISION had a decisive edge over their J/80 class competitors, winning by 11 pts over past J/80 World Champion Glenn Darden sailing LE TIGRE from Fort Worth, Texas. Taking third was Conor Hayes sailing MORE GOSTOSA, fourth was John White on USA 1162 and fifth was Chris & Liz Chadwick on CHURCH KEY.
On the “big boat” course were the one-design fleets of J/35s, J/105s and J/109s. The local hotshots on AUNT JEAN (Jerry Christofel & Jim Sagerholm) took the gold in the J/35 class. The balance of the podium was determined on a tie-breaker with Stephanie Reuer on DAKOTA GIRL taking the silver over Chuck Kohlerman’s MEDICINE MAN.
The J/105s had an excellent turnout with seventeen boats and it was again the crazy Canadians that “ran home with the bacon”! Hard to beat a class-act, but their experience and boat speed prevailed again, with Jim Rathbun on HEY JUDE winning by a landslide with five bullets and one 2nd! A distant second was the Lewis/ Salvesen team onboard MIRAGE, third was Mike Mountford’s LIVE EDGE, fourth was Scott Gitchell’s TENACIOUS and Bob Mock’s UNBRIDLED took fifth.
Proving their most excellent performance in Key West was no mirage, Bill Sweetser and gang on their J/109 RUSH simply dominated their class with four 1sts a 2nd and 3rd. Another veteran Key West sailor, Gary Weisberg from Marblehead, MA took second and another veteran campaigner from Long Island Sound took third- Bob Schwartz’s NORDLYS.
The next NOOD Regatta will be in Seattle, WA on May 16-18, which will include the NORTH Rally Race. After making its debut at the San Diego NOOD, this one day, random leg, PHRF-scored race is geared for new-to-racing sailors, families, custom boats that don’t fit within the One Design concept of the NOODs as well as the avid racer that only has one free day.
Scuttlebutt is such a fan of the Seattle NOOD North Rally Race that the first five people to contact us will have their $55 entry fee paid for them. Be sure to enter by May 9 as the $25 late fee is not part of this offer. Entry includes the Saturday party and two drink tickets. For more Sperry Topsider Annapolis NOOD Regatta sailing information
J/109 POCKET ROCKET Wins Antigua Sailing Week(English Harbour, Antigua)- The 47th edition of Antigua Sailing Week featured five days of racing with a fabulous party atmosphere ashore. Yachts flying the flags of 23 different nations were drawn to the Caribbean’s most prestigious regatta. Sailors came from all over the world for the fantastic weather, extremely competitive racing and fun filled entertainment. The racing was incredibly close, with a number of classes only decided by seconds on the last race and the weather was absolutely glorious. The trade winds were pumping at 15-25 knots all week. Enough to get the thrill of fast action, but still tactically challenging with wind shifts emanating from land effects and cloud bursts.
Irishman David Cullen racing his J/109 POCKET ROCKET Pocket Rocket came so close to a perfect score, winning CSA 7 class by a large margin. David commented on their experience, “I have been to Antigua Sailing Week for many years and I have to say that this edition has been exceptionally well run on the water, with a very friendly atmosphere ashore. I am sure Pocket Rocket will be back!”
High drama and fantastic conditions rounded off this year’s Antigua Sailing Week. Going into the last day, two yachts racing under CSA were undefeated, scoring seven straight bullets: Piet Vroon’s Dutch Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens 3 and David Cullen’s Irish J/109, Pocket Rocket were both vying for the prestigious overall prize, The Lord Nelson Trophy.
Several classes hung in the balance and the outcome of a whole week of racing was to be decided by seconds in CSA 2 & CSA 4. The last day of racing provided the windiest conditions of the week. Gusting up to 20 knots with an agitated sea state, the spray was flying off hulls on the south coast of Antigua and there was a ‘Cinderella moment’ for one of Antigua’s veteran yacht racers.
At dawn on the final morning, Pocket Rocket had scored a perfect seven bullets securing CSA 7, but the perfect eight was to elude the team: “It is the first time we have really made any major errors, but we had problems hoisting our spinnaker today. If you had offered me seven first places and a second at the beginning of the week, I would have said – thank you very much! The lads’ heads are down but I don’t think that is right and I have a couple of bottles of champagne to cheer them up. We have had a fantastic week and congratulations to the organisers for laying on a very enjoyable and well run regatta.”
In CSA 3 class, Rick Wesslund’s J/122 EL OCASO took second by virtue of a tie-breaker. In CSA 8 class, the perennial campaigner and, arguably one of Antigua’s best sailing teams, took third in class- the J/30 BLUE PETER sailed by the duo of Tanner & Shari!
While sailing comes first at Antigua Sailing Week, that doesn’t necessarily mean an early night, every night! Tuesday saw the biggest act on stage at Shirley Heights. In front of more than 3,000 revellers, Orville Richard Burrell, better known by his stage name SHAGGY, belted out his best known hits, including Boombastic, It Wasn’t Me and Angel. Mr. Lover Lover man sent the crowd in the audience crazy with his smooth lyrics and outrageous stage act.Lay Day was held the next day on Pigeon Beach, where hundreds of sailors at Antigua Sailing Week chilled out in the crystal blue waters and enjoyed a first class BBQ served by 2011 Caribbean Chef of the Year, Mitchell Husbands from the luxurious Nonsuch Bay Resort. Later, at the Sunset Beach Party, there was Tug-o-War and other beach games with DJ Sporty, fire dancers and BBQ grills burning long into the night.
Every afternoon after racing, the sailors returned to the hospitality of Antigua Yacht Club, Cloggy’s and Club Sushi, enjoying post race analysis in the perfect setting, as well as being awarded daily prizes sponsored by Johnnie Walker, English Harbour 5 Year Old Rum and Colombian Emeralds.
The spirit of Antigua Sailing Week was evident at the Final Awards Ceremony at Nelson’s Dockyard. The huge crowd were standing as the Governor General of Antigua & Barbuda, Her Excellency Dame Louise Lake-Tack arrived and the National Anthem of Antigua & Barbuda was skillfully played by pannist, Lacu Samuel. The Hon. Eleston Adams, Minister for Culture also presided over the awards ceremony and every competitor was roundly applauded as they took to the stage. Asher Otto & Itchyfeet played out the night with DJ Purist and the dance floor was alive with revellers into the night. For more Antigua Sailing Week regatta information
David Rae Wins J/22 Worlds
(Deneysville, South Africa)- After opening with an almost disastrous 11th place, South African David Rae with crew Guido Verhovert and Trevor Spilhaus on board SUSIE TOO got themselves back on track, sailing to five 1sts to easily win the J/22 World Championship in Deneysville, South Africa. Forty-three teams competed in the 11 race event which ended on May 2nd.
Fellow South Africans Henry Daniels, Andrea Giovanni, Duncan Matthews and James Largier sailed RAMPENT III to second overall with 36 pts. The Cayman Islands sailing team sailed a phenomenal regatta and were easily contenders for the lead until an unfortunate OCS in the 10th race spoiled all their chances at the gold. Nevertheless, the team of Mike Farrington, Simon Farrington and Leanna Boura on TWO STROKE took third overall by a whisker.
The balance of the top five was completely determined by how teams scored in their last race. Just one point back in fourth were South Africans Stefano Marcia, Sean Van Rensburg, and Ryan Avery sailing APCON- JALAPENO, narrowly beating by yet another point the team of Rob Willcox, Brian Lion-Cachet, and Megan Eccleston aboard VOODOO. The top German team was TRICKY DICKY taking 7th overall, sailed by Svend Hartog, Sven Siekaup and Stefanie Schweder. The lone America team, JUMPING JIVE took 14th, skippered by Taylor Kennedy with crew Glen and Klondyke Magill. For more J/22 World Championship sailing information
J/80 BRIBON-MOVISTAR Crushes PalmaVela Week(Palma Mallorca, Spain)- After three intense days at the top of the leader board, BRIBON-MOVISTAR was proclaimed winner of the Gaastra PalmaVela in the J/80 class. The boat led by Marc de Antonio and SofÃa Bertrand won two out of the three races sailed on the last day of racing, accumulating seven 1sts in 9 races total! For BRIBON-MOVISTAR, it was their first victory in this J/80 class sailing on the spectacular bay of Palma Mallorca.
Trailing by a significant 17-point margin was Sebastian Allebrot’s MNEMONIC. There’s was not an easy task to capture the silver as there were four other boats battling it out for the top five positions over the three days. In fact, by winning the last race, MNEMONIC snatched the silver from third place finisher Javier Chacartegui’s HM-HOTELS by only one point! The fourth and fifth positions were determined by a tie-breaker at 30 pts apiece. Winning that struggle was Thomas Bscher and Hugo Ramon aboard OPERA SEASON- TEAM RCN PALMA over Jose Carlos Frau sailing BUFETE FRAU from Club Nautico Arenal.
Making the trek down across the European continent was the German team on JOY TOY, sailed by Gerhard Henssen and Inken Braunschmidt. While they may not have placed in the medals, the team from Kieler Woche certainly enjoyed the sunny, windy days and a chance to work on their tans. For more J/80 PalmaVela sailing information
Windy Race To The Straits Regatta!J Teams Excel in Blustery Weekend Sailing
(Seattle, WA)- The event chair, Ashley Bell, along with the many volunteers, did an outstanding job this year. Definitely one of the best run Race to the Straits ever according to one of the sailors participating in the race. Ashley is also the current Vice Commodore of Sloop Tavern Yacht Club (the host of the event); the force behind bringing the Pink Boat Regatta to Seattle last year raising around $50,000 for breast cancer research; she’s Founder of the non-profit charity "Sound Contribution" that will run the Pink Boat Regatta in Seattle and Bellingham this year and other sailing related benefits in the future; and she’s a scientist by day!
What is Sloop Tavern YC? Well, to clear up a common misconception, the club was founded by a group of Sloop Tavern regulars over 30 years ago. The Sloop Tavern Yacht Club is not affiliated with the Sloop Tavern in Ballard. Although the owners and employees of the tavern have nothing to do with the yacht club, they graciously provide room for a trophy case, event space, and so forth. It also happens to be just a great place to meet other sailors and have huge "sloop size" beers!
In past years, the STYC Race 2 The Straits has seen its fair share of next to no wind and ripping currents. This year that was definitely not the case, with real, honest-to-goodness “fresh to frightening” weather conditions for the weekend. For many, it was a refreshing break from past traditions of drifting around. As one sailor observed, “based on trips up and down Admiralty Inlet the last two weekends, the actual currents are not exactly obeying what the books and apps are saying they should be doing. Last weekend there was a 2+ knot differential predicted flood and actual current, with the ebb running more than an hour past "slack water" prediction. Plus, two PredictWind models are currently calling for 10-25 both days. Look for a change in the current NOAA forecast, NOAA is showing 10-15 both days, Sailflow is lighter, and PredictWind is showing 15-20+ both days!”
This was the weather report from Bruce Hedrick @ Northwest Yachting: “Once again it appears the gods are smiling on the Sloop as not only is there a record turnout of 122 boats, it appears that the wind may co-operate as well. Regardless, the RTTS is always a hoot because as they say, “What happens in PT stays in PT!”
Anytime you race through Admiralty Inlet it’s a challenge because of the micro-weather systems that can be spawned in the lee of the Olympics including the infamous convergent zone. Not that we’re likely to see the CZ this weekend it is still probably valuable to divide the Race into three segments: 1. Start to Double Bluff, 2. DB to Marrowstone Light, 3. Marrowstone Light to the finish at PT. The reason is that each of these segments has unique geographic features that in combination with their proximity to major bodies of water (Puget Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca can have profound effects on the wind, especially in times of frontal passage. This becomes even more challenging as we go through the transition from winter to spring or fall to winter. Then there’s the tidal current in Admiralty Inlet…Just about perfect for Saturday, not so much on Sunday but that’s always the case. Calculations are for Admiralty Inlet off of Bush Pt. We had gorgeous weather this week now it’s time to pay the piper. We are now under the influence of a very weak 997mb low off the coast that is weakening as it moves onshore. The good news is that it is moving slowly which will keep the wind out of the south all weekend. It’s a little early to call this however with a weak frontal passage over Saturday night and Sunday morning, the wind south of Pt No Pt and Kingston will tend to have a southwest shift to it. Combine that with the fact that the flood starts first on the west side of the Sound and should tell you which side to work on Sunday as you beat your way to the finish.”
Hedrick also offered some insight on appropriate tactics for the sailors: “With so many boats spread out over such a long starting period this will be a very general discussion. The best part is that with the reverse start there will be all kinds of wind velocity indicators all over the course. Sure it’s a short handed race however you really have to keep your head out of the boat and watch what’s going on around you especially on the leg from DB to Marrowstone Light.
From the start at Shilshole it will be a rhumbline run to Double Bluff, with there tending to be more wind and tide to the west particularly as you get north of Jeff Head. The Double Bluff Buoy can be a challenge particularly as you get closer to it and if there has been any clearing or thinning of the cloud cover the wind will lift off of this cliff-faced bluff as the land on top of the Bluff heats up. With the big ebb of the day, the velocity of the ebb will increase as you get closer to the buoy and in combination with the wind velocity dropping if you haven’t put enough in the bank sometimes getting around the buoy can be a challenge. Remember also that this is not one of those “soft” race course marks. Once you clear Double Bluff use as much of the ebb as you can and sail straight to Marrowstone Light. If you’re not going to make Marrowstone Light in the ebb, you need to at least get over to that side of the course. Even though the flood starts first on that side, there is also a back eddy that runs counter to the flood from the about the mid-point of the island all the way up to the lighthouse. You have to be right on the beach, waving at the clams and crabs to take advantage of this and like so many places in the Sound there are some very large glacial erratics that live below the water that would just love to have a bite of fresh lead, so keep the charts handy and know precisely where you are to avoid one of those nasty bumps.
If it’s light at Marrowstone and the flood has started you need to work around the Point in the shallows and once you see your SOG improve, go across the Bay to the finish.
Sunday will be a different story as it will almost certainly be a beat from the start back to Double Bluff. If you are starting early, get across to Marrowstone and then hold the long starboard tack to get across the ebb and over to Whidbey beaches. There are back eddies behind Lagoon and Bush Point as well as behind Double Bluff so you’re going to be watching the depth sounder, and SOG as you short tack down the shore.
After you round Double Bluff it will be time to take the long hitch back across the Sound to get over to the Pt No Pt shore in anticipation of the flood starting and the wind clocking from the south to the south-southwest. Again, you’re going to work the beach almost all the way to Jeff Head before you tack to starboard for that final long tack across the Sound to the finish at Shilshole.”
Having said all that, it was clear all weather forecasts and predictions were off by a fairly significant amount (like a country furlong amount!). Instead of moderating winds, it blew like hell all weekend long! As one sailor so aptly described the first day of racing:
“Well, it was a ‘Sailmaker Benefit Day’. Lots of shredded nylon hanging from masts. The early boats benefited from a more westerly breeze and were able to rhumb line it to Double Bluff (for the most part). The breeze filled to the low 20's at that point and most boats had either finished donating spinnaker parts to the wind or exercised perhaps more prudent judgment by flying white sails to the finish. The breeze was nipping at 30 knots toward the end. Somewhat humbling day, but it was a good party (as usual) and nobody got hurt.”
The report for the second day didn’t change much either, other than the fact the fleet had to beat back into a light gale! As described, “it was blowing again from the south between 14-26 knots. The ebb seemed to be much stronger and later than predictions. The fleet split at Marrowstone and it appeared that staying west was a gain. One boat dismasted (Wild Rumpus) and they appear OK. They were being towed to Seattle by ‘Fast Tango’, who should get bonus points for that. Very sloppy waves. A lot of retired boats. The fleet split again at Point No Point and it appears that going east paid. Many boats were still sailing when the time limit ran out.”
The J/Teams reveled in the heavy winds and choppy waters, eating it up, sailing fast downwind on the first day and powering to windward like nobody’s business on Sunday. In fact, the downwind sleigh-ride, many J’s took just under 3 hours, but doubled that time on the way back. Taking Class 5 Double-handed were the J/120 HINZITE sailed by Mr James followed by the renowned J/109 TANTIVY skippered by Stuart Brunell. These two crushed a gaggle of well-sailed Farr 30s in the conditions.
In the Double-handed Class 6 division, the J/36 MONKEYBONES sailed by Shawn Dougherty and Jason Andrews took third, just in front of the J/37c MERRY MAKER helmed by Bill Harter.
Class 7 Double-handed was made up of seven J/105s, what a hoot they must’ve had! The winner was “Erik” sailing JUBILEE followed by Matt & Tessa Gardner-Brown aboard DULCINEA. In third was Paul Henderson & Ramona Barber on DELIRIUM, followed by Bob Blaylock & Mario Laky on USAWI in fourth and Ian Wesley-Smith on CYRANO in fifth.
Class 8 Double-handed division saw Tom Mitchell’s J/35c WILDFLOWER take a well-earned second overall.
Class 9 Double-handed had three J/29’s participating, top of the heap was Paul Hanson’s PLAN R taking third overall.
The Class 11 Double-handed fleet had three J/27s, one J/80 and four Santa Cruz 27s. Guess who won the battle of the 27’s?! You bet. The J/27s took first and second overall, with “Dennis” on LXII in first and Andy Mack on TRUE NORTH in second. Interestingly, while the SC27’s enjoy a reputation for being a “baby sled” off Santa Cruz, the top J/27 was second to finish on elapsed time, only 72 seconds behind after 2.5 hours of racing downwind! Needless to say, the J/27s powered back upwind to win by a huge margin. The SC27’s? They motored back home!!
There were four J/30s vying for class supremacy in Class 12 Double-handed division. Taking the win and second in class was Adrien Felon’s CONRAD J, third was Ulf Gwildis’s IMPULSIVE and fifth was Theo Singelis’s TAKU. For more Sloop Tavern YC Race To The Straits sailing information
HONEYBADGER Glazes J-Daze Regatta(Canandaigua, NY)- The 26th Annual J-Daze Regatta was held at Canandaigua Yacht Club on Canandaigua Lake, one of upstate New York’s Finger Lakes over the weekend of May 3rd and 4th. Happily for the 26 J/24 teams competing, the dismal weather that was forecast never really materialized. Saturday was cloudy and cool with a moderate SW breeze. PRO Jonathan Gorbold and his race committee ran three races before the wind became light and unstable. The breeze finally settled in from the south and the fourth race was started.
After sailing everyone headed up the hill to the club for food, refreshments, live music, Tequila tasting, and of course the very popular Kentucky Derby pool. Lots of gifts donated by our sponsors were also raffled off.
Sunday morning dawned with a stiff west wind gusting into the mid 20’s. The puffs would come down over the hills to the west, hit the water and fan out in all directions, causing many auto-tacks and broaches. The strong teams reveled in the condition, planing downwind at high speed. For the rest of us it was a challenge just to get the boat around the course, although 17 boats managed to complete all three races on Sunday.In the end consistency paid off for Travis Odenbach and his team on HONEYBADGER. They kept all their finishes in the top 6 and only won one race in the seven race series, winning first overall by a comfortable margin of 12 pts! Top J/24 sailor Mike Ingham took second place with a “chutes & ladders” scoreline of 5-1-12-7-2-3-2 for 32 pts. Lying third was Aidan Glackin’s MENTAL FLOSS with 36 pts. Rounding out the top five were GEKKO in fourth, the long-distance traveling team from Japan led by Tokuma Takesue. Had they not taken a DSQ in race #2, they were easy contenders for winning the event (apparently they made amends by washing dishes and serving dinner!). Fifth was Tom Doran’s OZ from Oswego YC.
Canandaigua Yacht Club is a member owned sailing club situated at on the west side of Canandaigua Lake close to the north end of the lake. It is situated in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of New York State— a great place to go sailing in the spring! For more J-DAZE J/24 Regatta sailing information
Blustery Finish For AYC Spring SeriesJ/122 WINGS Wins IRC 2. Big One-Design Battles For J/70s, J/105s, J/109s & J/44s.
(Rye, New York)- For the second and final weekend of the American Yacht Club Spring Series, the sailors could not have seen two radically different days for sailing. While Saturday was somewhat sunny and benign with reasonable winds, Sunday’s racing was beyond epic, like other events in the northwest, this Long Island Sound adventure also made for a “fresh to frightening” day. For some it was simply too much and many boats didn’t even venture out on Sunday with winds gusting up to 30 kts from the WNW all day.
In IRC world, loving every minute of the windier weekend was J/122 WINGS sailed by her trio of owner in IRC 2 class. Their classmates were not nearly as fortunate, finishing “out of the chocolates” overall.
The J/44 One-Designs saw Jeff Willis and gang aboard CHALLENGE IV continue their winning ways from the previous weekend, finishing up with 21 pts total in 10 races (an average of 2nd!). Making a strong comeback was Bill Ketcham’s MAXINE, climbing up the ladder fast with a 1-2-1 in the last three races to capture second overall. After a slow start the first weekend, relative class newcomers and no stranger to close one-design racing were the duo of Joerg Esdorn & Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM taking the third slot after closing the series with a 1-5. Fourth was past champion Jim Bishop on GOLD DIGGER and fifth was Don & Rick Rave’s RESOLUTE.
After establishing a significant lead the previous weekend, it was up to Adrian Begley’s MAD DOGS & ENGLISHMEN crew to hang touch and close out the series with good finishes this weekend. And, that they did with a 2-1-1 score in the last three races to win by 10 pts! Steve Chronert’s ZUMA sailed consistently to take second, never finishing out of the top four both weekends. Third was Jonathan Rechtschaffer skippering EMOTICON another ten pts back.
The J/105s also shared the same scenario as the 44s and 109s. The clear winner was Harald Edegran & Jeremy Henderson’s CONUNDRUM, winning half the races and finishing with just 19 pts. 12 pts back was Paul Beaudin’s LOULOU with 31 pts, good enough for second and in third was Carl Olsson’s MORNING GLORY.
The J/70s were the largest fleet in the regatta and, arguably, one of the most competitive. Unlike the previous weekend, no one in the top three managed to stay in the top three! The ultimate winners were the brother team of Scott & Alex Furnary sailing NO NAME YET to a total of 22 pts, finishing the regatta with three 2nds and taking their first regatta win! Second overall was Carrie & Ed Austin on CHINOOK and third were the Ploch sisters (Megan & Madelyn) sailing SUGAR DADDY- in fact, winning the last windiest race! Fourth was Dan Goldberg sailing BAZINGA and fifth was Trevor Roach on SEMI-CHARMED.
J/88 Sailing downwind sailing video For more American YC Spring Series sailing information
College Sailing On Cloud 9!Fun Racing J/80s In EDHEC Regatta
(Les Sables-d’Olonne, France)- The Course Croisiére EDHEC Sailing Cup is the biggest intercollegiate offshore regatta in the world, with the 46th edition in Les Sables-d’Olonne, France having just completed all their events over the long April 25 – May 3 week.
Making the trip from USA was University of Chicago, Drexel University, Tufts (2 teams) and Georgetown. Andrew Mason on the Georgetown University team provided this report on the event:
“Even the casual reader of Scuttlebutt is aware of two topics endlessly debated on this newsletter: 1) “how do we build interest in sailing for the Xbox generation?” and 2) “how do we make college sailing in the United States simultaneously more competitive and more inclusive?” After a week at the 46th Course Croisiére EDHEC, there is perspective to be gained by looking across the pond at a college sailing model that is completely foreign to our own.
After winning the Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta at Larchmont Yacht Club this fall, a team representing Georgetown received a waived entry fee to compete at the CCE. From April 26th to May 3rd over 1,500 sailors primarily from France, but including teams from Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Poland, Belgium, Spain, Norway, the United States and Canada descended on Les Sables d’Olonne, of Vendee Globe Fame. Unlike our typical two day college sailing events, which by design are done with easy preparation by the host school and conducted over multiple venues for nearly a dozen weekends each semester, CC EDHEC brings 180 boats across three one design classes, J80s, Longtze boats and Grand Surprises, and three handicap divisions.Like in the United States, the range of professionalism amongst the French teams at CC EDHEC varies. Stateside, big-name sailing schools like Georgetown, Tufts and College of Charleston enjoy a good deal of support from the university. Sailors at the top US programs follow a regiment akin to other varsity athletes and annual team budgets are well into the six figures. The top sailors will often go five or six regattas in a row without a weekend off. Obviously, this institutionalization and support varies across conferences and even across sub-sectors within conferences.
On the French side, the top teams are flashing corporate sponsors on their sleek jackets and new sails from the likes of KPMG, Total, Sopra Group and Altran. Meanwhile other teams were groups of friends with varying levels of sailing experience looking for competitive racing, a vibrant atmosphere and a roof-blowing party. After seven days, I think all of those bases were more than covered.
In my college sailing experience, when the races end, the event is usually over for the day. Because of the team-centered dynamic of college sailing, the institutional structures that surround college athletics and the mountain of studying that must get done after a long day on the water, the enjoyment of camaraderie amongst competitors often feels somewhat lost.
Of course much of this is for good and obvious reasons; athletic departments and universities must avoid the potential liability nightmare college partying entails. For better or worse, the simple post-race drink you buy a competitor that you “think” you crossed on port in Race 3A cannot exist.
On the water, Les Sables d’Olonne delivered with the conditions and the race committee was not hesitant to push competitors’ limits. Four of the six racing days saw breeze in the high teens to mid twenties coupled with huge, hull battering swells. The Grand Surprise and J80 fleets counted almost 40 entries apiece making for big starting lines, crowded mark roundings and some spectacular spinnaker ripping, fiber glass cracking, mast breaking, carnage. Having never sailed a J80 before the first race, our entire team was pushed to keep the boat in one piece and sailing fast.After adrenaline filled, exhausting days on the water, après sailing takes on a whole meaning dockside. As the sails come down for the day, the regatta village, complete with sponsor tents, food tasting, full bar, sun deck, video screen and a beach volleyball court, bursts to life. Short of the America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race stopovers, such an elaborate village has never been erected for a sailing event on American soil.
After the 9pm sunset, the après sailing in foulies migrates to an adjacent huge nightlife tent dedicated specifically for concerts featuring some DJ the average Scuttlebutt reader will never know. These dance parties stretch until the morning hours making several snoozes on the 6:30am iPhone alarm par for the course throughout the week. The morning after the opening party, I sheepishly asked one of the organizers from EDHEC Business School if there would be another party that night. In an accent that makes American knees melt for French girls she perplexedly replied, “of course there is- why wouldn’t there be a party every night?”
The Lollapalooza atmosphere meets intense conditions and competitive fleets of the CC EDHEC meant we were hammer down for a week straight. Our “Xbox generation” hates sitting idly and feeling our time is being wasted more than anything else. Unfortunately, in a sport where we are at the mercy of the wind gods our ADD is constantly tested. However, when we are full plane, kite reaching to the finish in 20+ knots or dancing until 2am our video games, Facebook profiles, and whatever else do not exist. We dialed in during racing and were able to decompress as college kids once the day was over.
Obviously American college sailing has its dozens of pluses and there are some pretty insurmountable hurdles for this CC EDHEC model to be adopted en-masse here. Would schools be able to sponsor varsity or even club teams if there is a party-type atmosphere associated with the event? Would college sailors be more eager to participate in fewer, larger events during long weekends and school breaks, instead of the current 12 to 18 boat, two-day, dinghy-focused events? Would incorporating more keelboat racing encourage or discourage people to join college sailing teams?At the end of the day, if we were to take CC EDHEC as a model, we have to ask: would it keep more college aged kids interested and engaged in sailing both while in college and post-college? All the endless debate about keeping people in the sport always boils down to one word: fun. I am in no position of authority to say what should or should not be adapted from this model to our own college sailing system, but all I know is we sure had a freaking blast experiencing how the French do college sailing. The Georgetown University team finished 6th of 38 boats in the J/80 fleet.”
Here’s the report from Tufts University coach Ken Legler, leader of the Jumbo’s Sailing Team: “Bonjour! For the 14 Tufts seniors, one coach and one dad, the EDHEC Sailing Cup surpassed all expectations. The wind and waves, the boats and competition, the hospitality and accommodations, the life-long friendships and lessons were all incredible.
Saturday, April 26: Boat prep as Tufts team trickles in including three that just completed the Boston Marathon.
Sunday, April 27: Training day blown out. Even the regatta village is evacuated for fear of tents blowing over, and there were more than 60 tents. A good day to study.
Monday: Morning postponement for waves to subside, one afternoon race for each class. Our one-design circle has three classes; a professionally laden 40-boat GS-32 fleet, a nearly all student 38-boat J-80 fleet, and a mostly student fleet of ten Longtzes. Tufts enters both a GS-32 and a J/80 and Georgetown and Chicago are also in J-80s.
Tuesday: More wind and waves. Tufts Will Haeger in the GS-32 aces one start and team makes only a few errors to get on track. Georgetown's men, skippered by John Labossiere, also finds a good pace in the J-80. Tufts J-80, four women and a guy, are still a bit nervous in the 1-3 meter seas but finish steady mid-fleet. Somehow they avoid collisions all around them; mostly by targeting a one or two-length overstand at every weather mark. Drexel and Chicago have less experience but show great seamanship and sportsmanship finishing every race despite minor breakdowns.Wednesday: the light air day, 8 knots building to 13, still pretty lumpy. It's the North Atlantic in April. Haeger aces two more starts before the pros take the pin away and with minor mistakes, Tufts posts a 2-4-13 on the day.
Thursday, May Day in France: J-80s keep racing on W-2's. GS-32s and IRC Handicap fleet sail a long coastal race.
Friday: Tufts GS-32 team gets another 6th but gets holed and misses two races. Georgetown continues to sail well finishing in top ten almost every race in the J/80s. Tufts gets redress to finish 6th, as does G'town in J/80’s.
Saturday, the finals: Fifteen finalists get to compete in the "GANT" (nice apparel company) final, with top competitors selected from each of six classes. Switzerland, the top student and top international boat, opts for the GANT final, along with slick corporate boats Altran, KPMG and Total, all with pro skippers. In the end, the pro’s dominate. No matter, this is not a championship but one of the greatest regatta experiences these college seniors will ever have.
Some numbers: the 46th annual regatta is run by college students, except FFV supplies the race officials. 175 boats; 88 one-design on the outer circle, 87 on the handicap circle closer to shore. Nearly 1,600 sailors from 22 nations and another pile of students playing games ashore. Yes, there were parties with world class bands, an Old El Paso Mexican dinner, and a big marque with lots of flashy lights and electronica music. Each team also got a full shopping cart of pasta and other "necessities." Use your imagination.
The regatta village was amazing and the excitement was at a fever pitch throughout. Tremendous thanks to the EDHEC team, particularly Thomas Gazeau, and our hosts in the international tent, Nicholas, Marion, Charlotte and Maille. This was one regatta none of us will soon forget.” Thanks for contributions from Tufts (Ken Leger) and Georgetown (Andrew Mason) and Scuttlebutt Sailing News. For more CC EDHEC Sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* J/24 World Champion Sailor Terry Hutchinson Joins Quantum Sail Design Group! Quantum Sails is pleased to announce the addition of Terry Hutchinson as Executive Vice President for Business Development Worldwide. Much of his work will be with the company’s racing division, overseeing development of the company’s high-level performance products and customer racing programs as well as providing overall sales leadership. He will report to Quantum President Ed Reynolds.Hutchinson is not new to the business side of sail making. After graduating from college with a business degree, he played a very successful sales role at Reynolds’ original sail loft in Traverse City, MI. “Terry makes things happen,” says Reynolds. “He brings a strategic discipline, deep dedication, and high level of energy to everything he does.” Reynolds continues, “As a professional sailor, Terry has a user’s perspective and finger on the pulse of the market; he is aware of trends and keen observer of how things change. He is a proven leader, setting high expectations, continuously challenging himself and his colleagues. His experience, commitment, and leadership will be great assets to the company and the clients we serve.”
While at Old Dominion University, Hutchinson was named All-American four times and selected twice for collegiate sailor of the year. Terry is a six-time world champion in the J/24, TP 52, Farr 40, and IMS classes and a winning tactician of the Louis Vuitton Cup. In 2008, Hutchinson was named Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, earning the coveted award on the fourth time he was shortlisted. Hutchinson has been part of four America’s Cup campaigns: in 2000 he served as the mainsail trimmer on America One; in 2003 as tactician for Stars & Stripes, and in 2007 as tactician for Emirates Team New Zealand helping lead the team to the only sweep in Louis Vuitton Final history. Hutchinson served as skipper of Artemis Racing and won the 2011-12 AC World Series Match Racing Championship.
Since 2008, Hutchison has served as both helmsman and tactician with the TP52 program Quantum Racing, winning three world championships and three circuit championships. Along with his corporate responsibilities, Hutchinson will continue in his role as tactician for Quantum Racing.
“As a professional sailor, I’ve had the opportunity to compete at the highest level of the sport with several different sail manufacturers providing me with an understanding of strengths and weaknesses in the industry. What’s clear to me is that Quantum shares my values and principles: hard work, commitment to excellence, and integrity. This relationship with Quantum starts a new chapter for me and is a step in raising my game both on and off the water.”
Adds Hutchinson, “I’m looking forward to working closely with programs wanting to take their performance to the next level as well as Quantum’s internal product development and sales teams. It’s an exciting move for me.” You may contact T-Hutch at ph# +1 443-994-4663 or email- thutch@quantumsails.com
J/Cruising Community
J Cruisers continue their adventures around the world, below are a selection of most excellent "blogs" written by their prolific publishers. Some terribly amusing anecdotes and pearls of wisdom are contained in their blogs. Read some! You'll love it.
* Jim & Heather Wilson just completed a circumnavigation of our "blue planet Earth" in June 2013 on their J/42 CEOL MOR. Said Jim, "The odyssey of CEOL MOR is over, for now. We completed our circumnavigation on our J/42 when we crossed our outbound track in Britannia Bay, Mustique. We were, however, still 2,000 nautical miles from home. So we continued on through the Windwards, the Leewards, and then through the British Virgin Islands. After a farewell 'Painkiller' at the Soggy Dollar, and a last meal at Foxy’s, we made the 1,275 nautical mile passage to the Chesapeake and completed our port-to-port circumnavigation when we arrived in Annapolis on June 28, 2013. We had been away 1,334 days, completed 259 days of ocean passages, and sailed 30,349 nautical miles (34,925 statute miles). Read more about their adventures in their well-documented blog here: http://www.svceolmor.com/SVCeolMor/Welcome.html
* J/160 AVATAR headed for the Caribbean, again! We LOVE these updates from our cruising J sailors that continue to criss-cross the Seven Seas. This one comes from Alan Fougere, sailing his beloved J/160 AVATAR. Alan sent us an email update commenting on their passage south this winter, "In mid-December AVATAR completed her sixth transit to her winter Caribbean home, Grand Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI (seen above) from her home port in Quissett (Falmouth), MA. A crew of three, Captain Alan (e.g. me), Crew Pablo Brissett and Mark Conroy, covered the 1,500 nm trip in in her best time to date- 7 Days 5 Hours, averaging 8.7 kts, that's about 208 nm per day! Amazing passage it was! Rainbow at right far offshore was some of the amazing phenomenon we experienced on this fast offshore passage.AVATAR will participate in the BVI Sailing Festival/Regatta again in 2013, where last year she won the Nanny Key Cup Cruising Class race around the Island of Virgin Gorda. Here are some photos for you to share with the J/Community at-large. Enjoy!"
Best, Alan Fougere/ AVATAR
* Bill & Judy Stellin recently had an interview about cruising on their J/42 in the Wall St Journal called "Retiring on the Open Sea". The Wall St Journal asked Bill to reply to dozens of questions that flooded into the WSJ's Editor desks. Here's the update:Retiring on the Sea: Answering Readers' Questions
Advice about selecting a boat, ocean crossings, itineraries and safety
The article in our WSJ Online December retirement report about eight years spent sailing the Mediterranean— "Retiring to the Open Sea"— prompted many questions and comments from readers. We asked William Stellin, who wrote the story, to answer some of the most common queries.WSJ- "What kind and make of boat did you use? Looking back, would you have picked a different boat?"
Bill- "In 1995-96, J/Boats of Newport, RI, came out with a new cruiser/racer model, the J/42. We bought hull No. 6 of this popular 42-foot sailboat and named it JAYWALKER. This was our fourth boat since beginning sailing in 1975.
Although long-distance cruising wasn't what we had in mind when we purchased JAYWALKER, it soon became apparent it had the ability to carry us easily and safely anywhere we wanted to go. Because the boat is light, it sails well in light winds, which means very little motoring is necessary.
People often ask (and argue) about what boat is best for cruising. Any boat that is strong, safe, fast, comfortable and easily handled by two people should fit the bill. One thing for sure, fast is fun—and important when trying to avoid bad weather."
READ MORE ABOUT BILL'S INSIGHTFUL COMMENTARY AND THOUGHTS ON WSJ ONLINE HERE
* The J/42 JARANA continues their epic voyage around the Pacific. Continue to read about Bill and Kathy Cuffel's big adventure cruising the South Pacific headed for New Zealand. Their blog is here: http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/
* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for extended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary finished their double-handed crossing of the Atlantic, landing in Portugal on their J/130 Shazam after completion of their ARC Rally. Read the latest news at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/shazam/.
* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world's oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between. Anyone for Cape Horn and penguins?? Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM friends above).- Bill and Susan Grun on the J/160 AVANTE are also sailing in the Pacific archipelago, read more about their great adventures on their blog (http://web.me.com/susangrun). Read about their latest adventures as they've gotten to New Zealand- "Avante Cruises the Pacific".
- Eric and Jenn on the J/160 MANDALAY also sailed the Pacific archipelago, read more on their blog at http://www.sailmandalay.com. Eric and Jenn are J/World alumni took MANDALAY up and down the West Coast (Mexico, CA), then to the South Pacific and New Zealand. MANDALAY is back in San Francisco now, and in the J/World fleet--she is available for skippered charters, private instruction, and corporate/executive groups.
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