J/121 Offshore Speedster Update- June 2017(Newport, RI)- It’s an exciting time at CCF Composites in Bristol as deck hardware installation is nearing completion on hull #1 and the newly molded interior structure and components are bonding into the hull. The prototype shop is just finishing up the final interior molds including the aft head and bulkheads. CCF Composites is on target to complete the first seven boats during 2017.
The twin composite wheels look great mounted on the twin Jefa pedestals. Note the clearance between the outer wheel rim and the cockpit edge so the driver can easily transition between various driving positions (forward of wheel, straddling the wheel, and aft of the wheel).
The rudder is beautifully finished and spot-on the template shape thanks to Jefa’s use of a precision-milled aluminum rudder mold. The J/121 is the first J to take advantage of Jefa’s fully integrated steering system including rudder, rudder bearings, quadrant, steering pedestals and internal steering components. The molds for the water ballast tanks are just completed. The top of the tanks will be approximately 12” below the side deck to allow for the air venting runs and to provide a useable storage shelf in both the aft head and aft cabins. For more J/121 Offshore speedster sailboat information
Round Island Race Preview(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The annual Round the Island Race, organized by the Island Sailing Club, is a one-day yacht race around the Isle of Wight, an island situated off the south coast of England. The race has attracted 1,336 boats this year comprising about 14,000 sailors, making it one of the largest yacht races in the world and the fourth largest participation sporting event in the UK after the London Marathon and the Great North and South Runs.
Competitors come from all over the UK, other parts of Europe and as far away as the USA to follow the 50 nautical mile course round the Isle of Wight. On Saturday July 1st, the boats cross the famous Royal Yacht Squadron starting line at Cowes in eleven separate groups, starting every 10 minutes from 0530 until 0710 and heading in a westerly direction towards Yarmouth. The boats pass round the Needles Lighthouse, along the southwest coast of the Island to St. Catherine's Point and then up across Sandown Bay to round the Bembridge Ledge Buoy. The fleet then makes its way either side of No Man's Land Fort and across Osborne Bay to the finish line back at Cowes.
Dave Atkinson, Rear Commodore of the hosts, The Island Sailing Club, provided some thoughts and insights as to why the event enjoys such enormous popularity:
What is it about this race that highlights it as an annual must-do for so many?
"The Round the Island race is one of the iconic sailing events in the annual calendar attracting a broad range of sailing abilities and personalities. There are a large number of prizes and, in addition, there are always groups of friends competing against each other in friendly competition and always a carnival atmosphere but with a serious side to things."
What is the appeal for people who do not usually race?
"It's a chance to sail in company outside of the Solent in friendly competition. The Island Sailing Club has its own handicap system (ISCRS), which is a free system to entrants, which allows those who don't normally race to be rated to take part."
What is the main challenge in organizing such a large event?
"The biggest concern is always the safety of our competitors; everything we do is gauged against the safety factors of the race. Obviously with upwards of 1,500 boats and circa 12,000 competitors on the water it somewhat focuses the mind on the day. It takes a team of nearly 200 volunteers to run the race with a large number on the water so they equally need to be thought of and considered in the mix. Every year we face different challenges but, given the experience of those running the day and the support we have from the authorities, we aim to deliver an enjoyable day for all those taking part.”One hundred nine J/crews are sailing in 14 classes in IRC handicap, Island Sailing Club rating system, and one-designs (J/70, J/80, J/88).
If the competition for this year’s Warsash Spring Series was any indicator, there is no question the eight J/88s will be in for a huge battle for class supremacy all around the island, with frequent lead changes happening as the tightly-knit grouping passes each of the major points as they “turn left” going counter-clockwise around the island. The teams include EAT SLEEP J REPEAT (Nick Martin), J-DREAM (David & Kirsty Apthorp), JENGA (Bob Hewson), JONGLEUR (Richard Cooper), JUMUNU FIVE (Alistair Ray), RAJING BULL (Tim Tolcher), SABRIEL JR (Dirk and Dianne Van Beek), and TIGRIS (Gavin Howe).
Given the right weather conditions, it is conceivable a J/70 team can again win the Round Island Race like Simon Ling’s RAF SPITFIRE did some years back. This year, there are fourteen J/70s on the line hoping to duplicate SPITFIRE’s feat and see how many miles they can hang in “planing mode” round the island! Top teams include Patrick Liardet’s COSMIC, Doug Struth’s DSP, Edward Eddy’s ADDILYN (an All Under 25 youth crew), Andrew Barraclough’s JENGA 8, and Jack Davies’ YETI (an All Under 25 youth crew and past winner of Cowes Week U25 Trophy).
The eight J/80 teams will enjoy good competition around the track, with a number of leading teams in the hunt like Terence O'Neill’s AQUA-J, Andrew Hurst’s FIDUCIAL (publisher of the famous SEAHORSE magazine in Lymington, Hants), Chris & Cecil Wright’s JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH, Claire Montécot’s French team on STARTIJENN, and Mark Greenaway’s PELOTON LTD.
In IRC 1A Division is the J/120 SUNSET (Andras Bakody); the J/122E TIGH SOLIUS III (Iain Mackinnon); five J/111s that include JITTERBUG (Cornell Riklin), JOURNEYMAKER II (Louise Makin & Chris Jones), KESTREL (Simon Bamford), McFLY (Tony Mack), JELVIS (Martin Dent); three J/122s that include JAHMALI (Mike & Sarah Wallis), JOLLY JELLYFISH (Steven Stewart), R&W (Andy Theobold); and two J/133s that include GICQUEL ASSOCIES (Ernest Gicquel) and JINGS (David Ballantyne).
In IRC 2A Division is the J/35 KNIGHT BUILD LTD (James Chalmers) and eight J/109s that include top teams like DIAMOND JEM (Robert Stiles), JAM SESSION (Dennis Zuidam from The Netherlands), JIRAFFE (Simon Perry), and JYNNAN TONNYX (Owain Franks).
The enormous IRC 2B class is pretty much populated by all 35-foot J/teams. There are ten J/105s that include leading crews like FLAWLESS J (Adrian Johnson), JELLY BABY (William Newton), JESTER (David Cowell), JOS OF HAMBLE (Professor Roger Williams, CBE), and REDEYE (Pip & Pete Tyler). Joining them are twenty J/109s that include DESIGNSTAR 2 (Roger Phillips), JAZZY JELLYFISH (Paul Dutton), and RED ARROW (Mark Hollis & Tom Chatterton from the Royal Air Force Red Arrows sailing team).
Sailing in IRC 2C class are two J/92S’s, including CAPTAIN SCARLET (Guy Stansell) and JACKED UP (Ben Fowler).
Most of IRC 2D class is comprised of eleven J/Crews. The fleet includes the J/110 SHADES OF BLUE (Ed Holton); the J/92S WIZARD (John Greenaway); four J/92’s that include HAPPY JAYS (Mike Kerridge), JABBERWOCK (Ralph Mason), NIGHTJAR (R. Seale, O. Overstall, J. Banks, J. Banks), VAGABOND (Mark Waddington); and five J/97s that include BLACKJACK II (Andy Howe), HIGH JINKS (Mike Sellers / Chris Miles), JAYWALKER (Bob & Jon Baker), JET (James & John Owen), and JUMBLESAIL 2 (R & D & R Hunt).
The IRC 3A class has six J/teams on the starting line. This class has the pretty green J/32 DOMAINE (Chris Burbidge), the pretty J/97E ROCK LOBSTER (Nick Angel), the J/95 JUST IS (Graham Chase), and three more J/92’s that include DODJER (Brian Malone), J’RONIMO (Libby Greenhalgh & family), and JACKDAW (Rob Salter).
The lone J/crew in IRC 3C class is J/30 COLLEEN with skipper Allan G. Hill along with a crew of three youngsters and three older salts!
Besides the IRC handicap classes, there is the local “beer can racing rule” popularized by Island Sailing Club- the ISC Rating System- a.k.a. ISCRS. There is enormous participation in these classes since it is meant to be simple and easy to use, a bit like America’s PHRF system but with a touch more simplicity. Sailing in the ISCRS 4B class is the J/109 SQUIB (Ken Raby) and the pretty navy blue J/124 ECLIPSE (Robert Bishop).
In ISCRS 4D class is the world-famous black-hulled J/36 JAZZ, once owned by designer Rodney Johnstone and now having sailed well-over 100,000+ nm by her current owner Norm Curnow! Still going strong since 1983! Sailing with Norm is Tim Stoneman.
The ISCRS 5B class has Andrew Norton’s pretty blue J/100 TIDERACE and Simon Clark’s J/30 JEMINI.
Still going strong after celebrating 40 years plying the world’s seven seas and thousands of lakes are the J/24s! This year, we find three sailing in ISCRS 6C class, including Roger Ayres’ J-RIDER, Quinton Hall’s JABULANI (sailing with “good friends and my loving wife”), and George Kennedy’s NORTHSHORE HOMES (an All Under 21 crew!). For more Round The Island Race sailing information
Transpac Race Preview(Los Angeles, CA)- For most experienced offshore racers, the granddaddy of all long-distance races has to be the famous 2,225nm Transpac Race hosted by the Transpac YC. The track is the stuff of legends and one that top navigators, like the famous Stan Honey from San Francisco, CA, have considered one of the great offshore racing challenges.
On paper, it all seems simple enough, start off Los Angeles, leave Catalina Island to port, and then just sail straight to the finish line off Diamond Head at Honolulu, Hawaii. However, while the course appears easy (which it is), the navigational challenge is anything but a “walk in the park”. Something called the “Pacific High” often drives navigators to drink as it wobbles around and exasperates even veteran navigators of the race. A “wobble here and a jiggle there” and all hell can break loose with the best laid strategies for navigating around the Pacific High’s influence on the north to northeast tradewinds in the Pacific. As the boats get offshore, reaching white sails are replaced by spinnakers sometime around day 2 or 3 in the race. Then, in theory, its a “surfin’ safari” and “hangin’ ten” each day as you fly down the waves to Paradise! NOT! Rarely ever happens that way, but the stories in the Lahaina YC’s bar afterwards might approach that fantasy after a few Mai Tais!
In the past few races of various types to Hawaii, J/teams have done quite well. In fact, J/105s, J/125s, J/100s, and J/88s have all won their classes in one or more of these events- the Vic-Maui, Transpac, Single/Double Transpac & Pacific Cup. For this year’s Transpac, we find just three J/teams entered. For starters, Ed Sanford’s J/105 CREATIVE from San Diego YC includes an experienced crew of offshore racers and Ed has spent considerable time training with them off Southern California. Similarly, there are two of the famous J/125’s that are entered; Frank Atkinson’s RAISIN’ CANE from West Palm Beach, FL and Tim Fuller’s RESOLUTE from San Diego YC. In both cases, these teams have spent a lot of time offshore, so they know what it takes to have strong navigation and adaptable strategies down the track as well as crews that can keep the J/125s cooking along at more than 80-90% of target speeds 24 hours a day. Follow these teams each day and give them your support- Yellow Brick’s YBTracking is providing the hourly updates. For more Transpac Race sailing information
J/FEST Chesapeake Announcement!(Annapolis, MD)- Mark your calendars to join North Point Yacht Sales for J/Fest Chesapeake on July 29, 2017 to celebrate J/Boats 40th Anniversary. This will be a single day, pursuit style regatta followed by a family-friendly party!!
In addition to J/Boat's 40th Anniversary, we will also be celebrating North Point's 10th Anniversary, and J/Port's 25th Anniversary!! We encourage all J/Boat owners to participate!!
WHY SHOULD YOU PARTICIPATE?
- Pursuit course designed with a beat, reach, and run. No matter the boat type, whoever sails the best wins!
- Team scoring for teams of three to tie together some of the best J models sailing together.
- “Poker Run” competition where each boat will earn a poker card at each mark and the boat with the best hand wins.
- Lots of great beer, wine, and BBQ
- A great selection of wine and rum tastings/samples
- -ive music, a “selfies” photo booth, and more to ensure the fun flows!
Top 10 Reasons to Sail J/70 PCC’s!(San Francisco, CA)- The 2017 J/70 Pacific Coast Championships are being hosted by the world famous St Francis YC from July 14th to 16th on San Francisco Bay. Join them in what has to be one of the most iconic sailing venues in the world- 15-25 kt winds, the spectacular Golden Gate Bridge, tons of current, and the infamous Alcatraz Island as your backdrop for the starting area! Here are ten more reasons why you should join the J/70 PCC’s!
- The Golden Gate Bridge. Sailing in the presence of this iconic landmark never gets old. San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in the World. Watch this short YouTube sailing video clip here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFoOplreUYc
- Learn to Go Fast. Post racing debriefs and sail fast tips from sailing Pros Willem Van Waay and Victor Diaz De Leon.
- Picture Yourself Here on San Francisco Bay. Professional regatta photography will be provided at the PCCs.
- The Rolex Big Boat Series (RBBS). Come for the PCCs and leave your J/70 in San Fran for the RBBS in September.
- The J/70 Worlds 2018. Qualify for 2018 J/70 Worlds in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
- Pure Adrenaline. Short tacking up the City Front toward the Golden Gate Bridge provides challenging, exciting, and rewarding race conditions.
- Boat Drinks serve on the dock post-racing! Complimentary food, beer and non-alcoholic beverages on Friday and Saturday post racing with debriefs by pro sailors Willem Van Waay and Victor Diaz De Leon.
- Be a part of Sailing Legacy. Pro and Corinthian Team Winners awarded the perpetual trophy and take home trophies which will be framed line drawings of the J/70.
- World Class Race Committee. "The St. Francis Yacht Club sets the standard for Race Committee,” says Peter Commette (a two-time Laser World Champion and Snipe World Champion).
- The St. Francis Yacht Club. Ranked No. 1 by Platinum Clubs of America for Top Private Clubs of Excellence with expansive facilities and professional, welcoming staff.
Edgartown Race Weekend & Round-the-Island Race J/Boats Fleet Trophies!(Edgartown, MA)- J/Boat participation in the Edgartown 'Round-the-Island Race is ever increasing! To recognize and honor these yachts, trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place will be awarded on corrected time amongst all the J/Boats in all classes!! Like many of the world’s epic “round island races”, the blast around Martha’s Vineyard Island ranks amongst one of the most challenging anywhere and is about the same distance as the famous Round Island Race of the Isle of Wight.
Why not sail America’s version of that famous race around beautiful Martha’s Vineyard? The challenges are every bit as crazy as you round various points, bluffs, tidal races and gorgeous beaches.
No question, one of the ten best weekends of the year, especially if you live in New England, is upon us. Often, we’ve dreamt of these days while shoveling mounds of snow or paying the heating bill. For sailors, especially, who look to combine competition with great camaraderie, there is no better way to spend one of these precious weekends than competing in Edgartown Yacht Club’s Edgartown Race Weekend, which offers the option of two-day Round-the-Buoy Races (Thursday and Friday, July 20-21) or the iconic Round-the-Island Race (Saturday, July 22), or both.
The Friday night “Jump-Up” sponsored by Mount Gay is held at Edgartown Yacht Club and follows the Round-the-Buoy awards presentations for winners of each day as well as overall for both days. Saturday’s Round-the-Island Race is open to IRC, ORR, ORC, PHRF-NE (including spinnaker and non-spinnaker divisions), classic, one-design, multihull and double-handed boats. The Round-the-Island Race awards ceremony is on Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. at Edgartown Yacht Club.
Make room for this event on your summer calendar and come join us as we celebrate summer sailing with friends! For more Round-the-Island Race sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
There was no question the last week in June was going to be particularly busy in the sailing world north of the equator. After all, it is peak season and there’s only eight weeks left in most people’s sailing season! Gotta live it up while you can! While there was lots going on in North America and Europe, the “convicts” in Australia were having a blast sailing J/24s in one of their favorite winter series events- their sailing season isn’t 12 weeks, it’s 36+ weeks! No wonder they know how to sail fast and smart. Good thing, eh?? Looks like Aussie Glenn Ashby was a good “skipper” after all, the America’s Cup is headed down to Kiwi-land of the All-Blacks and Red Socks for at least a decade.Starting in Europe, it was astonishing to note that over 160 J/70 teams were all sailing, simultaneously, on ONE weekend! Kieler Woche, ALCATEL J/70 Cup, Bol d’Or Mirabaud, Swiss J/70 League, and the Norwegian Sailing League. Add in the J/70s in Long Beach, California and that pushes the total number of J/70s sailing on one weekend to nearly 200 boats- about 1,000 sailors or more!! What is even more amazing is that some of the world’s top professional sailors that are participating in the class are not only coaching the teams they sail on, but helping others, too. Take Cameron Appleton, for example, he was sailing the ALCATEL J/70 Cup in Riva del Garda, Italy and could not believe the level of competition. After all, a “girl” skipper beat everyone, again! That simply does not happen in any other world-class one-design regatta. Remember, at the J/70 Europeans, three women skippers finished in the top ten! Over in Switzerland, two events were taking place simultaneously that included J/70s- the Bol d’Or Mirabaud Race on Lake Geneva, the famous 66.5nm race across the lake to the east and back to the start and the Swiss J/70 Sailing League that took place in Estavayer, Switzerland. Then, off to the northwest, the Kieler YC was host for their famous Kieler Woche in Kiel, Germany for a huge class of J/70s (43 boats!) as well as J/80s and J/24s. North of them, the Norwegian J/70 Sailing League was sailing their next event in the Sandefjord. Finally, the Pornic J/80 Cup took place in Pornic, France, the third act of the J/80 Coupe de France season series.
Over in the Americas, the Storm Trysail Club hosted their famous bi-annual Block Island Race Week for a fleet of 200+ boats; it included the J/88 East Coasts, the J/105 East Coasts, the J/109 North Americans, the J/44 North Americans, the IRC North Americans and the PHRF East Coasts. There were some amazing performances by various teams, including J/122s, J/29s, J/35s, and others. Moving to the Midwest, the Queen’s Cup Race took place, hosted by South Shore YC in Milwaukee, WI. The quick 77nm sprint across Lake Michigan was much enjoyed by J/88s, J/130, J/122, J/111, and J/105s- just about everyone won some kind of silverware! Then, out west the Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week was sailed off Long Beach, CA, hosted by Long Beach YC and Alamitos Bay YC for one-design fleets of J/70s and J/120s plus PHRF racing for J/111, J/124, J/35, and J/109 crews. Furthermore, the famous 600+nm race called the Van Isle 360 Race completed at the end of the week. It’s a simple race, but by far the most complex navigational/ tactical challenge anyone can imagine. The start is just north of Vancouver at Nanaimo, BC, Canada, then in seven stages circumnavigates the enormous Vancouver Island, leaving everything to port! Just about cleaning house of all the pickle dishes on offer were a J/122E, J/125, J/133, some J/109s, and a J/30!
Finally, southwest across the Pacific, those “convicts” were having a blast sailing the venerable J/24. The Cronulla Sailing Club in Melbourne, Australia hosted their very popular winter series event- the Wet-Tech J/24 Short Course Regatta!
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:
Jun 29- Jul 1- J/70 Nordic Championship- Hanko, NorwayJul 8-14- J/80 World Championship- Hamble, England
Jul 1- Round Island Race- Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
Jul 3- Transpac Race- Los Angeles, CA
Jul 6-9- U.K. J/70 National Championship- Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
Jul 7- RORC Cowes-Dinard-St Malo Race- Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
Jul 7-9- The Sail Newport Regatta- Newport, RI
Jul 7-9- Vineyard Cup- Vineyard Haven, MA
Jul 8-14- J/80 World Championship- Hamble, England
Jul 14- driveHG.com Lake Ontario 300 Race- Port Credit, ONT, Canada
Jul 14-16- Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge- Annapolis, MD
Jul 15- Chicago to Mackinac Race- Chicago, IL
Jul 15-16- J/70 Pacific Coast Championship- San Francisco, CA
Jul 20-23- J/22 North American Championship- Buffalo, NY
Jul 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
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Epic Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race WeekRemarkable Performances By Many J/Crews!
(Block Island, RI)- The Storm Trysail Club’s completed its bi-annual sailing festival known as the XXVII Block Island Race Week in grand style. Sailed from June 19th to 23rd, thousands of sailors enjoyed the beautiful island five miles offshore of Rhode Island. The conditions for the week were challenging, to say the least. In the end, it will go down as yet another epic week of sailing on Rhode Island’s most popular offshore tourist destination. The week started off with canceled racing on Monday due to 25 kt winds gusting to 35 kts and pea-soup 50 ft visibility fog. Needless to say, it was a wise move as it would have been a fool’s errand to conduct any racing in such extreme conditions. Instead, all the sailors took off and made use of an early lay day or get work done. The next four days produced eight races with the sun poking through most days to make it a joy to appreciate all that the island has to offer, both on-the-water racing in mostly moderate breezes to the most excellent hospitality rolled out at the famous Mt Gay Tent.
Not surprisingly, by far the largest contingent at Block Island was J/sailors. Of the 145-keelboat entries, 73 were J/Teams (50% of the fleet)! In addition to the PHRF and IRC handicap fleets, the event co-hosted several championships for J/one-design classes; including the J/88 East Coast Championship, the J/109 North American Championship, the J/105 New England Championship, and the J/44 North American Championship. Here is how it all went down day by day.
Day 1- CancelledThere is a time when even the most seasoned sailor must be prudent and proceed with caution when considering the safety of the boat and crew. Such was the case on Monday, when organizers of BIRW XXVII cancelled racing due to high winds and severe fog. Race Committee Chairman Dick Neville made the final call after monitoring the wind velocity and fog layer on Block Island Sound and consulting multiple weather forecasts. “Conditions on the sound were not safe for sailboat racing. There is less than 100 feet of visibility, which is a very dangerous situation,” Neville explained. “Commander’s Weather and other forecasts agreed that if the fog lifts, the wind would get five knots stronger. That would put the wind in the high 20s with gusts into the 30s.”
Day 2- Let's Go Racing Already!
When the AP flag was taken down to finally mark the start of BIRW, it was like watching school children being let out for recess. Sailors who had waited 1 ½ days to go racing rushed down the docks, hopped aboard their boats and couldn’t wait to cast off the lines.
At long last, the fog lifted around noon and the race committee chairman announced that one start would be held for all courses beginning at 2 p.m. As it turns out, the fog had not cleared on Block Island Sound, which prompted the race committee on all three courses to delay a bit longer. Then the fog dissipated, the sun broke through and principal race officers Ray Redness (Red Fleet), Dave Brennan (White Fleet) and Bruce Bingman (Blue Fleet) immediately went into sequence.Ultimately, the sailing began in big breeze – 19-22 knots from the southwest – and some sailors admitted afterward it was somewhat of a shock to the system to flip the switch into competition mode. “It’s tough to sit around for a day and a half then go racing,” said Jack McGuire, skipper of the J/29 Dirty Harry. “As soon as the fog lifted, they fired the warning gun. There wasn’t even time to run upwind and downwind before the start.”
There were no complaints about the conditions, which were simply spectacular and produced exhilarating racing for the 146 boats in 16 classes. “Well it was a long wait and it was fantastic to finally get out there. Sunshine and strong wind – it couldn’t have been any nicer,” said Chris Lewis, who steered Kenai to victory in J/44 class. Kenai had been modified for IRC racing, but Lewis converted the boat back to one-design trim in order to compete in Block Island Race Week. Early returns were favorable for the Houston, Texas entry, which led at every mark rounding on Tuesday. “We had nice speed and were fortunate to go the correct way. We tacked onto port while everyone else went right and managed to round the first weather mark with a short lead,” Lewis said. “We had Challenge IV on our breeze, but we managed to hold them off to the leeward gate.” Lewis said his crew is still adjusting to racing with a symmetrical spinnaker using a pole after having to ditch the bowsprit and asymmetrical kite in order to comply with the one-design rule.
Owner-driver David Rosow and the Loki crew continued their dominance of the J/109 class, capturing Race 1 of the North American Championship by a convincing margin. “We were super happy to start racing. We were getting a little antsy sitting ashore. We were anxious to go out and do what we came here to do,” Rosow said. Loki is the defending North American champion and has not lost a J/109 one-design regatta in two years. Rosow, a Southport, Connecticut resident, credited improved planning and preparation for his team’s ability to get a leg up on the competition. “We started putting this event together in November. When you are organized and have done everything right, it makes a big difference,” he said.
It was another ho-hum day at Block Island Race Week for John Esposito and the J/29 Hustler team, which owns the highest winning percentage in regatta history. Hustler led from start to finish and wound up beating long-time J/29 rival Mighty Puffin (Steve Thurston) by 51 seconds. “I thought the race committee did the right thing by delaying. When the fog lifted, we wound up having a great day for racing,” said Esposito, who was pleased with the performance of his brand new heavy air genoa. “We were a little overpowered on the second leg, but had good boat speed overall.”
In PHRF 1 Class, David & Maryellen Tortorello’s Partnership led a group of J/111 sloops that finished second through fifth in PHRF 1.
Robin Team was all smiles after winning his Block Island Race Week debut. The North Carolina-based J/122, which is making its first foray north, corrected over the Farr 395 Old School by two minutes, nine seconds. “We had great upwind boat speed and the crew work was absolutely flawless,” said Team, adding that long-time tactician Jonathan Bartlett “was on fire today and kept us going the right way.” Teamwork got the gun in Race 1, although team admitted that Old School and its sister ship Avalanche (Craig Albrecht) chased his boat all around the course. “It’s only one race into a long regatta so we have quite a ways to go. Those two Farr 395s were right on our heels. It’s going to be a battle.”
Day 3- W/L & Round Island ExtravaganzaWednesday provided ideal conditions for the Around the Island Race, which has long been the signature of Block Island Race Week. However, event organizers weren’t thrilled with the idea of going into Thursday with just one buoy race in the bag. So, principal race officer Dick Neville came up with a creative solution. For the first in anyone’s memory, a windward-leeward race was held on the same day as the Around the Island Race. Principal race officers on all three circles conducted the buoy race in the morning then got everyone reorganized and started the distance race in the afternoon.
“Traditionally, we don’t do that. However, having lost a day and a half of racing this week, we were trying to gain a buoy race without doing away with the Around the Island Race,” Neville said. “We had a pretty good forecast so we decided to give it a try. It was a little risky, but we got it done.”
Neville was planning to conduct three races on all three courses on Thursday and could possibly do so again on Friday. There is no restriction on what time principal race officers Ray Redniss (Red Fleet), Dave Brennan (White Fleet) and Bruce Bingman (Blue Fleet) can start races on Friday. “We want to have the opportunity to run three if conditions allow,” Neville said.
Competitors had no problem with Wednesday’s plan, even though it made for a rather long day on the water. “Obviously, the committee needed to do something to increase the number of races. I thought it was a really good idea and it worked out well,” said Carl Olsson, owner of the J/109 Morning Glory.
As usual, there were plenty of great stories from the Around the Island Race, which ranges from 20 to 24 miles depending on the fleet. Jeffrey Willis led Challenge IV to victory in the distance race and that enabled the Huntington Bay, New York entry to take the lead in the venerable J/44 class. Willis said his boat was doing 11 knots under spinnaker at one point when the wind piped up to 24 knots on the east side of Block Island. “We got a very good start, stayed left on the first beat and got lifted. That allowed us to round the windward mark in first and we managed to stay in front the rest of the way,” he said. Challenge IV was able to hoist the spinnaker earlier than the other six boats and increased the lead as a result. “As soon as we rounded 1BI the fog really came in. We had almost no visibility and had to get the horn up on deck,” Willis said.
Kenai (Chris Lewis, Houston, Texas) won Race 1 on Tuesday while current Storm Trysail Club commodore Leonard Sitar won Wednesday’s buoy race, displaying the balance within the J/44 class. “Kenai and Maxine are both going fast while Vamp is always tough. It’s a very competitive group,” said Willis, who has captured class honors in six straight editions of Block Island Race Week.
Morning Glory emerged from the day atop the J/109 class, which is contesting its North American Championship. Quantum professional Terry Flynn is calling tactics for Olsson, who credited solid crew work for a second place in the buoy race and fourth place in the distance race. “It was a fantastic day on the water. We made a few mistakes, but not many. Fortunately, everyone else made more mistakes,” Olsson said. Olsson has brought five different version of Morning Glory to Block Island Race Week, including a J/105, Tripp 41 and J/34. The New Rochelle, New York resident is still seeking his first class victory here.
Jazz has set a strong pace in J/88 class, winning every race so far. Skipper Douglas McKeige (Mamaroneck, New York) and crew have built a six-point lead over Red Sky (John Pearson, Setauket, NY). “The boat is going really well. We have a good team and good equipment. Everyone is focused on doing their job and we are hiking really hard,” said McKeige, who has close friend Steve Kirkpatrick trimming the main and calling tactics. This is the first time McKeige has brought his J/88 to Block Island and he is looking to come away with the East Coast Championship.It was a good day for Good Trade, which took over the lead in J/105 class by winning both races. Owner Bruce Stone steers while wife Nicole Breault calls tactics for the San Francisco team. “It was a lot of drama, a lot of fun. We had two incredible starts and raced really hard around the course,” Breault said. “Everyone is super happy with the results.” Breault was still kicking herself for overstanding the first windward mark, but she played the fog well and passed a few boats. Good Trade carried the spinnaker for a long stretch and caught LOULOU at 1BI. It was a tacking duel to the finish with Good Trade finding better air by going toward the beach.
It was a good day for the J/122 TEAMWORK in IRC 3; Robin Team of Lexington, North Carolina, has shown consistency and continues to lead the class on the strength of a 1-2-2 score line.
The same could be said of Partnership, a J/111 owned by David and Maryellen Tortorello that is atop PHRF 1 thanks to a pair of seconds surrounding a bullet. Partnership won Wednesday’s windward-leeward start before placing second in the Around the Island Race and is three points up.
Upsetter did just that in winning the Around the Island Race in PHRF 3. Skipper Jason Viseltear steered the J/80 across the line in third, but corrected over a pair of J/29s – Hustler and Cool Breeze.
Day 4- Penultimate Day at Block Island Race Week
There’s a reason why Challenge IV has captured J/44 class in six straight editions of Block Island Race Week. It’s because skipper Jeffrey Willis and crew know how to put the hammer down when it matters.
Challenge IV enjoyed a terrific day on the water Thursday, posting a superb score line of 2-3-1 to take command of the J/44 class. The Huntington Bay, New York entry will carry a five-point lead into the final day of the racing.
“We know the fourth day of a five-day regatta is important. It’s moving day, especially when you have three races,” Willis said.
Organizers with host Storm Trysail Club delivered on the promise of a three-race day since conditions cooperated. Race committee chairman Dick Neville held the fleet on shore for a one-hour postponement and that proved a wise decision as a healthy sea breeze filled in and provided 11-12 knot southwesterly winds that built throughout the afternoon.
Willis was particularly pleased with the second place result in Race 4 since Challenge IV got caught on the wrong end of a shift and rounded the first weather mark in last place. Tactician David Willis told his father to go toward the island on the run and Challenge IV picked up a favorable shift that enabled it to pass three boats.
“That first race was a huge comeback. That was the turning point of the day, if not the week,” said Willis, who won the final race on Thursday and has a low score of 15 points.
Kenai, owned by Chris Lewis of Houston, Texas, stands in second place with 19 points. Kenai rebounded from a fifth in Race 4 by winning Race 5 and tacking on a third in Race 6.
“Challenge IV is very consistent. They know the course and they sail fast, which is a tough combination,” said Lewis, who is making his one-design and Block Island Race Week debut. “We’ve made mistakes in two races. We were over early in one and there was another when we won the start and didn’t cover like we should have.”
Willis said the strategy on Friday would be to stay out of trouble. “If we get a good start with clear air we seem to be able to walk on the rest of the fleet. We tend to make a lot of gains downwind.”
Several classes are coming down to the wire and will be decided during the two races scheduled for Friday. There is a good battle between the J/122 Teamwork and the Farr 395 Old School in IRC 2, with the former holding a four-point lead. Team was a bit preoccupied by responding to a protest following racing, but did take time to credit Old School, which owes Teamwork roughly 20-30 seconds per race. “We’re having a good time mixing it up with them. If we can just stay attached, we’re in good shape,” said Team, who has actually beaten Old School boat-for-boat twice in this regatta.
Loki also made a strong move on Thursday, posting a 3-2-1 score line to reclaim the lead in the J/109 North American Championship. Skipper David Rosow and company were smarting from suffering a pair of fifth place finishes on Wednesday. “Yesterday was a bit of a shocker and we needed to redeem ourselves,” said Rosow, who hails from Southport, Connecticut. “We sorted some things out and sailed much better today. It was moving day and we came through. We had good boat speed and excellent crew work.” Loki has a low score of 17 points and is five points clear of Gossip, skippered by Steve Kenny of East Hampton, New York. Rush (Bill Sweetser) and Morning Glory (Carl Olsson) both have 25 points. “It’s still a battle. There are six really good teams and we need to put together another good day,” Rosow said.
Partnership and Sea Biscuit are duking it out in PHRF 1 and the East Coast Championship will come down to the final two races. Partnership, a J/111 owned by David and Maryellen Tortorello, has not finished lower than fourth in the competitive 13-boat fleet and has totaled 14 points. The Tortorello’s, who reside in Bridgeport, Connecticut, celebrated their 30th anniversary on Tuesday – the second time that has happened during Block Island Race Week. This is the couple’s fifth appearance at this biennial regatta and they are seeking their second victory after topping a J/111 one-design class in 2011. “We have a very good team that has been sailing the boat for a while now. We all know our positions on the boat very well,” Maryellen Tortorello said.
Skipper Douglas McKeige and Jazz continued their steady march through the J/88 class with a second in Race 5 marking the only time the American Yacht Club entry has not gotten the gun.
Good Trade, owned by the husband-wife team of Bruce Stone and Nicole Breault, took charge of J/105 class by winning two races and taking second in the other on Thursday. And, the J/29 Hustler (John Esposito, Mohegan Lake, NY) continued to build commanding a lead in PHRF 3 class.
Day 5- Final ShowdownThe J/44 Class was quite competitive. Chris Lewis still looked a bit stunned as he stood on the dock at Payne’s drinking a mudslide while surrounded by his jubilant team. Lewis and his crew on Kenai had just pulled off a stunning comeback and somewhat surprising upset, doing so in dramatic fashion. The Houston, Texas-based boat won both races on Friday and took advantage of a rare stumble by Challenge IV to capture the venerable J/44 class at Block Island Race Week XXVII.
“It was a very tense day of racing. It was game on and we knew we had to win both races to have a chance,” Lewis said. “We liked the strong breeze and we liked the committee boat end of the line. We got both today and managed to pull out the victory.”
Challenge IV, owned by Jeff Willis of Huntington Bay, New York, entered the final day of racing with a four-point lead on Kenai. It was reduced to three points when Kenai won Race 7 and Challenge IV placed second.
Lewis and tactician Mike McGagh decided to go after Challenge IV in the pre-start of Race 8 and also somewhat on the first windward leg. “We stayed with them before the start and caused them to start at the pin end, which was not favored,” Lewis said. “When we met up on the race course, we engaged them again.”
Challenge IV placed fifth in the final race and wound up equal on points with Kenai at 21 apiece. The Houston boat won the tiebreaker by virtue of having more first place results (4-2). “We needed to finish fourth or better in the last race and didn’t quite do it,” Willis said. “We made some uncharacteristic mistakes, but a lot of that had to do with the pre-race maneuvers.”
Willis was not thrilled by the match race tactics employed by Kenai, but took the high road and congratulated Lewis and crew. Kenai had been a modified J/44, but was converted back to one-design trim for Block Island Race Week 2017 and earned the North American Championship.
“It feels like all the work and preparation we put in paid off,” Lewis said. “It is an honor and a thrill to win Block Island Race Week. We have an awful lot of respect for all these J/44 teams. It’s a great class, a very competitive class and we consider this a tremendous accomplishment.” Note- the two boats ended up tied on 21 points each, with Lewis’ crew winning the countback based on number of 1sts.
Rounding out the J/44 class were Bill Ketcham’s MAXINE in third with 27 pts, Len Sitar’s VAMP in fourth with 32 pts, and one point back in fifth was the US Coast Guard Academy’s GLORY.
J/105 Class- Repeat Victory to GOOD TRADE!One of the happier crews was located at the far end of the Champlin’s dock aboard the J/105 Good Trade, owned by the husband-wife team of Bruce Stone and Nicole Breault.
Good Trade sailed impressively all week en route to capturing the J/105 New England Championship, winning five races and placing second in two others in posting a low score of 12 points. That was seven better than runner-up Eclipse (Damien Emery, Shoreham, NY) and earned Stone and Breault the prestigious Everett B. Morris Memorial Trophy.
First awarded in 1967 and rededicated in 1991, the Morris Memorial Trophy is presented to the Block Island Race Week entry that wins its class and, in the judgment of the race committee and Storm Trysail Club commodore, put forth the Best Overall Performance.
“We were on fire, really in the zone,” Breault said. “We sailed the boat really well and minimize our mistakes.”
Stone steers while Breault calls tactics on Good Trade, which they bought last May from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. The couple resides in San Francisco and races a J/105 named Arbitrage on the West Coast.
“We’ve won five of the last seven regattas we’ve entered so I’d say we’ve been on a bit of a roll,” Stone said. “We’re having a really strong season so far and hope to keep it going.”
Marc Acheson (headsail trimmer), Bill Higgins (bow), John Sahagian (pit) and Casey Williams (mid-bow) complete the crew on Good Trade, which opened the regatta with a third then reeled off a steady string of firsts and seconds the rest of the way.
“Our crew work is so solid that I can call for any type of maneuver at any time and not worry one bit,” Breault said.
In addition to GOOD TRADE’s most excellent performance, their familiar protagonist, Damian Emery’s ECLIPSE, took second place; between the two boats they won all the races! Third on the podium was OJ Young from New Orleans, LA skippering LOULOU. Rounding out the top five were Thom Herring’s TRIFECTA in fourth and Andrew Kennedy’s BAT IV in fifth place.
J/109 North Americans- LOKI Crowned Champion Again!
Skipper David Rosow and the Loki crew captured the J/109 North American Championship in similarly convincing fashion. Quantum professional Kerry Klingler trimmed the main while amateur Brian Comfort served as tactician as the Southport, Connecticut entry closed the regatta with three straight bullets.
“Today was do or die and I thought our team really came through in the clutch,” Rosow said. “We tried to keep it simple the last two days. We got in trouble on Tuesday when we made things more complicated than they needed to be.”
Loki successfully defended its North American crown despite having four new crewmembers and still has not lost a J/109 one-design regatta in two years. “Putting together a new team was complicated, but the chemistry came together well,” Rosow said.
It was rough going in the 21-boat J/109 fleet. While Rosow somehow had a fifth-gear, everyone else was seemingly stuck in 4th. However, having one of their best regattas in some time was past J/109 NA Champion Bill Sweetser, skippering his famous RUSH to the silver step on the podium. Taking the bronze was Steve Kenny’s GOSSIP. Fourth was another past J/109 NA Champion, Ted Herlihy’s GUT FEELING from Buzzards Bay, MA; they were also the J/109 Corinthian Champions. Fifth was Jon Rechtschaffer’s EMOTICON and also taking 2nd in Corinthians. Third in Corinthians was John Greifzu’s GROWTH SPURT.
IRC 3 North Americans- Dominance by J/122 TEAMWORK!
Teamwork, a J/122 owned by Robin Team of Lexington, North Carolina, made its debut at Block Island Race Week in resounding fashion. After briefly falling behind the Farr 395 Old School, Teamwork won the last four races to turn a tight battle into a nine-point victory.
“I came up here with nine of my best friends and we had the time of our lives,” Team said. “Winning is a huge component, of course. The competition was super and we knew we had to be spot on to came out on top at this regatta.” Teamwork, which earned the IRC 3 North American Championship, now adds Block Island Race Week to its numerous class titles at Key West Race Week and Charleston Race Week. “Our crew work was fabulous. We seemed to pick up a boat length or two at every mark rounding,” Team said. “This is a mighty sweet win and we are definitely coming back.”
There were two other J/122s sailing in the class, Tom Mager’s GIGI was 6th and Dan Heun’s MOXIEE was 6th. Peter Hein’s J/120 VAREKAI took 7th.
J/88 East Coasts- JAZZ Jams to Class Win!Jazz turned in a similarly dominant performance in J/88 class, winning seven of eight races in posting a low score of eight points. It was also the first Block Island Race Week win for skipper Douglas McKeige of Mamaroneck, New York. “All I can say is the boat was going really, really well. We just had pace and could lift off the fleet,” McKeige said. “I didn’t expect to do quite this well, but I had a great team here with me this week. They hike hard and are constantly working to get the most out of the boat.”
After a slow start in the first two races, it was Mike Bruno’s WINGS crew that took a solid second place with just 20 pts after eight races. The podium was filled by John Pearson’s RED SKY. Then, rounding out the top five were Iris Vogel’s DEVIATION in 4th place and Doug Newhouse’s YONDER in 5th position.
PHRF 1 Class- J/111 PARTNERSHIP Dominates!
Partnership, a J/111 campaigned by David and Maryellen Tortorello, won a good battle to take class honors in PHRF 1. “We have done Block Island Race Week five times and this is the first time we’ve won our class, so this is phenomenal,” said David Tortorello. “We had very, very good competition and I think the key was consistency. We put up a lot of top three finishes. Our crew work was fabulous.”
Other J/111s also did well in class. Taking 5th was Doug Curtiss’ WICKED 2.0 with its familiar black and wicked green paint job. Seventh was Sedge Ward’s BARVO and 8th was Paul Strauch’s ANDIAMO.
PHRF 3 Class- HUSTLE’d Away Again by “Da Espo”!
Skipper John Esposito and his team on HUSTLER continued their remarkable run at this regatta by winning PHRF 3. Hustler, which beat fellow J/29 Cool Breeze by 10 points, has now captured its class in 11 consecutive editions of Block Island Race Week!!
“Winning Block Island never gets old. We are very pleased,” said Esposito, a resident of Mohegan Lake, New York. “I came out of retirement to do this regatta and now I’m going back into retirement until 2019.” Esposito, who seemed somewhat serious about putting his J/29 in storage until the next Block Island Race Week, had high praise for his crew that includes longtime co-skipper Neil Caruso. Robert Weir came all the way from Australia to serve as helmsman for the second straight Block Island while tactician Max Lopez has been on Hustler since he was 11 years old. “I think the boat is getting quieter. Our level of aggressiveness is still there, but the volume of noise has gone down,” said Lopez, noting that Hustler had a reputation for “a lot of yelling.”
The HUSTLER gang led a near class sweep by J/29s. Taking the silver was John Cooper’s COOL BREEZE, followed by Jack McGuire’s DIRTY HARRY in 4th place and Steve Thurston’s MIGHTY PUFFIN in 5th place. Sixth in class was the class Around Island Race Winner, Jason Viseltear’s J/80 UPSETTER.
PHRF 4 Class- J/24 Legend Perseveres!
The story in this class for J/24s was “close but no cigar” after eight races. With the class win well within their grasp Brian Gibbs’ J/24 USA 4202 won the penultimate race 7 on Friday, but could not close the deal in the finale. Basically, whomever beat who won the class, with Gibbs taking a 3rd to finish 2 pts out of the running.
PHRF Performance Cruising- We was robbed!
Surprisingly, this division permitted a throw-out race after sailing four races. If that were not the case, Benjamin Hodgson’s J/100 GRIMACE would have taken an easy second place for the regatta. Instead, gnashing their teeth over a giant set of mudslides, they knew they would lose a tie-breaker on 9 pts each and have to settle for third place! Ouch! Taking 6th in class was yet another J/24, Jeff Curtin’s UNCLE AL and 7th was Greg Slamowitz’s J/111 MANITOU. Sailing photo credits- Allen Clark/ Photoboat.com and Stephen Cloutier
Block Island Race Week YouTube sailing videos
Summary- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UEIbDV3Tmw
Day 2 Highlights- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evmQ8wRc0-0
Day 3- Around Island highlights- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBtfMnOR7PM
Follow Block Island Race Week on Facebook Facebook Around Island highlights sailing video.
For more Storm Trysail Block Island Race Week sailing information
PETITE TERRIBLE Wins Alcatel J/70 Cup Act III(Riva del Garda, Italy)- The second Lake Garda event for the ALCATEL J/70 CUP saw three days of the famous Lake Garda “wind machine” produce seven races over the three days for the record-setting fleet of seventy-three boats. As expected, the host club, Fraglia Vela Riva, with its Regatta Committee chaired by Fabrizio Donato with PRO Fausto Maroni, provided the world championship caliber fleet excellent race management over the weekend.
After a thrilling first two days of racing, where the top of the leaderboard was largely left wide open, it was the solid, consistent performance of Claudia Rossi’s Italian crew on PETITE TERRIBLE- ADRIA FERRIES that won their second regatta in a row in almost as many weekends! Coming off their J/70 Europeans win on the Solent in England, no one expected them to maintain such a high-level of performance. Nevertheless, after bracketing her record with two bullets, Claudia’s team won easily with a 1-6-2-2-7-1 tally for 18 pts! Here is how it all came about on one of the most famous northern Italian lakes for sailing.
Day One- A sparkling first day on GardaIt was a typical Lake Garda afternoon; starting after lunch, the wind quickly increased to 20 knots, and then slowly fell away by late evening. Winning the first race fresh from her win at the J/70 Europeans was Rossi’s PETITE TERRIBLE. Winning the second race was Carlo Alberini’s CALVI NETWORK, the winner of the previous two ALCATEL J/70 CUP events in San Remo and Malcesine. At the end of the day, CALVI NETWORK was leading with a 4-1; with Rossi in second with a 1-6, and third were the 2014 J/70 Europeans Champions, Luca Dominica’s NOTARO TEAM.
"We were delighted and excited to go back to Italy after winning the title of European champions in the waters of Hamble for the second time. We knew it would be a great challenge, a sort of small preview of the September World Cup, with the fleet growing more and more. Winning the first race today was a nice confidence builder: we still have many things to work on, but we hope to do well in the rest of the series," said Claudia Rossi.
Another great performance on the day was by MASCALZONE LATINO, sailed by Vincenzo Onorato, they managed a 14-5 to sit in eight place in the provisional rankings.
The challenge for the twenty-seven boat Corinthian fleet was how to beat Alessandro Zampori’s MAGIE DAS SAILING TEAM with their amazing performance of a 16-3 and holding on to 6th place in the Open rankings! A good distance back was Gianfranco Noè’s WHITE HAWK, the winner of the Sanremo and Malcesine Corinthians Division. Sitting third after day one was Alessio Zucchi’s WHY NOT.
Day Two- The Garda Wind Factory Produces More!The second day was similar to the first day, same breeze, same direction, sunny and the PRO managed to throw in three races for the tired crews!
The winner of the first race of the day was none other than a top Corinthians team, Gianfranco Noe’s WHITE HAWK! They were followed by fleet leaders PETITE TERRIBLE and CALVI NETWORK. In the second race, the top two teams flip-flopped positions, with Alberini topping Rossi’s crew with Vincenzo Onorato’s MASCALZONE LATINO taking third (his best race of the series)! In the final race of the day, it was Umberto de Luca’s ENJOY 1.0 that won, followed by Alessandro Molla’s VIVA in second and Stefano Roberti’s PICCININA from YC Monaco in third!
At the end of the day, the overall leaderboard remained unchanged, with CALVI NETWORK maintaining leadership with a margin of two points over PETITE TERRIBLE- ADRIA FERRIES. Mollas’ VIVA had such a good day (6-4-2) that they leapt up to third overall, about nine points margin over Jose Maria “Pichu” Torcida’ and Luis Martin Cabiedes’ NOTICIA- the current J/70 European Vice champion from Spain.
Day Three- Thrilling Finale!The third and final day started later than expected due to weather early in the morning, that delayed the start of the Garda “wind machine”. As a result, only two races were sailed and they produced dramatic swings in the overall standings based on the fact that teams could now discard one race for their overall net point totals.
Winning the first race was Rossi’s PETITE TERRIBLE, while their nemesis, Alberini’s CALVI NETWORK, tanked the race and scored a 26th to add to their 23rd in the fifth race; effectively taking themselves out contention for the regatta win. Second in the race was Luca Domenici’s NOTARO TEAM and third was the best finish yet for top Polish sailor Krzysztof Krempec’s POLONIA. The finale produced yet more drama for, literally, all teams in the top ten. Winning was CALVI NETWORK, followed by De Luca’s ENJOY 1.0 in second and the Brazilian Mauricio Santa Cruz’s team on MANDA CHUVA took third.
As a result of the wild swings in the races on the last day, the leaderboard saw a significant shuffling of positions, the proverbial game of snakes and ladders! In the end, Rossi’s PETITE TERRIBLE won with 18 pts net, followed by Alberini’s CALVI NETWORK taking the silver with 33 pts net, and Mauro Roversi’s J-CURVE taking the bronze (perhaps they won the “Mr Consistency Reward”- his last four races were all 8ths!). Rounding out the top five was a tiebreaker on 53 pts each between Domenici’s NOTARO TEAM and Mauro Mocchegiani’s RUSH DILETTA 2.0, finishing 4th and 5th, respectively.
The battle in the Corinthians Division was at best frenetic, at worst incredibly anxious for all the top teams. The most consistent was Noe’s WHITE HAWK, ultimately closing out with 77 pts to win by a large margin. Taking the silver was Zampori’s MAGGIE DAS SAILING TEAM with 131 pts. Rounding out the podium was Stefan Seger’s Swiss crew on JURMO with 140 pts. The balance of the top five was comprised of Marco Shirato’s JAWS TOO in fourth and Alessio Zucchi’s WHY NOT in fifth place. For more Alcatel J/70 Cup sailing information
Challenging Kiel Week for J/70s, J/80s & J/24s(Kiel, Germany)- This year’s Kiel Week was marked by a variety of weather fronts that came rolling through, producing strong winds some days and light winds on others. There was no question the Kieler YC had its hands full managing the fleets and getting in a full slate of races. In the end, the J/70s and J/80s got the short end of that stick, only sailing six races of the scheduled eleven total. Meanwhile, the J/24s started earlier in the week and were fortunate enough to sail in good winds and complete ten races.
The biggest fleet of one-design keelboats at Kiel Week 2017 was no less than the J/70 Class, with forty-three boats registered to hit the starting line; virtually all German with a few Dutch crews. Considering that 110+ J/70 teams from across Europe were sailing in Sweden, Norway and at the ALCATEL J/70 Cup in Italy, that is a fantastic turnout for the famous Kieler Woche regatta!
After starting out with a 27th, it was self-evident that Jens Marten’s crew on GER 1062 (Terje Klockemann, Justus Braatz, & Tobias Strenge) figured out how to navigate the fleet and the race-track, posting a closing 1-3-2-1-1 to finish with just 8 pts net and the title of Kiel Week J/70 Champion! The most consistent team was Philipp Bruhns’ GER 252 team (Moritz Bruhns, Valentin Gebhardt & Sven Ruggesiek) from Bayerischer YC, posting a 3-9-1-6-14-4 for 23 pts net to take the silver. Rounding off the podium just one point back was Bjorn Beilken’s GER 929 with crew of Alex Beilken, Tobias Teichmann, and Jork Homeyer; their record was 31-10-2-4-3-5 for 24 pts net. The balance of the top five included Gordon Nickel’s GER 797 in 4th and Martin Fahr’s GER 1011 in 5th place.The twenty boat J/80 class knew that Martin Menzner’s crew on GER 614 (Frank Lichte, Mika Rolfs, & Nils Beltermann) were “autobahn fast” and might run away with class honors. However, no one expected them to run the table after the first race, posting a 4th and five 1sts to win by the widest margin in class history at Kieler Woche. Behind Menzner, it was a dogfight for the balance of the podium, with Ulf Plebmann’s GER 1424 crew (Carsten Vollmer, Katrin Jahncke, & Andreas Benkert) posting a 2-3-24-2-3 tally for 12 pts net to secure the silver. Meanwhile, Hauke Kruss’ team on GER 853 (Ole Sartori, Bemd Ehler, & Fritz Wabner) nearly pulled it off, but their record of 3-2-3-2-3-4 for 13 pts net was just not good enough to best their friends and had to settle for the third step on the podium. The rest of the top five included Olav Jansen’s GER 1183 in 4th and Torsten Voss’ GER 1032 in 5th.
At twenty-six boats, the J/24 class showed up in force and had fantastic competition for their event. The only problem for the German, Swedish, British and Dutch crews was that the Americans showed up! As a result, past North American and World Champions in the J/24 class dominated the regatta. Basically, it was a battle for the top two slots on the leaderboard between two Americans from upstate New York; Mike Ingham and Travis Odenbach. In the end, Ingham’s USA 5443 team (Max Holzer, Quinn Schwenker, Marianne Schoke, & Paul Abdullah) won with 29 pts net. The bride’s maid this time was Odenbach’s USA 5432 crew (Ian Coleman, Hugh Ward, Annabel Cuttermole, & Jack Sharland) with 38 pts net. The British crew on GBR 4222 made the podium an all-Anglo-American affair; Andrew Taylor’s crew (Izzy Savage, Robert Clark, Paul Williams, & Zoe Dunne) took the bronze with 43 pts net. Filling out the top five were the top two German teams; Frank Schonfeld’s GER 5412 in 4th and Stefan Karsunke’s GER 5381 in 5th place. For more Kiel Week sailing information
Lively Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week!(Long Beach, CA)- Sporty sailing conditions by day, spiced rum and dancing by night; Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week delivered 24/7, for the hundreds of sailors who turned up to race in the waters off Long Beach, CA on June 23 to 25.
“Alamitos Bay Yacht Club and Long Beach Yacht Club team up to put together this event each year, merging our forces to provide – with our years of experience and knowledge gleaned from this event, and others – the best regatta possible, for our participants,” said co-chair John Busch, of LBYC. “This year we were blessed with strong winds, fair seas, excellent competition and great parties. And we couldn’t do it without our sponsors, like Ullman Sails and all the others who support this great event.”
Three stellar days, of breeze and sunshine, rounded out this annual funfest of racing and parties. Over 100 teams, hailing from Montana to Mexico, competed in one design and PHRF racing, on three different courses along the California coast.
“We were a little worried initially, when we didn’t see the number of entries we’d like early on,” Busch admitted, “but as usual, a lot of people wait to sign up.” Traditionally, numbers are lighter in Transpac years, as those racers do their final prep for the Los Angeles to Honolulu Race, which starts next week.“But we ended up with 122 boats – and some really strong fleets like the J/70s, plus the weekend warriors who come out to play and make it such a fun event,” said Busch.
There were thrills and spills, in the 15 to 20 knot conditions, and chop. And, the 28-boat J/70 fleet loved every minute of it! In the end, Chris Snow’s COOL STORY BRO iced the class, never finishing lower than 5th place to win 16 pts total over 7 races. For the balance of the top five, it might as well have been a complete shoot-out at the OK Corral! All boats finished within 5 pts of each other. Hanging on in the thrilling final race to determine who finished where, Jeff Janov’s MINOR THREAT from California YC took the silver, while Jim Murrell’s HUCKLEBERRY grabbed the bronze, just one point separating them. In fourth was Pat Toole’s 3 BIG DOGS team from Santa Barbara YC and they were also the Corinthians Division winner! Fifth place was none other than the infamous Chris Raab from Newport Harbor YC, finishing just one pt back from the “3 doggers” and taking 2nd in Corinthians. Third in Corinthians Division was Tracy & Christy Usher’s CHRISTINE ROBIN. The J/120 class also did not expect a “runaway”! However, that is exactly what they saw, a jailbreak from day one that started with four straight 1sts and never looked back! Guess who?? Hmmmm. This time it was John Laun’s CAPER gangster laying down some serious pipe and emphasized that fact by winning the last race, too, to close with a mere 11 pts in 7 races. Ouch, a.k.a. a spanking of the fleet! Not surprisingly, behind them it was a fierce battle for the balance of the podium and the top five. Surviving the brutal battle was Ernie Pennell’s MAD MEN, taking home a total of 23 pts to take the silver…just. In third was Rudolph Hasl’s HASL FREE with a 23.8 pts total based on two redress scores. Only two pts back in 4th place was Chuck Nichols’ CC RIDER and in 5th place was John Snook’s JIM with 27 pts. WOW!! No rest for the weary in this fun-filled, family-based class in SoCAL!
In PHRF B Class, Jack Jorgensen’s J/111 PICOSA snagged third place behind the most wacked out, tuned out, custom modified PHRF boats on the West Coast. In PHRF Random B Class, Tim Harmon’s J/124 CIRRUS took third place, while Glenn Griley’s J/122 TKO was 5th and Seth Hall’s J/124 MARISOL took 6th place.In PHRF C Class, David Boatner’s famous J/35 RIVAL walked off with class honors. On a tiebreaker for third at 25 pts each, Heinz Butner’s J/109 RAPTOR won over Scott McDaniel’s J/105 OFF THE PORCH. Not far off the pace was David Angers’ J/80 MISS DEMEANOR in 7th spot.
“Ullman Sails is excited to sponsor this event once again, and to support great sailing, competition, and camaraderie at this fantastic venue. We appreciate the host clubs, all the volunteers, and of course the racers who continue to show up each year,” said Ken Cooper, of Ullman Sails. Sailing photo credits- Bronny Daniels/ JOY Sailing.com. Sailing photo credits- Dave McBridge For more Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week sailing information
J/70s Crush Famous Bol d’Or Mirabaud Race!!(Lake Geneva, Switzerland)- The Bol d’Or Mirabaud, organized by the Cercle de la Voile- Société Nautique de Genève, is the most prestigious inland lake regatta in the world. Started in 1939, it welcomes monohulls and multihulls each year on Lake Geneva, starting in Geneva, Switzerland. 567 boats (about 2,500+ sailors) were racing this year; over 17 nations were represented amongst the entries. The 79th Edition of the 123 kilometer (66.5 nautical mile) race track from Geneva to Le Bouveret and back- essentially an east to west and back course attracts some of Europe’s and the world’s top sailing talent.
Nicolas Mirabaud, executive committee member of Mirabaud & Cie SA, title sponsor of the event, was delighted about the ever-widening breadth of this regatta. “We’ve supported the Bol d’Or Mirabaud since 2005. Year after year, we contribute alongside the organizing committee to its evolution and we’re very satisfied over its growing success with the public, in particular beyond the borders of the Swiss lakes region!”
The forecast could not have been better for the thousands of sailors. Some years, it can be a complete drifter. No question, this year had the ability to set records. The forecast was for a sustained "bise" wind of 15-20 knots from the northeast and radiant sunshine. That meant a long beat to the first turning mark at the east end of the lake, then a “turn & burn”, pop the kite and blow home! At least, that was the plan imagined by just about everyone in the fleet.Almost all competitors of this exceptional Bol d’Or Mirabaud edition completed the race sooner than expected, giving them the choice of their bed, or the Societe Nautique Geneve terrace for an “after-race refreshment” where they could be exchanging war stories from the regatta with other crews.
In the end, the little boats killed the “big boats”- all those things with racks, trapezes, foils and what not. Who was the giant killer!? A J/70 one-design speedster, no less!! In the “small” TCF4 class, the winner boat-for-boat and on handicap was the J/70 CDE.CH, helmed by Marc Stern. Incredibly, they were 105th in the overall real-time ranking of 567 boats! They clearly relished the long upwind beat and the planing-mode conditions back home! Plus, taking 2nd in their class was yet another J/70, Frederick Hedlund’s AGERA 3! Here was the clincher, when the dust settled and all fleet results were in, the Overall Handicap winner in the ACVL handicap ranking for the 500+ keelboats that sailed the race (excluding multihulls) was Stern’s J/70 CDE.CH!! And, third was stablemate Hedlund’s J/70 AGERA 3! The ACVL ranking is based on handicapped time; each boat is assigned a coefficient based on its characteristics, which is multiplied by the actual race time. Apparently, never in the history of the Bol d’Or Mirabaud has a one-design won and taken two of the top three positions overall, not even the 100+ Surprises that have been sailing on the lakes for years! For more Bol D’Or Mirabaud Race sailing information
J/Crews Dominate Van Isle 360 Race Comfortably!(Nanaimo, BC, Canada)- Once again sailors are showing that the Pacific Northwest is J/Boat country by taking 1st or 2nd in all three classes in the 2017 Van Isle 360! Thirty keelboats participated in this year's race, of which seven of them are J/teams (23% of the fleet!).
The conditions for this year's event covered almost the full spectrum of the Beaufort scale with beautiful summer winds up the inside of the island while crossing tacks with the Race to Alaska teams followed by winds kissing 40 knots from Telegraph Cove to Port Hardy with big rolling waves, smooth sailing over the Nahwitti Bar and around Cape Scott to Winter Harbor followed by a brutal 138 mile slog to Ucluelet with waves approaching 12 ft and 30+ knot winds, and then a beautiful run down the straits to Victoria followed by the most challenging leg of the race - Victoria to Nanaimo with its plethora of navigational choices, currents and light wind conditions. The Van Isle 360 race course is one of the most varied and challenging courses you'll ever compete on.Sailing under the Offshore Racing Congress Rule (ORC) Class 1 was taken by the beautiful teak decked J/122E JOY RIDE owned and skippered by John Murkowski. JOY RIDE is a beautiful 2015 model of the J/122E and the ride around the island must have been in style with her comfortable two head two-cabin layout! (https://www.facebook.com/joyridesailing)
Second in class 1, putting on the steam in the middle of the course was the J/125 HAMACHI and her new owners Jason Andrews & Shawn Dougherty. The J/125 continues to prove that high performance can be manageable and even though she doesn't sport the comfortable interior of the J/122E she can sail you around Vancouver Island through some varied and rather gnarly conditions and bring you into the finish well ahead of much bigger yachts. (http://hamachiracing.blogspot.com)Fourth place in Class 1 was taken by the J/133 CONSTELLATION, just 3 points out of 3rd after sailing such a long way. Built in 2005 and owned by Ron Holbrook, CONSTELLATION takes comfort to a new level with her 43' length and her microwave, television, double heads and plenty of tankage- this is performance cruising at its best!
Class 2 was taken by the J/109 MOJO owned by Mark Hansen. Based out of Vancouver, British Columbia these Canadians took this performance cruiser- arguably one of the most capable performance cruisers ever built- around Vancouver Island and through consistent sailing took the overall win by 4 points over the second place boat. (https://www.facebook.com/J109Mojo/)Just 3 points out of second after the 9-leg course was another J/109, SERENDIPITY, owned by Tom Sitar. SERENDIPITY pulled off 2 first place finishes and if it wasn't for an 8th coming into Victoria would have had a chance at 2nd place in ORC 2.
In ORC Class 3, second place, just 4 points back from 1st, was the original J Performance Cruising Boat, the J/30! Designed as the perfect all around cruising and racing boat, the J/30 continues to perform over 30 years after its inception- and this 1979, yep 79 model year(!), naturally took things to a new level and took 2nd place in Class 3 racing doublehanded! Well done NATURAL HIGH sailed by Mardy Grossman & Scott Shaw-MacLaren.Congratulations to the Van Isle 360 J/Boat teams! We are sure you had an experience of a lifetime and showed us all that manageability and comfort can go hand and hand with performance and will put you on the podium. Thanks for report contribution from Ben Braden at Sailboat Northwest in Seattle, WA. For more Van Isle 360 Race sailing information
Triumphant J/Crews Love Queen’s Cup Race(Milwaukee, WI)- If you just witnessed the extraordinary Emirates Team New Zealand crew win that famous silver trophy, known as the America’s Cup (e.g. the 100 Guineas Cup), here’s another equally fascinating story.
The Queen's Cup is one of the oldest trophies in the world of yachting that is still offered for competition every year. Its history dates back to an age when British Victorian silverware was the most sought after by Europe’s business tycoons (e.g. the equivalent of modern day billionaires). On August 22nd 1851, the yacht AMERICA won the Round Isle of Wight Race (taking place this weekend) for the 100 Guineas Cup, trouncing all competitors boat-for-boat, quite unexpectedly for those in the Queen’s peerage. Later, in 1853, another American yacht participated in another 100 Guineas Cup event, although they did not win, the Queen of England saw to it they deserved a “50 Guineas Cup” trophy— what is now today’s “Queens Cup”, forever raced for on America’s Lake Michigan!
T
oday, it is the coveted overall trophy for the race from Milwaukee, WI to South Haven, MI (approx. 117° and 76.3nm long). Simple, really! Start, and send it across Lake Michigan. For those not familiar with Great Lakes/ Midwest weather, nothing could be more complicated! Go high of rhumb, go low of rhumb, or a combo of the two! Each strategy can spell success, or ultimate disaster! In the most classic case, a front rolls in from the west, setting up a southwest breeze and its just “white sails” across the lake, or if the front builds fast enough and begins to back to the west, most boats pop chutes and fly towards the craziest finish line ever off the harbor entrance to South Haven, Michigan. Some years, it has been nearly impossible to get into the harbor due to the huge waves that pile up on the shoreline from the powerful westerlies!This year’s event, thank goodness, was somewhat well-behaved from a weather standpoint, at least by Midwest standards that are accustomed to water spouts, tornados, rolling cloud squalls of 80 kts, hail beyond golf-ball sizes and so forth!!
In PHRF 1 class, it was Bill Schanen’s beautiful blood-red J/145 MAIN STREET that took third in her class of mainly wildly modified TP52s, Farr 40s and other oddities.
For PHRF 2 class, half of the top eleven boats were J/crews! Leading the pack was Bob McManus’ J/130 EDGE, winning class easily on corrected time. Third was Doug Petter’s J/130 WILLIE J, just six minutes back on corrected handicap tie. Then , just 40 seconds handicap time behind was Mitch Padnos’ J/122 SUFFICIENT REASON (notably, they won ORR B class overall). Jim Richter’s soon-to-become-famous J/44 CHEEP & DEEP II took 8th place and Bob Klairmont’s J/133 SIROCCO 3 placed 11th.
For the most part, the PHRF 3 was a.k.a. “the J/111 Division”, much to the chagrin of anything else floating on the starting line with them. The J/111 class has developed a reputation over the years on the Great Lakes as “offshore mercenaries”, the “Jack Sparrow’s” of offshore sailing, sparing no one and everyone. Cross them, you’re dead. Period. The J/111s in modern times have no peer racing offshore on the wildly varying conditions on the Great Lakes- upwind, reaching, power beating, running like hell in 35+ kts on A5 kites. Ask any competitor, NONE of them want to be in a J/111 class!
What happens after 76.3nm of racing in the J/111 class?? Well, in a one-design class, things can get quite close, like yelling at your buddies at the finish because they are, quite literally, next to you! The J/111s on the Great Lakes are proving just that; only 5 minutes separating the top five after 9 1/2 hours of racing!! WOW!!
The duo of Mark & Colin Caliban sailed NO QUARTER to first by a mere 9 seconds over Dick Hobbs’ HOBGOBLIN! Third place just 100 seconds back was class newcomer, Art Mitchel’s SNOW GOOSE. Then, fourth was Brad Faber’s UTAH another 80 seconds behind and in fifth was Jeff Schaefer’s SHMOKIN JOE yet another 80 seconds back. So, it was a drama-filled overnight race that surely saw teams pressing harder and harder as dawn arose in this fast race! No quarter, indeed, between the leading crews in this fun-filled, close fleet!
In PHRF 6 Class, we find that Doug Evans’ J/109 TIME OUT was 4th place. And, in PHRF 7 Class, taking 2nd was Andy Graff’s J/88 EXILE, third was Tod Patton’s J/88 BLONDIE 2, and 4th was Ben Wilson’s J/88 RAMBLER. Sixth was Mike Ludtke’s J/105 SMOKIN J and 8th was Don Brackey’s J/105 BIENFAIT. For more Queens Cup Race sailing information
Segel Club Enge Wins J/70 Swiss Sailing League- Act III(Estavayer, Switzerland)- Excellent wind and weather conditions crowned the end of the third stage of the Swiss Sailing Challenge League on Lake Neuchâtel. In an open and exciting competition until the last race, the Segelclub Enge (Zurich) sailed well to win five races and win the regatta in Estavayer. Taking second was Segelclub Murten and taking third was Club Nautique de Versoix.
The SC Enge team, led by Christian Sprecher, shined particularly well in the light winds on Saturday. With three victories in the first three heats, the Zurich-based team came out unbeaten from the first day of competition and took the lead in front of Segelclub Männedorf and YC Kreuzlingen.
A cool Beaufort 2-3 wind blew on Sunday from the west, which altered the balance of power. Morat started the day with two wins and caught up with SC Enge. The Nautical Club of Versoix, which had been leading the overall series, responded favorably to windier conditions and, as a result, skipper Mathieu Cadei and his team took third place with excellent results.The victory at Estavayer enabled SC Enge to take the overall lead in the Swiss Sailing Challenge League. CN Versoix is now in second place based on the tiebreaker at 6 pts each. Both clubs have a good chance of getting into the Swiss Sailing Super League. Ranked in third place is Yachtclub Kreuzlingen that also aspires to return to the highest Swiss National Sailing League. The decision will be made after the summer break in the final from 25 to 27 August in Davos. Follow the Swiss J/70 sailing league on Facebook here. For more Swiss J/70 Sailing League information.
Moss Leads J/70 Norwegian Sailing League(Sandefjord, Norway)- The Moss SF upgraded their tactician Karl-Einar Jensen to helmsman for this weekend and the move paid off big-time. The team clearly managed the change of roles for Moss Sailing Association and, once again, they delivered a win- so now it is two in a row for their sailing club.
The SEIL magazine's prediction that Mossingane is the year's favorites was further strengthened by this past weekend’s performance. They managed to start off with two bullets in the first two races, and then closed with four straight bullets to win with 14 pts. However, their primary antagonist/protagonist was KNS (Kongelig Norsk Seilforening), pushing them hard
all weekend long but not being able to overcome the consistent performance of Moss. Meanwhile, they were both chased hard by Asgardstrand that also managed to win a few races, but could not overcome the high-level of consistency of the top two teams.As a result, Moss is leading the series with a 1-1 tally for 2 pts. Lying in second is KNS with 2-2 for 4 pts. And, third is Brevik with a 3-4 for 7 pts. The Norwegian sailing league now takes a break and starts again in late August. Follow the Norwegian J/70 sailing league on Facebook here For more Norwegian J/70 Sailing League information
J/80 Pornic Cup Awarded to ARMEN HABITAT(Pornic, France)- The third event of the J/80 Coupe de France was held in Pornic, France and hosted by the Club Nautique de Pornic. Twenty boats participated in yet another convivial edition of this regatta that takes place in a beautiful, quaint, ancient seaside village under beautiful sunny skies and moderate winds. As always, CN Pornic provided perfectly run races and were impeccably gracious and welcoming of all sailors.
In the end, it was top French sailor, Simon Moriceau (APCC) and his ARMEN HABITAT crew (Jean Queveau, Pierre Loic Berthet, Stephane Geslin, Vincent Guillarm & Tiphaine Ragueneau) that quite easily won the event. They might as well have called their boat “SELDOM SEEN”, since they disappeared over the horizon on the fleet, winning 7 races and adding three 2nds to win with just 14 pts net in 12 races! In other words, it was a “schooling” of the fleet!
They were followed in second place by Remi Rabbe’s team on CNP AKAJOULE (Frank & Theo Vallet and Thibaud Lab), the only other team to win races (two of them) and accumulating all the 2nd places when Moriceau’s ARMENT HABITAT crew won! They finished with a total of 26 pts net.
The final step on the podium was taken by Patrick Bot’s TETHIS and his merry crew of Fabrice Morin, Maxime Carious, and Frederic Hauville. When AKAJOULE was taking 2nds, Bot’s TETHIS was taking 3rd! There seems to be a trend and theme here, right?? In any event, TETHIS finished with 54 pts net.
Rounding out the top five for this regatta were Stephane Cordier’s SKYPJACK in 4th place and Ludovic Gilet’s NUMERO J in the 5th spot. Here is a nicely done sailing video of the J/80 fleet tour of the old port of Pornic. For more J/80 Pornic Cup sailing information
“Mr J/24” Wins Australia Winter Regatta(Melbourne, Australia)- The June long weekend saw the running of the Cronulla Sailing Club J/24 Short Course Regatta in cold though fine (almost) conditions with wind ranging from 18-30 kts over the 2 days of sailing.
Competitors arrived from as far afield as Sandringham Yacht Club, the southern home of J/24 yacht racing in Australia, with one boat JET (Simon Grain) and another crew lead by ‘Mr J24’ Hugo Ottaway, both J/24 supporters of the Cronulla event for many years, also WILDFIRE (Janette Syme) and Marc Van Dinther (PINOT) made the journey from the Harbour and Botany Bay, to sail in the challenging inshore conditions of Bate Bay, Cronulla.
Our focus this year was to welcome new J/24 crews to the Cronulla family. SAILMATES (Steve Arnold) competed in their first regatta after purchasing their J/24 locally, also BOUDICCA (John Zagame) an offshore crewmember and now a proud J/24 owner, enthusiastically listening and improving as the weekend progressed. Wes Batty, another local from Cronulla bringing out PANDAMONIUM, the ever-popular mooring minder to race and be involved again.So, to the results! Hugo “Mr J/24” Ottaway, again, proved too good on scratch scoring just 12 pts with many bullets and second places. Second for the regatta was VERTIGO (Clinton Hood), the current South Australian J/24 State Champion. Third on the podium was RENAISSANCE (Stephen Wright), the current Jubilee Champion and Cronulla campaigner.
Performance Handicap saw VERTIGO pop up one place to first, STOCKCAR with the forever young David Mckay in second and RENAISSANCE in third place.
The Cronulla Sailing Club would like to thank all our the events supporters: Wet Tech Rigging, Macquart Marine, Aussea Sailing School, Spot-A-Yacht Photography, Newton Real Estate, Short Marine, CJ Construction, Cronulla Marina and Ryan Short Marine Services for your ongoing support to this grass roots event. Hope to see you all again at Cronulla next June for the Mid-Winter Championships. For more CSC WET-TECH J/24 Short Course Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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