(Newport, RI)- This year’s Newport Bermuda Race is the 51st running of the biennial offshore race. The action starts at 1300 hrs EDT Friday, June 15 from Newport, Rhode Island, just beneath the famous Castle Hill Inn & Lighthouse at the port end of the starting line. Beginning in 1906, it is the oldest regularly scheduled ocean race, and one of very few international distance races.
The purpose of the Bermuda Race was stated in 1923 by Cruising Club of America Commodore Herbert L. Stone: “In order to encourage the designing, building, and sailing of small seaworthy yachts, to make popular cruising upon deep water, and to develop in the amateur sailor a love of true seamanship, and to give opportunity to become proficient in the art of navigation”.
This year’s event is expected to be the fourth largest in the race’s history, with approximately 170 boats. The race attracts sailors from across North America and the globe; the fleet is extremely diverse, a total of 23 countries are represented in the crews.
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epending on the weather and the currents in the Gulf Stream, and the boat’s size and speed, the race takes two to six days. The first boat arrives at the finish line off St. David’s Lighthouse on Sunday or Monday, and the smaller boats arrive between then and Wednesday or Thursday.The race is demanding. The rules say, “The Newport Bermuda Race is not a race for novices!” The course crosses the rough Gulf Stream and is mostly out of the range of rescue helicopters, and Bermuda is guarded by a dangerous reef. The race is nicknamed “the thrash to the Onion Patch” because most Bermuda Races include high winds and big waves (a combination sailors call “a hard thrash”), and because Bermuda is an agricultural island (notably in its old days for onions!).
The race demands good seamanship, great care, and a boat that is both well-built and properly equipped. The boats must meet stringent equipment requirements and undergo inspection, and the sailors must also pass a review and undergo training in safety. The bonds formed by these sailors are strong. Numerous sailors have sailed more than 10 races, often with family and friends.It is no wonder that over the past 30+ years that more and more Bermuda racers have put their faith and trust in high-quality, offshore performance sailboats produced by the J/Design team that are easy to sail in any weather conditions- from sybaritic to stormy as hell. In virtually every major offshore race around the world, J/Teams have prevailed in some of the nastiest conditions imaginable, and sailed home safely to win class or overall trophies. And, remarkably, many of them have repeated those winning performances over the course of time on their J/Boats.
In this year’s 51st Bermuda Race, there are 29 J/crews ready to take on the challenges of the Gulf Stream meanders and rocky approaches to Bermuda. Not for the faint of heart, but the famous reception for all the crews at Royal Bermuda YC is well worth it!
ST DAVIDS LIGHTHOUSE DIVISION- only Class I helmsmen
In by far the largest division of the race, the St David’s Lighthouse Division, there are 109 entries of which 26 are J/Boats- nearly one-quarter of the entire field and easily the largest brand represented by a factor of 2.5!
SDL Class 5 includes two J/42s (Roger Gatewood’s SHAZAAM & Eliot Merrill’s FINESSE), Bill Passano’s J/37 CARINA, and Fred Allardyce’s J/40 MISTY.
The sole J/crew in SDL Class 6 is the brand new J/121 JACKHAMMER sailed by the United Kingdom’s Andrew Hall. See the “Bermuda Spotlight” on Andrew’s program below.
The fourteen-boat SDL Class 7 might as well have been labeled the Fast 40’s J/Boat Division. Four J/122s are sailing, including the 2016 Annapolis Newport winner- Paul Milo’s ORION. Other 122s include Dan Heun’s MOXIEE, Chris Stanmore-Major’s SUMMER GRACE, and Dave Cielusniak’s J-CURVE. In addition, there are five J/120s, including past Bermuda winner- Richard Born’s WINDBORN. Other 120s include John Harvey & Rick Titsworth’s SLEEPING TIGER, Stu McCrea’s DEVIATION, Rick Oricchio’s ROCKET SCIENCE, Bob Manchester’s VAMOOSE and Brian Spears’ MADISON.
SDL Class 8 has Dale & Mike McIvor’s J/133 MATADOR and twin J/44s only this year (Chris Lewis’ KENAI & Len Sitar’s VAMP).
SDL Class 9 has two of the new J/121 offshore speedsters- Joe & Mike Brito’s INCOGNITO and David Southwell’s ALCHEMY. In addition, there will be Brian Prinz’s offshore machine, the J/125 SPECTRE and Jon Burt’s J/130 LOLA.
FINISTERRE DIVISION- the “cruising division”- only one main, one jib, one spinnaker fixed on centerline permitted and only Class I helmsmen.Sailing in the Finisterre Class 12 division is Joe Murli’s J/44 SIRENA BELLA and Charles Willauer and family on board their J/46 BREEZING UP. Class 13 division has Howie Hodgson’s lovely J/160 TRUE.
GIBBS HILL DIVISION- water ballast, canting keels permitted, helmsmen either Class I or III.
In the Gibbs Hill Class 14 division is Leonid Vasiliev’s J/120 DESPERADO and another new J/121- Don Nicholson’s APOLLO.
DOUBLEHANDED DIVISION
Finally, sailing in the Doublehanded Class 3 division will be Gardner Grant’s Bermuda Race-winning J/120 ALIBI and Steve Berlack’s J/42 ARROWHEAD (another past Bermuda Race winner).
Newport Bermuda SpotlightAndrew Hall’s hot new J/121 JACKHAMMER has been preparing the entire spring for the NBR. Chris Museler, New York Times sailing columnist, had a chance to catch up to him recently. Here is that interview:
It seems odd that Andrew Hall decided not to install the water-ballast tanks offered in his brand new J/121 JACKHAMMER. This turbo-boost feature will be used by two of the four 121’s competing in this year’s Newport Bermuda Race. They are the latest offshore 40 footers, with furling, carbon reaching sails, plumb bows and a sleek cabin that mimics today’s high performance Superyacht.
JACKHAMMER will join ALCHEMY (also not using water ballast), in the St. David’s Lighthouse Division, while the other two J/121s, APOLLO and INCOGNITO, will be racing in the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division where water ballast is allowed, along with canting keel boats and no limits on professional crews.
“It’s mainly because we’re penalized under the handicap so much for the water ballast,” explains Hall, who has been training with his mostly British crew throughout April out of his summer home in Jamestown, Rhode Island. “We also couldn’t race in the amateur division with ballast. And without the tanks, it makes the boat more roomy down below, and can sleep more people.”
The sail profiles between all the J/121s are identical, says Hall, who has sailed four Bermuda Races, some on his last boat, the J/133 JACKKNIFE. He races a J/125 in the RORC summer offshore series in the UK and he’s looking forward to testing out the new boat on an ocean course.
“The J/125 goes like a bat out of hell, but has a poor handicap,” says Hall. “Hopefully the 121 will be competitive and a lot more comfortable. The 125 is decidedly not comfortable and decidedly wet.”
The water-ballasted J/121s rate faster than JACKHAMMER, and though the ballast adds righting moment and power, there are times when it’s not needed. Hall says that he hasn’t lined up against another 121 to discover if, under handicap, one will win over the other. He does say there are benefits to using water ballast besides strict performance.“They’re [ballast tanks] there for sailing with less people,” says Hall. “That’s quite nice, particularly for sailing doublehanded.”
The J/121 has a sailplan well-suited to close reaching angles, often a Newport Bermuda Race point of sail.
Hall, a Brit, will be sailing with his son and a mixture of Americans and fellow countrymen. The crew was bending on storm sails in the sub-freezing mornings of April, with numb fingers pushing dog bones through the loops of the storm jib’s soft hanks. JACKHAMMER was soon seen ripping across Narragansett Bay in fresh northwesterlies testing sail combinations and tweaking electronics.
Though the Bermuda Race will be a great test of this new, high performance design, Hall and his crew consider it just a stop on a regular calendar of fantastic ocean races.
After Bermuda, JACKHAMMER will be shipped to Italy and then brought down to Malta for the Middle Sea Race. In 2019, it’s the RORC offshore series and, possibly, the Fastnet Race. Then another crack at Bermuda in 2020.
“I look forward to this race,” says Hall. “We will have covered a few miles by the time we get back here in two year’s time.” Thanks for this contribution from New York Times reporter- Chris Museler. For more Newport to Bermuda Race sailing information
Italian Open J/70 Nationals Announcement(Malcesine (Lake Garda), Italy)- From July 12th to 15th, the Italian Open J/70 Championship will be taking place at Malcesine, a pretty waterfront town on the western shore of Lago di Garda. It is the perfect opportunity to test the waters of the race course for the 2019 Europeans, that will also be in Malcesine.
Registrations close on June 25th and the event will consist of four days of racing.
Following this week’s J/70 Europeans taking place in Vigo, Spain, it is expected a significant portion of that fleet will then pack up their boats and head to Italy’s most famous sailing lake, a.k.a. “the wind machine” on Lago di Garda.
One of those expert crews attending may be a three-time J/70 World Champion crew- Willem van Waay. Here is an interview between Silvia Gallegati, the Italian J/70 Class communications director, with Willem. The main focus of the interview is on the J/70 and he says some very important “secrets” on the rigging and tuning of the boat that may be useful to all J/70 crews.
https://www.facebook.com/Zerogradinord/videos/2247823425235687
For more information about the Italian Open J/70 Nationals, please don’t hesitate to contact- Silvia Gallegati- E: silvia.gallegati@gmail.com / M: +39 347.3450040
Kieler Woche Regatta Preview(Kiel, Germany)- The 136th edition of Kieler Woche (Kiel Week) will be taking place from June 16th to the 24th and participating will be 1,500+ sailboats and over 5,000 sailors for the week long event. Considered one of the world’s largest sailing events, Kiel Week is hosted by several clubs, with Kieler YC as the principal host.
Even in its 136th year, Kieler Woche still plays a virtuoso performance on the keyboard of festivity: Kieler Woche is the largest summer festival in Northern Europe.
During the week, more than three million visitors from all over the world will be diving into the colorful and multi-facetted life of Kieler Woche. Around 2,000 events in areas of culture, sailing, summer festival, entertainment, science, politics, industry and sport come together to form a maritime symphony. Visitors are promised nine days of high spirits in the far North.
Three J/fleets are participating as one-design sailboat classes, including J/70s, J/80s and J/24s.
There is a huge turnout for the J/70 class, with 48 boats registered, ready to do battle on the Baltic Sea. The growing participation in the German J/70 class can be directly attributable to the evolution of the Deutsche J/70 Segel-Bundesliga; it has over fifty-five sailing clubs and thousands of sailors engaged as team/club members sailing the highly popular J/70s on Germany’s vast array of lakes. In this year’s event, three nations are represented (Germany, Denmark, France). Notable German teams include Bjorn Belken’s PROCEDES DIVA, Gerd Knospe’s SANNA R, Frank Schonfeldt’s DER GERAT, Karsten Witte’s J-WD, Michael Grau’s PAINT IT BLACK, and Tobias Feuerherdt’s ONKEL HANNE. The Danish crew on Soren Larsen’s CRACKER JACK and the French crew on Christoph Cornelius’ FRA 23 will be hoping to crack the top of the leaderboard.
The nineteen-boat J/80 class will see a cross-section of German, Dutch, and Danish teams. Leading the Germans will be past Kieler Woche winner, Martin Menzner on PIKE. Other top German crews hoping to be on that leaderboard include Andreas Rose’ TRUE GRIT, Hauke Kruss’ TAK FOR TUREN, Max Gebhard’s MARAMA, and Torsten Voss’ FRIDA.With an array of World and European Champions in the mix, the twenty-nine-boat J/24 class looks to have formidable competition. Leading that charge from the USA is Mike Ingham’s NAUTALYTICS, a past J/24 World Champion. The top British crew is Ian Southworth’s IL RICCIO, another World and European J/24 Champion. Then Swedish National Champion, Per-Hakan Persson will be racing FRONT RUNNER.
The leading German crews should include Daniel Frost’s JJONE, Fabian Damm’s HUNGRIGER WOLF, Frank Schonfeldt’s HENK, Manfred Konig’s VITESSE, and Stefan Karsunke’s GER 5381.
In the ORC Offshore Divisions, it will be interesting to follow the progress of Hinnerk Blenckner’s J/105 JALAPENO, Hauke Moje’s J/97 QUIRON, Frank Stahl’s J/97 MORENA, and Christian Tinnemeier’s J/125 NEEDLES & PINS. For any Kieler Woche results For more Kieler Woche sailing information
Women’s SAILING Champions League Preview(Kiel, Germany)- The Women’s SAILING Champions League is about to begin with the first all-women’s regatta this weekend at the start of Kieler Woche– a.k.a. Kiel Week, the biggest sailing regatta in the world. This event is the latest innovation to be launched out of the successful SAILING Champions League format. Taking place from June 16th to 18th, this innovative regatta presented by Audi has attracted prestigious yacht clubs from Denmark, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.
It is fair to say that the Danes from Royal Danish YC (KDY) are fielding one of the strongest and most experienced crews for Kieler Woche. At the helm is Danish Olympic representative Henriette Koch, crewed by a team that has raced together when they won the 2015 Women’s Match Racing World Championship, including Tina Schmidt Gramkov who also sailed for Denmark in the match-racing event at London 2012.Less than two weeks ago, at the first semifinal of the SAILING Champions League in Porto Cervo, the only all-women crew among the 22 international entries was winning heats against the men. In fact, they were leading the entire regatta after the first day! In the end, they finished 5th, an astounding achievement against 21 other top crews from Europe’s best sailing clubs. As a result, KDY has qualified to compete in the final of the SAILING Champions League at St Moritz later this summer.
In Kiel, each team will compete with a four to five-person crew. The event will be sailed in a fleet of matched one-design J/70 sailboats and the racing area will be Kiel Bay in the Baltic Sea.
Laura Fischer, who will be at the helm for German club Deutscher Touring Yacht Club, commented: “We are happy to be part of the first-ever Women’s SAILING Champions League. We have put together a young, but at the same time, very experienced team. We are excited to be competing against the other female crews from other European clubs and we are looking forward to some exciting races in Kiel.”
The first Women’s SAILING Champions League event is organized by SAILING Champions League GmbH and the International Sailing League Association (ISLA). Nynne Desirée Ammundsen, General Secretary from ISLA, said: “From an ISLA point of view, what we see with Women’s SAILING Champions League is all that we could ever wish for. Gathering and developing a strong league concept while developing the dynamics of league sailing is the founding mission of ISLA. In addition, promoting this mission for women- an important target for ISLA- is an extra bonus. It is therefore a true pleasure to provide a platform and experience for women sailors.”
Livestream and results:
To follow all the action online, tune into the livestream for the Saturday and Monday of racing. This will be available on Facebook, YouTube and also on the SAILING Champions League website (http://www.sailing-championsleague.com).
SAP Sailing Analytics provides 24/7 additional statistics and data for sailors, fans, spectators and media like GPS tracking, real-time analysis, and live leaderboard combined with 2D visualization. You can find all results on SAPsailing.com (http://wwww.sapsailing.com)!The clubs competing in Women’s SAILING Champions League from each country are: Denmark (Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub, Copenhagen/ Hellerup Sejlklub, Hellerup), Finland (Nyländska Jaktklubben, Helsinki), Germany (Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club, Tutzing (near Munich)/ Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, Hamburg), Lithuania (GVK Team, Vilnius), Netherlands (International Yacht Club Amsterdam, Amsterdam), Sweden (Malmö Segelsällskap, Malmö), Switzerland (Zürcher Segel Club, Zurich). Watch the J/70 Women’s SAILING Champions League trailer here For more Women’s SAILING Champions League sailing information
Cleveland Race Week Preview(Cleveland, OH)- The highly-popular Cleveland Race Week starts this coming weekend on the waters of Lake Erie, hosted by the Edgewater Yacht Club for both one-design and offshore yachts. The event has three components to satisfy the desires of all the passionate sailors in the region. Starting June 15th to 17th is the One-Design program for twenty-four J/Teams on J/22s, J/70s, and J/105s. Then, on June 20th- Wednesday- there will be Women’s & Doublehanded racing for one day. After that is the Offshore Regatta from June 23rd to 24th, with seventeen J’s racing in yet more J/105 One-designs as was as a PHRF fleet that includes J/24s up to J/111s.
The six-boat J/22 class features Mike Meaney’s MEANIAC and Chris Princing’s EVIL DR. PORK CHOP/ AWARD & SPORTS Team.
The eleven-boat J/70 fleet has several well-known veteran traveling teams, including Trey Sheehan’s infamous HOOLIGAN: FLAT STANLEY RACING, Tod Sackett’s FM, Lee Sackett & Dave Kerr’s USA 364, and Ted Pinkerton’s LITTLE SIDE HUSTLE.The seven-boat J/105 class has Ron Carson’s DARK’N’STORMY, Tom & Cindy Einhouse’s OVATION, Ron Hollingsworth’s SLINGSHOT, and the Uhlir Brother’s TRIO.
For the Women’s event, Katie Langolf’s J/34 IOR will be racing against Lucinda Einhouse’s J/105 OVATION for class honors.
The Offshore PHRF Spinnaker class will be gigantic, with twenty-eight boats on the starting line. Amongst them will be fourteen J/Teams. Those crews include the J/111’s (Rob Ruhlman’s SPACEMAN SPIFF & Don Hudak’s CAPERS), Tim Yanda’s J/120 VIVA LA VIDA, Chris Mallets’ J/109 SYNCHRONICITY, Hugh Scott Seaholm’s J/88 PAPA’s TOY, two J/34s (Brett & Katie Langolf’s KNEE DEEP & Dave Krotseng’s BONAFIDE), Mark Saffell’s J/36 PAINKILLER, two J/105s (Uhlir Brothers’ TRIO & Ron Carson’s DARK’N’STORMY), Rich & Dolores Galaska’s BREEZIN, and Mike Vining’s J/24 REALLY BAD GIRLFRIEND. For more Cleveland Race Week sailing information
Block Island Race Week Preview(Block Island, RI)- The Duck Island Yacht Club in Westbrook, Connecticut and the Block Island Yacht Club have teamed up to co-host Block Island Race Week 2018. The event will feature five days of racing (2 per day) on Block Island Sound June 17th to the 22nd.
In a “Bermuda Race” year, the event has always been much more laid back with a smaller fleet of boats. Nevertheless, the camaraderie is proportionately greater as everyone seems to know everyone sailing in the regatta. That quaintness, in fact, serves as its appeal for many sailors that simply want a relaxing “sailing vacation.”
A number of J/crews have answered that call of competitive, but laid-back random leg races, not all that windward-leeward, rest, rinse, repeat, again and again in monotonous fashion kind of stuff. This year’s DIYC and BIYC PRO’s have promised to make it fun, easy, and not too many sets and takedowns each day! In the PHRF Spinnaker division, a total of eight boats are sailing, half of it J/teams. Three J/111s are racing; Sedge & Andy Ward’s BRAVO, Greg Slamowitz’s MANITOU, and Kenn Fischburg’s WILD CHILD. Joining them is a very fast J/29, John Hammel’s appropriately named SLEEPER from Noroton YC. Sailing in the PHRF Non-Spin Class is Peter Hilgendorff’s J/29 MEDDLER. Should be fun! For more Block Island Race Week sailing information
Three Buoys Fiasco Race Preview(Seattle, WA)- The notoriously fun-loving Sloop Tavern YC in Seattle, WA is hosting is newly famous “Three Buoys Fiasco” race. Like the San Francisco Bay brothers down south that pioneered the Three Bridge Fiasco, the masterminds in the Pacific Northwest thought that sounded like a great idea. So, in an ode to the SF Bay friends, the race is devised in a similar, devious fashion- three marks are determined prior to the day’s race based on wind & weather conditions, then once you start, you can choose to round them anyway you want, so long as you go around all three!
Loving the organized chaos will be seven J/Crews from across the region. Two J/105s are going for it (Jeremy Boynes’ AVALANCHE & Jim Geros’ LAST TANGO), two J/80s are in the mix (Alan’s’ STELLAR J & Lek Dimarucot’s UNDERDOG), Bill Daniel’s J/100 TOURIST will be there, so will be Ulf Georg Gwildis’ J/30 IMPULSIVE and Leo Morales’ beautifully restored J/27 WIZARD. For more Three Buoy Fiasco sailing information
J/46 Rendezvous @ Camden Classics Cup- It’s official!(Camden, Maine)- There will be a J/46 One-Design Class at the Lyman Morse Camden Classics Cup July 26th to 28th, 2018.
Four J/46s are already entered in this fun and well-run event that will surpass 50 entries. Besides an owner’s forum Thursday afternoon during registration, there will be J/46 One-Design races on Friday and Saturday and great parties both nights.
So that no one has to get out of cruising trim for the event, here are the rules:
- Appropriate anchor and chain in place on the bow
- Dodger up
- Jib maximum is 100%, no genoas
- No spinnakers
- Autopilots, electric winches, and whisker poles permitted
- Single-handed, double-handed or a whole gang of crew, all good
- Deep-draft boats will carry a PHRF handicap relative to the shoal-draft boats per Rod Johnstone’s recommendation.
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
As the world approaches the “summer solstice” of June 21st in the northern hemisphere, and thus the “winter solstice” in the southern hemisphere, there is no question who has the better deal. Is it ever a wonder why our South American, Ozzie & Kiwi brothers and sisters have an enormous sailing advantage over their “frozen” family to the north of the Equator? Simple math. Doh! Those “down under” enjoy a nine-month summer while their friends up north of the border have around a 3-5 month sailing window. Doesn’t seem fair, does it? Just plain facts. Perhaps, the accelerating magnetic North Pole to the ESE, means summer sailing in Arctic waters, and summer cruises in J/24s across the Northwest Passage?? Perhaps. That could definitely help northern hemisphere sailors as the world warms up! However, whatever is happening, it’s producing rather weird weather everywhere!On the North American side of things, the Chicago NOOD event is one of the biggest on the Helly Hansen Sailing World NOOD Regatta circuit. This event included one-design classes for J/70s, J/105s, J/109s, J/111s, and J/88s. In addition, there was the North Sails Rally with ORR/PHRF divisions for a J/100, J/105, J/120, J/130, J/133, J/112E, and J/44. Of the 144 keelboats registered, 58 were J/Crews (40% of the fleet).
The biennial Annapolis to Bermuda race, a 735nm race hosted by the Eastport YC and the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club in Bermuda, is the longest ocean race on the USA east coast. Again, this year it delivered a unique combination of inshore and offshore racing through its route down the Chesapeake Bay (starting in Annapolis, MD), across the Gulf Stream, and onto Bermuda.
For the NYYC Annual Regatta, it was the 164th edition that offered buoy or navigator-course racing for one-designs and yachts sailing under IRC, ORR, CRF and PHRF handicap over the June 9th and 10th weekend. Then, down in the Chesapeake Bay, the Annapolis Leukemia Cup Regatta took place in Annapolis, MD, hosted by the Eastport and Annapolis YC for PHRF and one-designs of J/30s, J/35s, J/80s, and J/105s.
Over on the European side of the world, it was incredibly busy all over the continent. For starters, the J/70 Europeans have been taking place for sixty-nine teams from fifteen countries, hosted by the Real Club Náutico de Vigo. At the same time, the Royal Ocean Racing Club has been hosting a stellar fleet of thirty-three offshore IRC racing teams from nine countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Turkey, USA) at their Cowes, Isle of Wight station for the 2018 IRC European Championship, a J/112E and J/109 are both doing well.
Up north in Sweden, the inaugural Midsummer Challenge starting in Stockholm challenged offshore keelboat solo sailors for a 125nm race through the Bohuslän- Swedish archipelago. Then, in the sailing league world, the Dutch held their second event in Roermond, The Netherlands for 15 teams. The German J/70 Sailing League held their first event at Tutzing, Germany on Lake Starnberg for 18 clubs. Then, on a famous lake known to thousands of European sailors, the Italian J/24 Championship took place at Riva del Garda, Italy- hosted by Fraglia Vela Riva del Garda.
Meanwhile, our friendly and lovable “convicts” down under in Australia enjoyed their 30th-plus Australian J/24 Midwinters at the incredibly hospitable and accommodating hosts at the Cronulla Sailing Club, off Sydney Harbour.
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 pag Below are the summaries.
Regatta & Show Schedules:
Jun 15- Newport to Bermuda Race- Newport, RIJun 16-24- Kiel Week/ Kieler Woche- Kiel, Germany
Jun 16-18- Women’s SAILING Champions League- Kiel, Germany
Jun 16-17- Three Buoy Fiasco- Seattle, WA
Jun 17-22- Block Island Race Week- Block Island, RI
Jun 20-23- J/22 North American Championship- Wayzata, MN
Jun 22-24- J/FEST Seattle- Seattle, WA
Jun 22- RORC Morgan Cup Race- Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
Jun 22-24- Long Beach Race Week- Long Beach, CA
Jun 23-25- J/70 EURO CUP V- Riva del Garda, Italy
Jun 28- Jul 1- Norwegian J/70 National Championship- Hanko, Norway
Jun 29- Jul 1- New York YC One-Design Regatta- Newport, RI
Jun 30- Vic-Maui International Yacht Race- Victoria, BC, Canada
Jul 7-14- J/80 World Championship- Les Sables d’Olonne, France
Jul 7- Round the Island Race- Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
Jul 7-8- Sail Newport Regatta- Newport, RI
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J/70 Europeans Update(Vigo, Spain)- Sixty-nine teams from fifteen countries have been sailing the 2018 J/70 Class Open European Championship and 2018 J/70 Corinthian Class European Championship. Organized by the Real Club Náutico de Vigo in conjunction with the International J/70 Class Association, and J/70 Spanish Class Association.
Thirteen races were scheduled over five days, racing in the stunning Ria de Vigo on the Atlantic coast of Northwest Spain. The Real Club Náutico de Vigo has provided a warm welcome to competitors with social occasions throughout the regatta. So far, the sailing has been stunning. Here are the up-to-date race reports.
Day One- Tuesday- Sparkling Start in VigoThe first day was blessed with sparkling conditions in Ria de Vigo. A brisk northerly breeze piped up to 18 knots with a meter sea state providing thrilling downwind conditions. Highly competitive starts, with solid traffic at mark roundings, made for high octane racing of the highest caliber. Three races were held for the 69-boat fleet, with three different winners. Krzysztof Krempec's EWA (POL), Alberto Rossi's ENFANT TERRIBLE (ITA), and Paolo Tomsic's SOCIETA NAUTICA GRIGNANO (ITA). Luis Bugallo's MARNATURA (ESP), representing the Real Club Náutico de Vigo, was the top Corinthian J/70.
Peter Duncan's RELATIVE OBSCURITY (USA) came back from a bad start in the last race to get up to fourth, which really made the difference, the reigning J/70 World Champion was a happy man after his first taste of action in Vigo.
“It was gorgeous sailing out there today, a beautiful body of water, very exciting with 69 boats on the start line. The race committee did a good job, which is not easy with that many boats. I have always thought that Europeans sail J/70s well, and they showed that today. It was really close, if you made a mistake, you paid for it,” said Peter Duncan.
Alberto Rossi's ENFANT TERRIBLE (ITA) scored a 3-1-11 to finish the day in second place. The former Farr 40 and TP52 World Champion was full of praise for the J/70 Class.
“It was tough racing today, the level continues to increase in the class, with the top 30 boats all capable of winning races. Even with a split start line, a lot of boats tend to go for the favored side, and if you don't get a good start and hold your lane, you can easily end up with a bad result. We did make a few mistakes, but we are happy with our results,” commented Alberto Rossi.
Krzysztof Krempec's EWA (POL) had a great day, winning the first race and scoring top ten results to finish Day One in third position. Krempec's team has only been racing in the class for the last 18 months.
“I am very pleased, we had three good races with excellent wind and it was really good fun. The level in the regatta is very high with a lot of boats together, which means it is not easy; you are constantly fighting with different boats. Our success today was not down to one thing, it was important to sail consistently, even though two of our starts were not good, we concentrated on our position and boat speed, and they were the keys to success,” observed Krzysztof Krempec.
The top Spanish team was Jose María Torcida's NOTICIA (ESP) scoring a 9-2-9 to place fourth after three races. Noticia was runner up for the 2017 European Championships.
“The conditions today have been great and it seems we are going to have more windy days during the week. Racing in a fleet of 69 boats is always tricky, especially at the starts, which will always be really tight. With a clear favourite side of the course, the starts were really complicated,” said Jose María Torcida.
After racing, over 300 competitors enjoyed local delicacies including traditional Galician tapas and refreshments at the Race Village. In the grounds of the Real Club de Vigo live music from Vigo cover band Penny Lane Syndrome created a perfect atmosphere.
Day Two- Wednesday- Full-On ConditionsThrilling racing took place on the second day in the Ria de Vigo. The wind speed topped out at over 20 knots for much of the day, providing awesome downwind planing conditions for the fleet. Three races were held, with a discard kicking in on the last race of the day.
Peter Duncan's RELATIVE OBSCURITY (USA) scored two bullets to lead the fleet after six races. Relative Obscurity's trimmer Willem van Waay commented, “Those are the days that keep you wanting to race these boats, it was gorgeous out there today.” Audio Interview with Willem van Waay
Alberto Rossi's ENFANT TERRIBLE (ITA) put in another great performance winning Race 4 to keep the pressure on the leader, just two points behind. Paolo Tomsic's Società Nautica Grignano (ITA) had another great day scoring a 5-10-2, putting the Corinthian team from Lake Garda into third place overall and top of the Corinthian Division.
Paolo Tomsic was quick to give praise to his team for their impressive performance. “We are so very happy with this unexpected result, we are very honored to be in Vigo, this is a beautiful location where we feel very comfortable. We hope our performance will be consistent in the next few days. We are used to big winds, being based on Lake Garda , but there you never find waves as big as this! Our team is Giuliano Chiandrussi, Emanuele Noè; Francesca Pagan, and above all our owner, Mauro Brescacin,” said Paolo Tomsic
Umberto de Luca's ENJOY (ITA) is in fourth place after six races. The 26 year-old from Yachting Club Torri on Lake Garda started sailing in the class last year after competing in the Laser and Finn Classes.
“There was strong wind today and very choppy seas with some good waves so it was a lot of fun, especially downwind. The results are coming because we are getting everything together but the most important thing is that we are very fast, especially upwind, which has got us out of some tricky situations, and the tactician is making some really good calls. It is an honor to sail against these big guys in the sailing world, and exciting for us to do so well,” commented Umberto de Luca.
CALYPSO (MLT), co-skippered by Jonathan Calascione & Seb Ripard, started the day well with a second place but lost a batten in the pre-start for Race 5 forcing the team to retire. Calypso was back out for Race 6, scoring a 10th place, keeping the Maltese team in the top five.
Luis Bugallo's MARNATURA (ESP) had a great day, fully pulling the trigger downwind; scoring three top-ten results to finish the day in sixth place overall, and second place in the Corinthian Class.
“Yesterday we decided to be conservatives and not take too much risks. However, today we planned the opposite and it worked. We are happy with our day,” said Luis Bugallo's MARNATURA from Real Club Náutico de Vigo is the top performing Spanish boat after six races.
After racing, competitors enjoyed the facilities of the purpose built Regatta Village at the Real Club de Vigo with live music from Vigo's Diego Pacheco and Tonechi. An official dinner was held at the Noble Hall at the Real Club Náutico de Vigo, honored guests included representatives of each country present at the J/70 European Championships.
Day Three- Thursday- Red Hot Sailing!After two days of fast exhilarating sailing, the pace changed with lighter conditions in the Ria de Vigo, but the intensity of the brilliant sunshine and the competition was still red hot. After two General Recalls in Race 8, the Black Flag was hoisted and 13 teams were disqualified in the restart. Championship leader, Peter Duncan's RELATIVE OBSCURITY (USA) managed to stay out of trouble but only just. The J/70 World Champions scored a win in Race 8, but came 24th in Race 9, after getting caught in traffic upwind. Duncan's team still has a firm grip on the top of the leaderboard, but with four more races scheduled, there is plenty more action to come.
“I have known Willem (van Waay) for a long time, but getting into to high level racing as part of this team has been a lot of fun. It's super entertaining ashore and that holds true on the water. The program is very well run, but it is also very enjoyable, and I am ready to ride with this team as far as it goes” said Max Hutcheson, bowman on Duncan’s team.
26 year-old, Umberto Luca's ENJOY (ITA) is going from strength to strength, after breaking into the top three yesterday, the team from Lake Garda scored a 10-2-12 today to move up to second place. Alberto Rossi's ENFANT TERRIBLE (ITA) was black-flagged in Race 8, slipping to third overall just a point behind Enjoy.
Jose María Torcida's NOTICIA (ESP) had their best day of the regatta scoring 4-9-2 taking the team into fourth place and the best team from the host nation. All-in-all it was a good day for Spanish teams; Gustavo Doreste's FERMAX (ESP) won the last race of the day to move into the top ten. In the Corinthian Division, Luis Bugallo's MARNATURA (ESP) scored a 5-7-14 to take the lead by four points from Paolo Tomsic's SOCIETA NAUTICA GRIGNANO (ITA).
“We still have four races to go, we are happy and we aspire to really do well in all of them. Duncan had a bad result already today so he knows he must be conservative. The spirit of our team is really high and this regatta is like a marathon: It is about not having a bad result and today we have sailed well,” commented top Spanish sailor Jose María Torcida.CALYPSO (MLT) co-skippered by Jonathan Calascione & Seb Ripard, started the day winning Race 7 but the Maltese team was black flagged in Race 8 and scored a 41st in the last race of the day.
“It was really great to win a race in this fleet, and prove that yesterday's second was no fluke. For Race 8, we were probably one second early, and when you hear your sail number called out, and you already have a DNF from the previous day, it would have been easy to let our heads drop. But, we came here to compete and improve and we will be racing as competitively as we can until the last race,” said skipper Seb Ripard.
Some of the world's most accomplished sailors are taking part in the J/70 European Championships. World Champions from every aspect of the sport, Olympic Medallist, America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race sailors. However, some are just at the beginning of the journey. Remi Piazza's MISTRAL (MON) is the youngest team at the championships, the four sailors are just 15-18 years of age, and proudly representing the Yacht Club de Monaco. The club started a youth sailing program in 1970, and today it has 350 members, from as young as six years old. 18 year-old Alba Malivindi is driving MISTRAL.
“This is our first international regatta as a team, and we have only been sailing together for less than a year. We are enjoying the event and it is a really good experience for us, because the level is really high,” commented Alba Malivindi.
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IRC European Championship UpdateJ/112E J-LANCE 12 Leading
(Cowes, England)- The Royal Ocean Racing Club has been hosting a stellar fleet of thirty-three offshore IRC racing teams from nine countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Turkey, USA) at their Cowes, Isle of Wight station for the 2018 IRC European Championship. So far, the event has been a great “test” event for many of Europe’s top offshore teams that are planning to sail in the IRC/ ORC World Championship that will be taking place in The Hague, The Netherlands in a few weeks time.
The hot twelve-boat IRC 3 Class includes two J/Crews; Fred Bouvier’s stellar French crew on the J/112E J-LANCE 12 and the local British team on John Smart’s J/109 JUKEBOX. So far, J-LANCE 12 has proven to be a consistent winner, currently leading their class after five days of racing on the Solent and the classic Round Island Race (the famous 60nm original America’s Cup course around the Isle of Wight).
Day One- Sunday
With such a light forecast, the Royal Ocean Racing Club's on-the-water officials, led by PRO Stuart Childerley, did well to complete one race on the opening day. Unfortunately the 5-7 knot north-northeasterly wind, all but disappeared just prior to the final IRC Two and Three boats finishing. After sending the fleet back to port, the PRO called it a day just before 1500 BST.
The cunning Danes saw off some of the top IRC Three competition when they locked out several boats the wrong side of the committee boat at the start. That included the hot French team on the J/112E J-LANCE 12, skippered by J Composites boss Didier Le Moal. Hansen was one of the first to tack after the start and benefitted from being able to lee-bow the tide, like other boats that ventured right.
They closed on the back end of IRC Two at the leeward gate and then tacked to the right again, where the lee-bow effect was less with the flood tide subsiding. Lady luck continued to smile on J LANCE 12, finishing just before the breeze started properly shutting down - the French J/112E stages a remarkable recovery after their second tier start.
Day Two- Monday
The Azores high pressure system encroaching on the UK is bringing summer to the Solent, but making life awkward for the race officers.
Today's much-anticipated race around the Isle of Wight got away on time at 0930 BST from the Royal Yacht Squadron line. But, just under two hours later the wind died and the race was abandoned, although not before several competitors had kedged.
With the boats returned to Cowes Yacht Haven, patience won out and the gradient breeze from the ENE somehow managed to overcome the thermal. This allowed for two round the cans races to be held in the central Solent, the wind even creeping into the teens towards the end of the second race. The two inshore races were held near the Brambles Bank with reaching and running starts respectively.
In IRC Three, J/112E J-LANCE 12 skippered by France's Didier Le Moal, scored a 2-4. Skipper Le Moal admitted, “we are not used to downwind starts." Le Moal's crew, which includes reigning Solitaire du Figaro champion and Volvo Ocean Race navigator Nicolas Lunven, has sailed together for many years. And, in fact, Le Moal remembers sailing the first RORC Commodores' Cup back in 1992 with a French team.
Day Three- TuesdayLight winds and strong tides may have made for a difficult first half of the regatta, but Hampshire Tourist Board conditions graced the Solent. With a southwesterly wind that peaked at around 15 knots countering a powerful ebb tide, PRO Stuart Childerley set a 'classic Cowes Week' course, with around the cans courses set for the westerly breezes in the central and western Solent, with a finish for all three classes off The Green in Cowes.
As a result, there was an ultra-challenging start with two-knot spring tides pushing the boats across the line. As one person described it, “it was the type of start where if you got it wrong you were going home, not something you would ever want to attempt again."
The two horse race in IRC Three was in danger of becoming a three horse one, with the X-37 Hansen having a difficult day, scoring a 12th, despite a worthy effort at a port tack start. This result the Danish team has immediately thrown now that the first discards have come into play. Meanwhile IRC Three had another winner today in the French First 40.7 Pen Koent of Emmanuel Le Men and his crew from Val-André in northern Brittany.
"We had a very good start- the type of start you do once every 10 years," mused Le Men. "We tacked very quickly at the buoy and on the first run we were first and after that we were with J-LANCE 12 and Shaitan, changing places. On the last run, we were still with J-LANCE 12, but she gives us some time with her rating. Our boat is quite old; it is good for windward-leewards in not too much wind. The new boats go quicker in waves and heavy wind."
J-LANCE 12 had managed to edge in front at the Hampstead Ledge weather mark and finished second overall, and continues to lead IRC Three by two points from the X-37 Hansen. Racing on board Le Moal's J/112E is reigning Solitaire du Figaro champion and Volvo Ocean Race navigator Nicolas Lunven.
"Today was a perfectly typical race in the Solent with 12-15 knots, strong tide, wonderful weather, beautiful green waterfront views,” said Lunven. "The wind was against the tide, but the sea state was quite nice I was expecting more choppy waves. It was the first race of the Championship with more than 8 knots of wind! It was a very nice race."
Day Four- Wednesday
A third light, tricky day with strong tides saw a lengthy round-the-cans course in the central Solent just completed before the wind shut down. After a wait, the skies darkened, the temperature plummeted as a southeasterly wind filled in, lasting just long enough for a singleton windward-leeward to be held for the three classes.
A powerful flood tide off Osborne Bay, pushing boats down towards the pin presented some novel problems along the start line of today's first race. In the starts for each of the three classes, boats were called over early.
IRC Three has evolved into a two-horse race between the X-37 Hansen and Le Moal's J/112E J-LANCE 12. Today definitely belonged to the French crew on J-LANCE 12 that won both races. They now lead, one point ahead of the Danes that posted a 3-2 for the day.
Day Five- Thursday - Round Island RaceDespite a scary-looking forecast and prolonged periods punching foul tide, the rescheduled race around the Isle of Wight proved a great success. This replaced the scheduled 24-36 hour long offshore, but all competitors nonetheless returned feeling severely tested to a summery Cowes, very different to the rain, near gale force gusts, four knot foul tide and reduced visibility of the morning's 0936 am start.
In IRC Three Le Moal's J/112E J-LANCE 12 completely dominated. Winning the race left her on 9.5 points to the second placed JPK 1080 Shaitan's 24 pts.
The performance by the IRC Three leader J-LANCE 12 was especially impressive, finishing among the IRC Two frontrunners. It was insanely close too; the Sunfast 3600 Redshift Reloaded was first across the line by mere seconds, but finished fourth under IRC. The top four boats separated by just three and a half minutes with J-LANCE 12 winning by just 11 seconds on corrected time from Shaitan.
"Going around the island is our bag," admitted Redshift Reloaded owner Ed Fishwick. "The conditions were good for us. We saw 30 knots at times going down the Solent. It was lively - very shifty and gusty, making driving conditions tricky. We even reefed halfway down to the first turning mark at The Needles, which we rarely do. Plus, there was an amazing contrast in the weather, stormy and wet this morning, but champagne sailing from St Catherine's onwards, with winds in the high teens or low 20s."
They rounded the south side of the Isle of Wight glued to the shore to avoid the foul tide, but were in constant contact with their competitors. "It was great fun, very, very tight racing," continued Fishwick. "Ourselves, Shaitan and J-LANCE were within boat lengths of each other for miles and miles. They were pulling match racing-type maneuvers on us..."
A man who has raced around the island more than most is David Bedford, this week calling the shots on Shaitan. "It was a great day out. It always is. We saw 30 knots up the first beat," Bedford mused. Interestingly while Bedford was British National Match Racing champion back in 1989, Redshift Reloaded's Nick Cherry held this same title four times between 2006 and 2011.
Bedford said they stuck to their playbook, heading for mainland shore in the western Solent, then choosing the right time to return to the island side. They had nailed this and crossing a visible tide line put them into favorable tide. Like their competition, they then hugged the south side of the island.
Two more days of sailing! The French on the J/112E J-LANCE 12 will have to wait patiently to see if their favorite Veuve Clicquot Champagne can start flowing sooner than later! For more IRC European Championship sailing information
Thrilling Chicago NOOD Regatta
J/111 KASHMIR Awarded Overall Regatta Win!
(Chicago, IL)- The highly popular Helly Hansen Chicago NOOD Regatta was hosted by the Chicago YC, with sailing taking place on the fresh waters of Lake Michigan, off the spectacular Chicago city-front as their backdrop.
The Chicago event is one of the biggest on the Helly Hansen Sailing World NOOD Regatta circuit. This event included one-design classes for J/70s, J/105s, J/109s, J/111s, and J/88s. In addition, there was the North Sails Rally with ORR/PHRF divisions for a J/100, J/105, J/120, J/130, J/133, J/112E, and J/44. Of the 144 keelboats registered, 58 were J/Crews (40% of the fleet).
In the end, it was the trio on the J/111 KASHMIR (Karl Brummel/ Steve Henderson/ Mike Mayer) that were awarded 1st in the J/111 class and also 1st Overall Winner of the regatta, earning a trip to the Caribbean this fall to sail on big, heavy, comfy charter boats for the Overall NOOD Regattas Championship.Day One- Friday
Despite morning weather delays as lightning passed over Lake Michigan, crews competing in 11 classes completed two races during the first day of the annual Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design Regatta in Chicago. Now in its 30th year, the series is the largest and longest-running sailboat racing circuit in the country.
Sailing conditions were difficult for the J/88 fleet, according to local skipper Andy Graff.
“The challenge is that this boat is really tender and picky on rig tuning and sail tuning,” Graff said. “We didn’t know what we were going to get in terms of wind velocity, and it was important to make a last-minute call to get our best chance for the race.”
Graff and his crew aboard Exile closely observed the conditions in the half hour before the first start, noting where the wind extremes and shifts were appearing on the racecourse. They changed sails several times before settling on a middle option, which helped then power through the waves and quickly change gears as needed. Exile led the fleet heading into day two.
Day Two- SaturdayThe 2018 Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta in Chicago’s second day concluded with two teams tied atop the J/70 class. With one final day of racing on the schedule, the pressure is firmly on the leaders.
Andrew Criezis, skipper of the top-ranked boat, Rip Rullah, said he’s been relying on the skill of his crew to manage the fleet’s highly competitive racing and Lake Michigan’s challenging conditions.
“I have an amazing team,” Criezis said. “We’ve worked really hard to push ourselves and go for competitive starts. We’re pushing the line, being aggressive and really going for a good position. The crew is doing a good job with their weight management, which is so critical in the J/70 in light to medium breeze. It’s really paid dividends for us — we had great speed upwind and downwind, smooth transitions and pretty good overall fleet engagement.”
Because winds were light and shifty on Saturday, Criezis said constant sail trim was required to take advantage of small wind shifts throughout the day, and that was the key to Rip Rullah’s two race wins. The crew plans to stay on top of the weather — and hold on to today’s winning formula — to maintain their place atop the fleet.
“It’s going to be about being consistent tomorrow, not making any big mistakes, keeping our eyes on the boat, being smart and really going for top-five finishes,” he said. “Have fun while we’re doing it, and we’ll be in a good position to close out the regatta.”
Local skipper Jim Murray and his crew aboard Callisto currently lead the J/109 fleet. Murray and team have been taking great care to calculate how the variable wind, chop and fog will impact their boatspeed before making a decision on how to tune the boat for each race.“Conditions have been very challenging out there both days,” Murray said. “It hasn’t been physically challenging because we haven’t had big breeze, but it’s been mentally challenging having to adjust everything from rig tune to all of our sail controls every race.”
Despite their comfortable lead, team Callisto isn’t yet counting on victory. The evenly matched, eight-boat fleet offers plenty of competition to keep things interesting on Sunday.
“Anything could change, so consistency is really what it’s all been about for us,” he said. “We’ve been fortunate to have a few moves pay off, but we’re not taking anything for granted. We’re going to be prepared for a range of conditions tomorrow and try to stay conservative.”
Day Three- Sunday FinaleAfter three days of intense competition and challenging conditions on Lake Michigan, the Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta concluded its fourth stop of the season in Chicago on Sunday.
Among the eleven class winners stood one above all: J/111 Kashmir, which earned the event’s overall title. The boat is co-owned by Steve Henderson, Mike Mayer and Karl Brummel.
This was team Kashmir’s first major regatta of season in preparation for the J/111 North Americans later this summer, and the crew saw improvements in boatspeed throughout the weekend as they settled in with new sails.
“I thought we were fast downwind and our speed upwind was OK on Friday, but not great,” Brummel said. “We had some boathandling problems that we were able to fix."
Kashmir’s results on Friday were a second and a third, but in Saturday’s first race, said Brummel, “we just got launched, and fortunately the other top three or four boats somehow got buried. We just kept getting faster and faster; our speed upwind was probably better than anybody’s at the end of the regatta. We were breaking in new jibs, so it was the first time trimming those and getting the rig right.”
The game plan going into the final race was to get a clean start and cover the competition, Brummel said. All they had to do was sail their boat well and sail better than everyone else.
“But we failed to execute that plan,” he said. “We got a horrific start. We were second row, we tacked out to port and went right. It turns out there was a nice lane of pressure on the right that wasn’t on the left and we rounded the mark first.”
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, he added, but what also helped was that the second-place boat was over the starting line early and had to restart.
“That took some pressure off of us, but the third place boat got a good start so we were not thrilled with the first 30 seconds of the race,” Brummel said. “We were flat out lucky.”
As the Helly Hansen Chicago NOOD’s overall winner, team Kashmir earns a berth in the Helly Hansen NOOD Caribbean Championship Regatta, presented by Sunsail in the British Virgin Islands this October.
After the KASHMIR trio, the balance of the podium for the 111s was Jeff Davis’ SHAMROCK from Cleveland, OH (the J/111 Midwinter Champion in St Petersburg, FL) in second and Rich Witzel’s ROWDY from Chicago taking the bronze.
Bruce Stone and Nicole Breault dominated the J/105 fleet at the Chicago NOOD Regatta. They were the only competitors in the entire regatta to score straight bullets.Bruce reports, “weather fronts rolled through each night into the morning, causing postponements and making steering difficult in the leftover lumpy conditions, with winds 7-10 knots, versus the 14-22 knots on SF Bay that can power us through the chop. Our mainly StFYC team worked well together and made the needed adjustments to keep the boat moving. Nicole tuned the rig for each race and made the calls to find the best pressure on the course. We managed six bullets in six races, extending our string to 11 straight wins over two regatta weekends with two mostly different crews. We might not get invited back to Chicago!"
San Francisco native Bruce Stone was sailing in Chicago for the first time in nearly 40 years in anticipation of the 2018 J/105 North American Championship in nearby Harbor Springs, MI this July.
Stone and his wife, Nicole Breault, own two J/105s of their own, but are chartering Gryphon from owner Sam Powers, who joined their crew.
Behind Team GRYPHON were Jon Weglarz’s THE ASYLUM in second and Gyt Petkus’ VYTIS in third, both are local Chicago teams.Skipper Ben Marden on the J/88 BANTER echoed Bruce Stone’s thoughts on what it was like to sail in the tough conditions off the Chicago waterfront, praising his own crew aboard the BANTER for finding a good groove, as they train for the J/88 North Americans in Chicago this August. After a tricky first day, they made a radical decision that ultimately propelled them to four consecutive first-place finishes during the next two race days.
“I was the only person who had the same job on the second day,” Marden said. “Five people changed jobs, and we stuck with the new positions. We loosened everything up and were more aggressive with rig tune and light-air boathandling. This was a great test for the team so we could take notes and come out of it with some new information on things we can improve upon.”
This was Marden’s first Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta as a boat owner, and only his second regatta since buying the boat last winter. The balance of the J/88 class podium included Chicagoan Andy Graff’s EXILE in second and Tim Wade’s WINDSONG from Bowling Green, OH in third.
Local J/70 owner John Heaton also celebrated a “first” this weekend with his inaugural win in the J/70 class. For his crew on EMPEIRIA, the keys to the weekend were consistency, boatspeed and communication.“It was mainly about working really hard on speed all the time,” Heaton said. “That’s a testament to the team I have onboard. They work the boat really well. In the J/70s, it’s important to get free of other boats, put the bow down and go fast. That really helped us, especially today. We were confident in our boatspeed, got free of other boats and kept it rolling.”
While constant discussions on speed and tactics fueled team EMPEIRIA, the winning boat in the regatta’s largest fleet found a different way to focus. Behind them on the podium was Andrew Criezis’ RIP RULLAH taking the silver (the only other double-race winner), and Jake Christy’s PALE HORSE securing the bronze.
The eight-boat J/109 class saw a seesaw battle take place between Jim Murray’s CALLISTO and Scott Sims’ SLAPSHOT II (a former Chicago Blackhawks player living in Wilmette, IL). As an illustration of how tight and competitive the sailing was for the 109s, both boats only managed one 1st and two more podium finishes! In the end, it was Murray’s CALLISTO that finished with a 4-1-2-3-5 tally for 15 pts to take the class win. Sims’ SLAPSHOT posted a 5-3-1-6-3 record for 18 pts to take the silver. And rounding out the podium for the bronze was Keith Eickenberg’s BLACKFIN with a 1-4-5-4-7 scoreline for 21 pts.
In the world of PHRF offshore handicap racing, the eight-boat PHRF 2 ToT fleet was Dan Leslie’s J/35 NOMATA post a 1-3-3-8 for 15 pts to hold on to the bronze, just barely. And, in the North Sails Rally ORR 1 Division of twelve-boats, it was Tom Papoutsis’ J/133 RENEGADE that took home the silver. Sailing photo credits- Paul Todd/ Outside Images. For more Helly Hansen Chicago NOOD Regatta sailing information
Light and Variable NYYC 164th Annual RegattaJ/111 Dominates PHRF 2! J/Crews Sweep IRC 5!
(Newport, RI)- The Annual Regatta is North America’s oldest annual sailing event. It was first run in 1845 on the Hudson River and has been sailed out of the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court, in Newport, RI, since 1988. The 164th edition offered buoy or navigator-course racing for one-designs and yachts sailing under IRC, ORR, CRF and PHRF handicap over the June 9th and 10th weekend.
The regatta won’t be remembered as one of the more memorable ones over a century and a half. A large immovable high pressure system offshore kept Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound mostly covered in clouds with hardly an isobar or gradient breeze in sight. Saturday started out with some promise, but the light northerly died in the middle of many races, went to zero for a period of time, then flowed in lightly from the southeast as a thermal with not much punch behind it across all race courses. Then, Sunday dawned with an even worst forecast, again with a light northerly, that died anyways, followed on by a very light 4-6 kts southeast wind for the inside courses and across-the-board cancellations of most races offshore in Rhode Island Sound.
Nevertheless, despite the conditions, some of the battle-hardened J/Teams proved to be up to the challenge and walked off with a fair amount of silverware.
A winter of one-design racing in St. Petersburg and Annapolis proved to be a great experience for Doug Curtiss' team on the J/111 WICKED 2.0. Matching up against a fleet of World-class J/111s is a great way to learn precisely how to squeeze every drop of the speed out of the 36-footer.
"It tends to hone the skills a little bit," Curtiss says with a laugh. "We learned a lot."
Still Curtiss came into the weekend, where he raced in the PHRF 2 class, with modest expectations.
"We like to be top third and just go out there and have some fun," he says. "If I had to say there's a signature that I hope to leave on the Wicked program, it's that we have great crew chemistry, everybody has fun and we just like to be competitive.“
With a first in Saturday’s single race— a marathon that took teams all of four hours to complete—and a second on the sole race on Sunday, Curtiss exceeded all his goals. WICKED 2.0 won the class over Phil Lotz, Commodore of the New York Yacht Club, who was racing the new NYYC IC37 in its inaugural Annual Regatta. Taking fourth was another J/111, Abhijeet Lee’s VARUNA.
In the PHRF 3 Navigator class of ten-boats, EC Helme’s J/92S SPIRIT was leading the class by one point going into Sunday’s only race. However, unfortunately snatching defeat from the jaws of victory with a 6th in the last race to drop into second with a 2-2-6 tally for 10 pts.
What may be perhaps one of the most astonishing outcome for this light airs event was the complete sweep of the top five in IRC 5 Class. The winner was determined on a tie-breaker between Bill Sweetser’s J/109 RUSH and Chris Lewis’ KENAI, each finished with 5 pts total. The countback saw Sweetser’s 109 RUSH crew take the win based on winning the last race. Third was Tom Sutton’s renowned Houston, TX crew on their J/109 LEADING EDGE with 6 pts. Fourth was also determined on a tie-breaker between Albrecht Goethe’s J/109 HAMBURG and Paul Milo’s J/122 ORION at 10 pts apiece, with HAMBURG taking the countback. For more NYYC Annual Regatta sailing information
J’s Cruise Annapolis to Bermuda Race(Newport, RI)- The biennial Annapolis to Bermuda Ocean Race took place over the past week with J/crews collecting a few more pickle-dishes for their trophy rooms. Hosted by the Eastport YC and the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club in Bermuda, the 753nm race is the longest ocean race on the east coast of the U.S.A., delivering a unique combination of inshore and offshore racing through its route down the Chesapeake Bay (starting in Annapolis, MD), across the Gulf Stream, and onto Bermuda.
Winning CRCA ORR handicap division was Bob Dunigan’s J/124 JANE SAYS. Then, it a truly heart-warming story, it was Oklahoma native Lynn McClaskey’s J/110 CIMARRON that took the silver in PHRF 2 Class.
Here is Lynn’s amazing story about how she fell in love with sailing while growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, thousands of miles away from either the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans.
“We have a lot of lakes in Oklahoma and they’re all dammed for power supply and agriculture,” McClaskey said. “Considering the way the wind comes whipping down from the plains, sailing really is a natural pursuit.”McClaskey was a longtime member of the Windycrest Sailing Club and initially raced a Thistle with her family. She got into junior sailing and became quite proficient at racing a Sunfish, Laser and 470 on Keystone Lake.
McClaskey moved east for work purposes as she’s an analyst with the United States Department of Defense. She has lived in Crofton (MD) for 20 years and got involved with big boat racing out of Annapolis, crewing for various skippers in the J/30 class.
In 2012, McClaskey competed in the Annapolis to Bermuda Race aboard a C&C 38 named Dare Greatly, which was owned by Joe Donahue. Her first thought upon completing the challenge?
“Hey, I could do that!” McClaskey said to herself.
So McClaskey bought a J/110 the following year and began the long process of preparing herself and the boat for ocean racing. She previously owned a C&C 27 that was equipped with “lifeline netting and car seats” as she cruised with two young children.
“I’ve been working on the boat ever since I got it in 2013,” McClaskey said, who served as a safety inspector for the 2014 Annapolis to Bermuda Race in order to gain an even better understanding of what is required of a skipper. “I didn’t want to go offshore until I was absolutely certain it was completely ship-shape.”
She entered the biennial race two years later with CIMARRON, which is named after one of the rivers that flows into Keystone Lake in Oklahoma, placing second in PHRF Spinnaker 2. The J/110 was the first boat in its class to exit the Chesapeake Bay, but could not maintain that pace during the ocean crossing and wound up being overtaken by the J/42 Schematic (Robert Fox from Arlington, Virginia).
“It wasn’t quite the result I wanted,” McClaskey said. “That was my first big offshore passage and there were many, many lessons learned. I think the most important lesson is that a lot of the race is won or lost before you leave the dock in terms of preparing the boat and developing a plan.”
McClaskey subscribes to the theory that one has not truly lost until they quit trying. So, she is doing Annapolis to Bermuda again this year with the intent of capturing class honors and finishing further up within the overall fleet.
This time around, CIMARRON has been slotted into PHRF II, which has attracted 10 entries that are all different designs. Among the competition is a J/42, Frers 41, Outbound 44, C&C 37 and Sabre 38.
“We have been working ever since the last Annapolis to Bermuda to prepare for this year’s race,” said McClaskey, one of only two female skippers entered. “It’s a big organizational challenge to get all the training, equipment and skills you need. A key element is building a crew that you trust, and that is something that has happened over time by doing more and more sailing.”
McClaskey appreciates that everyone has pitched in to help prepare the J/110. “Any offshore boat is going to have a long list. Those big jobs are getting smaller and smaller, as we speak. We have a great mixture of skills and have trained for every situation– man overboard, firefighting, losing rudder, and losing rig. We’ve rehearsed it all.” Thanks for contribution from Bill Wagner- The Baltimore Sun. For more Annapolis to Bermuda Ocean Race sailing information
Sweden Midsummer Solo Challenge a Success!(Stockholm, Sweden)- Without a doubt, Swedish offshore sailor and entrepreneur extraordinaire, Peter Gustafsson, is always thinking, always dreaming, always innovating, wondering how to do things better in business as well as indulging in his favorite pastime- sailing his J/111 BLUR.SE.
Recently, Peter had yet another spasm of inspiration, commenting, “we have a crazy new side project, to start a solo archipelago race through Bohuslän. 125 nm with no rules. We managed to fill 60 slots within 24 hours of announcing the race! 48 boats started, 15 finished (due to light winds and two nights at sea). Nevertheless, the first edition of Midsummer Solo Challenge lived up to expectations. Remember, that far north in Scandinavia, it is “sunset twilight” all night long, the sun never fully sets!
Here is Peter’s commentary on the race from aboard his beloved J/111 BLUR.SE:
“How about 50 solo sailors completing a 125 nm course through one of the world's most beautiful archipelagos, in the middle of the light and warm Swedish summer night?
When the initiative was launched six months ago, the initial 50 spots filled up within 24 hours. We’ve seen the popularity of similar races, like the Danish Silverrudder, but a true archipelago race for solo sailors is something new.On Thursday evening, 48 skippers met for a three course dinner and a weather briefing promising light to moderate winds from south... and lots of sunshine! Administration was kept to a minimum, and everyone just had to put a signature on a list to verify that they intended to take part.
A few of us had a final beer, but then everyone wandered off to their boats to prepare for the challenge ahead.
Friday morning, the mini class (boats from 18 to 25 feet) stated at 10:00 in 4-8 knots of wind from SW. With a mix of downwind sails set, the group set off to the north. As the second group started an hour later, the first wrestled with some major decisions; inshore through the small straights and through the picturesque fishing village of Gullholmen, or the westerly route close to Käringön and the landmark lighthouse of Måseskär. Inshore is shorter, but offshore you can catch a current pushing you north at 2 knots. One of many decisions to be made in the coming 24-48 hours.
Leif Jägerbrand in his Seascape 24, loved the conditions, took the shortest route and quickly extended his lead.
At 13:00 the bigger boats left Marstrand, trying to hunt down the smaller boats ahead. J/111 Blur with Peter Gustafsson was expected to be the fastest boat, and showed pace and set of offshore before hoisting his huge 155 sqm gennaker.
Late afternoon, the different classes started to mix, gybing through the islands ticking of Lysekil, Hållö, Smögen and many of the anchorages where people spend their summer vacation. It’s easy to spend 4-5 weeks cruising here and each night find a new amazing spot to anchor. It was a strange feeling to cover the same distance in a day.When the sun set, the leading boats were leaving Fjällbacka and aimed for the northern mark of Ramskär. The wind became even lighter, and some struggled to keep their boats going. It is always a special feeling to turn the boat around and sail towards the finish. But knowing it would be 15-30 hours of light upwind sailing and adverse current everyone understood the meaning of the word ”challenge”.
The first three boats, the Seascape 24, Jonas Dyberg in his J/88 and J/111 Blur stayed in the archipelago to avoid the current. Short tacking south, they reached the finish late afternoon. The smaller boats had a duel where the Seascape had to give in to the J/88 after leading the way for almost 30 hours. Blur crossed the line within the hour to post the fastest time around the course with 27 hours 35 minutes and 3 seconds. Second was Dyberg’s J/88.
But that didn’t really matter. No winner was announced; no awards were handed out and the important thing was to prove to yourself that you could do it. And naturally to receive the t-shirts with ”FINISHER” printed at the back.The three finishers had dinner, wondering if anyone else would make it. The wind had slowly died and many boats were parked with the finish in sight. Another bunch where anchored or drifting at Måseskär, as every attempt to get past just resulted in being pushed back by the current.
Would the skippers have the patience and endurance to hang in there and wait for the morning breeze? Later Saturday night, a few boats trickled in, managing to cross the line. Early morning, a few more, and after 46 hours Staffan Cederlöf closed the gate in his red Compis 28 Retro Balloon.
All in all, 15 boats of the 48 that started, managed to complete the Midsummer Solo Challenge. And as always, it came down to grit and sheer will. It wouldn’t be surprising to see all of them, and quite a few more, back next year to challenge themselves again.
Enjoy this entertaining J/88 sailing video from Jonas Dyberg
https://youtu.be/GSTO0kPmqUU
The story and results in Swedish: http://www.blur.se/2018/06/11/midsummer-solo-challenge-2018/
For more information about the Midsummer Challenge Race- please contact Peter Gustafsson- M: +46 733 304000 / E: peter@blur.se
WV Uitdam Tops Dutch J/70 Sailing League- Act II(Roermond, The Netherlands)- The first match of the Dutch J/70 Sailing League sailed in Roermond resulted in a number of surprising teams in the top of the ranking. Under difficult conditions with little wind, Watersportvereniging Uitdam performed the most consistently to win the weekend event after sailing just six races for each of the fifteens sailing club teams on Saturday.
Day One
The sailors from WV Uitdam showed their class and immediately took the lead in the rankings on the first day. Under the guidance of their new and talented skipper, Guido Buwalda, they reached a point total of only 8 points after five flights. Remarkable, because it is only his third time sailing the J/70 and the first time as skipper during an event. Said Buwalda at the end of racing, “this is fun, it is really good racing".
Wietze Zetzema, one of the founders of Team WV Uitdam, adds, ”this is exactly what we stand for as Uitdam, giving a mix of experience and young talent the chance and opportunity to sail in such high level competition. That it works out so well, is only beautiful."The hosts of the regatta, RR&ZV Maas and Roer were certainly hoping to be in contention for the lead after a strong day of sailing. A penalty in race four meant they did not take the lead after day one. Max Visser, skipper of Maas and Roer, does not hide his enthusiasm for the racing in Roermond, “it is really nice to sail here. The atmosphere is good and it is well organized. It is also nice to put Limburg on the map as a water sport province. There is a lot of nice water in Limburg, but not many people know that. Winning this stage is our goal. We sailed well in Almere, so we be near the top of the league."
WV Almere Centraal, two-time National Champion and winner of the first round at Almere Centraal, had a slightly harder time. After a day of racing they were in fifth place.
Day TwoOn Saturday, WV Uitdam took the only victory in the only race they sailed. A 1st place in the 6th flight turned out to be the key to win the regatta; little did anyone anticipate that would be the case. After that flight of races, the wind died completely for the rest of the day.
Day Three
An attempt was made to run two races in the early morning breeze of up to 7 kts. However, it was impossible to complete the full flight before the wind died off completely. As a result, WV Uitdam was declared victor of Act II. Second was the RR&ZV Maas & Roer team, followed by the VW De Twee Provincien club in third.
Team WV Uitdam had a completely new team optimized for the light wind conditions.
"On Friday, we chose to attack with our flyweight crew and immediately took the lead. On Saturday, we had to sail against a number of our direct competitors in the first race and therefore opted for more conservative tactics,” said an elated skipper Jan van Wengerden. A tactic that obviously worked out well for Uitdam.
"It's nice to surprise everyone again. Sometimes, we are not so good at an event and we do not perform well. But, if we do, we are really good enough to compete for victory. We think we had one of the lightest crews this weekend, every downwind run we would gain a few critical meters for tactical advantage at mark roundings. Honestly, if there were over 15 knots of wind we probably would not have won here."RR&ZV Maas & Roer New Series Leader
As they had in Almere Centraal, the Maas & Roer team again took second place. Thanks to their consistent results, they now took over the overall series lead with a 2-2 tally. They now lead the reigning national champion WV Almere Centraal that has posted a 1-8. Third overall are Jachtclub Scheveningen with a 3-5.
Follow the Dutch J/70 Sailing League here on Facebook For more Dutch J/70 Sailing League information
WV Hemelingen Lead German J/70 Sailing League(Tutzing, Germany)- The German J/70 Sailing League (DSBL) returned to the place where everything began five years ago- Tutzing on Lake Starnberg, hosted by the Deutscher Touring YC (DTYC)- for the season opener that was sailed from June 8th to 10th on the incredibly picturesque lake.
Exactly five years ago (June 7, 2013), 18 clubs joined the Deutsche Touring YC for the first time in the history of yacht racing, competing in a club competition. Sailors, clubs and the media were so excited by the idea that the league has continued with great success. Much has happened in the meantime, from the initial 18 clubs in the DSBL, to today’s 36 clubs that participate in two leagues. The league is no longer just a pastime, because whoever participates here wants to win. But, the DSBL itself has also undergone a major development process: the number of well-known sponsors is increasing, as well as the number of employees and the number of European countries adapting to the league format.
"The league is back to its roots and a lot has changed since then. We are pleased that we were able to participate in this development and are now organizing an event for the fourth time. No league club can handle such a league event alone, so DTYC, together with the Munich Yacht Club (MYC) and the Chiemsee Yacht Club (CYC), cooperated together to host the event. We therefore, thank the associations of the region and, in particular, the MYC and the CYC for the support " said Wolfgang Stückl from DTYC.To the surprise of most leading teams on the circuit, it was a newcomer to the DSBL that took the win on Lake Starnberg. The Wassersport-Verein Hemelingen won the second round of the DSL at Tutzing. The 36 sailing clubs participating were able to complete a total of 63 very close and exciting races.
"We had a great event here in Tutzing and are very happy that we could achieve the victory here. A big thank you goes to the race committee, who did a great job," said Eike Martens of the WV Hemelingen. Their team consisted of Carsten Kemmling, Eike Martens, Markus Maisenbacher and Tjorben Wittor. The Chiemsee Yacht Club and the Segelkameradschaft Das Wappen von Bremen placed second and third, respectively.
The host club, the Deutscher Touring YC, could not use its supposed home advantage. The team, based around champion helmsman Julian Stückl, did not seem to find the right way around the racetrack and, therefore, finished the event in 14th place- a bit of a shocker for the defending DSBL champions.Overall, the sailors had to prove they had nerves of steel. The three-day weekend threw everything at them in terms of weather that you could possibly imagine: extremely shift winds, light winds, no wind, sun, thunderstorms, tropical downpours, and on Sunday afternoon, winds up to 13 kts or more. Tutzing “threw the book” at the sailors in terms of wildly disparate sailing conditions to determine whether they had the diversity and tenacity to sail to prevail and win.
The third DSBL event will take place from July 21st to 23rd, as part of the Travemünde Week in Travemünde, Germany. Sailing photo credits- Lars Wehrmann. For tracking, results, and analytics, please visit SAP Sailing For more Deutsche J/70 Segel-Bundesliga sailing information
TINTO Crowned Australian J/24 Midwinter Champion(Cronulla, Sydney, Australia)- The 2018 Australian J/24 Midwinter Championship had fourteen hot, talented crews ready to do battle to be crowned Midwinter Champion over the June 8th to 10th weekend. The event was hosted by the Cronulla Sailing Club, racing in the waters of Bate Bay on Saturday and the Port Hacking Estuary on Sunday.
Saturday began in a light 4-8 knot breeze. Dave Mclachlan, the Cronulla SC PRO and his team on the start boat, got proceedings underway on time.
David West and his crew on ACE were using this regatta in their lead up to representing Australia at the J/24 World Championships in Lago di Garda, Italy later this year. They won the start and won the first race ahead of NSW J24 President, John Crawford, on INNAMINCKA in second, and Bryce Edwards driving WOOD DUCK in third.
Second race saw the forever-young David McKay in STAMPED URGENT rise to the top, with INNAMINCKA in second and again newcomer to the class, WOOD DUCK third.
The PRO kept things moving in a dying breeze and race three got underway. Stephen Wright’s TINTO took first. West’s ACE was second, with McKay’s STAMPED URGENT again making an appearance in third.
The fourth, and what ended up being the final race, for the day saw TINTO again take first with WOOD DUCK in second and Janette Syme’s WILDFIRE arriving in third. Sails were then dropped, and each J/24 mounted there 3.5 hp engines of fury, for the motor back to Cronulla Sailing Club for an evening BBQ with the sun disappearing on the horizon.
Day 2 and someone ordered wind right? With the southerly gear-buster (as forecast) hitting early Sunday morning, there was no question wind for racing was a non-issue. A steady 20 knots, with 30-knot busters, made for some interesting times and some equipment failure. Can anyone gybe without broaching?Race 5 saw the girls from Sandringham YC, with Kirsty Harris driving HYPERACTIVE; win pole position followed by Mr Consistency TINTO and WOOD DUCK in third. Race 6 saw WOOD DUCK popping to the top, followed again by TINTO, with INNAMINCKA in third. Race 7 saw WOOD DUCK again hit first, TINTO in second and STAMPED URGENT in third. Cool! Cronulla Boats 1-2-3!!
This is where the PRO decided enough was enough and racing was concluded. However, the crowd on Bass and Flinders Point had enjoyed watching the colorful sails and inspecting the clean hull of VERTIGO “keel-flapping” away after one wild broach. Such is life on J/24s.
Final results, congratulations to Stephen Wright and TINTO first on scratch and handicap. Second on scratch was Class newcomer Bryce Edwards in his dad’s J/24 WOOD DUCK; could be an interesting discussion leading into the States in November. Bryce also achieved 3rd on handicap. Second on handicap was J/24 Southern Sydney Fleet President, John Zagame driving JARGON with third overall going to the forever-young David McKay on STAMPED URGENT.
The Organizing Committee would like to thank all of the events sponsors- Infinity Rigging, Wet Tech Rigging, AUSSEA Sailing School, Cronulla Marina, SPOT-A-YACHT Photography, Sail Connect, Ocean Sports and Newton Real Estate.
Lastly, events like this are only as successful as the unpaid volunteers- “Thank you” to all who contributed on BBQs, driving support boats, dock duties, and just generally being there. This list of volunteers is too long to mention them all by name, however, special mention goes to Jared Macquart, supporting this event since its inception through his professional advice on boat set up, maintenance assistance including supply of tools to effect emergency repairs to INNAMINCKA on Friday afternoon. Cheers Jared and thanks for the ongoing support! Sailing photo credits- SPOT-A-YACHT.com. For more Australian J/24 Midwinters sailing information
J/Crews Raise Big $$ For Annapolis Leukemia Cup(Annapolis, MD)- An enormously successful 26th Annual Leukemia Cup was held on Saturday, June 2nd, 2018, to support the Leukemia Foundation, hosted jointly by Annapolis YC and Eastport YC. As a leukemia survivor, Annapolis’ own famous and legendary sailor, Gary Jobson, was a proud host for the event that raised thousands of dollars to support research and support for the Leukemia Foundation.
Dozens of J/Sailors participated in the event, sailing in a combination of one-design classes and PHRF handicap classes. Focused on having fun and raising funds for a worthy cause, J/classes included J/30s, J/35s, J/80s, J/105s and PHRF classes.
In the five-boat J/30 class, it was Tristan & Sheila Keen’s INFECTION SMILE taking class honors. Topping the four-boat J/35 class was Bruce Artman’s T-BONE. Leading home the six-boat J/80 fleet was Ken Mangano’s MANGO. The eleven-boat J/105 class, the biggest contributors class-wise, saw John White’s USA 113 take the honors. In PHRF N Class, Steve Grimm’s PANDORA was 3rd. And, in CRCA-ORR division, it was Dan Leonard’s pretty J/100 FLASHPOINT winning class. For more Annapolis Leukemia Cup sailing information
LA SUPERBA Dominates Italian J/24 Championship(Riva del Garda, Italy)- The 38th Italian Open J/24 Championship finished after eight races in the waters of Garda Trentino. At the end of August, the same course will host the J/24 World Championship where more than 80 boats have already registered.
For Ignacio Bonanno, skipper of Italian Navy ITA 416 LA SUPERBA, this was their fifth Italian title in the J/24 Class- the previous ones were 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017 (in addition to the J/24 Europeans title). It was a gratifying win for Bonanno and his crew- Simone Scontrino, Vincenzo Vano, Francesco Picaro and Alfredo Branciforte. "We would like to thank the Italian Navy and, in particular the Sport and Sailing Office, for allowing us to be present at this Championship,” commented Bonanno. “We are very happy, especially, for having won for the first time the Italian J/24 Championship on a lake!”
Second in the Open classification, as last year, was the American J/24 star from Seattle, Washington- Keith Whittemore’s FURIO with crew of Kevin Downey, Brian Thomas, Mark Rogers, Shelley Milne.
Third overall, and second Italian on the podium, was the crew of ARIA from Sardinia. The crew consisted of skipper Marco Frulio, Mattia Meloni, Fabrizio Masu, Grazia Maria Savona and GianVito Di Stefano.
"We are very happy with this result and we want to thank our Club,” commented Marco Frulio. “We are obviously used to other conditions and also, those found in these days on the Garda were not what we would have expected. We had to settle a bit and study the lake, the wind, and the weather. In the end, we learned to interpret the new conditions, the wind shifts and to choose (unlike many crews, even local ones) the center of the lake, a choice that eventually proved to be a winner. We are really happy. "Bronze medal in the National ranking and fifth overall was NOTIFYME-PILGRIM owned by Lario Mauro Benfatto and helmed by Fabio Mazzoni (with crew of Lorenzo Airoldi, Alberto Benedetti, & Pietro Kostner). "It was a great championship and I really enjoyed it," commented Mauro Benfatto. "We had the opportunity to race with really good people, very good. Overall a very positive and fun Championship that made us stay on pace until the last race.”
The Italian J/24 Championship was an excellent opportunity for the teams to test the competition and learn the waters of Lago di Garda prior to the J/24 World Championship scheduled in Riva del Garda from 23 to 31 August. For more Italian J/24 Class sailing information
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* J/24 Women’s Sea Bags Sailing Team District 1 Championship Report- from Erica Beck Spencer“We wrapped a wonderful District 1 Championship with twelve teams racing in quaint and historical New Castle, NH just next to Portsmouth.
The regatta qualified one berth for the 2019 J/24 World Championship in Miami, Florida. Mental Floss from Long Island joined the competition, but the majority of the competitors were local or from Maine.
On Saturday the conditions were light, almost too light to race, but the race committee was able to get off 2 races.
In the first race, local knowledge paid and the two locals who went left toward shore rounded the windward mark way in front of those who went right (the majority of the fleet). Andrius Keturakis with Bad Dog finished first and Caleb Sloan with Blue Scoop finished second. In the next and last extremely light air races, three boats from Maine took the 1-2-3 spots. Carter White’s team YouRegatta pulled off a bullet, followed by Erica Beck Spencer’s team, the Sea Bags Women’s Sailing Team, followed closely by Andrew Carey’s Mr Hankey.
Knowing that we were only going to get one good day of racing in and had to be off the water by 1530 on Sunday, the race committee made the decision to start us at 1000 hrs on Sunday.
Sunday morning arrived and the chilly breezes made many of us think about wool socks and winter hats. The forecast was for a high of 58 F, the breeze was on, and so were the waves.
The breeze ranged from about 12-16 knots and the waves were as large as 6-8’ but averaged around 4’. This made it super challenging to drive the boats upwind, even by the most experienced drivers struggled…
The race committee was able to get off SIX races on Sunday! Amazing! Some of them short, like dinghy courses. And, for those of us who couldn’t get off the starting line, sometimes seemed too short!! Six races with little time in between each race, made it seem a bit like a blur to the competitors. But, Carter White’s team, YouRegatta hammered the fleet all day. With 8 races they had a total of 11 points after the drop— 5 bullets! Aidan Glackin’s team from Lloyd Harbor on Long Island, finished in second place. The Sea Bags Women’s Sailing Team finished in third and qualified for Worlds, as the top two teams had already qualified!! Finn Hadlock’s BOREAS team and Andrew Carey’s team tied for fourth, but Finn won the tiebreaker.To give you a sense for what the conditions were like when the breeze and waves were on, we spoke to Aidan Glackin about driving upwind. Aidan is consistently one of the top Corinthian sailors at events.
He said, “We experienced some of the toughest driving conditions on Sunday. The large seas and diminishing wind made it incredibly difficult to drive. It took us most of the day to realize the genoa would backwind when you were coming down the wave and load up going up the wave, you really had to concentrate on driving straight and not chasing the telltales.” Tough driving conditions for sure.
Overall, Rob Pruyn, Lenny Cushing, Peter Follansbeeand and the rest of the team of volunteers did an amazing job pulling off a great event. From the looks on people’s faces and the number of teams that stuck around for the awards ceremony, it is clear that all are looking forward to going back to race there again another day!”
* Steve Henderson, Mike Mayer and Karl Brummel were partners in a J/105 many years ago, but when the J/111 came to the scene, they made the leap immediately and have since continued to be one of the best and most polished teams in the class. Much of the their success has little to do with speed—although they have plenty of it—but rather the chemistry of the squad and their collective focus on efficiency all the way around the racecourse.“It’s one of those things where we love each other and it’s worked out well for everybody,” says Brummel of the partnership. “When things need to be bought or break, it’s 33 cents on the dollar. Good guys, good sailors and we get more use out of the boat.”
When the races are more casual, the three owners move around the boat into different positions, but for serious regattas like the NOOD, Mayer drives. “In conditions like we had this weekend where it’s light and lumpy, he’s just really fast,” says Brummel.
Henderson trims mainsail or jib while Brummel will either command the bow or the pit. The Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta Chicago, he admits, was the first time he worked the pit in a major regatta. “It worked out fine,” he says with a laugh, and later admits a few errors lead to mistakes in his department.
Boat prep also falls on Brummel and while Kashmir looks perfect today, there’s still a long list of small improvements on his worklist. “We’ve had it for eight years and are comfortable with where we are,” he says. “The running rigging gets tired and things like that, but there’s nothing major. The boat is in good shape and we just need to sail it better.
“I thought we were fast downwind and our speed upwind was OK on Friday but not great,” says Brummel. “We had some boathandling problems that we were able to fix, so Friday was OK [with a second and third] and then Saturday, in the first race, we just got launched. Fortunately, the other top three or four boats somehow got buried.”
Race after race, the team’s speed improvements were noticeable as they honed the rig tune and trim of their new jibs. Boathandling issues were resolved, particularly with the spinnaker work, and the difference was obvious. “Mike commented on Friday that there was some running around and more urgency, but as things get smoother and the crew moves together there’s less pounding on the deck,” says Brummel. “You can really feel when everyone’s settled in and in the right spot. The boat just goes better. Quiet boats are fast boats.”
Brummel attributed Kashmir’s downwind speed to the coordination of Mayer on the helm and trimmer Zach Hernandez. “He’s a rockstar,” says Brummel. “Mike and Zach work really well together and working the boat as hard as we can. It showed this weekend.”
Come Sunday morning, Kashmir held the overall lead, but barely, over this highly competitive fleet. Their game plan going into the one and final race was to get a clean start and cover the competition, said Brummel. All they had to do was sail their boat well.
“But we failed to execute that plan,” he says. “We got a horrific start. We were second row, we tacked out to port and went right. It turns out there was a nice lane of pressure on the right that wasn’t on the left and we rounded the mark first.”
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, he adds, but what also helped was that the second-place boat was over the starting line early and had to restart. “That took some pressure off of us, but the third-place boat got a good start so we were not thrilled with the first 30 seconds of the race,” says Brummel. “We were flat out lucky.”
That luck earned Kashmir the class win and the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta Chicago’s overall title, which nets them a spot at the NOOD Caribbean Championship in October. Before then, they have the big J/111 class championship and a host of other events on Lake Michigan so there’s a lot of sailing yet to come. Sailing photo credit- Paul Todd/ Outside Images.
* J/34 IOR KNEE DEEP is at it again! Will they ever slow down?? Knee Deep continues to sail its way back home, via the Mills Trophy Race. After a fast start to the season in Detroit, racing the Detroit YC Memorial Day & Bayview One Design Regattas Katie and Brett Langolf headed south to Lake Erie's North Cape Yacht Club, then to Toledo for the annual night race across Lake Erie. You do not only round marks on this race, you factor shoals, islands and even a military shooting range into the course! But, regardless of the obstacle that night, it was upwind and more upwind - something the J/34IOR loves. They hammered out a 3rd in Class on the President's Trophy Course.
Next Up Cleveland Race Week Women's Race and then the CRW Offshore Regatta. Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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