What an amazing weekend it was for J/Crews around the world. With America celebrating its long Labor Day Holiday weekend, it was also time for many J/sailors to race their boats offshore for the first time all year! Perhaps even more remarkable was the performance turned in by so many J/teams, simply dominating several major offshore races and regattas!In the northeast, the Stamford YC's traditional Labor Day weekend race, the 238.0nm Vineyard Race, went off without a hitch and many J/Crews came home with big smiles on their face carrying lots of silverware. Similarly, the Conanicut YC's Round Island Race- an 18.0nm race around Conanicut Island- was a fun, fast, and furious affair sailed in epic weather conditions- sunny, 70's, blowing 15-20 kts from the southwest!
The Midwest had more amazing trophy-winning performances in three major events. In southern Lake Michigan, the newly minted Tri-State Fly-By Race hosted by Columbia Yacht Club saw J/Crews dominate in six classes and overall. North of them on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the Charlevoix YC held their annual Red Fox Regatta with a one-design fleet of J/22s and offshore PHRF racers. Then, on Lake St. Claire off Detroit, MI, the Bayview YC held their annual Bayview One-Design Regatta for J/120s and a few classes of PHRF offshore racers, too.
In Europe, the first J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga took place on the Wansee Lake in Germany for 36 teams! No, that is not a typo, thirty-six teams! Apparently, everything went off amazingly well and sailors were grateful for the opportunity to jump back into J/70s in the fun, fast, short race sailing league format.
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, the annual Landsail Tyres J/Cup Regatta is taking place in Cowes, England hosted by the RORC, with sailing taking place on the boisterous, windy, and choppy "river" called the Solent.
Making the Most of Fall Events
(Newport, RI)- Are boat shows a thing of the past? Probably not, but with all the major boat shows in Europe and North America cancelled this fall, and the winter shows at risk of the same, J/Dealers are getting creative.
Some dealers have been promoting their own in-house “by-appointment” boat shows. For example, Messink Yachting in the Netherlands just concluded a two-day private show which included the J/70, J/80 and J/99. Others coming soon from McMichaels Yachts in New York, NY, North Point in Annapolis, MD and J/Boats Southwest in Houston, TX. Watch this space!
Newport J/99 Demo Sail by Appointment!
From September 18th to 19th, J/Boats is pleased to invite you to a private showing and sail aboard a new J/99. Demo sails will take place out of the beautiful Fort Adams Sailing facility managed by our friends at Sail Newport. Please be sure to contact your local J/Boats dealer to schedule an appointment. For more information about the remarkable J/99 offshore shorthanded speedster
RORC IRC Nationals Update
(Cowes, IOW, England)- The central Solent delivered on the opening day of the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s IRC National Championship. The westerly wind started off light, but built to a solid 18 knots, the September sun even putting in an appearance, as the three-class fleet progressed through two windward-leeward races and one round the cans.
Despite it being so late in the year, for many competitors this is their first event of 2020 thanks to the hiatus caused by the pandemic. For some this meant blowing the cobwebs away after a year away from sailing. The challenge has further increased as to improve social distancing on board, crews are only permitted to sail with 80% of their usual number.
In IRC 2 Class, Michael O'Donnell's J/121 DARKWOOD took the final round the cans race. At the end of play (and subject to a protest), DARKWOOD leads on countback from David Franks’ J/112E LEON.
Franks only came out of isolation today and will race LEON tomorrow. Today his tactician Graham Sunderland helmed. The IRC Nationals is their second outing of the year but as a team Franks and Sunderland have continued to race their beloved Etchells this summer. Unfortunately, the maths of the crew reduction has not worked in their favour and they are sailing with six rather than nine. Nonetheless, they are enjoying it and are coming to terms with their new roles.
As to the conditions, the Winning Tides co-author Graham Sunderland stated, “it was tough. It was never really up the middle and you weren’t certain if it was right or left. The left was high risk and the right was stable but average. It was a difficult race track.”
Racing resumes Saturday, when another three races are scheduled for the IRC Nationals in what the forecast indicates will be similar conditions to today. The event will also double in size with the start of the IRC Two-Handed National Championship which will run alongside for the remainder of the event. For more UK IRC Nationals sailing information
J/Gear September 20% OFF Special!
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Features and specifications include:
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Sailing Calendar
Sep 5-6- Danish J/70 Sailing League- Skovshoved, Denmark
Sep 11-13- J/80 Atlantic Telegramme Regatta- Lorient, France
Sep 11-13- Swiss J/70 Challenge League- Spiez, Switzerland
Sep 12-13- RORC Doublehanded IRC Nationals- Cowes, IOW, England
Sep 18-20- J/Jamboree- Lake Winnepesaukee, NH
Sep 24-27- J/Fest San Diego- San Diego, CA
Sep 24-27- Sevastopol J/70 International Cup- Sevastopol, Crimea
Oct 10-11- J/Fest Southwest- Lakewood, TX
Oct 17- Rolex Middle Sea Race- Gzira, Malta
Oct 24- Witches Brew Race- Charleston, SC
Nov. 1- Hot Rum Series I- San Diego, CA
Nov. 14- Around the Island Race- Hong Kong, China
Nov. 21- Hot Rum Series II- San Diego, CA
J/Crews Dominant @ Vineyard Race
(Stamford, CT)- Hosted by Stamford YC, Labor Day weekend's Vineyard Race is a classic American yachting event. This 238-mile course stretches from Shippan Point through the swirling currents of Plum Gut past Block Island, and on to the light tower at the entrance to Buzzard's Bay. Once reached, sailors return by leaving Block Island to starboard en route to the finish in Stamford Harbor.
In the pandemic version of the race, crews had to sail with fewer people to satisfy the multiple constituencies governing the waters the fleet would be sailing through- including New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. This year's race was a fast one for most boats, with the fleet starting off in fast reaching spinnaker conditions. In the end, the race was a good test of all-around sailing boats, the strength of the J/Boats design team. With a good mix of beating, reaching and running, a number of J/Teams simply dominated their respective divisions. And for many crews, it was also their first outing of the year to go racing! As a result, all the more impressive to have such great outcomes in their first overnight race of the year!
VINEYARD RACE (longest distance)
Doublehanded J/Crews reveled in the conditions and gathered a lot of silverware. Winning the PHRF 7 Doublehanded Class was the Young American AYC team on their J/105 YOUNG AMERICAN. They were followed by David Rosow's J/109 LOKI settling for the bronze medal, having just missed the silver by six minutes on handicap time. In the PHRF 8 Doublehanded Mixed Class, Sara & Josh Reisberg's J/120 ABILYN handily took the silver medal.
The dozen-boat PHRF 11 Class was dominated by J/Crews, taking 5 of the top 6 spots. Second was Dan Nash's J/109 MISTRAL, third was Arthur Hanlon's J/112E DAUNTLESS just 3 minutes behind MISTRAL, fourth was Brian Spears' J/120 MADISON a mere 1.5 minutes arrears of MISTRAL, fifth was Don Dwyer's J/109 GUARDIAN J, and sixth was Charles Murphy's J/120 TRUANT.
In another J/Boats-laden class, the nine-boat PHRF 12 division, Bill & Jackie Baxter's J/111 FIREBALL took home the silver, with Kevin Kelley's J/122 SUMMER GRACE in fourth and Pito Chickering's J/11 THE ROOST in sixth place.
The ORC Class 10 saw John Greifzu's J/109 GROWTH SPURT continue their hot streak, taking the silver in this hotly contested division. Then, in ORC 13 Class, it was Len Sitar's maiden voyage/ race on his beautifully reconditioned J/160 COUGAR, loving the conditions to take home the silver medal! Also, enjoying the conditions was Steve Levy's J/121 EAGLE, taking the bronze step on the podium.
SEAFLOWER REEF RACE (medium distance)
Winning their PHRF 4 Doublehanded Class by a substantial margin was Robert Pogue's J/92 NEVER SETTLE. They traversed the course in just over 28 hours. Then, in the eight-boat PHRF 5 Class a number of J/Teams sailed quite well. Frank Conway's J/105 RAPTOR took the silver, followed by Todd Aven's J/99 THIN MAN taking the bronze, and Justin Scagnelli & Tim Price's J/88 ALBONDIGAS taking fourth position.
CORNFIELD POINT RACE (shortest distance)
Sailing in the PHRF 1 Class was James Weil's J/92 VIXEN. Weil and team sailed a very quick race, covering the race track in 19 hrs 12 min to win their class by an impressive 3.5 hours. Similarly, Blaine Davis's J/30 BOUREE in PHRF 2 Class also took the gold in their class. For overall honors, VIXEN took the silver while BOUREE took the bronze. For more Vineyard Race sailing information Sailing photo credits- PHOTOBOAT.COM.
Gorgeous Landsail Tyres J-Cup UK Regatta!
(Cowes, England)- Fifty J/Boats have entered the Landsail Tyres J-Cup and the sizable fleet had a thrilling start to the three-day regatta with a fresh south-westerly breeze gusting over 25 knots. The RORC Race Team, led by PRO Stuart Childerley, completed one race for all classes before the tide changed, stirring up an already agitated Solent. Class winners on the opening day were Gavin Howe’s J/88 Tigris, David Greenhalgh’s J/92 J’Ronimo, Tony & Sally Mack’s J/111 McFly, Simon Perry’s J/109 Jiraffe and Paul Ward’s J/70 Eat, Sleep, J, Repeat.
In IRC One, three former J-Cup winners filled the podium for the first race of the regatta. Gavin Howe’s J/88 Tigris won by just 22 seconds on corrected time from David & Kirsty Apthorp’s J/88 J-Dream. Chaz Ivill’s J/112E Davanti Tyres was third.
“I am delighted with the team’s performance today,” commented Gavin Howe. “The race was very competitive. In the conditions we decided not to hoist are spinnaker on the downwind leg and J-Dream decided to go for it and passed us. However, Tigris fought back to win, which was delightful.”
In IRC Two, David Greenhalgh’s J/92 J’Ronimo reveled in the conditions to take line honours and the race win after time correction by nearly three minutes. Nick Munday’s J/97 Induljence was second and Becky Walford’s J/92 Brenda’s J was third.
Volvo Ocean Race sailor Libby Greenhalgh is navigator and tactician for her father driving J’Ronimo. “We went for an early reef on J’Ronimo and sailed the course that suited our boat rather than following the fleet,” she commented. “Our overall strategy was to minimize tacks and race in flat water, rather than use the tide.”
In the J/111 Class, Tony & Sally Mack’s McFly opened their defense of the J/111 UK National Championship with a solid performance taking the race win. Chris Jones’ Journeymaker II was second and Tim Tolcher’s Raging Bull 2 was third.
In the J/109 Class, also their UK National Championship, Simon Perry’s Jiraffe was today’s race winner. Mike & Susie Yates’ Jago was second and David Richards’ Jumping Jellyfish was third.
Paul Ward’s Eat, Sleep, J, Repeat won a high-speed encounter in the J/70 Class. Nick Phillips racing RTYC Charter boat Chaotic, only racing in a J/70 for the second time, was runner up. Tim Collins racing EV Experts was third.
The daily prize givings were held at the RORC Clubhouse. Dividing the fleet for social distancing, the J Boat family enjoyed complimentary pasta and a bottle beer and applauded today’s prize winners. Racing continues tomorrow, Friday 4th September, with lighter winds forecast for the Landsail Tyres J-Cup.
Key Yachting and the Royal Ocean Racing Club have been hard at work to maintain safety of all involved, both ashore and afloat. The sailing instructions include details of COVID-19 procedures. There is also a no spinnaker/gennaker wind limit designed to work with reduced crew numbers. All Competitors are welcome at the RORC Cowes clubhouse during the event.
The most coveted award at the Landsail Tyres J-Cup is the J-Cup itself, which will be awarded at the Prize Giving Dinner on Saturday 5th September. Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth For more J/Cup UK Regatta sailing information
EPIC Round the Island Race- Jamestown
(Jamestown, Rhode Island)– Normally, Conanicut Yacht Club Around the Island Race is the culmination of an entire sailing season, but for many who participated on last Sunday's 18-mile lap of Jamestown, it was their first regatta of the year as many races were canceled this summer to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
For 93 years, the race has been held on the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend and usually attracts 100+ boats from in and around Narragansett Bay for the single distance race followed by an awards party on the lawn of the island yacht club.
This year, 78 boats came out to the starting line but all on-shore festivities were canceled. To maintain social distancing, the race committee volunteers were split among a large starting boat and the yacht club utilizing radio communication to facilitate organization.
“The biggest challenge of 2020 was the question of ‘should we or shouldn’t we’,” said regatta chairman Alan Baines. “The division of the race committee, canceling the party, and patiently waiting to open registration until we had a solution was the best course for us and it worked.
“It also helped that we had the perfect wind conditions and exactly high tide in the middle of the start,” Baines continued. “Thank you to the cooperation of the competitors and Rick and Jody Hill for lending us their boat for the Race Committee boat, which allowed us to stay spread out.”
A strong southeasterly breeze of 15-20 knots held for the entire day. The smaller boats started just south of the Newport Bridge first and headed south for a clockwise course around Jamestown. With the 10 division starts staggered by about 6 minutes, by the time the fastest and largest boats rounded Beavertail point, all the boats gathered downwind in the West Passage of Narragansett Bay.
Many J/Crews participated in what is generally the most popular long-distance race sailed on Narragansett Bay every summer. Winning one of the perpetual trophies for Conanicut YC members with the fastest corrected times under 30 feet- Robert A. MacLeod Rear Commodore Trophy- was Mike Hill's J/24 OBSTREPEROUS (it might be about the dozenth time he's won it!).
In the seven-boat PHRF C Class- Non-Spinnaker- Owen Harren's J/44 SINGULARLY took the bronze. In the nine-boat PHRF D Class, Mike Hill's OBSTREPEROUS took fourth place.
Winning the nine-boat PHRF E Class was Dan Borsutky's FLYING HIGH. Fourth was another J/30- Chris Tate's BLITZ and sixth was yet another J/30- Dexter Hoag's ALTAIR.
One of the largest classes in the race was the thirteen-boat PHRF F Class. Sam Sylvester's J/29 MEDDLER took second, EC Helme's J/92S SPIRIT was fourth, and sixth was Hannah Swett's all CYC Youth sailing program team on her J/70 SPARKLE.
The thirteen-boat PHRF G Class saw a real battle emerge for the top five spots, with just 5 minutes separating all 5 boats on corrected time. Taking the silver was Bill Kneller's J/109 VENTO SOLARE and third was FJ Ritt's J/35 SHAMROCK. For more Conanicut YC Around the Island Race sailing information
J/70 Segel Bundesliga- First Regatta Success!
(Wannsee, Germany)- Like their fellow J/70 sailing leagues across Europe, it has been difficult to conduct any regatta due to the varying restrictions placed at multiple levels of regulations- from local, to provincial, to national. However, Germany's various agencies finally permitted the Deutsche Segel-bundesliga to host their first event of the season on the gorgeous Wansee Lake for the thirty-six sailing clubs sailing in their fleet of a dozen J/70s.
DAY 1
Strong winds and gusts dominated the Wannsee. While the conditions were tough on many sailors and only allowed three flights, the second division Joersfelder Segelclub seemed to be in their element. At the end of the day, they held an enormous nine-point lead over the Kieler Yacht Club and the Academic Sailing Club Warnemünde
The training at Tegeler See with similar conditions and shifty breezes paid-off big-time for the Joersfelder Segelclub team. “Since we train with the same line-up every week, we know very well what makes the others tick. And we kept calm in the boat, which is particularly important given the conditions,” explained Daniel Schwarze.
Following the races, the prizes for the eSailing J/70 Bundesliga powered by BAY were awarded on Saturday. The Mühlenberger Segelclub happily accepted the set of sails from our partner Fritz Segel, sponsored by the title sponsor BAY. The next two places received prizes from Robline and Marinepool; the runner-up Bodensee-Yacht-Club Überlingen and third place team Düsseldorf Yacht Club.
DAY 2
The ONE Kiel team once again demonstrated their skills on the second match day of the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga. In difficult conditions on the Wannsee, with weak winds from multiple directions, the Kiel team defended their top position with remarkable consistency, taking five wins out of ten races. In the second division, the Joersfeld sailing club catapulted itself to first place.
Max Schuberth, ONE Kiel tactician, summed up the day in one word- "nerve-wracking". “The Wannsee demanded everything from all sailors, we don't have such conditions on the Baltic Sea. We had to concentrate for a very long time, and no one was immune from falling behind. In the end we won again- a great team effort,” commented a very happy Schuberth. The Segel und Motorboot Club Überlingen and the Chiemsee Yacht Club sailed well to take second and third places, respectively.
Despite the eighth place of his club, Frank Butzmann, Managing Director of the host Wansee Segel Club, was more than satisfied with the event. “We had a lot of fun welcoming the 36 clubs here. We're looking forward to the next time - who knows, maybe even to the final in 2021”!
In the second league, the Joersfeld Sailing Club won an amazing six out of nine races in a row, making up five places on the leaderboard. In addition to the front-runner Joersfeld, the teams from the Academic Sailing Club Warnemünde and the Bodensee-Yacht-Club Überlingen also enjoyed the conditions at Wannsee as they landed in second and third place, respectively. Sailing Photo Credits- DSBL / Lars Wehrmann For more J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information
J/Crews Garner Silver @ Red Fox Regatta
(Charlevoix, MI)- Held over the three-day Labor Day weekend, the Red Fox Regatta started with the NuCore Triangle race on Friday evening, ending with a two-day race from the top of Lake Charlevoix on Saturday, and back again on Sunday afternoon. Reveling in the conditions were over a dozen J/Teams sailing this popular event at the end of summer on the gorgeous azure-blue waters of northern Lake Michigan.
Taking silver in the eight-boat PHRF 2 division was Colin Texter's J/70 SISTERSHIP. Winning the J/22 division was Tom Barne's GREEN EGGS, second was Robert Molter's TACTFUL, and third was Robert Grove's PALEFACE LITE.
In the six-boat PHRF 4 division, the Chicago-Mackinac Race champion Robert Evans sailed his J/109 GOAT RODEO second place, followed by Jane Enterline's J/105 GREEN FLASH in fourth and Rob Lovell's J/92 KNOCKOUT in fifth place.
The seven-boat PHRF 6 division the duo of J/111s battling for class honors. In the end, it was Carl Hanssen's VARIANCE taking the bronze and George Golder's TERRIER taking fifth on the losing end of a tie-breaker.
Finally, the "big boat" PHRF 7 division saw the podium steps determined by yet another tie-breaker. In this case, the newly powered-up J/121 LOKI sailed by Robert Christoph also got the short-stick of that countback, settling for the bronze medal. For more Red Fox Regatta sailing information
J/Teams Eclipse Tri-State Fly-By Race!(Chicago, IL)- The annual Tri-State regatta fell victim to the coronavirus in 2020, like many other events on the 2020 sailing calendar. Instead of the traditional Friday night 60+ mile race to St Joseph, Michigan, followed by a 30+ mile race to Michigan City, Indiana on Sunday, and finishing on Labor Day back in Chicago, the race was run in a single night!
The renamed “Tri-State Fly-By”, hopefully the first and last of its kind, was a watered-down version of the original race- a 78.0 nm "triangle" around southern Lake Michigan. Starting in Chicago, the race took the fleet eastward across the lake to an Orange Tetrahedron set off New Buffalo Michigan, then to a Red Flashing Gong off of Burns Harbor, Indiana, and then back to the South side of Chicago.
At the 7:00 PM start, the weather was perfect, high 70’s on the lake, lake water in the 70’s with a west wind at 12 MPH. With a course of 100 degrees it was a spinnaker run to the first mark. The course was setting up to be perfect J/Boat conditions. Run, reach, and beat, may the best all-round boats win.
The nearly full moon came up and the wind continued to build. On our J/99 RAMBLER, by jibing on a few shifts, we were able to move into the lead in our section. The well-sailed J/35 FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER sailing right with us and a C&C 115 and a Swan 46 close behind. The wind continued to pick up, anticipating the next leg was looking like a beat, we changed to our #3 jib as we saw 18 kts of TWS on the instruments. The beautiful night and the run maybe lulled people into not changing headsails, because there were reports of some miserable crews. Maybe it was because they didn’t have J/Boats that made them miserable, who knows?
However, on the J/99 with our #3 jib, it was just a pleasant beat for the next 30+ miles winds ranging from 15 to 20 knots TWS. With 3 to 4-foot short chop, if you didn’t have foul weather gear on the rail, you got a bit wet, but for the conditions it was a dry beat. At the turning mark in Michigan the boats could fetch the finish line on port tack. That changed and it turned into a beat. The real fun for the night was the 10 to 15-degree wind oscillations and the fact that as you sailed to shore on starboard tack the wind lightened up every time. Basically, if the wind dropped to 14 knots, tack out for 30 minutes, get a 15-degree shift, and tack back in. As the sun came up behind us, the fleet made it to the Gong buoy off Burns Harbor, Indiana. The wind had come up and our un-calibrated instruments showed 20 knots TWS. What a ride on our J/99 RAMBLER, a fetch to the finish averaging 8 knots boat speed.
In fact, the race was a J/Boats dominated race, a great test of boats and crews. In any section that had a J/Boat entered, a J/Boat won!
PHRF 1 Class was won by the J/111 MOMENTUS owned by Kevin Saedi and Raman Yousefi. PHRF 2 Class had the J/99 RAMBLER, owned by Ben Wilson (his first race in the boat), comfortably take the class win. PHRF 3 Class had J's take 1st and 2nd- Judith & Ross McLean's J/105 ESPRIT d'ECOSSE and Andy Graff's J/88 EXILE, respectively.
The PHRF Doublehanded Class was a top five class sweep by J/Crews! Winning was John Kalanik's J/111 PURA VIDA, followed by four J/105s! Second was Mike Sheppard's FLYING PIG, third Mark Gannon's GANGBUSTERS, fourth Ralph Krauss' YUKON, and fifth Mike Hettel’s GLOBAL NOMADS. Seventh was Ron Otto's J/110 TAKEDOWN-2.
Finally, if that wasn't enough global domination over southern Lake Michigan, two singlehanded J/105 sailors swept the top of the podium in the PHRF Singlehanded Class! Winning was Brian Crabb's SEA-U and second was David Pierce's CAUGHT IN TRAFFIC!
That was the story on a class-by-class basis. Amazing performances and congratulations to all J/sailors for their sailing.
However, perhaps even more stunning were the overall results. Again, it was a J/Boats sweep of the top five! First overall was the J/111 PURA VIDA, 2nd the J/99 RAMBLER, 3rd the J/111 MOMENTUS, 4th the J/105 ESPRIT d'ECOSSE, 5th the J/105 FLYING PIG, and 9th the J/88 EXILE! Old, new and in between- - - total J/Boats domination, a rare performance in this day and age of knowledgeable, competitive sailors across most offshore fleets. For more Tri-State Fly-By Race sailing information.
Bayview One-Design Regatta FUN!
(Detroit, MI)- The 2020 pandemic edition of Bayview Yacht Club's annual Bayview One-Design Regatta had an unusual twist this year as it was the first major event the club has hosted all year long. The event hosted a combination of both one-design fleets as well as PHRF handicap fleets...it certainly made for a lot of fun for the sailors. Perhaps the most difficult part of sailing the event was dealing with submerged docks and/or bulkheads due to the extremely high waters across all of the Great Lakes!
In the hotly-contested seven-boat J/120 Division, it was Charles Hess' FUNTECH RACING that took class honors with a 3-2-1-5-2 tally for 13 pts total. Second was Mike & Bob Kirkman's HOT TICKET just 3 pts back with a record of 1-4-4-3-4. Taking the final bronze step on the podium was Mike Fozo & Robin Kendrick's PROOF with a 2-7-5-4-1 scoreline for 19 pts, winning a tie-breaker over Henry Mistele's NIGHT MOVES. Fifth place went to Greg Baker's KAIROS.
In the PHRF handicap world, it was Brad Kimmel & Steve Young's J/111 DIABLO that grabbed the silver in the PHRF 1 Division. In the PHRF 2 Division, Jason Geisz's J/70 CHICHIRA took the bronze, followed by Mary Symonds' J/105 PTERODACTYL in fourth, and Cynthia & Jim Best's J/105 PHANTOM.
J/Community
What friends, alumni, and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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* The Kids are Taking Over! More on the J/34 sailing the Leukemia Society Race in Sandusky, OH.
Brett and Katie Langolf believe that sailing promotes teamwork and helps build relationships. Their crew has raised more than $20,000 so far for the regatta’s beneficiary, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Bexley residents Brett and Katie Langolf grew up sailing, went on sailing dates in college and when their daughters were born, Katie said, “we made it a priority to spend our weekends with them on boats, since they were in diapers.”
A few years later — but not too many years later — the Langolf’s have their girls, Hadley, 12, and Charlotte, 10, competing in a regatta on Saturday, part of an all-kids crew of 12 that will face off against adult crews.
Their boat, the “Knee Deep,” will take on about 25 others in the Sandusky Islands Race & Leukemia Cup Regatta, a 25-mile race that starts and ends in Sandusky and loops around Kelley’s Island.
“I’d call this an experiment,” said Jim Keane, the principal race officer, about the kids taking on the adults. “But I expect them to do reasonably well.”
The idea came out of an initiative that the Langolf’s started in the spring, a nonprofit called More Kids on Sailboats. Unlike other sailing programs for children, theirs is focused on the benefits of co-ed and multi-generational crews.
“I’ve raced countless times with my dad, starting when I was 9,” said Katie, who, like Brett, grew up in Michigan and attended Michigan State University.
“When you put boats together and you have crew members who are 9 and 20 and 40 and 70, you see the older generations mentoring the younger generations, and the younger generations teaching the older generations about communication.”
Hadley Langolf said she enjoys the teamwork of being on a crew.
“Everyone has an individual role, but you have to work as a team to make the boat go fast,” she said.
Not long after forming their nonprofit, Brett said he came up with the idea of entering an all-kids crew in a regatta. The Langolf’s are members of the Sandusky Sailing Club, one of the host clubs for the Leukemia Cup Regatta series, so that was a natural fit.
He set about to find a crew of experienced youth sailors, and one of his first calls was to Keane. The Huron resident has four grandchildren who sail, and one — Molly Keane, 12 — is a leukemia survivor.
Molly will join her sister, Kellie Keane, 14 and cousins Jack Vanderhorst, 16, and Annika Vanderhorst, 15, on the boat Saturday.
Molly was diagnosed five years ago, Jim Keane said, “and it was touch-and-go for about two years. Everybody is extremely hopeful that she’s past it all now.”
The Langolf girls and other crew members have been fundraising and as of Friday afternoon had raised $21,950, far exceeding their goal of $15,000. The money benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Brett marvels at how well the crew has come together, considering some had never met before July 31, their first practice. They have been coached by a Cleveland-area professional sailor, Nick Turney, though, and Jack Vanderhorst (the boat’s skipper) is a highly accomplished junior sailor.
Hadley Langolf said she is, “very confident in the boat; I think we can go really fast.”
She said her first goal is to raise “a ton of money” for the cause, but added, “If you can’t tell, I want to win the race, too. I have high hopes for the race.”
Hearing this, Brett chuckled. “They’re a feisty bunch.” For more on the Langolf family story on the Dispatch. Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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