J's Love LBRW 2010

6 J One-Design Class & 2 PHRF Winners!

(Long Beach, CA)- There were 147 boats in 20 classes, and all except J/120s, which didn't race Friday, sailed seven races over three days in the Ullman Sails Long Beach Race week hosted by Alamitos Bay YC.  The regatta was the third and last stop on the Southern California Ullman Sails Inshore Championship Series, following the Ahmanson Cup at Newport Beach and Cal Race Week at Marina del Rey.

In the J/105s, CURRENT OBSESSION sailed by Gary Mozer of Long Beach YC won with a very strong, consistent record of 1-1-1-4-3-1-1 for 12 points.  Jeremy Davidson from San Diego YC sailed SANITY to second with 20 points.  And, Doug and Pam Werner sailed their veteran campaigner, JAVELIN, to third with 27 points.

The J/019s saw ELEKTRA repeat their earlier performance, showing they were no flukes and can finish near the top consistently.  Tom Brott's ELEKTRA, from Seal Beach YC zapped them again with a regatta-winning score of 1-2-2-1-3-1-1 for 11 points.  Sailing sweetly was Steve Crooke's SUGAR from host club LBYC with 17 points.  Lying third was Anthony Wetherbee's COMMOTION from Balboa YC with 20 points.

SEDONA took class honors for the J/29 class.  Awesome work for Bruce Lotz and crew from Dana Point YC, garnering a 1-2-2-2-2-1-1 score for 10 points.  Dave Randle in COYOTE from Anacapa YC was second, followed by Santa Barbara YC's Larry Leveille sailing RUSH STREET in third.

In the J/80s, Curt Johnson's AVET took their class with a 2-1-1-3-1-4-4/SCP for 16 points.  Second was Gary Kamins also from Cal YC sailing FIRED UP.  Third was Steve Wyman sailing HUNU from Dana Point YC.

Susan Taylor, of California YC, again led all J/24s home with a consistent 2-3-3-1-2-2-1 for 14 points.

In the PHRF 3 class, the J/35 RIVAL sailed by Dick Velthoen from Ventura YC won with straight firsts for 7 points total!  Ouch.  Talk about a hammering.  All other rivals must've felt like they were thrown under the bus!  Still living to tell the tale after RIVAL's bashing was the J/33 NITRO sailed by John Messenger from LBYC/ King Harbor YC.

In the Fast 40s class, the seemingly indomitable J/125 just keeps on ticking.  This time, it was the J/125 DERIVATIVE sailed by Mark Surber from Coronado YC that took home all the marbles, winning their class with four 1sts and three 2nds!    For complete sailing results for Long Beach Race Week.      Photo Credits- David McBride.
  

WICKED Wins Block Island Race Week

(Block Island, RI)- This year's Block Island Race Week was up to its usual, fun, laid-back atmosphere that's associated with a "Bermuda Race" year....while the offshore nuts go offshore, the "day sailors" have fun, hang up their sea boots and oilies, take their showers, and enjoy evening festivities with family and friends at The Oar or Yellow Kittens.  The regatta has a mix of one-design classes (the J/105s and J/109s) and a combination of PHRF and IRC fleets.

The J/109s sure had a competitive, but fun time during the week with finishes for 1-2 and 3-4 all coming down to the wire on the last day.  After the fog cleared and the wind blew in, it was Don Fillippelli's CAMINOS taking first prize with 16 points followed by Steve Kenny and Greg Ames' GOSSIP in second with 18 points, despite GOSSIP's tow firsts in the last two races.  Class champ Bill Sweetser and crew on RUSH had their hands full battling with Ted Herlihy's GUT FEELING just to finish third with 21 points over Ted's team with 24 points.  Talk about a loaded deck, these four J/109s could just as easily win a J/109 Nationals as it was to do bruising battle in a fun-filled Block Island Race Week.

The J/105s were "eclipsed" again by Damian Emery's team sailing the well-traveled ECLIPSE, winning with a dominant five firsts in 9 races for a total of 13 points.  Carl Olsson sailed MORNING GLORY well to win out in a three-way battle for 2-3-4 spots on the podium, getting second with 20 points.  At the short end of the stick on that battle were Andy Kennedy's BAT IV in third with 22 points and Nelson Weiderman's KIMA in fourth with 24 points.

In the IRC division, George Marks' beautiful J/122 GEORGETOWN finished second overall, beating all other Swan/ NYYC 42s quite convincingly.

In PHRF 1, Doug Curtiss's J/124 WICKED sailed to first overall in what turned out to be a hotly contested fleet, winning by just one point.  Guests of honor, designers Rodney and son Alan Johnstone, were aboard to witness first-hand the determination of some of their competitors to beat them.  After the smoke cleared, WICKED (and it's incredibly HOT paint job) escaped unscathed to take home the silver.

In PHRF 2, that merry bunch of bandits known as "the HUSTLER's" from New York, again won on their J/29 skippered by class character John "Espo" Esposito and brother Tony.  Good grief, have these guys ever not won a BlRW event?  Last time we asked, seems that Espo and Tony can't figure out where they put all their Rolex watches!? 

The non-spinnaker PHRF class saw two J/34s sailing with Weber's RASCAL getting second and Dan Montero's BODACIOUS cruising into fourth.  Good on ya mates!  The "blender division" as it's known sure know how to enjoy themselves!  For more Block Island Race Week sailing information.
  

J/80 & J/24- Kieler Woche 2010

IL RICCIO Masters J/24 Class

(Kiel, Germany)- Congratulations to the British J/24 team INMARSAT IL RICCIO who decisively won their class at Kieler Woche last week, finishing the event with a 31-point margin! The team consistently placed in the top five over the course of nine races, ultimately dropping a 6th place as their worst score. The team includes Chris McLaughlin, Ian Southworth of Ullman Sails UK (helm), Andy McLelland, Michael Kyte and Julia Scott. The IL RICCIO (Italian for Hedgehog) team is currently building up to the J/24 World Championship in Malmo, Sweden this August.  A bit off the pace were the next two finishers in this international regatta, the German team of Kai Mares sailing with Jan-Marc Ulrich in second with 48 points and the German team of Dirk Strelow in third with 52 points.

The J/80s had a very competitive regatta for the top two between the two German teams of Martin Menzner on GER 614 and Nils Heyde on GER 1072.  Nils started out slowly but came on strong in the end, losing by just five points to Martin.  In third was Karsten Thode with 40 points.  For more Kiel Week sailing results.
  

A Jubilee J/Fest Northwest

J/105 Wins Top Performance Award

(Seattle, WA- Jun 19-20)- A gathering of 30 J's including one-design fleets for J/109s, J/35s, J/105s and J/30s enjoyed eight races over two days of competition in the waters off Shilshole Bay Marina, sponsored by Seattle J-Boats dealer Sailboats Northwest, with Corinthian Yacht Club running the racing and hosting post-race parties.

For the J/109 class, the Dack/ Nordquist team sailed J/TRIPPER to a 1-1-3-1-2-1-2-1 record for twelves points.   The Greene team on IT'S ONLY ROCK & ROLL finished second with a 2-4-1-4-1-4-1-2 record and third was Woodfield's SHADA with a 3-3-5-3-5-3-3-3 tally.

The J/35s were won by the Whitfield/ Chatham team on JABIRU.  Second was White sailing GRACE E and third was the Ellingsen's BERGEN VIKING.

Erik Kirsten's team sailing JUBILEE were not only winners of the J/105 class, but got Top Performance Award for best regatta in biggest fleet at the event.  Second was Petersen racing LAST TANGO and third was Pinkham's USAWI.

The J/30s had a nice turnout with the Gardner/ Adair team winning with seven firsts on ROUNDER.  Battling for second and third were CELEBRATION and OUTLAW. At the end of their epic battle for J/30 supremacy in the greater NW, the Storm/ Gossett team racing OUTLAW just lost out in the last two races to Bottles' CELEBRATION.

The PHRF handicap fleet had quite a mix of boats and a donnybrook of a fight for the silver/ bronze positions on the podium.  No matter what anyone could do, the Moynihan/ Conway team raced WINGS to a dominant first place getting eight straight firsts!  Playing "tourists"/ bridesmaids to this amazing performance were Daniel's TOURIST and Sawyer's FEARFUL SYMMETRY.  Finishing in a tie with twenty-one points each, the tie-breaker went in favor of TOURIST with FEARFUL SYMMETRY finishing third- with an average of 2.5 each!

In the photo is the crew of CYC member Erik Kristen's J/105 Jubilee. From left are Joel Thornton, Jeff McLean, Matt Tookey, Bruce Sherman and Kristen. Kristen's wife, Steph, and children Mary and Tom sailed on Saturday.   For more J/Fest Northwest sailing information
  

Bermuda Race True Confessions #1- Ken Read

Multiple J/24 World Champion and native of Rhode Island chats about his first offshore racing experiences just before taking off on PUMA for the Newport-Bermuda Race:  “I did my first Bermuda race when I was seventeen, so I think that puts my count up to 12 of these races (?!?).

This is an ocean racing classic,” said the PUMA skipper. “I remember the good old days where I used to be a bit nervous heading out into the ocean and the great unknown.” After sailing around the world, the Bermuda Race is still a great adventure, but a little different now. “This is really just a bit more than a day race for us”, said Read. “The boat is fast and we’re pushing to get down to the finish as quick as possible.”

For PUMA, the Bermuda Race is a great opportunity to test the crew, boat, sails and all the little parts and pieces. “We still have il mostro and we’re going to get as much as we can out of the old girl. Our team has a schedule throughout the summer that includes everything we want to work on.”

Kenny went on to explain, “Putting ourselves in a racing situation is key. Simply testing the boat has a whole different mentality- there is a lack of tension onboard, but when you’re race-testing it’s just a whole different feeling onboard. Even though this isn’t a high pressure event for us, racing brings out different reactions, adds the element of intensity, and make the crew push the boat a bit harder. I’m a big promoter of doing as much race-testing as we can.”

Unlike the NYYC Regatta this past weekend, when PUMA was sailing under IRC handicap rules, the team expects to be a bit more competitive during the Bermuda Race. “In this race, we’re sailing under the ORR handicap system so the fact that we’re not racing against any other Volvo 70’s really is not a huge factor. What that means is that all the boats with canting keels (all three of us) are in the same division. We’ll be calling ourselves the bizarre and abnormal division.”

In addition to PUMA, this division includes the 100 foot Speedboat and 90 foot Genuine Risk. Kenny has also pin pointed a few similar sized boat, like Rambler and Bella Mente, and will treat them as if they were head to head battles. “It’s not the same as the typical racing we do, but we’ll try to create as much pressure as we can.”  Interviewed by Craig Leweck/ Scuttlebutt.
  

Victoria J/24 Class (Australia) Launch News!

J/24s Australia launch vibrant newsletter- the "Vic fleet" sure has fun.  Doug MacGregor (Crackerack) has been promoted to the Victorian Publicity Officer position – first job get a regular newsletter going. It’s called ‘Hit the Mark’ and I’m sure you’ll agree it certainly does that well.  As irreverent as a dour Scot can be, Doug’s editorial style is already flourishing in Issue One, emailed to the great unwashed of the Victoria J24 community today. His hard hitting, ‘pull no punches’ style will engage you from the start and you will be waiting for the next one to hit. Make sure you’re not the subject of the editors pen !  Move over MAD magazine.  Here’s the first one- http://www.jboats.com/newsletter/J24Victoria_News.pdf
  

Long Beach Race Week Update

(Long Beach, CA- June 25-27)- This West Coast classic is quite popular amongst the "left coast" advocates of "fun in the sun" all year long.  So far, there are 111 entries in 16 classes, approaching last year's turnout of 132 boats.  The J contingent will be quite significant, including J/120s, J/105s, J/109s, J/24s, J/29s and J/80s and an assortment of PHRFs (like the J/125 DERIVATIVE) racing buoy and random leg courses separately.  It's an amazing program--- all will enjoy free mooring or docking, courtesy of the City of Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine; nightly parties with complimentary hors d'oeuvres and free water taxi transportation between the sponsoring clubs.  The regatta is the climactic event of the Ullman Sails Inshore Championship Series, following the Ahmanson Cup at Newport Beach and Cal Race Week at Marina del Rey.  For more Long Beach Race Week sailing information
  

J/105 CONVEXITY Wins Chicago SW NOOD

Siegal's LUCKY DUBIE 2 Dominates J/109s

(Chicago, IL)- A strong turnout of J one-design classes by the J/105s and J/109s assured some great racing.  The weather overlords even cooperated to supply some breeze but perhaps a few too many lightning bolts in occasional thunderstorms rolling in off the vast prairies just West of downtown Chicago.  On Day 1 of the Sperry Top-Sider Chicago NOOD, the sailors had a little bit of everything. The first race on Circle B, the southern-most of the three circles finished in a steady, but fading, southeast breeze. That breeze all but vanished as PHRF 4, led by Robert Armstrong’s modified J/100 Good Girl, rounded the first windward mark in Circle C’s second race. Local J/Boat dealer Rich Stearns is sailing the new J/97 in that fleet. The 100-yard offset leg took him a few minutes to complete when the wind dropped to nothing. But the breeze returned and the J/97 showed some light-air legs on the run.  For the rest of the weekend, the RC PRO's were able to get in a good set of races, six each for the J/105 and J/109 classes.

In the sixteen boat J/105 class, local hero Don Wilson (Mr. Chicago Match Race Center) showed that he had not lost his touch racing J/105s and took CONVEXITY to a 6-1-1-1-1-5 finish to win the regatta by 11 points!  Dueling it our for second were Tom Petkus on VYTIS and Dorin Candea on MESSY JESSY.  Dorin pulled every trick in the book to overcome the steady sailing shown by Tom's experienced team, including winning the last race.  However, even a first place finish in Race 6 was not enough for Dorin's MESSY JESSY team to grab second place.  In the end, Tom's VYTIS sailed to a 3-3-2-6-5-7 finish to secure second and Dorin's MESSY JESSY started slow and finished strong with an 8-2-5-8-3-1 score.

A familiar face in the J/105 fleet, Len Siegal, jumped ship to race J/109s and took his LUCKY DUBIE 2 to a win in a very tightly contested series.   LUCKY DUBIE 2's scores of 2-2-1-1-3-1 were very consistent and dominant to win by 7 points.  Battling it out for second and third were Jack Toliver's VANDA III and David Gustman's NORTHSTAR.  The gloves were off going into the last race whomever beat who would grab the silver.  However, only three boats actually finished in the final  race #6 within the time limit, so five boats were scored with TLE's (Time Limit Expired)!  As a result, Jack's VANDA III finished second with a 1-1-3-5-2-TLE record tied with David's NORTHSTAR with a 4-3-2-2-1-TLE tally to finish third.

In the PHRF4 handicap classes, Richie Stearns reports- "The J/97 sailed great! I sailed a few races and the new owners of the J-111 sailed the others. The J/100 GOOD GIRL was untouchable and was well-sailed. We learned quite a bit about the J/97, the in-hualers work well on the boat. We were not sailing to polars downwind and that hurt. The weather was mixed anywhere from 3 to 15 knots and the boat is a pleasure to sail in all winds. The real great thing about the boat is how easy it is to sail.  We were third in section, the J/100 GOOD GIRL was first, fifth was the J/29 RELENTLESS and sixth was the J/27 RELENTLESS!  In the Level 35 Class, the J/35s swept and went 1-2-3 with William Newman's AFTERSHOCK running the table winning with ten points, Larry Taunt's BAD DOG in second and Bruce Metcalf's BOZO'S CIRCUS in third."   For more Sperry Top-Sider Chicago SW NOOD sailing information.
  

SERCO Wins J/24 European Championship

(Kamperland, The Netherlands)- The J/24 European Championship sailing in Kamperland had a stunning last day.  England's Bob Turner sailing SERCO surprised everybody to take the lead in the standings from favorite XENON of Peer Kock from Germany. The final day was even more exciting as the reigning European champion Alexandros Tagaropoulos sailed HELLENIC POLICE to three perfect races in a row. The Greek crew won all three races while SERCO sailed to a 15th and 21st in the last two races. WILD STUFF!! The final results after 11 races showed that Bob Turner grabbed the European Championship from the Greeks with the smallest of margins. Favorite Peer Kock who was in first place during the first days of the championship had an off day for the final three races. He moved to third place overall.  Rounding out the top five were Jan Kaehler sailing UNITED 5 from Germany in fourth and Dimitros Altsiadi from Greece finishing fifth sailing EYNIKH.

New European Champion Bob Turner of SERCO: “This was a though regatta with a very close finish, indeed. But fortunately we won. We have a good  team, a combination of experience and youth. Despite of the weather the Race Management en organization here did a great job. The atmosphere was fantastic during this event. Our next target is the World Championship J/24 Sailing in Sweden”

  Alexandros Tagaropoulos, skipper of GRE 751 HELLENIC POLICE, immediately after losing his European title: “Yes, very sad. We missed the title with only one point difference! After the second race, we had some strange trimming problems with our mainsail. Yesterday, I was inside the boat and I saw by incident that the mast step inside the boat was moving all the time. So I made a quick repair. Maybe that’s why we were performing much better today”.  For more J/24 Europeans sailing information
  

J's Shine at Cal Race Week

ELEKTRA Zaps J/109 Class

(Los Angeles, CA)- California Yacht Club plays host to one of the longest running race weeks on the West Coast and attracts, in particular, good one-design fleets from greater southern California.  The J/80s, J/105s and J/109s all had fun sailing around-the-cans with excellent courses set by CYC's PROs.

Tom Brott's ELEKTRA truly did zap the J/109 fleet, sailing to an extraordinarily consistent score of 1-2-2-1-1 to win their class by four points.  Chris Mewes sailed SHADOWFAX to second with a 3-1-3-2-2 tally followed by Bryce Benjamin in PERSISTENCE  with a 2-5-1-3-3 record.

Gary Mozer's CURRENT OBSESSION 2 literally dominated the J/105 class winning with four firsts and not sailing the last race.  Second Steve and Lucy Howell sailing BLINK! into second with a 2-3-2-2-1 score.  Third overall was ROCK & ROLL, sailed by Don Poppe.

The J/80s also had a dominant performance from Curt Johnson racing AVET to four firsts and a 6th place.  The Mullen/ Witt team sailed an remarkably consistent score of 2-2-2-3-2 to grab second and third was Jeff Friedman's FIRED UP.

In the handicap fleets, Susan Taylor won PHRF4 division in her J/24 and Fred Cottrell finished second in the Sportboat division with his J/33 TIGGER.   For more Cal Race week sailing information.     Photo Credits- Sam Haythorn Photography
  

J's Enjoy SW NOOD Detroit

J/120 CAPERS Wins Class

(Detroit, MI)- As usual, the Bayview Yacht Club did an extraordinary job to host yet another fun-loving Sperry Top-sider NOOD Regatta.  Can't argue with the fact that BYC members led by their perennial Commodore (well, kind-of) Frank Kern and his happy-go-lucky crew on the J/120 CARINTHIA put out the red carpet for all those who wish to participate in this annual event to have fun, enjoy the racing on that crazy body of water everyone knows as Lake St. Clair, just north of "Motown Detroit".  Remember, Detroit invented not just cars (some guy named Henry Ford, remember (?)), but hip-hop, trip-hop, funk, rap, soul, rhythm and blues, dance hop and just about all other forms of downbeat and upbeat music one can imagine.  Against that backdrop of musical innovation Frank's gang at BYC have done there own bit to keep the drumbeat rolling in the Detroit area to continue to have fun and grow the sport of sailing, welcoming one and all to their corner of the world with open arms.

This year's extravaganza had 154 boats show up from the four corners of the Great Lakes.  The J Crew were well represented with very good fleets of J/105s, J/120s, J/29s and J/35s showing up to lay their claim to some cool Sperry Top-sider gear and nice swag. 

The J/120s were well represented with seven boats enjoying some great one-design racing.  Kudos to Frank Kern and his CARINTHIA team for welcoming all competitors to yet another nice weekend of sailing.  In the end, Donald Hudak from MHYC was the winner on CAPERS.  Keeping Donald honest was David Sandlin on JHAWKER in second from Lake Shore Sailing Club.  Lying third was Marvin Ihnen from CSYC in his cleverly named IHNSANITY.

The seven boat J/105 fleet also had some good racing.  By winning the first race the rest of the fleet should've taken notice and run for cover, nevertheless Jim Sminchak's IT from LYC ran off with the first place prize.  Second was Don Harthorn's SNAKE OIL (wished he had some more of it?) from Lake Shore Sailing Club and third was Mark Symonds' PTERODACTYL. 

What seems to be a renaissance in the making are the passionate, enthusiastic and fun-loving J/29 owners around America.  Ira Perry took his J/29 SEEFEST across from the East Coast to the Detroit event on their truck and trailer to go have some great fun in this event.  Hailing from New Bedford YC in Massachusetts, Ira and his team were rewarded with a first overall in the J/29 class!  Giving them a run for the money was John Bullga/Amyot from LMYC racing BLITZ! in second place.  Brian Rice and his crew from Dalhousie YC were third sailing ROOSTER TALE.

The J/35s race as a class mixed up with a few other 35 footers.  What was cool was to see that the J/35 NIGHT TRAIN sailed by Chris Herriges from North Star Sail Club won over this very competitive fleet.

Despite all the fun and games, there was an unfortunate, fatal accident at BYC on Saturday night.  An automobile accident injured several sailors and resulted in the death of a fellow J sailor (most unfortunately, a member of Frank Kern's CARINTHIA crew)- Mike Badendieck.  It is with tremendous sorrow that we deliver this news and all those in the J/Family wish Mike's friends and family our deepest condolences, prayers and warmest wishes-- may the Good Lord Be With You All. Said a Tufts classmate of Stu Johnstone, BYC Commodore Bruce Burton, “We are deeply saddened by this accident that injured nine people and fatally injured a tenth person. Our first priority and thoughts are for Mike Badendieck’s family, who died from this accident. Our prayers go out to all of those who were injured and their families. Our hearts and prayers go out to them and to all Bayview members. This is a family club and a close group of friends. This is a tragedy and we are all in distress.”  For more Sperry Top-Sider SW NOOD Detroit sailing information.  Photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com
  

Black Seal J/Fun Fest

Mad Dogs Eat Everyone For Lunch

(Sag Harbor, NY- 5-6 June)- Breakwater YC in Sag Harbor, NY, way, way out on the end of Long Island played host to yet another fun-loving, easy-going, start for the summer sailing season for the eastern end of Long Island Sound.  A strong fleet of J/109s and J/105s competed for a case of Gosling's Black Seal Rum and other fun prizes.

In the J/109 one-design class, it was the MAD DOGS team with Adrian Begley as their alpha dog leading them to a 1-1-4-2-5 series to just win by one point over David Jannetti's able crew on JIBBER JABBER with a 3-4-1-6-1 record.  Just behind them only one point further back (no margin for error here!) was Jim Vos' crew on SKOOT.  Greg Ames and his team on GOSSIP were fourth and Donald Fillpelli on CAMINOS was fifth.

The J/105s saw Wayne Morse on ROXANNE win with a 1-1-2-1-2 record over Bruce Tait's BUCKAROO with a 2-2-4-2-1 score.  Lying third was Sedgwick Ward's MAMBO.  For more Sprit Fest Regatta sailing information.
  

New Orleans Hosts GYA Women's Champs

(New Orleans, LA- May 22)-  The Gulf Yachting Association, in collaboration with host club New Orleans YC, hosted the GYA Women's Championships recently using a three race format with no throw outs.  The local J contingent showed up in force with five Js sailing- a J/22, J/24, two J/30s and a J/35.  The gals apparently had a wonderful time racing and produced some cute videos for the event.  Please see the links below.

After the smoke cleared and gloves put safely away, it was pretty clear that Debbie Grimm's capable team racing the J/35 FOOTLOOSE TOO were not to be stopped, taking three firsts to dominate the event.  Louise Bienvenu sailed their J/22 LOLA into second with a 3-2-2 record followed by Cathy Cromartie in third place sailing the J/24 IRISH NINJA to a 2-4-4 tally.  Of note, recent J/30 one-design class leader JALAPENO was sailed into fourth by Elaine Boos and fellow J/30 TOY BOX was skippered by Margie Offan, finishing sixth.

Watch the YouTube video- "A Few Good Women"
Part I- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIZ4Y9dU1us
Part II- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x-Kl94ICmI
  

FIGAWI RACE Fun For All

(Hyannis to Nantucket- May 29)- Over thirty J's raced the 39th Annual Figawi Race from Hyannis to Nantucket on May 29th, which saw fifteen to twenty-knot southwest winds and a steep Nantucket Sound chop of 3-5 feet.  The race is a "pursuit style" event where the slowest boats rated under PHRF handicap start first at a specific starting time, then in succession, all faster boats start with the biggest boats, like the J/160 starting last.  For the J's this meant the J/24s started first followed by an assortment of racing/ cruising J's spread throughout six divisions, including one entire "sprit division" that was 76% J's!

In Division S- Sprit Boats, the J/105 VIXEN skippered by Chris Beane placed first by just 1:40 over Wagner Reservitz's J/105 DARK'N'STORMY.  Third was David Murphy's well-traveled J/122 PUGWASH another three minutes behind.  Interestingly, VIXEN's finish time of 14:32:51 put her in third overall of all 230+ boats, meaning third fastest boat to finish to Nantucket!

In Division A- Spinnaker, four J's sailed with Alan Fougere's J/160 AVATAR leading the J's home finishing at 14:40:40.  In Division B- Spinnaker, four J's sailed with Mark Scheffer's J/35 SURPRISE leading all other J's finishing at 15:03:32.  In Division C- Spinnaker, three J's sailed with Ira Perry's J/29 SEEFEST leading the J parade finishing at 14:39:15.  In Division D- Spinnaker, four J/24s raced and Jonathan Wenderto's J/24 DRAGIN-Z-BALZ (?) finished second in class finishing at 14:48:58.  In Division F- Non-spinnaker, two J's cruised over to Nantucket with Bill Jones' J/40 SMITTEN finishing second overall!

The FIGAWI race is first and foremost a "fun" family event that hosts a FIGAWI Charity Ball to benefit 24 Cape Cod charities prior to the start of the race.  According to folklore, a long time ago , three sailors started out from Hyannis to race their sailboats to Nantucket. That race would be the first of the Figawi Race Weekends and the beginning of what has become a Cape Cod tradition.  Since that inauspicious start in 1972, whether it was the charm of a race to Nantucket, or maybe just the personal appeal of the early founders is really not clear, but Figawi began to grow by leaps and bounds. A lay day was added in 1978 along with a race back to Hyannis, as the race committee, now formerly organized, turned the Figawi from a one day race into a three day weekend event.  Today, the Figawi has grown into one of the premier sailboat races on the East coast.. a great way to start the summer sailing season! Join them next year for great sailing on Nantucket Sound, great fun and camaraderie on the beautiful island of Nantucket, and memories of being part of a great tradition.  For more FIGAWI Sailing information
  

J One-Design Champions Leading The Charge At Louis Vuitton Trophy

Who says that former College Sailors of the Year and J One-Design Champions don't know how to match race?  Amongst the world's top teams competing in the current Louis Vuitton Trophy are J sailors such as John Kostecki (Oracle/BMW), Ed Baird (LUNA ROSSA),  Terry Hutchinson (ARTEMIS), Chris Larson (MASCALZONE LATINO), Sebastien Col (ALL4ONE) and Morgan Larson (MASCALZONE LATINO).  And sprinkled amongst the crew of 8 of the 10 boats are champion J sailors of one form or another- guys who raced and cut their teeth on J/22s, J/24s, J/80s and J/105s across the world match racing in various venues.

One of the more amusing anecdotes of the racing in La Maddalena came from American Morgan Larson commenting on tactics that were employed between two former J/24 Champions:  "Mascalzone Latino slammed the door on Artemis with a strategy the Italian team had been refining for some time. The guys on the boat made a great call for the left side and Gavin did a beautiful job of executing that," said tactician Morgan Larson. "We spent a lot of time this morning talking about Terry Hutchinson's weaknesses in the prestart. I think Gavin exploited that weakness. It was very close. Terry was really close to getting an overlap with us that would have shifted everything. If they got an overlap they would have got the left and probably won the race."  Read more about how these top sailors are doing to win the Louis Vuitton Trophy.