Team LUCA Wins J/24 Worlds

South American Teams 8 of Top 10!
(Buenos Aires, Argentina)- The 2011 J/24 Worlds in Buenos Aires, Argentina sailed this past week had 58 crews from 9 countries.  It marked the first time in decades that Americans did not factor as the principal leading boats in the top five.  Instead, the South American teams continue to chip away at the J/24 world order once led by mostly Europeans, Australians and Americans.  This year's regatta may be seen as a watershed event as it was clear the South American teams continue to ascend into the top ranks of the J/24 class worldwide and are raising the level of their game quite significantly.  This year, Argentina’s Alejo Rigoni sailing LUCA with crew Gustavo Gonzalez, Joaquín Duarte Argerich, Fernando Gwozdz and Sergio Armesto are crowned the 2011 J/24 World Champion after securing the victory on the final day of racing. Rigoni's LUCA is the first Argentine team to have won the J/24 Worlds in the three decades the J/24s have been racing worldwide as the world's largest international one-design keelboat class.

After the first three days of racing, the American Tim Healy of Newport, Rhode Island was at the top of the leader board leading by nearly 20 points, a seemingly unassailable lead at a World's event.  However, as they say in "da'islands", it was "movin day, mon."  Just over the hump of the middle stages in the regatta, either you show that consistency or you crack.  And when the cracks form in the veneer of impenetrability, sometimes things don't turn out so well or as one would want it to be.  In this case, 11TH HOUR RACING sailed by Healy's team saw some of the "wheels fall of their shopping trolley".  Two races were completed on the third day under sunny skies with winds ranging from 10 to 18 knots. After a general recall in each race, Principal Race Officer Teodoro Kundig was again quick to hoist the black flag to keep the aggressive fleet under control.  And this little black flag would prove the undoing of many teams.  In the day’s first race 18 of the 58 boats (including Healy) were scored BFD after two general recalls under the black flag. On the next attempt the fleet finally got away and Peru’s Luis Olcese hit the pin end start perfectly. Olcese led the fleet until the final few meters when he was run down by Alejo Rigoni who took the win. Conditions were more challenging for the second race as the wind had again built to around 18 knots, kicking up a very confused sea. Healy rebounded from his black flag disqualification to win the race going away followed by local favorite Matias Pereira in second.

The morning of the last day dawned with a weather forecast sure to strike fear in the hearts of the top contenders.  It was certainly going to be a challenge to get a race going before noon.  The RC tried to get something started in the morning and actually did start a race on the first try under black flag with the current running away from the line. The wind quickly died, as everyone expected, forcing the race to be abandoned. At 1430 the wind had finally filled enough to race and the event’s riveting, drama-laden final ninth race, also started on the first try under the black flag!  American Mike Ingham on RELOADED led at the first mark, and wound up third at the end to move up to third overall in the standings.  Francisco van Avermaete of Argentina on MENDIETTA won the last race to secure the 4th place overall.  Luis Olcese on GUERRERO from Peru finished second overall, a remarkably strong performance and the best ever by a Peruvian team in the J/24 Worlds!  Of special note was the best finish by a Uruguayan team was Pedro Garra on EXTASIS in 9th overall, the best Chilean team was Matias Seguel's team on Team VOLVO in 10th overall.  Also, the top Italian team was Ignazio Bonnanino on SUPERBA in 20th overall and top Australian was Sean Kirkjian on DEATHSTAR in 30th.  Brazil's past J/24 World Champion, Mauricio Santa Cruz, had to bail from the Worlds for personal reasons, so top Brazilian team was Nelson Horn Ilha on DIFERENCIAL SAILING TEAM in 37th.  Congratulations must go to the top Womens' team (pictured here), an Argentinean crew led by Mariana Crousse on NUBARRON with six women leading the charge into a very respectable 32nd place, a top half finish and beating half the American J/24 teams!  Sailing photo credits- Jorge Cousillas/ El Ojo Nautico.   For more J/24 Worlds sailing information   J/24 Worlds Youtube video- an entertaining view sailing on an Argentine J/24 team.

J Sailors- Winning & Surviving on World Stage

* Win Some, Lose Some.  Tough week for "los amigos y hermanos de J/24s".  For starters, kindred J/24 spirits in Argentina were winning the J/24 Worlds.  But, their mentors and heroes were suffering interminable bad breaks.  For one, Ken Read's Volvo 70 PUMA Mar Mastro suffered the worst fate anyone of us could imagine, watching their super high-tech Scott Ferguson/ Hall Spars custom special carbon uber-rig simply fall over the side in three pieces in just 20+ knot winds in a long period 10-12 foot swell about 3 pm UTC off Brazil, about 700 nm from nowhere on Monday, November 21st.  What gives?  Maybe a symptom of the massive forces/ acceleration experienced in the first 48 hours of the race?  Certainly the conditions back then were bad enough to knock two of their competitors out of contention already (Abu Dhabi and Team Sanya).  Nevertheless, they're still "Thankful" for surviving to date.  Also, still surviving (and leading) are Iker Martinez on TELEFONICA, the ETNZ CAMPER boys and the French Connection on-board Franck Camas's team on GROUPAMA.

* A world apart and surviving in a tactical way was Terry Hutchinson on ARTEMIS RACING.  Sailing strongly in the America's Cup World Series on the AC45 cats in the racing leading up to the final days, Terry's team were handily in the top four.  But a shift here, a hole there and in the blink of an eye (e.g. 30 seconds) their hopes were dashed from competing for the finals.  Next up?  First race in 2012 is in Italy followed by Newport in late June!  Should be quite a sight to see these 45 foot cats flying around Narragansett Bay at light speeds between Castle Hill Light and the Newport Bridge!  Maybe some wise guy named Larry will show up with an AC72 foot version and show it off, too!?  Now, that would be very, very cool.

J's Enjoy Puget Sound Sailing Regatta

The Puget Sound Sailing Championships were held in October off Seattle, Washington. Sailing in this year's event were an enormous cross-section of J's big and small, from the bright-red J/22 called JINX to the beautiful flag-blue J/160 called JAM.  Snow-capped peaks are a common backdrop in the Pacific Northwest, as seen here at the 2011 Puget Sound Sailing Championship with this gorgeous J/29 sailing upwind on port tack with the sunny Cascade Mountains behind them.  It was a spectacular day of sailing despite the fact the forecast was lousy at best.  You can see many more pretty photos by Jan's Marine Photography here.

America's Cup World Series- Terry Hutchinson interview

* AC34 San Diego- last week we featured the J/120 sailors John Laun and Chuck Nichols who created SEA San Diego and are principally responsible for seeing the AC34 World Series event being held there this coming weekend.  Now for the actors themselves.  While friends from the J/24 and J/80 one-design world are "sending it" in the Volvo Ocean Race in their ocean-going greyhounds, namely Ken Read on PUMA and Iker Martinez on TELEFONICA, their "bicycle" buddies blasting around short-track racing avoiding brick walls and one another every ten seconds is none other than Terry Hutchinson and buddies on ARTEMIS RACING.  What's a J/24 World Champion to do after learning what it takes to play on a world stage-- fly around in wing-sailed catamarans, of course!  Cool stuff.  The real racing gets underway Wednesday and look to see Terry and the boys on ARTEMIS RACING amongst the leaders in this tough fleet of new-born cat fanatics.   Terry Hutchinson sailing interview/ preview.

J/24 Worlds- Sailing Update- 11th HOUR RACING Leading

(Buenos Aires, Argentina)- The 2011 J/24 Worlds in Buenos Aires, Argentina started this week with 58 crews from 9 countries.  What is self-evident is the South American teams have learned a thing or two about racing J/24s over the years.  In the early years of the class, the Americans pretty well dominated most of the World Championships.  In recent years, top Europeans and top South American teams have leapt into the top of the leader-board and have managed to give the Americans excellent competition in any venue, regardless of wind and weather conditions.

On the first day of sailing, the host club's PRO from YC Argentino did a magnificent job getting off two good races considering the difficulty of the changing weather conditions.  The first race was to start at 2 pm, but there was only a 4 kt wind, so it had to be delayed. Finally, it started at 3:30 pm, with wind from the East of 6 kt. The winds continued to shift in direction and speed, challenging the skippers (and the anxiety-ridden tacticians) to stay on top of the rapidly shifting scenarios.  It was clear it was to the "locals" liking.  Coincidentally, the winners of both races were Argentinean teams, MENDIETA sailed by Francisco Van Avermaete and LUCA VIVE skippered by Alejo Rigoni.  Nevertheless, sitting at the top of the leader-board was Tim Healey, the current J/24 World Champion.

The second day of sailing proved to be tough again on the skippers trying to master the nasty chop, the current (because they're on the River Plate/ Rio de la Plata) and the even nastier oscillating/ persistent shifts from the East.  Mastering the conditions of the first race of the day (race #3) was yet another South American team, GUERRERO skippered by Luis Olcese from Peru.  The fourth race was won by Tim Healy's Newport, Rhode Island team sailing 11TH HOUR RACING.  Tim and the gang lead the entire race wire-to-wire by fellow American Mike Ingham skippering RELOADED.  Third was A PRUEBA DE BALAS skippered by Juan Grimaldi from Argentina.

At this stage, Tim's 11TH HOUR RACING holds a commanding lead of 20 points over a group of five boats all vying for the balance of the podium with a very consistent record of 3-5-4-1 for 13 pts total.  Francisco's Argentinean team on MENDIETA has a 1-10-12-10 tally for 33 pts, good enough for second.  Luis' Peruvian team on GUERRERO is third two points back with a scoreline of 6-13-1-15 for 35 pts.  Fourth in a tie is Matias Seguel's Chilean team racing VOLVO with a 16-12-3-7 tally for 38 pts and Miguel Saubidet's Argentinean team on FEFE sailing to a 12-3-7-16 also for 38 pts.  Just out of contention and staying in touch with the leaders are J/24 Champions Mike Ingham on RELOADED in 8th and Will Welles on PUMA in 11th.  Mauricio Santa Cruz from Brazil, another J/24 World Champion, is having his fair share of troubles on the first day, taking a Scoring Penalty in the first race and getting an SCP/DSQ in the second race, perhaps digging a hole that may be too deep to crack the top three-- nevertheless, if there was a magician on the race course, Mauricio has been known to make meteoric come-backs!  Watch this space!  For more J/24 Worlds sailing information

Vincenti Leads Anzio J/24 Winter Championships

(Anzio, Italy)- A summer day with twenty-six degrees C cooled by a gentle breeze from the west at 5-8 knots and the beautiful sea and sky a deep blue greeted the J/24 sailors for the first event in the Anzio & Nettuno Winter Championship series.  Hard to beat such spectacular conditions south of Rome in the Tyrrhenian Sea.  Anticipation for great sailing was quite high as twenty-five J/24s prepared to sail the first day of the 37th championship

The Race Committee waited for the arrival of the thermal in the early afternoon and managed to start racing around 1330 hrs.  After a gorgeous day of sailing, it was Marco Vincenti  racing Team DJKE that was leading the fleet by 3 pt.  Second was Ignazio Bonanno sailing LA SUPERBA and third was a surprising new face at the top of the leader-board, Luca Silvestri on ENJOY 2 just two points back from LA SUPERBA.  Fourth five points back has two boats currently tied on points, Gianni Riccobono sailing PELLENERA and Manuela Santarcangelo sailing INDIANA J!  The next event is scheduled for Sunday, November 6.  For more Anzio & Nettuno Winter Championship sailing information

VILJA Wins Cervia J/24 Winter Circuit

(Cervia, Romagna, Italy)-  After the notoriously fickle northern Adriatic Sea served up bad weather the previous week (rough seas and high waves), and great racing the following weekend.  It was a concern the final weekend of the eastern Italy fleet fall championship might be at risk to the fast-moving weather systems that start to fly across Europe in the fall.

On the previous weekend, a perfect day marked by sun, fresh Mistral (12-14 knots) and calm seas allowed the twelve J/24s to sail three excellent races.  At the end of the day, victory went to the Romagnan team on CAPTAIN NEMO, sailed by Dominic Bright, Richard Ancarani, Aurelio and Claudio Comporesi Menghi- all members of the Sailing Club Ravenna.

However, by the last installment of this event, the standings would change dramatically.  After nine races as counters for the entire championship series, it was Ruggero Sperafico's team on VILJA that wins the XXXVII Winter Championship Interlaghi, the seventh and final leg of the Italian Circolo J/24.  Second goes to a Pierluigi Puthod on SPLENDIDA, suffering from a DSQ in race 7 and a 19th in race 9 to lose the championship by three points! Tied with them, but losing the tie-breaker was was Francesco Bertone sailing JJ ExtraLarge-- ugh, more agony for the top three. Then, fourth was Pietro Diamanti skippering JAMAICA only two points back and rounding out the top five was Fabio Di Rossi on VALHALLA only two points further back!!  "If only", as they say at the pub afterwards after a few pints of Peroni's Nastro Azzuro!  For more J/24 Cervia Winter Series sailing information.

Wickwire Star of Canadian J/24 Match Race Championship

(Toronto, ONT, Canada)- No, it was not the "Hail-Fire Droid", nor the lightning quick "Speeder-bikes", nor "Luke" invoking special help from his buddies on "Tatooine".  It was just Peter Wickwire (J/24 owner of SUNNYVALE) and crew Tim Bishop and Matt Christie who won the CYA Match Racing Championship at Royal Canadian Yacht Club held on September 23-25th.

Learning fast and keeping their noses out of trouble, Peter and crew walked off with the Canadian Match Race Championship sailed in J/24s off RCYC in grand style.  Veteran, perhaps even legendary, Canadian sailors like John Hele, Terry McLaughlin, Andreas Josenhans and Hans Fogh should be so proud!  For more J/24 Canadian National Match Race Championship Sailing information

Dr Laura Sailing J/100 Spooks Goblin Regatta

(Santa Barbara, CA)- The Santa Barbara Sailing Club Goblin Regatta hosted 55 boats over the Halloween weekend for their annual fun race for family and friends in the region.  The weather was unbelievable- "shorts and shades" all weekend with classic Santa Barbara weather on stage- 70s daytime and sunny.  On Saturday the wind started light and built nicely towards the end of the day, Sunday started with a nice breeze and built into the teens by the last race.  Both PHRF and the J/24 fleets sailed seven good races.

Generally, the fleet starts off the harbor and heads west to a mark more or less off the point and outside of the monster kelp beds.  Meanwhile, the temptation to play the lifting shifts on starboard tack that are coming off the shore is often risky business, while offering tactical advantage it also takes you into monster kelp beds.  Kelp sticks and kelp cutters are necessary equipment sailing in this part of the world-- ever catch a 30 foot piece of kelp that weights a good 100 lbs or more?  You start sailing sideways faster than you can go forward!

Amongst the Halloween revelers this years was the famous "psych" talk-show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger, sailing her J/100 called PERFECT.  She named her boat that for a reason, she loves it and of all the sailboats she's ever owned, she considers it "the PERFECT boat"!  Imagine that.  Plus, she likes having a good time with it.  In this year's event, Dr Laura and her fully costumed J/100 crew (putting new meaning to the term "deck ape"- see photo above) ran away with the premiere class in the regatta, winning PHRF with five 1sts a 2nd and 3rd. Just behind them finishing 2nd was another local champion sailor, Larry Leveille racing his J/29 RUSH STREET (blue-striped boat seen just above).  Lying third was the J/22 MISS BEHAVIN.

In the J/24 class, Thomas Tunberg sailing BULLET from Santa Barbara Sailing Club won by winning the last race over Grant's ELECTRIC PUMPKIN from Santa Barbara YC. It was a cliff-hanger of a race for the top three in the last race, whomever beat who would determine the final placings on the podium.  In the end, BULLET's record of 1-1-2-3-1-4-1 for 13 pts triumphed over ELECTRIC PUMPKIN's 2-2-3-1-2-2-2 for 14 pts. Finishing third was Susan Taylor from California YC sailing TAKE FIVE, taking in some bullets for herself, scoring 4-3-1-2-3-1-3 for a total of 17 pts.   For more Santa Barbara Sailing Club sailing photos and   Goblin Regatta sailing results.

J/24 beer can racing- Professional Grade Sailing?

this one falls into the category of "OMG, They Can't Be Serious!"  Nevertheless, this new J/24 "go-fast" equipment shows how Tim Corbett's J/24 has taken summer beer can racing to a whole new level-- if not beyond professional grade, perhaps certifiable?  You can bet this team is pretty popular out on the water, particularly when people start getting thirsty.  Note the meticulous care to use a large overhead 2-ton crane to lower in a full keg of Grolsch beer (this guys aren't skimping on good beer, that's for sure) into the "hold" of a J/24-- substituting the top of the keg most assuredly for the normal companionway steps (the old Igloo Cooler).  Then, in what appears to be extraordinary attention to detail, note how the Igloo Cooler has been converted into a "cold tap" that has immediate access from the cockpit adjacent to the primary genoa winches.  If you want the fancy engineering plans, along with all the CAD/CAM and VPPs and FE analysis that shows how to improve J/24 performance and the PSYCHOLOGY TODAY impact study on crew moral enhancement and the Stan Honey analysis of YACHTING'S GREATEST INVENTIONS SINCE MAN SAILED LOGS and how that applies to the total average overall boatspeed of a J/24 pre-and-post "liquidation", be sure to contact Tim-- he's got all the answers.  We're certain he'd be happy to "convert" other J/24s to a similar point of view.

J/24 Worlds Preview

(Buenos Aires, Argentina)- Considering the J/24 is approaching its 35th birthday, it's still pretty astounding to see both the level of activity and the depth of the competition in the world's largest one-design keelboat class.  Back in the day in 1977 the J/24 really was a "revolution", the "Laser with a lid", the first "sportboat" anyone had ever seen in its size range- a 24 footer that could actually plane!  Remember, back then the "hot" IOR Quarter-tonners all had masthead rigs, three foot booms, monster genoas and 10 foot spinnaker poles! Rod rigging was considered "hi-tech".  Say what? Yes, such IOR beasts were a wonder to behold, downwind with "bloopers" up (anyone know what that is?) they could "swap ends" faster than any other sailboat designs in history, and you didn't even have to steer when that happened-- just hold on for dear life!

Thank goodness, sailboat design has evolved, as have strong one-design classes.  The J/24 led the charge back then and with 5,000+ boats sailing around the world, the J/24 class continues to field very strong events-- a fleet of sixty-one boats from nine countries are sailing the 2011 J/24 Worlds in Buenos Aires, Argentina this coming week.  Contenders include some well-known faces in the class.  Starting with the hosts, Argentina has a strong contingent of 26 boats, including their top sailors like Roberto Authier and the top two from the Pre-Worlds- Francisco Campero and Matias Pereira.  From Australia is one of their top teams, Sean Kirkjian and Simon Cunningham.  Brazil is perhaps leading with its favorite, current J/24 World Champion Mauricio Santa Cruz sailing BRUSCHETTA.  From across the Rio de la Plata (River Plate), third place at the Pre-Worlds was Uruguay's Pedro Garra.  The USA always has a strong team fielded at the J/24 Worlds.  They're led by a very strong team of past World, North American and Midwinters Champions, including Tim Healy on 11TH HOUR RACING from Newport, RI; Mike Ingham from Rochester, NY; Scott Milne on TREMENDOUS SLOUCH from New Orleans, LA; Will Welles on PUMA from Newport, RI; and Keith Whittemore on CINQUECENTO from Seattle, WA. The other countries represented, Chile, Italy, Peru and England all have teams capable of challenging the leaders for the top ten.

Expect the YCA (YC Argentino) to put on a world-class event where the sailors will be treated to excellent race management as well as the famous Argentinean hospitality- what's not to like about Argentina's delicious Malbec red wine varietals and mouth-watering grass-fed beef from the pampas?!  Keep up with your favorite teams by following them on the link below.  For more J/24 Worlds sailing information

Wehrheim Snags J/24 East Coasts

(Annapolis, MD)- For starters, PRO Mike Waters did one helluva job to get 55 boats off the line over the three days to get in five reasonably good races for the Hillman Capital Management J/24 East Coast Championships.  Hosted by Severn Sailing, this regatta marked one of the last events in the 2011 sailing calendar that enabled ANY J/24 team to "qualify" to sail in the 2012 J/24 World Championships in Rochester, NY-- basically, all you had to do was register, pay the fees and go sailing.  Big Kudos to Mark Hillman and family at HCM for having the "cojones" to support and sponsor this fun, crazy, warm-hearted group of sailors who not only love sailing against one another, but have a helluva party just about anywhere they go.  Hard to argue, some of those friendships have been earned over decades, literally!  Pain box?!  Maybe.  But, "liquid therapy" seems to lubricate a lot of things in this class (Advil seems to help, too).

Chief amongst the protagonists in this on-going, traveling, circus (soap opera?) are guys like Flipster, Chuckie, Wilbur, Mikey, Petey, Tim-boy and "old man" TP.  Don't know who they are?  Perhaps you should-- amongst them are multiple World Championships and North Americans in J/24s and even a World Team Race Championship, or two.  Needless to say, this is one incredibly competitive fleet and they have fun doing it, too.

This time around, it was Flip's turn.  Sailing his infamously named TEAMP POOP from Rochester, NY, Flip Wehrheim and crew, obviously practicing way, way too hard for the upcoming J/24 Worlds at their home club, sailed to a 2-2-1-3-11 to show their tail-feathers to the rest of the practitioners at the top of the J/24 kingdom.  Second was a spoiler, Stuart Challoner sailing SPOILSPORT from Island Heights YC.  Third was a class stalwart, Will Welles from Newport, RI sailing with Chuckie Allen to a solid 1-21-8-1-3 (Will was clearly not happy with the one double-digit result!). Fourth was Mike Ingham from Rochester YC, showing signs that he's not lost his touch and will clearly be a contender next year in Rochester for the Worlds.  Just one point behind him was Pete Levesque sailing WEST MARINE RIGGING from New York YC.  Of note, past World Champion Tim Healy sailing TEAM 11TH HOUR/ SAILORS FOR THE SEA finished in 7th despite some excellent scores (a bomber 30th hurt their chances); top Canadian finisher was Rossi Milev from Port Credit YC in Port Credit, Ontario finishing 6th; and the "long distance award" clearly goes to 9th place finisher Satoshi Kume sailing SOKOKUMARU from Hayana Marina YC in Japan!    For more J/24 East Coasts sailing information

Love That Sunny SW J/Fest!

(Houston, TX)-  Hosted by Lakewood YC on Galveston Bay, the 2nd annual J/Fest Southwest was a huge success!  There were fifty boats on the line with J/80's and J/24's leading the way with 15 boats in each class, followed by the J/22's with 10 and the J/105's with 7 boats.  A norther blew through on Friday leaving light and fluky winds for Saturday's racing.  As usual PRO Dwight Bengston's RC did a superb job of getting two races off on each of the two lines before the winds died for good mid-afternoon.  Not to worry, the Lakewood YC had it going on shoreside with a live band, a Cajun feast, Kattack replays of the day's racing, and streaming photo's. The sailors were gathered around the various TV sets enjoying the photo's and Kattack well into the night.  Rod Johnstone also attended and talked with just about everybody on-hand, providing pearls of wisdom about having fun cruising on J/95s or J/105s or sailing J's faster-- conversations enjoyed by all!

Sunday's weather forecast looked pretty grim, but fortunately the weather man was wrong!  The fleet headed out for a 10am start and when rounding the corner to head out the cut by Kemah Boardwalk the wind was blowing well into the high teens! In fact, with the wind on the nose and the foul current, it made getting through the cut a challenge for the sailors headed out to sea!  Once on the race course, skippers were uncertain whether the wind would hold, strengthen, or die as predicted! Do we back off the rig, expecting a dying breeze or crank it on a few turns in case the wind stays?  The wind stayed and both fleets got off a couple races, much to the delight of all the sailors!

The racing was tight and a lot of fun.  This year saw two "repeats", not "three-petes yet, but Bill Zartler sailing his j/105 SOLARIS won his class for the second year in a row while Terry Flynn/ David Whelan also won the J/80 class on their boat GULF COAST RACING.

The J/22 fleet got obliterated by a DC Comic book hero, the GREEN FLASH!  Sailed by Chad Wilson from Royal Dickinson YC, the Flash-Men sailed over the horizon to a remarkably consistent, conservative scoreline-- four 2nds and one 1st!  With just nine points, FLASH topped Ruthie Lambert's team sailing OUT OF SIGHT from Galveston Bay Cruising Association by four points.  Ruthie's team sailed a respectable 3-2-1-4-3 for 13 pts.  Rounding out the podium was a J/22 class veteran of many one-design wars, Farley Fontenot sailing RINGO from Houston YC.  Farley's team managed a 5-5-4-1-4 for 19 pts to take third.

While MR HAPPY didn't rule the roost again in the J/24 class, it was the RUMLINE gang that took the gold from them.  Bryan Dryer's RUMLINE from way, way up north in Texas (Fort Worth Boat Club) came down south to show the Houston honky-tonk crowd how it's done- starting off with a bullet and never letting the pressure off the fleet- amassing a 1-2-3-5-2  for 13 pts to win their class.  Bobby Harden's team on MR HAPPY from way West in Texas (Austin YC) managed to win two races, but it wasn't enough to overcome the challenge laid down by the boys from the North.  HAPPY's 4-5-1-1-6 was good enough for 17 pts and second place.  In fact, there was a "bad moon rising" behind MR HAPPY most of the regatta!  Kelly Holme's team from generally around Dallas, TX were sailing BAD MOON and the "Moonies" were, in fact winning (or tied) for winning the regatta going into the last race!  But, it seems the hangovers from the wild festivities at LYC the night before took their toll, with the Moonies taking the big fade on the last race-- their 3-1-4-2-8 tally gave them 18 pts, securing the bronze for sure on the podium (but less beer to celebrate with, too)!

The J/80s were graced by the presence of mondo J/80 World Champion/ North American Champion Terry Flynn and Dave Whelan sailing their boat GULF COAST RACING.  These boys from Ft Worth Boat Club sailed to three 1sts and one 3rd for a total of six points-- ouch!  Looks like they schooled the fleet pretty badly, winning by 10 pts.  Behind them was a real battle for 2nd and 3rd, not resolved in fact until the last race!  And, at that in a tie-breaker!  Getting the short end of that stick was Bill Rose on KICKS while Greg Buck and crew on LICKETY SPLIT won the luck of the split! Of special mention, J/Boats designer Rod Johnstone was sailing with a "pick-up" crew on FIRED UP and still managed to win a race!

As usual, the J/105s all seem to go the same speed, making for some fun racing and tight mark roundings.  The fleet standings would jumble up and down rapidly depending on boat-handling errors or (doh!) mental errors.  While the "Z-man", Bill Zartler, and crew aboard SOLARIS set the standard for the top of the podium with an impressive 2-2-1-1 scoreline, behind them it was anything but "clear as mud" (or Galveston Bay) as to who would take the next four spots.  Ever heard of the saying, "off to the races like a herd of snails in a dust-storm"?  Well, that's what happened, things were going nowhere fast and you couldn't see anything-- it was totally unclear who would arise to lead this pack.  Seemingly glued together anywhere they went, the "gang of four" had a heckuva fun time racing for the silver and bronze.  Winning the tie-breaker for second was Mark Masur on TWO FEATHERS with a 1-6-4-2 while Matt Arno sailing BLUE FLASH had to settle for third with a steady 3-3-3-4 for 13 pts.  Just behind them were Uzi Ozeri sailing INFINITY into 4th with a 7-1-2-5 for 15 pts and JB Bednar on STINGER getting stung for 5th place with a 4-4-7-3 for 18 pts.

The "big boys" in J/PHRF saw the mighty yacht GAMBLER, Doug Shaffer's J/122, sail around the course in fine fashion with some Gucci-looking North 3di sails to beat the sleek J/111 "007" sailed by Scott Spurlin in their weekend-long match race.

Finally, a big "Thanks" to the J/Fest's two biggest sponsors- the City of Seabrook and Parkway Chevrolet.  Furthermore, the LYC volunteers did a phenomenal job running the event.  It was a lot of fun and all of the participants will be back!  Ya'll come back by and join us too, ya hear!?   Sailing photo credits- John Lacy Photos   For more J/Fest SW sailing information and results

MADDER N BADDER Wins Balmain Regatta

(Sydney, Australia)-  Over 80 boats took part in one of Sydney’s oldest sporting events on Sunday, the Balmain Regatta. Hosted by the Balmain Sailing Club ,the regatta was first held in 1849 and continued until 1934 when it was discontinued. It was revived in 1994 by the Wooden Boat Association and today the regatta is run by the Balmain Sailing Club, in association with other sailing clubs and community organizations.

The event is a real celebration of Balmain, the harbour and Sydney’s maritime heritage and attracts vessels such as classic skiffs, wooden boats, dinghy’s, lasers, classic and modern yachts, making it one of the great annual spectacles around Balmain. This year’s regatta saw sailors and spectators somewhat frustrated with little wind making it a long day for all, including the local seagull who took time out to inspect the lingering fleet. In addition to the very, very cool looking vintage wooden "18 foot" skiffs, the J/24s had a go of it as well.  Leading the charge hope having a grand time of it all was Chris O'Neill's team on his J/24 MADDER N BADDER.  Coming in a few dozen yards astern was Tim Briggs' SAILPAC and third was Ralph Pickering's WATERHOUND.   Sailing photo credits- Barbara Hamilton   For more Balmain Regatta sailing information

  

HEDGEHOG Chomps J/24 Autumn Cup

(Plymouth, England)- Held over the first weekend of October, this year's J/24 Autumn Cup turned out to be sailed on the hottest, sunniest, all-round best weekend October has ever produced-- it also happened to bring out the craziest in everyone down at the Royal Western YC.  The scene on the terrace was astounding, no one had seen such a seriously fine selection of sun hats in decades!  It would make most ladies at "The Derby" blush or, perhaps, make them green with envy?

With a warm 8-10 knots of breeze from the south west, Saturday’s racing got underway on time at noon. With four races of about one hour duration, each race provided a different winner. Darren Stansbury's HEDGEHOG won race one starting the regatta with purpose, and Rob Clark's JUJU won race two making the most of their new green rudder. Paul Williams JIGGY 2 won race three seeming to be loving their new boat and pink rudder, and were pointing like the bandits all weekend, and David Cooper's JAWBREAKER won race four getting back down to business after a slow start to events.

On Sunday we had a forty minute "pottering about" in the sun waiting for the breeze to fill in, which it eventually did with about 6-8 Knots from the south west. As with Saturday, the first race of the day, race five, went to the HEDGEHOG's. Race six was won by McCarthy and Phelps MADELINE who put together a great days results and it was JIGGY 2 who rounded off the regatta with their second win in race seven.

Due to a spot of windward mark "hide-n-seek" in race three, it was decided that Duncan McCarthy (MADELINE) and Darren Stansbury (HEDGEHOG) would share the Autumn Cup in equal first! With a well deserved Third for Paul and Shane on JIGGY 2.

Many thanks go to the RWYC`s Alan Nichols, James Bembridge, Claire Adams and of course the PRO Mike Pearson and his teams on the committee boat and mark boat. A fine job all round, thanks again."  Thanks for the contribution from Stig McDonald.  For more J/24 Autumn Cup sailing information