Friday, May 24, 2013

THREE BIG DOGS Snatches Cinco de Mayo Regatta



J/24 sailing off Santa Barbara, CA in Cinco de Mayo Regatta (Santa Barbara, CA)- One of the highlights of the Santa Barbara sailing season is always the Cinco de Mayo celebration.  The event always attracts a good fleet of one-design classes.  In fact, Cinco de Mayo and the Fiesta Cup celebrated later in July are the highlights of the summertime sailing season for locals due to the enormous influx of sailors looking forward to the time-honored celebrations associated with each event.

Host of the Cinco de Mayo Regatta is the Santa Barbara Sailing Club, a wonderful "home-grown" sailing organization dedicated to promote primarily one-design class sailboat racing in the Santa Barbara area. Perhaps most importantly, it primary objective has been to provide affordable access to the sport of sailboat racing for the general sailing public.

J/24 sailing upwind offshore Santa Barbara, CA in Cinco de Mayo RegattaAttending this year's event was one of the strongest J/24 one-design turnouts in quite some time.  A dozen J/24s with some hot competition, especially for the top of the leaderboard.  Past J/24 North American Champion, Pat Toole and crew on THREE BIG DOGS, just barely managed to hang on to win the J/24 crown on a tie-breaker with identical scores!  The 3BD crew took a 3-1-1-3-2-2-1-2-1 scoreline for nine races to win. Giving them a serious run for the money was Klatt's JADED with a 1-2-3-1-4-1-2-1-2 tally for equal 13.0 pts for their eight counter races.  How was the tie-breaker broken?  Well after identical counts for 1st, 2nd and 3rds, it goes to who-beat-who in the last race!  Great racing to all!  Taking third overall while watching the histrionics taking place in front was Zimmerman sailing the mighty SVENJA. Fourth was Baurley's CRITTER and fifth was Susan Taylor's TAKE FIVE.   For more Cinco de Mayo Regatta sailing information

J/24 German Open Success!



J/24 German Open- girls rule!Top German Women's Team Take Silver
(Glücksburg, Germany)- The J/24 class in Germany continues to have fun sailing competitive regattas across the many inland lakes as well as on the Baltic or North Seas.  Recently, their German Open J/24 Regatta was hosted by Flensburger Segel-Club sailed in the Flensburg Fjord on the Baltic Sea, a beautiful and challenging place to sail for anyone.

A fleet of 28 J/24s showed up en masse to enjoy the event.  Despite difficult weather conditions for the weekend of sailing, the PRO managed to conduct four races for the fleet of the nine that were planned.

J/24 German women's team leading sailing on Baltic Sea!In the end, the team of GER 5420 took first place by the narrowest of margins.  With Simon Grorteluschen as skipper and crew of Justus Kellner, Tobias Peters, Jan-Marc Ulrich and Mattias Wallentin, their team started slowly and finished with a flourish, scoring 8-6-2-3 for 19 pts to take the regatta by one point.

Second overall was the top women's German team that sailed extremely well in the event (pictured above).  GER 513 skipper by Ragna Thonnessen with crew of Laura Hatje, Ann-Kathrin Frank, Lisa Raschdorf, Janne Hopken and Venita Damm sailed to a 3-1-9-7 for 20 points.  Sadly, they started fast out of the blocks leading the regatta but couldn't hang in there for the overall win.

J/24 German Open winners on podium!Taking the third position on the podium was GER 5281 skippered by Jan Kahler.  His crew of Roland Bohm, Tim Becker, Olaf Zeitz and Ole Harder sailed the best last three races for the entire fleet! However, their first race killed their chances for the top of the podium.  They scored a 12-4-1-4 for 21 pts, to narrowly miss out taking the regatta overall.

Rounding out the top five finishes are the GER 4230 team lead by Peer Kock in fourth and GER 5440 skippered by Matthias Garzmann in fifth.  Congratulations to all for such a great turnout!  Sailing photos- Ingvild Buchholz and Hajo Andresen.   For more J/24 German Open sailing information

Classic Cool Seattle NOOD



J/24 one-design sailing- Seattle NOOD regattaJ/24, J/80 & J/105s Sailed Dozen+ Races!
(Seattle, WA)- Yes, it was an amazing fact.  Long known for its famous late spring monsoon season with next to no wind, the Pacific Northwest version of the Sperry Topsider NOOD regattas can also produce some spectacular sailing conditions with the mighty, snow-capped Cascades Mountain range in the background.  While perhaps not postcard perfect sailing conditions, the sailors didn't care (see J/24 team at right)!  Wind was all that mattered, not the wet & wild variety, but just good breezes; the type of conditions that permitted the PRO's on the various course to seriously crank out some fast turn-arounds and dozens of starts. For the J/24s that meant an exhausting sixteen races and for the J/80s and J/105s a dozen races!

J/24s starting at Seattle NOOD RegattaAs anticipated, some of the top local J/24 teams managed to sail solid, consistent series to lead the pack of eighteen J/24s-- the largest fleet at the regatta.  Scott Milne's TREMENDOUS SLOUCH fired plenty of finishes into the top three to secure the top spot with 56 pts.  Mike Johnson's PEARL closed rapidly on the leaders after a slow start, counting 1-1-1-2-1 for his last five races to snag second overall with 62 pts.  Mark Laura's and Craig Suhrbier's BABA LOUIE were sailing the roller-coaster version of the top two leaders, winning some races, getting top three's, then bombing a race or two.  Net, net, BABA LOUIE's veterans hung tough and fought off challenges from others down the ladder to get the bronze on the podium with 81 pts. Fourth was Brad Miller's HAIR OF THE DOG and fifth was Jeff Bond's JOYRIDE.

The J/80s saw two veterans dueling for the top prize in their fleet, Bill McKinnon's SKYE ROCKET and Dave Schutte's TAJ MAHAL. However, even after closing the last six races with three 1sts and three 2nds, the TAJ gang couldn't muster enough momentum to overcome their early deficit.  Consequently, SKYE ROCKET took the win with 21 pts with TAJ in second with 23 pts.  Third went to Bryan Rhodes's CRAZY IVAN with 33 pts.

J/105s sailing Seattle NOOD RegattaWhat appeared to be the only "schooling" taking place at this regatta was the fact that Jerry Diercks's DELIRIUM team sailed deliriously well-- smacking their J/105 classmates with all finishes in the top three for 19 pts in 12 races.  Starting off with three bullets must've been a bit mind-numbing for their fellow J/105 sailors.  Nevertheless, taking a beating early but closing with a vengeance in the last six races as Erik Kristen's JUBILEE, snapping off four 1sts and two 3rd in the end to score 29 pts total to take a solid second overall.  Third was Eric Hopper's FREE BOWL OF SOUP, fresh off their most excellent performance in the Oregon Offshore Race.  The balance of the top five included Jim Geros's LAST TANGO in fourth and Lorenzo Migliorini's ALLEGRO VIVACE in fifth.   Sailing Photo credits- TimWilkes.com.  For more Sperry Topsider Seattle NOOD Regatta sailing information

Fun Sailing North Sea Week



J/22s sailing one-design off The NetherlandsJ/22, J/24, J/109s Enjoy Close Racing
(The Hague, Netherlands)- The major summer regatta in the Netherlands, Delta Lloyd North Sea Week, saw some great competition, nice weather and one of their best turn-outs for participation in recent years.  Teams from all over Europe migrated down to the beautiful seashore off the Hague, including the J/22, J/24 and J/109 one-design classes.

J/22s sailing the Netherlands around markThe J/22s saw some new faces at the top of the podium this past week, a refreshing change in this ever evolving fun class in the Netherlands, Germany and France.  Sailing an amazing series and counting only top three finishes after ten races was the FRAPORITA team led by Jean-Michel Lautier, Giuseppe D'Aquino and Denis Neve-- 13 pts net for 10 races!  Showing flashes of brilliance with three bullets in their shoreline was the all-women XJE team led by Misja Adamczyk, Lilith Michaelis and Marion de Ha.  Starting out in the lead after four races, the girls faded in their last four, never finishing higher than fourth.  Nevertheless, they maintained their composure and with 22 net pts secured second overall.  Third overall on the podium was JABBADABBADOO sailed by Stan Heltzel, Nadine Fritz and Audrey Paterson with 23 net pts.  The balance of the top five was Sander Brinkhuis's DJINN in fourth and fifth was Ivo Jeaukens's DE KANTOORBUTLER.

The half-dozen J/24s sailing saw NED 49 take the silverware by a significant point margin. The team of Erik Jeuring, Calijn Muller, Jeroen Horts and Merk Meester ran away with the regatta counting straight firsts in eight races!  Second was NED 51- DE JANS sailed by Nils Jannichsen, Nina Hagoort and Peter Jannichsen followed by BED 68- AS IS helmed by Dirk de Brouwere.

With nine boats sailing, the J/109s had some awesome one-design racing.  Like some of his fellow J sailing colleagues in other fleets, Tom van der Vecht's EXPECTO nearly swept the class counting eight 1sts in ten races to be crowned North Sea Week J/109 Champion.  Second was A van Leeuwen's JOULE finishing second overall with 16 pts.  Third was Niels Groothuizen's TAXATION with 19 pts.  Fourth was BIG TIME (Rein Bakker) and fifth was the offshore veteran sailing team on YETI (Paul van der Pol).

In IRC Class, an initial contender was the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER sailed by John van de Starre and Robin Verhoef.  After flirting with the lead sailing a 2-2 on the first day, their hopes vanished for a podium finish after struggling to regain their "mojo" and momentum, ending up an uncharacteristic 5th in their class.  For more Delta Lloyd North Sea week sailing information

Friday, May 10, 2013

Challenging, Cool Annapolis NOOD


Record J/Boats Turnout Enjoy Spring Sailing on Chesapeake
(Annapolis, MD)- With a virtual armada of 156 J/Teams attending the Sperry Topsider Annapolis NOOD Regatta (74% of the whole fleet of 211), the eight J one-design classes (J/22, J/24, J/70, J/80, J/30, J/105, J/35, J/109) all had their fair share of spectacular, sunny racing on Friday. From there it was only a matter of time that conditions would deteriorate on the notoriously fickle Chesapeake Bay.

For the most part the Annapolis NOOD weather conditions made for great fleet racing so long as sailors on the five division circles were well-behaved and the PRO's at each did a good job of managing the fleet and the racing.  Some were clearly better than others.  On Friday, the fleet was treated to a brisk ENE 10-20 kts with lots of choppy waters, a fast-flowing flood current and very shifty breezes with big puffs.  In such conditions, most fleets sailed four races.  By Saturday, the forecast was beginning to see diminishing winds and the sailor's confidence in the breeze fell along with those prognostications.  The forecast ENE was in fact 100% wrong, instead the fleet was treated to mostly NW-NE 6-14 kts, getting even shiftier and was full of holes, so much so that the third races for most fleets saw their last leg or two become a matter of rolling the dice.  Sadly, Sunday's forecast was even more wrong.  The forecast easterlies never materialized until late afternoon with a gorgeous sunny day.  Instead, the fleets were treated to an even crazier NW to E breeze blowing 0-10 kts with holes everywhere- a one race "craps shoot" for most, or none for others!

Debuting as the largest class at the event, the J/70s simply had an epic first day of sailing on Friday.  Spending about 80% of the time in planing-mode downwind, the fleet had big grins plastered across their faces as they enjoyed some serious sparring at double-digit speeds.  While Saturday's and Sunday's racing was mostly in displacement mode, the need to find the edge even in "soak-mode" meant that teams were learning the fine-edge of how to maximize apparent wind speed for optimum downwind VMG.  Avoiding the pitfalls more than most was Bennet Greenwald's team from California that sailed PERSEVERANCE.  They not only won the J/70 class, but also were awarded the "STSW NOOD Overall Performance Awards" for the 15 fleets sailing the regatta (they get to sail the NOOD World Championships in the Caribbean in fall 2013!).  Continuing their streak of finishing in the top five was Joel Ronning's crew on CATAPULT finishing 2nd followed by Tim Healy's rapid ascent up the ladder to snag 3rd overall sailing Team HELLY HANSEN.  Fourth was the Newport/ Marblehead team of Henry Brauer/ Will Welles on RASCAL and in fifth was Brian Elliott's B-SQUARED (the only team to win 3 races).  A strong indicator of the strength and wealth of talent in the J/70 fleet was the fact that 15 teams managed top five finishes over the eight races sailed.  And, this regatta produced the highest average score for the winner- at 6.1 pts per race and the highest average to get a top 10 finish- 13.9 pts per race.  Also of note were the fact that the two youngest skippers in the regatta, Willy Comerford (14 yrs old) on NORTHERLY and Dylan Flack (8 yrs old) on TORQEEDO were seen either leading the fleet, winning races OR finishing in the top 10!

Local hero Allan "Albie" Terhune on DAZZLER started out strong in the J/22 class series and managed to hold on towards the end for the win by three points.  Conversely, Brad Julian on JULIAN ASSOCIATES started slowly and finished with two 1sts to nearly take the class as the DAZZLER crew faltered in their last four races.  Third was Alon Finkelstein on TEAM SHOWUSYOURSHLOZZA, beating Lee Sackett's USA 1574 on a tie-break.  Fifth was Jeff Todd on HOT TODDY.

With the third largest J fleet, the J/80's sailing with 23 boats had a very competitive fleet, especially as some teams were using it as part of their J/80 Worlds in Marseilles, France. For the first six races, it looked like the Crump Family (Will & Marie) and Marie's brother Tom Klok sailing R80 would have a "runaway" on their hands, easily leading the fleet by a significant margin.  However, a serious brain fade in the 7th race upset their chances at a comfortable win.  Consequently, Brian Keane's SAVASANA team jumped at the opportunity to take over the lead, sailing well to win the last race as well as the series win for J/80s.  The R80 team settled for second overall.  Third was a new name at the top, John White sailing USA 1162.  Fourth was Kristen Robinson's familiar ANGRY CHAMELEON and fifth was another veteran J/80 team, Chris & Liz Chadwick's CHURCH KEY.

The J/105's strong showing of an "all Naptown" fleet of eighteen boats provided the teams excellent racing.  The Lewis/ Salvesen team on MIRAGE were the only team to post all top ten finishes and took the overall prize with scores that included two 1sts and two 2nds.  Second was the MBE Syndicate team on VELOCE, starting super fast out of the gates with a 1-1-3-4, but fading dramatically in the end with a 12-11-3-10 (was that a rum-storm that hit them?).  Third was Jim Konigsberg's INIGO, fourth Bob Reeves on A-TRAIN and fifth Scott Gitchell on TENACIOUS.  The "hard luck" story of the regatta must go to Jack Biddle on the infamous RUM PUPPY, getting holed in the 2nd race and having to borrow a friend's boat to finish the series.

With fifteen competitive J/24 teams, it was not immediately clear that anyone would sweep the regatta. However, that's exactly what happened, by the oldest skipper in the bunch! Tony Parker sailed his famous BANGOR PACKET to a well deserved win, taking six 1sts out of eight races!  Basically, he left all the scraps to be fought for second and third overall by three other teams.  Emerging from the dog-fight in second overall was Peter Rich's USA 4006, just one point ahead of Mike Marshall's USA 5362 in third.  Just one point further back despite a fast-closing rush of three 2nds in a row was Pat Fitzgerald's RUSH HOUR in fourth.  Fifth overall, watching the dogfight from the bleacher seats, was Paul van Ravensway's MILLENNIUM FALCON, sailing a solid series in the top five for most of the regatta.

J/109s sailing Annapolis NOOD RegattaThe seven boat J/109 fleet celebrated the win of class veteran Bill Sweetser's RUSH, crowned the new Mid-Atlantic Champions! No wonder, seven 1sts and a 2nd in eight races is tantamount to a "clean sweep" or a "schooling" in how to race J/109s fast!  Often not far behind Sweetser was Eric Gordon's TROUBLEMAKER, snagging four 2nds and two 3rds to easily finish second overall.  The battle for the bronze medal on the podium was far from settled and took the last race to determine the next four places!  In the hunt all series were Matt Baker's RELIANT, Rick Hanson's ROSALITA, Bob Schwartz's NORDLYS and Craig Wright's AFTERTHOUGHT.  By finishing in the top five in the last race, Baker's RELIANT took third overall, edging out Hanson's ROSALITA by one point!  In turn, Schwartz's NORDLYS was just 2 pts back grabbed fifth overall by winning the last race, just beating by one point Wright's AFTERTHOUGHT who had to settle for sixth.  Great racing amongst these evenly matched boats.

J/35s sailing Annapolis NOOD regattaAmongst the J/35 class, it was clear that AUNT JEAN (Sagerholm/ Christofel) were prepared in the breeze on Friday to make a statement for the fleet lead.   And, indeed they did, amassing a 3-1-1 to start out in first after the first day of sailing, never to relinquish their lead to win overall.  Second was Chuck Kohlerman's MEDICINE MAN, just edging out Peter Scheidt's MAGGIE in third by only one point.  Fourth was the BAD COMPANY gang and fifth were Ken and Lisa Karsten on BZING.

The J/30s had some excellent racing amongst their ten boat fleet, a great turnout for this "classic yacht"!  Showing them all how it's done were past class winners Bob Rutsch & Mike Costello on BEPOP, taking the class with three 1sts and three 2nds in their 7 race scoreline to win by 3 pts.  Second was David Moss's THE WHITE BOAT (yeah, it is white) followed by Ron Anderson's INSATIABLE in third overall.  Taking fourth was George Watson's AVITA and fifth was Mike & Kathleen McGill's MARY LOU.  Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com.  For more Sperry Topsider NOOD Sailing Regatta sailing information


Thursday, May 2, 2013

MADELEINE J/24 Fowey Trophy Champion



J/24 one-design sailboats- sailing UK Fowey Rocks regatta(Fowey, Cornwall, England)- As the J/24 class in the United Kingdom and Ireland prepare for the onslaught of "foreign" teams to invade the "islands" like the Vikings of old to plunder for J/24 Worlds silverware, the locals are not taking the challenge lying down.  Quite the contrary, in fact.  With Olympic medallists, World and European champions in their quiver, the UK/ Irish contingent are pulling out all the stops to ensure it's a "jolly good show" for all, not just as hosts, but as competitors, too.

This past weekend, Duncan McCarthy and the team of MADELEINE (GBR 4265) got their season off to a great start by claiming the 2013 Fowey Trophy by 3 pts from the HITCHHIKER team (GBR 4242).  Third was JIGGY 2, forth was JUMBA and fifth was JAWBREAKER.

Kudos to the Fowey Gallants Sailing Club for "just the job, well done mates" for a great weekend series.  Every step of the way to the Worlds in Howth will be paved by such efforts to ensure the "home team" provide a gallant defense to win the title for the British/ Irish isles, or is it-- "the Queen"!!  We will all soon find out!   For more J/24 Fowey Trophy sailing information

Annapolis NOOD J/Fest Preview!



J/70s starting line of sailboatsJ/70 Debuts with Largest Fleet Ever!
(Annapolis, MD)- With 211 boats participating in this year's Sperry Topsider Annapolis NOOD Regatta, it promises to be quite the "class reunion" for many J sailors across eastern America.  Why? For the simple fact that 156 boats are J/Teams (74% of the whole fleet) competing in eight J one-design classes (J/22, J/24, J/70, J/80, J/30, J/105, J/35, J/109)!  In other words, for the few boats that comprise the six other classes (average of less than 10 boats per fleet) it may be a tad overwhelming to have nearly a thousand J Sailors criss-crossing the northern Chesapeake Bay and flooding the evening tent parties sponsored by Mt Gay Rum and other enthusiastic sponsors!

J70 sailing fast downwindLeading the charge again are the J/70s-- setting a record fourth regatta debut as the largest one-design class. At forty-eight boats (Key West, St Pete NOOD and Charleston already in the books), the J/70 has completely eclipsed all attendance records for any sportboat worldwide in inaugural regattas since sprit-boats first exploded onto the sailing scene with the J/105 in 1991. The J/70 fleet is on a rapid learning curve and based on performances at past events, it's clear as mud who will be regatta leaders after the dust settles in the latest 70 battles.  Perhaps most importantly, it was self-evident, based on the huge "can't wipe the grin off my face" smiles after the epic first day at Charleston in 15-30 kts of breeze, all J/70 sailors were having a rip-roaring great time sailing their boats!

After four regattas, the betting will on a number of leading teams that will be seen somewhere at the top of the leader board for the 70s.  Included in that group may be Tim Healey's HELLY HANSEN, Joel Ronning's CATAPULT, Brian Elliott's B-SQUARED, Bob Hughes on MUSE/ HEARTBREAKER, Bennet Greenwald's PERSEVERANCE, Henry Brauer/ Will Welles' RASCAL, Jud Smith's RELATIVE OBSCURITY, Peter Vessella's RUNNING WILD, Bruno Pasquinelli's STAMPEDE, Henry Filter's WILD CHILD and a cast of local characters each of whom are capable of good performances, like Peter McChesney's TROUBLE, Tate Russack's DIESEL, and Cole Allsopp's MOXIE.

J/22 one-design sailboat- sailing upwindNext up are the J/22's with an excellent showing with twenty-eight boats (second largest J fleet).  They will be vying for class honors bragging rights, as well as getting great practice for their J/22 World Championships that will be taking place in Newport, RI later this summer.  For those familiar with teams that faired well in Charleston some weeks ago, it's clear that Chris Doyle and his "JUG 4 1" gang from Rochester, New York will be the ones to beat.  Giving them serious heartache will be a rogue's roost of J/22 veterans, including Allan "Albie" Terhune on DAZZLER, Kurt Swanson on SLINGSHOT, Vic Snyder on MO'MONEY, Jeff Todd on HOT TODDY, super hot sailor chick Sandy Adzick on HOT TICKET, Mark Hillman on HAROLD GOES SKA and perhaps newcomer "gurl-stud" Jen Gaffney on PIRATE PRINCESS RACING TEAM. Amongst this crowd, anything goes, as it always has been!

J/80 one-design sailboats- sailing off starting line at Key West, FLWith the third largest J fleet, the J/80's sailing with 23 boats are fielding a very competitive fleet.  Like their J/22 sisters, for some American teams, the event provides great practice for J/80 Worlds in Marseilles, France. Amongst those teams, look for Brian Keane's SAVASANA and the Danish family team- Thomas Klok and the Crumps (Will and Marie) on their boat R80 to be amongst the top teams.  Some other notable veterans in the mix will be Kristen Robinson's ANGRY CHAMELEON, Chris & Liz Chadwick's CHURCH KEY, Ken Mangano's MANGO and Ramzi Bannura's STACKED DECK.

The J/105's have a strong showing of an "all Naptown" fleet of eighteen boats and amongst them are some champion teams from past Chesapeake Bay and North American regattas.  Sure to figure in the running for overall honors will be a cross-section of the old guard and some new faces, including Bob Reeves on A-TRAIN, Andrew Kennedy on BAT IV, Gerritt Schulze on MAX POWER, Jack Biddle on the infamous RUM PUPPY, Donald Santa on SANTA's REIGN-DEAR (for real!) and Scott Gitchell on TENACIOUS.

J/24 one-design sailboats- sailing downwind under spinnakerAt fifteen strong, the J/24's are probably now on their fifth generation of owners and the competition simply does not diminish as the next-gen teams hop in, learn fast from the veterans, and simply continue to advance the ball in one of the world's most evenly-matched and competitive ISAF one-design keelboat classes.  Remarkably, one of the most competitive veterans (now working on his 4th decade!) happens to be a highly respected, most knowledgeable local J/24 sailor- Tony Parker sailing BANGOR PACKET!  He will be challenged by some "newbies" and some old guard teams, amongst them could be Mike Marshall from Conanicut YC, Jack van Dalen's ARNOLD GOES TO HOLLYWOOD, Pat Fitzgerald's RUSH HOUR, Mike Hobson's SPACEMAN SPIFF, and Frank McNamara's ZOT.

For the J/109's seven boat class, the event represents their J/109 Mid-Atlantic Championship!  J/109 Fleet 4 provides great hospitality under the leadership of Fleet Captain Bill Sweetser and his gang aboard the famous RUSH!  Assisting him is 109 class leader Bob Schwartz on NORDLYS from Manhasset YC and the Western Long Island Sound fleet of J/109s.  With many new faces showing up in the 109 class, it's perhaps one of the most difficult classes for general prognostication, other than the obvious- Bill and Bob!  Yet, any omniscient observer of this class will tell you there's always some new surprises in store for these veterans.  More news soon on the outcome!

At ten boats, it's pretty clear the J/30s have not only achieved "classic" status, but perhaps "legendary" status, too.  The first quintessential cruiser-racer J built in the early 1980s (some might argue it was the J/24-- not!).  Nevertheless, the Chesapeake crew of 30s are having some fun, that's for sure.  And, the NOOD is an annual reunion of like-minded 30 owners who LOVE their boats and it shows-- some look better than new!  TEN BOATS!  Amazing.  Well, let's see if the "gurl-boats" have it this year (as owners or co-owners)!  Included amongst the girl teams are Pam Morris' BUMP, Michel's LEAPFROG, Kathleen's MARY LOU and Sheila's INFECTIOUS SMILE!  So guys, that's a "four-way" that may crush you this weekend, girls's may rule sooner than anyone imagines!

Finally, the J/35s.  Like their "classic" sisterships (at minimum the J/24 and J/30), they were the second derivative of another boat that was incredibly successful (the J/36) in the early 1980s.  With seven boats, the J/35s continue to show their offshore performance worldwide is not just legendary, but fun, too!  One of the more famous boats participating is AUNT JEAN sailed by the Sagerholm/ Christofel team. But, BAD COMPANY, MAGGIE and MEDICINE MAN won't be far from the limelight. Plus, like her J/30 sisturz' the 35s could be facing an insurrection from Stephanie Reuer on DAKOTA GIRL!  Watch out, some sparklers may be flying in this rather diverse group of sailors.  Sailing photo credits- Onne Vanderwal and  Meredith Block/ Charleston Race Week.  For more Sperry Topsider Annapolis NOOD Sailing Regatta sailing information