Parker Wins J/24 East Coast Championship!

(Annapolis, MD)- The 35th annual Hillman Focused Advantage Fund J24 East Coast Championship was held on November 1-3, 2013 in Annapolis MD and hosted by Fleet 8 Annapolis and Severn Sailing Association. The three day event saw an unpredictable forecast, breezes between 5 and 20 knots, 30 degree shifts and tricky conditions that left most of the 31 boat fleet scratching their heads.

But in the end it was Tony Parker’s BANGOR PACKET with a daily score of 2, 2, and 1 on the last day for a total of 17 points that won the regatta and anointed him as the 2013 Hillman Focused Advantage Fund J24 East Coast Champion. Tony has sailed all 35 J/24 East Coasts and it is his third win. Tony also won Top Amateur for the event, beating out many top names in the class.

Will Welles on COUGAR took second place with a total of 24 points. Travis Odenbach on HONEY BADGER finished in third with 39 points. Mike Ingham on USA 5443 finished in fourth with 43 points and Ron Medlin Jr. on BASH had a very nice event rounding out the top five with 47 points.

Day 1 began with 40 kts of breeze from the west and a driving rain which forced an hour and a half on-shore postponement. The weather pushed thru and the 31 boats headed out on water to what was to be a predicted 25 kts breeze. The fleet however was met with 10 kts of breeze from the south and a strong tide flood up the bay. Race 1 had sailors deciding whether to go right for tide relief or left for more pressure. With a split fleet, it was the left that won out. Downwind was tricky with a dying breeze but it was John Wilsey on Panceta Doble working the left on both beats that won the first race. Race 2 saw the wind die even more. 5 kts wind, with a 1 kt current made it for another tricky first beat where getting out to the right and out of adverse current seemed to be the key. However a big left shift change that strategy. By the end of the first run, the wind had died to just a few knots and once rounding the crowded gate, everyone could barely make progress against the tide. But sailing fast and consistent through all that was Al Constance in Blitz taking the win. Principal Race Officer Juliet Thompson wisely sent everyone back to the docks where sailors were met by the two-time National Oyster Shucking Champion George Hastings and his fresh Virginia blue point oysters, along with homemade Maryland crab soup made by Bill, and Pat Fitzgerald and the crew of Rush Hour and a wide variety of fresh beers on tap.

Day 2 saw another decent forecast of 15 kts from the north never materialize and leaving no wind and no races. The thermal which tried to make its way filled in too little too late. Fortunately there was a Dark and Stormy Rum party with home-brewed ginger beer and a buffet dinner of pork loin, Jamaican jerk chicken and Cuban black beans and rice catered by SSA’s own John Miller and Real Food, LLC. Dinner was accompanied by the previous day’s daily awards and the raffle featuring a J24 skirted deck cover sponsored by North Sails One Design.

Day 3 was met with a complete lack of trust in the forecast but the skepticism was soon dismissed with rustling leaves blowing thru Eastport and a cool brisk NW breeze. The 20 kts puffs, lulls, and shifts off the shore between the antennas and the bay bridge on the way out to the course did not disappoint. Race 1 was tricky for the RC to set a course and a line with wind shifts of 20 degrees or more. By the start all 31 boats with a blade, saw a considerably favored committee end but left would turn out to pay out big with a left shift and flatter water. Will Welles and Tony Parker were a good deal ahead of the fleet from wire to wire with Welles taking the gun. Race 2 was still shifty, but the wind had dropped. Some boats switched to the genoa but the genoa/jib trade off was about equal with the lulls and puffs on the course. The left shift from Race 1 was hardly existent and did not pay off on the left corner this time. Tony Parker again finishes 2nd behind Will Welles. Race 3 saw the wind drop to 15 kts and the fleet switched to the genoa. The wind had gone right a little more, and through that leg, shifted approximately 30 degrees right. There was no recovery from the left. Big shifts and holes made for huge gains and losses! The final race is taken by Tony Parker along with the crown. Teams were met on land with a BBQ of burgers and brats put on by Jay Mcginnis and his crew aboard SWAG with the Daily and Final awards ceremony for the top 5 boats. The mid fleet award sponsored by Atlantis Weathergear was awarded to Pat Fitzgerald and his crew on Rush Hour.  Sailing Photo Ccredits- Dan Phelps/ Spinsheet.com.  For more J/24 East Coast Championship sailing information

BMW J/24 Worlds Update

(Howth, Ireland)- The 2013 BMW J/24 World Championship is underway on the capricious waters off Howth, Ireland.  While not known for light airs ever, that's what the fleet of forty competitors from ten countries are currently experiencing.  The regatta was officially opened by the Mayor of Fingal Cllr. Kieran Dennison at a ceremony on Saturday evening attended by 200 sailors who were led by a piper on to the club forecourt in front of the podium.  Organising Committee Chairman Derek Bothwell introduced the speakers - John Ives (Managing Director, BMW Ireland), Berchmans Gannon (on behalf of ISA President Niamh McCutcheon) and the Mayor of Howth, before welcoming individually each skipper by name.

A practice race on the waters' between Lambay Island and Ireland's Eye in light northerly/north-westerly winds saw half the fleet fail to complete the course, as is customary, while former Irish Champion JP McCaldin from Lough Erne took line honours ahead of Japanese entry Koji Matsumoto and Ignacio Bonanno of Italy.

After the first days of racing, many of the favourites for the World title, including defending champion Mauricio Santa Cruz (Brazil), are amongst the top of the leaderboard.  American crews led the way in both races on the first day.

After a two-hour delay for wind, the fleet finally got away for the first race in a light but testing easterly breeze. First blood went to Tony Parker and his BANGOR PACKET crew from Annapolis who experienced the Howth waters a week earlier at the Irish National Championship.  Fellow American Keith Whittemore from Seattle, who also sailed in the Irish event, followed him home in second place while Mauricio Santa Cruz from Brazil finished third, ahead of leading UK entry Ian Southworth.

American crews again led the way in the second race, with line honours going to former North American Champion Travis Odenbach from Rochester, with Whittemore second again and Santa Cruz taking another third spot. Newport’s Tim Healy took fifth to make it three US boats in the top five.

After the first day, Whittemore led the overall rankings by two points from the Brazilians, with Britain’s Ian Southworth (with a 4th and 7th) in third position. Leading Irish boat is ‘Stouche’ (Darrer/Murphy) from the host club, whose 10th and 8th place finishes have put them 7th overall.

Sadly, the second day of racing had to be uncharacteristically abandoned.  Lack of wind and strong tides played havoc on the sailors and the regatta's PRO David Lovegrove.  A 6-knot north-westerly breeze allowed the third race of the series to be started eventually but once the boats rounded the windward mark, the wind dropped away and a north-flowing flood tide meant the entire fleet was left motionless, with no chance of a finish.  After a delay of almost three hours, continued windless conditions forced abandonment for the day.

Day Three dawned with a good breeze and heightened expectations by the sailors to go for two or more races.  After an awesome start to the day, PRO Lovegrove managed to squeeze in three solid races, resulting in significant, though not unexpected, wild swings in the overall standings as the fleet could not count a net score with a drop race.  Consistency pays and those practitioners of the art of exacting one-design tactics, starting and boat-speed are slowly being rewarded over the course of the regatta.  Not surprisingly, the roller coaster ride now sees the top five all within seven points after five races, including the toss race!  At this stage, the two most recent J/24 World Champions sit atop the standings-- leading is Mauricio Santa Cruz's Brazilian team on BRUSCHETTA with 11 pts net followed by Tim Healey's Newport, RI team on HELLY HANSEN in second two points back with 13 pts net.  Third is British skipper Ian Southworth on IL RICCIO sailing fast and smart despite a third race Black Flag to score 15 pts net with a 3-1 in the last two races.  Fourth is Travis Odenbach's HONEY BADGER from Rochester, NY with 17 pts net and in fifth was first day regatta leader Keith Whittemore and crew from Corinthian YC Seattle with 18 pts net!  Close?  Indeed, a tactician's nightmare.  More fun & games in the coming days.

Of note is the excellent performance from the leading Italian team, Ignacio Bonnano's LA SUPERBA team in sixth and the two German teams, ROTOMAN and JJ-ONE in 8th and 9th.  Plus, septuagenerian Tony Parker is, again, showing up the "Energizer Bunny", showing the four decades of J/24 sailing means you only got more experience to show "the kids"-- starting with a 1st in the first race and hanging tough in the top 10 at 10th overall.  Just two more days to go!    Watch the J/24 Worlds sailing video introduction
Sailing photos by David Branigan - Oceansport Gallery    For more J/24 World Championship sailing information.

Britain's Southworth Tops J/24 Irish Nationals

Howth YC Under 25 team lift Irish National title
(Howth, Ireland)-  Howth Yacht Club hosted the recent J/24 Irish Championships, an event which was both a warm-up for Irish competitors and a fine tune for the race management team, in advance of the imminent BMW J/24 World Championship.  With the top three determined by just one point, it's indicative of how close the class has become competitively amongst its top practitioners!

Saturday morning saw the fleet held ashore for a few hours by PRO David Lovegrove due to high winds. Nobody wanted to risk serious damage a week out from the main event. The later start still allowed the 20 entrants from Ireland, Great Britain and USA to enjoy four races held in a variety of conditions. Sun, rain, squalls, flat calms, big shifts and a changing tide all created a very unusual mix for Howth. As one race official noted, "If you don't like the weather, hang on for five minutes!"

In spite of the weather challenges, GBR visitors IL RICCIO (Italian for "The Hedgehog") sailed by Ian Southworth dominated the first day and headed for the bar with a 1-2-1-1 score. Just behind them was fellow Brit Bob Turner on SERCO with a 5-1-3-3 and Ireland's Flor O'Driscoll sailing HARD ON PORT into third with a 3-5-5-10.  The top Americans all had great scores, save for bad drop races, like Keith Whittemore's FURIO from Seattle, Washington and Tony Parker's BANGOR PACKET from Georgetown, DC.  Top of the Irish boats at that stage was Howth's Mossy Shanahan who bagged a tasty 2-10-4-7. The dividends were paid to those who played relatively conservatively and kept their noses clean.

Lighter and less variable conditions treated the fleet to incredibly tight racing on Sunday with another four races banged off in quick time. By the end of Race 6, IL RICCIO had sewn up the regatta, pocketing a further two wins, not needing to race in the last two. A clinical display of extraordinary seamanship and sailing! The fleet did its best to push the 3PM deadline for a last start by forcing a general recall in the penultimate race. Taking second for the regatta was Seattle's Keith Whittemore on FURIO, posting a 2-2-1.5-1- in the last four races to nearly pull off the ultimate upset sailing the last day, losing by just a 0.5 pts. Third was the UK's Bob Turner on SERCO just another 0.5 pts back!!  Rounding out the closely fought top five were Tony Parker's BANGOR PACKET crew in fourth and the Brit's JIGGY 2 led by Paul Williams in fifth.

Irish National title winner was the HYC Under 25 crew sailing EURO CAR PARKS KILCULLEN followed by Flor O'Driscoll's team HARD ON PORT in second and taking third Irish Nats on the podium was the Darrer/ Murphy team on the old STOUCHE.

With a calendar of coaching and tweaking, polishing and measuring, ahead of the J/24 Worlds, the Howth will be a beehive of activity this week. Many of the visitors have threatened golf outings, punctuated by busy evenings in local hostelries and pubs!!  Story contributed from Emmet Dalton.   Sailing photos credits- Tom Gruitt   For more Irish J/24 Nationals sailing information

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.

The 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.

Amongst 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

J/24 Midwinters Preview

(Tampa, Florida)- This year's J/24 Midwinters are shaping up to be as competitive an event as its seen in recent years.  The Davis Island YC that is playing host to the event from February 12-15 is no stranger to having to manage this group of high-test racers who look forward to their winter pilgrimage down to Florida to challenge the locals as well as the top teams that show up from around the country, a tradition that started back in 1978 in the first J/24 Midwinters and has never let up since!  

With a massive Low pressure weather system flowing across the south and into the northeast coast this coming weekend, it may just clean out the weather and offer up some great sailing conditions on Tampa Bay for these intrepid J/24 sailors.  The Bay can be notoriously fickle at this time of year since most of the weather is driven by relatively fast-moving frontal systems from the Arctic North curving south and sweeping across the North American continent.  It's not unknown for Tampa Bay to have light to moderate winds one day and blowing "dogs off chains" in rather "fresh to frightening" conditions the next day as yet another enormous winter front pushes through the amazingly choppy waters off the Tampa city-front.  Without fail, the Midwinters always provides challenging conditions to the competitors.

Fresh off their win at the first J/70 Midwinters, perhaps it's somewhat symbolic the "three musketeers" of John Mollicone, Tim Healy and Geoff Becker have joined together again on I FEEL LIKE(?) as a formidable crew to take on other top teams for the J/24 Midwinters.  Giving them a serious run-for-the-money, and perhaps looking forward to knocking them off the podium, will be several top teams all with equally impressive credentials.  Special mention must first go to Tony Parker sailing yet another incarnation of the famous BANGOR PACKET, more often than not, Tony's always a factor amongst the regatta leaders-- not bad for a guy who's sailed J/24s starting in Maine since 1979! Yes, that does span four actual decades for those who are counting!  Watch out!  The wise-man cometh.  Other notable teams include Peter Bream's crew on TEAM TARHEEL, Robby Brown sailing USA 799, Travis Odenbach on HONEY BADGER and a pretty formidable group from Newport/ San Diego that know a thing or two about sailing J/24s- Will Welles is teamed up with Chris Snow and Anderson Reggio.  Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com
For more J/24 Midwinters sailing information
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