skip to main |
skip to sidebar
(Coconut Grove, FL)- Just as the swallows return to Capistrano, the J/24s keep
coming back to Miami. This time the regatta host is Coral Reef Yacht Club, the
new title sponsor is BACARDI, and the dates are February 21st through 23rd.
You might ask why this will be the 15th time that Biscayne Bay was chosen as
the venue in the 36 years of Midwinter Championships? Yes, it might have
something to do with the fact that Miami guarantees no blizzards, nice breezes,
lots of great Cuban food and a legendary J/24 tradition. It also just makes
sense.
According to last year’s winner, John Mollicone, “I will be down in Miami for
the 2014 BACARDI J/24 Midwinters and really am looking forward to it. I
have been racing in the J/24 Class since 1998 and like the competition, the
boats, and especially the great people. There are no restrictions on
sailor classification in the J/24 class so you end up racing against so many
great skippers and crews. I also love sailing with the genoa, which you
do not really see anymore on other types of boats. I love sailing in
Miami during the winter months for its warm weather, dependable breeze, and I like
the chop that Biscayne Bay has to offer.” Some of the other sailing stars who
have already registered include Skip Dieball, 2011/ 2012 winner Peter Bream,
Tim Healy (5 time champ), Robby Brown and Travis Odenbach as well as top local
sailors like Eamonn DeLisser and Gary Sprague.
Although the J/24s have been around for 37 years, they are comparable to a Ford
Mustang … still going, still popular and very American. Watching the boats with
their colorful spinnakers is fun, too, and the sailors will certainly enjoy the
food and beverages at Coral Reef Yacht Club along with the competitive race
courses and regatta management by Coral Reef Yacht Club’s highly regarded Race
Committee.
J/24's are one of the oldest classes still racing in Biscayne Bay. Local J/24
Fleet 10 was the 10th fleet formed in the late 1970's when the class first
started and has as many members as the local Miami Etchells 22 and Snipe
fleets.
Here are the ingredients: The Overall Regatta Chair is Mark Pincus of Columbus
Day Regatta and Bacardi Miami Sailing Week fame. For a class which began in the
70s and is still charging along, “be there or be square”! You do not want to
miss out on the sailing and the partying.
For more BACARDI J/24 Midwinters sailing information, contact Connie Bischoff
at wingsmiami@aol.com or 305 812-1073
or check the BACARDI J/24 Midwinters website.
J/24s in Autumn Cup See
Out-Of-This-World Performance!
(Plymouth, England)- This year's J/24 Autumn Cup was hosted by Saltash Sailing
Club, with a programme consisting of races in Plymouth Sound on Saturday
followed by a Bottle Race up to Saltash Sailing Club and 2 races planned on
Sunday on the River Tamar. Whilst strong winds are not unseasonal the wind
direction was uncommon with strong Easterlies whipping across the Sound
followed by a ferocious squall topping out at 33 kts giving troublesome
conditions for the start line boat to anchor in. After 2 mainsails were ripped,
faces stung by sharp rain, crews completely drenched and a couple of J’s
having taken the decision to head for home, a judgement call was made to make
an earlier retreat up river and continue racing in the Lynher.
The committee boat set up a start-line in the more sheltered waters of Jenny
Cliff with 9 boats heading up the River Tamar, North of Drakes Island &
onwards towards the Tamar Bridge. Legal Alien was first to hoist their kite
followed by shortly after by the rest of the fleet. Gusty winds were soon
surpassed by some challenging, frequently unpredictable conditions which kept
all crews on their toes sailing along past the dockyards and up towards the
Tamar Bridge. Redrow Homes, helmed by Tom Cload crossed the line first to win
the Bottle Race.
Following a brief stop-off outside Saltash Sailing Club, a
Windward-Leeward course was set up in the Lynher with three races completed in
quick succession. Jeli, helmed by Stig McDonald took the first race in the
Lynher (race 2), with Nick McDonald helming Legal Alien winning race 3 and 4.
The shelter of the river made the afternoons racing viable however not without
some unruly gusts causing several boats to broach on the downwind league,
including a spectacular bit of depth sounding along the Cornish boundaries by
Team Redrow (thankfully softly into the estuaries muddy banks). Weary crews
headed in after an exhilarating days sailing to a welcoming sailing club and
warm dinner.
Sunday yielded another windy day with all to play for with the remaining 2
races. Legal Alien was in the lead with just 3 points clear of Jawbreaker and
Jeli with 7 points each. Legal Alien proved un-touchable in Race 5 despite some
hot competition from Redrow Homes and Illuminator, helmed by Mathew Conyers.
Going into the final race there was still plenty of room for final positions to
be changed. Race 6 was a tight race with the left side paying for the
first 2 beats, but Legal Alien (helmed by Darren Stansbury in the final race)
took a wild card heading to the far right on the final beat making up a fair
200m and rounding the windward mark looking like Cheshire cats and finishing
the day with a clean sweep.
Final results were; Legal Alien in First with 6 points, Jawbreaker in Second
with 15 points, and Jeli with 18 points. 4th- Redrow homes, 5th- Jam Too, 6th -
Illuminator, 7th –Skilled Services, 8th – Hijinks, 9th – Jo Jo (Winning
Westerly), 10th – Just the Tonic, 11th- Nitro, 12th-Italian Job.
Our thanks go to Saltash Sailing Club for hosting the event this year with a
change of scenery with regards to sailing location. Their warm welcome and
efficiency made for a hassle-free event. Thank you to David Oliver for the use
of his yacht as the Committee boat. Whilst a common occurrence at the majority
of UK J24 events the black flag was only threatened in the final race
with all other races starting first time. Malcolm Woods and his crew gave a
sterling effort with attempting mark laying in the Sound and were excellent in
their guidance in the Lynher with the myriad of buoys. Final thanks go to Neil
Duncley, the race officer for the weekend. For plenty of photos of weekend
action please take a look at the UK J/24 Class Association on Facebook.
For more J/24 Autumn Cup sailing information
(Seabrook, Texas)- J/Fest Southwest gets better and better every year and provides a lot of bang for your entry dollar! Once again the skippers packet is going to be chock full of coupons for Seabrook area businesses, and great products. With great restaurants, and lots of activities for shore side guests there is something for everyone: Kemah Boardwalk Amusement park, NASA-Discovery Center (worth an entire day), Shopping and Dining. Sailing from November 2nd to 3rd, the host Lakewood Yacht Club will have real-time race updates for those that want to hang out and see how their favorite sailors are fairing out on the water. In addition there will be a spectator boat available to take those that want to get up close and personal with the racing action going on amongst 8 fleets! The newest J/Boat- the J/88 Hull #007 "It's a Thrill"- will be making her debut! How will she do? We'll find out soon! Her skipper will be Rod Johnstone, J/Boats co-founder and Guest of Honor back for his fourth year! And that means a 4th year of J/Boats trivia! With all the fabulous prizes that come with the right answers! Hint: "Mello Yellow" will NOT be an answer this year! After Saturday's racing the band will start and the music will be heard across the inner harbor as we put our boats away, swap stories, and share a beverage or two. Back by popular demand comes the "Cajun Feast". Enough food for three regatta's! Your skippers packet will include additional restaurant vouchers to be used at LYC for this incredible dining experience! After dinner several TV's will be replaying the day's race tracks-this has been an awesome prop for the bench racing stories that tend to go long into the night! But really! It's all about the racing!All the usual One Designs will be there: J/22, J/24, J/70, J/80, J/105 and J/109! With a record breaking early entry list topping 34 boats with two months to go this is shaping up to be a killer event! The first year J/70 fleet will top 10 boats! Lots of fun and the J/70 Saturday post-race debrief by the leaders has been a real hit- everyone is welcome to attend! And for the real kicker- J/World Annapolis is bringing their talented instructors to Lakewood YC for a 2 day "J/Fest Southwest Racing Clinic" on October 31- November 1st to be run on J/70's and J/80's out of LYC! It's the best deal in town, just $149/boat!J/Fest Southwest always has great racing and great sponsors that provide us with a lot of valuable freebies! Check out the regatta site at J/Fest Southwest and look at the list of sponsors to get an idea of the freebies, and listen to Seabrook Mayor Glenn Royals Welcome video! Hook 'em up! Head 'em out to J/Fest Southwest and Race, Dine, and Stay in Seabrook! BTW ask for the J/Fest Southwest discount at any Seabrook hotel- check the website for a list of participating hotels! For more J/Fest Southwest sailing information
(Newport, RI- John Mollicone's team sailing HELLY HANSEN outlasted 45 other
teams to become the J/24 Sea Bags North American Champion. With Tim Healy
(tactics), Collin Leon (mast), Geoff Becker (trim) and Gordon Borges (bow),
team HELLY HANSEN totaled 50 points in the 10-race series to narrowly edge out
a hard-charging Matias Seguel of Chile on SEMI-PRO by two points. Nicolas
Cubria of Argentina sailed ELVIS to third place with 62 points. The event
was hosted by Sail Newport and J/24 Fleet 50.
“We
did a really good job grinding back,” commented Mollicone about their last race
on the final day. “We found ourselves in a lot of tough spots but were able to
slowly chip away and pass boats.” He gave the credit to his team’s boat
handling, crew work and tactics, saying “Everyone stayed really calm and cool,
even if we were deep.” One such occasion was when they were OCS in a race, but
still made the top 10. He added, “Today, things weren’t looking good for a
while, but we just kept our composure. A lot of that is all of us sailing
together a lot.” Mollicone won the 2012 North American Championship last
November with the same crew.
It
didn't start out that easy for this fast crew, most of whom had just won the
J/24 World Championship two weeks earlier in Howth, Ireland. Leader after
day one was Peter Bream’s Team TARHEEL, taking a 3-1 to start the regatta with
just 4 pts. The Florida-based team topped competitors from Japan, Chile,
Argentina, Peru, Canada and the USA. At that point, HELLY HANSEN was two points
back with 6 pts, and Matias Seguel on SEMI-PRO was third with 8 points. The
fleet was treated to a spectacular opening day with sunshine, warm temperatures
and winds Southwest 12-15 with a 1.5 foot swell. Kris Werner of New York got
the event started with a win for his team on STICKS, with Mollicone and Bream
rounding out the top three in race one. Bream took the bullet in race two, with
Seguel in second and 2011 North American champion Travis Odenbach on HONEY
BADGER in third.
On day two, the fleet had another beautiful day with winds ranging from 6-8
knots early on, increasing to 12 kts by the last race. Mollicone and team
made their big move, utilizing his hometown "local knowledge"
advantage to leap into first place with just 12 net points after five races
(including one throw-out). At this point, HELLY HANSEN led Chile’s Matias
Seguel on SEMI-PRO by 6 points. Day 1 leader Peter Bream on Team TARHEEL
dropped to third with 21 points. Mollicone sailed to victory in the day’s first
race, trailed by Will Welles on COUGAR and Steven Kirkpatrick on BUCKSHOT.
Argentina’s Sergio Pendola triumphed in the next contest on CACIQUE, with
Michael Marshall’s PIPE DREAM in second and Seguel in third. The racing closed
out with another Argentinian in front as Nicolas Cubria’s ELVIS took the
bullet. Chile’s Robert Vernon racing GRINGA followed in second, and Pendola in
third.
On the third day of racing on
Saturday, the competitors were again greeted by superb conditions as
temperatures remained in the low 70s with winds 10-12 knots and gusts to 14.
Three races were held, bringing the total to eight overall. Mollicone’s
team continued their consistent performance to take an 11-point advantage into
the final day of competition. The reigning North American champion
tallied a line of 2,4,1,5,7,8,(9),5 for 32 overall points. Nicolas
Cubria’s ELVIS amassed 43 points for second place, and Matias Seguel's SEMI-PRO
was in third with 47 points. International teams dominated the day.
Argentina’s Sergio Pendola on CACIQUE snagged another victory in Saturday’s
opening contest. Sumio Shimoyama’s SOKOKUMARU of Japan placed second, and
Chile’s Raul del Castillo on LA BANCA third. Local Will Welles’ COUGAR captured
a win in the next battle, with two Argentina teams behind him— Cubria and
Guillermo de Martis’ TWIN. Shimoyama ended the day successfully, with Castillo
in second and Travis Odenbach's HONEY BADGER in third.
The final day dawned cool and overcast with light winds around 6-8 knots, which
dropped during the first race to about 4 knots by the time teams crossed the
finish line. Conditions turned around by the next start as the clouds
dissipated, the sun returned and the breeze increased to 8-10 kts. For the
first time during the event, the course was moved inside to Narragansett Bay on
Sunday. “It was really tricky with lots of outgoing current,” Mollicone
explained. “The breeze was unstable so it was really difficult sailing. In the
last beat of the last race, we went from mid-20s to what we thought for a while
was top three. That’s how shifty it was!” Local Will Welles on COUGAR won
his second race of the regatta in Sunday’s initial battle. Seguel’s SEMI-PRO
took second, and another local— Bob Kinsman on DOGFISH third. In the final race
of the championship, Taylor Neff’s BUBBLES, from Lake Minnetonka, MN, claimed
the top spot, followed by Canadian Michael Howarth’s MISTER H and Seguel.
Mollicone praised the conditions during the four-day event, especially the
three days on the outside course. “That’s what Newport is known for— waves,
solid breeze, southerly direction.” For more J/24 North Americans sailing information
(San Diego, CA)- The San Diego J/Fest boasts a long history of being one of the
most fun and well attended regattas in Southern California. And, it's
exclusively for J/Boat owners! The regatta is open to one-design classes as
well as a J/PHRF fleet!
Hosted by San Diego YC the J/Teams will enjoy three day of competitive, fun
buoy racing from September 27th to 29th. Friday is the fun, casual race
around set marks and government marks, followed by two days of course racing on
Saturday and Sunday. Inside the bay will be the smaller boats (like J/22,
J/70 and J/80) and offshore will be the larger boats (the J/105s, J/109s and
J/120s).
While the sailing is always nice in sunny San Diego, J/Fest is perhaps most
renown for its onshore festivities. Saturday evening is the traditional
J/Fest Party, basically a giant cook-out on the lawn with live music and lots
of awesome swag and giveaways from the sponsors. The fun factor is a key
element of the event, a reason why over fifty boats have attended every year.
The J/105s have yet another great turnout with most of the top local teams
sailing, including Chuck Driscoll's BLOW BOAT, Steve & Lucy Howell's
BLINK!, Rick Goebel's SANITY, Dennis & Sharon Case's WINGS, Rich Bergmann's
ZUNI BEAR, Jon Dekker's AIR BOSS and Gary Mozer's CURRENT OBSESSION 2 fro Los Angeles.
The J/120s have traditionally offered very tight competition with a
modest-sized fleet. Again, a number of local favorites are sailing and
should be factors at the front of the fleet. Familiar faces like John
Laun's CAPER, John Snook's JIM, Chuck Nichols' CC RIDER, Gary Winton's
SHENANIGANS and Mike Hatch's J/ALMIGHTY have all had their fair share of great
performances in J/Fest.
The J/109 class will see past local and regional champions sailing again,
including Gene Pitkin's GERONIMO, Rex Butler's JD, John Shulze's LINSTAR and
Daylen Tercen's GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!
The J/70s will debut as a class and their six boat fleet should present a lot
of fun racing on San Diego Bay. Having been traveling to the last three
major J/70 events on the West Coast, Dan Gribble's GO-RILLA, Eric Kownacki/ Tom
Jenkins' DFZ, Karl Pomeroy's ZERO TO 60 and Craig Tallman's JAYA may have a
leg-up on the fleet. Nevertheless, 70 sailors have proven they're climbing the
learning curve fast in this simple boat, so expect to see good competition from
Hugh Bennet on CHEETAH CUB and Sean O'Keefe on DECOLORES 3. For more
J/Fest sailing information, please be sure to contact Joanne O'Dea at joanne@jk3yachts.com.
Or, go to the San Diego YC website.
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
(Huntington Lake, California)- The 60th High Sierras Regatta took place, as
always, on one of the most remote and scenic venues on the west coast -
Huntington Lake in the High Sierras of California. Hosted and run by Fresno Yacht
Club volunteers, the regatta spans two weekends, the first on July 6-7 and the
second on July 13-14. The first weekend was made up of Centerboard
Classes, with the second featuring mostly larger keelboats. The number of boats
each weekend is limited by the US Forest Service, so entries are always on a
first-come first-serve basis.
Over the past six decades, the High Sierra Regatta has had more than its fair
share of Olympic gold medalists and National champions sailing in the event.
The consistent winds, sunny days and beautiful scenery attract sailors from all
over the country; sailing on fresh water in Central California's biggest lake
regatta is hard to beat!
The first day of racing
on Saturday saw 100+ keel boats on the water. Imagine that many boats of
wildly different speeds and sizes sharing a lake that is only 2.25 square miles
long-- an anxiety attack mid-course is not in the cards if you want to sail
well in this regatta! Like clockwork, the breeze built in time for the races to
start at 10:55am, nearly the same time every day.
Competitors saw gusts up to 19 kts towards the top of the lake and lows of 6-8
kts towards the bottom. The wind was very puffy and shifty and it typically
favored the south shore breeze. Boats that were able to stay in phase on the
south shore and play most of the shifts made out over the boats playing the
middle or the north shore.
On Sunday the wind was pretty similar to Saturday, very puffy and shifty,
favoring the south shore again. With most boats short-tacking up the south
shore and the breeze dissipating as you go up the lake, there was a lot of
disturbed air. This was where "heroes became zeroes" and were shot
out the back. The boats that could stay out of disturbed air and avoid
the holes along the shore were able to minimize their losses. Some boats
played it conservatively and found large, shifting breeze lanes going out
across the lake in breeze.
PHRF B fleet saw the J/24 and J/22 do battle with a cast of Olson 25s and Merit
25s. When all was said and done, Pat Bradley's J/24 OLD AND IN THE WAY
took 2nd overall and Greg Greenlee's J/22 TEKEELA took third overall in class.
Bob Crooks J/80 WASAABI enjoyed their weekend on the lake and took 7th in PHRF
A fleet. They just nipped out classmate Jim Powell sailing his J/27
LEVITY, who took 8th in class. Sailing photo credits- Eric Zamora- The Fresno Bee
For more High Sierras Regatta sailing information
(Dillon, Colorado)- Billed as the world’s highest regatta at 9,017 ft
above sea level, racing for the Dillon Open Regatta takes place on beautiful
Dillon Reservoir in Dillon, Colorado, where sailors enjoy mostly sunny days and
spectacular views of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains. The regatta is
hosted by the Dillon Yacht Club, the nation’s highest yacht club at 9,017 feet
above sea level, located near the Continental Divide, a 70 mile drive west on
I-70 from downtown Denver.
As Scott Spurlin from J/Boats Southwest once said, “It's been called the
"Most dangerous Regatta in America", the "Highest Regatta in
America", and the "Largest In-Land Lake Regatta West of the
Mississippi". No matter what the claim-- the Dillon Open Regatta is a lot
of fun!”
Think you're good at reading the wind? Lake Dillon would certainly
test your skills! Mountains and valleys with rapidly changing weather again
kept the tacticians on their toes this year! With winds rolling down the
steep mountain sides along the lakefront (or the occasional micro-burst blowing
down vertically out of clear blue sky), the faster (and sometimes luckier)
crews had a field day picking up windshifts and breeze lines to work themselves
to the front of the fleet.
For well over 25 years, the J/24s from around the Midwest (as well
as refugees from the heat in the Deep South) have made their annual migration
to sail in the warm and friendly confines of Lake Dillon, nestled cozily in the
Rocky Mountains. Eight J/24 teams made the starting line this year.
It just so happened to be a good "vintage" year for the crew on Greg
& Susan Johnson's PINOTAGE, posting three 1sts in their scoreline on their
way to winning the J/24 class with a 5-1-3-1-1-2-3 record for 16 pts.
Alan Dille's crew on SEPTILLION made a valiant effort to remain in contention,
but two 4ths in races 4 & 6 hurt their chances for a comeback.
Instead, SEPTILLION's 2-3-2-4-24.5-2 for 19.5 pts snagged them a second
overall. Taking two 1sts but not staying at all consistent was Frank
Kelble's team on USA 1966, amassing a 1-5-4-5-4-1-4 for 24 pts to take third on
the podium. The balance of the top five was taken by Doug Pierini on COLD
SMOKE in fourth and Stephen Bergman on EVENT HORIZON in fifth.
The Dillon Open has also bee quite popular with the J/22 class,
this year fielding the largest one-design fleet in the regatta with twelve
participants. Sailing fast out of the starting blocks on the first day
was Mike Kline's NAUTI-MOOSE, taking a 1-1-2-1 to never relinquish the lead for
the rest of the regatta. However, victory clearly did not come easy for
this team. After what appeared to have been premature celebrations taking
place on Saturday night, the "Nauti-Boys" on NAUTI-MOOSE could only
muster a 6-5-2 on the last day to barely hang onto their lead to take class
honors! David Baker's UP FOR AIR started slowly but closed the regatta
with a 1-1-4 to take second overall. Third was Robin Jackson & Kristin
Zagray's BIG BUTT BOAT, closing with a 3-2-1 to show rapid improvement in the
standings to take the silverware for third. Fourth was Stan Strathman's
SCREAMIN J and the "long-distance award" goes to fifth place finisher
Richard Hallagan from Canandaigua YC on New York's Canandaigua
Lake. Sailing photo credits- Greg Schertz For more Dillon Open Regatta sailing information
(Barbados)- Skippered by Ian Mayers, the BANKS ESPERANZA J/24 team continued an
impressive run of form to completely eclipse the J/24 division of the Harris
Paints two-day regatta. It was another show of late-season magic from the
ESPERANZA crew, who also dominated and won the First Citizens Regatta earlier
in the season in Holetown.
In the Harris Paints event, which was also the 30th year of
sponsorship by the company, and which featured shifty winds on the southcoast,
ESPERANZA's slammed nine other rival crews to win three of four races. They
finished fourth in Race 4. “We were looking to make a clean-sweep but we
didn't have a great start in the last race, although we made up some ground.
Our crew is in good form and we proved that we are capable of challenging the
top boats in competition,” said skipper Mayers. Impulse, skippered by
Neil Burke, finished second and HawkEye, skippered by Robert Povey, finished
third overall while also winning Race 4. Fourth was Die Hard, captained by
Robbie Yearwood, and fifth, ISIS, captained by Nicholas Lashley.
The six-member Barbados J/24 Youth team also used last weekend's regatta as
part of their preparation for the for BVI –Premier Cup International regatta
which is being contested in Tortola on Saturday and Sunday( July 12-14).
Significantly, the Harris Paints regatta was the last of six regattas making up
the 2013 Jaguar/ Landrover series in the race for the national championship of
J24 racing in Barbados.
Despite their late season heroics, Esperanza were unable to deny Williams
Industries HawkEye the championship as they pipped them by one point to secure
the right to be called national champions. After six regattas, HawkEye
collected nine points while Esperanza finished the season on ten points, for
second place in the Jaguar/ Landrover series.
HawkEye earlier in the season won the Taylors Cycle Centre regatta , were
second in the Mount Gay regatta in mid-May, and won the Lucky Horseshoe regatta
in early June. “It was a very competitive season. Our main goal was to
win the national championship this year and our crew made it happen. We came
out with a mission and accomplished it,” said Robert Povey, skipper of HawkEye.
Champions in 2012, Impulse finished the season third overall, on 12 points,
while Fully Covered, skippered by Bruce Bailey , finished fourth with 16
points. ISIS, skippered by Lashley, were fifth overall on 26 points.
The Jaguar/ Landrover series is organized by the J/24 Club of Barbados and
President Gregory Webster praised, sponsors, sailors and other partners for
helping to create successful events and an outstanding season. For more J/24 Barbados sailing information
Palio di Anzio Regatta
(Anzio, Italy)- The second edition of the Palio di Anzio J/24 Regatta was won
by Quartiere Lavinio Mare. The crew, skippered by Gianni Riccobono, wins for
the second consecutive year. In second place was from Anzio was Marco
d'Aloisio sailing DON J and third was Massimo Noons at the helm of JULIO CAESAR
with a local crew from Anzio's neighborhood sailing center.
It was a beautiful and historic sailing event blessed by good winds, good race
management and organized by the non-profit organization Palio Anzio. The
event is a celebration of the history of the port of Anzio and the eight
districts that make up the city surround the port.
For some historical perspective, it was in 1761 that Cardinal Antonio
Pignatelli of Naples was planning on joining the Conclave in Rome sailing by
water. However, he was caught in a gale which forced him to take shelter
in the Gulf of Anzio. Here the generous citizens of the town welcomed him for
the time necessary to be able to return to the sea and reach Rome, carrying a
promise that, if he became the Pope of the Catholic Church, that he would build
the port of Anzio. That promise came true, as he was elected Pope Innocent XII.
After a few months of living in Rome, he recalled the promise and returned to
Anzio, this time by land, to lay the first stone of the new Port of Anzio near
the ruins of the ancient port of Nero! Today, the crew of Anzio Lavinio,
by winning the trophy for the second time may have the opportunity for a
three-peat performance next year! For more J/24 Italy sailing information
J/70 CATAPULT, J/24 HELLY HANSEN,
J/22 JULIAN ASSOCIATES Winners
(Newport, RI)- As has been the tradition for years, the Sail Newport team led by
Brad Read and a select group of PRO's provided excellent race management over
the course of the two-day Bacardi Newport Regatta to ensure most classes had
four good races.
As the largest fleet in the regatta, remarkable considering it's "the new
kid on the block", the J/70s managed to put twenty-two boats on the line
for a highly competitive and fun event. Perhaps most importantly, the fleet has
demonstrated that newcomers to the fleet can be quite competitive against
earlier season "veterans" and sail quite well. Following on
earlier season success, Joel Ronning's CATAPULT team from Lake Minnetonka, MN
sailed well with a 1-7-7-1 series for 16 pts to just beat out Bruno Pasquinelli's
STAMPEDE team that sported a 9-4-2-2 scoreline for 17 pts-- it all came down to
who-beat-who in the last race. Taking third was Bennet Greenwald with a
4-1-6-10 tally for 21 pts-- fresh off wins on the Pacific Coast at Cal Race
Week and Long Beach Race Week. Dave Franzel's SPRING sailed a solid
series, capturing a consistent 6-8-5-4 for 23 pts for fourth and lying fifth
was newcomers TOUCH 2 PLAY sailed by Martin Kullman with a 5-6-1-12 record for
24 pts (nearly pulling off an overall win in their first try were it not for
the last race "bomber" race!).
For the sixteen J/24s, it was a double-whammy, a District 2 Championship
World's Qualifier and US Adult Sailing Championship Qualifier. And, to no one's
surprise, it was Tim Healy that ran the table with straight firsts on HELLY
HANSEN to take the J/24 title. Fresh from sailing over in Europe was Mike
Ingham (world-traveler man!), taking the second spot with a 5-2-2-2 record for
an easy second place. Sailing yet another BANGOR PACKET was Tony Parker
taking third. Fourth was Steve Kirkpatrick on BUCKSHOT and fifth was Mike
Marshall on PIPE DREAM.
Nine J/22s sailed gaining good practice for the upcoming J/22 Worlds sailing in
Newport in October 2013. And, what a practice it was! For THREE teams all
ended up tied at 9 pts each for first place! How often does that
happen? Never heard of it before in decades of sailing. Surprising
some of the teams was the excellent performance by Brad Julian and crew on
JULIAN ASSOCIATES, winning with a 4-2-2-1 record based on having most 1sts and
2nds. Second on the tie-break was Chris Doyle's JUG 4 1 with a 3-3-1-2
tally and third on the tie-break was Jim Bernash with a 2-1-3-3 record-- losing
the tie-break because of last race placing! How cool is that?!
CLose racing and fun for all. Fourth was Dave Godin and fifth was FJ
Ritt. For more Bacardi Newport Sailing information
(Poole, England)- Twenty-five teams from the United Kingdom, Ireland and USA
headed to Plymouth to contest the UK Nationals at the start of July. With
10 races scheduled over 4 days the race committee wasted no time getting going
with 3 rapid fire courses set on the first day to ensure the fleet completed a
series given the patchy wind forecast.
The following 3 days settled into a pattern with competitors enjoying lazy
mornings in the balmy conditions whilst waiting for the sea breeze to fill and
then as the wind arrived reveling in the close quarters racing and tight calls
at every start, mark rounding and finish. With a matter of boat lengths
separating first to last on the water this was one design racing at its very
best. Sail tracker units were carried on all the boats meaning friends and
families could watch races unfold from shore and over 1,300 visitors logged in
to check on the action across the 3 days of racing. You can still view the feed
via the SailRacer site here.
With an all-star cast, including the 2010 and 2011 European Champions, 2013 US
National Champions, as well as multiple UK and Irish National titles shared
between the teams, racing was always going to be tight, with 6 different teams
taking race wins from the 9 races contested and consistency being the key to
establishing a good series. Masters of this were Chris McLaughlin / Ian
Southworth and their IL RICCIO team who, with every result inside the top 5,
put enough space between them and their closest rivals to be able to reclaim the
UK National Championship crown last held by them in 2006.
The UK National Championship Title goes to Chris McLaughlin/Ian Southworth
sailing IL RICCIO with Mike Ingham's HITCHHIKER from America taking 2nd place
and Rob Clark of JUJU taking 3rd. The Westerly Trophy was also hotly contested
and eventually went to the all girls team on NITRO skippered by Alison
Young. Next up is the summer regatta season with a number of J/24's
intending on heading to Yarmouth, IOW to join in with the fun at the Tattinger
Regatta at the end of the month. Sailing photo credits- Tom Gruitt For more J/24 UK Nationals sailing information
Will Three Big Dogs Prevail?
(Wayzata, MN)- Lake Minnetonka will again be the playground for J/24s as the
Wayzata YC hosts them for their National Championship from June 20-23. As
J/24 Fleet #1, Lake Minnetonka has more experience than any other club hosting
major events for J/24s over the course of time sailing on the lake since
1977! The Wayzata YC J/24 sailors are looking forward to another
"most excellent" regatta with a stellar group of twenty boats
participating.
Recently, the J/24 class established a "World Rankings" website (http://www.j24worldrankings.com) that gives J/24 sailors
around the world a ranking overall and by country based on performance and
participation. Currently 1,118 sailors and 140 regattas over 4 years were
used in these rankings (best four in past two years count using a high point
system). Not surprisingly, six of the top ten are Americans with Brazil,
Italy, Argentina and Germany filling out the balance of top teams.
Sailing in this year's J/24 Nationals are three of the Americans, including
World #1 Mike Ingham from Rochester, NY, #9 Pat Toole from Santa Barbara, CA
sailing his famous THREE BIG DOGS and #10 Travis Odenbach from Rochester, NY
sailing HONEY BADGER. Not to be outdone are some of the famous founding
members of J/24 Fleet #1 sailing with Rolf Turnquist and John Gjerde on
the mighty yacht OZ! For more J/24 US Nationals sailing information
