J/24s Love Hot Rum Class 4

(San Diego, CA)- The last major San Diego YC racing event came to a close on the first day of December with the final of three races in the Hot Rum Series. The fleet of 130 boats in 6 classes enjoyed gorgeous sunny, warm "winter" sailing conditions on the 11.9 nm  pursuit race course located off the majestic Point Loma.

Race 1 was simple enough with nice sun and a great wind, and the usual inquisitions and opinions over ratings.  The conditions favored the smaller sport boats and the early finish line looked a little like a J/105 regatta. But you know what they say about the Hot Rum, one "nice day", one "light day".

And so, the fleet experienced "the light day" for Race 2.  Sunny, yes, but very light winds.  There was enough breeze (6+ knots) to whisk everyone out to the half-way mark in the Roads, but the wind evaporated from there. The larger boats, that have 50+ feet of mast and sail up in the air, managed to make enough breeze to ghost to the finish.  A last little puff of wind just before the 1600 deadline brought the front of the other five fleets to the finish, but in total, only 57 of the registered 130 boats finished.  Several boats received ratings adjustments that reduced their handicaps (estimated their speed faster) at the start of Race 2, and after a protest hearing, those boats were given redress (RDG) of a time credit for that race and their ratings were returned to those posted for Race 1. The redress did not change any of the results.

And the last part of the saying about the weather for the Hot Rum says "one stormy day".  But despite the low clouds and rain through the night, a really nice day popped out of the clouds around 10 am.  At noon, fluffy white clouds with 10+ knots of wind got the race going in perfect Hot Rum conditions.

Class 5 had several of the J/Classics sailing.  Getting third overall was Mark Clements' J/24 BRIGADOON with a 4-3-6 record for 13 pts.  Finishing behind them was the J/22 GOOD ONE! sailed by Shala Lawrence and the J/24 IRIE sailed by Jeremy Miller.

Many thanks to Mount Gay Rum and San Diego Yacht Club and the Race Committee for their support of this hallmark event.  Mark you calendars now for next year's Hot Rum (Nov. 9, 23, Dec. 7)!  Sailing photo credits- Bob Betancourt and Bronny Daniels/ JOY Sailing.   For more San Diego YC Hot Rum sailing information

J/70s Love Hot Rum Race #1

J/105 Masters Crush Fleet, J/120 Wins Too!(San Diego, CA)- This past weekend marked the first of the infamous three weekend series of "pursuit" races sailed off San Diego's Point Loma.  An annual fall right of passage in the southernmost part of California, over 120 boats participated in near picture perfect conditions with winds blowing from the NNW at 10-15 kts.  As the little, slower rating boats took off in sunny, breezy conditions on a long starboard tack reach out the Pt Loma shipping channel on a SW course to the first mark under spinnakers, you could practically hear the J/Teams smacking their chops knowing the first two legs would be fast spinnaker reaches before the long beat home to Pt Loma with a quick port tack reach home to the finish line just off Shelter Island.

Leading the entire fleet home were the J/105s, most of whom were participating in the J/105 Masters Regatta. First boat home sailing an amazing race was Bruce Munro's team from St Francis YC, however, as they finished they discovered they were OCS'd by the RC.  As a result, the first official finisher was John Andron's team, also from StFYC; they were followed by the famous yacht designer Ron Holland from Ireland in 2nd; local hero, World Star champion and SDYC benefactor Malin Burnham finished in 3rd; fourth was yet another famous sailmaker, World Soling Champion, Hans Fogh from Denmark and Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and in 6th was local champion Rick Goebel on SANITY.

Class 2 was won by John Laun's J/120 CAPER with fellow J/120 sailor Chuck Nichols sailing his famous CC RIDER in 5th. Peter Zarcades J/120 MELTEMI ended up 9th.

Class 4 saw the debut of the J/70s.  And, what a debut it was with the group of four J/70s having a very close start and taking off in the first giant puff like a Navy F-18 getting shot off the catapult on an aircraft carrier!  Taking off with foam hissing in their wake, the J/70s quickly overhauled all their competitors in front of them.  In the end, the J/70s took 1st and 3rd.  Leading them home was J/70 ULLMAN SAILS in 1st with the J/70 QUANTUM SAILS team taking 3rd.  The J/70 NORTH SAILS team was 2nd across the line but suffered a similar fate as their J/105 counterparts (the Munro team) by having to take an OCS.  For more Hot Rum Series sailing information

J/24 "Reality Sailing" In California

(San Diego, CA)- Manuel Morenos has been working with friends to create a unique new sailing, adventure and experiential organization called "Reality Sailing Adventure org".  Says Manuel, "Our group is embarking on an ambitious project and we need all the help we can get.  We have a dream of creating what we call the first bi-national sailing campus.  A campus which will have a variety of activities ranging from sailing instruction, adventure sailing voyages and a place for university students geared to marine biology and the research for cleaner technologies perform their studies. The development of this institution has given us the opportunity to reach to world leader in the nautical industry, and to sailing, research and governmental institutions in both the US and Mexico, generating an all around positive program. 

Our organization’s concept is simple, positive, and sustainable. Sailing is synonymous with a healthy environment. Don’t we all disapprove oils spills, pollution, punctured atmospheric layers created by carbonic emissions? Yes, we have to stop depending so much on this non-renewable fuel which is only damaging us. Sailing in the other hand utilizes the wind, currents, weather patterns and even solar energy to move from point A to B causing less harm to biospheres and so to the planet. Sailing also provides a great quiet pleasurable travel, at the same time promoting healthy life styles and good economies around it.

Help us create consciousness in the preservation of the magical waters of the Sea of Cortés and at the same time have fun doing it. Our developing organization is composed to the most part of sailors and a group of  visionaries  looking forward to create an innovative program. Additionally,  we would like to offer more opportunities for American cruisers to safely and responsibly sail this part of the world.

Part of our program is geared to connect the youth interested in sailing with other sailing schools, yacht clubs and he sport of sailing itself. This involvement game the opportunity to help direct a junior sailing in San Diego, CA for CVYC. By this community outreach program the Coronado Yacht Club offered a sailing class to (3) of my top sailing students. Opportunity which gave us the chance to meet former national champion in this class, you might remember Jon Rogers. He currently teaches sailing at the Coronado yacht Club.

Rogers who previously worked as an instructor for a J-World school in Newport, RI conducted one of the most educational and exciting class the kids and myself included ever had aboard a nice J-24 race sailboat. He gave the juniors the ins and out of this magnificent racing vessel. That confirmed what lots of people say about J boats, “They’re fast”.  Jon is a great guy and outstanding sailing instructor. We all enjoyed the class and hopefully in the near future we could have the opportunity to have one of this fast racing vessels in our fleet too."     For more information on Reality Sailing Org

Ginormous Cinco de Mayo Regatta

J/24 SVENJA Squeaks By FIVE--JADED--DOGS
(Santa Barbara, CA)- Having one of their best and largest regattas in the greater SoCal region (Santa Barbara/ Los Angeles/ San Diego) in recent years, the sixteen J/24s that sailed in the Santa Barbara Sailing Club's annual Cinco de Mayo Regatta had tremendous competition-- the event had North American and Western Regional Champions in attendance.

In the end, after plenty of tasty margaritas, great tacos and even better racing, Team Zimmerman sailing the great yacht SVENJA snatched a well-deserved victory over some very tough hombres.  After accumulating a 2-3-1-4-1-2-9-5, the SVENJA team amassed a total of 18 pts, to win a squeaka' over the next three incredibly well-sailed boats.  The next three teams all went into the last race essentially tied on points.  Amongst that trio were Pat Toole's veteran team on THREE BIG DOGS, Klatt's crew on JADED and Taylor's gang on TAKE FIVE.  Taylor's team was on a tear in the last three races getting a 1-2-1, but it was not enough to get silver on the podium, instead having to settle for 4th place overall.  Dueling it out for second and third were Klatt's JADED and Toole's 3 BIG DOGS.  After the dust settled, the two boats ended up tied on points with 22 pts each, with the nod going to JADED for second place on the basis of having the most firsts.  Fifth in this tightly bunched fleet was Whisenhunt's crew on TORTOISE.  For more Santa Barbara Cinco de Mayo J/24 sailing information

Perfect Sailing- J/Fest San Francisco

(San Francisco, CA)- It was picture perfect weather on San Francisco Bay for J/Fest, with mild winds gaining steadily through the day. Even the tides were kind, allowing rusty crews a chance to remember and practice their skills without paying too heavily before the racing season kicks into full swing.   Thirty one J/Teams participated in this year's J/Fest, with twenty J/105s, five J/120s and six J/24s.

Like their counterparts way across the continental divide in Charleston, the San Francisco J/24 crews had a serious three-way battle for first place.  Perhaps it was more of a rugby scrum than anything else.  The regatta winner was determined on a tie-breaker while third place was only one point back!  Talk about suffering a bit of anxiety on the race-track.  Settling the score by virtue of having more firsts was Darren Cumming's DOWNTOWN UPROAR, starting well and hanging tough to earn a 1-2-3-1-3 record for 10 pts.  Losing the tie-break and finishing second was Luther Strayer on LITTLE WING with a 2-3-2-2-1 tally also for 10 pts.  The only other double race-winner was Rich Jepsen's RAIL TO RAIL, gathering a 4-1-1-3-2 tally for 11 pts.  Fun, tough competition amongst those J/24 crews.

The J/120s also saw a hard fought series amongst the top three with just three points separating the teams.  In the end, Barry Lewis' CHANCE sailed consistently to garner a 4-1-3-1-2 record for 11 pts.  John Wimer on DESDEMONA sailed fast, but not fast and smart enough, to collect a 2-3-4-3-1 score for 13 pts.  Were it not for a third race scoring penalty, Steve Madeira's MR MAGOO may have had a better shot at 1st or 2nd.  Instead, the "mean green fighting machine" that is the "MAGOO" managed a 1-4-scp(4)-2-3 for 14 pts to round out the podium.

The J/105s had a great turnout with a highly competitive fleet of twenty boats.  There were some familiar names again at the top of the fleet.  This time, it was Jeff Litfin and John Case on MOJO that simply had this weekend completely dialed-in and walked off with first place.  MOJO's 2-4-2-4-2 record was blindingly consistent, winning no races, but sailing fast and conservatively smart to with with only 14 pts, 7 pts clear of the fleet.  Second was 2011 Rolex Big Boat Series Winner Scooter Simmons on BLACKHAWK, winning two races but having a tough time in the other three (7-6-6) to hang on to second place with 21 pts.  Third was another Rolex Big Boat Series winner, Bruce Stone on ARBITRAGE, starting slowly then improving over the course of the weekend, scoring a 9-5-3-6-1 for a 24 pts total.  Bruce's team just edged out Adam Spiegel's team on JAM SESSION on a tie-breaker, Adam's team accumulated a 5-10-4-2-3 for 24 pts to finish fourth.  Fifth was Tom Kennelly's WONDER, sailing one of their best regattas in J/105s so far.   Sailing Photo Credits by Chris Ray   For more J/Fest San Francisco sailing information

San Diego & Santa Barbara Epic Opening Days

J/105's Smoke the Fleets
(California, USA)- The tradition has been a long-standing one for yacht clubs around the world to have an "opening day", symbolic of the start of a new year, a new sailing season, re-affirmation of belonging to the "local tribe", participating in various "tribal rites of passage" with lots of pomp, circumstance, dressy stuff and good-natured bantering fueled for the most part by good food, drink and friends.

Nowhere is the tradition more laid-back than it is on the West Coast of America.  After all, watching sunsets on the beach is a right of passage, as is surfing to Hawaii on massively fast "sleds", and blasting down the Cal/Mex coastline to some destination called La Paz, Ensenada, Cabo or PV.  This year, two of those opening days were in for a treat, atypical conditions that challenged the best of the best in San Diego and Santa Barbara.

San Diego YC's opening day was an eye-opener.  "Fresh to frightening" or "epic" may have been adjectives assigned to massive chop, 18-30 knot winds and a bit thrill ride of for some.  Of course, the J/105 teams were simply licking their chops, knowing their erstwhile competitors might be doing the wrong kind of "pole dance" as they spun around in broaches all day long!  The SDYC opening day event is an incredibly fun "pursuit race", where slowest start first and fastest last.  In fact, J/22s started first and TP 52s were last!

After the fleet crashed and bashed, surfed and broached their way home, it was the J/105s that swept the fleet- WINGS (Dennis & Sharon Case) that finished first, followed by AIRBOSS and TRIPLE PLAY in 2nd and 3rd, respectively.  As was commented by one of their crew- " Surfing and planing on the downwind leg and having control in the beats were the keys to success and how much fun was THAT!"  Awesome stuff.

On the Santa Barbara YC opening day side of things, their classic "WNW" breeze blew in fresh and fast making for a spectacular afternoon of sailing.  With J/105s, J/29, J/92, J/100, J/145, J/22 and J/24s all making a go of it, it was the J/105s that had a spectacular showing.  Leading the fleet home were SHORT SKIRT followed by Ken Kieding's new ADVANCE (the old ROCK'N'ROLL) and ESCAPADE.

For more SDYC (http://www.sdyc.org) and SBYC (http://www.sbyc.org) sailing information.

Get Ready for J/Fest San Francisco!

(San Francisco, CA)- It's almost April and that means the annual gathering of the J/Clan in the Bay area is near.  Get ready for a weekend full of one design and handicap racing April 21-22 - for J/Boats only.

St. Francis Yacht Club will once again host the five race event, long popular with the J/24, J/105, and J/120 fleets.

Registration is now open and the Notice of Race can be downloaded at www.stfyc.com. Early registration ends on Wednesday, April 18.  Don't miss out on this annual opportunity to mix it up with your fellow J/Boaters and the cap toss melee!

JAM SESSION Wins J/105s at Three Bridge Fiasco

 
BADFISH Wins J/24s, J/80 PAINKILLER 10th Overall!
(San Francisco, CA)- The name is appropriate.  For starters, you have to know who the "Singlehanded Sailing Society" is on San Francisco Bay.  Next, you have two choices on the type of course you want to sail, go clock-wise around the Bay or counter-clockwise.  Your choice.  Then, since it's a "pursuit" style race, the little boats get going early in the morning while the bigger boats get rolling later in the day.  Next, you can sail single-handed or double-handed, no more-- for many that decision in and of itself is one of the more challenging ones to make based on weather and other unknown factors that cross the psyche of short-handed sailors.  Finally, toss in that other thing called "the wind" and, most importantly, the "capricious currents" on San Francisco Bay and you have-- voila-- a recipe for a "fiasco".  Despite its name, the event continues to mushroom in popularity just because it is almost complete and utter chaos.  Half or more of the fun is just participating.  And, you literally see an entire cross-section of the history of yachting as you sail around the course-- from Knarrs and Cal 20s to the most modern sportsboats.  It's also one of the most utterly entertaining regattas held anywhere as some of the most bizarre scenarios unfold in some of the most beautiful, and sometimes dangerous, sections of the course (e.g. the marks).

For the most part, dozens of J sailors participate spread across all the divisions (there are many to choose from).  The J/105s and J/24s generally have a class since so many come from all four corners of San Francisco Bay to partake in the fun.

More often than not, conditions for the annual Three Bridge Fiasco are cold, wet and nasty — the sort of weather that would inspire fair-weather sailors to turn up the thermostat, slip on their Uggs and linger over a long, drawn-out breakfast. But on Saturday this much-anticipated annual contest saw splendid conditions: clear, sunny skies, mild temperatures, and even a bit of breeze.

Not that it really mattered, though. For decades hundreds of diehard single- and doublehanders have turned out to compete, regardless of freezing temperatures, driving rain, lack of wind, or whatever. You could argue that the race, which allows entrants to navigate the course in either direction, passing near the Golden Gate, the San Rafael Bridge, and the Bay Bridge in whatever order they wish, is as much a rite of passage as it is pure competition. And with 334 entries this year, it's appeal is obvious.

With an ebb running in the morning, the most popular course strategy was to knock off Blackaller Buoy first (near the Golden Gate), then beat up to Red Rock (near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge), then run down past Treasure Island and on to the finish. But Three Bridge fleets are renowned for their contrarian thinking, so even with the ebb, many boats were seen crossing the starting line heading 'upstream' (east). Up at Red Rock, the armada split in two, half leaving the island to port, half leaving it to starboard. And back behind Yerba Buena Island the light air traffic jam lived up to the event's name.  For those headed to the Gate, a half hour after the start of the smaller boats, the breeze clocked a bit, allowing a rare spinnaker reach to the Gate.  Even later in the day, although there were holes in the North Bay wind, most boats had a pleasant, sunny ride down to Treasure Island, occasionally interrupted by upwind traffic.

For the fourteen boat J/105 class, it was Adam Spiegel and Matt Clark on JAM SESSION that took all the marbles, winning by just 1:57 over Peter Wagner and Al Sargent sailing SLEIGHRIDE.  After their start at 10:00 am, the J/105 floated along with the ebb in a westerly direction towards Blackaller Buoy in lightish winds before turning back east to fight the ebb and the dozens of other boats already in front of them.  After the fiasco of clearing their air, the J/105s saw Stephen Kleha and Shannon Ryan on DONKEY JACK finish third in class another five minutes back.  Fourth was Doug Bailey and Caspian Bailey on AKULA and rounding out the top five as Phi Laby and Garth on GODOT.  Out of the 334 boats, JAM SESSION got a credible 38th overall.

In the J/24 class, Scott Lynch and Tommy Pastalka on BADFISH won their race by 2:17 over Val Lulevich and Zane Starke racing SHUT UP AND DRIVE ( who was driving?).  Third was Darren Cumming and Alex Symes on DOWNTOWN UPROAR just 45 seconds back.

IN the SF Bay 30 class, the team of Peter Jermyn and Curt Brown on their J/30 IONE fought hard to get a second in class, followed by the J/29 AUDACIOUS sailed by Scott Christensen and Kevin McCurdy.

In the PHRF 108 Spinnaker class, the J/130 RAM sailed by Bob Milligan and Tom Thayer managed to get a sixth in class and 39th overall in the fleet of 334 boats.  Just behind them on 2:10 off was the famous PEGASUS- MOTION-X team of Phillipe Kahn and Mark Christensen on their J/100 modified with a bowsprit.  Not far behind them was the J/120 TWIST sailed by Timo Bruck and Ryan West.

Perhaps the hero of the day was the J/80 PAINKILLER sailed by Eric Patterson singlehanded in the PHRF 111-150 Division.  Eric started at 9:00am and finished by 15:39:51 in the afternoon, not only getting a podium finish by getting 3rd in class, but also getting 10th Overall out of all 334 boats!!  Wow, amazing performance in such challenging conditions!   For more Three Bridge Fiasco sailing information

J Sailors Enjoy Last Hot Rum Race III

(San Diego, CA)- This year's San Diego YC's Hot Rum Series could be deemed a "classic" Hot Rum Series, sun, fun, gentle sea-breezes and laid-back sailing.  Basically, you just start off the Piers near SDYC, beat out in a lightish Southwest 5-8 knot breeze, tacking up under the Point Loma shoreline, making sure to not run over any incredibly curious sea-lions, avoiding the US Navy submarine pen tucked under the Loma cliffs (currently nurturing an old "boomer"--one of those monsters of the deep that lurk beneath the surface of the world's oceans for a century armed to the teeth with a gazillion MIRV'd nuclear warheads), turning left to go offshore to a marker way south of Coronado Island, then reach/fetch back to the finish and head home.  Easy.  Simple to follow the directions.  And, hundreds of sailors love to do it as their fall (or early winter) right of passage just before the Christmas holiday shopping spree often lubricated with a bit of "cinnamon-spiced hot rum cider"!

This year's event seemed to be skewed to the much larger boats- the 50 to 70-plus footers that were roaring around the course with their towering rigs.  Nevertheless, amongst the J/125s in PHRF 1, Jim Madden's crew on STARK RAVING MAD led the pack of J/125s and ended up 9th in class.  From there, the standings flip-flopped for the other three 125s. Second J/125 in the class was Viggo Torbenson's TIMESHAVER with the unusual paint job (white topsides with a PINK bottom paint!).  Third was Tim Fuller's RESOLUTE and fourth in the 125s was Mark Surber's DERIVATIVE.

Because of throw-outs, the PHRF 2 Class also saw a complete jumbling of their standings.  Local ring-leader Chuck Nicholl sailing his famous J/120 CC RIDER dropped to 4th in class and first in the J/120s.  John Laun's J/120 CAPER was next, finishing 5th in class and 2nd J/120.  Third J/120 was Mike Hatch's J-ALMIGHTY sitting 9th in class.   Top J/109 was Daylen Teren's GREAT BALLS OF FIRE, lying 12th in class.  And, top J/124 was Seth Hall's MARISOL in 18th class, just ahead of Tom Barker's  J/124 GOOD CALL finishing 19th in class.  This was a huge class, with 38 boats sailing on ONE starting line!

The J/105s sailed very well in PHRF Class 3, with Dennis and Sharon Case's WINGS leading the pack, finishing 2nd in class and top J/105.  Jumping up into 3rd in class, 2nd J/105 was Dave Vieregg's TRIPLE PLAY with a second on the last race.  Third J/105 was Team Fisher/ Dagostino on VIGGEN, also sailing well on the last day grabbing a third, but not enough to win the tie-breaker over their classmate TRIPLE PLAY.  A good performance was turned in by Herb Zoehrer's J/35 Z-FORCE, finishing 9th in class.

PHRF 4 Class had David Cattle's J/27 BLACKADDER hanging tough to finish 9th in class ahead of J/classmate Steve Worcester's J/32 RHAPSODY at 14th class.

The epic battle for Hot Rum braggin rights in PHRF 5 resulted in a few of the J "classics" melting down while others soared like Phoenix's rising from the ashes.  Mary Snow's J/24 BOGUS secured third overall by virtue of their 1-3 in the first two races, not even sailing the last race and tossing her DNC!  Amazingly, by doing so she lost a three-wayY tie for second-- huge bummer.  Bob Noe's J/30 MAD HATTER was the third leg of that stool, losing the three-way tie and ending up fourth despite having the overall best record of the three boats-- sailing a solid 2-2-4 for the series!  Next time, Bob, next time you'll get that keg of hot rum! Shala Lawrence's cute J/22 NOTHING DRIVES LIKE A RENTAL sadly didn't sail the last race, so had to score a 5-DNF to slide into 7th.   Sailing photo credits- the infamous Sir DA-Woody (a.k.a. Dennis St Onge).  For more San Diego YC Hot Rum Series sailing information

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.

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.

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.

TMC RACING Crushes J/24 Bay Champs

(San Francisco, CA)- This year's J/24 District 20 Championship were held
on the waters of San Francisco Bay hosted by the Berkeley Yacht Club.
The "Berkeley Circle" is considered the most popular sailing venue on
the West Coast. Its proximity to San Francisco, generally strong winds
and scenic surroundings make it an ideal venue for the events of the
2011 J/24 District 20 Championship.



Again, the Bay did not disappoint.  The J/24 class as greeted by classic
"Bay conditions" with breezes smoking out of the WSW for most of the
regatta.  Furthermore, Touchstone Management Consultants, the title
sponsor, ensured the fleet and BYC put on a first-class event.  Most
importantly, Chef Lulu cooked her wildly popular, award-winning Paella
feast for all participating J/24 sailors, and guests, on Saturday
evening!



Did it blow like the dogs? Was it cold? You bet! Samuel Clemens said it
all; "the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco!" 
Foulies were required clothing unless you were a seal with a layer of
blubber.



It was pretty clear that the "class act" of the event was the title
sponsored boat, TMC Racing sailed by Whitfield and crew, garnering six
1st places and one 3rd to win with nine points.  A distant second was
Taylor's crew on the boat ON BELAY that finished with 21 points.  Third
was Cumming's and crew on DOWNTOWN UPROAR with 29 points.  Fourth was
Susan Taylor on TAKE FIVE from SoCal getting 30 points and just missing
out on her podium finish.  Fifth was Lulvevich on SHUT UP AND DRIVE
(really?) with 34 points.  Watch the J/24 YouTube Video here.   For more J/24 San Francisco Bay sailing information

  

Great One-design Sailing @ Cal Race Week

J/105s, J/109s, J/80s, J/24s Love SoCal Sunshine
(Marina Del Rey, CA)-  In their usual fashion, the amazing facility that Cal YC offers to its members and visiting sailors is second to none in terms of fun, hospitality and excellent race management.  Rolling out the red carpet for eight one-design classes, including four J-classes, the J/24s, J/80s, J/105s and J/109s, the J sailors responded with good turnouts in all four fleets.

In fact, the number of J/24s attending equalled those sailing that famous "old" Olympic class- the Stars!  Imagine that, kudos to the 24 fleet for continuing to have so much fun with their buddies.  Susan Taylor on TAKE FIVE again showed the boys her tail feathers and managed to nearly "run the table" with four firsts and one second to win with a total of 6 pts.  The battle for second came down to the last two races between Tom Tunberg's BULLET and Jim Bauerley's CRITTER.  Ultimately, it was Tom's 3-3-2-3-1 for 12 pts beat out Jim's team with a 2-4-5-2-3 for 16 pts, for second and third respectively.

Also showing strength and having fun were the five J/80s.  This year it was a repeat win for Curt Johnson on AVET sailing to a 1-1-2-2-1 for 7 pts.  An up-and-comer showing great promise for the future, winning two races in a row, was Dan Gribble's DUI sailing to a 3-3-1-1-4 for 12 pts to secure second place.  Third was Bob Hayward's BLUE JAY with a 2-2-3-4-3 for 14 pts.

The J/105 always shows up with a good number of very competitive teams from the SoCal neighborhood.  Sure enough, past winners of San Diego and Los Angeles area J/105 SoCal series were on the starting line going for all the gold.  However, showing a remarkable turn of speed and consistent sailing was Gary Mozer's team on CURRENT OBSESSION 2 dialing it up a notch to nearly "run the table" as well like Susan in the J/24s, getting four firsts and a third for 7 pts to win by 8 pts!  That's a spanking!  The contest for second was a donnybrook going into the final two races for four teams, all the action was taking place here as Gary's CO2 team took off over the horizon.  Rick Goebel's SANITY, John Howell's BLINK!, Don Poppe's ROCK & ROLL and Ed Sanford's CREATIVE had a great series racing one another.  In the end, Rick's SANITY team squeaked ahead to finish with a 3-3-6-2-1, coming on strong at the end to finish with 15 pts and get second overall.  Third was determined by a tie-breaker, with the nod going to John's BLINK! crew due to a 4-2-2-4-6 record for  18 pts and Don's ROCK & ROLL crew got the short-end of that stick with a 2-4-3-5-4 record also for 18 pts.  While starting out slowly, Ed's CREATIVE team nearly pulled off a third, ending up fourth with a 6-5-4-3-2 tally for 20 pts.  All in all great sailing amongst the J/105 teams.

While the J/105s and J/24s both had runaway winners and battles for podium honors for silver and bronze, the J/109s had a tough battle for the entire series between two well-sailed boats, Alice Leahey's GRACE O'MALLEY and Tom Brott's ELECTRA.  Both teams sailed fast and smart and didn't give an inch.  However, there was no holding back Alice's first attempt at winning silverware in the J/109 class at Cal Race Week.  Both teams sailed to a tie-breaker, Alice getting a 3-1-2-1-1 for 8 pts to win over Tom's 1-2-1-2-2 also for 8 pts.  Watching the fireworks at the front of the fleet was Bryce Benjamin's PERSISTENCE, counting a consistent 2-3-3-3-3 record for 14 pts.

PHRF Class was won by Fred Cottrell's J/133 TIGGER, literally "running the table" with five straight firsts for 5 pts, the only boat in the regatta to do so and completely dominate their class.  Way to go Fred!   For more Cal Race Week sailing information

  

San Diego NOOD Regatta- A J/Festival

A J/Fest of J/24s, 80s, 105 and 120s
(San Diego, CA)-  While the Cabo Race sailors on Sunday were getting pounded by the massive low pressure system traversing the southern California coastline, the Sperry Topsider NOOD Regatta in San Diego had great winds and some great sailing.  The strong turnout of J's, the large J/120 and J/105 classes and the very competitive J/24s and the J/80s, made the most of Sunday's windy conditions to get in good, hard, fast races.

As the largest fleet in the regatta, the eighteen boat J/105 fleet has attracted a good out-of-town contingent,   The local California contingent of class leaders like the Case's WINGS and Howell's BLINK! had an off weekend, neither cracking the top five.  Sailing a very strong regatta was Long Beach YC's Gary Mozer on CURRENT OBSESSION 2, sailing to 3 straight firsts to win by 5 pts over San Diego YC's Tomm Hurlburt on BLOW BOAT.  Third was SDYC's Chris Logan sailing his PHOLLY to a 2-4-8 for 14 pts.    Fourth was OFF THE PORCH skippered by Scott McDaniel from SLBYC to a 11-3-4 score for 18 pts, beating on a tie-breaker TRIPLE PLAY sailed by Dave Vieregg from SDYC with a 4-5-9 record for 18 pts.

The J/120 fleet saw eight very competitive boats sail three solid races.  This year it was CAPER sailed by San Diego YC's John Laun that walked off with the gold, sailing to a 1-1-3 for 5 pts.   Lying second was last year's winners, Chuck Nichols and his SDYC team racing CC RIDER to straight 3rds for 9 pts.  Were it not for a first race snafu, Peter Zarcades' MELTEMI from SDYC might have gotten second, sailing to a 6-2-2 for 10 pts, just one point back from second.  Fourth was J-ALMIGHTY sailed by Mike Hatch from CRA and fifth was SHENANIGANS skippered by Gary Winton from CBYC.

The local SoCal J/24s showed up in force with a very competitive fleet of thirteen J/24s to vie for "top dog" billing in SoCal over the course of four tightly fought races.  As it turned out, THE top dog was, in fact, THREE BIG DOGS from Santa Barbara YC, sailed by current J/24 North American Champion Pat Toole.  Their 1-1-2-1 record just beat out past National/ NA Champion Chris Snow on BOGUS from San Diego YC who raced to a 2-2-1-2 record, trading out all of the top two spots in the fleet with Pat's TBD team.  Third was ON BELAY raced by Don Taylor from RYC, sailing to a 3-5-7-3 and beating on a tie-breaker SUPER STRINGS sailed by Norm Hosford from DPYC that had a 7-3-4-4 tally.  Fifth was Erik Hemmi from SWYC.

Finally, the ten J/80s had perhaps the closest racing of all the J one-designs, with the top five only separated by 13 points after seven races.  Winning this tight fleet was Curt Johnson from California YC racing AVET to a 1-6-1-2-3-2-1 for 16 pts.  Steve Wyman survived an unfortunate occurrence in the last race where a trailing competitor hooked his backstay and broke their mast, getting average points for that race.  As a result, Steve's NUHUN from Dana Point YC got a 3-3-2-3-6-3 record for 20 pts.  Just behind in third was Kurt Wiese from NHYC sailing to a 4-2-5-7-1-3-3 score for 25 pts.  Two points back in fourth was another "dog boat", UNDERDOG raced by John Steen from SWYC and sailing to a 2-5-3-1-4-1-11 score for 27 pts.  And, just two points further back again was BLUE JAY raced by Bob Hayward from SMWYC to a 5-1-4-4-8-5-2 record for 29 pts.

Mike Lovett at SAILING WORLD magazine interviewed John Steen- "According to the crew of John Steen's UNDERDOG, the J/80 is the perfect boat for ripping down the swells at the Sperry Top-Sider San Diego NOOD.

For Kyle Archer and the crew of John Steen's UNDERDOG, getting into the J/80 class had a lot to do with envy. "About nine years ago, we were sailing the NOOD down in South Bay aboard a chartered J/24," says Archer. "We were having a lot of fun with the crew we had, but we were watching the J/80s launch their spinnakers, come up on plane, and just rip by us. That drew John's interest, and he asked us, 'What do you think about switching over the J/80?'"

The crew's enthusiastic reply inspired Steen to research the class and ultimately purchase UNDERDOG.  "There's a lot of things we like about the boat," says Archer, who serves as jib and spinnaker trimmer. "You don't have to worry about putting together a big crew. It's big enough to be comfortable in the cockpit, and it's easy enough to put on a trailer."

The portability of the J/80 has helped nurture a strong fleet up and down the West Coast. The UNDERDOG team frequently leaves its home base at San Diego's Southwestern YC to attend events in the Los Angeles area and beyond, and boats from the north return the favor by traveling to events like the Sperry Top-Sider San Diego NOOD. Although UNDERDOG was not able to make the trek to the J/80 Worlds in Newport, the team is encouraged to know that local boats can compete on the international level. "We were just hearing some stories from the Worlds last night," says Archer. "It gives us some vindication to know that boats from our area are competitive. It gives us a way to measure up."

As much as Archer and his UNDERDOG cohorts would've loved to join the J/80 class's East Coast tour last year, there's nothing they enjoy more than hooking into a Pacific swell and blasting downwind. "When we get a big swell and we turn and burn under the spinnaker, it's just so much fun. The water's coming across the bow, hitting you in the face, and you're just hanging on for dear life!!"  Sailing Photo credits- Tim Wilkes.  For more Sperry Top-Sider NOOD San Diego sailing information and racing results.