Bacardi Newport Preview

(Newport, RI)- What has become a right of passage for New England summer sailors is the annual pilgrimage to Newport to sail what many consider one of America's best run regattas-- the Bacardi Newport Regatta.  Hosting nineteen one-design classes is never easy, but the management team of PRO's led by Brad Read always manage to make it happen no matter what cards the weather God's have thrown down on the table.  So far, the prognosticators indicate this year's event taking place from July 12th to 14th may end up with some classic Newport sea-breeze conditions.

The J/70's are "the new kid on the block" and as the world's fastest growing sportboat class is fielding a fleet of twenty competitors.  And, there's no doubt it will be quite a competitive affair with several top teams participating from the winter/ spring events like Key West, Charleston, St Pete and Annapolis.  Look for some of these teams to be in the top five, including James Allsopp's MOXIE, Joel Ronning's CATAPULT, Bennet Greenwald's PERSEVERANCE, Dave Franzel's SPRING, Blake Kimbrough's NOSTALGIA, Joe Bardenheier's MUSE, Bruno Pasquinelli's STAMPEDE and Jud Smith's Marblehead team.

For the sixteen J/24s, it' a double-whammy, a District 2 Championship World's Qualifier and US Adult Sailing Championship Qualifier.  As a result, Tim Healy is leaping back into the J/24s sailing HELLY HANSEN.  They will be challenged by arch nemesis Travis Odenbach on HONEY BADGER, Steve Wood on TASMANIAN DEVIL, Frank McNamara on ZOT, Ian Scott on CRACK OF NOON and Aidan Glackin on MENTAL FLOSS.

Nine J/22s will be racing and for many it may prove to be good practice for the upcoming J/22 Worlds sailing in Newport in October 2013.  Expect to see amongst the top boats champion J/22 sailor Chris Doyle sailing JUG 4 1, Brad Julian skippering JULIAN ASSOCIATES, Lowell Thomas on CHAOS and Matt Dunbar on WHARF RAT.  For more Bacardi Newport Sailing information

Big Fleets, Big Winds @ Charleston Race Week

J/Teams Sweep Perpetual Trophies!
(Charleston, SC)- Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week has a reputation for consistent, solid breeze. In fact, Charleston’s great wind is one of the big reasons this event has grown so spectacularly over the past decade.  It was on the eve of the regatta when most weather models predicted big breeze for the start of racing on Friday, with Sunday promising similarly apocalyptic conditions. And that is exactly what the 2013 edition received.

With the 287 teams scattered about on harbor and offshore courses, race organizers were eager to seize the day, completing 3 to 4 races in Friday’s 15-30 knot winds.  Saturday’s moderate breezes and calm seas allowed for some recovery, but it was another 3 to 4 race day to insure each fleet was given the chance to sort out the pecking order in the standings. With the podium positions far from certain, Sunday looked to be the determining factor if not for one thing: the forecast. If Friday’s winds were “monster”, there really wasn’t an appropriate superlative to describe what happened Sunday morning. Rapidly increasing winds and huge seas offshore (8 feet at the mouth of Charleston Harbor) prompted the principal race officers to cancel all competition offshore. Inshore, the race committees set up courses and attempted to get races going on all three courses, but the action was quickly cancelled for everyone.

Marking its debut in dramatic fashion, the 55 boat J/70 fleet was the largest at the regatta by nearly 50%!  The level of competition was incredibly close and positions could change dramatically leg to leg as entire packs of boats would gain and lose on each shift, such was the tightness of the fleet.  While upwind speed for most boats was quite close, it was off-the-wind, particularly in the planing conditions, where boat-handling and pure speed were permitting some teams to make dramatic gains even on the short 0.7 to 0.9 nm downwind legs.  In the end, Key West Race Week winner, Tim Healy skippering HELLY HANSEN, sailed an excellent regatta, staying out of trouble and out of the corners to compile a consistent series to take the J/70s with all top five finishes as counters.  Just behind them  was Jud Smith sailing RELATIVE OBSCURITY, themselves also counting top five finishes in their scoreline to finish second with 21 pts net, just two back from Healy.  Sailing in their first big J/70 regatta, Henry Filter dragged "Moose" Mclintock aboard as tactician to put together a great series to finish third overall with 36 pts.  The balance of the top five saw St Pete NOOD Regatta winner, Joel Ronning on CATAPULT, take fourth overall and the team on STAMPEDE led by Bruno Pasquinelli (2nd at Key West Race Week) took fifth.  
In the J/70s Corinthian Division (amateur teams), it was Heather Gregg-Earl and Joe Bardenheier aboard the beautifully color-coordinated MUSE/ TEAM ATLANTIS that took the honors over sixteen other teams.  Second was Brian Elliott sailing B-SQUARED and third was Mike Glover and Robbie Wilkins sailing LUCY, the top local Charleston team in the regatta.

In the J/22 fleet, Chris Doyle’s consistent performance earned his team the victory. Racing "THE JUG 4 1", Doyle’s lowest score of the seven-race series was only a 3, leaving a tally of 1-2-1-1-2-2 for just 9 points. Arthur Libby on TORQEEDO trailed in second with 14 points, and Greg Fisher and Todd Hiller on LEADING EDGE placed third with 19 points. Fisher narrowly beat out the top Canadian team, Ryan Flack sailing BLIND PIG, that finished with 20 pts.  Fifth was Keith Zars on USA 1646.

J/24's had the second largest J fleet sailing in the regatta with twenty-six teams showing up on the starting line.  After the first six races, it was evident the top two teams were going for broke to take the lead, with Kris Werner's team on SUPERFECTA trying valiantly to hold off a strong challenge from Mike Ingham's team on USA 5443.  In the end, SUPERFECTA took the top spot with scores of 1-1-3-4-1-14-6 for 16 pts net.  Second was Mike Ingham scoring a 5-5-1-2-6-8-1 for 20 pts net.  Third was taken by Ron Medlin Jr on BASH with consistent scores of 3-6-4-6-5-5-4 for 27 pts net.  The balance of the top five included Aidan Glackin in 4th sailing the infamous MENTAL FLOSS and in fifth was Frank McNamara sailing ZOT.  Good, tight racing in the J/24s, with a dozen boats all posting top five finishes over seven races!The J/80s had a mild turnout and in the end it was Bert Carp who reigned supremo taking near straight bullets to win class on USA 11.  Just behind them two points back was Richard Donn's SUPERFLOUS that took second and in third overall was Brad Bertram's ROCKET DOG.

Offshore, the PHRF fleets were treated to some excellent sailing with the solid 10-18 kt southerly breezes on Friday and the moderate NNE winds on Saturday.  Taking PHRF A Big Boat division was Robin Team's J/122 TEAMWORK, sailing a solid series and amassing a 2-1-1-2-7-3 record for 9 pts net.  Just behind them was a super-sharp J/120 team aboard the pretty flag-blue REBECCA, led by skipper Glenn Gault and tactician Terry Flynn (of J/22 World Champion fame) they managed to score a 4-3-2-1-4-2 against some top teams to net 12 pts for second place.

Within PHRF A, the J/111s had a closely fought series amongst themselves.  In the end, Doug Curtiss' WICKED 2.0 prevailed with 24 pts total as top J/111.  Second was the rapidly improving FIREBALL from Annapolis, MD sailed by Fast Eddie, Kristen Berry and crew.  In their first major outing in a tight racing fleet, Robert Stein's KINETIC was third J/111, narrowly missing out second by one point!

In PHRF B was the "battle of the 35 footers".  Gary Weisberg was the top J team, taking 4th overall with his J/109 HEAT WAVE.  Fifth was the J/105 DEAD ON ARRIVAL sailed by Joe Highsmith.  And, sixth was Willy Schwenzfeier's J/35 ARROW.

PHRF C had its moments and plenty of drama for the top boats.  It was very close racing for these fast 30-footers and, as expected, the top teams were the J/29 MIGHTY PUFFIN and the J/92 AMIGOS.  When the dust cleared, Dave Pritchard's J/92 AMIGO had to take an SCP (scoring penalty) in the first race, hurting their chances at taking the golden ring.  In the end, Steve Thurston's J/29 MIGHTY PUFFIN sailed a very consistent series to score a 1-3-5-1-3-2 for 10 pts net to take the gold by one point.  Second was the J/92 AMIGOS with a 6-2-3-2-1-3 for 11 pts net.  

In the Pursuit Class, the only fleet to sail all three days, the J/105 JADED sailed by Peter Rugg from Long Island Sound started off with a bad first race, but rapidly learned the ropes of Charleston Harbor's whirlpool currents and twisting breezes to close on the leaders to finish 6th overall with 16 pts, just two points from third!
What was most remarkable about this year's CRW was that not only were J/Teams by far the largest brand at this year's event, but J sailors also took all three perpetual trophies!  The Palmetto Cup, awarded to the best performer under PHRF, went to Robin Team and his family crew aboard their J/122 TEAMWORK.  The Charleston Race Week Trophy, awarded to the top boat in the most competitive one-design class, went to J/24 Class winner Kris Werner and his Rochester, NY-based crew on board SUPERFECTA.  And, the Jubilee Perpetual Sportsmanship Trophy went to local J/24 racer and the Commodore of CORA, Mike Palazzo. Palazzo and his JO MOMMA crew rescued a man overboard in Friday’s heated action and never approached the jury for redress. In fact, the skipper of the boat that lost the man overboard tried to do that on Palazzo’s behalf.  Congratulations to all for job well done!  For more Charleston Race Week sailing information

US Watercraft Rendezvous

(Warren, RI)- Over the past few decades, several thousand J's were built in the old Tillotson-Pearson facility in Warren, Rhode Island.  Recently, US Watercraft from Portsmouth, RI, builder of J/22s, J/24s, J/80s and J/105s, acquired the boat-building facility on Market Street and is now gearing up production for the four J/Boats they have under license.  In addition, they will also offer parts and maintenance capabilities for all those J's that had been built at that facility, ranging from the J/22s up to the J/160.

To meet the new team, US Watercraft is hosting an "open house/ rendezvous" at the Market St facility.  Come celebrate with us and visit their new location in Warren!  US Watercraft has a fantastic day planned with seminars, factory tours, and demonstrations.  Seminars include the following:

• Racing and Electronic Navigation
• Diesel Maintenance
• Boat Maintenance Basics

The event will be held March 9th from 10am to 4pm at 373 Market Street, Warren, RI.  If you're interested in attending, please RSVP ONLY by February 19th to Sarah (email- sarah@waterlinesystems.com) or phone 401-247-3000.  Please note, lunch and snacks will be provided!

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/Fest Sailing Video on Bayside Buzz!

(Houston, TX)- During last weekend's J/Fest Regatta sailed on Galveston Bay off Houston, Texas, Roy Shaw took out his chase boat along with a video crew to capture some choice moments of sailing amongst the various one-design and PHRF fleets sailing in J/Fest.  Some really amusing and even instructional sequences of various J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s and others rounding marks, setting chutes, going fast and amazing demonstrations of how NOT to take down a spinnaker!  Here are the offshore video highlights, thanks to production services by Mobile Studio Technologies LLC. Again, special thanks to Roy Shaw for providing and driving the chase boat.   https://vimeo.com/channels/thebaysidebuzz

J/Fest Southwest Success!

J/70s Debut, Enormous Showing for J/22s, J/24s(Houston, Texas)- Lakewood YC hosted the third annual J/Fest Southwest Regatta for sixty-two boats! Awesome atmosphere! Great band and free beer waiting for all the crews as they came off the water! Everyone is in party mode!

The focus of the J/Fest Southwest Regatta is to provide a Regatta venue that is extra fun for J/Boat owners, their family, and friends. While the racers are on the water, their spouses, children, family, and friends can enjoyed a myriad of activities and tourist attractions in the Bay Area.

One-design fleets that participated this year include the J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s, J/105s, J/109s and a J/PHRF class.  In the J/22s a great class of fourteen boats sailed with the local host team, BLACKBURN MARINE RACING skippered by Casey Lambert, simply walking off with the overall honors with four straight firsts for 4 pts.  Second was Fred Lindsey's team CACTUS JACK with a record of three 2nds and a 3rd for 9 pts.  Third was RICH SKANK sailed by Brant Koepke's team from Galveston Bay Cruising Association with three 3rds and a 2nd for 11 pts.

The J/24s had an excellent showing with sixteen boats participating.  It was a knockdown, drag 'em out fight for the top three with Corey Harding's team on HAPPY DANCE taking the gold with a 1-3-2-2 record for 8 pts to win by one point.  Second was Bryan Dyer skippering RUMLINE from Fort Worth Boat Club with a 2-1-3-3 tally for 9 pts.  Third was Stu Lindlow on TROPICAL AGGRESSION with a 3-2-1-4 for 10 pts.  Great racing to the end for this trio of teams!

The J/70s had their first one-design racing on Galveston Bay.  It was fun racing for all as the teams were all learning how to get the most out of their new boats.  In the finale, it was Bruce McDonald sailing ROGUE WARRIOR 2 from Houston YC that managed to score four 1sts and a 2nd for 6 pts.  Second was Jimmy Mitchell on BOOMTOWN from Fort Worth Boat Club that managed to wind a count-back tie-breaker based on most 1sts, etc.  Jimmy's 3-1-3-2-3 was good enough for 12 pts, overcoming Dave Hinrichsen's #51 that had three 2nds and two 3rds for 12 pts, too.

The J/80s had a great cross-section of sailors amongst the eight teams, including a team from Dillon, Colorado- Kurt Vanderwal on HENDRIX.  In some respects, this regatta was a great practice warm-up for local sailors all participating in the upcoming J/80 North Americans being held in Fort Worth Boat Club later in October.  Topping out the fleet was local J/80 champion sailor Jay Lutz sailed USA 803 with four straight 1sts!  Jay's performance was all the more remarkable considering the fact that they were up against another J/80 NA and World Champion, Terry Flynn and David Whelan, who ultimately finished second.  The Flynn/Whelan team sailed QUANTUM SAILS/ GULF COAST RACING to four 2nds to easily finish behind their local, friendly competitors.  Third was Alfred Poindexter sailing ANDALE that managed to just secure their position with a consistent 4-5-5-4 for 18 pts.

After the Fort Worth Boat Club's One-Design weekend and racing seminar, it was clear the ten boat class was going to have some very competitive racing as many of the teams had stepped up their game and were sailing their boats much more effectively and faster around the race track.  In the end, local rock star Bill Zartler on SOLARIS again proved to be the "wiseman" of the class and managed to sail to four 1sts and a 5th for 9 pts, easily winning their class.  Behind them was Greg Turman's HORNY TOAD, a well-sailed team that featured some great local talent from the Houston area; their 4-2-4-2-2 record for 14 pts was good enough for 2nd place.  Bill Lakenmacher sailed his RADIANCE to a third place position overall with an 8-6-3-4-1 record for 22 pts, showing improvement every single race.

The J/109s had one of their best showing in years with six boats sailing with one of the local host sailors simply dominating the fleet.  It was the HAMBURG "show" as Albrecht Goethe's teams led the fleet with five straight 1sts for a 5 pts total to win by a landslide.  Behind them was a real donnybrook of a fight for second place with Tom Sutton sailing his LEADING EDGE to a 2-3-4-2-5 record for 16 pts, to win a count-back tie-break based on 1-2-3 tally.  Losing that tie-break battle was Dave Christensen racing AIRBORNE into third place with a consistent 4-2-2-4-4 record also for 16 pts.

Finally, in the PHRF division, Doug Shaffer's beautiful J/122 GAMBLER sailed well as the "big boat" in the division to win with yet another "picket fence" performance- garnering four straight bullets for 4 pts to win class.  Second was Chris Alk's J/27 FOOTLOOSE with 11 pts.  Third was Bob Crutchfield's J/120 BLUECHIP with 18 pts.   For more J/Fest Southwest sailing information

Martha Stewart Loves Sailing!?

(New York, NY)-  Martha Stewart thinks sailing and boating is fun!?  Yes. Martha, the doyenne and fashionista of all things for home lifestyle, design, food, clothes and gardening also happens to be a lifelong boater, sailor herself.  When she heads up to Mt Desert Island for brief moments of respite to recharge her batteries, like many of us do, she relaxes in her beautiful home that overlooks Seal Harbor and the Eastern Way towards Little Cranberry Island (a.k.a. Islesford).  In fact, her self-professed "best lobster roll ever" happens to be at the Islesford Dock Restaurant, who's proprietors are Dan and Cynthia Lief (themselves refugees from the madness of working in New York City and working at Goldman Sachs).  How does she enjoy her time in Maine?  Martha often hops into her 36 ft Hinckley Picnic Boat with a pile of friends and dashes around the gorgeous Maine islands in Frenchman's, Blue Hill and Penobscot Bays, trying the lobster rolls in Islesford, Frenchboro, Stonington and Northeast Harbor-- all of them hard to beat since they're so delicious.  She also hops aboard various friend's beautiful sailboats to go out for daysails around the Cranberry Islands, the Ducks or simply for a picnic on the famous Marshall Island sandy beach or at the famous "Dancing Rocks" on Baker Island.

This past weekend found Martha down in New York city supporting the New York Harbor School.  There she found common ground with long-time J sailors Dawn Riley and local Newporter/ Jamestowner Hannah Swett-- both of whom have cut their teeth sailing J/22s and J/24s for decades as they grew into the talented, world-renown women sailors they are today.  Martha was in "good hands" with Hannah and Dawn and thoroughly enjoyed her weekend with these gals and, most importantly, supporting a wonderful program supporting dis-advantaged public high school kids from New York City's various burroughs- the Bronx, Manhattan, Harlem and so forth.  Here is Martha's account on her "Martha Blog" of her recent experience:

"I have become very interested in The Urban Assembly New York Harbor School, a wonderful small public high school located on Governors Island (in Upper New York Bay just off the southern tip of Manhattan Island), founded by Murray Fisher.

The school partners with New York City's maritime community (such as sailing Manhattan YC's red J/24s) and uses New York Harbor's marine resources to create an extraordinary public high school experience that instills in its students the skills and ethic of environmental stewardship. Harbor School's mission is to graduate students prepared for success in college and who have earned a technical credential in one of the six marine fields: Aquaculture, Marine Biology Research, Marine Systems Technology, Ocean Engineering, Professional SCUBA diving, and Vessel Operations.

Last Thursday I had the thrilling opportunity of sailing in the second annual Harbor School Regatta to benefit the Harbor School. Hannah Swett, one of my Godchildren, who comes from a very famous sailing family in Rhode Island, invited me to sail with her and her mother, Ellie Burgess, upon the historic America's Cup 12-meter boat, Intrepid.

I first met Ellie many years ago when were neighbors in New York City. I had many exciting sails with her and her family and learned what I know about sailing from them. Hannah's sailing credentials include Collegiate All-American, multiple World and National champion, Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, America's Cup Sailor, and was nominated for Rolex World Sailor of the Year. Please enjoy these sailing photos of the Regatta (MYC J/24s and the 12 Meters INTREPID and AMERICAN EAGLE) taken by photographer Lori Hawkins.

J/Fest Southwest- Oct 13-14

(Houston, TX)- Lakewood YC on Galveston Bay in southern Texas along the Gulf of Mexico is again hosting the Third Annual J/Fest Southwest.  Open to all J/Owners, the focus of the J/Fest Southwest Regatta is to provide a Regatta venue that is extra fun for J/Boat owners, their family, and friends. While the racers are on the water, their spouses, children, family, and friends can enjoy a myriad of activities and tourist attractions in the Bay Area. Goodie bags for skippers will contain coupons for family fun.

One design fleets slated for the J/Fest Southwest Regatta include J/22, J/24, J/80, J/105 and the J/109’s. It will be a circuit stop for the J/22’s and the J/24’s. All J/Boats are welcome to race in the PHRF classes and in the J/Cruise class. Any J/Boat is eligible to participate, and the regatta organizers intend to offer several exciting formats for the non One Design racers. This year we expect to see a couple of hot J/70’s flying around as well!   For  more J/Fest SW sailing information

J/70 Flies Around Island

(Jamestown, Rhode Island)- There are few regattas on the Narraganset Bay yachting calendar that have a greater following and are looked forward to with greater anticipation during the course of the "Newport Summer" than Conanicut YC's Around Island Race.  While Newport enjoys multiple "around Jamestown Island races" during the course of the summer, from little boats, to big boats, to classic yachts (like really big ones), the Granddaddy of them all has always been the Labor Day Weekend romp around the 18-21nm course on Sunday.

This year 100 boats competed in the 85th CYC Around Island Race for both the new elapsed time trophy as well as the PHRF handicap corrected time trophy.  Plus, there were one-design classes competing, including J/22s and J/24s from the local Narraganset Bay fleets.

The forecast for the day was a bit variable, but suffice it so say the SSE winds of 8-12 kts ultimately developed such that the fleet was treated to yet another classic around the island romp.  While fleets A to F started in light winds with a massive "ebb current" flushing them out of the start area just off Conanicut YC, the combination of current "wind" and actual "wind" conspired to push the small boats out to the first major turning mark off Beavertail Lighthouse at a rapid speed of current + wind of about 3 kts VMG.  The RC's PRO wisely decided to postpone the "big boats" for 45 minutes until the wind re-established itself.  At that point, it was going to be clear that the overall elapsed and corrected time silverware was going to be a run-for-the-money by the "big boats".  The fleet was treated to a "classic" Bay sea breeze, building up to 15 knots so the sailors could enjoy a fast downhill ride down the West Passage to the northern part of Jamestown (against the strong ebb current) before turning back upwind into the moderate southerly against a tide that changed to beat (guess what) back into the flood tide!!  Ouch.  Can't win some days, but the current/wind Gods conspired so the fleet was basically fighting against the current all the way around the island!!  Little boats got crushed in the standings, big boats dominated by a country furlong.

For the one-design boats, none of the wind/ current stuff mattered-- whomever beat who got the ultimate bragging rights. In the J/22 class, 1st was LUCY sailed by Cory Sertl, 2nd was WHARF RAT helmed by Matt Dunbar and 3rd was MACHBUSTER led by Jeff Westcott.  In the J/24s, it was "girl power" again like their compatriots in Hong Kong!  This time is was Lindsey Turowski winning with BERLY MOVIN, followed in 2nd by Bob Lambert's BARFLY and 3rd was Newport J/24 class veteran Mike Hill on OBSTREPEROUS.

In PHRF handicap world it was an eclectic bunch of boats and fleets that made up the rest.  Starting with Class B the J/24 NIGHTHAWK finished 3rd with Richard Barker and Mike Ryan.  Class F saw two J/29s taking two top spots with Dennis Nixon's LYNX in 3rd and Steve Wood's BIG TAZ in 4th.  Class G was a tough fleet, but the J/109 PICANTE sailed by Dr Rob Salk led the J teams home with a 2nd, followed by Paul Grimes' J/35 BREAKAWAY IN 4th and EC Helme's J/92s SPIRIT in 5th.

In PHRF Class H, it was "sports-boat" shootout with J/80s, a J/70, a pair of VX-One's and others.  In the end, the J/70 J-HAWK sailed by Stu Johnstone and Julia Langford (sailing double-handed) were first across the line elapsed amongst the smaller boats but ended up 3rd on PHRF corrected (sailing with a 111 PHRF rating).  Winning the top two slots were the J/80s GROMIT sailed by Andy Burton and GOOSE in second sailed by Chris Bulger.  Fifth in class was Peter McCarthy and gang on the J/80 EAGLE!  A great performance overall by the J/Sports boat gang.

Finally, in PHRF Class J, finishing third was the custom J/44 WHITE GOLD sailed by Jamestown "hommie" and CYC member Jim Bishop.

The trophy winners for the event included a proverbial J/Alumni list of owners, including Phil Lotz (J/24s and J/105s) sailing his Swan 42 to the Fastest Elapses Award and Malcom Gefter (J/105s) on his Melges 32 winning the Handicap Award.  Plus, the Eads Johnson Trophy (large boat, fastest corrected time) went to Jim Bishop's J/44 custom WHITE GOLD and the Robert A. MacLeod Rear Commodore Trophy (day-sailer, fastest corrected time) went to Cory Sertl's J/22 LUCY!!   For more CYC Around Island Race sailing information

J/Teams Hot In Annapolis!

(Annapolis, Maryland)- Annapolis Race Week (ARW) is a Mid-Atlantic Region annual event that occurs every year over Labor Day weekend off the famous shores of Annapolis (a.k.a. "Naptown"). The 3-day event offers a significant and unique opportunity for sailors to party and have fun on the city-front right in the city square where the enormous Annapolis Sailboat Show is held every year in October.  There were significant fleets of one-design J/Teams sailing, including J/24s, J/35s, J/30s, J/105s and J/80s.  Plus, J/111s sailed in PHRF class.

J/24s had six boats participating with Paul van Ravenswaay's team on MILLENIUM FALCON walking off with top honors with four 1sts, one 2nd and three 3rds for 15 pts total. Second was Paul Ford on WILDCARD with a 4-3-3-4-3-1-1-3 record for 22 pts.  Just one point back was Peter Rich on USA 4006 with a 1-5-4-1-4-2-4-2 tally for 23 pts.

In the J/35s, a strong contingent of seven boats sought the "holy grail", but in the end it was Masci McGonigle's WINDEPENDENT that just squeaked out a win with a 1-1-2-6 score for 10 pts.  Just behind them the score was settled on a tie-breaker with Pete Scheidt's MAGGIE beating out Chuck Kohlerman's MEDICINE MAN.  MAGGIE's 3-5-1-2 for 11 pts was better than the Med-MAN's 2-2-3-4 also for 11 pts.

The J/105s had the one of the large one-design racing division with seventeen boats participating.  Jack Biddle's RUM PUPPY was "alpha male dog" here with a fairly dominating 4-2-3-1-1-2 for 13 pts.  The next four boats had to fight it out amongst themselves for 2nd and 3rd on the podium.  Carl & Scott Gitchell's crew on TENACIOUS emerged from the smoke-filled field of battle as top of the pack with a 1-4-5-11-7-1 for 29 pts to snag second place.  They just managed to beat the VELOCE gang with 31 pts who finished 3rd.  Fourth was Andrew Kennedy's BAT IV with 32 pts and fifth was Carolyn & Chris Groobey's JAVA.

J/30s had a nice turnout with seven boats and it was quite clear the top three had an incredibly competitive series.  Setting the BETTER MOUSETRAP was Bob Putnan, sailing to a steady 1-3-1-4-2-2 for 13 pts.  One point back BEPOP'ing around was Bob Rutsch and Mike Costello with a 3-1-3-1-3-3 for 14 pts.  Then thirsting INSATIABLY for more was Ron Anderson's crew managing to smoke the fleet for two picket fences on the last day, but not enough to overcome his friends in 1-2.  So, Ron's 4-2-5-3-1-1 for 16 pts meant they had to settle for 3rd.

The largest one-design fleet sailing were the J/80s with eighteen boats on the starting line.  In the end, it was Kristen Robinson's much-improved team winning by a substantial margin- their 1-3-2-4-2-2 for 14 pts meant they had a 7 pt margin of victory.  Second was Ray Wulff on GORILLA PANIC! with a 3-7-3-2-1-5 for 21 pts.  Third was John White's team just one pt back.  Fourth was Todd Olds on TSUNAMI with 29 pts and fifth was Clarke McKinney sailing AUNT EDNA'S DEAD with 34 pts.

In handicap world of PHRF A-1, the J/111s had a dog-fight for top to the pack.  This time, it was Tony Culotta's CUORE DI LEONE overcoming the well-traveled VELOCITY for top banana.  Tony's crew managed to garner the identical score of 2-1-2-1 for 6 pts to Marty's 1-2-1-2 also for 6 pts, with the winner being who won the last race!  For more Annapolis Race Week sailing information

EVIL DONUT Wins Bacardi Newport J/24s

(Newport, RI)- For the forty-nine J/Teams sailing in this year's Bacardi SailNewport Regatta, the weather was hot and so was the competition.  With temperatures ashore hovering in the high 80s, low 90s, the sailors were assured of the fact that no matter what the breeze was like in the morning, it would most assuredly develop a good sea-breeze by midday and provide the sailors but inside Narragansett Bay as well as those outside with some good sailing.

Not surprisingly, the very hot J/24 class provided some of the closet competition in the regatta.  After leading the first day, the team of WATERLINE SYSTEMS sailed by Will Welles could not hold off the hard-charging current J/24 US Nationals Champion, John Mollicone, from taking the overall prize with the infamous boat EVIL DONUT.  In fact, the regatta outcome hung in the balance on the last race of the ten race series.  Up until a disastrous 14th in race 8, it looked like the Well's WATERLINE SYSTEMS team had the regatta "in the bag".  Also in the same predicament was Mike Ingham's 11TH HOUR RACING, scoring a DNC/28 in the same race.  As a result, both Will and Mike had to use those two as their "drop" races, just about handing the regatta to Mollicone's EVIL DONUT.  In the end, the "donut boys" just had to stay within one place of the Welles team in the last race to win, which they did by snagging a 5th to Welles' 4th.  Third for the series was Mike's 11TH HOUR RACING team, fourth was Greg Griffin's GIZ and fifth was the craftiest "old man of the sea", Tony Parker on his famously-named BANGOR PACKET.

The other three classes- J/22, J/80 and J/105s- produced quite the opposite outcomes.  All three had near "runaway" winners that dominated their classes after slowly getting into the swing of things on the first day of sailing.

In the J/80s, Bruno Pasquinelli's TIAMO from Texas had four 1sts and two 3rds to win by four points over Jeff Johnstone's LITTLE FEAT from Newport with a 1-3-2-3-3-2 record for 11 pts.  Third was Brian Keane's SAVASANA just 3 pts back.  Fourth was Ray Wulff on USA-251 and fifth was local Newporter Andrew Burton on GROMIT.

The J/22s were swept by the Rochester sailing mafia!  Chris Doyle won every race, taking 6 straight firsts and not sailing the last race!  Second was the Sertl family with Nick Sertl sailing the boat, taking a 2-2-2-4-3-2-1 for 12 pts.  Third was Mark Stuhlmiller with an equally consistent record of 3-3-4-2-5-3-3 for 18 pts.

Starting out slowly on the first day but finishing with a flourish in the J/105 class was past J/105 North American Champion Duncan Hennes and Joerg Esdorn on the well-campaigned KINCSEM.  Second after the first day behind Harald Edegran and Jeremy Henderson's CONUNDRUM, KINCSEM managed to accumulate a 1-3-dnc-1-1-1-1-2 for a total of 9 points, easily winning by five points.  Second was CONUNDRUM, sailing smart and fast to score a 2-2-1-2-3-4-4 tally for 14 pts.  As has been the case with the J/105s, third place was a tightly fought affair by familiar faces.  Separated by only four points, Damian Emery's ECLIPSE sailed to a 3-1-2-3-5-5-6 for 19 points to take the last spot on the podium.  ECLIPSE narrowly beat out by one point Sean Doyle's KESTREL in fourth and Kevin Grainger's GUMPTION3 in fifth with 23 pts.  For more Bacardi Newport Sailing information

J/Classes Sailing Bacardi Newport

(Newport, RI)- 2012 marks the first year that Bacardi Brands are supporting the SailNewport Regatta as primary sponsors.  It promises to be another banner year for the event with 200+ boats participating, with 49 J/Teams participating representing about 25% of the total fleet in J/22, J/24, J/80 and J/105 classes.  The weather forecast looks promising for some great racing both in Narragansett Bay as well as offshore for the bigger one-design fleets.

The J/22s are going to have an incredibly competitive fleet, with Rochester's ring leaders factoring into the overall scheme of things.  Mark & Cory Sertl call both Newport (Jamestown) and Rochester as "home base" and will be tough competitors due to their "local knowledge" from hundreds of beer-can races in Jamestown YC's Tuesday evening races.  Not to be outdone will be Chris Doyle on US 1649, a top notch competitor on a world-class level.

Sailing in the J/24s, not surprisingly enough, are enough World, National and Regional Champions that one could not possibly predict any outcomes other than the fact that all will be competitive and it could be the "Old Man of the Sea" that clobbers them all!  On that note, it's wonderful to see Tony Parker on his BANGOR PACKET continuing to have fun in the middle of an American Presidential election year (ask him why in the beer tent after sailing)!  Never underestimate this wily old fox, having made some Melges 24 World Champions and J/24 World Champions in the past wonder why they ever tangled with him in the first place!  Certain to give Tony a run for the money will be some young bucks like Will Welles, Tim Healey, Travis Odenbach, Mike Ingham and Matt Herbster, amongst others-- their collective pedigree as champions are undeniable!

J/80 world also sees a few ring leaders amongst the core of the fleet.  A combination of world-class sailors are distributed across the fleet and there's no telling how it will all end up in the final tally as all have proven in various Worlds, Key Wests and North Americans to play or win at the top of the heap in various classes.  Chief amongst the top teams will be Bruno Pasquinelli from Houston, Texas; Brian Keane from Buzzards Bay, MA (multiple J/105 Key West Champion); and some tough "Newport locals" like Andrew Burton, Chris Bulger and Jeff Johnstone.

The J/105s may have one of the most competitive J/Fleets rolling.  With past champion 105 sailors participating like Nelson Weiderman, Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM, Kevin Grainger on GUMPTION3 and Damian Emery on ECLIPSE, it simply means the battle lines will be drawn early and fast amongst the leaderboard in this trio of gunfighters.  For more Bacardi Newport Sailing information

Annapolis NOOD Sailing Preview

NEW J/111 One-Design Class Debuts
(Annapolis, MD)- While the Sperry Topsider crew can't guarantee awesome sailing, they certainly can make sure the sailors are happy with their togs and clogs and make life ashore festive and fun.  With a forecast of light to moderate winds for Thursday/ Friday out of the south and a weak front switching the winds into the northerly quadrants at a robust 4-7 knots for Saturday/ Sunday, the PRO's will be on their toes to get some decent sailing in for the madding crowds.  How many teams will be in attendance?  With nearly 200 boats registered, there will be over 1,100+ J sailors crewing on 141 J's (that's 72% of the fleet!).

The J One-Design fleets are all well-represented and are broken down into five J/111s, a dozen J/109s, aye-teen J/105s, ocho J/35s, move J/30s, thirty-four J/80s, nineteen J/24s and thirty-six J/22s.  In fact, it's quite a significant turn-out of the 35 foot J-Designs- J/35s from the 80s, J/105s from the 90s and the new J/111s.

On that score, the J/111 fleet is shaping up to be a good test of how crews adopt to the flatter, choppier, shiftier waters of the Chesapeake Bay.  Three of the 111 teams all sailed in Charleston, having to cope with massive easterly swells from an offshore storm in NW to NE winds, making for a rolly-polly ride upwind and downwind.  Past champion VELOCITY sailed by Marty Roesch will surely be on the comeback trail and CRW Champion RAGIN led by Bob Moran and 3rd place finisher Henry Brauer on FLEETWING will be challenging for the top of the pack.  With those three as a benchmark, it will be interesting to see how quickly the other two boats, Jim Whited's BAD CAT and Anthony Culotta's CUORE DI LEONE fair against some of their well-practiced compatriots.

With three dozen teams showing up on the starting line, the J/22s continue to demonstrate that a bit of chutzpah, fun and camaraderie go a long way for long-term fleet success.  There are many familiar faces in this crowd as well as some new ones.  The event may yet turn into another donnybrook between the Rochester crowd versus the Annapolis gang.  Leading the Rochester crew will be Chris Doyle on THE JUG 41 and Vic Snyder on MO'MONEY.  The local Naptown crews are pretty formidable, amongst them will be Jeff Todd on HOT TODDY, Al Terhune on DAZZLER, Sandy Adzick on HOT TICKET and Todd Hiller on LEADING EDGE, just to name a few.

After nearly 35 years of racing, you'd think the J/24 teams would have an established pecking order amongst the top teams.  NOT!  As has been atypical of many top international one-design classes, the J/24 is so easy to pick up fast by good sailors that just about anyone can be competitive in a short period of time.  Same holds true now as it did back in 1977.  However, octogenarian Tony Parker on the storied BANGOR PACKET XXX is the local Maine/DC boy who's been keeping all the latest boys and girls in check.  After all, many a J/24 World Champion has crossed swords with Tony and lost-- he's still sharp as a tack after all those years of "ultimate fighting" in the J/24 class.  Making sure they learned a thing or two and hope to stay in front of Tony are recent J/24 World Champ Tim Healey on 11TH HOUR RACING from Newport, Robby Brown from St Pete on USA 799, Travis Odenbach on HONEY BADGER and Pete Kassal on SPACEMAN SPIFF.

An excellent turnout of thirty-four J/80s re-affirms their class strength after good fleets at Key West, Bacardi Sailing Week and Charleston Race Week-- all events on the J/80 Winter Circuit.  J/80 sailors are having a lot of fun racing their fast, closely-matched A-sail boats.  Teams that could be factors are changing as some teams improve their capabilities on boat-speed, boat-handling and tactics.  Showing great improvements recently has been Kristen Robinson and team aboard ANGRY CHAMELEON.  Others in the hunt will include Andy Burton on GROMIT from Newport, Chris Chadwick's CHURCH KEY, Bruno Pasquinelli's TIAMO, Mike Sudofsky's BOB DYLAN, Ramzi Bannura's STACKED DECK, Will Crump & Tom Klok's R80, Brian Keane's SAVASANA and Erik Storck's NA Champion RUMOR.

The J/30 sailors continue to enjoy the first cruiser-racer ever built by the J/Boats Team.  And, many "classics" of this genre abound.  These teams have a scream, no doubt about it. So, making any predictions about an outcome are certainly beyond the comprehension of even the J/30 sailors themselves.  Has something to do with rum, beer, sun, fun and varying degrees of that combination over three days of sailing.  So, working on past performance, we can at least look for Pam Morri's BUMP, Ron Anderson's INSATIABLE, George Watson's AVITA and Bob Rutsch & Mike Costello's BEPOP to be hunting around the front of the pack most times this weekend.

The eighteen boat J/105 fleet will be as competitive as ever.  Chesapeake locals such as Peter McChesney on the now famous MYSTERY MACHINE, Chris & Carolyn Groobey on JAVA, Andrew Kennedy on BAT IV, Bob Reeves on A-TRAIN, the Gitchell's on TENACIOUS and Jack Biddle on RUM PUPPY will certainly be factors in the top five.  Toss in top three J/105 NA's sailor Jim Rathbun on HEY JUDE from Toronto, ONT, Canada and some US Naval Academy Sailing Team college sailors and you're certain to see a running gun battle taking place on the waters just off Easton's Point.

J/35 sailors continue to enjoy one of the most successful 35 footers ever built as racer-cruisers.  Love the boat names, some of the old classics and some new variations.  T-BONE, AUNT JEAN, DAKOTA GIRL, BAD COMPANY, MEDICINE MAN, REBEL YELL.  Hell, might as well be at a Harley Davidson reunion in the Badlands of North Dakota, don't ya think?  Free tattoos go with this gang (although the J/30 guys might argue this point).  And, they love it, working those grinders on the massive kevlar/carbon genoas and monster masthead spinnakers to go faster and faster.  Cool boat.  Cooler crews.  Predictions here?  None.  Teams change, teams get hungover. Bless'em all, they will certainly have fun and one may guess it would be a dead heat with their J/30 friends for the highest "fun quotient" amongst the J/Clan.

At a dozen strong, the J/109s have amongst their fleet three past J/109 North American Champions in the form of Bill Sweetser's RUSH (the Local) versus Rick Lyall's STORM (the Outsider- just a Long Island Sound guy), all contending with that silver fox from Buzzards Bay/Cape, Ted Herlihy on GUT FEELING (the Foreigner- so far East the Earth ends in a cliff).  In the end, way too hard to call this one with some many other strong teams tossed into the mix.  For more Sperry Topsider Sailing World NOOD Annapolis 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.

Charleston Race Week Preview

(Charleston, SC)- With 260 teams entered to sail this year's Charleston Race Week with a nice mix of inside the Bay one-design fleets and offshore big boats, it's safe to say the event started years ago by Brad Van Liew and friends and now spearheaded by Randy Draftz and crew has firmly established itself in the midwinter sailing circuit.  Hosted by the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina that sports a great harbor, beautiful resort hotel, giant swimming pool and a soft, sand beach, the event has become the "Southern Hospitality" version of the famous Caribbean regattas (e.g. St Maarten, Rolex St Thomas, St Barths, Antigua).

As the regatta's reputation has grown over time, it has continued to attract an ever greater number of one-design classes from across the country and a large group of passionate offshore sailors as well.  The J clan of sailors have certainly embraced the event, with 78 boats attending, J/Boats is by far the biggest sailing brand in attendance, with 30% of the total boats sailing (and easily the largest number of sailors!).  This J contingent is spread amongst the 57 one-designs- J/22's (15 boats), J/24's (24 boats) and J/80's (18 boats) and 21 offshore boats spread across 4 PHRF Divisions.

The J/22 class have World Champion Greg Fisher and team sailing on USA 1586 who will likely be challenged by such teams like Todd Hiller from Annapolis YC sailing LEADING EDGE; Kurt Swanson from Pennsylvania sailing SLINGSHOT; Annapolis sailor Kathy Parks on SUNDOG; and J/22 NA's hosts Chris Princing and crew on TEAM TAWAS.

With two dozen teams showing up from across the country, it's clear the J/24s are always going to have a good'ole fashioned mud-slinging in the trenches.  Several good teams have a potential to make their presence felt, including Travis Odenbach's HONEY BADGER from Annapolis, MD; Chip Till's crew on MURDER INCORPORATED from Wrightsville Beach, NC; and World Champion Mike Ingham from Rochester, NY on USA 5448.  Nevertheless, there will be other teams that are sure to mix it up with these competitive crews to force some roller-coaster rides in the standings-- always happens, always will!

Several J/80 class leaders are in the mix including Chris & Liz Chadwick on CHURCH KEY from Annapolis, MD; Chris Bulger on GOOSE from Buzzards Bay, MA; Andy Burton on GROMIT from Newport, RI; Brian Keane on SAVASANA from Buzzards Bay, MA; and Bruno Pasquinelli on TIAMO from Fort Worth, TX.  This is a tough crew as evidenced by the fact most sailed Key West Race Week in January and the recent Bacardi Miami Sailing Week.  No way to predict this outcome as it all depends on team "karma"-- some will be more dialed in than others by the time crucial races are settled on Sunday afternoon! In the end, the J/80 teams certainly have a lot of fun sailing in Charleston!

Offshore the racing will be close and competitive in the four PHRF divisions.  In the PHRF B Class, it's a class dominated by J's, with 7 of 11 boats and several of them veterans from having raced one another in Key West Race Week 2012 for the top of the podium.  The biggest J sailing will be the J/130 SUGAR MAGNOLIA sailed by David Hackney from James Island, SC.  The two J/122s have proven they're extremely difficult to beat on windward-leeward courses and the teams present will give no quarter to anyone.  Leading the J/122 charge is likely to be Robin Team's TEAMWORK from Lexington, NC, but John Thouron's team on DUNDER from Waterbury, VT will be working hard to match the Key West Race Week champion's speed and smarts.  A quartet of J/111s will be racing not just as a one-design J/111 sub-class, but also doing their best to upset the proverbial apple-cart of fellow PHRF classmates.  Key West Race Week has proven the J/111s are entirely capable of being competitive in both modes.  Doug Curtiss' WICKED 2.0 and Henry Brauer's FLEETWING are both veterans of the Key West Race Week gun-battle.  Entering the fray will be Marty Roesch's VELOCITY and Bob Moran's RAGIN' from the Chesapeake Bay J/111 fleet.  No predictions made here, like the movie, it's simply a "shoot-out at the OK Corral" amongst this fleet of sailors.

PHRF C promises to have some great racing with J/Teams comprising 5 of the 8 boats in class.  The three J/120s include past Charleston Race Week Champion, John Keenan's ILLYRIA from Mt Pleasant, SC and giving them a run for the money will be other local J/120s- Bill Hanckel's EMOCEAN and Rick Moore's MOOSE DOWN.  Mixing it up in this fleet will be the J/109 HEATWAVE sailed by Gary Weisberg from Gloucester, MA and the local J/35 ARROW sailed by Willy Schwenzfeier.

While the J/105s don't have a class, many have competed quite successfully as offshore handicap racers.  Lurking in the shallows and ready to pounce on their innocent rivals in PHRF D will be two local J/105s that have enjoyed offshore success.  They are Ed Parker's THE CITY BOATYARD and Joe Highsmith's DEAD ON ARRIVAL.  With any kind of breeze, it's doubtful their fleet competitors of Alerions and Beneteaus can hold them back.

Perhaps the "sleeper" handicap fleet of the event has to be the PHRF F Class, with J's representing 7 of 10 boats.  But what a clash of titans it promises to be!  For starters, you have "Mr. GILL" (Dave Pritchard) from Atlanta, GA sailing his J/92 AMIGOS with a bunch of buddies from Lake Lanier Sailing Club-- they're always on the podium it seems in any event they sail--and they look good doing it, too!  Pressing them hard are some "classic J/29s", including past Key West Race Week Champion Steve Thurston on the MIGHTY PUFFIN from Bristol, RI.  Hanging tough with them will be other J/29s like John Amyot's BLITZ! from Lake Ontario, Jim Mackevich's FOR SAIL from Edison, NJ, and Ira Perry's SEEFEST from Buzzards Bay, MA. Not to be discounted will be a fast J/27, Robert Key's AUDACIOUS from Columbia, SC and the modified J/80 JAVELIN sailed by Tom Gore/ John Yorkilous  from the Chesapeake Bay.   For more Charleston Race Week sailing information

J-Trained Tacticians Leading Volvo Ocean Race

*  The "J-Trained" tacticians are continuing to put their mark on the Volvo Ocean Race.  As even Ken Read (6x J/24 World Champion) has to say, "we're racing tactically and strategically from sched-to-sched (e.g. 3 hour intervals)."  In other words, when all boats have to report to Volvo Race HQ their Lat/Lon for safety/tracking reasons, everyone knows where they are, how fast they're going and at what angle.  Talk about stress.  The navigators have to be the "coolest" guys on the planet to have to deal with the incessant pressure of going "higher/lower" and at what sail trim/selection on the "cross-over charts" to keep their machines going at 99% or better.  So far, some crew of the top three boats on the leg to Auckland, New Zealand count amongst their experiences getting "schooled" on J/22s, J/24s, J/80s in both America and Europe.  Go figure-- a 40,000nm J/24 one-design race-- in essence, wondering where the next wind shift, wind streak, current anomaly shows up before passing the next mark, one a 3 hour interval 24x7  each leg.  Hmmm-- a challenge to say the least.  Nor for the faint of heart.  Steely nerves, forethought and planning are evidently part of the equation that also includes "mother luck"!  To see how these teams are doing take a look at: http://www.volvooceanrace.com