J/105 Perseverance Wins @ LBRW

Ben Greenwald's J/105 Perseverance of San Diego topped the largest and most competitive fleet @ Acura's presentation of Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week in LONG BEACH, CA earning him a bonus Boat of the Week award. Gary Mozer's Current Obsession won by tiebreaker in the J/109 class, Roland Fournier with Blue Moon 2 took the J/80s and Steve Aichele’s Cherry Bomb took honors for the J/29 group. On the handicap circle it was Dr. Laura Schlessinger aboard her new J/145 The Doc winning the Fast 40 class with a near perfect score and Dick Velthoen & Paul Defrietas’ J/35 Rival dominating PHRF 4. Weather was light to moderate over three days of racing.

The new Kattack system was employed by most of the J’s in the fleet for this event. Kattack is a web-based software application that collects position data via GPS from boats in a race. Data is collected and uploaded to the web and can then be replayed with performance data to indicate which elements can be improved: starting, boat handling, and strategy, etc... Those who have studied the replays from LBRW have called it an essential learning tool. It’s your own virtual race record… check it out.

Charleston Race Week 2007

J sailors from around the country continued their migration up the eastern seaboard with a stop in South Carolina for Charleston Race Week April 13-15. This annual spring event has become a must-regatta for many classes and this year boasted 150 entrants, of which 39% were J’s. For the J/105 class, it was the third stop of the Southern Circuit (after Key West and St. Pete NOOD). Brian Keane of Weston, MA won the class in a tie-breaker over Worth Harris’ RUM AT SIX of Raleigh, NC, and the overall winner of the J/105 President's Trophy for 2007 was Don Wilson and his crew aboard CONVEXITY from Chicago, IL. J/24s, J/80s and J/109s also saw one-design action with Daniel Borrer on JESUS LIZARD winning in J/24s, Kristen Robinson aboard ANGRY CHAMELEON topping the J/80 fleet, and John Yonover of Lake Geneva, WI winning the J/109 division. Results and news: www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm

Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week

Up and down conditions at Long Beach provided for some exciting one-design racing as five J/classes including the J/120, J/109, J/105, J/29 & J/80 were on hand. In all J/Boats represented 32% of the 168 boat fleet.

Gary Mozer's ‘Current Obsession 2’ recovered from a Saturday mini-slump with a second place behind Lowell North to edge Dennis and Sharon Case's ‘Wings’ by two points in the 20-boat J/105 class - the largest class at the event.

North, sailing his new ‘Triple Play’, won the final race to prove he still has some of what it took to win four Star class championships among several other world titles. "It was a good regatta," said North, who was 10th overall. "The race committee did a good job, and the hors d'oeuvres afterward were especially good."

Mozer’s win was enough to help his LBYC Team 3 win the Yacht Club Challenge Trophy for the event. Chuck Nichols aboard ‘CC Rider’ took the J/120 class, Tony Whetherbee on ‘Commotion’ took first for the J/109s, Eric & Steve McClure aboard ‘Macs’ topped the J/29s and Roland Fournier on ‘Blue Moon 2’ won the J/80s. complete results.

J/24 US Women's Open Update!

From Bonnie Kirchner (May 30, 2006) ... We recently received fantastic news: that our Women's US Open is no longer a US Open, but a J/24 World Championship qualifying event! The winner will proceed to the J24 World's in Acapulco in 2007: http://www.j24mex.com/worlds2007.asp

We already have 25 teams signed up. If you know of anyone who has been thinking about our regatta and may want to charter a boat, they should get in touch with us sooner, rather than later. Also, housing could become a bit scarce the closer we get to July. www.j24womensusopen.com