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(Barbados, The Caribbean)- The Barbados J/24 fleet continues to grow by leaps
and bounds, springing from one success to another. This year's Mt Gay
Regatta saw a tremendous, enthusiastic turn-out for the J/24 class with
fourteen boats participating in the event, essentially all the J/24s in
Barbados!
Sailing like a pro was Bailey's team on FULLY COVERED, taking the
regatta counting three 1sts and three 2nds for 9 pts in the seven race
regatta. Talk about a "schooling", seems to many they need to
be handicapped! The dog fight for the balance of the top five made for
some spirited racing within the fleet. Coming out on top was Povey's HAWKEYE
with 23 pts to take second overall. Mayers's ESPERANZA finished third
with 25 pts, Burke's IMPULSE took fourth with 26 pts and Sweeney's ATTITUDE
took fifth. On the short end of that stick in the last race was Rostant's
team on JABULANI, finishing 5th and losing an opportunity to finish on the
podium. For more J/24 Barbados sailing information
(Nantucket, MA)- This year's famous FIGAWI race was perhaps one for the record
books. It was wild, wet, cold, rainy and windy. The several
thousand sailors in the race faced the same conditions as many of their sailing
friends who were participating in the Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race just
a bit further east of Nantucket-- powerful NNW winds of 15-25 kts and
mountainous seas drove the fleet fast across Nantucket Sound from Hyannis to
Nantucket in an epic, wet & windy roller-coaster ride. Of the 210
boats that registered, about 75% of them completed the race due to the crazy
conditions.
The pursuit-style race with quartering seas and winds were fun conditions for
most of the J teams planing and surfing like mad all the way across Nantucket
Sound. Many of the teams performed quite well, especially the classic old
J/24s! Winning their Division D by a landslide was an astonishing
performance by the J/24 MUTINOUS DOGS sailed by Marc Holdaway. Also
sailing like a "mad dog" in conditions only suitable for ducks, was
Stephen Lipman's J/37 DUCK SOUP, taking their Division F Non-Spinnaker by a
landslide.
The balance of J sailors all had fun, placing in many of their divisions.
At the top of the heap was the J/44 BEAGLE with Phil Gutin at the helm taking
5th in Division A. Next was the J/40 JAZZ skippered by Kirk Brown, taking
a 3rd in Division B. Also sailing fast and liking the conditions was the
classic J/29 masthead SEEFEST sailed by Ira Perry, taking 2nd in Division
C. The J/40 SMITTEN sailed by Bill Jones was 5th in Division G
Non-Spinnaker.
Finally, in Division S were lumped all the fast asymmetric spinnaker sprit boats,
essentially a J/class division with thirteen boats vying for being the
"big banana" amongst the deck apes bragging at the Charity
Ball. First boat home was the J/105 DARK'N'STORMY sailed by Andrew
Reservitz. Second into the harbor was the J/120 M-SQUARED skippered by
Bill Mack and third home was the J/111 PRAVDA 2 with Ed Kaye at the helm (proud
of their inaugural effort in the FIGAWI). Fourth home was the J/105 BEAR
SPIRIT sailed by Jonathan Bloom and, remarkably, the fifth boat home was the J/105
PRIMA sailed by the Nantucket High School Sailing Team and led by their skipper
Diana Brown-- congratulations to all!
It was interesting sailing for the J sprit boats, after about 4.5 hours of
sailing, less than fifteen minutes separated the top ten! That's close
sailing and a pretty reasonable job on handicapping the boats in PHRF,
too. For more FIGAWI Race sailing information
Ravioli's STOCKFISH Win Italian
Championships
(Anzio, Italy)- The village of Anzio is a wonderful setting for the J/24
Italian Championships, famous for its micro-climate that often borders on the
tropical, with plentiful sunshine, cool breezes blowing onshore and a gentle
Mediterranean swell rolling into the golden beaches along the shores.
However, this year's event was nothing like what anyone anticipated. As a
monstrous frontal system swept across the Italian peninsula, it generated
giant, breaking waves, 20-35 kt winds and plenty of cloud cover with chilly
temperatures-- epic sailing for sure, testing the determination and limits of
endurance for all the J/24 teams.
With forty-five J/24s attending this year's event, it was clear
Italian sailors love their favorite sailing spots, creating one of the largest
turnouts in years for the event. In the end, it was the American Keith
Whittemore sailing FURIO that won on equal points with Luigi Ravioli in an epic
battle on the high seas. As a result, Whittemore won the coveted
"Open Championship" title and Ravioli sailing STOCKFISH wins the
Italian J/24 Champs as first Italian.
Finishing second overall was Avoltore, third was defending champions Ignazio
Bonanno on LA SUPERBA, fourth was Mariolino Fraietta (Italian class President)
and fifth was Peter Diamond.
"In the end, fortunately, we were able to compete in at least five
races. It would really have been a shame to thwart the extraordinary
efforts of all with fewer races. Conditions were about as bad as we've
ever seen it in this magnificent town of Anzio", said Luigi Ravioli (past
J/24 European Champion in 1999 and 3rd in J/24 Worlds in the United Kingdom).
"With friends we began to prepare the boat (rather dated and with several
problem areas) back in October 2012. We participated in the Winter
Championship where we realized that we could be competitive and, above all, we
had a great team spirit on board."
"It's been a great championship, challenging but very rewarding, with
spectacular 10-15 ft waves, wind never below 20-23 kts, conditions that put a
strain on all but now that it's all over, we can say we have enjoyed it
all," said Massimo Mariotti. "I want to thank my crew for an amazing
job!"
The sailors credited the local sailing clubs and the Italian Navy for a job
"well done" despite the capricious conditions. In fact, the weather
was so difficult, racing had to be canceled one day because the harbor mouth
was virtually impassable due to breaking 15-20 ft waves and 25-35 kt gale-force
winds. For more J/24 Italian Championship sailing information
(Monte Carlo, Monaco)- The Yacht Club Monaco recently sent out it's invitation
to all J/24 sailors worldwide to participate in the J/24 Europeans, the first
to be hosted in Monaco since October 1993 over 20 years ago. Say's the
Secretary General at YC Monaco, Bernard d'Allessandri,
"It's our great pleasure to invite all J/24 sailors close and far afield
to join us this coming October to the J/24 European Championship in the unique
and charming Principality of Monaco.
This regatta will be unique in many ways. For those of you who have never been
to Monaco, our Principality, wedged between France and Italy, will enchant you.
You will discover a magical country with a unique character. Small enough to
give you a village atmosphere, yet big enough to host some unique events from
the Formula One Grand Prix to the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters or even the Yacht
Club de Monaco’s very own classic yacht regatta, the Monaco Classic Week, which
brings back centuries of traditional yachting to life ashore and afloat. All
this while surrounded by super yachts, fast cars, gorgeous people and unique
sights.
So what can you expect from the Monaco J/24 Europeans?
From the unique atmosphere of our “Port Hercules” harbour where
you will find a mixture of traditional fishing boats mingling with the world's
largest yachts, you will be mooring your J/24’s amongst some of the most
exclusive super yachts in the world in a harbour where moorings are near
impossible to obtain! Not to mention, of course, the warm welcome from the
Yacht Club de Monaco where you will immediately feel at home (please note-
Prince Albert notably sailed J/24s for years in the local fleet! As did his
gorgeous sister's on occasion). For this high profile event, the Yacht
Club de Monaco has assembled a very strong race committee to ensure smooth,
fair and professional race management. Heading the Race Committee will be John
Coveney, a veteran international race officer with excellent experience on the
southern coastline of France!
The gorgeous bay of Monaco will be your race area, right outside the harbour,
literally on your door step. No tide, little current, mainly just plain deep
water! No sand banks or shallow parts to avoid or escape too! Just one large
expanse of water in which the race committee will lay the course. Miss the
windward mark and your next stop is Corsica! In simple terms, the race
area is a 2.5nm circle just outside the harbour, from dock to start line in
less than 10 minutes! You simply can't beat that!
From the social events hosted by the Yacht Club de Monaco to those who wish to
explore the Principality further afield, there are plenty of
distractions! From dancing in the "Rascasse" with its live
band, or visiting the local brewery, eating the Provencal delicacies from the
"Condamine market", gambling and "people-watching" at the
world famous "Casino", or visiting the internationally reputed
Oceanographic Museum on the cliff edge, there are plenty of activities to
entertain family and friends while not out on the water racing!
By the time you leave Monaco at the end of the regatta, you may be suffering
from sensory overload, but you will certainly be able to recount amongst other
memories that you towed your J/24 down the start/ finish line of one the
world's most famous Formula One race tracks! How is that for bragging rights at
the bar?" For those of you looking at the world of "bucket
list" venues, that one may be one of the hardest one's to beat! For more J/24 Europeans in Monte Carlo, Monaco
(Santa Barbara, CA)- One of the highlights of the Santa Barbara sailing season
is always the Cinco de Mayo celebration. The event always attracts a good
fleet of one-design classes. In fact, Cinco de Mayo and the Fiesta Cup
celebrated later in July are the highlights of the summertime sailing season
for locals due to the enormous influx of sailors looking forward to the
time-honored celebrations associated with each event.
Host of the Cinco de Mayo Regatta is the Santa Barbara Sailing Club, a
wonderful "home-grown" sailing organization dedicated to promote
primarily one-design class sailboat racing in the Santa Barbara area. Perhaps
most importantly, it primary objective has been to provide affordable access to
the sport of sailboat racing for the general sailing public.
Attending this year's event was one of the strongest J/24
one-design turnouts in quite some time. A dozen J/24s with some hot
competition, especially for the top of the leaderboard. Past J/24 North
American Champion, Pat Toole and crew on THREE BIG DOGS, just barely managed to
hang on to win the J/24 crown on a tie-breaker with identical scores! The
3BD crew took a 3-1-1-3-2-2-1-2-1 scoreline for nine races to win. Giving them
a serious run for the money was Klatt's JADED with a 1-2-3-1-4-1-2-1-2 tally
for equal 13.0 pts for their eight counter races. How was the tie-breaker
broken? Well after identical counts for 1st, 2nd and 3rds, it goes to
who-beat-who in the last race! Great racing to all! Taking third
overall while watching the histrionics taking place in front was Zimmerman
sailing the mighty SVENJA. Fourth was Baurley's CRITTER and fifth was Susan
Taylor's TAKE FIVE. For more Cinco de Mayo Regatta sailing information
Top German Women's Team Take Silver
(Glücksburg, Germany)- The J/24 class in Germany continues to have fun sailing
competitive regattas across the many inland lakes as well as on the Baltic or
North Seas. Recently, their German Open J/24 Regatta was hosted by
Flensburger Segel-Club sailed in the Flensburg Fjord on the Baltic Sea, a
beautiful and challenging place to sail for anyone.
A fleet of 28 J/24s showed up en masse to enjoy the event. Despite
difficult weather conditions for the weekend of sailing, the PRO managed to
conduct four races for the fleet of the nine that were planned.
In the end, the team of GER 5420 took first place by the narrowest
of margins. With Simon Grorteluschen as skipper and crew of Justus
Kellner, Tobias Peters, Jan-Marc Ulrich and Mattias Wallentin, their team
started slowly and finished with a flourish, scoring 8-6-2-3 for 19 pts to take
the regatta by one point.
Second overall was the top women's German team that sailed extremely well in
the event (pictured above). GER 513 skipper by Ragna Thonnessen with crew
of Laura Hatje, Ann-Kathrin Frank, Lisa Raschdorf, Janne Hopken and Venita Damm
sailed to a 3-1-9-7 for 20 points. Sadly, they started fast out of the
blocks leading the regatta but couldn't hang in there for the overall win.
Taking the third position on the podium was GER 5281 skippered by
Jan Kahler. His crew of Roland Bohm, Tim Becker, Olaf Zeitz and Ole Harder
sailed the best last three races for the entire fleet! However, their first
race killed their chances for the top of the podium. They scored a
12-4-1-4 for 21 pts, to narrowly miss out taking the regatta overall.
Rounding out the top five finishes are the GER 4230 team lead by Peer Kock in
fourth and GER 5440 skippered by Matthias Garzmann in fifth.
Congratulations to all for such a great turnout! Sailing photos- Ingvild
Buchholz and Hajo Andresen. For more J/24 German Open sailing information
J/24, J/80 & J/105s Sailed
Dozen+ Races!
(Seattle, WA)- Yes, it was an amazing fact. Long known for its famous
late spring monsoon season with next to no wind, the Pacific Northwest version
of the Sperry Topsider NOOD regattas can also produce some spectacular sailing
conditions with the mighty, snow-capped Cascades Mountain range in the
background. While perhaps not postcard perfect sailing conditions, the
sailors didn't care (see J/24 team at right)! Wind was all that mattered,
not the wet & wild variety, but just good breezes; the type of conditions
that permitted the PRO's on the various course to seriously crank out some fast
turn-arounds and dozens of starts. For the J/24s that meant an exhausting
sixteen races and for the J/80s and J/105s a dozen races!
As anticipated, some of the top local J/24 teams managed to sail
solid, consistent series to lead the pack of eighteen J/24s-- the largest fleet
at the regatta. Scott Milne's TREMENDOUS SLOUCH fired plenty of finishes
into the top three to secure the top spot with 56 pts. Mike Johnson's
PEARL closed rapidly on the leaders after a slow start, counting 1-1-1-2-1 for
his last five races to snag second overall with 62 pts. Mark Laura's and
Craig Suhrbier's BABA LOUIE were sailing the roller-coaster version of the top
two leaders, winning some races, getting top three's, then bombing a race or
two. Net, net, BABA LOUIE's veterans hung tough and fought off challenges
from others down the ladder to get the bronze on the podium with 81 pts. Fourth
was Brad Miller's HAIR OF THE DOG and fifth was Jeff Bond's JOYRIDE.
The J/80s saw two veterans dueling for the top prize in their fleet, Bill
McKinnon's SKYE ROCKET and Dave Schutte's TAJ MAHAL. However, even after
closing the last six races with three 1sts and three 2nds, the TAJ gang
couldn't muster enough momentum to overcome their early deficit.
Consequently, SKYE ROCKET took the win with 21 pts with TAJ in second with 23
pts. Third went to Bryan Rhodes's CRAZY IVAN with 33 pts.
What appeared to be the only "schooling" taking place at
this regatta was the fact that Jerry Diercks's DELIRIUM team sailed deliriously
well-- smacking their J/105 classmates with all finishes in the top three for
19 pts in 12 races. Starting off with three bullets must've been a bit
mind-numbing for their fellow J/105 sailors. Nevertheless, taking a
beating early but closing with a vengeance in the last six races as Erik
Kristen's JUBILEE, snapping off four 1sts and two 3rd in the end to score 29
pts total to take a solid second overall. Third was Eric Hopper's FREE
BOWL OF SOUP, fresh off their most excellent performance in the Oregon Offshore
Race. The balance of the top five included Jim Geros's LAST TANGO in
fourth and Lorenzo Migliorini's ALLEGRO VIVACE in fifth. Sailing Photo credits- TimWilkes.com. For more Sperry Topsider Seattle NOOD Regatta sailing information
