Healy Wins J/24 East Coast Champs

(Annapolis, MD)- The Hillman Capital Management J/24 East Coast Championships hosted by the Severn Sailing Association (SSA) is held in the fall around Halloween and has the reputation of providing big breezes with cool temperatures, three days of competitive racing, and a great party. The 34th edition of this fall classic, however, featured mild temperatures, a shifty breeze that ranged between only 5 and 15 knots, and the impending arrival of Hurricane Sandy for the incredibly talented forty boat fleet.

With the final day of racing cancelled, the highly experienced SSA Race Committee successfully set off seven races, and it was enough to crown Tim Healy and his 11th HOUR RACING crew as this year's J/24 East Coast Champion. Having just placed 2nd at this year's J/24 World Championships in Rochester, NY, the former World Champion quickly established his skillful management of the shifting conditions. Healy left no doubt as the top competitor of the event, having no finishes worse than 4th place in a fleet of 34 boats.

Healey's record for the seven races was impressive enough, scoring one 1st, five 2nds and a 4th for a total of only 15 pts, well clear of his next competitors by 24 pts.  Second was Mark Hillman's team (the title sponsor of the event), starting out slow but coming on strong for the rest of the event, gathering finishes of 14-1-6-6-3-1-8 for 39 pts.  There was quite a battle for third place overall with Rossi Milev sailing CLEAR AIR for Port Credit YC, Ontario, the top Canadian boat, narrowly defeating the next competitors.  Rossi's team amassed a 5-15-4-5-1-4-10 for 44 pts.  Fourth was the HONEY BADGER team with a score of 21-4-1-2-9-3-7 for 47 pts and fifth was Will Welles on ANGRY DRAGON with scores of 6-9-8-1-7-7-12 for 50 pts.

Once again, SSA was able to accommodate everyone even while undergoing a major renovation of the clubhouse. After each day of racing, sailors were met at the docks by fleet volunteers with smiling faces and trays full of Copperhead Ale and Bud Light. There was also an unlimited supply of Dark and Stormys at the tent party to satisfy even the thirstiest sailor.

The event also treated racers to a traditional Maryland crab soup and a fresh oyster bar, which featured the two‐time U.S. National Oyster Shucking Champion, George "The Oyster Guy" Hastings. Besides the epic games of flip cup and corn hole, the tent party was highlighted by the event raffle that gave away over 50 items and featured a new J/24 Quantum mainsail won by Peter Bream.

Plans are already under way for next year's event and it promises to be even bigger and better. Come on out if you've never been to the East Coast Championships or haven't been in a while. You won't want to miss out on one of the most premier sailing events on the East Coast.   Sailing photo credits- Dan Phelps/ SpinSheet.com   For more J/24 East Coasts 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

Halloween J/24 East Coasts Preview

(Annapolis, MD)- The 2011 HCM (Hillman Capital Management) J/24 East Coast Championship will be a 21st Century Event like you cannot imagine-- Halloween costumes included!  This Fall Classic will be better than ever. Live race video and commentary on the web, coaching on the water and debriefing (with cocktails) on-shore are part of this year's event.

Nearly SIXTY boats are competing and the entry list keeps growing like kudzu weed every day.  At the moment, forgetting the fact that Ken Read, Brad Read, Terry Hutchinson and Ed Baird, amongst others, are a bit busy with some other sailing events, this year's J/24 East Coasts reads like a "who's who" of current class leaders-- all capable of winning since amongst them are World Champions, North American Champions, Midwinter Champions and Champion of Champions-- did we miss anything here?

In completely random order are teams that you've got to watch out for on the leader-board since they can all wreak havoc at a moments notice.  Amongst them, look for some characters on the yacht called COUGAR with Will Welles and Chuckie Allen brokering traffic behind them.  Class stalwart on BANGOR PACKET, Tony Parker, is working with friend Geoff Ewenson to keep them out of the corners.  Some guy named Tim Healy skippering SAILORS FOR THE SEA hopes to ensure his World's credentials aren't resigned to the ash-heap of history.  Keeping everyone in check at the start line and, most certainly, at the corners of the course are World Team Race Champions and another J/24 not-so-newb sailing WEST MARINE RIGGING- do both Peter and Carol Levesque and Charlie Enright ring a bell (is that fair?)?  Then, don't forget some old characters who are a throwback to the past in the J/24 class (like Mr Parker) but may be far, far more dangerous than ANY scorpion bite you've ever encountered-- a pilot/trainer for Alaska Airlines called Mark Laura may have your number far faster than you can snap themselves into a seat-belt, plus he's got MIT Master of the Universe Number Cruncher Steve Cucchiaro calling statistical analyses and tactical arbitration on every puff and wind shift.  If that weren't enough, fellow Bostonian Mark Hillman (yeah, the regatta sponsor) on WIP has a helluva strong team, so does Dave Van Cleef on CAROLINA GIRL.  Nameless on their boats, but absolutely not nameless in their track records are Mike Ingham (doh, another J/24 Champion?) from Rochester, NY and Mike Hobson (Ultimate Yacht Race Champion) from Annapolis, MD simply making sure the younger kids on the block don't get too uppity.

So, why such a stellar group of J/24 sailors thrashing around the buoys in Annapolis in late October masquerading in all kinds of Halloween costumes trying to remain un-noticed in the parking lots, chain hoists and the yacht club bar?  Well, next year's J/24 Worlds in Rochester, NY are an "open" J/24 Worlds, the first ever.  And, this event in Annapolis is one of the last "district" events you have to sail in to qualify to sail next year's 2012 J/24 Worlds!  That also explains why the "long distance" traveler award can already be named! TEAM SOKOKUMARU with Satoshi Kume from Tokyo, Japan at the helm-- now's never too late to get some practice in for next year!  For more J/24 HCM East Coast Championships sailing information