Bacardi J/24 Midwinters- It’s Official!

(Coconut Grove, FL)- Just as the swallows return to Capistrano, the J/24s keep coming back to Miami. This time the regatta host is Coral Reef Yacht Club, the new title sponsor is BACARDI, and the dates are February 21st through 23rd.

You might ask why this will be the 15th time that Biscayne Bay was chosen as the venue in the 36 years of Midwinter Championships? Yes, it might have something to do with the fact that Miami guarantees no blizzards, nice breezes, lots of great Cuban food and a legendary J/24 tradition. It also just makes sense.

According to last year’s winner, John Mollicone, “I will be down in Miami for the 2014 BACARDI J/24 Midwinters and really am looking forward to it.  I have been racing in the J/24 Class since 1998 and like the competition, the boats, and especially the great people.  There are no restrictions on sailor classification in the J/24 class so you end up racing against so many great skippers and crews.  I also love sailing with the genoa, which you do not really see anymore on other types of boats.  I love sailing in Miami during the winter months for its warm weather, dependable breeze, and I like the chop that Biscayne Bay has to offer.” Some of the other sailing stars who have already registered include Skip Dieball, 2011/ 2012 winner Peter Bream, Tim Healy (5 time champ), Robby Brown and Travis Odenbach as well as top local sailors like Eamonn DeLisser and Gary Sprague.

Although the J/24s have been around for 37 years, they are comparable to a Ford Mustang … still going, still popular and very American. Watching the boats with their colorful spinnakers is fun, too, and the sailors will certainly enjoy the food and beverages at Coral Reef Yacht Club along with the competitive race courses and regatta management by Coral Reef Yacht Club’s highly regarded Race Committee.

J/24's are one of the oldest classes still racing in Biscayne Bay. Local J/24 Fleet 10 was the 10th fleet formed in the late 1970's when the class first started and has as many members as the local Miami Etchells 22 and Snipe fleets.

Here are the ingredients: The Overall Regatta Chair is Mark Pincus of Columbus Day Regatta and Bacardi Miami Sailing Week fame. For a class which began in the 70s and is still charging along, “be there or be square”! You do not want to miss out on the sailing and the partying.

For more BACARDI J/24 Midwinters sailing information, contact Connie Bischoff at wingsmiami@aol.com or 305 812-1073 or check the BACARDI J/24 Midwinters website.

Mollicone Two-Peats J/24 North Americans!

(Newport, RI- John Mollicone's team sailing HELLY HANSEN outlasted 45 other teams to become the J/24 Sea Bags North American Champion. With Tim Healy (tactics), Collin Leon (mast), Geoff Becker (trim) and Gordon Borges (bow), team HELLY HANSEN totaled 50 points in the 10-race series to narrowly edge out a hard-charging Matias Seguel of Chile on SEMI-PRO by two points. Nicolas Cubria of Argentina sailed ELVIS to third place with 62 points.  The event was hosted by Sail Newport and J/24 Fleet 50.

“We did a really good job grinding back,” commented Mollicone about their last race on the final day. “We found ourselves in a lot of tough spots but were able to slowly chip away and pass boats.” He gave the credit to his team’s boat handling, crew work and tactics, saying “Everyone stayed really calm and cool, even if we were deep.” One such occasion was when they were OCS in a race, but still made the top 10. He added, “Today, things weren’t looking good for a while, but we just kept our composure. A lot of that is all of us sailing together a lot.” Mollicone won the 2012 North American Championship last November with the same crew.

It didn't start out that easy for this fast crew, most of whom had just won the J/24 World Championship two weeks earlier in Howth, Ireland.  Leader after day one was Peter Bream’s Team TARHEEL, taking a 3-1 to start the regatta with just 4 pts. The Florida-based team topped competitors from Japan, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Canada and the USA. At that point, HELLY HANSEN was two points back with 6 pts, and Matias Seguel on SEMI-PRO was third with 8 points. The fleet was treated to a spectacular opening day with sunshine, warm temperatures and winds Southwest 12-15 with a 1.5 foot swell. Kris Werner of New York got the event started with a win for his team on STICKS, with Mollicone and Bream rounding out the top three in race one. Bream took the bullet in race two, with Seguel in second and 2011 North American champion Travis Odenbach on HONEY BADGER in third.

On day two, the fleet had another beautiful day with winds ranging from 6-8 knots early on, increasing to 12 kts by the last race.  Mollicone and team made their big move, utilizing his hometown "local knowledge" advantage to leap into first place with just 12 net points after five races (including one throw-out). At this point, HELLY HANSEN led Chile’s Matias Seguel on SEMI-PRO by 6 points. Day 1 leader Peter Bream on Team TARHEEL dropped to third with 21 points. Mollicone sailed to victory in the day’s first race, trailed by Will Welles on COUGAR and Steven Kirkpatrick on BUCKSHOT. Argentina’s Sergio Pendola triumphed in the next contest on CACIQUE, with Michael Marshall’s PIPE DREAM in second and Seguel in third. The racing closed out with another Argentinian in front as Nicolas Cubria’s ELVIS took the bullet. Chile’s Robert Vernon racing GRINGA followed in second, and Pendola in third.

On the third day of racing on Saturday, the competitors were again greeted by superb conditions as temperatures remained in the low 70s with winds 10-12 knots and gusts to 14. Three races were held, bringing the total to eight overall.  Mollicone’s team continued their consistent performance to take an 11-point advantage into the final day of competition.  The reigning North American champion tallied a line of 2,4,1,5,7,8,(9),5 for 32 overall points.  Nicolas Cubria’s ELVIS amassed 43 points for second place, and Matias Seguel's SEMI-PRO was in third with 47 points.  International teams dominated the day. Argentina’s Sergio Pendola on CACIQUE snagged another victory in Saturday’s opening contest. Sumio Shimoyama’s SOKOKUMARU of Japan placed second, and Chile’s Raul del Castillo on LA BANCA third. Local Will Welles’ COUGAR captured a win in the next battle, with two Argentina teams behind him— Cubria and Guillermo de Martis’ TWIN. Shimoyama ended the day successfully, with Castillo in second and Travis Odenbach's HONEY BADGER in third.

The final day dawned cool and overcast with light winds around 6-8 knots, which dropped during the first race to about 4 knots by the time teams crossed the finish line. Conditions turned around by the next start as the clouds dissipated, the sun returned and the breeze increased to 8-10 kts. For the first time during the event, the course was moved inside to Narragansett Bay on Sunday. “It was really tricky with lots of outgoing current,” Mollicone explained. “The breeze was unstable so it was really difficult sailing. In the last beat of the last race, we went from mid-20s to what we thought for a while was top three. That’s how shifty it was!”  Local Will Welles on COUGAR won his second race of the regatta in Sunday’s initial battle. Seguel’s SEMI-PRO took second, and another local— Bob Kinsman on DOGFISH third. In the final race of the championship, Taylor Neff’s BUBBLES, from Lake Minnetonka, MN, claimed the top spot, followed by Canadian Michael Howarth’s MISTER H and Seguel.  Mollicone praised the conditions during the four-day event, especially the three days on the outside course. “That’s what Newport is known for— waves, solid breeze, southerly direction.”   For more J/24 North Americans sailing information

J/24 North Americans Preview

(Newport, RI)- Forty one J/24s are entered from six countries across North and South America to compete in the upcoming J/24 North American Championships hosted by SAIL NEWPORT in Newport, RI from September 19th to 22nd.  Renown for their pro-active race management, the J/24 sailors should be treated to superior racing by SAIL NEWPORT's Race Committee team on either Narragansett Bay or outside on Rhode Island Sound, depending on wind and weather conditions.  For America's Cup history buffs, the J/24 NA's are being sailed at about the same time as past Newport-based America's Cup had been sailed for several decades; with promise of cooler weather conditions and generally reliable sea-breezes from the south/southwest.

The largest number of teams hail from the USA, however, eight Canadian teams are sailing and a very competitive group of seven teams are participating from the South American countries of Chile, Peru and Argentina.  What's readily apparent is that many of the J/24 sailors are looking at this year's event as a "warm-up" for the 2014 J/24 Worlds also being sailed in Newport and hosted by SAIL NEWPORT in late September 2014.

The top US teams include Mike Ingham from Rochester, NY; Peter Bream on Team TARHEEL from Florida; John Mollicone on HELLY HANSEN from Newport, RI; Taylor Neff on BUBBLES from Lake Minnetonka, MN; Pat Toole on THREE BIG DOGS from Santa Barbara, CA; and Travis Odenbach sailing HONEY BADGER from Rochester, NY, amongst many other good teams.  Some of these teams have been sailing quite a lot lately, including recent J/24 World's participants Ingham, Odenbach and Mollicone (the cockpit/ tactician for Tim Healy's recent J/24 Worlds win in Howth, Ireland).

Eight Canadian teams from the Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia provinces include Greg Blunden on ADRENALIN RUSH; John Whynacht on STICKY FINGERS; Mike Howarth on MISTER H and Rossi Milev on CLEAR AIR.  Some of these teams are well-practiced having just competed in the Chester Race Week regatta in Nova Scotia.

The South American contingent all have tremendous experience at the top of the J/24 class, including a few with world-class experience.  The top Argentinean crews are Mario Cubria on ELVIS, Sergio Pendola and Guillermo de Martis on TWIN.  The Chilean teams include Matias Seguel sailing GURU and Robert Vernon on GRINGA.  And, the Peruvean teams include Lucas Peschiera on TIAMAT and Javier Arribas on WAYRA.

The lone ranger from Japan is Sumio Shimoyama sailing aboard SOKOKUMARU. Sumio is no stranger to top flight J/24 competition, having been a top Japanese J/24 team for years and is always a factor in the J/24 Worlds in recent years.   Sailing photo credits- Carter White   For more J/24 North Americans 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

Mollicone Dominates J/24 Midwinters

Newport Fleet #50 Steamrolls Competition
(Tampa, FL)- John Mollicone's HELLY HANSEN team has seized the lead after five races on the opening day and never looked back.  Taking four 1sts and three 2nds in ten races, John Mollicone from Newport, RI and his HELLY HANSEN team were crowned 2013 J/24 Midwinter Champions. With Tim Healy, Geoff Becker, Dan Rabin and Gordon Borges, the group was able to spectate the last of the 10-race series to allow the other 19 teams to duke out the remaining places.

Will Welles, also from Newport Fleet #50, skippered COUGAR to an impressive series and 26 points for second place, starting off fast to lead the series after four races but dropping back in the end, collecting a 2-1-5-4-6-1-2-3-8-2.  Peter Bream’s TEAM TARHEEL accumulated 43 points for third overall but had to work very hard to three other teams that could have easily grabbed the last spot on the podium.  Dueling for the bronze and just 1 pt back with 44 pts was Mike Ingham's team on USA 5448 from Rochester, NY in 4th place; Tony Parker's "AI" team in 5th place just two points back with 47 pts; and in 6th was Travis Odenbach on HONEY BADGER tied with Tony Parker on points but losing the tie-breaker!  Close racing, indeed!

Conditions in sunny Tampa Bay remained gorgeous on Wednesday, with breeze between 14-16 knots and puffs to 18. Mollicone praised the “champagne sailing conditions” as the best he’s ever seen there. On the heels of winning last November’s J/24 North American Championship, Mollicone thanked his consistent team, saying “We’ve got a good team, but the biggest thing is we’ve got the same people all the time, and it makes a big difference in our crew mechanics and communication.” The group put in some practice time and training before the event which “helped a lot with getting comfortable again on the J/24 after taking some time off,” Mollicone explained. His dependable group will be heading to Howth, Ireland in August for the J/24 World Championship, but he’ll turn over the helm to Tim Healy. “We’ll just switch roles, and then next year I’ll drive in Newport (for the 2014 J/24 Worlds),” shared Mollicone. In Wednesday’s final two races, Mollicone and Tony Parker took the bullets.

The top ten J/24 teams overall were: 1st- John Mollicone (21 points), 2nd- Will Welles (26), 3rd- Peter Bream (43), 4th- Mike Ingham (44), 5th- Tony Parker (47), 6th- Travis Odenbach (47), 7th- Chris Jankowski (76), 8th- Robby Brown (77), 9th- Darby Smith (80) and 10th- John Poulson (84).   For more J/24 Midwinters sailing information and results
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