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

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's Enjoy Puget Sound Sailing Regatta

The Puget Sound Sailing Championships were held in October off Seattle, Washington. Sailing in this year's event were an enormous cross-section of J's big and small, from the bright-red J/22 called JINX to the beautiful flag-blue J/160 called JAM.  Snow-capped peaks are a common backdrop in the Pacific Northwest, as seen here at the 2011 Puget Sound Sailing Championship with this gorgeous J/29 sailing upwind on port tack with the sunny Cascade Mountains behind them.  It was a spectacular day of sailing despite the fact the forecast was lousy at best.  You can see many more pretty photos by Jan's Marine Photography here.

Love That Sunny SW J/Fest!

(Houston, TX)-  Hosted by Lakewood YC on Galveston Bay, the 2nd annual J/Fest Southwest was a huge success!  There were fifty boats on the line with J/80's and J/24's leading the way with 15 boats in each class, followed by the J/22's with 10 and the J/105's with 7 boats.  A norther blew through on Friday leaving light and fluky winds for Saturday's racing.  As usual PRO Dwight Bengston's RC did a superb job of getting two races off on each of the two lines before the winds died for good mid-afternoon.  Not to worry, the Lakewood YC had it going on shoreside with a live band, a Cajun feast, Kattack replays of the day's racing, and streaming photo's. The sailors were gathered around the various TV sets enjoying the photo's and Kattack well into the night.  Rod Johnstone also attended and talked with just about everybody on-hand, providing pearls of wisdom about having fun cruising on J/95s or J/105s or sailing J's faster-- conversations enjoyed by all!

Sunday's weather forecast looked pretty grim, but fortunately the weather man was wrong!  The fleet headed out for a 10am start and when rounding the corner to head out the cut by Kemah Boardwalk the wind was blowing well into the high teens! In fact, with the wind on the nose and the foul current, it made getting through the cut a challenge for the sailors headed out to sea!  Once on the race course, skippers were uncertain whether the wind would hold, strengthen, or die as predicted! Do we back off the rig, expecting a dying breeze or crank it on a few turns in case the wind stays?  The wind stayed and both fleets got off a couple races, much to the delight of all the sailors!

The racing was tight and a lot of fun.  This year saw two "repeats", not "three-petes yet, but Bill Zartler sailing his j/105 SOLARIS won his class for the second year in a row while Terry Flynn/ David Whelan also won the J/80 class on their boat GULF COAST RACING.

The J/22 fleet got obliterated by a DC Comic book hero, the GREEN FLASH!  Sailed by Chad Wilson from Royal Dickinson YC, the Flash-Men sailed over the horizon to a remarkably consistent, conservative scoreline-- four 2nds and one 1st!  With just nine points, FLASH topped Ruthie Lambert's team sailing OUT OF SIGHT from Galveston Bay Cruising Association by four points.  Ruthie's team sailed a respectable 3-2-1-4-3 for 13 pts.  Rounding out the podium was a J/22 class veteran of many one-design wars, Farley Fontenot sailing RINGO from Houston YC.  Farley's team managed a 5-5-4-1-4 for 19 pts to take third.

While MR HAPPY didn't rule the roost again in the J/24 class, it was the RUMLINE gang that took the gold from them.  Bryan Dryer's RUMLINE from way, way up north in Texas (Fort Worth Boat Club) came down south to show the Houston honky-tonk crowd how it's done- starting off with a bullet and never letting the pressure off the fleet- amassing a 1-2-3-5-2  for 13 pts to win their class.  Bobby Harden's team on MR HAPPY from way West in Texas (Austin YC) managed to win two races, but it wasn't enough to overcome the challenge laid down by the boys from the North.  HAPPY's 4-5-1-1-6 was good enough for 17 pts and second place.  In fact, there was a "bad moon rising" behind MR HAPPY most of the regatta!  Kelly Holme's team from generally around Dallas, TX were sailing BAD MOON and the "Moonies" were, in fact winning (or tied) for winning the regatta going into the last race!  But, it seems the hangovers from the wild festivities at LYC the night before took their toll, with the Moonies taking the big fade on the last race-- their 3-1-4-2-8 tally gave them 18 pts, securing the bronze for sure on the podium (but less beer to celebrate with, too)!

The J/80s were graced by the presence of mondo J/80 World Champion/ North American Champion Terry Flynn and Dave Whelan sailing their boat GULF COAST RACING.  These boys from Ft Worth Boat Club sailed to three 1sts and one 3rd for a total of six points-- ouch!  Looks like they schooled the fleet pretty badly, winning by 10 pts.  Behind them was a real battle for 2nd and 3rd, not resolved in fact until the last race!  And, at that in a tie-breaker!  Getting the short end of that stick was Bill Rose on KICKS while Greg Buck and crew on LICKETY SPLIT won the luck of the split! Of special mention, J/Boats designer Rod Johnstone was sailing with a "pick-up" crew on FIRED UP and still managed to win a race!

As usual, the J/105s all seem to go the same speed, making for some fun racing and tight mark roundings.  The fleet standings would jumble up and down rapidly depending on boat-handling errors or (doh!) mental errors.  While the "Z-man", Bill Zartler, and crew aboard SOLARIS set the standard for the top of the podium with an impressive 2-2-1-1 scoreline, behind them it was anything but "clear as mud" (or Galveston Bay) as to who would take the next four spots.  Ever heard of the saying, "off to the races like a herd of snails in a dust-storm"?  Well, that's what happened, things were going nowhere fast and you couldn't see anything-- it was totally unclear who would arise to lead this pack.  Seemingly glued together anywhere they went, the "gang of four" had a heckuva fun time racing for the silver and bronze.  Winning the tie-breaker for second was Mark Masur on TWO FEATHERS with a 1-6-4-2 while Matt Arno sailing BLUE FLASH had to settle for third with a steady 3-3-3-4 for 13 pts.  Just behind them were Uzi Ozeri sailing INFINITY into 4th with a 7-1-2-5 for 15 pts and JB Bednar on STINGER getting stung for 5th place with a 4-4-7-3 for 18 pts.

The "big boys" in J/PHRF saw the mighty yacht GAMBLER, Doug Shaffer's J/122, sail around the course in fine fashion with some Gucci-looking North 3di sails to beat the sleek J/111 "007" sailed by Scott Spurlin in their weekend-long match race.

Finally, a big "Thanks" to the J/Fest's two biggest sponsors- the City of Seabrook and Parkway Chevrolet.  Furthermore, the LYC volunteers did a phenomenal job running the event.  It was a lot of fun and all of the participants will be back!  Ya'll come back by and join us too, ya hear!?   Sailing photo credits- John Lacy Photos   For more J/Fest SW sailing information and results

Texas Two-Stepping "J/Fests"

(Houston, TX)- Texas likes'em big.  Regattas. Parties. Cars. Mechanical Bulls. Trucks. Girls hair. Guys hats. College football.  Longhorns.  Rattlesnakes.  Tumbleweed.  Trucks, did I mention them already?  Doh.  But, most of all, Texans LOVE people and friends.  So, it's no wonder ya'all out there are just "family" to them.  Big hearts is what Texans are all about, that's why the gals call you "love" or "sweetie" the first time they see you.  Join in any BBQ with a case of beer and you're a hero and friend for life.  Their sailing is simply an extension of that fun-loving, simple philosophy on life.  Ever wonder why they're renown for their fabulous hospitality?  Wonder no further.  Just jump in the car, toss the family (and dogs) inside, head on down to warmer climes (BTW, it's no longer 100+ degrees down there) and have a blast.  The combination of warm weather, cheap boat storage, cheap lodging, cheap tickets on Southwest Airlines into Houston-Hobby might entice some northern folk who may already be shivering to come on down.  (Note- one of the Dillon J/80 owners leaves his J/80 in Houston over the winter and gets $60.00 round trip tickets and comes every weekend)!!  There are three events to whet your whistle and strum along on any available ukelele or "geetar" at the saloon:

- The Compass Regatta- October 1-2- open to all boats, one-design and PHRF.  The J/111 will be racing in this one along with the J/109 fleet, J/105's, J/120's, etc.  Online Registration here.

- Harvest Moon Regatta- October 13-16- hosted by Lakewood YC in Houston.  This is a 120 nm race from the Galveston Bay jetties to Port Aransas. It's the "Texas Chicago-Mac".  Last year there were 250 boats, racing everything from Grandma's old bathtub to the latest racing machines, J/105s to J/44s.  Like the Chi-Mac, it's the voyage that counts, so you can tell the story at the party later!  Is their a "Pink Pony" in Port Aransas?  Register on-line here.

- J/Fest Southwest- October 29-30th- also hosted by Lakewood YC as a J/Boats only event.  There will be one-design classes for J/22 (J/World Annapolis on the water coaching for this fleet), J/24 (circuit stop), J/80 (circuit stop), J/105 (Regional invitational), J/109 (regional invitational) and J/PHRF, and J/Cruise.  On course video/ photography will also be streamed to TV's live during the day.  Friends and family not on the water can track their favorite J team or head over to the amusement park at Kemah or NASA/Johnson Space Center for the tour, or museum's shopping!  After racing, the J/24 fleet is sponsoring lawn games after Saturday's racing and Lakewood YC is putting on a Cajun feast Saturday night!  After dinner, boogie to some live music!  If you have a big boat we are offering free in-and-out launch/haul with a 50 ton crane!  Register on-line here.

  

J/80s & J/24s Grand Prix du Crouesty

(Crouesty Arzon, France)- It was a busy day for the 113 competitors in the Grand Prix when they started the regatta, nearly 50% of the fleet were J's- 42 J/80s, 7 J/24s, the J/97 J-LANCE in IRC 4, 3 J/109s in IRC 3 and the J/122 JOLLY JOKER in IRC 1.  "We are satisfied with the number of boats. We have very high quality sailors here, the best are present in J/80 and with 42 boats it should be very good racing," said Jacques Fily, President of YCCA.

The weather was absolutely perfect for the sailors.  Saturday, there were 3 races that were contested in a wind of ten knots and under a bright sun. The race committee abandoned late in the day the fourth race due to an unstable breeze.  For Sunday, there were 3 races also in a wind of between 15 to 25 knots and large seas, offering magnificent surfing downwind.  By Monday, there were two more races to settle out the winners in the Grand Prix, sailing in winds of 8-10 knots, a masterful job running the races by PRO Jean-Paul Vallegand.

For the J/80s, it was clear the fleet was decidedly too eager to do battle on Saturday. First start was a general recall, then black flag with eight competitors having to pay the cost, including Eric Brezellec's Interface Concept 2.  Under these competitive conditions, consistency is an important asset and it is no surprise that Voilerie All Purpose, led by local Sylvain Pelissier was the winner of the first day with two second places and one fourth place. They were followed by Atlantis (Laurent Sambron).

By Sunday, it was clear that Pelissier's team were not going to easily sail away with the gold medal.  Laurent Sambron sailing ATLANTIS sailed beautifully on the windy Sunday to tie Pelissier with 12 pts after six races.  Lying with striking distance of these two was Eric Brezzellec on INTERFACE CONCEPT 2 with 9 pts.

However, on Monday the VOILERIE ALL PURPOSE team skippered by Sylvain Pelissier with crew Sébastien Simon, Damien Changey and Joris Cocaud were going to win by sailing so consistently compared to their competitors.  The ATLANTIS crew of Laurent Sambron and INTERFACE CONCEPT 2 sailed by Eric Brezellec completed the podium.  "For us it is a fantastic opportunity to sail with Sylvain, he teaches us so much each year," said the crew made up of youth aged 20 to 21, who usually sail F18, 420 and match racing . "We won only one race, but it pays to be consistent," says Sylvain, who won only  b a little bit, but fully enjoying the pleasure of beating the invincible Eric Brezellec, the early favorite to win the regatta.

In the J/24s, is became a "jackpot for MARTA".  At the beginning, MAJIC sailed by François de Herce was an early contender for the lead, having won a race on Saturday.  However, Pierre-Antoine Lemaistre and his classmates sailing MARTA were eager to get going on Sunday morning to enjoy the big breeze and big waves.  Sure enough, they won three straight races. With big smiles on their faces, Pierre-Antoine commented, "We had top speeds of 12 knots, we were never getting in trouble at the roundings. First race? Impeccable. Second race? Impeccable. Third race? Impeccable! Yes, it was an impeccable day! For us, it's conditions we dreamed about! The race committee was really great, we wish to take our hats off, it was just a fine day!"  After that extraordinary day of sailing, MARTA ended up winning the J/24s in "grand prix style".

Also sailing impeccably was Didier Le Moal on-board his SPI Ouest-France winning J/97 J-LANCE-R.  Didier's team started out winning the first race on Saturday and never looked back.  J-LANCE-R won their IRC Class 4 in "grand prix style" as well, winning their class by a large margin.   For more Grand Prix Crouesty sailing information

  

J's Enjoy Spring Sailing Fling in Charleston

J/122 GAMBLER & J/29 MIGHTY PUFFIN Triumph, J/111 2nd
(Charleston, SC- Apr 14-17) - Springtime in Charleston is one of the more perfect places to spend the spring season and nature smiles especially fondly on Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week every year. For local Charleston resident and J/22 competitor, Greg Fisher, it's all about the community. The multiple world champion and former sail designer recently left the sailmaking industry to accept the position as Director of Sailing for the College Of Charleston. "The amazing thing about Charleston sailors is how they come together as a community for important events," Fisher said. "Hundreds of passionate sailors and their families get together to support Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week, Charleston Community Sailing and the College, and it really feels like you're part of a big family when you're with them."

While the rest of America was fretting about tax filing deadlines, Charleston Harbor gave sailors a tax day gift - nearly perfect weather for sailboat racing on Friday. "I don't think I've ever had a day with such perfect sailing weather," said a competitor on the offshore PHRF course. "We had tight racing with 15-18 knots out of the East - perfect wind, perfect waves, and warm sunshine all day."

Racing offshore on the north/south courses were the big boats.  The new J/111 VELOCITY finished the day in fourth in a very competitive PHRF B Class with a 3-4-4 record. "This was the boat's first day of racing ever, and we're having a good time figuring her out," explained trimmer Dave Malkin of Annapolis. "We're definitely looking forward to even more breeze tomorrow." Kemah, TX J/122 owner Doug Shaffer leads the class with just four points in three races aboard GAMBLER, getting a 1-1-2 score.  In second was yet another J/122, Robin Team's TEAMWORK from Lexington, NC with a 4-2-1 record, getting stronger every race as their team dials it in to be a class leader.  Having a tough time against their stablemates were the two J/120s, John Keenan's ILLYRIA and Rick Moore's MOOSE DOWN, finishing further down the ladder.

In PHRF A, the J/124 WICKED sailed by Doug Curtiss and crew from Branford, CT lay in a three-way tie for second with a 2-3-4 score.  Just behind them were the two J/130s, David Hackney's SUGAR MAGNOLIA and Noel Sterret's SOLARUS.

In PHRF C were the 35 footers-, including the J/35, J/109 and three J/105s.  After the end of a glorious day of racing, the J/35 ARROW sailed by Willy Schwenzfeier from Charleston, SC sailed a solid 4-5-6 to lie 4th for the day.  Ric Campeau's J/109 HOODOO had some flashes of brilliance but couldn't put it all together, ending up with a 7-6-9 for 6th.

Over in PHRF D, a real fight was taking  place for the top three positions on the podium.  Leading the charge was the masthead/outboard J/29 FOR SAIL skippered by Jim Mackevich from Edison, NJ with a 4-2-1 record for 7 pts.  Just behind them by one point was Steve Thurston sailing MIGHTY PUFFIN, another masthead/outboard J/29, sailing to a 2-1-5 record for 8 pts.  Just off the pace was Dave Pritchard's J/92 AMIGOS sailing to a 7-4-3 tally.

On the inshore one-design courses, the J/22s, J/24s and J/80s were having a great day sailing, with all three classes getting in four races.  Sailing on the new Course "0", the J/22s and J/24s were sailing in the easterly breeze with the windward mark set about 85 degrees from the start line.  While the first race was affected by the strong ebb current flowing out of the harbor, after 12:18pm the next three races were fought in a building flood current.  If you haven't heard about it before, there's no question that current is a factor in setting your course strategies and tactics, on some courses more important than others.  For the J/24s and J/22s, the first beats were influenced by the presence of the giant sand spit called Shutes Folly Island with a little fort at the SE end of it- Castle Pinckney.  The combination of less adverse current near the island and the puffs backing left most of the afternoon meant the fleet had to play middle left nearly all day.  At the end of the day, it was pretty clear the top three in the very competitive 25 boat J/24 class traded places taking most of the podium finishes.  Leading the charge was past J/24 Champion Mike Ingham, from Rochester, NY, who had the wind and current scenario wired, sailing to a very consistent 1-3-1-2 record for 7 pts.  Sailing STREET LEGAL into second for the day was Chris Jankowski from Richmond, VA with a 3-2-2-3 tally for 10 pts.  And getting stronger by the race was John Surguy's team on VANISHING ACT from Marlboro, NJ, sailing to a 4-4-3-1 scoreline for 12 pts to secure third place for the day.

The J/22s had a very strong sixteen boat fleet and the competition for the top spots was going to be tough with some excellent teams fielded not only from local Charleston sailors, but also from very strong J/22 one-design class fleets in both Rochester, NY and Annapolis, MD.  After the first two races, it was obvious that a near match-race was forming for the top spots between Chris Doyle sailing SOLID LAYER from Rochester, NY and Greg Fisher from Charleston, SC.  After the first two races, Chris had a 1-2 and Greg had a 2-1.  As the afternoon wore on, Chris and his SOLID LAYER crew made their move and established primal supremacy in the J/22 fleet, getting two more bullets to finish the day with a 1-2-1-1 for 5 pts.  Greg's team sailed well to finish the day with a 2-1-3-3 tally for 9 pts.  Behind them was another match race shaping up between Todd Hiller from Annapolis, MD sailing LEADING EDGE and Travis Odenbach from Rochester, NY sailing INSTIGATOR.  This duel ended up tied for the day with Todd scoring a 3-3-2-6 and Travis with a 4-4-4-2, the tiebreaker going in favor of Todd.

A great turnout of twenty-six boats meant the J/80s were going to have a good series with some very competitive teams attending.  Plus, a fun, fast course with less than 1.0 nm windward-leeward legs meant that skippers, tacticians and crews would be busy.  Unlike the J/22 and J/24 Course "0", the J/80s were sailing on Course 1 along the southern part of the harbor.  The PRO set the windward mark at about 90 degrees and basically never changed it all day.  The winds built from 6-12 to 9-17 knots from the East by mid-afternoon, making for epic, brilliant sailing, perhaps the best course for sailing in the entire regatta (based on hearsay at the Goslings tent afterwards!).  Like the Course "0" sailors, the J/80s saw the winds oscillate significantly, but the right side of the course along shore only paid off twice on 8 total windward legs over 4 races! Fast out of the blocks was Bruno Pasquinelli from Dallas, TX sailing TIAMO to a 1-1-4-6 score for the day for 12 pts.  However, the team of Henry Brauer and Will Welles sailing RASCAL from Marblehead, MA/ Newport, RI sailed consistently well, never finishing out of the top three, rounding either the first or second mark in first place in every race, to get a 3-3-1-2 record to end the day with 9 pts to be at the top of the leader-board.  In third due to a tie-breaker with Bruno's TIAMO team was Kerry Klingler's team from Larchmont, NY sailing to a 5-2-2-3 for 12 pts.

The talk of the dock after the spectacular day's racing was whether or not the dire predictions for Saturday's sailing would come true- a weather forecast that included no less than trailer-destroying tornados, frightening line squalls, severe ginormous thunderstorms, massive car-destroying hail stones, monster micro-burst puffs and gale-force wind conditions. If Friday's conditions provided a chance for racers to knock the rust off, Saturday would undoubtedly separate the top teams from those who could use a bit more practice-- or the crazed from the simply normal.  As Saturday dawned, it was clear the prognosticators were correct, the forecast was more accurate than most had hoped; in fact, the storm front killed nearly 50 people in tornados less than 100 miles away.  As a result, Regatta Chairman Randy Draftz was put in the unenviable position of having to cancel racing for the first time ever in the race week's history.  Nevertheless, many were sanguine about the dilemma and felt it was a good call.

Multiple J/24 World Champion Anthony Kotoun of Newport, RI was one of them, and the Virgin Islands native who has sailed the past four Charleston Race Weeks, shared his thoughts on Charleston Race Week: "I just love this regatta," he said. When pressed on why, he mentioned the parallels with Caribbean regattas. "I just came back from sailing in St. Thomas at the Rolex Regatta, the BVI at the Spring Regatta and St. Maarten for the Heineken event, and Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week is the only event in the country that's got a flavor like those." Kotoun cited "great breezes, beautiful surroundings, and the regatta village here on the beach that's really something you don't see anywhere but the Caribbean."

An earlier start time for Sunday saw frantic preparations as all boats were seen pulling piles of extra sails and gear off their boats to lighten their loads for the expected forecast of a dying 5-10 kt wind. The offshore courses saw sufficient sailing breeze through most of the day, with the first race run under very light northerly conditions and the final race in a moderate Charleston sea breeze of 10 knots.

The biggest boats at the event had an exciting, three-way battle for the lead in PHRF A, with the J/124 WICKED ending up third after the smoke cleared.  WICKED missed 2nd by 1 pt and first by just 2 pts, a shift here, a puff there and the tables would have turned completely in their favor.

In PHRF B, Doug Shaffer's J/122 GAMBLER simply sailed away, leaving the fleet in their rear-view mirror, winning the last two races to win by 9 pts over the J/111 VELOCITY.  After their Friday "practice race" day, the gang on the J/111 VELOCITY got their act together, retuned the rig, trimmed the sails faster, avoided some big holes and even led the entire fleet around one leeward gate to secure 2nd overall with a solid 2-2 showing on the last day for a total of 15 pts.  Third was Robin Team's J/122 TEAMWORK, sailing an uncharacteristic 7-3 to finish 3rd with 17 pts.

The mighty struggle between the 30 footers in PHRF D was finally settled in favor of Steve Thurston's well-sailed J/29 MIGHTY PUFFIN, getting a 4-1 to win with 13 pts.  Jim's J/29 FOR SAIL had a slow day, getting a 7-5 to drop to 4th after leading on the first day.  Dave Pritchard's J/92 AMIGOS got their mojo on and managed to peel off a 1-2 for the best record on Sunday to get 3rd overall with 17 pts.  The Palmetto Cup, which is awarded each year to the best boat competing in the PHRF (handicap rating) classes, went to Steve Thurston and his crew from Bristol, RI racing aboard the mighty yacht  MIGHTY PUFFIN!

Inshore, conditions were more fickle and no races were completed on the J/24 and J/22 race course, with only one completed on the J/80 course.  Former North American and National J/24 Champion Mike Ingham was disappointed that his class didn't see enough wind for a final race today, though he was happy to take the victory in the most competitive J/24 fleet that Charleston has seen in several years. "We last sailed here for our National Championship about six years ago, and it's just as great as I remembered," said Mike. "On Friday, we got four solid races in, and just kept our noses clean and tried to sail smart. It worked."

For the J/80s, it was a beautiful, but disappointing day.  The one and only race was punctuated by a series of events for the leaders and the entire fleet that could best be described as "unfortunate".  The PRO elected to start the race in a rapidly dying breeze from the NW (it was forecast to die by 11am) at precisely 10:40 am after it was obvious the Viper 640 fleet that started at 10:35am were struggling getting to the first windward mark.  Toss in a dying breeze with massive holes, 40 degree shifts and a full-moon ebb tide flowing at 3 knots and what do you get?  A very ugly picture that many sailing in England's Solent are all too familiar with.  Out of 26 boats only 5 managed to finish the race (exactly 1/5th of the fleet) and the rest scored TLE (time limit expired!).  Not exactly a "fair or reasonable" race for all involved, e.g. an awfully expensive one-day regatta!  Nevertheless, not often you see top three finishers scored with TLE's as counters!  Kerry Klingler's team avoided the mishaps and secured a finish to win with 15 pts with a 5-2-2-3-3 score.  In finishing second, the Brauer/Welles team got caught by the finish line buoy, literally, and instead of winning the regatta was forced to take a TLE, scoring 3-3-1-2-TLE for 16 pts.  Third was Bruno's TIAMO team who seemingly took an involuntary tour of Fort Sumter over on another course as they were getting flushed out to sea, finishing with a 1-1-4-6-TLE for 19 pts.  Thanks to Mike Lovett's contributions from his Sailing World Forum report (http://www.sailingworld.com).

Sailing Photo Credits:
Meredith Block- www.blocksail.com
Priscilla Parker- www.priscillaparker.com

VIdeo coverage:
  - OTWA  Sailing Coverage- Day One
  - T2P.TV- Day One Summary

For more Charleston Race Week sailing information   

J/111 @ Charleston Race Week

(Charleston, SC)- The J/111 VELOCITY sailed by Wayne Jackson and crew from the Chesapeake Bay will be racing their new 111 for its first test during Charleston Race Week sailing in PHRF B class.  Please stop buy and say hello to the boys and take a look at the boat- they'll be on Dock C in Slip # 1  right next to the bulkhead at Patriot’s Point.  They'll be having a small "greet and meet" on Saturday evening after the races.

For the rest of the 89 J's sailing (the largest brand represented at 1/3 of the entire fleet of 270), they will be divided into one-design and handicap PHRF fleets.  PHRF A class has two J/130s sailing, including Noel Sterrett's SOLARUS from Hanahan, SC and David Hackney's SUGAR MAGNOLIA from Folly Beach, SC.  Also racing with them will be Doug Curtiss' J/124 WICKED from Branford, CT just up from Florida after sailing at Key West Race Week.

PHRF B is shaping up to be one of the most competitive offshore PHRF classes with 5 of the 7 entries being 36-41 foot J's- J/111, J/120s, J/122s.  The J/111 VELOCITY will have to work hard to stay in the hunt against this tough group of hombres.  The two J/120s, local fleet champion John Keenan's ILLYRIA from Mt Pleasant, SC and Rick Moore's MOOSE DOWN from Summerville, SC know the local waters well and given the right conditions will be surely be in the hunt.  The two J/122s will be amongst the leaders as well, both strong sailing programs with great teams aboard.  Doug Shaffer's GAMBLER from Kemah, TX is a past J/122 North American Champion and Robin Team's TEAMWORK has won the Ft Lauderdale-Key West Race and also a top three finisher at Key West Race Week.

PHRF C class includes the J/35 ARROW sailed by Willy Schwenzfeier from Charleston, SC, the J/109 HOODOO sailed by Rick Campeau from Summerville, SC and three J/105s- Joe Pitcavage's BIG BOOTY, Joe Highsmith's DEAD ON ARRIVAL from Blufton, SC, and Bill Bremer's HIGH VISIBILITY from Savannah, GA.  Like their bigger sisters in PHRF B, this class will also see some very competitive sailing amongst the largely 35-foot class of boats.

PHRF D promises to be a donnybrook between the fast 30 foot J's.  The three J/29s, including Jim Mackevich's FOR SAIL from Edison, NJ, the infamous Esposito brothers (John and Tony) from Mohegan Lake, NY learning to sail HUSTLER all over again after mothballing it (was going too fast, we heard, and was in danger of disintegrating from harmonic vibrations at the speed of light) and arch-nemesis Steve Thurston from Bristol, RI on the MIGHTY PUFFIN--- this will be an interesting group to watch, all well-sailed boats and all masthead/outboard 29s, the fastest version of them ever made. Giving these 29s a run for the money will surely be Mr GILL North American himself, David Pritchard on AMIGOS racing his J/92 from Buford, GA-- a very fast team that gets lots of practice up on Lake Lanier (when there's water in it!).

In the J one-design world there are seventy-two boats competing from J/22s to J/24s to J/80s a big jump up from last year's event, particularly for the J/24s and J/80s.  The seventeen J/22s are led by past World Champion Greg Fisher now living in Mt Pleasant, SC and coaching College of Charleston sailing team, Chris Doyle from Youngstown, NY (recent Midwinter Champion) and champion woman sailor Cory Sertl from Rochester, NY practicing for the upcoming Rolex Women's Worlds held later this year in Rochester.  The twenty-seven J/24s are led by very strong local teams from Charleston and class champions like Mike Ingham from Rochester, NY.

The new course for the J/22 and J/24 classes is laid out close to downtown Charleston’s waterfront. Organizers expect it to provide exciting viewing from the Battery and Waterfront parks for locals and tourists alike, who “should be able to see and hear tons of racing action, almost as if they were on the boats,” said James Island High School sailing coach Ryan Hamm.

The largest contingent of J one-designs are the J/80s.  Twenty-eight J/80s will be led by top teams like Al Terhune from Annapolis, MD, Bruno Pasquinelli from Dallas, TX, Tom Klok from Copenhagen, Denmark (see here flying downwind at 20 knots off Newport, RI in the 2010 Worlds), Mike Sudofsky from Marion, MA, Chris Bulger from Brookline, MA and past World Champion Kerry Klingler from Larchmont, NY.  Amongst the luminaries in the class will be Don Trask from Mooresville, NC, renowned for starting the Laser and J/24 franchise on the West Coast of America; and Kristen Robinson from Annapolis, MD, the current J/80 class Treasurer and Chris Johnson also from Annapolis, the current J/80 Class President.

Sailing Photo Credits:
Paul Todd/ Outside Images New Zealand
Tim Wilkes/ Tim Wilkes Photography
For more Charleston Race Week sailing information.   

J/95 Dominates BVI Spring Regatta!

Luck of the Irish For SHAMROCK
(Tortola, British Virgin Islands)- What defines a magnificent regatta? Ask anyone who sailed in the 40th Anniversary BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival (March 28-April 3, 2011), and you’ll hear the same thing: red-hot racing, professionally run courses, a family friendly regatta village, and—of course—killer parties--- exactly what sailors on 122 different competing yachts experienced at Nanny Cay—the regatta’s base this past weekend.

Forty boats congregated on the Sir Francis Drake Channel on the first morning, just off of Tortola’s Nanny Cay Resort, for the start of the Bitter End Cup.  This 21-mile Corinthian-spirited race to Virgin Gorda’s Bitter End Yacht Club (BEYC) marks the official kick-off for the regatta.  Lucky sailors in four classes enjoyed 10-15 knots, flat seas, and clean starts as the fleet of cats, cruisers, bareboats and serious race-boats pointed towards their fairy-tale destination. Once there, sailors enjoyed the club’s well-populated dinghy and beach-cat fleet and unwind before Thursday’s reverse-course Nanny Cay Cup.

A glance at the final standings underscores exactly how competitive this event has become.  In the tightly contested   Racing C, Rick Wesslund's J/120 EL OCASO from Miami, FL was in one of the weekend’s more entertaining dogfights, getting the short-end of the stick to finish 2nd overall even after posting mostly 2nds and 1sts!  In Racing A, Jordan Mindich's J/125 AUNT JESSIE sailed mostly mid-fleet and finished fifth-- they may have been suffering a bit sailing against mostly 60 to 80 footers!  In Racing D, the J/27 MAG 7 sailed by Bill Davis from Puerto Rico finished second and just behind in fourth was Julio Requero's J/105 UMAKUA from Puerto Rico.  In Racing E class, the J/33 SISTERSHIP SAILING SCHOOL sailed by a few fair maidens ended up fourth overall and beat some other gals sailing LUXURY GIRL and GIRLS-FOR-SAIL!  Apparently, it was quite a cat fight in this class, all in good nature of course.  In the Performance Cruising Class, Tony Sanpere's crew on the J/36 CAYENITTA GRANDE nearly pulled off another win in class, but after counting two fourths, had to settle for third overall.  Just off the pace and always having fun was Bob Read's J/40 NEPENTHE.  Finally, in their first big regatta victory on the Caribbean Circuit, Tom Mullen's J/95 SHAMROCK strutted to victory in Racing Jib & Main class, lucky leprechauns they were getting a 1-2-1-1-3 record to simply crush their competition.

The icing on the cake for this year's 40th anniversary edition of the BVI Spring Regatta was, of course, the "Moka Jumbies" before the awards presentation and the decadent fireworks show that capped off the night. Ask anyone lucky enough to have been there—it was out of this world!   For more BVI Spring Regatta sailing information.   

Coors Light Island Double

J/133 JAMMY DODGER Leads Fleet Home

(Southampton, England)- It's 30 years since Neil Cox of Solent Rigging organised the first Double Handed racing at the Royal Southampton Yacht Club. Since then the series has continued without a break and grown in popularity.  And, it has to be one of the most challenging of the famous "around island" races anywhere in the world, especially shorthanded.

The tides for this year's Coors light Island Double were more suited to the east-about circumnavigation of the Island instead of the more usual west-about course - If only the boats had enough wind to get over the line. The forecast, and the actual conditions were very light but the Race Committee made the right call by getting the boats away, some of whom were swept OCS by the tide. The fleet of over 100 boats flying spinnakers of all descriptions made a great sight as they ran, slowly, down towards the forts in the bright morning sunshine.

All tactics were used to get down to Bembridge with some boats following the mainland shore and taking a long, wide sweep east and others hugging the Island shore and sometimes getting caught in wind holes from where they watched others further north overtake them.

Once at Bembbridge the very light wind slowly picked up but immediately became so flukey that it was hard to know which sail to hoist or which tack to take. Eventually the conditions settled down with the earlier boats taking full advantage of the favourable tide to make the Needles in two tacks. The later boats were robbed of that option and had to take the inshore route but at least then found the tide in their favour in the Needles Channel.

The western Solent delivered winds that hadn't appeared on any of Friday's forecasts and strengthened the nearer the boats got to the finish where the Race Committee were on station to the south-east of Williams Shipping buoy, setting a line that was a near straight run from Sconce. From there the main question then became, if we raise the kite will we get it down again? The hardy souls that took that risk had an exhilarating, surfing run to line.

Here is Neil Martin's and Deb Fish's report from the J/133 JAMMY DODGER:  "With just over an hour of flood tide left, the race committee sent the fleet East down the Solent for a clockwise circumnavigation. Neil got us a good start at the Squadron end of the line, where we could stem the lighter tide until it was time to turn for the line. Seconds before the start we hoisted the light runner and set off in the forecast light NWly winds. We gybed all down the Solent, generally staying away from the lighter winds on the Island shore and gybing between mid channel and the mainland. The patchy wind became a bit steadier and we found ourselves leading the fleet by some margin by the time we reached the forts. We crept inside No Mans Land fort, deep inshore to get out of the foul tide, and the wind died before shifting dramatically. Fortunately the fleet of Redwings racing off Bembridge allowed Neil to anticipate the new wind, and we soon had the kite down and were beating to Bembridge Ledge.

The wind soon shifted to the SW and built to 17 knots, and we tacked along the middle of the course to Dunnose, trying to keep out of the bays and in the stronger tide, but stay right in anticipation of the wind veering. (At least, we think it was stronger tide - having tossed Winning Tides overboard in the spinnaker drop at Bembridge, we were relying on the tide atlases in the Almanac...) By St Cats the wind had veered and we could just lay the Needles on port tack. Visibility was amazing - halfway between St Cats and the Needles, both looked just a couple of miles away, and we could see Anvil Point and Portland Bill really clearly. The sea had built with wind over tide, so I was in for a soaking on the bow to clip the spinnaker on. I managed to cut my finger, covering the deck with blood - unbelievable how such a tiny cut can cause so much mess. We passed the wreck, bore away and hoisted the kite in 20 knots of breeze. Gybing the light runner on the J133 down the Needles Channel then the Solent double-handed was hard work, with the boat on the edge, but we managed to avoid wraps and stay in control somehow. We still led the fleet around the Needles, but the two multihulls that had been drawing ever closer finally overtook us in the Needles channel.

Conscious of stemming the strong tide in the middle of the Solent, we gybed in to the mainland shore, but I had failed to notice the shallow waters further along our gybe out on the small screen on the hand-held chart plotter and we held our breath as the depth decreased to 0.0m and we touched the bottom with full main and spinnaker up doing 10 knots. Mercifully we got through the shallow patch and out of the other side.

The final drama was finding the finish buoy just upwind of the Bramble bank and getting the kite down quickly (listening at the race committee's urgent calls to one of the following boats to beware the Bramble bank!)."

Besides winning elapsed time overall, JAMMY DODGER also managed to finish fourth in Class 1 on corrected time behind the two well-sailed J/109s.  Finishing second was the J/109 JAGERBOMB sailed by the team of Paul and Mark Griffiths, just missing first place by 52 seconds on corrected time!  Ouch, now how many places were there on the race you could make up 52 seconds?  Just off their pace was the J/109 JANGADA TOO, well-sailed by the team of Richard Palmer and Jeremy Waitt to get third in class.  Finishing ninth was the OSTAR class winner (and nearly overall), the J/122 JBELLINO, ably sailed by experienced offshore sailing veteran Rob Craigie with Charles Allen as part of his team.  For more Island Double sailing information.  Sailing Photo Credit- Paul Wyeth
  

WICKED Wins Block Island Race Week

(Block Island, RI)- This year's Block Island Race Week was up to its usual, fun, laid-back atmosphere that's associated with a "Bermuda Race" year....while the offshore nuts go offshore, the "day sailors" have fun, hang up their sea boots and oilies, take their showers, and enjoy evening festivities with family and friends at The Oar or Yellow Kittens.  The regatta has a mix of one-design classes (the J/105s and J/109s) and a combination of PHRF and IRC fleets.

The J/109s sure had a competitive, but fun time during the week with finishes for 1-2 and 3-4 all coming down to the wire on the last day.  After the fog cleared and the wind blew in, it was Don Fillippelli's CAMINOS taking first prize with 16 points followed by Steve Kenny and Greg Ames' GOSSIP in second with 18 points, despite GOSSIP's tow firsts in the last two races.  Class champ Bill Sweetser and crew on RUSH had their hands full battling with Ted Herlihy's GUT FEELING just to finish third with 21 points over Ted's team with 24 points.  Talk about a loaded deck, these four J/109s could just as easily win a J/109 Nationals as it was to do bruising battle in a fun-filled Block Island Race Week.

The J/105s were "eclipsed" again by Damian Emery's team sailing the well-traveled ECLIPSE, winning with a dominant five firsts in 9 races for a total of 13 points.  Carl Olsson sailed MORNING GLORY well to win out in a three-way battle for 2-3-4 spots on the podium, getting second with 20 points.  At the short end of the stick on that battle were Andy Kennedy's BAT IV in third with 22 points and Nelson Weiderman's KIMA in fourth with 24 points.

In the IRC division, George Marks' beautiful J/122 GEORGETOWN finished second overall, beating all other Swan/ NYYC 42s quite convincingly.

In PHRF 1, Doug Curtiss's J/124 WICKED sailed to first overall in what turned out to be a hotly contested fleet, winning by just one point.  Guests of honor, designers Rodney and son Alan Johnstone, were aboard to witness first-hand the determination of some of their competitors to beat them.  After the smoke cleared, WICKED (and it's incredibly HOT paint job) escaped unscathed to take home the silver.

In PHRF 2, that merry bunch of bandits known as "the HUSTLER's" from New York, again won on their J/29 skippered by class character John "Espo" Esposito and brother Tony.  Good grief, have these guys ever not won a BlRW event?  Last time we asked, seems that Espo and Tony can't figure out where they put all their Rolex watches!? 

The non-spinnaker PHRF class saw two J/34s sailing with Weber's RASCAL getting second and Dan Montero's BODACIOUS cruising into fourth.  Good on ya mates!  The "blender division" as it's known sure know how to enjoy themselves!  For more Block Island Race Week sailing information.
  

A Jubilee J/Fest Northwest

J/105 Wins Top Performance Award

(Seattle, WA- Jun 19-20)- A gathering of 30 J's including one-design fleets for J/109s, J/35s, J/105s and J/30s enjoyed eight races over two days of competition in the waters off Shilshole Bay Marina, sponsored by Seattle J-Boats dealer Sailboats Northwest, with Corinthian Yacht Club running the racing and hosting post-race parties.

For the J/109 class, the Dack/ Nordquist team sailed J/TRIPPER to a 1-1-3-1-2-1-2-1 record for twelves points.   The Greene team on IT'S ONLY ROCK & ROLL finished second with a 2-4-1-4-1-4-1-2 record and third was Woodfield's SHADA with a 3-3-5-3-5-3-3-3 tally.

The J/35s were won by the Whitfield/ Chatham team on JABIRU.  Second was White sailing GRACE E and third was the Ellingsen's BERGEN VIKING.

Erik Kirsten's team sailing JUBILEE were not only winners of the J/105 class, but got Top Performance Award for best regatta in biggest fleet at the event.  Second was Petersen racing LAST TANGO and third was Pinkham's USAWI.

The J/30s had a nice turnout with the Gardner/ Adair team winning with seven firsts on ROUNDER.  Battling for second and third were CELEBRATION and OUTLAW. At the end of their epic battle for J/30 supremacy in the greater NW, the Storm/ Gossett team racing OUTLAW just lost out in the last two races to Bottles' CELEBRATION.

The PHRF handicap fleet had quite a mix of boats and a donnybrook of a fight for the silver/ bronze positions on the podium.  No matter what anyone could do, the Moynihan/ Conway team raced WINGS to a dominant first place getting eight straight firsts!  Playing "tourists"/ bridesmaids to this amazing performance were Daniel's TOURIST and Sawyer's FEARFUL SYMMETRY.  Finishing in a tie with twenty-one points each, the tie-breaker went in favor of TOURIST with FEARFUL SYMMETRY finishing third- with an average of 2.5 each!

In the photo is the crew of CYC member Erik Kristen's J/105 Jubilee. From left are Joel Thornton, Jeff McLean, Matt Tookey, Bruce Sherman and Kristen. Kristen's wife, Steph, and children Mary and Tom sailed on Saturday.   For more J/Fest Northwest sailing information
  

FIGAWI RACE Fun For All

(Hyannis to Nantucket- May 29)- Over thirty J's raced the 39th Annual Figawi Race from Hyannis to Nantucket on May 29th, which saw fifteen to twenty-knot southwest winds and a steep Nantucket Sound chop of 3-5 feet.  The race is a "pursuit style" event where the slowest boats rated under PHRF handicap start first at a specific starting time, then in succession, all faster boats start with the biggest boats, like the J/160 starting last.  For the J's this meant the J/24s started first followed by an assortment of racing/ cruising J's spread throughout six divisions, including one entire "sprit division" that was 76% J's!

In Division S- Sprit Boats, the J/105 VIXEN skippered by Chris Beane placed first by just 1:40 over Wagner Reservitz's J/105 DARK'N'STORMY.  Third was David Murphy's well-traveled J/122 PUGWASH another three minutes behind.  Interestingly, VIXEN's finish time of 14:32:51 put her in third overall of all 230+ boats, meaning third fastest boat to finish to Nantucket!

In Division A- Spinnaker, four J's sailed with Alan Fougere's J/160 AVATAR leading the J's home finishing at 14:40:40.  In Division B- Spinnaker, four J's sailed with Mark Scheffer's J/35 SURPRISE leading all other J's finishing at 15:03:32.  In Division C- Spinnaker, three J's sailed with Ira Perry's J/29 SEEFEST leading the J parade finishing at 14:39:15.  In Division D- Spinnaker, four J/24s raced and Jonathan Wenderto's J/24 DRAGIN-Z-BALZ (?) finished second in class finishing at 14:48:58.  In Division F- Non-spinnaker, two J's cruised over to Nantucket with Bill Jones' J/40 SMITTEN finishing second overall!

The FIGAWI race is first and foremost a "fun" family event that hosts a FIGAWI Charity Ball to benefit 24 Cape Cod charities prior to the start of the race.  According to folklore, a long time ago , three sailors started out from Hyannis to race their sailboats to Nantucket. That race would be the first of the Figawi Race Weekends and the beginning of what has become a Cape Cod tradition.  Since that inauspicious start in 1972, whether it was the charm of a race to Nantucket, or maybe just the personal appeal of the early founders is really not clear, but Figawi began to grow by leaps and bounds. A lay day was added in 1978 along with a race back to Hyannis, as the race committee, now formerly organized, turned the Figawi from a one day race into a three day weekend event.  Today, the Figawi has grown into one of the premier sailboat races on the East coast.. a great way to start the summer sailing season! Join them next year for great sailing on Nantucket Sound, great fun and camaraderie on the beautiful island of Nantucket, and memories of being part of a great tradition.  For more FIGAWI Sailing information