US Watercraft Rendezvous

(Warren, RI)- Over the past few decades, several thousand J's were built in the old Tillotson-Pearson facility in Warren, Rhode Island.  Recently, US Watercraft from Portsmouth, RI, builder of J/22s, J/24s, J/80s and J/105s, acquired the boat-building facility on Market Street and is now gearing up production for the four J/Boats they have under license.  In addition, they will also offer parts and maintenance capabilities for all those J's that had been built at that facility, ranging from the J/22s up to the J/160.

To meet the new team, US Watercraft is hosting an "open house/ rendezvous" at the Market St facility.  Come celebrate with us and visit their new location in Warren!  US Watercraft has a fantastic day planned with seminars, factory tours, and demonstrations.  Seminars include the following:

• Racing and Electronic Navigation
• Diesel Maintenance
• Boat Maintenance Basics

The event will be held March 9th from 10am to 4pm at 373 Market Street, Warren, RI.  If you're interested in attending, please RSVP ONLY by February 19th to Sarah (email- sarah@waterlinesystems.com) or phone 401-247-3000.  Please note, lunch and snacks will be provided!

J/24s Sailing Primo Cup

(Monte Carlo, Monaco)- With nearly 1,000 sailors coming from all over Europe, representing some 15 nationalities, the Primo Cup- Trophee Credit Suisse organized by the Yacht Club de Monaco (YCM), is one of the most important winter events in Europe, marking the start of the international sailing season.

The regatta is sailed over two weekends in the beginning of February Feb 1-3 and Feb 8-10, with a primary focus on one-design sailing and youth sailing.  For the first weekend, included amongst the classes is the J/24 European fleets.  Amongst the J/24s will be the Swedish entry from YCM and Marstrand SS- Marianne Schoke and Stu Jardine from the UK sailing SWE 330 JULIA!  Also sailing are Alessandro Pedone from YCM sailing ITA 455 BEL COLP JESTER; longtime local sailor Dennis Frederiksen sailing MON 5452 PAGET for YCM and fellow club member Anne Rodelato sailing the famous MON 24 JOKER.

The Primo Cup attracts a lot of good sailors from across Europe to sail in the prestigious venue of Monaco.  Not hard to imagine why, since Monte Carlo is one of the coolest places to sail on the Med, plus Monaco is tres'chic!  The YCM has the support of the famous royal family- the Grimaldi's- a sailing family for generations.  Monaco's Prince Rainier collected his bride Grace Kelly by yacht from the deck of the USS Constitution, the ship she had travelled aboard from America.  And, it was on the same yacht, "Deo Juvante II", that he and the new Princess Grace spent their honeymoon cruising the Mediterranean.  In other words, salt water and sailing were in their blood.

Prince Rainier founded YCM in 1953 with the aim of promoting yachting within the principality-- starting with the old Société des Régates. In 1984, his son Prince Albert became its President (seen here at far right) and today the harbour is a seasonal focus of the international super yacht fleet.  Although a social venue par excellence, racing will always occupy a major role in the club’s activities, the Primo Cup in February being the season’s opener.  Youth and one-design sailing are a vital element of the club social life.  Prince Rainier founded the YCM Sailing School in 1970 for young people- it now uses a fleet of Optimists, Lasers and Picos. The club also hosts fleets of one-designs, including the J/24's which saw Prince Albert sailing for nearly two dozen years! Perhaps the J/70s will be the next fleet for YCM's club activities!

One of the great attractions will be YCM's new clubhouse, designed along the lines of a super yacht!  With its magnificent setting overlooking Port Hercule and the Med, it promises to be a superb showcase for Monaco, reinforcing its position as the Mediterranean's "capital of yachting". Designed by the world famous architect Lord Norman Foster, the new YCM building will contribute to the vitality of life in Monaco and the prestige of the Principality. It's an ambitious and symbolic project, check out this YouTube video of the new Yacht Club de Monaco-- pretty amazing-- J/24s can easily sail in the pool!   For more YCM Regatta and sailing information    For more YCM Primo Cup sailing information

J/70s Love Hot Rum Race #1

J/105 Masters Crush Fleet, J/120 Wins Too!(San Diego, CA)- This past weekend marked the first of the infamous three weekend series of "pursuit" races sailed off San Diego's Point Loma.  An annual fall right of passage in the southernmost part of California, over 120 boats participated in near picture perfect conditions with winds blowing from the NNW at 10-15 kts.  As the little, slower rating boats took off in sunny, breezy conditions on a long starboard tack reach out the Pt Loma shipping channel on a SW course to the first mark under spinnakers, you could practically hear the J/Teams smacking their chops knowing the first two legs would be fast spinnaker reaches before the long beat home to Pt Loma with a quick port tack reach home to the finish line just off Shelter Island.

Leading the entire fleet home were the J/105s, most of whom were participating in the J/105 Masters Regatta. First boat home sailing an amazing race was Bruce Munro's team from St Francis YC, however, as they finished they discovered they were OCS'd by the RC.  As a result, the first official finisher was John Andron's team, also from StFYC; they were followed by the famous yacht designer Ron Holland from Ireland in 2nd; local hero, World Star champion and SDYC benefactor Malin Burnham finished in 3rd; fourth was yet another famous sailmaker, World Soling Champion, Hans Fogh from Denmark and Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and in 6th was local champion Rick Goebel on SANITY.

Class 2 was won by John Laun's J/120 CAPER with fellow J/120 sailor Chuck Nichols sailing his famous CC RIDER in 5th. Peter Zarcades J/120 MELTEMI ended up 9th.

Class 4 saw the debut of the J/70s.  And, what a debut it was with the group of four J/70s having a very close start and taking off in the first giant puff like a Navy F-18 getting shot off the catapult on an aircraft carrier!  Taking off with foam hissing in their wake, the J/70s quickly overhauled all their competitors in front of them.  In the end, the J/70s took 1st and 3rd.  Leading them home was J/70 ULLMAN SAILS in 1st with the J/70 QUANTUM SAILS team taking 3rd.  The J/70 NORTH SAILS team was 2nd across the line but suffered a similar fate as their J/105 counterparts (the Munro team) by having to take an OCS.  For more Hot Rum Series sailing information

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

J/Fest Southwest- Oct 13-14

(Houston, TX)- Lakewood YC on Galveston Bay in southern Texas along the Gulf of Mexico is again hosting the Third Annual J/Fest Southwest.  Open to all J/Owners, 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 enjoy a myriad of activities and tourist attractions in the Bay Area. Goodie bags for skippers will contain coupons for family fun.

One design fleets slated for the J/Fest Southwest Regatta include J/22, J/24, J/80, J/105 and the J/109’s. It will be a circuit stop for the J/22’s and the J/24’s. All J/Boats are welcome to race in the PHRF classes and in the J/Cruise class. Any J/Boat is eligible to participate, and the regatta organizers intend to offer several exciting formats for the non One Design racers. This year we expect to see a couple of hot J/70’s flying around as well!   For  more J/Fest SW sailing information

J/70 Flies Around Island

(Jamestown, Rhode Island)- There are few regattas on the Narraganset Bay yachting calendar that have a greater following and are looked forward to with greater anticipation during the course of the "Newport Summer" than Conanicut YC's Around Island Race.  While Newport enjoys multiple "around Jamestown Island races" during the course of the summer, from little boats, to big boats, to classic yachts (like really big ones), the Granddaddy of them all has always been the Labor Day Weekend romp around the 18-21nm course on Sunday.

This year 100 boats competed in the 85th CYC Around Island Race for both the new elapsed time trophy as well as the PHRF handicap corrected time trophy.  Plus, there were one-design classes competing, including J/22s and J/24s from the local Narraganset Bay fleets.

The forecast for the day was a bit variable, but suffice it so say the SSE winds of 8-12 kts ultimately developed such that the fleet was treated to yet another classic around the island romp.  While fleets A to F started in light winds with a massive "ebb current" flushing them out of the start area just off Conanicut YC, the combination of current "wind" and actual "wind" conspired to push the small boats out to the first major turning mark off Beavertail Lighthouse at a rapid speed of current + wind of about 3 kts VMG.  The RC's PRO wisely decided to postpone the "big boats" for 45 minutes until the wind re-established itself.  At that point, it was going to be clear that the overall elapsed and corrected time silverware was going to be a run-for-the-money by the "big boats".  The fleet was treated to a "classic" Bay sea breeze, building up to 15 knots so the sailors could enjoy a fast downhill ride down the West Passage to the northern part of Jamestown (against the strong ebb current) before turning back upwind into the moderate southerly against a tide that changed to beat (guess what) back into the flood tide!!  Ouch.  Can't win some days, but the current/wind Gods conspired so the fleet was basically fighting against the current all the way around the island!!  Little boats got crushed in the standings, big boats dominated by a country furlong.

For the one-design boats, none of the wind/ current stuff mattered-- whomever beat who got the ultimate bragging rights. In the J/22 class, 1st was LUCY sailed by Cory Sertl, 2nd was WHARF RAT helmed by Matt Dunbar and 3rd was MACHBUSTER led by Jeff Westcott.  In the J/24s, it was "girl power" again like their compatriots in Hong Kong!  This time is was Lindsey Turowski winning with BERLY MOVIN, followed in 2nd by Bob Lambert's BARFLY and 3rd was Newport J/24 class veteran Mike Hill on OBSTREPEROUS.

In PHRF handicap world it was an eclectic bunch of boats and fleets that made up the rest.  Starting with Class B the J/24 NIGHTHAWK finished 3rd with Richard Barker and Mike Ryan.  Class F saw two J/29s taking two top spots with Dennis Nixon's LYNX in 3rd and Steve Wood's BIG TAZ in 4th.  Class G was a tough fleet, but the J/109 PICANTE sailed by Dr Rob Salk led the J teams home with a 2nd, followed by Paul Grimes' J/35 BREAKAWAY IN 4th and EC Helme's J/92s SPIRIT in 5th.

In PHRF Class H, it was "sports-boat" shootout with J/80s, a J/70, a pair of VX-One's and others.  In the end, the J/70 J-HAWK sailed by Stu Johnstone and Julia Langford (sailing double-handed) were first across the line elapsed amongst the smaller boats but ended up 3rd on PHRF corrected (sailing with a 111 PHRF rating).  Winning the top two slots were the J/80s GROMIT sailed by Andy Burton and GOOSE in second sailed by Chris Bulger.  Fifth in class was Peter McCarthy and gang on the J/80 EAGLE!  A great performance overall by the J/Sports boat gang.

Finally, in PHRF Class J, finishing third was the custom J/44 WHITE GOLD sailed by Jamestown "hommie" and CYC member Jim Bishop.

The trophy winners for the event included a proverbial J/Alumni list of owners, including Phil Lotz (J/24s and J/105s) sailing his Swan 42 to the Fastest Elapses Award and Malcom Gefter (J/105s) on his Melges 32 winning the Handicap Award.  Plus, the Eads Johnson Trophy (large boat, fastest corrected time) went to Jim Bishop's J/44 custom WHITE GOLD and the Robert A. MacLeod Rear Commodore Trophy (day-sailer, fastest corrected time) went to Cory Sertl's J/22 LUCY!!   For more CYC Around Island Race 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

Foggy, Sunny Epic Buzzards Bay Week

J's Sweep PHRF1, Odenbach Dominates 24s, Van Voorhis Wins 80s
(Marion, MA)- The 40th annual Buzzards Bay Regatta got off a number of races both Saturday and Sunday, including the Dick Fontaine Memorial Distance Race Friday, which ran to more than 22 miles in four classes. Racing took place outside Sippican Harbor in Marion, Massachusetts in one of the largest mixed-boat regattas in the U.S.

With hazy, hot, and humid days ashore, the offshore the breeze filled in nicely for the racers, after a nearly two-hour delay Friday. It was a long 21nm tour of Buzzards Bay, going upwind for 9.5nm towards the opening, followed by a criss-cross spinnaker reaching course, gybing back and forth to the finish line off the mouth of Sippican Harbor.  On Saturday, 8 to 10 knot southwest winds came in with a little more punch after lunch, making for a day of great racing despite the pesky fog.  Then, Sunday started off the same but the forecast winds of 15-25 knots with sunny, partly-cloudy skies finally rolled in for a fantastic, near epic final race of the day with speeds on the J/111s hitting near 15 kts on a windward-leeward course!

Friday's long distance race in memory of Dick Fontaine, the first representative of the Low Tide Yacht Club in 1972 when the BBR began, saw nearly 50 boats compete in four classes on courses up to 22 miles which took them through heavy fog past West Island and towards the Elizabeth Islands, then back towards Cleveland Ledge Light.  In the PHRF Racing 1 class Friday, Henry Brauer of the Eastern YC raced the J/111 FLEET WING to first place in a dominating performance over classmates, the J/111 WICKED 2.0, skippered by Doug Curtiss of the New Bedford YC in second place and Jim Masiero sailing his J/120 URSUS MARITIMUS to third.  It was literally a clean sweep by J/Teams of PHRF 1.  It also proved to be a prophetic outcome for the weekend regatta in PHRF 1.  In PHRF Racing 2 Friday, third place went to Ted Herlihy of the NBYC aboard his J/109 GUT FEELING.

The weekend regatta saw the addition of the J/24 and J/80 one-design fleets.  In the end, there was a fabulous, dominating performance in the J/24 class by Travis Odenbach of the Rochester, N.Y., Yacht Club 11 straight firsts, making for a total of 10 pts!  Local J/80 sailor Mike Sudofsky of Beverly YC finished in second place with nearly straight 2nds for a total of 20 pts.  Third was Edward Walker of the Mosquito Yacht Club with 43 pts.

In the J-80 class, Brian Keane of the Beverly YC led by a landslide for most of the regatta after 8 races (counting seven 1sts), but did not sail the last three races on Sunday.  As a result, Charlie Van Voorhis of the Fishers Island (N.Y.) Yacht Club won with 23 pts, second was Beverly YC member Nikolas Kotsatos with 25 pts, followed by fellow BYC member Brian Keane in 3rd with 29 pts.

Finally, in the PHRF 1 Class, Henry Brauer's J/111 FLEETWING team won four of fives races and added a second but took two SCP penalties to finish second overall instead by just one point.  Winning was Doug Curtiss's J/111 WICKED 2.0 team with 6 pts.  Third was Jim Masiero's J/120 URSUS MARITIMUS with 11 pts, completing the J/Team sweep of PHRF 1 again! In PHRF 2, the J/109 GUT FEELING sailed by local veteran and 109 champion Ted Herlihy finished 5th overall, dropping two places in a tie-breaker after placing 3rd on Saturday's racing.   For more Buzzards Bay Regatta sailing information

EVIL DONUT Wins Bacardi Newport J/24s

(Newport, RI)- For the forty-nine J/Teams sailing in this year's Bacardi SailNewport Regatta, the weather was hot and so was the competition.  With temperatures ashore hovering in the high 80s, low 90s, the sailors were assured of the fact that no matter what the breeze was like in the morning, it would most assuredly develop a good sea-breeze by midday and provide the sailors but inside Narragansett Bay as well as those outside with some good sailing.

Not surprisingly, the very hot J/24 class provided some of the closet competition in the regatta.  After leading the first day, the team of WATERLINE SYSTEMS sailed by Will Welles could not hold off the hard-charging current J/24 US Nationals Champion, John Mollicone, from taking the overall prize with the infamous boat EVIL DONUT.  In fact, the regatta outcome hung in the balance on the last race of the ten race series.  Up until a disastrous 14th in race 8, it looked like the Well's WATERLINE SYSTEMS team had the regatta "in the bag".  Also in the same predicament was Mike Ingham's 11TH HOUR RACING, scoring a DNC/28 in the same race.  As a result, both Will and Mike had to use those two as their "drop" races, just about handing the regatta to Mollicone's EVIL DONUT.  In the end, the "donut boys" just had to stay within one place of the Welles team in the last race to win, which they did by snagging a 5th to Welles' 4th.  Third for the series was Mike's 11TH HOUR RACING team, fourth was Greg Griffin's GIZ and fifth was the craftiest "old man of the sea", Tony Parker on his famously-named BANGOR PACKET.

The other three classes- J/22, J/80 and J/105s- produced quite the opposite outcomes.  All three had near "runaway" winners that dominated their classes after slowly getting into the swing of things on the first day of sailing.

In the J/80s, Bruno Pasquinelli's TIAMO from Texas had four 1sts and two 3rds to win by four points over Jeff Johnstone's LITTLE FEAT from Newport with a 1-3-2-3-3-2 record for 11 pts.  Third was Brian Keane's SAVASANA just 3 pts back.  Fourth was Ray Wulff on USA-251 and fifth was local Newporter Andrew Burton on GROMIT.

The J/22s were swept by the Rochester sailing mafia!  Chris Doyle won every race, taking 6 straight firsts and not sailing the last race!  Second was the Sertl family with Nick Sertl sailing the boat, taking a 2-2-2-4-3-2-1 for 12 pts.  Third was Mark Stuhlmiller with an equally consistent record of 3-3-4-2-5-3-3 for 18 pts.

Starting out slowly on the first day but finishing with a flourish in the J/105 class was past J/105 North American Champion Duncan Hennes and Joerg Esdorn on the well-campaigned KINCSEM.  Second after the first day behind Harald Edegran and Jeremy Henderson's CONUNDRUM, KINCSEM managed to accumulate a 1-3-dnc-1-1-1-1-2 for a total of 9 points, easily winning by five points.  Second was CONUNDRUM, sailing smart and fast to score a 2-2-1-2-3-4-4 tally for 14 pts.  As has been the case with the J/105s, third place was a tightly fought affair by familiar faces.  Separated by only four points, Damian Emery's ECLIPSE sailed to a 3-1-2-3-5-5-6 for 19 points to take the last spot on the podium.  ECLIPSE narrowly beat out by one point Sean Doyle's KESTREL in fourth and Kevin Grainger's GUMPTION3 in fifth with 23 pts.  For more Bacardi Newport Sailing information

J/Classes Sailing Bacardi Newport

(Newport, RI)- 2012 marks the first year that Bacardi Brands are supporting the SailNewport Regatta as primary sponsors.  It promises to be another banner year for the event with 200+ boats participating, with 49 J/Teams participating representing about 25% of the total fleet in J/22, J/24, J/80 and J/105 classes.  The weather forecast looks promising for some great racing both in Narragansett Bay as well as offshore for the bigger one-design fleets.

The J/22s are going to have an incredibly competitive fleet, with Rochester's ring leaders factoring into the overall scheme of things.  Mark & Cory Sertl call both Newport (Jamestown) and Rochester as "home base" and will be tough competitors due to their "local knowledge" from hundreds of beer-can races in Jamestown YC's Tuesday evening races.  Not to be outdone will be Chris Doyle on US 1649, a top notch competitor on a world-class level.

Sailing in the J/24s, not surprisingly enough, are enough World, National and Regional Champions that one could not possibly predict any outcomes other than the fact that all will be competitive and it could be the "Old Man of the Sea" that clobbers them all!  On that note, it's wonderful to see Tony Parker on his BANGOR PACKET continuing to have fun in the middle of an American Presidential election year (ask him why in the beer tent after sailing)!  Never underestimate this wily old fox, having made some Melges 24 World Champions and J/24 World Champions in the past wonder why they ever tangled with him in the first place!  Certain to give Tony a run for the money will be some young bucks like Will Welles, Tim Healey, Travis Odenbach, Mike Ingham and Matt Herbster, amongst others-- their collective pedigree as champions are undeniable!

J/80 world also sees a few ring leaders amongst the core of the fleet.  A combination of world-class sailors are distributed across the fleet and there's no telling how it will all end up in the final tally as all have proven in various Worlds, Key Wests and North Americans to play or win at the top of the heap in various classes.  Chief amongst the top teams will be Bruno Pasquinelli from Houston, Texas; Brian Keane from Buzzards Bay, MA (multiple J/105 Key West Champion); and some tough "Newport locals" like Andrew Burton, Chris Bulger and Jeff Johnstone.

The J/105s may have one of the most competitive J/Fleets rolling.  With past champion 105 sailors participating like Nelson Weiderman, Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM, Kevin Grainger on GUMPTION3 and Damian Emery on ECLIPSE, it simply means the battle lines will be drawn early and fast amongst the leaderboard in this trio of gunfighters.  For more Bacardi Newport Sailing information

Great J/24 & J/80 Kieler Woche Regatta

(Kiel, Germany)- This past week saw one of the largest regattas in Germany finish with a flourish with some great sailing for both the J/24 fleet participating and a growing J/80 class.

In the fifteen boat J/80 class, there were Polish and German crews sailing a good series.  Dominating the class was Germany's Martin Menzner from Kieler YC, winning with a remarkable six 1sts and four 2nds to simply crush the class, eight points clear of second place finisher Malte Christopherson, also of Germany.  Third overall was Thomas Dehler, fourth was Fyn Terveer winning a tie-breaker over fifth place finisher Karsten Thode.

There was a fantastic turnout for the J/24s, with 33 teams attending from Sweden, The Netherlands and Germany.  The J/24s also saw a top team dominate the proceedings, with Kal Mares winning with 29 pts, followed by Frank Schonfedlt in second with 43 pts.  Rounding out the podium was past champion Manfred Konig with 50 pts.  Top Swedish team was Per-Hakan Persson in 7th overall.  For more Kiel Week Regatta sailing information

J/24 TUNDRA ROSE Wins Seattle NOOD!

J/80 SKYE ROCKET & J/105  DELIRIUM Win Class(Seattle, WA)- When Seattle decides to put on a show weather-wise, she is a gorgeous place: Mountains abound, Puget Sound and Lake Union and Lake Washington provide ideal racecourses. Sure, it's dark and stormy here in the deepest months of winter, but in the summer, Seattle simply can't be beat. Case-in-point- this past weekend's Sperry Topsider NOOD regatta. While Sunday ended up being a rainy day of sailing (drum roll for the stereotypes), Friday and Saturday were the stuff of sailing legend-  perfect breeze, more sunshine than most Seattleites know how to handle, and enough psyched sailors to create a great event.

Showcasing three-consecutive days of top-tier sailing in various weather and water conditions, J/24 Skipper Mark Laura and his boat, TUNDRA ROSE, was declared top overall boat at the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta in Seattle. As a reward for mastering the Puget Sound race course, Laura and crew won an invitation to compete in the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Championship Regatta in the British Virgin Islands at the end of the season to compete aboard Sunsail 44S against the other overall winners in the 2012 series.

What may have earned Mark's team the top-billing for the regatta was the fact that the top four teams all finished within three points of one another after seven closely fought races.  Mark's team started off with a bomber race- a 9th- but managed to rattle off a string of four 3rds and two 5ths to win by only 1 pt with no first places-- that's consistency!  Tied for second were PEARL and TREMENDOUS SLOUCH- accounting for three 1sts in the event.  Winning the tie-break with two of those 1sts was TUNDRA ROSE sailed by Mike Johnson's team on PEARL, their 3-1-3-7-11-6-1 for 32 pts was enough to secure second place.  Third was Scott Milne on TREMENDOUS SLOUCH, sailing to a 2-7-1-10-2-8-2 for 32 pts to snatch third overall.  Fourth was SELF ABUSE (Harry Dursch) and fifth was R.Y.L.A.H. (John Mason).

The J/80 class had a tight, four boat fleet with well-sailed boats.  Just about all the boats won a race, indicative of how close the racing was overall.  And, there were no runaway winners.  Fun racing.  In the end, it was Bill McKinnon's SKYE ROCKET that won with just 19 pts.  Second was HEART ATTACK sailed by Joel Shapiro with 21 pts and third was David Schutte on TAJ MAJAL with 23 pts.

The J/105s also had good teams returning from last year and it was clear that a trio of boats were having a heckuva regatta.  Like their J/80 counterparts, in this case five races were won by different boats over nine races-- a pretty equitable distribution.  Making fewer mistakes than most was Jerry Diercks' DELIRIUM, amassing a 1-4-6-1-2-2-3-3-3-3 for 25 pts.  The fun-loving "Italians" aboard Lorenzo Migliorini's ALLEGRO VIVACE were leading after six races but maybe had too much fun on Saturday night?  In the end, their record of 4-5-2-2-1-1-1-7-4 for 27 pts fell just short of snagging gold, having to settle for silver on the podium.  Third was Doug Schenk's FREE BOWL OF SOUP with a 2-1-5-6-5-3-4-1-2 for 29 points, nearly overtaking their friends on the VIVACE.  Fourth was Jim Geros' LAST TANGO and fifth was Erik Kristen's JUBILEE.   Sailing photo credits- Jan Anderson     Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.  For more Sperry Topsider Seattle NOOD Regatta sailing information

Seattle NOOD Sailing Preview

J/24, J/80 and J/105 One-Designs Sailing
(Seattle, WA)- The Emerald City as it's known in the Pacific Northwest is getting ready to host its annual spring sailing extravaganza, the Sperry Topsider Seattle NOOD Regatta, on the spectacular waters of Puget Sound.  With enormous snow-capped mountains in the background and lush green pine forests cascading down the slopes, the setting could not be more picturesque.  With a forecast of partly cloudy skies and light to moderate southerly winds, it gives hope to the "locals" who are used to sailing in one of the "wettest" metropolitan cities in the world (average 220 rain-days per year).  The sailors may yet have a beautiful weekend of sailing to start off the Seattle sailing season.  Even then, lousy weather, rain, fog, drizzle don't dampen the spirits of sailors in these parts, it's all just part of the laid-back, fun-loving atmosphere.

There is a strong contingent of J Sailors participating in the regatta in three one-design classes of J/24s, J/80s and J/105s.  In the fourteen boat J/24 class, some familiar names that have been near the top of the leader board over time will be present.  Amongst those contenders will be Scott Milne on TREMENDOUS SLOUCH, Mark Laura on TUNDRA ROSE, Richard Bustamante on HABANERO and Noel Morgan on JOSS.

In the J/80 class, it's a tougher call since most of the boats are well-sailed in a small fleet.  Nevertheless, past participants like Bryan Rhoes on CRAZY IVAN, David Schutte on TAJ MAJAL and Bill McKinnon on SKYE ROCKET will be in the hunt.  Perhaps they'll all have a bit of anxiety if HEART ATTACK sailed by Joel Shapiro beats them all!

The J/105s have a number of good teams returning from last year as well as some new additions.  Certainly looking for podium finishes based on past performance will be Lorenzo Migliorini's ALLEGRO VIVACE, Jim Geros' LAST TANGO, Doug Schenk's FREE BOWL OF SOUP and Jerry Diercks' DELIRIUM.  For more Sperry Topsider Seattle NOOD Regatta sailing information

Annapolis NOOD Sailing Preview

NEW J/111 One-Design Class Debuts
(Annapolis, MD)- While the Sperry Topsider crew can't guarantee awesome sailing, they certainly can make sure the sailors are happy with their togs and clogs and make life ashore festive and fun.  With a forecast of light to moderate winds for Thursday/ Friday out of the south and a weak front switching the winds into the northerly quadrants at a robust 4-7 knots for Saturday/ Sunday, the PRO's will be on their toes to get some decent sailing in for the madding crowds.  How many teams will be in attendance?  With nearly 200 boats registered, there will be over 1,100+ J sailors crewing on 141 J's (that's 72% of the fleet!).

The J One-Design fleets are all well-represented and are broken down into five J/111s, a dozen J/109s, aye-teen J/105s, ocho J/35s, move J/30s, thirty-four J/80s, nineteen J/24s and thirty-six J/22s.  In fact, it's quite a significant turn-out of the 35 foot J-Designs- J/35s from the 80s, J/105s from the 90s and the new J/111s.

On that score, the J/111 fleet is shaping up to be a good test of how crews adopt to the flatter, choppier, shiftier waters of the Chesapeake Bay.  Three of the 111 teams all sailed in Charleston, having to cope with massive easterly swells from an offshore storm in NW to NE winds, making for a rolly-polly ride upwind and downwind.  Past champion VELOCITY sailed by Marty Roesch will surely be on the comeback trail and CRW Champion RAGIN led by Bob Moran and 3rd place finisher Henry Brauer on FLEETWING will be challenging for the top of the pack.  With those three as a benchmark, it will be interesting to see how quickly the other two boats, Jim Whited's BAD CAT and Anthony Culotta's CUORE DI LEONE fair against some of their well-practiced compatriots.

With three dozen teams showing up on the starting line, the J/22s continue to demonstrate that a bit of chutzpah, fun and camaraderie go a long way for long-term fleet success.  There are many familiar faces in this crowd as well as some new ones.  The event may yet turn into another donnybrook between the Rochester crowd versus the Annapolis gang.  Leading the Rochester crew will be Chris Doyle on THE JUG 41 and Vic Snyder on MO'MONEY.  The local Naptown crews are pretty formidable, amongst them will be Jeff Todd on HOT TODDY, Al Terhune on DAZZLER, Sandy Adzick on HOT TICKET and Todd Hiller on LEADING EDGE, just to name a few.

After nearly 35 years of racing, you'd think the J/24 teams would have an established pecking order amongst the top teams.  NOT!  As has been atypical of many top international one-design classes, the J/24 is so easy to pick up fast by good sailors that just about anyone can be competitive in a short period of time.  Same holds true now as it did back in 1977.  However, octogenarian Tony Parker on the storied BANGOR PACKET XXX is the local Maine/DC boy who's been keeping all the latest boys and girls in check.  After all, many a J/24 World Champion has crossed swords with Tony and lost-- he's still sharp as a tack after all those years of "ultimate fighting" in the J/24 class.  Making sure they learned a thing or two and hope to stay in front of Tony are recent J/24 World Champ Tim Healey on 11TH HOUR RACING from Newport, Robby Brown from St Pete on USA 799, Travis Odenbach on HONEY BADGER and Pete Kassal on SPACEMAN SPIFF.

An excellent turnout of thirty-four J/80s re-affirms their class strength after good fleets at Key West, Bacardi Sailing Week and Charleston Race Week-- all events on the J/80 Winter Circuit.  J/80 sailors are having a lot of fun racing their fast, closely-matched A-sail boats.  Teams that could be factors are changing as some teams improve their capabilities on boat-speed, boat-handling and tactics.  Showing great improvements recently has been Kristen Robinson and team aboard ANGRY CHAMELEON.  Others in the hunt will include Andy Burton on GROMIT from Newport, Chris Chadwick's CHURCH KEY, Bruno Pasquinelli's TIAMO, Mike Sudofsky's BOB DYLAN, Ramzi Bannura's STACKED DECK, Will Crump & Tom Klok's R80, Brian Keane's SAVASANA and Erik Storck's NA Champion RUMOR.

The J/30 sailors continue to enjoy the first cruiser-racer ever built by the J/Boats Team.  And, many "classics" of this genre abound.  These teams have a scream, no doubt about it. So, making any predictions about an outcome are certainly beyond the comprehension of even the J/30 sailors themselves.  Has something to do with rum, beer, sun, fun and varying degrees of that combination over three days of sailing.  So, working on past performance, we can at least look for Pam Morri's BUMP, Ron Anderson's INSATIABLE, George Watson's AVITA and Bob Rutsch & Mike Costello's BEPOP to be hunting around the front of the pack most times this weekend.

The eighteen boat J/105 fleet will be as competitive as ever.  Chesapeake locals such as Peter McChesney on the now famous MYSTERY MACHINE, Chris & Carolyn Groobey on JAVA, Andrew Kennedy on BAT IV, Bob Reeves on A-TRAIN, the Gitchell's on TENACIOUS and Jack Biddle on RUM PUPPY will certainly be factors in the top five.  Toss in top three J/105 NA's sailor Jim Rathbun on HEY JUDE from Toronto, ONT, Canada and some US Naval Academy Sailing Team college sailors and you're certain to see a running gun battle taking place on the waters just off Easton's Point.

J/35 sailors continue to enjoy one of the most successful 35 footers ever built as racer-cruisers.  Love the boat names, some of the old classics and some new variations.  T-BONE, AUNT JEAN, DAKOTA GIRL, BAD COMPANY, MEDICINE MAN, REBEL YELL.  Hell, might as well be at a Harley Davidson reunion in the Badlands of North Dakota, don't ya think?  Free tattoos go with this gang (although the J/30 guys might argue this point).  And, they love it, working those grinders on the massive kevlar/carbon genoas and monster masthead spinnakers to go faster and faster.  Cool boat.  Cooler crews.  Predictions here?  None.  Teams change, teams get hungover. Bless'em all, they will certainly have fun and one may guess it would be a dead heat with their J/30 friends for the highest "fun quotient" amongst the J/Clan.

At a dozen strong, the J/109s have amongst their fleet three past J/109 North American Champions in the form of Bill Sweetser's RUSH (the Local) versus Rick Lyall's STORM (the Outsider- just a Long Island Sound guy), all contending with that silver fox from Buzzards Bay/Cape, Ted Herlihy on GUT FEELING (the Foreigner- so far East the Earth ends in a cliff).  In the end, way too hard to call this one with some many other strong teams tossed into the mix.  For more Sperry Topsider Sailing World NOOD Annapolis sailing information

San Diego & Santa Barbara Epic Opening Days

J/105's Smoke the Fleets
(California, USA)- The tradition has been a long-standing one for yacht clubs around the world to have an "opening day", symbolic of the start of a new year, a new sailing season, re-affirmation of belonging to the "local tribe", participating in various "tribal rites of passage" with lots of pomp, circumstance, dressy stuff and good-natured bantering fueled for the most part by good food, drink and friends.

Nowhere is the tradition more laid-back than it is on the West Coast of America.  After all, watching sunsets on the beach is a right of passage, as is surfing to Hawaii on massively fast "sleds", and blasting down the Cal/Mex coastline to some destination called La Paz, Ensenada, Cabo or PV.  This year, two of those opening days were in for a treat, atypical conditions that challenged the best of the best in San Diego and Santa Barbara.

San Diego YC's opening day was an eye-opener.  "Fresh to frightening" or "epic" may have been adjectives assigned to massive chop, 18-30 knot winds and a bit thrill ride of for some.  Of course, the J/105 teams were simply licking their chops, knowing their erstwhile competitors might be doing the wrong kind of "pole dance" as they spun around in broaches all day long!  The SDYC opening day event is an incredibly fun "pursuit race", where slowest start first and fastest last.  In fact, J/22s started first and TP 52s were last!

After the fleet crashed and bashed, surfed and broached their way home, it was the J/105s that swept the fleet- WINGS (Dennis & Sharon Case) that finished first, followed by AIRBOSS and TRIPLE PLAY in 2nd and 3rd, respectively.  As was commented by one of their crew- " Surfing and planing on the downwind leg and having control in the beats were the keys to success and how much fun was THAT!"  Awesome stuff.

On the Santa Barbara YC opening day side of things, their classic "WNW" breeze blew in fresh and fast making for a spectacular afternoon of sailing.  With J/105s, J/29, J/92, J/100, J/145, J/22 and J/24s all making a go of it, it was the J/105s that had a spectacular showing.  Leading the fleet home were SHORT SKIRT followed by Ken Kieding's new ADVANCE (the old ROCK'N'ROLL) and ESCAPADE.

For more SDYC (http://www.sdyc.org) and SBYC (http://www.sbyc.org) 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 Sailors Leading Volvo Ocean Race- Leg 5

(Itajai, Brazil)- The Volvo Ocean Race is a game of logistics, luck, seamanship and smarts.  Gotta have it all to win and, like in one-design racing, those who make the least mistakes wins.  Such a maxim is applying in a huge way to the 2011-2012 edition of the VOR.  So far, a bunch of guys who've sailed one-design J/80s in their hometowns in Spain, including skipper Iker Martinez, are winning sailing their blue-colored beauty called TELEFONICA.  Another contender happens to be another one-design champion, multi-J/24 World Champ Ken Read skippering the red & black "octo-pussy" called PUMA Mar Mastro.  Incredibly, these two teams sailed an epic, mind-blowing fifth leg from Auckland, New Zealand to Itajai, Brazil-- by far the toughest sailing leg in the whole event.  A down-to-the-wire finish with classic one-design boat-to-boat tactics (keep yourself between your competitors and the mark!) saw Ken's PUMA Mar Mostro picking up their first leg win of the race, by just ten minutes elapsed time over Iker's TELEFONICA!

"Unbelievable!", reported Kenny. "Nobody quit and the atmosphere on the boat was really cool and everybody was ready to tackle the task at hand. I'm very proud of this team. It's a great feeling." Kenny further went on to say, "I don't remember when I wrote my last blog. I don't really remember when I slept last. We started rationing food days ago and had our last meal this am. And I am really, really happy.

This has been an epic leg. Like nothing any of us in the sailing world has ever seen. It seems like every leg we come in and say, "This was the toughest leg ever." But, this time we mean it. This was the toughest leg ever.

Going around Cape Horn was amazing. Our duel with the incredibly unlucky Groupama. The remarkable fortune of Telefonica to get the weather window they did in order to eat up a 450 mile gap in the last 2,000 miles. And to be able to hold them off not once, but twice, drifting to the finish when they closed the gap to within 100 yards. Just unreal.

I am very proud of the boat building team (New England Boatworks), the shore team and all the engineers and designers that put this boat together. Your boat made it folks. It is in great shape and lord only knows we put her through the ringer. The sailing team salutes you all.

And to the sailing team who hung in there through thick and thin, amazing work. As safe as we can be. All in great spirits. And we get to do it all over again in two weeks.

This is a leg and a trip that I will remember forever. Probably my last foray into the Southern Ocean. An adventure within an adventure you might call it. Glad this one is behind us and the "friendly" confines of the Atlantic Ocean await."  We wish Kenny and the PUMA Mar Mastro boys "Fair winds and following seas" on the next leg.  And, as a fellow J sailor, we also wish the best to Iker and his TELEFONICA team.