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

City Sail--Young Sailors Learn the Ropes in Record Numbers!

(Hudson River, NJ)-  What could be more incredibly cool than that?!?  City Sail--a series of one-week instructional programs Hudson River Community Sailing hosts for local youth each summer- enjoyed its highest enrollment ever this year, with nearly 200 kids showing up to learn maritime skills, leadership, and have some fun on the water.

The program incorporated various themes this summer. The America's Cup and the Olympics both served as rallying points, as students learned the history of the events and competed in races of their own. An ecology-themed program saw kids testing water samples and examining them with microscopes under the guidance of Hudson River Park naturalists.

An important objective of the program is to plant the seeds of leadership in young people. Will, an 8th grader from Manhattan, described it this way: "I liked that we learned how to do everything on the boat ourselves and at the end of the week [I] could do every job on the boat." Each of the ten individual week-long camps runs a total of 35 hours, Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm. Students are primarily from the 6th- 8th grades, with some high school attendees rounding out the mix.

A significant proportion of students attended with the help of scholarships provided by HRCS with funds raised from events such as the "Dark and Stormy". One parent, convinced she could not afford even a subsidized rate, was assured that scholarship funds could cover the difference. Realizing that her child would be able to join in this fantastic experience brought her to tears on the phone with Program Director Alex Baum. "We really work hard to try make sure every kid who really wants to get out and do this, can have the opportunity to do so," says Alex.  Thanks for the contribution from Seth Stephenson

Learn more about Hudson Community Sailing-- contributions always Welcome!

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

Perfect Sailing- J/Fest San Francisco

(San Francisco, CA)- It was picture perfect weather on San Francisco Bay for J/Fest, with mild winds gaining steadily through the day. Even the tides were kind, allowing rusty crews a chance to remember and practice their skills without paying too heavily before the racing season kicks into full swing.   Thirty one J/Teams participated in this year's J/Fest, with twenty J/105s, five J/120s and six J/24s.

Like their counterparts way across the continental divide in Charleston, the San Francisco J/24 crews had a serious three-way battle for first place.  Perhaps it was more of a rugby scrum than anything else.  The regatta winner was determined on a tie-breaker while third place was only one point back!  Talk about suffering a bit of anxiety on the race-track.  Settling the score by virtue of having more firsts was Darren Cumming's DOWNTOWN UPROAR, starting well and hanging tough to earn a 1-2-3-1-3 record for 10 pts.  Losing the tie-break and finishing second was Luther Strayer on LITTLE WING with a 2-3-2-2-1 tally also for 10 pts.  The only other double race-winner was Rich Jepsen's RAIL TO RAIL, gathering a 4-1-1-3-2 tally for 11 pts.  Fun, tough competition amongst those J/24 crews.

The J/120s also saw a hard fought series amongst the top three with just three points separating the teams.  In the end, Barry Lewis' CHANCE sailed consistently to garner a 4-1-3-1-2 record for 11 pts.  John Wimer on DESDEMONA sailed fast, but not fast and smart enough, to collect a 2-3-4-3-1 score for 13 pts.  Were it not for a third race scoring penalty, Steve Madeira's MR MAGOO may have had a better shot at 1st or 2nd.  Instead, the "mean green fighting machine" that is the "MAGOO" managed a 1-4-scp(4)-2-3 for 14 pts to round out the podium.

The J/105s had a great turnout with a highly competitive fleet of twenty boats.  There were some familiar names again at the top of the fleet.  This time, it was Jeff Litfin and John Case on MOJO that simply had this weekend completely dialed-in and walked off with first place.  MOJO's 2-4-2-4-2 record was blindingly consistent, winning no races, but sailing fast and conservatively smart to with with only 14 pts, 7 pts clear of the fleet.  Second was 2011 Rolex Big Boat Series Winner Scooter Simmons on BLACKHAWK, winning two races but having a tough time in the other three (7-6-6) to hang on to second place with 21 pts.  Third was another Rolex Big Boat Series winner, Bruce Stone on ARBITRAGE, starting slowly then improving over the course of the weekend, scoring a 9-5-3-6-1 for a 24 pts total.  Bruce's team just edged out Adam Spiegel's team on JAM SESSION on a tie-breaker, Adam's team accumulated a 5-10-4-2-3 for 24 pts to finish fourth.  Fifth was Tom Kennelly's WONDER, sailing one of their best regattas in J/105s so far.   Sailing Photo Credits by Chris Ray   For more J/Fest San Francisco sailing information

Get Ready for J/Fest San Francisco!

(San Francisco, CA)- It's almost April and that means the annual gathering of the J/Clan in the Bay area is near.  Get ready for a weekend full of one design and handicap racing April 21-22 - for J/Boats only.

St. Francis Yacht Club will once again host the five race event, long popular with the J/24, J/105, and J/120 fleets.

Registration is now open and the Notice of Race can be downloaded at www.stfyc.com. Early registration ends on Wednesday, April 18.  Don't miss out on this annual opportunity to mix it up with your fellow J/Boaters and the cap toss melee!

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's Dominate "The HOOD" Regatta

(Houston, TX)- The Houston Yacht Club along with their neighbors in the "hood", Lakewood and Texas Corinthian YCs, always seem to be favorites amongst sailors for hosting regattas.  For all the reasons outlined above when talking about our friends in Texas, they pull out all the stops and make sure everyone is welcome-- and, most importantly, do it in a "big" way so everyone is happy!  This past weekend's HOOD Regatta (Houston Offshore One-Design) was an epochal, history-making event for the region.  There were one hundred boats that showed up and the J sailors simply dominated the proceedings, showing up with 48 J's in total spread across J/22s (19), J/24s (12), J/80s (13) and J/105s (4)- by a country furlong the most dominant "brand" at the regatta- 50% of the fleet!  Might as well have been called "J/Fest Pre-Regatta"!

In the biggest fleet of the event, the J/22s saw some excellent racing across the board with a few surprises, twists and turns thrown in for good measure.  Past J/22 World Champion Terry Flynn had a rough go of it, sailing his J/22 TEJAS to a hard fought third place with a 2-3-1-2-5-11 record for 24 pts, losing out any chance at first because of the "slow" last race.  Reigning supreme was a long-time road warrior Rob Johnston from Dallas' Rush Creek YC, sailing his J/22 DIESEL SNACK to a pretty convincing first overall, snagging four bullets, a 3rd and 6th to win by 8 pts.  Second was another Dallas team, Max scott racing FAST LANE to a 4-5-2-3-2-5 for 21 points, holding off the indomitable Terry Flynn for one more regatta.  Fourth was Brank Koeopke sailing RICH SKANK (?) and fifth was Ruthie Lambert skippering OUT OF SIGHT.

The J/24s had a real donnybrook for the top three, with all scores being settled between the teams in the last race.  Emerging from the dust bowl of a scrum was Bobby Harden's team on MR HAPPY, their 3-1-3-3-2-3 for 15 pts being the most consistent of the top teams.  Winning going into the last two races was Bryan Dryer on RUM LINE, but Bryan's team couldn't hold it together, adding a 7-5 to their previous 1-2-2-2 record to finish second with 19 pts.  After starting slowly with a 4-6, Doug Weakly's team on AMBASSADOR screamed into contention with three straight bullets, only to blow it in the last race with an 8th for 21 pts to secure third overall.  Lying fourth was Corey Harding on another "happy" boat- HAPPY DANCE.  And, fifth was Dov Kivlovitz on USA 93!

There was a great turnout for the J/80s in this event.  Bill Rose's team on KICKS simply did "kick up their heels" and show their transom to the fleet, amassing an impressive two 1sts and three 2nds for 8 pts to win by the healthiest margin in the entire regatta- 12 pts in five races!  Paul Parsons raced PARSONS PROJECT to a 1-2-6(scp)-5-6 for 20 pts, good enough for second.  Just behind them it was a full-on wild ride for four boats, all of whom nearly all tied each other after the last race!  Winning the tie-breaker for third was Claude Welles on JACKRABBIT, fourth was Forbes Durdin on MOJITO.  Winning the tie-break for fifth was Al Poindexter skippering ANDALE, sixth was Alan Bates on WHISKEY TANGO.

While the J/105s may have had one of the smallest fleets in the regatta, it might as well have been a three-way match race for top honors.  No quarter given here, or there, or anywhere!  At the end, the top three boats finished just three points apart after five races.  Emerging from the scuffles in the last race was Bob Brann's RADIANCE, winning with a 3-2-2-1-1 for 9 pts.  Missing out a strong opportunity to win was Uzi Ozeri's INFINITY.  Uzi's team started by firing off a 1-1-1, then succumbed perhaps to a case of missing brain cells (or "slows") on Sunday, amassing a 3-4 for 10 points to drop into second.  Hanging tough all regatta long was Malcolm Brenner's BABE, sailing to a 2-3-3-2-2 for 12 pts to snag the bronze on the podium.

Finally, "Thanks" must be given to the amazing program laid out by the event's sponsors.  Mount Gay Rum had a bevy of Mt. Gay Girls running around serving up Rum drinks.  The HYC Ragnots also supported the event with "Weinerfest", raising money for the HYC Youth programs-- no question the crowds seem to be pleased with the delicious combination of wieners and Mt Gay for dinner!    Sailing photo credits- Lacy Photos   Sailing photo credits- Byrne Photo   For more J/80 & J/105 sailing information.    For more J/22 & J/24 sailing information

  

Marblehead NOOD Mecca for J/Sailors

Huge J/105, J/24, J/30 Fleet Turnouts
(Marblehead, MA)- With the Sperry Top-Sider Marblehead NOOD Regatta kicking off on Thursday and the J/105 North Americans coming in August, the racing scene on Boston's North Shore is heating up this summer.  By Sunday afternoon, the overall winner of the Marblehead NOOD gets the final invitation to November's Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Championship, during which the overall winners from all eight NOOD locations will race comfy, slow charter-boats equipped with monster blenders and ice-makers in the British Virgin Islands-- pre-equipped with recipes for "painkillers" and "mudslides"?

For many J/105 sailors, the Marblehead NOOD will serve as a tune up for the class's North American championship, which takes place at Eastern YC from August 10 to 14. "Our local fleet of 17 regular competitors will grow to 30 boats," says class representative Jack Attridge. "They're coming from as far away as California, Texas, and Canada.  The local J-105 fleet has attracted about 20 boats on a regular basis for recent NOOD regattas," continues Attridge. "It's a very competitive, owner-driver friendly fleet. The J/105 North American's committee, headed by Doug Morgan of STEEL AWAY III, has been very busy putting together a first-class event and the week promises to be fun and very competitive."

Doug Morgan and his father, Peter, are stalwarts of Marblehead's J/105 fleet. "For years, the J/105 fleet has been growing and attracting some of the best one-design sailors in this area," says the elder Morgan. "It's likely that the J/105 fleet will be the largest in the NOODS this year and probably the most competitive, since the early arrivers for the NAs are serious enough about their racing campaigns to come here two weeks early to race in the NOOD regatta to gain some local knowledge."

The Morgans and other members of Marblehead's J/105 Fleet No. 2 will be rolling out the red carpet for their guests over the next few weeks. "We're working hard to assure that the J/105 visitors for both regattas have a great experience in Marblehead," says Morgan. "It's one of the best one-design racing areas anywhere."

Certain to be amongst the leaders of the J/105s will be champions like Brian Keane on SAVASANA from Beverly YC, past Marblehead NOOD Champions Stew Neff and Henry Brauer on SCIMITAR from Eastern YC, Bernie Girod from Santa Barbara YC on ROCK & ROLL, Kevin Grainger on GUMPTION 3 from New York YC, Bill Zartler on SOLARIS from Houston YC, Joerg Esdorn on KINCSEM from American YC and Ken Colburn on GHOST from New York YC (after his recent Swan 42 Nationals win he will be further testing himself against the best J/105 one-design sailors in the world as part of his New York YC Invitational preparations).

In addition, two very large contingents of "classic" J-racers will be on hand to have some fun of their own.  Amongst them is a strong J/24 contingent.  Will be it Caroline Ross's LONDON CALLING leading the pack, or Greg William's GRACE UNDER PRESSURE taking the HIGH FIVE from Matt Herbster or John Denman's AIRODOODLE just limping along in the front of the pack?  Time will tell.

In the J/30s, it's pretty clear this group not only has fun, but they've also anted up the stakes with the inclusion of "The Fat Lady Sings" led by former SAIL magazine chief Eric Cressy aboard.  Should be an interesting class to watch, anything can happen with this crew-- it all depends on which crew "won the party" the night before!!  Thanks for contributions from Sailing World's Michael Lovett.  For more Marblehead NOOD sailing information.

  

ARBITRAGE Crushes SF NOODs

(San Francisco, CA)-  This year's Sperry Topsider San Francisco NOOD Regatta was marked by "classic" San Francisco Bay conditions- "nuking" when the interior Valleys hit 90-100 degrees in the extreme hot weather the American west/southwest coasts have been experiencing.  Two solid days of breezes and sunny skies with one day hitting the upper end of the sea-breeze range, blowing 15-25 kts gusting to 30 knots.  The sailors who know the Bay love it and live for these conditions when they see it-- cool, foggy mornings punctuated by walking down to the local Peet's Coffee bar for fresh-roasted, fresh-brewed yummy coffee and breakfast treats.  Then, head down to the Marina District to savor the cool, light morning breeze and sunshine, waiting in anticipation of another day of racing on one of the  sailing world's more spectacular venues.

This year saw a nice turnout of J/24s with nine entered for the event and the J/105s had their usual strong turnout with fun, tight racing with seventeen entered to compete for that great "free" trip to race in Tortola BVI if you happened to have the best record and performance for all classes in the regatta!

Perhaps savoring it more than most this year was Bruce Stone (pictured at right with tactician Nicole Breault).  Having just competed in the Rolex Block Island Race Week and finishing 2nd in the J/105 class after five days of sailing, Bruce and crew flew direct from Boston to San Francisco to sail Saturday/ Sunday in the SF NOODs!  Mike Lovett from SAILING WORLD magazine caught up with Bruce after the first day-

"Bruce Stone really, really likes racing J/105s. On Saturday morning, he flew from Rhode Island, where he'd just spent the week competing at Block Island Race Week, to San Francisco, where he had just enough time to zip down to St. Francis YC and lead his Arbitrage team out to the racecourse for the first start of the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta.

In Block Island, the team was racing a borrowed boat in light and variable conditions; returning to San Francisco, they were back in a familiar boat, racing in familiar, 18-25 knot conditions. "It was like putting on an old pair of shoes," says Nicole Breault, who calls tactics and trims mainsail. "And that's such a good feeling. You just know when it's happening. All the information is coming in, everyone is doing their job, and the boat-handling is like clockwork. If we had to make a last-minute douse at the leeward gate, the team just made it happen."

With flawless crew work, stellar starts, and a never-say-die attitude, the Arbitrage team put up a 2-1-2-1-2 scoreline to win the 17-boat J/105 class and earn the event's overall prize, which includes an invite to compete in the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Championship regatta this November in the British Virgin Islands. "There were plenty of times this weekend when we found ourselves in a tight spot," says Stone. "At a couple of the starts, we were sandwiched between two good sailors and had to fight to maintain our lane. Other times, we'd get the slows in the heavy chop, and we'd have to make some adjustments to get back up to speed."

In addition to Stone and Breault, the Arbitrage team includes Terry Brennan (pit), Mike Straus (trimmer), Will Madison (bow), and Marc Acheson (mast). "What makes the teamwork good," says Breault, "is when you do make mistakes, you fix them right away."

Stone moved to San Francisco from the East Coast in the early 1980s and has been running a bi-coastal program for the past 11 years. "We keep Arbitrage here on the Bay, and then we borrow boats on the East Coast," he says. "We find owners who want to race but don't have a team, or don't have the experience, and then we bring the team, help re-rig the boat, and go racing. I pay the variable costs, and they provide the boat.

"We've raced seven different boats in 11 years," he continues. "A few years ago, on Power Play at the Sail Newport Regatta, we had three bullets in one day. The owner was just ecstatic. He said, 'I've never been on a boat that had one bullet, let alone three in one day.' We had him doing mast, and he just had a blast. It's worked out really well that way."

Bruce's ARBITRAGE team ended up winning with a 2-1-2-1-2 record for 8 pts.  San Francisco Bay veteran Rolf Kaiser on DONKEY JACK finished 2nd with a 6-7-3-2-1 tally for 19 pts.  Scooter Simmons on BLACKHAWK was third with a 1-5-4-4-6 for 20 pts.  4th and 5th were settled on a tie-breaker with Jason Woodley on RISK taking the 4th and Jeff Littfin on MOJO taking 5th.

Amongst the J/24s, it was another past winner taking the gold with Mike Whitfield on TMC RACING winning with four firsts!  Second was Don Taylor sailing ON BELAY, third Darren Cumming's DOWNTOWN UPROAR, fourth Luther Strayer and fifth Raymond Lynch's BAD FISH.  For more information on the Sperry Topsider San Francisco NOOD Regatta.   Sailing Photo Credits- Tim Wilkes Photography

  

SRM, CO2, CAPER, AVET, HP Win LBRW

A J/125, J/105, J/120, J/80, J/24 Enjoy Long Beach
(Long Beach, CA)- As the West Coast's largest keelboat regatta, Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week on June 24-26 hosted 148 boats in 15 classes.  Two J fleets were resolved on tie-breaker count-backs: Gary Mozer's CURRENT OBSESSION 2 over David Gould's AIR BOSS in J/105s and John Laun's CAPER over Chuck Nichols' CC RIDER in J/120s. And, Jim Madden's J/125 STARK RAVING MAD walked off with their class.

Long Beach has long had the reputation of being the home of the notorious summer sea breeze that roars down the San Pedro Channel like an express train. So what was with the wimpy six to seven knots that greeted 150 boats in 15 classes for the first day of competition in Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week? Michael Johnson towed his J/24 HOT PURSUIT down from Seattle expecting something more than the wimpy six to seven knots he saw Friday.  Johnson (1-3), despite sharing the J/24 lead with David Klatt's JADED (2-2) from Ventura, said, 'We were hoping to have more wind---and more sun, too, actually. That's why we came down from Seattle.'  After winning the J/24 Western Regionals, he had hoped to use the event to prepare for the class worlds at Buenos Aries in November.

On Day two it didn't look much different.  When Jim Madden and his Newport Harbor Yacht Club crew on the J/125 STARK RAVING MAD arrived at their boat Saturday morning for the second day of racing they ditched the dismal forecast for continuing light wind and proceeded to pack heavier sails.  'We saw the sun was out,' Madden said, knowing that in Southern California rising inland desert temperatures tend to suck in offshore sea breeze for sailing like a vacuum cleaner.  True to form, after fourth and third place finishes Friday, their J/125 sprang to life to sweep its three races Saturday and jump into a tie for the lead in the PHRF-2 class. Most impressive was that as the scratch boat in the class, STARK RAVING MAD, with a plus-3 rating, owes from 12 to 33 seconds per mile to its six rivals but finished far enough ahead in all three races to correct out on handicap time.  Of the wonderful wind, Madden said, 'We were reading 15 and 16 knots and a couple of puffs to 17' - about double the forecasts which, incidentally, call for 9 knots from the west-southwest Sunday after the sun breaks through for the two races remaining starting at noon.

The final days racing saw many scores settled amongst the fleet leaders in all classes.  In PHRF 2, Jim's SRM crew on the J/125 simply dominated their class, garnering a 4-3-1-1-1-2-1 for 13 points to win their class with ease.

In the J/120s, it was clear that the top three boats were going to have a closely fought competition for the lead between John Laun's CAPER, Charles Nichols' CC RIDER and John Snook's JIM.  After the dust settled on the last day, CAPER's record of 1-5-1-4-1 for  30 pts won the tie-break over CC RIDER's tally of 3-1-2-3-3 for 30 pts.  Just 4 pts back was JIM snagging a 4-2-7-1-2 for 34 pts.  Fourth was Peter Zarcades on MELTEMI with a 6-4-4-2-5 for 39 pts and fifth was Mike Hatch on J ALMIGHTY with a 2-8-3-5-4 for 40 pts.

Like the 120s, the highly competitive J/105 class also needed a tie-breaker to determine the ultimate winner.  Sailing a strong last day was the eventual winner, Gary Mozer on CURRENT OBSESSION 2 counting a 4-2-10-2-4-1-2 for 25 points.  Second was David Gould on AIR BOSS with a 3-6-3-4-3-5-1 for 25 points.  Third only one point back was Ed Sanford on CREATIVE with a  5-3-4-5-2-2-5 for 26 points.  And just 2 points back from them in 5th were past LBRW winners Steve and Lucy Howell on BLINK! with a strong start, but slow finish, collecting a 1-4-5-3-7-8-7 for 35 points.

PHRF 4 Division was dominated by a "classic" J, Dick Velthoen's J/35 RIVAL.  Their 3-1-2.5-5-1-1-2 for 15.5 points simply smoked their class, winning by 7.5 points.  Second was a J/33, John Messenger's NITRO getting a 1-3-5-2-3-6-3 for 23 points.  Just behind in 4th and 5th place, respectively, were two well-sailed J/109s, Alice Leahy's GRACE O'MALLEY and Tom Brott's ELECTRA.

For the J/80s, it was Curt Johnson yet again taking their class with all firsts and seconds on board his well-sailed machine AVET.  8 points back was Steve Wyman sailing NUHUNU to get second and in third was Dan Gribble skippering MONKEY SHOULDER.

The J/24s had a strong showing with a dozen entries for this year's LBRW.  Leading the pack home over some big dogs was Mike Johnson's HOT PURSUIT from Seattle with a 1-3-1-3-1-1-3 for 13 points.  Second was Pat Toole's team from Santa Barbara, past J/24 North American Champion, sailing their renowned 3 BIG DOGS to a 8-1-2-1-2-3-1 finishes for 18 pts.  Dave Klatt's team on JADED finished third with a scoreline of 2-2-3-2-4-4-2 for 19 points, losing his second place position on the last day of the regatta.  For more Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week sailing information.

  

J/Fun @ Seattle NOOD Regatta

(Seattle, WA)- The fourth of nine events in the 2011 Sperry Top-Sider NOOD series was sailed this past Friday-Saturday-Sunday in Seattle, Washington. More than 150 teams in 22 divisions raced on Puget Sound.  Leaders from past regattas faired well and not so well, such is the nature of racing sailboats in Seattle's capricious waters surrounded by the spectacular, majestic Cascade mountain ranges that form the western ridge of the America's Rocky Mountains.

Last year's overall champion sailing J/24s, Michael Johnson, returned with HOT PURSUIT but could only manage a third overall in the J/24 class.  Winning was SELF ABUSE skippered by Harry Dursch from Corinthian YC in Seattle and second was fellow CYC member Scott Milnes sailing TREMENDOUS SLOUCH. 

Within the J/80 fleet, it was Chris White's CRAZY IVAN that ran away with fleet honors after winning the first race.  Second was Bill McKinnon's SKYE ROCKET and third was Joel Shapiro's HEART ATTACK.

In a strong upswing from last year's event, Lorenzo Migliorini's J/105 ALLEGRO VIVACE from CYC was not only dueling for the top spots in the regatta for J/105 class supremacy, they sailed a very strong series to end up winning by three points after 9 races, with a 3-2-1-2-4-4-1-1-1.  Their string of firsts at the end sealing the fate of their contender, Jerr Diercks on DELIRIUM with 22 points.  Third was Erik Kristen on JUBILEE with a 4-1-4-3-3-1-5-4-3 tally.

The J/109s in Seattle continue to have fun racing with one another and the spirited competition is interesting to follow as each team goes up and down the standings. Not easy to place in this fleet as the boats are so evenly matched.  Nevertheless, Stu Burnell's team on TANTIVY won with a 14 point score.  They were followed by Jack Christiansen on JEOPARDY with 26 points, narrowly squeezing ahead of Dave MacLean's well-campaigned ILLUSIONIST.

"The NOOD team and co-hosts Seattle YC & Corinthian YC did a great job organizing and showing once again that this is one regatta not to be missed," said Jack Christiansen of North's Seattle loft.  For more Sperry Topsider Seattle NOOD Sailing information  Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes Photography