J/24 Sailors Bring Volvo Race to Newport!

(Newport, RI)- What do past J/24 World Champions do when they're not sailing?  Simple, bring the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015 to Newport.  That's exactly what Brad Read, Executive Director of Sail Newport did this past week (his brother Kenny is now President of North Sails). Actually, it took months of hard labor and a bit of luck, e.g. "third time's a charm", so to speak.  On Tuesday, February 5th, Governor Lincoln Chafee (himself a J/100 owner and passionate J/Sailor) and Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad announced that Newport, Rhode Island will host its first Volvo Ocean Race after winning a stop on the route of the 12th edition of sailing's premier round-the-world challenge in 2014-15.

"We have made significant strategic land and marine infrastructure improvements at Fort Adams State Park, paving the way for a new era of racing in Rhode Island and setting the stage for the world-class events we continue to host," said Governor Lincoln Chafee. "We had a positive experience with the America's Cup World Series last summer, and I look forward to welcoming the Volvo Ocean Race to Rhode Island. These large-scale sailing events draw impressive numbers of visitors to our state - visitors who make valuable contributions to our economy."

The Race will reach Newport, one of the world's sailing capitals, in around May 2015 after a stop in Itajai, Brazil. Newport is the last stop before teams will sail across the Atlantic for the final legs around Europe. The Volvo Ocean Race has visited the U.S. in every edition since 1997-98, but despite Newport's great sailing heritage, it has never before had "Host Port" status.

"The Volvo Ocean Race is one of the premiere sailing events in the world. We look forward to welcoming the sailors, the sponsors and particularly the fans of this great race to our magnificent port," said Brad Read, Executive Director of Sail Newport. "With the race working its way around the world, it will build to a crescendo as it arrives in Newport, R.I. We can't wait."  The Race will finish in Gothenburg, Sweden in summer 2015. 

Read Brothers Receive RIMTA Award

(Newport, RI) - The two ex-J/24 World Champions were awarded for their contribution to sailing in Rhode Island.  Newport's sibling sailing luminaries, Ken and Brad Read, were honored this past Sunday by the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association with the organizations inaugural "Anchor Award".

It's been a busy year for the two brothers, who grew up in Seekonk, Massachusetts and learned to sail at the Barrington YC.  Ken Read, a two-time Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, five-time J/24 World Champion and former America's Cup helmsman sailing on Dennis Conner's STARS & STRIPES Team, recently returned home to Rhode Island after skippering PUMA Ocean Racing's MAR MOSTRO to a third place overall and to a first in the Inshore Series of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Not to be outdone, Brad Read, the Executive Director of SailNewport, also a two-time J/24 World Champion, led the state's effort to host the recent America's Cup World Series as the Chair of the state's America's Cup World Series Host Committee.

Both brothers, who were standouts at Boston University where they earned "College Sailor of the Year" Awards, were lauded for their respective contributions to the state's marine industry.

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/24 Sailors Dominate Americas Cup Match

(Newport, RI)- In the America's Cup World Series Newport sailed on the AC 45 cats, it was past J/24 World Champion Terry Hutchinson that won the Match-Racing Series overall. Congratulations to Terry and crew on Team ARTEMIS for winning what amounted to the prologue to the America's Cup Match Race that will take place on the monster AC 72 catamarans with their towering 125 foot tall wing sails on San Francisco Bay in the summer of 2013.  If you're the type that slows down to look at car accidents, this may be THE sailing event for all you rubber-neckers! Flying bodies, broken boats, equipment and sails may be the norm if these 72 ft cats have to sail in 20-30 kts nuking out on the Bay.  For more America's Cup World Series 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

Hutchinson Sailing ACWS Newport

(Newport, RI)- America's Cup World Series Newport competition gets underway Thursday. This will be the fifth and final event of the five part series. Having won the match racing in both Naples and Venice, ARTEMIS leads this element of the series and is third in the overall standings. Following on from five full days of training, past J/24 World Champion skipper Terry Hutchinson (USA) and the crew onboard ARTEMIS are looking forward to four days of racing against the seven other teams competing in the event.

"We feel fast on the open course, but we need to start well. That is key. All the things that you can control, you have to control," said Terry. "Competition, Mother Nature and the current are going to be the biggest variables in performance here. The boats are so fast, that you are punished if you don’t do things properly.  It’s great to have the America’s Cup back in the US and briefly in Newport. It is the premier spot to come and be supported by the people. Newport is the Cup’s home away from home and so far it hasn’t disappointed. We’ve had a lot of people out here spectating. There’s a good vibe."  For more America's Cup World Series sailing information

J Sailors Dominate New York YC Rolex Invitational

* Friend, 470, J/24 and J/105 sailor- Terry McLaughlin along with fellow friend, J/24 sailor John Hele (owner of DARING), won the NYYC Invite Cup on Swan 42s.  In fact, the entire top FIVE finishers in the NYYC Invite Cup were all comprised of top J sailors in various J classes.  Besides John and Terry, Ken Colburn and Phil Lotz were champion J/105 sailors themselves racing for NYYC; Peter McChesney and friends from Annapolis YC in third were champion J/22 and J/24 sailors (many in the crew); Billy Lynn and friends from Eastern YC in fourth were champion J/22, J/24 and J/105 sailors; and in fifth was Jim Madden from Newport Harbor YC of STARK RAVING MAD fame (J/125) and BRAND NEW DAY (J/65 Bermuda winner).  Apparently, unless you had some form of "J/One-Design" experience, you were "toast" in this event-- the evidence is clear and unmistakable.

For Terry Mclaughlin and John Hele, it was a "redemption" regatta.  In a reversal of fortunes from the inaugural event two years ago, they cleaned-out their competitors starting from the very first day. Terry/ John and crew sailed a nearly flawless series with seven top five finishes out of eleven races. In races where they were deep in the fleet, they inevitably overhauled the boats ahead. Terry said, “I think we came back quite well this series. It's important because you can’t get off the line in great shape or get around the first mark in great shape for eleven races in a row.”

McLaughlin won a silver medal in the Flying Dutchman class in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and was the skipper of CANADA I in the 1983 America’s Cup challenger series. These days Terry's business is importing the famous DUBARRY clothing and footwear from Ireland, and his sailing more relegated to occasional racing with friends-- like J/105s for serious competition with Ken and other friends in Toronto! Gotta test out those boots, eh!?

In a new addition to the event, the team leading in points at the end of each day flew a “gold” spinnaker in the following day’s races (e.g. a "borrowed" idea from that famous French bike race- The TOUR DE FRANCE- remember the famous "yellow jersey"?).  Cute!  The Royal Canadian team quickly took that honor after the first day and never relinquished it for the week (one wonders, was it as fast, or faster?).