SpinSheet Interview- J Sailor Linda Ambrose

Linda Ambrose- another long-time J/Sailor is now the Annapolis Yacht Club's Regatta Manager.  The Annapolis Performance Sailing/ Chesapeake Racer Profile recently did an interview of Linda in their most recent Spinsheet (http://www.spinsheet.com/).  To read Molly Winans interview of Linda, please download it here (1.4 MB).  

Windcheck Interview- J Sailor Barby Macgowan

Barby Macgowan- a long-time J/Sailor from Texas now living in Newport, RI with husband Billy MacGowan, runs MediaPro International, a public relations firm.  WindCheck magazine, a publication focused on sailing in the Northeast (http://www.windchecklis.com/), recently ran a nice interview on her in their latest publication.  To read it, please download it here (1.0 MB).   

Bermuda Race Week J/105 & J/24 Update

Pink Sands & Bermuda Shorts- What's Wrong with that picture?

(April 25, 2010) - With warm trade-wind like breezes, sunny skies, puffy white clouds and pink sand beaches, those fortunate few are thrilled to have weather conditions that must be exceeding their expectations.

Scott Snyder's Team USA 194 started out by taking two bullets to lead the eleven-boat J/24 fleet. Snyder's home club, Lake Dillon Yacht Club is the nation's highest yacht club at 9,017 feet above sea level, in Summit County Colorado. The lake is still frozen solid, so this is his first time on the water this year. This is his fifth Bermuda International Invitational Race week, the third as a skipper.  By Monday, Scott Snyder continued to show his stern to the rest of the class. He got an excellent start at the committee boat in winds gusting to 26knts. Then he trailed Bermuda’s Trevor Boyce much of the race, but came back to pass him on the final downwind leg to win again. Snyder has 1-1-1 for 3 points while Boyce has 4-2-2 for 8 points. Peter Rich of the Severn Sailing association in Annapolis Maryland climbed into third place with 3-6-3 for 12 points.

The J105 class frolicked in the high winds and Glenn Astwood, skipper of NOT MINE for the day came in second but held on to the /first place slot. NOT MINE has scored 4-1-1-2 for 8 points. Chuck Millican took first today and moved into the second slot with races of 2-4-2-1 for 9 points. James MacDonald now has scores 1-2-3-4 for 10 points. With these close scores it is still anybody’s regatta to win.

For more information and great videos and photos of J/24s and J/105s sailing Bermuda Race Week.  

Sparkling Solent for Warsash Finale

J/122 JINJA Sets the Pace With 2nd, 3rd

(Southampton, England)-  Warsash Sailing Club was a busy place over the weekend of 24th/25th April when the Warsash Spring Series and Spring Championship reached their final stages. Conditions in the Solent were ideal and provided some of the best racing so far this season.

For the second weekend of the Warsash Spring Championship, the J/80s completed 12 races, each of between 40 and 60 minutes. Again there was a distinct winner in John Cooper’s OI! which had never dropped below fifth place. Terry Palmer’s JUST DO IT and Steve Chappell’s JANGO FETT were only five points apart coming second and third. Seven J/109s competed. Although J/DREAM (Kirsty and David Apthorp) counted six first places, Adam Wright in VELVET ELVIS had not dropped below second place and took the Championship trophy by two points.  In the Big Boat IRC division, Ian Matthews' team on the J/122 JINJA sailed well to garner third overall.  Neil Martin's J/133 JAMMY DODGER managed to get seventh followed closely by the J/122 JERONIMO sailed by Jackie and Robert Dodson.

The multi-week Warsash Spring Series finally came to a stunning, gorgeous conclusion, basking in near glam St. Tropez like conditions with sun-a-plenty and good breeze to boot.  At 0830 when the committee boats left the Warsash Sailing Club pontoon for the final day of racing in the Warsash Spring Series the day was grey and drizzly, with poor visibility. It seemed very unlikely that the superb conditions of the Spring Championship the day before would be repeated but slowly, as the first start time approached, the rain died and by 1000 the south-westerly breeze was starting to fill. By midday the Solent was basking in sunshine and the breeze was up to 15 knots – a perfect way to finish the country’s premier early season racing event.

The Black Group race team had a particularly complex day’s racing. Not only was there the normal schedule for the Spring Series, but the Spring Championship was also to be concluded which meant two races for Spring Championship entries in IRC1 and IRC2. The steady wind direction made course setting reasonably straightforward and all classes could share the initial legs on a beat to South Bramble with the tide followed by a gybe at Flying Fish and run to a laid mark. Finishing was also at a common mark and the overall length of course was adjusted as appropriate to the time scale. Going into the final day, only a few classes, including the J/109s,  were a foregone conclusion and even then final places further down were still in contention.

IRC1’s first start was subject to a general recall and postponed until after IRC2 whilst other classes got away cleanly. In the end, Ian Matthews' J/122 JINJA sailed a nice series to get second overall.  Team Jellyfish sailed their J/122 JOLLY JELLYFISH into fifth overall after being a contender for top three over earlier weekends.  Neil Martin's crew on his J/133 JAMMY DODGER started slow but picked up some steam to ultimately get eighth overall in a large, competitive fleet.

It was a topsy-turvy day in IRC3. The pre-race leaders like the J/97 JIKA-JIKA (Mike and Jamie Holmes) finished well down the fleet but they were able to retain second place overall.

In the J-Boat one design classes, the J/109 J-DREAM had already secured the series win going into the day but she had a real tussle with VELVET ELVIS (Adam Wright) for the first half of the race before pulling out a four minute lead at the line. OFFBEAT (David Mcleman) managed to overtake VELVET ELVIS for second place.

The first three boats in the J/105 class had been separated by a single point so Rob Dornton Duff’s second consecutive win in JAVA ahead of JOURNEYMAKER 5 (Chris Jones) was sufficient to take the series win. Paul Griffiths’ FAY-J did not compete on the final day but finished third overall.

JAMMIN won the last J/92 race but a second place for Rory and Cathy Staunton on JAYA secured them the series title.  Third was a tie between WIZARD (Bill Howard) and JEKYLL (Dominic Horner) with twelve points a piece, with WIZARD winning the tie-breaker.

On White Group things went straightforwardly with course setting in the steady wind. In the J/80 class, competition has been very close. This weekend saw Ian Atkins back in action with  O.N.B.i.P(Our New Boat is in Poland). They were sailing in a borrowed boat as their new J/80 had been delayed. He proved not to have lost his touch with a 2-1-1 score line for the day. In the overall series John Cooper had a purple patch of four wins on the trot in OI! and that was just enough for him to finish ahead of the RAF boat TEAM SPITFIRE and Terry Palmer’s JUST DO IT.  Full results on the Warsash Sailing Club's Regatta Website      Photo Credits- by Eddie Mays  

Huge J Fleet @ SW NOOD Annapolis

(Annapolis, MD)- Looks like it will be a stellar turn-out for this weekend's SW NOOD Regatta sailing on Chesapeake Bay. 210+ boats to enjoy a sunny, bright weekend in the 80s and warm southerlies-- at least that's the forecast from Meteo Norteamericano-- one hopes NOAA Marine meteorologists have got it right for once.  The J Fleet is enormous with 117+ boats attending (nearly 60% of the entire NOOD fleet) and representatives from across the spectrum of one-design classes and coming from all points of the compass across the Eastern seaboard- from Toronto, Ontario, Canada (our ice hockey mad friends from way up North) down to Houston, TX (our Tex-Mex bronco-busting cow hands from the real South) and from Boston, MA (that sport crazy town renowned for the Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics- what else is there?) out to Chicago, IL (another sport crazy town).  Here's a class-by-class report and some of the leaders to watch for this weekend.
The eight boat J/109 One-Design class will have class champions Rick Lyall and Bill Sweetser vying for honors in this closely fought fleet.  Rick's J/109 STORM is dashing south from winning the first day sailing at American YC Spring Series to participate in the first event of the J/109 East Coast Championship.  And, rumor has it Bill Sweetser's RUSH is ready to rock-n-roll.  Should be an interesting match up that sets the standard for the rest of the J/109 season series!

The J/105 One-Design class has twenty-five boats showing up along with some past class champions.  Amongst them will be teams like Jack Biddle's RUM PUPPY, Andrew Kennedy's BAT IV racing with Drake Johnstone as tactician, Jim Rathbun sailing HEY JUDE who finished third in the 2009 North American Championship, Bob Reeves on A-TRAIN, Carl and Scott Gitchell on TENACIOUS and Travis Weisleder on LUCKY DOG.  All these boats are well-sailed and any one of these boats are capable of winning or getting podium finishes.

With thirty-five boats, the J/80 One-Design class is by far the biggest at the regatta.  The J/80s are racing the fourth event in the 2010 USA Tour that leads up to the Worlds in Newport.  A strong Texas contingent is showing up, including past World Champion Terry Flynn on B-TEAM, class leaders Jay Lutz and Gary Kamins on FIRED UP, and Bruno Pasquinelli.  The Massachusetts teams from around Boston/Buzzards Bay are fielding some remarkably strong crews, including past J/105 North American and Key West Champion Brian Keane racing SAVASANA, past J/105 New England Champion and Sonar Champion Henry Brauer who has Stuart Johnstone aboard as tactician sailing RASCAL and Henry de Groot on WIRED.  The locals from Annapolis who expect to give everyone a serious run for the money include Ken Mangano's MANGO, Brian Robinson's ANGRY CHAMELEON, Aaron Galvin's WILLY T and Chris Johnson's DRAGONFLY.

In the J/22s, twenty-two boats will include a strong local contingent comprised of the current J/22 Midwinter and World Champion Greg Fisher racing WHAT KINDA GONE and Jeff Todd on HOT TODDY going up against some of the Rochester gang such as Chris Doyle on SOLID LAYER and Travis Odenbach on INSTIGATOR.

For the fifteen J/24s sailing, local legend Tony Parker on BANGOR PACKET (remember him leading the J/24 Worlds for a day or so?) will be leading the charge and still teaching some of the kids new tricks on how to get around the race track like the crafty old fox that he is.

The J/30s and J/35s are each eleven boats strong! That's a terrific turn-out for these two classes and familiar names like BIG KAHUNA, CHAOS, REBEL YELL, MEDICINE MAN, BAD COMPANY, AUNT JEAN, MAGGIE, BAD GIRL will be mixing it up with everyone for bragging rights in these perennial one-design classes.   More news soon.  You can follow the action at Sailing World's site.  

J/24 Champion Ken Read Racing PUMA in VOR 2011

Nine lives? How about two?  That black cat known as PUMA is sailing the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race. Read SA Editor Scot Tempesta's "InnerView" with Ken Read, the skipper and CEO of PUMA Ocean Racing.  Great discussion from Kenny and good perspective on what it takes to get the job done in this brutal race, a serious test of the sailors and gear.

SA: We see that you have entered il mostro in the upcoming Newport to Bermuda race, and we see Puma Avanti ramping up. We know what it all means - that Puma will be back for the next VOR! So, tell us a little bit about the Puma VOR effort this time. You are the CEO/skipper, so we know you'll be aboard. What other changes have you made for this effort?

KR: Well, we are thrilled to be back.  It has been touch and go since the end of the last race.  It gets in your blood and it’s hard to shake.  With that said, Kimo (Worthington), Antonio Bertone and I broke down every single part of the program from the last race- what we did well and what we didn’t do so well.  We have massaged nearly every aspect of the program but kept the fundamentals that made it successful- like PUMA being a sailor driven program that relies on a touch of common sense from time to time.  And, of course trying to bring a new level of excitement to the sport of sailing.  Read more about Kenny's InnerView here.    

J/24 Victorian State Champs

(Melbourne, Australia)- Good things come in small packages, just ask Jeanette Syme. She helmed SCOTT SALISBURY into 3rd place at this weekend’s Victorian State Champs at Sandringham YC in Melbourne.

Jeanette couldn’t have seen much of the race out in front as she is only half the height of Pete Stevens who spent the weekend right in front of her doing the trimming, but she is beaming. Big brother Ron, sailing KICKING BOTTOM sailed very well and although the green machine was up near the pointy end of the fleet a lot of the time, he could only manage 5th.  We suggested Jeanette should rename her boat “KICKING RON”.

In fact, the whole KICKING BOTTOM/ SCOTT SALISBURY relationship is an interesting tale. The Melbourne fleet is undergoing something of an explosion of interest and in the last few months we have seen two new boats join the fleet and we have another 3-4 people genuinely interested in buying boats. Warren Campbell who has been sailing on KICKING BOTTOM for the last two owners, jumped out and bought SCOTT SALISBURY from Adelaide a couple of days before the regatta. Peter Stevens very kindly brought the boat over and sailed on it with Arthur Crothers and Jeanette Syme and crew who came down from Sydney. So Warren, still sailing on KICKING BOTTOM watched his new boat sailed by his skipper’s sister fly by to finish ahead!  Got all that!  Need more?

Simon Grain was the bridesmaid again and Dave Suda, who didn’t even make double digits in his series score was very clearly the winner and deservedly so. He had an almost clean sweep with 5 wins and a second – guess to who – Yep “Kicking Ron”.  Good things do come in small packages, although she did say the crew were brilliant, too.  Of course the “Kicking Ron” crew stayed at Warrens!

What it does very clearly show is that you can take an older boat, set it up in half a day and be very competitive in the fleet.

A very noticeable change this year was the calibre of the fleet, with close racing, and boats that have been out the back, now right up in the pack. Boat speed was generally up on last year and so Ron Thomson’s KICKING BOTTOM, Mike Lewenhagen’s EXCITE YOUR SENSES and Doug MacGregor’s CRACKERJACK all lifted themselves into 5, 6 and 7 respectively. The HYPERACTIVE BABES had an up and down regatta and finished fourth.

The weather co-operated with 5 – 15 knot northerlies, a little shifty and patchy at times but great sailing and with this sort of weather for many of the last years comps, the Vic States really is the “Balmy Regatta”.

Although we had expected 4 interstate boats, it turned out to be two and the other boat was Terry Wise from Sydney who brought down STARPAC with a very keen sailing school crew who really enjoyed the glamour Melbourne weather experience, flat water and warm sunny skies.  The tail end of the fleet was rounded out with new owners Andrew and Chris Hely on VERTIGO, Jack Crawford’s SANGUINE and another new owner Rowan Pollard on TWO DOGS.

Glam weather also allowed the social side of things to go very well indeed, with a huge BBQ at Lisa Simonov’s house ("THANK YOU" Lisa) and virtually the whole regatta crowd were able to have a great night outside in the warm weather. Terry Wise gave a presentation on the upcoming Gosford “Legends Regatta” that is shaping up to be a very big event.

You’ve probably picked the name missing from the results. Hugo Ottaway was unable to make it this year due to his son doing the big 21 party and the bleary eyed master did struggle down on the Sunday to say hi – “lights on, but no one home” look!

The class is on fire and next year at the rate we are going we could very well have 20 boats on the start line, so book early if you want a bed in Melbourne!    For more J/24 Australia sailing news and results