RORC IRC Nationals Report

(Portsmouth, England)- Yachts from Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, South Africa and the United Kingdom  gathered in the Solent for the twelfth edition of the RORC IRC National Championship. Split into five IRC classes, the J/Teams were participating in three of them- IRC2, IRC3, and IRC4- and they all either won or had top five finishes!

The Royal Ocean Racing Club was determined to open the IRC National Championship in style and three excellent races on challenging windward-leeward courses was the result offshore of Portsmouth. With virtually no wind forecast for the central Solent, as well as tidal and depth issues, the Race Committee decided to take the fleet east in search of a decent breeze and the result was a magnificent day on the water.

For the second day of sailing the RORC P.R.O chose Hayling Shoal as the combat zone. With five races now completed, battle lines were emerging for the three classes J's were racing. Day Two was another light winds affair with the 54 strong RORC fleet heading once again to the best sailing grounds available. With the wind speed barely reaching 10 knots, starts were important and getting into clear air gave a distinct advantage. However, some yachts were over-eager with several general recalls and a number of boats were called over the line on individual recalls. Only two of the scheduled three races were sailed, however the race management team were roundly applauded for getting in two good races with difficult weather conditions.

In IRC Two, Cornel Riklin's J/111 JITTERBUG had posted three finishes in the top five (3-4-4) but had an 8th in race 5 to hurt their chances for the podium.  Her sistership, Andrew Christie's J/111 ICARUS, sailed like her namesake, not melting her wings as she streaked to the front of the fleet, posting a bullet to her scoreline.

For the final day of racing on Sunday, the crews faced a fairly grim forecast-- next to no or little wind was on the cards and it would be difficult for the RORC committee to get the ball rolling and have a "fair" race for all.  As it happened, all classes got away off Gillkicker Point, but a substantial shift in the light breeze was too much to provide fair racing and the race was abandoned shortly after the start.

Consequently, Cornell Riklin's J/111 JITTERBUG snatched a fourth place in IRC2 having sailed a solid series in the middle three races.  Chalmers J/35 BENGAL MAGIC took IRC honors.  "It has come as a complete surprise to win our class!" commented an ecstatic Chalmers. "We have been racing against some well sailed boats but now and again everything clicks together and that has been the case this weekend. We are absolutely thrilled to be national champions. I have just spent a fortune with Spinlock, so I am delighted to hear that we will be receiving some prizes from them, as well!  Thanks for contribution from RORC/ Louay Habib.  Sailing Photo credits- Paul Wyeth- http://www.pwpictures.com For more RORC IRC Nationals Championship sailing information

J/Teams Lead Lake Ontario 300

(Port Credit, ONT, Canada)- The weekend of the "Great Lakes" major offshore races, the Chicago-Mac and LO300, were primarily characterized by the fact that a massive High pressure area was squashed over the entire Great Lakes, acting somewhat like the Atlantic and Pacific Highs that wobble around-- they generally produce little or no wind near the maximum area of pressure.  While the Mac Racers had their longest race on record, it may also be said that LO300 sailors shared a similar experience.

In some respects, the Lake Ontario 300 Challenge, the premier offshore race on Lake Ontario, provided even more challenging scenarios than their Mac counterparts as they circumnavigated Lake Ontario.  The Main Duck Island course of 300nm saw tops boats finishing just as some of the fleet in the shorter 190nm Scotch Bonnet course were finishing, too!

Nineteen J/Teams sailed the race but not all finished as the rate of attrition was nearly as high as it was for the Mac Race on Lake Michigan.  It was epic, slow going as well for the Lake Ontario sailors.

The IRC 1 again proved to be a dual between two J/Teams and two Farr teams.  Winning class was  John McLeod's J/133 HOT WATER and getting the short-end of the stick in fourth place was the J/111 SURVENANT (skippered by a Quebec quartet of Marcel Cote, P Bernier, C Boulet, N Cote and Y Dion).   For more Lake Ontario 300 sailing information

J/Teams Dominate Bayview Mackinac Race

(Port Huron, MI)- The Bayview Mackinac Race, hosted by Bayview YC, had a strong field of 239 boats that sailed in Doublehanded, PHRF and ORR handicap divisions.  The fleet was split between the two courses on offer to the sailors, with a small fleet of boats sailing the longer "Cove Island course" (which takes teams up onto the Canadian side of Lake Huron up north near a buoy to the entrance of the North Channel in Ontario, then head nearly due WNW to Mackinac Island for the finish) and the balance of boats sailed the so-called "Shore Course" (a direct shot, mostly up the eastern Michigan shoreline directly to Mackinac).  The popularity of the Shore Course has risen dramatically in recent years at it's primarily a reaching course, so teams get to Mackinac Island faster and happier (for the most part!).  The Cove Island course takes teams due north and often when turning left to head for the island, it turns into a fairly rough beat to windward (not good for Mom and the kids).

This year's race was a relatively fast one with teams starting in good breeze on Saturday and many finishing late Sunday and early Monday morning.   Sneaking in was the J/111 KASHMIR sailed by Tom Roop, taking 7th overall.  J/120s as a whole did well in this race, taking seven of the top 17 places overall.  Add in the top J/111's and results show J/Teams took nine of the top 20 places (not bad, to have nearly 50% of the top 20!).

In the Doublehanded Division on the Shore Course, the J/29 PATRIOT skippered by Lyndon Lattie took first overall followed by the J/111 NO SURPRISE sailed by Dave Irish in third place.  A fantastic performance for both boats.

The Cove Island course PHRF C class saw the two J/111s simply dominate their competitors.  Leading the fleet home was past Chicago-Mac winner KASHMIR sailed by Tom Roop, winning by over 22 minutes corrected.  Second home was Tim Clayson's UNPLUGGED, 41 minutes clear of the boat that took third!  Sailing photo credits- Martin @ ELEMENTS   For more Bayview Mackinac Island sailing information

J/111 Smokes Kiwi Offshore Double!

(Auckland, New Zealand)- While J/111's have been sailing successfully in Hong Kong and on Lake Michigan this past week, another J/111 in New Zealand has advanced their sailing program significantly.  Sailed by her new owner Andrew Reid, the J/111 DJANGO (ex-Stella) has been turning heads in Auckland and has had some great racing recently.  Here's the latest report from Andrew regards the Simrad Offshore double-handed series:

"With over 100 boats entered, the SSANZ B&G SIMRAD 60 series, sailed in NZ's awesome Hauraki Gulf, is hugely popular - and challenging. Ours was the first start of the day, with 18 boats entered. Conditions were light, so we unfurled the brand new Doyle Stratis Code Zero for the first time 15 seconds before the gun, and nailed the line at speed, in clear air. Wired, a 52 foot canter, soon sailed over us, along with Venture 2, an Open 50.

The course took us to the Eastern end of Waiheke Island, then up to Tiritiri Matangi, around Haystack, then past Rangitoto to the finish off Orakei wharf. We managed to pass Venture 2 soon after the start, when they dropped their kite into the water - and then, after a few sail changes (A1 to A2 and back again a number of times), passed Wired (pretty rare for our 36 footer) somewhere north of Waiheke. This was temporary, and they soon overhauled us.

Sailing into a hole was costly, with Overload, a well-sailed Elliot 9SS, passing inside us in good breeze. A choppy upwind leg kept us in the hunt, and we got past them again when both of us sailed into another hole - and we (with some luck, it must be said) picked up the new SW breeze first. This was champagne sailing under Code Zero - 70-90 degrees TWA, boat speed consistently higher than windspeed, hot coffee, and sunshine. We could see Omega, a Bakewell White 42, below us and going well, with only Wired and Venture 2 ahead.

The last part of the leg to Tiri was on the wind, with the light no1 looking good - we rounded the mark and once again unfurled the Code Zero - good speeds in 12-16 kts of breeze, a quick headsail change in anticipation of a building Souwester, a close encounter with both some dolphins and the Haystack (unlit and nicely obscured behind the Zero!), then on the wind again to Rangi light.

Most of the nav lights we could see were behind us, so the last cup of coffee was tasting pretty good. The anticipated and forecast breeze failed to materialise, so it was up with the Zero again, to finish in moonlit flat water, just 2 minutes ahead of Omega, doing 6.5 kts in 5.5 kts of wind.

So after 60 nms and 12 hours of racing, we had made more good calls than bad, and took out the Division 1 handicap victory, finishing 3rd on line. The boat performed beautifully, and is certainly quite easy to sail short-handed. And fast!"  For some more entertaining perspective on their sail, please see DJANGO's YouTube video here.

J/111 MOJITO Eclipses Hong Kong Offshore

(Hong Kong, China)- Recently, J/111's have been scoring significant performances in major offshore series around the world.  Michele & Simon Blore, sailing their J/111 #77 MOJITO has found herself in a tough division in Hong Kong's Nautica Typhoon Series 2013, a 9 race mix of windward leewards and islands races, competing in the top IRC group against Sam Chan's TP52, FreeFire; the GTS43 Elektra; two Mills 40 footers Ambush and (ex-Tiamat) Mandrake, and also the Ker 40 Signal 8. Also in the division are three A40's, two First 50's, a Marten 49, an MC38, the X41 Orient Xpress, a Sydney 38 and an all carbon Anteros 36. Here is the Blore's report:

"The top boats are all sailed by the core of Hong Kong's Commodore's Cup teams, plus the odd "Pro" as well, whereas Team MOJITO is still made up from the core of our J/92S team from 2008 to 2012, plus some new friends.

For Race 6 on Sunday, there were 21 IRC B boats on the sportily short start line, and undaunted by the size and speed of the kit all around her, Mojito judged it to perfection with a nose ahead on most of the fleet at the gun. In such a large fleet of bigger boats, getting out in front early was key, and quickly a lane opened up for a tack to port so we could work the right side upwind; a zone that seemed to be getting slightly better pressure all day.

The fleet quickly extended with the much faster TP, the Marten, and the "fast 40's" (Signal 8, Elektra, Ambush and Mandrake) all pulling away, but MOJITO just being able to stay in touch. In the 10-13 kts of breeze, MOJITO was on her North 3Di no 2 headsail, and downwind we were changing gears from 145TWA, and tack down, to playing the tack in the puffs and increasing the TWA to 160-165. It helped having one of the crew dedicated to trimming the tack line, in much the same way as playing the pole on a symmetric boat. The high power to weight ratio of the J/111 again proved to be a factor, as slight increases in wind pressure were quickly converted to more speed and depth downwind, and we are still learning how best to maximize this.

On the second upwind, by playing a few shifts and by tweaking in-haulers and trim some more, we lost little ground on the fleet ahead as we continued to work the west side uphill and downhill.

Downwind the J/111 was at times matching the angles of the pole boats, and gaining depth on the Ker 40; and by the end of lap 2 we rounded just a minute or 2 behind the fast 40's, so we knew we were in the mix for a top 3 place. Of the similarly rated boats such as the Anteros and the A40's, we had already opened up a winning margin of a few hundred metres by that time.

On the final lap upwind our pace still seemed to be good against the 6 boats ahead of us (all of whom gave us time), as we continued to cross tacks with the faster McGonaghy MC38.

Another good downwind leg consolidated our race as we sailed an eastward shift out on the now favored starboard gybe, and we finished believing we had a good shot at a podium place, in what is a very competitive and closely matched fleet of the 6 or 7 leading boats. Back at prize-giving we were delighted to hear that we had won the race, beating the TP52 by only 5 seconds on corrected; but a win's a win, and our new J/111 put down another marker in Hong Kong!" Sailing Photo Credits- Guy Nowell/ RHKYC.   For more J/111 one-design offshore speedster sailing information

Chicago-Mackinac Race Report

(Chicago, IL) – The 105th Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, presented by Veuve Clicquot, proved beyond any reasonable doubt to be the slowest Mac Race on record for the 301 boats and 2,472 crew participating. Nevertheless, making the most of the conditions and finishing in reasonably fast times on Monday were a cadre of well-sailed J/111s, J/109s, J/145s and J/122-- all leaders in their divisions and one winning overall!  Congratulations to Mitch Padnos and his team on the J/122 SUFFICIENT REASON for winning Section 4 and the Overall Mackinac Trophy, the second year in a row J/Teams have won the race overall (last year was the J/111 KASHMIR) and the fifth time in a row (when it sailed) this particular J/122 has won her section!

The weather forecast for the race was better than early forecasts indicated, with moderate southeasterly winds positioning most of the fleet in the middle of Lake Michigan Saturday night. While winds picked up Saturday for some time, Sunday proved much less promising. In fact, many boats reported the deterioration of onboard comfort, with the heat rising below deck and carnivorous flies arriving above deck for most of Sunday's and early Monday's routine of sailing through wind-holes while heading north.

For most of the fleet, the strategy as outlined by the weather forecaster/ routers and even software like Expedition, indicated optimized routes that took a northerly course up the Illinois / Wisconsin shoreline up as far north as Sheboygan, WI-- that seemed to be the "play of the day" in ENE to ESE winds.  Then, in the dawn hours cutting across the lake to the Michigan shoreline in veering ESE to S winds to catch the localized sea breezes blowing onto the Michigan shoreline due to the massive thermal effect caused by giant mountains of hot sand dunes on the eastern shore of the lake would enable boats to continue to head north into the first major turning point at Pt Betsie.  Thereafter, it was "anything goes" in the Manitou Straits and the long stretch to Greys Reef 50nm away.

Race commentator Winn Soldani said this year’s race is similar to that of 2009, which also brought very slow wind conditions. "It is years like these that show us how hard the final miles can be. Several boats I saw or spoke to took hours - as many as 6, and perhaps a few even spent more - between the bridge and the finish (it's a leg of only 5nm)," Soldani said. "But for what was sort of an ‘ugly’ race, the ending could not have been prettier with the boats coming in under spinnaker, going fast under clear blue skies."

Race Chairman Lou Sandoval said the 105th Race to Mackinac goes down in the history books as a memorable race for all. "Each Mac holds memories for all contestants, and it speaks to the special nature of the race and is one of the reasons why sailors return year after year," Sandoval said. "This one particular Mac will be more memorable than most as the slowest ever recorded."

In the end, a duel ensued between the top J/111s and the J/122 in the evening Saturday night and on into all of Sunday and Monday.  With all hell breaking loose midday Sunday with the southerly flow breaking down late in the afternoon, this group faced an unusual ENE breeze flowing offshore that swung into the southeast overnight, full of holes in the Manitou Straits and into Greys Reef.  By late morning on Monday the forecasted southerly flow swung in and the J/122's "play" to the right of rhumbline proved propitious as they sailed away from the wolf-pack of J/111s further west of rhumbline to win on corrected by over 3 hours and take the Chicago-Mackinac Trophy for overall division honors!

From an overall perspective, J/Teams did quite well taking 12 of the top 20 spots in the prestigious 124 boat Chicago-Mackinac Trophy Division!  It was nearly a repeat of the 2012 Chicago-Mac Race results with J/Teams also taking more than 50% of the top 20 overall!  With the J/122 taking 1st overall, second was the J/109 REALT NA MARA sailed by the Tom & Joe Londrigan, 7th was the J/145  VORTICES sailed by Chris Saxton, 9th was the J/111 HOBGOBLIN sailed by Dick Hobbs, 10th was the J/145 MAIN STREET sailed by Bill Schanen, 11th was the J/111 NO SURPRISE sailed by multiple Mac Champion Dave Irish, 13th was Bill Smith's J/111 WOOTON, 14th was Henry Brauer's East Coast team from Marblehead/ Newport on the J/111 FLEETWING, 16th was the J/111 LUCKY DUBIE sailed by multiple Mac Champion Len Segal, 17th was recent short-handed race winner Tom & Caroll McIntosh on MISTY, 18th was the J/109 VANDA III sailed by Jim & Jack Toliver and 20th was the J/111 IMPULSE sailed by the trio of Dr George Miz, Mark Hatfield and Peter Dreher.

From a section perspective, the one-design classes again proved to have relentless pressure on all the teams to be vigilant, taking advantage of every puff and breeze line or veering breezes to gain leverage on their competitors.

The J/111 class again repeated their stellar overall division performance as a result of their constant real-time one-design positioning versus one another; made especially more frenetic due to the extremely fast-reaching capabilities of J/111's using Code Zero's.  This year's winner, however, while no "newbies" to the actual Mac Race, were first year J/111 owners.  Dick Hobbs's team on HOBGOBLIN from Milwaukee, WI showed their fellow classmates what it takes to win a wild and woolly, hit the corners "run for the roses" to that lovely paradise that smells of horse manure, chocolate fudge and fragrant pine forests and ringed with crystal-clear azure blue waters.  Winning by only 15 minute over NO SURPRISE sailed by Dave Irish from Harbor Springs, MI, the "goblin gang" sailed smartly, making less mistakes than everyone else to take the crown for the J/111 class.  Bill Smith's WOOTON from Chicago had been winning for over half the race but the changing of the guard took place in the classic Manitou Passage "waltz"-- where everything changes as it can and will!  As a result, they took third in class.  Fourth was Mac "newbies" (or virgins) Henry Brauer and crew on FLEETWING from Marblehead, MA.  Finally, fifth was taken by Mac veteran and wily Mac goat Len Siegal on the renowned LUCKY DUBIE from Chicago.   Sailing photo credits- Miste Photography  For more Chicago Mackinac Race sailing results

Bayview Mackinac Preview

(Port Huron, MI)- This coming weekend, the Bayview to Mackinac Island Race starts Saturday July 20th.  This year's event has 239 entries participating across the spectrum of double-handed and fully crewed divisions in PHRF or ORR handicap racing.

The race organizers offer the sailors two options for courses: the longer Cove Island course takes teams up onto the Canadian side of Lake Huron up north near a buoy to the entrance of the North Channel in Ontario, then head nearly due WNW to Mackinac Island for the finish.  The other course is a direct shot, mostly up the eastern Michigan shoreline right to Mackinac, generally a reaching course.

Sailing in the Cove Island course in Division I is a highly competitive fleet, including a raft of past J/120 overall champions. Dueling with this gang will be two J/111s, including the Brummel/ Henderson/ Mayer trio on KASHMIR and Tim Clayson's UNPLUGGED, and the J/124 STILL MESSIN' sailed by Adam Messelman.  For more Bayview Mackinac Island sailing information

Marblehead-Halifax Race Preview

(Marblehead, MA)- Saturday was the start of the 35th Marblehead to Halifax race and although the wind was light, nearly 80 boats set off in the afternoon for the 360nm race. The boats cross the Gulf of Maine, pass Cape Sable, reach the Labrador Current and end up in Halifax sometime this week. The racing teams can be followed on Yellowbrick Tracker- http://www.marbleheadtohalifax.com/page/8927.

Many J offshore teams love to do this incredibly challenging race, despite somewhat difficult conditions like ships, ferries, "pea soup" fog, cold water, rain and overcast skies.  For many, it's the "means to an end", the end being the gorgeous harbor of Halifax and the wonderful cruising areas nearby that are a rare treat for those who've partaken in the more sybaritic pursuits in life-- cruising way, way "downeast" can be simply breath-taking!

Over half of PHRF 2 division are J/Teams.  Having proven they can sail their boat extremely quick and clean house last year in the Nova Scotia offshore circuit, Mark Surrette's team on the J/111 BLAST should also be in the hunt for silverware.  For more Marblehead to Halifax Race sailing information

J/Navy Sail Mac Race

(Chicago, IL)- "The Mac", as it's affectionately known, kicks off Saturday, July 13, 2013 with 3,000 sailors competing in this world-class sporting event. Although the Mac remains primarily an amateur event, the race has a proven track record of attracting some of the finest sailing talent in the sport. Sailors from 15 different U.S. states as well as Ontario, Switzerland, and as far off as Hong Kong, are preparing for the race of a lifetime – the 289nm Chicago to Mackinac, presented by Veuve Clicquot.

Gathering along Chicago's waterfront are some of the world's better sailors and certainly a remarkably strong contingent of J sailors from across the lakes.  Three J/One-Design classes are represented- J/105s, J/109s and J/111s. Plus, there are J/Teams spread throughout the Double-handed and handicap classes, many who've proven time and again they're not only champions in their own classes and divisions, but quite a few who've won the Mackinac Island races overall!

Starting with the one-design classes, it will be interesting to see if the J/111 class can repeat their outstanding performance in the 2012 Mac Race, where most of the class swept the top spots overall. There are eleven J/111s including all the top contenders from last year.  Amongst the top teams from Chicago, you have several winners of recent regattas, including Paul Stahlberg's MENTAL, IMPULSE (Dr George Miz, Peter Dreher, Mark Hatfield), KASHMIR (the Mayer, Henderson, Brummel team-- the 2012 class and overall winner), Tom McIntosh's MISTY, Tom Edman/ Steve Dabrowski's NIGHTHAWK, Len Siegal's LUCKY DUBIE, Bill Smith's WOOTON and Rick Witzel's ROWDY.  From Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the team of HOBGOBLIN led by Rick Hobbs. From Michigan is 2011 double Mac Race winner NO SURPRISE sailed by Great Lakes racing legend Dave Irish. Finally, Henry Brauer's FLEETWING, recent winner at New York YC's Annual Regatta in the J/111 class will be participating as "virgin" Mac racers!

For you armchair sailors, the Chicago YC has again contracted with one of the world's leading offshore sailboat tracking companies- Yellowbrick Tracking.  You can find that on the Chicago-Mac website.  For more Chicago Mackinac Race sailing information

J's Sweep Great Lakes Double-handed Races

(Chicago, IL)- Two popular short-handed events recently took place on the Great Lakes hosted by the Great Lakes Singlehanded Society, an organization established for the perpetuation of the sport of solo sailing. Its purpose is two-fold, the first being to encourage the development of and education concerning suitable techniques, equipment, and gear for shorthanded passage under sail; its second being the recognition of accomplishments of singlehanded sailors in the Great Lakes region. The camaraderie of like-minded sailors, borne of the competition on the race course, is the one of the greatest benefits the Society is able to bestow upon its members.

According to legend, it all began innocently enough when a group of sailors were having a few beers on a cold windy night back in the autumn of 1978. The place was "Brownies on the Lake" and as the rounds of brew piled up, so did the enthusiasm for a Solo Challenge to Mackinac from Port Huron. Meetings were held throughout the following winter, until the details were finally worked out for the inaugural Mackinac Solo Challenge held on June 9, 1979.

It was a dark, dreary day with overcast skies and a blustery wind out of the north at 15 to 25 knots. Twenty two skippers answered the starting cannon and seventeen hung on to finish at Mackinac Island. The seventeen finishers of that first race went on to become the charter members and nucleus of the Great Lakes Singlehanded Society. It was proclaimed that the organization would be dedicated to the promotion and development of shorthanded sailing on the Great Lakes. Membership would be extended only to those skippers who successfully completed the "Port Huron to Mackinac Island Singlehanded Challenge".

Recently, those members took up the challenge when both the Western Shore LMSS Double-handed Race took place as well as the "Mackinacs" Singlehanded Race.  In the Western Shore race the J/Teams swept the top three divisions and took four of the top six overall!  Tom McIntosh and Dave Michals, sailing their J/111 MISTY, simply smoked their fleet, winning by over 45 minutes corrected time in PHRF Division II and taking first overall.   For more Great Lakes Shorthanded sailing information

Fabulous Sailing @ Block Island Race Week

(Block Island, RI)- The 25th Anniversary of the Storm Trysail Club's biennial Block Island Race Week was celebrated this past week, and it seems that after almost five decades a good thing has only gotten better with age. First held in 1965, the five-day competition, originally patterned after Cowes Week, is one of the last true Race Weeks remaining in America.  The event proved it still can deliver on its time-tested tradition of good, challenging racing to over 1500 sailors competing on 182 teams while also embracing all types of racing sailors with a “something for everyone” approach.

Of the 182 boat fleet, J/Boats had by far the largest brand presence in the regatta with 80 boats participating (44% of the fleet!).  Six J one-design classes participated, including the J/111s, the J/80 North American's and East Coast Championships for the J/109, J/105s, J/44s and J/29s.  J/Teams also sailed in the IRC and PHRF handicap divisions.

The J/111 class had a closely contested event with five boats.  After winning the classic Around Island Race on Tuesday, Paul Strauch's ANDIAMO team never looked back to lead the class after finishing third on the final windy race on Friday.  Second was Doug Curtiss's WICKED 2.0 with 18 pts.  Class newcomer Mike Piper (Marblehead, MA) sailing EAGLES DARE were quick learners in the class, sailing better and more consistently every race to snag third on a tie-breaker over PARTNERSHIP (David & Maryellen Tortorello).   Sailing Photos by Allen Clark/ PhotoBoat.com and Stephen Cloutier/ BlockIslandRI.net.  For more Block Island Race Week sailing information

J/111 Triumps @ Round Farallones Race!

(San Francisco, CA)- Sailing a terrific Farallones Race was the J/111 AEOLUS sailed by Rob Theis from Santa Barbara YC.  Rob and crew managed to finish in second place in PHRF 2 and take fifth overall in PHRF on their first major offshore outing!  They managed to beat some downwind flyers like a Quest 33, Hobie 33, Farr 36 and an very experienced Express 37 crew.   Round Farallones Race sailing information

J/111 JEZEBEL Wins Celtic Regatta

(Pwllheli, Wales, United Kingdom)- The 2013 Celtic Regatta incorporating the ‘J Challenge’ was hosted by Pwllheli Sailing Club over three days in June. The Regatta was organized in response to the growing fleet of racing boats in Pwllheli Wales and in particular in the J classes.

Racing started on Friday 14th June with three windward leeward races. The Welsh National Event Centre Race Management Team started the regatta at the scheduled time despite the challenging force 5 winds and just as the skies and rain cleared to reveal the fantastic backdrop of the glorious Llyn Peninsula and the mountains of Snowdonia and mid Wales.  In fact, the sailors were treated to mostly sunny skies, windy conditions accompanied by enormous seas-- it was a glorious weekend of sailing in northern Wales along the spectacular Irish Sea.

The second day's racing was in a force 6 with wind speeds averaging 25 knots and gusting 30 knots. All competitors thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and exhilaration of the surfing conditions on the downwind legs and Andy Green the official photographer captured excellent images of boats in action.  J/111 JEZEBEL (Guy Cowper) found her pace and scored 2nd and then finished the day with two firsts.  Saturday afternoon ashore entertainment was by the GYPSY TRIO and followed by a superb crew dinner for 90 competitors, friends and guests and music by the WEE BAG BAND until the early hours.

SGRECH led the regatta at the start of day three with JEZEBEL and JEEPSTER looking to snatch a victory. With lighter 17 knots of wind SGRECH failed to repeat her strong wind performance and the impressive JEZEBEL came first in the first race. So it was all down to the final race and with JEZEBEL pushed onto the course side at the start of the last race SGRECH failed to take advantage and JEZEBEL won the regatta by one point (10 points). SGRECH was second on 11 points and JEEPSTER third on 14 points.

Gareth Roberts the CHPSC Events Manager presented prizes to the winning boats donated by English Braids, Sta-Lok and Partington Marine and thanked all competitors, race management team - lead by Richard Tudor, volunteers, staff, entertainers and sponsors including Cwrw Llyn and Hafan.

The Pwllheli J/Teams will be taking part in the Dún Laoghaire Regatta Ireland in July.  Planning has started for the 2014 event which will be hosted in the new Sailing Academy and National Event Centre and details will be posted on www.pwllhelisailingclub.co.uk   Sailing photo credits- Andy Green - Green Sea Sailing   For more Celtic Cup Regatta sailing information