Awesome Sailing Key West- Day Two

TEAMWORK and RUSH Atop PHRF
(Key West, Florida)- This year's Quantum Key West Race Week may be one for the history books, with epic wind conditions forecast for the rest of the week- winds ranging from 15-25 kts with partly cloudy days- the sailors will be challenged with getting in a full compliment of 10-12 races, depending on their fleets, for the entire week of sailing.  Tuesday's racing saw shifty, streaky NNE winds in the 12-18 knot range.  For most courses, it was yet another classic tactical day on the azure blue Caribbean-like waters off Key West.  With the wind direction moving over a range of 25 degrees with a mean of 15 degrees, the teams had to figure out the cycling of the wind direction and try to stay in phase.  For the most part, those who favored the left side of the course and made it work more often than not led their fleets.  On rare occasions could boats go to the right and make it work. 

After the long day of racing of three races, there were a lot of weary bones, aching muscles and exhausted bodies over at The Galleon Dock and Truman Annex on Tuesday afternoon. The J/70 sailors especially so since they had sailed three races and didn't get into the docks at the end of the day until 1630 hrs!  Advil, beer and massages were the order of the day to keep bodies race-tuned and on the knife-edge of preparedness for an even windier day on Wednesday-- forecast to be the windiest day of the week with 18-25 kts winds out of the northeast.

On the Division 3 course, both PHRF A and PHRF B fleets were having excellent racing.  The J/122 TEAMWORK posted two bullets and two seconds in building a four-point lead in PHRF 1. Skipper Robin Team only does three regattas per year, but always has his J/122 well prepared and sailed by a well-oiled team. “We’re fast and the crew work has been impeccable. We’re going really well both upwind and downwind,” said Teamwork tactician Jonathan Bartlett, a North Sails pro. “Robin is quite amazing for someone who doesn’t get a lot of practice with starts and mark roundings. He’s just incredibly skilled considering the small amount of time he races.”  Behind them is Jim Bishop's J/44 WHITE GOLD in second with a 3-1-5-1 for 10 pts and third is Bob Hesse's J/111 LAKE EFFECT with a 2-3-2-4 for 11 pts. 

For more results and sailing information on Key West Race Week- please see all information here.

Get Ready For Sailing Key West!

Calling All J/70, J/80, J/105 & J/PHRF Teams!(Key West, FL)- The 25th Anniversary edition of Key West Race Week was by all accounts a great success and your Key West hosts are looking forward to building on the enthusiasm that was generated last year and delivering another memorable Key West Race Week 2013 for the one-design J/80 and J/105 classes, for the popular J/PHRF class and for the new J/70 class!  The competition is world-class and the evening socials at the Kelly’s Caribbean shoreside venue have proven to be very popular for skippers and crews.

For the 26th edition of this winter classic, ten races over five days are planned for J/One-Design classes and the J/PHRF classes.  A Key West hallmark has been strong class racing and we are hoping to grow those fleets that have supported Key West for years.  Positive news from all four J/Classes point to another year featuring great competition- so far 35 J's are signed up, about 42% of the 84 boats planning to participate already.  Come one, come all, let's make J's 50% of the fleet!  The more the merrier!

For J/105s, the big news is that one of the class's newest owners, Dennis Conner (recently honored as "America's Greatest Sailor" by US Sailing/ Sailing World Magazine) will be sailing USA 3- DC's PHOLLY, one of the oldest J/105s in existence.  DC just finished sailing the J/105 SoCal Championships and the J/105 North American Championships in San Diego and has proven to be a competitive J/105 sailor-- DC and crew are looking forward to sailing Key West and invite all J/105 sailors to join them for some "phun and phrolic with PHOLLY!"  To date, Damien Emery's champion ECLIPSE from New York has taken up the invitation as has Bennet Greenwald's PERSEVERANCE traveling cross-country like DC from San Diego, California!  What an opportunity to say you "crossed-tacks with DC (the America's Cup most famous sailor) and lived to tell the story"!  Join DC and crew for the J/105 2013 Midwinter Championship!

The J/80s have a quartet from Annapolis showing up with Kristen Beery, Bert Carp, Jeff Jordan's WILLY T and J-World's ANIMAL HOUSE looking forward to some rocking & rolling in the crystal blue-waters off Key West.  Joining them are Gary Panariello's COURAGEOUS from New York and Ron Buzil's VAYU 2 from Chicago, Illinois.  The J/80s will again be hosting their 2013 J/80 Midwinter Championship in conjunction with the Key West regatta-- it's a great way to have "your cake & eat it, too"!  Win class prizes, daily fleet prizes, door prizes and take a well-deserved break from the freezing grip of winter to work on that tan and catch up with sailing friends from around the world!

The J/70s debuts at Key West 2013 for its first J/70 Midwinter Championship on a special circle just west of Sunset Key (Tank Island), past the NW Passage.  The racing promises to be fun, fast and challenging for what may be the first time many of the teams will be racing one-design. So far, with 18 boats registered and over 30 expected to participate the fleet is beginning to look like a "Woodstock" sailing festival with many legendary J/Sailors from the past participating as well as some of the latest rockstars. Known participants include Mark Ploch (winner of first J/24 Midwinters in 1978), David Ullman, Don Trask, Tim Healy, Rod/Jeff Johnstone, Heather Gregg-Earl, Don Finkle, Jimmie Allsopp & son Cole, Kerry Klingler/ Rick Lyall, Henry Brauer/ Will Welles, Mike Sudofsky, John Gottwald, Bruno Pasquinelli, Chris Snow and Blake Kimbrough, amongst many others.

Finally, the J/PHRF Time-on-time handicap class is shaping up to be yet another great fleet of boats.  Last year, past winners Bill Sweetser on the J/109 RUSH and Robin Team on the J/122 TEAMWORK both said it was some of the best handicap racing they've ever sailed at Key West.  With Rod J handling the PHRF TOT handicaps, the racing was fair, fun and extremely competitive with the outcome of the entire week coming down to the last race.  This year promises to be just as much fun.  So far, two top J/109s are sailing, Sweetser's RUSH and Gary Wesiberg's HEAT WAVE; four J/111s are expected to sail including Doug Curtiss' WICKED 2.0 and class newcomer Bob Hese's LAKE EFFECT from Youngstown, NY.  Also sailing are Glenn Gault's J/120 REBECCA from Texas, Adam Esselman's J/124 STILL MESSIN from Michigan and David Alldian's J/95 CYMOPOLEIA from New Jersey.

REMINDER! NOTE TO SELF- be sure to enter NOW (no cost obligation) if you believe that you will be racing with us next January 2013 – here are the links to the online entry and the current entry list – it is easy to do and the entry fee is not due until later in December.  To enter Key Race Race Week, please click here   Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes

Challenging Sailing- AYC Fall Series

(Rye, NY)- At some point, the streak of three beautiful weekends of sailing on Long Island Sound was going to break.  However, no one expected it to be such a demanding two days of sailing for the final weekend of racing in this year's AYC Fall Series.  With a combination of variable light winds Saturday and Sunday it was anybody's guess as to what was going to be a successful strategy for the weekend.  Nevertheless, some boats faired much better than others.

Some boats got HUSTLERED in PHRF 4, some were confounded by a CONUNDRUM in J/105s.  Yet others were a DRAGON working on a WING and a PATRIOTic prayer in IRC 3.  A GOLD DIGGER named MAXINE was up to the CHALLENGE, but a RESOLUTE VAMP named BEAGLE got all the GLORY in the J/44s.  ANDIAMO had to say "BRAVO" for an admirable, debut performance in PHRF 1.  In the J/109s, SKOOT was not so RELIANT on her STRATEGERY in every race; but NORDLY's BLUE SKY proposition to be the BIG BOAT was not received favorably by others. Then, in the J/105s it appears that CONUNDRUM was intent on confounding KINCSEM with an ECLIPSE.  But it was apparent the real REVELATION was that LOU LOU didn't have the GUMPTION during the MORNING GLORY of Sunday to SHAKEDOWN PLANET CLAIRE.  Perhaps the most JADED with their heads mostly in the STRATOSphere was GHOST DOG who was walking in CIRCLEs with BAD MEDICINE after having their eggs SUNNYSIDE UP!  All editorial lampooning and kidding aside, here's what did happen in these various fleets this past weekend. :)

The J Teams were well-represented across the spectrum of one-design sailing and IRC/ PHRF Handicap racing with a total of 102 boats sailing. In the one-design world were big fleets of nine J/44s, eight J/109s, twenty-one J/105s and six J/80s.  In the handicap arena, the J/122s, J/133 raced in IRC 3 while J/111s sailed PHRF A and the J/70, J/29s and J/92 sailed PHRF 4.  All in all, fifty-six J's were sailing or about 55% of the total fleet, the overwhelming brand leader in the regatta!

The competition in IRC 40 was closely fought, but in the end it was Andrew Weiss' family team aboard the J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON that started in first and never relinquished their lead, winning with six 1sts and one 2nd for a net 6 pts overall!  Giving them run for the money but seemingly just off the pace tactically was the beautiful J/122 WINGS sailed by Mike Bruno, managing 16 pts net, sufficient for second place in class.  Fourth was Steve Furnary's PATRIOT with 24 pts net.  Sixth was Ron Richman's J/133 offshore champion ANTIDOTE with 28 pts net.

In PHRF A, the J/111s led all teams home with Paul Strauch's ANDIAMO winning with five 1sts and two 2nd for 7 pts net.  They were followed home by the vastly improved BRAVO team led by Sedgwick Ward with two 1sts and five 2nds for 10 pts net!

In PHRF 4, the J/Teams dominated.  The infamous J/29 HUSTLER sailed by the Esposito family with John and Tony led the charge to the top of the fleet on the first day and never looked back, accumulating eight 1sts and one 2nd to crush their class with a perfect counting scoreline of simply 1sts.  Second was the J/92 HOUND DOG sailed by Christian Uecker with a total of 17 pts net.

In the one-design world, the J/44's had great sailing amongst the eight boats participating.  Jim Bishop's GOLD DIGGER got their "mojo" together for the first regatta in quite some time and pulled off a well-deserved victory in a tough fight for the top three overall between the DIGGER, MAXINE and CHALLENGE.  Second was Bill Ketcham's MAXINE with 16 pts net, just one point back from DIGGER.  Third was Jeff Willis' CHALLENGE IV with 17 pts net, nearly pulling off an upset victory overall had they won the second to last race.  Len Sitar's and AJ Evans' VAMP finished fourth, beating Don & Dick Rave's RESOLUTE that finished fifth on a tie-breaker "count-back".

The J/109s had a "runaway" after the first weekend with Jim Vos' SKOOT team (pictured above) compiling an impressive record for the regatta to win with just 18 pts net.  Matt Baker's RELIANT hung on strongly to secure second place after the first weekend and won a tie-breaker over Jack Forehand's STRATEGERY with both teams scoring 23 pts each.  Fourth was Bob Schwartz's NORDLYS and fifth was John Pearson's BLUE SKY.

J/105s had a huge turn-out for the AYC Fall Series, one of their best in years with twenty-one boats participating!  It also marked a subtle "changing of the guard" as a new sheriff showed up in town and ultimately walked off with all the silverware.  Third after the first weekend, Harald Edegran's and Jeremy Henderson's CONUNDRUM sailed a fleet-leading 1-3 on the last weekend to sew up their first major regatta win on Long Island Sound in J/105s. Next on the scoreline were two long-time J/105 class veterans.  Second was Joerg Esdorn's and Duncan Hennes' KINCSEM with 30 pts, narrowly beating Damian Emery's ECLIPSE with 32 pts.  Fourth was George and Alex Wilbanks' REVELATION and fifth was Paul Beaudin's LOULOU.

Finally, the J/80s also had a runaway with Gary Panariello's team on COURAGEOUS finishing with 11 pts net as a result of five 1sts and four 2nds!  Second was Dan Goldberg's FRIVOLOUS with 19 pts net and third was Mike Zupon's JUGGERNAUT.   For more American YC Fall Series sailing information   For AYC Fall Series scores

Sailing Shootout @ IRC Champs

J/122 & J/35 Win Class, J/105 Wins PHRF Classic
(Greenwich, CT)- The sailors on Long Island Sound were blessed by remarkably spectacular sailing conditions this past weekend.  With the passage of a monster front, the backside of the Low produced two straight days of North-Northwest winds in the 5-20 kts range with mostly flat waters and just local motorboat chop to contend with across the course.  With temps in the low 70s, puffy white clouds scudding across the skies, there was a lot to be grateful for amongst the hardened veterans of Western Long Island Sound sailing.  Why?  Pure & simple.  The twin developments of global warming and lots of concrete and real estate development along both shores of Long Island, New York along the south and NY/CT on the north means that Long Island Sound often turns into a "parking lot" for sailboats having to deal with the dual, competing sea breezes trying to form on both shores! That's a lot of roof-tops and black-topped roads to compete with for wind!  In the last decade, Long Island Sound sailors have been suffering the same fate as their friends in the Chesapeake Bay and Tampa Bay far to the south.

The thirty-three boats that showed up for the US-IRC Championship of Long Island Sound and PHRF Fall Classic hosted by Riverside YC were incredibly appreciate of what Mother Nature had to offer for their weekend of sailing.  In the PHRF Classic Racing Division, the J/105 STRANGE BREW sailed by Randy Bourne walked away with class and overall honors with a 1-1 for just 2.0 pts!  That's a clean sweep, eh?  Ken Hall's J/100 NEVERMORE sailed well to grab 5th and fellow J Sailor Brian Warner raced his J/35 IMPROMPTU to 6th in class.

Over in IRC 4 Class a true "storm" was brewing.  In the end, Mark Parry's & Lawrence McGrath's J/35 BLUE MOUSE sailed a solid series and won class with three 1sts and two 2nds for a total of 7 pts.  However, arch-rival Rick Lyall and crew on the champion J/109 STORM was badly damaged by an out-of-control Express 37 DRACO that lost steerage while ducking and slammed into the port quarter, creating a massive hole, taking out the stern pulpit and damaging the wheel.  Fortunately, no one was hurt other than some bruised egos.

In IRC 2 Jim Bishop's J/44 IRC Modified speedster sailed a very strong series but suffered a somewhat similar fate as their classmate in IRC 4- STORM.  After compiling a 2-2-3-3 and easily in contention for 2nd, Jim's team managed to foul (or get fouled) by a competitor in their class at the start of the last race and, as a result of boat damage, had to take an RAF immediately after the start.  As a result, they finished third in class, still respectable considering the consequences.

The biggest battle for the weekend happened to be in the IRC 3 class with a bunch of "hot" boats sailing for honors of "big dog on campus" in the mud-puddle known as Long Island Sound- it consisted of two J/122s, a J/111, a Summit 35 and two well-sailed Farr 30s.  From the beginning, it was clear the two J/122s were going for class supremacy from the starting gun of the first race.  Imagine this, two J/122 Champion teams dueling "mano-a-mano" for LIS IRC Champion.  One is the Bermuda Race Champion, Block Island Champion, Vineyard Race Champion (CHRISTOPHER DRAGON) and the other is J/122 North American Champion, Block Island Race Week Champion, and New York YC Annual Regatta Champion (WINGS).  It was a battle of the gladiators of offshore and course-racing in the J/122 world.  On WINGS was Tom Boyle and Mark Ploch and on CHRISTOPHER DRAGON was Andrew Weiss and Butch Ulmer-- an all-time classic match-up.  Then, as spoiler was the J/111 PARTNERSHIP sailed by yet another champion J/122 team (offshore champions, too) led by David & Maryellen Tortorello and David Hirsch.  The sailing results don't spell-out how close the actual racing was amongst these three boats.  In short, the first day's sailing in 12-19 kts of NNW breeze was much to the liking of the J/122s.  But, a miscalculated bottom mark rounding by the J/111 PARTNERSHIP in Race #3 could easily have changed the results-- since PARTNERSHIP rounded the mark in first boat-for-boat but hit the mark and performed a poor penalty turn.  Sunday's racing was full of drama, starting with the J/111 winning the first race on elapsed and IRC handicap, then nearly pulling it off again with a dramatic comeback to win  on elapsed again but losing IRC handicap by mere boat-lengths. Kudos to Tom Boyle and the WINGS team for winning with a steady 1-1-2-2-2 for 8 pts total. Second was Andrew Weiss's veteran campaigners on CHRIS DRAGON with a 2-2-1-4-1 tally for 10 pts.  And, third was the Tortorello's PARTNERSHIP with a 4-3-3-1-3 score to complete the J/Team's sweep of IRC 3.  For more Long Island IRC Championship & PHRF Classic sailing information

J/Class @ Key West Race Week

(Key West, FL)- The 2013 Quantum Key West Race Week running from January 20th to 25th, 2013 will again feature the popular PHRF J/Class for enthusiastic J/109, J/111, J/120, J/122, J/124, J/125 and J/133 owners.  This past year's edition proved to be a fun, competitive class.  The unique feature of the J/Class is having Rod Johnstone and a knowledgeable PHRF rating committee ensure that Time-on-Time handicaps are applied fairly, ensuring that all J/Owners have an equitable shot at placing well in any given race and for the overall regatta.

In fact, in the 2012 PHRF J/Class the top three boats, the J/122 TEAMWORK, the J/109 RUSH and the J/111 MENTAL all won races over the course of ten races in five days! It was awesome sailing and it emphasized near one-design sailing consistency to finish in the top five-- incredibly fun sailing in conditions that ranged from 17-23 kts on the first day to 5-8 kts towards the end of the week.  Long-time Key West veterans Robin Team and Bill Sweetser both agreed it was the best handicap fleet sailing they've ever experienced!  “We come down here to Key West to get the best competition we can find and boy did we this year,” Team said. “We could not believe how close the racing was in this class. Tres Hombres, Mental and Rush were all very well-sailed and pushed us from start to finish.” It was a particularly special experience for Robin since he had brother Adam and two sons Alston and Coleman aboard!

Come on down, bring the family and friends and join the fun! The J/70 sailed by Kerry Klingler and Rick Lyall from Connecticut (for J/70 One-Designs) and the J/124 STILL MESSIN, Adam Esselman from Charlevoix, Michigan (for the J/Class) are already entered and can't wait to go! Many of the same J/109s, J/111s and J/122s will be returning again for more fun in the Florida winter sun! State your intentions now, just enter your boat-- no need to send in the entry fee until December!   Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com  For more Quantum Key West Race Week sailing information

J/111 Wins Bayview-Mac Race

J/29 Wins Double, J/44 Wins Too!
(Port Huron, Michigan)- The 233 boats that sailed this year's Bayview Mac sailed a fairly typical race on Lake Huron in the middle of the summer.  With no significant weather systems roaring by at a frenetic pace, it was the usual stuff of Lake Huron lore-- light to medium winds, variable, starting south, shifting west, maybe shifting northwest, but then going back west.  In the end, it means only one thing for the "long" Cove Island course, a somewhat reachy, runny leg up to the Canadian shore followed by a long beat of sorts to Mackinac Island.  For the short course guys, it would be mostly a reachy race.  Such was the tale of the tape this time around, almost two completely different races, "the reach up the beach" or the "two sides of a bad triangle."

Sailing the Division I Cove island course were a trio of J's that found the difficult conditions much to their liking.  In fact, the more difficult and variable, the better this trio of boats were going to perform in this race.  Sailing PHRF C were two J/111s and a "classic" J/33.  To no one's surprise, the wiley old fox of the Great Lakes, Dave Irish from Harbor Springs, Michigan, again won his class for the second year in a row sailing his appropriately named NO SURPRISE! Dave is a veteran of a few dozen Mac Races, so it stood to reason that if anyone was going to figure out how to sail the Cove Island Course fast, it was Dave and crew.  Not far off the pace was the J/33 SHENANIGAN sailed by Dick & Dan Synowiec, getting a third in the division.  And, perhaps most surprisingly was the strong showing for their first time in the "racing" division of the J/111 UNPLUGGED sailed by Tim Clayson (last year's winners overall in the Cruising Division)!  They sailed to a well-deserved 4th overall in a tough, competitive fleet.

On the short course, the eight J/120s sailed a classic one-design race with many familiar faces dueling it out for line honors.  Many of the pre-race favorites were in for a surprise.  Leading the gang home was Ken Brown's JAYHAWKER in first place.  They were followed by a bunch of Canadians upsetting the American apple cart, preventing a clean sweep of the podium.  Gerald Hines team on IRRESISTIBLE TOO from Ontario finished second.  Third was J/120 ring-leader Frank Kern on CARINTHIA, four was Bob Kirkman's HOT TICKET and fifth was Don Hudak's CAPERS.

The Level 35 Class proved to be a J/35 "tour'de'force" with a record number of eight J/35s racing.  After the smoke cleared in this incredibly competitive class, it was a very familiar face at the top of the podium- the amazingly famous MR BILL'S WILD RIDE sailed by Bill Wildner, of course!  Second was the very experienced FALCON team sailed by Ed (43 PH Macs) and John (37 PH Macs) Bayer (only 250+ Bayview Mac Races amongst the crew-- e.g. "been there, done that" 100x!).  Amongst the 35s, Robert Gordenker's TIME MACHINE ensured J/35s took the majority of the top five with a 5th place!

In PHRF D Class the fleet of J/105s had many well-sailed boats, but it was Mark Symonds' PTERODACTYL that delivered and took home the bronze for 3rd place this time around.   In PHRF E, the J/44 SAGITTA sailed by its co-owners/skippers, both past Commodores of Bayview Yacht Club, Com. Larry Oswald (1990) and Com. Jon Somes (2000) proved, yet again, why they're considered "Grand Masters of the Huron Universe", taking it home against a tough group to secure a solid first place in their division.  For PHRF F Class, the classic J/36 POLARITY sailed by Murphy Palmer, the last of its breed as J/36 hull #55, pulled off a 5th in class! A similarly classic J/34 IOR design, SEA FEVER, also managed a third place in PHRF G class sailed by an incredibly experienced Mac Race team, led by Den Balcirak and Tom Burleson from Grosse Point Woods, Michigan.

Finally, in the Double-handed Division IV group, the J/Teams again proved they can sail their boats faster more consistently than any of their short-handed competitors.  A well-proven scenario in Fastnet Races, TransPac Races and Trans-Atlantic Races over time.  In this case, it was the J/29 PATRIOT sailed by David and Lyndon Lattie that won their class and a fellow J-sailors on the J/105 PIRANA (CJ Ruffing and Chris Ongena) pulled off a dramatic third place finish to round out the podium!  For more Bayview-Mackinac sailing information

Bayview Mackinac Preview

(Port Huron, MI)- Starting July 14th 233 boats will be sailing from Port Huron, Michigan north up Lake Huron to finish at the fabled summer resort known as Mackinac Island.  The Bayview Mac is comprised of two courses, one is known as "the short course" and takes those classes up the Michigan shoreline on the western side of Lake Huron for 204nm.  The bigger, faster boats sail the "Cove Island course" (e.g. the big course) and from the start head in a northerly course towards a buoy off the Canadian coastline called the "Cove Island Mark", whereupon the fleet then heads WNW towards Mackinac Island for a total distance of 254nm, just 45nm less than its "sister" race, the Chicago-Mac which runs 289nm.

Sailing the Division I Cove island course in PHRF B is the J/145 VORTICES sailed by Chris Saxton, they finished 2nd in class and 4th overall last year and hope to aim even higher!  Sailing the same course in PHRF C will be two J/111s, NO SURPRISE skippered by Dave Irish and UNPLUGGED sailed by Tim Clayson (last year's winners overall in the Cruising Division) and the J/33 SHENANIGAN sailed by Dick & Dan Synowiec.

On the short course, the eight J/120s are sailing one-design with many familiar teams going for the gold!  Included are the top three finishers from the 2011 race-- the famous CARINTHIA sailed by  Frank Kern, FLYIN IRISH skippered by Bill Bresser, HOT TICKET sailed by Bob Kirkman and Don Hudak's CAPERS.

In the Level 35 Class, a record number of eight J/35s are racing, including the famous MR BILL'S WILD RIDE sailed by Bill Wildner, of course!  Remarkably, Meme Carter's SPECIAL K will be sailing this year's race for the 19th consecutive year!  Also sailing is FALCON is owned by Ed (43 PH Macs)and John Bayer (37 PH Macs) and brother in law Jim Barnes.  Falcon was the 2005 and 2006 and last year's (2011) J-35 North American Champion and has won its J-35/T-35 One Design Class in the last two Mac Races. Falcon's experienced crew has over 250 Bayview Mac Races between them. This race will mark Ed Bayer's 44th Mac, John Bayer's 36th, Mike Welch's 29th and Ron Rossio's 27th! Newcomers WHIPLASH sailed by Gregg Whipple are on their second Mac Race and hope to have some fun in the Level 35 Class!

In PHRF D Class is a J/100 and five J/105s.  The J/100 BLUEJAY is sailed by John McVeety.  She is normally rigged as a single handed daysailer on Alpena's (Ontario) Thunder Bay. Twice a year they add crew and go racing. She has participated 7 times in the Huron Double handed Challenge.  Challenging them will be the fleet of J/105s with top boats like Mark Symonds PTERODACTYL, GOOD LOOKIN sailed by Dean Walsh and SORCERY sailed by Larry & Brian Smith-- the top three finishers from 2011 hoping to repeat their performances again!

In PHRF E, the J/44 SAGITTA will be sailed by its co-owners/skippers, both past Commodores of Bayview Yacht Club, Com. Larry Oswald (1990) and Com. Jon Somes (2000).  They've been racing Port Huron to Mackinac races together for nearly 15 years. Previous to year 2000, they raced on Com. Oswald's NA 40 Disruption and since year 2000 on Sagitta, a J-44. While racing together, they have won their class two times on Sagitta and five times on Disruption.

For PHRF F Class, the J/35 RAGTIME is skippered by Allan Schmidt and the J/36 POLARITY will be sailed by Murphy Palmer.  POLARITY has a rich history with its beginnings on the East Coast and is the last of its breed as hull #55 which was the last J-36 built.

PHRF G Class has the beautiful, classic J/34 IOR boat sailed by an incredibly experienced Mac Race team, led by Den Balcirak and Tom Burleson from Grosse Point Woods, Michigan.  This is Commodore Balcirak's 49th Mackinac and Tom's 36th. It is sailed by a crew of family and close friends. Their Mackinac Race highlight was a clean sweep in 2004 when they won their class, overall, and the Yacht Club Challenge. This year grand-daughter Mackensie Balcirak and daughter-in-law Susie Balcirak will be doing their first Mackinac!

Finally, in the Double-handed Division IV group, the J/29 PATRIOT will be sailed by David and Lyndon Lattie and the J/105 PIRANA will be sailed by the team of CJ Ruffing and Chris Ongena.  For more Bayview Mackinac Race sailing information

J/One-Designs Sailing Rolex NYYC Week!

(Newport, RI)- The upcoming Rolex NYYC Race Week promises to be a fun event for the thirty-six J/Teams participating in the regatta, representing about 44% of the total fleet of 82 sailing off Newport.  J sailors will be racing one-design in J/109s, J/105s and J/111s while others are sailing in IRC handicap class.

The J/109s will be hosting their 2012 J/109 North Americans and with eighteen teams sailing the competition is sure to be tough.  There are familiar names amongst the entries that may be factors on the overall leader board, featured amongst them are former champions like Ted Herlihy's GUT FEELING from South Darmouth, MA, Bill Sweetser's RUSH from Annapolis, MD and Rick Lyall's STORM from Wilton, CT.  Challenging them will be teams like David Rosow's LOKI, Don Filippelli's CAMINOS, and Rob Salk's & John Sahagian's PICANTE, the top "local" Newport boat that sails often on Narragansett Bay.

The J/111s will be having their first one-design event in New England, with six boats participating.  Dave & Mary Ellen Tortorello's PARTNERSHIP, Doug Curtiss' WICKED 2.0, Henry Brauer's FLEETWING, Sedgwick Ward's BRAVO, Rod Johnstone's JAZZ and Paul Strauch's ANDIAMO will surely have a great time racing while simultaneously learning how to get their boats going ever faster.  By way of example, lots of dock chatter regarding tuning/sailing tips during the recent Block Island Race Week saw a number of teams sailing there improve their performance considerably over the course of the week.  It should prove to be an exciting three days of sailing for these teams.

The J/105s are having their top New England event and the nine teams represented include amongst their ranks a number of past 105 champions, including some familiar names like Kevin Grainger on GUMPTION34, Nelson Weiderman on KIMA and Joerg Esdorn & Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM.  This trio alone are highly competitive and it looks like there may be some new teams sailing that may upset the proverbial "pecking order" at the top of the fleet.

Sailing in IRC Class are some of the most competitive J/Teams on J/122s and J/44s.  In the J/122s will be the Rolex New York YC Annual Regatta winner Mike Bruno on WINGS; a new J/122 owner from Annapolis, Don Shea, will be racing DOLPHIN and George and Carol Shaw from Denver, Colorado will be sailing TUMBLEWEED.  Amongst the J/44s, Jim Bishop will be racing his IRC-optimized J/43.5 (sawed-off transom with carbon rig and modded keel) called WHITE GOLD and Bill Ketcham will be sailing his standard J/44 MAXINE.  For more New York YC Race Week sailing information

WINGS Flies In Rolex NYYC Regatta

(Newport, RI)- After a rousing 19-mile Around the Island Race on Friday, sailors at the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) 158th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex had to face light winds on Saturday and Sunday and a subsequently abbreviated race schedule where every move counted as critical to final results.  With 104 boats entered in Friday’s race (separately scored and optional) and 133 entered in weekend racing, this 2012 edition of what is revered as America’s oldest regatta will go down in sailing history as having its biggest fleet ever-- and, for some, the most intriguing last-minute victories.

In the IRC 5 Class, the expected competition between the J/111 and J/122s was tough.  Henry Brauer's J/111 FLEETWING was up against a quartet of exceptionally well-sailed J/122s and managed to finish in the middle of them, finishing 7th in fleet overall with a 6-7.  However, past J/122 North American champion Mike Bruno and Tom Boyle (Irvington, N.Y.) finished 2-1 in the regatta’s two races to take IRC 6 on his J/122 WINGS. Second in class was  Andrew Weiss' J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON sailing to a 1-5.

Amongst the J/44s there were familiar top class teams in the lead of IRC 5 Class.  Leonard Sitar’s (Holmdel, NJ) J/44 VAMP took class honors with a 2-1 in his series.  Second J/44 and 5th in class was Jim Bishop's GOLD DIGGER with a 4-5.

IRC 7 Class has often been the domain of the J/109s taking the rest of their class to task for the top of the podium.  This year was no different, with the J/109s taking four of the top five! Winning with a 1-1 was past J/109 NA Champions like Bill Sweetser on RUSH with local champions Rob Salk and John Sahagian on PICANTE finishing 3rd with a 4-3, Rick Lyall's STORM in 4th and Paul Milo on VENTO SOLARE finishing 5th.

In PHRF Navigators Division, the J/105s sailed well with Fred Darlington's TONTO taking 2nd and Nelson Wiederman's KIMA taking 5th.  In the big boat Navigators Division, the J/160 TRUE sailed by Howie Hodgson finished 3rd in class.  For more Rolex New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information

Rolex New York YC Regatta Preview

(Newport, RI)- The oldest and longest running regatta in America, New York Yacht Club’s Annual Regatta presented by Rolex will be held for the 158th time from June 8th-10th in Newport, Rhode Island.  Racing starts on Friday, June 8th, with the Around-the-Island Race. This classic 19 nautical mile race around Conanicut Island offers the sailors many challenges and beautiful scenery. J sailors will be racing both handicap and one-design during the event.  With 25 boats of the 133 entered, J's represent the largest brand participating in the regatta, nearly 20% of the total boats sailing in IRC, PHRF and One-Design.

In the IRC 5 Class, expect to see some spirited competition between the J/111, J/122 and J/44s.  Henry Brauer's J/111 FLEETWING will be up against a quartet of exceptionally well-sailed J/122s and J/44s.  In the 122 group are past NA Champions and Offshore Champions, like Mike Bruno and Tom Boyle's WINGS, Andrew Weiss' CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, Dave Murphy's PUGWASH and George Shaw's TUMBLEWEED.  Amongst the J/44s are familiar top class teams like Jim Bishop's GOLD DIGGER, Len Sitar's VAMP and Jason LeBlanc sailing the US Coast Guard's GLORY.

IRC 6 Class has often been the domain of the J/109s taking the rest of their class to task for the top of the podium.  Over the last several years, the J/109s have won their class and often take up much of the top three.  Look for past J/109 NA Champions like Bill Sweetser on RUSH and Rick Lyall on STORM to be dueling for class leadership.  And, local champions Rob Salk and John Sahagian on PICANTE along with Paul Milo on VENTO SOLARE will certainly be in the hunt for silverware in this competitive class.

In PHRF, the J/105s will have Dudley Norstrands JADED, Nelson Weiderman's KIMA and Fred Darlington's TONTO fighting for the top spots.  Jose Manuel Ugarte from Santiago, Chile recently bought SCIMITAR, last year's J/105 North American Champion boat to ultimately go sailing in Chile's booming J/105 fleet-- it will be interesting to see how Jose's team sails on Newport's often challenging weather conditions.

A fun addition to the regatta has been the PHRF Navigator's Race, a "tour" of Narragansett Bay and even Rhode Island Sound for a large fleet of boats that include the J/33 SIRIUS sailed by Mike Sullivan, the J/42 ARROWHEAD skippered by Mike Chapman, the J/92s SPIRIT sailed by EC Helme, the J/160 TRUE fresh off the FIGAWI Race sailed by Howie Hodgson and the J/24 NIGHTHAWK sailed by Rich Barker and Mike Ryan.

Saturday evening after the racing, the Annual Regatta always has a fabulous dinner on the lawn in front of the club along the waterfront.  Be sure to join the crews for some fun and entertainment, which includes the famous, hot local group featured on Thursday nights at the delicious Mexican restaurant "Perro Salado", Steve and friends from "Honky Tonk Nights"!  For more Rolex New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information

J-Normous FIGAWI Turnout

(Hyannis, MA)- The 41st Annual Figawi Race Weekend is recognized as a top sailing event not only on the East Coast but is known internationally as well. Figawi Race Weekend kicks off the the Cape Cod and Nantucket summer season in America.  Entries include sailors from several states, 240+ boats (including 30 power boats) and over 3,000 sailors and visitors.  It's one of the world's largest "pursuit" races-- depending on rating, slowest boats start first, fastest last and whomever crosses the finish line first wins!  Other events like it exist, like the infamous "Three Bridge Fiasco" in San Francisco Bay that are of equal significance on the West Coast.

The weekend begins with a Kickoff Party at Hyannis Yacht Club on Friday. Then, early Saturday morning, crews begin gathering. Skippers and boat owners prepare their boats, gather their crews, and head out to the start line. The first boat officially begins at 10 am off the Hyannis Port Jetty. But beginning around 8 am, the parade of sailboats head out of Lewis Bay, pass by Kalmus Beach, and gather off Hyannis Port. The boats start from 10 am until approximately noon, depending on their handicapped start time. All boats in all divisions compete across Nantucket Sound, in various courses, to be the first one to reach Nantucket.

Why sail? According to Brad Mascott, recent owner of J/105 #209 TWO IF BY SEA for the past two years, "I just love this boat and love this race, wouldn't miss it for anything!"  Find out why for yourself.  Lots of fun, lots of laughs and lots of memories with friends and loved ones.  Many other J's are participating and seem to agree with Brad's perspective on this special Nantucket event.

At this stage, there are two J/24s, two J/29s sailing.  Dawson Hodgson's J/100 GRIMACE from Rhode Island is sailing, so are two J/105s from Nantucket Community Sailing Center.  A J/35 and Doug Curtiss's J/111 WICKED 2.0 from Marion, MA are in the line-up.  Two J/37c's are going for it, including Stephen Lipman's DUCK SOUP from Newport, RI and Andrew Davis' DESTINY from Groton, MA.  Three J/40s are cruising fast, including Kirk Brown's JAZZ from Hingham, MA; Bill Jones' SMITTEN from Marblehead, MA and Peter Stockus' PASSAGE from Canton, MA.  Two J/120's are doing the event, Jim Masiero's URSUS MARITIMUS from Sterling, MA and Dave Follet's GLORY from Boxborough, MA. Tony Iacono's J/42 AFFINITY from West Chester, PA and Kevin McLaughlin's J/44 SPICE from Fairhaven, MA may be in the hunt. Two J/46's are sailing, Dick Eagan's WINGS from Osterville, MA and Renee & Bill Jacobson's VANISH from Boston, MA.  Finally, two of the big, fast cruising J/160s- Alan Fougere's AVATAR from Pocasset, MA and Ben Blake's ATLANTIC from Stonington, CT- will be thundering into the finish line at a great rate of speed if the little guys in front haven't gotten there already!

Depending on the various conditions, the theory of the "Pursuit Race" format is that all competitors should reach Nantucket Harbor Buoy at around the same time. They finish at the entrance of Nantucket Harbor and parade into Nantucket Boat Basin.

Saturday night Figawi hosts a Competitor Party under the tent on Nantucket. Mt Gay, Budweiser, Hammer & Sickle, Vineyard Vines and French Rabbit join Figawi along with live entertainment to throw a great gathering where old friends meet up after a long winter, and new friends are made.

Sunday is a day to enjoy Nantucket Island whether visiting local shops, enjoying restaurants, or walking on the docks at Nantucket Boat Basin. Figawi hosts a Traditional Clambake under the Event Tent. Lobster, mussels, award winning chowder, chicken, steak, potatoes, and much more are included in the reasonable fee.  As the day winds down, the Prize Giving starts late afternoon where 97+ trophies are awarded.  After the Award Ceremony, it's time to change gears and prep the tent for the Sunday night party-- it's basically a repeat of Saturday night.

Monday morning, it is time to get back to racing. The newly formatted Monday Race dubbed "Redux" has been changed to encourage as many entrants as possible. The race now ends in a neutral location allowing skippers to head north or south towards home. The gathering at HYC in the later afternoon includes entertainment and one last time to enjoy the Figawi camaraderie until next year.    Sailing photo credits- Blake Jackson   For more FIGAWI Race sailing information

J/111 ANDIAMO Wins AYC Spring Series

(Rye, NY)- The annual spring rite of passage for the start of the Long Island Sound offshore sailing season was finally completed this past weekend.  Hosted by the American Yacht Club in Rye, NY, the excellent turnout was helped by gorgeous, cool, spring weather conditions with sunny days prevailing for both weekends of sailing.

In IRC I Class, the J/133 ANTIDOTE sailed by Ron Richman had a terrific series and managed to finish second against a fleet of basically completely custom, tricked-out forty footers, included in this fleet were a Ker 40, Farr 40s, X41, King 40, Farr 400 and Ker 11.3.  Great to see a "family cruiser-racer" come out on top over outright racing machines.

In IRC 2 Class, the J/122's were fighting hard for the top five.  In the end, third was Steve Furnary's PATRIOT followed by WINGS sailed by Mike Bruno, Tom Boyle and Jim Callahan in fifth.

The J/44s continued to have a wonderful time racing.  This time, Jim Bishop's GOLD DIGGER team proved themselves as one of the class leaders.  Finishing the series with 1sts, 2nds and 3rds enabled them to climb up the ladder fast and win the regatta overall in the J/44 One-Design Class.  Second with three 1sts and a 2nd on the last weekend was Phil Gutin's BEAGLE.  Third was Bill Ketcham's MAXINE, fourth Jeff Willis' CHALLENGE IV and fifth Don & Rick Rave's RESOLUTE.

The J/105 one-designs were having yet another epic battle for "top dog" on Long Island Sound.  But the second weekend proved to be the real testing ground for this fleet. KINCSEM took the lead in the AYC Springs Series on Saturday and narrowly held on on Sunday to win the regatta over Sean Doyle's KESTREL. The Joerg Esdorn/Duncan Hennes team on KINCSEM finished the regatta with a scant 25 points over 11 races. But KESTREL also ended with 25 points, thanks to a 2-3 finish on Sunday versus a 1-6 for KINCSEM. The tiebreaker went to KINCSEM. Over the 11 races, KINCSEM finished ahead of KESTREL 6 times, while KESTREL had the better finish 5 times. KINCSEM won four races; KESTREL three. Both teams threw out a 6 as their worst finish (KINCSEM had two 6s). Doesn't get much tighter than that. Paul Beaudin's LOULOU finished the regatta in third, followed by Kevin Grainger's GUMPTION3 in fourth, and George and Alex Wilbanks's REVELATION in fifth.

In PHRF 1 Class, the J/111 ANDIAMO sailed by Paul Strauch rattled off a few more 1sts to win PHRF 1 by 15 pts. J/109s took 3 out of the top five.  Third was Bob Schwartz's NORDLYS, fourth was John Pearson's BLUE SKY and fifth was Mike Sleightholme's APSARA.

Finally, in PHRF 4, the Esposito gang on the J/29 HUSTLER prevailed to win their class, but on a squeaker-- winning on a tie-breaker.  Third overall in class was Matheus Hovers' J/29 KATOENDRA, a result of a strong performance over this past weekend.   For more AYC Spring Series sailing information

Gorgeous Sailing In AYC Spring Series

J/111 ANDIAMO Winning PHRF 1
(Rye, NY)- The annual spring rite of passage for the start of the Long Island Sound offshore sailing season took place this past weekend.  Hosted by the American Yacht Club in Rye, NY, the excellent turnout was helped by gorgeous, cool, spring weather conditions with sunny days prevailing for both days of sailing.

In IRC I Class, the J/133 ANTIDOTE sailed by Ron Richman is hanging tough after six races sailed over two days.  They're lying second in class in a very tough fleet of experienced offshore racers and new-fangled boats like a Farr 400, Ker 40, Ker 11.3, X-41, King 40, Farr 40, Swan 42 and a Tripp 41-- talk about bringing a cruiser-racer to a gun-fight!  Great to see a family-sailed boat fairing well against some all-star professionally sailed boats!

In IRC 2 Class, the J/122 WINGS sailed by Mike Bruno, Tom Boyle and Jim Callahan is leading their fleet against fellow J/122s and Farr 395s.  Third is Steve Furnary's J/122 PATRIOT and just off the pace is George Marks' J/122 GEORGETOWN III.

The J/44s are having a wonderful time, as always, sailing in what may be the "most one-design" of large offshore one-design sailboats.  With the vision of Jim Bishop, the J/44s have endured the test of time and J/44 teams continue to have a long-time love-affair with their beautiful sailboats.  With such evenly matched boats, it's always hard to tell how well each team will perform over the course of a series  At the moment, Don and Rick Rave on RESOLUTE are enjoying a slim lead over second place Bill Ketcham on MAXINE.  Tied with Bill but losing on a tie-break is Jeff Willis on CHALLENGE IV.  Fourth is the ubiquitous Jim Bishop on GOLD DIGGER just one point back and fifth is Phil Gutin on BEAGLE.  More to come next weekend from this fun-loving, competitive group.

The J/105 one-designs are having yet another epic battle for "top dog" on Long Island Sound.  Having found a 5th gear, Sean Doyle's team on KESTREL have been fast out-of-the-blocks like a top-fueled dragster, starting off the first weekend in 1st with 11 pts.  But, chasing them hard as a group are the balance of the top five.  In that group are some formidable champions in the J/105 class, including Paul Beaudin on LOULOU in second tied with Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes in third on KINCSEM followed in fourth by another familiar name, Kevin Grainger on GUMPTION 3.  Fifth are George and Alex Wilbanks on REVELATION.

In PHRF 1 Class, the J/111 ANDIAMO sailed by Paul Strauch managed to pull off four 1sts to lead their fleet.  Third and fourth are two J/109s, John Pearson's BLUE SKY and Bob Schwartz's NORDLYS, respectively.

Finally, in PHRF 4, the "money guys", the Esposito gang on the J/29 HUSTLER are at it again.  Three 1sts and three 2nds are sufficient to keep them in the lead in their class.  Matheus Hovers' J/29 KATOENDRA is hanging in there for 5th overall and hoping that some good J/29 "karma" rubs off on them from the Espo team!   For more AYC Spring Series sailing information

Key West- Day Five- Classic Key West, Spectacular Finale!

LE TIGRE Three-Peats J/80s, J/122 TEAMWORK Wins PHRF/ J-Class
(Key West, FL)- Today is what everyone dreams about when sailing Key West.   Gorgeous light bouncing off the pearl white sands creating a neon blue water color.  Steady, oscillating ESE gradient breeze with near trade-wind like consistency flowing along at 10-15 knots.  Solid race committee and PRO management making for fun, fair racing on mostly windward-leeward courses.  One cannot imagine that anyone would be disappointed by such spectacular weather conditions.

While Thursday's sailing saw breezes in the NE quadrant, Friday's final day of sailing saw mostly ENE breezes that hardly fluctuated more than 15 degrees in direction.  The key was staying in wind pressure and ensuring you sailed the lifted tack as long as possible.  Some boats hit the corners and when they did it usually turned into a disaster-- corner shots sometimes pay in Key West, but not this week.  For the most part, so long as you played the wind shifts and the wind pressure you could always stay in the hunt with the race leaders.

It was a runaway in the 18-boat J/80 class as Glenn Darden steered LE TIGRE to a steady stream of first, second and third place results. John Gluek was serving as tactician on LE TIGRE, winning with an 18-point lead over second place ROCAD RACING skippered by Mikael Lindqvist from Stockholm, Sweden.

LE TIGRE was named Mount Gay Rum Boat of the Day for winning the class which had the closest, most competitive racing for the day on Thursday. The boat is co-owned by Reese Hillard, who works the bow while Karl Anderson trims the jib aboard the Forth Worth, Texas entry. They captured the J/80 World Championship in 2006 and got the three-peat for Key West!

“Our team really meshed well. We’ve had a lot of time in the boat and that makes a big difference,” Darden said. “John has done a great job of keeping us in phase and everyone else is just doing their job at a high level.”

The next three places in the J/80s were a horse-race to the very end of the regatta.  Snagging third place by virtue of a 5-5 on the last day was Ron Buzil on VAYU 2 for a total of 48 pts.  Fourth place went to the fast-climbing veteran J/80 campaigners, John Storck Jr and family on RUMOR finishing with a 3-8 to get fourth overall with 50 pts.  Behind them in fifth place was Chris & Liz Chadwick on CHURCH KEY with a 9-9 for a total of 53 pts.  The SAIL Best Around Buoys Team, Ryan Glaze and the Scott brothers hung tough against some top J/80 teams and managed to finish off with a 6-3 for 54 points, good enough for sixth place.

SAILING WORLD'S Mike Lovett had a quick interview with this fast team: "What was the most fun is that the conditions were up and down, shifting around," says tactician John Gluek, who is president of Dimension-Polyant. "It was all about staying calm and not panicking, deciding a side that's favorable and digging through the fleet to get there, and shifting gears. From five to ten to fifteen knots, there's a range of adjustments [we] make that is really the speed, that's the gas pedal."

Trimmer Karl Anderson is the team's gear-changer. "We try to keep the boat rolling, fully powered up," he says. "There's a lot of small adjustments you can make that are minor adjustments, but they all add up. The trick is to have it all in sync with the trim of the boat and the pressure on the sails. In that way, it's a little back to dinghy sailing. When the wind drops, we try to focus on making the boat go faster forward. We'll heel the boat to make it easier for the helmsman, and we try to keep everybody from freaking out! When everybody's working together, we're able to work through those lights spots."

Of course, skipper Glenn Darden prefers to avoid the light spots altogether. "What John [Gluek] did was keep us in the breeze," says Darden. "There were big breeze lanes—more than shifts, there were breeze lanes—and John kept us in these lanes. A couple of races, we didn't get off the line as well as we wanted, we were a little bit behind, and up the first beat we weren't looking great. John had the patience to work us into better lanes."

Gluek explains his wind-hunting method: "Today was what I call lake sailing, where you had to be patient. You couldn't hit a corner; you couldn't say it's right or left. You had to go with the velocity and move up the water, a little like skiing down a slalom course."

In the PHRF One Division, the sailing could not have been more interesting and more fun competitively amongst the ten boats sailing in the division.  Many incredibly well-sailed boats, all with great teamwork, good tacticians, great boat speed.  There was nowhere to hide amongst the top six boats, it was a tough battle every single race to scrap for every place you could get as each and every team sought to make incremental gains against one another-- perhaps some of the best "almost one-design" racing one could find sailing handicap racing.  On this last day, the moderate conditions seemed to be working well for Robin Team's J/122 TEAMWORK (pictured at right)  and Paul Stahlberg's J/111 MENTAL, each compiling a 1-2 record to be the "J-Boat of the Day".  At the end of the day, the late charge by MENTAL was not enough to overcome the strong showing of TEAMWORK on the first two days/ five races of the series.  Robin's team on TEAMWORK sailed a fantastic series to win with a total of 22 pts.  Second by virtue of their three 1sts and two 2nds on the last two days was Paul's MENTAL team from Chicago, IL, good enough for 26 pts.  Finishing fourth overall was Bill Sweetser's veteran J/109 RUSH with a 4-3 for the day and Doug Curtiss' J/111 WICKED 2.0 sailed to a 5-5 for a total of 43 pts to snag fifth place in class.  Gary Weissberg's J/109 HEATWAVE sailed a strong last day to get a 6-7 and finish sixth in class.

Within the J/Division (PHRF Time-on-Time), Robin's J/122 TEAMWORK won the class with a 1-3 on the last day for 20 pts.  Second was determined on a tie-breaker, with Bill's J/109 RUSH with a 3-2 on the final day to snag 2nd place.  Losing the tie-breaker was Paul's J/111 MENTAL with a 2-1 for 23 pts to secure third place.  Sailing their J/111 WICKED 2.0 well was Doug Curtiss' team that included skipper Ted Scott and tactician Neal Fowler (both Tufts Sailing Team classmates of the Editor), securing a 4-4 on the last day to finish fourth in class.  Debuting for his first time in Key West was Gary Weisberg's team on the J/109 HEATWAVE, sailing to a 5-6 to get fifth overall in the J/Class.

In the PHRF Two Division, Gerrit Schulze sailed strongly on the J/105 MAX POWER to finish fourth overall in class with a 4-5 on the last day.  Ed and Justin Palm's J/95 STILL CRAZY sailed to a 6-7 to get sixth place and Dave Whealon's J/80 BOND---JAMES BOND sailed to 9th overall.

In the IRC Three Division, Jim Bishop on the IRC Modified J/44 WHITE GOLD had a serious battle on their hands going into the last day for second place on the podium.  However, despite their valiant efforts to overcome stiff competition, the 2-4 was just not enough to win this cliff-hanger to get onto the podium.  The WHITE GOLD crew missed 2nd place by one point and their two competitors in themselves had to settle the score on a tie-breaker at 33 pts each! 
Photo credits- Tim Wilkes- http://www.timwilkes.com
For more Quantum Key West Race Week sailing results:
http://www.premiere-racing.com