J/111s BLAST Chester Race Week

(Chester/ Halifax, Nova Scotia)- Chester Race Week started out slowly and with challenging weather, but ended with glorious sun and good wind. The competitors were happy with the race management and the evening parties, which didn't start until 9:30pm and were extremely well attended with 3 great local bands and wonderful Dark'n'Stormies at the bar!

The regatta featured a huge turn-out of J's ranging from the classic J/22s, J/24s, J/27s, J/29s, J/30s, J/35s and J/36 to J/92s, J/109, J/120s, J/111s, J/42 and J/44- a total of thirty J's in all, about 36% of the fleet of 92 handicap racers.

Leading the charge in the Alpha 1 Division were the two J/111s, BLAST (Mark Surette from Royal Nova Scotia YS) and STAMPEDER (Dave Connolloy from Chester YC).  BLAST managed to pull off a strong series counting six 1sts, a 2nd and 3rd to finish with 11 pts net, well clear of the next boat by ten pts!  STAMPEDER sailed a very nice series to collect a 7-2-2-3-6-2-5-6 for 33 pts net to grab fourth in their division.

In the Alpha 2 Division top dog was the famous J/92 POOHSTICKS (Colin Mann from Lunenburg YC), pulling off a 7-1-6-6-3-4-5 for consistent finishes to grab fifth in their division.  Finishing just behind were the J/35s and J/36s, most all suffering from a controversial second race DSQ factored into their scores!

In Bravo 1 Division the J/30 FLUX (Jordan MacNeil RNSYS) sailed a consistent regatta, garnering a 5-3-4-5-scp-1-4-2 for a net of 24 pts, finishing 4th by virtue of losing a tie-breaker for 3rd overall.  Johnny Wynacht, Canadian J/24 and J/29 National Champion sailed the first J/70 in Nova Scotia, finishing a credible 6th in their first outing with a slow start, but rapid finish-- scoring 9-9-6-7-1-4-3-8 for a 38 pts net, just 12 pts from the podium.  Not bad for the first day sailing the J/70 and not knowing which strings to pull first!

In Bravo 2 Division the J/30 GROOVIN (Greg Hammond) finished second with a consistent record of 4-4-3-1-2-2-5-1 for 17 net pts.  The J/22 CHEAP THRILL (Karen Fowler) was sailed fast by her lady helmsman, gathering a respectable (and very fast) 2-2-4-7-dnc-6-4-6 for 31 net pts.  Other than her DNC, Karen would have easily factored into the top three!

In the Distance 1 Division the J/120s performed brilliantly, with the J/120 BRILLIANCE (Richard Calder from RNSYS) scoring a 4-3-1-1 for 9 pts net to handily win their division.  Fourth was the other J/120 BLACK PEARL (Ross Leighton from RNSYS) with a 3-6-7-2 for 18 pts net.

In Distance 2 Division the J/109 WISC (Paul Rafuse from RNSYS) sailed beautifully to get 4-1-7-4 to finish with 16 pts net, good enough for 2nd in their division.  Also sailing well was the gorgeous J/42 CASTANEA (Paul Conrod from RNSYS) that managed a tally of 2-6-3-7 to net 18 pts, just 2 pts off 2nd.  Close racing, indeed, in this group of fast cruiser-racers!

Finally in the two J/One-Design divisions you have a literal wolf-pack of J/24s and J/29s sailing, neither fleet was won in a runaway.  In fact, the regatta outcome hung in the balance of the last race or two for both fleets!  In the J/24s, it was Greg Blunden on ADRENALIN RUSH that won a tiebreaker over Hamblin's JAMMIN. Blunden's `-5-3-1-1-3-2 for 12 pts net won on 1sts over Hamblin's 9-1-2-2-3-2-2 for 12 pts, too.  Third on the podium was decided by yet another tie-breaker!  "Holy Tie-breaker Hell" said Robin to Batman.  How can this be?  Ross Romney's RUSH HOUR managed to score a 6-6-1-4-2-5-4 for 22 pts and Ted Murphy's JUVENILE DELINQUENT tallied a 4-7-4-5-4-4-1 for the same 22 pts, but lost.  The nod went to Ross's RUSH HOUR crew to fill out the 3rd spot on the podium.

In J/29 World, with even more on the line with the recent J/29 North Americans having been run nearly concurrently, it was going to be "local bragging rights" to see who could party hardest, go the fastest, sail the smartest to win this division!  In the end, it was pretty remarkable to see Andrew Childs' team on SILVER WOMAN top the 29 charts with a spanking of the class- a 1-1-4-4-2-1-3 for 12 net pts laid down the gauntlet for all to match.  Next up was past champion SCOTCH MIST IV sailed by Chris Mac Donald with a 6-2-5-2-1-4-2 for 16 net pts.  Third sailing well were Matt & Scott Christie with a somewhat steady 3-3-3-5-8-2-1 for 17 net pts (imagine what might have happened had they not had to toss an 8th!).  Fourth was the Williams/ Matthews crew on PARADIGM SHIFT and 5th was Jim Mason's SATISFACTION.  Sailing photo credits- Heather McGuire/ Tim Wilkes - timwilkes.com   For more Chester Race Week sailing information

J/111 BLUR Frosts Scandinavian Sailing Circuit

(Stockholm, Sweden)- It's been a great season for many of the Swedish J/Boats.  Long time J/boat aficionado, Peter Gustafsson, got his new J/111 BLUR in time for SPI-Ouest France and managed a top three finish! But before handing his old J/109 BLUR over to the new owner, he and his team won both the Marstrand Big Boat Race and the inshore part of AF Offshore Race (Around Gotland Race).

Back on-board the new J/111 BLUR for the balance of the Scandinavian sailing summer, they quickly adapted to the boat. Here's Peter's quick summary of their sweet summer season aboard the 111:

"We were 3rd in the super competitive R40-class in Færderseilasen in Norway, 2nd in class in Around Hermano, winning the feeder race to Around Tjorn and last weekend they topped it off with a 3rd overall of 436 boats in Around Tjorn, Sweden's largest yacht race.

The Around Tjorn is the highlight of the year for many, gathering all kinds of boats and sailors. This year we had Fredrik Loof straight from winning the Olympic Gold Medal in his Star and the Swedish guys from GROUPAMA (Volvo Ocean Race Winners) racing in the 28 mile race around the island of Tjorn.

We had very close racing with the two First 40s that came first and second. We led on the first beat despite winds up to 14-16 knots but when it opened up, it quickly became a waterline race. We knew we were faster downwind, so we just had to hang in there. Turning the corner, the chase begun through the narrow passages in the archipelago. It was just crazy, doing 15 knots with the big kite just a few feet away from the rocks. In the end we were very close but lost out on handicap.

To round of a great weekend I did the same course solo on Sunday after the race. We were ten boats that tested if the format would work for a new solo race in 2013. Sailing the J/111 solo worked beautifully!! I really love the boat.

On the agenda for the season is to top 20 knots-- so we have the crew on standby for one or two September low pressures!"  We wish them well.  We have NO DOUBT (like the famous musician) they will top 20+ knots boatspeed!

Other J/boats that's are winning races in Sweden are J/105 JAVELIN with Sebastian Larsson who won Around Naset overall and the J/97 SAILING FOR JESUS skippered by Lennart Jansson who won his class in Hermano Runt.   Sailing photo credits- Ake Fredriksson
Sailing reports:
http://www.blur.se/2012/06/10/faerderseilasen-2012/
http://www.blur.se/2012/08/06/hermano-runt-2012/
http://www.blur.se/2012/08/20/tjorn-runt-2012/
http://www.blur.se/2012/08/20/mellan-broarna-solo-2012/

FLEETWING Flies @ Downeast Race Week

(Northeast Harbor, Maine)- The pinnacle of offshore yacht racing in the Downeast summer calendar is the Downeast Race Week hosted by both Kollegewidgwok YC from Blue Hill, Maine and the Northeast Fleet based in the famous summer colony of Northeast Harbor, Maine.  The event is a fun, eclectic format of three point-to-point races, one per day with a choice of up to five courses for each day depending on wind, tide and fog (of course!).  In between, raft-ups and social events are planned spontaneously on the boats or ashore depending on where the fleet finishes for the particular evening.

This year's event started off the Long Ledge Green bell just outside of the Western Way, located SW offshore of Southwest Harbor (most renown for the Hinckley Yachts boatyard in Manset).  The race chosen was the "Round the Black Islands (two of them!)" to starboard and finish in the gorgeous Bartlett Narrows on the NW side of Mt Desert Island.  It was a very foggy day offshore with a light ESE breeze of just 3-5 kts.  Nevertheless, one of the world's best PRO's- Fran Charles, MIT Sailing Director and Northeast Fleet Manager- was clever enough to send the fleet off on an easy reach around the track that led everyone back into Blue Hill Bay into a near fog-less clearing.  Leading the fleet home after a shortened course 18nm of sailing was Henry Brauer's J/111 FLEETWING, winning on elapsed time for the fleet as well as finishing 2nd handicap.  Tom Rolfe's J/105 SIDEWINDER sailed a nice race and managed a 6th in fleet.

The second day of sailing took the fleet on the Hanus Ledge Course- it ran from the Bartlett Narrows, through the Bar Island Channel, leaving Swans Island to port to round Hanus Ledge to starboard and a straight run to the finish off Bosun Island at the opening of the spectacular Eggemoggin Reach (which we never saw due to pea soup fog!).  Starting in near drifting conditions with winds doing 360s around everyone, the fleet was ultimately pushed into a building SE breeze.  Leading the charge out of the bay towards Swans Island was David Rockefeller's well-campaigned IMX 45 CYBELE.  After passing through the two channels and rounding Hanus Ledge (minus snagging three lobster pots and hitting an uncharted "bump" underwater), Henry's J/111 FLEETWING team managed to mow down David's crackerjack team on CYBELE to again finish first on elapsed time and win the race overall.  In this race, J/Teams took 3 of the top 5!  Next up was Tom's J/105 SIDEWINDER in 4th and 5th overall on handicap was an amazing performance by Scott Miller single-handing his J/122 RESOLUTE to third boat to finish!

The last day of racing again saw a lot of fog rolling in at the start off Bosun Island.  The course was simply called the "Swans Island Course"-- doh, just go out the bay, turn left around Swans and head down the narrows between Placentia and the Gott Islands to finish at the eastern end of the narrows!  Simple.  Yeah.  But, complicated as hell when you consider that every turn around that rather large island presents yet another challenge in wind strength, direction and yet more (or less) fog.  After an inauspicious start, Henry's J/111 FLEETWING team managed to snag a pot we called "Jaws" that wouldn't let go just 3 minutes into the race.  After fighting it for a few more minutes, FLEETWING cleared out on port tack behind the entire fleet headed upwind to the SW corner of Swans before turning left underneath Marshall Island to continue the partial circumnavigation of Swans headed home.  Despite catching the pot, FLEETWING managed to snag a 15 degree right shift with velocity to rapidly catch the fleet again. But, "destiny" was not the rule of the day for the FLEETWING crew.  Yet another lobster pot leapt out of the water to snag her keel, and yet again FLEETWING ended up giving several hundred yards to her competitors (remember the one at the start?).  In the end, the FLEETWING team prevailed, winning yet their third race boat-for-boat on elapsed time and sailing well enough to finish 2nd overall on handicap in what became a true "little boat, slow PHRF" race for handicap honors.

In the end, it was quite a showcase for the J/111's ability to accelerate and sail fast across a broad range of conditions both upwind and downwind in the capricious, lighter winds of Downeast sailing!  Remarkably, out of five possible trophies to win, the FLEETWING managed to haul in a LOT of hardware-- winning them all with her 2-1-2 overall record!  Amongst the silverware gracing the FLEETWING trophy shelf are:  The MAX Trophy for 1st Overall DERW; the Paul Nevin Cup for 1st Overall all Classes on Saturday and Sunday; the Becton Trophy for Lowest Cumulative Elapsed Time all 3 Races in Fleet; the Morris Trophy for 1st in Division 2 on Saturday and the Arundel Plate for the Best 2 Days Combined in Division 2.  Congratulations to Henry and the FLEETWING crew!  Tom Rolfe's J/105 SIDEWINDER also sailed a very good regatta, rattling off a 6-7-4 for 17 pts to secure 4th overall.

For a fun video to watch that captures the feel and atmosphere of the weekend on video, please take a look at "Roll Away the Dew" on Vimeo.  For more Downeast Race Week sailing information

LUCKY DUBIE Wins 111s @ Verve Cup!

MOMENTUS Wins 109s, STRIKING Wins 105s, 35s Sweep ORR3
(Chicago, IL)-  The 20th annual Verve Cup, presented by Audi and SLAM, is a three-day offshore regatta that had 142 boats competing, with both J's sailing in handicap divisions as well as sailing one-design in the J/111, J/109 and J/105 classes.

As the largest course-racing regatta on the Great Lakes, the Verve Cup has developed as a world-class event, attracting national and international sailing competitors to Chicago’s beautiful lake front. During the regatta, Chicago Yacht Club welcomed over 2,000 sailors, spouses and guests at their Monroe harbor clubhouse for top quality racing, followed by food, entertainment and camaraderie.

The regatta got off to a very windy, wavy start.  “An autumn weather pattern has set up over Great Lakes, bringing cold air over the warm lake and causing very strong winds that are whipping up very rough waves,” said Meteorologist Chris Bedford of Sailing Weather Service. “It’s early in the year for something like this but at the same time the lakes are unusually warm this year from the unusually warm weather we’ve had this summer.”  As a result, Friday's racing was postponed due to the 30-40 kt northerly breezes kicking up to 10 foot breaking chop (no such thing as a wave on Lake Michigan!).

On the second day of sailing, it was clear the competitors were eager to get out on the water Saturday. “You can never make up the missed races, but we got three races in each circle today and it should be good sailing tomorrow with more moderate weather.” Chris Bedford of Sailing Weather Services said racers can expect “a bit of a mixed bag” when Sunday’s racing begins. “During morning racing there will be a lingering offshore breeze around 10 knots,” Bedford said. “That wind is expected to die during the morning with variable conditions mid-morning through early afternoon. There will be a midday southeast lake breeze of 5 to 10 knots and the waves should be down, so it should be pretty nice out there tomorrow.”  In the end, “Circle A saw an amazing and challenging day with three races. Winds were out of the north northeast with 7- to 10-foot rollers. We saw very exciting, competitive starts in the six classes in Circle A. There were very exciting starts in the J111s, which all piled up near the race committee and had to bail and circle around at starts, showing why the J111 class is becoming a great One-Design fleet in Chicago,” commented Race Officer Tom Keegan.  On Circle B, “It was a fast day for our regatta after being literally blown off the lake by 40 knot winds and 12-foot waves on Friday. On Saturday, southern waves with a solid north wind made for challenging racing - an athletic day for crews - with 20 knot winds and shifts to the east. It was tight racing with 40 of 58 boats finishing within a four-minute period in Race 2. The race committee offered a fourth race and was cheered when the day ended with three. Bruises were shown and tales were told at the end of the day," said Race Officer Rick Lillie.

The third day of sailing Sunday was a challenge with the light, shifty air – "before the breeze set in it was challenging just trying to keep the crew safe and consolidating because of the light shifts today,” said one of the skippers.  Race officers said Sunday’s final day of racing brought south-southwest winds of approximately 8 to 10 knots, and the light air brought some good competition and very close finishes. “Yesterday was a challenge because of the heavy seas, making it an athletic day. Today was a light air day, so finesse and an understanding of the lake were required,” Circle B Race Officer Rick Lillie said. While Circle B was able to get in three races on Sunday, Circle A got in two races, including a five leg race. Circle A Race Officer Tom Keegan said there was a lot of volatility in the fifth race. “Today was more technical and a wind distribution management day. Everyone was all smiles on the upwind finish,” Keegan said.

The eight boat J/111 class had yet another amazing one-design regatta, providing yet again a lot of fun, entertaining racing for the sailors, skippers and tacticians.  Racing was so close that there were four race winners in five races!  One of the crew members remarked after sailing on Saturday, "it was a really windy first day, big waves, north over 20 kts-- but nobody got wet!! We had great planing weather downwind and the sailing was very close."  After finishing last in the 111 class in the Mackinac Race, improving dramatically in the Harbor Springs Ugotta Regatta, it was heart-warming to see past J/109 Champ Lenny Siegal pull a few rabbits out of the hat and ascend to the top of the podium, winning the regatta in his new J/111 LUCKY DUBIE with a 2-4-1-4-1 record for 12 pts, the only boat to win two races in the fleet.  Sailing equally as well were MENTAL and VELOCITY, finishing tied on points only ONE point back from "the DUBSTERS".  Paul Stahlberg's crew on MENTAL started out of the box strong and hung in to win the tie-break with a 1-2-6-1-3 record for 13 pts.  Third was the Annapolis/ Chesapeake Bay team on VELOCITY with Marty Roesch skippering to a steady 4-1-2-2-2-4 record.  Fourth were the Mac Race and Ugotta Regatta winners KASHMIR sailed by the trio of Karl Brummel, Steve Henderson & Mike Mayer with an uncharacteristic 8-5-3-3-2 record for 21 pts.  Rounding out the top five was NIGHTHAWK sailed by Steve Dabrowski with a 3-3-5-8-6 record.

The J/109s saw eight teams sailing with four boats all vying for class honors going into the last race.  It was very close racing indeed!  Working on the "comeback trail strategy" was Kevin Saedi and crew on MOMENTUS, gathering a steady tally of 2-4-3-2-1 to close out the regatta with 12 pts to take first place.  Starting strongly but fading in the end was David Gustman's NORTHSTAR, finishing off with a 3-1-1-3-6 scoreline for 14 pts.  Third was VANDA III sailed by Jack Toliver with 15 pts, fourth was FULL TILT sailed by Peter Priede with 17 pts and fifth was CERTAINLY skippered by Don Meyer with 27 pts.

The J/105 fleet saw eight of the nine boats competing for second place.  Why?  Because it appeared that Blane Shea and crew on STRIKING simply had another gear and a massive dose of "whupass" to smoke their fleet with a scoreline of four 1sts, a 2nd and 3rd for a low point total of only 9 pts.  Vying for second were four boats with the inmates running THE ASYLUM getting second place, led by chief inmate Jon Weglarz.  Their scoreline of 1-2-3-3-1-4 was good enough for 14 pts, pulling away from the pack in the last few races.  Settling for third was HERE'S JOHNNY sailed by John Moore with a steady 3-3-4-2-6-2 score for 23 pts.  Fourth was SEALARK sailed by Clark Pellet with 23 pts and fifth was class veterans Tom & Gyt Petkus sailing VYTIS.  New J/105 owner Sandy Curtiss (a past First 40.7 Champion in Chicago) managed to grab sixth with family crew on ROCKING HORSE!

Holy smokin' hot J/35s!  They're on a "steam-rollin', scorched Earth, take no prisoners" game plan!  Yet again, the J/35s laid waste to their class, sweeping ORR 3 in grand style.  Leading the pack was Larry Schell's TOUCH OF GREY with an amazing 2-2-2-1-1-1-3 for 11 pts.  Just behind was BOZOS CIRCUS sailed by Bruce Metcalf, obliterating the fleet in the beginning with a blistering 1-1-1 picket fence, followed by a 3-3-6 for 15 pts (were they slowed down by the party Saturday night?).  Then, in third was yet another member of the 35 brotherhood, Bill Newman's AFTERSHOCK, sailing to an 11-3-7-2-2-2, finishing strongly to earn 27 pts and a place on the podium.  Of note were fellow J/Sailors Kate & Dennis Bartley sailing their J/30 PLANXTY to 4th place!

In the Offshore Race, third in ORR 1 was the J/133 RENEGADE sailed by Tom Papoutsis.  In ORR 2, 2nd was the J/105 OCH! sailed by Brendon Docherty and 3rd was the J/92 CYCLONE skippered by John Madey.
For more Verve Cup sailing information & results

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/Fest @ Chester Race Week

(Chester (Halifax), Nova Scotia)- This year's Chester Race Week that is sailing from August 15th to 18th will again feature an enormous turn-out of J's ranging from the classic J/22s, J/24s, J/27s, J/29s, J/30s, J/35s and J/36 to the modern J/92s, J/109, J/120s, J/111s, J/42 and J/44- a total of thirty J's in all, about 36% of the fleet of 92 handicap racers.

Yacht racing has been a major summer sport in Chester for well over 150 years. Its roots were planted in the mid-19th century when the fishermen raced each other to markets in Halifax or New England. As sailors and fishermen have done forever, they loved to get together and talk shop. Sailing races for pleasure and bragging rights was inevitable. As the gatherings and races occurred more regularly, the Annual Fishermen’s Regatta was born. The regatta was a show case for locally built boats of different designs, as well as for sailing skills.

The first documented regatta was in 1856. It is reported to have been attended by 3,000 people who participated in a parade, amusements, land races as well as the sea races. In 1858 a rowing race for ladies was added and a dance took place at the Mulgrave Inn which had been hosting guests from Europe, US and Canada since 1820. In 1860 the press reported the regatta pleasures were “enhanced by a large party consisting of 150, accompanied by the city band, who arrived in the steamer ‘Neptune’ from Halifax”. In 1885 the two day regatta had boats from Mahone Bay, Lunenburg as well as from the two Tancooks. The big excitement was a circus which featured a hand cranked Ferris wheel on the parade ground. According to the Lunenburg newspaper, the 1888 Annual Regatta attracted 2,000 spectators who were treated to “the closest and most exciting match of its kind ever witnessed in the South Shore”.

After Chester YC was established in 1902, it became the focal point for racing. Charter member Ned Fader remembers, “Citizens donated prizes: 100 pounds of sugar, a barrel of flour, maybe a little cash. A boat crew could get a wonderful view on life for a dollar ... best of ale, fifty cents a gallon, good rum at one dollar a quart. They were all good God-fearing people, but they did not let it spoil their lives too much.” Later, as the renamed "Chester Race Week" evolved, the competition between Chester yachts and those of the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron have become a great cause for celebration to gather together each summer for some fun, frolic and spirited competition and sailing around the gorgeous bays and islands off Nova Scotia.

So far, the weather forecast of westerly winds 8-15 kts from Wednesday to Saturday means the fleet may be treated to some good racing, if not some crazy weather (often the norm in these parts with fog, thunderstorms, rain, wind, hail and even lots of sun-- all in the same day)!  Leading the charge in the Alpha 1 Division are the two J/111s, BLAST (Mark Surette from Royal Nova Scotia YS) and  STAMPEDER (Dave Connolloy from Chester YC).  In the Alpha 2 Division are a trio of J/35s that include SUMROO (Gary Sullivan from RKYC), J-HAWK (Thane MacDonald from Chester YC) and WHISTLER'S AIR (Richard Oulton RKYC); as well as the J/36 VELOS-ITY (David Morgan from RKYC) and the famous J/92 POOHSTICKS (Colin Mann from Lunenburg YC).  In Bravo 1 Division are the J/29 HAKUNA MATATA (J Wood from LYC) and the J/30 FLUX (Jordan MacNeil RNSYS).  In Bravo 2 Division are the dynamic duo of the J/30 GROOVIN (Greg Hammond) and the J/22 CHEAP THRILL (Karen Fowler).  In the Distance 1 Division are a J/44 AKUBRA (Reg Goodday from RNSYS) and a triumvirate of J/120s including BRILLIANCE (Richard Calder from RNSYS), GRAND CRU (Mike Kennedy from host CYC) and BLACK PEARL (Ross Leighton from RNSYS).  In Distance 2 Division are the J/42 CASTANEA (Paul Conrod from RNSYS) and the J/109 WISC (Paul Rafuse from RNSYS).  Sailing the Cruiser 1 Division is the J/27 INCORRIGIBLE skippered by Sam Lamey of Chester YC.

Finally in the two J/One-Design divisions you have six J/29s sailing, including COLMONELL (Matt & Scott Christie), JONEFORTWO (Ron Switzer), PARADIGM SHIFT (Williams/ Matthews), SATISFACTION ( Jim Mason), SILVER WOMAN (Andrew Childs), SCOTCH MIST IV (Chris MacDonald).  And there are four J/24s racing, including HIGH STRUNG (David Cobbett), OUT OF THE BLUE (John McSheffery), WAVE RUNNER and JUVENILE DELINQUENT (Ted Murphy).   Sailing photo credits- Heather McGuire   For more Chester Race Week sailing information

J/70 Crushes Youngstown

(Youngstown, New York)- For the past decade the Youngstown YC has hosted the popular "Youngstown Level Regatta" for a variety of classes.  Over time, it has evolved to address the needs of local racers for both handicap sailing (PHRF and IRC) as well as one-design racers.  This year the sailors were treated to a combination of great sailing (as memorialized by Tim Wilkes great photography- timwilkes.com), great committee work (as demonstrated by few complaints from competitors) and great fun on shore-side festivities (as manifested by a few morning headaches described by a number of crews).

Out of the 150-odd boats in attendance in this corner of New York on Lake Ontario, there were at least 28 J/Teams seen sailing in the vicinity that had managed to honor the local YYC SI's, paid, scored themselves, and walked off with a haul of silverware worthy of good pirates pillaging the Spanish Main off Cuba in the days of old.

Starting with the local J/One-Design fleets, the J/24s had a nice turn-out with some well-known teams like HOWARTH HAMMER sailed by Mike Howarth finishing 1st overall.  Second was a VERY well known local team called MR BUMPY sailed by Kevin McAuley and third was the J/24 JOKER sailed by AJ Ficcardi.  From what we've heard from the local Newport J/24 fleet, "beware", party-animals all these guys are!

In the local J/105 fleet on Lake Ontario, it's clear they take their one-design quite seriously.  What's amazing was to see that a J/105 North American's contender Jim Rathbun was eclipsed by another local sailor, Peter Hall.  Both solid teams, strong sailors.  In the end, Peter's JAMAICA ME CRAZY gangsta's took the gold medal.  Jim's well-seasoned, fast crew on HEY JUDE had to settle for a 2nd to these characters.  Then, another good team in the form of Terry Michaelson's THE USUAL SUSPECTS had to settle for a less than usual 3rd place.

The IRC Fleet has continued to grow over the course time as sailors have looked for better ways to handicap themselves.  This year's event continues to see the fleets diversify and get tighter as the sailors learn (like the J/35 fleet in particular) how to optimize and go even faster.  In IRC 1 Class, it was the J/133 HOT WATER sailed by John McLeod that managed a 4th in class.  In IRC 2, the new gorgeous J/111 LAKE EFFECT sailed by Bob Hesse sailed to a solid 4th overall as they learned how to sail their boat faster and faster.  In IRC 3 the J/109s also hung in there for some great performances, including the J/109 MOCCASIN skippered by Ed Werner to a 4th place overall and the J/109 LIVELY sailed by Murray Gainer to a 5th in class.  For the IRC 4 class, the J/35s simply smoked their "comp", taking 2 of 3 in class with the J/35 CRIME SCENE skippered by J/35 superstar Stephen Trevitt 1st place followed by fellow partner in crime, the J/35 JAEGER skippered by Leszek Siek in 3rd place.

Next in the PHRF handicap world, it was nice to see that in PHRF 1 the J/100 SQUIRMY Joe O'Brien sailed well in their class. So did the new J/70 JUNIOR in PHRF 2 sailed by Morgan Paxhia & Tim Finkle, garnering an unprecedented 1st in class.  In PHRF 3 the J/Teams nearly swept class, with 1st going to the J/34 SOUND WAVE sailed by Fred White, 2nd going to the J/35c MOONRISE skippered by David Braitsch and 4th going to another sistership J35c ROGUE WAVE guided by Doug Clarke.  Next up was PHRF 4 that was simply smoked by some fast-sailing, fast-talking, very clever J/27 sailors.  Three of the Top 5?  Wow.  Way cool.  Awesome, perhaps?  Yeaaah.  So, top dog in 1st was the J/27 NORTHERN SEITZ sailed by the veteran of Lake Ontario sailing wars Mike Seitx. Next up on the podium in 3rd was the J/27 SHADES OF AVALON directed by Peter Winkelstein. Not disappointing his classmates in 4th was the J/27 MESSING ABOUT conducted by Andre Beese.  Can't imagine a more fun group of sailors having fun in some incredibly fast, "classic" J/27s.  Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes    For more Youngstown Regatta sailing results

Cowes Week Preview

(Cowes, IOW, England)- Since 1826 Cowes Week has played a key part in the British sporting summer calendar and is one of the UK's longest running and most successful sporting events. It now stages up to 40 daily races for around 1,000 boats and is the largest sailing regatta of its kind in the world.

This year, Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, as the event is now known, offers a great mix of competitive sailing and social activities from August 11th to 18th. The 8,500 competitors range from Olympic and world class professionals to weekend sailors. In excess of 100,000 spectators come to watch the sailing, enjoy the parties and live entertainment, and to experience the unique atmosphere. It is genuinely a one-of-a-kind event.

Traditionally, Cowes Week takes place after Glorious Goodwood and before the Glorious Twelfth (the first day of the grouse shooting season) - occasionally the traditional dates are changed to ensure optimum racing, taking account of the tides. Over the years the event has attracted British and foreign royalty, and many famous faces.

The first race was for a Gold Cup of the Value of £100, held in 1826 for just seven yachts under the flag of the Royal Yacht Club (which later became the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1833). The next year King George IV indicated his approval of the event by presenting a cup (the King's Cup, presented at every subsequent event until 1939) to mark the occasion, and the event became known as Cowes Regatta. This was run as a three-day, then a four-day, event and quickly became part of the social calendar.

It was not until 1964 that, on the suggestion of HRH Prince Philip (a regular competitor and Admiral of the Royal Yacht Squadron), Cowes Combined Clubs was formed to run and organise the regatta. This body represented the seven clubs involved in managing the racing (Royal Yacht Squadron, Royal London Yacht Club, Royal Thames Yacht Club, Royal Southampton Yacht Club, Royal Southern Yacht Club, Island Sailing Club and Royal Ocean Racing Club) and Cowes Town Regatta Committee. The Royal Yacht Squadron line became the universal start line and there was one set of sailing instructions and racing marks for the Week-- it was a brilliant suggestion by the Prince as since the regatta has mushroomed in popularity.

Over the course of time, J/Boats sailors have found the Cowes Week to their liking, enjoying the fabulous on-shore festivities along with the equally challenging sailing up and down the capricious tidal river known as "the Solent".  Participating in this year's events will be one-design fleets of J/109s and J/80s as well as fleets of J/111s, J/122s, J/97s sailing within various IRC classes.  Thirty-one of 180 IRC entries are J/Teams, about 17% of the fleet, quite a good show again and the dominant brand in IRC class sailing-- twice as many as Beneteau or X-Yachts participants in each brand!

Again leading the charge as biggest one-design keelboat fleet at Cowes are the twenty-five J/109s and what amounts to a changing of the guard amongst the top of the fleet will be in the making as last year's top boats are all gone.  Amongst the leaders could be ME JULIE (Dominique Monkhouse),  David Mcleman's OFFBEAT and the RAF Sailing Team on their familiar RED ARROW.  It will be an fascinating fleet to watch as the pecking order gets jumbled rapidly race to race!

The J/Sprit class may again include a selection of J/92, J/97 and J/105 designs. In 2011, there was keen competition for the top spot, the class winner being the J/92s J'RONIMO (David Greenhalgh & John Taylor) followed by Nick and Adam Munday's J/97 INDULJENCE, third was Andy Howe & Annie Kelly's J/92 BLACKJACK.  All three competitors are sailing again and will have to contend with two top J/105s, NEILSON REDEYE (Pip & Pete Tyler) and KING LOUIE sailed by Fiona and Malcolm Thorpe.  Then, the rest of the fleet are no less intimidating, including several J/92s like WHO'S TO NO (Richard Sparrow), BOJANGLES (Richard Sainsbury), HULLABALOO (Andrew Dallas); and a gaggle of fast J/97s like MCFLY (Tony Mack), JACKAROO (Jim and Stephen Dick), JET (James Owen), the champion JIKA-JIKA (Mike & Jamie Holmes) and another champion FEVER GLENFIDDICH (Grant Gordon).

The J/80s recently had their J/80 Worlds in Dartmouth and, as expected, the run-up to that event would have an impact on the large twenty-four boat attendance the J/80s enjoyed last year.  This year it looks like there will be a competitive coterie of nine boats with some familiar top boats in the fray, including JAMMY DODGER, AQUA J and the RAF Sailors on SPITFIRE.

Sure to be a factor will be the six J/111s, starting with David & Kirsty Apthorp's new J/DREAM, winner of this year's IRC Class in the Round Island Race.  Then you have SHMOKING JOE (Duncan McDonald and Phil Thomas- past IRC Class winners in the Round Island Race).  Newcomers include MOJITO from Hong Kong sailed by Simon & Michele Blore, previous owners of successful J/92s of the same name; DJINN from Belgium sailed by Sebastien de Liedekerke, a former J/109 owner; JEEZ LOUISE (James Arnell); and ICARUS sailed by Charles Rolls and Andrew Christie.  If the performance of the 111s in recent offshore events with any amount of breeze is indicative of the possible outcome in IRC2 Class, their friendly J competitors will have a tough time handling them.  Included in this group are the J/122s.

The four powerful J/122s JINJA (Ian Matthews), GHOST (Ken Lowes), THE SISTERHOOD (Susan Glenny), MINT JULEP and JOULOU (Ivan Trotman) will keep everyone honest and perhaps win a race or two and take a podium finish!

Two well-sailed J/133s- JUMP (Ian Dewhirst) and MADJUST (Richard Huges) have proven their capabilities to win races both around-the-cans and offshore may possibly end up in IRC1 or IRC2, in any event they will have their hands full as they strategize how to get around the Solent as cleverly as possible.  Sailing Photo Credits- Beken of Cowes/ Tim Wright-Photoaction.com. For more Cowes Week sailing information

J/111 Wins Ugotta Regatta

(Harbor Springs, MI)- The first ever J/111 Great Lakes Championship saw ten boats participating from the Michigan and Chicago fleets.  All of the top J/111s that sailed the recent Chicago-Mackinac Race were present, part of an illustrious, history-making fleet where ALL ten boats finished in the top 20 overall in the Mac Race!  A feat never before achieved by an entire class of boats in ANY offshore event in the world!

The Ugotta fleet of sixty-nine boats was treated to good weather and steady winds were offered to the sailors during the Little Traverse Yacht Club Regatta weekend of July 27-29.  The total fleet included J/111s racing one-design as well as J/105s.  And, there were J/Teams participating in PHRF handicap, too, including a J/122, J/42 and J/100.

“We had great wind on all four days of racing, it was spectacular,” said Vice Commodore of the Little Traverse Yacht Club, Kathryn Breighner.  The conditions made for competitive and exciting racing, Breighner noted. On Friday's One-Design Racing day, the winds were out of the east, an unusual direction for Little Traverse Bay, and made for more than unusual wind shifts and breeze lines across the bay with winds ranging from 6 to 14 kts.  By Saturday and Sunday, the more familiar localized "sea-breeze thermals" developed after 2-3 race postponements each day, making for exhilarating racing around the Bay in westerly breezes.  There was no question that some degree of "local knowledge" was required in order to be a top performer in the event, with known fast local boats going certain directions on certain parts of the race course with a high degree of consistency.

The 1st place winner of the Ugotta Regatta Overall and taking home the Credit Suisse Award and the Thomas Carruther’s Award was the J/111 WIND CZAR, whose skipper is Little Traverse YC Commodore Richard Lehmann.  “The bottom line is that the Wind Czar is very fast and we made very few mistakes, and that is the formula for success.  Being that this is Rich’s last term as commodore, the crew was pleased to accompany him with this victory," said Wind Czar crew member Bryan Burley. "We are thrilled that the overall winner is again a Little Traverse Yacht Club boat. We look forward to doing it again next year," said Vice Commodore Breighner.

The J/111s had a remarkably competitive series, with fast & furious changes taking place on every leg and every mark rounding.  In fact, the pace of sailing was more akin to "chutes(snakes) & ladders" commented one of the J/111 crew members.   Winning one leg, mid-fleet the next leg, back to top three at the next mark.  All it took was 3-5 degrees wind shift and only 2-3 kts wind pressure and enormous gains could be made both upwind and downwind.  It's incredibly fun racing for those who've never experienced sailing a boat that's so close-winded, so fast and responsive that every wind shift, every piece of wind pressure makes such a fantastic difference in relative speeds.  The experienced 111 teams know by now that you're always in a "never say die mode", where truly the much-hackneyed phrase that "the opera ain't over till the fat lady sings" really does apply to J/111 one-design racing.

While the regatta is split into two "events", the overall J/111 Great Lakes Champion was the local Harbor Springs team of WIND CZAR skippered by Rick Lehmann, sailing to an unassailable score of 1-4-1-2-3-1-1 for 13 pts.  KASHMIR sailed by the Chicago team of Karl Brummel, Steve Henderson and Mike Mayer, added yet more laurels to their tremendous double-win in the last two years in the Chicago-Mac Race, managing to finish 2nd overall with a consistent score of 2-1-3-1-4.5-4-3 for 18.5 pts.  Third was a steadily improving team on IMPULSE sailed by Dr George Miz, Peter Dreher and Mark Hatfield from Chicago, amassing a score of 5-2-2-4-7.5-2-10 for 32.5 pts overall.  Fourth in the group was the champion Annapolis team on VELOCITY sailed by Marty Roesch's team, getting a 6-7-7-3-1.5-11-6 for 41.5 pts; their highlight being the big win on the Saturday "around the bay tour race" for seventeen miles.  Rounding out the top five by only a half-point back was Paul Stahlberg's Chicago/Milwaukee-based team on MENTAL with a scoreline of 7-3-5-5-6-8-8 for 42 pts.

In the end, regatta J/111 team host Dave Irish (sailing NO SURPRISE) from Irish Boatshop felt the experience was a tremendous one for all the J/111 sailors. Having been a Chicago-Mac and Bayview-Mac Race winner multiple times, even Dave felt the racing was of tremendously high-calibre, as Dave said, "you can't have enough of a lead with this fleet, even if you're way out in front you're vulnerable".  That same sentiment was echoed by past J/109 Great Lakes Champion Lenny Siegal on his latest LUCKY DUBIE, "Wow, fast fun boats.  Gotta a lot to learn still.  But, we're getting there! We're sorry our famous blender broke, otherwise the regatta may have had a different outcome!"  Paul ("Murph the Surf") Murphy sailing on the VELOCITY team from Annapolis commented multiple times on the fact that "damn, all these Chicago boats are FAST! We learned a lot about what not to do here!"  It's no wonder the entire J/111 Great Lakes fleet finished in the top 20 overall in the Mac Race!

The J/105s also saw some great racing in the Friday One-Design and weekend Ugotta Regatta sailing.  In the end, it was a shoot-out amongst the local boats, Carter Williams' CREATIVE DESTRUCTION and the "Little Traverse Sailors" juniors on EXIT STRATEGY.  While EXIT STRATEGY won the Friday event with CREATIVE DESTRUCTION in 2nd and Bill Petzold's GREEN FLASH in 3rd, things changed for the Ugotta Sat/Sun races.  This time around, Carter's team on CREATIVE hammered the fleet with a 1.5-1-1 to win by a landslide.  Second was Mark Gurney on BUZZ with a 3-3-2 and 3rd were the kids on EXIT STRATEGY.

Meanwhile, in the well-attended PHRF handicap divisions, there were some significant performances by J/Teams.  Leading the charge in PHRF 2 was Mitch Padnos on his J/122 SUFFICIENT REASON, grabbing the bronze in their division to follow up on his Division Class Win in the Chicago-Mac Race!  In PHRF 3, the J/35s were having a field day with their competition with Bruce Metcalf on BOZOS CIRCUS scoring 2nd with Ed Bayer's FALCON in 4th, Larry Schell's TOUCH OF GREY in 5th.  In PHRF 4, the J/100 COURAGE sailed by Raenette Mcmanus sailed nicely to a 5th in class.  Then, in PHRF NS Division, Bill and Judy Stellin, sailed their globe-girdling J/42 JAYWALKER to third place in their division-- not bad for a J/42 with over 30,000nm under her belt and a some trans-Atlantics in her resume!   For more Little Traverse Ugotta Regatta sailing information

J/109 "Kids" 3rd Commodore's Cup

(Cowes, IOW, England)- The Royal Ocean Racing Club's Commodores' Cup fleet received an inadvertent visit from His Majesty's Queen Elizabeth II the morning of the 4th inshore race, her Diamond Jubilee Tour taking in Cowes Yacht Haven where the 21 boats were based in the premier three boat team event for international amateur crews.  It proved to be one of the highlights of the events for two of the J/Teams participating in the regatta.

That afternoon only one race was held, again along the Lee-on-Solent shoreline as it was on the first day with the 6 - 9 knot southeasterly, enough for the boats to race. The boats then had to head out into the tide to round the first mark and spreader mark before heading back downwind. The course was shortened, when a southwesterly sea breeze filled in after a brief transition just short of the finish line.

Winner of the day was the young British Keelboat Academy crew on former RORC Commodore David Aisher's J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT competing in RYA Team GBR Black, whose time corrected out to more than two minutes ahead of John van der Starre's J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER in the Benelux team.

At the end of the regatta, the French team with the J/122 NUTMEG IV managed to finish 3rd overall and the "numero uno" GBR Black team member that shined on that special day happened to be the J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT.

In addition to winning on that special day, after four races the J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT and her young crew were the leading boat across all seven teams at the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup!  And, at that time the French team with the J/122 JOOPSTER were the overall team leaders!  After all the remarkably challenging racing, the youngest team at this year's RORC Commodore's Cup Team, sailing a 10 year-old design in the form of Sir Aisher's J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT, basically "kicked booty" against the best that European IRC teams had to offer and finished 3rd OVERALL on an individual points basis!  Not bad for a bunch of "kids".  :)    For more Brewin Dolphins RORC Commodore's Cup sailing information

ESCAPE'D TIGGER Wins By A Whisker!

J/105 & J/33 Win Epic Santa Barbara-King Harbor Race
(Santa Barbara, CA)- The SB-KH distance race that spans 81 nm has been a tradition for Santa Barbara YC and King Harbor YC for nearly 40 years.  The blast around the Channel Islands offshore down to King Harbor is never an easy race, but it's clearly the most fun when the fleet starts off on a blast reach, sets the kites at the first turning point off the Channel Islands and head SSE toward Los Angeles under spinnaker, surfing constantly on the ginormous Pacific swell.  This year it was nearly a record run, making for epic rides sledding downhill towards the finish with many boats finishing by midnight!

15 J/Teams (17% of the total fleet) headed south out around the famous Channel Islands off the western coast of Los Angeles along with 71 other teams in what turned out to be one of the fastest ever races on record for the 81nm blast out around the islands.  The fastest 70 footers covered the race in 6 hrs, 48 min.  The fastest J/Team was the J/145 RADIO FLYER, covering the same distance in 8 hrs, 52 min- a 9 kt average over a race course that sees many highs and lows.

Here was the forecast for the race:

FRI
WINDS VARIABLE 10 KT OR LESS...BECOMING W 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.
WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 2 TO 3 FT AT 8 SECONDS.
PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.

FRI NIGHT
W WINDS 10 TO 20 KT WITH LOCAL GUSTS TO 25 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING 5 TO 15 KT.
WIND WAVES 2 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 2 TO 3 FT.
PATCHY FOG AFTER MIDNIGHT.

That's from the USA NOAA weather forecast center!  Perfect sailing?!  Shirts. Shorts. Shades. Lots of sun-screen.  Plenty of wind and sunshine.  Yup, pretty damn close to perfect.

It was a glorious morning for the start and the wind picked up about 30 minutes after the start.  It was a phenomenal race, the wind held up in the 20s until well after dark, and even when it lightened it went south so the angles were hot and the surfs were long and many. On Larry Leveille's J/29 RUSH STREET, they reported they had only had four guys, "so gybing and/or peeling in 25 kts after dark was hearts-in-mouth stuff, but the boat relished it and the boys made it look easy."

From a divisional basis, here's how it all shook out amongst the primary players in this classic  "SoCal" offshore race.

In PHRF B, the first boat on handicap was the J/33 TIGGER sailed by Fred & Suzanne Cottrell, plus they were 6th in fleet-- repeat offenders!!  They won their class last year, too!  This time around lying in 5th was the J/124 MARISOL sailed by Islands Race winner Seth Hall.

In PHRF C, there's no question that local Santa Barbarian Larry Levielle and team have this race pretty much "dialed-in", like their TIGGER friends.  While 2nd last year, Larry's added yet more silverware to his trophy cabinet now busting with pickle-dishes, artwork and bowls from races past, garnering a well-deserved 3rd in class and 15th in fleet on his J/29 RUSH STREET!

In what may have been a wise move or a "political move", the race managers decided to create a Sprit PHRF fleet and toss all the fast-moving VMC/VMG flyers into the same group-- quite a broad range of PHRF numbers here!  J/92s at 90 to J/122s at 18!  Nevertheless, as one might expect, the outcome was that 9 of the top 10 were J/Teams.  Starting with the Top 8.  So, the J/105 ESCAPADE sailed by Mark Noble wins for the second year in a row (only a two-peat) and can lay claim to be "prodder master of western civilization" (or at least in SoCal).  2nd was the J105 OFF THE PORCH (Scott McDaniel), 3rd the J/120 SHENANIGANS (Gary Winton), 4th the J105 ARMIDA (Tom Bollay), 5th the infamous J120 POLE DANCER (Tom & Terri Manok), 6th the J92 DOUBLE DOWN (Brian Kerr), 7th the J109 LINSTAR (John Shulze), 8th the J111 JATO (Webster/Moorhead) and 10th the luxurious cruiser-racer J/122 SUNDAY TICKET (Daniel Scouler).

While the Sprit PHRF Class was dominated by J/Teams, their compatriots in Sprit ULDB B nearly managed to do the same!  2nd was the J125 TIMESHAVER sailed by Viggo Torbensen and 4th was the gorgeous candy-apple-red J145 RADIO FLYER sailed by Carolyn Parks.  For more Santa Barbara-King Harbor Race sailing results

Foggy, Sunny Epic Buzzards Bay Week

J's Sweep PHRF1, Odenbach Dominates 24s, Van Voorhis Wins 80s
(Marion, MA)- The 40th annual Buzzards Bay Regatta got off a number of races both Saturday and Sunday, including the Dick Fontaine Memorial Distance Race Friday, which ran to more than 22 miles in four classes. Racing took place outside Sippican Harbor in Marion, Massachusetts in one of the largest mixed-boat regattas in the U.S.

With hazy, hot, and humid days ashore, the offshore the breeze filled in nicely for the racers, after a nearly two-hour delay Friday. It was a long 21nm tour of Buzzards Bay, going upwind for 9.5nm towards the opening, followed by a criss-cross spinnaker reaching course, gybing back and forth to the finish line off the mouth of Sippican Harbor.  On Saturday, 8 to 10 knot southwest winds came in with a little more punch after lunch, making for a day of great racing despite the pesky fog.  Then, Sunday started off the same but the forecast winds of 15-25 knots with sunny, partly-cloudy skies finally rolled in for a fantastic, near epic final race of the day with speeds on the J/111s hitting near 15 kts on a windward-leeward course!

Friday's long distance race in memory of Dick Fontaine, the first representative of the Low Tide Yacht Club in 1972 when the BBR began, saw nearly 50 boats compete in four classes on courses up to 22 miles which took them through heavy fog past West Island and towards the Elizabeth Islands, then back towards Cleveland Ledge Light.  In the PHRF Racing 1 class Friday, Henry Brauer of the Eastern YC raced the J/111 FLEET WING to first place in a dominating performance over classmates, the J/111 WICKED 2.0, skippered by Doug Curtiss of the New Bedford YC in second place and Jim Masiero sailing his J/120 URSUS MARITIMUS to third.  It was literally a clean sweep by J/Teams of PHRF 1.  It also proved to be a prophetic outcome for the weekend regatta in PHRF 1.  In PHRF Racing 2 Friday, third place went to Ted Herlihy of the NBYC aboard his J/109 GUT FEELING.

The weekend regatta saw the addition of the J/24 and J/80 one-design fleets.  In the end, there was a fabulous, dominating performance in the J/24 class by Travis Odenbach of the Rochester, N.Y., Yacht Club 11 straight firsts, making for a total of 10 pts!  Local J/80 sailor Mike Sudofsky of Beverly YC finished in second place with nearly straight 2nds for a total of 20 pts.  Third was Edward Walker of the Mosquito Yacht Club with 43 pts.

In the J-80 class, Brian Keane of the Beverly YC led by a landslide for most of the regatta after 8 races (counting seven 1sts), but did not sail the last three races on Sunday.  As a result, Charlie Van Voorhis of the Fishers Island (N.Y.) Yacht Club won with 23 pts, second was Beverly YC member Nikolas Kotsatos with 25 pts, followed by fellow BYC member Brian Keane in 3rd with 29 pts.

Finally, in the PHRF 1 Class, Henry Brauer's J/111 FLEETWING team won four of fives races and added a second but took two SCP penalties to finish second overall instead by just one point.  Winning was Doug Curtiss's J/111 WICKED 2.0 team with 6 pts.  Third was Jim Masiero's J/120 URSUS MARITIMUS with 11 pts, completing the J/Team sweep of PHRF 1 again! In PHRF 2, the J/109 GUT FEELING sailed by local veteran and 109 champion Ted Herlihy finished 5th overall, dropping two places in a tie-breaker after placing 3rd on Saturday's racing.   For more Buzzards Bay Regatta sailing information

STORM Wins J/109 NAs @ NYYC Race Week

FLEETWING Wins 111s, KESTREL Wins 105s
(Newport, RI)- It was an unseasonably wet, dreary day in Newport for the start of the Rolex New York YC One-Design Race Week, but at least somewhere, someone was having fun. That somewhere was Rhode Island Sound where nearly 100 teams are competing in the New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex on the second day of the split-format event's final four days of buoy racing.

The J/109s had individual recalls in their first race that saw yesterday's leader STORM, skippered by Rick Lyall (Wilton, Conn.), return to the start line to successfully clear. The team fought back to eighth and finished first in the second race, but the performance was only good enough for a third in overall scoring. It left the proverbial door open for Ted Herlihy's (S. Dartmouth, Mass.) GUT FEELING to take the top spot after that team finished 4-2 today. With nine points, GUT FEELING's overall score is shared with SKOOT, skippered by Jim Vos (New Canaan, Conn.), which sits in second overall, so both teams are a slim one point ahead of STORM.

The J/111 Class's first day of competition went well for Henry Brauer's (Marblehead, Mass.) FLEETWING, which took bullets in each of two races. "The first race was great, because it was good breeze; the second race was a bit more challenging because of the lighter wind and the lumpy seas," said Brauer, who is new to the J/111 Class this year after having sold the J/105 Scimitar that he co-owned with Stewart Neff (serving as his tactician here) and with which he won the 2011 J/105 North American Championship. "We got good starts, Stewart put us in the right place, and the team did a great job trimming the sails and keeping us going the whole time. The important thing to racing well is having a good team, so there are a lot of the same people onboard that I've sailed with in the past. Having that nucleus is very important."

Saturday saw three new classes join the racing action, switching on to sunshine and light breezes that made yesterday’s rain but a memory. Sean Doyle's (Cos Cob, Conn.) J/105 KESTREL finished the day in the lead after posting two bullets for today’s two races. "The conditions were challenging with fairly light wind and patches," said Doyle, who is only in his second year competing with this boat. "We really enjoy the one-design aspect. Everyone in this class has a great attitude and is very welcoming to us as newcomers."

In IRC Class 4, Andrew Shea’s (Annapolis, Md.) J/122 DOLPHIN seemingly came out of nowhere to challenge for the lead with finish positions of 5-1-1, moving the team up to second from sixth yesterday and leaving Dolphin only one point out of first.

In IRC 3 Class,  Jim Bishop's J/44 modified IRC boat from Jamestown, RI is lying in second only 3 points out of the lead by virtue of having won two races in a row, surrounded by the latest in IRC hardware, a Ker 50 in first place and an HPR Carkeek 40 Decision in third place.

The J/109 STORM, skippered by Rick Lyall (Wilton, Conn.), took advantage of the building southeasterly on its course to finish the day with a nine-point lead in the J/109 Class ahead of Ted Herlihy's GUT FEELING.  Just one point back from Ted is Bill Sweetser's RUSH from Annapolis, MD.

In J/111 Class, Henry Brauer’s (Marblehead, Mass.) FLEETWING continued to lead with Rod Johnstone's JAZZ in 2nd and Doug Curtiss' WICKED 2.0 in 3rd.

The final day of sailing saw weather conditions that couldn’t have been more perfect for the sailing teams racing off Newport. In the end, the Rolex timepiece was awarded to Rick Lyall (Wilton, Conn.), skipper of STORM, which simultaneously won the J/109 class here and the 2012 North American Championships. It wasn’t easy with 17 boats and an assault by Bill Sweetser’s (Annapolis, Md.) RUSH, which finished second, and three-time and defending North American Champion Ted Herlihy’s (South Darmouth, Mass.) GUT FEELING, which finished third.

“It’s beyond words how happy we are,” said Lyall, who won the North American title once before in 2009. He explained that STORM went into today with a nine-point lead, but there was reason for concern when the Race Committee announced that three races would be conducted instead of the expected two and the team had started the day with a sixth-place finish.

“We knew we had to sail today to defend our title, and there was certainly an opportunity that we could give away our lead,” said Lyall. “We had a bad start in the first race, which put us much closer to our two closest competitors, but after that, we went back and won the next two. We sailed well and consistently, and the boat is fast.”

In the 14-boat IRC 4 class, Andrew Shea’s (Annapolis, Md.) J/122 DOLPHIN finished second overall in a very tough fleet.  In IRC 3 Class of 8 boats, the J/44 WHITE GOLD sailed by Jim Bishop gave his more modern IRC hardware a tough time, finishing just 3.5 points out of first place, placing second for the regatta.

After winning today’s first race, Avalanche widened its point spread to four over DownTime, which had finished third, and five over Dolphin, which had finished fifth. Then in race two, Dolphin switched the tables, finishing first and leaving fifth place for Avalanche while DownTime split a corrected-time tie for third with Mike Bruno’s (Armonk, N.Y.) J/122 Wings. Dolphin, once again, had put itself within one point of winning, with DownTime only .5 of a point behind. Needless to say, the two teams were ecstatic that the Race Committee would run a third and final race. With one last shot to win, DownTime finished second to win the nine-race series by a mere .5 points over Dolphin, which finished third in that race, while Avalanche finished eighth, leaving it to collect third overall.

On his second day of racing here in IRC 3, Art Santry (Oyster Bay, N.Y.), skipper of the Ker 50 Temptation-Oakcliff, had said that if his crew – comprised partially of Oakcliff Sailing Center students – kept up its stellar work, his team was going to be tough to beat. The self-fulfilling prophesy played out today, when the team finished 4-2-1 to post 16.5 points over the 20 posted by Jim Bishop’s (Jamestown, R.I.) J/44 White Gold on merit of a 2-1-2 today. Tempation-Oakcliff, also with Oakcliff’s Executive Director and veteran America’s Cup/offshore sailor Dawn Riley aboard, established its dominance early in the nine-race series and had four victories plus a tie for first in their score line.

Henry Brauer’s FLEETWING won the J/111 Class by 8 pts, followed by an incredibly toughly fought series that led to a tie-breaker between Rod Johnstone's family crew on-board JAZZ and Doug Curtiss' WICKED 2.0, each finishing with 20 pts with JAZZ getting the nod on the tie-break.

Remarkably, the scenario for the top three in the 111s played out the same for the 105s.  In this case, Sean Doyle's crew also won by 8 pts, but it was Damian Emery's ECLIPSE winning a tie-breaker on 22 pts each over Fred Darlington's TONTO!   For more Rolex New York YC Race Week sailing information

RORC Commodore's Cup update

J/109 & J/122 Top Three Overall
(Cowes, IOW, England)- The Commodores' Cup fleet received an inadvertent visit from HM Queen Elizabeth II this morning, her Diamond Jubilee Tour taking in Cowes Yacht Haven where the 21 boats are based in this premier three boat team event for international amateur crews.

This afternoon only one race was held, again along the Lee-on-Solent shoreline as it was on the first day with the 6 - 9 knot southeasterly, enough for the boats to race. The boats then had to head out into the tide to round the first mark and spreader mark before heading back downwind. The course was shortened, when a southwesterly sea breeze filled in after a brief transition just short of the finish line.

Winner of the day was the young British Keelboat Academy crew on former RORC Commodore David Aisher's J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT competing in RYA Team GBR Black, whose time corrected out to more than two minutes ahead of John van der Starre's J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER in the Benelux team.

Meanwhile, the French team with the J/122 NUTMEG IV are hanging on to the top three overall along with the GBR Black team that has the J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT.

In addition to winning today, after four races Yeoman of Wight and her young crew is the leading boat across all seven teams at the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup, having taken over from RYA Team GBR Red's small boat, CNBC, that had her worse day of the regatta today.  For more Brewin Dolphins RORC Commodore's Cup sailing information