J/111 FLEETWING Tops Verve Cup Sailing Regatta

(Chicago, IL)- Sponsored this year by AUDI Chicago and SLAM Weather Gear and hosted by the Chicago Yacht Club, the Verve Cup Offshore regatta took place from August 9th to 11th along the magnificent Chicago city front on the azure blue waters of Lake Michigan.

Despite enormous challenges from the light air weather forecast for the entire weekend, the Chicago YC Race Management team managed to get in a full slate of races all three days on both circles- Course A to the north and Course B to the south.  Friday dawned sunny, clear but with little wind.  After a slow start compounded by a 3 hour postponement the RC ran three races in a light 5-9 kts southeast sea-breeze along the Chicago shoreline.  The prognostications for wind on Saturday were no better, with light northeaster of 5-9 kts filling in after another 2.5 hour postponement, enough for two more races.  Sunday again dawned with a gorgeous day and a "harbor hurricane" of 3-5 kts filling in from the northeast.  That breeze never filled out from the harbor, with yet another 2 hour postponement before the wind built as a sea-breeze from the ESE at 5-8 kts for two more races.

On Course A were the J/111s and J/109s (whom were also conducting their North Americans-- see above).  The nine J/111s that were sailing had most teams using the event as a "practice regatta" for their upcoming J/111 North Americans being held this coming week in Chicago.  Making the most of that opportunity was Henry Brauer's team on FLEETWING from Marblehead, MA, managing to avoid the big roller-coaster rides some other teams were experiencing from race to race to take the Verve Cup J/111 class with a 1-2-2-6-1-6-1 scoreline for 19 pts.  Starting slowly but ultimately learning the ropes around the course was Marty Roesch's team from Annapolis, MD, posting a 3-8-3-1-2-2-4 for 23 pts and securing the second spot on the podium.  Third was local hero Len Siegal from Chicago sailing yet another famous LUCKY DUBIE, managing a relatively consistent 5-6-1-3-4-3-6 for 28 pts.  The "Lucky Dubsters" just nipped out fellow rivals Paul Stahlberg from Milwaukee, WI sailing MENTAL into fourth with 29 pts.  Another Chicago boat took fifth, Bill Smith's WOOTON with a 34 pts total.
   Sailing photo credits- Barry Lively   For more Verve Cup Offshore Regatta sailing information

J/Teams Enjoy Youngstown Level Regatta XL

(Youngstown, NY)- 181 boats raced on five circles in the 40th and Final Youngstown Level Regatta on the weekend of July 27-28.  For most of its history the Level has been the largest weekend keelboat regatta on Lake Ontario, at one time hitting a monstrous 466 boats!   Those were the days of 50 boat J/24 fleets and one design starts for most of the J designs popular at the time.  Since then things had settled down to a more manageable size but the Level still held a prominent place on the calendar for most racers within hundreds of miles.  Youngstown Yacht Club finally decided 40 years was enough and the organizers and volunteers deserved a break, so this was the last Level, to be replaced next year with a new event with details to be announced this fall.

Sailors did not want to miss out on the fun of the final event so attendance was up by almost 40 boats over 2012.  Conditions were generally favorable, light to moderate with the exception of a brief squall that came in Saturday afternoon that curtailed racing for the day.   In IRC 0 Bob Hesse and crew aboard the J111 Lake Effect lost the tie-breaker for first place, settling for second as they had done in Key West in January.  They have been dominating local PHRF racing this summer.

The regatta was judged to be a terrific success with many fond memories being shared and praise was lavished on the volunteers for their years of hard work.  Everyone wants to know what YYC has our our sleeve for 2014 but we aren't quite ready to announce the sequel just yet. Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes @ TimWilkes.com.    For more Youngstown Level Regatta sailing information

NO SURPRISE Ugotta Regatta Winner

(Harbor Springs, MI)- Sailboats from all over head to Harbor Springs each summer for one of the grand Great Lakes sailing traditions- the Little Traverse YC Ugotta Regatta.  Sponsored again by Credit Suisse, the Regatta brings together some of the best sailboat racers in the lakes to Little Traverse Bay in between the famous Chicago Mac or Bayview Mac Races.

The series begins with one-design racing on Friday followed a tour-of-the-bay course on Saturday and windward-leeward racing on Sunday. The weekend’s festivities kick off bright and early Friday morning with  a fun tradition: a long line of happy people beginning at sun up outside Irish Boat Shop to purchase the 2013 Ugotta Regatta t-shirt. Each year, the shirt design changes and with a limited production, the lines begin early to score a coveted shirt.

Friday night finds a "Welcome to Harbor Springs Celebration" at the Irish Boat Shop for racers only- an awesome cookout with excellent local beers and wines to savor for the masses of sailors-- always an incredibly popular event.

On both Saturday and Sunday mornings, the Club hosts the famous "Pancake Breakfast".  Open to the public and racers, the Pancake Breakfast is a delicious way for the boat teams to quickly fuel up before getting on the water. One highlights (and tradition) of the breakfast- the young Racers flip less-than-perfect pancakes over their shoulders to land on the roof of the sail shed behind them.

The handicap honors in PHRF 3 Class went to the J/111 NO SURPRISE sailed by (remarkably enough), local host and hero David Irish!  Their dominant 3-1-1-1 record was, in fact, the best record in PHRF and for the overall regatta with just 6.0 pts to count.  Last year's winner, Dick Lehmann's WIND CZAR took 6th overall with a 1.5-3-12-15 tally.  Larry Taunt's J/35 BAD DOG was 9th, Larry Schell's J/35 TOUCH OF GREY was 11th and Brad Schell's newly-unwrapped J/111 UTAH was 12th.  For more Ugotta Regatta sailing information

J/Teams Lead Lake Ontario 300

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

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

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

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

J/Teams Dominate Bayview Mackinac Race

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

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

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

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

Chicago-Mackinac Race Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bayview Mackinac Preview

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

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

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

J/Navy Sail Mac Race

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

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

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

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

J/111 KASHMIR Rocks Chicago NOOD Regatta

(Chicago, IL)-  Wind, waves, and sunshine greeted competitors at the first day of racing at the Sperry Top-Sider Chicago NOOD Regatta. This past weekend the Chicago Yacht Club hosted the annual NOOD regatta.  The wind was up on Friday, lightning a bit heavy on Saturday morning and the wind finally came in for the races on Sunday. The RC's PRO and team were able to get in 9 races in total, with 7 boats on the line for the J/111s. The J one-design classes on the other courses had similar experiences, with great breezes and good competition.

For the J/111 fleet, despite what the final cumulative score reflected, the Chicago NOOD's featured incredibly close racing all the way until the final day with 5 boats separated by only 7 points going into Sunday-- it was any one's regatta to win. With 4 separate boats scoring a first in at least one race and a consistent shuffling in the standings at the end of each day it goes to show how competitive J/111 Fleet 1 can be. The starting line and mark roundings were very interesting places to be every race and it forced every boat to sail with focus. One bad spinnaker hoist or douse had the potential to set a boat back 3 or 4 spots. On Saturday afternoon's last race, 5 out of the 7 boats were called over early, however 2 of those were still able to place 2nd and 3rd. The wind was as shifty as ever on Lake Michigan and was the cause for some exciting comebacks. It was a fantastic regatta where the J/111 really got to display all of its glory. In fact, every downwind leg on Friday's races was an amazing show for all on the course with 4-5 ft waves offering up fantastic surfing opportunities. The trio of Brummel/Henderson/Mayer on KASHMIR took first overall, followed by William Smith's WOOTON from Bay Harbor YC in second,  Steve Dabrowski's NIGHTHAWK in third, Paul Stahlberg's MENTAL fourth and Rich Witzel's ROWDY fifth.    Sailing Photo Credit- Tim Wilkes.com   For more Sperry Topsider Chicago NOOD Regatta sailing information

Chicago NOOD Regatta Preview

One-Design J/111 Fleet Sailing!
(Chicago, IL)- Sailing from June 7th to 9th will be what many consider to be the celebration that ushers in the summer sailing season off the Chicago waterfront, the Sperry Topsider Chicago NOOD Regatta hosted by Chicago Yacht Club.  It's one of the biggest regattas in the Sailing World NOOD circuit and 153 boats are participating with 33 J teams sailing (about 22% of the fleet and the dominant offshore brand at the regatta).

There will be three J one-design fleets participating, including J/105s, J/109s and J/111s.  In addition, there are J's sailing in the PHRF Racing and ORR Offshore racing and cruising fleets.

With seven entries, the J/111s will be sailing in the first part of their Great Lakes Circuit that culminates in the J/111 North Americans sailed at Chicago YC in August.  That circuit includes Chicago NOOD, Chicago-Mackinac Race, Verve Cup Offshore and the J/111 NA's.  The racing will be close as nearly all the teams will have two years of racing under their belts.  And, other than the fact that KASHMIR has won the Chicago-Mac Race the last two years running in the class, all the "round-the-cans" events have produced excellent sailing and different teams hopping onto the podium each time. With good crews on all boats, it's next to impossible to handicap these horses at the local betting parlor on the south side.  Nevertheless, six of the players are familiar competitors (Paul Stahlberg's MENTAL, Steve Dabrowski's NIGHTHAWK, the trio of Miz/Dreher/Hatfield on IMPULSE that won Chicago NOOD last year, Rich Witzel's ROWDY, the trio of Brummel/Henderson/Mayer on KASHMIR and Len Siegal's LUCKY DUBIE).  With closed-course racing, all will win, place or show in many races during the regatta.  Newcomer to the gangsters in Chicago will be William Smith's WOOTON from Bay Harbor YC.

Fair winds and good luck to all, a simply smashing social event for three straight days, sponsored by Mt Gay Rum amongst other notable sponsors!   For more Sperry Topsider Chicago NOOD Regatta sailing information

J/111 North American Championship Update

(Chicago, IL)-  This August J/111 Fleet #1 on Lake Michigan will host the first annual North American Championships from 15-18th of August.  With the racecourse just off the visually stunning shore that's lined with Chicago's famous skyscrapers and beautiful white-sand beaches, this regatta offers the quintessential Chicago sailing experience. Headquartered at the Chicago Yacht Club’s Belmont Station, owners and their crew can expect a first-class race committee, with amenities to match.

If you have yet to experience sailing on Lake Michigan, this event also offers an exceptional opportunity for more than just the J/111 NACs. As Chicago is undoubtedly the gateway to sailing on Lake Michigan, we would like to further entice you to spend some more time with us on one of America’s greatest freshwater lakes. The world famous Race to Mackinac Island, hosted by the Chicago Yacht Club, consists of a 333 mile race up the lake starting on July 13, boasting up to 350 boats. The Mac is a “bucket-list” race for many sailors, a legendary freshwater offshore classic.

Next on the schedule is the Port Huron to Mac Island Race that begins July 20th starting from Detroit, MI. In addition, the Little Traverse Bay Yacht Club hosts the Ugotta Regatta from July 26-28th, a nice stop for those boats headed back to Chicago from the island. Preceding the North Americans is the  Verve Cup, also hosted by the Chicago Yacht Club August 9-11th, which can serve as an important warm-up.

Finally, the city of Chicago is a vibrant place in the summer, offering festivals, concerts, baseball games, and is home to countless museums. It's one city that actually comes to life in the summer along with the whole lake.  Additionally, up and down the coast of Lake Michigan, cozy villages along the shores from Charlevoix to Sturgeon Bay, all the way down to Kenosha and St. Joseph are stunners in the summer and offer relaxing weekend getaways accessible by boat or car.  Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com

Please check the regatta website (http://j111nac2013.wix.com/j111nac2013). We encourage you to contact us if you have any questions or comments regarding this event! We hope to see you in Chicago!  For more J/111 info please email- j111nac2013@gmail.com

J/111 MENTAL Wins Tri-State

(Michigan City, Indiana)- The annual Tri state race has divided into the Tri-State and the Bi-State Race. The first leg of the race from Chicago to St. Joe (just over 50 miles) had 94 entries and J/Boat dominated when they were in a section.

Friday night saw the small boats start in a light SW wind then when the section 2 boats started a Northerly wind came through and blew around 12. A power reach to St Joe Michigan for a few hours then the wind started clocking finally turning into a light beat.

The J/111 MENTAL, sailed by Paul Stahlberg and crew, was the eventual winner and sailed all the way to the Michigan shore where within one mile of shore there was a reverse thermal breeze coming offshore into the lake. The sand dunes cool off and cause this to happen. MENTAL short tacked the shore to beat J/120 JAHAZI and J/111 NIGHT HAWK who sailed more of a straight line to St. Joe.

Returning to Chicago was a beautiful run in 12-15 kt winds with the J/111s MENTAL and NIGHTHAWK going 1-2 with the J/120 JAHAZI in third.   For more Tri-State 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/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

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/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

Chicago-Mac Race Preview

NEW J/111 One-Design Class Ready-to-go!
(Chicago, IL)- The famous offshore yachting classic in the Great Lakes is about to get underway with over 300 boats undergoing last minute preparations for the 289nm dash from Chicago up Lake Michigan to that quaint, cute little island called Mackinac sandwiched between the top of Michigan and the Canadian border.  This annual right of passage has enough of a tradition for offshore sailors in the Great Lakes that those old sailors who never die and come back for more are honored, even revered, by those in the know-- that secret society known as "the Old Goats Society".

This reunion of sailors from across the greater Midwest (and the World) is celebrated first at the famous Chicago YC Monroe St Station, then after a few days on the water, is re-celebrated again with even taller stories to tell of what happened in the race conquering 'ole Mother Nature.  Ever heard about the boat planing past competitors in 95 kt winds under bare poles with lightning lighting the way home.  Or, the one about surfing the front of a water spout to the finish while God's light show of lightning bolts blew out all the instruments are were lighting up the carbon fiber in the jib like St Elmo's fire?  Yup.  Mac Racers have seen it all, heard it all --ironically there's even some truth in those "Paul Bunyan-type" stories for many who frequent the infamous Pink Pony Bar & Restaurant, de facto post-race headquarters for the thousands of weary sailors.

Gathering under the tents and along the docks of Chicago's waterfront are some of the world's better sailors and certainly a remarkably strong contingent of J sailors from across the lakes, including visitors coming from afar to participate in one of the true "Lake classics".  Four J/One-Design classes are represented- J/105s, J/109s, J/111s and J/120s.  It's the first year for the J/111 One-Design class, first for the Mac Race, too.  Plus, there are J/Teams spread throughout the Double-handed and handicap classes, many who've proven time and again they're not only champions in their own classes and divisions, but quite a few who've won the variations of the Mackinac Island races overall!

Starting with the one-design classes, it's quite exciting to see the J/111 speedster evolve into a full-blown one-design racing class in this eponymous offshore race.  There are ten J/111s entered and, quite frankly, there's no telling how it's all going to end up at the finish line.  What J/111 owners and their teams have proven to date is that just about anyone can win, especially an offshore race like the Mac.  The J/111 is so fast offshore, that anyone getting any leverage on their classmates extracts fast and enormous gains.  And, it works both ways. Especially if you're the boat behind, you're never out of the hunt for a podium finish, as last year's Mac Race proved for the five 111s that sailed in that stormy race!  Amongst the top contenders will be teams that have competed in Key West, Charleston, Annapolis, Newport, Bayview and Chicago over the past year.  From Chicago, you have several winners of recent regattas, including Paul Stahlberg's MENTAL, IMPULSE (Dr George Miz, Peter Dreher, Mark Hatfield), KASHMIR (the Mayer, Henderson, Brummel team), Tom McIntosh's MISTY and Tom Edman/ Steve Dabrowski's NIGHTHAWK. Newcomer to the Chicago fleet, the J/109 Great Lakes Champion Len Siegal, is sailing his new J/111 LUCKY DUBIE! From Annapolis is one of their top boats, VELOCITY sailed by Marty Roesch from Annapolis YC.  And, past year's double Mac Race winner NO SURPRISE sailed by Great Lakes racing legend Dave Irish should be amongst the top of this incredibly talented fleet.

The J/120s have a few Lakes legends of their own sailing amongst their one-design class along with some newly revamped programs all looking to dial-up their programs to take a shot at the top of the fleet.  From the Bayview Mac Race, you'll see all the top teams- CARINTHIA (Frank Kern), JAYHAWKER (David Sandlin), IRRESISTIBLE TOO (Gerald & Joanne Hines)- plus add in two strong Chicago teams in the form of SCIROCCO 2 (Bob Klairmont) and JAHAZI (Frank Giampoli) and it's likely you will find it hard to pry these teams apart even going into the finish line just short of Mackinac Island!

The J/105s have the largest J/One-Design fleet with fourteen boats participating.  Some familiar names will be contenders, including the recent Bayview Mac top J/105, Mary Symond's PTERODACTYL from Grosse Point YC and then add in top local Chicago boats like Tom and Gyt Petkus' VYTIS, Clark Pellett's team on SEALARK and John Weglarz's inmates already running THE ASYLUM and you have the makings of a 289nm gunfight at the OK Corral-- tough teams having a great time!

Not to be outdone by their other 35 foot sisterships, the J/109 class has ten strong teams racing to Mackinac Island, many of whom are past Mac podium finishers, Sailing World NOOD Regatta winners and Verve Cup winners.  Like their J/111 friends, the J/109s can see just about any boat finish in the top three due to the competitiveness of the fleet, nevertheless likely to be amongst the top boats will be MOMENTUS (Kevin Saedi and George & Robin Simkins), REALT NA MARA (Tom & Joe Londrigan), NORTHSTAR (David Gustman), K-III (Irv Kerbel) and DRIVEN 2 (Jim Milliken from Traverse City, MI).

In the handicap classes will be a wide variety of J's participating, from J/42s to J/145s.  In the Cruising I Division will be the J/42 ANOTHER J sailed by Conrad Dieter from Minnesota.  In Double-handed division will be the J/105s GONZO (Ken Ganch) and OCH! (Brendan Docherty) and the J/29 TFWB RELENTLESS (George & Scott Petritz).  In Section 2, there will be two J/145s fighting in out with some Santa Cruz 52s, Tripp 47s and Neiman-Marcus 43-50 footers. Both J/145s, VORTICES (Chris Saxton) and MAIN STREET (Bill Schanen, publisher of SAILING MAGAZINE) are tough contenders, both having won their classes in the various Mac Races.  Section 3 sees three J/130s, a J/122, J/133 and J/124 all slugging it out with Farr 395s and Sydney 41s for class honors.  Mitch Padnos's J/122 SUFFICIENT REASON, the J/124 STILL MESSIN (Adam & Jerome Esselman), the J/133 RENEGADE (Tom and Beth Ann Papoutsis), and the J/130s SALSA (Jim Gignac), WILLIE J (Doug Petter), EDGE (Bob McManus) will amongst the class leaders.  In Section 4 is the J/46 WINDRUSH from Lake Forest sailed by George Hender.  Section 5 has the "sleeper Q ship" in the fleet, the J/109 VANDA III sailed by past Chicago-Mac Winners Jimmy Mitchell and Jack & Jim Tolliver.  Section 6 seems to be a 35 footer shoot-out with J/35s, a J/33, J/110 and J/92 dueling it out with Beneteau 10R's, Shock 35s and Thomas 35s.  In the end, the J/110 LADY K (Mike Stewart), the J/92 SPLIT DECISION (Bruce Santerre), the J/33 RETRIEVER (Matt Beer) and the J/35s BOZO'S CIRCUS (Bruce Metcalf), HOUQUA (Jack Andree) and TOUCH OF GREY (Larry Schell) will all be scrapping for the podium by Monday-  OMG, what a tough fleet to sail against (please note- some of these boats have all won Mac Overalls in the past, too)! Finally in Section 7 is the J/92 CYCLONE sailing against, of all things, old NA 40s for silverware!   Chicago Mackinac Race Yellowbrick tracking   For more Chicago 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/111 IMPULSE Wins Chicago NOOD

(Chicago, IL)- The final day of the Chicago Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta greeted sailors with gorgeous weather and consistent 5-10 knot wind, setting the stage for a full day of racing on Lake Michigan. The sailors could not have been luckier.  For the third straight day, the crews had been enjoying unseasonably fabulous sailing weather.  If you recall, last year's event was punctuated by a epic front spitting massive thunderbolts, squalls, hail, horizontal rain and pouring "cats & dogs"!

Enjoying the wonderful sailing was none other than the J/111 IMPULSE sailed by Dr. George Miz, Pete Dreher and Mark Hatfield.  With a 1-5-6-1-3-1-2-4 record for 23 points, they won their first major J/111 regatta on a tie-breaker over Steve Dabrowski's NIGHTHAWK, with a record of 4-4-3-3-2-3-1-3 also for 23 pts.  With a half-dozen entries, the J/111 class had very competitive fleet racing one another, as evidenced by very close scores.  With two races to go in the eight race series, it was anyone's guess as to what the podium would look like when the spray cleared on the race course.  Past NODO Regatta winner, KASHMIR sailed by Karl Brummel, Steve Henderson and Mike Mayer, finished only 1 pt out of first place!  KASHMIR's 5-3-4-2-1-5-3-1 for 24 pts was good enough for the bronze.  Fourth place just 1 pt back was Paul Stahlberg's MENTAL with a 2-2-1-4-5-2-4-5 for 25 pts; a strong start but slow close on the last day meant they finished just out of the money.  Win-Place or Show in the last race sealed the deal for the top three!

For the J/105s, this year again saw one team simply dominate the regatta, with some new faces on the top of the heap.  Blane Shea and crew on STRIKING started off strong and never let up on their classmates.  STRIKING knocked out a striking scorecard of four 1sts, two 2nds and two 5ths to win with 18 pts, four pts clear of Tom and Gyt Petkus' VYTIS-- a past regatta winner.  Third was Clark Pellett's team on SEALARK scoring two 1sts, four 4ths, a 3rd and 6th to finish with 27 pts to grab third place.  Like their J/111 brothers, the 105s also saw the last spot on the podium come down to the final race.  In this case John Weglarz's crew must've had the inmates already running THE ASYLUM as their last three races of a 4-3-7 sunk their chances for a bronze, finishing just 2 pts back from 3rd overall.

In the J/109s, the top three also had a tough three-way battle for the top three.  Again, the last two races made all the difference as some teams stepped up to the plate and "closed the deal" while others faded a bit and tumbled down the standings.  In the end, Dave Gustman's team on NORTHSTAR won the battles and the war, scoring a 3-2-1-2-2-2-6-3 for 21 pts to win class.  Second was Don Meyer's CERTAINLY with a 1-7-5-3-1-3-4-2 scoreline for 26 pts and 2nd place.  Just missing second by one point was Kevin Saedi's MOMENTUS, finishing third while collecting three 1sts along with a 2-3-6-6-7 for 27 pts.

In ORR3, Mitch Padnos' new J/122 SUFFICIENT REASON sailed a very strong regatta to finish 2nd overall with a 2-5-2-3-2-1-3-1 tally for 19 pts.  Mitch's new J/122 replaces his J/124 which he raced for years in the Chicago-Mackinac Race.  The new SUFFICIENT REASON was previously SKYE, which has won the Chicago-Mackinac in Class and Overall three times, once as a fully-crewed boat and twice as the overall Double-handed Class winner.   For more Sperry Topsider Chicago NOOD Regatta sailing information

Challenging Sailing In Colors Regatta

J/111 KASHMIR, J/109 KIII, J/105 THE ASYLUM Win Class
(Chicago, IL)- For the past several years, the Columbia Yacht Club hosts their "Colors Regatta" as the "warm-up" for the summer offshore racing season in Chicago.  The event has continued to grow in popularity simply because it has become the "fourth" regatta on the summer sailing calendar locally, an important one to grind out the old rust from the winter, tune up the boat and the crew and basically get the wheels greased before they simply spin off the shopping trolley before you can collect ANY silverware! Rest assured, the CYC Support Crew at this event bend over backwards to make sure all sailors are having a fun time, hard not to. With a wonderful dinner and entertainment Saturday night on the afterdeck of their ship (literally!) moored on Chicago's fabulous waterfront and a trophy presentation on the docks after Sunday's sailing, it's hard not to enjoy the sights and sounds of sailors enjoying the best that Chicago has to offer.

Continuing their strong sailing over the past season in the J/111 class, the trio of Brummel/ Henderson/ Mayer on KASHMIR have continued to lead the class, but only barely.  After the first day of racing, Paul Stahlberg's crew on MENTAL were leading the fleet with a 1-1-1-2 for 5 pts.  The KASHMIR crew had managed a 3-2-2-1, showing improvement every race.  Sunday dawned with an even shiftier, crazier wind pattern from the WNW.  In the end, the KASHMIR boys led by their ever-present Spinnaker Goddess, Karen Gottwald, managed to strike a 1-2 in the last two races to "seal the deal", winning the regatta by 2 pts.  Paul's crew on MENTAL had a bit of a "brain fade" on Sunday, managing a 4-5 to swing their delta from a 3 pt lead to a 2 pt loss.  Steve Dabrowski's NIGHTHAWK sailed a consistent series to grab third.  Fourth was George Miz's IMPULSE.  And, J/111 newcomer Rich Witzel on ROWDY managed to be a "spoiler" on Sunday, racking up a 2-1 to throw a curve-ball into the class standings.

Amongst the J/109s, Irv Kerbel's team on KIII put a dent into the usual pecking order to win by 3 pts over the rest of the madding crowd.  KIII's 1-3-2-2-2 tally for 10 pts was remarkably consistent despite the crazy, shifty, puffy conditions the fleet experienced off the Chicago waterfront just off the famous McCormick Place (a.k.a.- the place where NATO members and Osama-bama recently had a chat with some protestors nearby).  Don Meyer's CERTAINLY managed two bullets, but not enough to overcome Irv's crew, amassing just a 5-1-1-3-3 for 13 pts.  Kevin Saedi's team on MOMENTUS were always in the hunt with a 3-4-3-1-4 for 15 pts.

As the J/105 fleet continues to evolve in Chicago, new faces in the crowd pop-out of the woodwork and put their stamp on the local fleet.  So it seemed it was the case in this regatta and time will tell if this holds true for the balance of the Chicago NOOD Regatta, Chicago-Mackinac Race and the Verve Cup during the season.  Nevertheless, Jon Weglarz's team on THE ASYLUM certainly showed it was NOT the "inmates running the asylum", it was the inmates ruling the roost!  Their 1-1-1 was, to say the least, pretty good?  Not bad?  OK?  A schooling? A spanking? Just plain luck?  Whatever one's opinion, they sailed "well".  Congratulations to the ASYLUM gang.  Another up and comer was Clark Pellet's crew on SEALARK sailing a perfect "3"- all 3rd to grab 2nd overall.  Past champs Tom & Gyt Petkus on VYTIS sailed a 4-2-5 to snare 3rd.  Mike Newman's VALHALLA was 4th and JohnnY Moore's HERE'S JOHNNY was 5th.   For more Colors Regatta sailing information