J/70 & J/111 Half-Model Gifts

(Newport, RI)- If you are looking for creative ideas for gifts overthe holidays, nothing can bring a bigger smile to anyone than to see their favorite J represented in living color as a beautiful half-hull model.  There are numerous sources to find them.  Here are two that you might consider for putting that pretty boat into a large stocking hanging from the fireplace.

A long-time sailor and J/80 owner that sails in the Newport J/80 Fleet is Andrew Burton.  Andy founded Trident Studios and has been building models for decades in between his yacht delivery business (over 350,000 nm of sailing to date!).  Andrew has many molds of J/Boat half-models, including the J/111.  His half-models were the ones given out to all the Top 5 crew at the recent J/24 Worlds in Rochester, New York.  You can reach Andrew at email- andrew@tridentstudio.com) or see his Trident Studio website.

Also a J/80 owner, Denis Cartier is founder of Abordage Models and builds very detailed full models (rigging, lifelines, wheels, deck gear, etc) or classic half-hull models. They build many "J" class models, including the latest J/70 and the J/111.  Contact Denis at email- abordage@abordage.com or visit his website- http://www.abordage.com.

J/Teams Support "Sail for Hope" Regatta

(Newport, RI)- This year's regatta marks the 11th running of Sail for Hope. In the wake of the 9/11/2001 attacks on America, a few local sailing enthusiasts scrambled to organize a regatta to honor and support those affected.  The event is the classic "Around Jamestown Island" race that is about 19.5 nm around the East and West Passages of Narragansett Bay.

The first Sail For Pride Regatta rallied over 180 boats and $110,000 designated for charities to support the NYFD firefighters, police and the victims of the attacks and their families. The display of patriotism and generosity on and off the water made a lasting impression in the sailing community.

After the inaugural year, the organizers retired the name Sail For Pride, but continued the event as Sail For Hope, reflecting the Rhode Island state motto and aimed at supporting local charities. Charities supported over the years have included RI Red Cross, Seamen's Church Institute, Newport Harbormaster's Emergency Equipment Fund, local public high school sailing teams, US Olympic Sailing Trials and many more, including a huge fund-raising year in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.  To date, over $800,000 has been raised for a wide variety of charities, including RI Red Cross and the Wounded Warrior Project- an organization that actively puts forth a rehabilitative effort in assisting our warriors to recover and transition back to a civilian lifestyle.

On Saturday, the 6th of October, seventy-seven boats participated, including a large fleet of eleven J/22 one-designs and several PHRF classes. In the J/22 one-designs, it was Whitney Slade and crew that took home the silverware by 3 min 26 secs over Matt Chao's team in second.  Third was Alan Renfrew another 2 min back.  Fourth was Rufus Van Gruisen and third was PJ Maltais.

For the PHRF 6 handicap class, the J/111s sailed well with Doug Curtiss on WICKED 2.0 taking second place and class newcomer David Brodsky and Fred Van Liew sailed their new J/111 ODYSSEY to 5th overall in their first outing!  The J/111s in New England "welcome" Dave and Fred and look forward to sailing with them in the 2013 sailing season!

In the PHRF Non-Spinnaker class, the J/28 WHALAYED sailed by John Whaley finished 3rd overall.  In PHRF 4 class, the J/30 RHAPSODY sailed by Bill Kneller was 2nd overall and the J/24s NIGHTHAWK (Barker, Ryan, McVicker) and BUCKSHOT (Larry Colantuono) were 4th and 5th, respectively.    Sailing photo credits- George Bekris   For more Sail for Hope Regatta sailing information

J/Teams Hot In Annapolis!

(Annapolis, Maryland)- Annapolis Race Week (ARW) is a Mid-Atlantic Region annual event that occurs every year over Labor Day weekend off the famous shores of Annapolis (a.k.a. "Naptown"). The 3-day event offers a significant and unique opportunity for sailors to party and have fun on the city-front right in the city square where the enormous Annapolis Sailboat Show is held every year in October.  There were significant fleets of one-design J/Teams sailing, including J/24s, J/35s, J/30s, J/105s and J/80s.  Plus, J/111s sailed in PHRF class.

J/24s had six boats participating with Paul van Ravenswaay's team on MILLENIUM FALCON walking off with top honors with four 1sts, one 2nd and three 3rds for 15 pts total. Second was Paul Ford on WILDCARD with a 4-3-3-4-3-1-1-3 record for 22 pts.  Just one point back was Peter Rich on USA 4006 with a 1-5-4-1-4-2-4-2 tally for 23 pts.

In the J/35s, a strong contingent of seven boats sought the "holy grail", but in the end it was Masci McGonigle's WINDEPENDENT that just squeaked out a win with a 1-1-2-6 score for 10 pts.  Just behind them the score was settled on a tie-breaker with Pete Scheidt's MAGGIE beating out Chuck Kohlerman's MEDICINE MAN.  MAGGIE's 3-5-1-2 for 11 pts was better than the Med-MAN's 2-2-3-4 also for 11 pts.

The J/105s had the one of the large one-design racing division with seventeen boats participating.  Jack Biddle's RUM PUPPY was "alpha male dog" here with a fairly dominating 4-2-3-1-1-2 for 13 pts.  The next four boats had to fight it out amongst themselves for 2nd and 3rd on the podium.  Carl & Scott Gitchell's crew on TENACIOUS emerged from the smoke-filled field of battle as top of the pack with a 1-4-5-11-7-1 for 29 pts to snag second place.  They just managed to beat the VELOCE gang with 31 pts who finished 3rd.  Fourth was Andrew Kennedy's BAT IV with 32 pts and fifth was Carolyn & Chris Groobey's JAVA.

J/30s had a nice turnout with seven boats and it was quite clear the top three had an incredibly competitive series.  Setting the BETTER MOUSETRAP was Bob Putnan, sailing to a steady 1-3-1-4-2-2 for 13 pts.  One point back BEPOP'ing around was Bob Rutsch and Mike Costello with a 3-1-3-1-3-3 for 14 pts.  Then thirsting INSATIABLY for more was Ron Anderson's crew managing to smoke the fleet for two picket fences on the last day, but not enough to overcome his friends in 1-2.  So, Ron's 4-2-5-3-1-1 for 16 pts meant they had to settle for 3rd.

The largest one-design fleet sailing were the J/80s with eighteen boats on the starting line.  In the end, it was Kristen Robinson's much-improved team winning by a substantial margin- their 1-3-2-4-2-2 for 14 pts meant they had a 7 pt margin of victory.  Second was Ray Wulff on GORILLA PANIC! with a 3-7-3-2-1-5 for 21 pts.  Third was John White's team just one pt back.  Fourth was Todd Olds on TSUNAMI with 29 pts and fifth was Clarke McKinney sailing AUNT EDNA'S DEAD with 34 pts.

In handicap world of PHRF A-1, the J/111s had a dog-fight for top to the pack.  This time, it was Tony Culotta's CUORE DI LEONE overcoming the well-traveled VELOCITY for top banana.  Tony's crew managed to garner the identical score of 2-1-2-1 for 6 pts to Marty's 1-2-1-2 also for 6 pts, with the winner being who won the last race!  For more Annapolis Race Week sailing information

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/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 North Sea Regatta

(Scheveningen, Netherlands)- The Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta in Scheveningen had a brilliant start on Friday, May 25 under a clear blue sky with more than 250 yachts ready to go racing. The sailing conditions were perfect, although the strong, gusty northeasterly played many tricks on the sailors. With gusts up to 27 knots, there was a lot of damage to several boats-- sails torn, genakers and spinnakers blown out, big shots broke booms and blocks ripped off decks!  Yes, a lot of carnage on day one, but a lot of fun sailing for those who could handle the spectacular, sunny conditions.  However, the perfect conditions persisted for just one more day, with the last day being "fogged out" with little wind for any of the fleets.  In the end, John Van der Starre's J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER dominated IRC 2/3 Class.  In the J/22s, it was Kolleman Wouter's team that ran away with top honors.  And, in the J/24 class it was Erik Jeuring's team that also ran away with the gold.

For the first day on the IRC 2/3 course, the gang on the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER made it known they were going to be a factor in their twenty-one boat class, by far the largest and most competitive offshore class at the North Sea Regatta.  XCENTRIC's skipper John Van der Starre immediately led the team to two bullets today. Co-captain Robin Verhoef said, "We had some dangerous situations at times.  We hit 13-15 kts at times as we simply flew away from the rest of our fleet.  We practiced a lot in April at the SPI Ouest Regatta in La Trinite-sur-Mer and learned a lot. There we sailed one-design class and we learned how to be more competitive and much faster sailing against other J/111s.  We discovered the very subtle differences, e.g. in the settings of the mast and the boat and sails to extract maximum performance.  It helped us a lot!"

For the J/22 class, it was a day with more and less wind pressure across the course. In a field of eleven J/22's, Kolleman Wouter's team ran the table, getting two first places.  It was difficult sailing, especially because sometimes the waves came from all sides. "It was a sloshing wave," says Kolleman. "This increased the difficulty. We do like a lot of wind, so we had no problems. But because he always had massive changes in wind strength, you had a lot of pressure and then suddenly no pressure. Usually we sail on inland lakes, but we are quite used to power sailing."

After the first day of sailing, it was quite the festive closing.  Entertaining musical performances by the bands "Kissing the Girl" and the "Crazy Pianos" with great spinning of disks by "DJ Ruben" later in the evening.  The sailors played late into the night enjoying the beautiful weather and a festive atmosphere.

The second day of inshore races were characterized by nearly perfect sailing conditions.  There was less wind than the day before, so there was less damages too! During the day the wind averaged 5-15 kts and was very shifty.  For the offshore classes, the second day was traditionally an offshore course around the buoys.  But, with lighter wind conditions that could die-off, the RC decided to hold only inshore races around the buoys.

For IRC 2/3, the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER continued to dominate their class.  And in the one-designs, the J/22s saw Wouter's J/22 team rattle off a few more firsts to also consolidate their lead.  And, in the J/24 class, Erik Jeuring also posted some more firsts to extend their lead in their fleet.

One of the highlights of the second day was the J-Class RAINBOW visiting Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta.  This forty-meter classic sloop went sailing Sunday, May 27th with guests from the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta.

On the final day of sailing, the shores were dense with fog hanging over the Hague without a breath of wind, forcing the RC to cancel sailing for the day.  As a result, the regata results for the first two days that included seven races counted for the final results.  Congratulations go out to the J/22 team of Wouter and the J/24 team of Jeuring for near perfect scores, winning their classes by significant margins.  Congratulations also go out to a phenomenal performance by the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER team led by John Van de Starre and Robin Verhoef, winning the most competitive IRC division by a whopping 10.5 points, counting five 1sts in their scoreline.  Kudos also to the J/109 CAPTAIN JACK sailed by Bert Visser.  For more North Sea Regatta sailing information

North Sea Regatta Sailing Preview

(The Hague, Netherlands)- Many teams are entered in the upcoming Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta in The Hague, The Netherlands, which starts next week with the "Vuurschepen Race". About 400 yachts will be participating in the three separate events of the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta.

On Tuesday May 15th the Vuurschepen Race from Scheveningen to Harwich, England will start at 1900 hours. This offshore race of 110 nautical miles is the opening race of the week-long event. The route across the North Sea has been slightly modified to include sailing away (out and around) from the enormous windmill farms off the English coast.  After the finish, the sailors will enjoy a day of rest in Harwich, hosted by the Royal Harwich Yacht Club in Woolverstone. On Ascension Day the sailors enjoy lunch in the pub often used by ancient smugglers along the coast- The "Butt and Oyster" at Pin Mill.  After much camaraderie and reveling in past sea stories, the sailors will then hop aboard again and go back across "La Manche" (the Channel) in the RORC North Sea Race back to Holland on Friday May 18th. One of The Netherlands top offshore sailors, John van de Starre, will be sailing the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER in both events in IRC2 Class.

In the Pentecost weekend from May 25th to 28th 2012 more than 400 teams will race just of the coast of Scheveningen. Different classes will attend, including a good field of J/22s and J/24s as well as an IRC Class for the North Sea Regatta.  In IRC will be the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER participating in the third portion of the event.   For more Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta sailing information

Annapolis NOOD Sailing Preview

NEW J/111 One-Design Class Debuts
(Annapolis, MD)- While the Sperry Topsider crew can't guarantee awesome sailing, they certainly can make sure the sailors are happy with their togs and clogs and make life ashore festive and fun.  With a forecast of light to moderate winds for Thursday/ Friday out of the south and a weak front switching the winds into the northerly quadrants at a robust 4-7 knots for Saturday/ Sunday, the PRO's will be on their toes to get some decent sailing in for the madding crowds.  How many teams will be in attendance?  With nearly 200 boats registered, there will be over 1,100+ J sailors crewing on 141 J's (that's 72% of the fleet!).

The J One-Design fleets are all well-represented and are broken down into five J/111s, a dozen J/109s, aye-teen J/105s, ocho J/35s, move J/30s, thirty-four J/80s, nineteen J/24s and thirty-six J/22s.  In fact, it's quite a significant turn-out of the 35 foot J-Designs- J/35s from the 80s, J/105s from the 90s and the new J/111s.

On that score, the J/111 fleet is shaping up to be a good test of how crews adopt to the flatter, choppier, shiftier waters of the Chesapeake Bay.  Three of the 111 teams all sailed in Charleston, having to cope with massive easterly swells from an offshore storm in NW to NE winds, making for a rolly-polly ride upwind and downwind.  Past champion VELOCITY sailed by Marty Roesch will surely be on the comeback trail and CRW Champion RAGIN led by Bob Moran and 3rd place finisher Henry Brauer on FLEETWING will be challenging for the top of the pack.  With those three as a benchmark, it will be interesting to see how quickly the other two boats, Jim Whited's BAD CAT and Anthony Culotta's CUORE DI LEONE fair against some of their well-practiced compatriots.

With three dozen teams showing up on the starting line, the J/22s continue to demonstrate that a bit of chutzpah, fun and camaraderie go a long way for long-term fleet success.  There are many familiar faces in this crowd as well as some new ones.  The event may yet turn into another donnybrook between the Rochester crowd versus the Annapolis gang.  Leading the Rochester crew will be Chris Doyle on THE JUG 41 and Vic Snyder on MO'MONEY.  The local Naptown crews are pretty formidable, amongst them will be Jeff Todd on HOT TODDY, Al Terhune on DAZZLER, Sandy Adzick on HOT TICKET and Todd Hiller on LEADING EDGE, just to name a few.

After nearly 35 years of racing, you'd think the J/24 teams would have an established pecking order amongst the top teams.  NOT!  As has been atypical of many top international one-design classes, the J/24 is so easy to pick up fast by good sailors that just about anyone can be competitive in a short period of time.  Same holds true now as it did back in 1977.  However, octogenarian Tony Parker on the storied BANGOR PACKET XXX is the local Maine/DC boy who's been keeping all the latest boys and girls in check.  After all, many a J/24 World Champion has crossed swords with Tony and lost-- he's still sharp as a tack after all those years of "ultimate fighting" in the J/24 class.  Making sure they learned a thing or two and hope to stay in front of Tony are recent J/24 World Champ Tim Healey on 11TH HOUR RACING from Newport, Robby Brown from St Pete on USA 799, Travis Odenbach on HONEY BADGER and Pete Kassal on SPACEMAN SPIFF.

An excellent turnout of thirty-four J/80s re-affirms their class strength after good fleets at Key West, Bacardi Sailing Week and Charleston Race Week-- all events on the J/80 Winter Circuit.  J/80 sailors are having a lot of fun racing their fast, closely-matched A-sail boats.  Teams that could be factors are changing as some teams improve their capabilities on boat-speed, boat-handling and tactics.  Showing great improvements recently has been Kristen Robinson and team aboard ANGRY CHAMELEON.  Others in the hunt will include Andy Burton on GROMIT from Newport, Chris Chadwick's CHURCH KEY, Bruno Pasquinelli's TIAMO, Mike Sudofsky's BOB DYLAN, Ramzi Bannura's STACKED DECK, Will Crump & Tom Klok's R80, Brian Keane's SAVASANA and Erik Storck's NA Champion RUMOR.

The J/30 sailors continue to enjoy the first cruiser-racer ever built by the J/Boats Team.  And, many "classics" of this genre abound.  These teams have a scream, no doubt about it. So, making any predictions about an outcome are certainly beyond the comprehension of even the J/30 sailors themselves.  Has something to do with rum, beer, sun, fun and varying degrees of that combination over three days of sailing.  So, working on past performance, we can at least look for Pam Morri's BUMP, Ron Anderson's INSATIABLE, George Watson's AVITA and Bob Rutsch & Mike Costello's BEPOP to be hunting around the front of the pack most times this weekend.

The eighteen boat J/105 fleet will be as competitive as ever.  Chesapeake locals such as Peter McChesney on the now famous MYSTERY MACHINE, Chris & Carolyn Groobey on JAVA, Andrew Kennedy on BAT IV, Bob Reeves on A-TRAIN, the Gitchell's on TENACIOUS and Jack Biddle on RUM PUPPY will certainly be factors in the top five.  Toss in top three J/105 NA's sailor Jim Rathbun on HEY JUDE from Toronto, ONT, Canada and some US Naval Academy Sailing Team college sailors and you're certain to see a running gun battle taking place on the waters just off Easton's Point.

J/35 sailors continue to enjoy one of the most successful 35 footers ever built as racer-cruisers.  Love the boat names, some of the old classics and some new variations.  T-BONE, AUNT JEAN, DAKOTA GIRL, BAD COMPANY, MEDICINE MAN, REBEL YELL.  Hell, might as well be at a Harley Davidson reunion in the Badlands of North Dakota, don't ya think?  Free tattoos go with this gang (although the J/30 guys might argue this point).  And, they love it, working those grinders on the massive kevlar/carbon genoas and monster masthead spinnakers to go faster and faster.  Cool boat.  Cooler crews.  Predictions here?  None.  Teams change, teams get hungover. Bless'em all, they will certainly have fun and one may guess it would be a dead heat with their J/30 friends for the highest "fun quotient" amongst the J/Clan.

At a dozen strong, the J/109s have amongst their fleet three past J/109 North American Champions in the form of Bill Sweetser's RUSH (the Local) versus Rick Lyall's STORM (the Outsider- just a Long Island Sound guy), all contending with that silver fox from Buzzards Bay/Cape, Ted Herlihy on GUT FEELING (the Foreigner- so far East the Earth ends in a cliff).  In the end, way too hard to call this one with some many other strong teams tossed into the mix.  For more Sperry Topsider Sailing World NOOD Annapolis sailing information

J/Teams Sailing Fast In Charleston

J/111 Wins PHRF A, J/120 Wins PHRF C, J/29 Wins PHRF F, 22s-24s-80s Have Epic One-Design Sailing
(Charleston, SC)- Again, the regatta management team at this year's Sperry Topsider Charleston Race Week and the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina knocked it out of the park, hosting another great event, fine-tuning on-shore festivities even better than before and on-the-water making the most of what Mother Nature had to offer.  And, no question the fleets were challenged by this year's sailing conditions; ranging from a gorgeous, sunny Friday with NE 8-15 kt breezes, to a partly cloudy Saturday with Easterly 5-12 kt winds, to a rainy cloudy Sunday finale with a finicky, variable N-NW 5-12 kt crap shoot.

In the end, it was good competition across the range of fleets both offshore for the big boats and inshore for the one-design fleets.  The PRO's at CRW should be commended for their remarkable adroitness at managing their respective fleets and getting off as many races as they did in such challenging weather conditions.  As a result of their efforts, several epic battles ensued in both the offshore handicap fleets and the inshore one-design fleets.

For the offshore gang, the J's were sailing in PHRF B and PHRC C on the north course and in PHRF F on the south course.  Sailing in one of the most competitive offshore fleets, PHRF B, the J/111 RAGIN sailed by Bob Moran and crew from Annapolis, MD raced a great series to pull off a well-deserved win, posting a 2-7-5-3-1-2-1-1 scoreline to take the series with 15 pts.  Giving them a tough battle all weekend long was early class leader, the J/122 TEAMWORK sailed by Robin Team's crew from North Carolina.  Their 1-3-4-5-6-4-4-2 score for 23 pts was just good enough to maintain second place.  It was self-evident by Sunday that the top five teams in this class were going to settle their scores on the last race.  Steadily climbing up that ladder was Doug Curtiss's J/111 WICKED 2.0, earning a hard-fought third place with a 7-4-7-1-2-1-3-13 for 25 pts.  Fifth in PHRF B was Henry Brauer's J/111 FLEETWING with a score of 6-8-2-4-4-6-2-4 for 28 pts.  As anyone can tell you that saw the racing on Sunday, anyone could have won on the last day, it was the luck of the draw on several occasions with regards to wind shifts and massive holes magically showing up across the race course.  In the J/111 One-Design scoring, it was RAGIN 1st followed by WICKED 2.0 in 2nd and FLEETWING in 3rd.  Of note, the J/111 RAGIN won the "Palmetto Cup" for Best Offshore Performance Award for top offshore team in the most competitive class!  Kudos to Bob Moran and team winning such a prestigious award in their first major regatta on the J/111!

In PHRF C, the J/120s were a big factor in the overall results despite having two very fast and smart teams aboard some 35 foot J's from across the decades.  In the end, it was local favorites Bill Hanckel on the J/120 EMOCEAN that swept the fleet, scoring a 3-1-1-1-1.5-1-1-5 for a grand total of just 9.5 points for first place.  Were it not for one bad race, Gary Weisberg's crew on the J/109 HEAT WAVE were just one heartbeat away from giving the EMOCEAN crew serious anxiety attacks.  HEAT WAVE's 4-8-3-2-1.5-2-2-1 for 15 pts was a solid score to earn them a silver on the podium.

Perhaps the donnybrook of the event aside from these other two divisions outlined above were the famous, fabled "29s" in the J/Family of designs.  A modern J/92 versus the J/29 mastheads of old, wow was that a fight to the finish!  And, what great racing these teams had over the course of seven races.  Beaming from ear-to-ear after they crossed the finish line in the last race were Ira Perry's crew on the J/29 SEEFEST, winning by the "hair on their chinny chin chin".  One point!  SEEFEST's 2-2-3-2-3-4-3 for 15 pts just squeaked by Dave Pritchard's J/29 AMIGOS which had accumulated a 4-5-4-ocs-1-1-1 for 16 pts!  My goodness.  Plus, Jim Mackevich's J/29 FOR SAIL held on tough to manage a 6-4-2-3-2-2-5 score for 18 pts to secure third.  Incredibly, past multiple Key West PHRF Champion, Steve Thurston's J/29 MIGHTY PUFFIN sailed to a consistent tally of 1-1-6-6-4-3-4 for 19 pts, only good enough for 4th place!  Yet another J/29, John Amyot's BLITZ! from Canada not only won races, too, getting a 3-7-5-1-5-5.5-2 for 21.5 pts, but could only hang on for 5th place.  This group of five 29 ft J's were a seriously tough group of hombres-- fun sailing for all.

On the inshore side of things, there were epic battles and some dominating performances.  First, the epochal armageddons that always evolve in the closely fought J/24 class.  Amazing isn't it?  After 35 years of sailing, the J/24s still produce some of the world's best sailors and best class battles.  This time, some familiar faces were again at the front of the fleet.  While getting out of the starting blocks a bit slow on the first day, Mike Ingham and his Rochester Team of J/24 jockeys simply put themselves into cruise control and knocked out a steady 3-7-2-8-1-1-2-2-5 for 23 pts to become a repeat CRW J/24 Champions.  Second was Travis Odenbach, sailing the great yacht HONEY BADGER to a fast out-of-the-box 4-3-1-1-2-2 but fading to black with a 12-1-11 for 25 pts.  Third was Chip Till's gang on the infamous MURDER INCORPORATED, talk about blasting out of the blocks in a track meet-- their 1-1-4-dsq-6-3-1-13-7 was both heroic and tragic all at once- a Shakespearean play in the making.  What gives guys? Had to be the toxic "dark'n'stormies".  Perhaps if they race the Annapolis NOODs they can fight for retribution rights.

On the domination game side of things, it's pretty clear the J/22s had to contend with a multiple World Champion that hasn't lost his touch over time and a newcomer in the J/80s had everyone scratching their heads and singing the blues in their beers.  In the J/22 world, Greg Fisher simply demonstrated to many that he's been a class-act for a long time, winning with grace and style with a solid 2-2-1-1-4-8-3-1-4 for 18 pts to take the J/22s by a substantial margin.  Second was Jackson Benvenutti's team starting fast, then hoping to hang in there and scoring a steady 1-3-5-4-3-5-1-5-6 for 27 pts.  Third was another Odenbach sailing, this was the "Jack" version sailing MKI to a 3-9-2-9-2-6-2-3-1 for 28 pts, just missing the silver on the podium.  Fourth was Todd Hiller with LEADING EDGE and fifth was Mike Marshall WHARF RAT.

The J/80s had fantastic, very competitive sailing on their circle-- always challenging and not without its surprises.  Somehow divining the intricacies of this course better than most anyone else was Bill Rose on KICKS.  Screamingly fast and smart on the first day, they never let up on the fleet.  Their 1-1-2-4-1-3-4-5-3-dns for 24 pts was sufficient to win the J/80s by a lot!  Second was top J/105 sailor Brian Keane racing SAVASANA to a 3-2-5-1-5-11-2-6-4-5 for 33 pts.  Alex Kraus sailed COOL J to third overall with 44 pts total, just beating out class leader Bruno Pasquinelli on TIAMO with 46 pts in fourth.  Capturing fifth was Nizar Abuzzeni sailing ARROW.

How did it all pan out on a daily basis?  Here are summarized reports from Dan Dickinson, "media man" for the Sperry Topsider CRW.

DAY 1- Nature Shines On First Day Of Racing- Stronger-Than-Expected Wind and Waves Ignite Race Week— Charleston proved itself once again to be one of the world’s most reliable sailing destinations today, with mother nature unwilling to accept forecasts of a day with little breeze.

Offshore, around a hundred racing boats from 26 to 72 feet long set off into sporty conditions — an unexpected 12 to 16 knots of wind and large, choppy seas. The PHRF Class C is proving a true clash of the titans, with local legend Bill Hanckel’s J/120 EMOCEAN just a point ahead of 2011 Champ Tim Tucker’s C&C 115 Rock Star, while just one point separates the J/122 TEAMWORK, the X-41 Sarah, and the OD 35 Fearless, the top three boats in PHRF B.

On the inshore race courses, Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week’s biggest ever inshore fleet fought and scrapped for every inch on the course, sometimes taking it too far.  2011 Charleston Race Week champ and many-time J/24 North American, National, and European Champion Mike Ingham had a tough day on the water, though not as tough as he thought. “With the current flowing out, we got caught in a couple of bad spots during the starts and ended up over the line early twice,” Ingham explained. “When we got back and found out we were in second place, we couldn’t believe it.”

DAY 2- Mixed Conditions Tighten Up Fleets While America’s Cup Visits Charleston— Nearly two hundred sixty racing teams hit the docks this morning, ready to battle their opponents on the second day of racing. Instead of Charleston’s usually reliable sea breeze, the offshore courses faced unstable, patchy winds that allowed only two races over the course of the day.  A fierce battle has broken out in the B Fleet, with Greg Manning’s Rhode Island-based X-41 Sarah tied on points with Bob Moran’s Annapolis-based J/111 RAGIN’. Two-time Charleston Race Week champ Robin Team (J/122 TEAMWORK) had a disappointing day, dropping to third place, with another J/111, WICKED 2.0 from Dartmouth, Mass, breathing down his crew’s neck.“

Charleston Native Bill Hanckel’s team on board his J/120 EMOCEAN was nearly unbeatable in today’s shifty wind, though not quite: Gary Weisburg’s J/109 HEAT WAVE corrected to the identical time as Hanckel’s crew – down to the hundredth of a second in Race 5. “We thought we lost to Heat Wave in that race,” said Bill Hanckel. “Pretty amazing to see an hour-long race come down to a hundredth of a second, and it’s a sign of how tight the racing is out there.” Despite a recent leg injury, Hanckel is sailing hard, with son Will on the helm. “Surgery on my leg would’ve cost the same as getting the bottom of EMOCEAN into race shape. You can guess what I spent the money on!!”

The inshore courses saw consistently higher breeze than offshore, allowing another four races to be completed across all three circles. Considering the shifty conditions and unpredictable wind velocity, it was a surprise to see the leaders remain the same across the inshore classes. College of Charleston Sailing Director Greg Fisher continues his stranglehold on the J/22 fleet, Bill Rose aboard KICKS extended his lead over the J/80 Class to 8 points, and in the J/24 Class, Annapolis sailor Travis Odenbach’s HONEY BADGER holds a four-point lead over the surging Mike Ingham and his team on board US 4558, who won the day with a 1-1-2-2 scorecard.

The evening’s beach party had an extremely special guest on Saturday, and over 1,500 sailors crowded around the big stage to welcome the America’s Cup to South Carolina for the first time in its 161-year old history. Representatives of America’s Cup Defender Golden Gate Yacht Club flew the prestigious trophy to Charleston to share their vision for the 34th America’s Cup with the huge crowds of passionate sailors attending Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week. “What an unbelievable reception!” said GGYC Commodore Norbert Bajurin. “We really are bowled over by the welcome we’ve received here, and the level of interest from Charleston Race Week sailors in the next America’s Cup competition.” GGYC’s Vice Commodore is long-time Cup veteran Tom Ehman, who delivered an exciting multi-media presentation for the crowd. “We’re hugely grateful to Norbert and Tom for working so hard to get the Cup here, and to our sailors for turning out in such incredible numbers,” said Randy Draftz, Event Director. “We just hope they bring it back next year!”

DAY 3- A Wet Finale— The heavy weather forecast for Charleston failed to materialize on Sunday, and unsettled conditions meant different challenges throughout the three race areas. Within a 10-mile radius, both the offshore and inshore racing classes sailed between 0 and 3 races for the final, deciding day of the country’s largest keelboat regatta.

“These were some of the most challenging conditions we’ve seen ever at Race Week in Charleston, and it’s a credit to these race committee workers, the vast majority of them volunteers, that we got so many races in this week,” said Event Director Randy Draftz. “This event couldn’t be run without the nearly 300 volunteers that so generously donate their time, their energies, and their boats to this event, and we want to give all of them a special thanks for making Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week one of the best regattas anywhere.

A huge rivalry came down to the wire on Sunday in the J/24 class, where Travis Odenbach led Mike Ingham until the final race of the week. Both teams are from Rochester, NY, and both skippers are preparing for the huge J/24 World Championship in Rochester later this summer.  “We’ve been racing against each other for a decade, and we’ll probably be racing against each other for a decade more,” said Odenbach, whose HONEY BADGER took second place by a 2-point deficit.  “Going into the last race today we were down by a few points, and we got the start we needed,” explained Ingham. Odenbach didn’t stand a chance.  “Mike got ahead, and every tack, he slammed us back, just as he needed to,” he said. This is Ingham’s second consecutive victory at Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week, and he says he’ll be back to go for the hat trick.  “Where else would I want to be in April?” he exclaimed.

Greg Fisher took the 15-boat J/22 class by nine points, earning the College of Charleston’s Sailing Director the Charleston Race Week Perpetual Trophy for top one-design performance. A huge cheer went out from the crowd for the adopted Charlestonian, who sailed with wife Jo-Ann, College of Charleston freshman and varsity sailor Allie Blumenthal and longtime crew Jeff Eiber. The regatta's other perpetual award, The Palmetto Cup, which is given to the top performing boat in the PHRF classes, was awarded to Bob Moran and his crew on board the J/111 RAGIN' out of Herndon, VA Moran and his talented crew competed in PHRF Class B, in which they also won class honors.

The J/80 class rounded out the J/Boat one designs, and Bill Rose on KICKS continued his dominant performance, clinching the victory with a race to spare. Brian Keane’s Massachusetts based SAVASA took second place.

The local favorites aboard the J/120 EMOCEAN were overjoyed at their victory in PHRF C.  “We put the band back together and everything just fell into place,” said helmsman Will Hanckel. “Eight of the original 11 EMOCEAN crew were with us this week and their skill and our communication level aboard made things almost easy."  Sailing Photo Credits- Meredith Block/ BlockSail.com.  For more Charleston Race Week sailing information

Charleston Race Week Preview

(Charleston, SC)- With 260 teams entered to sail this year's Charleston Race Week with a nice mix of inside the Bay one-design fleets and offshore big boats, it's safe to say the event started years ago by Brad Van Liew and friends and now spearheaded by Randy Draftz and crew has firmly established itself in the midwinter sailing circuit.  Hosted by the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina that sports a great harbor, beautiful resort hotel, giant swimming pool and a soft, sand beach, the event has become the "Southern Hospitality" version of the famous Caribbean regattas (e.g. St Maarten, Rolex St Thomas, St Barths, Antigua).

As the regatta's reputation has grown over time, it has continued to attract an ever greater number of one-design classes from across the country and a large group of passionate offshore sailors as well.  The J clan of sailors have certainly embraced the event, with 78 boats attending, J/Boats is by far the biggest sailing brand in attendance, with 30% of the total boats sailing (and easily the largest number of sailors!).  This J contingent is spread amongst the 57 one-designs- J/22's (15 boats), J/24's (24 boats) and J/80's (18 boats) and 21 offshore boats spread across 4 PHRF Divisions.

The J/22 class have World Champion Greg Fisher and team sailing on USA 1586 who will likely be challenged by such teams like Todd Hiller from Annapolis YC sailing LEADING EDGE; Kurt Swanson from Pennsylvania sailing SLINGSHOT; Annapolis sailor Kathy Parks on SUNDOG; and J/22 NA's hosts Chris Princing and crew on TEAM TAWAS.

With two dozen teams showing up from across the country, it's clear the J/24s are always going to have a good'ole fashioned mud-slinging in the trenches.  Several good teams have a potential to make their presence felt, including Travis Odenbach's HONEY BADGER from Annapolis, MD; Chip Till's crew on MURDER INCORPORATED from Wrightsville Beach, NC; and World Champion Mike Ingham from Rochester, NY on USA 5448.  Nevertheless, there will be other teams that are sure to mix it up with these competitive crews to force some roller-coaster rides in the standings-- always happens, always will!

Several J/80 class leaders are in the mix including Chris & Liz Chadwick on CHURCH KEY from Annapolis, MD; Chris Bulger on GOOSE from Buzzards Bay, MA; Andy Burton on GROMIT from Newport, RI; Brian Keane on SAVASANA from Buzzards Bay, MA; and Bruno Pasquinelli on TIAMO from Fort Worth, TX.  This is a tough crew as evidenced by the fact most sailed Key West Race Week in January and the recent Bacardi Miami Sailing Week.  No way to predict this outcome as it all depends on team "karma"-- some will be more dialed in than others by the time crucial races are settled on Sunday afternoon! In the end, the J/80 teams certainly have a lot of fun sailing in Charleston!

Offshore the racing will be close and competitive in the four PHRF divisions.  In the PHRF B Class, it's a class dominated by J's, with 7 of 11 boats and several of them veterans from having raced one another in Key West Race Week 2012 for the top of the podium.  The biggest J sailing will be the J/130 SUGAR MAGNOLIA sailed by David Hackney from James Island, SC.  The two J/122s have proven they're extremely difficult to beat on windward-leeward courses and the teams present will give no quarter to anyone.  Leading the J/122 charge is likely to be Robin Team's TEAMWORK from Lexington, NC, but John Thouron's team on DUNDER from Waterbury, VT will be working hard to match the Key West Race Week champion's speed and smarts.  A quartet of J/111s will be racing not just as a one-design J/111 sub-class, but also doing their best to upset the proverbial apple-cart of fellow PHRF classmates.  Key West Race Week has proven the J/111s are entirely capable of being competitive in both modes.  Doug Curtiss' WICKED 2.0 and Henry Brauer's FLEETWING are both veterans of the Key West Race Week gun-battle.  Entering the fray will be Marty Roesch's VELOCITY and Bob Moran's RAGIN' from the Chesapeake Bay J/111 fleet.  No predictions made here, like the movie, it's simply a "shoot-out at the OK Corral" amongst this fleet of sailors.

PHRF C promises to have some great racing with J/Teams comprising 5 of the 8 boats in class.  The three J/120s include past Charleston Race Week Champion, John Keenan's ILLYRIA from Mt Pleasant, SC and giving them a run for the money will be other local J/120s- Bill Hanckel's EMOCEAN and Rick Moore's MOOSE DOWN.  Mixing it up in this fleet will be the J/109 HEATWAVE sailed by Gary Weisberg from Gloucester, MA and the local J/35 ARROW sailed by Willy Schwenzfeier.

While the J/105s don't have a class, many have competed quite successfully as offshore handicap racers.  Lurking in the shallows and ready to pounce on their innocent rivals in PHRF D will be two local J/105s that have enjoyed offshore success.  They are Ed Parker's THE CITY BOATYARD and Joe Highsmith's DEAD ON ARRIVAL.  With any kind of breeze, it's doubtful their fleet competitors of Alerions and Beneteaus can hold them back.

Perhaps the "sleeper" handicap fleet of the event has to be the PHRF F Class, with J's representing 7 of 10 boats.  But what a clash of titans it promises to be!  For starters, you have "Mr. GILL" (Dave Pritchard) from Atlanta, GA sailing his J/92 AMIGOS with a bunch of buddies from Lake Lanier Sailing Club-- they're always on the podium it seems in any event they sail--and they look good doing it, too!  Pressing them hard are some "classic J/29s", including past Key West Race Week Champion Steve Thurston on the MIGHTY PUFFIN from Bristol, RI.  Hanging tough with them will be other J/29s like John Amyot's BLITZ! from Lake Ontario, Jim Mackevich's FOR SAIL from Edison, NJ, and Ira Perry's SEEFEST from Buzzards Bay, MA. Not to be discounted will be a fast J/27, Robert Key's AUDACIOUS from Columbia, SC and the modified J/80 JAVELIN sailed by Tom Gore/ John Yorkilous  from the Chesapeake Bay.   For more Charleston Race Week sailing information

Love That Sunny SW J/Fest!

(Houston, TX)-  Hosted by Lakewood YC on Galveston Bay, the 2nd annual J/Fest Southwest was a huge success!  There were fifty boats on the line with J/80's and J/24's leading the way with 15 boats in each class, followed by the J/22's with 10 and the J/105's with 7 boats.  A norther blew through on Friday leaving light and fluky winds for Saturday's racing.  As usual PRO Dwight Bengston's RC did a superb job of getting two races off on each of the two lines before the winds died for good mid-afternoon.  Not to worry, the Lakewood YC had it going on shoreside with a live band, a Cajun feast, Kattack replays of the day's racing, and streaming photo's. The sailors were gathered around the various TV sets enjoying the photo's and Kattack well into the night.  Rod Johnstone also attended and talked with just about everybody on-hand, providing pearls of wisdom about having fun cruising on J/95s or J/105s or sailing J's faster-- conversations enjoyed by all!

Sunday's weather forecast looked pretty grim, but fortunately the weather man was wrong!  The fleet headed out for a 10am start and when rounding the corner to head out the cut by Kemah Boardwalk the wind was blowing well into the high teens! In fact, with the wind on the nose and the foul current, it made getting through the cut a challenge for the sailors headed out to sea!  Once on the race course, skippers were uncertain whether the wind would hold, strengthen, or die as predicted! Do we back off the rig, expecting a dying breeze or crank it on a few turns in case the wind stays?  The wind stayed and both fleets got off a couple races, much to the delight of all the sailors!

The racing was tight and a lot of fun.  This year saw two "repeats", not "three-petes yet, but Bill Zartler sailing his j/105 SOLARIS won his class for the second year in a row while Terry Flynn/ David Whelan also won the J/80 class on their boat GULF COAST RACING.

The J/22 fleet got obliterated by a DC Comic book hero, the GREEN FLASH!  Sailed by Chad Wilson from Royal Dickinson YC, the Flash-Men sailed over the horizon to a remarkably consistent, conservative scoreline-- four 2nds and one 1st!  With just nine points, FLASH topped Ruthie Lambert's team sailing OUT OF SIGHT from Galveston Bay Cruising Association by four points.  Ruthie's team sailed a respectable 3-2-1-4-3 for 13 pts.  Rounding out the podium was a J/22 class veteran of many one-design wars, Farley Fontenot sailing RINGO from Houston YC.  Farley's team managed a 5-5-4-1-4 for 19 pts to take third.

While MR HAPPY didn't rule the roost again in the J/24 class, it was the RUMLINE gang that took the gold from them.  Bryan Dryer's RUMLINE from way, way up north in Texas (Fort Worth Boat Club) came down south to show the Houston honky-tonk crowd how it's done- starting off with a bullet and never letting the pressure off the fleet- amassing a 1-2-3-5-2  for 13 pts to win their class.  Bobby Harden's team on MR HAPPY from way West in Texas (Austin YC) managed to win two races, but it wasn't enough to overcome the challenge laid down by the boys from the North.  HAPPY's 4-5-1-1-6 was good enough for 17 pts and second place.  In fact, there was a "bad moon rising" behind MR HAPPY most of the regatta!  Kelly Holme's team from generally around Dallas, TX were sailing BAD MOON and the "Moonies" were, in fact winning (or tied) for winning the regatta going into the last race!  But, it seems the hangovers from the wild festivities at LYC the night before took their toll, with the Moonies taking the big fade on the last race-- their 3-1-4-2-8 tally gave them 18 pts, securing the bronze for sure on the podium (but less beer to celebrate with, too)!

The J/80s were graced by the presence of mondo J/80 World Champion/ North American Champion Terry Flynn and Dave Whelan sailing their boat GULF COAST RACING.  These boys from Ft Worth Boat Club sailed to three 1sts and one 3rd for a total of six points-- ouch!  Looks like they schooled the fleet pretty badly, winning by 10 pts.  Behind them was a real battle for 2nd and 3rd, not resolved in fact until the last race!  And, at that in a tie-breaker!  Getting the short end of that stick was Bill Rose on KICKS while Greg Buck and crew on LICKETY SPLIT won the luck of the split! Of special mention, J/Boats designer Rod Johnstone was sailing with a "pick-up" crew on FIRED UP and still managed to win a race!

As usual, the J/105s all seem to go the same speed, making for some fun racing and tight mark roundings.  The fleet standings would jumble up and down rapidly depending on boat-handling errors or (doh!) mental errors.  While the "Z-man", Bill Zartler, and crew aboard SOLARIS set the standard for the top of the podium with an impressive 2-2-1-1 scoreline, behind them it was anything but "clear as mud" (or Galveston Bay) as to who would take the next four spots.  Ever heard of the saying, "off to the races like a herd of snails in a dust-storm"?  Well, that's what happened, things were going nowhere fast and you couldn't see anything-- it was totally unclear who would arise to lead this pack.  Seemingly glued together anywhere they went, the "gang of four" had a heckuva fun time racing for the silver and bronze.  Winning the tie-breaker for second was Mark Masur on TWO FEATHERS with a 1-6-4-2 while Matt Arno sailing BLUE FLASH had to settle for third with a steady 3-3-3-4 for 13 pts.  Just behind them were Uzi Ozeri sailing INFINITY into 4th with a 7-1-2-5 for 15 pts and JB Bednar on STINGER getting stung for 5th place with a 4-4-7-3 for 18 pts.

The "big boys" in J/PHRF saw the mighty yacht GAMBLER, Doug Shaffer's J/122, sail around the course in fine fashion with some Gucci-looking North 3di sails to beat the sleek J/111 "007" sailed by Scott Spurlin in their weekend-long match race.

Finally, a big "Thanks" to the J/Fest's two biggest sponsors- the City of Seabrook and Parkway Chevrolet.  Furthermore, the LYC volunteers did a phenomenal job running the event.  It was a lot of fun and all of the participants will be back!  Ya'll come back by and join us too, ya hear!?   Sailing photo credits- John Lacy Photos   For more J/Fest SW sailing information and results

J/111 @ Charleston Race Week

(Charleston, SC)- The J/111 VELOCITY sailed by Wayne Jackson and crew from the Chesapeake Bay will be racing their new 111 for its first test during Charleston Race Week sailing in PHRF B class.  Please stop buy and say hello to the boys and take a look at the boat- they'll be on Dock C in Slip # 1  right next to the bulkhead at Patriot’s Point.  They'll be having a small "greet and meet" on Saturday evening after the races.

For the rest of the 89 J's sailing (the largest brand represented at 1/3 of the entire fleet of 270), they will be divided into one-design and handicap PHRF fleets.  PHRF A class has two J/130s sailing, including Noel Sterrett's SOLARUS from Hanahan, SC and David Hackney's SUGAR MAGNOLIA from Folly Beach, SC.  Also racing with them will be Doug Curtiss' J/124 WICKED from Branford, CT just up from Florida after sailing at Key West Race Week.

PHRF B is shaping up to be one of the most competitive offshore PHRF classes with 5 of the 7 entries being 36-41 foot J's- J/111, J/120s, J/122s.  The J/111 VELOCITY will have to work hard to stay in the hunt against this tough group of hombres.  The two J/120s, local fleet champion John Keenan's ILLYRIA from Mt Pleasant, SC and Rick Moore's MOOSE DOWN from Summerville, SC know the local waters well and given the right conditions will be surely be in the hunt.  The two J/122s will be amongst the leaders as well, both strong sailing programs with great teams aboard.  Doug Shaffer's GAMBLER from Kemah, TX is a past J/122 North American Champion and Robin Team's TEAMWORK has won the Ft Lauderdale-Key West Race and also a top three finisher at Key West Race Week.

PHRF C class includes the J/35 ARROW sailed by Willy Schwenzfeier from Charleston, SC, the J/109 HOODOO sailed by Rick Campeau from Summerville, SC and three J/105s- Joe Pitcavage's BIG BOOTY, Joe Highsmith's DEAD ON ARRIVAL from Blufton, SC, and Bill Bremer's HIGH VISIBILITY from Savannah, GA.  Like their bigger sisters in PHRF B, this class will also see some very competitive sailing amongst the largely 35-foot class of boats.

PHRF D promises to be a donnybrook between the fast 30 foot J's.  The three J/29s, including Jim Mackevich's FOR SAIL from Edison, NJ, the infamous Esposito brothers (John and Tony) from Mohegan Lake, NY learning to sail HUSTLER all over again after mothballing it (was going too fast, we heard, and was in danger of disintegrating from harmonic vibrations at the speed of light) and arch-nemesis Steve Thurston from Bristol, RI on the MIGHTY PUFFIN--- this will be an interesting group to watch, all well-sailed boats and all masthead/outboard 29s, the fastest version of them ever made. Giving these 29s a run for the money will surely be Mr GILL North American himself, David Pritchard on AMIGOS racing his J/92 from Buford, GA-- a very fast team that gets lots of practice up on Lake Lanier (when there's water in it!).

In the J one-design world there are seventy-two boats competing from J/22s to J/24s to J/80s a big jump up from last year's event, particularly for the J/24s and J/80s.  The seventeen J/22s are led by past World Champion Greg Fisher now living in Mt Pleasant, SC and coaching College of Charleston sailing team, Chris Doyle from Youngstown, NY (recent Midwinter Champion) and champion woman sailor Cory Sertl from Rochester, NY practicing for the upcoming Rolex Women's Worlds held later this year in Rochester.  The twenty-seven J/24s are led by very strong local teams from Charleston and class champions like Mike Ingham from Rochester, NY.

The new course for the J/22 and J/24 classes is laid out close to downtown Charleston’s waterfront. Organizers expect it to provide exciting viewing from the Battery and Waterfront parks for locals and tourists alike, who “should be able to see and hear tons of racing action, almost as if they were on the boats,” said James Island High School sailing coach Ryan Hamm.

The largest contingent of J one-designs are the J/80s.  Twenty-eight J/80s will be led by top teams like Al Terhune from Annapolis, MD, Bruno Pasquinelli from Dallas, TX, Tom Klok from Copenhagen, Denmark (see here flying downwind at 20 knots off Newport, RI in the 2010 Worlds), Mike Sudofsky from Marion, MA, Chris Bulger from Brookline, MA and past World Champion Kerry Klingler from Larchmont, NY.  Amongst the luminaries in the class will be Don Trask from Mooresville, NC, renowned for starting the Laser and J/24 franchise on the West Coast of America; and Kristen Robinson from Annapolis, MD, the current J/80 class Treasurer and Chris Johnson also from Annapolis, the current J/80 Class President.

Sailing Photo Credits:
Paul Todd/ Outside Images New Zealand
Tim Wilkes/ Tim Wilkes Photography
For more Charleston Race Week sailing information.