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

Three Bridge Fiasco A J/Fest!

J/92 RAGTIME Wins Class
(San Francisco, CA)- With a record number of entries for the 2011 Single Handed Sailing Society’s annual 3 Bridge Fiasco, numbers became an interesting part of the 21 nautical mile "pursuit-style" tour of San Francisco Bay.

The 368 paid entries was certainly a record number for this midwinter short handed classic which allows only single handed and double handed entries. Working with a reverse handicap, the highest rater (PHRF 264 and over) started at 9:30 AM.  2 hrs:8 min:6 sec later, the lowest rater, Peter Stoneberg's Formula 40 catamaran crossed the start line. All boats have until 7:00 PM to finish. A classic "pursuit" race like Nantucket's infamous FIGAWI, your finish position is your division and overall finish order. The course begins off the Golden Gate Yacht Club and has 3 marks to round-- Blackaller buoy just to the West and in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge, Red Rocks just below the Richmond San Rafael Bridge and Yerba Buena Island which anchors the Oakland Bay Bridge. Any direction and order you wish. It’s a Fiasco after all!

The forecast for light winds from the west at 5-8 knots and the 7:21 AM high tide was going to be a challenge; with about 6 feet of water slipping out the gate, at a 4.4 knot ebb during the heat of the event, plus an extra push from snow melt runoff from an unusual mid-January warm spell and you have a recipe for a ginormous ebb flow-- a.k.a. the infamous "monster Bay flush"!

162 boats managed to make it around the course in the allotted time, 139 boats failed to do so. Not that they were not trying, even calling the Race Deck as the 7:00 PM witching hour approached.  The majority of boats seemed to go with a Counter-Clockwise attempt at the course, but found themselves in suspended animation just off Aquatic Park and by Alcatraz where the rushing ebb provided just enough current to remove any SMG from boats sailing to their potential.  The smart money went clockwise and got around Red Rocks early then rode the magic carpet to the Berkeley Flat and squeezed around Yerba Buena later as the counter-clockwise fleet found out just a tad too late. Boats in the counter-clockwise group that did fetch a ride to Treasure Island, ended up in a maddening cluster seeking relief along the Island western edge. Bumper boats, anchor setting and even some short period groundings ensued.

Mother Nature threw the fleet a bit of a curve ball this year. The predicted front which was forecasted to arrive late Saturday night rolled through mid afternoon and brought with it the usual SW winds, but also managed to roll out a thick fog bank which enveloped the bay by early afternoon, reducing visibility to one-quarter mile.  Along with it, a damp cold heavy drizzle followed, just in case you were doubting your commitment. Add to that some period of little to no wind and pulling the plug became an easy choice for those not really liking their position or chances to finish in time.

Frank Slootman, owner of J/111 INVISIBLE HAND, had this to say about his first double-handed adventure: "3BF was actually quite good for us with a second in division and 15th overall. That said, there were two well-sailed J/105s that we didn't catch, but we caught all the other J Boats! Key thing is to keep the boat moving and take what it gives you. The 111 is quite easy to keep moving for its size, not sticky at all. I am super pleased with the boat's performance. Most impressive thing is that she is well-rounded and balanced on a variety of conditions and points of sail, no glaring weaknesses in performance I can see. I think you're going to be in the hunt every time with this boat!"

Amongst the leading J's was Bob Johnston's J/92 RAGTIME.  A long-time competitor of the 3BF and member of SSS, Bob was amongst the "smart" boats going clockwise (like the two J/105s and the J/111) and managed to win Division 3 Singlehanded Spinnaker and 9th overall of all 34 boats racing singlehanded!.

In Division 11 Doublehanded Spinnaker, the J/111 INVISIBLE HAND sailed by Frank ended up 2nd in division and 11th keelboat overall in the largest 3BF class (49 entrants).  Behind him in 8th was Andy Costello sailing the well-known red rocketship, the J/125 DOUBLE TROUBLE, and 9th was another J/92, Tracy Rogers' RELENTLESS.

In the J/105 One-Design Division 19 class, Rich Pipkin sailed RACER X to 1st in class and 5th keelboat overall out of 267 boats!  Just behind him was Doug Bailey's AKULA in 2nd and 10th keelboat overall!  Third was Richard Butts in MELILANI, 4th Richard Craig in LIGHTWAVE and 5th Adam Spiegel in JAM SESSION.

Not to be outdone by their "younger" stablemates, Tony Castruccio sailed his venerable J/30 VENT VITESSE in 2nd in Division 22 Doublehanded SF Bay 30!  And, the 30s "soul brothers" in the J/24 Division 27 One-Design class saw Don Taylor win with ON BELAY, Darren Cumming get 2nd on DOWNTOWN UPROAR and Raymond Lynch finish 3rd on ANOTHER WHITE BOAT.  Article contributed by Erik Simonson at H20Shots.com/ pressure-drop.us  For more Three Bridge Fiasco sailing results.   For more info on the race and Singlehanded Sailing Society.