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

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/Fest @ Chester Race Week

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

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

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

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

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

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

J's Sail Fast, Epic Swiftsure Race

J/109s Crush Juan de Fuca, J/80s Win Inshore
(Victoria, BC)-  This year's running of the "Swiftsure" was another epic, challenging race, with all types of weather thrown at the sailors as they criss-crossed the Straits of Juan de Fuca seeking advantage over their fellow competitors.  For many the race really starts once they past "Race Rocks", a symbolic, but not official mark of the course. The iconic black and white stripped lighthouse is the divide between the Juan de Fuca strait and the coastal waters off Victoria and it’s where the true strategy and tactics of Swiftsure begin. The sailors then face open ocean swells, stronger currents, and hopefully, more wind. On the return trip back to Victoria, Race Rocks is the “almost there” point when the city lights of Victoria come into view.

Unusually, the weather conditions were close to what the Canadian weather services were predicting-- a steady wind filling in from the West with a high-wind warning for the Strait of Juan de Fuca with winds in excess of 25-35 knots overnight.  Remarkably, they got this forecast and more, some sailors reporting gusts to 40 knots and breaking waves.

The race started off nicely enough, sunny, light winds, with the current pushing the fleet towards the first turning point, Race Rocks.  Thereafter, with a strong ebb, the top teams sailed upwind into the Northwesterly breeze playing large shifts and staying in the middle of the Straits to take advantage of a strong ebb current pushing the fleet to their faraway turning marks.  Most of the fleet ended up on the western shore about halfway up the Olympic Peninsula (that wild place where the famous "Sasquatch" man/animal lives).  By midnight, most of the fleet in the Straits were sailing in 20+ knots of breeze and by morning many were sailing downwind under spinnakers flying down the waves and trying to avoid a massive broach or "sending it down the mine" in a submariner's dive into the trough ahead.

In the classic Swiftsure Race division that goes out of the Straits of Juan de Fuca for 139 nm- the 24 boats participating from the start to Swiftsure Bank and return had to beat the "wind shutdown" that often happens at the opening of the Straits.  The big boats made it, the small boats didn't.  In the end, the gorgeous J/160 JAM sailed by John McPhail finished 5th in Class I and 6th overall.  And the speedy lightweight flyer, the J/125 WARRIOR skippered by Greg Constable finished 2nd in Class 2 and 8th overall!

The popular Cape Flattery Race division that goes for 103 nm had 75 boats going from the start to Neah Bay and return.  In the Unlimited Class, the J/145 DOUBLE TAKE sailed by Tom Huseby (his second J/145!) finished 3rd in class and was not far behind the leaders for the top of the podium.

The successfully campaigned J/122 ANAM CARA (Tom Kelly- from Portland YC in Oregon) sailed an incredibly good Cape Flattery Race despite breaking their boom in a 40 knot gust and gybe-broach downwind in the Straits with all the laundry flying!  Reports Bob Ross who was a crew member aboard ANAM CARA, "we were winning our class boat-for-boat and on corrected time with about 40nm to go to the finish, when we tried to do an 'inside gybe' on the A3 spinnaker down big waves and a big puff.  Broke our boom and broached.  Not a good idea.  It took awhile to wrestle in the mainsail after taking down the chute.  We proceeded in under a smaller chute and jib to the finish-- quite an amazing and unexpected outcome to get 2nd in Class and 2nd Overall!"  Always a top contender in class, and past winner, was the J/120 TIME BANDIT (Robert Brunius), sailing a great race to finish 4th in class and 6th overall.  Sailing in their inaugural offshore race was the new J/111 ADALGISA (Lynn Adkins), sailing to a 5th in class and 11th overall!

In the Cape Flattery Heavy division, the J/46 RIVA sailed by Scott Campbell sailed a great race and managed to finish 2nd in class and 4th overall.  Just behind them was the J/37 FUTURE PRIMITIVE sailed by Ron Mackenszie getting a 4th in class and 6th in fleet.

The Juan de Fuca Race division that goes for 80 nm had 44 boats sailing from the start to Clallam Bay and return to the finish off Victoria's waterfront.  The J/109 teams simply cleaned house.  Winner in class and overall in the Juan de Fuca Heavy Division was DIVA (Jim Prentice) followed in second by TIPPY (Peter McComb) and 4th was JEOPARDY (Ed Pinkham).

In the Inshore Racing along the waterfront, the much vaunted battle between SWISH and JOYRIDE, a pair of J/80's, saw SWISH beating JOYRIDE by just under a minute on a 22 nm course with a wind ranging from 3 to 10 knots all day long.  Elapsed time for this pair was about 5 hours and 10 minutes.  As a result, in the Battle of the Sexes, Commodores (men) vs. Commodores Wives (women), the boys prevailed.  Congratulations to the Commodores from Royal Victoria Yacht Club (Jeremy Smith), Royal Vancouver Yacht Club (Guy Walters) and Seattle Yacht Club (Chuck Lowry) that raced SWISH.  And, "good on ya gals" to their wives- Tara Smith, Barbara Picton and Pam Lowry that raced JOYRIDE to a solid second in the large class of competitors!  For more Swiftsure Race sailing information on Facebook   For more Swiftsure Race 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

KASHMIR Eclipses J/111s Verve Cup

J/35 AFTERSHOCK Shocks ORR 3, J's Sweep Level 132s
(Chicago, IL)- As one of the only major offshore regattas held in America during the month of August, Chicago YC's Verve Cup has developed as a world-class event, attracting over 3,000 national and international sailors on 240+ boats.  The fleet was greeted by three days of challenging weather, typical for Lake Michigan at this time ofyear.

Making the most of it was the team of Karl Brummel, Steve Henderson and Mike Mayer on the J/111 KASHMIR, sailing to a 1-2-2-1-3-1 to win the J/111 class with 10 pts.  Dave Irish's NO SURPRISE gave them a strong run for roses, but came up short, managing to get a 2-1-3-2-4-2 for a cumulative score of 14 pts.  The competition for the last podium finish was tight, with Paul Stahlberg's bright red MENTAL getting the edge with a 6-3-1-5-2-4 scoreline for 21 pts, just beating out Ed Dabrowski's NIGHTHAWK for fourth with a 5-4-4-3-1-5 tally for 22 pts.  Fifth was Tom and Carol McIntosh's MISTY with 28 pts.

The J/109s had solid racing, too, with David Gustman on NORTHSTAR winning with five 1sts and one 3rd for a total of just 8 pts!  That's both a spanking and a "schooling" of their colleagues, fellow competitors are still trying to determine where the newfound speed and tactical brilliance arose since the SW NOOD Regatta!  Second was Lenny Siegal's LUCKY DUBIE 2 hanging tough, but not tough enough, to get five 2nds and one 3rd for 14 pts overall.  The SW NOOD regatta winner, Kevin Saedi's MOMENTOUS sailed a nice series and hung on for third with a 3-1-2-3-4-3 record for 16 pts.

As the biggest one-design class at the regatta, the J/105s always have strong, spirited competition and this year's event featured several new faces near the top of the pack.  Winner this year was Clark Pellett on SEALARK with a 3-1-1-2-3-2 record for 12 pts.  Second was Dorin Candea's MESSY JESSY with 19 pts and third was class newcomer on the newly "resurrected" red boat called CRASH TEST DUMMIES, sailed by Richie and Lori Stearns.

In the ORR 3 handicap, the J/35s simply blitzkrieged their handicap class, finishing 1-2.  The winner was Bill Newman's J/35 AFTERSHOCK, winning with six straight firsts for 6 total pts!  Second was Bruce Metcalf's J/35 BOZO'S CIRCUS with 19 pts.

Over in the PHRF Level 132 class, three J's swept the division.  Led by the J/27 TRUE NORTH skippered by Dan Arntzen, Dan's team also managed the perfect scoreline like their J/35 big brothers, getting six 1st for 6 pts.  Second was the J/30 AWESOME sailed by Team Chi Nola and third was yet another J/30 PLANXTY sailed by the couple team of Kate and Dennis Bartley.


The CYC PRO's did a great job getting the regatta off in the crazy weather that swept the fleet over the three days.  On Friday, they managed to get in three races. The race committee postponed the start for nearly an hour waiting for the wind to build. The wind was east to east southeast most of the day, building slightly from three to five, to seven to nine knots.  On the second day, things were a bit more challenging, with changing winds, rain and thunderstorms leading to a significant postponement, with two circles completing one race each and Circle C completing no races.  On the final day of racing the weather cooperated as did the sailors.  It was a gorgeous day of racing and by the end the fleet was sailing home under full sun and half moon - what a beautiful day to be on the water. Circle C managed to pull off 3 perfect races. The wind was strong in the morning from the Northeast for the first and second race (a classic scenario after the large fronts on Saturday), shifting persistently to the right all day. The day's racing started on the course at 330 degrees and ended the last race at 035 degrees.  For more Verve Cup sailing information

  

J/111s Sweep Bayview-Mackinac

(Mackinac Island, MI)- It was a fantastic tour'de'force for the 35 foot J designs in this year's Bell's Beer Bayview-Mackinac Island race.  Winds for the 221 boat fleet were as predicted for the 87th sailing of the Bell's Beer Bayview Race to Mackinac. They were light to non-existent at the starts, causing three delays in getting the boats off. Racers out on the race course reported  there was little or no wind, especially for the boats with earlier starts.  Most people were hoping that thunderstorms predicted for later tonight and Sunday night would bring more wind. Getting wet isn't a problem; they expect to get wet at some point during this race. But they also want some wind to help make the race more fun.  Earlier, it was a warm and overcast morning when the boats were leaving Port Huron's Black River for the annual Bells Beer Bayview Mackinac Race.  An announcer called out each boat as they passed on their way out to the race course on Lake Huron. A bagpipe band on the balcony of the Port Huron Yacht Club piped the sailors out on their voyage.

After their terrific performance in the Chicago-Mackinac Race (3rd in class), Harbor Springs, MI native Dave Irish and his team also sailed their J/111 NO SURPRISE in this year's Bayview-Mac.  Said Dave, "After a slow start, boats enjoyed much better conditions for sailing in the early hours Sunday. Some thunderstorms did materialize late Saturday near the tip of the Thumb area (SW part of Lake Huron) but missed the vast majority of the boats headed northeast up the track.  But the storms did bring some much needed wind, which was welcome after an agonizingly still race day on Saturday.  Winds approached 15-25 knots for most of the day Sunday, from the east, which helped boats considerably.  We spent a whole lot of time in the light running on Saturday, mostly on starboard.  I don't recall that we saw SW, maybe during the night, but most of that was done with the wind backed into the Easterly Quadrant, which became brisk with jib reaching/fetching in a strong easterly breeze.  After the Cove Island buoy up near the Canadian Manitoulin Islands, we ran west towards Mackinac Island with fresh NE wind using our North 2A "middle chute" (the big one).  From there, with the wind shutting down gradually to a light NE, then light NW, then at dawn the Westerly filled for a two-sided beat into the finish line for us."

Overall, J's did incredibly well, taking into account the fact that all boats had to sail in the variable winds beating, reaching and running-- the strong suit of good all-round designs. Leading the pack into Mackinac was the J/145  VORTICES sailed by Chris Saxton and crew, getting second in IRC B class and 5th overall IRC, covering the long Cove Island course in 37:49:17.  Not too far behind VORTICES were a trio of J/111s sailing in IRC C Class.  Remarkably, the J/111s swept IRC C class taking 1-2-3 on the podium and were led home by Dave Irish's NO SURPRISE in first (14th Overall IRC), followed by Steve Dabrowski's NIGHT HAWK in second and Tim Clayson's UNPLUGGED in third.  In IRC D Class, Jimmy Mitchell's crew on the J/109 VANDA III simply crushed their class, winning by a corrected time of 6:35:49 and finishing 16th overall behind the J/111 NO SURPRISE.

Sailing photo credits- PhotoElements.com- Martin Chumiecki   For more Bayview-Mackinac Race sailing information

  

J/111 KASHMIR Wins Epic Chicago-Mac Race!

(Chicago, IL)- This year's Chicago to Mackinac Island 289 nm dash was a tale of two races, the "haves" (the big fast boats) and the "have nots" (the smaller boats).  For the 361 sailboats entered (about 1/3 J/Boats), the first 30 hours after the starts at noon Saturday were near postcard perfect, Chamber of Commerce sailing. No bugs, plenty of breeze from the right angle, a kindly sea-state, warm air and brightly colored spinnakers punctuating the horizon as far as the eye could see. Nothing broken about this picture at all-- yet.  However, about midnight Sunday/ early Monday the dogs came howling off their chains and the lights went out. At the time, the 18-22 knots southwest breezes saw a large part of the Mackinac fleet sailing on port gybe headed from the Point Betsie turning point up through the Manitou Island Straits and headed to Grey's Reef Lighthouse- a 50 mile stretch of water.  Then, all hell brook loose and the maelstrom struck. Sheet lighting started illuminating the sky and it became a mad scramble aboard most boats to get the spinnakers down and either batten-down the hatches (and crew) or hoist heavy-air sails and press-on regardless through the storm.

Sailing on the J/111 NO SURPRISE was legendary Great Lakes yachtsman (and winner of multiple Mac Races), Dave Irish from Harbor Springs, Michigan.  Dave's commentary is both insightful and helpful:  "The race started with 230 miles more or less of running, from light to over 20kts of warm and pleasant wind. In the higher wind, with good sea running, we heated the angle significantly up to 150-155 TWA, and using the waves, sailed at speeds in the teens. We made significant gains on boats sailing conventional downwind angles. Fun and active too.

The real story of the race was the weather at the north end of the lake. The whole middle of the fleet, maybe over 100 boats, were hit with severe weather in the middle of the night, which resulted in the loss of two lives.  My call is that we had a 60 knot hit. The wind would move your body, it was necessary to hold on. The big wind was preceded by an hour of incredible electrical activity. It was clear we were in for a "pasting", but as usual it is difficult to tell when it will hit, especially when it's pitch black outside, and in the meantime there was racing to be done.

As the inevitable neared we got the spinnaker off, the #3 jib on, and of course Spinlock deck-vests on with tethers. The wind came and the boat laid down, rig near but not in the water. Lots of white water in the air and no clear line between. I won’t claim actual control, but the boat took care of us until there was a little moderation and it was possible for the crew to move and act.

Reefing: We have only one mainsail reef, and it is 2.5 meters deep, big enough to make a difference. So two crew members proceeded to pull in the reef, one easing the halyard (on a winch), and one grinding in the single reef line, (also on its own winch). We had opted for the Antal cars on the luff so that part of the sail was under control as well. It is just a routine operation to reef the boat in those conditions, with no-one outside the cockpit. I think we partially rolled the jib. But within a short period of time the boat was all snugged down and we were back at work sailing towards Grey's Reef.

I have known fear on the water, but not this time, and not in this boat (have sailed over 60 years).  The J/111 was amazing.  It was under us, did not demand that we do dangerous things to manage it, and only had to be taken out of race mode for a few minutes. This weekend we race the Lake Huron Mac race, the boat arrived in Port Huron last evening, and we are ready to go. Bring it on, we have the weapon to play this game!"

From another perspective was the team on the J/111 IMPULSE sailed by George Miz, Peter Dreher and Mark Hatfield.  Said George, "This boat certainly had the fun meter pegged in the 'red' all of Sunday afternoon on the Mac. We had 3 consecutive drivers hit 18+ kts in 20-25 kts of breeze and in full control. The boat just likes to go fast with none of the drama we've dealt with on previous boats (George is a former Farr 395 owner)."

Adding to George's commentary was Karl Brummel on KASHMIR, stating that "the boat was fantastic in a variety of conditions. Saturday we were doing 6-7 kts boat speed in 4-5 kts wind with Code Zero. Sunday we were killing it 10-15 kts downhill in 20-28 kts wind with the 2A asym up.  Sunday, after we went storming by a well-sailed Farr 395 at 11-15 kts boat speed/ 155-165 TWA, I said, 'We should have named this boat HORIZON JOB.'"

During the early stages of the race, it was apparent the strategies that were unfolding for the sailors headed north were the following:  a) sail the classic rhumbline of 21 degrees from Chicago to Pt Betsie,  b) sail West and up the Illinois/ Wisconsin shoreline in a "thermal" scenario based on various forecasters prognostications, or c) toss everything out the window (ignore all forecasts) and sail at least as high as rhumbline and head east overnight to be on the eastern lake/ west Michigan shoreline to take advantage of southerly breezes accelerating along the shoreline due to the massive heating of the Michigan sand dunes during Sunday's sailing.  Post-race analysis showed the best scenario was a combination of the 1st and 3rd options-- a very bizarre circumstance considering the pre-race forecasts from leading offshore weather routers that recommended staying west of rhumbline and away from the middle of the lake at night!  The boats that worked further east saw more easterly breezes (75-110 degrees) with more pressure until it went light, swung south and accelerated Sunday morning.  The boats that worked west saw the forecasted SSW winds of 7 to 14 knots and sailed mostly 6.5 to 8.5 knots all night long (albeit on a much longer routing).

Off the starting line for the J/111's it was clear the fleet was split on strategy as outlined in the 3 approaches to the race above.  KASHMIR sailed by the team of Brummel/Henderson/Mayer that won Class 3 started at the starboard end with a Code Zero and simply sailed down rhumbline and ultimately worked further east.  Near them was Steve Dabrowski's and Tom Edman's team on NIGHTHAWK that finished 7th.  Going north/northeast just west of rhumb was NO SURPRISE sailed by Dave Irish that finished 3rd, but Dave made it pay by sailing more aggressively downwind (as mentioned above) when the wind hit the high teens/ low twenties and they moved into "planing mode" to pass other boats like they were pylons on a race course.  Near them was Thomas and Carol McIntosh's team on MISTY that finished 10th, sailing a bit more conservatively than most and apparently not taking advantage of "planing mode" to make large gains.  Headed the most westward, heading due north after the start were MENTAL and IMPULSE.  MENTAL was sailed by Paul Stahlberg, Richie Stearns and father Dick Stearns, taking the northernmost route and finished 14th (modified based on a time award for helping with the rescue efforts of the capsized boat WINGNUTS).  IMPULSE, sailed by George Miz, Peter Dreher, Mark Hatfield started north, but bailed at Sheboygan and played gybe angles across the lake to Pt Betsie, ultimately sailing for over 80 nm on starboard gybe at speeds up to 18 knots before having to gybe down the Manitous Islands channel northeast of Pt Betsie, finishing 11th in class.

 For more Chicago-Mackinac Race sailing information