Spectacular Sailing- Quantum Key West- Day 4

TEAMWORK & RUSH Lead PHRF Fleets
(Key West, Florida)-- With four days of racing complete, it is not difficult to identify the stars of Quantum Key West 2013: The sun and the wind!  Even the most veteran sailors have been amazed by the fact every day of the regatta has brought spectacular conditions with warm temperatures and solid breezes. Wednesday brought 18-22 knot winds and Thursday’s breeze held steady between 14-18 knots.

“We’ve had an incredible string of great sailing days. I think that is really the story,” said Jonathan McKee, a tactician from Seattle, Washington. “We keep waiting for a crappy day and it just hasn’t happened. We’ve just been really lucky that each day has been spectacular.”  That good fortune is expected to continue on Friday as George Caras of Commanders’ Weather is forecasting winds in the 12-18 knot range and more sunny skies. George Collins was once a regular competitor at Key West, but hasn’t attended for many years. The 72-year-old skipper was equally amazed by the caliber of sailing throughout the week.  “What another beautiful day of racing,” Collins said upon returning to the dock in front of the Half Shell Raw Bar. “I can’t remember a week that had such consistently good breeze. There are usually one or two light days, but not this week. The Key West Chamber of Commerce gets five stars.”

Event chairman Peter Craig and his Premiere Racing team take pride in giving sailors a full week of action. Over the past 20 years, the annual regatta off the Florida Keys has lost just six days of racing. For any regatta organizer, that's an astonishing statistic! Barring some unforeseen situation, this will be another year that Premiere Racing has completed the target number of 10 races. More remarkable is that Division 2, under the direction of principal race officer Dave Brennan, is likely to get in 12 races for the J/70 fleet.

In PHRF A, J/Teams are leading a complete sweep of the class by some incredibly competitive teams.  Robin Team's J/122 TEAMWORK from Lexington, NC continues to lead a very competitive division.  In second is Jim Bishop's J/44 WHITE GOLD from Jamestown, RI and in third is Bob Hesse's J/111 LAKE EFFECT from Youngstown, New York.

Sailing photo credits- Onne Vanderwal and Tim Wilkes.com


More aweome J sailing photos, please see these galleries:
Tuesday photos- Onne Vanderwal
Wednesday photos- Onne Vanderwal
Thursday photos- Onne Vanderwal

For more results and sailing information on Key West Race Week- please see all information here.

Moving @ Quantum Key West- Day Three

Lead Changes on Heavy Air Day
(Key West, Florida)- Wednesday has always been critical at this annual race week off the Florida Keys. By the time Wednesday is complete, the racing is usually more than half over. Event veterans have even given it the moniker of "moving day."  This year, Wednesday brought what is predicted to be the strongest winds of the five-day regatta, challenging crews to really ramp up their performance. There were some sail and gear failures in the heavy air, which held steady between 18 and 22 knots.

Sailing photo credits- Onne Vanderwal

More J sailing photos here in these galleries:
Tuesday photos- Onne Vanderwal
Wednesday photos- Onne Vanderwal

For more results and sailing information on Key West Race Week- please see all information here.

Awesome Sailing Key West- Day Two

TEAMWORK and RUSH Atop PHRF
(Key West, Florida)- This year's Quantum Key West Race Week may be one for the history books, with epic wind conditions forecast for the rest of the week- winds ranging from 15-25 kts with partly cloudy days- the sailors will be challenged with getting in a full compliment of 10-12 races, depending on their fleets, for the entire week of sailing.  Tuesday's racing saw shifty, streaky NNE winds in the 12-18 knot range.  For most courses, it was yet another classic tactical day on the azure blue Caribbean-like waters off Key West.  With the wind direction moving over a range of 25 degrees with a mean of 15 degrees, the teams had to figure out the cycling of the wind direction and try to stay in phase.  For the most part, those who favored the left side of the course and made it work more often than not led their fleets.  On rare occasions could boats go to the right and make it work. 

After the long day of racing of three races, there were a lot of weary bones, aching muscles and exhausted bodies over at The Galleon Dock and Truman Annex on Tuesday afternoon. The J/70 sailors especially so since they had sailed three races and didn't get into the docks at the end of the day until 1630 hrs!  Advil, beer and massages were the order of the day to keep bodies race-tuned and on the knife-edge of preparedness for an even windier day on Wednesday-- forecast to be the windiest day of the week with 18-25 kts winds out of the northeast.

On the Division 3 course, both PHRF A and PHRF B fleets were having excellent racing.  The J/122 TEAMWORK posted two bullets and two seconds in building a four-point lead in PHRF 1. Skipper Robin Team only does three regattas per year, but always has his J/122 well prepared and sailed by a well-oiled team. “We’re fast and the crew work has been impeccable. We’re going really well both upwind and downwind,” said Teamwork tactician Jonathan Bartlett, a North Sails pro. “Robin is quite amazing for someone who doesn’t get a lot of practice with starts and mark roundings. He’s just incredibly skilled considering the small amount of time he races.”  Behind them is Jim Bishop's J/44 WHITE GOLD in second with a 3-1-5-1 for 10 pts and third is Bob Hesse's J/111 LAKE EFFECT with a 2-3-2-4 for 11 pts. 

For more results and sailing information on Key West Race Week- please see all information here.

Classic First Day Sailing @ Key West

(Key West, Florida)- The first day of sailing could not have turned out nicer for the start of Key West Race Week.  For many, its why the sailors come back for more every year to this corner of the far western Caribbean.  With gorgeous aquamarine waters punctuated by white, torn cotton cumulus scudding across sunlit skies, it's not hard to imagine the sailing is second to none.  Today's weather forecasts of lightish N/NE winds of 4-8 kts for Monday and building late in the afternoon to 8-13 kts from the NW meant the fleet was going to be in for some unusual strategies going around the race course.  Would the sailors follow the classic tactics of going into the island, or go left and pray the weather forecasters were wrong?!  The "chutes & ladders" results in the J/70 class were certainly an indicator that ideas ranged across the board.

The PHRF Racers had some incredibly tight racing on the Division Three course.  In PHRF 1, a familiar name as at the top of the heap, with Robin Team's J/122 TEAMWORK sailing to a 1-2 and holds a narrow edge over Jim Bishops J/44 WHITE GOLD with a 3-1 and Bob Hesse's J/111 LAKE EFFECT in third with a 2-3.

For more results and sailing information on Key West Race Week- please see all information here.



Robin Team Interview- as a perennial J/122 campaigner, Robin's team on TEAMWORK have been veterans  of Key West Race Week for years and are a top team.
http://youtu.be/AgUmolo_lyQ

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.

Get Ready For Sailing Key West!

Calling All J/70, J/80, J/105 & J/PHRF Teams!(Key West, FL)- The 25th Anniversary edition of Key West Race Week was by all accounts a great success and your Key West hosts are looking forward to building on the enthusiasm that was generated last year and delivering another memorable Key West Race Week 2013 for the one-design J/80 and J/105 classes, for the popular J/PHRF class and for the new J/70 class!  The competition is world-class and the evening socials at the Kelly’s Caribbean shoreside venue have proven to be very popular for skippers and crews.

For the 26th edition of this winter classic, ten races over five days are planned for J/One-Design classes and the J/PHRF classes.  A Key West hallmark has been strong class racing and we are hoping to grow those fleets that have supported Key West for years.  Positive news from all four J/Classes point to another year featuring great competition- so far 35 J's are signed up, about 42% of the 84 boats planning to participate already.  Come one, come all, let's make J's 50% of the fleet!  The more the merrier!

For J/105s, the big news is that one of the class's newest owners, Dennis Conner (recently honored as "America's Greatest Sailor" by US Sailing/ Sailing World Magazine) will be sailing USA 3- DC's PHOLLY, one of the oldest J/105s in existence.  DC just finished sailing the J/105 SoCal Championships and the J/105 North American Championships in San Diego and has proven to be a competitive J/105 sailor-- DC and crew are looking forward to sailing Key West and invite all J/105 sailors to join them for some "phun and phrolic with PHOLLY!"  To date, Damien Emery's champion ECLIPSE from New York has taken up the invitation as has Bennet Greenwald's PERSEVERANCE traveling cross-country like DC from San Diego, California!  What an opportunity to say you "crossed-tacks with DC (the America's Cup most famous sailor) and lived to tell the story"!  Join DC and crew for the J/105 2013 Midwinter Championship!

The J/80s have a quartet from Annapolis showing up with Kristen Beery, Bert Carp, Jeff Jordan's WILLY T and J-World's ANIMAL HOUSE looking forward to some rocking & rolling in the crystal blue-waters off Key West.  Joining them are Gary Panariello's COURAGEOUS from New York and Ron Buzil's VAYU 2 from Chicago, Illinois.  The J/80s will again be hosting their 2013 J/80 Midwinter Championship in conjunction with the Key West regatta-- it's a great way to have "your cake & eat it, too"!  Win class prizes, daily fleet prizes, door prizes and take a well-deserved break from the freezing grip of winter to work on that tan and catch up with sailing friends from around the world!

The J/70s debuts at Key West 2013 for its first J/70 Midwinter Championship on a special circle just west of Sunset Key (Tank Island), past the NW Passage.  The racing promises to be fun, fast and challenging for what may be the first time many of the teams will be racing one-design. So far, with 18 boats registered and over 30 expected to participate the fleet is beginning to look like a "Woodstock" sailing festival with many legendary J/Sailors from the past participating as well as some of the latest rockstars. Known participants include Mark Ploch (winner of first J/24 Midwinters in 1978), David Ullman, Don Trask, Tim Healy, Rod/Jeff Johnstone, Heather Gregg-Earl, Don Finkle, Jimmie Allsopp & son Cole, Kerry Klingler/ Rick Lyall, Henry Brauer/ Will Welles, Mike Sudofsky, John Gottwald, Bruno Pasquinelli, Chris Snow and Blake Kimbrough, amongst many others.

Finally, the J/PHRF Time-on-time handicap class is shaping up to be yet another great fleet of boats.  Last year, past winners Bill Sweetser on the J/109 RUSH and Robin Team on the J/122 TEAMWORK both said it was some of the best handicap racing they've ever sailed at Key West.  With Rod J handling the PHRF TOT handicaps, the racing was fair, fun and extremely competitive with the outcome of the entire week coming down to the last race.  This year promises to be just as much fun.  So far, two top J/109s are sailing, Sweetser's RUSH and Gary Wesiberg's HEAT WAVE; four J/111s are expected to sail including Doug Curtiss' WICKED 2.0 and class newcomer Bob Hese's LAKE EFFECT from Youngstown, NY.  Also sailing are Glenn Gault's J/120 REBECCA from Texas, Adam Esselman's J/124 STILL MESSIN from Michigan and David Alldian's J/95 CYMOPOLEIA from New Jersey.

REMINDER! NOTE TO SELF- be sure to enter NOW (no cost obligation) if you believe that you will be racing with us next January 2013 – here are the links to the online entry and the current entry list – it is easy to do and the entry fee is not due until later in December.  To enter Key Race Race Week, please click here   Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes

J's Love Dartmouth Week

J/70, J/97, J/109s All Winners!
(Dartmouth, England)- Earlier in the summer of 2012 the International J/80 One-Design Class felt it would be worthwhile to host a J/80 World Championship in one of the most picturesque sailing venues in all of the United Kingdom.  Such wisdom was not unfounded.  The sailing can be superb and simply mind-blowing-- Beatle's Yellow Submarine, Strawberry Fields eye-opening spectacular.  No wonder sailors in the UK don't ever mind taking a wander down with their trucks, campers and boats to this magical part of this island nation.  And so, there is this nice regatta that is held at the end of summer that perhaps could have a "Newport-like" Jazz Fest associated with it (like a mix of old Rolling Stones blues, Jimmie Hendrix, Stan Getz, early Led Zep, Beck, Davis and others) that bring additional cache and fun to what has to be one of the best end-of-season summer sailing regattas in the world.

Dartmouth Week is run by the Joint Regatta Sailing Committee that includes the River Dart SC, the Royal Dart YC and the Dartmouth YC.  Like their compatriots just a "bit East" of them in Cowes (e.g. Cowes Combined Clubs), the "Dart Team" are no "shrinking violets" when it comes to the ability to put on a world-class event.  And, with the pedigree of a few amazing regattas they continue to host on an annual basis, it's no wonder that "Dart Week" continues to grow apace.  With a growing contingent of J-Sailors who are amongst the world's cognoscenti of what are the best regattas to attend, it appears the "Dart Crew" are on the right track!

The J/109 teams seem to agree and have attended Dart Week with tremendous enthusiasm.  In the J/109 One-Design class one of the class leaders managed to walk off with all the marbles, with Paul Griffiths' JAGERBOMB winning with a  4-7-2-1-4-2-1 tally for 10 pts net.  Their erstwhile competitors, Liam Shanahan's RUTH sailed a solid series to compile a 5-1-1-5-6-3-5 record for 15 pts net.  Just one point back was Angus McPhie's WAVE WARRIOR in third with a 9-2-3-3-7-1-7 for 16 pts net.

In the much watched Sportsboat Class it was going to be clear that a "shoot-out" amongst the fast asym boats was going to be the order of the day with a "pecking order" established amongst the fastest sportboats in the UK.  So, far, almost a draw, but with the J/70 winning this latest battle amongst the J/80s, 1720 Sportboat and Laser SB3s.  It was the J/70 JENGA 8 sailed by Julian Cook that garnered a 1-1-1-1-3-13-2 for 6 pts net to win Sportsboat honors and bragging rights for this coming week.  2nd was the J/80 TEAM BALTIC that compiled a near equal record of 2-2-3-2-1-1-1 for 7 pts net to be just nipped in the end for class honors.  3rd was class compatriot, the J/80 CAPTAIN JACK sailed by Frank Roswell that managed a 4-3-2-3-2-3-4 for 13 pts net.

Division 2 IRC was a serious, tough class to win.  But, yet again the J/97 came up "spades" at the critical juncture to simply walk off with class silverware.  This time it was the J/97 JIKA-JIKA sailed by Mike Holmes that finished first in class.  They were followed by the J/97 JEOPARDY 2 skippered by Richard Watney that finished 5th in class and in 6th was the J/105 JACKPOT sailed by Vernon Bradley.  Sailing photo credits- James Walker  For more Royal Dart Yacht Club & Darmouth 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

Whidbey Island Race Week Preview

(Oak Harbor, Whidbey Island, Washington)-  For a regatta that's renowned as an "adult play-ground", it's not too hard to imagine why so many teams return year-on-year to enjoy the many pleasures (both visual and otherwise) of these spectacular islands in the Pacific Northwest.  Good weather.  Bad weather.  It's always fun and frolic no matter what the conditions.  And lots of good sailing in between it all. While many in other parts of the sailing world wonder why those who thrive in yellow foulies (classic NW sailing gear) love to sail there, those "in the know" recognize they have some of the BEST SUSHI in the world!  Enough said. Plus, the camaraderie is off-the-charts fabulous!  Does sailing matter? Sure, amongst friends it does!  And, that's what keeps them coming back for more despite the vicissitudes of Mother Nature.  Here's the score.

PHRF 1 looks to be a slew of assassins looking to make a score.  Chief amongst them with a bit of luck will be the J/111 ADALGISA sailed by Lynn Adkins.  In the Super 30 Fleet, the infamously fast J/90 EYE EYE skippered by Dave Cohen will be hoping to make their mark on this remarkably fast and agile class.  PHRF 2 could easily be dominated by the 35 foot J/Class.  Starting with a rash of J/109s, expect to see Adam Korbin's ASTRAL PLANE and Joe James' TANTIVITY in the mix.  Plus, the J/35s GRACE E sailed by Bryan White and BERGEN VIKING steered by Svein Ellingsen may be factors to contend with.

Down the track in PHRF 3, the J/29s will most certainly make their presence felt amongst the leaders.  Look for Rick McVey's NO NAME, Bob  Mayfield/ Pat Nelson's SLICk and Pat Denney's HERE & NOW to provide good racing against the J/33 CORVO sailed by Tom Kerr and the rest of their fleet.

The J/105s one-design fleet has top teams returning, included amongst the half-dozen boats are past winner ALLEGRO VIVACE sailed by Lorenzo Migliorini from CYC, Jim Geros' LAST TANGO and FREE BOWL OF SOUP sailed by the three musketeers (Doug Schenk, Eric Hopper and Matt Davis) all hailing from CYC Portland, Oregon.

PHRF 4 will be an interesting fleet of boats that includes three J/80s and one new J/70.  The J/80 teams include Steve Moe's CRAZY IVAN from Corinthian YC, Bill Mckinnon's SKYE ROCKET and Dave Schutte's TAJ MAHAL also from CYC.  The new J/70 DA SPENCER is being sailed by Mike Pitt from CYC, too.

PHRF 5- J/30 FOR SAIL skippered by Grady Morgan from Corinthian YC.  PHRF 6 has the J/24 LUCKY JIM with Jim McAlpine sailing amongst a raft of other 24-25 foot boats.  For more Whidbey Island Race Week sailing information