Fisher wins 2008 J/22 Worlds

Rochester, New York . . . . Greg Fisher of Annapolis, MD prevailed over 103 other J/22 teams from around the globe at the J/22 World Championship in Rochester, NY. Sailing with wife JoAnn, Jeff Eiber and Sarah Paisley, Fisher finished 17 points ahead of Anthony Kotoun of the Virgin Islands and 30 points ahead of Phil Wehrheim of Rochester, NY who finished third. Fisher was also the victor at last year’s J/22 North American Championship.

“It was such a thrill to be able to win a huge regatta with 104 boats and great sailors from other countries,” Fisher beamed. Multiple nations were represented at the championship, including the Netherlands, South Africa, France, the Virgin Islands, Canada and the United States.

Racing began on August 20 and concluded Sunday with variable breezes of 5 to 10 knots. The Rochester Yacht Club did a stellar job of getting 10 races completed over a five day period, and all this with 104 boats starting together on one line. Rounding out the top ten were: 1) Greg Fisher, 2) Anthony Kotoun, 3) Phil Wehrheim, 4) Chris Doyle, 5) Bill Hardesty, 6) Peter McChesney, 7) Jim Barnash, 8) Todd Hiller, 9) Rob Johnston and 10) Allan Terhune, Jr.

Visit www.myyc.org/j22worlds for complete results.

104 J/22s on One Starting Line

The J/22 Class celebrates its 25th birthday this week at the Ultimate Marine Group J/22 World Championship, taking place in Rochester, New York, USA from August 20-24. 105 teams are competing, representing sailors from across the United States, nearby Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa, France, the Virgin Islands and other countries. Host Rochester Yacht Club plans to start the fleet on one line with 2007 champion Mark Sadler of South Africa given the near impossible task of defending his title.

Visit www.myyc.org/j22worlds for daily updates and results.

J Update from Pacific Northwest

J sailors are already well into the season in the Pacific Northwest and collecting some serious silver as well. In the season opener, the new J/122 ANAM CARA owned by Tom Kelly and Barbara Woodford won the Center Sound Series with two firsts and a fourth. Barb & Bob Brunius’ J/120 TIME BANDIT won class and overall fleet honors in the Oregon Offshore Race with Scott Campbell’s J/46 RIVA taking second overall, and Al Calcagno’s J/30 RAUZER II winning PHRF B. It was TIME BANDIT’s 5th overall title (winning crew pictured to the right). 2008 also marketed the first year for the Seattle NOOD Regatta which drew an incredible 231 boats, and featured one-design starts for the J/24, J/29, J/105 and J/109 classes. Coming up June 13-15, is the greatly anticipated 25th anniversary J/FEST SEATTLE regatta. J guru Bob Ross and his staff at Sail Northwest are hosts for the weekend and all J owners and sailors are welcome! J Fest Seattle Event Site

Js Sail Fast @ Rolex International

Winning four of the seven handicap classes, J/Boat sailors were having more than just fun at the Rolex International regatta in St. Thomas., they were collecting silver. In total, (including the IC 24 class) over 37% of the Rolex fleet were sailing aboard J/Boat hulls at the event.

Winning Spinnaker Racing 2 was Gilberto Rivera's (Guaynabo, PR) J/24 Urayo, which also won in 2006. Rivera, who gave his Rolex watch to his father in 2006, gave this year's prize to foredeck crew Francisco Velez and plans to give any watch he wins in the future here to a crewmember until it's his turn. "That's so my crew will stay with the boat," said Rivera jokingly. "Seriously, this is such a great event; we've been coming since 1998."

Jens Hookansen (Middletown, R.I.), who steered Robert Armstrong's J/100 Bad Girl to win Spinnaker Racing 1, had similar sentiments. "I love coming down here," said Hookansen, a native of St. Croix and past J/24 World Champion. "The venue is fantastic and you get a chance to wear a Rolex home. What could be better?"

Non-spinnaker Racing class was won by Juan Moline's (Vega Baja, PR) J/24 Medalla Light, while Spinnaker Racing/Cruising class was won by James Dobbs' new J/122 Lost Horizon continuing his string of 2008 wins... results and pics.