Locals Dominate J/22 Caymans Invitational

(Cayman Islands)- The Cayman Islands Sailing Club hosted yet another fun-loving, highly competitive event on the Great North Sound in the Cayman Islands for their 2012 International Invitational.  Teams from all over the world attended including ten representatives from Germany (Peter Karrie), South Africa (Len John Van der Wel), Bahamas (Craig Symonette and Dave Valentina), USA (Marc Fisher and Bill Wiggins), United Kingdom (Olie Dix), Jamaica (Peter Harper) and Norway (Are Huser).

The sailing conditions were simply epic- postcard perfect weather as advertised with 10-20 knot trade winds blowing all day long all the time with sunny robin's-egg blue skies, puffy white clouds scudding across the horizon and aquamarine blue waters dotted by white breaking waves when the wind was up.  Perfect sailing conditions that challenged the sailors to get off the starting line in clear air, maintain position, get around the marks cleanly with good boat-handling and stay in the battle.  With racing taking place over three days, each day starting at 12 noon, the regatta was exceptionally well managed under the guidance of race officers Peta Adams and Andrew Moon along with visiting international judges Gilmour Manuel and Harry Keith.

In the end, top local sailor Mike Farrington sailing JUST LEAVING from Cayman Islands Sailing Club triumphed and was crowned the 2012 Invite Champion with finishes of five 1sts, two 2nds and two 3rds, tossing a 3rd to win with just 12 points!  Not too far off the pace was top local woman sailor, Jane Moon, sailing CIAO! to two 1sts, six 2nds and a 4th (tossing the 4th) to finish with a remarkable 14 pts, not enough to overcome Mike's fast, smart crew.  Lying third was Marc Fischer from the USA sailing the great yacht WRECKLESS to a strong 4-1-6-3-3-7-4-3 for 31 points.  Rounding out the top five were another local boat, Simon Farrington on SUNSHINE finishing 4th with 41 pts and Craig Symonette sailing CALIMA 5 from Nassau, Bahamas just getting nipped out for 4th with his record of 8-4-3-27-8-6-4 for 42 pts.  For sailing photo credits  For more Cayman Islands Sailing Club Invitational sailing results

Rolex Cup Regatta Preview

(St Thomas, US Virgin Islands)- This coming weekend, the “Crown Jewel” of Caribbean racing takes place--the Rolex Cup Regatta- where sailors can experience reliable breezes, warm azure waters and world-renowned Island hospitality off the eastern end of St Thomas.  The competition and the camaraderie are unsurpassed; attracting sailing teams from around the world, and from this perspective its 2012 edition will prove to be the most diverse ever, with entries from the USA, Russia, Sweden, The Netherlands, Monaco and beyond. The three-day event, scheduled for March 23-25, is hosted by St. Thomas Yacht Club, which for 39 years has devoted itself to producing this regatta’s famed offerings: three days of high-quality racing and serious fun in an inspiringly scenic island atmosphere.

The racing starts on Friday-- beginning with the picturesque and traditional distance races from the east end of St. Thomas to Charlotte Amalie Harbour and back. The tactically demanding Pillsbury Sound Race in and among the cays of St. Thomas and St. John is Sunday’s highlight.  This “Sunday drive” has decided final standing in most classes in each of the last five years.  The culmination of the International Rolex Regatta’s lively competition is a presentation on Sunday of coveted Rolex timepieces to winners in select classes.  A total of 66 boats are sailing including the 7 J's below, 16 of the IC-24s (modified J/24s)-- nearly 33% of the fleet!

CSA 1 Class has the J/122 LAZY DOG sailed by Sergio Sagramoso from San Juan, Puerto Rico, missing will be the J/122 LOST HORIZON and the J/120 EL OCASO.

CSA 2 Class has four J's sailing, including the J/105 DARK STAR sailed by Jonathan Lipuscek from San Juan, Puerto Rico; the J/27 MAGNIFICENT 7 sailed by Paul Davis from St Thomas, USVI; the J/30 COMFORTABLY NUMB sailed by Marston Winkles from St Thomas, USVI; and the J/80 OTRA KOSA sailed by Kike Gonzalez from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

CSA 4 Non-Spinnaker is always a tough class to win simply because there are some good family teams racing.  This year, again, sees the return of the Sanpere family racing their multiple Rolex Winner, the J/36 CAYENITTA GRANDE skippered by Antonio Sanpere from Christiansted, St Croix, USVI.  Challenging them will be the J/95 SHAMROCK VII sailed by Tom Mullen from Campton, New Hampshire, who recently just finished sailing their best Caribbean regatta yet in the St Maarten Heineken Regatta.

Finally, sailing in IRC 1 Class are an entire crew of J Owners and alumni sailing on the 72 footer SAFARA with the famous UK skipper, Brian Thomson aboard.  Here's a breakdown of their crew:  Brian Thomson just broke the round-the-world sailing record with the French crew on the 130 foot trimaran Banque Populaire (he's sailed J/24s and J/35s); Christian Reynolds (J/92s & J/24s); Mark LeVan (J/22s, J/24s, J/35s and J/46); Diane Staley (J/105s); Jennifer Griffith (J/80s); Stuart Brown (J/24 Cowes Week Champion); Jeff Mootz (J/24s & J/105s); Rod Olsen (J/24s, J/35s, J/32 & J/36); Randee Hurst (J/80s, J/105s & J/120); and Richie and Lori Stearns- the J/Dealer from Chicago, Illinois. Sailing photo credits- Ingrid Abery.com.   For more Rolex Cup sailing information

California Dreamin J/22 Match Race Series

(San Francisco, CA)- Over the course of a few years, the California Match Race programs have continued to evolve from the classic big boat programs in Long Beach on Cat37s to a host of events sailed at various locations to encourage participation at the grass roots levels.  This past weekend, the St Francis YC hosted its first 2012 "Cal Dreamin" Match Race event as a preliminary qualifier for the US Sailing Match Racing Championships.  An active participant in the match-racing program is Nicole Breault- a four-time College All-American for YALE's Sailing Team ("other graduates" include Dave Perry, Peter Isler, Steve Benjamin, Jonathan McKee, Stan Honey, Steve Taylor, amongst others).  Here's Nicole's report of the event:

"Both Saturday and Sunday racing brought the challenges of the shoulder season here in SF Bay. We had light winds from the east and north, before moderate westerlies prevailed in the afternoons. As a result, on both days we had periods of time where we drifted in swirling tides, flights were called off due to vanishing breeze, and weird cross-current racecourses messed with apparent wind and forced the RC to implement a long off-set leg from the windward mark.

In spite of the challenges, we were able to sail a full round robin on the first day, and half of one on the second day. My team was tied, 6-1, after round one with Steven Lowery's team from Chicago. Since the decision was made to race the second round robin on Sunday (with the possibility of not finishing it and having to use a scoring system to determine results), the overall win was riding on our match against Team Lowery, which happened during the first flight of the day.

Steven pealed us off at the committee boat at the start, and we opted to power to leeward of him. In spite of getting a lead, we were pinned with the port layline approaching quickly due to the cross current. We then tacked and ducked, engaging them in a tacking duel which we hoped would go our way. Alas, their tacks were great and we ended up falling back a couple of lengths. The offset leg was a tight reach into the tide, we gambled and set our chute for a minor gain. On the downwind leg, we got on their air and reeled them in. We decided to try and pass them on the inside to the leeward mark, so initiated a simo-gybe to starboard. We rolled them, but they were able to pin us past the port layline and gybe back into a solid lead. The second lap we failed to make gains and had only ourselves to blame for the loss.

In the end, we finished the weekend 8-2, second overall. The outstanding scenery and sunshine of SF Bay this past weekend matched the great competition and camaraderie of the California Dreamin' Series. I am thoroughly looking forward to our next stop in Long Beach for the Butler Cup!  Cheers, Nicole".   Sailing Photo Credits- Heike Schwab

Doyle Wins J/22 Midwinters

(Shoreacres, Texas) - Thirty-five teams gathered from around the country for the annual J/22 Midwinter Championship graciously hosted by the magnificent Houston YC, renowned for its extraordinary southern hospitality.  The madding crowd of sailors were not disappointed.  With great food, great drink and plenty of wind and sunshine, the J/22 sailors sailed to a solid six race series out of the nine scheduled.  Only a slow Saturday (no wind) put a slight damper on the proceedings, but the spirits were high and everyone seemingly had a blast.

For the first day of racing, the winds were howling on Galveston Bay in the morning with a cold front and sustained breeze in the high 20s with gusts into the 40s. After on-shore postponements, racing got underway just after 3:00 p.m. For the two races sailed, winds were blowing 15-18 knots. Chris Doyle of Kenmore, NY swept the first day. Sailing with Will Harris and Jason Suitor, the team won race one in a tight match with the runner-ups Travis Odenbach on INSTIGATOR and Terry Flynn on TEJAS. In the second race, Doyle developed and kept a strong lead over Texans Ruthie Lambert on OUT OF SIGHT and Chad Wilson on GREEN FLASH who finished in second and third place.

After Saturday's cancellation, the outcome of the event was going to put an enormous amount of pressure on the top teams, particularly with many championship sailors breathing down there necks.  On Sunday, the weather was glorious on Galveston Bay. The sun returned, and breezes started around 5-7 knots, increasing to 10-15 as it moved right. In the day's first race, Flynn earned the top spot, followed by Allan Terhune on DAZZLER and Doyle. Travis Odenbach on INSTIGATOR won Sunday's second race, as Terhune lodged another second and Nick Turney on FREE ENERGY came in third.  Eric Faust sailing NEIGHBOR OF THE BEAST took honors in the next race, trailed by Flynn and Chad Wilson.  Terhune won the closing race, with Flynn and Doyle behind.

Ultimately, Chris Doyle of Kenmore, NY won in a tie-breaker over local Terry Flynn.  The two teams battled during all four races on Sunday, both ending the regatta with 12 points.  Doyle, sailing with Will Harris and Jason Suitor, won the championship thanks to two bullets on day one, counting a 1-1-3-3-4 versus Flynn's 3-4-1-2-2.  Travis Odenbach rounded out the top three with 18 points based on finished os 2-4-1-6-5. Rounding out the top five were Allan Terhune in fourth with a 4-2-2-14-1 for 23 pts (a DSQ in Race#2 and a bomber in Race#5 killed his chances of winning) and Scott Young from Austin YC scoring an 8-7-5-3-6 for 29 pts.   For more J/22 Midwinters sailing information

J/22 Sailing for Hope Regatta 2012

* Sailing for Hope Regatta 2012- May 18-20- Why:  “Because no child should die in the dawn of life” Danny Thomas.  Sailing for Hope 2012 is a charity regatta benefiting St Jude Children's Research Hospital. Sail in our popular mixed class distance race on Saturday May 19 or choose to sail with the J/22 South East Circuit in a windward/leeward course on May 19 & 20.  Pre race skipper meeting and party May 18th on the beach at Lighthouse Landing, our host marina. Trophies will be awarded in all classes at the post race dinner.

The Regatta is sponsored by Kentucky Lake Sailing Club and is held on Kentucky Lake, part of the Intra-Coastal Waterway and the largest man-made lake in the eastern United States. Simply some of the best inland sailing east of the Mississippi! The area  has many hotels, marinas and camping facilities to accommodate sailors and their crew.

For more sailing information- Kentucky Lake Sailing Club website http://klsc.net or if you can't make it check out http://sailingforhope.com to see how you can still "get on board" and support the children of St Jude.  For more information contact:  Elizabeth Owens/ Sailing for Hope Chairman- elizabeth.owens@stjude.org