THE JUG 41 Sailing Fast!

Wins J/22 Jack Rabbit Regatta
(Canandaigua, NY)- Every year, the J/22 class on Canandaigua Lake race one of the great season opener regattas in the Northeast, the "Jack Rabbit" regatta, hosted by Canandaigua YC.  Many J/22s around the northeastern part of America include the Jack Rabbit part of their early season training, hopping into their trucks and making the annual migration in late spring to one of the prettiest lakes in northern New York state.  For the most part, the weather conditions are pretty well dictated by passing frontal systems, so nestled into some pretty mountain valleys, the lake sailors often have to contend with capricious breezes flowing off the mountain ridges and around the various bays.  Sailing can be spectacular, particularly if a strong NW'er front rolls through, kicking up white caps against the spectacular backdrop of lush, vibrant green mountain sides exploding with a rainbow of colors with all the spring flowers.  Besides the sailing, the evening entertainment is notoriously good (e.g. excellent!).

This year, Saturday was like a July Day-- with no wind. However, the company was good with great entertainment.  For New Yorkers, the cool thing is that the Preakness horse race was taking place, providing the excitement of the day with three happy winners.  Wildly popular amongst the crowd was the familiar refrain "I'll Have Another", the standard request for many fun-loving sailors who haven't had enough liquid refreshments on the race course, but made even more appropriate by the fact the winning horse's name was (drum roll, please) --- I'LL HAVE ANOTHER! Too funny.

After the evening's entertainment closed down, the twenty-four J/22 teams were prepared to go racing in just about anything Mother Nature would throw at them on Sunday.  The race committee was able to squeeze in two races with diminishing winds late Sunday morning.  In the end, Chris Doyle's team on THE JUG 41 hung in there to take a 1-2 and win with 3 pts.  Second was Mark & Cory Sertl's LUCY with a 3-1 for 4 pts.  Third was Victor Snyder on MO'MONEY, fourth was John Goller and fifth was Trevor Collins sailing ALTERNATIVE GIRLFRIEND.

A special "Thanks" go out to their Canadian friends who visited them for the first time and had a long drive-- "please come back by", as they say with a Southern-drawl.  For more J/22 Jack Rabbit Regatta sailing information

PHANTOM Smokes J/22 South African Nationals

(Deneysville, South Africa)- The South African J/22 fleet continue to have good times and the near record turnout of thirty-one J/22s for their annual South African Nationals is a strong indicator of the fun-loving time their having with their boats.  Host club Deneysville Aquatic Club put on a good show and managed to start twelves races for one of the more memorable championships in recent years.

While starting off a bit slow, Andrea Giovannini's team on PHANTOM lived up to their name and snuck out of the weeds in the shallows to  smoke the fleet over the next ten races.  Overcoming a 9-9 in the first two races Andrea and crew counted four 1sts and two 2nds in their scoreline to win with just 33 pts overall, ten pts clear of their next competitor.  Behind them it was a good-ole-fashioned rugby sevens match for rest of the top five with teams running up and down the finish ladder like a roller-coaster.  Surviving the scuffle and snagging second overall was Craig Millar's team on JALAPENO, getting "hot" when they had to in the last race to overcome some bungled races earlier in the series (like an 8-7-14) to get the silver.  Third was Ewald Sternagel's funky balsa-finished clear hull called HAKAHANA, really losing out the opportunity to win the regatta after starting so strongly with a 2-1-2-6 to be leading after four races.  Ewald's crew must've blown a gasket towards the end as their accumulated DSQ-6-8-6 in the last four races dropped them out of contention and into third place on the podium.  Rounding out the top five were Richard Weiderhodlt's CELL C in fourth and Rob Wilcox's VOODOO in fifth.   For more J/22 South African Nationals sailing information

Montreal J/22 Fleet is on a Roll!

(Montreal, Canada)- In the past few months, the J/22 fleet has almost doubled in size- and the sailors are loving it.  Here's their report-

"2011 was a fantastic year for the Montreal chapter with three new J /22 boats added to the fleet. And guess what, another two boats are joining for the 2012 season. These new players are not coming from HYC but from OKA Yacht Club. A total of thirteen confirmed J/22 will be jostling for position on the start line this coming season. It’s been a while since we’ve seen such enthusiasm in the area. Something must be going on, so beware all racers this is highly contagious and you might be the next victim, the only remedy is to stay far away from the fun.

Class president and 2011 Canadian champion Ron Harris and crew John Martin orchestrated an evening, with a focus on two main areas: protests & rules, and tactics specific to J/22’s in a regatta. The clinic underlined critical points of contention with topics like; do not fear the protest room - one design vs PHRF/club racing starting tactics - J/22 class rules – and a review of the ever so important mark rounding rules and tactics.

Rules were read and explained, and with the help of a magnetic board different situations found on the race course where carefully examined. It made for a great forum where everyone could join in to provide further explanation or ask clarifications about a situation they had encountered.

In the course of the night it became clear to everyone that there are times where perspectives or opinions concerning a situation can come in conflict. Throughout the clinic emphasis was put on the fact that J22 racing is a gentleman’s sport, where fair play and respect of the rules must prevail. Maybe it’s not a coincidence that a church was chosen for the reunion after all!

What every sailor needs to remember is that racing is a game, and there are proper ways to settle differences between players. Being involved in a protest does not mark one as evil. It’s a civilized way of settling differences and it’s part of the learning process; sometimes it is the only way to decide how a rule should be interpreted. It’s not like calling the cops on someone, so we shouldn’t be afraid to protests.

The J/22 teams have a goal in mind: the J/22 worlds in 2013. This event will be held in Newport, Rhode Island, so getting everyone up to speed is essential if our local teams want to fair well in this world class competition. On the water speed tests and clinics are being planned for the start of the 2012 season.

Most of the fleet will travel and attend many of the nearby events such as the Canadian Championship at CORK, to name just one great event. The Montreal fleet has planned for lot of time on the water and class members are very generous with their experience and time, wishing to bring new comers quickly to level.

If you enjoy racing and wish to improve your skills there is no better time than now for anyone thinking about joining this class!"   For more Canadian J/22 sailing information

St Francis YC Wins J/22 Team Race Sailing Regatta

(San Francisco, CA)-  St. Francis Yacht Club hosted its 2nd annual Team Race Invitational this past weekend with five West Coast yacht club teams sailing J/22s on the San Francisco City Front in winds ranging from 10 to 25 knots. 38 races were completed with St. Francis Yacht Club clinching victory only after battling back from the 4-5-6 positions at the last mark rounding in the final race to pass San Diego Yacht Club on the final beat. Seattle Yacht Club had the best record in the triple round robin series before falling to San Diego Yacht Club in the semi-finals.

In the end, the first place St. Francis Yacht Club skippers were Shawn Bennett, Nicole Breault and Scott Sellers.  The second place San Diego Yacht Club skippers were Brian Haines, Adam Roberts and Tyler Sinks.  And, the third place skippers for Seattle Yacht Club were Dalton Bergan, Mike Karas and Andrew Loe.   Awesome sailing photo credits- Chris Ray.  For more St Francis YC J/22 Team Racing sailing information  And, more sailing photos/ sailing videos of Nicole Breault and team on St Francis YC Racing Facebook page.

Kok Wins Tough J/22 Spring Cup

(Medemblik, The Netherlands)- Medemblik, a picturesque small town on the IJsselmeer Sea in The Netherlands, is considered the Mecca of Dutch sailing. It's a fun place to sail, can be very challenging, and the weather never seems to be what it's supposed to be!  Sometimes gorgeous, sunny, sublime with gentle breezes, other days freezing cold, blowing dogs off chains and raining hailstones.

This year's event presented the schizophrenic nature of sailing on the Ijselmeer.  After a long period of rainy weekends and winds, the weekend of the Spring Cup was forecast (almost promised!) to be a nice weekend with lots of sunshine and moderate winds.  But,  Saturday saw something different. It was cold on the water and there was a fair wind in the chilly rainfall. However, three races to sail, lots of action and plenty of warm drink kept the crews working hot and furiously.  After the races the sun finally came out, it was time to dry out, jump into the wonderful hot tubs and relax.  Then, a large group of J/22 sailors all had dinner at the Pizzeria La Grotta (a locals favorite hangout) to eat the delicious pizza pies by the pound!

The forecast for Sunday was a very gentle breeze. During the first two races there were lots of wind shifts and pressure differences on the race track. From "hero to zero" and vice versa was the rule of the day. After six races, it was clear the "local hero" with places of 1-1-1-6-2-1 was Ivo Kok with 12 points.  Showing how strongly the German J/22 teams have evolved over time, much like their J/24 and J/80 one-design teams, Reinhold Grob managed to sail a very strong series to amass a 2-2-3-1-6-2 record for just 16 pts.  Third was Jean-Michel Lautier sailing to a 3-5-2-2-3-5 score for 20 pts.  Rounding out the top five were two other Netherlands teams, Ivo Jeaukems in fourth with 27 pts just edging out Dirkjan Verdoorn with 29 pts for fifth.   For more J/22 Netherlands Spring Cup sailing information   For more J/22 Germany sailing information

Doyle Wins Annapolis NOOD Overall

(Annapolis, MD)- With nearly 200 boats registered and over 1,000 J sailors crewing on 141 J's (72% of the fleet!), it may have been inevitable that some J/Team would win the Overall Trophy for Best Performance of the Sperry Topsider Annapolis NOOD Regatta- that title went to Chris Doyle sailing his J/22 "JUG 4-1".  Competition amongst the various J One-Design fleets was remarkably intense all weekend long.  The weather Gods certainly did their best to throw a monkey wrench in the works.  And, the various PRO's, including the famous Peter "Luigi" Reggio, were tested to their limits to get in more than five good races for most fleets across the four race course divisions.  Kudos to race management for their perseverance and ability to make the most of what many curveballs were thrown at them over the course of the three day event.  Day one was tough sailing for some fleets, some sailed and some were canceled due to little wind and impending line squalls and thunderstorms flowing across the Chesapeake Bay.  Saturday's racing was wonderful with nice sunny northerlies blowing 5-12 knots.  And, Sunday was greeted by another grey day with just enough breeze for most race courses to get in two good races.

Highlighting day one were strong showings from local Annapolis boats in the J/22 class, which was one of the largest classes competing during the weekend - it was also the J/22 East Coast Championships for the class. The top three placing boats in the 36 boat class all hail from Annapolis.  LEADING EDGE held the lead after posting an impressive one-point first-day tally. HOT TODDY and HANDBASKET also posted admirable scores, two-points and three-points respectively, and hope to continue such dominance after one race in the next two days of competition.

Clear skies and favorable winds prevailed over Chesapeake Bay today during day two, which saw top-tier racing from all 17 boat classes. Many fleets managed to get in four races for the day, like J/22s and J/24s. Others were less fortunate, with the J/111s, J/109s, J/35s and J/30s getting in three races and the J/80s and J/105s only two.

Light and variable winds greeted the final day. Demonstrating masterful tactics throughout the three days of racing, Chris Doyle, skipper of "THE JUG 4-1" from the J/22 class, was awarded the Overall Annapolis NOOD title. As the Overall Winner in Annapolis, Doyle will be invited to participate in the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Championship Regatta in the British Virgin Islands to compete in the season-ending event aboard Sunsail 44is against the other overall winners in the 2012 series.

The fleets all had great racing.  The J/111s had their first East Coast one-design event.  And, it was great racing with all boats trading the five spots amongst one another.  In the end, the local Annapolis boat VELOCITY sailed by Marty Roesch and team prevailed on the last race, winning by two points over Henry Brauer's Newport/Marblehead team sailing FLEETWING.  Hanging tough on the first two days was Bob Moran's RAGIN team.  However, like FLEETWING, they had a rough last two races on Sunday in light airs and lots of current, hanging in for third overall.  Anthony Culotta's CUORE DI LEONE and James Whited's BAD CAT both showed enormous improvement over the course of the regatta.  Both boats, in fact, were leading races at one point or another and with a bit of training under their belts will be contenders in the future.

With three dozen teams starting, the J/22s proved yet again the top teams are no push-overs.  However, some teams do get hot, hot, hot depending on the regatta.  While all Annapolis teams were leading the first day, the next two days belong to Chris Doyle and gang from Rochester.  Chris's team managed to walk away with the top overall honors for the regatta after a slow start; after a 7th in race one, they tallied up a 1-4-1-2-4 to win by 14 points!  Second was another slow starter, Brad Julian on JULIAN ASSOCIATES; they managed an 8th in race one, followed by a 3-1-4-14-3 for 33 points.  Third was another local hotshot, Todd Hiller on LEADING EDGE with a very, very fast start of 1st, followed by a few duds like a 13-13-12 then a ego-boosting 1-7 to finish with 47 pts.  Fourth was yet another local, Jeff Todd on HOT TODDY, having a similarly yo-yo-like experience to score 2-12-8-6-7-19 for 54 pts.  Rounding out the top five was another Rochester J/22 mafia team, Vic Snyder on MO'MONEY, sailing to a 19-2-10-3-11-12 for 57 pts.  As a result, Chris Doyle's crew from Rochester will be heading down to the British Virgin Islands to sail in the Sperry Topsider NOOD Championships.

The J/24 class didn't' see any dominating performances like what was witnessed in the J/22s.  In the end, it was a titanic battle amongst the top five again.  Never say die in this group.  Just like their hero, Kenny Read winning the recent legs in the Volvo Ocean Race on his Volvo 70 PUMA.  Just never give up and keep the pedal "fire-walled"!!  After the smoke cleared from the battlefield, it was the great yacht HONEY BADGER sailed by Travis Odenbach that took home all the silverware, winning with a remarkably consistent 3-2-3-4-4-5 record for 21 pts.  Making a strong comeback after a slow start was Robby Brown from Tampa's Davis Island YC, sailing USA 799 into second overall with a 10-4-4-2-2-1 for 23 pts.  John Mollicone on 11TH HOUR RACING started out strong but failed to get into second gear and hit the right corners later, amassing a 2-11-1-6-3-6 for 29 pts, good enough for third place.  Rounding out the top five were class stalwart Tony Parker on BANGOR PACKET with a 13-14-7-1-1-2, another slow starter but a very, very fast closer!  Fifth was Chris Stone on VELOCIDAD, losing on a tie-breaker to Tony.

There was an excellent turnout of thirty-four J/80s for the fourth event on their Winter Circuit and sailing in what amounted to be their East Coast Championships.  Winning his first major J/80 event after two years of sailing was Brian Keane from Buzzards Bay, MA, sailing to a 10-5-2-3 for 20 pts to take the gold.  There were also a lot of new teams amongst the balance of the podium and top five.  Clarke McKinney sailed well on CW's VACATION to snag second with a 5-1-6-11 for 23 pts.  Third was Nizar Abuzeni from Saint Croix, US Virgin Islands, sailing ARROW to a steady 6-3-4-12 for 25 pts.  Fourth was Jim Kershaw on COOL J and fifth was Ken Mangano on the magnificent MANGO mon!

The eighteen boat J/105 fleet was as competitive as ever.  Nevertheless, it was that fun-loving gang from way up North, Jim Rathbun on HEY JUDE from Toronto, ONT, Canada that sailed a fantastic, consistent regatta, never finishing out of the top three!  Their record of 2-2-1-3 for 8 pts was one of the dominant performances at this year's Annapolis NOOD Regatta.  Local hotshot Peter McChesney also sailed well but had to overcome a tiebreaker to finish second.  Sailing MYSTERY MACHINE, Peter's team got a 3-1-9-1 for 14 pts to win the tiebreak over the MIRAGE team of Cedric Lewis and Fredrik Saldesen that had a 4-6-2-2 also for 14 pts.  Fourth was Hugh Bethell on JESTER and fifth was the MBE Syndicate on VELOCE.

The nine J/30s had a scream and the racing was tight for the top three.  With six races under their belts, it was still a wide open fight for the first four positions.  In the end, Robert Putnam's BETTER MOUSETRAP won the dog-fight, getting a 1-4-4-2-1-4 for 16 pts to win J/30s overall.  Second was Ron Anderson's INSATIABLE with a 2-7-1-6-2-2 for 20 pts.  Third was that sweet, but tough, gal aboard BUMP, skipper Pam Morris, that showed the boys how it's done, sailing a very consistent 4-2-3-4-3-5 for 21 pts.  Rounding out the top five were RAG DOLL sailed by Rob Lundahl in fourth and BEPOP sailed by Bob Rutsch and Mike Costello in fifth.

One of the most storied J/35s continued its winning ways no matter what body of water it sails on.  AUNT JEAN, now sailed by Jim Sagerholm, has won in New England, on the Great Lakes and now on the Chesapeake.  Amazing boat.  Great crew, too!  Jim's team walked off with the top spot with  an average of below a second!  Their record of 2-1-2-1-2 for 8 pts would be awfully hard to beat!  The next two boats had a donnybrook, but winning in the end was MAGGIE, sailed by Peter Scheidt, finishing second with a 4-2-5-2-3 for 16 pts.  MEDICINE MAN skippered by Charles Kohlerman was third with a 1-6-6-3-1 tally for 17 pts.  Fourth was DAKOTA GIRL sailed by another excellent woman skipper, Stephanie Reuer and fifth was Mark McGonigle on WINDEPENDENT.

The dozen strong J/109 fleet had three past J/109 North American Champions dueling it out for top honors.  In the end they took 2 of the top 3.  Bill Sweetser on RUSH was on form and sailed a remarkable 1-2-1-2-1 scoreline for 7 pts to win the J/109 class quite handily.  Perhaps as one of the top Annapolis/ Chesapeake teams they should have since most of the racing demanded local knowledge and geometry tucked under Thomas Point Lighthouse.  Long Island sailors on CAMINOS led by Ryan Dempsey sailed an excellent regatta to garner a 2-1-6-3-7 for 19 pts, enough to secure second.  Just missing out second in the end was Ted Herlihy's team on GUT FEELING, securing third place with a 3-5-3-1-8 score for 20 pts.  Next in the top five were Tony Syme on LOGOS in fourth and Paul Milo on VENTO SOLARE in fifth.  For more Sperry Topsider Sailing World NOOD Annapolis sailing information   Sailing photo credits- Sarah Proctor

North Sea Regatta Sailing Preview

(The Hague, Netherlands)- Many teams are entered in the upcoming Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta in The Hague, The Netherlands, which starts next week with the "Vuurschepen Race". About 400 yachts will be participating in the three separate events of the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta.

On Tuesday May 15th the Vuurschepen Race from Scheveningen to Harwich, England will start at 1900 hours. This offshore race of 110 nautical miles is the opening race of the week-long event. The route across the North Sea has been slightly modified to include sailing away (out and around) from the enormous windmill farms off the English coast.  After the finish, the sailors will enjoy a day of rest in Harwich, hosted by the Royal Harwich Yacht Club in Woolverstone. On Ascension Day the sailors enjoy lunch in the pub often used by ancient smugglers along the coast- The "Butt and Oyster" at Pin Mill.  After much camaraderie and reveling in past sea stories, the sailors will then hop aboard again and go back across "La Manche" (the Channel) in the RORC North Sea Race back to Holland on Friday May 18th. One of The Netherlands top offshore sailors, John van de Starre, will be sailing the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER in both events in IRC2 Class.

In the Pentecost weekend from May 25th to 28th 2012 more than 400 teams will race just of the coast of Scheveningen. Different classes will attend, including a good field of J/22s and J/24s as well as an IRC Class for the North Sea Regatta.  In IRC will be the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER participating in the third portion of the event.   For more Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta 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