(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
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- J/22 owner and past J/29 owner of boats called POWERPLAY, Peter Cunningham of the Cayman Islands, managed to walk off with top honors in IRC Class 0 in the AAM Cowes Week in his latest POWERPLAY, a recent vintage TP52 that includes past J/24 Champion Tony Rey amongst his crew as tactician! 
* J/22 Scale Model Size of a Quarter? Amazing. It's beyond comprehension how artist/ modelers can do the proverbial "ship-in-the-bottle" and have it come out looking so cool and in such detail. Nevertheless, artist/ modeler Ric Skinner managed to do this for a J/22 with next to no information, other than pictures and drawings found around the Internet. Said Ric, "Your readers may be interested in this. For my son’s 30th birthday I scratch-built (no plans, no kit) a 1:176 scale model of J/22 #1078. I used what J/22 photos I could find on the Internet, a couple very basic profile and deck plan views. I would like to make another J/22 at a larger scale with more detail. My son Greg recently purchased J/22 #1078 with 2 other guys. They’ve been racing in the J/World Annapolis Thursday night races. I’m not a sailor, but have a keen interest in the sport. My hobby is normally building 18th & 19th century wooden ships & boats." So, for any of you J/22 sailors who want a fun, quick easy model of your boat as a Christmas tree ornament, or perhaps a more formal version, please don't hesitate to contact Ric Skinner on email. 
(Travemunde, Germany)- The European J/22 class loves participating in the Travemunde Woche because it not only offers great racing in tight one-design race courses, but also a simply mind-blowing festival on land that includes some of Europe's (and Germany's) top rock & roll acts. Plus, the Festival Travemunde that runs simultaneously to the sailing week, has dozens of activities for the family to enjoy while other's are out sailing.
The J/22s had a tight finale. Martin Menzner/Christian Drews/Frank Lichte from Kiel, who dominated on the first day, were left searching in vain for the right trim on Friday. ”We then missed the first start”, said Menzner. “We did a practice before the start – but for too long. The starting signal went off while we were still on our way.” They did better on the course in the following runs, gaining three fourth places, but they had to resist strong attacks from their rivals. “It was tough in the J22. I didn’t have this kind of competition in my original class – the J80”, reported Menzner!
(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). 
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!
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.
