Big Fleets, Big Winds @ Charleston Race Week

J/Teams Sweep Perpetual Trophies!
(Charleston, SC)- Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week has a reputation for consistent, solid breeze. In fact, Charleston’s great wind is one of the big reasons this event has grown so spectacularly over the past decade.  It was on the eve of the regatta when most weather models predicted big breeze for the start of racing on Friday, with Sunday promising similarly apocalyptic conditions. And that is exactly what the 2013 edition received.

With the 287 teams scattered about on harbor and offshore courses, race organizers were eager to seize the day, completing 3 to 4 races in Friday’s 15-30 knot winds.  Saturday’s moderate breezes and calm seas allowed for some recovery, but it was another 3 to 4 race day to insure each fleet was given the chance to sort out the pecking order in the standings. With the podium positions far from certain, Sunday looked to be the determining factor if not for one thing: the forecast. If Friday’s winds were “monster”, there really wasn’t an appropriate superlative to describe what happened Sunday morning. Rapidly increasing winds and huge seas offshore (8 feet at the mouth of Charleston Harbor) prompted the principal race officers to cancel all competition offshore. Inshore, the race committees set up courses and attempted to get races going on all three courses, but the action was quickly cancelled for everyone.

Marking its debut in dramatic fashion, the 55 boat J/70 fleet was the largest at the regatta by nearly 50%!  The level of competition was incredibly close and positions could change dramatically leg to leg as entire packs of boats would gain and lose on each shift, such was the tightness of the fleet.  While upwind speed for most boats was quite close, it was off-the-wind, particularly in the planing conditions, where boat-handling and pure speed were permitting some teams to make dramatic gains even on the short 0.7 to 0.9 nm downwind legs.  In the end, Key West Race Week winner, Tim Healy skippering HELLY HANSEN, sailed an excellent regatta, staying out of trouble and out of the corners to compile a consistent series to take the J/70s with all top five finishes as counters.  Just behind them  was Jud Smith sailing RELATIVE OBSCURITY, themselves also counting top five finishes in their scoreline to finish second with 21 pts net, just two back from Healy.  Sailing in their first big J/70 regatta, Henry Filter dragged "Moose" Mclintock aboard as tactician to put together a great series to finish third overall with 36 pts.  The balance of the top five saw St Pete NOOD Regatta winner, Joel Ronning on CATAPULT, take fourth overall and the team on STAMPEDE led by Bruno Pasquinelli (2nd at Key West Race Week) took fifth.

In the J/70s Corinthian Division (amateur teams), it was Heather Gregg-Earl and Joe Bardenheier aboard the beautifully color-coordinated MUSE/ TEAM ATLANTIS that took the honors over sixteen other teams.  Second was Brian Elliott sailing B-SQUARED and third was Mike Glover and Robbie Wilkins sailing LUCY, the top local Charleston team in the regatta.

In the J/22 fleet, Chris Doyle’s consistent performance earned his team the victory. Racing "THE JUG 4 1", Doyle’s lowest score of the seven-race series was only a 3, leaving a tally of 1-2-1-1-2-2 for just 9 points. Arthur Libby on TORQEEDO trailed in second with 14 points, and Greg Fisher and Todd Hiller on LEADING EDGE placed third with 19 points. Fisher narrowly beat out the top Canadian team, Ryan Flack sailing BLIND PIG, that finished with 20 pts.  Fifth was Keith Zars on USA 1646.

J/24's had the second largest J fleet sailing in the regatta with twenty-six teams showing up on the starting line.  After the first six races, it was evident the top two teams were going for broke to take the lead, with Kris Werner's team on SUPERFECTA trying valiantly to hold off a strong challenge from Mike Ingham's team on USA 5443.  In the end, SUPERFECTA took the top spot with scores of 1-1-3-4-1-14-6 for 16 pts net.  Second was Mike Ingham scoring a 5-5-1-2-6-8-1 for 20 pts net.  Third was taken by Ron Medlin Jr on BASH with consistent scores of 3-6-4-6-5-5-4 for 27 pts net.  The balance of the top five included Aidan Glackin in 4th sailing the infamous MENTAL FLOSS and in fifth was Frank McNamara sailing ZOT.  Good, tight racing in the J/24s, with a dozen boats all posting top five finishes over seven races!
The J/80s had a mild turnout and in the end it was Bert Carp who reigned supremo taking near straight bullets to win class on USA 11.  Just behind them two points back was Richard Donn's SUPERFLOUS that took second and in third overall was Brad Bertram's ROCKET DOG.

Offshore, the PHRF fleets were treated to some excellent sailing with the solid 10-18 kt southerly breezes on Friday and the moderate NNE winds on Saturday.  Taking PHRF A Big Boat division was Robin Team's J/122 TEAMWORK, sailing a solid series and amassing a 2-1-1-2-7-3 record for 9 pts net.  Just behind them was a super-sharp J/120 team aboard the pretty flag-blue REBECCA, led by skipper Glenn Gault and tactician Terry Flynn (of J/22 World Champion fame) they managed to score a 4-3-2-1-4-2 against some top teams to net 12 pts for second place.

Within PHRF A, the J/111s had a closely fought series amongst themselves.  In the end, Doug Curtiss' WICKED 2.0 prevailed with 24 pts total as top J/111.  Second was the rapidly improving FIREBALL from Annapolis, MD sailed by Fast Eddie, Kristen Berry and crew.  In their first major outing in a tight racing fleet, Robert Stein's KINETIC was third J/111, narrowly missing out second by one point!

In PHRF B was the "battle of the 35 footers".  Gary Weisberg was the top J team, taking 4th overall with his J/109 HEAT WAVE.  Fifth was the J/105 DEAD ON ARRIVAL sailed by Joe Highsmith.  And, sixth was Willy Schwenzfeier's J/35 ARROW.

PHRF C had its moments and plenty of drama for the top boats.  It was very close racing for these fast 30-footers and, as expected, the top teams were the J/29 MIGHTY PUFFIN and the J/92 AMIGOS.  When the dust cleared, Dave Pritchard's J/92 AMIGO had to take an SCP (scoring penalty) in the first race, hurting their chances at taking the golden ring.  In the end, Steve Thurston's J/29 MIGHTY PUFFIN sailed a very consistent series to score a 1-3-5-1-3-2 for 10 pts net to take the gold by one point.  Second was the J/92 AMIGOS with a 6-2-3-2-1-3 for 11 pts net.

In the Pursuit Class, the only fleet to sail all three days, the J/105 JADED sailed by Peter Rugg from Long Island Sound started off with a bad first race, but rapidly learned the ropes of Charleston Harbor's whirlpool currents and twisting breezes to close on the leaders to finish 6th overall with 16 pts, just two points from third!

What was most remarkable about this year's CRW was that not only were J/Teams by far the largest brand at this year's event, but J sailors also took all three perpetual trophies!  The Palmetto Cup, awarded to the best performer under PHRF, went to Robin Team and his family crew aboard their J/122 TEAMWORK.  The Charleston Race Week Trophy, awarded to the top boat in the most competitive one-design class, went to J/24 Class winner Kris Werner and his Rochester, NY-based crew on board SUPERFECTA.  And, the Jubilee Perpetual Sportsmanship Trophy went to local J/24 racer and the Commodore of CORA, Mike Palazzo. Palazzo and his JO MOMMA crew rescued a man overboard in Friday’s heated action and never approached the jury for redress. In fact, the skipper of the boat that lost the man overboard tried to do that on Palazzo’s behalf.  Congratulations to all for job well done!  For more Charleston Race Week sailing information

Great Sailing Van uden Reco Regatta

J/111 2nd IRC, BIG LIFT Takes J/22s
(Stellendam, Netherlands)- With more than 120 boats on the start line, the Van Uden Reco Stellendam Regatta promised to have lots of action and fun for the offshore sailing season opener in the Netherlands.  Traditionally, the event is marked by an enormous fish fry and beer party where the local fisherman host the event, cooking up all kinds of local delicacies, including even lobster!  Plus, the sponsor Pantaenius ensure there's plenty of beer on hand for the sailors to wash down all the yummy seafood!

The predictions regarding the weather promised a weekend full of sun and plenty of breeze. Whether there would still be enough wind Sunday was the real question on everyone's minds as the weekend unfolded.

On Friday afternoon the Stellendam Marina slowly filled with all kinds of one-design class boats ready for a race weekend at the Haringvliet. For most sailors the regatta was a short drive, but the Van Uden Reco is worth it! For the J/22 fleet, two German teams looked forward to joining the party on and off the water and traveled to Stellendam. On Friday, it was cold and windy, so many teams launched, went for a quick practice sail then came back in to refuel, stay warm and prepare for up to eight races on the schedule.

Despite the crazy weather this year Saturday dawned quite warm, so woolly hats were substituted with long shirts and caps to shield everyone from the warm sun. It soon became apparent that the wind forecasts were wrong. The prediction was a Force 5 11-15 kts wind. There was enough wind to get off four races and the sun made it a perfect sailing day! After a long, exhausting, but fun day on the water, the sailors all looked forward to the massive outdoor cookout on shore with ham, hamburgers, fish fry and plenty of beer. A good time was had by all as the sun sank further behind the shed and the temperature dropped (it was freezing at night!).

Unfortunately, predictions regards wind on Sunday came truer than anyone hoped.  With plenty of sun in the sky, the wind was hard to find!  However, it began to blow a little more in the course of the morning and the sailing teams were sent onto the water. It was a good decision, because not much later there was a breeze at Force 3-4! At noon was the first start for most classes and courses.  For the J/22s, the fleet managed to get in three short races.  However, the offshore boats had less luck, barely getting in two to three good races (depending on the course), leading to many boats simply dropping out due to lack of wind.

In the IRC Class, the three J/111s made the best of the conditions, particularly on Saturday's windier day.  As a result, finishing 2nd in IRC was XCENTRIC RIPPER- John van der Starre- sailing to a 2-1-1-2-5-5 record for 11 net pts.  Also sailing but having a hard time on the super-light Sunday were SWEENY (Hans Zwinjnenburg) and LALLEKONING (M Sigg).

In the ORC classes, the J/105 JIPPA was sailed by Andre Zijderveld in ORC2.  And in ORC3, the J/80s were having fun with a "sub-fleet" one-design competition amongst each other.  Leading the J/80s in 4th was JOT (M Menck), second J/80 lying 6th in fleet was nJOY (Coen van Even) and third J/80 was DJ (OJ Golverdingen).

The J/22s had some spirited racing, especially on the windier Saturday.  The nearly windless Sunday jumbled the standings as different teams excelled in one condition versus the other.  Taking the top spot after finishing Saturday in third overall was BIG LIFT/ Happy Future (Nico van der Kolk), sailing to a 3-6-4-4-1-2-2 for 22 net pts.  Just two points back after a slow start on Sunday was BIG LIFT/ Happy Star (Jeremy Moens), recording a scoreline of 5-4-5-1-5-3-1 for 24 pts.  Third was BATAVAIA STAD (Christian Rieckborn) with a 2-1-6-7-7-5-4 record for 32 pts.  Rounding out the top five were JOLLY JUMPER (Ivo Jeukens) in 4th with 34 pts and in 5th was DE KANTOORBUTLER (Stan Heltzel) with 37 pts.  Note, after the first day, Heltzel was the regatta leader with a 1-5-1-5 but got DSQ'd in race 5 on Sunday to hurt their chances at a podium finish.  For more Van Uden Reco Stellendam Regatta sailing information

J/Teams Support Tall Ship ELISSA

Awesome J/22, J/24, J/70, J/80, J/105, J/109 OD Participation!
(Houston, TX)- Houston Yacht Club recently hosted its 27th annual Elissa Regatta for the benefit of the tall ship ELISSA. This event not only raises money for the ELISSA but also raises awareness of Texas' sailing heritage.

The ELISSA is an iron-hulled sailing ship built in Scotland in 1877, and is now a National Historical Landmark as well as the "Official Tall Ship of Texas". She is a three masted barque with nineteen sails covering over one-quarter of an acre in area.  The Elissa is housed at the Texas Seaport Museum and is owned and operated by the Galveston Historical Foundation. Proceeds from the Elissa Regatta Weekend not only help maintain the ship but also fund exhibits, community activities and educational programs in connection with the Elissa for youth and adults.

Sailing in the regatta was local luminary Jay Lutz, racing aboard his J/80 USA 803 with son, Taylor Lutz. Here's Jay's report- "What a great time of year to sail on Galveston Bay in Texas! Throw in a good cause, the 27th annual 2013 “Elissa” Regatta, hosted by legendary Houston Yacht Club and you have a fun time for all.

The regatta consisted of twelve classes ranging from the hot new J/70 to a pursuit start in mixed PHRF rated boats. I had the pleasure of crewing with my son Taylor, in our J/80 along with our good friends Joe Taylor (JT) and Casey Rogers. JT and I are old, and when we added up, (with a calculator) just the years we’ve sailed together, it was more than the J/80 is long-- 30 years!! At least the “kids”, Taylor and Casey brought our “average” crew age down considerably. Advil anyone?

Our race course consisted of the PHRF, J/109, J/105 and J/80’s. Winds were SSE 12-18 knots for both Saturday and Sunday (and I might add 78 degrees). In our J/80 fleet the competition was very tough with many different competitors leading our class at some point during the six race event. Kevin Funsch and crew of “Geaux Fast” (AKA “Kicks”) did an outstanding job to win the event by one point over “USA 803”, Taylor Lutz and crew on a very tight last race finish.  Third was Ramon Torres on “80 Proof” who did a great job winning race #1 on Saturday. Fourth place was our local fleet captain Forbes Durdin on “Mojito” who had the most unlucky first day rounding the first windward mark of race #1 with a comfortable lead after an excellent beat but missed the offset mark (yes, it was a ways away Forbes) and having a spin takedown/ jib out, back upwind to clear the offset and dropping back to 6th…And then again leading race #2 and missing the mark change (not sure we heard or saw any “C” flag either).. He needed a couple Mojito’s after that!"  Thanks for that contribution, Jay!

The six J/105s battled it out for Galveston Bay supremacy. Winds in the 15-25 knot range made for some exciting extremely tight racing under beautiful Texas skies and very comfortable temperatures. First place changed hands several times during the six races, but Mark Young on KILLER RABBIT won his first ever J/105 regatta and was properly doused in the drink afterward by his admiring competitors. Has Fleet 17 found a new tradition? Bill Lakenmacher on RADIANCE stole second by one point from Bee Bednar on STINGER. A great time was had by all.

The six J/70s saw two matches form over the course of the regatta, one a race for first and the other for third overall.  In the end, Tom Romberg from Austin YC won the first match with Chris Lewis from Lakewood YC taking second.  In the second match, Jim Mitchell from Fort Worth Boat Club sailed BOOMTOWN into third by virtue of winning a tie-breaker over Bruce McDonald's team from Austin YC sailing ROGUE WARRIOR.

The largest class at the regatta were the fun-loving J/24s. The fourteen boats supplied great competition and the top five really was not settled until the smoke cleared in the final race.  Squeaking by with the top honors was Stu Lindlow's TROPICAL AGGRESSION, winning by only one point over Jim Kondziela's ODALISQUE.  Third was Natalie Penner's GIGGLES, an awesomely fun team from Dallas Corinthian YC just three points back.  Fourth was Kelly Holmes-Moon on BAD MOON and fifth was Bryan & Vicki Dyer on RUM LINE.

The six J/22 teams saw a streak of bullets from Larry Blankenhagen's team on PARROT TALES LIGHT, winning comfortably with 6 pts.  Taking second was Don Peloquin's STUDENT DRIVER and third was Chris Morlan's TILT.

Finally, the J/109s sailed as a trio with some spirited competition.  At the end of the day, is was Dave Christensen's gang on AIRBORNE that was crowned champion.  Next in line was Tom Hutton's LEADING EDGE and in third was Barry Hoeffner's POLE DANCER.    For more ELISSA Regatta sailing information

J/22 Race Caymans A Cracking Good Time!

(George Town, Cayman Islands, Caribbean)- This year’s Race Cayman sailing regatta was another huge success. The annual event, now in its 5th year, featured three different categories of sailboats. The winds rarely disappoint in March and this year was no exception with strong winds and big waves on the Friday and Saturday. Sunday saw lighter conditions and the sun shining on the blue waters of North Sound producing the perfect conditions that attract our overseas sailors, many of whom return every year to take part in this event.

The J/22 International Invitational regatta, which has been run every year since 2006, attracted competitors from Germany, USA, Uruguay, South Africa, UK and the Bahamas who raced against the top three qualifying teams from Cayman. The racing was at times extremely tight and it was clear that the returning overseas teams had learned local knowledge from previous years.

The German team, skippered by Peter Karrie had clearly come to compete with their rival Mike Farrington whom they have met twice at the J/22 world championships and who has won Race Cayman for the past four years. Another returning skipper was Marc Fischer from the USA who drew the top boat in the draw and brought a strong team with him. After two days of racing, the final day dawned with Mike Farrington again commanding a good lead and Tomeaka McTaggart, another local sailor holding on to second place. The race for third place though was wide open with Germany, USA and South Africa all in with a good chance. It proved to be the Germans who took control sailing brilliantly to take two second places and claim third spot, one point ahead of the South African team.

Throughout the event, competitors were treated to some great social events, a hallmark feature of Race Cayman. Heineken and Jacques Scott were major sponsors putting on a sailing fiesta happy hour on Friday. The prize giving on Sunday was at George Town Yacht Club, a great venue for such an event.

As always there were many people involved in making the event a success, far too many to mention but special mention was afforded to Peta Adams who once again ran Race Committee alongside International judge Gilmour Manuel to a very high standard.   For more J/22 Race Cayman sailing information

J/22 Open France Gets Beastly!

(Nantes, France)- Over the Easter Weekend, it was hot, hot, hot, beastly competition amongst the J/22s sailing at their Open France J/22 regatta in Nantes, despite all the chilly weather all over Europe. Hosted by Sport Nautique de L'Ouest (SNO) at Port Breton, the J/22s had one of their best regattas in years with a strong contingent of ten teams participating in the opening event of the J/22 sailing season in France.

Not to be denied from their fixation getting on the podium were the BEASTY BOYS team comprised of Frederic Mouches, Yannick Souron and Thierry Picault.  Their win was not an easy one as the MAJIC boys led by Bernard Andre with crew Remi Nobileau and Pacale Andre were never far out of the running. However, a costly 8th in the first race and 6th in the eleventh race hurt their chances of ending the BEASTY BOYS reign as Kings of J/22s Francais!

Behind these two leaders were Patrick Huet sailing with "le Pierre's", Royne and Bothorel, on EUROPEAN HOMES garnering 3rd overall.  The balance of the top five were the following: sailing the yummy, delicious ORANGINA was Reiner Brockerhoof, sailing the best overall record in the fleet for the last three races with a 2-2-1 to secure 4th overall; and grabbing 5th place was the first woman skipper, Clair Pouteau sailing SOFFE!  Sailing photo credits- Andre Bernard  For more J/22 France sailing information