J/Teams Love Bacardi Newport Regatta

J/70 CATAPULT, J/24 HELLY HANSEN, J/22 JULIAN ASSOCIATES Winners
(Newport, RI)- As has been the tradition for years, the Sail Newport team led by Brad Read and a select group of PRO's provided excellent race management over the course of the two-day Bacardi Newport Regatta to ensure most classes had four good races.

As the largest fleet in the regatta, remarkable considering it's "the new kid on the block", the J/70s managed to put twenty-two boats on the line for a highly competitive and fun event. Perhaps most importantly, the fleet has demonstrated that newcomers to the fleet can be quite competitive against earlier season "veterans" and sail quite well.  Following on earlier season success, Joel Ronning's CATAPULT team from Lake Minnetonka, MN sailed well with a 1-7-7-1 series for 16 pts to just beat out Bruno Pasquinelli's STAMPEDE team that sported a 9-4-2-2 scoreline for 17 pts-- it all came down to who-beat-who in the last race.  Taking third was Bennet Greenwald with a 4-1-6-10 tally for 21 pts-- fresh off wins on the Pacific Coast at Cal Race Week and Long Beach Race Week.  Dave Franzel's SPRING sailed a solid series, capturing a consistent 6-8-5-4 for 23 pts for fourth and lying fifth was newcomers TOUCH 2 PLAY sailed by Martin Kullman with a 5-6-1-12 record for 24 pts (nearly pulling off an overall win in their first try were it not for the last race "bomber" race!).

For the sixteen J/24s, it was a double-whammy, a District 2 Championship World's Qualifier and US Adult Sailing Championship Qualifier. And, to no one's surprise, it was Tim Healy that ran the table with straight firsts on HELLY HANSEN to take the J/24 title.  Fresh from sailing over in Europe was Mike Ingham (world-traveler man!), taking the second spot with a 5-2-2-2 record for an easy second place.  Sailing yet another BANGOR PACKET was Tony Parker taking third.  Fourth was Steve Kirkpatrick on BUCKSHOT and fifth was Mike Marshall on PIPE DREAM.

Nine J/22s sailed gaining good practice for the upcoming J/22 Worlds sailing in Newport in October 2013. And, what a practice it was!  For THREE teams all ended up tied at 9 pts each for first place!  How often does that happen?  Never heard of it before in decades of sailing.  Surprising some of the teams was the excellent performance by Brad Julian and crew on JULIAN ASSOCIATES, winning with a 4-2-2-1 record based on having most 1sts and 2nds.  Second on the tie-break was Chris Doyle's JUG 4 1 with a 3-3-1-2 tally and third on the tie-break was Jim Bernash with a 2-1-3-3 record-- losing the tie-break because of last race placing!  How cool is that?!  CLose racing and fun for all.  Fourth was Dave Godin and fifth was FJ Ritt.  For more Bacardi Newport Sailing information

Bacardi Newport Preview

(Newport, RI)- What has become a right of passage for New England summer sailors is the annual pilgrimage to Newport to sail what many consider one of America's best run regattas-- the Bacardi Newport Regatta.  Hosting nineteen one-design classes is never easy, but the management team of PRO's led by Brad Read always manage to make it happen no matter what cards the weather God's have thrown down on the table.  So far, the prognosticators indicate this year's event taking place from July 12th to 14th may end up with some classic Newport sea-breeze conditions.

The J/70's are "the new kid on the block" and as the world's fastest growing sportboat class is fielding a fleet of twenty competitors.  And, there's no doubt it will be quite a competitive affair with several top teams participating from the winter/ spring events like Key West, Charleston, St Pete and Annapolis.  Look for some of these teams to be in the top five, including James Allsopp's MOXIE, Joel Ronning's CATAPULT, Bennet Greenwald's PERSEVERANCE, Dave Franzel's SPRING, Blake Kimbrough's NOSTALGIA, Joe Bardenheier's MUSE, Bruno Pasquinelli's STAMPEDE and Jud Smith's Marblehead team.

For the sixteen J/24s, it' a double-whammy, a District 2 Championship World's Qualifier and US Adult Sailing Championship Qualifier.  As a result, Tim Healy is leaping back into the J/24s sailing HELLY HANSEN.  They will be challenged by arch nemesis Travis Odenbach on HONEY BADGER, Steve Wood on TASMANIAN DEVIL, Frank McNamara on ZOT, Ian Scott on CRACK OF NOON and Aidan Glackin on MENTAL FLOSS.

Nine J/22s will be racing and for many it may prove to be good practice for the upcoming J/22 Worlds sailing in Newport in October 2013.  Expect to see amongst the top boats champion J/22 sailor Chris Doyle sailing JUG 4 1, Brad Julian skippering JULIAN ASSOCIATES, Lowell Thomas on CHAOS and Matt Dunbar on WHARF RAT.  For more Bacardi Newport Sailing information