Doyle Trumps J/22 Lake George Regatta

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(Lake George, NY)- In a borrowed boat and without a 'bad" race, Chris Doyle of Youngstown, NY scored a 1-2-2-4-3 for 12 points in the five race series to top 26 teams in the 2013 Lake George Open/ Northeast District Championship, held September 21-22 at The Lake George Club, Diamond Point, New York. Chris' tally was half that of his closest competitor, RJ Moon of Rochester, NY who sailed an excellent series of 2-3-5-12-2 to finish in second place.  RJ is formerly from Lake George, and many of us in Lake George Fleet #61 know him well and are really pleased to see him do well in several recent J/22 events.  Rounding out the top five are Stephen Jones, Toronto, 4-1-18-2-1 who might have won save one unfortunate race in third, past champion Jed Hoffer, Marion, MA, 6-6-8-1-5 in fourth, and David Godin, Verdun (Montreal), Quebec, 3-5-7-3-9 in fifth.  Other award winners were Ellen Cantrell, Lake George, Top Woman Skipper (20), Tom Linville, Lake George, Best Local Boat (7), and Robert Miller, Lake George, the annual "Grab Bag" prize (22).

Race conditions were at both extremes.  Two races were held on Saturday with south winds in the 15-20 kts range.  The RC went out in the afternoon trailed by about half the fleet to see what the wind strength was, and after anchoring measured winds above 25 and gusts over 30 kts.  They cancelled further racing for the day.  The J/22 is a tough little boat, but those on board are not so tough, and we didn't want to risk any injuries.  On Sunday morning, the wind was light, 5-7 kts, out of the southwest-- not the predicted gusty northwest wind.  The first race was rather short and the wind strength was consistent.  However, the second race was longer, and the southwest breeze began to die and veer to the west and northwest, confounding the competitors, particularly those at the front.  The ones who figured it out and went west did the best, while those who stayed east paid the price.  The RC did a great job of moving the windward mark and realigning the course.  For the third and last race of the day, the predicted NW wind kicked in with a nominal 12-14 kts and higher gusts.  So, while we couldn't hold as many races as desired, there was plenty of action and good sailing.  Add that to the beautiful venue, usual outstanding hospitality of The Lake George Club, fine regatta organization under Chair Joe Favero, and competent RC work under Dave Dougall, and you have another successful not-to-be-missed annual fall J/22 event.  Please plan on coming in September 2014!!  Thanks for the contribution from Tom Linville- J/22 Fleet 61.
For more J/22 Lake George Regatta sailing information

J/22 Governor's Cup Report

(Cayman Islands)- Her Excellency the Governor, Helen Kilpatrick, was at the Cayman Islands Sailing Club at the weekend to meet sailors before heading out onto North Sound to start the first race of the 23rd annual J/22 Governor’s Cup regatta. The two day regatta is the traditional start of the J/22 season and is always closely competed.

“I am not a sailor myself” said Mrs Kilpatrick, “but I have learned a lot today from Peta Adams and her Race Committee and am delighted to be part of it. It was especially pleasing to meet the youth sailors”.

The light winds were unusual for this event and added a different flavor to the racing as strategy became all important. Mike Farrington, who has won the last four Governor’s Cup regattas, was out in front early but did not enjoy the dominance that they have become used to. Simon Farrington, skippering “Sunshine” was close behind with his awesome Stingray spinnaker close on his brother’s stern serving as a warning that this year would not be a runaway event. Tomeaka McTaggart was also challenging hard and the Youth Team aboard “DMS”, who had very little spinnaker experience but were sailing well enough to mix it up with the best.

On the second day of racing the winds started out too light to race and after a two hour delay the fleet ventured out onto glassy seas. Race Committee had however got it right and the breeze picked up enough to run two more races. Pablo Bertran and the youth team showed they had learned quickly the mysteries of the big baggy sail and led for most of the first race being just beaten by one second at the finish line by Mark Edmunds. They were at it again in the second race showing no fear of their adult competitors but could not quite beat off Mike Farrington who finished comfortably in first place ahead of Simon and Tomeaka.

Commodore Farrington was quick to praise the youth team. “The light conditions favored the lighter crews and the youth took full advantage showing that under the coaching of Ralph Harvey they have really upped their sailing skills across the board. We hope they will now challenge us at every J22 event if they can find the time away from their Youth Olympic campaign”.  For more J/22 Cayman Islands Governor's Cup sailing information

Lautier Is ONK J/22 Champion

(Brassermeer, Netherlands)- The 'Delta Lloyd Open Dutch Championships' is an enormous one-design dinghy and keelboat regatta held every year in the early fall on the Brassermeer in the Netherlands. 210 boats sailed in 15 different classes, including fourteen J/22 one-designs.  The three day event saw nice warm weather but fairly light winds for most of the time.

For the first day, many teams in the J/22 class had varying degrees of success. Sanne Crum-Simons and Dimitri van den Berg withdrew in the second race which put them back in sixth place. However, they were still within a shot at the lead if five more races could be sailed.

The second day of racing had shifty breezes of 5-6 knots at the start of the day, but ended up with 12-15 kts at the end.  For the J/22 class, it was quite clear who the winners were for the day-- Jean-Michel Lautier, Guiseppe d'Aquino and Denis Neves opened up a comfortable lead on the fleet. There large margin was mainly due to some bad races posted by their competitors, like Sanne Crum on NED 514, Nico Van der Kolk on NED 1455 and Frenchman Charles Michaux on FRA 1444.

The final day of the championships closed with a sunny ceremony. While enjoying snacks and drinks, the sailors got their well-deserved celebration for another fun regatta. Some J/22 sailors even ended traditionally in the water!!  In the end, the Dutch team on NED 1273 (Jean-Michel Lautier, Giuseppe d'Aquino and Denis Nevez) simply sailed away from the fleet, winning convincingly, counting three 1sts and three 2nds in their eight race scoreline!  Taking second overall despite retiring in Race #2 and counting two bad races (a 10th & 7th) was NED 514 sailed by the team of Sanne crum, Dimitri Simons and Van den Berg.  Third was NED 1455 sailed by Nico Van der Kolk, Julius Jansen and Stephanie Peulen.  Fourth was the Verdoorn family (Dirk, Jan and Rosemarijn) sailing NED 1295.  After starting with a DNF, DNC, the French team on FRA 1444 (Charles Michaux, Christophe DeClercq and Reinhold) sailed very well to capture fifth overall, in fact winning two races and having the best record for the last six races other than the winners.  For more J/22 Dutch Open Regatta sailing information

J/Fest San Diego Preview

(San Diego, CA)- The San Diego J/Fest boasts a long history of being one of the most fun and well attended regattas in Southern California.  And, it's exclusively for J/Boat owners! The regatta is open to one-design classes as well as a J/PHRF fleet!

Hosted by San Diego YC the J/Teams will enjoy three day of competitive, fun buoy racing from September 27th to 29th.  Friday is the fun, casual race around set marks and government marks, followed by two days of course racing on Saturday and Sunday.  Inside the bay will be the smaller boats (like J/22, J/70 and J/80) and offshore will be the larger boats (the J/105s, J/109s and J/120s).

While the sailing is always nice in sunny San Diego, J/Fest is perhaps most renown for its onshore festivities.  Saturday evening is the traditional J/Fest Party, basically a giant cook-out on the lawn with live music and lots of awesome swag and giveaways from the sponsors.  The fun factor is a key element of the event, a reason why over fifty boats have attended every year.

The J/105s have yet another great turnout with most of the top local teams sailing, including Chuck Driscoll's BLOW BOAT, Steve & Lucy Howell's BLINK!, Rick Goebel's SANITY, Dennis & Sharon Case's WINGS, Rich Bergmann's ZUNI BEAR, Jon Dekker's AIR BOSS and Gary Mozer's CURRENT OBSESSION 2 fro Los Angeles.

The J/120s have traditionally offered very tight competition with a modest-sized fleet.  Again, a number of local favorites are sailing and should be factors at the front of the fleet.  Familiar faces like John Laun's CAPER, John Snook's JIM, Chuck Nichols' CC RIDER, Gary Winton's SHENANIGANS and Mike Hatch's J/ALMIGHTY have all had their fair share of great performances in J/Fest.

The J/109 class will see past local and regional champions sailing again, including Gene Pitkin's GERONIMO, Rex Butler's JD, John Shulze's LINSTAR and Daylen Tercen's GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!

The J/70s will debut as a class and their six boat fleet should present a lot of fun racing on San Diego Bay.  Having been traveling to the last three major J/70 events on the West Coast, Dan Gribble's GO-RILLA, Eric Kownacki/ Tom Jenkins' DFZ, Karl Pomeroy's ZERO TO 60 and Craig Tallman's JAYA may have a leg-up on the fleet. Nevertheless, 70 sailors have proven they're climbing the learning curve fast in this simple boat, so expect to see good competition from Hugh Bennet on CHEETAH CUB and Sean O'Keefe on DECOLORES 3.  For more J/Fest sailing information, please be sure to contact Joanne O'Dea at joanne@jk3yachts.com.  Or, go to the San Diego YC website.