DAZZLER Glitters @ J/22 Worlds XXX

(Newport, RI)- Allan Terhune and the DAZZLER team won the first race of the J/22 World Championship and never looked back. His crew of Katie Terhune, Kristine Wake and Marcus Eagan are now the 2013 J/22 World Champions (sponsored by Fidelity Investments and hosted by Sail Newport).  Seventy-one teams from Canada, the Cayman Islands, South Africa and the USA competed in the five-day event, marking the 30th anniversary of the J/22.

After dropping a 19th in race nine, Terhune's remarkably consistent scores of 1-2-3-9-2-2-1-4-4 for 28 net points in 10 races kept the DAZZLER gang in the lead. Brad Julian’s THREEDORIES.COM, with Matthew Schubert and Colin Robertson, made an impressive attempt to take over DAZZER with four consecutive bullets, but wound up six points shy and in the silver position with 34 points. Mark Foster with Brian Babbitt and Matt Romberg on TEJAS collected third place with 54 points.

“I had an awesome team. It was a total team effort,” commented Terhune. “Marcus was great on trimming and keeping the boat pointed in the right direction. Katie and Kristine were awesome at boat handling, keeping the mood light and getting everything done.” He also praised the host location, saying, “There’s nowhere better than Newport. Brad Read, Anderson Reggio and the whole SailNewport team are awesome!! We had great sea breezes, we had some Northerlies, we had shifty races, we had a little bit of everything, and that’s what makes it so fun. It was spectacular!”

Only one race was completed on the last day due to light winds. Julian’s THREEDORIES.COM continued a hot streak from Friday by tallying a third-straight bullet in race 10. Foster's TEJAS trailed in second, and Martin Kulman’s NEW WAVE in third. “I’m really excited for Brad and his team,” commended Terhune on his fellow Annapolis-based team. “They sailed a great event and didn’t make it easy on us at the end. They sailed well and fought to the end.”

The first day was notable for light, unstable winds which postponed racing and led to the abandonment of one race. The 71 teams had trouble starting too, with the Z-Flag coming out for both completed races. Despite the conditions, Terhune posted a 1-2 to lead the field.  After Thursday's pair of races, Terhune’s DAZZLER kept up the momentum and had accumulated just 11 points including a first and a second. THREEDORIES.COM, helmed by Brad Julian, held second place with 31 points and Chris Doyle’s THE JUG 4 1 stood two points further back in third.  After two more races were completed Friday, Julian’s THREEDORIES.COM knocked out two bullets to make a move toward the Championship crown. Terhune’s DAZZLER acquired a fourth in race eight but had to settle for a 19 in race nine, leaving them with 24 net points. Julian stood at 33 points. In third place, Chris Doyle’s The Jug 4 1 had tallied 50 points.  Saturday's final race day was marred by a light, unsteady breeze.

In the end, Terhune's DAZZLER team were declared J/22 World Champions.  They were followed by Julian's THREEDORIES.COM in second and Mark Foster's TEJAS from Corpus Christi, TX in third.  Rounding out the top five was Doyle's THE JUG 4 1 from Rochester, NY in fourth and Benz Faget's FATS team from New Orleans, LA in 5th.

Top women's team was Rochester, NY/ Jamestown, RI native Cory Sertl sailing LUCY with Amy Moran, Meg Myles and Annemarie Cook.   Sailing photo credits- Paul Todd/ Outside Images.  For more J/22 World Championship sailing information

Challenging, Cool Annapolis NOOD

Record J/Boats Turnout Enjoy Spring Sailing on Chesapeake

(Annapolis, MD)- With a virtual armada of 156 J/Teams attending the Sperry Topsider Annapolis NOOD Regatta (74% of the whole fleet of 211), the eight J one-design classes (J/22, J/24, J/70, J/80, J/30, J/105, J/35, J/109) all had their fair share of spectacular, sunny racing on Friday. From there it was only a matter of time that conditions would deteriorate on the notoriously fickle Chesapeake Bay.

For the most part the Annapolis NOOD weather conditions made for great fleet racing so long as sailors on the five division circles were well-behaved and the PRO's at each did a good job of managing the fleet and the racing.  Some were clearly better than others.  On Friday, the fleet was treated to a brisk ENE 10-20 kts with lots of choppy waters, a fast-flowing flood current and very shifty breezes with big puffs.  In such conditions, most fleets sailed four races.  By Saturday, the forecast was beginning to see diminishing winds and the sailor's confidence in the breeze fell along with those prognostications.  The forecast ENE was in fact 100% wrong, instead the fleet was treated to mostly NW-NE 6-14 kts, getting even shiftier and was full of holes, so much so that the third races for most fleets saw their last leg or two become a matter of rolling the dice.  Sadly, Sunday's forecast was even more wrong.  The forecast easterlies never materialized until late afternoon with a gorgeous sunny day.  Instead, the fleets were treated to an even crazier NW to E breeze blowing 0-10 kts with holes everywhere- a one race "craps shoot" for most, or none for others!

Debuting as the largest class at the event, the J/70s simply had an epic first day of sailing on Friday.  Spending about 80% of the time in planing-mode downwind, the fleet had big grins plastered across their faces as they enjoyed some serious sparring at double-digit speeds.  While Saturday's and Sunday's racing was mostly in displacement mode, the need to find the edge even in "soak-mode" meant that teams were learning the fine-edge of how to maximize apparent wind speed for optimum downwind VMG.  Avoiding the pitfalls more than most was Bennet Greenwald's team from California that sailed PERSEVERANCE.  They not only won the J/70 class, but also were awarded the "STSW NOOD Overall Performance Awards" for the 15 fleets sailing the regatta (they get to sail the NOOD World Championships in the Caribbean in fall 2013!).  Continuing their streak of finishing in the top five was Joel Ronning's crew on CATAPULT finishing 2nd followed by Tim Healy's rapid ascent up the ladder to snag 3rd overall sailing Team HELLY HANSEN.  Fourth was the Newport/ Marblehead team of Henry Brauer/ Will Welles on RASCAL and in fifth was Brian Elliott's B-SQUARED (the only team to win 3 races).  A strong indicator of the strength and wealth of talent in the J/70 fleet was the fact that 15 teams managed top five finishes over the eight races sailed.  And, this regatta produced the highest average score for the winner- at 6.1 pts per race and the highest average to get a top 10 finish- 13.9 pts per race.  Also of note were the fact that the two youngest skippers in the regatta, Willy Comerford (14 yrs old) on NORTHERLY and Dylan Flack (8 yrs old) on TORQEEDO were seen either leading the fleet, winning races OR finishing in the top 10!

Local hero Allan "Albie" Terhune on DAZZLER started out strong in the J/22 class series and managed to hold on towards the end for the win by three points.  Conversely, Brad Julian on JULIAN ASSOCIATES started slowly and finished with two 1sts to nearly take the class as the DAZZLER crew faltered in their last four races.  Third was Alon Finkelstein on TEAM SHOWUSYOURSHLOZZA, beating Lee Sackett's USA 1574 on a tie-break.  Fifth was Jeff Todd on HOT TODDY.

With the third largest J fleet, the J/80's sailing with 23 boats had a very competitive fleet, especially as some teams were using it as part of their J/80 Worlds in Marseilles, France. For the first six races, it looked like the Crump Family (Will & Marie) and Marie's brother Tom Klok sailing R80 would have a "runaway" on their hands, easily leading the fleet by a significant margin.  However, a serious brain fade in the 7th race upset their chances at a comfortable win.  Consequently, Brian Keane's SAVASANA team jumped at the opportunity to take over the lead, sailing well to win the last race as well as the series win for J/80s.  The R80 team settled for second overall.  Third was a new name at the top, John White sailing USA 1162.  Fourth was Kristen Robinson's familiar ANGRY CHAMELEON and fifth was another veteran J/80 team, Chris & Liz Chadwick's CHURCH KEY.

The J/105's strong showing of an "all Naptown" fleet of eighteen boats provided the teams excellent racing.  The Lewis/ Salvesen team on MIRAGE were the only team to post all top ten finishes and took the overall prize with scores that included two 1sts and two 2nds.  Second was the MBE Syndicate team on VELOCE, starting super fast out of the gates with a 1-1-3-4, but fading dramatically in the end with a 12-11-3-10 (was that a rum-storm that hit them?).  Third was Jim Konigsberg's INIGO, fourth Bob Reeves on A-TRAIN and fifth Scott Gitchell on TENACIOUS.  The "hard luck" story of the regatta must go to Jack Biddle on the infamous RUM PUPPY, getting holed in the 2nd race and having to borrow a friend's boat to finish the series.

With fifteen competitive J/24 teams, it was not immediately clear that anyone would sweep the regatta. However, that's exactly what happened, by the oldest skipper in the bunch! Tony Parker sailed his famous BANGOR PACKET to a well deserved win, taking six 1sts out of eight races!  Basically, he left all the scraps to be fought for second and third overall by three other teams.  Emerging from the dog-fight in second overall was Peter Rich's USA 4006, just one point ahead of Mike Marshall's USA 5362 in third.  Just one point further back despite a fast-closing rush of three 2nds in a row was Pat Fitzgerald's RUSH HOUR in fourth.  Fifth overall, watching the dogfight from the bleacher seats, was Paul van Ravensway's MILLENNIUM FALCON, sailing a solid series in the top five for most of the regatta.

The seven boat J/109 fleet celebrated the win of class veteran Bill Sweetser's RUSH, crowned the new Mid-Atlantic Champions! No wonder, seven 1sts and a 2nd in eight races is tantamount to a "clean sweep" or a "schooling" in how to race J/109s fast!  Often not far behind Sweetser was Eric Gordon's TROUBLEMAKER, snagging four 2nds and two 3rds to easily finish second overall.  The battle for the bronze medal on the podium was far from settled and took the last race to determine the next four places!  In the hunt all series were Matt Baker's RELIANT, Rick Hanson's ROSALITA, Bob Schwartz's NORDLYS and Craig Wright's AFTERTHOUGHT.  By finishing in the top five in the last race, Baker's RELIANT took third overall, edging out Hanson's ROSALITA by one point!  In turn, Schwartz's NORDLYS was just 2 pts back grabbed fifth overall by winning the last race, just beating by one point Wright's AFTERTHOUGHT who had to settle for sixth.  Great racing amongst these evenly matched boats.

Amongst the J/35 class, it was clear that AUNT JEAN (Sagerholm/ Christofel) were prepared in the breeze on Friday to make a statement for the fleet lead.   And, indeed they did, amassing a 3-1-1 to start out in first after the first day of sailing, never to relinquish their lead to win overall.  Second was Chuck Kohlerman's MEDICINE MAN, just edging out Peter Scheidt's MAGGIE in third by only one point.  Fourth was the BAD COMPANY gang and fifth were Ken and Lisa Karsten on BZING.

The J/30s had some excellent racing amongst their ten boat fleet, a great turnout for this "classic yacht"!  Showing them all how it's done were past class winners Bob Rutsch & Mike Costello on BEPOP, taking the class with three 1sts and three 2nds in their 7 race scoreline to win by 3 pts.  Second was David Moss's THE WHITE BOAT (yeah, it is white) followed by Ron Anderson's INSATIABLE in third overall.  Taking fourth was George Watson's AVITA and fifth was Mike & Kathleen McGill's MARY LOU.  Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com.  For more Sperry Topsider NOOD Sailing Regatta sailing information

Terhune Dazzles J/22 Midwinters

(Tampa, FL)-  Allan Terhune of Arnold, MD helmed DAZZLER to the lead on the first day of the J/22 Midwinter Championship in Tampa, Florida and never looked back. Ideal conditions greeted competitors from fifteen teams at Davis Island Yacht Club on the first day, with breezes in the 5-15 kts range under sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70s. From their the weather hung in there, despite one cloudy day.

Terhune's DAZZLER dominated the competition to win by fourteen points. Racing with Allan were Katie Terhune, Jeff Linton and Louise Neuberger. Terhune dropped his lowest score of only four and kept a line of 3,1,1,1,1,1,2 for just ten points in the eight race series. He was quick to praise the host Davis Island Yacht Club, saying "We couldn’t have had a better three days of sailing—warm, good breeze, challenging and fun!"

Chris Doyle of Kenmore, NY finished in second place with 24 points, and Casey Lambert of Seabrook, TX came in third with 28 points. The Maryland-based DAZZLER led from day one in the 15-boat fleet, and Terhune voiced that it was "unfortunate for anyone who missed this fun regatta. The Race Committee was great, and the social events were all fun." The J/22 Class is gearing up for its 30th anniversary with their J/22 World Championship this October in Newport, RI.

Terhune was happy to start off his year in such an exciting manner. "We were able to work on our team work and tuning, and start off the season right,' Terhune said. 'We’ve started our road to Worlds!"

In the final day of racing on Saturday, winds averaged around 14 knots in race eight, and then increased to a sustained 28 so race nine was abandoned. Terry Flynn’s TEJAS won the day’s only contest, trailed by Terhune and Doyle.

The top five were 1st Allan Terhune (10 points), 2nd Chris Doyle (24), 3rd Casey Lambert (28), 4th Terry Flynn (30) and 5th Chris Wientjes (36). The J/22 Class extends its appreciation to Davis Island Yacht Club and its volunteers, including PRO Mike Dawson and Regatta Chair Trista Snook. Complete results are available at J22 Midwinters.   For more J/22 Midwinters sailing information

J/22 Midwinters Preview

(Tampa, FL)- The J/22 class is returning to Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa Bay for its J/22 Midwinter Championships.  As one of the "sailingest" yacht clubs in the South, the DIYC always goes the extra mile to take care of its sailors and has deservedly gained the reputation as one of the nicest yacht clubs to host major events in the South.  Plus, one of the big bonuses often cited by the sailors is that the bar is great and the course can be viewed from the deck, just about a half mile or less away!

Nearly twenty J/22s are participating in this year's Midwinters and, given the experiences from J/Teams sailing in recent regattas on Tampa Bay, the J/22s can expect the entire smorgasbord of weather conditions, from light to heavy, choppy to flat and warm to cold-- pretty typical for this time of year on the Bay!  Top talent is showing up and one can expect that amongst the leaders will be J/22 champions like Chris Doyle and Will Harris on THE JUG 41 leading the Rochester fleet contingent along with Travis Odenbach and Patrick Wilson on HONEY BADGER.  Top Chesapeake Bay teams of Allan "Albie" Terhune sailing DAZZLER and Jeff Todd's HOT TODDY will figure into the mix.  Then, can't forget the Texas gangster, lead by past World Champion Terry Flynn on TEJAS along with Casey Lambert's team on BLACKBURN MARINE RACING.  Good luck to all and, above all, have fun!  Should be excellent racing this coming weekend.  For more J/22 Midwinters sailing information
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