US Women's Match Race Sailing Preview

Top Women's Teams Sailing J/22s @ St Francis YC
(San Francisco, California)- The 2016 Olympic Games may have eliminated the Women's Match Race event, but the beat rocks on this week at the 2012 U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship (Sept. 13-16). Six teams from across the United States have come to San Francisco to compete for the title in J/22s at the St. Francis Yacht Club. Typically strong winds are forecast for the event and the teams will be tested not only by each other but by the conditions on the City Front. Furthermore, the US Sailing Championship is a Qualifying Event for the 2012 ISAF Nations Cup Regional Finals.

This year’s roster is highlighted by Genny Tulloch (San Francisco, Calif.), a two-time U.S. Women’s Match Racing Champion skipper. Tulloch finished just short of winning her third consecutive U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship at least year’s event on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. She lost a thrilling Final match to Sally Barkow, 3-2. Tulloch will be sailing with US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider teammates Jennifer Chamberlin (Washington, D.C.) and Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.), who finished fourth as a skipper at last year’s event. Margaret Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) will also be crewing for Tulloch. She was a crew for Roble last year.

Three-time Rolex Women’s Match Racing Champion Sandy Hayes (Scituate, Mass.) is in pursuit of her first U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship. She will be joined this week by teammates, Cindy Olsen (Scituate, Mass.), Ivy Binns (San Mateo, Calif.), and Krista Paxton (Detroit, Mich.).

Giving these top teams a run-for-the-money will be local StFYC sailors Nicole Breault, Evan Brown, Casey Williams and Julie Servais.  Nicole has won the J/22 SoCal Match Racing circuit and her familiarity with the boats and the local San Francisco Bay conditions will prove to her liking.  For more US Women's Match Racing sailing information

J/22 Sailing MoBay- "Hannah Montana" Report!

(Montego Bay, Jamaica)- The Jamaica J/22 Class had a fabulous third meet in Montego Bay.  The second meet was a hoot, but the third one was even better- we called it the "Hannah Montana" special.  We had six races in 5 to 25 kt winds.  For the most part there were three race per day with at most two hours on the water per day.  Too short, you say?

Well, here in MoBay we take most kindly to the most "considerate" sailing imaginable. After all, it's beautiful here.  The people are beautiful, too.  And, they are simply wonderful and laid back.  Don't believe us?  Please come down and join us, mon!  Be assured, we can show you a good time!

So, here's an example of how we sail-- There should be no such thing as a ‘close call’ in a port-starboard that doesn’t result in a protest and this past weekend people realized that as port boat in close quarters they must either tack and (preferably) lee bow, or duck.  A good duck can only mean that the chances are the roles will be reversed at the next encounter further up the course!!

The fleet was very conservative at the start on both days with ZIPPER playing at the port end and clearing easily across the fleet on a couple of occasions.

Once again a square short start line, with excellent race management from Evelyn Harrington and Robbin Delisser, the fleet was able to enjoy a focus on extremely close racing.  The only thing persistent for the whole weekend was that there was no right or wrong on the way up the course and 20 degree shifts were the norm.  Those that could capitalize gained big and those that couldn’t - well, next time.  Boat speed helped but as RENEGADE proved with her oldest sails pointing the bow in the right direction ensured a place well up in the fleet was really possible.

Sunday’s racing had everyone in the bar within 2.5 hours albeit with rain preventing the boats from coming out of the water.  There is so much positive energy and reaction to the impetus we can only hope that Montego Bay can generate as much participation in Kingston in the coming months.

Thanks to "Hanna Montana" for the title and a pink beach ball picked up during a downwind leg on "Renegade" which even has a little bell in it!!  Cool runnings, dudes, kids will love this one!  Sailing photo credits- Evelyn Harrington   For more Royal Jamaica YC and J/22 Montego Bay sailing information

J/70 Flies Around Island

(Jamestown, Rhode Island)- There are few regattas on the Narraganset Bay yachting calendar that have a greater following and are looked forward to with greater anticipation during the course of the "Newport Summer" than Conanicut YC's Around Island Race.  While Newport enjoys multiple "around Jamestown Island races" during the course of the summer, from little boats, to big boats, to classic yachts (like really big ones), the Granddaddy of them all has always been the Labor Day Weekend romp around the 18-21nm course on Sunday.

This year 100 boats competed in the 85th CYC Around Island Race for both the new elapsed time trophy as well as the PHRF handicap corrected time trophy.  Plus, there were one-design classes competing, including J/22s and J/24s from the local Narraganset Bay fleets.

The forecast for the day was a bit variable, but suffice it so say the SSE winds of 8-12 kts ultimately developed such that the fleet was treated to yet another classic around the island romp.  While fleets A to F started in light winds with a massive "ebb current" flushing them out of the start area just off Conanicut YC, the combination of current "wind" and actual "wind" conspired to push the small boats out to the first major turning mark off Beavertail Lighthouse at a rapid speed of current + wind of about 3 kts VMG.  The RC's PRO wisely decided to postpone the "big boats" for 45 minutes until the wind re-established itself.  At that point, it was going to be clear that the overall elapsed and corrected time silverware was going to be a run-for-the-money by the "big boats".  The fleet was treated to a "classic" Bay sea breeze, building up to 15 knots so the sailors could enjoy a fast downhill ride down the West Passage to the northern part of Jamestown (against the strong ebb current) before turning back upwind into the moderate southerly against a tide that changed to beat (guess what) back into the flood tide!!  Ouch.  Can't win some days, but the current/wind Gods conspired so the fleet was basically fighting against the current all the way around the island!!  Little boats got crushed in the standings, big boats dominated by a country furlong.

For the one-design boats, none of the wind/ current stuff mattered-- whomever beat who got the ultimate bragging rights. In the J/22 class, 1st was LUCY sailed by Cory Sertl, 2nd was WHARF RAT helmed by Matt Dunbar and 3rd was MACHBUSTER led by Jeff Westcott.  In the J/24s, it was "girl power" again like their compatriots in Hong Kong!  This time is was Lindsey Turowski winning with BERLY MOVIN, followed in 2nd by Bob Lambert's BARFLY and 3rd was Newport J/24 class veteran Mike Hill on OBSTREPEROUS.

In PHRF handicap world it was an eclectic bunch of boats and fleets that made up the rest.  Starting with Class B the J/24 NIGHTHAWK finished 3rd with Richard Barker and Mike Ryan.  Class F saw two J/29s taking two top spots with Dennis Nixon's LYNX in 3rd and Steve Wood's BIG TAZ in 4th.  Class G was a tough fleet, but the J/109 PICANTE sailed by Dr Rob Salk led the J teams home with a 2nd, followed by Paul Grimes' J/35 BREAKAWAY IN 4th and EC Helme's J/92s SPIRIT in 5th.

In PHRF Class H, it was "sports-boat" shootout with J/80s, a J/70, a pair of VX-One's and others.  In the end, the J/70 J-HAWK sailed by Stu Johnstone and Julia Langford (sailing double-handed) were first across the line elapsed amongst the smaller boats but ended up 3rd on PHRF corrected (sailing with a 111 PHRF rating).  Winning the top two slots were the J/80s GROMIT sailed by Andy Burton and GOOSE in second sailed by Chris Bulger.  Fifth in class was Peter McCarthy and gang on the J/80 EAGLE!  A great performance overall by the J/Sports boat gang.

Finally, in PHRF Class J, finishing third was the custom J/44 WHITE GOLD sailed by Jamestown "hommie" and CYC member Jim Bishop.

The trophy winners for the event included a proverbial J/Alumni list of owners, including Phil Lotz (J/24s and J/105s) sailing his Swan 42 to the Fastest Elapses Award and Malcom Gefter (J/105s) on his Melges 32 winning the Handicap Award.  Plus, the Eads Johnson Trophy (large boat, fastest corrected time) went to Jim Bishop's J/44 custom WHITE GOLD and the Robert A. MacLeod Rear Commodore Trophy (day-sailer, fastest corrected time) went to Cory Sertl's J/22 LUCY!!   For more CYC Around Island Race sailing information

Hartog Wins J/22 Hamburg Champs

(Hamburg, Germany)- The J/22 fleet in Germany continues to grow and the Hamburger Segel-Club that sails on the gorgeous waters off Hamburg always seem to enjoy spirited competition amongst friends.  The fleet has expanded and the level of sailing competition has improved considerably.

Over the August 25th-26th weekend, it was pretty clear that Svend Hartog's team on GER 1450 were sailing quite confidently and their record of 2-5-1-1-2 for a 6 pts net total meant they just nipped their friends in second by just one point.  It was a wonderful victory for Svend's team that was comprised of two guys and two girls- Svend and friend Dirk Fischer and Stefanie Schweder and Annie Westschfling.  Sailing incredibly well and giving Svend's team serious competition was Hardy Kleinfeld on GER 1181 with a very steady 1-1-3-2-3 with just 7 pts net (unbelievable to lose with such a steady record!).  Third was Frank Lammerskitten with yet another tough record of 3-4-2-4-1 for just 10 pts net!

While the top three boats were having their own battle  for fleet domination, it was pretty clear that several other battles were emerging amongst other members in the fleet.  The balance of the top five was decided by a tie-breaker!  Winning this gunfight at the OK Corral was Kai Freese on GER 1243 with a 5-2-7-5-5 for 17 pts.  Losing that skirmish was Ingo Hueter on GER 1364 with a 4-6-4-3-6 record for 17 pts (no seconds made the difference).   For more J/22 Germany sailing information

J/Teams Hot In Annapolis!

(Annapolis, Maryland)- Annapolis Race Week (ARW) is a Mid-Atlantic Region annual event that occurs every year over Labor Day weekend off the famous shores of Annapolis (a.k.a. "Naptown"). The 3-day event offers a significant and unique opportunity for sailors to party and have fun on the city-front right in the city square where the enormous Annapolis Sailboat Show is held every year in October.  There were significant fleets of one-design J/Teams sailing, including J/24s, J/35s, J/30s, J/105s and J/80s.  Plus, J/111s sailed in PHRF class.

J/24s had six boats participating with Paul van Ravenswaay's team on MILLENIUM FALCON walking off with top honors with four 1sts, one 2nd and three 3rds for 15 pts total. Second was Paul Ford on WILDCARD with a 4-3-3-4-3-1-1-3 record for 22 pts.  Just one point back was Peter Rich on USA 4006 with a 1-5-4-1-4-2-4-2 tally for 23 pts.

In the J/35s, a strong contingent of seven boats sought the "holy grail", but in the end it was Masci McGonigle's WINDEPENDENT that just squeaked out a win with a 1-1-2-6 score for 10 pts.  Just behind them the score was settled on a tie-breaker with Pete Scheidt's MAGGIE beating out Chuck Kohlerman's MEDICINE MAN.  MAGGIE's 3-5-1-2 for 11 pts was better than the Med-MAN's 2-2-3-4 also for 11 pts.

The J/105s had the one of the large one-design racing division with seventeen boats participating.  Jack Biddle's RUM PUPPY was "alpha male dog" here with a fairly dominating 4-2-3-1-1-2 for 13 pts.  The next four boats had to fight it out amongst themselves for 2nd and 3rd on the podium.  Carl & Scott Gitchell's crew on TENACIOUS emerged from the smoke-filled field of battle as top of the pack with a 1-4-5-11-7-1 for 29 pts to snag second place.  They just managed to beat the VELOCE gang with 31 pts who finished 3rd.  Fourth was Andrew Kennedy's BAT IV with 32 pts and fifth was Carolyn & Chris Groobey's JAVA.

J/30s had a nice turnout with seven boats and it was quite clear the top three had an incredibly competitive series.  Setting the BETTER MOUSETRAP was Bob Putnan, sailing to a steady 1-3-1-4-2-2 for 13 pts.  One point back BEPOP'ing around was Bob Rutsch and Mike Costello with a 3-1-3-1-3-3 for 14 pts.  Then thirsting INSATIABLY for more was Ron Anderson's crew managing to smoke the fleet for two picket fences on the last day, but not enough to overcome his friends in 1-2.  So, Ron's 4-2-5-3-1-1 for 16 pts meant they had to settle for 3rd.

The largest one-design fleet sailing were the J/80s with eighteen boats on the starting line.  In the end, it was Kristen Robinson's much-improved team winning by a substantial margin- their 1-3-2-4-2-2 for 14 pts meant they had a 7 pt margin of victory.  Second was Ray Wulff on GORILLA PANIC! with a 3-7-3-2-1-5 for 21 pts.  Third was John White's team just one pt back.  Fourth was Todd Olds on TSUNAMI with 29 pts and fifth was Clarke McKinney sailing AUNT EDNA'S DEAD with 34 pts.

In handicap world of PHRF A-1, the J/111s had a dog-fight for top to the pack.  This time, it was Tony Culotta's CUORE DI LEONE overcoming the well-traveled VELOCITY for top banana.  Tony's crew managed to garner the identical score of 2-1-2-1 for 6 pts to Marty's 1-2-1-2 also for 6 pts, with the winner being who won the last race!  For more Annapolis Race Week sailing information

The National YC One-design regatta

(Toronto, Ontario, Canada)- The National YC One-design regatta was held July 7-8, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario.  The J/22 FLAWED LOGIC was sailed by Chris Hobbs AND his entire family, including Will (2), Ilaria (4) and wife Toni. They finished first and second in two individual races to end up second overall out of 7 J/22's. Sweet!

The funniest part is watching this video and seeing the kid's head in the cockpit! Said Chris about their barn-burning performance, "The morning after the regatta, Ilaria had a pencil in an empty plastic cup and was stirring air. When I asked her what she was doing, she said 'stirring epoxy'. The people at her daycare must wonder about us!"  Enjoy watching this J/22 family sailing their J/22 off Toronto.

Doyles Dominate CORK Race Week

Chris Doyle Wins J/22 Canadian Championship
(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)- In 1969 a group of enthusiastic sailors decided to establish CORK to host international sailing events off Kingston. The area offers some of the best fresh-water sailing in the world, excellent wind and wave conditions, and a short distance from shore to the race courses. Leading up to the 1976 Olympics, the CORK regatta offered excellent training for sailors, coaches and officials and has since become a fixture on the international calendar. CORK has hosted championships for international classes out of the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour for the past 36 years.

Working closely with the Ontario Sailing Association and the Canadian Yachting Association, the annual CORK Regatta has a total participation of more than 1,000 boats, it is a magnificent two week sailing festival, attracting sailors not only from North America but from all over the world.

This year's event pretty much served up what most expect of Kingston's fabled sailing conditions. Located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario and the head of the St. Lawrence River, the combination of land mass, islands and thermal effects produce excellent wind and wave conditions with very little current.  Winds during July/ August are predominantly from a south-westerly direction, with an afternoon wind range of 10-15 knots.  The J/22 sailors were got what they expected for their 2012 J/22 Canadian Championship held as part of CORK Race Week.  Sailed from Aug 24th to 26th, the nineteen J/22 teams enjoyed six races over Saturday and Sunday on Lake Ontario.  In the end,  Chris Doyle, Will Harris and Adams Burns finished in first, Michele Cimon, Johan Koppernaes and David O’Sullivan in second and Kevin Doyle, Victor Snyder and their crew in third.  Chris Doyle's team was just smokin'hot, scoring five 1st and dropping a 2nd to win the regatta by a landslide with only 5 pts.  Hard to beat a perfect score, eh!?  Michele Simon's Canadian team wished they could take back their first race, but she and her team fought back hard to hold off yet another member of the Doyle family from Rochester, Kevin Doyle, to grab 2nd overall with a 6-4-2-2-3-1 scoreline for 12 pts net.  Third was Kevin Doyle's gang from Rochester sailing to a 2-3-2.5-4-2-17 to finish with 13.5 pts net.

The Canadian teams sailed well, showing they're no pushovers by the top American teams.  Other than the two Doyle family teams, the Canadians grabbed three of the top five slots.  In fourth was Trevor Collins sailing with Doug Mair and Alexandra Leus and in fifth was Ron Harris sailed with Pete Amos and John Marten.  For more J/22 Canadian Championship and CORK Race Week sailing information