Wednesday, November 10, 2010

J/120s Place In ORR Great Lakes Series

J/120s sailing Chicago Mackinac Race on Lake Michigan(Detroit, MI)- This past week, the ORR Owners Association announced the winners of the 2010 ORROA Great Lakes Championship Series.  Amongst J/Owners, congratulations to Ken Brown and his J/120 JAY HAWKER Team that finished in third place overall for the season!  Furthermore, credit must be given to Frank Kern, ex-Commodore of Bayview YC, leader and catalyst to spearhead this inaugural series on the Great Lakes.  For those of you with short memories, Frank's the fun-loving, highly successful skipper of the beloved J/120 CARINTHIA from Detroit.

This racing series was open to yachts holding a valid 2010 ORR certificate that entered in a minimum of 2 of the following races:  Queen’s Cup, Lake Huron International, Bayview Mackinac Race, Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac Race, Little Traverse Yacht Club 50th Annual Regatta, and Sheldon Clark Regatta.  In addition, each yacht must have competed in one of the Mackinac races in order to qualify.  Races in which the ORR rule was used, those results were used with the yacht entering the ORR class.  One design yachts competed in their own class.  In races where the ORR rule was not used, an ORR overlay was used with yachts entering those races under their NOR.51 yachts were entered in the series.

The 2010 Great Lakes Championship Series was the inaugural year AND inaugural series for the newly created Offshore Racing Rule Owners Association.  ORROA, in cooperation with the Offshore Racing Association (ORA) and Offshore Racing Rule (ORR), developed this series for Great Lakes sailors and hopes to offer more racing series in other parts of the USA in 2011.  The organization welcomes sailors and race organizers interested in giving boat owners of all types a fair and level playing-field. ORROA hopes that by encouraging the use of a common, objective rule, participation in regattas will increase across the country.  For more information, please contact: Frank Kern, Offshore Racing Rule Owners Association, Ph: 248-210-3150,  info@orroa.org, or go to http://www.orroa.org