Sunday, July 20, 2014

Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge Preview

bow girl on J/105 in Screwpile regattaFeaturing the J/80 East Coasts
(Solomons Island, MD)- For twenty years, the Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge has been a racer’s favorite regatta on the Chesapeake Bay.  It is held every mid-July in the middle of summer at Solomons Island, right in the middle (north and south) of the Bay.  The most significant change for the 21st running of the SPLC is that the event has moved to a weekend date, running from July 18th to 20th.  The format also includes a distance race for all fleets on Saturday.

Friday and Saturday night following our tent parties, live music in Isaac’s Pub starting at 9pm to 1am for the Screwpilers 2014. Friday’s band “Funkzilla” and Saturday’s “The Piranha’s” (who appeared at Screwpile in 2012) are back by popular demand.

J/111 Bad Cat sailing Screwpile Challenge racePerhaps most importantly, the Screwpile Challenge 2014 will also serve as the J/80 East Coast Championship.  The J/80 Fleet is sailing through a banner year on the Chesapeake Bay in 2014 with the J/80 North American Championships at Annapolis Yacht Club in mid-September and the J/80 Worlds at Eastport Yacht Club in late September.  A sizable fleet is expected and the competition close as seen in past years.  Screwpile has always been a favorite of many sailors; J/80 skippers included.  In fact, the J/80 sailors will also sail the same Distance Course race as the PHRF B Class.

Sailing in the thirteen boat J/80 fleet are KNEE DEEP (Clarke McKinney), ELEVEN (Bert Carp), RAKALI (Mark & Robin Witte), John White, VAYU (David Andrill), STACKED (Ramzi Bannura), MELTINI (Mike Hobson), OUTLAWS (Derrick Lynch), COOL-J (Alex Kraus), CHURCH KEY (Jesse McKnight), WHITE LIGHTNING (Vince Kalish), MANGO (Ken Mangano) and WINDRIDER (John Potvin & Tom Walth).

In the PHRF Handicap fleet there’s a broad range of J’s sailing, including Jim Whited’s J/111 BAD CAT, two J/109s- Sam Mitchener’s DOUBLE EAGLE & Craig Wright’s AFTERTHOUGHT, Peter D’Arista’s J/100 SUPRA, Dan Shannon’s J/29 THE DOGHOUSE and Larry Ray's J/70 J-RAY.  Sailing photo credits- Spinsheet.com magazine.  For more Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge sailing information