Sunday, September 21, 2014

J/70 West Coasts Preview

J/70 Go-Rilla from West CoastJ/Teams Leaders for Ahmanson Cup
(Newport Beach, CA)- A keynote event on the Newport Harbor Yacht Club circuit is the famous Ahmanson Cup Regatta held on the third weekend of September every year- this year from September 20th to 21st.  Featured for this year’s event is the J/70 West Coast Championship as well as the regular PHRF Offshore buoy-race classes.

With a great performance at the Rolex Big Boat Series in San Francisco, the West Coast contingent of J/70 sailors are now looking forward to their next signature event on the Pacific Coast circuit.

The leading contenders are surely local class veterans like Tom Garret’s SLOOP JOHN B from Newport Harbor YC, Dan Gribble/ Kurt Wiese’s GO-RILLA from Balboa YC, Eric Kownacki/ Tom Jenkins’ DFZ from Manhattan Beach YC, and Karl Pomeroy’s ZERO TO 60 from Newport Harbor YC.

J/70 Eclipse from Santa Barbara, CAPerhaps the spoilers to the local’s party could be Stephen & Mike Drammer’s ECLIPSE from Santa Barbara YC or Beverly Burr’s VIVACE from Westlake YC.

On the PHRF Buoy Class offshore side of the regatta, there is no question an enormous spread in PHRF handicaps could become a “play” in the overall scheme of things.  Brian Dougherty’s J/105 LEGACY from Newport Harbor YC is up against Tim Harmon’s J/124 CIRRUS from Alamitos Bay YC; Roy Jones/ Scott Poe’s J/133 TANGO from Balboa YC; and a raft of other boats that include TP-52s!

In the PHRF RLC cruising class, the J/124 MARISOL, sailed by Seth Hall and friends, is up against Paul Stemler’s J/44 PATRIOT from Newport Harbor YC.   For more Ahmanson Cup sailing information