J/Teams Love Key West!

(Key West, FL)- Remarkably, the "postcard perfect" sailing conditions that are promised each year for Quantum Key West Race Week always seem to get fulfilled, much to the delight of the 72 J/Teams sailing in the event (nearly 60% of the entire fleet!).

Perhaps the biggest news of the regatta was the fact the Italian CALVI NETWORK team won the enormous, very competitive J/70 class; skipper Carlo Alberini was 2014 European and Italian Champion and can now add the crown of not only J/70 Midwinter Champion, but also the Quantum Key West Race Week Overall Boat of the Week honors!  They were followed by the Mexican team of FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO skippered by Julian Fernandez Neckelmann from Valle de Bravo in Mexico City, with Team HELLY HANSEN (Tim Healy) losing out a certain regatta victory with an OCS in the last race (one in which they won).  And, the next most notable, if not heart-warming, story was the father-son combination sailing the J/70 PIED PIPER, with Dad crewing (Dan Troutman) and 12 year old son Gannon steering the entire regatta and taking 5th overall!

The J/111s also had some spirited, close racing with George Gamble’s MY SHARONA from Pensacola, Florida taking the win over a fast-closing SPACEMAN SPIFF, last year’s Key West J/111 PHRF winner, skippered by Rob Ruhlman.  Third was Brad Farber’s very well-sailed UTAH.

The J/88s saw a tactical duel take place all week between Rob & Sandy Butler’s TOUCH2PLAY RACING and Iris Vogel’s DEVIATION.  All week, the DEVIATION gang led the regatta until they faltered on the heavy air trio of races Friday.  The Butler crew from Canada sailed lights out the last day with three bullets in a row to win on a tie-breaker!  Third was David Betts’ INSTANT KARMA.

In PHRF A Time-on-Time division, the J/122s managed to close out the regatta with a flourish, taking 2nd and 3rd in division with Robin Team’s TEAMWORK again garnering top J/Team honors followed by Rick Wesslund’s EL OCASO- the one with the spectacular neon blue, NASCAR-like graphics.

Similarly in PHRF 2 Class, Jon Weglarz’s J/105 THE ASYLUM from Chicago, IL and Henry DeGroot’s WIRED from New Bedford YC finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Finally, Greg Slyngstad’s J/125 HAMACHI from Seattle, Washington sailed a come-from-behind series to snag 5th overall in a very tough IRC fleet (most boats being about 15+ years younger and fully optimized to IRC).  Tactician Jonathan McKee, the American Olympic Medalist, had some interesting commentary that was featured in Sailing World (see excerpts below).

Monday
The week got off to a strong start with the principal race officers on all three divisions able to complete two good races in 8-14 knot northeasterly winds.

For the huge J/70 class, the goal going into the first day was to avoid that deep finish that could prove costly. “You can’t win the regatta on Monday, but you sure can lose it,” HEARTBREAKER skipper Robert Hughes said. “You don’t want to sail your drop race on the first day.”

After finishing 11th in Race 1, San Diego skipper Bennett Greenwald on PERSEVERANCE got the gun in Race 2 and was the early leader while also earning City of Key West Boat of the Day honors. Hughes, who trailed Greenwald by three points and led Carlo Alberini’s CALVI NETWORK by one, had a similar day with results of 13th and second. In fact, the top five boats on Monday all had one result of fifth or better and another result of 11th or higher!  A first for any major J/70 regatta, that showed the depth of talent and parity in the fleet.

“We almost had a great day,” said Hughes, who lost seven places on the final leg of Race 1. “I’m pleased with our speed. We have new sails and have made some changes to the rig setup. This is the best this boat has ever gone.”

Leading the Corinthians was Jim Cunningham on LIFTED followed by Heather Gregg on MUSE and Brian Elliott on B-SQUARED.

In the J/88 class, Iris Vogel started the week off strongly, posting two bullets to lead the fleet.  In second was Rob & Sandy Butler on TOUCH2PLAY RACING with a 3-2 and in third was David Betts’ INSTANT KARMA with a 2-3.

The J/111s also had very close racing.  Commented Bob Hesse on LAKE EFFECT, “at the leeward gate in the second race all seven boats rounded with 15 seconds of each other!  It’s really fun, close racing.”  Hesse’s crew was leading the class by one point with a 4-1.  In second was George Gamble’s MY SHARONA from Pensacola, Florida with a 2-4 and tied on points was Brad Faber’s UTAH from Chicago, Illinois with a 3-3.

In PHRF 2, Jon Weglarz’s J/105 THE ASYLUM is in second with a 2-2 and Henry DeGroot’s J/80 WIRED in third with a 3-3.  The J/122s were having a rough go of it in PHRF 1 with the extreme range of ratings and performance within the fleet.

Tuesday
The second day brought dicey conditions that forced principal race officers to make numerous tough decisions. There were some delays, a few false starts and even one abandonment, but by the time the day was over all three divisions had completed two races in shifty winds that ranged from 5 to 7 knots.

The J/70s were sailing on the Division 2 course that was managed by Dave Brennan. A veteran principal race officer and Key West stalwart, Brennan was forced to delay several times in order to start races in stable winds.  “The breeze was very dodgy and moving through at least 50 degrees so the trick was picking the right radial to kick the race off,” Brennan said. “We want the sailors to have a reasonably square line. Prior to Race 4, we had to postpone three times to reset the line.  We made the racing as good as we could. Actually, we were very fortunate that it was quite good,” Brennan said.

Veteran sailmaker Jud Smith was the daily winner in J/70 class, sailing AFRICA to second in Race 3 then getting the gun in Race 4. That moved the Marblehead (Mass.) resident to the top of the standings with a low score of 30 points, just one ahead of the Greenwald’s PERSEVERANCE.

“We got out to the course early and had a nice tune-up session with another boat, which allowed us to get accustomed to the conditions,” Smith said. “I would have been happy with two Top 10 finishes on a day like this so I’m ecstatic to get a first and a second. We were fortunate to be in the right spots and I thought the team did a good job of changing gears.”  Smith, who is head of Doyle One-Design, has his daughter Lindsay on the boat along with Marc Gauthier and Will Felder. The former Rolex Yachtsman of the Year says the entire crew participates in tactics and strategy.

Behind them in third was Trey Sheehan’s HOOLIGAN: FLAT STANLEY RACING, they were second overall for the day with a 3-6 score.  Rounding out the top five in this hotly contested group was Doug McLean’s LATIS RACING in fourth with 37 pts and Bob Hughes’ HEARTBREAKER with 42 pts.

In the Corinthians Division, Jim Cunningham’s LIFTED continued to lead the fleet followed by Heather Gregg’s MUSE in second and Brian Elliott’s B-SQUARED in third.

After winning both races on Tuesday, New York skipper Iris Vogel added a pair of seconds on Tuesday to remain atop the standings in J/88 class with just 6 pts.  Only one point back was Rob and Sandy Butler’s TOUCH2PLAY RACING, vaulting up the standings after posting a pair of bullets.  Hanging onto third place is David Betts’ INSTANT KARMA with 12 pts.

There was a new leader in the J/111 class after Florida skipper George Gamble (Pensacola) posted a pair of bullets on Tuesday sailing MY SHARONA.  Quantum Sail Design Group pro Scott Nixon was calling tactics for Gamble on MY SHARONA, which holds a four-point lead over SPACEMAN SPIFF.  “We got great starts and did not miss a wind shift all day,” Gamble said. “The racing is amazingly tight. We won today’s second race by about a boat length.”

Also making a big move up the standings was last year’s J/111 PHRF A winner, Rob & Ryan Ruhlman’s SPACEMAN SPIFF from Cleveland, Ohio.  After posting a 2-3 in the difficult conditions, they now have 12 pts over four races, just 4 pts from the lead.  After starting out strong on the first day, Bob Hesse’s LAKE EFFECT from Youngstown, New York added a 6-2 to their scoreline, dropping to third in the standings with 13 pts, only 5 pts back from the top.  The racing in the J/111 class continues to be tight, with speed and tactics often getting eclipsed by better execution in the corners.

Wednesday
Based off early morning forecasts, it appeared a lay day might be in the cards for competitors. Some sailors might have already been making plays to play tennis or go fishing during an hour-long dockside delay.  Others were even contemplating how to take a day off in Havana, Cuba chartering planes (only 90nm direct)!

However, organizers with Premiere Racing saw a small pocket of sailable conditions and sent the fleet out to the three race courses. Division 1 completed two races while Divisions 2 and 3 both got in one to keep the regatta moving along.

Dave Brennan, principal race officer on Division 2, said the decision to send the boats out on the water came after organizers received live on- water reports from boats that had been sent out to determine exactly what conditions were.  “We were cautious because the forecast was not very promising,” said Brennan. “We had boats out on the water and were watching the progress very carefully. We felt there was a good chance the breeze would stick and that we could give the sailors a race.”  Brennan said conditions on his course, which includes the J/70 class, were perfectly fine for Race 5. However, the breeze steadily died and dipped below five knots, which is the threshold Brennan believes is necessary to start a race.  “We got in one good race on a day we didn’t think we would have any so that’s a plus,” he said. “This regatta has always been about quality over quantity and we didn’t think a second race today would be very good so we decided not to get greedy.”

Jud Smith remained the leader in J/70 class for the second straight day, sailing AFRICA to sixth on Wednesday and adding two points to his advantage over Greenwald’s PERSEVERANCE. Trey Sheehan steered HOOLIGAN to third on Wednesday and is now tied with PERSEVERANCE on points.

“Everybody is working together very nicely and the boat is moving real well,” said Michael Sheehan, who is crewing for his brother- Trey. “We were saying on the way back into the dock that we are not going to change anything. We are just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”  Brad Boston is tactician on HOOLIGAN, which has a home port of Put-In-Bay, Ohio and a team comprised of close friends who grew up together in the greater Cleveland area. HOOLIGAN is part of the Flat Stanley Racing program.  “We’ve been able to get off the line clean and we haven’t taken any flyers,” Michael Sheehan said. “Brad is really sharp about looking up the course and seeing what we’ve got coming.”

Skipper Iris Vogel and her team on DEVIATION along with skipper George Gamble and his crew aboard MY SHARONA have been leaders of the J/88 and J/111 one-design classes, respectively, at the end of each day’s racing.

Veteran Quantum pro Kerry Klingler is calling tactics for Vogel, who has finished first in three races and second in the two others. This is the first one-design regatta for any of the J/88s competing here in Key West and Vogel said she’s somewhat surprised to be the pace-setter.  “We’ve only being doing PHRF racing so we really don’t know how we good we were,” Vogel said. “It’s exciting to be here competing against other J/88s and finally finding out if we’re fast or slow.”

Nixon, an Annapolis-based Quantum professional, said the MY SHARONA team put in a lot of time practicing prior to the regatta and that effort is paying off. “We’ve been pretty fast in all conditions,” he said. “We actually had pretty good pressure coming off the northerly beach,” said Nixon. “It was about seven to eight knots from the northwest and we had a decent race.”

Rob Ruhlman, skipper of second place SPACEMAN SPIFF, has been impressed with MY SHARONA’s ability to accelerate off the start line. “MY SHARONA is killing it off the line. Today they got out there with clean air and just launched on the whole fleet. We have to do a better job of starting if we want to have any chance of beating them,” Ruhlman said.

Thursday
It was a “classic” Key West day Thursday.  After doing three races in strong winds on Thursday, there are no doubt a lot of sore muscles, aching bones and tired bodies for the sailors on Course 2 (J/70s) and Course 3 (J/88s, J/111s, J122s). Not that anyone was complaining. Light winds on Wednesday led to just one race on Division 2 and 3, and organizers with Premiere Racing were keen to make up for that on Thursday. So, the six classes competing on those two courses were sent out an hour early for a 10:30am start so the race committee could take advantage of east-southeasterly winds that held steady between 10 and 15 knots.

"The wind was absolutely gorgeous, and also quite stable. We never moved a mark during a race all day," said Wayne Bretsch, principal race officer for Division 3. "It was just a beautiful day for sailboat racing. The only way I would have enjoyed myself more was if I was racing!”

Bradley Faber, skipper of the J/111 UTAH, said it was a long day on the water and the crew aboard his boat enjoyed every minute of it.  "It was an exceptional day out there. Classic Key West conditions," Faber said. "We came here to go racing so the more, the better."

UTAH got the gun in two of three races on Thursday, finishing third in the other only because of a blown out spinnaker. That strong performance earned UTAH the Industry Partner Boat of the Day award and also enabled the Michigan entry to put pressure on MY SHARONA, which has led the J/111 class at the end of each day's racing.

"We had a really great day. The boat and the crew both performed very well," Faber said.  "We still believe we can win this thing. We're ready to do battle with MY SHARONA and see what happens."  Faber said Quantum Sails pro Wally Cross made a big impact on his program. "We have a pro onboard who has really helped us a lot on how to sail the 111. Wally is doing a great job of teaching us the dynamics of the boat," Faber said.

Light winds that had predominated during the regatta were frustrating for TEAMWORK, the J/122 that has struggled to save its time on the smaller, lighter Farr 280s in PHRF 1. Skipper Robin Team was thrilled to see the breeze pipe up to double digits then went out on the water and took full advantage of it. North Sails pro Jonathan Bartlett was calling tactics on TEAMWORK, which won all three races on Thursday.

"Heavy air resuscitated us! The conditions we saw today were a definite advantage to the J/122," Team said. "It feels extraordinarily good to have a day like this."  TEAMWORK jumped from fourth to second in the overall standings thanks to the three bullets.  "It's mathematically possible for us to win, but we would need a lot of help from the other boats in the class," said Team, who won PHRF 1 in 2013 and finished second in 2014.

It was surprising to see reigning J/70 World and North American champion Tim Healy sitting in 15th place two days into the regatta.  Many predicted that Healy would battle back to be there in the end and they were spot on.  Healy and his crew aboard HELLY HANSEN had steadily climbed into second place in the 54-boat fleet, making a major move on Thursday thanks to a tremendous score line of 2-2-1. Tactician Geoff Becker, trimmer John Mollicone and bowman Gordon Borges comprise the crew aboard HELLY HANSEN, which trailed class leader CALVI NETWORK (Carlo Alberini) by three points.  "Our starts weren't great and some things didn't go our way," Healy said when asked about the slow start. "We've dug our way back by doing a little better job of playing the shifts and passing boats."  Healy, president of North Sails One-Design, captured the J/70 class win at Quantum Key West in 2013 and 2014. The veteran professional said the fact he had to fight back into contention is further evidence the fleet is getting deeper and stronger. "People are learning the boats while the crews are getting better with more experience," he said.

Finally, in PHRF 2 class, the J/105 THE ASYLUM sailed by John Weglarz from Chicago, Illinois also reveled in the windier conditions, posting three 2nds to solidify their grip on second place.  Lying third was Henry DeGroot’s J/80 WIRED.

Friday Finale
The Winners for most of the marquee classes came down to the wire on the last day of the regatta.  With epic, “fresh to frightening” conditions, the 15-25 kt winds and enormous choppy seas challenged the competitors on Friday; forcing the top contenders to raise their game in order to claim overall victory.  Race committee personnel reported wind gusts of nearly 30 knots during the second race on Friday and that made for some spectacular racing. All J/Teams sailed a total of three races in the demanding sailing conditions and many said the best “leg” of the regatta was the 2-3 mile broad reach back to the harbor under spinnaker- with many boats reporting fantastic 12-15 kt planing conditions in the spectacular aquamarine waters!

J/70 Class
The J/70s had a week-long dog fight that saw constant changes at the top end of the standings. Skipper Carlo Alberini and his Italian team on CALVI NETWORK emerged as overall winner thanks to single-digit finishes in nine of 11 races. Branko Brcin served as tactician while Sergio Blosi and Karlo Hmeljak handled the trimming aboard CALVI NETWORK, which closed the regatta with a second after posting a steady string of fourths and fifths. That remarkable consistency in such a competitive class earned CALVI NETWORK the ultimate prize at Quantum Key West Race Week - Boat of the Week.

"The talent level in this class is very high. We came to Key West because we are very excited about the J/70 fleet and want to race against the best boats," said Alberini, who won the J/70 European and J/70 Italian Championship last year. "To win here is the best feeling. This might be the most important win of my career because we beat the world champion on the water!”

CALVI NETWORK totaled 49 points, eight better than the Mexican entry FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO that is skippered by Julian Fernandez Neckelmann. Italian pro Vasco Vascotto called tactics on FLOJITO, which closed the regatta strong with a first and second on Friday. Tim Healy, the reigning J/70 World Champion and two-time winner in Key West, finished third on HELLY HANSEN after pushing the line and being ruled on-course side (OCS) in the last race.  The balance of the top five included Jud Smith’s AFRICA in 4th place (an early regatta leader) and Dan & Gannon Troutman’s PIED PIPER in fifth.

Gannon Troutman, the 12-year-old skipper of PIED PIPER (seen above right), was the talk of the regatta after finishing fifth in the talent-laden J/70 class- winning a race while also posting a second and third (see the interview/ article below).

San Francisco skipper Jim Cunningham’s LIFTED captured the Corinthian Division of J/70 class, which had 20 boats; he also finished 7th overall.  Behind him it was a tough battle for the 2nd and 3rd.  Going into the last set of three races, Brian Elliot’s B-SQUARED held a 3 point lead over Heather Gregg’s MUSE.  However, in the epic, windy final day it seemed Heather got her groove on and beat them in every race.  Tied on points, Heather’s MUSE team took 2nd over Brian’s B-SQUARED.  Rounding out the top five were Geoff Pierini’s SURGE in fourth and Craig Tallman’s JAYA from Santa Barbara, California in fifth.

J/88 Class
The J/88 class was decided on Friday with Rob & Sandy Butler sailing TOUCH2PLAY RACING to victory in both races. That clutch performance gave the Canadian entry the same amount of points as DEVIATION, skippered by Iris Vogel of New Rochelle, New York.  TOUCH2PLAY won the tiebreaker by virtue of more first place finishes.

"We put the pressure on (Deviation) by winning the last race on Thursday. We still trailed by two points so we knew we had to come out and win both races today," Rob Butler said. "Our crew was really dialed in and we had very good boat speed. I'm proud of the team for doing what we had to do in order to win the regatta."

Behind these two, it was David Betts’ INSTANT KARMA that took third, narrowly beating out Joe & Jeff Pawlowski’s EASY EIGHTS in fourth and Chester Kolascz’s SARALYSIA in fifth.

J/111 Class
The J/111s saw Pensacola, Florida skipper George Gamble steer MY SHARONA to a wire-to-wire victory. Quantum pro Scott Nixon called tactics on MY SHARONA, which displayed superb boat speed in all conditions in winning five races and placing second or third in four others. After a slow start, the 2014 Key West Race Week winner, Rob Ruhlman’s SPACEMAN SPIFF, closed strongly to take second overall for the regatta.  Third was Brad Faber’s UTAH.  Early regatta leader, Bob Hesse’s LAKE EFFECT, sailed consistently to take fourth and lying fifth was William Smith’s WOOTON.

PHRF 1 CLASS
The “tale of the tape” in the PHRF 1 class could be boiled down to wind and wave conditions.  The first half of the week it was generally light to moderate, but the last two days it was much heavier breezes with extremely steep chop.  Reveling in the last half of the races was Robin Team’s J/122 TEAMWORK- a previous regatta winner in the class.  After posting three 1sts and two 2nds in the last five races, TEAMWORK secured yet another podium finish for the regatta, winning PHRF Class Boat of the Day and also taking second overall.  Similarly, Rick Wesslund’s J/122 EL OCASO came on strong in the last half to take third overall in class.

PHRF 2 CLASS
It was clear there was a “pecking order” from the first day of the regatta.  In the end, Jon Weglarz’s J/105 THE ASYLUM from Chicago, Illinois took second place with nine 2nd places in 11 races!  Third overall was Henry DeGroot’s J/80 WIRED.

Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes / timwilkes.com; Sharon Green/ Ultimatesailing.com; Allen Clark/ Photoboat.com; Ken Stanek.   For more Quantum Key West Race Week sailing information.