June 26, 2006...J Boat owners and crew made the best of the challenging conditions by winning four divisions and earning 8 other top three divisional finishes in the 2006 Centennial Bermuda Race, one of the longest lasting races in event history. Even the 98 foot Maximus took over 4 days to complete the 636 mile course.Only two classes, J/44s and J/42s, qualified for their own division starts, with 11 and 9 boats respectively. The first four J/44s crossed the line in a span of 10 minutes, with Dr. Eduardo Salvati’s Mabuhay II taking the ORR division trophy, while Scott Dinhofer’s Brown Eyed Girl won under IRC. The J/42 class was won by Henry Morgan on Dolphin.
J/120s dominated Class 6, with David Askew’s Flying Jenny V and John Niewenhous’ Loose Fish, taking 1st and 3rd under both ORR and IRC scoring. Other great performances include the J/130 Christopher Dragon (Andrew Weiss) winning Class 7 IRC, the J/133 Antidote (Ron Richman) capturing 3rd in Class 10 IRC; Gary Grant’s J/120 Alibi finishing 2nd in the Double-handed division; and Brad Willauer’s J/46 Breezing Up and James Brown’s J/133 Rumba finishing 1st and 3rd in the Cruising Class.