J Boats cleaned up in this year's Mills Trophy Race, one of the oldest and most prestigious events in western Lake Erie. Frank Kern in his J-120 "Carinthia" was 1st in PHRF-A and 1st Overall in PHRF, winning the Mills Trophy, and took 2nd in IRC. Harry Bloom in "Dirty Harry - Do You Feel Lucky?" sailed hard on the 54 mile Governor's Course with only two other crew in his J-105 to take 1st in Class, 1st Overall and the coveted Budweiser Eagle Trophy for best corrected margin in the fleet. J-Hawker, a J-120 sailing JAM with 2 adults and the rest kids, took 1st in Class and 1st Overall on the President's course. Talk about a rout!!The race was sailed in cold north winds that were steady in the 18-22 kt range shifting from NW to N. There were big waves that kept coming all night, a lot of wind chill, and a few gear casualties. On the 75 mile Mills course, the long 1st leg beat started in 12 kts and soon built to 22 kts. The equally long 2nd leg to Cedar Point was a blast reach. The shorter 3rd, 5th, and 6th saw jibs cracked-off and the 20 mile 4th leg was a dead beat into big Lake Erie waves that never seemed to end. Kites didn't go up until the final 12 miles of the race.
