University Michigan Wins Highly Competitive J/109 Class in ICSA Offshore Championshihps
(Larchmont, NY- Oct. 10-11)- Here are the facts- forty boat fleet, thirty four (34) of them are J/Boats (85% of the fleet)- one-design classes of seven J/44s, ten J/109s and thirteen J/105s and the balance of J's distributed amongst the only two handicap classes- IRC40- J/122s and J/120 and IRC35- J/35. The ICSA might as well have called it "J/FEST Intercollegiate Championships"! The ICSA has been hosting the Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta in cooperation with Storm Trysail and Larchmont YC for the past nine years, once again introducing the joys of big-boat racing to boatloads of college sailors. Interestingly, the event has become the largest college regatta in America, with 31 schools and 327 sailors racing 40 boats ranging from J/105s to J/44s.
The largest sailboats in the regatta were the J/44s sailed by teams from the service academies and St. Mary's, which have offshore teams. These boats are large, fast and demand experienced crew. All the J/44s used class-owned one-design sails, which made the seven boats a very tight one-design group. Maine Maritime won the J/44 Class by sailing STC Commodore Jim Bishop's GOLD DIGGER-- they crushed the rest of the fleet and beat the second-place team from the Naval Academy by nine points, garnering a 1-1-1-5-1-4 record. Behind them in second was J/44 RESOLUTE, also sailed by the US Naval Academy with owner Don Rave, getting finishes of 3-2-5-3-2-6. The J/44 MAXINE sailed by USMMA and owner Bill Ketcham was third with a 2-5-3-2-3-7 record.
In the IRC 40 Class, Navy found its pace sailing George Petrides' modified J/120 AVRA to a 1-3-1-2-1-1 record. They eclipsed the second place team from Georgetown University, sailing Steve Furnary's J/122 PATRIOT, by nine points as well who had a 2-1-3-3-5-4 record. Rounding out the top three was Tufts racing the J/122 GEORGETOWN owned by George Marks to a respectable 5-4-4-1-2-5 tally.
In the 10-boat J/109 class the teams from the University of Michigan and Webb Institute tied for first. But the tie only existed because Michigan did not finish the third race due to blowing up a chute and losing the wind instruments off the top of the mast in a broach that occurred when a 30 knot-gust hit a majority of the J/109 fleet halfway through the race. Michigan, sailing Andrew Berdon's STRIDER, had to count the 11-point DNF (did not finish) since the regatta had no throw-outs. On the water, the team out-sailed the other J/109 teams upwind and downwind. No kidding! With finishes of 1-1-11-1-1-3 it's apparent the "scuttlebutt" on the dock was the "GO BLUE" Michigan team were THE team to beat and should be headed to Marseilles to rep the ICSA in the Student Worlds. Oh well, better luck next time guys. Trailing them on the tie-breaker was the J/109 RELENTLESS raced by Webb Institute and owner AL Minella with a record of 3-3-2-2-4-4. Just off the pace was LOKI sailed by the crew from Cornell and owner David Rosow with respectably consistent scores of 2-2-6-6-3-2.
The biggest fleet was the 13-boat J/105 class. The team from Bowdoin, a regular at the event, sailed Carl Olsson's J/105 MORNING GLORY to a slim two-point victory over the second team from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy sailing Kevin Grainger's J/105 GUMPTION 3. First-time participant Trinity College from Hartford, Conn., finished third with three firsts in their score line racing Barry Gold's J/105 WARHORSE.
"This regatta could not happen without the generosity of the boat owners who not only lend their boats but lend their expertise onboard," said Regatta Chair Adam Loory. "These guys come because we work hard to convince them that the regatta is a chance to give something back to the sport, but they return because they have so much fun with the kids learning from them and, at times, they learn from the kids.
Dr. Dan Herron, owner of the J/105 LIQUID COURAGE, a first time participant, said after the regatta, "Thanks again for the opportunity to participate. Watching the expression on the skipper's face as he surfed LIQUID COURAGE downwind on Saturday was priceless!"
For complete results and pictures, go here. Regatta Photos credit- Photoboat.com
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