DeNapoli Breezes to J/105 Win
(Marblehead, MA)- The PHRF New England Championships is one of New England's premiere sailing competitions and one of the largest, offshore East Coast sailing events of the entire 2010 season. More than 1,200 sailors gathered in Marblehead to race on three courses for the three-day regatta. J's were well represented on each course, with a large class of 22 J/105s on one course and J/30s, J/100s, J/109s, a J/120 and J/130 spread across the fleet.
Like last year's event, the fleet was greeted on Friday with a NNW breeze in the morning that had all the promise of lasting all day. However, as those who've sailed in Marblehead's capricious waters over the years know all too well, it was an unlikely prospect to happen. The first two races were sailed in very shifty, very streaky winds and it appeared many boats had theories on how to get around the race track better, as groups of boats would simply hit a corner--- hard. By the third race, it was obvious the northerly would die, flip-flopping entire fleets front to back and again at least once. Saturday's sailing was a more "normal" day for Marblehead as the southerly sea breeze developed quickly and behaved a bit erratically, even for die-hard Marblehead cynics. By Sunday, the PRO's on all course were wishing to get in at least one race in the uncharacteristically light and spotty southerly sea breeze, most did. Some smart guys resorted to new technology- cool boom tents called "Tent-O" (seen here)-- more news about these amazing gadgets later. "Tento" Photo Credit- Leighton O'Connor
The large J/105 one-design class were sailing their New England Championship. The veterans hung in there and the top three leaders managed to find a few good corners on the race course and dug themselves out of other bad legs more than once. Leading the pack was Fred DeNapoli's ALLEGRO SEMPLICITA with a remarkably consistent score of 1-1-9-3-4-4 for 12.5 points. After Saturday it was clear Fred and gang must've had their lucky Mardi Gras beads on as they simply could not make a big mistake, unlike the rest of the fleet. A group of five boats were vying for second place and after the smoke cleared, it was Matt Pike's GOT QI that wrestled themselves into 2nd place followed by Peter Morgan's STEEL AWAY in third, Mike Royer's BLOWN AWAY in fourth and the Brauer/Neff team aboard SCIMITAR in fifth.In the handicap world, Bob Cunningham's J/30 RUFFIAN finished second in Class CR2 with a strong 3-1-1-3-2 record, just one point out of first!
In Class R4, second was the J/100 MOOSE DROOL sailed by Adam Saidla to a 6-1-1-1-3 score, losing first place by just 0.5 points! Just off the pace in 5th was the J/33 SCIROCCO well-sailed by Ward and Liz Blodgett.
For the "Day" Class Boat fleet, there were a smattering of J/100s. Finishing 4th was the J/100 GIGI skippered by Tom Mager with a very consistent 5-5-5 score. In 5th was the J/100 REDWING sailed by David McCue with a 4-4-11 record, just four points back. In 7th was Ed Kaye's J/100 and in 10th was George Putnam's J/100 LARUS.There was a gorgeous J/30 sailing in Class R5. Homa and Buxton's J/30 EVELYN looked completely reconditioned. It is a beautifully refinished boat with a pretty grey-blue polyurethane gloss on their topsides.
In Class R3, there were some nicely sailed J/109s, led home by Gary Weisberg on HEATWAVE. Gary's team started out solidly with a 2-1 but then had trouble on the shiftier, streakier days to get a 6-3 to close out the series. The J/109 SUPERSTITION sailed by Chris Zibailo was fourth and in sixth was Mike Feeley's LADY LOVE. 7th was the J/35 DIE FLEDERMAUS sailed by Ty Janney.
In the "big boat" Class R2, the J/130 SAGA skippered by Kris Kristiansen took third place with a 4-3-5-1 and just missing second by 1.8 points. Behind them in sixth was Seamus Hourihan's J/120 RUFFIAN. For more PHRF New Englands sailing information. Sailing photo credits- Blake Jackson
