J/24 Wins on Triple-tie for First!
(Seabrook, TX)- Lakewood Yacht Club held its 29th annual Shoe Regatta on May 21-22. Five J/105s, nine J/22s, seven J/80s and seven other J's sailing PHRF competed in 15-25 knot winds over the two-day affair. Competition was tight with lots of close finishes.
In the J/105 Class, Uzi Ozero sailing INFINITY dominated their class, "schooling" their fellow 105 sailors on how to sail fast in a breeze, getting a 2-2-1-1-1-1 for six points, tossing out a second! Mark Masur sailing TWO FEATHERS started strongly with two first, but then fell off the pace a bit to take three 3rds and a second to secure second overall with 10 points. Lying third was Bee Bednar on STINGER with fourteen points.
The J/22s had a strong turnout with nine boats having a blast sailing in the big breeze. However, like the J/105s, the J/22s also saw one boat loving the conditions and simply "schooled" their class pretty badly, Brant Koepke's FLOSSIE won with straight firsts, tossing a first to win with 6 points. Second was Anna Willits, presumably practicing for the Rolex Women's Worlds in Rochester, NY later this year. She and her team sailed incredibly well, just beating out Richard Voyles on MUST GO by one point, to finish second.
Sailing in the J/80s was past J/22 World Champion Terry Flynn, racing his J/22 QUANTUM RACING to a first place overall with nearly as dominating a series as the leaders in the J/22s and J/105s. Terry's team scored a 2-1-1-1-1-1-dnc to win with 7 points. Second was Bill Rose on KICKS with a 1-2-2-2-2-2-1 for 10 points. Third was Paul Parsons sailing the musically sensitive PARSONS PROJECT to a 6-3-5-3-3-3-4 for 21 points.
In the handicap world, four J's sailed PHRF A Spinnakers and three J's sailed PHRF B Spinnakers. Doug Shaffer's majestic J/122 GAMBLER finished third in PHRF A with a 2-4-3-3-5-1 scoreline for 13 points. Fourth was Albrecht Goethe's J/109 HAMBURG, fifth was Mark Smith's J/109 HARMS WAY and sixth was Scott Spurlin's J/111 007. In PHRF B, Stu Lindow's J/24 TROPICAL AGGRESSION won a triple tie-breaker for first overall! Wow, so cool to see such a competitive class. Stu's team got a 1-4-1-4-1-4 for 11 points, winning the tie-break on total firsts. Third in the tie-break was Tom Sutton's J/35 LEADING EDGE with a tally of 3-1-2-2-4-3 for 11 points. Only one point back from this trio was Dov Kivlovitz's J/24 NO NAME. For more Shoe Regatta sailing information.
