35 Foot J's Clean Sweep IRC Overall/IRC 2/ PHRF 1! (Port Credit, Ontario, Canada)- It's not often that one brand can command clean sweeps in separate classes in two premiere Great Lakes offshore races in a single weekend. But, that's exactly what happened. Other than the Double-handers in the Chicago-Mac walking off the podium with all the pickle dishes, the 35 foot J's swept IRC Overall and IRC Class 2 and PHRF 1 in both the long course and Scotch Bonnet short course to take home all the silver.
For
starters, "congratulations" to Sperry Cup winner Robert Eckersley and
the J/109 BLUE STREAK crew from Queen City Yacht Club, winning the not
just the coveted Sperry Cup, but IRC 2 Class Overall. Not only did they
sail one heck of a race to beat their closest rivals, it was fellow J
sailors who were giving them a run for all the marbles. Just behind was
the J/35 JEAGER sailed by Leszek Siek to get 2nd class and 2nd
overall! Then, as if to ice the competition altogether, the J/109
LIVELY sailed by Murray Gainer got 3rd class, 3rd overall!
Astonishing. Awesome. Unprecedented? Perhaps. Then to add insult to
injury to all their competitors, yet another J/109, Denys Jones's CARPE
VENTUS finished 4th class, 7th overall!As if to prove their stablemates in IRC were not the only ones to show the fleet the way home, in PHRF 1 the J/35 SHORTHANDED sailed by Michael Pietz was also 1st class, 3rd overall! Remarkable, nearly total domination of 35 foot J's in the long-course 300 mile Lake Ontario race.
On
the shorter Scotch Bonnet Course, it was clear that yet another 35 foot
J set the pace, to be the first boat into the marina after all had
taken off the day before. In PHRF 1, the J/35 ABRACADABRA sailed by
Klaus Noack and team were not only first boat to finish in fleet, but
1st Class, 2nd overall! In short, like their 35 foot counterparts on
the Chicago-Mac, the Lake Ontario crowd also demonstrated why they are a
force to be reckoned with offshore-- easy to sail and awfully damn fast
in nearly all conditions on all points of sail. For more Lake Ontario 300 sailing information For full LO300 Sailing results
