Transpac-Gotland Runt-Halifax-The Mackinacs (Newport, RI)- It seems July in the "odd years" has more classic offshore yacht races than anyone could imagine and is an armchair sailors dream (most now have tracking). The really cool part about this year's races is that you can sail nearly all of July on a J somewhere around the world in some of the best offshore races imaginable.
Starting on July 4th is the famous Transpac Race, only 2,225 nm from LA to Hawaii's Diamond Head, easily one of America's classic offshore races right. Hard to imagine why anyone wouldn't like it- a classic "bucket list" race for anyone who loves offshore sailing. This one's easy, just head offshore beating for awhile, find the right track around the Pacific High, then uncork the big A-sails and go for it-- sliding downhill at 10-20 knots for 5-8 straight days (depending on size of boat)! Going this year is the J/130 BEBE sailed by Charles Browning from Santa Barbara YC which starts Monday sailing in Division 6. In Division 4 starting on Friday, July 8th will be a past Transpac Champion, the J/145 BAD PAK sailed by Tom Holthus from San Diego YC and the beautifully refinished (in platinum silver) J/125 DOUBLE TROUBLE raced by Andy Costello from Corinthian YC in San Francisco. Follow their tracks and cheer them on (every boat can be blogged)
Next
on the agenda a hemisphere away is the Round Gotland Runt Race starting
July 6th, yet another Scandinavian classic that has captivated
thousands for centuries (after all Viking ships did this as "practice"
for crossing the North Atlantic many moons ago!). Sailing are a
several J/109s and J/105s, a J/35 and J/120. The Round Gotland Race is
one of the world’s largest offshore races, starting first week of July
each year with the starting and finishing lines in Sandhamn, on the
wonderful, charming island of Sandön in the Stockholm Archipelago. It's
really several races within one sailing festival, the longest race
being 500 nm and the shortest under 50 nm for smaller boats (http://race.ksss.se). For some amusing blog commentary, you can always visit Peter Gustafsson's BLUR sailing site.Then across the Northern Atlantic on July 10th, a Canadian-American classic that has attracted a nearly "cult" following is the Marblehead to Halifax Race. Never the fastest, never the coolest, but an incredibly challenging event that keeps those hardy New Englanders (e.g. "Colonialists") answering that oft-called desire to hear the "call of the running tide, a wild call, a clear call that cannot be denied"! And, boy is that call of the running tide loud and clear, hundreds of sailors make an annual pilgrimage, to weather fog, ferries, 40 foot tidal changes, massive current and the breathless views of that spectacular "village" called Halifax (this is truly a race to the party as the Nova Scotians are notoriously fabulous hosts). Amongst the J's sailing in IRC Class are Reginald Gooday's J/44 AKUBRA from Royal Nova Scotia Sailing Squadron and George Shaw's J/122 TUMBLEWEED from Boston YC. Racing in the largest class, PHRF Racing with 34 entries, will be quite a few J's, including the Raymond's J/133 BELLA J from St John's, Canada; Jeff Eberle's J/130 CILISTA from Manchester, MA; Greg Leonard's J/120 HERON from Severn Sailing Association; Kris Kristiansen's J/130 SAGA from Marblehead, MA; Jim Praley's J/120 SHINNECOCK from Annapolis YC; Mark Schaffer's J/35 SURPRISE from Camden YC; Peter Griffin's J/120 UBUNTU from Portsmouth, NH; Mark Surrette's J/111 BLAST from RNSYS; and finally two "double-handed" racers- the Block Island Race winning J/105 JADED sailed by Peter Rugg from Fishers Island, NY and the J/109 JUICE sailed by Stew Creaser form Halifax, NS. For more Marblehead-Halifax Race sailing information.
The next weekend sees a "head-to-head" battle for the "classic" or the "longest" Great Lakes race in the great American Midwest. On Saturday, July 16th, two huge events start. The "grand dame" and perhaps the most prestigious is the Chicago to Mackinac Race- a 289 nm classic that basically pits the best-of-the-best offshore sailors from the western Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie). Much farther to the east is the "first Great Lake", Lake Ontario, the last lake to empty down the grand St. Lawrence Seaway into a yet slightly larger body of water, the North Atlantic Ocean. The Lake Ontario 300 starts and finishes in Mississauga, Ontario on a great tour of a very difficult lake to race. Following these two big Lakes races is the Port Huron-Mackinac starting on July 23rd. The longest consecutively running freshwater long-distance race since 1925. More previews to follow on these three events in coming weeks!
