J/111, J/105, J/35 Racing!
(Harbor Springs, MI)- How do you spell fun? Jump into one of three
generations of 35 foot J racers in one of the prettiest regatta venues
on the planet- Little Traverse Bay near Harbor Springs, MI. Imagine
pristine light blue Caribbean-colored waters, good sea-breezes most days
and a great program for on-shore festivities and entertainment, you
just can't miss. The annual Harbor Springs Regatta, renamed to Ugotta Regatta, reflects the camaraderie and enjoyable spirit of Midwestern sailing on the Great Lakes. With such a short summer sailing season of only three (max 4) months, Midwestern sailors absolutely make the most of any good weather and awesome sailing conditions Mother Nature dishes out for them. More often than not, the town of Harbor Springs rolls out the red carpet for sailors and, coincidentally, the sometimes capricious Midwestern weather seems to cooperate. Let's hope for more good stuff for this event.
For the first time, there will be fleets of J/111s, J/105s and J/35s sailing as one-design classes in one event. The same six J/111s that sailed the Chicago-Mackinac Race will also be lining up to determine who's the around-the-cans champion after their long offshore tests the previous weekends. While KASHMIR won the Chicago-Mac Race (and the SW NOOD Regatta), expect to see IMPULSE, MENTAL, MISTY, NIGHT HAWK and, especially, local favorite and local sailing hero Dave Irish give them all a run for the money on NO SURPRISE.
In the J/35s, you'll see Larry Taunt's BAD DOG, Ed Baye's FALCON, Melia Carter's SPECIAL K, Larry Schell's TOUCH OF GREY and Gregg Whipple's WHIPLASH all fighting it out for the podium, all equally capable of grabbing the brass ring.
The J/105s will see Kevin Farrell's BANSHEE, Carter Williams' CREATIVE DESTRUCTION, Clarence Holman's EXIT STRATEGY, Bill Petzold's GREEN FLASH, Mary Symonds' PTERODACTYL and Richard Lehmann's WIND CZAR also having fun trying to overcome CREATIVE DESTRUCTION's and GREEN FLASH's local knowledge to bring home some silverware and pickle dishes. For more Ugotta Regatta sailing information
