(Halifax, Nova Scotia)- As everyone hoped for, the weather cooperated to
give this year's J/24 North American Championships some gorgeous
sailing in a simply spectacular sailing venue. The Royal Nova Scotia
Yacht Squadron pulled out all the stops and ensured the forty-plus J/24
teams in attendance had an absolutely fabulous time both on and off the
water. With masterful race management by RNSYS's RC/ PRO teams, the
races went off well, keeping the aggressive J/24 teams in check (most of
the time!) and providing all the sailors a great regatta.
At the end of the day, the early race leaders had a tough time hanging
on to their top spots. Like the proverbial Phoenix arising from the
ashes, sailing a strong second half of the series was Travis Odenbach,
sailing his J/24 WATERLINE SYSTEMS to a total of 30 points, narrowly
beating out current J/24 champion John Mollicone on 11TH HOUR RACING who
finished with 31 points. And, just behind them applying enormous
amounts of pressure on the two leading crews was none other than current
J/24 World Champion, Mauricio Santa Cruz sailing his famously named
BRUSCHETTA to 36 points (who in turn beat Will Welles's CAROLINA GIRL
team on tie-breaker)-- the outcome really did come down to the last
race!
Here are the reports from the three days of racing.
Day One-
The first day of racing is over at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron
and I’ m proud to say that I can pick a winner when I see one. The only
non-North American in the event, the Brazilian crew of Bruschetta has
led the way with a perfect sheet of three wins in three races.
From my perspective, handling the string pulling responsibilities on
Airborne, I have had glimpses of Bruschetta in every race. She is fast
but, much more important, her crew know how to handle her. Airborne,
which has been renamed Stix and Stones for the regatta and to protect
her resale value, is in 19th and Bruschetta has crossed behind us a
couple of times. It doesn’t last long though because the Brazilians know
where to tack as well as how to. Each smooth turn launches them into
clear air at top speed. A couple of those and they are soon out on their
own with Tim Healy and a couple of others snapping at their heels.
Tim Healy is giving a healthy chase. He recorded a couple of seconds in
the first two races and added a third in the last race of the day. Also
in the running are Will Welles from South Carolina (I saw a palmetto on
her stern and I happen to know the state tree of South Carolina) and
Tony Parker from Annapolis both of whom had steady top five finishes.
Ted Bartlewski of Toronto is the top Canadian in sixth.
Exposure to all these come from aways is revealing to the locals. We
have several current and past Canadian Champions registered from
Atlantic Canada but the competition is tough. The top local boat is
Sticky Fingers helmed by current Canadian Champ, Johnny Whynacht of
Lunenburg, who is holding down seventh place. Lisa Ross in Stewie
Slamn’it in 29 Seconds or Slam for short rounded the windward mark with
the lead in the second race and posted creditable finishes all three
times out to put herself and regatta Chair Dale Robertson in ninth.
As we learned at the Canadians last year, one day of dominance is no
guarantee but a three-way tie for first, like we had last year, is
looking pretty remote. The Brazilians and their brand new boat looked
awesome today and it will take quite an effort from Tim Healy or one of
the other contenders to reel them in.
The weather today was excellent. The sun shone as predicted and the wind
rose to a steady 15 kts from the southwest, also as forecast. Solid for
fast sailing but a fair test for everyone involved. Predictions for
tomorrow and Saturday are similar, promising good conditions for
Bruschetta to continue to shine and others to make whatever challenge
they can mount.
Day 2-
The second day of the J24 North Americans on Halifax Harbour taught a
couple of good lessons. One is that no one is invincible, another is
that you can only be lucky for so long.
For many this morning dawned a bit too early. Plenty went to Durty
Nelly’s last night and quite a few, whether they were in the pub or not,
seemed to be surprised to find that the schedule called for racing to
begin at 10:30 am as opposed to the 11:30 am start used on the first
day. Having cruised downtown on Dale Robertson’s massive Isle of Cumbrae
with the crews of Durty Nelly and Slam, I should have been among the
worst but I was the first among the crew of Stix and Stones to come to
the realization (my wife Lorna pointed it out). Several phone calls and
a bunch of hustling got us all together a bit after 9:30 and with
several projects leftover from last night, we were the last to pull out
from the dock right behind Durty Nelly herself.
As good race committees do, Jay Hooper’s crew were out past McNab’s
Island well ahead and did not waste any time getting down to things. The
wind was lightish from the southwest and the five-minute sequence
started within minutes of 10:30 leaving us a solid minute away when the
start gun went. Only the even more unfortunate Spar Wars was behind us.
With clarity of purpose that inevitably comes when most of your options
are eliminated, we set out to the righthand side of the course and
banged the corner for all we were worth. For once, a good decision, as
we were soon crossing boats and then reaching the windward mark within
sight — for heavens sakes – of Bruschetta, who had gone left and, for
once, were not in first. Our skipper, Erik Koppernaes, who is a sailing
contrarian if ever there was one, then came up with the brilliant stroke
of eschewing the gybe sets taken by the top end of the fleet and
continuing to the left from the offset mark. Several sharp sailors
behind us in the jumbled fleet such as Tony Parker in Bangor Packet and
Craig Noakes in Ian Dawson’s Lightning McQueen followed so I figured it
must make some sense and lo and behold it did. When we gybed we were up
with the leaders in what appeared to be significantly better pressure.
For a while I thought we might actually get through the leeward gate in
first but I was happy enough when we rounded in sixth, ahead of
Bruschetta.
We dropped as low as twelfth from there but pulled off another downwind
coup to finish up seventh, while Bruschetta fell to eleventh. I took a
couple of pictures of her finishing behind us for posterity. Our next
two races were more in character, a 20th, which is our average finish,
and a 25th brought on by a broken genoa tack shackle, that amply
reflects the state of readiness that you can get a J24 into if you start
preparations during lunch hour the day before the regatta and the point
at which our luck ran out.
Enough, in any case, about my experiences, which don’t figure
significantly in the actual story of the regatta. What our day on Stix
and Stones does illustrate, however, is that today was a day for nearly
every dog. It was light and shifty in the first race, light to medium
and persistently backing in the second race, and all over the damn place
in a rising breeze for the third and final race.
Just like last year’s Canadians here in Halifax, the first day leaders
in Bruschetta came to earth, with three finishes that would leave us
delirious on Stix and Stones, but were not enough to keep them in the
lead. The new front runner is the World Champion I forgot, Tim Healy of
Newport, Rhode Island. Tim’s 11th Hour Racing recorded two threes
followed by a bullet to move four points up on the Brazilians with one
drop race. Also having a good day was Travis Odenbach in Waterline
Systems, who won the first race of the day and then knocked down a five
and a six.
On the whole, the fleet bunched up considerably. Like Stix and Stones
many local boats punched into the top ten for a race or two. The
outstanding performer of the day was the Squadron’s own Ted Murphy, who
is weighed down by several aging friends of mine including his Uncle
Mat, who is the club’s Commodore. Ted racked up a 10, 2, 10 record and
moved into tenth overall. Another notable performance was by Thomas
Barbeau in Navtech.ca, who was the first to the huge port tack lift the
settled the day’s second race halfway up the first leg. Thomas and crew
horizoned the fleet, recording the first and only victory by a Canadian
in the regatta so far. The top Canadian overall though is still
Lunenburg’s Johnny Whynacht, who nabbed a third in the last race to move
up to sixth from seventh, one place ahead of Navtech.ca.
With boats yoyoing up and down the standings all day and even top boats
recording finishes in the teens and twenties, an exciting final day is
shaping up. The forecast indicates the weather will continue to be warm
and predominantly sunny, although there is a 30 per cent chance of rain
and the potential for thunder storms late in the afternoon. Wind is
supposed to be strong but dying in the afternoon according to the ever
reliable Environment Canada Marine forecast. Seems like a lot of
possibilities.
Day 3- The final day of the North American Championship again
brought shifty light winds that tested the ability of all sailors to be
consistent. It was probably even tougher than Friday, as a matter of
fact. Once again new boats made appearances at the head of the fleet and
the sailors who dominated previously struggled to figure out what was
going on.
The strongest performer of the day was Travis Odenbach in Waterline
Systems, who won the first race playing what appeared to me from my
position on the sideline as one of two boats that didn’t make the first
race start to be a strong lefthand shift as the wind moved from the west
to the south. He was followed by Chris Jankowski in Street Legal and
Will Welles in Carolina Girl.
The second race was a bit more complex as good shifts were identifiable
to both the left and the right. I can`t provide too many details on this
one because the Stix and Stones crew actually sailed and after rounding
the windward mark roughly mid-fleet managed to pull up our spinnaker on
the inside of our genoa, which gave us a very good look at the bottom
end of the fleet a very distant view of the front. I did, however, see
the Craig Noakes & Ian Dawson partnership in Lightning McQueen round
the windward mark in first after, I believe, working the right. I also
know Ted Bartlewski and crew in Drivers Wanted followed at that point in
one of the first mark roundings at which two Canadian boats held the
top two spots. They apparently held on through the balance of the race
followed by Will Welles, who nabbed his second third of the day.
I can give a lot more detail on the final race of the day and the
regatta. As I’ve mentioned, my skipper, Erik Koppernaes is a dyed in the
wool contrarian. For the third race the bulk of the fleet (i.e., about
25 of 30) lit out for the left side no doubt considering the forecast
that the wind would back. We, on the other hand, started by the
Committee boat and quickly tacked with a small apology onto our friend
Greg Blunden with whom we set out to the west with a couple of other
stragglers. As it turned out, Erik was onto something as we watched the
boats to the east fade and stall, as we picked up with Greg tucked below
us. After Greg tacked to starboard, we waited a bit and tacked
ourselves, skipping along just below the starboard tack layline with the
entire fleet framed in our genoa window.
We rounded the windward mark in first with Greg on our tail and a good
lead over the rest of the fleet. Our boat however is slow. Its a cottage
boat that should be sold to a good family on Grand Lake so they can
race it against the Tanzer 22s up there (it is minimum weight and it
has good sails but the bottom needs serious work to avoid being put out
to pasture - Ed.). Our crew work also isn`t that smooth. It didn`t take
Greg long to catch us after he executed a good gybe set at the offset.
We were happy enough to settle for second through the gate in any case.
In character, we went left after heading upwind while Greg again went
right. We needed to clear our air but Erik also thought it was swinging
east and his calculation didn`t appear to be wrong. There was good wind
all the way, although Greg`s boat, Adrenaline Rush, did pull away on the
right. As I mentioned, our boat is slow and we didn`t consider it to be
any shame to lose one place upwind to Travis Odenbach.
The three of us held on downwind but wouldn`t you know the last race
each day has five legs. The boat in fourth place as we headed upwind to
the right was Will Welles who already had two threes on the day and
appeared to have a strong interest in getting another. He worked us up
the righthand side of the last windward leg as Adrenaline Rush sailed
conservatively and very well to stay between Waterline Systems and the
finish line. Greg ultimately finished with a comfortable lead over
Travis Odenbach but Will Wells was more than we could handle, beating us
with a lovely roll tack to the finish for his third consecutive third
on the third day.
From the bigger and admittedly more relevant perspective of the overall
regatta results, Odenbach’s pass on us to get into second was critical.
The leader going into the last race was John Mollicone, who I have been
identifying for two days as Tim Healy for the simple reason that Mr.
Healy was the name on the registration form. Whether Mr. Mollicone or
Mr. Healy is the current World Champion, I’m not clear, but their boat
11th Hour Racing is damned fast and they held a good lead going into the
last day thanks to consistent sailing over the first two days as they
managed to be in the top three in all six races.
Day three was, however, a bit rougher as they led off with a twelfth. A
sixth in the final race, however, appeared to put them in the driver’s
seat as they went into the last race needing only a ninth to retain the
lead over Odenbach, who was the only boat within range of them.
Unfortunately, as so often seems to happen, what had to happen was
exactly what transpired. The 11th Hour team finished in eleventh with
Carter While in AL and Chris Jankowski in Street Legal respectively
occupying the ninth and tenth places that Mollicone needed to overtake
Odenbach. I have no idea how close they all were but Ì’m guessing there
wasn’t a lot of distance between them.
The results were that first day leaders Mauricio Santa Cruz in
Bruschetta held on for third through a tie breaker over Will Welles. The
top Canadian was Ted Bartlewski in Drivers Wanted, who took fifth. Top
Atlantic Canadian was Johnny Whynacht, who brought the crew of Sticky
Fingers home in seventh.
For
more J/24 North Americans sailing information
Husband-Wife Teams Sweep Podium
Not
to be outdone by any stretch of the imagination was another former
National Champion VELVET ELVIS (Adam & Helen Wright) who are fresh
from their success at Cowes Week and twice National Champions. The
Wright's velvety smooth, sharp, very intelligent and fast sailors
managed to hang tough for most of the event but simply didn't have the
edge or speed to overcome the Apthorp's well-oiled machine. As it was,
the "ELVIS" got two 1sts and four 2nds on their way to a very
well-deserved second overall for 19.5 points.
Of
special note were the fact that 2010 Euro Champion BLUEJAY (Greg
Burgess) who were keen to defend their title sailed especially well and
managed to garner a fourth overall-- perhaps next time he'll bring along
his significant "other" as good luck? Finally, on Friday with eyes on
the J/109 JET/ JP MORGAN with Britain's most successful Olympic sailor
aboard, Ben Ainslie, Ben simply proved that he could help even good club
racers-- taking a team that had been scoring in the bottom half of the
fleet and helping them sail into the top five on Friday with a score of
3-8-7! Pretty cool, eh? Well, Ben's a pretty cool guy to start with
and a talented sailor to boot. For more J/109 Europeans sailing information For more Ben Ainslie Sailing Team info Sailing Photo credits- Ginny Campbell
* J/22 sailor from Annapolis, Sue Mikulski,
a long time veteran competitor and key contributor to the Rolex Women's
reflects on how this special event has impacted her life. Over the
years, she has made it a personal goal of hers to grow competitive
women’s sailing and the Championship has played a major role in
achieving this.
