(San Diego, CA)- Last weekend J/Boats from all over Southern California
convened at the San Diego Yacht Club for J/Fest 2011. In light but
steady conditions, the RC was able to get 5 races in over the weekend.
J/Fest is known as a regatta marked by protest-free racing, camaraderie
and awesome giveaways, and this weekend was no exception. Thanks to the
generosity of our sponsors, the J/Fest party consisted of finding
creative ways to give away thousands of dollars’ worth of SWAG. Needless
to say, the cookout dinner (by the skipper/ owners!) was always a hit
and the music and dancing afterwards provided the fun and icing on the
cake for the crews.
Competition
amongst the fleets was as keen and fun as ever. In the "big boat"
class, the J/120s had seven boats sailing a very nice series. But, past
champion Chuck Nichols on CC RIDER kicked up their heels again and
showed the fleet their transom for more than their fair share of races,
accumulating a 1-1-2-1-1 for 6 pts. John Laun's CAPER hung tough to
amass a 2-2-1-3-3 for 11 pts. And, the good news was that MELTEMI's
Peter Zarcades sailed consistently enough to get a scoreline of
5-3-3-4-4 for 19 pts to secure the last spot on the podium!
The
five boat J/109 fleet has always been a tough fleet with as spirited
competition as their larger counterparts in the J/120 class. But, in
the end, it was ELECTRA's Tom Brott that sailed a bit more consistent
than most to secure a 3-2-2-1-1 for 9 pts to win. Second was Daylen
Teren on GREAT BALLS OF FIRE, starting off slow, but catching up too
late to catch Tom's team with a strong finish, their 4-5-1-2-2 for 14
pts enough to just secure their position. Just behind these two was
John Schultze's team on LINSTAR, their 1-3-3-4-4 tally good for 15 pts
and third overall.
J/105s
continue to enjoy excellent one-design racing in San Diego, in
particular because some of their traveling teams (like their buddies in
Santa Barbara) have been exposed to fast regional and national
competition. With thirteen boats, it was amazing to see that the top
six were nearly all tied going into last race! By virtue of winning the
last race, Bennet Greenwald on PERSEVERANCE won by both "perseverance"
on a "squeaker", his 4-4-2-7-1 for 18 pts just beating out Steve and
Lucy Howell's BLINK! Steve and Lucy sailed well and only had to finish
within five places of PERSEVERANCE to win! Alas, such was not to be the
case, a 7th in the last race cost them the title. Third was past
champion WINGS sailed by Dennis and Sharon Case. Fourth was TRIPLE PLAY
skippered Dave Vieregg and, incredibly, fifth was SANITY sailed by Rick
Goebel--- now famous (or, infamous) for attempting to drag Blossom Rock
Buoy off its moorings in San Francisco Bay with a new move- the
"takedown, shrimp, gybe, fly from the masthead, gybe, retrieve from Davy
Jones Locker" play-- yes, with the same blue chute they sailed in San
Francisco now sailed again in San Diego-- incredibly, it's the miracle
of miracles!!
With
nearly as much drama as their J/105 counterparts, the J/80s had very
close racing for the top five amongst the nine boat fleet. The regatta
was settled by two tie-breakers AFTER the last race. Sailing clear, and
"drama-free", was Curt Johnson's AVET, their 2-3-1-3-1 for 10 pts
clearly put them in a class by themselves. However, 2nd to 5th was not
so clear, perhaps "clear as mud". Surviving the dog fight was John
Steen's team on UNDERDOG, their 8-4-2-1-2 for 17 pts winning the
tie-break for 2nd place over SLEEKIT's Robert and Nick Caldwell
(1-7-4-2-3 for 17 pts). Fourth place was settled the same way just 3
pts further back! In this case, MONKEY SHOULDER's Dan Gribble managed a
5-1-3-5-6 scoreline for 20 pts, beating NUHUNU's Steve Wyman 3-2-7-4-4
for 20 pts! All in all, it was a fun regatta.
Sailing photo credits- Joysailing.com Facebook- Joysailing For
more J/Fest San Diego sailing results
