Wins J/22 Jack Rabbit Regatta
(Canandaigua, NY)- Every year, the J/22 class on Canandaigua Lake race
one of the great season opener regattas in the Northeast, the "Jack
Rabbit" regatta, hosted by Canandaigua YC. Many J/22s around the
northeastern part of America include the Jack Rabbit part of their early
season training, hopping into their trucks and making the annual
migration in late spring to one of the prettiest lakes in northern New
York state. For the most part, the weather conditions are pretty well
dictated by passing frontal systems, so nestled into some pretty
mountain valleys, the lake sailors often have to contend with capricious
breezes flowing off the mountain ridges and around the various bays.
Sailing can be spectacular, particularly if a strong NW'er front rolls
through, kicking up white caps against the spectacular backdrop of lush,
vibrant green mountain sides exploding with a rainbow of colors with
all the spring flowers. Besides the sailing, the evening entertainment
is notoriously good (e.g. excellent!).
This year, Saturday was like a July Day-- with no wind. However, the
company was good with great entertainment. For New Yorkers, the cool
thing is that the Preakness horse race was taking place, providing the
excitement of the day with three happy winners. Wildly popular amongst
the crowd was the familiar refrain "I'll Have Another", the standard
request for many fun-loving sailors who haven't had enough liquid
refreshments on the race course, but made even more appropriate by the
fact the winning horse's name was (drum roll, please) --- I'LL HAVE
ANOTHER! Too funny.
After the evening's entertainment closed down, the twenty-four J/22
teams were prepared to go racing in just about anything Mother Nature
would throw at them on Sunday. The race committee was able to squeeze
in two races with diminishing winds late Sunday morning. In the end,
Chris Doyle's team on THE JUG 41 hung in there to take a 1-2 and win
with 3 pts. Second was Mark & Cory Sertl's LUCY with a 3-1 for 4
pts. Third was Victor Snyder on MO'MONEY, fourth was John Goller and
fifth was Trevor Collins sailing ALTERNATIVE GIRLFRIEND.
A special "Thanks" go out to their Canadian friends who visited them for
the first time and had a long drive-- "please come back by", as they
say with a Southern-drawl. For more J/22 Jack Rabbit Regatta sailing information