JAEGER Wins J/29 NA's

(Lunenburg, Nova Scotia)- The local J/29 fleet in Halifax, Nova Scotia and 29 owner Matt Stokes did a remarkable job to attract a fleet of fourteen J/29s to race in this year's Halifax BMW J/29 North American Championship hosted by the Lunenburg Yacht Club.  Here's the rather amusing report and commentary from Johnny Heseltine, one of the co-owners of J-ZEUS I-19.

"The pre-amble to the J/29 North Americans was the Charlottetown Race Week, the event attracted a respectable fleet with four Nova Scotia J/29s packing it up and hitting the road to take on four Island boats. The Nova Scotians dominating this time around. What the results clearly indicate is that J24 ace Johnny Whynacht, who has recently joined Quantum Sails as their Atlantic Canada rep and has also taken over Larry Creaser’s super fast Jaeger, got off to a flying start. John and crew won all four races on the first day of the event and looked ready to run away. On the second day, however, he slipped just a bit (not much) and then tripped with an OCS that opened the door for the steady Christies in the always dangerous Colmonell. Behind the two front runners were the class’s two co-Presidents, who went at the last day tooth and nail.

Johnny’s downfall came in the second last race when he was called over early and unwittingly sailed the race not knowing it would be his drop. He was joined in his disqualification in that race by Randy Johnston in J2K. John and Randy were in fact the fourth and fifth starting line violators in the event joining three who were black flagged in the second race. The current in Charlottetown is always a challenge and can make starts especially tricky when it is running against the wind.

Critically for Johnny, the second last race was Colmonell’s third consecutive win and made a horse race out of what had been a runaway. Notwithstanding a starting run of four firsts and a second, Jaeger had to beat Colmonell in the final race to hold on to the regatta lead.

It turned out not to be. Colmonell edged Jaeger with a second over Jaeger’s third, providing a one point regatta victory. The race was won by Andrew Childs in Silver Woman, who finally created some separation between himself and Satisfaction with which he had exchanged blows through eight races. With a bullet against Satisfaction’s seventh and took the last spot on the podium by six points.

The win puts the reigning season champs into first for 2012 but there’s lots to go yet. Johnny Whynacht has certainly shown he has what it takes, and Silver Woman and Satisfaction are also clearly capable. I’d like to think that J-Zeus II9 will have something to say and I’m sure Dog Party can’t be counted out. All will be at the North Americans in Lunenburg, which promises to have 18 boats and, consequently, will play large in determining the champion under this year’s boats beaten arrangement.

When I got J-Zeus II9 into Lunenburg on Sunday the subject of the social schedule for the North Americans came up. If we were going to sail for three days, Lorna wanted to know when she could come down and cut a rug. I knew there was a BBQ because tickets were offered at a discount when I registered. I realized, though, that I didn’t know when the BBQ was going to take place or much about what was going on the other two nights besides Prize Giving on Sunday, which is a classic no-brainer. Last night it came up that West Nova Fuels is sponsoring the band for Pub Night, although I didn’t know what Pub Night was or what night it might be.

It all prompted me to ask Ian Mann, who is in charge of this stuff and seems to be a very well organized man, for a few specifics so I could detail our Schedule page and tell my wife what night would be best to make the trip from Halifax for a little action. As it turns out, Ian and Lunenburg Yacht Club have done some very fine work. After racing on Day 1 a beer keg will be available along with free samples of product from Gosling’s Rum. Day 2 will also justify another keg after which LYC will host Pub Night with the band kindly provided by West Nova Fuels. Day 3 Sunday, of course, will wrap up with prize giving, another area in which LYC has traditionally excelled thanks to the exceedingly generous sponsorship of the Yacht Shop.

As it all turned out, Lunenburg Yacht Club was, once again, a perfect host. Excellent race management on world class sailing waters. The weather wasn’t completely perfect but, on the whole, it was pretty good. Two days of sun with light to medium winds on either side of a day with some fog and rain, and heavier but far from crazy breezes. It provided a good and varied test that was fair for everyone. Ample opportunity for 11 double windward-leeward races.

We had hoped for 18 boats, which would have set a record for J/29 one-design racing. In the end, only 14 showed up. All were from Atlantic Canada. They definitely included lots of good sailors, though, keen to make a run at the biggest prize we’ve ever been able to offer for J29s in our region. There were no easy races and lots of interesting incidents, some of which I observed from my spot as spinnaker trimmer and boat tuner on J-Zeus II9. To organize things I’ll run down each day in order and hope that readers won’t be annoyed by a J-Zeus II9 bias that I think is pretty hard to avoid under my circumstances.

Friday's Sailing
The forecast for Friday was light winds. According to Windfinder, it would only be blowing one knot at noon when the first race of the regatta was supposed to start. We set JZII9 up loose in expectation of a drifter but as things got underway the wind came up nicely into the 5 to 10 kt range. Erik Koppernaes, who makes our sails and sails our boat when we really want to do well, got a great start to initiate a pattern that prevailed through the regatta. We were just above former Laser North American Champion Andrew Childs, however, and Andrew quickly edged in front of us and was soon lee-bowing us. From there Andrew excelled and we did not. He moved to the front and won the race comfortably over Johnny Whynacht in Jaeger with Lunenburg stalwarts and many times fleet champions, Scotch Mist IV, in third. We slid back to 10th and I reckon would have been last if the race had gone another two legs.

We couldn’t point and we weren’t very fast in a straight line. We quickly assessed that our rig was too loose and set to tightening things up for Race 2 in the hope that half a year of preparation wasn’t going amount to repetitive double digit placings. Fortunately, we hit the numbers for the second race, which saw a bit more wind than its predecessor. Erik won his second start in a row and this time, instead of getting rolled by a superb young sailor, we pulled away and were soon sailing on our own with only Jaeger close on our tail. We bounced back with a win followed by Jaeger and Silver Woman.

The third race was sailed in slightly stronger but still moderate breezes. This time Jaeger got out in front with JZII9 tagging along. On the last downwind leg Dog Party took advantage of a sloppy spinnaker gybe on our part to squeeze into second and put us into third spot. Having Jaeger tack on top of us and watching them gybe downwind in front of us gave us a very good idea of the quality of their sailing and what we were up against.

With the wind building slightly more, we did a little more tightening and set out for further improvement. Once again, Erik won the start and quickly set out for the righthand side of the course. This time, we led at every mark and won very comfortably. Evan Petley-Jones and Jim Mason followed us in Satisfaction. After them, damn it, came Jaeger.

The first day was obviously encouraging to us. In my opinion, Erik won all four starts, even in the first race when we came 10th, and we had won two races. On the other hand, Jaeger had sailed better and more consistently, and they held the lead. It was also clear from our tenth that there was a very thin line between getting it right and missing completely. Starts, mark roundings, interference from other boats, breakdowns, and boat tuning could all jump up and bite sailors where it hurts and often did. Dog Party pipped us in Race 3 but then came 12th in Race 4. Lots of other boats rose and slid in the same way throughout the regatta.

Saturday's Sailing
The second day of the regatta saw wet and overcast weather. Visibility was periodically limited and winds were stronger. Larger waves made it difficult to find the marks at times as their red colour didn’t always stand out as much as I would like. I wasn’t really keen on the marks, which were all red tetrahedrons that were difficult to distinguish from each other and could disappear behind waves in even moderate conditions. My only criticism of otherwise terrific work by everyone involved in the Race Committee.

The first race of the day went well for JZII9. We were late getting to the starting area along with about four other competitors and were very fortunate when Race Officer Andreas Josenhans uncharacteristically postponed. We pulled it together quickly though. We spent a lot of time on set up on the way out and when Erik pulled off yet another perfect start, we leapt ahead for another comfortable win. Jaeger, however, stayed with us for another second, followed by Scotch Mist IV, which recorded its second third. By this point, JZII9 had won three of five races but we trailed the much steadier Jaeger by five points thanks to our stumble out of the gate.

Just as we appeared ready to make our move on Jaeger, we tripped again. Whereas Erik had been starting beautifully in the first five races, a boat that might as well remain nameless chose to drift through our preferred area by the Committee boat with no apparent awareness of the rights of leeward boats or their obligation to go up when asked/yelled at. We got pinned out a bit and had to work through several boats on the windward leg. We played the left as I recall and just could not get by Satisfaction and Silver Woman, as well as Joy Ride, in which Gerard MacDonald had put together a boat full of excellent sailors led by helmsman Jeff Brock, who were all starting to get a handle on their boat. In front of all of them was the ever reliable Jaeger, which sailed to a comfortable win, followed by Satisfaction and Silver Woman. We passed Joy Ride upwind but lost them on the downwind leg to record a fifth and undo the good work we’d done in the previous four races (in the past, by the way, I would have been high fiving everyone after a fifth but Erik has been raising my standards).

We weren’t done for our part though. We made some more adjustments to the rig for the strengthening breeze and went after another one. Once again, Erik nailed the start. We went right and came out on top. Jaeger for once, wasn’t immediately on our tail. We won another comfortable one followed by the reigning Atlantic Class Champions in Colmonell and the persistent Andrew Childs in Silver Woman. Jaeger’s crew dug themselves out a moderately deep hole to finish fourth.

For the fourth and final race of the day we again adjusted the rig and went after another win. I’m a little sketchy on the early details of the race. We started every race near the Committee boat and started all but two very well so it gets hard to remember which one we sailed a minute and then flipped versus the ones where we flipped right away. I can’t recall exactly where we were around the marks but I vaguely recollect that Satisfaction held the lead at the first windward mark and the leeward mark. I believe we caught them on the second upwind leg because we had the lead as we sailed downwind to the finish.

Satisfaction and JZII9 sailed neck and neck to the finish in a fresh breeze but declining visibility as fog closed in. We were slightly ahead the whole way. Satisfaction attacked us from leeward at one point to push us slightly to the lefthand side of the leg. We were on port and considered later on that we should have simply gybed to starboard and forced Satisfaction to the righthand side of the finish line where we could have held them as the leading and leeward boat until we chose to go to the line. Unfortunately, its not what we did at the time. The little push they gave us to the left turned out to be critical because the Committee boat end of the line was strongly favored. Satisfaction never actually passed us but beat us by a few feet thanks to the angle of the line. In third was Joy Ride which managed to stay out in front of Jaeger, much to our delight.

Our one-two in the last two races finally closed the gap on Jaeger, which had recorded two fours. JZII9 finished the day one point ahead of Jaeger. Day 3 promised to be an interesting two-boat contest given that Jaeger and JZII9 had a healthy lead over Satisfaction and Silver Woman, which were also separated by one point, and seemed likely to focus on a fight between each other. JZII9 did however have that tenth from Race 1, which was lying like a ticking bomb ready to blow up underneath us at any time.

Sunday's Sailing & Finale
As the third day started, we on JZII9 were thinking about two things: how to reset the rig for what looked to be much lighter weather than the preceding afternoon and how to handle Johnny Whynacht and his excellent crew in Jaeger if they came after us. As the first race of the day went into the starting sequence, Jaeger was indeed tracking us, although it was too early for America’s Cup style circling. For the second time and for no particular reason other than the fact that nobody can win every start, JZII9 was not first off the line. At best, we were fifth and Jaeger was at least third. Johnny covered us carefully upwind and rounded the windward mark in third. We were probably in sixth.

We sailed downwind in a moderate breeze without too much trouble, holding our position behind Georgia Girl, which was in fifth. As we approached the leeward gate, however, we were confronted with three marks in a more or less even row. As I mentioned, all of the marks used for the event were identical tetrahedrons, excepting that they had a stripe on one corner, which I for one hadn’t noticed previously. The three marks in front of us were arrayed from left to right as follows: white stripe, blue stripe, white stripe. Two were clearly the gate and the other, just as clearly, was the pin end of the starting line — the question was which was which. We were sailing to the blue striped mark in the middle when it became clear that Georgia Girl was sailing with deliberation to the mark on the outside with the white stripe that matched the lefthand mark. As the other four boats in front had chosen to go right, we had no other guide. While we thought the middle mark was the right one, we noted that Georgia Girl was going to a white striped mark that matched the lefthand mark and seemed pretty sure about what they were doing. We travelled tentative for about three boat lengths on a reach toward the mark until we looked over our shoulders and saw the next boat rounding the blue striped mark that we had thought was the righthand gate.

With the confirmation of the herd behind us, we headed up three boat-lengths below everyone who came around behind us, in ninth instead of fifth (we had passed Georgia Girl thanks to their mistake but the net effect was not so favourable). We were furthermore stuck on the lefthand side of the course while Jaeger sailed to the right beyond our reach following Jaeger and Dog Party. That was the order of finish, with JZII9 racking up our second tenth of the event and essentially sucking the drama out of what was left of the day. Most of our competitors didn’t know it but it was all over. JZII9 had registered as many points in one race as we had in the previous five races combined and we had to count those points.

Jaeger’s worst race was a fourth. They could count everything they had sailed. We, on the other hand, had two tenths and Satisfaction had just won her second race in a row putting her just two points behind us. We needed Jaeger to sail two consecutive tenths or something similar for us to win and we couldn’t take any active part in it because we would risk finishing behind Satisfaction and falling out of second. We just had to do our best and hope for the unlikely possibility that lightning would strike Jaeger (it was sunny and clear).

We did at least bounce back for the third time after a bad race. Erik won yet another start, we went right, and led all the way around the course for our fifth win of the event. Johnny and his crew did not stumble, however. Once again, they stuck to our tail and finished second. In third was Silver Woman. Satisfaction finished seventh, which took the heat off of us.

As the eleventh race started, Jaeger had won mathematically let alone by all realistic scenarios I could imagine. Satisfaction realized as well that their shot at second was remote. The only issue left to be settled was whether Silver Woman could beat Satisfaction by enough to make it into third place. For the last start, we stuck to what had worked so far and it worked again. We won our ninth of eleven starts at the Committee Boat end (I realize I am the sole adjudicator of this but I call them as I see them) and set out to the right for what was probably the 17th time in 21 windward legs we had sailed to that point. At the leeward end, Satisfaction forced Silver Woman over the line and both were called over early. Satisfaction was in a better position to return, however, and established a good lead over Silver Woman at the back of the pack. Eventually, Satisfaction finished sixth over Silver Woman’s seventh to secure third overall.

We led the race by a good margin until we were approaching the second windward mark at which point the wind lightened and our rig, which I had been tightening as we went along, became sluggish. Johnny Whynacht, who naturally enough was in second, closed over the last quarter of the leg to get into a threatening position as we started the downwind leg. We went right and Johnny went left. It turned out that left was better and when we came back together at finish line, Jaeger had us by a boat length for a win that was a microcosm of the regatta. We had started well and sailed fast but Jaeger sailed more consistently, handled their boat a bit better, and got us when it counted.

For the final top three, it was Johnny Whynacht's JAEGER in 1st place with 21 pts net, followed in second by our team on J-ZEU I-19 (sailed by Erik Koppernaes & your's truly John Heseltine) with 27 pts net and in third was the combo of Evan Petley-Jones & Jim Mason sailing SATISFACTION with 40 pts net.

When the regatta is over the hardware has to be distributed. Good prizes have always been a tradition at Lunenburg. The Yacht Shop has been a sponsor of every event and they have always loaded the table with top quality swag. In some years they've given prizes for the top four in each race, a custom I particularly liked because I have a bit of a penchant for fourths. Other years they've given prizes to the top five overall, another time that they reached down to reward J-Zeus II9.

This year the spin was toward some fun prizes as well as to reward the top performers. In addition to rewarding race winners, LYC gave prizes for the Best Dressed Crew, the Best Road Story, and the Best Regatta Blooper. Class co-Presidents Evan Petley-Jones and Andrew Childs also sprung some surprise thank you's for making regatta arrangements.

The Best Dressed Crew went to Mac Morrison of Foxfire, who is an unquestionable style leader. Mac's is a cracker jack boat refinisher (he did some fine work on the cabin of JZII9 before the regatta) and knows how to make things look good. His own boat is a picture with an immaculate finish and a very professional custom logo. He shares his boat with his sister and girlfriend who add a nice woman's touch to everything including super cool black outfits that they will have to put in a trunk when they reach 30. Being a gentleman, Mac took his opportunity to thank some fleet members for helping him get started with his boat. It's one thing to look classy but another to live it.

Best Road Trip went the crew of Georgia Girl, who sent up one of their number to recount the tale. I have to admit that I had a hard time following the details but I did catch that it had to do with bringing their boat back from Atlanta and getting hung up in at customs in Houlton, Maine. I make it a rule to never discuss any interaction that I've ever had with Customs but I appreciate this was competitive story telling.

The third fun prize for the regatta's most awkward moment went to Jeff Brock in Joy Ride. Again, I had a lot of trouble making out the story but I couldn't get over the irony of Jeff Brock winning a blooper prize. Of all the sailors in the event no one exudes more competence. I don't know how the Race Committee missed out on our marking rounding misadventures in Race 9 but they may have felt that was too much of an open sore.

Before the formal prizes got dished out, Andrew Childs also handed out two awards recognizing contributions to making the North Americans happen. I want to mention them, first, because one went to me for which I was very grateful and slightly moved and, second, because the other went to the person who did more than anyone else to make the North Americans a success in Lunenburg. My role was to have the idea to get the North Americans here and fail in the attempt to do so. All I can say is if I had a prize for every stillborn idea I've ever had I'd need a warehouse.

The second went to Matt Stokes, who worked with everything he had to cajole people to Lunenburg once he and Andrew Child's dusted off my dead concept. He wrote a letter to every J/29 owner who was a prospect to participate and communicated incessantly to encourage them to follow through. He arranged to get the North Americans trophy from John Edwards in the US, stimulated a lively discussion of the event on Sailing Anarchy's forum, and did a hundred other things to make the event happen. He also did it from Canmore, Alberta, something I didn't realize until about a month before the regatta, when I asked about his participation in a regatta here. Evan Petley-Jones and Andrew Childs also did a lot for the event that no one recognized and they too deserve a round of applause but NOBODY DID MORE TO MAKE THE 2012 NORTH AMERICANS HAPPEN THAN MATT STOKES.   Sailing photo credits- John Field   For more J/29 North Americans sailing information