J/70 Teams Enjoy Blustery Fall Chesapeake Weather!
(Annapolis, MD)- The first J/70 one-design class regatta, outside of
the NYYC USQS series in Newport earlier this summer, was the Eastport
YC's J/70 Fall Brawl Regatta held on the Chesapeake Bay. The fleet of
twenty-three boats were greeted by incredibly challenging conditions on
both Saturday and Sunday over this past weekend. While many friends
could not attend because of Super-storm Sandy's wrath still afflicting
the northeast, some intrepid sailors from across the northeast managed
to make their migration to the Chesapeake to sail in a fun and very
competitive regatta.Eastport YC did a fabulous job hosting the event in winds ranging from 15+ kts on the first day to 15-25+ kts on Sunday. The fleet was faced with tough, cold conditions with very shifty wind conditions. In the end, Tate Russack's DIESEL team was declared the J/70 Fall Brawl Champion with a record of 5-4-1-6-2-1 for a net of 13 pts. Not far off the pace was Henry Filter sailing his new WILD CHILD to a 2-1-7-4-1-dnf for a net of 15 pts. Coming from the far away Midwest was Richie Stearn's team on TYLISHAN from Chicago YC finishing third with a steady 3-3-2-7-8-3 for 18 pts. Rounding out the top five were the team of Heather Gregg-Earl and Will Welles on RASCAL with a 1-6-3-10-3-9 for 22 pts in fourth and fifth was Ron Thompson's crew with a 6-14-8-2-5-2 for 23 pts, coming on strong in the last few races.
What was amazing was to see the heart-warming camaraderie amongst the crews as they were "warming up" after the races, sharing war-stories and, in general, learning how to sail their boats better, comparing notes after the races. On that note, we received some wonderful commentary from two people sailing aboard two different boats. One was Katie Burns on RASCAL sailing with Will Welles and Heather Gregg-Earl and the other was Greg Lanese sailing with his buddies.
Katie's commentary:
"A few years ago I wrote my first piece for Sailing Anarchy titled "The
Suck". Well, guys ... I found The Suck again. It was here in Annapolis
on Saturday, during the J/70 Fall Brawl - the first ever J/70 one design
regatta. There's something about torturing my body that really warms my
soul, so I have to share the story of this event. It was freezing, we
were soaked, and I am so sore today that I could hardly shift the gears
in my Saab this morning. But the downhills on that Saturday were worth
all of that, and we got a beautiful, sunny, flat-water Sunday on the Bay
as a reward for the torture. Maybe what I love the most about The Suck
is when I'm not in The Suck anymore.Leading up to the regatta, I was stoked. I was still coming down from my adrenaline high after the Harvest Moon on the Peerless, so I was amped to get back out on the water and try something new. Heather Earl and Joe Bardenheier of Boston recruited me to sail with them and Will Welles of North Sails (Newport). I really didn't know what I was getting myself into - I had never properly sailed a J70 before, and one-design buoy racing is totally not my forte (someone get me back offshore, stat!), but the J70 has become all the rage here in Annapolis, so I really wanted to give it a try.
Waking up on Saturday morning and stepping out on my balcony (super gorgeous view of the Bay, if you're curious), I knew I was in for a really, really cold day. I got all of the gear I could find together, and headed down to EYC to help put the boat in the water. Within minutes of being outside, my hands were numb from the frigid cold. I could already tell I was going to be hating life for the rest of the day, but something about hating life really makes me happy, so we shoved off the docks and began mentally preparing ourselves for what was in store.
It turns out that Heather, the tiniest woman I have ever sailed with in my life, is actually a beast at the helm. The breeze was way up, more than the forecast called for, the waves were getting more and more choppy, and Heather was back there all day, driving and pumping the main. I'm sure she must have struggled, but she didn't give it away and she just kept hammering away at it. Joe trimmed jib and kite, calling puffs and waves when he could. Will, one of the best J boat racers around, called tactics in the mayhem. I pulled strings, handled the vang and jib downwind, and doused the kite, or at least, I tried to. Like I said, I'm not really that great. I am in need of some major small keelboat training, actually.
Despite the conditions on the water, we had a great first day. There's something to be said about scoring the first ever bullet in the first ever J70 one design regatta. I can't wait until I'm an 80 year old hag, just so I can sit at the yacht club and brag to the young whippersnappers that, 50 years ago, I sailed in the first ever J70 event and my team won the first race. That's my vision anyways, that this event will be like the J24 Easter Regatta, which is stupid old but really, really fun.
We followed the first race with a 6 and a 3, to come out in a 3-way tie for 2nd place. We were behind Richard Stearns (Tylishan), and tied with my fellow local sailors Henry Filter (Wild Child) and Tate Russack (Diesel). Personally, I was really feeling some competition with Diesel because my co-worker, APS storefront manager Mike Lindsley, was on board trimming the headsail. I just had to beat him!
Coming in off the water on Saturday, we were definitely licking some wounds. It's really hard to put a boat away when you've lost all grip in your fingers because you're so cold. I felt soaking wet from taking waves to the face all day and couldn't stop shivering, but I somehow managed to limp home. My roommate, longtime Annapolis sailor Gretchen Esbensen, came home to find me sitting on the couch, still in most of my gear with a bucket of fried chicken in my lap, watching a crappy Amanda Bynes movie. I remember her asking me if I was hypothermic because my face was purple. I just stared at the wall. Sometime after that, I managed to pull myself together and get in the shower. EYC had a nice set-up for us at the club, so I wanted to get back and talk shop with the other J70 racers. Plus, my team was pretty awesome and I wanted to recap the day we had and prepare for Sunday.
One thing is for sure - I wasn't playing games with the cold on Sunday. I dug up even more gear, I rocked a skiff suit under my bibs, I layered some waterproof gloves under some arctic gloves, and I wore earwarmers. Of course, all of this was a little unnecessary, as Sunday turned out to be gorgeous. The sun was out, the water was flat, and our course gave us a great view of Annapolis, the town that I have grown to love so much.
Unfortunately, the warmer conditions didn't mean the breeze was doing anything promising. It was pretty fluky, going up, going down, going left, going right ... it didn't know what it wanted to do. We went right and the breeze went left, we went left, the breeze went right. It left us wondering what we had done to piss off the wind gods, and we scored a 10 and a 3 in the first 2 races. The third race was a 5-legger, and we knew we had to gun it to move up in the scores. Unfortunately, we didn't quite get there, finding ourselves on the complete wrong side of the course during the first leg. But, after rounding the top mark at the back of the fleet, Heather started to pick up some boats one by one. Of course, I didn't help matters much. I had a really bad kite douse around the first bottom mark (they were all pretty bad, actually), and then I fell overboard right before rounding the next top mark. We were roll tacking at that point, and I got caught on the leeward side and flipped over the rail. Miraculously, I managed to hold onto the boat, so while I was getting dragged through the water, I flipped my leg back over the rail. Needless to say, I won't be a Navy Seal anytime soon since I couldn't get myself all the way back in, but Joe jumped down and strong-armed me the rest of the way. In shock, I rolled back up to the high side and started hiking again. It sucked so bad ... I was SO warm and dry up until then, until the point I decided to witch duck myself into the drink. How embarrassing. But I guess this is the way of sailboat racing, and I'm still learning the boat. Now I know what NOT to do, right?
We ended up picking up enough boats by the end of the race to score a 9, which put us in 4th overall. Tate Russack's Diesel (with my nemesis Mike on board) had a great Sunday to move into 1st. Henry Filter's Wild Child scored a bullet to put them in 2nd, and Richard Stearns' Tylishan moved into 3rd. And, my fellow Hampton, VA natives, Ron Thompson and crew, had a great Sunday also, scoring 5th overall.
All in all, it was a great first event for the J70. Everyone was out there learning the boat, learning their crews, and learning the conditions. Saturday was a prime day to learn what the J70 is really capable of. We were a little overpowered upwind until we found the groove (after racing, of course), and the downwinds were really fun. We had a decent wipeout after rounding a top mark, and we definitely weren't the only ones to lay the boat down. Going out on Saturday, Will mentioned training wheels ... there were no training wheels on Saturday, not even a chance for them. The breeze and the chop did not let up for even a second, so it was full on all day long. It was awesome!
As for the boat itself ... get your upper body strength up, ladies. This boat definitely tested me. There are a few awkward things about it that I'd like to see changed, but for the most part, it was a really great ride. It wasn't uncomfortable at all, even legs out hiking wasn't painful. It's definitely in its own class. Coming into this weekend, I have heard a lot of comparisons to other boats, but I no longer think of it that way. It's very well suited to a lot of different racers, which I think is great, and it's gaining popularity really fast. Our fleet in Annapolis is already well on its way, with boats still in production to add to the list. And there should be a good showing in Key West, which will be exciting. Imagining sailing in warm weather again is like a dream. Can't wait!"
Greg Lanese had this commentary: "My friend Ron had been going back and forth on what kind of boat to get for several years now. Vacillating between a bigger boat that can be raced (competitively) and cruised or a smaller boat that can be raced and trailered but that is still fun and easy to day sail with non racers. His background is in dinghies and windsurfing, and he is a strong Masters Laser sailor. Last spring he demo'd a J/70 in Annapolis and shortly thereafter put down a deposit for one. The winning argument, other than liking the boat, was the desire and ease to be able to travel and compete. All indications pointed to the J/70 becoming popular very quickly with potential fleets in many different places.
Fast forward to September. He picked up his new J/70 from in Annapolis and proceeded to invite me to join him and a Laser buddy of his to sail in the first J/70 one design regatta, the class inaugural event, “The Fall Brawl”. Organized by David Malkin of North Point Yacht Sales with support from North Sails Annapolis and Eastport Yacht Club, on the weekend of October 26th. Racers showed up from as far as Chicago, Boston/Newport, Vermont, North Carolina, and Virginia.
With twenty boats expected on the line, it was a well organized, well run event with the race committee doing a great job under difficult conditions both days. And on the first day, it was to be a baptism under fire. 15 to 20 knots with stronger puffs and the wind forecast to build in the afternoon. High temps in the low 50's with grey ominous overcast. Luckily we had a chance to sail the boat the evening before in similar conditions and got a feel of what it is capable of. That gave us some confidence for the racing. We had a bit of a though time finding the groove going to windward but the downwind runs were just nuts, an absolute blast. We had a couple of roundups, but once we learned how to deal with them it was not a big deal. As the afternoon progressed and the puffs became the sustained wind speed the Race Committee opted to cancel for the day with three races completed.
That evening there was a debrief and discussion session led by Kristen Berry from J World. He was out in a RIB watching us during the racing and had a great deal of valuable insights for all the racers. A query of who got rounded up resulted in a room full of hands in the air, with a quip of “if you didn't you are probably lying”. He also pointed out that his RIB tops out at about 16 knots and was having trouble keeping up with boats on the downwind legs. Like I said, it was nuts!
There was a great deal of discussion about boat handling, tuning, the future of the class and how to improve things. Some surveys/questionnaires were handed out for both owners and crew. The biggest concern I perceived from owners was that the class remain accessible to all levels of racing and not be hijacked by the upper echelons of the sport.
Sunday brought sunny skies and 7-12 knots, with 30° oscillations from the W-N. We got three races in with some very competitive sailing. The two old Laser sailors in the back did their thing and we had a good day.
My impressions, as crew, of the J70 are positive. Like most J boats she is well mannered and comfortable. She does not appear to have any bad habits or quirks. Overall it was a really fun weekend with two great days on the water. I got the impression everyone involved was psyched to be there and looking forward to more racing on the J/70. There was plenty of talk of races in FL this winter and growing of fleets in the Great Lakes, the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic in the spring." Sailing Photo Credits- Sara Proctor/ Sailfastphoto.com and Dan Phelps/ Spinsheet.com. For more J/70 Fall Sailing Results
