J/80s, J/105s, J/120s Racing One-Design(Marina del Rey, CA)- The SCYA Midwinter Regatta’s history is packed with legendary sailors and their boats from the early days to the present. In 1928, SCYA and the LA Junior Chamber of Commerce teamed up to sponsor the first Midwinters which was promoted as an example of the sports “paradise” that Southern California offered in the winter. As hoped, the event attracted boats from the Great Lakes, Atlantic Coast and the rest of the Pacific Coast, and some of the best known yachtsmen in America, including Clifford Mallory, John Alden and Herbert Stone, editor of Yachting. Yachtsmen have continued to come west and from up and down the West Coast for the SCYA Midwinters ever since. Hosting over 2,000 sailors at over a dozen venues around Southern California, the local clubs put on quite a show and generally offer excellent race management for the highly competitive one-design classes attending.
One of the largest J contingents is hosted at San Diego Yacht Club, with
strong fleets of J/80s, J/105s and J/120s participating. In the J/120
class, there were some familiar names filling out the top three on the
podium. Winning the event in this hotly contested class was Chuck
Nichols on CC RIDER, winning the last two races to overtake his friend
John Laun on the great yacht CAPER! Third was Mike Hatch sailing the
mighty J-ALMIGHTY! 
After an exhausting fall 2012 sailing nearly four J/105 regattas in a
row, it's a wonder any of the San Diego J/105 sailors crawled off their
physiotherapists beds to go sailing a J/105 again, so soon!
Nevertheless. off they went and one of the top dogs locally took home
the silverware again, with Dennis & Sharon Case on WINGS sailing a
closely fought series to win with three 1sts and two 2nds, beating
friends Rick Goebel and gang on SANITY by just 3 pts! Lying third was
Dave Vieregg on TRIPLE PLAY.The J/80s saw a closely fought series for first place with Matt Hurlimann on FIREBOLT finally taking the gun in the last race to take the overall lead and win by one point. Second was J/WORLD II sailed by the local J-boys. And third was J/WORLD I also sailed by local sailors.
Over at California Yacht Club, they hosted a competitive J/80 fleet, too. In their event, it was Kurt Johnson's AVET from Cal YC that simply dominated the event with straight bullets! Second was Scott Witt on BLUE J with straight 2nds! And, third was Dave Angers' MISS DEMEANOR with nearly straight 3rds! Sailing photo credits- Marnie Buddo and Bronny Daniels/ Joysailing.com. For more SCYA Midwinters sailing information
