J/24, J/70, J/105 and J/PHRF sailors Enjoy Southern Hospitality(Fishing Bay, VA)- The Southern Chesapeake Leukemia Cup regatta, hosted by Fishing Bay Yacht Club and Stingray Harbor Yacht Club, was held July 13 & 14. One-design fleets of J/24s, J/70s and J/105s along with two J/109s in PHRF sailed the four race series over two days. In addition to good sailing the regatta raised more than $85,000 for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.
The fleet was blessed with somewhat remarkable conditions considering that the mid-Atlantic region had been baking in extremely hot, muggy conditions for the past few weeks. For Saturday's racing, the sailing was postponed due to thunderstorms rolling up the bay earlier in the day, but it soon turned out to be a fantastic day for sailing with the wind building from 10 kts to gusts over thirty kts under clear skies towards evening. Sunday's racing was equally challenging with light, but steady, breezes all day long.
Debuting in the regatta for the first time were the J/70s, with a competitive fleet of five boats. Taking the class honors was Ron Thompson with a leading tally of 1-2-1-1 for 5 pts. Behind them was a battle for the podium with three boats, all tied with six pts each after the first day- the two Vortex Racing boats (Vortex and GetMyBoat.com) and Drake Johnstone's CAT'S PAJAMAS. In the end, VORTEX took second with a 3-3-2-2 for 10 pts and GetMyBoat.com took third with a 2-5-3-3 tally for 13 pts.
The J/24 saw five boats participating. Showing the fleet their transom most of the time was Neil Ford & Liz Biondi's ROCKET J with a scorching hot scoreline of 1-1-2-1 for 5 pts. Taking second after a slow start was Scott Collins on KOBAYASHI MARU with a 5-4-1-2 tally for 12 pts. They narrowly edged out Alan Bomar, who sailed ROUNDABOUT to a 2-2-5-4 score for 13 pts.
In PHRF A, the J/105s and J/109s competed as a fleet. Taking first in class was Craig Wright's J/109 AFTERTHOUGHT with a dominant 1-1-1-2 record for 5 pts. Second was the other J/109 DOUBLE EAGLE sailed by Sam Mitchener with a equally consistent 2-2-2-3 scores for 9 pts. Scored as a Sub-division were the J/105s, with David Clark's CORRYVRECKAN taking top honors. For more Fishing Bay YC Leukemia Cup sailing information
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