(San Diego, CA)- After a weekend of everything J/Boats at San Diego YC’s
J/Fest, the fleets of one-design J/120s, J/105s, J/109s and J/70s were
blessed with nice breezes for all three days. The fleet of thirty-one
boats were treated to the memorable San Diego YC hospitality that many
sailors look forward to in this magical part of the sailing world. It's
no wonder that more US Navy flag officers retire to this corner of
America than any other, the weather is amazing, gorgeous temperate
weather, cool breezes and great sailing all year round! 
The
J/120s always have very tight competition with their modest-sized fleet
of eight boats. In the end, Chuck Nichols' CC RIDER took the crown as
J/120 Champion, sailing a very consistent 2-1-2-3-1 series for 9 pts to
win by a large margin. Second was another past winner, John Laun's
CAPER with a slow starting 4-4, but finishing with a flourish of 1-1-2
for 12 pts (were you sleeping the first two races John?). Conversely,
fast out of the starting box but hanging tough (after partying the first
night?) was John Snook's JIM with a 1-3-4-6-5 for 19 pts. Rounding out
the top five was Mike Hatch's J-ALMIGHTY in 4th and Peter Zarcades's
MELTEMI if 5th.
The
J/105s had yet another great turnout with most of the top local teams
sailing, including a "foreigner" from the north, Los Angeles's Gary
Mozer on CO2. In the end, it was Mozer's team on CURRENT OBSESSION II
who finished first, claiming the 2013 SoCal Championship title with an
amazingly consistent 6-1-2-3-1 scoreline for 13 pts. A distant second
was Dennis and Sharon Case’s WINGS taking silver with a 1-3-4-8-2 tally
for 18 pts. And, Dennis Conner’s DC's PHOLLY (yes, the same famously
huggable Mr America's Cup) finished third to complete the podium with an
11-2-3-2-5 score for 23 pts! Fourth was Dag Fish on VIGGEN and fifth
was recent Santa Barbara YC Fiesta Cup winner, Rick Goebel's SANITY.
The
J/109 class was won by Daylen Tercen's GREAT BALLS OF FIRE with a
1-3-1-2-2 record for 9 pts, just good enough to win by one point!
Second was John Shulze's LINSTAR with a 3-2-3-1-1 score for 10 pts.
Can't get much closer than that in one-design racing! Third was Rex
Butler's JD.The J/70s debut as a class with their five boat fleet was a lot of fun racing offshore on San Diego Bay. Having been traveling to the last three major J/70 events on the West Coast, Dan Gribble's GO-RILLA, Eric Kownacki/ Tom Jenkins' DFZ, and Karl Pomeroy's ZERO TO 60 were likely to have the upper hand-- and they did. Demonstrating excellent race course awareness, extraordinary speed and consciousness as well adroit boat-handling bordering on the professional level was the DFZ gang from Manhattan Beach YC. Eric K and Tom J showed the locals how it's done, taking a 1-1-1-2-1 for a masterful win in the J/70 class. Second was Gribble's GO-RILLA and third was Pomeroy's ZERO TO 60 going more like ZERO to 30-- next time Karl, prime the pump with "av-gas"! :) Sailing photo credits- San Diego YC/ Bronny Daniels. For more J/Fest San Diego sailing information
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