(Newport, RI)- The 2014 J/70 World Championship, presented by Helly
Hansen, was the largest inaugural World Championship of all the J
classes since 1977. 86 boats and 14 countries were represented and the
event was hosted by New York YC and staged at Sail Newport in the Fort
Adams Sailing facility. Twelve races were conducted over five days in
mostly moderate winds and big seas, challenging the top sailors from
around the world.
Crowned as the inaugural J/70 World Champion was Tim Healy’s HELLY
HANSEN team (Geoff Becker- tactician, Gordon Borges and Paul Abdullah)
from Newport, Rhode Island. Winning the J/70 World Corinthian
Championship and taking 5th Overall was Heather Gregg-Earl’s team on
MUSE (Stu Johnstone- tactician, Joe Bardenheier and Stu Saffer), all New
York YC members and Tufts University Jumbo sailor alumni. Silver Fleet
Champion was Mark Ploch’s crew on SUGAR DADDY from American YC in Rye,
New York.
TEAM HELLY HANSEN
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TEAM MUSE
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The win for Healy’s crew did not come easy, for they were challenged
from the outset by Joel Ronning’s incredibly capable crew on the famous
CATAPULT. Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ronning is accustomed to
sailing fast boats, apparent wind-machines like E-Scows, A-Scows and
M32s. Sailing CATAPULT with long-time crew Victor Diaz DeLeon of
Venezuela, and San Diego sailors Willem Van Waay and Bill Hardesty (the
latter the 2011 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year & current Etchells 22
World Champion), Ronning won three out of three races sailed on a lumpy
Rhode Island Sound on the first day of racing!
The NYYC RC, led by PRO Tom Duggan, started the fleet (43 boats per
flight) in an 18-20 knot ENE breeze that moderated slightly over the
subsequent two races. Between the strong breeze and the sea state – the
swells did not subside until the tide change late in the day during the
third and final race – competitors were given a healthy workout.
Ronning’s CATAPULT team led the fleet overall with only three points
(three bullets!) over Healy’s HELLY HANSEN crew that posted a consistent
2-2-2 for six points. Said Healy after racing, “Everyone is willing to
share ideas on how to sail the boats better and how we can make a
stronger J/70 class. The competition is fierce but the focus for sure is
to have fun racing and to make good friends along the way.”
Healy summed up the hurdles facing competitors racing in Newport for the
championship. “The biggest challenge has been figuring out how to sail
the boats in the open water of Rhode Island Sound. The current is
difficult to figure out (I am not sure anyone has it figured out) and
predicting the wind shifts is also difficult. In early September, we
usually have good wind but it can come from just about any direction.
Air temperatures can be anywhere from the high 50s to the low 80s.”
2013
BACARDI® Miami Sailing Week class champion Brian Keane of Weston,
Mass., at the helm of SAVASANA, was one point behind Healy, in third
overall, followed by Brazil’s Mauricio Santa Cruz on BRUSCHETTA with 15
points. Rounding out the top-five was San Francisco’s Jim Cunningham on
LIFTED with 16 points (current Etchells 22 National Champion).
After the second day of racing, both Ronning’s CATAPULT and Healy’s
HELLY HANSEN were tied on points overall. With 86 boats racing, the
fleet had been divided into four color-coded groups for the first two
days of competition. Each group sailed two races on Wednesday, which,
when added to the three races sailed on the opening day, allowed each
team to count the best four out of five to determine whether they will
sail in either the gold or silver fleet starting Thursday.
Winning the final race of the day was Brazil’s Mauricio Santa Cruz on
BRUSCHETTA, who stands fourth overall with 13 points after finishes of
5-[6]-4-3-1. Santa Cruz has only been racing the J/70 for a short time –
in fact his first regatta was the J/70 North American Championship this
past July in Rochester, where he placed fourth in a fleet of 71 boats.
He is, however, a familiar face on the top of the podium, especially in
the J/24 class in which he holds four world championship titles (2012,
2009, 2007 and 2006). He is racing in Newport for the first time since
sailing a Tornado here during Olympic campaigns that resulted in his
twice (2004, 2000) representing Brazil at the Olympic Games. That he
was sailing the J/70 Worlds with a crew that he never previously raced
with (all members of the Rio de Janeiro Yacht Club) clearly does not
slow him down.
Ronning’s
CATAPULT crew remained at the top of the overall standings after
sailing to a 1-1-1-4-[8] for seven points. His three-point lead over
Healy’s HELLY HANSEN was eroded Wednesday with Healy posting 2-2-2-1-[3]
to tie things up on points. Keane’s SAVASANA crew retained third
overall on finishes of 1-3-3-2-[11] for nine points, just four points
ahead of Santa Cruz. NEW WAVE’s Martie Kullman, of St. Petersburg,
Fla., rounded out the top-five with 17 points on finishes of
6-[24]-6-3-2.
After two days of qualifiers, the fleet was split into Gold and Silver
divisions, the former competing for the World Championship for three
days- Thursday to Saturday. Day three was postponed ashore in the
morning until a thunderstorm threat had lifted. The competitors were
once again sent out to do battle on Rhode Island Sound. Under partly
cloudy skies, with breeze ranging from 12-18 knots out of the southwest,
competitors were tested by another day of swells and seaweed that did
little to help their results.
Tied on points to start the day, Ronning’s CATAPULT and Healy’s HELLY
HANSEN, the story looked to be a replay of the previous days when
Ronning finished 1-2 to Healy’s 2-1 in the first two races. However,
Healy went on to win the third race of the day while Ronning used his
drop race on a 14th-place finish. Healy’s HELLY HANSEN was now the
overall standings leader with 11 points, while Ronning sat in second
overall with 18 points.
“The NYYC RC was watching a line of thunderstorms that dissipated as
they got closer and actually passed to the north of us, so they just
were on the safe side,” said Healy of the morning’s postponement. “With
the breeze expected to be good in the afternoon they didn’t have a
problem with waiting a little bit and we ended up getting three really
good races in, so it worked out. It probably maxed out around 15-16, so
it was in the range of 12-16 knots from the SSW.”
With
the sea state factoring in again, Healy believed the swells with
cross-chop on top were giving the fleet more of a workout than they
might have anticipated. “Upwind it was really choppy. The boats are only
23 feet, so the key is to keep the momentum up and keep powering
through the waves. If you can do that and keep the boat moving then you
can extend a little bit and have good speed. The problem is you really
can’t escape hitting bad waves. You’re going to pound a wave whether you
like it or not every once in a while and then getting the boat back up
to speed as fast as possible is a big deal. There also was a lot of
seaweed out there and steering around the clumps of seaweed and making
sure to keep your keel and rudder clear of it was also a big deal.
Downwind it was perfect surfing conditions so working hard and getting
the whole team to work together to catch waves really made a big
difference, too. Not only catching a wave but staying on it helps
downwind and made an enormous difference in speed.”
For the penultimate day of racing, the NYYC PRO Tom Duggan elected to go
north into Narragansett Bay. It was a tough choice, but with few
options left for the fleet— one of the reasons the large fleet was split
into groups of 45 boats. A 90 boat start line in the Bay is
impossible, but it could be done with a 45 boat start. Given that
option, the NYYC RC worked to get the competitors racing before the
northerly breeze died. In roughly 10 knots of breeze, two races – one
each for the gold and silver fleets – were run before the breeze
ultimately ran out.
It was a complete change of pace for the competitors who had faced big
breeze and rough seas for the first three days of the series; picking
the correct side of the course and factoring in the ebb tide was the key
to doing well.
For series leader, Healy’s lone race would become his drop as he picked
up a 13th-place finish (and that was after a huge comeback on the second
windward leg after being deep in the upper 20s at mark two in the
race). Despite crossing the finish behind his closest rival, Ronning’s
CATAPULT in 10th place, Healy retained the lead position heading into
the final day. Healy’s lead over Ronning (14 points vs 28) was not
insurmountable for Ronning, in light of an earlier start for the final
day and the Race Committee’s plan to get in three races.
Keane’s SAVASANA was the winner of the lone gold fleet race, which
helped to slightly close his points gap on the leaders. With 41 points,
Keane had also improved his margin over Kullman’s NEW WAVE, who had 55
points and was fourth overall.
After
a meteoric ascent from 24th into 5th overall in the standings on
Thursday’s Championship Gold Fleet races (with a 5-4-3 score), 2013 J/70
North American Champion Heather Gregg-Earl’s MUSE kept the momentum
going with a second-place finish in Friday’s race. MUSE now retained
the fifth spot on 60 points and continued as the top Corinthian team in
the series.
“We’re pretty happy about our position considering the talent in the
fleet,” said Gregg-Earl. “We are super excited about where we are in
the standings so far; it’s a really deep talent pool and to be in the
top-15 in the regatta was our goal and, luckily, we’re achieving that so
far.”
Gregg-Earl was sailing with Joe Bardenheier (Boston), Stu Johnstone
(Newport, R.I.) and Stu Saffer (New York, N.Y.). All four are not only
alumni of Tufts University Sailing Team (Medford, Mass.), but also
members of New York Yacht Club and it was through NYYC’s Team Racing
program that the four came together. “We are all friends and having a
great time sailing together,” said Gregg-Earl, explaining that they’ve
been able to keep a Corinthian team and still do well.
In the silver fleet, Puerto Rico’s Marco Teixidor, on CACHONDO, moved up
from third to first overall with 104 points after finishing fifth in
today’s lone race for that fleet. Following CACHONDO was a three-way
tie on points – 106 – between Mark Ploch of the Bronx, N.Y., on SUGAR
DADDY, Newport’s Blake and Lud Kimbrough on NOSTALGIA, and Geoffrey
Pierini of Rumson, N.J. on SURGE.
For the final day, the NYYC RC brought the fleet back out to Rhode
Island Sound where three races were run in 8-17 knots of breeze from the
ENE. It was tricky day of sailing. The wind was flicking back and
forth from the NE to East with tremendous variations in velocity and
enormous wind streaks on one side of the course or the other.
Winning the first race of the day was Ronning’s CATAPULT. With Healy’s
HELLY HANSEN crossing the line in fourth, Ronning was able to chip away
at the deficit and, in race two, the margin was further cut to seven
points when Ronning finished fourth and Healy finished eighth. However,
in the final race, won by Keane’s SAVASANA, Healy crossed the line in
second with Ronning back in sixth, earning Healy’s HELLY HANSEN team the
championship title on 28 points to Ronning’s 39. Keane retained third
overall with 61 points, while Florida’s Kullman, on NEW WAVE, and
Boston’s Heather Gregg-Earl, on MUSE, were tied, respectively for fourth
and fifth, on 83 points. Gregg-Earl and the crew on MUSE were also the
World Corinthian Champions.
“It was a fun week,” said Healy. “The nice part is there was wind the
whole time; we enjoyed that, but because there’s wind you have to work
hard and at this point everybody is tired but also excited at the same
time.” This was Healy’s third world championship title as he adds the
J/70 title to two he has won in the J/24 class (2013, 2010).
Healy continued to say, “The key to doing well is time spent in the
boat. From day one when Jeff Johnstone called and said ‘we have the
first two boats ready to go, are you interested in doing some sea
trials?’ I jumped on it. As soon as I sailed the boats I knew the class
was going to be huge. I think it’s the simplicity of it. Anybody who
grew up sailing dinghies or got into small keelboat sailing can go down
and look at a J/70 and say ‘I get it.’ They can look at the rig and see
that it’s simple, and how the spinnaker works and how the main works,
the deck layout is totally simple and clean and it’s easy to handle.
The boat performs really well upwind; downwind it’s exciting and it’s
planing. It’s got just about everything for the typical sailor looking
for a fast one-design boat that’s easy to sail. And it performs well.
The younger sailors can handle it and sail it, same for older sailors
and it’s a good fit for women’s teams also.”
The youngest competitor on the race course was 13-year old Julian
Sudofsky of Marion, Mass., who missed a week of eighth grade at Old
Rochester Regional to race with his father Mike Sudofsky on CARLOS. The
young sailor was not simply enjoying a week off from school; as a
veteran in the J/70 class he has twice raced in Key West Race Week,
along with events in Annapolis and Cedar Point. “Even though we didn’t
do too well, we had so much fun because everyone was top competitors,”
said Sudofsky who handles the bow on CARLOS. “I just got to see Tim
Healy, and Brian Keane is also my neighbor,” he added.
From
their patriotic hats to their colorful spinnaker, one team garnering
lots of attention on the course was Team RAFBF Spitfire from Great
Britain, captained by Simon Ling of Burford.
“Team Spitfire was formed about six years ago,” explained Ling. “We’re
made up of serving, ex-serving members of the Royal Air Force and a
couple of civilians as well. We basically look to sail as competitively
as possible but also to promote the RAF charity: the RAF Benevolent
Fund. The name Spitfire comes from the iconic airplane that was built
in the south where we sail in The Solent, and it seemed the perfect name
for an RAF team.”
Having done the UK national circuit, this was the first time Team RAFBF
had been overseas with the boat. “It was absolutely fabulous. What can
you not enjoy about Newport?,” said Ling. “It’s my first time here,
we’ve all fallen in love with the place; the race organization has been
second to none, the racing has been fabulous and we’re really pleased
with our result (12th overall and second Corinthian team).”
Ling as owner/helm switched to the J/70 last year after three years in
the J/80. “It’s been a fabulous boat; we love it,” said Ling ticking
off the attributes of the J/70: “The class has taken off, it’s new,
there are 90 boats here at the first worlds, its great fun to sail,
they’re demanding to sail, and they put a smile on your face. What’s
not to like about that?”
Seeing 86 teams, representing 14 nations, on the starting line for any
sailing event is significant. For those 86 teams to be contesting the
first-ever world championship of the J/70 class is a testament to the
popularity of the boat that was introduced just over two years ago, and
even more notable was the mix of sailing royalty that was peppered
throughout the fleet including: 2008 Finn Olympic Silver Medalist Zach
Railey of Clearwater, Fla., 2004 Tornado Olympic Silver Medalist John
Lovell of New Orleans, California’s 1996 Soling Olympic Bronze Medalist
Jeff Madrigali, 2013 America’s Cup winning strategist and 2012 Laser
Olympic Gold Medalist Tom Slingsby of Australia, 2011 Lightning Pan Am
Games Silver Medalists Jody Lutz of Brick, N.J., and brother Jay Lutz
of Houston, who is also a four-time world champion in the J/80 and
Lightning classes, 1984 Windsurfing Olympic Silver Medalist Scott Steele
of Annapolis, Olympian and two-time Star World Champion Phil Trinter of
Richmond, Va., 2013 Star World Champion John MacCausland of Cherry
Hill, N.J., 2001 Sonar World Champion Mark Ploch of The Bronx, N.Y., and
2007 Snipe World Champion Tomas Hornos of Boston.
Kalle Coster and Annemieke Bes, both of whom represented The Netherlands
three times at the Olympic Games were in the fleet, as was Vermont’s
2012 Olympian Trevor Moore, along with New York’s Cory Sertl and Jody
Starck, both of whom have won the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Award
multiple times. Top-ranked USA #1 match racers Taylor Canfield and
Stephanie Roble, 2005 J/24 World Champion Anthony Kotoun and Rolex
Yachtsman of the Year Eric Doyle were all onboard as was 2006 Audi
Etchells 22 World Champion Jud Smith of Marblehead, 2013 J/22 World
Champion Allan Terhune of Arnold, Md., and 2014 J/24 US National
Champion Will Welles of Portsmouth, R.I.
In the World Championship Corinthian Division, Heather Gregg-Earl's MUSE
team comfortably won the division with 83 total points. Taking second
was Peter McChesny's Annapolis, MD team on TROUBLE, completing the
series with 151 pts. Third was Simon Ling's crew on Team RAFBF SPITFIRE
from Great Britain sitting on 167 pts, fourth was Martin Johnsson's
AQUAHOLIKS with 173 pts and fifth was Jim Cunningham's LIFTED crew with
190 pts. Also of note, Heather was named the "Top Woman Skipper" award,
the first recipient of the Helen C Johnstone Memorial Award for the
J/70 World Championship.
The Silver Fleet was won by Mark Ploch on SUGAR DADDY after finishes of
3-1-3 allowed him to edge out Puerto Rico’s Marco Teixidor, on CACHONDO,
with 113 points versus 121. Taking third overall was Geoff Pierini on
SURGE.
Finally, thanks to all the sponsors and supporters of the first J/70
Worlds! Most especially, to HELLY HANSEN along with NORTH SAILS,
Harken, Marlow, Southern Spars, Triad Trailers, Newport Storm,
Performance Sail Tools/ Seadek, and Torqeedo! In addition, kudos to Tom
Duggan, Beth Duggan, Brad Dellenbaugh, Ned Jones, Kendra Muenter, Brad
Read and other volunteers that made it all happen from NYYC, J/Boats and
Sail Newport. That 86 boats went through rigorous measurement
including boat weight, rudder & keel, hull check, deck equipment,
sails, etc in just two days was quite a feat. The measurement team
included ISAF International measurers and an ISAF Technical Committee
Member— it was an unprecedented effort with most boats passing through
measurement in 12-15 minutes!
Sailing photo credits- Paul Todd/ Outside Images For
more J/70 World Championship sailing information.
(Copenhagen, Denmark)- For the premiere of the SAILING Champions League
(SCL) from 17th to 19th October 2014 in Copenhagen, the number of
entries is growing. 23 clubs have already registered. They will be
sailing at this international event to gain the title of the best
sailing club on the pan-European continent.
(Copenhagen, Denmark)- The Silver Rudder Challenge of the Sea- is an
annual single-handed regatta, that took place on the 19th of September
in Svendborg on the island of Funen (Fyn), Denmark. It has become the
world’s biggest single-handed offshore race, with almost 200 boats
participating in the 134nm race around Funen Island. Like similar races
in America (e.g. think Three Bridge Fiasco in San Francisco Bay), you
get to choose which way you get around the island, its rocks, its islets
and channels! A challenge for even the best navigators, much less
trying to do it all by yourself!
In
2012, the race was launched and attracted 15 tough contestants. In
2013, 100 contestants signed up, among them sailors from Sweden,
Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia and Denmark. Silver Rudder 2013 was the
biggest international offshore singlehanded regatta in world for that
year. In the end of May 2014, nearly 170 were enlisted for the 2014
edition, which meant this year’s Silver Rudder Challenge would be the
largest non-stop singlehanded offshore race ever. By August, the
entrants reached the maximum of 200 participants!
Out
of seven classes, there were only three Danish winners in this year's
regatta. In the Large Keelboat Class (35-40 ft), it was Peter
Gustafsson’s J/11 BLUR.SE that took overall winners with a time of
29:11:05, to win by well over 55 minutes over his next closest
competitor. Gustafsson is known among many Scandinavian sailors for his
website with the same name as his boat, but not many people were aware
of how good he sailor he is!! He led the race from the Great Belt
Bridge to out of Langeland, in which the front flerskrogbåd was passed
by. Then with only 0.5 miles to the finish line, Gustafsson managed to
overtake Andraz Mehilin in Svendborgsund where both skippers had
frequent sail changes. A spinnaker sock made the difference when it
jammed a headsail change for Mehilin on his IMX 40. The old truth that
one can sail a small boat closer to 100% singlehanded over a larger boat
turned out to be true. Despite the extremely difficult conditions and
long periods without wind, Gustafsson’s BLUR.SE managed to outdo William
Friis-Møller's IMX-40 elapsed record time of 2012; that resulted in a
shift of Silver Rudder Challenge Trophy from Denmark to Sweden. Plus,
BLUR.SE was also the fastest overall keelboat in the Silver Rudder
Challenge 2014!! 
(Fort Worth, Texas)– Top-notch J/22 sailors will put their skills to the
test against a talented fleet this week on Eagle Mountain Lake at the
U.S. Adult Championship, hosted by the Fort Worth Boat Club.
(San Francisco, CA)- J/World Performance Sailing leader Wayne Zittel (San Francisco, CA)
sailed a J/70 for the first time at the Rolex Big Boat Series. Here’s Wayne’s report on their “most excellent adventure”:
(Annapolis, MD)- The J/80 North American Championships were held in
Annapolis over the weekend of September 10-14, with Annapolis YC
hosting. A total of 32 boats showed up to the line, coming from Texas
and Ontario. Out of the 32 boats, 18 were locals.
(Newport, RI)- Tim Healy offered some perspectives on what it took to win the J/70 Worlds. Here is Healy’s commentary from the Scuttlebutt Sailing interview with Craig Leweck.