(Marblehead, MA)- According to Hill & Lowden’s George Lowden (the
Boston area J/Dealer), “The past several days saw lots of J/Boat action
here in Marblehead. Seventeen J/105’s, eleven J/70’s, three J/111’s, a
J/122, four J/109’s and assorted older model J’s all competed in this
three day event- the Marblehead ONE Regatta.There were a variety of different wind and sea conditions. But, basically the weather was very good for the whole regatta. Overall, the turnout by J/Teams in the area was excellent. Almost half of all the registered boats were J/Boats.” Indeed, with two large one-design classes of J/70s and J/105s and the rest sailing in PHRF fleets, it would have been easy to mistake the event as a “New England J/Fest”!
Friday
we had 6 to 12 knots out of the North-Northeast which provided great
racing for Line 1 (larger PHRF racing boats) and Line 2 (one-designs and
PHRF Class 5). Both lines got off 3 races sailing 1.2 to 2 mile legs of
windward-leeward courses. The wind stayed up and actually built a
little as the day went on to provide great racing for the short-handed
class who raced a 90 mile offshore race on Friday night finishing
Saturday morning.Saturday the wind built from the northeast with a good swell and chop to provide Champagne Sailing and a perfect platform for championship racing. Line 1 got off 3 long races capped off with a five leg race with 2 mile long legs. Line 2 raced 4 races providing some great surfing conditions for the J/70s and J/105s. The Navigator classes and PHRF Class 6 started their regatta off on Line 3 "the inside line" near Salem/Beverly Harbors. These boats raced 4 races around the buoys as well as drop marks, getting to see some of the great scenery around the Marblehead waters.
Sunday the wind gods were a little sleepy and the racing didn't get started until between noon and 1pm or so depending on what line/area you were starting at. Each class got off one race in 5 to 7 knots of wind. The short-handed class joined Line 3 and raced a 13 mile course that went past Manchester by the Sea.
Starting
with the large and competitive J/105 class, it was clear there is
several new faces in the crowd who have jumped into the class to
challenge the old guard. Having said that, it was “old school” showing
“new school” the ropes this time around. Long-time J/105 veteran Fred
deNapoli and crew aboard ALLEGRO SEMPLICITA rattled off four bullets in a
row to dominate their class like they have never done before. Chalk it
up to good living and good wine, according to one of Fred’s good
buddies! Sailing better all the time was Matt Pike’s GOT QI, sailing to
a 3-2-6-2 to take second on a tie-breaker over Jon Wales’ BANTRY that
had a 4-3-3-3 also for 13 pts. Fourth was past J/105 NA Champion Ken
Colburn skippering GHOST and fifth was Marblehead NOOD winner, Ric
Dexter’s CIRCE’s CUP.The J/70 class also had a number of new faces in the crowd make for a pretty radical changing of the guard in just one weekend! Taking the J/70 class was local rock star Billy Lynn sailing the mighty AFRICA to a 1-2-2-2 for 7 pts total. Not far off the pace was Kurt Winkelmann’s NAVEGA RACING with a 3-3-3-1 for 10 pts. Third was Alex Meleny’s LAYLA with a 2-4-1-4 for 11 pts. Close racing for the top three and it could have easily gone one way or another for these three boats in each race. Rounding out the top five were class veterans Dave Franzel on SPRING taking 4th and Frank McNamara’s CHINOOK in 5th.
In
the world of offshore PHRF handicap racing, the two J/111s in PHRF 2
class took 4th and 5th respectively, Mike Williamson’s BRIGADOON and Ed
Kaye’s PRAVDA 2. In PHRF 3 class, the J/109s dominated, taking four of
the top five. Gary Weisberg’s HEATWAVE won, followed by Chris Zibailo’s
SUPERSTITION in 2nd, Dan Boyd & Mitch Wiest’s WILD THING fourth and
John Doub’s RESOLVE in fifth. The J/33 SIROCCO sailed by Ward Blodgett
took third in PHRF 5 class. And, in PHRF Double-handed class the J/122
RESOLUTE sailed by Scott Miller took 2nd while Mike Piper’s EAGLES DARE
took 5th.The ONE Team Championship went to TEAM UCYC (Under the Crane Yacht Club). The team consisted of:
- One Design: the J/70 AFRICA skippered by Bill Lynn
- Racing: the J/33 SCIROCCO skippered by Ward Blodgett
- Navigator: the Pearson 30 CORSAIR owned by Ralph & Peter Carlton
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