WINGS Flies in 105s, JIM Marches past 120s, Golison Bullets 70s!(San Diego, CA)- Over the past weekend, the three dozen J/Teams that sailed in the San Diego J/Fest Regatta could not have been more satisfied with the spectacular weather and warm gentle breezes offshore. Sponsored by JK3 Nautical Enterprises and hosted by San Diego YC, the J/Sailors were provided excellent racing and great social entertainment on the lawns of the club!
J/Fest San Diego has always proved to be a popular event as it marks the beginning of the active fall and winter series of racing in South Bay and offshore. This year, there was a nice turnout of one-design classes for J/70s, J/105s and J/120s.
The
J/120s had an impressive group of competitors, many having won in the
past J/Fest, San Diego NOOD or other major offshore SoCal events. This
time around, it was Jim Snook’s JIM team to take a turn at grabbing the
brass ring. Starting off with a 1st in the first race, they held their
momentum together and kept posting mostly top three scores to take the
event by a comfortable 4 pt margin with scores of 1-3-3-4-1 for 12 pts.
For the J/120 class, that’s a winner by a country mile! Building their
mojo fast but then also fading fast at the end was Chuck Nichols’ CC
RIDER crew, posting a 4-2-1-5-4 for 16 pts to grab second overall.
Third place was taken by the super-fast-out-of-the-gate quarter horse
known as SHENANIGANS skippered by Gary Winton. However, their early
fast pace in this derby meant they troubles later in the final stretch
to the finish. SHENANIGANS’ “snakes & ladders” scoreline of
2-1-7-2-6 for 18 points was just enough to stay on the podium. Fourth
with 19 pts was John Laun’s CAPER and fifth was Mike Hatch’s J-ALMIGHTY.
The
world of J/105s saw a very familiar face atop the standings. After
learning how to start and round marks in the first race, nothing was
going to stop Dennis Case’s WINGS superstars from winning all the rest
of the races, posting a 3rd and four 1st to win with a mere 7 pts. Did
anyone ask if there was a second place boat like the Queen once did in
England? Perhaps. Nevertheless, the balance of the top five was a
rough and tumble ride for those left in the ring to duel for the rest of
the silverware. Sailing a very consistent series was Steve & Lucy
Howell’s BLINK!, with a 1-3-3-3-5 score for 15 pts. Taking third was
Sean O’Keefe’s DECOLORES 2 with a 6-2-2-5-2 for 17 pts. Rounding out
the top five were Dag Fish sailing VIGGEN to fourth and Jon Dekker’s
AIRBOSS sliding into fifth. Notably, the San Diego J/105 fleet was
hoping to welcome their newest fleet member, Jimmy Spithill’s “17”, a
play on his lucky number on the AC 72 America’s Cup catamaran that
somehow won the last America’s Cup— unfortunately, Jimmy couldn’t sail
with his wife due to a last minute business conflict.
The
J/70s enjoyed spirited racing with a new face added to their fleet as
well. The latest member is Bruce Golison, a famous one-design sailor
from SoCal who has far too many championships to name here. Suffice it
to say, Bruce was a quick study of the J/70, posting five 1sts on his
way to a convincing victory in his newfound class. Jeff Brown, whose
JK3 Yachts was the regatta sponsor, took second with an equally
consistent four 2nds and one 3rd. Third was Dave Cheresh’s FLARE with
one 2nd and four 3rds! Sailing photo credits- Bronny Daniels/ Joysailing.com For more San Diego J/Fest sailing information
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