(Seabrook, TX)- J/Fest Southwest Committee Chairman Al Goethe and the
team at Lakewood Yacht Club (LYC) welcomed the 58 J/Teams to the 5th
Annual J/Fest Southwest Regatta, sailed November 1st to 2nd on Galveston
Bay. Over the weekend, most fleets were treated to 6+ races in classic
Galveston Bay sailing conditions, breeze, chop and plenty of wind
shifts!There was a nice turnout for the J/PHRF and One-design fleets (J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/105s & J/109s). As he has done several times over the past few years, J/Boats co-founder Rod Johnstone sailed in the event as well as played host to entertaining festivities on Saturday evening.
The ten-boat J/22 class had an unexpected early eclipse happen in their fleet. Sailing “lights out” for all six races was Casey Lambert’s team on BLACKBURN MARINE RACING, posting the obscenely low score of just 8 pts, an average of just over a 1st! Sailing fast and learning fast was Marek Valasek, the only other boat to take any 1sts away from Lambert’s crew! Third was Dov Kivlovitz.
As part of their Texas Circuit, the 15-boat J/24 fleet saw top competitors pull out all the stops to win the event. It was a donnybrook for the top three boats. Surviving the “shootout at the OK Corral” was Natalie Penner’s GIGGLES, perhaps the first time a woman skipper eviscerated “the boys” in this popular regatta. She collected three bullets on her way to a 4 pt win. Just behind her, the final race saw Stuart Lindow’s TROPICAL AGGRESSION win the race to also win the tie-breaker for 2nd overall against Tonja Holmes’ SIREN. It’s a milestone in Texas J/24 racing history to see two women skippers in the top three— congratulations to both for such a terrific achievement!
The 13-boat J/70 fleet was loaded with talent from all three points of the Texas compass. In the end, it was the talented young Taylor Lutz on ZOUNDS HEARING that also performed a near eclipse of his class, scoring two bullets and five 2nds to win class with just 12 pts. J/70 class veteran, Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE, took 2nd despite the fact his team won four races! Third was Chris Lewis’s GB, managing to take a bullet themselves on their way onto the podium. “Good show” to Dillon YC member Kurt Vanderwall for traveling the 1,500 miles from Dillon, Colorado to take 4th overall!
The well-traveled and very experienced team on Mark and Jolene Masur’s TWO FEATHERS won the J/105 class in a closely fought affair. Not surprisingly, just 2 pts behind them was Uzi Ozeri’s INFINITY. However, the biggest dog fight in the entire regatta may have been for the bronze in the J/105s, with FIVE (yes 5) teams all scrapping for any advantage over one another to claw their way onto the podium. When the smoke cleared from the field of battle, all five teams finished just four pts apart! Holy rattlesnakes, Robin! Winning this dustup by the nail-biting margin of just one point was John Barnett’s VICI with 32 pts to take the bronze. Fourth was Bill Lakenmacher’s RADIANCE with 33 pts after suffering an SCP (scoring penalty) in the last race. Then, fifth yet one more point back was Alan Bates’ ZIPPITY with 34 pts. Sailing like rabid dogs in the last two races, with each boat winning a race, were John Bell’s KINDERSPIEL 2 and Mark Young’s KILLER RABBIT. Incredibly, both boats also had a mathematical possibility of finishing 3rd, but instead ended up tied with one another, with KINDERSPIEL 2 getting the nod on countback for 6th place! Fun racing in these near equally matched boats!
The J/109s saw a “two-peat” performance by Albrecht Goethe’s HAMBURG, winning their class counting five 1st in their 7 race scoreline. Second was David Christensen’s AIRBORNE and third was Tom Sutton’s LEADING EDGE.
Finally, the J/PHRF fleet was divided into Asym & Sym divisions. In the Asym Division, it was George Cushing’s well-sailed J/92 that took first overall. Second was JD Hill’s beautiful J/122 SECOND STAR and in third was Scott Spurlin’s J/88 THRILLER.
In the Sym Division, the classic warhorses of the J/Boats line-up, it was a pair of J/27s that engaged in an all weekend-long match-race. In the end, Chris Alk’s FOOTLOOSE took class honors, followed by Gary Trinklein’s TOCCATA. Sailing photo credits- Andrea Todaro/ John Lacy For more J/Fest Southwest sailing information
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