(Annapolis, MD)- Congratulations to Terry Hutchinson and his team on
their win in the 2014 J/70 Fall Brawl. They overcame challenging
conditions and excellent competition to be crowned “King Brawler”! The
fleet included locals from Maryland and Virginia as well as many
visitors from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Georgia, and Minnesota.Eastport Yacht Club and J/70 Fleet 1 (Annapolis), with the support of North Sails and Quantum Sails, hosted the third annual Fall Brawl on the waters of the Chesapeake Bay this past Saturday and Sunday. The Brawl was the first regatta ever hosted for J/70s shortly after the launch of the class and it has become increasingly popular not only with the local fleet but also with a growing number of boats from the north and west who stop in Annapolis on their way south for the winter. This year, 32 boats raced, including 13 from out of the area. Eastport Yacht Club hosted social gatherings on Friday and Saturday in its trademark informal style and Annapolis and her waters welcomed the racers with picture-perfect fall conditions the entire weekend.
Saturday
brought sunny skies and winds of 6 to 12 knots from the west (always an
interesting direction in Annapolis), and PRO David Malkin was able to
send the fleet off on four races, resetting marks many times but
resorting to the Z flag only once. Terry Hutchinson and his team,
including Quantum professional Scott Nixon and locals Wilson Stout and
Collin Kirby, won the day, recovering from an 8 in the first race to
post bullets for the rest of the day. Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT team from
Minnesota were in second with a 3-4-5-4. The rest of the fleet had
fantastically crazy finishes, living the game of “chutes & ladders”
all day long.Sunday dawned slightly colder, still with westerlies but blowing high-teens and gusting into the high-twenties. Joel Ronning's well-traveled CATAPULT team, including current Etchells World Champion Bill Hardesty, J/24 World Champion crew Luke Lawrence and long-time crew Victor Diaz de Leon, ran the table with straight bullets in challenging and shifty conditions. Annapolis locals Ray and Jenn Wulff, sailing their boat Joint Custody with Jake Doyle and Quantum professional Marty Kullman, also sailed a great regatta and rounded out the podium in third place.
What were some competitor perspectives? Here were the latest Facebook posts regarding this year’s J/70 Fall Brawl:
Ray Wulff- “Big thanks to Jake Doyle, Jennifer Wulff, and Martin Kullman and the whole Quantum Team (Terry Hutchinson, Allan Terhune Jr, Scott Nixon, and Kenny Chesney) for an awesome Fall Brawl regatta. To make the podium in this fleet was awesome. Go Joint Custody!”
Chris Groobey- “it was a spectacular fall weekend in Annapolis for the final regatta of the year, including a honking day today (Sunday). We were reminded of how lucky we are to live here and how fortunate we are to have our extended sailing family. Thanks to Mike Sipala and Josh Putnam for an amazing year of sailing here and in Tampa, Charleston and Newport; we are looking forward to many future adventures with you. And thanks as well to Kristen Loerch Sipala, Lara Dallman-Weiss and Brother Mallard for the post-race beer deliveries, high-speed tows and other great times on and off the water. Once you've had a land-man, you can never go back!” Sailing photo credits- Dan Phelps/ Spinsheet.com For more J/70 Fall Brawl sailing information
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