(Seabrook, TX)- J/Fest Southwest Committee Chairman Al Goethe and the
team at Lakewood Yacht Club (LYC) are hosting their 5th Annual J/Fest
Southwest Regatta from November 1st to 2nd on Galveston Bay. They are
looking forward to welcoming the fifty-eight teams that are registered
so far and are looking forward to a weekend of hot racing on muddy
waters! The focus of the J/Fest is to give J/Boat racers a chance to
compete in one-design races. “Our J/Fest Southwest will be another great
opportunity for Lakewood to promote and support a national caliber
event,” added Goethe.
With
the City of Seabrook again being the primary sponsor of the event, the
overall theme of the J/Fest Southwest Regatta is to provide a venue that
is all-inclusive to J/Boat owners, their family and friends. While the
racers are on the water, their spouses and family can enjoy a myriad of
activities and tourist attractions in and around the Bay Area Houston
arena- for example, remember that phrase “Houston, we’ve got a problem”
during one notable NASA space mission? Well, that was beamed to NASA’s
HQ in Houston just five blocks down the road from where the sailors will
be partying all weekend long! The
tour of the space center is definitely worthwhile, check it out here-
http://spacecenter.org/ They will have an “Aliens & Astronauts
& Asteroids” Halloween party Friday night!There is a great turnout for the J/PHRF and One-design fleets (J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/105s & J/109s). One of the featured attractions is J/Boats co-founder Rod Johnstone, he will not only be sailing a J/88 but will also be on-hand for any spontaneous “know-how” needed for any of the boat-owners or sailors.
The J/22 class has a good fleet of 10 boats with teams from as far away as Gross Pointe, Michigan- Chris Morlan’s TILT. A new member of the fleet and first-time J/Fest SW participant is Marek Vasalek sailing for Lakewood YC.
As
part of their Texas Circuit, the J/24s have a 16-boat fleet, the
largest of the regatta. Teams are traveling from Austin YC, Fort Worth
Boat Club, Dallas Corinthian YC and event Lake Belton YC. A number of
familiar names are in the pack, including Kelly Holmes’ BAD MOON,
Natalie Penner’s GIGGLES and Johnny Parker’s CHUPACABRA. Both a
“sleeper” and a new face in the crowd is Juan Mauri sailing MAURI PRO
SAILING TEAM— watch out, these guys work hard and party harder! Like their J/24 colleagues, the 13 boat J/70 fleet is packed with talent from all three points of the Texas star- Austin, Dallas/ Fort Worth and Houston areas. Kurt Vander Wall has liberated his 70 from Lake Dillon, Colorado and is looking forward to some fun-in-the-Texas-sun! A number of class veterans are participating, like Ansgar Chorhummel’s PERIHELION, Al Poindexter’s USA 98 and Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE. However, watch out for class “newbie”, Taylor Lutz sailing ZOUNDS HEARING- a past World-class Opti sailor, top college sailor and is likely to have a top-notch crew aboard.
The
J/105s have 8 boats participating with past regatta winner Bill
Lakenmacher sailing RADIANCE and the long-distance traveling Masur’s
(Mark and Jolene) sailing TWO FEATHERS from Fort Worth Boat Club.
Factoring into their leaderboard should be Uzi Ozeri’s INFINITY and JB
Bednar’s STINGER, both locals from LYC.The J/109s should have spirited competition amongst the four well-sailed boats. The big question is whether Abrecht Goethe’s HAMBURG can repeat his excellent past performances and reach the podium yet again?
Finally, the J/PHRF fleet is divided into Asym & Sym divisions. Will Scott Spurlin’s J/88 THRILLER manage to beat JD Hill’s J/122 SECOND STAR on handicap? And, will George Cushing’s J/92 or Bryan Colby’s J/120 ROSIE beat them all to the punch in the Asym fleet? In the Sym Division are some classic old warhorses of the handicap arena, including Glen Stromme’s J/29 PRESS TO +MECO having to take on a pair of J/27s- Chris Alk’s FOOTLOOSE and Gary Trinklein’s TOCCATA. Sailing photo credits- Andrea Todaro/ John Lacy For more J/Fest Southwest sailing information
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