(Youngstown, NY)- The Youngstown Yacht Club will be hosting the 2nd
Annual CanAm Challenge July 25 & 26th. The regatta is open to all
boats. Any class that has 5 registered boats will compete as a One
Design Class, and boats without a One Design Class will compete in a
series of 2 Pursuit Races.The CanAm Challenge is a competition of the boats individually but also to defend their nation. In 2014, Canada was victorious, but 2015 is a whole new year. Who will win? On shore, activities will include live music, a street hockey competition, and a chicken dinner for competitors!
The regatta has strengthened considerably and grown tremendously in the past year since the inaugural event in 2014. The event now features one-design classes of J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/27s, J/88s and J/105s. For the latter two, it’s the Great Lakes Championships for both the J/88 and the J/105.
The
J/88 class will see its largest gathering of boats in a one-design
event to date with eight boats on the starting line. In their on-going
duel that started in Key West and continued in Charleston Race Week, we
find Iris Vogel’s DEVIATION crew from Huguenot YC up against Rob &
Sandy Butler’s pink & grey themed TOUCH2PLAY RACING from Hamilton
Harbor YC in Hamilton, Ontario. They are facing a number of new and
veteran teams such as Laura Weyler’s DEBUT 88, Joe & Jeff
Pawlowski’s EASY EIGHTS, Rich Lohr’s NIGHT OWL, John Frank’s RUMBLE BEE,
Don Finkle’s SEAWEED and Joe O’Brien’s SQUIRMY. With nineteen boats, the J/70s are easily the largest class at the regatta with a nice mix of familiar veterans coming up against new teams. Tim Finkle’s Junior, Corbo Corbishley’s LATE LIFE CRISIS, Morgan Paxhia’s PENNY PINCHER, Marty McKenna’s RARITY, Tom Bowen’s REACH AROUND, Scott Weakley’s REX and Kristofer Werner’s SUPERFECTA should be on fire somewhere near the front of the fleet. Teams have come from as far as San Francisco, CA; Vienna, VA; Charleston, SC and Stonington, CT to enjoy the pretty sailing at the western end of Lake Ontario (right next to Niagara Falls!).
As
a J/22 stronghold for decades, it’s not surprising to see a very
competitive turnout of thirteen J/22s for the regatta. While missing
one of the Doyle clan to the J/22 Worlds about to start in Travemunde,
Germany, none other than Travis Odenbach from Rochester YC will be
sailing QUANTUM SAILS ROCHESTER. Stiff competition should come from
Mark Stuhlmiller’s EUDAIMONIA, Vic Snyder’s MO’MONEY, Trevor Collins’
ALTERNATIVE GIRLFRIEND and Ron Harris’ BROOMSTICK.Also with a good showing is the dozen-boat J/105 fleet with just about all Royal Canadian YC teams. The local American street hockey guys better watch out for these loonies, half of them used to play Senior A or pro hockey! Fresh off his J/24 Silver Medal at the Pan Am Games will be Terry McLaughlin’s crew on MANDATE (they’re also the J/105 North American Champions in 2014). Giving them a fierce dogfight is always Jim Rathbun’s HEY JUDE (another J/105 NA Champion in Annapolis, MD). In the hunt will be Peter Hall’s JAMAICA ME CRAZY and THE USUAL SUSPECTS.
On a rebound for the past few years is the local Lake Ontario J/27 fleet. This year nearly a half-dozen boats will be on the line. Past class champions like Andrew Riem’s CURVED AIR, Mike Seitz’s NORTHERN SEITZ and Andre Beese’s MESSING ABOUT will be duking it out for the gold.
The J/24s will feature a 2-on-1 bout between two American teams- Gabe Lewis’ HANG LOOSE & Dave Stoller’s TBD up against the Canadian Rick Sherk on BAD HABIT from Niagara-on-the-lake, Ontario.
Finally, the PHRF Pursuit races have Robert Hesse’s J/111 LAKE EFFECT, Denys Jones’ J/109 CARPE VENTUS, Paul-Angus Bark’s J/35 CRIME SCENE, John Reinhold’s J/124 FUTURES and Doug Clarke’s J/35c ROGUE WAVE all hoping to cross the finish line at the same time! Well, maybe not. But, that’s the idea!
Sailing photo credits- TIm Wilkes.com. For more CanAm Challenge sailing information
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