Wednesday, July 29, 2015

J/35 RITUAL Crushes Lake Erie Interclub Week

J/35 sailing Erie Interclub Race week (Erie, PA)- The Lake Erie Interclub is a five-day regatta “cruise” organized and hosted by the Buffalo Canoe Club, Buffalo Harbor Sailing Club, Buffalo YC, Erie YC, Port Dover YC, Dunkirk YC and the Sugarloaf Sailing Club- all clubs located at the far eastern end of Lake Erie and not far from the famous Niagara Falls.  The event consists of with 3 port-to-port races and 2 in port races: #1- Erie sunset sail on Lake ErieCourse Race, #2- Erie to Port Dover, #3- Long Point Bay Course, #4- Port Dover to Port Colborne, #5- Port Colborne to Point Abino.

The event draws a substantial contingent of J owners, from J/80s up to J/160s across the four PHRF classes.  Not only winning class, but winning overall honors was the J/35 RITUAL, owned and skippered by John Vallee.  According to Vallee, “Our J/35 just won Class B with a scoreline of four straight firsts!  Even better yet, we also won the PHRF Overall in a 60+ boat fleet with a record of 3-3-1-1-2 for just 9 pts!  That’s pretty good for a lovingly maintained 1989 boat!!”

wet and wild sailing on Lake ErieIn fact, the J/35s in PHRF B class nearly swept the podium, with stablemate POISON IVY II helmed by Jim Kondziela taking 2nd in class and 5th overall in fleet and Bill Hertel’s MAGIC taking 4th overall, just 2 pts out of third!

In the other classes, the J/160 LAKE SHARK sailed by John Bloomstine took 4th in her PHRF A fleet.  Finally, in the PHRF C fleet, Pat Huntley’s J/80 GRAFFITI also walked off with her class honors counting three bullets in their scoreline, good enough to also take 3rd overall in the entire fleet!  For more Lake Erie Interclub Regatta sailing information