(East End Lake Erie)- The J/35 RITUAL, owned by John Vallee from the
Port Dover Yacht Club in Ontario Canada, dominated this year’s Lake Erie
Interclub Regatta which ran over five days from June 27 to July 1.
RITUAL had a perfect score of 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 to claim first place in
Class B (J/35’s, Beneteau 36.7’s and Shock 35’s) over Jim Kondziela’s
J/35 POISON IVY II in second place, and Bill Hertel’s J/35 MAGIC in
fourth place. Vallee and his crew lead the overall fleet of 54 racing boats to win the overall event title with a score of 3, 3, 1, 1, 2 for a total of 10 points over 5 races. This is the lowest overall score in the events recorded history! POISON IVY II was 5th in the overall and MAGIC was 8th in the overall.
The crew of RITUAL was proud to take home the Buffalo Courier Express Trophy for the overall win, as well as the Hadley Jackson Trophy for the Erie to Port Dover race on day 2 and the Ivey Trophy for the race on day 3.
RITUAL is a repeat winner of this event, taking the overall award in 2010 and being a regular winner of the highly competitive J/35 / Beneteau 36.7 / Shock 35 Class B.
Pat Huntley (a multiple overall winning skipper in the this regatta) sailed his J/80 GRAFFITI for the first time in the event and came away with an clear win in the Class C with a line score of 1, 3, 1, 1, 2 for a total of 8 points and an 8 point lead over second place. GRAFFITI also placed third in the overall event, being an impressive result for the relatively small boat in some very heavy and extreme sailing conditions.
The Lake Erie Interclub Regatta is the premier racing event in the east of Lake Erie. Over 5 days of racing in late June, the regatta includes three days of port-to-port racing and two days of in-port racing. The regatta attracts boats from both Canada and the United States, with the majority of the fleet coming from Port Dover Ontario, Erie Pa., and Buffalo NY.
Race
1 was a blustery in-port race in Erie Pa. Originally scheduled for
racing in the open waters of Lake Erie, the race committee moved the
even to inside Erie’s Presque Isle Bay due to extremely high wind and
waves on the lake. This resulted in a short course, tight race in heavy
conditions and two competitors breaking their booms.Race 2 was the traditional 40-mile race around Long Point from Erie Pa to Port Dover Ontario. It is said that this is the oldest continuously run fresh water sailboat race in the world. Again, the fleet was faced with heavy conditions, high winds and waves for what turned into a beat to the finish line. RITUAL enjoyed the heavy air upwind and a solid performance in this race moved RITUAL into first place in the overall, a position that she would never give up.
Race 3 was the in-port Long Point Bay Race starting off Port Dover, beating to Turkey Point and then running to a shortened course finish off Nanticoke. Crews enjoyed a lighter air day after physically demanding days in races one and two. RITUAL was able to claim first in Class and first Overall on this lighter air day.
Race 4 opened with a short beat to a weather mark and then a fetch as the boats left Port Dover and headed for Port Colborne, 40 miles easterly down the north coast of Lake Erie. The wind clocked through the day resulting in the fleet gybing their way down to the finish line in lighter air. RITAUL was again first in Class and first Overall with the added pleasure of taking line honours placing her in control heading into the final race on day 5.
Race 5 saw the fleet race in a spinnaker downwind start heading east from Port Colborne, past Point Abino, down to Buffalo. With a building breeze, RITUAL engaged Peter Lund and his crew aboard TAZ 3 (second place in the overall standings) in a heavy air gybing dual as the fleet approached the leeward mark, providing RITUAL with significant gains and allowing her to round the Buffalo mark first and lead going into the dramatic heavy air beat to the final finish line in Abino Bay. RITUAL finished with line honours, first in Class and second overall in the final race. Good enough to take the overall regatta honours. For more Erie Interclub Regatta sailing information
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