Jay Walkin’ @ Ugotta Regatta?

(Harbor Springs, MI)- For the better part of last weekend’s eponymous Little Traverse YC Ugotta Regatta, the fleet enjoyed the usual gorgeous weather served up by what many consider to be the St Tropez of the Great Lakes---- Harbor Springs, MI and its spectacular Caribbean blue-green crystalline waters of Little Traverse Bay.

Having seen more than their fair share of such spectacular waters around the world, at least 40,000nm worth by last count, the J/42 JAYWALKER sailed by Bill and Judy Stellin and family felt right at home and walked off with not only PHRF Non-Spinnaker class honors, but also 3rd Overall PHRF!  They corrected out better than all but two other boats in all the PHRF sections including TP-52's, a host of other J Boats and all the other hot boats from the Mac races. This happy crew pictured here are the Stellin’s (Bill and Judy) with son Dave in white and his two friends- Tim 2nd from right and Brian behind that young gal Judy!

The LTYC’s Ugotta Regatta is open to all sailors and it’s so popular, that the city-required cap of 88 boats for registration is usually hit in late spring as sailors begin to contemplate their summer sailing plans!  While the Stellin crew on JAYWALKER may be considered “hotshot” locals amongst the cruising crowd, their friends on various J’s had their fair share of fun, too.

The biggest one-design fleet happened to be the J/70 class. Such is its popularity on the Great Lakes, that even this corner of northern Lake Michigan attracted ten boats while simultaneously just to the east on Lake Erie a fleet of 19 J/70s were racing and even further east a fleet of 23 boats were sailing in Marblehead, MA!  Winning the first J/70 Ugotta Regatta Trophy was Scott Sellers’ team on TRES BURRITOS from Larkspur, California!  There’s was not a landslide affair, posting four bullets on their way to a win with 15 pts.  Only two points back was Ed Furry’s SAIL22 FALE from Culver, Indiana with 17 pts.  While these two battled for the fleet lead, it was quite the battle royale for the next four places overall. In the end, Mr. DOWNTOWNER himself, Jeff Towner from Grand Rapids, Michigan, snagged the last spot on the podium to walk home with the bronze.  Insanely enough, there was a three-way tie for 4th place on 38 pts each!  Past J/111 North American Champion, Richard Lehmann from Paradise Valley, Arizona, sailed the baby WIND CZAR to a 4th overall based on the tiebreaker.  Settling for 5th and 6th overall, respectively, were Polk Wagner’s ESCAPE from Harbor Springs and Chal Curtis’ SUNDOG from Harbor Springs.  OK, well all these three guys are considered “locals”, but Richard’s the “old man’o’the’sea” so the “young bucks” need to make sure they photocopy some of his secrets from the Black Book of Little Traverse Bay Racing!

The seven-boat J/120 fleet experienced spirited racing in the often-complex winds of Little Traverse Bay.  Local knowledge helps here for sure!  Taking the class title was Charlie Hess’ FUNTECH RACING from Bloomfield Hills, MI.  Proving their performance in the Bayview Mackinac Race was no fluke, Curt Kime’s crew on VICTRIX from Grosse Pointe Farms, MI took home the silver.  The bronze went to long-time class stalwarts, Mike & Bob Kirkman’s HOT TICKET from Novi, MI, beating their NAUTI BOYS friends on a tie-breaker on 7 pts- bro’s John Hughes and Edward Vermet from Grosse Pointe Farms, MI.  Gazillion-mile J/120 champion, Frank Kern’s crew on CARINTHIA from Grosse Pointe Park, MI, settled in to a fun, reflective 5th place— only 3 pts out of 2nd place, such was the closeness of their racing.  Ever want to get anything done in “Day-Twah”??  Call them.  Even 2x Moth World Champion, Bora Gulari, considers the GPYC J/120 fleet friends his “home-away-from-home”!!

If there wasn’t enough “local knowledge” at play in the J/70s and J/120s, the PHRF 2 fleet was loaded with enough talent to sink any ship before it ever left the harbor! No surprise was the fact that Dave Irish’s J/111 NO SURPRISE took 3rd in class.  In a nip and tuck battle was Mitch Padnos’ Holland, MI team on the J/122 SUFFICIENT REASON, settling for 4th in this highly competitive class.  Sixth was Brad Farber’s team on the J/111 UTAH and 7th was another local, Robert Mampe’s J/122 GOTTA WANTA.

Not to be outdone by their larger stablemates, Ed Bayer’s J/35 FALCON from Grosse Pointe Park, MI took 3rd in PHRF # and Phil Velez’s J/35 AMANT took 6th.  Melia Carter’s crew was perhaps having too much fun, but still managed 8th on her J/35 SPECIAL K.

The PHRF 4 class was about as crazy a mixed bag of boats as anyone has ever seen.  Nevertheless, the J/105s had fun.  Top boat was Sam Powers’ GRYPHON at 3rd in class with Bill Petzold’s GREEN FLASH in 4th.  Past J/105 Class President, Carter Williams, sailed CREATIVE DESTRUCTION to a fashionably easy-going 9th with friends and family sailing the boat.

Separately, the J/105s sailed a one-design regatta the day before the weekend event.  Four W/L races were sailed.  Bill Petzold’s GREEN FLASH won a tie-breaker on 9 pts each with Sam Powers’ GRYPHON.  Third was Carter Williams’ CREATIVE DESTRUCTION.   Sailing photo credits- Gretchen Dorian.com   For more Ugotta Regatta sailing information