(Bristol, RI)- The first New England J/Fest was a popular event that saw
forty-one boats from across New England enjoy roasty-toasty weather,
intermittent thunderstorms on Saturday and spectacular sea breezes on
Sunday. The sailing conditions provided for tight racing in the
one-design classes and spirited competition in the PHRF Class. Bristol
YC hosted the regatta and racing took place on the upper reaches of
Narragansett Bay, with most classes getting in six races. One of the
highlights of the regatta was the Friday evening skipper’s 
meeting
and “local knowledge” presentation put on by local heroes Ken Read and
Charlie Enright from North Sails- both are national and world champions
in various classes and both have conducted successful Volvo Ocean Race
campaigns- Kenny twice on IL MOSTRO/PUMA and Charlie once on ALVIMEDICA.
The fleet was split onto two courses, with the J/22s and J/30s sailing in the immediate vicinity south of beautiful Rumstick Point with views of the Mount Hope Bridge- with the course managed by Bristol YC’s Race Committee. The J/105s, J109s, and PHRF class was hosted by Barrington YC’s Race Committee over on the northern course, just west of the famous Colt State Park.
Winning
the J/105 class was Bruce Stone & Nicole Breault’s brand new
(re-constructed) J/105 96- GOOD TRADE, winning five of six races to win
their class by five points. Fred Darlington’s TONTO gave them a run for
the money on Sunday, winning the first race and taking two 2nds, but
not enough to overcome GOOD TRADES lead on Saturday that had three
bullets in the scoreline. Third was Mark Lindquist’s crew on STERLING
from Buzzards Bay.
The
J/109s saw past North American Champion Ted Herlihy skipper GUT FEELING
to a big win in their class, finishing with four 1sts in their six
races to win by 9 pt. John Sahagian’s PICANTE, featuring guest helmsman
Dr Rob Salk, managed to overcome an enormous deficit on Saturday to
close with a 1-2-3 on Sunday to leap onto the podium and grab the
silver. Bill Kneller’s team on VENTO SOLARE sailed a steady series to
secure third place. As one of the top women helms in greater New
England, it was not surprising to see Brooke Mastrorio’s URSA sail fast
to take 4th position. Fifth was Brian Kiley’s GAMBIT.
The
J/22s had a terrific turnout, with Bill Porter’s CONUNDRUM overcoming
Matt Dunbar’s WHARF RAT early regatta lead on Saturday to close the deal
on Sunday with a 1-2-1 and the class win. Third was Nick Cromwell’s
DIRT DOG, showing the other teams how it’s done in the big breeze on
Sunday, with 10-20 kts puffs crossing the course the DIRT DOG boys
closed out the regatta with a 1-2. Taking fourth was Neil McDermott’s
KONA and fifth place was David Wehr’s SHAKE & BAKE.
Sailing
on the same course as the J/22s, it was Mark Rotsky’s NEMESIS that
secured the class win with just 6 pts. Second was Robert Rude’s MMMMM
and third was Jim Hilton’s KAOS. The pretty bright red DIPLOMATICO from
Hamilton, skippered by Dan Borsutzky, sailed with just main & jib
on the final day due to a small family crew and very blustery
conditions; nevertheless, they were always in the hunt and enjoyed
themselves immensely!It was blistering HOT racing in the PHRF division, especially between the two J/88s, a J/29 and a very well-sailed J/110 cruiser! In the end, the regatta was determined on a tie-breaker between Doug Newhouse’s J/88 YONDER and Jeff Johnstone’s J/88
ELECTRA
(with guest tactician Charlie Enright on board), with YONDER taking
class honors. The series went down to the wire and perhaps the spoiler
in the J/88’s epic battle was Kevin Dakan’s pretty J/110 MEMORY- being
sailed by a full family crew! After Saturday’s light-airs racing,
YONDER was winning by one point over both ELECTRA and Steve Thurston’s
J/29 MIGHTY PUFFIN- both tied on points with 2-3 records. However, the
breezier Sunday brought a huge change in the scores; after three fast
races in flat water, the big winner on the day was Dakan’s MEMORY,
posting a 4-1-1 to win the day 
and
jump into third place for the regatta. Thurston’s MIGHTY PUFFIN dropped
to fourth and taking fifth place was Charlie McCoy’s navy blue J/29
HAWK.A big “thanks” goes out to regatta sponsors North Sails and East Coast Yacht Sales for their support and, again, a warm “thanks” to host Bristol YC, Commodore Joe Brito, the BYC volunteers as well as their friends at Barrington YC. Sailing photo credits- John Lincourt Photography For more J/Fest New England sailing information
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