SKELETON KEY Crowned J/111 World Champion!

(San Francisco, CA)- After nine races spread over four grueling days, Peter Wagner’s SKELETON KEY was crowned the 2017 J/111 World Champion. Going into the final day, the regatta was still anyone’s game, and all eyes were on the top three contenders that had battled for pole position throughout the event- Skeleton Key, Slush Fund & Joust. The regatta was hosted by St Francis YC, with sailing taking place on the notoriously challenging San Francisco Bay.

In total, there were eight teams competing for the J/111 world title, with four boats from the Bay Area, one boat from Los Angeles, two from Annapolis, Maryland, and one boat— Rod Warren’s JOUST— from Melbourne, Australia.  Here is how it all went down over the course of the four-day event.

Day 1- Thursday
Spend enough time sailing on any body of water and it slowly reveals its secrets, giving sailors a set of rules-of-thumb that should—theoretically— be the keys to success, provided that time-honored patterns prove consistent. San Francisco Bay certainly has its closely guarded secrets, as the sailors learned during the first three races. But, instead of delivering conditions that were consistent with the tacticians’ hard-won playbooks, Thursday’s action was defined by big fleet splits that delivered interesting returns on investment at the rounding marks, leeward gate and finishing line.

“By running three races, our goal was to let the fleet leg-out a bit,” said Jeff Johnson, the StFYC Principal Race Officer. “We saw gradually building conditions throughout the day that gave people time to shift gears and to introduce their crews to San Francisco Bay.”

The build-up began with a slowly gathering morning breeze that filled in on the Bay’s Berkeley Circle, where the racing was held, with a steady 10-knot breeze and a tide that was flooding by the time the first starting gun sounded. While common wisdom on the Berkeley Circle holds that one should go right until it doesn’t work, some of the fleet instead opted for better current relief and while others sought out stronger pressure.

Once the starting signals began sounding, all crews brought their A-game to bear against their rivals on a windward-leeward-twice-around course. And, while rules-of-thumb were certainly considered, the fastest sailors also knew when to go off-piste in terms of their rulebook strategy. “It took a lot of grinding,” said Peter Wagner, skipper of Skeleton Key (USA 115), immediately after taking the regatta’s first bullet. “The race was won upwind.” When queried about the favored side of the course, Wagner’s crew reported that things oscillated, requiring sharp focus from the entire team, and from their skipper.

The breeze continued to slowly gather for the day’s second race, forcing teams to work through their gear changes and apply more rig tension as needed. Again, the fleet chose opposite sides of the racetrack up the first uphill hike, with Jim Connelly’s Slush Fund (USA 119) winning the start and holding her advantage all the way around to the finishing line, where Skeleton Key almost nicked victory. Rod Warren’s Joust (AUS 1110) crossed the finishing line next to complete the second race’s Top Three.

“Our plan was just to have fun and sail fast,” said Jason Currie, Slush Fund’s mainsail trimmer, just after crossing the line. “We won the pin end of the start, and we tacked and sailed away. Currents played into it a fair amount, and we sailed into the cone of Alcatraz” to seek relief from the flooding waters.

St. Francis Yacht Club’s race committee was clearly paying attention to the shifting weather conditions as the daily high-pressure system tried valiantly to push blue skies above the course, but the marine layer remained steady, even as the breeze swung to the south for the day’s final race. Skeleton Key enjoyed a tactically wise mid-line start, followed by Martin Roesch’s Velocity and Doug and Jack Jorgensen’s Picosa, but the building breeze and steepening waves saw numerous lead changes. By the first weather mark, Picosa was in the pole position, followed by Skeleton Key and Slush Fund. But, instead of the rich getting richer, Warren’s Joust team crossed the upwind finishing line in first place, followed by Velocity and Slush Fund.  At the end of the first day of racing, Skeleton Key was topping the leaderboard, followed by Joust and Slush Fund.

Day 2- Friday
Despite forecasts for lighter-than-average wind on San Francisco Bay, the second day delivered fresh conditions that gathered as the day’s action unfurled. Berkeley Circle conditions started with a gentle 5-7 knots for the first race and topped out in the high-teens with puffs into the low-20s by the end of the day. But while Mother Nature was dynamic in her temperament, the fleet’s fastest guns kept their performances consistent, proving once again that one-mode boats don’t win world championship titles.

Unlike yesterday, the old saw about the Berkeley Circle (“going right always works until it doesn’t”) proved accurate today, especially for teams that worked the inside lanes. Jim Connelly’s Slush Fund beat the fleet to the first mark, followed by Wagner’s Skeleton Key— positions that both boats held across the finish. Warren’s Joust rounded out the top three.

“We had great upwind speed, clean air and a great start off the line,” said Connolly, just after taking his proud win. “We were off the line nicely. It was upwind performance— that’s what did it for us!”

The breeze continued to freshen for the day’s second race, which was also a windward-leeward-twice-around contest that sent teams on a 1.8 nautical mile climb that, in turn, was rewarded with big-grin kite rides. Wagner’s Skeleton Key and Connelly’s Slush Fund both enjoyed strong starts.  However, six of the eight-boat fleet broke left, ditching the typical wisdom exercised on the Circle. While Skeleton Key and Slush Fund covered each other tightly on the first leg, Warren’s Joust rounded the first mark in the pole position and managed to stave off Skeleton’s Key’s advances until an ugly looking gybe coming into the finishing line almost cost the Aussies their bullet. Fortunately, the team from Down Under man-handled their kite just in time, leaving second and third places to Skeleton Key and Slush Fund, respectively.

“These were perfect conditions,” said Joust’s Aaron Cole, just after finishing. As for that final gybe, “we got a little chicken-winged out and came in a little bit hot, but we got control and luckily pulled it off!”

Interestingly, almost all teams doused their headsails on the downhill legs in favor of a main-and-kite-only configuration, but once the wind began to gather to around 15-17 knots, most headsails remained at full hoist. “It’s our cross-over between planning and soaking,” said Cole. “If you do it at the right time, you get on the plane and go downwind fast.”

The Race Committee gave competitors an extra few minutes to tighten their shrouds between the day’s final two races, the latter of which saw big breeze that was complimented by a flooding tide. While the wind was with the water, the Bay’s long fetch still managed to churn the Berkeley Circle into the notorious “washing machine chop” wave pattern.

Warren’s Joust enjoyed another fine start to the day’s third race, followed by Connolly’s Slush Fund and Wagner’s Skeleton Key, but by the first weather mark Roesch’s Velocity managed to nose in between Joust and Slush Fund. While Velocity’s pace looked strong as the team worked their way around the top of the course, a series of leader changes unfurled that saw Slush Fund reap the day’s final win, followed by Picosa and Velocity, with Skeleton Key being forced to settle for a fourth-place finish.

After six races over two days, Connolly’s Slush Fund was in the pole position and tied with Wagner’s Skeleton Key for total points (15). However, Slush Fund were sitting on a net score of 9 points (due to discarded races), while Wagner carried 11 points and Joust was in third place with 12 net points.

Day 3- Saturday
One of the marks of a world-championship-level sailing team is the ability to rapidly adjust to evolving conditions while also being fast at courses of all lengths and shapes. Such was the test Saturday as the race committee sent the eight-strong fleet on a 26.4-nautical-mile tour of the Bay that took teams from Alcatraz out under the Golden Gate Bridge to Point Bonito, then back into the Bay for some seriously fast legs that tested teams at all angles and all wind velocities, while also challenging their ability to stay focused for hours.

“There’s a strong precedent in the J/111 class to have a distance race with their Worlds, so we’re including it,” said Jenn Lancaster, St. Francis Yacht Club’s Race Director. “It worked out great with our schedule, and we created a course that gave people good exposure to all corners of the Bay and a chance to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge, which is a Bucket List item for most sailors.”

Given that conditions outside of the Golden Gate Bridge are usually a different animal than conditions inside, the adventure quotient was high come dock-out. “Lead, cover, extend, come home early, and watch out for whales,” said Warren, skipper of Joust, which hails from the Sandringham Yacht Club in Sandringham, Australia, of his teams strategy. As for if his team prefers distance races or windward-leewards, Warren jested, “I’ll tell you after today!”

A 5-8 knot breeze greeted sailors at the starting line, however the days forecast called for must stronger winds as the sun marched west. At the start, Jorgensen’s Picosa crossed first, followed by Wagner’s Skeleton Key and Roesch’s Velocity. The Golden Gate Bridge’s north and south towers were just emerging from the Bay’s infamous marine layer as the fleet headed for the Marin side of the course and some current relief. Here, the key to success lay in hugging close to the Marin Headlands’ rocky coastline, practically scrapping the bricks as rigs cleared the Golden Gate Bridge.

Outside of this world-famous landmark was a confused and sometimes-choppy seaway and even less wind pressure. Teams continued to hug the shoreline, their laminate sails and carbon rigs camouflaged against a backdrop of dark oceanic basalt cliffs and hills punctuated by redwoods, sequoias and juniper trees.

Sticky, light-air conditions prevailed until teams rounded a mark off of Point Bonita Lighthouse, popped their kites, and headed back towards Treasure Island, with Slush Fund leading the way, followed by Picosa and Skeleton Key, with Joust in hot pursuit.

Whales flashed their fins as the teams fought to keep their kites full— an issue that would quickly vanish once teams entered the Bay where the breeze was building fast.

Once past the bridge, the “Nantucket sleigh rides” commenced as teams fought to control their steeds in 20+ knots of breeze. At the second turning mark, situated off Treasure Island, Picosa had snatched the lead, followed by Skeleton Key and Slush Fund, with Joust still skirmishing for a spot in the top three.

Next, the fleet aimed their bows back upwind for Harding Rock, the third turning mark, as a flood tide pressed hard against the buoy. The top four boats held their positions as crews prepared for the next kite-set and screaming sleigh-ride back down the Bay.

The Berkeley Pier Ruins were the fourth turning point on the Bay Tour, and teams prepared for the final beat back up to Point Cavallo, where they would bear off and aim their bows for the finishing line.

While the boathandling wasn’t easy, Skeleton Key picked-off Picosa’s lead at the last mark, however both boats went low after hoisting their kites, setting themselves up to cross the finishing line under jibs and mainsails, given the angles involved. Joust’s position gave them time to study the leaders’ fortunes and they opted for a very different angle that allowed them to carry their kite all the way to a screaming first-place finish.

“On the last run down, Aaron Cole, my tactician, worked out that we shouldn’t hoist our kite right away but instead cross the current and then go up with the kite,” said an elated Warren at the dock. “We were in third place, but this queued us with the guys ahead of us, who we passed in that last bit, which I guess is the only bit that really counts!”  After seven races over three days, Slush Fund topped the leaderboard, followed by Joust and Skeleton Key.

Day 4- Sunday- the Finale
Bright sunshine and 10 knots of air greeted the crews for the final day of racing. Racing had been consistently competitive throughout four days of competition, with regular leader changes and a good mix of boats winning top-three finishes. Better still, the weather cooperated perfectly, giving sailors a hearty dose of what they came for- San Francisco’s legendary summer breeze.

Going into the final day, Connolly’s Slush Fund had 12 pts net, with Joust sitting on 13 pts net, and Skeleton Key in third place with 13 net points.  To say it was anybody’s game was certainly going to ring true after two more races were scheduled to determine the World Champion.

“Coming into today, we had already enjoyed three days of racing,” said Jenn Lancaster, St. Francis Yacht Club’s Race Director. “After a challenging distance race yesterday, it was great to round-out this championship with racing on the Berkeley Circle.”

A moderate breeze worked in tandem with the current and tide to create lumpy seas that would only increase in height, steepness and frequency. The Race Committee signaled Course 4 (windward-leeward, twice around), and teams jostled for a favored spot on the starting line. Come the starting signal, Skeleton Key, Velocity and Joust were the quickest off the line, with five of the eight boats opting for the stronger pressure on the course’s left-hand side.

A strong North Bay push threatened to set boats to the southeast that didn’t properly account for this influence, and— at the first windward mark— Slush Fund rounded and hoisted their kite first, followed by Skeleton Key and Picosa. Slush Fund successfully held their lead through the gate, followed by Skeleton Key and Joust.  But, fortunes changed come the second weather mark as Skeleton Key rounded first, followed by Picosa and Slush Fund. Numerous gybes and more leader changes ensued before Skeleton Key’s bow pierced the finishing line to take the win, followed by Picosa and Slush Fund.

The RC promptly signaled the day’s last race, which was a windward-leeward-twice-around affair, fortified by an extra windward leg for an uphill finish. The starting signal sounded, with Skeleton Key again enjoying a fine start, followed by Velocity and Reuben Rocci’s Swift Ness. By the first windward mark, Joust had claimed the pole position, followed by Skeleton Key and Slush Fund. Kites were hoisted and the bow spray instantly started flying.

Positions held at the leeward gate all the way to the finishing line, where a loud chorus of cheers could be heard coming from the Australian boat. While Joust sailed a phenomenal last race, it wasn’t enough to earn them the world title.  Instead, that went to Skeleton Key, a team that consistently proved their mettle. “Congratulations to Skeleton Key and Slush Fund,” said a tired-but-happy Warren, reflecting on his third-place overall finish. “I thought four bullets would have done it, but not quite.”

After nine races, Peter Wagner’s Skeleton Key crew are the new J/111 World Champions, and their victory on their home waters is made all the sweeter by the fact that they came in second at last year’s J/111 Worlds in Cowes, United Kingdom.

“It took a lot of patience,” said an elated Wagner. “There was a lot of depth at the top of the fleet. Slush Fund had the best speed; Joust was consistent and fast; we had our moments; and several others such as Picosa and Velocity sailed well. We took nothing for granted out there. It was a long regatta that wasn’t decided until the final beat. It took a lot of concentration, but I’m glad we held it together.”

When asked about the origins of his boat’s moniker, Wagner cracked a wry smile. “A skeleton key is an Australian term for a surfboard that performs well in a variety of conditions, and we like to think that we sail well in all conditions.” For those that wonder where Peter came from in his sailing career, he was an All-American at Harvard University’s Sailing Team in the world’s toughest collegiate sailing competitions in New England for a period of four years on the Charles River- famous for producing many of America’s top competitors.  Think Kenny Read at Boston University as a simple poster child.

Rounding out the top five were Connelly’s Slush Fund in 2nd, Warren’s Joust in 3rd, Jorgensen’s Picosa in 4th and Roesch’s Velocity in 5th. Sailing photo credits- Chris Ray/ Christy Usher/ Gerard Sheridan/ Leslie Richter.  For more J/111 World Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.