J/122E JOYRIDE Wins Three Tree Point Race

J/122E, J/29, J/105 MORE JUBILEE Top Classes in Center Sound Series
(Seattle, WA)- Corinthian YC’s Center Sound predictably kicks off the central Puget Sound racing season with three medium distance, one buoy rounding, 20-30 mile races. And, it seems usually, one race ends up a drifter and one a gear buster. 2018 had some different things in mind. Saturday’s Three Tree Point Race, which usually takes the fleet from Shilshole to Des Moines and back, was re-routed back and forth and up and down the central Sound so that it could be easily shortened if the wind died.

The course took the fleet to Blakely Rocks, across to Duwamish Head, to a temporary mark off Edmonds, back to West Point and finish for a total of nearly 27 miles. According to Cahill and others, the most interesting thing was reaching across the Sound. “The reaches were fun,” Cahill said. “It was marginal between going with a spinnaker or headsail.”

In Class 3, there’s not a lot of room for error. It is arguably the most competitive, closely rated and fun handicap class in the Seattle scene right now. Gaucho, Here & Now, Kiwi Express and Madame Pele were neck and neck for the whole series. They’re all racer-cruisers, and while they are all different, they have basic performance parameters in the same ballpark. It harkens back to the day when performance curves weren’t so dissimilar and the racing that much closer on the water.

Class 7 saw an epic battle between the J/122E JOY RIDE and Madrona with Absolutely not far behind. Fittingly, in the end it was John Murkowski’s J/122E JOY RIDE breaking the tie for the class win, but Carl Buchan’s Madrona taking the overall top boat spot. JOY RIDE was second in fleet.

CYC’s Race Fleet Captain Matt Wood was happy, particularly with the turnout. “Over 80 boats total in ORC, Casual and PHRF classes entered the series, easily the most participants the event has seen in several years.” He did admit to some glitches along the way but was pleased with how the races were managed in light of the ominous weather forecasts.”  Thanks for this contribution from Kurt Hoehne from Sailish.com

As for the rest of the J/Teams, here is what happened class-by-class.  In the fifteen boat PHRF Class 2, John Sezer’s J/80 RECKLESS took 5th, while Leo Morales’ J/27 WIZARD took 6th and the J/80 TAJ MAHAL finished 7th.

Winning the PHRF Class 3 was Pat Denney’s J/29 HERE & NOW by a comfortable margin after placing 1-1-2, respectively, in the Blakely Rock, Scatchet Head, and Three Tree Point races. Watch a RaceQs.com 3D replay of their 3-Tree Pt Race- it can be seen here

The ten-boat J/105 class, one of the largest in years, had close racing amongst the top three boats.  In the end, it was Erik Kristen’s MORE JUBILEE taking class honors with an unassailable 2-1-1.  After winning the first race, Jim Geros’ LAST TANGO could not find that gear again, posting a follow-on 4-4 to hang on for second.  Chris Phoenix has JADED sailed a solid, consistent series to post a 4-3-4 to take the bronze.

In the fourteen-boat PHRF 6 Class, Chris Johnson’s J/120 WITH GRACE finished 3rd, just ahead of two J/109s- Stu Burnell’s TANTIVY in 4th and Jerry Woodfield’s SHADA in 5th position.

As mentioned above, winning PHRF Class 7 was Murkowski’s J/122E JOYRIDE with a 2-4-1 tally.  Finishing in 5th was the duo of Shawn Dougherty & Jason Andrews on their J/125 HAMACHI.  For more Corinthian YC Seattle Center Sound Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.