Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Challenging Cedar Point One-Design Regatta

J/109s sailing off Cedar Point CT (Cedar Point, CT)- No question, sailors from the northeast enjoyed that awesome and elusive combination of fun, serious sailing, and great camaraderie ashore. The Cedar Point Yacht Club’s One-Design Regatta provided up to seven races for most of the J/Classes participating- the J/70s, J/88s, J/105s, and J/109s- that represented 82% of the event.

Oivind Lorentzen’s NINE, counting three bullets in their five-race record eclipsed the eleven-boat J/70 class.  Second was Josh Goldman’s BUILDING A and third was John & Molly Baxter’s TEAM VINEYARD VINES. Rounding out the top five were John & Marisa Koten’s PLANET CLAIRE and Eddie Keller’s KEY PLAYER, finishing 4th & 5th, respectively.

It was a duel by two long-time class stalwarts in the eight-boat J/88 class.  In a regatta that came down to the wire, it was Iris Vogel’s DEVIATION edging out Mike Bruno’s WINGS by just one point to take the class win. Third was Kevin Marks’ VELOCITY.

J/105 sailing off Cedar Point, CTAn epic struggle evolved in the eight-boat J/105 class for the top five teams, with all of them finishing within one point of each other and having to survive TWO tie-breakers. After six races, three teams were tied on 14 pts each for the podium, a near mathematical improbability. That trio of boats were Harald Edegran & Jeremy Henderson’s CONUNDRUM, Frank Latawiec’s ATARAXIS, and Max Kalehoff’s LAURA BEA; on countback, they finished in that order on the podium! The balance of the top five was also a tie-breaker on 15 pts each; Randy Bourne’s STRANGE BREW and Gardner Horan’s CUSH, finishing in that order for 4th & 5th.

The enormous eighteen-boat J/109 class was treated to a good-old-fashioned butt whipping by a cast of characters from the Chesapeake Bay. Known by many for their past heroics, Bill Sweetser’s RUSH lived up to her reputation, sailing nearly lights out all weekend long, never finishing below 4th in this incredibly competitive class! In the end, they won with just 13 pts net.

Behind the RUSH crew, it was a tough duel to the finish, with the outcome for the balance of the podium determined by the last race.  Jonathan Rechtschaffer’s EMOTICON and Julia O’Dowd’s TBD were tied at 20 pts each, with the nod on countback going to the elated EMOTICON crew.  Rounding out the top five were Will Rogers’ BIG BOAT in 4th and Bengt & Marie Johansson’s ZIF ZAG in 5th position.  For more Cedar Point One-Design Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.