(Chester/ Halifax, Nova Scotia)- The one-and-a-half dozen J/Teams that were participating in the 2019 edition of Chester Race Week enjoyed good sailing conditions for their long weekend of sailing, with most fleets completing six races in the offshore courses of combined buoy-racing and random-leg offshore racing.
In the PHRF 1 Division, Stu McCrea’s J/120 DEVIATION sailed a solid series to take second place. Another J/120, Richard Calder’s BRILLIANCE won the last race to boost their position to fourth in class.
J/Crews swept the top five places in PHRF 2 Division. Leading the pack were two J/100s, Larry Creaser’s YOUNG BLOOD won, followed by Terry McKenna’s DOG PARTY in second. The next three places were taken by J/35s, with Andrew Childs’ HELOC taking the final bronze spot on the podium, then fourth was Gary Bennett & Rod Johnstone’s J’AI TU in fourth and Than MacDonald’s J-HAWK in fifth place.
Rod Johnstone interview with host Lisa Ross from Sail Halifax Project here.
Similarly, J/Crews swept the top three spots and four of the top five in PHRF 3 Division. Leading the pack was local hotshot Colin Mann on his famous J/92 POOHSTICKS. Second and third were two J/29s, Chris MacDonald’s SCOTCH MIST IV in second and Don Williams’ PARADIGM SHIFT in third. Fifth went to yet another J/29, Ann Covey’s RUMBLEFISH.
Winning PHRF 4 class was Jesleine Baker’s J/30 JUST ADD WATER. She was followed by another J/30 in fourth place, Jordan MacNeil’s FLUX.
In the PHRF 3 Inshore class, twin J/29s battled in a bare-knuckled brawl to a tie after seven races, both teams counting only 1sts and 2nds! On countback, it was Jane Fibee’s PAINKILLER that took the gold, with Terry Schnare’s HEAD GAMES having to settle for the silver. Fourth place went to Don McAlpine’s J/80 HARPOON and fifth to Bernd Hackstein’s J/27 BUZZ.
The PHRF 4 Inshore class saw Karen Fowler’s J/22 CHEAP THRILL take the silver, while fellow J/24 sailor, Steven Countway’s WAVERUNNER.
The one-design J/105 class was treated to a “whitewash” of the fleet, with Sean McDermott & Rory MacDonald’s McMAC winning all seven races and tossing out a 1st to finish with 6 pts net. The balance of the podium was a dog fight for sure, with James Mosher’s MOJO coming out on top of Barry Eisener’s BUZZ by just two points. Follow Chester Race Week on Facebook here For more Chester Race Week sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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