(Lakewood, TX)- This coming weekend, the Lakewood Yacht Club south of Houston, TX will be hosting the annual J/Fest Southwest Regatta on Galveston Bay from October 25th to 27th. A record fleet of sixty-nine boats is participating from across the Deep South. There are big one-design fleets of J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, and J/105s and a J/ORC class.
The 20-boat J/22 class features a number of leading teams from the region, including Casey Lambert’s BLACKBURN MARINE RACING, Jeff Jones’ GAS STATION SUSHI, Anne Lee’s HELMS A LEE, Farley Fontenot’s OLD TIMES, Dan Pletsch’s SKETCHY, Gary Theis’ STUDENT DRIVER and Kevin Orff’s TROUBLEMAKER.
While the J/24 Worlds are taking place in Miami, FL, a solid fourteen-boat J/24 class is assembling on Galveston Bay. Leading crews include Kirk Reynolds’ TYRUS, John Parker’s CHUPACABRA, Amanda Casey’s MOMENTOUS, Ryan Miller’s TRICK BAG, Darren Hill’s FRAT HOUSE, and Stu Juengst’s VANG GO.
Perhaps the most competitive fleet will be the 14-boat J/70 class as the event is a 2020 J/70 Worlds qualifier for the regatta in Marina del Rey, CA. Top teams on the leaderboard should include Jack Franco’s 3 BALL JT, Doug Strebel’s BLACK RIVER RACING, Mallory & Andrew Loe’s DIME, Glenn Darden’s HOSS, Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE, and Jay Lutz’s ZOUNDS.
The J/ORC fleet features a few gold-platers from the region. Two J/46s that recently collected some silverware in the Harvest Moon Regatta will be participating; Albrecht Goethe’s HAMBURG II and Jim Demarest’s SODALIS III. In addition, there will be J.D. Hill’s J/122 SECOND STAR, two J/109s (David Christensen’s AIRBORNE and Andy Wescoat’s HARM’S WAY), the new J/99 TBD, Bill Sutton’s famous J/35 LEADING EDGE, George Cushing’s J/92 USA 77, and Ray Bentele’s J/29 PRESS TO MECO. Should be fun handicap racing in that fleet! For J/Fest Southwest results For more J/Fest Southwest sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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