TEAM TARHEEL Crushes Easter J/24 Regatta

(Columbia, SC)- Sailed in J/24s since 1987, THE Easter Regatta has been one of the world’s most popular and enduring J/24 events. This year, no one was disappointed by the first-class, red carpet treatment rolled out by the always-fabulous host- the Columbia Sailing Club. As always, everyone appreciated the awesome Bath House at the beach and camping area, especially the campers! The “never-leave-the-club option” was just freakin-awesome, said many! The club offers FREE camping (first-come, first-served), meals every day, and parties GALORE!! The beautiful peninsula and gorgeous beach provided that unparalleled camping experience that everyone that sails the Easter J/24 Regatta have come to know and love.

Looking forward to that amazing Southern hospitality were nineteen J/24s from across the universe.  What no one expected was a “schooling” put on by one of the J/24 class veterans.  Who knew!? This early in the season to be smoking white hot, lights out, shake my booty at everyone all weekend long??

Sure enough, that’s what can happen sometimes. Paul Abdullah’s TEAM TARHEEL won the regatta with five 1sts and three 2nds in 9 races to win with just 11 pts!  Yikes.  Wow, just slap us across our collectives faces why don’t ya! Simply put, it was a beat down no one saw coming.  Perhaps, we can get a story for next week’s J/News on how Abdullah pulled it all off!?

Behind the TARHEEL team, it was pretty rough sledding for most as it was a combo of getting off the starts, hitting shifts, moving sails up and down at the corners of the race track, like all the stuff that matters and can kill you if it don’t go right.  In that category was second place finisher, Steve Shaw’s ULLMAN SAILS, closing the deal with 28 pts.  Only four points back to take third was James Howard’s CLASSIC with 32 pts total.  Rounding out the top five was Chris Stone’s VELOCIDAD with 37 pts in fourth and Ron Medlin’s BASH with 44 pts in fifth position.  Follow J/24 Easter Regatta on Facebook here   For more J/24 Easter Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

LUCKY DUBIE Smokes Chicago COLORS Regatta!

Great Sailing for J/111s, J/109s, J/105s & 88s!
(Chicago, IL)- The annual regatta that marks the start of the offshore sailing season in Chicago on Lake Michigan is Columbia YC’s Goose Island Colors Regatta.  There was an enormous turnout of J/crews supporting the event, by far the biggest brand of sailboats at the regatta, 36 J/crews in a fleet of 110 keelboats (about 35% of the fleet). Depending on weather and fleets, most boats sailed just 3 to 4 races over the weekend in the challenging weather conditions.

As usual, the nine boat J/111 class was as tight as ever for the top of the podium!  In the end, it was the first big regatta win for Len Siegal’s LUCKY DUBIE crew!  Starting off with double bullets, they were not to be denied, with the “Dubsters” closing with a 2-6 to just snatch victory from the jaws of defeat!  Not unexpectedly, chasing them hard were the three musketeers on KASHMIR (Karl Brummel, Steve Henderson & Mike Mayer); in the end they came up just shy of taking class honors, their 2-2-4-4 for 12 pts good enough for the silver.  Third place was John Kalanik’s PURA VIDA crew with a terribly slow start in the first two races (an 8-5), but an extraordinary comeback in the last two races- double bullets!  Rounding out the top five was Rick Witzel’s ROWDY in 4th place, just one point back with 16 pts, and Kevin Saedi’s & Raman Yousefi’s MOMENTUS in 5th place with 19 pts.

In the eight boat J/109 fleet, it was Peter Priede’s FULL TILT that walked off with class honors with a 1-1-4 for 6 pts.  Second and third were determined on a tie-breaker; with Jim Murray’s CALLISTO winning that battle over Laura Wagner’s NORTHSTAR.  Rounding out the top five were Keith Eickenberg’s BLACKFIN in 4th and Scott Sims’ SLAPSHOT II in 5th place.

A familiar face was at the top of the leaderboard on Sunday afternoon in the J/105 class of eight boats!  Clark Pellet’s SEALARK won with straight bullets while Mike Sheppard’s FLYING PIG was 2nd, Bob Amos’ SOUTHBOUND was 3rd, Gyt Petkus’ VYTIS was 4th and Vanessa Gates’ STRIKING was 5th place!

In the PHRF Spinnaker Division, wackily comprised of a TP52 at the top end and the J/88s at the bottom end, it was going to be a “condition-based” outcome for the event.  In the end, the 88s had a rough time, with Tim Wade’s WINDSONG taking 5th and Andy Graff’s EXILE in 7th and Tod Patton’s BLONDIE 2 in 8th.

However, in the PHRF Offshore distance racing scenario, the J/88s did quite well!  Winning was Ben Wilson’s RAMBLER, with Tom Papoutsis’ J/133 RENEGADE in 5th and Boyd Jarrell’s J/88 SLOT MACHINE in 14th.

Then, in the PHRF Singlehanded division, three of the top four were J crews!! Rick Stage’s J/35 ALPHA PUPPY was 2nd, Mark Gannon’s J/105 GANGBUSTERS was 3rd, and Mitch Weisman’s J/35 FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER was 4th position! Monsters they were all!!  For more COLORS Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Easter Regatta Preview

(Columbia, SC)- The annual Easter Regatta hosted by the Columbia Sailing Club will be taking from April 13th to 16th on Lake Murray in the northern parts of their state.  It is a beautiful setting; a wide-open fresh water lake, surrounded by trees and rolling hills, pretty homes, and a yacht club that truly rolls out the red carpet for the crews that participate in their famous spring-time event.  There are twenty-four J/24s and seven J/70s that are sailing in the event. Several notable teams are participating from across the northeast.

The J/24 class has top crews like Mike Ingham’s USA 5443 from Rochester Canoe Club; Cory Huseby’s BORK BORK BORK from Wayzata YC in Minnesota; Mike Palazzo’s JO MAMMA from Charleston YC; Steve Wood’s TASMANIAN DEVIL from Sail Newport in Kingstown, RI; Andrew Carey’s MR HANKEY from Portland YC; and Paul Abdullah’s TEAM TARHEEL from the Florida YC in Jacksonville, FL.

In the J/70s, the small fleet includes well-known crews like Dave Betts’ INSTANT KARMA from Sag Harbor YC; Hunter Davidson’s LOONATICTU from Fishing Bay YC; Don Trask’s SMOKIN J from St Francis YC; Holly Graf’s SPICE from Fishing Bay.   For more J/70 & J/24 Easter Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/88 Sailing Cartagena!

(Cartagena, Columbia)- J/88 eye-candy anchored off Columbia- South America!?

Yes, this is the first time ever that a J/88 has sailed from Cartagena to the Rosario Islands, 23 nm southwest along the Caribbean coastline from the magnificent mountain/beach resort of Cartagena.

Learn more about the J/88 family speedster here

J/70 Easter Regatta Announcement

(Columbia, SC)- Columbia Sailing Club is proud to announce the inaugural J-70 Corinthian Easter Regatta 2016, held from March 25th to 27th, 2016, and sponsored by the J/70 Class and North Sails. The event is being hosted for Corinthian J/70 teams only- just ISAF Category 1 sailors.

This event will be held in conjunction with the 30th Anniversary J/24 Easter Regatta, a most famous event in the 24 class that has been held since 1985. The first Easter Regatta was held in 1966 sailing E-Scows, so this year will mark the 50th Anniversary of this prestigious event! Notable Regatta Champions include Terry Hutchinson, Chris Larson, David Van Cleef, Tim Healy and Will Welles.

Regatta sponsor North Sails will provide the J/70 Corinthian sailors with an amazing training program led by J/70 Champion Tim Healy- North Sails’ One-Design Director.  The event starts out with a one-day clinic, followed by daily post-race “chalk talks” by some of the smartest, fastest guys in the business in the North Sails diaspora.  In addition, the Columbia SC is also planning to have a practice start and race on Thursday afternoon for J/24’s and J/70’s.  Please contact Charles Bumgardner at ph# 803-315-8788 or email- Cgbum@me.com for more information and fantastic deals on local hotels/motels.  For more J/70 and J/24 Easter Regatta sailing information

Columbian J/88 Sailing off Cartagena

(Cartagena, Columbia)- A J/88 recently landed in Cartagena, Columbia, that beautiful harbor and city on the northern coast along the Caribbean Sea.  Her new owners, Fuad and Sam Navarros, apparently love the boat and their family is having a wonderful time sailing her in local events!

The J/88 is the second J “speedster” to join the ranks of fast offshore boats in Columbia’s offshore racing community.  The first one was Cesar Rojas’ J/111 that sailed in Key West in 2011.