DEJA VOODOO ECLIPSES J/105 MIDWINTERS

(Seabrook, TX)- The J/105 Midwinter Championship returned to the calendar this year as twelve teams competed at Lakewood Yacht Club in Seabrook, TX from March 11-14. Over the three-day regatta, the fleet enjoyed truly amazing Texas-style hospitality and pretty amazing sailing conditions- warm, breezy, and moderately choppy waters on Galveston Bay.


After the first day it was abundantly clear that one team must've consumed several spinach cans of Popeye's "whupass", flexed their muscles, and completely smoked the fleet. Starting first and never looking back. the DEJA VOODOO team left everyone in their wake as they peeled off all bullets on the first day. The second and third day of racing never saw them take their foot off the gas, keeping it "firewalled" and reeling off a bunch more bullets.  In the end, Bill Zartler's team on DEJA VOODOO may have been surprised at their own incredible record, counting all bullets after tossing a 2nd place in the eight race/ one-drop series...just 7 pts net!  


The Vice-champion of the last J/105 North American Championship in Marblehead, MA- FINAL FINAL- was put into the unenviable position of playing chase the entire regatta. Accumulating five deuces and the only bullet not taken by DEJA VOODOO, Ken Horne's team on FINAL FINAL sailed to a clear second place with 14 pts net.

Completing the podium in the bronze position was Uzi Ozeri's BONBON, they closed with a 3-5 on the last day for all top ten finishes and 32 pts net.

Rounding out the top five was John Barnett's PESTO with 35 pts net in fourth position and Mark Smith's EAU LA LA took 5th with 36 pts net.  For more J/105 Midwinter Championship regatta sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.

Awesome J/Fest Southwest Regatta

 

(Houston, Texas)- According to Scott Spurlin, J/Dealer in Texas, "the J/Sailors in Texas needed this event!  The enthusiasm to get out on the water was over the top!  On Friday, the rain was coming down and the gusts were in the 40’s and people still trailered their boats in!  We delayed the start on Saturday to give them time to set up and launch. Then we had a full weekend of racing.  I will always think of this J/Fest as fondly as I remember the very first one!"


The J/Fest Southwest Regatta celebrated its 11th Anniversary and proved yet again it was a popular tradition among the J/Boat owners throughout the region with over 70 J/Boats. This 11th edition was a bit more challenging with the current Pandemic conditions. But Lakewood Yacht Club's team rolled out their traditional (and amazing!) red carpet treatment for the 250-plus sailors and made sure the event was fun, while complying with both State of Texas and US Sailing COVID-19 guidelines.


The two-day, six-race regatta had amazing attendance in every class, including seven J/70s, nine J/105s, five J/ORC boats, twenty-one J/22s, and fifteen J/24s! Many familiar happy faces were seen aboard the boats, overjoyed with being to get together safely and fulfill their wishes to finally sail their first regatta since the advent of the pandemic lockdowns back in March.  


Perhaps the most surprising outcome of the regatta was the win by Scott Spurlin's team on the J/70 YOLO. Despite the fact it was just a half-dozen boats, the fleet was riddled with National, North American, World Champions and Olympic Medallists! Apparently, it helps to have some "secret sauce" on board in the form of mainsheet trimmer and tactician Reed Baldrige (a National and World Champion sailor).  Scott's team had a remarkably consistent performance, rattling off a 2-2-1-2-3-2 record for a mere 12 pts! Just behind them it was truly a "shoot out at the OK Corral" for the balance of the top five. Taking the silver was Jay Lutz's MOJITO, after compiling an ever-improving performance with finishes of 4-4-2-3-4-1 for 18 pts. The bronze was determined by a tie-breaker at 19 pts each between two World Champion teams. Bruno Pasquinelli's STAMPEDE won the countback over Glenn Darden's HOSS. Taking fifth position was Dov Kivlovitz’s TURBO DUCK. 


The J/105 class also saw a few duels taking place at the top of the leaderboard.  Winning the regatta by just one point was Ken Horne's FINAL FINAL over Bill Zartler's DEJA VOODOO. Like the J/70s, the bronze medal battle went to the final race and ended up in a tiebreaker at 24 pts each. After the countback, the bronze was awarded to John Bell's KINDERSPIEL 2 over Bill Lackenmacher's RADIANCE. Taking fifth place was Uzi Ozeri's BONBON.

The huge J/22 fleet was extremely competitive and the battle at the top of the leaderboard raged all weekend-long. How tight was the fleet? Well, the top five were only separated by an anxiety-inducing six points! Like their brothers and sisters in the J/105 and J/70 classes, the showdown for the podium was not determined until the final leg of the final race! Starting off with a blistering 1-2, Larry Wise's crew on LET THE WOOKIE WIN faltered in the next four races, chalking up a 12-6-3-6 for a 30 pts total. Nevertheless, after surviving the onslaught from several National and World Champions crew in the J/22 class, Wise's team held their composure to win with 30 pts- a 5th average, the highest winning average of the regatta! Casey Lambert's crew on BLACKBURN MARINE RACING took the silver with a roller-coaster scoreline of 4-5-3-7-4-9 for 32 pts. Rounding out the podium in a hard-earned bronze medal was Mark Foster's PRESSURE DROP, posting a 10-3-1-4-5-10 for 33 pts (how did you bracket your record with two 10's??). The balance of the top five included Jim Freedman's MISS CONDUCT and Tom Meeh's MEEHEM in fourth and fifth, respectively. 

The only class to see what could only be defined as a "runaway shopping trolley" collecting all podium finishes was Chris Holmes crew on the J/24 BAD MOON. Holmes' team cruised to a 2-3-2-3-2-2 record for 14 pts. A distant second was taken by Gerald Rademaker's YIKES team, followed by Greg Newsome's SIXTY NINE (the sail number of his very old TPI-built J/24!). The rest of the top five saw Rod Favela's PHANTASM in fourth and Graham Gardner's SURPRISE in fifth position. 


Finally, the big offshore boats all sailed in the J/ORC class. Winning was Forbes Durdin's J/121 BEAR, closing the last four races with all bullets! Mark Funk's J/27 USA 23 was second and Bill Sutton’s fire-engine red J/35 LEADING EDGE. The rest of the top five included Dave Christenson's J/109 AIRBORNE in 4th and Albrecht Goethe's J/46 HAMBURG II (a beautiful "upgrade" from his former J/109 by the same name!). 

Enjoy the sailing highlights video on YouTube produced by Stuart Lindow/ Pelican Productions   Enjoy the sailing photos on Flickr   For more J/Fest Southwest sailing information

J/Fest Southwest Regatta 10th Anniversary!

(Lakewood, TX)- The 10th annual edition of the J/Fest Southwest Regatta will feature many of the exciting and fun events that J/Sailors have enjoyed over the past decade. This year’s event will feature live music, a shrimp boil dinner, free beer, spectator boats (for family and friends), and lots of J/Sailors having a lot of fun! Hosting the event at their expansive facilities on Galveston Bay is the incredibly accommodating Lakewood Yacht Club. Participating are one-design fleets of J/22s, J/24s, J/70s and an ORC handicap class.

For the thirteen-boat J/70 fleet, the regatta serves as a 2020 J/70 Worlds qualifier that will be held in Marina del Rey, CA at California Yacht Club. Despite the relatively small size of the fleet, it is bursting with talent from many top southwest sailing teams. Watch for these teams to be factors on the leaderboard; such as Doug Strebel’s BLACK RIVER RACING, Mallory & Andrew Loe’s DIME from Seattle, WA, Glenn Darden’s HOSS, Forbes Durdin’s MOJITO, Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE, Mark Masur’s TWO FEATHERS, Al Poindexter’s USA 241, and Jay Lutz & Doug Strebel’s ZOUNDS.  Fun and games for that fleet!

The eleven-boat J/24 fleet also features a number of leading crews in the southwest.  Chief amongst them is Jack Franco’s 3 BALL JT, plus Stu Juengst’s VANG GO, Andrew Theismann’s YOUNG’UNS, and Gerald Rademaker’s YIKES!

The fourteen-boat J/22 fleet has a number of amusing teams participating. Who’s on first in this fleet? Who knows. But, it could be Casey Lambert’s BLACKBURN MARINE RACING, Jeff Jones’ GAS STATION SUSHI, Dan Pletsch’s SKETCHY, Gary Thies’ STUDENT DRIVER, or Kevin Orff’s TROUBLEMAKER. Wow, sounds like a bunch of refugees from the local mental asylum… anyone want to race against that crazy crew? For sure, they will have a lot of fun.

The J/105s have seven teams participating from around Galveston Bay. Based on their performance at the recent J/105 North American Championship, there is no question the outright favorite has to be Ken Horne’s FINAL FINAL team (the infamous boat with class illegal “no windows”). Who will challenge them? Perhaps John Barnett’s PESTO, Brad Robbins’ RUMPUS, Dennis Kokkinis’ SPITFIRE, or Albert Shannon’s WIKI WIKI V.

In the J/ORC Division are six teams that will be pointing their bows across the starting line. Those teams include the brand new J/99 USA 007 (another Agent 99!), Albrecht Goethe’s J/46 HAMBURG II, Andy Wescoat’s J/109 HARM’S WAY, J.D. Hills’ J/122 SECOND STAR, Jim Demarest’s J/46 SODALIS III, and George Cushing’s J/92 77. Included in this group is Richard Bell’s J/97E VESPER.  For more J/Fest Southwest sailing information

J/Sweep @ Harvest Moon Regatta

(Seabrook, TX)- Lakewood Yacht Club hosted the 32nd Annual Harvest Moon Regatta from October 25th to 28th. This year's regatta had 119 sailboats returning to the usual finish line in Port Aransas after a one-year hiatus because of the extensive damage rendered to the city by Hurricane Harvey the previous year.

Hundreds of racers look forward to this event each fall. No matter their sailing skill-levels, novice to expert, the “Harvest Moon” is a fun offshore race that ends with a fabulous outdoor party with plenty of refreshments, excellent BBQ dinner, and live entertainment.

According to JD Hill, owner of the J/122 SECOND STAR, “it was a big weekend for J/Boats down here in Texas, as J’s swept the podium in the ORC division at Harvest Moon Regatta. In a 119 boat regatta, our J/122 SECOND STAR was the best monohull in ORC Overall, followed by John Barnett’s J/105 PESTO and James Liston’s J/120 AEOLUS.”

Here was the breakdown of this year's big winners:

In the ORC A Class, the “Bacardi Cup” was awarded to Hill’s J/122 SECOND STAR.  Taking 2nd in class was Liston’s J/120 AEOLUS.

Then, in the ORC B Class, winning was Barnett’s J/105 PESTO, followed by Charles Wielchowsky’s J/105 TEXAS RANGER IV in fourth place.

Finally, in the PHRF Spinnaker Division, taking 5th place was the J/46 SODALIS III sailed by Jim Demarest and crew from Lakewood YC.   Follow the Harvest Moon Regatta on Facebook here   For more Harvest Moon Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Foster Crowned J/22 Midwinter Champion

(Houston, TX)- Four J/22 World Champions finished in the top five of the 2018 J/22 Midwinter Championship, an event hosted by Houston YC and sailed on the muddy waters of Galveston Bay.  However, it was 1999 Champion Mark Foster on PRESSURE DROP who edged out fellow Texan Terry Flynn on TEJAS to earn the title on a tie-breaker.

Both teams had 23 points net, but Foster’s bullets secured the top spot. Fellow past World Champions Mike Marshall on BAD NEWS and Chris Doyle on THE JUG 4 1 finished third and fifth, respectively, with Travis Odenbach’s HONEYBADGER in fourth.

Thirty-nine teams completed eight races on Friday and Saturday, however light winds today did not allow the final scheduled contest. With 39 boats on the line, this attendance matched the highest for a J/22 Midwinter Championship since 2008.  Here is what transpired on those first two days.

Day 1- Light and shifty
Odenbach’s HONEYBADGER led the field after day one. Four races were completed in a smorgasbord of conditions from overcast clouds to sun and winds from light and shifty to solid breeze between off and on rain showers.

Doug Weakly’s HNL opened the regatta with a bullet, ahead of HONEYBADGER Flynn’s TEJAS. Marshall’s BAD NEWS earned the next victory, with the two Doyle’s behind him— Kevin’s MO’MONEY and Chris’s THE JUG 4 1. Chris Doyle took race 3 followed by Odenbach and Marshall. Race 4 saw some new names with Foster’s PRESSURE DROP at the top followed by Danny Pletsch’s SKETCHY and Chris Doyle in third.

As a result, Odenbach’s team of Justin Damore and Kris Werner were leading with a 2-4-27 for 15 pts.  Following in second was Chris Doyle’s crew of Will Harris and Adam Burns from Youngstown YC with a 9-3-1-3 for 16 pts.  Sitting in third was Marshall’s crew with a 5-1-3-8 for 17 pts.

Day 2- More Light stuff
On what was the penultimate, then final day of racing, the luck of the Irish on St Patrick’s Day was with Foster’s PRESSURE DROP. Posting a line of 1-3-4-3, Foster won the day and moved to the top of the leader board tied with his old friend and Texas neighbor Terry Flynn on TEJAS.

After a postponement ashore, racing started just before noon. In light but steady winds, race five was won by Foster’s PRESSURE DROP, with Flynn’s TEJAS and Alexander Hanna following in second and third. Pletch’s SKETCHY jumped to the top spot in race six followed by Kevin Orff’s TROUBLEMAKER and then Foster. Then, Odenbach’s HONEYBADGER took race seven followed by Flynn and Doyle’s MO’MONEY. As the conditions continued to improve, the RC squeezed in an eighth race that was won by Doyle’s THE JUG 4 1, followed by Flynn and Foster, respectively.

As a result, with no winds on Sunday, Foster’s team of Brian Babbit and Matt Romberg on PRESSURE DROP were declared the J/22 Midwinter Champions!  Flynn’s crew on TEJAS- Brett Allred and Bryan Clark lost the tie-breaker to secure the silver, while Marshall’s BAD NEWS rounded out the podium in third position.  Odenbach’s HONEYBADGER team of Justin Damore and Kris Werner took 4th and Chris Doyle’s THE JUG 4 1 took 5th place.

Foster enjoyed battling it out with friend Flynn, who he has known more than 30 years. “We have sailed together in many Championships,” said Foster. “Terry was sailing the boat I won the Worlds in (hull 707), and I was sailing the boat Terry won the Worlds in (hull 1501)!”  What a coincidence!

Top woman skipper at 7th overall was Nataleigh Perez’s crew on FORGET ME NOT from Fort Worth Boat Club- Alex Crowell and Blake Billman.  Second women’s skipper was Anne Lee’s HELMS A LEE from the host Houston YC, and third was Jessica Lombard’s FOLKA from Hudson YC in Quebec, Canada.  For more J/22 Midwinter Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

INFINITY Tops Texas J/105 Invitational

(Houston, Texas)- In spite of losing PRO Dwight Bengston at the last minute, J/105 Fleet 17's first annual Texas Invitational went off without a hitch under absolutely beautiful blue Texas skies in perfect winds and temperatures. A big thanks goes to John Barnett (Vici) and a host of Lakewood Yacht Club volunteers for quickly stepping up to the plate to make sure the 10-race schedule was executed to perfection.

Seven boats competed with both Fleet 17 and non-Fleet 17 owners on the helm. The 10 races were split into evens and odds. Fleet 17 owners helmed odd numbered races, and non-Fleet 17 owners helmed even number races. Big thanks to the Bermuda fleet for allowing Fleet 17 to copy their format. This is a super format that produces a fabulous opportunity for owners and crew to travel without having to drag their boats along.

Five races were sailed on Friday in light winds under clear skies with temperatures in the 70s. Three races went off under similar conditions on Saturday, and then the big Texas sea breezes filled in for some spectacular kite flying in 18-25 knots on Sunday. There was a bit of carnage but no actual protests.

For the local Fleet 17 owners, Bill Lakenmacher's RADIANCE took first with 12 points, Uzi Ozeri's INFINITY came in second with 15 and Brad Robbins' RUMPUS finished in third. The non-Fleet17-ers had Glen Darden (Dallas) on INFINITY in first, James Macdonald (Bermuda) on RADIANCE in second, and Mark Smith (Fort Worth) in third. The same boats took the top three places overall with Ozeri/Darden in first, Lakenmacher/MacDonald in second, and Robbins/Smith in third.

Watch two nice YouTube sailing videos here:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrSWPRlj4p0
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jN0NIcdBt4

Fun & Games @ J/Fest Southwest

(Seabrook, TX)- J/Fest Southwest Committee Chairman Al Goethe and the team at Lakewood Yacht Club (LYC) welcomed the 58 J/Teams to the 5th Annual J/Fest Southwest Regatta, sailed November 1st to 2nd on Galveston Bay. Over the weekend, most fleets were treated to 6+ races in classic Galveston Bay sailing conditions, breeze, chop and plenty of wind shifts!

There was a nice turnout for the J/PHRF and One-design fleets (J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/105s & J/109s). As he has done several times over the past few years, J/Boats co-founder Rod Johnstone sailed in the event as well as played host to entertaining festivities on Saturday evening.

The ten-boat J/22 class had an unexpected early eclipse happen in their fleet.  Sailing “lights out” for all six races was Casey Lambert’s team on BLACKBURN MARINE RACING, posting the obscenely low score of just 8 pts, an average of just over a 1st!  Sailing fast and learning fast was Marek Valasek, the only other boat to take any 1sts away from Lambert’s crew!  Third was Dov Kivlovitz.

As part of their Texas Circuit, the 15-boat J/24 fleet saw top competitors pull out all the stops to win the event.  It was a donnybrook for the top three boats.  Surviving the “shootout at the OK Corral” was Natalie Penner’s GIGGLES, perhaps the first time a woman skipper eviscerated “the boys” in this popular regatta.  She collected three bullets on her way to a 4 pt win.  Just behind her, the final race saw Stuart Lindow’s TROPICAL AGGRESSION win the race to also win the tie-breaker for 2nd overall against Tonja Holmes’ SIREN.  It’s a milestone in Texas J/24 racing history to see two women skippers in the top three— congratulations to both for such a terrific achievement!

The 13-boat J/70 fleet was loaded with talent from all three points of the Texas compass.  In the end, it was the talented young Taylor Lutz on ZOUNDS HEARING that also performed a near eclipse of his class, scoring two bullets and five 2nds to win class with just 12 pts.  J/70 class veteran, Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE, took 2nd despite the fact his team won four races!  Third was Chris Lewis’s GB, managing to take a bullet themselves on their way onto the podium.  “Good show” to Dillon YC member Kurt Vanderwall for traveling the 1,500 miles from Dillon, Colorado to take 4th overall!

The well-traveled and very experienced team on Mark and Jolene Masur’s TWO FEATHERS won the J/105 class in a closely fought affair.  Not surprisingly, just 2 pts behind them was Uzi Ozeri’s INFINITY.  However, the biggest dog fight in the entire regatta may have been for the bronze in the J/105s, with FIVE (yes 5) teams all scrapping for any advantage over one another to claw their way onto the podium.  When the smoke cleared from the field of battle, all five teams finished just four pts apart!  Holy rattlesnakes, Robin!  Winning this dustup by the nail-biting margin of just one point was John Barnett’s VICI with 32 pts to take the bronze.  Fourth was Bill Lakenmacher’s RADIANCE with 33 pts after suffering an SCP (scoring penalty) in the last race.  Then, fifth yet one more point back was Alan Bates’ ZIPPITY with 34 pts.  Sailing like rabid dogs in the last two races, with each boat winning a race, were John Bell’s KINDERSPIEL 2 and Mark Young’s KILLER RABBIT.  Incredibly, both boats also had a mathematical possibility of finishing 3rd, but instead ended up tied with one another, with KINDERSPIEL 2 getting the nod on countback for 6th place!  Fun racing in these near equally matched boats!

The J/109s saw a “two-peat” performance by Albrecht Goethe’s HAMBURG, winning their class counting five 1st in their 7 race scoreline.  Second was David Christensen’s AIRBORNE and third was Tom Sutton’s LEADING EDGE.

Finally, the J/PHRF fleet was divided into Asym & Sym divisions. In the Asym Division, it was George Cushing’s well-sailed J/92 that took first overall.  Second was JD Hill’s beautiful J/122 SECOND STAR and in third was Scott Spurlin’s J/88 THRILLER.

In the Sym Division, the classic warhorses of the J/Boats line-up, it was a pair of J/27s that engaged in an all weekend-long match-race.  In the end, Chris Alk’s FOOTLOOSE took class honors, followed by Gary Trinklein’s TOCCATA.  Sailing photo credits- Andrea Todaro/ John Lacy   For more J/Fest Southwest sailing information

J/Fest Southwest Announcement

(Seabrook, Texas)- J/Fest Southwest Committee Chairman Al Goethe has announced that Lakewood Yacht Club (LYC) will be hosting its 5th Annual J/Fest Southwest Regatta on November 1st and 2nd.   “We wanted to get a ‘save the date’ message out to racers now so that racers will be sure to plan on participating in this superb event,” Goethe explained.  The regatta is open to the public and all races will be held on Galveston Bay.

J/Fest regattas have been held for at least 30 years in Annapolis, San Diego, San Francisco, New Orleans and Seattle.  The focus of the J/Fest is to give J/Boat racers a chance to compete in one-design races.  “Our J/Fest Southwest will be another great opportunity for Lakewood to promote and support a national caliber event,” added Goethe.

With the City of Seabrook again being the primary sponsor of the event, the overall theme of the J/Fest Southwest Regatta is to provide a venue that is all-inclusive to J/Boat owners, their family and friends.  While the racers are on the water, their spouses and family can enjoy a myriad of activities and tourist attractions in and around the Bay Area Houston arena.

One design fleets slated for the J/Fest Southwest Regatta include J/22, J/24, J/70, J/80, J/105, and the J/109.  It will be a circuit stop for the J/24, J/70, J/80, J/105 and J/109 classes.  Race tracking will be available to the one-design classes and can be observed live on large screen TV’s in the clubhouse.

For more information, please contact Scott Spurlin at scott@Jboatssouthwest.com or Al Goethe at lyc@lakewoodyachtclub.com   For more J/Fest Southwest sailing information

Canadians Top J/105 Midwinters

(Seabrook, TX)- As anticipated, Lakewood Yacht Club’s team were not only gracious hosts of this year’s J/105 Midwinters, the weather and the regatta PRO cooperated beautifully to provide three good days of racing for the eleven teams in attendance.

After starting off the regatta with a bullet, there wasn’t much stopping Terry McLaughlin, recently named Sail Canada’s Rolex Sailor of the Year and a two-time New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup Champion with his friend John Hele (a past J/24 and J/105 sailor himself).  A native of Toronto, Ontario, and member of the Royal Canadian YC, Terry chartered a local boat called AVICI and simply showed the “good’ole boys” in Texas how its done. Sailing AVICI with Paul Parsons, Kevin Taylor, Jeff Cooke, Emmett Dickheiser and Monica Parsons, McLaughlin totaled only 22 points in the 11 race series. They endured a 20 percent penalty in race three, and otherwise tallied all top three finishes to be crowned 2014 Midwinter Champions.

This is how it went down.  On the first day, winds on Galveston Bay held at a steady 10-16 knots throughout Friday. McLaughlin won three of the day’s five races for 10 pts total.  Locals Bill Lakenmacher on RADIANCE and Uzi Ozeri on INFINITY held the next two spots, with 15 and 20 points, respectively. McLaughlin started the event with a bullet, as Greg Turman’s HORNY TOAD placed second, and Bee Bednar’s STINGER third.  AVICI again took first in the next contest, while Lakenmacher and Ozeri moved up to the silver and bronze positions.  Mark Young’s KILLER RABBIT earned the victory in race three, as again Lakenmacher and Ozeri rounded out the top three.  McLaughlin returned to first in race four, followed by Young and Bednar. The closing battle was won by Lakenmacher, as McLaughlin settled for second and Ozeri for third.

The second day dawned with light breezes around 4-5 knots. During the day, the breeze kept creeping up a couple knots each race so by the third bout, teams saw 10-12 knot winds. McLaughlin  notched another round of consistent scores to total just 20 points in 10 races heading into the final day of competition. Local Bill Lakenmacher on RADIANCE continued his stellar performance, and kept hold of second place with 31 points. Fellow Texan Uzi Ozeri on INFINITY maintained his bronze position with 43 points.  Greg Turman’s HORNY TOAD lodged Saturday’s first victory, trailed by McLaughlin and Lakenmacher. Radiance won the ensuing contest over Ozeri and McLaughlin.  In the third race, Mark Young’s KILLER RABBIT took the bullet. Again Lakenmacher and McLaughlin made it into the top three. AVICI returned to the first spot in the next battle during the 4th race, followed by Alan Bates on ZIPPITY and Matt Arno on BLUE FLASH. McLaughlin ended the day in race 5 with another victory, ahead of Turman and Lakenmacher.

The last day of racing only saw one race and there were great possibilities for a massive shake-up in the third to fifth spots in the standings.  Ozeri’s INFINITY, Young’s KILLER RABBIT and Turman’s HORNY TOAD were locked in a battle for the last spot on the podium.  Whomever beat who on the last race determined the final outcome.  Despite the potential for drama and theatrics, they ended up finishing one after the other- 3rd, 4th and 6th, respectively. Consequently, they were 3-4-5 overall. Lackenmacher’s crew won the last race to secure their second position overall.

McLaughlin raced with Paul Parsons years ago, but actually didn’t know the rest of his crew, since Paul did the organizing. “Our win was a true team effort,” McLaughlin said while accepting his trophy. He also complimented the great Race Committee, noting, “It has been a long time since I have experienced 10 races in two days!” With favorable breezes on Friday and Saturday, the Race Committee was able to complete five races per day, leaving just one on Sunday.   Sailing Photo Credits- John Lacy Photography  For more J/105 Midwinters sailing information

J/105 Midwinters Preview

(Seabrook, TX)- How's this for gracious Southern hospitality?  Located on thirty-eight beautifully landscaped acres, Lakewood is more than just a yacht club. It is a haven for members, their families and guests. There is a sense of peace and tranquility that makes Lakewood an incomparable place of refuge combined with social and water activities. The Bermuda-style clubhouse provides its members with quiet harbor-view dining and excellent cuisine while the bar and piano lounge with three ginormous flat-screen TV’s invite members to relax by the fire or gather around the bar.

Sounds inviting, does it not?!  Well, a dozen J/105s will be calling Lakewood YC home for the March 7th to 9th weekend for their annual J/105 Midwinter Championship. Sailing on the waters of Galveston Bay, the J/105 teams will continually be challenged by its renown square “chop”, benign weather with mild sea-breezes or ferocious cold fronts that whistle in from the Northwest right off the Rocky Mountains, roaring across the Prairies, leaving everyone chilled to the bone even as far south as the Gulf of Mexico.  No question, the fleet is hoping classic spring conditions kick-in on the Bay and glorious evening campfires around the pool are the order of the day.

According to Event Chairman Bill Lakenmacher, the J/105 Midwinters will be blessed with “shirt-sleeve weather and big winds”. For those who have endured the cold winter to the North, anything above freezing temperatures will be considered “shorts & shades” weather!  

The fleet will have a strong representation from the Gulf of Mexico region, including teams from Corpus Christi, Dallas/ Ft Worth and, of course, the local hosts in Houston.  Notable teams include Matt Arno’s BLUE FLASH, Uzi Ozeri’s INFINITY, JB Bednar’s STINGER, Bill Lackenmacher’s RADIANCE, and Mark Masur’s well-traveled TWO FEATHERS.

Perhaps one of the “guest stars” may be Royal Canadian YC’s Terry McLaughlin from Toronto, Ontario sailing on a local chartered boat called AVICI.  McLaughlin’s friends from Royal Canadian YC will be the hosts of the 2014 J/105 North Americans on Lake Ontario.   For more J/105 Midwinters sailing information

J/120 SHEARWATER Report

(Houston, TX)- The J/120 SHEARWATER recently finished the last 2013 Rum Race on Galveston Bay hosted by GBCA. Rum races are a somewhat informal Saturday evening pursuit race where boats start in reverse order of their PHRF rating.  Owned by Chris and Justin she has already been sailed across the the Atlantic from Porto, Portugal. Covering over 5,000nm this double handed crew intends to ultimately sail the Pacific Cup to Hawaii. Here is the report of their experience sailing the Harvest Moon Regatta.

“A week ago last Thursday was the annual Harvest Moon Regatta from Galveston to Port Aransas (150 miles).  As far as I can tell this is the biggest regatta in Texas with over 170 entrants this year.  For us, it was fine preparation for Pacific Cup.  An opportunity to actually race, sail with the spinnaker at night, steer (no autopilots allowed), and equip the boat for a Cat 3 offshore race.  From that perspective the race was a raging success as we ticked all the boxes and then some.

My parents drove down from Arkansas to join Chris & I on this little adventure.  Thanks Mom & Dad, we couldn’t have done it without you, literally, as the race organizers required a minimum of 4 people on board.  As it turns out, 4 people on a J/120, racing downwind, overnight, with no autopilot, is a skeleton crew at best.  We were w-o-r-n  o-u-t by the time we reached Port Aransas Friday afternoon.

As the forecast solidified in the days leading up to the start it looked very likely we would be running or reaching with the spinnaker the entire race.  With a downwind race in mind, we did everything we could to lighten up Shearwater, even taking two doors off down below (class legal).  With a light ship and only 4 onboard (we figure we were 1000 pounds lighter from just crew weight alone), that was pretty much the one advantage we might have had over the other two far more experienced J/120’s we were racing against.  We were also classed with a J/44 and a Beneteau First 44.7, making us the slowest boat in our 5-boat division and conversely the 5th fastest rated monohull in the race.  We rate 3 seconds slower than the other two J/120’s because we have an aluminum mast, and they have carbon masts.

Heading out of Clear Lake into Galveston Bay Thursday morning was a trip.  There was a line of sailboats heading out to the Gulf for as far as you could see in front of and behind us.  It was an impressive parade.  It was made better by the strong northerly that allowed us to sail along (and past) the fleet while trying out or new A4 spinnaker for the first time.  It had just arrived from Ballard Sails in Washington the day before.

For once, the forecasts weren’t too far off.  We started out Thursday afternoon in a light N-NE’ly expecting the breeze to strengthen and clock to the east overnight.  Being in the fastest division we were the last of the monohulls to start.  That provided with approximately 135 rabbits to chase out of the gate.  Much too our delight Shearwater was moving really well with the big A2/K2 spinnaker, and we quickly moved through the fleet favoring the shore, allowing us to sail over the top of the fleet in clear air.  By sundown we had passed everyone in the fleet except the other two J/120’s and a feathery light Viper 830.  Hugging the coast seemed to pay, perhaps with a little more breeze or perhaps because we ended up on the correct side of the slowly clocking breeze.  Just as it got dark we gybed onto port, passed very close to the Freeport Buoy and set our course offshore with no real intentions of gybing again until the next morning.  It turns out we were fine and fast in a straight line, but our gybes with the big chute must have looked like a circus with the tent falling down.  Complete disasters, so we resolved to minimize the suffering and wait until morning to try more circus antics.


So, off we went into the not so dark, dark, with the biggest, brightest harvest moon you could imagine.  Our only challenge was the wave, wind combination.  It seems the wind speed around 10-15 knots and our boat speed around 6.5-8 knots caused the apparent wind to constantly shift back & forth, back & forth, resulting in us zig-zagging our way like drunken sailors across the ocean.  Apparently, this wasn’t a bad way to roll as we crossed ahead of Kenai, the J/44, that owed us about 45 minutes.  Then around 2am we crossed ahead of Cyrano, the First 44.7, and they also owed us about 45 minutes.   We had also closed down on Aeolus the J/120 we’d been following since leaving the shore.  It seemed most of the boats were headed back towards the shore while we carried on south.  At 2:45am a friend took a screenshot of the SPOT tracker and as you can see, things were looking quite promising.  We were very much in the hunt, which all things considered (so little recent race experience, and a shorthanded crew…  my parents had only been on Shearwater one time previously) was a bit of a surprise.

Then at 3am, while I was driving in pretty benign conditions, averaging close to 8 knots, a bigger than average header caused the spinnaker to luff.  I didn’t drive down quick enough, the chute collapsed, and then proceeded to wrap itself around the forestay, really, really well.  Shit.  Just a momentary lapse and we were up a creek.  Chris and I both went forward, clipped to the jacklines to try and unwrap the chute from the forestay.  Unfortunately, our new spotlight clearly showed that the bottom of the spinnaker had wrapped one way and the top had wrapped the other way, so even though we could unwrap the bottom of the sail, the top part firmly clamped down on it making it impossible for it to fully unwrap.  How this is possible from only the wind that is only blowing from one general direction is beyond me.  Of course, the bottom of the sail was still trying to fill in the now increasing breeze, at times lifting me off the deck.  Standing together at the mast, allowing the main to blanket the spinnaker, we came upon some semblance of a solution.  Working together we started twisting the bottom of the sail, wrapping it, and wrapping it, and wrapping it.  We twisted until our arms hurt so much we couldn’t twist anymore, then we started taking turns while the other rested.  Eventually (45-60 minutes later?) we had the bottom 40 feet of spinnaker in a long tight snake.  We must have wrapped the sail 100-150 times (it took us forever to unwrap it again after the race).  The benefit was the sail was no longer catching the wind and we could hang onto it without being drug around the foredeck.  Now what?  The top of the sail was still wrapped around the forestay.  It was now 4:15am and we were dog tired.  The only thing we could think of was to release the spin halyard and try to pull down the sail.  If that didn’t work we’d have to climb the mast, release the spin halyard shackle and unwrap the top, in-the-dark, in-the-waves, in the now increasing wind (gusts over 20).   Not a fun prospect.  We released the halyard and…  nothing.  We pulled and shook and pulled and nothing happened.  We stopped, stared up at the situation for a bit, and then a little miracle happened, the spinnaker started to slide down the forestay.  It seems once we stopped pulling the wraps got loose enough for the sail to release its death-grip on the furled genoa.  After a few stops and starts we had the spinnaker safely below without resorting to climbing the mast or using a knife.  It took us 1.5 hours, but we got it down with no damage.  That was some sort of accomplishment.

Chris and I were whipped though.  We could barely move.  We both collapsed in the cockpit and settled on sailing with the main only until it started getting light.  Our competitive race was over, but we decided (okay, I was forced – isn’t that like mutiny?) to continue racing nonetheless.  Around 6:30am I got the brand spanking new A4 (smaller, heavier) kite rigged up and ready to hoist.  A round of discussions ensued regarding the wind speed and amount of light.  That killed another 20 minutes or so and then we all agreed to go for the A4.  Once it was up, we were off like a shot.  The bright orange A4 was in its element with 20-30 knots on the stern.  We started averaging 9.5 knots for several SPOT updates, with some pretty nice surfs up to 12 knots.  It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing though as the waves were pretty steep and I was having to steer all over the place to keep from plowing into the backside of a wave and to keep up with the shifty breeze.  And then, much like the collapse with the A2 earlier, I didn’t react fast enough and we managed to hourglass the A4.  Fortunately, it wasn’t around the forestay.  We ended up just staring this one down.  We held our course, kept the sheet steady, kept the chute full, and slowly, but surely, the hourglass started working its way up until shazaam it unwrapped.  Phew!

It was now 8:30am we’d been flying since putting up the A4, noticeably stretching out on a few boats that had closed on us while we sailed under main only, and we’d reached the point where we needed to gybe over to starboard to head for the finish.  Did I mention how tired we were?  And it was hooting.  And we were gun shy from our terrible gybes the previous evening and the two spinnaker wraps.  We decided to sock the A4 first, then gybe, but once we got the sock down over the sail, I think we were so relieved that we made it this far without damage or injury that we just gybed and carried on with main only.  As I reflect back on the race, I wish we’d had just partially snuffed the A4, or unfurled the genoa slightly and gone ahead and gybed.  I’m sure it would have worked out fine, but we were so tired at that point, it was hard to see the merit of pushing on.

We ended up crossing the line right at noon, only 21 hours after the start.  We finished right in the midst of the 90 raters (we rate 51) and about 2 hours after the other two J/120’s.  It turns out Cyrano, the First 44.7, wrapped their spinnaker around the forestay too, with less success getting it down without damage, so we corrected out ahead them, taking 4th in our division.  Overall, I think we corrected out to mid-fleet.  Not bad considering we sailed about 7.5 hours with no spinnaker, but a bit bitter sweet considering where we were at 2:45am according to the SPOT tracker.

Harvest Moon was really beneficial for our Pacific Cup preparations though.  We learned that:

1. we need a spinnaker net – no more spinnaker wraps around the forestay
2. we want a smaller A2 spinnaker, something slightly bigger than the A4 and lighter cloth.  The big A2 is just a handful short-handed.  Look at this picture of us and two J/105’s that are only 5’ shorter than us.  Our spinnaker is literally twice as big as what the J/105’s are flying.  We’ll get a better rating for Pac Cup too.
3. We need to practice gybing with the spinnaker partially snuffed and/or use the genoa to blanket the spinnaker a little during douses and maneuvers.  
4. When we aren’t messing it up Shearwater has plenty of pace.  No worries about boat speed now. 
5. Sailing/racing with an autopilot is a heck of a lot easier, especially when shorthanded.  Thankfully, autopilots are allowed for us in Pacific Cup.

Funny story about the awards on Saturday night.  First, it takes a long time to give out awards for 170 boats divided into about 30 divisions.  Second, Chris won the essay contest about what we did to keep our ocean clean during the race (throw nothing overboard, motor very little, keep black water in the holding tank, etc) which earned her a $100 gift certificate to West Marine.  That was worth significantly more than the race awards.  I think there is some irony in that.  It made us laugh anyway.

Shearwater remains in Port Aransas for a few weeks and then we will watch the weather and pick a good weekend to sail back to Seabrook.  We will likely use a bit of the ICW between Freeport and Galveston Bay as that cuts off some miles and will allow us to stop overnight to sleep.

Next weekend we are off to San Francisco to attend a two-day Safety at Sea Seminar.  Really looking forward to that.”   You can follow Justin and Chris sailing their J/120 here on their “Shearwater Blog”.   For more information about sailing the J/120 class

Windy J-FEST SW Regatta

(Galveston, TX)- Lakewood Yacht Club's annual J-Fest Southwest Regatta enjoyed some of the most amazing sailing conditions they’ve enjoyed in years.  Sailed over the November 2nd and 3rd, the sailors were treated to Northerly winds in the 20-25 kts range on Saturday, producing the usual “monster chop” renowned for Galveston Bay.  Then, on Sunday's “easy-going” breezes in the 16-20 kts range made for somewhat better conditions for the fleet of fifty J’s assembled for this year’s hugely popular J/Fest Southwest!

Starting out with the J/22s, their seven boat fleet produced a runaway winner in the “big breeze”.  No question, it was Casey Lambert and crew on BLACKBURN RACING that had the conditions wired, taking all firsts in six races to win by a “Texas-mile”.  Second on the distant horizon was Dov Kivlovitz with 13 pts and rounding out the podium was Chris Morlan’s TILT with 17 pts.

As the largest fleet in the regatta, thirteen J/24’s enjoyed a nice resurgence, showing up to lay it all on the line for Texas domination of the one-design world.  They enjoyed some close competition, but it was clear that Bryan Dyer’s RUMLINE had everyone’s number in the breezy conditions, finishing 1st with just 13 pts.  Second was TROPICAL AGGRESSION sailed by Stu Lindow with 17 pts.  Happily finishing in 3rd overall was HAPPY DANCE skippered by Bill Worsham with 19 pts; taking the tie breaker over GIGGLES sailed by Natalie Penner.

As the “new kid on the block” and one boat shy of the largest fleet, the J/70’s twelve boat fleet also proved to be one of the most competitive fleets at the regatta and, given the windy conditions, clearly the ones that had the most fun going into “planing mode” all over the Galveston Bay race course hootin’ and hollerin’ like cowboys at a stampede!  Appropriately enough, the winner by a comfortable margin was STAMPEDE, Bruno Pasquinelli’s team from Fort Worth Boat Club with a total of 10 pts.  While STAMPEDE has enormous experience sailing in a variety of highly competitive J/70 regional & national regattas, the balance of the top five was extremely tight!  Runners-up was GB sailed by Chris Lewis from Lakewood YC with 18 pts.  Following them in third was JBoats SW sailed by Scott Spurlin from Austin YC with 21 pts.  They just nipped fourth place finisher Sean Nunes from Austin YC with 22 pts.  A wind shift or two made the difference for 5th place finisher AKULA sailed by Rick Bell from Corpus Christi YC with 27 pts.

J/80s had a very competitive fleet of seven boats participating with several world and regional championship teams participating.  Topping the fleet, un-surprisingly, was GC/ QUANTUM RACING sailed by the team of Terry Flynn & David Whelan, representing Fort Worth Boat Club. Against such formidable talent, it was a duel for the balance of the podium with PARSONS PROJECT skippered by Luke McAllum from Houston YC taking second with 18 pts.  They narrowly beat out third place finisher  HENDRIX sailed by Kurt Vanderwall from Dillon YC with 19 pts.

The eight boat J/105 class enjoyed close racing all weekend long.  In fact, the last two races of the regatta completely turned the standings upside down.  Closing with a strong 1-2, it was INFINITY’s Uzi Ozeri from Lakewood YC that took class honors with 18 pts total.  Starting slowly with an 8th in the opening race, BLUE FLASH’s Matt Amo from Fort Worth Boat Club dialed in two bullets in the middle races, but was insufficient to overcome the strong closing of Ozeri’s crew, taking second overall with 20 pts.  Sailing perhaps the most consistent regattas was JB Bednar’s STINGER from Lakewood YC with a total of 22 pts.

Over in PHRF handicap world, the J/PHRF Sym fleet saw Chris Aik’s FOOTLOOSE from Galveston Bay Cruising Association take first overall with 5 pts.  Second was Glenn Stromme’s PRESS TO MECO from the Seabrook Marina Association with 12 pts.  Taking third was TOCCATA’s Gary Trinklein from Galveston Bay Cruising Association.

The J/PHRF Asym fleet had a diverse fleet of seven boats.  Taking first was the J/92 sailed by Kevin Hayes & Mike McGaugh from GBCA with 11 pts.  Albrecht Goethe’s Lakewood YC team onboard the J/109 HAMBURG took second with 16.5 pts.  Making its debut was the J/88 IT’s A THRILL sailed by J/Boats designer Rod Johnstone with 19 pts.  For more J/Boats Southwest sailing information

J/120s Lead Harvest Moon Fleet Home!

(Houston, TX)- This year's 27th edition that started on October 17th enjoyed a beautiful "ginormous" Harvest Moon as they raced their 100nm course from the Galveston Jetties to Port Aransas. With several classes there was a place to race or cruise for every type of boat.  The Bacardi PHRF Racing fleet is about 50% J/Boats with the J/105, J/109, J/120, and a J/44 the primary entries.

The PHRF Bacardi Racing fleet saw the "big boys" in PHRF A Class dominated by a squadron of J/Teams.  Winner of PHRF A was Glenn Gault's J/120 REBECCA, she was followed by Jim Liston's J/120 AEOLUS, third was Chris Lewis's beautiful flag-blue J/44 KENIA followed by Justin Wolfe's J/120 SHEARWATER in fourth.

The PHRC C class saw a trio of J/105s contending for class handicap honors.  Leading them home was JB Bednar's STINGER in second place, followed by Greg Turman's HORNY TOAD.  For more Harvest Moon Regatta sailing information

J/Fest + Harvest Moon Rising!

(Houston, TX)- A lot is happening in parts of grand'ole Southwestern America.  They think big down there whether it's "honky-tonks" with mechanical bulls, epic parties, enormous blond hair, rattlesnake boots, dude ranches and, sometimes, even huge regattas!  First up on the agenda is the Harvest Moon Regatta, or "HMR" as the locals call it.  This year's 27th edition starts the 17th of October and can be a real "trick or treat" event.  HMR was hatched over drinks in the Lakewood YC bar by a few sailors that wanted to use their boats more!  The October weather window between the summer doldrums and the blue northers makes for spectacular sailing along the Texas Coast.  Add in the beautiful "ginormous" Harvest Moon and a course from the Galveston Jetties to Port Aransas and you have the HMR.  Just a 100 plus mile jaunt down the coast with over 200 sailboats!

With several classes there is a place to race or cruise for every type of boat.  The Bacardi PHRF Racing fleet is about 50% J/Boats with the J/105, J/109, J/120, and a J/44 the primary entries.  Every year epic stories hatch of blast reaching at over 15 knots for 8 hours, or drifting in the same spot for hours!  The cruisers seem to enjoy regaling the racers with how they enjoyed watching the race boats zip by with the crew hanging over the lifelines chomping on a energy bar or MRE as they sipped a nice chardonnay and enjoyed exquisite hot cuisine under the bimini.  At Port Aransas all of the sailors come together for a lively party, brag a lot, tell mind-blowing stories (real or not!) and a wonderful time is had by all.  Almost all the boats start back on Sunday- either motor sailing down the cut or back out in the gulf.  It's no wonder this event attracts 200 entries every year to become one of our nations largest offshore point-to-point races! Put this one on your bucket list!  For more Harvest Moon Regatta sailing information

J/Fest Southwest is next up on the agenda.  Shortly following the Harvest Moon Regatta, be sure to note the deadline Friday is fast approaching!!  The skippers bag has well over $100.00 in product goodies such as Rejex Wax and boat wash, dinner coupons, t-shirt and J/Fest coffee mug!  After Friday the entry goes up by an additional $50.00!

Don't miss the racing action, live music, free beer, Kattack race tracking and thousands of dollars in goodies to be raffled off from Velocitek, Marlow, Torqeedo, Harken, Blackburn Marine, North U.  Along with these great product sponsors we also get financial support from the City of Seabrook, North, Quantum, Torqeedo, Hayes Rigging, Hays Insurance, Sundance Grill, Gulf Coast Marine, and Sundance Grill!

What does all of this mean?  The J/Fest Southwest Regatta committee puts on great racing designed to maximize your time on the water and our sponsors put the shoreside activities over the top to produce one of the highest quality events in the nation with a lot of bang for your buck!  There's a class for every J/Boat ever built and we want y'all to come on down to Galveston Bay and play! Come join the 50 fellow J/Owners already registered! So don't delay register today!   For more J/Fest Southwest sailing information