Swiftsure Race Preview

(Victoria, British Columbia)- The fourth major Memorial Day offshore event is simply  known as “the Swiftsure”.  One hundred sixty-six yachts are entered in the 76th Swiftsure International Yacht Race that will start on Saturday, May 25th. The fleet will use either PHRF or ORC rating system for one of the four courses ranging from 79 to 138 nm that start and finish in Victoria, BC. There are dozens of J/Teams that are participating in this famous offshore event in the Pacific Northwest.  Below are the courses and the J/Teams sailing each race.

The Cape Flattery Race for Monohulls (PHRF handicapped boats)- it goes from the Clover Point start, leaves the mark at Neah Bay to port, and crosses the finish line across Victoria Harbour– 101.9 nautical miles. Sailing this race is Tom Keffer’s J/42 VELOCITY, Bill Fox’s J/160 JAM, Ron Holbrook’s J/133 CONSTELLATION, Scott Campbell’s J/121 RIVA, three J/120s (Kirk Palmer’s SCOUT, Mike Picco’s WILD BLUE, Chris Johnson’s WITH GRACE), three J/109s (Tom Sitar’s SERENDIPITY, Kirk Fraser’s ECLIPSE, Tolga Cezik’s LODOS), and three J/35s (Karl Haflinger’s SHEARWATER, Don Leighton’s TAHLEQUAH, Chad Stenwick’s THE BOSS). In addition is a one-design fleet of nine J/105s, including Doug Schenk’s FREE BOWL OF SOUP, Doug Pihlaja’s ABSTRACT, Chuck Stephen’s PANIC, Georgina Martin’s TROUBLEMAKER, Dana Sibilla’s ESCAPE ARTIST, Erik Kristen’s MORE JUBILEE, Bob Hayward’s KINETIC, Steve Summers’ PUFF, and Chris Phoenix’s JADED.

The Juan de Fuca Race for Monohulls (PHRF handicapped boats)- goes from the Clover Point start, leaves the mark at Clallam Bay to port, and crosses the finish line across Victoria Harbour– 78.7 nautical miles. J/Teams participating in this race include Ron Mackenzie’s J/37 FUTURE PRIMITIVE, Phil Wampold’s J/92 ZAFF, Peter Dorsey’s RUSH, and two J/30s (John Collins’ SPUD & Ulf Gwildis’ IMPULSIVE),

In addition, there is a “day race” that is comprised of random legs around government marks that is announced the morning of the race; course lengths vary based on wind strength and direction.  Participating in the inshore race is Matt Dahabieh’s J/29 GODZILLA, two J/30s (Jim Bottles’ CELEBRATION & Bart Blainey’s LIMELIGHT), and Tom Kerr’s J/105 CORVO 105.  For more Swiftsure Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/37 Future Primitive- Ron Mackenzie Profile

We recently heard from Ron Mackenzie, the proud owner of the J/37 FUTURE PRIMITIVE.

Said Ron, “Hi, Thought that you might find this article interesting. We bought her new from J/Boats in 1988. At that time, I was the J/Boat dealer in Vancouver, and working with Stuart and Drake (and Rod). She still looks like new, and we love her. Enjoy!”

“Scratch the surface of most sailboat racers and you find characters who started sailing on the family boat, signed up for Sea Cadets or caught the bug when a forward-looking parent sent them to sailing school. They started young and racing permeated their lives.

That’s not the track that Ron Mackenzie followed. When he arrived in Victoria from Vancouver to participate in his 43rd Swiftsure International Yacht Race, he told me he hadn’t even set foot on a sailboat until he was well into his 20s. “In 1967, a friend, Mike Howard, invited me aboard his 23-foot, wooden centerboard sailboat,” Ron recalls. “I’d been on a couple of powerboats, but had no experience with sailboats. We cruised in the Gulf Islands, but when the boat heeled, I was really scared.”

He decided once was enough and sailing wasn’t for him. But quickly, second thoughts prevailed and he began gaining experience during the weekly races. Not wanting to be a wimp, he crewed on Doran, an Alberg 37, in his first overnight Southern Straits race in 1970. “I was pretty naive,” he says. “I’d gotten into my pajamas at one point during the night. Talk about a wardrobe malfunction! It got so rough only a quarter of the fleet finished. We didn’t either. When a sailboat was rescued after hitting Alden Reef, the race became known as the gear buster.”

Ron felt he hadn’t really met the challenge during this first big race— and that feeling changed his life. “It made me determined to do it again, so I managed to get a ride on the top boat in those days, Bonar Davis’ Hyak, a Discovery 32. Fortunately for me, there was an opening. We were first overall— nothing new for Bonar and crew, but exciting for me.”

He soon realized he wanted to race his own boat. So he bought a C&C 35 MKII, and with her and his two later boats, he’s completed 47 consecutive Southern Straits, holding the record for most races entered. He also entered his C&C in his first Swiftsure in 1974. Since then, he has entered every Swiftsure for a total of 43 contests— few people have entered more. He built a dependable crew, people who raced with him week after week.

Having moved up to a C&C 37, he expanded his local and regional experience by sailing the Vic-Maui offshore race in 1984. Once in Hawaii, he joined the Canadian team in the Pan-Am Clipper Cup, a 775-mile race from Oahu round the Hawaiian Island chain.

In the meantime, when not racing, Ron was building his career as a chartered accountant, articling, then building his expertise, eventually specializing in serving dentists in accounting, management and providing know-how when buying and selling practices. He writes and lectures widely on dental practice management and has provided expertise in legal trials.

Building a team to compete in all those races, Ron’s been fortunate to have consistent crew over the years, an essential ingredient for success. His partner, Joan, has joined him in several Swiftsures and Southern Straits. “And my right hand, night and day, is Werner Kurz,” says Ron. “Big winds, big seas; he’s there for me and us. He’s a rock, with great judgment.”

Another team member is David Sutcliffe, who’s also crewed for Ron for decades, mostly as the foredeck guy. “We’ve had excellent offshore races,” says David. “In sailing, there’s no substitute for experience. You can read books and take courses, but the proof is in the actual sailing. Ron has tremendous experience and he keys in on building a team. His team crews with him for many years, a mark of good leadership. For me an important thing is that even in the heat of the moment, Ron remembers that racing should be fun. If it isn’t fun, why bother?”

Having enjoyed offshore racing, Ron next signed up for the 1987, 1,000-mile Puerto Vallarta Race, sponsored by the San Diego Yacht Club, and the following year, he bought a J/37, “the only one on the West Coast,” he says proudly. “She’s called Future Primitive. My son, Bill, named her after a skateboard video.” It’s the boat he’s kept and continues to race.

Another test came in 2006 aboard Kinetic IV, a Beneteau 47.7 that David Sutcliffe had raced to Hawaii and then brought to Sydney, Australia in stages. The goal? To join the (in)famous 630-mile Sydney-Hobart Race. Ron flew in for the contest, which, afterwards, the Australians termed a “medium” strength event. Sutcliffe described it as, “lots of drama, one boat sank and several were dismasted. The winds come in from the Southern Ocean and the shallow Bass Strait funnels those winds,” he says. “Tricky currents can run several knots, making it among the most challenging race courses in the world.”

“We were able to put together a great crew and had an exciting race,” adds Ron. “We made it to Tasmania and back without mishaps.”

Never daunted, Ron raced in the 2011 Antigua Sailing Week, a series of day races. “I put together crew,” he says, “and chartered a Beneteau 40.7. Five years later, we repeated another Caribbean experience by sailing the RORC Caribbean 600 Challenge, a tortuous, 11-island, 600-mile race from Antigua to Guadeloupe.”

Ron is fit, with a well-trimmed white beard, a shiny head and looks like a guy always in control. He’s now passed the three-quarter century mark, but is definitely not ready to swallow the anchor.

At the Scott Point Royal Vancouver Outstation on Salt Spring Island, he sails Lasers competitively with the “old guys sailing club.”

“I still go into the office, consulting now, several days a week and I bike 45 minutes each way,” he says. “Keeps me in shape.” Although always the skipper, he relies on his crew to share the load.

“We didn’t have the best results,” says Ron, reflecting on the 2017 Swiftsure race. “But we gave it our all. Of my 43 Swiftsures, this is the only one with fog and wind all night all the way back. We gybed in the dark fog through Race Passage in 25 knots, never seeing Race Rocks or land on the left, with David Lloyd calling the minutes for each gybe. And then, as has happened many times before, we spent almost three hours completing the last one-half mile to the finish line. A Driftsure at the end.”

Werner Kurz, Ron’s right-hand for decades adds, “This was the most fog we’ve seen in a Swiftsure. It was a race in which old-fashioned seamanship and the desire to keep the crew safe prevailed over the desire to perform well. When the fog was get- ting really thick at night and we were making 10-plus knots under spinnaker with virtually no visibility, we decided to switch to a jib to reduce speed somewhat but greatly increase the ability to respond instantly to any object that might emerge out of the fog. And having to cross the outbound shipping lane added further motivation.”

Why did Ron take to racing and continue on that same path when many septuagenarians have long abandoned the demanding sport? He has many reasons. “Not many people engage in racing,” he says, “and that means you’re among those who challenge themselves.” He sees racing as a healthy sport, a passion. He loves the competition, the camaraderie, even sharing the trials and the stress. “When you finish a race, no matter what your position, you have a sense of accomplishment,” he says. “So I’ll be back for the 2018 Swiftsure, pleased to help celebrate its 75th anniversary.” Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Vashon Island- “Hippie” Drag-Racing in Seattle!?

(Vashon Island, WA)- Ahh Winter Vashon – lovingly sitting at the forefront of sailors minds as they think longingly all year long about this balmy jaunt around the last stronghold of “hippiedom” in the Pacific Northwest- Vashon Island.  At just over 30 miles, it’s an easy 6 hour sail with those consistent south sound winds the area is known for and with our 8 hours of light this time of year finishing in daylight is even a possibility!  Right?  Well it was this year!  Here is the report from SAIL Northwest’s Ben Braden:

“Sailors began arriving into the super-fund cleanup site, previously known as Tacoma Yacht Club, soon after sunlight began filtering through the cloud layers, increasing everyone’s sight noticeably, well everyone except the delivery crews that arrived late Friday night under the veil of darkness that needed to be kicked out of their bunks and told to clean themselves up and try to smell a little better, but that’s another story.  For those of you that haven’t been down to TYC recently its now a huge clean-up/construction site complete with every kind of large piece of equipment, gravel and construction mud are the new parking lot surfaces along with some new rock outcroppings both in the entrance of the marina and outside near the starting area that grabbed ahold of at least 2 different boats (watch out for that).

Winds were forecast in the normal south sound 6 to 11 range but as the cruising classes started down the course at just after 9am it quickly became apparent that the fore-guessers were wrong once again; but for the first time since man learned to cure cod with lye they had under-guessed the wind speeds!  The waiting boats watched as the cruising class boats began rounding-up in the puffs while reaching across the south end of Vashon towards Colvos Passage with a few chutes opening up in the middle to help de-power the rounding up boats. Not good, but lovely for sailmakers!

Not deterred by the out of control behavior of some of the cruising class boats the rest of the fleet began crossing the line as their class start horns blared away with chutes pulling hard. The bigger faster boats had their fun, too, as the puffs continued to build over 20 knots and took their toll on a few more boats.

Once around the point, and into Colvos passage, the drag race was on. The J/160 JAM barreled her way through the slower boats that started well ahead of them.  Even though the wind was behind the fleet, the excitement wasn’t over yet as the sailors were treated to views of a few keels and nice shot of the bottom of a 30 footer before sailing past the north end of Vashon Island, the turning mark in sight.

A full mix of boats came charging into the anchored turning boat just north of Vashon island and to make things even more interesting, and unbeknownst to almost everyone in the PNW, shrimping season was open and in full effect when the big J/133 were seen slowly and painfully grinding their spinnakers back aboard after dunking them in the water looking for those tasty little buggers, I’m sure!!  Small jibs pulled in tight, crews on the rail, it was time for the starboard tack drag race all the way down the island to the light house on Point Robinson – all the way on starboard tack with boats footing or pinching for clear wind lanes and mainsail trimmers praying for just one tack after the point so they could switch to their other hand.

The winds stayed consistent in the 12 to 16 knot range on the drag race to the light house and once around the point it even backed down into the 9 knot range causing many to peal down to their big jibs, warming their crews and testing their abilities – if the sail change was done smoothly boats made huge gains on their competition. With gear or crew problems boats were left bareheaded for a short time as the J/109 TANTIVY got to experience.  Then, less than 20 minutes later, the winds were back over 20 knots and those happy crews got to pull that little jib out of the always too small foredeck hatch and make that change all over again for the windy final stretch into the finish off the Tacoma Yacht Club clubhouse grounds.

Boats from out of the area did the quick touch and go’s, folding some sails, discarding some of their crews and throwing their dodgers back on before heading back out into the dwindling sunlight and building breeze for the trek back up to Shilshole that many in the fleet were making that night.  Boats reported winds up to and over 30 knots as they set record speeds on their deliveries from Tacoma to Seattle with at least one blown up spinnaker and broken pole.”

J/crews, in general, faired pretty well in the randomness of Pacific NW weather conditions.  Endlessly entertaining, always challenging!  In the world of big boats in PHRF 2 Class, the top J/Jockey was John Murkowski’s gorgeous navy blue/teak-decked J/122E JOY RIDE taking 2nd in class.  They were followed by one of PNW’s most famous offshore boats, John McPhail’s J/160 JAM, happily taking a 3rd in the freaky conditions.  Despite their new “shrimping” technique, Ron Holbrook’s J/133 CONSTELLATION placed 5th in class.

It was tough going in PHRF 3 Class, hanging on by a thread for an uncharacteristic 6th place was the J/109 TANTIVY skippered by Stu Burnell.

The PHRF 4 Class was all J/35’s.  A boat that is still going strong and just killing it in PHRF events nationwide, if not in IRC/ ORR/ ORC rated events around the world.  After all, it still is the “classic” rating standard for many of those handicap rules!  Winning class was Glenn & Joanna Cowling’s SOMETHING SPECIAL.  They were followed by Dan Wierman’s GREAT WHITE in 2nd, Jerry & Chona McKay’s MELANGE in 3rd, Jason Vannice’s ALTAIR in 4th and Karl Haflinger’s SHEARWATER in 5th.

PHRF 5 Class was a massive battle for the overall leadership, pretty much defined by the “wind/ current gates” as described above.  In the end, Matt Gardner-Brown’s J/105 DULCINEA took 2nd against all odds; recognizing that race conditions were aligned against them. Despite having a number of opportunities to hop into “the chocolates”, Christine Nelson & Eric Johnson’s J/29 SLICK took a 7th in class.

The Commodore-FS Class is “cruising world” and is greatly enjoyed by its laid-back participants.  In the end, it’s not known which is the higher priority, “hot rum cinnamon cider” on the weather rail or simply something HOT, period, like tea or hot chocolate!  Appropriately enough, it was Bill Harter’s J/37C MERRY MAKER that took top honors for J/crews, finishing 4th in class.  They were followed by Tim Cleary’s J/35 JUMPIN JACK in 6th and Ed Pinkham’s J/109 JEOPARDY in 7th.  Good times were had by all!!

Thanks  for contribution from Ben Braden from Sail Northwest- who is best known in the Pacific Northwest for his unique racing style: winning races with a BBQ on the transom!  Jan Anderson’s beautiful pictures of deranged sailors that think sailing around Vashon Island in December is a good idea can be found here.   For South Sound Sailing Society’s Vashon Island Race sailing information

J/Teams Lead Bermuda Race!

J/Cruisers Sweep Class 5! J/46 Crushes Giants!
(Newport RI)– Despite the foreboding weather forecasts, virtually every J/Crew registered for the Newport Bermuda Race went sailing, confident their fast and seaworthy boats would make the most of whatever Mother Nature threw at them.  As it turned out, the forecasts were nowhere close to being accurate, with many boats reporting winds that never exceeded 25 kts, even in minor squalls crossing the notoriously fickle and monstrously choppy Gulf Stream.  In fact, because of an unusual high pressure ridge, the one that the superyacht COMANCHE blew through to establish a new race record of 35+ hours, the 130-odd teams that ventured forth into the unknown had a basic choice- breeze or current.  The divergent strategies meant the overall outcome quickly became a “two-track” race; those who stayed close to rhumbline and east of the fleet, or those who strayed way west and lost out on a lot of breeze.  You can see the results of those choices by re-running the race on Yellow Brick Tracker here- http://yb.tl/nb2016.

The Storm Trysail Club Chair for the Bermuda Race, AJ Evans, was sailing aboard Len Sitar’s beautiful J/44 VAMP.  His commentary on Tuesday was, “we had a spectacular evening of sailing here on a gentle sea with a decent breeze under a full moon and stars. Nights like these sell the next race.  A most excellent sail so far, especially this year. Following last night, it’s been a typically beautiful morning with sun and those puffy soft yellow/purple/gray clouds dancing across the skies, breeze just a gentle 10-15kts from the WSW.  Sure glad we went for it!”

This year’s Newport Bermuda Race was the 50th running of the biennial offshore race and had one of the largest entry lists it had seen in history.  However, over 50 boats dropped out before the start, including all the “hot boats” in the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division- like Maxi 72s, TP 52s, Ker 47s, etc- in fact there was no award since nobody sailed- a first for the race!!  Imagine that, now that’s a serious footnote to consider, isn’t it?!  Presumably, the owners felt their boats may not be seaworthy enough to sail through a gale!??

The action started on-time at 3:00PM EDT Friday, June 17 from Newport, Rhode Island. The 635nm adventure “is not a race for novices,” that is certain.  The race demands good seamanship, great care, and a boat that is both well-built and properly equipped. To that end, most of the J/Teams sailed with confidence, sailed fast and were top contenders in many classes!

Most noteworthy was the complete sweep of SDL Class 5 by three J/Teams.  Winning was the J/37 CARINA skippered by Will Passano from Gibson Island Yacht Squadron; winning by just 5 minutes on corrected time over Eliot Merrill’s J/42 FINESSE.  Taking third was yet another J/42- Roger Gatewood’s SHAZAAM from Davis Island YC about an hour further back on corrected. While most of this class virtually all went due south, west of rhumb for the first 48 hours, it was CARINA and SHAZAAM that stayed much further east along the rhumbline, with SHAZAAM hanging furthest east.

The only “one-design” division in the entire event was the J/120s in SDL Class 6.  Needless to say, as a class, they all pushed each other quite hard and there were few “strays” on the race course.  Seemingly, all six boats that raced (out of the nine originally registered) were all strung out on a rope, virtually tied together, for the first half of the race.  At that point on Monday 1400 hrs, Stephen Besse’s APRES from Vineyard Haven YC was leading with Jim Chen’s CHAOTIC FLUX running neck-and-neck with them down the race course, Greg Leonard’s HERON just astern.  Sitting in the “cheap seats” were VAMOOSE, HERON and DEVIATION.  However, the next 24 hours must have produced a lot of drama and consternation for the various J/120 navigators.  Either no one believed their “grib” downloads, or they weren’t getting them. In either case, Richard Born’s WINDBORN from Annapolis YC and Canadian Stu McCrea’s DEVIATION from Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron made a significant gamble (“calculated risk”) and headed much further east, across rhumb relative to the rest of the fleet.  Ultimately, it was a brilliant move in their 635nm chess match.  Both boats closed rapidly on the race leader APRES, moving DEVIATION and WINDBORN into 2nd and 3rd, respectively just 50nm from the finish.  Then, it was “game-on” all over again Tuesday at 1530 hrs as the fleet experienced a big windshift from the SSE and all bets were off as the boats started beating to windward for several hours.  APRES anticipated the change nicely and became windward boat while HERON slid back into second place astern and to leeward. By Tuesday midnight the breeze had swung quickly into the SW, so it was a quick fetch into the finish for the westward boats.  APRES won her class, followed by HERON in second. However, behind them there was a wholesale re-ordering of positions again, with Bob Manchester’s VAMOOSE roaring in from the west on power beat/tight reach while others caught east of rhumb (DEVIATION, CHAOTIC FLUX, WINDBORN) got caught outside on the shift and having to tack to make the finish!

The three J/122s had strikingly diverse strategies for the race in SDL Class 7.  For the first 24 hours into Saturday evening, John Gregg’s TARAHUMARA from Corinthian YC inn Boston, MA simply took off from the start and doggedly headed south and west from the rhumb.  Dan Heun’s MOXIEE took a left turn instead and held east of rhumb until late Saturday.  Then, Jim Shachoy’s AUGUST WEST started just left of rhumb then slowly meandered back just west of rhumb, leading the entire class boat-for-boat at that point.  From Saturday night to Sunday midday, the “wheels fell off that shopping trolley” fast, like lightning quick!  TARAHUMARA persevered on staying west.  After moments of indecision, MOXIEE made a radical move back west and surely regretted that move from that point forward.  AUGUST WEST was flipping and flopping just west of rhumb but never made the winning move back east that so many other boats had done in other classes.  As a result, both the F40 ZOE and the F44.7 VALKYRIE headed much further east of the J/122s, and flew down rhumbline to beat their class.  Consequently, Shachoy’s AUGUST WEST settled for 4th in class and MOXIEE 8th and TARAHUMARA 9th.

Again, it was a tale of two cities in SDL Class 8 for the one-design fleet of J/44s and the lone J/111.  However, in this case it turned into group suicide by most everyone in the class; virtually every boat except, that is, for Chris Lewis’ J/44 KENAI from Lakewood YC in Seabrook, TX.  After taking a southerly routing after the start, just about the entire class was well west of rhumb.  The first boat to make a break for it to the east was the F395 OLD SCHOOL, around 24 hours into the race on Saturday evening.  At the time, KENAI was leading the class boat-for-boat.  However, 24 hours later the OLD SCHOOL crew had sailed much farther east but were still around 30nm west of rhumb, but steering directly at Bermuda at 145 deg and built an unassailable 90nm lead over the class!  Meanwhile, KENAI made a prophetic move east themselves, first 30nm, then 50nm, further east than their colleagues.  For this class, virtually everyone that stayed west of rhumb got hammered overall.  However, relative to one another, you could just about assign your place in class based on how far west you were of rhumbline between 24-48 hours into the race.  Lewis’ KENIA took second followed by Len Sitar’s VAMP in 4th, Dan Kitchens’ J/111 SKULL CRACKER from Chicago YC in 8th and the Noahs (Shanghai) Sailing Club on SPIRIT OF NOAHS in 9th place.

The J/133s acquitted themselves in SDL Class 9 after starting off on the wrong foot, like the stories above- headed more south and west than their class.  Both Mike & Dale Mcivor’s MATADOR from Pequot YC and the Nova Scotians, Ray & Andrea Rhinelander’s BELLA J, clawed there way back into contention for their class and it took until late Tuesday afternoon where they were able to play the new southwesterly correctly to take 3rd and 5th in class, respectively.  Like a bad movie for those navigators caught on the wrong side of the coin flip, the class winner, the XP44 WARRIOR WON, split from their class on Saturday morning and from 8:30am to 11:30am sailed at right angles, literally, to the rhumbline course to Bermuda.  Prior to that tactical move, the two J/133s were neck-and-neck for the class lead on elapsed time!  However, the move paid off big time for WARRIOR WON, sailing down rhumbline for 75% of the race and finishing 17 hours earlier than either J/133, winning the coveted St Davids Lighthouse Trophy overall. 

For Brian Prinz’s J/125 SPECTRE, the same scenario played out as it had for many other J/Teams.  The class winner HIGH NOON, sailed by the American YC Young American Junior Big Boat Sailing Team, started out on the eastern side of their class, stayed there and split further east towards rhumbline late Saturday evening and simply aimed their boat at 145 deg towards Bermuda— not deviating much at all from rhumb all the way into the finish line off St David’s Light.  Meanwhile, the J/125 SPECTRE sailed off to the south and west of rhumb and not until Monday night did they make their way into better breeze just on the west side of rhumb on Monday afternoon.  Despite that self-imposed handicap, SPECTRE still took 4th in class.

In Double-handed I Class, the class winner KIVA sailed east of the rhumbline for two/thirds of the race and hardly deviated, other than going a bit westabout in the first 48 hours in the race, crossing east over the rhumb Sunday noontime.  Taking 2nd and 3rd, respectively, were Steve Berlack’s J/42 ARROWHEAD and Hewitt Gaynor’s J/120 MIREILLE; both stayed west, sometimes way west of rhumb and paid the price.  Conversely, Sharon Winkler & Noel Sterrett’s J/130 SOLARUS sailed 15-20nm west of rhumb until halfway through the race and was leading the entire division boat-for-boat until late Monday afternoon; at that point KIVA overtook them in the stronger breezes to the east.  Unfortunately, SOLARUS got too far east coming into the finish and had to tack back to the finish line in the new sou’wester breeze to take 5th in class.

In the Cruiser Division, Brad Willauer’s J/46 BREEZING UP from Prouts Neck YC simply crushed it!  They had the winning formula right from the start, were east-most boat of their class when it mattered most in the first 24-36 hours of the race.  From there on end, it was a game of chase by giant 55 to 84 footers trying to catch the “little” J/46 leading their class boat-for-boat by a substantial margin for the first 72 hours.  The big Frers 84 finally caught them on Monday evening, then the Alden 63 by Tuesday morning.  As the smallest boat in a class of giants, it was an impressive race for the Willauer family- very experienced long-distance sailors in their own right!    For more Storm Trysail Club Newport to Bermuda Race sailing information

Race 2 Straits Preview

(Seattle, WA)- Rock stars of the Puget Sound offshore short-handed sailing world are congregating for the infamous Sloop Tavern YC annual Race to the Straits Regatta.  It is a weekend-long affair that starts on Saturday and heads north.  Finishers are treated to a massive celebration (party!) at the finish line that often goes well into the wee hours of the evening (morning!) for some.  Then, as everyone doubles-down on their coffee and their brain cells, they then head back down south from whence they came!  It is surely a recipe for a lot of fun, many memories, and, hopefully, not too many twists, disasters, and inappropriate takedowns!

Thirty-six J/Teams are entered! That’s 27% of the 134 entries!  And, they will all be looking forward to the weather forecast that promises a mix of conditions both days- so far the forecast shows upwind against the current on Saturday and downwind against the current on Sunday!

A massive J/105 fleet is partaking in the racing and festivities.  With a one-design start for nine teams, it will be an epic battle to work up the shore to get out of the current!  Many of the top boats will be in the fight, including DELIRIUM (Paul Henderson/ Ramona Barber), JADED (Bianco/ Barron), LAAST TANGO (Jim Geros), DULCINEA (Matthew-Gardner Brown) and JUBILEE (Kathryn Meyer).  In fact, three of the teams are also participating in the “Jack & Jill” division for mixed teams.

The big boat division will be tough, as it will include several top offshore boats in the Seattle fleet.  Hoping to claim at least line honors will be the J/125 HAMACHI (Fritz Lanzinger), but they will have a number of experienced teams thirsting for that first day “uphill” tactical nightmare, like the two J/122s- JOYRIDE (John Murkowski) and GRACE (Andy & Jaime Mack); the J/44 ASYLUM (Kyle Caldwell); and the two J/109s- TANTIVY (Stu Burnell) and MOUNTAIN (Reed Bernhard).

In the classic cruiser group are two J/35c’s- WILDFLOWER (Tom Mitchell) and SHADOWFAX (David Jade); the J/36 MONKEYBONES (Shawn Dougherty); the J/37c MERRY MAKER (Bill?); the J/35 SOLUTION (Tyson Varosyan); and the J/33 CORVO (Tom Kerr & Serhad).

Finally, in the small cruiser racer group is likely to be three J/80s- UNDERDOG (Lek Dimarucott), TAJ MAHAL (David Schutte), & JOLLY GREEN (Mike Poole); three J/29s- PLAN R (Paul Hanson), RUBY (Jessica Aguilar), & HERE & NOW (Patrick Denney); four J/30s- IMPULSIVE (Ulf & George Gwildis), CONRAD J (Adrien Felon), SLINGSHOT (Cameron Gaskill), & TAKU (Theo Singelis); two J/27s- WIZARD (Leo Morales) & NUMBER LXIII (Dennis?); and a lone J/24- FLYER (Scott Galbraith).   For more Sloop Tavern YC Race To The Straits sailing information

Edgartown Race Weekend Preview

(Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, MA)— There are two ways to approach Edgartown Yacht Club’s Race Weekend, scheduled for Thursday, July 23 through Saturday, July 25. Come for Saturday only to compete in the 56 nautical mile ‘Round-the-Island Race. Or, go for a full three days of total-immersion racing therapy, come Thursday and Friday for two days of ‘Round-the-Buoy Races before circumnavigating Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday.

Stephen McManus (Annapolis, Md.), owner of the J/120 SAYKADOO, is sailing all three days.  “We had been cruising in the area for 10 years, and last year I thought why not just do this regatta, so we did, and we loved it,” said McManus, who races SAYKADOO primarily on Chesapeake Bay and this year got the boat to New England by way of entering the Annapolis to Newport Race. “You do some sailing outside the harbor, get a couple of races in each day, and it gets you warmed up for the weekend. You can’t beat Edgartown in late July, and Edgartown Yacht Club does a fabulous job of hosting and provides good communication for someone like myself coming from a long distance.”

McManus said that instead of renting a house, SAYKADOO’s owners chartered, like they did last year, a 50-foot cruiser that will sit on a mooring in Edgartown Harbor where the J/120 can easily raft alongside it in the evenings.  He looks forward to competition from another J/120, APRES, owned by Stephen Besse of Vineyard Haven, and the J/46 WINGS, owned by Richard Egan of Hyannis, Mass.

“The J/46 rates similarly under PHRF, and we owe the J/109 time, but a 109 can beat a 120 and vice versa, depending on the conditions,” said McManus, also mentioning the two very competitive Navy 44s, Tenacious and Gallant, that are returning from the Naval Academy.

And while the Annapolis to Newport Race takes between three and four days to complete, the ‘Round-the-Island Race starts Saturday morning and typically finishes in the late afternoon that same day. “Last year, it was a really nice breeze in the low teens, and we had every point of sail: upwind while we went down the east side, a reach down the southern side, spinnakers on the way up Vineyard Sound, and a reach back to the finish outside Edgartown Harbor.”

For the Round Buoys event on Thursday-Friday, the big deal is the PHRF class with 20 boats registered.  The boats range in size from 37 to 50 feet.  The fastest rated boat in the class is the J/111 JEREMY SMALL sailed by Mike Williamson from Portsmouth YC.  They will be up against a trio of J/120s, including McManus’ SAYKADOO, Besse’s APRES and Richard Joy’s KINDRED SPIRITS from Mattapoisett YC.  The Egan’s J/46 WINGS is also sailed, as are two very fast J/109s- Ted Herlihy’s GUT FEELING (a past J/109 NA Champion) and Ed Dailey’s RAPTOR.  Two one-design J/105s will be out there, including Matt Schmitt’s HARDTACK and the Joyce/ Reservitz/ Wagner trio on DARK’N’STORMY from Plymouth YC.  One other 35 foot J will be in their midst, Ashley Simpson’s J/35 UNCLE JOE!

The classic Round Island Race is about as long as the “other” classic Round Island Race- the Isle of Wight in Great Britain.  Both cover over 50nm of sailing (depending on how you sail it) and both have copious amounts of current, sometimes fog, plenty of wind, lots of shoals and rocks and plenty of opportunities to play the various points, lighthouse and bays for tactical advantage.  In the IRC Division, the recent IRC East Coast Champion in Division 3, AUGUST WEST, will be sailed by James Shachoy and crew from Beverly YC.  The PHRF Division mushrooms into 38 boats, nearly twice the Round Buoys fleet.  Joining the boats above will be two more J/111s- Doug Curtiss’ WICKED 2.0 (a 3x past Round Island Class champ) and Mike Williamson’s BRIGADOON.  Another J/109 will jump in for the tour of the island, Eliot Shanabrook’s HAFA ADAI from Marblehead YC, as will the J/37 CARINA skippered by Will Passano from Gibson Island Yacht Squadron.  And, another J/105 will join the fray for class honors; the local juniors from the Nantucket Community Sailing center will be aboard PRIMA with skipper Chris Raymond.  Finally, Steve Dahill’s J/35c RIVA from Beverly YC will be keepin’ them all honest!

The PHRF Non-Spin division will see the addition of the J/42 PANASEA sailed by Kent Nicholas from Red Brook Harbor YC.  For more Edgartown Regatta sailing information

J/Teams Enjoy Southern Bay Week

(Hampton, VA)- As it has evolved over the course of the past few years, more sailors are discovering the fun time being had by those who have participated in Southern Bay Race Week.  The event was hosted by Fishing Bay YC down in Hampton, Virginia from May 29th to 31st and features one-design racing for J/24s and J/70s as well as PHRF handicap classes in both random-leg and around-the-buoys course.

On the one-design side of things, the J/70s fielded a compact but highly competitive fleet.  After an all-out nine-race duel, it was the husband/wife duo of Jenn & Ray Wulff on JOINT CUSTODY that took the J/70 crown for the weekend. After tossing their worst race (a 3rd), the Wulff’s won with a 12 pts net scoreline— simply counting all 1sts and 2nds.  Not far off the mark was Tom Bowen’s REACH AROUND, posting an equally impressive record but having to offset a first race 5th to stay in contention to grab second overall.  Third was Latane Montague’s FULL MONTY, having achieved that remarkable position by winning the first race, posting some good mid-fleet scores and even finishing last one race!

The J/24s essentially survived a thorough bushwhacking from Ron Medlin’s BASH, winning all but the last race to win by a zillion points (8 pts net to be exact).  A country furlong behind and caught in a three-way rat race for second was Mike Veraldi’s QUICKY.  After surviving a 6th race DSQ, they hung on to grab the silver by one point over Alan Bomar’s ROUNDABOUT (Yes!?) that also suffered some ignominious scores like a RET & DNC to hold onto the bronze.

In the world of PHRF racing, a number of J/Teams sailed extremely well.  On the PHRF Racing divisions, Craig Wright’s J/109 AFTERTHOUGHT took first in PHRF A class with a commanding 1-2-2-3-3.5-5 for 11.5 pts net.  Other J’s that finished in the top eight included Vernon Eberwine’s J/36 SEA STAR in 6th, Sam Mitchener’s J/109 DOUBLE EAGLE in 7th and Phil Briggs’ J/36 FEATHER in 8th.

The PHRF B class saw Ben Weeks & Michele Cochran’s J/29 RUMBLE snare second overall followed by Rusty Burshell’s J/30 COOL CHANGE.  In sixth was Ryan McCrillis’ J/80 HAKA.

The PHRF Cruising divisions saw Jim Chapman’s J/37 JENERAL’S LADY in 6th in Cruising I and in Cruising II it was Andrew Arola’s J/24 NU POGODI! taking the silver.  For more Southern Bay Race Week sailing information

Southern Bay Race Week Preview

(Hampton, VA)- With eight-nine boats participating, the Southern Bay Race Week has undoubtedly enjoyed a more prosperous participation level than it has seen in recent year.  Taking place from May 30th to June 1st in Hampton, VA there is a happy coincidence that taking place on the harbor as well is the “Blackbeard Pirate Festival” and the “Hampton Block Party” hosted by the City of Hampton!

In other words, with visitors from all over the country enjoying the sights and sounds of 18th century Hampton overrun by “pirates” (and pirate-wannabe’s), Hampton’s waterfront gets a bit wild and crazy.  The waterfront comes alive with dozens of pirate re-enactors, costumed in historically accurate garb, who transform today’s Hampton into the busy seaport of yesterday. Led by “Blackbeard the Pirate” himself, re-enactors help visitors step back in time and re-live the history and legends of 1718 Hampton. The Festival offers a variety of children’s activities, live musical entertainment, fireworks, period vendors, arts and crafts, and much more!  Learn more here- www.blackbeardfestival.com

So, were we talking about sailing?  Yes, “avast’ye’matey’s”, the J/70s are making a huge debut in this year’s event.  Perhaps the reason why participation has massively increased?  Nine J/70s are sailing with several top traveling teams in the mix.  Top of the box (e.g. the podium) candidate has to be Blake & Lud Kimbrough’s NOSTALGIA and giving them a run for the money are experienced 70 veterans like the VORTEX Racing Team’s two boats, GETMYBOAT.COM and VORTEX.  Noel Clinard’s LOONATICTU and Clark Dennison’s CAT’S PAJAMAS will be sure to give them all a battle over the weekend.

J/24s are not far behind with a half-dozen boats dueling for class bragging rights, including Mike Verladi’s QUICKY, Francis Ford’s ROCKET J and Alan Bomar’s ROUNDABOUT.  How about a quicky roundabout with rocket J across the vortex of a racing tide?  Yup, all J/24 boat names.  The world hasn’t changed there, has it?

In PHRF handicap world, PHRF A-1 has various 35 foot J teams fighting for supremacy.  Two J/109s are sailing, Craig Wrigth’s AFTERTHOUGHT and Sam Mitchenor’s DOUBLE EAGLE, both from Fishing Bay YC.  The J/35 BUMP IN THE NIGHT is sailed by Maury Niebur from West River, MD and the J/36 SEA STAR will be helmed by Vernon Eberwine from Hampton YC.

Over in PHRF A-2 are three J/105s, Dave Clark’s CORRYVRECKAN from Fishing Bay YC, Don DeLoatch’s SPECIAL K from Virginia Beach and Rick Payne’s FLYING COLORS from Hampton YC.  Doing their best to upset that shopping trolley is Phil Briggs’s J/36 FEATHER from Hampton YC.

It looks like Ben Weeks’s J/29 RUMBLE from Yorktown, VA is the lone J wolf sailing in PHRF B-1 class hoping to hold up “J” honors against a raft of 26 to 35 footers.  And, doing the same in PHRF B-II are Rusty Burshell’s J/30 COOL CHANGE from Yorktown, VA and John Wanding’s J/27 REBECCA J from Carrolton, VA.  PHRF Non-Spinnaker Double-handed has Ben Ritger’s J/30 BLEW-J from Virginia Beach taking on all comers while in PHRF Cruising we see Jim Champman’s J/37c JENERAL’s LADY also from Virginia Beach taking on a thirteen boat class!   For more Southern Bay Race Week sailing information

Vallejo Race- J/Dreaming!

(Vallejo, CA)- With their “playground” at the mouth of the Napa River and the Carquinez Straits “venturi” at the top of the Bay, it’s not uncommon to encounter 2-3 current changes during the course of a 2 hour race. The Spring and early summer races typically find sailors battling closely spaced 4-6 ft rollers pushed up by a stiff 20-25 knot westerly over San Pablo Bay opposing a strong ebb out of the strait. Sailors can often expect some wet & wild rides! Short tacking up the rock wall is every bit as challenging as a beat up the San Francisco City Front in a flood. Even heavier boats can catch a few surf rides if their willing to brave the spinnaker set on the run back to the leeward mark. Perhaps Jack London described it best in his book, “Tales of the Fish Patrol”:

“Here the Vallejo Straits and the Carquinez Straits rushed directly at each other. Through the first flowed all the water from the Napa River and the great tide-land; through the second flowed all the water of Suisun Bay and the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. And where such immense bodies of water, flowing swiftly, clashed together, a terrible tide-rip was produced. To make it worse, the wind howled up San Pablo Bay for fifteen miles and drove in a tremendous sea upon the tide-rip. Conflicting currents tore about in all directions, colliding, forming whirlpools, sucks, and boils, and shooting up spitefully into hollow waves which fell aboard us as often from leeward as from windward. And through it all, confused, driven into a madness of motion, thundered the great smoking seas from San Pablo Bay. I was wildly as excited as the water. The boat was behaving splendidly, leaping and lurching through the welter like a racehorse. I could hardly contain myself with the joy of it. The huge sail, the howling wind, the driving seas, the plunging boat – I, a pygmy, a mere speck in the midst of it, was mastering the elemental strife, flying through it and over it, triumphant and victorious.”

As the local sailing season officially got underway this weekend, it seemed that every San Francisco Bay sailor was out racing somewhere. Cherie Sogsti sailed in the Great Vallejo Race with some old friends. She summed up the weekend: "The Great Vallejo Race started like a lamb with no wind and postponements and went out like a lion with big winds and and waves. This race is about so much more than sailing," she added. "It's about sharing the love of the sea with fellow sailors; it's about dedicating time to something you are passionate about; it's about surfing ebb tide waves in San Francisco Bay, and it's about simply being happy on a boat. Nothing forces you to be in the moment like the sport of sailing."

A perfect Great Vallejo Race would be a fast drag race run to Vallejo Yacht Club and a nice gentle tactical beat back on the next day. Speed on Saturday and Brains on Sunday. In the 115 years it's been run it's had a variety of conditions, but this year may have been one of the best to meet that criteria. On Friday the weather forecasters called for a strong northwest breeze for Saturday and many racers were looking forward to a fun romp up San Pablo Bay to Vallejo. But when Saturday's starting sequence went off at 1000 in the Berkeley Circle, the weather didn't look very promising for the 149 boats that showed up to race.

After a short postponement and with a fickle, light southwest breeze, the race committee sent the first two divisions off to fight a building ebb for the long 21 miles to Vallejo. Then the wind died. It was looking dire for the RC and the boats waiting for the promised northwest wind to arrive. The clock ticked and after another two hours of postponement just enough breeze filtered in to try starting the divisions again.

Once half of the divisions were started, the northwesterly finally arrived at 1330, as wall of wind hit the boats, and within seconds they were off. Once around the windward turning mark they had a one tack beat to get into San Pablo Bay for the real fun to begin. After Point San Pablo the boats turned down just enough that some chose to set the chute. A building breeze, ebb and big waves created surf city all the way to Mare Island.

The buzz of adrenalin wore off as the rum was kicking in, and Vallejo YC hosted the Saturday night party amid discussion of lighter winds and maybe even some rain for Sunday's race back.

The racers woke up Sunday morning under gray skies, and some drizzle fell before the sun came out. At noon the starts were off with a bang in plenty of wind to get out of the Napa River and into San Pablo Bay.

The weather forecasters were right about the lighter breeze, and although it was building as the day wore on it was nothing like Saturday's 25 knots. It was a tactician's dream, and if you played the wind shifts and current right you were rewarded with glory. And if you got it wrong, well it was a nice sunny day for a sail. And that's what it should be in the Great Vallejo Race. Brawn and brains and just about perfect.

On Saturday’s 21.5nm race down the bayou, the J/111s sailed a one-design start.  Winning by just 24 seconds was Rob Theis on AEOLUS over the hard-charging MADMEN skippered by Dorian Mckelvy.  Third was Dick Swanson on BAD DOG.  In Sportboat 1 Class, the J/90 RAGTIME sailed by Trig Liljestra took fourth while the J/70 DFZ sailed by Eric Kownacki and Tom Jenkins won the Sportboat 2 Class- fellow classmate Alex Knox on SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY took fifth.  PHRF 3 was won by the J/105 RACER X sailed by Mary Mcgrath with the J/35 JARLEN skippered by Robert Bloom in third.  In the one-design J/105 class, the top three were ARBITRAGE (Bruce Stone), GODOT (Phil Laby), and ADVANTAGE 3 (Pat Benedict).  In PHRF 5, the J/32 STRATOCASTER helmed by Lewis Lanier took fifth.  In PHRF 7, two J/24s took the top of the podium, including Val Lulevich’s SHUT UP & DRIVE and Jasper Van Vliet’s EVIL OCTOPUS.  Finally, in the Short-handed Division, it was Marc Sykes’s J/35 PEGASUS that took second in their 21.5nm race.

On Sunday’s 14.5nm race back, the J/111’s didn’t sail.  In Sportboat 1 Class, the J/90 RAGTIME led by Trig Liljestra won their class quite handily, easily beating a Melges 32, Henderson 30 and a Flying Tiger 10 on both elapsed time and also corrected time!  The dynamic duo on the J/70 DFZ (Kownacki/ Jenkins) again repeated their performance of the day before and took another first to win their weekend, too!  Bob Jarlen’s J/35 JARLEN did the same, taking 2nd in PHRF 3 class.  Bruce Stone’s ARBITRAGE continued their winning ways, bulleting the race and winning class overall.  The two J/24s ended up taking 2nd and 3rd, so Lulevich’s SHUT UP & DRIVE took class honors with Van Vliet’s EVIL OCTOPUS in 2nd.  Sykes’s J/35 PEGASUS again took 2nd to finish in that same position for the weekend.  For more Great Vallejo Race sailing information

Windy Race To The Straits Regatta!

J Teams Excel in Blustery Weekend Sailing
(Seattle, WA)- The event chair, Ashley Bell, along with the many volunteers, did an outstanding job this year. Definitely one of the best run Race to the Straits ever according to one of the sailors participating in the race.  Ashley is also the current Vice Commodore of Sloop Tavern Yacht Club (the host of the event); the force behind bringing the Pink Boat Regatta to Seattle last year raising around $50,000 for breast cancer research; she’s Founder of the non-profit charity "Sound Contribution" that will run the Pink Boat Regatta in Seattle and Bellingham this year and other sailing related benefits in the future; and she’s a scientist by day!

What is Sloop Tavern YC?  Well, to clear up a common misconception, the club was founded by a group of Sloop Tavern regulars over 30 years ago. The Sloop Tavern Yacht Club is not affiliated with the Sloop Tavern in Ballard. Although the owners and employees of the tavern have nothing to do with the yacht club, they graciously provide room for a trophy case, event space, and so forth.  It also happens to be just a great place to meet other sailors and have huge "sloop size" beers!

In past years, the STYC Race 2 The Straits has seen its fair share of next to no wind and ripping currents.  This year that was definitely not the case, with real, honest-to-goodness “fresh to frightening” weather conditions for the weekend.  For many, it was a refreshing break from past traditions of drifting around.  As one sailor observed, “based on trips up and down Admiralty Inlet the last two weekends, the actual currents are not exactly obeying what the books and apps are saying they should be doing.  Last weekend there was a 2+ knot differential predicted flood and actual current, with the ebb running more than an hour past "slack water" prediction.  Plus, two PredictWind models are currently calling for 10-25 both days. Look for a change in the current NOAA forecast, NOAA is showing 10-15 both days, Sailflow is lighter, and PredictWind is showing 15-20+ both days!”

This was the weather report from Bruce Hedrick @ Northwest Yachting:  “Once again it appears the gods are smiling on the Sloop as not only is there a record turnout of 122 boats, it appears that the wind may co-operate as well. Regardless, the RTTS is always a hoot because as they say, “What happens in PT stays in PT!”

Anytime you race through Admiralty Inlet it’s a challenge because of the micro-weather systems that can be spawned in the lee of the Olympics including the infamous convergent zone. Not that we’re likely to see the CZ this weekend it is still probably valuable to divide the Race into three segments: 1. Start to Double Bluff, 2. DB to Marrowstone Light, 3. Marrowstone Light to the finish at PT. The reason is that each of these segments has unique geographic features that in combination with their proximity to major bodies of water (Puget Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca can have profound effects on the wind, especially in times of frontal passage. This becomes even more challenging as we go through the transition from winter to spring or fall to winter. Then there’s the tidal current in Admiralty Inlet…

Just about perfect for Saturday, not so much on Sunday but that’s always the case. Calculations are for Admiralty Inlet off of Bush Pt.  We had gorgeous weather this week now it’s time to pay the piper. We are now under the influence of a very weak 997mb low off the coast that is weakening as it moves onshore. The good news is that it is moving slowly which will keep the wind out of the south all weekend. It’s a little early to call this however with a weak frontal passage over Saturday night and Sunday morning, the wind south of Pt No Pt and Kingston will tend to have a southwest shift to it. Combine that with the fact that the flood starts first on the west side of the Sound and should tell you which side to work on Sunday as you beat your way to the finish.”

Hedrick also offered some insight on appropriate tactics for the sailors: “With so many boats spread out over such a long starting period this will be a very general discussion. The best part is that with the reverse start there will be all kinds of wind velocity indicators all over the course. Sure it’s a short handed race however you really have to keep your head out of the boat and watch what’s going on around you especially on the leg from DB to Marrowstone Light.

From the start at Shilshole it will be a rhumbline run to Double Bluff, with there tending to be more wind and tide to the west particularly as you get north of Jeff Head. The Double Bluff Buoy can be a challenge particularly as you get closer to it and if there has been any clearing or thinning of the cloud cover the wind will lift off of this cliff-faced bluff as the land on top of the Bluff heats up. With the big ebb of the day, the velocity of the ebb will increase as you get closer to the buoy and in combination with the wind velocity dropping if you haven’t put enough in the bank sometimes getting around the buoy can be a challenge. Remember also that this is not one of those “soft” race course marks. Once you clear Double Bluff use as much of the ebb as you can and sail straight to Marrowstone Light. If you’re not going to make Marrowstone Light in the ebb, you need to at least get over to that side of the course. Even though the flood starts first on that side, there is also a back eddy that runs counter to the flood from the about the mid-point of the island all the way up to the lighthouse. You have to be right on the beach, waving at the clams and crabs to take advantage of this and like so many places in the Sound there are some very large glacial erratics that live below the water that would just love to have a bite of fresh lead, so keep the charts handy and know precisely where you are to avoid one of those nasty bumps.

If it’s light at Marrowstone and the flood has started you need to work around the Point in the shallows and once you see your SOG improve, go across the Bay to the finish.

Sunday will be a different story as it will almost certainly be a beat from the start back to Double Bluff. If you are starting early, get across to Marrowstone and then hold the long starboard tack to get across the ebb and over to Whidbey beaches. There are back eddies behind Lagoon and Bush Point as well as behind Double Bluff so you’re going to be watching the depth sounder, and SOG as you short tack down the shore.

After you round Double Bluff it will be time to take the long hitch back across the Sound to get over to the Pt No Pt shore in anticipation of the flood starting and the wind clocking from the south to the south-southwest. Again, you’re going to work the beach almost all the way to Jeff Head before you tack to starboard for that final long tack across the Sound to the finish at Shilshole.”

Having said all that, it was clear all weather forecasts and predictions were off by a fairly significant amount (like a country furlong amount!).  Instead of moderating winds, it blew like hell all weekend long!  As one sailor so aptly described the first day of racing:

“Well, it was a ‘Sailmaker Benefit Day’. Lots of shredded nylon hanging from masts. The early boats benefited from a more westerly breeze and were able to rhumb line it to Double Bluff (for the most part). The breeze filled to the low 20's at that point and most boats had either finished donating spinnaker parts to the wind or exercised perhaps more prudent judgment by flying white sails to the finish. The breeze was nipping at 30 knots toward the end. Somewhat humbling day, but it was a good party (as usual) and nobody got hurt.”

The report for the second day didn’t change much either, other than the fact the fleet had to beat back into a light gale!  As described, “it was blowing again from the south between 14-26 knots. The ebb seemed to be much stronger and later than predictions.  The fleet split at Marrowstone and it appeared that staying west was a gain. One boat dismasted (Wild Rumpus) and they appear OK. They were being towed to Seattle by ‘Fast Tango’, who should get bonus points for that. Very sloppy waves. A lot of retired boats. The fleet split again at Point No Point and it appears that going east paid. Many boats were still sailing when the time limit ran out.”

The J/Teams reveled in the heavy winds and choppy waters, eating it up, sailing fast downwind on the first day and powering to windward like nobody’s business on Sunday.  In fact, the downwind sleigh-ride, many J’s took just under 3 hours, but doubled that time on the way back.  Taking Class 5 Double-handed were the J/120 HINZITE sailed by Mr James followed by the renowned J/109 TANTIVY skippered by Stuart Brunell.  These two crushed a gaggle of well-sailed Farr 30s in the conditions.

In the Double-handed Class 6 division, the J/36 MONKEYBONES sailed by Shawn Dougherty and Jason Andrews took third, just in front of the J/37c MERRY MAKER helmed by Bill Harter.

Class 7 Double-handed was made up of seven J/105s, what a hoot they must’ve had!  The winner was “Erik” sailing JUBILEE followed by Matt & Tessa Gardner-Brown aboard DULCINEA.  In third was Paul Henderson & Ramona Barber on DELIRIUM, followed by Bob Blaylock & Mario Laky on USAWI in fourth and Ian Wesley-Smith on CYRANO in fifth.

Class 8 Double-handed division saw Tom Mitchell’s J/35c WILDFLOWER take a well-earned second overall.

Class 9 Double-handed had three J/29’s participating, top of the heap was Paul Hanson’s PLAN R taking third overall.

The Class 11 Double-handed fleet had three J/27s, one J/80 and four Santa Cruz 27s.  Guess who won the battle of the 27’s?!  You bet.  The J/27s took first and second overall, with “Dennis” on LXII in first and Andy Mack on TRUE NORTH in second.  Interestingly, while the SC27’s enjoy a reputation for being a “baby sled” off Santa Cruz, the top J/27 was second to finish on elapsed time, only 72 seconds behind after 2.5 hours of racing downwind!  Needless to say, the J/27s powered back upwind to win by a huge margin.  The SC27’s?  They motored back home!!

There were four J/30s vying for class supremacy in Class 12 Double-handed division.  Taking the win and second in class was Adrien Felon’s CONRAD J, third was Ulf Gwildis’s IMPULSIVE and fifth was Theo Singelis’s TAKU.  For more Sloop Tavern YC Race To The Straits sailing information

J/Sailors Love Southern Bay Week

(Hampton, VA)- One of the highlights of the southern Chesapeake Bay racing season is the Southern Bay Race Week hosted by Hampton Yacht Club.  The event actually starts with the annual "feeder race" from Annapolis, the "Down the Bay Race".  After the racers have recuperated from their blast down the Chesapeake, the Hampton YC plays host to an amazing regatta that is loaded with an enormous amount of social activities and festivities for the next four days straight!  Great bands, great food and simply fabulous Southern hospitality.  No wonder its popular for "those in the know" in the mid-Atlantic region.

For their debut event, the J/70s had a good turnout for Southern Bay.  In the end, it was evident the teams were all on an enormous learning curve as some boats that did well in the beginning soon found themselves on a slippery slope trying to cope with others who were learning how to go faster and apply better tactics upwind and, especially, downwind. Locals Ron Thompson and crew started strongly but struggled later in the regatta.  Their 1-1-2-1-4-1-3 for 13 pts sealed the deal to win the J/70s.  The Kimbrough boys on NOSTALGIA sailed well and their 3-4-1-3-3-2-1 for 17 pts was good enough to take a comfortable second overall.  Third was John Hanna sailing VORTEX Racing, beating on a tie-breaker their friend Basil Rowland sailing GETMYBOAT.COM.

In the J/24 world, the ROCKET J boys found their groove and were going to keep pounding away after their roaring success in the "Down the Bay Race".  Neil Ford and gang sailed a solid series to score a 1-2-3-2-4-1 for 13 pts to lead from the start and take the class.  The battle for 2nd, 3rd and 4th place was truly a herculean struggle, with nearly all three boats tied.  After the dust cleared, taking second by a tie-breaker was MIZZMO sailed by Ben Carver with a 3-1-4-4-1-4 for 17 pts.  Losing that battle was Alan Bomar's ROUNDABOUY with a 4-4-1-3-3-2 scoreline for 17 pts.  Finally, Mike Veraldi's QUICKY took fourth despite having the BEST RECORD in the last four races!  QUICKY's very slow start ended with a profusion of top three finishes, but their scores of 5-5-2-1-2-3 for 18 pts wasn't going to cut it to crack the top three.

In PHRF A, it was nearly a J class clean sweep!  Imagine this, a 1982 J/36 and modern J/109 (about the same size) simply crushes a brand spanking new Farr 400!  Yeah, it did happen.  Winning class was the J/36 SEA STAR sailed by David Eberwine.  Second was future sistership J/109 AFTERTHOUGHT sailed by Craig Wright.  Fourth was the J/36 FEATHER sailed by Phil Briggs. Quite the performance by a vintage J/Crew in this division!

The terrific performance exhibited by Jim Bordeaux sailing his J/40 SOLSTICE in the Down the Bay Race was repeated, to some degree, again by their remarkable finish in PHRF A2.  A J/40 cruising sailboat that is racing against serious racing/ performance boats like a Hobie 33, Soverel 33, Frers 36, C&C 99 and Olson 33 gets fifth overall!  Kudos to the Bordeaux crew!

The highly competitive PHRF B1 class saw the classic J/29 RUMBLE sailed by the Ben Weeks/ Michele Cochran duo from Yorktown, VA take second in class.

In PHRF C, the J/22 NOT SO BLUE sailed by Pete Wallio was "laying some serious pipe" in the last three races (1-1-2) to grab third overall.  It can be said they would've been happy to somehow ditch their experience in the first two races which netted them 10 pts (6-4)-- perhaps an issue of being "asleep at the wheel"?

In PHRF Cruising A class, the J/37 JENERAL'S LADY sailed by Jim Chapman from Virginia Beach, VA sailed nicely to grab third overall in their class.  For more Southern Bay Race Week sailing information

MUTINOUS DOGS & DUCK SOUP Win Epic FIGAWI

(Nantucket, MA)- This year's famous FIGAWI race was perhaps one for the record books.  It was wild, wet, cold, rainy and windy.  The several thousand sailors in the race faced the same conditions as many of their sailing friends who were participating in the Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race just a bit further east of Nantucket-- powerful NNW winds of 15-25 kts and mountainous seas drove the fleet fast across Nantucket Sound from Hyannis to Nantucket in an epic, wet & windy roller-coaster ride.  Of the 210 boats that registered, about 75% of them completed the race due to the crazy conditions.

The pursuit-style race with quartering seas and winds were fun conditions for most of the J teams planing and surfing like mad all the way across Nantucket Sound.  Many of the teams performed quite well, especially the classic old J/24s!  Winning their Division D by a landslide was an astonishing performance by the J/24 MUTINOUS DOGS sailed by Marc Holdaway.  Also sailing like a "mad dog" in conditions only suitable for ducks, was Stephen Lipman's J/37 DUCK SOUP, taking their Division F Non-Spinnaker by a landslide.

The balance of J sailors all had fun, placing in many of their divisions.  At the top of the heap was the J/44 BEAGLE with Phil Gutin at the helm taking 5th in Division A.  Next was the J/40 JAZZ skippered by Kirk Brown, taking a 3rd in Division B.  Also sailing fast and liking the conditions was the classic J/29 masthead SEEFEST sailed by Ira Perry, taking 2nd in Division C.  The J/40 SMITTEN sailed by Bill Jones was 5th in Division G Non-Spinnaker.

Finally, in Division S were lumped all the fast asymmetric spinnaker sprit boats, essentially a J/class division with thirteen boats vying for being the "big banana" amongst the deck apes bragging at the Charity Ball.  First boat home was the J/105 DARK'N'STORMY sailed by Andrew Reservitz.  Second into the harbor was the J/120 M-SQUARED skippered by Bill Mack and third home was the J/111 PRAVDA 2 with Ed Kaye at the helm (proud of their inaugural effort in the FIGAWI).  Fourth home was the J/105 BEAR SPIRIT sailed by Jonathan Bloom and, remarkably, the fifth boat home was the J/105 PRIMA sailed by the Nantucket High School Sailing Team and led by their skipper Diana Brown-- congratulations to all!

It was interesting sailing for the J sprit boats, after about 4.5 hours of sailing, less than fifteen minutes separated the top ten!  That's close sailing and a pretty reasonable job on handicapping the boats in PHRF, too.   For more FIGAWI Race sailing information

J/37 Future Primitive Sailing Video

(Vancouver, BC, Canada)- The J/37 FUTURE PRIMITIVE (has nothing to do with infamous "Sasquatch") sails in the spectacular cool waters off Vancouver and not far from the famously primitive Olympic Peninsula.  Reports her proud owner, Ron MacKenzie from Royal Vancouver YC, "we were 2nd Division 1 in the Royal Vancouver YC Hot Rum Series Race last Saturday. We sailed under #3 jib and full main. Took us three hours around English Bay!  For kicks & grins, take a look at our clip of the 2010 Southern Straits Race we did on FUTURE PRIMITIVE (our local distance race of about 125nm). This year was the only time in it's 42 years that it's been abandoned (one boat sank and about 12 people went swimming in the water from various boats!). The official wind reading was 80+ knots. We've done a couple of Vic-Mauis, an LA-PV, and 2006 Sydney-Hobart, but nothing as crazy as that Southern Straits Race. Good times!  :)  We LOVE our J/37. Bought her new in February 1988 (met Rod, Drake and others many times in Newport).  Cheers, Ron"
To see their Facebook sailing video, follow the link here.