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(Warsash, England)- Twenty-three teams competed in Round One of the J/70 UK Grand Slam Series. The event was organized by the Warsash Sailing Club as part of the Warsash Spring Championships 2021.Calascione & Peters racing CALYPSO took the first victory in the seven-event series, scoring three wins out of seven races held in brisk and beautiful conditions on The Solent.Paul Ward’s EAT SLEEP J REPEAT (still the defending J/70 World Champion) recovered from a Black Flag DSQ to post consistent results, but fell short by a single point to finish second. Nick Phillips’ CHAOTIC scored a hat trick of bullets in the final three races snatching third place, ahead of Graham Clapp’s JEEPSTER and Martin Dent’s JELVIS (a J/111 World Champion).
Notable performances included Simon Patterson’s STANDFAST, Jonnie Goodwin’s HARLEQUIN and Charles Thompson’s BRUTUS. The mid-fleet peloton is always a competitive arena in the J/70 Class with three teams tied on points after seven races. Duncan McCarthy’s team came out on top on countback from J/70 stalwart Patrick Liardet, racing COSMIC, and a new team in the J/70 Class, Tony Dickin’s EXCESS.For more United Kingdom J/70 Class sailing information
(Marina de Nettuno, Italy)- The first event of the 2021 J/Cup Italy took place off Anzio and Nettuno, a pretty seaside town southwest of Rome. The regatta was hosted by Marina de Nettuno and Yacht Club Anzio-Nettuno for the fleet of three-dozen teams from across Italy. The teams were treated to strong breezes for the three-day event, so strong in fact, that the third and final day had to be canceled due to enormous seas breaking at the entrance to the marina. After a seven-race series, it was Massimo Rama's JENIALE EUROSYSTEM that took the class honors against some of the best-known European teams from the past four years. Rama commented, "we're so excited about this early season result, probably the result of the many winter training sessions in the waters of Genoa, which helped us greatly improve as a crew. It is precisely thanks to the excellent on-board synergies that we have managed to be consistent in the regatta this weekend and to achieve this important result that I really want to thank my crew for. The J/70 proved to be a fun boat once again and the fleet level is growing from stage to stage. At the next stage in Rimini, we hope to continue doing well!" 
Sailing in his home waters, Luca Domenici's NOTARO Team finished in second place. His team included tactician Diego Negri, a famous sailor in Italy as a champion in multiple classes. Domenici commented, "what a fantastic day in the waters of Anzio and Nettuno, where I was born and raised. And, how nice it is to win three such challenging races on a day where marine weather conditions left all the participants heavily challenged. Afterwards, the greatest emotion was celebrating these victories with my family; I'm thankful they were here supporting me during the regatta. It was an incredible day for our NOTARO Team, we can't wait to get back on the water for the next act of the J/70 Cup 2021."The bronze medal went to the young ANIENE YOUNG crew of Luca Tubaro, also winner of the Corinthian category. In fact, rounding out the Corinthians Division behind Tubaro was Ludovico Fassitelli's JUNDA-SUMUS CAPITAL and Mauro Brescacin's LA FEME TERRIBLE. 
The next Italian J/70 Cup regatta is scheduled for the weekend from June 11 to June 13 in Rimini. The main sponsor of the J/70 Cup 2021 is Lincoln International. The official clothing partner Sail Racing, official sport nutrition partner Alphazer, official timekeeper Garmin, technical partners Armare, Savona Shipyard, Remigo, Quantum Sails and official supplier Girmi and Serena Wines.Watch video by Zerogradinord for the J/70 Italian Class. For more Italian J/70 Cup series sailing information
(San Francisco, CA)- St Francis Yacht Club members are witness to a remarkable variety of sail racing, but there is one type of sail racing that is distinct even to the casual observer - the intense head-to-head battle of match racing – right outside the expansive floor-to-ceiling windows of the famous Grill Room and its commanding views over San Francisco Bay. By way of background, US Sailing will hold its Match Racing Championship in Long Beach in October, after a series of seven qualifiers around the country. On May 1-2, 2021, the St. Francis hosted the NorCal qualifier in its fleet of evenly matched J/22s, sailed by teams of four. With identical boats, this was a test of the tactical acumen of the skippers and the boat handling skills of the crew, sorely tested in the high winds of last weekend, gusting over 30 kt. In fact, crew went overboard on both days during fast maneuvering or in broaches due to the high winds. The bosun boat was busy assisting with equipment repair or replacement, and swapped out one boat due to collision, a reflection of the speed and intensity of match racing on SF Bay.
Over the two days of round-robins, for a total of 12 matches, Team Toole and Team Breault came to the forefront and seemed evenly matched. In the end, Oliver Toole (StFYC) took a one-point victory over Nicole Breault (StFYC), finishing 11-1 compared to her 10-2. When racing head-to-head they split, with Breault beating Toole on Saturday and the reverse on Sunday. The difference, in the end, was when Jack Barton (representing San Francisco YC) topped Nicole on Saturday.The big story is that Toole, a two-time All-American sailor from Stanford and a team racing champion, came into the event without match racing experience. However, he and his wife Kelly have sailed together for over ten years and are quite familiar with the City Front and J/22s, having practiced team racing there many times and successfully represented the Club at the Baldwin Cup and Morgan Cup. In addition to their brother-in-law Jack Ortell at bow, they were bolstered by Olympian Craig Healy on board as trimmer and tactician. 
“Though I graduated from Stanford in 2014, our team has stuck together. We were quite comfortable in the breeze, since our St. Francis group has practiced 4x4 team racing here in these conditions many times in recent years before we left to race elsewhere. It was terrific having Craig on board with his immense match racing talent, and of course super fun to qualify for the national championship. We’re looking forward to expanding our circle with the right team for Long Beach’s Catalina 37’s, obviously a much bigger boat requiring different skills and some large people.”Breault commented that, “we had some fresh new faces in this regatta and that bodes well for the match racing scene in California. Quite a few skippers asked me afterwards to set up some sparring sessions so we can keep playing the game and honing our skills!” Her team consisted of Maggie Bacon (bow), Karen Loutzenheiser (trim), and Molly Carapiet (main/tactics). Brock Paquin, representing Cal Maritime, finished third, with crew of Justin Zimna, Kyle Collins, Lukas Kraak.
(Annapolis, MD)- A preview of the 2021 J/70 North American Championship took place last weekend during the Annapolis NOOD Regatta, sailing on the choppy, cols waters of Chesapeake Bay. While nowhere near the sixty boats entered for this weekend's event, it will be interesting to see how last week's leaderboard fair against a deeply talent-laden fleet. Having "practiced" well last weekend, the host Annapolis Yacht Club will be looking forward to providing a solid four-days of sailing with up to a dozen races sailed. Who's the odds-on favorite to be one of those at the top of the leaderboard? None other than a local "home-boy", past J/24 World Champion and America's Cup Champion Terry Hutchinson from Annapolis, MD. Last weekend, Terry, co-owner Jenn Norwood, tactician Scott Nixon, Gil Hackel, and Dan Morris sailed USA 419 in challenging weather conditions, with massive breezes and currents, and they managed to eclipse many top J/70 teams...much to their surprise. However, as experienced sailors as they are, Hutchinson/ Norwood are under no illusions the J/70 N.A.'s will see the competitiveness level rise several notches. Needless to say, it's truly a "rogue's roost" of Olympic, World, and European champions taking aim at their competitors to be "top dog" by the time the dust clears on the racetrack. A highlight of those teams may include John Evans' AIRPLANE, Josh Becker's AWKWARD TURTLE, Dan Goldberg's BAZINGA, Joel Ronning's CATAPULT, John Brigden's COOL STORY BRO, John Heaton's EMPEIRIA, Doug Rastello's GOOD TO GO, Travis Odenbach's HONEYBADGER, Trey Sheehan's HOOLIGAN: FLAT STANLEY RACING, Chris Kostanecki's JENNIFER, Alex McPhail's NESSUNA, Steve Benjamin's REGGAE SHARK, Peter Duncan's RELATIVE OBSCURITY, Peter Barrett's RESET, Rich Witzel's ROWDY, John Brim's RIMETTE, Brian Keane's SAVASANA, Bruno Pasquinelli's STAMPEDE, Ryan McKillen's SURGE, Bruce Golison's TEN, Dave Jannetti's VERY ODD, Buddy Cribb's VICTORY, and Mike Goldfarb's WAR CANOE.Racing starts on Wednesday of next week and concludes on Saturday, with up to three races per day scheduled. For more J/70 North American Championship sailing information
J/22 SCOOBY Crowned as Overall Winner!
(Annapolis, MD)- J.R. Maxwell and the crew of the Annapolis-based J/22 SCOOBY were happy with their results Saturday in the big breeze of the 2021 Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta Annapolis; consistency being the key in the highly tightly competitive 15-boat fleet.
J/22 Overall WinnerAnd after winning Sunday’s first two races, they were well on their way to winning the regatta. Until the final race. With an over-early start, they were recalled to the line, restarted, and looked up the course to see the work ahead.“We had to grind back from being second-to-last and finished fifth in that race,” Maxwell says. “Today was all about the puffy conditions so you had to stay in the puffs and that wasn’t always intuitive of where that was going to happen. We figured that over time.”Like most sailors Maxwell and his team have had limited time sailing over the duration of the pandemic, but were happy to back on the water and racing again together.“We’re super happy with the win this year,” Maxwell says. “We’ve been sailing this regatta for the better part of a decade and we were ready to get this one this time. We had a regatta last weekend that we won so we were feeling good coming into this weekend.”With Maxwell on SCOOBY was crew Jim Schmicker and Matt Spencer (with Bryan Pryor sailing on Saturday only) and as winner of the J/22 class they were also selected as the overall winner, earning a berth to compete in the Helly Hansen Caribbean NOOD Championship in October.Rounding out the top spots in the J/22s were Brad Julian's YARD SAIL in second, Jeff Todd's HOT TODDY in third, Aden King's RIDING DIRTY fourth, and Jake Doyle's ZESTY ENTERPRISE in fifth position. 
J/35 Nail-biter FinaleThe J/35s are one of the few legacy classes of the Annapolis NOOD, which has been hosted for more than 30 years by the Annapolis YC (with race committee support by Eastport YC and the Severn Sailing Association) and while the J/35s were smaller in numbers, the battle of the top of the fleet was a big one, with Roger Lant’s ABIENTOT winning the tiebreaker over the perennial champions on James Sagerholm’s AUNT JEAN.“They are very, very fast upwind so if you let them get away it’s a tough battle after that, so we worked on a strategy to deal with them on the starting line,” said Lant. “We carried out our plan and it went well.”What was that plan?“The boat that won the start won the race. They were looking for space on the starting line and we were looking to engage, so yesterday we engaged them fairly hard.”But after AUNT JEAN won the day’s first two races, Lant had only one option- to win the final race!“We knew we had to control him at the start, but we also had to win the start, get ahead and get clear. They are such a fast boat upwind, especially in conditions where the racecourse is even like it was today.”But still, to win also requires good crew work under pressure.“As skipper, I’m the most fortunate skipper on the course,” Lant says. “I have a core crew that has been sailing together for three year and the skills keep building and today we had some of the most fabulous crew work I’ve ever seen on the boat. Exceptional.”The balance of the podium and top five included Jim McNeely's MAGGIE in third, Mike Wood's VALHALLA in fourth, and Masci McGonigle's WINDEPENDENT in fifth place. 
J/80 Cliff-hanger FinaleConor Hayes and Jeff Kirchhoff’s J/80 MORE GOSTOSA, also contributed their win to the flawless crew work of their team, which has had limited sailing over the past years. More than once, says Hayes, it helped them get back places that ultimately impacted the final outcome—they won by a single point.“The wind was pretty spotty, so it was about finding the pressure and staying in it on the runs,” Hayes says. “It was surprising the current was flooding all day and that was a big factor.”After the winning the second to last race of the day, Hayes knew the points were extremely close between his team and runner-up Daniel Wittig’s TURBO SLOTH, but he had no idea how close. All he could do for the last race was keep TURBO SLOTH in his wake. That didn’t happen, and it almost went worse.“We had a tough start in that last race,” Hayes says. “We wanted to start at the pin but got shut out. We were able to tack out immediately onto port and were in phase [with the windshifts] and from there it was a matter of just staying in more wind. It helps to have boatspeed and good crew to be able to get out of bad situations like that.”The balance of the top five included Tom & Jennifer Kopp's KOPP-OUT (aka The Lasso Way) in third, Mike Hobson's MELTEMI in fourth, and Sarah Alexander's MORE COWBELL in fifth.
J/70 Mind-blowing FinishTerry Hutchinson, skipper of the winning J/70 USA 419 he co-owns with Jennifer Norwood, had a similar starting experience in the first race of the day and he, too, almost lost the regatta. They were buried in the start and immediately found an escape route.“We didn’t trust the Velocitek [a GPS-based starting device],” Hutchinson says. “We were poked [close to the line] and I didn’t pull the trigger. The boat on our leebow was about a boat length ahead of us at the start, unfortunately. It was a rookie mistake. When we set up at 40 seconds we were in a good spot, but I felt exposed.”With the focus of his crew, Scott Nixon, Dan Morris, Gil Hackel, and Jennifer Norwood, they clawed their way back to an eight-place finish in the 40-boat fleet— no small feat— which Hutchinson says ultimately won the regatta for them. Although, they did win the next race and finished second in the last to secure the win by 7 points over John Heaton’s EMPEIRIA.“Yesterday was a lot of fun because it was breezy,” Hutchinson says. “We weren’t fast in the first race and then when it lightened up, our limited time in the boat didn’t bite us as hard and we were more competitive.
“We were much better today and it’s amazing how hard this racecourse is in Annapolis. The course location was hard because the current was good on the right, but there was pressure [more wind] and shift on the left so you had to balance the two.“You did not want to be in the middle. In the first race the leader came out of the right, and in the second, the leader came out of the left. Each leg was unique to itself, which kept us on our toes.”Behind the Hutchinson/Norwood team was John Heaton's EMPEIRIA in second, Rich Witzel's ROWDY third, Doug Rastello's GOOD TO GO fourth, and Peter Duncan's RELATIVE OBSCURITY in fifth place. Winning the J/70 Corinthians Division was James Gary's AVACUCHO, followed by Mike McNamara's TEA DANCE SNAKE in second, and Kelly McGlynn's BEARNARCHY in third. How did things go down in the other classes? North Sails Doublehanded ORC divisionRichard Born's J/120 WINDBORN took the bronze, with John Bell's J/100 HIWASSEE taking eighth place. 
J/24's Experience a Good'ole Fashioned Butt-whippin'The ten-boat class may have been a bit surprised that class octogenarian Tony Parker would wake up after his Rip Van Winkle-esque pandemic experience and still remember how to sail a J/24. Well, for those in the know, racing a J/24 for Tony is a bit like riding a bike, having been racing the class since inception in 1978 out of Portland, Maine. Now based in Washington, DC, Parker and his BANGOR PACKET team demonstrated near-perfection, winning all eight of their races. Having a similar score of mostly seconds, Pete Kassal's SPACEMAN SPIFF team sailed home to an 18 pts tally. They were followed by Pat Fitzgerald's RUSH HOUR in third with 25 pts total. 
Shoot-out at Houston's OK Corral for J/105sThe huge, competitive J/105 fleet didn't disappoint with regards to close competition like their colleagues in other classes. However, it was not the home boys that were showing everyone their transom going home. Instead, it was a pair of Texans hailing from Houston's Galveston Bay that topped the leaderboard in a "mano-a-mano" fight to the end. In the end, Bill Zartler's DEJA VOODOO led fellow Texan Ken Horne's FINAL FINAL by closing with a 2-2 to win with 27 pts. Third was Cedric Lewis & Fredrik Salvesen's MIRAGE with 32 pts, fourth Hugh Bethell's JESTER with 35 pts (winning the last two races somewhat convincingly), and fifth Doug & Amy Stryker's MAYHEM. 
J/30 Triad Trade Podium Finishes To the EndPerhaps the most interesting battle in the one-design classes was amongst the passionate J/30 owners. No one would've guessed beforehand that a trio of boats would monopolize the podium finishes in every race! In short, the main issue was the trade-off of covering one competitor while another "escaped" to do their own thing...often times it was the "escapee" that won the race and beat the other two in their own duel! After six races, it was clear that Bob Rutsch & Mike Costello's BEPOP had a slight edge to win class with a 1-3-1-2-1-2 tally for 10 pts. Taking the silver was Bruce Irvin's SHAMROCK with a 2-1-3-3-2-1 record for 12 pts. Earning a well-deserved bronze medal was Tristan Keen's INFECTIOUS SMILE with a 3-2-2-1-3-3 scoreline for 14 pts! Sailing photo credits- Paul Todd/ Outside Images.com. For more Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD Regatta sailing information
(Buenos Aires, Argentina)- One of the most important regattas on the evolving Argentinean J/70 regatta calendar is the San Isidro Labrador Trophy hosted by Club Nautico San Isidro along the Rio de La Plata. Such was the passion and desire of the Argentinean sailors to get rolling on the waters again within the state's pandemic guidelines that twenty-eight boats registered to participate in the event- a record turnout for any J/70 regatta in Argentina! Over the course of the weekend regatta, the two protagonists that battled for class supremacy ended up with a fearsome battle in the last race to determine who would beat who. In a classic regatta scenario, Paolo Cosentino's NEGRONI team from Yacht Club Argentino (P. Pruden, P. Consentino, and L. Carissimi) won the first race and posted a 6-4-1 in the next three races to be the leader without throw-outs, but a loser with a throwout. With one more race in the cards, Alejandro Irigoyen's BUTANTAN team (J. Fregonese, L. Cerrato, and G. Martinez) had a disastrous first race 14th, but managed to get their act together and reeled off a 1-1-2 in the next three races. As a result, with a good fifth and final race, they could toss their 14th to win the regatta. As one might expect, the scenario was not lost on Cosentino's NEGRONI team. With a fifth race started on Sunday, the NEGRONI team simply match-raced BUTANTAN into the bottom of the fleet, forcing them into an 11th place finish. As a result, NEGRONI won with 12 net points with BUTANTAN having to settle for second place with 15 pts net. 
While the top two teams were dueling for supremacy on the high seas, the battle for the final step on the podium, in fact for the top five, was nothing short of an epic 15-round battle in the boxing ring. Emerging from that four-boat, wildly swinging, race-to-race fortunes was the Silva family's aptly named MERCENARIO 6, skippered by top woman helm Martina Silva. They took the bronze medal on the podium on a count-back tiebreaker at 25 pts each over Van Avermaete’s SI QUERIDA. One point back was the Gwozdz & Herman-Suarez's BACHAJO in fifth place. For more Argentina J/70 Class sailing information
(Rye, New York)- The second half of the 2021 American Yacht Club Spring Regatta held on April 30 – May 2 had over 50 boats entered in the One Design, PHRF, and ORC classes to compete off Rye, NY on Long Island Sound. The AYC Race Committee was able to complete races for the Short Course ORC and J/44 classes, and one distance race for the Coastal Racing course, which included PHRF, Doublehanded, and Mixed Doublehanded classes.The weekend began with a gale warning holding teams shoreside Friday. The wind subsided Saturday afternoon to a more manageable 15-18 knots across the Long Island Sound allowing just enough time for three races. Sunday started off light and shifty with the rain looming over the New York City skyline, before giving way to sunshine and a little more pressure for three more races rounding out the series.Continuing where they had started on the first weekend of racing, Bill Ketcham's MAXINE sailed a very consistent series to win the J/44 one-design class with 17 pts after eleven races, counting all podium finishes. Frequently giving them a run-for-the-money was Don & Dick Rave's RESOLUTE, finishing just three points back to take the silver. Rounding out the podium was Tom Blackwell's BREAKAWAY with a total of 29 pts.
Winning the J/105 one-design class was Paul Beaudin's LOU LOU, winning seven races enroute to a somewhat dominating win in the highly competitive class with 18 pts total. Second was Dave Willis' SOLUTION, counting nine podium finishes for a total of 25 pts. Taking the bronze in his first known podium finish in the J/105 class was Greth Lester's ECHO, showing flashes of brilliance, like winning the first race, but getting "unglued" and inconsistent in other races to fall behind the leaders. The J/88 one-design class was a tale of two weekends and two protagonists "flip-flopping" their roles in the fleet. On the first weekend, it seemed Iris Vogel's DEVIATION team could do no wrong and was winning by a good margin in the light to moderate conditions and flat water. Then, the second weekend saw a dramatic change in wind/ wave conditions which proved to be the undoing of the DEVIATION crew, but also much to the liking of the dynamic duo of Lawrence Cutler & Andrew Weiss on ONE TOO MANY. After closing with four straight bullets, the ONE TOO MANY boys finished tied with DEVIATION, winning the tie-breaker on countback. Watching the battle unfold from the bleacher seats on both weekends was another fun-loving duo on ALBONDIGAS, Justin Scagnelli & Tim Price, taking home the bronze for their second successive major event of the season. The J/70 one-design class saw Jean Marc Papin's PEN SEGAL take the class win with nearly all bullets, followed by Ben Hunt's NO NAME in second, with Gibbons Sinclair's HALF MINE II taking the bronze. In the Coastal PHRF Division, it was Steven Levy's J/121 EAGLE that won class with consistent sailing. Just two points back, Robert Schwartz's J/109 NORDLYS took the bronze. In the Coastal ORC Mixed Doublehanded, it was Todd Aven & Barbara Karpinska's J/99 THIN MAN that took the silver!
(Annapolis, MD)- Sailing their 2021 J/111 North American Championship concurrent with the Annapolis NOOD Regatta, the seven teams were truly put to the challenge this past weekend on Chesapeake Bay. The first day of the regatta was canceled due to gale-force winds and massive chop. After getting blown off the water the first day, “challenging, puffy conditions” is how SKELETON KEY's skipper Peter Wagner described the second day. “We had to keep our eyes out of the boat and change gears frequently, but it was really good racing.”With three races in winds that started near 20 knots and faded and shifted through the day, Wagner and his crew on SKELETON KEY, emerged as the top boat, winning the first two races and finishing fourth in the third. The outcome, he says, was better than he expected having not raced the boat since August 2019.
“It’s been a long time,” Wagner says. “We got out to do some boathandling work in San Francisco before we brought the boat here, but no racing, it was just putting ourselves through our paces and making sure the boat was still functional.”For the day’s first two races, Wagner says, they were able to get off the starting line clean and control their own race, sailing the course as efficiently as possible.“That was pretty important because things were changing quickly and we had to be able to react to the changes as they happened. In the third race, we ended up on the wrong side of one windshift and the result showed, but that will happen sometimes.“In that race, you had to be on the right [side of the course]. We got stuck a little too far left and couldn’t quite find a shift to come back. We almost did, but our friends on [Rob Ruhlman’s] Spaceman Spiff faceplanted us at a critical moment, bouncing us back left and sealing our doom. That was a good move by them.”Wagner says his team did a great job settling into their roles after a long absence and their boathandling and speedwork were as good as could be expected. For tomorrow, the third and final day of racing, Wagner’s goal is to continue sailing well and not worry about the rest of the fleet, which are not far behind on the scoreboard.“It’s about incremental improvements,” he says, “and for me, I guess the one area to improve getting back in sync with my mainsail trimmer, so we’ll continue to focus on that.”Stumbling out of the blocks with a 6th place on the first racing day, Rob Ruhlman’s SPACEMAN SPIFF crew regained focus to win two of the six races on Sunday to capture the title by one point over Andrew and Sedgwick Ward’s BRACO with Rod Jabin’s RAMROD a point further back in third. Ruhlman was the defending champion from 2019, as the 2020 event was cancelled due to the pandemic. The Ruhlman "family" crew consisted of Mike Case, Martin Kullman, Doug Moose, Abby Ruhlman, Ryan Ruhlman, Maegan Ruhlman and Mark Wiss. 
J/111 Class Director Chris Howell interviewed Rob after the event for perspectives on what it took for his family team to win.How does it feel? Ruhlman: How does it feel? Fantastic! Particularly because of the way it all came together on the last day. Trust me, none of us left the house on Sunday morning with winning even on our mind. This is a really tight, competitive class; top three was our goal. And as always, doing this with my family is incredibly special.What was the key to the victory?Ruhlman: From our side, it took perseverance and a belief in ourselves. In all honesty, when our good friends on SKELETON KEY pulled the trigger a bit early at the start of Race 4, that opened the door to the possibility of a step up. This Class is so competitive and the boats so even that one misstep at any point in the race is very difficult to recover from.What is it you like about the boat and the Class? Ruhlman: Our family has grown up in Lightnings (and by “grown up,” I mean since birth), with the exception of my wife Abby, but she may has well have since she was introduced to it at 19 years old. The one-design aspect of it, with the boats as even as they are, and the lack of an “arms race”, is great. Maybe more importantly is the camaraderie. After several years (a lot of these guys know each other from racing all kinds of other big boat classes), I’ve gotten to know a lot of really neat people and look forward to seeing them onshore as much as I do offshore. For me, it’s the Lightning Class of big boats.What’s next for the team? Ruhlman: We’ll likely spend most of the summer in the Great Lakes where the J/111 Class is growing very nicely. There are three boats in Detroit now. We have three 111s in Cleveland already and a fourth on the way with the impending delivery of Jeff Davis’ new 111. It is quite possible we will have six, maybe seven J/111s at both Cleveland Race Week and Put-in-Bay Race Week. Might be time to start a Great Lakes Championship!We do also have our Lightning North American Championship in Cleveland this summer, which is a qualifier for our Worlds in May of ‘22 and the Lightning Women’s, Junior’s and Master’s Championships are being held at our home (Lightning) club, Pymatuning, where we will all be competing as well as helping conduct the event. After that, it will be back to J/111 World’s prep and then the main event in Hampton, Virginia.In the end, with SPACEMAN SPIFF winning with a 6-3-2-1-1-4 tally for 17 pts, the Ward's BRAVO posting a 3-6-1-3-4-1 record for 18 pts, and Jabin's RAMROD (top local boat) driving to a 4-2-3-2-3-5 for 19 pts, it's readily apparent that Ruhlman's commentary was prophetic... nothing comes easy in the J/111 class they are so well-sailed and so close in speed and tactics. Rounding out the top five was Wagner's SKELETON KEY with a 1-1-4-7-5-3 record for 21 pts and Martie Roesch's VELOCITY scoring 2-5-7-4-2-2 for 22 pts, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. Tough racing, indeed, when the winner has a near "middle of fleet" average of 2.85 and fifth place had a 3.66 average...not much difference! For more J/111 North American Championship sailing information
J/Boats and the New York Yacht Club are saddened with the passing of Commodore Thomas J. Harrington on April 27th. From 2013 through 2014, Commodore Harrington served as NYYC's 63rd Commodore. He was 81 years old.“Commodore Harrington brought great energy and passion to the concept of bringing the Club to members outside of our physical clubhouses," says current Commodore Christopher J. Culver. "His vision has become fully realized during this pandemic.”Harrington joined the Club in 1991. His passion for sailing had started years earlier, while an officer with the U.S. Marine Corps, and developed as he pursued an MBA at Columbia Business School in New York City. He moved to London after graduating, working for Chemical Bank, and purchased half-ownership in a Soling, which he raced on the Solent. Upon his return to North America, he dove into larger yachts, racing in the Caribbean and then in New England and the Mid Atlantic aboard his J/30 and J/35, both named Obstreperous.He fostered a loyal crew and enjoyed success in both classes. In September of 1995, sailing with largely the same team, Harrington won the J/30 North American Championship and the J/35 National Championship on consecutive weekends. Commodore Harrington also knew the importance of giving back to the sport, and he served in leadership positions for one-design classes and chaired a North American championship.After moving on from one-design racing, Commodore Harrington twice raced her to Bermuda. He was also part of a consortium of Club members who formed the Black Watch Alliance and purchased the 68-foot 1938 Olin Stephens-designed Black Watch (formerly Edlu II). The boat served on submarine patrols off Eastern Long Island during the Second World War.Commodore Harrington enjoyed a long career at Chemical Bank, including as president of its International Leasing subsidiary. After leaving Chemical Bank, he founded Spectrum Capital, Ltd., serving as president and CEO. He is survived by his wife Alane and their sons Jamison and Tucker.
SAIL magazine's Lydia Mullan recently wrote an article about America's community sailing centers that are ushering in a new generation of sailors. In most cases, those community sailing centers are making use of inexpensive, easy-to-sail, fun, easy-to-maintain J/22s, J/24s, and J/80s. Here is the introduction to the story:
"I'm sitting in a yacht club, having dinner with three other members of my crew, all of them men 40 years my senior. They're lamenting the tragic state of sailing. "Look around us:' one of them says, gesturing to the other patrons. "Where are the young people?" Another turns to me, "Why don't people your age sail anymore?" I didn't know it then, but it's a question that I would be asked again and again over the next few years. Today, America's yacht clubs, and sailing in general, appear to be experiencing a population crisis. There are many reasons for this. Sailing's reputation for posh exclusivity has gone out of style. There's also the question of cost. Based on 2020 U.S. Census Bureau data, on average Millennials (currently ages 25-35) make 20 percent less than their parents did. Women make even less, and women of color even less than that. Finally, there are the many other roadblocks to sailing: social barriers, informational barriers, geographic barriers. Race, sexuality and socioeconomic status are all factors. Fortunately, in recent years a solution has quietly begun to take shape in towns and cities across America in the form of a growing number of community sailing centers. 
Currently, US Sailing recognizes about 50 accredited centers. There's no single definition of a community sailing center, but a qualifying factor is that each center owns boats available for use by its members or the general public. This shifts the startup cost away from individuals and lowers the barrier for entry. Today's sailing centers often have an outreach and education curriculum, but there are as many different ways to organize these as there are sailing centers. The appeal of this system is obvious. If you can't afford a boat, no problem. You want to sail but don't know anything about boat maintenance? That's fine. Same thing if you have no place to store a boat, need a few lessons to gain confidence or don't have any sailing friends. The list goes on and on. The model works especially for young people. It's no exaggeration to say today's sailing centers are welcoming a whole new generation of sailors from communities that would likely never have otherwise been able to get out on the water. Hudson River Community Sailing (HRCS) in New York (located at Hudson Yards) serves as an excellent example of a program going above and beyond in its efforts to expand water access in its community. Like many community centers, HRCS is young- founded less than 15 years ago by Bill Bahen with four donated Rainbows. Today, the center has many programs, including adult sailing and an adaptive sailing program for veterans utilizing a large fleet of J/24s and J/80s. However, its shining star is a youth program run in conjunction with the New York City school system. Every year, about 200 middle and high schoolers from all five boroughs take part. In addition to learning how to sail, students build boats, and learn about weather, marine sciences, and conservation. And while students receive course credit for these efforts, HRCS takes most pride in teaching life skills like communication and problem solving. 
"I am fond of saying, 'Don't teach sailing, use sailing as a venue to teach other amazing things,"' says HRCS's community sailing director Don Rotzien. "Sailing creates stronger communicators, better leaders, better problem solvers, better neighbors... The benefits go far beyond time on the water. If you can figure out how to sail safely and effectively, you can apply that kind of problem solving to every day you're at work or interacting with people." Though the focus is on teaching sailing to develop life skills rather than to create life-long sailors, graduates often find their passion in the program, with alums going on to careers sailing tall ships or working in marine sciences. Some even return to work with HRCS. Despite the success of these programs, growing the sport of sailing is no walk in the park. These kinds of organizations face a host of different challenge with little precedent for how to navigate many of them. "Every community sailing center has to operate with a startup mindset," says Rotzien, who is also a member of US Sailing's Community Sailing Center Committee. He jokes they're gluttons for punishment, because they're constantly seeking new barriers to whittle away in order to get everyone access. It's a super-human amount of work— partnering with schools, writing grants, doing outreach to under-represented communities, getting waterfront property access, maintaining the fleet of boats, troubleshooting retention issues. "We have to fight to get people who don't see themselves in the sport in the door," Rotzien says. What follows are just a few of the many great programs out there working to raise the next generation of sailors- click here to view or download the PDF of SAIL's The Kids are Alright! article.Add to Flipboard Magazine.
(Larchmont, NY)- The classic spring opener for offshore races has been Larchmont Yacht Club's annual Edlu Distance Race. For many sailors, it provides the incentive to clear off the cobwebs accumulated from over a year of not sailing, make sure the winches and blocks spin properly, the wheel/ rudder bearings didn't lock up, and sails actually go up and down. Having been starved of going down to sea and dreaming about it for over a year, there must be more than a few sailors that recall that yearning in John Masefield's famous poem- SEA FEVER:"I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking....."With one of the best turnouts in years, the sixty-boat fleet will be looking forward to one of two courses the Larchmont YC Race Committee can select: Course #1 – from the start around Eaton’s Neck Point Lighted Gong Buoy and return for about 32.0nm or Course #2 – from the start around Twenty-Six Foot Spot Lighted Bell Buoy mid-sound off Lloyd’s Neck and return for about 18.0nm. Looking forward to this offshore "sprint" are twenty-four J/Teams (40.0% of the fleet!). Sailing in the eleven-boat ORC Division is Steven Levy's J/121 EAGLE, John Greifzu's J/109 GROWTH SPURT, Bill Ingraham's J/124 TENEBRAE, and Len Sitar's big blue J/160 COUGAR. In the PHRF Doublehanded divisions is Josh Burack's J/105 PEREGRINA and Glenn Marck's J/109 WATERDOG. In the 28-boat PHRF Spinnaker division are two J/111s (Ken Luczynski's USMMA team on BLACK DIAMOND and Bill & Jackie Baxter's FIREBALL), Cory Eaves' J/109 FREEDOM, Arthur Hanlon's J/112E DAUNTLESS, Chuck Taus' J/33 SIRIUS, Kurt Locher's J/42 ATALANTA, Neeko Helbich's USMMA team on the J/44 VAMP, Jason Viseltear's J/80 UPSETTER, and Jim Weil & EJ Haskell's J/92 VIXEN. In PHRF Plus-One division is Ron Richman's J/133 ANTIDOTE and Richie Palmer's J/105 TOLO. PHRF Non-spinnaker class has Erick Blanc's J/112E REBELLE.Finally, the J/88s are sailing as a one-design class with six teams ready to do battle for 32 miles straight! The usual suspects may be at the top of the leaderboard; such as Justin Scagnelli & Tim Price's ALBONDIGAS, Iris Vogel's DEVIATION, Larry Cutler & Andrew Weiss' ONE TOO MANY, and Kevin Marks' VELOCITY. For more Edlu Distance Race sailing information
(Simpson Bay, St. Maarten)- The traditional end-of-the-season regatta for the winter Caribbean circuit for St Maarten sailors is the St Maarten Yacht Club's Simpson Bay to Friar's Bay Race and return. 
Virtually all the major players in the St Maarten sailing community attended their grand finale and super-fun race. In the end, it was Jordan Mindich's J/105 SOLSTICE that "blinded the fleet with science and brilliance", taking overall honors over two very fast, hard-charging Melges 24s and a J/70 (all of whom have won many regattas). This time, Garth Steyn's J/70 IGY RACING could not overcome his good buddies on the M24s to have to settle for fourth place by one point.Add to Flipboard Magazine.
(Rye, New York)- The first weekend of the 2021 American Yacht Club Spring Regatta on April 24-25 had over 50 boats entered in the One Design, PHRF, and ORC classes to compete in Rye, NY.Racing began with a light, variable wind on day one, but the breeze built significantly as the day progressed. The Race Committee was able to complete four races for the Short Course ORC and J/44 classes, and one distance race for the Coastal Racing course, which included PHRF, Doublehanded, and Mixed Doublehanded classes.Day two began with a wet and chilly morning, but the rain tapered off just in time for the start of the first race. The day proved to be somewhat more challenging for everyone, with 50-degree wind shifts combined with dramatic changes in wind velocity and direction.All the races were conducted by Principal Race Officers John (“Tinker”) Myles on the East Course, and Commodore Nicholas Everett on the South Course, along with their respective Race Committee teams.Amongst the five-boat J/44 class, it was past New York Yacht Club Commodore Bill Ketcham's familiar navy-blue MAXINE that leads the series by just one point with finishes of 3-1-4-1-1-3 for 9 pts. Just behind them is Don & Dick Rave's RESOLUTE with a 1-3-2-2-2-4 tally for 10 pts. Lying third is Tom Blackwell's BREAKAWAY with a 2-4-1-4-3-1 record for 14 pts. The PHRF Coastal Division saw a near clean sweep of the top ten by J/Crews. Sweeping the podium were Cory Eaves' J/109 FREEDOM in first, Bob Schwartz's J/109 NORDLYS in second, and Steve Levy's J/121 EAGLE in third! Finishing fifth was Jim Weil & EJ Haskell's J/92 VIXEN, and seventh was Jason Viseltear's J/80 UPSETTER.The J/88 one-design class saw Iris Vogel's DEVIATION press the pedal-to-the-metal and firewall it all the way around the race track, winning the first three races on Saturday and completing the weekend on Sunday with a 2-3-1 for 6 pts net! Behind her it was a full-on duel between Larry Cutler & Andrew Weiss' ONE TOO MANY and Justin Scagnelli & Tim Price's ALBONDIGAS. Just one point separates the two after six races. The always-competitive J/105 class of seven boats saw tight racing amongst the top three boats. Currently leading by two points is Paul Beaudin's LOU LOU, followed by David Willis' SOLUTION in second, and just two points further back is Gareth Lester's ECHO. In the J/70 one-design class, it's Jean Marc Papin's PEN SEGAL leading after winning five races, with Ben Hunt's NO NAME in second with 10 pts and Gibbons Sinclair's HALF MINE II in third place. Add to Flipboard Magazine.
