2019 Hot Rum Series Closes with a Whimper

(San Diego, CA)- Sadly, the third and final race of the 2019 San Diego Yacht Club Hot Rum Series could not be sailed due to a substantial lack of wind... the expected sea breeze that often develops from the WNW never fully materialized to launch the fleet of 125+ boats across the starting line with any hope of getting them all back in by sunset.  As a result, the series standings from the previous two races stood as this year's overall results.

In the huge twenty-eight boat PHRF 1 Class of "gold platers", three J/crews all finished next to one another.  Standing Fleming's J/125 TIMESHAVER took 5th place, while Rudy Hasl's J/145 PALAEMON took sixth position and Robert Pace's J/145 ANDIAMO 2 took seventh.

The twenty-one boat PHRF 2 Class saw John Laun's J/120 CAPER win their last race to leap into fourth place for the series.


The usual suspects in the large twenty-eight boat PHRF 4 Class saw J/105s predominate.  Leading the class was Dennis Case's J/105 J-OK, followed by Tom Garrett's youth team on the J/70 SLOOP JOHN B in second place, followed by Jeff Brown's J/105 SWEET KAREN in 5th place, Steve & Lucy Howell's J/105 BLINK in 7th, Chuck Bowers's J/29 RHUMB RUNNER in 8th, and George Scheel's J/105 SUN PUFFIN rounding out the top ten.

The thirty-one boat PHRF 5 Class saw Tim Lynch's J/30 RUFFIAN sail consistently to take fourth place.  For more San Diego YC Hot Rum Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/Cruiser Tops 39th Sarasota YC Invitational

(Sarasota, Florida)- The Sarasota Yacht Club 39th Annual Invitational Regatta was held from November 1st and 2nd for a fleet of 140+ boats on Sarasota Bay.

The weekend began with a Friday night Opening Night Party/Skipper's Meeting with live entertainment, lite bites, and keg beer. Saturday was a full day on the water, where even non-boating members can get a front row seat of the action aboard the Spectator Fleet. Participants enjoyed the electric post-race atmosphere on Saturday evening featuring Chef Anthony's spectacular Pig Roast Dinner, the Regatta Awards Ceremony, and live entertainment.


According to J/34C MOJO owner and skipper Mauro Harto:

"November 2nd was setting up to be one of those days that only a Southwest Florida fall day can be; a picture-perfect chamber of commerce kind of day. The temperature, winds, and stars all aligned.

The crew of MOJO matched the day with a perfect race. All shifts, tacks, and tactics fell into place. When you compete in a pursuit race with 14 other PHRF boats, it’s a bit tough watching 11 of your competitors sail away from you as you await your start time. The crew of MOJO (Tom Beames, Gary Denton, Todd Rippy and owner Mauro Harto) took it in stride. One by one, MOJO picked off the boats in front of her.  As the wind built in the late afternoon, she really fell into her zone. On the last downwind leg, the crew felt MOJO slow a bit more than expected. As they looked behind them, 40+ boats were stretched out stealing her wind. The crew dropped the pole, headed up, and shot for the committee boat end. It was a fantastic day of sailing on Sarasota bay. MOJO bested the PHRF cruising fleet. It was extra special for the crew as they each landed a coveted Mount Gay red hat!" Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/Sailors Love Three Bridge Fiasco Race

(San Francisco, CA)- The 2019 edition of the infamous Three Bridge Fiasco will go down in the history books as one of the nicest and most benign races in recent memory- sunny skies, gentle northeast winds of 4 to 12 kts, warm 72 F temps!  With the event taking place in January on San Francisco Bay, anything can happen in the middle of winter with massive storms piling into the Pacific coast from the Gulf of Alaska, dumping rain and chilly temperatures on the competitors, blowing a gale.  Or, it can be lightish northerlies/ easterlies with chilly winds, a constant mist and rain, and 100% cloud cover.

The Singlehanded Sailing Society welcomed a fleet of 334 boats that were entered as singlehanded or doublehanded teams, most were sailing doublehanded. It is believed the race, a 21.0nm dash around three “marks”, is considered the largest shorthanded sailing event in the world.

The race track couldn’t be more picturesque or unique.  Starting off Golden Gate YC on the south shore of the Bay (next to St Francis YC), the sailors can choose which direction to go- clockwise or counter-clockwise.  The marks are Blackaller Buoy near the south pylon of the Golden Gate Bridge at the westward opening of the Bay, around Red Rock Island near the Richmond/ San Rafael Bridge in north Bay, and around the Bay Bridge by rounding Treasure & Yerba Buena Islands.  Since the race is a reverse start (pursuit) race, the start time for each boat is based on its PHRF rating, with slowest boats starting first at 0900 hrs and the fastest at -102 starting 2 hours later!

Eighty-eight J/Crews participated in this year’s race (26.0% of the total fleet!), a record number of J/sailors!  They sailed in one-design classes (J/22, J/24, J/70, J/105, J/120) and in PHRF handicap divisions. A LOT of pickle dishes (silverware) were collected by these intrepid adventurers!

ONE-DESIGN CLASSES
In the seven-boat J/22 class, it was the famous J/105 racing couple that took one-design honors- Bruce Stone and Nicole Breault sailing TOM ALLEN; crossing at 15:01:23.  Second was Owen Lahr and Connell Phillipps’ YANG at 15:07:08 and third place went to David James and Roy Haslup’s FRITZ JEWETT at 15:12:39.

The eight-boat J/24 class saw a decisive leader in their class, with Deke Klatt and Claudia Gottstein’s JADED crossing the line at 14:21:41, a solid 45 minutes ahead of the next J/24!  Taking the silver was Val Lulevich and Alex Schultink’s infamous SHUT UP AND DRIVE crossing at 15:04:03, followed in third by Randy Rasicot and Mays Dickey’s FLIGHT getting home at 15:09:35.

The five-boat J/70 class saw a runaway winner, with Peter and Drake Cameron’s PRIME NUMBER taking class honors crossing at 14:12:39, nearly an hour ahead of the next boat.  Davis King and David Sharp/s ALLONS-Y was second home at 15:06:43 and crossing third in a near dead-heat at 15:06:51 was David Fried and Paul Schroeder’s SON OF A SON.

There was an enormous turnout for the J/105s, with eighteen boats showing up on the starting line headed every which way! The winner, again, went to a CCW team.  Will and Jayden Benedict’s ADVANTAGE 3 easily won, crossing at 13:47:58. Chasing them hard on the CCW option was Chris Kim and Carl Plant’s VUJA STAR, finishing just under five minutes behind at 13:52:29.  First CW team was Morgan and Jordan Paxhia’s STILL PINCHIN with a finish time of 14:12:59- a 20-minute delta to the CCW boats!  Read about the whale of a tale collision with Adam Spiegel’s JAM SESSION below.

The big boys sailing in the six-boat J/120 class saw one boat dominate by nearly an hour over their not-so-lucky classmates. Steve Madeira and Jeff Lawson sailed the big green MR MAGOO over the horizon, finishing at 14:16:15 off GGYC. Second home at 15:02:42 was Timo Bruck and Rich Hudnut’s TWIST and third on the podium was Tom Grennan and Herb Kleekamp’s KOOKABURRA crossing the line at 15:06:37.

PHRF CLASSES
Class 2- Singlehanded Spin PHRF 108 and Under class- was won in convincing fashion by Jim Hopp’s J/88 WHITE SHADOW, finishing at 14:36:41, 23 minutes ahead of the next boat in class!

Class 6- Doublehanded Non-Spin PHRF class- saw two J/Duos do well.  Taking the silver was William Mohr and Mark Townsend’s J/124 SPIRIT OF FREEDOM, crossing at 14:49:19.  Meanwhile, Steve and Eli Gordon’s J/88 INCONCEIVABLE placed sixth, finishing at 15:05:47.

Class 8- Doublehanded Spin PHRF 111-159 class- saw Gregg Wrisley and Craig Collins’ J/80 PK take fifth place, crossing at 14:50:04.

Class 20- Doublehanded SF Bay 30 class- was nearly swept by J/Sailors.  Winning was Alex Huang and Jeff Bruton’s J/29 L20, crossing at 13:55:59.  Second was Luther Izmirian and Ken Brown’s J/32 PARADIGM finishing at 14:58:29 and then fourth was John Riley and Larry Weinhoff’s J/32 LA DOLCE VITA crossing at 15:05:55.

Class 21- Singlehanded Spin class- saw Ralph Morganstern’s J/30 GEODESIC take fourth place, finishing at 15:46:35.

A Clockwise Perspective- from Robert Johnston
“After studying the wind forecast and currents, several of us singlehanders planned to go CCW (partly to avoid traffic).

But, on my way to the course and right up until my approach to the start, I kept looking over towards Treasure Island/ Yerba Buena Island and it looked very light. I also observed the majority of the Moore 24's and Express 27's (where many of the best sailors are) going “clockwise” to Blackaller first, so that's what I did. Of course, my friends, who went CCW, probably beat me- I know at least one that did, by a half-hour!

I got a good start and had a nice close reach down to Blackaller, finding a decent gap to get around the mark. Then, I made my second mistake. Lots of boats risked the remaining ebb and sailed towards the north tower of Golden Gate Bridge. Many had been swept out the Gate last year. But, it must have been flooding well at the north end.

I took a more conservative route and headed towards Angel Island. Going south of the island looked like light air, so I planned to tack across to the entrance to Raccoon Strait - the pressure looked good up the west side of Angel Island. This worked out well but I got caught in a huge hole near Pt. Stuart. I'd beaten the boats that sailed the farther distance, but then I had to watch most of them pass by while I was stuck in the wind hole. Once I got moving again, I had a decent sail through the Strait and up to Red Rock.

The NE wind was strange up there. Boats to the east were on starboard tack in good breeze, sailing high enough to round from the east side. The boats to the west were on port tack in lighter breeze. Trying to cross over to the east was disastrous - there was a transition zone in the middle (probably from the island's wind shadow) that trapped many boats, including me. So I lost a few more boats before getting across into the better breeze and getting around. Then many of us got trapped again trying to get away from the island. It was also still ebbing up there, which wasn't in the forecast. We've seen this in other years due to runoff.

I hoisted right away and enjoyed a tight spinnaker reach all the way down and around Treasure/ Yerba Buena Islands. The puffs put the boat on the edge and I actually dialed up once near SH Shoal light. The boat was pressed pretty hard just then, with the main a bit over-sheeted. I wanted to see where the edge was, and there was just enough breeze to find out.

Rounding Yerba Buena Island was tricky. Many boats took a wide lane to avoid its wind shadow but there was a narrow band of breeze up closer to the island. I saw a couple boats with spinnys still up, moving right on through. I followed them and passed a bunch of boats.

Then, the spinny came down and we all fought the flood as we tacked back up towards Pier 39. There were lots of boats doing this and frequent crossing issues. As a singlehander, I chose to duck several times when I could have pressed my rights- it just wasn't worth all the angst, possible crash tacks, extra grinding etc. This is where the Three Bridge is getting old for me: Far too many double-handers who are better able to play that game.

Once around Pier 39, it was a fast close reach to the finish with the jib on a rail lead. I finished just after 1500.

Conclusion: We were racing sailboats on a sunny day, with breeze, in January, on San Francisco Bay! What's not to like? I never put on a jacket. I finished the race and there were still quite a few boats behind me!!”

Bruce Stone and Nicole Breault- J/22 winners
“We had a reverse order start at Golden Gate YC in either direction. Nicole and I chartered a J/22 from St. Francis YC.

We decided that based on tide, we would go clockwise. We won our fleet. However, Will Benedict in his dad’s J/105 ADVANTAGE 3 went counter-clockwise and crushed; they finished way ahead of everyone!

Course length was 21 miles, winds were light, around 6-8 kts from the Northeast. We started late in the ebb tide, which then turned into a light flood tide, making it hard to get around Treasure Island. Some boats, like Scott Sellers in his J/70 1FA, reported losing 70 places there! We passed at least that many boats by cutting inside them along the southeast corner. But, then we lost around 20 of those as the big boats caught up and passed us. The winning move there for us on the J/22 was to get to the city front near the ferry building and short tack the docks in a substantial early ebb, hugging the shore all the way back to the finish line at Golden Gate YC.”

A Whale of a Tale
A pair of racers in the Bay Area's popular Three Bridge Fiasco race were left rudderless after a collision with a whale in the middle of the San Francisco Bay on Saturday.

Adam Spiegel, a technology CFO in San Francisco, and his partner had been roughly an hour into the 334-boat race around the Bay's three central bridges before the incident occurred. They'd rounded one the race's marks up by Fort Point and were heading across Bay toward the Richmond-San Rafael bridge when JAM SESSION, their J/105 sailboat, abruptly came to a stop.

"All of a sudden it felt like we'd ran aground," Spiegel told SFGATE.

A second or two later, Spiegel said, there was another thud, followed by another thud. Then, the pair heard a loud, cracking noise and what sounded like a splintering sound.

After that, a gray whale, which Spiegel estimated to be at least 25 feet long, surfaced next to them. Spiegel couldn't see any blood in the water or damage to the whale, but they wondered if the whale was going to "come after" them like Moby Dick!

Then, they wondered if their boat was going to sink. They figured out they'd lost partial steerage and couldn't get back safely on their own.

Spiegel and his partner contacted the dockmaster of the St. Francis Yacht Club, they came out in a powerboat to rescue the pair and tow them back safely.

The boat's rudder was dislodged and the underside of the boat was scraped up by the whale, Spiegel said.

It's still not clear what injuries the whale sustained. Ship collisions are a frequent cause of death for whales along the California coast.  Here is the story on SFGate.com

Brandon Mercer- new J/24 sailor
“It was a first for the Three Bridge Fiasco for me! First time on WOOF. First time doublehanding a J/24 in a race. First time meeting the skipper. We clicked! Awesome stuff!

We finished fourth in our fleet!  22 nautical miles in 5 hours 43 minutes!

The crazy part? Like over 300 boats and you can start in any direction and round the bridges in any direction. Huge fleets sailing head on into one another, with just 1-2 people on boats to look at the traffic. Lots of fiberglass touching some years. This year less of a fiasco because we had solid wind and WOOF’s team planned a smart route taking into account tides by each hour.

Sailed from before dawn, finished at incredible time of 3:14 PM in the afternoon, and back at dock and buttoned up before sunset!”  For more Three Bridge Fiasco sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Hot Rum Series III Finale

(San Diego, CA)- The third and final race of the San Diego YC Hot Rum Series took place this past weekend off San Diego’s beautiful harbor and Point Loma peninsula.  In the end, the results were a mixed bag of outcomes for various J/crews.

The one shining beacon of performance, not surprisingly, was the large turnout of J/105s and J/70s that were all lumped into PHRF Class 4.  J/Class honors flipped back and forth over the two weekends and, in the end, it was Dennis Case’s J/105 J-OK that took the silver, just barely losing overall honors in the last race. Third was Steve Wyman’s J/70 NUNUHUNU, fourth Erostino Dagfish’s J/105 VIGGEN and fifth Dave Vieregg’s J/70 SOGGY DOLLAR.  A commendable performance to all, four of the top five in class!  For more SDYC Hot Rum Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Hot Rum Series II Report

(San Diego, CA)- The second installment of San Diego YC’s famous Hot Rum Series took place last weekend, just one more to go!  There were a lot of position changes for various teams going up and down the standings as they navigated the waters of San Diego Harbor and the Pacific Ocean off the majestic Point Loma.  Again, the conditions were generally favorable to the bigger boats starting later in the PHRF “pursuit-style” race, as they started with more wind than the earlier slower boats.

In PHRF Class 2, Ernie Pennell’s J/120 MAD MEN sailed another good race to score a 2-7 so far and hang in for a 2nd place in the series lead.  Just behind them is Rudy Hasl’s J/120 HASL FREE with a 6-6 for 12 pts.  Then, third J/120 is Chuck Nichols’ CC RIDER with a 9-8 for 17 pts.

The J/105s seem to rule the roost in PHRF Class 4.  Leading the fleet is Dennis Case’s J/105 J-OK with a 4-2 for 6 pts.  Third is Erostino Dagfish’s VIGGEN with a 6-5 for 11 pts.  Fourth is Steve Wyman’s J/70 NUNUHUNU with a 2-10 for 12 pts.  And, sitting is 5th place is Donica & Scott Ryder’s J/105 SANITY with a 14-1 for 15 pts.

Finally, in PHRF Class 5, David Cattle’s classic J/27 BLACKADDER is hanging tight, in a three-way tie for 4th place with a 4-6 for 10 pts. And, they are just 5 pts off the lead.  So, anything can literally happen in the next race for this class!  Sailing photo credits- Bronny Daniels/ JOY Sailing.com.  For more Hot Rum Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Fast, Windy FIGAWI Race

J/121 ALCHEMY Takes the Silver!
(Hyannisport, MA)- On Saturday morning, the 500+ sailors on the 180 boats participating in the 2018 edition of the FIGAWI Race were greeted by a solid 15-20 southwest breeze, making for a mostly starboard close reach/ fetch from Hyannis, MA on Cape Cod down to Nantucket Harbor.  The smaller boats did the “straight shot” course of 23nm and the big boats did the “long course” around enough buoys to make it 30+nm and included beats and reaching under spinnakers.  As has been tradition, a fair number of J/Teams collected some silverware in the famously huge prize-giving gala presentation on Sunday that seemingly takes all afternoon!

The largest fleet of “J’s” were sailing PHRF Division S1; eight of the ten boats were J/Crews!  Loving the conditions was the newly launched J/121 ALCHEMY sailed by David Southwell; their team took 2nd place behind a TP52.  Here’s what David had to say about their experience:

“The Figawi race from Hyannis to Nantucket was ALCHEMY’s first race to prepare for the Newport-Bermuda race, in fog and 15-20 knots of wind from the southwest.  Normally this would favor heavier boats, but ALCHEMY tracked beautifully both upwind for most of the race, and on the downwind leg using our A2/A4.  We took advantage of the rating benefit of not using the water ballast, and she handled well with eight crew.  After a good start using the pursuit format of Figawi, we kept overtaking the boats that had started before us, and finished second in class, out of 11.  ALCHEMY is almost dialed-in for Bermuda now, and we look forward to racing against our sisterships in two weeks!”

ALCHEMY finished just 2:05 behind the TP52.  Taking third was Mark Verville’s J/120 ISURUS another 3:18 behind the J/121.  Fifth was Jimmy Masiero’s J/122 URSUS MARITIMUS another 4:20 behind them.

The PHRF S2 Division was essentially a J/105 one-design class with three other boats mixed in for good measure.  Not surprisingly, the J/105s swept the top five!  Winning was Andrew Reservitz’s DARK’N’STORMY, second Mary Schmitt’s HARDTACK, third Ed Lobo’s WATERWOLF, fourth Joe Lloyd’s Nantucket High School Sailing Team on PRIMA, and fifth was Francis Dougherty’s LYRIC.

In PHRF B Division, Kirk Brown’s J/40 JAZZ finished in fifth.  In PHRF C Division, Ira Perry’s J/29 SEEFEST got the bronze. Finally, in PHRF G Division, Bill Jones’ J/40 SMITTEN took a bronze, as well.  For more Figawi Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

The FIGAWI Race Preview

(Hyannisport, MA)- The other annual right of spring for sailors in the northeast is the amazingly fabulous and fun-loving pursuit race called “the FIGAWI”.  It is serious fun, camaraderie, sailing, and most of all, charity… that is what FIGAWI is all about.

The Race attracts over 150 boats each year. Thousands of sailors convene for the New England’s first major regatta to kickoff summer. The Figawi Charity Race is recognized as a premier sailing event not only on the east coast but is known nationally as well as internationally. The Charity Ball is held the weekend before the race. A premier event featuring a live band, great DJ, a sampling from eleven local restaurants, and a fabulous silent auction and raffle.

The race starts on Saturday morning, May 26th, just outside of Hyannis Port harbor mouth.   The fleet of 180 sailboats (of which 20 are J/teams’s) will all have a pursuit-style start, meaning the first boat (with the slowest rated PHRF handicap) takes off promptly at 0900 hrs and about three hours after that, the last and fastest boat starts.  In years past, J/Crews have had more than their fair share of silverware in this race.  It often can be a wild and woolly fast 23.5nm reach (~ 155 deg heading) across Vineyard Sound to the finish line at the picturesque lighthouse at the opening of Nantucket Harbor.

Eight of the ten boats in PHRF S1 Division are J/crews.  Four J/120s will be taking on their J/colleagues- Dave Follett’s GLORY, Rich Pierce’s MOOSE, Mark Verville’s ISURUS, and Coleman Brown’s RUCKUS.  Their three larger, faster members of the J/sable include Jimmy Maseiro’s J/122 URSUS MARITIMUS, Dave Southwell’s brand new J/121 ALCHEMY (her inaugural race!), and Chris Lund’s J/133 JUMP.

The same scenario holds true for PHRF S2 Division, with six of seven boats being J/crews!  Five J/105s will be going across the starting line at the same time (!), including Joe Lloyd’s Nantucket High School Sailing Team on PRIMA, Andrew Reservitz’s DARK’N’STORMY, Mary Schmitt’s HARDTACK, Ed Lobo’s WATERWOLF, and Francis Dougherty’s LYRIC.  Fighting them off from crossing before them will be Andrew Meincke’s J/97 ADRENALINE (they will start with only a 4.75 minutes advantage).

In the “big boat” PHRF A Division will be Dick Egan’s beautiful (and successful) J/46 WINGS.  In PHRF B Division is Mike Hersey’s J/35 RESILIENCE.  PHRF Division C will have to contend with the classic offshore speedster- Ira Perry’s J/29 masthead called SEEFEST (a past race winner).  Racing a bunch of other cruisers in PHRF G Division will be Bill Jones’ J/40 SMITTEN from Eastern YC in Marblehead, MA. Tom Ellis’ J/34C COVERAGE will be cruising fast in PHRF H Division.  Mark Barrett’s J/30 MOJO is hoping to terrorize PHRF M Division.  For more Figawi Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Gorgeous MEXORC Regatta on Banderas Bay!

(Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico)- This year’s MEXORC 2018 commemorated the Centennial Festivities of Puerto Vallarta. Based out of Marina Vallarta BVG and hosted by the Vallarta YC, the fleet enjoyed an awesome five days of racing on beautiful Banderas Bay from March 9th to 14th.

The sailing consisted of four Windward/Leeward races and three long distance races around Bahia de Banderas.  Those consisted of:

• the Centennial Cup Puerto Vallarta- 18.0 nm.
• the Islas Marietta Race- 25.0 nm.
• the Copa Vallarta Adventures/ Las Caletas Race- a 26.0+ nm “pursuit race” that ended up on the southern side of the bay to the famous Las Caletas Resort in Cabo Corrientes.  Immediately after the race was a dinner and awards ceremony in the beautiful outdoors, natural amphitheater.

The first two days of the regatta were comprised of two windward-leewards, then the Centennial Cup Puerto Vallarta, a relatively short distance race for the fleet.  The sailors were blessed with classic conditions on Banderas Bay- sun, 10-15 kt westerlies, a gorgeous sailing.

On the third day, race #4 was the “Las Marietta Race”, the marathon long distance race of MEXORC.  Clear skies and smooth seas greeted the racers in the morning.  The famous Banderas Bay “wind machine” did not disappoint. It was lots of fun in the sun!  There were big wind shifts and big breeze for the beat and run back to the finish.  It was a very mixed bag of conditions.

For the fourth day, it was two more windward-leeward races for the fleet.  The first race started in 8-10 kt winds from 210 to 250 deg.  The wind kept shifting right (like it always does!), leaving not too many passing lanes on the right favored beats.  The runs were the same, having to simply gybe once and fetch the leeward gate in a building breeze. In the second race, the winds built to 15-18 kts from 265 degrees and settled in- it was a wild, fun, fast race for all.  Mark Surber’s J/125 DERIVATIVE looked stellar, winning both races in ORR Class B.

On the fifth and final day, the fleet was treated to the “Caletas Pursuit” Race, the 7th race of the series.  As a pursuit race, the slowest boats start first, the fastest last.  The idea being that everyone finishes together!  Started midday, the course was upwind toward Punta Mita and then a spinnaker run/ reach across to the south side of Banderas Bay to the finish Line at Las Caletas.  Taking third overall was the J/133 VELOCES II.

In the ORR Class B, it was Surber’s J/125 DERIVATIVE that nearly ran the table- posting four 1sts and two 2nds to easily win their class.  Taking fourth was the J/133 VELOCES II with a record 4-6-4-4-2-3.  Then, in fifth position was the J/145 DOUBLETAKE.

Having a fantastic time in ORR Class C was the J/105 SINFONIA NAUTICA, posting an overall score of 7-5-4-3-9-6-5 and taking 3rd in class.

For some perspective on what happened to Viggo Torbensen’s J/125 TIMESHAVER, read about their mis-adventures from Keith Magnussen from Ullman Sails Newport Beach (thanks to SailingAnarchy.com):

“Well, that escalated quickly!! MEXORC was a roller coaster of emotions for me this year. After coming off our success in the PV Race, we went into MEXORC a little tired and bruised. The last push (200 miles) to the finish took a lot out of the crew. The first race was a “random” leg course in front of the old town. This created a beautiful backdrop for the racing and a challenging light air course. We ended up getting bounced around by the fleet and got a bit frustrated. We ended up with a disappointing finish and some questions to ask ourselves.

Day 2 was back to the old race course and classic W/L in good wind. We had two races for the day and we got off to a good start buy rounding second with our sistership firmly behind us. Good going, let’s jibe away and pass this Swan in front of us. The kite went up and I thought to myself, that looks strange.

Not going to go into details but lets say we had to take it down and re-arrange it. Spent a good 1/4 of the downwind with no spinnaker. Fought back to a second but overall disappointment. Race 2 for the day we had incredible boat speed, solid tactics and no F-Ups. Finished the day 2,1 so back in it.

Third day of racing was out to the Murrietta Islands and back. This is a good one and we had confidence back. After a poor start and bad air we found ourselves behind again. We took the low road and sailed around the other 125 and close to the speedy Swan. The lead boats in our class were approaching Punta Mita and the three of us made the final tack towards the islands.

The wind was about 18 and we had the three up and the other J/125 below us and back. Great, let’s settle in for bit and go fast….

What is the loudest bang you have ever heard on board? For me. it was not the sound of the crane breaking off a J/125. The backstay went limp and as we looked up to the top of the rig, we were in shock. The crane was dangling by the wires for the tri-color and what not. Immediately, we go head to wind, sails down, and all that jazz. Erik went up to get the crane before it came down and killed someone and now we are working out how to get the boat home. Talk about a weird way to end this one…”   Follow MEXORC on FB here   For more MEXORC 2018 sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

New J/121 Cover Girl on SAILING- March 2018 issue!

(Port Washington, WI)- The J/121 has garnered tremendous attention since she first debuted at the Newport International Sailboat Show September 2017.  Since then she has won numerous awards, like SAIL’s Best Boats- Performance category and SAILING WORLD’s Boat of the Year- Offshore 40’+.

Here is the latest accolade coming from the most followed magazine in the Midwest- SAILING.  Interestingly, the popular large-format magazine has been family published since inception by the Schanen Family of Port Washington, WI.  They also happen to be great fans of J/Boats and currently sail their bright-red, race-winning J/145 MAIN STREET on Lake Michigan.  Read more about the SAILING overview here.  For more information on J/121 offshore speedster Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Classic Opening For Hot Rum Series!

(San Diego, CA)- Every year, many sailors in southern California look forward to what may be one of the most popular SoCal offshore keelboat classics of all time- the infamous “Hot Rum Series” run by San Diego YC in November and December.  It is popular because it is, essentially, a “no brainer” from a racing standpoint. It is a “pursuit race”, so you start at an appointed time pre-determined by the SDYC PRO and PHRF calculators, and where you finish is how you actually finished in the race!  Doh! Yeah.  That simple.  Go home knowing you could have gone from zero to hero in one day! For the most part, the 100+ boats and nearly 1,000 competitors simply love the spectacle and the fact they are participating on yet another beautiful, fall, outrageously spectacular day off “Sunny Diego’s” majestic Point Loma peninsula. 

The event is a favorite amongst many J/sailors in the region.  Not surprisingly, many of them do quite well and earn more than their fair share of silverware, plates, pickle-dishes, salad bowls, photos, and what not.

This past weekend’s race was quite typical of the Hot Rum series.  The first starters saw light breezes from the northwest, building as the afternoon progressed up to 8-10 kts.  In such scenarios, it is often the little boats that start first with the lowest ratings that get the short-end of the straw.  Meanwhile, the big fast 50 to 70 footers in the back of the pack roar off the start line in 10-15 kts winds and smoke the little boats by the time everyone converges on the finish line just off Shelter Island inside San Diego Harbor.

However, this past weekend, it was not so.  Little boats did OK.  An infamous Ericson 35 Mk XXX with a crazy rating took overall honors, yet again.  But, the Gomez-Ibarra crew on he J/70 VAGAZO got 4th overall and first in their class.  Then, Chuck Nichols’ J/120 CC RIDER took 7th overall and fourth in their class.  And, Dag Fish’s J/105 VIGGEN took 8th overall and first in their PHRF 3 class.  Not a bad showing for this trio of J/Boats!

On a class basis, Mark Surber’s J/125 DERIVATIVE took 5th in PHRF Class 1. And, Viggo Torbensen’s J/125 TIMESHAVER placed 7th. In PHRF Class 2, Laun’s J/120 CAPER was 6th behind Nichols’ CC RIDER.

The J/70s just about cleaned house in PHRF 4 class.  Behind VAGAZO, it was Wyman’s NUNUHUNU in 2nd and Dave Vieregg’s SOGGY DOLLAR in 4th.

Finally, in PHRF 5 class, the Case’s J/22 ZO ZO took third place, followed by Lynch’s J/30 RUFFIAN in 8th and Dave Cattle’s J/27 BLACKADDER in 9th position. Sailing photo credits- SDYC/ Cynthia Sinclair. 

For more Hot Rum Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Vineyard Cup Regatta Fun & Games!

J/Teams Garner Gold, Silver and Bronze! 
(Vineyard Haven, MA)- The host for the annual Vineyard Cup Regatta was Sail Martha’s Vineyard, based in Vineyard Haven on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.  The regatta is managed like the FIGAWI Race, a PHRF “pursuit style” event that has your starting time based on the distance of the race sailed and your handicap rating.  The goal is “fun & games” and not at all based on serious racing, although based on the tenacity that some boats fought to trim sails, sit on people’s wind, and cross-tacks, would have you thinking otherwise!!

The PHRF Non-spinnaker Class 2 saw two J/100s have a blast.  Taking second in class was Phil & Rob Hale’s TANGO, while taking 5th place after the two races (one on each day) was Tom Welch’s ESCAPE.

Their colleagues in the PHRF Spinnaker Racing class, it was Stephen Besse’s J/120 APRES that took class honors by a wide margin- two bullets in two races!  Third was Matt & Lisa Schmitt’s J/105 HARDTACK with a 4-4.  Sixth place was Ed Lobo’s J/105 WATERWOLF with an 8-5.  Then, sitting in ninth was John Ryder’s J/70 AMONINI with a 7-8.  For more Vineyard Cup Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/70s & J/105s Dominate Hot Rum Series

(San Diego, CA)- The third race, and grand finale, for the San Diego YC’s famous Hot Rum Series took place on December 3rd.  Blessed with the third weekend of breeze, the sailors enjoyed the joy ride out the San Diego Harbor Channel, past Point Loma, around the sea buoys and back to the frenetic finish line just off the tip of Shelter Island.  Taking home lots of silverware were Rick Goebel’s J/105 SANITY in PHRF Class 3 and Fabian Gomez-Ibarra’s J/70 VAGAZO in PHRF Class 4.

The series was not without some drama during the middle race.  Apparently, Goebel’s SANITY was approaching the end of the San Diego Harbor channel leading their class and in the hunt for a top five finish in the race.

However, as they tacked onto port to head for home and a hoped for win, they looked up to see the mast falling off dramatically to leeward like a wet noodle.  Reacting instinctively, skipper Goebel spun the boat back onto starboard tack to save the mast.  Immediately, one of the crew noticed the upper tang of the port upper shroud had let go and headed up the rig on the spinnaker halyard.  With sails luffing, he reconnected the shroud tang (after another crew spun-off the turnbuckle) and Goebel’s crew was able to resume sailing on port tack towards the finish.  It was a lucky reaction by the quick-thinking SANITY crew.  As a result, they lost the potential to win the entire Hot Rum Race series overall, but still managed to win the 36-boat PHRF Class 3 with a 1-5-2 scoreline for 8 pts.  Taking third in their class was Dennis Case’s J/105 WINGS with an 11-3-1 tally for 15 pts.  Rounding out the top five as Erostino Dagfish’s J/105 VIGGEN in 5th place with a 4-16-3 score.

The 33-boat PHRF 2 class saw John Laun’s J/120 CAPER sail better and better to close the series with a 14-3-4 for 21 points and 2nd place.  The next J/120s were Mike Hatch’s J-ALMIGHTY in 10th and Chuck Nichols’ CC RIDER in 11th.  Twelfth was Tim Harmon’s J/124 CIRRUS and fifteenth was Doug Jorgensen’s J/111 PICOSA.  

The fast-sailing crews on J/70s dominated the 19-boat PHRF 4 class.  Top of the leaderboard was Gomez-Ibarra’s VAGAZO with an amazing scorecard of 1-1-2 for 4 pts.  Taking second on a tie-break was Dave Vieregg’s SOGGY DOLLAR with a 5-3-4 for 12 pts.  Fourth was Steve Wyman’s NUNUHUNU with a 4-6-3 for 13 pts. Close racing in the top five!  Sailing photo credits- San Diego YC/ Cynthia Synclair.  For more San Diego YC Hot Rum Series sailing information

Hot Rum Race II Report

(San Diego, CA)- It was more fun and games for the enormous fleet of 140+ boats that have been racing the infamous San Diego Yacht Club Hot Rum Series.  The second race that took place on Saturday, November 19th proved to be an excruciatingly slow light air affair.  It was a case of “haves” and “have not’s” just about everywhere on the racecourse in the various divisions.  The PHRF “pursuit style” race meant that the small boats (with highest PHRF handicaps) took off in light airs going out the Pt Loma channel to the first mark offshore.  The larger boats that started later, however, were not much better off; they, too, took off in light airs but had just enough extra to play with to dominate the top of the leaderboard.  Having started off so slowly, the small boats took a beating in the early light air going.

As a consequence of the weather conditions, the top J/Teams in the overall standings were the bigger J’s.  Leading the J/crews home was Mark Surber’s J/125 DERIVATIVE in 11th overall, followed by Viggo Torbensen’s J/125 TIMESHAVER in 14th overall, just 45 seconds behind DERIVATIVE and only 8 seconds behind Dennis Conner’s MENACE XXIV.  Third J/team home was John Laun’s J/120 CAPE about 45 seconds back.

The current standings in each fleet now see the two J/125s sitting next to each other in the top ten in Class I.  DERIVATIVE’s 8-9 for 17 pts sits in 9th place while TIMESHAVER’s 9-11 for 20 pts is in 10th.

In Class 2, four J’s are in the top ten.  John Laun’s CAPER has a 14-3 for 17 pts to hang onto 5th place.  They are leading on a tie-breaker over Rudolph Hasl’s HASL FREE that has a 9-8 also sitting at 17 pts.  Next is Chuck Nichols’ J/120 CC RIDER with a 10-11 for 21 pts in 9th place.  Finally, Tim Harmon’s J/124 CIRRUS has a 12-10 for 22 pts to hang in at 10th position.

The “J/105” division, Class 3, continues to have four J/105s in the top ten.  Lead boat is Rick Goebel’s SANITY with a 1-5 for 6 pts to hold 2nd overall.  Dennis Case’s WINGS has an 11-3 for 14 pts, good enough for 5th place.  Tim Fuller’s STEADFAST has a 7-10 for 17 pts and is in 7th position.  Then, “Dag” Fish’s VIGGEN is 10th place with a 4-16 for 20 pts.

The “J/70” division, Class 4, also sees near class domination by three J/70s in the top five placings.  Top banana is Fabian Gomez-Ibarra’s VAGAZO with two bullets for just 2 pts.  Dave Vieregg’s SOGGY DOLLAR has a 5-3 for 8 pts in third position.  And, Steve Wyman’s NUNUHUNU has a 4-6 for 10 pts to hang in for 5th place.

In Class 5, the overall top five has a pretty remarkable scenario developing going into the third and final race next weekend.  While David Cattle’s J/27 BLACK ADDER is sitting in 8th place with a 7-6 for 13 pts, they are just three points out of third place overall!  Anything can happen in this class, so it will all be on the line next week for the top ten boats overall!  Crazy stuff, that’s for sure!  For more San Diego YC Hot Rum sailing information

Epic Great Pumpkin Regatta!

(Richmond, CA)- The Richmond YC's Annual toast to the pagan ritual involving orange gourds, ghoulish disguises and costumed merry-making usually involves some quiet autumn romping about the Berkeley Circle, and a party that cannot be beat, followed by a late starting 12nm pursuit race from the Berkeley Circle, around Angel Island and Alcatraz and finishes at the mouth of the Richmond Riviera. It is usually a banal weather event on San Francisco Bay, with light winds and those lazy autumn skies thick with the moist aroma of decaying organic matter, cinnamon ladened pumpkin everything. The 2016 edition will be remembered as a year of early weather systems, potent and wet with southerly winds which began mellow on Saturday and ramped up to white knuckle conditions for the Sunday finale.

While the timing of fronts was near perfect for Saturday, with rain overnight, cloudy and mild at 1st gun and eventually ramping up to sunny and mid teens for the buoy races, the forecasted timing for Sunday was not as advertised. The more potent of the two systems to visit the Bay Area, was originally projected to blow through the wee hours of Sunday and slowly mellow by Noon's scheduled 1st start. Someone forgot to get the memo to the weather gods, and the system stalled, 1st reaching the Bay after dawn and ramping up through the morning. The deluge began around 0900 when the skies opened up, and many a mariner preparing to leave the dock and head to the starting area, decided that getting soaked and beat up even before the race began wasn't what was in the brochure.

Add to the equation, the venturi effect caused by Alcatraz and Angel Islands, some pelting cloudbursts and you get the gist. It was to be a quick race, unless you were one of several boats that suffered involuntary sail area reduction or salt water intrusion into the cabin area.

For starters, the Sunday Pursuit Race was quite an epic event, with rain and winds pushing 33 kts making it a challenge for everyone.  Most of the fleet sailed the CCW course.  The strongest winds and rain were during the first beat from the Berkeley Circle start up the Raccoon Straits around Angel Island. Then a windy close reach to Alcatraz, but sun breaking thru the clouds.  At the east end of Alcatraz many boats rounded up when they set their spinnakers. Winds were around 26 knots. Most boats set something like a A3 kite after rounding Alcatraz and held a direct rhumbline course to the finish, sailing deep, 160-165 TWA off the wind, wind consistently in high teens to low thirties!  It was a tough, wet conditions on the Bay for the 2016 season closer!

The first J/Boat to finish was Charlie Abraham’s J/105 JAVELIN, taking 10th overall of the 124 boats entered.  Not far behind was Gary Panariello’s J/88 COURAGEOUS in 13th, Trig Liljstrand’s J/90 RAGTIME in  15th, Val Lulevich’s J/24 SHUT UP & DRIVE in 16th and Gorkem Ozcelebi’s J/111 DOUBLE DIGIT in 18th.

Saturday’s racing saw beautiful conditions and most racing classes managed to post three races.   In the J/24s, it was Val Lulevich’s SHUT UP & DRIVE winning with an unassailable 1-1-2 scoreline for 4 pts.  They were followed by Darren Cumming’s DOWNTOWN UPROAR in second with a 3-2-1 for 6 pts.  Third was determined on a tie-breaker, with Randall Rasicot’s FLIGHT taking the tie over Jasper Van Vliet’s EVIL OCTOPUS.  Fifth place was taken by Wall Whittier’s WOOF.

In the world of PHRF handicap racing, Trig Liljstrand’s J/80 RAGTIME took second in PHRF B class.  The J/111s laid waste to PHRC C class, with Nesrin Basoz’s SWIFTNESS winning and Howard Turner’s SYMMETRY taking third.  Similarly, the J/105s did the same thing in PHRF E class, with Charlie Abraham’s JAVELIN winning with a 4-3-1 for 8 pts, followed by Sergey Lubarsky’s RUSSIAN ROULETTE in 3rd.  Fourth place went to the Bilafer Family’s J/35 KIRI.  In PHRF F class, the J/88s took 3rd and 5th- Gary Panariello’s COURAGEOUS and Steve Gordon’s INCONCEIVABLE.  Cleaning house in PHRF R Class were two J/70s taking 1st and 2nd- Robert Milligan’s RAMPAGE and Mark Thomas’ PRIME NUMBER.  Finally, in the SF-30 Class, Anthony Castruccio’s J/30 WINDSPEED took the bronze.    Thanks for report contributed in part by Erik Simonson/ PressureDrop.US.  For more Great Pumpkin Regatta sailing information

Hot Rum Race I Preview

(San Diego, CA)- Twenty-seven J/Teams (24% of the 115 boat fleet) will be racing one of the West Coast’s most famous “pursuit-style” events this coming weekend on Saturday November 5th- the three weekend-long Hot Rum series, hosted by San Diego YC.  “Pursuit” racing is a “fun-for-all” format, where the slowest boats start first, fastest last, and the winners for each class determined by who crossed the finish line first.  In most cases, if the classic WNW breeze is “on” at the noon-time starts, the fleet is sent off on a fast reach to the last channel marker offshore of Point Loma (red buoy #6 4.0nm from the start), turn left down to the next buoy (or a drop buoy), then charge back home 5.5 to 7.0nm upwind to the finish line inside the North Island breakwater.

Looking forward to the fun and festivities associated with the races are a huge cross-section of J/teams- ranging from the classics (like J/22s, J/24s, J/27s, J/29s, J/30s, J/35s, etc) to the latest in the offshore sportboat/ sprit range (J/70s, J/80s, J/105s, J/120s, J/125s and so on).

Racing is all based on PHRF Random-leg handicapping.  The eight J/105s and five J/120s will have one-design awards, in addition to competing in their appropriate PHRF classes.  The balance of J/crews will be distributed amongst the PHRF fleets top to bottom.

Not surprisingly, several of the top crews from over the past few years in the J/105 will be looking forward to this annual bash- it’s virtually impossible to handicap this group since all have won something over the years.  Those teams include Dennis Case’ WINGS, Rick Goebel’s SANITY, Steve & Lucy Howell’s BLINK, Dag Fish’s VIGGEN, Stew Cannon’s J-OK, and newcomer Tim Fuller’s STEADFAST.

For the J/120s, the usual cast of characters will be lined up to take aim for the top of the podium.  Who will it be this year?? Depends on the crew and execution.  Amazingly, it changes a lot each year based on who’s got the “mojo” to make it happen.  Of course, Chuck Nichols’ CC RIDER springs to mind as a talented team, but so does Mike Hatch’s J-ALMIGHTY, John Laun’s CAPER, Ernie Pennell’s MAD MEN, and Rudolph Hasl’s HASL FREE.

In the small boat handicap class, the two J/70s (Dave Vieregg’s SOGGY DOLLAR & Steve Wyman’s NUNUHUNU) will be fast out of the gate, but Scott Biddick’s J/22, David Cattle’s J/27 BLACKADDER, and Robert Noe’s J/30 MAD HATTER all start ahead of the 70s and may be in a better position to hold them off at the finish!  However, given “planing-mode” conditions going offshore for the first two legs, watch out!  You may see J/70s winning the entire race overall!

In the big boat classes, watch for Scott Grealish’s insanely-fast J/88 BLUE FLASH take on the twin J/125s (Mark Surber’s DERIVATIVE & Viggo Torbensen’s TIMESHAVER), the twin J/124s (Seth Hall’s MARISOL & Tim Harmon’s CIRRUS), Steve Carter’s J/109 GERONIMO, Doug Jorgensen’s J/111 PICOSA, and Fred Hawes’ J/46 ANONA.  If there was ever a division where “anything can happen”, then this is the one to watch!

Post-race festivities at San Diego YC are quite remarkable.  It all starts with SDYC Chefs on the dock serving hors d’ouerves, hot rum toddies, Ballast Point beer and good Lord knows what else.  Now, that is stylin’!! Is it any wonder that sailors show up with casts of thousands to enjoy the post-race “social activities”??  Sailing photo credits- San Diego YC.   For more SDYC Hot Rum Series sailing information

Delta Ditch Race Preview

(Richmond, CA)- It is that time of year again in the San Francisco Bay area, the infamous and challenging Delta Ditch Run, hosted by Stockton YC and Richmond YC, will be taking place on Saturday, June 4th.  The event has become a ritual of sorts for many sailors in the Bay area, a way to start the summer off with a bang, popping kites at the start off Richmond YC within San Francisco Bay’s northeastern headwaters and blasting for 60nm up the Sacramento River, then San Joaquin River to the finish line off Stockton YC (note- driving takes 74 miles from Richmond to Stockton in 1.5 hours!).  For the un-initiated, that is way, way east, up the river delta, surviving barge encounters and nasty “switchbacks” to avoid buoys and mud flats along the way downwind (and up river)!  Many survive to tell their hair-raising stories that get much, much more grandiose over time (and a few cervezas)!

A significant one-design class of J/70s is participating, six to be exact.  Looking forward to the switchback-laden downhill sleigh-ride to the Stockton, CA finish line will be Justin Fox’s FLOTEK, Tom Jenkins’ DFZ, Justin Kromelow’s LOOSE LUCY, Chris Andersen’s PERFECT WIFE, Brant Adornato’s HELLCAT and Chris Kostanecki’s JENNIFER.  Joining them in PHRF H Class will be the J/111 SWIFT NESS sailed by Reuben Rocci from Richmond YC and the J/24 SHUT UP & DRIVE skippered by Val Lulevich.  For more Delta Ditch Race sailing information