BUBBLES Wins Ugotta Regatta Wayzata!

(Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota)- J/24 Fleet #1 is the first and oldest J/24 fleet in the world. They held their Ugotta Regatta last week at Wayzata Yacht Club, one of the oldest clubs in Minnesota.  Chairman Josh Bone sent in his report of the event.

"We had a great showing of out-of-town boats and regatta participation was up 30% over last year for the Ugotta on October 7-9. A special thank you to: 2XS, MIJAH, STRANGE CREW, CONTEXT, “2”, U-LA-LA and INSATIABLE. Boats came from Duluth, Chicago, and other parts of the Midwest. One skipper came from Florida, another from Chicago and there was even one crew member from Spain! We even have our very own Olympic Medalist racing out there, Billy Allen. This is THE place to be. While Scows are known here, there is also a great keelboat scene. We also have the only real racers’ party of the year up here (I say that to challenge others to step up their game!).  We do a full bar (out of an old E-Scow, no less!), sponsored beer and a community shrimp boil, no fancy tablecloths for us, and all for 10 bucks per person.

The J/24 district qualifier for the 2012 J/24 Worlds had 20 competitors and excellent race management from our inspiring PRO Blake Middleton – a true racers’ PRO. Blake had been on a whirlwind tour of the globe just before the event, and we were lucky to have him back on Lake Minnetonka.

Our Race Committee and competitors raced 5 races on Saturday in winds from 7kts to 17kts. Sunday was very light in the morning. The call was made to wait. The wind came in with 10 minutes to spare on the limit. The race was won by Terry Neff and his crew aboard "BUBBLES". Job well done Terry! It was in the 80's both days.

This race was also a true tiebreaker between BUBBLES and ZOOM. Zoom had some issues with the pin due to an unforeseen additional left shift. It was awful to see them get tangled with the mark in such an important race. Terry was above him. Terry bought the left side big, followed closely by John Heaton on USA 592 Mijah. Motorhome went right, or really just on port because the left was really big for a long time. Bubbles rounded in first, Motorhome in 2nd, Mijah in 3rd. Zoom was really deep, but blasting thru the fleet, always a contender. Motorhome was passed by Mijah at the first leeward gate. Bubbles had launched, at one point I couldn't see them. Then we saw them on the 2nd downwind leg, 250 yards ahead of us. We started to open a delicious Surly Furious, when a puff nearly knocked us over. The wind had gone very hard to the right, 25 - 30 degrees. Bubbles rounded the right gate in first, Mijah followed in second, and Motorhome went to the left gate. It was a thrilling race. At the final cross Bubbles crossed Motorhome by only 2 boat lengths. Motorhome cheered for them when the gun went off, continued to hike for a 2nd place in the race. Mijah was 3rd. Guess who was 4th? ZOOM!

BUBBLES won the regatta by 2 points. Picture is attached of them with their trophy full of delicious Surly Brewing Co.'s amazing product.  The "Spanking Award" went to co-winners Mark Soya and Dave DeSanto (they were very bad boys)!

"We were fortunate to have good wind and the boat was set up for it. And we had the benefit of sailing districts in Maine (40+ boats) a few weeks before. I got the bad starts out of my system. You need to have things go your way. And that's what happened." - Terry Neff (Owner and Helmsman of BUBBLES). BUBBLES crew was: Terry Neff, Sean Delaney, Paula Neff, Mark Oppen and Paul "Jake" Jacobs.

WYC hopes to see you all again next year. They also welcome you to the 2013 J/24 National Championship!  Thanks for contribution from Sailing Anarchy-  Photos from Mark Puariea

  

Team PIKE Wins German J/80 Open

(Flensburg, Germany)- Flensburg Sailing Club hosts the annual Flensburg Sailing Week every autumn and for the last few years has also hosted the FSC Deutsche Open for the J/80 class.

Over the three days in mid-September, sixteen J/80s managed to get in some great sailing with the weather, in general, cooperating nicely for the three days.

Day 1 - The first two races were sailed at about 8 knots of wind, with PROCEEDS DIVA winning the first two. In the third race of the day the wind was barely strong enough for a race, this nerve-sapping race could ultimately decide the leaders for the first day.  At the end of the day, PROCEEDS DIVA was first, just two points behind them were the past winner of the regatta- Team PIKE- and third was Gordon Nickel skippering ANEGADA from Bremen.

Day 2 - At 2-6 knots, the two races on Saturday were long, long races with many exciting changes in positions.  After several hours of postponement the fleet sailed what some sailors thought were "lottery" races.  Nevertheless, Team PIKE took advantage and won two races, moving themselves into first overall. Behind him was a complete turnover in the standings.  Lying 2nd was Sven Vagt sailing CAMPAIGN and third was Kiel sailor Martin Menzer.  PROCEEDS DIVA and ANEGADA dropped to 4th and 5th, respectively.

Day 3 Final Day- On Sunday morning the teams were excited about the great sailing weather for the last three races: a constant WNW wind around 10 knots with brilliant sunshine.  Team PIKE took a 1st and 2nd in the first two races and didn't have to sail the race last.  PROCEEDS DIVA sailed to a 3-1-1 to secure 2nd overall, ANEGADA persevered and took third overall and the surprise was the strong showing of the Polish team MOONRAKER, snagging 4th place in from of Team CAMPAIGN that finished 5th.

In conclusion, it was an exciting event for all and some great sailing.  It was also the third title for Team PIKE, having regained their former performance from previous seasons.  For more German Open J/80 sailing information

  

J/80 Wins Dollorso Open Cup

(Chiavari, Italy)-  This past weekend, the Yacht Club Chiavari hosted their annual Dollorso Open Cup with over seventy boats participating in ORC, IRC and Multihull classes.

With refreshments and award ceremony in the presence of the Family Dollorso, Aldermen of the City of Chiavari and Mr. Segalerba Rombolini and representatives of TCI, it was the J/80 JENIALE! sailed by Massimo Rama from YC Chiavari that won the huge Open Class!  Massimo receive the much revered trophy, the Silver Plaque Nicholas Dollorso.

The first day of racing took place on Saturday in sunny weather, calm seas and extremely variable breeze. The second day of racing, the return in Chiavari, took place on Sunday, in a beautiful summer day, with calm seas and gentle breezes-- as a result, not many boats finished within the time limit.  For more Copa Dollorso sailing information

  

J/24 Pan Am Games Update

(Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)- USA team Manager Dave Johnson provided this recent update on the American sailing team and, specifically, the American J/24 Team.  By the way, the USA Pan Am Games team is packed with current/ former J/24 sailors, including Augie Diaz (Snipe), Lutz Brothers from Texas (Lightning), Foerster (Sunfish), so are the other Pan Am Teams!

Said Dave, "Today was a great start to the Pan Am Games for Team USA. All three courses sailed today in 6-12 kts breeze and lots of sun. On the far course Charlie (J/24, Lightning, Snipe) got the first race off with consistently more breeze. The J/24 team of Mollicone, Rabin, Becker, and Abdullah went 1-1 as their boat speed proved superior on the long course.

"We really used speed to our advantage," said John Mollicone, skipper for the J/24. "The races are really long, even longer than Worlds."  With a much smaller fleet of boats in the Pan Am Games, John pointed out that keeping your competition in check is critical in the long races.

And what John said makes sense because one boat going out on a flyer could be a hero or a zero, as they say. In their 7-boat fleet, one boat is nearly 15% of the fleet.

Our Lightning Team of the Lutz brothers (Jody - skipper, Jay - crew) and Greg Thomas also sailed a top performance today, going 1-3 and tied for the lead with Brazil. They too had long races today but their fleet was intense. With teams not leaving any good 'lanes' open, having clear air and a clean lane is important.

Other good performances include four-time Olympian, Paul Foerster, sitting atop the Sunfish fleet with a 1-2. Augie Diaz and Kathleen Tocke finished 2-4 in the Snipe class while Paige Railey went 5-1 in the Radial.

For more USA sailing team information:
USA team: http://tinyurl.com/USSTAG-Pan-Am-2011
Event website: http://www.guadalajara2011.org.mx/ENG/01_inicio
Results: http://tinyurl.com/PAG-2011-results

  

J/105s Sweep Greenport Ocean Race

(Greenport, New York)- The Greenport Ocean Race is held every year in the fall as the final offshore event for Long Island Sound racers on the eastern end of Long Island.  It's hosted by the Chinese YC and the Old Cove YC.

This year's event was about as "epic" an event as many have recalled, with winds blowing 15-30 knots for basically four straight days.  When the racing started on Saturday, the PRO on the RC wisely decided to shorten course and keep the fleet inside Long Island Sound instead of sending them into 15 foot crashing waves not the far offshore from the infamous "Race"- that body of water with 4-6 knot currents against 15-30 kt winds is no picnic!

Reveling in the heavy going were the J/105s.  Again, Mike LaChance and the crew of DARK'N'STORMY (appropriately named, I might add) led the sweep of PHRF 3 with the other J/105s.  Second was Tim O'Brien on the J/105 ROPEBURN and third was the J/105 ALLIANCE sailed by Steve Guyer.  As a result, the oval Brooklyn Ocean Challenge Cup was awarded to Team  DARN'N'STORMY for the fourth year in a row!

In PHRF 2, Jason Richter's much-traveled J/35 PALADIN finished second and just behind in third was Jim Vos' J/109 SKOOT and fourth was Steve Kenny's GOSSIP.  In PHRF 1, the J/111 BRAVO sailed by Sedgiwck Ward finished just out of the money in fifth.  For more Greenport Ocean Race sailing results

  

J's Cruise Harvest Moon Regatta

(Houston, TX)-  The annual fall "big boat" regatta in Houston, the Harvest Moon Regatta, is hosted by one of the Houston area's famously gracious yacht clubs, the Lakewood YC on Galveston Bay.  The HMR event has attracted a loyal following over its 25 year history and this year was no exception.  Great sailing weather (generally) and awesome hospitality (always!) makes for a fun event.  The race is basically sailing from the Galveston jetties to Port Isabel for race #1, then back up the coast to Port Aransas (Port A) as race #2. Then there was Port Aransas to inside the Galveston jetties for race #3 and on to the Seabrook marker two for race #4.

In the huge PHRF Bacardi Racing fleet, thirty-one boats showed up for local bragging rights in the offshore racing community.  In the end, the J/120 AEOLUS sailed by Jim Liston was the top dog in the J sailing clan, getting third overall.  JB Bednar's J/105 STINGER stuck it in the top ten, snagging a fifth overall.  Albrecht Goethe's J/109 HAMBURG was sixth.

The "cruising boat" divisions are even "huger".   The Non-Spinnaker class had 108 boats.  The Cruising Spinnaker class had 30 boats.  Right at the top was Walter Caldwell's J/40 shoal-draft special called SHAKEN NOT STIRRED, getting a respectable second overall.  For more 25th Harvest Moon Regatta sailing information.

  

J/24 "The Situation" Pioneers New Electronics

* "Yo, it's the situation, dude!"  Jah, mon!  Cool story, about the resurrection of a really OLD (a.k.a. "classic") J/24.  Skipper David Heisserer and accomplice Dillon Hodapp sail the J/24 THE SITUATION, hull #15 built in 1977 (the math means it's 34 years old!), and race in J/24 Fleet #1. She has picked up the infamous nickname “Red Boat” - strangely fitting for the Russian components on-board.

Skipper David and accomplice Dillon have designed and built a digital compass that uses nixi tubes - a cold war era vacuum tube that produces a glowing number. Inside they use an extremely precise Honeywell two axis digital compass chip. The precision is on par with high end sailing compasses on the market. The compass displays lifts and headers by displaying a plus or minus and the degree on each board. The windows are laser cut with a J/24 polar diagram on Starboard and a map of Lake Minnetonka on Port.

“We were looking for an outrageous aesthetic without sacrificing function.”

The boat is back from the dead after 20 years of neglect, every part of the project has been DIY. THE SITUATION  races at WYC in Minnesota and is creeping up from the back of the fleet. The club will be hosting the 2013 J/24 Nationals where they hope to make an appearance.

David an artist/designer and Dillon a mechanical engineer, are recent winners of Red Bull Creation an invention contest in New York this summer. Their company Mixed Media Engineering does product design and experiential marketing pushing always for artistic and unbelievable builds.  They have been featured on CNN money, are in the November issue of Popular Mechanics Magazine, and have been featured on psfk.com, techcrunch.com and coolthings.com for their creations.
Thanks for contribution from Sailing Anarchy home page.

  

Rolex Middle Sea Race Preview

(Gzira, Malta)- The 32nd edition of the 606-nautical mile Rolex Middle Sea Race begins this Saturday, 22 October from Grand Harbour in Malta. Currently, there are 80 boats entered from 18 countries.  The RMSR is easily one of the most challenging offshore races on the international racing calendar.  Asked whether there is anything about the race in particular that drives sailors to participate over the years, one sailor said, “I don’t think there is one thing-- there are several things. Getting through the Strait of Messina is always a challenge (a.k.a. "the around boot challenge"), you are always relieved to get through it. Next on the way is Stromboli, a volcano that erupts about every 20 minutes or so. For people that haven’t seen it before it is an amazing sight. From there it remains interesting all the way through to the finish, turning left around two enormous rock precipices jutting out from the ocean, and right up to the line in Marsamxett Harbour where the wind is fickle and you are not finished until you are over the line.”

Looking forward to their first tour in the RMSR are two new J owners, one sailing the J/111 and the other in a J/122.  Said J/Boats Italy's Paolo Boido- "The first J/111 J-STORM just delivered to owner Massimo Colosimo will race the Middle Sea Race.  They just called me now (Wednesday night), on their way to Malta, reaching with full main and Code 0 in medium/heavy SW at the remarkable average speed of 18 knots!"  Sure sounds like that Italian crew are going to have a fun, challenging time racing around the track.  If there was a race ever purpose-built for any one boat, the J/111 sailed conservatively should do just fine (avoid the corners, my friends!).  In addition, a new J/122 added to the local fleet is OTRA VEZ sailed by Aaron Gatt Floridia / Edward Gatt Floridia from Malta, sailing in IRC 4.

Joining these two "newbies" in the RMSR are perhaps the craftiest and smartest Maltese yachtsmen, the teams on JUNO and ARTIE, both of whom have either won the RMSR overall on handicap and/or won their classes over many, many years.  Leading the charge at least boat-for-boat will be the J/133 JUNO sailed by David Anastasi racing in IRC 3.  Nipping at their heels like a mad hound-dog will be that tenacious team on the J/122 ARTIE, led by renowned Maltese sailors Lee Satariano and Christian Ripard, dueling it out not just for IRC 4 Class honors but for overall honors as well.  If J/News readers recall, in last year's 2010 RMSR, both JUNO and ARTIE were not only class leaders, but overall RMSR IRC leaders literally up to the final 5 miles in the harbor-- which, as everyone knows, can be the "heartbreaker" for many well-sailed, tenacious teams.

Starting Saturday afternoon UTC time, you can track these teams as they make their way around this epic race course.  Sailing photo credits- Rolex/ Carlo Borlenghi.  Please take a look at the official Rolex Middle Sea Race website.

  

Halloween J/24 East Coasts Preview

(Annapolis, MD)- The 2011 HCM (Hillman Capital Management) J/24 East Coast Championship will be a 21st Century Event like you cannot imagine-- Halloween costumes included!  This Fall Classic will be better than ever. Live race video and commentary on the web, coaching on the water and debriefing (with cocktails) on-shore are part of this year's event.

Nearly SIXTY boats are competing and the entry list keeps growing like kudzu weed every day.  At the moment, forgetting the fact that Ken Read, Brad Read, Terry Hutchinson and Ed Baird, amongst others, are a bit busy with some other sailing events, this year's J/24 East Coasts reads like a "who's who" of current class leaders-- all capable of winning since amongst them are World Champions, North American Champions, Midwinter Champions and Champion of Champions-- did we miss anything here?

In completely random order are teams that you've got to watch out for on the leader-board since they can all wreak havoc at a moments notice.  Amongst them, look for some characters on the yacht called COUGAR with Will Welles and Chuckie Allen brokering traffic behind them.  Class stalwart on BANGOR PACKET, Tony Parker, is working with friend Geoff Ewenson to keep them out of the corners.  Some guy named Tim Healy skippering SAILORS FOR THE SEA hopes to ensure his World's credentials aren't resigned to the ash-heap of history.  Keeping everyone in check at the start line and, most certainly, at the corners of the course are World Team Race Champions and another J/24 not-so-newb sailing WEST MARINE RIGGING- do both Peter and Carol Levesque and Charlie Enright ring a bell (is that fair?)?  Then, don't forget some old characters who are a throwback to the past in the J/24 class (like Mr Parker) but may be far, far more dangerous than ANY scorpion bite you've ever encountered-- a pilot/trainer for Alaska Airlines called Mark Laura may have your number far faster than you can snap themselves into a seat-belt, plus he's got MIT Master of the Universe Number Cruncher Steve Cucchiaro calling statistical analyses and tactical arbitration on every puff and wind shift.  If that weren't enough, fellow Bostonian Mark Hillman (yeah, the regatta sponsor) on WIP has a helluva strong team, so does Dave Van Cleef on CAROLINA GIRL.  Nameless on their boats, but absolutely not nameless in their track records are Mike Ingham (doh, another J/24 Champion?) from Rochester, NY and Mike Hobson (Ultimate Yacht Race Champion) from Annapolis, MD simply making sure the younger kids on the block don't get too uppity.

So, why such a stellar group of J/24 sailors thrashing around the buoys in Annapolis in late October masquerading in all kinds of Halloween costumes trying to remain un-noticed in the parking lots, chain hoists and the yacht club bar?  Well, next year's J/24 Worlds in Rochester, NY are an "open" J/24 Worlds, the first ever.  And, this event in Annapolis is one of the last "district" events you have to sail in to qualify to sail next year's 2012 J/24 Worlds!  That also explains why the "long distance" traveler award can already be named! TEAM SOKOKUMARU with Satoshi Kume from Tokyo, Japan at the helm-- now's never too late to get some practice in for next year!  For more J/24 HCM East Coast Championships sailing information

  

BMW Berlin Match Race Preview

(Berlin, Germany)- What do Jochen Schumann, Markus Wieser, and Bjorn Hansen - the match race world elite have in common?  They're guests competing in Wannsee on J/80s soon!  These World class sailors will participate in the 20th edition of the Berlin Match Race, that was initiated by prominent members of both organizing clubs, Achim Kadelbach (VSaW) and Peter Barnikow (BYC).

Markus Wieser, multiple World, and European Champion is looking forward to challenging his adversary of last year in the finals, Björn Hansen from Sweden, who won the 19th Berlin Match Race and currently is 4th in the world ranking list. Mads Ebler, the Danish European match race champion in 2010, will also be fighting for every inch of the race. Undoubtedly the helmsmen William Tiller (New Zealand) and Keith Swinton (Australia) and their crews have had the longest journey to Berlin. Having travelled all the way around the world, returning empty handed is not an option for them. In the fight for the title Markus Wieser will be challenged by the top German sailor Jochen Schumann, twice winner of the America´s Cup and Olympic Games, who would also like to reclaim the victory and prize money (totaling about 20,000 Euro)!  The race will be sailed on J 80 class boats from 2nd to 6th November.  For more BMW Berlin Match Race sailing information, please visit the BMW Sailing site