Mollicone Wins J/24 North Americans

(Jacksonville, FL)- The Florida Yacht Club and J/24 Fleet 55 hosted the 2012 Merrill Lynch–Bank of America J/24 North Americans for the twenty-nine teams from across America.

The event opened up in a swashbuckling fashion as John Mollicone’s 11th Hour Racing and Peter Bream’s Team Tarheel went neck-to-neck against each other over two races and finished the day with four points each to lead the rest of the pack heading into the second day of competition.

Mollicone drew first blood by winning the first race with Bream finishing in second and Robby Brown’s USA 799 taking the third spot. The second race saw Rossi Milev’s Clean Air finishing first with Bream winding up in second again and Mollicone nabbing a point after nabbing third place. Milev currently stands in third in the four-day race off the beautiful coast of Jacksonville, Florida.  Conditions in Jacksonville were cool and overcast, with winds starting at 6-8 knots and a slight chop before dying out for a while in the afternoon. The breeze then filled in for race two at 5-7 knots.

For the second day of racing, Peter Bream on Team Tarheel claimed the lead.  Bream held the advantage over second place John Mollicone on 11th Hour Racing (24 points) and Mike Ingham on 11th Hour Racing in third (36 points). The day began with Bream’s Team Tarheel notching two bullets in races 3 and 4. Travis Odenbach’s Honey Badger crossed the line behind Bream in Friday’s first race, however took an 8 due to a scoring penalty. Mollicone’s 11th Hour Racing was third. In the next contest, another 11th Hour Racing—this time Ingham—placed second, followed by Clark Dennison’s Kobayashi Maru. Then it was Mollicone who grabbed the top spot in Race 5, with Rossi Milev and Robby Brown rounding out the top three. Ingham ended the day with a victory in race 6, trailed by Odenbach and Ron Medlin, Jr.’s Bash.  Conditions in Jacksonville were chilly and overcast with winds at 6-8 knots, building to 10-12 throughout the day.

After the third day of racing, John Mollicone’s 11th Hour Racing team emerged victorious. Comprised of Mollicone, Tim Healy, Collin Leon, Geoff Becker and Gordon Borges, the Newport team credited their consistency and team work during the nine races as the keys to their success.  “We had good starts, and our boat speed was good,” summarized Mollicone. “It’s hard to be in the right place all the time tactically, but our boat speed helped us get out of some tough situations.”

Finishing with 30 points overall, 11th Hour Racing won the regatta’s first race and never finished out of the top 10. “We wanted to make sure we didn’t have any real deep races, especially early on,” shared Healy. “It ended up paying off late in the regatta. We could afford going into the last race knowing we couldn’t get worse than second, so that was a nice place to be.”

Canadian Rossi Milev sailed an impressive regatta on Clean Air, and placed in second overall with 34 points including three bullets. Travis Odenbach’s Honey Badger rounded out the top three.  Conditions in Jacksonville on the last day of the event were the breeziest of the week at 16-18 knots with gusts in the 20s.

“This is a challenging place to sail because it’s not only shifty but there are a lot of holes and you have the current factor,” Mollicone said. “Tricky conditions, but the people at Florida Yacht Club are awesome and it was a great regatta.” On Saturday, Milev won race 7, with Greg Griffin’s Majic and Odenbach in the next two slots. David Van Cleef claimed the next victory, trailed by Mollicone and Odenbach. Milev returned to the top in the event’s final bout, and Van Cleef and Griffin followed.

The top ten overall were 1st John Mollicone- 30 pts, 2nd Rossi Milev- 34 pts, 3rd Travis Odenbach- 40 pts, 4th Peter Bream- 41 pts, 5th Mike Ingham- 43 pts, 6th Carter White- 44 pts, 7th David Van Cleef- 45 pts, 8th Greg Griffin- 63 pts, 9th Robby Brown- 65 pts and 10th John Denman- 74 pts.  Thanks for the contribution from Chris Howell.   For more J/24 North Americans sailing information

J/70 One-Design Class Update

(Newport, RI)- Over the past month the evolution of J/70 one-design class development continues its inexorable fast pace around the world.  While the first J/70s are just beginning to appear in such exotic locations like Santiago, Chile; Sydney, Australia; Hong Kong, China; and Miami, FL, other famous sailing venues are seeing fleets blossom like spring flowers across the sailing landscape.  Europeans are just beginning to get a taste of the J/70 in the Netherlands (Belgium & Holland) as well as in England and France.

In the Americas, the class is developing rapidly.  To date there are over a dozen fleets in development with nine confirmed already.  At this stage, it looks like Annapolis can lay claim to being the J/70 capital of the world with Fleet #1 status, followed closely by their friends in Newport/ Narragansett Bay with Fleet #2.  The Great Lakes are growing fast with Cleveland as Fleet #3, Western Lake Ontario #6, South Shore Lake Ontario #7 and Erie, PA as #8.  Out West, SoCal (Southern California) is Fleet #5 and the California fleets may soon expand to include Santa Barbara, CA as its own fleet along with San Francisco, CA.  Plus, the Cascade Locks, OR and Seattle, WA fleets are not far behind! In the East, Fishing Bay, VA is now Fleet #4 and just recently Marblehead attained Fleet #9 status.  Not far behind are fleets forming in Chicago, IL; Fort Worth, TX; Houston, TX; Lake Dillon, CO; Tampa, FL; and Long Island Sound.

Reports from the frontiers of J/70 fleet development are encouraging.  Recently, Jud Smith, a world-renowned sailor (Etchells 22 World Champion, Sonar North American Champion, IOD World Champion and Dennis Conner's mainsail trimmer in the America's Cup), had the following commentary after sailing in Marblehead recently: "I saw the J/70’s sailing in Newport a bunch this summer.  It looked well mannered, without the crew having to fight it to go fast.  I also like the decision to go with dacron race sails for this size one-design.  The ramp-launch trailer, roller furling headsail, carbon rig with adjustable backstay all makes a lot sense.  However, it wasn’t until I had the opportunity to sail with Peter Duncan this fall in New York that I realized that this boat was going to be a game-changer.  I couldn’t help but think the J/70 class was going to take-off like the J/24 did  years ago.  When I got home I told my wife, Cindy, how impressed I was with the boat and that it was a class we could race together. I was pleased to finally be able to get her out sailing at the Marblehead Demo day.  When she returned to the dock she insisted I join her for another ride. I wasn’t expecting that! She’s quite excited now for racing the J/70 together. Our two daughters can race it as well, even if I’m away!"

The report from San Diego was similar.  Jeff Brown at JK3 Yachts said: "This past Sunday we had a J/70 Demo Day hosted at San Diego Yacht Club with sailmakers from Ullman, Quantum, and North sails on each boat for people to test. It turned out to be a perfect day with about 30 attendees.  We offered food, beer, and drinks on the dock after and it was a very successful, enjoyable event. We're looking forward to growing our Socal Fleet #5!"  For more J/70 one-design sailing information

J/80 JASMINE Wins Hong Kong Round Island!

(Hong Kong, China)- It's back! Hong Kong's largest and most inclusive sailing event featured 235 sailing boats, together with outrigger canoes and coastal rowing boats, that battled it out around Hong Kong Island.  It is a capricious 26nm course that would create moments of breath-taking beauty, "shock & awe" and anxiety due to currents, whirlpools and remarkably variable winds-- as any veteran "round islanders" would say, "that's all part of the fun! Makes for great sea stories and camaraderie afterwards!"

It was the proverbial "game of two halves" for the sailors, as 235 boats of all shapes and sizes gathered in Victoria Harbour for the start of this year's Tommy Bahama Around The Island Race. With 7 knots of breeze prevailing for the first starts at 0830hrs, the Pandora and HKPN 1 fleets got clear away, but the breeze then dropped to less than two knots for the later starts, leaving a flotilla of boats drifting gently towards Lei Yue Mun on the tide.

Thankfully the breeze filled in through the morning, giving the fleet a lift through the notorious Lei Yue Mun gap and round through Junk Bay to Shek O and Cape D'Aguilar. The Around The Island Race is highly tactical and a boat's light wind sailing technique possibly influences its result more than any other skill. This was the case again today, however for a change, the sticking point was Bluff Head to Stanley, while the usual parking lot of Cyberport was enjoying 15 to 20 knots of northerly, with good breeze to carry the boats around Green Island and into the western harbour approaches.

The lead boat on the water was, unsurprisingly, Frank Pong's 72' JELIK (notably, an enthusiastic sponsor of several J/80s at Royal Hong Kong YC of the same name), who reached the Green Island Mark around 30 minutes ahead of Sam Chan's TP52 FREEFIRE. Given the conditions for the last 30% of the race, Race Officer Inge Strompf-Jepsen made the decision to allow the boats to go "all the way" and JELIK took line honours at RHKYC Kellett Island after 3 hours and 43 minutes, with FREEFIRE following home just under 25 minutes later. In all, 184 boats recorded a finish at Kellett Island before enjoying a well–earned beer on the famous RHKYC decks.

The Around The Island Race isn't only about who has the biggest and fastest boat, and the overall results are calculated on an RHKATI handicap, developed using the data from years of pursuit racing. After time correction, the results for IRC 2 Class saw Nick Southward's J/109 WHISKEY JACK avoid most pitfalls, but not all, to secure a 7th in their class.  On the one-design front, the J/80s showed up in force with thirteen boats participating. Leading them all home was Ben Bulmer's JASMINE winning their class by a rather substantial margin of 6+ minutes!  Second was David Fan's SEA BISCUIT, third was Henry Wong's FOOTLOOSE, fourth was Alex Cheung's FIGURE OF EIGHT and fifth was Karen Lam's MAY 13 (she was also first women skipper to finish).  Thanks for the contribution from Guy Nowell at Asia Sail-World.com
For more Tommy Bahama Around the Island Race sailing information

J/80 BlueProject Sailing Italy!

(Lavagna, Italy)- Team-building and leadership development on J/80s on the sunny, warm Mediterranean?  Yes, it can be done.  Michele Rayneri at BLUEPROJECT SAILING ITALY has this to offer to fellow J/80 sailors and fellow J sailing enthusiasts in the corporate world:

"Dear J friends and enthusiasts,  warm greetings from Michele Rayneri- At BLUEPROJECT, we are passionate about sailing and we have been in the business of getting people out on the water for many years.  Our fleet is made up of  nine J/80 one-design sailboats and our team is extremely experienced and has gained experience in very important international regattas.

BLUEPROJECT sees sailing as a vital corporate event and provides tailored programs: professional coaching, instruction, and innovative team building, incentive and leadership development programs.

We are dedicated to actively promoting sailing at all levels through clinics, lectures and events and, in particular, improving sailing performance on keelboats by sailing the J/80.

Our team teaches the basics of sailing whilst working as a team including: navigation, sail trimming, boat handling skills, how to work and communicate together whilst also providing team building games. Individually, each team member benefits with improving: decision making, communication, leadership skills, being part of a team, self-confidence the need to build a strong, competitive and winning spirit!

BLUEPROJECT is situated in Port of Lavagna (Genoa), but we can organize events with our J/80s all over the Mediterranean Sea.  Lavagna is an ancient seaside village, a hidden treasure and great destination for everyone enjoying a yacht rental holiday along the Italian Riviera.  Lavagna is situated in the wonderful Gulf of Tigullio, between Portofino and Sestri Levante and not far from Genoa, Montecarlo and France. It is one of the most beautiful gulfs in Italy and offers facilities and situation for excellent sailing.

The coast is a sequence of marvelous villages with their marinas, pastel-coloured houses, first-rate sports facilities and the fashionable atmosphere of "la Dolce Vita".  The beauty of the seascapes, the intense blue of the sea and the green mountains are breathtaking.

In Lavagna there are good sea food restaurants, quality beaches and a medieval, charming town centre.  A yachting vacation to the Italian Riviera can definitely be made much more enjoyable and a lot of fun with BLUEPROJECT.  For more info please visit- http://www.blueprojectsailing.it   Or, call mobile +39 335 8093904 or email- ivanaquattrini@concepteventi.it

J/70 First Sail off Chile!

(Santiago,  Chile)- J/70 South America "Numero Uno" Launches in Chile!  Juan Eduardo Reid reports that J/70 interest in Chile is simply huge!   Juan had the opportunity to assemble their first J/70 in their harbor SW of Santiago, Chile and take it out for a sail in moderate conditions.

He reports there is strong enthusiasm for a boat that can trailered, ramp-launched and sailed in less than 20 minutes in these parts because mooring and dock space are at a significant premium.

The J/70 promises to fill an enormous vacuum in the Chilean sailing marketplace. Watch this space!  Juan is hoping they can create a J/70 South American Championships in the near future and create a series that includes Peru, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil!

Brezellec Wins J/80 Coupe de France

(La Trinite sur Mer, France)- With over 190 participants, it can be said the J/80 Coupe de France is by far the most successful sailing circuit for one-design sailboats in the entire world.  Without a doubt, the level of sailing overall in France has improved considerably since the introduction of the J/80 and the development of fleets on all three coastlines (Bay of Biscay to the west, Mediterranean down south and La Manche in the north).  It is not without coincidence that this year's 2012 Coupe de France was taking on special significance since the next J/80 World Championships are being held in 2013 off Marseilles in July-- and the J/80 French Association are expecting well over 130 J/80s to participate.

The Coupe de France consists of seven events that starts with the famous "monster regatta" known as "Le Spi" (a.k.a. SPI OUEST France) that is sailed in April off the quaint seaside village of La Trinite sur Mer and ends with the Atlantic Telegramme Regatta sailed off Lorient.  The series scoring is based on a "high point" basis that counts 4 of 7 events.  Proving yet again they're the team to beat was Eric Brezellec's INTERFACE CONCEPT I, finishing the series with 359 pts and winning by a clear margin, most notably because of their exceptional performance at SPI Ouest.  Fellow colleague Simon Moriceau also proved they're a rapidly improving team that is a force to be reckoned with for next year's Worlds, finishing 2nd overall with 306 pts due in large part to their strong showings at the Grand Prix Crouesty and the Atlantique Telegramme event in Lorient.  Taking third only one point back was Luc Nadal's GAN'JA with 305 total pts.  Fourth was Herve Leduc's J'ILE DE RE with 287 pts and fifth was Martin Le Pape's ARPEGE PROMOTION with 266 pts.   For more J/80 Coupe de France sailing information

NEXTEL Wins Spanish J/80 Circuito Montanes de Vela

(Santander, Spain)- The Spanish J/80 sailing circuit this year comprised of three events starting in April and concluding in October-- all competing for top honors in the Circuito Montanes de Vela.  A total of thirty-two J/80 teams sailed over the course of the year starting with the VIII Trofeo Autoridad Portuaria de Santander in April off Santander's gorgeous harbor and waterfront.  During May, the teams sailed the Campeonato de Cantabria de Monotipos and then concluded their racing circuit sailing the VII Trofeo Presidente de Cantabria in October.

The series proved to be a hotly contested affair with the top three not being determined until the last regatta of the series.  After a modest start getting a 5th place in the Autoridad Portuaria regatta, the NEXTEL ENGINEERING team led by Ignacio Camino sailed consistently in the last two events by securing 2nds in both the Campeonato Cantabria and Presidente Cantabria events to win with a series total of 9 pts, winning by four pts over the rest of the World Champion-studded field.  After a strong start and strong finish, Pichu Torcida's ECC VIVIENDAS managed a 1-11-1 over the course of the three events for a total of 13 pts.  Third was Tonio Piris skippering YATES Y COSAS with a 2-4-13 for 19 pts.  Fourth was determined by a tie-breakers with Rafael Pascual Alfonso Esposito's MAQUECHE team winning the draw with a scoreline of 12-6-3 for 21 pts while fifth was Jaime Piris' FONESTAR team with a 11-5-5 also with 21 pts.   For more J/80 Circuito Montanes de Vela sailing information

Swiss Win World Police Sailing Championships

(Hong Kong, China)-  Imagine working "the beat" in your local city as a police officer on a daily basis wondering, hoping, wishing that nothing goes wrong so that as one of the chosen few in your police force you can travel half-way around the world to sail in J/80s off the magical island of Hong Kong! Wow, not only would it be a privilege to participate amongst the world's elite in law enforcement, but it would have to be one of the most thrilling experiences of a lifetime to earn your "credits/ stars" (or whatever is required) to be part of the four person team winging across the world's continents and vast expanses of oceans to sail amongst fellow enthusiasts who also love wind and water.  To be sure, target shooting skills were NOT on the agenda, just sailing, fun, beer, cultural activities and a few parties tossed in to keep everything in balance.  Who wouldn't want to participate in this event if you're on any police force anywhere on Planet Earth!?  I guess the Americans didn't heed the call, their loss, as much is to be learned from their contemporaries around the world.  Looks like the Swiss, Austrians, Germans, Dutch, English, Aussies, Irish, and Hong Kongers had a ball!  In fact, the Swiss had so much fun, they decided to win it all, with the Switzerland (St Galler) team and the Switzerland (Lucerne) team taking 1st and 2nd, respectively, on the podium!

The hosts for this year's 12th World Police Sailing Championships was the Hong Kong Police Sailing Club.  The event was held in the waters of Hong Kong Harbour and surrounding areas using the versatile J-80 Sailboats.  The seven-day long event was epic, fun, gorgeous, amazing and the schedule of both sailing events and social entertainment each night ensured the sailors had lots of war stories to tell to their mates later.  While the Hong Kong Police SC were the principal hosts, they could not have pulled it off without the enthusiastic support of the three primary sailing clubs in the area contributing their fleets of J/80s, including Royal Hong Kong YC (and usage of their Middle Island harbour facility), Hebe Haven Boat Club and the Aberdeen Boat Club.

The sailors were treated to an adventurous series of both passage races as well as windward-leeward courses over five days of racing.  Monday saw four W/L's off Royal Hong Kong YC's Middle Island with drinks/dinner at Aberdeen Boat Club.  Tuesday was a passage race from RHKYC to Hebe Haven YC with drinks at Hebe Haven BC and curry buffet dinner at Aberdeen BC on Middle Island.  Wednesday offered the sailors three W/L races off Middle Island with an evening soiree at Hebe Haven BC.  Thursday was Lay Day-- the crews needed it by now-- but the shopping was frenetic!!  Friday saw one W/L race, then a passage race from Hebe Haven YC to Royal Hong Kong YC followed by drinks/ dinner at RHKYC.  On Saturday, the last day saw a classic "Harbour Tour Race" with evening drinks, prize-giving at the Hong Kong Police SC HQ (courtesy of Carlsberg Beers!).

So, the natural question to ask is "how is it possible that anyone could combine so much sailing and entertainment in one week"??  Perhaps that question could be answered by veterans of some of the world's more renowned race weeks (like Key West, Cowes Week, SPI Ouest, Block Island, Capri, Newport, Rolex Big Boat, Palma and others).  Nevertheless, some of the world's best police officers managed to sail fast, smart and kept themselves out of trouble (on the water, that is).  Leading the pack home by a "squeaker" was the Switzerland (St Galler) team on the great yacht "JAILBREAKER" (appropriately, enough).  Their team of Geisser, Rieser, Fritsche, and Pasche won by only one point after eleven races, dropping a 14th in the last W/L and a 7th in Race 2 and winning the last race to seal the deal over their countrymen in 2nd place.  Easily sailing the most consistent score in the series was Switzerland (Lucerne) sailing JIVE with the team of Schumacher, Vogel, Koller and Oehen.  Their low point score of 33 was not good enough, since after two drops their 19 pts was just one pt back from the gold.  Third sailing JELIK 6 was the Netherlands (Team Amsterdam) team that consisted of Migchelsen, Sikkens, Derjik and Vanderveen with 23 pts.  Rounding out the top five was the top Hong Kong Team #1 sailing JOSS that had Tait, Leung, Armstrong and Lau sailing aboard in 4th and in 5th was the top German Team #2 sailing JELIK 7 with Uden, Weissenbom, Knospe and Eden as team-mates.

Congratulations to all thirteen teams that participated for making the effort to participate and travel so far to such an extraordinarily fun, exotic sailing adventure! Plus, great appreciation was expressed by all to the three sailing clubs- Royal Hong Kong YC, Hebe Haven BC and Aberdeen BC for graciously supplying their J/80 one-design class sailboats.  Finally, kudos go to the Hong Kong Police SC's band of volunteers that helped organize the event.  Everyone is looking forward to sailing next year, hopefully, with some Americans and South Americans participating, too!   For more World Police Sailing Championship sailing information

PACEMAKER Takes J/24 NSW State Championships

(Sydney Harbour, NSW, Australia)-  The Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club hosted this year's 2012 NSW J/24 State Championships and, again, the club, its volunteers and RC/PRO did an amazing job running another great regatta.  The very light breeze on Saturday slowly built during the day and overnight to a decent 15 kts by the end of Sunday.  Consequently, all the sailors were delighted to get in six good races under gorgeous, clear blue skies and all round great weather! As Simon Grain (owner of CODE VIOLATION) commented, "To All NSW owners, we apologize that the Trophies again went to Victorians, Dave Suda and crew on PACEMAKER are hard to beat, but let's keep trying!"

"Many Thanks" to Janette Syme, skipper of the totally fab all-girl crew sailing on WHISPER, for contributing her version of events at the NSW J24 Championships.  Here is Janette's awesome commentary:

"Friday – the day before the regatta – boats arrive at RANSA from various points on Sydney Harbour, Victoria and one from South Australia. There is a mixture of crews, skippers, boats (owned, begged, borrowed, stolen – pieced together)!  And, crew all keen– boats sleek, shiny and cleaned. Soon thereafter their launching, they were all ferried around to moorings outside RPEYC.

RPEYC has a magnificent aspect of the harbour at Point Piper. Essentially an historic building, oozing character, it was comfortable and welcoming. We all sat waiting for the wind on Saturday morning, perched on the verandah, or reading books in the lounge or feet up on the lawn (as you do at regattas!).  After a couple of weeks of sea-breeze, southerly busters and generally plentiful wind, there was nothing, and grey clouds (think it must have been the Mexican Margarita's influence)!

Nonetheless off we all went at first puff and bobbed around within a couple of start line shifts until a reasonable Easterly settled in at 5-10 kts. So the first day, we only managed 2 races but it was hotly contested in the light airs.  Dave Suda (Sandringham YC) in PACEMAKER secured a win as did Sean Kirkjian (RPEYC) in SAILPAC. The racing was set around mid harbour– across the channel– all windward/leewards. Sean Wallis (Perth ) sailing KAOTIC was first to the windward mark in race 1 only to hit it– they lost 4 places doing penalty turns.  Creditable sailing from ACE (MHYC), VORTEX (MHYC) , KICKING BOTTOM (Sandringham YC) and EL FIDELO (SA CYC), CODE VIOLATION (Sandringham YC) and BY THE LEE (Sandringham YC) to fill the places.

Sunday started with a 10 kts sea breeze from the NE– sun shining– the harbour littered with the usual power boats, ferries , speed bumps etc. Definite western shore lift and turning tide run out – affecting all boats up and down stream especially races 5 and 6. The wind lifted to 15-20 kts NE, perfect sea-breeze and great sailing.  Downwind legs generally favoured the shoreline and boats mostly headed for the starboard gate. Ferries had a habit of splitting the fleet with many boats gaining or loosing a place because of a ferry or two.  All in all, the series was predominantly clearly contested which is great to see.

So after 6 races I think we could all feel our arms, shoulders and hands and wore a generous amount of sea spray and wind burn. But for the most part everyone was smiling.

Congratulations to Dave Suda and the Pacemaker crew who deservedly won the NSW title again. To Sean Kirkjian and crew on SAILPAC a fabulous 2nd and Sean Wallis and crew in KAOTIC (Arthur Crothers) that rolled into third.  Handicap winner was JAGGED EDGE (Leon Ratner REPYC), 2nd BY THE LEE (Brendan Lee Sandringham YC) and 3rd WHISPER (Janette Syme with fab all-girl crew from Manly-Man YC).

The NSW Women on Water trophy went to Sophie Kennedy for her continued support of the class, over the years racing on various boats from Sailpac, Kaotic, Wildfire and Whisper.

Many thanks to NSW committee especially Sean Kirkjian for organizing a great regatta – see you next year same time same place! Thanks also to Danny, AJ and James for your help with tenders and photos!"  For more J/24 NSW Championships sailing information

Cal YC Wins J/105 Lipton Cup

(San Diego, CA)- This year's prestigious Sir Thomas Lipton Cup Regatta promised to be one of the most challenging editions ever in the 98 year history of the event. There were two signifiant milestones for the sailors that elevated the game for all competitors from around America. First and foremost, the San Diego YC's remarkable cadre of enthusiastic, supportive sailors decided to invest in twelve identical suits of J/105 sails from their local North Sails Loft (for those history buffs, this is the place where Lowell North, founder of North Sails, started his little business). Secondly, the SDYC Lipton Cup Committee also decided to open up the event from a SoCal "club championship" to one with broader national appeal, inviting three clubs to participate for this year's event- New York YC, St Francis YC and Southern YC.  When the dust cleared from the field of battle on San Diego Bay, the "newcomers" gave it their all and nearly pulled off an upset, but it was California YC's "Peaches" Little and team that were crowned the 2012 Lipton Cup Champions.

The weather forecasts for the regatta initially looked a bit like the "fresh-to-frightening" variety, with a massive Low spinning out of the Gulf of Alaska and whipping up its fury as it spun towards the California coastline.  One thing's for sure, the surfers were certainly excited about it-- with promise of 10-15 ft surf on their favorite surf breaks offshore.  For the sailors, the prospect of big breeze, leaden grey skies and rain was nothing like what the San Diego Chamber of Commerce promised for "typical" San Diego weather conditions.

While Friday dawned a bit grey, it soon cleared up to a partly cloudy, sunny day with good breeze from the "normal" sea breeze direction of 275-285 at 8-15 kts inside the San Diego Harbor-- amazing, the sailors were blessed beyond belief!  As a result, the 12 boat fleet of J/105s enjoyed most excellent racing in the natural sailing amphitheater of San Diego Bay surrounded by three islands- Coronado Island, Shelter Island and Harbor Island.  There was only one big hiccup to the proceedings on the first day, a significant "bumper car" situation at the first weather mark in the second race ended up having two boats becoming instantly OOC (out of commission).  So, after racing two good races, the fleet was sent home to repair boat wounds and sore muscles.  Tied for the lead after the first day were San Diego YC and St Francis YC with several clubs just behind them, including Coronado YC, Newport Harbor YC and Southwestern YC.

For the second day of racing, the Lipton Cup PRO wisely decided to start earlier by one hour due to the amazing forecast for Saturday's racing- 10-15 kts gusting to 20 kts from 275-285 (remember, this is the usual direction).  And so it was.  After five fantastic, incredibly close races, the sailors all returned home a bit worse for wear and tear.  With 10-15 minute boat-swapping turn-arounds between each race that entailed sailing over to the "change-dock", unloading all your personal gear, spinnaker, tools, food/drink, then moving over to the new boat, sailing back to the start, re-attaching the spinnaker, storing all the gear, checking the wind, checking the jib-sheet leads and halyard tension, checking the mainsail setup and ensuring your spinnaker wasn't twisted by hoisting it temporarily, it was understandable that most crews were pretty exhausted by early Saturday evening. At the end of this marathon of four "sausages" (4 windward-leewards) and the one last 3-legger, the crews were quite ready to either sleep or find a massage therapist fast with a good dosage of pain-killing Advil tossed in for good measure.  With seven races under their belts, the standings took a dramatic change as the wind blew hard for at least three races of the five.  Standing out from the crowd with 3 bullets in the first three races was Coronado YC to take over the lead for the regatta.  Another big mover was New York YC with two bullets in the last two races, enough to pull them within striking distance of the lead along with several other clubs, including California YC, San Diego YC, St Francis YC, San Francisco YC and Newport Harbor YC.

The stage was now set for the third and final day of racing.  The weather forecast could not have been worse.  A weak gradient from the ESE in the early morning hours was supposed to persist until noon, then slowly fill-in for what appeared to be a "drift-a-thon".  Thankfully, the SDYC's PRO was blessed yet again.  Mercifully, the wind died by mid-morning and the rapid heating of the Tijuana mountains to the southeast meant the proverbial NW breeze from 275-285 would develop with a range of 6-12 kts, enough to get in four final races on Sunday! The biggest determinant of performance in the first 2-3 races was how each team factored in the strong ebb current before it finally started to change mid-afternoon into a flood current along the Harbor Island shoreline.  Local knowledge helped to some degree.  But, again, good/bad starts and tactical calls would make enormous differences for each team as they struggled with the breeze lane along the "USS Carl Vincent" (a massive 1,100 ft, 20-story high nuclear carrier parked along the left (south) side of the course and the Harbor Island starboard lifts dropping into the course from the shoreline along the right (north) side of the course.  In the end, it was Cal YC's Bob "Peaches" Little that avoided any big pitfalls race-to-race to win by just 3 pts.  Second was local San Diego YC sailing champion Chuck Driscoll finishing with 49 points.  After a fabulous day of sailing Saturday, the Coronado YC boys had rough going the last day, whatever "lucky charm" they had simply faded away, ending up third for the regatta with 55 pts.  After being in a tie for the lead on the first day, it was yet another tale of "two days" for Russ Silvestri and crew aboard the St Francis YC team, finishing with 57 pts, narrowly missing the podium on the last leg of the last race.  Rounding out the top five was the current J/105 North American Champion, Chris Perkins sailing for San Francisco YC with 66 pts.

The Lipton Cup Regatta marked the end of the remarkable four weekends of J/105 sailing in San Diego.  All four events were managed very well by San Diego YC's band of 100+ volunteers, excellent RC/PRO and it sponsors (including J/Boats dealer Jeff & Karen Brown's JK3 Yachting as both sponsors and Chairs of Committees for the various events).  Kudos to all and a testimonial to what excellent planning and execution can do to make it a memorable series of events for many sailors from across America.  If the chatter on the dock and the deck of San Diego YC was any indication of the fun and camaraderie amongst all the sailors, the future sure looks bright for the J/105 Masters and the Lipton Cup in 2013 and beyond!   Sailing photo credits- Mark Albertazzi (www.kaimaka.com)   For more J/105 Lipton Cup sailing information