Everett Crowned J/70 Women’s Worlds Champion!

(Rye, New York)- Communal experience as a team and college sailing experience in shifty winds paid dividends for Clemmie Everett (Rye, N.Y.) and her crew, who took home the Bengt Julin Trophy for winning the 2016 International Women’s Keelboat Championship at American Yacht Club on Friday.

“Wednesday’s racing was coming right off the shore so it was very shifty,” said Everett. “Alix sailed at Tufts. Tufts sails at Mystic Lake. I sailed in the Charles River in college. We both do a lot of frostbiting. We were totally comfortable with puffy and shifty conditions.”  The team made a conscious effort to avoid penalties that would have cost valuable standings points.

“The biggest thing was sailing clean,” said Carolyn Russell of Greenwich, Conn., who trimmed spinnaker for the winning crew. “You don’t want to make contact, because that really kills you.”

“We tried our hardest never to realize we were really close,” said Erin Sprague, who trimmed the mainsheet and traveler. “After the second round robin, once we looked at the numbers, we had a little taste of the fact that it was possible.”

But, until their J/70 was close to the final finish line, Everett and her crew tried to keep it out of their heads.

“We didn’t talk about it a lot, we were just out for a sail,” said Alix Hahn, who grew up sailing at American Yacht Club and trimmed jib and called tactics for the winners. “After the second race in (the championship flight) we knew this was ours to lose, and we went out and won that last one, and it felt really good.

When the boat crossed the line, tears flowed, hugs were given, and the spinnaker came down. But Everett’s team knew what an amazing week of sailing they had shared.

“Every minute in the boat counts,” said Alix Hahn, who grew up sailing at American Yacht Club and trimmed jib and called tactics for the winners. “Without question, this is a peak victory for all of us. I don’t think any of us have had a sailing moment that’s as special as this one.”

For the winners, the influence on younger female sailors could not be understated. “I would say to any young girl who is scared of sailing right now, just keep at it, ask a lot of questions, and find some mentors or find some coaches and get determined, and decide this is what you want to do, and go do it.”

First day report
The sixteen teams came from Germany, Canada, New Zealand and 12 US states. Included were two teams from Rye.  After a four-year hiatus, U.S. Sailing restarted the International Women’s Keelboat Championship, choosing the 130-year-old American Yacht Club in Rye as host.

Held in Long Island Sound, the regatta spanned four days, beginning Tuesday, and featured 16 four-member crews who rotated boats, competing 10 races each.  At least, that was the plan.

The teams used 12 provided J/70 sailboats that were all tuned identically for mast rake and rig tension and used a brand-new inventory of North Sails.

Megan Ploch, who at only 16, was skippering a boat, wasn’t taking anything for granted.  Ploch, a Pelham resident whose dad is a sailmaker, has sailed at American Yacht Club for years. She competed with a team that included Christine Klinger, 18, of the Larchmont Yacht club, Barbara Gold and Anne Schwagler.

“I love how I actually know a lot of the people sailing or know of them. It’s like ‘Oh, gosh, I’m sailing against world-class sailors. Wow, insane – Germany,” said Ploch, who’ll start her senior year at Pelham High in the fall and plans to sail in college.

“There are some really, really good sailors here. I really want to have a good time and to do the best we can. All the people (on my team) are really capable sailors. We’ll sail the best we can and see where it gets us,” she added.

The German team Ploch mentioned, the Deutscher Touring YC team out of Tutzing, Germany, which is near Munich, includes Monika Linder, Anna Seidl, Laura Fischer and skipper Mareike Weber, all of whom are in their early to mid-20s.  Their club and sponsors, including BMW, sponsored their trip and entry.  The squad, which has competed together since March, is hoping for a top-five finish.  It did not take long for these sailors to be treated to the heart-quickening pace that is attributed to the “sailing league” format.

The fleet experienced an amazingly good first day of sailing.  The forecast was for an early easterly breeze of 6-8 kts to die by noon and, with a pending front arriving overnight, to switch into the SSW and increase to 10-15 kts.  The US Sailing PRO- Sandy Grosvenor, worked closed with her assistant PRO- Sandy Weil of American YC, to provide incredibly fast-paced racing.  After getting in a quick three races in the morning, then a quick lunch break for the wind to settle in, the fleet zipped through a flurry of eight races (averaging 20 minutes each) in the afternoon to complete 11 of the 16 races necessary for a complete rotation in Round 1.

After the first day of racing, it was pretty clear that two teams were sailing fast and consistent and were hoping to be leading after the completion of Round 1 the next day; Melinda Henshaw from Remuera, New Zealand and Allie Blecher from California.

Day Two Report
After two days of intense competition, it was Henshaw’s New Zealand crew that was leading after Round 1 of 16 races in very puffy, shifty wind conditions.  Henshaw was counting all top four finishes for just 25 pts in her ten races- an astonishing average of just 2.5 pts.  After closing with a 2-1-2 in her last three races, Allie Blecher leapt into second place with 32 pts, just seven points clear of the German Deutscher Touring YC led by skipper Mareike Weber, sitting on 39 pts.  Fourth was Emily Maxwell’s team with 40 pts, winning the tie-breaker for Round 1 over Giselle Nyenhuis, the leader of the Netherlands team.

The stage was now set for Round 2 of the regatta.  Would the standings get jumbled yet again?  It was evident the fleet was beginning to play a fierce game of “snakes & ladders” in the exceedingly shifty, blustery winds on the second day of racing.

The forecast for the day was for a strong NNW breeze to slowly die off by the evening.  The morning dawned with winds blowing 10 to 20 kts from the NNW and shifting a good 35-45 degrees on both the upwind and downwind legs.  It paid to get in phase on the lifted tack as early as possible off the start.  Getting flushed to the wrong side of the course produced disastrous consequences.  And, not gybing early into wind streaks filling off the New York shoreline would cost you dearly as boats that worked into the leading edges of puffs would simply streak past you on a full-on plane.

“We felt really comfortable today, which was sort of surprising,” Blecher said. “We never really lost our cool. Anything’s possible. If we were on the wrong side of a shift, we knew hopefully that something else would be there to gain it back.”  Blecher’s boat, crewed by Rebekah Schiff, Molly Robinson Noble and Sarah Somes, had won three races, finished second twice and third twice to stay in the hunt for the overall lead…but there was a lot of racing still left to go.

Henshaw, with Carla Holgate, Zib Campbell and Wendy Faulkner aboard, had taken three bullets and finished second three times. “Perhaps a few of our starting tactics weren’t right today, and I think that cost us the consistency we were looking for,” said Henshaw. “That cost us two or three races where we could have been further up there.”

Racing out of her home club, Clemmie Everett and her crew of Alix Hahn, Carolyn Russell, and Erin Sprague had taken three races, finished second three times and third once.  “The wind was coming right off the land, which was really shifty,” Everett said. “We were able to get into that ‘play the shifts’ mode, and though we had a penalty for contact early in the day, after that, we played it conservative, didn’t take crazy risks. We’re just aiming to be top three or top five every race.”

Day Three Report
The third day of racing ended up being a complete washout.  After a four hour postponement, the “Sandy & Sandy” PRO team made a valiant effort to get the fleet motivated to get racing going on Thursday.  However, the wind Godz would simply not cooperate.  The forecast was for “less than zero to two” all day, and that is exactly what was delivered.  It was simply a classic Long Island Sound “glass-out”.

Day Four Report
At dawn on Friday, the fleet was required to show up at American YC for an 8am skipper’s briefing and roll-call.  Some teams showed up a bit glassy-eyed, one was even “AWOL”, apparently they took advantage of all the time off on Thursday to visit the exciting “bright lights and big city” of the Big Apple- downtown New York!  Just as promised, the Sandy & Sandy team took off early, set the course in the light to moderate easterly, and fired off the first race on-time at 0930 hrs to complete Round 2 by 11:45am.  With just ten races completed of Round 2 on Wednesday, their work was cut out for the RC team to sail five races, organize the top ten boats for a final three race “Gold Championship” Round, and rotate boats!  Incredibly, with amazing organization by the RC, PRO’s, and the “swap boat drivers” (Jamie Everett and Stu Johnstone), it all came to fruition with all racing completed by 1:45pm!

The completion of Round 2 brought several surprises.  The biggest issue for all the teams was maintaining a consistent scoreline in the shifty winds on Wednesday, then putting it together again on the last day where breezes were mainly steadier and streaky from the East.  Henshaw’s team stumbled a bit mid-round, posting four finishes of 6th or worse and closing Round 2 with 69 pts with just a four point lead.  Meanwhile, loving the shifty winds Wednesday and maintaining that pace on Friday morning was Everett’s local American YC team, finishing their round with 73 pts and closing fast on the leaders— there’s was the most meteoric rise in the fleet as they were not even in the top five after the completion of Round 1!  Lying third only 3 pts back was Blecher’s California crew with 76 pts, fourth was Weber’s German DTYC crew with 82 pts and fifth was Nyenhuis’ Netherlands team with 84 pts.

The stage was now set for the 3-race Gold Championship round. And, what a nail-biting, anxiety-inducing finale it was for the leaderboard!  In Gold race #1, Henshaw’s crew were trying to nail the port end start and in the process was OCS, had to restart and, concurrently, fouled another boat by hitting them.  As a result, they not only did a 720 to absolve themselves, but had to take a 100% collision penalty- about as costly a mistake anyone could make- adding an instant 23 pts to their no-throwout scoreline!  Meanwhile, Weber’s German crew took a 2nd and Blecher’s crew a 3rd, for both teams to close within 4 and 1 pt, respectively, to the new regatta leader- Everett’s AYC team (now that Henshaw’s scoreline was eviscerated)!  Yowza!!  Snakes & ladders, everywhere!! In the second race, Weber nailed the start and race to again take 2nd, Blecher took another 3rd, but Everett’s crew regrouped and won the race to open up a 3 pt lead on Blecher and 5 pts on Weber!  Meanwhile, Henshaw’s Kiwi crew just could not get it together and produced a 9th place- a devastating second blow in an otherwise brilliant week of sailing.

The drama continued to build and the crescendo of thundering hooves could be heard everywhere as the horses were on the track heading for the final curve and the photo finish!  In the final race, it was Weber’s team that blinked, posting an uncharacteristic 8th place, but holding on to the bronze medal.  Meanwhile, Everett’s crew finished in triumphant style, winning the last race and the championship, their amazing comeback now completed!  Henshaw’s Kiwi crew had a mini-redemption race, easily taking 2nd and closing with 5th overall.  Blecher scored yet another 3rd place to take the silver medal.  And, Nyenhuis’ Netherlands crew sailed consistently to take 4th overall.  Nothing like a bit of drama on the last day and in the Gold Round!  Needless to say, it was great racing and the big winners were the women’s teams themselves that participated in the regatta— a great many new friends were made and many are determined to continue practicing and head for Bermuda for 2017!   Watch this nicely done sailing video recap of the Women’s Worlds here.  For a beautiful photos from Matt Callen- check out the IWKC Flickr album here.   For more J/70 Women’s Worlds Keelboat Championship sailing information

Cruising a J/105 on the Pacific Coast?

(Santa Barbara, CA)- Why not!?  Larry & Becky Harteck, active members of the Santa Barbara J/105 fleet, decided to do exactly that with their two sons- heading for the Channel Islands!  According to Larry:

“We were at Santa Cruz Island for three days without any cell service!  Our son, Nick, is exploring a cave (an underwater ‘grotto’) that goes back at least a 100 feet and opens up to 2 large ‘rooms’.

We anchored at Lady's Harbor in absolutely perfect conditions!  So nice to enjoy the sounds of nature, hiking adventures ashore, swimming and exploring with the kids!”

We could not agree more with this idea.  Disconnecting from anything electronic and interacting with your environment in a family setting is a wonderful way to spend time with your kids!

J/130 SCEPTRE Dominating CORA

(Mount Pleasant, SC)- The J/130 SCEPTRE is now sailing in the offshore circuit in the southeastern USA.  Here’s a report from her owner- Bob Musor from Mt Pleasant, South Carolina- “We moved from the San Francisco Bay Area two years ago and brought our J/130 SCEPTRE with us to South Carolina. I have been slowly building a crew in the area.

Last Friday, we raced in the annual Savannah Cup, which is a night race from Charleston, SC to Savannah, Ga.  We finished second in Alpha Class and were less than 30 minutes from winning the Savannah Cup outright!!  SCEPTRE now has won trophies on both coasts and is as much fun to sail as ever!!”

J/111 BLUR Sailing Gothenburg Ocean Race Video!

(Gothenburg, Sweden)- J/111 BLUR.SE report- owner/ skipper Peter Gustafsson commented on the Gothenburg Open Sea Race:  “This is perhaps the only proper offshore race on the west coast of Sweden- the Gothenburg Open Sea Race.  It is a short 120 nm over-night stunt back and forth over Kattegat bay.

Most of the J/111 BLUR.SE crew were on vacation, but I was keen to go anyways- - so we decided to do it double-handed.  We thought it might be fun to challenge the fully-crewed teams. Or, so we thought.  As we got closer to the race, the forecast became more and more grim, with pouring rain and 18-24 knots southwesterly breeze during the night.

We managed to stay with the pack on the long upwind over to the northern tip of Denmark, before we took off on the way home in the pitch black August night.

Unfortunately, the wind picked up even more at daybreak, and we had a steady 34-36 kts of wind when we rounded the last offshore mark at Marstrand. Not good. But the J/111 performed great with the heavy weather jib and a deep reef.  We didn’t break anything and we felt confident all the way!!  And the bonus? We took line honors and beat the fully crewed boats on handicap as well!! And, we did 20+ kts for a long time!!”  Here is a YouTube sailing video J/111 BLUR.SE’s experience on the Gothenburg Open Sea Race.

Sailing Champions League- St Petersburg Preview

(St Petersburg, Russia)- The SAILING Champions League (SCL) will start this Friday (August 26th) in St. Petersburg. Clubs from all over Europe will arrive in the far north to obtain a starting position for the big SCL finale at the end of September on Sardinia. As a technological partner of the SAILING Champions League, SAP will provide technical support for professional live coverage. Organizers and partners expect a thrilling weekend with spectacular sailing pictures on “Sail TV.”

“This is the first season that the SAILING Champions League stages Act I and our Club is happy to be among the pioneers of the sailing league movement that is fast growing every year. With support of the Gazprom Company, SAP, SailTracks and the SCL professionals, we aim to make this Act one to remember“, said Vladimir Lyubomirov, St. Petersburg Yacht Club Commodore.

The sailing will take place on Neva Bay with matched international J/70 one-designs.  The Bay, also known as the Gulf of Kronstadt, is the easternmost part of the Gulf of Finland between Kotlin Island and the Neva River estuary where Saint Petersburg city center is located. The entire bay has been separated from the Baltic Sea/ Gulf of Finland by the 25 km long Saint Petersburg Dam.  As a result, the Bay is also informally known as “the Marquis’ Puddle”- named after Jean Baptiste, Marquis de Traversay, the Russian naval minister who regarded the shallow waters of the bay as an ideal place for holding naval exercises.

Twenty-three of the best sailing club teams from across Europe have been invited; all are leaders in their respective sailing leagues.  Participants include Austria’s Segelclub TWV Achensee, Denmark’s Hellerup Sejlklub and Roskilde Sejlklub, Finland’s Nylandska Jaktklubben and Wasa Segelforening, Germany’s Berliner YC, Munchner YC & Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, Italy’s Societa Velica di Barcola e Grignano and YC Adriaco, Malta’s Royal Malta YC, Norway’s Nesodden Seilforening, Netherlands’ RR & ZV Maas en Roer and WV Almere Centraal, Poland’s Jacht Klub Wielkopolski and Towarzystwo Zeglarstwa Regatowego PMT, Russia’s St Petersburg YC and YC PIRogovo, Switzerland’s Regattaclub Bodensee and Societe Nautique de Geneve, and Sweden’s Ekolns Segelklubb, Halmstads Segelsallskap and Varmdo Jolleseglare.

On Saturday and Sunday, the SCL will broadcast live from St. Petersburg. Races will then be streamed from 12:00 to 04:00 pm live in the Internet. International sports reporters and sailing experts will comment on the races and make the sport of sailing easily accessible to everyone with the help of descriptive graphics and comprehensible explanations.  Live broadcasting: Watch the Races of Act I LIVE!
For more J/70 St Petersburg Russia SAILING Champions League information

J/22 Worlds Update

(Kingston, ONT, Canada)- The world-famous CORK International Sailing Week is playing host to the 2015 J/22 World Championship, held in Kingston, Ontario and being sailed on the eastern end of Lake Ontario until the end of the week.  Forty-six teams participating from Canada (15 boat), the Cayman Islands (three teams) and the USA (28 crews).

Day One report
Chris Doyle of New York showed why he’s the reigning J/22 World Champion on the opening day of the regatta. Three races were completed in gorgeous Lake Ontario conditions. Doyle, sailing with Will Harris and Adam Burns, finished Monday with 10 points, after scoring a 4,4,2. Mike Marshall won the opening contest, then added a 5,10 for 16 points and second place. Brad Julian recovered from a 19 to earn two bullets for 21 points and third overall.

After an on-water postponement as the seabreeze settled in, the winds began at 6-8 knots but built to 8-12, as Marshall, Marvin Beckmann and Terry Flynn made up the top three in the opening battle. Race two saw the highest breeze at 12-17 with gusts in the low 20s. Behind Julian were Jeff Todd and Zeke Horowitz. The winds dropped to 13-15 in the day’s final duel, won again by Julian, as Doyle and Travis Odenbach took the next two spots.

Among the regatta entrants are the recipients of the first ever US J/22 Class Association scholarship boat, led by skipper Patrick Shanahan of Brown University. Also racing is the Warrior Sailing Program, which introduces active military and veterans with disabilities to sailing. Ed Norton is helming USA1367

Day Two report
The day before the Worlds started, Mike Marshall led a panel discussion focused on techniques for heavy breeze and waves. Tuesday, he and his crew of Todd Hiller and Luke Lawrence put those practices to good use in winds that began in the mid-teens and quickly built to a steady 19 knots with gusts into the 20s and 2-4 foot waves. Recording a 2,1,3, the Newport-based helmsman now posts a net score of 12 points in six races, able to discard a 10th from race three. Chris Doyle dropped to second place with 18 net points, and Jeff Todd moved up to third with 22.

Travis Odenbach opened the day with the race win, as Marshall placed second and Terry Flynn third. Flynn again followed Marshall in the middle contest, as Chris Gaffney made the top three. Flynn continued his solid day with a bullet in Tuesday’s final race, ahead of Zeke Horowitz and Marshall.

The 41 teams will enjoy dinner at Fort Henry in Kingston this evening, and racing continues through Thursday.  For more J/22 World Championship sailing information

New J/70 Corinthian Nationals Announcement

(Annapolis, MD)- The US J/70 Class Association announced the inaugural US Corinthian National Championship will take place this fall in Annapolis, Maryland. Eastport Yacht Club will host the "amateur-only" event in conjunction with the established Fall Brawl regatta from October 20-23, 2016. In addition to three days of racing, J/World will conduct practice races on Thursday, October 20, and both Friday and Saturday evenings will include a competitors’ social and industry professional debrief.

As a Corinthian event, all competitors, including the owner/driver, must provide proof of a valid ISAF Group 1 classification at the time of registration. “The concept of having a Corinthian Championship really took off at this year’s Easter Regatta,” summarized Christopher Howell, US J/70 Class Association Executive Director.

“While our amateur teams have benefited tremendously from professional sailors, there is a strong desire to also have a Championship with a balanced playing field where the competitors can receive advice from industry experts,” Powell added.

The Class Association has already scheduled the second US Corinthian National Championship for August 2017 as part of the Buzzards Bay Regatta in Massachusetts.  Sailing photo credit- Ingrid Abery.com.  For more J/70 Corinthian Nationals sailing information

Challenging Chester Race Week

(Chester, Nova Scotia)– Sailors are a resilient lot– they race hard when conditions allow, and when they don’t. After hours on the course looking for wind, Chester Race Week organizers finally cancelled races for Bravo, Delta, and One Design fleets, sending wind-weary sailors back to shore on the final day of Chester Race Week. The only fleets to get races on the final day were Alpha and Bluenose.

“This was a tough week for everybody, weather wise,” said Chief Principal Race Officer Brian Todd. “Huge thanks to our race Course PRO's– Ken Legler, Oliver Bone, and Daniel Conrad– and their mark boat crews who all worked so hard to ensure the best racing possible given the challenging, constantly changing conditions. In the end, that’s why we had to cancel some courses.”

The regatta did not start out that way.  It was quite the opposite end of the spectrum.  With nearly gale force winds in the first two days, there were plenty of broken boats (sails, masts, etc) that forced retirements and, in fact, so much wind that some boats didn’t even venture forth to go sailing.  With breezes hitting 30+ kts, many of the J/Teams reveled in the conditions and took full advantage of it.  Later in the week, as the breezes subsided and went all for naught on the last day, you would’ve been hard pressed to find sailors that didn’t enjoy the breadth of weather thrown at them!  “It sure beats fog and no wind” was a familiar perspective!

Winning the J/35 class was Andrew Child’s HELOC with a scoreline punctuated by all 1sts & 2nds.  Not far behind was Thane MacDonald’s J-HAWK with 9 pts and closing out the podium in third place was the dynamic duo of Gary Bennett & designer Rod Johnstone on J’AI TU.

The J/120 Class, Stu McCrea’s DEVIATION taking class honors with nearly all bullets to count in their six-race/ one toss series.  Taking second was Ron Stewart’s SLICE from Stratford, Prince Edward Island; they were followed by Richard Calder’s BRILLIANCE, just one point back.

Similarly, the J/29s enjoyed very tight racing between the top three boats.  At the end of the five race series, Don Williams’ PARADIGM SHIFT and Terry Schnare’s HEAD GAMES were tied on points at 6.5 pt each, with PARADIGM SHIFT taking the tie-breaker.  Third only three points back was Paul Dexter’s PAINKILLER.

The large J/24 class saw a runaway, taking their “Get out of jail free” card and running around the table like no won was there!  Winning 6 of 8 races, Dave Wedlake’s BARELY LEGAL dominated class, winning by 7 pts.  Chasing them hard around the course and even taking a win off BARELY LEGAL was Chris Veinot’s HYPEWAVE, ultimately finishing in 2nd place with 15 pts.  Third was Ross Romney’s RUSH HOUR with 21 pts.

Over in the PHRF handicap world, on the Bravo 1 Class, it was Bruce Moore’s lovely J/30 RATTLE & HUM that was first JBoat and 4th in class.  Second J/crew and 5th in class was Bill Adams’ J/70 RE-DEMPTION, sixth was Dale Robertson’s J/80 GOAT WHISPERER, 7th place was Jesleine Baker’s JUST ADD WATER, and 8th was Sam Lamey’s J/27 INCORRIGIBLE.

The Alpha 3 Class saw local hotshot Colin Mann sail his J/92 POOHSTICKS onto the top of the leaderboard after closing their six race series with four bullets in a row!  Second was Rory Macdonald’s J/105 McMAC, 5th place was Jim Mosher’s J/105 MOJO, and 6th was Richard Gerstenberger’s AXIS.

The J/88 DEEP BIGHT, with Jim Snair as skipper, was sailing in perhaps the most mixed, bizarre combination of boats in the entire regatta- from two large Beneteau cruisers down to a Viper 830 and Fareast 28R!  In the end, Snair’s J/88 placed fourth.  Sailing photo credit- Allen Clark/ Photoboat.com.   For more Chester Race Week sailing information

J/80 UK Nationals Preview!

(Lymington, England)- There are only 10 days to go until the J/80 Nationals at Royal Lymington YC that start on Saturday 27th August. With 23 boats entered so far and more expected, this is looking like it will be a spectacular event. Entries will be accepted until 9am on Saturday 27th August.

Amis Production drones are revving their blades, Seahorse Magazines are fattening the pig for the Hog Roast, Skyscanner are sound checking the Sunday night band, North Sails are trimming last minute sails, Berthon are sweeping the docks, Nick Cox are sizing up the gear from Helly Hansen and Royal  Lymington YC are readying the Ribs. The extensive number of sponsors and the great sailing waters of Christchurch Bay mean that this event will be a classic of the J/80 calendar; if you haven’t entered already, then don’t miss out!

A full shore-based program has been arranged for the Championships and subsidized tickets can now be purchased for the two main social events by visiting J/80 Nationals Social Events.  For more J/80 UK Nationals sailing information

Arendals Wins Norway J/70 Sailing League Act III

(Stavanger, Norway)- While Olympic sailors were fighting for medals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, so gathered Norway's best Sailing Clubs to participate in their third round of the Norwegian Sailing League at Stavanger Yacht Club in Stavanger, Norway.  The initial forecast was promising for the fifteen participating teams from across Norway- 10 kts from the West on Saturday, followed by a little less from the Northwest on Sunday, with Saturday being a bit wet and a sunny Sunday for all!

It turned out the weather forecasters in Oslo were quite accurate.  It was cold, wet and windy on the first day, with breezes hitting in excess of 20-25 kts on Saturday.  Then, Sunday provided light northwesterly winds all day to enable the Stavanger YC’s PRO to complete a total of 14 races for each team!

Showing their training has begun to pay big dividends, the Arendals team posted eight 1sts and five 2nds in their 14 races to win by four points over the Asgardstrand sailing club- also winning ten races but having a few bad ones to contend with.  Third was KNS (Kongelig Norsk Seilforening) only one point back from ASF.

“It blew so fresh on Saturday that some teams chose to sail without gennakers in their races. In the big winds, you can see an big difference between the best teams and those who are still climbing up the learning curve,” commented Didrik Godaker, PRO for Stavanger YC.

In the overall series, Åsgårdstrand SF currently leads by a single point over their arch rivals KNS.  ASF counts a 1st in Oslo, 2nd in Sandefjord and 2nd in Stavanger for 43 pts total (high point scoring).  Due to their important win in Stavanger, Arendals counts a 4-8-1 for 35 pts, vaulting from the bottom of the pack to third overall.  While it may be hard for Arendals to catch the two leaders in the finale on September 10th to 11th in Bergen, they will have to watch their backs since they are in a virtual four-way tie for third place; sitting in third with 35 pts, with RAN in fourth with 34 pts, Larvik in fifth with 33 pts and Trondhjems in sixth with 30 pts.  Bergen will be the game-breaker for one of these teams, that is for certain!!  Follow the exciting action soon in a fortnight!  For more J/70 Norwegian Sailing League information