Seattle’s Round County Race Preview

(Seattle, WA)- For many regattas, participant numbers are a mere shadow of their former glory. However, there are two events with a similar racing format that have been selling out (SELLING OUT!) for the past few years in Seattle- the Orcas Island Yacht Club/Friday Harbor Sailing Club’s “Round the County Race” and the Sloop Tavern Yacht Club’s “Race to the Straits”!!  Over one hundred boats participate in each event. Hundreds of sailors have an awesome time. The registration limit gets reached earlier and earlier every year. So, why do these thrive while others struggle, despite best efforts of good sailors and dedicated volunteers? According to Joe Cline at 48 North, the answer is “the Destination Wedding Principle!”

According to Joe, “I can remember watching a YouTube clip of Ken Read (top-notch American J/24, Etchells 22, Volvo Ocean Race, and America’s Cup racer) talking at a conference a couple of years back. He was beating the drum about prioritizing comfort, fun, and variety in racing. He was saying that a few hours of racing is the right amount. He was also encouraging a move away from simple windward-leeward courses. I tend to agree with many of Read’s ideas. And, I’d say that ‘Round the County’ and ‘Race to the Straits’ align with his philosophy, and that it’s a big part of their success.

Our regional distance classics are races that require sailing into or through the night. Royal Victoria’s Swiftsure is the most notable, but West Vancouver Yacht Club’s ‘Southern Straits’, and the Seattle Yacht Club’s ‘Smith Island/Protection Island Races’ are all in this mold, with distances between 80 and 120 miles. By contrast, both ‘Round the County’ and ‘Race to the Straits’ are two-day mid-distance races. Each race departs from a sailing hotspot on Saturday, and sends the boats on a course through breathtaking Salish Sea scenery for a distance around 30 miles. Each race spends the night in the middle partying in a quaint and picturesque locale. Partying- - as in nobody is going home, nobody has to take the dog for a walk, nobody’s checking on the kids, and nobody has to go to work tomorrow- - just partying. That doesn’t necessarily mean alcohol fueled, though we are sailors and for many it does. On Sunday morning of ‘Race to the Straits’ or ‘Round the County’, you pry your eyes open, and head right out on the water for another 30-mile sail home.

It’s kind of the dream, isn’t it? Have you ever left a destination wedding having had a bad time? All your friends are hanging out, and real-life obligations are suspended while you’re in some temporary, far-off utopia. You get to see people you know in a different context (like Hollywood star Charlize Theron seen at right). I’d say I seldom encounter someone who is anything but floored that they spent their weekend doing ‘Race to the Straits’ or ‘Round the County’. People eat it up– they get to catch up with more people from different boats, and they don’t muck up their sleep schedule as they freeze their way through overnight watches. I love those tough distance races and want to see them thrive, too. But, is it as fun as those with an overnight stop? The numbers are beginning to say no, and so do I.

‘Round the County’ is a loop course around the San Juan Islands. These waters, most often thought of as cruising grounds, become an extraordinarily fun racing venue in early November. The day-one start and day-two finish are off of Lydia Shoal on the east side of Orcas Island in Rosario Strait. The direction around the islands (clockwise, counterclockwise) switches each year. This year, the fleet of fully crewed race boats went counterclockwise, a direction that traditionally affords a bit more downwind sailing, and Saturday delivered with 30 knots and a lightning quick transit for those who avoided shredded sails or worse. Regardless of the direction, you can be sure you will be sailing a variety of points of sail, allowing different designs to capitalize, and rewarding those who most quickly recognize the changes in pressure, wind direction, or tidal currents. You wind up flying a bunch of your sails: there will be reaching sections, under jib and spinnaker, to complement the windward and running legs.

For what started with, and maintains, a good-time dynamic, Round the County’s fleet runs the gamut. This year, there were three TP 52s and a Reichel/Pugh 55 leading the way in the IRC fleet. The variety of boats from the US and Canada range in size from 24’ to 70’.  And, there is an enormous fleet of enthusiastic members of the J/tribe that join the festivities.

Regardless of the direction, day one always finishes just outside of the fairytale hamlet of Roche Harbor. The boats drop sail and head into this one-of-a-kind port. During the summer, this historical lime-quarry-turned-resort community can feel a little touristy, but the cute quaintness of the town has the perfect vibe when it is otherwise empty and overrun by happy sailors in early November. A floating tent party on the dock with provided beer and cookies, as well as BBQs set up for your crew to grill their own dinner, make the party unpretentious and, in my opinion, kind of perfect.

Day two completes the loop around San Juan County. Just like at a destination wedding, those nursing hangovers may be a little green as Sunday gets rolling. There’s not a lot of fanfare at the finish, and though there’s a generous awards dinner at Orcas Island Yacht Club on Sunday evening, I’ve never attended. The party was Saturday night, Monday is a workday, and those of us from Seattle have a two-hour drive (or a 8+ hour delivery) home.

If you think of inland or coastal distance racing like I do, geographic landmarks divide the course. It creates a bunch of little races – to the next point, to the tide line, through the pass. The chase start promotes fun and competitive racing in these little micro-races, regardless of your class or division. I find this helps me focus and increases my enjoyment. “Can we catch those guys by the turn at Patos Island? Can we keep that boat behind us until Double Bluff? etc.” It really makes it fun, and enriches my personal experience of a distance race.

Both Round the County and Race to the Strait aggregate the results over the two days. So, if you crush it one day, you’re definitely in the hunt even if the other doesn’t afford the same conditions or good fortune.

In a region where you can still go out and compete with Olympians and pros in boats big and small, the fun-focused stuff continues to tip the scales. I love to sail, and I really love to race. I usually prefer to line up against best competition, to learn as much as possible and raise my game. But, not everybody enjoys this. And these two-day, stopover events illustrate that everybody, myself included, seems to love a feel-good, mid-distance race with an epic party among friends in the middle. It’s as good as a destination wedding, only with a truly compelling activity on either side.

This idea is absolutely applicable in a cruising setting, too. Flotillas, rallies, and rendezvous events, whether organized by a club or your pals, give you the same ability to share an experience. So, as we look ahead to a great season of sailing in the Pacific Northwest, don’t just go sailing. Live large, join fun events like these, and bring your friends.”

The event also attracts its stars- is this Charlize Theron- sailor gurl (see above)?!!  Maybe.  ;)  No matter what, there are squadrons of J/sailors looking forward to peeling back the eyelids in the morning, rolling out of bed, brewing up the Navy-style “cup of joe” (e.g. mud), and wandering down to the docks for a gorgeous day on the water with the rest of the J/tribe!  At least, that’s the plan.  Someday’s it’s sunny.  Other’s not so much.  It’s the fall, after all in the Pacific Northwest.  Anything goes. Everyone prays for that perfect day- Mariner’s win, Seahawks win, it’s the fall, it’s October, sun’s out, wind’s up, and all’s good.

Looking forward to that scenario are the following J’s in ORC Class, John McPhail’s J/160 JAM, John Tenneson’s J/145 JEDI, and Shawn Dougherty & Jason Andrews’ J/125 HAMACHI.  Chasing them in the PHRF classes will be over two dozen J’s.  In PHRF Class Zero are two J/111s (Graeme Clendeman’s 65 RED ROSES & Kevin Welch’s RECON), Andy & Jamie Mack’s J/122 GRACE, Brian Duchin & Kelsey Sheldon’s J/133 TANGO, and Kyle Caldwell & Jamie Thomas’ J/44 ASYLUM- a clash of the J/classics against the J/newbies!

There is an interesting dynamic shaping up in PHRF Class 1- five J/109s vs three J/120s!  Good grief.  That will be a battle in the trenches and highly dependent on breeze direction and pressure!  And, just about as impossible to determine how it will all shake out!  Nevertheless, expect to see some of the top teams on the leaderboard someplace- Stu Burnell & Joe James’ J/109 TANTIVY, Mark Hansen’s J/109 MOJO, John Peterson’s LEGACY, Bob Brunius’ J/120 TIME BANDIT, and Lou Bianco’s CROSSFIRE.

PHRF Class 2 might as well be called the battle of the six J/35s vs the “rest of the world”; the rest of their classmates cannot be happy about that pairing!  It is the largest turnout of J/35s in the Pacific Northwest in quite some time; those teams include Chad & Anna Stenwick’s THE BOSS, Tyson Varosyan’s SOLUTION, Walt Meagher & John Sanford’s SUNSHINE GIRL, Jason Vannice & Hans Seegers’ ALTAIR, Karl Haflinger’s SHEARWATER and Don Butler’s INTREPID.

Similarly, the same scenario is playing out in PHRF Class 3 with a bunch of J/mercenaries taking on 20+ other competitors, perhaps one of the most competitive classes in the event.  J/crews that are tackling them include three J/105s (Ed Wilder’s AVALANCHE, Jim Geros & Mike Campbell’s LAST TANGO, & Eric Hopper/ Schenk/ Davis on FREE BOWL OF SOUP- notably, ALL famously successful boats!), Brian Lawrence’s J/33 KEET, and Marc Frazer & Chris White’s J/88 BON BINI.  Given all the notorious “stop & go” driving in the islands, it might be prudent to double-down on the J/88 at the betting parlor (this presumes these guys know how to race, of course!).

In a “battle of the classics”, PHRF Class 4 could easily turn into a “donnybrook” between the fastest, mercenary-like J/29s versus the “family cruisers” on the venerable J/30s.  People forget how fast a well-sailed J/30 can go, 30+ years henceforth from its humble origins on Narragansett Bay!  Against 17 competitors, these 29 & 30 crews are no “shrinking violets”!  Leading the charge home on elapsed should be the three J/29s (Pat Denney’s HERE AND NOW, John Kazaras & Jessica Aguilar’s RUBY, & Mike Reams’ NATURAL MYSTIC) followed by the two J/30s (Theo Singelis’ TAKU & Jim Bottles’ CELEBRATION).  However, how it all shakes out on handicap will be up to the twist and turns of the fabled “chutes & ladders” of sailing around the islands!   Sailing Photo credits- Jan Anderson   Round the County Facebook page  For more Seattle YC Round The County 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

Hot Competition at Bitter End YC’s Pro-Am Regatta!

(Bitter End, Tortola, BVI)- This year marks the 30th edition of this adult fantasy camp held annually in the British Virgin Islands, being sailed from October 22nd to 29th.   The event has an all-star line-up of world-famous sailors that take on the resort’s guests as crew!  How fun could that be?!  What is the common denominator for all seven “pros” sailing in the event?  You guessed it- all have sailed, raced, crewed or won World Championships on various J’s over the course of time.

Ed Baird – Two-time America’s Cup winner (1995, 2007), six Pro Am titles, and World Champion in the Laser, J/24, and TP52. Ed competed in the inaugural Pro Am, and this year will be inducted into the US National Sailing Hall of Fame.

Steve Benjamin – US Sailing’s 2015 Rolex Yachtsmen of the Year on the heels of winning 11 major one design and offshore events and has raced various J’s like J/22s, J/24s and J/105s.

Taylor Canfield – Two-time Pro Am winner and current defending champion, Canfield competes at the highest level of the international match racing, and is currently ranked #1 in the world.  Taylor grew up in St Thomas and has raced locally on various IC24s, J/24s, J/22s, J/70s and J/105s.

JJ Fetter – A two-time Olympic medalist, four-time US Rolex Yachtswomen of the Year, and competitor in the 1995 America’s Cup. JJ has raced J/22s, J/24s.  JJ was an inductee in the 2015 class of the US National Sailing Hall of Fame.

Anthony Kotoun – Winner of 13 World, National, and North American championships in various one design classes, but most notably was the winner of the J/24 World Championship, sailed in the famous Newport Fleet #50 J/24 fleet for decades and has also raced J/70s in the Worlds and Midwinters.  Plus, he was the 2014 Pro-Am titlist.

Dave Perry – Five-time US Match Race Champion along with countless National and North American titles. Among the leading rules advisors in the world, Dave is a noted author on the subject and in high demand as an advisor for America’s Cup and Olympic teams.  Dave has raced J/22s, J/24s, J/105s, J/35s and J/44s.

Dave Ullman – With World titles in the 470 (3) and Melges 24 (1), Dave has won national championships in nearly all the prominent one-design dinghy classes. Dave won the MORC Internationals in J/24s and has raced J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s, J/105s and J/120s. Through his work with the US Olympic team, Dave was selected as 2015 US Sailing National Coach of the Year and this year will be inducted into the US National Sailing Hall of Fame.

A variety of sailing and social events combine professional sailors with amateur resort guests amid the splendor of Caribbean sailing. There is even an event that excludes the pros: the Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Championship.  And, coincidentally, the Master of Ceremonies for that event and the Pro-Am happens to be Tom Leweck, founder of the Scuttlebutt Sailing newsletter and also a long-time J sailor- ranging from J/22s, J/24s, J/105s, J/109s and J/120s in the Southern California offshore circuits and MEXORC in Puerto Vallarta.  Learn more about the Bitter End YC Pro-Am Regatta here

Menninger Top Dog @ J/105 Masters Regatta

(San Diego, CA)- This year’s International Master’s Regatta, hosted by San Diego YC from October 21st to 23rd, produced far more drama for the masters sailors than anyone might have predicted.  There were different leaders after virtually every race and, at one point on the final day, three teams were tied going into the last race- Bill Menninger, Rich du Moulin and Jon Andron!  Panic on the high seas!  In the end, it was Menninger’s team from Newport Harbor YC that took the Masters crown.

Day 1
Richard du Moulin led after sailing just two races on the first day.  The SDYC Race committee was only able to run two out of the four scheduled races due to extremely light winds. The wind was at 0 knots at noon which delayed the start of racing by about 2 1/2 hours.

Race one started a little before 2:30pm and five boats were OCS at the start- competitors were noticeably anxious to get going.  The right side of the course was clearly favored upwind. Richard du Moulin (Storm Trysail Club/Larchmont Yacht Club) gained a giant lead upwind which he was able to keep at every mark rounding. Chuck Nichols (SDYC) and Chuck Driscoll (SDYC) were trailing in second and third for most of the race. After du Moulin won the first race handily, Nichols secured second place and Dick Tillman (Melbourne Yacht Club) finished third.

This was du Moulin’s first Masters Regatta and the first for most of his crew. They worked well together and spent a lot of ocean miles- in fact, du Moulin raced the Transatlantic with four of them last year. “It was a great day out there for us. The Race Committee did a good job of getting two races off. We stayed as clear of people as we could and then just tried to go fast. It was a lot of fun!”

At the end of race one, the wind was at 6 knots and patchy, causing the race committee to shorten the course during the middle of the second race. In a repeat performance, du Moulin led the second race, though by a smaller margin-- only about one boat length ahead of Don Trask (St. Francis Yacht Club). Chuck Nichols finished third.

Don Trask, the founder of the regatta, has been to every Masters Regatta, starting as crew before he was old enough to skipper. Trask grew up sailing the heavy winds of San Francisco, but now lives in North Carolina where the wind conditions are light and similar to today. After racing, Trask confirmed, "It’s hard to sail in the light air. It’s always really tricky.”

Day 2
The second day featured more wind than the first day of racing. The twelve masters sailors experienced conditions that were more typical of San Diego on Saturday afternoon in the City Front racing venue.  There was enough wind on the course to start racing shortly after noon. The wind stayed constant until about 3:00pm when it died down to about 4 knots in the middle of the last race. Despite the dying wind at the end of the day, the SDYC Race Committee was still able to hold all four scheduled races.

Jon Andron (St. Francis Yacht Club) started the day off strong and won the first race. Andron was the only skipper to start on the right side of the course and gained a lead that he was able to keep for the entirety of the race.

Andron explains some of the challenges involved in today's races. "I chose a good lane at the start. The starts are dangerous in the light, shifty wind. If you go an eighth of a knot slower, a guy will roll right over you before you get going.”

Bob Fisher (Royal Lymington Yacht Club) won the second race also by starting well and keeping that momentum going. "My strategy was getting a good start and going the right way. I want to keep plugging these bullets, having a good time, and meeting with old friends- that’s what this is all about!”  Fisher’s crew consisted of Porky (from Lymington, England), Brent Draney, John Claude, Buzz Blackett and Kame Richards.

According to Fisher, “we did have our ups and downs.  Thankfully, Porky kept up the flow of “advice” and that was important.  Kame was fresh from winning his class in the Big Boat series and was as good a spinnaker trimmer as I have ever had and communicated well.  Buzz maintained a perpetual calm on the foredeck, as did Jean Claude on the jib trim, while Brent was a brilliant organizer.

Starting was our weak point. But, on Race 4, it came to our aid when we were forced to tack away from the Committee Boat and went into a stronger heading breeze on the “mainland” shore.  We surged into an early lead and protected it from there to the finish- hence the bullet!  Despite the frenzied inadequacy of the wind, it was a good regatta once again.”

Bill Menninger (Newport Harbor Yacht Club) won the third race after passing Chuck Nichols (SDYC) on the downwind leg. When asked to describe his strategy, Menninger shared, "I go fast and tried to get to the right a little bit. We’re getting off the line better because there’s more wind.”

The conditions were difficult for many skippers, even for local San Diego sailors like Chuck Driscoll (SDYC). "It’s been challenging to say the least, especially using the different boats with the wheel steering, I’m used to a tiller on a J/105. The wind direction is also challenging. The second half of today went a little bit better. We got a third and then a second. So we’re happy with the way the day went.”

Richard Du Moulin (Storm Trysail Club/Larchmont Yacht Club) won the last race of the day and was, again, leading the regatta overall after the first six races.

Day 3
After pulling themselves up from 7th to 4th place on Saturday, Bill Menninger (Newport Harbor Yacht Club) and his team posted two bullets today to climb to the top of the 12-boat fleet to win San Diego Yacht Club’s International Masters Regatta. Menninger was sailing with Scott Mason, Jon Pinckney, Steve Schupak, Robert Kinney, and Shawn Patrick.

Sunday’s conditions were unusual for San Diego, featuring cloudy and sporadically rainy skies with little wind at noon. Racing was delayed for about an hour and a half due to 100-degree wind shifts, making Race Committee unable to set a course. Eventually, the wind settled to more typical conditions and Race Committee was able to run two of the four scheduled races.

The delay in racing provided plenty of time for the skippers to reminisce with their crews about past races in their careers, a central theme of the International Masters Regatta. Chuck Nichols (SDYC), the winner of the 2013 Masters Regatta, describes the International Masters Regatta as “a bunch of old characters that come back and talk to you about sailing. It reminds you of how great they were and still are.”

Race one got underway just before 2pm, once the wind was up to five to six knots. The fleet was split at the start, but the right side of the course was clearly favored upwind. Menninger had the lead at the first weather mark and was able to keep his lead throughout the entire race as the wind picked up to about 10 knots. Jon Andron (St. Francis Yacht Club) and Don Trask (St. Francis Yacht Club) were behind Menninger and eventually finished second and third.

Racing was slightly delayed before the second race so that a proper course could be set in shifty conditions. Three skippers–Menninger, Richard du Moulin (Storm Trysails Club/Larchmont Yacht Club) and Jon Andron (St. Francis Yacht Club)– were in a three-way tie for first place overall going into the last race. The anticipation was visible once the race started and six boats were immediately OCS. Menninger was not among them, which helped him gain a commanding lead. Menninger was able to keep this lead and sailed across the finish line as the 2016 International Masters Regatta champion.

This is Menninger’s first time winning the International Masters Regatta and also the first win from a Newport Harbor Yacht Club skipper. Menninger will be back at SDYC next weekend for the 102nd Challenge for the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup where he will crew for Jon Pinckney on the Newport Harbor Yacht Club team.

Menninger reflected at the end of the weekend, “My overall strategy for these three days was to get better every race. My starts were not very good at the start of the regatta, but they got a lot better by the end. Sailing aside, my favorite part of the Masters Regatta is the camaraderie of the guys that you’ve raced against your whole life, or new guys that you haven’t sailed against yet.”

du Moulin, who had led the event through the first two days of the competition, posted an 8-2 today to slip to second overall, one point off the lead. du Moulin was sailing with Barrett Holby, Bill Campbell, Peter Bauer, Chris Reyling, and Gerard Girstl.  Completing the podium was Andron sailing with Shawn Bennett, Tom Ducharme, Spuds Whidden, Dave Kelly, and Allie Rowe.   Sailing photo credits- Cynthia Sinclair/ SDYC  For more International J/105 Masters Regatta information

Italian J/24 Winter Series Report

(Portofino, Italy)- There was a lot of J/24 sailing taking place this past weekend across the Italian peninsula.  J/24s were sailing their winter series in Sardinia, Rome, Genoa and Portofino!  Here are quick summaries of the activity taking place in each region.

Porto Rotondo, Sardinia
After the long summer break, the Sardinian J/24 Fleet got busy again. Over the weekend, the fleet sailed their XXIII Regatta of the Legionaries.  The fleet of twelve boats sailed three races on Saturday and on Sunday enjoyed their traditional “coastal race”- a random leg event that goes around various government buoys offshore along the spectacular coastline of Sardinia.

Saturday’s racing started off with very little breeze.  However, by the second and third races, the “sirocco” winds got much stronger and the fleet enjoyed a warm, dry 10-14 kts of wind for the final race of the day.  Sunday’s racing for the Legionnaires trophy saw good breeze, with the J/24s all finishing after one and a half hours of sailing.

After the four races were tallied, ITA 405 SURRAU VIGNE from Club Nautico Arzachena is leading, followed by ITA 241 LIBARIUM sailed by Roberto Dessy and in third is ITA 431 LNI CARLISLE owned and sailed by David Gorgerino.

Cervia
This past weekend was the beginning of the Winter Championship for the Cervia  J/24 fleet.  The first regatta was racing for the IX Stefano Pirini Memorial Trophy, organized by Circolo Nautico Cervia.  The racing took place offshore in front of the famous Milano Marittima beach.

"On Sunday we were able to have only one race characterized by light winds from offshore.  There were considerable changes in the leadership of the race,” explained the Rome’s J/24 Fleet Captain.

Ten crews took to the water for this first regatta. The victory went to Marco Maccaferri (CNAdVCervia) sailing ITA 402 KERMESSE.  Second was ITA 424 KISMET owned by Francesca Focardi Antonelli (CNAdVCervia) and skippered by Luciani Antonelli.  Third place was ITA 382 sailed by Mauro Martelli (CV Ravenna). Fourth place was ENG 473 MAGICAL FAIRY co-owned by Viscardo Brusori and helmsman Massimo Frigerio.  Sitting in fifth place was ITA 400 CAPTAIN NEMO sailed by Domenico Brighi.

Genova (Genoa Portofino Fleet)
The Club Nautico Marina Genova Aeroporto hosted the first winter series event that was held over three weekends for fifty boats in ORC Handicap and J/24 one-designs. 

The final day was marked by a north wind around 15 knots, overcast with drizzle and scattered sea only slightly ruffled by the wind. The race course was positioned brilliantly by the CNMGA race committee, which was once again started with a high-degree of punctuality and great technical and tactical execution.

It was a close fight from the first day of the championship between ITA 303 JUST A JOKE (co-owned by M.Buffa and T. Costa- LNI Sestri Ponente) and ITA 235 JAWS (co-owned by M.Mori and L.Varini- CV Elbano).  The racing was quite close between these two and the results were not settled until the final day and the final race of the championship, the outcome coming right down to the wire on the last leg!  In the end, JAWS beat JUST A JOKE by winning the last race to secure the championship on a tie-breaker with a 2-2-1-1 record for 6 pts.  JUST A JOKE had to settle for the silver because their record of 1-1-2-2 for 6 pts meant they lost the last race to JAWS!  An exasperating scenario for them, but, as they say, “that’s yacht racing”!

Taking third for the regatta was ITA 357 LANDFALL sailed by Simone Moretti, fourth was ITA 307 FINALLY sailed by Olga Finollo, and fifth place was taken by ITA 483 X5 skippered by Antonio Criscuolo.  For more Italian J/24 fleet sailing information

McChesney Crowned J/70 Corinthian Champion

(Annapolis, MD)- Forty-four all-amateur teams vied in Annapolis, MD for the honor of being named the first ever J/70 Corinthian US National Champion. Peter McChesney’s Alice & WondeRRRland (with crew Alice Christman, Scott Snyder and Shane Zwingelberg) earned that distinction by tallying just 9 points in the six-race series, including three bullets and three second-place finishes.

The regatta opened on Friday with perfect breezes and close battles- truly “chamber of commerce” conditions with sunny skies and 12-14 kt winds on Chesapeake Bay.  Eastport YC’s PRO and regatta management team set a perfect race course and ran three races. 

Working his way to the top of the leaderboard on Friday was local Peter McChesney, who notched a 2,2,1 for just 5 points. Jack Franco’s 3BALL JT won two races, but added a sixth-place tally, landing him in second place overall at 8 points. Jenn & Ray Wulff’s JOINT CUSTODY stood in third with 11 points.

Franco got things going with the day’s first bullet, followed by McChesney and the Wulff’s. Behind Franco in race two were McChesney and Henry Filter’s WILD CHILD. McChesney secured the day’s overall advantage by winning the last meeting, as John Wilsey’s SEA BAGS SAILING TEAM and the Liebel/Rubin/Walsh/Britts gang on REACH AROUND rounded out the top three.

After Saturday’s races were postponed due to high winds on the Chesapeake Bay (25-30 kts!), sunny skies and breeze between 15-20 knots allowed three more races to be completed on Sunday. Reach Around won the day’s first battle, trailed by McChesney and Peter Bowe’s TEA DANCE SNAKE. McChesney returned to the top spot in the final two races, with 3BALL JT and REACH AROUND comprising the top three in both cases.

As a result, McChesney’s ALICE & WONDERRRLAND won by 11 pts.  Taking the silver spot on the podium was the Liebel/Rubin/Walsh/Britts gang on REACH AROUND with 20 points.  Franco’s slow start on the day came back to haunt them, having to count an 8-2-3 to finish one point back and secure the bronze medal.  Rounding out the top five were Jenn & Ray Wulff’s JOINT CUSTODY in 4th place with 25 pts and fifth was Wilsey’s SEA BAGS SAILING TEAM.  Jenn Wulff was also Top Women’s Skipper for the regatta.

Joe Colling, US J/70 Class Association Past President, summarized, “The J/70 Class may only be four years old, but it has proven to have Championships that serve all levels of the membership. Whether it be a Corinthian division of an open event or a Corinthian Championship like this, there’s a place in this Class for pros and amateurs alike.”   Sailing photo credits- Dan Phelps/ Spinsheet.com   For more J/70 Corinthian Nationals sailing information

J/Teams Sweep Seattle Grand Prix

(Seattle, WA)- The 40th Annual Seattle Grand Prix Regatta took place last weekend on Puget Sound, hosted by Seattle YC.  The fleet enjoyed two gorgeous days of sailing in relatively light winds on the Sound.  Amongst the J/tribe, there was one-design class racing for J/105s and there were two PHRF classes for the J/160, J/145, J/122E, J/111, J/109s and others.

The “big boats” in PHRF 2 Class saw the famous and beautiful J/160 JAM; owned and skippered by John McPhail from Gig Harbor YC, win their class with a steady 1-1-3-2 record for 7 pts total.

In the IRC 3 Class, it was Brian Duchin’s J/133 TANGO from Seattle YC that took first on a tie-breaker with a 4-1-3-2 tally for 10 points.  Their record was identical to John Murkowski’s beautiful J/122E JOY RIDE from Seattle YC, who had to settle for second place based on who-beat-who in the last race!  Taking 6th was Ron Holbrook’s J/133 CONSTELLATION and 7th was Jerry Woodfield’s J/109 SHADA.

James Geros’ LAST TANGO won the J/105 one-design class with a 1-1-2-5 for 9 pts total.  Chris Phoenix’s JADED was second with a 2-5-1-6 for 14 pts.  Third was determined by a tie-breaker, with Lance Rummel’s INCONCEIVABLE with a 5-4-7-2 for 18 pts taking it over the famous FREE BOWL OF SOUP campaigned by the trio of Schenk/ Davis/ Hopper.  Fifth place was taken by Jerry Diercks’ DELIRIUM.  For more Seattle Grand Prix sailing information

Canadians Win J/105 Stella Artois North Americans

(Larchmont, NY)- Terry McLaughlin and Rod Wilmer’s MANDATE won the Stella Artois J/105 North American Championship, winning the first five races before ‘stumbling’ with a 2-3 to close the series. The Canadian crew, which included Graham Hicks, Fraser Howell, Evert McLaughlin (Terry’s son) and John Millen, earned their second J/105 North American Championship title in three years.  Larchmont YC hosted the event and LYC’s PRO, Butch Ulmer, led the amazing LYC RC and mark boat crew over the four-day’s of racing.

“If we had another race on this last day in 25-35 kts, we might have worn hockey helmets,” joked McLaughlin. “This was good Canadian weather, and a real test of crew work.” Rod Wilmer added, “We had solid starts, focused on finding a lane and getting clear to stay out of trouble.”

Thirty-seven teams representing Bermuda, Canada, Great Britain and the USA took to the waters of Long Island Sound for the 11 a.m. kick-off of the Championship. McLaughlin and Wilmer, winner of the North American crown in 2014, dominated the fleet. Behind them in race one were the Stone/Breault husband and wife team on GOOD TRADE and Adrian Owles family team on MAD BLUE. Local favorite ECLIPSE earned the silver spot in the middle battle, with David Greenhouse’s SKIPPERDEE in the bronze position. The top three in the final contest matched the top three overall for the day: MANDATE, ECLIPSE and GOOD TRADE.

MANDATE reveled in the blustery conditions on day one.  With winds gusting strongly from the east between 16-20 knots, the Canadian team lined up perfect scores in Thursday’s three races to take a five-point lead over second place Damian Emery on ECLIPSE (4,2,2 for 8 points). Bruce Stone and Nicole Breault’s GOOD TRADE was in third with 9 points (2,4,3).

On Friday, a squishy Low slowly moved offshore, dumping torrential rain all over the northeast and sucking all the wind out of Long Island Sound.  A solid attempt was made by LYC’s PRO Butch Ulmer to run a race in the horrendous conditions, but it was to no avail.  LYC RC had to fire off the three cannons to signal the cancellation of the one and only “driftathon” Friday afternoon.

Saturday was a completely different picture.  For several days, the weather forecasts indicated that a cold front would move over the region overnight and produce 15 to 30 kt winds from the NW quadrant.  Temperatures also dropped into the forties under gray skies.  As the fleet sailed out to the race course, the breeze rapidly built from 12-15 kts up to 18-25 kts by the time boats got to their first top mark rounding.  The enormous windshifts, often accompanied by massive holes or ginormous puffs, produced many rapid changes in the standings as the fleet sailed three windward-leeward races.

MANDATE continued to build a perfect scoreline through five races, until Stone & Breault’s GOOD TRADE won Saturday’s final race. The Canadian team on MANDATE held a nine-point advantage over local Emery’s ECLIPSE going into the final day of racing on Sunday. GOOD TRADE stood at third overall with 21 points.

Trailing MANDATE in the first race was Texan Bill Lakenmacher on RADIANCE, then ECLIPSE. The familiar three boats of MANDATE, ECLIPSE, and GOOD TRADE comprised the top three in the second match, and again in the next— this time just flip-flopping to GOOD TRADE, MANDATE, and ECLIPSE.

Sunday dawned bright and beautiful, the quintessential, post-card perfect fall colors day in New England.  The forecast called for sunny skies all day with a cool breeze building from the West to 15-25 kts.  Like Saturday, the morning started off with a moderate breeze in the 10-15 kts range.  However, about 15 minutes before the early 10am start time, the wind’s intensity increased dramatically.  By the time the fleet reached the windward mark, many boats were seen getting blown sideways as hammer-blow puffs in the 25-35 kts range started to blast the fleet.  Needless to say, the puffs were so violent, that about half the fleet broached on their first downwind leg; gybing, in fact, became a game of “russian roulette” as teams waited for lulls to execute their maneuvers.

The final downwind run was perhaps the most bizarre of the entire regatta.  Most of western Long Island Sound looked like a “white-out”, with spraying flying off the top of wind-whipped waves- epic conditions, indeed.  Small dogs, cats, birds, everything was getting blown off their chains in Connecticut and landing on the Long Island shore to leeward!  Rounding the top mark in the top three were George & Alex Wilbanks’ REVELATION, followed by the familiar MANDATE and Bill Lackenmacher’s RADIANCE.  Fourth place was ECLIPSE, fifth was GOOD TRADE and sixth was SKIPPERDEE.  The top four boats all gybed within minutes after setting their gennakers, promptly sailing into a massive hole larger than the Sahara Desert!  Meanwhile, GOOD TRADE simply “sent it” in planing mode off to the other side of the course.  After executing a near flawless gybe in 25-30 kts, GOOD TRADE aimed for the finish line doing 15-17 kts boatspeed, spray flying everywhere.  It did not take long for GOOD TRADE to assume a commanding lead as they planed towards the finish.  However, a massive blast of nuclear proportions (35 kts plus) hit them as they were surfing for home; the boat spun instantaneously into a monster broach with the masthead nearly hitting the water and crew clinging onto the lifelines.  After going sideways at about 5 kts on their side for what seemed an eternity, GOOD TRADE’s determined crew managed to aim the boat back downwind, but the kite never made it- exploding into a thousand torn pieces of expensive AirX nylon.  As a result, the GOOD TRADE crew sailed the last few hundred yards under jib and mainsail to take a 6th place.  Meanwhile, the four leading boats extricated themselves from their hole on the other side of the course and surfed into the finish line.  RADIANCE won the last race followed by Owles’ family crew on MAD BLUE in second, MANDATE in third, SKIPPERDEE in 4th and REVELATION in 5th- quite an enormous flip-flop of the top boats on just one leg!

With the wind conditions getting stronger, LYC’s PRO Butch Ulmer wisely blew off the three cannons to cancel racing for the rest of the day.  Again, over half the fleet broached at some point on the final run and puffs continued to steadily climb into the 30-35 kts range- truly epic, awesome conditions on a bright, sunny day.  No question, many crews were grateful not to sail another race in such demanding breezes.

By virtue of a sixth in Sunday’s only race, Stone & Breault’s GOOD TRADE took second place, winning the tie-breaker with Emery’s ECLIPSE.  Rounding out the top five were Paul Beaudin’s LOU LOU in 4th place and taking 5th place was Adrian Owle’s family crew on MAD BLUE.

Another notable performance took place in the last blustery race. The YOUNG AMERICAN crew, posted an 8th place sailing with a reefed main!  But, that was not by design.  The crew was comprised of all kids under the age of 18 that are part of the Young American Junior Big Boat Team at American YC in Rye, New York.  The skipper, Carina Becker, explained, “As the youngest helmsman competing in this event, I found that the competition did not give me any free passes due to my age. This regatta was four days of intense racing, in which we over came the challenges of a 40-boat fleet. The J/105 class is incredibly friendly and provides great competition for junior crews!”  Her crew consisted of Brooks Daley, Meg Leary, Matt Wallace, Jack Rogan, Nick Hein and AYC coach Peter Becker.

Why the reefed main?  Here’s what happened when their main halyard broke just before the start of the race.

Brooks Daley described her team’s amazing feat of seamanship- “first, it was great to be out there in the big waves and big winds and see our young team step up to the challenge and perform against some big names and top teams.

As for the mast climb, it was all about maintaining composure to get the mainsail ”reef" all rigged. The crew acted quickly and it was really a team effort to get ourselves back racing.  They hauled me up the mast in a harness and I pulled up the main and tied it around the mast above the forestay with a sail-tie! We then reefed the bottom of the main to the boom!  What was most impressive to me was the crew’s ability to maintain focus after such a detrimental loss; the team continued to race hard regardless of our handicap, allowing us to stay in the thick of the race!”  For more Stella Artois J/105 North Americans sailing information

J/Crews Sweep Class @ Rolex Middle Sea Race

(Gzira, Malta)- Over the past ten years, the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy has been won by yachts as large as 86ft and as small as 40ft. Unsurprisingly, the weather plays a huge part in deciding the winner. Changes in wind strength, direction and ocean currents create advantages and disadvantages. The ever-changing scenario creates a very complicated picture, especially when boats are on different parts of the course.

The overall winner of the 2016 Rolex Middle Sea Race is not necessarily the first to cross the finish line. The winner is decided using the IRC rating system, which is used for all of the major offshore races throughout the world. Yachts have their elapsed time corrected according to their potential speed. This gives every yacht a fair chance of winning the overall prize.

Sophisticated routing software programs can estimate the finish time of each yacht.  The software uses the predicted wind conditions and combines that with the predicted speed of the yachts, giving an estimated finish time.

Lee Satariano's Maltese J/122 Artie has been the most successful yacht in the last ten years, winning overall on two occasions (2011 & 2014). Looking at Artie's predicted elapsed time of 114 hours, Artie will be a long way behind Rambler 88 on the water, but after IRC time correction, the result is very close indeed. Christian Ripard has been at the heart of Artie's two victories, as tactician and Christian has won the race, as owner or tactician, five times.

“Right now the weather looks like it will suit a slightly bigger and more high performance boat than Artie,” commented Christian Ripard.  “It is looking light especially at the start, and in this race, boats will be side by side, and one will get a puff of wind and be gone, while the other is just in the wrong place and remains trapped. This is going to be a race all about thinking it out- and to be honest- getting a bit of luck.”

Start- The start of the race is one of the most colorful and iconic moments in world sailing.  The Grand Harbour of Valletta, Malta is akin to a stadium offering numerous vantage points both high and low and, of course, on the water.  As the cannons of the Saluting Battery high up on the St. Peter & Paul Bastion signaled each class start, thousands of spectators reveled in brilliant sunshine and the light breeze funneling though the harbour. Organized by the Royal Malta Yacht Club, 107 yachts were competing in the 37th edition of the 608 nautical mile Rolex Middle Sea Race.

The first start, comprising the smallest and slowest yachts, showed the way for the rest. The boats starting close under the walls of the recently restored Fort St. Angelo quickly entered good breeze.  The second start included Lee Satariano's Maltese J/122 Artie, which has won the race on two previous occasions.

Day 2 morning-  Overnight, the fleet made good progress up the eastern seaboard of Sicily and this morning the bulk of the entrants were approaching the Strait of Messina.

In the battle for the Overall win on corrected time, the tactically challenging conditions on the first night have been used well by several smaller yachts including a number of the Maltese competitors. Artie was well-placed in the standings as the race approached the 24-hour mark.

Day 3-  The lack of wind north of Sicily was attributed to a low pressure system in the Atlantic, which is literally sucking warm air out of the Mediterranean and up over the Alps into parts of northern Europe. Currently in Zermatt, the temperature is higher than usual for the time of year. The southerly wind experienced in the alpine resort confirms this trend in the southern Mediterranean. The wind effect is known locally in Switzerland as a “Föhn”, a generic term for “hairdryer”.  The “hairdryer” is having a considerable effect on the battle for both line honours and the overall win in the monohull fleet.

The stakes are high. Those yachts connecting with the southerly off the western seaboard of Sicily will have an advantage over the rest of the fleet struggling to head west. If so, the scenario will have a tremendous impact on the contest for the overall win on corrected time.

The tactically challenging conditions on the first night were used well by several smaller yachts, including Lee Satariano’s Maltese J/122 Artie, which was leading the fleet at Messina and has made good progress towards Stromboli. However, if as expected, the windless zone on the course spreads east along the northern coast of Sicily, these slower yachts may find their podium prospects severely dented. Of course, this is yacht racing, there is much to play for and no one is giving up just yet.

Day 4-  In what appears to be a private battle between the J/Boats, two-time winners, Lee Satariano and the Maltese crew on the J/122 ARTIE co-skippered by Christian Ripard and Sebastian Ripard was leading by just under 40 minutes from Laurent Charmy's French J/111 SL ENERGIES FASTWAVE. Yves Grosjean's French J/133 JIVARO is striving to keep in touch, currently lying third.

The weather conditions have been a moveable feast, gorging and starving the fleet throughout the past three days. Unsurprisingly, they look set to change again and perhaps decisively in favor of those yachts closest to the finish. The southeasterly wind that has provided a relatively quick passage from Palermo to the finish for the faster yachts is due to fade overnight. If so it will dramatically slow the progress of the smaller yachts, particularly those still to round Lampedusa. Whether this change comes to pass and the effect it has on the fortunes of those in contention for the overall prize will be the subject of tomorrow’s news.

Finish-  After four days at sea, the J/Teams all sailed remarkably well.  In the IRC Doublehanded division, the J/109 2HARD sailed by the duo of Martin Hartl and Harald Wolf from Austria took the silver overall and in the IRC 6 Class took an 8th in division.

The big battle in IRC 5 Class saw the top three J/Teams dominate from start to finish.  Winning class, again, was Lee Satariano’s J/122 ARTIE with Christian and Sebastian Ripard as navigators; the team from Royal Malta YC included Gordon Bugeja, Sonke Stein, Fabio Galea, Jordi Smith, and Matthias Almakerdims.

Second was Laurent Charmy’s J/111 SL ENERGIES FASTWAVE (crew of Benjamin SCHWARTZ, Vincent AILLAUD, Gregory BAUM, Francesco BERTONE, Loic DONY, and Fabrice MERLE) and third was the J/133 JIVARO (with team of Yves Grosjean from France and the Societe Nautique de La Trinite-sur-Mer with crew of Goulven ROYER, Jean-Paul MALLET, Séverin RICHTER, Philippe DELHUMEAU, Andrea PAWLOTZKI, Anne GEOFFROY, Thomas ROBIN, Melanie GAGGERO, and Pietrzak Filip).  Taking 8th in class was the J/122 DAMACLE, with the other J/122s- SELMA RACING and JOLOU taking 12th and 13th, respectively.

What was most interesting was to see how the ORC Overall scores worked out amongst the various J/teams.  While the J/122 ARTIE took 5th overall with a corrected time of 2d 20h 56m 11s, it was just over 1 minute corrected time over the J/111 SL ENERGIES FASTWAVE after 600nm+ of sailing!

The JIVARO Experience
What was the experience like to be sailing in this year’s exasperating race?  Here are some excerpts from the J/133 JIVARO blog that was posted on a daily basis by Yves Grosjean, skipper/owner of the J/133 JIVARO:

“October 18- With a huge sigh of relief we got moving again at 7:54pm … after the morale had sunk to its lowest since the start of the succession of stop- and-go endured since we reached the first patch of calms in the lee of Etna at 9:27am.

We started the day quite high as our choice to aim for the katabatic winds supposedly flowing down the Catania Valley in the late hours of the night seemed to have worked well, allowing us to catch up somehow with the leaders of our class. We watched gleefully the boats to our right slow down and then hit the calms first.

But then what next?  How could we avoid the calms to come?  Right or left?  Keep to the coast of Sicily or aim for the possibly more stable breeze off the coast of Italy?  The two looking equivalent, we chose to stick to the left.

Alas (I skip here a few episodes – more than 10 hours) we finally discovered that the boats that had chosen the right side had done much better than us. And the morale further dropped when we saw the boats both on our right and our left start gathering speed while we remained becalmed in the middle!

That’s just how frustrating racing in light winds can be!

From the crew of JIVARO, well rested and fed owing to our shore support, and eager to fight back!

October 19- The night started at a slow pace with the smoke of the Etna lit up by the last rays of the sun to the West.

The wind gathered strength as we entered the Traffic Separation Scheme of the Strait of Messina just before 10pm.

On rounding Capo Peloro at 11pm, it had built up to a nice 25 knots, which was driving us at more than 12 knots at times – our highest speed since the start of the race. But this was having my heart beat faster for other reasons: the upper wind speed for our light A1.5 spinnaker is only 14 knots! So, I summoned all crew on deck and a nice peeling was swiftly executed under the stars. With our A2 runner up, we were elated to see the breeze hold until the late hours of the night.

As dawn was breaking, the shadow of Stromboli with its cloud of smoke emerged due East!

October 21- morning- a new crewmember has joined Jivaro as we approached Lampedusa.  After a few nautical miles and some well deserved rest, he flew away ahead of us, leading the way to the last landmark before the final run towards the Maltese finish line.

October 21- evening- as we are about to clock 4 full days of race, we feel at last alive again! Maybe we will regret it tomorrow when the gale force winds are due to hit us but for the time being we saw with great relief the wind finally pick up as expected (more or less …) this morning.

We sailed past Pantelleria quite painfully during the night. We gave it a very wide berth to avoid the wind shadow we expected particularly developed due to heavy and cold air on the island in the middle of the night. This strategy worked well already two days ago in the lee of the Aeolian Islands. It was once more pretty nerve-wracking but did allow us again to catch up with our dearest competitors the other J- Boats Artie, Fastwave and Juno.

The Italian Coast Guards have been transmitting Gale warnings since yesterday … we were hoping to catch the fore-runners of the stronger wind system soon after rounding the western end of Sicily and get back to Malta in just a few long surfs (so to speak …). This is also what the weather files were initially showing. But as usual, they proved inaccurate in the details and requiring a good deal of interpretation to match them against the observed weather. Apart from a few gusts due to a distant thunderstorm as we crossed the Castellammare Gulf the weather remained excruciatingly light.

This being said, more cloudy conditions started to settle from yesterday as we rounded the Egadi Islands and the atmospheric pressure has been going down slowly but surely since Monday. The pressure has just started rising again this morning around 9am, as we crossed just another lull followed by a textbook 90 degrees anti-clockwise rotation of the wind, now WSW 10 to 12 knots. So, we are now expecting the wind to progressively return to NNW and gather strength up to 20-25 kts by the end of the day (with more to come tomorrow).

We still have our light spinnaker up and are now exceeding 9 knots at times. There are now 50 miles left to Lampedusa that we should reach before sunset. This being said, we are enjoying the dry conditions and the temperature is very nice, even at night. A light vest is enough for the night and none of us had to wear their body warmers yet. The sea state has also remained very pleasant all through except for a short sea from the South that shook our spinnaker badly yesterday after the Egadi Islands.

The “dry” packaged meals (that need water) are finally OK- - barely so, for our French palates not so used to this kind of fast food. It is indeed the first race where we did not prepare our freshly cooked and vacuum packed menus. Anyway, we are glad we left Malta with our holds full of these and also with full water tanks! We could even allow short fresh water showers! We also applied the “dry race” rule that I have just decided to reject!  Next time, I will allow some measured rounds of wine, beer or whisky– provided all the crew commits are behaving!

We have managed to pass the J/111 EL ENERGIES FASTWAVE during the night!  But, we are struggling to increase our lead. And with the J/122 Artie, overall winner of last years’ edition, we came within a mile of them several times, but soon, lost ground again very systematically. The speed of these two boats is just impressive.

From the crew of JIVARO, more upbeat than ever!  We hope to at least beat our two classmates (J/122 and J/111) boat-for-boat!  They are both smart and fast!”  For social media coverage- check out Rolex Middle Sea Race on Facebook  For more Rolex Middle Sea Race sailing information

Hamburg Boat Show Features Dueling J/70s!

(Hamburg, Germany)- Starting this coming weekend, the Hamburg Boat Show (a.k.a. “HanseBoot”) will be taking place from Saturday- October 29th to Sunday- November 6th.  The German J/Boats distributor, Mittelmanns Werft Gmbh, will be displaying twin J/70s in Hall 6/ Stand B107.

Bo Teichmann from Mittelmanns Werft explained, “We will have one J/70 in the booth and one J/70 in front of the “Meet the Experts" booth.  The Experts Booth will also be providing “live” coverage on Utra HD-TV of the J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga Finale that starts on Thursday and ends on Saturday; courtesy of SAP Sports/ SAP Sailing media crews!

Please contact Henning Mittelmann or Bo Teichmann at Mittelmanns Werft at email- info@mittelmannswerft.de or phone# +49-4642-2722.  For more Hamburg Boat Show (HanseBoot) information