J/125s Dominate Big Boat Series

The DONKEY Kicks 105s, DESDEMONA Takes 120s
(San Francisco, California)-  San Francisco, a city well-versed in the excitement of fast-action sailing, lived up to its billing as being one of the world's most challenging places to sail this past week.  "It's big-breeze, short-course racing in the greatest place you can possibly imagine sailing," said Norman Davant, the local-knowledge strategist and J/Dealer.  "It's unique here because we are surrounded by land, and whether it's a flood or an ebb current, you're going to have boats sailing close to shore."

Spectator friendliness has long flowed through this regatta's veins, as a "North Course" race area offers a start off Berkeley Pier and runs close to Point Blunt on Angel Island and a "City Front" race area brings the action close to shore, just as its name implies, after a start off Treasure Island. Sailors set out each morning to one or the other course, depending on which class they are in, and then alternate to the other course for the afternoon's racing, which features the bonus spectacle of all boats finishing within 50 feet of the Race Deck at host St. Francis Yacht Club.

Traffic was heavy on the first day of sailing Thursday on the Bay, with the usual suspects--cargo ships, kite surfers and AC 45s— joined by 66 boats taking on their first day of competition at the Rolex Big Boat Series. The 48th edition of the annual four-day tradition kicked off in conditions that blended sunshine and 60-degree temperatures with chilly winds of 16-20 knots.  “Everyone should be very happy with what they got,” said Event Chair Kevin Reeds about the two hour-and-a-half long races held for each of the event’s eight classes (four IRC, three one-design and one for the catamarans). “There was plenty for them to work with.”

Posting victories in both races Thursday were Peter Krueger’s (Reno, Nevada) J/125 DOUBLE TROUBLE in IRC C class and John Wimer’s (Half Moon Bay, Calif.) DESDEMONA in the J/120 class.  Wimer, who has competed in the event for 20 years and last won it in 2003, considered the conditions “not too windy, since the J/120s like wind in the teens” and described a narrow lead of only a boat length or two at the finish line in his first race. “For the second race, two boats behind us— our longstanding rivals CHANCE and Mr. MAGOO — began fighting with each other and we widened the gap with a win by 10-12 boat lengths. It helps to start with two bullets, but it won’t be over until the last day. The fleet is very tight, with really good sailors; you have to really stay on your game.”

For Jason Woodley and Scott Whitney’s (Greenbrae, Calif.) J/105 RISK, the 2-1 they posted in their one-design class was not easy to come by. It took some real maneuvering, especially in his second race on the “City Front” race course, where Alcatraz Island’s “cone” came into play. “The island cuts the current like a rock in a river,” said Woodley, “so you get in behind the rock to hide from the current. Then at the west face there is actually an ebb tide pushing you out, so you hook it and basically ride it as far as you can. We were in fifth or sixth at Alcatraz, so it was challenging, especially in the flood tide.”  Woodley says he faces tough competition from “a lot of great boats,” but if he had to put money on a couple, they would be BLACKHAWK and ARBITRAGE.  “What makes this regatta special is that everyone brings their A-game,” says Woodley, who counts a second as his best finish here in the five years he has competed. “This is the season playoffs; this is the regatta everyone puts their new sails up for, the one you want to win out of every other regatta on the calendar.”

On the second day of racing on Friday, Peter Kreuger’s J/125 DOUBLE TROUBLE continued dominating in IRC C, a class that is comprised of the event’s “fast forties,” which were introduced to the Rolex Big Boat Series in 2011 and are being dual-­‐scored under a new HPR rule this year.  "This is my first time really looking at the HPR and evaluating it when I'm sailing along and looking at boats to see how fast they go,” said Double Trouble’s tactician Jeff Madrigali (Whidbey Island, Wash.), a 1996 Olympic medalist who grew up sailing here. “It seems like a better shake, really, for a lot of these boats that don't have a chance to do well with IRC ratings."  One of those boats is Bernard Girod’s (Santa Barbara, Calif.) Farr 400 Rock & Roll, which is second to Double Trouble in HPR but sits in fourth under IRC (Bernie used to own a J/105 by the same name for years in Santa Barbara).

In J/120s John Wimer’s (Half Moon Bay, Calif.) DESDEMONA also maintained its edge. And in the J/105s, Phillip Laby’s (Oakland, Calif.) GODOT moved into the top three and to the top of the leaderboard.

Sailing on day three Saturday saw a chill in the air most of the day, but it did nothing to lessen the heat on the race course.  The die is now cast for Sunday's final race- the famous “Bay Tour” race, which traditionally covers 20 or more nautical miles, and solidifies who takes home class honors. While some teams have dominated their classes since day one, especially the J/125 DOUBLE TROUBLE in IRC C, the decks have been shuffling in both the J/105 and J/120 classes.

The J/105 Class, the largest at the regatta, has been hosting a different leader every day of the event. DONKEY JACK, co-owned by Rolf Kaiser/Shannon Ryan/Steve Kleha (San Francisco, Calif.), took the top spot today with finishes of 7-1, moving yesterday’s front-runner GODOT, skippered by Phillip Laby (Oakland, Calif.), down to third place. DONKEY JACK and second-place finisher BLACKHAWK, skippered by Scooter Simmons (Belvedere, Calif.), share the same point score, with GODOT only one point behind, so Sunday's race was going to be a gun fight.  “Different people are winning every race, and there are still three or four boats that can actually win the regatta,” said Kaiser, who skippered the boat. “Today we were really focused on boat speed and tried to make some changes to how we were attacking the races. We’ll go out tomorrow and do our best and see what happens.”

Also seeing a change of fate was the J/120 Class’s defending champion CHANCE, skippered by Barry Lewis (Atherton, Calif.), which ousted John Wimer’s DESDEMONA from the first-place position it has held all week. “In our fleet, it is like this during every Rolex Big Boat Series,” said CHANCE's tactician Doug Nugent (San Francisco, Calif.). “It always comes down to the last race, and it’s always a battle.” Chance’s mainsail trimmer Scott Kozinchik (Fairfax, Calif.) explained that his team’s mission tomorrow is fairly straightforward: “We have to beat DESDEMONA. We’re one point up on them, and they are going to come at us hard. If they were to win and we come in second, we would tie, and they would win on the count-back (tiebreaker).”

On the fourth and final day of the 48th annual Rolex Big Boat Series, had quite a showdown for the two competitive J/105 and J/120 classes.  Starting with IRC C, Peter Kreuger’s J/125 DOUBLE TROUBLE, which last year won this class with Kreuger’s boat partner Andy Costello skippering, added a victory today to four more it had garnered over the previous six races and finished a full five points ahead of its closest competition, RESOLUTE, another J/125 skippered by Tim Fuller (Murietta, Calif.). The class, reserved for light-displacement boats in the 40-foot range, is commonly referred to as “fast forties,” and was dual-scored using the IRC as well as the new HPR (High Performance Rule). DOUBLE TROUBLE was the dual winner in both systems, with RESOLUTE taking third in HPR.  “It was a great race today,” said DOUBLE TROUBLE's tactician Jeff Madrigali (Whidbey Island, Wash.), a 1996 Olympic medalist who grew up sailing here. “We had a light-air start, but the wind built really fast and the fleets were all intermingled and boats were flying. It was fun. The week has been great, with really good weather, great race management and a wonderful group of people to sail against.”

The J/105s had a tough battle. When DONKEY JACK's skipper Rolf Kaiser (San Francisco, Calif.) said yesterday that there were still three or four boats that could actually win in the largest class here at the regatta, he undoubtedly was including among them today’s race winner GODOT, skippered by Phillip Laby (Oakland, Calif.). GODOT was only one point behind DONKEY JACK going into today, and now it shares the same point score, though DONKEY JACK wins on a tie breaker after finishing fourth in today’s race.  “The J/105 fleet is one of the most competitive one-design fleets on San Francisco Bay,” said Donkey Jack’s main trimmer Steve Kleha (San Francisco, Calif.). “Our tactic going into today was to win the race. Right off the line we scooted off past BLACKHAWK to clinch that part of the battle. After that, our spinnaker trimmer told us to go underneath Alcatraz, which earned us two places ahead of MOJO and JUJU.”  Defending champion Blackhawk, skippered by Scooter Simmons (Belvedere, Calif.), finished third overall.

The J/120s perhaps had the most dramatic conclusion of the Rolex Big Boat Series.  John Wimer’s DESDEMONA redeemed itself today, after it lost its lead yesterday to defending champion CHANCE, skippered by Barry Lewis (Atherton, Calif.). With only one point between the boats going into today, DESDEMONA had to finish ahead of CHANCE, which it did by posting a second to Chance’s fourth and edging the team out by one point overall.  “We knew that CHANCE was who we had to beat, but we also couldn’t afford to just let the rest of the fleet go, so we just needed to get a decent start and sail smart,” said Wimer, who has competed in the event for 22 years. “Our expectations are always to do well and to have a challenge; this fleet has all really good sailors and it always comes down to the last race in the regatta. That is what it came down to today.”

Similar perspective were shared by some of the other sailors in the regatta.  On Bruce Stone's ARBITRAGE, it was clear the competition and tactics along the waterfront were critical to success.  Said Bruce, "We were leading the regatta after the third race.  In the fourth race, the City Front course (starting to west of Treasure Island), we had a great start at the pin end of the line and lead our group on starboard tack but somewhat pinned out from tacking to port and learned to our chagrin the port tack was highly favored tide-wise, heading to the cone of Alcatraz, as the tide charts were way off-- we played for more wind pressure to the southern side of the course but the flood was more than forecast, making it essential to dive for the cone, and all those boats who got off the line onto port were a half mile ahead by the time we could tack to port. I actually considered going all the way to the city front once I saw the immediate battle was lost, but decided to stick with it and we actually clawed our way back to 8th by the windward mark at Presidio Shoal-- however, when we hoisted our kite it blew out to leeward – Bob had not taped the shackle! After recovering the sail we dropped the jib, used its halyard to hoist the kite, had to drop it early to get the jib up etc – not too efficient, and we ended up 17th in that race – and out of the regatta.  We went from 1st to 9th in the regatta.  It was the same situation in the last race, the Bay Tour.  Our fleet started on the North Course.  The guys who flopped to port immediately at the start and aimed for Angel Island got relief from the flood, while those of us on starboard tack were a half mile behind within 5 minutes.  The lead in the regatta changed in every race, and it came down to the last race.  It was well sailed by everyone in the top 8-10 boats so that is great news for the fleet because it shows that skill levels have climbed and we’ll have a great fleet in the coming season!"

On the winning boat, DONKEY JACK, Shannon Ryan (right) was overwhelmed with joy, this being her first Rolex Submariner watch win!! "That was the longest three hours of my life!," rejoiced Shannon, one of three co-owners from J/105 Donkey Jack. They came into the day tied for first place with GODOT and didn't win the day, but beat GODOT and won the regatta on the countback!!  What a cliff-hanger for her and the team.  Sailing photo credits- Rolex/Daniel Forster.  Ellen Hoke/ http://www.ellenhoke.com   Sharon Green/ Ultimate Sailing   For more Rolex Big Boat Series sailing information

US Women's Match Race Sailing Preview

Top Women's Teams Sailing J/22s @ St Francis YC
(San Francisco, California)- The 2016 Olympic Games may have eliminated the Women's Match Race event, but the beat rocks on this week at the 2012 U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship (Sept. 13-16). Six teams from across the United States have come to San Francisco to compete for the title in J/22s at the St. Francis Yacht Club. Typically strong winds are forecast for the event and the teams will be tested not only by each other but by the conditions on the City Front. Furthermore, the US Sailing Championship is a Qualifying Event for the 2012 ISAF Nations Cup Regional Finals.

This year’s roster is highlighted by Genny Tulloch (San Francisco, Calif.), a two-time U.S. Women’s Match Racing Champion skipper. Tulloch finished just short of winning her third consecutive U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship at least year’s event on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. She lost a thrilling Final match to Sally Barkow, 3-2. Tulloch will be sailing with US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider teammates Jennifer Chamberlin (Washington, D.C.) and Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.), who finished fourth as a skipper at last year’s event. Margaret Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) will also be crewing for Tulloch. She was a crew for Roble last year.

Three-time Rolex Women’s Match Racing Champion Sandy Hayes (Scituate, Mass.) is in pursuit of her first U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship. She will be joined this week by teammates, Cindy Olsen (Scituate, Mass.), Ivy Binns (San Mateo, Calif.), and Krista Paxton (Detroit, Mich.).

Giving these top teams a run-for-the-money will be local StFYC sailors Nicole Breault, Evan Brown, Casey Williams and Julie Servais.  Nicole has won the J/22 SoCal Match Racing circuit and her familiarity with the boats and the local San Francisco Bay conditions will prove to her liking.  For more US Women's Match Racing sailing information

Discover the Joy of Sailing a J!

(Newport, RI)- With fall boatshow season starting in full-swing, it's a wonderful opportunity to visit one of many boatshows around the world to experience the latest in the J line-up of fun-to-sail boats that can be enjoyed by your family and friends.  Here is a quick boatshow guide of current shows and see the show schedules below for others coming up soon!

Cannes Boatshow- September 11 to 16- Cannes, France- J/Composites is exhibiting the new J/111 speedster for those who wish to have fun on the Med, not just daysailing off the quaint harbors in the Rivieras of France or Italy, but sailing fast around the archipelagos of Greece and the islands of the Adriatic.  Visit Grigory Aksenov at Pontoon QML121  to see the high-performance J/111 and discover why it's been such a world-beater on many of the world's most demanding offshore races.  Please contact Grigory for an appointment to see the J/111- email- aksenov.grigory@gmail.com or mobile- +7 909 157 69 24.

Newport Boatshow- September 13-16- Newport, RI- As part of the "Discover Sailing" program offered by the Newport Sailboat Show and J/Boats, anyone attending the show can sign-up to sail the brand new J/70 speedster, International J/80 One-Design and the fabulous shoal-water performance cruiser/ daysailor- the J/95! Please be sure to contact your J/Dealer now for an appointment and a demo sail soon!  For more Newport Sailboat Show information - http://www.newportboatshow.com/

Southampton Boatshow- September 14-23- Southampton, England- Key Yachting Ltd is exhibiting five J/Boats, including the new J/70 Speedster which will be making its UK debut.  Other J's on display are the International J/80 one-design, J/109 IRC offshore cruiser/racer champion, the latest J/111 offshore speedster (recent IRC Benelux Champion) & J/122 IRC offshore benchmark for cruiser-racers in the 41 foot sailboat range.  For more Southampton Boatshow information, please contact J/UK Key Yachting at "info@j-uk.com".

A Dream Cruise on a J/130

*  Experience what John & Mary Driver describe in a recent sailing article sailing aboard their J/130 cruising sailboat.

"Have you dreamed about sailing across the Atlantic to explore the beauties of Italy, France and Greece; or maybe taking a more northerly route to Scotland or through to Scandinavia? A west to east Atlantic crossing can be a daunting prospect, but making the effort is well worthwhile.

During the late 90s and early 2000s, while sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, we had started to think about some long term cruising. During that time we entered three Annapolis to Bermuda races and an Annapolis to Newport race and did several cruises along the East Coast. These offshore excursions gave us the taste for more adventure and we soon started to think about an Atlantic crossing and sailing into the Mediterranean.

We gradually converted our 43 foot J130 from an around-the-buoys racer to an ocean cruiser/ racer. With the boat fairly well equipped for safety, we focused on changes needed for long-range passages and cruising comfort. Additions included a fuel cleaning system, second fuel tank, solar panels, wind generator and updated electronics.

Where next?  We made a summer shake-down cruise to Maine to test out all the new gear, while not adventuring too far from home in case we needed to get any warranty work done. After a lot of thought and discussion with other sailors, we decided to join the Caribbean 1500 to sail in company from the Chesapeake Bay down to the BVIs. Our plan was to cruise the Caribbean and participate in the ARC Europe rally leaving the following May. This was a decision that worked very well for us and which we never regretted.

European Highlights:
Since arriving in Europe in 2010, we crossed the Mediterranean and  wintered in Northern Cyprus. It seemed the longer we stay in the Mediterranean, the more we realize there is to enjoy. Some of our most memorable highlights to date were:

• Off-road Segway tours in Sintra, Portugal.
• Passing through the Straits of Gibraltar with the Atlas Mountains of Africa to starboard and the peaks of Estrecho National Park in Europe to port.
• Playing with the Barbary apes on the Rock of Gibraltar.
• Walking the streets of Cartagena, Spain, full of ancient Roman historical sites.
• Sailing around the bays and islands of the Spanish Balearics.
• The unique culture and character of Cagliari, Sardinia.
• The friendliness of the Maltese island of Gozo.
• Enjoying local cuisine on the Island of Crete.
• Helping conservationists release baby green turtles on a remote beach in Northern Cyprus.

We are now preparing for the next part of our adventure which will be the Turkish coast to Istanbul and then the Greek isles. At some point, we’ll have to think about returning home, but so far we are in no hurry. What’s another year when you are enjoying a once in a lifetime experience?"  John & Mary Driver

Tribute to J/46 Sailor Ned Cabot

* The J/Family expresses their deepest regrets and most profound sympathies to the family of Dr. Ned Cabot who drowned recently off the coast of Newfoundland, when a rogue wave swept him from his J/46 CIELITA.

Ned was a lifelong sailor and "friend" of the J/Family.  He was on the final leg of a journey he and friends had pursued over the past seven summers that had taken them from Nova Scotia through Greenland, Iceland, and Scotland to the coast of Norway.

“He was good at everything he did, and a great teacher,” Betsy Washburn Cabot said in the statement. “You couldn’t get out of an invitation by claiming you didn’t know how to do it, because he would teach you how.”

Cabot wrote and spoke publicly about his voyages, and won a 2012 writing award from the Cruising Club of America, in which he was a long-time member. In addition to sailing, Cabot enjoyed skiing, whitewater kayaking, and horseback riding, family and friends said.

Cabot’s father, Thomas Dudley Cabot, served as director of the US State Department’s Office of International Security Affairs under President Harry S Truman. His grandfather, Godfrey Lowell Cabot, in 1882 founded the highly-regarded Cabot Corporation, a Boston-based company.

Cabot was a surgeon at Brigham & Women’s Hospital for more than 25 years and taught at Harvard Medical School. He retired from medicine a decade ago and dedicated himself to philanthropy and sailing. He was the founder of Cabot-Wellington LLC and a trustee of the Cabot Family Charitable Trust and the Godfrey L. Cabot Family Association.

J/70 @ Lido Yacht Expo

(Newport Beach, California)-  From September 27th to 30th, at the Lido Marina Village in Newport Beach CA the J/Boats SoCal dealer, JK3 Yachts will be displaying the J-65 “Maitre” as well as the new J/70 speedster. Please be sure to contact Joan at JK3 Newport Beach at phone- 949.675.8053 or email- joanne@jk3yachts.com for an appointment to see the J/70 or a demo after the show.

J/111 "Turn'n'burn" Sweden Report

* J/111 friends in Scandinavia- the BLUR gang dial it up to 17.88 kts in 22 kts wind at 150 TWA-- not bad for a bunch of rookies in "the north" (a.k.a. "north of the Arctic Circle, that is)! 

According to Peter Gustafsson and his buddies sailing in one of their recent regattas,

"The plan was to go to south to Skagen, but when the wind topped 20 knots and the sea built we decided to pop the spinnaker and go north to Marstrand instead.  Why not?!

It was incredibly fun and a GREAT RIDE!!

For those of you who do NOT own a J/111, we hope you SOON appreciate this! And, for those who DO own a J/111, you'll LOVE this!!

"Turn & burn" may be our new motto! 

This boat flies upwind, it goes even FASTER off-the-wind.  WE LOVE IT!"  Don't believe it?  Call me, txt me, FB me, LinkedIn me, we'll guarantee you a "joy ride" that you'll never forget!"  My Scandinavian friends know how to contact me, just go to "blur.se".

Enjoy the YouTube video of Peter G's fun in the Scandinavian sun aboard the appropriately named BLUR

J/22 Sailing MoBay- "Hannah Montana" Report!

(Montego Bay, Jamaica)- The Jamaica J/22 Class had a fabulous third meet in Montego Bay.  The second meet was a hoot, but the third one was even better- we called it the "Hannah Montana" special.  We had six races in 5 to 25 kt winds.  For the most part there were three race per day with at most two hours on the water per day.  Too short, you say?

Well, here in MoBay we take most kindly to the most "considerate" sailing imaginable. After all, it's beautiful here.  The people are beautiful, too.  And, they are simply wonderful and laid back.  Don't believe us?  Please come down and join us, mon!  Be assured, we can show you a good time!

So, here's an example of how we sail-- There should be no such thing as a ‘close call’ in a port-starboard that doesn’t result in a protest and this past weekend people realized that as port boat in close quarters they must either tack and (preferably) lee bow, or duck.  A good duck can only mean that the chances are the roles will be reversed at the next encounter further up the course!!

The fleet was very conservative at the start on both days with ZIPPER playing at the port end and clearing easily across the fleet on a couple of occasions.

Once again a square short start line, with excellent race management from Evelyn Harrington and Robbin Delisser, the fleet was able to enjoy a focus on extremely close racing.  The only thing persistent for the whole weekend was that there was no right or wrong on the way up the course and 20 degree shifts were the norm.  Those that could capitalize gained big and those that couldn’t - well, next time.  Boat speed helped but as RENEGADE proved with her oldest sails pointing the bow in the right direction ensured a place well up in the fleet was really possible.

Sunday’s racing had everyone in the bar within 2.5 hours albeit with rain preventing the boats from coming out of the water.  There is so much positive energy and reaction to the impetus we can only hope that Montego Bay can generate as much participation in Kingston in the coming months.

Thanks to "Hanna Montana" for the title and a pink beach ball picked up during a downwind leg on "Renegade" which even has a little bell in it!!  Cool runnings, dudes, kids will love this one!  Sailing photo credits- Evelyn Harrington   For more Royal Jamaica YC and J/22 Montego Bay sailing information

J/111 MENTAL Wins Tri-State

(Michigan City, Indiana)- The annual Tri state race has divided into the Tri-State and the Bi-State Race. The first leg of the race from Chicago to St. Joe (just over 50 miles) had 94 entries and J/Boat dominated when they were in a section.

Friday night saw the small boats start in a light SW wind then when the section 2 boats started a Northerly wind came through and blew around 12. A power reach to St Joe Michigan for a few hours then the wind started clocking finally turning into a light beat.

The J/111 MENTAL, sailed by Paul Stahlberg and crew, was the eventual winner and sailed all the way to the Michigan shore where within one mile of shore there was a reverse thermal breeze coming offshore into the lake. The sand dunes cool off and cause this to happen. MENTAL short tacked the shore to beat J/120 JAHAZI and J/111 NIGHT HAWK who sailed more of a straight line to St. Joe.

Returning to Chicago was a beautiful run in 12-15 kt winds with the J/111s MENTAL and NIGHTHAWK going 1-2 with the J/120 JAHAZI in third.   For more Tri-State sailing information

J/70 Flies Around Island

(Jamestown, Rhode Island)- There are few regattas on the Narraganset Bay yachting calendar that have a greater following and are looked forward to with greater anticipation during the course of the "Newport Summer" than Conanicut YC's Around Island Race.  While Newport enjoys multiple "around Jamestown Island races" during the course of the summer, from little boats, to big boats, to classic yachts (like really big ones), the Granddaddy of them all has always been the Labor Day Weekend romp around the 18-21nm course on Sunday.

This year 100 boats competed in the 85th CYC Around Island Race for both the new elapsed time trophy as well as the PHRF handicap corrected time trophy.  Plus, there were one-design classes competing, including J/22s and J/24s from the local Narraganset Bay fleets.

The forecast for the day was a bit variable, but suffice it so say the SSE winds of 8-12 kts ultimately developed such that the fleet was treated to yet another classic around the island romp.  While fleets A to F started in light winds with a massive "ebb current" flushing them out of the start area just off Conanicut YC, the combination of current "wind" and actual "wind" conspired to push the small boats out to the first major turning mark off Beavertail Lighthouse at a rapid speed of current + wind of about 3 kts VMG.  The RC's PRO wisely decided to postpone the "big boats" for 45 minutes until the wind re-established itself.  At that point, it was going to be clear that the overall elapsed and corrected time silverware was going to be a run-for-the-money by the "big boats".  The fleet was treated to a "classic" Bay sea breeze, building up to 15 knots so the sailors could enjoy a fast downhill ride down the West Passage to the northern part of Jamestown (against the strong ebb current) before turning back upwind into the moderate southerly against a tide that changed to beat (guess what) back into the flood tide!!  Ouch.  Can't win some days, but the current/wind Gods conspired so the fleet was basically fighting against the current all the way around the island!!  Little boats got crushed in the standings, big boats dominated by a country furlong.

For the one-design boats, none of the wind/ current stuff mattered-- whomever beat who got the ultimate bragging rights. In the J/22 class, 1st was LUCY sailed by Cory Sertl, 2nd was WHARF RAT helmed by Matt Dunbar and 3rd was MACHBUSTER led by Jeff Westcott.  In the J/24s, it was "girl power" again like their compatriots in Hong Kong!  This time is was Lindsey Turowski winning with BERLY MOVIN, followed in 2nd by Bob Lambert's BARFLY and 3rd was Newport J/24 class veteran Mike Hill on OBSTREPEROUS.

In PHRF handicap world it was an eclectic bunch of boats and fleets that made up the rest.  Starting with Class B the J/24 NIGHTHAWK finished 3rd with Richard Barker and Mike Ryan.  Class F saw two J/29s taking two top spots with Dennis Nixon's LYNX in 3rd and Steve Wood's BIG TAZ in 4th.  Class G was a tough fleet, but the J/109 PICANTE sailed by Dr Rob Salk led the J teams home with a 2nd, followed by Paul Grimes' J/35 BREAKAWAY IN 4th and EC Helme's J/92s SPIRIT in 5th.

In PHRF Class H, it was "sports-boat" shootout with J/80s, a J/70, a pair of VX-One's and others.  In the end, the J/70 J-HAWK sailed by Stu Johnstone and Julia Langford (sailing double-handed) were first across the line elapsed amongst the smaller boats but ended up 3rd on PHRF corrected (sailing with a 111 PHRF rating).  Winning the top two slots were the J/80s GROMIT sailed by Andy Burton and GOOSE in second sailed by Chris Bulger.  Fifth in class was Peter McCarthy and gang on the J/80 EAGLE!  A great performance overall by the J/Sports boat gang.

Finally, in PHRF Class J, finishing third was the custom J/44 WHITE GOLD sailed by Jamestown "hommie" and CYC member Jim Bishop.

The trophy winners for the event included a proverbial J/Alumni list of owners, including Phil Lotz (J/24s and J/105s) sailing his Swan 42 to the Fastest Elapses Award and Malcom Gefter (J/105s) on his Melges 32 winning the Handicap Award.  Plus, the Eads Johnson Trophy (large boat, fastest corrected time) went to Jim Bishop's J/44 custom WHITE GOLD and the Robert A. MacLeod Rear Commodore Trophy (day-sailer, fastest corrected time) went to Cory Sertl's J/22 LUCY!!   For more CYC Around Island Race sailing information