J/70 Teams Enjoy Blustery Fall Chesapeake Weather!
(Annapolis, MD)- The first J/70 one-design class regatta, outside of
the NYYC USQS series in Newport earlier this summer, was the Eastport
YC's J/70 Fall Brawl Regatta held on the Chesapeake Bay. The fleet of
twenty-three boats were greeted by incredibly challenging conditions on
both Saturday and Sunday over this past weekend. While many friends
could not attend because of Super-storm Sandy's wrath still afflicting
the northeast, some intrepid sailors from across the northeast managed
to make their migration to the Chesapeake to sail in a fun and very
competitive regatta.
Eastport YC did a fabulous job hosting the event in winds ranging from
15+ kts on the first day to 15-25+ kts on Sunday. The fleet was faced
with tough, cold conditions with very shifty wind conditions. In the
end, Tate Russack's DIESEL team was declared the J/70 Fall Brawl
Champion with a record of 5-4-1-6-2-1 for a net of 13 pts. Not far off
the pace was Henry Filter sailing his new WILD CHILD to a 2-1-7-4-1-dnf
for a net of 15 pts. Coming from the far away Midwest was Richie
Stearn's team on TYLISHAN from Chicago YC finishing third with a steady
3-3-2-7-8-3 for 18 pts. Rounding out the top five were the team of
Heather Gregg-Earl and Will Welles on RASCAL with a 1-6-3-10-3-9 for 22
pts in fourth and fifth was Ron Thompson's crew with a 6-14-8-2-5-2 for
23 pts, coming on strong in the last few races.
What was amazing was to see the heart-warming camaraderie amongst the
crews as they were "warming up" after the races, sharing war-stories
and, in general, learning how to sail their boats better, comparing
notes after the races. On that note, we received some wonderful
commentary from two people sailing aboard two different boats. One was
Katie Burns on RASCAL sailing with Will Welles and Heather Gregg-Earl
and the other was Greg Lanese sailing with his buddies.
Katie's commentary:
"A few years ago I wrote my first piece for Sailing Anarchy titled "The
Suck". Well, guys ... I found The Suck again. It was here in Annapolis
on Saturday, during the J/70 Fall Brawl - the first ever J/70 one design
regatta. There's something about torturing my body that really warms my
soul, so I have to share the story of this event. It was freezing, we
were soaked, and I am so sore today that I could hardly shift the gears
in my Saab this morning. But the downhills on that Saturday were worth
all of that, and we got a beautiful, sunny, flat-water Sunday on the Bay
as a reward for the torture. Maybe what I love the most about The Suck
is when I'm not in The Suck anymore.
Leading up to the regatta, I was stoked. I was still coming down from my
adrenaline high after the Harvest Moon on the Peerless, so I was amped
to get back out on the water and try something new. Heather Earl and Joe
Bardenheier of Boston recruited me to sail with them and Will Welles of
North Sails (Newport). I really didn't know what I was getting myself
into - I had never properly sailed a J70 before, and one-design buoy
racing is totally not my forte (someone get me back offshore, stat!),
but the J70 has become all the rage here in Annapolis, so I really
wanted to give it a try.
Waking up on Saturday morning and stepping out on my balcony (super
gorgeous view of the Bay, if you're curious), I knew I was in for a
really, really cold day. I got all of the gear I could find together,
and headed down to EYC to help put the boat in the water. Within minutes
of being outside, my hands were numb from the frigid cold. I could
already tell I was going to be hating life for the rest of the day, but
something about hating life really makes me happy, so we shoved off the
docks and began mentally preparing ourselves for what was in store.
It turns out that Heather, the tiniest woman I have ever sailed with in
my life, is actually a beast at the helm. The breeze was way up, more
than the forecast called for, the waves were getting more and more
choppy, and Heather was back there all day, driving and pumping the
main. I'm sure she must have struggled, but she didn't give it away and
she just kept hammering away at it. Joe trimmed jib and kite, calling
puffs and waves when he could. Will, one of the best J boat racers
around, called tactics in the mayhem. I pulled strings, handled the vang
and jib downwind, and doused the kite, or at least, I tried to. Like I
said, I'm not really that great. I am in need of some major small
keelboat training, actually.
Despite the conditions on the water, we had a great first day. There's
something to be said about scoring the first ever bullet in the first
ever J70 one design regatta. I can't wait until I'm an 80 year old hag,
just so I can sit at the yacht club and brag to the young
whippersnappers that, 50 years ago, I sailed in the first ever J70 event
and my team won the first race. That's my vision anyways, that this
event will be like the J24 Easter Regatta, which is stupid old but
really, really fun.
We followed the first race with a 6 and a 3, to come out in a 3-way tie
for 2nd place. We were behind Richard Stearns (Tylishan), and tied with
my fellow local sailors Henry Filter (Wild Child) and Tate Russack
(Diesel). Personally, I was really feeling some competition with Diesel
because my co-worker, APS storefront manager Mike Lindsley, was on board
trimming the headsail. I just had to beat him!
Coming in off the water on Saturday, we were definitely licking some
wounds. It's really hard to put a boat away when you've lost all grip in
your fingers because you're so cold. I felt soaking wet from taking
waves to the face all day and couldn't stop shivering, but I somehow
managed to limp home. My roommate, longtime Annapolis sailor Gretchen
Esbensen, came home to find me sitting on the couch, still in most of my
gear with a bucket of fried chicken in my lap, watching a crappy Amanda
Bynes movie. I remember her asking me if I was hypothermic because my
face was purple. I just stared at the wall. Sometime after that, I
managed to pull myself together and get in the shower. EYC had a nice
set-up for us at the club, so I wanted to get back and talk shop with
the other J70 racers. Plus, my team was pretty awesome and I wanted to
recap the day we had and prepare for Sunday.
One thing is for sure - I wasn't playing games with the cold on Sunday. I
dug up even more gear, I rocked a skiff suit under my bibs, I layered
some waterproof gloves under some arctic gloves, and I wore earwarmers.
Of course, all of this was a little unnecessary, as Sunday turned out to
be gorgeous. The sun was out, the water was flat, and our course gave
us a great view of Annapolis, the town that I have grown to love so
much.
Unfortunately, the warmer conditions didn't mean the breeze was doing
anything promising. It was pretty fluky, going up, going down, going
left, going right ... it didn't know what it wanted to do. We went right
and the breeze went left, we went left, the breeze went right. It left
us wondering what we had done to piss off the wind gods, and we scored a
10 and a 3 in the first 2 races. The third race was a 5-legger, and we
knew we had to gun it to move up in the scores. Unfortunately, we
didn't quite get there, finding ourselves on the complete wrong side of
the course during the first leg. But, after rounding the top mark at the
back of the fleet, Heather started to pick up some boats one by one. Of
course, I didn't help matters much. I had a really bad kite douse
around the first bottom mark (they were all pretty bad, actually), and
then I fell overboard right before rounding the next top mark. We were
roll tacking at that point, and I got caught on the leeward side and
flipped over the rail. Miraculously, I managed to hold onto the boat, so
while I was getting dragged through the water, I flipped my leg back
over the rail. Needless to say, I won't be a Navy Seal anytime soon
since I couldn't get myself all the way back in, but Joe jumped down and
strong-armed me the rest of the way. In shock, I rolled back up to the
high side and started hiking again. It sucked so bad ... I was SO warm
and dry up until then, until the point I decided to witch duck myself
into the drink. How embarrassing. But I guess this is the way of
sailboat racing, and I'm still learning the boat. Now I know what NOT to
do, right?
We ended up picking up enough boats by the end of the race to score a 9,
which put us in 4th overall. Tate Russack's Diesel (with my nemesis
Mike on board) had a great Sunday to move into 1st. Henry Filter's Wild
Child scored a bullet to put them in 2nd, and Richard Stearns' Tylishan
moved into 3rd. And, my fellow Hampton, VA natives, Ron Thompson and
crew, had a great Sunday also, scoring 5th overall.
All in all, it was a great first event for the J70. Everyone was out
there learning the boat, learning their crews, and learning the
conditions. Saturday was a prime day to learn what the J70 is really
capable of. We were a little overpowered upwind until we found the
groove (after racing, of course), and the downwinds were really fun. We
had a decent wipeout after rounding a top mark, and we definitely
weren't the only ones to lay the boat down. Going out on Saturday, Will
mentioned training wheels ... there were no training wheels on Saturday,
not even a chance for them. The breeze and the chop did not let up for
even a second, so it was full on all day long. It was awesome!
As for the boat itself ... get your upper body strength up, ladies. This
boat definitely tested me. There are a few awkward things about it that
I'd like to see changed, but for the most part, it was a really great
ride. It wasn't uncomfortable at all, even legs out hiking wasn't
painful. It's definitely in its own class. Coming into this weekend, I
have heard a lot of comparisons to other boats, but I no longer think of
it that way. It's very well suited to a lot of different racers, which I
think is great, and it's gaining popularity really fast. Our fleet in
Annapolis is already well on its way, with boats still in production to
add to the list. And there should be a good showing in Key West, which
will be exciting. Imagining sailing in warm weather again is like a
dream. Can't wait!"
Greg Lanese had this commentary: "My friend Ron had been going
back and forth on what kind of boat to get for several years now.
Vacillating between a bigger boat that can be raced (competitively) and
cruised or a smaller boat that can be raced and trailered but that is
still fun and easy to day sail with non racers. His background is in
dinghies and windsurfing, and he is a strong Masters Laser sailor. Last
spring he demo'd a J/70 in Annapolis and shortly thereafter put down a
deposit for one. The winning argument, other than liking the boat, was
the desire and ease to be able to travel and compete. All indications
pointed to the J/70 becoming popular very quickly with potential fleets
in many different places.
Fast forward to September. He picked up his new J/70 from in Annapolis
and proceeded to invite me to join him and a Laser buddy of his to sail
in the first J/70 one design regatta, the class inaugural event, “The
Fall Brawl”. Organized by David Malkin of North Point Yacht Sales with
support from North Sails Annapolis and Eastport Yacht Club, on the
weekend of October 26th. Racers showed up from as far as Chicago,
Boston/Newport, Vermont, North Carolina, and Virginia.
With twenty boats expected on the line, it was a well organized, well
run event with the race committee doing a great job under difficult
conditions both days. And on the first day, it was to be a baptism under
fire. 15 to 20 knots with stronger puffs and the wind forecast to build
in the afternoon. High temps in the low 50's with grey ominous
overcast. Luckily we had a chance to sail the boat the evening before in
similar conditions and got a feel of what it is capable of. That gave
us some confidence for the racing. We had a bit of a though time finding
the groove going to windward but the downwind runs were just nuts, an
absolute blast. We had a couple of roundups, but once we learned how to
deal with them it was not a big deal. As the afternoon progressed and
the puffs became the sustained wind speed the Race Committee opted to
cancel for the day with three races completed.
That evening there was a debrief and discussion session led by Kristen
Berry from J World. He was out in a RIB watching us during the racing
and had a great deal of valuable insights for all the racers. A query of
who got rounded up resulted in a room full of hands in the air, with a
quip of “if you didn't you are probably lying”. He also pointed out that
his RIB tops out at about 16 knots and was having trouble keeping up
with boats on the downwind legs. Like I said, it was nuts!
There was a great deal of discussion about boat handling, tuning, the
future of the class and how to improve things. Some
surveys/questionnaires were handed out for both owners and crew. The
biggest concern I perceived from owners was that the class remain
accessible to all levels of racing and not be hijacked by the upper
echelons of the sport.
Sunday brought sunny skies and 7-12 knots, with 30° oscillations from
the W-N. We got three races in with some very competitive sailing. The
two old Laser sailors in the back did their thing and we had a good day.
My impressions, as crew, of the J70 are positive. Like most J boats she
is well mannered and comfortable. She does not appear to have any bad
habits or quirks. Overall it was a really fun weekend with two great
days on the water. I got the impression everyone involved was psyched to
be there and looking forward to more racing on the J/70. There was
plenty of talk of races in FL this winter and growing of fleets in the
Great Lakes, the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic in the spring."
Sailing Photo Credits- Sara Proctor/ Sailfastphoto.com and Dan Phelps/ Spinsheet.com. For
more J/70 Fall Sailing Results
(Hamble, England)- The Garmin Hamble Winter Series entered its second
half of the series on Sunday with thick fog drifting down the Hamble River in the early morning. But competitors expecting wintry conditions
were surprised by bright sunshine and a fluctuating, light and shifty
breeze that offered big gains for those who kept in phase with the
shifts.
In
IRC 0, Dr Ivan Trotman’s J/122 JOLOU continues to lead the fleet
overall with an impressive scoreline of 1-2-1-3-2-1-1-2 for a total of 8
pts over a host of top British IRC boats like a Grand Soleil 46, Mills
43 and and Arcona 430.
The
J/109s were topped this week by a newcomer to this year’s series,
Richard Hinde-Smith’s TIGH SOLIUS, which beat David McLeman's OFFBEAT in
2nd and Paul Griffith's JAGERBOMB in third. So far, JAGERBOMB
continues to lead their standings with a string of top five finishes,
counting a 1-3-1-1-4-6-3 for a total of only 9 pts. David's OFFBEAT and
Owain Franks' JYNNAN TONNYX are tied for second with 14 pts apiece.
Fourth is Todd Wells on JE VANTE with 18 pts and fifth is Roger Phillips
on DESIGNSTAR. 
