Leading J's In Swiftsure Lightship Classic

15 J's Challenge Notorious Juan de Fuca Straits
(Victoria, BC, Canada)- While Storm Trysail is hosting the east coast spring classic offshore race on the "right coast", on the "left coast" the Royal Victoria Yacht club in Victoria, British Columbia is hosting the Pacific Northwest’s Premiere Yacht Race-- the 68th running of their spring classic- the Swiftsure Lightship Classic Race.  As one of the oldest long-distance races in North America, starting in 1930, the Swiftsure has always been a test of seamanship and tactical skill.  The spring weather in the Straits can turn fast and stir up viciously steep chop and blow a gale, and then some.  Last year's event saw "the pots, the pans and the kitchen sink" all thrown at them over the course of the race-- Mother Nature was at her usual capricious self.

The racers have a choice of 3 races to sail, the "Swiftsure Lightship Classic" that's 137 miles, the "Juan de Fuca Race" that's only 76 miles and the "Cape Flattery Race" that's 100 miles in length.  All racing yachts will have a tracker system using Globalstar’s SPOT technology- locations are updated every 10 minutes, of every boat on the Swiftsure Lightship Classic, Cape Flattery, and Juan de Fuca race courses.

The sixteen J's sailing in the three races include  the J/122 ANAM CARA sailed by Tom Kelly (CFR).   Sailing photo credits- R Beberidge/ FlashInThePan.com   For more Swiftsure Race sailing information.

  

STC Block Island Race Preview

(Stamford, CT)- A spring classic since 1946, the 66th running of the Block Island Race is an annual rite of passage for many racing yachts.  It's a 185 mile distance race from Stamford, CT eastward across Long Island Sound, around Block Island, RI to port and back to Stamford.  Sixty-one boats will be vying for class and handicap honors, including seventeen J's ranging in size  from 35 ft to 45 feet.

Today, many racing yachts mark the beginning of their northeast summer sailing season by participating in this challenging race.  While seemingly an easy dash east round Block Island and back to the start/finish line, it's infinitely more challenging than what most people expect.  The classic choices of going down the middle of the Sound or hugging either the CT or the Long Island shore is dependent on wind forecasts and tides.  How to get through the notorious "Race", where the eastern part of Long Island Sound literally opens up to the sea over a large undersea cliff, is perhaps one of the most critical tactical and navigational challenges in the race.  With enormous whirlpools and massive amounts of current running up to five knots creating some of the most treacherous, massive square waves in the world, it's the one part of the race where the race is won and lost fast.  Whether to go inside Plum Island through Plum Gut or through the main channel inside Gull Island is a critical decision for the race for any navigator.

In the IRC 40 class, seven of the ten boats are J's in the 40-45 foot range.  Two very well-sailed J/122s will be competing for line and handicap honors in this class, previous winner Andrew Weiss' CHRISTOPHER DRAGON and George Marks' GEORGETOWN III.   For more Storm Trysail Block Island Race sailing information.

  

JOOPSTER 2nd in RORC Çervantes Race

(Le Havre, France)- Over 100 boats were bound for Le Havre, Frances from Cowes, Isle of Wight, England for the RORC's first race of the European season, the Cervantes Trophy Race.  Just a 125 nm race- WSW from the Cowes/ Royal Yacht Squadron starting line to the renowned Needles (and the darn wreck!).  Turn left and go SE to St. Catherines Point.  Then back NE across Sandown Bay to Nab Tower (off eastern point of Isle of Wight), then SE 90 nm across La Manche (English Channel) to Le Havre, France.  Simple race?  Hardly.  And, it can be fraught with shipping channel issues, massive holes in the middle of 20-30 knot winds and the like.  This year was hardly any different than past "ditch races".  Smart sailing tossed in with a bit of luck would pay off yet again.  It was a race that had about 80% beating/ fetching and the other 20% a mix of the rest, in other words a waterline race.

IRC Two had no less than 25 yachts.  It was a close battle for line honours in class between the J/122 JOOPSTER sailed by Neil Kipling's crew and the J/111 sailed by the well-traveled Niall Dowling.  At the end of the race, the J/122 finished in front by 22 minutes.  As a result, JOOPSTER got second corrected and ARABELLA 4th on handicap.  Overall, they finished  4th and 7th, respectively.

Paul Heyes was sailing on Niall's J/111 ARABELLA and offered this insightful report on the race proceedings:  "The start was downwind in 10-14 kts, dead run down the Solent with tide, so about an hour and a half to the Needles turning mark.

At the start, ARABELLA took off with the first group, which included "La Reponse", a very custom First 40 built by Beneteau as a works boat for Gerry Trenteseaux. JOOPSTER, the hot J 122, and a successful Beneteau 40.7.

On the run we could not quite match the VMG of the 2 or 3 fastest symmetrical boats who were sailing at 170 or deeper to our 160. Our VMG was identical to the Elan 410 and X 41. We arrived at the Needles Fairway buoy 4th in class just ahead of JOOPSTER and JELLYFISH, another J/122.

We then had a 15 mile beat against the tide to St Catherines Point, slowly the 40 footers edged away from us, we were sailing with 7 crew. Many of our class sailed at IRC max weight of 12 bodies, so giving away nearly 500 kgs on the rail for stability is not helpful in these conditions. The wind built to 25 kts as we approached St Catherines Point sailing upwind.

Shortly after the point the breeze reduced to less than 10 knots and we quite quickly regained all our losses.  In under one hour we passed the 5 or 6 class 2 boats that had been ahead of us, the class 1 leader (a 54 footer) and the remainder of the class 3 and 4 boats that had started before us. The performance of the J/111 was awesome on this short tacking against the tide light-airs situation. Normally in this situation you gain places on the tack in and lose after the tack to deeper water. ARABELLA gained a place on every tack and conceded none, we must have passed close to 30 boats arriving in Sandown Bay leading on the water of everything that we could see, the race winner a Farr 52 having disappeared over the horizon.

The original SE breeze re-established itself at 12 knots with the J/122 JELLYFISH furthest offshore and first to find the breeze, taking the lead. As the breeze filled in a drag race for the Nab Tower ensued between ARABELLA, La Reponse and the 2 J 122s.  Once again the 40 footers slowly edged ahead, La Reponse and JOOPSTER arriving at the Nab some 5 minutes prior to us after probably 10 miles of sailing mostly against the tide. The J/122 JELLYFISH was just ahead of everyone.

Prior to starting we had been told that the long leg of the race which was 60 miles from the Nab to a buoy off Le Havre would be a 110-115 TWA leg, so we had anticipating trying the A0 (Code 0) and making pace, sadly for ARABELLA the wind had clocked and it was now a 65 TWA leg, so another benefit for waterline length.  Couldn't "buy a break", could we?

After an hour or so the wind backed enough to allow us to change to a Jib-top, this was a sweet sail and we made good progress, with a wind that built to 28kts at one point. At this point we were flying.

At the end of the 60 mile leg we were unsure of our fleet position, with the exception of an X 41 that we rounded the mark with, the final 20 miles in to the finish were pretty much close hauled.

The final result showed us 4th in class and 7th in fleet. We were beaten by La Reponse and the J/122 JOOPSTER who took about 20 minutes out of us on the 90 miles of fetching and beating.  We were pretty pleased to have held off the many, much faster-rated 38-40 footers with longer waterlines that followed us in.  Next time we need the course setters/ Wind Gods to just give us a quarter of the course or more as a reaching leg, then the ARABELLA will really light up--- here's to looking at the Fastnet Race!"
For more RORC Cervantes Race sailing information. 

  

J/122s Go Hunting @ Antigua Sailing Week

(English Harbour, Antigua)-  For the last day of sailing, Friday’s 18-knot easterly seemed almost benign compared to the rush of trade winds that have been blasting through Antigua Sailing Week. There was some intense action. The Race Committee set a series of tight coastal courses that had the competitors vying for clear air in the tightly compressed fleet for the last race of Antigua Sailing Week.  The days before, it was a full blown easterly with trade winds touching 25 knots that provided for some high speed thrilling action on the pristine blue waters along Antigua’s leeward coastline. Foaming surf with waves breaking over two metres was all about staying under control, especially off Turtle Beach which was prone to gusts approaching 30 knots.

Class 3 produced an intense battle between the top five yachts, with virtually every other race going to the wire. Jim Dobb's "native son" boat, the J/122 LOST HORIZON and the J/120 EL OCASO sailed by Rick Wesslund from Miami, Florida were amongst the contenders.  After the first three races, the J/122 LOST HORIZON was in a virtual three-way tie with the regatta leaders with a 2-4-1.  But, thereafter, the boys "lost the horizon" and couldn't manage to finish higher than 4ths, 5th to drop to fifth overall at the end.  Conversely, Rick's EL OCASO team sailed stronger every race to overcome a slow start and finish third in class. 

In Class 6 Peter Bainbridge’s J/122 SKY HUNTER II enjoyed the beat in big seas in the last race far more than their competitors to hang onto the lead for overall honors, taking three firsts in six races!

This year’s Antigua Sailing Week was blessed with outstanding racing conditions and beautiful weather. The shoreside events and logistics have required the energy and hard work of an army of volunteers led by Alison Sly-Adams and Paddy Prendergast. The outstanding race management team led by Kathy Lammers has been getting rapturous applause from the competitors for its preparation and execution of racing.

After the prize giving ceremony, Laviscount Brass rocked out Antigua Sailing Week. But despite no further racing the fun doesn’t stop Friday night! Saturday is Dockyard Day followed by the Cavalier Rum Street Party and the closing event is on Sunday with the Big Beach Bash at Dickenson Bay.  For more Antigua Sailing Week sailing information    Sailing photo credits- Tim Wright- photoaction.com

  

The "Dragon" Sails to AYC Spring Series Win

(Larchmont, NY)- While not the largest fleet the AYC Spring series has seen in a number of years, the J class presence continues to grow with passionate, enthusiastic owners having fun in both handicap and one-design sailing fleets.  This year seventy-seven boats in nine fleets were in attendance with forty-two J's sailing (55% of the whole fleet) in 3 handicap fleets (IRC and PHRF) and 3 one-design fleets.  Again, the American YC PRO/ RC did a good job of getting in some nice course racing the a wide variety of conditions over the two successive weekends.

Whether there's five J/122s or fifteen of them, the class always has tight racing with  no one boat dominating the class-- the J/122s all seem to be so equal, on any given any boat can win.  This year's spring series that rang true, despite the fact that the Dragon team took the championship.  Sailing strongly this year was Barry Gold on SUNDARI, starting well with a 1st, then adding a 4-4-1 to his tally to just miss first place by 2 pts.  However, tied with SUNDARI at 10 pts even was the trio of Mike Bruno, Tom Boyle and Jim Callahan racing WINGS to a consistent 2-2-3-3 tally, losing the tie-breaker to SUNDARI.  Finishing first was the family team of Andrew Weiss sailing CHRISTOPHER DRAGON with a 4-1-1-2 for 8 pts.  Interestingly, it seemed the regatta was led by the "black ships brigade", the winning boat with green stripes and the second place boat with white stripes!

For more American YC Spring Series sailing results.   Sailing photo credits- photoboat.com

  

GAMBLER Triumphs in Tough Charleston Race Week

(Charleston, SC- Apr 14-17) - Springtime in Charleston is one of the more perfect places to spend the spring season and nature smiles especially fondly on Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week every year. For local Charleston resident and J/22 competitor, Greg Fisher, it's all about the community. The multiple world champion and former sail designer recently left the sailmaking industry to accept the position as Director of Sailing for the College Of Charleston. "The amazing thing about Charleston sailors is how they come together as a community for important events," Fisher said. "Hundreds of passionate sailors and their families get together to support Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week, Charleston Community Sailing and the College, and it really feels like you're part of a big family when you're with them."

While the rest of America was fretting about tax filing deadlines, Charleston Harbor gave sailors a tax day gift - nearly perfect weather for sailboat racing on Friday. "I don't think I've ever had a day with such perfect sailing weather," said a competitor on the offshore PHRF course. "We had tight racing with 15-18 knots out of the East - perfect wind, perfect waves, and warm sunshine all day."

Racing offshore on the north/south courses were the big boats.   Kemah, TX J/122 owner Doug Shaffer leads the class with just four points in three races aboard GAMBLER, getting a 1-1-2 score.  In second was yet another J/122, Robin Team's TEAMWORK from Lexington, NC with a 4-2-1 record, getting stronger every race as their team dials it in to be a class leader.

The talk of the dock after the spectacular day's racing was whether or not the dire predictions for Saturday's sailing would come true- a weather forecast that included no less than trailer-destroying tornados, frightening line squalls, severe ginormous thunderstorms, massive car-destroying hail stones, monster micro-burst puffs and gale-force wind conditions. If Friday's conditions provided a chance for racers to knock the rust off, Saturday would undoubtedly separate the top teams from those who could use a bit more practice-- or the crazed from the simply normal.  As Saturday dawned, it was clear the prognosticators were correct, the forecast was more accurate than most had hoped; in fact, the storm front killed nearly 50 people in tornados less than 100 miles away.  As a result, Regatta Chairman Randy Draftz was put in the unenviable position of having to cancel racing for the first time ever in the race week's history.  Nevertheless, many were sanguine about the dilemma and felt it was a good call.

Multiple J/24 World Champion Anthony Kotoun of Newport, RI was one of them, and the Virgin Islands native who has sailed the past four Charleston Race Weeks, shared his thoughts on Charleston Race Week: "I just love this regatta," he said. When pressed on why, he mentioned the parallels with Caribbean regattas. "I just came back from sailing in St. Thomas at the Rolex Regatta, the BVI at the Spring Regatta and St. Maarten for the Heineken event, and Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week is the only event in the country that's got a flavor like those." Kotoun cited "great breezes, beautiful surroundings, and the regatta village here on the beach that's really something you don't see anywhere but the Caribbean."

An earlier start time for Sunday saw frantic preparations as all boats were seen pulling piles of extra sails and gear off their boats to lighten their loads for the expected forecast of a dying 5-10 kt wind. The offshore courses saw sufficient sailing breeze through most of the day, with the first race run under very light northerly conditions and the final race in a moderate Charleston sea breeze of 10 knots.

In PHRF B, Doug Shaffer's J/122 GAMBLER simply sailed away, leaving the fleet in their rear-view mirror, winning the last two races to win by 9 pts over the J/111 VELOCITY.  After their Friday "practice race" day, the gang on the J/111 VELOCITY got their act together, retuned the rig, trimmed the sails faster, avoided some big holes and even led the entire fleet around one leeward gate to secure 2nd overall with a solid 2-2 showing on the last day for a total of 15 pts.  Third was Robin Team's J/122 TEAMWORK, sailing an uncharacteristic 7-3 to finish 3rd with 17 pts.

Thanks to Mike Lovett's contributions from his Sailing World Forum report (http://www.sailingworld.com).

Sailing Photo Credits:
Meredith Block- www.blocksail.com
Priscilla Parker- www.priscillaparker.com

VIdeo coverage:
  - OTWA  Sailing Coverage- Day One
  - T2P.TV- Day One Summary

For more Charleston Race Week sailing information

  

J/122s Sail Light Air Warsash Finale

(Warsash, Southampton Water, England- April 16-17)- The last weekend of the Warsash Spring Series and Spring Championship took place on 16-17 April. The event has been running since 1984 and now involves over 100 Warsash members afloat and ashore. What was different this year was the persistent light conditions which race officers around in the early days cannot remember happening before. On only two days did the wind stay in double figures but more often than not loitered in the 5-8 knot range for racing. This may have meant less toll on boats and equipment but a real challenge, especially for tacticians and helms.

Saturday- Spring Championship- Day 3
Again a high pressure system hung over the Solent – wonderful sunshine but the water resembled a mill pond.  The postponement flag was raised at 0950 with race officers constantly checking for wind in the area. As the day wore on, there had been no change or likelihood of a breeze filling in by soon after midday and there was no choice but to cancel all racing for the day. This proved to be a wise move since although a 6 knot breeze did perk up in the afternoon, it vanished again within half an hour.

Sunday- Warsash Spring Series- Day 6 & Spring Champs- Day 4
The forecast promised slightly better conditions for Sunday but as the Black Group fleet gathered near East Knoll, it looked unlikely. When the first signal was due to be sounded, visibility was obscured by a veil of haze from which emerged a stream of commercial traffic inbound for Southampton. The postponement flag was hoisted and race officers made the first of several radio announcements to keep competitors aware of their intentions. Shortly after noon, everyone’s patience was rewarded. A south-easterly breeze filled in and, whilst never more than 8 knots, was sufficient to allow racing. Courses were set with Flying Fish the first windward mark, followed by runs and beats in the area of Hill Head and Universal Marina. With some classes combined, the first start consisted of IRC1, Big Boat and Farr 45s. With a strong adverse tide, some skippers were slow to reach the line and AP was flown again to allow these boats to clear the line. This also coincided with a brief wind shift and when it had steadied again came the turn of IRC2 and J/109 classes with a slightly shorter course. The ODM end of the line was favored. 

Spring Championship Final Results
The Spring Championship does not allow discards and six races were finally counted to decide the overall standings.  In the Black Championship BB2 Class, Ian Matthew's J/122 JINJA sailed to a 2-8-2-3-4-7 to finish third, only 2 points out of second.

Spring Series Final Results
In the Spring Series, IRC1 Overall results,  Neil Kipling's J/122 JOOPSTER also sailed nicely to win two of the six races sailed to get 6th, only 1 pt from 5th overall IRC despite counting a DNS in Race 1 and tossing a DNS in Race 5-- had they gotten one more race under their belts, the J/122 JOOPSTER would certainly have had a shot at 1-2-3 overall in IRC.

In the breakout IRC1-B Class, third was the J/122 JOOPSTER sailed by Neil Kipling, sailing to a DNS(13)-1-1-1-DNS(20)-4 score for 20 pts.

In challenging light conditions the fact that the vast majority of races were completed is a credit to the patience of the race management team and the competitors in equal measure. The prize-giving will be held on Friday 20th May when all competitors and crews will be welcome at Warsash Sailing Club’s Shore House to join club members in celebrating a very successful event. The 2012 Warsash Spring Series starts on Sunday 11th March.    Sailing Photo Credits- Eddie Mays.    For more Warsash Spring Series sailing results.