J/122s Enjoy Ida Lewis Distance Race

(Newport, RI) - A highlight of the Newport summer offshore season is the only round trip distance race to begin and end in Newport, the Ida Lewis Distance Race.  The event, which enjoyed its seventh edition this year, is a qualifier for the 2011 New England Lighthouse Series (PHRF); Northern and Double-Handed Ocean Racing Trophies (IRC); and the US-IRC Gulf Stream Series. Furthermore, the race incorporates something that was a first amongst all known offshore races- the Youth Challenge.   The Youth Challenge is comprised of teams that have more than 40% junior sailors to qualify for a special trophy.  In fact, one of the fastest growing divisions in this end of summer event is the Doublehanded PHRF Division!

There are five courses the RC can choose from depending on wind and weather conditions that range from 70 nm to 150 nm.  This year the IRC Class sailed the longest version, the 150 nm Block Island Course.  Sailing in this class were two J/122s, Marc Glimcher's CATAPULT and George Shaw's TUMBLEWEED, they finished fourth and seventh in class, respectively.

For more Ida Lewis Distance Race sailing information

  

Rolex New York YC Regatta

(Newport, RI) – With 135 boats competing (nearly one-third were J/Boats), the New York Yacht Club’s 157th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex, held June 10-12, broke all of its past attendance records, and with winds whipping into the high teens for buoy racing over the weekend, it certainly is in line for being the most memorable Annual Regatta in recent history.

The oldest regatta in the country kicked off with an optional 18-nautical mile Around the Island Race on Friday that saw the IRC 3 class led home by George Shaw's J/122 TUMBLEWEED from Marblehead, MA, only to lose on handicap to a sistership Andrew Weiss' J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON for first overall.  Third was the J/122 WINGS sailed by the very capable Bruno/ Callahan/ Boyle team.

Saturday and Sunday saw unusually windy conditions relative to what was forecasted by the NOAA Met office for the waters of Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound.  Saturday was especially windy and rough with winds blowing in from the ENE at 15 to 22 knots with a huge quartering swell on starboard tack rolling in from the SW.  Sunday's racing for J's occurred up the Bay in the area north of Newport Bridge, nearby to the Quonset Naval Airbase.

The most competitive division happened to be IRC 4 that had J/111s, J/122s and J/44s all competing against one another.  It was a very tough class.  After the dust settled amongst this group, whoever got a "lane" to keep the boat going fast until the first shift had a huge advantage.  Top dog amongst this trio of boats was Bruno/ Boyle/ Callahan racing their veteran champion J/122 WINGS to second place.  Fourth was Annapolis-Newport winner Andrew Weiss' CHRISTOPHER DRAGON. For more Rolex New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information

  

J/122 NA's Preview

(Block Island, RI)- For many summer starts in New England with the biennial summer-time classic, Storm Trysail's Rolex Block Island Race Week.  With wonderful sponsors like Mount Gay Rum and Rolex, it's hard not to like the fact that if you happen to win some races, you not only get some Mount Gay Rum to share with crew, family and friends, you could walk off with the ultimate prize of the week- a shiny new stainless steel Rolex Submariner watch.  135 competitors will be fighting for all that hardware.  Again, J's will be by far the largest brand represented at the Rolex BIRW with 41 boats sailing, about 1/3 of the fleet.

The premiere fleet will be the J/122 class.  Amongst the J/122s, past NA Champion Mike Bruno/ Tom Boyle/ Jim Callahan from American Yacht Club will be hoping to extend their winning streak. 

For more Rolex Block Island Race Week sailing information

  

The DRAGON Devours Annapolis-Newport Race

(Annapolis, MD)- With one of the biggest turnouts in 28 years, the J Team contingent were certain to factor in amongst the leaders of the PHRF and IRC classes racing this year. The race course runs south on the Chesapeake Bay for 120 miles to the Bay Bridge Tunnel, then 20 miles out into the Atlantic to the Chesapeake Light Tower and finally up the coast to Newport for a total of 473 miles.

The IRC Division III saw Andrew Weiss's J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON from Larchmont, NY and American YC finish first, winning by five hours corrected over the famous Bermuda Race winning 48 footer, CARINA sailed by NYYC Rear Commodore Rives Potts, in second.  Third was Paul Milo's determined crew aboard their J/109 VENTO SOLARE from Leesburg, VA just off the pace enough to, in fact, miss winning overall.  Just 24 hours out from the finish, it was a nearly a boat-for-boat dead heat between VENTO SOLARE and CARINA as to who would get to the finish first.

Finally, the J/Family wishes Jim Muldoon and friends on his maxi-sled DONNYBROOK a speedy recovery from bumps and bruises sustained while pulverizing an uncharted rock-pile just off the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.    For more Annapolis-Newport sailing and tracking information

  

Big J/122 Crew @ New York YC Regatta

(Newport, RI)- This year's 157th Rolex New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta has attracted a large J fleet racing across the spectrum of classes in this year's event, 28 boats in total (nearly 1/4 of all boats sailing).

Sailing in the IRC classes will be extremely competitive.  The loaded J-fleet in IRC 4 includes  five J/122s- past North American Champions WINGS sailed by Mike Bruno/ Tom Boyle/ Jim Callahan from American YC, Andrew Weiss's winning family team aboard CHRISTOPHER DRAGON from New York YC, Bill Coates' OTRA VEZ from Galveston Bay Cruising Association, Steve Furnary's PATRIOT from American YC, and George Shaw's TUMBLEWEED from Boston YC.   For more Rolex New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information

  

J/122 North Americans @ Rolex Block Island Race Week

(Block Island, RI- June 20-24)- This year's Rolex Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race Week serves as both the 2011 IRC East Coast Championship and the J/122 National Championship. The event also will feature the debut of a new J/111 class and has eliminated former PHRF restrictions that will open up the event to more sailors.  Boats will be competing for individual class trophies daily and Rolex watches as overall prizes for top performances on each of the racing circles. A traditional around-the-island distance race will also be included, with a Rolex watch to be awarded to the top IRC boat.

The J/105 class, which is known for holding the longest one-design participation record in the history of the regatta, has always had a strong fleet and already six boats, out of an expected 24 or more, have signed up. 'There has been J/105 class racing at Block Island since 1996, and we have been there every year,' said Nelson Weiderman (Wickford, R.I.), owner of the J/105 Kima. 'It is a family vacation for us, and I’m hoping to have my daughter and two sons join us with their children. The family thing is big for me, and a week-long event is highly unusual, so there will be beach time for all who do not race.'

Weiderman, who sailed Kima to victory in the 2010 New England Solo/Twin, said he isn’t necessarily expecting to win at Block Island the year. 'Our best year at Block Island was when we came in second (1998),' said Weiderman. 'Coming in top half would be great, but having fun is of primary importance.'

Unlike the veteran J/105 class, the J/111 class will be testing out Block Island Race Week waters for the first time in history. 'There won’t be too many boats at Block Island, since it is the first regatta for the class and only around sixty hulls have been sold,' said David Tortorello (Fairfield, Conn.), owner of the J/111 PARTNERSHIP. 'We sold our J/122 of three years and are waiting on the new PARTNERSHIP, which is still in the box.'

Tortorello is no stranger to the regatta and has participated for many years, including in 2007 and 2009 aboard the J/122 PARTNERSHIP. 'It is more fun than you’ll ever have. The whole group is one big happy family, and Block Island is the best venue around here.'    For more Block Island sailing information.

  

Generations of Dragons Flying Fast

(Larchmont, NY)- Andrew Weiss's J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON recently won her class and the overall trophy in the inaugural IRC Championship of Long Island Sound. This was no small feat since the 34-boat fleet was greater in size than the fleet that sailed at the IRC Nationals earlier in the summer. Dragon also won her division at the 2010 Larchmont NOOD regatta.

At the IRC championship, DRAGON sailed with an all-amateur crew beating the second place boat that was a mostly professionally crewed J/122 with a brand new wardrobe of sails from another sailmaker. "We did to PUGWASH, just what we were able to do with WINGS the week before at the NOOD. We sailed right out from under them and then moved in front of them and forced them to tack away.”

The Dragon program has always been a family program. Andrew crewed with his father Steve on eight CHRISTOPHER DRAGONs going back to 1973. In 1975 his friend Larry Fox joined the crew and has been sailing with Andrew ever since. Andrew did his first Newport to Bermuda race in 1976 on the third CHRISTOPHER DRAGON that was a C&C 42 with Butch Ulmer, Howie McMichael several other prominent Larchmont Yacht Club sailors. They finished an second in class -- a huge accomplishment in one of sailing's most prestigious races. "I remember my father and Butch trying to convey the enormity of what we had done, but I was too young to understand. Thirty years later I took my son Christopher on the Bermuda Race and we won our class. Now the tables were turned I had to explain to my son how much it meant to win the race. He may not have understood, but it sure got him hooked on sailboat racing. He had such a good time that asked me why I hadn't made him to go to junior sailing classes in the past. Chris has been steady crew ever since.”

CHRISTOPHER DRAGON sailing upwind on her way to winning the overall award at the Long Island Sound IRC Championships.   Allen Clark/photoboat.com

Andrew's sister Gavin is also a regular and she brought a friend Byron seven years ago and he had been a steady member of the crew as well. Andrew's good friend Linda Berkley has been sailing on three different DRAGONS going back to the Farr 43. Larry Fox now brings his son the rest of the regular crew is rounded out by friends Jonathan Asch and Drew Stetler, both who have been sailing on DRAGONs going back to 1985.

Before the Long Island Sound J/122 championship, Andrew wrote to his crew, "The last two weekends have been great sailing for CHRISTOPHER DRAGON. Everyone has done a great job and it shows in the results!!! I just added it up. In 11 starts we had eight firsts and three seconds!! Hard to beat that.”

What's better than sailing with your family? Winning with your family.

  

Rolex NYYC Race Week/ J/122 NA's

WINGS Hat Trick Leads to Win

(Newport, RI)- The forecast was promising for the first half of this year's Rolex NYYC Race Week.  Sunny days, southwest winds, nearly postcard perfect conditions for the fleet of 100+ boats sailing in a variety of classes, punctuated by the J/122s and J/109s sailing their North American Championships and the J/105s sailing their East Coast Championship.

For the first day of racing, it was a busy day on Narragansett Bay when hundreds of athletes swam across it in the early morning, then 1,200 more plied its waters from mid-morning to afternoon.  While the annual early-morning 'Save the Bay' swim finished, 100+ boats left their berths in Newport Harbor to converge on three race circles: two 'outside' on Rhode Island Sound and one 'up the Bay,' or north of the iconic Pell Newport Bridge, which serves as gateway to historic Newport and frames the sweeping view of the city from Harbour Court, where host New York Yacht Club has its on-water clubhouse.  "It was everything you could hope for in a day of sailing," said NYYC Race Committee Chair John "Tinker" Miles, noting sunshine and warm temperatures cooled by manageable 12-15 knot breezes from the Southwest.

For leaders in seven of the 12 classes, when it was good it was very good. The conditions enabled them to post nothing but first-place finishes in multiple races. What was the common denominator for many of them?  The experience of sailing in highly competitive J one-design classes to hone their competitive edge.  Mike Bruno/ Tom Boyle’s (Rye, NY) WINGS was three-for-three in the tight J/122 fleet, but it was only because it had the "slightest edge" on speed over David Murphy’s (Westport, CT) PUGWASH, which finished right behind in every race. "We’d come off the starting line and two miles later we were only two boat lengths ahead," said Mark Ploch (City Island, NY) whose job it is to concentrate on boat speed. "With the boats all stacked together, I’d say it was a combination of things that kept us ahead, great teamwork, Stu Johnstone's (Newport, RI) remarkable tactical calls and Mike's and Tom’s ability to concentrate on the long beats."  Regatta favorite Andrew Weiss sailed a solid three races but could not crack the top 2, getting a 3-4-3 to take third position after the first day. 

 On Sunday, Newport served up three more races in dazzling conditions that were similar to Saturday's sailing. By the conclusion of Sunday's racing, it was clear that competitors were aware of the early leaders and ensured that none of them could repeat their performances of the previous day...in other words, no one had perfect records the second day.  Perhaps the only near exception was the Boyle/Bruno team on the J/122 WINGS, which nearly pulled off a "hat-trick" again with a 2-1-1 score Sunday. 

As it turns out the six races sailed on Saturday and Sunday were the final results for the event.  Monday dawned with a terrible forecast, light southerlies with a front pushing in from the west that could swing the wind WNW and throw in a few hailstorms, thunderstorms and heavy showers for good measure.  The NOAA forecast was not wrong.  Both courses canceled all races Monday as the front pushed in with winds gusting over thirty knots with lightning bolts spraying all over the race course and curtains of rain hiding the entire fleet from one another, hiding some of the typical damage like torn sails, huge broaches with bruised egos, busted vangs and the sort.

In the end, the Boyle/Bruno team on WINGS won the J/122 North American Championship with a remarkable record of five firsts and a second.  In behind them was a vastly improved team on PUGWASH, led by skipper/owner David Murphy and a crackerjack team of sailors giving the WINGS team a serious run for the money (including an 8 tack tacking-duel in one race) to count five seconds and a first.  Third was the always well-sailed CHRISTOPHER DRAGON led by Andrew Weiss, proving yet again a well-honed family team can be very competitive, sailing into third with five thirds and a fourth.
 
For more Rolex NYYC Race Week sailing information

  

Rolex NYYC Race Week/ J/122 NA's Preview

(Newport, RI)- The annual race week hosted by New York YC and its' sponsor ROLEX promises to have great racing in both Narragansett Bay and offshore south of Brenton Point.  Over 112 boats are entered with strong fleets of J/122s, J/109s, J/105s and J/80s.  The week starts with racing Sat/Sun/Mon for the one-design fleets and with a break for a day followed by IRC handicap racing for the US IRC Nationals.

The J/122s are hosting their North Americans and have a solid turnout with past East Coast and North American Champions attending.  Look again on the leader-board for the well-sailed family crew led by Andrew Weiss on CHRISTOPHER DRAGON.  Contending for honors as well will be Jim Callahan and Mike Bruno on-board WINGS, plus offshore champions like the Tortorello's PARTNERSHIP and David Murphy's PUGWASH rapidly climbing the learning-curve will be in the hunt, too.  With all eight boats being well-sailed and fast, there will be a heavy burden placed on each team's crew to execute in such tight quarters racing and, most importantly, for the tacticians to go in the right direction and keep their boats out of trouble.

For the second half of the event, NYYC is hosting the US IRC Nationals.  J's participating in this event include the Torterello's J/122 PARTNERSHIP, Andrew Weiss's J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, Jim Bishop's J/44 WHITE GOLD, Schulman's J/44 CHARLIE V, Bob Armstrong's notoriously fun and fast J/100 GOOD GIRL (where's the "bad girl"?) and a fleet of J/109s including class leaders Rick Lyall's STORM, Bill Sweetser's RUSH, the Kenny/Ames team sailing GOSSIP, Schwartz's NORDLYS and the Kamisher's BLUE RIDER.  They will be up against some formidable IRC-optimized competition, so it will be a good test of boats and crew.   

For more Rolex NYYC Race Week sailing information


  

Bermuda Race Preview

J's Largest Brand Sailing

(Newport, RI)- The town of Newport is buzzing with sailors frenetically gathering together the last minute details one sweats preparing for a 635 nautical mile race that sends you bashing and crashing across the capricious Gulf Stream.  Despite the somewhat chaotic pre-race logistics, it's only to be rewarded with the delight of digging your toes into soft, pink sands sitting in plaid Bermuda shorts, shades on with a garishly bright polo shirt, sipping goofy drinks with umbrellas stuck in them or some brownish concoction called a "dark'n'stormy".  The surrealistic magnetic pull Bermuda exerts on its long-time participants  (and some "newbs") is seemingly more powerful than the fabled Siren's songs luring sailors to their demise in ancient seas.  This year, there are 185 boats entered headed for the fabled St. David's Light finish line.  The weather should be an improvement over 2008's head-bashing beat through the monstrous walls and breaking waves of the Gulf Stream (toss in a few suicidal flying fish hitting you in the head and you wonder what the attraction is to get to Bermuda by boat?).

The most startling (and heart-warming) development from the last edition is the growth of the Double-handed Division.  Is this "baby boom" market demographics kicking in big time?  After going around the track a few times with big budget programs and lots of crew, isn't it still about the skill of the sailor?  With 26 varieties of sailboats participating, eight of the double-handers are J's- about 33% of the fleet!  Leading the charge may be Scott Miller's J/122 RESOLUTE

We wish everyone fair winds, fair current and sail fast (oh, and remember to duck when the fish start flying)!  For more Bermuda Race sailing information and iTracking real-time positions.
  

J's Dominate Rolex New York YC Annual Regatta

J/122s Sweep IRC Class

(Newport, RI- June 11-13) – Known as the longest running regatta in America, having started in 1845, the New York Yacht Club’s 156th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex also has the distinction of kicking off the sailing season in New England. This past weekend, June 11-13, over 1,000 sailors on 111 boats gathered from across the U.S. and Europe for three days of racing on Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound. 

The start to the weekend was the Around the (Conanicut) Island Race on Friday, which is scored separately from the Saturday/Sunday races. The race has become a popular “add on” for competitors, especially those gearing up for the biennial Newport Bermuda Race the following week.  The J/122 WINGS was second in IRC Class (the winner last year) and Governor Pete du Pont's J/122 SPITFIRE was third. Winning their IRC Class was Bill Sweetser's J/109 RUSH.  As a result, the J's won the prestigious ROLEX CUP – presented to the best performing two-boat team in the Around the Island Race – won by a globally dominating "J-Team"-  RUSH, a J/109 sailed by Bill Sweetser (Annapolis, MD) and SPITFIRE, a J/122 skippered by Pierre (Governor Pete) du Pont (Rockland, DE).

On Saturday, the first day of the two-day buoy racing, most classes completed three races. The skies may have threatened rain but didn’t deliver much on that promise. The wind was forecast to be S veering SW in a classic scenario.  However, it was not to be.  No matter what fleet one spoke to, it was quite clear that "middle left" on the windward legs prevailed and hanging into longish streaks downwind, no matter the direction, was the strategy that prevailed for the winners.  Those who'd gone right upwind simply evaporated into thin air.  By Sunday, the promise of ideal conditions didn’t materialize until late in the day, and most classes ended up adding only one more race to the total score.  And, with a breeze forecast to go from Easterlies to North and later Northwest in the day, it didn't seem clear that going right upwind would pay dearly.  Yup, as one might've guessed, staying left of your competitors was the winning strategy.

Adhering to good starts and sound strategies all weekend was IRC4 overall winner WINGS, a J/122 co-skippered by Mike Bruno and Tom Boyle; they won the largest class in the regatta with fifteen boats from across the IRC spectrum.  WINGS' 3-2-1-2 score was more than enough to overcome a strong challenge from Andrew Weiss' very well-sailed J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON with a 4-1-2-4 record.  Most importantly, rounding out a J/122 sweep of IRC4 was Governor Pete du Pont's J/122 SPITFIRE with a 1-3-4-5 tally.  Just off the pace was Jim Bishop's experienced, winning team racing the J/44 GOLD DIGGER, finishing in fourth place and giving the J/122s a strong run for the money all three days of sailing (note- these are the same guys who won the Miami Grand Prix in March this year).
 
For more Rolex NYYC Annual Regatta sailing information.