Krump's Win J/80 North Americans

(Block Island, RI)- The 25th Anniversary of the Storm Trysail Club's biennial Block Island Race Week was celebrated this past week, and it seems that after almost five decades a good thing has only gotten better with age. First held in 1965, the five-day competition, originally patterned after Cowes Week, is one of the last true Race Weeks remaining in America.  The event proved it still can deliver on its time-tested tradition of good, challenging racing to over 1500 sailors competing on 182 teams while also embracing all types of racing sailors with a “something for everyone” approach.

Of the 182 boat fleet, J/Boats had by far the largest brand presence in the regatta with 80 boats participating (44% of the fleet!).  Six J one-design classes participated, including the J/111s, the J/80 North American's and East Coast Championships for the J/109, J/105s, J/44s and J/29s.  J/Teams also sailed in the IRC and PHRF handicap divisions.

With their North American Championship on the line, the J/80's sixteen boats saw what became two races within a regatta:  two boats clearly vying for the overall lead with five other boats vying for the balance of the top five.  In the end, Will & Marie Crump and team aboard R80, launched a tremendous comeback to topple the previous leader USA 1162, skippered by John White (Annapolis, Md.). “There were five points between us, and we were excited about the conditions but anxious about the fog,” said Crump, a 1999 J 80 North American champion (as crew) whose crew was comprised of wife Marie, her brother Thomas Klok and new crew member Chris Larson (all from Annapolis). “We’re more experienced in the high breeze, so we knew it was possible to win.  We did a little match racing with our competition to get him driven back in the fleet in the first start. For the second start, we didn’t have such a command, but we got out and away early.” 

But, it didn't start out that way for Crump and family. Said Will, “We didn’t do the practice race, because Marie broke one of her thumbs and we had to make a mad dash to the hospital on Sunday. We were lucky to get to the line and race without major compromise.” Behind the leaders were Gary Panariello on COURAGEOUS finally closing the deal on the last day's two races to take third overall with 41 pts.  The Storck family had trouble finding their groove, but ultimately the RUMOR crew took fourth overall with 44 pts. Taking fifth was the Hayes/ Kirchhoff team on MORE GOSTOSA.   Sailing Photos by Allen Clark/ PhotoBoat.com and Stephen Cloutier/ BlockIslandRI.net.  For more Block Island Race Week sailing information

Block Island Race Week Preview

(Block Island, RI)- For many sailors in northeastern America and their friends from the around the world, Block Island Race Week is the highlight of the sailing summer.  Hosted by the Storm Trysail Club with professional, well-managed race committee's, sailors can count on fantastic racing for five straight days of sailing from June 24th to 28th.  Included in the schedule is another one of those fabulous "round island" races, the 25nm Around Block Island Race sailed mid-week.  While many enjoy the sailing, it's not unusual for many of the thousand-plus sailors to enjoy the renown "Block Party" that goes all week long, fueled by Mt Gay's famous rum and, equally as famous, The Oar Restaurant & Bar's famous "mudslides".

This year the sailing teams are looking forward to one of the largest fleets to assemble in years, with 183 boats registered to sail, J/Boats having by far the largest brand presence in the regatta with 80 boats participating (44% of the fleet!).  Six J one-design classes are sailing, including the J/111s, the J/80 North American's and East Coast Championships for the J/109, J/105s, J/44s and J/29s.  J/Teams are also sailing in the IRC and PHRF handicap divisions.

The J one-design teams are loaded with excellent sailing talent.   With their North American Championship on the line, the J/80's sixteen boats are also the largest J one-design class participating.  There are several top teams sailing with North American, Sailing World NOOD, Key West and East Coast champion credentials amongst them, including R80 (Will & Marie Crump fresh off a NOOD and New York YC Annual Regatta wins), RUMOR (John Storck, Jr and family), Clarke McKinnney, Bert Carp, CHURCH KEY (Chris & Liz Chadwick), FKA (Les Beckwith) and COURAGEOUS (Gary Panariello). For more Block Island Race Week sailing information

SAVASANA Wins J/80 North Americans

(Fort Worth, Texas)- Brian Keane of Beverly Yacht Club sailing SAVASANA with his team of Steve Hunt, Mike Wolfs and Ben Powers have been crowned 2012 J/80 North American Champions, edging out defending champions Glenn Darden and Reese Hillard on LE TIGRE who finished just one point behind.  Terry Flynn and David Whelan aboard QUANTUM GC Racing took third.  Following today’s racing, Keane said, “This is the second time we have been here, having sailed in the Ol’ Man of the Sea Regatta a couple of weeks ago.  After that regatta we expected this to be simple sailing, but we had three days of unbelievably different sailing.  Conditions were always changing.  We were able to minimize our mistakes and repair them when we made them.  Fort Worth Boat Club is a great venue for racing and it is a testament to the club members, race committee and the judges that they were able to put on such a successful event.”

Here is how it all went down for this year's event on Eagle Mountain Lake, northwest of downtown Fort Worth.  For the first day of racing, the serious fun began. PRO Mark Smith promised at the Competitors’ Meeting that he would make the best possible use of time and weather conditions to maximize the quality of races and closely watch weather pattern changes for Saturday and Sunday. Five W4 races averaging 48 minutes in length were run with breeze ranging from 9-11, starting at 210 degrees and shifting to the left throughout the day.  Most shifts were easily accommodated with a code flag C notification, but Race 3 went to AP within a minute of the start and the signal boat was repositioned and all marks reset, with the race starting at 1242.

There was another sunny day on Saturday.  Friday's leaders, the Quantum/Gulf Coast Composite team of Terry Flynn (FWBC) and David Whelan (LYC) sailing with Jake Scott and Matt Romberg had a brilliant day but found themselves in second (pending protests) when Brian Keane, Steve Hunt, Mike Wolfs and Ben Powers on Savasana came back strong Saturday.   Glenn Darden and Reese Hillard, with Max Skelley and Karl Anderson climbed back up in the standings with two top ten finishes and the help of that throw-out.

Weather predictions Sunday morning weren’t stellar for the kind of racing the PRO hoped to provide, but after the frustration Saturday dealing with a front that just lolly-gagged around and refused to settle in, PRO Smith felt fortunate to have completed seven races before facing the challenges of this final day of scheduled racing.   Temperatures were a bit cooler, but there was no rain and earlier threats of thundershowers for Sunday never materialized.

The competitors left the harbor for a scheduled 1000 start, with wind at 5 mph coming from the north.  After a postponement of 45 minutes, support boats set up for a W4 course at 010 with 0.6  nm legs, having been able to move the signal boat back toward the south end of the lake from Saturday’s location in an effort to minimize shore effect and the bend around the point at FWBC.   Wind velocity held pretty steady from 5-8, but dropped to 3 several times during the two races completed today.  The course was shifted only slightly to 005 for the last race of the day and the fleet was pretty well split for all four 0.6 mile legs of the final push.  PRO Smith was very complimentary of his race committee team.  He reported, “Three quarters of our team was here for the Ol’ Man as a tune-up for this regatta.  A racing skipper wants to make a decision on the course and have the crew execute without further direction.  This is what I had with this race committee crew.  We had outstanding teamwork and excellent communication, therefore great results.”

In the end, while Brian Keane's SAVASANA and Glenn Darden's/ Reese Hillard's LE TIGRE took the top two, the balance of the top five were Terry Flynn's/ David Whelan's QUANTUM GC RACING winning a tie-breaker to finish third in front of Ray Wullf's NORTHERN AGGRESSION from Annapolis YC.  Fifth was Les Beckwith on FKA from Lake Winnepesaukee Sailing Association in New Hampshire.   Sailing photo credits- Sue Bodycomb  For more J/80 North Americans sailing information

J/80 North Americans Preview

(Fort Worth, Texas)- This coming weekend, the Fort Worth Boat Club will be hosting the J/80 North Americans on Eagle Mountain Lake form Oct 31st to Nov 4th.  Thirty-one teams are expected to compete with an incredibly talented group of sailors participating, with multiple North American and World Champions represented.  With a weather forecast that looks considerably better than the "Superstorm Sandy" the northeast had to contend with, it looks like sunny and southerly breezes will prevail until Saturday, then a chance of thunderstorms with partly cloudy skies Sunday.  Nevertheless, since Eagle Mountain Lake is surrounded by rolling hillsides, the sailors will be tactically challenged all weekend to figure out which side of the lake to choose on each leg!

As a precursor for the J/80 NA's, the FWBC hosted the 38th "Old Man of the Sea Regatta" this past weekend- it was a great regatta warm-up for the up-coming J/80 North Americans.  Many of the top teams were sailing for "Old Man of the Sea" honors. Fittingly, the Terry Flynn/ David Whelan team onboard QUANTUM RACING took the event with four 1sts in their 7 races (past J/80 North American Champions).  Second were the renowned Forth Worth locals, Glenn Darden and Reese Hillard racing LE TIGRE just three points back (also World, North American and Key West Champions).  Third was Jay Lutz from Houston, TX sailing FIRED UP (another World and Key West Champion). Fourth was Brian Keane from Marion, MA on SAVASANA fresh off his J/80 East Coast Champs effort in Annapolis (also a Key West Champion) along with Bruno Pasquinelli (a North American champion) on TIAMO in fifth.  If you had to write a script as to which top five teams would be fighting it out for the top five spots at the J/80 North Americans on "home turf" on Eagle Mountain Lake, there you have it-- any one of them can win it!

Showing up for the event from other parts of the compass across America to give the "local cowboys" a "run-for-the-money" include top California team Curt Johnson sailing AVET from California YC; Kerry Klingler (a World and North American Champion) and Abuzeni Nizar sailing ARROW from Long Island Sound; the family team of Tom Klok, Will & Marie Crump sailing GULDFAXE from Annapolis, MD and Copenhagen, Denmark (SW NOOD Champions); class ring-leaders Kirsten & Brian Robinson with Tim Borland on the famous ANGRY CHAMELEON from Annapolis; and Chris Chadwick on CHURCH KEY also from Annapolis, amongst many others!   For more J/80 North Americans sailing information

LE TIGRE Snags J/80 NAs

(Larchmont, NY)- Over the past weekend, Larchmont YC hosted twenty-seven teams from across the country sailing a highly competitive fleet over an eleven race series.  The sailors were not at all prepared to either be "schooled" or trounced by a bunch of guys from Texas.  Nevertheless, they were treated to a spectacle of great racing by one of the class's premiere ambassadors, Glenn Darden and Reese Hillard from Fort Worth Boat Club.  The LE TIGRE Team put on a clinic for how one should get it done over the three day event.  After five 1sts and three 2nds in the first nine races, Glenn and Reese stepped off the gas pedal and gave the fleet a breather, winning the regatta by 11 points.

Sailing just off the pace was a trio of three boats caught up in a real dog-fight for second to fourth overall.  Not until the last few races did the smoke start to clear and the standings get jumbled yet again.  The contenders at this point were the teams of Kerry Klingler on USA 352, Bruno Pasquinelli on TIAMO and Les Beckwith on FKA.  By winning the last two races and getting five 2nds, Les Beckwith on FKA secured second on a tie-breaker with Kerry Klingler's team.  Getting the short end of that stick on the last day was Bruno's TIAMO gang, having to settle for a fourth.  In fifth was Kristen Robinson's team on ANGRY CHAMELEON, clearly having elevated their game quite significantly, getting five top 5 finishes and finishing just out of the top three.  Go Kristen!    Sailing photo credits- Howie McMichael    For more J/80 North American Championship sailing information

  

The Tiger Winning J/80 NAs First Day

(Larchmont, NY)-  The fleet of J/80s racing their 2011 North Americans in Larchmont, NY were greeted with spectacular sailing conditions on their first day of racing.  According to Regatta Chairman, Kerry Klingler, "racing toady at Larchmont yacht Club was a great.  They had perfect conditions to get the racing off.  A nice sunny day, winds out of the southwest, from 8 to 15 knots.'

The racing was dominated by two boats that are on top of the fleet.  LE TIGRE, sailed by the Glen Darden / Reese Hillard team from Fort Worth Boat Club in Fort Worth, TX, and FKA sailed by the Les Beckwith team.  Both boats showed consistency and the ability to edge out the competition in close racing.  They also showed great tactics to be able to bounce back in races when they were down in the fleet.  In third place ANGRY CHAMELEON, sailed by the Robinson team, raced consistently to hang in the top three.  The top five was rounded out by Kerry Klingler and Bruno Pasquinelli on TIAMO, who are currently tied for fourth place.


For more J/80 North Americans sailing information

  

J/80 North Americans Preview

(Larchmont, NY)- This weekend Larchmont YC is hosting the J/80 North American Championship from September 28th to October 2nd.  Twenty-seven teams from across the country are sailing in what may be one of the most competitive J/80 fleets assembled in awhile.  While the recent J/80 Worlds in both Newport, RI and Copenhagen, Denmark were tough fleets with upwards of seventy boats, this shoot-out on Long Island Sound will have four J/80 World Champions, five J/80 North American Champions and several Key West Race Week Champions across multiple classes- J/80s, J/105s and PHRF! That's what one might call a "stacked deck"!

Expect to see amongst the leader-board teams like Kerry Klingler (NA and World Champion) from Long Island, NY; John Storck sailing RUMOR (Key West and 2010 NA's winner) from Long Island, NY; Glenn Darden/ Reese Hillard sailing LE TIGRE (Key West, NA's and World Champions) from Fort Worth, TX; Brian Keane skippering SAVASANA (Key West J/105 Champion) from Buzzards Bay; Curt Johnson helming AVET (J/80 Pacific Coast Champion) from Los Angeles, CA; Gary Kamins/ Jay Lutz sailing FIRED UP (Key West, Worlds and NA Champions) from Houston, TX/ Los Angeles, CA; and Bruno Pasquinelli skippering TIAMO (NA and Buzzards Bay Champion) from Houston, TX.   For more J/80 North American Championship sailing information