Annapolis Race Week Preview

(Annapolis, MD)- Annapolis Race Week is one of the premier sailing regattas in the Mid-Atlantic Region. It's sailed annually over the Labor Day Weekend (this year from August 31st to September 2nd) off Annapolis. CBYRA is happy to announce that its tent party and regatta headquarters will be again held at Annapolis' City Dock.  Utilizing the Susan Campbell Park as the shore-side venue has heightened visibility and attendance and by opening it up to the public, created a citywide festival type event oriented towards sailing!

There are more than fifty-seven J/Teams sailing out of eighty-three boats registered so far with J's representing the dominant brand at the regatta with over 70% of the fleet!

The inaugural J/70 one-design class has thirty-one teams competing, by far the largest class in the regatta, where many leading contenders are using the event as a tune-up for the upcoming J/70 North Americans in Annapolis in the end of September.  Amongst the notable teams (based on recent performances) are Joel Ronning's CATAPULT, Blake Kimbrough's NOSTALGIA, Bennet Greenwald's PERSEVERANCE, Martin Kullman's TOUCH 2 PLAY and Brian Keane's SAVASANA.  Two others to watch out for are Henry Filter on WILD CHILD and Peter McChesney on USA 209-- both college sailing All-Americans with enormous amounts of one-design experience under their belts. Three women skippers are also participating and have been demonstrating they are quite competitive at both a regional and national level, including Jenn Wulff on JOINT CUSTODY, Kathy Parks on SUNDOG and Catharine Evans on MOJITO. Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com   For more CBYRA Race Week sailing information

Verve Cup One-Design Regatta Preview

(Chicago, IL)- The Verve Cup Inshore Regatta is a spectacular sailing event that is hosted by the Chicago Yacht Club at Belmont Station from August 24th to 25th. Identical One Design classes compete for two days to determine which boat has the best skipper and crew; included are the debut of the incredibly popular J/70 one-design speedster and the classic J/24 one-design keelboat classes.

This year, the Verve Cup will be bigger than ever and is assured to be the best one-design sailing around the Chicago area. Featuring optimal late summer breezes, competitive racing, and the best race committee on the water, the Verve Cup delivers outstanding racing. Big name sponsors include AUDI Chicago, Mt Gay Rum and SLAM yachting gear.

The debut of the J/70 class is quite impressive in this regatta, having by far the largest fleet with over twenty boats participating.  The fleet has a national and international flavor to it with crews from all over America and Europe.  Top teams featured in this year's event include Joel Ronning's well-traveled CATAPULT team from Minneapolis, MN; Bennet Greenwald's PERSEVERANCE crew from San Diego, CA; Joe Woods's crew on RED from Torquay, England.  Several new teams are participating including Blane Shea's GEMINI and Richie Stearns' TYLISHAN-- both from the local Chicago fleet.  Sailing photo credit- Tim Wilkes.   For more Verve Cup Inshore sailing information

J/70 Stars at SAILFEST!

(Weymouth, England)- Fresh from her class racing debut AAM Cowes Week and the 2013 J-Cup, the J/70 Sportsboat will be making a star appearance at GJW Direct SailFest later this month. The team from Key Yachting Ltd (the UK dealer for the J/70) will be at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy on the afternoon of Friday 23rd of August until Bank Holiday Monday 26th of August and will be offering trail sails in the J/70 for anyone who is keen to try this hot little sportsboat for themselves.

GJW Direct SailFest is a brand new summer sailing festival which combines coaching, fleet and handicap racing on the Olympic waters in Weymouth. Inspired by the Olympic Games, SailFest presents the opportunity to race on the same waters with support from Olympic classes coaches. There will also be events for spectators on shore at WPNSA, including live video feeds from the race-track, workshops, demonstrations and the opportunity to get out on the water for a Try A Boat session. Anyone who is interested in sailing (especially those who are new to the sport and who are keen to give it a try) are invited to attend. You can see the full schedule of activities at SailFest both on and off the water at http://sailfest.sailracer.org

The J/70 is a 7 metre performance sportsboat. The first boat was built in 2012 and it has proved a phenomenal success with fleet growth both in the UK and around the world exceeding all expectations. It is an incredibly exciting boat to sail and has proved popular both with first time boat buyers and experiences racing sailors alike. It is fast and light, has lifting keel which makes the J/70 very easy to tow behind the family car and it planes in just 14 knots of breeze. Stable and manageable across the full range of wind-speeds irrespective of age or experience, the J/70 is the perfect family sportsboat and is an ideal option for those sailors who are considering the step up from dinghies to keelboats.

SailFest at WPNSA runs across the whole of the August Bank Holiday weekend and the J/70 will be available for visitors to the event to sail every day. If you would like to try the J/70 for yourself, irrespective of age or experience, Key Yachting and SailFest would be delighted to make the arrangements for you. Please just simply register your interest at http://sailfest.sailracer.org  or alternatively, give Key Yachting a call on 02380 455669 or email- J70@keyyachting.com.  For more information on the J/70 Sportsboat

TOUCH2PLAY Takes J/70 Great Lakes Championships

(Buffalo, NY)- The inaugural J/70 Great Lakes Championship was held over the August 10-11 weekend, hosted by the Buffalo Yacht Club and sponsored by BMW.  Twenty six boats attended, from as far away as California, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, LI Sound and Indiana, to go along with entries from PA, Ohio and NY.  There were two Canadian boats as well.

Friday afternoon before the regatta Jud Smith gave a chalk talk on the clubhouse deck followed by some on-water practice time.  Jud had some very good pointers for those in attendance.  Saturday was forecast to be light but we were treated to a much better than advertised 9-13 knots of sparkling clear sailing conditions.  Lake Erie is known for its chop and we had plenty of that to go along with the sea-breeze so the sailing was both exhilarating and challenging.  Given the discouraging forecast for Sunday (next to no wind) PRO David Searle and his team gave us five races.  Everyone returned to the club tired but happy and enjoyed a nice party and filling buffet dinner.

With five races sailed the throwout kicked in and three teams were atop the leaderboard after the first day of racing, headed by Dave Ullman, Marty Kullman, and the team of Gary Tisdale and Adam Burns.  Dave Ullman sailed beautifully to card three first places but had to take his throwout when their headstay came loose before the start of race two (lesson learned-- pin your turnbuckle!).  Kudos go to the guys on CloudSourced from Rocky River, Ohio for salvaging a 17 in race one.  Their spinnaker halyard came loose on the first hoist of the day, yet they managed to get to the top of the mast and recover it under way.

Sunday morning dawned as feared, sunny and nice but no wind.  The fleet bobbed around as the breeze teased us with puffs here and there but wouldn't build to the steady 5 knot class minimum.  Many of the boats began to drift off closer to the harbor to beat the race to the hoist.  PRO Searle came on the radio and told us to give it another half hour and we were very glad that he did, as the breeze filled enough for one final challenging but fair race.  It was light and shifty but we never stopped moving and places were changing all over.  The duel for first between Ullman and Kullman was intense and in the end Marty pushed Dave back enough to secure the win for himself.  While that was going on Jud Smith got away to a big lead and Tisdale/Burns ended up second for the race and the regatta by carding three straight seconds in the final three races.  After the smoke cleared, Ullman took third followed by Ron Copfer in fourth just two points back and in fifth was Jud Smith with 26 pts.  The racing was excellent with 6-10 places separated by only 5 points.

Top women's team skipper was Jen Wulff sailing with her husband Ray on JOINT CUSTODY, taking 6th overall. The top Canadian team was REX skippered by Scott Weakley in 8th. For some absolutely awesome photos of J/70s sailing fast all weekend long, check out Tim Wilkes photo galleries.  Sailing Photo Credits- Tim Wilkes.com.    For more J/70 Great Lakes Championship sailing information

J/70s Love Champagne Sailing At Cowes Race Week!

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- As Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week 2013 drew to a close on Saturday evening, organisers Cowes Week Limited (CWL) reflected on another highly successful regatta which saw an increase in overall entry and visitor numbers, plus online interaction figures which already surpass the totals seen for the whole of 2012.

With the exception of a forced lay-day on Tuesday 6 August, the conditions provided some champagne sailing throughout the Week and at the overall prize-giving on Saturday evening, there were many happy faces. Stuart Quarrie, CEO of Cowes Week Limited commented: “It’s been a fantastic, very rewarding week. The weather Gods have been smiling on us and it’s a testament to the huge efforts of our entire team that this year’s regatta has been so successful”.

Martin Gilbert, CEO of title sponsor, Aberdeen Asset Management, added: “There was a terrific buzz around this year’s event and there was a tremendously exciting atmosphere. Our guests all had a great time and it felt like the event achieved even more positive press coverage than in previous years. We’re all tired but happy after the week, it couldn’t have gone any better.”

The number of crews participating in the Aberdeen Asset Management Under 25 Trophy grew significantly following the introduction of the youth initiative by Aberdeen in 2012 and over twenty boats raced for the Trophy this year. The crew of Under 25 year-olds racing the J/80 J.A.T claimed glory at the end of the Week and were second in the Young Skipper's Trophy-- plus skipper Chris Taylor also won the J/80 series!

Five J One-Design classes participated in this year's Cowes Race Week (J/70, J/80, J/105, J/109, J/111), a record number of fleets for any sailboat brand by a significant margin and in six of the nine IRC handicap racing and cruising classes, J/Teams placed several teams in the top ten plus winning two of them.

In the world of one-design sailing, the J/70s sailed a novel "short series" from Saturday to Tuesday, sailing two races per day, then for those who stayed for the duration of the week, an overall J/70 series winner was declared as well.  In the nine boat J/70 class, it was TEAM RAF SPITFIRE led by Wing Commander Simon Ling that took the overall series trophy.  Following them was JUGADOR skippered by Jack Davies in second and in third was  WILSON COVERS sailed by Ian Wilson.  The balance of the top five was NORTH SAILS (Ruairidh Scott) and DJANGO (Malcolm Jaques), 4th & 5th respectively.  Sailing photo credits- Rick Tomlinson    For more Cowes Week sailing information

First J/70 Russia Regatta

(Kaliningrad, Russia)- From August 1st to 4th, the first J/70 regatta in Russia, the "Yachting Russia Cup", took place off Kaliningrad's beautiful beaches on the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea.  The format was an amateur match-race supported by the local yacht club and "Amber Breeze" with the theme of "Jazz & Sail"-- the sailors had fun on the water by day and were treated to excellent jazz music in the evening for three straight days!

Participating in a round-robin format followed by a championship/ repechage elimination ladder, teams from Russia, Ukraine, Latvia and Germany participated.  The first day of racing was nearly perfect-- plenty of breeze blowing up to 15 kts and lots of sun.  Everyone had fun both on the water and at the beaches watching the racing inside the breakwater of the old fishing harbor.

In the end, the teams all pronounced the regatta a huge success and the music/ jazz session as OTT (over the top)!  A special "thanks" goes out to Elena Otekina for the fun photos taken of the event.  For more sailing photos and information on this first J/70 regatta in Russia, please go to Elena's Facebook page.

Scott Wins J/70 Cowes Week Short Series

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Ruairidh Scott, Charlie Cumbley, Hugh Fletcher and Matt Curthoys, the team on board the J/70 NORTH SAILS, were yesterday pronounced as the winners of the race series that everyone was talking about: the J/70 Short Series at AAM Cowes Week 2013. The Jaques family were second in DJANGO and Simon ‘Sling’ Ling and crew finished third in Team RAFBF SPITFIRE.

Almost exactly one year after the very first J/70 Sportsboat arrived in the UK, this brand new one-design fleet were offered a Class Start at AAM Cowes Week and better still, the J/70s were able to compete in two races each day from Saturday 3rd of August to Tuesday 6th of August in the J/70 ‘Short Series’. The J/70s were the first fleet to start off the Squadron line each morning and then raced the second race from a committee boat start-line, finishing off Cowes. It was a race format which worked extraordinarily well for the fleet and which everyone agreed delivered great racing and superb competition.

Racing in the J/70 fleet at Cowes was both extremely close and incredibly exciting; in the first race on Sunday 60% of the fleet crossed the finish line in an 83 second period! It is clear the J/70 is not only great fun to sail but that the class delivers absolutely first rate competition. Heading into the AAM Cowes Week Short Series, the smart money may well have been on the North Sails team as they are the current J/70 UK National Champions, but as Ruairidh was the first to point out, the fleet is getting hotter and hotter all the time and the standard of sailing is improving at every event so it was far from an easy win.

Certainly Ruairidh and his team did not have things all their own way. The Jaques family team won two of the six races completed in DJANGO (racing for all classes at Cowes was abandoned on Tuesday when the breeze failed to show up on the course) and kept the pressure on Ruairidh from the off, starting the regatta with a win in Race 1. Malcolm said ‘It made sense for Tristan to helm the boat and I slipped into the tactician’s role with my daughter Naomi doing navigation and strategy. Tristan is clearly a very quick driver but it’s not just that: his reactions are also faster than mine and that is crucial to success in this fleet. Tristan was able to really keep 100% of his focus on boat-speed’.

At the close of the series North Sails had notched up just six points, DJANGO had eight on the score card and Team RAFBF SPITFIRE clocked 18. Ruairidh and his crew were clearly thrilled to have won.  Ruairidh explained ‘We’ve had a great regatta. We’ve certainly been under lots of pressure from the rest of the fleet at this event, especially Django, but my crew worked really hard and kept their focus from start to finish taking any little knock back in their stride.’ He continued ‘I would like to say hats off to the organisers for taking the decision to run two races a day. It has transformed the event for us: two shorter races really keep the interest levels up. The key elements of our success here at AAM Cowes Week include having good all round boat speed, a crew with a thorough knowledge of The Solent and 100% concentration from the whole team.’

Racing continues for the J/70 Class at AAM Cowes Week today although with the more traditional and relaxed ‘one race a day’ format. The next major event for the J/70 Class is the J-Cup later this month in Plymouth and then the UK teams will be packing their boats up and heading down to glorious Lake Garda for the J/70 EuroCup Championships in September.   For more Cowes Week sailing information

J/70 Great Lakes Preview

Jud Smith J/70 Clinic, too!
(Buffalo, New York)- The inaugural J/70 Great Lakes Championship, sponsored by Towne Auto BMW-Mini, is being held at the Buffalo Yacht Club from August 10th to 11th.  Located at the far eastern shores of Lake Erie, and just a stones throw from the famous Niagara Falls, the twenty-five plus J/70s already registered should have excellent sailing.

Renown for getting nice sea-breezes in the afternoon, the natural amphitheater formed by the geographical convergence of the northern shore of Canada merging with the southern shore of New York provides enough heating to give the sailors a reasonable chance of good winds each day from the WSW.  Because the race course is not far from the thundering mists of Niagara Falls, east-flowing current does come into play for the sailors on their windward laylines and approaches to the leeward gates-- should make for fun, challenging sailing!

The fleet will have great competition, especially with addition of more new owners who are on the fast, steep learning curve as well as some of the class veterans whom have won or placed well in a number of regatta in the busy 2013 season.  Top teams include Jud Smith, Joel Ronning on CATAPULT, Tate Russack (DIESEL), Jen Wulff (JOINT CUSTODY), Don Finkle (JUNIOR), Gary Tisdale & Adam Burns (PIG's EAR), JB Walsh (THING), Kyle Fast (TORQEEDO), Marty Kullman (TOUCH2PLAY), Joe Colling, Marty McKenna and a Canadian team sailing- Andy Papierz on DYNAMO from Toronto, Ontario.

Jud Smith will be running a J/70 speed/ tuning clinic on Friday August 9 and Marty Kullman will also be there assisting the sailors.  Please contact Tom Lewin at email- TLewin@roadrunner.com or ph# (716)-861-3700.   Sailing photo credits-  Bronny Daniels @ Joysailing.com. For more J/70 Great Lakes sailing information

Greenwald Tops J/70 New Englands

(Marblehead, MA)- The Sperry Topsider Marblehead NOOD regatta featured the inaugural J/70 New England Championship and fleets of J/105s and J/24s-- all co-hosted by the famous trio of yacht clubs in the harbor (Eastern YC, Boston YC and Corinthian YC).  Of the 150+ sailboats participating, the largest brand represented were J's with 42 boats (28% of the fleet) sailing in the waters off Marblehead. The sailors were treated to a wide variety of weather conditions and in the end, the J/70s had very close racing with just 15 pts separating the top six.

Continuing their string of 2013 regatta wins in J/70s was Bennet Greenwald's team on PERSEVERANCE, taking the top spot by the narrowest of margins over local Marbleheaders- Jud & Cindy Smith on USA 179.  In fact, both boats led the fleet from the very first day and after three days of racing ended up tied on total points, but after the toss race was factored in Greenwald's team won by just two points net.  Joel Ronning's CATAPULT team again managed to finish on the podium, taking third overall with 20 pts net.  Local hero Tyler Doyle (some of famous sailmaker in Marblehead, Robbie Doyle) sailed his best regatta so far, taking fourth in class.  Also sailing a strong series was the team of Heather Gregg-Earl & Joe Bardenheier on MUSE Powered by Atlantis Weathergear for 5th place.  Heather was also top women J/70 skipper, followed closely by Suzy Leech on JUNKANOO in 6th.  Sailing Photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com.   For more J/70 New England's & Marblehead NOOD sailing information

J/Teams Enjoy Youngstown Level Regatta XL

(Youngstown, NY)- 181 boats raced on five circles in the 40th and Final Youngstown Level Regatta on the weekend of July 27-28.  For most of its history the Level has been the largest weekend keelboat regatta on Lake Ontario, at one time hitting a monstrous 466 boats!   Those were the days of 50 boat J/24 fleets and one design starts for most of the J designs popular at the time.  Since then things had settled down to a more manageable size but the Level still held a prominent place on the calendar for most racers within hundreds of miles.  Youngstown Yacht Club finally decided 40 years was enough and the organizers and volunteers deserved a break, so this was the last Level, to be replaced next year with a new event with details to be announced this fall.

Sailors did not want to miss out on the fun of the final event so attendance was up by almost 40 boats over 2012.  Conditions were generally favorable, light to moderate with the exception of a brief squall that came in Saturday afternoon that curtailed racing for the day.  Various J models were entered in 9 of the 26 divisions, and the largest division in the event was the J70 class with 17 boats. 

The headline J70 fleet enjoyed their first major one design event on Lake Ontario with boats coming from Newport, the Chesapeake, Lake Erie, Connecticut, New Jersey, Ontario, Indiana, Florida and various NY ports.  In addition several borrowed boats were helmed by out of town sailors, including past J105 NA Champ Rolf Kaiser of San Francisco and long time J24 skipper Mark Pincus of Florida.  Competition was stiff with 5 different boats taking bullets over the 8 race series.  In the end Kerry Klinger edged out Marty Kullman by taking the final race, with Kris Werner finishing third.  This was Kris's first taste of real action in his new J70 and he had J24 hotshot Rossi Milev aboard to help him get up to speed.

The regatta was judged to be a terrific success with many fond memories being shared and praise was lavished on the volunteers for their years of hard work.  Everyone wants to know what YYC has our our sleeve for 2014 but we aren't quite ready to announce the sequel just yet. Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes @ TimWilkes.com.    For more Youngstown Level Regatta sailing information

J/70s At J/World Annapolis!

(Annapolis, MD)- Attention all J/70 sailors!  J/World Annapolis is anxiously awaiting the delivery of their J/70 (USA 357) this August and are planning events for the boat in 2013 and 2014.  There is a unique opportunity for new and potential J/70 buyers to “try before they buy” while also getting top level racing and boat-handling coaching as well as experiencing the first  J/70 North American Championship this September.

Beginning Monday, September 23, 2013 J/World Annapolis will be conducting a three day training clinic followed by three days of racing in the 2013 J/70 North American Championship.  This six day racing event is patterned after our “super-week” training program and includes on-board coaching for all six days, three days of pre-event multi-boat training, daily video and still image debriefing and nightly discussions with J/70 sailmakers and local racing experts.

This program is perfect for new and prospective J/70 owners for several reasons.  First and foremost, owners quickly maximize their sailing experience by working through the boat-handling gremlins that can plague self taught teams.

Second, the methodology is easily transferred to crews when clients return to their teams - making the owner's programs stronger. J/World believes well-rounded racing education requires cross-training, and our program will put each client into each of the roles onboard.  During practice and the regatta clients will rotate through each of the roles, gaining valuable experience in every position and valuable knowledge that will help them train their own crews.

Finally, because this will be an “owner crewed” event J/World are creating relationships that make racing fun and create important peer-to-peer networks that strengthen the class.

J/World Annapolis have nearly two decades of experience conducting this style of training program in the J/80 and look forward to bringing their experience and training program to the J/70 class.  In addition to the J/70 North Americans they will be conducting this style of program at Key West Race Week, St Petersburg NOOD, Miami Race Week, Charleston Race Week and Annapolis NOODs.

The J/70 North American six day regatta program is $2,495 per person and includes three days of training, three days of racing, event registration, crew gear and lunch each day.  It is exclusive of travel and lodging.

Please contact them if you have an interest in learning how to sail your J/70 faster and better!  Contact is Kristen Berry at ph# 410-280-2040 (Office) or 410-599-3542 (Cell) or email- kristen@jworldannapolis.com

J/70 Weed & Kelp sticks!

(San Diego, CA)- J/70s are sailing in areas notorious for having weed & kelp issues.  Lightweight, quick-to-deploy carbon sticks are often a great answer to the difficult issue of getting weed/kelp off the bottom of the rudder and the keel where the "weed whacker" doesn't reach.  For places like New England, California and lakes like Minnetonka, SD Boatworks has come up with an elegant solution- the J/70 carbon fiber kelp/ weed stick.  Here's a Youtube video of how it works on the rudder and when you lie down on your stomach next to the shrouds, you can use this to also get rid of weed on the bottom of your keel!

Please see:   http://youtu.be/VG9daQGfQc0

If you'd like to get one, please contact Julie Servais at SD Boatworks- ph# 619-592-8682 (office) or 619-632-2444 (cell) or julie@sdboatworks.com.  Their website is http://www.SDBoatworks.com

Cowes Race Week Preview

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week is a key part of the British sporting calendar taking place in early August each year. These dates result from early traditions when the great and the good came to Cowes between Goodwood and the Glorious Twelfth – day one of the grouse shooting season. The event is a great mix of competitive sailing and a vibrant social scene and has evolved enormously since the early days; it now attracts up to 1,000 competing boats, around 8,500 competitors and over 100,000 visitors.

Hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Cowes Combined Clubs, the sailors are treated to incredibly challenging, fun sailing; especially when each day dawns with a new course on the famous Solent-- full of capricious currents and shifty, gusty breezes.  The event puts a premium not only on boat-handling and boat-speed, but on the navigational capabilities of the crew to find all the marks and make it back to the extraordinary finish line immediately off the flag deck onshore lined with massive cannons at the Royal Yacht Squadron.

There is a combination of IRC handicap racing as well as a multitude of J/One-design classes participating.  Starting with the one-designs, there will be J/70s, J/80s, J/109s and J/111s sailing. 

The field of eight J/70s are certain to see some of the match-ups get heated up again that took place at the J/70 UK Nationals earlier in the year at Cowes.  Certain to be tough sledding for many as virtually all the boats have had their flashes of brilliance over the course of the summer.  Amongst the leaders could be NORTH SAILS (Ruairidh Scott), BOATS.COM (Ian Atkins), TEAM SPITFIRE Powered by SLAM (Wing Commander Simon Ling RAF) and JENGA 8 (Paul & Marie-Claude Heys).  However, since many of the new teams are racing up the learning curve, don't be surprised to see these teams in the front row, including DJANGO (Malcolm Jaques), JUGADOR (Jack Davies), PHEEBS (Simon Cavey) and WILSON COVERS (Ian wilson)..  Sailing photo credit- Rick Tomlinson.  For more Cowes Week sailing information

J/70 Teams Support Leukemia Cup in Chesapeake

Sailors Enjoy Southern Hospitality
(Fishing Bay, VA)- The Southern Chesapeake Leukemia Cup regatta, hosted by Fishing Bay Yacht Club and Stingray Harbor Yacht Club, was held July 13 & 14.  One-design fleets of J/24s, J/70s and J/105s along with two J/109s in PHRF sailed the four race series over two days.  In addition to good sailing the regatta raised more than $85,000 for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

The fleet was blessed with somewhat remarkable conditions considering that the mid-Atlantic region had been baking in extremely hot, muggy conditions for the past few weeks.  For Saturday's racing, the sailing was postponed due to thunderstorms rolling up the bay earlier in the day, but it soon turned out to be a fantastic day for sailing with the wind building from 10 kts to gusts over thirty kts under clear skies towards evening.  Sunday's racing was equally challenging with light, but steady, breezes all day long.

Debuting in the regatta for the first time were the J/70s, with a competitive fleet of five boats.  Taking the class honors was Ron Thompson with a leading tally of 1-2-1-1 for 5 pts.  Behind them was a battle for the podium with three boats, all tied with six pts each after the first day- the two Vortex Racing boats (Vortex and GetMyBoat.com) and Drake Johnstone's CAT'S PAJAMAS.  In the end, VORTEX took second with a 3-3-2-2 for 10 pts and GetMyBoat.com took third with a 2-5-3-3 tally for 13 pts.

The J/24 saw five boats participating.  Showing the fleet their transom most of the time was Neil Ford & Liz Biondi's ROCKET J with a scorching hot scoreline of 1-1-2-1 for 5 pts.  Taking second after a slow start was Scott Collins on KOBAYASHI MARU with a 5-4-1-2 tally for 12 pts.  They narrowly edged out Alan Bomar, who sailed ROUNDABOUT to a 2-2-5-4 score for 13 pts.

In PHRF A, the J/105s and J/109s competed as a fleet.  Taking first in class was Craig Wright's J/109 AFTERTHOUGHT with a dominant 1-1-1-2 record for 5 pts.  Second was the other J/109 DOUBLE EAGLE sailed by Sam Mitchener with a equally consistent 2-2-2-3 scores for 9 pts.  Scored as a Sub-division were the J/105s, with David Clark's CORRYVRECKAN taking top honors.  For more Fishing Bay YC Leukemia Cup sailing information