Fun Sailing For J/24s, J/70s, J/105s, J/111s, J/120s(San Francisco, CA)- The annual salute to all things “J”, the St Francis YC’s J-Fest got a well needed shot in the arm this year with the addition of the J/111's and J/70's. A staple of the StFYC spring series for decades, the J-Fest originally featured dozens of J24's, J-30's and the then, elite J-35's. The fleet of these boats have lessened in years gone by and the introduction of the J/105's in 1991, the J/120 in 2000 enabled the J-Fest to enjoy a bit of a resurgence. Fast forward to 2014, the addition of the new J-Speedsters, the J/111s and the J/70s, were a welcome new addition to the regatta.
The fleet of forty-eight boats were treated to “beyond glam” conditions. Starting with sunny, cloudless mornings, the StFYC PRO kept the fleet in the cozy confines of the harbor until 11am under harbor postponement. As soon as the first whispers of the sea-breeze wafted in under the Golden Gate Bridge, StFYC PRO John Craig sent the fleet out to the starting line just off Alcatraz Island and the magnificent San Francisco city-front. It is hard to imagine a more fun and challenging race course than having to divine the ins-and-outs of traversing tide-lines and playing wind streaks funneling over the peninsula’s headlands down through San Francisco Bay.
On
the J/70 side of the world, they also had many newcomers to their
rapidly expanding fleet. Ben Mercer had this to say about their
experience, "Friday was a great opportunity to learn more about the boat
from Stu Johnstone during Fridays J/70 Clinic. Rig tune, sail trim, and
using the winch to keep the boat at a constant level of heel, were all
highlighted points as we went through the weekend. Saturday brought on
solid "Chamber of Commerce" sailing conditions on the city front in a
burgeoning flood. As we learned in the clinic, aggressive mainsail trim
and driving is needed to keep the J/70 tracking without making too much
leeway so mainsheet trimmers got a workout but the drivers who trimmed
their own mains were looking especially tired at the Rum Party. Sunday
brought us a chance to relax and mingle on the dock in a postponement
till the breeze filled in. It was all about rig tune and using the
shifts to get to the current relief on the beach. The biggest takeaway
was having a solid team that could all work together because every
position has a crucial role on the boat. It was great to see all the
J/Boat classes have such a strong showing, new and old designs alike! "Josh Butler was working the strings and calling shots for Mark Nelson's J/70 SUGOI (which literally translates to- ‘terrible, dreadful, terrific, amazing, great, or wonderful’ depending on its context). "I think conditions were great for the J/70's and overall the Bay is a great place to sail them. The competition level is already high and there is plenty of room for growth in the fleet. The nice thing about the J/70 is a family can race them, the boat handles very well upwind and pops up onto a plane off-wind quite nicely.”
"The J-70s will add six boats to the 15 boat fleet very soon," says Drew Harper, who is working with Sail California. "Those six boats should sell at the Strictly Sail Show,” Drew adds.
The J/70 called 1FA, sailed by Scott Sellers and Geoff McDonald are in familiar territory in the J/70 fleet- they took delivery the day before the regatta of their brand new boat. "Norm Davant from Sail California helped us tune the boat on Friday when we took delivery, and we were ready to sail on Saturday,” said Scott. He continued, “It is a pretty easy boat to sail so there weren't a lot of tricks. Our crew has a lot of miles sailing together in small keelboats on the City Front so despite being a new boat for us, we felt we were playing a game that we have played before. Just like with any boat on the City Front in 15 to 20 knots of breeze, keeping the boat flat and tracking consistently through the puffs is the key to speed. Everyone in the fleet is fairly new to the boat so I am sure techniques will be refined and the class will get more competitive as more people enter the class and spend more time in the boats. The momentum in the class nationally and locally is undeniable. I expect 30+ boats on the Bay in the next 2 years."
Behind the Sellers/McDonald team on 1FA, in second place was Peter Cameron’s much improved team on USA 29 “PRIME NUMBER”. And, sailing equally consistently in the top three was Chris Kostanecki’s JENNIFER taking the bronze for the J/70 class. Sailing photo credits- Erik Simonson Sailing photos credits- Chris Ray For more J/Fest sailing information
