J/24 East Coast Championship Results and Report

By Airwaves writer Mike Ingham

Hillman Focused Advantage Fund J/24 East Coast Championship

Day 2 saw another decent forecast skunked.  No wind, no races.  The thermal tried to fill in but it was too little too late.  Fortunately there was warm sunshine, oysters, crab soup, and an awesome variety of beer waiting for us on shore so the day was not a loss.

Day 3: At this point we were a bit skeptical of the forecasts, but waking up to the leaves rustling in the NW cool brisk wind was encouraging and it did not let us down.   We sailed out with it blowing about 20kts but with big puffs, lulls, and shifts off that shore between the antennas and the bay bridge. Will Welles had a great day with a 1, 1, 3.  But it was Tony Parker’s Bangor Packet with a daily score of 2, 2, 1 that won the regatta.  Tony has sailed all the J24 East Coasts –a consecutive streak of 35! Spread out over that time, this is his 3^rd win.

Race 3 (race 1 of day 3): It was tricky for the RC to set a course and a line because the shifts were 20 degrees or more.  By the start, the committee end was favored considerably, but we were thinking the left would work because it took us closer to land.  We figured there would be a left shift over there and flatter water.  It was windy so we all had our blade up.  We started near the boat and had to do a short clearing tack but were soon headed left with the fleet below us.  We looked pretty good, but late in the leg, the left payed off big and those that started down the line and tacked over late crossed the fleet easily.  Will Welles and Tony Parker were a good deal ahead of the fleet from wire to wire.

Race 4: Still shifty, but the wind had dropped.  Just 3 of us, Travis Odenbach, Tony Parker, and us switched to genny.  Having lost to the left the first race, we had a great start mid line and booked to the left.  Our genny choice was certainly faster in the lulls, but a little slower in the puffs.  Unfortunately we looked great at first but we slowly lifted and never got that lefty to get us out of the left corner.  Tony rounded 2^nd behind Will so the Genny/ jib trade off was about equal.

Race 5: Saw the wind drop to maybe 15 and about half the fleet switched to Genny.  The wind had gone right a little more, and through that leg, shifted probably 30 degrees right.  There was no recovery from the left!  Big shifts and holes made for huge gains and losses!

After a cook out and awards, we were on our way.  Tony won with 17 points followed by Will with 24.  Travis was in 3^rd with 39 points and we slipped to 4^th after a starting and foul penalty took us out of contention.  Ron Medlin in Bash sailed a nice event to round out the top 5.

Thanks to SSA and Mark Rivera for hosting a fun event!

Tip of the event:  Annapolis is an interesting place to sail because I find that one side or the other seems to work big time, but it is not clear which.  So I think we need to do 2 things to sail in a place like that

$11.       Make best guess on which way to go.  For example, I think in light wind, always head for pressure over shift and current.  If it is steady medium wind, prioritize current (relief or help).  If it is medium or heavy and shifty, play the shifts.

$12.       But once decide, realize that you are not going to get it right, so start heading that way, but don’t get locked in.  For example, if you think left is favored, start maybe 1/3 up from the pin and head that way.  Then once racing re-evaluate and if left was incorrect, then tack out of there and take your losses and get to the right.  By not starting near the pin, you will hopefully have that option.  And the quicker you recognize that is happening, the quicker you can bail out and get going the right way.

J24 East Cost 2013

All the forecasts said it was to blow up to 40Kts. Not race-able.  But we tuned our rig tight, got the little jib ready, and got mentally prepared for a full on wet and wild day.

I am not sure how it went from that to two light air, current, die-and-fill races, but that is what happened.  We woke up to whistling wind and driving rain –so far it seemed to be living up to expectations.  PRO Juliet Thompson wisely postponed for a few hours as a few squalls ripped through with hard rain and big shifts.  

But then the rain slowed and 31 boats headed out to the 35^thannual J24 East Coast championships.  The current tables showed a tide flooding up the bay in the same direction as the wind.  The wind was predicted to taper a little but still be a brisk 25kts but when we got out there it was 10Kts or so.  Thinking it was supposed to be windy, we hesitated in going down on the rig settings, but by the start we were not even hiking full.

Not sure whether to go right for some current relief or head left toward what looked like more pressure, the fleet split.  It was pressure on the left out toward the middle of the bay that won out as the right even though in some current relief. Downwind with the current was tough on the trimmer as the wind died even more. Tricky to be sure, but John Wilsey working the left on both beats came out on top for race one.  

Race two the wind died more.  Crazy for a day that was supposed to blow in the 30’s!  We started in 5kts, and the current had built to at least 1kt against us.  Another tricky first beat where we were all afraid of the left because getting out into the bay and adverse current.  Soon after the start there was a big left shift and we spend most of the time on port, so there were not too many options.  But by the end of the first run, the wind had died to just a few knots and once rounding the crowded gate, we could all barely make progress against the tide.  Aaarg.  But sailing fast and consistent through all that was Al Constance in Blitz taking the win.

Thanks to our main sponsor, Hillman Focused Advantage Fund the beer has been flowing and there is no shortage of food!  Tonight is Oyster chucking and crab soup.

Al with a 6, 1 lea
ds the regatta with us and Shawn Murray’s Roo2 points behind.  Tony Parker in Bangor Packet and Frank McNamara in Zot 3 points behind him to round out the top five.  But the regatta just started and there are still two days to go and the forecast looks spectacular –if you believe that.

 

 

< td>Stone, Christopher

Pos	Bow/Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	Total Points	Pos
1	23/ 58	Bangor Packet	Parker, Tony	4	8	2	2	1	17.00	1
2	35/ 5362	Cougar	Welles, William	9	10	1	1	3	24.00	2
3	36/ 5432	Honey Badger	Travis	8	12	4	7	8	39.00	3
4	38/ USA 5443	USA 5443	Ingham, Mike	2	7	6	5	23/40%	43.00	4
5	32/ 1829	BASH	Medlin, Jr., Ron	13	17	12	3	2	47.00	5
6	26/ 3293	Wildcard	Seynhaeve, Guillaume	19	5	8	13	7	52.00	6
7	31/ USA 799		Brown, Robby	17	14	9	4	9	53.00	7
8	21/ 2532	ROO	Shawn Murray, Shawn	5	4	17	22	6	54.00	8
9	37/ 3775	Blitz	Constants, Al	6	1	22	8	20	57.00	9
10	19/ 5350	Millennium Falcon	van Ravensway, Paul	14	11	11	10	16	62.00	10
11	34/ 5472	Panceta Doble	Wilsey, John	1	20	14	23	5	63.00	11
12	25/ 5257	Mental Floss	Glackin, aidan	20	8/20%	3	18	21	70.00	12
13	16/ USA 4006		Rich, Peter	3	19/20%	23	14	12	71.00	13
14	27/ USA 4202	ZOT	McNamara, Frank	12	3	25	11	25	76.00	14
15	22/ BER 3942	No Skirt Required	Boyce, Trevor	28	26	7	6	13	80.00	15
16	12/ 3479	Rush Hour	FitzGerald, Pat	7	21	21	12	23	84.00	16
17	14/ 3223		Felder, William	23	9	5	26	22	85.00	17
18	11/ USA 4550	STEVE	Dambrie, Nicolas	10	24	13	25	14	86.00	18
19	20/ 5476	Velocidad	26	18	16	9	19	88.00	19
20	13/ USA 556	Sane Asylum		27	25	10	16	15	93.00	20
21	29/ 3342	Trinity	Swanton, Philip	16	23	19	20	17	95.00	21
22	33/ USA 5351	Murder Inc.	Poulson, John	18	16	32/DNC	32/DNC	4	102.00	22
23	39/ 1580	PT BLISTER	Skylar	22	6	18	28	32/DSQ	106.00	23
24	18/ 3275	spizzerinctum		15	29	27	27	10	108.00	24
25	28/ 4161	Angry Squirrel	Cathcart, Bruce	11	28	28	17	26	110.00	25
26	24/ USA 2575	Spaceman Spiff	Kassal, Peter	25	32/20%	15	21	18	111.00	26
27	17/ USA 840	Rocket J	Ford, Neil	29	22	24	15	24	114.00	27
28	40/ 78	Buschwhacker	Busch, Dan	21	15	20	32/DNF	32/NoFin	120.00	28
29	30/ USA 3750	J-Team	Hope-Ross, Denis	30	25/20%	26	19	27	127.00	29
30	15/ 3951		Rivera, Mark	24	27	29	29	28	137.00	30
31	10/ USA 462	SWAG	James McGinnis, James	31	31	30	24	32/DNF	148.00	31