Wednesday, September 29, 2010

J/122 East Coasts Preview


J/122 one-design sailboat sailing around windward mark
(Rye, NY)- American Yacht Club is hosting the J/122 East Coast Championship this weekend in Western Long Island Sound.  With a forecast for sunny skies and solid breezes over the weekend following the passage of a large tropical depression Friday the racing promises to be tight and very exciting.  So closely matched are the J/122s that a blown tack, slow spinnaker hoist, or bad mark rounding can gain or lose you boat lengths, enough to change you several positions in the race. Many of the top teams will be attending, including the winner of the J/122 North Americans recently held in Newport, RI, Mike Bruno, Jim Callahan and Tom Boyle's WINGS.  The other podium finishers at the NA's will also be battling it out for line honors, including David Murphy's PUGWASH and Andrew Weiss' CHRISTOPHER DRAGON.  Last weekend's 122 leader in the IRC 40 Class was David and Mary-Ellen Tortorello's PARTNERSHIP, showing good speed and sailing well enough to win three races in a row at one point!  Sure to be contenders during the series will be Steve Furnary's PATRIOT (with Sandy Weill directing "traffic") and Georg Mark's GEORGETOWN III.  For more J/122 East Coasts sailing information