Thursday, May 4, 2017

Fun-lovin’ Puget Sound Spring Series

J/105s sailing Puget Sound (Seattle, WA)- Corinthian YC of Seattle recently hosted their Puget Sound Spring Series.  It is a popular event that is comprised of two divisions, the Big Boats and Small Boats, which sail over two weekends.  Furthermore, the fleets are comprised of PHRF handicap classes and also three J one-design classes- J/24s, J/80s, and J/105s.

The eight-boat J/105 class was incredibly competitive, considering how early it is in the Puget Sound sailing season!  1st was Erik Kristen’s MORE JUBILEE with 9 pts net, winning just 6 of 8 races for landslide victory.  However, behind them it was quite the battle for the top five.  In the end, taking 2nd was David Cohen & Lance Rummel’s INCONCEIVABLE with 17 pts net, hoovering up most of the 2nd places. Then, in 3rd position was Jim Geros’ LAST TANGO with 20 pts net, followed in 4th by Jerry Diercks’ DELIRIUM, and in 5th- Chris Phoenix’s JADED.

For the first time in awhile, the J/80s showed up “en masse” to have a strong start to their 2017 sailing season- a half dozen teams showed up on the starting line!  The top three positions were hotly contested, with the outcome not becoming after until after the smoke cleared in the final race!  Winning was David Schutte’s TAJ MAHAL with 19 pts net, just one point in arrears for the silver was Mike Poole’s JOLLY GREEN with 20 pts net.  Then, the bronze was taken by Bryan Rhodes’ CRAZY IVAN with 23 pts net.  The rest of the top five included Lek Dimarucott in 4th and Alan Ross’ STELLAR J in 5th position.

Shockingly, the largest fleet registered for the PSSS were the fourteen J/24s! However, it is not altogether surprising since in a few weeks, Seattle is hosting the J/24 National Championship.  As a result, the first major event for J/24s was PSSS and it was tough sledding for many crews.  Remembering tuning settings, which jibs/genoas to use and what boat-handling tricks to use in key situations was determining several outcomes on the race track.  Drawing first blood was Wayne Pignolet’s JOY RIDE with 14 pts net, winning by 4 pts.  In 2nd was Harry Dursch’s SELF ABUSE with 18 pts net, followed by Scott Milne’s TREMENDOUS SLOUCH in 3rd with 21 pts net to round out the podium.  The balance of the top five included Jakob L’s HAIR OF THE DOG in 4th place and 5th was top woman skipper- Lydia Volberding’s JAILBREAK.

In the PHRF handicap world, the J/29 HERE & NOW sailed by Pat Denney took class honors counting just 1sts (5) and 2nds (4) and tossing a 2nd place to finish with 13 pts net in ten races!  Their colleagues on the other J/29 SLICK, skippered by Christine Nelson took 5th in class.

PHRF 2 North, the J/109s had a rough time sailing against some ULDB’s, ending up in 4th and 5th, respectively, were Jerry Woodfield’s SHADA and Stu Burnell’s TANTIVY.  Sailing photo credits- Jan Anderson/ JanPix!  For more CYC Seattle YC Puget Sound Spring Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.