Weekend Racing Wrap Up – Best of the ‘Fest
The ‘main event’ in local racing this past weekend was the 2009 J/Fest Regatta, hosted by the St. Francis YC and held off a breezy and sunny Cityfront. Forty-four boats in four divisions took part. The three one-design classes consisted of J/105s (23 boats), J/120s (7) and J/24s (8), with a hodgepodge of J/90s, J/109s, a J/92 and several other boats in the six-boat handicap fleet.
The most consistent performance of the weekend was Michael Whitfield and his crew on TMC Racing. They didn’t win any races, but three seconds in a row put them at the top of the J/24 fleet with a three-point lead — the largest of the weekend — over the second place boat. Perhaps the most notable win went to John Horsch in the J/105 fleet, who sailed Business Socks to a two-point win over 22 other boats with a 4,6,3 weekend. Arbitrage, Cuchulainn and Donkey Jack all scored wins in the series, but all three tanked one of their other races.
The two closest contests were shared by the J/120s and handicap boats. Barry Lewis’ Chance pulled out a one-point victory in the always-exciting J/120 fleet, while Soren and Liga Hoy’s J/109 Crazy Diamond scored their single-point win over Ragtime in the handicap fleet. Complete results can be found at www.stfyc.com.
Both the OYRA’s Duxship Race on Saturday and the South Bay YRA’s first Summer Series race on Sunday were cancelled due to lack of wind.
