It was the final start of the day on Chesapeake Bay, and J/22 skipper Terry Flynn messed up. He was over the line early, and sailed upwind for nearly a minute before he turned USA 1501 around, restarting the race dead last.
“Here’s the thing with this fleet,” says Flynn. “You can’t give up. Anything can happen.” Flynn played the shifts and sailed their own race, and the Houston-based team finished third in their worst race of the regatta so far. “You just keep working and chipping away at it and you can pick them off,” he says.
“Some of the top guys in the country who sail J/22s are here this weekend,” says J/22 Bad News skipper Mike Marshall. “The top five or six boats here are the same that will do well at the major events, so that really speaks to the quality of the fleet here.”
Marshall is a single point behind Flynn in the overall results. “It’s going to take whatever we have to do to beat him,” Marshall says. “We have to go and sail our best day, and the rest will work itself out. With no throw-outs at an event like this, everyone is still a player. Even further down the fleet, they’re all still in it. We’ll keep an eye on Terry and call him our wingman, but at the end of the day we don’t win on a tie break with him, so there has to be boats between us.”
In the PHRF fleet, leader Bill Sweetser aboard the J/109 Rush used a different strategy: observation. During sequence of the class before his, Sweetser noticed a J/111 hanging back at the boat end, downwind from the committee boat, while the rest of the fleet duked it out for a start at the boat end. “The entire fleet was swept down the line by the current, leaving a gap at the boat end for this guy to sneak through,” says Sweetser. “When the gun when off, he had a huge hole, clean air, and the best start of all of them.”
Sweetser and his crew took note, and pulled off the exact same start. “We emulated what we saw work ahead of us, and it put us in a great position to start and maintain it through the rest of the race. They now lead the fleet by a single point, and look forward to a chance to race tomorrow and extend their lead over Peter Sulick’s Farr 280 Red.
Saturday also saw the North Sails Rally, a pursuit-start distance race originally slated on a 10-mile course which was shortened due to the lack of breeze. Local sailor Jon Opert and his crew aboard the Hanse 371 Orion took home the top prize for the non-spinnaker class, and co-skippers Nate Kauffman and Brad Tower won the spinnaker class aboard their Farr 30 Gotcha.
Racing will continue Sunday, with the first signal at 11 am.
Results
J/22 (One Design – 25 Boats)
1. no name, J 22, Terry Flynn , League City, TX, USA, 5 -1 -1 -8 ; 15
2. Bad News, J 22, Mike Marshall , Jamestown, RI, USA, 6 -6 -2 -2 ; 16
3. Hot Toddy, J 22, Jeffrey Todd , Annapolis, MD, USA, 1 -4 -3 -11 ; 19
J/24 (One Design – 6 Boats)
1. Spaceman Spiff, J 24, Pete Kassal , Annapolis, MD, USA, 2 -2 -1 ; 5
2. Rush Hour, J 24, Pat FitzGerald , Baltimore, MD, USA, 1 -3 -2 ; 6
3. Buxton, J 24, Peter Rich , Annapolis, MD, USA, 3 -1 -3 ; 7
Alberg 30 (One Design – 7 Boats)
1. Argo, Alberg 30, T.C. Williams , Arnold, MD, USA, 5 -2 -1 -1 ; 9
2. LinGin, Alberg 30, Tim Williams , Arnold, MD, USA, 1 -4 -2 -2 ; 9
3. Laughing Gull, Alberg 30, Jonathan Adams , Severna Park, MD, USA, 2 -1 -3 -5 ; 11
Cal 25 (One Design – 6 Boats)
1. White Cap, Cal 25, Timothy Bloomfield , Sherwood Forest, MD, USA, 1 -1 -1 ; 3
2. Chicken Little, Cal 25, Charlie Husar , Annapolis, MD, USA, 2 -4 -2 ; 8
3. ZEPHYR, Cal 25, David Hoyt , Glen Burnie, MD, USA, 4 -2 -3 ; 9
J 70 (One Design – 43 Boats)
1. Papa Wheelie, J 70, Geoff Becker , Arnold, MD, USA, 1 -1 -15 -4 ; 21
2. Rimette, J 70, John Brim , Palm Beach, FL, USA, 13 -3 -3 -2 ; 21
3. Scamp, J 70, Will Welles , Portsmouth, RI, USA, 3 -5 -18 -3 ; 29
J 80 (One Design – 22 Boats)
1. USA 1162, J 80, John White , Severna Park, MD, USA, 1 -5 -2 -1 ; 9
2. Church Key, J 80, Chris & Liz Chadwick , Weston, FL, USA, 3 -13 -1 -6 ; 23
3. FKA, J 80, Les Beckwith , Wolfeboro, NH, USA, 4 -6 -10 -3 ; 23
J 30 (One Design – 10 Boats)
1. Infectious Smile, J 30, Tristan & Sheila Keen , Annapolis, MD, USA, 1 -11 -2 -1 -2 ; 17
2. Pogo, J 30, Charles Lutz , Annapolis, MD, USA, 9 -1 -3 -5 -1 ; 19
3. Bebop, J 30, Bob Rutsch & Mike Costello , Chevy Chase, MD, USA, 4 -3 -7 -2 -4 ; 20
J 35 (One Design – 5 Boats)
1. Aunt Jean, J 35, James Sagerholm / Jerry Christofel , Annapolis, MD, USA, 1 -1 -1 -1 -2 ; 6
2. T-Bone, J 35, Bruce Artman , Tracys Landing, MD, USA, 2 -2 -2 -2 -4 ; 12
3. Medicine Man, J 35, Chuck Kohlerman , Aston, PA, USA, 3 -4 -4 -3 -1 ; 15
Etchells (One Design – 8 Boats)
1. Ca$h Money, Etchells, Matt Lalumiere , Chester, MD, USA, 4 -1 -3 -2 -1 -2 ; 13
2. Caramba, Etchells, Jose Fuentes , Washington, DC, USA, 3 -3 -5 -1 -3 -3 ; 18
3. Make Mine A Double, Etchells, Jeff Borland , Annapolis, MD, USA, 2 -4 -4 -3 -6 -1 ; 20
J 105 (One Design – 19 Boats)
1. inigo, J 105, Jim Konigsberg , Fairfax, VA, USA, 2 -2 -2 -7 ; 13
2. Tenacious, J 105, Carl and Scott Gitchell , Annapolis, MD, USA, 6 -4 -5 -2 ; 17
3. Distant Passion, J 105, James Macdonald , Smiths, BER, 8 -3 -3 -4 ; 18
J 111 (One Design – 7 Boats)
1. Perseverance, J 111, Bennet Greenwald , San Diego, CA, USA, 1 -1 -2 -2 ; 6
2. Velocity, J 111, Martin Roesch , Ellicott City, MD, USA, 3 -2 -1 -1 ; 7
3. DarkHorse , J 111, David McCreight , Severna Park, MD, USA, 4 -3 -4 -3 ; 14
C&C 30 (One Design – 12 Boats)
1. Nyabinghi, C&C 30 One Design, Angus Davis , Bristol, RI, USA, 5 -1 -6 -1 ; 13
2. BobSled, C&C 30 One Design, Bob Moran , Annapolis, MD, USA, 2 -2 -7 -2 ; 13
3. Extreme2, C&C 30 One Design, Dan Cheresh , Saugatuck, MI, USA, 1 -8 -5 -5 ; 19
PHRF 50-75 (3 days) (PHRF – 5 Boats)
1. Rush, J 109, Bill Sweetser , Annapolis, MD, USA, 2 -2 -2 -1 ; 7
2. Red, Farr 280, Peter Sulick , Naples, FL, USA, 4 -1 -1 -2 ; 8
3. Rosalita, J 109, Rick Hanson , Avondale, PA, USA, 3 -3 -3 -3 ; 12
North Rally Race (Sat Only Cruiser) (One Design – 6 Boats)
1. Orion, Hanse 371, Jon Opert , Galesville, MD, USA, 1 ; 1
2. Magic Eight Ball, C&C 38, Dave Robinson , Annapolis, MD, USA, 2 ; 2
3. Celerity, Beneteau 473, Rick Lober , Dayton, MD, USA, 3 ; 3
North Rally Race (Sat Only Spinnaker) (One Design – 13 Boats)
1. Gotcha, Farr 30, Brad/Nate Kauffman/Tower , Annapolis, MD, USA, 1 ; 1
2. Blockade Runner, Farr 30, Bruce Bingman / Taran Teague , Annapolis, MD, USA, 2 ; 2
3. Themis, Mills 30, Walt Thirion , Annapolis, MD, USA, 3 ; 3
