Fun & Frolic @ American YC Fall Regatta

ByStuart Johnstone
Two sailboats racing on open water.


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(Rye, NY)- The 35th annual American Yacht Club Fall Regatta, virtually a J/Fest regatta for passionate J/Sailors, took place for two weekends in succession- September 27-28 and October 4-5 on western Long Island Sound. Of the 76 offshore teams sailing the regatta, 42 J/teams represented 55.0% of the fleet. After the two weekends of racing, here is how it all went down in the various divisions.

PHRF Division
In this nine-boat fleet, Abhijeet Lele’s J/111 VARUNA posted a 4-2-3-3 for 12 pts to take the silver medal. Then, Robert Schwartz’s J/109 NORDLYS was fourth with a 5-3-4-4 tally for 16 pts. Rounding out the top five was Ian Millward’s J/109 QUICKSILVER with a 6-4-6-6 scoreline for 22 pts.

J/44 Class
The 44s had a great turnout for this year’s event. A half-dozen teams were eager to have some fun in this end-of-season regatta. Winning was Don & Rick Rave’s RESOLUTE with an all-podium scoreline of 2-2-1-2 for 7 pts. Pushing them hard was a perennial contender for the crown, Bill Ketcham’s MAXINE that took the silver with a 4-1-2-1 tally for 8 pts. Then, rounding out the podium for the bronze medal was June & Amanda Kendrick’s PALANTIR 5 with a 1-5-3-5 record for 14 pts.

J/105 Class
Shredding the J/105 class was Dave Willis’s SOLUTION, much to the surprise of many in the fleet. Willis started out with a bullet and never looked back, posting two more wins and a 2nd to win easily with 5 pts. Giving them a hard run-for-the-money was class veteran Damian Emery on WARLOCK, a past J/105 North American Champion. Try as they might, the WARLOCK team could only manage a 2-2-2-1 for 7 pts for the silver medal. Then, the bronze medal step was taken by Frank Latawiec’s ATARAXIS with an all 3rd place tally for 12 pts.

J/100 Class
This half-dozen boat fleet sailed “white sails” main & jib only. Winning was Scott MacVicar & Brad Parish’s RESOLUTE with a 1-2 for 3 pts. Second was the trio of Drew Fung, Barry Gold, and Pat Jakobson sailing FREEDOM to a 3-1 for 4 pts. Completing the podium in third place was another trio- Lisi Dunlop, Paula Schaefer, and Giff Constable sailing BLACKCOMB/ VALOUR to a 4-3 for 7 pts.

ORC Coastal Racing
Taking the third place in this fleet was Ove Haxthausen’s J/133 RUMBA with two 3rds for 6 pts.

PHRF 2 Spin
The battle of the “heavyweights” was an epic clash between two big J’s. Len Sitar’s gorgeous flag blue J/160 COUGAR took that fight with a 2-2 for 4 pts for the silver medal. Settling for the bronze was Erik Asgeirsson’s equally majestic flag-blue J/45 ACADIA that posted a 3-3 for 6 pts.

PHRF 3 Spin
Winning this seven-boat fleet was William Ingraham’s J/124 TENEBRAE, yet another gorgeous navy blue boat! They posted a 1-2 for 3 pts to take the division. Fourth place went to Albrecht Goethe’s vibrant red J/46 HAMBURG II with a 3-5 for 8 pts.

PHRF 4 Spin
This large eleven-boat fleet saw a sweep of the top two spots by J/Teams. Winning was Lawrence Cutler & Andrew Weiss’s J/88 ONE TOO MANY with a 2-1 for 3 pts. The silver medallist was Todd Aven’s J/99 THIN MAN with a 1-3 for 4 pts. Close racing those two!

PHRF 8 Spin
Winning this class was Rodney Johnstone’s next design after the J/24- a J/30! It was Denis Lafarge’s MIDNIGHT RIDER- PMP STRATEGY that posted two bullets for 2 pts to take the win! Congratulations!

American YC Fall Regatta results
https://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu/50455