J/125s Sweep California Offshore Race Week as J/Teams Shine Across ORR Divisions

ByStuart Johnstone

(Santa Barbara, CA)- The three-race California Offshore Race Week series started off with a whimper, with one of the slowest Spinnaker Cups on record. Then, the second event- the Coastal Cup- delivered in spades with some classic California offshore racing conditions. Finally, the long-distance SoCal 300 Race finale delivered yet another challenging race, sailing out and around San Clemente Island. In the end, the difficult sailing conditions were well-suited to J/designs that are adaptable to a wide variety of wind and sea conditions. Certainly, the famous J/125 carbon speedsters had a field day. Here’s how it went down by each division.

ORR C Division
Winning was Rufus Sjoberg’s J/125 RUFLESS, followed by John Vinent & Ken Kieding’s J/120 ARGO IV. As a result, the three J/125s swept the CORW series in the ORR B Division with Sjoberg’s RUFLESS first, Vincent/ Reading’s ARGO IV in second, and Murphy’s JAVELIN taking the bronze medal.

ORR D Vision
Taking the silver medal was Ian Rogers’s J/90 ORCA. Just “out of the chocolates” was Camille Moussette’s J/99 LATENCY. In the end, these two J/Teams sailed a strong series, and both finished “in the money”. In the CORW series in ORR C Division, Rogers’s J/90 ORCA took the silver medal, while Moussette’s J/99 LATENCY took the bronze medal! Kudos and congratulations to her team and the other J/Teams that podiumed in this year’s 2206 CORW series!

ORR Series Overall
In a remarkable statement about the all-around capabilities of J/designs, the five J/teams entered all finished in the top 10 in the 38-boat fleet! Rogers’s J/90 ORCA took the silver medal. They were followed by Sjoberg’s J/125 RUFLESS in sixth, Moussette’s J/99 LATENCY in seventh, Vincent/ Keading’s J/125 ARGO IV in eighth, and Murphy’s J/125 JAVELIN in tenth! Interspersed with these teams were a pantheon of the gold-plater offshore sailing stars of Southern California- three TP52s!!

For more Southern California Offshore Race Week sailing information
http://www.offshoreraceweek.com/