J/Teams Prevail In Stratford Shoal Gearbuster Race

ByStuart Johnstone

J/111 FIREBALL Wins PHRF Overall and Division!

(Greenwich, CT)- Last Columbus Day weekend was the infamous “Gearbuster Race” run annually every fall by Indian Harbor YC. It’s a long day race around various government buoys in western Long Island Sound. It’s a popular event as the “grand finale” of fall sailing on the Sound. It is quite popular with J/sailors. There were 25 J/Teams sailing (50% of the 51-boat fleet!). Lots of silverware was garnered by the various J/Teams! Here is how it all went down by division.

PHRF Doublehanded Division
In this fleet of half-dozen boats, the J/teamms nearly swept the podium. Winning was Christian Uecker’s J/120 HOUND DOG, with Thomas Sa’s J/33 GUN DOG in second place, and the two other J/120s rounding out the top five- Sara & Josh Reisberg’s ABILYN in fourth and Richard Wests’s CHARLOTTE in fifth position. 

PHRF A Division. (<9>
Winning this half-dozen boat division was the screaming-fast J/125 GOOD NEWS sailed by Macrae Sykes. 

PHRF B Division (10-55)- J/Teams sweep!
This ten-boat fleet was packed with hot J/crews and it was not a surprising outcome to see the top five spots occupied by those talented teams. 

Winning was Bill & Jackie Baxter’s J/111 FIREBALL by nearly 24 minutes corrected time! As a result, they also took PHRF Overall honors, too. Second was Steve Losik’s J/121 HABIRU, third went to Eric & Maggie Deichmann’s J/112E MISCHIEF, fourth was John Sartorius’s J/120 ALIBI, fifth was Bill Klein’s J/120 SPECK, and sixth went to Brian Nelson’s J/112E HONEYBADGER.

PHRF C Division (56-91)
Four J/crews sailed this nine-boat fleet. Taking class honors was Nicolas Delcourt’s J/88 OH JEE, with Steve Landy & Derek Soohoo’s J/100 SANGUINE taking the silver medal. 

EATON’S NECK SHORT COURSE RACE
PHRF Spinnakers Division- J/Teams sweep!
Sailing in this fleet of eleven boats were several J/crews that swept the podium! Winning was Ken & Drew Hall’s J/88 NEVERMORE, followed by Randy Bourne’s J/105 STRANGE BREW in second, and JC Zucconi & Jim Townsend’s J/92 EASY RED. 

PHRF Non-spin Division
This eleven-boat fleet saw Jim Reichel’s J/105 SCAPEGOAT take the silver medal. 

For more Stratford Shoals Race sailing information