J’s Shine at 20th Key West
The reputation and allure of Acura Key West Race Week is
second to none, and if the 20th running of this annual mid-winter event was
any indication, sailors should already be booking flights for 2008. The
weather was brochure-like, and while winds were a little light (8-12) they
were never threatening the aggressive nine race schedule set out by the event
organizer, Premiere-Racing. J Boat owners came in force, representing a
whopping 30% of all the participants. J Boats hosted nightly parties with
video action from the J/80, J/105, J/109, J/120 and J/92s fleets. By week’s
end, several new midwinter champions were crowned.
The J/105 class received top billing with 33 boats from
three countries participating, including 5 boats from California. Tom Coates
and his team aboard MASQUERADE successfully defended their Midwinter title,
but not without some pushing from Don Wilson of Chicago, IL and Gerrit
Schulze of Cape May, NJ. Six different teams won races and 23 boats had at
least one top 10 finish. The largest showing of boats came from the
Annapolis fleet, which is playing host to the 2007 North Americans in
November.
The J/80 class saw a nice resurgence in activity with 17
teams competing, including Magnus Tyreman of Stockholm, Sweden who sailed a
J World charter boat to 3rd place overall. Pre-regatta favorites Kerry
Klingler of Larchmont, NY and John Storck of Huntington, NY, did not
disappoint and between the two, won 6 of the 9 races. Special mention goes
to Doug Strebel and his Kemah, Texas team who had to sit out the opening two
races (while a replacement mast was on its way), but then came back with 7
consecutive top 10 finishes to end up 5th overall behind Kristen Robinson of
Annapolis, MD.
Another hotly contested class was the J/109 where the top
four positions came down to the final leg in the 9th race. Gary Mozer’s
CURRENT OBSESSION, by securing 3rd in the final race, won a tiebreaker with
Stephen Tedeschi’s TASTES LIKE CHICKEN. Both boats narrowly beat Steve Rhyne
(MOJO) of Seabrook, TX by one point and Jon Halbert (VITESSE) of Dallas, TX
by two points. Anthony O’Leary of Ireland made his Key West J/109 debut
finishing 6th, and vowed to return next year to push the Yanks.
While the J/109 fleet headlined the Division 4 racing
circle, there were several other notable J performances, including the debut
of the J/92S class which saw 4 boats competing and POLAR EXPRESS from
Newport, RI leading the group to finish up 3rd in PHRF. Tom Leery and his 25
year old J/35 MAN-O-WAR were very impressive in winning three races and
finishing 2nd in PHRF 3 (with another J/35 in 5th). John Edwards kept the
J/29 mystique alive by dominating PHRF 5 in RHUMB PUNCH, winning 8 of 9
races. Peter Goldsmith of Key West, FL took the J/24 class honors in PHRF 6
The J/120 fleet sailed with PHRF 2 on the big boat circle,
and so competed for double trophies, both in PHRF and class. Despite not
having their favorite conditions, the fleet showed very well with Bill
Hanckel’s EMOCEAN and Hunt Lawrence’s PEREGRINE finishing 1-2 in the J/120
class and 2-3 in the 12 boat PHRF class. Rick Wesslund of EL OCASO, last
year’s overall Boat of the Week and Sailing World cover girl, still won best
marks for the best dressed crew not to mention their race 9 victory and
award for Acura Boat of the Day.
The 21st edition of Acura Key West Race Week will take
place January 21-25, 2008. More information can be found at
www.premiere-racing.com
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