J/22 Racing - August 12, 2007

Yet another picture perfect day greeted the fleet of eight J/22's this
week, with a light but steady southerly breeze. Race Committee Peter
and Sally Schott set a course of Zp, 13p for the first race. The pin of
the generous starting line was favored, especially so since the flood
tide was only in its earliest stage. At the gun, the whole fleet was
bunched at the pin forcing Bob Miniutti and Eric Senior's Good News
over early. FJ Ritt's Paladin and Bad News, with Cory Sertl driving
again this week, got the best of the tangle and led in the early going.
Playing the left side at first, then seeking current relief on the
right later, Bad News rounded the windward mark first, followed by the
close group of Paladin, Rhapsody, and Blues eRacer. On the run to the
can north of the bridge, Blues eRacer gained by sailing a more direct
course in the flood current to take a narrow lead at that mark. However
the final beat, often more of a fetch in a southerly, was lengthened by
the adverse current just enough to allow Bill Porter's Rhapsody to
grind out her first win of the year. Louis Mariorenzi's Blues eRacer
held on for a strong second from Paladin and the fading Bad News.
Besame, Chaos, Machbuster, and Good News followed in that order.

The course for the second race was lengthened to Zp, 13p, 15p. With the
pin still favored and the current building, a better organized start
found most of the fleet going right soon after the gun. Only Machbuster
defiantly went left into the tide and she quickly paid the price. Bad
News again led at Z, and a fairly compact fleet began the long run to
15 (a special mark, not far from Besame's mooring). Only 500 yards from
the mark, Bad News still led, but found herself lower than the pursuit
and suddenly in a hole, as the breeze went lighter near the Jamestown
shore. In no time Rhapsody, Paladin, Blues eRacer, and Rob Salk's
Besame had all slipped by the no-doubt frustrated Bad News. As the
leaders approached the finish, the tide finally overpowered the pin
buoy causing some confusion as to where the finish line really was. It
was clear, however, that Rhapsody had sealed another win, abetted by
Mark Sertl's crew work. Twice Bad News had won the race to the windward
mark, only to be chased down by the relentless Rhapsody. After a review
by the Committee, the remaining order was determined to be Paladin,
Blues eRacer, Besame, Bad News, Chaos, Good News, and Machbuster, the
last three in a virtual dead heat.

Bad News clings to a one-point series lead over Paladin. Rhapsody, now third, trails by eight.

J/22 Racing - August 12, 2007

Yet
another picture perfect day greeted the fleet of eight J/22's this
week, with a light but steady southerly breeze. Race Committee Peter
and Sally Schott set a course of Zp, 13p for the first race. The pin of
the generous starting line was favored, especially so since the flood
tide was only in its earliest stage. At the gun, the whole fleet was
bunched at the pin forcing Bob Miniutti and Eric Senior's Good News
over early. FJ Ritt's Paladin and Bad News, with Cory Sertl driving
again this week, got the best of the tangle and led in the early going.
Playing the left side at first, then seeking current relief on the
right later, Bad News rounded the windward mark first, followed by the
close group of Paladin, Rhapsody, and Blues eRacer. On the run to the
can north of the bridge, Blues eRacer gained by sailing a more direct
course in the flood current to take a narrow lead at that mark. However
the final beat, often more of a fetch in a southerly, was lengthened by
the adverse current just enough to allow Bill Porter's Rhapsody to
grind out her first win of the year. Louis Mariorenzi's Blues eRacer
held on for a strong second from Paladin and the fading Bad News.
Besame, Chaos, Machbuster, and Good News followed in that order.

The course for the second race was lengthened to Zp, 13p, 15p. With
the pin still favored and the current building, a better organized
start found most of the fleet going right soon after the gun. Only
Machbuster defiantly went left into the tide and she quickly paid the
price. Bad News again led at Z, and a fairly compact fleet began the
long run to 15 (a special mark, not far from Besame's mooring). Only
500 yards from the mark, Bad News still led, but found herself lower
than the pursuit and suddenly in a hole, as the breeze went lighter
near the Jamestown shore. In no time Rhapsody, Paladin, Blues eRacer,
and Rob Salk's Besame had all slipped by the no-doubt frustrated Bad
News. As the leaders approached the finish, the tide finally
overpowered the pin buoy causing some confusion as to where the finish
line really was. It was clear, however, that Rhapsody had sealed
another win, abetted by Mark Sertl's crew work. Twice Bad News had won
the race to the windward mark, only to be chased down by the relentless
Rhapsody. After a review by the Committee, the remaining order was
determined to be Paladin, Blues eRacer, Besame, Bad News, Chaos, Good
News, and Machbuster, the last three in a virtual dead heat.

Bad News clings to a one-point series lead over Paladin. Rhapsody, now third, trails by eight.

J/22 Racing - August 19, 2007

Great sailing conditions were on tap once again this week with bright
sun and a building southerly breeze awaiting the fleet as they gathered
for the start. The first sequence ended in postponement when the wind
shifted right twenty degrees as it began to pipe up to fifteen knots.
The Race Committee, Commodore Bert Brodin and wife Linda, changed the
course to Zp, 15p (special mark north of Potter's Cove) and the second
sequence produced a clean start. The good breeze and a tide only
beginning to ebb helped keep the fleet close on the first beat. Louis
Mariorenzi's Blues eRacer deftly played the shifts and the current to
lead at the windward mark with the rest of the fleet nearly overlapped
on the starboard layline. The western third span of the bridge acted as
a jibe mark and, as the fleet converged on that spot, Bad News and
Paladin squeezed inside Blues eRacer. Soon last year's champs found
themselves surrounded by overtaking boats, and the ensuing luffing
battles allowed Bad News to escape to a safe lead. Lots of positions
changed back and forth between the bridge and special mark 15, as Fleet
12 saw some of the closest and best spinnaker action in its history.
Bad News kept the fleet covered on the beat-to-the-finish to win the
race, while Besame recovered from sixth at the first mark to finish
second. Paladin, Blues eRacer, Rhapsody, Machbuster, and Chaos
followed.

The course for race two was set as Zp twice around. Another clean
start and closely fought beat to Z set up another thrilling run, this
time to the committee boat as the leeward mark. Twenty-knot puffs had
boats surfing on wakes and white caps alike, and the spinnakers were
three or four abreast as they careened towards the committee boat. Bad
News managed to achieve the inside overlap position on a cartwheel of
J/22's amid much excitement that must have had the vulnerable Race
Committee regretting their decision to make themselves a leeward mark.
The beat back to Z saw Bad News narrowly leading Paladin, their
principal series rival, while Machbuster and Rhapsody vied for third.
On the final run, Bad News finally began to pull away with their
trademark downwind speed advantage, Paladin was a safe second, and
Rhapsody passed Machbuster when the latter failed to jibe quickly
enough after rounding Z. Blues eRacer also challenged Machbuster but
couldn't get past. The breeze was continuing to build so everyone was
flying, and eventually Besame spun out trying to luff Chaos, for sixth.

The strong showing by the Marshall brothers increases their series lead
to three points over FJ Ritt's Paladin, everyone else is now
mathematically eliminated.  Rhapsody leads Blues eRacer by three points
for third. 

J/22 Racing - August 26, 2007

After a summer of perfect Sunday's, Fleet 12 sailors faced a hazy
light-air day for what proved to be a single, final race for the season
championship. The Marshall brothers' Bad News led FJ Ritt's Paladin by
only three points, so the series title was still very much up for
grabs. Race Committee, Commodore Bert and Linda Brodin set a course of
Rp, 13p with the tide turning to flood and the breeze a fickle six to
eight knots from the south. All nine active racers were there for one
last hurrah, Rob Salk's Besame having received a high-speed tow from
its home north of the bridge on account of the light wind.

The start itself was a bit ragged with several boats caught away from
the line with little breeze as the sequence began. Machbuster and
Paladin won the start at the pin end and drag raced each other into the
channel where the current was surprisingly still slack. Boats going
right had less air and no current advantage. Bad News immediately tried
to cut her losses by coming back left, but now no better than fourth,
trailed Paladin on the water for the series title. Paladin cemented her
lead at the windward mark when she slam-dunked Machbuster who had
successfully worked the left side of the course but couldn't quite
cross Paladin 50 yards from the Clingstone Bell. Bad News gained on the
left as well, and rounding third, reestablished a one-point series
lead.

Finding herself in a Paladin/Bad News sandwich early on the run,
Machbuster jibed back to the right and was eventually joined by Besame,
who sailed high jibing angles to great effect in the dying breeze. As
the fleet approached the bridge, the back markers made up considerable
ground carrying the last of the decent pressure with them. Besame
sailed a masterful downwind leg and rounded the can first, followed
closely by Paladin, Bad News, and Machbuster. With the flood tide
finally a factor, the others were soon around, but immediately took
their respective spots in a growing J/22 parking lot between the can
and the bridge, as everyone struggled to windward against the tide.

A silent but palpable tension built as the zephyrs first helped one
boat and then another. At one point Machbuster threatened to pass Bad
News while Paladin was passing Besame to their left, again putting Bad
News' title in jeopardy. Finally a righty puff filled in and lifted Bad
News to well-deserved race and series wins. Paladin finished second
after a valiant effort to dash the title hopes of the Marshall brothers
in the last 1000 yards of the season. Besame nipped Machbuster for
third, and then the wind shut-off again forcing the remainder of the
fleet to stagger in. Chaos, Blues eRacer, Good News, and Rhapsody
eventually finished in that order.

Rhapsody had almost passed the entire fleet on a left end run, only to
be crushed by the final right hand shift. Able to throw out her ninth,
Bill and Alice Porter's Rhapsody finished the series in third place, a
single point ahead of last year's champ, Louis Mariorenzi and Priscilla
Szneke's Blues eRacer. Five of the nine boats won at least one race
this season, proof of the fleet's competitive balance, and the winners
often had active crew under the age of 14. But Michael and David
Marshall consistently sailed Bad News to the front in all conditions,
ending the season with an impressive three straight wins to capture the
Fleet 12 Championship against some determined opposition.

J/22 Racing - August 5, 2007

The
enthusiasm created by another gorgeous day and a fleet swelled to nine
boats was tempered only by the dying northerly that often confounds
lower bay sailors in August. Race Committee Vic Calabrettra set a
course of 13s, Zs. A generous line contributed to a smooth start with
lots of choices given the light northerly and building ebb current.
Machbuster and Bad News were the leftmost at the start and gained early
from current relief, but Blues eRacer starting from the middle took the
early leaders' transoms when they tacked and managed to get to the
bridge first. The breeze was now dying, so getting around the can
against the current was becoming more difficult by the minute. Red
Sky, with Greg Ferguson driving, and Bad News followed Blues eRacer
around, while Paladin, the just-launched Besame, and Machbuster came
next. For ten minutes those boats drifted under spinnaker towards the
next mark before a fresh southerly sea breeze filled. Blues eRacer, of
course, got the new breeze first, sealing their first win of the series
while the always well-manned Besame, with Rob Salk driving, climbed
back from fifth at the first windward mark to steal second from Red
Sky. Bad News, Paladin, Machbuster, and Rhapsody were the remaining
finishers. Good News and Chaos withdrew, victims of the dying
northerly.

After a general recall, perhaps the first in fleet history, the
course for the second race was reset as Zp, a simple windward leeward.
The pin end was strongly favored and again it drew a crowd, as Bad
News, Besame and Paladin aggressively fought for position, and rights
alike. The Marshalls were at Buzzards Bay this week, so Bad News was
skippered by Cory Sertl, fresh from a second place at the Eastern Great
Lakes Championship (51 J/22's), with Peter Johnstone and one daughter
each crewing. As the tightly-packed fleet approached the windward
mark, it was Machbuster, with Jamestown Press Publisher Jeff McDonough
and daughter Lauren on board, trying to squeeze in from the left ahead
of Bad News for the lead at Z. But unable to pull off the risky move,
they tacked, jibed and watched half the fleet sail by. Bad News was
left free to lead the pretty parade of nine spinnakers to the finish,
holding off Paladin, Besame, and Blues eRacer. Rhapsody, Machbuster,
Red Sky, Good News, and Chaos were not far behind. Bad News now leads
the series by eight points from FJ Ritt's Paladin. Last year's champ,
Blues eRacer, has moved up to tie Machbuster for third.

J/22 Racing - August 6, 2006

This
week's races were sailed in perfect Jamestown conditions - lots of
sunshine with a reliable southerly breeze of 10 knots, and a flooding
tide. Race Committee Roger Marshall set a course of Sp (Red Bell
southwest of Rose Island), 13p, Zp for Race #1.

Blues eRacer, crewed by Paul Grimes III, son
Alden, and co-skippers Ellen Noble and Dexter Hoag, won the start from
the leeward boat position and appeared to gain by sailing lower but
faster through the powerboat slop in the channel. Chaos also started
well and was able to cross both Machbuster and Bad News halfway up to
the Bell. Blues eRacer then overstood on the right allowing
Machbuster, on the port layline, to gain and round a close second. A
port/starboard foul and subsequent penalty turn cost Blues eRacer her
lead on the run, but Machbuster handed it right back when poor foredeck
work left co-skipper Dick Boenning with a backed jib as he rounded the
can under the bridge. Blues eRacer then pulled away for good, doing a
horizon job on the rest of the fleet. Bad News, with David Marshall
driving, eventually held off the overlapped Machbuster at the downwind
finish for second and newcomer Eric Senior on Good News took fourth
from Chaos with two strong windward legs.

The Race #2 course was changed to Rp, Sp, 13p.
Lowell Thomas' Chaos won the start mid-line, but Blues eRacer, with
Ellen Noble now at the helm, consistently showed superior speed to
windward in the choppy conditions. So Blues eRacer safely led from
Chaos at the Clingstone Bell, while in an act of meteorological
equality, both Good News and Bad News found less breeze near the
Dumplings. Despite the triangle course, Machbuster managed to get by
Chaos downwind, but refusing to learn from experience, repeated her
foredeck error at the leeward mark can. This ultimately allowed Chaos
to reclaim second in a fetch to a photo finish. Of course at this
point, Paul Grimes was already folding sails on Blues eRacer's mooring,
having "eRaced" Machbuster's slim series lead with a double win in his
triumphant return to Fleet 12. Bad News finished fourth, Good News
fifth.

J/22 Racing - July 22, 2007

A gorgeous day with a northeasterly breeze was the rare setting for
this week's races. Commodore Bert Brodin accommodated the conditions by
moving the starting line to Special Mark Z and set a course of 11p
(Coaster's Harbor Can), 3p. The committee boat was strongly favored and
the predictable jam-up at that end took place on cue. The Marshall
brothers' Bad News, and Bill and Alice Porter's Rhapsody got the best
of it, with FJ Ritt's Paladin to leeward but moving very well. The
fleet had to contend with a fickle 10 knot breeze on the first beat as
big shifts and lulls, typical of the fair weather northerly, rewarded
boats tacked and changed gears decisively and efficiently. Not
surprisingly, Paladin excelled in these circumstances and led at the
windward mark, with Rhapsody and Bad News close behind. Paladin,
unfortunately, had sailed east of the center three spans thereby
unwittingly going off course, no doubt drawn by the fact that it was
the right place to be from a current and windage perspective. Blues
eRacer and Good News remained close to the leaders while Machbuster and
Red Sky had lost contact with the lead group. After the jibe mark,
Paladin and Rhapsody took each other above the rhumb line to the finish
that allowed Bad News to sail a lower shorter course to victory, while
Rhapsody unnecessarily fought the disqualified Paladin to a strong
second. Blues eRacer finished fourth, followed by Good News, Machbuster
and Red Sky.

The wind had veered to the east a bit and increased to 15 knots by
the start of the second race, a course of Tp (Rose Island Nun) twice
around. A clean start kept the racing close on the first beat with
Paladin again taking the lead. With no bridge passage to navigate,
Paladin safely sailed to a wire-to-wire win. Bad News worked their way
back from a mediocre start to take second from Rhapsody, who looked
strong this week, but has so far failed to validate her Tuesday evening
success on Sunday afternoon. Blues eRacer flew past Machbuster on the
final run, after their first race-long duel of the year, for fourth.
Good News and Red Sky followed. Bad News now leads the series by 7
points, and they, Paladin, and Machbuster have two wins apiece.

J/22 Racing - July 29, 2007

A
questionable forecast gave way to another beautiful, if steamy, day for
racing this week. A southerly of less than 10 knots and a flooding moon
tide combined to yield an even lighter apparent wind, sure to test the
fleet's patience and skill alike. Commodore Bert Brodin, ably assisted
by his wife Linda, set a course of Rp (Clingstone Bell), twice around
for the eight starters. With the flood tide helping to keep everyone in
check, a smooth start saw the fleet split almost immediately. Current
and a persistent right shift soon favored those on the right side of
the course, FJ Ritt's Paladin, Louis Mariorenzi's Blues eRacer, and
Bill Porter's Rhapsody. Guest helmsman Greg Ferguson even had the fleet
rookie, Red Sky, in the thick of things on the first beat. At
Clingstone, it was Paladin, Blues eRacer, Bad News, and Rhapsody, and
the order didn't change after that despite a great effort by Blues
eRacer to keep the pressure on Paladin all the way to the finish.
Machbuster never recovered from an awkward start at the pin, but
managed to lead the second grouping, followed by Good News, Chaos, and
Red Sky.

The course for the second race was changed to the classic Zp,13p, as
the breeze had veered to the south southwest, with the flood tide
building. Another even start kept the racing close on the first beat,
and once again Paladin moved to the front, consistently picking the
best course and trim for the subtly challenging conditions. This time
it was Rhapsody who kept the pressure on the leader throughout but was
unable to break through. Upfront, FJ Ritt was careful to honor the
center three spans of the Newport Bridge and avoid last week's costly
DNF. Blues eRacer stayed out in the channel on the run and seemed to
gain, but not enough to catch the two leaders. Machbuster got by Bad
News on the run, but the Marshall brothers cast off the weight of their
recent academic honors and promptly out-sailed the blue boat on the
final beat to take back fourth. Chaos, Red Sky, and Good News finished
in that order.

Bad News still leads the series by ten points over Machbuster and
Paladin, but Paladin's four wins now put her in a very strong position
once throw outs come into play.