NORTH BOATS DOMINATE ANNAPOLIS ONE-DESIGN SEASON OPENER

Fast Sails, Happy Clients

On Sunday April 29th, Annapolis Yacht Club held their Annual Spring One Design Regatta at the mouth of the Severn River. Always a popular event, this year’s edition brought about 50 boats out of the wood work to shake off the winter cob webs. Though it still felt like winter out there as competitors were greeted with brisk temperatures in the high 40’s accompanied by a North West wind that approached 20 knots at times. Racing was challenging as the RC did a masterful job combining five different starts onto one course. The fleets included J/22s, J/70s, J/30s, J/105s and Etchells. On top of a very shifty and puffy breeze, competitors also had to navigate a very strong current that was moving right to left across the race course for the 3 race series. The keys to success were staying up current on the starting line, keeping the boat in the pressure, and avoiding the heavy traffic whenever possible. North Sails clients dominated the event and they look forward to keeping the momentum rolling into the Annapolis NOOD.

Comments from Etchells Champ, Jeff Borland:

Race one started a bit tough, got fouled, then hit the mark right after the gun went off. Did our turn, the had to duck three or four J/105s who had just come through the gate. We gathered our wits, and got the boat moving and headed out right as the rest of the fleet went left. Our boat speed was super, and a bit of luck with a slight right shift at the top of the beat, and we rounded in second. A little difficulty getting the kite up with a new bow person, and Jose Fuentes snuck by us into second. Turned into a horse race from there, and we couldn’t get by Jose to get the 2nd back.

Race 2 saw a better start, and we went back to the right again as the fleet went left. The right paid again at the top, and with our great speed, we rounded in first, and never looked back.

Race 3 saw just two of us on the start line, two boats missed the short AP that the RC put in so that we wouldn’t end up starting with the J/105s coming through the gate – good call by the RC! It was a match race around the course between ourselves and Caramba!, but Jose just never gave us a break to get by him. However, the second was enough to tie us up with Ca$$h Money, and since we both had equal finishes of 1, 2, and 3 – we won the tie break by beating them in the last race.

Learn more about our Etchells designs.

Comments by the J/70 Champs, Ray and Jenn Wullf:

Sunday offered a great tune-up for our J/70 team in preparation for the Annapolis NOOD & 2018 training for the Worlds. While it was far from the Sunny, 80+ degree temps of Saturday, the breezy, shifty conditions & chop gave our team an excellent opportunity to practice our set up, communications & knock off some rust after some months off the water.

“Thank you to Zeke Horowitz for braving the less-than-ideal conditions to sail with us. We really appreciated his expert advice & help in optimizing our North set up. His insights were valuable in improving our upwind & downwind sailing as we start our 2018 season.”

Learn more about our J/70 designs.