St. Pete’s J/Fest 2019

The St. Petersburg Yacht Club hosted their second annual J/Fest over the weekend of January 25-27, 2019. Sailors from the J/88 and J/111 classes enjoyed sailing eight races in 8 to 18 knots. Fierce competition warranted close racing throughout the weekend. Four races were completed on Friday and again on Saturday in breezy conditions, although rain and unstable weather prevented any contests on Sunday.

After eight races, only two points separated the four boats competing for the J/111 Midwinter Championship, a part of J/Fest in St. Petersburg. By way of a bullet in Saturday’s last (and ultimately final) battle, Rob Ruhlman’s Spaceman Spiff eked out the title with crew Dustin Graef, Jeff Haase, Marty Kullman, Doug Moose, Abigail Ruhlman, Ryan Ruhlman and Jim Sminchak.

Ending with 15 net points, Spaceman Spiff flipped positions throughout the Championship with Ian Hill’s Sitella (who placed second with 16 points), the Andrew Ward/Sedgwick Ward team on Bravo (also with 16 points for third place) and Jeffrey Davis’ Shamrock with 17 points.

Six J/88s escaped the Polar Vortex to compete in the J/88 Midwinter Championship, also as part of J/Fest. Mike Bruno’s Wings from Armonk, NY tallied 9 net points in 8 races after counting only firsts and seconds (dropping a fifth in race four).

With team Mike Booker, Stu Johnstone, Chris Morgan, Tim Randall and Stephen Yip, Wings secured five bullets and relished the breezy conditions on Friday and Saturday, when four races per day were completed.

Iris Vogel’s Deviation took second place with 19 points, including two first-place finishes on day one. William Purdy’s Whirlwind also notched 19 points, but had to settle for the bronze position.

Full Results

Source: Christopher Howell