J/70 and J/111 Fiesta Cup at Santa Barbara Yacht Club
by J/Boats 29 Jul 2019 07:19 UTC
20-21 July 2019

2019 Fiesta Cup at Santa Barbara Yacht Club © SBYC Racing
The Santa Barbara YC hosted their annual Fiesta Cup Regatta for one-design fleets of J/70s and J/111s. In the two-day regatta, the SBYC PRO managed to run four races in the challenging, kelp-laden, conditions often seen on the scenic Pacific Ocean waterfront in front of the club.
Trading off firsts and seconds all weekend in the J/70 Class was the Janov family on Minor Threat and Pat Toole's famous 3 Big Dogs crew. In the end, Jeff Janov led family members Jay, Ryan, Grant and Jordan, plus a local World Champion sailor (David Ullman, no less), to a trio of bullets and a second to win with five points. Two points back was Pat Toole's "big doggers" (George Witter, Dale Turley, and Chris Weiss) with a tally of three deuces and a bullet for seven points. Third was Doug Weitz's crew on Agent 99, Brian O'Mahony, Paul Zambriski, and Ryan Eastwood.
In the J/111 class, Kenny Kieding and John Vincent's Argo 3 won the class with all bullets, followed by Mike Drammer's Titanium in second with all deuces.
As usual, the fleet was treated to an amazing BBQ cookout on the beach next to the club; the sailors enjoyed a great band, lots of tacos, pitchers of tequilas, and lots of camaraderie discussing the days racing. By the end of the evening, the sea stories were epic- the tactics were brilliant, the speeds supersonic, the leads huuuuuge, and enemies vanquished at every turn!
More information at sbyc.org