J/Teams sweep Low Country Hook Ocean Race
by J/Boats 1 Sep 2019 00:32 PDT
2018 Hook Ocean Race © Skidaway Island Boating Club
The Low Country Hook Ocean Race is a distance race from Hilton Head Island, SC to Skidaway Island, GA. The race was presented by Skidaway Island Boating Club and The Yacht Club of Hilton Head.
On August 23rd, the fleet started from Harbour Town to Skidaway Island, making the "hook-shaped" course in a fast time of approximately 3 hrs 45 mins. After the exhilaration of an ocean race starting at Hilton Head Island, sailing past Tybee Island, through Wassaw Sound, and a finish at Skidaway Island, sailors enjoyed drinks, dinner, and awards at Landings Harbor Marina.
The PHRF Spinnaker Class was simply swept by just about every member of the J/Tribe one can imagine over the 40-plus years of designs.
Winning appropriately enough, and paying homage to the J/Legacy, was Eric Gotwalts's J/24 Dimarian. Second was Matt Self's J/105 Ruckus from Charleston Harbor YC; third Amar Patel's J/24 Rogue from Skidaway Island Boating Club; fourth James Thurlow's J/24 Fortitude from South Carolina YC; fifth Gebel Seese's J/105 High Visibility from Savannah YC; sixth Mike Foster's J/30 Ronin from Savannah YC; and finally ninth was Paul Reddick's J/100 BLU-J from Skidaway Island Boating Club.
That was quite a performance by enthusiastic, passionate members of the J/Tribe "south of the Mason-Dixon line" in the warm, somewhat humid months one often sees in Deep South Summers.
The J/105 took line honors in the 30.0nm race and finished 2nd on corrected time. The 2nd boat across the finish line was a J/105 and the 3rd was a J/100.
Of note, the South Carolina YC Youth Team that participated in the J/70 Youth Championship at the St Petersburg YC took fourth place in the club's $531.00 J/24. No, that is not a "typo". They sailed a $531.24 J/24 bought off CraigsList.com! LOL. Awesome!
Find out more about the Low Country Hook Ocean Race here.