SAIL 22 J/70 Tuning Regatta - A great learning experience
by J/Boats 4 Apr 05:16 PDT
25-28 March 2021
J/70 fleet © Louay Habib / J/70 UK Class
Over the course of our "pandemic winter" of 2020/2021, there have been several imaginative events that were created for sailors that enabled them to go sailing in a safe, healthy way and adhere to any known pandemic "safe behavior" guidelines.
One of those events in Florida has been Ed and Becky Furry's SAIL 22 J/70 Tuning Regatta. The first event took place on Tampa Bay hosted at Davis Island Yacht Club and the second just took place off Coconut Grove (south Miami) with host Shake-A-Leg providing launch/ docking facilities. The dozen J/70 teams that participated enjoyed two days of very nice spring sailing on the gorgeous aquamarine waters of Biscayne Bay. The goal for the event was "training" and not focused on "winning". As such, there was constant on-the-water coaching and discussions amongst teams regards boat-speed, boat-handling, and sail trim/ rig tune setups.
In the end, several notable teams participated that offered their expertise to others, as well as picking up a few pointers themselves! Those teams included Pam Rose's Rosebud with Willem Van Waay aboard (3x J/70 World Champion crew), Laura Grondin's Dark Energy with Taylor Canfield providing guidance (multiple Match Race World Champion), Brian Keane's Savasana, and Buddy Cribb's Victory with Greiner Hobbs directing traffic (a multiple College All-American).
On the leaderboard, it was David Janetti's Very Odd topping out the dozen crews, perhaps learning fastest from all the training/ speed lessons. Second was Chicagoan John Heaton' Empeiria and third was Pam Rose's Rosebud. Kudos to class newcomer Doug Newhouse on Yonder and Lauran Grondin's Dark Energy for each dialing themselves in well-enough to win some races against very talented teams. Thanks to the Furry's SAIL 22 for organizing such a productive, helpful event (www.sail22.com).
More SAIL 22 J/70 Tuning Regatta sailing information here.