J/Teams sweep Edgartown Round Island Race

Start Class 3 Edgartown Round Island Race © Daniel Forster

J/121 wins PHRF Overall & PHRF 1, J/109s Smoke PHRF 2

A total of eighteen J/Teams (22% of the 78-boat fleet) sailed in the Round Island Race, a 55.0nm clockwise circumnavigation of the picturesque Martha's Vineyard Island just south of Cape Cod.

"Conditions panned out better than what the forecast was showing," said Event Co-Chair Alex Nugent, explaining that instead of no breeze all day, it blew 4-7 knots out of the east/northeast at the start off Edgartown Harbor, then clocked around to the south and then a bit west of south to reach 10 knots by the finish. Spinnakers were needed on every leg of the course except the first short sprint to a turning mark off the north side of Chappaquiddick and the last one from Oak Bluffs to the finish near the starting area.

J/Teams Sweep Round Island PHRF Overall- Top 6 Teams!

Sweeping PHRF Division Overall were three J/Teams. Winning was Joe Brito's J/121 Incognito, followed by the doublehanded duo of Zach Lee and Tony Johnson on the J/122E Hot Sauce, and Ed Dailey's J/109 Raptor in third. Remarkably, J/Crews dominated the top nine positions overall. Fourth was Eliot Shanabrook's J/109 Hafa Adai, fifth was Ted Herlihy's J/109 Gut Feeling, sixth was David Southwell's J/121 Alchemy, eighth was Stephen Besse's J/120 Apres, and ninth was Dick Egan's J/46 Wings,

In the nine-boat PHRF A Spinnaker Division, the J/121s swept the top of the podium, with Brito's Incognito winning, followed by Southwell's Alchemy in second.

The ten-boat PHRF B Spinnaker Division was dominated by a trio of J/109s. Winning was Dailey's Raptor, followed by Shanabrook's Hafa Adai in second, and Herlihy's Gut Feeling in third position. Taking fourth was Besse's J/120 Apres, with Egan's J/46 in fifth, and Robert Reifess' J/120 Murmur in seventh place.

The J/105s took two of the top three spots in the ten-boat PHRF C Spinnaker Division. Winning gold was Matt Schmitt's Hardtack while Ed Lobo's Water Wolf took the bronze medal. Just behind in fifth place was Phil Stathos' J/110 Airbender.

Usually accustomed to winning their class with ease for the past dozen-plus years has been Ira Perry's famous J/29 Seefest. For the first time in recent memory, Perry's Seefest team had to settle for the bronze medal!

J/Teams Sweep Round the Buoys, Too!

The three-day Edgartown Race Weekend started Thursday (July 22) with 'Round-the-Buoy Racing that concluded on Friday. RTB Racing also offered light-air challenges for 14 boats in three classes.

The same amazing performances registered in the Round Island Race were also achieved in the buoy racing portion of the Edgartown Race Weekend. J/Teams swept the PHRF Spinnaker Class. Winning was Ted Herlihy's J/109 Gut Feeling, posting an awesome scoreline of 2-1-1-1-1 for a mere 6 pts. The silver was taken by David Southwell's J/121 Alchemy with an equally impressive tally of 3-2-2-2-2 for 11 pts. Rounding out the podium with a bronze was Matt Schmitt's J/105 Hardtack posting mostly thirds in his record.

As a result of their performance in the 'RTB and "RTI races, it was Herlihy's J/109 Gut Feeling that won the Best Combined Performance Award for the Edgartown Race Weekend.

Sponsors of Edgartown Race Weekend were Mount Gay Rum, North Sails, J/Boats, Regatta Craft Mixers, Hinckley Yachts, Storm Trysail Club, and Team One Newport. Click here for more Edgartown Race Weekend sailing information.