J/80 East Coast Championship at Beverly Yacht Club
by J/Boats 19 Sep 10:05 PDT
September 10-11, 2022
2022 J80 East Coast Championship © Beverly Yacht Club
The 2022 J/80 East Coast Championship was sailed this past weekend on Buzzards Bay, it was a great opportunity to sail in conditions that are very similar to Newport offshore, big chop, good breezes in the "smoky sou'wester" sea breezes-- the site of the 2022 J/80 World Championship.
Hosting the fourteen-boat fleet was Beverly Yacht Club in Marion, MA, managing to run a full schedule of eight races over the three-day event.
The surprise winner was an appropriately named boat, OVERACHIEVER. Skippered by Jason Balich, his team of Jim McCarthy, Caitlan and Chris Small, started the regatta in the lead on the first day and never looked back. Scoring four 1sts and two 2nds in their 8-race tally, they only counted podium finishes in their 11 pts net final score.
Chasing them hard was Ryan Walsh's PEARLY BAKER with nearly as consistent scores, winning two races on their way to a solid silver medal-winning performance for 16 pts net.
For the balance of the podium and the top five, it was a battle of wits and determination to the final race and final leg of the regatta to determine who beat who. Those protagonists included Dylan O'Malley-Joyce's KONSTANT KAOD, Kevin Hayes and Jeff Kirchoff's MORE GOSTOSA, and Brian Gibbs' BLIND FAITH.
Starting with an electrifying first race win, the KONSTANT KAOS team seemed destined to fulfill their namesake, having a somewhat chaotic record that ended with two 7ths on the last day. Conversely, the MORE GOSTOSA crew had a less than stellar start to the regatta with a 6-8-4, but managed to win their last race on a high note! Then, starting with a solid 3-5-3, the BLIND FAITH gang seemed to be on the right track but got themselves derailed in the middle of the regatta. In the end, it was the KONSTANT KAOS crew that took the bronze with 31 pts net. Three points back were MORE GOSTOSA in fourth and just two more points in arrears were BLIND FAITH in fifth place.
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