2005 J105 North American’s

The event started out with a fabulous opening ceremony held in the RCYC ballroom.  The J105 Perpetual Trophy, held by Hoss after their 2004 win at Beverly Yacht Club in Marion, was escorted into the room by two RCMP officers as an honour guard to the American and Canadian colours.  National anthems were sung by Dawn O’Dwyer, in an emotional and heartfelt rendition, accompanied by many members of the crowd of close to 300 people. As the crews mingled and got to know each other conversation regarding the favourites was common. Many names were mentioned and the Pre race favourites from Fleet 4 were NBX, Starcross and the Canadian’s winner Hey Jude. A last minute crew change adding Terry McLaughlin added Groovador to this list.  Live Edge and Jamaica Me Crazy were also mentioned as they had come on strong towards the end of the season. From the visiting fleets Indefatigable, Savasana, Max Power, and JoySea with Eclipse’s Skipper Damian Emery helming were also strong favourites.

 Race Day 1.  The first day started out with a light North / NE breeze accompanied by a significant swell left over from the previous day’s strong South Easterlies. The Tacticians had to decide whether to play the left side protecting against the expected left shift for a sea breeze or play the right side which offered significantly smaller waves. It turned out that the right side was heavily favoured with stronger pressure and much more favourable seas. Local favorites NBX, Hey Jude, and Jamaica Me Crazy paid heavily for playing the left side. Jester took first blood followed by Indefatigable and Savasana. It looked like the visiting boats were going to be very strong. Local knowledge was not a factor in this race.

The second and third races were held in a more traditional South Westerly sea breeze and Starcross with a 1^st and 3^rd, Groovador with a 4^th and 6^th, NBX with a 8^th and 5^th and Hot Water with 3^rd and 11^th all sailed very well. The best out of town result was by Indefatigable with a 11^th and 1^st.Max Power and Hey Jude both had bad days scoring below mid fleet in every race.

The after race reception was held in front of the venerable Royal Canadian Yacht Club Clubhouse, in a warm and friendly atmosphere.  The organizing committee and the Club staff had planned each day carefully.  Today’s events on the front lawn featured the traditional sailing beverages, beer, Rum and mix, and very popular fried sweet potatoes   as hors d’oeuvres. After the daily awards had been dispensed a crew challenge was held. This involved 3 members from each crew. Each team had to down a round of rum shots, pack a Jib and spinnaker, run them around some marks, and finally tie a bowline behind their back. A lot of fun was had by all and the winning team was Savasana.  They parted the regatta with framed on-the-course shots from Tim Wilkes. A souvenir they will not soon forget.

 Race Day 2.  The second day started with a light drizzle and 15+ knots of breeze from the east. As the boats set out for the course the weather settled in and it continued to rain throughout the day. To make this even more challenging there were also 3 to 5 foot waves. The wind registered 16-18 knots however it was well attached and it felt more like 20-22 knots. Excellent racing ensued with busy mark roundings and fierce fighting for every position. There were a number of shrimped spinnakers, blown chutes and penalty turns. The windward mark was especially challenging as a strong current coming from the East made it difficult to make the mark and pushed more than 1 boat into the mark. Groovador had another excellent day recording a 7^th, 5^th and 1^st. Savasana matched this score with a 10^th, 1^st and 2^nd. Also doing well was Starcross with a 6^th, 2^nd and 7^th. However the boat of the day was Live Edge with a fabulous 3^rd, 3^rd and 5^th. Max Power had a much better day and scored 2^nd, 10^th and 4^th.

Friday night festivities included a sumptuous banquet which was enjoyed by all. After the meal the daily awards were handed out and a number of sponsors addressed the crowd.  Prizes were handed out to all the participating skippers. A video was shown of the first days racing with some excellent shots of mark roundings and chute work. It also included a series of still images set to music which generated many oohs and ahhs from the audience.

Race Day 3.  Saturday started out much like Thursday had but without the large waves. The clear skies and strong sun would definitely bring on a sea breeze however the Northerly gradient wind was still blowing when the race started. Again the right hand side was favoured and the expected left shift did not occur until the last leg. When it happened the boats on the right hand side of the course going downwind had a very hard time as the light fickle winds slowly shifted left, while the boats that went to the left corner had a much stronger breeze and were brought down to the mark. The second race was held in the familiar South Westerly Sea breeze. Starcross led the way with an impressive 5^th and 7^th, followed by Groovador with a 3^rd and 11^th. Jester led the visiting boats with 1^st and 14^th, with JoySea and Indefatigable both with 20 points. Hot Water continued to have very consistent results with 17 points.

Racing today, had to include great starts, attention to wind shifts and sticking to the basics of J/105 racing.  Clean air, focused execution and boat speed rewarded those at the top of the board. 

Final Day.  Sunday was another splendid sunny day with a light North Westerly Gradient wind. The Race committee which had done an excellent job throughout the regatta tried to get an early start however they had to abandon the start sequence as the sea breeze built. After an hours delay the breeze stabilized and two excellent races were held in 7 to 10 knots of wind. Indefatigable was the star of the day with two bullets followed closely by Jamaica Me Crazy with a 4^th and 2^nd. The battle for first overall was very interesting with Groovador holding on with two 7^th’s, while Starcross had their worst result in the final race with a 16^th to drop them into 3^rd behind Indefatigable. Savasana had a good day scoring 5^th and 11^th to move them up to fourth passing Hot Water who dropped to fifth with a 17^th and 4^th in the final two races.

Awards. The awards ceremony was held on the front lawn and Fleet Captain Robert Baker and all the organizers should be congratulated on running a truly incredible event.  Hey Jude’s Jim Rathbun, presented the Fleet Captain with a framed photography of Planet B, inscribed with the signatures and parting comments of all the Fleet 4 skippers.  Boats and crews rushed to depart to their distant locations, and all including J105 Class Association Secretary Nelson Weiderman praised the Venue, racing and camaraderie which Toronto offered and that was enjoyed by all. If only we could have that level of racing all the time.

2005 J105 North American Champion Groovador, RCYC.  Alex Baluta - Skipper, Pat McNeill - Bow. Matt Clancy - Main, Bernard Farroll - Spinnaker Trim, Graham Hicks - Jib Trim and Pit and Terry McLaughlin - Tactics.