This year's Annapolis Yacht Club IMS Skipper Regatta last weekend had a new element when the fleet of 12 IMS and five J/35 racers was joined by a 13-boat Mumm 36 one-design class.
They took advantage of good late autumn sailing and the event to bring to a close that class' own yearlong series of regattas in the Mumm 36 U.S. Championship Circuit.
Winning the weekend in the Mumms was George Collins of Gibson Island and his Moxie crew, after a challenging five-race series featuring extremely close competition, aggressive starting line tactics and mark-roundings and plenty of lead changes.
Naval Academy midshipmen dominated the IMS class, taking all three of the top places in another series where relative consistency determined the win.
In addition to a U.S. Owners' Association meeting for the Mumms, the weekend also included Mumm 36 U.S. Championship Circuit trophy presentations at AYC after racing, at which the overall award went to David Clarke's Pigs in Space campaign out of New Jersey, and the Owner-Driver award for the yearlong series went to New Yorker John Coumantaros, skipper of Allegro.
IMS Skipper Regatta
Mumm 36 (13 starters): 1. Moxie, George Collins, 10.5 (3-1-4-1-2); 2. Zamboni, Allsopp/Taylor, 15.5 (1-5-1-5-4); 3. Sensation, Chapman/Thomas, 15.75 (4-2-3-6-1).
J/35 (5 starters): 1. Hot Toddy, Jeff Todd, 7 (1-1-1-4-1); 2. Jake, Sandy Morse, 10.75 (3-2-3-1-2); 3. Wild Thang, Bill Chambers, 16 (2-3-2-3-DNF).
IMS (12 starters): 1. Etoile, Mid. Paulson, USNA, 12.5 (1-3-6-1-2); 2. Success, Mid. Wright, 15.5 (4-8-1-2-1); 3. Cinnabar, Mid. Ramos, 17 (3-4-4-3-3).
J/24 East Coast Championship
With the 1995 J/24 Worlds set for Rochester, N.Y., next summer, this year's J/24 East Coast Championship, last Friday through Sunday at Severn Sailing Association, was a Worlds qualifier event, which brought out the big boys who still were looking for a slot to Rochester.
After three days and six races, Harwood native Terry Hutchinson went home to Newport, R.I., happy to have earned the ticket.
The event drew 58 starters this year, which, although smaller than in some previous years, still meant the regatta was the biggest single starting group for any keelboat one-design class on the bay.
As with any big fleet regatta, the key was as much consistency as could be managed, and most sailors clearly had difficulty in the challenging event.
Rhode Islander Brad Read and his Blind Squirrel crew took top honors with no single race better than third. Annapolitan Chris Larson finished second.
Because both Read and Larson previously had qualified for the Worlds, attention focused on the fight for the slot.
Rhode Islander Jeff Johnstone appeared to have a serious leg up for it, having won three of the first four races. Despite a 20 percent penalty in the first race, he still led Hutchinson by more than four points going into the last race and was in second overall behind Read.
But Hutchinson's successful protest of Johnstone in that race for tacking too close dropped Johnstone to eighth and secured Hutchinson in third with the qualifier.
J/24 East Coast Championship
1. Brad Read, 30 (7-8-3-3-4-5); 2. Chris Larson, 37 (15-6-2-9-2-3); 3. Terry Hutchinson, 50.75 (14-10-5-4-1-17); 4. Al Constants, 74 (4-11-17-12-3-27); 5. Doug Clark, 74 (24-17-13-6- 10-4); 6. Zaleski, 75 (21-4-6-5-29-10); 7. Stu Challoner, 80.75 (13-2-7-39-19-1); 8. Jeff Johnstone, 90.25 (22[P20%]-1-1-1-6- DSQ); 9. Tony Parker, 96 (6-3-35-33-5-14); 10. Max Skelley, 98 (23-22-4-2-11-36).
New Melges 24 Regatta
Eastport Yacht Club and the Annapolis Melges 24 fleet played host to the first Melges 24 Halloween Bowl regatta last weekend. Eleven crews from the Northeast and mid-Atlantic corridors, including two from Canada convened, for a fast-paced six-race, one-throwout series on the Bay.
In brisk oscillating breeze, which built from 10 to 18 knots, four windward-leeward races were completed Saturday, followed by two more in lighter air on Sunday.
Winner overall by a quarter-point was Jim Grundy from Philadelphia, followed by Jay Cross of Toronto. Bay sailor John Pulvermann of Washington placed third, with regatta organizers Bonnie and Ron Steele of Annapolis in fourth.
The success of the regatta was a significant accomplishment for the new local fleet, which has been growing steadily since its inception last year.
Melges 24 Halloween Bowl
1. Jim Grundy, 9.25 (1-1-1-[6]-4-3); 2. Jay Cross, 9.5 ([4]-2-4-1-1-2); 3. John Pulvermann, 15.75 (5-3-5-[7]-2-1); 4. Bonnie and Ron Steele, 18 (2-4-[9]-2-3-7).