Jammin' J/22 Jamaica Regatta preview
by J/Boats 9 Dec 2017 05:07 GMT
9-10 December 2017
Jammin' J/22 Jamaica Regatta © Chuck Bauerschmidt
This coming weekend, the famous Jammin' J/22 Jamaica Regatta is taking place, hosted by the incredibly gracious members of Montego Bay YC. You cannot beat the setting- warm weather, trade winds of 15-20 kts, sunny, and the nicest people you can imagine, sailing on a one-design fleet of J/22s.
A special feature of this year's event is that North Sails' Mike Marshall, the 2016 J/22 World Champion, will be providing a weekend-long J/22 North U "go-fast" clinic and on-the-water coaching for everyone!
The format is designed to encourage foreign sailors (to Jamaica) to visit as duets or entire crews of 3-4 people. Of the fifteen-odd boats on the island, three are reserved for Kingston teams and three reserved for Mo'Bay teams- that selection is based on qualifiers. Those boats are Peter Harper's Zipper, Richard Hamilton's Renegade, and Mike Morse's Ayahso from Mo'Bay. Hailing from Kingston are Cooke's Geronimo and Gibson's Tsunami.
As for the rest of the boats, the infamous "honest john boat draw" took place. Video footage will show that an honest draw was made of this year's visitors and available boats using completely random toilet paper squares. Impartial by-standers were dragged from the massive crowds at Mo'Bay YC to pull the toilet paper squares and match boats with a skipper. Thanks to Charlotte and Luna Marr for their unbiased assistance! Cute, eh??
Ten boats will be on the starting line this year for more fun in the Jamaican sun; three teams from Cayman Islands, one from Canada, and one from the USA. For more Jammin J/22 Jamaica Regatta sailing information click here.