Oct 16 & 17 - J/Fest Hosted By Lakewood Yacht Club – Seabrook
Lakewood Yacht Club (LYC) Race Committee Chairman Dwight Bengtson announced that the club will be hosting the first J/Fest Regatta held in the southwest part of our country. “J/Fest Regattas have been held for over 25 years in such venues as Annapolis, Newport Beach, CA; New Orleans, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle,” explained Bengtson. “This will be a great opportunity for Lakewood to promote and support a national caliber event.”
 The focus of J/Fest Regattas is to provide a venue that is all inclusive to J/Boat owners, their family, and friends. The LYC J/Fest Regatta will be held over the weekend of Sat., Oct. 16 and Sun., Oct. 17, on Galveston Bay.
Instrumental in wooing the J/Fest to Lakewood is popular local racer Uzi Ozeri who has been racing his J-80 boat “Infinity” on Galveston Bay for many years.
“The withdrawal of a major national regatta opened up a fall date allowing us to fill the schedule with a nationally recognized J/Fest event,” Ozeri remarked, “and J/Boats Southwest’s Scott Spurlin and J/Boats both felt that this was a great idea.” Spurlin added “After reviewing what the Houston/Bay Area could offer as a new venue, we agreed to add Lakewood as the host for a J/Fest event starting in 2010 and beyond.”
One design fleets slated for the J/Fest Regatta include J/22, J/24, J/29, J/80, J/105 and the J/109. All J/Boats are welcome to race in the PHRF classes and in the J/Cruise class. Any J/Boat is eligible to participate and the regatta organizers intend to offer several exciting formats for the non One Design racers.
The pre-regatta Skippers’ Meeting will be held at Lakewood’s Sailing Center on Fri., Oct. 15, 6:30 pm, for check-in, meeting, and refreshments. Goodie bags for skippers will contain coupons for family activities in the Bay Area.
“We are trying to make this a fun-filled, family weekend. While the sailors are racing, their spouses, children, friends and family can explore the area’s unique and entertaining activities,” related Lakewood Fleet Captain Carl Drechsel. “Our Bay Area Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau has corralled all kinds of discount coupons for attractions such as Space Center Houston and the Kemah Boardwalk. We hope our out-of-town racers will book accommodations in the new Seabrook/Kemah motels and hotels. Our theme for the weekend is ‘Stay, Sail and Play on the Bay’ ”.
A pool party and steak cook-out are planned after the races on Saturday. Also on Sat. night from 5:30 – 6:30 pm at the LYC Sailing Center there will be a presentation by Bob Congdon on how to maximize your instruments, speed, depth, and wind system. Bob has over 30 years of sailing experience at some of
the highest levels of our sport. He is currently with Euro Marine Trading Inc., of Newport RI and is the North American sales manager for NKE Marine Electronics. He will bring his wealth of experience in using leading edge sailing instruments to our J/Fest event. This free seminar is open to all sailors, whether or not they are participating in the J/Fest Regatta.
Approximately 60 boats are expected to participate in this first annual J/Fest in Texas. Following the final race on Sunday, there will be an Awards Ceremony for the winners in the main ballroom at LYC.
Ozeri states that the goal of the J/Fest is “to bring a lot of J boats together in Seabrook for great sailing and an entertaining weekend!”
To learn more detail about registering for the J/Fest, please check the home page of Lakewood Yacht Club at www.lakewoodyachtclub.com. |
