Sunday, July 17, 2016

Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge Preview

J/105 sailing Screwpile Regatta (Solomons Island, MD)- Since 1993, the Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge has been a rac­er’s favorite regatta. A regatta run by “sailors for sailors”.  It is held every July, in the mid­dle of the sum­mer, in the middle of the beautiful Chesapeake Bay, near Solomons Island, Maryland.

The event opens on Thurs­day, July 14, 2016 with Check-in and Skip­pers Meet­ing at regatta head­quar­ters located in the Hol­i­day Inn Solomons Island. Racing, par­ties, and awards will be held Fri­day, July 15 thru Sun­day, July 17th.  And, lots of awards are given out!!  It is a favorite amongst J sailors over the years and this year is yet another great turnout by J/teams from J/70s, J/80s, J/109s, and J/111s.

The half-dozen boat J/70 one-design class has teams participating from every corner of Chesapeake Bay, including Eddie Sierra & Scotty Roland’s ANTAGONIST from California, MD; Mike Karn’s INCONCEIVABLE from Richmond, VA; Larry Ray’s J-RAY from Annapolis, MD; Holly Graf’s SPICE from Fishing Bay, VA and Gregg Zurmuhlen’s SPORT from Eastport, MD.

Sailing in PHRF B class are two J/80s- Clarke McKinney’s FAMILY TRUCKSTER from Solomons Island, MD and Mark & Robin Witte’s RAKALI from Leonardtown, MD. In the PHRF Non-Spinnaker division is Dan Shannon’s J/29 THE DOGHOUSE from Southern Maryland Sailing Association.

In PHRF A1 Racing are four fast J/teams, Craig Wright’s J/109 AFTERTHOUGHT from Fishing Bay YC and three J/111s- Jim Whited’s BAD CAT, Dave McCreight’s DARKHORSE and Marty Roesch’s VELOCITY. Sailing photo credit- Alan Clark/ Photoboat.com  For more Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge sailing information