Spectacular Ugotta Regatta

2022 Little Traverse Yacht Club Regatta © LTYC

The Little Traverse Yacht Club's Ugotta Regatta sailed off Harbor Springs, MI, was blessed with three straight days of gorgeous sailing conditions from July 29th to 31st. For the hundreds of sailors that had endured the extreme weather of both Mackinac Races (Chicago- windy & storm & rainy, Bayview- hot, sunny & no wind), it was a welcome reprieve to get out on the water in "shorts & shades" and simply enjoy a beautiful day on the water.

For the thirteen-boat J/111 fleet sailing their 2022 Great Lakes Championship, the LTYC PRO managed to run five races, including the "round the bay race" on Sunday. Not surprisingly, the competition at the top of the leaderboard was fast and furious between the two protagonists, Ian Hill's SITELLA from Hampton, Virginia, and Scott Sellers' NO SURPRISE, the hometown hero from Harbor Springs. Sailing with a star-studded team that included multiple World Champion Terry Hutchinson onboard calling tactics, SITELLA just squeaked by for the win with a 1-3-1-1-2 tally for 8 pts. Determined to give them a strong run-for-the-money, Seller's NO SURPRISE team peeled off four deuces in four races and won the finale to take the silver medal with 9 pts. Rounding out the podium was Brad Faber's UTAH with a record of 6-1-3-3-5 for 18 pts. The rest of the top five was Steve Young & Brad Kimmel's DIABLO in fourth and Roland Rayment's ROWDY in fifth place.

The winner of the J/111 Corinthians division was the Young & Kimmel duo on DIABLO, followed by Rayment's ROWDY in second, and Tom Dickson's WARLOCK in the third position.

The five-boat J/88 class had a nice mix of teams from Chicago, Michigan, and Minnesota. The unexpected first-time winner was Dave Dennison's PIRANHA with an amazing record of four bullets and a deuce for 6 pts! Past winner Andy Graff on EXILE has his hands full taking on the smart and fast PIRANHA crew, but his 2-1-3-3-2 tally for 11 pts was good enough to earn the silver medal. Rounding out the podium was Scott Sorbie's LEGACY with scores of 4-4-2-2-4 for 16 pts.

With eighteen boats, the J/70 class was the largest and most competitive class in the regatta. After eight races, no team had established any dominance as virtually every boat in the top five had at least one double-digit score. In the end, John Evans' AIRPLANE team of Reed Baldridge, Chris Busch, and Abie McLaughlin counted three bullets and two 3rds in their scoreline of eight races for a total of 32 pts. After starting with a lack of local knowledge, Tim Finkle's JUNIOR crew of Andy Green, Bryan Mackey, and Morgan Paxhia were quick learners of the nuances of the Bay. They started with a 13-6, but closed with a 2-1-1 to race up the leaderboard and onto the podium in second place! Conversely, Bob Willis' team on RIP RULLAH (Matt Clark, Will Holz, Ned Turney) started fast with a 2-1 but closed with a 5-13-4 to drop into the bronze medal position on the last day. Rounding out the top five were Don Glover's MISS KILLER and Martin Johnsson's AQUAHOLIKS in 4th and 5th, respectively.

In the J/70 Corinthians division, winning was Finkle's JUNIOR, followed by Willis' RIP RULLAH in second and Johnsson's AQUAHOLIKS in third place.

The ORC C class of seven boats was treated to a sweep of the podium by two J/122s- Matt Songer's EVVAI with the gold medal followed by Matt Schaedler's BLITZKRIEG with the silver.

A similar scenario played out in the eleven-boat PHRF B Class, a full-on sweep by J/Crews. Winning was Richie Stearns' J/105 HOKEY SMOKE (with team of Lori Stearns, Freya Olsen, Marci Grunnert, Annie Baumann, Linda Bradford, and Holly Davis). They were followed by Robert Evans' J/109 GOAT RODEO in the silver position, then Sam Rosenbaum's J/99 RAMBLER earning the bronze.

More Ugotta Regatta sailing information here.