J/Teams collect silver at Susan Hood Trophy Race
by J/Boats 9 Jun 09:26 NZST
31 May - 1 June 2024
2024 Susan Hood Trophy Race © Paul Wyeth / Key Yachting
Every year, the western Lake Ontario offshore yacht racing fleet looks forward to what many consider to be the start of their offshore sailing season-- the 77.0 nm overnight race called the Susan Hood Trophy Race held on Memorial Day/ bank holiday weekend and hosted by Port Credit YC. It's billed as "the coolest race on the Great Lakes"-- and for a good reason, too!
The race was enthusiastically sailed by a fleet of ORC and PHRF offshore handicap racing teams on Lake Ontario. Sailing the large offshore 77.0nm triangle, starting off Port Credit YC's starting line in western Toronto, the diverse fleet of boats sailed both shorthanded and fully crewed boats. J/Crews performed very well, winning, or placing in five of the seven divisions.
PHRF A Solo
Winning the 5-boat class was Ard Van Leeuwen's J/112E HIGH TEA, taking his division by over 2.5 hours corrected time!
PHRF B Doublehanded
This half-dozen-boat fleet was David Martin's J/99 DISCOVERY win his division by just 15 minutes and also took 5th overall!
PHRF C Doublehanded
Like their colleagues above, it was Andrew Sharp's J/92 SWITCH that walked off with class honors with a 4-hour correct time win!
PHRF A Division
Thirteen boats sailed this fully crewed division. Graham Toms's J/120 THE CAT CAME BACK took the silver medal, missing the correct time win by just 20 minutes. The bronze medal went to Bruce Pierce's J/122 HOOLIGAN II, only 15 minutes behind the J/120.
PHRF B Division
This ten-boat fleet saw a well-sailed J/100 take the silver medal. Robert DeWitte's J/100 PERSPECTIVE missed the win by a mere 8 minutes!
More information here