2014 Jet-14 Konigsburg Regatta

The 2014 Konigsberg Memorial Regatta was held at Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis, MD the weekend of June 14-15. Six Jets launched Saturday morning in a stiff northwesterly breeze that was forecast to die down as the day went on. After a long downwind sail out to the starting area near the middle of the bay, it became apparent that the wind speeds, which were by then in the mid to upper teens, were not calming down at all. To make matters worse, recent heavy rains combined with a full moon to produce an extraordinarily strong ebb current running perpendicular to the course.

Chris Wood and his crew Bret van Roden, and Gary and Cathy Mentesana decided that the conditions were a little more than they bargained for, and headed back home before the start of the first race, a long five leg windward-leeward course. Defending champion Brent Barbehenn, who had lined up Kate Erklauer (taking time off from her own Jet after the birth of her son) as crew, timed the start of the first race perfectly and headed for the left side of the beat with James and Pete McKenna close behind. Eric Johnson, sailing with former Jetter Michael Parramore as crew, misjudged the current and had to do a circle around the pin after getting pushed into it by the current. Ed Lutz and his crew stayed clear of the messy pin end and started further up the line in clear air.

Despite being somewhat light for the conditions, Barbehenn/Erklauer expertly played the shifts and were first around the windward mark, with Johnson/Parramore a few lengths back. The McKennas had a great first run that put them into second place by the second lap of the race; Barbehenn held on for the win, with McKennas second and Johnson/Parramore third.

The wind continued to build for the second race, with the RC reporting winds in the upper teens with gusts over 20 kts. Everyone got off the line cleanly, and Johnson/Parramore, were able to take advantage of their combined 360+ pounds of crew weight on the beats to power through the building seas and take the lead at the first mark rounding. The downwind legs were an exhilarating ride with plenty of surfable waves, but they went by too quickly to get much of a rest before pounding upwind on the next leg. Ed Lutz became the first casualty of the day, when he broke a shroud fitting and had to be towed in. Johnson/Parramore took the win in the second race, followed by Barbehenn/Erklauer and the McKennas. At some point in the second race, Johnson/Parramore developed a crack in their mast that precluded any more racing for the day. The two remaining boats chose to call it a day as well.

Sunday was sunny with much less wind. Barbehenn, the McKennas, and the Mentesanas had only planned to sail on Saturday, and with two boats broken from the day before, there were not enough survivors to race the second day of the series. In the final tally, Barbehenn/Erklauer held their Saturday lead to win the abbreviated series by one point.

Konigsburg Regatta				Race
Place	Sail	Skipper	Crew	1	2	Total
1	558	B. Barbehenn	K. Erklauer	1	2	3
2	1146	E. Johnson	M. Parramore	3	1	4
3	1140	J. McKenna	P. McKenna	2	3	5
4	604	E. Lutz		4	DNC	11
5	646	C. Wood	B. van Roden	DNC	DNC	11
6	1144	G. Mentesana	C. Mentesana	DNC	DNC	41

2014 Konigsburg Regatta

Severn Sailing Association, Annapolis MD