The second annual J/Fest New England Regatta, hosted by Sail Newport, took place in the waters of southern Narragansett Bay and offshore on Rhode Island Sound during the weekend of August 12-13. While the regatta was missing the classic Newport summer sailing conditions of great sea breezes each day, the regatta PROs more than made up for it with clever race management. The regatta hosted the celebratory J/24 40th Anniversary Round Island Race with 21 entries on August 11. Then, on Saturday and Sunday there were one-design fleets plus PHRF racing. In the J/24 fleet, they enjoyed two events. In the Round Island 40th Anniversary race, the winds light. From the start off Rose Island, the fleet went around the Clingstone Rocks Bell to starboard, then north through the Newport Bridge to the Prudence Island green bell to starboard, then back to the finish off Fort Adams. Winning was Steve Kirkpatrick’s BUCKSHOT, followed by Ted Winston’s PASSAGE EAST and Matt Coughlin’s FUDGIE in third. Then, taking their momentum into the weekend regatta was Kirkpatrick’s BUCKSHOT, taking a 1-6-1-1 for 9 points to win by a longshot. Second was Tim Corbett’s ESKIMO SISTERS with a 4-9-2-2 tally for 17 points. Just two points back was Mike Quaid’s ICE CUBE with a 3-1-7-8 record for 19 points. For more J/Fest New England information, visit https://2017.jfestnewengland.com/.