Over the Memorial Day weekend, the Virginia Cruising Cup hosts the renown 120nm “Down the Bay” offshore race that goes from Annapolis, MD to Hampton, VA. The conditions could only be described as epic, with winds howling out of the NNW. This meant the fleet was blessed with broad reaching and downwind running conditions with big waves on the Chesapeake Bay and winds gusting 20-30 kts. With conditions that were well suited to its ability to sail fast downwind, planing more often than not, the J/24 ROCKET J sailed by Neil Ford won its class by two hours and finished second overall to a Hobie 33, beating the first TP 52 by 106 minutes corrected. Neil and crew did 120 nm in 13 hrs, 52 min and 26 secs. That’s an 8.5 kts average! For complete results, click HERE.