Thanks to Chris Princing for this report: On a warm and muggy Saturday afternoon, William Coberly, Paul Nice and Zac Bowdish won the 2021 J/22 Michigan Championship otherwise known as the Tawas Bay of Pigs Regatta. After 2020 when they were tied after four races and lost on a tie breaker, there was no doubt this year who the fastest boat was. With scores of 1, 2, 1, 3, USA 275 easily outdistanced the fleet. In a testament to the greatest little boat ever built, the International J/22, this event has been run four times, and it has been won by four different boats. In this year’s regatta, all the previous winners were racing. The racing was close, and it was a lot of fun, even though we did not get the usual Tawas Bay winds. It was hot! There was very little wind. What little wind we did have came from the south. We were led on the RC boat by Tony Kus, who acted as the PRO. Joining him were Frank Fitus, Lori Fitting, Mark Olgaard and our Commodore Jane Olgaard. Tony and his team did a fantastic job for the second year in a row. Joining them on the water to help move marks were Neil Ericsson, Bob Bullard, Bill Busch and a few other volunteers who we really want to thank for their hard work and dedication to making sure the racecourse was square. Race one was light, 5-8 knots. It was a little shifty with a couple big swings before the start. The sun was hot, and the racecourse was rough due to all the powerboat traffic. A couple boats got launched and early leads, but it was The Other White Meat (USA 275) and Squealer (USA 454) who dug back into the left side and led the fleet around the racecourse. The run closed the fleet a little bit, but USA 275 emerged victorious, followed by USA 454 (former champions). Race 2 saw the wind back a little bit and lose a little bit of pressure. The good news is that the power boat waves were a lot less in this race. USA 275 was looking strong in this race as well, chasing Green Eggs & Ham (USA 483) at the weather mark. The leeward mark rounding changed their fortunes though, as Evil Doctor Pork Chop (USA 1552, former champion) snuck around both boats to take the lead. USA 483 had a dancing man on the foredeck as they tried to clear the spinnaker sheet, and USA 1552 took the win followed by TOWM USA 275. Race 3 saw another backing of the wind, and it was now down to 5-6 knots. USA 275 led to the first two marks, with USA 483 hot on their tails and USA 838 right with them. Very close racing among the top six boats in this race with many places being changed on each leg. With a little “uh oh” at the second weather mark between USA 1552 and USA 454, which resulted in a 720 for USA 1552, it cleared it out for Pigs in Space (USA 838, former champion) to close on USA 275 and finish second. The fourth and final race saw even more backing and thankfully a little pressure. What started off as 8 knots became 12 knots by the second beat, with all three hiking. To say that those of us on Evil Doctor Pork Chop enjoyed this much better than the light stuff is an understatement! While we may have won the last race, The Other White Meat (whom we were hoping would sink) were so fast that even with a penalty turn, they finished the fourth race in third place and won the event by 4 points. Congratulations to Bill, Paul and Zac! Many thanks to our brothers and sisters from Charlevoix who came and joined us! leader, Tom Barnes, is one of the biggest cheerleaders for the J/22, and their fleet is now up to 11 boats.