Wednesday, February 26, 2014

J/Newsletter- February 26th, 2014

J/70 World Championship- Newport, RI
J/70 Worlds Announcement
(Newport, RI)- The inaugural J/70 World Championship will be held in Newport, R.I. from September 8th to 13th and hosted by New York Yacht Club.  Races will be sailed on either Narragansett Bay or offshore on Rhode Island Sound, depending on weather conditions.  Principal hosting partner for the event is Sail Newport, where boats will be docked for the event.

New York Yacht Club- Harbour Court, Newport, RIStu Saffer, the Event Chairman, comments: “New York YC is honored to host the inaugural J/70 World Championships in Newport, RI, this September. We look forward to welcoming sailors from around the world to Harbour Court, our on-the-water clubhouse, and hope they enjoy all the services and amenities our club has to offer. The initial growth of the J/70 class is remarkable, and we are anticipating an extremely competitive regatta on Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound.”  Harbour Court will be the site for the skipper’s meeting and kick-off party, the Wednesday dinner and the Final Awards.

There is a fleet limit of 120 boats. Due to the high level of interest, qualifying events around the world will determine which teams get to sail in the World Championship. U.S. teams should visit the U.S. J/70 Class Association website (http://www.j70class.com) for detailed information on qualifying regattas. Foreign teams should refer to the International J/70 Class Association website (http://www.j70ica.org) for qualification and registration requirements.

Charter boats will be available for international teams, please contact Kendra at J/Boats (ph# 401-846-8410 or email- info@jboats.com) for further information. Rooms are being held at area hotels for Worlds competitors.  For more information on housing, qualifying or the regatta in general, please visit the J/70 World Championship website.

J/70 one-design sailboat- sailing to Moscow, Russia!J/70 @ Moscow Boat Show!
(Moscow, Russia)- With a successful launch of their J/70 program last year in Russia, the J/Russia dealer team of Grigory Aksenov and Dmitry Zaritckii have covered thousands of miles promoting the J/70 across Europe and Russia.  First sailing in the Y.C. Monaco’s Primo Cup in 2013, they returned again  in 2014 with two Russian teams for a weekend of great sailing and camaraderie with fellow J/70 sailors from across Europe.

This dynamic duo will again be presenting the J/70 at the Moscow Boat Show from March 11th to 16th and will likely take another “victory tour” around Moscow’s famous Kremlin Square, hopefully not in a blizzard like last year!  For an appointment or more information, please contact Grigory Aksenov at Kitira Ltd (http://www.kitira.ru), phone- +7-495-540-4529 or via email- aksenov.grigory@gmail.com  Sailing photo credits- YC Monaco/ Carlo Borlenghi.   For more Moscow Boat Show information

J/70s sailing off start- Santa Barbara, CA 
J/70 West Coast Circuit Update
(San Francisco, CA)- The West Coast is getting busy, particularly since the hottest ticket in town is becoming the next boat and crew to qualify for the 2014 J/70 Worlds in Newport.  Fleet growth in San Diego/ Los Angeles in SoCal; in the greater San Francisco Bay area; and in the Pacific Northwest around Seattle, WA has increased dramatically in recent months.

San Francisco Report- from Sail California
“The J/70 class has grown rapidly on San Francisco Bay, with 11 boats already sailing and with more arriving all the time.  Most importantly, the J/70 Fleet 19 has outlined a great series of races that include the World’s qualifiers.”  Here are the events:
  • Mar 8-9- Big Daddy Regatta- Richmond YC
  • Apr 5-6- J/Fest San Francisco Bay- St Francis YC
  • May 17-18- Elite Keelboat Regatta- San Francisco YC (Worlds Qualifier)
  • May 31- Delta Ditch Run- Richmond, CA- Single-handed Sailing Club
  • Jun 27-29- Long Beach Race Week- Alamitos Bay YC (Worlds Qualifier)
  • Jul 19-20- High Sierra Regatta- Fresno YC
  • Aug 16-17- Summer Keelboat Regatta- San Francisco YC
  • Aug 30- Jazz Cup-  SBYC
  • Sep 11-14 Rolex BBS StFYC
  • Oct 25-26 Great Pumpkin RYC
Jan Edney- sailing/ yachting photographer- Seattle, WASeattle Report- from Sail Northwest
“The Pacific Northwest has 3 qualifying spots! J/70 Fleet 17 has 2 qualifying berths at the Seattle NOOD's Regatta and one berth for the Northwest Championship (TBD).

And, if that isn't enough to entice you into competing in the exciting new sportboat fleet that is taking the country by storm you will also have your very own official Pacific N.W. J/70 Worlds photographer following you around the course in Newport, Rhode Island!

Jan Anderson (a renown Seattle yachting photographer) and her boat-boy “Skip” will be on site and making an effort to capture your boat in the excitement of sailing the first ever J/70 Worlds!

The J/70 is exploding in growth worldwide with 86 (nope, this is NOT a typo) boats racing Charleston Race Week. This is nothing short of amazing given that two years ago there were none in existence. J/70’s are reserved through hull #630 as of today! I can only imagine what will happen when McConaghy Boats gets up to speed with their production in China!”  Sailing photo credits- Onne Vanderwal/ Jan Edney

J/111 sailing San Francisco BayJ/111 West Coast Circuit Update
(San Francisco, CA)- This year the J/111 class has burst onto San Francisco Bay with a one-design schedule for the new Fleet 5 racing season.  It looks like 7-8 boats will be on the line. Three new boats are in various stages of development and “Mental” (now renamed BIG BLAST) is just landing from her long ride out from Chicago. Here’s the J/111 schedule for 2014:
  • Mar 15-16- Spring One Design Regatta- St Francis YC
  • Apr 5-6- J/Fest Regatta- St Francis YC
  • Apr 26-27- Vallejo Race-  Vallejo YC
  • Jun 7-8- June Invitational- St Francis YC
  • Aug 2-3- Second Half Opener- Encinal YC
  • Aug 22-24- Aldo Alessio Regatta- St Francis YC
  • Sep 11-14- Rolex Big Boat Series- St Francis YC
  • Oct 25- Great Pumpkin Regatta- Richmond YC
One of the newer boats in the fleet, MADMEN Racing, was out on the Bay putting their J/111 through the paces last year.  Check out some of their YouTube sailing video action from Frisco right here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcKqYQie6NE

For more information regarding the J/111 Fleet 5 one-design program, please contact Norm Davant at Sail California- ph# 510-523-8500 or email- norman@sailcal.com

J/88 sailing with spinnaker at 25 kts!RCR Yachts J/Boat Open House!
(Youngstown, NY)- Tim Finkle at RCR Yachts in Youngstown, NY wants all New Yorkers and others nearby that sail on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie to hop onto their planes, trains, automobiles, tractors, snow-blowers and snow-plows and head for the upcoming J/Boats Open House at their Youngstown location.

The date is March 16th, from 11am to 4pm, with plenty of food & refreshments and a warm place to “hang” and talk shop.  They will have both the J/70 and J/88 on display in their indoor showroom.  You will get a chance to chat with long-time J/Sailors like Don Finkle and his son Tim, both incredibly experienced sailors and, in particular, have done a LOT of sailing on the J/70 in the past year (having traveled a few thousand miles and had snacks at far too many Macs & BK’s along the way!).

For more information on the RCR Yachts J/Boats Open House, please contact Tim Finkle- ph# 860-917-5416 or email- timfinkle@rcryachts.com or at website- http://www.rcryachts.com

JBoats rendezvous- Seattle, WAJoin Us For the Pacific NW J/Rendezvous!
Featuring a "Poker Rally", “Best In Show” and Massive BBQ Hosted by "BBQ Bob"
(Seattle, WA)- Sail Northwest is excited to announce the first ever J/Boats Rendezvous for the Pacific Northwest, scheduled for June 28th, 2014 at the Brownsville Marina.  Bring your cruising boat, bring your day sailor, bring your race boat – bring any J you have sailing in the area (we hope it floats!), we promise that you will have a lot of FUN and get to know much more of the J/Clan— an amazingly diverse, talented and fun-loving group of passionate sailors!  We want to YOU in Brownsville! Remember, there are no regatta conflicts! And, because it's summer-time, there are no business or school issues, either!

Boats can begin arriving in Brownsville at 11am Saturday to start the stern-tie line-up inside the breakwater.  The day’s festivities will include a “Poker Rally and “Happy Hour” tours of the attending boats incorporating a “Best In Show” competition done by popular vote.  This will be followed with a talk by industry professionals, then a massive BBQ and potluck side-dish dinner pier side, followed by awards and an evening around the camp fire on the bluff.  Refreshments and the main course for dinner will be provided; you only need to bring a side dish and whatever emergency rations you’ll need (e.g. more refreshments).  For anyone that needs a “racing fix”, the West Sound Sailing Association runs their series finale Brownsville race that day and you are more than welcome to enter if you have that urge.

Please RSVP and get your first two cards for the Poker Rally and/or learn more about the event from the friendly people at Sail Northwest.  Contact Ben (ben@sailnorthwest.com) or Bob (bob@sailnorthwest.com) or just call them at ph# 206-286-1004 and ask what’s on the menu for the BBQ!

J/Sailing News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The end of February generally marks the end of winter and in many places the beginning of spring in March, especially for those who look forward to that wonderful Irish celebration known as St Patricks’s Day on March 17 this year.  However, Old Man Winter seems to have other designs on that raucous and fun celebration.  To date, “the North” is still gripped in a never-ending slew of storms ripping across from the Arctic Tundra to, yet again, delay the onslaught of “spring”.

Nevertheless, some places have managed to offer up some great sailing despite what 95% of the world’s population are having to suffer through for some period of time.  On the American side of things, the J/24s recently hosted their Midwinters at the Coral Reef Yacht Club on Biscayne Bay.  They enjoyed great conditions and one of the members of the winning team, Geoff Becker from Sail1Design, offered some valuable insights from his Becker’s blogs at Sail1Design.com.

Elsewhere in J/24 world, the Argentineans were ramping up the second part of their “summer” season with the Sailor’s Cup that recently took place on the spectacular lake in the Andean Mountains known as Lago San Rogue.  The Club Nautico Cordoba was host for this amazingly fun event!

Just across the Andes Mountain range, literally, were the J/70s hosting their Chilean J/70 Nationals on the equally amazing Lago Panguipulli!

Up north in the Americas, the J offshore sailing teams had less than typical conditions but, nevertheless they made the most of it and managed to finish “in the silver” across the board.  The Border Run Race from Newport Beach, CA to San Diego or Dana Point goes down in the history books as one of the slowest on record, but J/Teams prevailed, again!

Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below has many entertaining stories and news about J/Sailors as well as cruising blogs about those who continue to enjoy the Caribbean and the South Pacific, staying warm while others are trying to stay warm up north.  Check them out!  More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page!  Below are the summaries.

Regatta & Show Schedules:

Mar 7-9- J/105 Midwinters- Lakewood YC- Seabrook, TX
Mar 6-9- Bacardi Miami Sailing Week (70,80)- Coconut Grove, FL
Mar 14-16- San Diego NOOD Regatta- San Diego YC- San Diego, CA
Mar 16-21- J/24 North Americans- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Mar 16- Apr 27- Warsash Spring Series- Warsash, England
Mar 28-30- Quantum J/70 Winter Series- Davis Island YC- Tampa, FL
Apr 10-13- Charleston Race Week (22, 24, 70, 80, PHRF)- Charleston, SC
Apr 17-21- SPI OUEST Regatta- La Trinite-sur-Mer, France
Apr 26-May 3- J/22 World Championship- Deneysville, South Africa
May 2-4- Annapolis NOOD Regatta- Annapolis YC- Annapolis, MD
May 16-18- J/22 North Americans- Annapolis YC- Annapolis, MD
May 16-18- Seattle NOOD Regatta- Seattle, WA

For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.

J/70 sailing Chile's Lake Panguapulli- Andes MountainsPILGRIM Takes Chilean J/70 Nationals
(Lake Panguipulli, Chile)- The inaugural Chilean J/70 Nationals took place this past weekend on one of the world’s most picturesque lakes.  Situated on the Puyumén Peninsula, Lake Panguipulli is surrounded by the majestic peaks of the famous Andes Mountain range.  While sailing in shirts, shorts, & shades, skiing on snow-capped mountains is happening in some of Chile’s famous ski resorts!

On the first day, the fleet of J/70 sailors were met by high temperatures, clear skies and moderate winds ranging between 7-11 knots from 250 degrees with minimal shifts of 10 degrees, conditions that were near perfect for sailing on the lake. In fact, the weather was so nice, a small navy of motorboats gathered around the fleet to watch racing for most of the day!

J/70 sailboat- sailing Chile's Lake Panguipulli in Andes Mountains
The R.C.’s P.R.O. managed to deliver three races and, when the results were tabulated, there were few differences between the teams.  The first race of the day began with a dominating performance by Nadja Horwitz, followed by Juan Eduardo Reid’s BLACK JACK and PILGRIM skippered by Benjamin Grez. In the last two races it was clear the PILGRIM/ MBI VOLVO team led by “los hermanos Grez” had figured out the formula for success and managed to score two bullets to take over the regatta lead with just 5 pts.  Eduardo-Reid’s team on BLACK JACK also sailed consistently well enough to hang onto second with a 2-3-3.  Another boat that also figured out the “formula” was Jorge Gonzalez and his team on ALLEGRO, posting a 5-2-2 to jump up to third place for the day.

Chile's Lake Panguipulli sailing clubThe second day of sailing dawned with a gorgeous sunrise, but light winds that never exceeded 5-6 kts; it was clear the forecast was somewhat accurate and that meant it was going to be difficult to get in more than 2-3 races.  Despite a number of valiant attempts at getting more races going, the P.R.O. could only manage to get one fair race in for the day.  And, it was one unbelievably close race, clearly upsetting the standings for nearly everyone in the top three!

J/70 sailing upwind on Lake Panguipulli in ChileThe team of Benjamin Grez, Christopher Grez, Miguel Perez and Jorge Lama, aboard PILGRIM/ MBI VOLVO just managed to stay out of trouble by finishing 4th in the last race to be crowned the first J/70 National Champions in Chile!  Just behind them by only one point was a tie-breaker, the result of a titanic battle for the silver between Gonzalez’s ALLEGRO and Eduardo-Reid’s BLACK JACK.  Getting the upper hand at the finish was the very happy ALLEGRO team, winning the race and, as a result, winning the tie-break on 10 pts to snag second overall.  Third place then went to the BLACKJACK gang.

The regatta was organized by the J/70 Class Chile and WindMade, with support from the Municipality of Panguipulli and LAND ROVER Chile as a sponsor.  Interestingly, this was also the first J/70 National Championship to be held outside American soil anywhere in the world!   Sailing photo credits- Berni Grez
For more J/70 Chilean Nationals sailing results.

Team Helly Hansen sailing J/24 Midwinters- Miami, FLHELLY HANSEN J/24 Midwinters Champs!
(Coconut Grove, FL)- This year’s J/24 Midwinters were highlighted by somewhat fabulous, near postcard-perfect sailing conditions and with some extraordinary entertainment both on and off the water.  For one of the “side-shows”, there were hundreds of noisy offshore powerboats criss-crossing the course area with bikini-clad girls hanging out as they tried to score big in the Miami Boat Show “Poker Run” down to Islamorada.  Nevertheless, focusing like laser-beams on the job at hand (and, never a stray eye wavering to acres of scantily-clad “flesh” flying by), the formidable duo of John Mollicone on the helm and Tim Healy calling tactics (along with crew Geoff Becker, Leon Collin & Gordon Borges) on Team HELLY HANSEN managed to repeat their prior year’s performance— taking a ten point lead to the house and crowned the 2014 J/24 Midwinter Champions, again!

Women's J/24 team sailing J/24 Midwinters- MiamiThe regatta started off on a high note, with Regatta Chairman Marc Pincus describing it as “a chamber of commerce day”.  The weather was beautiful with a light chop and sunny skies.  Plus, there were No “black flags” during the four races, despite the reputation of the regatta being the “inventor” of the notorious “Black Flag” back in 1984 (remember Mario Bustamante, P.R.O. from Coral Reef YC??). The 27 teams got off to an early start in Miami’s 80 degree weather. However, paradise is never perfect. The wind died during the second race causing the RC to shorten the course, but the breeze came back enough to have two more races.

Team Helly Hansen- sailing upwind off Miami- J/24 MidwintersFor the Newport-based HELLY HANSEN team, it was self-evident after the first day they were determined to do no wrong and may have had, in fact, a “crystal ball” on board (apparently they were sailing with almost “clairvoyant” capabilities).  Brown University Sailing Coach John Mollicone stayed out of trouble, kept his lanes clear, and managed to post three bullets on the first day for 8 pts total.  No one could match them.  Miami’s Robby Brown on USA 799 and his team Ron Hyatt, Mark Liebell, Jeff Rubin and Arthur Blodget finished in second with 10 pts and Travis Odenbach on HONEY BADGER sailing with Patrick Wilson, Rossi Milev, Chris Morgan and Emery Williams were in third with 16 points.

J/24s sailing off starting line- J/24 Midwinters MiamiWhen the RC Signal Boat “GOLDILOCKS” went out for the morning of the second day of racing on to Miami’s Biscayne Bay waving a huge “Jolly Roger” flag, you could tell it was going to be a great day. The Coral Reef YC R.C. was relaxed and looking forward to another glorious day of sailing. The wind was 6-9 knots and steady with no shifts. The race course was set west of the infamous “Stiltsville” (houses built on stilts on the shoals south of Key Biscayne Island). The day’s final tally saw Team HELLY HANSEN extend their lead to 7 points. The big move of the day was Peru’s Luis Olcese sailing SCARAMOUSH, climbing into second with two first places for the day. His crew Christian Sas, Joel Raffo, Joaquin Razetto and Alek Stewart passed Davis Island’s Robby Brown’s team and Travis Odenbach. Odenbach’s HONEY BADGER (with crew Patrick Wilson, Rossi Milev, Chris Morgan and Emery Williams onboard) held on to third place only one point behind SCARAMOUSH. Needless to say, the evenings CRYC regatta dinner was abuzz with stories about the day’s events.

Poker Run Islamorada Rally and J/24 Midwinters!For the hosts, they couldn’t have scripted a nicer ending to the regatta, albeit with a few entertaining “twists” thrown in for good measure.  The last day dawned with yet another clear, sunny day with a mild 6-9 kts breeze and light chop.  Perhaps the most memorable part of the day for most was the hundreds of “visitors” that kept criss-crossing the race course area; including the Miami Boat Show “Poker Run” participants (40 very fast and extremely loud offshore “Cigarette-type” boats with bikini-clad gals on the bow on their way to and from Islamorada); a massive pod of incredibly happy and frolic-some dolphins; and a slew of Biscayne Bay Yacht Racing Association racers getting yelled at about every imaginable sailing rules infraction possible!

It was like old times in the 10th race. After a failed attempt at a start, PRO Jaime Ramon called for the Black Flag. In order to make it more authentic and bring back memories of the 1984 J/24 Midwinters where the Black Flag and bow numbers were first used to “discipline the fleet,” 1984 CRYC RC Chair Mario Bustamante was called down from the bridge to perform the black flag duties. As Mario raised the flag, he complained that “it was a puny little black flag with no character and that the big Jolly Roger would have been a better choice.”  Regardless, the Black Flag worked, the sailors were very well-behaved and it was an all clear start for the last race of the regatta.

women sailing J/24s in Miami, FLDespite all the distractions, Team HELLY HANSEN won yet another race on the last day and sealed the deal to be crowned Midwinter Champions with five 1sts in their 9 race score card.  Mollicone is a busy man this year.  The plan is for John to skipper HELLY HANSEN in the upcoming regattas in Newport, RI in July, do the Pan American Trials, the Nationals in Marion, MA and the J/24 Worlds in Newport, RI in September.  On top of all that, John says that his Brown University Sailing Team will start practice first weekend of March, weather permitting, commenting that “the team is anxious and wants to sail!”

The race for second place was very exciting and close. Unfortunately, for the well-sailed (and outfitted) SCARAMOUSH team from Peru, they “punted” their last race, scoring a 10th and dropping into a tie-breaker with Odenbach’s HONEY BADGER, losing that to drop to third overall!  “Oh my goodness”, or words to that effect, must’ve come to Luis’s mind as they were crossing the finish line in the last race. Not! Nevertheless, Odenbach’s HONEY BADGER crew stepped up to the challenge and managed to win the last race to hop onto the podium and snatch second place!

J/24s sailing under spinnakers off Miami- MidwintersTwo Davis Island, Florida teams took 4th and 5th. The 4th place team was Robby Brown’s USA 799 sailing with Ron Hyatt, Mark Liebel, Jeff Rubin and Arthur Blodgett. In 5th place was John Poulson’s LONG SHOT with Nate Viladabro, Doug Fisher, Rob Brills and Stephen Kaidos.

The MidFleet Award was won by Coral Reef YC sailor Jim Bill skippering SCOUTS HONOR with Eamonn deLisser, Tim Banks, Isabel Galvin, Jillian Aydelotte.

The very proud Corinthian teams were:
  1. ZIA’s Patrick Frisch, Lori Dillard Rech, Stephen Marshall, David Rech and John Humphreys from Miami, FL.
  2. VELOCIDAD’s Christopher Stone, Tim Fitzgerald, Patrick Murphy, Brad Russell and Doug Tooney from Middletown, NJ
  3. LIFTED’s Ben Maloney, Erwin Naidoo, Evan Oulahen, Katrina Leighton and Hugh Layton from Halifax, Nova Scotia
  4. MUYMUY’s Patricio Sly, Claudio Mintzias, Ernesto Mendoza, Lorie Sein-Messer and Atilio Renam from Miami, FL
  5. JOE COOL’s Lionel Baugh, Pilar Sanchez, Mauricio Ferres, Christina Urquiola, Andres Villar from Miami, FL.
Regatta Chair Mark Pincus reports, “the CRYC Race Committee team for the regatta was made up of PRO Jaime Ramon who is also CRYC RC Chair, Timer Jane Anne Pincus, Scorers Penny Tannenbaum and Sue Nichols, Landside Sharon Bourke and a cast of thousands with Mario Bustamante’s GOLDILOCKS as the Signal Boat.” The last word from the Signal Boat was that if you were not out boating today on Biscayne Bay, you did not deserve to own a boat.  Sailing Photo Credits- Chris Howell.  For more J/24 Midwinters sailing information.

J/111 Stampeder- sailing Border Run Race off Newport BeachJ/Teams Smoke Border Run!
J/111 Tops San Diego, J/124s Leaders in Dana Point
(San Diego, CA)- On Saturday, February 22, hundreds of sailors set sail to race to Dana Point and San Diego in the 2014 annual Border Run International Sailing Event. Everything was set in place— the boats, beautiful warm weather, a half moon for night-time sailing, plenty of dolphins and whales and a spectacular sunset - everything except the wind. But that did not stop sailors that came from far away as Arizona, Texas, New York and Maine, from having a great time. In the end, a total of 11 diehard crews out of 94 crossed the finish line before the race deadline.  And, it was three well-sailed J/Teams, in the most demanding sailing conditions, that led most everyone home at the top of their divisions!

It all started off on Friday night at the Balboa Inn in Newport Beach at the Pre-Race Send-Off party with live music, good food and guest speaker, Gino Morrelli, from Morrelli & Melvin yacht designers of America’s Cup fame. Gino gave Border Run sailors a first glimpse into the new AC boat and the possible venues of the next America’s Cup. It was a great way to start the event.

“Gino was awesome! He explained the differences between Team New Zealand and Team ORACLE USA from the technical side and the future of the next America’s Cup with a great visual presentation. During the ‘question and answer’ part of the presentation I could see the reaction of the sailors - they were really into the discussion,” said Randy Reynolds .

Sunset over the Pacific- Border Run Race off Newport BeachThe next day was race day. At 11:00 AM off the Balboa pier in Newport Beach, the 6th annual Border Run fleet started off in a southwest wind heading toward Dana Point and San Diego. The race committee from South Shore Yacht Club started all classes in flawless form. In keeping with the Border Run’s theme “Where Everyone’s Invited”, boats of all kinds and sizes, ranging from 14 ft to 70 ft, crossed the starting line to take on the challenging course.

There were boats of every size and shape competing on the race course. The fleet included some of the highest profile yachts on the West Coast. Boats ranging from sleds, cruisers, dinghies, sportboats and multihulls - all were represented.

High profile sailors were also lining up at the start – spectators were craning their necks to see Dennis Conner (of America's Cup fame) sailing his beloved wooden boat classic SPLENDOR and Cam Lewis sailing the fastest boat on the course, Enloe’s MIGHTY MERLOE (Editor’s note— both veterans of J/24 sailing wars in the past!).

After the start, just four hours into the race, most the fleet were carrying their spins or code-zeros when the wind switched to a south/southeast wind direction. That meant sailing to weather in very light winds in only 2-4 kts of breeze. Eventually, this took a toll on the fleet and crews started to drop out like flies on a hot summer day, one by one they radioed and headed back to homeport. Out of the 94-boat fleet, only six boats finished the Dana Point course and only five finished the 70-mile San Diego course.

J/124 Marisol- sailing with Seth Hall and teamAt the Trophy parties in Dana Point and San Diego, the event ended with sailors trading sea stories about the great competition before the wind shut off.  They spoke of the clear night skies with a bright half moon, the abundance of dolphin and whales swimming through glowing phosphorescence and an incredible sunset complete with the elusive "green flash". Even without wind, sailors on both courses expressed that the event was a great time and the adventure of sailing in light conditions was worth the trip – saying that they will be back next year.

And for the eleven boats and their hearty and tenacious crews that finished the challenging course, they can take pride that they finished the 2014 Border Run, going into the record books as sailors that won’t give up. John Marshall of South Shore Yacht Club, Race Chairman, said this about the event, “anyone can sail with good wind – only the best sailors can race and win with light winds.”

Of those eleven boats, three were J/Teams- 28% of the finishers!  Imagine that.  In fact, these teams reveled in the light-going despite the challenges faced by others.

Taking 1st in PHRF Light B in the San Diego race was the J/111 STAMPEDE, sailed by Glenn Griley and friends from King Harbor YC.  This was the first test of the STAMPEDE team in SoCal offshore racing and may prove to be an auspicious beginning for this new West Coast J/111 team.

In the Dana Point race, the two J/124s dueled one another all day and all night long.  In the end, Seth Hall’s veterans on MARISOL took second and beat their stablemate CIRRUS, sailed by Tim Harmon, home by just a half-hour.  Remarkably, MARISOL just missed finishing first overall by a little over one minute corrected!  Good grief.  Next time Seth may toss a few more heavy items onto the dock before leaving for the next race!  For fun, check out the YouTube sailing video posted by Tim Harmon’s J/124 CIRRUS from another regatta.   Sailing photo credits-  Bronny Daniels/ JOYsailing.com   For more Border Run International Race sailing information

J/24 Helly Hansen- with Geoff Becker, Tim Healy & John MolliconeJ/24 Midwinter Insights- Becker’s Blog
(Biscayne Bay, Florida)- Geoff Becker has been sailing for awhile with the talented duo of John Mollicone and Tim Healy on their J/24 program (one of these nice guys in the photo).  As part of his contribution to the team and to sailors everywhere, Geoff keeps an on-going blog of his sailing activities at his “SAIL-1-Design” website.

Here are Geoff’s reports and insights for competitive sailors who wish to learn more about the “stream of consciousness” that must continually play-out with skipper and crew in order to achieve peak performance (or better yet, get Geoff on board for an event!).

Day 1- 4 races (all races course 4, 4 legs w/downwind finish). Wind 6-12 knots from the SE.

“The forecast for Day 1 was 15 knots, or more, from the southeast, however, the breeze that arrived was somewhat less. A 10-12 knot SE breeze for Race 1 slowly died to 5-8 knots during Race 2 and then picked up again to 8-10 knots for Races 3 and 4. During the day, while the breeze strength varied, the direction remained relatively consistent from the southeast. Team Helly Hansen sailed well today, with 1st in Races 1, 3 and 4, and a 5th in Race 2 to take the overall lead after Day 1.

Keys to our success today included keeping the boat powered up, sailing at full speed whenever possible and sailing in our own water. As the wind decreased today, we would try and keep the boat more powered up on the windward legs. To do this, we paid close attention as to not over trim the genoa and keep from pinching, especially in any chop or waves.  By sailing a little lower at times and keeping the trim on the loose side, we were able to keep the forward speed up and carry better momentum trough the lighter spots and occasional choppy waves.

Another key for us today was to keep space from other boats and sail in our own water. Today, this meant picking lanes upwind that allowed us the freedom to sail the boat at the angle we felt was best for us. When other boats are near us in a race, we often need to adjust our trim or sailing angle to avoid feeling the effects of the other boat. For example, when a boat is off our leeward bow, it might be necessary to sail a higher course to avoid falling into that boat’s backwind. Today, and in many instances, when we caught ourselves changing our sailing mode based on the position of another boat, we noticed we were not sailing our best speed or course. In those cases, we would look for a way to free ourselves from other boats and find our own water where we could sail our own race.

Putting your boat in a position to sail your own mode and then keeping the boat rolling through the lulls in the breeze, can make a big difference when sailing in lighter or dying winds. Since the winds today were not all that shifty, the focus on the upwind legs definitely shifted to boat speed over wind shifts. It is often possible to pass, or beat boats that might have a speed advantage if you can sail free in your own water. Even a fast boat will slow down when forced to adjust to another boat with better position, and if you are able to do your own thing, you can find yourself working your way toward the front of the fleet, by slowing down less.

Our takeaways from Day 1 are:
1. Keep the boat powered up and full speed in light wind and lulls
2. Sail in your own water whenever possible.
3. Use good position to sail your boat in your best mode.”

Day 2- 4 races (all races course 4, 4 legs w/downwind finish). Wind 6-12 knots from the SE.

“With 8 races completed, 2 remaining, Team Helly Hansen still holds the overall lead. The conditions today were very similar to Day 1 in wind speed, direction and the amount of wind shifts. That is to say that while the wind velocity did oscillate up and down some, the direction remained relatively consistent with a total range of only 10-15 degrees during the day. With the somewhat consistent breezes, the most important race factors became boat speed and positioning to make gains on the racecourse.

Because boat speed was so important today, we made sure to check our setup before each race to make sure we could get the most from our boat for the conditions. Rig tension, genoa halyard tension and genoa lead position are always important speed factors and with such consistent winds like today, and those and other settings were crucial to make sure we had speed on the first upwind leg.

As for our strategies during the race, we also considered the fact that most of our gains would come from boat speed and not from wind shifts. Because of that, we looked for the areas of the course that seemed to have the most pressure and stay out of the bigger holes on the course if at all possible. In some ways that can be easier, because looking for wind is one thing, guessing if the new wind is a lift or a header can be much more difficult. Since we were mostly concerned about more wind vs. less wind, identifying those areas with stronger puffs was our primary goal.

After looking for the areas on the course we thought had the most wind, our final big picture strategy was to make sure we were able to sail our boat at our best speed. That meant, like on Day 1, we preferred to get in our own water without being affected by nearby boats preventing us from sailing our best course. As a result, we were quick to tack away from packs of boats, especially shortly after a start or mark rounding, in order to get clear and have freedom to make our boat sail at full speed. Sometimes we were even willing to sail away from what could be more wind if we had a nearby boat affecting our overall speed.

Having the freedom to sail your boat at its best by avoiding the negative effects of nearby boats, is a strategy that will work in a large percentage of sailboat races. Of course in most races, there are many other factors to consider, but having the ability to set your boat up the way you want and sail your own fastest course is a great starting point.

Our takeaways from Day 2 are:
1. Make sure your boat is set up for the race conditions.
2. Look for larger puffs when the wind isn’t shifting much.
3. Sail in your own water and use the freedom to sail your fastest”

Day 3 - Final Day- 2 races (all races course 4, 4 legs w/downwind finish). Wind 6-12 knots from the SE.

“For the final day, it was more of the same in both conditions and results for Team Helly Hansen. Remarkably, the conditions were exactly the same as Day 1 and 2, with a light to moderate SE breeze with very little change in direction during the day. Going into the final Day, only 2 races remained of the scheduled 10 for the regatta. Our team had a 7 point lead over second place and 8 points over third. The regatta was being scored with one throw out race and our worst finish beginning the final day was a fifth place in race 2. This meant a good score in the first race of the day could lock up the regatta for us.

After considering our scoring options, we decided to sail our own race in Race 9, using the same strategies as Days 1 and 2 and stay clear of other boats as much as possible. We were able to get a great start in the middle of the starting line and jump out in the front pack right away. From there we worked our way to the front and were able to hold the lead to win Race 9 winning the Midwinters for the second consecutive year.

Knowing our throw out race was a keeper race, it was tempting for us to aim our focus on the boats behind us in the standings and cause them to have a bad race and use our throw out that way. We instead decided that what had been working for us the first 2 days was a much better plan and we had the confidence that even if the first race didn't work out, we could make our that plan work for the second race.

As I have talked about in my other race blogs, our team has a very ritualistic and effective routine each day before getting to the racecourse. Because of that, we are normally well prepared for the first race of the day and quite often we are able to sail at a high level in the first race of a day. This regatta illustrated that as we won the first race each of the three days. That confidence added to our decision to come out and sail our best race in Race 9.

Our takeaways from Day 3 are:
1. Keep to your routine every day.
2. Sailing your own race is often the best way to score well.
3. The five members of Team Helly Hansen are the reason we sail as well as we do!

J/24s sailing Lago San Roque in Cordoba, ArgentinaOJOTA Leading Sailor’s Cup
(Cordoba, Argentina)- The second half of the sailing season down in South America has commenced and, like their J/70 friends in Chile, the J/24 class in Argentina have also started the Sailor’s Cup Regatta on Lago San Roque.  It’s a spectacular time of year to be sailing in the Andes Mountains and the setting could not be more idyllic than the one for Club Nautico Cordoba along the lake.

For this year’s regatta, a two weekend affair, it’s noteworthy that thirteen boats are participating from across Argentina, including crews from Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, Mendoza and Salta!  The regatta is also considered part of the overall points series for the “Campeonato Centro del Republica” (the Central Championship for the middle of Argentina)— and at least 25 teams are participating in the overall series, a much higher participation rate than achieved in 2013.

J/24s sailing on Lago San Roque in Cordoba, ArgentinaFor last weekend, the first round of the championship, the winner was the Mendoza fleet J/24 team on OJOTA, led by skipper Sebastián Halpern.  Second was Team INDIGO led by Despontin Ezekiel, last year’s winner.  The regatta has become a classic on the J/24 Argentine regatta circuit, the third time at the Club Nautico de Córdoba!  It is an event notable for it’s warm, wonderful atmosphere sailing on the lake,  a moment of relaxation for all crews where they enjoyed something to eat and drink delicious malbec red wines from the Mendoza district!

With moderate winds and moderate windshifts (for Lago San Roque!), it was good, solid tactics that were the key elements to keeping the top spots.  The final results were OJOTA in 1st, INDIGO 2nd, ON-LINE 3rd, KANZA 4th and MATANGA 5th.

This marks the start of the annual ranking that’s part of the Campeonato Centro Del Republica”.  For the next event we expect up to two dozens boats along with a crew from the USA. The J/24 Fleet Córdoba thanks the sponsors that support and enable the realization of this championship again in 2014 .  For more J/24 Argentina sailing information.

J/Community

What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide

J/70 mast stepper device* Don Finkle at J/Dealer RCR Yachts has been sailing his J/70 JUNIOR for over a year with his family and friends, starting with the 2013 J/70 Midwinters at Key West.  Amongst other things, Don is always looking for ways to improve the overall experience of going to regattas, seeing friends and sailing fast, but comfortably.

Some of the upgrades they’ve employed are helpful for those first getting engaged in the whole program.  Here are Don’s commentary on the upgrades to share with all J/70 friends:

“The first is the J/70 mast stepper that was made by RCR’s Brian Buczak (initially designed & engineered by the J/Boats Team in Newport). We’ve now used it several times and it has made stepping and dropping the rig much easier to accomplish, especially if you don’t always have three people around to help.  As you can see from the picture, there is a wooden piece that sits on the stern rails and is fastened down to hold in place.  There is also a tall post approximately six feet high, with a trailer roller at thbottom part of J/70 mast steppere top (the key piece!), that fits through the cross beam that we clamped down on the motor bracket by using a c-clamp.  While down in Florida, friends of ours from the J/70 fleet stopped by as we were stepping the mast and commented on how easy it looked when using this contraption.  When the rig is down, we could very simply slide out the stepper and secure it to the trailer while the cross beam held the mast in place when towing.  We highly recommend using something like this and we’d be happy to show you the one we are using.

J/70 soft deck installationThe other new upgrade that we are using is the soft deck installed on the floor of our cockpit.  We absolutely LOVED this addition.  The deck not only looks good but has great grip, wet or dry, and provided good cushion on the knees when in light air and kneeling on the cockpit becomes a necessity.  We’ve been told that the weight of the deck is about 3 to 5 pounds, but the benefits greatly make up for any added weight.  This past weekend in St Pete brought some bigger breeze on Saturday and we found ourselves on our side a few times.  At the angle of heel we would normally slip on the deck but we had no such issue with the soft deck.  There are several suppliers of these soft decks and we have not tested them all out, but the “Raptor” deck we are using has really worked out great.

J/Cruising CommunityJ cruising directions- roll the dice and go!  Sailing to anywhere, anytime!

J Cruisers continue their adventures around the world, below are a selection of most excellent "blogs" written by their prolific publishers.  Some terribly amusing anecdotes and pearls of wisdom are contained in their blogs. Read some! You'll love it.

J/42 cruiser- sailing across Atlantic Ocean* Jim & Heather Wilson just completed a circumnavigation of our "blue planet Earth" in June 2013 on their J/42 CEOL MOR.  Said Jim, "The odyssey of CEOL MOR is over, for now.  We completed our circumnavigation on our J/42 when we crossed our outbound track in Britannia Bay, Mustique. We were, however, still 2,000 nautical miles from home. So we continued on through the Windwards, the Leewards, and then through the British Virgin Islands. After a farewell 'Painkiller' at the Soggy Dollar, and a last meal at Foxy’s, we made the 1,275 nautical mile passage to the Chesapeake and completed our port-to-port circumnavigation when we arrived in Annapolis on June 28, 2013. We had been away 1,334 days, completed 259 days of ocean passages, and sailed 30,349 nautical miles (34,925 statute miles). Read more about their adventures in their  well-documented blog here:  http://www.svceolmor.com/SVCeolMor/Welcome.html

J/160 sailing offshore to US Virgin Islands- rainbow over ocean* J/160 AVATAR headed for the Caribbean, again!  We LOVE these updates from our cruising J sailors that continue to criss-cross the Seven Seas. This one comes from Alan Fougere, sailing his beloved J/160 AVATAR.   Alan sent us an email update commenting on their passage south this winter, "In mid-December AVATAR completed her sixth transit to her winter Caribbean home, Grand Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI (seen above)  from her home port in Quissett (Falmouth), MA.  A crew of three, Captain Alan (e.g. me), Crew Pablo Brissett and Mark Conroy, covered the 1,500 nm trip in in her best time to date- 7 Days 5 Hours, averaging 8.7 kts, that's about 208 nm per day!  Amazing passage it was!  Rainbow at right far offshore was some of the amazing phenomenon we experienced on this fast offshore passage.

AVATAR will participate in the BVI Sailing Festival/Regatta again in 2013, where last year she won the Nanny Key Cup Cruising Class race around the Island of Virgin Gorda.  Here are some photos for you to share with the J/Community at-large.  Enjoy!"
Best, Alan Fougere/ AVATAR

Bill & Judy Stellin- sailing J/42 Jaywalker* Bill & Judy Stellin recently had an interview about cruising on their J/42 in the Wall St Journal called "Retiring on the Open Sea".  The Wall St Journal asked Bill to reply to dozens of questions that flooded into the WSJ's Editor desks. Here's the update:

Retiring on the Sea: Answering Readers' Questions
Advice about selecting a boat, ocean crossings, itineraries and safety

Wall St Journal interview- Stellin's Offshore cruising/ sailing retirementThe article in our WSJ Online December retirement report about eight years spent sailing the Mediterranean— "Retiring to the Open Sea"— prompted many questions and comments from readers.  We asked William Stellin, who wrote the story, to answer some of the most common queries.

WSJ- "What kind and make of boat did you use? Looking back, would you have picked a different boat?"

Bill- "In 1995-96, J/Boats of Newport, RI, came out with a new cruiser/racer model, the J/42. We bought hull No. 6 of this popular 42-foot sailboat and named it JAYWALKER. This was our fourth boat since beginning sailing in 1975.

Although long-distance cruising wasn't what we had in mind when we purchased JAYWALKER, it soon became apparent it had the ability to carry us easily and safely anywhere we wanted to go. Because the boat is light, it sails well in light winds, which means very little motoring is necessary.

People often ask (and argue) about what boat is best for cruising. Any boat that is strong, safe, fast, comfortable and easily handled by two people should fit the bill. One thing for sure, fast is fun—and important when trying to avoid bad weather."

READ MORE ABOUT BILL'S INSIGHTFUL COMMENTARY AND THOUGHTS ON WSJ ONLINE HERE

* The J/42 JARANA continues their epic voyage around the Pacific. Continue to read about Bill and Kathy Cuffel's big adventure cruising the South Pacific headed for New Zealand.  Their blog is here: http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/

* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for extended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary finished their double-handed crossing of the Atlantic, landing in Portugal on their J/130 Shazam after completion of their ARC Rally. Read the latest news at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/shazam/.

J/130 sailing ARC Rally arrives Portugal- leave a message on the sea wall!* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world's oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between.  Anyone for Cape Horn and penguins??  Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM friends above).

-  Bill and Susan Grun on the J/160 AVANTE are also sailing in the Pacific archipelago, read more about their great adventures on their blog (http://web.me.com/susangrun).  Read about their latest adventures as they've gotten to New Zealand- "Avante Cruises the Pacific".

- Eric and Jenn on the J/160 MANDALAY also sailed the Pacific archipelago, read more on their blog at http://www.sailmandalay.com.  Eric and Jenn are J/World alumni took MANDALAY up and down the West Coast (Mexico, CA), then to the South Pacific and New Zealand.  MANDALAY is back in San Francisco now, and in the J/World fleet--she is available for skippered charters, private instruction, and corporate/executive groups.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

J/Newsletter- February 19th, 2014

Get Ready for Spring Boat Shows!
(Newport, RI)- There are a number of boat shows to visit in the northern hemisphere that can provide you not only a break from the crazy weather that has been criss-crossing the Americas, UK & Europe, but also an opportunity to “talk shop”, dream about sailing on sunny, warm days, and learn about some of the latest offerings from the J/Boats design team.

J/88 @ Boston Boat Show
Boston J/Dealer Hill & Lowden will be displaying the new, award-winning, J/88 at the New England Boat Show that is held along the Boston’s SE waterfront at the Convention & civic center.  The J/88 will be on display from February 22nd to March 2nd at Booth# 1838.   Please be sure to contact George Lowden at cell# 617-678-8164 or visit their website at http://www.HillLowden.com  For more New England Boat Show news and information

J/70 @ Stockholm Show
Peter Johansson and the Marstrand Yachts team will be attending the Stockholm Boat Show with the new J/70 on display from March 1st to 9th. For more information on the J/70, please be sure to contact Peter Johansson at ph# +46 (0)735 430 800 or email- peter.johansson@marstrandyachts.com or Skype: peter.r.johansson.  For more Stockholm Boat Show news and information

J105 sailing offshore in CaliforniaJ/Teams @ Border Run Party!
(San Diego, CA)- Starting on February 22, the “come one, come all” Border Run Race is the first, point to point, international ocean race of the 2014 Southern California offshore yachting season. Part of the Ullman Offshore Series, the Border Run is for experts and beginners alike. With three courses to choose from, starting from Newport and sailing to Dana Point or San Diego, the Border Run offers sailors of all skill levels a great time. The Border Run has always been about inclusion, fun and competition.

In order to ensure that all members of the family, from the sailors to kids and friends alike, are having a wonderful time, the BRR makes every effort to be inclusive of everyone ashore, too!  Three Parties are an integral part of the camaraderie of the event: the Newport Send-Off Party; the Dana Point Trophy Party; and the San Diego Trophy Party.

While sailing and having fun is the underlying theme, there is a “higher calling” for those sailors so inclined during this event for “matters of the heart”.  In the last three years, the sailors of the Border Run have raised over $75,000 for LLS, City2Sea and the Craig Williams Memorial Fund. This year the teams will be helping to raise money to help another worthy cause!

J/Teams are participating in two of the three courses on offer to the sailors.  On the San Diego course there are 50 boats sailing including the following J sailors:

In PHRF Light B Division, competing for silver are the J/111 STAMPEDE sailed by Glenn Griley from King Harbor YC and the J/133 FORGIVENESS skippered by Joe Simpkins.  In the PHRF Light C Division, there are two J/124s dueling for class honors include Seth Hall’s famous MARISOL and Tim Harmon’s CIRRUS.

Taking the Dana Point course with 42 other boats is the J/120 ADIOS sailed by Peter Bretschger.  Everyone is hoping the “Pineapple Express” weather systems that have started to bedevil the West Coast don’t materialize with big breeze and tropical downpours of blinding rain! For more Border Run International Race sailing information

J/145 sailing offshore in CaribbeanRORC 600 vs J/374
(English Harbour, Antigua)- The sixth edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 may be proving irresistible to yacht racing teams from all over the world as they head to the starting line on Monday, February 24th. With 65 entries, a record entry for this “young” event, the fleet has an excellent combination of characters and deeply talented sailors partaking in what may become one of the “new” classics of offshore sailing.

Amongst the fleet of boats flying the flags from at least eleven different countries are 374 meters of J/Boats that will be sailing against some of the worlds best super-yachts, Mini-Maxis, and good Lord knows what else, all crewed by passionate amateurs and world-famous sailors.

J/Class teams sailing AntiguaThe northern hemisphere is currently experiencing some of the worst winter weather on record but well over 500 sailors are rubbing their hands together, relishing the prospect of racing around 11 Caribbean islands against highly competitive opposition.

The Caribbean is, without doubt, one of yacht racing's most exhilarating playgrounds as warm trade winds and Caribbean swell provide superb sailing conditions. The RORC Caribbean 600 course, starting and finishing in Antigua, is designed to provide a challenging, high speed racetrack and its popularity has grown, year on year, since 2009.  And, three J/Teams are ready to “throw down the gauntlet” and enjoy sailing around one of the most gorgeous race-tracks on the planet.  Can’t beat taking in some of the world’s most poshest “play-pens” as marks of the course!

J/120 El Ocaso sailing CaribbeanLeading the assault on division and overall honors may be Chris Dowling’s J/145 ACE, she was last seen taking silverware with designer Rod Johnstone aboard during the PalmaVela Regatta in Palma Mallorca, Spain a few years back.

J/109 French women's sailing teamWhile she may have changed hands from that famous gang from Miami, the J/120 EL OCASO is going to be sailed by the “600nm Club” which, as mysterious as they wish to be, will be unveiled soon!  They are a crew not to be short-changed at Ladbroke’s Betting Parlour on this race.

Finally, the proverbial “sleeper” in this race could easily be the highly regarded French team of women sailors led by the avant-garde captain, Sophie Olivaud, on her J/109 ALBACOR IV.  As a double-handed team, Sophie has won numerous offshore contests in France and the Caribbean and she’s determined to demonstrate her crew are up to the task of “the 600”, too!  For more RORC Caribbean 600 Race sailing information

J/Sailing News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The midwinter sailing circuit north of the equator continues to be be-deviled by the crazily meandering jet-stream (perhaps it has its own “crazy Ivan” mode) while those “down under” continue to enjoy relatively benign sailing conditions.  J/24s are getting ready for the second half of their summer season in Australia and J/70s and J/24s in South America all have significant upcoming regattas in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru and Chile!  Busy place that is for “sud-Americanos”!

In Central America, the J/24 sailors on Valle de Bravo, that gorgeous mountain lake an hour west of Mexico City, are gearing up for the upcoming J/24 North Americans in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  Their recent regatta, Triple Cup Scappino, was recently hosted by Club Nauticos Valle de Bravo this past weekend.

Not so far NNE, the J/22 Midwinters were hosted by Southern YC in New Orleans, LA on the wonderfully choppy and shifty Lake Ponchartrain.  Across the Gulf of Mexico from them, the Sperry Top-Sider St Petersburg NOOD Regatta was being sailed on Tampa Bay and hosted by St Petersburg YC.  Numerous J/Teams were sailing in J/24s, J/70s and in PHRF handicap divisions.

In the “that’s amazing” department, a growing fleet of J/80s in Chennai, India recently co-hosted a “water show” with the Indian Coast Guard Service, promoting sailing to thousands of children and conveying the message that sailing is a “green, eco-friendly” family activity.

Finally, don’t miss in the community section some of the amazing photos taken by the famous photographer, Carlo Borlenghi, of the Flying Russians!  Not on trapezes at the Moscow Circus or with Rudolf Nureyev jumping around in the Moscow Ballet, but the waterborne variety!

Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below has many entertaining stories and news about J/Sailors as well as cruising blogs about those who continue to enjoy the Caribbean and the South Pacific, staying warm while others are trying to stay warm up north.  Check them out!  More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page!  Below are the summaries.

Regatta & Show Schedules:

Feb 19-23- J/24 Midwinters- Coral Reef YC- Coconut Grove, FL
Mar 7-9- J/105 Midwinters- Lakewood YC- Seabrook, TX
Mar 6-9- Bacardi Miami Sailing Week (70,80)- Coconut Grove, FL
Mar 14-16- San Diego NOOD Regatta- San Diego YC- San Diego, CA
Mar 16-21- J/24 North Americans- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Mar 16- Apr 27- Warsash Spring Series- Warsash, England
Mar 28-30- Quantum J/70 Winter Series- Davis Island YC- Tampa, FL
Apr 10-13- Charleston Race Week (22, 24, 70, 80, PHRF)- Charleston, SC
Apr 17-21- SPI OUEST Regatta- La Trinite-sur-Mer, France
Apr 26-May 3- J/22 World Championship- Deneysville, South Africa
May 2-4- Annapolis NOOD Regatta- Annapolis YC- Annapolis, MD
May 16-18- J/22 North Americans- Annapolis YC- Annapolis, MD
May 16-18- Seattle NOOD Regatta- Seattle, WA

For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.

J/22 sailing upwind off New OrleansFATS Crushes J/22 Midwinters
(New Orleans, LA)- The famous and extremely gracious hosts at Southern YC really did provide the J/22 sailors with classic, southern-style, red-carpet treatment.  Ordering up a bit of sun for all three days along with reasonable breezes, the 22 sailors couldn’t have asked for a better experience! Sailed over the Valentine’s Day weekend, from February 14th to 16th, the Wells Fargo Advisors J/22 Midwinters saw some great racing amongst the fleet of twenty-six teams from across America.  And, as anticipated, several teams with championship pedigree ruled the roost.

J/22 one-design sailboats- sailing downwindSnagging the lead on Day One and, seemingly, never looking back, was local hotshot Benz Faget sailing FATS (e.g. the short name for world-famous New Orleans jazz musician- “Fats Domino”) with crew Devon Sweeney (cockpit) and Randall Richmond (bow).  They must’ve been blessed by Fats himself since they could do no wrong, sailing to top four finishes in all four races on the first day and continuing an excellent performance to be crowned the 2014 J/22 Midwinter Champion.

J/22 one-design sailboats- sailing off start in LAOn the first day, the teams took to the waters of Lake Pontchartrain in puffy breezes that began around 10 knots and increased throughout the day to 18. Competitors experienced 10 degree shifts, ratcheting to the right. Faget’s team on FATS recorded a line of 3-2-4-1 for 10 points. Terry Flynn’s TEJAS also kept their scores in the top four with a tally of 2-4-2-4 for 12 points, and Chris Doyle’s “THE JUG 4 1” was just one point behind in third place with 13 points.

J/22 one design sailboats- on Lake Ponchartrain, New Orleans, LAThe top three in Friday’s races were constantly shifting among the same few boats. Chris Doyle started the regatta with a win, followed by Flynn and Faget. Chris Doyle took another bullet in race two, with Faget in second and Kevin Doyle in third. It was Chris Doyle again winning race three with Flynn in second and Chris Wientjes in third. Faget moved to the top spot in the day’s final contest, trailed by Canada’s Ron Harris and Kevin Doyle.

On the second day of racing, the FATS boys retained their lead after some tough sailing.  Winds began at 10-12 knots, but slowly declined over the next few hours to 4-6 kts. The Race Committee attempted to start a third race, but were forced to abandon as the wind died, sending teams to shore in advance of the competitors’ evening party in the truly infamous “French Quarter” in downtown New Orleans.

The locals excelled in Saturday’s first race, as Dwight Leblanc’s DL III took top honors, with Zak Fanberg’s WILD TCHOUPITOULAS and David Loeb’s LA JOLIE VIE rounding out the top three. Faget captured victory in the day’s only other contest. Kevin Doyle’s MO’MONEY placed second, and Leblanc third.

J/22 sailing upwind at Midwinters- New OrleansFaget’s FATS placed eighth in race five, but was able to toss that score. He won race six, leaving him with a line of 3-2-4-1-1 for 11 points, three ahead of second-place Chris Doyle’s “THE JUG 4 1”. Terry Flynn’s TEJAS dropped to third with 24 points.

For the last day of racing on Sunday, the conditions on Lake Pontchartrain on Sunday featured light breezes, between 5-6 knots. The local competitors ruled the day, as David Loeb’s LA JOLIE VIE took victory in Sunday’s first race. Richard Heausler’s FAST COMPANY was second, and Faget third. Chip Carpenter’s WIZARD snagged the win in the next contest, trailed by Faget and Dwight Leblanc’s DL III. Faget closed out the championship with a bullet, as Dale Currie’s SUPPER CLUB and Fanberg followed.

In the end, Faget said about his championship performance, “these guys are a good team together and there’s nothing like sailing in your own backyard!” He also attributed their consistent performance to more time on the boat, including last year’s J/22 World Championship in Newport, RI.

Behind FATS in the overall standings was Chris Doyle’s “The Jug 4 1” from Youngstown, NY and another New Orleans local, Zak Fanberg, sailed well to grab the bronze with his team on WILD TCHOUPITOULAS.  Rounding out the top five were Kevin Doyle (49 pts) and Terry Flynn (50 pts).  For more J/22 Midwinters sailing information

J70 Catapult teamCATAPULT Launched @ NOOD
BUCKAROO Kicks J/24s, J/29s Sweep PHRF 2
(St Petersburg, FL)- The sailors at this year’s Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta were blessed with good sailing conditions for two of the three days on Tampa Bay.  Over the long Valentine’s Day to President’s Day weekend, the forty-five J’s sailing were treated to a well-run regatta by host St Petersburg YC. After an on-shore postponement the first day, the breeze picked up for a nice afternoon of sailing.  Breezy, shifty conditions made for a great second day on the water on the Bay.  Unfortunately, the third day was a total “glass-out” all day.

Starting with the world of sailing classic J/24s, the twelve boat fleet saw extremely competitive racing with a surprising outcome from the perspective of the local hotshots— the sailors “who came in from the cold” of the Great North trumped highly regarded American J/24 teams!

J70s sailing off St PetersburgWhile many expected the pre-regatta favorite Robby Brown on USA 799 to be one of the top boats overall, not many were expecting “the Canadians” to thaw out quick enough and sail hot and fast in sunny southern Florida.  After winning three of five races, compiling a record of 3-1-1-4-1 for 10 pts, Dave Odgen and his merry bandits from Toronto, Ontario aboard BUCKAROO certainly deserved their win.  Brown’s team from St Petersburg, FL sailed well, perhaps a bit shell-shocked by the Canadian’s performance, and managed to amass a 4-2-3-1-3 tally for 13 pts, good enough for second overall.  Taking third was another Canadian team, this time from one of the eastern provinces.  Ben Maloney’s crew on LIFTED, hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, started off fast with a bullet, then sailed consistently to capture the last spot on the podium with a 1-7-4-2-5 record for 19 pts.  The balance of the top five was Tom Kane’s Chicago, IL crew on HONEY BADGER taking fourth on a tie-breaker over Dave Mendelblatt’s team on FAT LADY from St Petersburg, FL.

In the PHRF handicap arena, the trio of J/29s swept their class, dueling for class supremacy all weekend long.  Ray Mannix on SEMPER FI from Largo, FL took the honors with a stunning five straight bullets!  Just behind them it was a battle for second and third overall for the other two J/29s, both with all finishes in the top three!  The Mui/ Kennalley/ Davies trio from Chicago, IL on MEATLOAF/ FAMILY CIRCUS outlasted their colleagues, taking the silver with a 3-2-2-3-2 record for 12 pts.  On the losing end of the fight was local Tampa Bay guru Harvey Ford sailing WILDKAT to a 2-3-3-2-3 scoreline for 13 pts.

J/70 sailing on Tampa BayA fleet of twenty-eight J/70s participated in this year’s ST PETE NOOD, a collection of teams that have sailed both the Key West J/70 Midwinters and the Quantum Winter Series at Davis Island YC just across Tampa Bay.  The J/70 class emerged as this year’s most competitive by far. The 28-boat fleet was the regatta’s largest and saw dramatic jockeying atop the leader board. The day began with Jud Smith and crew aboard AFRICA leading the class, however three consecutive first-place finishes to start Friday’s racing launched Minneapolis-based skipper Joel Ronning into the lead. Ronning and crew, on the aptly-named Catapult, sprung into the class’s top-spot by making quick, tactical decisions and flawlessly executing their sailing strategies in choppy waters.

After the dust settled, it was pretty obvious that Joel Ronning’s team on CATAPULT had not only another gear upwind and downwind to sail fast, but they used that ability to get themselves out of trouble to win the regatta by ten points.  Ronning’s crew amassed a 2-1-1-1-2 record for 7 pts; they were followed by Jud Smith’s AFRICA in second with a 1-2-6-2-6 score for 17 pts and third was Mark Ploch’s SUGAR DADDY with a steady 3-3-3-3-8 line for 20 pts.  Will Welles’s RASCAL was fourth and Martie Kullmans’ TOUCH2PLAY was fifth.

Sailing aboard Ronning’s team was a crew that consisted of Bill Hardesty calling tactics, Willem van Waay as cockpit and “guest star” Meredith Powlison from SAILING WORLD magazine.  Meredith was a last minute recruit and wrote a blog report about her experience and “lessons learned” on the winning boat.  She provided some good insight on what it took win the regatta.

Here’s Meredith’s report on Day One:

“‘I’d rather work on boats peed than takedowns,’ Bill Hardesty says the day before racing. ‘If you’re ahead of everyone, the takedown will just happen.’

We’re talking about our plan for the day ahead at the 2014 Sperry Top-Sider St. Petersburg NOOD Regatta. A few hours earlier, Hardesty and Joel Ronning pulled me aside at registration and asked if I could sail for the weekend on Ronning’s J/70 Catapult, as winter storm Pax has cancelled the flight of their fourth crew.

So we sort out the specifics of the day ahead, and how to get me up to speed fast in a boat I’ve never spent significant time in.

J/70 sailing fast downwind- spinnakerBut Hardesty’s words ring true when the AP is lowered the following day, in mid-afternoon, and we head out to the course for the one and only race of the day. The breeze builds to 5-10 knots as we get out to our circle, and the guys take the time to sail upwind as Willem van Waay locks in our rig tune. We discuss the jib car location and then spin back down to grab our starting sequence.

With a clean lane and our bow out off the start, we find our boat speed and get far away enough from traffic to play the shifts. We round the windward mark in the top five, and then take starboard jibe out to the leeward layline. With a good header, we jibe, round the favored gate, and head back upwind.

The leader’s too far ahead to catch, but we make our move to solidify second place by playing the righthand side of the course.

It’s a nice calm race to start the regatta with, and a good reminder that no matter who you’re sailing with, if you can get around the course faster than the other boats, you’re set up for success.”

For Day Two, Meredith exclaimed, “patience was a virtue in St Pete”:

“As we reached a lull on the right side of the course, with most of the fleet to weather and lifted, our race looked grim. We wondered whether the left shift was persistent, whether we’d missed our chance and would be putting more points on the board than we’d have liked to.

In the 28-boat J/70 fleet at the Sperry Top-Sider St. Petersburg NOOD, consistency was paying off. Joel, Bill, Willem, and I posted three first-places finishes on this second day of racing. Boat speed, good starts, and staying in phase in the shifty, puffy 10-15 knot conditions were key.

The first beat of this fourth and final race of the day was not ideal. We’d started near the boat and tacked onto port, the lifted tack, soon after. As the fleet to weather of us tacked and continued to be lifted, however, we held on to the right and continued to work to find the next shift.

As the breeze started to oscillate and head us farther up the course, we breathed a collective sigh of relief. “I wasn’t going to tack and go behind 15 boats,” says Hardesty.

It paid off to stick to our guns and stay in phase, looking upwind for the next shift.

By the top of the beat, we’d caught up to second place and held that position to the end. Even though our race was looking ugly, it paid off to stick to our guns and stay in phase, looking upwind for the next shift.”

After the final day of racing, Meredith asked Hardesty for their Five Key’s to success at St Pete:

“As we waited for breeze that never filled in on the third day at the 2014 Sperry Top-Sider St. Petersburg NOOD, I took the opportunity to consider what made our weekend so successful on board the J/70 Catapult. Skipper Joel Ronning, Bill Hardesty, Willem van Waay, and I sailed a consistent, smart regatta that led to a win for the weekend. With Hardesty’s help, I came up with five keys to success in the 28-boat fleet in yesterday’s puffy 10-15 knot conditions.

Keep it boring: Communicate your plan clearly and early. From picking which side of the course you want in the pre-start, to deciding on a gate, to knowing whether to launch the spinnaker at the windward mark or offset, make it clear so there are no surprises. As Hardesty says, “Keep it boring.”

Options off the line: After the start, we always had the ability to either hold our lane and continue on starboard, or tack if we wanted to, rather than having others dictate the first portion of the beat. We never tried to win an end of the starting line but instead found clean lanes toward the end that was favored. With our options open, we could head toward the favored side and start to leg out with speed--watch the video from our second race for more:

Choosing modes downwind: With puffy, shifty conditions on the second day, we alternated between planing and displacement mode. In the puffs, we’d be hiking with the jib out. In the lulls, we’d move forward and to leeward, and furl the jib up. Whenever conditions were on the edge, we discussed what the best mode would be and then committed to that.

Communicate the big picture: Hardesty asked van Waay and I to give big-picture input to him and Ronning whenever we could— things like: “Three minutes to the next wind line.” In addition to our calls on puffs, chop, and boat speed, these big-picture items ensure that everyone’s on the same page, and that you won’t tack short of the next pressure line.

Boat speed first: This tip is so crucial that it bears repeating. As Hardesty said the day before the regatta, “I’d rather work on boat speed than takedowns. If you’re ahead of everyone, the takedown will just happen.” We made sure our settings were just right before the race and then used our speed to get away from the pack and sail our own race. While Ronning, Hardesty, and van Waay were dialed in with the crew mechanics, I was learning on the fly for my first J/70 regatta. Pulling away from the fleet gave us that extra wiggle room to ensure that no major errors were made around the marks.”

Here is a sailing video of CATAPULT from race 2- it’s a great sequence of teamwork at the start, windward mark, chute set, gybe, take-down, and final mark-rounding.   Sailing Photo credits- Daniela Clark- http://www.photoboat.com  For more Sperry Top-sider St Pete NOOD sailing information

J/80 sailng off Chennai, IndiaClub J/80 Promotes Chennai Waterfront Festival
(Chennai, India)- Located in Chennai, the Royal Madras Yacht Club (RMYC) was the first sailing Club in the South of India. It was founded in 1911 by the then Chairman of The Madras Port Trust– Mr. Francis Spring. Now, a century later, you will find that RMYC is still pursuing the ideals laid down at the very beginning. The Club’s primary purpose is “to promote the sport of sailing” in all its aspects. The RMYC members pride themselves in being an active, inclusive and family-friendly Sailing Club, working together to encourage participation in the sport— old or young, experienced or novice they welcome all those whose aim is to have “fun” on the waters.

J/80 sailing off Chennai, India at sunsetRecently, members of RMYC created CLUB J/80 and put on a show with the Indian Coast Guard Service and the Tamilnadu Marine Police during the Chennai Waterfront Festival.  The messaging was- to promote sailing as an “eco-friendly, green boating activity”.

Each of the J/80s participating took up to ten people aboard, including family and friends.  There were thousands lined up on the marina beach to enjoy the spectacular J/80s sailing back and forth on 16th Jan 2014.

These are some of the pictures taken from a helicopter hovering around the J 80s, with the setting sun and the city in the background.

The report from the Hindu Times.com follows:
“On Thursday, as people thronged the beach, some may have noticed a number of specks on the sea, close yet far out of reach.

J/80 sailing enthusiasts- Chennai, IndiaA chopper circled overhead, a hovercraft periodically went up and down the sea, and a couple of sailboats and Coast Guard boats bobbed on the waves, keeping watch on the bay. There were also a few divers on the shore waiting to grab that errant person who managed to venture into the sea through the makeshift barricades.

The Coast Guard began its vigil of the coast a little after mid-day and continued until midnight, along the Marina and Elliot’s beaches in Chennai.  Smaller boats patrolled the sea in Puducherry, Karaikkal, Tuticorin and Mandapam,” said S.P. Sharma, Commander, Indian Coast Guard (east).

The Coast Guard’s patrol boats sliced through the waves, while two J/80 class sailboats with Coast Guard and RMYC (Royal Madras Yacht Club) logo’s printed on the sail propagated the Coast Guard motto: “To maintain a pollution-free, green ocean.”

Mr. Sharma said, “The seeds were sown on February 1, 1977, when the Coast Guard began policing the sea. Their association with RMYC would help build the character of the youth when they sailed the seas and understand its behavior,” he said.

“The State, with its well-prepared Coast Guard patrol team, had not lost any fisherman to the spate of cyclones that rocked it last year,” said Mr. Sharma.

Recently, the Coast Guard added two more Dornier aircraft to the existing three. The State government had also allocated 50 acres to create an air station for the Coast Guard with the aim of making it easy to patrol the northern parts of the Indian Ocean.

The Coast Guard is in the process of acquiring the land. “When that happens, we will be able to reach the Gulf of Mannar (region) faster. It now takes a long time to reach from Chennai,” he said.

“The water-jet-propelled patrol boat, AADESH, which was recently commissioned at Cochin shipyard is expected to arrive soon and will be stationed in Tuticorin to patrol the Gulf of Mannar,” said Mr. Sharma.  Thanks for contribution from “The Hindu”.

For more information about sailing J/80s in India as well as the Royal Madras YC sailing program (http://www.rmyc.in/), please contact- Sunil Lobo- lobosunil@hotmail.com

Porter Wins Triple Cup Scappino
(Valle de Bravo, Mexico)- Over this past weekend, the large fleet of J/24s sailing on Valle de Bravo enjoyed a nice weekend of sailing in the “Triple Scappino Cup”.  For many in the eighteen boat fleet, it served as a “warm-up” and training program for their crews as the focus on the J/24 North Americans being held in the middle of March in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Club Náutico Valle de Bravo hosted and organized the Triple Cup Scappino.  They were blessed with decent weather conditions on the the lake with winds between 6-7 knots, gusting 10 to 14 knots for most of the weekend.

Taking the overall win was a familiar team at the head of the pack, TEAM S, with skipper Kenneth Porter and crew of Kenneth Porter Jr., Gerrit Gentry, Luis Vázquez Mota and Luis Vázquez Mota Jr.  Giving them strong competition both days was the second place team on TA’LENTO, helmed by Luis Alvarez and sailing with his mostly family crew of Sharon Alvarez, Patricio Alvarez, Walter Porter and Andrew Alvarado.  Taking the last spot on the podium was TRINQUETTE sailed by Javier Velásquez, Mirsha Herrera, Emigdio Jimenez, Genaro Ozuna and Infanzón Ramirez.

The Valle de Bravo J/24 fleet also was to “congratulate” and “welcome back” Hugo Martínez, Rafael Villasante , Alfonso and Victor Serrano and Victor to the fleet!
For more Mexican J/24 sailing information

J/Community

What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide

J/70 russian sailors flying off Monaco* The Flying Russians! Not on trapezes in the Moscow Circus or Rudolf Nureyev leaping about in the Moscow Ballet version, but the waterborne version!!  Sailing in this year’s YC Monaco Primo Cup- Credit Suisse Regatta were two Russian J/70 teams.

The “veterans” of the Primo Cup were Grigory Aksenov and Dmitry Zaritckii sailing on their now famous J/70 MOJO.  If you recall, last year Grigory and Dmitry picked up their J/70 at J/Composites European boat-building headquarters in Les Sables d’Olonne, France and drove to Monte Carlo, Monaco for their first J/70 regatta ever.  In fact, they were un-packing the boat and learning how to piece everything together as they rigged MOJO to go sailing for their first time! TEAM MOJO loved their experience at the Primo Cup Regatta and promised to return.

J/70 sailng off MonacoIn the meantime, Grigory and Dmitry drove the 1,100 miles back from Monaco to Kaliningrad, Russia, at the easternmost reaches of the Baltic Sea— in a snow storm!  If that weren’t enough travel for one month, this dynamic duo then took the mighty MOJO to display the J/70 in the Moscow Boat Show!  It was, in fact, the first time a J/Boat has ever been displayed in the Moscow Show.  As they left Moscow, it was only appropriate they create another “first” for the J/70 and proceeded to befriend the local Moscow Police and took a “tour” of the famous Red Square and took photos of MOJO in front of the Kremlin!!

With a successful year of promoting J/70s in Russia, Dmitry hitched up MOJO again and took her down to Monaco for their second appearance in the Primo Cup. TEAM MOJO sailed well and managed to finish eighth. Perhaps equally as important is that Igor Raspopov, Founder and CEO of the MARC Sailing Club in Russia, chartered a J/70 to also participate in this year’s Primo Cup.


According to Raspopov, “We’re really proud to be a part of the worldwide J/70 sailing family! More than that, we are doing our best with friends to develop the J/70 class in Russia and to invite fellow Russians to sail J/70s in Russia and throughout Europe.

We founded a Russian-Italian sailing club called M.A.R.C. (http://www.marcsail.com) that is based on Lake Garda in Italy and I have been working closely with my friend Dimitry from Kaliningrad.  As we participate in upcoming J/70 events in Europe and Russia, we will provide you reports about our team’s activities!

J70 russia teamWe also sail J/80s and will organize an amateur Match Race event from April 2nd to 6th at Riva del Garda with the support of Fraglia Vela Riva del Garda, together with the other J/80 events during the year on the French Riviera and Italy.

J/70 russia launch at Monte Carlo, MonacoAlso, we plan to participate in some IRC regattas like Giraglia Rolex Cup in St Tropez, France and San Remo, Italy and Copa del Rey in Palma Mallorca, Spain on a J/109 and J/122. Such events enable us to give to give our MARC Sailing Club beginners a unique opportunity to try sailing J/Boats. This is our goal! Growing sailing in Russia has been fun and people LOVE it once they discover how fun it can be!”

In the end, both Russian J/70 teams can bring back memories of an absolutely epic sailing experience on the last day, with “fresh to frightening” conditions with ginormous 10-12 ft waves and 15-25 kt winds.  Those memories have been forever captured by “the Master”, Carlo Borlenghi, the world renown yachting photographer who was on-hand shooting photos for YC Monaco.  Also on hand were Team MOJO’s friend “Elena”, she captured some poignant moments of Team MOJO in the yacht harbour.  Sailing photo credits- YC Monaco/ Carlo Borlenghi and Elena Otekina- https://www.facebook.com/elena.otekina.

Please contact Igor Raspopov to learn more about Sailing Club MARC and their sailing programs.  Contact Igor at email- gorazionelson@gmail.com

Mr deNapoli sailing- which he loved so much to do!* For many J/Sailors and friends in the New England area, we offer our “best wishes” & condolences to those who knew Paul deNapoli well. A life-long sailor from Marblehead, MA, Paul passed away in his sleep on 15 February, 2014 due to complications from Alzheimer's, at the age of 89. Beloved husband of the late Phyllis C. deNapoli, and the late Katherine V. deNapoli, Paul leaves behind his son Paul (“Fred”) deNapoli, his daughter Dyan deNapoli, his sister Ann Regan, his loving companion Ann Hawthorn-Bouras, along with dozens of nieces and nephews. A veteran of World War II, Paul served in an Army Air Force Combat Cargo unit operating in India and Burma, maintaining aircraft flying over the infamous “hump” of the Himalayan Mountains.  He graduated from Northeastern in engineering and quickly rose to prominence, being promoted to chief engineer at Hayden Harding & Buchanan at a very young age.  He went on to found Costello Lamasney & deNapoli in Manchester, N.H., where he collected several Engineering Achievement of the Year Awards.

Outside of work, Paul was an accomplished sailor with an extensive resume of both blue water and one design racing.  He was instrumental in the founding of Marblehead’s Ensign, Soling, and Etchells classes, very nearly winning the J/30 North American championships, raced to Bermuda and Halifax, worked as a professional instructor for both Colgate and J/World sailing schools, coached blind sailors at the Courageous Sailing Center in Charlestown, taught celestial navigation at local community colleges, and served as Commodore of the Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead.

Paul was an equally accomplished skier. He cut his teeth on Cannon Mountain, working as a volunteer running races on the Taft Trail in the late 30’s. He went on to ski most areas in New England as well as Colorado, Utah, and Switzerland, turning the boards until he was well into his 80’s.  A memorial service will be conducted at the Old North Church, Washington Street, Marblehead, at 1pm on Sunday, 16 March, followed by a reception at the Boston Yacht Club, Front Street, Marblehead.

J/Cruising CommunityJ cruising directions- roll the dice and go!  Sailing to anywhere, anytime!

J Cruisers continue their adventures around the world, below are a selection of most excellent "blogs" written by their prolific publishers.  Some terribly amusing anecdotes and pearls of wisdom are contained in their blogs. Read some! You'll love it.

J/42 cruiser- sailing across Atlantic Ocean* Jim & Heather Wilson just completed a circumnavigation of our "blue planet Earth" in June 2013 on their J/42 CEOL MOR.  Said Jim, "The odyssey of CEOL MOR is over, for now.  We completed our circumnavigation on our J/42 when we crossed our outbound track in Britannia Bay, Mustique. We were, however, still 2,000 nautical miles from home. So we continued on through the Windwards, the Leewards, and then through the British Virgin Islands. After a farewell 'Painkiller' at the Soggy Dollar, and a last meal at Foxy’s, we made the 1,275 nautical mile passage to the Chesapeake and completed our port-to-port circumnavigation when we arrived in Annapolis on June 28, 2013. We had been away 1,334 days, completed 259 days of ocean passages, and sailed 30,349 nautical miles (34,925 statute miles). Read more about their adventures in their  well-documented blog here:  http://www.svceolmor.com/SVCeolMor/Welcome.html

J/160 sailing offshore to US Virgin Islands- rainbow over ocean* J/160 AVATAR headed for the Caribbean, again!  We LOVE these updates from our cruising J sailors that continue to criss-cross the Seven Seas. This one comes from Alan Fougere, sailing his beloved J/160 AVATAR.   Alan sent us an email update commenting on their passage south this winter, "In mid-December AVATAR completed her sixth transit to her winter Caribbean home, Grand Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI (seen above)  from her home port in Quissett (Falmouth), MA.  A crew of three, Captain Alan (e.g. me), Crew Pablo Brissett and Mark Conroy, covered the 1,500 nm trip in in her best time to date- 7 Days 5 Hours, averaging 8.7 kts, that's about 208 nm per day!  Amazing passage it was!  Rainbow at right far offshore was some of the amazing phenomenon we experienced on this fast offshore passage.

AVATAR will participate in the BVI Sailing Festival/Regatta again in 2013, where last year she won the Nanny Key Cup Cruising Class race around the Island of Virgin Gorda.  Here are some photos for you to share with the J/Community at-large.  Enjoy!"
Best, Alan Fougere/ AVATAR

Bill & Judy Stellin- sailing J/42 Jaywalker* Bill & Judy Stellin recently had an interview about cruising on their J/42 in the Wall St Journal called "Retiring on the Open Sea".  The Wall St Journal asked Bill to reply to dozens of questions that flooded into the WSJ's Editor desks. Here's the update:

Retiring on the Sea: Answering Readers' Questions
Advice about selecting a boat, ocean crossings, itineraries and safety

Wall St Journal interview- Stellin's Offshore cruising/ sailing retirementThe article in our WSJ Online December retirement report about eight years spent sailing the Mediterranean— "Retiring to the Open Sea"— prompted many questions and comments from readers.  We asked William Stellin, who wrote the story, to answer some of the most common queries.

WSJ- "What kind and make of boat did you use? Looking back, would you have picked a different boat?"

Bill- "In 1995-96, J/Boats of Newport, RI, came out with a new cruiser/racer model, the J/42. We bought hull No. 6 of this popular 42-foot sailboat and named it JAYWALKER. This was our fourth boat since beginning sailing in 1975.

Although long-distance cruising wasn't what we had in mind when we purchased JAYWALKER, it soon became apparent it had the ability to carry us easily and safely anywhere we wanted to go. Because the boat is light, it sails well in light winds, which means very little motoring is necessary.

People often ask (and argue) about what boat is best for cruising. Any boat that is strong, safe, fast, comfortable and easily handled by two people should fit the bill. One thing for sure, fast is fun—and important when trying to avoid bad weather."

READ MORE ABOUT BILL'S INSIGHTFUL COMMENTARY AND THOUGHTS ON WSJ ONLINE HERE

* The J/42 JARANA continues their epic voyage around the Pacific. Continue to read about Bill and Kathy Cuffel's big adventure cruising the South Pacific headed for New Zealand.  Their blog is here: http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/

* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for extended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary finished their double-handed crossing of the Atlantic, landing in Portugal on their J/130 Shazam after completion of their ARC Rally. Read the latest news at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/shazam/.

J/130 sailing ARC Rally arrives Portugal- leave a message on the sea wall!* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world's oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between.  Anyone for Cape Horn and penguins??  Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM friends above).

-  Bill and Susan Grun on the J/160 AVANTE are also sailing in the Pacific archipelago, read more about their great adventures on their blog (http://web.me.com/susangrun).  Read about their latest adventures as they've gotten to New Zealand- "Avante Cruises the Pacific".

- Eric and Jenn on the J/160 MANDALAY also sailed the Pacific archipelago, read more on their blog at http://www.sailmandalay.com.  Eric and Jenn are J/World alumni took MANDALAY up and down the West Coast (Mexico, CA), then to the South Pacific and New Zealand.  MANDALAY is back in San Francisco now, and in the J/World fleet--she is available for skippered charters, private instruction, and corporate/executive groups.