Wednesday, May 28, 2014

J/Newsletter- May 28th, 2014

J/22 sailboatsDelta Lloyd North Sea Regatta Preview
(Scheveningen, Netherlands)- The Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta is the largest Dutch sailing race event on the North Sea, from May 27th until June 9th, 2014. The 110 nm Vuurschepenrace from Scheveningen to Harwich on 27th May opens the annual Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta. After a day of rest in Harwich the IRC and ORC classes return to the Netherlands, sailing the 180nm RORC North Sea Race.

During the following Whitsun weekend about 25 classes race on the Scheveningen coast, including big yachts, Olympic classes, catamarans, open boats and surfers. Apart from being well known for its yearly races the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta is also known for its side event in the Hellweg Harbour going by the name “North Sea Kitchen”- a culinary heaven of delicacies await the sailor’s each day, so long as the crowds ashore haven’t gobbled it all up! The best cooks from the Benelux/ Netherlands region present you the best food, bands will play great music and the youngsters get entertained in the kids program.  Truly a regatta for the whole family!

On Tuesday 27 May, the traditional Vuurschepenrace begins with forty-five participants on the starting list; including a record number of fifteen entries in the Double-handed Division.  The race promises to be a very tactical crossing, characterized by little wind from various directions.  The Double-handed Division starts at 1900 hrs.

There are excellent J double-handed teams sailing from the Netherlands and Great Britain, many with championship winning pedigree.  Starting with the J/105’s, we find the teams of FAY-J (Wilko Seelt & Max Seelt), HARPOEN (Harry Rek) and DREAM MACHINE (John van Veen) dueling for 105 supremacy.  Next up is the J/109 ARETHUSA (Kees Mijs & Camille Mijs) trying to one up her sisterships.  Then the two big boats, the J/122 JUNIQUE sailed by Chris Revelman & Pascal Bakker and the J/133 BATFISH (http://www.batfish.nl/) sailing with double-handed veterans Bart Desaunois & Gerard de Boer, either team are capable of winning.  The Netherlands-based JUNIQUE team (Revelman & Bakker) were the 2013 Double-Handed Award winner in the Netherlands and are already in training-mode for the 2015 Fastnet Race!

In the ORC 2 Offshore division, there is a trio of J/109’s participating in the fully-crewed portion of the race, including J-BORNET (Alain Bornet), JETTJE (Floris Waller) and YETI (Paul van der Pol).

There will be “live tracking” provided for most of the participants in both the Vuurschepenrace and the RORC North Sea Race. Follow your favorite teams on YellowBrick.   For more Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta sailing information

GPEN France Preview
J/22 Europeans & J/80 Coupe de France III
(Cameret-sur-Mer, Brittany, France)- Grand Prix L’Ecole Navale (GPEN) returns for another magnificent Edition XII, during the Ascension weekend, from Thursday May 29th to Sunday June 1st 2014.  The primary host,  l’École Navale (French Naval Academy) are conducting the races on three sites- the bay of Crozon-Morgat, the bay of Camaret and le port du Château in Brest (Brest marina). The J/22s are hosting their European Championship and the J/80s are out in full force for the third stop of their Coupe de France season long championship. Ready to compete on three exceptional sites and coming from a dozen countries of the European Union are more than 600 crew.

J/80 one-design sailboats off starting lineThe nearly sixty boat J/80 class, the largest at GPEN by far, have many familiar faces sailing in this fabulous racing venue on the west coast of France.  As one might expect, with a World Championship taking place in Annapolis, MD in October a number of these teams are gearing up for the event.  Top of the class must be Eric Brezellec’s team on COURRIER JUNIOR, hoping to repeat their excellent showing last year in Marseilles.  Challenging them will be Herve Leduc on PIERRE OCEANE, Simon Moriceau on INTERFACE CONCEPT, Salomon Matthieu on CHARIOT PLUS- VANNES UTILITAIRES, Luc Nadal on GANJA, and four women’s teams- Maxime Mesil on CO PILOTES- NORMANDY ELITE TEAM, Sophie Riot on LE HAVRE LADIES NORMANDIE, Alice Metais on CHARLY, and Maxime Rousseaux on CN ST CAST GRAND OUEST ETIQUETTES.  Of note, the British Royal Navy has also been invited and are sailing CRUNCH GNR1 & CRUNCH GBR 2 against their friends on the French Navy boats.

In the J/22 Europeans, there is a mix of French (14), German (3) and Netherlands (3) participating in the twenty boat class, a great turnout for J/22s on the continent!  Amongst the notable French teams are Bernard Andre on MAJIC, Patrick Huet on EUROPEAN HOMES, Ludovic Senechal on LULU LA NANTAISE and Charles Michaux on JAZZY.  Taking up the challenge in their home waters are top German teams like Bernhard Kleinefeld’s CAMPAGNOLO, Thomas Loesch’s JOULOU 3 and Christian Rieckborn’s JOLLY JUMPER.  Netherlands teams hoping to make a trip to the podium include Michiel Eijsink’s RANGER, Jelle Nijhuis’s HISTOS JR and Peter van Doornmalen’s GAP.  With such an excellent cross-section of continental European J/22 teams, it will be interesting to see which teams have benefitted from their spring training sessions and which ones are still in “catch-up” mode.  For more Grand Prix L’Ecole Navale (GPEN) sailing information

La Superba J/24 sailing teamItalian J/24 Nationals Preview
(Tirano, Lake Como, Italy)- This coming weekend the J/24 sailors in Italy are in for a treat for their upcoming Italian J/24 Nationals.  On Italy’s largest freshwater lake, Lago di Como, the President of Circolo Velico Tivano di Valmadrera, Giuseppe De Luca, is welcoming the creme’d’la’creme of Italian J/24 sailors from 29 May to 2 June for their Nationals.

The event will take place in the Bay of Pare Valmadrera in the southern portions of Lago di Como, a glacial lake basin, one of the most suitable areas of the lake for sailing regattas due to the presence of the winds of thermal origin and the “Breva Tivano” that alternates throughout the day (e.g. think of Lago di Garda but with a more moderate mountain lakes adiabatic wind pattern).

Amongst the leading Italian teams participating are renowned boats like Luca Macchiarini’s TALLY HO, Pietro Diamanti’s JAMAICA (recent J/24 circuit winner), Ignazio Bonanno’s LA SUPERBA (another recent J/24 circuit winner), Pierluigi Puthod’s SPLENDIDA and Fabio Mazzoni’s KONG GRIFONE.

There are several special “guest stars” participating from around the world, including three German teams, like Stefan Mais’s RUNNING MAN, Stefan Karsunke’s SULLBERG and Feuerherdt Tobias’s MS EUROPA 2.  Another continental team showing up from Hungary is Mate Kakas’s ZULU.  A friendly American team from Seattle’s Corinthian YC is also making a guest appearance- Keith Whittemore’s gangsters on FURIO.  Watch this space, the Italians have strong teams but their “guests” make throw a monkey wrench into the top five standings overall!  For more Italian J/24 Nationals sailing information

J/Fest Bayview Yacht ClubBayview One-Design Regatta Preview
(Detroit, MI)- Over the past few years a “new” regatta has continued to grow in prominence in the greater Detroit region that encompasses Lake Huron, Lake St Claire and Lake Erie.  It’s often hard to draw sailors from all three lakes together, but if there’s ever a yacht club that can do it, then Bayview YC’s famous location off Detroit does it better than most.  Don’t forget, this club also hosts the Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race, a highly popular Great Lakes distance race on Lake Huron.

The Bayview One-Design Detroit Regatta now encompasses over a dozen classes that range from Lightning’s up to J/120s as well as a few PHRF classes in the mix to keep it all on the fun-loving side!

The J/120s continue to enjoy themselves sailing on the grand’ole Great Lakes.  In the “day’twah” area in particular, the 120s are having a bit of a renaissance with nine teams sailing in this year’s event!  Many new faces, plenty of old veterans are in the crowd.  Frank Kern’s CARINTHIA, Bill Bresser’s FLYIN’ IRISH, Mike Kirkman’s HOT TICKET, Dave Sandlin’s J-HAWKER and Henry Mistele’s NIGHT MOVES will be doing their level best to keep their noses above water, stayin’ out of trouble (on and off the water) and hoping for some silverware at the end of the weekend.

In PHRF 1 class, you have infamous sailing teams like Bill Wildner’s J/35 MR BILL’S WILD RIDE hoping to keep up their winning ways as well.  They not only have a lot of fun (perhaps more than most) but remarkably, after a few years of sailing, still know how to get around the race track and win more than their fair share of “pickle dishes” for the dusty trophy case now occupying their entire house!  Giving them a run-for-the-roses are Bill Jenkins J/35 DOUBLE SHOT, Ed Bayer’s J/35 FALCON and Don Harthorn’s J/105 SNAKE OIL.  This 35-foot class promises to be a good’ole butt-whippin’ kind of place— careful all!

Over in PHRF “Warhorse” class, the beautiful J/44 SAGITTA sailed by a few past commodores and led by Jon Somes & Larry Oswald will be doing their best to post a good performance.  Likewise, in PHRF 2 Terry Stuck’s J/29 BARON will be trying to stick it to some S2 9.1’s in a somewhat “level 30” class.  For more Bayview One-Design Regatta sailing information

J109 sailing Lake OntarioSusan Hood Trophy Race Preview
(Mississauga, Ontario)- Since 1955, yachts have been taking up the challenge of a spring offshore race on Lake Ontario known as the Susan Hood Trophy Race, named after Port Credit YC member Doug Hood’s brand new bouncing baby daughter Susan at the time. The course was Port Credit to Oakville to Port Dalhousie and back to Port Credit.  Today, the Susan Hood Trophy is presented to the yacht winning PHRF overall, with other trophies for the division winners.

The race is scheduled to run on Friday, May 30th at PCYC and amongst the fleet of 92 boats are eleven J’s sailing across various classes.  In the single-handed class PHRF-LO is Geoff Cornish’s J/124 ROULEUR from Royal Canadian YC in Toronto.  In IRC 1 Class is Murray Gainer’s J/109 LIVELY from Toronto as well.  The IRC 3 Class includes the J/35 JAEGER sailed by Leszek Siek’s crew from host club PCYC and Andrew Sharp’s J/92 SWITCH from Olcott YC in Burt, NY.

The PHRF-LO Flying Sails I class is the J/120 THE CAT CAME BACK, sailed by Graham Toms from Toronto.  In PHRF-LO Flying Sails II class is past overall race winner, Bob Eckersley’s team on the J/109 BLUE STREAK from Toronto and another top boat, Geoff Clarke’s J/105 CASUAL ELEGANCE. Joining them is Mike Pietz’s J/35 SHORTHANDED PCYC team from Brampton.

A tough class of 30 to 35 footers will be PHRF-LO III class with the two J/105s sailing “class” configuration- Ed Berhout’s ALI-KAT and Peter Wolniak’s ANOTHER HAZARD.  Then in PHRF-LO IV class is the J/30 NORTH CAUGHT sailed by Simon Krall from Welland hoping to dominate fifteen other competitors in what amounts to the largest fleet in the race.  For more Susan Hood Trophy Race sailing information

Southern Bay Race Week Preview
(Hampton, VA)- With eight-nine boats participating, the Southern Bay Race Week has undoubtedly enjoyed a more prosperous participation level than it has seen in recent year.  Taking place from May 30th to June 1st in Hampton, VA there is a happy coincidence that taking place on the harbor as well is the “Blackbeard Pirate Festival” and the “Hampton Block Party” hosted by the City of Hampton!

In other words, with visitors from all over the country enjoying the sights and sounds of 18th century Hampton overrun by “pirates” (and pirate-wannabe’s), Hampton’s waterfront gets a bit wild and crazy.  The waterfront comes alive with dozens of pirate re-enactors, costumed in historically accurate garb, who transform today’s Hampton into the busy seaport of yesterday. Led by “Blackbeard the Pirate” himself, re-enactors help visitors step back in time and re-live the history and legends of 1718 Hampton. The Festival offers a variety of children’s activities, live musical entertainment, fireworks, period vendors, arts and crafts, and much more!  Learn more here- www.blackbeardfestival.com

So, were we talking about sailing?  Yes, “avast’ye’matey’s”, the J/70s are making a huge debut in this year’s event.  Perhaps the reason why participation has massively increased?  Nine J/70s are sailing with several top traveling teams in the mix.  Top of the box (e.g. the podium) candidate has to be Blake & Lud Kimbrough’s NOSTALGIA and giving them a run for the money are experienced 70 veterans like the VORTEX Racing Team’s two boats, GETMYBOAT.COM and VORTEX.  Noel Clinard’s LOONATICTU and Clark Dennison’s CAT’S PAJAMAS will be sure to give them all a battle over the weekend.

J/24s are not far behind with a half-dozen boats dueling for class bragging rights, including Mike Verladi’s QUICKY, Francis Ford’s ROCKET J and Alan Bomar’s ROUNDABOUT.  How about a quicky roundabout with rocket J across the vortex of a racing tide?  Yup, all J/24 boat names.  The world hasn’t changed there, has it?

In PHRF handicap world, PHRF A-1 has various 35 foot J teams fighting for supremacy.  Two J/109s are sailing, Craig Wrigth’s AFTERTHOUGHT and Sam Mitchenor’s DOUBLE EAGLE, both from Fishing Bay YC.  The J/35 BUMP IN THE NIGHT is sailed by Maury Niebur from West River, MD and the J/36 SEA STAR will be helmed by Vernon Eberwine from Hampton YC.

Over in PHRF A-2 are three J/105s, Dave Clark’s CORRYVRECKAN from Fishing Bay YC, Don DeLoatch’s SPECIAL K from Virginia Beach and Rick Payne’s FLYING COLORS from Hampton YC.  Doing their best to upset that shopping trolley is Phil Briggs’s J/36 FEATHER from Hampton YC.

It looks like Ben Weeks’s J/29 RUMBLE from Yorktown, VA is the lone J wolf sailing in PHRF B-1 class hoping to hold up “J” honors against a raft of 26 to 35 footers.  And, doing the same in PHRF B-II are Rusty Burshell’s J/30 COOL CHANGE from Yorktown, VA and John Wanding’s J/27 REBECCA J from Carrolton, VA.  PHRF Non-Spinnaker Double-handed has Ben Ritger’s J/30 BLEW-J from Virginia Beach taking on all comers while in PHRF Cruising we see Jim Champman’s J/37c JENERAL’s LADY also from Virginia Beach taking on a thirteen boat class!   For more Southern Bay Race Week sailing information

Delta Ditch Run Preview
A Cannonball Rally For Huge J/70 Fleet!
(Stockton, CA)- The Richmond YC and Stockton YC are hosting their incredibly fun, infamous, outrageous race that runs for 67 nm up the “delta” that forms the northeastern part of San Francisco Bay and heads off into the estuaries of the “flatlands”.  Notoriously windy most times, it’s a mad dash up the Sacramento River from Richmond YC’s starting line in NE Bay to Stockton YC’s finish in the muddy estuaries of the San Joaquin River.

With a fleet of 125 boats registered so far, it looks to be a full-on, crazy, wacky race.  With 30-40 foot carbon catamarans whistling down the straits at 75 kts, avoiding mudbanks along with J/22s, J/70s and dozens of others, you can bet there will be stories to tell after this event (e.g. groundings, dismastings, cart-wheeling humans into marshes full of mating snail-darters, etc, etc).

Ullman Sails J/70 winning Delta Ditch RaceLast year, a number of J/70s did the race and nearly won the entire thing despite making all kinds of rookie mistakes in boat-handling and boat-speed.  This year, there is an entire armada of experienced J/70 teams tackling the race hoping to beat the fable Moore 24’s who’ve been a stalwart of the race for years. This year’s rogues gallery of competitors include DIVERSION (Chris Gabriel from Santa Barbara YC), the famous ZERO TO 60 (Karl Pomeroy- Newport Harbor YC), PERFECT WIFE (Chris Andersen- St Francis YC), CAKE (Scott & Leslie Deardorff- Santa Barbara YC), ECLIPSE (Mike Drammer, Shaun Hughes, Andrew Nunn- Santa Barbara YC), SPITFIRE (Tyler Karaszewski- Santa Cruz YC), 1FA (Scott Sellers & Geoff McDonald- St Francis YC), SUGOI (Mark Nelsen), DFZ (Eric Kownacki & Tom Jenkins- Monterey Bay YC), BOTTLE ROCKET (David Schumann & Jeff Thorpe- from San Francisco YC), and LOOSE LUCY (Justin Kromelow- St Francis YC).  God Speed to this group! My God how much fun could that possibly be planing downwind for 67 nm in perfectly flat water!?

As for their big brothers & little sisters in the event, joining the J/70s are the J/120 SAETTA skippered by Ludovic Millin and the J/35 JARLEN sailed by Robert Bloom. In the next class down are the two J/105s BREEZE (Kurt Jordan & Peter Campfield) and SEA ROOM (Ralph Wessel).

The ultra-fast downwind machine, the J/90 RAGTIME (Rodney J’s old boat) will be sailed by Trig Liljestrand from San Francisco YC.  He will be battling the “classic” J/24s for overall honors as well- Chris Corbin’s JAGERMEISTER and Pat Brown’s CHEAP TRICK.  Then, one must not discount capability of a “turbo’d” J/22 in the form of MAJIC DRAGON guided by her master Mike Hopper.  Fun and games for who’s top J/Team?  Might be worth a magnum of Veuve-Clicqout champagne!?

Better yet, there’s a famous BBQ combined with one of the top classic and blues bands in Northern California that finish off the day of racing in grand style!  The party band, for over a decade the “Blue-a-Fuse” gang has been one of the top classic rock and blues bands in Northern California.  They go back to the roots of modern music.  They cover fun, upbeat, danceable tunes by great artists like Santana, Van Morison, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, and many more...this band ROCKS!

Even better yet, for you armchair-racing fans, there is a new race-tracking “app” on the Android or iOS devices that are being provided by RaceQs for the Delta Ditch Run.  Totally cool stuff.  Even Manhattan YC in southern New York City uses RaceQs for their Tuesday night races!  Check out some Manhattan YC races here.   For more Delta Ditch Run sailing information

J/Sailing News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The last weekend in May produced dramatic sailing, particularly in the world of offshore racing both in Europe and in America.  The European offshore community are now in full swing with the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Season Points Series, an all summer long circuit that crisscrosses the English Channel (e.g. La Manche) several times as well as taking crews up into the North Sea and as far southwest as Plymouth, England.  Teams from France, Netherlands, Belgium that border the Channel all participate.  Recently, J/Teams sailed well in both the first two events, the Cervantes Trophy Race (a lightish affair) and the Myth of Malham Race (a rather blustery windward-leeward offshore).  While the RORC participants along the eastern parts enjoyed a bit of breeze, the International Paints Poole Regatta was taking place in Poole, England.  The Parkstone YC played host to the U.K. Nationals for J/70s, J/80s and J/24s as well as IRC handicap boats.

Simultaneously, about 6 to 9 time zones behind, the Americans on the East Coast were enjoying a lightish Storm Trysail Block Island Race— an adventure that starts in Stamford, CT in Long Island Sound and goes east to west and back using Block Island as the mark.  J/Teams had quite a good show overall.  Then, while the B.I. Race teams were rounding Block Island on Saturday morning, another fleet of 206 boats was starting at 10 am to sail the infamously fun FIGAWI Race, a 25 nm dash from Hyannis to Nantucket Island off Cape Cod— really a sprint to the party Saturday night on Nantucket!  Finally, out in the Pacific Northwest, the very famous Swiftsure Lightship Race was taking place, hosted by Royal Victoria YC in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.  Several veteran offshore J/Teams participated and were amply rewarded for their efforts, several managing to collect some silverware for their trophy cases.

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:

May 27- Jun 9- Delta Lloyd North Sea Week- Scheveningen, Netherlands
May 28- Jun 1- J/22 Europeans- Cameret-sur-Mer, France
May 29-Jun 2- Italian J/24 Nationals- Tirano, Italy
May 30- Susan Hood Trophy Race- Mississauga, ONT, Canada
May 31- Delta Ditch Run- Stockton Sailing Club- Stockton, CA
Jun 6-8- Chicago NOOD Regatta- Chicago YC- Chicago, IL
Jun 6-9 Norseewoche- Heligoland, Germany
Jun 9-15- Normandy Sailing Week- Le Havre, France
Jun 13-22- Cleveland Race Week- Cleveland, OH

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

 
J/Teams Ice Swiftsure Race
J/122 & J/120 Win Cape Flattery Race!
(Victoria, BC, Canada)- While this year’s Pacific Northwest classic offshore yacht race- “the Swiftsure”- may not go down in the history books as the fastest ever, it will surely go down as an eye-opener for the fleet to see so many J/Teams excel in the highly variable conditions they raced in.  Starting off with a 5-10 kts breeze from the SE swinging slowly to SW, the fleet was split on how to play breeze over adverse current.  Some boats stayed along the northern shores along British Columbia while others made the mad dash across the Juan de Fuca Straits over to the southern shoreline along the Olympic Peninsula.  Ironically, both strategies seemed to work as winners came from both sides!  “Dose crazy yotsmen” seemed to make it all work!

The highly popular Cape Flattery Race attracted a flock of thirteen J’s that certainly knew their way around the race track.  The top performers were Tom Kelly’s J/122 ANAM CARA from Portland YC (Oregon) and Bob Brunius’s J/120 TIME BANDIT from Orcas Island YC together; they dusted the entire Cape Flattery Race fleet, taking 1-2 both in L-1 Class and Overall!  Quite a feat to achieve in the largest race against some of the best offshore sailors in the Pacific Northwest. Not far behind them was another J/120, Johnson & Liffring’s WITH GRACE, taking 4th in class.

Another Portlander from Portland YC, Scott Campbell’s J/46 RIVA took 6th overall and won H-1 Class!  It seems their epic race in the Oregon Offshore was good preparation for the focus and navigational challenges required to succeed in the race.

Then, 8th overall and 2nd in L-2 Class was Jerry Diercks’s J/105 DELIRIUM!  Just behind them in L-2 Class were George Leighton’s J/35 TAHLEQUAH in 4th and Jim Geros’s J/105 LAST TANGO in 5th.

In the Cape Flattery IRC Unlimited Division, Ron Holbrook’s J/133 CONSTELLATION from Corinthian YC- Tacoma took home the silver both overall and in class.

The Juan de Fuca Race proved to be popular with the J/30 gang; both entries from Sloop Tavern YC were clearly match-racing all the way around the course since they finished within 5 minutes of one another at the finish off Victoria, BC!  Taking 2nd in L-2 Division was Ulf Georg Gwildis’s IMPULSIVE and settling for the bronze on the podium was CONRAD J skippered by the two partners- GeoffreyJ/80 sailing Swiftsure Inshore Regatta Wolf & Adrien Felon.  Todd Rutter’s J/32 BLUE JAY sailed well in H-1 Division to grab 4th place and Jim Prentice’s J/109 DIVA sailed incredibly well to take not only 3rd in L-1 Division, but also take 4th overall in the entire Juan de Fuca Race!

Finally, the Swiftsure Inshore regatta saw the J/80 SW sailed by Kevin Reath from Royal Vancouver YC win Division 2 and also take 3rd overall in the 21 nm race!  Taking 2nd in Division I and 10th overall was the J/33 CORVO skippered by Tom Kerr from Corinthian YC- Seattle.   For more Swiftsure Race sailing information

J/70 sailing Poole RegattaLovely, Windy Poole Regatta
Great Sailing for J/70, J/80 & J/24 Nationals
(Poole, England)-  This year’s International Paints Poole Regatta was blessed with great breeze and awesome race committee work, making it fun and exhausting for all!  The regatta is a huge bi-annual event held over the three days of the late May Bank Holiday Weekend.  In addition to the U.K. National Championships for J/24s, J/70s and J/80s being run as part of the regatta, there was excellent IRC handicap racing, too.

First, the J/70 and J/80 Nationals.  The report from Paul & Marie-Claude Heys comes from the perspective of sailing their J/70 JOSEPH’S COAT: “The regatta is run by a consortium of the Poole Yacht Clubs and was a brilliant example of how a regatta should be run; swift launching of trailerable boats by the Parkstone YC travel hoist crew, excellent on-the-water race management, a prompt results service and a delightful clutch of socials spread between Parkstone Yacht Club, Poole Yacht Club and the Royal Motor Yacht Club. Congratulations and thank you to the hardworking army that made it all happen.

Race day 1 was planned as a four race day, the morning races were sailed in 10-12 knots which was enough to see the J/70s planing downwind. There is a big difference in the downwind sailing styles of the J/70 and the J/80, with the 70s opting for an aggressive crew weight aft, bow up ‘hot angle’ mode and the 80s sailing in a deeper displacement mode. PRO Peter Sexton set the J/70s on their way six minutes ahead of the J/80s, this worked really well with no resulting traffic issues.

The first bullet for the J/80s went to Ben Richards and Andrew and Julia Dallas on Boysterous, with new class chair Mike Lewis second on Jester.

Races 2-4 of the J/80 series were won by Patrick Liardet’s Aqua- J which when added to a third in race one left Patrick sitting on a solid overnight lead.

J/70s sailing under spinnakerIn the meantime, on the J/70 circuit, defending National Champion and European Champion, Ruairidh Scott, having now teamed up with Ian Atkins to own and sail Boats.com, took the first two bullets. Ian Southworth helming Simon Ling’s Team RAFBF Spitfire won races 3 and 4, with Boats.com taking two seconds and thus the overnight lead. Team RAFBF Spitfire appeared to find the lighter conditions in the afternoon very much to their liking. Other noticeable results on day one were a second place in race one of the J/70 series for Charlie Esse’s Baby J, and class chairman Simon Cavey’s pair of thirds on Just 4 Play.

Race day 2, the Sunday, was again to be a four race day. The wind had increased to 15-22, which meant both fleets were planing downwind, with the J/70s sailing at 15 knots+ of boat speed for long periods. Others were drifting sideways with their keels horizontal for brief and embarrassing periods!

Boats.com showed the benefit of their experience and the hard work that they have put in during training to score an outstanding four firsts, Team RAFBF Spitfire took four straight seconds, the lead pair now opening up a points gap on the rest of the fleet. Charlie Esse’s Baby J completed the podium for the day with a flush of thirds.

In the J/80 fleet, day two saw two boats tied with the best score of the day; Alan Higgs’ Team Juicy and Chris Taylor’s J.A.T.  Aqua J added two firsts, a third and a sixth. Local sailor Dave Evans sailing Last Chance, won race six.

The final day was, as forecast an ‘off the land’ 8 knots, making Poole bay nice and calm, thus giving the sailors some respite after a windy Saturday. For the third day in a row, PRO Peter Sexton got the fleet away on time. In the J/80 class, any one of three boats, Juicy, J.A.T. and Aqua-J, could win the series, so the pressure was high!

Aqua-J’s overnight lead was eroded by their worst pair of results - a seventh and a sixth. J.A.T. scored a pair of fourths, putting them on equal points with Aqua-J. Juicy also had their worst pair of results with an eighth and a ninth, costing them a podium spot as the hard charging Last Chance delivered a 2-1 knockout punch. Boysterous returned to form with a second and a third, whilst Brian Denney sailing Jalapeno had his best day with a first and a third.

Thus, Patrick Liardet sailing Aqua-J became the 2014 National Champion defeating 2013 winner J.A.T. on countback, after one of the closest competitions in class history. J.A.T’s consolation was to win the Corinthian trophy. Last Chance took third overall finishing just one point behind the top two.

J/70 boats.com sailed by Ian Atkins and Rorey ScottFor the J/70 title Boats.com only needed to punch in one good result from the two final races, with a second as discard they were in a strong position. Their only possible challenger was Team RAFBF Spitfire who looked solid for a top two result. First to the top mark in race nine, was Joseph’s Coat helmed by Marie-Claude Heys, who had predominately worked the right hand side of the course. Boats.com assumed their normal position at the head of the fleet just before the end of the run. Team RAFBF Spitfire was a little further back in the pack. On the next upwind leg, Boats.com placed a general cover on the bulk of the fleet whilst Team RAFBF Spitfire headed hard left and found a nice shift that propelled them into a big lead at the final windward mark. Boats.com reeled them in on the final run closing them down but not passing.

That second place was enough for Boats.com to take the title, so they sailed in, to beat the queue for the crane leaving Team RAFBF Spitfire to pick up a fourth bullet in race ten, followed by Dave Atkinson sailing Jawbreaker in second and then Just 4 Play in third.

Boats.com were the deserved winners, with Spitfire a very solid second and Ian Wilson’s Wilson Covers being helmed by Geoff Carveth knocking Baby J out of third.

For the J/70s as a young fleet, techniques are still being developed to get the best out of these fast-planing machines, the build up to September’s inaugural World Championship continues with Boats.com looking the class act.

At the final prize giving, Boats.com was awarded the Kleinwort Benson ‘Boat of the Regatta’ trophy as an accolade to their tally of twelve points from ten races. Top boat out of 180 competitors, well done Ian Atkins, Ruairidh Scott, Dan Brown and Ben Field! Oh, and to their coach, the legendary Q.P. Saltonstall!”

The J/24s had one of their local hotshots from Parkstone YC take class honors, Duncan McCarthy sailing the mighty MADELEINE to a dominating win with just 18 pts net.  Bob Turner & Ian Brown’s SERCO from Castle Cove SC took second place followed by another local PYC boat, Nick Phillips’s CHAOTIC in third.

The IRC Class managed to get in seven good races offshore.  Winning three races and taking second overall were Jackie and Rob Dobson’s J/133 Jeronimo.  Stalking them around the course for the entire series was the J/109 BLUE JAY sailed by Alan & Lis Bennet. Their OCS in Race 1 hurt their chances at doing better, nevertheless they sailed a solidly consistent series to take third on the podium!   Sailing photo credits- David Harding   For more Poole Regatta sailing information

J/105 Young America team- winning Block Island RaceKids Win Block Island Race!
J/105 YOUNG AMERICAN Win PHRF & Best Performance Awards!
(Stamford, CT)- The 69th Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race, which started on the Friday (May 23) of Memorial Day Weekend, attracted 69 boats.  While George David’s custom 90 footer- RAMBLER- won IRC on both handicap an elapsed with a fully professional crew, the polar opposite was true of the J/105 that won the hearts of everyone at the awards ceremony on Sunday.  That team was YOUNG AMERICAN, the J/105 that won PHRF 1 and represented American Yacht Club with its junior offshore team aboard. According to the team’s coordinator and adult crew member, Peter Becker, “the seven Young American juniors are part of the club’s junior big boat program, which sees 35 kids between the ages of 14 and 17 spending a huge amount of time on the water learning sailing and seamanship skills.”

“Beating out the Sound, we were under-powered, and there was a funny sea wave,” said Becker, “but they magically called a couple of shifts, got inside some big lifts and were in good company. The biggest problem was the big boats, which were in better wind and better current, while the smaller boats had the current turn on them. Coming back we were in foul current, which was not enjoyable at all.”

Finishing around 4 a.m. on Sunday, the Young American team thought they had done horribly but soon learned they were first in PHRF Class 1 and third overall. The team also won the Harvey Conover Memorial Overall Trophy, “awarded to the boat that has won her class and, in the judgment of the Flag Officers and Race Committee, had the best overall performance.”

Peter Becker’s son, Key Becker, who was one of three designated skippers onboard, summed up the experience by saying, “It was pretty light, but instead of getting frustrated, we held it together, worked as a team, shared our ideas and made it work.”

The largest brand in the IRC 1 Double-handed Division were the J’s with 5 of the 12 boats sailing. So dominating were their performance that they took 4 of the top 5 spots!  Leading the charge in 2nd overall was multiple Block Island Race and Bermuda Race One-Two winner, Jason Richter, on his famous J/35 PALADIN.  The “newbie” to the double-handed group was Mike Piper’s J/111 EAGLES DARE from Marblehead, MA, putting on a good show and taking 3rd overall in this incredibly competitive class.  Next up were the two J/120s, both proven offshore winners. Taking 4th was Hewitt Gaynor's MIRIELLE followed by Gardner Grant's ALIBI.

The two J teams sailing in the IRC 3 Division had a rough go of it in the 8 boat class.  In the end, the J/133 MATADOR sailed by Dale and Michael McIvor took 5th and the J/122 RED SKY skippered by John Pearson took 6th.

Finally, the J/44 One-Design Division had great sailing, as usual in this closely-spaced fleet.  Taking the gun was Phil Gutin’s BEAGLE, followed by Harry Devore’s team on HONAHLEE in 2nd and Len Sitar’s VAMP in third.   For more STC Block Island Race sailing information

J/105 sailing RORC offshore seriesClassic RORC Myth of Malham Race
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Over the May Bank Holiday the third event in the RORC Season’s Point Series was the challenging 230 nm Myth of Malham Race. A fleet of approximately 40 yachts, from five different nations, took part with 10 yachts racing in the Double-Handed class.  The course can be a described as a long windward-leeward, starting from Cowes with the top mark as the Eddystone Lighthouse, approximately 12 miles SSW of Plymouth Sound, and finishing in the Solent. The lighthouse was built between 1878 and 1892 and is mentioned in Herman Melville's epic novel “Moby Dick.” At 49 meters (161ft) high, Eddystone's light is visible from 22 miles and, along with Bishop Rock, it is the tallest lighthouse managed by Trinity House.

The end of May is typically a time of changeable weather in the UK and the Myth of Malham Race shaped up to be a real tactical challenge. The south coast of England has complex and significant tidal flows, measuring as much as five meters at the Eddystone Lighthouse and weather forecasts are predicting varied wind speed and direction along the route. Correctly anticipating whether to stay offshore or come inshore will be a big factor in any team's performance.  As it all turned out, this year’s event was a “classic” Myth of Malham Race.

The fleet started from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line under grey skies and a south-westerly wind of ten knots. All 40 yachts got away to a good start with the Royal Armoured Corps Yacht Club's J/109 WHITE KNIGHT 7 and Christopher Palmer's J/109, J-T'AIME, judging the line close to perfection. In the second start Chris Radford's J/122, RELENTLESS ON JELLYFISH also got away well. Ahead of the fleet was a beat of well over 100 miles to the Eddystone Rock and the somewhat gentle conditions at the start were later replaced by a strong breeze with foul tide causing a significant swell, especially on the first night near Poole Bay. However, the fleet enjoyed a blistering run back to the Solent, with big breeze and warm sunshine providing wonderful conditions.

As one of the sailors described it, “The beat was slightly testing near the start in about 15-20 knots but later we saw up to 24 knots on the beat, which was hard work but that was worth it for a very quick reach home in about 12 hours from Eddystone to the finish. We had foul tide from Portland on the return and to escape the current at St. Albans Head we were just 200 yards from the cliffs surfing the overfalls in 20 knots of wind. It is usually a tactical race out to Eddystone and more often than not we have a fast run or reach home in waves and interesting tides which make it memorable. All in all making a classic race."

The dozen or so J’s enjoyed the conditions, reveling in the winds and seas for the long first beat out to the Rock.  Sailing very well in the incredibly competitive IRC 2 Class was the J/122 RELENTLESS ON JELLYFISH sailed by James George. She took 3rd in class and 9th overall!

As for IRC 3 Class, it was pretty clear the six 35 foot J’s had a smashing good time.  Top of the heap was the J/109 JUMBUCK sailed by John Allison, taking 3rd in class and 8th overall!  Just behind him were the J/109 J-T’AIME skippered by Chris Palmer in 5th, the J/105 DIABLO-J skippered by Nick Martin in 6th and also taking 5th in Double-Handed Class.  In 7th was the J/109 ME JULIE helmed by Dom Monkhouse at Summit Sailing; 8th was J/109 JUMPING JELLYFISH helmed by David Richards and in 9th was the J/109 WHITE KNIGHT 7 crewed by the Royal Armoured Corps YC.  Thanks for the article contribution from RORC’s Louay Habib.   For more RORC Myth of Malham Race sailing information

J/105 sailing to Nantucket Fast FIGAWI Race!
(Hyannis, MA)- The 43rd Annual Figawi Race did not disappoint the 206 boats and 3,000+ sailors making the annual pilgrimage from Hyannis to Nantucket Harbor nearly 25.0nm away.  According to Brad Mascott on the J/105 TWO IF BY SEA,
“Big wind and big seas made for a fast sleigh ride to Nantucket for those brave enough to carry their chutes.  Wind was 15-20 knots from NE, which made for a broad reach on port tack for the spinnaker fleet on Course #5 on their way to Tuckernut Shoal Bell #1.

As the J/105s started, Dark n Stormy had a great start, popped the chute and never looked back on their way for a 3peat win in its division.  Another J/105 to my starboard had trouble with another spinnaker boat as they both nearly broached with a t-bone and then when the dust settled the J/105’s spinnaker exploded on the forestay!  While other boats also blew spinnakers and halyards, it was reported that several crew members lost their breakfast over the rail - yes, it was rough but I am sure they had too much fun at the Hyannis YC pre-race party and then late night at Baxter’s- a favorite local pub.

We chose not to fly our spinnaker as we had our cruising crew onboard and still thoroughly enjoyed the fast and easy ride at 7-9 knots surfing down the waves!

Figawi Race CommitteeOur 2nd leg was a “head bashing, lose your dental work” slog upwind to #15 north of great point and thank God it was only approximately 4 miles long in some huge waves.  The J/105 took it in stride.  The J/122 PATRIOT trucked past us as they looked to be in fine fighting form.  Both PATRIOT and the J/44 SPICE popped their chutes one last time to the finish and both looked good on the nearly dead downwind final leg.

Really hard to complain with sunny skies all day, strong breeze and temps in the 50s-60s leading into a raucous scene at the wharf.  The “BaHa Brothers” band were in fine form in the tent as crews and friends told stories, danced and drank the night away.  Late night burrito at “Tacos Tacos” capped off a great day!”

As for how the J/Navy did in the race?  Quite good overall.  Not surprisingly, a J/105 was 3rd overall on the long course and the J/29 was 4th!  In Division A the J/46 WINGS sailed by Rick Egan, a long—time veteran of the FIGAWI took 5th and Lauren Burke’s J/44 SPICE finished 5th.

J/29 Seefest sailing FIGAWI raceIn Division C, the J/29 SEEFEST sailed by Ira Perry took 2nd place in class and 4th overall!  In Division G Non-Spinnaker the J/40 SMITTEN skippered by Bill Jones took 4th.

The sprit boat division crews could not have been grinning wider after the finish, an epic race indeed for this fast-moving crowd!  In Division S1 Spinnaker, the J/120 M-SQUARED sailed by Gordon Mack took first followed by the two J/122s finishing together in third & fourth, respectively- Peter Duncan’s PATRIOT and Jim Maseiro’s URSUS MARITIMUS (exactly 60 seconds apart!).  All three boats finished within 8 minutes of one another.

The Division S2 Spinnaker saw the J/105 DARK’N’STORMY sailed by Joyce & Wagner Reservitz win followed by Jonathan Bloom’s J/105 BEAR SPIRIT in 3rd, Diana Brown’s J/105 CLIO in 4th and Bill Kneller’s J/109 VENTO SOLARE in 5th. The top four boats all finished within a 2 minute time span!  Wow, that was fun, close racing!   For more FIGAWI Race sailing information

J/105 sailing RORC raceJ/109s Sweep RORC Cervantes Trophy
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The domestic season for the RORC Season's Points Championship kicked off with a test of tactics and endurance for the international fleet of yachts racing from Cowes to Le Havre for the Cervantes Trophy. The main tactical conundrum was a windless area in the middle of the Channel. After over 24 hours of racing, a large number of the fleet were compressed in a tight pack, flying spinnakers into the finish line with many yachts finishing within minutes of each other.

One of the skippers in the race commented, "The Cervantes Trophy Race was very light at the start and the tactic we used to make an advantage was to take a trajectory that was not in a straight line but to the east, curving below the other boats. We knew that our Code Zero is an excellent sail and this line would allow us to use it. In addition, with this position on the course, the predicted loss of wind mid-Channel would probably fill in from the east first and we would be closer to the new wind than the other boats. The Code Zero proved to be an excellent weapon and we took the advantage in the middle of the Channel."

With 21 entries, IRC Three was by far the largest and most competitive class in the Race. When the spinnakers all came down at the finish line, everyone knew the final tally was going to be close for the top five boats.  Though first J/109 across the line on elapsed, Robert Stiles’s DIAMOND JEM had to settle for second in class; just 7 minutes shy of first on corrected time.  Taking the IRC 3 Class win and 9th overall was fellow J/109 classmate JUMBUCK skippered by John Allison.  Following them were Kevin Armstrong’s J/109 JAZZY JELLYFISH in 4th and David Aisher’s J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT, skippered by Richard Sheldon, taking 5th place.   For more RORC Cervantes Trophy Race sailing information
 

J/Community

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

* Now that all things great and good are taking place in world of spring commissioning for boat owners in the northern parts, we usually get some amusing reports from J/Boat owners east and west about their projects (e.g. one year it was “how to install a keg-erator into a J/24”)!  Lately, it seems the small J/Navy on Lake Pleasant in Arizona are having their version of “spring cleaning”, too.  Here is the latest report from Victor Felice from Phoenix, AZ.  It seems his J/24 MERMAID RESCUE has arisen like a phoenix from her ashes!  Victor commented on their process:

“The grand overhaul of the J/24 MERMAID RESUCE is finally over! Just over five weeks of ‘as soon as I finish this, I’ll work on the boat’ – pretty quick!  New everything from top to bottom. For Christmas, I want the West Marine box of 1001 stainless steel nuts, bolts, and washers!

When I was young, I always had to write an essay titled “What I did this summer”.  This is what I did this spring, watch this video documentary (quite an amazing transformation) - http://www.mermaidrescue.us/officially-finished/

As soon as the racing season ended last fall, out she came for a full overhaul.  I am spending a very long weekend in San Diego on a friends boat. Then, off to Lake Pleasant to see what we can break!  All the best, Victor”.    Here’s the J/24 MERMAID RESCUE blog and website

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, May 21, 2014

J/Newsletter- May 21st, 2014

J/30 sailing off SeattleSwiftsure Race Preview
(Victoria, BC, Canada)- One of the Pacific Northwest classic offshore yacht races is about to take place this coming weekend- the “Swiftsure Classic”.  Hosted by the Royal Victoria YC in British Columbia, there are twenty-one “J” teams sailing in a fleet of 184 boats spread across four different race courses.  Indeed, the RVYC over time has encouraged broader participation in the Swiftsure by adding shorter, easier-to-sail courses depending on types of boats and, in fact, time limitations many people are experiencing today with their crews.  Those choices include the Swiftsure (138nm), the Cape Flattery (101nm), the Juan de Fuca (78nm), and the Inshore “day regatta held just off downtown Victoria.  The forecast looks light with 5-10 kt breezes from the SE to SW quadrants all weekend (see forecast here).

The Swiftsure has grown out of a long tradition of offshore sailboat racing in the Pacific NW.  The first recorded sailboat racing in the Victoria area was in the late 1850s, between boats of the Royal Navy and the early Colonists. Interest in the sport grew in the following decades, and by 1930, a long distance race from Cadboro Bay around the Swiftsure Lightship on Swiftsure Bank, at the entrance to the Juan de Fuca Strait was proposed, and there were six entrants! Since then, the event has simply grown in both stature and in participation.

Swiftsure LightshipThe Swiftsure has, in fact, been a pioneer of “social media” and “public broadcasting” across the airwaves since its inception.  In the earlier years of Swiftsure, Eaton’s Department Store (like Harrod’s of England) had a major display window at the corner of Douglas & View, in downtown Victoria— this was always set up as “Swiftsure Headquarters”. A large map of the race course was installed, and the progress of the race was shown by moving miniature boats across the map. As the numbers of boats increased this became a daunting task. The event, and this way of graphically displaying progress, was very much appreciated by Victorians. “People used to line the sidewalks, sit on the curbs. There was a feeling of excitement right there, in the middle of town!”

In addition to the Eaton’s race HQ, there was a radio show to accompany the race! “Since the first radio broadcast from “Dose crazy yotsmen” competed with the fisherman’s band to the outside world during the 1952 race, and L’Apache (later Diamond Head) broke her backstay during the effort, Humphrey Golby has been “on the air”. Coverage expanded when Harold Elworthy’s Island Tug and Barge Company generously provided tugboats for the press. Radio station CKDA pioneered with the limited ship-to-shore equipment of the day and ‘The Voice’ of the Swiftsure was born.”

Partaking in all the camaraderie and festivities associated with the premiere offshore event are J teams sailing in virtually all four courses.  In the “grand-daddy” of them all, John McPhail’s J/160 JAM from Gig Harbor YC will be sailing the Swiftsure Lightship Classic course, the lone J/crew to do so.

J/46 sailing Swiftsure off SeattleThe highly popular Cape Flattery Race has attracted a flock of thirteen J’s, including John Tenneson’s J/145 JEDI and Ron Holbrook’s J/133 CONSTELLATION in IRC Racing class.  Others in L-1 Class include some past winners of the race, like Tom Kelly’s J/122 ANAM CARA, Bob Brunius’s J/120 TIME BANDIT. L-2 Class is chock full of J/105s, many of whom have lots of offshore silverware and pickle dishes gathering dust- current Oregon Offshore winning team FREE BOWL OF SOUP (Doug Schenk, Eric Hopper, Matt Davis) will be up against Jerry Diercks’s DELIRIUM (Seattle NOOD winner), Jim Geros’s LAST TANGO and Lorenzo Migliorini’s ALLEGRO VIVACE. In the H-1 Class are a number of fast J cruiser-racers, including Oregon Offshore veterans VELOCITY (Tom Keffer’s J/42), RIVA (Scott Campbell’s J/46) and FUTURE PRIMITIVE (Ron Mackenzie’s J/37).

The Juan de Fuca Race seems to be popular with the J/30 gang, with two entries from Sloop Tavern YC- Ulf Georg Gwildis’s IMPULSIVE and CONRAD J (Geoffrey Wolf & Adrien Felon).  Joining them are Todd Rutter’s J/32 BLUE JAY and Jim Prentice’s J/109 DIVA.

Finally, the Inshore regatta includes the J/80 SW sailed by Kevin Reath, the J/30 CORVO skippered by Tom Kerr and the J/40 MALOLO helmed by Mike Hoffman.   For more Swiftsure Race sailing information

J/105 sailing Figawi raceFIGAWI Race Preview
(Hyannis, MA)- The most anticipated opening regatta for the offshore sailors in New England (particularly those around Cape Cod) has to be the renowned FIGAWI Race weekend.  Traditionally taking place on the USA Memorial Day holidays, this mad dash of 60nm or so (depending on how you sail it) from Hyannis port to Nantucket has to be one of the world’s larger pursuit races.  And, that is its charm.  No one has any idea of how well they will do since it’s really a race to yet another social event/ party that takes place on Saturday night.  For most, the racing is secondary to the social activities ashore in Nantucket all Sunday.

The 43rd Annual Figawi Race Weekend kicks off the Cape Cod and Nantucket summer season with over 200 sailboats and nearly 3,000 sailors attend this event.  The weekend begins with a Kickoff Party at Hyannis Yacht Club on Friday, May 23rd, 2014.  It is a come-one, come-all affair!

Early Saturday morning, the first boat officially starts at 10 am off the Hyannis Port Jetty, hoping to be the first one to Nantucket Harbor. In this pursuit-style race, there have often been cases where maxi 70 footers are crossing the line simultaneously with J/24s, J/35s, J/44s, Concordia 40s and Lord knows what else!

This year’s 206 entries are sure hoping the weather cooperates.  Fog, drizzle and rain are not unknown in these parts in late spring, so is no wind.  Nevertheless, with an enormous depression moving offshore spinning off northeasterly breezes, the fleet should have light drizzle Friday, but clearing for Saturday start! (see weather forecast).

Hoping to make their mark in this year’s event are nineteen intrepid J adventurers whistling across Vineyard Sound.  First out of the blocks will be the two J/29s, Pat Cerundolo’s IL CATTIVO and Ira Perry’s SEEFEST.  Next are likely to be another duo of J/40s, Bill Jones’s SMITTEN and Kirk Brown’s JAZZ.  Then, comes the single biggest “one-design” start in the fleet, a half-dozen J/105s that include the Nantucket High School Sailing Team on CLIO (very cool, eh?) along with Joyce & Wagner Reservitz’s DARK’N’STORMY, Doug Riggs’s RIGADOON, Ed Lobo’s WATERWOLF, Brad Mascott’s TWO IF BY SEA and Jon Bloom’s BEAR SPIRIT.  Two J/109s are next, making the trip are Jim Bello’s DEJA VU and Bill Kneller’s VENTO SOLARE.  Not far behind will be two J/120s, Dave Follett’s GLORY and Gordon Mack’s M-SQUARED.  Ed Kaye’s J/111 PRAVDA 2 will be in hot pursuit behind the 120s.  Yet another duo of J/122s will be following them, Jim Masiero’s URSUS MARITIMUS and Peter Duncan’s PATRIOT. Finally, the “big boys” this year starting about the same time are Lauren Burke’s J/44 SPICE and Dick Egan’s award-winning J/46 WINGS!  Fun for all. It’s likely to be a jib/ genoa fetch reach across, particularly if the front keeps moving and the wind veers into the ESE quadrants!  For more FIGAWI Race sailing information

J/35 Paladin starting Block Island raceBlock Island Race Preview
(Stamford, CT)- Over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, the Storm Trysail Club’s annual Block Island Race takes place on the tricky waters of Long Island Sound and Block Island Sound.  An end of spring classic, this annual rite of passage for many sailing yachts in the northeast is a daunting 186nm sprint that starts off Stamford, CT and uses Block Island as a turning mark offshore.

The course is simple but maddeningly exasperating at times depending on how you execute the tactics and strategies based on the weather and currents.  In fact, the central issue for the entire race almost always comes down to how you go through the infamous "Race" at the end of Long Island- Plum Gut south of Plum Island, through the middle, or along the Connecticut shore and Fisher's Island to the north.  This year’s weather forecast indicates easterlies at the start on Friday, backing into the NE to N by Saturday afternoon (see weather forecast here).  A light to moderate breeze beat going east down Long Island Sound may be an issue for many boats but most of the J/Teams should simply love it.

Facing that challenge are seventy-two boats, fifteen of them J/Crews (20% of the fleet), sailing in IRC & PHRF handicap classes and a J/44 one-design fleet.

The largest brand in the IRC 1 Double-handed Division are the J’s with 5 of the 12 boats sailing.
Multiple Block Island Race and Bermuda Race One-Two winner, Jason Richter, will certainly be a factor on his famous J/35 PALADIN.  Two J/120s are participating including Gardner Grant's ALIBI and Hewitt Gaynor's MIRIELLE, both are proven offshore winners- the 120s themselves could lead all the J's home.  New additions to the double-handed group this are Mike Piper’s J/111 EAGLES DARE from Marblehead, MA and Norman Kilarjian’s J/105 TOLO from New York.

In IRC 2 Division Robert Siegel from Stamford, CT will skipper the lone J/109 PAX 3.  Their most significant competition will surely come from Rives Potts’s 48 ft custom sloop CARINA- a Bermuda Race winner.

The two J teams sailing in the IRC 3 Division have eight other classmates to contend with, many with strong Block Island Race credentials.  Regardless, the J/133 MATADOR sailed by Dale and Michael McIvor and the J/122 RED SKY skippered by John Pearson should like the forecasted breezes relative to their competition.

In PHRF Division 1 world, the famous J/105 YOUNG AMERICAN will be sailing with a completely junior crew aboard made up of American YC’s Junior Big Boat Team sailors. Aboard as “adult supervision” will be Peter Becker, AYC’s sailing coach/ director.

Taking on the PHRF 2 Division will be Rick Oricchio’s J/120 ROCKET SCIENCE from Black Rock YC in Fairfield, CT.

J/44 VAMP sailing Block Island raceFinally, the J/44 One-Design Division has an excellent turnout of five boats and included are several that have offshore championship winning pedigree.  Phil Gutin’s BEAGLE, Norm Schulman’s CHARLIE V and Len Sitar’s VAMP are amongst those who’ve done this race many times.  Also veterans of the offshore wars are Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes sailing KINCSEM, quick learners of the game after just getting nipped at the finish last year by Sitar’s VAMP!  Harry Devore’s team on HONAHLEE are no shrinking violets either, after not sailing the race the last few years, they’re hoping to make their mark in this tough group of one-design group sailors.   For more STC Block Island Race sailing information

J/109 team sailing fastPoole Regatta Preview
(Poole, England)-  The Poole Regatta is a huge bi-annual event held over the 3 days of the late May Bank Holiday Weekend starting 24th May.  In addition to the IRC series, there are a number of national championships being run as part of the regatta, including J/24s, J/70s and J/80s.

At the top of the IRC 1 entries is Jackie and Rob Dobson’s J/133 Jeronimo, who will expect to lead this fleet around the course.  Joining them are two J/109s, Steven Tapper’s STALKER and Alan & Lis Bennet’s BLUE JAY.

The one-design side of things is pretty remarkable, three International J one-designs are sailing their UK Nationals at this event!  What is even more impressive is that all three fleets have excellent attendance, the J/24s have 19 boats registered, the J/70s have 13 and the J/80s have 16.  Fun and games for all!

J/70 RAF Spitfire sailing fastFor the J/70 UK Nationals it is a compulsory qualifying event for teams that wish to go to the 2014 World Championship in Newport, RI.  Many of the top UK teams are attending, including Ian Atkins on BOATS.COM (top finisher at Key West Race Week), Simon Ling skippering TEAM RAF SPITFIRE Powered by SLAM and Marie-Claude Heys on JACOBS COAT.  In addition, participating is the American team of Jen & Ray Wulff from Annapolis, MD; they are sailing a chartered J/70 called JOINT CUSTODY.

The J/80s also have most of their top teams attending, including Patrick Liardet on AQUA-J, Andrew Dallas & Ben Richards on BOYSTEROUS, Gary Owens on JAMMY DODGER, Phil Taylor on J.A.T. and Team JUICY.

The J/24s have a number of familiar faces from the local fleet at Parkstone YC and from the fleet on the Solent; many sporting sail numbers of recent vintage, like 4000 and higher!  Amongst the contenders may be Andy Taylor’s HITCHIKER, Bob Turner & Ian Brown’s SERCO, Nick Phillips’s CHAOTIC, Roger Morris’s JOLLY ROGER and Simon Hall’s SUSPICION.  Like the J/70s, there is an American team participating- Paul Anstey’s team from Melbourne YC in Florida racing JOBS FOR THE BOYS.   For more Poole Regatta sailing information

J/24 Hudson River Community sailing team“Dark-n-Stormy” Community Sailing Benefit
(Pier 66, NY)- The Hudson River Community Sailing Center is hosting its 7th annual “Dark & Stormy” Sailing Benefit at the Pier 66 facilities known as “The Frying Pan” at West 26th Street and Hudson River Park on Tuesday, June 13th.

This program has grown tremendously over time and the fact that a fleet of J/24s are helping to provide academic enrichment to New York City and New Jersey public schools is an awesome program to support— for all sailors!

The event takes place on Tuesday, June 3rd from 7pm to 10pm with music, dancing, great food, open bar and fantastic raffle prizes.  Please contact event chairs Joy Macdougall, Chrystal Puleo, Lisa Fox or Emory O’Mealia.

J/Sailing News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The third week of May was busy with sailing activities taking place in many interesting sailing areas around the world.  However, perhaps none were busier than the second stage of the J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga taking place in Starnberg, Germany and hosted by the Bayerischer Yacht Club.  Eighteen yacht club teams participated in the three-day event that saw dozens of races sailed.

Over in China, the Qingdao International Marine Club (QIMC) located at the Qingdao International Sailing Center recently hosted the International City Clubs Open Regatta. Two of the “local” J/80s managed to defy all odds and perform quite admirably in the ORC Handicap division.

In the Americas, the J/22s just held their North American Championship on the Chesapeake Bay and had the Annapolis YC host the event over a four-day period.  Speaking of J/22’s, the Canandaigua YC hosted their perennial J/22 Jack Rabbit Regatta on the gorgeous Canandaigua Lake in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York.  Out West, two events took place along the Pacific coastline.  Up in the northwest, the Sperry Top Sider Seattle NOOD Regatta was held on Puget Sound, surrounded by the mighty Olympics and Cascades snow-capped mountain ranges.  Fleets of J/24s, J/70s, J/80s and J/105s participated in that event.  Down south, the J/105s and J/120s sailed in the Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure Regatta on San Francisco Bay and hosted by St Francis YC.

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:

May 24-26- Swiftsure Race- Royal Victoria YC- Victoria, BC, Canada
May 27- Jun 9- Delta Lloyd North Sea Week- Scheveningen, Netherlands
May 28- Jun 1- J/22 Europeans- Cameret-sur-Mer, France
May 29-Jun 2- Italian J/24 Nationals- Tirano, Italy
May 30- Susan Hood Trophy Race- Mississauga, ONT, Canada
May 31- Delta Ditch Run- Stockton Sailing Club- Stockton, CA
Jun 6-8- Chicago NOOD Regatta- Chicago YC- Chicago, IL
Jun 6-9 Norseewoche- Heligoland, Germany
Jun 9-15- Normandy Sailing Week- Le Havre, France
Jun 13-22- Cleveland Race Week- Cleveland, OH

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

J/22 North American crews relaxing at Annapolis YCBAD NEWS 2 Wins J/22 North Americans
(Annapolis, MD)- Thirty-eight teams from across the United States and Canada competed in this year’s J/22 North American Championships held at the Annapolis YC in Annapolis, MD.  Mike Marshall of Jamestown, Rhode Island earned his first J/22 North American Championship with crew Mark Sertl and Matt Gowell sailing BAD NEWS 2. BAD NEWS took advantage of a discard in the fifth and final race to secure the championship with 12 points. Local teams rounded out the top three, as Chris Gaffney’s CHASING WATERFALLS took second with 16 points and J.R. Maxwell’s SCOOBY snared the bronze spot with 18 points. Four races were held on Sunday, after light and fluky breeze allowed just one race over the first two days of the championship, bringing the total number of races to five.

J/22s sailing North Americans off Annapolis, MDMarshall, also the winner of the Annapolis NOOD two weeks ago, credited Gowell in the middle and Sertl on the foredeck for getting him around the race course while he focused on steering. Despite light air and strong current, the team focused on the conditions where they were at any given moment. “You made a decision that brought you to where you are, so you just have to concentrate on that,” Marshall stated. “The Race Committee did the best they could with the conditions they were given. It was challenging and tough.” Marshall is relatively new to the J/22, having just competed in last year’s Worlds and some local club racing.

J/22 sailors winning trophyWinds at 8-10 knots greeted competitors on Sunday morning under sunny skies, as local Jeff Todd’s HOT TODDY won the day’s first battle. Brad Julian’s THREE DORIES.COM team followed in second, and Jonathan Phillips’ BRUISER in third. 2013 J/22 World Champion Allan Terhune on DAZZLER dominated the next contest, with Gaffney and Marshall behind him. Chris Doyle steered “THE JUG 4 1”to victory in Sunday’s third race, trailed by Maxwell and Marshall, as winds decreased slightly. Terry Flynn’s TEJAS closed the event with a victory. Next were Chris Wilson’s LIL’ PUFFY and Jeffrey Love’s STAMPEDE.

The top five after Marshall’s BAD NEWS 2 was Gaffney’s CHASING WATERFALLS in second with 16 pts, Maxwell’s SCOOBY in third with 18 pts, Wilson’s LIL’ PUFFY in fourth with 21 pts and Doyle’s “THE JUG 4 1” in fifth with 27 pts.  Sailing photo credits- Susan Mikulski.  For more J/22 North American Championship sailing information

J/70s sailing Deutsche Segel-BundesligaDeutsche Segel-Bundesliga Starts With Three-Way Tie!
Norddeutscher RV Win The Tie-Breaker
(Starnberg, Germany)- After an intense qualification regatta a few weeks back, eighteen clubs participated in the Bundesliga season opener on Lake Starnberg at the Bayerischer Yacht Club. The thirteen sailing clubs that qualified from the first season in 2013 were joined by five “newcomers” that had qualified in early April- Bodensee Yacht Club Überlingen, Düsseldorf Yacht Club, Kieler Yacht Club, the S.C.”Wappen von Bremen" and the Seglervereinigung Itzehoe.

Prior to the start of the regatta, Ilya Wolf (BYC team manager) said, "Our team is perfectly prepared. We are looking forward to the coming weekend and are proud host of this event. We are very excited about participating with the Segel-Bundesliga. It is a very good opportunity for our young sailors and a great way to promote sailing to everyone."

J/70s sailing off Starnberger, GermanyRecognizing the importance of this season long series that culminates with the Finale in Hamburg, many clubs pulled out all the stops to get their top sailors to hop aboard the teams as either crew or skippers.  Among the most prominent sailors in Starnberg were four German Olympians. Sailing for Württemberg Yacht Club was Stefanie Rothweiler (two-time Olympic 470s); sailing for Wansee was Ulrike Schumann (Olympics in Ynglings); and Kristin Wagner (Olympic Yngling) and Patrick Follmann (Olympian 470) were both sailing for Deutscher Touring YC.

With so much talent and tactical horsepower aboard the various boats, the racing was going to be close.  In fact, far closer than anyone could have imagined!  After the first day of sailing, three teams were tied on points- Bayerischer YC, Deutsche Touring YC and Flensburg SC! Lots of sunshine and light 7 kt winds greeted the fleet, enough to get in seven races.  "The weather conditions were not optimal. In fact, it was often difficult.  But, we are extremely pleased and excited that we were able to get a good start in the new season on home turf," concluded Christian Schäfer, helmsman of the BYC boat.

J/70 youth sailors - Sailing in GermanyThe second day offered sailing at its best. Starting out with a bit of rainy weather, by afternoon, the weather had cleared and the good breezes enabled twenty-four races to be sailed! The defending champions, Norddeutscher RV, had an impressive day of sailing.   "The field is so close and tight that a single mistake is sufficient to be passed from the very front to the very back of the pack. With good starts and safe maneuvers, we were able to stay up front most of the time. Our goal is the top three," stated Florian Weser from the NRV team.  In fact, after Saturday’s racing, they did much better than that; Team NRV was leading after ten races.  Following them were Wannsee in second, Deutscher Touring YC in third and Konstanzer YC in fourth.

After Sunday’s sailing, only 39 of the 45 scheduled races were completed, 13 for each club.  In the end, the defending Segel-Bundesliga 2013 champions, Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, took first place overall by breaking the tie-breaker with seven race wins over their competitors.  The other two teams tied on 44 pts each were Verein am Wannsee and Deutscher Touring YC, taking 2nd and 3rd respectively.

"For us it was a roller-coaster of emotions. The quality of sailors and the competition were extremely high. All in all, we really sailed well and look forward to enjoying our first win," commented NRV teammate Carsten Kemmling.

Second-placed VSaW Team manager Ulrike Schumann said, "After the bad start, we pressed the reset button and then it all ran much smoother. We want to win this year, that's our goal!"

Next stop on the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga is July 19-21 as part of Travemünde Sailing Week on the Baltic Sea.  Remember, all races are broadcast via “live stream” on the Internet, so thousands of sailing enthusiasts in Germany and around the world can watch it “live” on the water.   Sailing photo credits- DSBL/ Lars Wehrmann    Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing video:   Day One    Day Two   Day Three   For more Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information

J/24 sailing Seattle NOODBABA LOUIE Seattle NOOD Overall Champion!
(Seattle, WA)- This year’s Sperry Top Sider Seattle NOOD Regatta brought tears of joy and smiles all around to the sailors for one simple reason- wind!  At least enough of it so that most fleets got in a least six if not ten races over the three day event.  Taking advantage of this most precious of commodities in the Pacific Northwest was none other than BABA LOUIE; the J/24 sailed by Pat Dore with Chris Snow, Melanie Edwards (bow), Ken Monaghan (mast), and Dale Turley (trimmer).  BABA LOUIE not only won their class but also won the entire event overall— declared as the Overall Seattle NOOD Champions!

Friday was a rather auspicious start for the regatta.  A consistent 10-15 kts southerly allowed some classes to complete as many as five races.  Pat Dore's local team on the J/24 BABA LOUIE, which won four of five races in the 16-boat fleet, was the standout team of the day. "We had a really good day," said Dore's tactician Chris Snow. "It was a great day of sailing. It was a lot of fun, especially to be able to get in that many races. The left side of the course was really favored because the wind accelerates over the headland, so the key was to work that side."

Seattle NOOD overall winnersFor the second day of sailing, there was still wind, but just a bit less.  Jerry Diercks, of Seattle, knows how tricky the sailing conditions can be on Puget Sound, especially when the winds are as light and the current as strong as it was. Dierck’s J/105 DELIRIUM was tied for first in its seven-boat class after five races, and in the first race of the day, they almost took themselves out of contention.

“I had one of the worst starts of my life,” said Diercks. “The current was so strong and I jibed away from the line two minutes before the race [which took him down current] instead of tacking like I should have, and in an instant we were 200 yards away from the line and behind the entire fleet before we even started.”

Fortunately for Diercks and his teammates on DELIRIUM, the race committee abandoned the race shortly after the start because a considerable wind shift skewed the racecourse. “With no throw-outs allowed in this regatta, we can’t have another bad race [they’re already carrying a seventh from yesterday],” said Diercks. “With the tie, we need to have two good races tomorrow.”

Sunday’s racing ultimately had to be abandoned for lack of wind after two light air races.  However, most sailors were grateful and quite happy with the fact the regatta’s PRO’s pushed hard the first two days to get in some good sailing.

Behind BABA LOUIE in the J/24 class was Harrie Dursch and crew on SELF ABUSE taking second place.  This team was closing fast on the boys in front of them going into the final races on Sunday, in fact posting a 2-3-1-2 to get within two points of the overall lead on Sunday.  Grabbing third place was past winner Scott Milne on TREMENDOUS SLOUCH with 33 pts.  The balance of the top five was Steve Travis on SPARK in fourth with 44 pts and fifth was Brad Miller on HAIR OF THE DOG with 68 pts.

In the J/105s, Diercks’s DELIRIUM crew continued their winning ways and closed with a 1-1-2 to win the regatta with 14 pts.  Leading with a 2-1-2 after the first three races was Todd Rickard’s SEAMIST.  However, it appears that SEAMIST’s tactician went A.W.O.L., since SEAMIST’s scores of 5-2-6 in the last three races completely torpedoed their grandiose dreams of glory, instead having to settle for silver on the podium.  In fact, SEAMIST had to win on a tie-breaker they had sunk so fast. Third was Erik Kristen’s JUBILEE team sailing remarkably consistent all weekend, winning a race and never posting a score over 4th, to finish with 18 pts and tied with SEAMIST!

In the J/80s it was clear the regatta had become a duel between two boats, Bryan Rhodes’s CRAZY IVAN and Bill McKinnon’s SKYE ROCKET. After the dust settled at the O.K. Corral in this gunfight, CRAZY IVAN took top honors by winning four of the six races.  McKinnon’s SKYE ROCKET took four 2nd place finishes to secure second overall.  Third was Lek Dimarucot’s FEARFUL SYMMETRY.

In addition, sailing ten races in the regatta were the inaugural J/70 class.  Clearly, the fleet loved the first day of sailing with a combination of planing and soak modes all day long.  Sailing super-fast out of the box on that day was the experienced team aboard DaSPENCER, skippered by Mike Pitt, taking two bullets to lead the fleet after day one.  However, as the wind dropped off over the next two days, so did Team DaSPENCER’s fortunes.  In the end, JUST LISTED sailed by the Sail Northwest team took top honors with 13 pts.  They were followed by Andrew Mesher’s PERIDOT in second with 24 pts and in third was DaSPENCER with 27.

Finally, in the North Sails Rally class, a one-day time-on-time PHRF pursuit style race around the bay on Saturday, the J/24 CHALLENGER sailed by Chris Archer took second overall! Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com.  Sailing World video interview - Dave Reed and Chris Snow   For more Sperry Top Sider Seattle NOOD regatta sailing information

J/80 sailing off Qingdao, China in CCOR RegattaJ/80s Win China City Clubs Open Regatta
(Qingdao, China)- The International City Clubs Open Regatta is hosted annually by the Qingdao International Marine Club (QIMC) located at the Qingdao International Sailing Center (the same venue used for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Sailing events). Overseeing Jiaozhou Bay, the sailors in the regatta enjoyed what many have said is one of the world’s best yachting and sailing centers ever developed (a $300 million development budget may have helped).

Qingdao Olympic Sailing CenterIn fact, the sailors in the CCOR enjoyed the amazing hospitality of the host club house along the waterfront.  QIMC was founded in 1999 and has the distinction of being China's only official international sailing club under State General Administration of Sports based in Beijing, capital of China.  What was one of the strong attractions of the club?  The fact that it serves one of the world’s best beers for pennies a pint.  Remember this, the city of Qingdao holds an international beer festival every August where the centerpiece is, of course, the local brew, Tsingtao beer.  Tsingtao Brewery is one of the oldest beer producers in China and was founded in 1903 by German and British merchants. The brewery is still using the original yeast transported from Germany more than 100 years ago- no wonder it’s the number one export beer from China.

Qingdao sailing center- Tsingtao Beer waterfrontOut of the four local J/80s in Qingdao, two sailed in this years CCOR regatta in ORC Handicap Division. Not your normal J/80 regatta since the teams found themselves sailing against a First 40 with a good skipper and two other 50 footers.  Ironically, the rating of the First 40 was only 10 seconds per mile faster then the J/80.  With very inexperienced crews, the J/80s sailed in 10 races with winds ranging from 14 to 30 knots over the 4 days.  The J/80 teams faired well with Jim Johnstone racing the lead boat and the Liuzhou Riviera Yacht Club instructor team racing the second boat.

After 9 races, Johnstone had eight 1sts and one 2nd and the other J/80 had a split of seconds and thirds.  Boat-for-boat Johnstone finished in front of the First 40 four of nine races; that’s quite an accomplishment since they should be much faster.

The last race of the CCOR regatta was a 15nm distance race and the J/80s knew there was no way we were going to have sufficient handicap time on the First 40.  While the First 40 won on handicap, the J/80 sailed by Johnstone finished second overall, thus taking the overall ORC Division win by a significant margin.  Second in ORC class was the Liuzhou Riviera YC team on the other J/80.  Of note, was that Johnstone’s J/80 team beat all of the Far East 26's and the lead Soto 27 boat-for-boat and the Flying Tiger FT10 finished only a few boat-lengths in front when they finished.  Sailing with Johnstone were Jeppe, the J/Boats Asia Qingdao representative doing cockpit, the owner and one of the Liuzhou Members doing bow.
For more City Clubs Open Regatta sailing information

J/22s sailing Jack Rabbit regatta- Lake Canandaigua, NYHallagan Crowned Chief “Jack Rabbit”
(Canandaigua, NY)- The J/22 Jack Rabbit Regatta was recently hosted by J-22 Fleet 24 at the Canandaigua Yacht Club from May 17th to 18th on beautiful Canandaigua Lake.  A good time was had by all; though attendance was down this year as the J-22 North Americans were scheduled for the same weekend.  There were major rain storms in the area on Thursday before the regatta, and Canandaigua Lake was at flood levels with water up to the top of the docks.  The County Sheriff issued a safety warning and issued a speed restriction of 5 mph to minimize any shore damage. The camping area was wet, but several brave souls camped and had nice camp fires going on Friday and Saturday evenings!  That is the tradition of the “Jack Rabbit”, laid back, fun and so popular that it’s now going into its third decade as a great late spring regatta to “de-mothball” your J/22 and get it ready for the summer sailing season!

J/22 sailors at Jack Rabbit regatta- Lake Canandaigua, NYSaturday morning was bright and clear with NW winds in the 5-8 kts range, with temperatures in the low 40’s.  There was plenty of coffee, donuts, juice and fruit donated by “Wegman’s Market” to get us warmed up and ready to race.  Jim Muller, who has been the regatta PRO for the last 7 years, got racing started at approximately 10:30.  By 3:30 five great races had been completed and the boats headed to shore. 

After the boats were secured for the night, the fleet headed to the Canandaigua YC building for an awesome “house party”!  Entertainment was provided by “The Table Top Three,” a local favorite that play blues, standard stuff and contemporary popular music, featuring an acoustic trio of guitar, harmonica and upright bass. They certainly had the house rocking late into the evening!

Again, according to tradition, after the running of the Preakness Stakes (part of the horse-racing “Triple Crown”) on Saturday, spirits, glasses and shirts provided by East Avenue Liquor were given out to participating boats!

J/22s sailing on Canandiagua Lake, NYAs the sailors slowly woke up at the crack of noon Sunday morning, the weather couldn’t have been nicer, bright and clear again with temperatures in the mid 40’s. Winds were again light from the NNW.  Racing started at 9 and two more races were completed before noon.

Awards for the top three included J/22 sailboat models and gift certificates from sponsors APS Ltd. and German Brothers Marine.  The Mid-Fleet winner garnered a bottle of “Pyrate Rum” with a wooden display case.  Awards were also given to the best sailing clubs with 3 or more boats participating and for the boat that came the greatest distance.  As people packed up their boats, there were smiles everywhere.

After winning four of the seven races sailed, Richard Hallagan’s crew on CHIBOUGAMAU took first overall with 10 pts net (after toss race).  Second was Mark Stuhlmiller on EUDAIMONIA with 15 pts net and third was Gary Schmidt’s MOOI NOOI with 20 pts.  Rounding out the top five were Adam Masters on TRAINWRECK and Todd Salzman on HANDBASKET, 4th and 5th, respectively.  For more J/22 Jack Rabbit sailing information

J/105s sailing San Francisco BayBLACKHAWK Wins Swiftsure Regatta
(San Francisco, CA)- The Swiftsure Regatta is a classic “city front” event that takes place along the San Francisco city shoreline, just south of Alcatraz Island.  The regatta is well-attended by the local J/105 fleet on San Francisco Bay.  Here’s the regatta report from one of the J/105 teams, Bruce Stone’s ARBITRAGE:

“This year’s Swiftsure was a classic, with a building flood and relief on the shore, wind in the high teens and low 20’s, with the forecast to build into the high 20’s, so we brought out last season’s sails.  The race committee set up off of Ft. Mason, and while they usually cant the line to draw boats toward the committee end, we (Arbitrage) felt the pin was way favored with the tide advantage and we started all alone on port at the pin, successfully crossing the fleet.

The next problem was to determine when to tack to shore for the relief.  The crowd taking our stern of course got there first and unfortunately we got a terrific lift which I should have ridden around 20 more seconds.  By tacking to shore off the lift, I sent us back into the semi-cheap seats.  Blackhawk tossed off a bad start, found a clear spot at the shore and came out clean, establishing a big lead. With the rest of the fleet camping on each other, short-tacking the City Front, Blackhawk and Godot pulled away.  We had to fight our way back into contention and rounded the windward mark around 5th place, even with Mojo and Jam Session.

The race committee set us up with starboard rounding’s anticipating everyone would want to go out into the deeper water for more flood, and we all set, went out for a few minutes, then made one jibe to lay the leeward mark, Blossom Rock buoy, also a starboard rounding.  This was a race committee error as it should have been a gate given the entire fleet wanted to go to the cone of Alcatraz for relief heading upwind.

J/105 Blackhawk sailing San Francisco BayAnyway, with Mojo and Jam Session overlapped inside us, and Moonshine outside us, we tried to round to starboard, but Mojo and Jam turned slowly, holding us out so we could not round.  Moonshine anticipated we’d be rounding and their mainsheet trimmer hauled in the sail.  With the wind in the mid-20’s and gusting to 30, they rounded up into Arbitrage, and its bowsprit hit our port push pit, taking it out, along with my GPS and VHF antennae and my SailTec hydraulic backstay, while bending the tang attaching the backstay to the transom!  It’s a bit exciting sailing on the Bay with closely-packed one-design keelboats!

Moonshine did its penalty turns and then stood by to offer help.  We retired and motored home, but decided to try for the third race.  We quickly took everything apart, called a neighbor, Ariel Poler, owner of Juxtapose, who graciously offered the use of his push pit and we went to his boat, disassembled it and reinstalled it on my boat, along with my spare backstay adjuster, and hoping for the best on the stainless steel tang, we were ready to go racing when the race committee abandoned racing for the day due to many people broaching (the leader Blackhawk broached four times!) amid winds around 35 kts!!

We applied and got redress, and raced the next day.  Big flood and big wind!! Most boats went out to catch the late ebb.  We had a 7-2 score, ending up fourth.”

While ARBITRAGE finished fourth, the story of the weekend may be that it was Scooter Simmon’s son, Ryan, who sailed and skippered BLACKHAWK to the overall win in the J/105 class!  In fact, they won by a whisker, beating Jeff Litfin’s MOJO crew on a tie-breaker.  Starting with a 1-3-1, Simmons’s crew nearly lost it all by taking a 10th in the last race to Litfin’s 1st!  BLACKHAWK took the tie-break on most “firsts”.  Third just three points back was Jason Woodley & Scott Whitney on RISK followed by ARBITRAGE then Doug Bailey on AKULA in fifth.

Also sailing was a PHRF Division with three J/120s sailing against 50-54 footers and one-off carbon racers.  Taking two of the podium spots were Steve Madeira’s J/120 MR MAGOO in 2nd with Barry Lewis’s CHANCE in 3rd.  For more Swiftsure Regatta sailing information

J/Community

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

J/120 Sunset Child (ex-El Ocaso) sailing Caribbean* Go sailing aboard the famous J/120 SUNSET CHILD! Yes, you and your friends can join them for some awesome offshore yacht racing in northeastern USA for summer 2014.

SUNSET CHILD is the famous ex-EL OCASO that won everything in the Caribbean over the past decade.  Today, Performance Yacht Racing USA, which has been operating four yachts for many years, is taking on “paying crew” (think “J-World Offshore” type of experience) and giving them the opportunity to race in high specification yachts all over the World. This program has been an enormous hit with established crews who already race J/Boats in their own backyards, but want to race further afield without having to move their own boat. They are always assured that PYR’s yachts are in top condition and have the latest sails and equipment.

This summer, the J/120 SUNSET CHILD will be based in New York City, but will race all over the northeast before heading south to Florida and then the Caribbean at the end of the season. You can learn more about their summer sailing circuit here:  http://www.performanceyachtracingusa.com  Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth- pwpictures.com

Contact Marcus Cholerton-Brown at Performance Yacht Racing USA for more information: cell- +1-917-617-5335 or email- marcus@performanceyachtracingusa.com

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.