J/Newsletter- December 23rd, 2009

Photo Credit- KOS Pictures

December 23rd, 2009

SAILING WORLD Boat of the Year

J/95 Overall Boat-of-the-Year

Christmas came early for the J sailing community! The newest issue of Sailing World magazine arrived with an action cover shot of the J/95 sailing upwind, and a feature article announcing the J/95 as the OVERALL WINNER of Sailing World's Boat of the Year for 2010!  Three pages later, the J/97 is announced as the winner of the Best Club Racer.  This is the first time in J history that two different J designs have won BOTY in the same year; and much appreciated recognition for the huge effort by the whole J network to bring these models to market in 2009.

Here are a few excerpts from the Sailing World website/ press release:  “Rodney Johnstone, the J/95's designer, has been designing boats for decades, and when he says this is his best boat yet, he's not kidding,” says Dave Read, Sailing World's editor and Boat of the Year director. “The judges were struck by how well it sails and how well it's built. But what cemented the J/95's selection was its versatility. It's a 31 footer that sailors of all skill levels will love to race.  And because of its clever centerboard keel and twin rudders, it can be raced or daysailed virtually anywhere – shallow bays, lakes, or the open ocean.”

"It's a radical change for J/Boats," says Boat of the Year Judge Chuck Allen, a professional sailmaker at North Sails.  'You can do anything with this boat, and do it well.  They hit a homerun."

Thanks to CCF and International Marine for their expertise and hard work on the J/95 tooling and production.  Read more about the J/95 Sailing World BOTY Award

SAILING WORLD Boat of the Year

J/97 Wins Best Club Racer

In the words of the Sailing World Editors- "The J/97 sails beautifully and has the volume, look and feel of a 40 footer.  Somehow in the populated J/Boat world, designer Alan Johnstone has found himself a sweet spot between the more racing oriented J/105 and the cruise-able J/109 and J/122.  “This is a really versatile boat,” said Chuck Allen, who was most impressed with its simplicity and comfort.  “The perfect sort of boat for taking to an out-of-town regatta.  You could stay on it and race it.  It definitely feels bigger than it really is.”"

Thanks to J Europe for the successful introduction of the J/97, which is currently a finalist in the European Boat of the Year awards (being announced next month).  Read more about the  J/97 Sailing World Award

Win a Free APPLE iPod Touch!

Sailing Anarchy and J/Boats have partnered to provide you a fun contest for the holidays.  Take the challenge to identify the boats, the place and the month in the new 2010 J Sailing Calendar and compete to win some sweeeet swag.  Apple iPod Touch 8 GB, VISA Gift Cards, Hoodie sweatshirts, Polo shirts, sailing T-shirts, sailing caps and more.  All you need to do is read the contest rules, register and complete the contest questionnaire.  The contest ends Friday, January 15th, 2010.  Winners will be announced at the J/Tent during Key West Race Week, January 18th, 2010.  Learn more about the J/Sailing Anarchy Contest

J/111 Project Update

The hull plug is rapidly taking shape at CCF in Bristol.  The hull plug and production mold will be complete in January 2010 with first hull molding in February 2010.  The next available hull is #18.

J/111 Class Rules are presently in draft form and include a Owner/ Non-Pro driver rule; factory weight certificate issued with each boat; fairing restriction on foils (like the J/122 class); sail limit of main, two jibs and two kites; crew number limit for low-key events plus crew weight limit for championship events.  Learn more about the J/111

About J/Boats

Started in 1977, J/Boats continues to lead the world in designing fun-to-sail, easy-to-handle, performance sailboats that can be enjoyed by a broad spectrum of sailors.  The International J/24 has become the most popular recreational offshore keelboat in the world with over 5,400 J/24s cruising the waves. Today, there are 13,000+ J/Boats, ranging from the International J/22 to the J/65 and ranging in style from one-designs to racers, cruisers to daysailers and, of course, the ubiquitous J sprit boats- J/Boats' innovation in 1992 for easy-to-use asymmetric spinnakers and retractable carbon bowsprits (J/80, J/92, J/95, J/105, J/109, J/110, J/120, J/122, J/130, J/133, J/125, J/145, J/160).

J/Boats has the best track record in sailing for innovation and design as evidenced by:  11 Sailing World/ Cruising World Boat of the Year Awards in 14 years; 2 SAIL Awards for Industry Leadership; 2 American Sailboat Hall of Fame Designs (J/24 & J/35); and the three largest ISAF International One-Design keelboat classes (J/22, J/24, J/80).

Counting crew, every year there are over 100,000 friends to meet sailing J's, populating the most beautiful sailing harbors and sailing the waters of 35+ countries around the world.  Sailing is all about friends.  Come join us and expand your social network everywhere!

For more information on J/Boats: http://www.jboats.com/intro.htm

J/Newsleter- December 16th, 2009

---

J/95 Wins SAIL 2010 Best ‘Performance Sailboat’ Award

(Boston, MA)- The brand new J/95 is the first model from J Boats in thirty-two years of production to feature a shoal draft lead keel with a lifting centreboard and twin rudders. She will make her European debut at the London International Boat Show in January.  Key Yachting will be exhibiting the J/95 on stand N021T at the show, along with the J/97, winner of the Black Group at Cowes Week earlier this year.

The J/95 is clearly a new concept for J Boats. However, in terms of the technical execution of the concept, the build quality and the overall performance of this sleek and pretty thirty-one footer, J Boats seem to have hit the market with the right product at the right time, again.

For creek hopping in shallow, tidal harbours or for enjoying a picnic off the beach the J/95 features a bronze centreboard that pivots and fully retracts up into a slot in the fixed lead keel. When lowered, the centreboard projects below the keel, giving a draft of 1.68 metres; with the centreboard retracted, the draft of the J/95 is reduced to just 91 centimetres, allowing the J/95 access to some of the most beautiful and secluded sailing waters of our coast, otherwise untouched by other performance sailboats.

To optimise steering control during shoal draft operation, the J/95 is specified with tandem rudders. Previously, boats with single shoal draft rudders have tended to suffer from crippling weather helm, especially when close reaching in a breeze. The twin rudders and wheel steering of the J/95 offer superb balance and control and there is plenty of room in the cockpit too. Below decks, she is comfortable and well thought out. She has two full length settee berths, a private heads, an optional double v-berth in the bow and designated locations for a microwave, grill and cooler.

Being a J Boat, the J/95 is designed with performance as a priority.  This smart little boat not only looks great but she also is built to ISO CE Mark Category ‘A’, which is defined as a vessel capable of crossing oceans. And of course she sails beautifully! With her optional masthead spinnaker and retractable bowsprit, she is perfectly capable of double-digit downwind speeds, and upwind, whether in ‘deep draft’ or ‘centreboard up’ mode, she will happily track along at 6.5 knots and outpoint most race boats.

The future for the J/95 in the shallow, estuarine waters of the UK coastline is bright; she represents a new and potent sailing package from J Boats, a shining star for the new season. No surprise then that the J/95 has just won SAIL Magazine’s 2010 Best Boats ‘Performance Sailboat’ Award.   Learn more about sailing the J/95 at SAIL's Best Boats Review.

Win a FREE APPLE iPod Touch!

Sailing Anarchy and J/Boats have partnered to provide you a fun contest for the holidays.  Take the challenge to identify the boats, the place and the month in the new 2010 J Sailing Calendar and compete to win some sweeeet swag.  Apple iPod Touch 8 GB, VISA Gift Cards, Hoodie sweatshirts, Polo shirts, sailing T-shirts, sailing caps and more.  All you need to do is read the contest rules, register and complete the contest questionnaire.  The contest starts December 16th, 2009 and ends Friday, January 15th, 2010.  Winners will be announced at the J/Tent during Key West Race Week, January 18th, 2010.  Learn more about the J/Sailing Anarchy Contest.

J/95 Wins CRUISING WORLD'S BOTY Awards

"Best Weekender" and "Best Domestic Boat of the Year"

(Middletown, R.I. - Cruising World magazine announced the winners of its 17th annual Boat of the Year awards. Topping this year's list of winners for the most anticipated awards in the sailboat industry was the J/95. The J/95 won the Domestic Boat of the Year award and the Best Weekender of the Year.

Four other boats also won awards from an independent panel of experts who inspected and tested 18 nominated boats following the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, earlier this year. Decisions were based on extensive dockside inspections and sea trials of the boats. All of the winners, along with the rest of the 2010 BOTY nominees and several other boats reviewed by the magazine's editors, are featured in the January issue of Cruising World.

In addition to claiming the Domestic Boat of the Year award, the J/95 was also named Best Weekender. "The judges were impressed with the J/95's sailing performance, functional accommodations, and shoal-draft keel/centerboard," said Cruising World senior editor Bill Springer. "At a time when many families are cruising waters closer to home, it's the ideal weekender for nearby bays, and it'll be up to longer coastal cruises when time permits."  Learn more about sailing the J /95 at CRUISING WORLD's BOTY Review.

Regatta & Show Schedules:

Jan. 2-8- J/24 Australian Championships- Sandringham YC
Jan 8-17- London Sailboat Show- London, England- J/95 & J/97
Jan. 18-22- Key West Race Week- Key West, FL
Jan. 18-22- J/80 Midwinter Championships- Key West, FL
Jan 28-31- San Diego Sunroad Sailboat Show- San Diego, CA
Feb. 6-10- J/24 Midwinters- Davis Island YC- Tampa, FL
Feb. 14- St. Pete NOOD- St. Petersburg YC- St. Petersburg, FL
Mar. 6-13- J/24 Copa de Mexico- Marina Riviera Nayarit
Mar. 11-14- J/22 Midwinters- Southern YC, New Orleans, LA
Apr. 8-11- Charleston Race Week- Charleston, SC

J Sailing Event Calendar- stay organized year-round for J sailing events, boat shows, seminars, regattas going on worldwide in the J/Community.  Check it out on-line here.

J/Concierge for Key West Race Week-  J/Boats will be there supporting our teams! There is premium dock space available at the Conch Republic Seafood. Individual slips (no rafting), easy in & out of the bight, short walk to the race tent and dock side drink service make this a favorite. We will also be coordinating a diver service. For more information contact Karen Yingling- karen@jconcierge.com or ph# (619) 665-5815

J/Regatta News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The J/80s continue to have a fun time sailing their winter series on the Mediterranean off Santander and Palma Majorca, Spain.  The J/105 and J/80 One Design classes are preparing for Key West Race Week-- amongst other J's participating include the famous J/125 STARK RAVING MAD, J/122s, J/120s,J/24s, J/29s and the champion J/109 RUSH.  Read on!  More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page!  Below are the summaries.

J/97 Race Results Update

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The J/97 JENGA had a remarkably successful debut racing season in UK waters this year.  Congratulations are in order to Paul and Marie-Claude Heys for their wonderful performances over a broad spectrum of weather conditions that are typical in the summer sailing season in England.  As a demonstration of its remarkable diversity, the J/97 won in drifting conditions with nary a ripple in sight to gale force, blowing dogs off chains, conditions with huge breaking waves.  Here was JENGA's record for 2009:

• 2nd in class and 27 overall out of 1779 starters, at the JPMorgan Round the Island Race
• Winner of Black Group Overall at Cowes Week – 6 race wins
• Overall Winner of Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta – 6 race wins
• Winner of J-Cup – 9 race wins
• Winner of RNLI Eastbourne Lifeboat Regatta – 4 race wins
• Learn more about sailing the J/97

J/24 Copa de Mexico Update

Wow, check this regatta out!

(Cabo, Mexico)- Jorge Castillo reports- "We are still three months away from the event and already have 52 boats with paid registration. We have crews registered from Brazil, Germany, Monaco, El Salvador, USA, Puerto Rico, Peru, Italy and Mexico! All preparations are going as expected, charter boats available are being assigned by Kenneth Porter this coming week and hotel accommodations are already posted on the website (we will send updated registration codes for discounted rates shortly). The competitor's villa has been designed to gather all participating classes; Offshore, J24, Kite surf. Optimist  and Windsurf during the two weeks of celebration. The title sponsor will be Nextel.  For more regatta information.

The Brothers Piris Dominate J/80 ECC Trophy

(Santander, Spain)-  The Piris brothers sailing their J/80 YATES & THINGS, skippered by Antonio, and FONESTAR, with James at the helm, took the top two positions in the first weekend for the ECC Trophy over a twenty five boat fleet.  With a light easterly wind on Saturday with a lot of current and a shifty 18-25 knot breeze on Sunday, the fleet was put to the test to stay out of trouble and in contention for the top five.

After a "black flag" Sunday,  which jumbled the standings considerably, the two Piris brothers, Antonio and James, dominated the regatta.  Following behind them were Alberto Padron on MABLE IV in third place and Ignacio Camino ni NEXTEL in fourth.  Champion sailor Torcida Pichu didn't have such a great weekend and managed fifth on ECC VIVIENDAS.  For more regatta information.

J/30 TEAM FUZZY Crew Views on NA's

(Cedar Point, CT)- Thanks for this story from Jon Eberly and Kelly Robinson who raced aboard FUZZY WUZZY: "Obviously, when you win the NAs, you are likely to feel pretty good about the regatta.  For “Team Fuzzy”, 2009 was certainly as good as it gets.  Our win in 2008 was terrific, but as shown in the on-line poll before the 2009 regatta, it wasn’t clear that we were anyone’s favorite!  We hadn’t sailed against Zephyr since they crushed the fleet in 2006—also at Cedar Point and sailing the same boat they used this year (Bayou Bleu).   Smiles and Fat City had both beaten us in the  One Design Regatta at Cedar Point earlier this year.  Furthermore, we were missing a couple of our long-time crew, including our tactician from last year, Bob Matthews.

Going into the regatta with such strong competition, we knew that every race would be critical and require total focus. Based on the forecast possibility for wind cancellation on Sunday, we also knew that regatta standings Saturday afternoon could be key to taking home the hardware. Our all-amateur crew brought a lot of experience to the course—five out of seven are boat owners and racing skippers, and everyone is a driver. On the water, we kept chatter to a minimum with everyone focused on their role (and watching for shifts, of course!)...."  A lot more to read on this story on the beautiful and newly revamped J/30 website.

J/Community:

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

* Rick Lyall, J/109 Class President, takes a look back on 2009- "Time flies. As we enter the last month of 2009, it seems remarkable that another year, and more importantly, another sailing season, at least for those of us in the northern half of the US, is coming to an end. As we reflect on the year, I’m sure many of you have mixed feelings. Some are sorry to see another year pass. Others are happy to wish 2009 good riddance given the economic challenges and volatile markets that have affected all of our lives.  Read more about Rick's 2009 Review of J/109 Sailing.

* J/World Racing Tips- When is a windshift shift worth tacking on?  And, when is it better to play the shifts versus going for stronger wind?  To answer questions like these it's helpful to know how much you'll gain in a shift.  If you can quantify your decisions, they are often easier to make.  Here are some rules of thumb regarding distance gained/lost in a wind shift:

• If your boat’s tacking (or gybing) angle is 90 degrees then you'll gain 12% of the distance between boats in a 5 degree shift, 25% in a 10 degree shift, 37% in a 15 degree shift and 48% in a 20 degree shift.
• Example:  If you get a 15 degree shift and you're 1/4 mile (1320') away from a competitor then you'll gain or lose 488’.  If you're sailing in a J/80 this equates to about 19 boatlengths.  That's a lot!
• If the tacking angle is larger,  then the percentage gain/loss is also larger.  Keep this in mind in light air when angles are greater.
• A big component of the final figure is the separation between boats.  This separation is often called "leverage"  Leverage can be good or bad depending on which way the shift goes.
• Tacticians should always run the "what if" numbers ahead of time.  This is especially helpful when considering hitting one side of a leg  due to an expected geographic shift caused by land.
• If you’re not the “numbers” type then consider this rule of thumb: In a shifting breeze consider tacking when the compass shows you below your median heading AND when you can cross more boats than you’ll have to duck.  Avoid the temptation to wait until you get enough of a shift to cross the majority of boats - stay in phase,  stay in a clear lane of air and don’t be greedy!

For information on any of J World's racing courses please contact J-World at 800-343-2255

Featured Boat

J/109 Race-ready for 2010

A 2005 freshwater J/109 ZEITGEIST is a proven winner.  She has only raced in the big events in Chicago/ Lake Michigan. The record speaks for itself- First in Sailing World NOOD Regatta- 2007, 2008, 2009. First 2007, 2008 Chicago-to-Mackinac Island Race. Third Overall 2009 North Americans. ZEITGEIST is in perfect condition. Looks like new, good updated sail inventory. For more information, please be sure to contact Rich Stearns at Stearns Boating- rich@stearnsboating.com. Ph# 312-994-9153

About J/Boats

Started in 1977, J/Boats continues to lead the world in designing fun-to-sail, easy-to-handle, performance sailboats that can be enjoyed by a broad spectrum of sailors.  The International J/24 has become the most popular recreational offshore keelboat in the world with over 5,400 J/24s cruising the waves. Today, there are 13,000+ J/Boats, ranging from the International J/22 to the J/65 and ranging in style from one-designs to racers, cruisers to daysailers and, of course, the ubiquitous J sprit boats- J/Boats' innovation in 1992 for easy-to-use asymmetric spinnakers and retractable carbon bowsprits (J/80, J/92, J/95, J/105, J/109, J/110, J/120, J/122, J/130, J/133, J/125, J/145, J/160).

J/Boats has the best track record in sailing for innovation and design as evidenced by:  11 Sailing World/ Cruising World Boat of the Year Awards in 14 years; 2 SAIL Awards for Industry Leadership; 2 American Sailboat Hall of Fame Designs (J/24 & J/35); and the three largest ISAF International One-Design keelboat classes (J/22, J/24, J/80).

Counting crew, every year there are over 100,000 friends to meet sailing J's, populating the most beautiful sailing harbors and sailing the waters of 35+ countries around the world.  Sailing is all about friends.  Come join us and expand your social network everywhere

For more information on J/Boats

J/Newsletter- December 9th, 2009

December 9th, 2009

NEW J/111 Speedster Info

Specs & Pricing - Dec 15th

For those of you eagerly awaiting the latest news on the J/111 project launching in late spring 2010, please be sure to contact your J/Dealers for pricing and specifications later next week.  Worldwide interest continues to grow stronger and several sailing areas are already in formative discussions about J/111 One-Design fleets.   Learn more about the J/111 One-Design Speedster

J/97 @ Salon Nautique de Paris

For J sailors on the Continent or the British/ Irish Isles, jump onto the fast trains and head for Paris for a fun weekend touring the magnificent Paris Sailboat Show.  J/Europe has the J/97 on display, the highly acclaimed new IRC 31 foot cruiser-racer.  The J/97 proved itself this past summer in European waters by winning its IRC class in the RORC Around Island Race, winning its IRC class in the J/Cup and winning its IRC class in Cowes Week-- quite a stellar beginning!  Learn more about the Paris Sailboat Show.

Start 2010 With The Creme de la Creme

Give the gift they'll love for 365 days a year.  Enjoy the beautiful photos from eight wonderful sailing photographers who've captured J's  doing epic wave-jumping upwind, to blazing a frothy wake planing downwind, to enjoying tranquil moments in romantic settings.  Get yourself organized for the New Year and treat yourself, family and friends to the new 2010 J/Sailing Calendar.  Don't forget the crew, too-- we have six-pack specials for them!  Learn more about the J/Sailing Calendar.

Regatta & Show Schedules:

Dec. 5-13- Paris Sailboat Show/ Salon Nautique de Paris
Dec. 12-13- J/22 Dutch Midwinters- Netherlands
Jan. 2-8- J/24 Australian Championships- Sandringham YC
Jan 8-17- London Sailboat Show- London, England
Jan. 18-22- Key West Race Week- Key West, FL
Jan. 18-22- J/80 Midwinter Championships- Key West, FL
Feb. 6-10- J/24 Midwinters- Davis Island YC- Tampa, FL
Feb. 14- St. Pete NOOD- St. Petersburg YC- St. Petersburg, FL
Mar. 11-14- J/22 Midwinters- Southern YC, New Orleans, LA
Apr. 8-11- Charleston Race Week- Charleston, SC

NEW Interactive J Sailing Event Calendar

To help keep you apprised of events, boat shows, seminars, regattas going on worldwide in the J/Community, we have created two very user-friendly formats on the J website to help schedule yourself, friends and crew for your future sailing plans.  We offer both the standard "calendar grid" that displays events by day, week or month and, for hosts and organizers of such J class events.  We will also offer the "table format" (coming soon) for an easy method to post and organize your events.   Please visit the new interactive J Sailing Calendar for events, seminars, regattas.

J/Concierge for Key West Race Week

As the New Year begins, the premiere racing event will kick off the season in Key West January 18th - 22nd. Once again, J/Boats will be there supporting our teams! There is premium dock space available once again this year at the Conch Republic Seafood. Individual slips (no rafting), easy in & out of the bight, short walk to the race tent and dock side drink service make this location a favorite. We will also be coordinating a diver service. For more information and to make a dock or diver reservation, please contact Karen Yingling, J/Concierge at karen@jconcierge.com or ph# (619) 665-5815

J/Regatta News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The summer sailing season is driving into higher gear Down Under.  The Australian offshore regatta circuit has some keen competition with a J/35, J/109, J/122 and J/130 leading the pack.  Proving many America's Cup pundits wrong, several J Sailors in the Middle East (Dubai Offshore Sailing Club) blitzed around the Straits of Hormuz in the Dubai-Muscat Race.  The winter Carribean sailing season is just getting underway, grateful that no major hurricanes wiped out some of the world's better watering holes.   Read on!  More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page!  Below are the summaries.

J/92 Wins Dubai-Muscat Race

Matt Britton's PRIVATEER Wins Big on Arabian Gulf

(Dubai, United Arab Emirates/ Muscat- Dec 6th)- While the boys playing in the America's Cup sandbox continue throwing exploding bricks at one another, the real sailors that use real gear to sail real sailboats (like J's) were having a great time taking in the best that the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman have to offer-- interesting vistas, gorgeous water, spectacular sunset and sunrise and often times a beautiful breeze.

Matt Britton and his merry bandits from the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club walked away (some say stole) the overall Division 2 prize in the 360 nautical mile Dubai to Muscat Offshore Race.   Sailing PRIVATEER, "the old bird of the J/92 fleet i.e. Hull # 2", as Matt describes her, they set out for Muscat from the Dubai Offshore sailing club on the 26th of November.  Basically, you start in Dubai (part of the United Arab Emirates) and sail down the Arabian Gulf, turn right around the cape that forms the infamous 25 mile wide Straits of Hormuz (between Iran and the Emirates) and head down through the Gulf of Oman to Muscat.

Matt's account of their race was quite amusing: "The start was not exactly what you would call text book and being the smallest boat in class we watched the fleet disappearing over the horizon on the first night. Fickle winds and lots of sail changes lead us up to the straits of Hormus and we were pleased to hear our main rivals rush Knot checking in with the Oman coast guard as we went for “The Gap” meaning we were still in touch.  The usual course of the race is to round the top and reach or run the remaining 200 miles. Not this year ! We stayed close hauled most of the way choosing to stay offshore and declining the invitation of potential land breezes. This proved to be the decisive in staying with the breeze.  Despite sitting outside Muscat for a frustrating seven hours we pulled into Marina Bander Rowda in Muscat not only IRC Handicap winners  for division 2 but first over the water in our division-- a fleet that included a Seaquest 32, Beanteau 36.7 and a Fast 42. We also managed 4th place overall in IRC.  A Big "Thanks" to the crew Who included Matt  Britton (owner and Skipper), Ryan (sundowner) Bray, Caroline (pooh sticks) Lassen , Teagan (Pasty) Rowlands and Josie (on Deck) Walsh."

J/122 JACKPOT Wins IRC Sydney Series

Entwistle's Team Takes CYCA Short Ocean Series Down to the Wire

(Sydney, Australia- Dec. 5th)- The final race of the 6 race Short Ocean Pointscore Series was held on Saturday 5th December.  It was going to be a nail biter because the first 3 yachts were tied on points for first place, so the final race would decide the winner.  The way the drops were working the J/122 JACKPOT sailed by Ray and Sandra Entwistle needed to win by 2 places to secure the series for IRC Class 1.  That was a tough call given the skill level of the competition.

The fleet awoke to a glorious Sydney summer day, about 25 degrees C, and a soft 8-10 knot E/SE breeze.   The seas outside the Sydney heads had abated, with only a slight swell remaining after the southerly from the previous night.  They were also racing for the ‘David Burke Memorial Trophy’.

With a combined fleet of 22 yachts on the start line ranging from 40 footers to 60 footers - the J/122 at 40 feet was amongst the smallest.  According to Ray,  "Our initial concern was not to be buried at the start by the larger yachts in the fleet.  We stayed back a little at the start which allowed us to come in at the committee boat end and tack into clean air.  We had a pretty clean beat to get out of the heads, and then our tactician Ian picked the wind shifts perfectly to the top mark which was about 6nm offshore. The course was windward / leewards so we popped our 155sq.m asymmetric running kite for the downwind legs, and with first-rate trimming by Hedgey we ran just as square as the symmetric rigged boats. The design work on the asymmetric kites by ‘Ian Short Sailmakers’ is excellent.   After 3 laps around the course we had maintained our lead.  The finish was a kite run/broad reach back through Sydney Harbour Heads, then a quick gybe and a reach down Sydney H arbour to the committee boat at Watson's Bay.  We just simply had a great days' sailing.  The crew worked seamlessly and our J/122 JACKPOT just revelled in the conditions. We came in 1st in IRC, and most importantly, the required 2 places ahead of our main rivals that enabled us to win the series in Division 1."

Ray's perspective on the J/122 after a season's worth of sailing is helpful for those of you considering a great all-round racer-cruising yacht- "The main thing about the J/122’s performance is her consistency.  Our worst result over the 6 race series was third, and given that the series had all types of wind conditions from 6-8 knots up to 30-35 knots, and from windward/leeward courses to 40nm return passage races, there is a lot to be said for her consistent performance.  Her accomplishments are no fluke – this is the same series in which JACKPOT finished equal first in the Australian Autumn, just after she was commissioned.  She just doesn’t have any vices."

"Special thanks to our crew – Ian, Hedgey (Glen), Darren, James, Emmy, Cassandra and Caroline for their consistent effort and skill which really made this race series a lot of fun" said Ray and Sandra Entwistle.

J/35 SOUNDTRACK Wins IRC 3 Off Sydney

Father/ Son Team Lead CYCA Spring Series

(Sydney, Australia- Dec. 5th)-  The J/Boats are really making an impact around the Sydney racing circles in this year's 2009/2010 summer sailing season.  The J/35 SOUNDTRACK sailed and owned by Tim Cox, and sailed by his son Edward, finished first in Division 3 in the final race of the CYCA Short Ocean Pointscore Series, thereby winning the Spring Series.  Even though she is one of the older J/Boat designs, this race series proves she is still a very competitive boat.  Congratulations to Edward and his crew.

Of note-  Across the harbour at Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, Tony Coleman is busy getting his J/133 EUPHORIA up to speed.  As Tony and crew  get to know the boat better, they're beginning to score firsts, seconds and thirds on IRC over the past weeks.  More news on them soon.

J/24 Australian Championships

(Sandringham, Australia)- The resurgent J24 one design keelboat class, with expanding fleets in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia, will be holding its national title regatta at the stunning new $12.75m Sandringham Yacht Club from 2 to 8 January 2010. These are the first nationals to be hosted by SYC since building was completed in October 2009.  Oover 20 boats and 100+ c ompetitors are expected, including some of the finest sailors in the country. Sean Wallis, Sean Kirkjian, Doug McGain, David Suda and Hugo Ottaway will provide the competition for the most fiercely competitive Australian titles for some years. Added to these illustrious names are the all women's crew on HYPERACTIVE which last year won two heats in the same event.  First place immediately qualifies for The J/24 World Championships in Sweden, September, 2010    Learn more about the J/24 Australian Championships.

J/Community:

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

* GEL (Group Experiential Learning)  has become the official supplier of "Leadership Development and Team Building" for US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG). As part of their program, they're organizing a number of events for AlphaGraphics and other clients on J/80's where the participants will be racing with Olympians and current Olympic-hopefuls who are members of USSTAG. 

Founded by Jay Palace from San Francisco, he had this to say about why he started GEL- "I'm a long time J/Boat sailor and a former J/World Annapolis and J/World San Francisco Instructor.  I run a company called Group Experiential Learning, (GEL) and what we do is create high end sailboat-based leadership development programs across the country and in select international locations.  Our very first partner organization was J/World Annapolis, and we work frequently with both JWA and J/World San Francisco.  We also organize events on J/22's in Chicago and Newport and on J/24's in San Francisco and New York City.  Personally I own a J/22 called LOST & FOUND which I keep and race in Paradise Cay, Tiburon, CA.  To learn more about Jay's GEL program for "building high performance teams via active sailing experiences". 

*  2nd Annual Carlos Aguilar Match Race - Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands- Sailing with crew that has had years of experience sailing J/24s and the converted IC 24s, Peter Holmberg, Maurice Kurg, Morgan Avery and Ben Beer (ISV)  defeated Taylor Canfield, Max Nickbarg, Tyler Rice and Chris Rosenberg (ISV) in an all US Virgin Islands final at the 2nd Annual Carlos Aguilar Match Race. Holmberg took Canfield down with two straight wins in the best of three finals in the Grade 3 Match Race in which junior sailors and locals went head to head against America's Cup skippers and sailors who have reached the top of the match race standings in their careers.  Racing in the beautiful natural amphitheater of St. Thomas' harbor, the sailors enjoyed 4 perfect days of sailing in the double round-robin, semi and finals event. Consistent trade winds of 10-15 knots, sunshine and warm weather treated the racers to some of the best sailing in the world. In the Women's division, the #1 Women's Match Racing team in the world, Claire Leroy, Eladie Bertrand, Clarie Pruvot, and Marie Riou (FRA) defeated the US Women's Match Racing Champion and the defending Carlos Aguilar Match Race Champion, Genny Tulloch and her team, which included Sally Barkow, Alana O'Reilly and Amanda Callahan in two matches in the first to two wins final.  Claire Leroy (FRA) and Genny Tulloch (USA) dispatched their Semi-Final opponents by winning three straight against Katy Pilley-Lovell (USA) and Julie Bossard (FRA), respectively.  Learn more about this regatta.

Featured Boat

J/109 Race-ready for 2010

A 2005 freshwater J/109 ZEITGEIST is a proven winner.  She has only raced in the big events in Chicago/ Lake Michigan. The record speaks for itself- First in Sailing World NOOD Regatta- 2007, 2008, 2009. First 2007, 2008 Chicago-to-Mackinac Island Race. Third Overall 2009 North Americans. ZEITGEIST is in perfect condition. Looks like new, good updated sail inventory. For more information, please be sure to contact Rich Stearns at Stearns Boating- rich@stearnsboating.com/ ph- 847-446-5610

About J/Boats

Started in 1977, J/Boats continues to lead the world in designing fun-to-sail, easy-to-handle, performance sailboats that can be enjoyed by a broad spectrum of sailors.  The International J/24 has become the most popular recreational offshore keelboat in the world with over 5,400 J/24s cruising the waves. Today, there are 13,000+ J/Boats, ranging from the International J/22 to the J/65 and ranging in style from one-designs to racers, cruisers to daysailers and, of course, the ubiquitous J sprit boats- J/Boats' innovation in 1992 for easy-to-use asymmetric spinnakers and retractable carbon bowsprits (J/80, J/92, J/95, J/105, J/109, J/110, J/120, J/122, J/130, J/133, J/125, J/145, J/160).

J/Boats has the best track record in sailing for innovation and design as evidenced by:  11 Sailing World/ Cruising World Boat of the Year Awards in 14 years; 2 SAIL Awards for Industry Leadership; 2 American Sailboat Hall of Fame Designs (J/24 & J/35); and the three largest ISAF International One-Design keelboat classes (J/22, J/24, J/80).

Counting crew, every year there are over 100,000 friends to meet sailing J's, populating the most beautiful sailing harbors and sailing the waters of 35+ countries around the world.  Sailing is all about friends.  Come join us and expand your social network everywhere! 

For more information on J/Boats:
http://www.jboats.com/intro.htm

J/Newsletter- December 2nd, 2009

December 2nd, 2009

Give The Gift That Lasts All Year!

The new 2010 J/Sailing Calendar will bring enjoyment and inspiration to your friends and family.  It's a beautiful and useful calendar for sailors who love and appreciate the ultimate joys of sailing a J in some of the most spectacular harbors and waters of the world. Whether you are a cruising, competitive or armchair sailor, the stunning photographs will transport you to wonderful sailing experiences in far away places- from thrilling rides surfing downwind in the Pacific to tranquil, romantic, sunset anchorages off St. Tropez.  For those who love the sailing lifestyle, it's the ultimate gift for your family and friends.  Learn more about the J/Sailing Calendar

Regatta & Show Schedules:

Dec. 5-13- Paris Sailboat Show- Paris, France
Dec. 12-13- J/22 Dutch Midwinters- Holland
Jan 8-17- London Sailboat Show- London, England
Jan. 18-22- Key West Race Week- Key West, FL
Jan. 18-22- J/80 Midwinter Championships- Key West, FL
Feb. 14- St. Pete NOOD- St. Petersburg YC
April 8-11- Charleston Race Week- Charleston, SC
June 26-July 3- J/22 Worlds- Schveningen, Holland

We now have an interactive, on-line J/Sailing Calendar for J/Sailing events.

J/Regatta & Cruising News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The Americas are still suffering a food "coma" from too much Thanksgiving food from last weekend.  The Europeans, however, were doing all they can to keep it together and get around the race track in one piece in England and Spain due to gale force winds.  The J Cruisers were having a grand old time, with two J/130s having a chance encounter/ party in Mexico and a J/42 passed a 50,000 mile cruising milestone!   Read on!  More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page!  Below are the summaries.  Photo Credit- Jesus Renedo/ SailingStock.com 

Garmin Hamble Winter Series

J/109, J/105 and J/80 Fleets Thrashed in Squalls

(Solent, Hamble, England)- Driving rain and vicious squalls marked the final day of the 2009 Garmin Hamble Winter Series on November 29, and with around 25% of retirees it was clearly a demanding day. A rapidly changing low pressure system had made for a tough early morning call, and with both Black and White Fleets cleared for racing in what initially seemed acceptable conditions, it soon became clear that the sports boats could not race safely in the increasing gusts.

For the Black Fleet, the committee laid a start line near Fastnet Insurance buoy and two separate courses were set for the seven IRC and one-design classes. With a wind direction of 200 degrees and a west-going tide the DAKS race buoy was chosen as the first windward mark for all classes.

The J/105 class had a short course finishing at Air Canada. Visibility was changing constantly as each rain squall hit the fleet, and but for some spectacular broaches and spinnaker failures the day was a testament to the good seamanship displayed throughout this competitive series. Even if some were hating the conditions, there were others who called up the race committee with thanks for a great day out as they crossed the finish line. With seven races completed in the Black Fleet series, one race result could be discarded. Overall results in the J/105 fleet: Paul Griffiths on Fay-J is first with 11 points, followed by Simon Curwen on Voador (14) and Chris Jones on Journeymaker 5 (15).

The J/109 class saw class leaders David and Kirsty Apthorp win in J-DREAM with six points followed by Luca Rubinelli in ARIA with fifteen points and OUTRAJEOUS sailed by Richard and Valerie Griffith in third with seventeen.

The J/80s had some spectacular sailing with some wildly planing legs.  The survivors amongst that group included John Cooper sailing well to win on OI! with nineteen points.  Ian Atkins hung in there for second place onboard BOATS.COM with thirty one points and coming in third was Thor Askeland racing ELLE SAPPELLE.  Photo Credits- Paul Wyeth/ PW Pictures    For more sailing and regatta information

J/80 MUNDIALITO CUP

Pichu Torcida's ECC VIVIENDAS Wins

(Santander, Spain- Nov. 29) - This trophy is hosted each year in Santander with many of Spain's best sailors invited to climb in different boats and spend a weekend with their Cantabrian friends and sailors.  This year, Pichu Torcida continued his winning ways racing ECC VIVIENDAS and winning over the twenty four boat fleet.  His VIP "luxury guest" was Malaga Mainemare Vivi and rounding out his crew were Alex Muscat, Pure Ruigómez and Charly Martinez.

The weekend of racing started out with a postponement on Saturday as winds were gusting upwards of forty knots.  On Sunday morning, the sailors enjoyed a beautiful day, with two closely contested races, especially between ECC VIVIENDAS and MAGNIFYING GLASS. The winds were very shifty and puffy and, along with high tide, permitted the boats to play the shores and the beaches for tactical and strategic advantage.

While ECC VIVIENDAS won, Cesar Obregon and David Marazo sailed to a regatta-winning combination of 1-2 on Sunday but were disqualified for inadvertently touching the mark with their boom.  Of note were some good performances from the "guest" sailors.  YATES & THINGS, with Toño Piris at the helm and Vicente Tirado as a guest had a 4-11.   PROPERNOR led one race with current World Junior Champions  Tara Pacheco and Berta Betanzos on board.

After ECC VIVIENDAS in second place was  SPACE 10 sailed by Chuny Bermudez de Castro.  And, in third overall on the podium was FUNDESTIC sailed by Antonio Gorostegui.  For more sailing and regatta information

J/80 Palma Otonocon Trophy

(Palma, Majorca- Nov. 28)- Palma's fleet continues Otoñocon Trophy celebrating the fourth day. On Saturday 28th of November they played two more races of the championship. For the time being leading the fleet is 'Portcall' by Jose Carlos Frau, followed by 'Jose Luis Ferrer Winery' Roses Antonio about unreachable 23 points of difference. Close on the podium is 'Expresso' by Jaime Fiol and Eduardo Horrach.  For more sailing and regatta information.

J/Community:

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

* The Great Adventure- Dr. Paul McDonough wrote about his experience on the J/42 EIGHT BELLS cruising somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle in the Sargasso Sea.  "So, there you are sitting around on yet another woolen, gray, Sunday afternoon in New England in November.  And, as you’re thumbing through the travel section, you stumble across the full-page color glossy ad for the Willauer Cruise Line’s annual romantic passage on Eight Bells from the “Pink sand beaches of Historic St. Georges in Bermuda to the soothing tropical paradise of the Virgin Islands”.  Before you get all jiggy and succumb to the toe-tapping refrain of “ooey, ooey, baby” of Sam Cooke or Jimmy Buffet’s attitude change, which might begin to sound between your chilly ears, read on.

Having read bits of Carol’s e-mails, I said to myself “Boy, am I glad I wasn’t on that trip!”  Then, I realized, I had been and it occurred to me that both sailing and childbirth had an essential component of amnesia.  Otherwise, there would be no human race and the western hemisphere would be unfettered by marauding Eurocentric, phallocentric, christo centric, smallpox bearing interlopers, and to this day would have its indigenous peoples carrying on their traditional, quaint rituals of human sacrifice, infanticide, cannibalism and sweat lodges awaiting the end of the world on December 21, 2012, without ever having celebrated a single Thanksgiving or even seeing one episode of Monty Python.

Every great saga of the sea from Homer, Coleridge, and Melville ends.  Some end positively, with a buoyant, uplifting, happy finish, like the iceberg that brought Harvard a new library in 1912, or Melville’s launch of the “Save the Albino Handicapped Cetacean Movement”.  Others, though, end sadly, even tragically, like the cancellation of Gilligan to reruns, after a mere 7 seasons.  Ours, too, ended.  Not, however, before the following occurred:

Let’s begin with the weather.  There was some.  In fact, there was all of it. It seems our friend, Ida, didn’t quite behave as expected, baffling and inspiring Aeolus, the other weather Gods and us.

Like most major cruise lines, the Willauer Line, which might more appropriately be named the “Don’t Stop the Carnival Cruise Line”, had a 24-hour, all-you-can-eat buffet.  It was vastly over-hyped.  The standard was set when the sommelier, Jeff, said “Drink the water and try to keep it down”, and “how do you want your saltine?”  Dinner on Tuesday was another mega-feast when we gingerly tried a peanut butter cracker.  Wednesday was the banana.

The cruise was a bit like a cross between Outward Bound, absent the Canyon Ranch pampering, food, or, for that matter, character-building and my Great (times 5) Grandfather Kunte O’Bama McDonough’s maiden voyage from the Old Country on the Middle Passage cruise on the Proto Luxury liner, Good Ship Amistad. 

It was a bit like being a Turducken.  Why a Turducken, you might ask?  Well, it was like being in a washing machine on the cycle that miners use for their coal dust bibs, marinating in diesel fuel, food scraps, metal filings, fish scales, laundry which never made it to the laundry with the ingredients that gave it the title “soiled” in the first place, all sorts of girl chemicals and devices from Carol’s locker, stuffed into the belly of a mechanical bronc at Gillies in Pasadena, Texas and all put inside the mid-ship of a Trojan Horse to be left for a week in the unventilated convection oven of the 17th latitude.

There was no need for naturalist on board since over the 6 days we saw no, that is no sign of life beyond the unfortunate, soggy examples on board.  No birds, no fish, no bugs, no nothing.  Empirical confirmation of Darwin’s correctness and our position on the wrong side of the long-term survival equation.

It was a week of notable milestones during the maelstrom.  First, our trusty vessel celebrated her passage of 50,000 miles of voyaging throughout the World; although 40,000 or so of those happened since we left Bermuda.  And, second, Conor celebrated his 33rd birthday, expressing the hope that all future birthdays would be similarly festive.

It was also a week of green flashes.  A meteorological refraction version of which occurred on Thursday, but they began on Monday with Conor’s basil complexion, continuing with the split pea soup and, finally, with the multi-grain science project on Saturday.

There was no need for a lecture in cultural anthropology on board, since we had Andrew.  There is nothing like a 20-year old, barely post-adolescent to pinpoint the lowest common denominator of conversation.  With 24 hours to work with, he was able to squeeze in more than an ample supply of 2nd grade poopy talk, egged on and aided by, fellow dude, Dr. McDonough.

Despite all the unpleasantness we had a great crew, talented experienced mariners.  Peter rose to every challenge and there were many.  Jeff and Andrew were superb sailors and companions.  When they find our notes in the bottles and the Navy Seals assault team comes, we wish no harm for our captors.  There’s a Stockholm syndrome aspect to our situation.

I don’t want to paint an overly negative portrait of our voyage.  It certainly could have been worse.  After all, we could have been out in fair weather playing golf."

* J/130s Cruising in Mexico- Lee Pryor and Cathy Sweet were sailing their J/130 SCIROCCO going further south after participating in the annual "Baja Ha-Ha" cruise.  Here's her account of their chance encounter:  "What's the probability that two J130's would meet each other in a small remote cove in Central Mexico?  That's what happened last week when Sirocco, owned by Lee Pryor and Cathy Sweet of Oceanside, CA met up unexpectedly with SCEPTRE, owned by Bob Musor and Terri Guerra of Alameda, CA in Yelapa, Mexico.  Yelapa is a very small, quaint town accessible only by boat in south Banderas Bay.  Both SCIROCCO and SCEPTRE participated in the 2009 Baja Ha-Ha cruisers' rally which departs from San Diego and ends in Cabo San Lucas.  But the two boats didn't know each other's plans after the rally."  Cool, eh?

Featured Boat

NEW J/105 Race-ready for 2010

US Watercraft will have a race-prepped and ready-to-rock new J/105 ready to ship by January 2010.  USW does a gorgeous job of building these J/105s.  For those of you interested in jumping aboard the fun, competitive J/105 fleet this is  a great opportunity to get a rocket-ship and go have fun next year.  These USW sailboats have beautifully fair hulls, keels and rudders and are nicely appointed below.  The deck and rigging are top notch and are race-ready.

For more information, please be sure to contact you J/Dealer or J/Boats- Ph# 401-846-8410 or email- info@jboats.com.

About J/Boats

Started in 1977, J/Boats continues to lead the world in designing fun-to-sail, easy-to-handle, performance sailboats that can be enjoyed by a broad spectrum of sailors.  The International J/24 has become the most popular recreational offshore keelboat in the world with over 5,400 J/24s cruising the waves. Today, there are 13,000+ J/Boats, ranging from the International J/22 to the J/65 and ranging in style from one-designs to racers, cruisers to daysailers and, of course, the ubiquitous J sprit boats- J/Boats' innovation in 1992 for easy-to-use asymmetric spinnakers and retractable carbon bowsprits (J/80, J/92, J/95, J/105, J/109, J/110, J/120, J/122, J/130, J/133, J/125, J/145, J/160).

J/Boats has the best track record in sailing for innovation and design as evidenced by:  11 Sailing World/ Cruising World Boat of the Year Awards in 14 years; 2 SAIL Awards for Industry Leadership; 2 American Sailboat Hall of Fame Designs (J/24 & J/35); and the three largest ISAF International One-Design keelboat classes (J/22, J/24, J/80).

Counting crew, every year there are over 100,000 friends to meet sailing J's, populating the most beautiful sailing harbors and sailing the waters of 35+ countries around the world.  Sailing is all about friends.  Come join us and expand your social network everywhere! 

For more information on J/Boats

J/Newsletter- November 25th, 2009

November 25th, 2009

J/111 Rocketing Out of the Blocks

Worldwide interest in J's latest speedster seems to be growing exponentially every week.  From every corner of our blue planet, enthusiasm for a fun, easy-to-sail 36 footer continues to grow-- and it's from all members of the sailing community.  Not just J sailors.  People who've sailed other racer-cruiser production boats, out-of-control over-canvassed "wedges of cheese" and everything in between.  Everyone appears to be zeroed in on having a great time, with great performance and solid R.O.I --- in the J vernacular, that means FUN for the dollar!  Specs and pricing will be out in December.  Don't be surprised if you have a hard time getting one-- we've had overwhelming interest in the J/111-- talk to your J/Dealer now!  Learn more about this exciting new sailboat.

J/95 Wins SAIL Magazine's 2010 Best Boats "Performance Sailboat" Award

The Performance Sailboat category was populated with an excellent group of new boats, including the J/97, each of which are sporty, forward-thinking racer-cruisers.  Ultimately, the J/95 edged out its competition by virtue of an interesting combination of features that combine to make it a potent sailing package-- its centerboard, twin rudders, cockpit layout and powerful, well-balanced sail plan.
Thanks to its shoal-keel, the J/95 unlocks entire areas to one-design racing that were previously unable to accommodate fixed-keel sailboats.  This is beginning to happen now in such areas as the Chesapeake, Florida and the lakes in Europe.  As SAIL said, "If you want a grin-inducing ride every time you go sailing, the J/95 could be the boat for you."

Learn more about sailing the J/95.       SAIL Magazine Review

J Sailing Calendar Is A Hit!

The reviews are in from the madding crowds at J Dealers and J Sailors from around the world--  the J Sailing Calendar is a cool, breathtakingly beautiful and very useful calendar to keep not just the parents organized, but the kids headed in the right direction and your work week organized most of the time in today's hectic schedules.  And, for adult "playtime" we've added another wrinkle into the equation- an interactive version of the J Sailing Calendar.  Cool, eh?  The J Sailing Calendar of events, regattas, seminars, boatshows and so forth are now posted "live on-line" for you to coordinate your sailing schedules with one another.  Whether you have an Apple iPhone, RIM Crackberry, Nokia Smartphone, Motorola Droid (yup, that Google Android thing) you can now download at the click of a button your sailing schedule for most major sailing events worldwide that are attended by the extended family of J sailors and friends.  That's not all-- much, much more cool stuff soon!   Learn more about the J Sailing Calendar

Regatta & Show Schedules:

Nov. 8-29- GARMIN Winter Series (J/80, J/109, J/105)- Solent, Hamble, England
Nov. 18-21- J/24 South Americans- Porto Alegre, Brazil- Veleiros do Sul
Dec. 5-13- Paris Sailboat Show- Paris, France
Jan. 8-17, 2010- London Sailboat Show- London, England
Jan. 18-22, 2010- Key West Race Week- Key West, FL

J/Regatta News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The Americas and Australia continue taking a breather, especially the Americans celebrating their Thanksgiving this week.  The action was way, way too windy in Europe.  And, in South America, the Brazilians, Peruvians, Chileans and Argentineans sailed the J/24 South Americans in Porto Alegre, Brazil.  Read on!  More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page!  Below are the summaries.  Photo Credit- ChapiFoto.com

Garmin Hamble Winter Series

J/109, J/105 and J/80 Fleets Postpone Sailing

(Solent, Hamble, England)- This past weekend the Winter Series saw all racing canceled, postponing in effect until next week.  The fleet made some spirited attempts to work around what amounted to a near hurricane, e.g. the double-red flags on the Beaufort Wind Scale - Force 10.  However, the strength and the persistence of the Low was far too overwhelming to even consider venturing forth onto the infamous Solent.  Can't imagine what a 6 knots current again gusts up to 60 knots might look like--  how about a webcam mounted on a titanium tripod on the Bramble Bank in the middle of the Solent-- would be kinda cool! 

In short, the UK MET Office issued all kinds of dire warnings.  The BBC was positively shrill...worried perhaps that train service would again cease operations because leaves blown into the air-intakes would stop the trains running again.  As one of the Race Officers put it, "latest info we have is SW 25 - 30 kts, with gusts to 45 kts, increasing towards midday with averages of 35 kts with gusts to near 60 kts in thundery showers. This forecast has increased again since last night and racing is clearly impractical."  Good on ya, the pubs clearly appreciated the windfall business.  For more regatta and sailing info

J/24 South American Championship (Los Sud Americanos)

Argentinean Rossi and SHARK Team Win

(Costa Del Sol, Brazil)-  The Argentine team, led by Alejandro Rossi, won the South American Class J24 which ended on Saturday in South Sailboat In rank he was vice commander Brazilian Mauricio Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro. And the Uruguayan Diego Garcia, who began leading the competition, finished third. The three final races were very exciting with heated competition among the top five in the fleet; in fact nearly full blown match racing between the current J/24 World Champion and the ultimate race winner.

When crossing in 3rd place at the finish line of the last race, the crew of the boat SHARK celebrated their victory nearly shouting themselves hoarse. Skipper Alejandro Rossi, 34, had won for the first time the South American title after sailing for fifteen years in the J/24 class. "The Brazilian, Mauritius Santa Cruz, offered tough competition on the race course, it was important to sail with great speed and be sensitive to changes in the wind. Santa Cruz is three times J/24 World Champion, so we expected a tough battle," said Alejandro.  Another element of difficulty was the weather, pointed out Mr. Rossi. "The wind streaks were complicated, with very fickle wind, both in direction and intensity and with a lot of rain."

The Mauritius Rio Santa Cruz team from Brazil sailed better in the last few races, but it was not enough for the title. Mauritius regretted having started the racing in bad form on the first day. "We lacked a bit of calmness and focus in the beginning. I sailed with a new crew.  Sailing as a team is very important and we learned fast.  All who were with me here are excellent," said the current J/24 World Champion.  Santa Cruz said his team was Andre "Cheek" Fonseca, Marcos Grael, Georgia Roberts and Frederick Sidou.

Finishing third not too far off the pace from the two leaders, Rossi and Santa Cruz, was Uruguayan Diego Garcia, finishing with 26 points.

After the bad weather during the week, forcing cancellation of racing on Thursday, conditions were favorable for good sailing the last few days. The wind in Guaíba was east, with an average wind speed of 12 knots.  This meant everyone was fast, so you had to sail nearly perfectly to maintain lanes and get the right wind shifts.

Captain of the Brazilian J/24 Class, Cláudio Ruschel said he was pleasantly surprised with the fleet turnout-- "We have a promising future", he says. Ruschel was fifth in this year's J/24 South American Championship.

The J/24 South Americans sailed nine races from Wednesday until Saturday with a total participation of fourteen boats from Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay. The 2010 edition will be held from 15 to 20 November in La Punta, Callao, Lima, Peru.    For regatta, sailing, information.

J/Community:

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

* Steve McManus- J/109 owner of SAYKADOO has been on an upward trajectory since getting his team rolling in the past year on his J/109. Local Annapolis papers had a nice profile on Steve and his team this past fall. It was entitled "SAYKADOO Tops Tight Wednesday Night Class" by Bill Wagner. "There are not many classes more competitive than PHRF A2 of the Annapolis Yacht Club's Wednesday Night Races. Four of the thirteen registered boats have the exact same rating (75) while several others are extremely close to that figure.

That is evidenced by the fact four different boats won a race during Series 2, which wrapped up last Wednesday. SAYKAYDOO, the J/109 skippered by Steve McManus, did not win any of the five races held between June 10 and July 29, but nonetheless wound up capturing PHRF A2 Class for Series 2.

"The whole fleet is very evenly matched. The rating band is extremely small among the top seven or eight boats", said McManus. "It was simply a matter of consistency for our boat. We weren't able to win a race, but we were always in the money." Indeed, SAYKADOO counted three seconds and a third in totaling nine points, just one better than Jeffrey Caruso's Ben 36.7 SHOCK WAVE. Only five points separated the first and fifth place boats.

"I'm blessed to have a regular crew and we do a lot of cross-training so that people can fill in other positions if someone can't make it out for whatever reason", says McManus. Dave Robinson (pit), Stuart Numan (jib, spinnaker), Bob Taylor (tactics, bow), Jack Hunt (jib, spinnaer), Don Handy (main, bow), Carl Turek (pit) and Marie Dallacqua (mast) comprise the regular crew aboard SAYKADOO, which also won Series 1. In fact, McManus is on a bit of a roll, having won Series 2 and placed second in Series 1 last year. "We've been doing the Wednesday Night Series for about six years and we seem to be getting the hang of what it takes to be successful", he said.

Competition was equally close in two other PHRF classes...with Richard Born's J/120 WINDBORN second in Class A1.

In the nineteen boat J/105 class, it all came down to the wire with the Salvesen/Lewis team on MIRAGE edging out Peter Schellie on FREEDOM in the battle of the family-based boats. In third was Jim Konigsberg's INIGO.

For the J/30s, Steve and Katherine Bardelman on VALHALLA vanquished their fleet of eight boats, leading home Bill Wallop's CANNONBALL and Ron Anderson's INSATIABLE in second and third, respectively.

The J/35s had a wonderful turnout this year with seven boats. Barry Moss's BAD COMPANY won by a landslide over the perennial competitor AUNT JEAN, ably raced by the team of Kaminer/Christofel in second and Mark McGonigle rounding out the podium in third onboard WINDEPENDENT.

* Carlos Aguilar Match Race - the event is being held in the IC-J/24s in St. Thomas, USVI. "We enjoy racing in St. Thomas. The conditions are great," said Genny Tulloch, after her team's recent victory at US Sailing's 2009 Women's Match Racing Championship, hosted by St. Thomas Yacht Club. Tulloch is becoming one of USVI's biggest cheerleaders. The Californian has won two major match racing championships this year in St. Thomas. She will return to the spectator-friendly waterfront of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI to defend her title in the Second Annual Carlos Aguliar Match Race, December 2-6, 2009.

Tulloch will face stiff completion from Claire Leroy (FRA) and her 2007 and 2008 Women's World Match Racing Champion team. Women's International Matching Racing Association President, Liz Bayliss (USA) and her team are among the top ranked WIMRA teams returning to the warm Caribbean waters for one of the few ISAF Grade I Women's Match Racing events in North America. Marie Rameris (POR) and Renata Decnop (BRA), Katy Pilley-Lovell (USA), Julie Brossard (FRA) and Kelly O'Brien-Uszenski (ISV) and her all Virgin Island crew will round out the international fleet.

In the open event, Virgin Island sailing and match racing legend, Peter Holmberg has an all Virgin Islands team. Holmberg's trusted tactician, trimmer and bowman for many years, Maurice Kurg, Morgan Avery and Ben Beer, bring more local knowledge and seasoned IC 24 boat-handling skills to the team.

Holmberg won the USVI's first and only Olympic medal and continues to inspire Caribbean sailors. His proteges love trying to take races and matches off of the America's Cup skipper and former #1 match racer in the world. Taylor Canfield (USVI), winner of the 2008 Carlos Aguliar Regatta, will field a strong team to defend his title. Team COORS-LIGHT, with Frits Bus at the helm, Andrew Rapley as tactician, Chuck Pessler as trimmer and Tommy Koyskin as bowman have won many Caribbean regattas on their Melges 24 are up for the challenge as are; Juan Carlos Escobar (ELS), Collin Rathbon (IVB), Fraito Lugo (PUR), Jes Gram Hansen (DEN) and Dave Perry (USA). -- Lynn Fitzpatrick- More Match Race Sailing Information.

Featured Boat

Beautiful J/42 Ready For The Islands

MAISTRALI is a lightly sailed, beautiful J/42. Carbon mast, standard keel, B&G's, Water maker, custom canvas and all the right factory options make this a very desirable boat for you to consider for serious cruising. She is ready to go and needs nothing. The current price of $259,900 is a tremendous value in today's market. Please call Paul Mikulski direct for more

information. 410-961-5254 Email- paul@northpointyachtsales.com

Photo of Sistership- same white hull.

About J/Boats

Started in 1977, J/Boats continues to lead the world in designing fun-to-sail, easy-to-handle, performance sailboats that can be enjoyed by a broad spectrum of sailors.  The International J/24 has become the most popular recreational offshore keelboat in the world with over 5,400 J/24s cruising the waves. Today, there are 13,000+ J/Boats, ranging from the International J/22 to the J/65 and ranging in style from one-designs to racers, cruisers to daysailers and, of course, the ubiquitous J sprit boats- J/Boats' innovation in 1992 for easy-to-use asymmetric spinnakers and retractable carbon bowsprits (J/80, J/92, J/95, J/105, J/109, J/110, J/120, J/122, J/130, J/133, J/125, J/145, J/160).

J/Boats has the best track record in sailing for innovation and design as evidenced by:  11 Sailing World/ Cruising World Boat of the Year Awards in 14 years; 2 SAIL Awards for Industry Leadership; 2 American Sailboat Hall of Fame Designs (J/24 & J/35); and the three largest ISAF International One-Design keelboat classes (J/22, J/24, J/80).

Counting crew, every year there are over 100,000 friends to meet sailing J's, populating the most beautiful sailing harbors and sailing the waters of 35+ countries around the world.  Sailing is all about friends.  Come join us and expand your social network everywhere! 

For more information on J/Boats

J/Newsletter- November 18th, 2009

---

NEW 2010 J/Sailing Calendar Is Hot!

The Ultimate Gift for People Who Love Sailing!

We have created a beautiful J/Sailing Calendar for J owners and J sailors who love and appreciate the joys of sailing a J in some of the most spectacular harbors and waters of the world. Whether you are a cruising, competitive or armchair sailor, the stunning photographs will transport you to wonderful sailing experiences in far away places. Enjoy the color and excitement of J sailing with these gorgeous photos.

The J/Sailing Calendar features photos of flying J/80s, a wildly planing J/100 off Hawaii, a powerful J/122 surging upwind, an inspirational sail off the Maine coast on a J/42, J/120s battling up the San Francisco waterfront during the Rolex Big Boat Series and tranquil shots off the world's most beautiful harbors and coasts on J/22s, J/24s, J/80s, J/105s, J/109s and more. For those who love the sailing lifestyle, it's the perfect gift for friends and family. Photo Credit- KOS  To order yours today, please visit the J/Sailing Calendar website.

Regatta Schedule

Nov. 8-29- GARMIN Winter Series (J/80, J/109, J/105)- Solent, Hamble, England
Nov. 18-21- J/24 South Americans- Porto Alegre, Brazil- Veleiros do Sul
Jan. 18-22, 2010- Key West Race Week- Key West, FL- invited classes include J/80s, J/105s, J/109s, J/122s

J/Regatta News

J's Chasing Rainbows Sailing Worldwide

The Americas saw their fellow Bermudians stage their National Keelboat Championship in Bermuda Shorts (not fair!). While in slightly cooler climate, the action continues in Europe with the conclusion of the Ice Cup near the Arctic Circle, a bit further south on England's Solent, the Garmin Hamble Winter Series saw some good racing for the J/109, J/105 and J/80 one-design classes and Benelux had their Open J/80 Championship. And, in seriously nice Mediterranean weather, the J/80s continue to have a great time sailing in the Med racing off the Spanish seacoasts of Bilbao, Santander and Palma. And, in South America, the Brazilians, Peruvians, Chileans and Argentineans are now sailing for the J/24 South American Championship in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Read on! More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page! Below are the summaries.  Photo Credit- Paul Wyeth

Garmin Hamble Winter Series

The J-DREAM Sailing into the Sunset Winning Again

(Solent, Hamble, So'ton, England)- After gale force winds on Saturday and rain squalls early on Sunday morning, the weather settled down to a picturesque day of sunshine and cloud for the sixth round of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series.
Despite the windward going tide that might be expected to benefit the smaller boats, most of the class leaders maintained their form. In the J/109 one-design class, David & Kirsty Athorp's J-DREAM continued their hot streak, leading home the fleet over the weekend and Chris Jones' JOURNEYMAKER 5 won the J-105 class.

The White Group classes were as usual closer to the mainland shore, and sailing in a 250 degree breeze. All three races went off without mishap, but to the frustration of the committee and probably the competitors the wind backed by 10 degrees during the final race start sequence.

In the J/80 class, OI! won two of the three races. John Cooper and his crew slipped up with an OCS in race three, with Cressida Robson and Allan Higgs' JUICY winning this one by four seconds from Patrick Liardet's AQUA J.

Next Sunday's racing (22nd. Nov) continues with the full Winter Series programme for White and Black Group racing.  For more information and sailing results. Photo Credits: Paul Wyeth

Yachts & Yachting Announces RORC Boats of the Year

J/133 BATFISH III Overall IRC Winner

(London, England)- The Winner of the Jazz Trophy for best total points score overall under IRC for the RORC was Bill Blain's J/133 BATFISH III and Robin Taunt's J/109 JIBE was third. The comment was heard that with good production boats like these “crewed by amateur sailors.... you do not need an expensive custom yacht with professional crew to do well.." In short, when it comes to winning IRC offshore events with friends aboard, a J is the way to go...proof from the hotbed of IRC racing--- England and France where the J/122s and J/109s continue to lead the pack on both sides of "La Manche" (the Ditch a.k.a. The English Channel). Photo Credits: Paul Wyeth   For more information on RORC Sailing Events.

J/80 Open Benelux Championship

(Port Zelande, Holland)- After some years steadily building the structure of a class organization and the J/80 fleet, this weekend was the long awaited first J/80 Open Benelux Championship, sailing out of Port Zelande. The start and the race management was under the auspices of the Dutch Sailing Federation and the host organization was in the hands of Grevelingencup Regatta. The field had international allure with participants from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany with a total of fourteen boats attending.

Under widely varying conditions, that included rain, clouds, gusts, wind shifts and constantly changing wind strengths, the Race Committee did a great job getting lots of sailing in for all participants, getting in five races the first day. At the end of this day, QUANTUM SAILS TEAM sailed by William Garschagen, Nic Bol, Tom van der Werf, Charlotte Heijstek and the crew were first, followed by TEAM+FABER MUNKER sailed by Jan-Piet Stuursma, Christopher Savoy, Joris Walraevens Twan and Hanse. Just behind in third and fourth place were JOI DE VIVRE raced by the sharp-looking crew of Laura Vroon with Wouter de Vries Lentsch, Kelly, Caroline van Beelen and JALAPENO RHINUS was sailed by the enthusiastic crew of Erik Scheeren with Jade Ottema, Erick Vink, Emanuelle Scheeren.

On the second day, the conditions were clearly different, sun and a light and somewhat unstable and decreasing wind were the ingredients for the next four races. The battle for first place between the QUANTUM SAILS TEAM and the FABER MUNKER TEAM was essentially a match race. When the gun smoke from the start and finish line and the jury room had cleared, TEAM FABER MUNKER was the first Benelux champion. Second was Jack William Garschagen and third was Laura Vroon. For J/80 Class Regatta Report.

Bermuda National Keelboat Championship

J/105 MAYHEM Reigns Supreme

(Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Bermuda)- The annual shoot-out on the Great Sound to ultimately crown the Bacardi National Keelboat Champions in the three classes for Bermuda was held this past weekend, the action was hot and heavy in the J/105 class.

Royal Bermuda Yacht Club race officer Jay Hooper and his team were constantly tested (along with the sailors) with winds shifting as much as 80 degrees between south east and south west throughout the day. Sailors experienced all types of wind conditions ranging from 10 knots to the mid twenties. The highest wind conditions were seen during the 4th race in the middle of a 'whiteout' rain squall. A number of boats, slightly worse for wear, elected to retire before the 5th and final race.

The hotly contested J/105 Class saw five boats on the line with Jon Corless and his crew sailing MAYHEM with the most consistent form with four first place finishes and a second, posting a total of 6 pts. Glenn Astwood sailing OCKHAM'S RAZOR and James Macdonald's PASSION battled it out for second place with Glenn prevailing with 13 pts.

A very wet, cold and tired group of sailors arrived back at the host Royal Bermuda Yacht Club for some well deserved liquid refreshment thanks to Bacardi and a BBQ courtesy of the Bermuda Sailing Association. Winners were presented with product and logo gear from Bacardi and specially engraved clocks to mark the accomplishment by Bacardi's Craig Smith and BSA President Somers Cooper. For more regatta and sailing information.

Bancantabria Sailing Cup

FUNDESTIC (Toño Gorostegui) Winning Overall

(Santander, Spain- 15-16 November)- An excellent turnout of thirty five boats were treated to some classic, windy conditions off Santander's famous waterfront and gorgeous beaches. Act III remains under the dominion of the ECC VIVIENDAS sailed by Torcida Pichu. A great weekend of strong south winds also helped SPACIO 10 sailed by Paulo Santurde get into second place and Tono Gorostegui retain third place in FUNDESTIC. Finally coming into their own after several weekends of sailing were 470 World Champions Tara Pacheco and Berta Betanzos, skippering PROPENOR to 2nd and 4th in the strong wind conditions and fast downwind surfing of the last day. Overall for the Bancantabria Sailing Cup, FUNDESTIC is still leading with a tie being broken in their favor over Santurde's SPACIO 10. Pichu Torcida has fallen off the pace a little bit and is now lying third overall for the series racing ECC VIVIENDAS.   For more regatta and sailing info.

Commodores Trophy- Espana

Martinez's ZEIK Crowned Winner Overall

(La Coruna, Spain- 15 November)- Due to the cancellation of the last race because of some storms predicted for later in the day, Paul Martinez and his crew aboard ZEIK were declared the winner of the Commodore's Trophy. Sailing with Paul were Alejandro Zapata, Cristina Governors, Francisco Diéguez and Antonio Parra. In second place, tied on points but with fewer first places was the Spanish Navy boat skippered by Paul Chavert Coruña. Just three points behind were Stuart Shimeld's AUSSYCRAWL-BIG BOY NAUTICAL. This regatta concludes the J/80 racing season in La Coruna. Next year, the Spanish J/80 class will be holding their Spanish National Championship off the picturesque coast of La Coruna.  Photo Credit by ChapiFoto.com     For more regatta and sailing info

J/80 and J/92 ICE CUP

(Stockholm, Sweden- November 14-16)- Here's the report from the Ice Cup in Stockholm by the J/80 Swedish teams participating in the event: "We were two teams from the J/80 gang, who raced in this year's Ice Cup organized by Stockholm's Match Racing. The boats we sailed were specially built J/92s with spinnaker poles-- it was fun to race the bigger sailboat model of the J/80. For our team usually familiar with asymmetric spinnakers, we solved this problem with spinnaker handling by bringing in two experts in the field: Olle Larsson and Martin King. Martin was past SM-SK30 winner in 2008. How did we do? It was quite tolerable. We finished seventh out of fifteen teams. And, we had a lot of fun. Cold, though, you had to dress warmly. And, the hot tub was great! According to rumor, a similar event will be held here in April, so just keep an eye on www.matchracing.nu.   For more match race sailing information

J/Community:

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

------------------------
* J/109 sailor Keith Wilson and crew are having fun racing their J/109 MAJIKAL Down Under in Australia sailing around the Sydney Harbour region. Here's one of Keith's own accounts of racing this past weekend around the "Heads":

"The wind for the day blew 15-20 knots from the NW at the start and then swung to the NE for our run down the coast - it was absolutely ideal for the asymmetric kites- as a result, we got 3rd overall.

The first race for MAJIKAL was in the Cronulla estuary at start of an offshore race. The "PJ to PH" was actually in Sydney Harbour during a race back to Cronulla.

Here's the geography: Sydney Harbour is on Port Jackson . Cronulla is on Port Hacking . The estuary is at the mouth of PH, where the Hacking River runs into Tasman Sea (e.g. Pacific Ocean). At the downstream end of the estuary, the river actually empties into Bate Bay. Further detailed information re geography: Cronulla is the beach-side suburb of The Sutherland Shire, about 20 km south of Sydney. The Shire is also known as God's Country. The Shire is bounded by Georges River to the north, ocean to the east and Hacking River to the south (beyond the river to the south is Royal National Park - oldest national park in the world - even older than Yosemite National Park in America)."

We wish Keith and crew fair winds and fast sailing in the upcoming months racing in this fascinating part of the Pacific. To learn more about Cronulla and this part of Sydney where they are doing lots of sailing and racing, check out this GoogleMap link
------------------------
*J/44 sailor Jeff Willis had a great interview with Windcheck Magazine this month- From Huntington, NY, Jeff is the Co- Founder and President of Willis Marine Center Inc and the owner of one of the most successful racing yachts on Long Island Sound. “I started sailing in 1951 with my dad on a 37-foot Whistler that was built of wood by my uncle here in Huntington,” Jeff recalls. “The first boat I owned was a Dyer Dhow that I raced in the junior sailing program at Huntington Yacht Club. I’ve sailed Ensigns for quite a while and was the fleet champ three or four times.” Jeff ’s J/44 Challenge IV, the winningest boat in a very competitive one-design class, is his fourth boat with that name.   Read more about Jeff's sailing experiences at Windcheck Magazine OnLine
-------------------------
*Anna Tunnicliffe- Just can't keep a good girl down for too long. The Anna steam-roller just keeps on truckin. Beijing Olympic gold medallist Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) talks to US Sailing about 2009, a year when she won the Laser Radial ISAF Sailing World Cup title, numerous match racing titles and was crowned female winner of the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards. Since winning an Olympic gold medal in the Laser Radial in 2008, Tunnicliffe has excelled in a variety of boats and multiple disciplines, proving her talent and versatility as an elite sailor. She has been a dominant force on the ISAF Sailing World Cup circuit by winning three gold medals and a bronze, as well as the first-ever ISAF Sailing World Cup trophy in the Laser Radial. The US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics member has also proven to be a talented match racer, winning bronze medals at the ISAF Nations Cup and Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta. Women’s Match Racing will make its debut as an event in the 2012 Olympic Games, so Tunnicliffe had to choose which passion to pursue. She tells US Sailing why she'll match race in 2012 and shares what it takes to be one of the best sailors in the world.  Read more about Anna's sailing experiences at the US Sailing site.
------------------------
* Peter Willauer- EIGHT BELLS J/42 Cruising Escapades- For starters, congratulations to Pete and the EIGHT BELLS crew for passing the 50,000 mile mark cruising worldwide...that's about 5,555 miles per year! Pete believes they may be one of the top 5 J/Boats cruising around the world. GAIA must certainly be up there after their World Tour (see link above). Certainly Dr. Scott Piper's J/160 PIPE DREAM is up there as is possibly the York’s J/46.

Here's an excerpt of one of their frequent posts online:
- 0915 posi: 22-09/65-07 sog 5.3 , cog 180 motoring w/o sails into confused slop. About 225 mi to go. Wind 12 from south and predicted to stay that way or less for next three days....so eta depends on fuel. So far we have used about 17 gal of about 53, but not all useful with flat tanks with usual crud/water in bottom, no doubt. We had a nice sail with one or two reefs yesterday afternoon, and with 100% jib on, but dead to windward. Stars and sheet lightning made for a good show. We are on the edge of a ridge that is lined up 22n/65w to20n//63w with squalls to 30-40 kts west of us. Now completely overcast, as expected for next two days...cannot play with the sextant as planned today! In fact all we all want to do is sleep when can...some a little under the weather. But all hands partook in Carol's turkey thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings and kept it down! Thank you again. Peter

Featured Boat

NEW J/105 Race-ready for 2010

US Watercraft will have a race-prepped and ready-to-rock new J/105 ready to ship by January 2010. USW does a gorgeous job of building these J/105s. For those of you interested in jumping aboard the fun, competitive J/105 fleet this is a great opportunity to get a rocket-ship and go have fun next year. These USW sailboats have beautifully fair hulls, keels and rudders and are nicely appointed below. The deck and rigging are top notch and are race-ready.
For more information, please be sure to contact you J/Dealer or J/Boats- Ph# 401-846-8410 or email- info@jboats.com.

About J/Boats

Started in 1977, J/Boats continues to lead the world in designing fun-to-sail, easy-to-handle, performance sailboats that can be enjoyed by a broad spectrum of sailors. The International J/24 has become the most popular recreational offshore keelboat in the world with over 5,400 J/24s cruising the waves. Today, there are 13,000+ J/Boats, ranging from the International J/22 to the J/65 and ranging in style from one-designs to racers, cruisers to daysailers and, of course, the ubiquitous J sprit boats- J/Boats' innovation in 1992 for easy-to-use asymmetric spinnakers and retractable carbon bowsprits (J/80, J/92, J/95, J/105, J/109, J/110, J/120, J/122, J/130, J/133, J/125, J/145, J/160).

J/Boats has the best track record in sailing for innovation and design as evidenced by: 11 Sailing World/ Cruising World Boat of the Year Awards in 14 years; 2 SAIL Awards for Industry Leadership; 2 American Sailboat Hall of Fame Designs (J/24 & J/35); and the three largest ISAF International One-Design keelboat classes (J/22, J/24, J/80).

Counting crew, every year there are over 100,000 friends to meet sailing J's, populating the most beautiful sailing harbors in 35+ countries around the world. Sailing is all about friends. Come join us and expand your social network everywhere!

For background info:
http://www.jboats.com/intro.htm

Subscribe to our J/Newsletter here:
http://www.jboats.com/lists/?p=subscribe