J/Newsletter- September 29th, 2009

Annapolis Boatshow October 8-12

J/122, J/97 and J/95 On Display

Come on down to Annapolis, Maryland and preview the J/95 shoal-draft cruiser, tailor-made for the extensive shallow cruising areas of the Chesapeake.  For those of you who want offshore racing/cruising capabilities, be sure to check out the new J/97- a 31 foot sailboat with the feel of 40 foot cruising comfort!  Plus, take a peek at PUGWASH, the Einstein-inspired J/122 that has been racing this summer's J/122 one-design circuit- it's a treat not to be missed!  See you'all there soon! For Annapolis demos, contact J/Boats- Phone 401-846-8410 or email- info@jboats.com

GARMIN Hamble Winter Series 2009

For those in the regional axis of French and English waters, there's still time to participate in the challenging Winter Series in the Solent that starts October 3rd-- a total of  eight Sundays of racing in the Solent finishing on November 29th! The Hamble Big Boat Series and the Hamble Autumn Championships complete a full programme of racing in the UK's leading late season race series.  Racing at a minimum will include the J/80s and J/109s in one-design starts.  The event charities are Hamble Inshore Lifeboat, the John Merricks Trust, and Sail4Cancer, and the main prize giving is on December 5th.  Full details, including the 2009 Preview, Notice of Race and Entry Forms are on the event website or call the HRSC Race Office on +44-023-8045-2070.

Regatta Schedule

Sept 29-Oct 2- J/22 North Americans- Lake Ray Hubbard- Rush Creek YC- more info.
Oct. 1-4- J/30 North Americans- Long Island Sound- Cedar Point YC- more info.
Oct 23-25- J/80 North Americans- Galveston Bay- Lakewood YC- more info.
Oct. 24-30- J/24 European Championships- Eastern Mediterranean- Chania, Greece- more info.
Oct. 28-Nov. 1- J/105 North Americans- Long Island Sound- American YC- more info.
Nov. 18-21- J/24 South Americans- Porto Alegre, Brazil- Veleiros do Sul- more info.

J/Regatta News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The fall sailing season continues at a frenetic pace in both the Americas and Europe.  From light air and hot temperatures in Texas to "dogs blowing off the chains" conditions and full foulies/ fuzzies weather in northern Europe no one could say that fall sailing doesn't throw a few curves at the sailors no matter where you are.  In Europe, a number of teams  were practicing and warming up in the Solent for the Hamble Winter Series.  In America, the fall circuit was in full swing with the J/122 East Coast Championships on Long Island Sound; the J/Fest West event in San Diego, California; the completion of the American Yacht Club Fall Series; the Sperry Sailing World NOOD Regatta in Houston, Texas; some J/22 and J/24 regattas; and the J/24 Nationals on San Francisco Bay.  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/122 East Coast Championship

CHRISTOPHER DRAGON Wins a Cliff-hanger

(Rye, New York- Sept. 26-27)- The nine J/122s competing for the East Coast Championship on the second weekend of the AYC Fall series saw extremely close and very competitive sailing.  In addition to some of the local fleet favorites on Western Long Island Sound, some boats came as far as Annapolis- PLUM CRAZY and FLYING JENNY VI- to mix it up with the New York/ Connecticut crowd.  This regatta was the culmination of the summer sailing season for the J/122 class- with strong one design showings at the Rolex NYYC Regatta in Newport, Rolex Block Island Race Week and the Larchmont NOODS.

In keeping with the close racing amongst these remarkably evenly matched boats, it was a wild finish to the J/122 East Coast Championships after the dust cleared.  The weekend was tough on everyone- tacticians, crews and crew work in general, putting a premium on starts, course positioning, good execution and good mark roundings.  Coming out of the fog of war in the last race was Weiss's CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, just beating their erstwhile competitors to be crowned the 2009 East Coast Champion.  It was a strong finish for them after a somewhat dismal start in the first two races.  CHRISTOPHER DRAGON won by one point over Skibo's PLUM CRAZY II, the last race determined the outcome of who ultimately beat who for the championship.  Had these two flip-flopped their finish positions of 3-4, respectively, PLUM CRAZY would've won on a tie-breaker with most firsts!  Askew's FLYING JENNY VI ultimately did end up in a tie-breaker for second with PLUM CRAZY, despite winning the last race, and got the short end of that stick to finish third overall.  Showing steady improvement over their summer of sailing was David Murphy aboard their Einstein-inspired namesake, PUGWASH.  Murphy and crew managed to win a race and get two more podium finishes to ultimately end up fourth; an eighth in the last race skewering any chances of their finishing in the top three.  Perhaps they've earned the "Most Improved" Award for the 2009 summer season!  For more regatta info.

J/Fest West Run By The Crews

CC RIDER Cruises off into the Sunset

(San Diego, CA- Sept. 26-27)- May the best cooks win, or so it seemed for the crews participating in this year's J/Fest West in San Diego.  This year’s theme was all about the crew. So Saturday night all the skippers donned chef’s hats and aprons, tended bar, flipped burgers and waited the tables. A great time was had by all.

Forty-two J's sailing one-design in J/120s, J/109s, J/105s and J/80s participated in this year's J/Festival on the waters off fabled Point Loma, San Diego.  As this time of year it's hard not for the Weather Gods to cooperate and deliver less than stellar conditions.  As one might expect, the "brochure conditions" were good enough to get in five races over the two days.

In the ten boat J/120 class Chuck Nichols crew aboard CC RIDER sailed an extremely consistent series to win their division by five points, counting a third as their worst race and winning tow of five races.  Second was John Laun's CAPER with a 1-1-2 but fell off the clifff relative to Chuck's crew when they picked up two fifths in the first and third races.  Third on the podium was Jed Olenick sailing DOCTOR NO (remember the TV show?? Awesome, eccentric time traveler, wasn't he??).

The nineteen boat J/105 class was the largest class in the event (as seems to be the case nationwide in most major events)!  DC won (yea, not THAT one) with his wife Sharon and crew aboard...Dennis and Sharon Case are perennial favorites whenever they put together the full court press and pull out all the stops to put on their best efforts-- their efforts did not go unrewarded, getting first place by six points over Bennet Greenwald's PERSEVERANCE.  JAVELIN was only one point back and the crew aboard Doug and Pam Werner's boat wished they could have bought back their 6-5 combo in races 3 and 4!

The nine boat J/80 class was a closely fought battle between Bob and Nick Caldwell's SLEEKIT and Curt Johnson's AVET.  At the conclusion of racing, SLEEKIT won by two points based on the ability to win the last race while AVET could just manage a third.  Mark Hunter's IN-APPROPRIATE was eight points back in third overall.

The J/109 teams, while having just four boats in their fleet, more than made up for their relatively low attendance  with the rollicking good times they had ashore.  Nevertheless, no one could take away from Tom Brott's ELECTRA winning every race.  Great job guys...next time not only will the skipper be the cook/bartender, but the whole crew!!  Perhaps that will slow them down, eh?  John Shulze's LINSTAR was second and Jim Vickers was third with JOYRIDE.

Craig Leweck from Scuttlebutt had an enlightening and fun interview with Jeff Brown, leader of J/Boats efforts on the West Coast and creator of the J/Fest events on the West Coast.  Please read more of the interview here.

American Yacht Club Fall Series 2009

J/122 CATAPULT Wins IRC40 Class!

(Rye, New York- Sept 19-20 and 26-27)- The RC for American Yacht Club did an admirable job, as always, of conducting solid racing in a wide variety of conditions over the two weekends for their eponymous fall classic.  Seemingly, and increasingly so over the years, this event has become a "de facto" J/Fest East-- as there were so many J's participating in the regatta it looked like a J Regatta with a bunch of spectators sailing around in other boats!  Of the ninety-seven boats participating in ten classes, fifty-four J's were represented in four one-design and two handicap (IRC/ PHRF) classes- over 56% of the fleet!

For the first weekend, the J/122s essentially "practiced" hard for their upcoming East Coast Championship raced this past weekend.  The eleven boat J/122 class was quite competitive, but Stephen Funary's PATRIOT walked off with a win followed by Mike Bruno's/ Tom Boyle's/ Jim Callahan's WINGS in second.  David and Mary-Ellen Tortorello sailed their J/122 PARTNERSHIP well to finish third.

The seven boat J/44 One-Design class was won by Jim Bishop's GOLD DIGGER over Don and Rick Rave's RESOLUTE on a tie-breaker.  Incredibly, both had nearly identical records, so the tie-breaker went to who had most seconds!!  Wow!  Just off the pace but hanging tough against these two was Bill Ketcham's MAXINE.

The five boat J/109 class saw a virtual three-way tie going into the last race with the entire regatta for the top three spots depending on the outcome of the finishes. After the dust settled, again it was Rick Lyall's STORM just winning by one point over Adrian Begley's MAD DOGS & ENGLISHMEN.  MAD DOGS themselves won on a tie-breaker based on most firsts over Al Minella's RELENTLESS!  That was tight racing for the top three players in the J/109 class.
The biggest fleet of the regatta, the twenty-three boat strong J/105 class, had some tough gringo's fighting it out for top honors.  All season long, Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes KINCSEM has been dueling it out with Damian Emery's ECLIPSE and Bruce Stone and Scott DeWeese's POWER PLAY for the podium finishes at four events this summer.  POWER PLAY started with a 5-4-12 to torpedo any change of winning the regatta.  KINCSEM sailed a strong, consistent series to win, followed by ECLIPSE in second and  POWERPLAY in third.

In the IRC40 class, Marc Glimcher's J/122 CATAPULT won on a tie-breaker followed by Tom Carroll's J/133 SIREN SONG from New York, NY finishing in third place.  Ron Richman's J/133 ANTIDOTE sailed well to get fifth and George Petrides' J/120 AVRA finished sixth.

In the IRC35 class, Merlin Suggs from King's Point sailed their J/35 HYPNOS to a fourth overall.

In PHRF5, John and Tony Esposito, racing their venerable J/29 HUSTLER, again demonstrated to non-believers that a strong war-horse like their J/29 is, indeed, very competitive over the course of time.  The Esposito's followed their domination and supremacy at ROLEX Block Island Race Week to also win their PHRF division, finishing with a strong 3-1-2-1-1-2-2.  For more sailing and regatta information.

Sperry SW NOOD Regatta Houston

Being HAPPY Pays Big Time

(Houston, TX- Sept. 26-27)- Sixty nine boats showed up for this year's edition of the SW NOOD in Houston, Texas.  Showing up in force and demonstrating with their feet the great fun, camraderie and joy of sailing their boats were forty J owners (nearly 60% of the fleet!).  But, how much fun would they have drifting around the buoys in Galveston Bay?  A few comments like "it ain't ever happen here before" were a familiar refrain when the fleet looked out over the mill pond known as the Bay.  Despite the less than satisfactory winds, the RC did a great job of getting off six races and the fleet, as usual, loved the on-shore festivities.

In the thirteen boat strong J/24 Texas World Championships (just kidding), it was clear that being HAPPY was key.  Bob Harden, the winner on MR HAPPY, has been sailing the J/24 for more than 30 years. He's learned quite a bit about the boat in those three decades. Of course, one of the most important lessons is, never get too confident. With one race remaining in the Sperry Top-Sider Houston NOOD Regatta to win the J/24 class, Harden's veteran team from Austin, Texas, on MR HAPPY was in second, one point behind Corey Harding's HAPPY DANCE (who also had the tie break). Boat names aside, one boat wasn't going to be so pleased with the outcome of the final race.

Harden won the start, and then did his best to keep at least one boat in between him and Harding to ensure the class win. His come-from-behind victory also earned him overall regatta honors for the final NOOD regatta of the 2009 season, a prize that comes with a Suunto Elementum Ventus watch and a Sunsail charter boat for the 2009 NOOD Caribbean Rendezvous in the British Virgin Island in November. The finalists for the overall winner, who also received Suunto watches, included Yandell Rogers in the J/80 class.  Harden's crew on Mr. Happy included: Mike LeFebvre, trim; Tom Lappin, compass; Eric Nelson, head cheerleader; Jay Sacco, bow. -- see Stu Streuli's interview on Sailing World.

As for the other classes, they too had a light air affair like the J/24s.  The seven boat J/22 class went down to the wire for the two leaders, Chris Wilke on BLEW BY YOU and Ruthie Lambert on OUT OF SIGHT.  Wilke managed to win the last race and win the J/22 class by one point, with Lambert in second.  Third a few more points back was Richard Voyles on MUST GO FASTER-- hmm, an appropriate name when faced with daunting competition named BLEW BY YOU or simply OUT OF SIGHT!

In the fourteen boat J/80 class, Yandell Rogers showed them all how it's done by taking four firsts in six races to win with a total of sixteen points-- his one bad race, a ninth place, putting a blemish on a near perfect record.  Al Poindexter's ANDALE was second and Bruno Pasquinelli racing TI'AMO in third.

The J/105s had a nice turnout of six boats with Bill Zartier's SOLARIS pulling out all the stops in the last two races- getting a 1-1 to win the J/105 class over Malcolm Bremer's BABE.  Third a ways back was JB Bednar's STINGER.  For more regatta info.

J/24 Nationals Go Big on the Bay

Snow's BOGUS Takes the Big Show

(San Francisco- Sept. 26-27)- Chris Snow and his team onboard BOGUS from San Diego, CA dominated the three day J/24 U.S. Nationals held last weekend on San Francisco Bay. Snow and his crew of Andrew Kerr, Adam Bennet, Chuck Allen and John Fracisco won 6 of 9 races amid the 20 boat fleet to build a final winning margin of 21 points over Mark Hillman of Annapolis, MD, with Pat Toole from Santa Barbara, CA in third.  The winner of the Western Regionals, Keith Whittemore, sailed a very consistent series other than having to eat two 11ths, which damaged his chances for a top three finish.   For more regatta info.

J/22 Northeast Regional Championship

Doyle's MO'MONEY Cashes In!

(Lake George Club- Sept. 26-27)-  As has been the case for a number of years, the Lake George Club have been incredibly gracious hosts at a remarkably beautiful venue- Lake George in upstate New York.  Heck, how can you beat sailing on fresh water, nice breeze, spectacular mountain scenery and early fall foliage?   This year's regatta, away from the beaten path for sure, attracted more boats (thirty five) than either the J/22 Midwinter or J22 East Coast Championship this year. So, J/22 one design sailing is alive and well in upstate New York.

Showing that he' s not lost his touch at all racing J/22s was Kevin Doyle and his merry bandits (Vic and Aaron Snyder) aboard MO'MONEY.  They sailed a nice regatta to overcome any last minute challenges from Mark Sertl's MONEY FOR NOTHING.  Third overall was Tom Sitzmann's LOYAL 9, followed in fourth by Jon Hoffer's NUTHA'SHIFF and Peter Doyle's FROSTY.  For more regatta info.

J/24 Northeast Regional Championships

To the Winner Goes the SPOILS

(Marblehead, MA- Sept 26-27)-  SPOILSPORT, skippered by Stuart Challoner, bested 16 other boats to win the 2009 J-24 Northeast Regional Championship hosted by the Corinthian Yacht Club and J24 Fleet 28 of Marblehead, Massachusetts. 

On the first day, strong northwest winds of 18 to 25 knots and choppy seas provided for challenging and fun conditions for a talented group of racers.  Three races were held on Saturday with 1.2 mile windward/leeward legs.  The first two races were four leg races with downwind finishes and the final race was a five leg race with an upwind finish.  SPOILSPORT dominated the day with two seconds and a first.  Wind shifts and current were very difficult to see on the water but obviously these folks saw something and made the upper right of the course work every time.  Other notable competitors were Mike Ingham sailing a new Italian boat who finished the day with two firsts and a sixth and Will Welles sailing PARALOC who finished third on the day. 

On Sunday, the fleet saw completely different conditions with a southwest wind of 6 to 12 knots with flat seas.  Two five leg races were run in slightly shifty conditions from a west southwest breeze to a southerly sea breeze.  Will Welles and team won the day impressively with a first and a third.  In the second race they were over early and banged the left corner and perfectly picked up a 15 degree left shift to get back into the race.  SPOILSPORT however sailed very conservatively, making sure to keep close to their competition, and posted a fourth and a second place to win the regatta.

The team of AL, skippered by Carter White and Mark Klein, having not place exceptionally well after the first day, dug themselves out of the cellar by posting a fifth and a first to finish fourth overall.  Mike Ingham and team dropped to third after getting caught out to the right one too many times on Sunday.

J/Community:

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

* Onne Van Der Wal is providing some very cool, ginormously successful photo workshops aboard the M/V "GANSETT", wiith our friend Jeff O'Brien ("OB1-Canobe") driving.  The students get to interact with Onne to learn how and why boat positioning as well as perspective and composition count for everything to get "THE" shot for your artistic (or commercial) goals.  The 3rd and final Workshop-on-the-Water is scheduled for Saturday October 3rd. A few spaces are left and Onne hopes you can join them! The cost is $395 which includes a full afternoon shooting with Onne, lobster roll dinner and drinks and good humor supplied by OB1-Canobe.  They set up a flat screen monitor aboard the GANSETT which displays what Onne is shooting in real time, and he narrates as he is shooting from a microphone broadcast throughout the boat. There is a lot to photograph on a busy Saturday on Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island, USA). The magnificent cruise ship, QUEEN MARY II is scheduled to be anchored outside Newport Harbor and you will see her up close and personal and get some great photos!  This is a unique opportunity for amateurs, pros and hobbyists - regardless of your skill or camera type! Email Onne or call +1 401-846-9552 for more information. Rain Date is Sunday the 4th.

Featured Boat

Stock J/80s are 1-2 at the 2009 J/80 Worlds

“Race-ready” and “fast out-of-the-box” take on a whole new meaning with the J/80.  Consider that in this year’s J/80 World Championship in Spain, the 1st and 2nd place teams (out of 132) raced newly built, un-modified charter boats supplied by the local J/Dealer.  No time in advance with the boat, no time to even think about changing anything – just add sails and go.  The Worlds winners sailed an incredible regatta in dynamic conditions, but isn’t it great to know you can hop aboard a new boat in a competitive class without having to complete a laundry list of items to get up to speed?  Several are just completing in Bristol, RI - Base Price- $49,900.  Please contact J/Boats or your nearest J dealer for details.

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

J/Newsletter- September 23rd, 2009

J/95 At Bayfront Boat Show

For those J sailors in the Southeast, you will have an opportunity to see the new shoal-draft J/95 daysailer on display at the Bayfront Boat Show from September 25 to 27.  The show is located at Marina Jack in Sarasota, Florida and the members of the team at Crosscurrent Marine will be happy to give you a tour and schedule you for demo's of the J/95 after the show.  Marina Jacks marina information.
Bayfront Boatshow information.

J/97 Demos In Newport

The Newport International Sailboat Show held this past weekend was a resounding success.  With four gorgeous days of weather, the enthusiasm and interest level was high amongst sailors that had come from all over the Northeast, South America and Europe to see the new J/95 and J/97.  Rod Johnstone brought up his J/95 BANJO from Stonington, Connecticut for demo sails, stimulating great response amongst potential buyers-- some fleet sales are even pending for clubs in Southeastern America where shoal-draft, high-performance boats don't even exist.  Experienced sailors who took the J/95 for a spin were surprised by the J/95's turn of speed and remarkable stability in the 20-25 knot winds.  The J/97 saw tremendous traffic and interest, too, amongst those wishing for more performance, comfort and room to cruise with small families and have fun in local club racing.  The J/97's maiden voyage in America took place on Monday.  The comments so far from experienced offshore cruisers and one-design racing sailors have been quite posititve-- such as "the lightly balanced helm, speed and stiffness upwind in 18 knots of breeze are amazing" and comments on the huge, open interior space down below-- "wow, this is bigger inside than my 40-footer". For J/97 Newport demos, contact J/Boats- Phone 401-846-8410 or email- info@jboats.com.

Regatta Schedule

Sept. 23-27- J/24 US Nationals- San Francisco Bay- San Francisco YC (more info below).
Sept 29-Oct 2- J/22 North Americans- Lake Ray Hubbard- Rush Creek YC- more info.
Oct. 1-4- J/30 North Americans- Long Island Sound- Cedar Point YC- more info.
Oct 23-25- J/80 North Americans- Galveston Bay- Lakewood YC- more info.
Oct. 24-30- J/24 European Championships- Eastern Mediterranean- Chania, Greece- more info.
Oct. 28-Nov. 1- J/105 North Americans- Long Island Sound- American YC- more info.
Nov. 18-21- J/24 South Americans- Porto Alegre, Brazil- Veleiros do Sul- more info.

Regata Copa Mexico-  con el Presidente!

The Mexican J/24 Class Association and the Mexican Sailing Federation has announced a spectacular J/24 Regatta to be held in Mexico from March 5th to 13th, 2010.  The President of Mexico will be in attendance and the bene's available to regatta participants are simply extraordinary.  Check it out.  The venue will be Bahía de Banderas or better known as Puerto Vallarta- e.g. the Mexican Riviera.  You will be racing out of the Marina Riviera Nayarit (http://www.marinarivieranayarit.com), a world-class marina.  Eight World-Class J/24 crews will be invited by the Mexican J/24 Class and they will be provided with a J/24 (free), free registration and free hotel accommodations!!  In addition the first ten US/ International crews to register  will have a $2000 USD incentive (one free hotel room for three persons for a week) plus a subsidized J/24 charter (or an additional $1000 USD cash if you bring your J/24).  Peter Wiegandt in Mexico is chief of the Organizing Committee for J24 Copa Mexico Regatta.  Register NOW for this amazing event.

J/30 Turns Thirty!

In anticipation of celebrating the 30th Anniversary for the J/30, the J/30 Class Association is anticipating up to 25 boats for their North Americans on Long Island Sound.  Come on down and join the passionate, enthusiastic, fun-loving J/30 owners and their crews to celebrate the 30th year for the J/30.  A sailboat with lasting versatility, the J/30 attracts a dedicated owner group who have managed a successful one-design class and insured lasting resale value.  545 sisterships were delivered!!

Perhaps most importantly, the Owners Rule!  Since the beginning the J/30 class has been run by the owners and because the boat does not draw from the professional side of racing, competition at events is of the friendly corinthian type and appeals most to families and weekend warriors, sailors who know how to have fun and enjoy racing on their local waters.

Now that economic times have sharpened everyone’s sense of value, today is about as good a time as any to consider buying this ubiquitous J/Boat and joining in the fun that the class still offers.  J/30 has withstood the test of severe weather and the test of time, having survived the famous and tragic Fastnet storm of 1979 (single handed!) and with a class association that has survived three severe recessions.  Despite one design competition from hundreds of other “new” one-design keelboats since her introduction, the J/30 class continues to thrive.  This is a testament to the dedicated and loyal owners, the versatility of the design as well as the durability of balsa core/e-glass construction- leaping lizards, can you believe this shot of a J/30 "wave-jumping"??  Oh well, just a "walk-in-the-park" for this remarkable sailboat!

J/Regatta News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The fall sailing season is in full swing.  In both the Americas and Europe, major offshore and one-design events took place in a wide variety of weather conditions-- as is often the case in fall sailing and furious winter weather patterns begin to establish themselves across the globe.  In Europe, the French J/80 Class hosted the France Cup, the Swedish J/80 Class hosted their Fall Series Cup and the Spanish J/80 Class hosted their Autumn Cup in Bilbao and Central Optica Cup in Santander Bay, respectively.  In the Americas, the American Yacht Club in Rye, New York held the first weekend of their classic Fall Series Regatta and the J/24s held their Western Regional Championships on San Francisco Bay.  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.

American Yacht Club Fall Series

Tight Racing in J/122, J/109 and J/105 Fleets

(Rye, New York- Sept. 19-20)-   The AYC Fall Series first weekend  Saturday was a gusty northerly and clear air was hard to find, but the shifts and leverage made climbing the ladder pay off. With the Z flag flying, three races were completed on Saturday of the first weekend of the American Yacht Club Fall Series. The J/105s are once again the "big fleet" with 23 entered (twice as big as any other). Therefore the start line was short, similar to the Larchmont NOOD Regatta. And the gusts were curling across the sound so that by the time of the start sequence, the line was no longer square to the wind. Outsiders might think that the J/105 fleet was a wild posse of bumper boats. Yet when 20 big boats are trying to win the start on a short line with a highly favored end, even the gentlest men and women are tested. Sunday unfortunately was a dud, with no wind or races.

In the twenty six boat J/105 One-Design class, there is a seven-point tie for first place between George and Alex Wilbanks' REVELATION from Westport, CT and Joerg Esdorn/ Duncan Hennes' KINCSEM from Katonah, NY.  Close behind them in third place is Damian Emery's ECLIPSE only one point back but with two first places (which may be helpful if enough races are sailed to get a throw-out).

In the eleven boat J/122 Class, Mike Bruno, Tom Boyle and Jim Callahan's WINGS is leading the fleet in the tricky wind conditions everyone saw on Saturday.  In a tie for second only one point back are David and Mary-Ellen Torterello's PARTNERSHIP and Stephen Furnary's PATRIOT.

Continuing the momentum garnered over the course of the summer sailing season is Rick Lyall's STORM from Wilton, CT.  Rick and crew again showed why they're strong contenders in this year's J/109 One-Design Class racing.  With a 1-2-1 record, they're leading the nine boat J/109 Class with four points.  Not to be intimidated at all is Al Minella's team from Greenwich, CT racing their appropriately named RELENTLESS just one point back with a 2-1-2 record.  Hanging in there for third overall is Bob Schwartz's NORDLYS from Port Washington, NY with a 3-3-3 record.

The highly competitive J/44 Class has perennial class leader Jim Bishop racing his renowned aquamarine-colored GOLD DIGGER leading the fleet of seven boats with a 2-3-1 record.  Don and Rick Rave's RESOLUTE from Huntington Bay, NY is second with a 1-2-5 record and Bill Ketcham's MAXINE from Greenwich, CT is lying third with a 4-1-4 record.  The placings of these top three boats have been riding quite a roller-coaster because of the shifty, puffy conditions the fleet saw on Saturday.

As for the handicap classes, the J's are putting in a good showing overall.  In the IRC 40 Class, Mark Glimcher's J/122 from New York, NY is leading with a 1-3-1 record.  In second is Tom Carroll's J/133 SIREN SONG also from New York city.  And, a bit further back is Ron Richman's J/133 ANTIDOTE in sixth.  For the IRC35 Class, the J/35 HYPNOS sailed by Merlin Suggs from Kings Point, NY is third overall after Saturday's racing.  In the PHRF class, the J/29 HUSTLER sailed by John & Tony Esposito from Mohegan Lake, NY is second on a tie-breaker.  The J/29 RENEGADE raced by Logan Koltermann from Kings Point, NY is fifth.

J/80 Dynamant Cup in Sweden

Sundelin/ Kallstrom in First

(Sweden- Sept. 21)- There were fifteen J/80s participating in this year's Autumn Cups and Dynamant Cups in Sweden.  The competition was very even between the top boats ENG 386 and ENG 562 in first and second, respectively.  And the battle for third place was also a very even battle between bla MK PRODUCTS, HEAVY DUTY and DOG.  Great prizes are promised to all of the top three in the overall rankings. First prize was a voucher with a total value of 6000 Kroner from the main sponsor Dynamant and second prize is a set of fine sailing shoes from SLAM.

The traditional Autumn Cup organized by KSSS took place in non-traditional winds. Autumn storms lost some of their strength, thank goodness and the fleet was treated to beautiful sailing on the archipelago in 17 degree C temperatures, clear blue skies and a southwest breeze of 2-4 m/s.

The host club KSSS was quite ambitious and planned eight races.  However, they managed to still get in five races thanks to an alert and quick race committee crew.  Sundelin / Kallstrom did what they could to snatch the top honors by taking home the regatta. But their main competitor Rosenberg finished up nicely with a second place.  The American Tom Whitmore who showed good form, despite a very bad first race to finish third.  It was extremely even between 4, 5, 6, and 7 spots with only one point separating these four boats.  You will find all the results on the KSSS site.
http://www.ksss.se

J/80 Autumn Trophy Series

Bilbao Squalls Make For Exciting Racing

(Bilbao, Spain- Sept 19-20)- It was a clear victory for Jose Azqueta in the first test of the Autumn Trophy Series for J/80s racing off Bilbao.  It was also the J/80s first racing since the long summer break. The weather conditions were harsh but fun since it blew 15 to 25 knots large seas on top of a huge ground swell.  These conditions made it challenging upwind but the crews were showered with salt spray from monstrous bow waves as the teams had fun planning wildly downwind on the big seas and swells.

The start was rather uneven as it was highly favored to the Race Committee boat and there was not much room on the line.  So whomever won the Race Committee boat end enjoyed a ginormous advantage over their competitors.  The boats that had strong starts - Mandovi and Montarto - held their lead up the first leg.   However, because of a strong right shift, they ended up second and third at the weather mark behind Azqueta's team; Bizkaia rounded fourth.  After a wild planing downwind leg, Mandovi dropped back to fourth.

A strong squall of rain and wind buffeted the fleet with Azqueta lengthening their lead over Montarto and Bizkaia- that's how the first weekend ended up for the Autumn Trophy Series.  The Race Committee canceled the second race because the squally conditions had deteriorated to the point where the ability to race safely around the course would be difficult for most teams.

Central Optica Trophy Series

J/80 ECC VIVIENDAS Winning

(Santander, Spain- Sept 19-20)- The Federation Cantabra de Vela is hosting the Central Optica Trophy series for the twenty-one boat J/80 fleet, racing on the spectacular setting of Santander Bay, sight of this year's record 133 boat J/80 World Championships.  The leader of this fall series classic is the J/80 team of BANCAJA raced by Javier Lopez-Vazquez.

The Santander J/80 class raced the second of three parts of their series this weekend under very gusty west wind conditions, with ginormous changes of strength and direction that allowed two long races with three-times around windward-leeward legs. The tidal currents helped some of the racers, like BANCAJA and ECC VIVIENDAS, ride favorable currents up inside the Santander Bay to the Moors. The two races were won by the ECC VIVIENDAS  team of Pichu Torcida and his skipper Pablo Arrarte.  Second for the weekend was BANCAJA raced by Javier López-Vázquez and his skipper Alvaro Mazarrasa, strengthening their overall series lead.  MAQUECHE sailed by Alfonso Pascual ended up finishing third for the weekend.  After sailing well on the first weekend, NEXTEL's Ignacio Camino had a relatively poor showing to lose the lead after the first weekend.

Currently, the standings for the series after six races and one discard is Jose Lopez-Vazquez's team on BANCAJA by just two points over Ignacio Camino's NEXTEL and Pichu Torcida's team on ECC VIVIENDAS. Next weekend completes the series for the Central Optica Trophy where tough competition is sure to breakout amongst these top three teams who collectively have a sizable lead (by ten points) over the rest of the fleet.

J/24 Western Regionals

Whittemore's TUNDRA ROSE Wins!

(Berkeley, CA- Sept. 19-20)- The 2009 J/24 Western Regional Championship was held on the waters of San Francisco Bay this last weekend. It was hosted by the Berkeley Yacht Club ,who delivered great racing and exceptional hospitality! As we know, the Bay Area is considered one of the most popular sailing venues in the country and once again it proved that premise is true.   BYC held a practice race on the evening of Friday, which allowed the out-of-town teams to get oriented to the local conditions prior to the Western Regionals kicking-off.

The Western Regional Championship was planned as the "feeder" event for the J/24 US National Championships being held this weekend at San Francisco Yacht Club.  The Western Regionals were comprised of seven relatively short course races which were sailed by seventeen teams from as far away as Annapolis, MD, Seattle, Washington and Dana Point.  The racing took place on the “Berkeley Circle” and the PRO was Jeff Zarwell of RegattaPro. Conditions on Saturday went from eight to sixteen knots and on Sunday the wind range was even greater. The fleet raced in five  knots in the first race and ended up racing in twenty-two  knots in the seventh race of the series.

Keith Whittemore sailing his TUNDRA ROSE from Seattle bested Mark Hillman aboard his J/24 WIP from Annapolis, MD. The racing was very close and competitive as TUNDRA ROSE, SMALL FLYING PATIO FURNITURE and TREMENDOUS SLOUCH all nailed bullets (first places)! TUNDRA ROSE themselves knocked off four bullets, Tremendous Slouch two and Small Flying Patio Furniture took the last one.  Look for these three teams to again have a good showing this coming weekend for the J/24 US Nationals.

J/105 Great Lakes Championship

The "IT" is it!

(Mentor Harbor- Sept. 19-20)- A nice fleet of twelve boats showed up for two gorgeous days of racing on Lake Erie for the J/105 Great Lakes Championships.  The event was hosted by the Mentor Harbor Yachting Club and their Race Committee did a wonderful job to get off a tremendous regatta getting off eight races!

Jim Sminchak and Doug Moose racing their J/105 "IT" won, Jim's team finished with seventeen points over eight races for an average of about second! Ed Palm and Richard Listwan on TENACIOUS came in second with thirty-one points, followed by Michael Morin and Duane Rose on JUNTO.
photo credit- David Mathias

J/80 Atlantic Coasts- France

Team ATLANTIS- Lawrence Sambron Wins.

(Lorient, France- Sept 19-20)- Twenty-one teams gathered in Lorient this past weekend to race the "Atlantic Telegram" regatta, emblematic of the J/80 French Atlantic Coast Championships.

Under very light winds and somewhat unstable weather conditions, the ATLANTIS Team skippered by Lawrence Sambron with the crew of Jean-Yves Jaffrezic, Pierre-Yves Tinel and Stephane Guilbaud won the regatta.  The ATLANTIS team was closely followed by Sylvain Pellissier and Dominic Vittet racing their J/80 VOILERIE ALL PURPOSE. The J/80 from La Trinité, AXELLE, raced by Damien J Zucconi finished third on the podium.  JACUZZI from Breton was fourth and Gilles Drouet from Cherbourg was fifth.

This regatta was good practice and an indicator of which teams will be contenders for the upcoming French J/80 Nationals which will be sailed in Cherbourg, France from November 8 to 11. After the French J/80 Nationals, the J/80 French Class will announce the winners of the hotly contested J/Cup in France for the J/80 Class--- so far, everything is still in play for the top spots for many of the crews.

Lawrence Sambron commenting on his win had this to say about his team and the event: "It was the first time we had come to the Atlantic Coast and raced on the Bay of Biscay.  We were seduced by the awesome racing, the beautiful waters and the warm welcome on this site. On the water, we started well on Friday and we continued our momentum.  Jean-Yves Jaffrezic tactics were excellent in conditions that were not obviously clear for most crews this particular Sunday. We got a good result and this is good preparation for the J/80 French Nationals to be held in Cherbourg in November. The
outlook is positive so far!"  For more info.

J/Community:

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

* Over the weekend of the Fall Off-Soundings Series, Steven Marenakos, an avid J/27 fan, had this to say to Rod, Al and crew afterwards:  "I saw Rod, Al and John at Off-Soundings and thought they'd enjoy this shot of "Flyer" (hull #3) off Plum Island, NY doing about 15 knots under main in 40+ knots of wind!!  She handled beautifully and felt like I was driving my Flying Dutchman dinghy rather than a keelboat as we "blew" by other boats."  Thanks Steve!  Awesome photo and love to get stories like these from our passionate and loyal J owners.

* J/24 Mafia Dominates NYYC Invitational Cup!?  Yes, it's true!  As we predicted after seeing the results and tactics from the first day of racing, there was no question the two main players in the NYYC Invite were going to be ARETHUSA raced by experienced J/105 campaigners Phil and Wendy Lotz (representing NYYC) and DARING raced by sometime J/24 Canadian sailor Terry McLaughlin for the Royal Canadian YC.  After eleven races, it was pretty clear that the tacticians on both boats knew the Newport conditions better than anyone else- Ken Read (College Sailor of the Year and J/24 World Champion a few times) was calling the shots aboard ARETHUSA and Geoff  Moore (College All-American and J/24 Champion multiple times) was guiding the Terry/John/John trio around the course on DARING.  Congratulations to both teams and kudos to Kenny and "Goofie" for getting their teams onto the podium with great success and style.

Featured Boat

Stock J/80s are 1-2 at the 2009 J/80 Worlds

“Race-ready” and “fast out-of-the-box” take on a whole new meaning with the J/80.  Consider that in this year’s J/80 World Championship in Spain, the 1st and 2nd place teams (out of 132) raced newly built, un-modified charter boats supplied by the local J/Dealer.  No time in advance with the boat, no time to even think about changing anything – just add sails and go.  The Worlds winners sailed an incredible regatta in dynamic conditions, but isn’t it great to know you can hop aboard a new boat in a competitive class without having to complete a laundry list of items to get up to speed?  Several are just completing in Bristol, RI - Base Price- $49,900.  Please contact J/Boats or your nearest J dealer for details.

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

J/Newsletter- September 16th, 2009

Fall Off-Soundings Series

J/95 BANJO Wins Overall

(Stonington, CT- September 12-13)- Rodney and Alan Johnstone sailed their J/95 BANJO to an overall win in this year's Eastern Long Island Sound classic, the Fall Off-Soundings Series.  As Alan commented, "We think we won it all today by ducking out of the flood current near the ruins out in Gardiners Bay a little bit better than the J/105s and J/109s.  It was nice that we also win the season award.  We sailed with 155% genoa and the boat (with board down) is about as fast as a J/105 one-design configuration upwind in 8-12 knots.  We (the boat) were able to battle back from a couple of otherwise deathly mistakes and finish a minute or two behind a J/105 with 155% genoa and 110 sq.m. kite and ahead of three 105s in class config."

Regatta Schedule

Sept. 17-20- J/105 Great Lakes- Lake Erie- Mentor Harbor YC- more info.
Sept. 18-20- J/80 France Cup- Bay of Biscay- Lorient, France- more info.
Sept. 19-20- J/24 Western Regionals- San Francisco Bay- Berkely YC- more info.
Sept. 23-27- J/24 US Nationals- San Francisco Bay- San Francisco YC (more info below).
Sept 29-Oct 2- J/22 North Americans- Lake Ray Hubbard- Rush Creek YC- more info.
Oct 23-25- J/80 North Americans- Galveston Bay- Lakewood YC- more info.
Oct. 24-30- J/24 European Championships- Eastern Mediterranean- Chania, Greece- more info.
Nov. 18-21- J/24 South Americans- Porto Alegre, Brazil- Veleiros do Sul- more info.

J/Regatta News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The September sailing season in the Americas continues along at a furious pace as various offshore and one-design events kick in for the fall sailing season.  While Europe is preparing for their seminal fall events, two of the larger, more renowned American events took place this past weekend, the ROLEX Big Boat Series in San Francisco, California and the Sailing World NOOD Regatta in Long Island Sound, New York.   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.

ROLEX Big Boat Series

J/105 GOOD TIMIN and J/120 CHANCE Winners

(San Francisco, CA- September 10-13) - This was not your typical Big Boat Series. It only got into the 25 knot range on one of the four days, lots of 10 to 20 knot sailing, and the wind was so light on the final day that racing was abandoned for the IRC divisions and the J/120 one-design class starting on the City Front.  However, the J/105s had an outstanding final Bay Tour Sunday race to conclude the series in this tightly fought class.  The ultimate winner of the J/105 class was Chris Perkin's GOOD TIMIN with Bruce Stone's ARBITRAGE in second (pictured together above).  Barry Lewis's J/120 CHANCE from Atherton, CA won the J/120 fleet.  In the US IRC Nationals, the only two J's sailing faired well with the J/44 GOLDEN PHOENIX raced by Jim Bishop (with Steve Benjamin calling tactics) finished 2nd in IRC C Class and the J/122 RESOLUTE raced by San Diego Yacht Club's Tim Fuller (with Jeff Madrigali as local hotshot tactician) finished third.

Ninety seven boats came to compete in this years Rolex Big Boat Series.  Enthusiastic J owners accounted for 42% (or 40 boats) of the regatta.  While many of the competing boats are from the Bay Area and California, some hail from ports across the US and abroad. Lorenzo Berho and his J/145 RAINCLOUD (pictured right) hail from Mexico City, Mexico and are sailing in IRC B. 'RAINCLOUD is a Mexican family and friends boat that has changed our lives, and also has helped us fulfill several dreams,' said Berho, who only started sailing five years ago. 'We had a great experience in last year's Rolex Big Boat Series that we decided to come back in spite of the difficult economic times, and for most of us that means traveling from Mexico City. The organizers are great and the competing boats are really friendly. Last year we got fourth place in our fleet so we would love to get a third place this year. We know that most of the fleet is very competitive and there are many experienced sailors with local knowledge. I am turning 50 years old on September 15, so I chose this regatta as my birthday present. There is nothing better than sailing with my family and best friends in the most outstanding Bay of the world.'

The Commodore's Cup, which was established in 2004 to be awarded to the largest one-design fleet, was awarded to the winner of the J/105 class, Chris Perkins' GOOD TIMIN. "Honestly, Bruce Stone sailed a great series," said Perkins of the fleet. "He only had one bad race and won three out of seven sailed. His ARBITRAGE is clearly one of the quickest boats. Everyone would agree he is quicker than us." So what would Perkins credit his team's win to? "The challenge in a 25-boat fleet is consistency," he continued. "We didn't have any big mistakes and that is what made the difference for us."   Jeff Littfin's and John Case's MOJO sailed very consistently to finish third in the regatta.  In fact, MOJO was winning after the first day with a 4-2 finish.  Both GOOD TIMIN and ARBITRAGE had 2-7 and 1-15 finishes, respectively, to start out the series out of the top three on Thursday.  By Saturday, both of these leaders climbed up the fleet ladder to be leading by the end of the regatta with ARBITRAGE accumulating three 1sts and a second to make up for their one deep finish on the first day.

For the J/120 class, the expected leader before the series happened to be the ultimate winner, Barry Lewis's CHANCE (pictured right).  But, CHANCE's win was not without a strong challenge from John Wimer's DESDEMONA from Half Moon Bay, California.  The outcome of the last race determined the overall winner of this very competitive class; CHANCE won the race and DESDEMONA finished third, losing their lead from the day before to CHANCE.  Just off the pace was previous year's winner MISTER MAGOO sailed by Steve Madeira in fourth and Don Payan's DAYENU in third-- again the outcome of who placed third on the podium coming down to the last race on Saturday.  Had there been the one last race, the infamous Bay Tour on Sunday, the results could've very likely been quite different as the Bay Tour often is credited for upsetting the chances of many well-sailed boats in such a capricious race.  Photo Credits- Rolex/ Daniel Forster.  For a complete report.  Catch all the action on Bruce and Tucker's T2P.TV video.

Larchmont Sailing World NOOD

J/109 STORM, J/105 SAVASANA, J/122 PLUM CRAZY Are Class Winners

(Larchmont, NY- September 12-13)- Rick Lyall's J/109 STORM, from Cedar Point YC (Conn.) has been a perennial participant  at the Sperry Top-Sider Larchmont NOOD Regatta, but somehow every year the math used to determine the overall winner just hasn't fallen in his team's favor. But, the ten boat J/109 class is plenty competitive and this year it was real tight at the top, tight enough for Lyall's squad to earn the overall title, awarded to the winner of the regatta's most competitive fleet. The win, of course, earns Lyall and crew an invitation to the Sperry Top-Sider Caribbean NOOD championship in November where they'll race against winners from the other eight NOOD regattas.

STORM entered the second day of racing on Long Island Sound 3 points behind Greg Ames and Steve Kenny's GOSSIP, but on a day with brilliant sunshine and shifty 10-knot northerly Lyall's team excelled, winning both races and setting themselves up on the better end of a 10-point tie-breaker.  Lyall's STORM has been on a roll all season long in the J/109 one-design class events, having won Storm Trysail Club's/ Rolex Block Island Race Week, New York Yacht Club Regatta and the J/109 North Americans in Chicago.  Finally, third in the fun J/109 one-design racing class was Adrian Begley's MAD DOGS & ENGLISHMEN.
The largest class in the Larchmont Sailing World NOOD event was the twenty-one boat J/105 one-design class.  It was difficult to outsmart Joerg Esdorn's KINCSEM, which aced the last day with a pair of bullets (and won three of seven races).  However, KINSCEM's collision on the opening day, and subsequent retirement, was too much to make up to be on the leaderboard, so the real battle went down between Damien Emery's ECLIPSE and Brian Keane's SAVASANA. SAVASANA, overall winner from the Annapolis NOOD, put in a solid effort match racing ECLIPSE and keeping the right amount of boats between them to win the regatta. No doubt they'll be the team to beat at the J/105 North Americans in November. Finishing third in this tightly fought class was George and Alex Wilbanks' REVELATION.

The seven boat J/122 class was also a very closely fought and competitive fleet with the top three podium finishers only separated by five points, the outcome resting on how they all finished in the last race.  Coming out of the fog of war and taking the lead after a very shifty, tactical last day of racing in the moderate Northwesterlies on Long Island Sound was Andrew Skibo's PLUM CRAZY II.   Despite two firsts on the last day, the trio of Mike Bruno, Tom Boyle and Jim Callahan onboard WINGS could not overcome a slow start for them on the first two days and finished second overall.  Just behind them having a very strong finish to their regatta, too, with two seconds was perenial campaigner David Askew and his indefatigable team onboard FLYING JENNY VI.  Photo Credits: Tim Wilkes.   For more Sailing World NOOD results and info.

J/24 Nationals San Francisco

Gotta Race Those "Little Pain Boxes"

Courtesy of our colleagues at Sailing Anarchy, here's  a somewhat unique regatta announcement from the host of this year's J/24 Nationals at San Francisco Yacht Club--

"Speaking of regattas and Sailing Anarchy, the J/24 Nationals are going to be held in 'Frisco September 23-27. SA is one of the sponsors, and the organizers want you J/24 sailors to get up and get down:

Top Ten Reasons to Race in the 2009 J24 Nationals September 23-27, San Francisco Bay

1. Facts is Facts Folks: The J/24 is “The World's Most Popular One-Design Keelboat” – it says it right there, and boats are competitive & cheap.
2. Fresh, Yet Old-School. Everybody on board a J/24 has a job and everybody is important to the team – it’s like t-ball with mixed drinks and way more bruising!
3. Tough Crowd, Honored Alumni: Scott Allen, Terry Hutchinson, Vince Brun, Augie Diaz, Neal Fowler, John Kolius, Dave Ullman, Paul Cayard, Dave Curtis, Ed Baird, Ken Read, Ed Adams, Eddie Warden-Owen, Jonathan & Charlie McKee and John Kostecki just to name only a few – they all raced J/24’s at one time.
4. Combine your visit with other regattas out here, especially the J/24 Western Regionals Sept. 19-20
5. Location, Location, Location – the San Francisco Bay Area.  You all know what we are talking about – world class winds, currents, courses and race committees! SF is a top tourist destination for good reason. Bring the family, there is plenty to do. Napa is nearby if you get tired of all the microbrews.
6. The J/24 is Dennis Conner’s least favorite boat – no kidding! That’s gotta count for ashitload among you real anarchists! The dude probably kicks puppies…
7. It’s Not Annapolis. It's max hike, max back-stay, max twings and max sphincter tension.  Rodeo-ride upwinds and death-roll downwinds!  You’ll get to use you’re your headsails! Racing in San Fran is the real thing people, however winds in September are more likely to be a bit milder than the standard Summer nuclear option.
8. Krazy Kurrents. No kidding here folks. Just when you thought is was safe to go to the lay-line…  Here is where we make an depraved pitch for you all buying us locals lots-n-lots of drinks so that we might share the many mysteries of our fickle flow fields (the old guy says just go right).
9. Amazing Venue and Host Fleet: The San Francisco Yacht Club in Tiburon is in a sweet location and has a top-level Race Committee, guest, and boat launch facilities. San Francisco J24 Fleet 17 manages to be both extremely competitive yet supportive at the same time. We love to help new sailors to get up to speed quickly.
10. The Sponsors – to name a couple early and enthusiastic supporters: SailingAnarchy - they have fondly described the J/24 as “pretty crappy little things” and “little pain boxes” - and the love affair continues with generous support of the 2009 J/24 Nationals at the San Francisco Yacht Club.  GU Energy of Berkeley, CA – are suppliers of pure performance energy to the likes of the ‘08-‘09 PUMA Ocean Racing Team, and are big supporters of J/24 Fleet 17 on SF Bay. They are Nationals sponsors and will also supply dockside optimized sports nutrition to the sailors during the racing.  Not surprisingly we are still eager for more corporate sponsors who can think outside the box and supply cash to support for regatta festivities and product support for sailors. Photo by Peter Lyons.

J/Community:

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

* Six Meter Worlds Won by SOPHIE - Friends Jonas and Hugo (SWE) sailing SOPHIE III and Cam Lewis (Lincolnville, Maine), the 1993 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year won this remarkable event that was recently run in Newport, Rhode Island-- last American home of the America's Cup.  It was a beautiful sight to see these "mini-12 meters" racing around Naragansett Bay and dream wistfully of the old days when the old 12 Meters raced their final America's Cup in 1983.

* In addition to the huge one-design turnout of J sailors aboard their J/105s and J/120s in this year's edition of the ROLEX Big Boat Series in San Francisco, some J alumni were making their mark felt in the IRC handicap classes.  J/West owner Norm Davant sailed as local tactician aboard the RP52 VINCITORRE, owned by Chicago's Jimmie Mitchell, winning IRC Class A against some notable competitors like Paul Cayard aboard FLASH.  Jeff Madrigali was helping the San Diego team aboard the J/122 RESOLUTE cruise around the capricious San Francisco Bay winds and currents, garnering a well-earned third place in their IRC C Class.  Steve Benjamin teamed up with perennial J/44 sailor Jim Bishop from Jamestown, Rhode Island to get a second in their IRC C Class- job well done, mates!

* Numerous members of the J/Community are also making their mark felt in the New York YC Invitational Cup currently being sailed in Newport, RI.  Leaders of the first race were the Canadians racing DARING and hailing from Royal Canadian YC of Toronto, Ontario- they have Terry McLaughlin steering with the owner John Millen and local tactician Geoff Moore aboard (all J/24 Champions of sorts in Canada and USA).  Hanging tough after a difficult first beat was the NYYC team that includes friends Phil and Wendy Lotz in their boat ARETHUSA along with tactician Kenny Read (PUMA Man, Rolex Man, J/24 God).  The RORC Team has past British/ European J/24 Champion Eddie Warden-Owen helping them get around the course, but not in such great shape.  St. Francis YC's team Craig Healy is steering with U.S. Olympian Russ Silvestri as tactician- they went the wrong way and got stuck in the right corner (we hope you didn't learn this racing J/24s in San Francisco Bay!).  The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda team with a largely Italian crew has George Andreadis's son Stratis (J/24 Greek Champions) aboard and American Dyer Jones helping out. Royal Cork YC team has the O'Leary's (Tony and Nick) aboard, veterans of offshore racing on J/39s and J/24s off Dublin, Ireland. Yacht Club de France's Bruno Trouble is hanging in there despite having little local knowledge aboard his entirely French team of sailors.  Real Club Nautico de Barcelona from Barcelona, Spain has a smattering of J/80 sailors fresh from their J/80 Worlds helping their skipper Jordi Tarre get their boat around the track in reasonable shape.  The Japan Sailing Federation Team has various J/24 alumni aboard getting skipper Makoto Uematsu going very fast, rounding the windward mark of the first race in first-- a first for Japanese sailors in world-class level competition?!  Finally, Yacht Club Italiano has friend Elio Petracchi and numerous J/24 alumni from Italy keeping their boat in gear most of the time.

Featured Boat

Stock J/80s are 1-2 at the 2009 J/80 Worlds

“Race-ready” and “fast out-of-the-box” take on a whole new meaning with the J/80.  Consider that in this year’s J/80 World Championship in Spain, the 1st and 2nd place teams (out of 132) raced newly built, un-modified charter boats supplied by the local J/Dealer.  No time in advance with the boat, no time to even think about changing anything – just add sails and go.  The Worlds winners sailed an incredible regatta in dynamic conditions, but isn’t it great to know you can hop aboard a new boat in a competitive class without having to complete a laundry list of items to get up to speed?  Several are just completing in Bristol, RI - Base Price- $49,900.  Please contact J/Boats or your nearest J dealer for details.

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

J/Newsletter- September 9th, 2009

Newport Sailboat Show Next Week!

September 17-20th- Newport, RI

We’re excited to debut the J/95 and J/97 together at the Newport show.  The J/95 is a breakthrough design, with twin rudders and shoal draft keel and carbon rig, it's no wonder sailors are raving about a shoal-draft boat that has such a great turn of performance.  Not to be outdone, it's newly introduced sistership, the J/97, has simply torn up the European IRC regatta circuit and combines fantastic cruising amenities with a serious turn of performance. We will also have a gorgeous J/100 available for show and demo sails in Newport Harbor.  Please contact J/Boats (phone- 401-846-8410) or a J/Boats dealer.

J/105 North Americans

October 29-November 1st- Rye, NY

American Yacht Club is hosting the J/105 North Americans.  Over 50 boats are expected from the West and East Coasts, Midwest, South and Canada.   Several past winners of premiere racing venues such as Key West, Annapolis and Block Island have already signed up to compete this year.  October and November are among the best months for sailing in Long Island Sound.  Wind speeds of 20-30 knots and beyond can be expected on frontal boundaries.  AYC is located on the tip of a peninsula, overlooking Western Long Island Sound with the New York City skyline in the background. Register now to insure your participation.  Entry fees increase after October 16, 2009 and the deadline for entry is October 23, 2009.

J/Regatta News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The September sailing season has a number of significant events on the international racing calendar.  The European circuit saw the close of the RORC racing season with the Cherbourg Race and the Dartmouth Royal Regatta.  And, the American events were highlighted by the 75th Stamford-Vineyard offshore ocean race and the start of the famous Rolex Big Boat Series in San Francisco, CA 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. 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.

Dartmouth Royal Regatta

J/97 Wins In Comfortable Fashion

(Darmouth, England- August 28th)- Alastair Walton, a sailor who works in the Boats.com/YachtWorld.com office in Fareham, U.K., sent a report of his experience sailing on the new J/97 at Dartmouth.  “Having just gone from winning the prestigious Black Group at Cowes Week to scoring eight 1st places in the recent J/Cup, the new J/97 has certainly made a strong entrance in to the UK racing scene. Your humble correspondent was therefore delighted to be asked by UK agent Paul Heys to race with him at the Dartmouth Royal Regatta, which started on Thursday. The rating bands for this event put the J/97 right in the middle of IRC 4.

“At first glance, the J/97 bears a family resemblance to the J/109 and J/122, two highly successful collaborations between the J Boats design team and J Europe of Les Sables D’Olonne in France. The cockpit features full length seats with back rests, tiller steering, and a unique, partially open transom. All the key controls are within reach of the helm and a retractable bow sprit with masthead asymmetric spinnaker allows great all-around performance for the cruising family or the full racing crew. The low VCG keel provides exceptional upwind stability, and she needed little trimming to maintain between 6.5 and 7 knots up the beats. Some smart crew work and well-chosen tactics saw us secure 1st place in both races, setting the crew up well for the remainder of the regatta.

“There is certainly no doubt as to her performance, so the question was, how would the J/97 fare as a cruising boat? I wasn’t going to find out on this trip, but the J/97 is the first J for a decade to combine 6-foot headroom with a boat under 32 feet, so the indicators are that cruising comfort has been a priority for her designers. Indeed, the interior is laid out for one or two couples cruising, including a spacious main cabin with two settees, galley, forward-facing navigation station, enclosed aft head, V-berth and aft owner’s cabin. Cruising stowage includes a large “garage” aft of the head, accessed through the cockpit seat locker.” -- John Burnham

75th Stamford-Vineyard Race Dominated by J's

J/122 PARTNERSHIP Wins IRC Class & Overall

(Stamford, CT- September 4th)-  The 238-mile Labor Day weekend race has always been one of the highlights of the racing season on Long Island Sound.  The Vineyard is also the culmination of the Doublehanded Ocean Racing Trophy (DHORT) awarded to the best doublehanded crew racing under IRC in the same events as those for NORT. Five boats are in the running for the trophy with two entered in the Vineyard Race: Jason Richter’s J/35 PALADIN and James Wilson’s J/42 CEOL MOR.

With light winds forecast for the weekend the Vineyard Race Committee decided to use a shortened course to ensure boats would finish in a timely manner. The 65 boats racing the Vineyard course will now stay within Long Island Sound for a total of 143 nautical miles instead of the traditional 238 miles out to Buzzards Bay and back.   “We talked to a lot of competitors before the race and the consensus was that a shortened course was the way to go,” Goodrich said. “The number of boats that withdrew due to the lack of wind and the comments we received by those who finished I think show that the right decision was made.”

Seventy six boats started the race Friday afternoon off Bell 32 at Stamford, CT.  Fifty-five of those boats raced under IRC. The J's that raced did  well, winning six of the eight divisions.

The J/122 PARTNERSHIP, sailed by David and Mary-Ellen Tortorello from Fairfield, CT, won the Stamford Vineyard Race in IRC40 Class and IRC Overall.  Rick Oricchio's J/120 ROCKET SCIENCE from Fairfield, CT finished third just ahed of George Petrides' J/120 AVRA in fourth.

In the IRC 45 class, Philip Gutin's J/44 BEAGLE from New York NY won its class.  Another J/44 VAMP X raced by Len Sitar of Holmdel, NJ was third.

The IRC Doublehanded division saw Jason Richter's J/35 PALADIN from Mt. Sinai, NY win class and the overall Doublehanded Ocean Racing Trophy.  In third was Andrew Berdon's J/109 STRIDER from Hartsdale, NY.  Just behind in fifth was Hewitt Gaynor's J/120 MIRELLE from Fairfield, CT and in seventh was Mike McCormick's J/105 GAUCHO.

The J/32 AMY BETH II, raced by Dana O'Brien of Riverside, CT won PHRF Non-Spinnaker and Michael Sullivan's J/33 SIRIUS from Fairfield, CT ended up third.

In PHRF Spinnaker, Adrian Little's J/100 FLASHPOINT from Westport, CT  won with Todd Aven's J/92 THIN MAN from Brooklyn, NY was fourth and David Spence's J/105 SYNERGY from Maplewood, NJ was fifth.

David Rosow's J/109 LOKI from Southport, CT won the IRC35 Class.  Another J/109, Paul Steinborn's  3 CHEERS finished in third place.  Yet another J/109, Jeff Warren's ARIEL from Easton, CT finished seventh.
For more regatta info.

Rolex Big Boat Series

Strong Turnout for J/105 and /120s

(San Francisco, CA)- This fall classic sailed on San Francisco Bay and hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club is a special year.  For starters, it's commemorating Tom Blackaller's 20th anniversary of his passing in 1989 at the age of 49.  It's also the USA IRC Nationals for offshore keelboats.  The largest class is the J/105s with twenty six boats sailing one-design and another large one-design class are the J/120s.

A great description of the event comes from veteran San Francisco sailor, John Kilroy.  Reflecting on his history with Rolex Big Boat Series, over the past 45 years, Kilroy said. 'I consider the Rolex Big Boat Series one of the preeminent regattas in the world. San Francisco is one of the great venues, recognized by anyone who has raced there. There is always great wind, a lot of challenges with the current, and all the variables that make sailing superb. I think it is the best yacht club and with Rolex, the preeminent sponsor, and the magic of San Francisco and the Bay, it brings out the best sailors. Everybody loves being in San Francisco.'

Principal Race Officer John Craig and the StFYC Race Committee have mapped out a variety of courses on San Francisco Bay - from 8- 32 nautical miles - which will be run on two different areas, the City Front Course and North Course. Competitors race within view of the stunning San Francisco city front, Crissy Field, Alcatraz, Angel Island and the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge. Racing finishes each day in front of the StFYC, set upon the rocky shores of the Bay.

The largest one design class is the J/105 class with over 26 entries. Defending class champion Scott Sellers' DONKEY JACK, the 2008 J/105 North American champion, returns and faces competition from Bruce Stone's local J/105 ARBITRAGE, which won its class in Richmond YC's Sarcoma Cup, in August, the Buzzards Bay Regatta and Block Island Race Week presented by Rolex. 'BLACKHAWK and JAM SESSION have moved up to the top of the J/105 fleet this year, and should be leaders, along with the usual standouts GOOD TIMIN, AQUAVIT, MOJO and RACER-X,' said Stone.

In the J/120 class, Barry Lewis's defending class champion CHANCE is the boat to beat. According to John Wimer, who campaigns DESDEMONA, the fleet will be tough this year. 'We expect very tight racing with plenty of lead changes,' he said. 'As usual, we have great expectations for a well-run regatta in an outstanding venue. We look forward to this event every year.'   For more information about the Rolex Big Boat Series, including entry lists and results.  For Rolex/Daniel Forster photos.

Dennis Conner International Yacht Club Challenge

Americans Show Strength in J/24s

(New York, NY- August 19-22)- The Third "Dennis Conner International Yacht Club Challenge" was held in New York Harbor with nineteen teams competing from 13 countries-- a unique event which promotes international goodwill through friendly competition.  Countries represented included: Bermuda, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Spain, United Kingdom & United States.

This regatta is organized by the New York Harbor Sailing Foundation and held at the Manhattan Sailing Club in Lower Manhattan. This regatta is unique because it brings together amateur club sailors from around the world. The competition is excellent but the main focus is on international goodwill. The host club provides race ready J/24 sailboats for all teams making it easy for club sailors to participate. During the regatta, protests are discouraged, unlimited crew changes are permitted and some clubs field 2 teams of sailors. At the end of the regatta, teams present their own gifts to teams which finish directly behind them in the standings. All in all, it makes for a super friendly regatta and an incredible international experience.

Eight races were held over 3 days. Five different teams won a race. The overall winner was decided in the final race with Yacht Club de Monaco, Royal Bermuda and Manhattan Sailing Club separated by just a few points. Monaco and Manhattan were over the line early which opened a window for the Royal Bermuda team. But midway through the final race, Manhattan passed Monaco and Royal Bermuda and then held on to win the challenge. It is the first time Manhattan Sailing Club has won the Dennis Conner International Yacht Club Challenge after hosting many events.  For more regatta info.

RORC Cherbourg Race

BATFISH III Clinches RORC Season Championship

(Cherbourg, France)- The end of season finale for the RORC offshore championship is the Cherbourg Race.  The race was as quick as anticipated with almost the whole fleet in Cherbourg for breakfast. The wind angle was too tight for spinnakers, it was very gusty and there were big waves. Most boats had at least one reef in the main and a No. 3 or No 4 headsail.

Third in IRC Class Super Zero was Bill Blain's J/133, BATFISH III who celebrated winning the RORC Season's Points Championship overall in Cherbourg.  In the RORC Double-handed divsion, second place in the Cherbourg Race went to James Heald's J /105, FLAWLESS-J.  In IRC Two,  Luca Rubinelli's J/109, ARIA, was second and Robin Taunt's J/109, JIBE, was third.  For more regatta info.

J/Community:

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

* Record Overnight Match Race- In a race for the record books (literally), Kevin Grainger and crew on J/105 GUMPTION 3 took part in an extreme version of match racing and long distance racing to win first in division and second overall in the 2009 Stamford Yacht Club Annual Overnight Race.  Grainger's team defeated the only other J/105 ECLIPSE by 15 seconds after 47.6 miles of unfavorable tides, squalls and no wind. The race is the longest/closest J/105 match race in history, earning the GUMPTION team two new J/105 Hall of Fame honors.

* A thoughtful note from a "new" J/41 owner in Europe- "Perhaps you´ll find it interesting that we have a J-41 One Ton racing in European waters. We purchased the boat in December 2007 on Long Island in a very poor state, shipped her to Holland the following spring and began a one year refit-period. The boat is now back in the water for a couple of weeks and she goes like a rocket. We managed a number of wins under IRC in the first races although the boat is still far from race ready. As far as I know she should be the only J-41 over here in Europe an she turns heads in every harbour. Thanks a lot for this beautiful design. With kind regards,  Jan Kuffel/ PALSTEK-Redaktion"

* Big Breeze Challenges Six Meter Worlds Fleet - Friends Jonas and Hugo (SWE) sailing SOPHIE III and Cam Lewis (Lincolnville, Maine), the 1993 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year were tied for first after two races.

* NYYC Invitational Cup- numerous members of the J/Community will be competing in this interesting new event hosted by NYYC in Newport, RI.  The NYYC team  includes friends Phil and Wendy Lotz in their boat ARETHUSA along with tactician Kenny Read.  St. Francis YC's team will have both U.S. Olympian Russ Silvestri and U.S. Olympic Bronze Medalist Jeff Madrigali as tacticians.  The Canadians hailing from Royal Canadian YC of Toronto, Ontario include Terry McLaughlin and John Millen and local tactician Geoff Moore.

Featured Boat

Stock J/80s are 1-2 at the 2009 J/80 Worlds

“Race-ready” and “fast out-of-the-box” take on a whole new meaning with the J/80.  Consider that in this year’s J/80 World Championship in Spain, the 1st and 2nd place teams (out of 132) raced newly built, un-modified charter boats supplied by the local J/Dealer.  No time in advance with the boat, no time to even think about changing anything – just add sails and go.  The Worlds winners sailed an incredible regatta in dynamic conditions, but isn’t it great to know you can hop aboard a new boat in a competitive class without having to complete a laundry list of items to get up to speed?  Several are just completing in Bristol, RI - Base Price- $49,900.  Please contact J/Boats or your nearest J dealer for details.

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.