J/95 #5 Launched in Annapolis
Ken Comerford and the team at North Point Yacht Sales just launched J/95 hull #5 in Annapolis. The boat is sailing to Oxford, MD this weekend and then will be based at J/Port in Annapolis through the Annapolis Boatshow. As part of Rod's "J/95 tour" he had the opportunity to have J/95 North Sails consultant Ron LaNeve sail aboard and provide some personal viewpoints on the meaning of this breakthrough design from J/Boats. Here's Ron's commentary- " I have come away with the feeling that the boat is really made for areas like this and that there is tons of potential for the J/95 here as well as other areas with thin water. Please feel free to pass along my name should anyone want an impartial opinion about the boat and how she sails. In my years sailing I cannot remember a time I sailed on a “centerboard” (big) boat that had such great performance. I sure felt like I was sailing a much larger boat with a deep keel. Thanks again for joining us at the Squan Trisail Regatta and spending some time at the Jersey Shore with your cool new boat! Kindest Regards, Ron". For more info contact J/Boats or see more here.San Diego J/Fest 2009
It's All About the Crew!
Southern California’s J/Fest is at the San Diego Yacht Club September 25-27. J/Fest is Southern California’s largest and most attended regatta… exclusively for J/Boats. Don't miss out on the biggest J/Boat event of the year! This year J/Fest will be focused on celebrating and thanking your crew and those who contribute to the camaraderie and success you have during the sailing season. There will be exciting one design racing, great prizes, and fun parties. Questions? Contact J/Concierge Amanda Denton at JK3. Register for J/Fest today.
J/97 European Boat Of The Year Contender!
The recent introduction of the J/97 in France and the current campaign of the J/97 JENGA in England have led to the J/97 being elected as one of the contenders for European Boat of the Year honors in the Performance-Cruiser Category. With a bit of luck and continued good results from JENGA, the J/Europe Team may have another winner on their hands!For more information on the new, exciting J/97 family performance-cruiser, please contact J/Boats.
J/Regatta News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
August in Europe means the highlight of the summer sailing season in England- over 700 boats are competing in Cowes Week hosted by Cowes Combined Clubs on the Solent. In America, Buzzards Bay Race Week and Downeast Race Week will be starting this weekend, too. 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.
Swedish J/80 Championships
Sundelin Family Affair Wins
(Stockholm, Sweden- June 25-28)- The Swedish J/80 Championship took place in Sandhamn in the Stockhom Archipelago 25-28th of June as a part of Sandhamn Race Week, Volvo Ocean Race Stopover and Around Gotland Off Shore Race.Twenty boats competed with representatives from both Estonia and Norway. With stable winds of 3-5 m/s and a sunny sky the conditions couldn't be better and the races offered a really tight fleet. The proud winner was SWE 562 with former Olympic Champion Peter Sundelin as a tactician and his son Martin Sundelin skippering the boat!! Good on ya, mates! Awesome to see father/son combinations enjoying the love of a life long sport.
Cowes Week 2009
Huge J/109 Fleet Offers Gorgeous Spectacle
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England- August 1-8)- Over 750 boats have been presented with an enormously variable set of weather conditions for the past five days in the Solent. Everything from a good breeze to calm to weather fronts passing overhead and treating the fleet to more rain and no wind and the usual massive amounts of current sweeping boats up and down the Solent (kedging is a unique local talent and expertise acquired by some of the best sailors in the world!). Despite the difficult conditions, the Chief Race Officer Stuart Quarrie and his race committee team have done a remarkable job keeping the troops happy and racing in whatever the weather Gods have presented to the fleets. Imagine that! Coordinating starts for over 750 boats each day?The J/109 One-Design Class have a fleet of thirty-two boats, the largest offshore one-design class gathering known in recent years on the Solent for 36 footers. At the head of the class are some familiar faces-- David and Kirsty Aphthorp's J-DREAM is just ahead of Ewart-Smith and Richards' ZELDA and Matt Boyle's SHIVA. The racing has been tight and with four races to go anything can happen based on what the fleet has seen to date.
The J/80s have a twenty-one boat one-design class. Rob and John Fox's JEVAN is winning by ten points followed by Nick Kirkman and Andrew Dykes' JANE and Adrian Stell's TOE IN THE WATER TOO. The J/97 JENGA being campaigned by Paul and Marie-Claude Heys' is dominating Class IRC 5 with four firsts and a third so far. Despite the often tricky conditions, Paul and Marie-Claude have continued to lead the fleet home in most of the races...we hope they continue to do so when the event concludes on Saturday.
Ian Matthew's J/122 JINJA is lying 5th in a highly competitive and closely fought Class IRC2. With a few shifts here and some good current calls there, JINJA could easily be in the hunt for a podium finish by the end of the week.
In Class IRC3, the well-sailed J/39 SLEEPER sailed by Jonty Layfield is third and Tom McDonald's J/90 JOE 90 is sixth. Again, the standings are mixed enough day-to-day that anything can happen in this class and both boats could be vying for podium finishes by week's end. For more information.
J/Community:
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Correction- Robin Taunt's J/133 BATFISH III- here's recent shots from their campaign- www.batfish.org.uk- sorry mates! Just need more great J-photo shots-- glad to see you and the J/UK gang are on the ball!* Bob Johnstone along with sons Stuart and Drake will be racing in the upcoming Downeast Race Week on Bob's J/100 TERN-- the first time this father/sons team has raced together in decades. Like the
Sundelin's in their J/80 in Sweden, one hopes the combined talents leads to a successful outcome. Over five J/100s are expected to race, making for spirited competition in this annual classic in the waters of Blue Hill and Penobscot Bays way, way "downeast" in Maine.* Jean-Francois Klein is a proud J/80 owner in Switzerland. He sent a nice note detailing how he's made a J/80 competitive against other very specially modified "Swiss Lakes Boats". Here's his note- "Dear Stuart- I don't know if you remember but we already met on the Shosholoza Boat in Valencia during the last America's Cup in 2007. I told you at that time that I am sailing a J/80 with a complete new sailplan including a new shape main and a big Genoa. That gives much more power to the boat and make it even more lively then with the class sails. I promise you that time to send you some pictures...." Here they are! Cool stuff.
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.
