J/95 BANJO Northeast Tour
Jump Aboard and Play With Us!
(Stonington, CT)- The Tour'd'J/95 is on a roll. J designer Rod Johnstone is on tour with BANJO for demo sails in various ports in the CT, NY, NJ area with local dealers. The updated itinerary includes the following:July 25-30 - BANJO at McMichaels/ Mamaroneck, New York.
July 31 - Rod sails BANJO from Mamaroneck to Bay Head, NJ Yacht Club for the weekend.
August 1 & 2- Regatta on the weekend.
August 3-4 - Rod demos at Bay Head including Tuesday night Race.
On August 5th Rod sails BANJO back to Stonington via Mamaroneck, or via the South Shore of Long Island
Please contact J/Boats if you want to join Rodney for the trips from Mamaroneck to Bay Head, or Bay Head back to Stonington (or somewhere in between in LIS or the South shore of LIS). For the NJ Tour, please contact Burt Geiges at Custom Offshore – 856-764-8181. The J/95 will race in the Squan Tri-Sail Regatta in Bay Head NJ on August 1st and 2nd.
J/122 Debut at Sydney International Boat Show
J/Boats' Australian distributors, YachtSpot, will be debuting their J/122 at the Sydney International Boat Show. The show runs from 30th July to 3rd August, and is held at Darling Harbour in Sydney."There has been a lot of keen interest in the J/122 since she was commissioned in December. People from around the country have taken notice of this impressive yacht and have been keeping an eye on our race results since we won our first regatta straight ‘out of the box’. The beauty of the J/122 is that she also has exceptional cruising qualities. With the fourth J/122 due to arrive in Australia in October, this yacht is certainly turning heads. Our beautiful harbour city is a great draw card for bringing people from all over the country to see what’s on offer at the Sydney Boat Show", said Ray Entwistle. For more boatshow info.
J/Regatta News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
August is upon us and the weather has yet to improve in Northeast America, with summer still taking a breather. But, it's safe to say others around the world have not suffered the same malady and have been enjoying some great sailing conditions. In America, several fun regional events took place, including the Whidbey Island Race Week in the Pacific Northwest; Marblehead Race Week in New England; the Fiesta Cup and Tour'd'J/105 in California. The European events counted the famous RORC Channel Race, the "training wheels" for the notorious Fastnet Race and Cowes Week which are upcoming in the first weeks of August. 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- Sharon Green/ Ultimate Sailing.
Fiesta Cup Festival
Local "Barbarians" Dominate J/105s
(Santa Barbara, CA- July 25-26)- Santa Barbara Yacht Club was host to a one design event this past weekend called the Fiesta Cup- a regatta held to honor the historical "Fiesta Festival" that is celebrated in Santa Barbara, commemorating the strong Spanish history in the region. One design fleets included J/105s, Farr 40s and Melges 24s. The J/105s had the largest class with nine competitors showing up from as far south as San Diego Yacht Club (the Howell's BLINK) and others from the Los Angeles area like California Yacht Club's Leahey racing GRACE O'MALLEY.The fleet was greeted with two gorgeous days of sailing, the local thermal developing each day late morning and building into a fairly steady WNW wind 8-18 knots. Racing took place about two miles west of the SBYC to get the fleet outside of the enormous kelp beds lying just offshore from the headlands.
Saturday's racing was clear with strong, steadily shifting winds. Sunday dawned with fog and clouds that burned off as the seabreeze built in the afternoon. In all, six great races were run by the seasoned SBYC Race Committee, setting windward-leeward courses just outside the kelp beds.The racing was very competitive with different winners for almost every race- including Howell's BLINK, Harteck's REPEAT OFFENDER, John Demourkas's ROCK'N & GROOV'N, Bernie Girod's ROCK & ROLL, Peter Lufkin's SHORT SKIRT, Alex Rasmussen's FREE ENTERPRISE and Leahey's GRACE O'MALLEY. Nevertheless, the local contingent of "Barbarian" J/105 sailors led the fleet of nine boats home when all seven races were completed. The winner of this year's event was Alex Rasmussen's team (see pic) racing their J/105 FREE ENTERPRISE. Just three points back in second was local hotshot Larry Harteck racing REPEAT OFFENDER and third overall seven more points down the ladder was Peter Lufkin on SHORT SKIRT.
SBYC should be commended for hosting such a fun event. All crews were treated to music, barbecue chicken, copious beers on the beach/ outside decks and a nice slide show by Sharon Green (of Ultimate Sailing Calendar fame) on Saturday's windy racing. For more regatta info. Photo Credits: Sharon Green
J/Teams Sweep Chicago-Mac Double-Handed
J/122 SKYE, J/35 CHAS, J/29 TFWB RELENTLESS Dominate
(Chicago, IL- July 19-21)- The J/Team does it again. Proof positive that J's are easy to sail boats and that all types of sailors can race them competitively, from women to couples to kids (OSTAR) to experienced offshore veterans.This year's 101st running of the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac was a real challenge with lots of sail changes and a burning need to maintain apparent wind angle to get good boat speed. In these types of conditions, J's shine as being easy boats to sail and keep the "edge" on competitors. This is particularly important for sailing singlehanded or short-handed. The less stress put on the crew, the better the overall performance since better decisions are generally made over the course of a long race.
This year's sixteen boats in the Doublehanded Division were all competitively sailed. It is a testimony to the preparation not only of themselves as sailors, but of the boats, too, that the top three boats in the Doublehanded Division in the Chicago-Mac were all J's. Most interestingly, they were of all vintages, too, from some of the oldest to the newest. Bill Zeiler and Richie Stearns won on their J/122 SKYE. Remarkably, SKYE won Section 3 in last year's Chicago-Mac with a full crew!
The second boat in the Doublehanded division was the J/35 CHAS, sailed by Jeff Roney and Chris Wells from Thunder Bay YC, Ontario, Canada. They double-handed their delivery down from Lake Ontario, across Lake Huron and all the way down Lake Michigan!! What a remarkable team to have essentially "practiced" for over 1,000 miles prior to the start of the Chicago-Mac Race! Talk about determination! Congratulations to Jeff and Chris, especially to be rewarded for their perseverance.
Perhaps the long-time loyalist award must go to George and Kim Petritz sailing into third place their J/29 called TFWB RELENTLESS. They hail from Grand Traverse Yacht Club and Beulah, MI For more regatta info.
SW NOOD Marblehead Race Week
Strong J One-Design Contingent in J/24s, J/30s and J/105s
(Marblehead, MA- July 25-26)-- The local yachts clubs, Eastern YC, Boston YC and Corinthian YC, as usual put on a good show and hosted another excellent event. The weather cooperated enough to provide solid winds, too much on Friday, in fact--- an issue New Englanders have grown use to this summer. An enormous low pressure system was winding its way ENE in tight pinwheel delivering a whole lotta wind and rain (the pic here is totally cool- courtesy Sailing Weather Services).After Friday's blowout it was business as usual off Marblehead Neck for Saturday and Sunday with everyone getting in the full complement of races. Saturday was sailed in a light southerly full of holes and shifts and as the day wore on the breeze cranked up to a smooth 10 knots. The sun was shining, crews were hiking, and the current was ripping across the race courses. Midway through the day dozens of boats had drifted into the weather mark after approaching on close layline calls. A few even hit it twice in the same rounding!
In the twenty strong J/105 class, the team of Jon Samuel/ Mike Royer / Robert Mann, hailing from Jubilee YC, sailed a very roller-coaster series (1, 11, 16, 1, 1) to win the event on a tie-breaker against Jon Wales from Eastern YC who consistently improved throughout the series to near take it all (8, 6, 3, 3, 2). In fact, so close were the top three that anyone of them could've taken the series overall. Third was the Henry Brauer/ Stew Neff team aboard their newly acquired SCIMITAR (see pic above). According to Henri, "the team gives credit to their friend and sailing instructor, Stu J, who made a heroic guest appearance in
Marblehead this past Thursday, to help the team figure out which end goes forward." Interestingly, there were three ties to break to determine the top six finishers- 1-2, 3-4 and 5-6.In the J/30s, Luke Buxton from Palmers Cove YC led the six boat fleet home counting straight bullets in six races to finish with an average of first!! Second was Ken Deyett from Manchester YC averaging second and third was David Bows from Boston YC, the only other person to take a first from Luke Buxton.
The J/24s had solid turnout of fifteen boats. John Denman from Jubilee YC sailed a very consistent series to drop a third place and win the J/24 class with nine points. Matthew Herbster and team from Corinthian YC were second and Ted Johnson from Boston YC was third. For more regatta info. Photo Credits- Tim Wilkes.
J/105 Tour de San Diego
Yellow Jersey Racing in J/105s?
(San Diego, CA- July 18-19)- So what happens when you combine the best aspects of bicycle racing into a format for yacht racing? The SoCal J/105 fleet experienced the sensation last One Design Weekend when the SDYC Race Committee decided to shake things up in honor of the start for Le Tour de France.Twelve boats came together on an ultra short course, taking a mere four minutes to complete a leg. Combined with the fact that two laps constituted a race and only two minutes between races and there you have the makings for close racing and some very tired crew. As in bike racing, there were not only prizes for winning the race, but intermediate prizes termed “primes” for random accomplishments such as the first to the mark, the fastest timed leg of a race, the fastest start and the ever coveted box of doughnuts to the last finisher of race three (delivered hot and fresh courtesy of the SDYC race committee boat).
In all, eight races were run on the day with the highlight being the last which was run in a “win and out” format. In this race the winner of each leg claimed a prime and retired from the race. The winner of leg one was first, the winner of leg two second and so on until the final sprint for fourth. Rails were scraping, Dacron was stretching and halyards were flying to be the boat to capture the title for the first edition of the Cardiac Cup. Overall, Doug Werners’ JAVELIN won the day followed closely by the Driscoll/ Hurlburt combination on TRIPLE PLAY and third went to the ever quick Dennis Case owned WINGS. Overall the regatta gave a chance for the fleet to learn about the boat and about themselves, ultimately leading to better crew work and faster racing on the course. Photo Credits: Mark Johnson
RORC Channel Race
J/133 BATFISH III Takes IRC 1
(Southampton, England- July 25-26)- The renowned RORC often acts as the "practice race" for many teams participating in the infamous Rolex Fastnet Race in the first week of August. Seventy one boats started Saturday morning and most of the fleet finished in less than twenty four hours.In IRC Class Zero Bill Blain's J/133, BATFISH III, is not only leading its class for the season but is also leading in IRC overall for the RORC IRC Offshore Season Championship. It appears that Bill and team's strong performance over the weekend may have strengthened their position to take overall honors in the RORC's IRC division. BATFISH III attained first in IRC Class Zero and third in IRC overall! They finished the course in a relatively quick 18 hrs, 37 minutes.
The J/109 ARIA sailed by Luca Rubinelli was tenth overall and second in IRC Class 2.
In IRC Class 2 there were three J Two-Handed entries that are having a very successful season: Robin Taunt's J/105 JIBE, Nick Martin's J/105 DIABLO-J and David Walters' J/39 JACKDAW. When the smoke cleared at the end of the race and times were tallied, it was clear that David Walters' JACKDAW finished second in the Two-Handed Division and Nick Martin sailed his J/105 DIABLO-J into third position. Remarkably, it's one of the few races all season long that Robin Taunt's J/105 JIBE finished out of the running. For more regatta info.
WHIDBEY ISLAND RACE WEEK
The J/125 ROXANNE and J/105 MONEY SHOT Win
Oak Harbor, WA, USA (July 17, 2009) – One of the highlights of the summer regatta circuit in the Pacific Northwest is the five-day Ohana Harbor Coffee Whidbey Island Race Week regatta. The theme is fun and with a little bit of nice weather becomes a feast for the eyes, gorgeous scenery, great sailing and lots of "apres sailing" activities to keep the troops occupied.The final outcome of the hotly contested P0 class wasn't known until the results party Friday evening in the rum tent of the grounds of the Oak Harbor Yacht Club. Once the throw-out was factored in, it was Greg Slyngstad’s beautiful blue J/125 ROXANNE taking second for the day and first for the week with a total of 22 points.
For some of the 94 competing boats, Friday’s gybe mark was set close to the Coupeville dock, much to the delight of the spectators lining the rails. Well-performed gybes earned loud cheers from the crowds – or jeers for those maneuvers that “earned the ugly award” according to one energetic fan.
The top three spots in the 12-boat P2 class proved that solid sailing can overcome challenging ratings. Race week veteran, Wayne Berge’s J/35, THE BOSS, took third place for the week, behind Stuart Burnell’s J/109 TANTIVY that came in second.
In Class P3, Tom Kerr’s J/33, CORVO, landed in third with some good sailing and were not too far out of the lead at the end.
Class P4 was one of two one-design classes at this year’s Ohana Harbor Coffee Whidbey Island Race Week. Nine J/105s battled eachother all week ong, with Erik Christiansen’s JUBLIEE winding up in third behind JP Peterson’s LAST TANGO, and in first, with five bullets, Mike Schlitz at the tiller of his MONEY SHOT--- yes, they did finish "in the money" the whole time, but probably could've renamed it "HOLE SHOT"-- Mike and crew simply sailed off from the starts and could do no wrong!
The P6 class saw former race week Boat of the Week winner, Pat Denney’s J/29 HERE AND NOW, take second. For more regatta info.
J/Community:
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Seth Hall aboard the J/124 MARISOL had this to report from the recent 65 mile jaunt from Newport Beach to San Diego Race. "We sailed out of Newport Beach with the Genoa, switched to the Code 0, sailed down the rum line at 7.5 to 8.5 knots for 10 hours with 10 to 13 knots of steady breeze. Perfect day on the water. Then the wind died at La Jolla and left the fleet tacking back and forth along the kelp beds off San Diego working to the finish. Race started at 11:05 and we finished at 11:10. Ultimately we won the race!" Congratulations to all of you from the J/Team!* Terry Hutchinson and crew are struggling in the TP52 MedCup aboard their boat QUANTUM RACING, finishing out of the money in their last regatta but still hanging in for third overall in the TP52 MedCup standings. Seems the new next-gen boats are getting cranked up and are hard to hold back, particularly the Team New Zealand boat.
* Ken Read is in semi-retirement from North Sails, recharging from an exhausting Volvo Ocean Race PUMA Project. Ken was last seen on a golf course practicing his swing and getting in some good family time with wife (Kathy) and daughter (Torry). Can't blame him. Would you? After living on a boat, cramped quarters with guys, encrusted with salt and eating dried food for seven-plus months, who wouldn't go golfing for awhile, or for that matter hiking Mount Kilmanjaro or chasing wildebeests across the plains of Africa!
* Dr. Laura, world renowned psychologist with a nationally syndicated radio/Internet show has now joined the J/105 fleet in Santa Barbara, CA. The local J/105 fleet hosted a "Welcoming" party for her this week and look forward to her participation in this fun, low key J/105 fleet that races off the beachside location of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club.* A Correction on America's Cup meanderings-- ooops- got our RI J-Alumni mixed up last week regards who was doing what and where. Dirk Kramers is over playing with some seriously mangy, dangerous cats in the ALINGHI world and Scott Ferguson has been living the SoCal beach life in San Diego playing with tri-cycles (maybe even cats?) with the ORACLE/BMW crowd. Good luck to all of them. We know next week, by August 8th it appears, where these frail looking things will race--- or perhaps more likely self-destruct in any kind of breeze.
Featured Boat
New 2009 J/80s Available
There’s plenty of new J/80 talk these days, thanks to the extraordinary coverage garnered by the record J/80 fleet of 131 boats in Santander, Spain.The J/80 is now the largest sprit boat one-design in Europe as well as the USA. Learn more about this remarkable, simple, easy to sail boat. Call your dealer now and learn more about it.
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.
