J/95 Available for Show in Texas!
Come on down for some good 'ole Texan Hospitality!
J/95 Hull #3 is the first J/95 delivered west of the Mississippi, and is available for demo in the Dallas, TX area. The J/95 is a centerboard, twin rudder design that has a minimum draft of 3' providing a wider range of options for the owner to utilize shallow water docks to exploring shallow lakes and bays, all the while delivering a high level of JBoat performance. J/Boats Southwest has their J/95 on Lake Lewisville and ready to roll for you! Contact Bob Sittel at (214) 213-7197 or Scott Spurlin at (512) 423-2179. For more info.
J/Regatta News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
With summer in full bloom, both the American and European circuits had excellent sailing in diverse weather conditions. The American events featured two large race weeks- Rolex Block Island Race Week and Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week; the former was host to the inaugural J/122 North Americans and the J/109 East Coast Championships. The European events included the RORC's Morgan Cup Race. And, next week will be the report on the J/80 Worlds in Santander, Spain with a record fleet of 130 boats! 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 North Americans
GAMBLER Rolls the Dice and Wins!
(Block Island, RI- June 22-26)- Ten J/122s showed up at Block Island Race Week to compete for the inaugural J/122 North American Championship, hosted by Storm Trysail Club's Race Committee on the White Course. An enormous variety of wind conditions both challenged and bedeviled the competitors over the five day event-- everything from 15-30 knot winds and towering breaking waves to flat water and light to moderate breezes. Certainly, whomever triumphed over the others would get a well-deserved wind considering the extraordinary variety of wind, waves, current thrown at them. In the end, Doug Shaffer and crew from Bayview, TX on-board GAMBLER threw down the gauntlet and with a bit of lady luck, took all the marbles home with them. Coming up short on the last two races were David Askew's FLYING JENN
Y VI from Annapolis, MD, missing the top of the podium by only three points after a disappointing fourth and eighth at the end. Just off the pace was Bill Coates and crew from Bellaire, TX on OTRA VEZ finishing third.Doug Shaffer's GAMBLER had three points to make up on Thursday's leader FLYING JENNY VI, skippered by David Askew. GAMBLER accomplished that at the first weather mark when all the boats converged at the same time. "Everybody was ducking boats; we were in fifth place and jibed out to the left and picked up three boats (to finish second)," said Shaffer. "That was the regatta right there. FLYING JENNY had to take more boats at that mark (and finished eighth for second overall)." Shaffer, who has owned a number of different J boats over the years, says this is the first time he has won a regatta on a national level and gave credit to his crew, which included co-helmsman Eric Olving (Long Branch, N.J.) and tactician Jay Lutz (Seabrook, Texas).
Mike Bruno's Report on the eve of the final races Friday: "1st place and 3rd place will be hotly contested today—1st is between FLYING JENNY (great people from Annapolis—next to us on dock) and GAMBLER (nice folks as well from Houston)—both boats are extremely well sailed, and 3rd between the other Texas boat, OTRA VEZ, and WINGS. We have sailed well but did not deserve to place above FLYING JENNY or GAMBLER—both boats have been sailed flawlessly all week by extremely talented folks— quite impressive. Racing has been excellent and the fleet is pretty darn strong. Pete Dupont’s new boat is fast and very well sailed. The newest J/122, PUGWASH, with Larry Leonard aboard is improving daily and will ultimately be very well sailed, ditto PLUM CRAZY from Annapolis— a strong J/105 sailor previously. The J/122 owners are all quite enthused about their boats and we are getting pretty big press here. The J/122 is clearly considered one of the hottest one-designs out there at Block Island Race Week—many questions and much praise from the crowd about the boats—a lot of folks want one." For more info.
J/109 East Coast Championships
Strong Fleet Taken By STORM
(Block Island, RI- June 22-26)- A well sailed fleet of thirteen J/109s showed up to contend for East Coast Champs silverware. For Rick Lyall (Wilton, Conn.), skipper of STORM in the J/109 class, sailing "clean and competitively"- and winning Friday's race -- was the key to securing his Block Island victory and the 2009 J/109 East Coast Championship title. "It was very exciting, sailing in 18-19 knots today," he said. "The boat was prepared and performing tremendously; we were spot on with our navigation and tactics, and we're just thrilled with the victory." CAMINOS, skippered by Donald Filippelli, (Amagansett, N.Y.) was the only boat that could mathematically beat STORM today, and that's who Lyall defended against initially. After CAMINOS made the "mistake" of going to the right gate, however, STORM was free to establish its lead on the second downwind leg, and the rest was history. Finishing second after a strong finish towards the end of the week was Donal Fillipelli from Amagansett, NY racing CAMINOS. Just off the pace eleven points back was Ted Herlihy of South Dartmouth, MA racing GUT FEELING. For more info
The Wild Weather Block Party Ends
J/105 POWER PLAY Gets Hat Trick Plus Rolex
(Block Island, RI- June 22-26) - A single race today decided the fate of 153 boats entered in the Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race Week XXIII presented by Rolex. The event, which began Monday, hosted 1500 sailors on the tiny land mass of Block Island, which for five days in every odd-numbered year becomes the epicenter for sailing in New England. Of the seventeen victors named in as many classes today, three were new leaders since Thursday, illustrating best how the tough got going when the going got tough. The event had several large one-design classes for the J's, including the J/105s, J/29, J/44s, J/122s and J/109s. In addition there was also a strong contingent of J's in the PHRF handicap classes.
In the biggest class at BIRW, the J/105 one-designs, Bruce Stone and Scott DeWeese (San Francisco, Calif.) drove POWER PLAY to overall victory with a third Friday in a photo-finish with second-place SAVASANA, skippered by Brian Keane (Weston, Mass.). Stone said his biggest drama this week, however, was that his team sailed Saturday and Sunday in San Francisco and still made it here for Monday's start. "We traveled by plane, taxi and sportsfishing boat to get to our borrowed boat here with seconds to spare." Stone, originally from Providence, R.I., says he loves Block Island Race Week, where the race management is superb and the venue is beautiful. "Ours was a tough class," he added. Behind POWER PLAY and SAVASANA was Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes from Katonah, NY racing KINCSEM.Continuing their winning ways over the past few years, John and Tony Esposito from Mohegan Lake, NY dashed off six firsts to dominate the J/29 class sailing their venerable HUSTLER. Running in second were Bijan Rasadi from Groton, CT sailing SHOWDOWN. Only one point back was MIGHT PUFFIN raced by Steve Thurston from Bristol, RI.
In the J/44 One-Design class, six boats competed with their one-design class sails, making for very close racing. The final tally went down to the wire for the two leaders, Jeff Willis's CHALLENGE IV from Huntington, NY and Jim Bishop's renowned GOLD DIGGER from New York, NY. Both boats ended up tied with sixteen points a piece at the end of Friday's racing with CHALLENGE IV ultimately prevailing on having more first place finishes. Don and Rick Rave on RESOLUTE from Huntington Bay, NY sailed well, improved all week and ultimately won two races to finish third overall.In the PHRF handicap divisions, the Storck family Huntington, NY again led their nine boat PHRF 3 Class to victory sailing their J/80 RUMOR. In PHRF 4, Kyle Fast from Noank , CT sailed his J/24 ALOHOMORA to second overall.
Several special awards were given to various J sailors. For best overall performance on their respective race circles, the skippers of the J/29 HUSTLER (winner of PHRF 2 class, skippered by John & Tony Esposito, Mohegan Lake, N.Y.) and POWER PLAY each received a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner timepiece. The Everett B. Morris Memorial Trophy for Best Overall Performance went to POWER PLAY (making it the third part of their hat trick!). In addition to the J/105 Class Trophy, POWER PLAY also picked up the Justin Wasley Memorial Trophy for the overall winner of the one-design class with the largest number of entries. For more info
Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week
Wind lovers rule in 20 knots of Long Beach breeze
(Long Beach, CA- June 22-26)- The last anybody checked, fun had not been outlawed during a recession---after all, wind is free and there was plenty of it Friday, and a thousand or so mostly working class sailors are making the most of it during Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week. Sailors from these parts will tell you that San Diego 100 miles to the south is not the windiest venue on the West Coast. "That's why we enjoy coming up here," said Chuck Nichols, owner of J/120 CC RIDER. Few complaints about the weather conditions were heard from the 135 boats competing in 18 classes on three race courses inside and outside the Long Beach outer harbor. Only 8 knots of wind was forecast for the first day of the West's largest keelboat regatta, and that's what everyone saw through the first race in early afternoon. But by Race 2 the southwest breeze had started to build and the better sailors went with it, bringing smiles to the faces of the volunteers from Alamitos Bay and Long Beach Yacht Clubs who are running the traditional event on and off the water. By Sunday, it was so windy that even the local Alamitos Bay and Long Beach Yacht Clubs that organized the event were impressed by the benevolence of nature that blessed the West Coast's largest keelboat regatta.
Ultimately, Chuck Nichols, Chris Snow and Mark Surber came on strong in the last two races Sunday to win, respectively, the J/120, J/24 and PHRF-1 classes, reveling in winds of 15 to 20 knots. Running away from their classes in the J/109s and J/105s were Tom Brott and Gary Mozer, respectively. The ten boat J/120 Class were looking forward to the carpet of whitecaps as they sailed out of the Alamitos Bay jetty on Sunday. "We don't get this much in San Diego," said Nichols, racing his J/120 CC RIDER. "But we've had the same crew [of 10] for seven or eight years and our average age is over 50, so it's good to know we can still sail in heavy air." While other boats were rounding up or spinning out here and there, Nichols said, "I think we were the only one in our class that didn't wipe out. We have really good communication for trimming and adjusting and keeping the boat sailing under us." Rounding out the leaders of the ten boat J/120 class were John Laun aboard CAPER in second by only one point and eight points back was Jed Olenick's DOCTOR NO.
Surber's DERIVATIVE, a J/125 racing PHRF Class 1, finished fourth and sixth in the early light-air races Friday and Saturday but ran off two seconds and three firsts in the windiest races over three days. "The windier it is the better it is for us," said Surber, a Coronado YC member. "It's what makes Long Beach a great event. We just kept driving as hard as we could thinking that sooner or later something may come our way." Lorenzo Berho's gorgeous J/145 RAINCLOUD finished seventh but reveled in the windy conditions of the last day.
Only two of the seven J/24s raced Friday, leaving Susan Taylor's TAKE FIVE with an early 1-1 lead and everybody else with a steep hill to climb. Like Surber, Snow's BOGUS started slowly with a fourth place in Saturday's first race, but then hooked into the big breeze to run off four consecutive wins to match Taylor in points and edge her on a tiebreaker---his four first places. Rounding out the top three was Pat Toole's team aboard 3 BIG DOGS, finishing a scant one point behind Taylor and Snow on their tie-breaker....almost the bridesmaid, almost the winner, too!! In the J/105 class, Gary Mozer's CURRENT OBSESSION sailed away from all their competitors with a fairly dominating performance, garnering five firsts in seven races to win by thirteen points over Doug and Pam Werner's JAVELIN. In third was Bill Logan's PHOLLY eight points further back.
The J/109s saw a similar, electrifying performance to Mozer's with Thomas Brott flying around the course in ELECTRA to win by eight points counting five firsts and two seconds-- yikes, an average of first! Well, kind of. Still a dominating performance over Steve Crooke's SUGAR and Chris Mewes' SHADOWFAX, second and third respectively. We are certain by now that the others are probing Brott for some of his speed secrets by now!
The West Coast Championship was the main event for the five boat J/29 class. Bruce Lotz aboard SEDONA showed the fleet how to get it done and with four first places managed to win by just three points over Larry Leveille's RUSH STREET. Bob Lenard averaged third to get third overall.
The J/80 class was perhaps the closest racing fleet other than the J/24s. Gary Kamins's FIRED UP was crowned champion with Gregg Kelly's MERKIN and John Steen's UNDERDOG finishing second and third, respectively. For more info For photo gallery
Chicago-Waukegan Race Weekend!
J's Dominate Waukegan Race!
(Chicago, IL- June 26-27)- A large turn-out of boats for this perennial classic that takes the fleet for a sprint up the Illinois lakefront from Chicago up to Waukegan and return- a distance of about 50 miles. The J contingent had a very strong showing overall winning every big boat section. And, the J/105 class had a strong turnout of nine boats for what is almost always a fun, reaching race.First in Section 1 was the J/133 RENEGADE. First in Section 2 was the J/120 JAHAZI. First and second in Section 3 were the two J/109s CERTAINLY and NORTHSTAR, respectively. In the J/105s, STRIKING won...the same boat that will be competing in the Double-handed Chicago-Mackinac Race coming up shortly.
RORC Morgan Cup
J/133 BATFISH III Third in IRC Zero
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England- June 26th)- Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Royal Thames Yacht Club, the Yacht Club de Cherbourg and the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Morgan Cup race goes from RYS Cowes to the East, then 95 miles across The Channel (La Manche) to Cherbourg, France. The course to Cherbourg was a good test of the fleet's ability to race at different wind angles and their ability to call tactics using the tidal effects of the English Channel to speed their passage to France.One hundred and seven yachts entered the RORC Morgan Cup Race. This is the third RORC offshore race this season where the number of yachts racing has exceeded a hundred, an unprecedented level of participation in the history of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. Overall, the J's sailing this race had good showings in three IRC classes. In IRC Class Zero, Bill Blain's well-campaigned J/133, BATFISH III, was third. David Richard's J/122, JOLLY JELLYFISH, was third in IRC Class One. In the IRC Double-Handed Division Nick Martin's J/105, DIABLO J, finished second. For results.
Denmark- Around Als Race
J/80 takes off on Wild Plane!
(Denmark- sometime last weekend)- We received an interesting and somewhat amusing video clip link from Jens Kristian Andersen, Chairman of the J/80 Class in Denmark. The J/80 was video taped from a competitor who simply watched them fly by on an all out plane- yahoo! Take a look at this ride on YouTube!!J/Community:
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Tony Parker- Still Competitive After All These Years- Tony Parker is not a young man. At 63 years old, Tony was joined by his equally 'experienced' J/24 #54 - which is somewhere on the north side of 30 years - when he faced off against the best in the class earlier this year at the J/24 World Championship in Annapolis, MD. After three days, the BANGOR PACKET team was leading the 79 boat field, and while slipping to 9th by the end, this amateur skipper received high marks for the effort. Here is a brief interview on how he has approached his program in the recent months to prepare himself for the Worlds. Read more here.* J's Helping Grow The Sport. At first the words were foreign: jib, spinnaker, mainsail, windward, leeward, tack, keel. But after three hours on the water, the rookies were speaking fluent sailor-ese, even helping trim the sails and guide a large and fast J/105 sailboat down the Severn River. "I feel like I've been on an adventure today," said Maureen Mitchell of Curtis Bay, who was among the latest group of sailing newbies who took part in a free sailing program in Annapolis. That's right: Free. A confederation of sailing-related organizations, working together under the banner of Annapolis Community Boating, has been offering free beginner sailing lessons on Sunday afternoons for about two months. The
FreeSails have been popular, spurring a waiting list and forcing organizers to put out a call for more boats and more volunteers. For more info. Great video on the event.
* Congratulations and job well done to Ken Read and team aboard the VOR 70 PUMA. They finished 2nd in Stockholm-St. Pete race, 2nd overall in the Volvo Ocean Race. It was an outstanding effort for Ken and the boys who became more consistent as the regatta progressed and, once again, proved the old formula that Performance equals Potential minus Mistakes. Puma Racing always had good potential, but didn't really show it for the first half of the event, then they cut down their mistakes, while others did not, and in the end were rewarded with second overall. Ken is one of the great ambassadors for sailing, and is the inspiration for many young sailors. With this result, he will no doubt inspire many more. It was also a good night for PUMA as the Inmarsat Media Prize went to Rick Deppe (who started his offshore racing career aboard Stuart Johnstone's J/44 J-HAWK racing in the Solent). Rick was recognised for his outstanding work across the entire race. He also won the prize for leg 10 (his fourth win), as well as the overall prize (which included a cheque
for 10,000 euros), and he was quick to pay tribute to his colleagues, asking all of the media crew members to join him on stage. * Terry Hutchinson- a J/24 World Champion, 2008 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year and tactician aboard Jim Richardson's BARKING MAD just won the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds in Porto Cervo, Italy hosted by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. Together they just beat out ex-J/39 owner Vincenzo Onorato’s MASCALZONE LATINO. It was a well-deserved win over a star-studded fleet of 25 Farr 40s comprised of numerous Olympic Champions and World Champions peppered amongst the various crews.
Featured Boat
J100 #125 offered by J/Boats Southwest
J/Boats Southwest believes this may be the nicest J100 currently available. The owner has taken meticulous care of this lightly used J100. This model is highly optioned and accessorized including the following factory options: Harken Genoa Tracks and cars, high gloss varnished teak rails, seahood with instrument pod, self tacking Hoyt jib boom system, self tailing cabin top winches, two tone deck, deluxe interior trim package, v-berth package, shoal draft keel, fresh water system for forward head, additional battery, autopilot prep, and flag blue topsides. The interior has an upgraded fabric and looks great. The owner has added a $9,000 Ockam electronics package, VC prepared bottom. Boat has been hoist stored and never raced. Offered at $139,000. Replacement value would be ~$180,000 as equipped. Call Bob Sittel at 214-213-7197 or Scott Spurlin at 512-423-2179.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.
