J/Newsletter- February 10th, 2010

---

J/95 Saving Sailing in Florida

The Ultimate in Sailing Freedom- Go Anywhere with 3.5' Draft!

This week, Florida J Dealer Craig Crossley from CrossCurrent Marine took author Nick Hayes, renowned for his recently published book SAVING SAILING, for an afternoon sail aboard the J/95 from the Hamilton Harbor YC off Naples, FL, where J/95 One Design Fleet #1 is forming. The sail among the shallows and sandbars in the narrow channels between Gordon Pass and downtown Naples demonstrated the extraordinary flexibility of how one can use a J/95 for shoal-draft cruising and sailing in regions with a lot of shallow water like Florida.  As Nick commented to Craig, "Coming from snowy Wisconsin, it was a pleasure to sail in the Naples inter-coastal. The highlight, of course, was short tacking the J/95 between narrow channel markers, with 11-year old Drew at the helm, and his dad John sheeting the jib for him. The J/95 seems like a perfect boat for the shallow water areas in Florida, and it is clear that it is a great family boat too. Thanks to Craig for the invitation!"



Come on down and take this remarkable new shoal-draft cruising boat for a ride!  J/95 Demo Sails are available in Southwest Florida; Dallas, TX; Annapolis, MD/ Chesapeake Bay; Solent, England; and Lake Constance, Switzerland (soon)!  Please contact your local J Dealer to arrange a demo sail or contact J/Boats for more information- info@jboats.com or phone- 401-846-8410.  Southeast sailors can contact Craig Crossley- CrossCurrent Marine- cell 401-330-6135 or craig@crosscurrentmarine.com  

J/109 East Coast Series

Bill Sweetser, owner of the J/109 RUSH, has a challenge for you!  "The RUSH team will proudly display the prestigious J/109 East Coast Regatta Series trophy at the Annapolis Yacht Club until someone takes it away."  All you have to do is compete in this year’s J/109 Mid-Atlantic Championships at the Sailing World Annapolis NOOD, and the Sailing World Larchmont NOOD, and achieve the best average points. Each year the Class Association defines the Series events.

The SW Annapolis NOOD is on April 30-May 2 and the SW Larchmont NOOD is September 11-12.  The Larchmont NOOD’s will be the awards ceremony. The Class Association will ship it to the yacht club you designate where it will remain on display until another team wins it. The "keeper trophy" is a beautiful 16 inch silver tray engraved with the year and names of the Series regattas.  For more J/109 sailing and regatta information.  

Sailing World NOOD- St. Petersburg

J/80 2nd Stop of USA Tour

(St. Petersburg, FL- Feb 12-14)- The Sperry Top-Sider St. Petersburg NOOD is pleased to host the second stop of the J/80 World Championship Tour.  Premiere Racing's Nautica Key West Race Week, the first stop of the tour, saw nineteen J/80s on the starting line and the St. Pete NOOD is sure to see a strong showing as well with fifteen boats already registered. The J/80 tour will be heading up the East Coast throughout the spring and summer including a stop at the Annapolis NOOD and concluding with the J/80 World Championship hosted by SailNewport in Newport, RI during October of this year.  Look for class leaders like John Storck on RUMOR; Kerry Klingler on LIFTED; Al MInella on RELENTLESS; and Henry Brauer on RASCAL to be contenders for the podium-- all of them had flashes of brilliance at  Key West Race Week.

J/24s will also be participating with a twenty-two boat strong showing, one of the largest classes at the SW NOOD event.  Many of the J/24 Midwinters participants racing this past weekend at Davis Island Yacht Club will be racing in St. Petersburg, too.  In addition, the J/22s will have a fleet racing, too, with mostly local sailors and a team from Toronto, Canada looking forward to sunny Florida sailing.  For regatta and sailing news go here.

Sea Scouts at St. Peter NOOD

The St. Pete NOOD is pleased to welcome members of the Sea Scouts who will be racing two boats in the J/22 class and one boat in the J/24 class. All participating Sea Scouts are members of Ship 185, based out of Apollo Beach, FL. Don St. Amour has been an adult skipper for Ship185 for about 6 years. Sailing World is happy to have The Sea Scouts, a non-profit youth organization, participating in the event. Jabberwocky, a J/22 sailed by 3 young adults ranging in age from 14 to 20, will be skippered by Ryan Kresge, the Ship's Bos'n. Don will be skippering J/24 Black Magic. Don hopes to increase the number of Sea Scout boats racing in the St. Pete NOOD for 2011.

Sea Scouting is a part of the Boy Scouts of America, and is a co-educational program offered to young adults between the ages of 14 and 21. Sea Scouting is organized to promote citizenship, improve boating skills, increase knowledge through instruction, promote water safety, enhance outdoor, social, and service experiences, and expand knowledge of our maritime heritage.   For more SeaScout information.  

Regatta & Show Schedules:

Feb. 6-10- J/24 Midwinters- Davis Island YC- Tampa, FL- http://j24d10.org
 Feb. 12-14- St. Pete NOOD- St. Petersburg YC- St. Petersburg, FL- http://www.sailingworld.com
Feb. 18-21- J/30 Midwinters- New Orleans YC- New Orleans, LA- http://noyc.org/rc/2010MardiGrasNOR.htm
Mar 7–13- J/24 Copa Mexico- Puerto Vallarta Mexico - http://www.j24mex.com/copamexico/
Mar 8-13- Bacardi Cup- J/24s- Coral Reef YC, Miami, FL- http://www.miamisailingweek.comMar. 11-14- J/22 Midwinters- Southern YC, New Orleans, LA - http://www.j22mw.com/
Apr. 8-11- Charleston Race Week- Charleston, SC- http://www.charlestonraceweek.com
May 5-8- J/80 UK Nationals- Cardiff Bay YC, England- http://www.j-80.co.uk
Jun 20-26- Block Island Race Week- Block Is, RI- http://www.blockislandraceweek.org

J/Regatta News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The winter circuits in America and Europe are heating up again.  In America, the J/24 Midwinters raced in Tampa, FL at Davis Island Yacht Club.  The J/22s, J/24s and J/80s will be looking forward this coming weekend to the Sailing World NOOD Regatta i St. Petersburg, FL.   In Europe, the English Royal Southern Yacht Club "Doyle Sail Frostbite Series" is under way and, as usual, the Spanish J/80 teams continue sailing their Winter Circuit off Bilbao, Santander and Palma Mallorca, Spain, completing one trophy series and starting another.  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.

RSYC Doyle Sails Frostbite Series

Crews Scrape the Ice for Second Weekend

(Southampton, England- Feb 6-7)- The series name was apt as crews scraped ice from the decks of their boats in preparation for the second day of racing in the Royal Southampton Yacht Club’s Doyle Sails ‘Frostbite Series’. The clear skies and -4ºC slowed the build up of the wind, resulting in the AP being raised at 1000. Eventually the WNW breeze steadied at about 7 knots which allowed class 1 to start at 1140. Everyone was happy to be moving again and warming up.

In Class 1 IRC, David and Kirsty Apthorp's J/109 J-DREAM is hanging onto third spot overall for the series, just one point out of second place.    After starting the first weekend with two seconds, the fifth place this past weekend dropped them to third overall.  Also competing is IvanTrotman's J/105 JOLENE, enjoying the challenging conditions on the Hamble River/ Solent.

The J/92 fleet were close at the start but soon split into two groups choosing different routes to the first mark.  Andy Howe's BLACK JACK edged into the lead with Mike Cooper's JAVA LITE and the trio of Andrew, Matt & Pete aboard JAMMIN in hot pursuit. The slower class 1 boats were soon overtaken by the J92’s which were enjoying the lighter wind conditions. Racing remained tight all round the course with shouts for water at the mark roundings. Andy Howe kept BLACK JACK in the lead to take line honours and the class win. Close behind were JAVA LITE and JAMMIN who crossed the line together allowing JAMMIN to take second on handicap. After an hours racing only 40 seconds covered the first three boats.  In the series lead after two weekends is JAVA LITE followed by BLACK JACK and Mike Garvey's J-ARROW.

For more RSYC Frostbite Sailing series info.   Photo credits- Hamo Thornycraft Marine.  

J/24 Midwinter Championship

Enright Wins Nail-biter In Last Race

(Tampa, FL- Feb 6-10)-  The Davis Island Yacht Club offers a great escape from the February temperatures, a famous laid-back social atmosphere, and an an inviting venue for the 2010 Midwinters regatta. Februrary in Tampa Bay typically includes some excellent weather for sailing and an excellent way to spend your winter vacation.

Thirty three boats were on the line and amongst them include class notables such as veteran J/24 sailor Tony Parker of Annapolis, MD on BANGOR PACKET, Kirk Reynolds of Skaneateles, NY on OLD CROW, class stalwart Mark Pincus from Miami, FL on SCOUTS HONOR, strong contenders such as Charlie Enright, Peter Bream, Will Welles (fresh from J/80 Midwinters) and from Buenos Aires, Argentina, champion sailor Nicolas Cubria racing JESUS LIZARD.

By the fourth day of the regatta, Charlie Enright from Bristol YC (RI) kept the team of John Mollicone/ Tim Healy from getting in front of them in the last race to win the regatta by two points, they finished first and second respectively.  Just behind them in 3rd, 4th and 5th places, respectively, were Will Welles, Peter Bream and Tony Parker, each having won at least one race each.   For more J/24 Midwinters regatta and sailing information.  

J/80 Spain Winter Series Update

The J/80 fleets in Bilbao, Santander and Palma Mallorca, Spain continue strong racing with some series leaders emerging.  Come rain, snow, cold or violent squalls, nothing seems to deter this group of sailors from having great sailing on the water and camaraderie in the local harborside pubs after sailing.

Winter Trophy 2010

(Bilbao, Spain- Feb 6-7)-  Winter Trophy 2010 and has a clear candidate for title: Peru Mugica and his crew of PAKEA BIZKAIA. A first and a second on the third weekend helped Peru Mugica consolidate his lead with eight points, five less than the AS DE GUIA VIII's skipper Joseph Azqueta, who finished third and fourth.  In third place overall is FREUS's  Cristian Jauregui with seventeen points.

On a cold rainy day with little wind, the race committee postponed for two hours.  Then, they got two races off, the first one being light winds and strong currents making for challenging tactical decisions and the second marked by a powerful squall shifting the winds into the north.    In the first race, Zubiaga Ramon sailing MANDOVI led the race from start to finish after a difficult start.  MANDOVI chose to duck a bunch of transoms on port to get to the favored side and simply sailed away with the race.   Behind them, Peru Mugica staged a great comeback to finish second by the end of the race. The second race was considerably closer and much windier for the fleet.  The leaders all went to the right side of the course, playing the shifts.  In the end, victory belonged to Peru's PAKEA BIZKAIA followed by Cristian's FREUS and Joseph's AS DE GUIA VIII' in third place.

After the racing a dinner was held at SALTILLO's.  After the cold and rain, the warm atmosphere and great food and drink made for some amusing stories and celebration-- a lot of potato's were eaten!  More Spanish sailing news here.  

The J/80 Mafias Trophy

SPACIO 10, ECC VIVIENDAS, YATES&THINGS Win

(Santander, Spain- Feb 6-7)-  On the final day of the first trophy of the year, Pichu Torcida continued his winning ways from the 2009 season.  Pichu's ECC VIVIENDAS sailed extremely well, winning two races on the last day, to finish just two points back from Mafias Trophy winner, Paul Santurde on SPACIO 10.  SPACIO 10 consistently led the series, despite not winning any races.  And, thanks to an extraordinarily consistent series of 2-2-2-2 in the first four races, Santurde managed to hang in there for the overall win.

Like their friends in Bilbao, heavy rain in the afternoon on Saturday in Santander Bay did not stop to the fleet from having an interesting day of racing.  There was high tide, the wind blew between 15 and 18 knots from the west, and the race committee managed to run five races.  There were 22 boats on the starting line.  Unusually, the fleet went right the first time, without needing to have to repeat the same tactic later in the day.  In later races, the fleet was distributed equally throughout the race course. Some sought more favorable tide, some surfed the channel area of the bay and others simply played the left side, sailing further south. 

While ECC VIVIENDAS was winning the last two races, SPACIO 10 was wrapping up the series with a solid performance.  With their fourth consecutive second place, Santurde's SPACIO 10 secured winning the Mafias Trophy.  Antonio Piris sailed his YATES&THINGS very well to finish third for the series, followed by Alberto Padron's MABLE V and Jamie Piris' FONESTAR in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Next weekend the Santander J/80 fleet starts the Waxy-Memorial de Antonio Pereda Trophy during the month of February.  More Spanish sailing news.  

J/Community

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

* The AC33 DOG Match continues.  No wind the first day on Monday, too wavy Wednesday.  Seems former J/24 veterans are everywhere helping these giant multihulls get around the race track.  BMW ORACLE- former J/24 World Champion John Kostecki is tactician, Scott Ferguson is part of the HALL SPARS team that helped build the world's largest wing mast out of pure carbon fiber and film.    ALINGHI's Ed Baird, another former J/24 World Champion, is part of ALINGHI's strategy and operations teams and there are many others from the J/24 European contingent.  Lesson learned?  Get on a J/24, J/22 or J/80 and do really, really well.  Someday, you too could be one of the world's top sailors sailing in the America's Cup.  Perhaps just as interesting are that leading commentators include members of the J/Community- Gary Jobson for ESPN and Cam Lewis for BMW Oracle.   To follow this event, please check out the Official AC33 site.   BMW Oracle news from Peter Montgomery and Cam Lewis.   ESPN360.com with Gary Jobson.  

* "J/105s and the AMERICA'S CUP -What do the 1st, 2nd and 5th place J/105s at Key West and both America's Cup boats have in common? They're all powered by North sails. Racing with J/105 CSD (Class Sail Development) sails, the team onboard 'Savasana' topped the class while Ken Colburn and crew on 'Ghost' finished second. "Our new North main and jib delivered the performance we needed in all conditions," said Colburn. "Our upwind speed and height were excellent." Both the America's Cup challenger and defender also race with North Sails inventories. When performance counts, the choice is clear."  Interesting ad, eh?  Showed up in Scuttlebutt Feb. 8th-- so what's Ernesto complaining about DOG CiC issues when it's this blatant?  

* Bill Kneller and Dave Erwin, J/30 Class Co-Presidents have been doing a magnificent job re-connecting many J/30 sailors from across the country.  The resurgent interest in the class is heartwarming to see and, more importantly, they're having a helluva lot of fun!  Like the J/24 Australia story below regards "revamp that old boat", the J/30 Class has similar initiatives.  Read more about what Dave Erwin did to take a J/30 wrecked by Hurricane Katrina and resurrected it as the great "as new" looking J/30 called TOY BOX.  Furthermore, another great story on Tim Lawton resurrecting another J/30 called CHAOS.  Read more about these J/30 Class building efforts.  

* J/24 Australian sailors are growing their fleets and having a lot of fun.   Recently, Simon Grain, from Melbourne, sailing MAKE MY J, had some thoughtful hints on "Get out and revamp your old boat, it's worth it!".  As Simon explains, "One of the huge benefits of sailing a windward leeward course is, it evens out the boats. At the 2006 Melbourne World Championships, many of the top performers were boats with a minimum age of 15 years. None was more noticeable than Mike Ingham who shipped a 20 year old J out from America, whilst not in the top 3, his top 5 finish was excellent. He then went on to come second at the 2007 Worlds in Mexico in the same boat. At the 2009 J Worlds in Sardinia last year, the majority of the fleet were boats 10 years+, just with new rigs and fast as ever. Since then in Melbourne we have seen older J’s revamped and now competing at the front of the fleet. Ron Thompson’s AUS 1324 “Kicking Bottom” ( 20+ years old) has won several races at the beginning of the season, and Micheal Lewenhagen has just put AUS 1687 “Excite your Senses”, back in the water after a major rebuild. In addition, 3 boats have new rigs and 2 have upgraded 2nd hand rigs. The end result of all of this effort, is improved performance across the fleet.   

This was driven home when the J fleet sailed in the Audi Victoria Week at Geelong. Out of the 4 races that weekend the J’s got line honours in 3 and a 2nd in the 4th. A fantastic effort out of 50+ boats all of whom were bigger. In past years the S80 design yachts would have sailed past the J’s, this year, none of the 10 S80’s beat a J24 for line honours!  In South Australia several owners have revamped old J’s. Some of these boats were past Australian champions, were cheap to buy, cheap to clean up and revamp and are now sailing at the front of the national fleet again.  J24’s in Australia, can be brought up to race speed with a minimum of effort and experience. With the racing opportunities now offered, the excuse that your boat is no longer competitive no longer holds water. There are around 200 J24’s in Australia and most can be revamped into a competitive boat.  Over the next few months I will be listing hints on how to get old J’s fast, by reducing weight and getting rid of the huge amounts of junk found down stairs.

So, to all the owners of J’s not currently being used because of a notion that they’re no longer competitive, get out there and fix them up and see how quick they still can be.  Just maybe, your boat may have been one that started a legend…. and …. one that could start another. A revamped active fleet maintains the investment we all have in our boats, increases the enjoyment and interest in the class. So get the spanners out, find the screw driver and start taking off all that old crap.  Read more about sailing J/24s in Australia/ Tasmania  

Featured Boat

J/109 Race-ready for 2010

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

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:  15 Sailing World/ Cruising World Boat of the Year Awards in 14 years; 2 SAIL Awards for Industry Leadership; 2 American Sailboat Hall of Fame Designs (J/24 & J/35); and the three largest ISAF International One-Design keelboat classes (J/22, J/24, J/80).

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