Wednesday, March 3, 2010

J/Newsletter- March 3rd, 2010

J/105 one-design North Sails spinnaker designJ/105 Newport Tour

Awesome NORTH SAILS Raffle

(Newport, RI)- The J/105s have not only created a fun new J-105 Tour- the mid-summer Narragansett Bay Championship- but they've managed to up the ante and pull together a great set of sponsors and program this coming summer for all J/105 sailors worldwide!  Plus, it gives you expert "A-sail" speedsters the chance to rediscover why Larry Ellison (a J/Boat owner) has Newport as one of his choices for AC34.  So, all J/105 sailors in twenty+ countries around the world- Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Chile, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Malta, Monaco, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, South Africq, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, USA- need to have fun in Newport this summer, could be good training for your next AC efforts!

First, the racing and social events.  In addition to the Coastal Living Sail Newport Regatta on July 10-11 and the New York Yacht Club Rolex Race Week on July 17-18-19 (both with great apres' sail activities), the J/105s added an exciting weekend of in-shore buoy racing, the West Passage Regatta on Aug 7-8 at Wickford Yacht Club.   For the out-of-towners, the racing area for the first two regattas is south of Newport in Rhode Island Sound.  For the third event, Wickford Yacht Club is running numerous races with shorter legs to emphasize tactical skills with starts and mark-roundings, avoiding the long courses that often spread out the fleet too much; it should be very exciting for skippers and crew.

Second, the sponsors are offering fantastic support and serious "swag" for regatta participants.  If you don't have a J/105 to sail, you may want to find one fast!  Here's why:

* NORTH SAILS will also donate a NEW “VMG-Force” J/105 spinnaker to the charity raffle on Saturday night, August 7, benefiting the Wickford Sailing Association’s junior program – for a modest $50 tax-deductible ticket you have a shot at a $3,600 spinnaker with “flatter sections for easier light air flying in tighter angles in winds of 10 knots or less.”  All J-105 owners are eligible to purchase a ticket, even if crewing on another J-105.  The catch?  YOU must be present to win.

* NORTH SAILS is conducting a free on-the-water clinic to all comers on Friday afternoon, August 6 and will provide a mark-set boat for the West Passage Regatta.

* WEST MARINE is giving away a lot of free gear to all skippers and crew who attend the Saturday night BBQ, in honor of opening its new superstore in Newport and will provide special prizes to the top finishers in the regatta.

* SAMSON RIGGING is offering its latest high-tech sheets and halyards to the top three boats in the West Passage Regatta.

* WATERLINES is offering a J-105 half-model perpetual trophy to the winner of the Narragansett Bay Championship and coupons to the top three boats for free J/105 replacement parts.

* BREWERS WICKFORD COVE MARINA is offering half-price haul-outs and power washes, and $50 per week dry storage, to make it reasonably painless to bring your boat from afar and keep it here for the four weeks of great sailing!  Bring it on!  

Regatta & Show Schedules:

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.com
Mar. 11-14- J/22 Midwinters- Southern YC, New Orleans, LA - http://www.j22mw.com/
Mar. 19-21- San Diego NOOD- San Diego YC- San DIego, CA- http://www.sailingworld.com
Apr. 8-11- Charleston Race Week- Charleston, SC- http://www.charlestonraceweek.com
April 9-11- J/Fest San Francisco- St. Francis YC- San Francisco ,CA- http://www.stfyc.org
May 5-8- J/80 UK Nationals- Cardiff Bay YC, England- http://www.j-80.co.uk
Jun 5-6- Sprit Fest Regatta- Breakwater YC- Sag Harbor, NY- http://www.spritfest.org
Jun 20-26- Block Island Race Week- Block Is, RI- http://www.blockislandraceweek.org
Jun 25–27- Long Beach Race Week/ J/120 NAS- Long Beach YC- Long Beach, CA- http://www.lbrw.org

For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.

J/80 sailboats in sunlight sailing off Palma Mallorca, SpainJ/Regatta News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The spring sailing circuits continue to accelerate in both Europe and America.  And, our friends Down Under are enjoying a successful end to their summer series off Sydney, Australia.  The Europeans are training and sailing actively in the J/22s and J/80s already.  And, the J/24s aren't far behind since the J/24 UK Nationals are early this year (like the J/80s).  The French and Spanish J/80 teams had good weekends, completing "winter trophy series" and starting spring training programs on the Med and off La Trinite sur Mer, France.  The J/22s also had spirited competition in South Africa and the Cayman Islands! The American contingent of J Sailors saw a tough RORC Caribbean 600 race, a prelude to the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta starting this weekend.  The J/24s seem to be hitting on all cylinders, having fielded a very strong fleet for the Copa de Mexico off Puerto Vallarta.  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 JACKPOT sailing downwind under spinnaker off Sydney, AustraliaAustralian J/122 Dominates IRC1

JACKPOT Cleans House In Sydney Offshore Series

(Sydney, Australia- Feb. 22)- It seems to be a recurring theme Down Under.  Anytime a group of experienced amateur yachtsmen get together and race a J off the famous Sydney Harbour Heads, "magical" things seem to happen.  And, this year's winner's circle throughout the summer offshore series off Sydney included the J/35 SOUNDTRACK, the J/109 MAJIKAL and the J/122 JACKPOT.

Ray and Sandra Entwistle’s J/122 JACKPOT won the 2009/10 Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Short Ocean Pointscore Series on IRC.  The SOPS is an 11 race series which runs from October to February, and is a combination of both windward / leeward courses and short passage races, held on the waters offshore from Sydney. JACKPOT has also collected a 1st in the Gascoigne Cup, 1st in the David Burke Memorial Trophy and a 3rd in the Morna Cup, held throughout the series.

JACKPOT finished 3 points ahead of her nearest rival Ed Salter in his famous AFR Midnight Rambler, completing the series on 17 points.  JACKPOT's worst result was a 5th, which they were able to drop.  Other than that, JACKPOT finished in the top 3 places for all other races.  The top class fleet is a mixture of yachts in the 38-60 foot range with everything from a Swan 60, TP52’s, Cookson 12’s, new Beneteau 40’s, 47.7’s, 44.7’s, Sydney 38s and others.  The season comprised of a variety of wind, sea and weather conditions but JACKPOT and her crew remained consistent throughout.

Ray had this to say about sailing the J/122- "We have a fairly small sail wardrobe from Ian Short Sails which has proved to be incredibly effective, consisting of a carbon main, #1 light carbon jib, #1 Medium Heavy carbon jib, #4 Kevlar jib.  The kites we fly are asymmetric, being a 140 sq.m reacher and 155 sq.m runner.  The J/122 is designed to carry non-overlapping jibs so tacking is quick and easy, and the kites fly from a fully retractable carbon sprit making the hoists, drops and gybes simple and efficient.

The J/122 is a joy to sail, she doesn’t slam in rough conditions, her hull shape allows her to ride up the waves and surf back down, in the light winds she simply glides along. In one race gusting over 30 knots and waves peaking at 15 feet we hit a speed of 18.6 knots and averaged 14.4 knots on a leg from Botany Bay to Sydney Heads.

As a result of the resin infused construction, the J’s are light but extremely strong, so you don’t have the excessive sheet loading you get with some other brands.  This also means you don’t need to have a crew of rugby players on board – in fact 40-50% of Jackpots crew are women.  The J/122 really epitomizes what sailing should be about.  We can race her hard and win a prominent and competitive series, but then load her up with food and water and head up the coast cruising.  She truly is a dual-purpose yacht.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our crew Ian, Hedgey, Emmy, Cassandra, Kate, Caroline, Darren and James for making this series not only a ‘winner’, but also a lot of fun.  Our congratulations and respects to all our competitors for their sportsmanship throughout this highly competitive series."  Good on ya mates!  We hope you get a few more enthusiastic J sailors Down Under to play with soon!  

J/24 one-design sailboat sailing under spinnakerJ/24 "Regatta Copa de Mexico"

(Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)- The Mexican J/24 Class is hosting a remarkable event that may go down as one of the main fixtures on the spring sailing circuit in years to come.  In what is traditionally an event that marks the start of the MEXORC (Mexican Ocean Racing Circuit) with the San Diego-Puerto Vallarta Race, the J/24 class was invited to spice things up a bit and participate en'masse.  The response has been overwhelming.  Fifty-three J/24s registered from nine countries, including USA, Mexico, Brazil, Monaco, Germany, El Salvador, Italy, Puerto Rico, Peru.  Talk about some "time travelers", would do Dr. No proud to see this assemblage of talent.

Amongst the J/24 class notables participating are Chris Snow, the current J/24 NA Champion racing "S" and Maurizio Santa Cruz from Brazil- the current J/24 World Champion- who will be sailing TRES VELAS, heading up the Brazilian contingent that also includes Claudio Ruschel.  Furthermore, current J/105 North American Champion Bruce Stone will be sailing HOT TUB with tactician Stu Johnstone- himself a former J/24 World Champion tactician. Not to be outdone by other Latino-Americano firepower, the Mexican J/24 class has seven of their top ten sailors from their 2009 Nationals making an appearance, including three of the top five- Peter Colliard on KAWABUNGA, Mario Velasquez on VENDETTA and Luis Alvarez sailing TA'LENTO.    For more J/24 Mexico sailing regatta information.  

J/122 sailboat CATAPULT sailing upwind in RORC Caribbean 600 raceRORC Caribbean 600 Race

Glimcher's J/122 CATAPULTs Home

(Antigua- Feb. 23)- The 2010 version of this new bluewater classic really was an enormous navigational and tactical challenge.  The majority of the fleet entered into the "black hole" stage of the race when they all arrived at the easternmost turning "mark"- Guadeloupe Island.  Seemingly, the weather Gods played a nasty trick on the fleet, shutting down the smaller boats leaving them bouncing around in swells with little wind while the big boats simply blasted off under fast reaching conditions to the finish line.  After spending long periods with little rest and virtually no wind, the sailors began to feel the effects, leading to substantial numbers of boats retiring.

J/122 CATAPULT sailing course for RORC Caribbean 600 raceThe long leg south from the northern turning mark off the coast of St. Maarten to the island of Les Saintes off the southern tip of Guadeloupe was an upwind surprise for the fleet, with the breeze from the south, turning southwest early on Wednesday morning.  This was quite a different story from the start where clear blue skies, fresh breeze and aquamarine seas greeted the sailors-- the sailors were treated to some superb champagne sailing conditions that typify these waters at this time of year.  The first boats crossed the starting line for the 605 mile race on February 22nd to start an adventure that would take them around fourteen Caribbean islands, in what is regarded as probably the finest sailor's play ground.  By the morning of the second day, the wind direction had changed to southerly and windless spots were appearing all over the race course. And, that was all she wrote for a vast majority of the fleet.

Les Saintes proved to be the nemesis for many boats that were caught in the wind shadow from the high mountains of Guadeloupe, the bigger boats managed to get through but the breeze was really beginning to tail off and the smaller boats became trapped. Marc Glimcher's J/122 CATAPULT had been sailing a very intelligent race and were leading overall on handicap when the breeze died out.  Despite such challenges, kudos to Marc and team on CATAPULT for persevering until nearly the fourth day, still leading and having rounded Les Saintes/ Guadeloupe headed towards Antigua, English Harbour, before making the difficult decision to simply pack it in and turn on the "iron genny".  From the track of CATAPULT above, you can see they were seventh boat-for-boat with 50-65 footers around them!  Better luck next time!   For more RORC 600 sailing and regatta information.  

J/22 one-design sailboat- winning Cayman Islands crewJ/22 Commodore's Cup

(Cayman Islands- Jan. 16-17)- The government of the Cayman Islands must be doing a few things right.  Hard to imagine how this island nation (comprised mostly of service industries like international banks and offshore trusts) were compelled to honor their heritage as a nation by having school children learn the sport of sailing.  And, as part of that initiative work with local sailors to create a fabulous sailing center accessible by all.  Amongst the fleet at the CISC National Sailing Centre are a raft of dinghies and a fleet of J/22s sailing in those gorgeous crystal clear waters. 

This years edition of the Commodore's Cup was a closely fought affair.  In the end, despite having four firsts in seven races, the COMPASS team sailed by Mr. Farrington barely squeaked by with a win over Hanson's FORTIS.  FORTIS sailed a remarkably consistent series to finish tied for first with COMPASS with eleven points.  But, after a drop race FORTIS lost the tie-breaker on who-beat-who more times.  Third on the podium was Johnson racing YAHOO!, accumulating seventeen points after six races.

Of note, there will be a J/22 Invitational International Regatta with 12 J/22s starting on the outer course Saturday 13th March. It’s going to be busy out there on North Sound!   For more Cayman Island J/22 Sailing information.  

J/22 North West Keelboat Championships

Baker's US'N'J Wins Overall

(Transvaal, South Africa- Feb. 13-14)- A mixture of wind conditions prevailed over the annual North West Keel Boat championships held at Transvaal Yacht Club over the past two weekends.

Although a twenty-one strong fleet sailed out to the start line on Saturday afternoon 13 February, not a single race was sailed due to lack of wind. On Sunday, the next morning, there was a complete turnaround with strong, very gusty conditions.  Many boats went to the starting line with too much sail area causing over-powering and a struggle to finish the first race. Nubee skippered by local sailor, Les Faber, broke their rudder in the second race causing his crew to limp home for repairs and miss the third race too.  A total of five races were held over day two with TYC member Graham Baker on his J/22 US'N'J commanding the lead ahead of other local sailors and nine teams from the Vaal dam.

Weekend two was greeted by fair winds and a well laid course on the Saturday afternoon. Two races were sailed adding to a total of seven races, which would be the sum for the whole regatta. On the final Sunday, not a breath of wind could be found. Race officer, Ronnie Gurnell, sounded the three sound signals at 1230 to indicate racing was abandoned for the day. Prize giving was called soon afterwards. Graham Baker on his J/22 US'N'J was declared overall winner while Reinhold Antweiler on his J/22 SCHMETTERLING 2 took the third podium position for the fleet overall.  For the J/22 One-Design Class trophies, Baker was first, second was Antweiler and third was Dave Scorey sailing his J/22 DAVIDOFF COOL WATER.   For more J/22 South Africa Sailing info.  

J/80 CUP REGIONAL COUNCIL Trophy

Chiron's JULES Wins Close Fleet

(Pornic, France- Feb 20-21)- The French J/80 Class has started their 2010 season with the Cup Regional Council Trophy.  Twelves boats participated with the Club Nautique de Pornic organizing the race weekend for the 3rd "Cup Regional Council of Pays de la Loire."

The fleet was faced with variable weather conditions both days, including the addition of two more boats on Sunday.  Ultimately, Paul Chiron and his crew on JULES won overall. Nolwenn Blanchard and his female crew on MAYENNE won the "HOPE" category for this fun event.  

J/80 one-design sailboats sailing off SpainJ/80 Castro Ricardo III Trophy

(La Coruna, Spain- Feb. 22)- The second part of the Castro Ricardo III Trophy was held this past weekend at the Real Club Náutico de La Coruña.  The J80s sailed two races with little sea and gusty winds ranging from 7 to 22 knots, causing continuous changes in the leading pack. Proof of this was victory in the first race of IN ITINERIES skippered by Miguel Fernandez.  What was remarkable was that Fernandez, who was over the line early and circled back very late, caught back up to the leading pack at the end of the first run.  He ultimately won the race ahead of the MIUDO sailed by Carlos Pampín in second and ZEIK raced by the Zapata brothers in third. The second race was very close and was a constant battle between the crew of IN ITINERIES, MARINA CORUNA and MELTIME; nevertheless they finished in that order with IN ITINERIES winning.  For more Spanish J/80 sailing information.  

J/80 one-design sailboat- Portcall Composites- sailing off Palma Mallorca, SpainJ/80 Winter Trophy Club de Mar

(Palma Mallorca, Spain- Feb 20)- On Saturday February 20, Club de Mar in Palma de Mallorca ran the final three races of the Winter Trophy.  Sailing well in their first regatta of the 2010 sailing season was the overall winner was the wildly graphic J/80 PORTCALL COMPOSITES.  With no meltemis to worry about and seasonably warm conditions, the island "nation" of Palma blessed the J/80 fleet with near perfect conditions for sailing in the famous bay.  Capturing the essence of sailing in these idyllic waters off the eastern coast of Spain was the remarkable photographer, Jesus Renedo. Credits- http://www.sailingstock.com   For more Spanish J/80 sailing information.  

J/80 one-design sailboat sailing under spinnaker off Santander, SpainJ/80 Lacre Memorial Trophy

ECC VIVIENDAS Still Leading

(Santander, Spain)- With twenty nine  boats entered in this series, it has been difficult for any one boat to sail consistently well and maintain a leading position overall.  Witness the fact that some new players are in the top five and the three series leaders are only separated by six points.  This past weekend, Inigo Jauregui's GOLD SAILING was an example of this new blood, getting two second places for the weekend to jump into fifth overall.  Pichu Torcida's ECC VIVIENDAS is still leading overall followed by Tony Piris' YATES & COSAS and Jaime Piris' FONESTAR.

The J/80s probably enjoyed the best afternoon of racing so far this year. The cold weather in Santander finally gave way to much more Mediterranean balmy conditions and the sailors enjoyed a fantastic weekend of two windward-leeward course in Santander Bay.  The courses were fun since they setup the leeward mark close to Isla de Mouro and a windward mark off the Mataleñas beaches.  Northwest winds blew great intensity and there were some good-sized waves, too.

ECC VIVIENDAS dominated both races with two firsts.  With their two victories, the crew consisting of Pichu Torcida, Alex Muscat, Abelardo Quevedo and Juan González is placed just in front of YATES & COSAS sailed by Santi López-Vázquez.  While Y&C was leading going into the weekend, a fifth and fourth dropped Tony Piris four points back in the overall standings.  With two weekends still to go, it is still a  championship. In third position is FONESTAR, sailed by Jaime Piris, which could only get a ninth and third to stay on the podium overall.  They are followed by Paul Santurde's SPACIO 10 in fourth overall with GOLD SAILING in fifth overall.   Photo credits: chapifoto.com  For more Spanish J/80 sailing info.  

J/Community

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

J/95 sailors off Naples, Florida sailing downwind* Gerry and Trudie Ficks are moving into their SEVENTH J/Boat.  This photo shows Trudie Ficks checking out Rod Johnstone's J/95 no. 2 outside Gordon Pass in Naples, Florida yesterday. Onboard also were Tom McFadden and Craig Crossley of CrossCurrent Marine, our J/Boat Southeast dealer. Trudie has previously sailed on hull #1 and used the sail on #2 to finalized specifications on their own hull #11 to be completed this May -- just in time for a summer vacation with friends on Buzzards Bay prior to the boat going south to the Ficks home port in the Florida Keys. The Ficks have owned, cruised, raced J's from the littlest J/22 all the way up to the J/44 and think the new shoal draft J/95 is their perfect and (lucky!) seventh J to sail and race.  

* J/30 Midwinters champions, Ken Buhler's JALAPENO, and team finally got us some action and trophy shots.  Here's a picture of the JALAPENO TEAM in action off New Orleans, LA on Lake Ponchartrain.  Notice the extraordinary teamwork despite feeling the after-effects of an evening on the town during the world-renowned Mardi Gras celebrations on Bourbon Street!  Good on ya gang!  Congratulations.  For J/30 Midwinters regatta and sailing info.

J/30 JALAPENO sailing crew- J/30 Midwinters champions  


J/24 one-design sailboats sailing off Ireland* J/24s Growing in Ireland?  The news that Howth Yacht Club is hosting the J/24 European Championships next year (and almost certainly the Worlds two years later) has seen considerable discussion among several notable Howth sailors about the world’s most popular one-design keelboat.  Such was the interest of one syndicate comprising Fergus O’Kelly, Sean Walsh and Jonathan Wormald that they decided to sell their highly competitive quarter-tonner ‘Starlet’ and acquired ‘Jibberish’ (pictured here), an Italian-built J/24, from the North of Ireland just before Christmas.  They will race her in Class 3 in Howth club racing and at the ICRA Nationals in Dun Laoghaire in May and also at a couple of J/24 events, including the National Championships being hosted by Howth in September.  As Howth’s annual Autumn League starts the weekend after the J/24 Nationals, the Club has also agreed to provide the Class with its own start in the 6-race event (five Sundays and a Saturday) if there is sufficient interest from J/24 owners.  For more Irish J/24 fleet info.  

J/24 sailor Katie Burns sailing in FloridaKatie Burns ("KB24")- J/24 bow goddess. We had to include this heartwarming story about a U.S. Army veteran discovering what it's like sailing J/24s.  Katie Burns, a.k.a. "KB24" on Sailing Anarchy provided SA updates on her recent escapades.  Katie had this to say, "With the advent of some of the most advanced yacht racing in the world during the 33rd America’s Cup, I decided to start my 2010 sailing year quite a few steps back from the huge multihull monsters. If you guys remember, I had quite the ride in 2009. From sailing with Quantum Racing in the 2009 Audi MedCup to gaining a lot of sportboat experience on Pete Hunter’s Wairere, and the many other exciting opportunities I had (including working with Sailing Anarchy during the Melges 24 Worlds in Annapolis), I came out of 2009 with some definitive objectives. There were definitely a few times when I found that I was in over my head, but I persisted to pitch myself into every opportunity without abandon because I just have too much pride to do it any other way. The truth is that I discovered a newfound competitive edge in sailing last year, but I was struggling to keep up with it. And since I have a severe problem with not being really good at the things I like to do, I decided to start 2010 by retraining in technical knowledge. Here’s how: J/24 one-design racing.

I knowwwwwwww. I know. Believe me, I know. Everyone proclaims to hate J/24 sailing, but listen to what I have to say. See, I raced on Paul Van Ravenswaay’s MILLENNIUM FALCON (#5350) from Annapolis in the J24 Midwinters at Davis Island Yacht Club and also in the St. Pete NOODs the following weekend. We pretty much raced that J/24 for 9 days straight, and it was excellent training. Yes, I got really bruised. Yes, I was really freaking cold. Yes, I’m pretty sure my organs began to liquefy. But it’s all good. I had an opportunity to race in a competitive one-design fleet, so I took it. And let me tell you about the competition:

The J/24 fleet in Tampa and St. Pete was laden with some of the top guys in the class and even the industry, which proved to be tough racing. As a relative newcomer to the class, I didn’t have as much to offer as guys like Charlie Enright, Tim Healy, Will Welles, Tony Parker, Chris Snow, or Chuck Allen, but they were all nonetheless encouraging and the fleet as a whole created a great environment for one-design sailing. I also have to mention Brian and Kat Malone for acting as both hosts and competitors, and I would like to congratulate Charlie Enright and crew for winning the 2010 J/24 Midwinters. In the end, it was the perfect event for honing skills, opening my season, challenging the crew, and getting out of the snow-covered North.

After getting used to the boat and the crew (Paul Van Ravenswaay, Mike Zinkgraf, Eric Haneberg, Jarrett Hering – a great group from Annapolis), I really started to learn more and get a little more aggressive in my role. I wanted to contribute to the team, but I also was completely out of my sportboat comfort zone. See, the J/24 has this thing called a “cabin-top” to crawl over during tacks, and that alone was a pretty big feat. I honestly think I’ve low-crawled through Army infiltration courses that had more clearance than the J/24.  Once or twice, I actually had to be pulled across by my crew, which was a pretty big blow to my ego. I even think at one point I screamed like a little girl when I found myself caught on leeward with no chance of pulling myself to the other side. That was hilarious. But, I can adapt and overcome what I have to, so what I once said about TP-52 sailing also applies to the J/24; “A boat is a boat, and I can do at least that much.” I figured it out.

Here is another way to learn something on the water:  While rounding the top mark, get hit really hard on your port side by the bow of a leeward J/24. It’ll put a nice chunk of a hole in your hull, and you’ll have to figure something out about your boat, and quick! This happened to us at the NOOD regatta, and we had to retire from the race to address the puncture wound. Thankfully the hole was nicely above the waterline, so Eric made some quick work with the duct tape, and we were able to compete in the last 2 races of the day. We hauled the boat out afterwards, and Mike did an overnight fiberglass job to get us back out on the water.  Honestly, we probably should have all left our fenders on, especially those last 2 days. There was a lot of bumper-boat action out there. J/24 sailors are a scrappy bunch, eh? At times, I came out of a race feeling like we had been in a bar fight. It was aggressive, and I liked it that way. (By the way, no hard feelings to the boat that hit us, considering they actually sailed very well otherwise. We all know that accidents happen, and we all know that it’s a part of the learning process. Adapt and overcome, you know!?  Oh, and props to Tim Healy sailing his J/24 for the overall win of the St. Pete NOOD regatta.

So, now I am exhausted, dehydrated, and bruised, but I’m also a lot more proficient and I had a lot of fun. A racer CANNOT move to upper levels of sailing without learning the basics first. Just don't do it. I had to learn how to shoot a rifle before I could learn how to shoot a grenade launcher, and I wore an expert marksman badge in both at one point. It’s not different in sailing. J/24 racing is a great way to sharpen skills. Next step: BOR 90 … ??? Haha, just kidding.   Much love,  Katie Burns  

J/109 one-design, IRC, offshore, day sailing, cruising sailboatFeatured 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.
  
-------------------------------