SW NOOD Annapolis
(Annapolis, MD)- Looks like it will be a stellar turn-out for this weekend's SW NOOD Regatta sailing on Chesapeake Bay. 210+ boats to enjoy a sunny, bright weekend in the 80s and warm southerlies-- at least that's the forecast from Meteo Norteamericano-- one hopes NOAA Marine meteorologists have got it right for once. The J Fleet is enormous with 117+ boats attending (nearly 60% of the entire NOOD fleet) and representatives from across the spectrum of one-design classes and coming from all points of the compass across the Eastern seaboard- from Toronto, Ontario, Canada (our ice hockey mad friends from way up North) down to Houston, TX (our Tex-Mex bronco-busting cow hands from the real South) and from Boston, MA (that sport crazy town renowned for the Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics- what else is there?) out to Chicago, IL (another sport crazy town). Here's a class-by-class report and some of the leaders to watch for this weekend.
The eight boat J/109 One-Design class will have class champions Rick Lyall and Bill Sweetser vying for honors in this closely fought fleet. Rick's J/109 STORM is dashing south from winning the first day sailing at American YC Spring Series to participate in the first event of the J/109 East Coast Championship. And, rumor has it Bill Sweetser's RUSH is ready to rock-n-roll. Should be an interesting match up that sets the standard for the rest of the J/109 season series!The J/105 One-Design class has twenty-five boats showing up along with some past class champions. Amongst them will be teams like Jack Biddle's RUM PUPPY, Andrew Kennedy's BAT IV racing with Drake Johnstone as tactician, Jim Rathbun sailing HEY JUDE who finished third in the 2009 North American Championship, Bob Reeves on A-TRAIN, Carl and Scott Gitchell on TENACIOUS and Travis Weisleder on LUCKY DOG. All these boats are well-sailed and any one of these boats are capable of winning or getting podium finishes.
With thirty-five boats, the J/80 One-Design class is by far the biggest at the regatta. The J/80s are racing the fourth event in the 2010 USA Tour that leads up to the Worlds in Newport. A strong Texas contingent is showing up, including past World Champion Terry Flynn on B-TEAM, class leaders Jay Lutz and Gary Kamins on FIRED UP, and Bruno Pasquinelli. The Massachusetts teams from around Boston/Buzzards Bay are fielding some remarkably strong crews, including past J/105 North American and Key West Champion Brian Keane racing SAVASANA, past J/105 New England Champion and Sonar Champion Henry Brauer who has Stuart Johnstone aboard as tactician sailing RASCAL and Henry de Groot on WIRED. The locals from Annapolis who expect to give everyone a serious run for the money include Ken Mangano's MANGO, Brian Robinson's ANGRY CHAMELEON, Aaron Galvin's WILLY T and Chris Johnson's DRAGONFLY. In the J/22s, twenty-two boats will include a strong local contingent comprised of the current J/22 Midwinter and World Champion Greg Fisher racing WHAT KINDA GONE and Jeff Todd on HOT TODDY going up against some of the Rochester gang such as Chris Doyle on SOLID LAYER and Travis Odenbach on INSTIGATOR.
For the fifteen J/24s sailing, local legend Tony Parker on BANGOR PACKET (remember him leading the J/24 Worlds for a day or so?) will be leading the charge and still teaching some of the kids new tricks on how to get around the race track like the crafty old fox that he is.The J/30s and J/35s are each eleven boats strong! That's a terrific turn-out for these two classes and familiar names like BIG KAHUNA, CHAOS, REBEL YELL, MEDICINE MAN, BAD COMPANY, AUNT JEAN, MAGGIE, BAD GIRL will be mixing it up with everyone for bragging rights in these perennial one-design classes. More news soon. You can follow the action at Sailing World's site.
RHKYC J/80s Start Rollin In
From Little Things, Big Things Grow
(Hong Kong, China)- In late 2009 the Royal Hong Kong YC firmed up plans to purchase a number of new boats in partnership with members. A short list of designs was studied, and after many long hours of discussion and negotiation an agreement was reached with Jim Johnstone of J-Boats Asia, with the boats being built by Hudson Yachts in Xiamen. A few short months later the first J/80's rolled through the Boatyard gates. With a total of 16 boats currently ordered this is a spectacular start to a new fleet in anyone's books, and marks a new chapter in the already strong history of class racing at the RHKYC.The seed of this idea was sown by past Commodore Inge Strompf-Jeppesen, and came from her own experiences sailing International events in one-design fleets that were owned and managed by a Yacht Club.
The new RHKYC fleet comprises of 6 boats owned by the Club in partnership with members and 10 boats that are 100% member owned. Hebe Haven Yacht Club has also bought 2 boats on the back of the fleet deal offered by J-Boats, and hopes are that we will be well into the twenties before too long.It is expected that the new fleet will hit the water 'running', with a J/80 division being offered by the HHYC for the summer "Typhoon Series". Plans are for the fleet to base first at Kellett Island, move to Sai Kung for the summer then down to Middle Island for the start of the 2010 - 2011 season. Match racing and keelboat training programs will also be coming on line soon, and the Club owned boats will be available for use by members. In this photo is new J/80 owner Lonny Chen (J/80 #1211) with Roger Eastham (RHKYC Manager). For more Royal Hong Kong YC J/80 Fleet info and YouTube videos.
Regatta & Show Schedules:
Apr 30-May 2- Annapolis NOOD- Annapolis YC, Annapolis, MD- http://www.sailingworld.comMay 5-8- J/80 UK Nationals- Cardiff Bay YC, England- http://www.j-80.co.uk
May 10-14- J/22 South African Nationals- False Bay YC, South Africa- http://www.j22.co.za/
May 14-16- Seattle NOOD- Seattle YC- Seattle, WA- http://www.sailingworld.com/nood_regatta.jsp
May 18-23- J/24 North Americans- Seattle YC- Seattle, WA- http://www.j24northamericans.com/
May 22-23- Race For the Case- Lloyd Harbor YC, Long Island, NY- http://www.lhyc.org/
May 27-30- J/80 Copa Espana- Barcelona, Spain- http://www.rcnb.com
Jun 4-6- J/MedCup- Ill de Porquerolles (Hyeres), France- http://www.k-yachting.com
Jun 5-6- Sprit Fest Regatta- Breakwater YC- Sag Harbor, NY- http://www.spritfest.org
Jun 10-13- J/80 Italian Championship- Lake Garda, Italy- http://www.j80euro2010.it/
Jun 21-26- J/80 European Championship- Lake Garda, Italy- http://www.j80euro2010.it/
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/Regatta News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
Spring Series both in America and in England continue with some great racing taking place on both sides of "the Pond". The colonialists in America were sporting their finest haberdashery to thwart the cool weather thrown at them by a massive Low pressure system racing across America. For those sailing in the American YC Spring Series on Long Island Sound, it meant escaping the worst of the storm's fury (a 200 mile long path of destruction by an F4 1.5 mile wide tornado?). The Southern Californians enjoyed a nice, easy jaunt down the West Coast in their "mass border crossing" epic, a.k.a. the Ensenada Race to Mexico. In Europe, it appears the Queen of England ordered it to be a fine weekend for sporting events, and so it was. The Warsash Spring Series and Spring Championship getting in two great days of racing, making it a "glam" day for dozens of J sailors bashing and crashing around the cans, bouncing off the bottom to avoid the ravaging currents of the Solent. Speaking of royalty, the Royal Bermudians were simply enjoying living in the twilight zone sailing their renowned Race Week on that gorgeous island nation. 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/145 BAD PAK Wins Class in Newport-Ensenada Race
(Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico)- It was a sweet ride to Ensenda this year. The mad dash down the coast didn't set any records this year, but the fleet of 210+ boats were met with gorgeous weather at the start and less than twenty-four hours later, most of the fleet had finished by Saturday evening. Winning PHRF Sprit A division was the Transpac-winning J/145 BAD PAK sailed by Tom Holthus of San Diego YC (seen sailing off into the sunset here). BAD PAK won on corrected by one hour and two minutes and was tenth overall on handicap in the 100+ boat PHRF/ Sprit class divisions. BAD PAK was Second fastest elapsed time in all PHRF/ Sprit Racing classes with a time of 18:11:47, just ten minutes slower than the custom racing RP50 BLUE BLAZES, whom BAD PAK beat by nearly nine minutes on corrected time. Just behind in third place was the J/120 DR NO sailed by Jed Olenick from San Diego YC, missing second place by six minutes! Fourth in this class was another J/120, John Laun's CAPER also from SDYC. And, fifth in class was Jeff Shew's J/120 VIVA LA VIDA from Long Beach YC. Those same three J/120s went 1-2-3 in the J/120 class awards.
The PHRF Sprit B division was an entirely J/Boats affair with Mary Wyland's J/105 LUCKY STAR from American Legion YC winning by forty-seven minutes on corrected time. Second to them was John Shulze's J/109 LINSTAR from Balboa YC. And, third was another J/109, Anthony Wetherbee's COMMOTION from Dana Point YC.
There is a short video featuring a J/120 sailing just after start of Ensenada Race by Mary Longpre. For more sailing and Ensenda Race information
Sparkling Solent for Warsash Finale
J/122 JINJA Sets the Pace With 2nd, 3rd
(Southampton, England)- Warsash Sailing Club was a busy place over the weekend of 24th/25th April when the Warsash Spring Series and Spring Championship reached their final stages. Conditions in the Solent were ideal and provided some of the best racing so far this season.For the second weekend of the Warsash Spring Championship, the J/80s completed 12 races, each of between 40 and 60 minutes. Again there was a distinct winner in John Cooper’s OI! which had never dropped below fifth place. Terry Palmer’s JUST DO IT and Steve Chappell’s JANGO FETT were only five points apart coming second and third. Seven J/109s competed. Although J/DREAM (Kirsty and David Apthorp) counted six first places, Adam Wright in VELVET ELVIS had not dropped below second place and took the Championship trophy by two points. In the Big Boat IRC division, Ian Matthews' team on the J/122 JINJA sailed well to garner third overall. Neil Martin's J/133 JAMMY DODGER managed to get seventh followed closely by the J/122 JERONIMO sailed by Jackie and Robert Dodson.
The multi-week Warsash Spring Series finally came to a stunning, gorgeous conclusion, basking in near glam St. Tropez like conditions with sun-a-plenty and good breeze to boot. At 0830 when the committee boats left the Warsash Sailing Club pontoon for the final day of racing in the Warsash Spring Series the day was grey and drizzly, with poor visibility. It seemed very unlikely that the superb conditions of the Spring Championship the day before would be repeated but slowly, as the first start time approached, the rain died and by 1000 the south-westerly breeze was starting to fill. By midday the Solent was basking in sunshine and the breeze was up to 15 knots – a perfect way to finish the country’s premier early season racing event.
The Black Group race team had a particularly complex day’s racing. Not only was there the normal schedule for the Spring Series, but the Spring Championship was also to be concluded which meant two races for Spring Championship entries in IRC1 and IRC2. The steady wind direction made course setting reasonably straightforward and all classes could share the initial legs on a beat to South Bramble with the tide followed by a gybe at Flying Fish and run to a laid mark. Finishing was also at a common mark and the overall length of course was adjusted as appropriate to the time scale. Going into the final day, only a few classes, including the J/109s, were a foregone conclusion and even then final places further down were still in contention.IRC1’s first start was subject to a general recall and postponed until after IRC2 whilst other classes got away cleanly. In the end, Ian Matthews' J/122 JINJA sailed a nice series to get second overall. Team Jellyfish sailed their J/122 JOLLY JELLYFISH into fifth overall after being a contender for top three over earlier weekends. Neil Martin's crew on his J/133 JAMMY DODGER started slow but picked up some steam to ultimately get eighth overall in a large, competitive fleet.
It was a topsy-turvy day in IRC3. The pre-race leaders like the J/97 JIKA-JIKA (Mike and Jamie Holmes) finished well down the fleet but they were able to retain second place overall.
In the J-Boat one design classes, the J/109 J-DREAM had already secured the series win going into the day but she had a real tussle with VELVET ELVIS (Adam Wright) for the first half of the race before pulling out a four minute lead at the line. OFFBEAT (David Mcleman) managed to overtake VELVET ELVIS for second place.
The first three boats in the J/105 class had been separated by a single point so Rob Dornton Duff’s second consecutive win in JAVA ahead of JOURNEYMAKER 5 (Chris Jones) was sufficient to take the series win. Paul Griffiths’ FAY-J did not compete on the final day but finished third overall.
JAMMIN won the last J/92 race but a second place for Rory and Cathy Staunton on JAYA secured them the series title. Third was a tie between WIZARD (Bill Howard) and JEKYLL (Dominic Horner) with twelve points a piece, with WIZARD winning the tie-breaker.
On White Group things went straightforwardly with course setting in the steady wind. In the J/80 class, competition has been very close. This weekend saw Ian Atkins back in action with O.N.B.i.P(Our New Boat is in Poland). They were sailing in a borrowed boat as their new J/80 had been delayed. He proved not to have lost his touch with a 2-1-1 score line for the day. In the overall series John Cooper had a purple patch of four wins on the trot in OI! and that was just enough for him to finish ahead of the RAF boat TEAM SPITFIRE and Terry Palmer’s JUST DO IT. Full results on the Warsash Sailing Club's Regatta Website Photo Credits- by Eddie Mays
American YC Spring Series
Great Sailing for J One-Design Classes
(Rye, NY)- Eighty one teams are participating in the AYC Spring Series. And, as usual, being the wonderful hosts that they are for the opening of the Long Island Sound offshore sailing season, the team at AYC did a remarkable job to run five to six races (depending on course and class) this past weekend in the western reaches of the Sound. Sailing within site of downtown NY and it's eponymous Empire State Building, the AYC Race Committee ushered the sailors out on the water Saturday morning with some degree of protestations as it looked like a proverbial mill pond out in the middle between the Long Island and Connecticut shorelines. Nevertheless the AYC PRO's on both the East Course and the West Course persevered, the wind settled into the SSW building from zero up to 13 knots by late afternoon, enabling the East course to run four races and the West course three on what turned out to be a gorgeous, albeit challenging, day for sailing. By Sunday, the same ginormous Low Pressure system that was terrorizing the American Midwest and South with tales of the world's largest and longest lasting F4 power tornado cutting a 200 mile buzz-saw path several miles wide through the southern heartland turned out to be true, unfortunately. With thousands of lightning bolts spraying the landscape per hour, there was simply nowhere to hide in that region. However, the explosive cocktail of warm Gulf of Mexico winds and cold Arctic/ Canadian air masses colliding with brutal fury dissipated by the time the continental-spanning monster front hit the NY region. Luckily for the sailors, the forecasted 0 knots of wind gusting to 0 knots and incessant drizzle magically transformed into a great day of sailing in Easterly breezes. With only two races scheduled for Sunday, both course started the first series of races in the 6-10 knot wind range and increased to 12-16 knots by the end of the second race.The winning formula for success on Saturday in the southwest breezes was fairly typical for the conditions-- it meant playing shifts towards the right-middle of the course, staying in wind streaks and less adverse ebb-tide before sailing across the Sound to the windward mark placed near the Long Island shore. Sunday, the strategies changed quite dramatically with easterlies and strong ebb. As large cloud cells rolled through, the wind direction varied from 70 to 90 degrees, with enormous, gusty wind streaks filling in from both sides of the course. While certainly keeping the RC mark boats on their toes, the tacticians had their hands full keeping their boats in the hunt for good positions to close out the first weekend of sailing.
The J/122 One-Design class saw Tom Boyle and Mike Callahan aboard WINGS figure out the tricky conditions and sail into contention in this tightly fought class, with three firsts and three seconds to be winning by a scant one point margin over Andrew Weiss' family racing CHRISTOPHER DRAGON that managed to garner a 3-1-1-3-2-1 tally. Lying third is Barry Gold and Jamie Anderson sailing SUNDARI to 2-3-4-2-3-5 finishes. Jim Bishop and his fun-loving crew aboard their J/44 GOLD DIGGER managed to stay amongst the leaders, hanging onto third place after the weekend in the J/44 One-Design class, sailing to a 5-4-2-3-3-4 score. Showing some great form were Jeff Willis on CHALLENGE IV and Bill Ketcham on MAXINE. Both Jeff and Bill stepped up their games this year and sailed consistently to top the leader board. Bill's MAXINE is currently first with a 1-1-4-4-1-2 record and Jeff's CHALLENGE IV is lying second with 4-3-5-5-2-1 finishes. The J/44 One-Design Class continue to enjoy fantastic racing with their "class matched/supplied" one-design sails. Draw each sail out of a hat and off you go! It's been a terrific formula for success. Look out for another large J/44 class for this year's Storm Trysail Club Bermuda Race.
The J/105 One-Design class has a strong turnout of seventeen boats, largest in the AYC Spring Series. The J/105s saw class leaders like Damian Emery on ECLIPSE and Joerg Esdorn/ Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM rise to the top of the fleet, running first and second, respectively, after five races with just two points separating them. Hanging onto third place overall is Harald Edegran and Jeremy Henderson on CONUNDRUM. The current North American Champion Bruce Stone / Scott DeWeese racing POWERPLAY are fourth and George and Alex Wilbanks are fifth sailing REVELATION. In the IRC 40 Class, Thomas Carroll's J/133 SIREN SONG sailed to a 4-1-1-6-1-1 tally to be leading their class by four points. Lying third is Ron Richman's J/133 ANTIDOTE and fourth is George Petrides' J/120 AVRA. Seems like the SIREN SONG gang were sand-bagging the first race to lull their competitors into complacency then simply blew them out of the water-- four bullets in six races in this hotly contested class is strong, keep on rolling next week!
J/109s are racing IRC35 Class against a fleet of well-sailed, similar sized, competitive boats. This group, too, had to avoid enormous pitfalls on the race course in order to stay in contention. The J/109s are packing the top of the leader board. Mike Brown's MISCHIEF is tied for first with a 4-3-3-2-4 record. Lying third is Adrian Begley's MAD DOGS & ENGLISHMEN with a 5-5-5-1-3 score. Rick Lyall's STORM was leader after the first day with a 6-1-1 record but did not sail on Sunday's race. Watch out if next weekend sees them sail another five races and they get to drop another DNC score, they could leap into top three contention overnight!Always a leader in PHRF was the J/29 HUSTLER sailed by Tony Esposito. In fact, in Saturday's light air and flat water conditions, their J/29 was devastating, often hanging with or sailing by the J/105 One-Designs with their large masthead rig and beautiful looking genoas...still a killer boat after all these years! Their 3-3-1-1-1 record speaks for itself, leading their ten boat PHRF class by three points. Photo credits- Alan Clark/ Photoboat
For more race and sailing information on the American YC Spring Series.
Bermuda Race Week J/105 & J/24 Update
Pink Sands & Bermuda Shorts- What's Wrong with that picture?
(April 25, 2010) - With warm trade-wind like breezes, sunny skies, puffy white clouds and pink sand beaches, those fortunate few are thrilled to have weather conditions that must be exceeding their expectations.
Scott Snyder's Team USA 194 started out by taking two bullets to lead the eleven-boat J/24 fleet. Snyder's home club, Lake Dillon Yacht Club is the nation's highest yacht club at 9,017 feet above sea level, in Summit County Colorado. The lake is still frozen solid, so this is his first time on the water this year. This is his fifth Bermuda International Invitational Race week, the third as a skipper. By Monday, Scott Snyder continued to show his stern to the rest of the class. He got an excellent start at the committee boat in winds gusting to 26knts. Then he trailed Bermuda’s Trevor Boyce much of the race, but came back to pass him on the final downwind leg to win again. Snyder has 1-1-1 for 3 points while Boyce has 4-2-2 for 8 points. Peter Rich of the Severn Sailing association in Annapolis Maryland climbed into third place with 3-6-3 for 12 points.The J105 class frolicked in the high winds and Glenn Astwood, skipper of NOT MINE for the day came in second but held on to the /first place slot. NOT MINE has scored 4-1-1-2 for 8 points. Chuck Millican took first today and moved into the second slot with races of 2-4-2-1 for 9 points. James MacDonald now has scores 1-2-3-4 for 10 points. With these close scores it is still anybody’s regatta to win.
For more information and great videos and photos of J/24s and J/105s sailing Bermuda Race Week.
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Barby Macgowan- a long-time J/Sailor from Texas now living in Newport, RI with husband Billy MacGowan, runs MediaPro International, a public relations firm. WindCheck magazine, a publication focused on the Northeast (http://www.windchecklis.com/), recently ran a nice interview on her in their latest publication. To read it, please download it here (1.0 MB). *
Linda Ambrose- another long-time J/Sailor is now the Annapolis Yacht Club's Regatta Manager. The Annapolis Performance Sailing/ Chesapeake Racer Profile recently did an interview of Linda in their most recent Spinsheet (http://www.spinsheet.com/). To read Molly Winans interview of Linda, please download it here (1.4 MB). 
* Frank Kern, from Grosse Pointe, MI raced his J/120 CARINTHIA in the Regata del Sol Race, winning PHRF Racing Class. Twenty-seven boats competed in this 500 nm event which started from the St. Petersburg Pier on April 23rd. It's hosted by St. Petersburg YC and the Club de Yates de Isla Mujeres, Mexico. It's been run for decades and has a very loyal following. The town and the yacht club in Isla de Mujeres are apparently spectacular hosts and everyone looks forward to the Regata de Los Amigos-- read more about it here- http://www.regatadelsolalsol.org/ Featured Boat
Gorgeous J/133 SOFIA in Europe
The ideal mid-40s length racer/cruiser, winner of The Sailing World Magazine Overall Boat of the Year and many other international plaudits, the J/133 is a yacht with the stability for short-handed cruising, race winning speed under IRC and the durability you would wish for rough offshore passages. Add in the retractable carbon bowsprit and flying and handling the asymmetric kite becomes playground simple!The J/133 combines cruising comfort with more powerful performance ratios. The easy to manage sail plan allows fewer and less experienced crew, and the extra rig power afforded by a low VCG keel and standard carbon mast will maximize performance across a wide spectrum of conditions.
Since her introduction, J/133 has established a winning record in some of the highest profile PHRF & IRC events around the world including class wins at Key West Race Week, Spi-Ouest Week in France, and she has been the best performing boat in the RORC series overall in 2007 and again in 2009. In the UK J/133 owners also enjoy Class events.
The J/133 also has full interior accommodation with 3 cabins. There is plenty of space for getting comfortable inshore or offshore with proper offshore galley, nav station and companionway designs, lots of grab rails, large sea-berths, comfortable well ventilated cabins and a warm varnished wood finish.
SOFIA is a fantastic J/133 with many upgrades/modifications to provide an amazing boat for short-handed sailing with her asymmetric spinnaker. SOFIA was Winner of Round Gotland Race in her class 2007 and 2009.
For more information on this J/133 cruising/ racing sailboat, please visit the J/UK site.
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 line of one-design, cruising, racing, offshore sailboats.
In the 22 boat strong J/105s it was a donnybrook as usual for the top five sailors. Who won was determined by the finish of the last "cockamamie" race with St. Francis YC's ARBITRAGE avoiding a bad race and just beating Tiburon's Scooter Simmons on BLACKHAWK, getting a first to Scooter's ninth. Bruce's team on ARBITRAGE won with a 1-6-3-1 1 tally, beating by four points Scooter Simmons sailing BLACKHAWK with a 4-1-1-9 record. Lying third was Phil Laby and Rick Pipkin's RACER-X from Alameda just two points back....again with a mathematical chance to win in the last race despite their 9th place in the third race.
racing boat with the same conveniences as a two-man-tent and is so fast that it even leaves some 40-feet boats behind. J/80 boats have been sailed in races like Gotland Runt and other ocean races many times but still, no one has crossed the Atlantic Ocean in one. We will change that during the autumn 2007. So follow us during our preparations and also during our journey to the West Indies in one of the smallest racing boats!" They're now down in Los Roques/ Tortuga off Venezuela having a scream cruising, fishing and kite-boarding. 
* Can The Favourites Win Match Race France in Marseilles on J/80s? Not. Instead, it was "Local French Hero Reverses History!" Here's the report from the WMRT. "Twelve skippers went to Yacht Club Pointe Rouge, Southern France for the start of the 2010 World Match Racing Tour (WMRT). The first of this 10 event global series starts in Marseille and will count towards points for the ultimate prize of becoming the 2010 ISAF World Match Racing Champion. With a daunting line up of skippers including seasoned World Champions, Olympic medal holders and adrenalin-fuelled youngsters, any skipper lining up to perform pre-start tactics would have to be confident of their match racing prowess and boat handling abilities onboard the J/80 yachts. The J/80 will provide a lively model for the skippers to race, a design that works for dinghy sailors as well as big boat racers making tight boat maneuvering during the pre-start achievable for all skippers. The J/80 cockpit is also spacious for the four person crew to perform their jobs to the best of their ability, involving constant alteration of sails, body weight and vantage points to see the competing boat's next move. The J/80's will be raced asymmetrically for this event so it will be interesting to see if those skippers who have previous asymmetric experience will have an advantage on the downhill legs." 
As the regatta unfolded, it was clear that strong dinghy sailors had an advantage. Here's what happened, "Stage 1 of the ISAF World Match Racing Tour (WMRT), has put a new twist on an ancient maritime tale. The scenario of English sailors battling French sailors is reminiscent of the famed 1805 Battle of Trafalgar when UK’s Lord Nelson defeated Emperor Napoleon of France. Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAM ORIGIN took on Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team. The French local, Richard, took a convincing victory winning both of the final two matches raced under a testing 6-7 knot westerly. Richard celebrated with local Marseille supporters, who were quick to take to the water in boats of all sizes."