Sailing World Seattle NOOD
J/24, J/105 & J/109 One-Designs Racing
Organizers of the third annual Seattle NOOD regatta are hoping this year's event differs from last year's in one key way - more wind. Last year's National Offshore One-Design Regatta (NOOD) in Seattle was hampered by light winds over three days of racing, prompting some races to be canceled. This year's NOOD is scheduled for Friday through Sunday, May 14 to 16, on Shilshole Bay. "I'm praying for more wind than what we had last year", regatta chief George Brengle said on Monday. "I'm looking at the forecast and it looks like a carbon copy of last year's".Northwest racers, familiar with the regions variable conditions, simply take it all in stride. As many of them say, "if it ain't happenin' on the water, there's always the beer tent-- why do you think we have the world's best micro-breweries?!" Enough said. J/24s area gearing up for their North American Championships next week at Seattle's Corinthian YC. A strong contingent of experienced J/24 sailors have assembled to sail their J/24 Western Regional Championship. Amongst the teams sailing are Mike Whitfield on TMC RACING from San Francisco, CA, Scott Milne from Seattle, WA on TREMENDOUS SLOUCH, and Pat Toole on THREE BIG DOGS from Santa Barbara, CA. It's already clear who'll win the Long-Distance Award, Hidetuki Miyagawa from the Wakayama Sailing Club in Wakayama, Japan-- they're taking this regatta seriously! Other J One-Design classes have a good turnout, including seven J/105s and six J/109s. For more Sperry Topsider Seattle NOOD Regatta info. Photo credit- Tim Wilkes.
Royal Thames YC's Cumberland Cup
(London, England) The international battle for the honour of winning the world's oldest yachting trophy - dating back to 1775 and established some 76 years before the America's Cup - will be hosted by the Royal Thames Yacht Club on May 12-16. The Cumberland Cup is the UK's only regularly-held international two-boat team racing event in keelboats, and the only event to take place in the capital-- sailing on J/80s! Team racing with four boats, two-on-two, makes for some spectacular sailing-- last place loses!This year the event is supported by the Royal Thames Yacht Club corporate partner, the luxury Swiss watch manufacturer Audemars Piguet, and has attracted entries from clubs as far afield as Australia, Germany, Ireland, Monaco, New Zealand, USA as well as the UK.
Held every two years, the 2010 race takes place at Queen Mary Sailing Club, which is situated on one of London's largest reservoirs, conveniently close to London's Heathrow Airport for the arrival of the international crews.
The eight teams - representing the Royal Perth Yacht Club of Western Australia; a combined Norddeutsche Regatta Verein & Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee representing Germany; Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club of New Zealand; Royal St George Yacht Club, Ireland; Southern Yacht Club of New Orleans, USA; Yacht Club de Monaco, as well as a team from the host club, Royal Thames Yacht Club - will battle for the honour of winning the Cumberland Cup in the Royal Thames Yacht Club's fleet of identical J/80 One-Design sailboats- Europe's fastest growing one-design keelboat.
The Cumberland Cup was established in 1775 when the Duke of Cumberland, brother of George III, put up a silver cup for a race on the River Thames and formed the Cumberland Fleet. This remains the alternative name for the Royal Thames Yacht Club, which is based at Knightsbridge. For more Cumberland Cup sailing / regatta information
Regatta & Show Schedules:
May 5-8- J/80 UK Nationals- Cardiff Bay YC, England- http://www.j-80.co.ukMay 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 19-20- J/Fest Northwest- Seattle, WA- http://www.sailnorthwest.com
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 27-26- San Francisco NOOD Regatta- St. Francis YC- http://www.sailingworld.com
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
The past week saw some remarkable examples of sailing and seamanship on display on both sides of the Atlantic, with J/122s and J/105s leading the way in short-handed offshore racing. In Europe, the SORC (Solo Offshore Racing Club) held the first of their Coastal Offshore Series with the J/122s and J/105 walking off with all the silverware. And the around-the-cans crowd were treated to the J/80 UK Nationals in Cardiff, Wales, the J/80 Maqueche Trophy in Santander, Spain and a series of J/22 events on the Continent in both France and The Netherlands. The Americans saw J's run the table in the Edlu Distance Race in gale force conditions. 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/80 UK National Championship
Ian Atkins' BOATS.COM Triumphant
(Cardiff, Wales, UK)- The Tacktick Suunto J/80 UK National Championship was hosted by the Cardiff Bay Yacht Club and was presided over by PRO David Cairncross. The fleet were greeted by more breeze on Saturday morning than they had enjoyed over the previous two days of the Championship; a blustery 15 to 23 knots blowing from the cold North East. Going in to the final day only seven points separated the top three at the Championship; BOATS.COM, ELLE S'APPELLE and PURPLE HAZE.Race Seven was won by JUST DO IT, helmed by Terry Palmer. Having mastered their downwind big breeze sailing at the Spi Ouest Regatta at Easter (alongside 92 other J/80s) the JUST DO IT squad had been hoping for something a little more fruity than on the previous two days, and were duly rewarded. Tom Phipps and Kelvin Matthews sailing for the British Keelboat Academy finished second and Ian Atkins took third place in BOATS.COM.
Having had a couple of frustrating days at the Championship, Kelvin Matthews, sailing with Tom Phipps for the British Keelboat Academy, went on the record on Friday when he said 'We've not yet put in our best performance at this event'. Delighting in the heavier breeze, British Keelboat Academy duly went out on Saturday morning and nailed the second race, Race Eight of the series. In second place was STEP TOE (one of the four boats entered by the charity Toe in The Water) and Ian Atkins settled for a safe third, enough to win him and his team from BOATS.COM the Tacktick Suunto J/80 UK National Championship with a race to spare. Nice one all; Ian Atkins on Helm, Rob Lark on Tactics, Dan Brown on Trim and Karen Schwerdt on 'Pit and making everything happen'. The final race of the championship, Race Nine, was also won by BOATS.COM; a fitting finish to a consistent and impressive campaign. The final results saw Ian Atkins team on BOATS.COM sailing to only sixteen points, followed by Thor Askeland's ELLE S'APPELLE with twenty five points and lying third was Scott Cole sailing PURPLE HAZE just eight points back.It was heartwarming to see the teams sailing for TOE IN THE WATER charity do so well, with three of the four teams finishing in the top ten. The TITW charity aims to encourage and rehabilitate injured servicemen and women through the sport of sailing. The "top Toe" was STEP TOE in sixth, followed by LITTLE TOE in eighth and TIP TOE in ninth-- good show there gang! For J/80 UK Nationals info Photo credits- Tim Wright
J's Dominate Edlu Distance Race
J/133 SIREN SONG and J/122 PATRIOT Crush Fleet
(Larchmont, NY)- It was a not the best of forecasts for this past weekend's Edlu Distance Race on Long Island Sound. Cool temperatures, rain, fog, clearing then blowing a gale. Not your typical glam day on the Sound. Nevertheless, the forecast didn't deter the enthusiastic fleet from getting out to the starting line early in fog and rain to get down the track in this 64 mile race. At it turns out, the fleet was severely tested when the forecasters were right (for once) and the weather magically transformed into a 30-40 knot gale with plenty of sun and spray-- "jumping condo's on Long Island Sound" with single/double-reefed mains and small jibs? It really did turn into a glam day, a challenging one at that!In IRC1, the J/133s dominated their class, taking 1-2-3 overall. First was Tom Carroll's well-sailed SIREN SONG, followed by Ron Richman's ANTIDOTE and Jan Smeets' BACCHANAL. These three boats were virtually unstoppable as they powered to windward in the big breeze and waves to punish the rest of their competitors.
In the Double-handed PHRF class, Sandy Weill's J/122 PATRIOT won in pretty convincing fashion in the blustery conditions. Just behind him were two J/105s, Kevin Grainger's GUMPTION3 in third and Peter Rugg's beautiful green JADED in fourth- both managed to beat home a lot of larger boats. Both sailboats, the J/105 and the J/122 are proving to be hard sailboats to beat when racing short-handed-- as sailors in the UK and Europe learned a long time ago sailing various J's offshore, the forgiving nature of their hull shapes and the fact that you can sail them "in the groove" longer than most sailboats means you're always going fast no matter what the conditions on all points of sail- uphill or downhill.The 55th edition of the Edlu Race has a history of adopting to the times. As Rick Lyall, owner of the J/109 STORM said last year, "it's our first big event. The Edlu is a short distance race of approximately 32 miles from Larchmont to 11B north of Eatons Neck and back, and does not require the intense crew work of around-the-buoys regattas. It's just the right length for a fun day on the water." To further develop the race, many sailors wanted to include double-handed racing. Rich du Moulin said, "double-handed racing is growing in popularity. When the U.S went into IRC, we convinced the IRC leaders to allow an owner to hold two certificates at one time on the same IRC boat with the second certificate dedicated to double-handed racing. On my boat, that certificate can only be used for double-handing. The rating is based on a smaller jib and that makes the boat easier to handle. One of our goals is to encourage people to come out and race whether they want to double-hand or sail fully crewed, or go back and forth between the two as I do." Yet another good idea for expanding participation in the sport of sailing. For more Edlu Race information Photo credits: Howie McMichael
J's Racing Solo Offshore English Series
J/122s and J/105 Lead First Event!
(Hamble, England)- Irish skipper Paddy Cronin sailing Rod Knowles's J/105 JULIETTE won the out and return races respectively with port hoist spinnakers the whole way from Solent to Poole and a beat from start to finish on the return to be leading IRC2 Class. In fact, JULIETTE won the IRC Overall in the Solent to Poole leg.Seemingly becoming another top choice of short-handed sailors is the J/122. The near-winner of last years 2009 OSTAR, Rob Craigie's J/122 JBELLINO, was first boat to finish on both legs, setting the pace and beating out a well-sailed open Class 40 called Sunguard Front Arena both times. JBELLINO garnered a 1-1 score to be leading IRC1 Class and just behind her is David Cule's J/122 MINT JULIP with a 2-3 tally to be second in IRC1.
The Coastal series is a brand new event for the Solo Offshore Racing Club and the first two races to Poole to Solent and back were specifically designed to attract new skippers and give the more experienced shorter races to hone their techniques early in the season.
Nineteen spinnakers set off from Royal Thames towards Poole at 0830 on Saturday 8 May in an eight knot northeasterly breeze. Most of the fleet took the North Channel and rhumb line straight to the finish off Poole, a shy reach only easing for the last mile. The tighter angle from Hurst to the finishing line suited the asymmetric boats, especially Cronin's J/105 JULIETTE and the two J/122s, JBELLINO and MINT JULIP.
Tides meant a welcome late start at 1130 on Sunday into ten knots northeasterly for the return beat to windward. At the start, the majority of the fleet struggled to cross the line on starboard. Tidal atlas said less tide inshore so some boats went up the shore, but the main fleet was tacking up the rhumb line. About half way up to Hurst the wind backed for quite some time which lifted the boats further offshore on to a lay line for Hurst and meant the inshore boats had to free off. Through Hurst Castle "straits" the two J/122s were in the top three and when the wind increased to 14+ knots Rob Craigie's JBELLINO powered ahead and took line honors again as she did Saturday. Their next race is to Weymouth and back 9 & 11 July. For more Solo Offshore Racing information
Santander J/80 Maqueche Trophy
Piris' FONESTAR Beats the House!
(Santander, Spain)- The Spanish teams continue to build on their competitiveness in the J/80 class. A strong fleet assembled for Santander's Maqueche Trophy sailed off Isla Santa Marina, with Real Club MarÃtimo de Santander playing host.Few could imagine that after scoring four straight wins in the first half of the regatta that FONESTAR could lose the top spot, but that's the way it is in the Santander J/80 fleet. After sailing ECC VIVIENDAS to a sensational series of 1-1-1-2 in the second half of the regatta, the crew of Pichu Torcida and Juan Gonzalez were just a single point away from overall victory. On the last leg of the last race, Jaime Piris sailed FONESTAR back into contention to just hold on to their tenuous lead in this highly competitive fleet.
If the fight for the lead was creating a lot of anxiety between Piris' and Torcida's crew, there was even more emotion as to who would take the third overall- a virtual three-way tie going into the last race. In the end, David Madrazo's LUPA won the tie-breaker and took third overall with thirty points. Tono Gorostegui sailed FUNDESTIC well, but not enough to overcome some bad scores to finish fourth on the tie-breaker. Alberto Padron's MABLE got the short end of the stick on a few tactical calls and hung in there to finish fifth overall. For more Spanish J/80 sailing info
J/22 Trophee Grimaudiere BP4
(Erdre, France)- This year, the nine boat J/22 fleet was treated to beautiful spring weather in the Banque Populaire Trophee Grimaudiere. The race committee managed to dash off three races on the river with a warm, soft breeze averaging nine knots from the southwest. At the end of the day, the spoils of victory go to the team of Jean-François Guionet, Paola Guionet and Thierry Picault, just eclipsing the teams aboard EUROPEAN HOMES in second and JULIE in third.
Finally, a heartfelt "Thanks" must go to the attendance of Norman and his friends who does not hesitate to travel to each event on the Erdre and emphasize the motivation of young sailors who will put their energy into going to the next regatta-- remember, the next stop is the J/22 Championship of France in Brest! Then, to the Worlds in Netherlands! For more J/22 France sailing information.
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Lady's Sailing Team- France J/80- you have to check out this cute blog from a remarkable group of women sailing in France. This year, this "Lady's Sailing Team" fielded three entries for the 32nd SPI OUEST France! They certainly enjoyed the sailing and the camaraderie socializing with many new friends
in La Trinite Sur Mer, the beautiful seaside town that hosts this enormous regatta. In this photo are- Moana, Pauline, Tara, Allyson, Cecil-- these gals all raced in the 2010 SPI OUEST J/80 class. Based on this level of enthusiasm racing their J/80s, it's no wonder French women are the leaders in the ISAF Women's Match Race rankings. Read more about their team and approach to sailing here (all French, but Google Translate does an OK translation). Lady's Sailing Team- SPI OUEST report. Lady's Sailing Team Blog.Featured Boat
Shoal Draft J/44 Ready For Next Offshore Cruising Adventure
With two family adventures to the Caribbean under her belt, STOLEN HOUR is ready to take you any where, any time upon her return to the Northeast in early June. A veteran of two Caribbean 1500 Rallies, she has all of the gear necessary for a safe and swift passage.The J/44 has proven her metal in the most grueling offshore races by winning the Fastnet and the Sydney Hobart while providing spacious live-aboard comfort. Easily handled by two, STOLEN HOUR has proven her durability and reliability over the past year, virtually maintenance free-- a testament to good preparation and attention to detail by her past two owners.
Her shoal keel opens up cruising grounds that are off limits to other performance cruisers with out sacrificing sparkling performance and offshore safety. She's a turn-key proposition, in gorgeous condition and ready to take you wherever your heart, dreams and ambitions desire.
For more information contact Tom Babbitt at East Coast Yacht Sales (http://www.ecys.com), tom@ecys.com, phone- 207-236-8656
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:
http://www.jboats.com/intro.htm
