Social Worlds 2010
(The Hague, Netherlands- June 22nd)- One week before the spectacle will begin, the Netherlands J/80 Class are ready to kick off the event! The Henri Lloyd J/22 Worlds 2010 the Hague isn’t only about the sailing, they also offer a social program at the end of a good day on the J/22. Sunday evening, the day before the races there will be an opening ceremony at the restaurant "At Sea."After the first day of sailing all competitors are invited to have dinner at the "At Sea" Restaurant. This dinner is sponsored by Tam Tam & Van Hulzen Public Relations. It’s free for all competitors, so be there! Everyone can tell their first Worlds 2010 experiences, and get to know each other a little better! During the Worlds 2010 we will have drinks at the pier, sponsored by Vrolijk Watersport and BigLift Shipping B.V., have dinner together, party’s of course and, most important, a lot of fun! Next week in Scheveningen you will get the complete social program. You don’t wanna miss anything! We are looking forward to a great week with a lot of sailing and social events, too. So come on, get back to work, only one week to go! For more J/22 social programming!
J/80 Europeans - Lago di Garda
Team Baltic Joins 50 Boats
(Dartmouth, England)- Team Baltic, a young J/80 team from Dartmouth, sponsored by Baltic Wharf boatyard, Totnes, had a great start to their season winning the J/80 Class at the 2010 J-Cup hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club in the Solent. The Team were using the regatta as training for the J/80 Europeans on Lake Garda where they will compete this week. The team consists of 4 crew members all under the age of 24. Henry Bomby (19) helm, Henry Bagnall (23) tactician, Ryan Gerrish (22) trimmer, and Ellie Mittler (17) on bow. And for the J Cup was helped by stand in crew Robbie Southwell (16) and Lizzie Shawcroft (22), filling in due to exam commitments.Joining them will be several UK, European and World Champions, including Ian Atkins' boats.com and the NEXTEL ENGINEERING Team from Spain. The much anticipated J/80 European Championship is about to begin. Around 50 boats from Italy, Spain, France, Great Britain, Holland, Estonia and Poland have arrived at Lake Garda all raring to go. Hosted by Fraglia Vela Malcesine, the championship is now underway. At the Opening Ceremony this evening, the competitors were welcomed by the President of the Malecesine Yacht Club (Fraglia Vela Malcesine), the international racing jury, the measurer, the commodore of the Yacht Club, the Italian and International J/80 Presidents - all there to ensure the competitors a warm welcome, a well organised event, and a memorable championship. For more J/80 Europeans sailing information
J/Regatta News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
Summer sailing season "up above" has dialed up the intensity a few more notches (meanwhile, our friends "down under" are chillin' and starting their "winter series"!). Even more remarkable, it seems this past week could be called "Island Week", for three major events took place around the world featuring famous islands that are renowned for many a tall tale, both the sea-born variety as well as the land-born...hard to tell which have greater legends and fables associated with them. From the UK's JP Morgan Asset Management Round The Island Race (Isle of Wight for you armchair sailors and site of the original 100 Guinea Cup Course, e.g. THE America's Cup); to the spectacular, if not dramatic backdrop of rounding the Ill de Giraglia off the northern tip of Corsica as one dashes from the white linens of St. Tropez to the pink tablecloths of San Remo during the week-long Giraglia Rolex Cup; to one of the most famous offshore races of all time, the Bermuda Race, in and of itself a race from Newport's Candy Store to Bermuda's RBYC porch, golf and pink sand beaches; it's difficult for any J sailor to choose which is the best one to attend! Interspersed amongst the three big "island events" were preparations in Europe for the J/22 Worlds in the Netherlands, the start of the J/80 Europeans on Lago di Garda, Italy and the conclusion of the J/80 Gran Prix Iberdrola in Barcelona, Spain. In America the J/Fest Northwest in Seattle, WA had another nice turn-out and yet another J/125, appropriately called DOUBLE TROUBLE, flew down from San Francisco to Santa Barbara in the Coastal Cup off the California coast. 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.Regatta & Show Schedules:
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 26-27- 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
Jun 26-Jul 3- J/22 Worlds- Netherlands- http://www.j22.
Jul 17-25- Rolex NYYC Race Week- Newport, RI- http://www.nyyc.org
Jul 22-25- Marblehead NOOD Regatta- Chicago, IL- http:/www.sailingworld.com
Jul 24- Chicago-Mackinac Race- Chicago, IL- http://www.chicagoyachtclub.org
Aug 1-7- Cowes Week- Isle of Wight, England- http://www.cowe
Aug 13-20- J/24 Worlds- Malmo, Sweden- http://www.j24c
Aug 21- Verve Cup- Chicago, IL- http://www.chicagoyachtclub.org
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Huge J Turnout For Round Island Race
J/109 OFFBEAT Wins IRC 2
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- A total of 1,754 entries sailed in this past weekend's JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race crewed by nearly 16,000 sailors! On Saturday, June 19, the race began at 5am, from the famous Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes, after which the fleet raced westabout to The Needles, around St Catherine's Point and Bembridge Ledge buoy and back into the Solent, to the finish line in Cowes. It's considered Britain's favorite yacht race and this year's 79th edition of this great event saw thirteen classes ranging from grand prix 100 ft high tech racing boats to the famous J/24s (some 30 years old!) take off on a gorgeous sunrise to enjoy a "shorts and shades" pleasant daysail past all the beautiful sights the Isle of Wight has to offer to its passionate enthusiasts and visitors.There were three J divisions "scored" in the race for J/24s, J/80s and J/109s. In the J/24s, William Lack's TIME ON THE WATER won, followed by Richard Fruehmann'S CLEWLESS and Quinton Hall on JABULANI in third (he claims they have oldest J/24 in the UK, built in 1979!). Said William about his team and their boat- "TIME ON THE WATER is a Parkstone Yacht Club based J/24, which is kindly leant by the owners and used all winter usually teaching youths to match race and educate in team building, however the average age for this regatta is rather higher at nearly 55. J/24 4263 is a regular front runner in the IRC white class for Round the Island race and last year won her division and second in the island sailing club trophy in her class. She is a regular winner in local regattas in Poole, where the biggest fleet of J/24s race year round. Entertainment is a high priority in the campaign, and one of the teams' aims is to distract the opposition during racing using laughter and frivolity. We promise not to shout, as in previous years when passing larger boats, 'Our boat costs less than your Genoa!'" Richard said this about their J/24 Round Island adventure- "CLEWLESS is a Westerly built J/24 from the early 80's. A bit of a handyman's special, this is now her third season under the current owners and the adventure continues. The crew met during their studies at Southampton University and share a love for sailing and all things ocean. Still dreaming of a circumnavigation, but a trip round the island will do just fine too!"
In the J/80s, SPITFIRE won followed by arch rival Andrew Ashworth on JAMMY DODGER in second and Robert Walters' WILD WALLY in third. The top three J/80s all finished in about one anxiety-ridden, ulcer-inducing minute after nearly sixty miles of racing!! Yikes, a few pints of Guinness must've been the order of the day after that clash to calm the frayed nerves and enjoy the celebration. Wing Commander Simon Ling was skippering SPITFIRE. Simon is a serving Royal Air Force Logistics Officer who has been racing for nearly 20 years. This year will be his 10th Round the Island Race and 4th as Skipper. He had sailing with him a crew comprised of a diverse mix of Royal Air Force personnel that included a Royal Air Force Helicopter Engineer, a young Trainee Pilot and a recently retired Fighter Pilot. The thirty-four J/109s sailing the race in two classes were scored as as "one-design" based on their corrected TCC handicap. Based on their elapsed time and TCC factor, David Mcleman's OFFBEAT was first by nearly five minutes, followed by Fiona Walker's JUMPING JELLYFISH placing second and Andrew Given's HIGH TENSION in third.
The premiere IRC division for the Round Island Race-IRC 1A- were a fleet of J/122s and J/133s vying for supremacy. After the gunsmoke cleared on the Royal Yacht Squadron finish line off Cowes, it was Ian Matthews' J/122 JINJA that finished at noon in time for "high tea" on the lawn at RYS, taking both second in class and second overall in IRC 1! Fifth in class and finishing just 36 seconds behind JINJA was Fiona and Malcolm Thorpe's J/133 KING LOUIE. Sixth just five minutes back was Neil Kipling's J/122 JOOPSTER. In seventh, finishing just two minutes in front of JINJA, was Louis Kenna's J/133 BNP PARIBAS. Ninth was Herman Berghaven's J/133 SOLNESS. Herman said he's done so many RI races and RORC races that he's simply lost count!
In IRC 1B and 1C were two lone-wolves (at least in terms of J's sailing in the race) competing for handicap honors. In IRC 1B, Adrian Cook sailed a beautiful race to finish third in class with his J/120 MOJO. David Walters continues to avidly campaign his beautiful J/39 JACKDAW and sailed a nice race to finish seventh in IRC 1C division.
In IRC 2B was a small fleet of J/109s sailing in IRC "wardrobe". Top J/109 was Bruce Huber's JOLENE II finishing seventh. Smith and Rotta sailed the J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT to ninth and Richard Griffith rounded out the top ten taking tenth in class sailing his J/109 OUTRAJEOUS.
In IRC 2B it was clearly a J-Party! There were a total of 26 J's in this large fleet of 58 boats. Leading the charge was David Mcleman's J/109 OFFBEAT, taking not the off-beaten path, but the fastest one, eclipsing all J/109s and vanquishing any remaining competitors in their huge class, winning both class and IRC 2 Group overall. Third was world-renown sailor Fiona Walker (Sailing Logistics Inc) racing her notable J/109 JUMPING JELLYFISH with a bunch of fun-loving friends. Fourth was Andrew Given sailing his J/109 HIGH TENSION. Rounding out the top 15 in this class (ten of which were J's- eight J/109s and two J/105s) were Glaister's J/109 INSTINCT in sixth, Robin Taunt's J/109 JIBE at seventh, Mike Wallis' J/109 JAHMALI in eighth, Paul Griffiths' J/109 JAGERBOMB in tenth, Ivan Trotman's J/105 JOLENE at twelfth, Richard Watney's J/105 JEOPARDY in thirteenth and Robert Stiles' J/109 DIAMOND JEM in fifteenth! In IRC 2C there was a gaggle of J/92's (in various forms) with Andrew Dallas leading this J group home finishing 4th in class on his J/92s HULLABALOO. Seventh were brothers Pip and Pete Tyler racing their J/92s NEILSON REDEYE. The Swedish boys, Chris and Tony Harris had a great time finishing 11th on their J/92 SWE1 called VEGAS....next time try rolling the dice perhaps yet another way to get better winning odds on the outcome! The J/92s NEILSON REDEYE is owned by 2 directors, Pip & Pete from Neilson Active holidays. The boat has a good racing record - 2009 J/92 National champions, 2010 Sussex champions and 2010 BMYC champions, 3rd place at 2010 J Cup regatta. Their crew were a mixture of staff and contacts from Neilson Active Holidays; current staff - Pip, Pete, Stu & Andrew. Ex staff - Wooderz & Audrey. Pikey from BBC Sussex and Jamie, old time crew taking a break from childcare!?
In IRC 2D, the J/97 INDULJENCE raced by Mike Flood sailed to a respectable 5th in class and 15th overall in IRC Group 2. Finishing 11th in class was Mike and Jamie Holmes' J/97 JIKA-JIKA. Said Mike about his new J/97 INDULJENCE- "As crew of winning boat in 1993 and class wins in J109 with JB2 and earlier class wins in Contessa 32, we're looking to keep our end up with the new J/97. As for my crew on this race? Far too many collective roundings to remember, Jeff Dakin has 30 but memory fading so probably nearer 50. It's a family and friends event with two lots of father and son, two brothers, a top bloke (Stormy) and a first for a good friend (Thomas) from Cologne, Germany to give us the Schumacher effect - excluding bumping other competitors."
In IRC 3A, the J/92 J'RENIMO sailed by John Taylor was 9th and newcomer to the "mini-offshore" fleet, Bill Blain, finished 18th in his first Round Island Race on his new J/97 BATFISH IV. If you recall, last year Bill was RORC Boat of the Year Winner racing his J/133 BATFISH III. For more Round The Island sailing information
Bermuda Race A Breeze
J Teams Dominate Double-Handed Class
(Newport to Bermuda- Jun 18th)- The forecast was nice, if not benign, for this year's event. Good wind was predicted for the early stages of the race. The 184-boat international fleet with nearly 2,000 sailors aboard was the third largest in the race’s 104-year history. The course runs 635 miles from Castle Hill Light at the opening to Narragansett Bay into the Atlantic Ocean and across the Gulf Stream to the finish line off St. David’s Head, Bermuda.
"We expect a fine afternoon sea breeze of 10 to 15 knots to get the boats out into the Atlantic," said Bjorn Johnson, chairman of the Bermuda Race Organizing Committee. "It may get lighter as the boats sail out into the Atlantic, but there will be a strong favorable current in a Gulf Stream meander carrying the boats toward Bermuda. The 184-boat fleet is divided into five divisions whose final standings will be determined by factoring handicaps into the boat’s elapsed times. The largest class of 103 boats is the St. David’s Lighthouse Division for predominately amateur racing crews. There also is the 26-entry Double-Handed Division for boats sailed by just two sailors. They sail for the Phillip S. Weld Prize and Moxie Prizes. In addition, the top boat in the IRC rule standings will receive the North Rock Beacon Trophy."In a statement to the sailors, Commodores McCurdy and Shrubb said, "Hundreds of sailors and thousands of supporters make this race a major international sporting event every two years. Ocean racing is a marathon of endurance and finesse. Some experienced crews may make this year’s race look easy: Others will learn more than they thought they would. The challenges can be both stressful and satisfying."
What happened on the race course was intriguing, to say the least. There were three specific entrance/ exit points that all leaders of every class honored within a several mile radius. Few deviated from the formula, with big boats that generate more speed and apparent wind able to meander a bit less than smaller boats, still make some navigational mistakes and win. The primary features were (i) the warm water eddy about 90 miles out from Newport with SSE favorable current on its eastern wall, (ii) the SSE flowing Gulf Stream meander and (iii) the small cold water eddy adverse flow just south of the Stream's meander west of rhumbline. In short, the race winning strategies are outlined below.On Day 1, 24 hours later on Saturday afternoon, most everyone was steering a course just west of rhumbline to determine how early they would enter the favorable current, warm water eddy at its northerly most point about 90 miles offshore (see photo). 39.46.00 N and 70.35.00 W seemed to be the ideal Lat/Lon entry point for the top boats.
By Day 2, 48 hours later on Sunday afternoon, there was a clear demarcation in the strategies. One group stayed closer to rhumbline and further east of warm eddy with less wind pressure, too- this included race leader SPEEDBOAT and also the J/65 BRAND NEW DAY, J/122 RESOLUTE, J/109 APSARA, J/44s GOLD DIGGER and CHARLIE V, J/120 AVRA, J/120 ROCKET SCIENCE, J/133 SIREN SONG, J/130 CILISTA. This group entered the Gulf Stream meander quite far SE of the warm water eddy and rode "uphill" SE flow towards Bermuda, but with less wind. The fastest group entered the top of warm eddy about 220nm SSE from Newport taking flow going due SSE and along with more favorable wind angles and breeze- this included the three musketeers amongst the big boats (BEAU GESTE, PUMA, RAMBLER literally tracking on top of each other). J's that pursued this strategy included the J/35 PALADIN, J/42 DOLPHIN, J/42 FINESSE, J/46 SEA BISCUIT, J/42 TRUE, J/44 BEAGLE, J/44 VAMP, J/44 GLORY, J/44 RUNAWAY, J/133 SIREN SONG, J/120 RICHOCHET and J/145 VORTICES. At the time, the J/145 VORTICES was simply steaming southeast only 20nm behind the J/65 BND in about a 12-15 kt SSW breeze.
On the afternoon of Day 3, 72 hours into the race, the group that stayed further west of rhumbline and riding perhaps better breeze and more favorable current continued to gain over classmates further East. At the time, the J/65 BND was still about 40 miles out from the finish at 1400 hours on Monday and the J/145 VORTICES was flying towards the finish just 85 miles out. At this point, it was starting to become apparent that perhaps the two stories of this race were the duels between two J/35s and two J/42s. The two Double-handed J/35s, PALADIN and GREAT SCOT, were both about 200 miles from the finish and match-racing just 2 miles apart-- both had gone the faster route of sailing west enough to catch the favorable south-flowing warm eddy and using that to launch them into the faster part of the Gulf Stream flowing south on its eastern wall. The other duel between the J/42s, one sailed by one of the most renowned Bermuda Race skippers, Henry Morgan now sailing in his 25th Bermuda Race (over 50 years!) on DOLPHIN and Howie Hodgson on TRUE, both about 3 miles apart and just 190 miles from the finish at 1400 hours.By Day 4, 96 hours elapsed on the race, all the big boats had finished, with the J/65 BND finishing at 0200 hours and getting a well-deserved, well-sailed 2nd IRC/ 3rd ORR in class. It was a fast enough race that everything down to the J/42s and J/35s finished by early evening Bermuda time on Tuesday.
The big story for J sailors in this year's event may perhaps be the extraordinary success by several J's racing in the Double-Handed division (comprised of 2 classes). With 26 varieties of sailboats participating, eight of the Double-Handers were J's- about 33% of the fleet! The J's proved, yet again, they're nearly unbeatable when sailed by competent sailors/navigators who can sail their boat at 85% or more of its speed potential/ VPPs for long periods of time, especially if you point them in the right direction and don't break anything! Hats off to these intrepid souls who pushed their physical, mental and emotional limits to prevail over a large and very competitive fleet that included some Class 40 luminaries. In DH2 the duo of J/35s, Jason Richter's PALADIN and Darrien Garnier's GREAT SCOT, simply pushed them to sail better, smarter, faster with the net result that they not only eclipsed their class with a 1-2 punch, but also finished 1-2 overall, respectively in the Double-Handed fleet! But, here's the quandary, virtually identical boats-- GREAT SCOT wins by 3 minutes elapsed in front of PALADIN, but loses by 30 minutes on corrected handicap time? Go figure. In DH1, leading the charge was Nathan Owen's J/46 SEABISCUIT followed by Gardner Grant's J/120 ALIBI in second, followed by Greg Leonard's J/120 HERON fourth and Scott Miller's J/122 RESOLUTE in fifth! Congratulations to all- job well done! One-two in both DH classes by J sailors is an awesome achievement!
The St. David's Lighthouse division, where the vast majority of the fleet was racing, had 105 boats with 26 of them J's- 25% of the fleet. Leading all J's home to the St. David's finish line was Jim Madden's gorgeous J/65 BRAND NEW DAY followed by the super fast, carbon-flyer, the J/145 VORTICES, sailed by Chris Saxton. Jim and team sailed BND well to finish 2nd in IRC Class 8 (9th overall IRC) and 3rd ORR in Class 8 (13th overall)-- a damn good showing for a boat so unbelievably well-equipped that with two cavernous slide out refrigerators, a ginormous freezer, a wine cooler fit for a king and air-conditioning going full tilt with enough megawatts to cool off the Middle East, meant its crew could enjoy all the comforts of home yet still fly towards the finish line leaving near rooster-tails in its wake. Living with almost the same degree of comfort was "newbie" J/145 owner Chris Saxton on the J/145 VORTICES, finishing 3rd in ORR Class 7 (19th overall), quite a showing for taking delivery of the boat just weeks before the start of the race! 
Like the J/35s dueling it out with their bigger, newer brothers in the Double-Handed division, the balance of J's sailing in the St. Davids' Lighthouse division, including J/42s, J/44s and J/120s that sailed hard, fast, smart and gained their fair share of silverware, including winning some divisions! The duel of the 35s was matched by the J/42s Henry Morgan's DOLPHIN, Howie Hodgson's TRUE, Newton Merrill's FINESSE and Bernie Coyne's AMIGO VI. In what turned out to be the toughest division in the entire fleet, Class 3 ORR/ IRC, the J/42s went second and third, DOLPHIN and FINESSE, in IRC respectively, behind class and overall SDL winner, CARINA! In SDL Class 4, the J/120s did well with Richard Born's J/120 WINDBORN winning ORR, Jim Praley's J/120 SHINNECOCK getting fourth and the US Coast Guard Academy's J/120 RICOCHET in fifth in IRC! In Class 6, Tom Carroll's J/133 SIREN SONG finished fourth and Jeff Eberle's J/130 CILISTA ended up fifth.
In the nine boat J/44 class, the ONLY one-design offshore class in the Bermuda Race (take that NYYC 42s!!), the scoring surely must leave open to debate the value of ANY handicap system on what are essentially one-design boats! In IRC, Leonard Sitar's VAMP was first, followed by GLORY sailed by Jack Neades from the US Coast Guard Academy and Larry Glen on RUNAWAY! In ORR (yup, the re-invented IMS), the tale of the tape was completely different, GLORY first (!!), then RUNAWAY and then VAMP in third!! Said the famous cartoon character Wiley Wabbit, "What's up Doc?!?" So, invoking Galileo's law of averages, Einstein's black hole theory of relativity, Murphy's law and the plain and simple "wet finger in the wind", it appears that GLORY won!! Yahoo! Celebrate the fact that America's US Coast Guard Academy is doing great things recruiting warhorse J's and getting the cadets to sail hard, fast, smart and navigate well!! Perhaps the Colonialists' "coast guard" taking a page out of the British Navy/ RAF sailing playbook?? For more Bermuda Race sailing information and iTracking real-time positions.
J's Enjoy Giraglia Rolex Cup
NIKITA Top J/122, ALBACOR Top J/109
(St Tropez, France)- The 2010 Giraglia Rolex Cup comprises a series of inshore races in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, followed by a 245nm offshore race starting in St. Tropez via La Giraglia islet off Corsica, then to San Remo in Italy. It is one of the world's most picturesque coastlines, the views are dramatic and the people equally as beautiful-- the "apres sailing" is just as much fun as the gorgeous sailing venues. Making it all happen are, of course, Rolex as primary sponsors, as well as strong event organization, managed by the Yacht Club Italiano in collaboration with the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez.
The racing had more than its fair share of shifty, windy offshore winds (Mistral like but not too strong) to moderate air on-shore seabreezes. A total of four races were sailed between San Remo and St. Tropez. The J sailors faired reasonably well, although based on some of the results of well-campaigned J's it was clear the off-the-water festivities must've been taking their toll-- after all, it is the French and Italian Riviera at the height of summer with far, far too many distractions (or attractions) for one to focus on sailing all week long! Nevertheless, there were over two dozens J's participating. Notable performances include Andreas Farber's J/122 NIKITA and Jean Louis Pezin's J/109 ALBACOR. 
In the 58 nm St. Tropez Race, the Farber's J/122 NIKITA won IRC B class quite handily. In the 24 nm San Remo-St. Tropez-San Remo Race, Pezin's J/109 ALBACOR finished second by just seconds! And, for the Giraglia Race Week Combined Overall results for all four races, Farber's J/122 NIKITA finished sixth in IRC A class within a fleet of 137 boats; and in IRC B class, Pezin's J/109 ALBACOR took fourth of 37 boats, including taking a DNC in the first race for not having sailed it! Otherwise, ALBACOR's average of third was good enough for a second overall for the last three races! For more Giraglia Rolex Cup Sailing information Photo credits- ROLEX/ Kurt Arrigo
J/80 Gran Prix Iberdrola
Turismo do Algarve Wins
(June 5-6- Barcelona, Spain)- A strong seventeen boat fleet attended this well-run regatta hosted by Real Club Nautico de Barcelona. After a gorgeous first day of racing with good wind, partly cloudy skies and four excellent races, the expectation was for an epic battle for first place between Hugo Rocha on TURISMO DO ALGARVE and Josep Maria Pujol during Sunday's racing. However, light winds, rain and overcast simply washed out the proceedings. Hugo Rocha, who won the Copa de Espana only one week earlier, counted two first and two seconds to win by two points. The silver went to the FLASH BACK team skippered by Josep Maria Pujol with a first, second, third and fifth, while CROCS, sailed by Javier Aguado Blanco took the bronze with a second, two fourths and a sixth. For more Spanish J/80 sailing information Photo credits: Alfredo Farre
A Jubilee J/Fest Northwest
J/105 Wins Top Performance Award
(Seattle, WA- Jun 19-20)- A gathering of 30 J's including one-design fleets for J/109s, J/35s, J/105s and J/30s enjoyed eight races over two days of competition in the waters off Shilshole Bay Marina, sponsored by Seattle J-Boats dealer Sailboats Northwest, with Corinthian Yacht Club running the racing and hosting post-race parties.For the J/109 class, the Dack/ Nordquist team sailed J/TRIPPER to a 1-1-3-1-2-1-2-1 record for twelves points. The Greene team on IT'S ONLY ROCK & ROLL finished second with a 2-4-1-4-1-4-1-2 record and third was Woodfield's SHADA with a 3-3-5-3-5-3-3-3 tally.
The J/35s were won by the Whitfield/ Chatham team on JABIRU. Second was White sailing GRACE E and third was the Ellingsen's BERGEN VIKING.
Erik Kirsten's team sailing JUBILEE were not only winners of the J/105 class, but got Top Performance Award for best regatta in biggest fleet at the event. Second was Petersen racing LAST TANGO and third was Pinkham's USAWI.
The J/30s had a nice turnout with the Gardner/ Adair team winning with seven firsts on ROUNDER. Battling for second and third were CELEBRATION and OUTLAW. At the end of their epic battle for J/30 supremacy in the greater NW, the Storm/ Gossett team racing OUTLAW just lost out in the last two races to Bottles' CELEBRATION.
The PHRF handicap fleet had quite a mix of boats and a donnybrook of a fight for the silver/ bronze positions on the podium. No matter what anyone could do, the Moynihan/ Conway team raced WINGS to a dominant first place getting eight straight firsts! Playing "tourists"/ bridesmaids to this amazing performance were Daniel's TOURIST and Sawyer's FEARFUL SYMMETRY. Finishing in a tie with twenty-one points each, the tie-breaker went in favor of TOURIST with FEARFUL SYMMETRY finishing third- with an average of 2.5 each! In the photo is the crew of CYC member Erik Kristen's J/105 Jubilee. From left are Joel Thornton, Jeff McLean, Matt Tookey, Bruce Sherman and Kristen. Kristen's wife, Steph, and children Mary and Tom sailed on Saturday. For more J/Fest Northwest sailing information
J/125 DOUBLE TROUBLE Crushes Coastal Cup Dash
(San Francisco, CA)- Starting on June 17th, it took no trouble at all for Andy Costello's rabble rousers on the bright red J/125 speedster called DOUBLE TROUBLE to finish this classic feeder race in 27 hours from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, finishing in time for lunch on Sunday at Santa Barbara YC and, most importantly, to celebrate winning Class A by over an hour on corrected time!This year's race started off on a gorgeous day sailing out of San Francisco Bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge and turning left past Land's End (thank goodness turning before the God-forsaken and notorious "Potato Patch"). The race down the coast to Santa Barbara was fun and challenging, featuring white knuckle spinnaker reaching off the treacherous Pt. Conception and Pt. Sur, to ghosting in the light morning breezes through the Channel Islands to finish off Santa Barbara-- just about what the "postcard" promoting the race said it would be.
The J fleet sailed well. In addition DOUBLE TROUBLE's winning ways, Tom Holthus' Transpac-winning J/145 BAD PAK didn't appear to be up-to-speed and dropped to seventh on corrected, in fact even finishing behind DOUBLE TROUBLE on elapsed time. Sadly, Dr. Laura Schlessinger did not participate in the race with her J/125 WARRIOR. Howard Turner's J/109 SYMMETRY finished a respectable fifth in Class B and Peter Molnar's J/105 POSEIDON turned out not to be a giant killer, finishing seventh in class. For more Coastal Cup sailing results. Photo credits- Erik Simonson
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Bermuda Race True Confessions #1- Ken Read- multiple J/24 World Champion and native of Rhode Island chats about his first offshore racing experiences just before taking off on PUMA for the Newport-Bermuda Race: “I did my first Bermuda race when I was seventeen, so I think that puts my count up to 12 of these races (?!?).This is an ocean racing classic,” said the PUMA skipper. “I remember the good old days where I used to be a bit nervous heading out into the ocean and the great unknown.” After sailing around the world, the Bermuda Race is still a great adventure, but a little different now. “This is really just a bit more than a day race for us”, said Read. “The boat is fast and we’re pushing to get down to the finish as quick as possible.”
For PUMA, the Bermuda Race is a great opportunity to test the crew, boat, sails and all the little parts and pieces. “We still have il mostro and we’re going to get as much as we can out of the old girl. Our team has a schedule throughout the summer that includes everything we want to work on.”
Kenny went on to explain, “Putting ourselves in a racing situation is key. Simply testing the boat has a whole different mentality- there is a lack of tension onboard, but when you’re race-testing it’s just a whole different feeling onboard. Even though this isn’t a high pressure event for us, racing brings out different reactions, adds the element of intensity, and make the crew push the boat a bit harder. I’m a big promoter of doing as much race-testing as we can.”
Unlike the NYYC Regatta this past weekend, when PUMA was sailing under IRC handicap rules, the team expects to be a bit more competitive during the Bermuda Race. “In this race, we’re sailing under the ORR handicap system so the fact that we’re not racing against any other Volvo 70’s really is not a huge factor. What that means is that all the boats with canting keels (all three of us) are in the same division. We’ll be calling ourselves the bizarre and abnormal division.”
In addition to PUMA, this division includes the 100 foot Speedboat and 90 foot Genuine Risk. Kenny has also pin pointed a few similar sized boat, like Rambler and Bella Mente, and will treat them as if they were head to head battles. “It’s not the same as the typical racing we do, but we’ll try to create as much pressure as we can.” Interviewed by Craig Leweck/ Scuttlebutt.
* Bermuda Race True Confessions #2- As it stands as one of the classic ocean races in the sport, Scuttlebutt editor Craig Leweck distinctly remembers his baptism when he joined Bill Shore (co-founder of SHORE SAILS) in 1984 to sail on a J/41. Notes Leweck, "From the 'condo-hopping' thru the Stream with double reef main and blade jib, to the light winds later when our navigator sheepishly informed us that we were going backwards, to the rainstorm after the finish when I was asleep on deck, this was all a shocker for a SoCal sailor used to the warm downwind slides that characterize the distance racing out west. But Bermuda is heaven!" Read (or hear) more about Craig's Newport Bermuda Race report here.
* J/24s Australia launch vibrant newsletter- the "Vic fleet" sure has fun. Doug MacGregor (Crackerack) has been promoted to the Victorian Publicity Officer position – first job get a regular newsletter going. It’s called ‘Hit the Mark’ and I’m sure you’ll agree it certainly does that well. As irreverent as a dour Scot can be, Doug’s editorial style is already flourishing in Issue One, emailed to the great unwashed of the Victoria J24 community today. His hard hitting, ‘pull no punches’ style will engage you from the start and you will be waiting for the next one to hit. Make sure you’re not the subject of the editors pen ! Move over MAD magazine. Here’s the first one- http://www.jboats.com/newsletter/J24Victoria_News.pdf
* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world's oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between. Anyone for Georgia and penguins?? Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA friends above). SALACIA, the J/160 owned by Stephen and Cyndy Everett has an on-going blog describing some of their more amusing experiences (http://www.salacia1.blogspot.com). Susan Grun and her husband on the J/160 AVANTE are also sailing in the Pacific archipelago, read more about their great adventures on their blog (http://web.me.com/susangrun).Featured Boat
J/120 Race & cruise ready
The 1998 J/120 HIGH ENERGY is a one owner, lightly sailed example. She's owned by a sailor who lives on the west coast and sails for a few weeks on the east coast. Having just retired, he's downsizing into a J/100 and has decided to make his J/120 available. She has a large, updated sail inventory and the highly desirable carbon rig. The interior shows virtually no wear and decks are clean and dry. She's currently lying Nova Scotia with delivery to New England by water available. For more information, please be sure to contact Jim Snair at Sunnybroook Yachts - syb@eastlink.ca or by phone- 902-444-4500 or web at http://www.sunnybrookyachts.comAbout 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
