Wednesday, July 14, 2010

J/Newsletter- July 14th, 2010

J/111  one-design sailboat- bow perspectiveJ/111 Ready To Launch

(Newport, RI)- Sitting on the shop floor in Bristol like a powerful jungle cat stalking its prey, the J/111 is getting ready to unleash its power and go for some thrilling rides on Narragansett Bay.  Please be sure to speak to your J Dealer now about scheduling a visit to take her for an eye-opening sailing experience during August and September when the J/111 is still in Newport, RI. 

J/111 Hall Spars-  carbon nano-tubeThe new J/111 mast is a single-piece seamless tube from Hall Spars constructed using carbon nanotube technology.  Ben Hall's commentary: "ZyVex Corporation's Arovex is a new line of carbon nanotube pre-pregs made to our specifications just for the J/111 project. To create Arovex, carbon nanotubes are mixed into resin that's combined with carbon fibers to create the pre-preg. During our autoclave-curing process, the nano-infused resin is heated until it becomes liquid, at which point it completely surrounds the carbon fibers. The nanotubes add strength to the resin, improving the overall strength of the finished product without adding the weight of additional fibers or the expense of a higher modulus of carbon. The tall, powerful sail plan of the exciting new J/111 is the perfect platform for this technology."  For more J/111 one-design sailboat information

J/100 Good/Bad Girl sailing upwindRolex NYYC Race Week Preview

(Newport, RI)- The annual race week hosted by New York YC and its' sponsor ROLEX promises to have great racing in both Narragansett Bay and offshore south of Brenton Point.  Over 112 boats are entered with strong fleets of J/122s, J/109s, J/105s and J/80s.  The week starts with racing Sat/Sun/Mon for the one-design fleets and with a break for a day followed by IRC handicap racing for the US IRC Nationals.

J/122 Christopher Dragon sailing upwindThe J/122s are hosting their North Americans and have a solid turnout with past East Coast and North American Champions attending.  Look again on the leader-board for the well-sailed family crew led by Andrew Weiss on CHRISTOPHER DRAGON.  Contending for honors as well will be Jim Callahan and Mike Bruno on-board WINGS, plus offshore champions like the Tortorello's PARTNERSHIP and David Murphy's PUGWASH rapidly climbing the learning-curve will be in the hunt, too.  With all eight boats being well-sailed and fast, there will be a heavy burden placed on each team's crew to execute in such tight quarters racing and, most importantly, for the tacticians to go in the right direction and keep their boats out of trouble.

J/109 RUSH sailing downwind The J/109 class is holding its North American championship and have thirteen boats on the starting line to challenge defending champion STORM, owned by Rick Lyall (Wilton, Conn.) and 2008 champion GUT FEELING, owned by Ted Herlihy (South Dartmouth, Mass.).  Like the J/122s, there are many boats that have the capability to take the top three spots.   Amongst those that should be vying for contention will be Bill Sweetser's RUSH, the Filipelli's CAMINOS and Rob Salks' PICANTE.  As part of the J/109s East Coast Tour, it's currently RUSH and STORM dueling it out for a "case of xxx (t.b.d.)" and taking the trophy off (or defending it from going off) the wall at Annapolis YC!

With twenty-two boats, the J/105s are by far the largest one-design class at the Rolex NYYC Race Week.  And, the competition will certainly be hot as this event marks the second regatta to score for the J/105 Narragansett Bay Championship.  With such a diverse group all loaded with plenty of local knowledge and talent, it's hard to determine who will be near the top of the leader-board.  Nevertheless, look for class champions like Damian Emery on ECLIPSE, Joerg Esdorn on KINCSEM, Brian Keane on SAVASANA, Henry Brauer/ Stew Neff on SCIMITAR, Bruce Stone on POWER PLAY and Chris and Carolyn Groobey on JAVA to be dueling for the silverware.

For the second half of the event, NYYC is hosting the US IRC Nationals.  J's participating in this event include the Torterello's J/122 PARTNERSHIP, Andrew Weiss's J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, Jim Bishop's J/44 WHITE GOLD, Schulman's J/44 CHARLIE V, Bob Armstrong's notoriously fun and fast J/100 GOOD GIRL (where's the "bad girl"?) and a fleet of J/109s including class leaders Rick Lyall's STORM, Bill Sweetser's RUSH, the Kenny/Ames team sailing GOSSIP, Schwartz's NORDLYS and the Kamisher's BLUE RIDER.  They will be up against some formidable IRC-optimized competition, so it will be a good test of boats and crew.   For more Rolex NYYC Race Week sailing information

J/22 match racing and team racing at St Francis YC in San FranciscoJ/22s In California Dreamin' Series

(San Francisco, CA)-  West coast clubs have created a new match racing series titled, appropriately- "California Dreamin' Series".  It's a new set of match racing events that has been created for the spring of 2011 in which skippers will have the opportunity to compete in three consecutive weekends of ISAF Grade 3 match racing.

The west coast series begins at St. Francis Yacht Club sailing their new fleet of J/22s on February 26-27. The series then migrates to Long Beach Yacht Club’s Butler Cup, March 5-6 and winds up with at San Diego Yacht Club’s event March 12-13.

The new series is truly a dream come true for skippers who are trying to crack their way into top-drawer world events but are still in the process of accumulating the necessary points to qualify for an invitation.

The California Dreamin’ Tour events coupled with the August 2010 Trifecta match racing series of the Chicago Cup, the Detroit Cup and the Knickerbocker Cup, in which the series winner receives an invitation to compete in the Grade 1 Congressional Cup in March 2011, are a big shot in the arm for the growth of match racing in America.

These changes and more are all part of the newly created North American Match Race Series made up events organized by Bayview Yacht Club, Detroit, Mich.; Manhasset Bay Yacht Club, Port Washington, N.Y.; Chicago Match Race Center, Chicago, Ill.; Long Beach Yacht Club, Long Beach, Calif.; San Diego Yacht Club, San Diego, Calif. and St. Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco, Calif.

These six clubs have dedicated themselves to promoting and developing high-level match racing countrywide and are on the forefront of bringing U.S match racing to the attention of the international sailing community.    For more California Dreamin' Series Sailing information.

J/160 cruising in French Polynesia- sailing by beach shacks 

J/Regatta News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

Summer heat has kicked into high gear with hot sailing in Europe and America.  The Europeans saw some very heated competition in Spain as the J/80 Spanish Championships were recently held in La Coruna with three past J/80 World Champions fighting it out for the top three spots.  The "new" "Costa del Sol CORK" Race Week is enjoying the Med-type weather with fresh breeze and sunny days, a.k.a. "shorts and shades" weather and the J/109s are hosting their European Championship in Cork, Ireland. The Swedish J/80 sailors sailed an extraordinarily well to dominate their class in the famous EuroCard Gotland Runt race.  In the Americas, the New England sailing season continues in high gear with some very, very hot racing in Newport, RI; playing host to the Coastal Living SailNewport Regatta.  Blasting across the Pacific are a small fleet of J's sailing the Pacific Cup, the "fun TransPac" always held in even years.  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:

Jul 17-19- J/109 North Americans- Newport, RI- http://www.nyyc.org
Jul 17-19- J/122 North Americans- Newport, RI- http://www.nyyc.org
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
Jul 29-Aug 2-Sydney Boat Show- Sydney, Australia- http://www.sydneyboatshow.com.au
Aug 1-7- Cowes Week- Isle of Wight, England- http://www.cowesweek.co.uk
Aug 6-8- J/30 North Americans- Boston, MA- http://j30.us/na2010/
Aug 6-8- J/80 USA Tour/ Buzzards Bay- Marion, MA- http://www.j80.org
Aug 13-20- J/24 Worlds- Malmo, Sweden- http://www.j24class.org
Aug 17-22- J/22 North Americans- Buffalo, NY- http://www.j22.com
Aug 20-22- Verve Cup- Chicago, IL- http://www.chicagoyachtclub.org
Sep 9-12- J/80 North Americans- Marion, MA- http://www.j80.org
Sep 11-12- Larchmont NOOD Regatta- Larchmont, NY- http://www.sailingworld.com
Sep 11-12- J/109 East Coast Championships- Larchmont, NY- http://www.sailingworld.com
Sep 14-19- J/24 UK Nationals- Cornwall, England- http://www.royalcornwallyachtclub.org
Sep 15-18- J/105 North Americans- Chicago, IL- http://www.j105.org
Sep 16-19- Rolex Big Boat Series- San Francisco, CA- http://www.big-boat-series.com/
Sep 18-19- J/Fest Newport Beach- Newport Beach, CA- http://www.balboayachtclub.com

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

J/80 one-design sailboat- sailing upwind off SpainJ/80 Spanish Championship

Defending World Champion Rayco Tabares Wins!

(La Coruna, Spain- Jul 12)-  So, what's wrong with this picture.  The Spanish J/80 Armada rules, right?  Three J/80 World Champions show up for the Spanish J/80 National Championships and ONE of them has to win.  Too bad they couldn't all win?  After all, three extraordinary sailors, three amazing teams, something had to give.  After the smoke cleared on the battlefield and fog settled in it was..... Rayco, triumphant again!  For one of the few fleets on the planet Earth where the local fleet racing is as good as World Championships (e.g. Newport J/24 Fleet, Newport Shields fleet, San Francisco J/105 fleet, Annapolis J/22 fleet, to name a few) the Spanish sure have an extraordinary tour'de'force.  The Spanish Armada reborn again, except this time, with gunships and "ships of the main" much better armed to the teeth with great sailors who can equally sail a J/80 to a World Championship as commandeer an IMOCA 60 and crush the competition.  Perhaps the French have taken notice and are stepping up their J/80 programs?  The British sure have, starting them young in RYA programs with "old guard" support..some nice guy called Ben seems to do OK.  America, of course, is still learning from the R.O.W. (e.g. row, row, row your boat).

Rayco Tabares and his team from Islas Canarias sailed their J/80 BIGBOY NAUTICA, representing both the Real Club Náutico de La Coruña - Real Club Náutico de Arrecife, to the overall win of the fourth Spanish National Championship.  It was not an easy task to overcome many compatriots who were equally up to the task of taking the overall crown.  Second went to TURISMO DE ALGARVE, sailed by yet another champion, Gonzalo Araujo of Vigo and the Portuguese Hugo Rocha, who sailed for the Yacht Club de Marina Arenys.  Finishing out the podium was guess who(?), but none other than ECC VIVIENDAS sailed by Pichu Torcida representing the Real Club Marítimo de Santander.

J/80 one-design sailboat- sailing upwind off start line in SpainHow important is the sport of sailing to Spain?   Well, "futbol" (aka American soccer) is about equal.  The President of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation, Gerardo Pombo, was present to award to Rayco Tabares as one of their "Champions of Spain 2010". At the awards ceremony, also attending was Pumariega Suárez-Germain, President of The Yacht magazine; the Harbour Master of La Coruna, Gustavo Ortega; the President of the Galician Federation of Vela, Jose Angel Rodriguez; CEO of EuroPublicis (a famous PR/marketing firm), Maximino Yanez; and the Royal Yacht Club Commodore, Jorge Etcheverría.  No wonder Spain is beginning to dominate certain parts of the sailing world. Throw in a few extraordinary photo/journalists to document the proceedings like Jesus Renedo and it will hard to stem the inexorable tide of Spanish success washing across oceans around the world.

Other than all the platitudes, what happened on the water and how in the heck did Rayco overcome such a talented fleet yet again??  Few in other ISAF one-design keelboat classes of recent memory (J/24, J/80, J/22, Melges 24, Etchells 22, Star, etc) have achieved so much in so little time against such indisputable talent.  In short, here's a synopsis of the regatta reports:

Day One- with three world champions of the J/80 class (2007, 2008, 2009) having confirmed their presence in the city of La Coruna, everyone knew the gauntlet laid down was to determine the "Intergalactic Champion", not just the Spanish Champion.  In the first two Spanish Champions, Ignacio Camino and Pichu Torcida sailing NEXTEL ENGINEERING and ECC VIVIENDAS, respectively, it was going to be tough fight to start with.  With Rayco Tabares entering the fray, who won last year in the 2009 Santander J/80 Worlds with PRINCESS YAIZA, the competition spun into the stratosphere and his new sponsor BIGBOY NAUTICA was hopeful they would be successful.  Tabares didn't disappoint his friends, supporters and followers, by winning the first race and getting a third in the 2nd race.  By the end of the day, Tabares's BIGBOY NAUTICA was in first with four points, followed by two boats with seven points each, Pablo Chavert's MARINA CORUNA and Gonzalo Araujo's TURISMO DE ALGARVE. 

Day Two- with nearly identical weather to the first day of racing, the fleet waited until the dense fog blew away.  By 1500 hours (late in the day) the J/80 teams were sent out to sea.  With the wind out of the North at seven knots, it was clear the left side of the course was correct for most teams.  Of the top teams, only Araujo's team on TURISMO DE ALGARVE managed a top three finish, getting a second in the first race.  However, the tables turned for race two of the day, with the leaders coming to the front of the fleet.  Torcidas' ECC VIVIENDAS won with Tabares' BIGBOY NAUTICA in second and Camino's NEXTEL ENGINEERING in third.

And, that was the end of racing.  For a sticky fog settled in for Sunday's racing and would not lift to allow the high calibre teams to race at least one more set of races to determine the Spanish Intergalactic Champions.  So it was, Tabares won with BIGBOY NAUTICA, followed by Araujo's TURISMO DE ALGARVE and third was Torcida's ECC VIVIENDAS.  Fourth was Camino's NEXTEL ENGINEERING and fifth was Chavert Paul's MARINA CORUNA.    For more J/80 Spanish Championship sailing information.   Sailing Photo credits- Jesus Renedo.
J/80 one-design class champion- Glenn Darden

Stormy, Hot, Light SailNewport Regatta

EL TIGRE Eats SALSA, Wins The POWER PLAY

(Newport, RI)- J sailors all seemingly had an incredibly fun time participating in this year's Coastal Living SailNewport Regatta.  However, even with best laid plans, the weather Gods simply didn't cooperate, throwing huge swells with little wind offshore and flat waters and not enough wind up Narragansett Bay...a very rare occurrence.  Saturday saw a huge front pass over late in the afternoon that shifted the breeze from a light-moderate southerly to NW, canceling the last races of the day.  By Sunday, an enormous High pressure system overlaid the New England region combined with a Low offshore spinning up monster swells to make everyone feel a bit "green" on the offshore courses and wishing for more wind everywhere else.

Despite the daunting conditions the regatta manager, Brad Read (SailNewport Director), and the PROs on all three courses, including the redoubtable Robin Wallace and Kenny Legler, did an admirable job of pulling off a good set of races on Saturday, but had to live with canceled races on Sunday due to boiling hot conditions, billiard-table flat waters and a huge ebb tide flushing everyone out of the Bay and offshore.

J/105 PowerPlay sailing downwind fastPerhaps most impacted by the difficult conditions were the J/105s sailing the first of three events in their Narragansett Bay Championship Tour.  Only two races were conducted on Saturday with Bruce Stone and Scott DeWeese's champion POWER PLAY (pictured here) from San Francisco, CA and Wickford, RI winning with a 2-2 record.  Second was Chris and Carolyn Groobey's JAVA from Annapolis, MD with a 4-1 tally.  Winning third in a three-way tie-breaker was local hero Nelson Weiderman from Wakefield, RI sailing KIMA to a 6-3 record; they beat Harald Edegran and Jeremy Henderson on CONUNDRUM from Ossining, NY with a 3-6 record and Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes' KINSCEM from Katonah, NY with a 5-4 record for 4th and 5th, respectively.

The 80s, too, only had two races and were suffering the "green" conditions offshore along with the J/24s.  Not unexpectedly, the winner of the twenty-three boat J/80 class was a past North American and World Champion Glenn Darden racing EL TIGRE (pictured above) with a 1-2.  Second was Kerry Klingler and Bob Miller sailing USA352 (another World Champion) with a 6-1.  And, third was Will Welles sailing RASCAL with a 5-3 record.   Rounding out the top five were Jeff Johnstone and Tom Kirk sailing LITTLE FEAT in fourth with a 3-7 and fifth was class aristocrat John Storck and family sailing RUMOR to a 7-4.

As predicted, sailing the J/24s is always a good test of going fast, mixed in with a bit of perseverance and a little lady-luck.  While class leaders like Peter Levesque on MOOKIE, Charlie Enright on WATERLINE SYSTEMS and Tim Healey on QUANTUM NEWPORT having their fair share of ups-and-downs, Jens Hookanson sailed SALSA to a consistent 4-1 record to lead the pack.  Staying out of trouble and getting second as their reward was Ted Winston sailing PASSAGE EAST to a 10-2 record, winning a tie-breaker with Mike Ingham on BRAIN CRAMP with an 8-4 tally.  For more Coastal Living SailNewport Regatta sailing info.

J/109 one-design cruising sailboat- sailing CORK Race WeekCosta Del Sol Cork

J/109 BLUEJAY Winning Nationals

(Cork, Ireland)- As if by magic, sublime, almost Mediterranean weather, arrived for the first day of Cork Week 2010. Sunshine and a moderate breeze of 10-15 knots from the southeast, gave competitors a day to remember. Racing for all classes commenced with few delays and there were some happy sailors returning to the dock this afternoon, having had a spectacular day on the water.

Eighteen J/109s are competing at Cork Week for the J/109 European Championship and they enjoyed some fantastic racing so far.  On the first day, Robert O'Leary, steering JEROBOAM, got a cracking start, right under Weavers Point, they went on to win the race by over two minutes. Steven Tapper's STALKER was second and Jonathan & Andrea Tithecott's JUDGEMENT DAY taking third.  To date, the top three is tight with Greg Burgess's BLUEJAY is winning with a 4-2-1 record, leading Rob O'Leary's JEROBOAM by just two points with a 1-3-5 tally and Brian Moreton's JUKE BOX by two more points with a 7-1-3 score.

J/109 one-design sailboat- sailing off Cork, Ireland in CORK Race WeekIRC Class Zero has some exceptionally close racing and hanging out in the top ten are the two J/133s sailing the event against a hot class of IRC specialists.  Neil Martin's J/133 JAMMY DODGER and Jackie and Robert Dodson's JERONIMO are in contention with at least three races to go...and anything goes in this class so far with boats racing up and down the standings daily.

IRC Class One has a tight race for the top three and with a few good races left, Sheila and James Tyrerell's J/122 AQUELINA is in the hunt to garner a top five finish.

IRC Class Three has a donnybrook shaping up between two J/35s and an X332.  John Moorehead and Chris Ferres are racing their J/35 BENGAL MAGIC incredibly well and are leading the fleet with a fleet dominating three firsts!  Lying third at the moment a scant half point off second is the other J/35, Dermot Cronin's MUMBO.  With three races to go, perhaps BENGAL MAGIC will throw down the gauntlet, bet a few more pints of tasty Irish ale (or whiskey?) and see whether or not they can run the table with straight firsts!

IRC Class Six has the J/24s participating and Flor O'Driscoll's J/24 HARD ON PORT is currently second with a 2-2-3-2 record.

Catch up with us next week to get a summary of the results, see if the J/122s, J/133s or J/35s prevailed in the "new" Costa del Sol Cork Race Week and to figure out who rose above the ashes and wreckage of the battle field to be crowned J/109 European Champion.   For more CORK Week sailing results.        Sailing Photo credits: Tim Wright/ Photoaction.com

Swedish women's sailing team- J/24s, J/80sJ/80s Win Gotland Runt Race

(Stockholm, Sweden)- By all accounts, the 2010 Eurocard Gotland Runt was a successful regatta. Approximately 2,000 sailors participated on 238 boats, divided into nine classes on three different courses of varied length.  The largest boats sailed 460 nm while the smallest ones completed 310 nm, which is the shortest way to round Gotland from Sandhamn and back. The intention was to complete any course in 48 hours, which many of the sailors did.  The race was completed in excellent weather conditions. Bright sun and enough wind to keep the doldrums away (can't go wrong when the sun sets at 11 pm and rises at 2 am!). The different classes attracted cruising boats as well as advanced, world-class racing machines.

Sailing ORCi Alpha class was Juha Korhonen's J/35 JUMPIN JACK FLASH sailing the intermediate length course.  After all these years, the venerable J/35 continues to sail successfully in offshore handicap racing, proving yet again as they did in the Bermuda Race Doublehanded Class that it's hard to hold back a well-sailed J offshore...whatever its permutation. Juha's JUMPIN JACK FLASH managed a 5th in a very competitive class.

J/109 one-design sailboat- sailing with spinnaker in Gotland Runt RacePerhaps the most remarkable performance came from the twin J/80s racing in the SRS Alfa 2 Class.  Winning the class was MK-PRODUKTER, Lars Gellerhed'S J/80 and finishing just out of second, getting third overall in class was BJORNSABBEN, Broderna Wennerstrom's tough as nails J/80 crew.

For more insight on the race, you can also check out Peter Gustaffson's blog at http://www.blur.se, for some great info.  In fact, according to Peter, "The most interesting reporting from Gotland Runt? It comes from my trimmer from the J/109 BLUR, Fredrik Roos (see photo), who runs the trim onboard the J/109 MATADOR. Driving hard!"     Complete Gotland Runt sailing results.      Sailing Photo credits- Oskar Kihlborg

Fun sailing on Pacific CupJ's Racing Pacific Cup- Update

(San Francisco-Oahu- July 5th)- Based on latest tracking info (Thursday 0900), Shawn Ivie's J/30 FRICTION LOSS is currently 2nd in class and Jim Brainerd's J/35c BRAINWAVES is fifth! Scott Dickinson's J/42 TIKI J is 4th in his class, not bad for a non-TransPac sled!  Meanwhile, having early tough "sledding" are the reaching machines like Sean Mulvihill's J/120 JAMANI (about 7th in class), Scott Campbell's J/46 RIVA (now 3rd in class!) and John Macphail's J/160 JAM (about 5th in class and 5th in fleet!). However, the last half of the race is often where the real "sleds" simply take off, watch out to see how the J/120, the J/46 and the J/160 start to roll on this part of the race.  Follow them on the tracking page at the event site.

Sometime Tuesday afternoon half the 2010 Pacific Cup boats passed the halfway-to-Hawaii mark. "Hapa" means half in Hawaiian, so we can call this hapa-hapa day.  This leads, of course, to the traditional "halfway-hijinx".  Boat parties, a rare taste of alcohol, and general frivolity are the order of the day. Halfway parties can feature costumes, songs, gifts, or perhaps a fresh can of tuna. As one of the sailor's said: "We just had our halfway party! Much frivolity and gift-opening, the Tiki God was very pleased. Rum for Poseidon."   For more Pacific Cup sailing and tracking info.

J/Community

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

J/42 cruising sailboat JARANA sailing in South Pacific* Another J/42 in the South Pacific?  Can't be.  Me thinks they're multiplying like rabbits.  Is boat-cloning permitted in Micronesia?  We've discovered yet another J/42 roaming the South Pacific; Bill and Kathy Cuffel's JARANA.  Here's the Cuffel's report:  "July 3rd we finally left after two beautiful weeks on the north shore of Moorea (French Polynesia)/ Tahiti area).  After waiting out a several days of 20-30 kt winds, we headed back to Papeete.  It took a couple tacks in 10-12 kt winds and lumpy seas to reach the pass into Arue to moor at Tahiti Yacht Club, arriving around 1330.  That was the perfect time for the C-Map chip to crash our both plotters!  Doh!

Usually you radio TYC and they send a dinghy out to guide you in.  (Some of the inner marks are a little off,)  But the manager was busy and didn't hear our hail.  Our friends on Capaz and Blue Bottle also didn't hear us (we wanted to ask the pass coordinates, because the GPS still worked).  We rummaged around for the paper chart (among the dozens on board).  But we didn't find that particular chart.  Our French cruising guide has a detail of the bay, but it's cut off right at the entrance pass...Great!"  Read more about their sailing adventures: http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/

J/100 sailor Phillipe Kahn sailing his Open 50 in Pacific* Philippe Kahn has been practicing a lot on his modified J/100 (added a bow-sprit) as part of their preparation for offshore double-handing in the annual TransPac races (the LA version and the San Francisco version).  Today, it looks like that practice has paid off as Phillipe's IMOCA Open 50 Pegasus Motion X-50 set a new 24-hour distance record of 403+ nautical miles (not yet ratified by the Word Sailing Speed Record Council). Impressively, the team broke the IMOCA 50 24-hour record by more than 80 miles! More news at http://www.pacificcup.org

* Bill Stellin's J/42 JAYWALKER continues its cruising adventures around the globe.  Read his journals written over 8-9 years cruising.  It is called SEATREK.  And many of the later blogs/journals can be found at: http://blog.mailasail.com/jaywalker.  The earlier journals have been compiled into two self published books which can be found at: http://www.blurb.com.  Search for "SEATREK: A Passion for Sailing" by Bill Stellin or William Stellin.  Best, Bill."

J/160 cruising sailboat- sailing into Cooks Bay, Moorean, French Polynesia* 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, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM 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).
J/109 one-design
racing cruising sailboat

Featured Boat

Gorgeous J/109 In Houston

One of the best examples of a J/109 sits in Houston, TX ready to roll for the summer season and Key West in 2010.  She's a 2006 J/109 Hull #261.  Every factory option along with heat and A/C are installed.  She's priced well below J//109's comparably equipped.  It has an excellent sail inventory of Quantum sails:  Spinnakers(5)- 06 07 08 108sqm class; 06 08 121sqm PHRF; Headsails(5)-06 07 08 class jibs, 06 08 PHRF (155); Mains(2)- 06 08-- All sails are kept in climate controlled storage.  For more information, please contact Scott Spurlin at J/Boats Southwest- cell +1-512-423-2179 or e-mail- Scott@JBoatsSouthwest.com or go to http://www.JBoatsSouthwest.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.