Wednesday, August 11, 2010

J/Newsletter- August 11th, 2010


J/24 australia banquest for legends J/24 Legends Regatta

Big J/24 event of the Year!!

(New South Wales, Australia)- Leave it up to the fun-loving Australians for more out-of-the-box thinking and generate lots of enthusiasm for their ever-expanding J/24 program in Australia.  For starters, the J/24 Australian NSW State Championships will be racing October 2-3.  But, perhaps more importantly the Australian J/24 class is hosting the J/24 Legends Regatta on Monday 4th October 2010 at Gosford Sailing Club (e.g. like the 12 Meter "Legends Regatta" being held at New York YC's Harbour Court in Newport, RI this September).  Here's your chance to have one of Australia's J/24 Sailing Legends sail on your boat as either skipper or crew. This will be the most amazing collection of past and current World Champions and National Champions the J/24 class has ever brought together for a day of racing and conviviality. Immediately following the State Championship, this one day regatta will become the stuff of Legends itself. If you want to meet and talk with, sail against and have a beer with Australia's Sailing Legends, you need to book early and be at the Legends Regatta. 

Invitations to the J/24 Legends Regatta event include World Champions, National Champions and Women on Water winners and supporters.  The evening's Master of Ceremonies will be ex-J/24 sailor and "Master of the Universe", Rob Mundle.  They already have Legends Mark Bethwaite (yeah, same family who helped create a bunch of Aussie 18s, the International 49er and 29er classes), Ian MacDiarmid, Garry Geitz, David Suda, Sean Wallis, Sean Kirkjian, Hugo Ottoway, Steve Girdis and Rod Waterhouse confirmed.  BTW, are Ken Read, Morgan Larson, Terry Hutchinson and Ed Baird invited, too?  Some say they are distantly related to a few "ex-convicts" (a few dozen generations back) and qualify somewhat tangentially as "Aussies Too".  :)  If you are interested in entering, or being involved, please contact Terry on 0413 876184 or Paula on 0404 539176.  They'll be filling the ballroom pictured here!

J's sailing Cowes Race Week at sunset 

J/Regatta News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

August ushered in with a bang for sailors worldwide, especially in Europe.  The sailing conditions for England's Cowes Week were great for sailing around the shoals and crazy Solent currents.  The J/80s in France enjoyed their Deauville Open.  The J/22s in Travemunder Woche in Germany had some special guests from The Netherlands.  In the America's, sailing took place at the world's highest regatta (the mile high club) on Lake Dillon in Colorado as well as down along the coasts.  The J/30s held their North Americans in Marblehead, MA; the J/80s and J/24s had some great racing on a windy Buzzards Bay Regatta; and the J/105s sailed the third and final leg of the J/105 Narragansett Bay Championship at Wickford YC's West Passage Regatta.  Finally, don't forget to read the J/Cruising Community section below.  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:

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 10-19- Southampton Boatshow- Southampton, England- http://www.southamptonboatshow.com
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/109s sailing upwind at Cowes Race WeekJ/109 JEROBOAM Wins Cowes Week

J/122 JINJA 2nd IRC 2

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Racing conditions for this year's Cowes Week could be described as challenging interspersed with "champagne sailing" for those sun gods and goddesses looking to enjoy the "southern climate" of England; enjoying all the Solent could possibly muster over the week long event.

At the end, the J/109s proved they're the class to beat.  With excellent one-design competition, it was clear it would not be a "cake walk" for the winners atop this class.  Nevertheless, the mid-week leader continued to sailing consistently to take first-- Rick Garret's JEROBOAM won with a convincing record of 1-3-1-2-1-2 for ten points to finish 13 points clear of second place finisher Adam and Helen Wright's VELVET ELVIS (7-4-2-3-6-1).  Third was Mike Smith's ZELDA with a 8-9-1-5-1-3 record, fourth was Matt Boyle's SHIVA and fifth was Glyn Locke and Gill Ross' JAMBHALA.

After a slow start, the RAF J/80 Team started firing their gatling guns (firing off a few rounds of bullets to dazzle their competitors!).  Simon Ling's RAF SPITFIRE crew sailed a very strong series to dominate their class with a 1-1-1-1-2-1 record for seven points, well clear of second place finisher Sebastian Ripard's AGAINSTMALARIA.COM (a family crew from Malta).  Third was John Cooper's OI! and falling off the pace a bit towards the end was early series leader, Thor Askeland's ELLE S'APPELLE, dropping to fifth.

The J/122s were quite successful racing both handicap and one-design class within IRC 2 Class.  On handicap, Ian Matthews' JINJA climbed into second overall for the series and Rodolphe Marchais' JOLLY JOKER hung onto their mid-week position of sixth overall.  In one-design class, JINJA, JOLLY JOKER were first and second, respectively, followed by David Richard's JOLLY in third, David Hunt's JACOB'S LADDER in fourth and Robin Myerscough's MINT JULEP  in fifth.

In IRC 5, J/97s seemingly dominated their class dueling it out with ex-J/39 owner Adam Gosling on YES!  The J/97s had taken mostly firsts, seconds and thirds. Grant Gordon's FEVER ultimately got second place with a fantastic tally of 1-1-2-2-2, just one point from first place!  Lying fourth was Jim Dick's JACKAROO with a 3-3-3-7-3 record, losing on a tie-breaker for third overall.

In conjunction with Cowes Week, the J/92s were running their J/92 Nationals.  The new class Champion is Steve Etheridge and Andrew Roberts' JUST IN TIME finish first with a solid 1-2-2 record.  Second was Andrew Dallas' HULLABALOO with a 4-3-1 tally and third was Mark Lloyd's JUNGLE FEVER with a 5-1-5 score.

Racing in IRC configuration, the J/92's sailed six races.  The winners were Dallas' HULLABALOO (4-3-1-5-3-1) followed in second by Greenhalgh and Bexon Taylor's J'RONIMO (3-6-3-4-1-9) and third was Pip Tyler's NEILSON REDEYE (7-4-4-1-4-9).   For more Cowes Week sailing information.

J/80 France- sailing Deauville, FranceBABY J Wins J/80 Deauville Open

(Deauville, France)- The fifth round of the Coupe de France J/80 has been largely dominated by the crew from Nantes- BABY J. With a whopping six races won and three second places, there was no doubt who had won the event. In the lead from the first day on Thursday, the winners from the Loire-Atlantic were able to figure out the conditions on the waters off Deauville better than anyone else.

"We still had to deal with many weather changes throughout the four days. The chop bothered us the most, because it was suddenly longer than usual and much higher," stressed skipper Jean Francois Guionet.  "We had to fight and play hard in order to do well."

Deauville and local fleet President Laurent Chauvin, who managed to get two wins, finished third.  The Deauville J/80 fleet did very well in the event, with a fifth place for the other crew Philippe Szellos. As always, the skillful sailors from the Cherbourg J/80 fleet have placed one of their own time to be amongst the fleet leaders.  Second from  La Trinite-sur-Mer was LDT DEMOLITION skippered by R. Paternot, fourth from CN Cherbourg (the Cherbourg Navy), was G. Rizzolo.   For more J/80 Deauville Open Sailing information.

Little Feat J/80 leading fleet at Key WestLITTLE FEAT Wins J/80 USA Tour #5

Buzzards Bay Regatta Breezy Affair

(Marion, MA)- The annual Buzzards Bay Regatta was hosted this year by Marion Yacht Club; they also provided support as the fifth stop of the J/80 class USA Tour.  It was nearly postcard perfect conditions, with the warm weather feeding the strength of the thermal breezes, making for classic Buzzards Bay conditions-- short steep chop and steady 15-20 knot winds.  The regatta also served as another "warm up" event for the upcoming J/80 North Americans in Buzzards Bay in September and the J/80 World Championship in Newport later in October.

Prevailing in these conditions were the family team of Jeff and Rod Johnstone racing their J/80 LITTLE FEAT to a very consistent score of 2-5-1-1-2-4-4-1-4 for 19 points, managing to win over a strong contingent of twenty-seven boats, including past J/80 World and North American Champions such as Jay Lutz and Kerry Klingler.  Second in the regatta was Kerry Klingler with a 4-3-3-8-1-6-dsq-2-2 score of 29 points.  Third was the team of Jay Lutz and Gary Kamins on FIRED UP, sailing to a 1-4-5-10-6-1-10-7-1 for 35 points.  J/80 Class newcomers Will Crump on GULDFAXE and Brian Keane on SAVASANA are rapidly rising the learning curve and were strong contenders throughout the series despite a few missteps early in the series, getting 5th and 6th, respectively for the series.

The J/24s had a strong, very competitive 16 boat fleet.  Ryan Walsh sailing SKETCHY AT BEST won by just four points despite nearly dominating the series with a 1-1-2-2-1-1-1-1-3 record for 10 points.  Just behind giving them a serious run for the money was John Van Dalen sailing ARNOLD GOES TO HOLLYWOOD with a 3-2-1-1-2-2-3-2-1 tally for 14 points.  Third was Margaret Borden sailing HEFFAH with a 2-3-3-5-4-4-4-3-6 score for 28 points.   For more Buzzards Bay sailing information.

J/22 sailing Travemunde, GermanyJ/22 Travemunder Woch Regatta

JABBADABBADOO Wins The Party!

(Travemunder, Germany)- in the first weekend of August, the J/22 German class hosted their renowned Travemunder Woche Party--- er, sailing regatta.  Here's an amusing story from Team JABBADABBADOO that hail from the Netherlands J/22 fleet, daring to venture across the border, trailer their boat after the J/22 Worlds to parts unknown up north where different tribes of J/22 sailors lurk, awaiting in the shallows to launch an ambush on unsuspecting sailors who haven't cracked a smile in weeks (if not years!).  Here's JABBADABBADOO's report-

"From all the German J/22 sailors, we had heard that we had to go to the Travemunder Woche to party and sail this huge event. So nicely convinced by them, we packed our JABBADABBADOO! and went to Germany!

We even convinced our favorite German sailor to join us (and even more important) to train us- "Welcome on board of the JABBADABBADOO Mssr. Falko! And training we needed, from rigging to trimming to maneuvers.

The first day brought wind, a lot of wind-- our cowboy attitude in hoisting the spinnaker was instantly punished-- we broached big-time, and we went swimming (a complete Stan and half a Nadine), "J down for the count", we're in the water, but Falko was already at the spinnaker halyard, rescuing us, our J/22 and keeping our third place in the race! Lessons learned-- release the spinnaker, don't panic, and enjoy the ride, the J will be up in 20 seconds!

J/22 sailing in Germany- great party at TravemundeWith a third and a ninth place we were completely happy with that day, having already exceeded all our expectations. Time to celebrate with all the other J sailors on board the beautiful four-masted ship PASSAT and later for cocktails and music to the Travemunder Party (all promises proved true-- it is an excellent place to sail AND to party)!

Two more days ahead and we started the second day again with more wind than predicted (but thankfully a bit less than the day before). After a 5th place (involving some more swimming crew-members) we went on with a steep learning curve, leading to an incredible (for us) second and first place in our J/22.

We celebrated this in all forms at the end of this day with a BBQ organised by the class association (yummmy, such nice Bratwurste) and well deserved German beer!

The third racing day brought no wind and we could just enjoy the sail (and tow back).

It was such a great weekend, a superb party, a fantastic sail and even more important great company on our boat, but also on shore with all the other J/22 sailors!

And we know that we have so much to "thank" Falko who coached us perfectly and proved to us that our boat can be fast and point! The race results were great, but the learning curve thanks to Falko's training was much more important to us. Thank you!"  Most respectfully, Team JABBADABBADOO- Nadine Fritz, Audrey Paterson, Stan Heltzel und Falko Braun- pictured here.  Team website- http://jabbadabbadoo.eu/   For more Travemunde Woch Regatta sailing information.

ECLIPSE Wins J/105 West Passage Regatta

J/105 Narragansett Bay Championship Event #3

(Wickford, RI)- The final race of the West Passage Regatta marked the end of the Narragansett Bay Championship as well.  With good breezes both days, the eighteen boat J/105 fleet enjoyed great racing on the northern part of Narragansett Bay sailing just off the Quonset Naval Air Station.  The strong southwest thermal breezes were shiftier than normal and made it difficult even for the local sailors to divine the best tactics and strategies all weekend long.  Congratulations to the Wickford YC for conducting an excellent event, with eight races run in two days- four per day!

Damian Emery has been on a roll recently.  After slowly getting started in the SailNewport Regatta back in June, Damian's ECLIPSE team took the New York YC Race Week in J/105s and has now "sealed the deal" to not only win the Wickford Regatta (1-2-5-4-1-1-2-1)  but win the first Narragansett Bay Championship as well.  Well done mates!  Second was Fred Darlington on TONTO with a great series, sailing to a 5-3-1-2-3-2-5-2 record.  After a strong start and leading after the first day, it appeared the wheels fell off the shopping trolley of Bruce Stone's POWER PLAY-- starting with a 2-1-2-1 score, then fading to a DSQ-4-9-5 record on Sunday to finish third.  Class leaders Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM sailed consistently to finish fourth, just two points clear of Andrew Kennedy's BAT IV who finished fifth.  BAT IV came on strong on Sunday with a 2-3-1-3 record, but it wasn't enough to crack the top three and get the podium finish.

In the end, Damian's ECLIPSE team were ecstatic to have earned a brand new NORTH SAILS VMG J/105 Asymmetric Spinnaker as part of the spoils for winning the regatta.  With a big, cheshire cat grin, Damian was heard remarking, "this will only make us go faster next time!"  That may, or may not, be good news for their competitors!  For more J/105 Wickford Regatta and sailing info.

J/30 North Americans  in Marblehead, MABLUE MEANIE Wins J/30 North Americans

(Marblehead, MA)- This past weekend, the J/30s hosted their North American Championship in Marblehead, hosted by the Boston Yacht Club. Marblehead is one of the premier sailing centers of the east coast and conducted an excellent North Americans, a great venue for a classic, fun one design class. 

In what may be a record turnout in recent years for the J/30s, seventeen boats showed up for the NA's for some great racing.  The top three spots were hotly contested with only six points separating the top three at the end of the seven race (one throw-out) regatta.  The winners, Steve Buzbee's well-oiled machine on BLUE MEANIE, sailed well to consistently place in the top five, garnering a 1-2-1-1-7-1-5 record.  Second only two points back and coming on very strong in the later half of the regatta were Bengt Johansson's cast of characters on FUZZY WUZZY, racing to a 4-1-6-2-1-2-3 score.  Rounding out the top three were Bill Saltonstall and gang aboard ARABELLA, sailing to a 2-5-3-4-3-3-2 tally.

The J/30 Class has gotten well-organized and have made great efforts to ensure J/30 owners are having fun and enjoying the camaraderie of one-design class racing-- taking a few pages out of other J One-design organizations like the J/24 Australian Class and J/80 class, the J/30s are providing a great class website along with forums and current news and information about class members and their activities aboard.  BTW, the artwork is credited to long-time J/30 sailor, Martha Quigley-- she was part of the Starlight Express crew that to this day still holds the fastest time to finish in the Marblehead to Halifax race. She also has a history with the J/30's in that her brother had one for a number of years here in Marblehead and she spent quite a bit or time racing on it.  See Martha's gallery of work at- http://www.landfallgallery.com/   Read more about sailing the J/30 Class and their NA's

J/24s sailing on Lake Dillonm, CODillon Open Regatta- World's Highest Regatta

J/22s, J/24s, J/80s Need Oxygen Masks?

(Dillon, Co)- On the first weekend of August, the Dillon Yacht Club again hosted the world's highest regatta at 9,017 ft above sea level.  Racing was held on beautiful Lake Dillon in Dillon, Colorado (a town about 70 miles west of Denver high-up in the Rocky Mountains) where the sailors enjoyed sunny days, insanely shifty, puffy winds (vertical micro-bursts?) and spectacular views of the snow-capped mountains ringing this spectacular lake.

Participating in this years regatta were one-design fleets of J/22s, J/24s and J/80s, with a total of 25 J's participating-- a huge turnout for such rarified air!

In the J/22s, Bill Darling sailed his CAMP ROBBER to six firsts, dominating the eleven boat J/22 fleet and winning by 12.5 points.  Second was David Baker sailing the appropriately named UP FOR AIR (remember, they are sailing over a mile high in the air!), sailing to a 3-3-2-4.5-3-3 record for 18.5 points.  Third was Lyn Nicks on WALK OF SHAME (who as the inspiration for that name?) with a 2-4-4-2-5-4 tally for 21 points.  The J/22s had a great time and it's wonderful to see the fleet continue to grow.

J/24s sailing one-design on Lake Dillon Open RegattaThe J/24s are one of Lake Dillon's oldest one-design keelboat fleets, having been formed back in the late 70s with luminaries like ski-boot legend Denny Hanson racing avidly over the years.  Still hanging tough and having a wonderful time sailing Dillon's crazed wind patterns were ten boats from around the Rocky Mountain states.  This year, Greg Johnson sailed PINOTAGE to a pretty convincing win with a 4-1-1-1-2-1 record for 10 points, nine points clear of second place.  Jill Nelson (you go girls!!) was second sailing FLY MO'Js with a 1-2-5-2-5-4 score for 19 points.  Third was Matt Weiler on SHOOTING STAR, starting out slow but finishing with a flourish, getting a 7-4-2-5-1-2 tally for 21 points.

The J/80s are beginning to build their class on the lake and this year saw four boats entered.  In the end, Kurt Vanderwall traded off 1sts and 2nds with David Leavenworth to determine the regatta leader.  After the smoke cleared, it was Kurt's HENDRIX that took it with 5 firsts and a second over David's HARMATTAN with five seconds and a first.   For more Dillon Open Sailing information.

J/Community

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

* Australian J/24s Show The Bigger Boats How It's Done!  The Winter Series at Middle Harbour Yacht Club only had one J/24 entered this year Brett Hudson's WILDFIRE skippered by Grant Dawkin-- and boy, did they show the bigger yachts how it's done!! Over 10 races, WILDFIRE produced 3 wins and 2 thirds (lovely Henri Lloyd jackets for all the crew!), taking them to an overall series win against the bigger boats!  A generally light wind series allowed the Js to pull away from the big boatS-- let's hope more J/24s decide to enter next winter and really show the fleet how its done!! For more news from J/24s sailing Australia- http://j24australia.com.au/

J/80 sailing off Sweden- Gotland Runt race* J/80 Gotland Runt Reports- back in July, a J/80 crushed the fleet in the huge (800+ boat) Gotland Runt Race in Sweden.  It's a popular race, in fact, the most popular offshore race all summer in Sweden.  Our J/80 friends produced an amusing report of their escapades on the J/80 Sweden site- here's the translation:   "After an amazing second place in the MP Race, we had to ask ourselves if we'd do the Gotland Runt. Well, when we mess with the port security guards, we always get a good place at Lokholmen. Since this was our fifth round Gotland with the J/80, and we had a proven track record, we did nothing about the boat in Mandan, so went and bathed in the sauna instead as preparation for the race!!  On Tuesday, Pete scrubbed the boat inside so that it would be livable for the race. Roffe came with the raft and rockets and with Thomas to replace Lucas in Gotland Runt. Floating objects were taped with MK-tape products, our home-built kitchen was mounted on the mast and the radio was tested. It did not work. Hah! Some channels worked, but not others. But after successfully going out and trying the radio on open water, we were ready for inspection. The inspectors were zealous. But we had an eye on the rules and came through with a clean protocol.

Now it was time to provision the boat with water, food and clothing. Someone ran around an island, someone drank a beer or two and someone else cooked. All drank rose wine. Skippers meeting did not mean much but we met many new acquaintances. Quickly back to the Onions for SM champagne, grill and rodtjut. Then, sauna (again) and early to bed.

J/80s sailing offshore in Sweden- Gotland Runt raceFull speed on with wind and sun. We decided to leave as late as possible to reduce the stress of the sun. We started 12:15 in the second start, SRS Alpha 2 class. We started almost at the top of the windward jib-top. I went there to keep the height so we had to quickly switch to the jib. The start was decent but not great. We were a bit ahead of the second J/80, Bjorn Nabben. Small boat and light winds. In order to sail undisturbed, we chose the right edge. The wind would turn against the West as it seemed clear as a bell. I turned the other way as 200 boats safely drove us on the road to Alma. After Alma was the first single reach, but then opened it up and we sat down and then jib-top gennaker. We again chose the right edge. In the dark at Gotska Sandon it blew fresh. We topped the 13.8 knots on flat water, beautiful. Now we cooking against many boats. When it brightened we saw Bear Nabben behind us with jibtop. They quickly switched to gennaker. Good speed down to Faro. The distance to the Bear Nabben increased. After Faro it would promise to be a hard leg.  We sailed well against a lot of big expensive boats. No one could go down and rest. Nuts and candy on the edge. We were near shore so we could download status and saw that we were 9th at Faro.  Fantastic!

In the afternoon, after Gotland southeast coast, we continued at first to sail on boats before but Faluden turned it against and it faded out briefly. First jibtop and then jib. Some of the larger boats we sailed against were now caught up. But we did a nice, tight rounding of Hoburgen and sat again. We know now that we have been 4th at Ostergarn. We walked along the Charles Islands, including 39 footer who started 15 minutes before us. We gave ourselves room far out on the route to Visby, jibe quickly and cut out to sea again. We aimed to go up to 5nm west of rumbline to avoid expected Bleken north breeze off Gotland. It turned, however, so we ended up on the east side of  rumbline instead. We switched to jibtop and fought to get onto rumbline again. We could now see 3-4 boats in front of us and two behind. Given that this was a J/80 weather, we knew we sailed fast. We put the "pedal to the metal."

At the finish, we could see a nearly empty harbor! We picked a case of beer and clean clothes from the motor boat on Lokholmen.  After we submitted our finish papers, it was soon clear that we would win our class at the estimated time. We are led by more than 4 hours at Gotska Sandon. Sauna, beer, dykarbar, swagger and bragging on Almagrundet. We fried them! Sandhamn Fried them! We won our class, we had also won the second Lysklassen on the short course!

At the winners banquet for our class, they described us with these words- "The Winner-in-class SRS alpha2 Is a J/80, a small boat with a tremendous speed." After the ceremony we went full speed for Viggbyholm Batlyft. What a fantastic week!!  For more Swedish sailing sea stories and Swedish J/80 News- http://www.j80.nu

J/160 sailing south pacificThe J Cruising community continue their adventures around the world, below are a selection of most excellent "blogs" written by their prolific publishers.

* The J/42 JARANA continues their epic voyage around the Pacific. Continue to read about Bill and Kathy Cuffel big adventure cruising the South Pacific headed for New Zealand.  Their blog is here: http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/

* Prolific writers, Bill and Judy Stellin, sailed their J/42 JAYWALKER around the Mediterranean and Europe and back across the Atlantic for nearly three years.  Their 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."  Fun reading when rocking back in a chair watching your storm-lashed windows take a beating in the gale roaring outside and listening to the crackle of a roaring fire.  It is winter "down under" you know.  The Argentineans are freezing.

* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for extended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary will have just finished their double-handed crossing of the Atlantic, landing in Portugal on their J/130 Shazam. Read the latest news at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/shazam/.

* 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 Cape Horn 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 sailboat sailing downwind under spinnakerFeatured 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:
http://www.jboats.com/intro.htm