J/111 Speedster Garnering Accolades At Annapolis ShowSAIL Best Boats Award
(Annapolis, MD)- The J/111 met with tremendous enthusiasm from not only sailors attending the show, but from the professional sailing media as well. From the SAIL Magazine Judges for their Best Boats Awards 2011, their review of the 111's qualities were reflected in their commentary from their initial review- please read more at SAIL here.
Sailing World Boat of the Year Nominee
As one of the hottest new boats to be launched in 2010 with nearly fifty boats on order, the 111 has been selected by the Sailing World Boat of the Year Judges to be a nominee for the Best Performance category. Here are first impressions so far from Dave Reed at Sailing World:
"The J/111 from J Boats showed up on time for its high-noon appointment, and as if on cue, the breeze bumped up a few knots. Excellent sailing, said each judge afterwards. "That’s definitely a contender." Maybe the best boat from J Boats yet—even better than last year’s J/95. It’s definitely a frontrunner, but there are still plenty of boats yet to sail." Read more about the SW BOTY process here.
J/95 European Yacht of the Year NomineeYacht Magazin 2011 Contender
(Kiel, Germany)- Building upon the accolades that it has accumulated from various American and European yachting press over the course of the past year, the J/95 has been selected by Germany's YACHT Magazin as one of the finalists in the category- Performance Cruising. The European Yacht of the Year Award will be presented in January 2011 in Germany. For more EYOTY Award information at Yacht Magazin.
J/Regatta News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
The J/80 Worlds concluded this week in Newport in what could only be described as "epic" conditions. Spectacular winds, fabulous weather. Nearly as nice was the start of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series on the Solent, also enjoying "shirts and shades" weather, with J/109s, J/92s and J/80s enjoying good one-design competition. Further Down Under, the gang in Australia have started their summer series with a bang, with the J/92 and the J/122 winning their classes. 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. Don't forget to visit the J/Cruising Community section below.Regatta & Show Schedules:
Oct 16-17- J/Fest Southwest- Houston, TX- http://www.lakewoodyachtclub.comOct 20-24- Vela Panamericana- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico-http://www.velapanamericana.com/
Jan 10-14- J/24 Australian Nationals- Sydney, OZ- http://j24australia.com.au/
Jan 17-21- J/80 Midwinters- Key West, FL- http://www.j80.org
Jan 17-21- J/105 Midwinters- Key West, FL- http://www.j105.org
Jan 17-21- J/95 Midwinters- Key West, FL- http://www.jboats.com/j95
Jan 17-21- Key West Race Week- Key West, FL- http://www. premiere-racing.com
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Pichu Torcida Wins 2nd J/80 WorldsEpic, Wild, Wet, Sunny Finale
(Newport, RI- October 5-9)- Sixty-two teams from nine countries sailed last week in the J/80 Worlds off Newport. With six past World Champions sailing, it was tightly fought competition amongst excellent sailors. It will be remembered as one of the best sailing regattas ever.
The sailing itself was extraordinary. When the regatta started on Sunday/ Monday, teams were practicing in 15-30 knot winds. More of the same was predicted for the next day. Tuesday's northeaster blowing 15-25 knots offshore with ginormous waves from the east made for some incredibly long planes/ surfs on what seemed like a long roller-coaster ride. Wednesday's WNW breeze offshore was incredibly tactical and shifty. That was followed up by yet another even shiftier and tactical day on Thursday inside Narragansett Bay. For the grand finale on Friday, the fleet was treated to epic conditions- sun, 15-30 knot shifty winds from the WSW, ginormous steep waves, with the 80s wildly planing downwind.
The first two-time winner of the J/80 Worlds was Jose Maria "Pichu" Torcida sailing ECC VIVIENDAS from Santander, Spain. However, going into to the last day of racing, it was truly anybody's guess as to who would end up crowned as the 2010 J/80 World Champion. The top five all had a good chance of winning. At one point, PERALEJA GOLF's Carlos Martinez had it in the bag and was ready to celebrate. After race ten, Scott Young's and Terry Flynn's team on QUANTUM RACING were ready to break out the champagne, as Pichu Torcida's crew on ECC VIVIENDAS had experienced a massive gybe broach (keel-waving anyone?) and finished 18th. After race eleven, it was anyone's guess how the standings finished as there were enough black flags, DSQs and Z flag penalties that it was next to impossible to compute 3-5 point differences in the standings for the top 25 finishers, forgetting the fact that the top five were racing for the title separated by several points going into the first race of the day.
Setting the stage for the last race was the fact that it was still anyone's ball-game to go win. The top three were now the top five-- any finish up or down the top ten in the last race would determine who would win between Scott's QUANTUM RACING, Pichu's ECC VIVIENDAS, Carlos' PERALEJA GOLF, Jeff Johnstone's LITTLE FEAT (who BTW had the best scores for the last two days, each day!) and Glenn Darden's LE TIGRE. By now, it was clear that PRO Tom Duggan and Brad Read had the SailNewport RC team troops marshaled together to get yet one more unbelievably epic race off in the spectacular conditions the fleet had enjoyed in race ten. The fleet started in a "baby gale"- blowing a steady 20-30 knots, shifting 10-15 degrees, with large breaking waves. Carlos Martinez won the last race in convincing fashion- planing across the finish line going at least 17 knots and enshrouded in huge sheets of salt spray. Second was Javier Blanco sailing CROCS in his best race of the series. Third was Jeff Johnstone on LITTLE FEAT, despite sailing 80% of the last run wing-on-wing with main and jib after shrimping and shredding their spinnaker on the set at the last windward mark. Fourth was Glenn Darden on LE TIGRE and fifth Pichu Torcida on ECC VIVIENDAS with the six point spread they needed to beat Scott and Terry's QUANTUM RACING for the World title.
After the dust and salt-spray settled, Pichu's ECC VIVIENDAS team from Real Club Nautico Santander (Spain) are crowned the 2010 J/80 World Champions, winning by two points over Scott Young/ Terry Flynn's team from Austin Yacht Club on QUANTUM RACING that had 50 points. Third was Carlos Martinez's team from Santiago, Spain on PERALEJA GOLF, only four points back with 54 points. Fourth was Jeff Johnstone's team on LITTLE FEAT from Ida Lewis YC with 58 points, just one point ahead of Glenn Darden's LE TIGRE team from Fort Worth Boat Club with 59 points. It was truly a horse-race at the end to determine the final standings for the top five, and not one anyone will forget for a long time.Congratulations to Jeff Johnstone, Kendra Muenter from J/Boats and Brad Read and Tom Duggan from SailNewport as the principal regatta/ race organizers for conducting what had to be one of the best regattas ever in most sailor's recent memories. Sailing Photo Credits- Allen and Daniela Clark- Photoboat.com Follow all the action, photos and results for the J/80 Worlds.
J/92 Wins Australian Equinox/ Solstice Series
(Sydney, Australia)- The Australian sailing season is off to a gang-busters start for J's sailing Down Under. The Sydney-based J/92 SELKIE skippered and owned by Chris Antico, Tony Booth and Evan Lewis begins the Australian spring racing calendar on a high after a successful winter series. Racing out of Royal Australian Naval Sailing Association based on Sydney Harbour, the J/92 SELKIE won both the Equinox & Solstice series cementing the overall point score win.
The racing was held over varied wind conditions from 3 to 30 knots and comprised of 16 to 18 competitive boats in each fleet. Chris commented, "We had the rig refined and some new sails from Ian Short who is becoming somewhat of a local guru on J boat rigs and never looked back. We are on form and looking forward to the new season including Royal Prince Edward summer series, Monday twilights and some of the offshore SOPS series." For more Australian sailing info.
J/122 JACKPOT Wins Down Under(Sydney, Australia)- The opening race of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Grant Thornton Short Ocean Pointscore Series held on 2nd October provided a challenge for the 18 boats who took to the water.
A spectacular rain and wind squall gave the fleet a wake-up call with boats reporting wind speeds of 25-26 knots from the 6 knot east nor’easterly breeze that marked the start.
Ray Entwistle’s J/122 JACKPOT, last year’s Grant Thornton Short Ocean IRC Pointscore winner, started the season where he left off – taking the IRC Division 1 win with David Forbes’ Kaiko 52 Merlin taking line honours. Tim Cox’s DK43 Minerva finished second in IRC Division 1 with Merlin third.
"I'm over the moon with today's win," said Ray Entwistle, owner of JACKPOT. "After a fickle start, we relished the challenging course and despite getting wet through had a great day out for the first race of the season. The wind varied from 5 knots to 26 knots, with a massive rain squall which came through mid race, reducing visibility to 50m, with 30degree wind shifts. On the final downwind leg heading back into Sydney Harbour, we were surfing at 14-15 knots, with the 155sq.m kite." For more Australian sailing info
Sunny Start To Hamble Winter SeriesJ/109s Have Strong Turnout
(Hamble, England)- What a great start to the Garmin Hamble Winter Series – clear blue skies, warm sunshine and a north-easterly wind ranging between 11 and 22 knots! These were perfect conditions for the J/109 Class as they called for choices to be made regarding the appropriate headsail and kept navigators on their toes. As always, no two races are ever the same in the Solent with the tide flooding for the first and ebbing for the second race, with the courses cascading across the Hill Head plateau.
Eleven J/109s made it to the start near Royal London where they waited patiently for others to start, with many caught out by the flooding tide resulting in a general recall. The first race comprised two windward beats across to the mainland shore with corresponding downwind return legs and a short beat to finish.
The J/109 is the largest one-design yacht racing fleet in the UK and the camaraderie in the class is second to none. This was demonstrated by the kindness of Matt Boyle, owner of SHIVA, who came to the rescue of David & Kirsty Apthorp and the J-DREAM team, as he leant them his J/209 SHIVA for this first weekend as J-DREAM was not back in the water. J-DREAM (David & Kirsty Apthorp) had a clear start and by the windward mark she had established a lead which saw them untroubled for the rest of the two laps. Meanwhile ARIA (Luca Rubinelli) and AUDAJIOUS (David Jobson) had benefitted from the mainland lift and JAMBHALA (Richard Sainsbury & Gill Ross) and OUTRAJEOUS (Richard & Valerie Griffith) were in hot pursuit. The downwind leg saw little changing of places but the final beat gave JAMBHALA an opportunity to pass AUDAJIOUS to claim 3rd by 8 seconds. Meanwhile ME JULIE (Dom Monkhouse) and OFFBEAT (David McLeman) were battling for 8th and 9th with ME JULIE pipping OFFBEAT on the line by 1 second.
The second race again saw a clean start for all. ARIA led at the windward mark closely followed by OUTRAJEOUS and J-DREAM. The second beat saw J-DREAM take the lead a position they held from ARIA until the last mark rounding which was to be a starboard rounding. With a lead of 1 minute 40 seconds J-DREAM rounded to port only realising her mistake when she passed ARIA during the beat to the finish and had to turn round to unwind herself and round correctly. Meanwhile OFFBEAT (David McLeman) had passed OUTRAJEOUS on the run and these boats together with J2EAU (Steve & Jody Maine) rounded the mark before J-DREAM completed her manoeuvre. The short beat to the finish saw J-DREAM recover some of the lost distance to finish 3rd from J2EAU by 7 seconds whilst ARIA had held off OFFBEAT to take the win. Only 35 seconds separated the first four boats.
The boat of the day was ARIA who was grateful to receive the bottle donated by Garmin. Prize-giving, good grub and cheap beer back at Hamble River Sailing Club rounded of a perfect day’s racing. Second was J-DREAM with a 1-3. And, third was AUDAJIOUS with a 4-6.
Next weekend the J/109 Class will be holding their Autumn Championships as part of the Premier Marinas Autumn Championships run by Hamble River Sailing Club. The Class together with other competitors will also be attending the party on Saturday evening sponsored by Key Yachting and in aid of Toe in the Water.
In IRC 3 Class, Mike and Jamie Holmes J/97 JIKA-JIKA is currently in a three-way tie for first with a 1-4. Ed Holton's J/110 SHADES OF BLUE is also tied with a 3-2. Just one point off the pace is Mike Flood's J/97 INDULJENCE with a 2-5.
Amongst the nine J/80s entered with it's John Cooper on OI! dominating the start to the Winter Series with a 1-1-1! Terry Palmer on JUST DO IT is second with a 4-2-2. One point behind him is Patrick Liardet on AQUA-J with a 2-4-3.
For the J/Class, the fleet remained tight throughout the first race and with very little difference in handicaps the results mirrored the finishing sequence with JAMMIN first, BLACKJACK second and WIZARD third. The increased wind for race 2 meant that JAMMIN had to change down to a #3 losing the advantage that she gained in race 1 with the #1 headsail. JUNGLE FEVER rounded the first mark just ahead of JAMMIN with BLACKJACK close behind. Positions didn’t change until the last leg when JAMMIN'S short crew numbers couldn’t hold the kite anymore and changing down to whites allowed BLACKJACK through into second place just before the finish line.
Everyone hopes that next week will see more boats joining the fleet the make the racing even closer. For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series results and sailing information.
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Scott Young J/80 Worlds Interview- For those of you who sailed the J/80 Worlds, Scott Young provides some interesting insights regards the fun, excitement and challenges of racing a World Championship against a stellar fleet. For those who wished they were there, Scot Spurlin's interview from Austin, TX provides entertaining and educational perspectives on what it's like to sail a J/80 in the extraordinary conditions the fleet experienced over the week long event. As an interesting aside, many people asked "who" Scott was as many J/80 sailors had never heard of him before. In short, he was a two-time College All-American at the University of Texas- Austin, is a US Mallory Cup Champion (emblematic of the US Men's National Championship in keelboats) and is also a Laser Masters Champion. Enough said. Watch Scott Young Video Interview here.
The J Cruising Community
J Cruisers 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's 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). Bill and Susan Grun 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 Boats
J/95 #1 Available in Florida!
J/95s are on a roll in the southeast with five boats sailing in the area by this fall (at least four planning to participate in the January Key West Race Week). Sarasota Yacht and Ship is the brokerage side of the J/Southeast dealer CrossCurrent Marine, and they are thrilled to have landed the first brokerage listing for this wonderful shoal draft performance daysailer. Boat is fully optioned with carbon sails, mast, V boom and sports an extension electronics suite. Please contact Craig Crossley at 401-330-6135 craig@crosscurrentmarine for more information.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.
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J/Boats, Inc. | 557 Thames Street | Newport, RI 02840 | 401.846.8410 | editor@jboats.com
