J/111 Speedster At Annapolis Boatshow(Annapolis, MD)- If you haven't made it down to the Annapolis Show, now is the time to enjoy some beautiful fall weather outdoors on Columbus Day weekend and head on down to the Annapolis waterfront to see the new J/111. Take a peak at what is generating all the buzz at the Newport Show the previous week.
The order book has surpassed forty boats and is rapidly approaching fifty new boats looking forward to some fun, fast sailing next summer. The two one-design fleets already formed in Chicago and Halifax, Nova Scotia continue to grow! To arrange a demo and get more information on this exciting boat, please contact your local J Dealer or J/Boats at ph. 401-846-8410 or at info@jboats.com.
STC Intercollegiate Big Boat RegattaA J/Fest for College Sailors
(Larchmont, NY- Oct 9-10)- As the sailing season stretches into fall in the northeastern US there is a wonderful event on the J sailing calendar that supports the growth of sailing at a grass roots level- the Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta, hosted by Storm Trysail Foundation and Larchmont Yacht Club. There are numerous J owners and J classes, like the J/105s, J/109s, J/122s, J/44s that are proud to be associated with this event and have been regular participants for the last six years. This is the largest big boat collegiate regatta in the country with something approaching 40 teams from all over the US, last year's event saw J owners comprise nearly 80% of the boats participating! It is considered one of college sailings "coolest" events!
Storm Trysail Foundation's 2010 Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta will be sailed October 9-10, 2010 at Larchmont Yacht Club on western Long Island Sound. Last year's regatta featured teams from 31 schools. The following schools competed in 2009: American University, Army, Bates University, Bowdoin, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, University of Connecticut, Cornell, Dartmouth, Drexel, Fordham, Georgetown, Hamilton, Johnson and Wales, Maine Maritime, Mass. Maritime, U MASS - Boston, Miami of Ohio, Michigan, Middlebury, U.S. Naval Academy, New York Maritime, Rochester Polytechnic Institute, Univ. of Rhode Island, Roger Williams, St. Marys, Trinity, Tufts, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Webb Institute, Western Michigan, Williams. For more STC College Big Boat Regatta sailing information.
J/Regatta News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
The past week has seen some extraordinary sailing conditions in a number of famous sailing locations around our little green and blue planet. Starting with our dear friends in Australia, they held both a J/24 "Legends" event and their J/24 New South Wales Championship. The action is hotting up down there as they fly through spring and into their extended summer. Further north of the equator, the action was a hot as ever in the J/80 Worlds taking place in Newport, RI. Just down the street, so to speak, at New York state Exit 19 on I-95, the American YC was hosting the finale to their Fall Series as well as the J/122 East Coast Championship. Just a bit west in New York in their gorgeous mountains, the J/24s had their Changing of the Colors Regatta on Lake George- one of the world's more gorgeous lakes. 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.com
Oct 20-24- Vela Panamericana- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico-http://www.velapanamericana.com/
Jan 10-14- J/24 Australian Nationals- Sydney, OZ- http://j24australia.com.au/J
an 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.
Great Sailing In American YC Fall SeriesHUSTLER, MAXINE, KINCSEM, SIREN SONG Win Their Classes
(Rye, NY)- The American YC Fall Series concluded with some amazing weather conditions both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. Sunday's racing in particular had some incredibly strong breezes out of the northeast, with "condo-jumping" waves blowing at least 15-25 knots.
For the one-design classes, the two weekend event was especially challenging as tight fleet racing often brought about large changes in positions at each mark rounding. Nevertheless, in the twenty boat J/105 class, Joerg Esdorn's KINCSEM won with Damian Emery's ECLIPSE in second. Lying third was a good performance by Paul Strauch's ANDIAMO. The eight boat strong J/44s had great competition, all boats sailing with class sails. After eleven races, the cream was surely going to rise to the top in this class as no one boat can dominate with the boats being so even. Even then, Bill Ketcham's MAXINE notched four 1sts in their scores to grab first place by just one point! Giving Bill a serious run for the money was Jeff Willis' CHALLENGE IV with a hotshot crew aboard, some of them from Newport! Jim Bishop's renowned veteran campaigner, GOLD DIGGER, finally did manage to dig themselves out of a hole from the first weekend's racing to grab 3rd overall. Gotta hand it to Jim, his vision for one-design class sailing in big boats continues to be a formula for long-term success-- still the largest one-design class to sail to Bermuda for over 15 years!
Over in the IRC/ PHRF handicap world, Rick Lyall's very successful J/109 STORM finished third in IRC 35 Class. In the IRC 45 Class, Tom Carroll's J/133 SIREN SONG won over Ron Richman's J/133 ANTIDOTE. Finally, the extraordinary HUSTLER, John and Tony Esposito's masthead J/29, absolutely crushed their PHRF division, rattling off eight 1sts and just two 2nds in a total of ten races-- call it vaporization (or atomization?) of their competition. For more American YC Fall Series Regatta sailing information.
The DRAGON Wins J/122 East Coasts(Rye, NY)- In addition to the AYC Fall Series, American YC also hosted the J/122 East Coast Championship this past weekend in Western Long Island Sound. Strong winds following the passage of a large tropical depression Friday made for excellent sailing conditions for this competitive group.
After the four races held over the two days, it was Andrew Weiss's family team racing CHRISTOPHER DRAGON that sailed a very good series to win the J/122 East Coast Championships with a consistent score of 1-1-1-4 for seven points. Nipping at their heels all weekend was Mike Bruno's WINGS sailing to a 2-2-4-1 score for nine points. Sailing perhaps one their better regattas in awhile was Steve Furnary's PATRIOT, racing to a 4-3-3-2 record for twelve points. It seems that Steve did, in fact, benefit from Sandy Weill's wonderful ability to "direct traffic" on board to keep them in the hunt! Previous weekend's winner, Dave and Mary-Ellen Tortorello's PARTNERSHIP sailed to a respectable 3-5-5-3 score for sixteen points, just behind Dave Murhpy's PUGWASH with a 3-4-2-5 tally for fourteen points. For more J/122 East Coasts sailing information.
J/80 Worlds Having a Gear-buster(Newport, RI)- Sixty-two teams are competing in Rhode Island Sound and on Narragansett Bay this week. So far it has lived up to its promises to be one of the most competitive J/80 Worlds to date. The six past World Champions are having a go at one another over the first three days of racing, but none of them are leading!
The sailing has simply been extraordinary. 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.
At the moment, the current J/80 European Champion, Carlos Martinez, is winning on PERALEJA GOLF by only one point over the American team of Scott Young and Terry Flynn on QUANTUM RACING. They are ahead on a tie-breaker over Jose Maria "Pichu" Torcida sailing ECC VIVIENDAS, the 2007 Worlds winner in La Trinite, France. Fourth is Glenn Darden sailing LE TIGRE and fifth is Jeff Johnstone on LITTLE FEAT.The last day of racing promises to be a cliff-hanger for these top five teams as they all mathematically have a chance of winning, especially if at least two races are sailed offshore in Rhode Island Sound. Another gorgeous day is forecast with strong WNW winds with spectacularly clear skies. Follow all the action, photos and results for the J/80 Worlds.
J/24 NSW State Championships
The Inmates Were Running the Asylum
(NSW, Australia)- Saturday was a great day on the water for Day 1 of the NSW State Championship 2010 – a fleet of 27, with 5 boats from VIC and 2 from SA, a variable day with some rain – a generally light day from 3 – 12 knots – 4 races in testing conditions.Day 2 saw variable conditions again, with breezes from around 5 -18 knots, a lot of rain and 4 close races! At times Jibs replaced Genoas and kite runs were close and top mark roundings busy.
Starting off strongly with two firsts and a second was Sean Wallis' team on the LUNATIC ASYLUM. After a few bumps in the road, they managed to hang on to win the 2010 NSW States over Dave Suda's team on PACEMAKER. Third was John Crawford sailing INNAMINCKA, fourth was Brett Lewis on WILDCARD and fifth Hugo Ottoway on VICE VERSA. The appropriately named CONVICTS REVENGE sailed by Steve Girdis' crew finished sixth. Rounding out the top ten were Sean Kirkjian on DEATH STAR 7th, Chris and Rachel Lee on VORTEX 8th, Neville Witty on SAILPAC 9th and Peter Stephens on CODE VIOLATION 10th.For more J/24 NSW State Champs sailing information.
J/24 Australia Legends Regatta
(NSW, Australia)- After a wonderful Legends Dinner, very well hosted by Rob Mundle, there were some lucky bidders that got some great deals on new sails and a tiller, thanks to our fantastic sponsors. Also, there were many wonderful raffle prizes that were won. Perhaps better yet, the "Legends" were faced with some breeze and even some blue skies on Monday with twenty-one Legends having a go at it for world domination!
The first race was for the Andrew Short Memorial Trophy. After a general recall the fleet saw some fairly consistent breezes and a fantastic victory by Victorian boat, MAKE MY J, skippered by our Association President, Simon Grain – well done to him and his crew for winning the Andrew Short Memorial Trophy. Second was Neville Wittey's crew on SAILPAC and third was Sean Kirkjian on DEATHSTAR.The second race was for the Ian Bashford Memorial Trophy (long-time J/24 builder in Australia). The race started with 2 more general recalls as the Legends were keen to cross the line first, but a black flag on attempt 3 saw a more conservative start with the race led almost all the way by Neville Wittey on SAILPAC, resulting in their crew taking out the Ian Bashford Memorial Trophy. Just behind in second was Dave Suda on PACEMAKER and third was Sean Wallis on LUNATIC ASYLUM.Many thanks to all those who travelled to Gosford this weekend making for a wonderfully competitive fleets, and to all the Legends who returned to the class for a fantastic day on the water! For more J/24 Legends sailing information.
J/24 Lake George Changing Of Colors Regatta(Lake George, NY)- Who can possibly resist the notion of sailing on what has to be one of the world's more gorgeous fresh water lakes during the changing of the colors in the fall. Situated in an almost impossibly beautiful setting, Lake George has drawn summer crowds from around the northeast for generations. Perhaps the best kept secret is the "Changing of the Colors" Regatta held every fall that attracts dozens of J/24s from all points of the compass to enjoy great camaraderie, spectacular sailing in the strong fall breezes and scenery to die for.
Sixty J/24s showed up for this year's event and apparently no one was disappointed with the conditions. After five races, the winner was Flip Wehrheim sailing BOMBA FLIPPER, sailing to a 1-1-3-4-1 score. Mark Ingham sailed BRAIN CRAMP to a 3-2-2-2-6 record to secure second overall. Long time J/24 sailor from the early 80s, Kirk Reynolds, sailed OLD CROW to an 11-5-1-1-4 record, showing that he's still got it to show the young bucks how to get around the race track! For more COC sailing photos from Steve Armstrong. For COC Regatta sailing results.J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Laser Master! Scott Ferguson won it last year and we thought, ok, that’s a pretty good effort from someone who spends most of his life over a computer designing rigs for the world’s fastest boats. Then he won again this year, at a windy and enormous regatta in the chilly tides of the English Channel to defend his title as Laser Masters World Champion. For years Scott had raced J/24s in the famous Newport J/24 fleet and included his family as part of the crew, notably Kim Brown-Ferguson and their two lovely daughters.
* The "Moose is Loose" again! This time Moose McClintock was tactician aboard the winning Etchells in their recent US Nationals. These were hosted by New York YC at Harbour Court in Newport, R.I. Oct 2-3 in conjunction with SailNewport. Thirty three boats made it to the start line, which after six races saw Hank Lammens, Dirk Kneulman, and Moose McClintock win the event with a four point margin over the second place team of Jeffrey Siegal, Jeff Mardrigali, Willem Van Waay, and Cece Imbrie. All races were held inside Narragansett Bay north of the Newport Bridge above Gould Island.
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.com 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.
