"Sleek, Slippery, Sexy Style"(London, England)- That's a delicious description of a boat, isn't it? According to Toby Hodges at Yachting World during his recent video boat test review of the J/111, Toby described the 111 as "sleek, slippery, sexy style" unequalled in any boat her size range. He and Paul Heys further described it as "the turbo-charged 2011 version of the J/105- the first keelboat to start the modern trend in 1991 to sport an easy-to-use fractional rig, sprit pole and spinnakers with the ability to plane". Toby's video boat test is on Yachting World's boat test site. He also did a great interview of J/UK Dealer Paul Heys, commenting on the development of the 111, its meaning to the UK and European markets and its potential for strong one-design fleet development. Enthusiasm continues to build with over 60+ boats sold and one-design fleets forming on the Solent and in France. J/111 YW boat test- Toby Hodges J/111 Interview- Paul Heys Sailing photo credit- Tim Wilkes.
Sail Into '11 With J/CalendarGet Organized All Year!
(Newport, RI)- Enjoy spectacular images and gorgeous scenery of J's sailing around the world all year long. Get organized now and get your 2011 J/Sailing Calendar ! The 2011 J/Calendar features photos of flying J's slicing and dicing waves or just cruising past spectacular scenery. The large format and expansive calendar gives you lots of room to scribble, notate and make plans for the upcoming year! Time to get it all organized and rolling now! We ship everywhere-- Europe, UK/ Ireland, Australia/ NZ, USA/ Mexico, Canada. For more 2011 J/Sailing Calendar information.
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
As the first month of 2011 comes to an end, it's amazing to think that virtually simultaneously, two very large and significant sailing events took place at the same time at the opposite ends of the planet. Indeed, the sun never did set on J sailors worldwide 24x7 this past week! Key West Race Week is a reunion of sailors who love to sail in the near postcard perfect sailing conditions it can offer and they make a Woodstock-like migration down to the end of Florida's Keys every third week of January. Similarly, halfway around our little green and blue planet, the boys and girls Down Under beat a similar Woodstock-like path to Geelong in Victoria for the Audi Victoria Week. Not sure who has more fun or who has the better venue. However, since it's Australia Day at the end of "Vic Week" it's clear our Ozzie J/24 friends have an epic sailing celebration on the Melbourne waterfront the likes of which we've never seen in America. That's a fact. Just prior to Vic Week, the J/24s sailed their J/24 Australian Championship.. Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below have more interesting, and heart-warming, stories this week. Check them out! 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:
Jan 22-30- J/22 BOOT Show- Dusseldorf, Germany- Hall 17-A58- http://www.boot.deJan 27-30- San Diego Sailboat Show- http://www.bigbayboatshow.com/
Feb 3-6- Halifax Sailboat Show- Halifax, Nova Scotia- http://www.halifaxboatshow.com/
Feb 9-11- J/24 Pan-Am Games Trials- Tampa, FL- http://www.diyc.org/
Feb 12-16- J/24 Midwinters- Davis Is YC, Tampa, FL- http://midwinters.j24d10.org/
Feb 17-21- Miami Boatshow- Miami, FL- http://www.miamiboatshow.com/
Feb 18-20- SW NOOD- St Petersburg, FL- StPYC- http://www.sailingworld.com
Feb 24-26- J/22 Midwinters- Davis Is YC, Tampa, FL- http://www.diyc.org
Mar 9-11- J/30 Mardi Gras Midwinters- New Orleans, LA- http://j30.us/blog
Mar 10-12- Bacardi Miami Sailing Week- Miami, FL- http://www.miamisailingweek.com/
Mar 13-Apr 17- Warsash Spring Series- Hamble, UK- http://www.warsashspringseries.org.uk/
Mar 18-20- SW NOOD- San Diego, CA- http://www.sailingworld.com
May 10-14- J/24 Nationals- Dallas, TX- http://j24texas.com/
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J Sailors Love Sailing Key WestJ/111 KONTIKI V Wins Class
(Key West, FL)- A large contingent of J sailors certainly had a wonderful time sailing in this year's Key West Race Week. With great turnouts in the two strong J one-design classes, the J/80s and the J/105s, everyone was sure to have a wonderful time in nearly perfect Key West conditions. The six J/24s that showed up in PHRF 3 were wondering where the rest of their buddies were from points north, east and west were hiding! Next time, come on down all!
The sailing was simply wonderful, hard to believe it's possible for the Caribbean trade winds and weather patterns to serve up five straight days of nearly postcard, chamber of commerce conditions when the rest of the world is getting blasted by massive snow storms and extreme cold. Competitors may have wished for some days of more epic winds, bashing and crashing into ginormous waves, but one can hardly argue with benign 5-18 knot breezes from the ESE to SSW quadrants with plenty of sun! We even had FOG one morning down in the Keys-- how weird is that?
For the J/105s sailing their J/105 Midwinter Championship, it was obvious Brian Keane's team on SAVASANA were not only dialed up for speed for the week but were dialed into the wind as well. Sailing to double bullets (for total of six!) on Friday simply sealed the deal for Brian's team to win by 15 points with a 1-6-8-1-1-2-4-1-1-1 tally over second place finisher Damian Emery's ECLIPSE with a 4-8-1-4-5-1-7-3-5-3 record; it was perhaps one of the largest margins of victory ever in a Key West J/105 class win. Third was WASABI sailed by Adam Rosen and Jeff Marks with 55 points with a 3-3-9-3-3-9-10-6-7-2; they started strongly but the "wheels fell off the shopping trolley", as they say, to fall back from an early series lead. Fourth was four time Key West J/105 class winner Tom Coates on MASQUERADE just one point back with a 2-1-2-10-13-13-2-5-3-5 for 56 points; another early regatta leader that crashed mid-week. Fifth was Gerrit Schulze sailing very well on MAX POWER with 58 points, their 10-4-7-2-4-7-1-8-11-4 was inconsistent but showed flashes of brilliance!! Overall, it was a close finish and great regatta for the top five boats overall.
For you sailing and racing fans, you can track and review each race to see who and made what decisions going around the race course by looking at KATTACK Tracking System, you can rehash it all on their archives at http://www.kattack.com.For example, in Race 10, why would WASABI ever give up the right in the last 400 yards into the first windward mark and lose their first place!! Watch it here-- awesome lesson in what happens on the race course, no "sea stories" and "hand waving tactics" here!
For the J/80s sailing their J/80 Midwinter Championship, it was another strong fleet with some excellent competitors, it took that magic combination of keeping your starts clean, getting an early clear lane, avoiding the corners on the first beat and playing the packs to your advantage. There was no question that Glenn Darden and his team sailing LE TIGRE from Fort Worth Boat Club in Texas were in a class by themselves, winning 2 of the last three races (5 total 1sts!) and taking home the big glass crown without a challenge from any of the other teams, winning the J/80 class by 11 points with a 1-1-2-1-2-2-1-1-12/zfp for 23 points. Second was Jeff Brown's team from San Diego's J/WORLD SAN DIEGO TEAM, showing their tail-feathers to the rest of the J/80 fleet, getting two seconds in the last two races and posting a score of 6-3-5-6-3-3-3-2-2 for 33 points, nearly as consistent on the leader board as Darden's team. Sailing one of their best regattas in awhile was Mike Sudofsky on BOB DYLAN third with a 7-8-3-5-5-1-7-5-1 for 42 points, fourth was Chris Bulger on GOOSE from Buzzards Bay sailing to a 2-2-10-4-6-7-9-3-6/zfp for 49 points and fifth was Nigel Brownett and Ron Buzil on VAYU 2 posting a 5-6-1-8-1-5-4-6-14/zfp for 50 points.
For Division 1 course, IRC 2 Class saw an enormous fight for who would get the podium honors for third place. At the end, it was Jim Bishop's WHITE GOLD finishing fifth after getting an uncharacteristic score of 5-8 on the last day, sailing to a 3-2-2-2-8-6-3-6-5-8 for 45 points, just 3 disappointing points from third overall! Peter Cunningham from Cayman Islands Sailing Club seemed to finish on a happy, strong note, getting a 2-4 on the last day to finish 6th sailing the chartered J/122 GAMBLER/ POWERPLAY to a 2-5-7-4-6-5-8-4-2-4 for 47 points, just 5 devilish points from third (other than the overall winner, the J/122 had the best record over the last 3 races amongst their whole fleet).
The PHRF A Class was an extremely competitive regatta throughout the entire week, easily the closest "delta" for any of the fleets sailing off Key West, with many races for win/place/show determined by mere seconds amongst the top five. Tied going into the second to last race were the new J/111 KONTIKI V sailed by Jim Sminchak's SAIL Best Around Buoys winners from Cleveland and Bill Sweetser's famous J/109 RUSH. The last race was certainly a cliff-hanger, made even more so when KONTIKI V snagged a crab pot and stopped (!!), then crossed tacks with RUSH within 100 yards of the weather mark and in a cross-tacking 
situation, took advantage of it to jump into the regatta lead. KONTIKI V stretched into a comfortable lead to get a 2nd to RUSH's 5th. Jim's team sailed a smart, conservative regatta to get a very consistent 2-2-3-2-1-2-5-3-2 record for 22 points. Not to be outdone at all, the champion RUSH team sailed a very strong regatta to get 2nd overall with a 1-1-2-4-4-3-4-1-5 score for 25 points. Fourth was Doug Curtiss's beautiful J/124 WICKED sailed by Rodney and Alan Johnstone on the team to a 4-4-5-3-2-4-2-4-4 tally for 32 points.
The J/24s still rule! 35+ years and going strong. It was pretty clear this fleet of six hard-care J/24 sailors were going to have a lot of fun. Yes, they had a small fleet this year sailing within PHRF 3, but who cares? It's Key West, you can't not have fun sailing in clear baby blue-green water, 72 degree temps and clear blue skies and 5-18 knot winds and enjoying the amazing night life! And, a fun time this group had, made even more so by a wonderful host and lover of sailing in general, a beautiful blond Swede gal called Evalena, more about her in a second. In the racing category, BLAH BLAH BLAH sailed by Mark Milnes won the J/24 "class" with a 3-3-3-3-3-2-3-3-4 record for 27 points. They were followed by Evalena Worthington on FREYA in second who sailed to a 6-4-4-4-5-4-5-4-5 score for 43 points. Rounding out the podium in third was Matt Mullan on FLYING WASP, getting a 4-5-6-6-4-6-4-5-3 tally for 54 points. OK, now for Evalena. She and her husband came across the Atlantic many blue moons ago on a schooner to Key West. But, they never left! Then, they decided to open a bar? You may all know it well-- the very popular Schooner Wharf Restaurant & Bar where the Farr 40 class normally parks themselves in front of every year! Next year, Evalena wants to extend a special invitation to ALL J/24s to show up and be guests of The Schooner Wharf- "A Last Little Piece of Old Key West"- and determine the J/24 "Knot & Shot Contest Winners" (who can resist that invitation?!). Learn more about Eva and Schooner Wharf here. Read more about her story below in the J/Community section. Sailing photo credit- Tim Wilkes.For more Key West Race Week sailing results. For more of the SAIL Magazine J/111 BAB Team and Adam Cort's coverage and blog. One of KONTIKI V's crew, Nick Turney from North Sails, wrote a blog of his experience at Sailing World.
Finally, "friend of J/Boats", Doug Moy from New York and Manhattan YC member, applied his videography and editing skills to a series of daily videos, you can see them at these YouTube links. Day 1. Day 2. Day 3. Day 4.
J/95s Shine At Key West(Key West, FL)- For the first time ever, a group of J/95s gathered together to go out and have some fun bashing and crashing "around the cans" in a regatta. The three J/95s decided to participate in PHRF 2 and had an entertaining series sailing against each other and the rest of their PHRF competitors. What was most interesting was to see the enthusiasm these sailors had for sailing their boats in windward-leeward races in a boat that was originally designed to be a shoal-draft performance sailing boat! The J/95s performance was quite remarkable considering the conditions at Key West are way, way less than ideal for a keel-centerboard boat. In fact, conventional wisdom says that a sailboat in this configuration is not supposed to go upwind in a steep, in-your-face 2-3 foot chop where the bow gets tossed around often times violently by cross-chop. All three PHRF boats that beat them were all deep, narrow keel boats (Cape Fear 38, C&C 37, Ben First 42), and next in line in the standings were the three J/95s! Pretty remarkable performance for a shoal-draft performance cruising boat!
Leading the charge amongst the J/95s was veteran Key West sailor Ed Palm from Naples/Detroit sailing his STILL CRAZY to a 4-3-5-4-4-5-5-6-2 record for 38 points; proving in the last race with a 2nd place that a well-sailed J/95 can even beat deep-keel boats given half a chance! Second in the J/95s was Terry Mckenna who brought his boat down from CANADA to sail FINN to a 7-8-4-3-5-4-4-3-3 record for 41 points; were it not for their slow start (due to teething problems), Terry and crew may have been top J/95 and their record amongst the fleet, again, proves it's possible to take a great keel-centerboard design and give the deep keelers on a windward-leeward course a run for the money! Third was Trudie Ficks from Naples, FL sailing her lovely boat SEVENTH HEAVEN to a 6-4-7-5-6-7-6-5-7 score for 53 points. It may be a toss-up as to who had the most fun sailing their J/95 at Key West, but our betting is on Trudie for having a ball, "thanking heaven" that she had the time and opportunity to sail Key West for the first time in her life and be "blessed" with a wonderful crew and warm weather! Sailing photo credit- Tim Wilkes. For more J/95 sailing information.
DEATHSTAR Wins J/24 Australian Nationals(Sydney, Australia)- A strong turnout of sixteen J/24s were hosted by Middle Harbour YC in a wide variety of sailing conditions for this year's J/24 Nationals Down Under. It was very competitive.
The first day was a challenging one for most of the fleet, especially interstate boats who aren’t used to the 2m swell and shifty light winds. Race 1 was convincingly won by Nev Wittey on SAILPAC who led from start to finish, closely followed by John Crawfords’ INNAMINKA, skippered by his nephew, Robert Crawford and third place went to DEATHSTAR skippered by Sean Kirkjian. Defending National champion, Sean Wallis came 4th on LUNATIC ASYLUM. Race 2 saw Neville Wittey win again, very closely followed by Sean Kirkjian with Sean Wallis only 9 seconds further back. The third race of the day was abandoned after a wind shift and was then re-run, this time seeing Sean Wallis take honours over Neville Wittey and Ace, sailed by David West coming third.
The second day started with similar wind conditions to Day 1 – flukey 15 knots easterlies, tending north for the third race of the day produced difficult helming conditions for skippers. Nev Wittey took out race 4 from Sean Kirkjian, with a convincing two and a half minute win. Robert Crawford sailing INNAMINKA came in a close third after DEATHSTAR.
Ron Thomson sailing KICKING BOTTOM had his best race of the series so far, with an impressive 4th, just 6th seconds behind INNAMINKA. Race 5 produced an exciting finish between Sean Kirkjian and David West with only 1 second separating first and second. Robert Crawford scored another third, only 10 seconds behind the winner. Peter Stevens on CODE VIOLATION had his best race so far, to finish fourth. Race 6 was a black flag start after a general recall, unfortunately seeing series leader Nev Wittey over the line, as well as MADDER N BADDER. The two Seans, Kirkjian and Wallis battled for first and second throughout the race. Simon Grain helming MAKE MY JAY finished third -their best race so far! Today’s black flag has caused major change in overall placings in the regatta with yesterdays series leader, Nev Wittey dropping back to third and Sean Kirkjian moving up the placings to first.
The third day started with similar conditions to the last 2 days and race 7 saw a fine downwind tussle between Sean Wallis on LUNATIC ASYLUM and Neville Wittey on SAILPAC on the last leg – with Sean Wallis just taking the honours by centimeters. Sean Kirkjian followed with third on DEATHSTAR. Race 8 saw a slight wind increase and some boats changing down to jibs for the first upwind leg. This time Sean Kirkjian finished first with a nice lead, after using his genoa for the whole race. SAILPAC came in 2nd again, followed by Sean Wallis in third. The top 3 boats all scored 4 points each today. It appears that the championship is between Sean Kirkjian and Neville Wittey but we will see what day 4 brings. INNAMINKA, steered by Robert Crawford, first time sailing on a J/24 took 2 fourth places today and are running 4th overall after a consistently good week.
The fourth and last day was breezier than the rest of the week, with all boats carrying jibs today! Race 9 saw Sean Kirkjian come out early and take the lead, with Sean Wallis in second and Nev Wittey in third. Race 10 saw the same result, leaving no doubt that Sean Kirkjian was the first person to win his fourth J/24 Nationals – DEATHSTAR was hard to beat this week and out of 10 races, had 5 wins.
Congratulations to all competitors for some great racing this week, and for the efforts of 5 interstate boats making the trek to Sydney. Thanks to MHYC for hosting a great regatta and for all those involved in making this event a huge success. Please also support Nicole at www.sailingimages.net – she did a great job catching all the action on camera this week. Full J/24 Australian Nationsl race results are available here. For more J/24 Australian Nationals sailing information.
J/120 Wins Boat of the Year(Charleston, SC)- John Keenan reports that after a long, hard fought campaign all year in 2010, their well-prepared, beautiful J/120 ILLYRIA managed to win a number of major races in the Charleston Ocean Racing Association and win the coveted Boat of the Year honors. The two major events they won overall were first, the Offshore Challenge Series and, secondly, the PHRF Championship Series. Congratulations to John and crew on a job well done! Keep up the great sailing for next year! You can see more results and information about Charleston Sailing here. Sailing photo credit- Priscilla Parker
J/24s at Audi Victoria WeekPACEMAKER Claims Top Prize
(Geelong, Vic, Australia)- David Suda and his PACEMAKER crew proved too good for all the Sandringham Yacht Club entries they faced in the J24 competition at Audi Victoria Week, winning the week of sailing with a score card that included five wins in the nine race series.
With the pressure well and truly off, Suda finished a great week of sailing on Corio Bay with a pair of second places today to win the series from Hugo Ottoway’s VICE VERSA by a handy six points.
"I thought on Sunday ‘we’re not going to win this’, but then we turned the corner and got three wins, so that helped us a lot," an incredibly happy David Suda said on realizing he’d won.
Suda told how he and Ottoway could not make it to the J/24 Nationals, so both were determined not to miss Audi Victoria Week. "I really wanted to win against him (Ottoway) in Geelong, so it’s pleasing for my crew to do that," he said. (Note- we can see why, here's his support team to the right!).Suda, who has been at Audi Victoria Week for the past eight years, said today, "we’ll definitely be back and we’ll be encouraging a few more J’s to come."
Simon Grain (MAKE MY JAY) finished third overall with a win in Race 8, four points behind Ottoway, while Kirsty Harris steered HYPERACTIVE to a win in the final race for fourth overall.
The competition was always going to be rife, but it was not unexpected to find David Suda (PACEMAKER) and Hugo Ottoway (VICE VERSA) at the top end of the fleet.Today’s conditions on flat-water Corio Bay emulated those of two days ago; light and shifty 7-9 knot breezes initially from the north, but moving more around to the east throughout the day in the Royal Geelong Yacht Club series.
Beating Suda’s five wins from seven races, with a worst score of third place coming into today’s races, was always going to be a big ask. Suda set a high bar with his well-named PACEMAKER, even for Ottoway, who has had to play bridesmaid all week, apart from taking out the opening race. Full sailing results for Audi Victoria Week Audi Vic Week video- see Geelong Highlights with interview of David Suda, J/24 class winner on PACEMAKER.
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* J/24 sailor Evalena Worthington- Key West co-owner of the famous Schooner Wharf- is hoping more J/24 sailors and friends show up next year! The Schooner Wharf has always been one of the most popular hangouts for sailors participating in the annual race week off Key West. Walk the dock in front of the Schooner Wharf around 4 p.m. any day this week and you will a rainbow of colors as the place is packed with crew members sporting their various team uniforms.That is the type of scene Evalena Worthington envisioned when she sailed into Key West aboard an 83-foot wooden schooner named Defiance. Worthington and future husband Paul met while delivering schooners and decided to settle in the Conch Republic and open a bar.
Worthington, a native of Sweden, is competing in Key West 2011 aboard the J/24 FREYA. She has sailed in the regatta many times before, but is skippering an entry for the first time in three years.
“I love race week and having all the sailors in town,” Worthington told the Key West Citizen. “I love to sail, love to race and it’s just fun to participate in an international event.”
Worthington and her four-member crew of Key West locals performed well this year in PHRF 3. Like so many other competitors at Key West 2011, Worthington’s team heads straight to the Schooner Wharf after a long day of racing to enjoy green bottled beer, blender drinks, Mount Gay rum and live acoustical music.
“It’s fun to be part of this event and have Schooner Wharf be part of the camaraderie that race week brings to Key West. I like having the sailors at the bar sharing the stories of the day.”
* David Waldo, manager of The Waterfront Center sent J/Boats a nice note regarding their efforts to build up their offshore sailing program and recent donation of J/105 ANDIAMO: "The WaterFront Center is excited to announce the addition of a new boat! Thank you to J/Boats, J/News and the J/105 Class website and many unmentioned individuals for your help in our search and purchase; without it an announcement adding a J/105 to our fleet would not have been possible. After many months of research, an even longer search, and some anxious moments, a J/105 - Andiamo (‘Let’s Go’ in Italian) owned by a local racer was generous to partially donate her to the WaterFront Center (WFC) at the end of 2010. Andiamo brings with her a whole new category of sailing to the WFC and a lot of excitement! The J/105 class was introduced to sailors around the world in 1992 as the first modern day keelboat with bow sprit and asymmetric spinnaker. Today, the J/105 is the most successful one-design keelboat class over 30' in the USA. It is a forgiving performance boat that is easy to sail, with a simple layout, great performance, a large cockpit, and predictable handling characteristics. This boat is fun and fast! With the addition of Andiamo the WFC is excited to have the opportunity to develop upon our current offerings to youths and adults. We are going to increase offerings for overnight cruises to neighboring harbors, learn-to-sail basics on larger keelboats, and other adventures of all types and sizes. As a completely fresh offering, giving the WFC greater exposure to the sailing community, Andiamo is available as a racing charter to sailors competing in regattas near and far. We are excited about the demand already shown for these programs and we now have a chance to fill that need with an exceptional boat! WFC’s 2011 sailing season is already off to a great start. Who wants to go sailing, now!?" You can reach David at ph# 516-922-7245 or learn more about their program at http://www.TheWaterFrontCenter.org
* Recently, J/Boats former builders Mark and Everett Pearson started into a new business fabricating high-tech, highly engineered pilings. Jeff Johnstone said, "Mark told me a funny story of making a pitch to a Texas company and the turning point in the bid process (which he won over two other companies) was not the price, quality, etc. - it was that the client was a former J/24 sailor who made the connection that Mark and Everett were the same family involved with J Boats." Here is the Pearson Family's newest success story:Many of you know that Everett Pearson was responsible for building the line of J-Boats since its beginning days. Everett, in fact, has often been referred to as the “father of production fiberglass boatbuilding.” Everett’s son, Mark, later joined him, and over a period of 27 years (through 2004), they built nearly 10,000 J-Boats!
But did you know that Everett and Mark continue to be leaders in the composites industry? Today, Pearson Pilings is the leading supplier of fiberglass composite pilings for the home building and marine construction industries. Pearson’s innovative pilings have been proven to be stronger than wood, steel or concrete pilings, and they won’t ever rot, rust or crumble. They are also eco-friendly because they contain no harmful preservatives that can leach into the earth or water.More and more owners of waterfront homes and commercial marinas are specifying Pearson’s composite pilings for new construction of their piers and docks or to replace their existing structures. With a product life cycle of at least 100-years, owners will never have to worry about replacing their pilings again.
In addition to the marine construction industry, structural engineers, architects and homebuilders have discovered the benefits of building above-grade structures on Pearson Pilings. Waterfront homes and beach houses can now be built on foundations with pilings designed to better withstand the forces of severe, high storm surges.
Pearson Pilings was formed in 2004 and is headquartered in a 35,000 square-foot factory in Fall River, Massachusetts. It sells and ships its pilings from coast-to-coast and to the Bahamas.
If you or your business has a need for these innovative products, or if you know of a construction project that could benefit from using them, the Pearsons would appreciate your inquiry or referral. For more information about the company and its pilings, visit www.pearsonpilings.com or call 508-675-0590
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. Some terribly amusing anecdotes and pearls of wisdom are contained in their blogs. Read some! You'll love it.* 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 after completion of their ARC Rally. 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). Check out there recent travels- now past Fiji!
Featured Boats
J/122 SKYE- Triple Mac Race Winner For SalePossibly the best equipped and fastest short-handed 40 foot racer-cruiser in the world! SKYE is the Chicago-Mackinac Race Winner in 2008 (fully crewed) and the 2009 and 2010 Double-handed winner overall! This IRC-friendly 40 footer offers a perfect, completely furnished interior with all the canvas protection covers for the bright-work while racing. As a fresh-water boat it has been immaculately maintained to "Bristol" condition. It features two flip-up pilot berths in the main cabin and gimbaled LPG stove/oven. The B&G 3000 system includes a Garmin 3210 chart plotter, three 20/20s on the mast, lots of readouts everywhere, plus a Hercules H3000 autopilot system with the H3000 gyro- an awesome short-handed sailing system! Sail inventory is all North Sails 3DL carbon, including 2 mains, 6 jibs, Code 0 and 2 spinnakers (Norlite runner and AirX reacher)- blue and white colors. Hull is white with double-blue boot-stripe and white racing bottom paint. For more info call Richie Stearns at Stearns Boating- ph- +1-847-404-2209 or email- rich@stearnsboating.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.
Read Kimball Livingston's SAIL update on the J/Boats story- A Band of Brothers.
* J/30 Class Co-President Dave Erwin produced a beautiful video summarizing the joy, fun and great sailing experiences he's had with family and friends aboard their J/30-- see it here. Nicely done! And, full-on testimonial to the fact that "class" is all about people and sharing those experiences together in a way in which everyone is having a ball, not the few. J/30s continue to attract more newcomers into their class, pretty awesome for "son of J/24 #2"!! We can only say, keep up the good work Dave and Bill Kneller- Co-Presidents of the J/30 Class. Check out some of the latest happenings in the J/30 class and their forums. 
* J/125, J/105 and J/100 owner Dr. Laura Schlessinger from Santa Barbara, CA shared some of here experiences with Newport Harbor YC this past week as a participant in the 2011 Cabo Race. Dr. Laura Schlessinger - who is based in Santa Barbara, CA - might be best known as a nationally syndicated American talk radio host. However, she has the sailing bug big time. While having been largely committed to buoy racing, she first ventured offshore nearly a year ago in a similar race to Cabo on her J-125 (Warrior), winning overall in both ORR and PHRF. Here she comments on the experience:
- SALACIA, the J/160 owned by Stephen and Cyndy Everett has an on-going blog describing some of their more amusing experiences (
Enjoying the best and the worst amongst the fleet was Tony Love's J/133 PATRIOT. They were 29th boat to finish of 89 starters, were 2nd IRC 3 Class by just 45 minutes. Their River Derwent dash was slow going with light headwinds in the early stages while boats behind and offshore were sailing in surfing conditions. PATRIOT was winning IRC Class 3 on corrected until just 10 miles before hitting Cape Pillar and the famous Cathedral Rock formation. Many a Sydney-Hobart Race has been won or lost on both line honors and handicap honors due to the capricious weather experienced sailing north up the River Derwent from Storm Bay...where winds often go 360 degrees every hour. It's a spectacular backdrop of high cliffs, 4,500 foot high mountains to the small, picturesque towns along the eastern and western shores.
As one competitor noted, "The real action didn't commence until 24 hours into the race. A trough following the front produced winds of 35 knots plus on the coast and up to 50 knots in Bass Strait. These were the "classic" Hobart conditions everyone was expecting. Wet, cold and yet brilliant sunshine, the kind of thing sailing photogs love. Airborne maxis, underwater IOR boats and cruiser racers with two reefs and a storm jib slugging away; still doing hull speed. Contrary to popular belief, this is also perfect cruiser/racer weather. As the big boats slow to conserve, the little boats get bullied by the large and erratic seaway, and we keep plugging away under reduced sail with very little stress on the boat and crew. In these conditions we can exceed our polars and over the next 12 hours we steal a march on our direct competition."
Rolex photographer Carlo Borlenghi flew over the fleet at lunchtime on Monday and reported seeing yachts with triple-reefed mains, some with storm headsails or racing bare-headed (no sails). He said that in a decade of covering the race he’d never seen seas like those before. The forecast gale-force conditions made good on Monday for the bulk of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race fleet with yachts experiencing 40-50 knots of gale to storm-force winds from the west-southwest -- together with massive seas. The strength of Monday afternoon's gale, though, was a sobering experience for every sailor. Adrienne Cahalan, the navigator aboard Wild Oats XI has described the afternoons gale as the worst crossing of Bass Strait she has experienced. She described the conditions as "violent and awful"-- a big call from a professional sailor who has competed in every major ocean race in the world. Seamanship was the name of the game.
By Tuesday, the fleet was experiencing much gentler conditions, with the winds swinging clockwise from the south-west to the west at 10 knots by about midday before the wind is due to turn north-easterly Tuesday afternoon, building to 20 knots during the day and up to 30 knots Tuesday night. They are ideal conditions to bring the remainder of the fleet down the Tasmanian coast. While the race to the corner of Tasman Island and the Hornpipes formation is the focus of all race navigators, "Tasman Island to the finish is in the hands of the gods," said one navigator.
PATRIOT consistently took a middle road relative to the fleet in the first part of the race. Beating up the Australian coast, not going too far offshore and not heading too far inshore. As they reached Cape Howe, the southeastern tip of Australia and headed over towards Tasmania on starboard tack, PATRIOT broke off earlier than most competitors, staying further east of rhumbline in anticipation of a wind shift backing from S/SW to W/NW-- it was initially a good move. By Tuesday, PATRIOT was sailing on starboard gybe downwind with the big asymmetric spinnaker and staysail up surfing downwind about 60 miles offshore of Taz, headed at 9-13 knots surfing downwind towards the famous "Hornpipes", the final turning point to the finish line in Hobart up the River Derwent. However by late Tuesday and early Wednesday, PATRIOT's fortunes were about to change. A park-up for 3+ hours prior to Tasman Island turned the tables fast as the breeze filled in from the nor’west for the remainder of the trip leaving them with a 10-20 knot beat to the finish. Then, a final park up a few miles from the line only added to their frustration. However, for their first Hobart on a J/133, a near miss on the class win and a podium finish is both gratifying and commendable. Here's
No matter how good or bad the sailing is across the infamous Bass Straits or down the eastern side of Tasmania, its the combination of the challenge at sea sailing down the coast, the spectacular scenery and perhaps the "calling" of ancestors (all 75,000 convicts) that called Port Arthur home is what brings everyone back year after year. As the fleet approaches Storm Bay from the East, they're first greeted by the guiding light emanating from Tasman Island Lighthouse-- it sits atop 220 meter high vertical sea-cliffs surrounded by spectacular, if not breath-taking rock formations each with a unique name- Cathedral Rock, Cape Pillar, The Blade and The Chasm-- all within Tasman National Park. Carved out of Jurassic dolerite by the great Southern Ocean and separated from the Tasman Peninsula by a 1200 mtr wide chasm the island's lighthouse adds the finishing touch to a stunning feature of the Tasmanian coastline. After the light, the boats then round "The Monkeys" off the SE tip of Tasman Island. Then, past "The Organ Pipes" on Cape Raoul, both spectacular rock formations. After passing these two capes, the fleet then sails north across Storm Bay towards the Iron Pot, a large rock pile that forms part of the course at the mouth of the Derwent River, just 11 miles from the finishing line in Hobart. Off in the distance forming the southerly ridge line west of the river is majestic Mt. Wellington, a 4,500 foot high mountain surrounded by forest. For the aesthetics who appreciate such geologic beauty, it's hard to beat. 
The first reported sighting of Tasmania by a European was on 24 November 1642, by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. Tasman landed at today's Blackman's Bay. Famously, Captain James Cook landed at Adventure Bay in 1777 – with young William Bligh aboard. William Bligh returned in 1788 (H.M.S. Bounty) and again in 1792 (H.M.S Providence, with young Matthew Flinders aboard. Numerous other Europeans made landfalls, adding a colorful array to the names of topographical features. Matthew Flinders and George Bass (who named the Bass Strait) first proved Tasmania to be an island in 1798–99.
I sailed Transpac ‘05 on a Cal 40. I sailed Bermuda ‘06 on an Open 50. The final leg would be Mac ‘08 on a J/122 for a grand total of 3,193 rated miles, which is kinda sorta far, except that I have friends who do circumnavigations where that mileage is nothing. And of these distance classics, the Race to Mackinac is the shortest, but it most revels in how hard the race can be—most of the length of Lake Michigan, Chicago to Mackinac Island, 333 miles. This signature event of Chicago Yacht Club has been raced almost-annually since 1898.
* Sailing the USCG EAGLE with Captain Chris Sinnett is always a joy and a remarkable experience. Chris was a member of the USCG Academy Sailing Team from 1981 to 84 when yours truly, the Editor, was coaching the Intercollegiate and Offshore programs in New London, CT. Kimball Livingston had the privilege to experience what few "commoners" ever get to an opportunity to do-- sail on the EAGLE. Here's Kimball's story: