J/111 and J/108 Florida Debut SAIL Key West Reception
(Key West, FL)- Remember, please don't hesitate to get out of the cold, the snow, the rain out west and come on down and take a peek at two of the latest 35+ footers to debut in the J stable of fun, fast, easy-to-sail boats. SAIL Magazine, in concert with its industry partners NORTH SAILS and HARKEN, are hosting a reception for sailors interested in taking a closer look at the J/111- KONTIKI V's electric royal blue and candy red color scheme looks spectacular on the water. With North Sails latest carbon wardrobe with brilliant candy apple red spinnakers and Harken's latest sailing equipment, the 111 will turn heads anywhere it goes. The event will be held on Saturday, January 15th at 5:00 pm at the Galleon Resort Marina- free beer, wine and munchies!
In addition to the 111, CrossCurrent Marine's Craig Crossley will feature J's newest shoal-draft performance cruiser- the J/108. It's all happening down at the Galleon Resort Marina in Key West. Please join us. For more information please call J/Boats at ph- 401-846-8410 or email info@jboats.com. More J/111 sailboat information is here. And, J/108 shoal-draft performance sailboat information can be found here.
J/111 Star of London Show(London, England)- The crowds are flocking to J stand #H69 to see the IRC giant-killer J/97 as well as the hot new J/111 speedster-- the latest one-design racer/cruiser.
Louay Habib from boats.com did an introductory review of the 111 at the London show, please view it here on boats.com.
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
2011 has started off with a bang, both good and bad. For starters, our hearts go out to members of the J sailing community in Australia affected by the extraordinary flooding taking place in areas like Brisbane. We offer our best wishes and pray all is well with those J families and friends. Also taking place Down Under are the Australian J/24 Nationals off Sydney and hosted by Middle Harbour YC. In Europe, the Italians and Spanish are dialing up the heat again on the J/80 class and are sailing their winter series events and the J/22s had their fun NOEL Cup before Christmas. Over in the Americas, J sailors are getting ready to roll in the annual winter festival in Florida known as Key West Race Week with fleets of J/80s and J/105s racing one-design along with several top J's racing in the handicap fleets. Warming up on both coasts are events like the San Diego YC New Year's Day Race and Two Gates Invitational out West. East saw the completion of the Lauderdale YC's 160nm Lauderdale-Key West Race, the classic "feeder" race for Key West Race Week. 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 17-21- J/80 Midwinters- Key West, FL- http://www.j80.orgJan 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
Jan 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/105 Wins Key West Race!Bond's LOKI Flies Around the Keys!
(Key West, FL)- The 36th Annual Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race was another classic, fast race; taking advantage of a strong front blowing east over the Bahamas Banks leaving in its wake a strong NNE wind flow. David Bond's J/105 LOKI made the most of it to win PHRF A and 4th in PHRF Fleet Overall.
Started on Wednesday, January 12th, the international fleet of 29 boats had teams hailing from Hong Kong, Greece, the Netherlands, Canada, and several states outside of Florida. Amongst them were a smattering of fun-loving J sailors who happen to love this mad dash around the edge of the Keys against the fast-flowing Gulf Stream. Included were Frank Kern's (a.k.a. "the commodore") famous J/120 CARINTHIA from Bayview YC, Grosse Pointe Park, MI; another J/120 TAMPA GIRL sailed by Bill Terry from Davis Island YC, Tampa, FL; and local favorites from Miami, FL, David Bond sailing his J/105 LOKI.
The early indicators were for a powerful cold front to wash over Florida and leave trailing in its wake a powerful Northeaster of 20-25 knots blowing the fleet down around the Keys to Key West. It was not to be. Dawn on Wednesday greeted the fleet with a beautiful NNE breeze that slowly clocked Eastward in the 10-15 knot range and built back up again towards Wednesday night/ Thursday morning for a fast dash into Key West. No records were broken despite earlier lofty expectations. While the big boats finished the course in just over 11 hours, well shy of the 10 hour record, the middle of the fleet benefitted from solid breeze and better wind angles to take all top overall spots. As expected, most of the fleet hugged the Florida coastline and the Keys to stay out of the fast-flowing, northbound Gulf Stream current. Hot gybing angles were the rule of the day and those who played them smartly did well.
In addition to the J/105 LOKI winning class, Frank Kern's J/120 CARINTHIA sailed another solid race to get 4th in PHRF Class A and 12th overall. Sailing photo credits- William Spruance. For more Lauderdale-Key West Sailing results.
SAILPAC Leading J/24 Australian Nationals(Sydney, Australia)- A strong turnout of sixteen J/24s are being hosted by Middle Harbour YC in a wide variety of sailing conditions. So far, the racing amongst the top three has been very competitive.
On the first day, January 10th, the fleet was sailing in very challenging conditions, especially out-of-town 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. Of note, the crew of three Pacific Sailing School boats that are sailing in this years Nationals include SAILPAC, STARPAC and PACATACK (picture above).
On Day 2 the fleet 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.
At this stage after day 2, the fleet leaders are SAILPAC's Neville Wittey with a 1-1-2 record for 4 points in first. Second on a rebound roll is Sean Wallis' LUNATIC ASYLUM with a 1-3-4 score for 8 pts. Third is DEATHSTAR sailed by Sean Kirkjian with a 4-2-3 tally for 9 pts. Lying fourth is ACE skippered by Dave West with a 3-6-9 for 18 pts. And rounding out the top five is WAVECUTER II's Graeme Thorburn with a 5-8-6 scorecard for 19 pts. For more J/24 Australian Nationals sailing information.
J/105 WINGS Wins New Year's Regatta(San Diego, CA)- Over the New Year's weekend, San Diego hosted their annual New Year's Day Regatta, a fun, easy-going event to usher in the New Year off the sunny, southern California coast. Managing to avoid the big crushes at the starts and the numerous mark-roundings, Dennis and Sharon Case racing their J/105 WINGS won Division 3, beating 17 boats competing in their division, including J/80s, Etchells, Olson 34s and Columbia 50s. Finishing third was Fisher/ Dagostino's J/105 VIGGEN and fifth was Larry Boline's and Bob Kyle's J/105 JET STREAM.
In Division 4, the J/27 BLACKADDER sailed by David Cattle finished second just behind a Star boat sailed by World Champion George Szabo! Not too far off the pace was Bob Noe's J/30 MAD HATTER in sixth.
In Division 2, Kenyon Martin and crew were having fun enjoying one of their first sails on the new J/111 "THREE", finishing sixth and just behind them in ninth was John Laun's CAPER. For more New Year's San Diego sailing information. Sailing photo credit- Dennis St. Onge/ dawoody.com
HUET Wins J/22 NOEL Cup(Nantes, France)- Just before the Christmas Holidays, the J/22 class in France has a wonderful event where any kids participating get a chance to meet St. Nicholas in the evening. Fun time, sweet event. On the water, the winner was Patrick Huet, sailing his J/22 EUROPEAN HOMES (yes, same company that sponsors Pichu Torcida's J/80 s ECC VIVIENDAS in Spain). Second was Clair Pouteau's SOFFE, third was Emmannuel Bollore's DELFINA, fourth Fabrice Chaierc's J'M and rounding out the top five was Vincent Goeusbet's JROUETTE. More J/22 NOEL Cup sailing results.
J/109 ELECTRA 2nd In Two Gates Invite(Long Beach, CA)- The Two Gates Invitational was held last Sunday under sunny skies with temperatures in the high 50s while the top East Coast sailing venues are dealing with snow, ice and highs in the low to mid twenties. Not necessarily considered warm, but balmy weather compared to the rest of the country.
Over the 13.2-nautical mile course Tom Brott from Seal Beach YC and his crew aboard the J/109 ELECTRA ended up second in PHRF B Class. More than 25 skippers brought their boats and crew out for this traditional race that gets its name from the course they sail. Beginning inside Long Beach Harbor, the boats exit the harbor through the Port of Long Beach entrance known as Queens Gate. They sail outside the breakwater up to Angels Gate, the Port of Los Angeles entrance, and enter Los Angeles Harbor. From, there they sail back down to weave in and out of the breakwater finishing back in Long Beach.
J/80 ECC VIVIENDAS Wins ImpreDigital Trophy(Santander, Spain)- Ending the year in 2010 for the final race, the local J/80 fleet in Santander races a fun regatta that basically takes them up and down the beautiful Santander waterfront, using government marks and set marks to keep the fleet moving up and down the coastline in full view of spectators walking along the waterfront and the gorgeous beaches.
The start and finish of the event is run by the RCMS, they set up the windward mark off to the southwest. The J/80 fleet made two very entertaining laps of the course, with the fleet very tight and position changes all the way past the mark set off the steps of beacon. The closeness of the race course along the coast of the Cantabrian bay enabled many walkers to enjoy the spectacle of the race, with more than 25 boats and 100 sailors competing. The snow-capped green peaks south of the bay, matched by the white sails of the J/80s on the sparkling blue-green water, simply added a spectacular touch to the extraordinary afternoon.
The race itself was very close. In the end, Pichu Torcida sailing ECC VIVIENDAS won with a total of 6 pts. Second was yet another World Champion, Ignacio Camino and Armando Gutierrez on NEXTEL ENGINEERING with 8 pts. Third was Alberto Padron and Jose Miguel Oriol on MABLE with 9 pts. Rounding out the top five was SLAM RACING sailed by Tony Diaz-Alejandro in fourth with 10 pts and fifth was renowned sailor Jaime Piris on FONESTAR. All agreed it was a great way to end the year for the 28 J/80s racing the final regatta of the year. For more J/80 Spain ImpreDigital Trophy sailing information.
J/80 OLJ SPIRIT-HATAMURI Winning Italian Winter Championships(Tigullio, Italy)- The J/80 Italian class continues to grow and enjoy racing on their spectacular lakes as well as in gorgeous offshore venues like Sardinia and San Remo. This year's Winter Championship is taking place in the Gulf of Tigullio.
"Today the wind conditions have enabled the smooth running of two races really exciting, we are very happy with the technical level achieved. We're also assured all 39 boats are happy with the racing and the quality of the course. What will happen in the next three days? Who knows, we expect potentially six more races with the possibility of other movements in the championship," commented Franco Noceti.
After the first weekend, the J/80 OLJ SPIRIT-HATAMURI is in first, skippered by Federico Raiola. Currently, they are followed by JOCONDE'S Massimo Zunino in second and in third is JENIALE, sailed by the Extreme Sailing Team.
The last three events of the Gulf of Tigullio Winter Championship will be Sunday, Jan. 23, Feb. 6 and Feb. 20. For more J/80 Winter Championship sailing information.
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* 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. http://j30.us/blog/----------------
* HIT THE MARK- J/24 Australian Class December news- a keep'ah. How to recruit crew. Find one you like, toss them over your shoulder and drag them down to the boat. Simple, huh? Read some more amusing anecdotes about how the J/24 class is having fun with their renovated, rebuilt, retro J/24s Down Under. With the Australian J/24 Nationals finishing up this week, they're all looking forward to another strong turnout for a one-design class start at the famously cool event- Audi Victoria Week down in Geelong-- join them for some more fun in the Ozzie sun! Get your copy of the J/24 HIT THE MARK newsletter here.
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* J/30 FRICTION LOSS sailed last year's Pacific Cup 2010- a 2,000nm+ dash from San Francisco to Hawaii. Three friends. Nice shots. J/30 surfing all the way home to Diamond Head and Waikiki doing 10 to 15 knots the whole way under spinnaker, gybing on the shifts....way cool.One noteworthy accomplishment was that they were second in class- again, belated congratulations to Shawn Ivie and crew aboard their J/30 FRICTION LOSS. View their Pacific Cup video here.
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* 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:" I did the Cabo race purely for the adventure. I had never been out on the open ocean and simply wanted the experience. By the end of the first day and one-half, I was cold, damp, exhausted and generally miserable. I clicked my heels but couldn't get back to Santa Barbara. Then, on the second and one-half day I got with the rhythm of it and can't tell you enough how much I absolutely loved it: huge turtles, whales, dolphin, the horizon with no land and no other boats - it was just amazing!
We followed the progress of all the boats on the computer and we were well behind our competition for most of the race. Ultimately - I didn't care that much because we all were having such a fun time with each other and with the elements. I would guess that if the amount of laughter aboard a boat won a trophy - we'd get it. On the last day I woke up from my four hour down-time to find zero wind. I did see a shark fin and wouldn't let anyone swim! We'd gone way out to sea and were totally becalmed. I decided I was the "wind witch" and would bring wind any moment now. They all scoffed at me - until I pointed to some tiny cat paws on the surface of the water growing larger in diameter. Suddenly, we started to take off.
The best part of the entire experience was that night when we were coming into Cabo. I was driving (that's my job) through the moonshine on the water. It was so beautiful I was crying. Believe it or not, I turned to my crew and suggested we forget the finish line and just keep sailing. I meant it - as strange as that may sound. I got voted down, so over the finish line we came. From the day I suggested we do that Cabo race, I never considered the possibility of winning. I just wanted the adventure. And this year, we are doing the Cabo race to qualify for Transpac-- talk about an adventure!" Read more about Dr. Laura's experiences here.
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* Featured in Scuttlebutt this past week was a wonderful article by J/22 owner Matthew Princing called, "Putting the Family Back In Sailing". As Matt begins describing his experiences in sailing, "There are many articles and books floating around about the state of sailing today. They discuss the decline in our sport by various demographics and point towards influences like the economy, access to sailing and perception.The economy is certainly and issue, especially in the Midwest where my family lives and sails. We are somewhat challenged by the fact that we are a blue collar area and we have lost a record number of well paying jobs which limit our spendable income. Boats unfortunately are quiet easy to put on the back burner and become deemed not a priority (this is blasphemy to a true sailor but it happens). Our sailing clubs in turn suffer due to lack of members and income coming in that drives our sailing programs so access to sailing suffers. There is a whole generation of kids out there that haven't had the chance to try sailing; to me that is a shame.
Perception of sailing has never really been stellar. Many uneducated journalists have mistakenly reported that sailing is a sport of the rich, the elite. This of course couldn't be farther from the truth. Are there wealthy sailors, yes there are but on the same side of things there are many more middle class sailors and quite a few that would be considered poor by many standards. You certainly don't have to be wealthy to afford a very nice sailboat.
My belief is that we need to put the fun and the family back into sailing. It starts with me. I will do what I can. These two go hand in hand and we can raise the next generation of sailing families.
I grew up the son of a power boater, floating condo kind of situation. We were a very small minority at a predominantly sailing club. It wasn't long before my brother and I were sailing and soon the whole family.
I bought my first boat about a month before I graduated college. I was bitten by the Lightning (www.lightningclass.org) bug by a family friend that let me sail an old woodie off his beach. I bought the first of four Lightning's (so far) that spring and joined the local fleet in Bay City, MI. That was 1991, I am still there. Why? Friends and family. We have fun. The Lightning class is very family oriented as are other classes we participate in like the J/22 Class (www.j22usa.com). We have made lifelong friends in both classes and plan our schedules to meet up with our friends somewhere on the regatta scene or at fleet races.
I wasn't the "family" sailor though; I was probably part of the problem. I drove my family away from sailing early on due to a competitive streak that was relentless and perhaps a short fuse. Age has mellowed me but also increased my desire to sail and be surrounded by my family." Read more about Matthew's experiences 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. 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. A recent update from Bill and Kathy- "Hello, all! We have safely arrived in Opua, New Zealand from Tonga. It was a remarkably fast passage. Some statistics: Time: 6 days, 3 hours. Total distance: 1023 miles. Distance sailed: 1020 miles. Distance motored: 3 miles. Average speed: 7.0 knots. Fuel used: 3 gallons (12 hours of engine idling for power generation). Best memory: sailing into the Bay of Isles, hand steering in 25 knots of breeze, watching the sun rise behind us, lighting Cape Brett up in a warm red glow. Next is 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). A recent excerpt- "Stephen and Ross were enthralled by Roger's "Willies 1942 WW2 American jeep". Both boys took it for a burn and one is now at the top of Stephen’s wish list. When Roger was restoring it he was delighted to find a genuine WW2 American Hard hat under the back seat...."- 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! A recent excerpt- "Things Unplanned Run Amuck in Tahiti- Boats have feelings, don’t you know? They do not like to be left alone, unattended and seemingly unloved. This is a fact of which both The Captain and The First Mate are well aware, but given their lifestyle, they have no choice. Avante must go it alone every once in a while, and they know they eventually will have to deal with nautical hurt feelings and the consequences which follow." The rest of the thread is both humorous and quite educational- many lessons learned!
* Long-distance cruising communications advice for those who wish to be connected beyond a cell phone/ WiFi connection (10 miles) anywhere on the planet- try SailMail.com- a remarkable SSB communications network good for up to 5,000 Nautical MILES of connectivity! How cool is that! Founded by renowned superstar navigator Stan Honey and friends, here's good info for long-distance datacomm fanatics. Stan says, "SailMail has worldwide coverage, but as with any HF propagation, you have to be knowledgeable about selection of which station to use, what time of day, and what frequency. The only holes in coverage worldwide would be a very noisy marina where battery chargers on nearby boats prevent SailMail use. In those situations most folks use WiFi or GSM anyway, and use SailMail when they are at sea, or in most remote anchorages. There is lots of information on the website at www.sailmail.com about SSB choice and modem choice. The Icom M802 radio and AT140 tuner are currently the best choice."
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.
