Rolex STC Block Island Week Preview(Block Island, RI)- For many summer starts in New England with the biennial summer-time classic, Storm Trysail's Rolex Block Island Race Week. With wonderful sponsors like Mount Gay Rum and Rolex, it's hard not to like the fact that if you happen to win some races, you not only get some Mount Gay Rum to share with crew, family and friends, you could walk off with the ultimate prize of the week- a shiny new stainless steel Rolex Submariner watch. 135 competitors will be fighting for all that hardware. Again, J's will be by far the largest brand represented at the Rolex BIRW with 41 boats sailing, about 1/3 of the fleet.
The premiere fleet will be the J/44 and J/122 classes racing together for both class and one-design honors. Amongst the J/122s, past NA Champion Mike Bruno/ Tom Boyle/ Jim Callahan from American Yacht Club will be hoping to extend their winning streak. And in the J/44s, there will be some tough going with class leaders like Jeff Willis on CHALLENGE IV, Jim Bishop sailing GOLD DIGGER and Bill Ketcham racing MAXINE scraping for every inch of space on the starting lines and mark roundings. This will be a very interesting class to watch.
Sailing PHRF 1 will be a fleet of J/111s vying for both one-design and class honors for the first time in New England. Paul Strauch from Manhasset Bay YC will be sailing ANDIAMO, Sedgewick Ward from Shelter Island YC will be racing BRAVO, David and MaryEllen Tortorello from Cedar Point YC will be sailing PARTNERSHIP and Doug Curtiss from New Bedford YC will be steering the new WICKED 2.0. Into this mix of sea wolves will be thrown a lone J/120, Peter Hein's VAREKAI.
The J/109s will be having one of their strongest fleets ever, having assembled fifteen boats for their J/109 North American Championships. For this assemblage of talent, anything goes. Nevertheless, counting amongst the leaders could be past champions like Bill Sweetser from Annapolis YC on RUSH, Rick Lyall from Cedar Point YC on STORM and Ted Herlihy from New Bedford YC sailing GUT FEELING. Look for some strong sailing coming from teams like Don Fillipeli's CAMINOS from Devon YC and Paul Milo's VENTO SOLARE from Annapolis YC.The J/105s continue to have a strong showing at Rolex BIRW, a popular destination event for this class. Top contenders sure to factor into the podium equation will be past North American Champion Bruce Stone/ Julian Croxall's JOUSTER from St Francis YC, Nelson Wiederman's KIMA from Wickford YC, Damian Emery's ECLIPSE from Shoreham, NY and Andrew Kennedy's BAT IV from Annapolis YC.
This year five J/29s will be dueling it out for class honors in PHRF 3, including past champions MIGHTY PUFFIN sailed by Steve Thurston from Bristol, RI and HUSTLER sailed by the two gentlemen from City Island, NY, John and Tony Esposito. In PHRF 4 will be the lone J/80 RUMOUR sailed by that family of champion sailors, the Storcks from Huntington, NY. For more Rolex Block Island Race Week sailing information
J/80 Worlds Preview(Copenhagen, Denmark)- The fleet for this year's 2011 J/80 Worlds is looking about as strong as ever with multiple World Champions again seeking dominance in the world of J/80s. So far, seventy boats are attending and are looking forward to sail the challenging waters of the Baltic Sea from July 3rd to 8th, in the same area that the famous Danish Olympian, Paul Elvstrom, learned how to sail so long ago on the famous Fireflies.
The Royal Danish Yacht Club is hosting the event based in the idyllic harbour of Dragor. For "pre-Worlds practice", some sailors are planning on participating in the J/80 Swedish Championship held in Malmö, only a couple of hours sailing from Dragor across the Baltic Sea, from 29 June to 1 July.
Eleven countries are participating, including past World Champion Glenn Darden from the Fort Worth Boat Club in Fort Worth, TX, the only American sailing; one boat from the Netherlands; four from Italy including Massimo Rama; eleven boats from Germany including Jochen Schmidt; eleven boats from the United Kingdom including UK champion Ian Atkins; six boats from France including French champions Luc Nadal and Eric Brezzellec; twelve boats from Sweden; one boat from Finland; one from Estonia; fourteen boats from Denmark including Tom Klok with sister Marie Klok-Crump and brother-in-law Will Crump; and finally eight boats from Spain including multiple champions like Carlos Martinez, past World Champion Ignacio Camino on NEXTEL ENGINEERING, Olympic Medallist and Cantabrian sailor Jose Maria van deer Ploeg on GREAT SAILING and World Champion Rayco Tabares on HOTEL PRINCESSA GRAND CANARIAS. For more J/80 Worlds sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
With summer regattas going in high gear the schedule is full across the northern hemisphere. Europe, in particular, seemingly had a J/80 national championship level regatta running everywhere. No question the level of competition was high as the Spanish hosted their J/80 Championship of Spain in Santander, the British held the J/80 UK Nationals in Dartmouth, England, the French had their J/80 Grand Prix du Crouesty in Crouesty Arzon and the Swedish held a warm-up for their J/80 Swedish Nationals in the KSSS Sandhamn Open. In addition, the J/109's held their J/109 UK Nationals the previous week in Weymouth, England, the J/24s also sailed in the Grand Prix Crouesty and the J/22s from Germany and Netherlands enjoyed one of their premiere regattas of the season, the Delta-Lloyd North Sea Regatta sailed off The Hague. Over in the Americas, two large regattas were sailing simultaneously, the 157th Annual Rolex New York YC Regatta off Newport, RI and out in the Great Lakes region, the J/111s were sailing their second one-design regatta at the Sperry Top Sider Chicago NOOD Regatta off the beautiful Chicago waterfront along with fleets of J/105s and J/109s. Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below continue to enjoy the Caribbean and the South Pacific, staying warm while others are trying to stay warm up north. 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:
Jun 12-19- Rolex Giraglia Cup- Genoa, Italy- http://www.yachtclubitaliano.itJun 18-22- Kieler Woche Regatta- Kiel, Germany- http://www.kyc.de/
Jun 19-24- J/111 Block Island Race Week- Block Is, RI- http://www.blockislandraceweek.com
Jun 19-24- J/122 North Americans- Block Is, RI- http://www.blockislandraceweek.com
Jun 19-24- J/109 East Coasts- Block Is, RI- http://www.blockislandraceweek.com
Jun 23-26- Bacardi Newport Sailing Week- Newport, RI- http://www.newportsailingweek.com
Jun 24-26- Long Beach Race Week- Long Beach, CA- http://www.lbrw.org
Jun 25-26- San Francisco STS NOOD Regatta- San Francisco, CA- http://www.sailingworld.com
Jun 29-Jul 2- J/80 Pre-Worlds- Malmo, Sweden- http://bit.ly/mRZVdv
Jul 3-8- J/80 Worlds- Copenhagen, Denmark- http://www.worlds.kdy.dk/
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Piris Is J/80 Champion of Spain(Santander, Spain)- The fifth edition of the J/80 Championship of Spain was quite the epic affair. Multiple J/80 World Champions and Olympic Medallists dueling for the honor being the top one-design keelboat sailor in a country that has produced an extraordinary number of champions in sailing over the last decade.
The host was the renowned Real Club Marítimo de Santander, hosting the forty-five teams in the same venue that had a 100+ boat fleet sail the J/80 Worlds a few years earlier. After the first day of racing, the current World Champion, Pichu Torcida with ECC VIVIENDAS was leading. Interestingly, a recent Around World sailor, Tonio Piris was second on GO-FIT/ YATES & COSAS, proving he had not lost his touch sailing J/80s after being on a 60 foot IMOCA boat for a few months. And third Tono Gorostegui with CINCO SOLUCIONES. Fourth was Carlos Martinez on MAPFRE and fifth was Toni's brother Jaime Piris on FONESTAR!By the last day of sailing the Cantabrian team (pictued above) of Jaime Piris, Alfredo Portilla, Bryan Lopez and Jesus Gonzalez, with his boat FONESTAR overtook all their famous, highly decorated competitors and were crowned the new champions of Spain in the J/80 class due to their remarkably consistent scores over the three day event. The leader of the first two days, Pichu Torcida's ECC VIVIENDAS had to settle for second place overall with Jose Maria van der Ploeg finishing third on GREAT SAILING. Ignacio Caminos had to drop to fourth on NEXTEL ENGINEERING and Tonio Piris finished a very respectable fifth on GO-FIT/ YATES & COSAS. Sailing photo credits- RCMS For more J/80 Spanish Championships sailing information
Perhaps one of the best outcomes of the event was the "media publishing" by friends of the J/80 fleet. You can check out each day's video summary here in these links:Day 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCLj0-l11y4
Day 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOxt2TJ94GQ
Day 3- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggvQdA-VfZk
Rolex New York YC Regatta(Newport, RI) – With 135 boats competing (nearly one-third were J/Boats), the New York Yacht Club’s 157th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex, held June 10-12, broke all of its past attendance records, and with winds whipping into the high teens for buoy racing over the weekend, it certainly is in line for being the most memorable Annual Regatta in recent history.
The oldest regatta in the country kicked off with an optional 18-nautical mile Around the Island Race on Friday that saw the IRC 3 class led home by George Shaw's J/122 TUMBLEWEED from Marblehead, MA, only to lose on handicap to a sistership Andrew Weiss' J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON for first overall. Third was the J/122 WINGS sailed by the very capable Bruno/ Callahan/ Boyle team.
Saturday and Sunday saw unusually windy conditions relative to what was forecasted by the NOAA Met office for the waters of Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound. Saturday was especially windy and rough with winds blowing in from the ENE at 15 to 22 knots with a huge quartering swell on starboard tack rolling in from the SW. Sunday's racing for J's occurred up the Bay in the area north of Newport Bridge, nearby to the Quonset Naval Airbase.
The most competitive division happened to be IRC 4 that had J/111s, J/122s and J/44s all competing against one another. It was a very tough class. After the dust settled amongst this group, whoever got a "lane" to keep the boat going fast until the first shift had a huge advantage. Top dog amongst this trio of boats was Bruno/ Boyle/ Callahan racing their veteran champion J/122 WINGS to second place. Third was Bill Ketcham's well-sailed J/44 MAXINE. Fourth was Annapolis-Newport winner Andrew Weiss' CHRISTOPHER DRAGON and fifth was the J/111 ANDIAMO sailed by Jeff Johnstone.
Having an equally competitive regattas as the tough IRC 4 group was the J/109 gang sailing against one another in IRC 6. As has been the case many times over the years, it was going to be a fight between the two top J/109s- Sweetser's RUSH and Lyall's STORM. And sure enough, it was another shoot-out at the "OK Corral". This time it was RUSH that got the upper hand to finish second overall with STORM coming in third by only one point, the last race determining the ultimate finish position.
Amongst the J/105s were a bunch of class heavyweights jousting for leadership in the regatta. After the smoke cleared, it was Brian Keane's SAVASANA that won by just four points over Bruce Stone's JOUSTER. Third was Mark Lindquist's STERLING, fourth was Mark and Jolene Masur's TWO FEATHERS and fifth was Chris Beane's VIXEN.
In PHRF 2 were five J's, with top dog going to John Lanvin's J/29 DIRTY HARRY, finishing second in class. Just one point back was the J/24 NIGHTHAWK sailed by Mike Ryan and Richard Barker. The J/33 and J/100s didn't fair so well, not keeping themselves out of foul trouble of some sorts or another. For more Rolex New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information
Sproul Wins Epic J/80 UK Nationals(Dartmouth, England)- The Tacktick J/80 National Championship 2011 in Association with Baltic Wharf was hosted by the Royal Dart Yacht Club from the 7th to 10th June. The twenty-six boat fleet reveled in a variety of conditions across the eight race championship series from full on a full on thirty knot foam-up on the first day through to a much more ten to twelve knots on the final Friday. The fleet fell in love with Dartmouth during the course of the Nationals and in return, Dartmouth delivered the some of the most exciting racing coupled with the warmest welcome that the J/80 Class has experienced in recent years: a super precedent for the 2012 J/80 World Championship which is scheduled to be held in the port a year from now.
The last two races of the series were scheduled on Friday morning, and precisely as you would expect, every single boat on the track, irrespective of their position on the leader-board, arrived in the starting area with a job to do, a specific set of personal goals to achieve results-wise and a ‘target’ finishing position. No real surprise then that this jittery bunch pushed a general recall on the first start of the day and the deployment of the black flag thereafter, catching a few out and only serving to add to the tension. Rob Larke won the first race of the day in J2X but this was not enough to significantly narrow the points gap between his boat and Kevin Sproul. A win for Sproul in the final race confirmed the series victory and the Tacktick J/80 UK National Championship title for the crew of J.A.T: Kevin Sproul, Adrian Gray, Phil Taylor and Chris Taylor.The Prize-giving Dinner took place at the RDYC on Friday night, and duly kicked off with music dancing and much J/80 mayhem, but not before Sproul delivered his thanks to his crew, the Royal Dart Yacht Club and all of the event sponsors: Tacktick, Baltic Wharf, Darthaven Marina, Henri Lloyd, North Sails, Rockfish, Scanstrut and Dart Sail and Cover.
Sproul reiterated the thoughts of all of the competitors when he said ‘Dartmouth is an amazing place. The hospitality we have received here is second to none and we, the J/80 Class have made many new friends in this port. The 2012 World Championship is going to be an awesome event and not to be missed’. For more J/80 UK Nationals sailing information
J-DREAM Crowned J/109 UK Champion(Weymouth, England)- Sunshine met the fleet on the first day. And on the final day of racing at the Tacktick J/109 UK National Championship, the fleet arrived on the dock to find gusts of mid 20s in the marina. The PRO took the sensible decision to postpone for one hour to see if the wind would settle as there were gusts of 30+ out in the bay. For some this was a welcome rest as three races the day before had been tough on everyone.
The first start saw the J/109 fleet underestimate the tide taking them across the line and the restart was a black flag. Again some of the fleet had to be called back. VELVET ELVIS and J-DREAM arrived at the windward mark so close that J-DREAM could not pull her pole out to hoist the spinnaker. The run saw these two boats battle for the lead as the wind built to 28 knots. When both boats gybed simultaneously for the leeward gate, a luffing match ensued before J-DREAM got a perfectly timed puff and wave and moved ahead.
The final run saw the majority of the fleet choose not to fly spinnakers as the wind was now 32 knots. VELVET ELVIS, BLUEJAY and STALKER flew the spinnaker but it was not enough to beat those who sailed dead downwind. JYNNAN TONNYX (Owain Franks) had their fourth top ten position of the regatta which gave them equal points with J2EAU (Steve & Jodie Maine) and moved them into 11th overall. JEEZ LOISE (Jamie Arnell) had her best race of the series (6th) give them equal overall points with JAZZY JELLYFISH (David Richards). As the fleet finished gusts of mid 30s were seen and the PRO decided that there would be no more racing. This was a sensible call as many boats got caught out dropping their sails as the mid/high 30knot gusts swept across Weymouth Bay.
Pre-dinner drinks saw the fleet exchanging their excited tales and the pros and cons of hoisting spinnakers for a straight run, before they enjoyed an excellent dinner and the prize-giving. In addition to the Perpetual Trophy there were keeper trophies made by Tide Designs which attracted much admiration together with three Suunto watches. Sebago had kindly donated pairs of Wave Extreme shoes and these were awarded to DESIGNSTAR 2 (Roger Phillips), AUDAJIOUS (David Jobson), OUTRAJEOUS (Richard & Valerie Griffiths) and HIGH TENSION (Andrew Given) for their support and dedication to the Class.
J-DREAM was crowned Tacktick UK National Champion 2011. Her helm, David Apthorp said, "We are exhausted but absolutely delighted to have achieved this for the second time. The entire fleet has enjoyed close and competitive racing and the hospitality of WPNSA has been second to none. Now it is time to party!" Second overall was VELVET ELVIS (Adam and Helen Wright), third Steven Tapper's STALKER, fourth Matt Boyle's SHIVA and fifth Mike and Sarah Wallis' JAHMALI. The J/109 UK Class Association would like to thank their sponsors-- Tacktick Wireless powered by Suunto and Sebago for their support and generosity, and to WPNSA staff and volunteers who ensured that the J/109 fleet had one of their best regattas ever. For more J/109 UK Nationals sailing information
J/111s Celebrate Chicago NOODs(Chicago, IL)- The annual Chicago Sperry Top Sider NOOD Regatta continues to be one of the pinnacle events on the Chicago summer sailing schedule every year. Attending this year's events were one-design fleets of J/111s, J/109s and J/105s. Included in the mix were J's sailing PHRF 3 and PHRF 4 divisions.
For the J/111s, this was their first NOOD regatta as a class and the second weekend in a row that Chicago 111s have sailed against one another. It's clear the learning curve is high and the teams are learning how to sail the boats consistently faster all the time. As an illustration of this development, Sailing World's Mike Lovett shares an interesting interview with the MISTY J/111 team sailed by Tom and Carol McIntosh- "For Tom and Carol, as it is for so many Chicago racers, the highlight of the sailing season is the annual Chicago YC Race to Mackinac. They've been doing the 333-mile race for years, and this year, they'll be doing it on their dream Mac boat— the J/111.
"Because we do the Mac every year," says Misty skipper Tom McIntosh, "we wanted a boat that would be faster for us to come home on, and would be more fun to sail. Carol and I sail doublehanded back from Mackinac Island, and when we went out and sailed [the J/111] last summer, we said, 'Oh boy. With the roller furler—and we can use an asymmetrical when it's light—we'll make so much better time than we did before.
"It's a really simple boat," continues McIntosh. "We went with the Antal sail slides, which makes it really simple to go out sailing. And, you can go pretty fast. Last weekend, we did 11 knots downwind, right alongside the Farr 40s."
There are six J/111s competing here at the 2011 Sperry Top-Sider Chicago NOOD, making this the largest gathering in the class' short history. The 36-footer won "Best One-Design Keelboat" in Sailing World's 2011 Boat of the Year Contest. Apparently, Midwestern sailors agree with SW's BOTY judges, as they've been quick to embrace the new one-design. Racing the J/111 KONTIKI V, Jim Sminchack's Cleveland-based team won the PHRF 1 division at 2011 Key West Race Week. There are three J/111s in Detroit, and there will be as many as eight racing at the Ugotta Regatta in Harbor Springs, Michigan in July.
Local J-Dealer Rich Stearns has been instrumental in getting Chicago's J/111 fleet off the ground. At last weekend's Colors Regatta, hosted by Columbia YC, Stearns and a local sailmaker went boat to boat helping his clients get up to speed. MISTY's main trimmer, Jorgen Johnson, found the sessions to be incredibly valuable— a shortcut to success. "They showed us what the boat likes," says Johnson. "That makes the learning process a lot quicker than if we had to learn it ourselves. They were telling us, 'Do this, do that. Here's the basics. Work with this, and then fine tune.' That was really, really helpful. "We're learning," continues Johnson. "But we're getting there quickly. That's what's interesting with this fleet. All the boats are very close, and they're all going very fast!"In the photo are the crew of the J/111 MISTY (left to right): bowman Mike Gallo, main trimmer Jorgen Johnson, mast-man John Johnson, trimmer Dave Michaels, pit/co-owner Carol McIntosh, skipper/co-owner Tom McIntosh, floater Morgan Gates, tactician Ian Gates, Gerry Gherardini.
On the race course, it was the KASHMIR team comprised of Henderson, Mayer and Brummel that led the way to the top of the podium, securing five 1sts, a 2nd and a 3rd to win by five points. It's clear this team has taken their training seriously and have learned how to make the 111 go well both upwind and downwind-- particularly with ace spinnaker trimmer Karen Gottwald- a 25 year Chicago-Mac veteran and member of the "Goat's Society". Also moving up the learning curve fast is Paul Stahlberg sailing the spectacularly colored red-hulled MENTAL into second with finishes of 1-2-4-2-2-1-3 for 15 pts-- by the way the graphics are awesome! Stephen Dabrowski sailing NIGHT HAWK finished third amassing a 3-3-2-4-3-2-2 record for 19 pts. In fourth was Tom and Carol McIntosh on MISTY and fifth was George Miz sailing his first one-design event in the J/111 on-board IMPULSE.
Making good of his practice and training the previous weekend in Columbia YC's Colors Regatta was Kevin Saedi sailing his J/109 MOMENTUS to a convincing win in the J/109 class. Kevin and his crew managed to win with five firsts, a 3rd and a 4th for 12 pts! Eight points back was Irv Kerbel's K-III sailing to a 1-2-3-7-2-3-2 for 20 pts. Dueling it out for second all regatta long was past class champion Len Siegal sailing his famous LUCKY DUBIE 2 to a 4-3-2-3-3-2-4 for 21 pts, just one point from getting the silver. Fourth was Don Meyer sailing CERTAINLY with 28 pts and fifth was Peter Priede racing FULL TILT to 32 pts.
The J/105s saw some new names at the top of the fleet involved in a real dog-fight all regatta long for the top three. It was anyone's guess how it was all going to play out in the end, but the survivor of the duel only won by one point, narrowly "snatching victory from the jaws of defeat" in the last race! Nevertheless, in the appropriately named MESSY JESSY, Dorin Candea managed to avoid making a mess of it all and won with a 5-2-3-2-1-1-2-5 to win with 21 pts. Nearly beating him to the top of the podium was Blane Shea sailing STRIKING to a 4-1-1-1-3-6-5-1 for 22 pts. Third, and sailing stronger nearly every race, was Clark Pellett on SEALARK to a 6-6-2-3-5-3-1-2 record for 28 pts-- quite a nice comeback! Fourth was past champion Tom Petkus on VYTIS with 35 pts and fifth was the "inmates running the asylum", Anthony Bowker's THE ASYLUM with 40 pts.In the PHRF handicap classes, Mitch Padnos' beautiful J/124 SUFFICIENT REASON from Macatawa Bay YC narrowly missed winning the entire PHRF 3 Class, but unfortunately, while finishing three points from getting the gold, lost a tie-breaker and ended up third! In the Offshore PHRF Distance race, the J's had a good showing with Ken Ganch's J/105 GONZO finishing third, Pete and Sue Stott's J/130 SALSA finishing fourth and Frank Giampoli's J/120 JAHAZI getting fifth. For more Chicago Sperry Top Sider NOOD sailing information
J/80s & J/24s Grand Prix du Crouesty(Crouesty Arzon, France)- It was a busy day for the 113 competitors in the Grand Prix when they started the regatta, nearly 50% of the fleet were J's- 42 J/80s, 7 J/24s, the J/97 J-LANCE in IRC 4, 3 J/109s in IRC 3 and the J/122 JOLLY JOKER in IRC 1. "We are satisfied with the number of boats. We have very high quality sailors here, the best are present in J/80 and with 42 boats it should be very good racing," said Jacques Fily, President of YCCA.
The weather was absolutely perfect for the sailors. Saturday, there were 3 races that were contested in a wind of ten knots and under a bright sun. The race committee abandoned late in the day the fourth race due to an unstable breeze. For Sunday, there were 3 races also in a wind of between 15 to 25 knots and large seas, offering magnificent surfing downwind. By Monday, there were two more races to settle out the winners in the Grand Prix, sailing in winds of 8-10 knots, a masterful job running the races by PRO Jean-Paul Vallegand.
For the J/80s, it was clear the fleet was decidedly too eager to do battle on Saturday. First start was a general recall, then black flag with eight competitors having to pay the cost, including Eric Brezellec's Interface Concept 2. Under these competitive conditions, consistency is an important asset and it is no surprise that Voilerie All Purpose, led by local Sylvain Pelissier was the winner of the first day with two second places and one fourth place. They were followed by Atlantis (Laurent Sambron).By Sunday, it was clear that Pelissier's team were not going to easily sail away with the gold medal. Laurent Sambron sailing ATLANTIS sailed beautifully on the windy Sunday to tie Pelissier with 12 pts after six races. Lying with striking distance of these two was Eric Brezzellec on INTERFACE CONCEPT 2 with 9 pts.
However, on Monday the VOILERIE ALL PURPOSE team skippered by Sylvain Pelissier with crew Sébastien Simon, Damien Changey and Joris Cocaud were going to win by sailing so consistently compared to their competitors. The ATLANTIS crew of Laurent Sambron and INTERFACE CONCEPT 2 sailed by Eric Brezellec completed the podium. "For us it is a fantastic opportunity to sail with Sylvain, he teaches us so much each year," said the crew made up of youth aged 20 to 21, who usually sail F18, 420 and match racing . "We won only one race, but it pays to be consistent," says Sylvain, who won only b a little bit, but fully enjoying the pleasure of beating the invincible Eric Brezellec, the early favorite to win the regatta.In the J/24s, is became a "jackpot for MARTA". At the beginning, MAJIC sailed by François de Herce was an early contender for the lead, having won a race on Saturday. However, Pierre-Antoine Lemaistre and his classmates sailing MARTA were eager to get going on Sunday morning to enjoy the big breeze and big waves. Sure enough, they won three straight races. With big smiles on their faces, Pierre-Antoine commented, "We had top speeds of 12 knots, we were never getting in trouble at the roundings. First race? Impeccable. Second race? Impeccable. Third race? Impeccable! Yes, it was an impeccable day! For us, it's conditions we dreamed about! The race committee was really great, we wish to take our hats off, it was just a fine day!" After that extraordinary day of sailing, MARTA ended up winning the J/24s in "grand prix style".
Also sailing impeccably was Didier Le Moal on-board his SPI Ouest-France winning J/97 J-LANCE-R. Didier's team started out winning the first race on Saturday and never looked back. J-LANCE-R won their IRC Class 4 in "grand prix style" as well, winning their class by a large margin. For more Grand Prix Crouesty sailing information
J/22s Love North Sea Regatta(The Hague, The Netherlands)- Popular with the German and Netherlands J/22 teams and highlight of the summer sailing season is the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta. It's a huge event and popular with one-design sailors throughout Europe. Boats range from Lasers and 420s and 49ers to Tornados and F-18s to large IRC offshore racer-cruisers.
The J/22s showed up in force with sixteen boats participating this year in reasonably nice sailing conditions. This year there was a dominating performance registered by Ron Veraar on NDED 1450. Ron's team simply sailed away from the competition after getting two early bad races, a 6th and an OCS in race 3. Nevertheless, Veraar ended up with a nine race record of 2-6-ocs-1-2-1-1-1-2 for 10 pts (two toss races). Second was Eelco Blok, although winning after the first day of racing, sailed a very consistent series with a 1-ocs-1-4-1-2-2-3-6 for 14 pts. Third was Menno Bron who lost a tie-breaker with Blok, sailing to a 5-1-2-2-3-3-3-2-1 for 14 pts, without toss races, Menno easily had won the regatta due to getting no OCS's and having to only toss a 5th and a 3rd! For more J/22 Delta-Lloyd North Sea Regatta sailing information
HEAVY DUTY J/80 Sandhamn Open(Sandhamn, Sweden)- As part of their preparation for the J/80 Worlds in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Swedish J/80 teams have spent a lot of time training since the winter/ spring sailing season. One of these events was the recent Sandhamn Open. Leading the way home was Pontus Tornlund's team sailing HEAVY DUTY to just beat Johannes Bergh's HAPPY team by one point, the final race determining the outcome of the regatta! Tornlund's team earned a 1-4-2-3-5-1 for 11 pts (with toss). Second was Bergh's team with a 4-2-1-5-1-4 for 12 pts. Third was Jonas Danneaues' team on A2, compiling a "roller-coaster" record of 6-1-4-1-6-6 for 18 pts. Look for some of these teams to sail well in the upcoming J/80 Swedish Championships in Malmo, Sweden and also compete in the J/80 Worlds in Copenhagen in July. For more Sandhamn Open sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Boston, Here We Come! J/22s part of EXTREME SAILING SERIES? Yes, after the epic Act in Istanbul, the Extreme Sailing Series now heads to new shores for Act 4 - Boston in the USA - the first time the circuit has staged an official event in the United States. "Boston is proud to be the first U.S. city to host the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series to our waterfront for the city's July 4th celebration - one of the largest in the nation," said Thomas M. Menino, Mayor, City of Boston.The Boston event will be staged at Fan Pier. Taking place from Thursday, 30th June to Monday, 4th July, every day is open to the public and there will be plenty of attractions. The Extreme 40s will be supported by 49er racing, Laser and J/22s racing for the official charity Courageous Sailing, fireworks, live music and street performers and aerial demos from the Red Bull Air Force skydivers. Media partner Boston's Fox25 TV will be capturing all the action as part of their scheduled live programming from Fan Pier. See more sailing information- http://www.extremesailingseries.com
* The sailing world lost a great friend the night of June 13. Surrounded by his family, long-time J/24 sailor Walter Fischer passed away peacefully in his sleep after a 2 year battle with cancer. Walter joined luxury retailer Little Switzerland in St Thomas in 1961. Starting as a watchmaker, he rose to become President and CEO. In 1989, he joined Rolex as head of sales for the Caribbean and Latin America. In 1999, he was named President and CEO of Rolex Watch USA. While in St Thomas, Walter was responsible for the creation of the International Rolex Regatta in 1972. It has long been known as the "Jewel of the Caribbean." in the early 80s, Walter and a group of friends brought the first J/24 to the Caribbean. He also served as the head of the Race Committee and Commodore of St.Thomas YC. Walter sailed all kinds of boats from steering his famous J/24 called STING to grinding winches on a maxi.
As President of Rolex US, Walter expanded the company's relationship with the New York YC, of which he was a proud member; many aspects of US SAILING, including sailors with disabilities; Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race Week and Collegiate Regatta; the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta; and the Rolex Big Boat Series at St. Thomas YC. Perhaps Walter's greatest joy was watching his 8 year old granddaughter, Caroline, sail her Opti off the beach at the St. Thomas YC.In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that contributions be made to the St. Thomas YC Junior Sailing program. Donations should be made out to the St. Thomas YC, with the notation "Walter Fischer Junior Sailing Fund" and mailed to Bill Canfield, St. Thomas YC, 8-58, 6624 Estate Nazareth, St. Thomas, USVI 00802.
Sleep well, Walter. Your many friends miss you already. Our hearts go out to Walter's wife Jill, son Greg, daughter Stefanie and his four grandchildren.
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." UPDATE- Just a short note to update from Bill- "Our cruise began in May of 2000 and ended in May of 2008, some 8 years later. I have just finished and published my third and final book covering the last three or so years including our double handed crossing in 16 days and one winter in the Caribbean. Like the others, "Sea Trek- A Passion for sailing- Book III," can be found at www.blurb.com. Thanks, Bill and Judy"
* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for extended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary 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!
- Eric and Jenn on the J/160 MANDALAY also sailed the Pacific archipelago, read more on their blog at http://www.sailmandalay.com. Eric and Jenn are J/World alumni took MANDALAY up and down the West Coast (Mexico, CA)
, then to the South Pacific and New Zealand. MANDALAY is back in San Francisco now, and in the J/World fleet--she is available for skippered charters, private instruction, and corporate/executive groups.* The J/109 GAIA (seen right in the Java Sea) was sailed by Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay around the world. In February 2011, their cruising adventures came to an abrupt, sad ending. As a tribute to them and their cruising friends worldwide, we hope their chronicles on their GAIA website remains a tribute to their warm-hearted spirits- read more about why many loved them dearly and will remain touched by their loving spirit forever- http://www.gaiaworldtour.net/
Featured Boats
Gorgeous J/100 Ready For A Gentleman, or Loving WomanThis particular J/100 has been lovingly, professionally maintained in Maine by her owner and during the winters kept in-doors in a heated storage facility by the John Williams Boat Company on Mt Desert. No expense has been spared to keep her in pristine, Bristol condition. Originally owned by J/Boats co-founder, Bob Johnstone, she's lived the life of serenity and beauty and is now seeking a new home. She has the Raynav C120 chart plotter and Tack Tick instrument package mounted on the mast. She has the full safety package, cockpit dodger, super-nice custom Triad tandem-axle trailer. Her bottom, keel and rudder have been completely faired and templated by Mark Lindsay Boatbuilders- renown for making fast boats go light-speed fast. She also has teak toe rails, updated running rigging, main cover and a custom jib sock by North Sails. In addition to new North sails she has an older North main/Quantum Jib and an Ullman Runner, North Reacher and cruising spinnaker. She's asking $115,000 and wishes to be sailing soon! Interested? Please contact Rich Hill at Hill-Lowden in Marblehead, MA. Email- hilllowden@aol.com or phone- +1-781-631-3313
