Cowes Week- The Pinnacle of J-UK Summer (Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Since 1826 Cowes Week has played a key part in the British sporting summer calendar and is one of the UK’s longest running and most successful sporting events. It now stages up to 40 daily races for around 1,000 boats and is the largest sailing regatta of its kind in the world. Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, as the event is now known, is a fusion of many exciting elements, with its great mix of competitive sailing and social activities. The 8,500 competitors range from Olympic and world class professionals to weekend sailors. In excess of 100,000 spectators come to watch the sailing, enjoy the parties and live entertainment, and to experience the unique atmosphere. It is genuinely a one-of-a-kind event.
In attendance are throngs of J sailors sailing on eighty-six J's ranging from J/80s to J/133s looking forward to the challenging racing on the capricious Solent, renowned for its wild currents and eddies, and engaging in the navigational puzzles every day of "what's the course and where's the bloody mark"!? Many a Cowes Week has been blown either by misguiding the rounding of a mark in 5 knots adverse current or simply missing one altogether!
Leading the charge as THE large one-design keelboat fleet at Cowes are the J/109s. At twenty-seven boats strong, you'll see many class leaders trying to avoid "the big mistake" and stay in the hunt for five straight days-- not an easy task when one considers that the crew often find the Guinness Beer tent and seemingly disappear into the ether (perhaps their brains do). Nevertheless, rest assured that J-DREAM, chartered by Peter Nicholson, will be in the limelight, as will be ME JULIE (Dominique Monkhouse), OUTRAJEOUS (Richard and Melanie Griffith), VELVET ELVIS (Richard and Helen Wright) and YEOMAN (the team from Malta is chartering with skipper Jon Calascione and perhaps Jon and Christian Ripard aboard?).
As they usually do, the J/80s all rally to celebrate the pinnacle of summer sailing and festivities by assembling a great fleet of sailors on the infamous Royal Yacht Squadron line. Amongst the twenty-two boats vying for honors will be two TOE IN THE WATER boats- BIG TOE (Sam Thompson) and LITTLE TOE (Dave Chisolm). In addition to them are past J/80 UK Champions like boats.com (Ian Atkins), SPITFIRE from the Royal Air Force Sailing Squadron (Tony Hanlon) and AQUA J (Bob Thompson).
For the first time, it looks like there will be a one-design sub-section of J/97s- six of them- all racing in IRC class. Included amongst this exciting new fleet are McFLY (Tony Mack- previous winner of Queens Cup at CW, Nab Tower race, Tobago and BVI regattas), JIKA JIKA (Mike & Jamie Holmes), FEVER (Grant Gordon), JACKAROO (Jim and Steve Dick), JET (James Owen) and INJENIOUS (Dr Gillian Ross- 2nd fastest J/97 in its first outing- the Round Island Race!).
IRC Class along will have 32 J's sailing in a fleet of 207 boats, or about 15% of the fleet. Sure to be a factor will be the two J/111s, SHMOKING JOE (Duncan McDonald and Phil Thomas- recent IRC Class winners in the Round Island Race) and the newly launched J-XCENTRIC (John van der Starre & Robin Verhoef who will also be sailing the Fastnet Race Double-handed!). Then, the winning J/122 JINJA (Ian Matthews) will keep everyone honest and perhaps win a race or two and take a podium finish! Two other well-sailed J/133s- JINGS (David Ballantyne) and JIVARO (Yves Grosjean) have proven their capabilities to win races both around-the-cans and offshore. This group is a tough one to put down a "betting line" on since just about everyone has won something in the recent past! For more Cowes Race Week sailing information
Marblehead NOOD Mecca for J/SailorsHuge J/105, J/24, J/30 Fleet Turnouts
(Marblehead, MA)- With the Sperry Top-Sider Marblehead NOOD Regatta kicking off on Thursday and the J/105 North Americans coming in August, the racing scene on Boston's North Shore is heating up this summer. By Sunday afternoon, the overall winner of the Marblehead NOOD gets the final invitation to November's Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Championship, during which the overall winners from all eight NOOD locations will race comfy, slow charter-boats equipped with monster blenders and ice-makers in the British Virgin Islands-- pre-equipped with recipes for "painkillers" and "mudslides"?
For many J/105 sailors, the Marblehead NOOD will serve as a tune up for the class's North American championship, which takes place at Eastern YC from August 10 to 14. "Our local fleet of 17 regular competitors will grow to 30 boats," says class representative Jack Attridge. "They're coming from as far away as California, Texas, and Canada. The local J-105 fleet has attracted about 20 boats on a regular basis for recent NOOD regattas," continues Attridge. "It's a very competitive, owner-driver friendly fleet. The J/105 North American's committee, headed by Doug Morgan of STEEL AWAY III, has been very busy putting together a first-class event and the week promises to be fun and very competitive."
Doug Morgan and his father, Peter, are stalwarts of Marblehead's J/105 fleet. "For years, the J/105 fleet has been growing and attracting some of the best one-design sailors in this area," says the elder Morgan. "It's likely that the J/105 fleet will be the largest in the NOODS this year and probably the most competitive, since the early arrivers for the NAs are serious enough about their racing campaigns to come here two weeks early to race in the NOOD regatta to gain some local knowledge."
The Morgans and other members of Marblehead's J/105 Fleet No. 2 will be rolling out the red carpet for their guests over the next few weeks. "We're working hard to assure that the J/105 visitors for both regattas have a great experience in Marblehead," says Morgan. "It's one of the best one-design racing areas anywhere."
Certain to be amongst the leaders of the J/105s will be champions like Brian Keane on SAVASANA from Beverly YC, past Marblehead NOOD Champions Stew Neff and Henry Brauer on SCIMITAR from Eastern YC, Bernie Girod from Santa Barbara YC on ROCK & ROLL, Kevin Grainger on GUMPTION 3 from New York YC, Bill Zartler on SOLARIS from Houston YC, Joerg Esdorn on KINCSEM from American YC and Ken Colburn on GHOST from New York YC (after his recent Swan 42 Nationals win he will be further testing himself against the best J/105 one-design sailors in the world as part of his New York YC Invitational preparations).
In addition, two very large contingents of "classic" J-racers will be on hand to have some fun of their own. Amongst them is a strong J/24 contingent. Will be it Caroline Ross's LONDON CALLING leading the pack, or Greg William's GRACE UNDER PRESSURE taking the HIGH FIVE from Matt Herbster or John Denman's AIRODOODLE just limping along in the front of the pack? Time will tell.
In the J/30s, it's pretty clear this group not only has fun, but they've also anted up the stakes with the inclusion of "The Fat Lady Sings" led by former SAIL magazine chief Eric Cressy aboard. Should be an interesting class to watch, anything can happen with this crew-- it all depends on which crew "won the party" the night before!! Thanks for contributions from Sailing World's Michael Lovett. For more Marblehead NOOD sailing information.
Santa Barbara-King Harbor Race Preview(Santa Barbara, CA)- This distance race spanning 81 nautical miles has been a tradition for Santa Barbara and King Harbor for nearly 40 years. A fixture of SoCal racing that continues to enjoy increasing popularity in the July SoCal sailing schedule is the combination of sailing in Santa Barbara YC's Fiesta Cup (coinciding with some great Cal/Mex yummy food and drinks and Spanish heritage in the region) and the blast around the islands offshore down to King Harbor. Never an easy race, could be fast, could be slow. This year 86 boats are sailing, of which they're 20 J's sailing, nearly 25% of the entire fleet!
This year, there's a bevy of J's sailing that include a fleet of one-design J/105s looking forward to take a fast slide (hopefully) south including Santa Barbara YC's Mark Noble sailing ESCAPADE, Dan McGanty's AQUABELLA from Cal YC, Tom Bollay's ARMIDA from Santa Barbara YC, Chuck Spear's TWELVE BAR BLUES and Juan Lois's ROCINANTE.
In the PHRF B Class will be Dr. Laura Schlessinger's beautiful J/100 PERFECT (Transpac wasn't enough for this girl, time for some local buoys wind-sprint stuff!), Eric McClure on the J/35 MACS from Alamitos Bay YC, Bill Webster on the J/37 SIDEKICK from Kings Harbor YC and Fred and Ann Cottrell on the J/33 TIGGER from Kings Harbor YC.In PHRF C Class will be the champion J/29 RUSH STREET sailed by Larry Leveille from Santa Barbara YC. Come hell or high water, it's hard to imagine how Larry and crew will simply "punt" and throw away this pickle dish for their living room shelves!
Sailing the Sprit PHRF Class is the J/122 SUNDAY TICKET sailed by Dan Scouler from Cal YC plus two fast J/124s, Seth Hall's MARISOL and Joe Simpkin's FORGIVENESS from Cal YC. Also sailing are three J/120s, Gary Winton's SHENANIGANS from Coronado Bay YC, Tom Cullen's BLUEBIRD from Santa Barbara YC and Peter Bretschger's ADIOS from Balboa YC. Included in the mix are a tough trio of J/109s that include Tom Brott's ELECTRA from Seal Beach YC, Bryce Benjamin's PERSISTENCE from Cal YC and John Shulze's LINSTAR from Balboa YC. Finally, the J/125 TIMESHAVER sailed by Viggo Torbenson from Dana Point YC will be pushing line honors and overall handicap in Sprit ULDB Class. For more Santa Barbara-King Harbor Race sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
In many parts of the world this past week, things got a bit hot, too hot for many, precipitating mass migrations to cooler places along lakes or the sea to cool off. It also galvanized sailors to hop aboard boats and go racing in some of the cooler regattas in the cooler parts of the planet. For starters, over in Asia the Phuket Race Week held in Phuket, Thailand had yet another fantastic turnout with the J/130 JING JING having a wonderful (and successful) outing. In Europe, the J/22s had their European Championship in the beautiful seaside resort of Travemunde, Germany and the women sailors in the UK made their annual summer migration down to the Hamble to race keelboats on the Solent for one of their favorite Breast Cancer Care Charities, attending the Dubarry Women's Open Keelboat Championship, many were sailing in the large fleet of J/80s. Over in the America's, Canadian sailors successfully invaded the Youngstown Level Regatta held on Lake Ontario and practically took off with all the silverware in the J/105 fleet, the J/22 fleet and in the handicap fleets! Nearby, the J/105s held their West Passage Regatta in Wickford, RI on Narragansett Bay, a good practice event for their upcoming North Americans in Marblehead, MA. Further west across the Great Lakes was the Bayview-Mackinac Race, a family tradition for many and the 35 foot J's (J/111s, J/105s, J/35s) all sweeping their classes (or nearly so). Even further West on the Pacific coastline were three fun regattas- the High Sierras Regatta in Fresno, California high, high up in the cool Sierra Nevadas with J/22s and J/24s having a ball; the Whidbey Island Race Week in Whidbey Island, Washington with J/105s and J/80s sailing one-design; and, finally the Santa Barbara YC's Fiesta Cup playing host to a large J/105 one-design class.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:
Jul 28-31- Marblehead NOOD Regatta- http://www.sailingworld.comJul 28-Aug 1- Sydney Boatshow (J/80, J/111)- Sydney, Australia- http://www.sydneyboatshow.com.au/
Jul 29-31- Lake Dillon Open- Lake Dillon, CO- http://www.dillonopen.com/
Aug 5-7- Buzzards Bay Regatta- S Dartmouth, MA- http://www.buzzardsbayregatta.com/
Aug 6-13- Cowes Race Week- Isle of Wight, England- http://www.aamcowesweek.co.uk
Aug 10-13- Chester Race Week- Halifax, Nova Scotia- http://www.chesterraceweek.com/
Aug 10-14- J/105 Northamericans- Marblehead, MA- http://www.j105northamericans.com/
Aug 14- Rolex Fastnet Race- Cowes, England- http://www.rorc.org/fastnet/index.php
Aug 29- Sep 1- Rolex Women's Worlds- Rochester, NY- http://riwkc.ussailing.org/
Sep 16-25- Southampton Boatshow (J/97, J/108, J/111)- Southampton, England
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J/111s Sweep Bayview-MackinacJ/105s Sweep PHRF C Class!
(Mackinac Island, MI)- It was a fantastic tour'de'force for the 35 foot J designs in this year's Bell's Beer Bayview-Mackinac Island race. Winds for the 221 boat fleet were as predicted for the 87th sailing of the Bell's Beer Bayview Race to Mackinac. They were light to non-existent at the starts, causing three delays in getting the boats off. Racers out on the race course reported there was little or no wind, especially for the boats with earlier starts. Most people were hoping that thunderstorms predicted for later tonight and Sunday night would bring more wind. Getting wet isn't a problem; they expect to get wet at some point during this race. But they also want some wind to help make the race more fun. Earlier, it was a warm and overcast morning when the boats were leaving Port Huron's Black River for the annual Bells Beer Bayview Mackinac Race. An announcer called out each boat as they passed on their way out to the race course on Lake Huron. A bagpipe band on the balcony of the Port Huron Yacht Club piped the sailors out on their voyage.
After their terrific performance in the Chicago-Mackinac Race (3rd in class), Harbor Springs, MI native Dave Irish and his team also sailed their J/111 NO SURPRISE in this year's Bayview-Mac. Said Dave, "After a slow start, boats enjoyed much better conditions for sailing in the early hours Sunday. Some thunderstorms did materialize late Saturday near the tip of the Thumb area (SW part of Lake Huron) but missed the vast majority of the boats headed northeast up the track. But the storms did bring some much needed wind, which was welcome after an agonizingly still race day on Saturday. Winds approached 15-25 knots for most of the day Sunday, from the east, which helped boats considerably. We spent a whole lot of time in the light running on Saturday, mostly on starboard. I don't recall that we saw SW, maybe during the night, but most of that was done with the wind backed into the Easterly Quadrant, which became brisk with jib reaching/fetching in a strong easterly breeze. After the Cove Island buoy up near the Canadian Manitoulin Islands, we ran west towards Mackinac Island with fresh NE wind using our North 2A "middle chute" (the big one). From there, with the wind shutting down gradually to a light NE, then light NW, then at dawn the Westerly filled for a two-sided beat into the finish line for us." 
Overall, J's did incredibly well, taking into account the fact that all boats had to sail in the variable winds beating, reaching and running-- the strong suit of good all-round designs. Leading the pack into Mackinac was the J/145 VORTICES sailed by Chris Saxton and crew, getting second in IRC B class and 5th overall IRC, covering the long Cove Island course in 37:49:17. Not too far behind VORTICES were a trio of J/111s sailing in IRC C Class. Remarkably, the J/111s swept IRC C class taking 1-2-3 on the podium and were led home by Dave Irish's NO SURPRISE in first (14th Overall IRC), followed by Steve Dabrowski's NIGHT HAWK in second and Tim Clayson's UNPLUGGED in third. In IRC D Class, Jimmy Mitchell's crew on the J/109 VANDA III simply crushed their class, winning by a corrected time of 6:35:49 and finishing 16th overall behind the J/111 NO SURPRISE.
In the PHRF Doublehanded Class, J/105s proved yet again they're a wonderfully easy boat to sail in all-round conditions. Finishing second in class was the J/105 PIRANA sailed by CJ Ruffing and Chris Ongena. Third was the J/29 PATRIOT sailed by David and Lyndon Lattie.In the one-design world, the J/120 class had a tough fight for first in class with Bob Kirkman's HOT TICKET taking line and class honors by just ten minutes over Bill Bresser's FLYIN IRISH. Third was Commodore Frank Kern's CARINTHIA.
Like their other 35 foot J stablemates, the J/111's, the J/105s sailed as a sub-class in PHRF C and swept the top three places! The J/105s were led home by Mark Symond's PTERODACTYL, winning class by nearly an hour! Dean and Lana Walsh's GOOD LOOKIN finished second, just beating Larry & Brian Smith's SORCERY by four minutes.
In the Level 35 Class, it's about as competitive as it gets with a fleet of incredibly well-sailed J/35s. Unsurprisingly, considering the level of experience on most J/35s, they nearly ran the podium like their stablemates the J/111s. The winner this year was past J/35 North American Champion FALCON sailed by a family team. FALCON is owned by Ed (42 PH Macs)and John Bayer (36 PH Macs) and brother-in-law Jim Barnes. All 4 Bayer children are involved. Mary Allen, the main trimmer, is Ed and John's sister and their other sister, Linda Barnes, is the wife of Jim Barnes, a co-owner and active participant. They dedicate this and all future races to their father Edwin Bayer Jr who recently passed away at the age of 85. There is also another family tradition on the crew - brothers Rich and Ron Rossio (25 PH Macs) are racing together on the boat and who together have over 40 Bayview Mac's to their credit. Finishing third in class was MR BILL's WILD RIDE, also a past J/35 North American Champion and a family crewed boat- having four Wildner's aboard!
Yet another 35 foot J, the J/34 IOR light air flyer, SEA FEVER finished fourth this year in PHRF E Class. SEA FEVER is owned by Commodore Dean Balcirak and Tom Burleson. It was Commodore Balcirak's 48th Mackinac and Tom's 35nd. SEA FEVER is sailed by a family crew and friends. Their Mackinac Race highlight was a clean sweep in 2004 when they won their class, overall, and the Yacht Club Challenge Trophies! As one might have guessed by now, the Mackinac Races are steeped in tradition with many family crews participating for over four to five decades! Cool. Wonderful traditions to look forward to every year.Sailing photo credits- PhotoElements.com- Martin Chumiecki For more Bayview-Mackinac Race sailing information
J-Fun @ Whidbey Island Race WeekDELIRIUM Wins J/105s
(Whidbey Island, WA)- Often referred to as "adult summer sailing camp", it's hard to argue with that premise as dozens of boats descended upon this summer playground for some fun and frolic around the buoys. Nearly three dozen J's turned up ranging from J/24s to J/109s in the handicap fleets as well as one-design fleets of J/80s and J/105s.
Day one was one for the record books! Sunshine and wind filled in from the west at about 10-16 knots for the entire day. The race committee poured on the racing with 3 races for most everyone. A few boats found out that the north side of Penn Cove gets a little shallow and did some deep roll tacks in the mud. Only one boat had to be pulled off the muddy bar.
Day two was Saratoga Passage day with 5-10 knot winds from the south. Races started right at noon and everyone got off to a light air race. Fun in the sun now as it has popped out for the later afternoon. The fleet arrived home and, apparently, the Party started promptly at 6 pm, much to the delight of the madding throng.After all the fun and merriment, the big winners in the PHRF P9 Division were the two J/29s, with Pat Denny's HERE & NOW easily securing a runaway first place with an awesome record of five firsts, one 3rd and one 2nd! Behind him was Pat Nelson and Bob Mayfield's SLICK finishing second in class 11 points back.
In the PHRF P2 Division, the largest fleet in PHRF, the J/109 TANTIVY sailed by Stu Brunell finished 2nd overall in class. Behind them in 7th was the J/33 HRAVN (Todd Koetje), in 12th the J/35 GRACE E (Brian White) and 13th the J/109 JEOPARDY (Ed Pinkham).
The J/105s always have spirited racing amongst the fleet in Seattle and it looks like there was a "new kid on the block" that showed everyone how it gets done. Sailing an extremely consistent series to take the gold was Jerry Dierks on DELIRIUM, scoring a 3-3-3-1-2-1-1 to finish on a strong note for 15 pts. Jim Geros on LAST TANGO started out well, but slowed down towards the end, getting a 2-1-1-4-3-3-3 record for 21 pts to win on a tiebreaker. Lying third was class perennial leader Lorenzo Miglioni sailing ALLEGRO VIVACE, losing the tie-breaker with a perhaps the most consistent scoring of anyone- getting a scoreline with all 2nds and 1sts and NOT winning the regatta! Lorenzo's 1-2-2-2-1-2-2 for 21 pts was only good enough for third? Ouch, fun but tough on the crew!Following a pattern set in the Sperry Topsider Seattle NOOD earlier this year were the J/80s sailing as a one-design class. Chris White sailed his CRAZY IVAN into first with five 1sts, two 2nds and a third. Second to Chris's commanding lead was Jerry Judd's GO FISH and third was David Schutte's TAJ MAHAL. For more Whidbey Island Race Week sailing information
J/130 2nd Phuket Race Week(Phuket, Thailand)- Now in its eighth year, Six Senses Phuket Race week comprises four days of world-class yacht racing and five nights of magical, beachside parties at the 5-star Evason Phuket & Six Senses Spa – all captured for international TV broadcast to 140 million households throughout Asia. The regatta is run over six classes, including cruising/ bareboat/ charter yachts. It’s competitive, high-octane racing for the serious boats and fun courses around the islands for the less serious racers.
The evening parties are legendary. According to one competitor, “It just gets better and better. It’s my favorite. We're very lucky to have such a regatta on our doorstep. What a great regatta Phuket Race week has turned into. Hard racing during the day and plenty of entertainment at night. What more could a sailor wish for? It does not get much better than this, anywhere in the world, I can assure you.”
It was a slow but good start to the regatta this year. After a four hour delay, racing finally got underway in six knots of SW breeze, that built up to ten knots during the afternoon and allowed PRO Simon James to fire away two short windward/leeward courses in quick succession. Several boats were eager to get going and jumped the gun at the start, then recalled for their efforts. The ones that did not return were disqualified. At the end of the day competitors were praising the race committee for competing two races in the trying conditions. Only a few minutes on corrected time separated the entire IRC 1, eight boat fleet on both races. Rick Pointon's J/130 JING JING started off strongly with a 2-3 to be tied for second after the first day, just behind Neil Pryde's TP52 Team Premiere.
The second day of sailing saw award-winning sailing conditions. PRO Simon James wasted no time in laying a start line off Bon Island and after the AP was lowered, the fleet went into sequence. Rick's JING JING sailed well to stay in contention for second overall.
The third day brought with it an early shower, followed by light winds which filled in nicely for a 10am start. PRO Simon James decided two races were in order for most classes today, and to shake things up, made it a mix of short windward-leewards and longer passage races. At the start of the sequence the wind was a steady 10 knots and built further as two rainstorms blew through the course, resulting in some great surfing for some and others opting for no spinnaker on the run to the line. IRC Racing were off first on a windward-leeward and Rick's J/130 JING JING led the class off the start with Team Premier (Neil Pryde) slow to react. At the end of the day, JING JING had a strong overall day of sailing and finished with a third to remain in contention for second. The final day of racing was a windy, competitive finale! The rain blew through quickly leaving good winds and white caps for an action-packed final day. It was a great test for the sailors. According to round-the-world yachtswoman Dee Caffari who is sailing the Phuket Regatta for the first time with some friends, “I'm loving the Regatta, it's a really good atmosphere. It's great to see so many boats on the water. The sailors are happy, the resort is beautiful. We're getting in some great sailing and I am enjoying the sightseeing as we sail around the islands.”
In IRC Racing the battle was on for second and third overall as Team Premier (Neil Pryde), having already wrapped up the series, decided not to go out. As winds grew to 13-15 knots, KukuKERchu (David Ross) lead off the start from with the J/130 JING JING (Rick Pointon) and Katsu (Ben Copley) close on her stern. Katsu tacked early and lost ground as KukuKERchu and JING JING stretched out a small lead on-the-water and rounded the top mark ahead. After three loops JING JING took the win on corrected time from Katsu in second and KukuKERchu in third. In Race 2, JING JING took her second win of the day from Katsu in second and Babe (Mark Mizner) in third. Team Premier took the series win with Rick's JING JING in second! It was a terrific performance for Rick's team and his best finish so far in Phuket!
In summary, the DNA of 'Asia's Best Regatta' is professional race management, an onshore venue second-to-none, and challenging sailing conditions in some of the most scenic sailing grounds around. The fleet saw a full range of conditions throughout the four days of racing and it kept the sailors on their toes. This time of the year anything can be experienced- barely sailing in dead flat calms to bashing and crashing straight into the blustery teeth of an epic Southwest monsoon. Over the years the sailors have grown accustomed to this and they come prepared for anything that can be thrown at them. The friendly and casual nature of the event, held in the elegant 5-star Evason Phuket & Six Senses Spa with free flowing culinary delights has made this regatta the best in the region. Yet another one for your "bucket list"!
Watch the Day 1 and 2 YouTube sailing video highlights. Full Phuket Race Week sailing results, race reports, news and photos
Veraar Wins J/22 Europeans(Travemunde, Germany)- Twenty five J/22s descended upon the beautiful, picturesque and fashionable German seaside resort of Travemunde for the 2011 J/22 European Championships. Over the years, Travemunde has earned a reputation for great sailing conditions, wonderful hospitality and excellent race management-- no wonder it's so popular with many ISAF International classes for their championships.
Travemunde was originally founded as a small village at the mouth of the river Trave and for centuries survived from fishing and shipping. Over time it ultimately evolved into one of Germany's most fashionable resorts, in particular gaining enormous popularity with Danish visitors from Copenhagen and, during the Tsarist Empire, it also became popular with wealthy Russians from St Petersburg. Most intriguing, Travemunde has always attracted prominent writers and philosophers, such as poet Emanuel Geibel, Thomas Mann’s famous novel “The Buddenbrooks” (how high society spent their summer vacations in Travemunde) and the infamous Franz Kafka-- who, OMG, caused quite a stir in 1914 when he walked barefoot along Travemunde beach!
While it was evident that none of the J/22s experienced any Kafkaesqean issues of Biblical proportions or poetic Geibelian dramas, it was true the were faced with difficult weather conditions- a low pressure system went racing over the course area and caused endless havoc for the racers. As a result the first day of racing went for naught. Then, the second day the PRO managed to skillfully get off three races and by the third day managed to get off enough to complete a seven race series.
After the first day, it was a horse race neck-and-neck between two Dutch teams, Ron Veraar sailing NED 1450 to a 1-2-1 tally and Ivo Kok sailing to a 2-1-3. However, over the next two days, it was clear that Veraar's team was sailing beautifully, literally dominating the standings and extending their lead after the first day with scores of 3-1-1-3 to win with 9 pts (inc toss race). His early competitor, Ivo's team on NED 1600 fell off the radar screen, ending up with a 7-6-10-OCS to finish fourth in the regatta. Demonstrating good speed and tactics to hang in for second place was Wouter Kollman, sailing NED 1591 consistently to score 4-3-4-1-3-13-1 for 16 pts. Third was the first German boat, Martin Menzner's GER 1327 racing to a 8-5-8-8-6-2-2-2, coming on strongly in the end to finish with 25 pts. For more J/22 European Championship sailing results
ECLIPSE of J/105 West Passage Regatta?
(Wickford, RI)- As the third leg of the Narragansett Bay Championship, the J/105s had another competitive event and yet another win for the champion team aboard Damian Emery's ECLIPSE from New York. Could it be a harbinger of things to come for the J/105 North Americans coming up shortly in August? Damian's team simply did eclipse the fleet, just about winning every race, gathering five 1sts in seven races, dropping a 3rd and counting a 3rd to finish with a meager 8 pts.
Behind ECLIPSE was a good fight for the remaining podium finishes, with the final result not determined until the last two races. In the end, yet another J/105 champion, Joerg Esdorn on KINCSEM sailed well enough to score 5-4-1-1-5-3-2 for 16 pts. In a battle to the end was Bruce Stone on JOUSTER and Fred Darlington on TONTO, with Bruce getting the benefit of a tie-breaker in his favor to finish third with a 2-3-6-4-2-5-3 scoreline for 19 pts. Fred's team sailed nicely and had a record of 4-2-2-6-3-4-4 to lose the tie-break with 19 pts, too. For more West Passage Regatta sailing information
J/105 PLANET B Wins Youngstown Level Regatta
TWO WEEKS TILL VEGAS Crushes J/22s
(Youngstown, NY)- A highlight of the summer sailing season for over a decade for both Americans and Canadians on the eastern end of Lake Ontario has been the increasingly popular one-design and PHRF handicap racing in the Youngstown YC's Level Regatta. Great sailing in one-design classes for J sailors has always been fun for many and there were good turnouts for the J/105s and the J/22s.
This year, the Canadian teams in J/105s came on strong and simply swept the top five places overall! In a fight to the end to determine the winner were two teams, Stu Kilpatrick's PLANET B and Peter Hall's JAMAICA ME CRAZY. But it was Stu's other worldly performance in the last three races that won the PLANET B team the coveted J/105 Champion trophy, garnering a 2-3-3-1-1-2 tally to win with 12 pts. Peter's crazy team started strongly but faded towards the end, finishing with a 3-1-2-3-4-1 scoreline for 14 pts. Third was globe-trotting team of HEY JUDE sailed by the gentleman sailor Jim Rathbun from Toronto, accumulating a 1-2-7-7-2-4 for 23 pts. Fourth was Terry Michaelson on THE USUAL SUSPECTS and fifth Ian Farquharson on SONIC BOOM.
Over on the J/22 one-design course, Bob Mendenhall's team cashing in on TWO WEEKS TILL VEGAS simply dominated their class with seven straight firsts for 7 pts (also a lucky number in Chinese folklore and Vegas!). Ouch, talk about a "schooling" on the race course of sorts. Adam Masters sailed TRAIN WRECK into second with 18 pts and Mark Stuhlmiller raced EUDAIMONIA into third place behind the train wreck!
In the PHRF handicap world, there were some new faces leading the crowd and sailing well. Over in PHRF 3 Class, J sailors swept the top four places, with Don Seitz's J/27 SEITZ-SEER leading the charge with 11 pts. Behind him was a closely fought race for the rest of the podium, with Dan Mather's J/30 CRUSADER taking second with 23 pts, Mike Seitz (yes, a family relation to Don!) racing his J/27 NORTHERN SEITZ to third with 26 points, narrowly beating out Fred White's J/34 SOUNDWAVE. A bit off the pace was Peter Winklestein's J/27 SHADES OF AVALON finishing seventh with 54 pts.
In PHRF Main & Jib A class, the J/100 SQUIRMY sailed by Joe O'Brien finished third. In PHRF 1, Jim Kondziela's J/35 POISON IVY II finished fourth. In IRC Class, the J/109 MOCASSIN sailed by Ed Werner should've won the IRC class handily were it not for an unfortunate DSQ in race 2, ending up 6th instead with a record of 3-dsq-9-1-1-5 for 31 pts. For more Youngstown Level Regatta sailing information
J/80 boats.com Wins Women's UK Keelboat Championship(Hamble, Southampton, England)- Over one hundred women from all over the UK took part in the Dubarry Women's Open Keelboat Championship, which was hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club in Hamble. Dubarry have been a supporting the event as race sponsor since the start in 2008 but this is their first year as title sponsor. All proceeds raised over the weekend go to the event charity-- Breast Cancer Care.
Six races over two days were split into two classes - IRC and J80. Racing in the Solent was challenging with light winds on Saturday. Principal Race Officer Peter Bateson made the most of the Solent seeking out the best spots and a series of courses were set accommodating the range of boats participating, creating some exciting mark rounding's as the fleet mixed with other fleets on the Solent racing around the famous yellow buoys. Sunday saw similar conditions until the wind filled in during the second race providing gusts of up to 20 knots, testing conditions for even the experienced racers.
The IRC Class consisted of 9 entrants, third was Louise Makin on the J/105 JOURNEYMAKER 5. The J/80 Class with a fleet of 6 had a number of close and competitive races with first in fleet going to the event organizer Jody Slater on Boats.com closely followed by Kirsty Skinner on J2X GUL in second and Sarah Allan on JUICY in third.
Pip Hare shared some amusing commentary on the racing on SA, "I took the opportunity to race for the second year in the Dubarry Women's Open Keelboat Championships in the Solent this weekend, an event in it’s fourth year, comprising of one design racing in J80’s and handicap racing under IRC.
The organization of an all female crew is actually quite difficult to do; yes, there are plenty of very talented female sailors out there but the problem is they are busy. They stretch across the sailing disciplines often as the lone woman on a crew and summer is a hectic time, with many events clashing and not many spare weekends.
We started searching early and managed to find ourselves a crew of ten ‘up for it’ girls but had to invoke emergency babysitting when our helm Liz’s husband got stuck out in Cyprus with the army and couldn’t make it home. So what do you do with a boat load of strong minded, female sailors; surely this is a recipe for absolute carnage, or maybe just a massage scrap?? Not in our case.
We have one rule on the boat and that is there is only one voice (it’s mine!). We have all sailed enough to recognize that the key to winning is harmony and that is definitely what we had this weekend. Saturday gave us shifty and flukey breeze, and inconsistent results to match. It was a difficult day for all but we managed to come out of it with 10 points and lying 3rd on equal points with the boat in second.
On the way back from racing we made a true girly day of it, opening a Jeroboam of Champagne I had been given earlier in the season, and the boat buzzed with chatter and giggling which had turned to raucous laughter as the last of the bottle was emptied out. Once on shore it seemed our racing personas melted away and we again became incapable of deciding if we were going for a drink or to get changed, and what time we should all meet later for the legendary frocks and flip flops party, which went off with a bang - more champagne and a raffle for frilly knickers.
Sunday gave us another three races in very different conditions, and having all races to count in the series we took to the water with a mission on our hands. The breeze started around 12 knots and gradually built to over 20 in the gusts and gave us an interesting day of racing, the kind of day where maneuvers need to be tight and controlled and the gusty wind punishes any mistakes.
Together with the crew of RED EYE a J105 skippered by Libby Greenhalgh, weather forecaster to the British Olympic sailing squad and JOURNEY MAKER 5, the J105 we battled it out in building conditions, breathing down each others necks on mark roundings and hiking as hard as we could up the beat, trying to use some rather insubstantial weight to keep the boats upright.
A fabulous weekends sailing and a good result to end with; many thanks to my great crew Liz, Clare, Clare, Lou-lou, Sabrina, Pippa, Sally, Helen and Laura. We are fully fired up for next year...that trophy will be ours! Thanks for some contributions from Pip Hare and Sailing Anarchy. For more Dubarry Women's Open Keelboat Championship sailing information.
FREE ENTERPRISE Wins Fiesta Cup(Santa Barbara, CA)- During the third weekend of July, Santa Barbara gears up for a colorful celebration of its Mexican, Spanish and American pioneers, called the Old Spanish Days Fiesta, that lasts for a week and brings in people from all corners of California, if not America, Mexico and Europe. Coincidentally, many boats from around Southern California arrive in town to join the party and also prepare and gear up for the popular Santa Barbara to King's Harbor Race- a mad reaching/running dash out around the Channel Islands to King's Harbor near Los Angeles.
As a result, it's a popular week to be in Santa Barbara for Californians, nothing else is on the racing schedule, kids are out of school (or at camp) and "the Fiesta" becomes a popular destination for friends and family for some fun and frolic on the gorgeous American "Riviera" known as Santa Barbara (one of five cities in America that claim that same title). The main drag in town, State Street, seemingly turns into another version of New Orleans's infamous Bourbon Street in the French Quarter with thousands celebrating into the wee hours of the night (learn more about it here- http://www.oldspanishdays-fiesta.org). 
Sailors were greeted by the customary amazing hospitality from the host, Santa Barbara YC and were entertained for hours at the traditional beach party underneath the club's porch with free-flowing beer and margaritas as well as delicious tacos, enchiladas and other yummy Spanish-Mexican foods off the grills. From the sailing perspective, the weather cooperated, too, with yet more of the region's renowned spectacular sailing conditions- sunny days, gentle warm breezes, cool water and great race management by SBYC's RC. Liking the atmosphere and entertainment a lot are the SoCal J/105 sailors. The J/105 fleet continues to grow for this event and is getting increasingly competitive. This year, the eleven boat J/105 fleet had two great days of racing with westerlies blowing down the shoreline from 5 to 15 knots. As usual, it was critical to get off the starting line, stay right upwind, avoid the big kelp lines (or force competitors into them!), and play the shifts as they come flying down off the bluffs on the right side of the course.
The four teams that made the migration north from San Diego YC were more competitive this year but were still no match for the local Santa Barbarian teams that swept the top three.
The racing was remarkably close for the top of the leader-board with the winners ultimately determined in the last race. Four boats had a shot at winning, including three SBYC teams- Alex Rasmussen's FREE ENTERPRISE, John Demourkas' ROCKIN & GROOVIN, John Ziskind's PERFECT TIMING 2 and one SDYC team- Rick Goebel's SANITY.
After the first three races on the first day of sailing, the top three were ROCKIN & GROOVIN with a 2-1-2, FREE ENTERPRISE with a 1-3-4 and third PERFECT TIMING 2 with a 4-6-1.
Sunday saw a fast turnover in the standings. After the first two races, Johnny D's boys sailed to a 6-2 and Johnny Z's gang sailed to a 2-3. As a result, it looked like it was going to be a stand-off duel at the OK Corral for these two teams to determine the winner of the regatta. However, both teams either forgot, or ignored, the fact that Alex's FREE ENTERPRISE team also had a mathematical chance of winning, too. As a result, in the 6th and final race of the regatta, the two Johnny's arm-wrestled themselves down into the dirt and way down the standings, with Demourkas getting the better of the two finishing 7th and Ziskind getting the short end of the stick and snagging a heart-stopping 9th! Winning not only the last race and the regatta was Alex Rasmussen and Ted White's team on FREE ENTERPRISE! Surprise! Losing the tie-breaker to Alex was Demourkas' ROCKIN & GROOVIN team. Third was Ziskind's PERFECT TIMING 2 with 25 pts. Rick Goebel's SANITY team nearly pulled off the ultimate coup by stealing third place, just missing despite being the only two race winner in the regatta with a 1-1-4 on the last day to finish 4th with 27 pts! Watch out for the San Diego crowd next year, looks like they're figuring out the kelp patches and wind patterns in the Channel!Thanks to all who donated their weekend to make it a successful regatta, Race Committee and volunteers and, especially, the sponsors including J/Boats Santa Barbara dealer Chandlery Yacht Sales managed by Bob and Ken Kieding, Harken, Ventura Boat Yard and sailing photos from Sharon Green/ Ultimate Sailing. For more Fiesta Cup J/105 sailing results
J's Get High In Sierras RegattaJ/22s Roll in PHRF Fleet
(Fresno, CA)- This year's High Sierra Regatta was the 58th year of racing on beautiful Huntington Lake. The regatta spans two weekends, the first on July 9-10, and July 16-17. The first weekend is Centerboard Classes, with the second featuring larger Keelboats. Because of its location and timing in the summer schedule (e.g. hot in Los Angeles), the High Sierra Regatta often attracts Olympic sailing medalists and national champions from various classes. Plus, the consistent winds and beautiful scenery attract sailors from all over the country.
For anyone that has never attended this Fresno Yacht Club event at Huntington Lake, in the Sierra Mountains of Central California, there are many reasons to add it to your “must-do regatta” list. For those of in the American Southwest, the excuse is very simple – it is a way to get out of the crazy heat.
The lake itself, at an elevation of 7200 feet, is spectacular, being surrounded by the tree-covered mountains of the Sierra National Forest. This year it was even more spectacular as there was still snow on some of the surrounding peaks. Said one sailor, " as usual the wind gods provided great sailing conditions by turning on great breeze each day prior to the start of racing and then promptly turning it off when we were done. Is there anything better than sailing in great winds (there were plenty of times it was white-capping) on fresh and clear water? The temperature dropped to a very cool 34 degrees the first night and from the cabin sites over-looking the lake it was so calm the following morning that I was convinced the lake had frozen over." Spectacular sailing, indeed!
Amongst the many J sailors in attendance were a J/27 and J/80 racing in PHRF A-- yes, the lake is big enough to handle up to 30 footers! Jim Powell's J/27 ended up 6th in class and local sailor Bob Crooks from Fresno finished 8th with his J/80. In PHRF B, Patrick Bradley from St Francis YC towed his J/24 down to race- a good 7-8 hour trip! They were rewarded for their efforts with a gorgeous, cool weekend and great sailing. Patrick managed to get a 4th in PHRF B fleet, just in front of local Fresno YC member Ralph Wessel sailing his J/24 to a 5th overall. In the PHRF C fleet, the J/22s really did roll and nearly pulled off a 1-2. Leading the fleet home was the Monterey Peninsula YC team of Greg Greenlee and Cam Lewis with straight firsts! Were it not for a slow start in race one, Art White's local Fresno YC team would've nailed second overall, instead taking home the 3rd place pickle dish with 13 pts. For more High Sierra Regatta sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Hockey Wins Battle of the Teams in Bayview-Mackinac Race? Yes, it's true. The Detroit Red Wings hockey team are winners, but not on the ice. They won on the high seas when their adopted boat, SORCERY, crossed the finish line first in the second annual Pro Team Challenge Cup, during the 87th sailing of the Bell's Beer Bayview Mackinac Race.SORCERY, a J/105 owned by brother Larry and Brian Smith, of St. Clair Shores, Michigan, flew the Red Wings' colors during the three-day race that began Saturday in Port Huron, along the southern shores of Lake Huron.
The Pro Team Challenge, sponsored by the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association, included all four major sports teams in Detroit: Red Wings (NHL), Lions (NFL), Pistons (NBA), and Tigers (MLB).
SORCERY crossed the finish line in Mackinac Monday at 3:13 a.m. EDT. The Pistons' boat, the Brandilee (X-402), finished second at 5:34 a.m., and the Limerick (S2 10.3), while flying the Tigers' colors, finished third at 9:15 a.m. The Lions boat, Shillelagh (Tartan 30C), withdrew from the race. For more information on the Detroit Red Wings winning sailing team.
* Eric Irwin, US Military Sailing Team Captain, credits practice on J/World Annapolis J/80s for Bronze Medal finish at the World Military Games! Here's Eric's report- "Happy to report that the US Military Sailing Team earned a Bronze Medal at the World Military Games. The Women got the bronze in the women category and the men were 8th overall out of the 26 teams. It was perfect racing conditions all week with 12 hour long races completed. Top three overall were Ukraine, Brazil followed by Poland. The top five boats were all crewed by professional sailors. The men's finishes were all single digits except for one 14th due to a trash bag pick up along the way on the bulb keel taking then down from a 5th place rounding." Prior to heading down to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Eric said that, "I have the honor to be the Team Captain for the US Armed Forces Sailing Team and get to represent the United States by leading a competitive multi service sailing team at the 5th World Military Games in Brazil. I managed to recruit a male (4) and female (5) team comprised of sailboat racers from the Navy, Marine Corp and Coast Guard both Officers and Enlisted. The team meets and practices at J/World Annapolis 6-11 July prior to departing to Brazil. The Male Team is skippered by a Navy Commander who has a 1st and 3rd under his belt from previous international military sailing events and the female team is skippered by a Coast Guard LT who was in the 2000/04 Olympic Trials.
Overall all, the World Military Games had over 6,000 military athletes competing in 37 different sports. There is a combined opening/closing ceremony on 16/24 July with sailing races 18-22 July. The two US sailing teams (male/female) fleet raced against 23 other military sailing teams from 23 nations around the world. More World Military Games Sailing information here. And, more about it can be read here
* What do you do when it's overbearingly hot outside? Clean the boat, polish her up and make her fast and use lots of cool water!! The owner/tactician of the J/122 SECOND STAR (seen here) took the opportunity to "RejeX" polish her from the keel up last Saturday. Said on crew member, "Regrettably, that window of opportunity last Saturday in Texas was a bit toasty. To power wash, clean and RejeX took 14 hours. We never saw less than 98 degrees, and by 4 in the afternoon, the thermometer in the white gravel yard was showing 108 degrees. That's hot!" So is her tactician! Thanks for this contribution from Sailing Anarchy.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
J/122 GAMBLER For SaleA 2008 J/122, Gambler has the three cabin layout, and the optional light grey deck. White topsides and cherry interior. The light grey deck really cuts down on the glare, the boat looks great and is in immaculate condition.
Gambler's owner has prepared this boat to race at the highest levels and her race results show it:
-2011 Charleston Race Week winner: PHRF Class B winner. 4 Bullets!!!
-2008 NYYC Annual Regatta-3rd
-2008 Sperry Topside regatta-1st
-2009 NYYC Race Week-2nd
-2009 J122 North American Championship-1st
-2010 Texas Race Week-2nd
-2010 Sperry Topside Regatta-2nd
Gambler may have the best winning record in the US topped by the 2009 North American championship! In addition the owner has been on a scheduled sail program with North Sails and the inventory has been continually updated each year, including 2011. For 2011 the owner has purchased the new 3Di carbon sails from North Sails. This boat is also set up to race offshore and includes complete foul weather for 10, Gill life jackets for 10, along with offshore jacklines.
The factory options are: light grey non-skid deck, Lewmar Carbon Wheel and Opening ports-aft face of cabin. Don't Gamble and miss out on this well prepared and race winning J/122. This is truly a step aboard and sail to the start line, or cruise across the ocean. Please contact Scott Spurlin at J/Boats Southwest- email- scott@JBoatsSouthwest.com or phone- 512-335-2391
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/Sailing News
Reefing: We have only one mainsail reef, and it is 2.5 meters deep, big enough to make a difference. So two crew members proceeded to pull in the reef, one easing the halyard (on a winch), and one grinding in the single reef line, (also on its own winch). We had opted for the Antal cars on the luff so that part of the sail was under control as well. It is just a routine operation to reef the boat in those conditions, with no-one outside the cockpit. I think we partially rolled the jib. But within a short period of time the boat was all snugged down and we were back at work sailing towards Grey's Reef.
During the early stages of the race, it was apparent the strategies that were unfolding for the sailors headed north were the following: a) sail the classic rhumbline of 21 degrees from Chicago to Pt Betsie, b) sail West and up the Illinois/ Wisconsin shoreline in a "thermal" scenario based on various forecasters prognostications, or c) toss everything out the window (ignore all forecasts) and sail at least as high as rhumbline and head east overnight to be on the eastern lake/ west Michigan shoreline to take advantage of southerly breezes accelerating along the shoreline due to the massive heating of the Michigan sand dunes during Sunday's sailing. Post-race analysis showed the best scenario was a combination of the 1st and 3rd options-- a very bizarre circumstance considering the pre-race forecasts from leading offshore weather routers that recommended staying west of rhumbline and away from the middle of the lake at night! The boats that worked further east saw more easterly breezes (75-110 degrees) with more pressure until it went light, swung south and accelerated Sunday morning. The boats that worked west saw the forecasted SSW winds of 7 to 14 knots and sailed mostly 6.5 to 8.5 knots all night long (albeit on a much longer routing).
The final day of racing at the J-Cup 2011, hosted by the Guernsey Yacht Club, took place on Thursday in The Little Russell just off St Peter Port. The breeze was a light 6 to 10 knot north westerly. Whilst the PRO had planned to run three races for each of the four competing classes but the dying breeze and the fact that the fleet had their monster J-Cup Prize-giving Party scheduled for later in the day meant that two races were sailed and the fleet were sent home in good time for tea and medals at 1300 hours.
On the shorter Scotch Bonnet Course, it was clear that yet another 35 foot J set the pace, to be the first boat into the marina after all had taken off the day before. In PHRF 1, the J/35 ABRACADABRA sailed by Klaus Noack and team were not only first boat to finish in fleet, but 1st Class, 2nd overall! In short, like their 35 foot counterparts on the Chicago-Mac, the Lake Ontario crowd also demonstrated why they are a force to be reckoned with offshore-- easy to sail and awfully damn fast in nearly all conditions on all points of sail. For 
* Lorenzo Berho- a Mexican J/24 and former J/145 owner sailed the 70 foot PELIGROSO in the Transpac Race this year. Being the unflappable gentleman that he is as both a sailor, a person and as a competitive racer, it was more than amusing to hear about Lorenzo's spectacular finish off Diamond Head, Hawaii. As described by Kimball Livingston who was present as it all happened---
The PELIGROSO crew was the second to arrive at Ala Wai Harbor and the first to tie up on Transpac Row-- the crew sang for the waiting crowd before they stepped ashore. According to navigator Ben Mitchell, they sang all the way across, 2,225 measured miles, from Los Angeles to Honolulu!
* As sailors, the J/Family's hearts go out to the friends and family of Mark Morely and Suzanne Bickel, both of whom drowned in an unfortunate incident in this past weekend's Chicago-Mackinac Race. Both were highly regarded and loved in their community in Saginaw, Michigan. Our heartfelt condolences to all and best wishes and prayers go out to the families of those who were lost.