J/122s Continue Global Success
(Sydney, Australia)- Good news on the Australian yachting front. The latest J/122 #81 has arrived in Sydney and will be preparing for the upcoming 2013 sailing season Down Under. She'll be following in the foot-steps of her illustrious sisterships on both the West Coast (in Perth) and East Coast (Sydney). Look for her to be sailing this season in some of the leading southeastern Australian sailing circuit events.
J/122s continue to demonstrate their excellent all-around performance across the rating spectrums, whether IRC, ORC or PHRF. Just this past 2012 season J/122s managed to again win her ORR class for the fourth time in the 289nm Chicago-Mackinac Race (Mitch Padnos' SUFFICIENT REASON); win IRC class in the 635nm Bermuda Race (Andrew Weiss' CHRISTOPHER DRAGON); win IRC class in the New York YC Annual Regatta (J/122 North American champion Mike Bruno and Tom Boyle on WINGS); win IRC Class in the 186nm Block Island Race (Andrew Weiss's CHRISTOPHER DRAGON); finish 2nd IRC and 2nd Overall IRC in the 103nm Swiftsure-Cape Flattery Race; win IRC class in the Rottnest Island Race (Australian Graeme Monkhouse's LITHIUM); win IRC Double-handed and 2nd IRC class in the 210nm RORC North Sea Race (Belgian Chris Revelman's JUNIQUE); finish 3rd overall IRC in the 900nm St Tropez 900 Race (Frenchman Olivier Parchet's NOISY OYSTER); win the 540nm Corsica Race (Italian Alessandro Brighenti's CHRISTINA III); get second in PHRF B in Charleston Race Week (Robin Team's TEAMWORK); tie for win at CSA Class in St Barths Race Week (Puerto Rican Sergio Sagramoso's LAZY DOG); third in IRC Class in RORC Easter Challenge (Englishman Neil Kipling's JOOPSTER); win CSA Class in Grenada Sailing Festival (Antiguan Jim Dobb's famous LOST HORIZON); win IRC class in Cockburn Sound Regatta (Australian Graeme Monkhouse's LITHIUM); and finally win PHRF A in Quantum Key West Race Week (Robin Team's TEAMWORK).
As J/122s have done in the past, these results are a clear illustration of the all-around performance attainable by one of the best 41 foot dual-purpose cruiser-racers ever designed. As new J/122 owners proudly discover, it doesn't' take legions of professional crew to get this easy-sailing boat rolling down the race-track. In fact, some of the most successful crews are mostly family affairs- Mom, Dad, the kids and friends have proven they can compete (and win!) against the best that competitors have to offer in the realm of IRC, PHRF, ORR and CSA handicap-rules around the world. Most importantly, such success also reflects the ability of the J/122s to sail fast in any weather- near drifters and flat seas to full-on "blowing dogs off chains" 40+ kt gales with 10 ft breaking seas! To learn more about this remarkable boat, please contact your local J/Dealer or J/Boats at ph- +1-401-846-8410 or email- info@jboats.com. For more J/122 sailboat information
J/24 Worlds Preview(Rochester, NY)- Over 100 J/24 teams are breathlessly anticipating the start of the first "open" J/24 Worlds in decades. Starting September 13th, a strong American contingent will be doing battle against a cadre of past World, European, North American, South American, Canadian, Bermudian, Brazilian, Argentinean, Chilean, Peruvian and Japanese Champions. Hosted by the Rochester Yacht Club in Rochester, NY, located on the south shore of Lake Ontario, the teams are anticipating how best to get out of the starting blocks with over 100 boats on one huge line with multiple line boats calling the start and keeping the aggressive teams in check.
On the American side of the equation, the "open" registrants has encouraged a lot of the "old guard" from past J/24 wars to jump into the fray and test how far the world of J/24 sailing has progressed over the course of time. Additionally, it has also encouraged a number of young, college-experienced sailing teams to jump in with minimal budgets and determine whether they're competitive at a global level. Amongst the veterans are Pat Toole's 3 BIG DOGS from Santa Barbara, CA, Tony Parker's BANGOR PACKET with Geoff Ewenson as tactician from Annapolis, MD, Al Constant's BLITZ from Long Island Sound; and John Gjerde's PERSISTENCE from Lake Minnetonka J/24 Fleet #1!! Amongst the next generation teams are a powerful group from Newport, including Will Welles' COUGAR, Tim Healey's 11th HOUR RACING and Peter Levesque's ORANGE BLOSSOM with Charlie Enright as tactician. Other top champion teams include Mike Ingham's USA 5448, Travis Odenbach's HONEY BADGER, Darby & Jud Smith's DARBY from Marblehead, MA, Mike Sudofsky's BOB DYLAN, Kevin O'Brien's FUGUE STATE (with Moth World Champion and Melges 24 Champion Bora Gulari from Detroit, MI as tactician). Finally, the "unofficial" Sailing World team from Newport is sailing on their thoroughbred CRACK OF NOON with Ian Scott, Herb McCormick, Stu Streuli, Dave Reed and Charlie Zechel on-board.
After the Americans, the second largest contingent by far are the Canadians with twenty-five teams participating. Amongst their top boats will be John Wynacht's STICKY FINGERS, Tom Barbeau's NAVTECH.CA and Mike Howarth's MR H.
The next largest contingent are the extremely competitive teams from South America, with nine teams headed north to vie for top "Americas" honors, too. Leading that charge are the top Argentineans (Nicolas Cubria's ELVIS and Matias Pereira's LUCA) and past multi-world champion Mauricio Santa Cruz from Brazil sailing yet another BRUSCHETTA. Rounding out the South Americans are three boats each from Peru (Javier Arribas Leigh's HAWKY, Luis Olcese's SCARAMOUCHE & Tania Zimmerman's JITANA) and Chile (Raul del Castillo's LA BANCA, Vernon Robert's JOYITA & Matias Sequel's GURU). Amongst the "island nations", sailing are Bermudian champ Trevor Boyce on NO SKIRT REQUIRED, Barbudan Neil Burke sailing IMPULSE and Japan's Mikio Tokano sailing HANSELKAI.
Finally, the European contingent is perhaps the least represented in the "J/24 Nation", with single entries from France (Nicolas Mabboux's TEMPUS) and Germany (Frithjof Schade's EL SCHLACHTSCHIFF). Noticeably absent are top Australian, British, Mexican, Irish and Italian J/24 teams in this year's worlds. For more J/24 Worlds sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
As August unfolds across the yachting world, a number of dynamics begin to come into play for sailors in the northern hemisphere. First and foremost are the end of the European "summer vacation" as well as the beginning of the early summer school year 2012-2013 for families across the northern part of the world, especially for American sailors. As a result, several well-attended regattas frame the beginning of the end of summer, starting with the current Cowes Sailing Week in England which include rafts of J/111s, J/109s, J/122s, J/105s and J/97s, amongst others. The Germans conclude the summer with the hosting of their famous Travemunde Race Week with J/22s and other classes. The RORC Channel Race is the second to last event in their famous RORC Season Series, with a J/105 becoming a significant factor in the overall scheme of things. Then over in the Americas, there's Chester Race Week, Buzzards Bay Race Week, Monhegan Island Race and others that begin to conclude the end of summer. Plus, the J/29s and J/27s are hosting their North Americans in the coming week.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:
Aug 10-12- J/29 Northamericans- Lunenburg, NSAug 11-18- Cowes Sailing Week- Cowes, England
Aug 11-12- J/27 Lake Ontarios- Oakville, Ontario
Aug 17-19- Verve Cup Regatta- Chicago, IL
Aug 17-19- Nantucket Race Week- Nantucket, MA
Aug 24-26- J/80 Pornic Cup- Pornic, France
Sep 6-9- Rolex Big Boat Series- San Francisco, CA
Sep 7-9- J/80 German Open- Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Sep 11-14- J/22 North Americans- East Tawas, MI
Sep 12-16- J/35 North Americans- Erie, PA
Sep 13-21- J/24 Worlds- Rochester, NY
Oct 18-21- J/30 North Americans- New Orleans, LA
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J/105 DIABLO-J Wins RORC Channel Race(Cowes, IOW, England)- The fastest boats covered the 145nm RORC Channel Race in just over 26 hours. In IRC Three and the IRC Two-Handed class, it was Nick Martin's DIABLO-J (sistership seen here) came out on top but it was far from easy. Nick Martin's win secured the Two-Handed Class for the season and also puts DIABLO-J up to second place overall in the RORC Season's Points Championship against some of the "hottest" IRC designs in Europe.
The last race of the RORC Season's Points Championship will take place on Friday the 31st August with a sprint across The English Channel for the Cherbourg Race. For more RORC Channel Race sailing information
Foggy, Sunny Epic Buzzards Bay WeekJ's Sweep PHRF1, Odenbach Dominates 24s, Van Voorhis Wins 80s
(Marion, MA)- The 40th annual Buzzards Bay Regatta got off a number of races both Saturday and Sunday, including the Dick Fontaine Memorial Distance Race Friday, which ran to more than 22 miles in four classes. Racing took place outside Sippican Harbor in Marion, Massachusetts in one of the largest mixed-boat regattas in the U.S.
With hazy, hot, and humid days ashore, the offshore the breeze filled in nicely for the racers, after a nearly two-hour delay Friday. It was a long 21nm tour of Buzzards Bay, going upwind for 9.5nm towards the opening, followed by a criss-cross spinnaker reaching course, gybing back and forth to the finish line off the mouth of Sippican Harbor. On Saturday, 8 to 10 knot southwest winds came in with a little more punch after lunch, making for a day of great racing despite the pesky fog. Then, Sunday started off the same but the forecast winds of 15-25 knots with sunny, partly-cloudy skies finally rolled in for a fantastic, near epic final race of the day with speeds on the J/111s hitting near 15 kts on a windward-leeward course!
Friday's long distance race in memory of Dick Fontaine, the first representative of the Low Tide Yacht Club in 1972 when the BBR began, saw nearly 50 boats compete in four classes on courses up to 22 miles which took them through heavy fog past West Island and towards the Elizabeth Islands, then back towards Cleveland Ledge Light. In the PHRF Racing 1 class Friday, Henry Brauer of the Eastern YC raced the J/111 FLEET WING to first place in a dominating performance over classmates, the J/111 WICKED 2.0, skippered by Doug Curtiss of the New Bedford YC in second place and Jim Masiero sailing his J/120 URSUS MARITIMUS to third. It was literally a clean sweep by J/Teams of PHRF 1. It also proved to be a prophetic outcome for the weekend regatta in PHRF 1. In PHRF Racing 2 Friday, third place went to Ted Herlihy of the NBYC aboard his J/109 GUT FEELING.The weekend regatta saw the addition of the J/24 and J/80 one-design fleets. In the end, there was a fabulous, dominating performance in the J/24 class by Travis Odenbach of the Rochester, N.Y., Yacht Club 11 straight firsts, making for a total of 10 pts! Local J/80 sailor Mike Sudofsky of Beverly YC finished in second place with nearly straight 2nds for a total of 20 pts. Third was Edward Walker of the Mosquito Yacht Club with 43 pts.
In the J-80 class, Brian Keane of the Beverly YC led by a landslide for most of the regatta after 8 races (counting seven 1sts), but did not sail the last three races on Sunday. As a result, Charlie Van Voorhis of the Fishers Island (N.Y.) Yacht Club won with 23 pts, second was Beverly YC member Nikolas Kotsatos with 25 pts, followed by fellow BYC member Brian Keane in 3rd with 29 pts.
Finally, in the PHRF 1 Class, Henry Brauer's J/111 FLEETWING team won four of fives races and added a second but took two SCP penalties to finish second overall instead by just one point. Winning was Doug Curtiss's J/111 WICKED 2.0 team with 6 pts. Third was Jim Masiero's J/120 URSUS MARITIMUS with 11 pts, completing the J/Team sweep of PHRF 1 again! In PHRF 2, the J/109 GUT FEELING sailed by local veteran and 109 champion Ted Herlihy finished 5th overall, dropping two places in a tie-breaker after placing 3rd on Saturday's racing. For more Buzzards Bay Regatta sailing information
J/35 & J/42 Win Monhegan Island Race(Falmouth Foreside, Maine)- Racers started last Friday the 104.2nm Monhegan Island Race in 7-plus knots of winds which continued to build throughout the day and started to drop off after midnight. Most of the racers rounded Monhegan Island in the early morning hours of Saturday with most crossing the finish line midday to early evening on Saturday in a light northeasterly wind. The Monhegan Island Race is Maine's oldest, longest and most prestigious offshore sailing competition. Even though the winds were generally "light and variable" (for which it is notoriously renown for), the sailors reported "good times" all around!
The J/105 INTANGIBLE sailed by Wolfgang Bauchinger won his PHRF 2 class. The J/35 BEAGLE sailed by Nat Henshaw was 3rd in PHRF Double-handed Division.
In the shorter Mañana Island course of 84.0nm saw the J/40 MORNING STAR skippered by Jim Palmer win the Mañana Division.
In the Seguin Island course of 70.8nm, the J/35 SUGAR SUGAR sailed by Scott Thomas took 2nd in division with fellow J/Sailor Greggus Yahr finishing 5th in his J/110 C-C-COURAGE. Sailing photo credits- Ann Blanchard For more Monhegan Island Race sailing information
French Win J/22 German Champs &Travemunde Woche
(Travemunde, Germany)- The European J/22 class loves participating in the Travemunde Woche because it not only offers great racing in tight one-design race courses, but also a simply mind-blowing festival on land that includes some of Europe's (and Germany's) top rock & roll acts. Plus, the Festival Travemunde that runs simultaneously to the sailing week, has dozens of activities for the family to enjoy while other's are out sailing.
For the eighteen J/22s, it was great sailing with a broad range of weather over the regatta. In the end, it was the French JAZZY team of Reiner Brockerhoff, Charles Michauz and Christophe Declercque that trumped by running the table with nearly straight 2nds!! In fact, six 2nds, one 1st and a toss race 6th! Amazing. Second was the German team of Jorg Friedlin, Holger Neuhaus and Carsten Engel with a 4-3-4-5-3-1-1-2 record for 18 pts net. Third was yet another German team of Martin Menzner, Christian Drews and Frank Lichte tearing off three 1sts in a row, followed by a DNC-4-4-4-4-4 for 19 pts net. Fourth was another German team of Svend Hartog, Dirk Fischer and Stefanie Schweder sailing to a 5-4-8-1-1-3-2-10 for 24 pts net. Then in fifth was top Netherlands team comprised of Stan Heltzel, Nadine Fritz and Jean-Michel Lautier with an 8-OCS-3-6-9-5-12-5 for 48 pts net.
The J/22s had a tight finale. Martin Menzner/Christian Drews/Frank Lichte from Kiel, who dominated on the first day, were left searching in vain for the right trim on Friday. ”We then missed the first start”, said Menzner. “We did a practice before the start – but for too long. The starting signal went off while we were still on our way.” They did better on the course in the following runs, gaining three fourth places, but they had to resist strong attacks from their rivals. “It was tough in the J22. I didn’t have this kind of competition in my original class – the J80”, reported Menzner!What makes Travemunde special for all friends and family participating in this sailing week? As reported by Reiner's French crew, "As always in Travemunde we spend the evenings on the huge fun-fair, we try all the culinary specialties, and like every German try a different beer each time. This is truly a magical place with tall ships and all!" For more J/22 German Open/ Travemunde Sailing Week sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Dennis Conner has been having fun in his "post-America's Cup" life. Who can blame him, he should be having fun. After a remarkable record of winning the AC with his own program in 1979-1980 with the FREEDOM-ENTERPRISE campaign, losing it the subsequent time around in 1983 with the LIBERTY-FREEDOM campaign, then winning it back in the 1987 Fremantle Doctor campaign with that fast "submarine" called STARS & STRIPES, "DC" has more than anyone left everything on the matt, so to speak, in his efforts to grow (and win) the America's Cup.Recently, DC has been having a blast sailing a light-air 60 footer offshore, the latest STARS & STRIPES. And, he's been having a lot of fun taking a classic yacht off the Great Lakes, the 102 year old FAME, into various classic yacht events for some more relaxed sailing in SoCal. Recently, DC sailed FAME to a 1st to finish and 1st overall in the McNish Classic Yacht Regatta at Pacific Corinthian YC of Oxnard, California.
As if DC didn't have enough boats to sail from his "garage", which includes at least two nicely prepared Etchells 22s, DC recently decided to jump into some local J/105 sailing with some of his friends. Following in the foot-steps of one of his childhood heroes, DC bought Lowell North's old J/105 #3 called PHOLLY. DC hopes to sail in the SoCal J/105 Champs and the J/105 Championships this October in San Diego, hosted by his local club- San Diego YC. Plus, it looks like DC may also be sailing against long-time friends and competitor, Buddy Melges from Zenda, Wisconsin in the J/105 Masters Regatta later in November! Should be fun to see the old masters dueling it out amongst one another for bragging rights at the SDYC bar! Plus, as the recent US Sailing America's Best Sailor winner, it will be more than amusing to see a number of the finalists enjoying camaraderie at the local sailor's watering hole.
* New J/70 owners include, amongst others, Tim Healy from Quantum Sails. He and his sons recently went for a daysail on their J/70 in Newport, RI this past week. As Tim passed along, "Timmy and Nathaniel Healy were having a cool time on a hot August day, they loved this boat. We're looking forward to having them as part of our regular crew soon! Key West here we come! :)" Meanwhile, some other J/70 sailors were enjoying their maiden voyages on the far side of America, in the northwest corner to be more specific. "Seabird" (Scott Grealish) as his "nom de plume" goes on SA had this to say- "We have sailed hull#18 in Cascade Locks, OR (the Gorge) the past few weeks. I've sailed the boat with my kids and the local pros and my view is that the boat is very versatile. I really could sail it alone with my 11 year old daughter in 10-15kn, and the next night go out with guys in more breeze and have fun both nights.Re: lee helm. I spoke with Dan kaseler (quantum Seattle) who was on the boat at WIRW and confirmed they went 1" longer than their forestay to get helm in light air at WIRW. We found (limited experience on the boat) that in the breeze we like 1" shorter than the "designed" length. This is a new boat and I'm sure some experience in one design will sort this out soon. Definitely feels closer to my Laser than my old J80 on the helm at any length :)
It's really a nicely built boat that's pretty quick and fun, yet less of a handful than a Melges 24 ( which is a good thing for the target audience, myself included). Resale value will be good. Casual daysailing is possible. My kids actually think the interior is great. My wife is not reluctant to sail the boat. I think they are going to sell these to a wide range of sailors and develop a nice class long term. Lots to like here."
* Dave Erwin- US Sailing's Sailor of the Week- July 12-18, 2012! Dave Erwin of Destrehan, LA won five consecutive J/30 North American Championships between 2001 and 2006. However, Dave’s true impact on the sport has come through his leadership and communication skills with sailors in the Gulf Coast.Dave has fond memories of growing up sailing in Texas at Fort Worth Boat Club on Eagle Mountain Lake and South Padre Island. Over 20 years ago, Dave moved to New Orleans and started one-design sailing a J/30 named Zephyr.
“Our team raced together for such a long period of time that communication happened without speech,” explained Dave. “We started thinking alike knowing each other's next move.”
In 2002, Dave recruited a volunteer team to develop the New Orleans Yacht Club website and social media channels. “We discovered that it was easy capturing the sailors’ attention, but finding new sailors was a challenge,” he said. “It wasn't yacht clubs that we were marketing. It was the experience of sailing.”
They started shooting video of Wednesday Night Racing, posting this footage on YouTube and sharing through Facebook.
Dave and his team of volunteers created their first Family Regatta this year. “To build the sport, we have to keep parents interested too,” added Dave. Also, another more recent marketing campaign Dave is working on focuses on big boat mentors for junior sailors.
Dave created a forum on the NOYC website to help everyone collaborate and communicate on events, ideas and issues. “This empowered people to spread the word about sailing,” mentioned Dave. “Everyone had a voice. What I didn't know is that the forum would become the means to communicate across the Gulf Yachting Association and beyond.” Dave also pointed out that the message board became a reliable source for news and information after Hurricane Katrina.
Dave is looking forward to his role as the Chairman for the 2012 J/30 North American Championship in New Orleans on Oct. 18-21. Learn more about this J/30 Championship.
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). Read about their latest adventures as they've gotten to New Zealand- "Avante Cruises the Pacific".
- 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 Boat
J/122 GAMBLER For SaleGAMBLER is a 2008 J/122 that is ready to continue winning races, or go cruising! If you are looking for a 40' dual purpose sailboat, GAMBLER can do it all! There are very few J/122's with the winning pedigree that GAMBLER has and even fewer with the 3 cabin layout. GAMBLER has been optimized for racing with top notch bottom and foil preparation, she's a past J/122 North American Champion. The sail inventory is all North and includes NEW 3Di sails!
Please contact Scott Spurlin at: Scott@JBoatsSouthwest or Toll free at: 1-877-596-8430
