J/70, J/97 & J/111 @ Grand Pavois Show(La Rochelle, France)- The Grand Pavois, International sailboat show will be held from the 25th to 30th September 2012 at the "Port des Minimes", La Rochelle. The new J/70 speedster will make its debut for the French sailing market at this show! In addition, the family-friendly, fast, J/97 cruiser/racer will be featured and the J/111 one-design speedster will be on display for its passionate enthusiasts. Learn more about the enormous impacts the J/97 and J/111 have been having in offshore sailing circles throughout Europe in 2012. Both boats have been IRC Offshore champions both in fully-crewed events as well as in double-handed competitions-- their versatility is un-matched. The J/111's growing one-design presence in Europe at major race weeks like SPI Ouest France, Cowes Week, J/Cup and others assures 111 owners there is a lot to look forward on the 2013 sailing circuit. For more Grand Pavois sailboat show information
J/70 Demos "Big D"-> Dallas!(Dallas, Texas)- For this coming weekend, J sailors and enthusiasts in the southern part of America can enjoy demonstration sails on the J/70 speedster at Dallas Corinthian YC on Lewisville Lake just north of the Dallas/ Ft Worth corridor. No shoot-out at this OK Corral, just lots of fun people two-stepping around for a famous Texas hoe-down on the water sailing J/70s. Beer. Brats. Chips. Tacos. Salsa. Jalapeños. Chocolate chip cookies and peppermint ice-cream for the kiddies. Mom's would LOVE this place. Head on down to DCYC and enjoy a ride on the J/70 to get hooked on sailing for life! Make sure you let Scott Spurlin and crew know you're headed there! Scott- phone# 512-423-2179 or email- info@jboatssouthwest.com. For more J/70 sailing information
J/Fest Southwest- Oct 13-14(Houston, TX)- Lakewood YC on Galveston Bay in southern Texas along the Gulf of Mexico is again hosting the Third Annual J/Fest Southwest. Open to all J/Owners, the focus of the J/Fest Southwest Regatta is to provide a Regatta venue that is extra fun for J/Boat owners, their family, and friends. While the racers are on the water, their spouses, children, family, and friends can enjoy a myriad of activities and tourist attractions in the Bay Area. Goodie bags for skippers will contain coupons for family fun.
One design fleets slated for the J/Fest Southwest Regatta include J/22, J/24, J/80, J/105 and the J/109’s. It will be a circuit stop for the J/22’s and the J/24’s. All J/Boats are welcome to race in the PHRF classes and in the J/Cruise class. Any J/Boat is eligible to participate, and the regatta organizers intend to offer several exciting formats for the non One Design racers. This year we expect to see a couple of hot J/70’s flying around as well! For more J/Fest SW sailing information
J/80 Match Race FranceWorld's Top Match Racers Sailing 80s In Marseilles
(Marseille, France)- As the world’s top match racers arrive in Marseille for Match Race France this week, they embark on two crucial events in two weeks, which could transform the Alpari World Match Racing Tour (AWMRT) leader-board ahead of the season-finale Monsoon Cup in December. Pierre-Antoine Morvan believes his Vannes Agglo Sailing Team can be one of the surprise packages.
Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team comes to his home regatta after a podium finish at the recent St. Moritz Match Race and a strong performance at last week’s final warm-up, Internationeaux de France de Match Racing in Pornichet, where he lost in the final to compatriot Mathieu Richard.
Morvan holds a Tour Card for the first time this year but has proved his abilities against the world’s top match racers, establishing joint third position in the overall Tour leader-board. He now feels that a win at his favorite event of the season can set up an exciting showdown for the Tour title. He said: “We have been looking forward to this event, it will be a great feeling to sail the Alpari World Tour in France. We know the boats as we use the J/80’s at home and we know the event from previous years. If we win Match Race France, we can start thinking about winning the whole Tour. Coming into our first full season we were targeting a top 5 finish. Now I think we can do a good event here and go to the Monsoon Cup aiming for the podium and challenging for the title hopefully.”Twenty-five points are available to each the winner of Match Race France and the subsequent Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda (1-7 Oct) and should one team manage to win both, they could transform their season as Johnie Berntsson managed in the 2011 season, taking a podium finish at the last event of the season.
Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team went into last year’s final three events in mid-table but managed to take second place at both the Argo Group Gold Cup and Monsoon Cup, securing a third overall in the premier international sailing series. Having recorded a season-best fifth place at the recent St. Moritz Match Race and currently sitting in eighth position on the leader-board, he is hoping that he can recreate that late run of results once again. He said: “I’m expecting us to finish strongly again this year, perhaps even more so than last year. It is still wide open this season I think, there are a few teams that could come through to challenge and we’re one of them."Match Race France sees wildcard entries from local favorite and 2011 event winner, Damien Iehl (FRA) Wind 2 Win, former ISAF Match Racing World Champion Adam Minoprio (NZL) Black Match and recent Women’s Elliot 6m Olympic Champion, Tamara Echegoyen (ESP) Echegoyen Team.
Gold medallist Echegoyen is excited about taking on the world’s top match races and thinks her team can really hone their abilities amongst a world class professional field. She said: “The Olympics was a great experience and something that made me very happy. This is the a very different challenge and it’s the first time I’ve entered a men’s event at this level. It’ll definitely be a challenge and one I can really learn a lot from every day. It’ll be really good for our development. I am expecting that perhaps the racing will be slightly more aggressive and with the bigger boats, it is likely to be a bit more physical than we are used to. Let’s see how we get on.” For more World Match Race Tour sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
Who would ever guess that September would finish with a flourish of events that would see many top sailors from around the world competing in several very significant events? For starters, the J/24 class (started in 1976 with Rod's original robin's egg blue boat) had a record turn-out for the first "open" J/24 Worlds in decades, with 96 boats sailing (105 registered) on Lake Ontario off that venerable host of major events- Rochester YC. Halfway across the world, the Spanish were hosting their J/80 Copa Espana where the top Spanish J/80 teams compete for what amounts to be the "Champion of World J/80 Champions" of the World-- and to think they sailed in a gorgeous body of water known as "Mar Menor" on their Mediterranean east coast makes the world of J/80 sailing that much more envious! Staying on the eastern side of the Atlantic for a moment, women J/80, J/92 and J/109 sailors in the United Kingdom hosted their "breast cancer/ women's cancer" benefit regatta on the Solent, with dozens of women participating in the "Women's Open Keelboat Championship" at Hamble River Sailing Club-- not a dry eye in the place Saturday evening during their "Flip-flops" party! Up north, the J/80s in Sweden completed their intense, fun, but short-lived summer series. A J/111 in the Netherlands sailed by a Swiss couple managed to have some fun and collect some silverware. Hopping back across the Atlantic, the American YC Fall Series started off on a spectacular note with gorgeous near-fall like sailing conditions for an enormous fleet of J/105s, J/111s, J/122s, J/29s, J/80s, J/109s and J/44s amongst others. Next up on the eastern American seaboard was the great fun a fleet of J/70s had sailing their first regatta in Annapolis, MD in the Hospice Cup Regatta supporting more "cancer care" for those in need. Numerous J/105s, J/35s and other supported this great cause. Out West, the San Francisco STS NOOD Regatta had two competitive fleets of J/105s and J/120s sailing to see who would get the nod to sail in the SW NOOD National Championship in the Caribbean! For amusement, be sure to read the J/24 Worlds report "from the starboard sink" form the #2 boat in the J/24 Worlds and also some J/70 Impressions from a J/24 Lymington, UK foreign J/24 wars correspondent and veteran of far too many J/24 events to even begin to count!!!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:
Sep 22-30- American YC Fall Series (Rye, NY)Sep 19-24- Grand Pavois Boatshow (70, 97, 111)- La Rochelle, France
Sep 27-30- Lido Yacht Expo (70, 65)- Newport Beach, CA
Sep 29- Oct 1- Voile St Tropez- St Tropex, France
Oct 4-8- Annapolis Boatshow (70, 95, 108, 111)- Annapolis, MD
Oct 13-14- J/Fest Southwest- Houston, TX
Oct 17-21- J/105 North Americans- San Diego, CA
Oct 18-21- J/30 North Americans- New Orleans, LA
Oct 20-27- Rolex Middle Sea Race- Gzira, Malta
Oct 26-28- J/80 Italian Nationals- Sestri Levante, Italy
Oct 31- Nov 4- J/80 North Americans- Ft Worth, Texas
Nov 1-4- J/80 French Nationals- Douarnenez, France
Nov 14-18- J/24 North Americans- Jacksonville, Florida
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Santa Cruz Crushes J/24 Worlds(Rochester, NY)- From Day One, Mauricio Santa Cruz snatched the lead of the Quantum Loop Solutions J/24 World Championship and never looked back. He is now the reigning J/24 World Champion and has earned his fourth J/24 World title-- just one title shy of Ken Read's record five J/24 World Championships. BRUSCHETTA achieved a remarkably consistent performance of seven top-ten tallies, a 13 and 19 in the ten-race series (including one discard). The team stacked up a 42-point advantage heading into Friday's final race and was able to stay ashore and let the others fight it out for the remaining podium spots among the 96-boat fleet.
American John Mollicone's 11th Hour Racing gained momentum throughout the week and seized second place with 101 points, followed by fellow American Tony Parker's Bangor Packet with 108 points. The 96 teams represented 12 countries-Argentina, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Peru and the United States.
"The venue was very shifty, and the team worked hard to stay on top of them. We had good sails and good speed," Santa Cruz summarized. "We used an old boat, but the old and new boats are fairly equal. The mast, keel and rudder have a good shape so we knew we would be fine. Our team has sailed together for eight years, and that is a big help. The Race Committee did a great job. Managing 100 boats is not an easy task." Hank Stuart served as PRO.
In Friday's race, three North American teams claimed the top places- Paul Scalisi's Rabit Cson Duck Cson of the USA, Darby Smith of the USA and Phillip Williamson's Roo of Canada. Winds on Lake Ontario shifted often and blew between 6-12 knots. As a result of the last day, the balance of the top five saw local Mike Ingham in fourth place and Matias Pereira from Argentina in fifth place. Americans only managed four of the top ten! Top Canadians were Rossi Milev in seventh overall. Top German team was Frithjof Schade in eighth place. Top Peruvian team was Luis Olcese in 10th place.
For amusement and perspective from the "crews view" from the "sink", please read Collin Leon's commentary below in the J/Community section. Collin sailed with John Mollicone and Tim Healy on the second place finisher 11TH HOUR RACING. Below are YouTube daily summaries and an interview with Mike Ingham.
Summary J/24 Worlds Racing Day 1 Racing Day 2 Racing Day 3 Racing Day 4 Racing Day 5 Racing
Mike Ingham Interview- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzOQiqY-3Ck For more J/24 Worlds sailing information and results
Tabares Takes J/80 Copa Espana(Palma Mallorca, Spain)- Only in Spain. A nation that has produced some great sailors in the last decade or so. J/80 sailors dominating the Volvo Ocean Race on Volvo 70s with the Martinez family having an impact on sailing TELEFONICA. Olympic 49ers, Olympic 470s and other classes the Spaniards have sailed well. And, sailing J/80s has proven to be their "national testing ground" for next-generation keelboat sailors. It's clear Spanish sailing team efforts have seen their efforts come to fruition on a global scale in the J/80 class. Nowhere is this more self-evident than sailing against some of the world's best sailors in the J/80 Worlds- Spanish teams have won the last SIX J/80 Worlds in a row (Dartmouth 2012 (UK), Copenhagen 2011 (Denmark), Newport 2010 (RI, USA), Santander 2009 (Spain), Kiel 2008 (Germany), La Trinite sur Mer 2007 (France))!
Therefore, when the top teams in Spain congregate for their Copa Espana from around the country at the High Performance Center in Los Alcazares Infanta Cristina de Murcia, it's going to be clear that year-end "bragging rights" for "top dog" in the Spanish sailing world will be the winner of the Copa Espana. The world be damned, who wins in Spain is what counts.
The first day of sailing was marked by a good breeze of 15 kts average, which made it easy to get in three races for the madding crowd of champions. From the start the fleet opted for the left side of the course, led by Rayco Tabares at the helm of the J/80 AUTRAN who would never relinquish his lead to win the first race. The second race was for local and reigning Copa del Rey Mapfre J/80 Champion Carlos Martinez. With a great start, he controlled the race despite repeated attacks by Rayco Tabares' AUTRAN, with whom he had a nice "match race" in the second beat. In the third and final race of the day, the strategy again favored those who got left. Again, Rayco's AUTRAN team started well and won the race followed by Carlos Martinez on MAPFRE. The reigning world champion Jose Maria van der Ploeg and his crew of NILFISK after a slow start stood at 6th place overall after the first day.
The second day was marked with hotly contested races amongst the top ten teams. The Race Committee had a difficult job because the wind was unstable in strength and direction. It would not be possible to start the first race of the day until 2:30 p.m. with winds of 5 to 9 knots. On the first beat the fleet divided between left and right with a clear advantage to HERBALIFE sailed by Leonardo Armas playing the middle of the course quite well, rounding the first weather mark first and never relinquishing his lead in difficult, shifty conditions. The second race was clearly for NILFISK and MAPFRE on the left side of the course on the first beat, finishing 1-2 in that order. For the third race, Jose Maria van der Ploeg after a great start took the lead from the start and with good speed controlled all his rivals to win the race. Meanwhile, the battle for second place was between three boats, Rayco Tabares' AUTRAN, Carlos Martinez's MAPRE and Jose Ballester's Bureaufax-Eu; ultimately they finished in that order.
After trying to get races going on the third and last day of the event, the RC had to cancel all racing after 1500 hours. As a result, Rayco Tabares on AUTRAN was proclaimed the 2012 Copa de Espana Champion with just 11 pts net with a well-sailed 1-2-1-3-6-2-2 record. Second was Carlos Martinez on MAPFRE with a dsq-1-2-8-1-3-10 record for 25 pts net. Third was current J/80 World Champion NILFISK with José María Van der Ploeg with a 7-7-13-4-2-1-1 for 26 pts net, narrowly missing out getting second for the regatta. Fourth was Emilio Azofra on YACHT PORT CARTAGENA sailing a solid series with an 11-3-3-9-4-9-1 record for 20 pts net. And, rounding out the top five was Pablo Benjumeda on PUERTO SHERRY I scoring a commendable 4-4-9-7-5-7-3 for 30 pts net. Close racing, indeed, for the top five overall!The awards ceremony was attended by the Director General of Sports of the Region of Murcia, Antonio Peñalver, accompanied by the mayor of Los Alcazares, Anastasio Bastida; RFEV president, Gerardo Pombo, president FVRM, Pedro Román, Spain J80 class president, Alejandro Diaz, with his secretary, and Pepe Gándara Cartagena Premium BMW manager, Miguel Angel Poor. J/80 Copa Espana YouTube For more J/80 Copa Espana sailing information
DIESEL Wins J/70s Hospice CupMIRAGE Nips 105s, AUNT JEAN Dusts 35s
(Annapolis, MD)- This past weekend's 31st Annual Hospice Cup in Annapolis - one of the country's oldest and longest-running charity regattas- saw a lot of boats come out and play, especially seven brand new J/70s in their first Chesapeake Bay one-design regatta! While J/105s posted the biggest class, the J/70's were turning lots of heads as they worked the waves downwind. Those that came out found great breeze with 12-15 kt southerlies, big waves and not a cloud in the sky.
The Hospice Cup, an annual tradition of mixing sailboat racing and charity, has not always brought good sailing weather to Annapolis. But anyone who participated in this year's edition of the event on Saturday, September 22 has erased all bad weather from memory... What a day to be on the Bay! Great breeze, tight competition on the race course, fantastic food at the shoreside party, an auction, upbeat live music and all with the best views in Annapolis.
Here's a brief synopsis of the event from proud new J/70 owner- Chris & Carolyn Groobey: "The charity regatta started with a four-leg windward-leeward race followed by a two-leg race with one long windward leg followed by a tight reach into the Severn River for a finish in front of the regatta’s spectator boats. This was the first race for most of the participants, with some of the boats literally finishing their commissioning that morning. Everyone enjoyed the 70’s upwind balance through the medium chop and worked on planing-versus-displacement decisions on the downwind legs. Skippers reported speeds of 12+ knots on the downwind legs, crews reveled in the challenge of the tight reach back into the river and everyone wished the race committee had kept the fleet out longer. Long-time J/sailor Tate Russack showed his experience with both J/performance designs and high-performance sportboats and posted a 1-1 scoreline to win the regatta. The remainder of the fleet was tightly clumped, indicating a future of close racing for the fleet. The Chesapeake fleet will soon swell to the low 20s with existing orders, with critical mass not only in Annapolis but also in Lewes (Delaware), Fishing Bay (Virginia) and the Hampton Roads area, and fleet leaders expect 40+ by early next year.
The Eastport Yacht Club in Annapolis will host a J/70-only regatta November 3-4 and hopes for 25-30 boats, comprised of both the local fleet and other 70s passing through Annapolis on their way to this winter’s southern circuit. Annapolis will then welcome the 70s back at next spring’s NOOD regatta, where a 40+ boat fleet is shaping up to be a reasonable expectation. All in all, a great start for the next great one-design fleet in the Chesapeake region."
Meanwhile, the J/105 fleet saw some spirited competition with Cedric Lewis' MIRAGE winning a cliff-hanger tie-breaker with Carl & Scott Gitchell's TENACIOUS- the tie-break going to Cedric winning two races. Third was Bob Reeves' A-TRAIN. Fourth was Steve & Gregg Sunshine's HELIOS and fifth was Andrew Kennedy's BAT IV.In the J/35 world, it was Jerry Christofel's famous AUNT JEAN (left) that brought "home the bacon" by taking all three races in first place. Second was Ken Karsten's BZING and third was Stephanie Reuer's DAKOTA GIRL (mostly by default). Sailing photo credits- Dan Phelps at SPINSHEET Please see Hospice Cup gallery- http://www.SpinSheet.com
J/Teams Love Women's Open Keelboat!(Hamble, Southampton, England)- The Dubarry Women’s Open Keelboat Championship organised by Jody, Ellie and the Hamble River Sailing Club benefited from some late summer sun over the weekend and was enjoyed by all participants both on and off the water.
On the water three races were run each day and wind speeds between 10 and 20 knots provided a good variety of conditions for the women to revel in. In the IRC class Annie Kelly’s J/92s BLACKJACK sailed nicely in their class to finish second overall. In the J/80s it was Lavinia Paternoster onboard JUICY who took the top spot only relinquishing her position at the front of the fleet in one race!
Off the water the girls were treated to an informal "Pink Canapé & Rose" party on Friday night with a short brief from Peter Bateson (PRO) and weather wizard Libby Greenhalgh. At Saturday night’s "Frock n Flip-Flop’s" party, in aid of Breast Cancer Care, all the stops were pulled out, the HRSC was buzzing, the champagne was flowing and the hog roast was going down a treat! In the charity raffle alone, over £800.00 was raised! Thanks should go to Jody and Ellie for organising such a fantastic and, most importantly, fun event. Also, thanks for the report contribution and sailing photo credits from Bertrand Malas
Fantastic American YC Fall Series- J/Teams Rule!(Rye, NY)- Following on the previous weekend's IRC East Coast Championships hosted by Riverside YC in Greenwich, CT, it was American YC's turn this time around. It was yet another gorgeous weekend of racing on Long Island Sound with six to seven races sailed in 8-16 kt breezes with big puffs, holes and wind shifts that rewarded a combination of smart sailing and a bit of luck. The J Teams were well-represented across the spectrum of one-design sailing and IRC/ PHRF Handicap racing in a strong turn-out of 102 boats registered. In the one-design world were big fleets of nine J/44s, eight J/109s, twenty-one J/105s and six J/80s. In the handicap arena, the J/122s, J/133 raced in IRC 3 while J/111s sailed PHRF A and the J/70, J/29s and J/92 sailed PHRF 4. All in all, fifty-six J's were sailing or about 55% of the total fleet, the overwhelming brand leader in the regatta!
The competition in IRC 40 was very close and the starts were difficult with many of the top boats pushing the line hard at the favored end. After the dust cleared, it was pretty clear that Andrew Weiss' family team aboard the magnificent J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON were out for redemption from their performance the week before in the IRC East Coasts. Starting in first and never relinquishing their lead, Andrew's team dashed off five 1sts and one 2nd to be leading their IRC 3 class with just 5 pts (net). Second is the other beautiful J/122 WINGS sailed this time by Mike Bruno, managing a 2-2-10-4-3-2 for 13 pts net. Fourth is currently Steve Furnary's PATRIOT with a 3-4-53-5-4 for 19 pts net. Sixth is Ron Richman's J/133 offshore champion ANTIDOTE.In PHRF A, the J/111s are leading with Paul Strauch's ANDIAMO currently leading with four 1sts and two 2nds for 6 pts net followed by a much improved, fast-sailing BRAVO sailed by Sedgwick Ward's team with four 2nd and two 1sts for 8 pts net!
In PHRF 4, the J/Teams are giving everyone headaches, starting with the famous J/29 HUSTLER sailed by the Esposito family with John and Tony continuing to lead the charge. HUSTLER's six 1sts and one 2nd mean they have a perfect scoreline of 6 pts net. Second is the J/92 HOUND DOG sailed by Christian Uecker with a 3-2-2-2-1-2-3 tally for 12 pts net. Kerry Klingler and Rick Lyall (of J/109 STORM fame) are sailing their new J/70 and currently sit in fourth despite not finishing 3 races.In the one-design world, the J/44's had tight, fun racing amongst the eight boats that were sailing. Many of the mark-roundings were so close virtually all the boats were taking the corners of the course as a group! So far, Jim Bishop's team on GOLD DIGGER have got their boat-speed back onto form and are rumbling around the racetrack in first place with a record of four 1sts and two 4ths for 8 pts net. Second is Bill Ketcham's MAXINE with a 2-4-1-5-2-2 record for 11 pts net. Third is Jeff Willis' CHALLENGE IV with a 3-5-3-2-4-1 for 13 pts net. Len Sitar's and AJ Evans' VAMP is fourth and Don & Dick Rave are fifth sailing RESOLUTE.
The J/109s have had one boat jump out in front of the pack with a six point lead while the next four boats are all fighting for the balance of the podium all within 3 pts of each other. At the top is Jim Vos' SKOOT with a 3-6-1-2-1-2-1 for 10 pts net. Matt Baker's RELIANT has 16 pts net for second, John Pearso's BLUE SKY has 19 pts net for third on a tie-break with Jack Forehand on STRATEGERY. Bob Schwartz's NORDLYS is in fifth with 20 pts! Incredibly close sailing for this group, most likely making for some anxious moments this coming weekend on Long Island Sound!
J/105s are enjoying one of their best turn-outs for the AYC Fall Series in years, with twenty-one boats participating! At the top of the pack are some of the long-time class leaders. Topping the leader board for this past weekend is Damian Emery's ECLIPSE with a 3-6-1-4-1-7-3 for 18 pts net. Second is Joerg Esdorn's and Duncan Hennes' KINCSEM with a 5-2-3-5-6-1-6 for 22 pts net. Third is Harald Edegran's and Jeremy Henderson's CONUNDRUM with a 1-3-9-6-11-3-1 for 23 pts pts. Rounding out the top five is Paul Beaudin's LOULOU in fourth with 27 pts and fifth is George and Alex Wilbanks' REVELATION with 29 pts.Finally, the big news for J/80s is that this is the first year the J/80s have had a one-design start in the AYC Fall Series! The racing is close and fun. Gary Panariello's team on COURAGEOUS is leading with four 1sts and three 2nd for 8 pts net. Just behind is Mike Zupon's JUGGERNAUT two each of 1sts, 2nds, 3rds and a 5th for 12 pts. Third is Dan Goldberg's FRIVOLOUS 16 pts net followed by Dave Wenstrup on MERLIN in fourth and Mike Beers' MITT-SEA in fifth! For more American YC Fall Series sailing information
DYNAMANT Wins J/80 Cup SwedenJ/80 Sweden End-of-Summer Update
(Marstrand, Sweden)- The J/80 fleet in Sweden continues to have a very active schedule, despite having one of the shortest sailing seasons in the world for any J/80 fleet! With their J/80s spread across Sweden from Stockholm in the northeast to Marstrand on the west coast to Gothenburg and Malmo further south along the Baltic, the Swedish J/80 sailors make it a point to travel around to some great places to sail during the summer just a few miles south of the Arctic Circle!
The SM Regatta in 2012 again goes to ROCAD RACING, for the second consecutive year they sailed home with the gold for being top Swedish J/80 in this event. The team has been on the podium before and during the past year they have also participated in several International J/80 events, including the J/80 Worlds in Dartmouth, United Kingdom.
Finally, the J/80 Cup 2012 was settled over this past weekend and it was also the last regatta of the J/80 Cup season. This year's winner was the team at DYNAMANT followed by HAPPY, HEAVY DUTY and MK-PRODUCTS. The TEAM DYNAMANT winners were rewarded with gift cards sponsored by BUBBLE and also the IT consulting company DYNAMANT (ironic, right(?), to win your own sponsor's trophies?). Many thanks must also be given to all others - both sailors and officials who helped out over the course of the season.
As teams are now beginning to haul their boats, many were contemplating plans for the 2013 sailing schedule. There seems to be many who are eager to trade down to France during the winter and sail in both J/Cup French Championships in November and SPI Ouest France during Easter/ Holy Week in La Trinite sur Mer, France. Then, of course, the Swedish teams could then sail the J/80 Worlds in early July in Marseille, France along the French Riviera! More news on this concept soon! For more J/80 Sweden sailing information
J/105s & J/120s Enjoy Casual SF NOOD Regatta(San Francisco, CA)- Blustering winds served as a catalyst for a highly-competitive first day of action at the 2012 Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta San Francisco, which saw each boat class complete multiple races. The stiff competition paved the way for a pivotal day two of sailing.
On the second day, more favorable winds opened the door for a highly-competitive final day of action. Going against a stacked field of accomplished sailors in the J/105 fleet, local skipper, Scooter Simmons from San Francisco Yacht Club and crew navigated their boat, BLACKHAWK, with perfection through three final day races and earned the overall event victory. Phil Laby's GODOT earned 2nd overall and Jeff Litfin's MOJO managed to get the short-end of the stick on a tie-breaker with GODOT to secure 3rd.
As the overall winner in San Francisco, Simmons has received an invitation to participate in the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Championship Regatta in the British Virgin Islands to compete in the season-ending event aboard Sunsail 44i’s against the other STS NOOD Regatta winners from across America!
The J/120s as usual enjoyed incredibly tight-racing. This time around, after the SF Big Boat Series, it was Steve Madeira's MR MAGOO's turn to lead the fleet home for line honors. Second home was Barry Lewis' s CHANCE and third was John Wimer's DESDEMONA!
For more San Francisco NOOD Regatta sailing information.
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Some more "most excellent" news from the Netherlands world of sailing. After a summer-long campaign it looks like the J/111 LALLEKONING owned by the Swiss couple Mr and Mrs Sigg, became the Overall Winner of ORC Class 1 in the “Zuiderzeeweek 2012”! The Sigg's managed to win their first offshore event against a gallery of tough competitors, including such notable boats like the Dehler 41, an X41, an X46 and even a well-sailed J/125. Congratulations to the Sigg's for a great job!* Some amazing J/70 "impressions" perspective from someone who should KNOW the difference. We recently received a wonderful note from David Barrow from Lymington, England. David for years has been part of Proctor Spars UK as one of their leaders in offshore keelboats.
David's commentary, "In 1979 I was given, by Westerly Yachts MD, David Saunders, the first ever J/24 to arrive in Europe and told to take it sailing at Lymington UK and see what it could do. My brother Paul, a friend called Dougie Winton and David Allen Williams (a yacht designer), got the boat on a Saturday, and set about launching and rigging her. We called her “Just the Job”--- as she proved to be!!
Sunday dawned a typical Solent day, 25 knots, wind against tide, misty, and not exactly bikini weather for the girls. We rigged our new girl and reached off down the river to the Solent with no idea what to expect. The Royal Lymington YC did not know what to do with this new boat, so they put us in Class 1 with boats up to 43 feet to race against.
We started upwind, in a fleet of 20 boats or so, with a beat of some 1 1/2 miles and we rounded mid-fleet. Then there were about 5 reaches against the tide. The weather mark quickly receded as the boat really showed what it could do. She lifted onto the plane and stayed there for about the next hour as we planed through the fleet and disappeared off to about a mile and a half lead at the leeward mark, ahead of the 43 footer. Then there followed a 4ish mile beat to the finish, down tide and into the teeth of 25 knots, the 43 footer and a 40 ft flat out race boat got past us and we crossed the line 3rd overall. We won on handicap by miles. The J/24 was launched that day and the rest is history.
With the J/70 I think you have the next-generation sorted, and I wish we could repeat the exercise with the similar crew as we did those 33 years ago." We agree. And, hope that we can offer our support. Nevertheless, do you think our "Lymington Mafia" pals "Fish" (Bob Fisher), Malcolm McKeag and others are up for another go 'round on the Solent with the old gang? Please let us know!
* SA J/24 Worlds Report- "The Blink from the Sink". Continuing from the notes above in the J/24 Worlds report, Collin Leon sailed with John Mollicone’s 11th Hour Racing (USA 5235) during last week’s 2012 J/24 Worlds at Rochester Yacht Club. Finishing second overall in the largest J/24 Worlds fleet in the Class’s history, Colin gives us his perspective from his position on the "starboard sink". "Responsibilities: Count down the start, hike your ass off, live in the starboard sink when it gets light, get yelled at about the vang, run the tapes, make sure the jib halyard isn’t knotted or kinked, call puffs and waves, pre-feed the guy, roll gybe the boat off twings, human pole, drink as many free drinks as possible before you’re too exhausted to stand (30 minutes after starting) and go swimming really early to clean the hull (yes, I swam a total of 6 days in the Rochester yacht club harbor… may or may not have mercury poisoning, MRSA infection, or something more exotic?).
Report, Day 1: Started out light at 4-8 knots out of the south/southeast, with a confused sea state and a race committee that was set on three races for the day, it was sure to be a mentally and physically draining day. After a mediocre start and good boat speed in both races, we didn’t seem to have a leg up as we did on previous regattas this season, as the conditions were so tricky. Conditions ranged from me spending half my time on deck and half down below (aka, in the starboard sink, or its counterpart on port, the battery box). With 1.8nm upwind legs, the race came down to small gains or huge losses. On the downwind legs it was key to not only position yourself for the pressure, but with 96 boats in the race it was even more important to make sure you had enough space to pass boats to leeward. Although it was extremely hard to make perfect tactical calls as everyone was in different pressure and headings, we seemed to find a “safe” mode where we could finish around the top 15 in both races for the day. I couldn’t tell you much about the upwind beats as I was mostly down below, however downwind we had a speed edge playing angles and flawless gybes that didn’t slow us down at all. So although it’s impossible to win the regatta the first day of racing, we certainly didn’t lose it. Sitting in 10th after the first day we were determined to up our performance, keep consistent results, and press forward. As the last race ended at 4:45, we were sent in.
Day 2: The first race started with a puffy southwest breeze and a race committee that was once again determined for three races. We started a few up from the pin after seeing consistent left shifts coming down before the start and battled it out with Travis Odenbach, holding our lane until a nice lefty came down the course. We tacked in the 15-degree shift and looked LAUNCHED on the fleet, finally a good shift going our way. Well it wasn’t to be! A massive righty came down a couple of minutes later, and we rounded high 20’s. With impressive downwind boat speed and a solid tactical plan by Tim, we finished 18. Not a great race, but not a bad one. On race two we all decided that the left looked better and would work this time again so back to the pin it was. After one general recall, the I and Z flags went up. With the Argentinian defending world champion “Luca” below us as well as two others, we were sure to be careful not to be pushed over the line. Luckily the Argies couldn’t keep their speed back and were over early. Immediately as we heard general recall on the radio after the start gun and saw a recall flag go up, we dropped our genoa and headed back below the line to listen for numbers. Hearing we weren’t called over and Luca was, we were ecstatic as it was a very stressful start where we came away unscathed. The only problem was that the fleet was still racing… the other two RC boats had X flags up and we began to lose our cool a little. GENOA UP! WE’RE RACING. Tim hailed on the radio that the general flag was up on the pin boat and after holding Gordy back from verbally abusing the flag guy on the pin boat (and what seemed like potentially boarding their boat) for switching the flag from a general flag back to an X after we “informed them”, the RC called the fleet back. Phew, that could have been an ugly race. With a solid pin start on the next start, a great left shift, we rounded top 5 (Finally!) after narrowly missing a hole at the layline for first. A great run had us move up 2 positions and we held our position until the last run. Looking behind a curious black cloud was coming down the course. We decided to set ourselves up for the storm by putting ourselves in the best position to get the maximum anticipated left shift from the storm (that was moving left to right). Well, welcome to Rochester. Storms moving from left to right have a 30-degree right shift to them. In 25 knots, pouring rain, and a 30-degree right shift had us finishing in 4th. A top 5 race, finally. The best part, no 3rd race today and not one moment spent in the sink. A miracle.
Day 3: Day 3 had us motoring out in 15+ knots, our rig set at two settings above base, and a crew ready to post some top results and bounce into a better position. Race one started with us starting towards the pin end of the line with a good line going out left. However, after working the left hard, the right dominated, and we rounded in the top 25. Working downwind and the rest of the race hard, we finished up 15th (at this stage we determined we’re VERY good at mid teen results). Needless to say, other top ten competitors were not as consistent, and we kept pushing for consistency, which we’ve been working for all year to win regattas. The following race, with similar conditions and a little sharper boat handling and tactics had us pass a bunch of boats and finish 9th in a dying SW’ly breeze. After finishing, the very determined race committee – at 4 PM – decided we needed a third race.
Exhausted more mentally than physically from the two previous races, we knew if we could out sail our competition in this race we would have a good chance in advancing on the leader board. With the breeze dying, we dropped our rig settings to base and started with a clear lane above the midline boat after a general recall. We had great speed and after seeing Darby Smith roll top contenders of the fleet in what seemed like her own private lefty, we tried to make the left shift work and like everyone else, failed. She was launched. At this point the breeze dropped off to 5-6 knots and I found myself in a familiar place down below. Moving my body weight in and out to keep the boats heel consistent, we finally made it to the mark in the mid 20’s. After a great set, we went to work downwind, and once the kite was down I was back down below. Gaining another boat or two upwind (or so I was informed), we had an intensely slow battle downwind, passing another two boats, and were moving at a snail’s pace toward the upwind finish. Halfway up the final leg, Gordy came down below to sit in front of the bulkhead. No words were needed: We’d hit a massive hole, 200 yards from the finish, and were parked.
Now, if you’ve never sailed a J/24 before, you probably don’t know that there’s only one thing worse than contorting your body down below. That’s having two people down there. Because that only happens when there’s nothing to do but wait for breeze as you boil and marinate in your gear. At the tune-up regatta in Oswego a few weeks back we practiced this situation: Tiptoe up on deck to roll-tack the boat, stay on deck to leeward until the sails are full, then slither back downstairs. We knew the drill…
We finally saw breeze coming down the lake, coming right toward us in fact! But being in Rochester (and remembering George Costanza’s ‘Opposite’ episode) one must remember the mantra, “Right is wrong and wrong is right, down is up and up is down.” Left side puff, righty shift, and we finished in 14th. We survived, and continued keeping to our plan for consistency over all else. Meanwhile, 3-time J/24 Worlds winner Mauricio Santa Cruz was putting on a clinic in his ancient chartered boat, taking his second bullet of the event.
Day 4: Day 4 showed us some great breeze, starting out with a 15-knot southerly building throughout the day to 25 knots, then settling in the mid teens. With three races left, we needed to post two top scores to be in contention for the title. Okay, maybe not in contention, but at least close. Since the event started, for the most part you had either be in the pressure, have a shift go your way, or just win your side no matter what happened on the other. With 1.8nm legs, a 5 degree shift could be the difference between first and 50th. We decided that the right looked pretty good at the start of the race and set off to win our side. Will Welles, Matias Pereira, Rossi Milev and Travis Odenbach had the same thought, and when the massive righty came down, it was a pack of old friends at the top mark, with 11th Hour Racing in the lead! We held everyone off until the last quarter of the final leg, when Will and Matias split sides. This forced us to pick a shift, as we couldn’t cover both boats. As luck would have it, a righty came in when we were on the left. We lost Will but still beat Matias to take second: A solid race in the end. With one race left we were postponed for half an hour until the wind became steady enough to start a race. The left kept filling in stronger and stronger and shifting towards more of a left number throughout the sequence. We had a little starting issue where the breeze shifted so hard left we couldn’t quite reach the line at go. The boats that had good starts immediately tacked in the large left shift and we had to continue further left before getting a lane. Once we tacked we looked way behind the fleet, however the breeze went harder left as the breeze increased. As we were the first to get the new higher velocity breeze being the most left boat, our deficit wasn’t as bad as it could have been. We rounded top 20 and went to work passing boats all over the course to finish 9th, a great comeback. However as great of a comeback as it may have been, Mauricio and team Bruschetta finished 3rd, winning the regatta without having to sail the last race. Even better for those guys, they could sit out the entire final day. It was an “ass caning” as John put it at the awards dinner…but we knew Day 5 would be intense for us regardless of the outcome, so we headed back to the hotel early after a few drinks. And by ‘drinks’ I mean rocky mountain water, which was all we could handle.
Day 5: With a light but building Southerly of around 5 knots at dockout, I was pretty sure I’d be finishing yet another 2012 regatta – the fourth of the year -- sitting in the sink. Imagine my surprise when enough breeze came in to pull me into the cockpit! We saw that the right had better pressure and we won the boat end of the line convincingly. Being 1 point out of third and 2 out of second, we determined our strategy would be to sail fast and leave the points to be determined by how well our competitors sailed. After being headed within 25 seconds of the start, we tacked and headed towards the right hoping the breeze would turn around during the 1.8nm leg. About half way up the beat we realized that the right wasn’t to be, but like the rest of the week we still had to win our side to have a chance. We pressed the right hard, but the harder we pressed the more left the breeze shifted. The bad news was there was no way we were going to break into the top pack, the good news was our closest competitors were right there with us (in the mid 50’s). Rounding around 50th, we had an issue with two slow boats on the first downwind where they were literally stuck to the water, but after rolling one to leeward and the other to windward, we set on pressing for the rest of the race. After a VERY few tense if not comical legs, we finished 37th, however our closest competition finished just far enough behind in the race to push us into second overall. Dropping the 37th and having our next worse race an 18th, we went on to finish 7 points ahead of third overall. We felt the satisfaction of a hard-fought 2nd place at the 2012 J/24 Worlds.
While motoring in, we tried to pass as many boats as possible for the first-come, first-served haulout. On the way in, it came clear that, although we had little luck on our side for the event, having consistent results (averaging a little over an 11) was really the name of the game in such a large fleet on a huge course. On top of a great result, we also got to save a life and win some karma from nature after Tim noticed a duck with its leg stuck between two jagged edges of an old piling from one of the docks. It was one last swim for me to save the little quacker, and she was transported to the animal hospital to assess the injured leg. Volunteer quacks Sarah Enright and her mom reported from the vet that the duck would make it…
Overall, we were pretty stoked with the result as the race was really for second after the second day. Mauricio was in a world of his own, and really showed how to win the event (for a fourth time). A big congrats to the organizers at RYC who put on a wonderful regatta. The 11th Hour Racing Team of USA 5235 will be racing ECC’s in a few weeks and then down to Florida for NA’s in mid November." Thanks for this contribution from Sailing Anarchy contributor Collin Leon.
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/
What were Andi's impressions under sail? "We were just left wanting more", said Andi. "More time to sail, a chance to line up in a big fleet in 20kts of breeze and sunshine, a chance to sail it with the kids on a summer afternoon, a chance to stay on for the Newport YC’s Wednesday night racing." Andi goes on to say, "Reaching was pure joy. The big asymmetric launched and retrieved from the companionway was pretty straightforward. It planes flat and fast, rewarding the harmonious work of the trimmer and the helm to keep her lit up. She feels light without being skittery; stiff and firm when you come up and build the apparent but swift in terms of acceleration. It is not as harum-scarum or physical as the Melges and you feel like you are pushing less water than her big sister, the J/80." You can read the entire four-page article in print (Y&Y on news-stands now) or
Also sailing amongst the crowd of J/24 sailors are a team from Newport's Fleet #50 that are comprised of a bunch of characters from SAILING WORLD Magazine. Here's their latest report to date on what it's like to sail this year's J/24 Worlds from SW's Editor's perspective (Dave Reed) from the "front of the bus":
* DOUBLE TROUBLE- the inside story on how two guys "doubled" up their efforts to campaign the famous J/125 DOUBLE TROUBLE and take the Pacific offshore and round-the-buoys circuit by storm. Apparently, it all started on San Francisco Bay. As young kids, both Andy Costello (left) and Peter Krueger (right) grew up as classic Bay area kids with a love for the water and dreaming about what it would be like to sail a boat on the Bay. 
* J/111 BLAST Update- After a remarkable season of sailing in the Nova Scotia offshore circuit, the BLAST team from Halifax are still celebrating. We also got a nice update from BLAST owner Mark Surrette-
* The Read Brothers Receive RIMTA Award- the two ex-J/24 World Champions were awarded for their contribution to sailing in Rhode Island. Newport's sibling sailing luminaries, Ken and Brad Read, were honored this past Sunday by the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association with the organizations inaugural "Anchor Award".