J/97 Eclipses Long Island Sound Sailing Circuit(Rye, New York)- The first of the new J/97s arrived this summer to race on the Long Island Sound sailing circuit. After several events, the J/97 proved herself capable to deliver on the promise of a fun, fast, family-friendly cruiser racer-- equally adept at handling the demanding needs of the family weekender as well as being competitive offshore.
The J/97 has proven itself in Europe having won IRC class in SPI OUEST France off La Trinite sur Mer, France; Scottish Race Week off Tarbert, Scotland; Cowes Sailing Week off Cowes, Isle of Wight, England; both Hamble Winter Series and Warsash Spring Series on the Solent, England; as well as countless offshore races during the RORC sailing season. Like her counterparts in Europe, the J/97 on Long Island Sound has demonstrated she is quite capable of winning PHRF Handicap as well.
For an appointment to see the new J/97 in Annapolis, MD, please be sure to contact Ken Comerford at North Point Yacht Sales at ph- 410-280-2138 or email- ken@northpointyachtsales.com For more J/97 family cruiser racer sailing information
Newport Harbor "Try A J/70"!(Newport Beach, CA)- JK3 Yachts is proud to present the new J/70 to greater Los Angeles Basin sailors down in Newport Beach this coming weekend! JK3 Yachts will be providing a boat to Newport Harbor YC for a "J/70 Day" on Saturday, October 27th, and will be on site to answer any questions and take members and their guests on test sails throughout the day. Please be sure to make an appointment to schedule your test sail by contacting Joanne at J/Concierge- joanne@jk3yachts.com. For more information on sailing the J/70 at Newport Harbor YC
Benelux "Try A J" Sailing Day!Twin J/70s Featured with Five Other Big J's
(Port Zelande, Netherlands)- J/Benelux will have the annual “Try a J” demo sailing day on Saturday 27th October in Marina
Port Zelande in Ouddorp, The Netherlands. Featured at this sailing event will be twin brand-new J/70s along with the International J/80, the J/108 shoal-draft performance cruiser, the J/109 one-design cruiser racer, the J/111 offshore one-design speedster and the J/122 offshore cruiser racer. Of note, you will get to experience the J/70 as a European Yacht of the Year Overall Nominee for 2012/ 2013!To schedule a demo, please be sure to go to www.jboats.nl for registration. You may also contact Robin or Angelique Verhoef at email- "info@jboats.nl" or telephone- +31 (0)78 6305505.
Get Ready For Sailing Key West!Calling All J/70, J/80, J/105 & J/PHRF Teams!
(Key West, FL)- The 25th Anniversary edition of Key West Race Week was by all accounts a great success and your Key West hosts are looking forward to building on the enthusiasm that was generated last year and delivering another memorable Key West Race Week 2013 for the one-design J/80 and J/105 classes, for the popular J/PHRF class and for the new J/70 class! The competition is world-class and the evening socials at the Kelly’s Caribbean shoreside venue have proven to be very popular for skippers and crews.
For the 26th edition of this winter classic, ten races over five days are planned for J/One-Design classes and the J/PHRF classes. A Key West hallmark has been strong class racing and we are hoping to grow those fleets that have supported Key West for years. Positive news from all four J/Classes point to another year featuring great competition- so far 35 J's are signed up, about 42% of the 84 boats planning to participate already. Come one, come all, let's make J's 50% of the fleet! The more the merrier!
For J/105s, the big news is that one of the class's newest owners, Dennis Conner (recently honored as "America's Greatest Sailor" by Sailing World Magazine) will be sailing USA 3- DC's PHOLLY, one of the oldest J/105s in existence. DC just finished sailing the J/105 SoCal Championships and the J/105 North American Championships in San Diego and has proven to be a competitive J/105 sailor-- DC and crew are looking forward to sailing Key West and invite all J/105 sailors to join them for some "phun and phrolic with PHOLLY!" To date, Damien Emery's champion ECLIPSE from New York has taken up the invitation as has Bennet Greenwald's PERSEVERANCE traveling cross-country like DC from San Diego, California! What an opportunity to say you "crossed-tacks with DC (the America's Cup most famous sailor) and lived to tell the story"! Join DC and crew for the J/105 2013 Midwinter Championship!
The J/80s have a quartet from Annapolis showing up with Kristen Beery, Bert Carp, Jeff Jordan's WILLY T and J-World's ANIMAL HOUSE looking forward to some rocking & rolling in the crystal blue-waters off Key West. Joining them are Gary Panariello's COURAGEOUS from New York and Ron Buzil's VAYU 2 from Chicago, Illinois. The J/80s will again be hosting their 2013 J/80 Midwinter Championship in conjunction with the Key West regatta-- it's a great way to have "your cake & eat it, too"! Win class prizes, daily fleet prizes, door prizes and take a well-deserved break from the freezing grip of winter to work on that tan and catch up with sailing friends from around the world!
The J/70s debuts at Key West 2013 for its first J/70 Midwinter Championship on a special circle just west of Sunset Key (Tank Island), past the NW Passage. The racing promises to be fun, fast and challenging for what may be the first time many of the teams will be racing one-design. So far, with 18 boats registered and over 30 expected to participate the fleet is beginning to look like a "Woodstock" sailing festival with many legendary J/Sailors from the past participating as well as some of the latest rockstars. Known participants include Mark Ploch (winner of first J/24 Midwinters in 1978), David Ullman, Don Trask, Tim Healy, Rod/Jeff Johnstone, Heather Gregg-Earl, Don Finkle, Jimmie Allsopp & son Cole, Kerry Klingler/ Rick Lyall, Henry Brauer/ Will Welles, Mike Sudofsky, John Gottwald, Bruno Pasquinelli, Chris Snow and Blake Kimbrough, amongst many others. 
Finally, the J/PHRF Time-on-time handicap class is shaping up to be yet another great fleet of boats. Last year, past winners Bill Sweetser on the J/109 RUSH and Robin Team on the J/122 TEAMWORK both said it was some of the best handicap racing they've ever sailed at Key West. WIth Rod J handling the PHRF TOT handicaps, the racing was fair, fun and extremely competitive with the outcome of the entire week coming down to the last race. This year promises to be just as much fun. So far, two top J/109s are sailing, Sweetser's RUSH and Gary Wesiberg's HEAT WAVE; four J/111s are expected to sail including Doug Curtiss' WICKED 2.0 and class newcomer Bob Hese's LAKE EFFECT from Youngstown, NY. Also sailing are Glenn Gault's J/120 REBECCA from Texas, Adam Esselman's J/124 STILL MESSIN from Michigan and David Alldian's J/95 CYMOPOLEIA from New Jersey.REMINDER! NOTE TO SELF- be sure to enter NOW (no cost obligation) if you believe that you will be racing with us next January 2013 – here are the links to the online entry and the current entry list – it is easy to do and the entry fee is not due until later in December. To enter Key Race Race Week, please click here
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
This past week in October was seemingly "North American Championship" weekend in America. The J/105s fielded a very strong cadre of sailors to compete for their North Americans off the warm, sunny shores of San Diego, California and hosted by the renowned San Diego YC-- BTW, the weather was anything but Chamber of Commerce conditions (Hurricane Paul was not helping matters in this department)! Unlike their J/105 colleagues out West, the J/30s had a rollicking great time on Lake Ponchartrain sailing in spectacular conditions and, most importantly, enjoying some of the amazing hospitality offered up by New Orleans' French Quarter and the Southern YC. Even further East up the coast, the J/80s also had high-quality competition for their J/80 East Coast Championships held by Eastport YC in Annapolis, Maryland. Then a bit further north, the Manhasset YC completed what many believe had to be one of the most stunning Manhasset Fall Series in recent memory- great breeze, sunny, and not what the J/105s saw in San Diego! And, speaking of stunning conditions, the often chilly, damp Garmin Hamble Winter Series were graced by yet another by-product of global warming, a gorgeous weekend of sailing to complete the Big Boat Championship as well as complete another round in the on-going Winter Series! Finally, have fun reading in the J/Community section a bit more about the J/122's escapades as a great all-around cruiser-racer-- a group of Aussies along with the Australian J/Dealer- YachtSpot- may have just completed the longest "new boat" delivery ever to her new owner!Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below has many entertaining stories and news about J/Sailors as well as cruising blogs about those who 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:
Oct 6- Dec 2- Garmin Hamble Winter Series- Hamble, EnglandOct 20-27- Rolex Middle Sea Race- Gzira, Malta
Oct 26-28- J/24 East Coast Championship- Annapolis, MD
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 3-4- J/70 Fall Brawl Regatta- Annapolis, MD- Eastport YC
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.
MASQUERADE Wins J/105 NA's(San Diego, CA)- The action promised to be fast, furious, fun and challenging. And it was. That's San Diego sailing for you in the fall as California transitions from "dry/earthquake/fire" summer season to "wet/earthquake/mudslide" fall/winter season. As expected, the fleet of 25 boats provided incredibly competitive racing. The conditions were certainly challenging and nowhere near what many of the locals were expecting; especially since Hurricane Paul to the south passed over Mexico's Cabo San Lucas and simply wrecked havoc on the weather forecasts. In the end, Chris Perkins led his MASQUERADE team to victory at the J/105 North American Championship with the remarkably consistent scoreline of 1-2-2-1-3-2-4-4-4 for 23 total points. Not even local legends like Dennis Conner and Chuck Driscoll could match their wizardry and speed across the race course.
The weather conditions across the four days played a major role in upsetting the proverbial "apple cart" for many of the local San Diego teams. They're generally accustomed to reasonably steady sea-breezes that fill in by midday from the WNW, pulled in and around Point Loma and across the crescent-shaped beaches along the San Diego waterfront by the mountain range to the ESE across south-eastern San Diego and northern Tijuana, Mexico-- the local sailors would only see one day of anywhere near those conditions on the second day of the regatta. As it was, Hurricane Paul had a massive influence on Day one- Thursday- with the remnants of Paul kicking up a nasty 4-7 ft SSW swell with chop on top with winds from the SSE to SSW. It was windy, rainy, misty in the morning with 20-25 kts winds at 8 am subsiding to 10-15 kts for the first start at 1130 am. By the 2nd start the wind dropped to 4-8 kts and, ultimately, the wind died at end of second race and went variable. By Friday, the forecast breeze filled in as a wind-line from N-NW and blew 6-13 kts with a light SW swell and light chop on top-- a beautiful day for sailing with tactical shift and wind-lanes forming all day long. Saturday saw SSW breezes at 6-12 kts with light SW swell and light chop, just a grey day with few rays of sunshine anywhere. For "Championship Sunday", dawn was grey again and the forecasted low trough offshore swung in affecting both races with rain, mist and sunshine all rolled into one! Breezes were SSW going to WNW 5-13 kts with confused seas- SW and NW swell with chop on top.The first day of sailing proved to be a prophetic one. Chris Perkins sailed MASQUERADE to the top of the leader-board with a first in the first race and a second in the second race for just 3 points on the day. Gary Mozer's CURRENT OBSESSION 2 stood in second place with 8 points, and new J/105 owner Dennis Conner on DC's PHOLLY was one point back at 9 points. Trailing MASQUERADE in Race 1 was Conner's DC's PHOLLY and Mozer's CO2. In Race 2, Steve Howell's BLINK! took top honors, followed by Perkin's MASQUERADE and Bruce Stone's ARBITRAGE.
On the second day, three races were held and it was in these conditions that Perkins' team on MASQUERADE began to establish a strong lead over the fleet with an impressive tally of 1-2-2-1-3 for just 9 pts overall. Mozer's CO2 maintained his second-place spot with 23 points. Tom Fisher and Joe Dagostino on VIGGEN put together a consistent regatta with all top-six tallies for 26 points. In the day's first contest, Rick Goebel's SANITY took top honors, with Perkins on MASQUERADE in second and Dennis Case's WINGS in third. MASQUERADE ran away with the next race, trailed by Case's WINGS and Chuck Driscoll and Tom Hurlburt on BLOW BOAT. In the day's final battle, Mozer's CO2 claimed first, with BLOW BOAT and MASQUERADE behind them.The third day saw MASQUERADE hold onto their lead with a 15-point advantage over second-place Gary Mozer's CO2. However, a tight battle was brewing over the next three places with Bruce Stone's ARBITRAGE in third with 41 points, trailed closely by Dennis Conner's DC's PHOLLY at 42 points and Chuck Driscoll and Tom Hurlburt's BLOW BOAT at 45 points. In Saturday's first race, DC's PHOLLY won, with MASQUERADE in second and ARBITRAGE in third. In the day's other contest, the BLOW BOAT snared the victory, followed by CO2 and DC's PHOLLY.
For the fourth and final day, all the MASQUERADE team had to do was stay out of trouble and finish both races in the top eight, presuming even their closest competitor won both races. In fact, compared to the previous three days racing, perhaps Sunday's racing was one of the most difficult to avoid any major pitfalls. In the end, the MASQUERADE team proved yet again they were not to be denied, scoring a 4-4 to close out the regatta with 23 pts. The team consisted of Perkins, Steve Marsh, Tom Purdy, Mark Chandler, Larry Swift and Rose Eberhard. This triumph marks MASQUERADE's third North American Championship, after winning in 2006 and 2007 with Tom Coates. Perkins, Marsh and Chandler were part of those crews. Perkins praised MASQUERADE (hull #17) and the teams' familiarity with it. "We know this boat intimately. It's well prepared in its set-up with a nice new set of North Sails," he stated. He also applauded his crew for their flawless efforts, saying "There were no crew mistakes, despite the fact that we're all very busy and we had little practice. That's where luck comes in sometimes." It was easy to notice that MASQUERADE quickly launched to the front of the 25-boat fleet at the starts. "We had consistent starts where we got the nose out and didn't have to play ping pong," Perkins explained. "Some regattas go your way, and this one did for us. We were in the right place for the shifts."
Gary Mozer's CURRENT OBSESSION 2 finished as runner-up with 37 points, and new J/105 owner Dennis Connor placed third on DC's PHOLLY (pictured here) with 45 points. Sunday's first race was won by DC's PHOLLY, with CO2 and BLOW BOAT behind. Dennis Case's WINGS closed out the regatta's final contest successfully, trailed by DC's PHOLLY and Bennet Greenwald's PERSEVERANCE. The final top 10 were: 1st- Chris Perkins- Masquerade (23 points), 2nd- Gary Mozer- Current Obsession 2 (37), 3rd- Dennis Conner- DC's Pholly (45), 4th- Chuck Driscoll/Tom Hurlburt- Blow Boat (57), 5th- Bruce Stone- Arbitrage (58), 6th- Dennis Case- Wings (73), 7th- Tom Fisher/Joe Dagostino- Viggen (74), 8th- Bennet Greenwald- Perseverance (84), 9th- Rick Goebel- Sanity (93) and 10th- Dave Vieregg- Triple Play (99).
The J/105 Fall Series Chairman, Jeff Brown, commented: "we're very proud of our San Diego YC and the host team. We had a great regatta on the water and off! We had over 70 volunteers from in and outside the Yacht Club who helped run events! As they say it "takes an army" and a great one we did have. With Joanne O'Dea as our Coordinator, she was largely responsible for making sure everyone was doing what they had signed up to do! We had several very successful social events that literally took over the entire Yacht Club and involved the club 
membership and over 400 sailors and families participating in the regatta. Julie Servais was the Chair of the very popular "Taste of Point Loma" that saw over 17 local Restaurants and wineries and brewer's participate with samples of their delicious food and drink. The club was transformed with lounging areas and jazz bands and everyone had a great time. The other big social event was run by Marnie Buddo, she had a wonderful "Beach Luau" with a great band and a wonderful California Beach lifestyle party with "The Blonde Brothers Band". One of the highlights of entire regatta was her "Yolo Paddle Board Competition" that allowed all sailors to compete right in front of SDYC's Front Dock in a course that challenged the best and worst paddle borders in attendance! The winner won a custom surfboard that matched the North Americas Champions take home trophy! Finally, we had great 
help from the following volunteers: Chris and Julie Howell- J/105 Class Officials, Marilyn Foster- SDYC Jury/Protest, Jim Person/Bruce Green- PROs, Joe Colling- Class Racing Official, Lynnlee Slater- Green Regatta, Carolann Dekker- Merchandise, Jon Dekker- Measurement, Karen Brown- Budget, Jeff Johnson/Jared Wohlgemuth- Racing Office, Amy Snyder- Catering, Chuck Driscoll- Charter, Jackie Kohls- SDYC Staff, Joni Geis- Sponsorship and all of our Great Sponsors." Sailing Photo credits- by Bronny Daniels/ JoySailing.com Sailing photo credits- by Outside Images/ Bob Grieser San Diego YC sailing photo credits- Cynthia Sinclair & Bob Bentancourt For more J/105 North American Championship sailing information
JALAPENO Wins J/30 NA's(New Orleans, LA)- No question, Team JALAPENO delivered the heat on their fellow J/30 compatriots over the long weekend sailing down in New Orleans. Congratulations to Billy Ross and Ken Buhler's JALAPENO who won the J/30 North American Championships last weekend in New Orleans! The team raced an excellent regatta to claim the 2012 title with three bullets and 15 points in seven races over a tough eleven boat fleet that came from across the country to vie for "Top Dog" in the J/30 class. For many, the regatta started a long, long time before the final gun sounded on the last race on Sunday at the famous Allstate Sugar Bowl Regatta that played host to the J/30 North Americans.
At 6:00am on Monday morning, Dan Mather and his crew on CRUSADER departed from Oswego, NY and started a 1,300 mile journey to New Orleans. On the same day, Russ Atkinson and his beloved WILDCAT set his GPS to guide him to New Orleans from Rockwood, MI – another 1,041 mile trip. So what is the occasion? Both trailered their J/30s to race in the 2012 Allstate Sugar Bowl J/30 National Championship hosted by New Orleans Yacht Club on October 19-21.
According to Barton Jahncke, Olympic Gold Medal winner and multiple Sugar Bowl Trophy winner, “The Sugar Bowl Regatta Series is recognized as one of the premier national yachting events in the United States. It gives sailors or all ages, from the Optimist class through high school and intercollegiate levels and beyond, the opportunity to learn how to compete at a very high level.”
This year’s J/30 National Championship was the 32nd in the history of the sailing class. Two teams, ZEPHYR (New Orleans) and BEPOP (Annapolis) share the record of number of wins at 5 each. US Olympic boat-wright Donnie Brennan with son Andrew sailed with the ZEPHYR crew this year. And, two J/30s were skippered by women, Debbie Grimm aboard HOT CHOCOLATE and Laura Webb sailing BLACK MAGIC. Cool, eh? Girl power to the max! Plus, the J/30 is a family-friendly sloop, which can be raced or cruised by women, kids and men offshore in even the roughest conditions. Remember the disastrous 1979 Fastnet Race- a.k.a Fastnet Force 10? Two J/30s sailed through it unscathed (one singlehanded!) while many other sailors were much less fortunate.
Many think of New Orleans as a French Quarter venue with a lot of historic value. However, there is another jewel in town- it's called Lake Pontchartrain. “Sailing is more than a sport”, according to the event’s key note speaker, Nicholas Hayes, author of award winning book “Saving Sailing”. It is a life choice. Today, there are about 2,000 New Orleanians participating in sailing on the lake today – enough to attract National and International sailing events to the city. “With shifty winds and obstruction clear waters, our sailing venue is one of the best in the nation,” according to David Erwin, Allstate Sugar Bowl Regatta Chairman. Indeed, it was.This year's J/30 NA's proved to fun, gorgeous, sunny, somewhat windy with lots of challenging races. Rolled into the mix between sailing time were many crews enjoying the great entertainment and food in the infamous French Quarter and Bourbon Street on-shore.
On the first day of sailing, Team JALAPENO established the pecking order early by winning the first race of the regatta. It was not until the 6th race of the regatta where JALAPENO pulled ahead of their closest rival ZEPHYR 2.0 sailed by Dale Steinkamp from local host New Orleans YC; while JALAPENO scored 5th, the ZEPHYR gang were hit with a DSQ/ 12 pts to dash their chances at an overall win. In the end, the Ross/Buhler team on JALAPENO amassed a 1-3-2-1-1-5-2 for 15 pts for a well-deserved victory. Second was another Pontchartrain YC member, David Bolyard Jr sailing LAND SHARK to two 1sts in the last two races to cement their position with finishes of 2-2-4-7-3-1-1 for 25 pts. The ZEPHYR 2.0 crew settled for 3rd overall with a 3-1-1-3-2-dsq/12-3 tally for 25 pts. Fourth was Carl Sherter's FAT CITY from Connecticut's Cedar Point YC with 28 pts and fifth was Rob Doolittle/ Jeff Walter's GRTIZ with 37 pts. For a J/30 NA's sailing video by Leighton O'Connor Sailing Photos by Leighton O'Connor For more J/30 North Americans sailing information
Stunning Solent SailingJ/122 Leading IRC0, J/97 Leads IRC3, JITTERBUG Tops 111s, JAGERBOMB Tops 109s
(Hamble, England)- As fall sailing continues unabated in the south of England, cooler air is beginning to make its presence felt on the Solent. However, this past weekend saw the weather Gods provide another stunner for the sailing teams in the Garmin Hamble Winter Series and MDL Hamble Big Boat Series.
Big Boat Championship
Saturday saw the start of the final MDL Hamble Big Boat Championship weekend. The forecast was appalling, with a mirror calm greeting the race committee as they motored out to the race course, and no-one really expected to get any racing in. But competitors couldn’t believe their luck as 4-5 knots of southeasterly filled in after an hour’s postponement, allowing the race team to get four races in from a start-line near Wight Vodka.
On Sunday, a good NorthEasterly 10-15 knots was forecast, and, unlike Saturday, that was exactly what the weather gods served up. Racing started from the vicinity of Sunsail Racing buoy at low tide, with courses cascading down the East Solent in a sluicing flood tide. The MDL Hamble Big Boat Championships fleet raced alongside the main Garmin Hamble Winter Series fleet, with two races for all classes.
In the J/111 class on Saturday, David & Kirsty Apthorp's J-DREAM won the first race, but couldn’t hold off Cornel Riklin’s JITTERBUG, who took first in the remaining three races. Then on Sunday, JITTERBUG took two seconds on Sunday, but that was enough to keep them nine points clear at the top of the fleet – an impressive showing for their first regatta. With JITTERBUG winning the Big Boat Championships, J-DREAM managed to hang in for second place overall with a 3-3 showing. Third was Alfred Munkenbeck's MUNKENBECK with 21 pts. Finally, it was good to see Tony Mack's crew closing out the series after a slow start by winning the last two races.
IN IRC 0, Neil Kipling's J/122 JOOPSTER continued her winning ways and stayed at the top of the leader board, closing out the regatta with a 1-2 on Sunday for a total of just 21 pts. Her classmate JAMMY DODGER, the J/133 sailed by Neil Martin managed a 5th in the very competitive class.
Garmin Hamble Winter SeriesThe Garmin Hamble Winter Series ran as usual on Sunday, this time from the same start-line as the Big Boats in ideal conditions. The day sponsor was Southern Ropes, who provided prizes at the clubhouse after racing. All classes sailed two races, with the smaller boats finishing on the Hill Head plateau, and the bigger boats finishing near Browndown.
In IRC Class 0, Dr Ivan Trotman's crew on the J/122 JOLOU are now leading their division with a 1-2-1-3-2 record for 9 pts. They are currently on top of a rogue's gallery of IRC special purpose boats like the Grand Soleil 46, Mills 43 and Arcona 430.
The IRC Class 3 saw the J/97 INDULJENCE sailed by Nick & Adam Munday tied on points for the lead with a 3-1-3-2 record for 9 pts.
The J/111s, whose results also counted for the MDL Hamble Big Boat Championships, were led by Tony Mack’s McFly, who took two bullets ahead of JITTERBUG. Consequently, JITTERBUG is still leading with 9 pts followed by J-DREAM then McFLY in third.
Similarly, Paul Griffiths’ JAGERBOMB posted two firsts in the J/109 class and is currently leading their class with a comfortable lead due to an impressive scoreline of 1-3-1-1-1 for 6 pts. Second lies David McLeman's OFFBEAT with a 4-1-2-6 record for 13 pts. Just one point back is Owain Franks' JYNNAN TONNYX with a 3-4-4-3 tally for 14 pts. The balance of the top five has Paul Coward's JACOBI in 4th and Roger Phillips' DESIGNSTAR 2 in 5th.
So, looking ahead, there’s one more weekend of racing before the mid-series break. Next weekend is the final Lewmar Hamble One Design Championship weekend, as well as the fourth Garmin Hamble Winter Series race day, for which the day sponsor is Andark. Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information
SAVASANA Dominates J/80 East Coasts(Annapolis, MD)- Eastport YC hosted the J/80 East Coast Championship over the October 13-14 weekend, providing a great seven-race series. The twenty-four boat fleet was deeply laden with talent as many boats were using the event as a warm-up for the J/80 North Americans being held Eagle Mountain Lake in Forth Worth, hosted by the Fort Worth Boat Club. In the end, top J/80 and J/105 sailor Brian Keane sailed SAVASANA to a solid series with scores of 1-2-4-1-3-1-2 for 14 pts to win the regatta 19 pts clear of the rest of the fleet. Brian's team was never really challenged for the lead as their erstwhile competitors could only muster short runs of races to even stay close.
Perhaps the biggest battle of the regatta took place for the balance of the podium in the silver and bronze spots. Vying for silver were John White, Will Crump, Bruno Pasquinelli, Daniel Wittig and Kirsten Robinson. All of their teams experienced quite the "roller-coaster" rides as they fought hard to stay in contention and avoid the one disastrous race. At the end of the day, everyone in this drop had a least one bad race, destroying any chance to even consider catching Keane's sharp sailing team on SAVASANA.
The last two races provided the deciding factor amongst these half-dozen boats. John White's crew managed to avoid some of the difficulties other teams had avoiding the nasty race, managing to hammer home a scoreline of 11-3-5-4-1-4-7 for a total of 35 pts to secure second overall. Third was Will Crump, demonstrating that his team could sail fast and smart at times with a scoreline of 2-8-16-9-2-2-1 for 40 pts. Fourth was Bruno Pasquinelli's team, they started strong and were vying for the lead, but faded hard towards the end, accumulating a 3-5-2-2-5-20-5 record for 42 pts. Fifth saw Daniel Witting finish with a flourish in the last two races, but not enough to overcome some bomber races earlier, tallying a 6-6-14-3-15-3-3 for a total of 50 pts.Thanks must go to the sponsors, West Marine Rigging, Annapolis Sailing School, APS, SpinSheet, Bacons, Tom's Shoes & Sunglasses, Eastport YC, J World, and North Point Yacht Sales. Sailing photo credits- Tom Hasbrouck For more J/80 East Coast Championship sailing results
Spectacular Sailing- Manhasset SeriesJ/105s and PHRF J/Sailors Love Sunny Conditions
(Manhasset, New York)- In its 34th year, 2012 featured terrific competition on the Sound and Manhasset Bay. Great weather on all four days, an unusual bonus. PRO Sue Miller even commented that she enjoyed only wearing a fleece on just one of the four days! MBFS is fortunate to attract the best sailors in the region, year after year, and the Club is honored to have received complimentary remarks from many racers about the job well done by our RC.
The weather was atypical but the competition was not. Sunny and warm conditions for all four days of racing were a bonus to the racers.
IRC Class saw the custom J/120 AVRA sailed by George Petrides from American YC sail to an excellent record of 2-1-2-1-1-4-4-4-3 for 18 pts to secure 2nd overall. Third in class was the gorgeous J/122 GEORGETOWN III sailed George Marks with a 1-4-3-3-2-2-3-2-4 for 20 pts.
PHRF A had the largest handicap class with eleven boats and the J/111 ANDIAMO sailed by Paul Strauch sailing for the host Manhasset Bay YC managed to finish 3rd overall with a 3-1-(12/DNF)-2-2.5-7-5-7 score for 27.5 pts. Fellow member Bob Schwartz sailed his J/109 NORDLYS to 8th in class and also Jon Flamm sailed his classic racer-cruiser, the J/37 SOUND WAVE to 10th in class.In PHRF B, John & Tony Esposito’s J/29 HUSTLER won by a slight edge over UNO MAS, Ryan Walsh & Jon Desmond’s J/29 which travelled down from New Bedford YC. UNO MAS nearly pulled off what many thought was impossible, beating the HUSTLER boys in their home waters. Going into the second weekend, both boats were tied on points and record with 1-2-2-3, but having won the last race the weekend before, UNO MAS was technically in 1st place. However, the old adage seemed to kick-in for the last weekend, "when the going get tough, the HUSTLER gets going"! Sure enough, ripping off a 1-1-2-2 cemented the Esposito's imperial seat atop the podium with 11 pts. Ryan and Jon on UNO MAS gave it their all, but in face of the furious pace and intensity of the HUSTLER gang, could only managed a 2-3-3-1 to close out the regatta in second with 14 pts. As a result, the Ted Clark Trophy was won for the 6th year in a row by HUSTLER, John & Tony Esposito, Morris Yacht & Beach Club/City Island YC for best performance in PHRF. Also sailing in this tough division was Todd Aven's J/92 THIN MAN, managing a 4th behind these crazy hombres.
The prestigious John B. Thomson Sr. Memorial Trophy was won by the J/105 KINCSEM, Joerg Esdorn/Duncan Hennes, NYYC/American YC for the best performance in a One-Design or IRC class. With nine boats participating, the J/105 class enjoyed some great racing. Capturing three firsts and three seconds, Kincsem sailed to a dominating eight point win over arch-rival Eclipse in the Manhasset Bay Fall Series. The regatta featured eight races, including one distance race, on Long Island Sound over two beautiful October weekends. Kincsem also won the event in 2011; Eclipse was the winner in 2010.Even with victory in the series assured, the Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes team seemed especially determined to take the final race. They turned the bow of their green boat into the breeze for multiple wind-checks, snugged the halyard on the jib in the freshening breeze, generally sailed around with much seriousness of purpose, and carved their favorite path through the fleet to line up for a start just a few boat lengths down from the committee boat. For a moment, we even thought we saw tactician Fred Walters jot something down.
As the gun sounded, the usual cluster trying to grab the one good spot at the boat end all slowed each other as Kincsem shot off the line for a nice lead. From there, all the Kincsem team had to do was stay in clear air, get the chute up and down cleanly, and cover the fleet. All went fine until the second beat, when the covering part became difficult. Boats trailing Kincsem split left and right in an oscillating breeze. What to do? Answer: Stay in the middle, hit the shifts and try to cover both sides. It worked, but Joerg-Duncan-Fred couldn’t have called it any closer. (This writer is actually not 100% sure Walters was on the boat. Kincsem was too far behind in the first race and too far ahead in the second. If Fred wasn’t, his spirit surely was.)As Kincsem reached the top mark on the second beat, Paul Beaudin’s loulou came barreling in on a lift from the left and tacked just below and ahead of Kincsem at the mark. Except…..oops….loulou couldn’t squeeze by the orange. Kincsem was just short of layline, too. But it had rights. So it trapped loulou and forced Beaudin’s boat to sail just slightly beyond the mark. (Much shouting could be heard down the weather leg.) Kincsem then did a quick double tack and rounded. At that point, it was adios, sayonara , and ciao to loulou and the rest of the fleet. And one last notch in Kincsem’s gunbelt.
Damian Emery’s Eclipse finished second in the regatta despite failing to win a single race. It’s a bit unusual for Emery not to win at least won race in an event (though he didn’t win any races in the MFS in 2011, either), but that outcome also may say something about the competitiveness of the Manhasset fleet. The race winnings got spread around nicely and included third place Revelation, fourth place Gumption, fifth place Planet Claire (YEA!) and sixth place Peregrina (which built up a huge lead on race one on Sunday by hitting the left corner hard on the first beat).
Revelation, owned by George and Alex Wilbanks, actually won two races in the series and looked poised to challenge Kincsem. But the Wilbanks’s had trouble getting clean starts in the last three races and had to settle for finishes of 6-5-7, dropping them into a points tie with Kevin Grainger’s Gumption3, which went 2-7-3 in the final three races.
The battle for fifth place between John Koten’s Planet Claire and Josh Burak’s Peregrina also came down to the last leg, with Planet Claire just managing to cover Peregrina down the course on the final leg of the final race of the final day of the final weekend of the final regatta of the season. Sailing photo credits- www.manhassetbayyc.org For more Manhasset Bay Fall Series sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* J/Fest Vimeo on Bayside Buzz! During last weekends J/Fest Regatta sailed on Galveston Bay off Houston, Texas, Roy Shaw took out his chase boat along with a video crew to capture some choice moments of sailing amongst the various one-design and PHRF fleets sailing in J/Fest. Some really amusing and even instructional sequences of various J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s and others rounding marks, setting chutes, going fast and amazing demonstrations of how NOT to take down a spinnaker! Here are the offshore video highlights, thanks to production services by Mobile Studio Technologies LLC. Again, special thanks to Roy Shaw for providing and driving the chase boat. https://vimeo.com/channels/thebaysidebuzz
* J/122's Growing Popular in South Pacific! Longest New Owner Delivery Ever? Yachtspot Goes the Extra Mile- 1,928nm to be Exact!And now there are four in the greater South Pacific Basin. Indeed, it's hard to not love the J/122s remarkable versatility. Cruiser, holiday weekender, family day racer, offshore champion! While the J/122s have enjoyed remarkable offshore racing success both in the Americas (Great Lakes, Florida, Northeast and Pacific) and in Europe (France, England, Italy, Malta), it has been growing in popularity in Australia and the "Little Tigers" just north of Australia. With the new J/122 JOSS being delivered by Sandra & Ray Entwistle with her new owner- "Ian"- to Port Moresby, Papua, New Guinea, it will be exciting to watch them enjoy their new boat in the future. Here's the story that was passed along by Ray about their experience:
"It all started when a group of friends met up on for a sail on a J/122 called ‘Marta Jean’ in Newcastle, and the J/Boat bug hooked Ian immediately.
The new owner is currently based in Papua New Guinea so this J/122 was going to travel some serious distances just to be delivered. PNG lies north of Australia and doesn’t have the facilities to commission new yachts, so the J/122 needed to be put together and fitted out in Sydney and sailed nearly 2000nm up and over the east coast of Australia.
Joss is equipped with twin plotters, the 12 inch Simrad in the cockpit accommodated within custom s/s binnacle and a 8 inch B&G grib in the nav station, B&G radar and pole mounted port side aft, further custom s/s and canvas work to add a bimini frame essential for the climate in Joss’s final destination. Other electronics included twin VHF handsets, Icom HF radio and Fusion stereo, Simrad autopilot, twin water tanks, dodger and many other features.
The J/122 was shipped from J/Composites France, and met by Yachtspot at 4 am in Sydney in early August.
The commissioning went like a dream at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club where Yachtspot has commissioned many new boats recently. Two days later the keel and rudder was on, then soon after epoxy and antifoul applied. After standing for a few days to allow the paint to fully cure, the J/122 was christened ‘Joss’ and launched. Later the same day the mast was fitted and dockside tuned, the day after the impressive sail wardrobe by Ian Short Sails arrived and a quick test sail to ensure all was well. The B&G Triton instruments were fitted and other electronics took 5 days to wire in and check. Custom s/s and canvas work completed and the artwork for Joss applied c/w Chinese symbol complimenting the name and meaning Good Luck.It was soon time to set sail and take Joss to her proud owner - destination Royal Papua Yacht Club, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The NSW weather system was also beginning show signs of veering north after the predominant winter southerly and westerly winds.
Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club presented Ray Entwistle from Yachtspot with a club burgee for Ian, as he is the Commodore of Royal Papua Yacht Club. Ian had done the same on his recent visit to the famous Pittwater Club when seeing his J/122 “Joss” during commissioning.
The first shake down sail was a mere 70 miles up the coast to Newcastle. Ray & Sandra of Yachtspot joined by long term sailing friends and experienced cruising sailors Dave & Sue. The easy day sail to Newcastle was a great shake-down sail and offered the opportunity to have some canvas work details finished off by East Coast Marine. Sue then returned to Sydney to man the Yachtspot office, while Steve (fellow J/122 owner of “Marta Jean”) joined the crew.
The time pressure was on to exit the NSW weather system before the northerly winds started. The next leg of the journey was 190 nm to Coffs Harbour. Leaving on the 3rd Sept and arriving at 1730 on the next day, Joss was sailing well with good boat speed. Whales were abundant as they frolicked in their migration south, and the crew spotted over 30 in the day and took avoiding action 3-4 times. However the last 25 miles approaching Coffs Harbour a strong Nor’wester began to form, Joss was beating with full mainsail and a # 4 jib. It was good to get into Coffs before the full force of the 35 knot + nor’wester began to dominate the weather system. The following days saw cruising and racing boats pull into Coffs returning from the famous Hamilton Island race week, even though they were heading south many crews were exhausted, the high winds and 4 meter seas were taking their toll on the crews and their boats.
For four days the 35 knot nor’westers howled through Coffs marina, and though it was frustrating, it gave us plenty of time make ourselves familiar with the impressive instrument package chosen by the owner.
On Saturday 8th Sept the strong northerlies abated and we let go the mooring lines and were off like a shot, very light winds so running in the engine gently during the morning was the best way forward. Our destination was Rosslyn Bay near Rockhampton (648nm). By evening we celebrated with a glass of red with dinner as Cape Byron was abeam, Australia’s most easterly point, and we were exiting the NSW weather system and heading for more favourable SE winds. Another days sailing and Joss and her crew were approaching the largest sand Island in the world, Fraser Island. No time to enjoy the views and tricky navigation of the ‘inside passage’ as we approached the 66 mile long island at dusk and therefore gave it a wide berth. We were making good speeds 11 + knots with the code 0, but dropped it for the night. The next morning Fraser was well in the rear-view mirror, Joss once again making superb progress. On the 11th Sept @ 0815 Joss tied up in the marina at Rosslyn Bay having covered the distance in 3 days.
Rosslyn Bay was chosen because of its “on the way” seaward location and a good place to call in. It was also time for a crew change, with Steve and Dave both leaving Joss to attend to other duties.
Craig & Derek friends of Joss’s owner, joined the boat and after re-supplying and making sure the departing crews flights were secured, Joss set sail again, destination Cairns, 630nm miles further north. Craig and Derrick settled in immediately and was a great asset to the team. Both thoroughly enjoying the comfort, speed, and ease of sailing this thoroughbred yacht has to offer. This leg took us through the famous Whitsunday Passage, within the protection of the Great Barrier Reef, one of the ‘seven wonders of the world’. It was very tempting to call in at the many islands in one of the best cruising grounds in the world, but the inclement weather in Coffs Harbour had cost us time. The crew only had the opportunity to view the many sandy beaches and turquoise blue bays through the binoculars, wistfully thinking about the cocktails they could have been drinking at the island resorts.Three days later, after dodging the dozen or more freighters making the tide to enter Mackay and using the large green 155 mtr running spinnaker, Joss arrived in Cairns early in the morning with yet another beautiful Queensland sunrise, having covered the 630 miles in 3 days.
After a good rest and some local sightseeing whilst re-provisioning, “Joss” left Cairns on the final leg to Port Moresby, 500 miles of open ocean lay ahead. Joss motored out of the long Cairns channel markers, toward Trinity Passage and into deep water, then set the sails in the gentle south easterly. The wind slowly built to 15 knots and the miles ticked away. The next day the sou’easter had built to over 20 knots. Joss was starting to build speed and occasionally track into the low teens. On the last day the wind was gusting into the mid 20s and Joss with a reefed mainsail and #1 Jib was starting to hit 14 knots going down the waves. The memorable part of this leg, was that we were on starboard tack the whole time. The winds were consistently South East and we were heading basically due north. We didn’t see another ship (or whale) for the entire leg, and it turned out to be the easiest leg of the whole journey. Before we knew it, it was late afternoon and we were in mobile phone contact with Ian the owner on the PNG mainland. We tried our best to make landfall in daylight as we knew the entrance was tricky. Despite the great sailing we took the sails down early and concentrated on entering Port Moresby under engine power slowly and accurately. There were many reefs to negotiate and the nav lights were blending into the bright city lights in the background.At 8pm ‘Joss’ made her final destination and we tied up at Royal Papua Yacht Club. What a joy it was to meet the owner Ian (and his jubilant welcoming party) and hand over his beautiful J/122 ‘Joss’, which had delivered us safely and quickly over the 1,928nm journey.
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
