J/88 Boats.com Review:Going Sailing for Work
(Newport, RI)- Recently, Carol Cronin and John Burnham had a chance to review the J/88 family speedster for the world's #1 boating e-commerce marketplace- boats.com/ yachtworld.com. Here is Carol's and John's commentary:
“Want to go sailing Thursday afternoon,” asks John? "Now I’ve only been an employee for about eight months," says Carol, "but when the boss asks a question like that, I’ve already figured out there’s only one right answer- Yes!”
According to Carol, "the reason for the invite from John was to test out the J/88, the newest model from J/Boats. I’d been anxious to get aboard this 29-foot family racer/daysailer ever since writing about the expected launch (read J/Boats Will Launch New J/88 in 2013) and reading John’s follow-up story (Inside View: The New J/88 Takes Shape). I also had a secret burning question: Would this boat, which was launched only five months after its initial announcement, meet my high expectations for J/Boats quality?"
"As soon as we stepped aboard, I realized the answer was another unqualified “yes”, said Carol "This was no prototype, with a half-finished rigging layout, sharp fiberglass edges, or refilled holes in the deck where hardware had been relocated. Hull #1 looked and smelled like a brand new production boat, ready for turn-key sailing. And predictably, that high-quality finish was the result of careful planning—as well as a few small post-launch tweaks." Please read the rest of Carol's and John's article here at boats.com.
Here is the J/88 sailing video summary.
European Fall Show Update(UK & Scandinavia)- Before anyone realizes it, August will be turning into September and that means one thing-- start of the Fall boat shows in America and Europe! First out of the box will be several Scandinavian boat shows in late August, early September. The J/70 one-design speedster will be on display at these upcoming sailboat shows:
- August 23rd to 25th- Ellös, Sweden
- August 30th to September 1st- Gustavsberg, Sweden
- September 5th to 9th- Oslo, Norway
Later in September will be the famous Southampton Sailboat Show in Southampton, England open from the 13th to 22nd of September. The J/70 will be doing trial sails during the show and on dock display in the marina will be the new J/88 family speedster, the J/97 family cruiser-racer, the J/111 one-design offshore speedster and the new J/122 CR. To make an appointment for a showing or trial sail, please contact Becci Eplett at J/UK at ph# +44- 07870 669879 or email- beccieplett@gmail.com. Or, for more Southampton Show information. Sailing photo credit- Meredith Block/ Blocksail.com
J/111 N.A.'s Preview(Chicago, IL)- The new International J/111 One-design class is hosting its first North American Championship from August 14th to 18th, 2013 at Chicago Yacht Club's Belmont Station. It's sure to be an exciting regatta as the Chicago Air and Water Show will be taking place at the same time.
First taking the world by storm in 2010, the J/111 has grown dramatically as a class worldwide, having achieved International status with the International Sailing Federation in November 2012. With over 100+ boats now sold across six continents (North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia/New Zealand), the fourteen J/111s will all be on a fast learning curve as boats congregate from three major coasts around the Americas (Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes and East Coast).
With seven boats sailing from the Chicago fleet, all eyes will be upon them to be amongst the leaders in the first major continental event for the 111 class. With a combination of Chicago-Mackinac and Bayview-Mackinac Champions as well as Sailing World NOOD Champions, Verve Cup Champions and Singlehanded Society Champions amongst them, this formidable group of 111 teams will be a force to contend with. Don't be surprised if many of the following boats either place or fire top three finishes with some degree of regularity, including KASHMIR (Karl Brummel skippering), MENTAL (Paul Stahlberg), LUCKY DUBIE (Len Siegal- also Regatta Co-Chair), IMPULSE (George Miz skippering), NIGHTHAWK (Steve Dabrowski skippering), WOOTON (Bill Smith), MISTY (Tom McIntosh) and ROWDY (Rick Witzel).
Other local Great Lakes hotshots will surely include the two Harbor Springs speedsters, NO SURPRISE (Dave Irish) and WINDCZAR (Rick Lehmann)-- both winners and podium finishers in the Harbor Springs Ugotta Regattas and Irish is a Chicago & Bayview-Mac silverware winner as well. Toss in HOBGOBLIN (Dick Hobbs) from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who recently won the Chicago-Mac J/111 class, and the crystal ball clouds up a bit more with three fast horses on the track to mix it up with the Chicago crowd.
Finally, the "out of town" visitors include two top teams from the East Coast and a new crew from the Florida Panhandle. Marty Roesch's team on VELOCITY, based in Annapolis, MD, have dominated many Chesapeake Bay events as well as posted excellent results in Charleston Race Week and New York YC Annual Regatta, taking silverware more than once in both events. Newcomer Henry Brauer on FLEETWING from Marblehead, MA has a fairly formidable crew, having recently won the New York YC Annual Regatta 2013 as well as the NYYC Race Week in 2012. George Gamble's crew from Pensacola, FL are sailing MY SHARONA in their first major one-design event and may yet prove to be one of the spoilers in the event. Look for some fantastic racing amongst this fleet of fourteen teams and don't be surprised to see some significant roller-coaster scorelines amongst the leaders in the fleet. For more J/111 North American Championship sailing information
J/22 Worlds Update(Newport, RI)- Fifty-four teams from the U.S, Canada, South Africa and the Cayman Islands have already signed up to be a part of history at the 30th Anniversary J/22 World Championship, presented by Fidelity Investments this October 1st to 5th in Newport, Rhode Island. Registration is open until September 15, but the early deadline is August 14 to save $125.
So far, many of the top teams in the J/22 World are competing. Think you could have some fun learning from some of the world's best sailors in the world's second largest one-design offshore keelboat class (behind the J/24)?? The current roster includes the usual suspects of top teams from the Annapolis and Rochester fleets as well as some top dogs from Texas. Spice it up with good teams from Cayman Islands, South Africa and nearly half dozen from Canada and you have a tremendously fun, competitive event.
The American teams will have past World Champion Terry Flynn leading the Texas contingent that also includes top sailor Mark Foster- a University of Texas All-American and 470 class ace. The Annapolis gang includes Todd Hiller, Allan Terhune, Jeff Todd, Brad Julian, all of whom have won regional or national events. From Rochester's fabled fleet are the Doyle boys- Chris and Kevin. The Pennsylvania pair include Sandy Adzick and Kurt Swanson. The Canadians are fielding teams from Quebec and Ontario, including Trevor Collins, David Godin, Johan Koppernaes, Jeff Love and Ron Harris. Shellee Nel is sailing from South Africa and the top Cayman Islands team is led by Mike Farrington. For more J/22 World Championship sailing information
Fastnet Race Preview(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Coming up in less than a fortnight is one of those "bucket list" offshore challenges that is on many sailor's wish list to conquer, vanquish the enemy and go home- the infamous Rolex Fastnet Race-- a simple 608 nm jaunt from Cowes westabout to a lighthouse on a rock and back to Plymouth. Not to surprisingly, thousands have dreamt the dream, only to survive yet another 608nm journey again, then return for more punishment at the hands of the great Lord Neptune. For many, it's part of that movie, "Never ending story, part XXXX, chapter XVXLV". How many chapters later does one have to tell the story of nearly winning it all, but having to anchor yet again just yards off the Plymouth finish line within stone's throw (literally) of the race committee? Like that famous British mountain climber once said about scaling Mt Everest in the Hindu Kush-- they keep coming back for more "because it's there". Remarkably, a record numbers of boats signed up this year (mostly in 48 hours!), so plenty of sailors will be telling their version of the story sometime soon!
While the Rolex Fastnet Race's top prize is the Fastnet Challenge Cup and a Rolex watch/ chronometer for the first of the 302 boats winning under the IRC Rating rule, everyone has their fair shot at it all from the start on Sunday, August 11th off the Royal Yacht Squadron starting line in front of Cowes. There will be forty-two J/Teams sailing- 14% of the total fleet-- easily the largest sailing brand represented within this famous British and European event. Next closest brand is Beneteau with 12% followed by Sigma at 7% and a host of other major brands at less than 5% each-- like Swan, Jeanneau, X-Yachts, JPK, Grand Soleil, Archambault, Ker, Dehler, Bavaria and so forth.
The queen of the J/Fleet will be the J/133s with four boats participating, including APOLLO 7 (Nigel Passmore from England), JINGS (Dave Ballantyne from England), JIVAR0 (Yves Grosjean from France), and SPIRIT OF JACANA (Alan, Bruce & James Douglas from Ireland).
Giving the J/133s a serious run-for-the-Rolex will be a fleet of six J/122s- two English teams represented by J-BELLINO (Rob Craigie also sailing Doublehanded Class) and JOLLY JELLYFISH (David Richards); two French teams that include LORELEI (Alain Chatherineau) and NUTMEG IV (Francois Lognone); an Irish team on AQUELINA (James Tyrrell) and the Netherlands team on JUNIQUE (Chris Revelman & Pascal Bakker). Each one of these teams has won their fair share of silverware and all are capable of winning the Fastnet overall.Given any kind of a fetch or reaching race, the fleet of five J/111s will be quite formidable in the overall IRC handicap standings. Look for these teams amongst the leaders, including two English teams- BRITISH SOLDIER (Army Sailing Association) and OJE (Andre Hill); the French team on ALPHALINK/ XTREME YACHTING (Benjamin Diouris); the Belgian team on DJINN (Just 4 Sailing Team), and the famous and highly successful Netherlands team on XCENTRIC RIPPER (John van der Starre & Robin Verhoef- also sailing Doublehanded Class).
Showing up as a massive armada are the twenty-one J/109s- by far the single largest one-design class ever to participate in the Fastnet Race! Included are known around-the-buoys and offshore winning teams like Netherlands ARETHUSA (Kees Mijs); England's INSPARA (Tor McLaren), JANGADA TOO (Richard Palmer), JAZZY JELLYFISH (Kevin Armstrong), JIBE (Robin Taunt), J-T'AIME (Chris Palmer), and RED ARROW (Royal Air Force Sailing Association); and Ireland's JEDI (Andrew Sarratt).
With recent IRC championship crowns under their belts, the classic J/35s will be tough no matter what weather is thrown at them, look for CHOSI 6 (Mike Wunderlich from Germany) and RAGAZZA (Gabriel & De Bie & Malchair from Belgium) to be "in the chocolates" if things go their way.
With three boats, the J/105s are all British teams, including RORC offshore champion Nick Martin on DIABLO-J sailing Doublehanded Class, Jim Heald on FLAWLESS-J and Tom Hayhoe's MOSTLY HARMLESS. If there were ever a trio of gangsters that could upset the overall apple-cart for fleet honors, it's these guys!
Finally, as the lone J/120 sailing, the French RHAPSODIE V (Jean Jacques Godet) has proven in multiple RORC Channel races that a well-sailed J/120 can waterline to death many faster rating IRC boats given the right conditions, especially broad-reaching/ VMG'ing downwind in breezes up to 20 kts when other boats still cannot plane away. It should be a fascinating Fastnet Race to watch given the enormous cross-section of J/Teams participating in this 2013 edition! Live YellowBrick.com tracking will be available, so cheer on your favorite team to the finish! Sailing photo credits- ROLEX/ Kurt Arrigo. For more Rolex Fastnet Race sailing information
J/109 N.A.'s Preview(Chicago, IL)- Hosted by Chicago Yacht Club and held concurrently with the Verve Cup Offshore Regatta is this year's J/109 North Americans. The J/109 sailors will be treated to excellent on-shore entertainment and activities and, most importantly, will be in the hands of the award-winning CYC Race Management team-- renown for conducting good racing on the challenging waters of Lake Michigan.
The weekend's forecast looks a bit sketchy for the sailors. With the backdrop of the spectacular skyscraper skyline of Chicago, the sailors will first have to contend with a frontal system moving through Friday with breezes shifting from the southerly quadrants that are feeding the front to having to possibly face northwesterly breezes after the frontal passage. Saturday's sailing looks to be a classic northeaster, with sun and partly cloudy skies and with good size chop (not exactly waves on Lake Michigan) bouncing off the concrete bulkheads on Chicago's waterfront, creating messy seas and shifting winds slowly veering to the east. By Sunday, it looks like the winds will have clocked into the northeast-easterly quadrants and the local sea-breeze reinforcement will bring another classic sunny day to close out the regatta! At least that's what the local "chamber of commerce" is claiming.
With the J/109 North American Championship trophy on the line, the eleven boats will have their hands full taking on long-distance traveler Rick Lyall on STORM-- a team from Wilton, CT (Long Island Sound) that are past North American Champions, Block Island Race Week champions, New York YC regatta champions and one of the most highly decorated J/109s in recent history. Another top visiting team will be Albrecht Goethe's HAMBURG from Seabrook, TX (Galveston Bay), also a champion team from the Gulf of Mexico/ Houston area. Not taking the challenge lightly will be a host of local teams that know their waters well. Based on their recent performances in the Chicago NOOD Regatta held in the same race course area earlier this summer, you should see teams like MOMENTUS (Kevin Saedi- the winner), VANDA III (Jack Toliver), FULL TILT (Peter Priede), CERTAINLY (Don Meyer) and KIII (Irv Kerbel) all posting top five finishes in their bid to take the crown or at least a podium finish! Sailing photo credits- ROLEX/Daniel Forster For more J/109 North Americans sailing information
J/Sailing NewsThe Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
The beginning of August for many is somewhat bittersweet as much of the summer sailing season has already passed by. However, some of the most significant sailing events are about to take place in the Americas and Europe before most everyone have to head back to work and drop the kids back off to school! As mentioned in previous J/News, you have the J/109, J/111, J/27 & J/70 North Americans, J/70 Great Lakes and J/22 Worlds still to go in the Americas and in Europe you have the balance of Cowes Week, J-Cup, J/70 Euro's, J/24 Worlds and the Fastnet Race still to go!Sailing activity on the European side of the world was quite busy this past week. The J/80's recently sailed the famous Copa del Rey Audi-Mapfre Regatta off that jet-setting island known as "Palma" offshore of Spain in the middle of the Med. North of them a fleet of J's participated in the sailing equivalent of the 24 Hours of Le Mans-- this event held off Arcachon, France is called the 18 Hours d'Arcachon Race- J/109s, J/22, J/122 and J/92 teams participated and had fun setting new mileage records! Across "La Manche", the J/70 one-design fleet in Cowes Week just completed their Short Series program, with still more racing to come! Further northeast in Europe, the J/70's also concluded their first Russia Match Race Regatta, sailed in Kaliningrad, Russia off the southeastern beaches of the Baltic Sea.
In the Americas, the famous heavy-air New England venue, Buzzards Bay, saw a lot of action for J/24 one-designs as well as PHRF handicap sailing for a fleet of J/100, J/105, J/109, J/111, J/122, J/124, J/29 and J/80 class teams in the Buzzards Bay Regatta, hosted this year by New Bedford YC. Way out west high in the Rocky Mountains, smack in the middle of the Continental Divide, the Dillon YC hosted their famous "world's highest regatta" at 9,100 ft above sea-level (yup, nearly 2 miles straight up into the stratosphere!)-- the Dillon Open Regatta for J/22s and J/24s and other classes. FYI, just east is the gorgeous Loveland Pass, featuring mountains over 12,000 ft above sea-level and just west is Copper Mountain (you can see the ski trails that push 12,000 ft as well!). Even further West in the High Sierra Mountains, a fleet of J/22, J/24, J/27 and J/80 teams had a ball on the spectacular Huntington Lake in California.
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:
Aug 9-11- J/109 North Americans- Chicago YC- Chicago, ILAug 9-11- Verve Cup Offshore (109, 111)- Chicago, IL
Aug 9-13- J/27 North American Championship- Oakville, Ontario
Aug 10-11- J/70 Great Lakes- Buffalo YC- Buffalo, NY
Aug 14-18- J/111 North Americans- Chicago YC- Chicago, IL
Aug 21-24- J/Cup Regatta- Royal Western YC- Plymouth, England
Aug 22-30- J/24 World Championships- Howth (Dublin), Ireland
Sep 9-14- J/70 EuroCup Regatta- Lago di Garda, Italy
Sep 26-28- J/70 North Americans- Annapolis YC- Annapolis, MD
Sep 26-29- Rolex Big Boat Series (70, 105, 120)- St Francis YC- San Francisco, CA
Sep 27-29- J/Fest- San Diego YC- San Diego, CA
Oct 1-5- J/22 World Championships- Newport, RI
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
TURISMO ALGARVE Crowned Copa del Rey King!(Palma Mallorca, Spain)- The Copa Del Rey Audi Mapfre is sailed in Spain's most famous sailing venue- that glorious mountain island of the international sailing jet set- Palma Mallorca. Hosted by the gracious members of the Real Club Náutico de Palma, Prince Felipe and King Juan Carlos of Spain (Europe's most prominent sailing royalty) and sponsored by AUDI/ MAPFRE, the 38th edition of the event promised great racing and gorgeous weather and that's exactly what the sailors got.
After the first day or two of unusual northerlies, the wind settled into the classic sea-breeze scenario with onshore winds of 10-15 kts from the SSW building every day with spectacular sun-lit seas. Fresh off their win in the recent J/80 World Championships in Marseilles, France, the TURISMO DE ALGARVE J/80 team led by top Portuguese sailor Hugo Rocha (and sailing under the St Petersburg YC flag from Russia!), simply had all the best cards to play in their hand-- showing great speed and smart sailing to simply dominate the J/80 class with ten 1sts in twelve races! Yes, it does bring up the amusing anecdote when the Queen of England was asked "who was in second" in the first 100 Guinea Cup Race around the Isle of Wight (a.k.a. what is now known as the America's Cup)-- she was reportedly told, "Your Majesty, there was no second!" Indeed, Rocha's team won by the enormous margin of 13 pts with an average score of 1.16 pts per race! 
No matter how hard they tried, famous sailors like Carlos Martinez on DELTASTONE (skipper on Volvo 70 TELEFONICA and 49er World Champion with his brother) and José María Van der Ploeg on FACTOR ENERGIA (2012 J/80 World Champion and Finn Olympic medallist), simply could not match the remarkable performance by Rocha's champion team-mates. In fact, after twelve races, it was clear the battle was for second place between these two famous Spanish sailors. Getting the upper hand in the last race was Martinez's team on DELTASTONE, taking second in the race and ending up with 27 pts net. Van der Ploeg's FACTOR ENERGIA took third with 37 pts net. They were followed by Leonardo Armas Lasso sailing HERBALIFE in fourth with 49 pts net and taking fifth was Marc Patino skippering OPERA SEASON with 55 pts. Many thanks to Prince Felipe of Spain, who presided over the prize-giving ceremony of the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE held in the cultural center of "Ses Voltes" in Palma. Fantastic sailing photos courtesy of Jesus Renedo- SailingStock.com. For more Audi Mapfre Copa del Rey sailing information
J/Teams Eclipse 18 Hours d'Arcachon RaceJ/109 POULICO Crowned Long Distance Champion
(Arcachon, France)- The 40th edition of the "18 heures d'Arcachon" organized by the "Cercle de la Voile d'Arcachon" is a very popular sailboat race that is modeled after the idea of the famous auto race-- the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The 103 boats sailed around a fixed course in Arcachon Bay for a total of 18 hours-- from Saturday 6th of July at 7:00 PM to Sunday 7th of July at 11:00 AM. Seven classes participated with boats ranging in size from 18 ft up to 50 footers! Several J/Teams had fantastic performances, winning their classes with the most mileage sailed and taking 3 of the top 6 boats overall!
The big-time winner in both Class B and Overall Champion with the most mileage sailed was the J/109 POULICO, skippered by Francois Lamaignere, with a total of 86.26 nm credited for their extraordinary sailing performance, easily eclipsing all of their closest competitors. Lying fourth in class and sixth in fleet was the J/122 LORELEI skippered by Alain Chatherineau with 79.34 nm to their credit.
Taking first in Class RA was the J/22 MARLOTTE V skippered by Phillipe De Galzain with a grand total of 72.71 nm to their credit. And in Class RB, the J/92 SAPAJOU sailed by Christophe Rochereau took second with a total of 79.84 nm for their overnight sailing efforts-- plus they took fifth overall out of all 103 boats! For more 18 Hours d'Arcachon Race sailing information
Scott Wins J/70 Cowes Week Short Series(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Ruairidh Scott, Charlie Cumbley, Hugh Fletcher and Matt Curthoys, the team on board the J/70 NORTH SAILS, were yesterday pronounced as the winners of the race series that everyone was talking about: the J/70 Short Series at AAM Cowes Week 2013. The Jaques family were second in DJANGO and Simon ‘Sling’ Ling and crew finished third in Team RAFBF SPITFIRE.
Almost exactly one year after the very first J/70 Sportsboat arrived in the UK, this brand new one-design fleet were offered a Class Start at AAM Cowes Week and better still, the J/70s were able to compete in two races each day from Saturday 3rd of August to Tuesday 6th of August in the J/70 ‘Short Series’. The J/70s were the first fleet to start off the Squadron line each morning and then raced the second race from a committee boat start-line, finishing off Cowes. It was a race format which worked extraordinarily well for the fleet and which everyone agreed delivered great racing and superb competition.
Racing in the J/70 fleet at Cowes was both extremely close and incredibly exciting; in the first race on Sunday 60% of the fleet crossed the finish line in an 83 second period! It is clear the J/70 is not only great fun to sail but that the class delivers absolutely first rate competition. Heading into the AAM Cowes Week Short Series, the smart money may well have been on the North Sails team as they are the current J/70 UK National Champions, but as Ruairidh was the first to point out, the fleet is getting hotter and hotter all the time and the standard of sailing is improving at every event so it was far from an easy win.
Certainly Ruairidh and his team did not have things all their own way. The Jaques family team won two of the six races completed in DJANGO (racing for all classes at Cowes was abandoned on Tuesday when the breeze failed to show up on the course) and kept the pressure on Ruairidh from the off, starting the regatta with a win in Race 1. Malcolm said ‘It made sense for Tristan to helm the boat and I slipped into the tactician’s role with my daughter Naomi doing navigation and strategy. Tristan is clearly a very quick driver but it’s not just that: his reactions are also faster than mine and that is crucial to success in this fleet. Tristan was able to really keep 100% of his focus on boat-speed’.At the close of the series North Sails had notched up just six points, DJANGO had eight on the score card and Team RAFBF SPITFIRE clocked 18. Ruairidh and his crew were clearly thrilled to have won. Ruairidh explained ‘We’ve had a great regatta. We’ve certainly been under lots of pressure from the rest of the fleet at this event, especially Django, but my crew worked really hard and kept their focus from start to finish taking any little knock back in their stride.’ He continued ‘I would like to say hats off to the organisers for taking the decision to run two races a day. It has transformed the event for us: two shorter races really keep the interest levels up. The key elements of our success here at AAM Cowes Week include having good all round boat speed, a crew with a thorough knowledge of The Solent and 100% concentration from the whole team.’
Racing continues for the J/70 Class at AAM Cowes Week today although with the more traditional and relaxed ‘one race a day’ format. The next major event for the J/70 Class is the J-Cup later this month in Plymouth and then the UK teams will be packing their boats up and heading down to glorious Lake Garda for the J/70 EuroCup Championships in September. For more Cowes Week sailing information
Gorgeous Sailing @ Buzzards Bay RegattaJ/100 Wins Cruising Class, WILD THING Shocks J/24s
(Padanaram, Massachusetts)- The BBR (as the Buzzards Bay Regatta is commonly referred to) has long been one of the highlights of the summer sailing season on Buzzards Bay, and certainly renown as one of the best sailing areas in New England. Generally sailed in the first weekend of August, the BBR is blessed with favorable sea-breezes that develop late morning and can often build from the WSW well into the 15-20 kts range or higher along with enormous current-induced chop. While not San Francisco Bay or Cascade Locks in Oregon, it's certainly one of the better "big breeze" venues any sailor can find along the Eastern seaboard.
The BBR is one of the largest multi-class regattas in America, but like many others, has been suffering from attendance over time, particularly in recent years. The dinghy classes (Lasers & 420s) continue to do OK, but the offshore keelboat classes have diminished quite significantly. Nevertheless, the army of volunteers and the enthusiasm of the host clubs ensure the sailors are having a good time ashore (lobster bakes, etc) as well as have good race management on the water.This year's event was hosted by the New Bedford Yacht Club from August 2nd to 4th! Thirty-seven keelboats (one-design & offshore) participated over the three day weekend. Remarkably, nineteen of those boats were J/Teams from around New England-- J's were by far the dominant brand at the regatta with 51% of the participants.
In the J/24s, ten races were sailed over the three days, making it fun sailing for the fleet of eight boats. Jim Ciffolillo on WILD THING from Beverly YC was in a battle with Sanford Tyler on STRAIGHT JACKET from Hyannis YC for first place. In the end, WILD THING prevailed with 19 net pts to take the J/24 crown. Second was STRAIGHT JACKET with 21 pts. In the fight for third place, Craig Correia's team on QUEEQUEG finished with a flourish of 1-1-3 to take the last spot on the podium. Settling for fourth was Nick Kotsatos and Chris Memoli on DARK & STORMY and in fifth was Bonnie Kirchner on FAST FOOD. 
PHRF 1 division had the largest fleet of keelboats at the regatta with fourteen boats, a welcome change from previous years. Taking second and third in class were the two talented sailing teams on the J/111's- WICKED 2.0 (skippered by Doug Curtiss) and ODYSSEY (sailed by Fred Van Liew and Dave Brodsky), respectively. Fourth was the J/122 AUGUST WEST sailed by Jamey Shachoy. The third J/111, BRAVO skippered by Sedgwick Ward, took seventh in class. The "other" WICKED, the J/124 sailed by Scott Bancroft took 8th and Jim Masiero's J/122 URSUS MARITIMUS got the short-end of the stick on a three-way tie for 9th to settle for 11th. It was a good showing for the J/Teams, taking 50% of the top ten overall.PHRF 2 had five J/Teams in a fleet of seven boats. Not surprisingly, the fleet was pretty much over-run by the J/Teams as they raced around the track. Taking class honors was local superstar Ted Herlihy sailing his champion J/109 GUT FEELING. Fourth was Rob Salk's J/109 PICANTE and fifth was Dan Boyd's J/109 WILD THING.
Like their PHRF 2 counterparts, the PHRF 3 division had seven J crews sailing in a fleet of ten boats, making life tough for their non-J competitors. In the end, the well-sailed J/29 MIGHTY PUFFIN skippered by Steve Thurston from Bristol, RI finished second overall. They were followed by the J/105s HARDTACK (Matt Schmitt) in fourth and DARK N STORMY (Andy Reservitz) in fifth. Henry DeGroot's J/80 WIRED took 7th, the J/29 MAS SAILING Team led by Sean McLaughlin took 8th and the J/105 WATERWOLF helmed by Ed Lobo took 9th.The best J/PHRF performance goes to the sole J sailing in the PHRF Cruise division. Those honors go to the J/100 SUNDANCE skippered by Albert Signorella from the host New Bedford YC. For more Buzzards Bay Regatta sailing information
J/22s & J/24s Love Rocky Mountain Highs!(Dillon, Colorado)- Billed as the world’s highest regatta at 9,017 ft above sea level, racing for the Dillon Open Regatta takes place on beautiful Dillon Reservoir in Dillon, Colorado, where sailors enjoy mostly sunny days and spectacular views of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains. The regatta is hosted by the Dillon Yacht Club, the nation’s highest yacht club at 9,017 feet above sea level, located near the Continental Divide, a 70 mile drive west on I-70 from downtown Denver.
As Scott Spurlin from J/Boats Southwest once said, “It's been called the "Most dangerous Regatta in America", the "Highest Regatta in America", and the "Largest In-Land Lake Regatta West of the Mississippi". No matter what the claim-- the Dillon Open Regatta is a lot of fun!”
Think you're good at reading the wind? Lake Dillon would certainly test your skills! Mountains and valleys with rapidly changing weather again kept the tacticians on their toes this year! With winds rolling down the steep mountain sides along the lakefront (or the occasional micro-burst blowing down vertically out of clear blue sky), the faster (and sometimes luckier) crews had a field day picking up windshifts and breeze lines to work themselves to the front of the fleet. 
For well over 25 years, the J/24s from around the Midwest (as well as refugees from the heat in the Deep South) have made their annual migration to sail in the warm and friendly confines of Lake Dillon, nestled cozily in the Rocky Mountains. Eight J/24 teams made the starting line this year. It just so happened to be a good "vintage" year for the crew on Greg & Susan Johnson's PINOTAGE, posting three 1sts in their scoreline on their way to winning the J/24 class with a 5-1-3-1-1-2-3 record for 16 pts. Alan Dille's crew on SEPTILLION made a valiant effort to remain in contention, but two 4ths in races 4 & 6 hurt their chances for a comeback. Instead, SEPTILLION's 2-3-2-4-24.5-2 for 19.5 pts snagged them a second overall. Taking two 1sts but not staying at all consistent was Frank Kelble's team on USA 1966, amassing a 1-5-4-5-4-1-4 for 24 pts to take third on the podium. The balance of the top five was taken by Doug Pierini on COLD SMOKE in fourth and Stephen Bergman on EVENT HORIZON in fifth.
The Dillon Open has also bee quite popular with the J/22 class, this year fielding the largest one-design fleet in the regatta with twelve participants. Sailing fast out of the starting blocks on the first day was Mike Kline's NAUTI-MOOSE, taking a 1-1-2-1 to never relinquish the lead for the rest of the regatta. However, victory clearly did not come easy for this team. After what appeared to have been premature celebrations taking place on Saturday night, the "Nauti-Boys" on NAUTI-MOOSE could only muster a 6-5-2 on the last day to barely hang onto their lead to take class honors! David Baker's UP FOR AIR started slowly but closed the regatta with a 1-1-4 to take second overall. Third was Robin Jackson & Kristin Zagray's BIG BUTT BOAT, closing with a 3-2-1 to show rapid improvement in the standings to take the silverware for third. Fourth was Stan Strathman's SCREAMIN J and the "long-distance award" goes to fifth place finisher Richard Hallagan from Canandaigua YC on New York's Canandaigua Lake. Sailing photo credits- Greg Schertz For more Dillon Open Regatta sailing information
First J/70 Russia Regatta(Kaliningrad, Russia)- From August 1st to 4th, the first J/70 regatta in Russia, the "Yachting Russia Cup", took place off Kaliningrad's beautiful beaches on the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea. The format was an amateur match-race supported by the local yacht club and "Amber Breeze" with the theme of "Jazz & Sail"-- the sailors had fun on the water by day and were treated to excellent jazz music in the evening for three straight days!
Participating in a round-robin format followed by a championship/ repechage elimination ladder, teams from Russia, Ukraine, Latvia and Germany participated. The first day of racing was nearly perfect-- plenty of breeze blowing up to 15 kts and lots of sun. Everyone had fun both on the water and at the beaches watching the racing inside the breakwater of the old fishing harbor. In the end, the teams all pronounced the regatta a huge success and the music/ jazz session as OTT (over the top)! A special "thanks" goes out to Elena Otekina for the fun photos taken of the event. For more sailing photos and information on this first J/70 regatta in Russia, please go to Elena's Facebook page.
J/Teams High On Sierra Regatta(Huntington Lake, California)- The 60th High Sierras Regatta took place, as always, on one of the most remote and scenic venues on the west coast - Huntington Lake in the High Sierras of California. Hosted and run by Fresno Yacht Club volunteers, the regatta spans two weekends, the first on July 6-7 and the second on July 13-14. The first weekend was made up of Centerboard Classes, with the second featuring mostly larger keelboats. The number of boats each weekend is limited by the US Forest Service, so entries are always on a first-come first-serve basis.
Over the past six decades, the High Sierra Regatta has had more than its fair share of Olympic gold medalists and National champions sailing in the event. The consistent winds, sunny days and beautiful scenery attract sailors from all over the country; sailing on fresh water in Central California's biggest lake regatta is hard to beat!
The first day of racing on Saturday saw 100+ keel boats on the water. Imagine that many boats of wildly different speeds and sizes sharing a lake that is only 2.25 square miles long-- an anxiety attack mid-course is not in the cards if you want to sail well in this regatta! Like clockwork, the breeze built in time for the races to start at 10:55am, nearly the same time every day.Competitors saw gusts up to 19 kts towards the top of the lake and lows of 6-8 kts towards the bottom. The wind was very puffy and shifty and it typically favored the south shore breeze. Boats that were able to stay in phase on the south shore and play most of the shifts made out over the boats playing the middle or the north shore.
On Sunday the wind was pretty similar to Saturday, very puffy and shifty, favoring the south shore again. With most boats short-tacking up the south shore and the breeze dissipating as you go up the lake, there was a lot of disturbed air. This was where "heroes became zeroes" and were shot out the back. The boats that could stay out of disturbed air and avoid the holes along the shore were able to minimize their losses. Some boats played it conservatively and found large, shifting breeze lanes going out across the lake in breeze.
PHRF B fleet saw the J/24 and J/22 do battle with a cast of Olson 25s and Merit 25s. When all was said and done, Pat Bradley's J/24 OLD AND IN THE WAY took 2nd overall and Greg Greenlee's J/22 TEKEELA took third overall in class.
Bob Crooks J/80 WASAABI enjoyed their weekend on the lake and took 7th in PHRF A fleet. They just nipped out classmate Jim Powell sailing his J/27 LEVITY, who took 8th in class. Sailing photo credits- Eric Zamora- The Fresno Bee For more High Sierras Regatta sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* "Bags for Breasts!" CUTEY UK launches new luxury hand-bag range-- they’re giving 10% of all profits to women’s Breast Cancer Research, so its for a great cause! Long-time U.K. J/Boats sailors Chris Palmer and his wife Ashley are founders of CUTEY UK-- they make a line of luxury hand-bags for women. They launched their product line with "Love" at the core of its brand and the bags are made from the highest quality, ethically sourced Italian leather available.
Affected personally by illness in the family, breast cancer is something that founders Chris & Ashley can closely relate too. To support breast cancer research, they created CUTEY as a small UK-based Artisan Company. Since launching on Valentine’s Day 2013 CUTEY has gone from strength to strength booming in popularity, amassing over 400,000 followers on Twitter, and 15,000 fans on Facebook.The methodology behind CUTEY's brand is "love, caring and passion," inspired by the most important thing in life, the ones you love. The CUTEY brand represents "romance, loving & luxury." With all of it’s bags named after the most romantic cities & capitals of the world including; Paris, Bruges, Rome, Tuscany, New York, St. Lucia, Vienna, Venice & Florence.
The bags, made from the highest quality ethically sourced Italian leather, are beautifully crafted featuring some signature CUTEY marks such as the CUTEY heart shapes zip lock, interior design CUTEY heart pattern and the CUTEY signature locking device, giving the bag the luxury feel you deserve from a designer handbag.CUTEY offer a Free UK Delivery service as well as worldwide dispatch, with next day dispatch on all items. The CUTEY luxury leather bags are the perfect gift for a loved one or for yourself-- and you don’t need to feel as guilty in indulging knowing the profits are going to a great cause.
Learn more about their support for women's breast cancer research and why this cause hits them so close to home. For more CUTEY "bags for breast" fund-raising program and more information on their luxury hand-bags, please go to- http://www.cutey.co.uk/bags.
* J/24 World Champions Win TP52 Super Series in Copa del Rey! By winning 6 of 11 races, QUANTUM RACING simply smoked their hot competition in the TP52 class recently while racing for the regatta win and the overall 52 Super Series championship win off Palma Mallorca, Spain. The American team, which is skippered by Ed Baird and has Terry Hutchinson as tactician, enjoyed the sparkling sea breeze which topped 20 kts at times during the last race to deliver the final race victory, running out their third successive 52 SUPER SERIES regatta win after triumphs in Barcelona and Ibiza.Competitor Nikolas Zennström paid them the ultimate compliment, admitting the QUANTUM RACING crew were pretty much unstoppable, “At the end of this regatta we are pretty happy with second. We wanted to win regatta, we gave it a shot and we are sailing the boat well but Quantum Racing are just sailing better.”
For the Quantum Racing team, formed in 2008, it is the first time they have won Spain’s biggest and most prestigious regatta. And, it took TWO J/24 World Champions (Ed & Terry), not just one, to pull off a formidable tour'de'force on the race course. Surprised? Perhaps not, that's what tough J/One-Design competition teaches many of the world's best sailors participating in premiere regattas around the world. It will be interesting to see if another J/24 World Champion, John Kostecki (the tactician on Oracle's AC72 for skipper Jimmie Spithill) can pull off what many consider the improbable task of beating the Flying Kiwi's on-board Emirates Team New Zealand AC72 in the America's Cup 34 Finale. Time will tell if all that one-design experience will come into play!
* J/World J/80 Sailors are "Cape-to-Cape Challenge" Champions! Yes, you better believe it, according to J/World Annapolis Director, Kristen Berry. "This past weekend I was coaching in Cape May/Lewes, DE with a three man team of 70-somethings who are the epitome of cool. They purchased a J/80 in 2011 and have been sailing and training with their eyes set on winning their local championship - the Cape to Cape Challenge.
I was fortunate enough to be asked to sail with these guys, and we had a blast and ended up edging out a J/105 (Max Power) and J/70 (Little Rascal) in the 12 boat spinnaker PHRF fleet to win the event overall. It's a great story about the timeless nature of J/Boats and sailing itself.
The owner of Little Rascal is hosting a J/70 event this weekend that will have a bunch of enthusiastic owners participating. Lewes, Delaware is becoming a great place for sailing and with Rick Pfarr as the local "pied piper" and cheerleader for sailing, I believe it will become a regular spot on the southern Chesapeake summer schedule." If anyone has any interest in these events, and more, please be sure to contact Kristen Berry at J/World Annapolis Sailing School.
* J/160 AVATAR headed for the Caribbean, again! We LOVE these updates from our cruising J sailors that continue to criss-cross the Seven Seas. This one comes from Alan Fougere, sailing his beloved J/160 AVATAR. 
Alan sent us an email update commenting on their passage south this winter, "In mid-December AVATAR completed her sixth transit to her winter Caribbean home, Grand Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI (seen above) from her home port in Quissett (Falmouth), MA. A crew of three, Captain Alan (e.g. me), Crew Pablo Brissett and Mark Conroy, covered the 1,500 nm trip in in her best time to date- 7 Days 5 Hours, averaging 8.7 kts, that's about 208 nm per day! Amazing passage it was! Rainbow at right far offshore was some of the amazing phenomenon we experienced on this fast offshore passage.AVATAR will participate in the BVI Sailing Festival/Regatta again in 2013, where last year she won the Nanny Key Cup Cruising Class race around the Island of Virgin Gorda. Here are some photos for you to share with the J/Community at-large. Enjoy!"
Best, Alan Fougere/ AVATAR
* Bill & Judy Stellin recently had an interview about cruising on their J/42 in the Wall St Journal called "Retiring on the Open Sea". The Wall St Journal asked Bill to reply to dozens of questions that flooded into the WSJ's Editor desks. Here's the update:Retiring on the Sea: Answering Readers' Questions
Advice about selecting a boat, ocean crossings, itineraries and safety
The article in our WSJ Online December retirement report about eight years spent sailing the Mediterranean— "Retiring to the Open Sea"— prompted many questions and comments from readers. We asked William Stellin, who wrote the story, to answer some of the most common queries.WSJ- "What kind and make of boat did you use? Looking back, would you have picked a different boat?"
Bill- "In 1995-96, J/Boats of Newport, RI, came out with a new cruiser/racer model, the J/42. We bought hull No. 6 of this popular 42-foot sailboat and named it JAYWALKER. This was our fourth boat since beginning sailing in 1975.
Although long-distance cruising wasn't what we had in mind when we purchased JAYWALKER, it soon became apparent it had the ability to carry us easily and safely anywhere we wanted to go. Because the boat is light, it sails well in light winds, which means very little motoring is necessary.
People often ask (and argue) about what boat is best for cruising. Any boat that is strong, safe, fast, comfortable and easily handled by two people should fit the bill. One thing for sure, fast is fun—and important when trying to avoid bad weather."
READ MORE ABOUT BILL'S INSIGHTFUL COMMENTARY AND THOUGHTS ON WSJ ONLINE HERE
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/
* 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).- 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.
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