Exciting New J's Debut At Grand Pavois Boat ShowJ/70 One-Design, J/88 Family Speedster & J/122 New Edition
(La Rochelle, France)- Next week, the Grand Pavois Boat Show will be taking place in La Rochelle, France from the 25th to 30th of September. There will be three exciting new models to be introduced to the French sailing market.
For starters, there will be a J/70 on display including one that will be available for sea-trials for all six days of the show! Learn more about the amazing story of how J/70s are growing in France and throughout Europe. On hand to discuss their experience in the first J/70 EuroCup recently held on gorgeous Lake Garda in Italy will be J/Composites Fred Bouvier. In less than 20 months, J/70s are now pushing nearly 500 units worldwide!
Having just been introduced in America at the Newport Boat Show and the Southampton Boat Show in England, the J/88 family speedster will see its first debut on the European continent at the Grand Pavois show! As the next-generation 29 footer in the J/Boats stable, the J/88 has proven to be an awesome performer, capable of 6.8 to 7.2 kts upwind speed and demonstrating similar fast downwind, planing capabilities as its sisterships- the J/70 and J/111. She sports a comfortable, practical weekending interior and shares the amazingly comfortable cockpit design of the 111, but with finger-tip steering control on a tiller-steered boat.The evolution of the highly successful J/122 offshore cruiser-racer takes a dramatic turn in 2014 with several innovations that will appeal to family and friends alike to enhance the J/122's extraordinary "livability". With a striking new profile, sleek new cabin-top windows, two large port-lights in the hull and a fresh new contemporary interior with Le Corbusier "flair & styling", new J/122 owners will enjoy new levels of both grace and performance unmet by any other sailboat in the 40 footer category!
Also on hand will be the trend-setting IRC cruiser-racer, the J/97. Having set new standards for sailing performance, innovative interior style and ease-of-handling, learn more about J/97's magic combination of speed, comfort and trophy-winning capabilities! For more Grand Pavois Sailboat Show information
Lawyer's Cup J/80 Announcement(Loano, Italy)- In Italy, the sailing season does not end in September. In fact, it's fondly referred to as "the Velvet season" and for Italian lawyers, that means time to sail in the famous Lawyer's Cup in J/80s off the gorgeous harbor of Loano. The combination of interesting people + J/80 one-design sailing + spectacular Italian (Ligurian) Riviera = an unforgettable holiday in Italy with champagne sailing! The regatta takes place from September 27th to 29th off Loano, Italy.
Marina di Loano's unparalleled facilities sit right in the middle of the Italian Riviera, bordered on the west by San Remo and the east by Varazze. Nestled between a spectacular seascape and the lush countryside, Loano and the surrounding territory are blessed with mild winters making it possible to go boating virtually year-round.If you're interested, matched one-design J/80s are available for charter and there are great local accommodations! Please be sure to contact the Mediterranean Amateur Racing Club for more Lawyers Cup J/80 sailing information. For more Marina di Loana information
Southwest Winter Circuit- Texas-style!(Houston, TX)- The Texans are getting ready for their Winter Series! Most every club has their annual Turkey Day regatta. New Year's Day brings the "Red Eye" and the "Revognah" Regattas and then the January/February racing kicks in! So don't shrink wrap your boat! Bring your boat down to Seabrook, race the fall and winter, and then head east for Key West Race Week, Miami Race Week, and Charleston Race Week.
The HOOD Regatta (Houston Offshore One-Design) will be sailing from September 20-22, hosted by Houston YC. The HOOD has six J one-design classes (22, 24, 70, 80, 105, 109) there will be plenty of fun on the water and even more on shore. For those boats who stick around, you can later sail in the Galveston Bay Cruising Associations amazing "Performance Cup Regatta"- apparently, last years tent party was AWE-some! After the Performance Cup race, 115 miles down the coast will be the 26th running of Lakewood YC's Harvest Moon Regatta on October 17th- an annual epic sail of 250 boats or more from Galveston Bay to Port Aransas along the coast! A week later, take a trip to Cow Town and the Fort Worth Boat Club for their annual '"Ole Man of the Sea Regatta"- sailed from October 25th to 27th! More One-Design and PHRF racing with fantastic hospitality on shore!
Finally finish up at J/Fest Southwest from November 2nd to 3rd. The fourth year for this event will be bigger and better! With 34 boats already signed up the regatta should hit north of 70 entries! J one-design classes include 22s, 24s, 70s, 80s 105s, and 109s. Guest of honor includes Rod Johnstone sailing the J/88 "IT'S A THRILL" In J/PHRF Class! We encourage all J/Boat owners to come out and socialize with your "Birds of a Feather" J/Boat owners! For additional information on the Southwest winter sailing circuit, please contact Scott Spurlin at J/Boats Southwest at "scott@jboatssouthwest.com".
J/Sailing NewsThe Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
In many parts of the world, this past week saw some epic sailing conditions. In particular, the J/70s had their first European-wide championship sailing regatta, the J/70 EuroCup, hosted by that famous sailing club on Lago di Garda, the Fraglia della Vela in Riva del Garda. Renown for hosting one-design events at national, European and World Championship levels, the hosts ran a fabulous regatta and the weather certainly did not disappoint anyone- warm sun, fun social activities and 15-25 kts southerly breezes! Not far away off to the west, the Spanish J/80 sailors were just starting their Puerto Sherry J/80 Spanish Championship in Puerto Sherry, Spain with an extremely competitive fleet of World and European Champions participating.Over in America, the Seattle YC recently hosted their late summer classic called the "Stars & Bars Regatta" for both one-design J/105s and for PHRF classes (with J/145, J/109s, J/29 and J/80 sailing). Also of note, the J/24s have just started their J/24 North American Championships in Newport, RI with forty-five boats sailing out in Rhode Island Sound!
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:
Sep 19-22- J/24 North Americans- SailNewport- Newport, RISep 20-22- J/22 Netherlands Championship- Brassermeer, Netherlands
Sep 20-22- J/22 Lake George Open Regatta- Lake George, NY
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
Sep 27-29- J/24 Changing of the Colors Regatta- Lake George, NY
Oct 1-5- J/22 World Championships- Newport, RI
Oct 5-12- J/24 European Championship- YC Monaco- Monte Carlo, Monaco
Oct 12-14- J/80 China Coast Race Week- Hong Kong, China
Oct 19-20- Harvest Moon Regatta- Lakewood YC- Seabrook, TX
Oct 25-27- Ole Man of the Sea Regatta- Ft Worth Boat Club- Ft Worth, TX
Oct 31- Nov 3- J/105 North Americans- Annapolis, MD
Oct 31-Nov 1- J/Fest J/World Clinic- Lakewood YC- Seabrook, TX
Nov 2-3- J/Fest Southwest Regatta- Lakewood YC- Seabrook, TX
Nov 1-3- J/80 French Nationals- Cherbourg, France
Nov 1-3- J/24 East Coast Championships- Annapolis, MD
Nov 21-25- J/24 South American Championships- Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dec 6-7- Jamaica Jammin' J/22 Regatta- Montego Bay, Jamaica
Jan 19-24- 2014 Key West Race Week- Key West, FL
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Scott Crowned First J/70 EuroCup Champion(Riva del Garda, Italy)- Warm fall weather and a gracious, friendly host in the form of Fraglia della Vela welcomed the J/70 one-design class to Riva del Garda for their first edition of the J/70 EuroCup. As expected the Northern part of Lago di Garda offered perfectly epic sailing conditions. The J/70 Fleet sailed in the early afternoon with constant steady breeze from 12-23 kts from the south- the famous "Ora" wind. The last day of racing had an early morning start with a solid northerly breeze up to 25 kts, the classic "Peler" mountain winds that blow down the mountain valleys onto the lake at night.
Seven nations (Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russian, Netherlands, Monaco) participated in the event that saw the competition dominated by the British team led by Ruairidh Scott and crew (Ben Field, Charlie Cumbley and Matt Curthoys). Scott's team were already UK J/70 National Champion and winner of the Cowes Week J/70 class. Fred Bouvier of France and British sailor Joe Woods fought hard for second place all regatta long, often trading places in the standings. In the end, Bouvier captured second with Joe Woods' team on RED taking third. Perfect boat-handling and good speed were enough for the young German Team skipper Mehlig Kevin to defend fourth place. Pietro Saccomanni (Diporto Velico Veneziano) along with Salvatore Eulisse, Alberto Grippo and Giulia Sent are the first of the Italian teams in fifth place. 
Fraglia della Vela provided perfect organization on the water. At the end of sailing each day a tasty, delicious pasta party and local wines were offered to all exhausted and very hungry competitors. At the very generous Awards Ceremony there were the classic trophies for great performances, but thanks to the generous sponsorship of Hannspree Italia, enormous HD flat-screen LED TV's were provided to the top three finishing teams and Alcatel cell phones and tablets were also provided to the top finishers! Furthermore, J/Boats Italy delivered to Fraglia della Vela a J/70 half-model as the "Challenge Trophy" to be awarded each year to the winner of next J/70 EuroCup regattas.The report from Fred Bouvier, second place finisher in the regatta, provides some nice insights. "After a lot of excitement and a busy week (our crew was set-up 4 days before the event and the boat was brand new and finished twos day before) we arrived in Riva", said Bouvier. "We launched the boat on Tuesday and trained for a few hours in the afternoon (it was the first time we sailed together and I was the only with any experience in the J 70!)."
"We were very impressed about the beauty of the city, the gorgeous lake and the mountainous environment around us", commented Bouvier. "We clearly understood after two days that the North guys couldn't be beat and that we would fight for the 2nd or 3rd place. Before the last days we were standing 1 points behind Joe Woods' RED and we knew that we had to be good to beat them. Unfortunately we were not that good but still had a bit of luck. At the finish in the final race RED was stuck just two boat lengths from the finish line in a dying breeze from the north, when all of a sudden a puff from the other direction came in and 90% of the fleet, including us, just passed across their bow!" "The event was perfectly organized," continues Bouvier, "the welcome was wonderful and the race committee is highly professional in the way they managed the typical Garda conditions. As the lake is 300m deep, they used fixed mooring for buoys and committee, for this reason the leg lengths are unchanged for all types of championships. Because of this fact, the race committee could tell us that the first J/70 in its fastest race was a bit faster than the best Melges 24 on the same course!! Incredible!!"
Similarly, Paolo Boido from J/Boats Italy commented, "The J/70 has been able to demonstrate a great show of Speed + Power + Stability + Easy Handling in the solid breeze of Garda-- going very fast downwind with speed on the Velocitek showing up to 20 knots (note-- that's an average GPS speed)!! Plus, the J/70 was comfortable and dry upwind, beating easily at close true-wind angles in the irregular big chop typical of the Lake". Sailing photo credits- David Turrini- www.recordiamo.net. For more J/70 EuroCup sailing information
Puerto Sherry Spanish J/80 Championship Update(Puerto Sherry, Spain)- The Spanish J/80 fleet are currently holding their Puerto Sherry Spanish Championship and many of the top Spanish J/80 teams are participating from the provinces of Andalusia, Murcia, Cantabria, Catalonia, Canary Islands, Galicia and the Basque Country. Many of the teams had spend several days prior to the regatta in Puerto de Santa María training for several days.
The competitive level of the fleet is undoubtedly one of the highest that can be found in the Iberian peninsula. There are two World Champions participating, including Hugo Rocha on NEW TERRITORIES (the 2013 winner in Marseilles) and Jose Maria "Pichu" Torcida sailing AILA (the 2010 winner in Newport). Also participating will be the 2010 European Champion, Carlos Martinez on-board ZHIK/ NOVASAIL and the 2012 Spanish Champion, Alex Diaz sailing OXITAL.In addition, several top teams continue to develop in Spain that are challenging "the old guard". Amongst them are Juan Luis Paex on HERBALIFE, Martinez Dioni on DIAUTO and a few other local that know the race course well, one marked by strong currents, complex tides and very shifty winds.
Alejandro Diaz, sailing OXITAL, commented that: "We have been looking forward to this event, but we know that this is going to be more difficult than ever. The level of the Spanish fleet continues to grow, just look at the results that have been made in the past World Championships where three Spanish have had a chance of winning! After race training today, it's clear that all of Spain's sailing regions have several teams that can win this regatta! The knowledge of local waters and its race course will be a factor to take into account for anyone who wins this event!"In addition to the competition for the overall Spanish J/80 Champion, there will also be a title for crowning the top women crew participating in the event. More news soon! Sailing photo credits- Luis Fernández For more Spanish J/80 Championship sailing information
J's Shine In Star & Bar Regatta(Seattle, WA)- One of the all-time late summer sailing classics in the greater Puget Sound region that surrounds America's "Emerald City", Seattle, Washington is the "Star & Bar Regatta" hosted by Seattle YC. The weather is often sunny, crystal clear, with gorgeous breezes and amazingly breathtaking vistas to the snow-capped mountain ridges off in the distance.
This year's regatta again featured great racing by Seattle YC's PRO and mark boat volunteers. With J/Teams participating in three PHRF classes and a one-design J/105 class there was the possibility that J sailors would be more than their fair share of silverware. And, so it was. In PHRF Class I, the J/145 JEDI skippered by John Tenneson from Seattle YC took 2nd in her class. In PHRF Class II, the J/109s were dueling it out and in the end some familiar names were at the top of the class. Stuart Burnell's TANTIVY
from CYC Seattle took 3rd in class while his colleague Jerry Woodfield on SHADA took 4th. In PHRF Class IV, a well-sailed, fast J/29 appropriately called SLICK was piloted around the course in smart fashion by the Mayfield & Nelson duo from CYC Tacoma-- counting ALL first places! Fourth in their class was the famous J/80 CRAZY IVAN sailed by Bryan Rhodes also from CYC Tacoma.The J/105s enjoyed some great one-design class racing with the top three teams, all hailing from CYC Seattle, having a very tight battle for the podium positions. In the end, it was DELIRIUM sailed by Jerry Diercks that amassed a consistent scoreline of 2-2-1-2-1-DNF for 8 pts net to take the gold. Second was JUBILEE helmed by Erik Kristen that scored 3-1-2-3-3-1 for 10 pts net. Consistent top finishes in the last three races brought Lorenzo Migliorini's ALLEGRO VIVACE into third position with a tally of 4-3-4-1-2-2 for 12 pts net. Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com. For more Star & Bar Regatta sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Rod Johnstone's original J/36 JAZZ has now found a new home after traveling around the world for over 34 years! JAZZ is now living in the Mediterranean in the lovely crystalline blue waters off Greece. Her latest owner, Norman Curnow, is proud to have her and he reports that she continues to collect lots and lots of silverware! Here is Curnow's heart-warming report from Greece:"If I recall, Rod J's own J/36 from 1980, won the Block Island Race Week and a few other races, as well BVI Week and other events in the Caribbean.
JAZZ then went through a name change to "Cassiopeia Beta" and was registered in 1981 by her new owner in the United Kingdom-- Jon Adamsthwait, a former J/24 owner in the UK.
Later, she was purchased by my brother in the UK in 1986. She was sailed back to New York via the Caribbean (taking the old trade-wind routes south from England past the Canary Islands off Portugal). She covered most of the Caribbean Islands, including Puerto Rico and Cuba.
Since that time, she's done the trans-Atlantic crossing twice. She got caught in Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and sadly got badly holed-- 5 holes in hull and she was dismasted at the second spreader. I took her over from my brother, lifted and repaired her, renamed her to the original name JAZZ and sailed back to the UK!I then raced across "The Channel", doing the RORC Channel Race and winning double-handed. Also won the Plymouth Offshore Race; won the Plymouth Inshore Series; and won the Around Scilley Isles Race!
In all, the reconditioned J/36 JAZZ has won 55 trophies, from 2005-2013, in Plymouth Yardstick and IRC events. I've sailed her to the Mediterranean twice single-handed! And, for now, I'm in Greece enjoying every moment with her!
I often wonder if the old JAZZ is one of the best-scoring, most trophy-winning J/Boats ever in the Johnstone family of boats? She's had just three owners in 34 years of sailing, won 60+ trophies overall, and sailed well over 100,000nm offshore! Amazing boat. We hope to have many, many more happy days sailing our J/36 JAZZ! Cheers to all, Norman Curnow." Great story! Love to hear how some of the old warhorses never die and just "keep on ticking"!
* Canadian J sailors are doing it again! Well, if John Whynacht's crew on the J/24 STICKY FINGERS from Halifax, Nova Scotia surprised everyone the week before by winning the J/24 Downeast Regatta in Portland, Maine (see photo here), then Terry McLaughlin's come-from-behind victory celebration may have surprised no one after they rattled off five bullets in a row to again win the New York YC Invitational Cup this past week. Interestingly, the skipper/tactician combination on John Hele's Swan 42 DARING are both 
veteran J/24 sailors (McLaughlin skippered while Hele was tactician) and, in fact, McLaughlin is a current J/105 owner sailing quite actively in Toronto and on Lake Ontario this summer. McLaughlin's J/105 won their first offshore event this year, the 76 nm overnight race called the Susan Hood Trophy Race held on Memorial Day/ bank holiday weekend and hosted by Port Credit YC. McLaughlin and co-owner Rod Wilmer on the J/105 MANDATE from Royal Canadian YC in Toronto won their division with a finishing time of 0:12:35:29 over 30 minutes ahead of the next J/105-- making them this year's Susan Hood Trophy Race Cup Overall Winners! Good practice for the New York YC Invitational Cup Regatta, eh? Gotta stay cool for 76nm straight at 98% of target boatspeed!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.
* Jim & Heather Wilson just completed a circumnavigation of our "blue planet Earth" in June 2013 on their J/42 CEOL MOR. Said Jim, "The odyssey of CEOL MOR is over, for now. We completed our circumnavigation on our J/42 when we crossed our outbound track in Britannia Bay, Mustique. We were, however, still 2,000 nautical miles from home. So we continued on through the Windwards, the Leewards, and then through the British Virgin Islands. After a farewell 'Painkiller' at the Soggy Dollar, and a last meal at Foxy’s, we made the 1,275 nautical mile passage to the Chesapeake and completed our port-to-port circumnavigation when we arrived in Annapolis on June 28, 2013. We had been away 1,334 days, completed 259 days of ocean passages, and sailed 30,349 nautical miles (34,925 statute miles). Read more about their adventures in their well-documented blog here: http://www.svceolmor.com/SVCeolMor/Welcome.html
* 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/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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