Wednesday, November 27, 2013

J/Newsletter- November 27th, 2013

J/109 cruiser racer sailboat
Dusseldorf Show Charity Raffle for J/109!
(Dusseldorf, Germany)- This year’s 2014 Dusseldorf Boat Show (running from 18th to 26th January) hopes to bring a lot of happiness to many children that are lovingly taken care of in the “sunshine4kids” charity. The winners of the charity raffle are (i) the proud new owner of a J/109 cruiser-racer and (ii) the “sunshine4kids” charity receiving a donation of 50,000 EUROs!  For those sailors who love to help friends and family and those in need, this partnership between the boot.de show, the J/Dealer in Germany- Mittelsman’s Werft- and others promises to bring a lot of smiles and warm hearts to the children and young people in need from all over Germany.  Visit Mittelsman’s Werft booth in Hall 14 (Hall 14/ Stand 14/ B 04) to enter the raffle, see the J/Boats on display and to see the “live” drawing at the end of the show!

The Boot.de show in Dusseldorf has committed for several years to the “sunshine4kids” charity. Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, Chairman and CEO of Messe Dusseldorf, has personally taken over the patronage of the "Hope Fleet 2014" to help support distressed children and young people from all over Germany. "I am sure our visitors will be happy to participate in this great raffle for charity and I hope that we end up with two lucky winners and can give sunshine4kids a very nice donation," said Mr Dornscheidt.

sunshine4kids sailing charity germany“sunshine4kids” is aimed at supporting children and young people who are suffering from cancer, have lost a parent, or are living in family with a terminally ill sibling. The organization provides free sailing activities, projects and other events to help grow their zest for life and give them new perspectives of the world. Gaby Schaefer, Chairman and Founder of sunshine4kids, is pleased about the commitment of the boot.de  Dusseldorf show, Mittelsman’s Werft contribution of the J/109 and the other companies involved, because "without economic support and without our volunteer skipper and care-givers, even the most meaningful projects simply cannot be realized— we’re very grateful for their contributions!”

"We hope to see many J/sailors and J/Boat owners from across Germany and Europe", said Henning Mittelsman, the Managing Director of Mittelsman’s Werft in Germany.  Mr Mittelsman mentioned that he hopes everyone who stops by makes a small contribution to the project and, most importantly, learns more about how to help the “sunshine4kids” program, commenting that “every helping hand is of great value to the children and we hope we might even get some volunteers to take the children sailing!”  For more J/109 sailboat information.    For more Boot.de boat show information and the “sunshine4kids” foundation charity:

J/111 sailing North Americans off ChicagoJ/111 Worlds & European Circuit Announcement!
(Cowes, IOW, England)- The European J/111 circuit is shaping up to be an exciting season for 111 sailors from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean and from Italy to Ireland!  There are events taking place on the Mediterranean as well as in “classic” sailing ports along the North Sea and the Channel, all leading up to the first J/111 World Championships to take place in the famous waters of the Solent and hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron off Cowes, England from August 20th to 24th!

J/111 European and World circuitTeams from Northern Europe as well as the Mediterranean can look forward to early season warm-up regattas that include Vice Admirals Cup, North Sea Regatta, Normandy Week and Giraglia Rolex Cup prior to the J/111 Europeans being hosted in 2014 in conjunction with the massively popular Cowes Week event in early August.  The Europeans will serve as a “Pre-Worlds” for the 111 teams participating in J/111 Worlds two weeks later.  Below is the schedule for the major J/111 events in the 2014 J/111 European Circuit:
  • May 9-12- Vice Admirals Cup- Cowes, England
  • Jun 6-9- North Sea Regatta- The Hague, Netherlands
  • Jun 9—15- Normandy Week- Le Havre, France
  • Jun 14-22- Giraglia Rolex Cup- St Tropez, France & San Remo, Italy
  • Aug 2-5- J/111 European Championships- Cowes, England
  • Aug 20-24- J/111 World Championships- Royal Yacht Squadron- Cowes, England
  • September- Benelux J/111 Regatta- Breskens, Netherlands
  • October- Tour de Corse- Bonifacio, Italy
For more J/111 Class sailing information, charter boat information, please contact J/Composites (jcomposites.eu) or J/Boats- ph# 401-846-8410.

J/70 one-design speedster sailing in GermanyJ/70 Worlds, Europeans & NA’s Announcement!
(London, England)- 2013 has been a remarkable year. The first full season of J/70 class racing runs like a highlight reel - starting with the huge fleet at Key West for the first J/70 Midwinters, 50+ boats at Charleston, numerous regional events around the globe, and the 89 boat North American Championship held two months ago in Annapolis. Not since the J/24 has there been such rapid market acceptance and endorsement of a new design. And just when we thought the news couldn’t get better, 2014 promises even bigger and better things to come for J/70 sailors worldwide.

2014 J/70 Worlds Newport
After being approved as the International J/70 Class recently by ISAF in their Oman Meetings, the J/70 class will be looking forward to their inaugural World Championships in Newport, RI hosted by the New York Yacht Club, in partnership with Sail Newport at Fort Adams from September 8th to 13th, 2014.  The 2014 J/70 Worlds will be one of the hottest one-design tickets around. Hot enough in fact that it will be a qualified entry event with a cap of 120 boats. Upcoming J/70 winter events such as Key West, Davis Island Winter Series, St. Petersburg/San Diego NOODs and Bacardi Cup, plus most of the regional events throughout the season, will have qualifier slots (both Open and Corinthian) for the 2014 Worlds. The J/70 Class plans to announce the specifics of the qualifier program early next month. If you know of a regional J/70 event that is not already on the class calendar and should be considered as a world’s qualifier, please contact Chris Howell- email- howell@j70office.com

J/70 European and World Circuit2014 J/70 European Circuit
Rapid fleet growth is already taking place in Europe with fleets forming in Sweden/ Denmark, Netherlands/ Benelux, Germany (Lake Constance), Monaco, Italy, France and Great Britain/ Ireland.  As a result of the tremendous enthusiasm and the desire for many teams to travel to events with their fun, fast trailerable speedster, there will be a six event European J/70 Circuit that culminates in the de-facto J/70 European Championship on Lake Garda, Italy.  The events include the following dates:
  • Feb 7-9- Primo Cup- Trophee Credit Suisse- Monte Carlo, Monaco
  • Apr 18-21- SPI Ouest France- La Trinite sur Mer, France
  • Jun 6-9- North Sea Regatta- The Hague, Netherlands
  • Jun 21-29- Kiel Week- Kiel, Germany
  • Aug 2-5- Cowes Race Week- Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
  • Mid-Sept- J/70 EuroCup/ Europeans- Lake Garda, Italy
2014 J/70 North Americans Rochester
While a ticket to the Worlds might take a few regattas to qualify for, the 2014 North American Championship in Rochester, New York is OPEN to all comers! Slated for July 14-20, this event promises to be huge. Rochester Yacht Club is ready to roll out the red carpet to J/70 owners and their families. Timed ideally at nearly two months before the worlds, J/70 owners around the world have a great excuse to bring their boats to the northeast USA and enjoy what promises to be an epic J/70 summer!

The 2014 J70 Calendar is shaping up to be huge!  By the first of the New Year there will have been 500 J/70s produced. There are other regional circuits developing that will be announced soon that include Pacific Coast, Great Lakes, Southwest, Mid-Atlantic and New England.  Please be sure to check frequently at the J/70 Class website for any updates.   For more J/70 Class regatta information   For more International J/70 One-Design sailing information

J/Sailing News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

As November comes to a close, it’s remarkable to see that North America and Europe have already seen their first blast of winter but the action on the water still remains HOT & fast!  In fact, much the same can be said for sailing taking place in the Southern hemispheres amongst those enjoying late spring, early summer sailing regattas!

It was a busy week for J/24s in Central and South America.  The Mexican J/24 class enjoyed another fun regatta on their schedule, hosted by Club de Vela la Peña as part of their “regatta de la revolucion” series.  Further south, the Argentinean J/24 class in Buenos Aires played host to the J/24 South American Championships at C.U.B.A. (Club Universidad de Buenos Aires) sailing club, sailing on the Rio de la Plata.

In the Caribbean, the first of many international regattas have started off their winter season with the St Croix YC hosting the incredibly fun St Croix International Regatta off Christiansted and their lovely beachside location.  A fleet consisting of a J/100, J/105, J/24s, J/27, J/80, and J/36 had a scream flying around their spectacular turquoise waters.

The sailors in the United Kingdom were treated to good sailing for the penultimate weekend of their fall sailing series known as the Garmin Hamble Winter Series.  The J/111s and J/109s enjoyed tight one-design sailing and the J/105s, J/92s and J/97s were all in top five rankings (if not outright winning) going into their final weekend of sailing.

In the middle of the Atlantic, the inaugural J/105 Bermuda XL Invitational was hosted by that famous sanctuary offshore known to most sailors as the Royal Bermuda YC.  Eight teams from Canada, USA, Bermuda and Great Britain competed for both “International” skipper honors as well as “Bermuda” local skipper honors in a fun, challenging format in a ten race series!  Needless to say, the sailors were blessed with amazing, gorgeous Bermuda sailing conditions on the Great Sound.

Finally, in the Americas, the SoCal contingent of sailors were having another go at each other in their famous pursuit-style racing series, the San Diego Hot Rum Series hosted by San Diego YC.

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:

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.

J/88 one-design offshore speedster sailing on Solent- Hamble winter seriesHamble Winter Series- Weekend VII
(Hamble, England)-  The penultimate weekend of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series saw a chilly and gusty breeze that shifted regularly between 002 and 022 degrees, demanding frequent tacks and rewarding tacticians with their heads out of the boat. Despite only reaching 18 knots, the wind was gusty enough to keep trimmers on their toes.

In some classes, boats that have been dominant throughout the series consolidated their overall lead, despite not topping the fleet in Sunday’s race.  In IRC 0, David & Kirsty Apthorp’s J/111 J-DREAM continued to sail a consistent series in their class and maintained their strong record with a 3rd this past weekend to hold on to their bronze podium position as well as their gold position in the J/111 one-design class overall.

In IRC 2, Paul Heys’s J/88 JUNGLE DRUM continues their series with a solid performance and Louise Makin’s J/105 JOURNEYMAKER 5 is holding onto fifth overall— a great finish for an older classic J design.

Nick Munday’s J/97 INDULJENCE is still leading their series with a 2nd to take IRC 3 Class with a commanding lead overall.  Just behind them chasing INDULJENCE the entire series has been David Greenhalgh’s J/92 J-RONIMO, taking a well-earned 1st in the last race and nailing down second overall for the series to date!

J/111 one-design offshore cruiser racer- sailing on Solent- Hamble winter seriesThe J/109s always have a go of it and this year is no different.  Nevertheless, starting out strongly and not to be thwarted on their form was David McGough’s JUST SO, rolling off four 1sts on their way to a strong and well-deserved class lead.  The same could not be said for the balance of the podium.  It is a donnybrook for silver and bronze and Paul Griffith’s JAGERBOMB won the latest race of the series but it’s not enough to topple their erstwhile classmates, Owain Franks JYNNAN TONNYX.  At the moment, the TONNYX boys have the silver with 15 pts net with JAGERBOMB a whisker behind with 16 pts net.  Fourth is David McLeman’s OFFBEAT and fifth is Ivan Burden’s JACOBI.  Time will tell how this fleet goes topsy-turvy going into the final weekend!

Finally, David & Kirsty Apthorp’s J-DREAM are leading the J/111 class, ahead of Andrew Christie’s ICARUS in second and Cornel Riklin’s JITTERBUG in third.

Prizes were generously provided by Driver’s Dry Berthing at a prize-giving back in the Hamble River Sailing Club club house. See you next week on the water for one more race! Thanks for the contributions from Ben Meakins.  For sailing photo credits-  Paul Wyeth Pictures   For more Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J/24 one-design racing sailboats- sailing off Buenos AiresPereira Dominates J/24 South Americans
(Buenos Aires, Argentina)-  This year’s J/24 South Americans had a highly competitive turnout of twenty-four teams from across the continent, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.  The high level of competition generated electrifying combat on the muddy waters of the Rio de la Plata in simply fantastic sailing conditions over the four day event.  Perhaps most importantly, the Club Universitario de Buenos Aires were simply amazing hosts, looking after the needs of all the sailors both on-the-water and ashore with some amazing post-race social entertainment.

Despite having to take a SCP scoring penalty in the first race, Matias Pereira and crew sailed a masterful regatta aboard their renowned CARRERA, counting four firsts in their nine race scorecard to win by ten points.  Pereira’s crew included Juan Ignacio Pereira, Guillermo Bellinoto, Federico Roberto, and Bellinoto Ambrus.

The first day of racing had ideal conditions for sailing, with a mild northeaster to start the day with the wind veering into the SSE by late afternoon.  With plenty of sunshine and relatively flat waters, the RC’s PRO did a great job to keep the aggressive fleet under control and run three of the nine races scheduled for the regatta.

J/24 one-design sailboat- sailing off Buenos Aires, ArgentinaThe first race was an all Argentine affair in the shifty northeasterly, with Sergio Pendola on CACIQUE taking the gun followed by current Argentinean Champion Matias Pereira on CARRERA and Alexander Rossi on TOMMY HILFIGER.  The next race saw more wind coming out of the east and getting shiftier and streakier.  Pereira won quite handily followed by the Uruguayan team of EXTASIS skippered by Pedro Garra and another Argentine team sailed by Nicolas Cubria on RINA.  By the last race, the wind had increased to nearly 20 kts from the SSE with some teams changing over to jibs.  In the end, the Chilean team on VOLVO sailed by Matias Seguel won handily followed by Cubria’s RINA and Garra’s EXTASIS.

The second day of racing was going to be a challenge for both competitors and the CUBA RC.  Starting out quite strong from the northeast, but rapidly dying, the winds went very light with a strong current on the river.  As a result, the PRO wisely took the fleet in close to YC Argentino’s harbor entrance to get some benefits of a building sea-breeze condition, enough to get some races going for the day.  In the first race of the day, Ezequiel Despontin’s INDIGO took the gun followed by CARRERA and Robert Vernon’s JOYITA.  After completing the first race, the RC’s PRO again had to postpone to let the breeze settle in at around 5-7 kts.  The second race of the day saw CARRERA win followed by INDIGO and EXTASIS.  At this point with five races counting, CARRERA had a substantial lead with just 9 pts, with EXTASIS in second with 14 pts and VOLVO in third with 18 pts.

J/24s sailing on Rio de la Plata- Buenos Aires, ArgentinaThe last day dawned with yet more challenging weather conditions, with the lack of wind forcing an hour postponement.  Nevertheless, the wind quickly built to 8-12 kts from the ESE, enabling the RC to quickly fire off four races for the happy crews!  In fact, by the end of the day, the SE breeze had built to over 18 kts TWS and most of the crews changed from genoas to jibs and back again during the race!  Sailing fast and furious was CARRERA, scoring a 3-BFD-1-1 to win the regatta by ten points (dropping the BFD race).

Behind Pereira’s team was the Chilean team on JOYITA sailed by Robert Vernon, followed by fellow countrymen on VOLVO skippered by Matias Seguel.  This was the best showing of these two Chilean teams at the South Americans in recent years; a measure of how far they’ve improved on the international level of J/24 competition!  Rounding out the top five were the Uruguayan team on EXTASIS with skipper Pedro Garra taking fourth and behind them were Argentinean Nicolas Cubria on RINA in fifth.

There was some great social media and YouTube sailing videos of the event, please see some of these links below:
For more J/24 South American Championship sailing information

J/105 Team Elusive- sailing Bermuda winnersTeam Elusive Bermuda J/105 Invitational Champions
(Hamilton, Bermuda)- The Bermuda J/105 Class and Royal Bermuda YC hosted the inaugural Bermuda J/105 Invitational Regatta, sponsored by XL Group, from November 21st to 23rd on the gorgeous aquamarine waters of The Great Sound. Eight international teams could not have been treated to better, more idyllic sailing conditions, nor a better venue for excellent one-design racing on Bermuda’s fabled waters.  Sailors from the USA, Canada, UK, and Bermuda competed  for the XL Trophy [Overall Series]; the Bermuda Tourism Trophy [International Series]; and the Goslings Trophy [Bermuda Series].

The regatta featured a unique “team” format- each boat was made up of 3 international sailors and 3 Bermuda sailors who sailed together in each race. Races were be designated as “Bermuda” or “International”; the respective nominated helmsman helmed for that race.  This was the first time the format had been used.

One of the Island’s top Race Officers, Royal Bermuda YC’s Charles Tatem, ran a fabulous regatta all three days, blessed as the fleet was with strong northerlies on Thursday and Friday and a rapidly building southwester on Saturday feeding a massive low pressure system rolling in across the Atlantic.

J/105 team Yabsta- with Neff family sailing- Stew, Mike, TerryThe first day of sailing got underway on Thursday in blustery conditions, with northeast winds of 15-25 knots churning up the Great Sound. The mixed crews from Bermuda and International Yacht Clubs kicked off the day with a practice race to help with the crew work, and then Race 1 got underway. International skippers helm the odd numbered races, and local skippers the even numbered ones.

The opening win went to ELUSIVE (Steve Cucchiaro from Eastern YC) chased by PASSION (Bill Lackenmacher from Lakewood YC) and SADIIQI (Sean McDermott from Royal Nova Scotia YS). Race 2 had a crew overboard at one of the marks – recovered fine, but damp – and Yabsta lost their second spinnaker in the strong breeze.

The opening “locals” race went to ELUSIVE (Chuck Millican from Bermuda’s Royal Hamilton Dinghy Club), chased by PASSION (Jim Macdonald from host RBYC) and YABSTA (Trevor Boyce from Royal Hamilton Dinghy Club). Race 3, in slightly lighter conditions, was taken by PASSION followed by YABSTA (Stewart Neff from Eastern YC) and MAYHEM (Jason Owen from Royal Ocean Racing Club in England). The final race of the day, back in a 20 knot breeze, had ELUSIVE’s third bullet of the day, with PASSION next and SADIIQI in third.

The “Sovereign Jewellers” boat of the day, on seven points, was ELUSIVE, also leading the Overall [XL Trophy] and Bermuda [Goslings Trophy] competitions. PASSION was leading the International competition [The Bermuda Tourism Trophy].

The second day of competition got underway in glorious sailing conditions – medium breeze and clear skies. The crews had recovered from a bruising first day and race 5 of the 10 race series started at 11am in the Great Sound.

The day’s first win went to SADIIQI, chased by PASSION and BACK-IN-BLACK (Greg Turman from Corpus Christi YC). Race 6, in slightly lighter conditions, was taken by ELUSIVE to notch their 4th bullet in the regatta already followed by PASSION and MAYHEM.

J/105s sailing off start at Bermuda InvitationalRace 7 saw the breeze shift to the left and start to drop out – racing then became an exercise in finding pressure and playing the substantial lifts along the Somerset Shore, or out toward Pearl Island. Race 7 was won by PASSION followed by ELUSIVE and BACK-IN-BLACK (Ed Fries from Royal Hamilton Dinghy Club). The final race of the day, was a challenging tactical contest in the light winds. ELUSIVE played the shifts well both upwind and downwind to win by nearly a half-leg!  In a distant second was SADIIQI passing PASSION in the final run to the finish to take 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

The “Tops Limited” boat of the day, on 8 points, was PASSION [2-2-1-3]. After 8 of the 10 races, PASSION was leading the Overall [XL Trophy] with 15 points over ELUSIVE’s 17, followed by SADIIQI and MAYHEM both on 33 points.  With only two races left, the stage was set for a battle royal between the top two boats to determine the overall winner; especially since neither boat could finish “out of the chocolates” with just 8 boats racing!

The final day of sailing got underway shortly after the breeze filled in. With the regatta on the line, the ELUSIVE team match-raced PASSION to gain a slight advantage on the first start and after a brief tacking duel, both boats split tacks with ELUSIVE rounding the first windward mark in 2nd with PASSION in the middle of the pack.  In the end, ELUSIVE held her position, with BACK-IN-BLACK taking first and YABSTA taking third.  At this point, ELUSIVE was leading by a single point over PASSION for the overall title.

Team Passion from Lakewood YC Texas at Bermuda InvitationalWith a strongly increasing breeze in the mid-teens from the southwest, the final duel was set for the top two teams.  To add to the drama, Race 10 started under the “black flag rule” for a triple windward-leeward race— a veritable marathon for the sailors.  Again, ELUSIVE pursued PASSION in the last minute of the start to match-race them down into the pack.  After a brief tacking duel, again, both boats split tacks with ELUSIVE again managing to round several boats ahead.  By the second downwind leg, ELUSIVE sailed fast enough to slide into 2nd place and maintained that position to the finish to take the overall win.

The event concluded with a long distance race back to Hamilton Harbour, taking in the Small Sound and the channel up to The Dockyards in front of the spectacular Commissioner’s House on the northern part of Ireland Island. MAYHEM took line honours and won the “Bermuda Project Managers” prize. The “Tops Limited” boat of the day was BACK—IN-BLACK.

The Overall XL Trophy went to the strong ELUSIVE team, followed by PASSION and MAYHEM.  Fourth was SADIIQI and fifth was BACK-IN-BLACK.  The top International helmsmen taking Bermuda Tourism Trophy was Bill Lackenmacher from Houston, TX, followed by Steve Cucchiaro from Boston, MA, and Greg Turman from Corpus Christi, TX.  The top local helmsmen for the Goslings Trophy was Chuck Millican followed by James Macdonald and Jon Corless.   For more J/105 Bermuda XL Invitational sailing information

J/27 sailing St Croix regattaJ/Teams Lovin’ St Croix Regatta!
DARK STAR, PALADIN, EL SHADDAI-- Stars in Caribbean Sailing
(Christiansted, St Croix, USVI)- For starters, what’s not to like about the basic premise of St Croix’s International Regatta hosted by the St Croix YC on their famous beach?  For one, the winning skipper’s weight in rum is first overall prize; secondly, there are three spectacular days of racing in classic Caribbean sailing conditions; and lastly, there are  live bands each night on the beach with awesome “island-style” hospitality!

J/100 sailing upwind at St Croix regattaThe history of the event is somewhat amusing because of it’s unusual first prize! In 1992, Commodore Nick Castruccio organized the first St.Croix Yacht Club International Regatta, he convinced Mumm’s Champagne to sponsor the event, and encouraged his sailing friends from across the Caribbean to compete. The three day event was held in October, on the weekend of Columbus Day/ Puerto Rico Friendship Day, and 69 boats attended the first year. Peter Holmberg of Team Heineken, winner of the racing spinnaker class, received his weight in Mumm’s Champagne (and being a somewhat large citizen that he is, Mumm’s was not sure if this was such a great idea!). Nevertheless, a tradition was born!

After a series of hurricanes in the 1990s, resulting in the loss of the main Yacht Club dock three times, the event was moved to February, allowing StCYC to replace the dock after hurricane season. Better weather and better planning on the Yacht Club’s part have resulted in dock retention since. In 1999, Mumm’s (not too surprisingly) withdrew as the event sponsor and was replaced by local companies that sponsored the event through 2007. The winning skipper now received his weight in Cruzan Rum, thanks to the local St Croix distillery. And so it is.

J/80 one-design sailboat- sailing off St Croiz, USVIThe event is somewhat unique from a regatta format as well since there is a “pre-regatta” called the Commodore’s Race Trophy.  This enables the locals, in particular, to get their acts together, work out some of the rust accumulated from the summer and get the teams “gelling” like a well-oiled machine— at least, that’s the challenge!  The first event produced some great racing with J/Teams pretty much dominating the entire regatta.

In CSA Racing, taking 1st was Jonathan Lipuscek’s J/105 DARK STAR.  In fact, J/Teams took four of the top six places.  Following them in 3rd was Paul Davis’s J/27 MAGNIFICENT 7, in 5th was Angela Mayala’s J/80 SUN BUM II and in 6th was Robert Armstrong’s somewhat infamous J/100 BAD GIRL.

The CSA Non-Spinnaker also saw very spirited racing with the winner being Stanford Joines’s J/36 PALADIN looking magnificent.  Third was Dave Tomlinson’s J/24 EL SHADDAI.

Now that most teams had a bit of practice under their belts, it was high time to up the ante and put on the full-court press to determine the podium finishers for the “big one”, the St Croix International Regatta trophies and, of course, the skipper’s weight in rum for winning their respective divisions.

The CSA Racing saw a very closely fought competition, but getting the short-end of the stick on a tie-breaker and having to settle for second (and no rum) was Jonathan Lipuscek’s J/105 DARK STAR.  Ouch!  That must’ve been a bummer.  Also sailing a lot faster and smarter was and taking third on the podium was Robert Armstrong’s J/100 BAD GIRL.

Flip-flopping positions from the first regatta, the CSA Non-Spinnaker winner this time around (and quite happy to weigh-in on the rum award!) was Dave Tomlinson’s J/24 EL SHADDAI. Stanford Joines’s J/36 PALADIN sailed a solid regatta but simply could not hold back the rum-thirsty boys on EL SHADDAI!!  Amazing motivation that is!   Sailing photo credits- Rob Jones   For more St Croix International Regatta sailing information

J/125 sailing San Diego Hot Rum seriesJ/Teams HOT In SD Rum Series
(San Diego, CA)- San Diego's favorite Fall racing series is in full swing! For three Saturday’s (November 9th, 23rd and December 7th), the San Diego Yacht Club plays host to the annual Hot Rum Series— a fun-loving “free-for-all” that generally sees the fleet starting inside of San Diego Harbor, takes them on a “tour” that heads out past the majestic Point Loma, around some buoy set offshore, then “back home to the barn” to again finish inside the channel just off Harbor Island. J/120s sailing in San Diego Hot Rum series It’s an annual ritual for many SoCal sailors and, for most, it’s pretty random how one finishes based on how the wind blows (or not!).  For those not “in-the-know”, it’s consistently one of the largest PHRF “pursuit-style” races run annually— with the little boats (like 21 footers) starting first and the big boats (e.g. over 70 foot ULDB sleds) starting last; whomever crosses first wins!  To say that it’s a blast and lots of fun dJ/24 sailingn over Stars & Stripesoesn’t adequately describe the experience of having the likes of famous local boy Dennis Conner come flying by you on his custom 60 foot sloop, appropriately called STARS & STRIPES (like this ->>)!

Many J/Teams participate in this festival of sailing, more fun than being an actual race.  In PHRF Class 1, four J/125s are sailing and leading that pack after two weekends is Jim Madden’s STARK RAVING MAD.  He’s followed by Mark Surber’s DERIVATIVE, Viggo Torbenson’s TIMESHAVER and Tim Fuller’s RESOLUTE.

PHRF Class 2 has a flotilla of J/120s and a gorgeous J/124.  At this stage, top dog in the J/Fleet is Mike Hatch’s J/120 J/ALMIGHTY followed by Seth Hall’s J/124 MARISOL.  The J/120s CAPER (John Laun) and CC RIDER (Chuck Nichols) are just behind them.

J/105 BLINK sailed by Steve Howell from San Diego- sailing Hot Rum seriesThe J/105s are usually so dominant in PHRF Class 3 that most years they occupy the entire top five.  However, at this stage the J/105s are taking up just 5 of the top 10 slots.  Top boat is Dennis Case’s WINGS, followed by Dag Fish’s VIGGEN, Steve & Lucy Howell’s BLINK! and Ed Sanford’s CREATIVE.

TJ/70 one-design speedster- sailing San Diego Hot Rum serieshe seven J/70s in PHRF Class 4 are knocking it out of the park so far!  First in class is Karl Pomeroy’s ZERO TO SIXTY followed in second place by Jeff Brown’s “J70 Team”.  Dave Vieregg is sitting 3rd in J/70s and fifth in class on SOGGY DOLLAR.

Amazingly, the classic J/24 CAROLINA sailed by Ben Nieting is winning class and a fellow J/24 sailor is lying sixth in class, Mark Clements’s BRIGADOON.  Dave Cattle’s J/27 BLACKADDER is ready to pounce in the next race from his seventh place spot in the standings!   Sailing photo credits-  Bronny Daniels/ Joysailing.com   For more San Diego YC Hot Rum sailing information

J/24s sailing in Mexico“S” Super In Copa TelCel
(Club de Vela la Peña, Mexico)- Taking place over the past weekend and celebrating “la revolucion” were a fleet of thirteen J/24s competing for “la Copa TelCel La Pena”.  The Club de Vela la Peña was an excellent host and conducted a marvelous regatta over the two day weekend event.  Both Saturday and Sunday saw remarkably steady winds of 8-12 kts, with gusts up to 14 kts.  As a result, the CVLP RC was able to run the full slate of five races, much to the delight of all the sailors!

The fleet was treated to a “superman-like” performance from Team “S”, led by their magnificent capitano, Kenneth Porter.  Taking four 1sts in five races meant they could count a DNC and still win the regatta!  A fantastic result for Porter and the boys, a sobering experience for the rest of the fleet!  Talk about providing a “sailing clinic” on how to win J/24 regattas!

J/24s sailing off MexicoFor the rest of the competitors, it was anything but easy.  The balance of the top five basically saw four boats quite literally tied for second place!  Everything was determined for this group on the last leg of the fifth and final race.  Emerging from the fog of war was Manuel Benitez sailing ZORRO into second place by taking 3rd in the last race.  The others were not so lucky.  Third to fifth just two points back was determined on a three-way tie-breaker at 25 pts each.  Taking the “lucky break” was Jorge Murrieta’s TRES DOLORES team to snag the bronze for the regatta.  Not as lucky were Ralph Nelles on SUPER MACHOS taking fourth and Luis Morales on ORION completing the top five with his fifth place overall.  In the end, it was great racing, very tight for this group and lots of fun at the the CVLP’s bar afterwards as endless stories of “shoulda-woulda-coulda” were discussed (e.g. argued) amongst the crews!  “Next time” was the operative modus operandi for the next regatta.  In fact, the next race is November 30th- the Festival of Sail at Club de Velas Santa Maria.   For more J/24 Mexico sailing information

J/Community

What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide

Don Finkle & son sailing J/70s in New York and Key West*  Don Finkle from RCR Yachts had some good insights on J/70s, trailering and logistics for those who are considering doing more traveling to regattas.  Here are some of Don’s comments:

“One of the best attributes of the 70 is the ease of which you can tow it places.  I have towed our hull #15 over 10,000 miles so far and other than one one goof where I cut a corner too tight and knocked off a tail light it has been a piece of cake. 

The loaded 70 on trailer is low to the ground and you can board without a ladder by either stepping on the fender or on a dock box forward.  We recommend a simple plastic three-step stool that you can use to board on the transom.

We also installed a very inexpensive box we picked up at Lowe's which is handy for stowage of gear we don't want to keep inside the boat.

Because the boat is low, light and streamlined it tows much easier than most other boats.  The mast is deck stepped (shorter than if it was keel stepped) so it only sticks out a short way forward and aft of the hull.  The hinged mast step makes for easier step/unstep and you can ramp launch the boat yourself.  We highly recommend the “mast-stepping aid”, a simple device J/Boats designed that has a trailer “roller” mounted atop a six ft piece of 2”x 4” wood and fixed with a c-clamp onto the outboard bracket and lashed (bolted if you want) to the mast brace that spans the two transom pulpits— could not make hoisting the mast any easier!  Just put the top of the mast on it, roll it back, pin the mast-step, raise the mast!

The trailer-ability has allowed us to take our 70 to places such as Key West, Charleston, Newport, Annapolis (3 times), and so forth.  If you have not yet traveled with your 70 you are missing out on half the fun.  We’re looking forward to another full season of sailing!”

The J Cruising CommunityJ cruising directions- roll the dice and go!  Sailing to anywhere, anytime!

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.

J/42 cruiser- sailing across Atlantic Ocean* 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 sailing offshore to US Virgin Islands- rainbow over ocean* 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- sailing J/42 Jaywalker* 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

Wall St Journal interview- Stellin's Offshore cruising/ sailing retirementThe 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/.

J/130 sailing ARC Rally arrives Portugal- leave a message on the sea wall!* 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.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

J/Newsletter- November 20th, 2013

J70 sailing off  South AmericaInternational J/70 Class Update
(London, England)- Over 500 delegates from more than 60 nations gathered together in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman for the 2013 ISAF Annual Conference. Held from 9-16 November, the ISAF Council made decisions that affected the sport of sailing in the immediate future.  Most importantly, the J/70 one-design class was awarded “International Class” status.

As one looks back on the history of one-design classes that have achieved International Class status with ISAF (and its precursors like International Yacht Racing Union), never has a boat from any nation achieved “international” status in less than eighteen (18) months from its initial commercial introduction to the world’s marketplace.

Remarkably, the J/70 is now sailed on five principal continents that are part of the ISAF World of Sailing (North America, South America, Europe, Asia & Australia).  To date there are over 500+ boats ordered in some of the world’s best places to go sailing anywhere.    For more ISAF Conference information   For more International J/70 One-Design Class sailing information

J/Sailing News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

This past week was busy on the European front despite the simply awesome fronts and enormous gales that were besieging the western coast across the region. The Garmin Hamble Winter Series continued with the J/111s, J/97 and others having a wonderful time in the somewhat benign conditions offered up to them this past weekend.  Also taking place were the J/70 Western Ligurian Championships off the famous San Remo seaport of Italy.

Over in Asia, the J/80s just completed their most famous and long-standing championship, the “China Club Match Race Challenge” off Xiamen, China to wildly popular acclaim from many local sailors.

In the America’s, a number of J/Teams competed in the Round The County race off Seattle, WA with several dozen friends. Just south, the Brazilian J/24 Championships were completed off Porto Alegre, Brazil.

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:

Nov 16-17- J/24 Regata de la Revolucion - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Nov 16-17- J/70 Fall Fling Regatta - Hampton, VA
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.

J/97 sailing Solent Hamble Winter SeriesHamble Winter Series- Weekend VI
(Hamble, England)- After weeks of gales, it was with some trepidation that the Garmin Hamble Winter Series fleet nosed out of the river on Sunday in time for their start. Fears of wintry weather were misplaced, however, and some hours later the fleet returned with grins on their faces. ‘Awesome day on the water’ and ‘Champagne sailing conditions’ were some of the phrases heard bandied around the clubhouse after racing by competitors sporting that most unseasonal of things – sun-kissed faces.

The north-west 15-18 kts breeze provided some delightful but testing sailing conditions for the assembled racing yachts, with big shifts offering up big gains for some competitors with their eyes out of the boat and big losses for the less fortunate. One race was sailed.

In IRC 0, David & Kirsty Apthorp’s J/111 J-DREAM continued to sail a consistent series in their class and maintained their strong record with a 2nd this past weekend to hold on to their bronze podium position as well as their gold position in the J/111 one-design class overall.

In IRC 2, Paul Heys’s J/88 JUNGLE DRUM won class for the second time in the series and Louise Makin’s J/105 JOURNEYMAKER took fifth.

Nick Munday’s J/97 INDULJENCE won their fifth race in IRC 3 Class to take a commanding lead overall.  Just behind them is David Greenhalgh’s J/92 J-RONIMO lying in fourth overall.

In the J/109s it was Ivan Burden’s JACOBI who won, ahead of David McLeman’s OFFBEAT for the weekend.  At this stage in their series, David McGough’s JUST SO is leading the series, followed by Sir Owain Frank’s JYNNAN TONNYX in second and Paul Griffiths’s JAGERBOMB in third.  Thanks for the contributions from Ben Meakins.   For sailing photo credits-  Paul Wyeth Pictures   For more Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J/80s sailing in China Club Match RaceXiamen’s Blue Sea Wins J/80 China Match Race!
(Xiamen, China)- Who said good sailing didn’t exist in China. 4 Days, 4 umpires, 17 teams, 64 Races, 2 Black Flags, more ‘Y’ Flags, green, blue and yellows than you could shake a stick yet not one Rule 14 infringement and all this with a loss of 2 hours a day on the first 3 days. In one semi-final, on one 800m windward leg, 27 tacks apiece and on the final day 23 knots of wind – more than they can seemingly handle in the America’s Cup.

The Club Cup, as it is often known amongst sailors in China, is the oldest keelboat regatta in China and it would be a fair guess that it is the largest (for Chinese sailors), the highest quality, and most respected keel boat regatta in the country.

Started as a challenge between two clubs in beat up J-24s almost 10 years ago it pre-dates the more commercial China Cup International Regatta by a couple of years but the biggest difference is that this is a Chinese Regatta for Chinese teams not racing charter for predominantly a bunch of foreigners and the event has grown in size, quality and stature year on year.

The speed at which this event has matured both in terms of race management and the skill levels of the competitors is little shy of unbelievable, there is obviously a lot of coaching, practice and perhaps even video watching going on in Chinese sailing circles.

In the past it has been run over the week of the Chinese National Holiday, this year the event had to be split into a preliminary fleet racing regatta where the 30 entries were whittled down to 16 who returned to Xiamen 3 weeks later (this past extended weekend) for 4 days of knock-out match racing.

This match racing could best be described as competitive with the flags flying almost as much as the spray on the final day yet so often the teams could be seen giving each other the thumbs up and applauding each other as they crossed the finish line with victories that were incredibly frequently not assured until the last 100m of the race track.

J/80 China Match Club challengeThe first 3 days lost an average of 2 hours per day due to the breeze being, simply put – somewhere else but the team comprising of PRO Kang Peng, Li Li, the “glue” that held the event together, and the umpire team of Jono, Al, Lauren and GG, not forgetting Jim Johnstone who tirelessly fixed breakdowns and handled boat swaps kept the event pretty much on schedule albeit with nav-lights required on the umpire boats for the return to the marina on a couple of days.  The semi-finals saw both extremes of weather from 6 knots for the first 2 races to over 25+ kts for the completion of the final matches.

Little by little the 16 teams were whittled down to the finalists Xiamen’s Blue Sea YC and Yomovo Sailing Club from Hainan. Each race within this match was won by boat lengths rather than legs and proved to be a hard fought battle to the final finish line. In one pre-start the boats did so many spins round each other than the umpires appeared to be demoted with the umpire flag on their RIB turned from a ‘U’ to a ‘J’. (Think about it)!

There were attempts, some more successful than others, to use just about every rule in the book to encourage the umpires to fly the other boats flag but the umpires decisions were accepted in the right spirit with, quite naturally, one or two close decisions having to be talked through on the dock later.

There were lead swaps where a runaway leader dropped the kite in the tide allowing the other boat to take over and run away themselves, to races where the protagonists crossed the finish line overlapped as they had been for virtually the whole race.

Ultimately it was Xiamen’s Blue Sea SC who prevailed winning the competition to become the challengers to the current holders Liuzhou Sailing Club with the local team from Xiamen Island prevailing 4-1 over the defenders although the scoreline suggests less close racing than reality.

So it is all over for another year, and although there may be pretenders to the throne of the Club Cup, certainly as far as match racing is concerned, nothing in China even comes close. Thanks for the contribution from Hong Kong’s Alistair Skinner.

J/70s sailing on Lake Garda, ItalyJ/70 Liguria Championship Report
(San Remo, Italy)- Last weekend the final races were sailed to complete the first West Liguria Championships off San Remo— for many, it was the best winter sailing event in northwestern Italy.

The regatta saw steady northeast to easterly breezes blowing from 25-30+ knots for both days of racing. The J/70s delivered an extraordinary show of power & performance, sailing upwind against big waves at a very competitive speeds compared with bigger boats in the 35 to 45 ft size range.

With such strong upwind performance the J/70’s then hoisted their spinnakers and were literally flying downwind, holding the best breeze and angles, catching the big boats before the end of the downwind leg!

What was most impressive was the result of the second day, when the breeze was a little stronger and waves bigger: the small J/70 won “overall” for the day and, as result, finished second in the overall standings!  In Group “B” the J/70 was easily leading both days.  At the docks after sailing, many sailors came down to look at this little Speedster— all astonished!

Many thanks to Gian-Luca Grisoli, a new happy J/70 owner, for his experience in sailing such a wonderful regatta. And, a special and friendly thanks to Beppe Zaoli YCS President for the welcome hospitality to the new J/70 class in San Remo!

J/Sailors Enjoy Round the County
(San Juan, WA)- 89 boats made it out for Orcas Island’s annual romp around the San Juan Islands, well they made it out and a few made it around, some almost made it, and most just didn’t have a chance. Boats began their deliveries as early as Wednesday, some chose the rippin’ southerly on Thursday to make the trip, with Here & Now breaking their boom on the way up, and a large group made the trip in the sedate conditions on Friday. Beginning what for many is a four day marathon – delivery on Friday (often a 50 mile delivery), head out at O-dark-thirty Saturday to get to the starting area and then the 34 mile sail from Lydia Shoals to Roche Harbor, head out just after sun up Sunday for the 31.4 mile sail back to the finish inboard of the Lydia Shoals Buoy, then deliver back home on Monday. What seems like a short race around the San Juan’s quickly develops into over 200 miles of deliveries and racing in what is usually 40 to 45 degree fall weather – yet still 89 boats made it out to race.

The current was flying at the start on Saturday. The fleet had winds out of the North but with a current of 3 knots heading into the wind the boats had some good power heading off the starting line. The problem became holding position before the start, timing it just right and spinning around at precisely the correct moment to fly across the line with the current. 34 boats in the first start barely making headway against the current on the non-course side then spinning around and charging towards the start with really no way to bail out if things went wrong. Inevitably some spun too early and with 6 boats OCS the race committee decided to call a general recall instead of naming the boats that were over early. Everyone spun around as quick as they could, fired up their motors and began the long slog against the current to get back across the line for another try. 20 minutes later they tried again and this time the RC let ‘em go, but that 20 minutes became a huge loss on a day that had a large group of boats not make the halfway point at Patos, 8 boats missing the time limit by just 5 minutes or less.

Muffin quickly charged into the lead after the start and worked a bit East before heading North around the Pea Pods - looking great, but as they approached Orcas the wind just crapped out and it became painfully apparent that the further East you went towards Lummi the more wind you had. More wind, but not much wind, and with this information Here & Now, More Uff Da, and Chinook worked well up the course on the right before the faster boats began catching up and working through the early starters. Dragon Fly, of course, defied the logic of the right and worked through low along Orcas and Clark with Neptunes Car, Wasabi & Flash hot on their transoms. Eventually, though, it became a race against the clock in the light air, and since the tide waits for no man, the current eventually went against the majority of the fleet and spun them every which way.

Boats that had made it past Sucia and up to the South end of Patos without rounding Alden Point got swept back with the change in tides. Some scooted through the large gap between the islands and began the slow slog up into the eddy below Patos but Bravo Zulu & More Uff Da were lucky enough (thick sarcasm) to find the river along the North end of Sucia Island. The current sucked their transoms closer and closer to the island until they were just feet away and charging sideways towards the west at over 2 knots – testing their nerves to the point that motors were readied and eventually fired up and engaged on both boats to avoid ripping the rudder off on the jagged cliff wall - An exciting few minutes for the two adrift boats. Bravo Zulu decided to throw in the towel here but More Uff Da killed their motor after one boat length and kept racing, but in the end missed the halfway point by 5 minutes. Soon after the excitement along Sucia, the Northerly finally filled in and everyone worked their damnedest to make Alden Point before 4pm. Chinook almost made it, missing it by just over 30 seconds with Por Favor just behind them. The RC could be seen packing things up on shore as boat after boat sailed around the point and aimed their bows towards Roche and another 2 hour delivery to the marina.

The party tent was hoppin’ and bouncin’ as everyone arrived at the marina, most well after dark and with a break in the live music the short list of finishers was rattled off, and I mean short list. One boat made the full course finish in the Multi-hull class and only 2 boats made the halfway point. The IRC division had 6 of 10 boats making it to the full course finish with Wasabi crossing the line first at 5:08:47pm. Division 0 had 1 boat finish the long course, The Farr 395 Ace, finishing with less than 5 minutes left on the time limit. 11 of the 20 in Division 0 made the halfway point. Division 1 had just one boat make the halfway point, the Express 37 Ptolemy. Division 2 also had just one boat make the halfway point before time ran out at 4pm, the 30/30 Blackout. The 16 boats in Division 3 didn’t have enough steam to make it to the halfway point by 4pm, many missing it by less than 5 minutes – that over early call really came back to bite them at Alden Point.

Sunday was different, the racers had wind, the current didn’t seem too bad and off everyone went from the start line near Snug Harbor. Boats shot out into the lead by working down the shore of San Juan Island, with Madame Pelle & Muffin leading the way. The closer you got the better you did. Although the big benefit was in making it to the Canadian shore from the starting area and then joining the incoming tide in the straits, but most of the early starters simply didn’t have the boat speed to cross the current and get to the huge benefit that Martha & Por Favor caught by working west. The bail out point on shore was obviously Lime Kiln Point. Every boat that bailed off the shore there and headed west made out huge, if you made a few more jibes along the shore you got stuck in the way back machine watching your competition pin wheel around you towards Cattle Point.

Still sailing along downwind, the racers had to make a serious tactical decision passing the South end of the islands. Follow the rules in the SI’s and sail within ½ mile of Iceberg Point so their halfway time could be scored while setting themselves up in light air and adverse current, or ignore the SI’s and stay well offshore in favorable current and breeze, ignoring the halfway time and hoping to make the full course finish. A tough gamble at the time, although in the end it didn’t matter for those fleets that used the halfway times as the RC decided to score everyone no matter how far offshore they were.

The leaders in the IRC & Multi-hull divisions got around Davidson Rock and into Rosario near slack water and were able to work their way up the strait in a nice northerly breeze to begin finishing at 12:15pm but the later it was when you got around Davidson Rock the harder time you had in making the finish. Division 0 began finishing at 2:50pm and the first boat in Division 1 didn’t finish until 4:30pm and the leader in Division 2 finished at 5:06pm! The current was rippin’ out Rosario towards Juan de Fuca as the majority of the fleet worked north towards the finish. The left shore worked great early and boats sailed along Jones to Blakely and then found themselves in everyone’s favorite hole to the North of Blakely island. The later boats made huge gains by sailing across to the right and along Cypress, at times in positive current until cutting across to Lydia Shoals and joining the drifting masses as the sun set and everyone spent the final painful hour trying to get to the finish well inshore of the Lydia Shoal buoy in little to no wind and adverse current. As the clock ran out at 6pm three boats had made it across the line in Division 2 and Martha had the line in site with More Uff Da hot on her tail after working up the Cypress shore and across to the Lydia Shoal buoy.

It was a tough day on a tough weekend when at moments boats made amazing tactical choices to get far ahead of their fellow racers only to run into an equalizer and watch everyone catch up or simply ran out of time within sight of the finish. 8 boats managed to finish the full course on Saturday and 40 boats managed to finish the full course on Sunday. It didn’t rain much, it never snowed, the racers were in the San Juan’s, and absolutely no one out there spent the weekend mowing their lawn or raking up leaves – another successful Round the County!   Full sailing results can be found at the Round the County website   Sailing Photo's by Jan Anderson

J/24 one-design sailboats- sailing off BrazilCreole VDS Team Wins Brazilian J/24 Championships
(Porto Alegre, Brazil)- What could be more of a surprise than to have a “local” win the Brazilian J/24s Nationals and to have a “foreigner” becoming a “spoiler” to the party??  Well, that’s exactly what happened in this year’s edition of the J/24 Brazilian National Championships.

With a great crew the Creole VDS team, led by Samuel Albrecht, was the winner of the 2013 Brazilian Championship off Porto Alegre. In second place were the Uruguayan’s PANTHER team, skippered by Diego Garcia from Punta Del Este.  Third was BRUSCHETTA sailed by J/24 World Champion Mauricio Santa Cruz from Brazil.

J/24 Brazilian sailors"It was a sensational championship, things were happening that were favorable to us.  We tried to sail without pressure, without getting anxious and doing little risk. It was fun,” said Renato Plass.  It’s also interesting to note this team will represent Brazil in the sailing competition in the South American Games in March 2014 in Chile.

The Uruguayan team that sailed very well in strong winds, left satisfied by the result obtained in Porto Alegre. "The regatta was very good, with great races, and it is always good to compete here," said the captain Diego Garcia .   Sailing photo credits     For more J/24 Brazilian Championships sailing information

J/Community

What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide

*  RI Narragansett Bay Archipelago Rally!?  Rhode Island ‘classic’ comfortably reaches ‘annual’ status.  It was 2006 when Olympic silver Medalist Bob Merrick won the inaugural Archipelago Rally on a beat up Hobie 14 by a mere 30 seconds over windsurfing champion Nancy Johnson.  That first weekend in December was thrown together the week before with a few phone calls and emails and with a 20-25-knot Westerly, about a dozen “craft” raced, slowest starting first, to Spar Island, a scrubby little sand bar in the middle of Mt. Hope Bay in the middle of Narangansett Bay.

Now in its eighth year, this Rhode Island ‘classic’ has comfortably reached ‘annual’ status, sticking to its small boat pursuit race roots (under Portsmouth Yardstick Ratings). How else would everyone have an equal chance to enjoy the BBQ/Beach Party afterwards?  There were PLENTY of J/Sailors participating in this year’s edition!  Chris Museler reports on the 2013 edition:

“The only thing we expected about his year’s Archipelago Rally was having a fantastic time on the water. The unexpected was the icing on the cake at Quonochontaug Pond with aqua-marine colored water and white sand shoals the size of football fields, there was a lot of walking of boats and damaged rudders and centerboards but nothing could dampen the Rally spirit!

The highlights this year weren’t that there were thirty-five craft and more than forty kids sailing or that the breeze and bright sun made for a spectacular venue. I would say the main takeaway was the fact that two young girls were second and third and that a windsurfer won for the first time in the eight year history of the event. The third place girl miraculously has placed in the top five each time she has competed!

We tell everyone, it is impossible to plan on winning the Archipelago Rally. Just ask newly anointed Head of Sales for North Sails- Kimo Worthington, who was on his way to a top three finish before hitting a shoal in his Penguin sailboat!  He wound up steering the boat to the finish with his legs hanging off the transom while Bridget Murphy trimmed the sail on their wooden Penguin dinghy!  Jeepers, can you imagine other Volvo 70 Round the World Sailors doing anything different?”  Here are some of the Special Awards:

- Broken Head Perpetual (first place): Will Tuthill, Mistral Windsurfer
- Last Place: Matt Gineo, Crosby Fast Cat
- Lonely Loon: Rush and River Hambleton, Dyer 9
- Furthest Traveled: Ray Garcia, Zef, Babylon, NY
- First All Family: Tim, Karen, Benjamin (2) and Jamie (2 months) Fallon, Beetle Cat
- Vintage Rallier: Adam Walsh, McCaffery-built Peapod Sailing Dory

Video by Annie Tuthill, who has yet to miss a rally.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oMPUF9CQrpk

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

J/Newsletter- November 13th, 2013

J/70s sailing on German lakesJ/70 Lake Constance Class Development
(Friedrichshafen, Lake Constance- Austria, Germany, Switzerland)- The “Bodensee” as Lake Constance is known in central Europe is perhaps one of the most remarkable bodies of water in the world.  Steeped in history and at the middle of a “tug-of-war” between various empires over time in the middle of Europe, today “the lake” enjoys a somewhat neutral position in the world of politics and empires— no one has jurisdiction over the sailors whom enjoy its spectacular sailing venues— be that Austria, Switzerland or Germany!

women J/70 sailors in GermanyAs a result of its unique place in history, Lake Constance has a remarkably collaborative approach to life on how one manages one of the most beautiful lakes in the world!  With no jurisdictional powers over the lake, three major European nations exercise their “community of interests” by cooperating together on a wide variety of sailing, environmental and social issues.  In this case, summer, fun, beaches, sun-bathing, boating and sailing are the principals that drive all towards a common interest to enjoy a shared passion for the water!

In a remarkable development over the course of the past year, for the first time Germany and an entire region of central European sailors have made a decision to promote a single class within their clubs and throughout the entire region!  The project initiated from Constance sailor Christian Rau, an experienced European one-design racer. Together with other successful sailors from the racing scene at Lake Constance, they developed a concept that could be the basis for the development of a relatively inexpensive and fast boat, which could be promoted by all of the clubs and, most importantly, could be leaders in developing a new EUROPEAN-wide one-design keelboat class!

J/70s sailing on German lakes regattaAccording to Bo Riechmann (J/Boats Germany Dealer Mittelman’s Werft), “it´s really quite remarkable, in fact unbelievable, that such a large group of clubs have collaborated on such a large scale! The Lake Constance Sailing Association has around 100 sailing clubs with 20,500 members sailing over 10,000 sailboats in the 18-25 ft size range and at least 70 clubs were present to select the J/70 as their next “one-design club keelboat”!  The driving issue was to consolidate the dozens of keelboat classes that have evolved over time into one that was “easy-to-sail by all age groups (especially women & children), ramp-launchable, easily transportable around Europe, and affordable”.  The J/70 helped to overcome significant issues related to the limited “in-water” docks & moorings that were available around Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as for the rest of Europe.  The storage issue simply became a choice of whether it was your drive-way at home or a local dry-sail facility next to a launching ramp.”

The Lake Constance Sailing Association is planning to organize five main one-design events on the lake for the 2014 summer sailing season. In addition, they will also take part at seven other main events on the lake.  As a result, new J/70 one-design sailors will have at least twelve regattas to sail next summer on the Bodensee!  Most importantly, everyone (community sailing club or private yacht club) can take part at all events.  Henning’s Mittelman’s Werft team will be providing a fun “twist” to the series, providing a “Golden Spinnaker” to the current series leader for each event— so everybody will be able to see which boat is leading the overall score going into each event!   For more German J/70 Class Association information (just recently organized).   For more J/70 & Lake Constance Sailing Association sailing class information.

J/70s sailing Key West Race WeekQuantum Key West Race Week Update
(Key West, FL)- The annual winter pilgrimage to the sunny, friendly climate of the Florida Keys in late January is showing healthy participation by J/Sailors!  This spectacular event presents world-class competition over five full race days. Entering its 27th year, Race Week offers exceptional racing and fun shoreside parties in wonderful Key West. The Florida Keys and Key West are the perfect southernmost vacation destination!  Yes, even the first J/24 Midwinters sailors in 1978 can attest to that fact!!

Premiere Racing’s reputation for excellent race management and regatta organization promises to deliver another great regatta and ideal winter get-away for all sailing enthusiasts.  If you haven’t already, make plans now to start off the New Year with the best sailing there is this side of the Caribbean’s aquamarine waters and warm, gentle trade-winds.

J/111s sailing Key West Race WeekSo far, 105 boats have signed up for Key West, with the two largest one-design fleets being J’s. The 64 J/Teams registered in four classes represent 61% of the fleet, a veritable J/Fest down in the Florida Keys!  By far the largest one-design fleet at the event, the forty strong J/70 Midwinter Championship fleet, already has representation from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, Great Britain and continental Europe.  The next biggest fleet are the fourteen J/80’s competing for their 2014 Midwinter Championship with several of their top teams participating from across the country.

In the “big boat” J/PHRF handicap world, ten boats are participating including two J/122s, three J/111s and a fast J/125.  Thrown into that mix are a new J/88 speedster, a J/109, J/44 and J/24.  Head on down and join the fun!  Last year’s Key West was epic, 2014 promises to be even better!  Sailing photo credits- Onne Vanderwal.com   For more Quantum Key West Race Week sailing information

J/24s sailing Miami's Biscayne BayJ/24 Midwinters Announcement
(Coconut Grove, Fl)- Coral Reef Yacht Club and J/24 Fleet 10 would like to welcome the J/24 Class to the beautiful waters of Biscayne Bay in Coconut Grove, Florida for the 2014 J/24 Midwinter Championship Regatta- being held from February 19th- 23rd, 2014.  The committees are working on finalizing details for local housing with club and fleet members as well as finding the best hotel rates in the surrounding area and we will be posting that information soon.

Also be looking for some entertaining stories from past Midwinter Regattas at CRYC in the 80's and 90's like.... “Do you know where the Black Flag came from”? Look forward to future news to find the answer and expect to see the original version of the Black Flag on the 2014 starting line after the first general recall (that is, if you don’t behave)!  And, some of our most entertaining TV sailing personalities of today (think AC Cup recently) got their start sailing J/24's in the 80's on Biscayne Bay ... there are stories to be told! Oh, those were the days!

Coral Reef YC are looking forward to showing everybody a great time with some of the best winter sailing you will find anywhere. Head on down and join the fun! If there is anything you need to know, simply contact Mark Pincus, the Regatta Chairman and Fleet 10 Captain at email- mwpincus@aol.com or phone# 305-915-1438.  Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com   For more J/24 Midwinters sailing information

J/Sailing News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

Last week one of the premiere sailing events in Europe concluded their five regatta series on Berlin’s spectacular Wansee.  The Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga was a resounding success, with eighteen of Germany’s top sailing clubs participating in fleet races in a new fleet of J/70 one-designs.  The combination of Olympic and World Champions sailing as team members with their yacht club members made for some fun times, great camaraderie and new-found friends.  Plus, everyone got a chance to travel to some of Germany’s best sailing hot spots— Tutzing, Travemunde, Hamburg, Friedrichshafen and Berlin.

Having nearly as much fun sailing another classic around island race were members and friends of the Royal Hong Kong YC.  This past weekend saw over 200+ sailboats participate in RHKYC’s “Tommy Bahama Around Island Race”; this year it was a record-setting heavy-air extravaganza for those completing the a 26nm “around Hong Kong islands” course.  The J/80s sailed as a one-design fleet while other J’s (J/109, J/111, J/145) sailed both HKPN and IRC handicap fleets.

Across the Pacific Rim, the California sailors were enjoying the first of the three-part J/22 California Dreamin Series.  Hosted by St. Francis YC on San Francisco Bay, top match-racing teams from California dueled all weekend long with the hope of winning the three regatta series and qualify to sail the legendary Ficker Cup held in Long Beach, CA.

Over on the East Coast of America, the 27th annual SORC Nassau Cup Ocean Race took place from Miami to Nassau, Bahamas.  It was an epic blast reach and surf all the way across the Gulf Stream to Nassau; making it especially fun for a renowned J/105 crew!

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:

Nov 16-17- J/24 Regata de la Revolucion - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Nov 16-17- J/70 Fall Fling Regatta - Hampton, VA
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.

J/70 sailing Deutsche Segel-bundesliga- Tutzing, GermanyHamburgers Masters Of J/70 Segel-Bundesliga!
(Berlin, Germany)- What began as a dream and passion to grow sailing across Germany became, for even the most diehard detractors, one of the most successful sailing projects ever launched in European sailing history.  Some may point to the Extreme 40 catamaran sailing series or RC-44 one-design series as examples of how to grow participation in sailing amongst the elite of the sailing world.  However, no one has demonstrated, until this year, how to grow sailing at a grass-roots level that was “all-inclusive” and fun!  Perhaps more importantly, make it a remarkable learning experience with many of Europe’s best sailors participating (e.g. Olympic Medallists and World Champions) and get everyone cheering enthusiastically for their respective sailing clubs to win!  That was the secret of the inaugural J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing series held in five locations across Germany this past summer.

The exciting conclusion of the series on Berlin’s Wansee saw a bunch of northern “Hamburgers” trounce their “southern” friends from Berlin and points south in Germany.  And in the end, the eighteen sailing clubs/ yacht clubs and hundreds of sailors that participated from across Germany were all the real winners; each club saw tremendous interest grow in the event all summer long with many wishing to participate the next time around!

The finale on the Wansee took place in about as picturesque and dramatic a city lake-front as anyone could imagine.  It served as tremendous theater for the finalists to battle for not just the Berliner regatta honors, but the overall series honors as well.

J/70 sailing downwind on German lakes- Deutsche Segel-bundesligaThe Berlin/ Wansee regatta saw tough competition, especially from the host club sailors that demonstrated excellent local knowledge of the tricky wind conditions.  Indeed, the first two places went to the locals, with the Schweriner YC team comprised of Ingo Koehn, Torsten Haverland, Lars Haverland and Uwe Thielemann winning an impressive series with seven finishes in the top three! They were followed by their colleagues at Verein Seglerhaus am Wansee with the team of Malte Kamrath, Ulrike Schumann, Frithjof Kleen and Nils Schröder.  Taking third was Lindauer Segler-Club, fourth was Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and fifth was Muhlenberger Segel-Club.

J/70 winning NRV sailing team- GermanyAs a result of their fourth place finish in the Berlin/Wansee Regatta, the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) team from Hamburg were declared the overall winners of the inaugural Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga series!  The NRV team that consisted of Johannes Polgar, Florian Spalteholz, Klaas Höpcke and Niklas of Meyerinck sailed a remarkably consistent series over the course of the five regattas, consistently finishing in the top five—  (Tutzing- 5th, Travemunde- 2nd, Hamburg- 1st, Friedrichshafen- 4th, Berlin- 5th). Their skipper, Johannes Polgar, said “we could hardly believe our luck! It was a crazy season for us! Fantastic that we were able to bring the trophy to our friends and members in Hamburg!”

Behind NRV in the overall standings and taking second prize for the series were the Wurttembergischer YC team. While sailing fast and smart in Tutzing (4th), Travemunde (5th) and Friedrichshafen (1st), their team members didn’t quite hit the ground running in championship form in Hamburg (7th) and in the Berliner finale (9th).

J/70s sailing on Wansee in Berlin, GermanyThe biggest battle happened to be for the final position on the podium for the series with at least four teams  vying for the coveted bronze medal.  By sailing their hearts out in Berlin, the local favorites (Verein Seglerhaus am Wansee with skipper Malte Kamrath), rode their second place onto podium by a whisker!  The VSaW team started the series slowly in Tutzing, but closed with a flourish at Friedrichshafen (2nd) and Berlin (2nd) to claim the bronze for the overall series.

The balance of the top five were quite close, finishing just two and three points behind VSaW, respectively.  After starting the series quite strongly - Tutzing (1st), Travemunde (3rd), Hamburg (3rd)- the proverbial “wheels fell of the silverware shopping trolley” for YC Berlin-Grunau’s team.  The last two events for YC B-G were tough pills to swallow, having to count the Friedrichshafen (9th) and Berlin (12th) to finish fourth.  Just one point back was the very consistent team from Chiemsee YC, counting a Hamburg (2nd), a 5th and three 6th places to hang in for fifth overall.

After five months, it is quite clear the concept of the first Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga has been a great success. The acceptance of the first nation-wide club competition in Germany is very high amongst the sailing community. The five events that were held in the first year were dominated by local patriotism, passion, camaraderie and fairness between the sailors. So far, there are now more than 30 other clubs that are interested in participating for the 2014 sailing season!

Many happy memories were recorded for all of the sailors, the organizers, sponsors and the host clubs.  Below are the links to the photos and some nice sailing videos for each one of the events.

June 7-9- Tutzing/ Starnberger See
http://segelbundesliga.de/fotogalerien/tutzing/
http://segelbundesliga.de/fotogalerien/tutzing-tag-2/
http://segelbundesliga.de/fotogalerien/tutzing-tag-3/

July 19-21- Travemunde
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/travemuende/
Day 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfhhFYNsXTU
Day 3- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30Wikkt8jGk

August 30— September 1- Hamburg
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/hamburg/
Day 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u974BNOD0H8
Day 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyZKlCmAuqg
Day 3- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u974BNOD0H8

September 27-29- Friedrichshafen
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/friedrichshafen/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QToUl73acWY

November 8-10- Berlin finale
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/berlin/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZDIhI9WUr4

For more Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information

Hong Kong sailboats- sailing around island raceJ/Teams Blast Around Hong Kong Islands!
Veteran J/Sailors Love Windy, Wavy Conditions
(Hong Kong, China)- Hong Kong's largest and most inclusive sailing event, the Tommy Bahamas Around Island Race, featured more than 200 sailing boats, together with outrigger canoes and coastal rowing boats.  All teams battled it out over the 26nm course that is known as the “Round Island Race” (e.g. all around the islands that comprise Hong Kong)!  Cool race, spectacular vistas of the world-renown city and breathtaking views of the ginormous, lush, jungle green mountain-tops. Anyone looking out of their window in Hung Hom or Chai Wan on the morning of the start would see hundreds of boats converging on Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour from every point of the compass for Hong Kong’s biggest annual celebration of sail and paddle on the water.

The Around the Island Race became an annual event in 1983, however its origins go back to 1864 when six boats raced around Hong Kong Island to Starboard (clockwise) and Hong Kong’s sailors have since regarded this route as a tricky challenge with unpredictable wind shifts.  The race course features a 26nm circumnavigation of Hong Kong Island to starboard, which has been sanctioned by Hong Kong Marine Department since 2003. This year there was record-setting breeze, so the Royal Hong Kong YC PRO, Ms Inge Strompf-Jepsen, managed to fire off twenty separate starts for sailboats at RHKYC’s Kellett Island clubhouse.

Hong Kong sailboats- sailing around island raceWith the replenishment of the northeast monsoon filling in overnight, many competitors took one look at the conditions and decided that prudence was the better part of valor.  This included the majority of the beach cat classes, where even the most battle hardened sailors took one look at the conditions whipped up by the 15-18kt easterly in the harbour and decided that the 25kts plus and two to three metre seas at Cape D’Aguilar were not for them or their boats.

With 258 entries, this was the biggest prospective fleet recorded for the 26nm circumnavigation.  With even Cyberport Gate getting a good 20-25kt blow and the relatively flat stretch along the south and south west of Hong Kong Island meant the entire fleet would likely be on record-setting paces for their respective classes.  Indeed, after the finish times were recorded and handicap times applied, it was pretty clear that most records fell from previous years.

Amongst the J/Teams, there were some excellent performances.  In the highly competitive IRC 2 Class, the J/111 MOJITO sailed by Simon Blore had a tremendous race, taking second overall and narrowly missing the overall win by a mere minute and a half!

Taking a comfortable fifth overall in the IRC Cruiser class (white sails) was the super quick carbon flyer, the J/145 REDEYE skippered by George Taylor.

In the HKPN 601-910 class, the J/109 WHISKEY JACK sailed by veteran Hong Kong offshore campaigner Nick Southward, managed to pull off a third in their class in the challenging breezes.

Still savoring their classic J/35 NO ONE ELSE was Emily Chan & Sidney Leung, skippering the boat to a third overall in one of the largest classes in the race- HKPN 981-1070 class.

Finally, the J/80s enjoyed a large turn-out for this popular race; their fourteen boat one-design fleet predictably had some very close quarters sailing with just four minutes separating the top six boats after 26nm!!  Fun sailing for those crews!  Topping the fleet was Jonny H skippering J-CHI.  Just a few seconds behind them was Ben Bulmer’s JASMINE in second, followed by Henry Wong’s FOOTLOOSE in third, Sam Phillips skippering MOZZIE in fourth and Lim Boon Kian helming LILA to fifth overall.   For more Tommy Bahama Around Island Race sailing information

J/22s sailing california dreamin series- San Francisco BaySilvestri Leads California Dreamin Series
(San Francisco, CA)-  This past weekend the St Francis Yacht Club hosted the first stop of the three event 2013-2014 California Dreaming Match Racing Series using its fleet of identical one-design J-22s.  Despite delays each morning for the wind to fill in, typical for off-season on SF Bay, the RC managed to complete 11 flights for the eight teams.

First overall went to local San Francisco Bay favorite Russ Silvestri and his team of Mario Yovkov, Erica Mattson, and John Collins, who scored 5.5 points.  Second with 4.5 points went to past winner and fellow St. Francis YC member Nicole Breault and her team, followed by a three-way tie among skippers Shawn Bennett (St. Francis YC), Dusty Durant (Long Beach YC) and Jimmy Barnash (Rochester YC) just a half point back.

All of the teams enjoyed beautiful afternoon sailing conditions and tight racing with mixed win-loss records all across the board.  The 8 teams regroup at San Diego YC on Jan 11-12 for the second stop, also in J-22s.   Sailing photo credits- Cindy Zammit   For more J/22 California Dreamin Match Race Series sailing information

J/105 Loki sailing the Nassau Cup Ocean Race to BahamasJ/105 LOKI Surfs Nassau Cup!
(Nassau, Bahamas)- The famous SORC Nassau Cup Race took place this past weekend in what many would’ve considered “champagne sailing” conditions for their “hang ten” ride surfing the big waves across the Gulf Stream to Nassau, Bahamas.  Unlike what was expected for the start and very dJ/105 Loki at Nassau Harbor finish line in Bahamasissimilar to the previous couple of days, all the PHRF class started on time and under beautiful blue skies at 1105 hours Saturday morning. The winds were out of the North at 10-12 knots and the forecast showed a pretty large front that would power the fleet home in near record time.

After the teams had awoken to gorgeous sunny skies for their finish off the majestic Nassau Harbor Lighthouse, they immediately headed to “Race Central HQ” at Nassau YC for the warm greetings and legendary (e.g. amazing!) Bahamian hospitality.  Enjoying it more than most may have been David Bond’s J/105 LOKI, taking third Overall and again placing on tJ/22s match racing in Nassau Harbor, Bahamashe podium for at least the past three years!  Congratulations to the LOKI team for their perseverance and happy times had by all.

Unique to the event this year was the J/22 Match Race Regatta.  After the dust cleared, the crew that won included  Eamonn deLisser, Tim Banks and a local Bahamian youth sailor— pretty cool that is!  In all it was another great regatta with good racing, close finishes and the legendary Bahamian hospitality of the Nassau Yacht Club.   Sailing photo credits- Carole Wing   For more Nassau Cup Ocean Race sailing information

J/Community

What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide

Don Finkle and son sailing J/70s in Key West*  Don Finkle from RCR Yachts, the J/Dealer in upstate New York, wrote a nice perspective regards why successful one-design sailboat classes have a “collegial atmosphere” amongst their sailors.  Here are Don’s comments as posted in Scuttlebutt:

There are not as many racing sailors out there as I thought there were. Much has been said about the decline in sailboat racing so that is no secret, but it dawned on me recently that it is worse than I had thought.

When I was sailing 36 foot racer-cruisers, we usually sailed with and against people we knew from year to year, even as we moved around. And those people normally stayed with the same crew, or maybe switched from one boat to another within the same fleet.

Now that I sail mostly on J/70s we travel a lot more and are exposed to a much larger pool of sailors, many of whom I did not previously know. So I pay a lot more attention to the other sailors in our fleet, who they are, where they sail, their backgrounds, etc. I want to meet new sailors, follow their accomplishments and hopefully learn from them.

What I have found is that many of these people sail in a variety of boat designs, not just in one class. They may have a favorite but they can be found in different boats in different events, sometimes driving, sometimes crewing.

Where I am going with this is that if you name four different fleets of say small keelboat one designs you don’t have four distinct sets of sailors. Many of the names sail in multiple fleets, so the total number of participants is less than you would first think. I figured this out by looking at the results of the J/70 class at first, then scouring the results of other classes….and the same familiar names cropped up on scoresheets all over the place.

Some of these people sail Melges 20s, Melges 24s, J/80s, Lightnings, J/22s, J/24s, etc. in addition to the J/70, often 3 or 4 different classes. This is not a bad thing at all; it means that sailors get to try and enjoy different boats (there is no perfect boat) and meet more people as they move around. But it can give the impression that there are a greater number of sailors than is actually the case.

Each class is thus in somewhat of a precarious position. With sailors hopping from class to class they might not have the long term commitment to any one, so any given class could find itself with a drop in attendance at any time.

The exception to this would be those classes that focus their energy on sustaining membership based on a collegial atmosphere, involvement at a social level, being inclusive of sailors of varying ages and abilities, etc.

The J Cruising CommunityJ cruising directions- roll the dice and go!  Sailing to anywhere, anytime!

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.

J/42 cruiser- sailing across Atlantic Ocean* 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 sailing offshore to US Virgin Islands- rainbow over ocean* 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- sailing J/42 Jaywalker* 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

Wall St Journal interview- Stellin's Offshore cruising/ sailing retirementThe 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/.

J/130 sailing ARC Rally arrives Portugal- leave a message on the sea wall!* 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.