Gorgeous New J/97E Interior + Cockpit
(Les Sables d’Olonne, France)- Following her bigger sister- the J/122E- the J/97E is a dramatic new configuration of the extraordinarily successful J/97. Having proven itself as one of the most successful 29 foot IRC offshore keelboat designs ever, many avid J aficionados wished to have that “big boat” feel in a pocket rocket cruising boat. Renowned for its capacious, wide-open interior, the new J/97E features a
new high-end, modern interior design comprised of walnut woods and off-white trim and ceilings. Add in the large hull windows and the feeling is one of “bringing the outdoors in”! In addition to the wonderful interior enhancements, the cockpit has been completely re-designed to include the famous J/111 cockpit ergonomics- nice long seats that permit you to stretch out in comfort combined with a floor-mounted mainsheet and a large diameter steering wheel on a pedestal in the wide-open aft cockpit. Look for the new J/97E in this year’s fall boatshows. For more J/97E performance cruiser sailing information
N2E Race Preview(Newport Beach, California)- The 68th annual Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race will see more than 40 classes of boats cross the start line this Friday, April 24 from 11 a.m. until noon.
Hosted by the Newport Ocean Racing Association, the beloved N2E is an eclectic mix of serious sailors campaigning multi-million dollar yachts racing alongside recreational cruisers. With more than 205 boats entered, N2E is again one of the world’s largest international offshore yacht races.
The inaugural Transpac Qualifier route will send larger yachts and experienced sailors around San Clemente Island then South to Ensenada, Mexico. Also new this year is the Open Class; a showcase for ultra-modern foiling sailboats that can potentially complete the 125-nautical mile course before dark.
First run in 1948, the N2E has a storied history of mixing professional racers, celebrities and recreational sailors to become a time-honored steeped in tradition event for Newport Beach, the city of Ensenada and sailing enthusiasts who come from across the country to compete. More than 40 trophy categories in monohull, multihull and cruising classes give this a race a wide appeal. In recent years, great winds have tested and challenged the skills of crews, many who only sail overnight on this race.In fact, the weather may end up being the story of the race much like it was last year. For those with short memories, the 2014 edition of the N2E was the first start this century that started off with a windward beat in 15-20 kts winds dead on the nose from the SSE. As a front moved through, the wind died and swung SW, then ultimately NW with the arrival of the front with speeds hitting 20-30 kts at times during the night. This year the fleet is hopeful the forecast holds true. At the start, it should be around 8-12 kts SW shifting to W 10-15 kts in the evening and by midnight to the NW with a slight chance of showers with the passing Low (depression). By the Saturday morning, the fleet should be well down track towards San Diego and Ensenada and with any bit of luck the forecasted 15-25 kts winds, gusting to 30 kts, from the NW kick in for a super fast, fresh-to-frightening sleigh-ride under spinnakers or code zeros to the finish! It has the makings of a record run for many boats.
The J/120 Class has seven boats with many of the top boats from the SoCal region looking forward to the heavy reaching conditions. Top teams include Peter Bretschger’s ADIOS, John Laun’s CAPER, Mike Hatch’s J-ALMIGHTY, Tom & Terri Manok’s POLE DANCER and Gary Winton’s SHENANIGANS.The seventeen boat PHRF A class has some of the hottest offshore boats in the 40-60 foot range. Chief amongst that group are a twin J/125s- Mark Surber’s DERIVATIVE and Viggo Torbensen’s TIMESHAVER. They will have to contend with some very fast reaching offshore J/Teams in the form of Carolyn Parks’ J/145 RADIO FLYER and two J/160s- Paul Margis’ INDIGO and John Lyon’s INNOCENT MERRIMENT.
In the fourteen-boat PHRF B class, two J’s will be going at it, John Raymont’s J/122 T.K.O. and Seth Hall’s J/124 MARISOL (the famous kid’s boat!). The ten-boat PHRF D class promises some interesting match-ups, the old versus new and the very experienced versus the new kids on the block. Three J/109 one-designs are racing that all have some pedigree to them, such as Jon Turner’s PATRIOT, Jack Mayer’s ZEPHYR and Milton Santos’ LINSTAR. A veteran and sailing a classic J/35 is Eric McClure’s MACS. All of them will be chased hard by the J/88 BLUEFLASH skippered by Scott Grealish.
The lone J in the 15 boat PHRF E class is Juan Lois’ J/105 ROCINANTE. Finally, the lone Transpac Qualifier race entry for J’s is Robert Pace’s J/46 ANDIAMO.
Tom Siebel (the new J/125 owner of STARK RAVING MAD IV from San Francisco, CA) will be racing the mighty ORION, a MOD 70 that is identical to Lloyd Thornburg’s MOD 70 PHAEDO IV that just won the multihull class at Voiles des St Barths (Lloyd is owner of one of brother Peter J’s Gunboat 62s by the same name- PHAEDO III is also sailing in the N2E). Sailing photo credits- Rockskipper Photography For more Newport to Ensenada Race sailing information
Storm Trysail Club Hosting Key West!QUANTUM SAILS Remains Title Sponsor
(Larchmont, New York)- Quantum Key West Race Week will continue thanks to the organizational expertise of a new ownership group and the on-going support of its title sponsor – Quantum Sail Design Group.
The Storm Trysail Club (STC) is pleased to announce that it has taken over ownership and management of the prestigious regatta. Established in 1938, the club is well known for running Block Island Race Week, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary this summer. STC also organizes the Lauderdale-to-Key West Race that has long served as feeder for Key West Race Week.
“Key West Race Week is a terrific bookend to the club’s long-standing Block Island Race Week,” Storm Trysail Club Commodore Lee Reichart said. “We believe we will be able to utilize our experience at Block Island to ensure that Key West remains the most prominent winter big-boat event in North America.”
Quantum Key West Race Week 2016 will be held Jan. 18-22, 2016 with many of the same elements that made the regatta so popular remaining in place. Quantum Sail Design Group came aboard as title sponsor of Key West Race Week in 2012 at a time when its future was uncertain. Quantum and its backers provided the financial support that enabled Premiere Racing to continue organizing the regatta. “We recognize Key West Race Week is the flagship regatta in this country and has been for well over two decades,” Quantum President Ed Reynolds said. “This midwinter, big boat regatta is very important to North American and international sailboat racing. STC is uniquely qualified and we’re excited about the future of the event under its direction.”
Yachting Magazine founded Key West Race Week in 1987 and seven years later brought Peter Craig aboard as race chairman. At the time, it was a single division regatta with 112 boats. Craig took over as event director in the late 1990s and under his leadership Key West Race Week evolved into an iconic international keelboat event. Craig and assistant Jeanne Kleene, the two principals of Premiere Racing, are happy to hand off the event to capable new stewards.
STC members are in the process of contacting old and new sponsors. J/Boats, a worldwide leader in high-performance sailboats, has pledged its support to the event. Hundreds of J/Boats sailors have competed at Key West Race Week over the years, either in one-design, PHRF or IRC classes. “Key West Race Week has been a favorite for J sailors since its inception 20-plus years ago,” said Jeff Johnstone. “We’re very excited to see Storm Trysail Club take the helm and we encourage all of our sailing industry peers to join us in supporting this great event that means so much to the sailing community. We’re looking forward to being back in sunny, breezy Key West next January.”STC announced that longtime member John Fisher will serve as event chairman for Key West Race Week. Fisher has been involved with Block Island Race Week since 1999, serving as chairman for three editions of the biennial regatta. “Key West Race Week has long been the best winter venue the U.S. has to offer, given the consistency of conditions and obviously the incredible weather,” Fisher said. “Veteran competitors at Key West have come to expect top-notch race management and that will not change! Storm Trysail Club is a proven commodity when it comes to on-water organization.”
In other good news on the logistics/ management side of the event, Dick Neville, another STC veteran, has been appointed race committee chairman. Neville has been working Key West Race Week for nearly two decades as right-hand man to Division 2 principal race officer Dave Brennan. Neville is expecting to conduct starts in most of the classes that have traditionally competed at Key West. Furthermore, Fisher said Nick Langone will serve as shore-side committee chairman while John Storck Jr. will oversee mobile marina logistics.
The Storm Trysail Club hopes to retain the services of numerous dedicated volunteers that worked for Premiere Racing for many years. “It is important to point out that many Storm Trysail Club race committee members have been involved with Key West Race Week over the years. So we are not novices when it comes to this particular regatta and its unique elements,” Fisher said. “Because of the accumulated knowledge available to us, I expect the transition from Premiere Racing to Storm Trysail Club to be very smooth.” Sailing photo credits- Sharon Green/ Ultimate Sailing. For more Quantum Key West Race Week 2016 sailing and registration information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
Post Easter Holidays one might think that it was time for people to relax, enjoy a few more pounds of Easter Bunny chocolates and delicious Peeps, and simply chill. However, that was not the case for several hundred J sailors around the world. Starting Down Under, we find the largest fleet of J/24s yet assembled for their annual J/24 Victoria State Championship sailed at Sandringham YC in Australia.East across the Pacific, a huge fleet of J’s were sailing J/Fest San Francisco with one-design fleets of J/24s, J/70s, J/105s and J/111s enjoying a classic blustery, cool spring weekend on the Bay with their basic breeze of only 15-25 kts. Similarly, up north along the Pacific coastline, the Royal West Vancouver YC hosted their increasingly popular Southern Straits Race that included J/29s, J/30s, J/35, J/109, J/120, and a J/160 in their midst. Hopping across the continent, we find an even huger, in fact massive armada of J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s, J/88s, J/111s, J/122s and other assorted J’s sailing in the famous Charleston Race Week off Charleston, South Carolina.
Just southeast in the Caribbean, we got a report regards the fun-loving fleet of J/24s sailing in the Mt Gay Rum Barbados Series. Then, the emergent and increasingly popular Les Voiles de St Barths had an even larger fleet of J’s (J/109s, J/111, J/120, J/122 and J/125) enjoying the 6th edition of the event.
Heading across the Big Pond we land on the shores of the United Kingdom to see the Brooks MacDonald Warsash Spring Series for J/70s, J/80s, J/97s, J/109s, J/111s taking place for their 5th weekend of sailing. Then, on the perimeters of Germany, the increasingly large presence of J/70s on Lake Constance sailed in the Battle of Lindauer- the first of many “Battles” to be held on Lake Constance between the 55 clubs on the giant lake in the middle of Europe! A few J/70 sailing club teams continued their J/70 Training in Hamburg, Germany on Alster Lake in preparation for next week’s first Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga event on May 1-3 at Tutzing, Germany on the Starnberger See.
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:
Apr 24- May 2- EDHEC Sailing Cup- La Rochelle, FranceApr 26- May 1- Antigua Sailing Week- Falmouth, Antigua
Apr 30- May 3- J/80 Palmavela- Palma Mallorca, Spain
May 1-3- Annapolis NOOD Regatta- Annapolis, MD
May 1-3- Mexican J/24 Nationals- Valle de Bravo, Mexico
May 1-2- San Diego Yachting Cup- San Diego, CA
May 12-25- Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta- Scheveningen, The Netherlands
May 14-17- Grand Prix de l’Ecole Navale Brest- Brest, France
May 16-17- Cedar Point One-Design Regatta- Cedar Point, CT
May 20-24- J/24 USA Nationals- Berkeley, CA
May 22-25- Grand Prix du Crouesty- Crouesty, France
May 22-24- J/80 Copa de Espana- Aguilas, Murcia, Spain
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J/Eclipse @ Charleston(Charleston, South Carolina)- Despite light to moderate breeze and a noticeable lack of bikini weather, the 20th Anniversary of Sperry Charleston Race Week proved that CRW is not only here to stay, but that it is one of the most important regattas for sailing in America. It’s not just the fact that so many serious racers gather here every year; the event seems to attract just about everyone in the sailing industry, and Randy Draftz and CORA are constantly chasing ways to make CRW more modern, more progressive and more fun. Notably, Draftz and crew have worked hard to attract more one-design and offshore J sailors; the effort has paid enormous dividends over time. Celebrating the 20 year milestone were 150 J’s sailing in multiple fleets (52% of the total!)- J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s, J/88s and J/111s as one-designs and J/122s, J/29s, J/30s, J/35 and others in PHRF handicap.
Sailing conditions were variable light to medium strength throughout the regatta with current direction and strength a dominating tactical factor when starting, calling lay lines and timing your turn at crowded mark roundings. Weather was “on-off soggy” on Friday, improved with warmth and sun on Saturday after a long postponement, and surprised on the upside without any thunderstorms during Sunday’s racing until buckets poured down in the final minutes of the awards ceremony.With an early start time Sunday, a moderate but consistent breeze from the Southeast, and a ripping tide pouring out of Charleston Harbor, overall victory and podium finishes were up for grabs through most of the fleets. Unlike Saturday, an early breeze meant three short, intense races in some classes and two in others, allowing a few teams to sew up runaway victories and a few more to make late runs to the top of the leaderboard in the quest for 20th Anniversary silver.
Charleston is immensely proud of its local university sailing team, and College of Charleston Sailing Team Captain Chase Shaw showed why in the J/22 Class. Shaw and his CofC crew on LOS TRES BIGOTES reveled in the fast outgoing tide on Sunday, grabbing two bullets and holding off a late charge from US Sailing President Tom Hubbell aboard AIR FORCE ONE. Hubbell said he’d never had an easier time entering a regatta. “You call up the College, they charter the boat to you, you jump in a plane, show up on the dock, and go race one-design at Charleston Race Week. Could it be any easier?” said Hubbell, whose team finished just 3 points behind Shaw. The J/22 Class also featured the Warrior Sailing Team, entirely crewed and helmed by wounded and disabled military veteran and managed by Charleston professional sailor Ben Poucher. “Sailing with these guys against a fully able-bodied fleet was something we’d been relishing, and watching them put everything they have into it was pretty awesome,” said Poucher. The Warriors grabbed 8th out of 9th entries. “It was a victory in every way,” Poucher said.
14 year old Kyle Gamble and MY SHARONA shocked the until-then very tight J/111 fleet with three bullets on Sunday, giving them the easy win despite a hard week. “We just sailed clean and fast and it’s great to have days like that,” said Gamble, whose father George steers their Pensacola-based boat. A tie-breaker determined the balance of the podium in this tight class, with Marty Roesch’s VELOCITY taking 2nd and Rob Ruhlman’s SPACEMAN SPIFF taking the bronze. Fourth in class was Gary Weisberg’s HEAT WAVE and fifth was Doug Curtiss’ WICKED 2.0.
On the same course, the J/88s also had a donnybrook of a duel taking place between Iris Vogel’s DEVIATION and Rob & Sandy Butler’s TOUCH2PLAY RACING. In some respects, it was a complete replay of their “mano-a-mano” battle that took place at the J/88 Midwinters in Key West. This time the roles were flip-flopped. Butler’s team started off winning the regatta after the first two days with three 1sts and two 2nds. However, on Sunday Vogel’s DEVIATION crew was doubly determined to overcome their deficit. Sunday proved to be their curtain call, posting a 1-4-1 to win on a tie-breaker over TOUCH2PLAY at 11 pts each! Hanging in for a good showing for third position overall was Joe & Jeff Pawlowski’s EASY EIGHTS.The lone Mexican entry in the regatta, the J/70 FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO earned their first Charleston Race Week win with a runaway performance in the stacked 83-boat J/70 Class. But it still wasn’t an easy day for them, despite their dominance. “With the black flag up and the current pushing us over the line, starting was nerve racking,” said tactician Bill Hardesty, one of the most successful American one-design sailors of the decade. “We started in the second row a couple of times, and luckily we had the speed to work our way forward.”
Also in the J/70s, Jud and Lindsay Smith on Africa stole a brilliant penultimate race win, setting up a final battle with Eivind Astrup and his Norwegian team on NORWEGIAN STEAM. Smith found himself stuck in traffic on a crowded port-tack layline; while Astrup judged the speedy ebb current perfectly, sweeping around the final mark in first place and extending to the victory. “It all came together at the right time, and now that we know the currents, we’ll come back as locals,” joked the skipper – just before singing “Happy Birthday” in Norwegian to celebrate Race Week’s 20th.
Congratulations to Gannon Troutman, the truly gifted 12 year old skipper of the 4th place J/70 PIED PIPER who received the Dynasty Award including a new set of Opti Sails from Quantum Sails at the prize giving! That’s an impressive showing to add to an equally remarkable 5th place at the J/70 Midwinters in Key West! Fifth was Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT from Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota.The winner of the J/70 Corinthians Class was Rob Britts on HOT MESS from Tampa, Florida. He was followed by Blake & Lud Kimbrough’s NOSTALGIA in second and Tim Molony’s JOUST in third.
The twenty-one boat J/24 class had a tight podium with local racer Scott McCormack (Mt. Pleasant, SC) and his GIGGITY playing the ebb perfectly today to jump ahead by one point on the last race over favorite Tony Parker aboard BANGOR PACKET from Annapolis, Maryland. Mike Marshall’s PIPE DREAM from Jamestown, Rhode Island was only four points out of second place with a very steady score line. The top five was completed by Aidan Glackin’s MENTAL FLOSS in 4th and Jay Adams’ BLIND DATE in 5th.After firing off four bullets in the first five races, it was pretty clear that Clarke McKinney’s crew on the J/80 USA 788 were not to be denied the gold by the end of the regatta. In fact, McKinney’s worst race was a 3rd and took their win by 7 pts over Gary Panariello’s COURAGEOUS. Taking third was Ken Mangano’s MANGO-mon!
In the world of PHRF handicap racing, there were offshore buoy races taking place at the same time as “pursuit-style” racing was happening inside Charleston Harbor. Offshore, it was the mighty J/122 TEAMWORK that again won her PHRF A class led by Robin Team from North Carolina. Third in their class was Paul Milo’s J/122 ORION. In PHRF B class, the J/35 ARROW sailed by Willy Schwenzfeier grabbed fourth overall. Then in PHRF C class, the winner for the third year in a row was regatta sponsor GILL Clothing- skipper David Pritchard from Atlanta, Georgia aboard his J/92 AMIGOS. Not far behind him in third was Steve Thurston’s J/29 MIGHTY PUFFIN from Newport, Rhode Island and in fourth place was a good showing by the J/27 AUDACIOUS skippered by Robert Key.The PHRF Pursuit racing Spinnaker Division saw the College of Charleston’s J/36 SOLE take second place and just one point off their pace was Bill Hanckel’s J/120 EMOCEAN- both teams were local Charleston boats. Bob Musor’s J/130 SCEPTRE glided home in seventh overall. The PHRF Non-spinnaker Division saw Mark Swata’s J/30 LAS BRISAS snag sixth for the weekend.
After top-secret calculations to determine the winners in the most competitive classes in the regatta, Randy Draftz announced that Robin Team and his family-crewed J/122 TEAMWORK had won the historic and beautiful Palmetto Cup for the top PHRF performance of the regatta. It marks an incredible 3rd overall win in Charleston, something the Teams say they want to try to add their name to the perpetual trophy again next year.
Hank Stewart, the PRO on the most populous racing circle – the 83-boat J/70 course – was relieved and pleased at the end of the day. “I’ve never worked with the fleet split system that we used here (to orchestrate the large number of boats in this class), but it worked really well. I think the tight competition proves it works,” he said. Stuart says his volunteers and Race Week staff provided terrific support for the Race Committee, but emphasized that he “gives a lot of credit to the competitors. I think across all the classes at the event, the sailors were very gracious, particularly in showing such patience on Saturday when we had that lengthy postponement. And, at least on our course, it was worth the wait because we had two of the best contests of the event that day.” Sailing Video coverage here. For more Charleston Race Week sailing information
RIO Wins Battle @ Lindauer(Lindauer, Germany)- The first major regatta for J/70s sailing on Lake Constance took place this past week. Teams from all three countries that surround the lake were participating (Switzerland in the south, Germany in the north and Austria in the east). The event was called “The Battle @ Lindauer” and twenty boats hit the starting line eager to test their skills against each other. It was a perfect weekend for the sailors and the hosts- Lindauer Segel-Club (http://bit.ly/1EnK3cb)- were able to get in 14 races total, 8 on Saturday and 6 on Sunday. Race Director/ PRO Josef Bitsche said, “you seldom have spectacular weather like this with a cool, brisk north wind- force 4 Saturday and force 3 on Sunday!”
At the end of 14 races, the top boat was Malte Kamrath skippering RIO from VSaW in Berlin, their five 1sts enabled them to win with 25 pts net. Battling them from the first race was Julian Stuckl’s team on GER 470 from DTYC in Hamburg. Had it not been for a BFD in race 10, Stuckl and crew sailed a very consistent series posting most all their races in the top three, but could only manage 27 pts net to take second place. The top local boat was Veith Hemmeter’s crew from Lindauer Segel-club, taking a third with fairly consistent scores in the top five. Fourth was Florian Troeger on JACKPOT and fifth was Tino Mittelmeier on ESPRIT D’EQUIPE.What was evident from the regatta was that German teams that had been sailing for two years in the Deustche Segel-Bundesliga had an advantage in terms of boat speed and boat-handling. Taking four of the top five spots were German teams. Nevertheless, the steep learning curve for the Swiss and Austrian boats showed they were on the fast-track and were starting to get better finishes in the latter part of the regatta. For example, Klaus Diem on PFANDER from Bregenzer Segel-Club started slow on the first day with mid-fleet finishes, but managed to sail much faster the second day and post a few finishes in the top six!
Fourteen teams are going for training in Italy at “Lago di Garda” next week- it’s part of the Alcatel OneTouch Italian J/70 Championship circuit. The next “Battle on Lake Constance” is May 14-16 on the German side of the lake in Langenargen. For more J/70 class sailing information
Wet, Wild, Windy J/Fest SFO!(San Francisco, CA)- This year’s J/Fest regatta hosted by St Francis YC had an excellent turnout of fifty boats and the J/Tribe were treated to a wet & wild weekend of sailing in classic 15-25 kt breezes that are part of any Bay sailor’s weekend repertoire. Five one-design J classes were sailing- J/24s, J/70s, J/105s, J/111s and J/120s.
Starting with the “classics”, the eight-boat J/24 fleet was treated to a complete “schooling” of how to sail in the challenging conditions. While they’ve sailed well in the past, it was Mike Whitfield’s crew on TMC RACING that simply went into “turbo mode” and despite attempts by Launch Control in Houston to throttle them back, managed to go ballistic and nail down four bullets to win by a commanding ten points. Despite their dominance, the rest of the pack was in a “cat fight” for the top five. Those scores were not settled until the last race when Paul van Ravenswaay’s crew from Severn Sailing Association (yup, of Annapolis fame) took their whacked-out FEERAL ROOSTER (not avian flu influenced) and took their Bay hosts to task to snag a 2nd in the last race to take second overall. Third was locals Alex Schultink’s appropriately named FLY BY NIGHT from Berkeley YC.
Next on the totem pole were the J/70s. As every quarter goes by, it’s clear that Bay area sailors are beginning to look towards not only the J/70 North Americans in San Diego in September 2015, but many are focused on the 2016 J/70 World Championship to be sailed in San Francisco Bay in 2016! Consequently, the names at the top of the leaderboard keep changing all the time as veteran Bay teams keep re-balancing and new teams jump into the fray to try their hand at insanely close one-design racing. Fun times were had by all, that’s for sure. A new face in the crowd topped the 70 class, Scott Seller’s 1FA sailed an amazing series to post just one win, but hammered home four 2nds to win by seven points in a very competitive class. Just behind them, it was truly a fight at the OK Corral worthy of a John Wayne “western cowboy movie”. The protagonists included Justin Kromelow’s LOOSE LUCY, Chris Kostanecki’s JENNIFER and Peter Cameron’s PRIME NUMBER. After three races, LOOSE LUCY had the upper hand, but it was not clear-cut what was happening on the last day of racing. On the last day, Kostanecki’s JENNIFER won a race, so did Cameron’s PRIME NUMBER. In the end, LOOSE LUCY won a tie-break over JENNIFER to take 2nd and 3rd, respectively. For the only boat to win two races, Pete Cameron’s crew must be asking “WTF” happened in races 2 & 3?? While winning the last race was an emphatic plus, it only enabled them to secure 4th for the regatta. Fifth place was Bob Milligan’s RAMPAGE from Richmond YC.
The popular J/105 class continues to gain new adherents to their fleet after nearly 20 years of sailing on the Bay. Sailors have included the world’s best restaurant creators (Scooter Simmons on BLACKHAWK), to world famous venture capitalists (Jim Swartz), and software technologists (Larry Ellison of ORACLE fame). Such diversity has enabled a universe of fun-loving sailors like Andy Grove (bowman on one J/105 and Chairman/CEO of INTEL) to experience what it’s like to take a wall of saltwater into their faces at 50F at 30 kts and live to recollect their experience with friends forever. This year’s J/Fest for the twenty-one boat J/105 fleet was typical. After a disastrous first race, Phil Laby’s crew on GODOT found the “secret sauce” and ran away with the regatta- posting an 11-4-4-1-1 to win the tie-breaker on 21 pts with colleague Jeff Littfin on MOJO. Not far off was Adam Spiegel’s JAM SESSION sitting on 27 pts in third. Also starting slowly and climbing fast was Bruce Stone’s ARBITRAGE to take 4th and in 5th was Doug Bailey’s AKULA.The J/111s are gaining a nice following on the Bay and the class is enjoying close racing. Nevertheless, for the first time in awhile one crew stood out with an incredibly strong performance, Dorian McKelvy’s MADMEN! Perhaps running the table with five straight 1st places helps! With a strong win behind them, it was quite a battle for the balance of the podium. After posting a strong performance on the last day, Richard Swanson’s BAD DOG pulled off 2nd place over their colleagues Nesrin Basoz on SWIFT NESS from Richmond YC.
As one might expect, the J/120s are never predictable. Crew, tacticians, skipper hangovers, and good Lord what not, it’s by far the most unpredictable of fleets. One thing is for sure, they have fun! This regatta, the protagonists were Barry Lewis’ CHANCE and David Halliwill’s PEREGRINE. After trading 1st and 2nds, it was CHANCE that won the last race to gain the upper hand and win in the end. Taking third was another top boat, Steve Madeira’s lovely deep green colored MR MAGOO. Sailing photo credits- Erik Simonson/ H2oshots.com For more J/Fest San Francisco sailing information
Champagne Warsash Spring Series IV(Warsash, England)- 164 boats racing and over 60 races were laid on the water over the opening weekend (18/19 April) of the Brooks Macdonald Crewsaver Spring Championship and the Warsash Spring Series. The Black Championship Group were racing windward-leeward courses out in the Solent, with starts based near Flying Fish buoy. Peter Bateson, Series Chairman “It was an incredible weekend’s racing. We have more boats entered this year for the Championship which, combined with the weather has led to some really close and challenging racing this weekend”.
Saturday saw 22 knots of wind that started in the NE and gradually swung to the SE and back again by the end of the day. Sunday had a generally steadier ENE breeze of 8 to 10 knots with gusts in the low teens and the occasional drop to 5 knots. The Black Flag had to be dusted off for Sunday’s races with the initial wind against tide pushing the normally conservative IRC4 fleet across the line; resulting in a general recall and the black flag to ensure they got away cleanly at the second attempt.The J/70’s followed and similarly were recalled and got away at the second attempt, but four boats at the pin end did pick up a disqualification. The J/80s spotted the problem and managed better.
By the start of the second race the tide was beginning to turn and with it the starts improved as boats were being pushed down the line rather than across it. A drop to just 5 knots and the wind shifting around by 30 degrees at the end of the day led to some rather tight approaches to the leeward gate as boats misjudged the strength of the tide.
In the White Championship Group Ian Atkin’s J/70, BOATS.COM looks set to repeat his winning performance from last year having gained podium places across all the weekends races bar one. So far, Atkins’ team has accumulated just 16.5 pts after seven races. Newcomer to the fleet Russell Peters is sailing fast, as he should being a former UK International 14 Champion. Peters’ comfort with the J/70 was such that he peeled off three straight bullets in his last three races! On that pace, the BOATS.COM boys had better keep a close watch on their rear view mirror! Just off the pace behind these two is Jamie Arnell’s LITTLE LOUISE with 41 pts. BETTY’s (Jon Powell) dominance of the J/80 fleet in the Spring Series extended on into the Championship with a good lead of 6 points over Mike Lewis’s JESTER. Ali Hall’s BOYSTEROUS is giving the boys a run for their money, too.
The dynamic duo of Stew Hawthorn & Paul Heys on the J/88 JI-FI continue to show pace and smarts, leading the J/88 one-design fleet with just 8 pts in six races. Constantly nipping at their heels and waiting to pounce have been Paul Ward’s crew on EAST SLEEP J REPEAT with all 2nds and 1sts for 10 pts, just 2 pts back from the lead. Third is Ivan Trotman’s JOJO sitting on 19 pts.As they’ve done for quite some time, David Mcgough’s J/109 JUST SO started the championships off slowly, but they’ve found 2nd and 3rd gear and have rapidly ascended the standings to be winning on a tie-break with 20 pts. Second is Chris Copeland & John Smart’s JUKE BOX and just 3 pts back is Paul Griffith’s perennial contenders on the JAGERBOMB!
The J/111s are just starting to get warmed up for the season and showing good form early is Cornel Riklin’s JITTERBUG, posting 5 bullets in just 6 races to hold a 3 pt lead. Second is Chris Body & Andrew Christie’s ICARUS and third is Chris Jones & Louise Makin’s JOURNEMAKER II.
As we head into the final Sunday (26 April) of the Warsash Spring Series we see that Body & Christie’s J/111 ICARUS in IRC 1 have extended their lead with 10 pts, followed in 2nd by Riklin’s JITTERBUG with 17. In IRC 2, the J/88 JI-FI is lying 4th and is easily within reach of the top three. Andy Howe’s J/97 BLACKJACK II is sitting in 6th but only 7 pts from third place. Griffiths’ J/109 JAGERBOMB leads their class with Owain Franks & Jean Lockett’s JYNNAN TONNYX tied with Joe Henry’s JOLLY JACK TAR for second & third place. The massive J/70 class of 24 boats is having a scream in the final stages of the Spring Series and Arnell’s LITTLE LOUISE is leading after 9 races with 30 pts net. In a close second is Dave Mitchell’s JUMANJI 4 pts back. A duel for third has two boats tied on 48 pts net- Patrick Liardet’s COSMIC and David Mcleman’s OFFBEAT. For more Brooks MacDonald Warsash Spring Series sailing information
Fabulous Sailing Les Voiles de St. Barth!(Gustavia, St Barthelemy)- All the elements were in place to make the sixth edition of Les Voiles de St. Barth an exceptional event: a magnificent fleet of 70 boats, including some that are quite out of the ordinary; varied and challenging race courses; perfect weather conditions; suspense right to the last tack in the last race for many classes; and a roster of various shoreside events that were fun for the sailors as well as the local population. A recap with François Tolède, managing director of the regatta:
François, what is your final take on this sixth edition? “It is super positive. This year we had 70 boats of all different categories and we divided them into 10 different classes, which provided a fabulous spectacle on the water. Over the course of the previous editions, we noticed that the performance level was getting higher and higher. The crews are proving to be more and more interested in racing here and on larger and larger boats, some of which are so high-tech they make quite an impression. We hosted such “machines” as Comanche and Rambler 88 this year, which demonstrates that we are attracting sailboats designed to set transatlantic records… This is very positive and nice recognition for us. Conditions on the island impose certain logistics and a relatively large budget, but the regatta offers a multitude of benefits thanks to its “fun-race” format. Those who come to race arrive with their friends and families. They come before the race begins and remain for a few days after the awards ceremony in order to enjoy the island’s legendary “French-touch” lifestyle. Overall, this sixth edition was not only successful for racing but also an economic success, a success in terms of media coverage, and the boats put on a beautiful show. That’s exactly what Luc Poupon and I were hoping for from the very beginning, when we created Les Voiles de St. Barth. And that’s exactly why we really want to set ourselves apart from traditional regattas.”
The first responses from sailors are extremely positive. That must be very satisfying for you…“Yes, we have had some really great response, from the sailors, the owners, and the locals. The race village was open permanently with free access for everyone. Our desire was to make sure that people felt comfortable there, and that was certainly the case. We had a great mix of people. And we tried to create a varied schedule of events including live music, fireworks, and a day off that the sailors really enjoyed. Today, we don’t see any reason to change a formula that works. The only question we ask ourselves is, “How do we make things even better?”
The last day’s single race for each of 10 classes sailing at Les Voiles de St. Barth determined overall winners and left an indelible impression on all the sailors. It was simply a spectacular day, strong 15-20 kt winds from the East shifting from 88 to 110 degrees across the race track since most of the course took place in the leeward portion of the islands off the southwestern tip.
In both CSA Spinnaker Racing 1 and 2 classes, minor collisions impacted boat performances. In Spin 1, Greg Slyngstad’s J/125 HAMACHI was hit on the second start after the first general recall. They retired from the race but, sadly, were not granted YMP points for the incident. As a result, after starting off with a promising 3-2 they had to count an OCS penalty and a DNF to finish in 4th place overall.In CSA Spin 2 class, Rick Wesslund’s J/122 EL OCASO had a 3-2-1-2 scoreline and finished just 2 pts out of first place overall. Their team was beginning to learn the vagaries of the winds that whistle around the headlands of St Barths, not a bad showing for their first time at Voiles de St Barths! Finally, in CSA Spinnaker 3 class, the J/109 POCKET ROCKET from Ireland skippered by David Cullen and the women on the J/109 La’Feminine had a rough go of it as the smaller boats on a much bigger boat start line- often having to fight for clear air most of their first beats. The Voiles des St Barths summary sailing video. For more Voiles de St Barth sailing information
Suda Takes J/24 Vic States(Melbourne, Australia)- Without taking anything away from the excellent Nationals in Adelaide earlier in the year, the Vic States have been warming up to be the real contest of the year. And so it was. Twenty-seven boats at Sandringham YC! And, yet again, the “Black Prince of Sandringham” took it from the “Young” Sydney Fox with the canny scotsmen third. What that means in plain English is that Dave Suda (VIC) was 1st, Steve Girdis (NSW) took 2nd and Doug Watson (SA) finished 3rd.
Performance handicap was won by Dave MacKay from Cronulla, our own Stephanie Strong took out second in the Sidetracked youth boat and Steve Girdis was third. Hugo Ottaway, the real Mr J24 and deep thinking scribe takes on the finer details.
“This year’s 2015 Victorian J24 Championship may be remembered by the “could have been champions” as a regatta of lost opportunity. Despite only achieving 4 races due to a 40+ knot squally Sunday, the championship reached a milestone in Australian J24 sailing. Of note is the following: starting at the top, 27 entries including every J24 at Sandringham Yacht Club, 6 entries from NSW and 4 from S.A. Oldest skipper 70+ youngest 23. Two youth boats, four female skippers, two all female crews. A Jury and Race management of National and International standing and possibly up to 50% female participation.”
There many hard luck stories in any fleet, probably about 26 of them in this regatta! But look who we are up against. Hugo continues …
“To ease the pain of the masses, the calibre of the leading bunch reads like a who’s who of sailing. Our winner, David Suda sailing Pacemaker from Victoria has won two J/24 and one International cadet National titles. Second, Steve Girdis (NSW), three J/24 National titles and 5th in the Osaka worlds. Third, Doug Watson (SA) 2nd in the J24 Nationals and 4th in the Sigma 33 Europeans. Fourth Hugo Ottaway (VIC) one J24 and one International Cadet National title, then fifth God himself, David McKay (NSW) one 16 foot skiff and two Moth WORLD TITLES, one J24 , Etchells 22 and 18 foot Skiff National title and 1969 Yachtsman of the year award. Sixth, Simon Grain (VIC) four New Zealand Tornado Catamaran National titles.”“I am sure as I go down the list there are many others amongst us who also boast similar achievements, however we very rarely acknowledge the pedigree of fellow sailors, to win either a state or national J24 title is tough, hard to come by and first rate.”
So what are the hard luck stories, well the first would be the whole regatta with the sailing on Sunday closed down. That meant we had a series, but no drop and there were many who needed it – badly. Myself for one, going left nicely all day and then going right in the last race – wrong! John Neville, our hard working Vice Pres who has been sailing like a demon all summer, last seen burying his head in a beer in despair after scoring the unlikely bottom double. Next time John! Half the fleet overlaying the top mark in the first race! Holes in the wind in the second race that left the top boats wallowing in nothing within spitting distance of the finish line while boats behind them sailed by – spitting chips maybe! And from Hugo, “finally the best gag of all, watching the class president start at full speed one minute early on a black flag, with no one else around….. great stuff.”
I could go on, but one of our newest owners does, Mike Bond shares his experiences:
“The J24 Vic States had been on the agenda for 6 weeks and we were all very keen to participate after having bought Code Violation. We had only been out once or twice as a team so things were going to be interesting come the first race. In true beginner style we missed the first race completely due to poor clock work. I took the blame for that one as I was the only one wearing watch. The second race was our best of the series and I do believe we were coming 7th around the top mark however we ended up 14th with some poor kite work and some bad tacks. The third race wasn’t great either, we had a good start but just couldn’t maintain boat speed. The last race we came dead last which in the end was quite amusing. We took the wrong side of the course (behind Simon) and got blitzed. All in all, it was great fun and we were a bit disappointed we couldn’t sail on the Sunday due to poor weather conditions but after the 2nd beer we were fine. Special thanks to Simon Grain and the crew on Jet for all their help as well as Hugo Ottaway and David Suda.” That’s the kind of fun the newest guys are having.The conditions were great sailing for the first two races with a westerly around 12 knots, boats powered up on genoas and the race track full of boats. After the second race the wind died, the sun came out and lunch was served with sails down while we drifted in the tide waiting for wind. The last two races were held in a sputtering and dying westerly as we watched a black roll cloud gather it’s skirts on the southern horizon. The fleet finished and just made it back to the marina as a 40+knot front blew through minutes later!
Back in the bar, we were very lucky to be able to watch our if only’s on the Yachtbot site – no consolation to some, but very interesting for most. YachtBot and CYCSA had been stupendously generous to us both in terms of their time and resources (CYCSA loaning us the trackers for nix and YachtBot set us up as a Pro level registration for free also) If you want to see more or the racing replay, go to www.yacht-bot.com and choose a race, or link directly to the races at www.yacht-bot.com/races/6958 to 6961. Our thanks go out to all our sponsors, Monjon Security in particular for your continued support again this year, Sailor Sunscreen and Iguana Design. To all our volunteers both on the class committee and SYC, a big thank you for your efforts.Also a huge thank you to all the interstate competitors who made the effort to come to the regatta, your contribution to our fleet makes the difference to the flavour of the competition.
Hugo wraps up a few more stats to finish “Other points to note, three different brands of sails in the top five, both youth boats supplied with new and almost new sails courtesy of their owners, about 25 new sails measured in for the regatta. 135 competitors from 4 states. What I think makes this a great class is the generosity of the members, $800.00 raised during the regatta to help Luke Mathews (Trimmer off Pacemaker) and his family who is recovering from a very bad road accident.”The class BBQ and free beers, as always pulls everyone together after the racing and enjoyably the stage show that is the prize giving, with a forthright intro speech by the irrepressible Doug MacGregor (VicPres) and the brilliant John Neville doing the raffle draw had everyone in stitches and rounded off a great, if short regatta for both the locals and the visitors – you should have been there if you weren’t !
We don’t say goodbye to our interstate friends for too long, the next regatta is the Macquart Marine Short Course Regatta at Cronulla in NSW on Queens Birthday long weekend, 6-8 June this year. This was brilliant last year (see pics on the CSC site). The NSW States normally held in early November (dates TBA) and then the 2015-16 season biggie, the Nationals at Sandringham on the 4-8 January 2016, where we planning a regatta to attract a fleet of over 30 boats – this one you do not want to miss!
Chris Furey has again taken some great pics of the J24 States in Melbourne on the weekend. See them on the Australian J/24 class website here.
J/70 Training Germany Update(Hamburg, Germany)- For the third weekend in a row, many of the top sailing teams participating in the 2015 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga were training in J/70s on the gorgeous Alster Lake in Hamburg, Germany. Sven Jurgensen reports:
“Again, the Norddeutscher Regattaverein did a fabulous job hosting our training event on Alster Lake. It was a much different weekend than we had in the past training sessions. On Saturday we had very strong rains, 10 to 27 kt winds, extremely puff and shifty! Then, on Sunday we had beautiful sunny weather with 10-16 kt winds. For the second session the following weekend, we were lucky to have nice sunny weather both days with much lighter winds- everything in the 5-10 kts range.
All of the teams are looking very hot and they are ready for the first sailing league event on the 1st of May in Tutzing on the Starnberger See. The teams that trained with us in Hamburg included Flensburger Segelclub, Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, Segelkameradschaft „Wappen von Bremen, Kieler Yacht Club, Seglervereinigung Itzehoe, Wassersport Verein Hemelingen, and Blankeneser Segel Club. Hopefully their training will pay off in the first event!” Sailing photo credits- Sven Jürgensen For more Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information
The Ultimate Red Hat Sailing Party!(Barbados)- Or, what you need to know to have lots of fun and great sailing in the Mt Gay Rum Barbados Series. Hats off to the local J/24 fleet on the island. They know how to do it and get people aboard as crew.
Since its relaunch five years ago the Mount Gay Round Barbados Race Series has developed into an event that offers golden opportunities for teams looking for top class but seriously fun racing. There can be few sailing venues to beat Barbados... host to the ultimate Mount Gay Rum Red Hat Crew Party.
Barbados, the home of Mount Gay Rum, and affectionately dubbed as the seafarers' Mecca, continues to attract those who enjoy a fun element along with great sailing. The Mount Gay series, which incorporates three days of coastal racing, the headline event —the Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race — and a final 300-mile ocean race to Antigua to tie up with the Superyacht Challenge, is organized by Barbados Cruising Club in association with Barbados Tourism Marketing and Mount Gay. Next year the event, which runs from 16 to 24 January 2016, celebrates its 80th anniversary, which means there'll be even more of an excuse for a week of hot sailing and rum-fuelled partying.
By the nature of its date, which always falls in mid-January, this annual regatta marks the opening of each Caribbean race season. It not only serves as a warm-up for teams competing on the Caribbean circuit, but also acts as the perfect post-Christmas winter escape for crews from the Northern Hemisphere.
The Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race, which traditionally takes place on a public holiday (21 January) to celebrate Errol Barrow Day (birthday of the first Prime Minister of Barbados and 'father' of independence... and also keen member of the Barbados Cruising Club), is one of the key attractions of the annual series. While big boat racing teams from around the world are beginning to recognize the event as a strong component of the Caribbean race circuit there are also more and more charter and blue water cruising yachts taking part. Overseas competitors, who made up a large part of the 49-strong fleet in 2015, represented 11 countries including a strong contingent from the UK, plus teams from Canada, New Zealand, the USA, Lithuania, Slovakia, France, Poland, Germany, Argentina, plus of course many neighboring islands.
Event manager Alene Krimholtz commented, “We are delighted that this event has re-established itself not only as a major island attraction, but also as a key regatta on the Caribbean circuit. One of the main incentives, other than the warm Caribbean waters, miles of gold sandy beaches and generally constant 12-18kt east to east-north-east trade winds... is the opportunity to break records in the 60-mile Round Barbados Race. We hope the 2016 event, which celebrates 80 years for the series, will encourage even more teams to join the fun.”
The impressive standard of sailing in the local J/24 fleet will hopefully attract bigger numbers in the future, particularly with the opportunity for visitors to charter local boats. Although most of the eight-race, closely fought J/24 Coastal Series takes place in the beautiful setting of Carlisle Bay on windward-leeward courses, for the first time in 2015 the J/24s were granted fleet status in the Round Barbados Race.
Robert Povey, overall winning skipper of the J/24 Coastal Series sailing Hawkeye, commented, “I think Barbados as a sailing venue is one of, if not the, most incredible places to go sailing in the world. I am hoping that next year we'll be able to encourage more international J/24 teams to participate, particularly from the USA and of course Europe.”
Peter Gilkes, yachting consultant to Barbados Tourism Marketing, who has been involved in the organization of the event for many years, believes the future looks bright, “Our event has grown with each passing year and this has not gone unnoticed by those who are charged with making key decisions within the tourism arena. As the event continues to grow our product can only get better with each passing year." For more Mt Gay Rum Barbados Series sailing information
Southern Straits Madness Reigns Supreme!(Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)- Hosted by the West Vancouver YC, the Southern Straits Race continues to gain momentum. Southern Straits has earned its reputation as being one of the Pacific Northwest’s premiere sailing events. 2015 marked the 47th consecutive start of this WVYC flagship event, and what a weekend of racing it was!
With 4 all new course options, this year saw 92 boats on the line with over 750 sailors on the water. The Medium Course turned out to be the most popular with 46 boats racing to Sister Islets and back.
We haven’t had a downwind start for years and the visual spectacle of nearly 100 boats setting off under spinnaker was quite something. A spectacular blood red moon lunar eclipse and good wind at the Finish Line at Pt. Atkinson made for an incredibly memorable event for all.
In the Long Course race of 138nm, John McPhail’s J/160 JAM from Gig Harbor YC managed a 5th in Division I class behind all the ULDBs. In the Medium Course race of 98nm, the J/120 TIME BANDIT sailed by Bob Brunius missed first place by a mere 13 minutes, having to settle for 3rd place in Division 4 class. On the same course in Division 4, the J/109 DIVA sailed by Jim Prentice from Royal Vancouver YC took fifth place and Ron MacKenzie’s J/37 FUTURE PRIMITIVE placed 13th. Also sailing the same course was Mardy Grossman’s J/30 DESPERADO, cruising into a well-earned 3rd in Division 5 Class.The new sponsor ePACT had plenty to say about their experience being associated with the Southern Straits event:
“Over Easter weekend we sat on the sidelines in awe, as we watched 92 boats take off from Dundarave Pier. The ePACT team is new to the sailing world, and we can honestly say that we were blown away by it all. From the infectious energy leading up to the race start, to the tight knit sailing community and the addicting SPOT tracker, the Southern Straits was an incredible event from start to finish.”
To bring you a recap of the race, we sat down again with Sonia Telford, Race Chair.
What were a few of the race highlights for you?
It has been a few years since we’ve had a downwind start, and the spectacle of 92 boats heading out of English Bay on their Southern Straits adventure under spinnaker was quite a sight. Eric Holden and his Open 60 “O Canada” was such a thrill to see. In addition, we had dolphins on both the start and finish line, and when you top that with good winds and a spectacular red moon lunar eclipse; I think we had it all!
How many boats and participants did you have out on the water?
This year we had 92 boats with roughly 750 sailors. We also had an amazing group of 92 volunteers who helped to pull of this fantastic weekend of sailing – we couldn’t have done it without you!
What was included in your safety/emergency plans?Each boat must satisfy strict safety requirements in order to qualify to race. New for this year we introduced pre-race safety inspections to ensure that the participants had the necessary safety equipment on board. With 18 first time Skippers racing this year, this was more important than ever before. In addition, each boat carried a SPOT Transponder which not only allows friends and family to watch the race from home, but also allows the Race Committee to monitor the fleet throughout the duration of the race. This was the first year that we implemented ePACT for our Crew Lists and having the information about who was on which boat in a secure, easy to use database was a great addition!
With so many moving pieces for the event, how did you keep safety top of mind for everyone?
Like any extreme sport, safety has to be top of mind and sailboat racing is no different. Leading up to Southern Straits, West Vancouver Yacht Club hosted 3 Tech Talk evenings with each one focusing on a different safety topic: Boat & Crew Preparation, Rig Maintenance, Man Overboard Recovery & Weather. In addition to pre & post safety checks for participants, each boat is required to “check in” with Race Committee at various points throughout the race. Not only does this confirm the boat location, it gives Race Committee the opportunity for on-site weather checks from each boat so that conditions can be monitored.
How was ePACT used during the race?
Traditionally for an overnight race, Crew Lists are submitted to Race Committee on a piece of paper prior to the race. Last minute crew changes or rushed handwriting have the potential to make the Crew List inaccurate and this has always been a concern.
This year, we made the switch to ePACT and not only was the information up to date, easy to read and secure, it lead to an interesting discussion throughout the sailing community about how critical this information is. For example, we had a competitor add 2 crew members to their boat the morning of the race start. Rather than scribbling out the names and contact information and stapling it to the original document, the Skipper was able to log in and make the changes quickly, while having peace of mind that the correct information was available in the case of an emergency.
I knew ePACT had been a great addition when several Skipper’s retained their boat account and are using ePACT for Swiftsure, Van Isle 360 and other overnight races!
Can you give us a sneak peek into next year’s events?
Well, I can tell you that Easter is early next year with Good Friday falling on March 25, 2016. This will definitely affect the number of daylight hours available which is a factor in an overnight race. The Organizing Committee is already at work planning the 2016 event, so you will just have to wait and see what we have in store!
A huge thank you to Sonia and the West Vancouver Yacht Club for having us as a part of the Southern Straits! To learn more about this great event, check out our Play of the Month and video interview with Sonia, or our blog, Introducing the Southern Straits Sailing Race! We’re already looking forward to the 2016 event. Southern Straits Facebook page For more Southern Straits Race sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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* While there were a number of J/Boats sailing in the Voiles de St Barth’s last weekend, a number of J sailors were also sailing aboard other boats and having a combination of ethereal as well as hair-raising experiences.For starters, on the Gunboat 62 ELVIS was Steve Cucchiaro (J/105 North American champion strategist), Cam Lewis, Jack Slattery, Mark Laura, Brian Thomas and Dru Slattery- all avid J/Boats sailors over the years having fun cat racing in the Caribbean.
Similarly, long-time J/105 and J/70 owner Chris and Carolyn Groobey were sailing Gunboat 55 TOCCATA in the same class with Stu & Julia Johnstone aboard. Here’s a nice sailing video of her by ace Spanish photographer Jesus Renedo: https://vimeo.com/125166259.
Finally, Stu’s brother Peter J. was sailing the brand new Gunboat G4 TIMBALERO III (40 footer) and learned their limits of sailing a performance cruising foiling catamaran on the final day of Les Voiles de St Barth- check out the sailing video here: https://vimeo.com/125378004* Victor Felice, owner of the J/24 MERMAID RESCUE that sails on Lake Pleasant in Phoenix, Arizona invites all J sailors to join them anytime they come through Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport. Said Victor,
“This May, barring some unforeseen fierce write-in campaign, I will be the Rear Commodore of the Arizona Yacht Club. Chris Smith (J/80) fills that position now and he will become the new Commodore. At last count, I know of 1 J/22, 3 J/24’s, 1 J/27, 2 J/80’s and a J/105 on Lake Pleasant. We’re having a great time together with our little J sailing community!This season we have had an interesting mix of speakers, most of whom you probably know – Stephanie Roble, Sharon Green, John Sangmeister (1987 America’s Cup; Tritium Racing), Jeanne Socrates (solo circumnavigator), Tom Ehman (Golden Gate Yacht Club), Peter Nichols (Author, A Voyage for Madmen; Sea Change; Evolution’s Captain, among others), Rod Favela (Vela Sailing Supply) and Keith Magnussen (Ullman Sails Newport Beach). Tom Leweck, the founder of Sailing Scuttlebutt, is going to speak at our meeting next month. Previous speakers have included Annie Gardner, Anna Tunnicliffe, Andrew Campbell, and Peter Isler.
Here’s the info about meetings for any and all you J sailors. They are the second Tuesday of the month from June through November and then February through April and held in Tempe, which is a few minutes from Phoenix Sky Harbor airport. We are quite an adventurous bunch and you’all would truly enjoy the desert experience. We can even go sail on Lake Pleasant if your schedule allows. Please drop us a line anytime! Best, Victor.” Victor's contacts are: ph- +1.480.577.4007/ www.mermaidrescue.us/ victor.felice@mermaidrescue.us
J/Cruisers
J Cruisers continue their adventures around the world, below are a selection of most excellent "blogs" written by their prolific publishers. Some terribly amusing anecdotes and pearls of wisdom are contained in their blogs. Read some! You'll love it.
* The J/40 HERON REACH sailed by Virginia and Jerry is participating in the Blue Planet Odyssey project and have recently joined them in the Marquesas Islands in the Eastern Pacific. Learn more about their adventures and experiences here- http://heronreachodyssey.blogspot.com/
* J/160 SALACIA has been sailing in Australia in the Whitsunday Islands. Guess who decided to throw themselves across their bow as they cruised comfortably to their next destination? A giant whale! Look at this amazing photo!
* Jim & Heather Wilson just completed a circumnavigation of our "blue planet Earth" in June 2013 on their J/42 CEOL MOR. Said Jim, "The odyssey of CEOL MOR is over, for now. We completed our circumnavigation on our J/42 when we crossed our outbound track in Britannia Bay, Mustique. We were, however, still 2,000 nautical miles from home. So we continued on through the Windwards, the Leewards, and then through the British Virgin Islands. After a farewell 'Painkiller' at the Soggy Dollar, and a last meal at Foxy’s, we made the 1,275 nautical mile passage to the Chesapeake and completed our port-to-port circumnavigation when we arrived in Annapolis on June 28, 2013. We had been away 1,334 days, completed 259 days of ocean passages, and sailed 30,349 nautical miles (34,925 statute miles). Read more about their adventures in their well-documented blog here: http://www.svceolmor.com/SVCeolMor/Welcome.html
* J/160 AVATAR headed for the Caribbean, again! We LOVE these updates from our cruising J sailors that continue to criss-cross the Seven Seas. This one comes from Alan Fougere, sailing his beloved J/160 AVATAR. Alan sent us an email update commenting on their passage south this winter, "In mid-December AVATAR completed her sixth transit to her winter Caribbean home, Grand Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI (seen above) from her home port in Quissett (Falmouth), MA. A crew of three, Captain Alan (e.g. me), Crew Pablo Brissett and Mark Conroy, covered the 1,500 nm trip in in her best time to date- 7 Days 5 Hours, averaging 8.7 kts, that's about 208 nm per day! Amazing passage it was! Rainbow at right far offshore was some of the amazing phenomenon we experienced on this fast offshore passage.AVATAR will participate in the BVI Sailing Festival/Regatta again in 2013, where last year she won the Nanny Key Cup Cruising Class race around the Island of Virgin Gorda. Here are some photos for you to share with the J/Community at-large. Enjoy!"
Best, Alan Fougere/ AVATAR
* Bill & Judy Stellin recently had an interview about cruising on their J/42 in the Wall St Journal called "Retiring on the Open Sea". The Wall St Journal asked Bill to reply to dozens of questions that flooded into the WSJ's Editor desks. Here's the update:Retiring on the Sea: Answering Readers' Questions
Advice about selecting a boat, ocean crossings, itineraries and safety
The article in our WSJ Online December retirement report about eight years spent sailing the Mediterranean— "Retiring to the Open Sea"— prompted many questions and comments from readers. We asked William Stellin, who wrote the story, to answer some of the most common queries.WSJ- "What kind and make of boat did you use? Looking back, would you have picked a different boat?"
Bill- "In 1995-96, J/Boats of Newport, RI, came out with a new cruiser/racer model, the J/42. We bought hull No. 6 of this popular 42-foot sailboat and named it JAYWALKER. This was our fourth boat since beginning sailing in 1975.
Although long-distance cruising wasn't what we had in mind when we purchased JAYWALKER, it soon became apparent it had the ability to carry us easily and safely anywhere we wanted to go. Because the boat is light, it sails well in light winds, which means very little motoring is necessary.
People often ask (and argue) about what boat is best for cruising. Any boat that is strong, safe, fast, comfortable and easily handled by two people should fit the bill. One thing for sure, fast is fun—and important when trying to avoid bad weather."
READ MORE ABOUT BILL'S INSIGHTFUL COMMENTARY AND THOUGHTS ON WSJ ONLINE HERE
* The J/42 JARANA continues their epic voyage around the Pacific. Continue to read about Bill and Kathy Cuffel's big adventure cruising the South Pacific headed for New Zealand. Their blog is here: http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/
* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for extended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary finished their double-handed crossing of the Atlantic, landing in Portugal on their J/130 Shazam after completion of their ARC Rally. Read the latest news at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/shazam/.
* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world's oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between. Anyone for Cape Horn and penguins?? Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM friends above).- Bill and Susan Grun on the J/160 AVANTE are also sailing in the Pacific archipelago, read more about their great adventures on their blog (http://web.me.com/susangrun). Read about their latest adventures as they've gotten to New Zealand- "Avante Cruises the Pacific".
- Eric and Jenn on the J/160 MANDALAY also sailed the Pacific archipelago, read more on their blog at http://www.sailmandalay.com. Eric and Jenn are J/World alumni took MANDALAY up and down the West Coast (Mexico, CA), then to the South Pacific and New Zealand. MANDALAY is back in San Francisco now, and in the J/World fleet--she is available for skippered charters, private instruction, and corporate/executive groups.
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