Block Island Race Week PreviewJ/109 North Americans Preview
(Block Island, Rhode Island)- This year marks the 50th anniversary of the iconic East Coast sailing regatta organized by the Storm Trysail Club- Block Island Race Week. The regatta will take place from June 21st to 26th and will include multiple races per day, many shoreside activities, and a Round the Island Race. In addition, this year’s event includes several new initiatives, including new classes of boats that will be invited to race and an emphasis on youth and environmental awareness.
Over 170 entries are participating in this incredibly fun week of sailing and 75 of them (44%) are J/Teams from across the northeastern seaboard and points as far west as California. Both one-design J’s are represented (J/88s, J/105s, J/109s & J/44s) and J’s sailing in the various PHRF fleets. Additionally, the J/109s are hosting their North American Championship.
With twenty-five boats on the starting line, the J/109s are easily the marquee fleet for the event. Teams have come from as far as Nova Scotia, Canada and Annapolis YC on the Chesapeake Bay, hundreds of miles for the opportunity to sail against the best in the class. Two rivals are certain to have fun competing for top honors as both have been North American Champions in the past, Bill Sweetser’s RUSH from Annapolis YC and Rick Lyall’s STORM from Cedar Point YC. In addition, another past North American Champion, Ted Herlihy’s GUT FEELING from New Bedford YC in Buzzards Bay will also be amongst the leaders.
Over the years, the J/109 class has continued to maintain its popularity due to its “cruiser-racer” appeal. It can be just as much fun cruising her as racing her. This attraction has meant that many former J owners have hopped into the class in recent years and become very competitive in a short period of time. Amongst those teams that could be factors for class honors are teams that have placed in various regional events in recent years; including Bob Schwartz’s NORDLYS from Manhasset Bay YC, Bob Siegel’s PAX 3 from Stamford YC, Jim Vos’ SKOOT from New York YC, Jack Forehand’s STRATEGERY from Pequot YC, Don Fillipelli’s CAMINOS from Devon YC, Jon Rechtshaffer’s EMOTICON from Miniscengo YC, Adrian Begley’s MAD DOGS from Atlantic Highlands YC, and Bill Kneller’s VENTO SOLARE from Coasters Harbor YC in Newport.
The de facto J/44 East Coast Championship always seems to be at Block Island STC and this year sees seven of these beautiful cruiser-racers entered to compete for class bragging rights. It is a tough fleet to do well in consistently. The J/44 OD’s have class sails that consist of a main, #2 genoa and one spinnaker; they are “drawn out of a hat” and that’s what you sail with for the week. Joining the East Coast teams will be Victor Hong’s crew from Chicago YC. They will be up against class leaders like Don & Dick Rave on RESOLUTE, Norm Schulman on CHARLIE V, class cheerleader Jim Bishop on GOLD DIGGER, Jeff Willis on CHALLENGE IV, Len Sitar on VAMP, and the US Coast Guard Offshore Sailing Team aboard GLORY with skipper Jack Neades.
The J/88s will be racing their first one-design event on the East Coast at Block Island. It should be tremendous fun for this group as each boat learns how to step-up their learning curves as the week progresses. Charleston Race Week winner Iris Vogel from Huguenot YC will be sailing her DEVIATION and will be up against a fleet of un-tested J/88 crews that include Rod Johnstone’s JAZZ from Stonington, CT; Doug Newhouse’s YONDER from Sail Newport; and David Betts’ INSTANT KARMA from Sag Harbor YC on Long Island.
At seventeen boats, the J/105s have again showed up en-masse looking for a great party and some good sailing. This entertaining class has some of the closest competition going at BIRW and many of the top boats have come from as far a California, Texas, Bermuda and Annapolis. Past Rolex watch winners at BIRW include Bruce Stone’s ARBITRAGE from St Francis YC in San Francisco, CA and Damian Emery’s ECLIPSE from Shoreham, New York. Giving them a serious run-for-the-money will be Fred Darlington’s TONTO from East Greenwich YC, Andrew Kennedy’s BAT IV from Annapolis YC, Jim Macdonald’s DISTANT PASSION from Royal Bermuda YC, Paul Beaudin’s LOULOU from Harlem YC, Steve Marenakos’ RECKLESS from Niantic Bay YC, Don Santa’s SANTAS REIGN DEAR from Annapolis YC, Jordan Mindich’s SHAKEDOWN from Huntington, NY and Mark & Jolene Masur’s TWO FEATHERS from Forth Worth Boat Club in Ft Worth, TX. In the world of handicap racing there will be five J/122s vying for class honors with IRC 4 class, including past BIRW Rolex winner Mike Bruno on WINGS from American YC, John Pearson’s RED SKY from Setauket, NY, Paul Milo’s ORION from New York YC and Rupert & Jan Thouron’s DUNDER from Middlesex, VT.
In PHRF 1 Class, three J/111s are sailing in a diversified class that also includes a J/125. The J/111s are all coming off four days of racing in the J/111 World Championships recently completed in Newport, RI. Looking to build upon their experience and test it on the PHRF handicap fleet are Sedgwick Ward’s BRAVO from Shelter Island YC, Bennet Greenwald’s PERSEVERANCE from San Diego YC and Doug Curtiss’ WICKED 2.0 from New Bedford YC. Joining them is Brian Prinz’s J/125 SPECTRE from Branford YC.
In PHRF Cruising Spinnaker Class will be Greg Slamowitz’s J/111 MANITOU from Block Island YC. Then in PHRF 2 there will be two vintage 35 ft J’s participating, Tom Sutton’s J/35 LEADING EDGE from Lakewood YC in Houston, Texas and Tom Wacker’s J/105 TRADING PLACES from Old Cove YC.
In what may be the real shoot-out at the OK Corral may be PHRF 3 Class, notorious for having a slew of hotly contested J/29s in their midst. The 50th anniversary event of BIRW will be no exception. Four J/29s are registered including Steve Thurston’s MIGHTY PUFFIN from Barrington YC, Aleksandr Tichter’s AKULA from Douglaston YS, Matt Strand’s STOUT from Masons Island YC and, finally, last but not least (having won BIRW a few dozen times and with no room left on their forearms for Rolex watches) is the father/son team of John & Tony Esposito on the too-hot-to-trot HUSTLER from Mohegan Lake, NY. In the midst of that battle ground will be Vockert van Reeseman’s J/70 5 CENT from American YC, two J/80s (Don Suter’s HOKUS POKUS and John Storck’s RUMOR (a past BIRW winner)), and Richard Eytel’s J/95 THE GRIN from Metedeconk River YC. For more Storm Trysail club 50th Block Island Race Week sailing information
Netherlands & Slovenia Join Sailing Champions League(Portoroz, Slovenia)- The national sailing league format is spreading further around the European Community of nations. With the Netherlands, another traditional nation joins the “Sailing Champions League Family”- “Eredivisie Zeilen“ is starting in 2015 with 18 clubs in two pilot events. The Dutch sailing clubs are getting their own club competition according to the model of the national German sailing league “Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga”. It’s not anymore about the competition between individual sailors or teams, but about defending the club’s honor on a national and international level. The sailing league shall make the sailing sport more popular for a wider audience and strengthen the position of the sailing sport in the Netherlands.
The “Eredivisie Zeilen” is organized by the Dutch Association (Watersportverbond) and the sports marketing agency “Marvin & Miles”. The association is in close contact and permanent communication with the German founders. The agency Marvin & Miles is responsible for the organization, communication, partnerships and the marketing of the sailing competition.
For the first year of the Dutch sailing league, two events are planned in October and November. They will be sailing on J/70 this year – just like in many other countries. 15 clubs already announced their participation and six further clubs have shown big interest; the league will consist of 18 clubs. The winner of the “Eredivisie Zeilen” will be able to call themselves the Dutch Champions!Following Poland and Russia, Slovenia is the next country from Eastern Europe to join the expanding “Sailing Champions League Family“. The first two sailing events for the “Slovenian Sailing League” are planned for this summer.
The Sailing Club J/24 and the company CLEANPORT are preparing to organize and run the Slovenian Sailing League, a club sailing competition on a national level intended to be part of the SAILING Champions League. At the moment, an effort is being made to evaluate the possibility of running two events during summer 2015 with a sufficient turnout of sailing clubs on an existing well-proven fleet of J/24 sailboats. The Slovenian Sailing Federation will cooperate as a partner with the founders of this project in Slovenia at all regatta events of the Slovenian Sailing League. For more Sailing Champions League sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
There is never a dull moment once the sailing season starts in full-swing in the northern hemisphere. This past weekend was full of events taking place in Europe and in the Americas. In addition, there was a fun-loving regatta taking place in Australia in the dead of winter!Starting off in Europe, the J/Cup hosted by Island Sailing Club at Cowes, Isle of Wight, England had a huge turnout for one-design classes of J/70s, J/80s, J/88s, J/97s, J/109s, J/111s as well as IRC handicap. Over the weekend, the RORC De Guingand Bowl Race took place with a number of J/105s, J/109s and J/133 enjoying one of the fastest races ever over to Cherbourg, France. Then, the J/24s provided a J/24 Europeans report from Stuart Jardine of STOUCHE J/24 fame and over in Italy, the J/24 Italian Nationals report from Cala Galera, Italy summarized the first half of their season.
On the American side of the big pond, the 161st New York YC Annual Regatta took place with a huge fleet of J/111s and IRC/ PHRF handicap racing for dozens of other J/Teams. Out in the stormy Midwest, the HELLY HANSEN Chicago NOOD Regatta took place on Lake Michigan with one-design fleets for J/70s, J/105s, J/109s and the NORTH SAILS RALLY for PHRF handicap boats. Finally, we get a report on J/Teams sailing to Europe in the Rolex Trans-Atlantic Race- J/42s and a J/122.
Despite that they are in the middle of their winter, it’s still warm and toasty enough for J/24s to host their crazy-fun Cronulla Short Course Regatta at Cronulla Sailing Club in Sydney, Australia!
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:
Jun 21-26- Block Island Race Week- Block Island, RIJun 21-26- J/109 North Americans- Block Island, RI
Jun 25-28- Kieler Woche- Kiel, Germany
Jun 26-Jul 5- Delta Week 2015- Grevelingen, The Netherlands
Jun 26-28- Long Beach Race Week- Long Beach, CA
Jun 27- JP Morgan Round Island Race- Cowes, IOW- England
Jun 26-28- J/70 West Coast Championship- Long Beach, CA
Jun 27- JP Morgan Round Island Race- Cowes, IOW- England
Jun 27-29- J/80 Pornic Cup- Pornic, France
Jun 28- Rolex Trans-Atlantic Race- Newport, RI
Jul 4-10- J/80 World Championship- Kiel, Germany
Jul 5- Marblehead- Halifax Race- Marblehead, MA
Jul 6-11- J/70 World Championship- La Rochelle, France
Jul 9-12- J/24 Irish Easterns- Dun Laoghaire, Ireland
Jul 10-26- J/24 Pan Am Games- Toronto, ONT, Canada
Jul 10-12- J/70 Pacific Coast Championship- San Francisco, CA
Jul 10- RORC Cowes-Dinard-St Malo Race- Cowes, England
Jul 11- Chicago-Mackinac Island Race- Chicago, IL
Jul 11-19- Larchmont Race Week- Larchmont, NY
Jul 11-12- Fiesta Cup Regatta (J70, J105)- Santa Barbara, CA
Jul 11-14- Lake Ontario 300 Race- Mississauga, ONT, Canada
Jul 13- Transpac Race- Los Angeles, CA
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J/Teams Lovin’ Rolex New York YC Regatta(Newport, RI)- The 161st New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and when the three-day event concluded after a day of around-the-island racing (Friday, June 12) and a weekend of around-the-marks competition (June 13-14), there was plenty of satisfaction to be had.
For Event Chair David Bush-Brown, there was satisfaction that the Annual Regatta, robust-as-ever with 169 entries, had successfully upheld its keen sense of tradition, which for well over a century and a half has kept the New York Yacht Club at the forefront of sailing. “A lot of changes have happened to our sport and the regatta over 161 years,” said Bush-Brown, “but one thing remains the same: spirit of competition and camaraderie.”
That spirit was evident on Saturday night when the New York Yacht Club hosted over 1,000 sailors for cocktails and dinner on the expansive grounds of its waterfront Harbour Court clubhouse. It was also evident during Sunday’s two-hour postponement ashore when the Newport Shipyard, where many of the boats were docked, felt less like a paddock area for preparation and more like a venue for a class reunion, with long-time friends as well as newly-established acquaintances swapping war stories and discussing what lies next on the sailing horizon.The largest offshore one-design fleet ever assembled in New York YC Annual Regatta history was the J/111 class of nineteen boats. Sunday’s sailing, when it got going by mid-afternoon in an easterly of 10-14 knots, delivered even more color than Friday’s and Saturday’s held in relatively lighter air, and when all was said and done, winners in 19 classes were the most satisfied of all that they had shined on the stages of Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound for a rotating mix of stadium-style, drop-mark and navigators-course competition.
In particular, J/111 winner George Gamble (Pensacola, Fla.), steering MY SHARONA, hoped he saw his future for the J/111 World Championship scheduled for next week in the same waters. “We raced against 19 J/111s this weekend and will compete against 25 in the J/111 Worlds, so the New York YC Annual Regatta was a great event for the team,” said Gamble. “It allowed for us to practice against a majority of the same players and get us better acquainted with the local conditions. The competition was off the charts, and there wasn’t one boat that won a race more than once all weekend.”Gamble said his team’s victory came down to a tiebreaker with Bob Hesse’s LAKE EFFECT, “We both had a first, a second, a fifth and a sixth at the end of the regatta, so we had the exact same scores. The tiebreaker was who did better in the last race, which was us. Winning this regatta keeps team momentum going, which is really important, and we have a better feel for our speed and how we are against the other boats in different conditions, which is huge.” Third behind them was the Chicago J/111 team on KASHMIR skippered by Mike Mayer and Steve Henderson.
In the IRC 3 class, Paul Milo’s ORION (from NYYC and Leesburg, VA) took 2nd overall and Mike Bruno’s WINGS (a past NYYC winner from American YC in Rye, NY) finished 4th overall. Jim Bishop’s modified J/44 WHITE GOLD took 6th in IRC 2 class.
The IRC 4 class featured many leading 35 footers from the J drawing board. Winning the class over CARINA (New York YC Commodore Rives Potts’ famous 48 footer) was the incredibly competitive Bill Sweeter and his “take-no-prisoners” crew aboard the famous J/109 RUSH. Flying up the learning curve in the J/109s is Carl Olsson’s crew aboard MORNING GLORY. As a top J/105 team, they have adapted quickly the J/109 and after taking 3rd overall in IRC 4 Class, they and the RUSH team are looking forward to their J/109 North Americans being held at Storm Trysail Club’s 50th Block Island Race Week. Behind this duo, the J/35 LEADING EDGE sailed by Tom Sutton from Houston, TX finished 6th overall.
In the PHRF Spinnaker Divisions, the J/Teams swept the top positions. In PHRF 1, Kenn Fischburg’s J/111 WILD CHILD took three bullets to win their class in convincing fashion. In PHRF 2, the three top J/105s took the top spots with Fred Darlington’s TONTO in 1st, Don Santa’s SANTAS REIGN DEAR in 2nd and Mark & Jolene Masur’s TWO FEATHERS in 4th. In PHRF 3 Non-spinnaker, the J/160 TRUE sailed by Howie Hodgson placed 4th in class.The classic first day of the NYYC Annual Regatta is always the Round Island Race, a 20nm circumnavigation of Conanicut Island, sailing around beautiful Narragansett Bay, underneath the two huge bridges (Jamestown and Newport) and passing by numerous islands that always pose a navigational/ tactical challenge for the fleet (Dutch Harbor Island, Gould Island, Halfway Rock, Rose Island). The numerous J/Teams that participated walked off with more than their fair share of trophies. Because the light northerly died in the morning, the NYYC PRO wisely sent the fleet up north into the Bay with the building seabreeze and the flood tide to get the race going. Downwind starts are always challenging and many boats chose to split around Gould Island as they headed north to the first turning mark, the red gong off the NE corner of Conanicut Is. From there, the long beat back down the Bay on the west side of Conanicut Is. and the mainland shore was a tactical nightmare for many. The smart money played one or two shifts underneath the island before streaking across to the west side of West Passage before the Jamestown Bridge. From there, the light, variable seabreeze had little punch to it and, again, the smart choice was to avoid the flood current on the nose and duck inside Dutch Harbor to then short-tack the beat to the shortened course finish at Beavertail Bell off the southern end of Conanicut Is.
In the IRC 3 class, the J/122 WINGS sailed by Mike Bruno won their division again. In IRC 4 Class, Tom Sutton’s J/35 LEADING EDGE placed first while Bill Sweetser’s J/109 RUSH took 4th and Brook Mastrorio’s J/109 URSA finished 6th. In the tough J/111 class, Kenn Fischburg’s team (at right here) of family sailors aboard WILD CHILD “schooled” their fellow J/111 teams on how to sail the Round Island Race, finishing 8th boat-for-boat in the entire fleet of 135 boats. Taking second was Bill Smith’s crew on WOOTON from Chicago, IL and in third was George Gamble’s MY SHARONA from Pensacola, FL.In the PHRF Classes, the J/120 SUNSET CHILD sailed by Marcus Cholerton-Brown placed 3rd in PHRF 1. Then, in PHRF 2, it must have seemed it was a J/Armada that had taken over as four of the top six teams were J/Crews. In second was Dawson Hodgson’s J/100 GRIMACE, followed by EC Helme’s J/92S SPIRIT in 3rd, Brian Kiley’s J/29 MEDDLER X in 4th and Mark & Jolene Masur’s J/105 TWO FEATHERS in 6th. For more Rolex New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information
Champagne Sailing @ J/Cup!(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The final day of the Landsail Tyres J-Cup in partnership with B&G was nothing short of spectacular. With 20 knots, gusting 25 out of the southwest, the race course was festooned with J-Boats surfing downwind in a full on foam up. There were thrills and spills right across the 67 J-Boat Fleet in the big conditions. Boat handling was at a premium and today's high performers harnessed the breeze, staying under control downwind and upwind hiking the boat flat and keeping good sail trim.
In IRC B Robin Stevenson from Brighton, racing J/92, Upstart had a perfect score for the regatta, winning all four races. Robin Stevenson's Upstart was the only team to score a perfect result and was awarded the J-Cup for their performance. “I have been to quite a few J-Cups and Key Yachting put on a great event.” commented Robin Stevenson. “I have to hand it to the whole crew, they all sailed exceptionally well as a team and it was exceptionally breezy for the last day and we held it all together really well. I am delighted for everyone of the team, it was a great performance.”
In the J/92 Class, David Greenhalgh's Hamble based J/92, J'ronimo made the podium in every race to claim second place and Robert Salter's J/92, Jackdaw was third. Top performing J/80 was Rachel Hunt's Hamble based Jumblesail.Rachel Hunt, skipper of Jumblesail is the social secretary for the J/80 UK fleet. “It would have been great to have more J/80s participating and we hope to have at least 14 taking part in Cowes Week,” commented Rachel. “The J-Cup has been part of our honeymoon, which is a little unusual but I wouldn't have it any other way, the atmosphere ashore and the racing has been very memorable.”
Stuart Sawyer's Cornish team racing J/111 Black Dog was the winner of IRC A and the J/111 Class with Londoner Chris Body racing J/111 Icarus in second place with five podium finishes for the regatta. Cornell Riklin Lymington based J/111, Jitterbug was third. “That was awesome, a fantastic event.” commented Stuart Sawyer. “Sunny, windy and a great competition that was well organized – champagne sailing.”
In the Lifedge J/109 National Championship, 17 J/109s had an intense battle with Ian Nagle's Royal Cork YC team, racing Jelly Baby, taking the crown for the open event. Tony Dickin's Hamble based J/109, Jubilee scored a first and a second today and a dramatic tie with Joe Henry's Jolly Jack Tar to claim second for the championship. Alan Bennett's Dorset team racing J/109 Blue Jay of Poole was third for the regatta. “To go up on the stage with all the team and win the championship was fantastic, a great moment.” commented Jelly Baby's Ian Nagle. I couldn't hope for a better crew and we are delighted we came over and I hope that we will get a lot of boats over for Cork Week next year. We came here because we had done most of the events in Ireland and we wanted a different challenge.”
In the J/70 class Geoff Carveth from Warsash, helming Gill Race Team, was fully launched in the fast conditions, producing text book starts, power upwind and scorching speed off the breeze, Gill Race Team scored six bullets for the regatta to win by a handsome margin. Jamie Holmes' J/70, Jika had a great last day on the water, blotting Gill Race Team's perfect score line, winning the penultimate race of the regatta. Patrick Liardet's J/70, Cosmic, based in Hamble, had a consistent series to claim third place and the Corinthian prize for an all amateur crew. Ian Wilson, owner of Gill Race Team spoke about the experience.“It was awesome, off the scale. Today was just fantastic, we were a little bit worried coming out today, as we could see standing waves, but once we got out there and started to send it, well I am speechless. I spoke to Geoff after racing and we agreed it was one of the best days we have ever had on the Solent and we have both sailed here for years. This is the last serious competition before we go to the J/70 Worlds and to mix it up with 19 boats was perfect for putting the final bits of training into place before we go to La Rochelle.”
Paul Ward from Itchenor, racing J/88 Eat, Sleep, J, Repeat won two of today's races to win the inaugural J/88 National Championship. Stewart Hawthorn's J/88 Ji Fi scored six podium finishes for the series to place second, just a point ahead of David Apthorp's J/88 J-Dream. “It is really great to be the first name on that trophy, racing with a great group of people in a fun boat.” smiled Paul Ward. “We are looking forward to more people joining the class, so we can have a bigger fleet next year. This regatta has helped us find out how to sail the J/88 faster and that is down to racing against some good opposition, we feel really excited and we are looking forward to the next regatta.”
Andy Howe's team racing Blackjack II are the new Fastnet Marine Insurance J/97 National Champions having scored three bullets in the five race series. However, it was far from easy for the Hamble based team; every race was won by seconds. Norwegian skipper, Ole Bettum racing J/97 Alamara B III claimed second in class in dramatic style by winning the last race of the series to edge ahead of Richard Sparrow's J/97, Only Magic on countback. “It feels great.” said Blackjack's Andy Howe. “We have had three days of partying really hard and then focusing on the water – we really smashed it. Today we took a risk and went for the big kite, it was pretty hairy downwind but all in all - fantastic!”Chris Thomas, Sailing Secretary at the Island Sailing Club commented. “It has been an absolute pleasure to have the J-Cup at the club, at we hope that they have enjoyed the regatta. The J-Boat family are a credit to sailing, highly competitive on the water and great fun off the water. We hope that all of the sailors will get the chance to visit the club in the future and fair winds to all for the future.”
After racing, competitors at the Landsail Tyres J-Cup enjoyed a Gala Awards Ceremony with supper at the Cowes Yacht Haven Events Centre. Well over 300 party revelers danced the night away to live music late into the evening. Sailing photo credits- Tim Wright/ photoaction.com For more J/Cup Regatta sailing information
RORC De Guingand Bowl Report(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- A good mix of 89 British and French yachts started the Royal Ocean Racing Club's De Guingand Bowl Race on Friday evening, heading (eventually) to a sunny Cherbourg. The race committee led by RORC Racing Manager Nick Elliott, set a 146-mile course for the De Guingand Bowl Race. Starting between two committee boats, east of Cowes, the fleet headed east out of the Solent past No Man's Land Fort, Owers and Rampion Met Mast before returning to Owers then past St.Catherine's Point. Along the south side of the Isle of Wight, the fleet encountered a variety of wind conditions, on their way to the Needles Fairway Buoy, before heading south to cross the English Channel.
Said one of the top skippers in the race, “It was a great race with a beautiful start, we were under spinnaker all the way to Brighton. We had a good upwind course around the Isle of Wight to the Needles. This race did suit the smaller yachts, as most boats arrived in Cherbourg at maximum speed with the tide; but judging the tide in the Channel is very difficult as the wind can vary so much. The course was excellent for this race, perfect for the conditions."
The seven J/109s in IRC Three class had very tight racing amongst each other. Leading that fleet home was John Allison’s JUMBUCK finishing at 19:59:09 corrected time and taking 3rd in class, narrowly beating classmate David McGough’s JUST SO by just over one minute! Third J/109 and 5th in class was Chris Palmer’s J-T’AIME.
In the IRC Two-Handed class, it was Nick Martin’s J/105 DIABLO-J posting yet another good finish, taking 4th in class and improving their RORC Overall Series standings in Two-handed.
Finally, in IRC One Class, it was David Ballantyne’s J/133 JINGS taking fourth in their class after a nice spinnaker reach home to Cherbourg.
After the race, an informal Prize Giving was held at the Yacht Club de Cherbourg attended by over 200 sailors. Bottles of Champagne were given to prize winners by RORC Commodore Michael Boyd. Racing for the RORC Season's Points Championship continues with the East Coast Race from Burnham to Ostend on the 12th June. For more RORC De Guingand Bowl sailing information
Challenging Sailing @ Chicago NOOD(Chicago, IL)- The Chicago YC again played host to this year’s HELLY HANSEN Chicago NOOD Regatta sailed from June 12th to 14th. The fleet experienced an enormous variety of conditions over the three days, from crazy, almost surreal weather on Friday to easy-going, classic Lake Michigan gentle breezes over the next two days. The Chicago NOOD had one-design fleets of J/70s, J/105s and J/109s and a variety of J/Teams sailing in both PHRF Class and the North Sails Rally on Saturday.
Friday’s sailing brought wet and crazy conditions to the fleet of 135 boats. Overcast skies accompanied the inaugural race day with winds topping out at 14 knots, making for a competitive regatta from the beginning. Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club member Martin Johnsson and his crew aboard the J/70 AQUAHOLIKS won all four of their races. Going into the second day of racing Saturday, Johnsson was the one to beat in the 13-boat class. John Heaton’s EMPEIRIA was in second place, and John Arendshorst’s 20/20 was close behind in third.
Peter Priede’s J/109 FULL TILT lived up to their name by putting in an excellent day of racing that won them three first place finishes in their class. The small, but competitive, fleet of five boats were the first boats to start racing Friday. Tied for second after the first day were David Gustman’s NORTHSTAR and Kevin Saedi’s MOMENTUS- both former winners of the Chicago NOOD regatta!Tom and Gyt Petkus on their J/105 VYTIS had a similar day to their J/109 colleagues. They are leading their fleet and took home a 1-1-5 while Clark Pellet’s SEALARK was tied in second on 9 pts with Jon Weglarz’s THE ASYLUM.
After the racing on Saturday, the Sailing World crew caught up with the J/88 RAMBLER crew on the docks. A pretty laid-back crew they are! So laid back, in fact, they hadn’t even checked the results of the North Sails Rally PHRF 2 class! “Oh wow, we won? Holy sh*%$!” said skipper Benjamin Wilson. The crew, made up of Wilson’s J/105 and J/111 racing buddies from year’s past, sailed the 20.7 nm course in shifty, light breeze and sunny conditions— unusual for early summer sailing on Lake Michigan. “The conditions were challenging today,” said Wilson. “For us, we have to be really good with our upwind sailing and our point. Sometimes, we weren’t accomplishing that. We tried to go to a Code 0 to the first mark, but that didn’t work out well. We made some adjustments, and once we started getting to the points on the course where we can start reaching and running we do a lot better.” Wilson, who is a volunteer assistant volleyball coach for the Loyola Ramblers men’s Volleyball Team, plans to take the J/88 RAMBLER offshore for the Chicago-Mac next month. “It’s a solid team, we’ve all known each other forever and we keep sailing together. I’m cruising, I get to hang out with my friends- - RAMBLER just keeps rambling.”
Sunday provided the fleet with yet another nice day of sailing. In the end, the first day’s results didn’t change for the top three in the J/70 class. Johnsson’s AQUAHOLIKS team kept rolling and won by a significant margin. Second was Heaton’s crew on EMPEIRIA just holding off a late-minute charge by Arendshorst’s crew on 20/20. Fourth was Bob Willis’ team aboard OLE TIPSY THREE and fifth was Blane Shea skippering GEMINI. A similar scenario held true for both the J/105 and J/109 classes. Winning the J/105s was the husband-wife team of Tom & Gyt Petkus sailing VYTIS. Second was Pellett’s SEALARK and third was Weglarz’s THE ASYLUM. Filling out the top five was Ken Ganch’s GONZO and fifth was Sandy Curtiss’ ROCKING HORSE.
Priede’s J/109 crew on FULL TILT kept pressing on regardless and won two more races to close out a win in their class. Gustman’s NORTHSTAR was second, followed by Saedi’s MOMENTUS in third, Jim Murray’s CALLISTO in fourth and Scott Sims’ SLAPSHOT in fifth (yes, he’s a former hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks- this year’s Stanley Cup Champions!).
In the North Sails Rally divisions, David Hughes’ J/100 BARRACUDA took third in ORR Cruising divisions. IN the PHRF Offshore I class, Frank Giampoli’s J/120 JAHAZI was second and Jim Gignac’s J/130 SALSA finished third. As mentioned above, Ben Wilson’s J/88 RAMBLER won PHRF Offshore 2 going away. For more HELLY HANSEN Chicago NOOD sailing regatta information
Quigley King of J/24 Short Course Regatta(Sydney, Australia)- The Macquart Marine Cronulla J24 Short Course Regatta was conducted in the clean clear waters of Bate Bay, Cronulla over the Queens Birthday long weekend 6-7 June. The event was a huge success again and enjoyed by 17 crews, including three from interstate (Simon Grain and Hugo Ottaway from Victoria and with smiles and the odd ‘discussion’, Robin and Jim Townsend from Adelaide)– well done guys!
This year there was a definite buzz about the club from a few days before, with excitement growing as the interstaters rolled in. With lots of help from the enthusiastic locals, boats were rigged, dropped in the water, and berthed on the club pontoon “three shakes of a skippers tiller” from the club bar. What a magic setting– drinks in the sunset and the promise of a great weekend to come.
Bucko, the nation’s most relaxed RO gave us the briefing on Saturday morning, how refreshing to hear some sensible race management outlined – there will be no protests! Sort it out on the water.
With breezes between 0-5 the race committee did a fantastic job in achieving 3 races on the first day. With temps at 22 deg C, a glorious day of sailing was had and a following swell upwind, made interesting sailing for those not used to ocean sailing.
The first race was won by Local Legend, Dave McKay by 30 sec to Victorian Hugo Ottaway and Stephen Quigley a further 30 seconds behind. The short course format, with works no more than 800 metres ensuring close competition for all.
Second Race was won by Stephen Quigley in a dying breeze who picked the shifts and extended to win by some 3 minutes to Simon Grain of Victoria and local Cronulla Sailor Barry Ryan.The third and last race for Day One was conducted after waiting for a 5 knot breeze to re-establish from the east and in a dying breeze Barry Ryan again showed his local knowledge to lead out by 30 seconds to Robin Townsend from South Australia and Hugo Ottaway in Bruschetta IV from Sandringham Yacht Club.
Racing was completed for the first day with Barry Ryan in Pinot leading from Stephen Quigley and Dave McKay equal in second. The Day One BBQ was huge, these guys know how to be hospitable with a vengeance, great conversation between all competitors and lots of new friends being made with the visitors going into the night in preparation for day two. In fact many competitors further increased their preparation at local night clubs just to make sure they were ready for the off in the morning.
Again, the balmy winter conditions continued with a slight increase in wind strength experiencing 5-10 knots for the 4th race of the series. The ‘Mexicans’ (Victorians took both 1st and 2nd) with Simon Grain and Hugo Ottaway followed by the ever consistent Stephen Quigley coming in third.
A quick turn around by the race committee saw race 5 commence and the pattern of finishes becoming clearer Barry Ryan followed by Stephen Quigley and Hugo. This was undoubtedly the closest race of the series with the first 5 boats finishing within 40 seconds, the next 4 within 40 seconds and the next 6 within 30 seconds. Fantastic close racing 2 laps, over in 27 minutes and all boats finishing with 4 minutes!!!!!
Race 6 commenced under the black flag after 2 consecutive general recalls. Julie McKay on McKay Marine, Jared Macquart on Macquart Marine, Matthew Short on ShortFaced and Lia Darby on Starpac all broke the start and where disqualified from that race. Final result in a dying breeze was Simon Grain, the consistent Stephen Quigley and Barry Ryan in Third.Race 7 proved to be the final race of the series in testing conditions and a breeze continuing to decrease. Simon Grain rose to the occasion with a 3rd bullet for the day followed again by Team Cini O’Bryan and StockCar.
Results were tallied back at the Cronulla Sailing Club as the sausages cooked and the drinks where poured. Another huge BBQ and drinks and drinks and- - -
The same Bucko, now the master of ceremonies and laughter, gave out the prizes and everyone got one, if you didn’t win one you got one given to you. What a good night.
Team Cini O’Bryans was consistent throughout the series and proved solid with a series score of 3, 1, 7, 3, 2, 2, 2 for a total of 13. Simon Grain, sailing Arthur Crother’s Kaotic (with the boss on board) went home with the wheelchair prize.
Once again the level of female participation is very encouraging, with three female skippers and many women amongst most of the crews.
The organizers and competitors would like to thank the sponsors of the event, Macquart Marine, Wet Tech Rigging, Ian Short Sails, Cronulla Marina, The Lapstone Hotel, Loaf Cafe Cronulla, OZ Jet Boating Sydney, PriceLine Cronulla and Secret Scent Aromatherapy. And a big thank you to the volunteers and members of Cronulla SC for making this great regatta possible. Thanks also to Fiona Campbell, Rob Croucher, Clinton Hood and Dave Mackay for hosting the visitors – it makes the trip all the more affordable and strengthens new and old bonds in the class. Thanks for the story, as told by Mick Reynolds and Simon Grain. For more Australian J/24 sailing information
LA SUPERBA Winner of J/24 Trofeo Ciccolo(Cala Galera, Italy)- After the first four events of the Italian J/24 National Championship series (consisting of Trofeo Nettuno, Pasquavela Santo Stefano, Trofeo Academia Navale Livorno and Cala Galera), the best Helmsman-Owner of the first half of the season- the Francesco Ciccolo Perpetual Challenge Trophy- is again ITA 212 JAMAICA owned and skippered by the President of the Italian J/24 Class, Pietro Diamanti. In second for this division is AMERICAN PASSAGE sailed by Paolo Rinaldi and third is CESARE JULIO skippered by Pietro Massimo Meriggi.
Meanwhile, the winner of the Trofeo Ciccolo, emblematic of the leader of the first half of the season overall, goes to Ignazio Bonanno’s crew aboard LA SUPERBA from the Marina Militare in Livorno. They are followed by MOLLICONA sailed by Massimiliano Biagini and skippered by James Black. In third is AVOLTORE owned by Massimo Mariotti and skippered by Ettore Botticinis."We are obviously very pleased," said the skipper Ignazio Bonanno, "to have won this trophy which also has a sentimental value as it was established to remember a President that has marked the history of the Italian J/24 class." For more Italian J/24 sailing information
Offshore J/Teams Sailing Trans-Atlantic to Europe(Newport, RI)- A number of long-distance cruising and racing J/Teams have been getting ready for this year’s RORC Trans-Atlantic Race; they include two J/42s that have thousands of miles under their keels already and a J/122 that has probably gone around the world once or twice already in terms of total number of offshore miles.
J/42 ARROWHEAD Report
Steve Berlack has entered his J/42 ARROWHEAD into the Transatlantic Race. Steve is the Men's Alpine FIS Coach at Burke Mountain Academy in East Burke, Vermont- a school famous for breeding some of America’s top alpine ski racers in slalom and giant slalom events.
Here is Steve’s commentary prior to the start of the event next week: “Arrowhead is running in the IRC Racer/Cruiser Class 4 Division with a total of 4 crew. Our group can use the autopilot hence the smaller crew. Arrowhead has been set up as a double-handed Bermuda Race boat, but only the Class 40 boats can run double-handed in this race.
Arrowhead, formerly Howie Hodgson’s “True” and designer Rod Johnstone’s “Ragtime” has a serious offshore racing pedigree for a “cruising” boat. Well, all J/Boats are really race boats at heart and Hull #62 has never missed a Newport/Bermuda race since coming out of the mold in 2002. This, in addition to a couple of Marblehead Halifax stints, puts her in solid company with other experienced offshore racer J/Boats.
Given that the boat is raced almost every year in a serious offshore contest, not much was needed to prepare the boat for the Transatlantic Race. We added a Spectra 150 water maker, and put diesel heat in the boat for the north of 50 degree route. We also built a new main sail out of Dimension-Polyant Black X Tech 25 cloth so as not to wear out our sweet Doyle Stratus Bermuda Race Main. The BX25 is a heavy, performance oriented cloth that should hold up well in the variable north Atlantic conditions. Chris Howes and Robbie Doyle have both been very helpful in helping with the best inventory to sort out our performance goals. Our largest genoa is a 138% #2 made out of DP BX20, we also have a high clew yankee #3/4 made out of the same cloth. We are carrying two asym chutes, one extra heavy weather jib, storm jib, and storm trysail.
We secured some outboard sheeting padeyes for better reaching performance with the two genoas.
Technology-wise, we implemented the Expedition software package on an Apple Mac-Mini with a solid state hard drive. We are also propagating AIS and all the NMEA 2000 data to some Apple iPads via a Digital Yacht wireless router. Our plan is to power down the Raymarine displays, and run the iPads as the primary nav screens.
The crew is Mike Chapman, Jon Bixby, Gian Criscitiello, and myself. You can track us on Yellowbrick and the gun goes off on June 28th. We are hoping for 17 days!”
J/42 CANTY Mediterranean ReportPaul and Martha Rogers have been sailing their J/42 CANTY in Europe and in Mediterranean waters. According to Martha, “it seems that we placed 3rd in the double-handed category in the Brindisi-Corfu Race. That's what the smallest trophy is for. The middle-sized trophy is awarded to participating foreign yachts. The largest trophy is for the yacht coming the furthest to race. We are still deciphering the race results in the various categories so I can't give you any times. There were four boats in our category. Our satisfaction in the result is not diminished with a 3rd place vs 1st. It was a great race and we have had an amazing time. Check out the website- http://www.brindisi-corfu.it/en
J/122 RESOLUTE ReportScott Miller’s J/122 RESOLUTE (the 2013 Newport Bermuda 1-2 Overall winner) is already heavily into preparations for this year’s Newport-Bermuda 1-2 event. His sailing program in the next few months is worthy of any Volvo Ocean Race team training and racing program. Scott is planning to singlehand from Maine to Newport shortly. Then, he is racing the N2B 1-2. After getting back to Newport, he heads directly to Marblehead to do the Marblehead-Halifax Race in the Double-handed Divisions. Then, he plans to cross the North Atlantic singlehandedly to Cowes, England in time to sail the Fastnet Race in the IRC Two-handed Division! Then, the plan is that he will then singlehand the boat back to Maine before wintertime! ALL on his J/122 RESOLUTE! According to Scott’s friend Tom Babbit from Portland, Maine, “Scott provisions for N2B 1-2 by walking across the street in Newport and picking up a six pack of Subway subs- - he is a retired but extremely energetic former investment banker!” Goodness gracious, that is an ambitious program for anyone! For more J/42 info (http://www.jboats.com/j42) and J/122 info (http://www.jboats.com/j122).
J/24 Europeans- The Jardine Report(Crouesty de Arzon, France)- Duncan McCarthy from Poole in Madeliene GBR 4265 has won the J24 European Championship at La Crouesty, Arzon, France and Mike Ingham from the USA retaining the J24 European Open Championship. The 2014 European Champion, Frank Schonfeldt in Henk GER 5412, was 3rd European overall this year. The 2nd Overall team in the European Championship was Daniel Frost from Germany in SG Power Solutions GER 5475.
There were seven on the limit windy but sunny races completed, over the first 3 days, the wind was off the shore fortunately permitting the Race Officer John Coveney to set up excellent courses where he could avoid the very rough seas further off shore. On the last day, the wind cut off completely with a flat calm and no racing possible.
The Brazilian and top Italian Teams Bruschetta BRA 37 and La Superba ITA 416 both found the conditions a little too much finishing 8th and 9th with the Irish under 25 team Killcullen helmed by Cillian Dickson finishing a very creditable 10th and taking the under 25's Trophy. The Ladies trophy was won by the all ladies team from Germany in GER 5313 skippered by Ragna Thonnessen in 22nd position.Duncan McCarthy said, "A great week of windy and well organized racing keeping the fleet on their toes. Wind predominately off the land created challenging shifty conditions at the top of the course. The top of the fleet were all making small adjustments each day to find the extra edge in boat speed, much needed in this quality fleet."
The Yacht Club Crouesty Arzon organized a great event both on and off shore under the leadership of Aorelian Garcia who managed 14th overall in Jaguar FRA 4934.
The 2016 European Championships will be held next year at Plymouth in mid-August, Duncan's win should boost all the UK Class to start working hard to ensure we retain the Trophy and more than equal this year's success. For more J/24 Europeans sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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* J/70- The New Youth One-Design Sailboat! Julian Sudofsky has been racing the J/70 CARLOS with his dad, Mike Sudofsky. Here are some of Julian’s observations after racing the J/70 in the past year on the J/70 circuit in the USA:“Since 2013 I have been racing the J/70 around the country with my dad. In my perspective, I think there’s no better way for a father to raise his son to love sailing. For the past two years this has been the best experience for me.
I’ve been able to travel to multiple places on the East Coast such as Key West FL; Miami, FL; Charleston, SC; Annapolis, MD; Cedar Point, CT; and Newport, RI. I have learned so much from all the world-class sailors in the fleet. I think that I’ve learned a combination of team chemistry, rig tuning, boat balance, and mark rounding skills that have helped me become a better sailor.
In the past few regattas we have seen boats from Norway, Brazil, Bermuda, France, Spain, Mexico, Chile, Japan, the U.K., and Peru. It has been great to sail against all these other teams. We have personally made friends with a Mexican team and a Brazilian team. Competing in these world-class events, I’ve been able to have conversations with famous world- class sailors like Terry Hutchinson, Jeff Johnstone, and Tim Healy.
I have competed in two Key West race weeks and a J70 World Championship, and in these regattas it’s not unusual to have 100 boats. With this amount of boats in our fleet, it creates very exciting regattas. Sometimes the starts can be very hectic with all these competitors screaming at each other, all not speaking the same language.
Overall, this has been a great experience. I have learned so much from so many intelligent sailors. A normal start for our team in the J/70 is starting somewhere in the middle of the line with clean air and using midline sag to our advantage. During our upwind leg we focus on keeping the boat flat and maintaining an open lane. The downwind legs are the most fun! Our top speed on this boat was 19.3 knots downwind. Due to the shape of the keel, the boat starts to make a high pitched hum when planing. I’m looking forward to competing in this summer’s 2015 J70 Worlds in La Rochelle, France!”
* Opening Sailing to the Community- The city of Neenah in eastern Wisconsin is about 45 miles from Lake Michigan but located adjacent to Lake Winnebago, which is where you’ll find the members of Neenah-Nodaway Yacht Club (NNYC) and Fox Valley Sailing School (FVSS. Jonathan Coultas shares this report on how the locals are sharing their sailing passion…We just hosted our second annual Sailing Open House on Saturday, June 13. NNYC had done a similar event in the past called the Sail Expo, but it was smaller and the “expo” name made it seem more like an event just for sailors. So in 2014, to coincide with our 150th anniversary, we tweaked the event and it has since become our signature summer event.
Calling the event the Sailing Open House eliminated the perception of something only for those who already sail. To attract an attendance, we schedule it on the same weekend as a popular 3-on-3 street basketball tournament in town and promote it with flyers. We also get the word out through our Facebook page and website and use local family activity guides, the Parks and Recreation department, and newspapers to further market the event.
Once people arrive we have organized lots of activities for both kids and adults, with the local Boy Scout troop on hand with concessions.
Bouncing beach balls on spinnakers, racing foam boats in gutters, nautical face painting, knot tying, and much more keep the kids entertained. The local Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla brings “Coastie”, the robot safety boat, to teach kids about water safety in an exciting way.
We line up club member’s boats on the seawall for tours, offering a variety from J/22s to 30-foot cruisers to a F27 trimaran for people to sit on and learn about. However, the big draw and popular activity is sailboat rides through the harbor.
Using the Flying Scots from FVSS training boats and NNYC fleet member boats, we took close to 200 people for rides last year, and despite the threat of rain this year, we still had 150 people out on the water.
Once people get on the water, you encourage them to take photos. They are smiling, getting great images of their families or selfies while sailing, which they are then putting out on social media.
For many it was their first time on a sailboat. Others came back after taking a ride at last year’s Open House and some fondly recalled sailing at summer camps in their youth. The Coast Guard Auxiliary provided loaner life jackets for our passengers with a briefing on PFD fit and safety.
The months of organization and commitment of our volunteers from NNYC and FVSS is paid back instantly when you hear a kid recapping in a rush of excitement how they got to steer the boat during their boat ride through the harbor.
This free and fun event serves a few purposes. It brings our members together for a common cause, while promoting NNYC and FVSS to help pick up new members and students. But most importantly, it exposes sailing to a new and wide audience and gives us a chance to connect with and share our passion for the sport with the community.
I hope other clubs are getting out there and doing similar things in their communities to experience the satisfying rewards and also help grow the sport!
* History Continues for Canadian McLaughlin Family- The McLaughlin name is a staple in the sailing world with generations of success dating back to the 1940’s in Canada. The family history will continue this year as two generations represent Canada at the 2015 Pan Am Games on July 12-19 in Toronto, Canada.In the J/24 class, Terry McLaughlin will compete in the Games with crew David Ogden, David Jarvis and Sandy Andrews. Terry’s son, Evert, has teamed up with Alexandra Damley-Strnad to earn the bid in the Snipe class.
“I cannot describe how cool it is to compete at the same Games as my father,” says Evert. “It is quite incredible to sail a sport where one can be competitive for so many years of their life. For this reason, I think it’s quite unlikely a father-son duo has tackled the Games before, let alone in their home country and home waters. Who knows, we may be bunk mates in the Pan Am Village!”
Terry, a sailing icon, won an Olympic silver medal in the 1984 Olympics – a pinnacle moment in his career. Terry’s achievements also include first place finishes at the 2011 and 2013 New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, as well as being a two-time winner of the Sail Canada Rolex Sailor of the Year.
When it comes to sailing at major competitions, Terry is undoubtedly a seasoned expert. He advises those competing in their first Major Games experience “to sail as if it isn’t their first Games. Don’t be in awe of the whole scene. Don’t get all caught up in the noise. Focus on your own sailing. Don’t take chances that you wouldn’t normally take on the race course.”
Terry does not take any of it for granted saying, “It is great to have my son Evert at the same Major Games. My father, Evert’s grandfather, sailed in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics for Canada. His and my Olympic sailing experiences certainly did not overlap.” Terry’s brother, Frank McLaughlin, is also an Olympic bronze medalist.
Beyond the Pan Ams, Evert has his eyes on the Rio 2016 Olympics, hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps and earn a medal for Team Canada. “The Pan Am Games represent a stepping stone on the pathway to Rio 2016. The competition and overall experience of the Pan Am Games will give me knowledge and confidence moving forward and I hope to carry the momentum through the Olympic Trials.”
The Pan Am sailing events will be held on several race courses on Lake Ontario, including a downtown course on Toronto Harbour in the shadow of the CN Tower, on July 12-19. For more Pan Am Games J/24 sailing information
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