J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
Two of the more prominent winter series around the world started in the past fortnight. The first to get rolling was the eponymous J/70 Monaco Winter Sportboat Series, hosted by the spectacular Royal YC Monaco in Monte Carlo from the end of November 2018 to March 2019, a five-event series that has over 50 teams participating. Simultaneously, the Davis Island YC hosted the first of its three-event series on Tampa Bay for a series that will also see over 50 teams sailing over the winter months.In China, the Xiamen Sailing Club hosted the annual Asian J/80 Championship in Xiamen Harbor, China for eight nations from across the region. For the four-day, 11-race event, teams participated from eight nations; including Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Russia, India, USA, Canada, and China.
Over in the Americas, the Storm Trysail Club and its multiple sailing club partners have started their SORC “Islands in the Stream” offshore series. The first event was the classic SORC Nassau Cup Race from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau, Bahamas. The second race was the Wirth Munroe Memorial Palm Beach Race. Three J/teams (a J/92, J/109, and J/44) were happily collecting some silverware offshore.
Finally, the beautiful navy-blue J/160 AVATAR is back in the Caribbean at St John’s, U.S. Virgin Islands. Read the update below from her owners- Alan & Julie Fougere.
J/121 Wins “Performance Yacht” @ British Yachting Awards!
(London, England)- For the first time this year, Sailing Today teamed up with presenting partner MUSTO and sister magazine Yachts & Yachting to bring you the British Yachting Awards, truly a celebration of every aspect of the sailing world – from Caribbean cruising to high tech racing.
In the Performance Yacht Category, there were over a dozen boats under consideration. The sailing public voted in the United Kingdom and winning the Performance Yacht Category was the J/121 offshore speedster! Here is what Y&Y/ Sailing Today had to say about the J/121.“J/Boats reckons its J/121 is the best short-handed racer the company has built. The 40-footer is designed to be sailed by five or fewer crew, which J reckon- and we agree- makes life a whole lot easier for racing skippers fed-up with rounding up 8 or 10 bodies every time they want to compete.
She looks the part too, boasting low, sleek lines and an easy to use cockpit with everything at hand- features that clearly proved popular with voters.
There is an 840-liter water ballast system built-in to compensate for extra crew bodies lined-up along the rail, and the low drag hull offers straight-line speed with high form stability.
There’s a standard suite of five sails plus the usual J/Boats retractable jib, and thanks to a comfortable fit-out down below, the J/121 is an ocean-capable racer that also functions beautifully as an adventurous daysailer, weekender, or fast cruiser. Sailing photo credit- Rick Tomlinson. Learn more about the British Yachting Awards 2018 here. Learn more about the J/121 Offshore Speedster here
J/99 World Debut @ Paris Show
(Paris, France)- The much anticipated introduction of the extraordinary J/99 shorthanded offshore speedster will be taking place at the famous “Salon Nautique”- a.k.a. the Paris International Boat Show- this coming week from December 8th to 16th at the Port de Versailles on the south side of Paris. The J/99 will be on display in Hall 1/ Stand 1 G62. For more Salon Nautique Paris boat show information Learn more about the J/99 Offshore Speedster here
Order Your Gorgeous 2019 J/Calendar Now!(Newport, RI)- A sailing calendar is a great gift for loved ones, family, friends and crew.
For 2019, we have created another beautiful calendar for J/Sailors who love the joys of sailing a J in some of the most spectacular harbors and waters of the world. Whether you are a cruising, racing or armchair sailor, these stunning sailboat photographs will transport you to wonderful sailing experiences in far away places.
The 2019 sailing calendar features the most popular as well as latest creations from the J/Design team sailing in many of the worlds most popular sailing areas- St Petersburg (Russia), British Virgin Island, St Barths, Chicago, France, Italy, Chile, Ireland, Germany, and Spain. See the gorgeous photo gallery and order your 2019 J/Calendar here
2019 J/80 U.K. National Champs Announcement(Lymington, England)- Lymington, the home town of the biggest and most active J/80 fleet in the UK, will once again host the United Kingdom’s J/80 National Championship. Twenty J/80s are based there!
The Royal Lymington Yacht Club, which hosted the extremely successful 2016 and 2018 Championships, is the natural choice for the 2019 J/80 Nationals venue that will be sailed on the western end of the Solent.
Demonstrating their proficiency and enthusiasm, the club has already appointed a Race Officer for the event and set about assembling a world-class team.
The regatta will take place from Saturday, August 24th to Monday, August 26th, taking advantage of the bank holiday weekend in the U.K. For more J/80 U.K. National Championship sailing information
Regatta & Show Schedules:
Dec 8-16- Salon Nautique Boat Show- Paris, FranceJan 5-6- Davis Island J/70 Winter Series II- Tampa, FL
Jan 19-20- Bacardi J/70 Winter Series II- Miami, FL
Jan 24-27- J/Fest St Petersburg- St Petersburg, FL
Jan 26-28- Festival of Sails- Geelong, Vic, Australia
Feb 9-10- Davis Island J/70 Series III- Tampa, FL
Feb 15-17- Helly Hansen St Petersburg NOOD- St Petersburg, FL
Feb 21-24- J/70 Midwinter Championship- Miami, FL
Mar 6-9- Bacardi Cup- J/70 Winter Series III- Miami, FL
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
CHARISMA Tops J/70 Monaco Winter Series- Act II(Monte Carlo, Monaco)- With sea and air temperatures of 18°C (65.0 F) it was like spring for the thirty-two J/70 contestants in Act II of the Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series.
Four races were completed under blue skies on a flat sea with 12 knots of wind for the J/70s on the first day. A forecast of Force 8/9 in the Mediterranean for Sunday meant there was no racing on the last day, with everyone happy to see the prize-giving brought forward.
Finns, Danes, Russians, Brazilians, English, Germans and, of course, Italians descended on the Principality to take advantage of the mild Mediterranean winter conditions to train and compete on the race area that will host the J/70 Worlds in 2021, organized by the Yacht Club de Monaco.
It was an international field, but an all-Monegasque podium. It was an intense battle between Nico Poons’ CHARISMA, Roberto Stefani’s PICCININA and Ludovico Fassitelli’s JUNDA (winner of Act 1 in November). Despite winning two races with ease, Ludovico Fassitelli was 3rd just behind Roberto Stefani, making his return to the class with a new team and tactics by France’s no.1 Laser sailor Jean-Baptiste Bernaz.But, the most consistent was Nico Poons, fresh from his triumph on the 2018 RC44 World Series circuit, whose bold tactics on the start lines placed CHARISMA in the best position in the race area to take the first step on the podium.
In the all-amateur Corinthian J/70 class, it was Swiss sailor Bruno Zeltner’s QUARTER2ELEVEN, a regular at the Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series, who pipped Monegasque Cesare Gabasio’s TINN J70 to the post by one point to win it.
Third place in the Corinthian J/70 category went to Claudio Canaccini, leading a team of youngsters from the Yacht Club Italiano, who was racing on one of the YC Monaco Sports Section’s J/70s loaned to them by the YCM. It is all part of the Monaco club’s policy to boost exchanges between clubs twinned with the YCM through its Youth Offshore Academy.The next events in the five Act series are:
- Jan 17-20- Act III
- Feb 7-10- Act IV- PRIMO Cup- Trophee Credit Suisse XXXV
- Mar 14-17- Act V Finale
Russians Win Asian J/80 Champs!(Xiamen, China)- The local sailing club in Xiamen, China hosted the 2018 edition of the Asian J/80 Championship for a fleet of twenty-six boats from across the greater Asian region representing eight nations; including Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Russia, India, USA, Canada, and China.
This was the first time the J/80 Class was properly enforcing the rules in the Asian market. There were four days of measurement before the event, weighing boats, measuring sails, weighing crew and completing a proper safety check. During the measurement days, teams also got some nice practice time.
The weather in the days leading up to the event was perfect shorts and t-shirt weather. However, thereafter it was a bit cooler on race days.
Day 1It was awesome racing on day one, with two races sailed in a steady 18-22 knots of wind. Hull 10 came out to race on this day, starting with two bullets. This Chinese team was comprised of junior professional Chinese national sailors; their skipper was the Chinese National 470 Champion. The 2nd to 5th place boats were not so consistent, giving the Chinese Youth team a nice lead in the standings to start the series.
Day 2
With an earlier start and a few knots less wind then the day before, the race committee was able to complete four races. There was no dominant winner of the day, with four different boats getting first place. As a result, that outcome narrowed the overall points for the first four boats (Russian team, Chinese National team, Australian Team, and Xiamen University Team).
Day 3Following the trend of the first two days, the fleet was again blessed with good breeze, but just a few knots less than the day before. This time, it was the Russian’s turn. The Russian team from the Seventh Fleet YC (members of the Russian Navy in Vladivostok, eastern Russia) brought their “A” game and pulled off three 1sts and a 4th!
Day 4
The last day of racing needed only one race to complete the series. The boats went out to the starting line with very little wind. Consequently, the RC hoisted the “AP” flag for about thirty minutes to wait for a gentle breeze to build along the shore. Soon, the fleet started with a light northerly breeze with the current helping everyone to windward and against them down wind. In this area of Xiamen Bay, you can see 1-2 knots of current sailing in the open waters off the harbor. Unfortunately, the breeze shut off for a bit when the boats all reached Mark one. So, the race became a bit of a restart. But, when the breeze came back, it lasted for the complete race, which was a windward-leeward twice around.
The organizers supplied two judge boats for this event with two International Judges and Jim Johnstone as the third Judge and in charge of the technical measuring process. With on the water judging, the sailors were all able to enjoy the nights off in Xiamen, with a great opening ceremony and plenty of nightlife to be had in the city!The final results saw the team from eastern Russia- the TEAM EVOLUTION TIGER- win the regatta with four bullets in their scoreline of eleven races for a 26 pts net total. Second was the XIAMEN UNIVERSITY TEAM with 30 pts net and rounding out the podium with the bronze was the SEAMO RACE TEAM from Australia with 44 pts net.
Overall, the J/80 teams were very pleased with the venue and the class is already in the planning stages for the next Asian Championships to be held in Qingdao next September 2019. The Chinese J/80 Class Association is holding the event in venues where they can see continued growth in the local J/80 fleets. The goal is a simple one- get more boats to participate than last year. The 2019 target is a lofty one-> 40+ boats in Qingdao, site of the Chinese Sailing Olympics in 2008!
J/44 Wins Palm Beach “Race to the Buffet”!KENAI Leads SORC Islands In the Stream Series
(Palm Beach, FL)- Elapsed time records fell in the Sailfish Club of Florida’s 62nd annual Wirth M. Munroe Ocean Race to Palm Beach, the second event of the 2018-19 SORC Islands in the Stream Series- the fabled Miami to Palm Beach “Race to the Buffet” wrapped up with one of the best feasts in sailing. Twenty-eight teams raced in near-perfect conditions on a new two-course format that started on December 7 in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“We are delighted that this year’s race was a success at every level and encouraged that the excitement around our event reflects the growing momentum in the South Florida racing scene,” said Wirth Munroe Event Chair, Tom Bowler of the Sailfish Club.
“We had records broken, spectacular weather, a diverse fleet across a broad spectrum that included veterans and newcomers alike, and the wonderful post-race camaraderie that has made the Wirth Munroe Race such a special event.”
In last Friday’s second event of the 2018-2019 Southern Ocean Racing Conference (SORC), Chris and Karen Lewis’s Texas-based J/44 KENAI won the race Palm Beach.Their first overall finish in ORC scoring paired with their 4th overall finish in last month’s first event of the SORC, the Miami-Nassau Race, puts them in first place Overall in the standings for the SORC Islands in the Stream Series.
With 12 to 15 kts easterly breezes, race managers opted for ORC’s Triple Number Coastal/ Long Distance scoring model for medium wind conditions, resulting in close finishing scores for the leaders in the fleet. After six-plus hours of sailing the 60-mile course, KENAI’s victory was only 5 min 27 sec on corrected time over another Texan team, Andy Wescoat’s J/109 HARM’S WAY (who are lying in 4th overall in the series, just one point away from third).
Taking 5th place in ORC was the J/92 HILLBILLY sailed by Bradley Stowers. Combined with their 3rd in the Nassau Cup Race, they are now sitting in the third spot on the overall leaderboard.
The next race, the classic Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race starts Thursday, January 17, 2019 south of Port Everglades. Another Conch Grinder Race and party at the First Flight Island Restaurant and Brewery (formerly Kelly’s Caribbean) are on the agenda for the weekend.
The SORC Islands in the Stream Series consists of these five events:
- Nov 15 – Nassau Cup Ocean Race
- Dec 7 – Wirth M. Munroe Invitational Race
- Jan 17 – Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race
- Jan 27 – Pineapple Cup Montego Bay Race
- Mar 13 – Miami to Havana Race
“The Russians Are Coming!”Not Subs, But J/70s @ Tampa Winter Series!
(Tampa, FL)- Forty-seven J/70 teams traveled to Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa, Florida for the first weekend of the 2018-2019 J/70 Winter Series. Conditions on Saturday were sunny and warm with winds at 6-8 knots, allowing three races.
The passage of a cold front on Sunday brought rain and storms through Tampa Bay, keeping teams ashore. By 12:45pm the weather conditions had not improved enough to warrant a lifting of the harbor postponement, so the “AP over A” code flags were flown, signaling the end of the day and the regatta for the weekend.
Igor Rytov's Russian BOGATYRS earned the overall victory with scores of 7-2-4 for 13 points. Greiner Hobbs' DARK HORSE placed second with 16 points, and Doug Strebel's BLACK RIVER RACING followed in third with 18 points.The 14-boat Corinthian division was topped by Bob Willis' RIP RULLAH, who notched a bullet in race 2. Taking second was Rob Britts' HOT MESS with an all-girl crew (a past DIYC Winter Series Champion from the home club) and taking the bronze was Mike Kirkman's HOT TICKET from Grosse Pointe YC in Detroit, MI.
Each Friday of the Series, SAIL22 leads the Porch Series including a North Sails debrief. This weekend featured several races in which 33 boats were able to learn from on-water coaches, before heading in for a North Sails forum at the DIYC clubhouse.Racing continues at Davis Island Yacht Club on January 4-6 and February 8-10.
2018-19 J/70 Winter Series
Dec 8-9: https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=5916
Jan 5-6: https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=5917
Feb 9-10: https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=5918
For more Davis Island YC J/70 Winter Series sailing information
Nassau Cup Report- from KENAI(Nassau, Bahamas)- “Coral Reef YC, Nassau YC and Storm Trysail Club hosted the Nassau Cup Ocean Race from Miami to Nassau, Bahamas being the first Islands in the Stream Series event for the 2018-19 season. After free rum drinks and a regatta briefing at Coral Reef YC in Miami, we noticed interestingly that the fleet had consolidated entries in the last 10 days across IRC, ORC and PHRF to one 13-boat ORC fleet split between ORC1 and ORC2. This left a cruiser and then Argo the MOD70 trying for the course record.
Despite some races offering different handicap options, overall standings in the Islands in the Stream Series will be determined by ORC scoring. ORC 1 included three TP52’s with Denali, Fox and Spookie, with Fox being a well-sailed west coast boat that is campaigning SORC. STC member Steve Benjamin sailing Spookie was the scratch boat and STC member Chris Lewis was on his J/44 KENAI. A canting keel Shock 40 and a modified Farr 40 comprised the balance of the ORC 1 Class. ORC 2 Class included a range of boats from an Aerodyne 38 with STC member HL DeVore navigating to a Catalina 425 SD sailed by Russell Dunn, a former racing yacht owner.
The outlook during the week was for a 70-mile beat across the Gulf Stream into a blasting Northeaster. But, as race day came, the cold front was delayed and the fleet got off to a spinnaker start in a warm SE breeze. As predicted the wind dropped when yachts crossed the Gulf Stream making tactics interesting; 4.5 knots of boat speed and 3 knots of current! Boats that gybed early gambling not to benefit from a later port gybe header benefited with a better VMC to Great Isaac Lighthouse and the earliest pick up of the cool NW breeze that filled in across the course. Meanwhile, the scratch boats worked to maintain their lead through the stormy thermal cloud-induced wind variations.
Rounding Great Isaac Lighthouse and setting course to the Great Stirrup Cay, the NW breeze built from 8 to 22 knots over the balance of the race, veering to the NNE and providing fast reaching conditions during the night. Racing on the edge of control with shallow reefs to leeward the mid-fleet boats caught the TP52’s. KENAI’s navigator was surprised to be able to pick them up on AIS during the graveyard shift. The frontal passage was slow enough to frustrate Spookie, et al., as they gybed downwind hunting for angle and breeze.
On KENAI, we set the A3, Code Zero, A5 and finally the big A2 as we rounded Great Stirrup Cay. At one point an electronics short in our NEMA 2000 network took the boat dark and made for an exciting time steering by traditional compass binnacle until the offending backup GPS antenna was disconnected! You don’t realize how dependent upon digital data at night you are until you lose it all!
As the sun came up, we were treated to an 18-24 knot port tack broad reach into the finish in building seas. KENAI hit 16 knots and left a broad flattened sea behind as her 23,000 pounds tried to defy the laws of physics for a displacement yacht. As we charged into Nassau Harbor, past the breakwater with our big red spinnaker, the focus was on dowsing the kite as we crossed the finish with very little sea room ahead of us (e.g. the beach)!
The overall results reflected the impact of the slow moving front. Our J/44 KENAI corrected to win in ORC 1 Class. And, Brad Stowers’ J/92 HILLBILLY was third in ORC 2 Class.Nassau YC provided great hospitality, as they have forever and day over the course of this event! For those that missed it, we had a great J/22 Match Race Championship on Saturday at the Nassau Yacht Club. Congratulations to the team from the J/92 HILLBILLY- the J/22 Match Race winners! Photos can be found here. Thanks again to Robert Dunkley for some great shots!
It’s always a great pleasure to be in Nassau and have such gracious hosts. SORC is seriously fun and has great sailing conditions. Why anyone who could sail south, and make these events, and doesn’t do it, beats us!! Why not plan on this next year?” Thanks for contribution from Chris and Karen Lewis, owners of J/44 KENAI. Follow the SORC Islands In The Stream Series on Facebook For more SORC Islands in the Stream Series sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni, and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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* “Our J/160 AVATAR is back again at Proper Yachts in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, having just arrived from New England after another perfect delivery trip south. Love our J/160! My goodness, what an offshore cruising machine!
Behind the photo of her at anchor, you can see how well the U.S.V.I. is recovering from the hurricanes that devastated the islands over the last three years.
Support the U.S. Virgin Islands & British Virgin Islands! Come spend some time in the islands and enjoy some of the best sailing in the world!! Not to mention you might get to see a great J/Boat, big and blue right next to you! Say ‘Hello’ if you are in the neighborhood!” Happy Holidays from Alan & Julie Fougere - owners of the J/160 AVATAR.
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* More “Thunder from Down Under!” Ian Clyne’s J/122 JOSS recently won the 140.0nm 2018 West Coaster Ocean Race off Perth, Western Australia. Here is the report from Tony Bewsher, crewing aboard the J/122 JOSS.
As the fleet approached Cape Vlamingh, the winds almost dropped out completely, making the rounding a slow frustrating affair. With an ever-growing cloud line slowly building on the horizon, the fleet edged westwards in our search for stronger more consistent breeze.
It was 22 hours of perfect sailing conditions for JOSS with fluctuating winds between 8-18 knots and moving from an early light southerly on Saturday morning, swinging west and building until sunset throughout Saturday, then moderating over night to finish in an easterly land breeze.
May 24 
June 23-28 
The J/105 fleet fielded its usual strong contingent of competitors with international helmsmen and crew hailing from the US and the UK, paired with an equal compliment of local Bermuda sailors onboard each boat. Most have participated in the event several times over the years, annually yielding one of the strongest gatherings of amateur sailors in Bermuda.
With the battery bank now slowly charging, the Committee Boat headed for East Knoll and the Race Team WhatsApp'd the fleet with their intentions. The forecast was for the wind to go to the East but it was 060 when they arrived on station and it never went past 070. With that direction and the forecast in mind, PRO Kathy Smalley decided on courses containing triangles, sausages and beats. The number of triangles and sausages depended on the size of the boats. Class 1 and 2 would in fact go to Royal Thames twice whereas Class 3 & 4 would not. All classes finished with a spinnaker reach to the hamblewinterseries.com buoy.
The J/112E DAVANTI TYRES, sailed by Chaz Ivill and Paul Heyes, once again won on handicap in IRC 1 Class. As a result, after tossing out their first two “practice” races of a 3-6, they are the only team in the fifteen-boat IRC 1 Class to have posted a podium finishes; in fact, three 1sts and four 2nds. They are leading the class by just two points, so they will have to be vigilant in their final weekends.
Meanwhile, the J/88s have been dueling it out for the balance of the podium in IRC 2 Class, as well as fighting for the lead in the J/88 One-Design class honors. At this stage, it’s a “dead heat”, a horse race of epic proportions developing between Gavin Howe’s TIGRIS and David & Kirsty Apthorp’s J-DREAM. To add to that anxiety, both boats have had their “send it down the mine shaft” type scores; TIGRIS with a 7-12 and J-DREAM with a 7-11 as their current discards. At the moment, TIGRIS leads by one point over J-DREAM in the IRC 2 scoring. Those two are also leading the J/88 One-design scoring, followed by Dirk van Beek’s SABRIEL JR in third.
Fall Italian J/24 Class Report
Klaus Brinkbäumer, winner of the J/70 class had this to say about their experience:
We (tactician Carsten Kemmling, trimmer David Heitzig, bowman Florian Thoelen- all from Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) got off to a great start with our team on GER 958 BROOKLYN. It was a scramble at the start boat in the first race. We were over early, so had to restart. But, the races were long. Four laps. So, we were able to work our way up to third place. Then, we managed to get a 2nd and 1st, a perfect first day for us!
Taking second behind them was Ulf Plessmann’s crew of Katrin Jahncke, Ohle Vollmer, and Anreas Benkert on GER 966 with a tally of 1-6-4-1-4 for 10 pts net. Third was the top woman skipper, Johanna Meier’s crew of Heinrich Hader, Matthias Rummel, and Milena Muller with a 7-1-7-2-5 record for 15 pts net.
