Newport Boat Show- See the J/112E, J/121 & J/70!(Newport, RI)- The Newport Boat Show is open from September 13th to 16th, Thursday to Sunday, from 10:00am to 6:00pm at the Newport Yachting Center in downtown Newport, off the famous America’s Cup Avenue.
On display will be three exciting models in the J/Boats line up- the World Sailing Offshore Champion- the J/112E sport cruiser; the Bermuda Race St David’s Lighthouse Division Champion- the new J/121 shorthanded offshore speedster; and the world’s most popular one-design sportboat- the famous J/70 speedster!
For starters, the most decorated J/Boat in recent months will amaze people with its family-friendly “cruising” features as well as its extraordinary performance in European regattas.The J/112E was the 2018 IRC European Overall Champion and was also the World Sailing Offshore Champion in Class 3 (the largest by far in the regatta with 50+ boats on the starting line). Learn more about the J/112E sport cruiser here.
Next, the new J/121 Offshore Speedster continues to gather steam, with class wins in the Newport to Bermuda Race (Gibbs Hill Lighthouse “professional” division), the Doublehanded Class winner in the Ida Lewis Distance Race, second in class at Heineken St Maarten Regatta, and first in class in the recent Conanicut Round Island Race on Narragansett Bay.Take a tour to discover how this “water-ballasted” speedster is turning heads and helping to re-define fast, short-handed, offshore sailing- remember, a J/24, J/70 or J/80 crew are all it needs to get around the race track! Learn more about the J/121 Offshore Speedster here.
Finally, the world’s most popular sportboat- the famous International J/70 One-Design Class sailboat- continues to grow around the world, with fleets developing in all corners of Planet Earth and on every one of the Seven Seas!Hop aboard and discover why W.O.W. (Women On Water) in Denmark and other parts of Europe (and the Americas) are rapidly adopting the J/70 as their one-design keelboat class of choice to encourage more women sailors to have fun and compete on the world stage! Learn more about the women & youth friendly J/70 class here. For more Newport Boat Show information
Gorgeous J/122E @ Southampton Boat Show!
(Southampton, England)- J/Boats United Kingdom dealer- Key Yachting Ltd- will be exhibiting the gorgeous J/122E cruiser-racer at the Southampton Boat Show from 14th September to Sunday, the 23rd. Step aboard at their exhibit on marina berths M427-433.
The winner of IRC1 at last week's Dartmouth regatta, the J/122E is a versatile 40 foot cruiser-racer, with comfortable live-aboard accommodation, a refined deck layout, low VCG keel with a moderate 7.2' draft. The hull & deck are built using superior infusion molding technology to maximize durability and long-term value.
An IRC-friendly cruiser/racer, the J/122E offers a completely furnished interior, a simple to manage balanced sail plan, head turning sailing performance and great looks; perhaps the ultimate 40' day sailing, weekending, racing and cruising sailboat?
The J/122e on display at the show is a pre-owned model, currently listed for sale with Key Yachting. Learn more about the J/122E here. For more Southampton Boat Show information
Big Boat Series Preview San Francisco, CA)- If it’s the third week of September, it must be that time of year for the bucket-list worthy, most famous, Rolex Big Boat Series sailing on San Francisco Bay from September 12th to 16th! Will it “blow dogs off chains” or will it be a benign cruise around the Bay?! Whatever the case, the St Francis YC’s PRO and RC teams will ensure the big fleet will have a most excellent time racing on the Berkeley Circle in the east Bay as well as offer epic battles up and down the amazing San Francisco waterfront, as teams try to buck the powerful tides rolling in and out of the Bay at speeds up to 5 kts!
Not surprisingly, the J/105s have by far the largest fleet in the regatta, with twenty-eight boats the J/105 Fleet #1 has become the veritable “backbone” of the regatta, without which there may not be a Rolex Big Boat Series! All of the top teams will be prepared to do battle along the spectacular San Francisco city waterfront in the afternoon races and down in the Berkeley Circle for their morning races. The teams that should feature at the top of the leaderboard include Doug Bailey’s AKULA, Bruce Stone & Nicole Breault’s ARBITRAGE, Ryan Simmons BLACKHAWK, Rolf Kaiser & Shannon Ryan’s DONKEY JACK, Phi Laby’s GODOT, Chris & Phil Perkins’ GOOD TIMIN, Adam Spiegel’s JAM SESSION, Ian Charles’ MAVERICK, Jeff Litfin’s MOJO, and Tim Russell’s NE*NE.
Sporting their biggest attendance yet in the RBBS are the J/88s on San Francisco Bay. Eight teams will be competing for class honors on the same race tracks as the J/105 fleet. Fresh off his 4th place at the J/80 North Americans on Buzzards Bay is Gary Panariello, sailing his COURAGEOUS with a crew of local hotshots that have won their class before at RBBS. Challenging them will be crews like Aya Yamanouchi’s BENNY, Marc McMorris’ M-SQUARED, Steve Gordon’s INCONCEIVABLE, and Paul Recktenwald’s LAZY DAWG.
In the ORR handicap world, J/crews will be sailing in two classes. In ORR B are a trio of J/111s and a trio of J/125s, should be a fascinating dogfight between those teams on handicap time! The J/111s include Dick Swanson’s BAD DOG, Dorian McKelvy’s MADMEN, and Nesrin Basoz’s SWIFT NESS. The J/125s have Richard Ferris’ AUGUST ICE, Viggo Torbensen’s TIMESHAVER, and Zach Anderson’s VELVET HAMMER. At the end of the day, the Las Vegas odds in this class favor a J/111 or J/125 to win class, if not a complete class sweep, such is the talent in this offshore fleet!
The ORR C class includes a trio of J/120s, most of whom have won their one-design class in the past. Those teams are Barry Lewis’ CHANCE, Steve Madeira’s MISTER MAGOO, and David Halliwill’s PEREGRINE. Despite sailing on ORR handicap, do not be surprised this trio of J/120s sweep their class.
Sailing photo credits- ROLEX/ Daniel Forster. For more Rolex Big Boat Series sailing information
J/111 North American Championship Preview(Macatawa Bay, MI)- Hosted by Macatawa Bay YC, the 2018 edition of the J/111 North American Championship will be taking place from September 18th to 21st, Tuesday to Friday, on the beautiful, but capricious blue waters of Lake Michigan. An excellent turnout of sixteen teams are participating that includes past World, North American, Midwinter, Chicago-Mackinac, Bayview-Mackinac, and Chicago NOOD class champions- a remarkable collection of talent for just 16 boats!
Hoping to lead that charge will be World Champion Peter Wagner with his San Francisco-based crew on SKELETON KEY. Two Midwinter and Key West Champions from the Cleveland, OH and Lake Erie circuit will be up to the challenge of squaring off with the top West Coast team, they are Rob Ruhlman’s SPACEMAN SPIFF and Jeff Davis’ SHAMROCK.
The local Chicago/ Midwest superstar teams include the trio on KASHMIR (Brummel, Henderson, Mayer), Kevin Saedi & Raman Yousefi on MOMENTUS, John Kalanik’s PURA VIDA, Rich Witzel’s ROWDY and Brad Faber’s UTAH. From the East Coast are two strong teams, Jim Connelly’s SLUSH FUND from Annapolis, MD and Andrew & Sedgwick Ward’s BRAVO from Shelter Island, NY. For more J/111 North American Championship sailing information
San Diego J/Fest is Back!(San Diego, CA)- J/Boat owners and sailors are invited from up and down the West Coast! And all you J/sailors from San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, and Ventura Counties have no excuse- just a daysail away (or less) to come enjoy the camaraderie of sailing and socializing with fellow J/Lovers!
The following one-design fleets are invited to participate- J/22, J/24, J/70, J/80, J/105, J/109, and J/120. Plus, there will also be a J/PHRF fleet. Each of these classes is extremely well-established in the region and offers sailors some of the most elite yacht racing in Southern California.
Racing will take place from September 29th to 30th, either on San Diego Bay or on the Pacific Ocean (depending on the class breaks).
Join us after racing each day for social events- a fun BBQ J/Fest party on Saturday evening, and the awards party on Sunday afternoon. All events are hosted at San Diego Yacht Club’s fabulous waterfront facilities. For more San Diego J/Fest sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
As September has historically been the busiest month for hurricanes in the northern hemisphere, it’s not altogether surprising that many regattas on the eastern seaboard have contingency plans in the event one spins up in the Caribbean and meanders towards the USA and wrecks havoc with winds, waves, and the dangerous phenomenon known as “storm surges and flooding” (always the biggest killers in these powerful storms). Sure enough, after a very quiet start to the 2018 hurricane season, September rolls around and now at least five named storms in the Atlantic and Pacific are spinning around. One of them, Hurricane Florence spun-up in 48 hours from a tropical storm (up to 45 kts) to a dangerous Category 3 classification (winds 96 to 112 kts). As a result, the J/22 World Championship, hosted by Annapolis YC on the Chesapeake Bay (famous for flooding), shortened the regatta by one day for the sixty-five teams from the USA, Canada, South Africa, and The Netherlands. The weekend before, it looked like a precursor for a hurricane, with grey skies, cool weather, and strong north to northeast winds of 15-30 kts across most of the northeast corridor. That affected three significant regattas. One was the J/80 North American Championship at Beverly YC in Marion, MA; the twenty-five teams had very blustery, choppy conditions on the notoriously rough Buzzards Bay. Just down the coastline from them, the J/109 East Coast Championship took place, hosted by Ida Lewis YC in Newport, RI with sailing on Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound for nine boats. The just north up the coast from Portland, Maine, the USA J/24 Nationals were hosted by Portland YC in Falmouth, Maine for a fleet of forty-eight teams. Then, out in the Midwest, the J/24 Great Lakes Championship was sailed on Lake Erie, hosted by the Sandusky Sailing Club in Sandusky, OH for eleven J/24s.Hopping over the big pond to Europe, we find several end-of-season finales for a number of leading J/one-design classes. At the bottom of the Continent, the Italian J/70 Cup was sailed off Trieste, Italy for twenty boats; it was finale of four events for the Italian J/70 Cup (Sanremo, Porto Ercole, Malcesine and Portopiccolo). Heading north across the Continent, we find the Hamburg Sailing Club hosted the J/22 & J/24 Spätsommerpokale Alster Regatta in Hamburg, Germany on their famously beautiful Alster Lake in the middle of their bustling metropolis. Heading well north into Scandinavia and just yards away from the Arctic Circle, there was still enough light, warmth, and sun to have some fun racing J/70s- sailing league style! In Gottskär, Sweden, eighteen sailing clubs participated in their finale for the Swedish J/70 Sailing League, the final event of four acts (Malmo, Ekero, Örnsköldsvik, Gottskär). Then, west of them off the Baltic Sea, the Norwegian J/70 Sailing League held their final event of four acts for eighteen teams, held in Arendal, Norway. The first three events were in Bodo, Molde, and Larvik.
Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below has many entertaining stories and news about J/Sailors as well as cruising blogs about those who continue to enjoy the Caribbean and the South Pacific, staying warm while others are trying to stay warm up north. Check them out! More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page Below are the summaries.
Regatta & Show Schedules:
Sep 8-14- J/22 World Championship- Annapolis, MDSep 12-16- Rolex Big Boat Series- San Francisco, CA
Sep 14-16- J/70 Great Lakes Championship- Grosse Pointe, MI
Sep 18-21- J/111 North American Championship- Macatawa, MI
Sep 21-23- Canadian J/105 National Championship- Toronto, ONT
Sep 21-23- J/22 Northeast Championship- Diamond Point, NY
Sep 21-23- J/80 Atlantic Telegramme- Lorient, France
Sep 22-29- J/70 World Championship- Marblehead, MA
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J/22 Worlds Update(Annapolis, MD)- The Annapolis YC is hosting the 2018 edition of the J/22 World Championship from September 9th to 14th on the Chesapeake Bay, for a fleet of sixty-five entries from the USA, Canada, South Africa, and The Netherlands. Here is what is happening since it started on Tuesday.
Day 1- Thunderous Start for Thunder Chicken!
It was a foggy morning on the Chesapeake Bay for the opening day. But, patience prevailed to allow for four races to be completed, with Allan Terhune dominating the day.
It was a solid day for the locals as all four races were won by Annapolis teams, led by 2013 J/22 World Champion Terhune with crew Skip Dieball and Cate Muller as the Thunder Chicken team recorded scores of 4,6,1,2 for 13 points.
2016 J/22 World Champion Mike Marshall’s Bad News started with a 13 but added a solid 3,4,3 to claim second place with 23 points. Zeke Horowitz’s Uncle Fluffy’s 11th in today’s final contest added to a count of 6,1,6 for 24 points and third position.
Following a postponement while the fog subsided on the Chesapeake Bay, racing got underway in 6-8 knots as local Jeffrey Todd’s Hot Toddy opened the Championship with a win. Travis Odenbach’s HoneyBadger and Christopher Doyle’s The Jug 4 1 followed in the top three. Horowitz gained the second victory, pursued by Pat Curran’s Alzo and Marshall.
While winds worked their way up to about 10 knots, Terhune earned the next bullet, chased by fellow Annapolis YC member J.R. Maxwell’s Scooby and Odenbach. Brad Julian’s USA677 was able to lead the fleet back to shore after race four, with Terhune and Marshall.
With 11 races scheduled, it was a solid start as the threat of Hurricane Florence approaches the region.
Day One Results (Top 5 of 64; 4 races)
1. Allan Terhune, USA - 4 -6 -1 -2, 13
2. Mike Marshall, USA - 13 -3 -4 -3, 23
3. Zeke Horowitz, USA - 6 -1 -6 -11, 24
4. Pat Curran, USA - 7 -2 -5 -21, 35
5. Brad Julian, USA - 10 -19 -10 -1, 40
Day 2- Thunder Chicken Still Flying FastTerhune’s Thunder Chicken has been putting his local knowledge to good use. While many teams have struggled with the strong current and light air, Terhune strengthened his first-place advantage during Wednesday’s two races.
With the benefit of a discard after the sixth race, Thunder Chicken is able to toss an 18, leaving them with net scores of 4,6,1,2,2 for 15 points. That’s nine points better than fellow local- Zeke Horowitz’s Uncle Fluffy, who moved up a spot to second with a 5,6 today for 24 net points. Michael Marshall’s Bad News placed 35th in race five, and even with this being their throw-out, dropped to third place with 35 points.
Sunshine returned to the Chesapeake Bay, but the breeze stayed calm at about 6 knots. The day’s opening match saw some new names at the top: Chris Wientjes’ Us, Cory Sertl’s Lucy and Kevin Doyle’s Mo’ Money. Kevin’s son Jake Doyle on Zesty Enterprise took the next contest, shadowed by Terhune and David Waiting’s Solstice.
With locally heavy flooding predicted as part of Hurricane Florence hitting the USA East Coast in the Carolinas, the Annapolis YC PRO and Committee have elected to run at least three more races on Thursday and close the regatta one day early. So, it’s all to play for Thursday with a good breeze forecasted to power the fleet around the racetrack.
Day Two Results (6 races, 1 discard)
1. Thunder Chicken, Allan Terhune, USA - 4 -6 -1 -2 -[18] -2; 15
2. Uncle Fluffy, Zeke Horowitz, USA - 6 -1 -6 -[11] -5 -6; 24
3. Bad News, Mike Marshall, USA - 13 -3 -4 -3 -[35] -12; 35
4. US, Chris Wientjes, USA - 23 -[30] -9 -6 -1 -8; 47
5. Scooby, J.R. Maxwell, USA - 18 -5 -2 -[31] -15 -9; 49
For more J/22 World Championship sailing information
CAVITICA Wins J/80 North American Championship(Marion, MA)- The Beverly YC and the local J/80 Buzzards Bay fleet hosted twenty-five teams for their 2018 J/80 North American Championship held on Buzzards Bay. The fleet was challenged by a wide variety of wind and weather conditions over the three-day event that ran from Saturday to Sunday. In particular, Saturday and Sunday the fleet enjoyed ENE winds in the 15-25 kts range, making for fun, fast planing-mode rides downwind in most races.
In the end, thirteen races were held over the three days, making for exhausted, but happy crews dizzy from having 4+ races of double windward-leeward courses per day. It was hometown hero Chip Johns and his crew on CAVITICA that was crowned 2018 J/80 North American Champion, winning by a convincing margin of 11 pts with five bullets. Taking the silver was the duo of Kevin Hayes & Jeff Kirchhoff sailing MORE GOSTOSA and rounding out the podium in the bronze position was John White’s USA 1162 from Annapolis, MD. The balance of the top five included J/80 class veteran Gary Panariello on COURAGEOUS from San Francisco Bay, California in 4th and Maine’s Ken Colburn on GHOST in 5th position. For more J/80 North American Championship sailing information
ARTTUBE Wins Italian J/70 Cup- TriesteCALVI NETWORK Crowned Series Champion
(Trieste, Italy)- The fourth act of the Italian J/70 Cup series took place off the beautiful, exotic eastern Italian Riviera on the Adriatic Sea off the port of Trieste, Italy. Hosting the twenty-boat, four nations fleet (Italy, Poland, Russia, & Switzerland) fleet was the YC Trieste based at Portopiccolo. The weather Godz were not cooperating at all for this season-ending finale, with just four races counting for the regatta and series totals.
Winning the final event was the Russian team on ARTTUBE RUS-1, skippered by the famous Russian woman helm- Valeria Kovalenko from the Taganrog Sailing Club. Considering the high-level of competition, she posted a remarkably steady scoreline of 1-5-5-2 for 13 pts total. Taking second was Luca Domenici’s NOTARO TEAM with a 4-4-2-6 tally for 16 pts. Third was Mauro Brescacin’s SOCIETE NAUTICA GIGNANO with a 15-2-1-3 for 21 pts total. In fact, tied on points at 21 with Brescacin’s team was the Russian crew of Dmitriy Shunin on GOLDEN WING, the Konakovo River Club team settling for 4th after countback. Fifth went to Gianfranco Noe’s CALVI NETWORK with a 12-10-4-1 tally for 27 pts.
The final results for the season series (Sanremo, Porto Ercole, Malcesine and Portopiccolo) show that it was the crew of CALVI NETWORK (Gianfranco Noè, Karlo Hmeljak, Giulio Desiderato, Irene Bezzi, Sergio Blosi) that won the 2018 Italian J/70 Cup- a 4 event, 26 race series, for the second consecutive year!Gianfranco Noè, owner and driver of CALVI NETWORK, commented, "We could not hope for a better result: when at the beginning of the season we started planning, we said it would have been fantastic to put the seal on the circuit also winning the act of Trieste: this event was in fact particularly important for me because these are the waters where I was born and grew up as a sailor. It was a pity that there was no Enfant Terrible to duel with us until the end, because at the beginning of this leg, after twenty-two races, we were only divided by 5 points in the seasonal ranking".
Taking second overall for the series was the two-time European Champion, Claudia Rossi of PETITE TERRIBLE- ADRIA FERRIES.
The European Champions on ENFANT TERRIBLE-ADRIA FERRIES, led by skipper/ owner Alberto Rossi, did not participate in the last act of the circuit, but nevertheless closed the season in third position, thanks to the excellent placings scored during the season, including the victories in Sanremo and Porto Ercole.LA FEMME TERRIBLE, with co-owners Paolo Tomsic and Mauro Brescacin, and crew of Emanuele Noè, Giuliano Chiandrussi and Francesca Pagan, won the Italian J/70 Cup Corinthians Division. The silver medal went to NOBERASCO DAS skippered by Alessandro Zampori and third place went to WHY NOT- #SLAM sailed by Alessio Zucchi. Sailing photo credits- Zerogradinord Follow Italian J/70 Cup on Facebook here For more Italian J/70 Cup sailing information
GUT FEELING Cruises J/109 East Coast Championship(Newport, RI)- After a long summer of racing up and down the eastern seaboard, the J/109 Northeastern fleet gathered together for their 2018 East Coast Championship, hosted by Ida Lewis YC, in Newport, RI. The fleet of nine boats enjoyed six races over their two days of racing from September 8th to 9th, 2018.
After starting off with three bullets, the question was whether Ted Herlihy’s North American Championship winning crew on GUT FEELING from Buzzards Bay could repeat as the 2018 East Coast Champion? The answer was quickly forthcoming, in the form of a 2-1-3 closing tally to toss a podium 3rd place finish to end with just 6 pts net. Domination? A “schooling”? Perhaps. Nevertheless, it was an eye-opener for the balance of the J/109 teams that were assembled for their end-of-season finale.
Giving their all in a run for the gold was Tom Sutton’s Houston, TX crew aboard their bright-red LEADING EDGE, posting a steady 3-4-3-1-3-1 for 11 pts net. Closing out the podium, and also winning the Corinthians Division, was Albrecht Goethe’s HAMBURG with a 2-2-4-3-5-8 scoreline for 16 pts net. Top woman skipper was Brook Mastrorio’s URSA in 4th place. Past regatta winner, Carl Olsson’s MORNING GLORY YCC crew took 5th position. For more J/109 East Coast Championship sailing information
ANGELS Soar To USA J/24 National Championship(Falmouth Foreside, ME)- This year’s J/24 U.S. National Championship, hosted by Portland Yacht Club in Falmouth, ME, saw a very strong and competitive fleet of forty-eight teams assembled from across the USA and South America (Argentina). Starting off slowly, but closing fast in the final race, it was Robby Brown’s ANGELS OF HARLEM that snagged the 2018 USA J/24 title. Here is how it all went down over the three days of the regatta.
Day One
It was worth the wait for the anxious fleet. After several hours of anticipating the wind to settle, it came in at 6-8 knots, and then increased to 8-10, allowing two long races to go in the books on Casco Bay.
At the close of the day, two races were held, and two teams were tied at 5 points each- Nicolas Cubria’s ELVIS from Buenos Aires, Argentina and Tony Parker’s BANGOR PACKET (a long-time “local” in these Portland waters). Cubria registered a 4-1, while Parker took a 3-2. Local Carter White’s YOUREGATTA.COM held the third spot with 11 points.
Natalie Harden’s GIGGLES (a top woman J/24 helm) commenced the Championship with the opening bullet, in advance of White and Parker. Cubria then took line honors in the second race, as Parker moved up to second and Aidan Glackin’s Mental Floss made the top three.
Day Two
Along with the wind being shifty on Saturday, so were the standings. Parker’s BANGOR PACKET claimed the overall advantage after posting a pair of thirds, giving him a consistent record of 3-2-3-3 in the four races thus far (11 points). Robby Brown’s ANGEL OF HARLEM shot up to second place with 20 points after rocking a 1-2 amongst the 48-boat fleet. Aidan Glackin’s MENTAL FLOSS cracked the top three with 38 points.
Fickle winds around 6-8 knots made for a long day on Casco Bay. Brown started his leap up the leaderboard with a bullet in race three, trailed by Matt Coughlin’s FUDGIE and Parker. Evan Petley-Jones’ LIFTED earned the next victory with Brown and Parker again in the top three.Day Three- Finale
By way of a second-place finish in Sunday’s final, and only, race, Brown’s ANGEL OF HARLEM clinched his first J/24 US National Championship. The Florida-based skipper came into Sunday nine points behind Parker’s BANGOR PACKET, but Brown’s second, paired with Parker’s 12, gave him the Championship by a single point over Parker in the five-race series.
Breeze on Casco Bay looked promising at the start of the day, but lightened throughout. The Race Committee waited two hours in hopes of starting a sixth race, but the wind Godz did not cooperate. Aidan Glackin’s MENTAL FLOSS took the bronze spot on the podium with 42 points.
Joining Brown on the ANGEL OF HARLEM crew were Mark Liebel, Ron Hyatt, Arthur Blodgett and Brian Simkins. Liebel shared that the team prefers light air, which the Championship saw plenty of. Regarding Sunday’s race, Liebel summarized, “We had a very good start at the boat and tacked right away into the current. We played the current, instead of the shifts, both upwind and downwind. We sailed our race, and the end result worked out!”
Rounding out the top five were Natalie Harden’s GIGGLES (the USA Women’s J/24 Champion) in fourth place and Petley-Jones’ LIFTED took fifth. For more USA J/24 Nationals sailing information
KSSS King of Swedish J/70 Sailing League(Gottskär, Sweden)- The KSSS (Royal Swedish Sailing Club) team of Patrik Forsberg, Sandra Sandqvist, Lukas Bergman and Anders Mårtensson took home the Gold Medal on Sunday afternoon, winning the Allsvenskan (Swedish J/70 Sailing League) on the windy waters off Gottskär, Sweden. Their record was Malmo- 2nd, Ekero- 1st, Örnsköldsvik- 1st, Gottskär- 7th for a total of 11 pts, 6 pts clear of the second place team GKSS.
"One of our strengths is that we have a good and broad squad. In total, we have used seventeen sailors this year and no one has sailed more than one round. Certainly, we have an advantage in being a big club. But, we take Allsvenskan seriously and always send good teams. We always want to fight hard and well," said Niklas Edler, Captain for the KSSS team.
The weekend in Gottskär had tough conditions that tested the sailors and equipment. Friday provided winds around 10 to 17 kts. But, on Saturday it was really windy. In the morning, a round was run, but then the boats began to break in the hard wind. When the wind rose to closer to 20 to 30 kts, sailing was canceled for the day. On Sunday, the wind was still strong, but manageable. Nevertheless, the PRO made the decision to sail main & jib only, no spinnakers. As a result, that changed the strategy a bit for the best crews on the water.Those who mastered the toughest conditions were Malmö SS; their team included Martin Starnberg, Johan Lindell, Björn Jönsson and Alexandra Wikström. They were extremely stable, fast, and had excellent boat-handling. In twelve races, they finished 1st or 2nd in eleven of them! Theirs was a very impressive performance for the very windy weekend to win the weekend at Gottskär!
"It has been a tough weekend. It was swiftly completed in Gottskär, thanks to the big winds and excellent RC team. There were many islands on the race track (meaning boats broached on their sides) we had to avoid, especially for a bunch of Öresund sailors like us! But, we enjoyed the hard wind and our strength is the start and planing downwind- which we love,” says Malmö SS skipper Martin Starnberg. Sailing photo credits- Daniel Stenholm Follow Swedish J/70 Sailing League on Facebook here For more Swedish J/70 Sailing League information
Risor SC Crowned Norwegian J/70 League Champion(Arendal, Norway)- The fourth and final act of the Norwegian J/70 Sailing League took place off the picturesque harbor of Arendal, Norway. Winning the final event was Asgardstrand Sailing Club. However, it was Risor Sailing Club’s consistency through all four events (Bodo- 4th, Molde- 1st, Larvik- 2nd, Arendal- 3rd) that enabled them to finish the last regatta in third place and handily clinch the season championship for the Norwegian League with just 10 pts total. Their crew for the finale included Mads and Tomas Mathisen, Morten Røisland and Regine Tronstad.
In the Arendal regatta, Åsgårdstrand Sailing Association (with Jostein Grødem, Karl Otto Book, Trym Markussen and Lena Louise Vinje-Christensen on board) nearly ran the table on the fleet, posting seven 1sts and three 2nds in ten races to easily win the event. Their performance vaulted them up the season standings into 5th place. Brevik Sailing Club’s second place enabled them to breathe a sigh of relief, earning them the silver medal for the season championship. Finally, RAN Sailing Club’s 5th place enabled them to hold onto the bronze medal on the podium for the season. 
"There is no doubt that the level in the elite series has increased tremendously this season. It is no longer possible to come with an inexperienced crew or to trust in a good helmsman. In order to have a good team, you have to be focused on the competition in the sailing sport league, the teams get better every year, it is incredibly competitive,” said Magnus Hedemark, who is Project Manager for the Norwegian Seilsports League.Like the other rounds of the sailing sport league, the finals in Arendal were also transferred directly to Facebook. Magne Klann and Thomas Nilsson conveyed what they observed with photos, videos, and the SAP SAILING graphics.
"We had four times as many viewers on our Facebook page than the average in the previous rounds. One of the reasons is, of course, that it was the final round. But, the interest has been increasing. Not least because the associations and sailors participating have been good at sharing on Facebook. We have now become a "community" that works very well,” said Hedemark, who hopes to be able to professionalize the sailing sport league further next year."The goal is to be the leader and an example of how the sport of league sailing can be communicated and displayed in Norway," he said.
“There is such strong interest in the Norwegian J/70 League that an additional half-dozen sailing clubs have requested to participate. As a result, after the season this year, we will sell this year's five league boats to interested associations and we have received several inquiries from associations interested in buying, which indicates that both interest and ambitions are growing around sailing Norway," said Hedemark. “For next year's sailing season there will be five new J/70s that will be added to our fleet!” Follow the Norwegian J/70 Sailing League here on Facebook For more Norwegian J/70 Sailing League information
SANTANDER Wins Act V- Chilean National Circuit(Algarrobo, Chile)- The fifth event of the Chilean J/70 Winter Series took place over the September 8th to 9th weekend off Algarrobo, Chile, hosted by the Cofradía Náutica del Algarrobo.
With fifteen boats on the starting line, the conditions on Saturday were cold, but with a great wind of 10 to 14kts from southwest. Each race had slightly different conditions for the swell and choppy seas. The left side was favored on the windward leg, but also the right was favored on some of the running legs, due to better pressure. So, the race track was quite open for the teams and the smarter tacticians could gain and recover a lot.
On Sunday, the conditions were quite unstable. The wind did not show up until 1530 hrs in the afternoon and the conditions were still very random and light. The CNA Race Committee and the PRO decided not to go ahead with the races and the weekend regatta was concluded with 3 races of the 6 programmed in the Sailing Instructions.As a result, SANTANDER won with a solid 1-1-3, skippered by Pablo Amunátegui with a family crew of two brothers- Felipe & Pablo Herman, and their father- Lucho Herman.
In second place was TSUNAMI, skippered by Andrés Ducasse, with a 2-2-4 tall for 8 pts. Third was Matias Seguel’s VOLVO with a 4-5-1 for 10 pts. The balance of the top five included Juan Reid’s WINDMADE in fourth with a 3-9-2 for 14 pts, tied with the fifth place boat- Vernon Robert’s MORENITA.
In the Corinthians Division, Cristobal Perez’s TRILOGIA won, followed by Francisco Perez’s ELEANOR RIGBY in second, and Felipe Gonzalez’s COLUMBIA in third place.
The standings for the “Circuito Nacional J/70 2018” for Chile are the following after 21 races and 3 discards:
- WINDMADE- Juan Reid- 54 pts
- TSUNAMI- Andres Ducasse- 57 pts
- SANTANDER- Pablo Amunategui- 59 pts
- MORENITA- Vernon Robert- 85 pts
- PELIGRO- Alejandro Perez- 94 pts.
Remarkably, the Chilean J/70 fleet has grown to thirty-six boats, with the principal activity taking place in Algarrobo- a seaside port 90 miles west of the capital of Santiago at the base of the Andean Mountain range. Algarrobo enjoys a year-round sailing calendar, no matter what the conditions are in the famous ski areas to the south and east in Chile and Argentina (considered some of the world’s best)- “cold” is 45-50 F, warm is 60-75 F in the “winter”. Doh, so why don’t Europeans and North Americans, and Asians travel to Chile for more fun in the sun! It is “bucket list travel” conditions- sailing, skiing, and beach weather all at the same time!The other small J/70 fleet is located on Panguipulli Lake, 900 km south from Santiago, where the J/70 fleet actually started in Chile and the first three J/70 Nationals were raced (2013, 2014 and 2015). They have an extensive schedule for January, February, March summer racing. The enormous 14,000 ft snow-capped mountain peaks, many of which are active volcanos, produce amazing “adabatic” wind conditions all summer long— think of Italy’s famous Lago di Garda and its clockwork-like winds in their European summers…it is no different on Lago de Panguipulli.
According to Juan Reid, the J/Boats Chile dealer, “the J/70 fleet will have forty boats by the end of 2018, and more than 20 active boats in Algarrobo. The class is now the largest and most competitive one-design keelboat in Chile, by far. The only class that has had similar success in the past, not surprisingly, was the J/24 class from 1994 to 1998.Even now, the southernmost one-design class in the world are the Chilean J/24s, with a fleet in Puerto Williams, Chile- a town on Navarino Island in the Beagle Channel, in Chile’s far south. It’s part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, known as a starting point for trips around Cape Horn. For those that love travel, Argentina’s famous town and port of Ushuaia is north and west by 30.0nm, considerably farther away from the fabled Cape Horn and any expeditions that head south to the Antarctica.
Doran Smokes J/24 Great Lakes Championship(Sandusky, OH)- A good turnout of eleven J/24s participated in the 2018 J/24 Great Lakes Championship, hosted by the Sandusky Sailing Club, and sailed on the choppy, puffy waters of Lake Erie. What may be the most entertaining aspect of this particular regatta were the usual “off-the-wall” and quite goofy names that are attributed to various boats in the fleet. The winning boat was called OSWEGO NY (no kidding), then others were FUGUE STATE, FOR SALE: $5000 (seriously?), NO B.S., HALL PASS, SUICIDE BLONDE, ORANGE WHIP, GREEN HORNET, and WIND MONKEY(?). Too amusing for words.
At the end of five races over two days in a one-throwout series, it was Tom Doran’s OSWEGO NY team that quite literally ran the table and smoked the fleet with four straight bullets, dropping a second, for a total of 4 pts net. Kevin O’Brien’s FUGUE STATE had mostly seconds, winning the last race, dropping a 3rd, to take the silver with 7 pts net. Rounding out the podium was a tie-breaker on 15 pts net each, believe it or not. On countback, the bronze went to Ryan Lashaway’s FOR SALE: $5000 (does he really want to sell it?). Losing the battle was Park McRitchie’s NO B.S. Rounding out the top five was Mike Palmer’s BOOYAH, taking that position based on yet another tie-breaker at 19 pts net each. For more J/24 Great Lakes Championship sailing information
Fun J/22 & J/24 Alster Regatta(Hamburg, Germany)- The Hamburg Sailing Club hosted its annual end-of-summer Alster Regatta on their gorgeous Alster Lake in the middle of Hamburg, Germany. Things were a bit tight on the lake, with two big fleets of J/22s and J/24s vying for “sea room” wherever they went around the race track!
Eclipsing the dozen-boat J/22 fleet with all first-places was the French team on FRA 14444 consisting of Reiner Brockerhoff, Christophe Declerque, and Charles Michaux. Nearly duplicating their feat with mostly seconds, to finish second, was the German crew of GER 14111, led by Andreas Dillmann with crew of Oliver Thies and Julia Auinger. Third place went to another German team on GER 1390, skippered by Holger Schmitt with crew of Sabine Schoenfeldt, and Thomas Hanf.
A similar scenario played out for the octet of J/24s, with a virtual sweep of the five races by the German GER 5420 team of Emily Kern, Maike Hass Oko, Gesa Goellner, Johanna Richter, and Tom Stryi. Two points back was GER 5467 sailed by Hauke Krussg, Nils Glockow, Rollo Boehm, Olaf Schmidt, Tina Lulfing, and Torsten Glawisch. Third was GER 4718 skippered by Jonas Hentschel, with crew of Fabian Blasi, Jonas Franke, and Jannik Barop. For more Spätsommerpokale Alster Regatta sailing information
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What friends, alumni, and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Augie Diaz- from Optis to college Lasers/420s, then 470s to J/24s, and today Snipes to StarsJames Boyd from SailingIntelligence.com wrote an interesting piece on Augie Diaz, titled “Master of the Classics”. It is an insightful, entertaining story and perspective on how Augie evolved into one of the world’s better sailors, truly a story reminiscent of Robert Frost’s famous poem- “The Road Not Taken”.
For starters, Augie is a Cuban émigré as a child, when his father- Gonzalo “Old Man” Diaz- brought his family to Miami to escape the wrath of the communist dictator- Fidel Castro.
In his early racing days, Augie first met the Johnstone family sailing 470s in the 1973 to 1977 time frame. At that time in college, Augie had teamed up with a buddy of his from Tulane University- Doug Bull- and sailed the USA 470 National circuit for awhile, achieving good success against the likes of David Ullman (a 4x 470 World Champion) and the two Johnstone brothers (Stu and Drake) sailing USA 600. In addition, Augie had met Bob & Mary Johnstone as well as Rod & Lucia Johnstone sailing 470s and, later, in J/24s.
By 1977, the J/24 had been created by Bob and Rod Johnstone and the first J/24 Midwinters took place in Key West, FL in 1978. Seeing that it was going to be a “hot” class and a lot of fun, Augie jumped in to race his own J/24 against famous names such as Dave Ullman, Ken Read, Mark Ploch, David Curtis, Jud Smith, the crazy Brazilian- Vince Brun, and others (all familiar to most J/Boats sailors for having won multiple J/24, Etchells 22, 470, and Star World Championships). The pinnacle of Augie’s J/24 success was winning the J/24 Midwinters in 1983 on Biscayne Bay, his home waters and hosted by his home club- Coral Reef YC.
Since that time in J/24s, Augie stopped sailing and focused on his family business in the medical supplies business in Florida. After helping grow the business, the Diaz family sold their healthcare business and, as a result, Augie dove back into sailing his beloved Snipes and Stars. Here is that story from James Boyd below:
Few boats reward both brains and brawn in such equal measure as the Star. It was partly this that enabled a 64-year-old ‘amateur’ to claim this year’s Star European Championship in Flensburg, Germany.
Admittedly Cuba-born American Agustín ‘Augie’ Díaz was sailing with one of the class’ top crew – in addition to his four Star World Championship titles, Brazilian Bruno Prada scored Star silver and bronze respectively at the Beijing and London Olympics with his long-term helm Robert Scheidt.
But with more than 35 years’ experience and wisdom gained from competing against the world’s best in the class, Díaz is today one of the top helms as he proved when he and Prada became Star World Champions in 2016. The European Championship trophy is the latest silverware for this successful partnership’s trophy cabinet.
Díaz comes from a sailing dynasty. His grandfather sailed and in 1959, his father Gonzalo and uncle Saul claimed silvers for Cuba in the Snipe both at the Pan American Games and at the Snipe Worlds, on the latter occasion to none other than Paul Elvstrøm.
After his parents immigrated to Florida, an eight-year-old Augie took up sailing in the Optimist. While studying mechanical engineering at Tulane University in New Orleans, in 1974 he led Tulane Green Wave sailing team to win the coveted Leonard M. Fowle Trophy for the top scoring overall collegiate team. That same year he was voted College Sailor of the Year.
Despite his success in the Star in recent years, for most of his life Augie has been known, like his father, for racing Snipes. In this 1931 vintage doublehanded dinghy, his record is exceptional. He twice won the class’ biennial World Championship (in 2003 and 2005), something that only a handful of sailors have achieved, among them Torben Grael and Santiago Lange.
He also won Snipe World Masters Championships in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2012, along with countless US and North American titles. Fifty-two years on, he emulated his father winning silver at the 2011 Pan American Games.
So, what is it about boats from the first half of the 20th century that he prefers? “Some of the classes that are popular are more about boat handling and speed, which are also important,” explains Díaz. “But, I prefer tactical sailing where you have to do both – be good tactically, good athletically, and have good boat handling.”
Although he was never selected to go to the Olympic Games, he tried in 1976 and 1980 in the Flying Dutchman and in 1984 made as far as the trials in the Star, but was up against Bill Buchan and Stevie Erickson who went on to claim the gold at Los Angeles.
After that Díaz admits, “My time was passed. I had a fast-growing business and family. In fact I didn’t sail from 1986 to 1999.” This he describes as his “period of slavery…work and Little League coaching!”
His first Star World Championship was in 1983 in Los Angeles but he competed in them again two years later in Nassau, on the very same waters albeit some 30 years on that the Star Sailor’s League Finals are held annually.
The partnership with Bruno Prada began in 2006-7, whenever there was an event that Robert Scheidt couldn’t make – usually the ones in Miami over the winter. “I was very fortunate that I was the same weight as Robert, so Bruno didn’t have to lose any weight,” recalls Díaz. “And for Bruno it was a safe: If we did well it was because of him. If we did badly it was because of me!”
Díaz says that his partner is much more than just a crew. “He is one of the guys in the class who has extensive helming experience in the Finn and in the Snipe when he was younger. He is really a skipper on the boat. Fortunately, our tactical approaches are very similar, so there’s no great discussion.
“There are several classes that are ‘driven by the crew’ – there’s also the 505 and you even see it in the 49er. It is easy to feel the boat when you have the helm, much harder when it is just through your backside! The elite guys like Bruno can do that.”
Personally for Díaz it also coincided with his pulling out of the medical supplies business he’d built up. Retiring into some “real estate and other investment stuff” he had more time on his hands for sailing, until he agreed to sell the MJM line of 35-53 ft long motor yachts designed by Bob Johnstone of J/Boats fame, which has proved more successful (and time-consuming) than he had hoped…
Thanks to his Europeans result, Díaz is currently ninth in the Star Sailors League ranking which guarantees his invitation for the Star Sailors League Finals 2018, the annual event that determines who is the best sailor among the ‘stars’ of the sailing world and allocation of the US$200,000 prize pot. For a sixth year, the Finals will be held in the azure waters of Nassau in the Bahamas, from December 3rd to 8th.
Having been based in Miami most of his life, he knows Nassau well and has been sailing there for decades: “It is one of the world’s premier venues. They say that when ‘God decides to go sailing’ he goes there – the combination of the breeze, which is usually quite strong, plus the waves and water color and the warm climate. And the Nassau Yacht Club is very friendly. You couldn’t find better people.”
Díaz is aware that at 64 his profile doesn’t entirely fit in with that of the Star Sailors League, which aims to recognize the world’s best sailors, but more typically professionals, especially those on the ascent in their careers, but he remains a big fan.
“The reason the Star continues to grow is because the Star Sailors League started right after we were taken out of the Olympics. The way it is run, where all the elite sailors in the world can get together in one platform and have an incredible regatta – for me you can forget about the America’s Cup, the Volvo Ocean Race and all those races, at the Star Sailors League Finals you are sailing against the best.”
He is especially in awe of the next generation such as Paul Goodison and even younger talent like Sime Fantela and Ben Saxton. “It was awesome that Paul could come in and be able to do what he did (winning the 2017 SSL Finals). That was huge for the Star Sailors League. It shows that people from the outside can come and be competitive in the Finals.”
But will they once again get the better of the old timers this December? We wait to find out. Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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