It was heartening to see the uptick in sailing activity around the world this past week. We got a wonderful report from our friends Down Under regards a J/133 taking on the creme'd'la'creme in Sydney's offshore series against some of the best-sailed TP 52s in the world. Over in continental Europe, the sole J/70 SAILING Champions League Qualifier took place off Tutzing, Germany on Lake Starnberg for a fleet of twenty-two teams from across Europe. Next up for the dozen qualifiers will be the SAILING Champions league finale hosted by YC Costa Smeralda off Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy.
Th Royal Ocean Racing Club held the third installment of their Summer Series off Cowes, England, with sailing taking place on the wild & woolly Solent. The weather conditions were not conducive to widespread participation as the U.K. MET Office forecasted gale conditions and that's pretty much what the bravest teams saw- steady 25-30 kts gusting much higher. Nevertheless, a J/121 crew had a successful outing in the rough and tumble conditions.
Over in Canada, the inaugural "Welcome Back Regatta" took place off Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, hosted by the Lunenburg YC. It was the replacement event for the famous Chester Race Week. It was a fun and entertaining weekend for the J/105 class and J/PHRF racers. Finally, the Chicago Yacht Club hosted their annual Verve Cup One-Design Regatta for a competitive battle for J/24 and J/70 class sailors.
J/70 Med Cup Announcement!
(Monte Carlo, Monaco)- The Italian, French and Monegasque J/70 Classes are thrilled to announce the J/70 Med Cup, in its second season, will start in October in Sanremo, Italy. With thirty-seven entries to date, the six-event series will have podium awards for each leg, plus an overall series podium for the best 4 results.
Notably, the 2022 J/70 Europeans and J/70 Worlds will be hold in Hyères and in Monaco, so racing the J/70 Med Cup is a fantastic way to get to know these locations.
A bonus for all J/70 owners is that logistics are greatly simplified for the participants. J/70s can be left in Sanremo and in Monaco if teams are racing for the full Monaco Winter Series. The driving distance from Sanremo to Hyères is of about 200 km, mostly on highway, from Sanremo to Monaco about 50 km and about 150 from Monaco to Hyères.
Here is the J/70 Med Cup schedule for 2020 and 2021:
- Oct 23-25- Yacht Club Sanremo (Sanremo - Italy)
- Nov 6-8- COYCH (Hyères - France)
- Nov 13-15- Yacht Club Sanremo (Sanremo - Italy)
- Dec 10-13- Yacht Club de Monaco (Monaco)
- Feb 4-7- Yacht Club de Monaco (Monaco)
- May 13-16- I.Y.C.H. (Hyères - France)
Follow the J/70 Med Cup on Facebook here
Annapolis NOOD Regatta Preview
(Annapolis, MD)- This coming weekend will be the first Sailing World NOOD Regatta to be run in 2020, as all of the previous events were canceled due to the pandemic. No question, there are hundreds of passionate enthusiastic J/Sailors migrating their way to Annapolis, MD for this eponymous event. There are big turn-outs for the J/One-design classes that were invited to the regatta- J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s, J/30s, J/35s, and J/105s. Sixty J/Crews are sailing in the overall fleet of seventy-eight boats- WOW- that's 77.0% of the fleet are J's!
The J/30s have a fantastic fleet of eight boats from all over Chesapeake Bay. The usual suspects of fun-loving leading boats are in attendance; including Dan Watson's AVITA, Jim McGinnis's BLITZ, Bruce Irvin's SHAMROCK, and Doug & Amy Stryker's TOTALED MAYHEM.
The half-dozen J/24 class has its usual cast of characters. Some familiar faces include Sam McGuire's BLOW'VIATE, Pat Fitzgerald's RUSH HOUR, and Kent Bartlett’s SPACEMAN SPIFF.
Similarly, the half-dozen J/22 fleet has some competitive teams in the mix. Those boats include Jeff Todd's famous HOT TODDY and Zander King's RYTHMIC PUMPING.
The quartet of J/35s are sure to see some hot action in this class that has been experiencing a renaissance. Those teams include Jim Sagerholm's AUNT JEAN, Roger Lant's ABIENTOT, Jim McNeely's MAGGIE, and Mike Wood's VALHALLA.
By far the biggest class in the regatta is sixteen-boat J/105 class. Turning out for their first major event since last year are most of the elite on the Chesapeake Bay; including Andrew Kennedy's BAT IV, John Kircher's CHESSIE, Cedric Lewis & Fredrik Salvesen's MIRAGE, Don Santa's SANTAS REIGN DEAR, and Kristen Robinson's VELVET HAMMER.
The eleven-boat J/70 fleet has mostly all locals from the Bay area, but they are joined by John Heaton's Chicago crew on EMPEIRIA. Putting the heat on Heaton's crew will be Peter Firey's PHOENIX, Marty McKenna's RARITY, and Henry Filter's WILD CHILD.
Having a strong showing is the nine-boat J/80 fleet. A number of top local teams will be featured on the leaderboard, such as Alex Kraus's COOL J, Mike Hobson's MELTEMI, Will & Marie Crump & Tom Klok's R80 (World Champions they are), and Ramzi Bannura's STACKED DECK. For more Annapolis NOOD Regatta sailing information
J/Fest Chicago Preview(Chicago, IL)- Despite all odds against it happening, the Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club is looking forward to host Chicago's first fully-autonomous one-design keelboat regatta- J/Fest Chicago! The event is planned to take place August 29th to 30th, sailing out of Montrose Harbor, with racing taking place on the gorgeous azure blue waters of Lake Michigan. One-design classes that are invited include J/24, J/70, J/88, J/105, J/109, and J/111.
The largest classes so far include the J/88 one-design class with four boats (Mike Gillian's JULIA, Dan Floberg's MISTY, Jorgen Christiansen's NORSE, and Alex Abell's PAJAMA PARTY). The J/105 one-design class also includes four boats (Mike Sheppard's FLYING PIG, Rich Stearns GLIVER IV, Josh Luton’s KINSHIP, and Gerhard Zinserling's Y-NOT). A handful of J/70s, J/109s, and J/111s are also planning to sail.
Thanks to regatta sponsors/ supporters such as MarkSetBot (the fully autonomous mark setting miracle), Stearns Boating, Evolution Sails, Skyway Yacht Works, and SAIL 22.com. For more J/Fest Chicago sailing and registration information
Pandemonium Regatta Preview
(Tiburon, CA)- Corinthian Yacht Club will host the Pandemonium Regatta, a one-day double-handed event for one-design boats on Sunday, August 30th, 2020. There will be recognition for the overall winner as well as mixed-gender teams. Invited classes include J/24, J/70, J/88, and J/105's.
According to Bruce Stone, who will be competing with his J/105 Arbitrage, “Our objective in working with Corinthian Yacht Club is to offer chances to build experience with a training partner, and if we have great turn-out, we’ll go for longer lengths a month from now. In this iteration, there will be a long course of around 25 miles for J/105s and J/88s, a medium course for Express 27s and J/70s, and a shorter course for smaller boats like Knar’s, Cal 20’s, J/22s and J/24s.
The start will be off of the west end of Angel Island and a route going just north of the Richmond Bridge, then a challenging beat to Pt. Bonita, outside the Golden Gate Bridge, and an exciting spinnaker run to the finish at Corinthian YC in Raccoon Straits.” For more CYC Pandemonium Regatta sailing and registration information
J/Gear September 20% OFF Special!
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Sailing Calendar
Aug 28-30- J/70 Segel Bundesliga- Wannsee, Germany
Aug 28-30- Under 21 Italian J/70 Sailing League Championship- Rimini, Italy
Sep 5-6- Danish J/70 Sailing League- Skovshoved, Denmark
J/133 Scores Hat Trick in Sydney Harbour!
(Sydney, Australia)- Results from stunning Sydney Harbour are coming in as the Australian racing season concludes, including a remarkable "Hat Trick" of race wins in three races by Tony Coleman's unstoppable J/133 EUPHORIA.
In a wide range of conditions, from drifters to 40 knot gales, and winds from every quadrant of the compass, EUPHORIA showed a clean pair of heels over this amazing season against the cream of Sydney’s high-end, high-test racing fleet that includes several TP52s and past dual Rolex Sydney Hobart winners- Ichi Ban and Quest (ex Balance). EUPHORIA's wins included:
1. 1st Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron Summer No. 1 Division Spinnaker Series- from January to April 2020
2. 1st Combined Clubs No 1 Division with Spinnaker Winter Series (including, Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Middle Harbour Yacht Club, Sydney Amateurs and Royal Australian Navy Sailing Association and several other clubs participating in this popular series- from May to August 2020
3. 1st Royal Australian Naval Sailing Association Winter Wednesday Series- from June to August 2020
Tony and his crew had the following to say about the boat and the series. “It has been a great start to our 2020 sailing year following our return from competing in the 75th Sydney Hobart race in December 2019. EUPHORIA, despite being 16 years old now, performed exceptionally well. We would like to thank all the clubs involved in keeping us all going with our sailing in these extraordinary times and also thank our competition who certainly kept us on our toes and pushed us all the way.“
Württembergischer YC Tops SAILING Champions League Qualifier
(Tutzing, Germany)- It was an amazing, enthusiastic turn-out for the first, and only, 2020 SAILING Champions League Qualifying event in Tutzing, Germany for the grand finale in Porto Cervo, Italy at the spectacular Costa Smeralda YC. Twenty-two teams showed up to go sailing on Lake Starnberg, a beautiful lake surrounded by lush green mountains in the middle of Germany. For four days, the teams competed in a huge variety of weather, from no winds and sunny warm temperatures to strong winds, choppy waters and driving rain.
After four days of sailing, the Württembergische Yacht-Club was able to prevail against all 22 competitors. Second place went to the Norddeutsche Regatta Verein, third place was taken by the team from Bordée de Tribord from Switzerland. In addition to the respective champions of the 19 national leagues who have already been determined as finalists, the twelve best clubs of the Tutzing Qualifier have now qualified for the SCL Final in Porto Cervo, Italy, from the 15th to 18th of October.
Under ever-changing conditions on Lake Starnberg, four clubs, the Norddeutsche Regatta Verein, Bordée de Tribord, the Regattaclub Oberhofen and the Württembergische Yacht-Club, went through to compete in the four-boat finale. At first, the Norddeutsche Regatta Verein dominated with a 1-2 tally. But, the Württembergische Yacht-Club closed the regatta with two bullets that were necessary for overall victory. Behind the top two German teams were two Swiss teams, third was Bordee de Tribord and fourth was Regattaclub Oberhofen. Past SAILING Champions League overall winner- Deutscher Touring YC ended up in an uncharacteristic fifth place.
“We are totally overwhelmed,” explained Conrad Rebholz, helmsman of the winning WYC. “We always wanted to keep the freedom to make our own decisions, to concentrate only on ourselves and not be distracted. We didn’t expect it to work out so well in the end, but we’re all the more pleased.”
The following teams have qualified for the SCL final in Porto Cervo:
- Württembergischer Yacht-Club, Germany
- Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, Germany
- Bordée de Tribord, Switzerland
- Regatta Club Oberhofen, Switzerland
- Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club, Germany
- Wassersport-Verein Hemelingen, Germany
- Bocholter Yachtclub, Germany
- Segel- und Motorboot Club Überlingen, Germany
- Segelclub TWV Achensee, Austria
- Münchner Yacht-Club, Germany
- Mühlenberger Segel-Club, Germany
- Hjuviks Båtklubb, Sweden
Sailing Photo credits- Lars Wehrmann. Sailing video highlights:
- Day 1- https://youtu.be/ECD38tR5cBs
- Day 2- https://youtu.be/DOrwkxmOUF4
- Day 3- https://youtu.be/jc8iJ3YsD-k
Welcome Back Regatta A Smashing Success
(Lunenburg, Nova Scotia)- The Lunenburg Yacht Club held the first Welcome Back Regatta on August 21st to 23rd. The regatta had great attendance, all things considered, with just over 200 competitors and 36 boats across five classes. Due to Covid restrictions, the club’s property had a maximum of 250 people on-site, so sailors had to be limited for health safety reasons.
Jennifer Hall was the Regatta Chair and Colin Mann (J/92 owner of POOHSTICKS) was the Regatta PRO.
Winds on day one were 15-25 knots resulting in some boats retiring early. Saturday the racers were treated to a sail past by the 140’ Bluenose II. Sunday saw more manageable 10-15 knot breezes, making for exciting, close sailing. Several classes sailed up to eight races over three days.
PHRF A Class was won by Larry Creaser on the J/100 YOUNG BLOOD, racing extremely well against a fleet of hot 30-footers.
PHRF B Class saw yacht broker Chris Power in the J/29 JAEGER finish second in the 9-boat fleet, just ahead Bernd Hackstein's J/27 BUZZ and Don Williams J/29 PARADIGM SHIFT.
The six-boat J/105 class was won in a complete "whitewash" of the fleet by Rory Macdonald's McMAC; winning seven of eight races and throwing out a 3rd and a 1st to win with all bullets. Surviving that somewhat painful "schooling" was John Sapp's V-TACK and Richard Gerstenberger's AXIS finishing 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
This regatta was the first of its kind in Nova Scotia after Covid restrictions required the annual Chester Race Week to be postponed for the season. Sailing photo credits- Lunenburg YC Commodore- Janet Marie Snair. For more Welcome Back Regatta information and results.
Gale-force Conditions for RORC Summer #3 Race
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The Royal Ocean Racing Club's Summer Series Race 3 was a "full-on foam-up" in 25 knots of breeze gusting well over 30 kts. The long day race was a course of about 42 miles for the monohulls with a beat west from the Squadron Line to East Lepe, followed by a scorching downwind leg east through the Solent. After bisecting No Man’s Land and Horse Sand Forts, the downwind sleigh ride took the fleet to Pullar, north east of the Nab Tower. The final leg was a beat to finish at the Squadron Line.
In the fourteen-boat IRC 1 division, Mike O’Donnell’s J/121 DARKWOOD took second in class, sailing around the track in 5 hrs 26 min 24 sec. Over half of the class dropped out of the race due to the heavier than normal conditions.
The twenty-five boat IRC 2 Division saw the highest attrition rate of all classes, with five J/111s, four J/122s, and a J/112E all taking DNC's instead of facing the near gale conditions. In fact, only two boats finished after seven hours of sailing!
Of the forty-three boats entered in IRC 3 Division, just seven boats started and finished the 43nm track in just over five hours, nearly a 7.8 kts average for the race! Surviving the hellacious chop in the Solent was the J/88 TIGRIS being sailed doublehanded- Gavin Howe and Sam Cooper took a fifth place.
A similar story played out for IRC 4 Division, with just three boats in a class of forty-seven entries finishing the course in just over six hours.
The real hard-core sailors seemed to be in the IRC Doublehanded Division. Eight boats completed the course out of a fleet of forty-seven entries! Again, it was the duo on the J/88 TIGRIS (Howe & Cooper) that hung on tough to take fifth in class.
Full details of the revised RORC racing programme can be found on the RORC website, but in summary: permitted crew offshore can be up to a maximum of six people from any household or two-thirds of a boat's IRC crew number whichever is the least. Competitors are also reminded of the government guidance on social distancing and other Covid-19 measures.
The Royal Ocean Racing Club's Summer Series comes to a conclusion with the fourth and final race scheduled for Sunday 6th September. Further racing with the club is set to continue in September with a new Two-Handed Autumn Series (4th, 26th Sept. & 10th Oct.) as well as the IRC National Championship (11/13 Sept.) and the IRC Two-Handed National Championship (12/13 Sept.) For more RORC Summer Series sailing information and full results.
Fun & Games @ Verve Cup Regatta
(Chicago, IL)- The Chicago Yacht Club's annual Verve Cup One-Design Regatta took place last weekend off beautiful Belmont Harbor for an excellent turnout for J/24 and J/70 one-design classes. With sailing taking place offshore on Lake Michigan, the sailors enjoyed the often-severe chop that develops over the course of the day, due largely to north & south bound powerboat traffic, leaving huge wakes that reverberate off the vertical concrete & steel seawalls miles out onto the race area. Such conditions make it exciting for fast-planing sailboats like the J/70s.
In the end, the CYC Belmont RC team managed to punch out six races for both fleets, a no-throw-out series. Winning the thirteen-boat J/70 fleet was John Heaton's AMERICAN FLYER, just eking out a win with a 2-1-4-2-1-6 tally for 16 pts. Finishing just one point back and nearly winning the regatta was first-time J/70 racer Rich Witzel on ROWDY (he owns a famous J/111 by the same name). Rich's team started off slowly, learned the ropes fast, and came on strong at the finish, accumulating a record of 3-5-1-1-5-2 for 17 pts. Winning Corinthians and taking the bronze was Sarah Renz's team on BERTEAU GROUP, sailing to a 6-4-2-6-4-1 record for 23 pts total. Rounding out the top five was Bob Willis's RIP RULLAH and Mike Schroff's ELECTRIC PICKLE in 4th and 5th, respectively.
The nine-boat J/24 class saw yet another "whitewash" of the fleet, with Ryan Lashaway's RUNNIN ON EMPTY posting five bullets to take the win by nearly 10 pts- finishing with 7 pts total. The battle for the remaining steps on the podium saw Andy Camarda's FULL MOON hold off Austin Graf's DON'T PANIC, beating them by two points.
Of note was the excellent performance by the J/24 Boat Grant Youth Sailing Team. This year's crew from Chicago YC has top woman helm Erica Trejo skippering the J/24 REGULATORS. She started off incredibly well on Saturday, posting triple 3rds! Sunday seemed to be more challenging as she could not maintain that ferocious pace, dropping a 4-5-7 into her scoreline to end up in a well-earned fourth place with 25 pts total. For more Verve Cup Inshore Regatta sailing information and results.
J/Community
What friends, alumni, and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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* J/Net Brokerage Specials! Check out our exciting new site for lovingly-owned J/Boats from around the world.
*J/34 KNEE DEEP has been taken over completely by "the kids"! As seen here sailing off Cleveland, OH on the choppy waters of Lake Erie, "the kids" earned their keep by raising the most amount of money for their local Cleveland Leukemia Cup this year. Congratulations to all of the local youth sailors that partook in the event and, especially, to Brett Langolf's youth team winning on the classic J/34 IOR design called KNEE DEEP!
* FALSE ASSURANCES: The Next Sailing Movie?
As seen in The Hollywood Reporter: Spyglass Media Group optioned the rights to bring FALSE ASSURANCES to the big screen. The novel, written by lifelong sailor Christopher Rosow, opens on a doublehanded J/111 competing in the Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race.
Bob Johnstone, of eponymous J/Boats fame, enthuses that FALSE ASSURANCES and sequel THREAT BIAS “are the two most engaging thrillers I’ve read in a long time,” adding, “it’s more than just a reading experience… it’s like plunging in, sometimes deep enough to come up gasping for air.”
Read the story that shot to #1 on the Amazon Kindle, Wall Street Journal fiction e-book, and Apple Books lists (and reached #6 on the Amazon combined print/e-book chart). Available from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/False-Assurances-Ben-Porter-Book/dp/1734714700), Apple Books (https://books.apple.com/us/book/false-assurances/id1510652247), and your local bookseller.
Hollywood Reporter:
Spyglass Picks Up Thriller Novel 'False Assurances' From First-Time Author (Exclusive)
Christopher Rosow's book was published in May and became a No. 1 Amazon Kindle best-seller.
Spyglass Media has optioned the rights to False Assurances, the debut novel from Christopher Rosow.
Since publication in May, the novel — actually part of a two-book debut from Rosow — has become a No. 1 Amazon Kindle best-seller; a No. 1 Apple books best seller and a No. 1 Wall Street Journal fiction e-book. A third book is in the works.
The first book has political hook, with a plot involving the president and terrorists. The story is set in motion when the FBI Boston field office gets a hoax call, with a man claiming his sailboat was hijacked and used to smuggle weapons and terrorists into the United States. Despite the far-fetched nature of the claims, a presidential visit to Boston that night requires an investigation, and the FBI dispatches admin staffer Ben Porter, a laid-back millennial and the opposite of Jack Ryan in almost every way, to the scene. Rosow is an avid and competitive sailor and was inspired to write the story while on a race in the Atlantic.
“Christopher has written a gripping suspense thriller with fast-paced storytelling and dynamic characters,” said Spyglass’ president of production, Peter Oillataguerre. “Ben Porter is a whole new brand of ‘hero’ that will take audiences on a captivating ride.”
Oillataguerre and Chris Stone, VP production and development, will oversee the project on behalf of Spyglass.
The pickup shows that Spyglass has more on its mind than just mining its library, which, as a partnership between Gary Barber and Lantern Entertainment, includes many titles that were made by Miramax. So far, it is those titles that have grabbed the most limelight as the company develops its slate, which includes the reboots of horror franchises Scream and Hellraiser.
Rosow was repped in the deal by Hotchkiss Daily & Associates. Thanks for these contributions from Scuttlebutt Sailing Newsletter and from THE Hollywood Reporter.
* We Survived – Some Boats Didn’t…..
Bill Kneller, owner of the J/109 VENTO SOLARE, has this remarkable report about a squall line that hit the Conanicut YC Tuesday evening beer-can series. Bill goes on to explain, "Vento Solare entered the final JYC summer series race with a third place standing. Weather at the start had winds 8-12 out of the West. It looked like a beautiful night for the race with the potential for some thunderstorms later in the evening. The crew consisted of Roland on the bow, Eric at mast & tactician, Gardner trimming jib & spin, Mary doing pit & trim, Andrew on main, and Bill on helm.
The West wind required a downwind start since we can’t sail into the land on Jamestown. The course had us sailing across the bay to the Newport harbor entrance buoy G1, back to the R12 buoy off Rose Island, over to the R2 buoy just inside Fort Adams, then to the Jamestown harbor finish line. Vento Solare with its PHRF rating of 75 is the “slowest” boat in the spinnaker A class. All went well, and we were in front of two boats that owed us time after rounding the final mark by Fort Adams on the final leg headed to Jamestown. Over Jamestown we could see many lightning strikes from dark clouds. About half way across the bay, sheets of rain were falling and quickly overtook us. Within 20 seconds of the rain hitting us, the winds rapidly increased. We immediately attempted to drop the sails but were overtaken by the strong winds and knocked over with the port side spreaders in the water. Mary was at the port winch and slid under the port lifeline, holding on to anything she could to stay with the boat. Bill was on the starboard side holding on to the helm to prevent from falling off the boat. Others held on to anything they could to stay on the boat. While the boat was on its side, it was very difficult to take actions to get the sails down.
Mainsail Shredded Along the Leech
Mary was able to pull herself back on the boat through the lifelines. While she was doing that, the man overboard “Jon Buoy” deployed. Within a minute, we were able to drop the mainsail, but not before it shredded along the leech. The jib was furled and the engine started. Around us we saw three other boats with shredded sails. Over the radio we heard calls for help from boats that lost people overboard. We relayed radio calls to the Jamestown YC race committee who was trying to account for all competitors. A J/22 had 3 of 4 crew members overboard. Fortunately, they were all recovered safely. The Alerion 28 Havsflickan was unaccounted for. Later it was reported as sunk, with the crew safely rescued. A classic Herreshoff S boat met the same fate, with crew safely recovered. We heard reports from Newport harbor of many boats that swamped on their moorings and sunk.
We attempted to hail J/92s Spirit on the radio but heard no reply. Others responded that they had seen Spirit heading back to the marina. When we returned, there was no sign of Spirit so we hailed others on the VHF to be on the lookout for them. Well after we returned to the dock, Spirit appeared at the marina. It turns out the EC Helme had fallen on the VHF remote and broken the connector, making their radio inoperative. Once they were at the dock, we reported that they were back safe and all accounted for.
In the end, all in the JYC summer series race were accounted for. The race was officially abandoned and final results remained with Vento Solare in third place for the Spinnaker A class. Our instruments showed winds in excess of 50 kts during the storm. The resulting damage is a destroyed mainsail, destroyed jib and man overboard buoy requiring servicing, but everyone is safe."
Commenting some more, Bill said, "these were not conditions one would expect for an inshore beer-can race. We were on our side and saw more than 90 degrees heel as evidenced by some items stored outboard the Nav station cubby that ended on the shelf above the port settee along with the computer mouse that was in a foam holder velcroed to the Nav table. The keyboard is kept inside the Nav table when underway. Other than that, everything below decks remained where it was supposed to be. All electronics including the Surface Pro 4 computer on a RAM mount running Expedition continued to function. Later today I will go back and pull the data to see if I can get the actual wind velocity and heel angle. We had plenty of rain water spray in the companionway hatch, which was pulled all the way aft, but no sea water entered the boat, even though we had lines streaming through the aft facing port lights. This could have been a real disaster for us if there wasn't enough buoyancy to keep those above the water. I've always felt confident that the J/Boats I've owned can survive challenging conditions - both my previous boat J/30 Rhapsody and now J/109 Vento Solare.
Other J/boats out there were J/120 Salacia, J/92s Spirit, J/80 The Party Tree, J/80 Eagle, J/22 Blues Eraser (had 3 people overboard) and a number of other J/22 & J/24s that I didn't keep track of." Read the full article here on the J/109 class site
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