What an amazing two weekends of sailing were experienced by J/sailors in the United Kingdom in the early fall. Blessed with summer-like weather, plenty of breeze, the Solent delivered big-time for fun, challenging, often shifty conditions for three significant regattas. First up was the eponymous Landsail Tyres J-Cup Regatta- RORC hosted at Cowes, Isle of Wight, England in its 21st year of existence. Lots and lots of fun, and relief, was had by all with many sailors experiencing their first sailing event of the season. Next was the J/70 UK Nationals that was hosted by the ever-gracious, ever-professional Royal Southampton YC in Hamble, England for a fleet of twenty-one boats. Then, in those same waters the UK IRC Nationals was hosted by the RORC off Cowes- a pair of J/112E's showing their ability to get on the podium more often than not!A report came over the "coconut telegraph" from our friends Down Under. A pair of J/109s in Sydney Harbour participated in the Sydney to Lion Island Race, a roundtrip of 30.0nm, with some more silverware collected by passionate J/sailors.
Finally, we also received a fun report from Ron Rosenberg in Seattle, Washington. He hosted the Orcas Island Boot Camp in Seattle's Puget Sound off Orcas Island for a burgeoning fleet of J/70s and others like a J/111.
Spectacular Finale @ Landsail Tyres J-Cup Regatta
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- By invitation of Key Yachting, the 2020 Landsail Tyres J-Cup celebrated the 21st birthday of the annual regatta exclusively for J/Boats. While the regatta was somewhat different this year, the spirit of the J/Family was as strong as ever. Hosted for the first time by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, the regatta was a huge success. Fifty J's with over 200 crew enjoying great racing, plus safe and secure social functions at the RORC Clubhouse in Cowes.
The regatta featured two National Championships. Tony & Sally Mack’s McFLY retained the J/111 National Championship and was also awarded the J-Cup. Simon Perry’s JIRAFFE won the 2020 J/109 UK National Championship. In the J/70 Class, Paul Ward’s EAT SLEEP J REPEAT was the winner for the second year in a row. IRC One was won by Christopher Daniels’ J/122 JUNO. In IRC Two, Nick Munday’s J/97 INDULJENCE was the victor.
Tony & Sally Mack's J/111 McFLY - J-Cup winners and J/111 UK National Champion (Paul Wyeth)
At the final prize giving ceremony, Tony & Sally Mack and team McFly got the biggest cheer of the party. This was McFLY’s fourth championship win but the first time to win the J-Cup. The final day’s racing was far from easy; Chris Jones & Louise Makin’s JOURNEYMAKER II, won the last two races. Finishing in third place, Paul Griffith’s JAGERBOMB, beat McFLY in the penultimate race.
At the final prize giving, Key Yachting’s Hannah Le Prevost commented. “It was fantastic to see the J/111s racing again and well done to McFLY for a terrific performance. Tony and Sally Mack have been coming to the regatta for many years always with a fantastic spirit. Marie-Claude Heys (MD, Key Yachting) and I, have no hesitation in awarding the J-Cup to McFLY.”
McFLY leads the J/111 Class. (Paul Wyeth)
“One mistake and you pay for it in the J/111 Class,” commented Tony Mack. “Credit to all of the competitors, the racing was fantastic!” Sally Mack added: “The J-Cup is like a family get together; we really enjoy the friendship. It is a special occasion and really lovely to win the J-Cup.”
Simon Perry's J/109 JIRAFFE (Paul Wyeth)
Simon Perry’s JIRAFFE won the J/109 UK National Championship for the first time. Racing on board JIRAFFE were four members of the Perry family, and the rest of the crew are godfathers to the children and family friends. The 2019 national champion, John Smart’s JUKEBOX, was runner-up this year. David Richard’s JUMPING JELLYFISH came within a whisker of winning the championship with victory in the last race but finished third for the regatta.
2020 J/109 UK National Champion - Simon Perry's JIRAFFE. (Paul Wyeth)
“JUKEBOX had a big lead going into the final day’s racing, so we decided to go out and enjoy ourselves by sailing well and see what would happen,” commented Simon Perry. “We won the first race of the day, caught up JUKEBOX on the scoreboard, and we realized we could do it. We were 30cm ahead of JUKEBOX at the finish of the last race. It was literally that close.”
Paul Ward's J/70 EAT SLEEP J REPEAT. (Paul Wyeth)
Paul Ward’s J/70 EAT SLEEP J REPEAT is the reigning J/70 World Champion and the top crew of Scott, Cumbley and Trindade have come a long, long way together. However, they had to be at the top of their game to win the class. New to the J/70 is Nick Phillips’ TEAM CHAOTIC, and the young team from Parkstone YC put in a stellar performance in a RTYC charter boat to take runner-up in the 21-boat fleet. Charles Thompson’s BRUTUS managed two bullets in the series and was a close third.
J/70 fleet of 21 boats at the Landsail Tyres J-Cup (Paul Wyeth)
“To have 21 teams out racing was just superb,” smiled Paul Ward. “I have to say that the race management and shoreside organization by the RORC was first class, and that is so important. Well done especially to CHAOTIC and BRUTUS who gave us a run for our money in every race. EAT SLEEP J REPEAT are looking forward to some great racing at the J/70 UK Nationals next weekend.”
Christopher Daniel's J/122 JUNO. (Paul Wyeth)
Christopher Daniel’s J/122 JUNO won the ten-strong big boat class in IRC One. Going into the final day of racing, JUNO was just half a point ahead of Chaz Ivill’s J/112 DAVANTI TYRES. JUNO finished the regatta in style winning the last two races to clinch the class. DAVANTI TYRES was second with Mike & Sarah Wallis’ J/122 JAHMALI in third. Competition in IRC One was first class; DAVANTI TYRES, JAHMALI and TIGIRS and J-DREAM are all past winners of the J-Cup. This was JUNO’s first J-Cup regatta and their impressive performance also earned JUNO the North Sails Trophy for Best Newcomer.
"JUNO normally has quite a full program of racing, but this year with all the cancelled regattas, we finally made it to the J-Cup. We are glad that we did, and we will definitely be back," commented Christopher Daniel. "Three days is a perfect length for the regatta and it was great to get boat-on-boat with other asymmetric designs. The race management and shoreside was extremely well organized with great communications, we thoroughly enjoyed the event."
Nick Munday’s J/97 INDULJENCE. (Paul Wyeth)
Nick Munday’s J/97 INDULJENCE scored a string of five bullets and two second places to win IRC Two, Nick was sailing with a crew including son Adam Munday, from regatta sponsor Ocean Rope. David Greenhalgh’s J/92 J’RONIMO was second, David is a veteran of the J-Cup as depicted by his J-Cup 2000 t-shirt, which still fits! Making their debut regatta was Lawrence Barnett’s J/97 JACKAROO, and a great performance lifted the team to third in class.
Nick Munday’s J/97 INDULJENCE. (Paul Wyeth)
“It was just fantastic to get out racing, it is something we really enjoy, and a lot of credit should go to Key Yachting for getting the regatta on,” commented INDULJENCE’s Adam Munday. “The competition was good especially with J’RONIMO, and it took us a little time to get going, as we do not race as much these days. As regatta sponsor Ocean Rope, many of the J/Boats are customers, and personally we were absolutely blown away by the generosity of all the sponsors. In particular, B&G donating a superb chart plotter. All of the prizes were well thought out; items that sailors really want.” commented Munday.
Ian Poynton's POWDER MONKEY winner of the Nipper Trophy. (Paul Wyeth)
While the racing champions receive great applause from their competitors, the Landsail Tyres J-Cup, also acknowledges great spirit and friendship. The Nipper Trophy is awarded to someone who acted in the spirit of the event. This year’s winner was Ian Poynton racing J/70 POWDER MONKEY. Faced with reducing his crew to accommodate Covid-19 restrictions for the regatta, Ian chose to charter another boat as a solution, which was named POWDER MONKEY JOBSEEKERS, and crewed by university graduates, looking for employment in these difficult times. Well done to Ian Poynton!
The 22nd edition of the regatta will be organized by the Royal Southern Yacht Club by invitation of Key Yachting, 24-26 June 2021. There is a prize for the first entry! Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth For more J-CUP United Kingdom sailing information.
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Sailing Calendar
Sep 24-27- J/Fest San Diego- San Diego, CA
Sep 24-27- Sevastopol J/70 International Cup- Sevastopol, Crimea
Oct 10-11- J/Fest Southwest- Lakewood, TX
Oct 17- Rolex Middle Sea Race- Gzira, Malta
Oct 24- Witches Brew Race- Charleston, SC
Nov. 1- Hot Rum Series I- San Diego, CA
Nov. 14- Around the Island Race- Hong Kong, China
Nov. 21- Hot Rum Series II- San Diego, CA
Fast Fun Racing @ J/70 UK Nationals
(Hamble, United Kingdom)- The 2020 J/70 UK National Championships saw three days of absolutely fantastic racing for the fleet of twenty-one teams that assembled for a bit of fast & furious racing on the Solent. Blessed with good breezes all three days and a fast, planing-mode finale, the Royal Southern Yacht Club regatta PRO managed to fire off nine races from Friday, 11th of September to Sunday, 13th of September.
The racing was incredibly competitive despite the enormous amount of time spent off the water in this pandemic year. The top five teams, in particular, took turns trading off podium finishes over the three days. In the end, it was Graham Clapp's JEEPSTER that was declared 2020 J/70 U.K. National Champion over the reigning J/70 World Champion- Paul Ward's EAT SLEEP J REPEAT.
RACE DAY ONE
Not surprisingly, the regatta started off with a three-way tie for first place after the first three races.
As if by magic, a solid south westerly breeze kicked in shortly before the start of the first race. The wind speed rose steadily through the day, piping up to 20 knots in the gusts. The RSYC Race Team, led by PRO Charlie Stowe, reeled off three excellent windward leeward races in the spectacular conditions.
At the end of the day, three teams were tied on points at the top of the leader board: Martin Dent's JELVIS led on countback from EAT SLEEP J REPEAT and Peters & Calascione’s CALYPSO. Clapp’s JEEPSTER was also a race winner. In the Corinthian Division, King & Wilson’s SOAK RACING was on top of the charts.
Spectacular conditions with close racing right through the J/70 fleet. (© Louay Habib)
Martin Dent’s Jelvis is somewhat a family boat, with Martin on the helm and his daughter Ruby at the front, with the two Wetherell brothers, Jack and Henry, mid-boat.
Martin Dent's J/70 Jelvis (© Louay Habib)
“We are kind of a North Britain boat, the Dents from Scotland and the Wetherell’s from Yorkshire,” smiled Martin Dent. “It was amazing to be out there today, having missed, like everybody else, a summer of sailing. We were blessed with fantastic conditions giving us the full spectrum of J/70 sailing modes from displacement downwind to full-on planing mode, sending it downhill. The class has always provided competitive nip and tuck racing and this year, despite being in the midst of a global pandemic, the UK fleet is getting stronger with some serious new teams. I am sure everybody enjoyed themselves today.”
L-R SOAK RACING and Jonnie Goodwin's RYS team lock horns downwind. (© Louay Habib)
Marshall King & Ian Wilson’s SOAK RACING is the reigning J/70 Corinthian World Champion and at this regatta, defending the national championship.
King & Wilson's J/70 SOAK RACING. (© Louay Habib)
“Tactically, we decided that we wanted to win the right and the first two races went well in that respect, but in the last race we had a bad start and paid the price,” commented Ian Wilson. “The competition was really good today, and it’s great to see new young teams joining the class and going fast, we need them to turn up, and make it worth our while to retire! Spending Friday, away from work, surfing around The Solent at 15 knots was just fantastic!”
JP Alvarez YC Argentino - GBR 742 (© Louay Habib)
JP Alvarez is racing at the UK J/70 Nationals with a crew all from Argentina. “We have chartered a J/70 from the Royal Thames Yacht Club, and we all work in London,” explained JP. “We have never sailed together before as a team, and we knew that this regatta would be a very high standard. We sail at home in the Rio de la Plata, so we know about current, but The Solent is a very tricky place to sail. We really enjoyed today, and we hope to improve during the regatta. During the second race today, one of the crew said look at the boat next to us. I did and it was the world champions! It is great take part in this regatta.”
RACE DAY TWO
The Solent is a tricky place to sail, especially when the wind is all over the place. Uber wind shifts postponed the start of the second day of the J/70 UK National Championships, but once the wind direction stabilized, three windward leeward races were hard fought for the 22-strong fleet. Ward’s EAT SLEEP J REPEAT took a brace of bullets to lead the regatta by two points. Clapp’s JEEPSTER scored a 1-2-1 to move up to second. Dent’s JELVIS dropped to third but was still in with a shot at the title going into the final day.
Eat Sleep J Repeat’s Ruairidh Scott is a World Champion in the J/70, J/80 and J/111 classes, and commented after racing, “it wasn’t easy in a competitive fleet, especially upwind when the chop gets going, it is challenging to keep the speed up. Crew weight, technique and also mast rake has a big influence on performance. This fleet is spirited and upwind there is not a lot in it. However, the first downwind leg today, we were the first boat to go into wing-on-wing, and that got us away.”
Ben Saxton, NACRA 17 World Champion, has been racing in the J/70 Class for four years, Ben is part of Clapp’s crew on JEEPSTER. “To win in the J/70 Class, you need good teamwork,” commented Saxton. “If you start well and you are quick enough, then you can bring your tactics into play. We are pretty stacked for weight, so quick upwind but not as fast downwind. We have been working on downwind technique and we are getting faster, which shows in the results. We have worked hard to get it right and we passed EAT SLEEP J REPEAT upwind today for our win, so that was a good feeling.”
Tales from the Peloton
Patrick Liardet’s COSMIC, sitting in 12th position with a crew of young talented sailors (son Freddie, Jack Hanslope and Richard Anderton), had an interesting perspective from "the peloton".
On the race track and in the results, COSMIC is mixing it with sailors from the Olympics, World Champions and top professional sailors.
“It is the first time we have all sailed together and mixing it up in the fleet has been good fun,” commented Patrick. “This is a very tough fleet with strong sailors, and it’s tremendous. Richard is a World Champion Fireball crew, Freddie is very strong in dinghies and keelboats and Jack is his friend from University, who is a great team racer. The boats are evenly matched, so you are really fighting for every place, all the way down the fleet.”
RACE DAY THREE
The J/70 UK Class boast reigning World Champions in both the Open and Corinthian Classes. However, a dramatic end to racing resulted in two new national champions. Spectacular conditions on the final day were used to the full by the Royal Southern YC Race Team, led by PRO Charlie Stowe, the scene was set for a memorable finale to a superb regatta. Graham Clapp’s JEEPSTER is the new J/70 UK Open National Champion, and Charles Thompson’s Brutus is the new J/70 UK Corinthian Champion.
In the Open Championship, Paul Ward’s World Champion team on EAT SLEEP J REPEAT was second. Newcomers to the class, Nick Phillip’s CHAOTIC was third.
Graham Clapp’s J/70 Jeepster (© Louay Habib)
“We have really got the boat going well, and we are also having a lot of fun on board, which is a winning combination,” commented Clapp. “I have known Ben (Saxton) since he was a child, but this team have only come together recently, and our performance improved as the regatta went on. The competition has been really exciting with great racing which is what this class is all about. A big thank you to Charlie (Stowe) and the all the Royal Southern team, who did a fantastic job in organizing the regatta.”
Charles Thompson was grinning from ear to ear after a bullet in the last race secured the Corinthian title for J/70 BRUTUS. 2019 World Champions, Wilson & King’s SOAL RACING was second and Doug Struth’s DSP, runners up at last year’s world championship, third.
Charles Thompson’s J/70 Brutus (© Louay Habib)
“It feels good to have the trophy in my hands, but I have to say quite a surprise after the first couple of days, we didn’t think we would make the top three” commented Thompson. “The last two races went well for us, and that was helped by getting off the start line in the right place. Thanks to my crew, we got a bullet at the end! Teamwork is unquestionably important, sailing with a positive crew is fundamental.” Thompson is the only owner/ bowman in the fleet. “I am definitely the oldest bowman in the fleet, and there is only one word for it– wet!”
J/70 UK Class Chairman, Paul Ward was quick to congratulate both JEEPSTER and BRUTUS. “They both had a fantastic last day and have sailed well all regatta. To knock two world champions of their perches is great for the class. We have four more events in the J/70 UK Grand Slam Series, and they are going to provide fantastic racing.” Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth Follow the J/70 U.K. class on Facebook here. For more J/70 U.K. Class sailing information
J/112E Wins Class 2 @ U.K. IRC Nationals!
(Cowes, IOW, England)- Mid-September it may be, but conditions for the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s 2020 IRC championships felt more like June last weekend, with shorts and T-shirts conditions and allowing a full schedule of racing to be laid on by PRO Stuart Childerley and his team. The event concluded Sunday with two windward-leeward races on the central-eastern Solent in more variable and generally lighter winds than on Friday or Saturday.
The hardest fought victory across the three classes was that of 2012 winner David Franks aboard his J/112E LEON. They had been handicapped with Franks only coming out of COVID-19 isolation on Friday; maths not working in their favor from the event’s mandatory crew number reduction rules (for social distancing), but mainly from being one of the lowest rated boats in IRC Two and having to find lanes and constantly fight their way up through the fleet. On the plus side the Leon crew had sailed together previously this year.
Franks commented on the regatta, saying “it has been fabulous, a very good event, well organized. It was lovely to see so many boats out on the Solent.”
“Normally we do well in the light, despite the fact that we are the smallest boat,” continued LEON's Franks. “Today the wind’s velocity was going up and down and was all over the place in direction, so it was hard to know what was going on. It was very challenging, a lot of work.”
In the IRC 3 Division, the Royal Air Force Sailing Association team on their J/109 RED ARROW managed a few good races on the final day to finish 4th in class. Posting nearly all 5th's, Ross Bowdler's J/80 JUSTIFY ended up finishing fifth place, surprise-surprise!
Joining the UK IRC Nationals fleet on Saturday and Sunday were the twenty-two entries for the IRC Two-Handed Nationals. After a four-race series, Mike Yates' J/109 JAGO sailed a consistent 2-5-6-2 series to end up tied for second place on 9 pts total, but losing the tiebreaker on countback to settle for the bronze. After a disastrous second race, Bruce Huber's J/112E XANABOO posted a 4-10-2-4.5 tally to secure fifth place, a great performance for their first outing of the year! Other J's in the top 10 included Stephen Roberts' J/105 JIN TONIC in 7th and David Greenhalgh's J/92 J'RONIMO in 9th place. Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth For more UK IRC Nationals sailing information
"G'day From Down Under!"
(Sydney Harbour, Sydney, Australia)- We got a fun, enthusiastic report from yet another J/Boat owner from our friends Down Under. In this case, it was from Carl Braden sailing his gorgeous navy-blue J/109 BLUE SKY.
Braden commented, "last weekend delivered a fantastic coastal sailing day with southerly winds for the Sydney Harbour to Lion Island and return race, some 33.0nm distance with forty-one boats across two crewed divisions, as well as a doublehanded division.
Two J/109s were sailing in Division 2. On BLUE SKY, we finished 5th less than 1 1/2 minutes behind 2nd on corrected time based on a 6 1/4-hour race, with the other 109- SWEET CHARIOT coming in 11th, crossing closely behind us.
It was near perfect sailing conditions, with fast Code-zero reaching heading north, with a close-hauled bash heading back to Sydney. Everyone was happy to be out of COVID lockdown to be enjoying sunny skies on the coastal run up and back to Lion Island. Fantastic day! And, we love our J/109!"
J/35 North Star Sailing Club Fleet Announcement
(Detroit, MI)- The renaissance of J/35 racing continues to expand! All sailors like to race stick against stick and that is exactly what we are doing this coming September 27, October 4th, 11th and the final race day on Sat. Oct 24th. This is North Star Sail Club's premier regatta of the year.
According to J/35 Class leader- Dean Fitzpatrick- of Detroit, MI, "there is, as you know, a lot of pent-up racing enthusiasm this year. The finger is about to be pulled out of the dike and the J/35s are going to be cut loose. This is going to be the most exciting J/35 regatta because we will have ten J/35s registered to race. The J/35s are leading the way for one design racing in this region of the country, along with the J/120s I might add. There are other makes of boats that are now following the J/35 lead and putting in the effort to have their own one-design start.
You know how tough it is to corral crew to be there every week to race. The J/35s at North Star have the pleasure of extra people wanting to be part of the action. That's right, extra! The people at North Star have the leadership to put over 40 new people on sailboats in the past two years. The J/35s are able to take advantage of so many new sailors wanting to race and sailors who want to return to their roots after being away for a while. It is all very
exciting for the entire sport.
With strong leadership you can attract people who want to participate. Here are some examples below for you:
- Jim Watts purchased GRIFFIN earlier this year. Jim sold his other boat and joined the J/35 fleet. Being an excellent experienced sailor, Jim has trained lots of newbies on his boat. Jim is nipping really close to the 6-time National Champion Bill Wildner's, MR BILL'S WILD RIDE on weekday racing at NSSC.
- Tim and Amie Ross with their newly fixed mast have been racing three times a week on BLACK HAWK.
- Bill Vogan, is still riding high after winning the Port Huron to Mackinac. Bill and his team on MAJOR DETAIL like to battle with four-time National Champion Ed Bayer on FALCON.
- Cheryl Miller has the youngest crew on her boat DEAN'S LIST. She will be watching the University of Michigan professor Robert Gordenker very close on TIME MACHINE. Robert sails in both Michigan and over in Europe, a very skilled and competitive sailor; which is why he's always in the hunt.
- Dennis Meagher owner of SNIPE has his experienced crew on the fast track. Dennis used to own a different sailboat last year, but now he sings the praises of his J/35.
J/Community
What friends, alumni, and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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* Here, we get yet another gorgeous photo of Bill and Judy Stellin's J/42 JAYWALKER sailing on the beautiful azure waters of northern Lake Michigan off Harbor Springs, a very special place in the northeastern part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Commented Bill, "if you think cruising J/Boats can’t go fast, here is our JAYWALKER, J/42 hull #6, doing 6.3 knots in 7.9 knots of true wind. Notice how glassy the water is. Amazing! Great boat still, we love it!"
* Welcome to Orcas Island BOOT CAMP!
Ron Rosenberg from the Pacific Northwest is a life-long J/Boat lover since the late 70s. He wanted to share his story about a "J/70 Orcas Island BOOT CAMP" that recently took place in Seattle (joined by other J/Lovers in J/111s, and so forth).
Said Ron, "obviously we’re big J/70 fans here and when this story was written, we had built up our J/70 fleet to five boat. And, it now appears that we’ll be closer to ten boats come spring of 2021!! And, we have a lot of interested potential buyers of used J/70s as well."
Here is Ron's story from the HARKEN "AT THE FRONT" Newsletter:
"Thank you for the opportunity to share what we’ve been doing here in the Pacific Northwest since the global pandemic began for us in early March. As a marine industry marketing professional, my job with Team McLube Marine Products (part of Harken Equipment) allows me to continue to professionally sail and coach all over the world. As travel shut down and sailing championships were cancelled, we were all forced to rethink how sailing might look going forward.
Not far from where I live near Seattle is a place called Orcas Island, home to dozens of amazing sailors of all ages. Here, everyone pitches in to make sailing fun, easy, and accessible to all. Orcas Island Yacht Club, near West Sound Marina, is where it all happens. Sailing is important to these people and their families, so they quickly figured out how to do it safely by limiting it to families or those they quarantine with, and they encouraged double-handed racing (DH) too. This local blend of family-oriented sailing and DH racing was an overnight huge hit. Lots of great husband/wife and parent/kid teams began trying it out and quickly realized how much more fun and challenging it can be. Add in a bit of coaching, and suddenly you have an inspired group of talented sailors learning so fast and having so much fun they can hardly wait to get back on the water to continue improving together. Some even have realistic Olympic DH aspirations! From my perspective, the success of our collective efforts has been astounding during this strange time period. Sure, it helps to be removed from a major metro area, but if we can do this here, certainly others can enjoy similar success.
HARKEN: What maneuvers are the most difficult to accomplish double handed? (Kite changes? Jib changes? Kite douses?)
RON: My experience is that most maneuvers around the race course can be mastered quickly and easily if the team is able to first practice them in slow motion a few times and learn the best order or proper procedure for two people to manage the set of tasks. In manageable wind conditions, tacks, gybes, spinnaker sets, and sail changes can be executed just as fast with two people as can be done with a full crew. I often hear from new DH teams that the boat feels roomy and is devoid of distracting noise when DH sailing. The most challenging of all is still the leeward mark rounding with a spinnaker drop. I remind my DH sailors that it’s ALWAYS better to drop the kite a bit early, as we all know that spinnakers are much faster when flying them downwind rather than upwind!
HARKEN: Can you talk a little bit about different techniques required for double-handed sailing that you wouldn’t see as much (or in as light a wind range) in a full-crew situation?
RON: The biggest difference is that there is NEVER A DULL MOMENT in DH sailing! I think that’s why it is so appealing to so many people. Rather than being one part of a larger team and only being responsible for a small percentage of roles, you are now involved in every aspect of racing the boat. Kids especially love being highly engaged in EVERYTHING that happens onboard, and they are mentally responsible for so much of the decision making as well as the more physical tasks of sail handling. We have an inspired group of 13-15 year olds that typically helm while their parent crews for them, and these teams quickly bond and grow together. I know the kids love it… and I think the parents love it even more. Sure, from a technical standpoint, we make an effort to simplify everything onboard without sacrificing performance and I think that goes a long way toward successful DH sailing. One obvious strong theme here is always asking yourself how can you do your job better in a way that can help your teammate do their job better too. Simply steering down low as you approach the leeward mark so the kite collapses behind the mainsail and can be easily dropped is one example of this. I think with only two people onboard you’re keenly aware of the stress and strain on the other person, and you realize how much easier you can make their work by just being aware and being present.
HARKEN: You’re using the J/70 in your Orcas Bootcamp. What makes it a good trainer for teams honing their double-handed skills?
RON: The J/70 has proven to be a great platform for improving DH sailing skills. The boat is light and responsive and the helm is quite sensitive to sail trim, body weight and heel angle. The main and jib are never loaded much and are easy to handle. It’s basically a big dinghy with just enough weight on the keel to keep you out of trouble in heavy air. These characteristics make it easy to feel the differences between small adjustments. The boats are just so much fun to sail with two people, and they really light up in a breeze off the wind. Essentially, they sail very much like a scaled down TP52, and they reward excellent driver focus and execution of great sail trim. Sailors often comment that they love double-handing sailing the J/70 so much that going back to full crew racing someday could be tough!
HARKEN: What seems to separate really good teams from ones that have ground to make up?
RON: The critical components are teamwork and coordination, and the necessary glue is communication. Both sailors have to be on the same page all the time in order to keep the boat sailing efficiently all around the track. The teams that have practiced together can communicate clearly, stay in step with each other, and simply get around the track faster than the rest. If communication or timing is off even just a little, the boat slows down and you’re losing boat lengths quickly. In DH sailing, those boat lengths are valuable, and they’re hard to earn back against the really good teams. With enough practice, it’s impressive to me how even the most difficult maneuvers can be smoothly handled with very little verbal communication between the two sailors. The basic rule onboard a DH boat is to be sure you get your tasks completed first, and then support and assist your partner if they need help completing theirs.
HARKEN: What kind of complementary skills do you find absolutely necessary for teams to possess?
RON: In my opinion, all that is required is an open mind and a “learn-it-all” mindset. If you’re willing to work with your partner and you gain satisfaction from your own self-improvement, you’re likely going to excel in the DH sailing world. Sure, at the highest level of DH sailing, it might be nice to have two perfectly complementary individuals teamed up; however, what if something unexpected happens? Now you need to adjust, and suddenly what was once a nicely organized roles-and-responsibilities chart matching the team’s strengths is now in disarray, and you have to shift to Plan B. Here in West Sound, our most skilled DH team is a husband/wife team who have worked hard to learn to sail their J-111 very efficiently. They both are equally capable, physically and mentally, to accomplish any onboard task, and they constantly switch positions and roles as they race around the course. These two determined athletes have clearly improved faster than any other team.
BACKGROUNDER: Ron Rosenberg has a unique passion for sailing and coaching. As a sailor he’s won five world titles (Youth Worlds, J/24, Olympic Soling, Etchells, and 5.5 Meter), two Finn Gold Cups, and one European championship. He has more than 50 national titles in a wide variety of One-Design classes. Ron was elected Team Captain of the US Olympic Sailing Team in Barcelona 1992 with USA winning medals in 9 of 10 disciplines. He has either competed or coached in every quad since 1984. He has coached others to many more meaningful wins than he has achieved himself (including back-to-back worlds in the Dragon class). Over the past two years he’s been focused on coaching Dragons, Etchells, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s, and TP 52s in Europe and Australia. He most enjoys helping others efficiently achieve the results and goals they set for themselves. For more J/70 Class sailing information Here is the link to the Harken International Newsletter.
* J/CUP and the SmartTune advantage on a J/122E
Winning four races in the J-Cup IRC 1 Class series and going into the final day with half a point lead, the J/122E JUNO sealed their victory 5.5 points clear, showing great consistency over the regatta.
Cyclops Marine had the opportunity to catch up with skipper Toff Daniels and his mainsheet trimmer Keiron Hill to ask how SmartTune helped in their dominant win. A jubilant Toff cut straight to the point, “it is a big step forward in trimming a race boat.”
On the mainsheet, Keiron emphasized the reassuring influence of the wireless load sensor. “The forestay load data was a really useful second check for my trimming. Looking at the main leech, I would sanity check what I was feeling with the forestay load.”
Referring to the loads, Keiron went into more detail: “we tended to set up for the lulls upwind, with forestay around 2.1 tons. In the solid pressure, we would go to 2.5/2.6 tons using the backstay and mainsheet tension. If I got to 2.7 tons, it was too much and we really flattened out the main. It was great having the headstay number to help with this, then we looked at jib cars to de-power.”
On further discussion, Kieron pointed out one of the challenges with race boats is the balance of achieving max forestay load without over compressing and bending the mast and starving the mainsail out. “Having marks on your backstay is not enough as your mainsheet load is such a factor in inducing load on the rig, too. The whole rig is working as a dynamic structure and it is essential to have accurate data as to the impact of the loadings.”
He went on to talk about having accessible data, “without a load sensor [SmartTune], you are just guessing. We love the product as we know it is accurate and we don’t have to mess about with wiring or calibration… it’s just wind on to the existing headstay toggles and go! It's that simple, truly a no-brainer.”
For J/122 and J/122E owners, here are the basic fast tuning numbers:
- Base forestay settings on the dock = 800kg (0.8T)
- Upwind max power (9-12 kts), hard leeches on mainsail for max power– forestay 2.1T (2,100kg). This is where they transitioned from J1 to J2 jibs.
- Upwind overpowered 13–18 kts– forestay up to 2.5/ 2.6T using combination of backstay and mainsheet. Once at 2.7T, it was too much mast compression and the main flattened out too much. At that point, above 18 kts it was time to switch to the J3 jib.
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