J/122 Offshore/ One-Design Performer
(Newport, RI)- With strong showings across a wide variety of venues and sailing conditions in 2010, the J/122 continues to demonstrate its versatility and ease-of-sailing by a wide variety of sailors. Designed to be fun, fast and serve a dual purpose as a family racer-cruiser, J/122s skippered by their owner-drivers have raced offshore and around-the-cans to great success. Perhaps the ultimate example of sailing a boat that is easy-to-handle, forgiving and fast are the shorthanded races. Recently, J/122s sailing in England as part of the SORC (Solo Offshore Racing Club) finished 1-2 in IRC during the Solent-Plymouth and back weekend, with OSTAR veteran and class winner JBELLINO sailed by Rob Craigie setting the pace and just behind was David Cule's MINT JULIP. And, in the 55th edition of the EDLU Race/ Double-handed PHRF class, Sandy Weill's PATRIOT won in demanding gale-force conditions.
Offshore good, solid all-around boats win. J/122s such as Robin Team's TEAMWORK won the Ft. Lauderdale-Key West Race; Marc Glimcher's J/122 CATAPULT was winning the RORC Caribbean 600 until the wind shut down; and Ray and Sandra Entwistle’s J/122 JACKPOT won the 2009/10 Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Short Ocean Pointscore Series in IRC racing off Sydney Heads in winds ranging from naught to 35+ knots and seas in excess of 4 meters (aka "condo jumping")!
Around the cans, J/122s sailed one-design at American YC Spring Series on New York/Connecticut's Long Island Sound; Warsash Spring Series saw Ian Matthew's JINJA finish 2nd in IRC1 sailing on the Solent, England; Robin Team's TEAMWORK sailed to 3rd in IRC class at Charleston Race Week sailing on the Atlantic off Charleston, SC; at the SNIM Race Week J LANCE IV sailed by George Asperti finished 3rd in IRC2 sailing off Marseilles, France; James Dobbs' LOST HORIZON won Spinnaker Racing/Cruising Class at the International Rolex Regatta in St. Thomas, USVI and got 3rd at St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. Come join the fun and learn more about this beautiful, versatile one-design/ offshore performer. A northeast circuit for J/122s includes:
May 28 Storm Trysail Block Island Race- Stamford, CT
June 11-13 NYYC Spring Regatta- Newport, RI
July 16-19 J/122 North Americans at Rolex NYYC Race Week- Newport, RI
Sept 11-12 Larchmont SW NOOD Regatta- Larchmont, NY
Learn more about the J/122 or contact J/Boats (info@jboats.com)
Rolex Women's Regatta September 2011
(Rochester, NY)- Who today would think it daring to declare that female athletes should be mainstreamed into big-boat sailing? That was the general attitude in 1985 until US Sailing and Rolex collaborated to create the Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship (IWKC). Twenty-five years later 'The Rolex Women’s' – as competitors fondly call it – stands as a testament to the huge strides made in women’s sailing. This biennial event regularly attracts both the Who’s Who and the up-and-coming of women’s sailing. The 14th running is scheduled for August 29 – September 1, 2011 at the Rochester Yacht Club (Rochester, N.Y.), and utilizes the International J/22 class keelboat, suitable for four-person teams. A Preliminary Notice of Race will be posted in June, 2010 on US Sailing.
The current champion and US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics member, Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), recently received US Sailing’s highest honor as the 2009 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year based in part on her accomplishment of winning the 2009 Rolex IWKC. 'Since US Sailing and Rolex created the Rolex IWKC in 1985, many accomplished women sailors have been part of this regatta’s 25-year history,' said Taran Teague (Annapolis, Md.), chair of US Sailing’s International Women’s Keelboat steering committee. 'In fact, since its founding, this regatta has hosted more than 2,500 women representing 23 countries.'Part of US Sailing’s Championships calendar, the regatta provides women sailors of all ability levels with high-quality racing and an opportunity to compete against top national and international sailors. Opportunities for skills development are available through nationwide Road to Rolex clinics, as well as mentoring to young women through the Next Step to Rolex program and the Junior Road to Rolex clinic.
Inaugurated in 1985 with J/24s in Newport, RI, the Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship quickly became the premier women’s sailing event in the U.S. and worldwide. Held biennially, the event now sailed in J/22s provides women keelboat and offshore sailors high-quality racing and an opportunity to compete with top national and international sailors. The Houston Yacht Club in LaPorte, Texas hosted the event in 2007; the Annapolis Yacht Club, in Annapolis, Md., hosted the event from 2001 through 2005; and the Ida Lewis Yacht Club in Newport, R.I. hosted the event between 1985 and 1999. The regatta is popular with women sailors because it has pioneered a fun, competitive, but relaxed atmosphere sailing the easy-to-handle International J/22 and it's open to any women's team from around the world. 40 to 50 teams regularly participate from up to 12 countries; anyone is welcome, team housing is provided by request to competitors; daily dockside "happy hours" contribute to camaraderie and "winner's roast"; and the winners get a gorgeous Rolex watch! How cool is that! Start your campaign now, get your girls organized and start sailing this summer! Photo credits- Rolex/ Dan Nerney
For more information about the 2011 Rolex IWKC contact US SAILING’s IWKC Committee Chair Taran Teague at Jtteague@aol.com or RYC’s Event Chair Chris Dorsey at rolexregattachair@rochesteryc.com.
Regatta & Show Schedules:
May 18-23- J/24 North Americans- Seattle YC- Seattle, WA- http://www.j24northamericans.com/May 22-23- Race For the Case- Lloyd Harbor YC, Long Island, NY- http://www.lhyc.org/
May 27-30- J/80 Copa Espana- Barcelona, Spain- http://www.rcnb.com
Jun 4-6- J/MedCup- Ill de Porquerolles (Hyeres), France- http://www.k-yachting.com
Jun 5-6- Sprit Fest Regatta- Breakwater YC- Sag Harbor, NY- http://www.spritfest.org
Jun 10-13- J/80 Italian Championship- Lake Garda, Italy- http://www.j80euro2010.it/
Jun 19-20- J/Fest Northwest- Seattle, WA- http://www.sailnorthwest.com
Jun 21-26- J/80 European Championship- Lake Garda, Italy- http://www.j80euro2010.it/
Jun 20-26- Block Island Race Week- Block Is, RI- http://www.blockislandraceweek.org
Jun 27-26- San Francisco NOOD Regatta- St. Francis YC- http://www.sailingworld.com
Jun 25–27- Long Beach Race Week/ J/120 NAS- Long Beach YC- Long Beach, CA- http://www.lbrw.org
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J/Regatta News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
With spring winding down and school ending in May for families in the Northern Hemisphere, that means summer is gearing up for yet another busy sailing season on J's round-the-world. The European contingent saw a beehive of activity in the UK and the Continent. J/80 one-design sailing is going full tilt: the Cumberland Cup in England sailing puffs off the wingtips of planes landing at Heathrow Airport and the J/80 French Nationals were sailed in Brest. The J/109s had great competition in the Vice Admiral's Cup regatta challenging the capricious Solent tides. The J/22s saw a lot action in France, sailing their J/22 Nationals in Brest and the Germans sailed the first of their Inshore Series on the beautiful "Haltern an See" lake. Speaking of J/22s, the South Africans sailed in near gale-force conditions for their South African J/22 Nationals on False Bay in truly epic conditions. In America, activity typically dials up dramatically once April showers are gone and May flowers start blooming. Out West, the J/24s had their Western Regionals and a raft of J's sailed in the Sperry Topsider Seattle NOOD Regatta racing in Seattle, WA; the J fleet had a nice turnout for the Stone Cup Regatta sailed at St Francis YC on San Francisco Bay and the Texan contingent didn't race for Tony Lamas, Manolo Blahniks or JP Tods', instead they gave new meaning to Little Feat's song "Sailin' Shoes" and raced in Lakewood YC's Shoe Regatta for, literally, "sailing shoes"! Fun, eh? Read on! More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page! Below are the summaries.
Spectacular Vice Admiral's Cup
J/109 VELVET ELVIS Puts the Velvet Hammer Down!
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Three days of outstanding Solent racing ensured that the 2010 edition of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club's Vice Admiral's Cup Regatta was a roaring success. Conditions ranged from light airs up to ten knots on Friday, through the mid range at 15 knots on Saturday and finally a heavier airs day on the Sunday building to around 20 knots. With nine races completed it was a tight series for all four classes competing.Class 3 (the J-109 one-design class) was dominated by Adam Wright's VELVET ELVIS who were in the enviable position of discarding a second place to win the regatta by ten points. With VELVET ELVIS placing their stamp on the regatta from the outset the big battle in this class was to be for second place. Going into the final day David & Kirsty Apthorp's J-DREAM had already begun to get the upper hand and a pair of second places were more than enough to secure them the second podium position. The fight for the final podium spot went all the way and was only decided on the finish line of the final race where Matthew Boyle in SHIVA just managed to slip into third place on the water ahead of Gill Ross and Richard Sainsbury's JAMBHALA and Richard Griffith's OUTRAJEOUS. Once the points had been tallied SHIVA had claimed third place by just one point from OUTRAJEOUS's with JAMBHALA in fifth. A delighted Adam Wright commented "We've had a bit of a build up to this weekend, over the last two or three weekends we've got some reasonable results and the crew have been pretty well prepped so this is a bit of a culmination for us before the J-CUP in two weeks time. We've had a great result and we're very pleased."
At the final prize giving Louise Morton paid special tribute to the Race Management team for their excellent work and thanked the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club for once again ensuring that the Vice Admiral's Cup combined top level racing with wonderful inter-fleet camaraderie and an excellent social program. Special thanks go to Musto who provided fantastic prizes and to North Sails who distributed bottles of Mount Gay in North Sails holders to all the boats represented at the prize giving. Both organizers and competitors very much appreciates their support, which is integral to the success of the Vice Admiral's Cup. For more Vice Admiral Cup regatta results and sailing info Sailing photo credits- Fiona Brown
J/Fleet Enjoys NW NOOD Regatta
J/24 HOT PURSUIT Wins Overall
(Seattle, WA)- Sun, wind, one-design racing. Who could ask for anything more sailing in the Pacific Northwest? That would be awesome, but that's rare in Seattle! Organizers of the third annual Sperry Topsider Seattle NOOD regatta got more than what they wished for-- beautiful weather. Regatta Chief George Brengle's praying were answered in spades (what vintage wine was offered to Neptune and the weather Gods?). The J fleet certainly took advantage of this year's conditions, especially the J/24 fleet whom were sailing their Northwest Championships and were also preparing for their upcoming J/24 North Americans this coming weekend.
Winning the J/24 class was HOT PURSUIT, well sailed by skipper Mike Johnson from Corinthian YC in Seattle (see his story below in J/Community). With the exception of a 15th and Z flag penalty in races 3 and 5, Mike's team basically sailed an extremely consistent series finishing mostly in the top three, setting the tone and pace for this weekend's J/24 North American Championships. As expected, Pat Toole from Santa Barbara YC sailed his THREE BIG DOGS into second place just ten points back. Third was Team SELF ABUSE skippered by Harry Dursch from Corinthian YC in Seattle. The big surprise for the regatta was the strength of the performance from Wakayama Sailing Club's Hidetuki Miyagawa, from Wakayama, Japan, sailing SIESTA to fourth place even after having to score two DNFs in races 1 and 6. Had Hidetuki-san maintained his pace in these two races, his WSC team was easily on contention for a podium finish-- we wish him better luck in the J/24 NA's! Rounding out the top five was another anticipated top finisher, TMC RACING skippered by Mike Whitfield from Berkeley YC on San Francisco Bay.
The J/105s saw a closely fought run for the gold between JADED and LAST TANGO withe outcome going up for grabs in the last race. Nevertheless, Gerald Hirschler's JADED from Corinthian YC won by a slim one point margin over JP Petersen's LAST TANGO, also from CYC. Lying third was Erik Kristen's JUBILEE from CYC, fourth was Robert Blaylock's USAWI from SBYC and fifth was Lorenzo Migliorini's ALLEGRO VIVACE from CYC.It was only rockin' and rollin' in the J/109 class and after the dust cleared in the fourteenth (!!) race, it was Bob Arney's IT'S ONLY ROCK AND ROLL from CYC that won with thirty-two points, winning the last three races to seal the deal! Second was David MacLean's ILLUSIONIST sailing from CYC and third was J-TRIPPER sailed by the Nordquists from Seattle YC. Photo credits- Tim Wilkes Sailing Photography
For more Sperry Topsider Seattle NOOD Regatta Sailing and Results info.
Royal St. George Win Cumberland Cup
(London, England) - With a close to perfect score, Andrew Fowler's team of Sam Hurst, Brendan Fafliani, John Sheehy, Nick Smyth, Guy O'Leary, Peter Bailey and Phil Lawton from Royal St George YC in Dublin, Ireland, won the 2010 Royal Thames Cumberland Cup from Ian Ilsley's team from Yacht Club de Monaco. Firm friend and arch-rival were the Southern Yacht Club of New Orleans that finished third, claiming by dint of that result the Bourgne Cup, contested on each and every occasion the clubs meet.The seven teams sailed a total of 54 races over three days at Queen Mary Water hard by Heathrow airport. A classic bright scarlet Routemaster double-decker omnibus, that iconic symbol of London, ferried the crews to and from the RTYC's Knightsbridge clubhouse.
Sailing in a fleet of eight carefully-matched J/80s, the competition began with a two-day double round-robin in which each team raced each other team twice. St George topped the league, winning 11 out of their 12 matches and losing only to the hosts and current holders, Royal Thames, and thus apparently setting the scene for the finals. It was a scene dramatically re-shaped by the winner-take-all nature of the Cumberland Cup's competition structure.
With teams traveling from across the globe to compete in this regatta, the organizers deliberately eschew a competition format that eliminates teams early from the competition, espousing instead a format that keeps every team sailing into the final round. The result is The Ladder. On The Ladder, a win carries the double bonus of promotion to the next rung - but every loss earns the double-penalty of relegation. On The Ladder, it is just possible by dint of really good sailing to redeem a disappointing result in the round-robin and climb all the way to the top - as did the Monegasques - while the series leaders - in this case the Irish - must not put a foot wrong if they are to retain their fingertip grip on the crown. -- Malcolm McKeag For more Cumberland Cup J/80 sailing / regatta information
Gale Force J/22 South African Nationals
Mark Sadler's ORION Wins
(False Bay YC, South Africa)- Who ever said the J/22s weren't stout little boats! The South Africans had a spectacular series of racing hosted in gorgeous sunny conditions, huge winds and ginormous waves in False Bay. The PRO at False Bay YC should be commended for running a wonderful regatta.Sixteen J/22s showed up for this years' 2010 J/22 South African Championships. Six of the boats sailing in the Nationals were ready to practice the day before the regatta started. ORION skippered by Mark Sadler, JUMP'N'JIVE skippered by Dale Kushner, MINI BILLY skippered by Peter Hill, BABY J skippered
by Markus Progli, GREENLIGHT skippered by Dave Hudson, and JENDES skippered by Manuel Mendes. However, with 30-40 knots gusting to 50+ knots in False Bay, even the bravest of souls thought prudence the better part of valor and all stayed ashore. Nevertheless, the sailing for the championship was spectacular as the gales eased off to 15-25 knots, making for excellent racing. Race Officer John Spillhaus managed to get in five great races, with J/22s leaping off giant wave-tops upwind and experiencing long surfs on the Atlantic swells downwind under spinnaker. Exciting Racing! The pics show it all. Congratulations to Mark Sadler, Simon Eatwell and Gerrie Hegie for taking 1st place with ORION, Markus and Crew for 2nd on BABY J and Dale and crew for 3rd on JUMP'N'JIVE. For more South African Championship sailing information
Brezellec Wins J/80 French Nationals
(Brest, France)- Sailing as part of the Grand Prix Ecole Navale in Brest, the large forty-nine boat J/80 class conducted their 2010 French Nationals. Eric Brezellec and his crew won. And how! At the end of the ten races run off Brest in the Grand Prix Ecole Navale, Eric's J/80 JACCUZZI / GOLD SAILING finished 33 points ahead of second, never finishing below 6th place. Undeniable victory as they say!Sylvain Pellissier and Dominic Vittet on VOILERIE ALL PURPOSE finished second, as they did at SPI OUEST France earlier in the spring. They take a serious hold to the lead for the J/80 Coupe de France 2010 series as a result of this finish. Finally, Jean-Charles Moriceau and his team on INTERFACE CONCEPT 1 complete this superb podium, getting third overall.
Eric Brezellec said, "We're really pleased, especially since we sailed together for the first time. But the crew were all Brestois ... this helped because here the wind shifted a lot and the waters are very complex. It's very hard for the nerves. We wish to thank the organization for very nice event and congratulate the excellent race committee who handled the conditions brilliantly. " For more J/80 France sailing information
J/22 French Nationals
EUROPEAN HOMES Wins
(Brest, France)- Ten boats made the trip to Lanvéoc off the River Alders, including three crew who sailed their first J/22 regatta outside of Nantes, France. A special thank you to Philippe who made his J/22 JULIE available to the youth team of Erick and Pierre Philippe and Jean Pierre. Like the J/80s, the J/22s sailed as part of the Grand Prix Ecole Navale in Brest.The sailing was magnificent, with flat seas, large stretches of green, undeveloped coastline and gorgeous vistas. In typical Breton weather, four races were run on Friday at a steady pace and by 1500 hours all boats were in port. After the first day, EUROPEAN HOMES was dominating with three firsts and a third (after hitting a buoy and re-rounding while in the lead!). On Saturday, the standings tightened up with various leaders making some mistakes, but EUROPEAN HOMES maintained their leading position. On Sunday, the course was shifted eastwards towards the River Alders. Two races were sailed on the final day. As usual EH stayed in front, not having to sail the last race. In the end, the final standings were European Homes (13), Soffe (20), Delfina (30), Majic (34), J'rouette (52), Jazzy (56), Ener'J (57), Julie (61), Papy'J (65) and Beasties' Boys (68). For more French J/22 sailing information Sailing Photo credits- Ecole Navale Brest
J/22 German Inshore Series
Annka Duebbers's Womens' Team Screams Away!
(Haltern an See, Germany)- The conditions before the regatta were not good. For days before it was 8 degree centigrade, rain and no wind. But then just before the regatta started, the skies parted, the sun showed up and the wind came in! Magical, a glam regatta for some glam girls, too!After the first days of racing, sitting with a 1-3-1 were the girls racing JETSCREAM, skippered by Annka Duebbers and her merry crew of Falko Braun, Nadine Settele and Gina Heb. On Saturday evening, there was nothing that Ulrich Wens' team could do (including his crew Christian Raschke) to get Annka's team to have too much fun enjoying the African live music, stage show and gambling. The girls kept their composure, went home and showed up the next day ready for action.
On Sunday, the JETSCREAM team sailed strongly, despite starting off with a fourth place. They managed to beat Ulrich's team in the last race to secure first place for the regatta. The Race Committee should be commended for setting a variety of interesting courses, including a very challenging Olympic Course that sailed so many reaches, runs and beats that the crews appeared dizzy after one seventeen leg race! See more results and photos on the J/22 Germany site. For more J/22 Germany sailing info.
Stormy Shoe Regatta
Zartler's J-TEEZ Triumphant
(Houston, TX) The Lakewood Yacht Club in Houston, TX hosts this annual even that is heavily attended by the regional one-design classes...the winners all get "sailin' shoes for the crew" (these are no Tod's nor Manolo's, bet the girls wished they were)! This year, heavy thunderstorms, wind and rain caused abandonment of Saturday's racing, while light air and high temperatures made for some brutal conditions on Sunday. Over sixty sailboats participated, including one-deSIgn classes for J/22s, J/80s, J/105s and J/109s.The J/105 class, along with a set of shoes, was won by Bill Zartler and crew on J-TEEZ with 5 points. Bee Bednar and crew on STINGER squeezed out a second with 7 points. Malcolm Bremer and crew on BABE finished third with 8 points. The most interesting race had all the J/105s crossing the finish line within seconds of each other.
In the J/22 class, Steve and Anna Willits from Lakewood YC were first with ten points, solidifying their lead in the last two races with two bullets. Vincent Ruder was second after torpedoing their early regatta lead with a 6-3 in the last two races. Ruthie Lambert from GBCA was third racing her J/22 OUT OF SIGHT, winning on a tie-breaker over Richard Volyes' MUST GO FASTER with thirteen points each.
The J/80s had a nice turnout with some very competitive racing. Winning on a tie-breaker at six points a piece was Bob McMahan from Lakewood YC winning on his J/80 KAOS with a 3-1-2. Losing the tie-breaker with an identical record of 1-2-3 was Forbes Durdin also from LYC finishing second sailing MOJITO. Third was Bill Rose from GBCA on KICKS sailing to a 2-3-4 record for nine points.
The J/109 class had a great turnout for this versatile offshore/ one-design racer. Most of the Houston area J/109 contingent showed up in full force to race for their share of the shoe inventory (that's a lot of them for a 9+ person J/109 crew)! The winner was John Mather from GBCA sailing FRENCH CONNECTION to win with five points. LYC's Albrecht Goethe sailed HAMBURG to second with seven points and Mark Smith showed up from Ft Worth Boat Club sailing HARM'S WAY to third place, just one point back from HAMBURG. For more Shoe Regatta sailing and results information
Blustery Stone Cup Regatta
J/120 DESDEMONA and J/105 JAM SESSION Win
(San Francisco, CA)- Under grey skies and blustery winds the St. Francis Yacht Club's Stone Cup event was held this past weekend of May 15-16. The racing was tight in each of the J one-design divisions. Typical San Francisco Bay weather greeted the Stone Cup sailors for two days of racing hosted by the St Francis Yacht Club. The Marine Layer that had been missing all year showed its presence over the weekend ensuring the fleets would have plenty of wind for racing. With a strong flood tide providing flat water, at least flat by San Francisco standards, and 15-25 mph of wind from the first gun, each day of racing would have been perfect it wasn't so darn cold!The 16 boat J/105 class was missing local scratch boat GOOD TIMIN' but the competition was still fierce in this hotly contested one design class. Three different boats each won one of the four races held, but it was Adam Spiegel's JAM SESSION that came out on top. Bruce Stone's ARBITRAGE took second and Scooter Simmons on BLACKHAWK took third. Each of these two boats also won races individually with BLACKHAWK winning race 2 and 4 and ARBITRAGE winning race three. Simmons probably has a story to tell about his 10th place finish in race one. With a 10-1-3-1 scoring line something dramatic happened, gone shrimping?
In the 40ft J/120 class DESDEMONA owned by John Wimer took the victory while MR. MAGOO helmed by Steve Madeira from Northeast Harbor, ME took second. The podium was rounded out by DAYENU in third but only by the narrowest of margins did the Donald Payan boat miss second place. It went down to the last race in which MR MAGOO took the bullet and put two boats between himself and DAYENU (fourth) and even then it went to a tiebreaker with MR MAGOO taking second by virtue of that low score first place finish. For more St. FYC Stone Cup sailing information Photo credits- H20Shots.com/ Erik Simonson
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Good Guys Do Finish First- J/24 Skipper Michael Johnson along with crew (left to right) Joy Okazaki, Bob Pistay, Peg Pritchard, and Justin Fallstrom won overall honors at the 2010 Sperry Top-Sider Seattle NOOD Regatta racing their J/24. Organizing a major championship is often a thankless job. And to add insult to injury, the distraction of wondering whether everything is going according to plan rarely helps on the racecourse. But Michael Johnson and wife Joy Okazaki, who have critical roles in the J/24 North American Championship this coming weekend, were able to shake off any effects of a lot of short nights and long days of late and sail HOT PURSUIT to the win in the 21-boat J/24 class at the 2010 Sperry Top-Sider Seattle NOOD Regatta. Depth was a hallmark of this fleet, which featured top competitors from Japan, Canada, and up and down the West Coast of the United States. Ten boats won at least one of the 14 races; going into the final race the top three boats were within two points of each other. The win netted Johnson the J/24 Northwest Regional Championship and a chance to compete against the top boats from the other eight NOOD regattas this coming November in the B.V.I. in identical charter boats provided by Sunsail. Read more about Stuart Streuli's interview at SW.
* San Diego J/Fleet Having Fun! Sailing Anarchy's Scot Tempesta continues his efforts to grow and "save sailing" in the SoCal 'hood. Here's a quickie on what they've done with the local "paper" yacht club- Cortez Racing Association- to enjoy the gorgeous conditions often found off San Diego. Says Scot, "We haven't done a local knowledge piece from here in Dago for a long time, and here's one about the Cortez Racing Association's Opening Day race. CRA is a 'paper club' that has been running fun, mostly bay races here and on ANARCHY, we have sailed a bunch of their races this (and last) year, because they, maybe more than any other SD club, have the fun factor nailed down. This race was a 53 boat, 12 mile mostly light air bay/ocean pursuit start that was a kick because it had a little of everything long beats, 
long runs, actual need to navigate and the fun of passing boats all race long. (Is passing boats never not fun?). As much as the multi-day, 5 or 7 race series are challenging, the CRA races are for us, just more fun and that's why we race sailboats, isn't it? It would be great to get more of the sporty-type boats out for their races - just six showed up for this one... In addition to their fun Beercan series starting May 26, there is the West Marine Challenged America - a great cause if there ever was one. So this is the call out to get as many SD boats, sporties and otherwise, out for this event. No excuses. Sign up, be a part of a worthwhile event, and have some fun! Photo credits- Dennis St. Onge (Da-Woody) and story here.Featured Boat
Shoal Draft J/44 Ready For Next Offshore Cruising Adventure
With two family adventures to the Caribbean under her belt, STOLEN HOUR is ready to take you any where, any time upon her return to the Northeast in early June. A veteran of two Caribbean 1500 Rallies, she has all of the gear necessary for a safe and swift passage.The J/44 has proven her metal in the most grueling offshore races by winning the Fastnet and the Sydney Hobart while providing spacious live-aboard comfort. Easily handled by two, STOLEN HOUR has proven her durability and reliability over the past year, virtually maintenance free-- a testament to good preparation and attention to detail by her past two owners.
Her shoal keel opens up cruising grounds that are off limits to other performance cruisers with out sacrificing sparkling performance and offshore safety. She's a turn-key proposition, in gorgeous condition and ready to take you wherever your heart, dreams and ambitions desire.
For more information contact Tom Babbitt at East Coast Yacht Sales (http://www.ecys.com), tom@ecys.com, phone- 207-236-8656
About J/Boats
Started in 1977, J/Boats continues to lead the world in designing fun-to-sail, easy-to-handle, performance sailboats that can be enjoyed by a broad spectrum of sailors. The International J/24 has become the most popular recreational offshore keelboat in the world with over 5,400 J/24s cruising the waves. Today, there are 13,000+ J/Boats, ranging from the International J/22 to the J/65 and ranging in style from one-designs to racers, cruisers to daysailers and, of course, the ubiquitous J sprit boats- J/Boats' innovation in 1992 for easy-to-use asymmetric spinnakers and retractable carbon bowsprits (J/80, J/92, J/95, J/105, J/109, J/110, J/120, J/122, J/130, J/133, J/125, J/145, J/160).J/Boats has the best track record in sailing for innovation and design as evidenced by: 15 Sailing World/ Cruising World Boat of the Year Awards in 14 years; 2 SAIL Awards for Industry Leadership; 2 American Sailboat Hall of Fame Designs (J/24 & J/35); and the three largest ISAF International One-Design keelboat classes (J/22, J/24, J/80).
Counting crew, every year there are over 100,000 friends to meet sailing J's, populating the most beautiful sailing harbors and sailing the waters of 35+ countries around the world. Sailing is all about friends. Come join us and expand your social network everywhere!
For more information on J/Boats:
http://www.jboats.com/intro.htm
* J/80s at J/World Annapolis were used for a USSTAG/ GEL program with US Olympian Graham Biehl. Donna Berry from GEL had this to say about the program- "I wanted to share the following sailing story with you involving the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, sailing experiential learning company Group Experiential Learning, J World Annapolis and Olympian Graham Biehl. 
* J/35: Pimped Super-fast Family Cruising Classic-- Dan Moll- from Puerto Rico took an old J/35, now renamed CAVALLINO, and "pimped" their ride into the ultimate cruising, sailing "crib". Here's Dan's story:
