Swiftsure Race Preview(Victoria, BC, Canada)- One of the Pacific Northwest classic offshore yacht races is about to take place this coming weekend- the “Swiftsure Classic”. Hosted by the Royal Victoria YC in British Columbia, there are twenty-one “J” teams sailing in a fleet of 184 boats spread across four different race courses. Indeed, the RVYC over time has encouraged broader participation in the Swiftsure by adding shorter, easier-to-sail courses depending on types of boats and, in fact, time limitations many people are experiencing today with their crews. Those choices include the Swiftsure (138nm), the Cape Flattery (101nm), the Juan de Fuca (78nm), and the Inshore “day regatta held just off downtown Victoria. The forecast looks light with 5-10 kt breezes from the SE to SW quadrants all weekend (see forecast here).
The Swiftsure has grown out of a long tradition of offshore sailboat racing in the Pacific NW. The first recorded sailboat racing in the Victoria area was in the late 1850s, between boats of the Royal Navy and the early Colonists. Interest in the sport grew in the following decades, and by 1930, a long distance race from Cadboro Bay around the Swiftsure Lightship on Swiftsure Bank, at the entrance to the Juan de Fuca Strait was proposed, and there were six entrants! Since then, the event has simply grown in both stature and in participation.
The Swiftsure has, in fact, been a pioneer of “social media” and “public broadcasting” across the airwaves since its inception. In the earlier years of Swiftsure, Eaton’s Department Store (like Harrod’s of England) had a major display window at the corner of Douglas & View, in downtown Victoria— this was always set up as “Swiftsure Headquarters”. A large map of the race course was installed, and the progress of the race was shown by moving miniature boats across the map. As the numbers of boats increased this became a daunting task. The event, and this way of graphically displaying progress, was very much appreciated by Victorians. “People used to line the sidewalks, sit on the curbs. There was a feeling of excitement right there, in the middle of town!”In addition to the Eaton’s race HQ, there was a radio show to accompany the race! “Since the first radio broadcast from “Dose crazy yotsmen” competed with the fisherman’s band to the outside world during the 1952 race, and L’Apache (later Diamond Head) broke her backstay during the effort, Humphrey Golby has been “on the air”. Coverage expanded when Harold Elworthy’s Island Tug and Barge Company generously provided tugboats for the press. Radio station CKDA pioneered with the limited ship-to-shore equipment of the day and ‘The Voice’ of the Swiftsure was born.”
Partaking in all the camaraderie and festivities associated with the premiere offshore event are J teams sailing in virtually all four courses. In the “grand-daddy” of them all, John McPhail’s J/160 JAM from Gig Harbor YC will be sailing the Swiftsure Lightship Classic course, the lone J/crew to do so.
The highly popular Cape Flattery Race has attracted a flock of thirteen J’s, including John Tenneson’s J/145 JEDI and Ron Holbrook’s J/133 CONSTELLATION in IRC Racing class. Others in L-1 Class include some past winners of the race, like Tom Kelly’s J/122 ANAM CARA, Bob Brunius’s J/120 TIME BANDIT. L-2 Class is chock full of J/105s, many of whom have lots of offshore silverware and pickle dishes gathering dust- current Oregon Offshore winning team FREE BOWL OF SOUP (Doug Schenk, Eric Hopper, Matt Davis) will be up against Jerry Diercks’s DELIRIUM (Seattle NOOD winner), Jim Geros’s LAST TANGO and Lorenzo Migliorini’s ALLEGRO VIVACE. In the H-1 Class are a number of fast J cruiser-racers, including Oregon Offshore veterans VELOCITY (Tom Keffer’s J/42), RIVA (Scott Campbell’s J/46) and FUTURE PRIMITIVE (Ron Mackenzie’s J/37).The Juan de Fuca Race seems to be popular with the J/30 gang, with two entries from Sloop Tavern YC- Ulf Georg Gwildis’s IMPULSIVE and CONRAD J (Geoffrey Wolf & Adrien Felon). Joining them are Todd Rutter’s J/32 BLUE JAY and Jim Prentice’s J/109 DIVA.
Finally, the Inshore regatta includes the J/80 SW sailed by Kevin Reath, the J/30 CORVO skippered by Tom Kerr and the J/40 MALOLO helmed by Mike Hoffman. For more Swiftsure Race sailing information
FIGAWI Race Preview(Hyannis, MA)- The most anticipated opening regatta for the offshore sailors in New England (particularly those around Cape Cod) has to be the renowned FIGAWI Race weekend. Traditionally taking place on the USA Memorial Day holidays, this mad dash of 60nm or so (depending on how you sail it) from Hyannis port to Nantucket has to be one of the world’s larger pursuit races. And, that is its charm. No one has any idea of how well they will do since it’s really a race to yet another social event/ party that takes place on Saturday night. For most, the racing is secondary to the social activities ashore in Nantucket all Sunday.
The 43rd Annual Figawi Race Weekend kicks off the Cape Cod and Nantucket summer season with over 200 sailboats and nearly 3,000 sailors attend this event. The weekend begins with a Kickoff Party at Hyannis Yacht Club on Friday, May 23rd, 2014. It is a come-one, come-all affair!
Early Saturday morning, the first boat officially starts at 10 am off the Hyannis Port Jetty, hoping to be the first one to Nantucket Harbor. In this pursuit-style race, there have often been cases where maxi 70 footers are crossing the line simultaneously with J/24s, J/35s, J/44s, Concordia 40s and Lord knows what else!
This year’s 206 entries are sure hoping the weather cooperates. Fog, drizzle and rain are not unknown in these parts in late spring, so is no wind. Nevertheless, with an enormous depression moving offshore spinning off northeasterly breezes, the fleet should have light drizzle Friday, but clearing for Saturday start! (see weather forecast).
Hoping to make their mark in this year’s event are nineteen intrepid J adventurers whistling across Vineyard Sound. First out of the blocks will be the two J/29s, Pat Cerundolo’s IL CATTIVO and Ira Perry’s SEEFEST. Next are likely to be another duo of J/40s, Bill Jones’s SMITTEN and Kirk Brown’s JAZZ. Then, comes the single biggest “one-design” start in the fleet, a half-dozen J/105s that include the Nantucket High School Sailing Team on CLIO (very cool, eh?) along with Joyce & Wagner Reservitz’s DARK’N’STORMY, Doug Riggs’s RIGADOON, Ed Lobo’s WATERWOLF, Brad Mascott’s TWO IF BY SEA and Jon Bloom’s BEAR SPIRIT. Two J/109s are next, making the trip are Jim Bello’s DEJA VU and Bill Kneller’s VENTO SOLARE. Not far behind will be two J/120s, Dave Follett’s GLORY and Gordon Mack’s M-SQUARED. Ed Kaye’s J/111 PRAVDA 2 will be in hot pursuit behind the 120s. Yet another duo of J/122s will be following them, Jim Masiero’s URSUS MARITIMUS and Peter Duncan’s PATRIOT. Finally, the “big boys” this year starting about the same time are Lauren Burke’s J/44 SPICE and Dick Egan’s award-winning J/46 WINGS! Fun for all. It’s likely to be a jib/ genoa fetch reach across, particularly if the front keeps moving and the wind veers into the ESE quadrants! For more FIGAWI Race sailing information
Block Island Race Preview(Stamford, CT)- Over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, the Storm Trysail Club’s annual Block Island Race takes place on the tricky waters of Long Island Sound and Block Island Sound. An end of spring classic, this annual rite of passage for many sailing yachts in the northeast is a daunting 186nm sprint that starts off Stamford, CT and uses Block Island as a turning mark offshore.
The course is simple but maddeningly exasperating at times depending on how you execute the tactics and strategies based on the weather and currents. In fact, the central issue for the entire race almost always comes down to how you go through the infamous "Race" at the end of Long Island- Plum Gut south of Plum Island, through the middle, or along the Connecticut shore and Fisher's Island to the north. This year’s weather forecast indicates easterlies at the start on Friday, backing into the NE to N by Saturday afternoon (see weather forecast here). A light to moderate breeze beat going east down Long Island Sound may be an issue for many boats but most of the J/Teams should simply love it.
Facing that challenge are seventy-two boats, fifteen of them J/Crews (20% of the fleet), sailing in IRC & PHRF handicap classes and a J/44 one-design fleet.
The largest brand in the IRC 1 Double-handed Division are the J’s with 5 of the 12 boats sailing.
Multiple Block Island Race and Bermuda Race One-Two winner, Jason Richter, will certainly be a factor on his famous J/35 PALADIN. Two J/120s are participating including Gardner Grant's ALIBI and Hewitt Gaynor's MIRIELLE, both are proven offshore winners- the 120s themselves could lead all the J's home. New additions to the double-handed group this are Mike Piper’s J/111 EAGLES DARE from Marblehead, MA and Norman Kilarjian’s J/105 TOLO from New York.
In IRC 2 Division Robert Siegel from Stamford, CT will skipper the lone J/109 PAX 3. Their most significant competition will surely come from Rives Potts’s 48 ft custom sloop CARINA- a Bermuda Race winner.
The two J teams sailing in the IRC 3 Division have eight other classmates to contend with, many with strong Block Island Race credentials. Regardless, the J/133 MATADOR sailed by Dale and Michael McIvor and the J/122 RED SKY skippered by John Pearson should like the forecasted breezes relative to their competition.
In PHRF Division 1 world, the famous J/105 YOUNG AMERICAN will be sailing with a completely junior crew aboard made up of American YC’s Junior Big Boat Team sailors. Aboard as “adult supervision” will be Peter Becker, AYC’s sailing coach/ director.
Taking on the PHRF 2 Division will be Rick Oricchio’s J/120 ROCKET SCIENCE from Black Rock YC in Fairfield, CT.
Finally, the J/44 One-Design Division has an excellent turnout of five boats and included are several that have offshore championship winning pedigree. Phil Gutin’s BEAGLE, Norm Schulman’s CHARLIE V and Len Sitar’s VAMP are amongst those who’ve done this race many times. Also veterans of the offshore wars are Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes sailing KINCSEM, quick learners of the game after just getting nipped at the finish last year by Sitar’s VAMP! Harry Devore’s team on HONAHLEE are no shrinking violets either, after not sailing the race the last few years, they’re hoping to make their mark in this tough group of one-design group sailors. For more STC Block Island Race sailing information
Poole Regatta Preview(Poole, England)- The Poole Regatta is a huge bi-annual event held over the 3 days of the late May Bank Holiday Weekend starting 24th May. In addition to the IRC series, there are a number of national championships being run as part of the regatta, including J/24s, J/70s and J/80s.
At the top of the IRC 1 entries is Jackie and Rob Dobson’s J/133 Jeronimo, who will expect to lead this fleet around the course. Joining them are two J/109s, Steven Tapper’s STALKER and Alan & Lis Bennet’s BLUE JAY.
The one-design side of things is pretty remarkable, three International J one-designs are sailing their UK Nationals at this event! What is even more impressive is that all three fleets have excellent attendance, the J/24s have 19 boats registered, the J/70s have 13 and the J/80s have 16. Fun and games for all!
For the J/70 UK Nationals it is a compulsory qualifying event for teams that wish to go to the 2014 World Championship in Newport, RI. Many of the top UK teams are attending, including Ian Atkins on BOATS.COM (top finisher at Key West Race Week), Simon Ling skippering TEAM RAF SPITFIRE Powered by SLAM and Marie-Claude Heys on JACOBS COAT. In addition, participating is the American team of Jen & Ray Wulff from Annapolis, MD; they are sailing a chartered J/70 called JOINT CUSTODY.The J/80s also have most of their top teams attending, including Patrick Liardet on AQUA-J, Andrew Dallas & Ben Richards on BOYSTEROUS, Gary Owens on JAMMY DODGER, Phil Taylor on J.A.T. and Team JUICY.
The J/24s have a number of familiar faces from the local fleet at Parkstone YC and from the fleet on the Solent; many sporting sail numbers of recent vintage, like 4000 and higher! Amongst the contenders may be Andy Taylor’s HITCHIKER, Bob Turner & Ian Brown’s SERCO, Nick Phillips’s CHAOTIC, Roger Morris’s JOLLY ROGER and Simon Hall’s SUSPICION. Like the J/70s, there is an American team participating- Paul Anstey’s team from Melbourne YC in Florida racing JOBS FOR THE BOYS. For more Poole Regatta sailing information
“Dark-n-Stormy” Community Sailing Benefit(Pier 66, NY)- The Hudson River Community Sailing Center is hosting its 7th annual “Dark & Stormy” Sailing Benefit at the Pier 66 facilities known as “The Frying Pan” at West 26th Street and Hudson River Park on Tuesday, June 13th.
This program has grown tremendously over time and the fact that a fleet of J/24s are helping to provide academic enrichment to New York City and New Jersey public schools is an awesome program to support— for all sailors!
The event takes place on Tuesday, June 3rd from 7pm to 10pm with music, dancing, great food, open bar and fantastic raffle prizes. Please contact event chairs Joy Macdougall, Chrystal Puleo, Lisa Fox or Emory O’Mealia.
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
The third week of May was busy with sailing activities taking place in many interesting sailing areas around the world. However, perhaps none were busier than the second stage of the J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga taking place in Starnberg, Germany and hosted by the Bayerischer Yacht Club. Eighteen yacht club teams participated in the three-day event that saw dozens of races sailed.Over in China, the Qingdao International Marine Club (QIMC) located at the Qingdao International Sailing Center recently hosted the International City Clubs Open Regatta. Two of the “local” J/80s managed to defy all odds and perform quite admirably in the ORC Handicap division.
In the Americas, the J/22s just held their North American Championship on the Chesapeake Bay and had the Annapolis YC host the event over a four-day period. Speaking of J/22’s, the Canandaigua YC hosted their perennial J/22 Jack Rabbit Regatta on the gorgeous Canandaigua Lake in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. Out West, two events took place along the Pacific coastline. Up in the northwest, the Sperry Top Sider Seattle NOOD Regatta was held on Puget Sound, surrounded by the mighty Olympics and Cascades snow-capped mountain ranges. Fleets of J/24s, J/70s, J/80s and J/105s participated in that event. Down south, the J/105s and J/120s sailed in the Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure Regatta on San Francisco Bay and hosted by St Francis YC.
Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below has many entertaining stories and news about J/Sailors as well as cruising blogs about those who continue to enjoy the Caribbean and the South Pacific, staying warm while others are trying to stay warm up north. Check them out! More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page! Below are the summaries.
Regatta & Show Schedules:
May 24-26- Swiftsure Race- Royal Victoria YC- Victoria, BC, CanadaMay 27- Jun 9- Delta Lloyd North Sea Week- Scheveningen, Netherlands
May 28- Jun 1- J/22 Europeans- Cameret-sur-Mer, France
May 29-Jun 2- Italian J/24 Nationals- Tirano, Italy
May 30- Susan Hood Trophy Race- Mississauga, ONT, Canada
May 31- Delta Ditch Run- Stockton Sailing Club- Stockton, CA
Jun 6-8- Chicago NOOD Regatta- Chicago YC- Chicago, IL
Jun 6-9 Norseewoche- Heligoland, Germany
Jun 9-15- Normandy Sailing Week- Le Havre, France
Jun 13-22- Cleveland Race Week- Cleveland, OH
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
BAD NEWS 2 Wins J/22 North Americans(Annapolis, MD)- Thirty-eight teams from across the United States and Canada competed in this year’s J/22 North American Championships held at the Annapolis YC in Annapolis, MD. Mike Marshall of Jamestown, Rhode Island earned his first J/22 North American Championship with crew Mark Sertl and Matt Gowell sailing BAD NEWS 2. BAD NEWS took advantage of a discard in the fifth and final race to secure the championship with 12 points. Local teams rounded out the top three, as Chris Gaffney’s CHASING WATERFALLS took second with 16 points and J.R. Maxwell’s SCOOBY snared the bronze spot with 18 points. Four races were held on Sunday, after light and fluky breeze allowed just one race over the first two days of the championship, bringing the total number of races to five.
Marshall, also the winner of the Annapolis NOOD two weeks ago, credited Gowell in the middle and Sertl on the foredeck for getting him around the race course while he focused on steering. Despite light air and strong current, the team focused on the conditions where they were at any given moment. “You made a decision that brought you to where you are, so you just have to concentrate on that,” Marshall stated. “The Race Committee did the best they could with the conditions they were given. It was challenging and tough.” Marshall is relatively new to the J/22, having just competed in last year’s Worlds and some local club racing.
Winds at 8-10 knots greeted competitors on Sunday morning under sunny skies, as local Jeff Todd’s HOT TODDY won the day’s first battle. Brad Julian’s THREE DORIES.COM team followed in second, and Jonathan Phillips’ BRUISER in third. 2013 J/22 World Champion Allan Terhune on DAZZLER dominated the next contest, with Gaffney and Marshall behind him. Chris Doyle steered “THE JUG 4 1”to victory in Sunday’s third race, trailed by Maxwell and Marshall, as winds decreased slightly. Terry Flynn’s TEJAS closed the event with a victory. Next were Chris Wilson’s LIL’ PUFFY and Jeffrey Love’s STAMPEDE.The top five after Marshall’s BAD NEWS 2 was Gaffney’s CHASING WATERFALLS in second with 16 pts, Maxwell’s SCOOBY in third with 18 pts, Wilson’s LIL’ PUFFY in fourth with 21 pts and Doyle’s “THE JUG 4 1” in fifth with 27 pts. Sailing photo credits- Susan Mikulski. For more J/22 North American Championship sailing information
Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga Starts With Three-Way Tie!Norddeutscher RV Win The Tie-Breaker
(Starnberg, Germany)- After an intense qualification regatta a few weeks back, eighteen clubs participated in the Bundesliga season opener on Lake Starnberg at the Bayerischer Yacht Club. The thirteen sailing clubs that qualified from the first season in 2013 were joined by five “newcomers” that had qualified in early April- Bodensee Yacht Club Überlingen, Düsseldorf Yacht Club, Kieler Yacht Club, the S.C.”Wappen von Bremen" and the Seglervereinigung Itzehoe.
Prior to the start of the regatta, Ilya Wolf (BYC team manager) said, "Our team is perfectly prepared. We are looking forward to the coming weekend and are proud host of this event. We are very excited about participating with the Segel-Bundesliga. It is a very good opportunity for our young sailors and a great way to promote sailing to everyone."
Recognizing the importance of this season long series that culminates with the Finale in Hamburg, many clubs pulled out all the stops to get their top sailors to hop aboard the teams as either crew or skippers. Among the most prominent sailors in Starnberg were four German Olympians. Sailing for Württemberg Yacht Club was Stefanie Rothweiler (two-time Olympic 470s); sailing for Wansee was Ulrike Schumann (Olympics in Ynglings); and Kristin Wagner (Olympic Yngling) and Patrick Follmann (Olympian 470) were both sailing for Deutscher Touring YC.With so much talent and tactical horsepower aboard the various boats, the racing was going to be close. In fact, far closer than anyone could have imagined! After the first day of sailing, three teams were tied on points- Bayerischer YC, Deutsche Touring YC and Flensburg SC! Lots of sunshine and light 7 kt winds greeted the fleet, enough to get in seven races. "The weather conditions were not optimal. In fact, it was often difficult. But, we are extremely pleased and excited that we were able to get a good start in the new season on home turf," concluded Christian Schäfer, helmsman of the BYC boat.
The second day offered sailing at its best. Starting out with a bit of rainy weather, by afternoon, the weather had cleared and the good breezes enabled twenty-four races to be sailed! The defending champions, Norddeutscher RV, had an impressive day of sailing. "The field is so close and tight that a single mistake is sufficient to be passed from the very front to the very back of the pack. With good starts and safe maneuvers, we were able to stay up front most of the time. Our goal is the top three," stated Florian Weser from the NRV team. In fact, after Saturday’s racing, they did much better than that; Team NRV was leading after ten races. Following them were Wannsee in second, Deutscher Touring YC in third and Konstanzer YC in fourth.After Sunday’s sailing, only 39 of the 45 scheduled races were completed, 13 for each club. In the end, the defending Segel-Bundesliga 2013 champions, Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, took first place overall by breaking the tie-breaker with seven race wins over their competitors. The other two teams tied on 44 pts each were Verein am Wannsee and Deutscher Touring YC, taking 2nd and 3rd respectively.
"For us it was a roller-coaster of emotions. The quality of sailors and the competition were extremely high. All in all, we really sailed well and look forward to enjoying our first win," commented NRV teammate Carsten Kemmling.
Second-placed VSaW Team manager Ulrike Schumann said, "After the bad start, we pressed the reset button and then it all ran much smoother. We want to win this year, that's our goal!"
Next stop on the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga is July 19-21 as part of Travemünde Sailing Week on the Baltic Sea. Remember, all races are broadcast via “live stream” on the Internet, so thousands of sailing enthusiasts in Germany and around the world can watch it “live” on the water. Sailing photo credits- DSBL/ Lars Wehrmann Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing video: Day One Day Two Day Three For more Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information
BABA LOUIE Seattle NOOD Overall Champion!(Seattle, WA)- This year’s Sperry Top Sider Seattle NOOD Regatta brought tears of joy and smiles all around to the sailors for one simple reason- wind! At least enough of it so that most fleets got in a least six if not ten races over the three day event. Taking advantage of this most precious of commodities in the Pacific Northwest was none other than BABA LOUIE; the J/24 sailed by Pat Dore with Chris Snow, Melanie Edwards (bow), Ken Monaghan (mast), and Dale Turley (trimmer). BABA LOUIE not only won their class but also won the entire event overall— declared as the Overall Seattle NOOD Champions!
Friday was a rather auspicious start for the regatta. A consistent 10-15 kts southerly allowed some classes to complete as many as five races. Pat Dore's local team on the J/24 BABA LOUIE, which won four of five races in the 16-boat fleet, was the standout team of the day. "We had a really good day," said Dore's tactician Chris Snow. "It was a great day of sailing. It was a lot of fun, especially to be able to get in that many races. The left side of the course was really favored because the wind accelerates over the headland, so the key was to work that side."
For the second day of sailing, there was still wind, but just a bit less. Jerry Diercks, of Seattle, knows how tricky the sailing conditions can be on Puget Sound, especially when the winds are as light and the current as strong as it was. Dierck’s J/105 DELIRIUM was tied for first in its seven-boat class after five races, and in the first race of the day, they almost took themselves out of contention.“I had one of the worst starts of my life,” said Diercks. “The current was so strong and I jibed away from the line two minutes before the race [which took him down current] instead of tacking like I should have, and in an instant we were 200 yards away from the line and behind the entire fleet before we even started.”
Fortunately for Diercks and his teammates on DELIRIUM, the race committee abandoned the race shortly after the start because a considerable wind shift skewed the racecourse. “With no throw-outs allowed in this regatta, we can’t have another bad race [they’re already carrying a seventh from yesterday],” said Diercks. “With the tie, we need to have two good races tomorrow.”
Sunday’s racing ultimately had to be abandoned for lack of wind after two light air races. However, most sailors were grateful and quite happy with the fact the regatta’s PRO’s pushed hard the first two days to get in some good sailing.
Behind BABA LOUIE in the J/24 class was Harrie Dursch and crew on SELF ABUSE taking second place. This team was closing fast on the boys in front of them going into the final races on Sunday, in fact posting a 2-3-1-2 to get within two points of the overall lead on Sunday. Grabbing third place was past winner Scott Milne on TREMENDOUS SLOUCH with 33 pts. The balance of the top five was Steve Travis on SPARK in fourth with 44 pts and fifth was Brad Miller on HAIR OF THE DOG with 68 pts.
In the J/105s, Diercks’s DELIRIUM crew continued their winning ways and closed with a 1-1-2 to win the regatta with 14 pts. Leading with a 2-1-2 after the first three races was Todd Rickard’s SEAMIST. However, it appears that SEAMIST’s tactician went A.W.O.L., since SEAMIST’s scores of 5-2-6 in the last three races completely torpedoed their grandiose dreams of glory, instead having to settle for silver on the podium. In fact, SEAMIST had to win on a tie-breaker they had sunk so fast. Third was Erik Kristen’s JUBILEE team sailing remarkably consistent all weekend, winning a race and never posting a score over 4th, to finish with 18 pts and tied with SEAMIST!
In the J/80s it was clear the regatta had become a duel between two boats, Bryan Rhodes’s CRAZY IVAN and Bill McKinnon’s SKYE ROCKET. After the dust settled at the O.K. Corral in this gunfight, CRAZY IVAN took top honors by winning four of the six races. McKinnon’s SKYE ROCKET took four 2nd place finishes to secure second overall. Third was Lek Dimarucot’s FEARFUL SYMMETRY.
In addition, sailing ten races in the regatta were the inaugural J/70 class. Clearly, the fleet loved the first day of sailing with a combination of planing and soak modes all day long. Sailing super-fast out of the box on that day was the experienced team aboard DaSPENCER, skippered by Mike Pitt, taking two bullets to lead the fleet after day one. However, as the wind dropped off over the next two days, so did Team DaSPENCER’s fortunes. In the end, JUST LISTED sailed by the Sail Northwest team took top honors with 13 pts. They were followed by Andrew Mesher’s PERIDOT in second with 24 pts and in third was DaSPENCER with 27.
Finally, in the North Sails Rally class, a one-day time-on-time PHRF pursuit style race around the bay on Saturday, the J/24 CHALLENGER sailed by Chris Archer took second overall! Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com. Sailing World video interview - Dave Reed and Chris Snow For more Sperry Top Sider Seattle NOOD regatta sailing information
J/80s Win China City Clubs Open Regatta(Qingdao, China)- The International City Clubs Open Regatta is hosted annually by the Qingdao International Marine Club (QIMC) located at the Qingdao International Sailing Center (the same venue used for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Sailing events). Overseeing Jiaozhou Bay, the sailors in the regatta enjoyed what many have said is one of the world’s best yachting and sailing centers ever developed (a $300 million development budget may have helped).
In fact, the sailors in the CCOR enjoyed the amazing hospitality of the host club house along the waterfront. QIMC was founded in 1999 and has the distinction of being China's only official international sailing club under State General Administration of Sports based in Beijing, capital of China. What was one of the strong attractions of the club? The fact that it serves one of the world’s best beers for pennies a pint. Remember this, the city of Qingdao holds an international beer festival every August where the centerpiece is, of course, the local brew, Tsingtao beer. Tsingtao Brewery is one of the oldest beer producers in China and was founded in 1903 by German and British merchants. The brewery is still using the original yeast transported from Germany more than 100 years ago- no wonder it’s the number one export beer from China.
Out of the four local J/80s in Qingdao, two sailed in this years CCOR regatta in ORC Handicap Division. Not your normal J/80 regatta since the teams found themselves sailing against a First 40 with a good skipper and two other 50 footers. Ironically, the rating of the First 40 was only 10 seconds per mile faster then the J/80. With very inexperienced crews, the J/80s sailed in 10 races with winds ranging from 14 to 30 knots over the 4 days. The J/80 teams faired well with Jim Johnstone racing the lead boat and the Liuzhou Riviera Yacht Club instructor team racing the second boat. After 9 races, Johnstone had eight 1sts and one 2nd and the other J/80 had a split of seconds and thirds. Boat-for-boat Johnstone finished in front of the First 40 four of nine races; that’s quite an accomplishment since they should be much faster.
The last race of the CCOR regatta was a 15nm distance race and the J/80s knew there was no way we were going to have sufficient handicap time on the First 40. While the First 40 won on handicap, the J/80 sailed by Johnstone finished second overall, thus taking the overall ORC Division win by a significant margin. Second in ORC class was the Liuzhou Riviera YC team on the other J/80. Of note, was that Johnstone’s J/80 team beat all of the Far East 26's and the lead Soto 27 boat-for-boat and the Flying Tiger FT10 finished only a few boat-lengths in front when they finished. Sailing with Johnstone were Jeppe, the J/Boats Asia Qingdao representative doing cockpit, the owner and one of the Liuzhou Members doing bow.
For more City Clubs Open Regatta sailing information
Hallagan Crowned Chief “Jack Rabbit”(Canandaigua, NY)- The J/22 Jack Rabbit Regatta was recently hosted by J-22 Fleet 24 at the Canandaigua Yacht Club from May 17th to 18th on beautiful Canandaigua Lake. A good time was had by all; though attendance was down this year as the J-22 North Americans were scheduled for the same weekend. There were major rain storms in the area on Thursday before the regatta, and Canandaigua Lake was at flood levels with water up to the top of the docks. The County Sheriff issued a safety warning and issued a speed restriction of 5 mph to minimize any shore damage. The camping area was wet, but several brave souls camped and had nice camp fires going on Friday and Saturday evenings! That is the tradition of the “Jack Rabbit”, laid back, fun and so popular that it’s now going into its third decade as a great late spring regatta to “de-mothball” your J/22 and get it ready for the summer sailing season!
Saturday morning was bright and clear with NW winds in the 5-8 kts range, with temperatures in the low 40’s. There was plenty of coffee, donuts, juice and fruit donated by “Wegman’s Market” to get us warmed up and ready to race. Jim Muller, who has been the regatta PRO for the last 7 years, got racing started at approximately 10:30. By 3:30 five great races had been completed and the boats headed to shore. After the boats were secured for the night, the fleet headed to the Canandaigua YC building for an awesome “house party”! Entertainment was provided by “The Table Top Three,” a local favorite that play blues, standard stuff and contemporary popular music, featuring an acoustic trio of guitar, harmonica and upright bass. They certainly had the house rocking late into the evening!
Again, according to tradition, after the running of the Preakness Stakes (part of the horse-racing “Triple Crown”) on Saturday, spirits, glasses and shirts provided by East Avenue Liquor were given out to participating boats!
As the sailors slowly woke up at the crack of noon Sunday morning, the weather couldn’t have been nicer, bright and clear again with temperatures in the mid 40’s. Winds were again light from the NNW. Racing started at 9 and two more races were completed before noon. Awards for the top three included J/22 sailboat models and gift certificates from sponsors APS Ltd. and German Brothers Marine. The Mid-Fleet winner garnered a bottle of “Pyrate Rum” with a wooden display case. Awards were also given to the best sailing clubs with 3 or more boats participating and for the boat that came the greatest distance. As people packed up their boats, there were smiles everywhere.
After winning four of the seven races sailed, Richard Hallagan’s crew on CHIBOUGAMAU took first overall with 10 pts net (after toss race). Second was Mark Stuhlmiller on EUDAIMONIA with 15 pts net and third was Gary Schmidt’s MOOI NOOI with 20 pts. Rounding out the top five were Adam Masters on TRAINWRECK and Todd Salzman on HANDBASKET, 4th and 5th, respectively. For more J/22 Jack Rabbit sailing information
BLACKHAWK Wins Swiftsure Regatta(San Francisco, CA)- The Swiftsure Regatta is a classic “city front” event that takes place along the San Francisco city shoreline, just south of Alcatraz Island. The regatta is well-attended by the local J/105 fleet on San Francisco Bay. Here’s the regatta report from one of the J/105 teams, Bruce Stone’s ARBITRAGE:
“This year’s Swiftsure was a classic, with a building flood and relief on the shore, wind in the high teens and low 20’s, with the forecast to build into the high 20’s, so we brought out last season’s sails. The race committee set up off of Ft. Mason, and while they usually cant the line to draw boats toward the committee end, we (Arbitrage) felt the pin was way favored with the tide advantage and we started all alone on port at the pin, successfully crossing the fleet.
The next problem was to determine when to tack to shore for the relief. The crowd taking our stern of course got there first and unfortunately we got a terrific lift which I should have ridden around 20 more seconds. By tacking to shore off the lift, I sent us back into the semi-cheap seats. Blackhawk tossed off a bad start, found a clear spot at the shore and came out clean, establishing a big lead. With the rest of the fleet camping on each other, short-tacking the City Front, Blackhawk and Godot pulled away. We had to fight our way back into contention and rounded the windward mark around 5th place, even with Mojo and Jam Session.
The race committee set us up with starboard rounding’s anticipating everyone would want to go out into the deeper water for more flood, and we all set, went out for a few minutes, then made one jibe to lay the leeward mark, Blossom Rock buoy, also a starboard rounding. This was a race committee error as it should have been a gate given the entire fleet wanted to go to the cone of Alcatraz for relief heading upwind.
Anyway, with Mojo and Jam Session overlapped inside us, and Moonshine outside us, we tried to round to starboard, but Mojo and Jam turned slowly, holding us out so we could not round. Moonshine anticipated we’d be rounding and their mainsheet trimmer hauled in the sail. With the wind in the mid-20’s and gusting to 30, they rounded up into Arbitrage, and its bowsprit hit our port push pit, taking it out, along with my GPS and VHF antennae and my SailTec hydraulic backstay, while bending the tang attaching the backstay to the transom! It’s a bit exciting sailing on the Bay with closely-packed one-design keelboats!Moonshine did its penalty turns and then stood by to offer help. We retired and motored home, but decided to try for the third race. We quickly took everything apart, called a neighbor, Ariel Poler, owner of Juxtapose, who graciously offered the use of his push pit and we went to his boat, disassembled it and reinstalled it on my boat, along with my spare backstay adjuster, and hoping for the best on the stainless steel tang, we were ready to go racing when the race committee abandoned racing for the day due to many people broaching (the leader Blackhawk broached four times!) amid winds around 35 kts!!
We applied and got redress, and raced the next day. Big flood and big wind!! Most boats went out to catch the late ebb. We had a 7-2 score, ending up fourth.”
While ARBITRAGE finished fourth, the story of the weekend may be that it was Scooter Simmon’s son, Ryan, who sailed and skippered BLACKHAWK to the overall win in the J/105 class! In fact, they won by a whisker, beating Jeff Litfin’s MOJO crew on a tie-breaker. Starting with a 1-3-1, Simmons’s crew nearly lost it all by taking a 10th in the last race to Litfin’s 1st! BLACKHAWK took the tie-break on most “firsts”. Third just three points back was Jason Woodley & Scott Whitney on RISK followed by ARBITRAGE then Doug Bailey on AKULA in fifth.
Also sailing was a PHRF Division with three J/120s sailing against 50-54 footers and one-off carbon racers. Taking two of the podium spots were Steve Madeira’s J/120 MR MAGOO in 2nd with Barry Lewis’s CHANCE in 3rd. For more Swiftsure Regatta sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Go sailing aboard the famous J/120 SUNSET CHILD! Yes, you and your friends can join them for some awesome offshore yacht racing in northeastern USA for summer 2014.SUNSET CHILD is the famous ex-EL OCASO that won everything in the Caribbean over the past decade. Today, Performance Yacht Racing USA, which has been operating four yachts for many years, is taking on “paying crew” (think “J-World Offshore” type of experience) and giving them the opportunity to race in high specification yachts all over the World. This program has been an enormous hit with established crews who already race J/Boats in their own backyards, but want to race further afield without having to move their own boat. They are always assured that PYR’s yachts are in top condition and have the latest sails and equipment.
This summer, the J/120 SUNSET CHILD will be based in New York City, but will race all over the northeast before heading south to Florida and then the Caribbean at the end of the season. You can learn more about their summer sailing circuit here: http://www.performanceyachtracingusa.com Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth- pwpictures.com
Contact Marcus Cholerton-Brown at Performance Yacht Racing USA for more information: cell- +1-917-617-5335 or email- marcus@performanceyachtracingusa.com
J/Cruising Community
J Cruisers continue their adventures around the world, below are a selection of most excellent "blogs" written by their prolific publishers. Some terribly amusing anecdotes and pearls of wisdom are contained in their blogs. Read some! You'll love it.
* Jim & Heather Wilson just completed a circumnavigation of our "blue planet Earth" in June 2013 on their J/42 CEOL MOR. Said Jim, "The odyssey of CEOL MOR is over, for now. We completed our circumnavigation on our J/42 when we crossed our outbound track in Britannia Bay, Mustique. We were, however, still 2,000 nautical miles from home. So we continued on through the Windwards, the Leewards, and then through the British Virgin Islands. After a farewell 'Painkiller' at the Soggy Dollar, and a last meal at Foxy’s, we made the 1,275 nautical mile passage to the Chesapeake and completed our port-to-port circumnavigation when we arrived in Annapolis on June 28, 2013. We had been away 1,334 days, completed 259 days of ocean passages, and sailed 30,349 nautical miles (34,925 statute miles). Read more about their adventures in their well-documented blog here: http://www.svceolmor.com/SVCeolMor/Welcome.html
* J/160 AVATAR headed for the Caribbean, again! We LOVE these updates from our cruising J sailors that continue to criss-cross the Seven Seas. This one comes from Alan Fougere, sailing his beloved J/160 AVATAR. Alan sent us an email update commenting on their passage south this winter, "In mid-December AVATAR completed her sixth transit to her winter Caribbean home, Grand Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI (seen above) from her home port in Quissett (Falmouth), MA. A crew of three, Captain Alan (e.g. me), Crew Pablo Brissett and Mark Conroy, covered the 1,500 nm trip in in her best time to date- 7 Days 5 Hours, averaging 8.7 kts, that's about 208 nm per day! Amazing passage it was! Rainbow at right far offshore was some of the amazing phenomenon we experienced on this fast offshore passage.AVATAR will participate in the BVI Sailing Festival/Regatta again in 2013, where last year she won the Nanny Key Cup Cruising Class race around the Island of Virgin Gorda. Here are some photos for you to share with the J/Community at-large. Enjoy!"
Best, Alan Fougere/ AVATAR
* Bill & Judy Stellin recently had an interview about cruising on their J/42 in the Wall St Journal called "Retiring on the Open Sea". The Wall St Journal asked Bill to reply to dozens of questions that flooded into the WSJ's Editor desks. Here's the update:Retiring on the Sea: Answering Readers' Questions
Advice about selecting a boat, ocean crossings, itineraries and safety
The article in our WSJ Online December retirement report about eight years spent sailing the Mediterranean— "Retiring to the Open Sea"— prompted many questions and comments from readers. We asked William Stellin, who wrote the story, to answer some of the most common queries.WSJ- "What kind and make of boat did you use? Looking back, would you have picked a different boat?"
Bill- "In 1995-96, J/Boats of Newport, RI, came out with a new cruiser/racer model, the J/42. We bought hull No. 6 of this popular 42-foot sailboat and named it JAYWALKER. This was our fourth boat since beginning sailing in 1975.
Although long-distance cruising wasn't what we had in mind when we purchased JAYWALKER, it soon became apparent it had the ability to carry us easily and safely anywhere we wanted to go. Because the boat is light, it sails well in light winds, which means very little motoring is necessary.
People often ask (and argue) about what boat is best for cruising. Any boat that is strong, safe, fast, comfortable and easily handled by two people should fit the bill. One thing for sure, fast is fun—and important when trying to avoid bad weather."
READ MORE ABOUT BILL'S INSIGHTFUL COMMENTARY AND THOUGHTS ON WSJ ONLINE HERE
* The J/42 JARANA continues their epic voyage around the Pacific. Continue to read about Bill and Kathy Cuffel's big adventure cruising the South Pacific headed for New Zealand. Their blog is here: http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/
* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for extended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary finished their double-handed crossing of the Atlantic, landing in Portugal on their J/130 Shazam after completion of their ARC Rally. Read the latest news at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/shazam/.
* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world's oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between. Anyone for Cape Horn and penguins?? Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM friends above).- Bill and Susan Grun on the J/160 AVANTE are also sailing in the Pacific archipelago, read more about their great adventures on their blog (http://web.me.com/susangrun). Read about their latest adventures as they've gotten to New Zealand- "Avante Cruises the Pacific".
- Eric and Jenn on the J/160 MANDALAY also sailed the Pacific archipelago, read more on their blog at http://www.sailmandalay.com. Eric and Jenn are J/World alumni took MANDALAY up and down the West Coast (Mexico, CA), then to the South Pacific and New Zealand. MANDALAY is back in San Francisco now, and in the J/World fleet--she is available for skippered charters, private instruction, and corporate/executive groups.
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The J/88 was originally conceptualized as a daysailer, says J/Boats president Jeff Johnstone, but that market got overpopulated so they seized an opportunity to revisit their range with a design that Johnstone says is a “family boat with high-performance traits.”
And, for the J/24 class it’s much more than just an anthem, coming to Miami has been a ritual for the J/24 Midwinters- it’s been held on Biscayne Bay a record thirteen (13) times, more than any other venue. Five times Midwinters champion Tim Healy will return again to try for another victory. Three of his wins have been on Biscayne Bay. Historical note for J/24 aficionados, who never won the Midwinters despite winning a record five J/24 Worlds?? The winner gets a free J/Calendar (answers-> first correct post on J/24 Facebook page).
HEATHER: “I have to say I haven’t had as much fun sailing since college sailing!! The J/70 is a blast!! The boat is a hoot to sail, especially in the breeze. It truly is one-design, it’s manageable in terms of crew (only three other people needed to sail), it’s great value for the money, and the fleet after one year has such depth in talent. Eighty-nine boats on the line and just one year old...impressive. When I was looking for a new One-Design Class to jump into, I wanted one in which the sailing itself was more fun. And buying into a Class where I had a lot of confidence that the fleet would develop quickly and with a lot of talent was important to me. As a mom chasing my 10-year-old around the Opti circuit, I needed to make sure that the new Class I picked had enough well-attended regattas throughout the year to make it worthwhile. When I went for my first spin in the J/70 with Stu Johnstone one 20 knot day in Newport, I was sold.”
HEATHER: “Yes! And for all you women out there who don’t know what to put on your Christmas List... Santa knows exactly where to get a J/70! All kidding aside, I think it’s a great boat for women. It’s manageable in terms of putting a program together given number of crew, and women can easily sail the boat. It’s totally manageable for women as drivers or any crew position for that matter. I’ve sailed it with an all women crew a few times, and we had a ball.”
As the forecast solidified in the days leading up to the start it looked very likely we would be running or reaching with the spinnaker the entire race. With a downwind race in mind, we did everything we could to lighten up Shearwater, even taking two doors off down below (class legal). With a light ship and only 4 onboard (we figure we were 1000 pounds lighter from just crew weight alone), that was pretty much the one advantage we might have had over the other two far more experienced J/120’s we were racing against. We were also classed with a J/44 and a Beneteau First 44.7, making us the slowest boat in our 5-boat division and conversely the 5th fastest rated monohull in the race. We rate 3 seconds slower than the other two J/120’s because we have an aluminum mast, and they have carbon masts.
Chris and I were whipped though. We could barely move. We both collapsed in the cockpit and settled on sailing with the main only until it started getting light. Our competitive race was over, but we decided (okay, I was forced – isn’t that like mutiny?) to continue racing nonetheless. Around 6:30am I got the brand spanking new A4 (smaller, heavier) kite rigged up and ready to hoist. A round of discussions ensued regarding the wind speed and amount of light. That killed another 20 minutes or so and then we all agreed to go for the A4. Once it was up, we were off like a shot. The bright orange A4 was in its element with 20-30 knots on the stern. We started averaging 9.5 knots for several SPOT updates, with some pretty nice surfs up to 12 knots. It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing though as the waves were pretty steep and I was having to steer all over the place to keep from plowing into the backside of a wave and to keep up with the shifty breeze. And then, much like the collapse with the A2 earlier, I didn’t react fast enough and we managed to hourglass the A4. Fortunately, it wasn’t around the forestay. We ended up just staring this one down. We held our course, kept the sheet steady, kept the chute full, and slowly, but surely, the hourglass started working its way up until shazaam it unwrapped. Phew!
On Monday, after the official ceremony with the Governor of the State of Nayarit, we were off to the race and hoping to get as many as ten races in by Friday. Some of the races were very demanding, with many recalls, black flags. Some races had little wind and others had 20-25 kts of very gusty and shifty breezes. It was very challenging with many combinations of waves, current and shifting winds, which led to many good and bad results. We had a penalty in the second race (40 pts DFZ) but we didn’t lose heart and subsequently after five races were in the top fifteen! Ultimately, we managed to finish 13th, thanks to much help from many friends like Chris Snow, Peter Saurer, Luis Vazquez Mota and Jorge Castillo Martinez.
* Dutch sailor Conny van Rietschoten was a true pioneer in the sport of sailing. As the only skipper to have won the Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race) twice, Conny van Rietschoten (87 years) died on Tuesday (Dec. 17) at his residence in Portugal after suffering a stroke. Born on March 23 in 1926, Van Rietschoten grew up in The Netherlands. A successful businessman, he was looking for a new challenge and found it in the second edition of the Whitbread.
Known for undertaking extensive crew training before the race, he identified and gave several then-young sailors their first major break into professional sailing, including Erle Williams, Grant Dalton, Joe Allen all of whom went on to long careers in the Whitbread and Volvo Ocean Races, America’s Cup and other professional events.
* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world's oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between. Anyone for Cape Horn and penguins?? Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM friends above).