Southampton Boat Show- Displaying J/70 & J/112E
(Southampton, England)- Key Yachting Ltd will be exhibiting the J/70 and the new J/112E sport-cruiser at the Southampton Boat Show running from 16th to 25th September. Please join us at marina berths 431-435.
The Famous J/70 Sportsboat- 1,100 strong!The J/70 is J/Boats’ first slipway-launchable keelboat- designed to fulfill the growing need for an easy-to-own, high-performance one-design, that is exciting to sail, stable enough sailboat for the family, and built to last. A natural evolution of its J pedigree, the J/70’s 7m of sailing length with high aspect, all carbon rig and deep lifting keel, provides spirited performance and stability that feels like a much larger boat. There are now 70 boats sailing in the UK, with an active class association and one design programme. 25 boats sailed Cowes Week. 16 women's teams loved sailing the Women's Worlds in them! There are over 1,100 boats worldwide! Learn more about the J/70 speedster here
NEW J/112E Sport Cruiser!
The J/112E is the newest addition to J/Boats’ “E” range of versatile performance sailing yachts. At our most popular size of 36 feet, the J/112E features a spacious two-cabin, aft head accommodation plan and a comfortable, ergonomic cockpit. She is as well-suited for the annual family cruise as she is racing under IRC or sailing short-handed through rough weather. Like the new J/122E, the 112 benefits from significantly more natural light by way of large port lights and optional hull ports. The varnished walnut finish adds just the right proportion of classic, wood accents without taking away from the incredible sense of space.
The J/112E joins her sisterships, the J/97E and J/122E, as an exceptional upwind performer. V-shaped bow sections provide superior directional stability and reduced slamming in waves. Freeboard forward and topside flare help to keep the deck dry. A long waterline combined with a low vertical centre of gravity results in a smooth, sea-kindly motion– more like that of a 40 footer. Learn more about the J/112E sport-cruiser here
For more Southampton Boat Show tickets & information click here, or please contact Key Yachting on +44-02380-455669 or email info@keyyachting.com.
Ullman Sails J/70 UK Nationals Preview(Plymouth, England)- The J/70 UK Class Association is delighted that their 2016 Nationals will be hosted by the Royal Western Yacht Club in Plymouth, a popular venue amongst J/Boats sailors. The Commodore, Flag Officers and members are very enthusiastic about welcoming our visiting J/70 sailors to our beautiful sailing waters in the south west of England.
Racing will take place from Friday 2nd September to Sunday 4th September with a total of 11 races planned for the Championship. As long as weather conditions are suitable, sailing will be outside (south) of the Plymouth breakwater that is only a short sail from the RWYC and marina base. The racing should be exciting, close and packed with action, with twenty boats currently registered from all over the UK.
Top teams include the Cowes Race Week winning team of Jack Davies on Team YETI. Hoping to give them strong competition for top honors will be crews like Allan Higgs’ ESF ENERGY, Simon Cavey’s JUST 4PLAY, David McLeman’s OFFBEAT, Ian Wilson’s GILL RACE TEAM, Patrick Liardet’s COSMIC, Ripard/ Calascione’s HARLEQUIIN, and Clive Bush’s DARCEY. For more Ullman Sails J/70 UK Nationals sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
This past week, the J/70s and J/80 fleets in Europe enjoyed delightful summer conditions across the Continent and the United Kingdom. Hosted by the Royal Lymington YC, the UK J/80 fleet enjoyed three great days of sailing their UK Nationals at the western end of the Solent. Just across “La Manche”, the J/80s also enjoyed their 6th event in their season-long Coupe de France 2016, sailing the L’Obelix Trophy off Benodet, France on the sunny Bay of Biscay. Further north there was a lot of J/70 activity in Scandinavia and points east in Russia. The Swedish J/70 Sailing League held their third event in Marstrand, Sweden at Marstrand Segelsallskap- and WOW did they have spectacular conditions on the last day! In fact, a similar weather scenario played out in St Petersburg, Russia. There, the SAILING Champions League Act I was hosted by St Petersburg YC for 23 of Europe’s best sailing clubs- the action as fast & furious and the scenery could not have been more spectacular in that famous city by the sea!Over in the Americas, the J/22s enjoyed their World Championship in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. They, too, had nice conditions for their four days of racing with teams participating from all over North America, Europe and the Cayman Islands. Just southeast of them in New England, the “tres amigos” of sailing clubs in Marblehead, MA (Eastern, Boston & Corinthian) hosted the Marblehead ONE Regatta- both a one-design event (J/70s & J/105’s) and the Offshore New England championship in PHRF handicap.
Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below has many entertaining stories and news about J/Sailors as well as cruising blogs about those who continue to enjoy the Caribbean and the South Pacific, staying warm while others are trying to stay warm up north. Check them out! More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page Below are the summaries.
Regatta & Show Schedules:
Sep 2-4- J/70 UK Nationals- Plymouth, EnglandSep 2- Windjammers Race- Santa Cruz, CA
Sep 8-11- J/24 North Americans- Port Credit, ONT, Canada
Sep 9-11- ALCATEL J/70 Cup- Riva del Garda, Italy
Sep 9-11- German J/80 Nationals- Glucksburg, Germany
Sep 9-11- US Sailing Women’s Match Race Nationals (J/22s)- Annapolis, MD
Sep 10-11- J/105 Long Island Sound Championship- Riverside, CT
Sep 10-12- J/24 Downeast Regatta- Portland, ME
Sep 15-18- Rolex Big Boat Series- San Francisco, CA
Sep 16-18- Netherlands J/22 Nationals- Hoorn, The Netherlands
Sep 17-19- J/105 Canadian Championship- Toronto, ONT
Sep 19-23- J/24 World Championship- Wakayama, Japan
Sep 22-25- SAILING Champions League (J/70s)- Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy
Sep 23-25- J/30 North Americans- Eastport, MD
Sep 24-Oct 1- J/70 World Championship- San Francisco, CA
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Berliner YC Win SAILING Champions League- RUSSIA!(St Petersburg, Russia)- It was a successful first day for the SAILING Champions League in St. Petersburg, hosted by St Petersburg YC. In good weather, 23 Clubs from 12 nations were battling hard but fair, pleasing both host and participants. After day one, the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (Germany) was leading the fleet, followed by the Berliner Yacht-Club (Germany) and the Regattaclub Bodensee (Switzerland).
For the third time in the history of sailing, the SAILING Champions League was taking place in matched International J/70 one-designs. Everybody was keen on participating in this new, international Club competition. The first day of the regatta provided the sailors with good conditions, successfully completing 14 races. The Norddeutscher Regatta Verein was in the lead after four consecutive wins.
"We were a bit lucky in the first four races to win four times in a row. In the fifth race we misread the wind, but still managed to lead the fleet after the first day and, of course, we are very happy about that,” said Tobias Schadewaldt, helmsman of the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein.
The 23 sailing clubs from across Europe were fighting for one of 14 starting positions in the Grand SCL Finals in September in Porto Cervo, Italy. In Sardinia, it will be all about the silver bowl by Robbe & Berking and the title of “Europe´s BEST SAILING CLUB.”
Day TwoIt was champagne sailing on day two- simply amazing conditions! 20 knots of wind and full sunshine spoiled both sailors and spectators. Sailing conditions like these might be expected in Porto Cervo, but not in Russia. The Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (Germany) defended their lead. First runner-up was the Berliner Yacht Club (Germany), followed by the Société Nautique de Genève (Switzerland).
Nothing seems to stop the German Champions from 2013 and 2014. Tobias Schadewaldt and his crew won three more races on Saturday and continued to lead the fleet. “We were completely satisfied with today’s results. The Berliner Yacht Club being so close behind us proves how strong the fleet in St. Petersburg is,” commented Tobias Schadewaldt from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein from Hamburg.
The team from the Berliner Yacht Club with helmsman Stephan Mölle is just as competitive, despite strong competition. With four wins in a row, they defended their second place in the table. “It was a perfect day. Only the last race was really rough, when our jib ripped apart. Luckily the judges leveled this race, so overall we only had first places today,” said Valentin Gebhard from the Berliner Yacht Club.
The regatta had to be cancelled in the afternoon after 14 races due to strong winds of more than 30 knots! It appeared that some crews were being challenged by the extremely puffy conditions.
Day Three FinaleAmazingly, St. Petersburg laid on a third day of picture-perfect international sailing. Thrilling head-to-head races in front of spectacular scenery was a big treat for both sailors and spectators. In the end, the Berliner Yacht-Club (Germany) held their nerve and took over the lead in their last battle with their rivals Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (Germany) who were runners-up ahead of third placed Société Nautique de Genève (Switzerland). The first 16 teams are qualified for the grand final in Porto Cervo end of September.
It was a tense battle between two German Clubs: The Berliner Yacht-Club was hard on Norddeutscher Regatta Verein´s heels from the beginning. Until the very end, they never managed to get ahead of the Hamburgers. For most of the three-day regatta, it seemed as if the German Champions from 2013 and 2014 could not be stopped. Tides turned in the penultimate race when Berlin took the lead and secured their victory.
“We would have never expected to win here. We went to St. Petersburg to qualify for Sardinia. And then we kick off a first place here. It´s unbelievable – we´re so incredibly happy,” said Max Nickel, who is part of the Berliner winning team together with Stefan Mölle, Valentin Gebhard, and Philipp Bruns.Behind the two German DSBL teams (BYC and NRV), it was Societe Nautique de Geneve from Switzerland (Nicolas Anklin, Marc Stern, Nicolas Kauffmann, Mathieu Fischer) that sailed consistently well enough to secure the bronze medal on the podium. Yet another Swiss club took 4th place, Regattaclub Bodensee (Julian Flessati, Massimo Soriano, Stephan Amman, Stefan Zurfluh) while the top Italian sailing club- YC Adriaco (Andrea Micalli, Furio Benussi, Matteo Stroppolo, Jacopo Ciampalini)- placed 5th overall.
The Boat- J/70 Sailing Champions League overview- by Joachim Hellmich- the Project Lead at the SCL explains the International J/70 class sailboat
SAILING Champions League YouTube videos- Day 1 Highlights Regatta summary
For more J/70 SAILING Champions League information
Newport Trio Trump J/22 World Championship!(Kingston, ONT, Canada)- The world-famous CORK International Sailing Week was host to the 2015 J/22 World Championship, held in Kingston, Ontario. Forty-six teams participating from Canada (15 boat), the Cayman Islands (three teams) and the USA (28 crews) sailed an amazing four-day series, with Mike Marshall’s crew of Luke Lawrence and Todd Hiller from Newport, RI winning the regatta in the thrilling finale.
After three days and nine races, the ultimate outcome for the regatta came down to the final few races. On Wednesday, it was another day of champagne sailing conditions on Lake Ontario with sustained winds of 12-15 knots for the three races. Brad Julian won the first two meetings, followed by Travis Odenbach and Jeff Todd in race seven, and by Chris Gaffney and Doyle in race eight. Behind Marshall in race nine were Terry Flynn and Jeff Todd.
By way of a victory in Wednesday’s third race, Mike Marshall’s team was tied at 30 points for the overall lead with the New York-based team of Chris Doyle, Will Harris and Adam Burns. Jeff Todd was still in the hunt in third place with 35 points. Marshall had been discarding a 10, but with a 16th in race 8, the team needed to rebound to keep pace with Doyle who took a four-point advantage into Wednesday’s final battle. As a result, Marshall held the overall lead with the tie-breaker being the three bullets. Reigning World Champion Doyle maintained a consistent tally by counting all top five finishes.At dawn on the final day, the after effects of an overnight storm left breeze in the mid-20s, so the Race Committee postponed on shore. But, it didn’t take long for the winds to subside to the upper teens, so the flag came down allowing for the showdown between Marshall and Doyle. It was a “do-or-die” scenario for the two leaders; it took every leg of the final race to determine the winner. With a second place finish in Thursday’s only race, Marshall’s team was declared the 2016 J/22 World Champions. Brad Julian won the race, while Doyle placed sixth in the race but second overall with 36 net points. Jeff Todd took third with 43 points.
“We went into Thursday with the idea that it’s really three teams (Todd was 5 points behind Marshall and Doyle), so it changes the whole dynamic. If it’s two people, you can do a little bit more match racing,” explained Marshall. “We just wanted to sail the best possible race we could, and we executed our plan exactly as we wanted to. We got the first cross, and from there we were able to control the race.” Rounding out the top five were Travis Odenbach’s HONEY BADGER in 4th place and Brad Julian’s crew in 5th position.Over the 10-race series, only two races were sailed under 15 knots, and 9 knots was the lightest. “Kingston as a venue is just spectacular,” praised Marshall. “This week was totally different than what Kingston is normally, which is about going left. This week, it was all about going right.” Marshall thanked the Race Committee and PRO David Sprague for their efficient execution, saying, “They changed marks when they needed to, dealt with two shoals on either side and set the right length courses. They were cranking out the races without much downtime.” For more J/22 World Championship sailing information
Lindqvist Is Swedish J/70 GRUNDIG CUP Champion!(Marstrand, Sweden)- The fleet of twenty-seven boats that sailed in the first Swedish GRUNDIG CUP J/70 Championship could not have been more blessed, with simply amazing sailing conditions all weekend. The regatta started off sublimely, with relatively flat waters and 6-10 kts winds
to get everyone warmed up. Then, after a big frontal passage off the North Sea, the host club- Marstrand Segelsallskap- were able to treat the enthusiastic fleet to races offshore in absolutely epic conditions- big seas, bright sunny weather and 15-25 kts winds! Showing everyone their extensive experience in sprit sportboats, it was Team ROCAD led by Mikael Lindqvist that won the regatta, posting four 1sts in his six race series to with just 6 pts net (throwing out a 2nd!). Taking the big
deuce was the Brother’s Lundqvist taking most of the remaining 2nd places for a total of 10 pts. After the first two boats, it was pretty clear that most teams were getting the feel for racing J/70 in the widely varying conditions, most living through “snakes & ladders” scorelines. As a result, securing third place was Mathias Hermansson with 23 pts, fourth was Magnus Tyreman with 45 pts and fifth place went to Peter Bergman with 48 pts. A big “Thank You” goes to the amazing photographs taken by Dan Ljungsvik and to the Nordic J/70 series sponsor- GRUNDIG Sail Cup! Check out the Marstrand SSS Facebook link here And, here is the J/70 Sweden Facebook page For more Swedish J/70 Championship sailing information
J/80 AKAJOULE Takes 40th Obelix Trophy!(Benodet, France)- The sixth event in the Coupe de France 2016 series, the 40th edition of L’Obelix Trophy, was sailed from August 26 to 28 in Benodet, France. The fleet of nine boats was overwhelmed with the simply smashing summer conditions off the beautiful beach resort on the Bay of Biscay.
After the first two days of racing, it was not clear what (or who) could deprive AKAJOULE (Frank Vallet and Rémi Rabbe) from a landslide victory. The pair from CN Pornic simply "slammed" every race, often without really being bothered by their pursuers- Xavier and Jacques Hubert Tinel on JEROBOAM MARINE LORIENT from CN Marine Lorient.
Everyone was hoping a new challenger would arise on the final day. However, with 18-25 kt winds, the duo on AKAJOULE simply dominated the proceedings, ultimately winning the regatta with just 8 pts net in nine races- winning every race by dramatic margins. Their friends on JEROBOAM slipped down the rankings into third place. Meanwhile, J Hubert on EOS from CN Wimereux leapt into the second position, loving the windy and wavy conditions on the final day. On a tie-breaker at 37 pts each, P Gury’s TROWENT SAILING TEAM took 4th while L Gilet’s NUMERO-J placed 5th.Bénodet remains a beautiful place, especially on a spectacular sunny weekend in late August! The nine J/80 crews who made the trip were thus offered one last summer outing in the best possible conditions. The crews were treated to ice-cold beers and a rustic buffet every night in front of the green banks of the Odet ... what a way to finish the August vacation! Sailing photo credits- Jakez For more J/80 Obelix Trophy sailing information
Marblehead ONE Regatta Fun 4 All!J/70s, J/105s, PHRF Enjoy Perfect Weather
Marblehead, MA- The ONE Regatta (Offshore New England's) in Marblehead was conducted in ideal conditions over a period of three days, 26-28th of August, off Marblehead MA. The three Marblehead yacht clubs (Boston, Corinthian & Eastern) provided outstanding Race Committees on three courses. This year, it was Eastern YC’s turn to host the shore-side festivities and unparalleled post-race experience!
For the J/105 class, the Boston YC RC did a brilliant job by orchestrating no less than 10 races in very difficult conditions at times, led by PRO Karen Tenenbaum. This was an all time high number of races for this event, spanning over 30 years (formerly called "PHRF NE's").
The fleet of fourteen J/105s had a star-studded cast: "Merlin" sporting no less than two Mallory Cup winners; "Got Qi" with stand-out intercollegiate sailor Dave Nelson at the helm- last year's winner and multiple MA Bay Champions; "Blown Away", Fleet 2 captain Fred deNapoli's "allegro Semplicita" with intercollegiate All-American Nick Burke calling tactics; and visiting teams from as far away as Dallas, Texas (including last month's Marblehead NOOD regatta runner up- "Two Feathers"). After an extremely challenging first day it was a local boat, "Knotless", helmed by Marblehead sailor Ken Bowden who topped the leader board, and another new addition to the fleet, "Aqua Boggie" (formerly "Steal Away"), in the hunt with "Got Qui" and "allegro" fighting it out for 3rd and 4th. The second day the PRO Karen Tenenbaum ran no less than 5 races, and when the smoke cleared once again, "Knotless" held the lead, while "Got Qui" and "allegro" were in close pursuit. The final day's 3 races saw Nelson and deNapoli trade off firsts with a “do-or-die” final shoot out with the score tied. DeNapoli was over early
by a foot and so after 10 races Nelson and his team went on to win the final race and the event by 2 points, well earned! Hard to imagine a better series, a great warm up for the North Americans!The highly competitive J/70 class produced a surprise winner! Steine Skanne sailed SHRED to victory over a rock-star studded group of sailors, including Stew Neff’s AFRICA in 2nd place and Henry Brauer’s RASCAL in 3rd. The balance of the top five included Ted Johnson’s VITAMIN-J and the duo of Chris Boulter/ Tyler Doyle on CLOWN CAR finishing 4th & 5th, respectively.
Over in the PHRF world, it was tight racing for the J/111s and J/122 in PHRF Class 1. Top J/crew was Tom Mager’s J/122 GIGI in 3rd place followed by Gary Weisberg’s J/111 HEATWAVE in 4th position. The big winner in PHRF Class 3 was Daniel Boyd’s J/109 WILDTHING, counting all bullets in their winning 6 pts net scoreline! Third was the Blodgett & Blodgett team on the J/33 SCIROCCO. In the newly created JAM Class (jibs & mains), it was Jeff Kent’s J/35 BLACK SEAL that won class! For more Marblehead ONE Regatta sailing information
J.A.T. Crowned J/80 UK Champion(Lymington, England)- The Royal Lymington Yacht Club did a magnificent job hosting the 2016 J/80 UK Nationals, offering the sailors plenty of opportunities to climb up (and down) the leaderboard during the nine-race series. The racing took place in Christchurch Bay, a great open water venue with minimal tidal influence.
The racing took place for the two-dozen boat fleet from Saturday 27th August to Monday 29th August. The regatta was characterized by a very tight battle for the top of the rankings with the final outcome not settled until the completion of the last race! After starting out a bit slow, the J.A.T team (Phil Taylor, Kevin Sproul, Chris Fisher, James Peters) hit their stride mid-series, managing to reel off a 2-1-1-1 mid-series to just win the regatta with 23 pts net.
Behind them, it was a “teeth-gnasher” to the very end for the rest of the podium spots between BETTY, NO REGRETS and PURPLE HAZE- all tied on points at 27 each and having to live with a 3-way tie-break! Also getting out of the station on at a slow, steam locomotive pace was the famous BETTY crew (John Powell, David Aldridge, Chris Robinson, Keith Smith). Like J.A.T., the BETTY “boys” began with a less than stellar 7-5 in the first two races, but closed with a flourish and nearly pulled off the regatta win, instead happily collecting the silver medal with 27 pts net. The fastest team out-of-the-box was the NO REGRETS crew (Chris & Hannah Neve, Nick Hartfield, Phil Lawrence & Simon McCarthy), but it was hard for them to maintain that pace until they won the last race to settle for third overall and also taking the top spot in the Corinthians Division. Losing the tie-break battle was the PURPLE HAZE crew (Oliver Dunford, Shane Armitage, Simon Shan, Al Fraser), settling for 4th place overall and 2nd in Corinthians. Fifth position overall and 3rd in Corinthians was CHECKMATE (Ray & Tom Mitchell, Claire Ayling, Nike Froud, Henry Lloyd-Williams). For more UK J/80 Nationals sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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* Martin Dent’s Perspectives- what it takes to win the J/111 Worlds. Looking to take your team to the next level? Off the back of J/111 Worlds, North Sails catches up with Martin Dent on how he and the team on North-powered JElvis played their strengths to secure a world-class win in this highly competitive class. Narrowing it down, Dent shares 5 tips to up your game and approach the next regatta ready to win.
It All Starts With a Great Team
Most of us have now raced together since the 2014 Winter Series; add in some practice, and then finally some good fortune. We were especially lucky with the windy conditions, which played to our strengths.
Last year my wife and youngest daughter sailed on the boat in Newport, this year my elder daughter and 16 year old son did the bow and pit respectively. No Worlds places are guaranteed for family members (!) but these two both did the full training during July and earned their spots. My wife did an amazing job this year, catering for the whole team in our house in Cowes and also being out on the rib for each race.
Master the Far Ends of “Sailable Conditions”We started training with the Round the Island Race on July 2nd. This was the windiest condition that we had sailed the J/111, and it is hard to imagine deliberately going out for a practice session in 25 to 35 knots. So when we found ourselves round the back of the island, wiping out on every other gybe, the process started to develop techniques that would ultimately pay for us in the Worlds one month later. Then in mid July, North Sails organized a training weekend. As it turned out, we were lucky that during this training it was also blowing 20+ knots: again, the exact same conditions we were to face in the Worlds.
Bring Your A-Game
It was noticeable, as with previous Worlds, that everybody raises their game. Whether it is new sails, A-teams, a bit of practice, or just the general focus and concentration that everyone puts in, every team was sailing well. You get boats and teams from all over the world coming together at the warning signal and the true one design of the J/111 makes the racing so tight.
Know Your Competition
Peter Wagner’s team, Skeleton Key, from San Francisco, was the hot yacht!! They always seemed to be in the right place going fast, and they were very competitive tactically: the tacking duels started on Day 1. Going into the final day, we were hanging on to a 2-point lead but we were carrying a much higher discard (15) than Skeleton who had only discarded a 5. So we knew that they would try to sail us down the fleet, it was just a question of whether they would do the damage in Race 1 or 2... Whilst we ate our pancakes at breakfast, Ruairidh, Annabel and I were drawing sketches of the various boat-on-boat scenarios that might develop… Sure enough, Skeleton came at us in the pre-start on the first race. We went into a match racing dial-up, which then turned into a dial down. Somehow we got out of there ok and got a reasonable start, so going into the final race it was back to fleet racing.
Keep Your Lid On
The final race was underway and we needed a top 5 finish, yet we had to work our way through the fleet having struggled to hold our lane off the start. We had worked our way to 3rd at the leeward mark, only to get a jam in the jib sheet and let 3 boats through. After all that work it was a basic boat-handling mistake under pressure! So, we’d have to work our way back up through the fleet a second time, which was no easy task as everyone was fighting for places. In the end, we fought back to a second place finish, granting us the overall win with four points to spare.
* Norman Curnow’s J/36 JAZZ “just keeps on ticking”, like the proverbial “Energizer Battery Bunny”. Having sailed her trans-Atlantic and across the Mediterranean several dozen times short-handed, Norm had this for an update on JAZZ’s travels for fall 2016:“What an advertisement for the J/Boats! JAZZ has cruised and raced her way though history wearing out her original winches (4)- all replaced of course. Amazingly, she still has her original standing rigging, rod of course. She has been in hurricanes. She has won over 60 trophies- mostly firsts! And, she has had only two owners- first Rod Johnstone (the designer) and then my family for 30 years!! She's off back to the Med this fall, as usual, heading south from the Solent, down around Cape Finisterre in France, down past Portugal, Spain, and Gibraltar. Always look forward to see our friends in Palma Mallorca! What a team at the old J/Boats! Thanks for an amazing boat!”
J/Cruisers
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.
* The J/40 HERON REACH sailed by Virginia and Jerry is participating in the Blue Planet Odyssey project and have recently joined them in the Marquesas Islands in the Eastern Pacific. Learn more about their adventures and experiences here- http://heronreachodyssey.blogspot.com/
* J/160 SALACIA has been sailing in Australia in the Whitsunday Islands. Guess who decided to throw themselves across their bow as they cruised comfortably to their next destination? A giant whale! Look at this amazing photo!
* 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, for 2015/ 2016! 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 regards their various improvements and refit to the boat (see above). They will again be based at Proper Yachts in St John, US Virgin Islands.
* Bill & Judy Stellin were interviewed 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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Viggo Torbensen’s J/125 TIMESHAVER is racing Class 4 against some turbo’d Farr 40s and their annual arch-rivals, the SC 50 HORIZON! On board with Viggo will be Keith Magnussen from Ullman Sails in Newport Beach- - read about his impressions below about the upcoming race. Also participating will be J/World’s HULA GIRL, an SC 50 modified skippered by Wayne Zittel and J/World Performance Sailing School students. Learn more here- 
As for the balance of the top five, the German’s took the next two spots with Markus Reger’s XENOPHON from Chiemsee YC in 4th position and James Ahlgrimm’s GRUN SOFTWARE AG from Berliner YC in 5th place. It is clear the Russian J/70 teams are learning quickly, as sitting in 6th place was also the top women’s skipper in the event, Valeriya Kovalenko’s ARTTUBE from Taganrog Sailing Club and her colleagues on MOJO, Dmitrii Zaritkckii, taking 15th place and Alexander Markarov’s MAJIC in 17th place in the fleet of 45 boats— - a dramatic improvement for the Russians since 2015. Sailing photo credits- Sven Jurgensen/ Germany and Olena Ekaterina/ Russia. For 
Instead of screaming speeds and the organized chaos of a big wind race, four monohull classes milled about sedately as the starting flags flapped limply at the 1 PM start of this historic race, with 4-6 knots of wind allowing just enough power to move even the slowest boat in the right direction: South. 
The only problem, mon, is that people gotta work sometime! That’s what befell the crew on the new J/11S SLEEPER sailed by Jonty Layfield. “We have just spent two days doing the regatta, but we could not finish the last day as most of crew are working,” commented Layfield. “On the first day we had a 4th, 3rd and 2nd. We had crazy long fetching legs where the 40 footers just sailed away. The last race we got a 2nd as it was short windward-leeward. Then on Sunday we got 2 firsts and 2nd, all windward-leewards. We love the boat, she sailed really well in a wide variety of conditions- lots of control with those two rudders!”
At the end of the day, it was Baldwin's J/122 LIQUID that remained at the top of the class but the day's best performer was Jonty & Vicky Layfield's J/11S SLEEPER, taking two wins and a second, lifting the team into second for the regatta.
* The J/22 provides sailing therapy and extraordinary experiences for a unique individual in Chicago. Recently, we received an endearing note from a police officer/ detective in Chicago- Jeff Snarski from Bensenville (near O’Hare Airport). Here is his story:
What excites me is the chance to sail with the Hippy (John) who I have known since my days in the junior program at Oceanside Yacht Club. Preparing for this journey has been an experience all on its own. The Hippy is not so much of a hippy when it comes to boats… he is more like a dictator, which is one thing I admire about him. Everything has been thoroughly thought through and every situation accounted for. We still have some projects and bugs to iron out but it would not be the Timeshaver without a last minute fire drill. I am sure that the hairs on the back of the Hippy’s neck are standing up right now.