Ready, Set, Go! European J/70 Sailing Leagues Blast-off!(Hamburg, Germany)- The revolutionary sailing league concept first pioneered by Oliver Schwall and the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga continues to gain momentum and roll across the European continent like a never-ending tsunami. In 2017, no less than thirteen sailing leagues are starting their seasons in April and May, from as far east as Sochi, Russia to the west in Cowes, England and from the north in Helsinki, Finland down to Porto Cervo, Sardinia. Those nations include Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom. From May to November, these national sailing leagues will be conducting sixty-one events with a projected 1,500+ races for 732 sailing clubs and at least 8,000 sailors; all of them will be sailing the one-design J/70 sportboat on virtually every major body of water across Europe- from lakes, to bays, to open ocean. Imagine that, from mid-April to the first weekend in November, fleets of J/70s are sailing every single weekend across Europe!
The Russian Sailing League, organized and managed by the Russian Sailing Federation, have already hosted events in Sochi, Russia and Sevastopol, Crimea on the Black Sea. Next up for them is their June 2nd to 4th event in Moscow, hosted by the Royal YC Moscow on the northwest side of city. Simultaneously, the Royal Yachting Association in the United Kingdom hosted their first qualifiers for their UK Sailing League for Youth Under 25 Teams in Southampton, England; the Swiss Sailing League held their first event in Ronco, Switzerland on Lake Ascona; and the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga held their first event in Prien, Germany on the Chiemsee. Read more about those regattas below!
For more Sailing Champions League information and the complete schedule for dates and locations across Europe, please click here.
Annapolis NOOD Regatta Preview(Annapolis, MD)- The cherry blossoms have been blooming like mad in the greater Washington, DC area. No question, spring has sprung all around the Chesapeake Bay with fields of flowers exploding in color everywhere and sailors are energetically getting ready for the “mother of all regattas” on the Bay, the Annapolis Yacht Club’s signature spring-time event, the HELLY HANSEN Annapolis NOOD Regatta. The experienced volunteers at AYC gather together their colleagues at Eastport YC, the Severn Sailing Association and friends of the US Naval Academy, to host one of the more entertaining regattas of the year. Great sailing it is most times, but the social element of getting together with sailing mates from across the eastern seaboard in, and of itself, is a major draw for most sailors. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to come up with two better regattas to attend in succession than Charleston Race Week and Annapolis NOOD two weeks later! For sure, the time in between for many crews is a time for R&R from “sailing regattas”!
Answering the siren song (or, is it the “call of the wild”??) are 219 boats across a dozen fleets, with teams arriving from California, Texas, the Midwest and all over the East coast. Amazingly, 158 J/crews will be on hand (72% of the fleet!) to contest for many coveted prizes; the eight J/classes represented include J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s, J/30s J/35s, J/105s, J/111s, and a J/42 in the PHRF North Sails Rally class.
It appears the enormous contingent of J/22s on the Bay will have several top-notch crews from Texas, New York and the Midwest to join in on the fun. Thirty boats are expected on the starting line. The locals hope that crews like Jeff Todd’s HOT TODDY, Chris Wilson’s LIL PUFFY, Zeke Horowitz’s UNCLE FLUFFY, and others can carry the flag on to the podium for Bay sailors. A formidable group of marauders from afar will be doing their best to steal all the silver, including past World Champion Terry Flynn on TEJAS from Houston, TX; Chris Doyle’s THE JUG 4 1 from Youngstown YC in New York; Johan Koppernaes’s RAISED J from Nepean Sailing Club in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; and Chris Princing’s EVIL DR PORK CHOP/ AWARD & SPORTS from Tawas Bay YC in Michigan.The eight boat J/24 class will see local hero Tony Parker (the Portland, Maine transplant) sailing BANGOR PACKET in the hopes of holding off teams like Matt Goushy’s GLADIATOR from Atlantic Highlands, NJ; Pat Fitzgerald’s RUSH HOUR from Baltimore, MD; and Pete Kassal’s SPACEMAN SPIFF from Eastport YC.
Perhaps the biggest, eye-opening development in this year’s event is the significant resurgence of the J/30 class- fourteen (14!) boats are ready to fly into battle to be crowned King of the Chesapeake! Veteran teams are back in the mix, like Bob Rutsch’s BEPOP, Tom Watson’s AVITA, Steve Buzbee’s BLUE MEANIE, Pam Morris’ BUMP, and they are joined by enthusiastic teams from across the spectrum of Bay area watering holes. Three couple’s boats are sailing- Tristan & Sheila Keen’s INFECTIOUS SMILE, Rob & Beth Lundahl’s RAG DOLL, and Doug & Amy Stryker’s TOTALED MAYHEM. Plus, another woman owner has joined the ranks, Linda Wojcik’s GUNSMOKE from Eastport YC. It should be fun sailing for this class!
Another J/classic is the famous masthead J/35 offshore machine. With it’s massive masthead # 1 genoas, it can move even in the lightest airs on the Chesapeake Bay. A solid half-dozen teams will be hitting the starting line hard, including past winners of the regatta. Look for AUNT JEAN’s duo- Jim Sagerholm & Jerry Christofel- to go for a three-peat, or four-peat(?) win. Planning on preventing that are good friends like Joe Perry’s JEM, Chuck Kohlerman’s MEDICINE MAN and Bruce Artman’s T-BONE.
As has been the case for the past three years, the J/70 class will be the largest in the regatta, with forty-four teams registered. Interestingly, there are many top J/70 teams making their first appearance for the year in this event, including crews like Peter McChesney’s 3 MEN IN A BOAT, Mark Hillman’s SIX, Tom Lord’s CARLOS, Taz Coffey’s DANGER MOUSE, Todd Sackett’s FM, Larry Ray’s J-RAY, Bill Jorch’s MOXIE, Heather Gregg & Joe Bardenheier’s MUSE (the first J/70 North American Champion), and Peter Bowe’s TEA DANCE SNAKE. They will be up against a number of boats that have been sailing most of the winter/spring events, like Doug Strebel’s BLACK RIVER RACING, Al Terhune’s DAZZLER, Jenn & Ray Wulff’s JOINT CUSTODY, Bruce Golison’s MIDLIFE CRISIS, Marty Kullman’s NEW WAVE, Oivind Lorentzen’s NINE, Tom Bowen’s REACH AROUND, Brian Keane’s SAVASANA, Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE, Will Welles’ SCAMP and Henry Filter’s WILD CHILD. 
After Charleston Race Week, the J/80 fleet has doubled-down on Annapolis, and a talent-laden group of two-dozen J/80s will chase down what might be considered the Atlantic Coast championship for them. Past Champion Tom Klok (with Will & Marie Crump) is sailing GULDFAXE and they will be challenged hard by Bay area talent like John White’s USA 1162, David Andril’s VAYU, Alex Kraus’ COOL J, Jim Praley’s GROMIT, Mike Hobson’s MELTEMI, and Vince Kalish’s WHITE LIGHTNIN’. Winning the long-distance award and hoping to also land on the podium is an experienced J/80 racer, Gary Panariello’s COURAGEOUS from Sausalito YC in Sausalito, CA. The nearly two-dozen boats sailing in the J/105 class represent veterans, past winners of the event, and several new faces in the crowd. In the old guard department are teams like Andy Kennedy’s BAT IV, Jim Macdonald’s DISTANT PASSION from Bermuda, Jim Rathbun’s HEY JUDE from Toronto, Canada, Mike Mountford’s LIVE EDGE, Don Santa’s SANTAS REIGN DEAR, Carl & Scott Gitchell’s TENACIOUS and Mark Masur’s TWO FEATHERS. That group is basically comprised of a cast of characters and wily foxes that have crews that could be central casting right out the “Pirates of the Caribbean”- avast! Be forewarned, do not have too many Mt Gay rums with them, you will get in trouble in some way or another! The two newer crews include Ben duPont’s CTRL ALT DEL from Rockland, DE and Jane Millman’s HELLY HANSEN JUNIOR TEAM from Annapolis YC.
Finally, the relatively “new kid on the block” as a class are the J/111’s (other than the 70s). A most excellent fleet has assembled as the owners have rallied after traveling to points south during the winter for offshore events and Key West Race Week. A talented fleet it is, loaded with Key West Champions, Chesapeake Bay Champions, Rolex Big Boat Champions, Block Island Race Week Champions and what not. The form on this group of nine teams is a bit tough, especially since most boats have won events in their local/ regional circuits. Nevertheless, after winning Key West twice and taking 2nd in the 2016 J/111 Worlds, the betting is that Peter Wagner’s SKELETON KEY from St Francis YC in San Francisco, CA will be even odds, at best. Just a few ticks above their team from the odds-maker’s perspective will be a handful of crews, like Sedge Ward’s BRAVO, Dave McCreight’s DARK HORSE, Rob Ruhlman’s SPACEMAN SPIFF, Marty Roesch’s VELOCITY, and Doug Curtiss’ WICKED 2.0. Then again, Jim Whited’s BAD CAT, Jeff Davis’ SHAMROCK or Jim Connelly’s SLUSH FUND could all clean out the podium- all have won races! If there is a range of weather conditions, watch this space, this will be an entertaining fleet to monitor as each boat has their favorite weather.Last but not least, hoping to trounce all comers in the North Sails Race Rally in the Cruisers division will be Paul Mikulski’s J/42 FULL CIRCLE from Annapolis YC- it is a Saturday-only pursuit-style race around a random-leg course in northern Chesapeake Bay. For more Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD Regatta sailing information
Exciting J/80 Class Updates!(Annapolis, MD)- The J/80 Class recently finalized a merger of the USA and Canada Associations to create the J/80 North American Class Association and our announcement of our first annual J/80 West Coast Championship.
You may have sensed a buzz in the air lately or seen a smile on the face of Annapolis sailor Ramzi Bannura, J/80 Stacked Deck, when mentioning the future of the J/80 North American Class; he is the new J/80 North American Class Association president, and he’s fired up!
“It’s been an exciting two years,” says Bannura. “We recently finalized the merger of J/80 Class Associations of Canada and the United States to officially form the J/80 North American Class Association along with new branding. A lot of fresh energy that’s been pumped into the organization comes from our friends north of the border including now those on the West Coast!”
The largest J/80 fleet however remains in Annapolis with nearly thirty boats strong, home waters of John White, champion of last year’s J/80 North American Championship held in Toronto, Ontario last August. The fleet always has a strong showing at local events such as the Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD (this year May 5-7), among other one-design events. The Annapolis Fleet 10 especially makes a strong showing during J/World’s signature Thursday Night Summer racing series.
“Our Thursday night series approaches 20 boats each week,” says Bannura. “If you consider that for a moment, sometimes we don’t get those numbers at the NOODs, in Charleston or elsewhere unless it’s a championship event. Of course, it’s partly due to our local strong fleet and especially J/World’s continued support with all the great things they continue to do for J/80 members; providing training opportunities for crew to master boat handling skills as well as offer a fresh wave of graduates to sail on the private boats. It’s been an amazing synergy we’ve had with J/World for many years that we value greatly.”
The enormous allure of J/World Thursday night racing series could also be attributed to the assured excitement on a work night.
“We may show up to the yacht club at 5 p.m., put boat on water, start racing by 6:30, bang out up to three short yet competitive races—which is the most amazing thrill; and we get our boat back to the dock and out of the water by sunset.” It’s these sailing opportunities that keep the local fleet strong, competitive and refined as well as peaks the interest of newcomers to the local fleet.
What is amazing in today’s racing landscape is the recent measurable growth spurt in the J/80 class after a plateau over the past five years or so. “We’re not sure why exactly”, says Bannura, “the boats continue to be sought after and seem to hold their value… I think at the end of the day, when folks want a stable, fun and safe racer for hardcore competition or for family fun, they turn to the J/80,” says Bannura.
The continued challenge and opportunity for the Association is to ensure that new sailors coming onboard have the support they need on a local level to get to know the class rules, boat-weighing process, as well as performance tips and tricks. There is endless energy from existing boat owners and crew to pass along the knowledge to establish these competitors so when they are seen on the course, it elevates the overall competitiveness of the fleet and prepares them for global competition.
On a larger geographic scale, the Class has made a conscious effort to diversify its events. The East Coast Championships and many of the North American events take place on the East Coast, but the fleet is now expanding its reach. An annual West Coast Championship event will unfold (October 2017) on Puget Sound off Seattle, WA. “I’m thrilled to see the traction the Class is gaining on the West Coast, expect more exciting things to come,” says Bannura.
The East Coast Championship events will happen at some new, accessible spots surrounded by J/80 growth and energy, such as the 2018 East Coast Championships in Booth Bay Harbor, ME, and 2018 North American Championships in Marion, MA. Although, this year’s North American Championship will be in Annapolis in October hosted by Eastport YC. The Association hopes to successfully bid the J/80 Worlds back to North America over the next few years.
“It’s exciting to see what 2017 may bring,” says Bannura. “If the flood of Class Association memberships and boat inquiries is a testament of things to come, it’s going to be a banner year.”
If you are interested in learning more about the J/80 class, membership, boats for sale, fleet contacts, etc, please visit the NEW website.
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
The latter part of spring marks the starting point for the broad and diverse sailing leagues in Europe and also major offshore events for keelboats. In France, their largest keelboat event is the Tour de Belle’Ile, a “fun race” for over 450 boats that starts off La Trinite sur Mer, goes around the pretty Belle’Ile island, leaving it to port, and finishes back at La Trinite. Everyone starts on one giant starting line, it is quite a scene! Off to the east, the Italians sailed their first Alcatel J/70 Cup event at San Remo, the Italian Riviera. Just northeast of them, the Swiss sailed their first event of the Swiss J/70 Sailing League on Lago Maggiore, Italy. Then, still further east, the Russians sailed their second act of the Russian J/70 Sailing League in Sevastopol, Crimea.Traveling still further east to the Pacific, we get a report on J/111 activity taking place in Australia, down in Melbourne and up in Australia.
Then headed to the eastern side of the Pacific, we find a number of J/crews having to deal with a lighter than usual Newport to Ensenada Race, one of southern California’s offshore classics- a 176nm “sprint” from Newport Beach, CA to Ensenada, Mexico. North of them in San Francisco, fleets of J/105s and J/24s sailed the annual “Resin Regatta”, a regatta that celebrates sailing plastic boats!
On the far side of America, the American YC held their first weekend of their popular Spring Series on western Long Island Sound for one design classes of J/70s, J/88s, J/105s, J/109s, and J/44s, plus other J’s sailing in PHRF classes.
Southeast of them in the Caribbean, we find the last of the famous winter regattas taking place at Antigua Sailing Week. A dozen J/Teams are participating across a number of CHS Racing classes, such as J/122s, J/109s, J/105s, J/30s, J/120s and others.
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:
Apr 29-30- American YC Spring Series- Rye, NYApr 29- RORC Cervantes Trophy- Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
Apr 30- May 1- Antigua Sailing Week- English Harbour, Antigua
May 5-7- Annapolis NOOD Regatta- Annapolis, MD
May 5-7- Yachting Cup Regatta- San Diego, CA
May 6-7- American YC Spring Series- Rye, NY
May 6-7- Race to the Straits Regatta- Seattle, WA
May 3- RORC De Guingand Bowl Race- Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
May 13-14- Vashon Island/ Tri-Island Race- Seattle, WA
May 17-21- USA J/24 Nationals- Seattle, WA
Jun 2-5- J/22 World Championship- Scheveningen, The Netherlands
Jun 3-4- Cedar Point One-Design Regatta- Cedar Point, CT
Jun 3-9- J/70 European Championship- Hamble, England
Jun 16-18- J/70 Great Lakes Championship- Cleveland, OH
Jul 8-14- J/80 World Championship- Hamble, England
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J/112E Dominates Tour de Belle-Ile“The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” Does It Again!
(La Trinite sur Mer, France)- On April 30, between the two rounds of the French Presidential election, professional and amateur sailors went sailing on the Bay of Quiberon to race in their fabled Round Belle-Ile race- the VIII edition, so far.
The Tour de Belle-Ile has become the biggest sailing event in all of France based on the number of the sailboats- over 450 entries across 15+ classes. The event has become a classic, a fixture at the beginning of the French summer sailing season. Numerous J/teams have participated in this family-friendly event, a simple large starting line, sail out around the island, keeping it to port, and finish back off the sea-buoy off the harbor La Trinite sur Mer. The Maxi offshore multihulls, of course, the famous ones like SODEBO, etc, blast around the track in less than 2 hours. As for the rest, it is treated as a somewhat “competitive picnic with the family”!
Here is how it all took place on a sunny afternoon on the Bay of Quiberon. In the IRC 1 class with 17 boats, it was Eric Gicquel’s J/133 GICQUEL ASSOCIATES from Societe Baie St Malo that took 6th in class.
In the highly competitive IRC 2 class with 15 boats, Cyril Penvern’s J/112E J/LANCE 12 took first, with Philippe Baetz’s J/112E MUSIX from Societe Nautique Trinite sur Mer taking third. For many, it was the dominating performance of the J/112E’s that took everyone by surprise. While some believe the J/112E’s performance in the SPI OUEST France regatta was weather condition specific, the performance of the J/112E in offshore conditions with reaching and running and jib-only scenarios in the Belle-Ile race demonstrated the boat’s amazing versatility to perform in a wide-variety of sailing conditions under the IRC Class rating rule.In OSIA A Class with 34 entries, the J/crews nearly swept the top five places. Winning was Patrice Vidon’s J/111 J4F from Societe Regate Douarnenez; followed by Rodolphe Marchais’ J/122 JOLLY JOKER in second from SN Trinite s/Mer; in fourth was Frederic Guillemot’s J/105 GUILLEMOT from SN Trinite s/Mer; and 5th place was Stephane Blanchard’s J/111 LE JOUET. Follow the Tour de Belle-Ile Facebook page For more Tour de Belle-Ile sailing information
CALVI NETWORK Leads Alcatel J/70 Cup(San Remo, Italy)- The first event of ALCATEL J/70 CUP was enthusiastically hosted by Yacht Club San Remo, a beautiful club on the Italian Riviera in the northwest part of Italy. Mother nature was not kind, offering extremely variable weather conditions and unsteady winds.
Sixty-three boats from fourteen Countries sailed the event in San Remo, including teams from Austria (1), Brazil (2), United Arab Emirates (1), France (2), Germany (1), Italy (29), Malta (1), Monaco (9), Norway (1), Poland (2), United Kingdom (2), Russia (5), Sweden (1), Switzerland (5), and Turkey (1).
There were many newcomers racing with the J/70 fleet in San Remo, but also many veteran teams with championship credentials, like the young European J/70 Champion and woman skipper of PETITE TERRIBLE- Claudia Rossi; Carlo Alberini’s CALVI NETWORK- two-times winner of the Key West Race Week and a European Champion; and Franco Solerio aboard L'ELAGAIN, winner of the Italian circuit in the past two years!
After making a valiant attempt to get racing going over the three days, just two races ended up counting. Nevertheless, in the extremely difficult sailing conditions, many of the top teams still prevailed to land on the podium. Winning for the second year in a row was Alberini’s CALVI NETWORK with 5 pts total. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the regatta was to see Russia’s top woman skipper, Lera Kovalenko, continue her winning ways (she won the Monaco J/70 Winter Series overall), posting a 4-3 with her excellent ARTTUBE team to take the silver on the podium! Third was ARRIVEDERCI, skippered by Victor DeMaison from Brazil. Truly an international podium!Rounding out the top five were Claudia Rossi’s PETITE TERRIBLE from YC Costa Smeralda with 14 pts and in fifth place was Gianfranco Noe’s WHITE HAWK from YC Adriaco. For the first time in J/70 class history, there were two women skippers in the top five, an exciting development for the class!
In the Corinthian division, first place went to Noe’s WHITE HAWK, followed by the duo of Zampori & Ramassotto from CN Alassio on MAGIE DAS SAILING TEAM in second place and rounding out the podium in the bronze position was the Swedish crew of DYNAMANT RACING from Royal Swedish YC (KSSS) skippered by Anders Kemmler. The balance of the top five consisted of Allessio Querin’s MUMMY ONE from YC Hannibal in 4th and Alain Stettler’s QUARTER TO ELEVEN Swiss crew from Regatta Club Oberhofen.
"Despite the low number of races sailed, it was a good event on water and on-shore,” explained the President of J/70 Italian Class, Vittorio Di Mauro. “Even when weather conditions didn't allow sailing, we tried to entertain our crews in the best way possible. At all times they could enjoy food and drinks offered by Kitchen Aid and Aperol Spritz, or try the brand new cars by Alfa Romeo in thrilling test drives. We for sure hope that, in the next leg, we will manage to deliver a great event both on water and on shore.”
The winner, Carlo Alberini commented, ”It's a pity we lost the chance for two races one day because of all the general recalls. We would have been really happy to sail in those conditions, but things can't always go as you wish! There is still a lot of satisfaction for having begun the Alcatel J/70 Cup with a victory and this repays us for all the hard work we've done through the winter. We never stopped sailing between the USA and training in the Adriatic Sea. I have to thank my crew that never lost focus even when the stress was high due to the long waits and to the continuous starting procedures.” Alberini’s crew included Branko Brcin (tactician), Karlo Hmeljak (main), and Sergio Blosi (trimmer).The next event for the ALCATEL J/70 CUP is scheduled for May 26th to 28th in Malcesine, on the Lago di Garda.
Perhaps the biggest winner in San Remo was the Russian woman skipper- Lera Kovalenko! Why? She won a two-nights stay in Lazise (Verona) and a wine tasting at Cantina Masi valid for two people, to be enjoyed after the ALCATEL J/70 Cup in Malcesine! The prize was awarded by the Italian Chamber of Commerce- “OhhItaly!”- to the top finishing foreign crew in San Remo! No wonder she had such a big smile on her face!! Follow Alcatel J/70 Cup on Facebook For more Alcatel J/70 Cup Italian Championship sailing information
Kreuzlingen Leads Swiss J/70 League(Lago Maggiore, Switzerland & Italy)- The first round of the Swiss Sailing League took place on Lago Maggiore, a pretty alpine lake that borders both Switzerland and Italy. Like many mountain lakes in the region, the approximate north/south orientation means that no matter what weather systems are moving across the European Alps, the “bora” wind fills in from the south as a thermal by midday and can often hit 15-20 kts-plus by the afternoon.
It was an exciting duel to the finish for Act 1 of the Swiss Sailing League, punctuated by magnificent spring sailing conditions with nearly perfect breezes each day. The protagonists were the top three teams, Kreuzlingen, Oberhofen (BE) and Neuchâtel. After two days of racing, 25 races were completed and everyone was enjoying the warm sun and nice winds.
The racing between the top three teams was very tight and no one could afford to make mistakes. Concentration, perfect maneuvers, good speed and smart tactics were essential on the tight, short courses.
On the first day of racing on Friday, each team managed to sail four races. The Neuchâtel team won all four of their heats. They were followed by the Kreuzlingen (SVK) team in second for the day. The Oberhofen club started well and managed to win the fourth race to hang on to third.The racing on Saturday saw even better breeze, with fewer gusts and shifts, just a steadier 8-14 kts breeze. The Oberhofen club started the day with some wins and stayed in the lead for a short time. However, Kreuzlingen won five races to take back over the lead. Oberhofen and Neuchâtel teams suffered some mistakes and dropped back into 3rd and 4th overall. As a result, the final day was going to determine the outcome for this closely fought battle at the top of the leaderboard.
On Sunday, RegattaClub Bodensee won three races to secure 4th place, a dramatic improvement on their 6th position from the previous day. Meanwhile, Seglervereinigung Kreuzlingen pushed hard and firmly established their lead over the fleet with 28 pts total, followed by Regattaclub Oberhofen in second place with 41 pts, and Cercle de la Voile de Neuchâtel in third just two points back with 43 pts. The balance of the top five included Regattaclub Bodensee in 4th and Société Nautique de Genève in 5th. Sailing photo credits- Sven Jurgensen For more Swiss J/70 Sailing League information
“Neptune Team” Wins Russian J/70 League Act II(Sevastopol, Crimea)- The second stage of the Premier Division of the Russian J/70 Sailing League was just completed off the gorgeous seaport of Sevastopol on the southwest corner of the Crimean peninsula.
In the regatta were seven teams from Sochi, Moscow, Tuapse and Sevastopol. Those crews were KOREG Sailing Team (Artem Avetisyan); QPRO Sailing Team (Sergey Avdonin); Calypso (Vladimir Shishkin); Neptune (Yuri Bozhedomov); PAKETA Team (Tatyana Timokhova); Varvara Team (Ilina Sventonovskaya); and the AYA team (Valeria Zubkova).
Over the three-day event, fifteen races races were held. The winners were the “local heroes” on the Sevastopol team "Neptune" with helmsman Yuri Bozhedomov. They won eight races on their way to a convincing victory over their rivals with just 26 pts total. It was an amazing performance for a team that had only practiced twice before the regatta and was learning how to make the J/70 go faster every race! Having some local knowledge helped overcome their initial deficit, but Yuri and his crew were quick learners!Taking second place was Moscow's QPRO Sailing Team led by skipper Sergei Avdonin. They posted five 2nds in their scoreline and won the final race, accumulating 44 pts overall.
The battle for third place on the final day was between another Sevastopol team- AYA skippered by Valeria Zubkova and the KOREG Sailing Team skippered by Artem Avetisyan. Both teams traded off 2nd and 4th places just about every race. However, in the end, it was Zubkova’s AYA team that took the bronze with 53 pts, while the KOREG team settled for 4th place with 59 pts. Rounding out the top five was PAKETA team skippered by Tatyana Timokhova.
"The format of the races is such that teams are constantly chasing different boats,” explained the Chief Judge of the competition, Eduard Yurchenko. “The format is attractive and judging the competitions is a pleasure. Plus, in Sevastopol the large, enclosed bay is a very convenient sailing area, and the weather allows sailors to race in different conditions. We had a good combination of stormy winds and light to moderate breezes with chop over the weekend. Plus, the racing was so close to shore, we had a lot of spectators!”"At this regatta, we were chasing well-trained crews around the race course. It was very interesting for us to keep pace and learn fast,” said Neptune’s helmsman, Yuri Bozhedomov. “Yes, we were lucky with the weather. In short, the best impressions all around for our first regatta! We will strive to continue to participate in the Premier League stages and hope to make it to Moscow!"
"I am participating for the first time in the National Sailing League," explained Valeria Zubkova, the helm for Team AYA. “It's super, it's a fun time sailing the J/70s! Great boats! I think that everything was successful. All the participants liked sailing in Sevastopol Bay. We know it from growing up here in our childhood! That helped a lot for our tactics and strategies. We hope to be able to compete in Moscow along with the other teams, too!”
"Our problem was that at first, we did not decide who would be steering," said the coach of the KOREG Sailing Team - Mushegh Garibyan. “We are still learning, gaining experience. The weather was magnificent, the rivals are good, the battles around the course were terrific. The experience gained is priceless! We look forward to sailing again!”
"We looked at Yuri Bozhedomov, who knows Sevastopol’s bay better than anyone else. He showed everyone a master class,” says the helmsman of KOREG Sailing Team- Artem Avetisyan. "We gained a lot of experience and will apply it in the future. We will do everything to get to the Higher League. In terms of weather and competition in Sevastopol, it was very interesting. Even more interesting than in Sochi. The city itself and its people have very high spirits. On Friday, I was steering. Frankly, I was disappointed in our first few races. But, then we pulled ourselves together and started to catch up with everyone. In Moscow, we promise to show our best results!”The third stage of the Premier Division of the National Sailing League will be held in Moscow on May 25th to 28th at the Royal YC Moscow.
The general partner of the League is United Shipbuilding Corporation JSC. Official partners are Gazprom and Nord Stream Ag. Fitness partner- the federal network of fitness clubs- X-Fit. Technological partner- the company InterProCom. General information partner- the channel "Match!". The general radio partner- Radio MAXIMUM. The information partners- the newspaper Sovetsky Sport, Maxim magazine, Forbes.Life, Sport FM, Yachting magazine. Regional information partner- Radio MAXIMUM Crimea.
Russian Sailing League on National TV Sports Channel (like ESPN) Facebook video of Russian patrol boat Russian Sailing League Facebook page Russian Sailing Federation
J/125 TIMESHAVER Tops Newport to Ensenada Race(Newport Beach, CA)- The days when you could be on the water in Newport Beach for the start of the Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race, then drive south in time to see the first boats finish is officially over.
Two years in a row now, heavy afternoon southbound traffic following the start, then backups at the border plus a pit stop for insurance and gas have hindered the timely arrival of photographers and volunteers. “Who would have thought a sailboat could make it to Ensenada faster than a car,” questioned Jr. Staff Commodore Dave Shockley.
The 70th edition had 187 entries for the iconic contest on April 28 that attracted serious sailors, weekend racers and recreational cruisers, all vying for one of more than 45 trophies.
Despite Friday (Apr 28) starting with a wind advisory for the Huntington Beach area, winds dissipated as boats converged on the start at 10:30 a.m. By 12:30 p.m. and the final start, big swells remained but wind had slowed to between just 6-8 knots.However, it was so windy later that day in Ensenada, the Port Captain closed the harbor to outgoing traffic. But winds in Ensenada did little for the rest of the fleet, many of which were caught in doldrums 60 nm to the north near San Diego. The option to drop out of the race proved too tempting for 40 boats. “Spotty winds – this is sailboat racing,” said Commodore Tom Kennedy.
Besides the two big trimarans that ripped down the course in a mere five hours, the wind shut off, making the race a washing machine that eliminated a third of the fleet. For those that stuck it out, the teams that had made it further south and offshore got hit by up to 35 kt winds hard on the nose. “It was tricky, very tricky,” said Benny Mitchell, navigator on Roy Disney’s 70 footer PYEWACKET.
The awards ceremony was particularly enjoyable for one J/Boat owner! To the roar of the crowd behind him, cheering and chanting “D-P-Y-C” (the Dana Point YC once again claimed honors for the most entries (18) and the most winners from a club), Viggo Torbensen and his J/125 TIMESHAVER crew picked up the Governor of California Trophy. Not only did they take home hardware for the Best Corrected Time PHRF A win, they placed second in the new category of Best Elapsed Time- PHRF A.
“The last six hours were incredibly difficult,” said Torbensen said. “The ocean was like a washboard. We finished upwind in 23 knots of breeze! We’ve never done that before on this race!!”
Also sailing PHRF A was Paul Margis’ beautiful J/160 INDIGO, taking 7th on a very comfortable ride down to Ensenada!
Class bragging rights for PHRF C almost always comes down to a recurring battle between the top J/120s. However, this year, the light airs did in a few teams that elected to drop out. Persevering until the bitter end and finishing in 5th place was Rudy Hasl’s HASL FREE.In PHRF D, another J/crew that was determined to finish was rewarded with silverware, taking 3rd was Seth Hall’s gorgeous navy-blue J/124 MARISOL.
Meanwhile, in PHRF F class, it was Juan Lois’ one-design configured J/105 ROCINANTE that took the silver while another classmate, Mark Weinberger’s J/33 PRIMA, took 6th place.
Finally, in PHRF I class, taking 3rd was Scott McKenney’s pretty little J/32 BETTY! They actually sailed quite an amazing race, beating a lot of 40-footers across the line!
“N2E is always an adventure; it’s different every year,” said NOSA Vice Commodore Daniel Hodge. “Yet we are truly pleased when racers tell us that it's always a fabulous event for everyone.”
The Newport Ocean Sailing Association, hosts of the race, are grateful for all those who persevered the elements; for its valued cruisers, some of whom reported wallowing in lulls for more than 14 hours and those who made judgment calls to float less and enjoy Ensenada more. For more Newport to Ensenada Race sailing information
Australia J/111 Report(Sydney, Australia)- The two J/111s, Rod Warren’s JOUST and Stuart Lyons JAKE have dominated the new Super 11 Class finishing first and second in the Club Marine Interclub Series in Sydney Harbour. Here is the report Ray Entwistle at YachtSpot in Sydney.
“The Super 11 Series was sailed over three months with seven races counting. The results demonstrated the remarkable consistency of the J/111’s to perform in a wide variety of conditions in offshore handicap racing- between the two boats, they only dropped a 4th and a DNC!
The Super 11 Sailing Association racing programme is based at Royal Brighton Yacht Club, Victoria. The association was formed to promote racing between high performance AMS Rated boats up to 11.2m with fixed or retractable bow sprits and to encourage the development of fast and exciting sailing yachts that utilize the latest in design and build technologies.
In other racing, J/111 JOUST won the IRC and AMS Div 1 Club Championships at Sandringham Yacht Club. JOUST also won four of the six trophy races and follows on from their success in the Lipton Cup IRC Div 1.
We are welcoming an addition to the fleet this week, J/111 PLAYLIST to be sailed by Matt Powell and hope another will follow soon coming in from the USA West Coast!
It was another brilliant year for J/111’s in Australia. Congratulations Rod and Stuart and their crews!”
Sailing photo credit- Alex McKinnon Photography For more information about sailing J/111s in Australia, please contact Ray- “info@yachtspot.com.au” or on their website- www.yachtspot.com.au For more J/111 offshore speedster information
J/125 HAMACHI Wins Protection Island Race(Seattle, WA)- According to Janson Andrews co-owner of the J/125 HAMACHI, “We took line honors in ORC 2 despite being the smallest and slowest boat, and finished first on corrected time in ORC, beating some big sleds. We had a great downwind run where we topped out at 19.5 kts”. Here is their complete report of the race.
“We had a crew of eight turn out for SYC’s Protection Island race, the first of their Tri-Island Series, and also a qualifier for the VanIsle 360. Shawn was on helm, Chris on main, Jason and Adam were on bow / foredeck, while Pete, Scott, Mike and Steve were in the pit. The forecast had been up and down all week between a drifter or a fast run out to the island and back. In the end it was more the latter, but it would start light. The wind was out of the south at 8-10 and forecast to build to 10-15 by mid-day and then crank up to around 20 in the afternoon. We had favorable currents with an ebb pushing us out to Protection Island, and a flood pushing us home.
We entered Hamachi under the ORC rules, since that is what we would be racing at Swiftsure and VanIsle. We also wanted to test ourselves against the big dogs in the fleet. There were eight ORC boats registered, so they split us into two classes. We were in ORC2 going up against Olympic Gold Medalist Jonathan McKee and Dark Star (Riptide 44). We also had Jedi (J/145) and New Haven (Ker 46) in our fleet, which meant we were the smallest and slowest boat, buy a good margin. In ORC1 were the big sleds of Crossfire (R/P 55), Smoke (TP52), Glory (TP52) and Neptune’s Car (SC 70).All ORC boats had a single start and we were in the mix and across the line in a good position behind Dark Star. The ORC2 boats all started on starboard heading towards the right (east) side of the course, while the ORC1 boats immediately jibed onto port headed west. There was more pressure to the east and we all accelerated against the other cluster. Before long Dark Star jibed back west and we followed – why second guess an Olympic Gold Medalist? This paid off as the two of us continued to pull away from everyone, especially the other two boats in our class. We recontacted the ORC1 boats on the west side of the course and the six of us would jibe up towards Port Townsend, 30 nm away. The breeze was steady around 10 kts but we could see it filling in to the south, pushing the slower boats up behind us. Due to their longer waterline lengths, the sleds slowly increased the gap. Abeam Marrowstone Lighthouse the increasing breeze finally caught us and we peeled from our A1.5 to an A2.5. We debated between the A2.0 and A2.5, and luckily picked the sail with the higher end, as we would soon need it. We made one or two short jibes to position us to lay Point Wilson. The increasing breeze allowed us to hold, or even close the gap, with Dark Star and Neptune’s Car in front us. We could also see white caps to the south. Once abeam Pt Wilson the front caught us and the wind cranked into the low 20s and Hamachi jumped up on a plane and took off. We were enjoying the sensation of planning out and saw 19.5 kts on the spedo. However, due to the wind angle, we were sailing away from the lay line. Further, at 18 kts we were rapidly covering the short 6-7 nm to Protection Island and had to reconfigure our sailplan so that we could beat to winward and round the island in the building seas. We struck the staysail, put up the #3, and then struck the spinnaker. This allowed us to head up and round Protection behind Dark Star and Neptune’s Car. On the lee side of Protection we saw Dark Star strike their sails and retire – we learned later that they had torn their mainsail.
Once around Protection we had a 40 nm beat home in 20-25 kts of wind under full main and #3. The ebb had switched to a flood, which was stacking up against the southerly wind. It was a long rough beat. Further, to hold our advantage against bigger and heavier boats, we sailed through all of the current rips, which were full of big steep waves, to maximize speed over ground – we often saw 10+ kts. Once around Point No Point we stayed on the west side of the course and were able to catch a wind shift which allowed us to sail directly down the sound towards Shilshole. Hamachi performed admirably and we held off New Haven until the end, finishing several hundred yards in front to take ORC2 line honors. We covered the 81.6 nm course in 9:50, a record we may not break for some time...Due to the timing of the currents and the building wind, the slower boats that started later all did better versus the big sleds at the front of the course. Hamachi, on corrected time, finished well ahead of the big boats to take first place in ORC overall.” Follow the J/125 HAMCHI Facebook page. The J/125 HAMACHI YouTube sailing video of the Protection Island Race Follow Hamachi’s crew on their blog.
Great Start @ AYC Spring Series(Rye, NY)- This past weekend, the American Yacht Club Spring Series was sailed on western Long Island Sound with virtually all fleets getting in a total of six races. The one-design fleets of J/70s, J/88s, J/105s, J/109s, and J/44s were spread across two racing circles, each bringing with it unique challenges to how to play the current and wind bends flowing off the shore.
The fifteen-boat J/70 saw a battle break out for the top two spots between Scot & Alex Furnary’s ANY COLOUR and Daan Goedkoop’s LOCOMOTION. Peeling off straight bullets on Saturday, the LOCOMOTION team sure had their “mojo” going to lead the fleet by a considerable margin. However, on Sunday the tables turned, with ANY COLOUR posting a 1-1-2 to lead the fleet with 8 pts. One point back are the LOCO boys. The rest of the top five are locked in a battle of their own with just four points separating them. Sitting in third on a tie-breaker at 23 pts each is Carrie & Ed Austin’s CHINOOK with Andrew & Melissa Fisher’s BUTTON FLY in fourth. Then, sitting in fifth is Ernest Bourassa’s ALTHEA with 27 pts.
The two J/88 teams that sailed Key West, St Petersburg, and Charleston during the winter months are showing their edge over the seven-boat J/88 class. Currently leading is Iris Vogel’s DEVIATION with Mike Bruno’s WINGS in second just two points back. Sitting in third is Ken & Drew Hall’s NEVERMORE with 14 pts.
Leading the eight-boat J/105 class is Paul Beaudin’s LOULOU with a fleet-eviscerating three bullets and three deuces for 7 pts net (nice to throw out a 2nd, eh??). Behind them is a three-way battle for the balance of the podium spots. Leading that charge by just one point is Thom Hering’s TRIFECTA; behind them is the YOUNG AMERICA JR Big Boat Team; and just two points back from them is George & Alex Wilbanks’ REVELATION.
Starting out strong on the first day of racing in the J/109 class of nine boats was David Rosow’s LOKI, with a steady 2-1-2 for 5 pts. There were not to be denied on Sunday either, throwing down the gauntlet with the same scoreline- 2-2-1 for a total of 8 pts net. Wow, that is some performance in the closely-knit J/109 class! Tight lines as they say in the fishing world! Second is Bill Rogers’ BIG BOAT with 13 pts, third is Jon Rechtschaffer’s EMOTICON, fourth Carl Olsson’s MORNING GLORY, and 5th Ray Pepi’s CLEO.
As usual, the J/44s are enjoying some close racing. In fact, the lead is determined by a tie-breaker and so is third, for that matter. At the top of the leaderboard is Jeff Willis’ CHALLENGE IV, followed by Len Sitar’s VAMP. Third sees Bill Ketcham’s MAXINE just one point in front of Don & Dick Rave’s RESOLUTE.
Finally, in PHRF 2, Jason Viseltear’s J/80 UPSETTER is sitting in 4th place and in PHRF 1, Paul Strauch’s J/111 ANDIAMO sits in 5th place. For more American YC Spring Series sailing information
Antigua Sailing Week Beach Party Break Report(English Harbour, Antigua) – With full blown trade winds piping up to 20 knots in the gusts, the 50th edition of Antigua Sailing Week got off to a lively start for English Harbour Rum Race Day 1. The majority of the CSA Racing division was racing off Shirley Heights; spectators lined the lookout high above the race course and there was plenty of high-octane action to enjoy. Boats and sailors from 33 different countries have come to Antigua Sailing Week and today’s amazing weather conditions are one of the big attractions; solid breeze delivering boat speed fast enough to surf in warm blue Caribbean surf.
Blasting through the swell, today’s closest victory was in CSA 8. After CSA time correction, Tanner Jones’ J/30, Caribbean Alliance Insurance was the winner by just 21 seconds and all three podium places were filled by Antiguan boats.Antigua Yacht Club was the venue for the English Harbour Rum daily prize giving with plenty of Antigua Sailing Week’s favourite rum to savor. After a full-on day of racing in paradise, over 1,000 sailors packed the Antigua Yacht Club lawn for the daily prize giving. Live music was provided by 1761° and they don’t play to empty dance floors, so the party lasted well into the night.
Day Two- Trades Pumping at Antigua Sailing WeekThe second day of racing at the 50th edition of Antigua Sailing Week was blessed with awesome conditions, easterly trade winds pumping solid breeze over the cliffs and through the bays on the stunning south coast of Antigua. Add bright sunshine and the infamous Antiguan sea state and you have a sweet and spicy cocktail to savor. The majority of the 150-strong fleet got a double helping of racing in paradise today with two races, testing the boat handling and mettle of the competitors.
Ten teams remain unbeaten, but the devil is in the details and a close-up look at the results reveals incredibly tight racing throughout the fleet.
Robbie Ferron, co-skipper of Micron 99 Lord Jim has been coming to Antigua Sailing Week since 1982: “For me Antigua Sailing Week has become really special again. It has always been a great event and it is capturing the essence of what Caribbean regattas should be all about. A lot of great communication with participants has highlighted the need for sailors to socialize after racing. These daily prize giving’s are great for that and we are thoroughly enjoying the regatta.”
Ashore, there was no shortage of entertainment. Today’s race sponsor, Fever-Tree was generous in its support, serving delicious cocktails and after the Prize Giving, DJ Alan got the party started before a live set from Rico & Muzik 4 Play Band entertained the crowded party well into the evening.
Day Three- Hotting Up On D’IslandThe third day was once again blessed with glorious conditions. Squally pewter skies cleared shortly after the first warning gun and the breeze slowly woke up as the skies cleared, touching 17 knots at times. Ten teams went out to the race course unbeaten, but only three returned with their perfect score intact after some intense racing; hotter than jerk chicken!
The big boat CSA classes were treated to long windward leeward courses off the spectacular cliffs on the south coast of Antigua. The bareboats and smaller CSA classes raced in more sheltered conditions off Rendezvous Beach with short sharp legs testing boat handling skills and boat-on-boat tactics. Two races were held for the majority of the 150 yachts racing.
The closest race today was Race 4 in CSA 4. Now lying second in the class is Douglas Ayres’ American J/122 Team Skylark/ EL OCASO.
In CSA 7, just half a point behind their long-time rivals, also from St. Maarten, is Byerley & Ferron’s J/39 MICRON 99 LORD JIM.
In CSA 8, the class lead has changed hands every day; now sitting in third place is Tanner Jones’ J/30 CARIBBEAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE.
Wednesday night is the big entertainment night at Antigua. Internationally-acclaimed reggae artiste, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, the youngest son of Bob Marley, is set to headline the eighth edition of “Reggae in the Park,” live in Nelson’s Dockyard. Over 4,000 party-goers are expecting a phenomenal performance from the Grammy award-winning artist when he takes the stage.Tomorrow, Wednesday 3rd May is Lay Day Beach Party. The ultimate Caribbean beach party kicks off at Pigeon Point Beach at noon. The grills fire up from mid-day with top entertainment from DJs, live music and some crazy beach games.
152 teams from 28 nations are racing at Antigua Sailing Week from around the world. Fourteen European countries are well-represented, including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Lithuania, Russia and Switzerland. At least ten Caribbean island nations are on the starting line, including Antigua, Saint Maarten, St Barths, Puerto Rico, St Thomas USVI, Tortola BVI, Trinidad, Barbados, Martinique, and Jamaica. And, from the “America’s”, there are teams from Canada, USA, Mexico and Argentina. Sailing photo credits- Tim Wright/ Photoaction.com For more Antigua Sailing Week information
Offbeat “Resin Regatta” in San Francisco(San Francisco, CA)- Seventy-seven boats in seven one-design classes, including twenty-one J-105's and six J-24s registered for the San Francisco YC’s “Resin Regatta”- the YC's annual invitational to resin aficionados and converts! Crazy, eh?? Perhaps an homage to those inhaling styrene for too long!
With just a few AWOL boats, the participants enjoyed a spectacular weekend on the bay with wall-to-wall sunshine, warm temps and breezes in the mid to high teens. An ongoing mountain runoff continues to influence the currents in the SF Bay, with the Berkeley Flats being no exception. With a westerly blowing and a flood tide running throughout the day, water entering into SF Bay from the Delta seems to get shunted south towards the South Bay, messing with conventional wisdom of local knowledge. Those aware of the 1-5 to 2 knot southerly flow benefited greatly when seeking passing lanes and rang up low scores on the tally sheet. With race 3 abandoned the crews settled for 4 races and great close racing in all classes.
In the J/105 class, Bruce Stone & Nicole Breault and their team on ARBITRAGE posted their third regatta win of the 2017 SF Bay season by topping the 21 boat J/105 fleet sailed on the Berkeley Olympic Circle. The Race Committee waited out the light early northerlies for the westerlies that kicked in almost on schedule around noon, providing great racing in flat water. Competitors enjoyed warm winds generally in the 13-16 kt range each day with gusts to 27 kt late Saturday and 18 kt on Sunday. Starting Sunday in third place, ARBITRAGE posted two bullets to wrest the lead away from Rolf Kaiser/Shannon Ryan’s team on DONKEY JACK, with Phil Laby’s GODOT taking third, Adam Spiegel’s JAM SESSION in fourth, and Ryan Simmons BLACKHAWK in fifth.Major drama for several J/105 teams on Saturday was trying to get out of the city-front marina near the St. Francis YC in San Francisco, as the tides were at record lows and ARBITRAGE was fully stuck in the mud at its slip, while JAM SESSION ran aground at the exit to the harbor. Along with PERSEVERANCE, they waited for the water to rise and were then able to leave, just making it to the starting area across the Bay in time to sail the race! Note to self- “drama” easy to avoid- check tides- move boat earlier!
Meanwhile, the half-dozen J/24s had a rip-roaring good time. Don’t they often do that anyhow?? This time, it was “girl power” that fueled Val Lulevich’s SHUT UP & DRIVE team to the front of the fleet with lotsa bullets in her scoreline! Second was Jasper Van Vliet’s EVIL OCTOPUS with lots of seconds in his tally. Third was Randy Rasicot’s FLIGHT a few points back. Sailing photo credits- Erik Simonson/ www.h2oshots.com For more Resin Regatta sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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* High School Sailors Love Annapolis Junior Keelboat Regatta! That is for sure! While the spring emphasis for high school teams is doublehanded fleet and team racing, five Maryland schools embraced variety by competing in the third annual Annapolis Junior Keelboat Regatta on April 29.Held in J/80s just off the docks of the Annapolis Spring Sailboat Show in Annapolis Harbor, the regatta was created by the Annapolis Boat Shows, J/World Annapolis, and area sailing coaches to expose area teams to the fun, excitement, and teamwork (that makes the dream-work) of keelboat fleet racing.
Sailed in light shifting winds, Broadneck High School Sailing Team sought to defend their title. However, this time around they would become runner-up to the Archbishop Spalding High School Sailing Team of Will Comerford, Jake Vickers, Jack Irvin, and Natalia Pereira. Completing the top five were St. Mary’s, Key, and Severna Park High Schools.
Watch this cute drone video footage here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXyAvIdBmf4
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 and points further around the Blue Planet Earth. Here is their latest update (December 2016) from Bill & Kathy:“We completed a three year tour of the south pacific and sailed from Hobart Tasmania back to Seattle in the fall of 2012. After two seasons of local cruising, we decided to truck the boat to Rochester NY. In the summer of 2015, we sailed out the Saint Lawrence seaway and down the east coast of Nova Scotia and the US, with a few months in the Bahamas that winter. This past summer, we crossed the Atlantic with stops in Bermuda and the Azores, making landfall in Falmouth, UK. We have worked down the coast of France, Spain and Portugal and are now in Lagos Portugal. We plan on passing through the Straits of Gibraltar and spending a couple seasons in the Med.”
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 battle of the 30-footers in Section 8 was full of drama. Perhaps the craziest scenario for any boat to entertain in this year’s Chicago-Mac Race was to see Scott & Sean Grealish’s BLUE FLASH from Willamette SC in Portland, Oregon (seen right on Mac Island beach) to stop sailing and lead assistance to a sinking boat while leading both class and the fleet overall on the leaderboard at 1500 hrs. At that time, they had punched the “MOB button” to provide safety assistance to the sinking OD48 and stood by for over an hour until the US Coast Guard had cleared the crew. At that point, they resumed racing, much to their detriment in the overall standings. The simple reason was that the epic conditions that had produced the broach/sinking of the OD48 had diminished dramatically in that hour that BLUE FLASH stood by as a “good Samaritan”. In other words, instead of planing away at a steady 10-15 kts in 20-32 kts winds, BLUE FLASH sailed away in just 15-20 kt winds and averaging 8-12 kts an hour later. To make matters tougher for them, as the wind died into the evening hours, they got stuck up under the famous Hog Island “wind hole”, necessitating a near 80 deg gybe to rhumbline course to Grey’s Reef. Prior to their “standing by”, BLUE FLASH was 6th boat-for-boat against the top J/111s and only 12nm behind the J/111 NO SURPRISE- winner of the J/111s and 7th overall! 
About two-thirds the way up the Manitou Straits to Grey’s Reef, NO SURPRISE gybed away on a shift to then gybe back and grab the lead with less than 5nm to go to Grey’s Reef Lighthouse. From there into the finish off Mackinac Island, NO SURPRISE was undeterred and, remarkably, stretched a 300 yard lead at Grey’s Reef into a one hour, twenty minute elapsed time win! As a result, they not only took the class win but also finished 7th overall. Mounting a remarkable bid to chase down the leaders was the trio of George Miz, Peter Dreher & Mark Hatfield on IMPULSE. Sitting about 10nm behind at dawn on Sunday, they managed to break free from a battle with Brad Faber’s UTAH, John Kalanik’s PURA VIDA and Rich Witzel’s ROWDY to take a 6nm chunk out of the top two boats between Pt Betsie and Grey’s Reef. In the end, it was not enough to overhaul them, but IMPULSE did close the distance dramatically with the MOMENTUS crew, crossing the line just 3 minutes behind, to finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Rounding out the top five was Faber’s UTAH in 4th and Kalanik’s PURA VIDA in 5th place.
The second day of racing was a virtual carbon copy of the first. A beautiful day with the famous “peler” wind roaring down Lake Garda. The top three nearly duplicated their results from the first day. Consequently, Alberini’s crew on CALVI NETWORK won with straight 1sts as counters with Solerio’s L’ELAGAIN in second and Roberti’s AIR in third. 
Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT, who’s crew included local hotshot and America’s Cup veteran John Kostecki as tactician, managed to dominate the event, winning six straight races enroute to a total eclipse of the fleet, counting just 11 pts net in 9 races counted. Taking second with one of his best performances of the year was Chris Kostanecki’s JENNIFER crew, posting four 2nds in their scoreline to net 35 pts. Taking third was Justin Kromelow, winning a tie-breaker over Glen Darden’s crew with 57 pts each. Rounding out the top five was Bennet Greenwald’s PERSEVERANCE team with 61 pts net. For 
crewmembers had a medical emergency, and the HC-130H traveled over 1,200 nautical miles to make the aerial delivery and return home on one tank of gas! Thanks for U.S. Coast Guard videos by Petty Officer 1st Class Derek Woods, Petty Officer 2nd Class Garth Booye, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Josh McKeague and, especially, a big “thanks” to the flight crew of the HC-130H!
A few days later we celebrated Nancy's 67th. Everyone enjoyed being at the Atlantis Water Park, but the walking distance from the Riu to Atlantis was above my physical ability. However, I did do the shark slide.