Spectacular U.S. Sailboat Show Is Ready! (Annapolis, MD)- Remember, the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis takes place this Columbus holiday weekend- October 8th to 12th. The weather forecast for the next five days looks fabulous- in the 60s, sunny, light to moderate winds, and gales of “painkillers” for happy show-goers at the famous Pussers Bar & Grille.
The show is the largest in the USA for sailboats and on hand will be five very exciting models from the J design team. Featured will be the popular J/70, the new J/88 Oceanvolt, the new J/97E, the new J/122E and the classic Chesapeake shallow-draft cruiser- the J/95.
Join North Point Yacht Sales and J/Boats as we host the famous “J/Party” on Friday evening at 6pm when the show closes. All J/Sailors are invited to join us for refreshments and munchies and take a look at the recent additions to the J/Boats line. For more U.S. Sailboat Show information
J/70 European Championship Preview(Monte Carlo, Monaco)- The Yacht Club de Monaco is hosting the J/70 European Championship for the Credit Suisse Trophy from the 12th to 17th October in what promises to be the largest J/70 Europeans to date and an extraordinarily competitive event. As proven in the recent J/70 World Championship in La Rochelle, France, the European J/70 teams are on a steep learning curve and are capable of the highest level of J/70 sailing in the world. With the advent of “sailing leagues” all over Europe, sailors in the EU are jumping aboard J/70s en-masse; its popularity rising dramatically in the last 8-12 months.
As a case in point, over 80 boats are expected to line up on one start line, that’s nearly 350 sailors hailing from all over Europe representing 11 nations, not counting the Mexican team led by Julian Fernandez (Flojito y Cooperando), World Champion title holder who has confirmed his participation with his champion crew of Bill Hardesty, Willem van Waay and Erick Brockmann from Mexico.
The Germans will be out in force with 18 teams heading to the Principality, with nearly 50% of them top Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing teams. Many of them will be leaving their boats in Monaco ready to participate in the Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series, from October to March, a high level training programme to prepare for the 2016 season. Note also the presence of Johannes Polgar on REALITY DISTORTION FIELD, who represented Germany in the Tornado class at the Beijing Olympics and is Star European Champion, and Philipp Kadelbach skippering RIO, the German Match Racing Vice-Champion, sailing with Hendrik Kadelbach, a member of the United Internet Team Germany at the America’s Cup in Valencia. The French are well-represented with Matthieu Salomon on CHARIOT PLUS- VANNES UTILITAIRES and Ludovic Senechal sailing LULU NANTAISE- both French J/80 Champions over the last few years.
Four teams will be crossing the Channel from Britain to compete. They include Anthony Hesse’s BABY J, Allan Higgs’ ESF ENERGY; Andrew Creighton/ James Davis’ J-STAR (who came third in the class during Cowes Week on the Isle of Wight) and Alex James’ POLARIS. Meanwhile from Sweden, three boats are all very talented teams; including Ingemar Sundstedt’s ROCAD RACING (who knows the Monegasque race area, having won the first stage of the Italian Championship hosted by the Yacht Club de Monaco in March), Robin Tornqvist’s KVALITEKTSKOTT RACING Team and Oscar Lundqvist’s FANNY/ PURE CIRCLE team. Other leading teams from central Europe include Austrian Klaus Diem skippering PFANDER; Wouter Kollman’s PLAJ from the Netherlands; the Swiss crew on TEO led by Michel Glaus and the “Russians are coming”- the MOJO Team (Dmitrii Zartickii) and JUNO (Evgeny Grigul).
The “Mediterranean's” have not been slow in coming forward with 11 Italian teams confirmed, including Francesco de Angelis on B2- architect of three America’s Cup campaigns and winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000; Carlo Alberini’s CALVI NETWORK- winner of Key West Race Week 2015; Luca Domenici’s NOTARO Team (with a top 10 performance in the La Rochelle Worlds); Franco Solerio on L’ELAGAIN (winning the Alcatel OneTouch Italian J/70 Nationals series); and Pietro Saccomani on SPIN ONE, the year one Italian champion. In addition, the six Spanish teams inclde among them Hugo Rocha’s NEW TERRITORIES that won Kiel Week and is an Olympic Gold Medalist.From Monaco, where the J/70 is the flagship one-design class, there will be 17 boats on the start. Having competed in the Worlds at La Rochelle, they continued their preparation in Riva del Garda early September in the final stage of the Italian Championship and had organized a final training “clinic” the weekend before- from the 1st to 3rd October. As evidence of their remarkable capabilities, Jacopo Carrain’s CARPE DIEM managed a top ten finish at the La Rochelle Worlds in July and other top Monagesque teams are certain to be in the hunt as “local knowledge” experts, like Ian Isley’s JALAPENO, Pierre Casiraghi’s LIBECCIO TUIGA, Thierry Leret’s SIROCCO, and Anne Rodelato’s JOKER.
Given the high level of sailing, international umpires will officiate throughout the week which will be attended by Neven Baran, member of ISAF’s Racing Rules Committee. The J/70s will be moored in the YCM Marina, the outer harbour located in front of the Yacht Club de Monaco’s building. The public can watch the races from different locations in the Principality, including the Luciana Jetty, the slopes and promenades on the main harbour wall, Fort Antoine, the Oceanographic Museum’s terraces, Casino Gardens, etc.
In addition to the Credit Suisse Trophy for the winners, SLAM’s Advanced Technology clothing will be awarded for all crew members in the top three teams!
A championship where generosity reigns
During the championship the J/70 Monaco Class Association and the YC Monaco want to support the “Lenval Foundation”, which among other projects works with the pediatric department at the Princess Grace Hospital (Monaco) to assist their support and care for sick children. They are counting on the generosity of all the participants and other donations to raise important funds for their worthy mission. For more J/70 European Championship sailing information
J/88 New England Championship Preview(Greenwich, CT)- What a fleet! Eight boats are turning out for the inaugural J/88 New England Championship. The event runs from October 9th to 11th and will be hosted by the Indian Harbor YC in Greenwich, CT. The forecast will be challenging for the competitors, with fresh southerlies on Friday in the 8-14 kts range followed by a frontal passage and a dying NNE on Saturday from 15 kts dying down to 5 kts, followed by a classic, cool, WSW seabreeze Sunday of 5-12 kts. Not an atypical fall weather pattern on Long Island Sound!
The fleet includes a wide range of teams from across the northeast. Based on their recent events in the Long Island Sound Championships and the American YC Fall Series, it will be tough-sledding for both Iris Vogel’s DEVIATION crew from Huguenot YC and Mike Bruno’s WINGS team from American YC to stay in front of a rapidly improving fleet of boats. Don’t be surprised if a variety of past college sailors and local one-design performers give these two teams a run for the money. Don’t count out Doug McKeige’s JAZZ crew from American YC, nor Russ Stokes’ BLUE FOR YOU from the same club. Then, Doug Newhouse’s Sail Newport crew on YONDER and the rest of the fleet will be facing several competitors that could completely upset the apple car, like John Sommi’s CLOUD 9, Dave Betts’ INSTANT KARMA from Sag Harbor YC, and Kevin Marks’ VELOCITY from Noroton YC. For more J/88 New England Championship sailing information
J/80 North Americans Preview(Seabrook, TX)- Lakewood Yacht Club will be hosting J/80 North American Championship, October 9th-11th! Three full days of racing are promised and the fleet of eighteen boats should have great sailing conditions on Galveston Bay.
While not the largest NA’s the class has seen in some time, the level of talent in the fleet more than makes up for it with many of the “top guns” in the American J/80 fleet present. Leading that contingent should be Kerry Klingler and Bill Rose’s KICKS (past J/80 NA's champions) and keeping them honest will be Shannon Lockwood’s SHENANIGANS from Keyport YC, Gary Panariello’s COURAGEOUS from North Shore YC (a past Key West champion) and Chris Chadwick’s CHURCH KEY from Eastport YC in Annapolis, MD. Notable amongst the local teams will also be Paul Parsons’ PARSONS PROJECT from the Galveston Bay Cruising Association.
For more J/80 North American Championship sailing information
Jammin Jamaica J/22 Invite!(Montego Bay, Jamaica)- Remember the winter of 2015?! Anyone who answers “yes” is required to book now for the annual Jammin Jamaica J/22 Invitational Regatta from December 4th to 6th!
For havin’ more fun’n’da’sun than you can possibly imagine, you get three days of sailing based on the following:
- race a J/22 with no boat rental charge and nominal entry fee
- be hosted by a J/22 fleet member (yes, you will have a wonderful Jamaican host!)
- enjoy the sun and fun in Jamaica
- sail in 20 knots trade winds in the blue Caribbean sea (virtually guaranteed)
This year our Cayman Island comrades are bringing their own boats to compete- so even more boats are available for others! The only problem with the Caymanians is this- we get a blonde “Viking invasion” every year!The focus on land-based fun for non-sailing visitors will continue, schedule available on request. Trust us. The evening of festivities on Saturday night up in the cool, verdant hills of Jamaica is simply legendary.
You cannot go wrong. Sail in Montego Bay and enjoy the memories of a lifetime. The perfect time to relax, catch some rays, get a tan like us in Jamaica, then go skiing with your friends over the Christmas holidays! Your friends will be shocked to see you in such radiant, effervescent health from having sailed J/22s in a natural thassalo-therapy spa like “Mo’Bay”!
Want more information? Please contact J/22 Mo’Bay Fleet Captain- Richard Hamilton. Ph- +876-524-5040 or email- jaminJ22@mobayyachtclub.com Experience the essence of the J/22 MoBay fleet here on their Facebook page For more Jammin Jamaica J/22 Invite sailing information
J/Fest Southwest Preview(Seabrook, TX)- The 6th Annual J/Fest Southwest is being hosted by Lakewood Yacht Club from October 10-11 off beautiful, sunny, Seabrook, Texas. The event is open to all J/Boat owners, their crew, and their family and friends. The sailors will participate in top-notch racing on the water and enjoy a superb shoreside environment with food and entertainment. Sailing one-design will be J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/105s and J/109s. In addition, a J/PHRF fleet will sail in both round-the-buoys and random-leg courses.
The largest class in the event will be the J/24s- 15 strong and counting! Nothing but “top drawer” stuff for this gang that can almost shoot straight! So, let’s start with the women’s teams since they’re leading the charge here in Texas anyways. All of them are talented and have proven they can win races, some regattas, too. Don’t discount these gal’s ability to grab their rightful share of silverware, such as Natalie Penner’s GIGGLES from Austin YC, Tonja Holmes-Moon’s SIREN from Dallas Corinthian YC, Kelly Holmes-Moon’s BAD MOON from the same club, and Amanda Casey’s MOMENTOUS from AYC as well- nearly 25% of the fleet them Texas women are! Watch out boys, there will be hell to pay if you do not give them room at the mark when the politely ask for it! Hoping to not incur their wrath will be John Parker’s CHUPACABRA, Charles Slingstad’s CODE BLUE and James Freeman’s MISS CONDUCT.
The second largest class in the event is the J/70s, with eleven teams showing up on the starting line. Local hotshot Bruno Pasquinelli from Fort Worth Boat Club will be sailing his famous STAMPEDE with a cast of cowboys (or hooligans, or characters, depending on your perspective) that includes Max Skelly, Patrick Wilson and Brian Zimmerman. Pass the scotch (no soda) and Advil, please, these guys are about to give me a headache! At least that will be the refrain from fellow FWBC skipper Rick Shaffer sailing the newest addition to their fleet, USA 820! Certain to give them fits roping in the cattle (e.g. trophies) will be Jay Lutz, a local Lakewood YC member, sailing ZOUNDS HEARING. However, watch out for the “fly in the proverbial ointment” looking to spoil this Texas party, none other than Tim Molony from Southern YC in a place called “Naw’leans”, they’ll be JOUST’ing with the locals for top honors.
Next up are the J/105s. Incredibly, the very long-distance traveling team of Mark & Jolene Masur, from the Forth Worth Boat Club, will have taken their TWO FEATHERS from the east coast (Block Island/ Marblehead, etc) to the west coast (North Americans) and now back home to the land of mechanical bulls! Joining them will be JB Bednar’s STINGER, past champion Bill Lakenmacher’s RADIANCE from the host club, and Uzi Ozeri’s INFINITY.
The J/109s expect a half-dozen boats on the line, a great turnout for this fleet on Galveston Bay. Will Albrecht Goethe’s HAMBURG continue to be a top contender?? Or, will Barry Hoeffner’s POLE DANCER, Andy Westcoat’s HARM’s WAY, David Christensen’s AIRBORNE or the LEADING EDGE duo (Alex Acensios/ Chris Dees) upset that apple cart. Tune in next week to find out!
The J/22s will have a real dogfight on their hands as small fleet often produces roller-coaster scores. A bit hard to handicap, but we shall see if Larry Blankenhagen’s PARROT TALES LIGHT, Rick Duste’s LOOSE CANNON or Gary Thies’ STUDENT DRIVER all land on the podium as the expense of Dov Kivlovitz on USA 951. Perhaps this one will be easier to wager bets than NFL Fantasy Football!!
The J/PHRF clan include a pair of J/27s working on their symmetric spinnaker work, Gary Trinklein’s TOCCATA and Chris Alk’s FOOTLOOSE. Hoping to nail them into a corner will be Glen Stromme’s J/29 rocketship- PRESS TO +MECO! What?! Glen, “need some ‘splainin to do on dat one.” For more J/Fest Southwest sailing information
Greenport Ocean Race Preview(Greenport, New York)- Over the Columbus Day Weekend, the Chinese Yacht Club and Old Cove Yacht Club, with additional support from The Village of Greenport, Shelter Island YC, and the Orient YC, hold their end-of-season offshore yacht race known as the Greenport Ocean Race, a 90nm navigation around the buoys and islands that comprise the eastern end of Long Island Sound and Block Island Sound. Simultaneously, the also host the Greenport Bay Race of about 32nm for smaller boats. It’s a popular event in those parts and celebrations are many at the clubs afterwards— almost legendary, in fact.
J/Teams are well-represented in both events and given the conditions forecast for the weekend, a good mix of beating, reaching and running should suit them in the quest for the holy grail of pickle dishes and nut bowls to toss onto their mantel pieces.
In the Greenport Ocean Race, sailing in PHRF Spinnaker class is Sedgwick Ward’s J/111 BRAVO from Shelter Island YC and Brian Prinz’s J/125 SPECTRE from Branford YC in East Haven, CT. Taking part in PHRF 2 class are mostly J/teams, including two J/109s ( Don Dwyer’s GUARDIAN J from Essex YC and Jim Vos’ SKOOT from Stamford YC) and two J/105s (Stephen Guyer’s ALLIANCE and Tom Wacker’s TRADING PLACES from Old Cove YC). Joining them is the J/40 MISTY skippered by Carter Holliday from Watch Hill YC.
The shorter Greenport Bay Race has a mixed bag of J’s sailing in PHRF Spinnaker class, including Dan Motero’s J/100 GRACIOUS from Breakwater YC, Harry DiOrio’s J/105 BELLA from Shelter Island YC, Lucas van Praag’s J/105 MAX2, Paul Krelling’s J/27 ZOOP! from Greenport and Robert Grammatica’s J/80 MERLINE from Shelter Island. Check out their Greenport Ocean Race Facebook page here. For more Greenport Ocean Race sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
It was a light week of sailing in many parts. In the Americas, the impact of Hurricane Joaquin canceled a number of major sailing events up and down the eastern seaboard and even those inland that could be impacted by it’s wrath and insane amounts of water vapor streams that created localized versions of Noah’s epic “forty days & forty nights” in less than 24 hours!Nevertheless, the J/22 North Americans took place with highly variable conditions in the friendly neighborhood of Galveston Bay with the help of Houston YC to ensure that everything was happening when possible. The usually amazingly spectacular J/24 Changing of the Colors Regatta was made even more epic by the fact that near gale conditions and clear weather made the fall colors nearly become a spectator sport- e.g. watching colorful leaves of every imaginable color of yellows, reds, greens, browns blow by at 40+ knots. Nevertheless, the endlessly creative RC at Lake George Club made it all happen, much to the delight of the assembled masses of J/24 sailors in “the grotto”. Down south, the J/24s were also hosting their Florida District Champs off Indian Harbor Beach, Florida.
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:
Oct 8-12- Annapolis Boat Show (88, 97E, 122E, 95)- Annapolis, MDOct 9-10- J/22 (216) Regatta- Cleveland, OH
Oct 9-11- J/80 North Americans- Seabrook, TX
Oct 9-11- J/88 New England Championship- Greenwich, CT
Oct 10-11- J/FEST Southwest- Seabrook, TX
Oct 12-17- J/70 European Championships- Monte Carlo, Monaco
Oct 17- Rolex Middle Sea Race- Gzira, Malta
Oct 23-24- J/105 Masters Regatta- San Diego, CA
Oct 24-25- J/70 Fall Brawl- Eastport, MD
Oct 30- Nov 1- Lipton Cup Challenge- San Diego, CA
Oct 31- Nov 1- J/22 East Coast Championship- Annapolis, MD
Nov 7-11- French J/80 Nationals- Saint Cast, France
Nov 26-30- J/24 South American Championship- Porto Alegre, Brazil
Nov 28- Dec 6- Peru J/24 National Championship- La Punta, Peru
Dec 4-6- J/22 Jamaica Jammin Regatta- Montego Bay, Jamaica
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Flynn Wins J/22 North Americans(Houston, TX)- The Houston YC played host for the J/22 North American Championship, held from September 30th to October 4th on Galveston Bay. While it was never a forgone conclusion a former World Champion in the J/22 class would win, no one was surprised to see Terry Flynn’s TEJAS crew take the top prize.
The sailing got underway Friday in gorgeous conditions, allowing four races to be completed. Local hotshot Terry Flynn immediately took control of the leaderboard with tallies of 1-1-3-1 for only 6 points. That was nine point in front of Travis Odenbach’s SEA BAGS SAILING TEAM and 12 ahead of Brad Julian’s TEAM THREEDORIES.COM. Flynn’s crew, which consists of Mark Foster and Matt Romberg, won the J/22 Midwinter Championship earlier this year.
Thirty-nine teams from across the United States took to the waters off Shoreacres, Texas in breeze of 8-10 knots under clear blue skies, as Flynn notched his first of three bullets. Odenbach and Marek Valasek’s EL OCHO followed in race one, and Marvin Beckmann’s THE MARTIAN and Odenbach in race two, as winds increased to around 14 knots. A couple of Annapolis, Maryland teams dominated the next battle with Chris Junge’s CORNER OF SANITY & MADNESS winning, and Julian in second. Flynn rounded out the top three, while winds backed off slightly to 10-12. Flynn returned to the top spot in the final contest as the breeze also returned (to 16 knots). Beckmann and Julian trailed in the next two positions.As the regatta unfolded, Flynn’s crew on TEJAS continued to dominate. Only one race was sailed on Saturday in a light air affair. Then, a fourth in Sunday’s only race secured victory for the TEJAS team, who tallied just 10 net points in the six races. Prior J/22 World Champion Flynn thanked his crew of Mark Foster and Matt Romberg, who “did all the hard work this regatta.”
With a third in Sunday’s light air match-up, Brad Julian’s TEAM THREEDORIES.COM from Annapolis, MD secured the silver position with 16 points. Texan Marvin Beckmann’s THE MARTIAN edged out Travis Odenbach’s SEA BAGS SAILING TEAM of Rochester, NY for the bronze (22 points to 23). Newport-based Michael Marshall’s BAD NEWS won Sunday’s contest to claim the fifth spot overall with 29 points.
At the awards ceremony at Houston YC on Sunday afternoon, Flynn commented, “It was a great event, and while the weather didn’t completely cooperate, the Race Committee did great as well as all the volunteers at Houston YC.” For more J/22 North Americans sailing information
Epic J/24 Changing of the Colors Regatta(Lake George, New York)- This past weekend’s 37th Annual Changing of the Colors Regatta was simply extraordinary. Sponsored by Fleet 24 on beautiful Lake George, NY and hosted by the Lake George Club, the thirty-seven teams that made their annual pilgrammage to what many consider to be one of America’s most beautiful lakes were not disappointed. Building on their successful three day format, they provided ab evening of free beer and food on Friday night in addition to the famous Thursday night “Grotto Welcome Party”. So, that's beer and food both Thursday & Friday evenings as well as free after racing beer all three days!!
Thursday when all were arriving, the winds were blowing out of the North at 30+ kts and continued to increase on Friday and then up to 40+ on Saturday morning! Unfortunately, racing was postponed on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, though the awesome PRO and Race Committee monitored the weather situation hourly, and by noon on Saturday the winds died down to a blustery 20+. The warning signal was sounded, and they got in three races that left everyone wet, cold, bruised, exhausted and ready to hit solid ground.Sunday brought some additionally challenging weather with light shifting winds, a complete 180 degrees from just 12 hours earlier. The Lake George Race Committee again did a spectacular job to get off another three races, and they ended up with six total races for the three days.
There was some great racing and some new boats this year from Canada, Virginia, Maine and Long Island, NY (who won “Best Visiting Fleet”) to name a few. Two all women’s boats and two other boats with ladies at the helm kicked some serious butt out on the water. Congratulations to Kira Munger (Best Female Skipper); Jessica Harris & Erica Beck Spencer of the SEA BAGS WOMEN’S SAILING TEAM (Best All Female Boat); Rachelle Cambria skippering #SWAG and Lee Ann Zaretsky steering SEA MINX!Mike Ingham’s NAUTALYTICS bested 37-boat fleet. Fleet 24 thanks all who hauled their boats and crews long distances. Hope you will return again next year to beautiful Lake George, NY! For more J/24 Changing of the Colors Regatta sailing information
SPOONY TACTICS Overwhelms District 10 Champs
(Indian Harbor Beach, FL)- The Melbourne Yacht Club and Eau Gallie Yacht Club hosted the annual J/24 District 10 Championships from October 3-4. Fourteen boats participated and they were welcomed by the first cold front of the season introducing gorgeous weather on the Indian River.
This regatta was hosted by two of the local clubs with EGYC responsible for all the onshore activity (east of the bulkhead) and MYC managing the racing (west of the bulkhead). This year, three sponsors were on board to ensure all crews had a good time. Intracoastal Brewing Company hosted the welcoming party at their Eau Gallie facility, assuring crews were met on shore with a tasty brew each day. Also they donated hats to each of the participating boats. Anchorage Marina stepped up to launch and retrieve most of the participants with no hassle and much fanfare. Noble Awards supplied prizes for each of the winning crew and Florida State Series t-shirts to each of the boats sailing.
The sailors are always fortunate to have a daily SE seabreeze in central Florida. However, the passing of the cold front with a constantly shifting Northern breeze puzzled all, including the locals, to which side of the course to attack.
Seven races were sailed in breeze of 10 knots or less (they may have gotten 12 knots the last race but it soon dwindled). Lots of course changes and some out of the blue (south) wind lines made it important to not drop your attention to the racing.
Though they did not have their “Chamber of Commerce” conditions, they certainly were fine enough for the District Championship. Todd Fedyszyn sailing SPOONY TACTICS from Davis Island Yacht Club won the 2015 District 10 Championship. Meanwhile, Scott MacGregor sailing RABBLE ROUSER scored second overall, followed by Dave Noble and crew on HALF ASS for third.
To all the volunteers and attendees, a massive “high five” and a huge “thank you” for making this a great event once again. This was the first stop of the Florida State Series, followed in November by The Florida Yacht Club’s Kings Day Regatta. For more USA J/24 sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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* German J/70 sailing teams are loving the sailing league format and the amazing competition in top European J/70 events. Here are two perspectives on how some of the leading Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga teams have evolved in Germany.
Segler-Vereinigung Itzehoe- Christian Soyka:“With the J/70 a new and fascinating sports boat was launched to the market in 2012. At that time the major European X-99 class lost more and more of its formerly big racing fleets, which is why our team manager Christian Soyka and his crew started looking for new challenges.
After many years and winning multiple World Championships in the X-99 it was the time for a new boat.
Focussing on an simple, trailerable boat for a small crew, the J/70 seemed to be quite suitable. Also, the newly created “Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga“ on J/70s was something that we had waited for and were hoping would become a reality. An event where exactly equal boats are provided to all teams, ready to race upon arrival, with many short races (~15-17 minutes) and high class crews to sail against. After critically observing the first sailing league season, the racing proved to be tight and packed with a lot of action. This was exactly the project we wanted to start.
In the autumn of 2013 negotiations with our club, the Segler-Vereinigung Itzehoe (SVI), and potential sponsors began. The intention was to qualify for the second “Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga“ in the following year.
As we knew from previous boat classes, we would not be able to achieve our goal without intensive training. Fortunately, with “Pohl Boskamp“ and their brand “GeloRevoice“ we found not only a sponsor but a partner that allows us to prepare ourselves with extensive training for the league qualification in Glücksburg. Consequently, we chartered a J/70 to get familiar with the layout, set up and the behavior of the boat. Our hard work, ultimately, paid off.
The qualification in Glücksburg was not easy at all. Wind with gusts over 25 knots made the racing dramatic and physically challenging, but the J/70s did their job and so did we. With a 3rd overall out of some 60 clubs we exceeded our own expectations and achieved something no club from Itzehoe was able to accomplish since 1978; we qualified our club not for the second but the premiere national sailing league.
But, with our achievement we were facing new challenges. To keep up with the big and well-known clubs from Germany in the premiere sailing league, constant training is essential. We were very fortunate to have a boat sponsored from one of our club members, but as the SVI has less than 300 members in total, there is not much of a budget to be provided for our league sailing!
This leads to the remarkable and unique support of the local Itzehoe community. The enthusiasm and excitement to see the small club of Itzehoe sailing against the big players in the “Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga“ is still increasing, so that more and more businesses join us as sponsors and supporters (currently more than 10 companies)!
For example, within 24 hours from the surprising wildcard-nomination for the “SAILING Champions League“ in Porto Cervo, Italy, they made it financially possible for us to participate. Although we fell short of our personal expectations, we were absolutely happy to represent our club and the city of Itzehoe and all of our supporters at this exceptional high-class event.
A very special thanks is due to all our sponsors and supporters who make this project possible: GeloRevoice, Funk Gruppe, UK Sails, Wohnart, Makro, Templin, Eskildsen, Fuhlendorf, Musto, TommySails, Lappe Metallbau, Mare, BalticBay Laboe, B&H Sports.
Blankenese Sailing Club- Claas Lehmann:“Our crew came together in early 2014. A pub night in Blankenese brought up the idea of gathering some old friends to putting up a team for competing in the German Sailing League and also for one design sailing. The four of us knew each other for quite a while but had never sailed all together. Meanwhile some crew members where living in southern Germany or had at least left Hamburg for a couple of years. We had all done different kinds of sailing: bringing together experienced dinghy sailors, people who had spent years on tall ships and a good mates that did very well in the J/24 class or ORC racing. During the quest for a suitable boat the J/70 class came straight into our minds; it seemed that this class could supply a modern boat that would be fair to handle and that could offer a decent amount of international racing events throughout Europe!
Kiel Week turned out to be the first opportunity of taking a boat and the newly arranged crew for some sailing. With the awesome help from Mittelmann’s Werft in Flensburg, we got a chartered boat just in time for the first day of racing. We had our first opportunity to learn about the J/70 on our way to the start line in Kieler Woche. Struggling to handle the 25 knots+ conditions with our lightweight crew, we quickly got acquainted with the boat’s behavior and did well scoring an overall win! What a perfect start! The J70 did a great job: it's a well-designed and fast boat which is good fun to sail!! We were very excited about upcoming possibilities to race in an intense racing environment all over Europe.
Our club, "Blankeneser Segel-Club" in Hamburg, was seriously interested in setting up a team; even buying a brand new J/70was a possibility. With the support of local sponsors, everything got underway very quickly after we won the regattas qualifying the team for Germany's Sailing League in October 2014. A happy crowd of supporters and sailors gave a warm welcome to the new boat GER 717, named TRE MAKRELLER, that was delivered to Hamburg in January 2015. It is used for training for the league and to compete in class regattas.
During the cold season we took the boat down to Monaco for the winter series. We kept rotating crew positions on board and put some effort into improving trim and handling skills. In February, we managed to win the Primo Cup, sailing against more than 30 international teams. Back in Germany, we continued to train for the League and straight after the second event in July we headed for France. There were more than 80 entries for the Worlds in La Rochelle! A huge number came from the States and many professional crews showed up. We experienced a wonderful week with perfect conditions, but the table got shuffled a lot for us during the week. In the end, we unfortunately missed the top 20, but we did well in the corinthian results. Pretty sure we can do even better- there will be another chance!
Looking back on to our first season with the J/70 class we are very happy about this prosperous development. We had lots of fun and feel highly positive about all achievements we made! Many thanks go to our Club from Hamburg-Blankenese, it's Commodore Dieter Tetzen and all our sponsors! Looking forward to all upcoming events with our crew and the boat TRE MAKRELLER! Our crew- Claas Lehmann, Marc-Daniel Maehlmann, Bjoern Athmer and Valentin Zeller.”
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! We LOVE these updates from our cruising J sailors that continue to criss-cross the Seven Seas. This one comes from Alan Fougere, sailing his beloved J/160 AVATAR. Alan sent us an email update commenting on their passage south this winter, "In mid-December AVATAR completed her sixth transit to her winter Caribbean home, Grand Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI (seen above) from her home port in Quissett (Falmouth), MA. A crew of three, Captain Alan (e.g. me), Crew Pablo Brissett and Mark Conroy, covered the 1,500 nm trip in in her best time to date- 7 Days 5 Hours, averaging 8.7 kts, that's about 208 nm per day! Amazing passage it was! Rainbow at right far offshore was some of the amazing phenomenon we experienced on this fast offshore passage.AVATAR will participate in the BVI Sailing Festival/Regatta again in 2013, where last year she won the Nanny Key Cup Cruising Class race around the Island of Virgin Gorda. Here are some photos for you to share with the J/Community at-large. Enjoy!"
Best, Alan Fougere/ AVATAR
* Bill & Judy Stellin recently had an interview about cruising on their J/42 in the Wall St Journal called "Retiring on the Open Sea". The Wall St Journal asked Bill to reply to dozens of questions that flooded into the WSJ's Editor desks. Here's the update:Retiring on the Sea: Answering Readers' Questions
Advice about selecting a boat, ocean crossings, itineraries and safety
The article in our WSJ Online December retirement report about eight years spent sailing the Mediterranean— "Retiring to the Open Sea"— prompted many questions and comments from readers. We asked William Stellin, who wrote the story, to answer some of the most common queries.WSJ- "What kind and make of boat did you use? Looking back, would you have picked a different boat?"
Bill- "In 1995-96, J/Boats of Newport, RI, came out with a new cruiser/racer model, the J/42. We bought hull No. 6 of this popular 42-foot sailboat and named it JAYWALKER. This was our fourth boat since beginning sailing in 1975.
Although long-distance cruising wasn't what we had in mind when we purchased JAYWALKER, it soon became apparent it had the ability to carry us easily and safely anywhere we wanted to go. Because the boat is light, it sails well in light winds, which means very little motoring is necessary.
People often ask (and argue) about what boat is best for cruising. Any boat that is strong, safe, fast, comfortable and easily handled by two people should fit the bill. One thing for sure, fast is fun—and important when trying to avoid bad weather."
READ MORE ABOUT BILL'S INSIGHTFUL COMMENTARY AND THOUGHTS ON WSJ ONLINE HERE
* The J/42 JARANA continues their epic voyage around the Pacific. Continue to read about Bill and Kathy Cuffel's big adventure cruising the South Pacific headed for New Zealand. Their blog is here: http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/
* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for extended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary finished their double-handed crossing of the Atlantic, landing in Portugal on their J/130 Shazam after completion of their ARC Rally. Read the latest news at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/shazam/.
* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world's oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between. Anyone for Cape Horn and penguins?? Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM friends above).- Bill and Susan Grun on the J/160 AVANTE are also sailing in the Pacific archipelago, read more about their great adventures on their blog (http://web.me.com/susangrun). Read about their latest adventures as they've gotten to New Zealand- "Avante Cruises the Pacific".
- Eric and Jenn on the J/160 MANDALAY also sailed the Pacific archipelago, read more on their blog at http://www.sailmandalay.com. Eric and Jenn are J/World alumni took MANDALAY up and down the West Coast (Mexico, CA), then to the South Pacific and New Zealand. MANDALAY is back in San Francisco now, and in the J/World fleet--she is available for skippered charters, private instruction, and corporate/executive groups.
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J/Sailing News
In 2012, the race was launched and attracted 15 tough contestants. In 2013, 100 contestants signed up, among them sailors from Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia and Denmark. Silver Rudder 2013 was the biggest international offshore singlehanded regatta in world for that year. In the end of May 2014, nearly 170 were enlisted for the 2014 edition, which meant this year’s Silver Rudder Challenge would be the largest non-stop singlehanded offshore race ever. By August, the entrants reached the maximum of 200 participants!
Out of seven classes, there were only three Danish winners in this year's regatta. In the Large Keelboat Class (35-40 ft), it was Peter Gustafsson’s J/11 BLUR.SE that took overall winners with a time of 29:11:05, to win by well over 55 minutes over his next closest competitor. Gustafsson is known among many Scandinavian sailors for his website with the same name as his boat, but not many people were aware of how good he sailor he is!! He led the race from the Great Belt Bridge to out of Langeland, in which the front flerskrogbåd was passed by. Then with only 0.5 miles to the finish line, Gustafsson managed to overtake Andraz Mehilin in Svendborgsund where both skippers had frequent sail changes. A spinnaker sock made the difference when it jammed a headsail change for Mehilin on his IMX 40. The old truth that one can sail a small boat closer to 100% singlehanded over a larger boat turned out to be true. Despite the extremely difficult conditions and long periods without wind, Gustafsson’s BLUR.SE managed to outdo William Friis-Møller's IMX-40 elapsed record time of 2012; that resulted in a shift of Silver Rudder Challenge Trophy from Denmark to Sweden. Plus, BLUR.SE was also the fastest overall keelboat in the Silver Rudder Challenge 2014!! 
