STOP PRESS! J/70 Speedster Excitement Growing!(Newport, RI)- In the next few weeks, several announcements will be forthcoming that will simply knock those cute little cozy holiday socks off your collective feet! The J/70 train is starting to build up steam, in fact with so much pressure building up, it's a possibility the J/70 may eclipse any known sales records for the introduction of a new "J" class in history.
Watch this space next week. The first announcement coming within a fortnight will have an enormous impact on American J/70 fleet development and with a commensurate impact on European J/70 class development, too. For more J/70 sailboat information
The Perfect Gift for People Who Love Sailing!(Newport, RI)- For 2012 we've created another beautiful calendar for J sailors who love the joys of sailing a J in some of the most spectacular harbors and waters of the world. Whether you are a cruising, racing or armchair sailor, these stunning sailboat photographs will transport you to wonderful sailing experiences in far away places. Enjoy the color and excitement of J sailing with these gorgeous photos. The J/Sailing Calendar features photos of a J/44 powering upwind off Key West, a flying J/24 on the Chesapeake, J/125s dueling on San Francisco Bay, surrealistic scenes of J/80s off the Cantabrian and Brittany Coasts, a J/120 and J/95 playing in the azure waters of the Caribbean and J/105s parading past Alcatraz in a pastel of colors. A great gift for loved ones, family, friends and crew! See the 2012 J/Calendar and order now.
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
As we do an end of the year round-up from around the world, it's clear there was not only a lot of J/22, J/24 and J/80 one-design activity going on in late fall/ early winter, but several regions saw significant increases in one-design participation overall. For example, in France the J/80 "circuit" saw a nearly 20% increase in total participants, with "women's teams" becoming a significant factor, and that's in country that already has a strong J/80 class. In Spain, their fleets grew, but most importantly, got significantly deeper in terms of the talent pool. Also in France, the J/22s also saw solid growth in their one-design events. So did their friends down in South Africa, with two dozen plus boat turnouts for J/22s in most major championships with "youth" and "women" also featuring as major growth factors in the national class. Finally, in the offshore side of things, the Asian J sailors were having fun, winning in Hong Kong on a J/92s and a J/130 was enjoying the vices of sailing in the glamorous, over-the-top sailing festival known as the Phuket King's Cup Regatta.Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below 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:
Dec 5-14- Salon Nautique (J/97, J/111, J/122)- Paris, France- http://www.salonnautiqueparis.comJan 5-13- London Boatshow (J/80, J/111)- London, England- http://www.londonboatshow.com
Jan 15-25- Key West Race Week- Key West, FL- http://www.premiere-racing.com
Jan 15-25- J/80 Midwinters- Key West, FL- http://www.premiere-racing.com
Feb 11-15- J/24 Midwinters- Davis Island YC- Tampa, FL- http://www.diyc.org/
Feb 16-20- Miami Boatshow- Miami, FL- http://www.miamiboatshow.com/
Feb 17-19- St Petersburg NOOD Regatta- St Pete, FL- http://www.sailingworld.com/nood-regattas
Feb 23-26- J/22 Midwinters- Houston YC- Houston TX- http://www.j22mw.com/
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J/80 Coupe de France- A Vintage YearINTERFACE CONCEPT Wins, Three Women's Teams in Top Ten!
(Paris, France)- It was truly a vintage year for the J/80 class in France. Strong turnouts at all major events. And, the total number of French teams participating in this year's Coupe de France J/80 exceeded all expectations- 189 boats sailed, up 17% from 2010! That's a remarkable performance given the economic and political times we live in today. To provide you some context, the International J/80 is by far the largest European circuit of one-design keelboats- larger than all other sportboats combined! And, it is the only national one-design keelboat circuit that has women's teams competing at the highest level of sailing in the sport- women's boats took three of the top ten in this year's circuit!
The 2011 Coupe de France included the following eight events: Spi OUEST France, Valle des Fous Regatta, Grand Prix Ecole Navale Regatta, Grand Prix Crouesty, Deauville Open J/80, Pornic J/Cup, Telegramme Lorient Regatta and Nationals St Cast.After sailing in a wide variety of weather conditions in a broad and spectacular array of sailing locations, the creme'd'la'creme of French J/80 sailors would surely rise to the top of the standings. It takes talented teams that can weather the good, the bad and the ugly in terms of starts, mark roundings, wind shifts, currents, boat-to-boat tactics to do well in these types of series.
At the end of it all, Eric Brezellec sailing INTERFACE CONCEPT 2 proved his fantastic performance in this year's J/80 Worlds in Copenhagen, Denmark was no fluke. Eric's team has been sailing consistently and it's clear the French J/80 sailing teams, in general, have stepped up their game to a world-class level. Perhaps the motivation of a J/80 Worlds in Weymouth, England and the next worlds in France are helping the teams sail faster and smarter! Nevertheless, congratulations are due to Eric's IC2 team winning and the rest of the top ten players:
2. CN ST CAST GRAND OUEST ETIQUETTES- Maxime Rousseau- 1st women's team3. J'ILE DE RE- Christine Briand- 2nd women's team
4. VOILERIE ALL'PURPOSE- Sylvain Pellissier
5. ECOLE NAVALE CG29- Patrick Bot
6. CHARLY- Pierre Metais
7. INTERFACE CONCEPT- Jean-Charles Moriceau
8. GAN'JA- Luc Nadal
9. MARINE LORIENT TRI-UGENT- Gwénolé Bernard- 3rd women's team
10. BABY J- Jean-François Guionet
For more Coupe de France J/80 sailing information
ECC VIVIENDAS Wins "El Mundialito"BANCAJA and GO FIT Complete the Podium
(Santander, Spain)- This year's "Mini-Worlds" (as El Mundialito refers to) held each fall in Santander, Spain almost always seems to live up to its billing, hosted by Federacion Cantabra de Vela. It is an event that attracts some of the top one-design/ keelboat talent in all of Spain. Who can argue with the turnout, thirty-one J/80s and about 140 crew, with some of Spain's best sailors in the mix-- J/80 World Champions, TP52 Champions, Olympic Champions and friends of the Martinez's (one of them, Iker Martinez, is now racing the Volvo 70 TELEFONICA in the Volvo Race), amongst others.
This year, Cantabria hosted a new edition of its traditional 'Mundialito' fleet that has been hosted for the last six years in the J/80 class- one of the the largest and highest quality International One-Design keelboats fleets worldwide. Top sailors are invited as "guests" to participate as both skippers and crew with the J/80 owners. Two races were held on Saturday in the interior bay of Santander with a Northeast wind between 8 and 10 knots, sadly no racing on Sunday for this fun-loving, highly competitive bunch of sailors due to no wind. Perhaps a good thing since Saturday night many sailors had fun to dawn on Sunday? It is the way the Spanish play, love the sailing, dinner and dancing late, wake up late and do it again-- so far, so good, a few J/80 Worlds title holders from Spain attest to the fact their formula works!
This year, the winner of the competition was Pichu Torcida's familiar ECC VIVIENDAS, sailing with "guest sailor" Ariane Mainemare Malaga. It was hard for the other teams to match their speed and cleverness, posting a 1-2 to once again be "the best on the bay"! Just behind them in second was BANCAJA, sailed by Javier Lopez-Vazquez, Alvaro Alfonso Madrid Mazarrasa and Colon de Carvajal, which also had a fantastic weekend with a 2-3 record. Behind them, it was a hard-fought contest for third place. In the end, GO FIT sailed by David Madrazo and Ignacio Triay combined forces, with Triay skippering to a 6-4 snatched the third spot on the podium. That's an awesome performance for Triay along with another famous shipmate, Ignacio Postigo (creator of the Cantabrian MedCup TP52 Circuit). This trio beat out the current J/80 World Champion on a tie-breaker, Ignacio Camino on NEXTEL ENGINEERING. Camino and friend Armando Gutierrez sailed to a 5-5, but had to be content with fourth place finish. Just off the pace and sailing well was RAITA sailed by Rafa and Jesus Gonzalez Maliach Colvee, with Canarian tactician Susana Romero called the shots, their 4-9 securing them fourth place. Another regatta favorite, the CROCS TEAM sailed by Javier Aguado of Menorca (2nd in Copa del Rey) and Laureano Wizner, finally took 6th place after sailing to a 9-6.
Yet another fixture in "El Mundialito", Jaime Rodriguez-Toubes, accompanied by good friend Toño Piris on YATES & COSAS, finished a creditable seventh. The FONESTAR Team with Jaime Borras at the helm took the honor of winning the second race from start to finish to finish in eighth position. Ninth was MAQUECHE sailed by Rafael Pascual Alfonso Esposito, who had as sailing guest Javier Polanco. Rounding out the Top Ten was LOUPE sailed by Alberto Padron and Cesar Obregon.
It is important to mention the presence of Galician Malal Bermúdez de Castro sailing aboard SOLVENTIS, which was third in the first race but boomed the second race to finish 11th overall. Also, Italian J/80 Champion Max Rama finished in the middle of the fleet in his first major test against to top Spanish teams in their home waters, not bad! The defending champion, SOLUCIONES CINQUA, sailed by Alejandro Diaz was not so lucky and ended up in the middle of the fleet, too. Many other top sailors and Spanish champions were sailing, however, "El Mundialito" is a weekend designed to bring together representatives of the top offshore and one-design fleets in Spain-- the end result is not important, and indeed there is no award. Nevertheless, the sailors love having fun and competing at the highest level in the world. The success of the event is due to the enthusiasm and generosity of the owners of the J/80 fleet at the Real Club Marítimo de Santander. An extraordinary event, a model for other top sailing clubs and countries to follow as they introduce more people to the sport of sailing. For more J/80 Mundialito Regatta sailing information
French Team Wins J/22 Euro LeagueA Vintage Year for European J/22s
(Paris, France)- The International J/22 class enjoys a "boutique" class of events throughout Europe during the course of every summer. With fleets in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy, the J/22 sailors have a broad range of experiences available to them for sailing every summer-- they sure have fun sailing on a lot of Europe's more picturesque lakes and bays.
Over the past few years, the J/22s created their version of what the J/80s have enjoyed in France (their Coupe de France) by conducting their J/22 "Euro League", counting a number of regattas towards the overall count. The Euro League consists of the following four events- the Championnat de France, EC Travemunde Woche, the German Masters Championship and the Delta Lloyd J/22 Championships. This year had a record turnout of forty-eight participants in the League.
This year's winner of the J/22 Euro League was, for the first time, the French team on J/22 #1444 sailed by Reinier Brockerhoff. Congratulations to Reinier's team! That is quite an awesome accomplishment for the French J/22 fleet. Perhaps this is indicative of the strengthened training program for some French J/22 teams preparing for their J/22 Worlds in June 2012 held in Crouesty, France. Good news for French sailors, but watch out for the Dutch, Germans, South Africans and American J/22 teams!The balance of the leaderboard for the J/22 Euro League includes Rheinhold Gross sailing GER 1513 in second, a great showing for one of the top German teams. The third position Ronald Veraar's NED 1450, the top Dutch team. Fourth was Woulter Kollman on NED 1591 and fifth was Ivo Kok on NED 1600. For more French J/22 sailing information.
JJ PALMENSIS is Lanzarote Island Cup Champion!(Lanzarote, Canary Islands)- For a fleet of twenty-five boats, it's hard to beat some of the world's best J/80 sailors in the windy, wavy conditions you often see for even the evening beer can racing off the Canaries. Blessed with "super San Francisco" conditions- 15-30 knots, sunny, clear azure blue waters, it's hard not to like racing in these conditions, especially planing off the wind in clouds of spray.
Gustavo Martinez and team on JJ PALMENSIS found the racing and the conditions very much to their liking, they're proclaimed Champions and Kings of the J/80 World in the Canary Islands! They worked hard to earn the top of the podium over three weekends of sailing, ultimately, beating out past J/80 World Champion Rayco Tabares sailing the famous GRAND HOTEL ISLAS CANARIAS. For more Lanzarote Island Cup sailing information.
J/22s Getting Busy In South Africa!(Capetown, South Africa)- The 2011 sailing season was a very busy and active one for the J/22 class in South Africa. Like their J/Sailing comrades in J/22s and J/80s in Europe, this was also a "vintage year" for the J/22s racing in some of South Africa's most spectacular sailing venues- lakes, oceans, bays.
The four main regattas held each year are the J/22 Nationals, Mpumalanga Championship, Northwest Championships and Interclub Youth Championships. Here are the reports from each event.
Amtec J/22 NationalsThe Nationals officially opened at a cocktail party hosted by the sponsor Amtec where Mike Hayton drew the winner of the new Amtec branded main sail won by Werner Hautmann on MOONSHADOW. Dave Rushton, having arrived from Durban announced that racing would begin at 0900 the following day, and those having sailed with Dave as the Race Officer knew he would be ready to start at 9 sharp if the winds were in his favour. The wind was in his favour so it was all systems go in wind of 18 knots for 5 slick and well run races.
HAKAHANA now skippered by Ewald Sternagel, crew Steven and Donavan Kruger set the pace from the start always in sight of the top positions. Their worst results were a 6th, 8th and 9th so with 2 discards this made them the boat to watch. AFTER DARK sailed by Jessica Lenz and her crew of Lara Wood and Herbie Karolis were placed 2nd in the first race and continued to be seen in the top finishers with a final place of 7th. CELL C had only 2 “bad days at the office” during the whole regatta in the 8th and 13th race finishing 21, races they would probably rather forget. US'N'J had a good first day racing with 2 firsts, their worst result being an 8th that day. VOODOO, the PYC entry skippered by Luke Wagner, crew J George and Siya Vato took their first in the 4th race. Paul Thompson (who became synonymous with his scarf) on ALPHA ROMEO managed a 1st and two 3rd’s his worst result being a 15th for the day. Tired and wind swept, some more than others, all 24 boats were very happy to head for home in the late afternoon to enjoy some liquid refreshments!
Thursday saw another early start with great races in good winds. The results made it evident that any one of the top 6 boats could be a winner depending on what transpired in the two remaining days. Dave Rushton pushed the races as the forecast was that the winds would decrease with little or nothing forecast for Saturday. The close and competitive racing heard several shouts, of varying degrees of insistence and volume, for water, starboard boat, windward boat keep clear and all the other regularly used terms used in similar circumstances. The protest committee dealt with the infringements quickly and efficiently but this still did not show a clear cut winner.Friday racing was just as hard and competitive with the anticipation of no sailing on Saturday due to the weather forecast. Remarkably, just one more race was squeezed in by the Race Officer.
It was great to see PAGURO back on the water with Dirk Manten, Dylan Emmett and JJ van Niekerk who finished 4th overall. Local knowledge was a much debated advantage but the local J/22 LAUGH A MINUTE finished in 6th place. All the junior sailors showed their commitment and determination to make their presence known. It was great to see the juniors Oliver Cribb on JAY WALKER, Alice Martin on JAY BEE, Jolene Tofts on BLUE JAY and JABBERWOCKY sailed by the locals Steffan Botha, Donovan Martinson and Devan Mathews on the water. These are our J/22 champions of the future.
With a total of 14 races with two discards the deserved winner was HAKAHANA (4 wins, three 2nds) skippered by Ewald Sternagel crew Steve and Donovan Kruger. Second was Graham Baker on US'N'J with Sean and Barry Gurnell, third on the podium was Richard Wiederholdt with Greg Plunkett and Rob Edwards. Our sincere thanks to all the Witbank Aquatic Club and the dedicated team who worked all hours of the day and night to make it the event it was. Mike Hayton of Amtec without whose sponsorship and love of sailing made it a regatta never to be forgotten and hard to beat.
Mpumalunga ChampionshipsFrom 10h00 on Easter Friday the grounds of Witbank Yacht & Aquatic Club became a hive of activity in preparation for the Amtec J22 Mpumalanga Provincial Championships. Life was made easier for the registration team as most of the information had been collected prior to the event. Witbank Yacht Club had pulled out all the stops with the facilities and infrastructure ensuring a well run and organised event. With boats and crew prepared, the winners of the Amtec sponsored spinnaker, the team on PAGURO IV, knew that their chances had just improved.
The first race on Saturday started with winds of 8-10 knots, an organised RC had a course laid and a prompt start for the fleet of 21 J/22's commenced at 11h00. No one boat held the first place consecutively as the competition was close and fierce. In the first three races a maximum of 8 minutes separated the first and last boats. A quick turnaround between races ensured that a total of 6 races were completed.
The Durban entry, VOODOO skippered by Luke Wagner and crewed by Jean and Siya showed they were a team to be reckoned with achieving two firsts, two seconds, a third and a fourth. The steady wind which calmed slightly after three races did nothing to deter the boat skippered and crewed by the Youth team. They were as competitive as their experienced senior counterparts as proved by Donovan Kruger on HAKAHANA rounding the mark first in the 6th race and ultimately finishing 7th. As the sound signals for the 6th race were heard there were some tired bodies but the focus was ever present with five minutes separating the first and last boat.Sunday saw a lighter breeze but four evenly matched races completed the regatta on 10 total races! Prize-giving acknowledged Donavan Kruger, with his team of Jared, Steven Kruger and Justin Botha being the first placed Youth skipper. Third place saw US'N'J skippered by Graham Baker with Barry and Shaun Gurnell with 28 points, second VOODOO with Luke and his team with 25 points and first place to Richard Weiderholdt on CELL C with his team of Greg Plunkett and Rob Edwards on 18 points. Special thanks went to Mike Hayton of Amtec for his sponsorship, time and effort as well as all Witbank Yacht Club ensuring a fantastic regatta was held by all.
InterClub Youth ChampionshipsThe Aruba Networks 2011 J/22 Interclub Youth Championship was well-attended with nine teams all sailing an incredibly competitive regatta, sailing seven races with one discard.
At the end, it was hard to hold back the HAKAHANA team from TYC, sailed by Oliver Cribb, Riccardo Suttner-Scalco and Rudi van Velzen. Their record of 1-3-1-1-3-1-5 for a net of 10 pts was hard to beat. Behind Oliver and crew it was a tight battle for 2nd and 3rd, with three boats all in a virtual tie for second. Winning the tie-breaker and finishing second was Megan Eccleston skippering JOKER TOO with her crew of Jacob Bester, Zak Bester and Tyrone Smith to a 3-4-2-7-6-3-1 record for 19 pts. Third was Donovan Kruger on US'N'J sailing with crew Jared Kuger, Alex Nicolakos and Jolene Tolfs to a 2-2-3-4-2-9-6 record for 19 pts. Watch out for these teams in the future, they're sailing fast and furious and know how to get a J/22 around the course smartly. Perhaps some of them may sail in the J/22 Worlds in Crouesty, France next year?
NW ChampionshipsThe TYC's NW Champs saw an excellent field of twenty entries sailing in both Gold and Silver Fleets. All four race sailed were scored as counters for the regatta, no toss races.
It seemed that Team HAKAHANA were on a roll as Donovan Kruger's team managed to win this regatta with three 1sts and a 6th! Second was John Bruckman's LAUGH A MINUTE with a 3-2-3-3 for 11 pts. Third was Graham Baker's US'N'J with a 1-3-14-2 for 20 pts, they were feeling the pain of an OCS in the third race-- otherwise they'd been in the running to win against their buddies sailing HAKAHANA! For more South African sailing information.
J/92 MOJITO Lighting It Up in Hong Kong!(Hebe Haven YC, Hong Kong, China)- The sailing reports from some of our J Sailors from across the world are always an entertaining, fun read. Recently, Simon Blore sailed his J/92s MOJITO in the eight race Hebe Haven YC Winter Series from late October to early December. Here's Simon's report:
"Rating at 0.994, the J/92S MOJITO was the lowest rated (slowest) boat in the IRC division, up against its main rival the X35 Vixen, plus a new lightweight GP26, with a rating at 1.053. At various times the Millennium 45 Surfdude joined the fray, as did the Holland 38 RB and King 40 Blondie. Recognizing the need for a bit more light air power, MOJITO added a larger light air #1 North 3DL sail in to their inventory in the autumn, with a new #2 3Di also included, to take over the headsail duties from 10 kts and above.
The light air #1 was used for all of the first 6 races, with winds rarely much above 10 kts, but the new grunt provided by the specialist light air jib allowed some improved performances, and top 3 finishes to put MOJITO one point ahead of the light air specialist boat the X35 with two final races remaining.On the final day it was still all to play for, and with Vixen only a point behind, the X35 looked in supreme form pre-race with a good spinnaker run in 17-20 kts of breeze, meanwhile we were struggling to get our no3 headsail to work, and only just had our no2 ready for the start sequence.
In the race proper though, MOJITO was honking along in the strong winds with the new 3Di, and on the first run, Vixen unravelled with a botched gybe and a trapped kite making them retire, meanwhile the J/92S sailed a bit more conservatively with the smaller A2 kite to post a strong time.
In Race 2, again the pressure was on the X35, and with gusts regularly in the mid 20's, MOJITO was matching Vixen's pace upwind and down, and eventually on the second run, another bad gybe by Vixen saw her dropping her kite again, and MOJITO came through to just beat her on the line, and take the handicap win with ease. Also out on the final day was the new McConaghy 38 Tornado 2, with the factory works team, and this boat (rating at 1.260) lit up the race course with impressive pace, but at the final prize-giving, the little J92S crew were delighted to record two victories over the Mc38, and post a 1 and a 2 for the day, and so seal the series win by 4 pts!"
GO FIT Leads the Trofeo IMPREDIGITAL(Santander, Spain)- The Federacion Cantabra de Vela hosted the Trofeo IMPREDIGITAL for a big fleet of 27 J/80s with over 100 sailors on the starting line-- an excellent turnout for this event. The racing was marred by some controversy as five of the top ten boats were disqualified for OCS violations. Nevertheless, for most of the fleet is was a great day of sailing.
The wind started out of the West and kept veering to the Southwest in an oscillating-persistent wind shift, making for challenging, tactical racing. Furthermore, with a strong adverse current whistling down the shoreline, it was also important to short-tack the beach to gain tactical advantage on the boats around you. The racing started near the beach of Magdalena and the windward mark was near FCV yacht club.
In the end, GO FIT sailed by David Madrazo won, followed in 2nd by Tonio Piris sailing YATES & COSAS, 3rd was Jesus Amaliach on RAITA, 4th Luis Arrarte on ROGUE and 5th Pichu Torcida on ECC VIVIENDAS. For more Trofeo ImpreDigital sailing information
JING JING King's Cup Update(Kata Beach, Phuket, Thailand)- 2011 was the 25th anniversary of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta. The event attracted the largest fleet in the competition’s history with 91 keelboats and over a thousand sailors from 33 countries across the globe. Conditions have been good for much of the week, and comments centered on the enjoyable racing and spectacular beach-side parties each evening.
While the regatta proved challenging for them against a fleet of relatively new IRC 40 footers, Rick Pointon's team on the J/130 JING JING from Hong Kong, China hung in the top ten and got in some great racing, even managing a fourth in one of them. In the end, the more professional teams prevailed while the corinthian sailors had an enjoyable time in the spectacular sailing conditions-- a far cry from last year's storms, rain, wind, waves that saw some wreckage on the beaches in front of the gorgeous Kata Beach Club Resort. Rick is hoping a few more J Sailors join him for next year's event! Sailing photo credits- Guy Nowell. For more Phuket King's Cup Regatta sailing information.
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* HAPPY HOLIDAYS/ HAPPY SAILING? Why not? Help Introduce Sailing to Friends and Colleagues- Now is as good a time as ever to Consider a gift to your local sailing community or yacht club programs. Here in Newport, we give as much support as we can to SailNewport- renowned not just for hosting regattas for the America's Cup World Series in the AC45 cats next June, but hosting regattas for kids in Optis, 420s, Vanguard 15s and adult evening sailing in J/22s. It is a "community sailing" program open to all.For example, gifts from fellow sailors and friends who support public access to sailing provide vital funding source for Sail Newport. You can continue to provide sailing opportunities for all ages and skill levels and help chart the course of the future for the sport of sailing. Learn more and donate online.
Does someone you know want to learn to sail, or, learn to sail better? Give a gift that will inspire, teach and provide a healthy sport! We have gift certificates available for memberships, sailing lessons and rentals for those who already know how to sail. For information on sailing certificates.For those J Sailors from across the Americas and other parts of the world, consider doing something similar for your local community sailing programs (or yacht club/ sailing club programs who have similar offerings)!
The J Cruising Community
J Cruisers continue their adventures around the world, below are a selection of most excellent "blogs" written by their prolific publishers. Some terribly amusing anecdotes and pearls of wisdom are contained in their blogs. Read some! You'll love it.* 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/
* Prolific writers, Bill and Judy Stellin, sailed their J/42 JAYWALKER around the Mediterranean and Europe and back across the Atlantic for nearly three years. Their blogs/journals can be found at- http://blog.mailasail.com/jaywalker. The earlier journals have been compiled into two self published books which can be found at: http://www.blurb.com. Search for "SEATREK: A Passion for Sailing" by Bill Stellin or William Stellin." UPDATE- Just a short note to update from Bill- "Our cruise began in May of 2000 and ended in May of 2008, some 8 years later. I have just finished and published my third and final book covering the last three or so years including our double handed crossing in 16 days and one winter in the Caribbean. Like the others, "Sea Trek- A Passion for sailing- Book III," can be found at www.blurb.com. Thanks, Bill and Judy"
* 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).
- SALACIA, the J/160 owned by Stephen and Cyndy Everett has an on-going blog describing some of their more amusing experiences (http://www.salacia1.blogspot.com).
- 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). Check out there recent travels- now past Fiji!
- 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.* The J/109 GAIA (seen right in the Java Sea) was sailed by Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay around the world. In February 2011, their cruising adventures came to an abrupt, sad ending. As a tribute to them and their cruising friends worldwide, we hope their chronicles on their GAIA website remains a tribute to their warm-hearted spirits- read more about why many loved them dearly and will remain touched by their loving spirit forever- http://www.gaiaworldtour.net/
Featured Boats
J/108 Ready To Cruise in Florida!J/Boats' modern new shoal performance cruiser/ racer, the J/108, had a great introduction at the Annapolis Boat Show and is now available for demo sails in Florida along it's fabled West Coast near Naples and San Marco Island.
To learn more about the J/108, J/Boats' latest high-performance 35 foot shoal-draft cruiser, please contact: Craig Crossley @ CrossCurrent Marine- cell 401-330-6135 or email- craig@crosscurrentmarine.com to schedule an appointment and learn more about this stunning new J - luxuriate in her Ultra-Leather interior, enjoy her enormous cockpit and find out how you can broaden your cruising horizons with just 4.0 feet of draft! Plus, you'll love her lively performance.
To learn more about this particular J/108, please take a look at the listing here on Yachtworld.com. Sailing photo credits- Billy Black
About J/Boats
Started in 1977, J/Boats continues to lead the world in designing fun-to-sail, easy-to-handle, performance sailboats that can be enjoyed by a broad spectrum of sailors. The International J/24 has become the most popular recreational offshore keelboat in the world with over 5,400 J/24s cruising the waves. Today, there are 13,000+ J/Boats, ranging from the International J/22 to the J/65 and ranging in style from one-designs to racers, cruisers to daysailers and, of course, the ubiquitous J sprit boats- J/Boats' innovation in 1992 for easy-to-use asymmetric spinnakers and retractable carbon bowsprits (J/80, J/92, J/95, J/105, J/109, J/110, J/120, J/122, J/130, J/133, J/125, J/145, J/160).J/Boats has the best track record in sailing for innovation and design as evidenced by: 15 Sailing World/ Cruising World Boat of the Year Awards in 14 years; 2 SAIL Awards for Industry Leadership; 2 American Sailboat Hall of Fame Designs (J/24 & J/35); and the three largest ISAF International One-Design keelboat classes (J/22, J/24, J/80).
Counting crew, every year there are over 100,000 friends to meet sailing J's, populating the most beautiful sailing harbors and sailing the waters of 35+ countries around the world. Sailing is all about friends. Come join us and expand your social network everywhere! For more information on J/Boats.
Read Kimball Livingston's SAIL update on the J/Boats story- A Band of Brothers
