Salon Nautique/ Paris Boat Show- New J/112E!
(Paris, France)- On display at the 2016 Salon Nautique/ Paris Boat Show from December 3rd to 11th will be the fabulous new 35 foot cruiser from the J/Design team- the J/112E Sport Cruiser. The show takes place at the Parc de Exposition at Port de Versailles, Paris and the 112E will be on display at Hall 1- Stand G55.
The
J/112E Sport Cruiser has been nominated for European Yacht of the Year 2017. And, recently was presented with SAIL Magazine’s Best Boat Award in the “Best Performance Boat Over 30 ft” category. She is the newest addition to the J/Boats “E” Series of versatile performance sailing yachts.A welcome 36 feet in length, she features a spacious two-cabin accommodation plan and a comfortable, ergonomic cockpit. The J/112E is as well suited for the annual family cruise as she is racing in the local club regatta or short-handing through rough weather.
Take the opportunity to view this gorgeous sailing yacht this coming week- a great way to also spend a weekend in Paris! For more Salon Nautique/ Paris Boat Show information Read more about SAIL magazine’s J/112E review in the Best Boats 2017 article here. Learn more about the J/122E sport cruiser here.
Wirth Munroe Miami to Palm Beach Race Preview(Palm Beach, FL)- Storm Trysail Club and The Sailfish Club of Florida in Palm Beach are hosting their annual Wirth Munroe Invitational Race. It is a quick offshore sprint of 70nm north, up the Gulf Stream from Miami to Palm Beach.
The weather looks promising for the fleet, with breezes on Friday starting in the northeast quadrant at 10-15 kts and increasing to 15-20 kts ENE later in the day. With the Gulf Stream flowing “hot” offshore in a northerly direction around 5.5 kts, that means it could be a beat or close-fetch up the shoreline on starboard tack for most of the race, a great scenario for J/teams participating in the race.
In the seventeen-boat fleet is a trio of J/sailors in the PHRF classes. In PHRF A division we find Bernie Blum’s J/88 ONEUP from Buffalo YC (New York) taking on Scott Piper’s world-traveling J/160 PIPE DREAM IX from Biscayne Bay YC for class honors. Then, in PHRF B division, the local hotshots from the Palm Beach Sailing Club are all sailing aboard Don Lasky’s famous J/30 PAPARAZZI- a beautifully restored boat with an amazing record in offshore PHRF events! For more Wirth Munroe Invitational Race sailing information
Stadium Sailing: Re-defining Sailboat Racing(Grosse Pointe, MI)- Sailmaking professional and Grosse Point Yacht Club Sailing Director Wally Cross shares his plan for changing the way we view the sport of sailing. Wally has been coordinating with Ben Klatzka, founder of the Premiere Sailing League USA, to help jump-start broad-based participation in one-design keelboat racing for Corinthian yacht club members. This past fall, Grosse Pointe YC co-hosted their first “test event” for the “college-style” sailing league program using their fleet of J/70 class sailboats; all participants considered it an enormous success. Here is Wally’s commentary on what he considers to be THE evolution of sailboat racing for kids, parents, families and friends.
“Ben and I have been discussing this concept of sailing in front of sailing clubs for two years. His business is the Premier Sailing League. His goal is to provide boats around the country in specific yachting venues, and create live entertainment in a ‘stadium sailing’ environment that has never been realized for the sport in America. The goal is to have regional yacht club challenges and eventually crown a national champion.This past September, we decided to try a stadium sailing concept event at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. We had ten J/70’s from the Detroit area divided into four divisions; the goal was a four-hour schedule with a total of 18 races. Each team sailed during half the schedule to complete their nine races, splitting time on the water with time ashore spectating. On the dock, we had a grill and bar set up for spectators and participants (a very popular place to be!).
With so many demands on our time with family, work and competing sports, it is my belief that our passion for any sport can only be justified for a shorter period of time than what it takes to do the conventional sailboat race.
I always thought 18 holes of golf would be the maximum time we could set aside for a sport, yet even with that four to five hour time frame, golf is struggling with participation rates due to the various elements required to play; their challenges are similar to sailing- total travel time, actual play time, and the cost involved.
Stadium sailing is set up to be a four-hour experience, yet participate for half that time. More importantly, the stadium-style event creates a far better ratio of actual sailing/ racing time to your total hours invested! Compare that to the normal day of racing from your home yacht club or on the road for a travel event! That is one of the key goals – to maximize actual racing time relative to the entire time devoted to sailing for a given day or weekend.
The sailors are the ‘actors’ on the water and, then, the ‘ambassadors’ on land. We asked the participants to mix in with the audience to explain what is happening on the water, so there is a natural synergy that evolves both onshore and on the water. Coincidentally, this interaction naturally helps grow the sport! It is a byproduct of the stadium concept that fosters more participation for a sport that has been challenged to grow!To sail the 18 races, each race had to be between 11 and 13 minutes. There is no down time and practicing is not allowed. Once the first flight completed the three races, the next group had to be ready to go without any gap in time, thus helping to maximize the actual race time for the sailors.
The course had three movable buoys that provided a windward-leeward course. The start, finish and leeward gate are all the same. The race is four legs and each leg is less than four minutes. The starting sequence is a 3-minute control box on shore (just like college racing) and a judge for the line sits in a RIB with a loudhailer. We also followed the boats and whistled/ flagged the teams for any fouls. The penalty was a 360-degree turn or a last place finish for that race. Fouling was not an option if you wanted to do well!
This style of sailing places a premium on quick tactical decisions and boat-handling skills and, consequently, focuses participants on rapidly improving their game!
The sailors faced many more strategic/ tactical situations in one day, than they would in a traditional 2-3 race day regatta! The goal was to make racing quick, easy and decisive, so you provide instant gratification for all competitors and virtually continuous action for the spectators.
In order to run 18 races in four hours, the marks had to move a lot. The wind speed and direction directly affect the time the fleet takes to sail the course, so the marks have to adjust fast! Based on the first lap time, the windward mark was either increased or decreased in distance.
To facilitate mark movement, Grosse Point YC is working with a buoy manufacturer that expects to produce a motorized mark that can be controlled with a smart phone. The mark will lock into a GPS setting, unless changed by the ‘course manager.’ On top of each buoy will be a Go-Pro style video camera that can wirelessly transmit images back to the sailing center. As a result, one person can adjust the course constantly for wind direction and speed; the goal is to keep the time close to 11 minutes and the course true to the wind.
We have plans for three events next summer with each event concluding with awards, but at the end of the three event series we will have a grand prize that will be awarded to the top three overall finishers. All the awards will be items the sailors can use to improve their performance. Here is GPYC’s 2017 sailing league schedule:
- May 20 – concurrent with Great Lakes Boating Festival
- June 24 – concurrent with Great Lakes USODA Optimist Regatta
- September 16 – Grand Championship Finals
It is important to note that sponsors will get VIP treatment for seating and food/beverage service. The GPYC’s sailing center will allow spectators to watch the racing from a balcony looking over the water and race course area (just 50 yards away!), plus we plan to add bleacher seating for better viewing.”
To learn more about Grosse Pointe YC’s sailing league plans for 2017, please contact Wally Cross at phone# 313-640-7014 or email- gpycsailing@gpyc.org. And, for Premiere Sailing League USA information, contact Ben Klatzka at phone# 617-480-8775 or email- benjaminklatzka@hotmail.com.
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
In the United Kingdom, the Hamble River Sailing Club’s Winter Series penultimate weekend just took place on the Southampton Water and the swiftly moving Solent. J/88s are having fun, plus J/109s and J/92S’s could win their class!Over in the Americas, the Mystic Seaport Museum “America & The Sea Award” published the HD video of their presentation to Bob & Rod Johnstone, co-founders of J/Boats. Check it out, a quick history of the founding and evolution of J/Boats.
Out west, the Treasure Island Sailing Center’s Executive Director, Travis Lund, explains “the healing powers of sailing”. Or, how kids participating in their sailing class on San Francisco Bay is both sweet and innocent and provided them an outlet to work with friends, pursue a common goal, learn more about their newfound passion of sailing and experience life without their “helicopter” parents!
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:
Dec 3- Hot Rum Race III- San Diego, CADec 3-4- J/22 Jammin’ Jamaica Regatta- Montego Bay, Jamaica
Dec 10-11- Quantum J/70 Winter Series I- Tampa, FL
Jan 7-8- Quantum J/70 Winter Series II- Tampa, FL
Jan 15-23- Quantum Key West Regatta- Key West, FL
Feb 4-5- Quantum J/70 Winter Series- Tampa, FL
Feb 10-12- J/24 Midwinters- Indian Harbour Beach, FL
Feb 17-19- St Petersburg NOOD Regatta- St Petersburg, FL
Feb 23-26- J/70 Midwinters- St Petersburg, FL
Mar 9-11- Bacardi Miami Sailing Week- Coconut Grove, FL
Mar 17-19- San Diego NOOD Regatta- San Diego, CA
April 20-23- Charleston Race Week- Charleston, SC
May 5-7- Annapolis NOOD Regatta- Annapolis, MD
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Hamble Winter Series Penultimate Report(Hamble, Great Britain)- Despite awaking to biblical rain showers, and the best efforts of winter Storm Angus to obliterate the proceedings on the infamous Solent, the braver souls in the Hamble Winter Series fleet ventured forth onto the high seas and were rewarded with truly champagne sailing!
The HRSC PRO and regatta management team were quietly confident that the high winds seen the night before would moderate in time and, true to form, the wind dropped to a west to northwesterly of 10 knots by the end of the day's racing – leading much of the fleet to do hurried headsail changes before the final beat!
It was a cold day on the Solent and kudos to the race volunteers who braved the chill in RIBS and committee boats to run some great racing. Moreover, the racing was certainly close!In IRC 2 class, the suspense and anxiety are arising to epic proportions. In the last race, Simon Perry’s J/109 JIRAFFE won with their principal competitor, the Elan 37 ELAIINE, posting a 4th place. That means Perry’s JIRAFFE is just two points astray of winning the overall Winter Series title for IRC 2! The second J/109 continues to be Chris Burleigh’s JYBE TALKIN and the third is Rob Cotterill’s MOJO RISIN.
With one race left to sail, it is Robin Stevenson's J/92S UPSTART that leads the class by 2.5 points, having given up one more point over the weekend on their lead by finishing 4th (a counter). Fellow J/92 sailor David Greenhalgh knocked it out of the park on J’RONIMO, winning the 12th race handily over their enormous fleet to hang on to 4th overall. Now in 5th place is Annie & Andy Howe’s J/97E BLACKJACK II, just 3.5 pts back.In the J/88 class it was Kirsty & David Apthorp’s crew on J-DREAM that won Sunday's race, finishing comfortably ahead of Gavin Howe's TIGRIS and Richard Cooper's JONGLEUR. That leaves J-DREAM six points clear of second overall, Paul Ward's EAT SLEEP J REPEAT, themselves one point clear of TIGRIS. Rounding out the top five, Tim Tolcher’s RAGING BULL is fourth, just 2.5 pts clear of Paul & Marie-Claude Heys’ JENGA in fifth place.
Crews could not believe their luck and swapped tall tales of floods and gales once back ashore for the prize-giving at HRSC, supported this week by the J/88 class, which supplied bottles of champagne to day prize winners. Special prizes this week went to the J/88 JONGLEUR for the best start of the day.
Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth/ pwpictures.com and Hamo Thornycroft For more Hamble Winter Series sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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* Mystic Seaport Marine Museum’s “American & The Sea Award” that was awarded to J/Boats’ co-founders (Bob & Rod Johnstone) has been produced as a beautiful HD video presentation. You can watch the YouTube video here.Presented annually by Mystic Seaport since 2006, the "America & The Sea Award" recognizes an individual or organization whose contributions to the history, arts, business or sciences of the sea best exemplify the American spirit and character.
Mystic Seaport presented its prestigious award to the brother’s Johnstone on Saturday, October 22 at a gala black-tie dinner held in their honor at the Museum. The gala was the first and only dinner held in the Collins Gallery in the new Thompson Exhibition Building, prior to its on-going use to display upcoming marine exhibits.
“Over the past 39 years, the Johnstone family and their company have influenced American yachting and sport of sailing in incomparable ways. They have established a record of accomplishment that few will ever challenge, and they have instilled in countless Americans a passion for enjoying time on the water with family and good friends aboard good boats,” said Steve White, President of Mystic Seaport. “For these reasons and many more, Mystic Seaport is proud to bestow its America & The Sea Award to Bob and Rod Johnstone – co-founders of J/Boats.” Learn more about J/Boats here. Learn more about Mystic Seaport Museum "America and the Sea Award" here.
* The Healing Powers of Sailing! Travis Lund, Executive Director at Treasure Island Sailing Center (TISC), offers an example of how sailing J/24s (and dinghies) on San Francisco Bay can provide a helpful distraction to life. He comments,“I’m often asked what the TISC is or what we do here in San Francisco, CA. I’ll admit it is sometimes difficult to accurately describe what a youth-driven sailing center does and harder yet to transmit why my staff and I are so dedicated to the mission of TISC.
For most of us who sail, we typically don’t ponder how sailing has affected our lives…we just know it has. Most of us seldom think about what our lives would be like if we never learned to or had the enjoyment of sailing.
Growing up in a small industrial town of 23,000 people in Northern Michigan, there were few entertainment options. I really didn’t know much else other than playing in the water in the summer and playing in the snow in the winter. My parents owned a small sailboat and I somehow found ways to sail and race and eventually got good at it.
I have been able to make a living at it for most of my life, and yet I still find it difficult to articulate how and why it has become so important to whom I am. I think the best way to answer this question is to envision my life without it. And, I cannot.
However, a recent event has helped provide some clarity.
On November 9th, TISC ran a recruitment event to help our Envision Academy Sailing Team (EAST) gain new members. Envision Academy (EA) is a tuition free charter high school in downtown Oakland whose population is mostly underserved.
About a year and a half ago, with the help of Anthony Sandberg, owner of OCSC Sailing, we formed a sailing team for this school. With the financial support of the St. Francis Sailing Foundation, we’ve been providing boats, transportation and instructors for the team at no cost to the students and their families. The current team is all upper level students and we wanted to bolster the team numbers.
We had the day planned for weeks and didn’t really think about the actual date as we had enough on our plates to simply organize the event. But the morning of the event, I received a call from EA’s Athletic Director, Coach Henry, to inform me that he was going to do what he could to get the kids on the bus as quickly as he could. As it was the day after the U.S. national and local elections, the school was in a state of pandemonium.He explained that kids were looking like they were leaving school, that parents were coming to pick their kids up, and that helicopters were flying overhead in wake of what might be either protests or riots later in the day. He warned me that we would not have the 42 kids we had hoped for, and that I should prepare the staff for what might be a sullen, scared or confused group of kids.
Anthony Sandberg chipped in and we chartered a bus to bring what became 27 freshmen and sophomore students out for a 3-hour introductory sail. As they arrived it was clear that Henry’s call was right.
What should have been an excited, frenzied group of 14 and 15 year olds was replaced with some very quiet and reserved children while others were wrought with anger. The regular team was also there, and was also visibly distraught. We provided the kids with pizza and snacks, and they were feeling a bit better when they hit the water.
Before EA’s arrival we had launched four J/24s and as many RS Ventures. We had several volunteers who were instructed to show the kids a good time, introduce them to sailing, and relay their experiences with sailing. I had prepared everyone for what might be the attitude of the group and so everyone was a bit on edge. While the EA student body is very diverse, our staff and volunteers were not, and I was concerned how the day might play out.
Once the kids got into life jackets and began to load onto the boats something unexpected happened. Faces went from frowns to looks of interest and investigation. The loud and frank talk of the election results turned to questions and quiet.
We loaded kids one by one onto the boats and off they went. There were four girls who stayed together, all wearing Hijabs. I have never seen anyone wear one while sailing and was surprised when these girls were completely unaffected by the wind and more affected by the sail.
I hopped into our chase boat and went out on Clipper Cove with our Program Manager to take pictures. What we saw as we went from boat to boat brightened our day. The kids’ demeanor had changed.
Right there before our eyes in the span of a few moments these kids, all of them, were either engaged with their coach, dipping their hands in the water or sitting on the decks with the wind in their faces looking skyward.
They marveled at the older EA students who were practicing around buoys in their FJ’s for an upcoming regatta. We could tell many of them were envious. As we went from boat to boat the kids each took a turn giving us their best pose or goofy look, each one trying to outdo the other.
Eventually the kids came in and switched boats from keelboat to dinghy and vice versa after a very short break. During this second sail, I radioed the coaches and volunteers to come in. I had received another call from Coach Henry who now informed me that I had better get the kids back a bit early as some streets near the school were being closed due to protesting! We could not imagine, nor believe, that some adults were behaving like impetuous, petulant teenagers! God, help us!!
While I hastened the boats back to the dock, it was difficult to organize the group to leave. They needed to get a group photo (several really, with different poses and funny looks) and were chatting up their coaches and my staff. The mood and the voices were boisterous, giddy and loud; like kids. Before they left, 22 out of the 27 signed up as being interested to join the sailing team!
While I do not know what they went home to, I do know that while they were here, for those brief moments on the water, they were at peace. And not just them, all the staff and volunteers became one group, united for a purpose and connected by the water and the sport of sailing.
That is what we do at Treasure Island Sailing Club! And, while I still have a difficult time describing how sailing has affected my own life, I can tell you it has, it does, and so long as I’m in this position and likely still breathing, it will! I hope in some small way that day that it affected these kids, too. I think it did!”
If you would like to learn more about or support Treasure Island Sailing Center on San Francisco Bay, visit http://www.tisailing.org. Thanks for contribution from Travis Lund and Scuttlebutt.
J/Cruisers
J Cruisers continue their adventures around the world, below are a selection of most excellent "blogs" written by their prolific publishers. Some terribly amusing anecdotes and pearls of wisdom are contained in their blogs. Read some! You'll love it.
* The J/40 HERON REACH sailed by Virginia and Jerry is participating in the Blue Planet Odyssey project and have recently joined them in the Marquesas Islands in the Eastern Pacific. Learn more about their adventures and experiences here- http://heronreachodyssey.blogspot.com/
* J/160 SALACIA has been sailing in Australia in the Whitsunday Islands. Guess who decided to throw themselves across their bow as they cruised comfortably to their next destination? A giant whale! Look at this amazing photo!
* Jim & Heather Wilson just completed a circumnavigation of our "blue planet Earth" in June 2013 on their J/42 CEOL MOR. Said Jim, "The odyssey of CEOL MOR is over, for now. We completed our circumnavigation on our J/42 when we crossed our outbound track in Britannia Bay, Mustique. We were, however, still 2,000 nautical miles from home. So we continued on through the Windwards, the Leewards, and then through the British Virgin Islands. After a farewell 'Painkiller' at the Soggy Dollar, and a last meal at Foxy’s, we made the 1,275 nautical mile passage to the Chesapeake and completed our port-to-port circumnavigation when we arrived in Annapolis on June 28, 2013. We had been away 1,334 days, completed 259 days of ocean passages, and sailed 30,349 nautical miles (34,925 statute miles). Read more about their adventures in their well-documented blog here: http://www.svceolmor.com/SVCeolMor/Welcome.html* J/160 AVATAR headed for the Caribbean, again, for 2015/ 2016! We LOVE these updates from our cruising J sailors that continue to criss-cross the Seven Seas. This one comes from Alan Fougere, sailing his beloved J/160 AVATAR. Alan sent us an email update regards their various improvements and refit to the boat (see above). They will again be based at Proper Yachts in St John, US Virgin Islands.
* Bill & Judy Stellin were interviewed about cruising on their J/42 in the Wall St Journal called "Retiring on the Open Sea". The Wall St Journal asked Bill to reply to dozens of questions that flooded into the WSJ's Editor desks. Here's the update:Retiring on the Sea: Answering Readers' Questions
Advice about selecting a boat, ocean crossings, itineraries and safety
The article in our WSJ Online December retirement report about eight years spent sailing the Mediterranean— "Retiring to the Open Sea"— prompted many questions and comments from readers. We asked William Stellin, who wrote the story, to answer some of the most common queries.WSJ- "What kind and make of boat did you use? Looking back, would you have picked a different boat?"
Bill- "In 1995-96, J/Boats of Newport, RI, came out with a new cruiser/racer model, the J/42. We bought hull No. 6 of this popular 42-foot sailboat and named it JAYWALKER. This was our fourth boat since beginning sailing in 1975.
Although long-distance cruising wasn't what we had in mind when we purchased JAYWALKER, it soon became apparent it had the ability to carry us easily and safely anywhere we wanted to go. Because the boat is light, it sails well in light winds, which means very little motoring is necessary.
People often ask (and argue) about what boat is best for cruising. Any boat that is strong, safe, fast, comfortable and easily handled by two people should fit the bill. One thing for sure, fast is fun—and important when trying to avoid bad weather."
READ MORE ABOUT BILL'S INSIGHTFUL COMMENTARY AND THOUGHTS ON WSJ ONLINE HERE
* The J/42 JARANA continues their epic voyage around the Pacific. Continue to read about Bill and Kathy Cuffel's big adventure cruising the South Pacific headed for New Zealand. Their blog is here: http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/
* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for extended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary finished their double-handed crossing of the Atlantic, landing in Portugal on their J/130 Shazam after completion of their ARC Rally. Read the latest news at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/shazam/.
* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world's oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between. Anyone for Cape Horn and penguins?? Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM friends above).- Bill and Susan Grun on the J/160 AVANTE are also sailing in the Pacific archipelago, read more about their great adventures on their blog (http://web.me.com/susangrun). Read about their latest adventures as they've gotten to New Zealand- "Avante Cruises the Pacific".
- Eric and Jenn on the J/160 MANDALAY also sailed the Pacific archipelago, read more on their blog at http://www.sailmandalay.com. Eric and Jenn are J/World alumni took MANDALAY up and down the West Coast (Mexico, CA), then to the South Pacific and New Zealand. MANDALAY is back in San Francisco now, and in the J/World fleet--she is available for skippered charters, private instruction, and corporate/executive groups.
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