J/Newsletter- November 5th, 2009

J/95 Demos in Full Swing

Go to Sunny, Warm Florida, Texas and Chesapeake!

After the strong showing at the Newport and Annapolis Boatshows, interest in the J/95 continues to grow as sailors look to expand their sailing and cruising horizons with J's newest, innovative design- a 31 foot shoal-draft sailboat that draws 3 feet, can go upwind at 6.5 knots, surf off-the-wind at 8.5+ knots with the simple asymmetric spinnaker and can be turned on a dime with its twin-rudder wheel steering system.

Be sure to contact these J/Dealers for a showing and/or demo of the incredibly fun and cool J/95:
- Florida- Crosscurrent Marine- Craig Crossley- P: (401) 330-6135/ E: craig@crosscurrentmarine.com
- Texas- J/Boats Southwest- Scott Spurlin-  P: (940) 591-7040/ E: scott@jboatssouthwest.com
- Chesapeake- Northpoint Yacht Sales- Ken Comerford- P: (410) 961-5254 / E: ken@northpointyachtsales.com

For more information, please contact J/Boats at Ph- +1-401-846-8410 or email - info@jboats.com.

2010 J/80 Europeans on Lake Garda

(Lago di Garda, Italy)- Get ready for some fantastic sailing on the famous, windy Lake Garda next summer, as the Italian J/80 Class Association invites you to the 2010 European Championships.  The event will be hosted by Fraglia Vela Malcesine Yacht Club and take place June 21-26. The Italian National Championship will be held two weeks prior (June 11-13) at the same venue.   Italian hospitality is renowned and the FVM YC promises that this will be one of the BEST European one-design events ever held on the Continent.   Put it on your schedule now, book a gorgeous villa with lots of friends, eat lots of tasty, fresh Italian pasta cuisine, enjoy great Italian red and white wines and go have a great time!  The event weblink is up and running and complete information will be posted there in the near future.

Ice Cup Sweden

(Stockholm, Sweden)- The season is not over!  On November 14-15, the Stockholm Match Race Center is hosting their infamously fun Ice Cup.  For those of you who have not yet tested the concept, you get to race on six purpose-built J/92 sailboats provided by the organizer.  Everyone races in a round-robin match race format and the best re-qualify for a winners/ repechage bracket.  Lunch is provided both days and dinner on Saturday evening is included- a great shindig and a great band!  In addition, a fabulous Swedish sauna is promised for those who need to thaw out after the racing-- sounds yummy!  Remember, it's not uncommon for the Barbary sheep to be shoveling away the season's first snow on the boats before the race; charming thought, eh?  The Stockholm Match Race Center was founded in 2005 by Bjorn Hansen, one of Europe's most qualified match racing sailors. Their operations are on Lidingö in Stockholm.  They manage and organize commercial racing events, corporate sailing and train and educate the Swedish elite in match racing. Details and invitation at Swedish Match Race Center.

Regatta Schedule

Nov. 7-11- J/80 French Nationals- Cherbourg, France
Nov. 8-29- GARMIN Winter Series (J/80, J/109, J/105)- Solent, Hamble, England
Nov. 14-15- Ice Cup Match Race- Stockholm, Sweden- racing on J/92s
Nov. 18-21- J/24 South Americans- Porto Alegre, Brazil- Veleiros do Sul
Jan. 18-22, 2010- Key West Race Week- Key West, FL- invited classes include J/80s, J/105s, J/109s, J/122s

J/Regatta News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

Winter is nearly upon us in the Northern Hemisphere but is certainly has not diminished the enthusiasm and passion J sailors have for sailing in the cooler climes.  Our friends "down under" in South America, southern Asia and Australia are just getting going in their spring sailing seasons- with action hotter than ever!  In Europe,  the J/80s are having a great time in the Med racing off the Spanish seacoasts of Bilbao, Santander and Palma.  Our Scandinavian contingent in J/80s continue racing their "Ice Cups" and "ice-breaking" events near the Arctic Circle in Denmark and Sweden.  In Asia/ Pacific, the Royal Hong Kong YC are concluding their China Cup Series and a bit further south, the Australians are warming up for their spring season with events off Sydney and Melbourne.  In the South America, the Brazilians, Peruvians, Chileans and Argentineans are preparing for the J/24 South Americans in Porto Alegre, Brazil.  And, up north in America, the J/105 North Americans, the J/24 East Coasts and IRC East Coasts were all held in virtually the same massive weather front- producing blustery, rainy, windy conditions on Saturday and gorgeous fall sailing conditions on Sunday. Read on! More importantly, if you have more J Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page!  Below are the summaries.

SUBARU J/105 North Americans a Power Play

Stone Overcomes Slow Start to Win

(Rye, NY- Nov 1) - Bruce Stone racing POWER PLAY secured victory at the Subaru J/105 North American Championship at American Yacht Club in Rye, NY.  After stumbling out of the gate on the first day with a 6-15-10, the San Francisco-based team’s comeback hit overdrive on the third day when they won all three races to vault them to the top of the standings; garnering four firsts in a row since the last race the day before. A manageable 5-4 on the final day guaranteed their win.

The fleet was blessed by remarkably variable conditions over the four days of racing with plenty of wind from all four quadrants.  Whomever prevailed was going to have overcome significant challenges to overcome a very strong and deep fleet of talented sailors racing in this year's North Americans.

It all started out on Thursday with light to medium breezes out of the ENE.; competitors were greeted with blue skies, temperatures in the 50s and winds between 8-12 knots that diminished throughout the three races.  James Rathbun of Toronto, Ontario with world renowned World Champion Canadian sailor Terry McLaughlin in the afterguard calling tactics and boat speed led the 28 boat fleet after three races; their J/105 HEY JUDE finished with eight points for the day.  A perennial J/105 Champion Brian Keane from Weston, MA sailing SAVASANA ended the day in second with eleven points. One point behind were New York Long Island Sound locals Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM with twelve points.

On Friday, competitors enjoyed brisk fall conditions on Long Island Sound. Winds blew between SSE 10-14 knots, and temperatures remained in the 50. This day belonged to Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM who scored a 1-1-3. After six total races, the Katonah, NY team sat with seventeen total points; an enormous twenty point lead over their closest competition. James Rathbun HEY JUDE didn't have such a great day and dropped to second place overall. Josh Burack on PEREGRINA (New Rochelle, NY) rounded out the top three with forty points.  Following Esdorn/Hennes in Race 4 were Rob Marsh on BLOWBOAT and Bruce Stone on POWER PLAY.  Foreshadowing what was to come the next day, the POWER PLAY team finally got off the starting line clean and led the fleet around the race track, trailed by HEY JUDE and KINCSEM.

Saturday's racing dawned grey and nasty.   The forecast was equally as bad- rain, gusty winds 15-30 knots out of the SSW.  It was also a day that produced dramatic and significant changes amongst the fleet leaders.   In a remarkable display of consistency and outright boatspeed, POWERPLAY won all three races on day three--- a feat never achieved before- four consecutive victories in a row at a J/105 North American Championship.  Following POWER PLAY in Race 7 were Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM and Damian Emery on ECLIPSE.  In second place in Race 8 was George Wilbanks racing REVELATION, then KINCSEM in third. Trailing POWER PLAY in the day’s final contest were Kevin Grainger on GUMPTION 3 and Paul Strauch on ANDIAMO.

It was readily apparent to the fleet leaders, POWER PLAY, HEY JUDE and KINCSEM that anyone of the three had reasonable odds to win the overall championship as only ten points separated all three boats with two races to go.  To add to the drama, the forecast was for light-medium shifty, very streaky winds from the NNW-NNE off the northern Long Island Sound (Connecticut) shore.  Despite two less than stellar starts, POWER PLAY managed to extricate themselves from literally the bottom of the fleet to win the regatta.   Two races were completed on the final day of the championship. Jeremy Henderson and Harald Edegran on CONUNDRUM ended the regatta on a perfect note, winning both contests. KINCSEM followed CONUNDRUM in Race 10, then Kenneth Colburn on GHOST. In the concluding race, Damian Emery on ECLIPSE came in second.  POWER PLAY sailed two remarkable come-back races to garner a 5-4 to win the regatta.  HEY JUDE sailed beautifully to get a 3-4 to finish second overall.  And, KINCSEM seemingly couldn't buy a shift, getting a 2-19 to finish the regatta in third overall.

The winning San Francisco-based team on POWER PLAY, consisting of skipper Bruce Stone, Stuart Johnstone, Nicole Breault, Bob Dearborn, Mark Lindquist and Dave Marshall, finished with 55 points over 11 races, beating their closest competitor by nine points overall.  The J/105 NA's concluded a remarkable season for Bruce Stone's team-- having won the ROLEX Block Island Race Week and nearly won a second watch at the ROLEX Big Boat Series with a close second.  Complete results and daily reports at J/105 Class Association.  Photo Credits- Allen Clark/ Photoboat.com

J's Dominate Gascoigne Cup

J/35 and J/122 Lead Australian Offshore Season

(Sydney, Australia- October 24th)-  The Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron’s historic Gascoigne Cup sailed into its second century today with victory on PHS going to prominent yachtsman Tim Cox in his J/35 SOUNDTRACK.  Tim Cox, a retired senior RAN officer, is well known as Chairman of the Race Committee for the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and is also a member of the Sailing Committee of the RSYS.

Ray Entwistle’s J/122 JACKPOT won IRC Class, reveling in the light south-easterly breeze of 8-14 knots.  “The J/122 just glided through the swell off the heads of Sydney, we had great height and excellent speed. Even though it was a windward / leeward course, we ran just as deep as the symmetrical rigged boats with our 155 sq.m running kite designed by Ian Short Sailmakers.  The conditions were a far cry from the race 3 weeks ago when the winds were gusting over 30 knots with a 2-3 metre swell on which we were planing at over 18 knots at times. The J/122 excels in every condition the Sydney climate throws at us.”

Grant Thornton Ocean Pointscore Series

J/35 SOUNDTRACK Sashays to Bruising Win

(Sydney, Australia- October 3rd)-  Blustery southerly winds and squally rains greeted the fleet for Race One of the Grant Thornton Short Ocean Pointscore Series.  The first race of the series was raced on Saturday, 3 October 2009, in wintery conditions and was conducted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club. In what is becoming a tradition for this race, the southerly winds and squally rains that greeted the sixteen intrepid and enthusiastic competitors appeared to be a re-run from previous year's events.  Due to the 2-3 metre swells experienced off shore, the race committee was unable to lay the marks out past the "Sydney Harbor Heads", so they made the decision to send Division 1 yachts to Botany Bay and back.

For Ray Entwistle’s J/122 JACKPOT it was an exhilarating day’s racing. “We flew the 140 sq.m asymmetric kite from the Shark Island start to the heads, turned the corner and the crew hit the rail for the beat down the coast to Botany Bay.  The winds were averaging 25 knots, gusting over 30 knots at times, and the rain felt like small hail stones hitting our faces. The waves washed away the last of the red dust that remained from the dust storm, which had infiltrated every crevice of the boat.  We lost some time when we missed a wind shift and that allowed the fleet to get away from us,” said Entwistle.

“Turning into Botany Bay, we had a few minutes respite from the weather. We rounded the mark and set the new heavy weather spinnaker off the bowsprit for what was a joyride back home.  We hit a new top boat speed of 18.6 knots in JACKPOT, averaging  14 knots. It felt like it only took 10 minutes to get to Bondi – the boat was flying and the crew were loving it,” concluded Entwistle.

JACKPOT finished third in IRC Division 2.   Tim Cox’s J/35 SOUNDTRACK finished first in IRC Division 3, the course set in-harbour due to the rough sea conditions.

Port Hacking-Botany Bay Race

J/109 MAJIKAL Wins in Wild Weather

(Port Hacking, Sydney, Australia- October 3rd)-  On the same windy, wild weather day the Sydney based yachts were sailing down the coast to Botany Bay, the Port Hacking river based yachts were sailing north.  The Port Hacking river is a beautiful part of the Sydney region, about 25 nm south from Sydney harbor. 

Keith Wilson's  J/109 MAJIKAL finished first in his division in RMYC's Port Hacking to Botany Bay Short Ocean Race. He is delighted with the J/109’s performance in all conditions.  Says Keith "this boat is bloody magical the way it sails in all conditions the southerlies can throw at us-- love it!  Be great to have a few more down here to mess around with!"

RHKYC China Cup Series

J/109 WHISKEY JACK Wins

(Hong Kong, China)-  The China Cup consists of passage racing and around the buoys racing over the course of a weeklong bacchanalian festival of sailing the gorgeous China Seas.  As usual the Royal Hong Kong YC were fabulous hosts and ran a terrific regatta.  The passage race from Hong Kong to Longcheer last Friday was an uneventful affair which went to a short finish at 'the corner'.  The start was notable for a General Recall for one of the fleets; this allowed the combined IRC A and B fleets to get away in clear air for the rest of the regatta!

Saturday was a washout. After a delayed start to the program, to allow Government officials to get to Opening Ceremony (taking place on the second day of the regatta - go figure), the breeze failed to cooperate and the fleet floated around from 1200 hrs to 1630 hrs when the RO signaled ‘AP over A’ and we all went ashore.  In the interim, entertainment was provided by skinny-dipping Russians, a display of spreader-diving, and large numbers of water-fights – all good stuff as crews sat ‘on the grill’ in the uncharacteristically hot October sunshine right next to Daya Bay nuclear power station.

Sunday’ forecast was for more breeze – lots more breeze – and it was plum right.  Nothing less that 10 kts, and a max of 17 kts, made for good racing on the flat water of Da Ya Wan. Once again, a class act from the Royal Hong Kong YC race management team, and all divisions completed two windward-leewards and a triangle-sausage-sausage geometric, thereby making back one of the races lost yesterday.

Star of the show all day was Nick Southward’s J/109 WHISKEY JACK, scoring 1-1-2 in IRC B, and leading the combined A and B fleets over the line in the second race of the day. 'The boys were on fire' said Southward later. 'They sailed their socks off today, it was hard work.'   The program continues.....hope for the best for J-109 sailors Nick and crew!  For more info go to Royal Hong Kong YC.  Photo Credit- Carlo Borlenghi/ Borlenghi Images.

J/24 East Coast Championships

Old Man of the Sea Tony Parker Wins

(Annapolis, MD- Oct. 30-Nov 1)- Severn Sailing Association hosted the J/24 East Coast Championships in a wide variety of sailing conditions for a strong turnout of thirty-four J/24s.  The indomitable and redoubtable Tony Parker shows that he's still got it after sixty+ years of sailing and racing in venues all over the world.  Showing the young bucks how it's done, Tony rattled off two bullets, a second and third to win by five points over Ted Bartlewski in second and Mike Ingham in third.   Read more about it at J/24 Fleet Site. Photo Credit- Tim Wilkes

Bancantabria Sailing Cup

HOUSING ECC Wins Fundestic Trophy

(Santander, Spain- Oct. 14-26)- Hosted by the FCV (Federacion Cantabra de Vela) in Santander, Spain, the Bancantabria Sailing Cup had a strong turnout of thirty-one J/80s.  The Cup is a series of races taking place over several weekends sailing in the spectacular waters off Santander in often warm, sunny conditions.

While the last weekend of the two week event was nearly a wash-out, the sailors had an enjoyable time racing for this past weekend's Fundestic Trophy.  Pichu Torcida racing ECC HOMES managed to take home another win.  Pushing him hard was Jaime Pris onboard FONESTAR to take second overall and coming in third place was Adrian Zamacona racing MABLE. Notable amongst the competitors in this year's even was the return, after months of absence from racing J/80s, of the 49er Olympic Sailing medalists Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez. Iker and Xabi went sailing with friends aboard PROPERNOR-- looks like they'll need some practice after posting a twelfth in their first outing.   For more info visit J/80 Spain Class site.  Photo Credit- Jesus Renedo/ SailingStock.com

IRC East Coast Championships

J/122s Finish 2-3-4 Overall IRC B

(Annapolis, MD)- The Annapolis Yacht Club hosted the IRC East Coast Championships on Chesapeake Bay for a fleet of nearly three dozen boats.  Sailing in IRC B Class were David Murphy's PUGWASH, Marc Glimcher's Stamford-Vineyard Race Winner CATAPULT and Andrew Skibo's PLUM CRAZY II.  In the IRC C Class was Bill Sweetser's well-sailed RUSH.

The event started off with a long distance race that counted for double-points in the standings.  After this race, the J/122s stood 1-2-4 with CATAPULT leading home the fleet with PUGWASH in second and PLUM CRAZY II in fourth.  After the second day of racing, the stage was set for wining the regatta overall with PUGWASH now leading IRC B Class with a 0.5 point lead with classmates CATAPULT and PLUM CRAZY II just a few points off the pace.  Two slow starts and two wrong calls on the first major shifts of the last two races cost PUGWASH their chances of winning the regatta.

The IRC C Class saw Sweetser's RUSH win the long distance race.  But facing a similar fate to her larger classmates, RUSH managed to miss a few significant shifts and lost touch with competitors to drop to second place overall for the regatta.  For more regatta info.  Photo Credit- Tim Wilkes.com

J/Community:

What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide

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* Ken Read, the Boston Red Sox ball-throwing PUMA skipper and multiple J/24 World Champion, will be hosting a recap of the VOLVO Ocean Race along with fellow partner in crime, Jerry Kirby (these two clowns are pictured at right- what are they smiling about?).  For anyone within a few thousand mile radius of Newport, start thinking now about planning your next world cruise and come enjoy the festivities and camaraderie rubbing elbows with other salty dogs as they commiserate on why they "love to go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and sky and get on that tall ship and use that star to steer her by".  The venue is the Jane Pickens Theater, Washington Square, Newport, RI from 6:30-8:30 pm on Tuesday, November 10th.  Go to SailNewport- http://www.sailnewport.org for tickets- all proceeds benefit public sailing programs.
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*  A Tragic Whale Tale- -- J/120 Sunk by Moby Dick Clones.   The Baja-Ha-Ha is an annual cruisers rally from San Diego, California to Cabo San Lucas, Mexcio.  They began their 750-mile route this year on October 25th. Sadly, for one of the participants amid the 170 boat fleet, the trip ended much too early.  About 200 miles south of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and extraordinary turn of events confronted what is normally a fun, easygoing cruise from California to Mexico.  Appropriately named, the Baja-Ha-Ha is an event many California cruising sailors look forward to after the course of a long sailing season.  It's organized by a group of friends, including J-WORLD's Wayne Zittel.  However, this year it was not a walk in the park for those aboard the J/120 J-WORLD. Here's the report from Wayne:

"Hey All -  Thanks for all the good thoughts. Yes, the boat has sunk but everyone is safe and sound.
    The boat was heading south in the Baja-Ha-Ha with two instructors (Eugenie and Barry) and three students on our annual cruise south to our Puerto Vallarta location. They put into Ensenada briefly for some minor repairs (a loose wire in the wiring harness seems to have been the culprit), then headed back out Tuesday morning. I got an email from them in the evening reporting that all was fine and they were making good time. They made the scheduled roll call in the AM.
    Here is what I know from the brief conversations I have had with the crew: about 10am, they came across a pod of whales. Shortly after yesterday morning's Baja Ha-Ha check-in, the crew of J/WORLD, the J/120 skippered by former Punta Mita Yacht & Surf Club commodore Eugenie Russell, experienced one of the highlights of the cruising life: They spotted a whale. Then they saw another. They quickly realized that they'd sailed into a pod of whales - big whales. That's when they felt a bang, then another and another. At least one whale was attacking J/WORLD's rudder!
    Their behavior was described as 'erratic.' One or more of the whales struck the boat repeatedly, and the boat began taking on water at a rapid pace. It sounds like, not surprisingly, most of the damage was around the rudder. They made an attempt to bail the boat and get a distress call out on SSB, but it was clear that the boat was a loss. They activated the EPIRB, boarded the liferaft, and the boat was reportedly gone within 7 minutes of the strike. As I understand it, the boat did not capsize in any way.
    I was in contact with the the USCG from the time the EPIRB went off. They did an absolutely stellar job. Within four hours, they reported that they had safely lifted all five sailors into the helicopter and were returning to San Diego. Eugenie has a bruised hand, but there were no other injuries. I personally am in shock... this is the stuff you read about but you think will never really happen to you. You can make all the preparations in the world, load boat with experienced sailors, and still have unexpected consequences. A bit humbling, to be sure. We all need to remember that when we go sailing, we really go to sea in every sense.
    I know we will get a good debrief from the crew, and we'll be sure to post more info and some 'lessons learned,' but I am tremendously relieved that everyone is safe. All of us here at J-World are in deep gratitude to the folks of the USCG. Man, they run a great operation. Here's the video of the rescue.
    Anyway, that's the latest report from here.... the J/120 J-WORLD was a great boat. She was hull #9, the ex-GANNET, ex-CROSSWAVE, now known simply as "J-WORLD." We sailed her some 10,000+ open ocean miles per year, including this year's TransPac and raced her in San Francisco and Mexico, not to mention subjecting her to all the abuses that students can dish out, and she took it in stride.
    Anyway, thanks again to all of you out there for the support... Wayne Zittel / J-World Performance Sailing School/ San Francisco Bay | Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
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*  A Voyage to the Greater Good- The Battle Against Leukemia- a heartwarming story from Peter Howson: Every year across the country there are about 40 Leukemia Cup Regattas. With an average of about 150 participating boats and their crews in various classes, the LCRs involve a vast percentage of this country’s sailing community. Every year, a select group of LCR participants is rewarded for their performance with an invitation to the Leukemia Cup Regatta Fantasy Sail, a weekend sailing with Gary Jobson. This year’s Fantasy Sail was hosted by the San Francisco Yacht Club using the fleet of J/105s generously donated by the local J/105 Fleet owners on San Francisco Bay.

We also learned some numbers: 17 years ago there was one event that raised $30,000, this year there were 38 events this year and we raised a total of just under $4 million dollars. The total raised to date is over $31 million. There were 75 people attending the Fantasy sail this year though a bunch more had qualified and not been able to make it. 67% of the money raised came from individual donations brought in by sailors which does not include corporate donations, silent auction items, etc.

One of the best things about qualifying multiple years is that the people you meet at this event are incredible. The mood is festive and everyone is upbeat. Just about everyone has had a personal experience with blood cancer, either a friend, family member, or actually survived themselves and the feeling of having been able to do something to help people living with blood cancer and find cures is really amazing.

Included in the group of survivors is the perennial host of the Fantasy Sail, Gary Jobson. Gary started as the national spokesman for the LCR way back in the last century, long before he was actually diagnosed, and he continues to inspire and spur us on to do great things. This cocktail party is all about meeting up with the folks you went drinking with last year (Hello, Emory!) and meeting new folks you missed the year before.

The morning started out slow but built through the three races until it was steadily 10 gusting to 15. With fog pouring over the magnificent San Francisco waterfront and burning off halfway across the bay, the opportunity for photos was breathtaking, the entire scene changed every 15 minutes. I don’t know how the folks sailing kept their concentration on the racing.

After the sailing, dinner and the presentation of pickle dishes, the event was topped off by a speech from Ian, a sailor from San Francisco who is just over a year into his recovery from leukemia. This is what they call a "mission moment" to get us fired up for next year and Ian was a perfect example of why we raise money.  Ian volunteered to be on the regatta committee at the SFYC last year and a few weeks later while training for a triathlon, he started to feel like he was coming down with something. He went to the doctor and the verdict went from “you might have the flu” to “you should see an oncologist” pretty quickly. After that it was the unpleasant experience of getting treated which left him unable to join us for the Fantasy Sail last year. The contrast was remarkable. Looking at this guy standing there smiling and walking around with a microphone you would never be able to guess that he had been sick a day in his life let alone had just recovered from a disease that would have had a 5% survival rate just 40 years ago. It was an inspiring end to a great weekend.

Raising $8,500 sounds like a big deal but I’ll let you in on a little secret: I have raised an average of $11,000 every year just by sending out 8 emails every year. Other folks have raised their money by doing everything from holding fancy dinners to selling lemonade (literally). The society provides you with tons of tools including raffles and incredibly helpful staff folks who seem to have no end to their reservoir of energy. So if you’re going to sail in your regatta, try to make enough to meet us in Charleston next year. You’ll have a great time and I think Clean (Alan & Meredith Block) said we could all stay at his house. - Courtesy of Peter Howson.  More photos at http://www.peter-howson.com

Featured Boat

Rock & Roll The J/80 Tour

Cross Current Marine has an "in-stock" J/80 immediately available for those of you who may be considering participating in the 2010 J/80 Tour that starts with the NAUTICA Key West Regatta and ends with the J/80 World Championships in Newport, Rhode Island.  Please be sure to contact Craig Crossley at Cross Current Marine for more details at email- craig.crossley@gmail.com

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:  11 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 in 35+ countries around the world.  Sailing is all about friends.  Come join us and expand your social network everywhere!
For background info: 
http://www.jboats.com/intro.htm