J/Tent @ Key West Race Week
Stop by the J/Tent during the week to meet and socialize with fellow J sailors (J/80, J/105, J/109, J/122 and more). There to discuss the day's sailing and to help you learn more about J/Boat's newest designs- J/95, J/97 and J/111- will be Rod, Jeff and Stu Johnstone. In general, J orders for 2010 continue to accelerate at a remarkable pace considering what we've all endured in this "new" global economy. The next generation J/111 one-design class order book is already filled into 2011. Some photos of the spectacular, powerful J/111 hull will be out within a month. Not to be outdone, J/95 interest has been particularly high after winning sailing's Triple Crown- SAILING WORLD'S Overall Boat of the Year, Cruising World's Domestic Boat of the Year and SAIL's 2010 "Best Boat" Performance category. Yet another stablemate, the J/97 that won SAILING WORLD's 2010 Boat of the Year Club-Racer Award is also gathering momentum for those wanting a solid, all-around, roomy, comfortable performer in all weather conditions-- after all, J/97 completely annihilated its IRC Competition in Europe during the 2009 summer sailing season. 
One More Week to Win Apple iPod Touch!
Sailing Anarchy and J/Boat's fun, holiday contest has one week left to go! It closes January 15th! Take the challenge to identify the boats, the place and the month in the new 2010 J Sailing Calendar and compete to win some sweeeet swag. Apple iPod Touch 8 GB, VISA Gift Cards, SA Hoodie sweatshirts, Polo shirts, sailing T-shirts, sailing caps and more. All you need to do is read the contest rules, register and complete the contest questionnaire. The contest ends Friday, January 15th, 2010. Winners will be announced at the J/Tent during Key West Race Week, January 18th, 2010. Learn more about the J/Sailing Anarchy Contest. Regatta & Show Schedules:
Jan. 2-8- J/24 Australian Championships- Sandringham YC- http://www.j24.com.auJan 8-17- London Sailboat Show- London, England- http://www.londonboatshow.com/2010.aspx
Jan. 18-22- Key West Race Week- Key West, FL- http://www.premiere-racing.com
Jan. 18-22- J/80 Midwinter Championships- Key West, FL- http://www.j80.org
Jan. 23-31- boot Dusseldorf- Dusseldorf, Germany- http://www.j22kv.de/boot2010.html
Jan. 28-31- Chicago Strictly Sailboat Show- Chicago, IL- http://www.strictlysailchicago.com/
Jan. 29-Feb. 6- Seattle Sailboat Show- Seattle, WA- http://www.seattleboatshow.com
Feb. 6-10- J/24 Midwinters- Davis Island YC- Tampa, FL- http://j24d10.org
Feb. 14- St. Pete NOOD- St. Petersburg YC- St. Petersburg, FL- http://www.sailingworld.com
Mar. 11-14- J/22 Midwinters- Southern YC, New Orleans, LA - http://www.j22mw.com/
Apr. 8-11- Charleston Race Week- Charleston, SC- http://www.charlestonraceweek.com
J/Regatta News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
The new year dawn's with hope and anticipation that anything can be better than 2009. So, here's our best wishes to all in the J/Community to "Hang Ten in 2010"-- catch that big wave and surf it to success with sailing, friends, business and school! Our Australian contingent ushered in the New Year at the peak of their summer sailing season with some major events coming up soon. "Up North", the new year also dawns with the prospects of having fun while competing at Key West Race Week and the many Caribbean Regattas about to kick off in the spring. The active J/80 fleets on the Mediterranean continue to practice hard for the impending J/80 World Championship in Newport. The J/80 fleets in Palma and Bilbao in particular have strong racing. And, our Pacific Rim/ Asian friends seemingly had a rip-snorting good time racing their J/109 in China Cup. 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.
J/109 China Cup
WHISKEY JACK Second in China Cup IRC Class
(Hong Kong, China)- The Hong Kong Yacht Club-based J/109 WHISKEY JACK finished second in the IRC division of the 2009 China Cup International Regatta sailed last month. Here's an update and report that came in from her owner Nick Southward.“The third China Cup International Regatta, held at Longcheer Yacht Club at Daya Bay in Shenzhen, China, is China’s only international sailing regatta. Teams from all over the world come to participate, in either chartered Beneteau’s or IRC racing yachts from Asia. China is new to the art of organizing regattas, so their style may not have been to everyone’s taste. However, if you just wanted to go and sail for four days in good weather, flat water and decent breeze then this was the place to be in late October. We took our J/109 WHISKEY JACK up for the regatta, which consisted of a 32-mile passage race from Hong Kong to Shenzhen on Day 1 and six windward leeward races spread over the remaining three days.
UK-Halsey Hong Kong’s Barry Hayes has referred to the J/109 as an IRC speed demon, but having a speed demon is one thing; doing everything right to make it win is another. Fortunately, Barry was with us and we were finally able to prove just what a demon she is.
The boat was sailing higher and faster than the main opposition, some extremely competitive and well sailed A35’s, and we finally managed to nail them and the rest of the IRC racing fleet. We won Sunday’s racing with a 1-1-2 and went into the final day tied for 1st place with one of the A35’s. Conditions on the final day were 25 knots of wind and a short steep chop. We made the decision to play it safe and didn’t push the boat too hard and that earned us second place for the regatta. The price of first for the A35 RED KITE was some blown kites so we renamed her Dead Kite!”. Photo Credit- Carlo Borlenghi. For more information about sailing J/109s.
Key West Race Week Update
Great J/80 and J/105 One-Design Fleets, Strong IRC/PHRF Racing
(Key West, FL)- With the northern hemisphere caught in a month-long vice-grip of cold weather, it's not surprising that many sailor's focus on the first warm water regatta of the year, generally the shindig hosted by Premiere Racing in Key West, FL. As Regatta Chairman, Peter Craig, pointed out, "..we are leased with the commitment of boat owners to participate in what is unquestionably another very challenging year for all." J/Boats are well-represented in all classes again this year. In fact, over 1/3 of the entire fleet is composed of J's this year....what looks to be 15 J/105s, 19 J/80s and another ten J's between J/122s, J/44, J/109, J/125, J/29 and J/24s participating.The J/80 class is hosting its 2010 J/80 Midwinter Championship and it also marks the inaugural event of the 2010 J/80 Tour that culminates in the J/80 World Championship in Newport, RI. The entries have a very strong contingent of past North American and World Champions in the fleet. The favorites to win-place-show in this hot fleet include Kerry Klingler of Larchmont, nY sailing LIFTED; Glen Darden from Fort Worth, TX racing LE TIGRE; Neil Martin from Hamble, England sailing JUGGERNAUT; Jeff Johnstone from Newport, RI sailing LITTLE FEAT with a family crew; and John Storck from Huntington, NY racing RUMOR.
The J/105 class will have excellent, close competition as well with a number of class leaders and winners from past North American Championships and New England Championships participating. Among those vying for silverware should be Scooter Simmons from San Francisco, CA racing BLACKHAWK; Damian Emery from New York racing his well-traveled and successful ECLIPSE; Ken Colburn from Southport, ME sailing GHOST with ace tactician Bobbie Slattery aboard; and Brian Keane, from Marion, MA, a perennial class leader, racing the redoubtable SAVASANA with his crackerjack crew.
Dueling it out for honors in the IRC2 class will be a combination of new and old warhorses. Jim Bishop from Jamestown, RI will have a strong team onboard his aquamarine colored J/44 GOLD DIGGER. They will give two J/122s a run for their money. Robin Team's J/122 TEAMWORK from Beaufort, NC will be dueling with another J/122, Dave Murphy's up and coming PUGWASH with renowned sailmaker/ tactician Larry Leonard aboard calling the shots.
In the PHRF classes, Jim Madden's fast and fun J/125 STARK RAVING MAD from Oyster Bay, NY will be whistling around the course with North Sail's Gary Weisman calling tactics, wondering how they did on handicap; they're sailing with an enormous forty second per mile advantage over others in PHRF1. Chasing S.R.M. around the track will be two well-sailed J/120s and a past Overall Key West Race Week Winner- the J/120 EL OCASO sailed by Rick Weslund from Miami, FL. William Terry will be r acing his J/120 TAMPA GIRL for honors in this competitive class. In the PHRF2 class, Bill Sweetser, from Annapolis, MD will be racing his champion J/109 RUSH and hoping to hold off the small boat in their class, Steve Thurston, from Barrington, RI racing the J/29 MIGHTY PUFFIN. In PHRF3, some die-hard J/24s sailors will be having a blast enjoying the camaraderie, fun and sailing that so epitomizes Key West Race Week. Mark Milnes from Key Wey will be racing BLAH BLAH BLAH and Joe Naroski and Norm LeBlanc will be vying for braggin rights with NOJOE. For more regatta and sailing information.
J/80 ECC Viviendas Trophy Series
(Santander, Spain)- The J/80 class in Santander put an end to the 2009 season, with the conclusion of the last two races of the ECC Viviendas Trophy sailed in great northwest breezes, sunny skies and steep waves. It was a fitting end to the season considering how many times racing had to be postponed/ canceled. The big waves were a delight for all the sailors as it made for fun, long, fast surfs downwind under the big asymmetric spinnakers. At the end of the racing, it was YATES & THINGS sailed by A Piris that managed to stay ahead and put up the rest of the away to win the race with great ease. SPACIO 10 raced by Paul Santurde soared to second and in third finished Javier López-Vázquez in BANCAJA. The 2010 season will begin on January 9th with the so-called MAFIA TROPHY-- gee, we wonder what the implication is for the winners? Photo Credit- Jesus Renedo. For more sailing and regatta information.
J/Community:
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Clay Burkhalter, a cousin to the next-generation of Johnstone's (Stu, Jeff, Drake, Alan, Phil, Margot, Jessie, Peter, Pammie, etc) recently premiered a new movie/show based on his Mini-Transat experiences over the past year. Clay's documentary is quite interesting and if you want to attend the next showing, please don't hesitate to contact him down at the Dog Watch Cafe in Stonington, CT. For more info: http://www.dogwatchcafe.com/ phone# +1-(860) 415-4510.* Mike Schiltz's J/105 MONEY SHOT took one of the top two spots in 48 North Magazine and Harken's annual Pacific Northwest Top 25 Sailboats of 2009. MONEY SHOT tied for first after dominating on the race course all year. During 2009, ten major events were tracked and the Top 25 list includes boats that sailed in at least four of those events. MONEY SHOT won four events and had equal number of class starts for an unbreakable tie!
Featured Boat
J/44 "HALCYON DAYS"
Up in the Pacific Northwest lies a beautiful J/44 that has been immaculately kept and lovingly sailed by her Seattle owners. It's the second to last J-44 built.Specifications are extensive. This J/44 has an all Cherry interior, Generator set, Air conditioning, New chart plotter, 2 dinghies and low hours on the engine.
HALCYON DAYS has been very well taken care of and shows it! It has the J/44 "B" layout with the double head and cabin.
Check out the full listing at http://www.sailnorthwest.com. Or, contact Bob Pistay at phone# 206-286-1004, bobp@sailnorthwest.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: 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.
