NEW! J/80 Winter Tour 2012!(Miami, FL)- The J/80 Class in America has organized a Winter Tour 2012 for those J/80 owners that wish to take advantage of all the free Florida sunshine that's unencumbered by any winter blast from up North! This series will feature three race weekends spread out over a month and a half all taking place on Biscayne Bay, Florida. The races will include the following venues:
- Jan 15-25- J/80 Midwinters- Key West, FL- http://www.premiere-racing.com
- Feb 11-12- “Valentines Cup”- Miami, FL- hosted by the US Sailing Center in Miami.
- Mar 8-10- Bacardi Miami Sailing Week- http://miamisailingweek.com
- Mar 24-25- “Biscayne Cup”- Miami, FL- http://www.j80.org/j80usa.php
The J/80 competitors will be able to arrange mast-up storage at either the US Sailing Center or the Shake-A-Leg Sailing Center. Details will be posted as they become available at http://www.j80.org/j80usa.php
NEW! J/Fest Winter Circuit(Ft Lauderdale, FL)- Great news for J/Sailors worldwide! A "J/Fest Winter Circuit" has been developed for Winter 2012 in Florida that encompasses J/111s, J/105s, J/109s and larger J's (J/120s, J/122s, J/124s, J/44s). To that end, a regatta schedule for "big boat" J sailors that includes sailing once per month all winter includes the following dates and events:
1. Lauderdale- Key West- Jan 12-13- http://www.lyc.org (optional)
2. Quantum Key West Race Week- Jan 15-20- http://www.premiere-racing.com
3. J/Fest Ft Lauderdale- Feb 18-19- President's Day- http://www.bahiamarhotel.com/marina
4. J/Fest Ft Lauderdale- Mar 16-18- St Patrick's Day- http://www.bahiamarhotel.com/marina
5. Charleston Race Week- Apr 19-22- http://www.charlestonraceweek.com
For more information on the J/Fest Winter Circuit including "all-in budgets and costs", including a concierge service to facilitate logistics, please contact J/Boats at Ph. +1-401-846-8410 or email- info@jboats.com. Or, call your local J/Dealer for more information. Please see the complete announcement here. Sailing Photo credit- Onne Van der Wal
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
As October swung to a close this past weekend, many celebrated Halloween for nearly three days-- a rather ghoulish proposition for some. And, Mother Nature was certainly up to its old tricks, too, presenting the Halloween revelers with more nasty tricks than tasty treats for several events! In fact, so nasty that thousands as of today are still without electrical power in the American Northeast. Why? Simply because it "snowed" in October, which it's not supposed to do. And, when the giant depression smoked through the northeast corridor it dumped up to 3 feet of snow in parts and, combined with gale force winds over 55 knots, many were presented with full-blown "white-out" blizzard conditions on the roadways. No, it was not a good weekend for many. At one point nearly 3.0 million homes were without power, hundreds of them fellow sailors stranded in their driveways. Regattas falling victim to this mess included the East Coast Championships for the J/22, J/24, J/80 and J/105s down in Annapolis, Maryland- having to cancel racing Saturday on the Chesapeake Bay because it was not only "blowing dogs off chains" (encased in ice) but it was in the high 30s F (about 0 C.)- a.k.a. "frostbite weather" few were prepared for. On the balmier side of this front were a huge collection of Texas sailors enjoying their J/Fest Southwest Regatta sailed on Galveston Bay just southeast of Houston, Texas. We also got reports from J/122s on how they fared in prior weekends not only on Lake Texoma (yes, a lake way big enough to float a J/122) but also, again, on the Chesapeake where J/122s stomped on some custom IRC boats in the IRC East Coasts/ Mid-Atlantic Regatta. Across the Atlantic pond, it seems the weather was a bit more benign, although they may be in for a surprise this week when the Low that crushed northeast America zips across the northern Atlantic. Nevertheless, the Hamble Winter Series continues unabated with some great sailing and great competition on the Solent. In the English "west country", some classic J/24s did battle in their famous J/24 Autumn Cup in Plymouth, England. In the sunnier, balmier southern latitudes, the J/105s debuted in the Valparaiso Regatta sailing in the Pacific off Valparaiso, Chile. A bit west of them across the Pacific pond a few more classic J/24s had some fun in Sydney's historical Balmain Regatta hosted by the Balmain Sailing Club.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:
Oct 9- Dec 4- Garmin Hamble Winter Series- Hamble, EnglandOct 29- Nov 6- Hamburg Boat Show (J/108, J/80)- Hamburg, Germany- http://www.hanseboot.de
Nov 4-7- Xiamen Boat Show (J/80)- Wuyuan Bay, Xiamen, China
Nov 10-13- J/80 French Nationals- St Cast, France- http://www.classej80france.com/
Nov 11-19- J/24 Worlds- Buenos Aires, Argentina- http://www.j24worlds2011.org.ar/
Dec 5-14- Salon Nautique (J/97, J/111, J/122)- Paris, France- http://www.salonnautiqueparis.com
Jan 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
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J/97 JIKA-JIKA Wins a SqueeKA!(Solent, Hamble, England)- A fittingly eerie mist descended to finish off the Halloween weekend and with it the latest installments in the Garmin Hamble Winter Series and Rule 26 Hamble Big Boat Series.
Yacht graphics company Rule 26 sponsored the Hamble Big Boat Series, with racing on both days for a large fleet of 15 boats in IRC 0. Saturday’s steady 8-12 knots tracked slowly right during the day to get four races in by 1500. In IRC 0 the J/133 JAMMY DODGER sailed by Neil Martin took the second half’s top spot. Her sistership JERONIMO sailed by Jackie and Robert Dobson put in a solid performance with two podium positions.
With the end of BST (British Standard Time) and an hour’s extra sleep, Sunday dawned with 12-18 knots from the WSW, which let the race team squeeze two races in for all classes in the Rule 26 Big Boat Series and Garmin Hamble Winter Series, which this week was supported by One Sails GBR. With windward-leeward courses for all classes, the race area became a little congested at times, but courses of different lengths kept classes apart in a fine drizzle that gave way to a damp mist.
J/97 JIKA JIKA, sailed by Mike and Jamie Holmes, topped IRC 3 in both races to continue to lead their fleet in the Hamble Winter Series by five points. Nick and Adam Munday's J/97 INDULJENCE is tied with David Greenhalgh and John Taylor's J/92 J-RONIMO for fourth place with 34 points each, just 3 points from third. Andy Howe & Annie Kelly's J/92s BLACKJACK sits with 38 points in 7th but within easy striking distance of the top three, too!
While this weekend's results for the J/109 One-Design class saw OUTRAJEOUS and JUST SO win races, the J/109 fleet standings continue to see Richard and Valerie Griffith’s OUTRAJEOUS in first with just 10 pts with a commanding 14 point lead over the fleet. However, just behind the Griffith's is an all-out scrum for the remainder of the top five! Only three points separate the next four boats! David and Mary McGough's JUST SO s in second with 24 points; Paul Griffiths' JAGERBOMB is third with 25 points; David Jobson's AUDAJIOUS is fourth with 26 points and David McLeman's OFFBEAT is fifth with 27 points. The next weekend or so will be fun to watch how the dust settles between these competitive teams! Thanks go to the J/109 class who managed to finish their own race after a communications mixup with the finish-line boats led to a brief but conspicuous absence at the finishing line.
So after four weekends, where competitors have experienced everything from big breezes to calms, fog and drizzle, next weekend sees a mid-series break. The fifth weekend of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series returns in a fortnight, with day sponsor Southern Ropes. The end result of the series is far from certain, with some tantalizing battles lining themselves up in each class. See you then! Sailing photo credits- Hamo Thornycroft For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information
CHURCH KEY Unlocks J/80 East Coasts(Annapolis, MD) - This year's J/80 East Coasts were hosted by Eastport YC in Annapolis, MD. Ramzi, who was sailing the J/80 STACKED DECK, had this to report of the crazed weather and conditions that sailors faced this past weekend on the Chesapeake Bay:
"What an amazing weekend we had! We had windy, choppy and shifty weather on Friday but had solid racing... getting in four races! We knew that the weather would be questionable for Saturday so we did all we could to get in all we could with races starting at 10:30 and ending at 4-ish. We had a fun event Friday night with one of our sponsors hosting wings and beer. We decided to cancel for Saturday after our party Friday night when we learned that AYC had cancelled the J/105 regatta. We figured that if they were concerned... perhaps we should follow. Although the weather didn't get as awful as predicted... it was still pretty bad and the right decision.
Saturday we had a big BBQ party at the EYC clubhouse... lots of raffle goods and auction item. A lot of food, beer and fun. We were able to make the most of the situation given the weather.
We started early on Sunday (10:30) and targeted for as many races we could get by extending the "no later than" time to 3pm. We shared the course with the J/22s and got in three races (almost four but had to abandon the 4th race due to unfair wind situation)... on a sunny day with good but shifty breeze."At the end of the day, the J/80s can say they made the most of the weekend despite the weather conditions. After completing seven races over the three days, Chris Chadwick's team on CHURCH KEY sailed a solid regatta to win by 10 pts. John White's crew on US 1162 was second, narrowly beating Will and Marie Crump's JEFF's BOAT by just two points. Fourth was class up and comer Kristen Robinson keeping the wheels on their shopping trolley and hanging tough on ANGRY CHAMELEON to get snag fourth. Bill Hunt's FIREBOLT started strongly with a 1-3-5-2 winning the regatta Friday to fade to fifth on Sunday's racing with some deep finishes in the shifty conditions. Sailing photo credits- SailFast Photos For more J/80 East Coasts sailing information
J/22 East Coasts Whipped By HOT TODDYs!
(Annapolis, MD)- A wild and windy day on Saturday prompted both the J/22 and J/80 fleets to call for cancellation of racing in their respective East Coast Championships. The prognosis Saturday was pretty dire, so most of the fleet retired to the BBQ at EYC, or the Boatyard Bar & Grille, or to McGarvey's to watch college football on TV, while still others rambled on over to the Annapolis YC and downtown on Saturday.
Sunday dawned with a gorgeous day and the thirteen boat J/22 fleet took to the waters in great anticipation of going all out to grab bragging rights for the 2011 season as top dog on the East Coast. After three races, it was pretty clear that Jeff Todd's team on HOT TODDY had the shifty northwesterly breezes pretty well dialed in- smoking the fleet with a 1-2-1 to win by a nifty 3 points. Second was Brad Julian's JULIAN ASSOCIATES with a 4-1-2 for 7 pts. The next three boats had a tough fight for third on the podium. But yet another J/22 champion managed to emerge from the scuffle to snag third, with Todd Hiller's team on LEADING EDGE sailing a 3-3-5 for 11 pts. Fourth was Jim McKenna with a 2-7-4 for 13 pts and fifth was Sandy Adzick on HOT TICKET, fresh off a good performance at the Rolex Women's Worlds in Rochester, NY, sailing to an 8-4-3 for 15 pts. Sadly, M.I.A. was Albie Terhune on the infamous DAZZLER-- someone thinks they got sidelined coming back from the J/22 Worlds in Norleans (or, in fact, never left New Orleans's infamous Bourbon Street!). No question, the locals missed such an entertaining, fun-loving crew! For more J/22 East Coasts sailing information
Wehrheim Snags J/24 East Coasts(Annapolis, MD)- For starters, PRO Mike Waters did one helluva job to get 55 boats off the line over the three days to get in five reasonably good races for the Hillman Capital Management J/24 East Coast Championships. Hosted by Severn Sailing, this regatta marked one of the last events in the 2011 sailing calendar that enabled ANY J/24 team to "qualify" to sail in the 2012 J/24 World Championships in Rochester, NY-- basically, all you had to do was register, pay the fees and go sailing. Big Kudos to Mark Hillman and family at HCM for having the "cojones" to support and sponsor this fun, crazy, warm-hearted group of sailors who not only love sailing against one another, but have a helluva party just about anywhere they go. Hard to argue, some of those friendships have been earned over decades, literally! Pain box?! Maybe. But, "liquid therapy" seems to lubricate a lot of things in this class (Advil seems to help, too).
Chief amongst the protagonists in this on-going, traveling, circus (soap opera?) are guys like Flipster, Chuckie, Wilbur, Mikey, Petey, Tim-boy and "old man" TP. Don't know who they are? Perhaps you should-- amongst them are multiple World Championships and North Americans in J/24s and even a World Team Race Championship, or two. Needless to say, this is one incredibly competitive fleet and they have fun doing it, too.
This time around, it was Flip's turn. Sailing his infamously named TEAMP POOP from Rochester, NY, Flip Wehrheim and crew, obviously practicing way, way too hard for the upcoming J/24 Worlds at their home club, sailed to a 2-2-1-3-11 to show their tail-feathers to the rest of the practitioners at the top of the J/24 kingdom. Second was a spoiler, Stuart Challoner sailing SPOILSPORT from Island Heights YC. Third was a class stalwart, Will Welles from Newport, RI sailing with Chuckie Allen to a solid 1-21-8-1-3 (Will was clearly not happy with the one double-digit result!). Fourth was Mike Ingham from Rochester YC, showing signs that he's not lost his touch and will clearly be a contender next year in Rochester for the Worlds. Just one point behind him was Pete Levesque sailing WEST MARINE RIGGING from New York YC. Of note, past World Champion Tim Healy sailing TEAM 11TH HOUR/ SAILORS FOR THE SEA finished in 7th despite some excellent scores (a bomber 30th hurt their chances); top Canadian finisher was Rossi Milev from Port Credit YC in Port Credit, Ontario finishing 6th; and the "long distance award" clearly goes to 9th place finisher Satoshi Kume sailing SOKOKUMARU from Hayana Marina YC in Japan! For more J/24 East Coasts sailing information
MYSTERY MACHINE Eclipses J/105 East Coasts(Annapolis, MD)- The East Coast Championship and the Chesapeake Bay Championship were combined for the fleet of eighteen J/105s that participated this year, including sailors from the extreme far north of the Canadian border (Toronto). Extreme and unusual weather resulted in a Friday cancellation of Saturday's racing as high winds, extreme low temperatures, and wind driven wintery mix brought a halt to championship weekend on the Bay. If any of you followed the weather this past weekend, you'd know that even now some people are without electrical power mid-week after snows up to 3 FEET (e.g. 1 meter) wiped out parts of the Northeast!
Sunday turned into a beautiful fall day and three races were held. The conditions were typical trailing edge filling winds from the Northwest with puffy 30 degree oscillating shifts, a persistent right shift, a big ebb current, and 16 boats trying to sort it out!
After 2 races THE MYSTERY MACHINE (Peter McChesney) had 5 points. Just behind in a tie with 6 pts each were the Canadian team from Toronto, Ontario sailing HEY JUDE-- James Rathbun skippering with the 2011 New York YC Invitational Cup Winner Terry McLaughlin aboard as tactician-- and a local Annapolis team, INIGO skippered by Jim Konigsberg.
The AYC PRO set up a 5 leg finishing race for the championship. MYSTERY MACHINE won the last race to capture first (6 pts), with HEY JUDE in 2nd (8 pts), and INIGO a 6th to hold onto 3rd place (12 pts). VELOCE (Marty Bublitz & Eddie Hornick) finished 4th (13 pts) and BAT IV (Andrew Kennedy) in 5th (22 pts) to finish out the award positions. Incredibly, only 5 points separated 5th to 11th place, the last and final race literally determining that 5th place trophy!
No one can say that they completely solved the tactics but the top boats mostly went to the left side on the upwind legs, inside the 1AH-Thomas Point current line, and that seemed to be the difference maker. The variety of conditions across the course made for big differences, with the boats that tried to protect the forecast right shift, to use the apparent better pressure, taking the biggest hit. Incredibly, as the fleet spread over 7.5nm in the final race, the difference between the top of the fleet and the bottom finishers was about 20 minutes! Nevertheless, all in all a fun day of racing, gorgeous, sunny and considering the craziness of Saturday, everyone was pleased to get in some good racing Sunday.
Special mention must be made of the performance of the US Naval Academy sailors. Showing up five strong, the US Navy J/105 teams sailed well and the top honors amongst that group of college sailors goes to Mary Cox on ALLEGIANCE. Mary's team finished in 9th overall, part of that group that could easily have snatched 5th in the final go around. For more J/105 East Coasts sailing information
Love That Sunny SW J/Fest!(Houston, TX)- Hosted by Lakewood YC on Galveston Bay, the 2nd annual J/Fest Southwest was a huge success! There were fifty boats on the line with J/80's and J/24's leading the way with 15 boats in each class, followed by the J/22's with 10 and the J/105's with 7 boats. A norther blew through on Friday leaving light and fluky winds for Saturday's racing. As usual PRO Dwight Bengston's RC did a superb job of getting two races off on each of the two lines before the winds died for good mid-afternoon. Not to worry, the Lakewood YC had it going on shoreside with a live band, a Cajun feast, Kattack replays of the day's racing, and streaming photo's. The sailors were gathered around the various TV sets enjoying the photo's and Kattack well into the night. Rod Johnstone also attended and talked with just about everybody on-hand, providing pearls of wisdom about having fun cruising on J/95s or J/105s or sailing J's faster-- conversations enjoyed by all!
Sunday's weather forecast looked pretty grim, but fortunately the weather man was wrong! The fleet headed out for a 10am start and when rounding the corner to head out the cut by Kemah Boardwalk the wind was blowing well into the high teens! In fact, with the wind on the nose and the foul current, it made getting through the cut a challenge for the sailors headed out to sea! Once on the race course, skippers were uncertain whether the wind would hold, strengthen, or die as predicted! Do we back off the rig, expecting a dying breeze or crank it on a few turns in case the wind stays? The wind stayed and both fleets got off a couple races, much to the delight of all the sailors!The racing was tight and a lot of fun. This year saw two "repeats", not "three-petes yet, but Bill Zartler sailing his j/105 SOLARIS won his class for the second year in a row while Terry Flynn/ David Whelan also won the J/80 class on their boat GULF COAST RACING.
The J/22 fleet got obliterated by a DC Comic book hero, the GREEN FLASH! Sailed by Chad Wilson from Royal Dickinson YC, the Flash-Men sailed over the horizon to a remarkably consistent, conservative scoreline-- four 2nds and one 1st! With just nine points, FLASH topped Ruthie Lambert's team sailing OUT OF SIGHT from Galveston Bay Cruising Association by four points. Ruthie's team sailed a respectable 3-2-1-4-3 for 13 pts. Rounding out the podium was a J/22 class veteran of many one-design wars, Farley Fontenot sailing RINGO from Houston YC. Farley's team managed a 5-5-4-1-4 for 19 pts to take third. 
While MR HAPPY didn't rule the roost again in the J/24 class, it was the RUMLINE gang that took the gold from them. Bryan Dryer's RUMLINE from way, way up north in Texas (Fort Worth Boat Club) came down south to show the Houston honky-tonk crowd how it's done- starting off with a bullet and never letting the pressure off the fleet- amassing a 1-2-3-5-2 for 13 pts to win their class. Bobby Harden's team on MR HAPPY from way West in Texas (Austin YC) managed to win two races, but it wasn't enough to overcome the challenge laid down by the boys from the North. HAPPY's 4-5-1-1-6 was good enough for 17 pts and second place. In fact, there was a "bad moon rising" behind MR HAPPY most of the regatta! Kelly Holme's team from generally around Dallas, TX were sailing BAD MOON and the "Moonies" were, in fact winning (or tied) for winning the regatta going into the last race! But, it seems the hangovers from the wild festivities at LYC the night before took their toll, with the Moonies taking the big fade on the last race-- their 3-1-4-2-8 tally gave them 18 pts, securing the bronze for sure on the podium (but less beer to celebrate with, too)!
The J/80s were graced by the presence of mondo J/80 World Champion/ North American Champion Terry Flynn and Dave Whelan sailing their boat GULF COAST RACING. These boys from Ft Worth Boat Club sailed to three 1sts and one 3rd for a total of six points-- ouch! Looks like they schooled the fleet pretty badly, winning by 10 pts. Behind them was a real battle for 2nd and 3rd, not resolved in fact until the last race! And, at that in a tie-breaker! Getting the short end of that stick was Bill Rose on KICKS while Greg Buck and crew on LICKETY SPLIT won the luck of the split! Of special mention, J/Boats designer Rod Johnstone was sailing with a "pick-up" crew on FIRED UP and still managed to win a race!
As usual, the J/105s all seem to go the same speed, making for some fun racing and tight mark roundings. The fleet standings would jumble up and down rapidly depending on boat-handling errors or (doh!) mental errors. While the "Z-man", Bill Zartler, and crew aboard SOLARIS set the standard for the top of the podium with an impressive 2-2-1-1 scoreline, behind them it was anything but "clear as mud" (or Galveston Bay) as to who would take the next four spots. Ever heard of the saying, "off to the races like a herd of snails in a dust-storm"? Well, that's what happened, things were going nowhere fast and you couldn't see anything-- it was totally unclear who would arise to lead this pack. Seemingly glued together anywhere they went, the "gang of four" had a heckuva fun time racing for the silver and bronze. Winning the tie-breaker for second was Mark Masur on TWO FEATHERS with a 1-6-4-2 while Matt Arno sailing BLUE FLASH had to settle for third with a steady 3-3-3-4 for 13 pts. Just behind them were Uzi Ozeri sailing INFINITY into 4th with a 7-1-2-5 for 15 pts and JB Bednar on STINGER getting stung for 5th place with a 4-4-7-3 for 18 pts.
The "big boys" in J/PHRF saw the mighty yacht GAMBLER, Doug Shaffer's J/122, sail around the course in fine fashion with some Gucci-looking North 3di sails to beat the sleek J/111 "007" sailed by Scott Spurlin in their weekend-long match race.Finally, a big "Thanks" to the J/Fest's two biggest sponsors- the City of Seabrook and Parkway Chevrolet. Furthermore, the LYC volunteers did a phenomenal job running the event. It was a lot of fun and all of the participants will be back! Ya'll come back by and join us too, ya hear!? Sailing photo credits- John Lacy Photos For more J/Fest SW sailing information and results
J/122 CATAPULT Trumps IRC East Coasts(Annapolis, MD)- It was a weekend to remember for the proud members of the Annapolis YC. Seemingly everything came up spades in the cards that were dealt to them, with AYC members in some capacity leading home all three fleets in the Storm Trysail Club sponsored IRC East Coasts/ Mid-Atlantics sailed on the Chesapeake Bay in mid-October.
Marc Glimcher's J/122 CATAPULT hammered their IRC 2 class, with 5 firsts and 3 seconds! Marc's tactician happened to be Geoff Ewenson, who's wife is AYC member Mary Ewenson. Bill Sweetser's J/109 RUSH took home first in IRC 3 class and a former J/122 owner, David and Sandy Askew's latest FLYING JENNY took the top spot in IRC 1 class.
The AYC PRO had a rather amusing Twitter commentary on the first day of racing:
"Friday @ 09:25AM - Good morning - this is your Race Committee and we are on our way to the starting line. It's a really nice day - a little cool this morning but we should have very good breeze for the first race of this regatta - the distance race around the central Chesapeake Bay.
Friday @ 11:14AM - In a cool breeze the first race of the IRC Mid-Atlantic Championships started at 10:00 am Friday 10/21. The fleet will have a fabulous day on the Chesapeake under sunny skies and good wind - 10-15 from the west and increasing. No incidents, the IRC 1 class had an exciting start. IRC 2 is the largest class and are powering away from the starting line."
And so it was for the ensuing three days of racing on the Chesapeake in the fall, one of the nicer places to sail in America's autumn sailing season. The event opened to pleasant 20+ breezes on October 14th for the distance race on the first day- a double-counter for the fleet scoring. While the wind nearly died for the buoy racing on the second day of sailing, it built again for the final day, allowing the teams to finish five races. The J/122s had an outstanding showing as Marc Glimcher's CATAPULT and Andrew Weiss's CHRISTOPHER DRAGON were at the top of the leader-board in the IRC 2 division finishing first and third in the class respectively. Interestingly, it was quite an accomplishment for the J/122s as well to beat three purpose-built custom IRC boats from Ker and Mills- the latest Ker 43 PTARMIGAN, the Mills 43 COOL BREEZE and the Summit 40 DOWNTIME- all sailed with professional crews.
While the J/122 family racer-cruisers were showing the latest custom IRC boats owners the fruitlessness of their task (and, the expense) to beat the J/122s, the J/109s simply ran the table in their class. Bill Sweetser's RUSH took all firsts while Paul Milo's VENTO SOLARE took all seconds. Sailing photo credits- Dan Phelps @ Spinsheet.com For more IRC East Coast/ Mid-Atlantics sailing information
J/105s Debut @ Valparaiso(Valparaiso, Chile)- Five J/105s sailed in the official debut of the J/105 Class in the famous Valparaiso Regatta in Chile. The J/105s were the second most important class after the Soto 40s. The J/105s sailed over two days in light winds from 5 to 10 knots, something rare for the bay at this time of the year, where strong winds are more often the normal conditions. Here's the report from Juan Eduardo Reid on the J/105's development in Chile, on South America's Pacific coastline:
"On Friday, one race was scheduled and the fleet was not able to race due to lack of wind. On Saturday the condition were unstable during the morning with winds getting to 5 knots. The first race started at 3pm after 2 hours of delay due to light wind condition. During the second race of the day the wind died and re-built from the ocean with a big split in the fleet. The PRO provided the fleet with windward-leeward courses. For Sunday the wind was more stable, the races were postponed until 13:30 hours and 2 races where finished for a final program of 5 races. Windward/leeward courses with 5-8 knots of breeze and flat water provided good, fair sailing for the fleet.Daniel González and Claudio León's TRICALMA won with a family crew (3 of Daniel's daughters!). Second overall, with a family crew as well was ARQUIMIDES sailed by Vernon Robert. Third was Rodrigo Gumucio/Pablo Cisternas's SPIN OFF.
A mostly woman crew on-board TRI CALMA and also Antonio Gonzalez's PLAN B show the great potential of the class in Chile to include excellent sailors from different ages and experiences- such as 420, Laser and the active base of J/24 sailors with a lot of family sailing experience (all amateurs compared to the professional Soto 40 crews).
The annual calendar of the J/105 class continues with the Interclub Regatta on November 12-13th in Algarrobo Bay. 10 boats are expected for that event as some of the boats are still getting to Chile in October/November this year. By the end of the year 14 boats are expected in Algarrobo Bay and 20 in the central coast of Chile as Higuerillas/Recreo is starting to develop local fleet as well." While their counter-parts in Argentina and Brazil may have a step-up on them, don't under-estimate the Chilean's, nor the Columbian's, determination to excel in the sport of sailing-- after all, they too are seafaring nations as part of their rich national heritage and love the ocean- a source of work, food, as well as play.
MADDER N BADDER Wins Balmain Regatta(Sydney, Australia)- Over 80 boats took part in one of Sydney’s oldest sporting events on Sunday, the Balmain Regatta. Hosted by the Balmain Sailing Club ,the regatta was first held in 1849 and continued until 1934 when it was discontinued. It was revived in 1994 by the Wooden Boat Association and today the regatta is run by the Balmain Sailing Club, in association with other sailing clubs and community organizations.
The event is a real celebration of Balmain, the harbour and Sydney’s maritime heritage and attracts vessels such as classic skiffs, wooden boats, dinghy’s, lasers, classic and modern yachts, making it one of the great annual spectacles around Balmain. This year’s regatta saw sailors and spectators somewhat frustrated with little wind making it a long day for all, including the local seagull who took time out to inspect the lingering fleet. In addition to the very, very cool looking vintage wooden "18 foot" skiffs, the J/24s had a go of it as well. Leading the charge hope having a grand time of it all was Chris O'Neill's team on his J/24 MADDER N BADDER. Coming in a few dozen yards astern was Tim Briggs' SAILPAC and third was Ralph Pickering's WATERHOUND. Sailing photo credits- Barbara Hamilton For more Balmain Regatta sailing information
HEDGEHOG Chomps J/24 Autumn Cup(Plymouth, England)- Held over the first weekend of October, this year's J/24 Autumn Cup turned out to be sailed on the hottest, sunniest, all-round best weekend October has ever produced-- it also happened to bring out the craziest in everyone down at the Royal Western YC. The scene on the terrace was astounding, no one had seen such a seriously fine selection of sun hats in decades! It would make most ladies at "The Derby" blush or, perhaps, make them green with envy?
With a warm 8-10 knots of breeze from the south west, Saturday’s racing got underway on time at noon. With four races of about one hour duration, each race provided a different winner. Darren Stansbury's HEDGEHOG won race one starting the regatta with purpose, and Rob Clark's JUJU won race two making the most of their new green rudder. Paul Williams JIGGY 2 won race three seeming to be loving their new boat and pink rudder, and were pointing like the bandits all weekend, and David Cooper's JAWBREAKER won race four getting back down to business after a slow start to events.On Sunday we had a forty minute "pottering about" in the sun waiting for the breeze to fill in, which it eventually did with about 6-8 Knots from the south west. As with Saturday, the first race of the day, race five, went to the HEDGEHOG's. Race six was won by McCarthy and Phelps MADELINE who put together a great days results and it was JIGGY 2 who rounded off the regatta with their second win in race seven.
Due to a spot of windward mark "hide-n-seek" in race three, it was decided that Duncan McCarthy (MADELINE) and Darren Stansbury (HEDGEHOG) would share the Autumn Cup in equal first! With a well deserved Third for Paul and Shane on JIGGY 2.
Many thanks go to the RWYC`s Alan Nichols, James Bembridge, Claire Adams and of course the PRO Mike Pearson and his teams on the committee boat and mark boat. A fine job all round, thanks again." Thanks for the contribution from Stig McDonald. For more J/24 Autumn Cup sailing information
J/122 SECOND STAR "Two-petes" Texoma Championship(Lake Texoma, TX)- JD Hill's gorgeous J/122 SECOND STAR has been sailing the "Redneck Riviera" on Lake Texoma for the past few years and having a great time not only sailing their boat on weekends with friends and family, but hitting the occasional race and showing the locals on that giant lake in north Texas (and southern Oklahoma) how to get around the race track.
JD had this to say about their experiences on the lake and dealing with the massive drought besieging Texas, "Here in North Texas, we don't have anywhere near the breadth of competition you guys have on the coasts, but we do have our fair share of great sailors. SECOND STAR (J/122 #74) has already locked up its second straight Texoma Points Championship (essentially our version of Boat of the Year honors for the combined spinnaker fleet for 2010 and 2011).And until this fall, where a drought caused extreme low water levels (too low to use the any of the travel lifts) and the stagnant water and heat caused a bacteria bloom in the water (making diving the bottom unsafe), we hadn't lost a single distance race for nearly 2 years. I'd have to count, but our record in distance races the last 2 years is something like 10-1. We finally lost a 50-mile race this fall, but all 3 boats who corrected over us lived on a hoist (a substantial advantage against boats without means to thoroughly clean their hulls)."
JD and crew are planning on joining other J/122s and J/Sailors down in Florida this winter for Key West Race Week and the rest of the J/Fest Winter Circuit-- he hopes to meet you'all there and enjoy the great racing and camaraderie of J sailors enjoying their boats!
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Sad news hit the J/Family the other day- Ed Huckins, a long-time, passionate owner of the J/40 MAL DE MER, passed away recently. Apparently, Ed's passing took place after doing what he loved to do best, "simply messing around with boats"-- his beloved J/40 down at the marina. Ed was the creator and keeper of the J/40 Owner's Website. He is survived by his partner in life, Cindy Sparks. We wish Cindy and Ed's family the best, our warmest condolences and best wishes remembering Ed as an inspiration to us all for his love and passion for sailing and cruising with friends around the world.To continue to support the J/40 owners, a new website has been created that all J/40 owners can support and contribute to- please visit: http://www.j40sailors.com
* We often get some amusing, thoughtful emails from J/Owners around the world. This one from Jack Mithun, a J/100 owner, falls into that category. Jack's comments- "You have fascinating stories in your J/Newsletter. However, you seem to leave out the J/100's, of which I'm proud owner of hull #55. May we hear a bit about those really great day sailers? I keep mine on San Francisco Bay.
I liked your story about the original J/24 fleet #1 on Lake Minnetonka. When they were building up that fleet at the Wayzata Yacht Club, I bought a J/22, which I sailed with great pleasure for years. During the last big race of the season (the "Frost Race"), I used to follow along on the side and see if my 22 could keep up with the 24's. My boat didn't do too badly!"
Way to go Jack! Seems like that passion for sailing is still burning as strongly now as it had back then when you were boat-speed testing a J/22 against a J/24!! Furthermore, for everyone's benefit and reference, Jack brings up a good point:
First, PLEASE send along ANY news and photos of your experiences sailing with friends and family on J's anywhere in the world. We have an entire J/Cruising Community section below, the J/Community section here and event news above. We invite you at the top of this newsletter to submit any "news" to us at "editor@jboats.com". As many of you know, we'll print just about any anecdotes and stories-- within reason, of course. :) Did you read about the Lego J/105 sailboat last week made by a 10 year old J/105 sailor? Q.E.D.
Second, it's pretty easy to do a "search" on most J's we've covered in our J/News. Click this URL below for the J/100 "search" and you will see all articles that have been "tagged/labeled" with "j100". Change the "tail" of this URL to match your boat and it will pull up the results for that particular boat- e.g. substitute j100 with j24 or j44 or j22 and see what pops up! Have fun reading (note- make sure "j" is lower case). http://jboatnews.blogspot.com/search/label/j100
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
Annapolis Show J/108 Ready To Cruise!J/Boats' modern new shoal performance cruiser/ racer, the J/108, has just completed her well received introduction at the Annapolis Boat Show and is now available for sea trials. Please contact Ken Comerford at phone 410-991-1511 or email- ken@northpointyachtsales.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
