Cork Week 2012 RollingJ/109 Irish Nationals Will Be Tough
(Cork, Ireland)- Preparations for Cork Week 2012, Ireland's most prestigious yachting regatta are well underway. Interest have been very promising; a substantial big boat fleet is expected, including several that had a thrilling regatta in 2010. Many of the entries for the 2012 Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup are also expected, including some of the best overseas yachts from Europe and further afield, including a strong team from Hong Kong.
The J/109 Irish National Championship will take place during Cork Week with 20 or more yachts expected from Ireland and overseas. Favourites for the national title include Pat Kelly's STORM, Irish IRC Boat of the Year and Glenn Cahill's JOIE DE VIVRE. Paul Heys of J/UK-KEY YACHTING also reports the new J/111 class will also be well represented with at least six of the new breed debuting in their first major European Regatta. Entry for Cork Week 2012 can be made via contacting the Regatta Office: 00 353 (0)21 4831179.
2013 French J/80 Worlds In Marseille(Marseilles, France)- After consideration of many extraordinary venues, the 2013 J/80 Worlds will be sailed in Marseilles, France from 7-13 July. There are a number of reasons behind this decision, including strong community involvement from the city of Marseilles, long known for its support of top sailing events; professional race management; and a fantastic sailing site renowned for good weather during the time the World's will be sailed.
Ultimately, Marseille is a historically significant site which has been geared up for sailing for many years. Hosting the Louis Vuitton Cup, the Tour de France La Voile and Grade 1 Match Racing, to name just a few events, this year Marseilles is also a host venue for the MOD-70 series (the big 70 ft carbon composite one-design trimarans)--- clearly, Marseille is not just a place where you go to lap up the warm sunshine. For more information, please contact: Ludovic Gilet, President of the French J80 Class, ludovic.gilet@classej80france.com or phone- +33 (0)6 07 57 30 40. For more French J/80 Worlds sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
Spring is just around the corner in the northern parts of the Americas and Europe and the extended fall is presenting the usual challenges in the weather patterns. In the Caribbean, one of the more engaging and enjoyable sociable sailing events is "The Heineken" sailed in St Maarten, this year attended by a pair of J/122s, a J/125, J/120, J/35 and J/95. Out on the American West Coast, the J/22s were sailing another segment of their California Dreamin Match Race series in San Francisco while fellow J/Sailors were flying south offshore in the classic Puerto Vallarta Race on the J/125 TIMESHAVER. Fellow offshore sailors were doing some of the same downwind flying off the coast of South Africa, racing from Capetown to Club Mykonos. Just across the southern Atlantic in Chile, the J/105s were sailing as one of the newly pre-dominant classes in the Chloe Regatta.Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below continue to enjoy the Caribbean and the South Pacific, staying warm while others are trying to stay warm up north. Check them out! More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page! Below are the summaries.
Regatta & Show Schedules:
Mar 2-10- J/24 Regata Copa de Mexico- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico- http://j24mex.com/copa_mexico/Mar 8-10- Bacardi Sailing Week (J80s, J/24s)- http://www.miamisailingweek.com/
Mar 9-11- J/105 Midwinters- Lakewood YC- Houston, TX- http://www.j105mw.com
Mar 9-12- J/24 Australian Nationals- Adelaide, South Aus- http://j24australia.com.au
Mar 15-18- J/22 Invitational- Cayman Islands Sailing Club- http://www.sailing.ky/html/events.html
Mar 16-18- San Diego NOOD Regatta- http://www.sailingworld.com/nood_regatta.jsp
Mar 18-Apr 29- Warsash Spring Series- Warsash, England- http://www.warsashspringseries.org.uk
Apr 12-15- StrictlySail Pacific (J/111)- Oakland, CA- http://www.strictlysailpacific.com/
Apr 19-22- Newport Beach Boatshow (J/111)- Newport Beach, CA- http://newportinwaterboatshow.com
Apr 19-22- Charleston Race Week- Charleston, SC- http://www.charlestonraceweek.com/
Apr 22-27- Bermuda Race Week- Bermuda- http://www.biirw.bm/
May 4-6- Annapolis NOOD Regatta- http://www.sailingworld.com/nood_regatta.jsp
May 4-6- J/22 East Coasts- Annapolis YC, Annapolis, MD- http://www.sailingworld.com/nood_regatta.jsp
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
California Dreamin J/22 Match Race Series(San Francisco, CA)- Over the course of a few years, the California Match Race programs have continued to evolve from the classic big boat programs in Long Beach on Cat37s to a host of events sailed at various locations to encourage participation at the grass roots levels. This past weekend, the St Francis YC hosted its first 2012 "Cal Dreamin" Match Race event as a preliminary qualifier for the US Sailing Match Racing Championships. An active participant in the match-racing program is Nicole Breault- a four-time College All-American for YALE's Sailing Team ("other graduates" include Dave Perry, Peter Isler, Steve Benjamin, Jonathan McKee, Stan Honey, Steve Taylor, amongst others). Here's Nicole's report of the event:
"Both Saturday and Sunday racing brought the challenges of the shoulder season here in SF Bay. We had light winds from the east and north, before moderate westerlies prevailed in the afternoons. As a result, on both days we had periods of time where we drifted in swirling tides, flights were called off due to vanishing breeze, and weird cross-current racecourses messed with apparent wind and forced the RC to implement a long off-set leg from the windward mark.
In spite of the challenges, we were able to sail a full round robin on the first day, and half of one on the second day. My team was tied, 6-1, after round one with Steven Lowery's team from Chicago. Since the decision was made to race the second round robin on Sunday (with the possibility of not finishing it and having to use a scoring system to determine results), the overall win was riding on our match against Team Lowery, which happened during the first flight of the day.
Steven pealed us off at the committee boat at the start, and we opted to power to leeward of him. In spite of getting a lead, we were pinned with the port layline approaching quickly due to the cross current. We then tacked and ducked, engaging them in a tacking duel which we hoped would go our way. Alas, their tacks were great and we ended up falling back a couple of lengths. The offset leg was a tight reach into the tide, we gambled and set our chute for a minor gain. On the downwind leg, we got on their air and reeled them in. We decided to try and pass them on the inside to the leeward mark, so initiated a simo-gybe to starboard. We rolled them, but they were able to pin us past the port layline and gybe back into a solid lead. The second lap we failed to make gains and had only ourselves to blame for the loss.
In the end, we finished the weekend 8-2, second overall. The outstanding scenery and sunshine of SF Bay this past weekend matched the great competition and camaraderie of the California Dreamin' Series. I am thoroughly looking forward to our next stop in Long Beach for the Butler Cup! Cheers, Nicole". Sailing Photo Credits- Heike Schwab
J/125 TIMESHAVER Cruises Puerto Vallarta Race(San Diego, CA)- One of the classic West Coast long distance races started a week ago, the 1,000nm Puerto Vallarta Race, with a lot of promise and hope for reasonably quick race. Certainly the big boats were thinking it had the prospects for a record year. But, who knew that a spoiler could be a J/125!? Certainly, the West Coast cognoscenti of offshore sailing know that a J/125 in the right conditions is not to be discounted as a fleet leader. Anyone ever seen this movie before? Remarkably, it is one that continues to be repeated yet again for the record books of Californian and Pacific Ocean offshore racing history.
While the name may not be familiar, like Dr. Laura from Santa Barbara, Andy Costello of DOUBLE TROUBLE fame from San Francisco, or Jim Madden from San Diego on another insanely fast STARK RAVING MAD, this crew was equally as determined as all those famous J/125 teams before them. Sure enough, the weather prognosticators were wrong. And the prime beneficiary was Division 3 2nd place finisher and 3rd overall finisher, the J/125 TIMESHAVER sailed by Viggo Torbensen from Dana Point Yacht Club. Viggo and crew were hoping the predominant NNW to NNE winds would prevail in the 15-25 knots range, prime surfing/planing weather for the J/125 offshore speedster. Sure enough, that's what they got for the first three days of the race. Then, the wind shut down off Cabo. Here are some of the reports from Keith Magnussen ("K-Mag") aboard TIMESHAVER and from one of their erstwhile competitors, Wayne Zittel from J/World San Francisco.
On Monday, K-Mag and the boys on Timeshaver were leading the fleet to Puerto Vallarta. Here's an account of life onboard. "After driving back from new Orleans and getting one night of sleep it was time to hop on a the J-125 (the best designed J-Boat ever) 'Timeshaver" and race to PV. I was going to try and report every day but with the conditions we have had that has been impossible. We started out well and took a little inside route than the other boats in our class past the Coronado Islands. Seemed to work out and when we got the 3A up we managed to work outside where we wanted to be. Day turned to night and the fun began... Wind builds and it is on. This thing is a MACHINE! When owner Viggo Torbenson bought it I was salivating at the chance to drive it in big breeze. With a crew of Long time friends Daniel Geismen and Ben Lakin, as well as buddies Jeff Shenton and Jack Maranto, I knew PV was the race to be on.
So around 9ish on Thursday Daniel, Jack and I came out for a 3 hours shift. Instantly the wind started to persistently build into the 20's (I assume this as the only instruments we had are heading and boat speed) and the boat really started to light up. 15's consistent and planning modes (yes this J-Boat actually planes) into the upper 18's. Connecting waves is easy and we were in our mode. Wind builds, reef in, 6A up and it is getting fun. We we wake up to more wind and bigger waves. Speeds in the 20's and a good day. Night falls and the wind builds again! our watch is on and we have the 4A up with a reef in the main. The boat is pitch black as we are having trouble with our electric system (got it fixed thankfully)...lots of water involved. We are so fast and all I can do driving is put the boat into the darkest spot in front of me. This has to have been some of the most fun and intense sailing I have ever done. The boat performs like a dream in these conditions but at the same time makes you pucker up like a... well you figure it out. But if you have ever driven a boat like this in 30+ and big swells you know what I am talking about.
Crew work is amazing and we're having a blast. Daniel is driving and asks me if we should put the 6A up.. can't look at true wind indicator so I just say let me drive for a minute-- holy crap! Waves are coming from both directions behind so you are never below 18 as you hop from wave to wave.. epic. But he is right.. way to much power. All crew on deck.. 6A up and the shackles bust so no sheets. Jack is really good on the bow and we manage to get the sail down. #4 up as we band the 6A (I hit 18 with main up alone!) Takes a while but the 6A goes up as the wind starts to die.
Sunday morning hits and we are drifting. Dry the boat out pack sails and get the morning check in... First in class and first overall. Let's hope we can negotiate this light crummy stuff and make the first few days of really pushing the boat count."
Meanwhile, over on Wayne's J/WORLD "Hula Girl", their battling TIMESHAVER for Division 3 leadership. As Wayne describes it, "This morning, as expected, the breeze for us out here in the 2012 San Diego to Puerto Vallarta race began to die. It was a prolonged, slow death, which gave us time to go from the jib top, to the code 0, to the 2A, to the 1A, and in the early evening, to the ultimate in agony, to slatting mode. We expect it's the same inshore. At the morning roll call, the boats along the beach were reporting 4-5 knots while we still carried 8-10... so hopefully we have had a bit more out here than on the inside. And now our breeze has shifted around to the West (5 knots from 270 at the moment) and filled a touch and we are scooting along on perfectly flat seas doing some 1.4 times windspeed straight at Puerto Vallarta, 400 miles to go.
As far as standings, who knows what's going to happen. The big boats are going to hit a wall (but honestly I haven;t been looking too closely at their weather, since what's going on locally has been keeping me busy). The J/125 is sitting pretty in first. We were actually second in class, second overall at roll call, but Ocelot didn't check in and I suspect they have been rumbling. We were pretty much boat-for-boat with Blue Blazes in terms of distance to finish and they are well inside us so that will provide a good benchmark for what is working at tomorrow morning's roll call.
Not much else to report, it was a long day. Weird little red crabs all around the boat. Yours truly took a dive off the bow to snatch a piece of stubborn kelp form the keel as she skid by at a not very intimidating 1 knot."
By day four, it's clear the crews are pushing the envelope of sanity. As Wayne says, "It's a drifter out here as we dig into day five of the PV Race. By our math, we did something in the neighborhood of 92 miles from 7am to 7am yesterday... by race committee math and distance down the course figuring, it was shy of that by a dozen or so. Either way you slice it, it was a slow day. And today is no different... worse, in fact, if the first 12 hours is any indication. We've been upwind and downwind on both port and starboard tack. Every puff brings a sail change, then hope (for persistence), then disappointment. Kids, it;s a primer for life! But we know that there is an end to this, and it's all gonna be all right... the wind will blow again!
I think we are still sitting ok. Good shot at second, and in this stuff, no lead is safe, so we'll keep chomping at the J/125 Timeshaver. Looks like they jibed/tacked/drifted/teleported (whatever the fluky conditions would permit) south with us to defend their substantial lead... Blue Blazes caught a bit in terms of straight-line distance, but we have still been working south when the opportunity presents itself, so I think we sacrificed mileage for positioning and I'm ok with that. Not sure what happened to Ocelot... they have dropped back, while Miramar has actually scooted up... with all the time we all owe them, they will benefit with the light stuff in this time-on-time scoring (as will the J/125)... when we are all stopped, they are both kicking our butts!
In the meantime: house (boat) cleaning, drying out, repacking sails, showers, and general reorganization. Lots of sea turtles. Sea lions. Some small dolphins, bored with us 'cause we are poking along so slowly. The little red crabs came back for a bit. And one friendly big yellowfin who followed our rudder all morning. Got right up next to it with the waterproof camera. Were there wasabi aboard, that fish wouldn't have stood a chance, but in the spirit of oneness with our environment (Grasshopper), we simply admired it and welcomed it's company, and aquatic Albatross, we hope. Plus, would have been tough to filet with a rigging knife. And as Joel was saying today, all this stuff we would have missed had we come flying thru here at 10, 15, 20 knots, so there is a positive side to this light stuff, this slowing-down-and-smelling-the-roses thing....
But enough already. We want the breeze back. It would have been a looonnnggg day, but for the company aboard. Seriously having a great time with this crew. It hurts from laughing so much. That's one of the fun things about doing so many events with new crews... getting to meet and get to know all kinds of sailors from all over. This team is mostly from San Diego, my home town, so it's been particularly fun.
Almost 8pm now. A couple hours ago it shifted to the NW and started to fill ever so slightly... 4,5, occasional 6 now... but the really good news is that this, finally, is the prevailing direction and we hope it will stabilize now. We're not supposed to see much build over the next couple days, but slow and steady is a far cry better than what we've been doing." And so it went for all on this year's PV race.
Kudos to Viggo and K-Mag and the team for a job well done on the Puerto Vallarta Race-- amazing performance. Thanks also for contributions from Sailing Anarchy writers Wayne Zittel and Keith Magnussen. For more Puerto Vallarta Race sailing information
J's Sweep Heineken RegattaJ/120 EL OCASO and J/125 AUNT JESSIE Dominate
(St Maarten, Netherlands Antilles)- Which comes first, the party report or the sailing report? My guess is many love "The Heineken" because the social events trump the sailing only because the sailing is usually so fantastic and OTT (over the top) that you must celebrate the occasion with family and friends at the soonest possible opportunity-- sunset is perhaps the preferred time to commence festivities. After all, the regatta's mantra is "Serious Fun"!
Rising to the top of the pack was Rick Wesslund's J/120 EL OCASO. They, in fact, won the regatta's top prize— the St. Maarten Cup— for the regatta’s "Most Worthy Performance Overall", emblematic of the winner of the event’s most competitive class, CSA 4. “This is our sixth year racing at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta,” said Wesslund. “We’ve won our division twice but never this prize. I ultimately want to thank my great team for all their hard work over the years. We’ll be back!”
Just behind them in CSA 4 class was the J/125 AUNT JESSIE, sailed by Jordan Mindich and some good J/105 sailors from America. Fourth was Sergio Sagramoso on the J/122 LAZY DOG from Ponce Yacht & Fishing Club- Puerto Rico, losing a tie-breaker. And, fifth was Jim Dobbs on the J/122 LOST HORIZON from Antigua YC.
Tanner Jones and Shari Potts on the famous J/30 BLUE PETER sailed a terrific regatta to secure second overall in CSA 6 class. The J/35 SUNBELT REALTY skippered by Remco van Dortmondt sailed a strong series, even winning race #2, to grab the third spot on the podium! And, sailing one of their best regattas yet was Heineken Regatta enthusiast Tom Mullen from New Hampshire on his J/95 SHAMROCK VII, grabbing fifth in this highly competitive class with a twin-ruddered, centerboard shoal-draft boat-- quite a remarkable performance!
The regatta was blessed with plenty of breeze over the three days of the event. The first day was moderate to fresh with some great racing to get the fleet going. By the time the fleet was ready-to-roll on the second day, many sailors (and boats) may have gotten a bit more than they had bargained for. On the one hand, the solid air pressure provided sporty, challenging, and ideal sailing conditions for the traditional Day 2 race to Marigot, on the island’s French side, for most of the competitors in the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta fleet. That was the plus side. However, the steady breezes also extracted a heavy toll, forcing the race committee to abandon a race that was well underway after one of the course marks drifted away. For CSA 3-6, the plan was to sail two races on Saturday, the first a windward-leeward affair along the island’s southern shores, and afterwards, a point-to-point race from Simpson Bay. The four starts for the windward-leeward race again began faultlessly. However, on the second and final lap around the buoys, Campbell-James hailed the fleet via VHF radio to inform them that the race was abandoned.“Unfortunately, the leeward mark decided it wanted to visit Anguilla,” said Campbell-James. “I think the wind got up a bit and unfortunately the chain was short. I’d rather lose the race than have a set of Mickey Mouse results. So we abandoned the race and started those four classes on to Marigot.”
When racing resumed for CSA 3-6, the action on the race to Marigot was fast and furious. After a short windward leg, the racers turned downwind and set spinnakers for a run to the island’s western point before tacking to a set of marks in the Anguilla Channel. Not every boat managed the maneuver successfully. “As on Friday,” said Campbell-James, “the sailing conditions were absolutely fantastic.” The day's winner in CSA 4 was Jordan Mindich’s J/125, AUNT JESSIE. However, with a third today, to go along with a first yesterday, Richard Wesslund’s J/120, EL OCASO, retained a comfortable lead atop the standings."A Sensational Sunday Surf Session Concludes The Heineken In Stunning Style."
On the first day the breeze was sharp and steady. On the second day of the annual Caribbean sailing festival, it blew harder still. But, on the third and final day of competition, the wind gods truly unleashed their power. And the result was one of the more stirring, sensational days of racing in the grand and storied legacy of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. To put it another way, if you didn’t like sailing today, on a racecourse lashed with staunch 25-knot winds and roiling, turquoise seas flecked with whitecaps, well, you’ll never like sailing.
Nearly 200 boats in 16 separate classes set sail today on two race circles off Marigot, on the French side of St. Maarten. On the A circle, race officers designated a pair of courses that included a long weather leg to the northern end of the island before a downwind stretch before the steady easterly tradewinds to the distinctive landmark off the island of Anguilla called Blowing Rock.Coincidentally, the race committee on the B circle also designated a course that would take most of its fleet across the Anguilla Channel to, yes, Blowing Rock. As it happened, at midday today the entire fleet—the B boats reaching up from the south, and the A divisions running downwind under spinnaker from the east—rendezvoused at the low-lying outcropping known as Blowing Rock. And, mon', it was blowing at Blowing Rock.
The wild scene at the windswept rock, with spray flying and boats converging from divergent directions, was the signature moment of this latest edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. The top boats all surfing to the mark before 4-6 foot seas and registering double-digit boat speeds, along with dozens of other competitors—handled the conditions with confident ease and skillful aplomb.Not every crew could say the same, and there were countless close calls as competitors closed on Blowing Rock, jibed, and set a new course for the finish line off Simpson Bay. Through a happy combination of luck and skill, however, everyone made it around cleanly. And when the racers crossed the finish for the third and final race of the 2012 running, a new roster of St. Maarten Heineken Regatta champions was crowned.
The 16-boat CSA 4 class was easily the most competitive divisions, with many boats—- including the professionally crewed Grand Soleil 46 ANTILOPE (skippered by Bouwe Bekking), Sergio Sagramoso’s J/122 LAZY DOG and James Dobbs’ J/122 LOST HORIZON (both 122s sailed by strictly family and friends)—- all considered pre-regatta favorites. But when all was said and done, the best, most consistent effort belonged to the crew of Richard Wesslund’s J/120, EL OCASO, which closed out the regatta in style today by winning the final race to top the leader-board. Sailing Photo credits- Tim Wright- Photoaction.com. For more Heineken St Maarten Regatta sailing information
J Sailors Love Club Mykonos Offshore Race(Capetown, South Africa)- In another one of those "what's not to like" categories, the gorgeous Club Mykonos Resort just north of Capetown hosts an offshore race every year that has been a favorite of SA sailors over time. This relatively easy downwind dash between Cape Town and Saldanha Bay some 65 nm up the west coast, pulls the biggest fleet of boats in South Africa each year, including a fleet of Hobie Tigers. It's a downhill blast most of the way as the fleet runs with the "Cape Doctor" to the tranquil waters of the World Heritage site of the Langebaan Lagoon and the local version of a transplanted Greek village - casino et al- a.k.a. Club Mykonos.
Race organizers set the fleet off (which numbered 107 boats this year) in four rolling starts by division from 0830 and pulls the plug at midnight for the slower boats. The distance race is split into three sections with a gate boat just past the halfway mark.
The following day a 25 nm pursuit race is held in and around Saldanha Bay and Langebaan followed by a "Mother of a Party", courtesy of generous sponsors. It's a pretty cool event with some scantily clad girls passing icy cold champagne to finishers. Having the famous South African "Silver Falcon Aerobatic Team" overhead on arrival is not too shabby either. And, the whole thing gets filmed for national TV. Organizers from Royal Cape Yacht Club and Club Mykonos got the entire event spot on. It's interesting to note how some events work whilst others fade into obscurity. With this one, the race chairman, Hylton Hale, has the pragmatic approach and common sense to listen to what the sailors want. FUN!!At the end of the day, J sailors involved in the mix ranged from J/27s up to a J/133. The J/133 SPEED OF YELLOW sailed by Patrick Holloway got 5th IRC Class in the Pursuit Race. The J/27 HILLBILLY skippered by Peter Hill was 4th Division 2 class, 3rd in Pursuit Race. And, stablemate J/27 PURE MAGIC sailed by the infamous Allan Taylor managed a 6th Division 2 class. Finally, the J/120 NALEDI led by the redoubtably fast and fun-loving Felix Scheder-Bieschlin escaped with a 5th Division I in the Pursuit Race! Sailing photo credits- Trevor Wilkins For more Club Mykonos Race sailing information
Chloe Regatta Feature Chilean J/105s(Puerto Montt, Chile)- For many sailors who have cruised the world, one of the most magical (and challenging), places to sail has to be the archipelagos and fjords at the southern tip of South America. Given the right conditions and boat and friends, it can be nothing short of one of the most amazing sailing experiences one would ever encounter. Then again, if you're a Chilean or Argentinean sailor, you may be spoiled.
One of the most significant sailing events in Chile every year takes place at the end of January at the height of the Chilean summer. Down in the Chiloe Fjords about 1,000 nautical miles south of Santiago, Chile is a "fun regatta". Fun, indeed! Spectacular may be more like it. Throw in great sailing, a great host, the best "surf and turf" all naturally fed along with delicious Chileans wines and you simply have a recipe that's nearly unbeatable as well as singularly impossible to resist. Many Chileans sailors make the epic journey every year to do yet-- who can blame them!
This year, eight J/105s sailed in the event over a week long regatta. The teams experienced everything the southern oceans could throw at them, tough wind conditions, seas, currents, crazy climate, but spectacular and sunny, nonetheless. The lack of wind during the first days of competition made the racing a bit more complicated. But, during the week the wind conditions got better and the races more competitive. The regatta ended with strong winds that reached nearly 30 kts for the closing day of the event.
A total of thirteen J's (J/105, J/24 and J/80) sailed in the 49 boat fleet separated into different classes. The J/105's raced as a one-design class within the IRC3 class. The J/105 RECLUTA IV finished 4th in the IRC3 and first in the J/105 class overall. The RECLUTA IV team was a family team composed of father, son, uncle and friends of the Pérez family, very good and traditional sailors from Recreo Yacht Club, in Valaparaiso Bay. Fourth place in the IRC3 class is a great finish considering Recluta IV beat X-37s and other full IRC-oriented boats.
As the J/105 class in Chile looks forward into the 2012 sailing calendar, please note the Chilean National J/105 Championships will be sailed on March 17-18th in Algarrobo Bay. FIFTEEN J/105s are expected for this regatta!
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* The "J-Trained" tacticians are continuing to put their mark on the Volvo Ocean Race. As even Ken Read (6x J/24 World Champion) has to say, "we're racing tactically and strategically from sched-to-sched (e.g. 3 hour intervals)." In other words, when all boats have to report to Volvo Race HQ their Lat/Lon for safety/tracking reasons, everyone knows where they are, how fast they're going and at what angle. Talk about stress. The navigators have to be the "coolest" guys on the planet to have to deal with the incessant pressure of going "higher/lower" and at what sail trim/selection on the "cross-over charts" to keep their machines going at 99% or better. So far, some crew of the top three boats on the leg to Auckland, New Zealand count amongst their experiences getting "schooled" on J/22s, J/24s, J/80s in both America and Europe. Go figure-- a 40,000nm J/24 one-design race-- in essence, wondering where the next wind shift, wind streak, current anomaly shows up before passing the next mark, one a 3 hour interval 24x7 each leg. Hmmm-- a challenge to say the least. Nor for the faint of heart. Steely nerves, forethought and planning are evidently part of the equation that also includes "mother luck"! To see how these teams are doing take a look at: http://www.volvooceanrace.comThe 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). 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.* 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/
