J/70 Yachts & Yachting Test(London, England)- Andi Robertson, Y&Y Test Editor, came to Newport to cover the MOD 70s super-fast carbon trimarans in town for the next leg of their trans-Atlantic Regatta; cover the America's Cup World Series being sailed in the AC45 cats; and, most importantly, get a chance to get the scoop on the new J/70 one-design speedster on a perfect weekend of sailing. As Andi said of his experience, "The abiding memory of the J/70 was of enough space for all, of easy loads and a very easily worked boat."
Andi then had this to say about the 70s dramatic popularity, "Despite only being a few months old the J/70 is already topping the best- seller lists – J-Boats knows it has hit the mark with this simple, exciting new one design pocket racer. In the USA and Europe it has sold like no other ‘off plan’ (meaning- off boat drawings), and that is just the start." Furthermore, Andi adds that, "complete simplicity is the key throughout the boat with easy, proven, refined systems which also, of course, maintain a very even one design."
Reflecting on Y&Y's role with the famous J/24, Andi says, "it would be nice to think that Y&Y might play some role contributing to the future success of the J/70, bearing in mind that the J/24 really took off all those years ago when Jack Knights described it as a ‘Laser with a lid’ on these pages. For the record more than 5,300 J/24’s have been built since 1977."
What were Andi's impressions under sail? "We were just left wanting more", said Andi. "More time to sail, a chance to line up in a big fleet in 20kts of breeze and sunshine, a chance to sail it with the kids on a summer afternoon, a chance to stay on for the Newport YC’s Wednesday night racing." Andi goes on to say, "Reaching was pure joy. The big asymmetric launched and retrieved from the companionway was pretty straightforward. It planes flat and fast, rewarding the harmonious work of the trimmer and the helm to keep her lit up. She feels light without being skittery; stiff and firm when you come up and build the apparent but swift in terms of acceleration. It is not as harum-scarum or physical as the Melges and you feel like you are pushing less water than her big sister, the J/80." You can read the entire four-page article in print (Y&Y on news-stands now) or Y&Y.co.uk on-line
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
As the J-World rolls into the third week of September, we see the world's largest one-design class hosting its World Championships in Rochester, New York with 96 sailors from thirteen nations trying to establish who's the best J/24 sailor of them all. Started on Monday, the regatta has seen a lot of roller-coaster performances, some doing better than others and a few standouts from South America. Have the tables of the sailing world started to turn in favor of the Latin American countries? The American women sailed their US Sailing Women's Match Racing Championships in San Francisco, California in challenging conditions in J/22s hosted by St Francis YC. Out in the Great Lakes, the J/35s held their North American Championships on Lake Erie in what many described as simply "perfect" sailing conditions-- yes, the classic postcard, Chamber of Commerce stuff most regatta hosts can only dream about. Then again, the hosts of the East Coast IRC Championships and Fall Classic on Long Island Sound, the Riverside YC, could not have been blessed by better sailing conditions either. With two straight days of very shifty, puffy northerlies, unusual for this time of year, the sailors went home with huge smiles on their faces-- not the least of which was the result of Riverside YC's fabulous sponsors like Mt Gay Rum-- ensuring festivities around their gorgeous poolside venue were fun. For those of you who follow J/Sailor's development over time and wonder how certain J/Teams grow and succeed, read in the J/Community section about Ken and Brad Read, both brothers being former J/24 World Champions, and their contributions to Rhode Island. Also, learn more about why that dynamic duo, Peter Krueger and Andy Costello are having fun sailing their J/125 DOUBLE TROUBLE. Finally, you also get a better perspective of what it takes to succeed in Nova Scotia on Mark Surrette's J/111 BLAST this past summer sailing season.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:
Sep 14-23- Southampton Boatshow (70, 80, 109, 111 & 122)- Southampton, EnglandSep 13-21- J/24 Worlds- Rochester, NY
Sep 19-24- Grand Pavois Boatshow (70, 97, 111)- La Rochelle, France
Sep 27-30- Lido Yacht Expo (70, 65)- Newport Beach, CA
Oct 4-8- Annapolis Boatshow (70, 95, 108, 111)- Annapolis, MD
Oct 18-21- J/30 North Americans- New Orleans, LA
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Shootout @ LIS IRC ChampsJ/122 & J/35 Win Class, J/105 Wins PHRF Classic
(Greenwich, CT)- The sailors on Long Island Sound were blessed by remarkably spectacular sailing conditions this past weekend. With the passage of a monster front, the backside of the Low produced two straight days of North-Northwest winds in the 5-20 kts range with mostly flat waters and just local motorboat chop to contend with across the course. With temps in the low 70s, puffy white clouds scudding across the skies, there was a lot to be grateful for amongst the hardened veterans of Western Long Island Sound sailing. Why? Pure & simple. The twin developments of global warming and lots of concrete and real estate development along both shores of Long Island, New York along the south and NY/CT on the north means that Long Island Sound often turns into a "parking lot" for sailboats having to deal with the dual, competing sea breezes trying to form on both shores! That's a lot of roof-tops and black-topped roads to compete with for wind! In the last decade, Long Island Sound sailors have been suffering the same fate as their friends in the Chesapeake Bay and Tampa Bay far to the south.
The thirty-three boats that showed up for the US-IRC Championship of Long Island Sound and PHRF Fall Classic hosted by Riverside YC were incredibly appreciate of what Mother Nature had to offer for their weekend of sailing. In the PHRF Classic Racing Division, the J/105 STRANGE BREW sailed by Randy Bourne walked away with class and overall honors with a 1-1 for just 2.0 pts! That's a clean sweep, eh? Ken Hall's J/100 NEVERMORE sailed well to grab 5th and fellow J Sailor Brian Warner raced his J/35 IMPROMPTU to 6th in class.
Over in IRC 4 Class a true "storm" was brewing. In the end, Mark Parry's & Lawrence McGrath's J/35 BLUE MOUSE sailed a solid series and won class with three 1sts and two 2nds for a total of 7 pts. However, arch-rival Rick Lyall and crew on the champion J/109 STORM was badly damaged by an out-of-control Express 37 DRACO that lost steerage while ducking and slammed into the port quarter, creating a massive hole, taking out the stern pulpit and damaging the wheel. Fortunately, no one was hurt other than some bruised egos.
In IRC 2 Jim Bishop's J/44 IRC Modified speedster sailed a very strong series but suffered a somewhat similar fate as their classmate in IRC 4- STORM. After compiling a 2-2-3-3 and easily in contention for 2nd, Jim's team managed to foul (or get fouled) by a competitor in their class at the start of the last race and, as a result of boat damage, had to take an RAF immediately after the start. As a result, they finished third in class, still respectable considering the consequences.
The biggest battle for the weekend happened to be in the IRC 3 class with a bunch of "hot" boats sailing for honors of "big dog on campus" in the mud-puddle known as Long Island Sound- it consisted of two J/122s, a J/111, a Summit 35 and two well-sailed Farr 30s. From the beginning, it was clear the two J/122s were going for class supremacy from the starting gun of the first race. Imagine this, two J/122 Champion teams dueling "mano-a-mano" for LIS IRC Champion. One is the Bermuda Race Champion, Block Island Champion, Vineyard Race Champion (CHRISTOPHER DRAGON) and the other is J/122 North American Champion, Block Island Race Week Champion, and New York YC Annual Regatta Champion (WINGS). It was a battle of the gladiators of offshore and course-racing in the J/122 world. On WINGS was Tom Boyle and Mark Ploch and on CHRISTOPHER DRAGON was Andrew Weiss and Butch Ulmer-- an all-time classic match-up. Then, as spoiler was the J/111 PARTNERSHIP sailed by yet another champion J/122 team (offshore champions, too) led by David & Maryellen Tortorello and David Hirsch. The sailing results don't spell-out how close the actual racing was amongst these three boats. In short, the first day's sailing in 12-19 kts of NNW breeze was much to the liking of the J/122s. But, a miscalculated bottom mark rounding by the J/111 PARTNERSHIP in Race #3 could easily have changed the results-- since PARTNERSHIP rounded the mark in first boat-for-boat but hit the mark and performed a poor penalty turn. Sunday's racing was full of drama, starting with the J/111 winning the first race on elapsed and IRC handicap, then nearly pulling it off again with a dramatic comeback to win on elapsed again but losing IRC handicap by mere boat-lengths. Kudos to Tom Boyle and the WINGS team for winning with a steady 1-1-2-2-2 for 8 pts total. Second was Andrew Weiss's veteran campaigners on CHRIS DRAGON with a 2-2-1-4-1 tally for 10 pts. And, third was the Tortorello's PARTNERSHIP with a 4-3-3-1-3 score to complete the J/Team's sweep of IRC 3. For more Long Island IRC Championship & PHRF Classic sailing information
J/24 Worlds Update
Brazilians Dominating, Americans In Catch-up Mode
(Rochester, NY)- Ninety-six teams from 12 countries have converged on Rochester, New York for the 2012 J/24 World Championship. Represented at the championship are Argentina, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Peru and the United States. Racing started on Monday, September 17 and continues through Friday, September 21. Even after 35+ years, the J/24 is STILL proving it's one of the world's MOST competitive classes to race in-- top teams read like a "who's who" of top one-design sailors from around the world.
After the first day of sailing, Brazilian Mauricio Santa Cruz sailed BRUSCHETTA to the top of the leader board. With the entire fleet competing together, Bruschetta scored a 2-6 on a day when Lake Ontario started at 4-6 knots and got as high as 10 knots during Race 2 before subsiding. The conditions then turned too unstable for the Race Committee to complete a third race. To give you a reference point on how competitive the regatta is to date, past Moth World Champion and Key West Melges 24 Champion Bora Gulari is tactician on-board Kevin O'Brien's FUGUE STATE from Detroit and are lying 7th after the first day. Past NA Champion 3 BIG DOGS sailed by Pat Toole from Santa Barbara is in 10th. Past World Champion helm/tactician Tim Healy on John Mollicone's 11th HOUR RACING are in 10th and 2nd team in the 2011 Worlds in Buenos Aires, Argentina is Luis Olcese's team on SCARAMOUSH.
Mauricio on BRUSCHETTA held his spot on the top of the leader board on day 2, scoring a 9 and a 1 on Tuesday for a total of 18 points after two days racing. Luis Olcese on SCARAMOUSH from Peru stayed in second overall with 41 points, and Frithjof Schade on JJone from Germany had 43 points in third place. In the day's first race, Mike Marshall on TBD claimed the top spot, followed by Tony Parker on Bangor Packet and Paul Scalisi on Rabit Cson Duck Cson. In Race 2 Mauricio Santa Cruz on Bruschetta of Brazil crossed the finish line first. Rossi Milev on Clear Air was second and Matias Seguel on Guru trailed him. Conditions on Lake Ontario started at 4-6 knots and settled in at 10 to 12 for race two and as high as 18 to 20 knots for a short time in a squall at the end of Race 2.
After the third day, Mauricio's Brazilian team have taken dominant control of the 96-boat fleet. Team Bruschetta has held the lead on each day of the event so far, and has now opened up a 41-point advantage with just three races to go. A throw-out took effect on Wednesday, and Santa Cruz dropped a 13, leaving him with all top 10 finishes in the seven races thus far. Following him in the standings to date are American Mike Ingham who shot into second place, and a tie for third between Frithjof Schade's JJone (Germany) and Rossi Milev's Clear Air (Canada) with 67 points each. In the day's first race, Ingham took top honors on 11th Hour Racing, with Nicolas Cubria's Elvis of Argentina second and Pat Toole's 3 Big Dogs of the USA in third. Race 2 saw another American in first- Will Welles's COUGAR. Matias Seguel's GURU of Chile and Ignazio Bonanno's LA SUPERBA of Italy trailed Welles. In the third race of the day, Mauricio Santa Cruz ended the day on a positive note taking another 1st, as did Americans' Ingham in second and Darby Smith in third. Winds on Lake Ontario started at 12-14 knots, then built to 18 for most of Race 1, decreased slightly in Race 2, then dropped to 5-7 knots in the final race. Swells lingered from the previous night's storm throughout the day.
Also sailing amongst the crowd of J/24 sailors are a team from Newport's Fleet #50 that are comprised of a bunch of characters from SAILING WORLD Magazine. Here's their latest report to date on what it's like to sail this year's J/24 Worlds from SW's Editor's perspective (Dave Reed) from the "front of the bus":"OK, we got schooled, again! Imagine trying to pick your lanes through this mess of a 96-boat fleet. Race 1 winner Saramouche had a terrible start, tacked at the race committee boat, dug hard into the bottom right corner, tacked once and led all the way around.
Sailing World editor Stuart Streuli and I are at the 2012 J/24 Worlds in Rochester this week, which started today (Monday) with two incredibly tough and shifty races. There were 96 boats on the racecourse, so it was nearly impossible to keep track of who was winning, who was losing, and who was gaining on one beat or the next, and what was really working at any given moment. Every time I looked across the racecourse, bows were pointed every which way.
Trust me, I was perfectly happy with my job on the bow. Stu, however, had the hot seat calling tactics, as he normally does on Ian Scott's Crack of Noon, and he had one hell of day trying to make sense of which shifts would come and when. I have habit of chirping in his ear (I'm a self-admitted backseat tactician, and not a good one at that), but I was perfectly happy keeping my "suggestions" to myself today and let him figure it out. He made some great calls, and it was interesting to see how they played out on the replay of the Kattack Race Player.
The conditions were a light southerly that came straight off Rochester shoreline. In the first race, a big right shift right off the start launched anyone on that side immediately, and in the second, it was the left that rewarded those who got off the line best, tacked (or started) on the big left shift, and got away. No surprise there, but what was surprising was watching the Kattack tracks and noticing in each race, the boat that won hit its side and tacked only once or twice. Our tracks had five or as many as eight tacks on the first beat, some of which were to clear lanes and to take advantage of shifts, but where it was hard work for us, the two race winners made it look easy. Fun, frustrating stuff, and we're at least in the top half (43rd), with a lot more racing to come." Look for more updates from Dave, Stu and crew at SailingWorld.com Sailing Photo credits- Tim Wilkes. For more J/24 Worlds sailing information and results
FALCON Wins J/35 North Americans(Erie, PA)- This past weekend, the J/35s held their North American Championships at Erie Yacht Club on Lake Erie. The simple report from Aaron Hertel sailing his boat MAGIC was the following: "Eleven races!! Awesome regatta, 8 boats from Buffalo, Port Dover, Erie, Toledo, and Detroit. FALCON best sailed boat, RITUAL and MAGIC battled it out for 2nd and 3rd. 15+ kts breeze every day, got 11 races in 3 days! Great RC, great entertainment including live band, steak dinners, silent auction, J-70 rides from RCR yachts."
As for the racing and how it all broke down, it was pretty clear the regatta leader from day one was the team of Ed Bayer, John Bayer and Jim Barnes on FALCON. Starting off with a 2-1-2-1 they were never going to be swayed from being at or near the top of the leader board for the balance of the regatta. A fast, fun crew they were. They finished off the event with four 1sts and two 3rds to "seal the deal" and put the rest of the fleet behind them in their "afterburners". The FALCON team are well-deserving of the tile of J/35 North American Champion 2012!
The battle for the balance of the podium was anything but a "sealed deal" for Aaron's team on MAGIC and John Valle's team on RITUAL. After five races, the two teams were in a virtual tie. Were it not for a "stumble" in race 7 where MAGIC's team notched a 7th place, a bit uncharacteristic for them, the final results would've been even tighter. Nevertheless, Vallee's team on RITUAL took a 1-2-3-2-1-2-1-2-3-2-2 record to close out the event with 18 pts total. The MAGIC team took home a 3-3-1-3-2-3-7-3-2-3-1 for a total of 24 pts. Rounding out the top five were Bob Gordenker's TIME MACHINE with 43 pts in fourth and Tom Tepas' SISTER finishing with 53 pts for fifth overall. For more J/35 North Americans sailing information
Tulloch Wins US Women's J/22 Match Racing(San Francisco, California)- For four days, the top women's match racing teams in America battled for supremacy on the spectacular waters of San Francisco Bay, home appropriately enough for the next America's Cup in September 2013. Set against the backdrop of the City of San Francisco, the women's teams fought in elimination rounds over three days that saw the two most experienced teams ultimately rise to the top.
By Saturday afternoon, the culmination of the racing decided who would reach the Finals of the U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship, hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club. Genny Tulloch and Nicole Breault would square off in Sunday’s Final series. A win for Tulloch would mark her third Allegra Knapp Mertz Trophy.
Tulloch (San Francisco, Calif.), a two-time U.S. Women’s Match Racing Champion, had been sailing during the week with Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) and US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider teammates Jennifer Chamberlin (Washington, D.C.) and Steph Roble (East Troy, Wis.). They had yet to lose a race all week. They won the final flight today and swept their Semifinal series, 3-0, over Shala Lawrence (San Diego, Calif.) to advance to Sunday’s Finals. Team Tulloch was 15-0 in Round Robin action.
Nicole Breault (San Francisco, Calif.) advanced to the Finals with a 3-1 win over Andrea Cabito (Alameda, Calif.) in Saturday's Semifinals. Breault’s crew consisted of Evan Brown (San Francisco, Calif.), Casey Williams (Belmont, Mass.), and Julie Servais (San Diego, Calif.). They were 11-4 in Round Robin play; however, three of those losses came against Tulloch.In the final analysis, those three losses would come home to haunt Nicole's team. For the third time in four years, Genny Tulloch won the U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship. Tulloch and her crew were dominant by winning all 21 matches they raced. They put the finishing touches on this fantastic four-day event by winning 3-0 over Nicole Breault in the finals.
Tulloch (San Francisco, Calif.) was challenged in today’s first race. Breault had a lead early and was in control. However, Breault lost her lead when she over shot the first mark, picked up a foul, and took extra tacks. Tulloch went on to win by a couple boat lengths.
After a compelling pre-start in race two, Breault made a mistake by not turning back earlier in the box to lead back in light air against current. As a result, Tulloch approached the starting line in control by exposing Breault to bad air and forcing her back, deeper in the box. Tulloch took a two boat length lead off the line and never looked back. Tulloch won race two by eight boat lengths.Breault notched another penalty on the pre-start of race three. Tulloch took a three boat length lead early and eventually won by 10 boat lengths to clinch the championship.
“It feels amazing to win this championship in my home waters,” said Tulloch. “It was really cool for us to join forces this week. Everyone did a great job and proud of this team for how they all came together.”
Sailing Photo credits- Chris Ray Photography. For more US Women's Match Racing sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* DOUBLE TROUBLE- the inside story on how two guys "doubled" up their efforts to campaign the famous J/125 DOUBLE TROUBLE and take the Pacific offshore and round-the-buoys circuit by storm. Apparently, it all started on San Francisco Bay. As young kids, both Andy Costello (left) and Peter Krueger (right) grew up as classic Bay area kids with a love for the water and dreaming about what it would be like to sail a boat on the Bay. While Andy continued to grow up and learn how to sail on the Bay along its eastern shores, Peter got married and started spending a lot of time in Reno, Nevada and going to Lake Tahoe on weekends to sail Thistles with his father-in-law. Later, Peter and family started sailing Catalina's on the lake. Not soon after, Peter then got into the Air Force and stopped sailing for awhile. After his tour of duty, Peter ended up buying a Beneteau First 36.7 to sail on San Francisco Bay. The racing bug bit him hard and, as part of his training, Peter visited the J/World San Diego Sailing School to learn how to sail better on J/24s.
Over the course of the next few years, Peter kept coming up against another guy named Andy Costello who'd also bought and was racing a First 36.7 on the Bay. After meeting each other, they became friends. Both decided to trade-in their 36.7s and bought Sydney 38s, racing them for awhile on the Bay. But, as Peter said, "we were having a tough time with them on the Bay and couldn't compete against some of the other boats". As a result, Andy sold the Syd 38 and bought the 1D35 DOUBLE TROUBLE and raced it in the Big Boat Series. After knocking heads with some of the Bay areas top boats, Andy then turned to Peter and said "let's get together and instead of chasing each other around the bay, let's get a J/125". The rest is history.
At that point, they went in search of the red J/125 sold by Pat Nolan, from SailCalifornia, a boat they were most impressed by when she was racing on the Bay, often streaking by them with the big asymmetric spinnaker flying in clouds of spray. It turns out the boat had gone to Baltimore and was sailing on the Chesapeake and been re-named "Narrow Escape". After a bit of negotiating, Andy and Peter bought it, shipped it back to the West Coast and began the process of continuous improvement to her. Said Peter, "it was a natural move and it was significant move-up in speed and performance. Andy's done most of the maintenance and crew organization. Plus, he really loves all the carbon stuff, so we keep replacing SS stuff with carbon here and there! Even the swim ladder! We dry-sail the boat to keep it light and fast.""The partnership with Andy has been great", says Peter. "I love buoy racing and Andy loves to do the offshore stuff. He's got an amazing crew sailing with him, including Trevor Bayliss and other skiff guys. The amazing part about them was that after the Pacific Cup, we got the boat just one week before Big Boat Series, in fact it was around Thursday 8 am the delivery crew brought her into San Francisco. By Saturday morning were out practicing and re-tuned the rig and got her out of 'offshore-mode' and into 'buoy-racing mode'. After hauling on Monday, we got it ready to sail again and sailed throughout the end of the week and weekend. Jeff Madrigali ("Madro") was a huge help!"
"Our biggest dilemma was how to tune the rig right for the regatta," commented Peter. "It's mostly light in the mornings, then increases velocity quickly. We'd start at 11 am, but we'd get off the line around 11:30 am as third class to start. The breeze would usually be up by then, enough to use the new #2 North 3DI jib. This sail was amazing, it allowed us to point higher and go fast. Conditions never got nasty-- just 22-23 kts of breeze tops. In the afternoon races, we usually switched from the #2 to a new Quantum #3, that happened for 3-4 races. By the way, I picked up the North 3DI's (new main and the #2) right from their Reno, NV plant- what an amazing facility- very technologically advanced!"
When asked what were some of the most memorable events of this year's Big Boat Series, Peter said "wind conditions were just enough for our new North 3Di #2, too light for a #3 and too much for a #1. That plus using the staysail meant we were incredibly fast. Tim Fuller on the other J/125 RESOLUTE took two days to figure out how to tune for the conditions, but got really fast quickly. RESOLUTE had a new huge North kite, so by Friday were equally as fast as us. The fun and excitement really came from the three J/125s duking it out racing around the Bay. We were over early in race #4, so now had to restart and catch up, slog it out with a lot of upwind work. We were able to win that race! We first had to focus on knocking off Richard Ferris' J/125 AUGUST ICE, then Fuller's RESOLUTE after 2-3 legs. Then, we stuck to it, focused and ground down Bernie's Farr 400 ROCK & ROLL to win!"Peter continued to say that, "it was mostly an ebb-tide regatta. The Bay Tour on the last day was really exciting. Nothing like reaching with the J/125, over 17 kts flying down the bay, waves and water spraying everywhere. Great regatta. Winning the event was a tremendous feeling."
"The RC boats and RC management overall did a wonderful job, especially after coming off helping out the America's Cup", commented Peter. "The mark boat people get the least recognition, but had to work the hardest-- they were great! I can't even imagine having to 'draw' the Boston Whaler duty as the port pin boat and be bounced around all day long!"
Are there plans for a "three-peat" in 2013 for Big Boat? "Yes, absolutely" says Peter. "We have a very full race schedule for 2013, including Big Boat and Andy doing the TransPac Race".
With Andy looking after his BMW Marin County dealership and Peter looking after special interests as a lobbyist in Reno, Nevada, they will be keeping busy balancing out work & play! Nevertheless, "I love to head down for weekends to hang out on the 125 in Richmond", said Peter, "it gives me time to catch up with Andy and hang out with the boys. It's a nice break to have once in awhile between regattas." We wish them well on their racing in 2013-- God Speed to the DT gang! Sailing photo credits- Rolex/Daniel Forster. Sharon Green/ Ultimate Sailing
* J/111 BLAST Update- After a remarkable season of sailing in the Nova Scotia offshore circuit, the BLAST team from Halifax are still celebrating. We also got a nice update from BLAST owner Mark Surrette-"BLAST started the 2012 season with the objective of having a winning season while having a lot of fun. We put together a crew that was a composite of youth and veterans. We decided that having a pedigree in dinghy sailing was critical if one was to sail the J/111 to its potential. We put one of Canada's best Finn sailors on the helm and beside him an outstanding Laser/Byte sailor trimming main. In the cockpit we had a couple of veteran big boat sailors along with a strapping 20 year old for power and the panel. On the bow we had a veteran of dozens of big boat campaigns matched with an outstanding mastman from a Swan 56. Navigation and tactics were handled by a couple of old veterans and we added in guests from Farr 40's and Soto 33's when we needed extra talent. Without a doubt the crew was the highlight of the year and they galvanized into a cohesive group with great mutual respect very quickly.
The entire crew loved sailing the 111. Responsive, quick, nimble with lots of gears and potential. Not much more to ask for. One big learning we had was our ability to tweak the rig far more than we had thought. We found a significant number of gears through rig tune and were able to turbo the boat for most any wind condition.
Our competitors during the season included another J/111, Soto 40, Farr 40, Farr 11, Mumm 30's, ID 35, C&C 115's, Tripp 40, J/120's, J/109, and a variety of other boats. On each occasion we either won the race or had the ability to win. The boat always performed. If we lost a race it was usually due to tactical decisions.
Our year unfolded much better than we had even hoped. BLAST won the RNSYS Opening Regatta, Chester Race Week and most importantly the Prince of Wales Regatta. The Prince of Wales is the oldest trophy in North America--- even older than the America's Cup!
As our season grows to a close we are looking at what's next...? Maybe Key West, Charleston, Block Island? For sure the Halifax Race is on the agenda. Alas, the winter planning begins as we look forward to some exciting J/111 class racing!
* The Read Brothers Receive RIMTA Award- the two ex-J/24 World Champions were awarded for their contribution to sailing in Rhode Island. Newport's sibling sailing luminaries, Ken and Brad Read, were honored this past Sunday by the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association with the organizations inaugural "Anchor Award". It's been a busy year for the two brothers, who grew up in Seekonk, Massachusetts and learned to sail at the Barrington YC. Ken Read, a two-time Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, five-time J/24 World Champion and former America's Cup helmsman sailing on Dennis Conner's STARS & STRIPES Team, recently returned home to Rhode Island after skippering PUMA Ocean Racing's MAR MOSTRO to a third place overall and to a first in the Inshore Series of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Not to be outdone, Brad Read, the Executive Director of SailNewport, also a two-time J/24 World Champion, led the state's effort to host the recent America's Cup World Series as the Chair of the state's America's Cup World Series Host Committee.
Both brothers, who were standouts at Boston University where they earned "College Sailor of the Year" Awards, were lauded for their respective contributions to the state's marine industry.
* J/105 Vineyard Race Update- In the "too many trophies I got confused category" (says the Editor), it turns out that Carl Olsson's J/105 MORNING GLORY won by more than an hour on corrected time in the Seaflower Race (part of the Stamford-Vineyard Race weekend). MORNING GLORY took both the "Jig Time Performance Trophy" as well as the "Cotton Blossom Performance Trophy" for overall best corrected time in the entire Seaflower race! "Congratulations" to the MORNING GLORY crew for a well-earned win against some tough competition!
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). 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/
