Annapolis Boat Show Update(Annapolis, MD)- Be sure to mark your calendars to visit this year’s US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland and take a peek at all the latest offerings from J/Boats and talk to J/Sailors that have been enjoying their boats all summer. The show is open from Thursday, October 9th to Monday, October 13th.
The J/Boats in-water location is, again, in the traditional place at Docks #S19-S22 in front of the Marriott Hotel/ Pusser’s Bar.
In addition to the J/70, J/88, J/95 and J/111 on display, there will be the exciting family cruiser-racer, the J/97 available for viewing (seen here in this photo).
Finally, on Friday, October 10th, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, please join North Point Yacht Sales for their famous J/Boat Owner’s Party at the J/Boats display on Dock S!
For more US Sailboat Show information and tickets.
J/70 Europeans @ Monaco 2015!(Monte Carlo, Monaco)- The Yacht Club de Monaco, at the instigation of their J/70 class president- Jacopo Carrain, will host the J/70 European Championship from the 12th to 17th of October 2015. Voted “European Boat of 2013” and previewed at the 30th Primo Cup – Trophée Credit Suisse in February 2013, this one-design has already captivated members of YC Monaco, they expect over a dozen boats sporting the YCM’s burgee by the autumn!
Fun, fast, easy to maneuver, the J/70 is a sportsboat requiring 3-4 crew that appeals to thrill-seekers and families alike. Safe and reliable, its ballasted retractable keel ensures enough stability to sail with children, without them having to sit out to keep the balance. Performance has not been forgotten; with a displacement of just 795kg pulled by a 45m2 asymmetric spinnaker, the J/70 more than satisfies double-digit speed enthusiasts.
Keen to start preparing for this meeting, which will be a highlight of YC Monaco’s 2015 calendar, Jacopo Carrain sailed the 2014 European Championship at Riva del Garda in Italy. It was an opportunity for the crew on CARPE DIEM, currently leading the 2014 Monaco championship, to compete against top sailors in the international series. Carrain hopes to bring other YCM members up to world-class level regards his expanded knowledge of boatspeed and tuning techniques.
This past June, Prince Albert II, opened the new premises of YC Monaco, of which he has been president for 30 years. It was a historic occasion for the guests. He said that, “with this architectural masterpiece we are affirming Monaco’s yachting identity, our ambition is to continue to orient our country’s future prosperity to the sea.” In fact, the design by the famous British architect, Lord Foster, is reminiscent of the fabulous super-yachts that grace Port Hercule on a regular basis. As an avid sportsman, Prince Albert has loved the sea and sailing since he was a kid; for years he competed in the YCM’s local J/24 fleet! Perhaps he will dust-off his sailing gear and hop into a J/70? No question he would have fun planing offshore in the fantastic waves and wind (like the photo here) that so often graces this special section of the French & Italian Riviera!For more J/70 Europeans 2015 sailing information, you may contact Thierry Leret - Section Sportive/ YC Monaco at email- sectionsportive@ycm.org or call the office @ +377 97 98 37 55. For more 2015 J/70 Europeans sailing and registration information
Lorient J/80 Open Preview(Lorient, France)- The next stage in the J/80 Coupe de France will be sailed off Lorient and hosted by CNPL (Centre Nautique du Pays de Lorient), sailing from October 10th to 12th. The event is sponsored by Alain Gautier and the racing will be conducted by PRO Jean Coadou. Thirty-three boats are registered with virtually all the leading teams for the season-long series participating.
The regatta is offering four divisions that teams can sign-up for, including General (open to all), Women, Youth (25 yrs old and under) and Quadra (all crew 40 and over). There should be spirited competition in each division and special awards will be given to the leaders in each.
Based on what has happened over the course of the season, expect to see Eric Brezellec on COURIER JUNIOR continue to push hard and maintain his winning momentum from the last regatta. Concurrently, his friend Simon Moriceau on INTERFACE CONCEPT/ CV ECOLE NAVALE is hoping to maintain their overall series leadership. Up and comers all season have been Matthieu Salomon & Quentin Delapierre on CHARIOT PLUS/ VANNES UTILIAIRES and one should expect to see Herve Leduc on PIERRE OCEAN and also Luc Nadal on GAN’JA to be near the top of the leaderboard.
There is an excellent turnout for women’s teams; including Maxime Rousseaux skippering ST-CAST GRAND OUEST ETIQUETTES, Marie Revy is sailing J-MARINE, Claire Montecot is helming STARTIJEEN, Stephane Leledy is skippering MAJIC, Alice Metais is helming CHARLY, and Pauline Chalaux is driving PRINCE DE BRETAGNE. For more J/80 Open Lorient Regatta sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
While some parts of America and Europe have been experiencing a bit of an “Indian Summer”, with warm, sunny days and gentle winds, others have been experiencing severe weather conditions with the proverbial “dogs blowing off chains” near-gales! While that has been true in the Americas in some regions, in Europe they’ve started off the first week of October with rather rather benign conditions— perhaps this El Nino and Polar Vortex stuff is a good thing for sailing? The Garmin Hamble Winter Series enjoyed a bit of wind and sun that, ultimately, made for lots of great racing on the Solent.In the meantime, down on the sunny Chesapeake Bay, the Eastport YC was hosting the J/80 World Championship off Annapolis, Maryland with the fleet enjoying an enormous variety of conditions during their six-day event. Also along the East Coast, the American YC concluded the final weekend in their Fall Series Regatta held on western Long Island Sound with decidedly "fresh-to-frightening" breezy conditions all weekend. Then, the J/22s enjoyed their Western Great Lakes Championship, hosted at Wayzata YC in Minnesota on Lake Minnetonka. Out West, a J/125 enjoyed the “Little Ensenada Race”, from San Diego, California to Ensenada, Mexico in classic light-medium, sunny, warm, offshore Southern California conditions.
Finally, read more about Rossi Milev’s entertaining escapades in Newport, Rhode Island sailing the five-day long J/24 World Championships. Rossi posted daily reports about his crew’s daily escapades and adventures, it’s certainly entertaining reading.
Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below has many entertaining stories and news about J/Sailors as well as cruising blogs about those who 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 10-12- Lorient J/80 Open- Lorient, FranceOct 24-26- J/105 Masters Regatta- San Diego, CA
Oct 24-26- Seattle Grand Prix Regatta- Seattle, WA
Oct 25-26- J/70 Fall Brawl- Annapolis, MD
Oct 25-28- China Cup International Regatta- Shenzhen, China
Oct 30- Nov 2- French J/80 Nationals- La Rochelle, France
Oct 31- Nov 2- J/105 Lipton Cup- San Diego, CA
Nov 1-2- J/70 Chesapeake Championship- Deltaville, VA
Nov 1-2- J/Fest Southwest- Lakewood YC, Houston, TX
Nov 8- Hot Rum Series #1- San Diego, CA
Nov 10-16- J/24 South American Championship- La Punta, Chile
Nov 16- Around Island Race- Hong Kong, China
Nov 19-22- J/105 International Invitational- Hamilton, Bermuda
Nov 22- Hot Rum Series #2- San Diego, CA
Dec 4-7- J/22 Jamaica Jammin’ Regatta- Montego Bay, Jamaica
Dec 6- Hot Rum Series #3- San Diego, CA
Jan 18-23- Key West Race Week- Key West, FL
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Keane Crowned J/80 World Champion(Annapolis, MD)- After three more races in shifty northwesterly winds and a strong ebb current, Massachusetts sailor Brian Keane and his SAVASANA team emerged the winners of the 2014 J/80 World Championship, sailed out of Eastport Yacht Club from Monday through Saturday.
After a relatively rough day on Friday, Keane had seen his previously commanding lead in the 32-boat fleet shrink drastically. The fleet left the dock yesterday morning with a mere eight point spread across the top four boats, but the SAVASANA team, including former Olympians Stu McNay and Canadian silver medalist Mike Wolfs along with veteran Chesapeake Bay sailor Ron Weed, pulled out finishes of 3-1-4 on Saturday to take the top spot in the series convincingly. Savasana finished the 16-race, one-throwout series with a margin of 16 points over the next closest in the standings, recent North Americans winner Terry Flynn and his Quantum Racing team out of Texas.
Before Saturday's racing, Keane said, "I have great confidence in our team, that we can go out and do it. We can't be worrying about other people, we have to take care of our business."
Take care of business they did. Although SAVASANA only won one race in the series – yesterday's second contest – and some speed bumps along the way with three finishes in the teens, the team racked up a lot of second-place finishes and kept the rest of the races at sixth or better to demonstrate consistent proficiency across a wide range of wind and water conditions in a highly competitive fleet to earn the championship."It was all about getting off the line and catching the first shift," Keane said, describing another day of tricky, shifting breeze and challenging wave and current conditions.
Finishing the series in third, a point behind Flynn's QUANTUM RACING, was Connecticut sailor Kerry Klingler and his LIFTED crew, with J/World Annapolis owner Jahn Tihansky and the LE TIGRE team in fourth overall as top local boat. Sailing with Tihansky, who also is head coach of the Naval Academy's Varsity Offshore Sailing Team, were Max Skelley, Karl Anderson, and Willem van Way. The Annapolis-based R80 team of Will and Marie Crump, Thomas Klok, and Chris Larson finished in fifth.
Although the leader board might look as if Keane and the Savasana team had dominated the event and run away with the title, that was not the case. Each of the races in the six-day series was hard-fought against a highly competitive group fellow racers as well as against challenging weather conditions ranging from connect-the-dots light and spotty air early in the series to yesterday's gusty, shifting wind and lumpy seas. The competition was very close and leads changed often in nearly every race. In fact, it should be noted that WHITE LIGHTNIN, skippered by French-woman Sophie Faguet, from Le Havre, France, sailed a great series, collecting three 1st places along the way to ultimately finish 6th overall. Thanks for contribution from Nancy Noyes/ Capital Gazette. Sailing photo credits- Dan Phelps/ Spinsheet.com. For more J/80 World Championship sailing information
Hamble Winter Series Report(Hamble, England)- This past weekend, the premier winter sailing event in the UK, the Garmin Hamble Winter Series got off to a good start for all fleets sailing on the Solent. The event provides challenging racing and close competition across eight Sundays from 5th October to 30th November. The GHWS is organized and run by Hamble River Sailing Club and every Sunday after racing, the HRSC Clubhouse offers a warm welcome, hot food and competitively priced beer! Then, if that wasn’t enough, the teams carry on to the infamous “Bugle Pub” on the High Street in Hamble before closing out their weekend.
“Good things come to those who wait,” commented HRSC PRO Kathy Smalley at the prize-giving of day one. That was certainly the case out on the water. Despite a two hour postponement to await the breeze, the race team remained confident that enough wind would fill in, despite the evidence from a nearby scrap metal yard fire, from which the smoke rose in a perfectly straight column. But sure enough, at 1230 hrs a gentle 6-8 knots from the SE ghosted in, allowing all classes to fit in a race in blazing sunshine. Combined starts got the fleet away in double-time to make the most of the fickle breeze.
Racing is provided to both IRC-rated boats as well as for one-design fleets of J/70s, J/80s, J/109s and J/111s. Starting with the IRC boats, in IRC 0 the J/111s sailed a challenging course with Chris Body’s ICARUS just losing out the overall handicap win by one second to Niklas Zenstrom’s Farr 45 Kolga. In fact, the J/111s took the next two spots, with Martin Dent’s JELVIS taking third and Louise Makin & Chris Jones’ JOURNEYMAKER II in 4th.The J/88s are beginning to get used to sailing in IRC 2 class, having had enough time to figure out the balance of a good rating and excellent overall speed. Paul Ward’s EAT SLEEP J REPEAT took 2nd, followed by Ivan Trotman’s JOJO in 4th and Dirk van Beek’s SABRIEL JR in 7th.
IRC 3 continues to see the remarkable J/97 continue to eviscerate the class, as it has for the past three years running. Andy Howe’s BLACKJACK II took class honors followed in 2nd by Charles Ivill’s ETB TYRES/ JUST LIKE THAT in 3rd.
The weekend also hosted the first of two Doyle Sails Hamble One Design Championships weekends, with racing for J/70 and J/80 classes, as well as J/109s. As on Sunday, Saturday’s start was postponed – but this time due to too much wind. Once the front had blown through and the cold rain had stopped falling, all classes had a storming sail, fitting in 3 races in the sunshine.For the One-Design Championship in J/109s, we find their fleet firing in four quick races with Iain MacKinnon’s TIGH SOLIUS II taking a narrow lead by virtue of their 2-2-1-2 scores for 7 pts. Second is Tony Dickin’s JUBILEE with a 1-3-3-1 for 8 pts and in 3rd is Roger Phillips’ DESIGNSTAR with a 3-1-2-3 for 9 pts. Quite neat how that all worked out for the top three boats, eh?? They all hogged the top three spots in every race to turn the ODC quite rapidly into a three-way horse race!
The J/80 ODC again sees some familiar faces on the top of their leaderboard. Phil Taylor’s J.A.T. is leading with a 1-1-1, go figure! Second is currently a tie-breaker between Doug Struth’s DSP with a 5-3-2 and Jon Powell’s BETTY posting a 3-2-5, go figure that one! Scary numerology in this fleet! Currently lying 4th is Patrick Liardet’s AQUAS-J and 5th is Mike Lewis’ JESTER.
After the recent J/70 Worlds and J/70 Europeans taking place over a fortnight on the international schedule, the fleet on the Solent is back at it again getting ready for next year’s 2015 Worlds in La Rochelle, France. Leading the charge after three races is Dave Atkinson’s JAWBREAKER with a 1-1-3. He’s followed by Paul Molesworth’s JUST NOW in 2nd with a 3-4-2, then Ed Simonds’ NOT SURE in 3rd with a 7-3-1, Mike Holmes’ JIKA in 4th with a 2-5-5 and Simon Cavey’s JUST4PLAY in 5th with a 4-2-9.
There wasn’t enough wind on the White Fleet race area on Sunday to fit in any racing, so competitors await the second Doyle Sails Hamble One Design championships weekend in a fortnight’s time to determine the final results for the 2014 event.
Day Sponsor was Hudson Wight, who provided £50 off vouchers to class winners, and a pair of gloves to second placed boats at a packed prize-giving in the HRSC clubhouse, where plentiful supplies of hot food and a packed bar were available.
Next weekend sees the first of two MDL Hamble Big Boat Series weekends, as well as the second Garmin Hamble Winter Series race day, where the day sponsor is the Bugle pub. See you all on the water – and if you haven’t yet entered, it’s not too late to come along – just contact the club office!
Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information
J/111 JAKE Takes Australian Triple-Crown!(Melbourne, Australia)- Stuart Lyon and his crew on JAKE have been sailing their J/111 on Port Phillip and Bass strait since picking her up two years ago. JAKE, was originally owned by Ray and Sandra Entwistle in Sydney, where she had success in the Sydney offshore program. She was delivered to Melbourne from Sydney, by Stuart and some of his crew almost two years ago now.
JAKE has just come off a very successful summer program with wins in all three handicap divisions in the Bass Strait series. This is Australia’s oldest offshore yachting trophy and includes the Melbourne to Geelong race. As well as winning division 1 (performance racing) in Australia’s largest yachting regatta, the festival of sails Geelong regatta in January.
The Ocean Racing Club of Victoria, conducts the Melbourne to Geelong race as the end of the winter season on Port Phillip bay. It has become a popular regatta with some 50+ boats competing. JAKE had taken a break over most of the winter series, commissioning a new A2 and some of the crew sailing on other boats. Lyon commented on their experiences with the Melbourne to Geelong Race:
“We had a number of practice sessions with the new kite just before Melbourne to Geelong. We new we were faster than last season on almost all points and could soak much deeper with this Quantum A2 that was largely out of the J/111 North American program. The rig was in a good tuning space after some minor work and we finally had a back stay working again (not that we really ended up needing it for M2G this year). I said to crew on the way out to the start, we know the boat is fast so if we enjoy sailing her and sailing her how she likes to be sailed, keep her moving and stay in the wind we have a god shot at this.The race started at 8;30 am just off RBYC yacht club with a pin favoured end and 5 knots of breeze. The Cookson 50, Elliot 44, Farr 47, Sydney 47 and RP46’s ensured wind was hard to find at the start for the J111 and its usual revivals the Sydney 38’s and Beneteau 40’s. The wind clocked from NNW to N pretty quickly and favoured the right upwind, we were in roughly the position we would expect in that fleet at the top mark (down the back). Downhill we went left with only a few boats but the wind was wanting to go east and a little stronger. We knew as the wind veered it was going to be a race about keeping the boat moving and staying in the wind (and then a prayer if it faded). I took one of our very good crew out of the middle of the boat and got Jeremy to steer half the time as brain fatigue was going to be important to avoid. The two of us plus our mainsheet trimmer, Julian. Spent the whole day looking for wind, reaching angles and the right sails early. We flew in those conditions, as fast as anyone, but taking as much as 10 degrees soak out of the fleet downhill, that was impressive. Importantly, this allowed us to keep piecing together the light but only slowly dying breeze.
By the time we were three-quarters along the 36 Nm course we had just gotten into the Richardson Channel, within the sniff of the finish. The wind went for what seemed an eternity, but was only 25 minutes. We were in a good position for whatever direction it came in on handicaps and would only lose a small amount to boats who had gone very right or left in their approaches to the channel. We were ahead of some fancied boats too. The Beneteau first 45, the Sydney 47 behind and the Farr 47, with RP’s and Cookson 50 just in front.Luckily, the wind came back at a tight reach from the south at 7 knots, this did allow the first 45 to catch right up with its code zero, but we remained in a great position. We elected to carry jib for a short while until our angle allowed us to use the A3 which would be best for that leg (90-100 true wind angle) and 130 for the 4 Nm to the finish. The wind quickly built to 13 knots giving us great ride to the finish at that angle, after 8 hours and 6 minutes racing.
We new we had done well but the fleet was spread out despite us beating some big boats. We were ecstatic to find we had won all three (IRC, AMS and PHS) as the smallest boat in Division 1. Especially IRC, as we do give the IRC-optimized first 40’s sometime on this handicap. The crew were walking 8 foot tall in Geelong post win. We look forward to the coming summer, particularly given that our friends Rod Warren and crew of JOUST are sailing a new and fast J/111!”
Little Ensenada Race Report(San Diego, CA)- One of the last downhill slides offshore for the Southern California big boat sailing season is the short (55nm) San Diego to Ensenada Race- often referred to as “Little Ensenada” or the “Baby Ensenada” race. Here is the report from Keith Magnussen (e.g. “K-Mag”) from Ullman Sails Newport Beach. According to KMag,
“The Little Ensenada is always one of my favorite races of the year. You get the chance to sail along the northern Baja coast during the day (something you do not get to do during the N2E) and experience the joy of coming into Ensenada Bay at a relatively decent hour.
Viggo Torbensen's J-125 Timeshaver was my ride for this one and I was looking forward to getting out and stretching the boats legs. Unfortunately, the turnout showed us that people were not as keen this year as they have been in the past. Not sure what is causing the huge decrease in people wanting to go south of the border. Ensenada is really a beautiful place, safe and has a lot to offer.
The forecast was light for the 30 boats that chose to partake. We started under Code 0 and were looking to get some leverage on the fleet. The ghost like conditions were favorable to the grand Mighty Merloe as she passed us with ease.
Our game-plan was looking good as we stitched to our trusty 3A spinnaker. Eventually we drifted a little further outside rhumbline than I liked and we were forced to try and soak a little with our monster 2A. The wind was decent, in the mid teens, and we were scooting down the course with relative ease. The flat water was a blessing!I was keeping a close eye on the competitors and our distance away from the land was un-nerving since the forecast showed more wind on the beach as the day progressed. The wind shifted to around 320 and we threw in a gybe heading for Salsipuedes.
This is where we had our most fun. The wind continually built until we were in a steady 23kts of breeze doing a constant 14+kts of boat speed. Blue Blazes was just ahead with Staghound and Stars & Stripes in front of them.
Beautiful sailing and an excited team were greeted by a wall of no wind. A big shift, another gybe, and twenty minutes later we were back moving along in the westerly. This stop was enough to watch a J-120 and Columbia 30 come roaring up from behind. That twenty minutes really decided the race as we did not have enough room left to regain our advantage.
The sunset coming into Ensenada Bay was nothing short of amazing. A little slice of heaven, as we knew our finish position was going to be ugly.Naturally, we ended up tacking into the finish around 8pm. Good enough to beat Staghound and Blue Blazes but that was about it! Kudos to the smaller boats for taking this one!” San Diego to Ensenada Facebook page Watch nice YouTube sailing video- by KMag For more Little Ensenada Race sailing information
Wet'n'Wild Finale @ AYC Fall Series(Rye, New York)- The jury was out whether or not the weather forecasts were going to hold as predicted, or simply wash-out like they did the previous weekend. With Saturday looking a bit wet with gusty SSE 10-20 kt winds (due to an approaching cold front) and Sunday looking cooler with a puffy westerly of 10-15 kts and sunny skies, everyone was hoping the forecasts would hold enough to get in 4-5 races over the weekend.
As it turned out, the American Yacht Cub PROs were blessed with perhaps a bit too much breeze on Saturday afternoon. With a massive swell of 3-4 feet rolling in from the east down the entire fetch of Long Island Sound and a cross-chop on top of 1-2 ft due to the southerly breezes blowing off the windward shore, it was just about all the fleets could take on the East and Southwest courses. With passing rainsqualls, the gusts were hitting steady 27-30 kts at times, but lulls were easily dropping down into the mid-teens! After completing two races by 2:15pm, the AYC PRO called it quits and sent the fleet home, as many of the various handicap and one-design fleets were decimated by dozens of boats withdrawing from the second race and heading home. The sailing conditions were hardly extreme, just 15-25 kts. However, it’s not often that you see the only three boats racing in IRC 1 all broaching simultaneously, perfectly choreographed gybes onto port, with oversized asymmetric kites all flogging themselves to pieces (Steve & Heidi Benjamin’s Tripp 41 HIGH NOON, Andrew Weiss’s CHRIS DRAGON & John Barry’s MC 38 CARBONADO). By Sunday, most everyone had regained their composure and enjoyed a beautiful day on Long Island Sound in sunny, shifty 10-18 kt westerly winds.
The J/122 WINGS was leading IRC 2 but dropped into second, the first time they’ve been beaten in the AYC Fall Series in recent memory! On the comeback trail was John Pearson’s J/122 RED SKY, vaulting into third on the podium with a steady 3-3-4-4 for the weekend. Fourth was Ron Richman’s J/133 ANTIDOTE. In PHRF 1, the J/111 ANDIAMO sailed by Paul Strauch took fourth. In PHRF 2, Ken Hall’s J/100 NEVERMORE finished third. Then, in PHRF 3, Tom & Julie Sinatra’s J/29 SMOKIN J ran away from the fleet to win with a 1-2-1-2-1 score for just 7 pts! Third was Aleksandr Tichter’s J/29 AKULA and fifth was Jason Viseltear’s J/80 UPSETTER. They were followed by another J/80, Glenn Sheets AISLING in 6th.
In one-design circles, the twelve-boat J/44 fleet was given quite the “schooling” by Len Sitar’s VAMP, posting four 1sts and one 4th to win with just 4 pts net! Bill Ketcham’s MAXINE took second by virtue of winning the last race with 10 pts net. Third was Jim Bishop’s aquamarine green GOLD DIGGER, sitting on fourth was Jeff Willis’ CHALLENGE IV and in fifth was Joerg Esdorn & Duncan Hennes’ KINCSEM.The twelve J/109s saw Jonathan Rechtschaffer’s EMOTICON leading from the first weekend onward, never losing their grasp on first and finishing with a blindingly quick 1-1-2 to close with just 12 pts net. Jim Vos’ SKOOT played catch-up the whole time, but could only manage to grab a trio of 3rds to close with 14 pts net. Third was Jack Forehand’s STRATEGERY with 18 pts. Fourth and fifth was determined by the outcome of the last race, with the advantage going to Bill Rogers’ BIG BOAT over Adrian Begley’s MAD DOGS & ENGLISHMEN.
The fifteen J/105s were also led start to finish by Paul Beaudin’s LOULOU, posting two 1sts and four 2nds and not having to sail the last race! Seven points back was George & Alex Wilbanks’ REVELATION in second and Jeremy Henderson & Harald Edegran’s CONUNDRUM took third. Damian Emery’s ECLIPSE was not up to their usual form, settling for fourth and in fifth was David Greenhouse’s SKIPPERDEE.
As the biggest fleet in the regatta, the seventeen strong J/70 was going to have tough competition. Never relinquishing their first weekend lead were the Ploch Sisters (Megan & Madelyn), sailing SUGAR DADDY to an extremely steady 1-1-3-2-1-2 for 7 pts net! Hanging with them most of the time was Scott Bursor’s SLINKY, taking second overall with 17 pts net. Third was Andrew Shea’s SHAKE’N’BAKE with 24 pts, followed by Sandy Weil & Markus Lahrkamp on ICE NINE in fourth and Trevor Roach’s SEMI-CHARMED in fifth. Sailing photo credits- Todd Young/ AYC.com For more American YC Fall Regatta sailing information
Indian Summer @ J/22 Westerns(Lake Minnetonka, MN)- Racers enjoyed unseasonably warm temperatures, topping out in the 80s, for the J/22 Western Great Lakes District Championships/ Evergreen Cup. Sixteen boats participated in the regatta, which was held September 27 and 28, 2014 on Lake Minnetonka and hosted by J/22 fleet #1 at Wayzata Yacht Club. To increase the number of boats on the line, several J/22 owners from the lake generously offered their boat to guest skippers and crew.
Five races were completed on day one of the regatta in wind speeds from 5 to 11 mph. The final race was canceled on day two as a result of extremely light breeze.
"My favorite part of the entire regatta was rounding the top mark of the first race simultaneously with 10 other boats," says Mike Bowers, fleet captain. "Nothing could be more fun than racing against a group of equally skilled sailors."
Mike Miller, EN FUEGO’s boat owner remarks, "We had the best communication effort to date on 486. This gave us a competitive edge in a highly talented one-design fleet.”
John "Ole" Olson from SUPER LULU PUPPY, hull number 989, was very proud to have daughter Maggie driving. "So many people at the yacht club have helped Maggie develop as a skipper. Many of the top sailors in the fleet jumped on our boat for a few of the rumbles in the bay and other races. The whole fleet supports her success."
A trophy was also awarded to the top women's team 1048, MOXXIE. Holly Jo Anderson, along with experienced crew Kathleen Cahill, Danielle Lindeman and Jenny Wilson finished just ahead of the Minnesota Women’s Sailing Team, DONE DEAL.
"Wayzata Yacht Club boasts the largest number of women sailors in the country," explains Anderson. "Young talented female and male sailor participation is growing as a result of our strong high school and college sailing programs as well as the many experienced instructors at the community sailing schools."No regatta is complete without a celebration and great food. Jill Fynboh's exceptional meals on Saturday and Sunday were delicious. Trophy technical shirts were donated by Carol Pine of Pine & Partners and Paul Cossette, owner of LynLake Brewery.
In addition to thanking the many volunteers that helped coordinate the event, J/22 fleet #1 recognizes the outstanding WYC race committee, including Blake Middleton and Jarod Silverman. And thank you to Sue Slack and Tim Oelschlager, volunteers on the race committee boats.
The top five teams for the event included AQUAVIT (John Dyer, Bruce Martinson and Bill Richards) in 1st, WHO’S DRIVING (Dave Brasch, Kevin Kenny and Mike Bowers) in 2nd, EN FUEGO (Mike Miller, helmsman Mike Schmidt and Matt Carlson) in 3rd, SUPER LULU PUPPY (John Olson, Claire Hanley, Terry Foster and skipper Maggie Olson) in 4th and HURRICANE BAR & GRILL (Jon and Kim Monson, Brynn Paterson and helmsman Chad Olness) in 5th.
One of the unique “fleet-building” exercises that J/22 Fleet #1 has gone through, in addition to supporting keelboat sailing for their local high schools and colleges, is the “Let’s Rumble & Learn Weekend” that was held just prior to the J/22 Western Great Lakes Championship.
The once a month fleet-specific rumble format at Wayzata Yacht Club (WYC) offers sailors several short races in one day. If you blow a start or go up the wrong side of the course, you get the opportunity to improve on the next race. At the most recent WYC J/22 rumble, the fleet used this opportunity to work with boat owners and crew-members to advance their boat tuning, handling and racing experience.
Organizers invited J/22 class expert, Terry Flynn of Quantum Sails to provide whiteboard, on-the-dock and on-the-water training on everything from boat setup to sail trim and racing tips. The event started on Saturday afternoon with a whiteboard presentation by Lars Hansen on forestay measurement and boat tuning and setup. This discussion moved to the docks and one of the J/22s for a hands-on presentation given by Terry Flynn on boat tuning, crew position for optimal speed and more.“Sailing on a boat with very light crew weight, I was pleased that Terry Flynn set the record straight on a few misconceptions,” says Kathleen Cahill. “These small adjustments, such as crew position, could make a big difference for us.”
In addition to Flynn, several top-of-the-fleet experts shared their knowledge during the races by rotating every two races onto different boats. These experts included Mike Bowers, John Dyer, Terry Foster, Lars Hansen, Kevin Kenney, Andy Marston, Mike Miller, Mike Schmid, Kurt Taken-Holtze, Matt Thompson and Thorn Turner. Each of the coaches offered a little different perspective and a range of valuable input and feedback.
“It was interesting to see the varied interests in what each boat wanted to get out of not just the training session, but from racing at WYC,” explains Mike Bowers. “I coached a crew that was involved to advance their competition; another boat made it a fun family activity; and one team wanted to improve their overall seamanship. I think it is great that one sport and one club can support such varied interests. It was enjoyable to help everyone get closer to their goals.”
“What a great event. This should get added to the schedule for years to come,” says Lars Hansen. “Looking over my notes there are three things that everyone can work on. First, the skipper must focus on driving before anything else. Second, the trimmer should take responsibility for their sail. By the time the skipper tells the trimmer to adjust the trim the moment is already gone. Third, communication is critical. For example, the spinnaker trimmer should be communicating to the driver during the entire downwind run. Talking about pressure on the sheet gives the skipper clues to heat it up or drive deeper. Someone else, possibly the foredeck, should be watching behind and to the side of the boat for puffs. A small adjustment to catch a puff can make a big difference.”
“As a new boat owner in the fleet, this was an incredible learning experience. The boat tuning classroom and on-the-dock training reinforced what I learned from Lars when he helped put my boat in for the first time this year,” says Holly Jo Anderson. “Thorn gave the entire crew excellent tips during the races. Applying his suggestions, we even got the bullet on the second race. Having experience racing with four people on a J/22, Kurt pointed out some hardware changes that will definitely improve boat-handling efficiency.”
During the race, Sean Delany videotaped various boats. Once back to the club, Flynn reviewed these video clips with the group—showing proper sail trim, boat heel and more.
“I would like to thank everyone at WYC who helped put on such a successful event. I really like the format and the club and class did a great job supporting this style of seminar,” says Flynn. “The large number of guest skippers helped everyone in the fleet gain hands-on training. This type of format used at more clubs would definitely build participation.”
WYC J/22 fleet #1 offers a special thank you to organizers, Terry Flynn, the fleet’s expert coaches and food sponsor Veritas Marketing for making this a successful event that will likely be repeated in years to come. Sailing photo credits- Jarod Silverman @ Minnetonka Photography For more J/22 Fleet #1 regatta and sailing information
J’s Shine in Foul Weather Bluff Race(Seattle, WA)- J/Teams excelled in the light fickle conditions of this years Foulweather Bluff Race, hosted by Corinthian YC Edmonds. On a difficult, current-riddled, light air, sunny, Pacific Northwest fall day the J crews showed once again that the Pacific Northwest is J/Boat country!
Taking first in 2 of the 9 classes and in true Sail Northwest fashion first's was the place of the day for Mike Poole and crew on their just purchased J/80 SKYE ROCKET. Hull #1 of this highly successful 26' sportboat on it's first race with its 1st time boat owner taking first place in Fleet 4 and second overall! Well done SKYE ROCKET! Just behind SKYE ROCKET in Fleet 4 was the J/30 BOB in second. Fleet 6 was topped by the J/105 LAST TANGE followed by the J/105 USAWI in second and the J/33 CORVO in fourth (Corvo is a brand new listing at Sail Northwest!).
The J/35 BERGEN VIKING took 2nd in Fleet 7, the J/35 SOLUTOIN took 5th in Fleet 8 and the J/145 JEDI took 5th in Fleet 10.
The J/120 HINZITE sailed home with 2nd in Fleet 9 and 4th overall in a class of high performance ultralights! Sailing Photo Credits- Jan Anderson Marine Photography
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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* The Rossi Report- while sailing the J/24 World Championship, top Canadian J/24 sailor, Rossi Milev, was commenting on his experience each day and having it published on SailingAnarchy.com. Rossi’s crew included trimmer Chris Ball from Port Credit YC, tactician Chris Snow from San Diego YC, mastman Mike Mckeon from Port Credit YC and bow-girl Whitney Prossner from St. Petersburg YC in Florida.As usual, Rossi had some poignant insights on sailing J/24s over the years and what it was like to sail in this tough class with 70+ boats on the line. Here are the entertaining excerpts and links to each “daily” he posted:
Tuesday- Not So Clear
For day one of the J/24 Worlds, the RC sent us outside on the ocean for some seriously epic conditions. Some of the biggest ocean swells we’ve ever seen on a J/24, well over 6 feet (2m) with much bigger mountains rolling through from time to time. Winds out of the W/NW at 15 gusting 20, and the waves were so big and so strong on starboard tack that if your crew missed a puff call, you wiped out upwind. And on port, you were surfing down waves upwind.
No question that many locals did great in these conditions while lake sailors like me struggled. I was so worried about the boat not behaving as I’m used to in the pre-start tune up that I talked my crew into a late headsail change, switching to the jib with less than a minute to the first gun. Definitely not a great start and had to tack soon after the gun, but the boat behaved well with the jib and our boat speed was great! We tacked in a few small shifts – more than anything to move the jib car positions – and by the time we looked around, we were in good shape. We rounded in fourth and for us at least, the jib was the way to go. The big boys all had the genoa up, and somehow, made it work. Local sailmaker Will Welles led from the start and never looked back, leading solidly over John Mollicone and the HH boys. Chilean Vern Robert and the Team Gringa DC took third. Mark Hillman, filling in for his boat owner (after a car vs. man incident in the parking lot), fought all the way round to finish fourth. As for Team Clear Air/ Lavalife/ Sailing Anarchy, we lost a few boats on the second upwind, finishing eight. Not a bad start, considering! Continue reading more here- http://sailinganarchy.com/2014/09/23/not-so-clear/Wednesday- Black Tuesday
After two hours of postponement for Day Two, we were off the dock at 11 – the best call the RC made all day! By the time we got out on the ocean, the Newport sea breeze was building nicely. We waited for a short little postponement on the water while the wind shifted between 200 and 230. Waves were much smaller if any factor at all.
The RC had a tough time holding the three-boat line on station, with one end always favored; Race Three for the championship hit a few General Recall snags; finally, a Black Flag start sent the fleet off with a handful picking up BFDs. I again screwed the start up, and we were hosed – tacking to port to salvage. Halfway up the beat I second-guessed my tactician Chris Snow and made him go hard right; that was expensive at the top mark when the left came in hard on our approach. Oops.
Continue reading more here— http://sailinganarchy.com/2014/09/24/black-tuesday/
Thursday- Over the Hump
We had an on-time start on Wednesday for three scheduled races thanks to an unpredictable forecast for Thursday. Another gorgeous Newport fall day on the ocean course, with wind at 75 true on the way out and 90 soon after passing R4. 12 knots with trending right breeze and the RC again had a hard time lining the three-boat startline up. Around 1230 we went off with a few U flags awarded. I have no idea what a U flag is but I’m happy we didn’t have to learn it.
We again had to tack to port and duck a couple of boats, but within a few minutes of the start we were going to the right with a great lane and following our game plan. We got a nice right shift, tacking over together with Helly Hanson and Will Welles. It looked great under the boom (though I’m no longer allowed to look under the boom) until only one boat crossed…and tacked on our lane. Two tacks and a new layline was expensive, and we lost out to everyone leeward who didn’t need to tack. And of course the left came in strong at the final approach. And of course, we round in about 10th – again!I don’t understand why gybing immediately at the offset under this big fleet has been working consistently but Mauricio won the race doing the same thing and HH got into second. Travis Odenbach had a great race to take 3rd; we stayed only long enough to clear the fleet and then gybed, but it was too late – we lost ten boats in that one and had to play catch up again. 17th place! Continue reading more here— http://sailinganarchy.com/2014/09/25/over-the-hump/
Friday- In the Groove
The RC made a good call racing us inside the Bay, North of the Newport bridge, with wind forecast to increase to upper teens gusting in the twenties – too rough for the RC to anchor outside (and here is a good time to thank all the volunteers on and off the water – without you, we can’t race so thanks!). The bay is plenty big and made for a good tricky race course for 70+ boats. The local guys maybe had a small advantage, but conditions were very tricky for everyone.
We had a good start and headed to the left shore with Will Welles, Hillman, and Tony Parker just to leeward. It looked like our side was favored and we could tack and cross the fleet but we were convinced the left was the way to go and did not want to give that up. Well, a 20 degree right shift came in half the way up the beat and we went from wining to salvage mode in a hurry. We took many transoms to make it to the right and rounded the mark in the 40s or 50s. On the other hand, team HH and few others that I could not even see were well ahead of the fleet.
We gybed on the mark and few more righties helped us pass a pack of boats that went straight. Rounded the bottom mark in the mid 20s, finally a small break for Clear Air! A few more breaks came our way on the upwind, and we passed a few more to finish 14th. Again, out of the top ten but we were happy about decent recovery. A few boats got stuck on the left and could not get out – one of them was regatta leader Will Welles, making life harder for his team with a 46.
Continue reading more here— http://sailinganarchy.com/2014/09/30/44785/
Saturday- The Last HurrahBrad Read made the call at 830 AM – it’s the Worlds, and that means we’re going out to the ocean again. And what an EPIC day it was! Very windy on the way to the course, and we were thinking the jib was the call again. Waves were 90 degrees to the wind and looked a lot like day one, but the wind was from the NNE. I wished it was day one and I could start this regatta over again from the beginning.
We had a nice 30-minute tune up with Will, with our boat finally moving really well upwind. We’d moved the mast butt forward a bit to get less forestay sag, and the boat felt lit up. It’s always amazing when you find the sweet spot with the tune just right, and the boat just transforms herself into something beautiful. Maybe she is called a ‘she’ for a reason!
In Race One, we again had a solid start just under the midline boat, burning boats off our hip until we looked good again. The breeze was dying a bit since we tuned up and the shifts becoming bigger and more unpredictable. We tack to port and look launched – until the next righty came in again and we can’t cross. A few more tacks back to the left and we’ve gotta win our side. Some things never change. Continue reading more here— http://sailinganarchy.com/2014/10/06/last-hurrah-2/
* Charlie Enright and Team ALVIMEDICA Wins Volvo Ocean Race Inshore #1!! If you recall, Charlie Enright sailed J/24s forever in the Newport J/24 Fleet #50 and was a champion competitor. Fast forward to today, Charlie raced a TP52 in the Transpac Race in the Roy Disney-made movie called MORNING LIGHT. Incredibly, in their first official race in the 2014-2015 Volvo Ocean Race, Charlie and crew won the around-the-buoys 
contest! Shades of J/24 days, eh?!! Congratulations to their team (that also includes Newport locals Amory Ross and Nick Dana) and the J/Boats family wish them well. Also sailing fast was J/80 superstar sailor from Spain, Iker Martinez (a J/80 Spanish Champion)!The start on Saturday, October 11th, will occur at 0730 hrs Newport time (East Coast)- the host for Newporters for this epic occasion is the Newport Yacht Club. Watch the Volvo 65s racing “dinghy-style” on this YouTube sailing video
J/Cruisers
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.
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J/160 SALACIA has been sailing in Australia in the Whitsunday Islands. Guess who decided to throw themselves across their bow as they cruised comfortably to their next destination? A giant whale! Look at this amazing photo!
* Jim & Heather Wilson just completed a circumnavigation of our "blue planet Earth" in June 2013 on their J/42 CEOL MOR. Said Jim, "The odyssey of CEOL MOR is over, for now. We completed our circumnavigation on our J/42 when we crossed our outbound track in Britannia Bay, Mustique. We were, however, still 2,000 nautical miles from home. So we continued on through the Windwards, the Leewards, and then through the British Virgin Islands. After a farewell 'Painkiller' at the Soggy Dollar, and a last meal at Foxy’s, we made the 1,275 nautical mile passage to the Chesapeake and completed our port-to-port circumnavigation when we arrived in Annapolis on June 28, 2013. We had been away 1,334 days, completed 259 days of ocean passages, and sailed 30,349 nautical miles (34,925 statute miles). Read more about their adventures in their well-documented blog here: http://www.svceolmor.com/SVCeolMor/Welcome.html
* J/160 AVATAR headed for the Caribbean, again! We LOVE these updates from our cruising J sailors that continue to criss-cross the Seven Seas. This one comes from Alan Fougere, sailing his beloved J/160 AVATAR. Alan sent us an email update commenting on their passage south this winter, "In mid-December AVATAR completed her sixth transit to her winter Caribbean home, Grand Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI (seen above) from her home port in Quissett (Falmouth), MA. A crew of three, Captain Alan (e.g. me), Crew Pablo Brissett and Mark Conroy, covered the 1,500 nm trip in in her best time to date- 7 Days 5 Hours, averaging 8.7 kts, that's about 208 nm per day! Amazing passage it was! Rainbow at right far offshore was some of the amazing phenomenon we experienced on this fast offshore passage.AVATAR will participate in the BVI Sailing Festival/Regatta again in 2013, where last year she won the Nanny Key Cup Cruising Class race around the Island of Virgin Gorda. Here are some photos for you to share with the J/Community at-large. Enjoy!"
Best, Alan Fougere/ AVATAR
* Bill & Judy Stellin recently had an interview about cruising on their J/42 in the Wall St Journal called "Retiring on the Open Sea". The Wall St Journal asked Bill to reply to dozens of questions that flooded into the WSJ's Editor desks. Here's the update:Retiring on the Sea: Answering Readers' Questions
Advice about selecting a boat, ocean crossings, itineraries and safety
The article in our WSJ Online December retirement report about eight years spent sailing the Mediterranean— "Retiring to the Open Sea"— prompted many questions and comments from readers. We asked William Stellin, who wrote the story, to answer some of the most common queries.WSJ- "What kind and make of boat did you use? Looking back, would you have picked a different boat?"
Bill- "In 1995-96, J/Boats of Newport, RI, came out with a new cruiser/racer model, the J/42. We bought hull No. 6 of this popular 42-foot sailboat and named it JAYWALKER. This was our fourth boat since beginning sailing in 1975.
Although long-distance cruising wasn't what we had in mind when we purchased JAYWALKER, it soon became apparent it had the ability to carry us easily and safely anywhere we wanted to go. Because the boat is light, it sails well in light winds, which means very little motoring is necessary.
People often ask (and argue) about what boat is best for cruising. Any boat that is strong, safe, fast, comfortable and easily handled by two people should fit the bill. One thing for sure, fast is fun—and important when trying to avoid bad weather."
READ MORE ABOUT BILL'S INSIGHTFUL COMMENTARY AND THOUGHTS ON WSJ ONLINE HERE
* 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/
* 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).- 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.
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