48 North J/88 Review(Seattle, Washington)- This month, Joe Cline, Editor at 48 North magazine, had the privilege to go out sailing on the new J/88. The first one in the area just started sailing in the last couple of months. Here is Joe’s commentary on the experience, “Ben Braden, of Sail Northwest, took us sailing and he also happens to be the person who has been racing the boat, if you've seen it on the racecourse or on the pages of our Race Reports. We had a perfect afternoon on Shilshole Bay as the entire 48° North team put the boat through her paces in a steady 10-12 knots breeze with flat water.
The J/88 falls neatly into the design category that J/Boats has recently had success with (J/70, J/111): a family friendly and easy-to-sail performance boat. Most people will look at these boats and think 'racer.' And indeed, they're really great for that.
But, if you take anything away from this review, it could be that these are not boats just for hotshots. J/Boats' marketing folks use the phrase "sweet-spot" a lot in describing the J/88. And I have to say, I agree. So, let's look at why. . .” Read more here (Acrobat PDF file). You can also watch Joe’s video sailing review of the J/88 here on YouTube.
For more J/88 sailboat information
J/97E Video: First Look(London, England)- Rupert Holmes, an Editor at boats.com based in Southampton, England, recently had a chance to hop aboard the J/97E and provide initial impressions of the “pocket rocket cruiser-racer”. Lenny said, “the 2015 J/97E is the latest and greatest, from the epic sailboat builder J/Boats.
If you’re a sailor, you’ve most certainly heard of J/Boats. This company is nothing short of iconic in the sailboat industry, and with good reason— since 1977, they’ve built over 14,000 sailboats. And the original J/24 remains the most popular offshore keelboat in the world.
Now they have a new offering: the J/97E. This is a dual-purpose racer/cruiser, first introduced in 2009 and improved for this model year. Though its interior is finished to a grade well above hard-core race boats, it’s still a strong performer with many regatta wins to date.” Listen to more of Rupert’s commentary here- a J/97E video sailing review on YouTube. For more J/97E sailing information
BACARDI Newport Sailing Week Announcement(Newport, Rhode Island)- On behalf of Bacardi USA, EFG Bank, and all our sponsors we would like to extend an invitation to the J/70 Class to attend the 5th edition of the BACARDI Newport Sailing Week presented by EFG Bank to be held in Newport, RI from June 26th to the 28th, 2015.
June’s most anticipated sailing event in the Northeast, the BACARDI Newport Sailing Week presented by EFG Bank, will return to Newport this summer for a week filled with good sailing and festivities. This year’s event will hold an exciting agenda with amazing sailing, an impressive “Light Photography” exhibit at Bowen’s Wharf, and exciting BACARDI events in bars and establishments throughout town. Host for this year’s event will be the Newport Yacht Club with the help of Sail Newport as the race committee.
With the continued support from our generous sponsors along with the precious and professional experience of Sail Newport, the BACARDI Newport Sailing Week, now in its fifth year, attracts sailors from all over the country. Five one design fleets will be participating, including the extremely popular J/70. The fleets will gather and compete in a weekend regatta filled with fun and exciting racing on the waters of Narragansett Bay. A welcome cocktail and registration will take place on Friday, June 26th with racing on both Saturday and Sunday. After racing competitors will enjoy the warm BACARDI hospitality with plenty of food, drinks and good music!Official Regatta Cocktail
The Bacardi “Cuban Storm” is the official drink of the regatta. Simple and refreshing, “Bacardi 8, Ginger Beer & Lime” is a sailor’s favorite that was introduced to celebrate the famed Bacardi Cup. Sailors and friends will be treated at the Bacardi bar inside the hospitality village.
In Miami, we had the privilege to host 46 J/70 boats, and it was a lot of fun! If you’d like to review images of the event we’ve put together a nice sailing video recap here on YouTube.
Registration is open and you can register here. For more Bacardi Newport Sailing Week sailing information
Cronulla J/24 Short Course Is The Bomb!(Sydney, Australia)- “Hello all J/24 sailors near and far. Ever been to Sydney, Australia? If not, then you need to come down and join us for the extremely famous Macquart Marine Cronulla J/24 Short Course Regatta!
Starting 3 years ago, the Cronulla Sailing Club became the retirement home for a number of J/24 yachts in Australia. We thought, let's get these great boats out and racing; focusing on participation and not just regular J/24 class “sausage racing”. When we mean ‘short course’, they really are short courses— and different kinds, too!
Now, three years on, our fleet is still growing. Moreover, some newer boats are arriving and some of our boats are making the journey to other states for regattas. For example, many of our teams at Cronulla sailed the Vic States that saw 27 boats competing, a record for some years!
Our regatta is from the 6th to 8th of June at the Cronulla Sailing Club, Sydney Australia. We invite anyone with a pulse to join us Down Under in our cozy little corner of the world!” Thanks to Mick Reynolds, CSC Regatta organizer (email- j24aus1646@gmail.com). For more Cronulla J/24 Short Course Regatta sailing information
PNW J/Boats Rendezvous IISave the Date- Saturday, June 20th!
(Brownsville Marine, Port Orchard, WA)- Sail Northwest is excited to follow our first ever J/Boats Rendezvous for the Pacific Northwest this past spring, 2014 at the Brownsville Marina with the now second running of what we hope will be an annual event - the PNW J/Boats Rendezvous. J/Boats has touched the lives of every sailor in America and it's time to celebrate those designs and those experiences that continue to shape the racing and cruising world. Since its' auspicious beginnings in the garage of Rod Johnstone back in 1975 the J/Boats company has continued to produce high-end performance oriented racer/cruisers that perform well on the race course and are designed and built with such quality they are able to cruise the world's oceans or provide your family with a safe a comfortable platform to cruise or daysail on the bay.
It's these boats and these achievements we will be celebrating in Port Orchard on June 20th, 2015. Bring your cruising boat, bring your daysailer, bring your race boat - you don't need a J/Boat to attend, but if you have one, we want to see it in Port Orchard!
Boats can begin arriving at the Port Orchard Marina in our reserved slips at the outboard end of the Activities pier at 11am Saturday to start the stern tie line-up inside the breakwater. Anyone is welcome to arrive Friday night, as there is plenty of Moorage available. The day’s festivities will include a “Poker Rally” and “Happy Hour” tours of the attending boats incorporating a “Best In Show” competition done by popular vote (the 2014 winner was PAZZO, a beautifully restored J/35). This will be followed with a BBQ and potluck side dish dinner dockside followed by awards. Refreshments and the main course for dinner will be provided; you bring a side dish and whatever emergency rations you’ll need.
RSVP, get your first two cards for the Poker Rally and/or learn more about the event from the friendly people at Sail Northwest. Please don’t hesitate to contact Bob or Ben at ph# 206.286.1004 – www.sailnorthwest.com – bob@sailnorthwest.com – ben@sailnorthwest.com. For more PNW J/Boats Rendezvous sailing information
Oregon Offshore Preview(Astoria, Oregon)- Every May, the Corinthian Yacht Club of Portland sponsors the Oregon Offshore Yacht Race from Astoria, OR to Victoria, BC. The event has been a classic "feeder" race, taking enthusiastic offshore sailors from the friendly confines of Portland, Oregon up to the Seattle/ Victoria, BC region for some excellent sailing in the summers-- e.g. Vic-Maui, Seattle NOOD, Swiftsure Race and so forth.
The conditions in the Northwest at this time of year can range from tempestuous to downright placid and billiard table flat. The Oregon Offshore can be challenging, especially the long stretch from the start to the first turn at Cape Flattery. The race goes 193 nm race, starting off Astoria, Oregon at the mouth of the famous Columbia River (famous for it’s massive waves that come up over the sandbar just off Cape Disappointment), then head north up around Cape Flattery (the NW tip of the spectacular Olympic Peninsula), then head down ESE through the notorious Straits of Juan de Fuca to the finish line at Victoria, BC, Canada.
The top J’s entered have either been class winners or overall winners at some point in the last ten years or so. Those boats include the J/122 ANAM CARA sailed by Tom Kelly and crew from Portland, Oregon. They will be up against their friends on the J/46 RIVA sailed by CYC's own Scott Campbell from Portland. Finally, Tom Keffer has again entered his J/42 VELOCITY and she hails from Hood River, OR, and is a long-time Oregon Offshore veteran. With the fleet starting on Thursday afternoon, May 7th, you can track the fleet’s progress here. For more Oregon Offshore sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
It was a fascinating last week of April. There were more than a baker’s dozen of events that took place all around the world!! And, many of those had an enormous cross-section of the 14,000 or so J/Owners in their midst.Starting with America, it was a busy weekend on every point of the compass. In the east, Annapolis YC hosted the Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD regatta with help from many local clubs and volunteers to field the fleet that consisted of nine J/Classes (J/22, J/24, J/70, J/80, J/30, J/35, J/105, J/109, J/111). Then, up north on Long Island Sound, the American YC completed their famous AYC Springs series with one-design fleets of J/70s, J/105s, J/109s, J/44s and in the PHRF/IRF offshore handicap courses were J/88s, J/122s, J/29s and J/111s. Also in upstate New York was the J/24 J-Daze Regatta hosted by Canandaigua YC on Canandaigua Lake. Out West, the San Diego YC hosted their signature event, the Yachting Cup over a three-day weekend, also playing host to a huge fleet of J one-designs (J/70, J/80, J/105, J/109, J/120) and offshore PHRF boats (J/35, J/125). Then in the Pacific Northwest, the Sloop Tavern YC hosted their wildly popular double-handed event, the Race To The Straits that had 14 different models of J/Boats racing! Incredible diversity up in the NW corner of America!
Just across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, the amazing Antigua Sailing Week completed with a passionate group of J sailors (J/30, J/120, J/133, J/145) enjoying the extraordinary conditions and numerous reggae dance parties.
Hopping over to Europe, we find a tremendous amount of activity taking place in just about every corner of the continent and some offshore islands. Up north in Germany, the first of the J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga events took place at Tutzing on Lake Starnberg. West of them, the RORC hosted their first offshore race of the season, the Cervantes Trophy Race— many of the crews (J/105, J/109, J/120, J/133) were focused on “qualifying” for this year’s epic RORC Rolex Fastnet Race. Across the English Channel to France we go to find two events that took place, both with J/80 one-designs; one was the Grand Prix Guyader in Douarnenez that’s part of the Coupe de France and the other was the college students racing the EDHEC in La Rochelle. Nearby, the J/24 Italian Championship series sailed their next event in Livorno, Italy- the Trofeo Academia Navale. Finally, in Spain the J/80s completed one of the most majestic regattas anyone can sail- the tres-chic PalmaVela in Palma Mallorca, Spain.
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:
May 12-25- Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta- Scheveningen, The NetherlandsMay 14-17- Grand Prix de l’Ecole Navale Brest- Brest, France
May 16-17- Cedar Point One-Design Regatta- Cedar Point, CT
May 20-24- J/24 USA Nationals- Berkeley, CA
May 22-25- Grand Prix du Crouesty- Crouesty, France
May 22-24- J/80 Copa de Espana- Aguilas, Murcia, Spain
May 29-30- Susan Hood Trophy Race- Mississauga, Ontario
May 29-31- Southern Bay Race Week- Hampton, VA
May 30-31- Cal Race Week- Marina del Rey, CA
May 30- Jun 2- Italian J/24 Nationals- Cala Galera, Italy
Jun 3-6- J/80 Campeonato de Espana- Sotogrande, Spain
Jun 5- RORC de Guingand Bowl- Cowes, IOW, England
Jun 6-8- Cronulla J/24 Short Course Regatta- Sydney, Australia
Jun 6-13- J/24 Europeans- Arzon, France
Jun 11-13- J/Cup Regatta- Cowes, IOW, England
Jun 12-14- NYYC Annual Regatta- Newport, RI
Jun 12-14- Cleveland Race Week- Cleveland, OH
Jun 12-14- Chicago NOOD Regatta- Chicago, IL
Jun 12-14- Italian J/70 Alcatel OneTouch #3- Cervia, Italy
Jun 15-19- J/111 World Championship- Newport, RI
Jun 21-26- Block Island Race Week- Block Island, RI
Jun 21-26- J/109 North Americans- Block Island, RI
Jun 25-28- Kieler Woche- Kiel, Germany
Jun 26-Jul 5- Delta Week 2015- Grevelingen, The Netherlands
Jun 26-28- Long Beach Race Week- Long Beach, CA
Jun 27- JP Morgan Round Island Race- Cowes, IOW- England
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Hutchinson Wins Annapolis NOOD Regatta(Annapolis, Maryland)- The three day Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD Regatta (May 1-3) was light on winds as the sailors competed for the regatta’s overall prize – a trip to the British Virgin Islands in the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta Championship. That honor would go to Terry Hutchinson (J/24 World Champion & Rolex Yachtsman of the Year) with crew Taylor Canfield, Nick Turney, Morgane Renoir, and Katherine Hutchinson who won the 57-boat J/70 fleet- it was appropriately a friends and family affair. The same could’ve been said for many of the winners in the nine J/Classes that were represented at the event (J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s, J/30s, J/35s, J/105s, J/109s, J/111s).
The regatta’s biggest fleet, the J/70s, was a highly competitive class, which was packed with both professional and amateur sailors. In light conditions and strong current, the fleet completed four races over three days.
“Day one we made a couple of small mistakes, but we had good speed and the team was doing well,” said Taylor Canfield, Hutchinson’s tactician (Canfield was also World Match Race Champion). “The beginning was tricky for us because we were over early in the last race, but we had a great comeback. The conditions were supposed to be windy, but we predicted it would be lighter than the forecast. We have been training since last Sunday and expected to have a decent first race with pressure, but it was lighter.”Canfield later added, “We sailed conservatively to keep ourselves in the hunt for the rest of the weekend. We put in more fight when we needed to.”
As the regatta continued into its second day, no races were completed for any of the regatta’s buoy-racing fleets, including the J/70s. Considering the light-wind forecast for the remainder of the weekend, Hutchinson said he’d told his team on Friday that they’d “better be in the lead, because there might not be any racing after.”
The final race on Sunday was delayed once, but with a light southerly sea breeze finally filing, the race committee started the day’s one and only race. “We tried to get off the line clean and sail fast. We started a little bit late, and went left with the tide,” said Hutchinson. “A big right-shift filled in halfway up the first beat, and we sat in 20th place initially. We passed boats in the first run down, and beat most of the teams around the mark the second time.”
Hutchinson said Canfield wanted to go left and they went for it, but ultimately it didn’t feel like a Hail Mary. “It was smart sailing,” he said. Hutchinson gave credit to his new team of sailors, which included his 13-year-old daughter Katherine, Canfield, Nick Turney, and Morgane Renoir.
“Last weekend my son was on board sailing, and this week my daughter is,” said Hutchinson. “Katherine helped tack, pull the ropes and trim the jib. She was worried we would lose after Friday and I told her that it’s not in the start— it’s the finish that counts, and we did well.”
The start of racing on Friday offered the best sailing of the entire weekend. Most all divisions enjoyed the partly cloudy skies and 8-13 kt wind that started in the NE and ultimately swung into the NW by the end of the day. It was tricky sailing and there were enormous shifts and wind-streaks to contend with over the three races.
Fast out-of-the-box in the J/70 class were two top local boats. JOINT CUSTODY, skippered by Jenn and Ray Wulff, took the lead with 13 points, and Peter McChesney’s BANG DING OW stood on second trailing with 17 points. Third was Mauricio Santa Cruz on BRUSCHETTA from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.“I told my team to keep your head out of the boat and ignore local knowledge. People say follow local knowledge, which is staying to the left and avoiding the current because the left side is closer to land,” said Wulff. “Today that wasn’t the case, and we did the opposite. Jenn did a great job driving as always, and we stayed away from the larger group of boats at the start, which gave us great starts.”
Wulff later added that the team switched over to Quantum sails this year, and had great boat speed all day to keep momentum going. Pro sailor Taylor Canfield, a sailor on Terry Hutchinson’s USA 419 of the J/70s class, noted that the team had a couple small mistakes, but had a great last race. The wind conditions were forecasted to be higher, but the team sailed conservatively to keep themselves in the hunt for tomorrow.
The J/80 class had 25 boats competing and two boats, MELTEMI and R80, tied for first place with 18 points. VAYU, skippered by David Andril, lags in third place by one point.Mike Hobson, skipper of MELTEMI, said it was a good day first day of sailing and got four races in. “There was breeze and the first two races were effective with good starts. The last two we had more choices of which way to go and local knowledge went out the window because wind shifts.” He added, “The fleet is competitive – with lots of boats and no consistent winner it mixes it up. We are pretty happy, the race is tight and we will start again tomorrow to see if great racing holds up.”
“The crew would say don’t screw the start up,” Hobson said. We need to stay in the game and had to dig hard to get out of the last two starts today. Tomorrow, we just have to try and stay in the game.”
On Saturday, the Chesapeake Bay sported one of its “summer-time” glass-outs, a bit early in the season for it. Nevertheless, the weather forecast from Chris Bedford at Sailing Weather Services was uncannily accurate. A light northerly in the morning died and the PRO’s for every course hoisted AP’s to keep the sailors on-shore out of the sun. What appeared to be a promising seabreeze coming from the ESE down the Bay never fully materialized. Some fleets got off just one race, but most did not. The approaching frontal system of broken clouds simply over-ran the race-course areas and killed off the vestigial sea-breeze thermal activity. Consequently, with all races canceled by 3pm, the evening festivities at the HELLY HANSEN/ MT GAY tent was extremely well attended!
Sunday’s racing dawned with a bit better forecast, but just about all fleets could only manage one race just a half-hour before the Sunday break-off at 2:30 pm. Again, for all fleets it was a bit of a tactical/ strategic bust for many as the winds were not only atypical, but full of massive, unruly holes and helicopter puffs that would fall out of nowhere to cherry pick the lucky few.
For the J/70s, a solid conservative game-plan kept Hutchinson and crew in the hunt to take the win. Behind them, it was complete chaos as many top boats took a tumble in the crazy conditions on the last day. Sailing well was Tom Bowen and Marty Kullman on REACH AROUND, posting a 4th in the last race to snag 2nd overall. McChesney’s crew on BANG DING OW wished they could’ve hung in there but popped a 14th onto their scoreline to hang onto 3rd. Also managing to stay out of a lot of trouble was Santa Cruz’s BRUSCHETTA team, notching a 13th on the last day to grab 4th overall. Early regatta leaders Jen & Ray Wulff on JOINT CUSTODY got stuck going left after a massive right shift in the first leg, having to eat a 30th to drop into 5th overall. What was remarkable about the J/70s were that an average of 6th is what it took to win, an average of 11th to place top five and an average of 13th to get a top ten.
Corinthians winners in the J/70s were McChesney’s BANG DING OW 1st, followed by the Wulff’s JOINT CUSTODY in 2nd and Joe Bardenheier’s MUSE team from Boston, MA in 3rd place.
Over in the J/22 circle, it was a battle royale for the top five, but it was a class veteran, Chris Doyle’s THE JUG 4 1 from Youngstown, New York that climbed atop the heap to take class honors. After trading 1-3 scores in the first two races, Jeff Todd’s HOT TODDY could not keep up the heat on Doyle’s gang and closed with a riveting 12-9-7 to just hold on to 2nd place. Brad Julian on JULIAN ASSOCIATES sailed a solid series to secure third on the podium. Fourth was Vic Snyder’s MO’MONEY and fifth was a fast-closing Mike Marshall on the amazingly BAD NEWS! Top woman skipper was Sandy Adzick’s HOT TICKET.RUSH HOUR skippered by Pat Fitzgerald topped the J/24s after six races with just 13 pts and not ONE race out of the top three and NEVER winning a race! Howz’about’that! Cool. Talk about conservative sailing. The balance of the podium was determined by a tie-breaker between Ron Medlin’s BASH and Mark Rivera’s THE J-TEAM, with most 1sts tipping the balance to BASH.
With a great turnout, the 25 boat J/80 fleet saw a “newbie” winner on the top of the podium after their six races, overcoming overwhelming odds to grab the big prize from some excellent teams. Les Beckwith’s crew on FKA won on a cliff-hanging tie-breaker over local famous hero Mike Hobson on MELTEMI. And, just one point back was Team R80 comprised of Will & Marie Crump and Thomas Klok from Annapolis! To say the last race was “make or break” time would be a massive understatement for the leaders in this class. Rounding out the top five was David Andril’s VAYU in 4th and Derick Lynch’s OUTLAW in 5th.
In the “big boat” world, the classic J/30 cruiser-racer class saw a “runaway” take place in their fun-loving ten boat fleet. Bob Rutsch & Mike Costello’s BEPOP forgot the protocol to have the blenders (or beers) going by the second windward leg! Soooo, after winning five straight races it appears they finally got that “weed whacker blender” going in the last race and gave up a 1st for a 2nd! While they horizon-jobbed the fleet, it was insanely close for 2nd place, and the top six only had 5 pts separating them after six races! Incredibly, the last race run for the roses (like the weekend’s Kentucky Derby horse race) really did determine the outcome for the class. After posting a 3rd on the last day, Phil Hedrich’s CHAOS grabbed the silver while George Watson’s AVITA posted a 6th to drop into the bronze. Fourth was determined by a tie-breaker on 31 pts each, with Mike & Kathleen McGill’s MARY LOU taking it over Rob Lundahl’s RAG DOLL.A familiar team topped the incredibly tight eight boat J/35 fleet, with AUNT JEAN led by the duo of Jim Sagerholm and Jerry Christofel topping the charts with an emphatic scoreline of three 1sts and two 2nds for 7 pts total. Second was Peter Schiedt’s MAGGIE with 10 pts followed by Charles Kohlerman’s MEDICINE MAN. Bruce Artman’s T-BONE was 4th and Benjamin Travis & Scott Steele on BZING took 5th.
As they have over time, the famous local duo of Carl & Scott Gitchell pointed the amazingly fast J/105 TENACIOUS in the right direction more than once to win the J/105 class by a rather significant margin of 10 pts in just five races, never posting a race below 4th! Jim Konigsberg’s INIGO started slowly, closed fast, but not fast enough to take 2nd overall. Third was Jim Macdonald’s DISTANT PASSION from the Royal Bermuda YC in Bermuda. Fourth was MIRAGE (Lewis/ Salvesen) and fifth was Hugh Bethell’s JESTER.The compact, talented J/109 fleet saw North American Champion Bill Sweetser sailing the famous RUSH with an Annapolis YC team win with straight bullets. Their chief battle with Bob Schwartz’s NORDLYS visiting from Manhasset Bay YC from Long Island, New York saw them take straight 2nds! Third was Rick Hanson’s ROSALITA.
Demonstrating why their Key West and Charleston wins were no fluke, George Gamble’s MY SHARONA from Pensacola YC in Florida started off with a 2nd in the first race and closed with four straight bullets to win the J/111 class. Local hotshots Marty Roesch on VELOCITY from Annapolis YC won the first race and nearly ran the table with straight 2nds to take second in the regatta. Dave McCreight’s appropriately named DARK HORSE from Annapolis YC grabbed a third, much to the amazement of their classmates. Watch the Dave Reed/ Sailing World interview Overall Regatta Winner Terry Hutchison here. For more HELLY HANSEN Annapolis NOOD Regatta sailing information here
DTYC Top J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga #1(Tutzing, Germany)- For the first regatta of their season-long circuit, the J/70 sailors in the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing off Tutzing on Lake Starnberg were put to the test in wet, rainy and light air conditions. At the end of the day, it was local heroes Deutscher Touring YC that won with the team of Julian Stückl, Patrick Follmann, Luis Tarabochia and Jonas Vogt. "We have a very good team and our maneuvers around the marks were good. Thankfully, our practice beforehand helped a lot! It’s great, as good as it gets,” enthused Follman from DTYC.
The regatta organizers struggled with the difficult conditions, hoping to get in 90 scheduled races, but having to settle for a total of just 36 races after three days of racing on the lake. The first day was marked by a lot of rain and little wind. Even if the weather gods were not on their side, the rain could not dampen the euphoria of the sailors on the start of the season.
Everyone was motivated and ready to go sailing in the new season. Adding to the excitement was the new bold graphics used on the J/70s. In addition to the bright colors, there were other bright spots on the water, "We are very pleased with our first place. Let's see what the weekend brings even so, we are doing very good things," said Alexander Jansen.The second day of racing was not much of an improvement after the constant drizzle of the first day. It was a day of waiting. Six races were sailed for the J/70 division.
"Especially in these conditions, you have to think of risk management and avoid problems like a false start that adds an immediate seven points," said Carsten Kemmling from Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV). His comments were somewhat prophetic for a team that has won the DSBL for the past two years (2013/ 2014). While they had some good races, they could only manage a 7th overall in the first event.
Besides the winners NRV, the team of Flensburger Segel-Club comprised of Michael Ilgenstein, Jorg Rothert, Simon Gerling and Bernhard Outzen took second in the regatta. Third was the team from Seglervereinigung Itzehoe led by the crew of Christian Soyka, Kai Harder, Hinnerk Müller and Stefan Schimkowski. Next major event for the J/70 teams will be Kiel on June 5th and 6th. For more Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information
BRIBON MOVISTAR Glitters @ Palmavela(Palma Mallorca, Spain)- After three days of light to moderate airs on the gorgeous bay that encircles Palma Mallorca, the extremely competitive J/80 class that sailed the GAASTRA Palmavela Regatta hosted by Real Club Nautico de Palma had a repeat champion- Marc de Antonio’s BRIBON—MOVISTAR from Real Club Nautico de Barcelona.
On the first day of sailing, the fleet raced in a south-westerly breeze between 5 and 10 knots. BRIBON-MOVISTAR began the day by defending the title with three victories out of three possible. That allowed them to return to shore four points ahead of their nearest rival, José Maria Van der Ploeg’s J/80 World Champion team on NAUTICA WATCHES (2-2-4) and eight over Pedro Mari’s OPERA SEASON (5-4-2).
For their second day of sailing, the wind took a while to show up, but it managed to propel the fleet with speeds between 5 to 20 knots by late afternoon. The one-design classes were able to complete the three races scheduled for the day.In J/80s, it was almost a perfect day for BRIBON-MOVISTAR again, collecting a 1-1-3 for a total of six victories out of seven possible. The defending champions discards their third in today’s last race, and leads over nearest rival, Van der Ploeg’s NAUTICA WATCHES by eight points. Two points behind them continued to be Marí’s OPERA SEASON with a 4-4-1.
The final day again saw relatively light, uncharacteristic breezes for Palma, but sufficient for the J/80 class to have another three races. After a total of nine races, the BRIBON-MOVISTAR team closed with a 1-1-2 to win with an imposing seven of nine possible victories! Second place went to Van der Ploeg’s crew on NAUTICA WATCHES with 22 pts. Just three points back after a close battle was Javier Chacartegui’s crew on HM-HOTELS with 25 pts. Mari’s crew on OPERA SEASON fell off the pace and dropped to fourth overall after closing with a 3-5-5. Taking fifth overall was Jose Carlos Frau’s BUFETE FRAU from CN Arenal. The top foreign team was the German team on JOY TOY sailed by Gerd Henssen and Inken Braunschmidt in 10th place. For more Gaastra Palmavela sailing information
Breezy Yachting Cup Enjoyed By All!(San Diego, California)- This year was the 43rd running of the Yachting Cup Regatta, SDYC’s signature event that was spearheaded by Regatta Chair Julie Servais. Blessed with amazing sailing conditions all weekend long, the sailors got in more than their fair share of fun, close, competitive sailing on the three race courses spread across the San Diego sailing basin (offshore, near shore and South Bay). As usual, with the enthusiastic support of the local sailing community, excellent sponsors and a great group of volunteers both onshore and offshore on the race courses, one would be hard-pressed to find fault with the near flawless execution of the event by SDYC members and their friends.
The regatta featured large one-design classes of J/70s, J/80s, J/105s, J/109s, J/120s, and several teams sailing in the offshore PHRF classes (J/125s and J/35). To say the SDYC Yachting Cup has become a “de facto” J/Fest regatta due to the enthusiastic participation of hundreds of local J sailors would a reasonably accurate assessment. More on the “how” and “why” that has happened over the course of time in a moment.
For the first day of racing on Friday, winds were strong for the First National Bullion Bay Race, with average speeds of about 12 kts and puffs up to 16kts. For the typically smooth bay water, the chop was significant at about 1 to 1.5 feet. For Friday’s race, the course was set up as a random leg bay race. With only one racing venue, fleets followed various course lengths per the fleet’s assignment. Courses ranged between 7.5 and 9.5 nm. The big winner in the J/105 class was Rick Goebel’s SANITY.
On Saturday’s racing, the winds lacked the strength of Friday’s first race, but spirits and competition were stronger than ever. More than just one of the largest regattas in Southern California, Yachting Cup is a great place for sailors of all fleets and competition level to get together for the love of sailing and thrill of competition.
For SDYC Commodore John Laun (and long-time J/120 sailor), the Yachting Cup is an event the club always looks forward to hosting. “Yachting Cup is our signature Spring event each year,” said Laun. “It’s always great fun and competition on both ocean and South Bay courses and lots of fun at the parties ashore.”
Although Rick Goebel won the J/105s on Friday, Dennis Case’s WINGS quickly caught up with him on the second day of racing. Case and Goebel were currently tied at 9 points, with the first spot on the scoreboard going to Case, who has an additional bullet over Goebel. The final Near Roads fleet was the J/70s, the largest fleet of the regatta. Tim Fuller and Vince Brun sailed BLISS to first place, with a grand total of five points at the end of five races. Not far behind was Bruce Golison’s MIDLIFE CRISIS with a 5-4-2 and Jeff Brown’s J70 team sitting on a 7-2-5.At the Far Roads venue, competitors completed three races for the day. Eric Axford and the CAPER crew just barely made it out in first for the J-120 division, with one point separating them from Rudolph Hasl on HASL FREE.
Division D, Class J-109 and Class J-80 sailed in South Bay, which offers not only the beautiful downtown backdrop, but also lake sailing conditions. The three South Bay fleets completed four races on the second day.
In Class J-109, Thomas Brott also had a dream day, finishing first in all of the day's races. He currently leads the class at 11 points. Skipper Curt Johnson finished first in the J-80 fleet for every race, leaving a ten point trail behind the next skipper, Debby Platt on JWORLD 3.
For Regatta Chair Julie Servais, this event is unique in that it is equal parts competition and camaraderie. “We have competitors come from all the way up the coast of California, so it’s really fun to get everyone out here.”Servais was also in charge of post-racing activities, which on Friday included a special skipper’s and tactician’s party in SDYC’s famous Frost Room. “It’s a rare thing for the skippers to be in the same room at the same time,” Servais said on the inspiration behind the party. “These guys always see each other’s names on entry lists or see them compete out on the water, but we wanted to create an intimate space for them to actually get to meet and talk to each other.”
Crews celebrated their first day of racing on the SDYC deck, complete with the musical styling of a local fiddler. Then, Yachting Cup participants and guests took over the SDYC deck and restaurant, with a huge Cinco de Mayo themed bash!
The third and final day of sailing was epic, at least for San Diego. Definitely not boring, nor benign. Sunday's racing saw split headsails, shrimped kites, and a sailor in the water all in one race. With fast sailing, sunny skies and plenty of action, Sunday was truly a testament to how exciting San Diego sailing can be at times. In some classes, the windy conditions enabled some fleet leaders to maintain their positions while others either gained or fell by the way side.
In the J/70s, the Fuller/Brun team on BLISS wrapped up a strong series to take first with just 12 pts. Golison’s MIDLIFE CRISIS team certainly were not having one of those episodes, showing the “kids” how the old guys do it better in the breeze, posting double bullets in the last two races to take 2nd overall with 21 pts. Third was the Eric Kownacki/ Tom Jenkins team on DFZ, also relishing the breeze on the last day to take a 3-4 into the yacht club and collect some pickle dishes for 3rd overall. Rounding out the top five were Dave Vieregg’s SOGGY DOLLAR in 4th with 32 pts and Jeff Brown’s “J70” in fifth place (Jeff’s team has improved significantly and showed it with four top five finishes— as the local J/Dealer, Jeff has spent a lot of time helping develop the J/70 fleet in SoCal).Taking it right down to the wire were the top three J/120s out on the offshore course in the J/120 class. What sealed the deal for Chuck Nichols’ happy crew on CC RIDER was a 1-2 in the breezy conditions on Sunday, finishing with 15 pts. Just one point back was John Snook’s JIM winning the last race and securing a strong 2nd place. Taking third was Eric Axford on CAPER with 19 pts. Mike Hatch’s J-ALMIGHTY just edged out Rudolph Hasl’s HASL FREE for 4th place.
For the second year in a row, Rick Goebel’s J/105 SANITY with some guy named “Buddha” on board (we think that’s his lucky charm), managed to walk off with top honors in the very tough J/105 class of veteran SoCal offshore one-design sailors. Not holding back at all and nearly pulling off a win was Dennis Case’s WINGS, taking second place in the process. This was Dag Fish’s VIGGEN, fourth Tom Hurlburt’s BLOW BOAT and fifth Stew Cannon’s J-OK.Perhaps the most electrifying performance in the entire regatta was Tom Brott’s ELECTRA in the J/109 class. After winning six of seven races, the regatta was clearly a race for second place. Behind Brott’s class-winning team was Daylen Teren’s GREAT BALLS OF FIRE in second with 17 pts. Third on the podium was John Shulze’s LINSTAR, narrowly beating Alice Leahey’s GRACE O’MALLEY by one point. Fifth was Gene Pitkin’s GERONIMO.
Another strong performance was SDYC member Curt Johnson sailing his J/80 AVET to straight bullets to easily win the J/80 class. However, behind them it was quite a different story. Having a duel to the very end of the regatta were Wayne Zittell’s JWORLD I and Debby Platt’s JWORLD II. However, after taking a 2-1 in the last race, Zittell’s crew secured second with 17 pts while Platt’s crew settled for third sitting on 19 pts.
In the realm of offshore random leg PHRF handicap racing, the dueling J/125s had a fantastic match-race within their PHRF Class A handicap division. After the first four races, both boats were essentially tied; with the upper-hand going to Tim Fuller’s RESOLUTE with a 2-4-2-5 scoreline while Viggo Torbensen’s TIMESHAVER was closing quickly with a 5-6-1-2 tally only one point back. However, in the bigger breezes o the last day, it appeared that Fuller’s RESOLUTE simply went into another gear and took off, ripping off three bullets in a row to win the class (and J/125 bragging rights) with just 11 pts. Second in class was Torbensen’s TIMESHAVER with 16 pts.In PHRF Class C, the classic J/35 RIVAL skippered by David Boatner sailed a whale of a series and handily took second overall with just 21 pts in 8 races.
And a big thank you to regatta chairs Julie & Dave Servais, the excellent work of the Race Committee and to all of the sponsors who helped make this Yachting Cup spectacular. In particular, a big “Thank You” to primary sponsor JK3 Yachts, the J/Boats dealer for San Diego managed by Jeff Brown (he also sailed in the J/70 class). Sailing photo credits- Bronny Daniels/ JoySailing.com For more Yachting Cup sailing information
J/133 Wins RORC Cervantes Race(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- With over 400 yachts crewed by thousands of sailors from over 30 different nations, the 2015 Royal Ocean Racing Club's Season's Points Championship has the largest fleet of offshore racing yachts anywhere in the world. This year the RORC is celebrating its 90th anniversary and a record attendance is highly likely.
The first race of the series in the English Channel was the Cervantes Trophy Race, which started on 2nd May 2015. Organized by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Société des Régates du Havre and the Royal Yacht Squadron, the 114 yachts entered were set a 135 nautical mile course from the Squadron Line to Le Havre.
The first leg took the fleet downwind to Anvil Point and the DZB Buoy, with 20 knots of wind from the east. It was a terrific start to the race and with spinnakers set most yachts were enjoying double-digit boat speed. The wind was funneling through Hurst Narrows and the increased wind speed caused a good few broaches, but back under control, the competitors continued downwind to Anvil Point where it was spinnakers down and on to the wind for the 100 mile leg towards Le Havre. The forecast was showing a massive shift in the wind direction from easterly through the south to settle in the southwest. With this in mind, most of the boats stayed on port tack and headed for the Cap de la Hague in anticipation of the change. With the forecast changing and rain squalls running up the channel, the crossing of the Baiy de la Seine and negotiating the tricky tidal streams and shifty winds was to prove a crucial part of the race.
In IRC Two Class, local sailor Gilles Fournier sailed his J/133 PINTIA (rated IRC 1.095) to their class win by just over ten minutes on corrected time and was also second IRC Overall! Gilles was sailing with French legend Bruno Troublé (long-time J/24 sailor) who undoubtedly brought a lot of technical and tactical experience to the team. A J/133 sistership (slightly different configuration rated at IRC 1.109) was sailing in IRC 1 Class, David Ballantyne’s JINGS- she took a 5th in class.
Amongst the enormous class of 35 footers in IRC 3 Class, the J/109s and J/105s had a respectable showing. Richard Palmer’s JANGADA TOO was top J/109 at 8th in class, followed by Trevor Sainty’s J/109 JELENKO in 10th and Nick Martin’s J/105 DIABLO-J in 11th.
Sailing IRC Two-Handed as well as Martin’s DIABLO-J, taking 6th in class followed by Paul Griffiths’ J/109 JAGERBOMB in 7th and Elin Haf Davies’ J/120 NUNATAK in 11th.
"The RORC Season's Points Championship is the premier offshore sailing series in the world,” commented RORC Racing Manager Nick Elliott. "The 2015 series will see the fleet swelled by yachts competing for the RORC blue ribbon event, the Rolex Fastnet Race, which once again has struck a chord with Professional and Corinthian sailors alike.
At the beginning of May the yachts line up to get racing miles under their belts working towards the 300 nm offshore racing required to meet the experience qualification for the Rolex Fastnet Race, as well as scoring points towards the Season's Points Championship. The Cervantes Trophy had a terrific entry list and a big thank you to the Société des Régates du Havre that has once again hosted the finish, providing a fantastic welcome for all of the participants."
Racing for the RORC Season's Points Championship continues with the 181 nautical mile North Sea Race from Harwich to Scheveningen, which starts on Friday 15th May. For more RORC Cervantes Trophy Race sailing information
Light AYC Spring Series(Rye, New York)- The American YC Spring Series is the traditional “opener” for the Long Island Sound offshore sailing season. This spring-time event held over the weekends of April 25-26 and May 2-3 can have the entire range of sailing experiences. From boiling hot, total glass-outs that Long Island can be famous for in the summer to spectacular, crystal-clear days of sailing in 8-12 kt winds or even thunder, lightning and hail with winds blowing dogs off chains with rain serving as horizontal bullets pelting your cheeks, one never knows what to expect in the spring on the Sound.
No matter the weather forecast, the boats are dusted off after having been buried in mounds of snow all winter and the boats from around the western Sound gather together for their first weekend of sailing at American YC’s wonderfully warm, hospitable location on their peninsula in Rye, NY. There were lots of J’s participating in the series, in fact 52 of the total of 85 boats (61% total) in both one-design classes (J/70, J/105, J/109, J/44) and offshore handicap classes (J/88s, J/111s, J/122s, J/133).
This year’s two weekend were marked by super light and fluky conditions most of the time. In the offshore IRC 2 Class, it was Mike Bruno & Jim Callahan’s J/122 WINGS that sailed a nice series to grab 2nd in class. Their friend John Pearson on the J/122 RED SKY crushed it in the last four races (a 2-3-1-1) to climb onto the podium to secure 3rd in class.
PHRF 1 Division was treated to an amazing display of speed, seamanship, and tactical superiority by the two J/111s. Repeating a past win was Paul Strauch’s ANDIAMO, screaming home to a class win with a closing 1-1-2-1 tally to take the class with 15 pts. Just off the mark on the last day was Sedgwick Ward’s BRAVO, recuperating well enough to hold onto third and some more pickle dishes for the trophy case.
The teams in PHRF 2 must have wished there were no J/88s and J/29s sailing against them. Loving the conditions both weekends and fresh off her big win in Charleston Race Week was Iris Vogel’s J/88 DEVIATION, winning four of nine races and taking an emphatic class win with just 13 pts net. Second was the always-fast J/29 masthead SMOKIN J sailed by Tom & Julie Sinatra, winning three races themselves. Fourth was Kevin Marks’ J/88 VELOCITY with 34 pts and sixth was Jason Viseltear’s J/80 UPSETTER.
While a big fleet of J/70s were sailing on the Chesapeake Bay and struggling with “de minimus” weather, the Long Island Sound J/70s were able to post 8 races over the two weekends with an excellent fleet of 15 boats (the largest fleet in the regatta). Going fast was Peter Duncan’s RELATIVE OBSCURITY, counting six wins on their scorecard to easily win the event with a mere 9 pts. Scott & Alex Furnary’s ANY COLOUR were easily in the hunt for the lead after the first weekend, but somehow discovered a case of the “slows” the second weekend, falling off pace to just barely hold onto second overall for the series with 18 pts. Sailing steadily both weekends were Madelyn & Megan Plock on SUGAR DADDY, counting all top four finishes for 19 pts total. The balance of the top five were Carrie & Ed Austin on CHINOOK in 4th and Andrew Shea’s SHAKE’N’BAKE in 5th.
The J/105s had a good showing with ten boats with many of the Sound’s top teams in attendance. Paul Beaudin’s LOU LOU had a three-way fight for the lead with George & Alex Wilbanks’ REVELATION and the AYC JR Big Boat Team on YOUNG AMERICAN. In the end, LOU LOU prevailed by just two points over the REVELATION gang, while “the kids” took a well-deserved third place! Fourth was the team of Harald Edegran & Jeremy Henderson on CONUMDRUM and only one point further back in 5th was Za & Libby Jelliffe’s ARETE.Sporting a bit of a comeback on the Sound were the J/109s, with a nice fleet of ten boats making it to the starting line for both weekends. To say the top five places would be as easy to predict as the Kentucky Derby would be crazy. In fact, the top six boats traded places so many times from race to race that enormous bottles of Advil and beer were being consumed by tacticians at the end of each day, such was the level of anxiety! After what seemed like six Tasmanian Devils whipping up a dust-up between them, emerging from the clouds of battle was Carl Olsson’s MORNING GLORY with 25 pts to take the J/109 crown. Bridesmaid somewhat reluctantly must’ve been Jim Vos’ SKOOT, posting a “dumb-bell” scoreline of great races at either end, but some brain fades in the middle. Nevertheless, SKOOT was on the redemption trail in the last two races with a 2-1 but it was not enough to chase down MORNING GLORY, losing out the top spot by one point. Similarly, Adrian Begley’s MAD DOGS & ENGLISHMEN had a slow first weekend, but came on strong the second weekend to nearly pull off a win. However, after winning two races in a row, they closed with a 5-3 to settle for third with 27 pts. Fourth went to Steve Chronert’s ZUMA with 29 pts and fifth was secured by Bill Rogers’ BIG BOAT with 30 pts. Jonathan Rechtshaffer’s EMOTICON crew got the short end of those battles, scoring 31 pts for 6th.
The J/44 Class continues to enjoy excellent competition and it seems that each weekend produces a different winner and, amazingly, a different top three! Sailing like a mad-dog possessed was Phil Gutin’s BEAGLE, nailing three bullets in 8 races to take home the crown by just one point over Don & Dick Rave’s RESOLUTE. Having a legitimate shot at the top of the podium was Jeff Willis’ CHALLENGE IV, but a last race DSQ tossed them out of the running, leaving them in 3rd overall. Bill Ketcham’s MAXINE snagged fourth and Len Sitar’s VAMP place 5th. For more American YC Spring Series sailing information
Spectacular Double-handed Race to the Straits!(Seattle, Washington)- Said Jan Anderson, the famous Pacific NW photographer, “What a GORGEOUS weekend! This year’s Race to the Straits provided extremely challenging conditions … light winds coupled with raging current … that forced everyone to wear their ‘Thinking Caps’ for the whole race each day! Again, as years go, 2015 is setting a tough weather standard for future years to beat. Also, this event was flawlessly presented by Sloop Tavern YC, so next year’s fleet should be even larger. Sunshine, blue skies, breeze, sights to see, energy and fun, plus tight racing … who could possibly ask for more?!”
Well, according to Ben Braden (of Sail Northwest) who was also sailing in the event, it was simply fabulous, but it was also incredibly tough and demanding sailing for just two people on board each boat. Here’s Ben’s report:“CrossFit ain’t got nothin’ on STYC! If CrossFit had sailboats they would send their clients out double handed sailing in 12 to 14 knots of breeze against 2 to 3 knots of current and tell them the winner gets a free lifetime membership! Such was the day Saturday when 107 boats began working North towards Port Townsend in the 2015 running of the Sloop Tavern Yacht Clubs Race to the Straits. Double or single-handed, flying or non-flying sails, multi or mono, everything was out on the water Saturday and pushing hard for the 30 mile upwind sail to Port Townsend followed by the return race to Shilshole on Sunday.
The conditions couldn’t have been much better than they were – Sunny skies (don’t forget to tell people it always rains in Seattle), solid winds out of the North and Northwest holding boats in the top of their #1, into their #2 or some of the lightweights and all of the non-overlapping boats on their small jibs, and just enough incoming current to make all these shorthanded boats stay within that narrow strip of eddying current near shore, unable to battle the 2+ knots of negative current in the deeper water just a few hundred yards offshore. I overheard one sailor say that things could only have been better if the current had been with us, and in true scandahuvian fashion herd this reply - “That would have been too easy! Where is the challenge if you just had to boatspeed straight up the middle of the sound? It would have been boring if the current was with us!” Things were definitely not boring with the strong incoming tide Saturday and the equally strong ebbing current on Sunday. “Words are insufficient to describe the beauty of this race,” says Steve Sponar, sailing aboard his Harbor 25 Gypsy’s Child. “If you saw the spectacle of over 100 yachts flying spinnakers sailing into Shilshole using Mount Rainier as their landmark, you have a sense of what I mean. It was as though God had decorated his Christmas tree over the weekend and the bulbs had fallen into Puget Sound on Sunday afternoon - SPECTACULAR!”
As a pursuit race the slower rated boats start first and Saturday morning, just after 8am, the first boats began sailing across the start line and continued until a bit after 10am when the fastest rated boat in the fleet, the J/145 Jedi joined the fun and began chasing down their competition. No easy feat for them as the ebbing current was just beginning to wane and they had to search for clear lanes through the bad air of the 106 boats that started in front of them while at the same time control those big sails on a 48’ boat with overlapping genoas and just two people. They pushed her hard and were mid fleet by the time they reached the halfway buoy at Double Bluff, and this is where the crowds developed.Now fully into the flooding current on a Northwesterly breeze, the fleet had long port tacks on the lee shore of Whidbey Island and short starboard tacks to the current line before flopping back onto port and searching for the next starboard boat coming off the beach. A hectic and body thrashing beat with the fear of running aground on one side, super negative current on the other with constant avoidance of collision in between, otherwise known in Scandahuvian as “Good Times!”
Boats began peeling off towards Marrowstone Island about half a mile from Bush Point and up until the point, one, then another, then a couple more peeled out of the crowds towards current relief and clear wind lanes up under Marrowstone Island. The winds weren’t as strong over there but the clear lanes were huge, the eddy was moving north at 2 knots in spots and most importantly it was the shortest way across Admiralty inlet. Needless to say, that the boats that finished first on the day, the boats that put some serious time on the rest of the boats in their classes were on the Marrowstone side (along with the only single handed sailor in the fleet, Dan Wierman aboard his J/35 Great White). And none played this better than the big J/145 Jedi, starting last, working their way through the entire fleet of 107 boats and crossing the finish line first in Port Townsend with over 7 minutes to spare on the next boat to cross the line, William Weinstein’s Riptide 35 Terremoto. The fleet then charged in across the finish line off the Point Hudson marina, dropped sails and meandered into one of the most perfectly orchestrated marina packing the sailors of the PNW have ever seen. Imagine an empty marina basin that normally berths 70 boats filling up in under 3 hours with 107 tired and elated double handed sailors and doing it all without incident. Well played STYC, your docking group deserves a big round of applause. With the last boat finishing less than 2 minutes from the 7pm time limit there was only a short pause before dinner at the Northwest Maritime Center, just a hop skip and jump from the docked boats. Dinner and libation, stories and laughter, awards and friendly ribbing and before anyone knew it the clock had ticked past 10pm and the now tired and food coma’d crowd of double handed sailors was down for the count, looking for a moments rest before the first start, just after 8am Sunday morning.
By dawn the bay was glassed over with just a ripple showing from the vast amounts of water moving North, out of Admiralty Inlet, into the straits of Juan De Fuca, exactly the opposite direction the fleet wants to go. By the first start the winds were building, pushing over 6 knots but the early boats had to deal with the current, still running strong after max ebb. Up under the North side of Marrowstone they went, slip along the north side of the lighthouse and then BAM, into the negative current they went. Simply going 10’ too far to the east and into the current meant you were assed out the back. If you turned just at the point, close enough to high five someone on the beach it paid big time and you were off to towards the south end of Marrowstone before even thinking about crossing the current to the halfway mark at Double Bluff. 
The early boats had so much ebbing current to deal with they continued sailing south past the south end of Marrowstone almost halfway across the opening to Hood Canal before reaching up and putting their bow into the current in a valiant attempt to make it across the sound to the halfway point. Boats that had bailed off Marrowstone early were swept back to Bush point before reaching the eddies along the eastern shore and squaring their pole back again for Double Bluff. By this point everyone had started, the winds were building from behind and fast boats were working through the fleet like nobody’s business.First around the Double Bluff buoy was the Columbia 26 Tuesday followed by a few more of the early starters and everyone began reaching across the opening towards Point No Point – then the commercial traffic came through. First just a tug and tow, then a few minutes later a freighter, another tug and tow along with a big commercial fisher. Tough to deal with in light air, as things had dropped down to 4 or 5 knots, and against the current but the fleet split, either reaching up or gybing away, tactics dictated by commercial traffic, more good times!
Once across and around Point No Point the incoming tide finally began pushing in along the western shore, combined with the building breeze it was off to the races again, this time keeping left for the flooding current, not to stay in the eddies. By Apple Tree Point, the Riptide 35 Terremoto slipped out into the lead and kept the pedal down as they went across downtown Kingston. But just behind them the new J/88 demo boat broke out of the pack and began pacing the Riptide across the sound in the now Northeasterly breeze and taking 2nd to finish a solid 9 and half minutes behind Terremoto but just 20 seconds in front of the Custom 40 Madrona. The First boat came across the finish line just after 2pm Sunday and the entire fleet finished before 4:30pm with tactical current driven decisions over the entire 30+ mile course. A true challenge for any boat racing crew and even a greater challenge for double handing – imagine racing with your spouse or kid! Truly a bonding experience for anyone that does this race, especially if one of the two remembered to bring along some Advil.” Thanks for the contribution Ben!Here is how it all went down for each of 17+ classes and the fourteen models of J/Boats (yes, that many in PNW sail all the time)!! Class 1, Singlehanded flying sails, was won by Dan Wierman aboard his J/35 GREAT WHITE (he was the only single hander). Class 2 Double-handed No Flying Sails division was dominated by the big blue J/145 JEDI owned by John Tenneson (they also won the “No Flying Sails” Division Overall (no flying sails means no spinnakers).
In Class 4, Double Handed Flying Sails (DHFS), the J/122 JOY RIDE sailed by John Murkowski took 4th while the J/133 TANGO sailed by B. Duchin & K. Sheldon took 5th. For Class 5 DHFS, Justin & Christina Wolfe aboard their J/120 SHEARWATER smoked the fleet on corrected by 10 minutes while stablemate J/120 HINZITE took 4th.Class 6 DHFS saw the J/36 MONKEY BONES sailed by Jason Andrews go fast and take 2nd! Class 7 was the J/105 One Design Class sailing DHFS. First boat home was Erik Kristen’s JUBLIEE, 2nd was Matthew & Tessa Gardner-Brown’s DULCINEA and 3rd were Henderson & Barber aboard DELIRIUM.
Class 8 DHFS was won by the brand new J/88 sailed by Bob Ross and his son! Third was Tom Mitchell’s super clean J/35c WILDFLOWER.
Class 9 DHFS saw Mike Green’s J/80 JOLLY GREEN finish 4th.
Class 10 DHFS was the clash of the J/27s and J/30s! Winning this year was the super slick J/27 LXIII, owned by Dennis Clark. Second was Andy & Jaime Mack’s J/27 TRUE NORTH while third went to A Felon & G Wolf’s J/30 CONRAD J- a clean sweep by J/Teams! Fifth was Leo Morales’ J/27 WIZARD and 6th ad Theo Siingelis’ J/30 TAKU. Class 14 DHFS had Mark & Nikki Daniel’s classic J/24 ROSHAMBO take fourth place. Sailing photo credits (and order prints from)- Jan Anderson For more Sloop Tavern YC Race To The Straits sailing information
Salomon Aces J/80 Grand Prix Guyader!(Douarnenez, France)- The next stage of the “Coupe de France” French J/80 Championship Series took place off Douarnenez, France. Sixteen incredibly competitive teams participated in the event, many of whom had already sailed in the SPI Ouest Intermarche over the Easter Weekend in La Trinite sur Mer. Proving that their excellent performance at SPI Ouest was no fluke, Matthieu Salomon’s team on CHARIOT PLUS/ VANNES UTILITAIRE (Quentin Delapierre, Quentin Ponroy, Remy Dupont and Elliott Coville) sailed a remarkable series, winning 9 of 9 races- a perfect score! And, that was against some of the best J/80 teams sailing in France. To some teams it was a bit of a shock, to others it was simply evidence that Salomon is a rising star in French sailing.
After a light day of sailing on the first day, the P.R.O. Jean Coadou managed to off three races per day for the last two days in fairly breezy conditions- 15-20 kts gusting to 25 kts at times. It was heard by some sailors that Salomon’s CHARIOT PLUS team must’ve been powered by “Kouign-Amann”! An outrageously delicious pastry that tantalizes the senses and provides one great energy! This is the specialty of Douarnenez; this inimitable cake was invented by accident in 1860 by a Douarnenez baker, Yves-René Scordia. Its preparation is deemed difficult, but pastry chefs simply say “perseverance is key!” The tasting that follows is a naturally delight for the taste buds!
"We are happy with our performance,” said Mathieu Solomon, "it was a beautiful championship with beautiful conditions all weekend. We were rarely in trouble, even in the last race!”
As top woman skipper and also taking second overall was Maxime Mesnil from YC Cherbourg, skipper of CO-PILOTES and her team of Sophie Faguet, Yann Chateau and Loic Flocher. She scored 28 pts net to just beat Marc Noesmoen’s TEAM VENDEE crew comprised of Gatien Planson, Joris Cocaud, Hanna Revzin and Loic Orland Barisset from SN Sablais. Fourth was the familiar team of GANJA, skippered by Luc Nadal from NDCV Angers and fifth was another familiar face- Herve Leduc’s PIERRE OCEANE from SR Rochelaises.
The next event on the Coupe de France J/80 is on May 14-17 at the Grand Prix Ecole Navale in Camaret. Forty-four boats are already registered and more are promising to come! Thanks for report from Hervé LEDUC & Damien ZUCCONI. For more GP Guyader sailing information
LA SUPERBA “Four-peats” J/24 Trofeo Accademia Navale(Livorno, Italy)- After a slow start on the first day, six races were completed in the final two days to make for another great event on the third act of the J/24 National Circuit- the 32nd Trofeo Accademia Navale & City of Livorno.
Posting their fourth consecutive win in the TAN event was Ignazio Bonanno’s LA SUPERBA team. "It was a TAN characterized by little wind and not many participants, but the presence of Team ROTOMAN provided us a strong test and good practice before the J/24 National Championship to be held in late May in Cala Galera,” commented helmsman Bonnano. “Since the first race, it was a battle between JAMAICA, ROTOMAN and ourselves on LA SUPERBA. It has been very technical and tactical races and we are, of course, very pleased to have won this year's Naval Academy Trophy.””
The silver went to the German team on ROTOMAN from Bayerischer Segel-club in Hamburg. Sailing aboard was President of the German J/24 Class German Jan-Marc Ulrich and skipper Tobias Feuerherdt with crew Lukas Feuerherdt, Tobias Peters and Wolfgang Panuschka. Taking third in the regatta, coincidentally, was the President of the Italian J/24 Class, Peter Diamanti, sailing JAMAICA with crew of Gianluca Caridi, the bowman Fabrizio Ginesi and Sig. Paul and Joseph Garofalo.
One step off the podium was BLUE FLAMES, sailed by the local Livorno team of Fabio Delicate at the helm, tactician Marco Vincenti, Giuseppe Incatasciato tailer, the pitman Francesco Maglioccola and the bowman Roberto Comfortable Ballant. Following them in fifth overall was TALLY HO owned by Roberta Banfo and skippered by Luca Macchiarini with crew Antonio Criscuolo, Carlo Caleo, Massimo Vatteroni, Vincenzo De Meo.
The attention of all the Italian J/24 fleet now turns to the 35th J/24 National Championship to be held from May 30 to June 2, under the careful direction of the Club Nautico Vela Argentario (who had previously hosted the event in '88, in 2000 and '06) in collaboration with the J24 Class Association and the Municipality of Monte Argentario. The class expects more than 50 teams from all over Italy (as well as those from Germany, Hungary and the United States) to be docked at Marina di Cala Galera. Sailing photo credits- Leonardo Boncioli (and Andrea Berti) Laboratory Photo Academy For more Italian J/24 Class sailing information
Awesome J/80 Sailing @ EDHEC Sailing Cup(La Rochelle, France)- Originally created by 3 students from the French Business School EDHEC in 1968, the EDHEC Sailing Cup is now organized by 50 students and has become the leading student sporting event in Europe. Older than the Vendée Globe or the Volvo Ocean Race, the EDHEC Sailing Cup has always been a leader in top-level student regattas. This year, the largest student regatta in the world held its 47th edition in the harbor of La Rochelle, France, on the French Atlantic coast, from April 24 to May 2, 2015. As the leading student sporting event in Europe, it had over 3,000 participants coming from more than 160 schools and universities from 23 countries.
Since its creation, the organization has been trying to promote sailing beyond the limits of the yachting world: the Land Trophy, the Sand Trophy, and the Air Trophy, have been created to enable our sailor participants’ friends to join them in this adventure. 180 boats are sailing, including a huge fleet of J/80s.
The thirty-one schools from across Europe managed to sail six races over the course of three days. In the end, it was the ENSM LE HAVRE team skippered by Corentin Bornet that sailed an extremely consistent series, posting all finishes in the top seven (6-1-7-1-4-3) to win the series. Pushing hard and winning the last race was TEAM VOILE CENTRALES NANTES skippered by Lazio Horvath, taking the silver for their hard-earned efforts. Third place went to the HEC CEGEREAL SOPRA STERIA team led by Pierre Rhimbault. Rounding out the top five were IESEG VOILE I with helm Eric Brezellec in fourth and in fifth was ICAM VOILE BANQUE POPULAIRE 100% with Zenon Peneau steering. Watch the EDHEC Sailing video summary here! For more EDHEC Sailing Cup information
Gorgeous Sailing @ Antigua!(English Harbour, Antigua)- The final day of the 48th edition of Antigua Sailing Week was blessed with amazing conditions, 20 knots of trade winds, pumping down the rugged south coast of Antigua, kicking up a sea state in brilliant tropical sunshine. It was the exclamation point on yet another legendary week of partying and racing in the fabulous sailing conditions around Antigua.
“We’re absolutely delighted with how the racing went this week. The on-the-water race management was excellent and the competitors were very happy. We were challenged by light southerly winds all week and had to come up with an additional 15 courses right before the start of racing to ensure that we had some windward-leeward legs and not all reaching. We scrambled a little but the courses worked very well and the feedback from the sailors has been excellent!” commented Kathy Lammers, Chairman, Regatta Organising Committee.
Taking home silverware in CSA 3 Racing was Nigel Passmore’s J/133 APOLLO VII with a modified scoreline after a somewhat specious rating protest by a competitor. Instead of winning, Nigel’s team took third overall in the regatta after the re-scoring. 5th was Jonathan Bamberger’s J/145c SPITFIRE from Canada. CSA 5 Racing saw Martin Kennedy’s J/120 SUNSET CHILD sail better and better as the week went on and ended up in sixth overall.
CSA 6 Racing was extremely tight for the top five places. After a slow start, David Cullen’s J/109 POCKET ROCKET from Ireland sailed well to take third overall and add even more silverware to the trophy room. Starting out strong, but fading a bit was Robbie Ferron’s J/39 OSSENFEFFER from Roadtown, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, finishing 5th in class.
Then, in CSA 8 Racing it was the perennial Antiguan contender for class honors, Tanner Jones’ J/30 BLUE PETER that took 5th in class on a steady diet of 4th place finishes. For more Antigua Race Week sailing information & results
Canadians Crush J/24 J-Daze Regatta(Canandaigua, NY)- A right of spring in northern New York state is for all sailboats to be pulled out of their sheds and covers removed so that all sailors young and old can enjoy the few brief weeks they have on their gorgeous lakes nestled into the mountains. While few people in the world are familiar with the region, perhaps the two most famous sailing lakes are Lake George and the Finger Lakes (a series of lakes that looks like some giants’ hand was pushed into the mud). One of those “fingers” is Lake Canandaigua and encamped along it shore is the famous Canandaigua Yacht Club.
A few hundred “blue moons” ago, the CYC decided to create another rite of spring for sailors, the “J-Daze Regatta”, for those sailors just awaking from the daze of another deep, dark winter season, exhausted from moving several tons of snow from their driveways, roods and sidewalks, not to mention digging their cars out of yet another 25 foot snow drift.
Lovin’ the first regatta of the sailing season this year was a bunch of hardy Canadians from Royal St Lawrence YC way the heck up yonder, like almost near the tundra and Hudson Bay like “yonder”. Having survived an even more bitterly cold winter than their hapless friends in New York, these guys were raring to go in “sunny, south of the Canadian border” sailing conditions (e.g. anything above O C/ 32 F!! It was Peter Hall’s crew on LAAKEA that took home all the bacon and claimed the crown for this year’s J-Daze Regatta. Beating 26 well-sailed, experienced J/24 teams is never easy, but Peter and crew managed to pull it off against a fleet that included J/24 National, North American and World Champions!
Taking second was a local team from Oswego YC, Skyler Munger sailing PT BLISTER. A familiar face took third, Travis Odenbach’s HONEYBADGER from Rochester YC in New York. Tom Doran’s crew on OZ, another local, snapped up fourth place by a whisker. Then lying fifth was a top dog in the J/24 class- Mike Ingham from Rochester Canoe Club sailing NAUTALITIC.
Fun and games were had by all on Saturday night, as usual. It’s hard not to like the amazing hospitality the clubs on New York’s hidden lakes provide to their sailors. If you missed this one, then don’t miss the one on Lake George! To give you an idea of what it’s like- watch this J/24 YouTube sailing video For more J/Daze Regatta sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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* A J/24 Ghost-ship Gliding across Lake Washington? Perhaps! Said Sailing Anarchist “Chris”, “We put up a nice, beautifully filmed, light air video. We like this one better! Light air and rain make the beer taste better.” Which one do you like best?Take 1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFKaMKrUy7Y
Remix Take 1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYgV3xdssbI
* Welcome to the Adventure! With the Volvo Ocean Race fleet completing their leg from Brazil to Newport, USA this week, creating a world-class welcome has required the work of a world-class shore team. Brad Read, the executive director of Sail Newport (overseeing the fleet of thirteen J/22s), is also the director of the Volvo Ocean Race Newport Stopover.This is a welcome that has been more than two years in the making. Read has been focused on a million little details, and as a former College Sailor of the Year, J/40 cruising yacht owner and J/24 World Champion, he has used everything he learned on the water to prepare this event on land.
He said, “This stopover represents two years of work, with the bid process for everything from security to concessions to creating great interactive exhibits featuring the health of the ocean. We had eight subcommittees with the primary focus of making the event great, from creating a sustainable green event, to the marine side, to making sure boaters are safe, to logistics and concessions.”
The Volvo Ocean Race village is made up of 100 containers that were shipped from Auckland, New Zealand to Philadelphia, Pa. From there, the containers were trucked to Newport. Cranes carefully place each one in its precise spot.
“It’s like a giant game of Jenga,” said Read. He cannot do this job alone, and his shore crew is as accomplished as any bowman aboard a race boat.
Before he submitted Newport’s stopover bid, Read made sure a woman known as “Suma” was on his team. The race village manager, Sue Maffei Plowden from Jamestown, RI, stands just 5’ 4” tall but is a giant in the world of international sailing event management.
A graduate of URI, Suma ran the America’s Cup World Series in Newport in 2012 and has played an instrumental role in making sure Newport is prepared before the arrival of the race boats. “She has an amazing way of getting things done,” said Read.
Suma, who has produced America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race events all over the world, is thrilled to be working in her own backyard. She said, “This is such a fantastic venue. The sailors love Newport. It’s historic and unique, there’s nothing really like it.”
For the past two months, the preparations for the Newport Stopover have been nonstop. More than anything, the hometown sailors hope to see you in the village for their arrival. Except for Alvimedica reporter Amory Ross. As soon as he hits the shore, he’s making a beeline over to Newport Creamery for an Awful Awful, and then to Dunkin’ for an extra-large coffee and two glazed doughnuts.
Thanks for contribution from Joe Berkeley, Newport This Week
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.
* The J/40 HERON REACH sailed by Virginia and Jerry is participating in the Blue Planet Odyssey project and have recently joined them in the Marquesas Islands in the Eastern Pacific. Learn more about their adventures and experiences here- http://heronreachodyssey.blogspot.com/
* 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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