Newport Boat Show- Displaying J/70, J/88 and J/112E(Newport, RI)- J/Boats is looking forward to a great turnout for the Newport International Boat Show from September 15th to 18th. The J/112E will be making its East Coast boat show debut at this event, and will be on display with the J/88 family speedster and the world’s fastest growing sportsboat class- the International J/70.
The Famous J/70 Sportsboat- One Thousand One Hundred Boats Strong!!
The J/70 is J/Boats’ first slipway-launchable keelboat- designed to fulfill the growing need for an easy-to-own, high-performance one-design, that is exciting to sail, stable enough sailboat for the family, and built to last. A natural evolution of its J pedigree, the J/70’s 7m of sailing length with high aspect, all carbon rig and deep lifting keel, provides spirited performance and stability that feels like a much larger boat.
The Remarkably Fast J/88 Family SpeedsterThe J/88 has achieved extraordinary performances offshore in 2016, including winning her class in the Chicago to Mackinac Race, the Queens Cup Race, the Waukegan Race, the Tri-State Race and the Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race. Learn more about this “pocket rocket” and why she is both fun to sail one-design racing, but an absolute scream to sail fast in offshore planing conditions that start in just the 8-10 kts wind range!
The NEW J/112E Sport Cruiser Redefines Elegance & Performance!Nominated for European Yacht of the Year 2017, the J/112E is the newest addition to the J/Boats “E” Series of versatile performance sailing yachts. A welcome 36 feet in length, she features a spacious two-cabin accommodation plan and a comfortable, ergonomic cockpit. The J/112E is as well suited for the annual family cruise as she is racing in the local club regatta or short-handing through rough weather. Please visit us in Newport to view these gorgeous sailing yachts. For more Newport Boat Show information
Rolex Big Boat Series Preview(San Francisco, CA)- Since it began in 1964, the Big Boat Series has been widely recognized as the premier West Coast regatta. Never content to rest on its laurels, it’s no surprise that—in its 52nd edition—this will be the largest Big Boat Series ever, with a record-setting 127 entries. 2016 also marks the regatta’s 12th year of sponsorship by Rolex, a company that continually brings the Big Boat Series to the next level with world-class socials.
This year’s fleet will showcase the variety of boats that grand-prix racing offers these days. In addition to several sizable one-design classes, there will sportboats, and ORR-rated boats; included in the fleet are thirty-eight J/70s and twenty-six J/105s- fully 61.0% of the overall entry field!!
For many J/70 sailors, Rolex Big Boat Series will be a Pre-Worlds event, as the ALCATEL J/70 Worlds begins on San Francisco Bay on September 24. The J/105s will be hotly contested as they have been duking it out all summer, most recently at the Aldo Alessio Regatta where 19 J/105s raced in a challenging flood tide.
To accommodate this massive fleet, the Race Committee will set courses in three areas: Berkeley Circle, Alcatraz and Cityfront. Races will be a combination of round-the-buoys and Bay tours and the majority of finishes will occur just off the club’s Race Deck, in true Big Boat Series style.
“The Big Boat Series is here to give the sailors what they want,” said St. Francis Yacht Club Commodore, Kimball Livingston. “The first time out, 52 years ago, wooden boats fit that description. We’ve been through aluminum, fiberglass and carbon fiber. Today, boats are twice as fast and getting faster. Any way you go at it, San Francisco Bay tastes nasty, and there’s no better place to sail.”
With the upcoming Worlds, the J/70 class is loaded with talent. Returning from their fleet in Valle de Bravo, Mexico is the current World Champion, Julian Fernandez Neckelmann on FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO, joining him is part of his 2015 championship crew- Bill Hardesty and Willem van Waay from San Diego, CA. An equally talented crew that just won the most recent San Francisco J/70 event is Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT from Lake Minnetonka, MN, featuring America’s Cup tactician and past J/24 World Champion John Kostecki from San Francisco, CA. Many other top teams will be looking forward to sparring with these two teams, including Jud Smith’s AFRICA from Marblehead, MA (Etchells 22 World Champion); Per Von Appen’s Chilean National Champion team on BLACK SAILS; Mauricio Santa Cruz’s crew on BRUSCHETTA from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (4x J/24 World Champion); Bob Hughes’ HEARTBREAKER team from Ada, MI (Farr 40 Great Lakes & North American Champion); Bennett Greenwald’s San Diego crew on PERSEVERANCE; Dan & Gannon Troutman, the father/son team on PIED PIPER from Gloucester, VA; Peter Vessella’s local St Francis YC team on RUNNING WILD (Star World Champion); Brian Keane’s SAVASANA team from Boston, MA (J/105 Midwinter & J/80 World Champion); and Shawn Bennett’s local team from San Francisco on USA 32. Top Corinthians teams include Joe Bardenheier and Heather Gregg’s MUSE from Boston, MA and Jim Cunningham’s LIFTED from San Francisco.
As usual, the 26-boat strong J/105 fleet will also feature spirited competition on the Bay with a total of EIGHT Rolex Submariner watch winners from past Big Boat Series sprinkled throughout the fleet! Top crews include Bruce Stone & Nicole Breault’s ARBITRAGE, Ryan Simmons’ BLACKHAWK, Shannon Ryan & Rolf Kaiser’s DONKEY JACK, Phil Laby’s GODOT, Adam Spiegel’s JAM SESSION, Jeff Litfin’s MOJO and Jason Woodley & Scott Whitney’s RISK.A small but highly competitive fleet of J/120s will be going at it “hammer & tong” in the close quarters of the Bay. Which crew will have it going on this year? Who knows, it all boils down to tacticians, main trim and superior crew work! Hoping to have that magic combination are Tom Grennan’s KOOKABURRA, Steve Madeira’s green machine- MR MAGOO, Timo Bruck’s TWIST, Barry Lewis’ CHANCE or Dave Halliwill’s PEREGRINE.
Sailing PHRF Sportboat division will be a trio of J/88s taking on a Soto 30, M32s and Farr36s. Those teams are Gary Panariello’s COURAGEOUS, Marc McMorris’ M-SQUARED, and Jim Hopp’s WHITE SHADOW.
In the ORR B class, it is going to be a complete shoot-out between the fast J/sprit machines- two J/125s and four J/111s! Top West Coast J/125 teams on the starting line are Tim Fuller’s RESOLUTE from San Diego YC and Viggo Torbensen’s TIMESHAVER from Dana Point YC. The J/111s include Gorkem Ozcelebi’s DOUBLE DIGIT, Dick Swanson’s BAD DOG, Peter Wagner’s TOPZY TURVY (recently 2nd at the J/111 Worlds in Cowes, England), and Nesrin Basoz’s SWIFT NESS. For more Rolex Big Boat Series sailing information
J/105 Canadian Championship Preview(Toronto, ONT)- The J/105 Canadian Championships is taking place at the Royal Canadian YC from September 15th - 18th, 2016. A total of 9 races are planned for the seventeen-boat fleet. Up to four races may be held on any race day. The sailors can expect the volunteers and staff at RCYC to roll out the proverbial red carpet, something the RCYC is famous for as one of the world’s most prestigious yacht clubs.
The star-studded fleet that has assembled includes Terry McLaughlin (Canadian Flying Dutchman Olympic Medallist, 2015 J/105 North American Champion and two-time New York YC Invitational Cup Champion) sailing with his friend Rod Wilmer on MANDATE. Other top Canadian crews include past J/105 North American Champion Jim Rathbun on HEY JUDE; Mike Mountford’s LIVE EDGE (a past Canadian J/105 Champion); Gavin Disney’s THE USUAL SUSPECTS; and Peter McDermott Hall’s JAMAICA ME CRAZY. Many of these crews will see this event as a good warm-up for the upcoming 2016 J/105 North American Championship being sailed in mid-October at Larchmont YC in Larchmont, New York. For more J/105 Canadian Championship sailing information
J/24 World Championship Preview(Wakayama, Japan)- Forty-four J/24 teams are gathering together from eight nations for the J/24 World Championship in Wakayama Japan. The competition begins Monday, September 19 and continues through Friday, September 23 for the entrants representing Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Korea, Peru, Singapore and the USA. The host, Wakayama Sailing Club, is excited to host this major event for the first time in over a decade in Japan. Teams are already in Japan practicing and preparing for the regatta.
The talent-laden fleet has an amazing cross-section of J/24 teams from around the world. For example, the Australian National Champion, “the Black Prince of Sandringham”- David Suda, is making an appearance on the equally infamous PACEMAKER. Then, past multiple European Champion, Stu Jardine, will be bringing along a bunch of his fast mates from the United Kingdom to sail yet another incarnation of TEAM STOUCHE UK! From Germany is Stephan Mais’ RUNNING MEN and Dan Frost’s JJ-ONE. From Korea’s fleet in Seoul are June Lee’s SUP SUP HAE, Nabyul Ha’s SUMMER SANTA, and Cheol Park Ki’s ULSAN COLLEGE. Vladimir Borstnar’s SINGAPORE is sailing for Singapore, of course. The four USA teams are formidable quartet, including the freshly-minted 2016 J/24 North American Champion Will Welles on COUGAR. Welles’ nemesis that tied him on points for the N.A. title in Toronto, Canada will also be racing- Travis Odenbach’s SEA BAGS SAILING TEAM. Finally, two top West coast boats will be in the mix, like Mark Laura’s BABA LOUIE from Seattle, WA and Mike Johnson’s PEARL.The Japanese fleet is showing up with over twenty boats on the starting line. Familiar teams include Tokuma Takesue’s GEKKO, Tuji Hiromoto’s WHITE SQUALL, Yoichi Matsumoto’s JELLYFISH and Hidetaka Nakanishi’s BLACK PEARL. For more J/24 World Championship sailing information
Long Island Sound Championship Preview(Riverside, CT)- The Storm Trysail Club and Riverside YC are hosting the 2016 Long Island Championships for IRC/ PHRF and one-design classes like J/70s, J/88s, J/105s and J/109s this coming weekend from September 17th to 18th in western Long Island Sound
The J/105 fleet will feature nine teams that are all practicing for the upcoming J/105 North Americans in Larchmont, New York. Top teams include LOULOU (Paul Beaudin from Harlem YC in New York, NY), George & Alex Wilbanks’ REVELATION from Cedar Point YC from Westport, CT, and Mark Masur’s TWO FEATHERS from Fort Worth Boat Club in Fort Worth, TX.
Also practicing hard for their upcoming J/88 North American at American YC in New York are a half-dozen J/88’s. Based on recent developments within this fleet, it’s incredibly difficult to “handicap” the top boats as virtually every team has either won or hopped onto the podium in this summer’s larger regattas. The teams include Iris Vogel’s DEVIATION from Huguenot YC in New Rochelle, NY; Ken & Drew Hall’s NEVERMORE from Riverside YC in Riverside, CT; Kevin Marks’ VELOCITY from Noroton YC in Darien, CT; John Pearson’s RED SKY from Setauket YC in Setauket NY; Mike Bruno’s WINGS from American YC in Rye, NY; and Doug Newhouse’s YONDER from New York YC in Newport, RI. Between this assemblage of crews are the winners of the J/88 Midwinters in Key West, Charleston Race Week, New York YC Race Week, J/Fest Regatta, Sail Newport Regatta and Cedar Point One-Design Regatta!The J/109 class will feature top crews like Chris Ercole’s SWEET CAROLINE from Hempstead Harbour YC and Carl Olsson’s MORNING GLORY from Larchmont YC (a recent top boat in the Stamford Vineyard Race).
The J/70 teams will include the Quantum Winter Series Overall Champions, John & Molly Baxter’s VINEYARD VINES from Riverside YC. Finally, in PHRF Class 2 are a mix of J/crews, including Bill Maher & Reuven Latovitzki’s J/29 RIFT from LHYC in Huntington, NY; Mark Parry’s J/35 BLUE MOUSE from Riverside YC; and Jaso Viseltear’s J/80 UPSETTER from Huguenot YC. Sailing photo credits- John Lincourt. For more Long Island Sound Championship sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
It always seems that August is a somewhat “sleepy” month for sailing in most parts of the world due to the heavy emphasis on the end of the long summer holidays and getting kids back to school, at least for those in the northern hemispheres. However, as the first weekend of September hits, someone has flipped the proverbial switch and there’s lots of activity everywhere in both North America and Europe.There was an insane amount of J/70 sailing taking place across continental Europe, a tribute to the massive popularity of the quickly-growing class in over a dozen European countries. In Scandinavia alone, there were THIRTY-SIX sailing clubs participating in J/70 sailing leagues; the Norwegian Sailing League finale, Act IV, took place in Bergen, Norway while the Swedish Sailing League finale, Act IV, took place in Gothenburg, Sweden. South of them, the ALCALTEL J/70 CUP for the Italian J/70 National Championship series concluded on Lago di Garda with the amazing Fraglia Vela Riva hosting the event. Also, completed was the ALPEN CUP, emblematic of the Lago di Garda Champion sailed at Malcesine and Riva del Garda in the northern parts of that gorgeous mountain lake in northern Italy. Over in the southwestern parts of the Baltic Sea, the German J/80 Nationals took place in Glucksburg, Germany; the J/80s were sailing in conjunction with the Flensburger Förde Woche. A bit of offshore activity had also taken place over a fortnight in Tjorn, Sweden. First was the famous Tjorn Runt Race (a round island affair) that featured two very fast, very well sailed J/111s. Then, the following weekend, the Tjorn Singlehanded Race was sailed by the famous J/111- BLUR.SE
Hopping over the Atlantic to the northeastern part of continental North America, we find J/24s sailing everywhere. The biggest event was the J/24 North Americans sailed at Port Credit YC in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada- a pretty suburb west of Toronto on Lake Ontario. Then a few dozen hardy souls were sailing the J/24 Downeast Regatta in Portland, Maine, hosted by Portland YC and sailed on the Gulf of Maine. Down south in the Chesapeake Bay, there was hot & heavy action at the U.S. Women’s Match Race Championship sailed on J/22s, hosted by Annapolis YC.
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:
Sep 15-18- Rolex Big Boat Series- San Francisco, CASep 16-18- Netherlands J/22 Nationals- Hoorn, The Netherlands
Sep 17-19- J/105 Canadian Championship- Toronto, ONT
Sep 19-23- J/24 World Championship- Wakayama, Japan
Sep 22-25- SAILING Champions League (J/70s)- Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy
Sep 22-25- J/70 Canadian Championship- Halifax, Nova Scotia
Sep 23-25- J/30 North Americans- Eastport, MD
Sep 24-Oct 1- J/70 World Championship- San Francisco, CA
Sep 24-25- American YC Fall Series- Rye, NY
Oct 1-2- J/88 North American Championship- Rye, NY
Oct 1-2- J/22 East Coast Championship- Annapolis, MD
Oct 7-8- San Diego to Ensenada Race- San Diego, CA
Oct 7-9- US Match Racing Championship (J22)- San Diego, CA
Oct 12-15- US Adult Sailing Championship (J22)- San Diego, CA
Oct 15-16- Cleveland (216) Regatta- Cleveland, OH
Oct 20-23- J/105 North American Championship- Larchmont, NY
Oct 21-23- J/105 Masters Regatta- San Diego, CA
Oct 28-30- J/105 Lipton Cup- San Diego, CA
Oct 28-30- J/Fest Southwest Regatta- Seabrook, TX
Oct 29-Nov 1- French J/80 Nationals- Pornichet, France
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
COUGAR Fights For J/24 North American Crown(Port Credit, Ontario, Canada)- You could not have scripted a more dramatic, anxiety-ridden finale to the 2016 driveHG.ca J/24 North American Championship at Port Credit Yacht Club in Mississauga, Ontario Canada. After nine races, Will Welles’ COUGAR and Travis Odenbach’s HONEY BADGER/ SEA BAGS SAILING TEAM were tied at 28 points, with Welles winning the tie-breaker and the Championship. The hot local Canadian team, Rossi Milev’s CLEAR AIR, lived up to their billing, pushing the two leaders hard throughout the regatta but ultimately taking the final position on the podium to take the bronze with 49 points.
Day One- Gorgeous OpenerWelles’ COUGAR bookended two bullets on the opening day. Despite an 8th in Friday’s middle contest, Welles’ first-place tallies in races one and three gave him 10 points and the early advantage in the 46-boat fleet. Even Petley-Jones’ LIFTED stood three points back in second (8,2,3), and Odenbach was in third with 16 points (9,5,2).
Teams tolerated a brief on-water postponement in the morning, until the breeze filled at 6-8 knots. Following Welles in the first battle were local Milev’s CLEAR AIR and James Freedman’s MISS CONDUCT. Todd Fedyszn’s SPOONY TACTICS earned line honors in the next race, trailed by Petley-Jones and Milev. Welles secured the day’s overall lead by winning the last meeting, as Odenbach recorded his best finish thus far with Petley-Jones rounding out the top three.
Day Two- Thriller @ SeaSaturday saw building winds and waves over the four races that provided exciting surfing finishes and changes to the leaderboard.
Winning a bullet in Race 6, Odenbach (20 points total) moved into first place with 1 point better than Welles’ (21 points). Going into Sunday, there was a tie for third place between Petley-Jones LIFTED and Milev’s CLEAR AIR with 34 points. At that point, the weather looked promising to finish the last three races in the series.
Day Three- The final battleRace 8 started in shifty northwesterly winds building through 15 knots, with Welles taking the bullet to move into first overall. Race Committee PRO Pat Limburger, with one more race available, posted course number 5 with the fleet finishing in front of Port Credit Yacht Club. Race 9 saw Fedyszyn first, Odenbach in third and Welles in sixth— just enough to secure the overall victory. The Masters Trophy went to Chris Stone’s VELOCIDAD. Top female skipper was Natalie Harden’s GIGGLES and Top Female Crew was Erica Beck-Spencer’s SEA BAGS WOMENS SAILING TEAM from Portland, Maine. Top Junior was Michael Howarth’s MR. H. Behind the top three teams, it was Petley-Jones’ LIFTED in fourth place and Aidan Glackin’s MENTAL FLOSS in fifth place. For more J/24 North American Championship sailing information
Triple-crown ALCATEL J/70 Cup Awarded to L’ELAGAIN!(Riva del Garda, Italy)- In Riva del Garda, from September 9th to 11th, the final act of the 2016 ALCATEL J/70 CUP ITALY took place. It was the fourth stage of the season long series and also marked the finale for the ALPEN CUP- emblematic of the Lago di Garda J/70 Champion. So many famous names of sailing were in attendance, like the American Paul Cayard (Star World Champion and America’s Cup skipper) aboard CALVI NETWORK and the multiple J/24 World Champion from Brazil- Mauricio Santa Cruz on BRUSCHETTA.
Thirty-three crews representing nine countries sailed the regatta, hosted by one of Europe’s most famous sailing venues- Fraglia Vela Riva. Crews participated from Spain, Malta, Monaco, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Russia and Brazil.
Franco Solerio’s L’ELAGAIN (with tactician Danele Cassinari) was hoping to repeat last year's win and keep the national title. The San Remo team was being chased hard by Carlo Alberini’s CALVI NETWORK for the overall title. Meanwhile, sitting in third with a mathematical chance at winning the overall title was the top Corinthians crew- Alexander Zampori’s MAGIE DAS Sailing Team. And, they were being hotly pursued by Claudia Rossi’s European Championship team on PETITE TERRIBLE.Day 1
Riva del Garda delivered on the first day of sailing, providing the fleet with winds from 180 deg and blowing 10-12 kts with gusts to over 16 kts- a perfect stage for the savvy competitors. After the first day, Solerio’s crew on L’ELAGAIN jumped into an early lead with 1-5-1 finishes for 7 pts. Working hard to maintain their consistency was the all-star cast on Alberini’s CALVI NETWORK, with tactician Paul Cayard working out the kinks and barely keeping them in the hunt with finishes of 4-6-8 fro 18 pts. The fight for third place ended up in a tie between Rossi’s PETITE TERRIBLE with a daily scoreline of 9-7-5 and the Spanish J/80 World Champion team led by Jose Maria “Pichu” Torcida on NOTICIAS with a tally of 3-10-7 for 20 pts.
Leading the Corinthians division was the Maltese Sebastian Ripard on board CALYPSO. Lying second behind them was Ludovico Fassitelli’s JUNDA from YC Monaco with a 3-3-22 and in third was Diego Negri’s Italian NOTARO Team with a 1-6-24.
Day 2After three more races on the final day, Solerio’s L’ELAGAIN took the Fraglia Vela Riva Act IV and, as a result, won the ALCATEL J/70 CUP overall as well as taking the ALPEN CUP for best Riva del Garda team! Solerio’s team consisted of Daniele Cassinari (tactician), Stefano Orlandi (mainsail trimmer), Roberto Torn (trimmer). By finishing second in Riva del Garda, Rossi’s PETITE TERRIBLE team secured third overall for the season series. Although the Alberini-Cayard combo on CALVI NETWORK finished 3rd on Garda, they still ended up second overall for the season.
Sitting in fourth place was another famous combination in Garda; skipper Michele Galli on B2 with America’s Cup skipper and J/24 World Champion Francesco d’Angelis calling tactics. Fifth in the regatta was Pichu Torcida from Spain on NOTICIAS. For more ALCATEL J/70 Cup sailing information
Menzner King of German J/80 Nationals(Glucksburg, Germany)- A fleet of nineteen J/80s from across Germany participated in their Open J/80 Nationals in Glucksburg as part of Flensburg Sailing Clubs annual Flensburger Förde Woche. Winning by a significant margin due to their average of 1st place was the PIKE Team consisting of Martin Menzner, Mike Rolfs, Nils Beltermann and Frank Lichte.
The regatta was a challenging one for the fleet as only three races could be sailed due to the light winds on the southwestern part of the Baltic Sea. Giving chase but simply not able to keep pace was Hauke Kruss’ TAK FOR TUREN (with crew of Bernd Ehler, Ole Sartori and Malte Krogmann), finishing with a 4-6-2 for 12 pts total.
The battle for the balance of the top five was intense. Due to their 3rd place in the last race (and 8-3-3 record), Olav Jansen’s NORNA snagged the bronze, making for a happy family crew- Finn Jansen, and Mats & Jorn Meyer. Winning the tie-breaker for 4th place was Soren Hadeler’s THE BEAST IS BACK team (Hauke Koller, Peer Schickedanz & Tammo Ocke Koller) and settling for 5th place was Johnny Jensen’s BHJ-FONDEN in 5th place with crew of Brian Lybek, Frederik Jeppesen and Soren Brask. German J/80 Facebook page For more Open German J/80 Nationals sailing information
The “Crow's” Become Swedish Sailing League Champions(Gothenburg, Sweden)- The Swedish Sailing League held its grand finale last weekend in Göteborg. The overall winner was Cape Crow Yacht Club, the team performed consistently well in every regatta this season and the title was well deserved. Kongelig Svenska Segelsällskapet (KSSS Royal Swedish YC) took 2nd and Ekolns Segelklubb was 3rd. It was an exciting weekend racing in the area off Långedrag/Göteborg, with conditions ranging from flat calm to full on fresh breezes!
All weekend long, the KSSS Royal Swedish YC team was determined to repeat their championship title from 2015. However, despite the fact they dominated the regatta, they still could not accumulate enough points over the Cape Crow YC team to pull off the overall win.
In the end, for the club from Hönö outside of Gothenburg, it was truly a team victory. They used 13 sailors in the season's four Acts and after the first weekend in Långedrag had a safe lead. CCYC brought in Anna Östling for the final Act IV, who is currently ranked number one in the world in women's match racing tour, to be one of their top helms.
“I’m glad I got a chance here. The others in the team had set it up so well for us. Going into the last round our team had a good lead, so for me it was just great to be a part of this awesome team,” Anna said after the victory. “It has been an exciting weekend on the water off Långedrag with sometimes a lot of wind and sometimes no wind at all.”Royal Swedish Yacht Club (KSSS), who were second in the overall series, were hoping to challenge for the overall victory. Indeed, they sailed well all weekend and won the weekend's Act IV. But, the Cape Crow team also sailed well and finished second in the regatta- where they always kept a watchful eye on the Royal Swedish Yacht Club.
“It has been very fun to meet the Royal Swedish Yacht Club. They had also mixed many different people into the team, just as we did,” said the Cape Crow sailing team after the race.
Royal Swedish Yacht Club skipper Mikael Lindqvist commented, “We are pleased with our performance, winning the fourth act and the way we won the regatta in the medal race. We did what we had to do, but it was not enough for overall victory this time, so we take our hats off to the ‘Crows’!”
Third place in the Allsvenskan was taken by Ekolns Sailing Club from Uppsala - i.e. one position worse than last year when they were second, very close behind Royal Swedish Yacht Club. For more J/70 Swedish Sailing League information
KNS Golden @ Norwegian Sailing League Final(Bergen, Norway)- Kongelig Norsk Seilforening (KNS) won the last Norwegian Regatta in Bergen last weekend (10-11 September) and in doing so took the overall league title for this season. Congratulations!! Åsgårdstrand Seilforening finished 2nd and Ran Seilforening placed 3rd in the overall ranking.
Going into the final Sunday of the Bergen Act IV, it was Åsgårdstrand that led the overall series score over KNS. However, when Sunday's last race was complete, the KNS team had complete “flip-flopped” the finish order, not only winning the Bergen regatta by only one point but also taking the overall win in the process by one point!!
It was Trondhjems Seilforening that proved to be the big spoiler for ASF’s aspirations to win the overall title. By sailing fast and smart in the last 5 races in Bergen, they took second for the regatta, dropping ASF back into third place- the difference that shifted them out of contention for the overall series win! Bronze in the overall series went to Sunday to the RAN Sailing Club, fourth went to Arendals and fifth went to Trondhjems SF.“This was very tight racing and NSF congratulates the three who secured medals in this first season of the yachting League. Well, actually, so we must all congratulate all the teams that participated in the first full round of yachting League in Norway!” says Espen Guttormsen, Secretary General of the NSF. For more Norwegian J/70 Sailing League information
Exciting J/24 Downeast Regatta Finale!LITTLE MARTHA Missed Life ON THE BEACH!
(Portland, ME)- The 30-4-30 Anniversary J/24 Downeast Regatta was exceptionally fun for all those hardy and lucky souls who made the trek to Portland, Maine for this early fall classic. The outcome of the regatta was determined on the final leg of the last race, with Lee Buress’ ON THE BEACH narrowly beating Chis Clancy’s LITTLE MARTHA at the finish for the overall regatta title and bragging rights for another twelve months as “King of the Down’east’ahs”!
After the first two races on Saturday, it was anyone’s guess what the ultimate outcome was going to be for veterans of this Gulf of Maine event. Buress’ crew had a 3-1, while Clancy had a 4-2, Mark Gardner’s JAM had a 2-4 and Denman/Smith’s AIRODOODLE from Marblehead, MA had a 1-12! That was the top five after the conclusion of the day’s racing on Saturday. Meanwhile, the rest of the top crews had scorelines all over to hell and back!
Clearly, some crews may have had too good a time, perhaps much too good a time, on Saturday night. As Sunday dawned, it was self-evident some crews appeared to be navigating through the “fog” on a clear, sunny day! That perspective was manifest in their extraordinarily insane scorelines. Gardner’s JAM got “jammed”, dropping two 12ths to nose-dive down the standings. Denman/Smith’s roller-coaster ride kept doing just that, posting a 3-20! Consequently, ON THE BEACH sailed clean and fast to win with LITTLE MARTHA second. Third went to John O’Rourke’s SPOOKY, fourth going to former high-flyer JAM and fifth going to a steadily improving Tim Corbett’s ESKIMO SISTERS. For more J/24 Downeast Regatta sailing information
J/111 BLUR.SE Eclipses Tjorn Runt Race(Tjorn, Sweden)- The J/111 BLUR.SE has been notorious for having fun, going fast and collecting a remarkable string of silverware over the past three seasons in European offshore circles sailing both fully-crewed, singlehanded and doublehanded events. Here is Peter Gustafsson’s latest adventure in the Tjorn Runt Race (an around the island of Tjorn) in Sweden.
“Tjörn Runt was a good opportunity to gather the gang again, and it was noticeable on the Friday training and in the bar of Kookaburra--- everyone was happy to be seen, and get together to sail again....
Besides, we liked the weather forecast. Light winds with the possibility of some downwind at sea suits us quite well. It is not that we need it, but with a gennaker so it is nice to be able to sail their angles at sea, rather than being forced to sail dead downwind in narrow straits or narrow fjords. It's more fun if everyone can sail their boats to 100%.
It was 3-4 m/s when we cruised out to the course, but when it was time for the start, it was completely dead. Both where we wanted to start, the far east at Stenungsön, but also down to the west side. It was just the boats in the middle with Edin Progressive, like the J/111 DACAPO that ran away from us.
When we finally got some wind, it was just time to start hunting down our leaders. After our start, went under Tjörnbron. We know we go fast and have good boat handling. To take a chance on something different than all the others would too high a risk so early in the race.We stretched our legs and went fast to Bratton, where we (and almost everyone else) took a route east to get around the island. Then, we went south on a long port tack board.
We were right in the bottom of the pressure that was on the east side and did not have much to gain from stepping up a notch to the west. Now it was just step hard on the gas and go south fast; our position in the middle along with the leading boats in our class felt quite ok.
We picked an experimental Code 1, which did not appear to work properly, and when we could change to our Code 0, we picked up the second J/111 DACAPO. But, soon, they pulled out a whopping Code 1 and snatched away the lead from us again!! We were not happy!
When the wind angles opened a bit again, we went to the A3 and could run on the rhumb line. At this time, DACAPO sailing with her Code 1 had to go high to maintain good VMG. When we switched to our A2 monster running gennaker, we had an even better angle on DACAPO and the fleet, sailing lower and faster to lengthen our lead on them.
In fact, our distance over our competitors had become quite large and we had really managed to make the most of the transition engines. It might seem luxurious with a big downwind wardrobe, but you pay the penalties fairly sharply in their SRS handicap numbers- since the rating are based on the fact that you can get 100% of each sail + making changes just in the right position. In any case, our changing from J0 to C0 to A3 to A2 could not have gone any better.
At Dyrön, we had to make two gybes and managed to leap into third place on elapsed time. Not bad! And, we continued to build our distance on the boats behind us like the J/111 DACAPO.
We knew it was a conservative move, but we still thought it felt safe to run the rhumbline with our 105% jib. In retrospect, we could perhaps have gone faster on the flat gennaker- the J0, but that meant making a couple of changes. But, if we had done it, we could have sailed a bit more aggressively for speed.
Nevertheless, we made it to Kälkerön in good shape relative to our competitors and we could now safely roll out the big Code 0 again and aim for the finish line. We knew we had sailed well, and had beaten the boats we had an eye on!”
In the end, Gustafsson’s J/111 BLUR.SE won, beating her sistership home by 9 min 43 sec on corrected time. Significantly, the J/111 sailed the course 2 min faster on elapsed time than the First 40, 5 min faster than the Ker 39, 5 min faster than an XP-44 and 35 min faster than an IMX 40!
According to Peter, “it was awesome fun to nail the big class against all good boats. We nailed the 40-foot class in 2009 with our J/109, and it was fun to nail the class again!” Sailing photo credits- Elisabeth Stensby For more J/111 BLUR sailing information
Breault Two-Peats US Sailing Women’s Match Race Champs(Annapolis, MD)- This past weekend in Annapolis, Nicole Breault (San Francisco, CA) became only the second skipper to win back-to-back U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championships in event history. Breault, the reigning defending champion from last year’s event in Balboa, California, defeated hometown sailor Janel Zarkowsky (Annapolis, Md.), 3-0, in Sunday afternoon’s final series on Chesapeake Bay. The 2016 U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship was hosted by Annapolis Yacht Club, Friday through Sunday, in the J/22 class sailboat.
Breault was joined by a talented crew comprised of Molly Carapiet (San Francisco, Calif.), Karen Loutzenheiser (Santa Cruz, Calif.), and Hannah Burroughs (San Francisco, Calif.). Carapiet and Loutzenheiser won with Breault in last year’s championship. Also, for the second straight year, Zarkowsky’s team ran into Breault in the Finals and finished runner-up.“We won because of teamwork,” stated Breault. “You can’t under estimate that part of the game, especially with all the maneuvering you want to do, you need it delivered, and I couldn’t do it without them.”
Breault will be racing at the 2016 World Sailing Women’s Match Racing World Championships in Sheboygan, WI on September 19-25.
“I’ve been looking for a chance to race against Stephanie (Roble) and her whole team, and I’ll see her in Sheboygan,” commented Breault. Roble is the top ranked U.S. women’s match racer.
The team from the Bay area was dominant throughout the three-day event. In the three Round Robin stages, they were 5-0, 4-1 and 5-0, respectively. They won their semifinal series, 3-0, over Robyn Lesh (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) to advance to the finals. Lesh upended Morgan Wilson, 2-0, in the petite finals to take third place.The first Round Robin was conducted on Friday and the second and third Round Robins took place Saturday. The knock-out rounds were raced on Sunday.
Breault, who was introduced to match racing in 2008, is ranked #2 in the country for women’s match racing. She also won the Nation’s Cup in 2015. Previous winners of the U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship include an impressive list of the top women sailors in recent U.S. history. Cory Sertl, Betsy Alison, Sally Barkow, Anna Tunnicliffe, Stephanie Roble, Genny Tulloch, Liz Baylis, and Debbie Cappozi have all won this US Sailing National Championship.
Breault offered her perspective on how women can participate in match racing – “Women who want to match race now have two options. The first is to take full advantage of open division events around the country. The open division of match racing is not reserved for men, it is open! The only advantage male sailors might have over female sailors is their higher (on average) strength-to-weight ratio. On smaller boats, this advantage does not mean much, and on larger boats, athletic women on a smart team can still win. Besides, mixed-gender crews can be more fun!”
Next up for Nicole is St Francis YC’s Rolex Big Boat Series starting Thursday as main/tactician, sailing on husband Bruce Stone’s J/105 ARBITRAGE. Then, a week later her match racing team reassembles to compete in the Women's International Match Racing Championship in Sheboygan, WI. For more US Sailing Women’s Match Race Championship sailing information
Tjorn Singlehanded Race- the BLUR Experience(Tjorn, Sweden)- Continuing on his adventures of sailing the Tjorn Runt on his J/111 BLUR.SE, Peter Gustafsson made the absolutely inspirational decision to tackle the Tjorn Singlehanded Race at a moment’s notice. Here is his amusing story:
“Quite often sailing can be spontaneous and simple as it is fun. That tedious journey which suddenly became a race, or that holiday race in which you won a beer at the bar afterwards.
One of those experiences was to sail solo around Tjörn on Sunday after Tjörn Runt! Now that was a spontaneous idea! The desire to be free, to get out onto the ocean, that fantastic feeling of freedom with 100% focus on your own sailing.
This year we 27 boats had registered for the race, but only 18 came to start, which is quite ok. It is not surprising that some felt a bit of concern or adversity when the alarm clock rings early in the morning to get you rolling to the start and it's ‘pea soup’ fog outside the harbor entrance. But, for those who adventured forth, it would be better soon ...
The wind direction was SE for the start, just like Saturday's Tjörn Runt. So, it felt safe to come out in the fjord east of Bratton. Here, many boats chose to go "all in" and take the far east. Meanwhile, myself and three others pushed southwards as soon as we could.
My analysis was that the pressure was standing in the middle of the fjord, and the sooner I could get there the better. The balance was to run near Tjörn to avoid current or position yourself for the wind to fill in from the east (or south).
I started off with the J0 (e.g. a “Code Blade”) hoisted to the masthead and attached to the middle of the fully extended pole. It looked a bit odd, but in the light wind, I could get good VMG upwind and it worked fine. Plus, I can solo faster with this combo, going between this, the Code 0 and the jib in a sensible, easy way.At Soa and Galten, I got out of phase with several competitors and I could take a long tack into the middle of the fjord for better wind. It was slightly more out there, about 4-5 m/s. So, I could quickly change over to the jib and stretch south in a wind that slowly turned eastward. Perfect timing for a passage at Gråholmarna! I passed my chief rival Jonas, who had to tack and follow me in my wake. With a little drop in the breeze, I could then change over and roll out the Code Blade again and extend my overall fleet lead towards Dyrön.
At Tjörnekalv, I could hoist the big A2 gennaker. Some boats that I passed must have wondered what they were doing, but I got away without broaching with the big gennaker and I was leading everyone (even early starters) out of the Bredbåden.
A good jibe quite far west placed me on the west side Härön with a good angle. Qixi went into Kyrkesund but was way behind. Cheetah 3-4nm distance behind, but with good angles on Qixi.
I had a safe drop of the gennaker with the snuffer. Now, it was back to the Code 0 and charge eastwards, further extending my lead. God I love this J/111! So easy to sail fast! My bigger competitors must have been quite frustrated by now.
But at the Horse Cut turning point, I realized that something was not quite right. I could see across the island archipelago that an Arcona 380 (on the way to Ellos about 3 legs behind me, I assumed) was sailing in a much different wind. East wind? Or, is something else happening? As I start to think about it more, minute-by-minute the wind quickly subsides to nothing. A complete calm. A glass out! Oh no! What is going to happen next?
After half an hour, I see Cheetah come rushing up behind me very quickly. However, soon we are both in ‘the dead zone.’ No wind, or very, very little. Drifting, really.
Then, more and more boats begin to appear behind us, one by one, until the entire fleet of boats is concentrated again. Crap! A complete restart 2/3 the way into the race. So much for my gigantic lead and all that hard work!
We begin to see a black sky forming off to the northwest. Does that mean something? Squall? Or, just rain and no wind? Honestly, I’d prefer a storm by now!
It's quite tricky sailing towards Skåpesund, so I decide to drive safe and sail conservatively. I know I am hopelessly last in the SRS Handicap scoring right now because of the “fleet compression”. So, I take the spinnaker down in good time, and I go directly to the jib.
It's pitch black all around us behind the bridge, and I look for more breeze on the water in front of me. Nothing.
Then, I turn around and look behind me. The whole fleet is coming at me with spinnakers up. Don’t panic, I remind myself. Wait. Something is about to happen. Looking at the black sky again, I can see the wind is ticking rapidly around the clock and increasing in speed even more rapidly! White caps form fast. The wall of wind hits Cheetah, not good. She goes into a massive broach with the spinnaker up, I can see the skipper with the tiller under his chin in an attempt to bear off. It’s not working, a big problem when you are single-handing! The proverbial ‘crap’ has hit the fan!I turn around for one last time to look at the peaceful, colorful panorama of boats with their spinnakers filling the horizon behind me. It’s a spectacular painting- color, sun, black clouds advancing, white caps building rapidly behind and around them. Now, I know that it's much too late for those boats to get a nice takedown... I wish I had a time-lapse video of the carnage behind me- spectacular wipeouts everywhere. I hope they are OK.
Sometimes it plays to be safe, right!? :-)
The black squall made for a very messy short cross under the bridge. It was blowing at least 8-12 m/s and gusting even higher to 15 to 18 m/s. Chaos everywhere. Torn sails. Broken boats. Bruised egos. Oh well, that’s sailing.
I am home safe and sound. I didn’t win, but in spirit I had won. I sailed fast, was first boat on elapsed time against much bigger competitors, sailed safe and lived to tell the tale! I still got 11th overall on corrected time despite the madness going on behind me!" Follow more of the J/111 BLUR.SE's adventures here.
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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* The J/34 IOR KNEE DEEP just keeps on ticking, too! Recently, Brett & Katie Langolf’s KNEE DEEP won the 2016 Green Islands race hosted by Port Clinton Yacht Club. According to Brett, “The race was sailed in very light air- we were very thankful for our YETI cooler keeping the drinks cold!!
Overall, the boat had great boat speed up and down the course to outpace the other PHRF boats. Thanks to our guest skipper, Ryan Kyle!” Sailing photo credit- Shutterglo
* The J/111 owner of JOUST in Melbourne, Australia- Dr Rod Warren- recently sent a nice note to J/HQ Newport this past week. According to Rod,“We just ordered a new J/70 for practice! We can’t wait to get out on her soon! We are also looking forward to San Francisco next year for the J/111 Worlds!
We also wanted to let you know that we had the pleasure of sailing with two of the Johnstone family at the recent J/111 Worlds in Cowes, England. As the Australian team, we needed to get some local knowledge of the tricky conditions on the Solent. We were surprised and delighted that Stu Johnstone was suggested, until we heard that he had lived there for five years while setting up J/Boats Europe and won many events! But, there was an even better bonus! We got Stu’s lovely wife Julia to come along, another brilliant sailor, and a huge help on organizing the pointy end of the boat!
From the get go we had a blast, from trying to fit an entire J/111 crew into a Jeep, to sharing a house in Cowes and, of course, the sailing. This was a windy regatta (about 15-25 kts, gusting 30) and we had great downwind speed, thanks to Stu’s planing lessons!
One of the great things about J/Boats has to be the family that makes the boats we love. Stu & Julia’s willingness to join our crew, sight unseen, and contribute so generously, and with such great humour, sets them apart. Stu’s stories about sailing with his friends Heather and Joe on their J/70 MUSE was inspirational. So, we just bought a J/70 as a practice boat for our J/111! We hope we can also help grow the J/70 fleet in Melbourne to sail against some of our Sydney friends, too!”
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, for 2015/ 2016! 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 regards their various improvements and refit to the boat (see above). They will again be based at Proper Yachts in St John, US Virgin Islands.
* Bill & Judy Stellin were interviewed 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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