J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
Enjoying four straight days of amazing weather on the Baltic Sea, sailors that were participating in the ORC European Championship in Oxelsund, Sweden could not have been happier in the 10 to 20 kts breeze conditions; especially the winning J/112E! Similarly, the very windy Lendy Cowes Race Week had most teams somewhat exhausted from all the exhilarating sailing all week long for one-design fleets of J/70s, J/80s, J/92s and J/109s, plus IRC fleets that included J/111s, J/122s, J/99 and J/105s. Amazingly, even up in the Swiss Alps, the J/70 SAILING Champions League sailed at St Moritz, Switzerland had fantastic sailing conditions for a fleet of twenty-four sailing clubs from across Europe and even Australia.In the Americas, Ida Lewis Yacht Club hosted their 15th annual Ida Lewis Distance Race for fleets of PHRF Doublehanded and Collegiate PHRF divisions, a relatively light air affair. North of them near Halifax, Nova Scotia, the beautiful Chester Race Week took place with highly competitive fleets of PHRF handicap divisions with J/35s, J/30s, J/100s, J/92s, J/29s, J/22 and others. In addition, there was a J/105 one-design class for the first time. Out west on the Pacific coast, St Francis Yacht Club on San Francisco Bay hosted the lovely Aldo Alessio & Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure Cup Regatta.
J/112E Crowned ORC European Champion!
(Oxelsund, Sweden)- The 2019 ORC European Championship took place off Oxelsund, Sweden on the Baltic Sea. The regatta had a simple format, with two buoy races on the first day, followed by a 58.8nm distance race, then closing with two more days of buoy racing. The entire championship was sailed in medium to strong winds of 8 to 22 kts.
Racing in the ORC C Class of forty-one boats (by far the largest in the regatta) was the J/112E MATILDA 4, owned by Kodutarve Ou from Estonia and skippered by Joachim Aschenbrenner. Starting off with two bullets on the first day, the team managed to avoid a deep race until the final day. Going into the seventh and final race, MATILDA 4 had six points lead over the second place team, the Postimees Sailing Team also from Estonia.
In the last race, the MATILDA 4 crew took advantage of their faster setup to defend their lead by controlling the second and third boat on the leaderboard. They essentially matched raced the Postimees team into the middle of the fleet, using their last race as a discard, as did Postimees with a 15th place. Consequently, MATILDA 4 won the regatta with 17 pts net, three points clear of the reigning ORC European Class C Champion, the Arcona 340 Katarina II from Estonia. The J/112E MATILDA 4 also crushed the reigning ORC World Class C Champion Italia 9.98 SUGAR. Follow the ORC European Championship on Facebook here. For more 2019 ORC European Championship sailing information
Australians Crowned J/70 SAILING Champions League Winner!
(St. Moritz, Switzerland)- Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron turned on the afterburners in a thrilling four-boat showdown to win the SAILING Champions League 2019 on the lake of St. Moritz (15 to 18 August 2019). The crew from Sydney were the only non-European team among twenty-four clubs representing ten nations, and now the trophy flies out of Europe for the first time, winging its way to Australia. Finishing in second place was Norddeutscher Regatta Verein from Germany, the overall winner from the Deustche Segel Bundesliga. The other two clubs that contested the four-boat final represented Denmark: Kaløvig Bådelaug finishing third, and Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub in fourth place.
David Chapman, skipper of the winning team, commented: “We are absolutely stoked. We struggled to get a crew together for this regatta so we nearly didn’t come here at all. But, what a great team to have sailing with me: Finn and Charlotte Alexander and Zac Quinlan.”
Compared with the 51 races of eight-boat heats over the previous days of competition, the four-boat final required a more aggressive approach. No one could match the starting prowess of Chapman and his crew who won the first race of the finals and then followed up with an even more dominant display in race two. That was game, set and match to Australia.
“I know a lot of people back home in Australia were watching online,” smiled Chapman, “and I hope we’ll inspire more teams from Down Under to compete in the SAILING Champions League. It’s such great racing – turn up with your mates, race in equally-matched, J/70 one-design class sailboats, and go sailing. It’s been a lot of fun, and I’m going to stick around an extra day to celebrate tonight.”
Oliver Schwall, the German founder of sailing league concept, commented: “Thanks to beautiful sunny days and the mighty Maloja Winds bringing up to 19 knots of breeze across the outstanding sailing stadium on Lake St. Moritz, the sailors have enjoyed champagne sailing conditions. The organizers ran the event like clockwork, delivering 17 flights of qualifying, along with an incredibly exciting four-boat final.”
The SAILING Champions League is supported by a number of key partners: Juvia, KRAFTWERK, DEDON, Badrutt’s Palace, Breitling, St. Moritz Tourism, Graubünden, DKSH, SAP and Marinepool.
Livestream and results by SAP SAILING
The final two days of racing on Saturday and Sunday will be live broadcasted by SAP SAILING from 12:00 hrs (GMT) on, with expert commentators providing blow-by-blow analysis of the racing, aided by the detail provided by SAP Sailing Analytics. The SAP Sailing Analytics provide 24/7 additional statistics and data for sailors, fans, spectators and media like GPS tracking, real- time analysis, live leaderboard combined with 2D visualization. You can find all results on sapsailing.com. Sailing Photo credits: SCL/Sailing Energy. For more J/70 SAILING Champions League information
J/Crews Smoke Ida Lewis Distance Race(Newport, RI)– For a 15th year the Ida Lewis Distance Race indulged competitive racing sailors in an overnight sprint that proved both challenging and extraordinary. Thirty-one teams, in five classes for boats of 28 feet and longer, set out after noontime on Friday, August 16 to engage in a 110-mile course that took them from the start off Fort Adams, past Castle Hill to Buzzards Bay Tower, then to a mark southwest of Block Island (near Montauk) and back to Buzzards Bay Tower before returning to Newport Harbor where a finish was sighted from the deck of host Ida Lewis Yacht Club and teams were greeted on the water with a bottle of Prosecco. The course was the shortest of four options chosen by the Race Committee prior to the start in anticipation of extremely light breezes.
“The goal is always to have the bulk of the fleet back to shore by late morning/early afternoon,” said Event Chair Pat Kennedy, “and we were concerned at one point that even our shortest course might not accommodate that, but in the end, the fastest boat – the Volvo 70 Warrior (skippered by Stephen and Steve Murray of New Orleans) – made it back before last call (12:30 a.m.), and the last three boats finished just before 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.”
“The wind was east and southeast when it’s usually from the south and southwest. It was the first time we’ve put up a spinnaker coming from Buzzard’s Bay Tower back to Newport; usually it’s a reach. And coming from Montauk to Buzzard’s Bay, we were tacking, which is unusual,” commented skipper Brian Cunha. His team saw 7-12 knots of breeze the entire time, which was more than the smaller boats experienced. “They had a more challenging time getting around the Montauk mark because of the dying wind and the current against them.”
This year marked the first time for the PHRF Spinnaker Aloha class (for smaller boats with PHRF ratings of 55 and higher). Winning that was the J/35 BREAKAWAY skippered by Paul Grimes Portsmouth, R.I. and dual scored as a Collegiate team entry. Grimes enlisted the talents of five college sailors (daughter Megan Grimes (Yale), Aili Moffet (Conn. College), Colin Moffet (Princeton), Spencer Dellenbaugh (Brown Univ.) and Victoria Boatwright (Georgetown Univ.).“This year was a nice change from last year, which had thunderstorms and lightning,” said Colin Moffet. “It was tough getting by Block Island with two knots of current and two knots of breeze, but it was nice once we got out of there.”
BREAKAWAY led a sweep of the PHRF Spinnaker Aloha class. Taking second was DC Helme’s J/92S SPIRIT and third was Bill Kneller’s J/109 VENTO SOLARE.
In the PHRF Doublehanded, taking second was Jonathan Burt’s J/130 LOLA from Hingham, MA. For more Ida Lewis YC Distance Race sailing information
Windy, Fast, Furious Cowes Race Week
(Cowes, England)- For many of the hundreds of sailors that participated in the 2019 edition of Lendy Cowes Race Week, it was one of the windiest on record, with many days in the 18-24 kts end of the range. For a few dozen J/Teams, the tough, demanding conditions made for some of the most exhilarating sailing experiences of the summer season.
In the IRC 2 Class, J/Teams took four of the top five. Three J/111s were 2-3-4; Tony Mack’s McFLY, Hans Zwijnenburg & Martijn Worseling’s SWEENY from The Netherlands, and Chris Jones & Louise Makin’s JOURNEYMAKER II. Fifth place went to Chris Daniel’s J/122 JUNO.
In a similar fashion, J/112E’s dominated IRC 4 Class. Winning was David Franks’ LEON, followed by B Huber’s XANABOO in second, Marie Claude Heys’ DAVANTI TYRES in fourth, and Team Knight Build’s HAPPY DAIZE in fifth position.
In IRC 5A Class, it was James & John Owen’s J/99 JET that took fourth place. Then, in IRC 5B Class, it was the J/92s that led a clean sweep; winning was David Greenhalgh’s family on J’RONIMO, second was the NIGHTJAR trio (Banks, Overstall, & Searle), and third was Andy Knowles & Alan Macleod’s SAMURAI J. Two J/97s ended up 6th and 7th, Bob & Jon Baker’s JAYWALKER and Nick & Adam Munday’s INDULJENCE.
While Tilly Harrison’s crew on SORCHA J won the J/70 Mini-Series, it was Paul Ward’s EAT SLEEP J REPEAT that took the J/70 class win for the week. Yet another woman skipper took the silver- Katie Davies along with her crew of Isabel Davies, Rhos Hawes, and Martin Wrigley on AURORA. Third was RTYC 5 team skippered by Stephen O’Driscoll.
In the J/92 Class, it was NIGHTJAR winning over J’RONIMO in second and SAMURAI J in third. Fourth was Rob Salter’s JACKDAW and fifth Brian Malone’s BLUE DIAMOND DODJER.
The J/109 class was won by woman helm Caroline van Beelen on JACK RABBIT from the Netherlands. Second was Simon Perry’s JIRAFFE and third was Chris & Victoria Preston’s JUBILEE.
The J/80 class was won by Malcolm Thorpe’s KING LOUIE, second was Puddifoot family’s JIBBA JIBBA, and third was Alastair Ley’s JACKAROO from the Royal Naval Sailing Association. For more LENDY Cowes Week sailing information
J/Teams Sweep Chester Race Week
(Chester/ Halifax, Nova Scotia)- The one-and-a-half dozen J/Teams that were participating in the 2019 edition of Chester Race Week enjoyed good sailing conditions for their long weekend of sailing, with most fleets completing six races in the offshore courses of combined buoy-racing and random-leg offshore racing.
In the PHRF 1 Division, Stu McCrea’s J/120 DEVIATION sailed a solid series to take second place. Another J/120, Richard Calder’s BRILLIANCE won the last race to boost their position to fourth in class.
J/Crews swept the top five places in PHRF 2 Division. Leading the pack were two J/100s, Larry Creaser’s YOUNG BLOOD won, followed by Terry McKenna’s DOG PARTY in second. The next three places were taken by J/35s, with Andrew Childs’ HELOC taking the final bronze spot on the podium, then fourth was Gary Bennett & Rod Johnstone’s J’AI TU in fourth and Than MacDonald’s J-HAWK in fifth place.
Rod Johnstone interview with host Lisa Ross from Sail Halifax Project here.
Similarly, J/Crews swept the top three spots and four of the top five in PHRF 3 Division. Leading the pack was local hotshot Colin Mann on his famous J/92 POOHSTICKS. Second and third were two J/29s, Chris MacDonald’s SCOTCH MIST IV in second and Don Williams’ PARADIGM SHIFT in third. Fifth went to yet another J/29, Ann Covey’s RUMBLEFISH.
Winning PHRF 4 class was Jesleine Baker’s J/30 JUST ADD WATER. She was followed by another J/30 in fourth place, Jordan MacNeil’s FLUX.
In the PHRF 3 Inshore class, twin J/29s battled in a bare-knuckled brawl to a tie after seven races, both teams counting only 1sts and 2nds! On countback, it was Jane Fibee’s PAINKILLER that took the gold, with Terry Schnare’s HEAD GAMES having to settle for the silver. Fourth place went to Don McAlpine’s J/80 HARPOON and fifth to Bernd Hackstein’s J/27 BUZZ.
The PHRF 4 Inshore class saw Karen Fowler’s J/22 CHEAP THRILL take the silver, while fellow J/24 sailor, Steven Countway’s WAVERUNNER.
The one-design J/105 class was treated to a “whitewash” of the fleet, with Sean McDermott & Rory MacDonald’s McMAC winning all seven races and tossing out a 1st to finish with 6 pts net. The balance of the podium was a dog fight for sure, with James Mosher’s MOJO coming out on top of Barry Eisener’s BUZZ by just two points. Follow Chester Race Week on Facebook here For more Chester Race Week sailing information
Lovely Aldo Alessio & Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure Cup(San Francisco, CA)- Sailors were treated to three good days of sailing on San Francisco Bay, sailing their annual regatta honoring famous sailors from St. Francis Yacht Club- the Aldo Alessio & Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure Cup. The event is always well-attended by Bay area J/Sailors.
In the Aldo Alessio ORR division on Friday, it was Reuben Rocci’s J/111 SWIFTNESS that took third in division, followed by David Halliwill’s J/120 PEREGRINE in fourth and Ian Charles’ J/105 MAVERICK in seventh.
For the Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure Cup event, Reuben Rocci’s SWIFTNESS again took a third in ORR A class. Then, sweeping the top two spots in ORR B class were J/120s. Eclipsing the fleet with three bullets was Halliwill’s PEREGRINE, followed by Barry Lewis’ CHANCE with a 3-2-2 for 7 pts. In the ORR C class, it was Charles’ J/105 MAVERICK winning on a tie-breaker over Gary Panariello’s J/88 COURAGEOUS in second, Sergey Lubarsky’s J/105 RUSSIAN ROULETTE followed them in third place. For more Aldo Alessio & Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure Cup Regatta sailing information
Fantastic J/70 Fall Package Special!(Newport, RI)- There is no hotter class in the new millennium than the J/70. With 1,500 boats sailing in 25+ countries, the worldwide growth of J/Boats’ first ramp-launchable keelboat has been remarkable.
The owner-run J/70 Class is thriving with events for all ages and levels, youth and women’s championships, and includes upcoming World Championships in Torbay, England (2019), Marina del Rey, CA (2020), Monte Carlo, Monaco (2021), and Newport, Rhode Island (2022).
More than just a world-class one-design, the J/70 is FUN to sail, easy-to-own, and easy-to-trailer for that next family adventure. And now, it’s never been easier to get started! From today until October 15, 2019, J/Boats is offering a special North American J/70 sail-away package.
J/70 Fall Package Special:
- 2020 Model J/70 with standard equipment
- Selden carbon mast and boom
- Harken Snubbair low-profile winches
- Cross-sheet jib cleats and vang cheek blocks
- Galvanized, single-axle, float off/lift off trailer
- One-Design Class Sails – mainsail, 100% jib and A2 class spinnaker with class sail tags.
- Companionway spinnaker bag.
- Safety Gear – anchor, chain & rode, bucket, bilge pump, first aid kit, two fenders, two dock lines.
Regatta & Show Schedules:
Aug 17-24- AUDI Hamilton Race Week- Hamilton Island, Australia
Aug 20-24- J/109 North American Championship- South Dartmouth, MA
Aug 20-23- J/111 World Championship- Chicago, IL
Aug 21-25- J/24 USA Nationals- Rochester, NY
Aug 23-25- Irish J/24 Nationals- Lough Erne, Ireland
Aug 23-25- Ted Hood Regatta- Marblehead, MA
Aug 23-25- Verve Inshore Cup- Chicago, IL
Aug 24-26- J/80 U.K. Nationals- Lymington, England
Aug 30- Sep 6- J/70 World Championship- Torquay, Devon, England
Aug 30- The Vineyard Race- Stamford, CT
Sep 4-8- J/105 North American Championship- Marblehead, MA
Sep 12-15- Rolex Big Boat Series- San Francisco, CA
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J/70 U.K. Nationals Preview
(Torquay, Devon, UK)- In the penultimate event leading up to this year’s 2019 J/70 World Championship, thirty-five boats are looking forward to sailing in the same venue in the J/70 U.K. Nationals sailing on Torbay at Royal Torbay YC.
Teams from around the world are participating in the open event. For example, the following Eurasian teams are participating: the Norwegian team of AGERA 3 skippered by Fredrik Hedlund; Alexander Bozhko’s AKHMAT sailing team from Taganrog, Russia; Sergei Dobrovolskii’s Cyprus team on AMAIZ SAILING TEAM; Marcos Soares’ Brazilian crew on HIGHLANDERS; Denis Cherevatenko’s Russian team on JOYFUL; Jose Maria “Pichu” Torcida’s NOTICIA from Spain; Patrik Forsgren’s Swedish crew on PRO4U; and the powerful father/ daughter teams from Italy- Alberto Rossi’s ENFANT TERRIBLE and Claudia Rossi’s PETITE TERRIBLE.
Several American teams are preparing for their World’s campaign, including two past J/70 World Champions- Peter Duncan’s RELATIVE OBSCURITY and Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT.
Hoping to defend home turf against the onslaught of foreign invaders will be a number of top British crews, such as Martin Dent’s JELVIS, Graham Clapp’s JEEPSTER, Charles Thompson’s BRUTUS, the Maltese/ British Ripard brothers on CALYPSO, Jeremy Thorp’s PHAN, Ian Wilson & Marshall King’s SOAK RACING, and Jack Davies YETI. For more J/70 U.K. Nationals sailing information and results
J/24 USA Nationals Preview(Rochester, NY)- From August 21st to 25th, Rochester Yacht Club will be hosting the 2019 USA J/24 National Championship on Lake Ontario for an enormous fleet of forty-nine J/24 teams from across the USA, Canada, Trinidad, and Japan. That is easily one of the largest class turnouts in recent history!
There are many top boats participating as this will be one of the few events all top J/24 teams can race against each other before sailing their J/24 World Championship in the fall in Miami, Florida, hosted by the Coral Reef Yacht Club.
Some of the top crews include John Mollicone’s HELLY HANSEN from Newport, RI (a 3x past J/24 World Champion with Tim Healy); Travis Odenbach’s HONEYBADGER from the host club; Will Welles’ BUCKAROO (a 2x past J/24 World Champion); Robby Brown’s ANGEL OF HARLEM from Davis Island YC in Tampa, FL; Al Constants’ BLITZ from Long Island, NY; Rossi Milev’s CLEAR AIR from Port Credit YC in Ontario; top woman helm Lee Ann Zaretsky’s LADY MINX from the host club; Mike Ingham’s NAUTALYTICS (past J/24 World Champ from the Rochester Canoe Club); top woman helm Erica Beck Spencer’s SEA BAGS WOMEN’S SAILING TEAM from Portland, ME; and Carter White’s YOUREGATTA.COM also from Portland, ME. That should be tough, and very close racing amongst the top five boats on the leaderboard! For more USA J/24 Nationals Sailing information
Ted Hood Regatta Preview(Marblehead, MA)- The Eastern Yacht Club will be hosting the Ted Hood Regatta in conjunction with their amazing local partners, the Corinthian YC and the Boston YC for a fleet of both one-design racers and offshore PHRF handicap sailors.
The J/70 class has eight crews participating, including leading teams like Stein Skaane’s SHRED, Holly Fabyan’s ASTERIA, Graeme Carr’s JOYRIDIN, and Frank McNamara’s CHINOOK.
As the largest class in the regatta, the J/105 sailors are using the event as their “training session” for their upcoming J/105 North American Championship being sailed two weeks later in the same waters. With seventeen teams in attendance, many of the top J/105 North American teams are in attendance. It will be interesting to see how these teams perform over the three-day event; Bill Zartler’s DEJA VOODOO from Houston, TX; Bruce Stone/ Nicole Breault’s GOOD TRADE from San Francisco, CA; Paul Beaudin’s LOULOU from Harlem YC in New York; Tim Russell’s NE*NE from San Francisco, CA; Mark Lindquist’s STERLING from Beverly, MA; and Mark Masur’s TWO FEATHERS from Fort Worth Boat Club in Texas.
In the ORR Division is Fred deNapoli’s J/124 ALLEGRO MALVAGIO, Chris Zibailo’s J/112E DOPODOMANI, Tom Mager’s J/122 GIG, Gary Weisberg’s J/11 HEAT WAVE, Ed Kaye’s J/111 PRAVDA, and Liz Smith & Ward Blodgett’s J/33 SIROCCO.
In the PHRF Spinnaker class is Chris Lund’s J/133 JUMP from Rye, New Hampshire. In PHRF Non-Spinnaker Class is Sam Foster’s J/40 CAHOOTS from Marblehead, MA. For more Ted Hood Regatta sailing information
Verve Cup Inshore One-Design Regatta Preview(Chicago, IL)- The Chicago Yacht Club is coincidentally hosting the Verve Cup Inshore Regatta as the J/111 World Championship concludes this week. For the J/70 class, it acts as a J/70 World’s qualifier for the 2020 J/70 World Championship in Long Beach, CA. The J/24 class is also participating in the event.
Amongst the sweet sixteen teams participating will be Steve Knoop’s AMERICAN FLYER, Marti Johnsson’s AQUAHOLIKS, Sarah Renz’s BERTEAU GROUP, John Heaton’s EMPEIRIA, Oivind Lorentzen’s NINE, Amy Neill’s NITEMARE, Leif & Laura Sigmond’s NORBOY, John & Marisa Koten’s PLANET CLAIRE, and Bob Willis’s RIP RULLAH.
In the J/24s, anything goes in this class. Nevertheless, Erica Trejo from YC Argentina is taking on the locals. Those teams are Mark Soya’s 2XS, Eric Christenson’s BUBBLES, and Dan Walsh’s GOLDRUSH. For more Verve Cup Inshore Regatta sailing info Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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