For starters, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all those Moms worldwide that have been multi-tasking far beyond anything they have ever imagined in their lifetimes! Some are balancing remote working, pets, Dads, kids, school, cooking, cleaning and so forth. And, we hope, Moms have been doing an amazing job delegating and refereeing the madness on the home front. Time for Dad and the kids to step it up and give Mom a "time out" to enjoy a special weekend! It's difficult to believe that we have been living under "stay@home" orders since March 3rd in little Rhode Island- 2+ months! Unlike other states, we have been fortunate that our Governor- Gina Raimondo- has been able to delicately, and thoughtfully, combine getting "tough" on certain measures and maintain some semblance of "work" in others.
Infamously, RI was the first state in America to issue a "no foreign entry" decree on March 26th that was aimed directly at sick New Yorkers (many of whom were "spreaders") leaving the city by the millions to seemingly greener, less infected pastures than the concrete canyons of Manhattan. The public outcry from New York was swift, of course. But, Gov. Raimondo was resolute in her toughness to protect Rhode Islanders. Just one day later, she simply issued an order that said ALL non-RI citizens shall go into a 14-day quarantine upon entering the state; RI State Troopers formed blockades on all roads entering RI. The "fast lane" was for all truckers and cars with RI plates. The "do not past go" lane was backed up for miles, with RI troopers taking down names, cell #'s, emails, and addresses before they would let non-RI cars continue on their journey. Later, Gov. Raimondo then had US National Guard troops and local police (especially, here in Newport), walk door-to-door to knock on doors and ensure the "foreign invaders" were living up to the "stay@home" quarantine orders-- if caught (and there were many) the fines ranged up to $1,000 per person. As a result, while the number of Covid-19 cases in RI skyrocketed after New York and Boston/ MA "locked down", the total number of cases and deaths has been far lower than either of RI's larger neighbors to the east and west.
While being tough on the "spreaders", Gov. Raimondo and her business advisors knew well enough that trying to keep RI businesses open was a good thing. Basically, all manufacturing, construction, trucking, delivery, banks, landscaping services, gas stations, grocery stores, most big-box retailers (Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc) all could stay open, so long as they observed "safe distancing" guidelines and used face masks when working. That meant boat-building could continue, thank goodness!
Here is a photo taken by Jeff Johnstone (up the rig on one J/99 he was commissioning with an owner) of his father Rod Johnstone happily commissioning his new J/99 JAZZ. Rod's boat was recently delivered and launched in Rhode Island! Rod was thankful that RI had a "pro-boating/ pro-boat yard" support of boat owners, workers, service personnel!
Here is the latest J/121 out-the-door from our builders in Bristol, RI- CCF Composites. She will be headed to IMI Marine to get a bottom job, then off to Stanley's Boatyard in Warren, RI for commissioning and launching in June! The best news of all? As of Friday, May 8th, the state of RI has opened up boat yards and marinas and boating on Narragansett Bay! For more information on the J/121 offshore speedster.
J/122 LIQUID Wins Caribbean Best Boat Award!
(English Harbour, Antigua)- The Caribbean Sailing Association (CSA) has awarded for the second year running the CSA Traveler’s Trophy to Antigua-based Pamala Baldwin’s J/122 LIQUID. Although the racing season was cut short due to the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, Team LIQUID had already earned a class win in CSA 1 at Grenada Sailing Week, second in CSA 2 in the RORC Caribbean 600, and second in CSA 3 at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta.
CSA President Alison Sly-Adams called Pamala to give her the good news. Of the news, Pamala said, "I am so happy to win this for the second year. Skipper Jules White and I, and the rest of the crew, came together so well at the start of the season. We were confident, without being complacent, this year and we felt the team dynamics had fallen into place well. We had high hopes for the series for the season, so we are delighted to hear that we have won. I am already looking forward to the 2021 season and seeing if we can make it a hat-trick! Thank you so much for the good news right now."
Baldwin joins a long list of famous winners of the trophy including many famous Caribbean sailors and those based in the region for the season such as Jamie Dobbs, John Foster, Hugh Bailey, Bernie Evan-Wong, Dougie Myers, Tom Hill, Scott Ledbetter, Andrew Birk, Jaime Torres, and Sandy Mair, the creator of the trophy.
The CSA Traveler’s Trophy has been awarded for more than 20 years as a way of awarding excellence in yacht racing performance as well as effort in terms of travelling to away regattas.
To qualify for the Trophy, a boat must participate in a minimum of three regattas of which at least one must be in an away region and at least one a major event. Boats accumulate points over the season so that by season's end an overall winner - "Caribbean Best Boat" - will emerge. Final totals are assessed at Antigua Sailing Week, with the winner being announced and the trophy is awarded at the Antigua Sailing Week final awards presentation if the winner is in Antigua. Today would have been the prize-giving of Antigua Sailing Week 2020 and, therefore, in line with tradition, the CSA decided to announce the winner.
For more J/122 offshore sailboat information.
J/Gear May 20% OFF Special!
(Newport, RI)- The "J" Under Armour long-sleeved polo shirt is a great all-round, stylish choice, both on and off the water. Light, comfortable, and easy-to-wear.
The shirt comes with the J/Class logo of your choice and can be customized with your boat name and sail number. Comes in colors of Black, Blue and White and sizes from S to XXL.
Check it out here on the J/Gear website
J/Community
What friends, alumni, and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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* J/Net Brokerage Specials! Check out our exciting new site for lovingly-owned J/Boats from around the world here:
Here is one of those beauties, a J/97E down in Annapolis, MD. A rare opportunity to own this very lightly used very well taken care of J/97e. The 97e is the evolution of the J/97, a proven winner. The J/97e combines excellent performance with comfortable accommodations and easy sail handling. 97E is the first J in over two decades under 32' to combine headroom and family cruising accommodations in a high performance, easily driven hull. Learn more about her and nearly 100 other J/Boats here from around the world. For more information about J/97E cruisers.
* Moving beyond last week's "Sailors Binge Watching sailing videos", a number of sailmakers have been conducting on-going "Zoom" video webinars or YouTube broadcasts or even Facebook LIVE interactive sessions.
Below are a select few of North Sails webinars that were related to the J/111 one-design class and also the highly popular J/70 one-design class. Lots of great information to study over Mother's Day weekend!
J/111 Upwind & Downwind Performance Tips
This webinar was chock full of great information sailing the hot J/111 one-design class. The experts included Seadon Wijsen from San Francisco, Jeremy Smart from United Kingdom, Allan Terhune from Annapolis/ Chicago, and Jack Orr from Milford, CT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17qsyQom5j0
J/70 Worlds Webinar- sailing off Marina del Rey, CA
Alex Curtiss, Allan Terhune and Eric Doyle held a fascinating webinar about sailing off Marina del Rey, the site of the 2021 J/70 World Championship. Many great tips, helpful insights sailing a regatta there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knn3YscY3xw
J/70 Downwind tips and techniques
World Champion Tim Healy, along with last year's World Champion crew Ruairidh Scott from the United Kingdom, and Allan Terhune walk you through a strong webinar discussion on how to "send it" when it's breezy as well as the very tactical transition process of when it's best to go from VMG, to Wing & Wing, to Planing Mode! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGcnwm5X7Hs
J/70 Mainsail trim
Ever wonder why some boats are simply consistently faster upwind that others? It's the mainsail trim, dude! Learn some of those secrets here from Giulio Desiderato from Italy, Zeke Horowitz from Newport and Allan Terhune from Annapolis/ Chicago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAc07QRTCqo Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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