J/Newsletter- August 7th, 2013

J/88 Boats.com Review:
Going Sailing for Work
(Newport, RI)- Recently, Carol Cronin and John Burnham had a chance to review the J/88 family speedster for the world's #1 boating e-commerce marketplace- boats.com/ yachtworld.com.  Here is Carol's and John's commentary:

“Want to go sailing Thursday afternoon,” asks John?  "Now I’ve only been an employee for about eight months," says Carol, "but when the boss asks a question like that, I’ve already figured out there’s only one right answer- Yes!”

According to Carol, "the reason for the invite from John was to test out the J/88, the newest model from J/Boats. I’d been anxious to get aboard this 29-foot family racer/daysailer ever since writing about the expected launch (read J/Boats Will Launch New J/88 in 2013) and reading John’s follow-up story (Inside View: The New J/88 Takes Shape). I also had a secret burning question:  Would this boat, which was launched only five months after its initial announcement, meet my high expectations for J/Boats quality?"

"As soon as we stepped aboard, I realized the answer was another unqualified “yes”, said Carol  "This was no prototype, with a half-finished rigging layout, sharp fiberglass edges, or refilled holes in the deck where hardware had been relocated. Hull #1 looked and smelled like a brand new production boat, ready for turn-key sailing. And predictably, that high-quality finish was the result of careful planning—as well as a few small post-launch tweaks."   Please read the rest of Carol's and John's article here at boats.com.
Here is the J/88 sailing video summary.

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European Fall Show Update
(UK & Scandinavia)- Before anyone realizes it, August will be turning into September and that means one thing-- start of the Fall boat shows in America and Europe!  First out of the box will be several Scandinavian boat shows in late August, early September.  The J/70 one-design speedster will be on display at these upcoming sailboat shows:

• August 23rd to 25th- Ellös, Sweden
• August 30th to September 1st- Gustavsberg, Sweden
• September 5th to 9th- Oslo, Norway

For any Scandinavian show information or to make an appointment for a trial sail, please be sure to contact Peter Johansson at Marstrand Yachts- cell# +46 (0)735 430 800 or email- peter.johansson@marstrandyachts.com.

Later in September will be the famous Southampton Sailboat Show in Southampton, England open from the 13th to 22nd of September.  The J/70 will be doing trial sails during the show and on dock display in the marina will be the new J/88 family speedster, the J/97 family cruiser-racer, the J/111 one-design offshore speedster and the new J/122 CR.  To make an appointment for a showing or trial sail, please contact Becci Eplett at J/UK at ph# +44- 07870 669879 or email- beccieplett@gmail.com.  Or, for more Southampton Show information.  Sailing photo credit- Meredith Block/ Blocksail.com

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J/111 N.A.'s Preview
(Chicago, IL)- The new International J/111 One-design class is hosting its first North American Championship from  August 14th to 18th, 2013 at Chicago Yacht Club's Belmont Station.  It's sure to be an exciting regatta as the Chicago Air and Water Show will be taking place at the same time.

First taking the world by storm in 2010, the J/111 has grown dramatically as a class worldwide, having achieved International status with the International Sailing Federation in November 2012.  With over 100+ boats now sold across six continents (North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia/New Zealand), the fourteen J/111s will all be on a fast learning curve as boats congregate from three major coasts around the Americas (Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes and East Coast).

With seven boats sailing from the Chicago fleet, all eyes will be upon them to be amongst the leaders in the first major continental event for the 111 class.  With a combination of Chicago-Mackinac and Bayview-Mackinac Champions as well as Sailing World NOOD Champions, Verve Cup Champions and Singlehanded Society Champions amongst them, this formidable group of 111 teams will be a force to contend with.  Don't be surprised if many of the following boats either place or fire top three finishes with some degree of regularity, including KASHMIR (Karl Brummel skippering), MENTAL (Paul Stahlberg), LUCKY DUBIE (Len Siegal- also Regatta Co-Chair), IMPULSE (George Miz skippering), NIGHTHAWK (Steve Dabrowski skippering), WOOTON (Bill Smith), MISTY (Tom McIntosh) and ROWDY (Rick Witzel).

Other local Great Lakes hotshots will surely include the two Harbor Springs speedsters, NO SURPRISE (Dave Irish) and WINDCZAR (Rick Lehmann)-- both winners and podium finishers in the Harbor Springs Ugotta Regattas and Irish is a Chicago & Bayview-Mac silverware winner as well.  Toss in HOBGOBLIN (Dick Hobbs) from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who recently won the Chicago-Mac J/111 class, and the crystal ball clouds up a bit more with three fast horses on the track to mix it up with the Chicago crowd.

Finally, the "out of town" visitors include two top teams from the East Coast and a new crew from the Florida Panhandle.  Marty Roesch's team on VELOCITY, based in Annapolis, MD, have dominated many Chesapeake Bay events as well as posted excellent results in Charleston Race Week and New York YC Annual Regatta, taking silverware more than once in both events.  Newcomer Henry Brauer on FLEETWING from Marblehead, MA has a fairly formidable crew, having recently won the New York YC Annual Regatta 2013 as well as the NYYC Race Week in 2012.  George Gamble's crew from Pensacola, FL are sailing MY SHARONA in their first major one-design event and may yet prove to be one of the spoilers in the event.  Look for some fantastic racing amongst this fleet of fourteen teams and don't be surprised to see some significant roller-coaster scorelines amongst the leaders in the fleet.   For more J/111 North American Championship sailing information

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J/22 Worlds Update
(Newport, RI)- Fifty-four teams from the U.S, Canada, South Africa and the Cayman Islands have already signed up to be a part of history at the 30th Anniversary J/22 World Championship, presented by Fidelity Investments this October 1st to 5th in Newport, Rhode Island. Registration is open until September 15, but the early deadline is August 14 to save $125.

So far, many of the top teams in the J/22 World are competing.  Think you could have some fun learning from some of  the world's best sailors in the world's second largest one-design offshore keelboat class (behind the J/24)??  The current roster includes the usual suspects of top teams from the Annapolis and Rochester fleets as well as some top dogs from Texas.  Spice it up with good teams from Cayman Islands, South Africa and nearly half dozen from Canada and you have a tremendously fun, competitive event.

The American teams will have past World Champion Terry Flynn leading the Texas contingent that also includes top sailor Mark Foster- a University of Texas All-American and 470 class ace.  The Annapolis gang includes Todd Hiller, Allan Terhune, Jeff Todd, Brad Julian, all of whom have won regional or national events.  From Rochester's fabled fleet are the Doyle boys- Chris and Kevin.  The Pennsylvania pair include Sandy Adzick and Kurt Swanson.  The Canadians are fielding teams from Quebec and Ontario, including Trevor Collins, David Godin, Johan Koppernaes, Jeff Love and Ron Harris.  Shellee Nel is sailing from South Africa and the top Cayman Islands team is led by Mike Farrington.  For more J/22 World Championship sailing information

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Fastnet Race Preview
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)-  Coming up in less than a fortnight is one of those "bucket list" offshore challenges that is on many sailor's wish list to conquer, vanquish the enemy and go home- the infamous Rolex Fastnet Race-- a simple 608 nm jaunt from Cowes westabout to a lighthouse on a rock and back to Plymouth.  Not to surprisingly, thousands have dreamt the dream, only to survive yet another 608nm journey again, then return for more punishment at the hands of the great Lord Neptune.  For many, it's part of that movie, "Never ending story, part XXXX, chapter XVXLV".  How many chapters later does one have to tell the story of nearly winning it all, but having to anchor yet again just yards off the Plymouth finish line within stone's throw (literally) of the race committee?  Like that famous British mountain climber once said about scaling Mt Everest in the Hindu Kush-- they keep coming back for more "because it's there".  Remarkably, a record numbers of boats signed up this year (mostly in 48 hours!), so plenty of sailors will be telling their version of the story sometime soon!

While the Rolex Fastnet Race's top prize is the Fastnet Challenge Cup and a Rolex watch/ chronometer for the first of the 302 boats winning under the IRC Rating rule, everyone has their fair shot at it all from the start on Sunday, August 11th off the Royal Yacht Squadron starting line in front of Cowes.  There will be forty-two J/Teams sailing- 14% of the total fleet-- easily the largest sailing brand represented within this famous British and European event.  Next closest brand is Beneteau with 12% followed by Sigma at 7% and a host of other major brands at less than 5% each-- like Swan, Jeanneau, X-Yachts, JPK, Grand Soleil, Archambault, Ker, Dehler, Bavaria and so forth.

The queen of the J/Fleet will be the J/133s with four boats participating, including APOLLO 7 (Nigel Passmore from England), JINGS (Dave Ballantyne from England), JIVAR0 (Yves Grosjean from France), and SPIRIT OF JACANA (Alan, Bruce & James Douglas from Ireland).

Giving the J/133s a serious run-for-the-Rolex will be a fleet of six J/122s- two English teams represented by J-BELLINO (Rob Craigie also sailing Doublehanded Class) and JOLLY JELLYFISH (David Richards); two French teams that include LORELEI (Alain Chatherineau) and NUTMEG IV (Francois Lognone); an Irish team on AQUELINA (James Tyrrell) and the Netherlands team on JUNIQUE (Chris Revelman & Pascal Bakker).  Each one of these teams has won their fair share of silverware and all are capable of winning the Fastnet overall.

Given any kind of a fetch or reaching race, the fleet of five J/111s will be quite formidable in the overall IRC handicap standings.  Look for these teams amongst the leaders, including two English teams- BRITISH SOLDIER (Army Sailing Association) and OJE (Andre Hill); the French team on ALPHALINK/ XTREME YACHTING (Benjamin Diouris); the Belgian team on DJINN (Just 4 Sailing Team), and the famous and highly successful Netherlands team on XCENTRIC RIPPER (John van der Starre & Robin Verhoef- also sailing Doublehanded Class).

Showing up as a massive armada are the twenty-one J/109s- by far the single largest one-design class ever to participate in the Fastnet Race!  Included are known around-the-buoys and offshore winning teams like Netherlands ARETHUSA (Kees Mijs); England's INSPARA (Tor McLaren), JANGADA TOO (Richard Palmer), JAZZY JELLYFISH (Kevin Armstrong), JIBE (Robin Taunt), J-T'AIME (Chris Palmer), and RED ARROW (Royal Air Force Sailing Association); and Ireland's JEDI (Andrew Sarratt).

With recent IRC championship crowns under their belts, the classic J/35s will be tough no matter what weather is thrown at them, look for CHOSI 6 (Mike Wunderlich from Germany) and RAGAZZA (Gabriel & De Bie & Malchair from Belgium) to be "in the chocolates" if things go their way.

With three boats, the J/105s are all British teams, including RORC offshore champion Nick Martin on DIABLO-J sailing Doublehanded Class, Jim Heald on FLAWLESS-J and Tom Hayhoe's MOSTLY HARMLESS.  If there were ever a trio of gangsters that could upset the overall apple-cart for fleet honors, it's these guys!

Finally, as the lone J/120 sailing, the French RHAPSODIE V (Jean Jacques  Godet) has proven in multiple RORC Channel races that a well-sailed J/120 can waterline to death many faster rating IRC boats given the right conditions, especially broad-reaching/ VMG'ing downwind in breezes up to 20 kts when other boats still cannot plane away.  It should be a fascinating Fastnet Race to watch given the enormous cross-section of J/Teams participating in this 2013 edition!  Live YellowBrick.com tracking will be available, so cheer on your favorite team to the finish!  Sailing photo credits- ROLEX/ Kurt Arrigo.   For more Rolex Fastnet Race sailing information

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J/109 N.A.'s Preview
(Chicago, IL)- Hosted by Chicago Yacht Club and held concurrently with the Verve Cup Offshore Regatta is this year's J/109 North Americans.  The J/109 sailors will be treated to excellent on-shore entertainment and activities and, most importantly, will be in the hands of the award-winning CYC Race Management team-- renown for conducting good racing on the challenging waters of Lake Michigan.

The weekend's forecast looks a bit sketchy for the sailors.  With the backdrop of the spectacular skyscraper skyline of Chicago, the sailors will first have to contend with a frontal system moving through Friday with breezes shifting from the southerly quadrants that are feeding the front to having to possibly face northwesterly breezes after the frontal passage.  Saturday's sailing looks to be a classic northeaster, with sun and partly cloudy skies and with good size chop (not exactly waves on Lake Michigan) bouncing off the concrete bulkheads on Chicago's waterfront, creating messy seas and shifting winds slowly veering to the east.  By Sunday, it looks like the winds will have clocked into the northeast-easterly quadrants and the local sea-breeze reinforcement will bring another classic sunny day to close out the regatta!  At least that's what the local "chamber of commerce" is claiming.

With the J/109 North American Championship trophy on the line, the eleven boats will have their hands full taking on long-distance traveler Rick Lyall on STORM-- a team from Wilton, CT (Long Island Sound) that are past North American Champions, Block Island Race Week champions, New York YC regatta champions and one of the most highly decorated J/109s in recent history.  Another top visiting team will be Albrecht Goethe's HAMBURG from Seabrook, TX (Galveston Bay), also a champion team from the Gulf of Mexico/ Houston area.

Not taking the challenge lightly will be a host of local teams that know their waters well.  Based on their recent performances in the Chicago NOOD Regatta held in the same race course area earlier this summer, you should see teams like MOMENTUS (Kevin Saedi- the winner), VANDA III (Jack Toliver), FULL TILT (Peter Priede), CERTAINLY (Don Meyer) and KIII (Irv Kerbel) all posting top five finishes in their bid to take the crown or at least a podium finish! Sailing photo credits- ROLEX/Daniel Forster   For more J/109 North Americans sailing information

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J/Sailing News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The beginning of August for many is somewhat bittersweet as much of the summer sailing season has already passed by.  However, some of the most significant sailing events are about to take place in the Americas and Europe before most everyone have to head back to work and drop the kids back off to school!  As mentioned in previous J/News, you have the J/109, J/111, J/27 & J/70 North Americans, J/70 Great Lakes and J/22 Worlds still to go in the Americas and in Europe you have the balance of Cowes Week, J-Cup, J/70 Euro's, J/24 Worlds and the Fastnet Race still to go!

Sailing activity on the European side of the world was quite busy this past week.  The J/80's recently sailed the famous Copa del Rey Audi-Mapfre Regatta off that jet-setting island known as "Palma" offshore of Spain in the middle of the Med. North of them a fleet of J's participated in the sailing equivalent of the 24 Hours of Le Mans-- this event held off Arcachon, France is called the 18 Hours d'Arcachon Race- J/109s, J/22, J/122 and J/92 teams participated and had fun setting new mileage records!  Across "La Manche", the J/70 one-design fleet in Cowes Week just completed their Short Series program, with still more racing to come!  Further northeast in Europe, the J/70's also concluded their first Russia Match Race Regatta, sailed in Kaliningrad, Russia off the southeastern beaches of the Baltic Sea.

In the Americas, the famous heavy-air New England venue, Buzzards Bay, saw a lot of action for J/24 one-designs as well as PHRF handicap sailing for a fleet of J/100, J/105, J/109, J/111, J/122, J/124, J/29 and J/80 class teams in the Buzzards Bay Regatta, hosted this year by New Bedford YC.  Way out west high in the Rocky Mountains, smack in the middle of the Continental Divide, the Dillon YC hosted their famous "world's highest regatta" at 9,100 ft above sea-level (yup, nearly 2 miles straight up into the stratosphere!)-- the Dillon Open Regatta for J/22s and J/24s and other classes.  FYI, just east is the gorgeous Loveland Pass, featuring mountains over 12,000 ft above sea-level and just west is Copper Mountain (you can see the ski trails that push 12,000 ft as well!). Even further West in the High Sierra Mountains, a fleet of J/22, J/24, J/27 and J/80 teams had a ball on the spectacular Huntington Lake in California.

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.

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Regatta & Show Schedules:

Aug 9-11- J/109 North Americans- Chicago YC- Chicago, IL
Aug 9-11- Verve Cup Offshore (109, 111)- Chicago, IL
Aug 9-13- J/27 North American Championship- Oakville, Ontario
Aug 10-11- J/70 Great Lakes- Buffalo YC- Buffalo, NY
Aug 14-18- J/111 North Americans- Chicago YC- Chicago, IL
Aug 21-24- J/Cup Regatta- Royal Western YC- Plymouth, England
Aug 22-30- J/24 World Championships- Howth (Dublin), Ireland
Sep 9-14- J/70 EuroCup Regatta- Lago di Garda, Italy
Sep 26-28- J/70 North Americans- Annapolis YC- Annapolis, MD
Sep 26-29- Rolex Big Boat Series (70, 105, 120)- St Francis YC- San Francisco, CA
Sep 27-29- J/Fest- San Diego YC- San Diego, CA
Oct 1-5- J/22 World Championships- Newport, RI

For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.

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TURISMO ALGARVE Crowned Copa del Rey King!
(Palma Mallorca, Spain)- The Copa Del Rey Audi Mapfre is sailed in Spain's most famous sailing venue- that glorious mountain island of the international sailing jet set- Palma Mallorca.  Hosted by the gracious members of the Real Club Náutico de Palma, Prince Felipe and King Juan Carlos of Spain (Europe's most prominent sailing royalty) and sponsored by AUDI/ MAPFRE, the 38th edition of the event promised great racing and gorgeous weather and that's exactly what the sailors got.

After the first day or two of unusual northerlies, the wind settled into the classic sea-breeze scenario with onshore winds of 10-15 kts from the SSW building every day with spectacular sun-lit seas.  Fresh off their win in the recent J/80 World Championships in Marseilles, France, the TURISMO DE ALGARVE J/80 team led by top Portuguese sailor Hugo Rocha (and sailing under the St Petersburg YC flag from Russia!), simply had all the best cards to play in their hand-- showing great speed and smart sailing to simply dominate the J/80 class with ten 1sts in twelve races!  Yes, it does bring up the amusing anecdote when the Queen of England was asked "who was in second" in the first 100 Guinea Cup Race around the Isle of Wight (a.k.a. what is now known as the America's Cup)-- she was reportedly told, "Your Majesty, there was no second!"  Indeed, Rocha's team won by the enormous margin of 13 pts with an average score of 1.16 pts per race!

No matter how hard they tried, famous sailors like Carlos Martinez on DELTASTONE (skipper on Volvo 70 TELEFONICA and 49er World Champion with his brother) and José María Van der Ploeg on FACTOR ENERGIA (2012 J/80 World Champion and Finn Olympic medallist), simply could not match the remarkable performance by Rocha's champion team-mates. In fact, after twelve races, it was clear the battle was for second place between these two famous Spanish sailors.  Getting the upper hand in the last race was Martinez's team on DELTASTONE, taking second in the race and ending up with 27 pts net. Van der Ploeg's FACTOR ENERGIA took third with 37 pts net.  They were followed by Leonardo Armas Lasso sailing HERBALIFE in fourth with 49 pts net and taking fifth was Marc Patino skippering OPERA SEASON with 55 pts.

Many thanks to Prince Felipe of Spain, who presided over the prize-giving ceremony of the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE held in the cultural center of "Ses Voltes" in Palma.  Fantastic sailing photos courtesy of Jesus Renedo- SailingStock.com.   For more Audi Mapfre Copa del Rey sailing information

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J/Teams Eclipse 18 Hours d'Arcachon Race
J/109 POULICO Crowned Long Distance Champion
(Arcachon, France)- The 40th edition of the "18 heures d'Arcachon" organized by the "Cercle de la Voile d'Arcachon" is a very popular sailboat race that is modeled after the idea of the famous auto race-- the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The 103 boats sailed around a fixed course in Arcachon Bay for a total of 18 hours-- from Saturday 6th of July at 7:00 PM to Sunday 7th of July at 11:00 AM.  Seven classes participated with boats ranging in size from 18 ft up to 50 footers!  Several J/Teams had fantastic performances, winning their classes with the most mileage sailed and taking 3 of the top 6 boats overall!

The big-time winner in both Class B and Overall Champion with the most mileage sailed was the J/109 POULICO, skippered by Francois Lamaignere, with a total of 86.26 nm credited for their extraordinary sailing performance, easily eclipsing all of their closest competitors.  Lying fourth in class and sixth in fleet was the J/122 LORELEI skippered by Alain Chatherineau with 79.34 nm to their credit.

Taking first in Class RA was the J/22 MARLOTTE V skippered by Phillipe De Galzain with a grand total of 72.71 nm to their credit.  And in Class RB, the J/92 SAPAJOU sailed by Christophe Rochereau took second with a total of 79.84 nm for their overnight sailing efforts-- plus they took fifth overall out of all 103 boats!   For more 18 Hours d'Arcachon Race sailing information

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Scott Wins J/70 Cowes Week Short Series
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Ruairidh Scott, Charlie Cumbley, Hugh Fletcher and Matt Curthoys, the team on board the J/70 NORTH SAILS, were yesterday pronounced as the winners of the race series that everyone was talking about: the J/70 Short Series at AAM Cowes Week 2013. The Jaques family were second in DJANGO and Simon ‘Sling’ Ling and crew finished third in Team RAFBF SPITFIRE.

Almost exactly one year after the very first J/70 Sportsboat arrived in the UK, this brand new one-design fleet were offered a Class Start at AAM Cowes Week and better still, the J/70s were able to compete in two races each day from Saturday 3rd of August to Tuesday 6th of August in the J/70 ‘Short Series’. The J/70s were the first fleet to start off the Squadron line each morning and then raced the second race from a committee boat start-line, finishing off Cowes. It was a race format which worked extraordinarily well for the fleet and which everyone agreed delivered great racing and superb competition.

Racing in the J/70 fleet at Cowes was both extremely close and incredibly exciting; in the first race on Sunday 60% of the fleet crossed the finish line in an 83 second period! It is clear the J/70 is not only great fun to sail but that the class delivers absolutely first rate competition. Heading into the AAM Cowes Week Short Series, the smart money may well have been on the North Sails team as they are the current J/70 UK National Champions, but as Ruairidh was the first to point out, the fleet is getting hotter and hotter all the time and the standard of sailing is improving at every event so it was far from an easy win.

Certainly Ruairidh and his team did not have things all their own way. The Jaques family team won two of the six races completed in DJANGO (racing for all classes at Cowes was abandoned on Tuesday when the breeze failed to show up on the course) and kept the pressure on Ruairidh from the off, starting the regatta with a win in Race 1. Malcolm said ‘It made sense for Tristan to helm the boat and I slipped into the tactician’s role with my daughter Naomi doing navigation and strategy. Tristan is clearly a very quick driver but it’s not just that: his reactions are also faster than mine and that is crucial to success in this fleet. Tristan was able to really keep 100% of his focus on boat-speed’.

At the close of the series North Sails had notched up just six points, DJANGO had eight on the score card and Team RAFBF SPITFIRE clocked 18. Ruairidh and his crew were clearly thrilled to have won.  Ruairidh explained ‘We’ve had a great regatta. We’ve certainly been under lots of pressure from the rest of the fleet at this event, especially Django, but my crew worked really hard and kept their focus from start to finish taking any little knock back in their stride.’ He continued ‘I would like to say hats off to the organisers for taking the decision to run two races a day. It has transformed the event for us: two shorter races really keep the interest levels up. The key elements of our success here at AAM Cowes Week include having good all round boat speed, a crew with a thorough knowledge of The Solent and 100% concentration from the whole team.’

Racing continues for the J/70 Class at AAM Cowes Week today although with the more traditional and relaxed ‘one race a day’ format. The next major event for the J/70 Class is the J-Cup later this month in Plymouth and then the UK teams will be packing their boats up and heading down to glorious Lake Garda for the J/70 EuroCup Championships in September.   For more Cowes Week sailing information

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Gorgeous Sailing @ Buzzards Bay Regatta
J/100 Wins Cruising Class, WILD THING Shocks J/24s
(Padanaram, Massachusetts)- The BBR (as the Buzzards Bay Regatta is commonly referred to) has long been one of the highlights of the summer sailing season on Buzzards Bay, and certainly renown as one of the best sailing areas in New England.  Generally sailed in the first weekend of August, the BBR is blessed with favorable sea-breezes that develop late morning and can often build from the WSW well into the 15-20 kts range or higher along with enormous current-induced chop.  While not San Francisco Bay or Cascade Locks in Oregon, it's certainly one of the better "big breeze" venues any sailor can find along the Eastern seaboard.

The BBR is one of the largest multi-class regattas in America, but like many others, has been suffering from attendance over time, particularly in recent years.  The dinghy classes (Lasers & 420s) continue to do OK, but the offshore keelboat classes have diminished quite significantly.  Nevertheless, the army of volunteers and the enthusiasm of the host clubs ensure the sailors are having a good time ashore (lobster bakes, etc) as well as have good race management on the water.

This year's event was hosted by the New Bedford Yacht Club from August 2nd to 4th!  Thirty-seven keelboats (one-design & offshore) participated over the three day weekend.  Remarkably, nineteen of those boats were J/Teams from around New England-- J's were by far the dominant brand at the regatta with 51% of the participants.

In the J/24s, ten races were sailed over the three days, making it fun sailing for the fleet of eight boats.  Jim Ciffolillo on WILD THING from Beverly YC was in a battle with Sanford Tyler on STRAIGHT JACKET from Hyannis YC for first place.  In the end, WILD THING prevailed with 19 net pts to take the J/24 crown.  Second was STRAIGHT JACKET with 21 pts.  In the fight for third place, Craig Correia's team on QUEEQUEG finished with a flourish of 1-1-3 to take the last spot on the podium.  Settling for fourth was Nick Kotsatos and Chris Memoli on DARK & STORMY and in fifth was Bonnie Kirchner on FAST FOOD.

PHRF 1 division had the largest fleet of keelboats at the regatta with fourteen boats, a welcome change from previous years.  Taking second and third in class were the two talented sailing teams on the J/111's- WICKED 2.0 (skippered by Doug Curtiss) and ODYSSEY (sailed by Fred Van Liew and Dave Brodsky), respectively.  Fourth was the J/122 AUGUST WEST sailed by Jamey Shachoy.  The third J/111, BRAVO skippered by Sedgwick Ward, took seventh in class.  The "other" WICKED, the J/124 sailed by Scott Bancroft took 8th and Jim Masiero's J/122 URSUS MARITIMUS got the short-end of the stick on a three-way tie for 9th to settle for 11th.  It was a good showing for the J/Teams, taking 50% of the top ten overall.

PHRF 2 had five J/Teams in a fleet of seven boats.  Not surprisingly, the fleet was pretty much over-run by the J/Teams as they raced around the track.  Taking class honors was local superstar Ted Herlihy sailing his champion J/109 GUT FEELING.  Fourth was Rob Salk's J/109 PICANTE and fifth was Dan Boyd's J/109 WILD THING.

Like their PHRF 2 counterparts, the PHRF 3 division had seven J crews sailing in a fleet of ten boats, making life tough for their non-J competitors.  In the end, the well-sailed J/29 MIGHTY PUFFIN skippered by Steve Thurston from Bristol, RI finished second overall.  They were followed by the J/105s HARDTACK (Matt Schmitt) in fourth and DARK N STORMY (Andy Reservitz) in fifth.  Henry DeGroot's J/80 WIRED took 7th, the J/29 MAS SAILING Team led by Sean McLaughlin took 8th and the J/105 WATERWOLF helmed by Ed Lobo took 9th.

The best J/PHRF performance goes to the sole J sailing in the PHRF Cruise division. Those honors go to the J/100 SUNDANCE skippered by Albert Signorella from the host New Bedford YC.   For more Buzzards Bay Regatta sailing information

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J/22s & J/24s Love Rocky Mountain Highs!
(Dillon, Colorado)-  Billed as the world’s highest regatta at 9,017 ft above sea level, racing for the Dillon Open Regatta takes place on beautiful Dillon Reservoir in Dillon, Colorado, where sailors enjoy mostly sunny days and spectacular views of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains.  The regatta is hosted by the Dillon Yacht Club, the nation’s highest yacht club at 9,017 feet above sea level, located near the Continental Divide, a 70 mile drive west on I-70 from downtown Denver.

As Scott Spurlin from J/Boats Southwest once said, “It's been called the "Most dangerous Regatta in America", the "Highest Regatta in America", and the "Largest In-Land Lake Regatta West of the Mississippi". No matter what the claim-- the Dillon Open Regatta is a lot of fun!”

Think you're good at reading the wind? Lake Dillon would certainly test your skills! Mountains and valleys with rapidly changing weather again kept the tacticians on their toes this year!  With winds rolling down the steep mountain sides along the lakefront (or the occasional micro-burst blowing down vertically out of clear blue sky), the faster (and sometimes luckier) crews had a field day picking up windshifts and breeze lines to work themselves to the front of the fleet.

For well over 25 years, the J/24s from around the Midwest (as well as refugees from the heat in the Deep South) have made their annual migration to sail in the warm and friendly confines of Lake Dillon, nestled cozily in the Rocky Mountains.  Eight J/24 teams made the starting line this year.  It just so happened to be a good "vintage" year for the crew on Greg & Susan Johnson's PINOTAGE, posting three 1sts in their scoreline on their way to winning the J/24 class with a 5-1-3-1-1-2-3 record for 16 pts.  Alan Dille's crew on SEPTILLION made a valiant effort to remain in contention, but two 4ths in races 4 & 6 hurt their chances for a comeback.  Instead, SEPTILLION's 2-3-2-4-24.5-2 for 19.5 pts snagged them a second overall.  Taking two 1sts but not staying at all consistent was Frank Kelble's team on USA 1966, amassing a 1-5-4-5-4-1-4 for 24 pts to take third on the podium.  The balance of the top five was taken by Doug Pierini on COLD SMOKE in fourth and Stephen Bergman on EVENT HORIZON in fifth.

The Dillon Open has also bee quite popular with the J/22 class, this year fielding the largest one-design fleet in the regatta with twelve participants.  Sailing fast out of the starting blocks on the first day was Mike Kline's NAUTI-MOOSE, taking a 1-1-2-1 to never relinquish the lead for the rest of the regatta.  However, victory clearly did not come easy for this team.  After what appeared to have been premature celebrations taking place on Saturday night, the "Nauti-Boys" on NAUTI-MOOSE could only muster a 6-5-2 on the last day to barely hang onto their lead to take class honors!  David Baker's UP FOR AIR started slowly but closed the regatta with a 1-1-4 to take second overall.  Third was Robin Jackson & Kristin Zagray's BIG BUTT BOAT, closing with a 3-2-1 to show rapid improvement in the standings to take the silverware for third.  Fourth was Stan Strathman's SCREAMIN J and the "long-distance award" goes to fifth place finisher Richard Hallagan from Canandaigua YC on New York's Canandaigua Lake.   Sailing photo credits- Greg Schertz   For more Dillon Open Regatta sailing information

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First J/70 Russia Regatta
(Kaliningrad, Russia)- From August 1st to 4th, the first J/70 regatta in Russia, the "Yachting Russia Cup", took place off Kaliningrad's beautiful beaches on the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea.  The format was an amateur match-race supported by the local yacht club and "Amber Breeze" with the theme of "Jazz & Sail"-- the sailors had fun on the water by day and were treated to excellent jazz music in the evening for three straight days!

Participating in a round-robin format followed by a championship/ repechage elimination ladder, teams from Russia, Ukraine, Latvia and Germany participated.  The first day of racing was nearly perfect-- plenty of breeze blowing up to 15 kts and lots of sun.  Everyone had fun both on the water and at the beaches watching the racing inside the breakwater of the old fishing harbor.

In the end, the teams all pronounced the regatta a huge success and the music/ jazz session as OTT (over the top)!  A special "thanks" goes out to Elena Otekina for the fun photos taken of the event.  For more sailing photos and information on this first J/70 regatta in Russia, please go to Elena's Facebook page.

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J/Teams High On Sierra Regatta
(Huntington Lake, California)- The 60th High Sierras Regatta took place, as always, on one of the most remote and scenic venues on the west coast - Huntington Lake in the High Sierras of California. Hosted and run by Fresno Yacht Club volunteers, the regatta spans two weekends, the first on July 6-7 and the second on July 13-14.  The first weekend was made up of Centerboard Classes, with the second featuring mostly larger keelboats. The number of boats each weekend is limited by the US Forest Service, so entries are always on a first-come first-serve basis.

Over the past six decades, the High Sierra Regatta has had more than its fair share of Olympic gold medalists and National champions sailing in the event. The consistent winds, sunny days and beautiful scenery attract sailors from all over the country; sailing on fresh water in Central California's biggest lake regatta is hard to beat!

The first day of racing on Saturday saw 100+ keel boats on the water.  Imagine that many boats of wildly different speeds and sizes sharing a lake that is only 2.25 square miles long-- an anxiety attack mid-course is not in the cards if you want to sail well in this regatta! Like clockwork, the breeze built in time for the races to start at 10:55am, nearly the same time every day.

Competitors saw gusts up to 19 kts towards the top of the lake and lows of 6-8 kts towards the bottom. The wind was very puffy and shifty and it typically favored the south shore breeze. Boats that were able to stay in phase on the south shore and play most of the shifts made out over the boats playing the middle or the north shore.

On Sunday the wind was pretty similar to Saturday, very puffy and shifty, favoring the south shore again. With most boats short-tacking up the south shore and the breeze dissipating as you go up the lake, there was a lot of disturbed air. This was where "heroes became zeroes" and were shot out the back. The boats that could stay out of  disturbed air and avoid the holes along the shore were able to minimize their losses.  Some boats played it conservatively and found large, shifting breeze lanes going out across the lake in breeze.

PHRF B fleet saw the J/24 and J/22 do battle with a cast of Olson 25s and Merit 25s.  When all was said and done, Pat Bradley's J/24 OLD AND IN THE WAY took 2nd overall and Greg Greenlee's J/22 TEKEELA took third overall in class.

Bob Crooks J/80 WASAABI enjoyed their weekend on the lake and took 7th in PHRF A fleet.  They just nipped out classmate Jim Powell sailing his J/27 LEVITY, who took 8th in class.   Sailing photo credits- Eric Zamora- The Fresno Bee   For more High Sierras Regatta sailing information

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J/Community

What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide

*  "Bags for Breasts!"  CUTEY UK launches new luxury hand-bag range-- they’re giving 10% of all profits to women’s Breast Cancer Research, so its for a great cause! Long-time U.K. J/Boats sailors Chris Palmer and his wife Ashley are founders of CUTEY UK-- they make a line of luxury hand-bags for women.

They launched their product line with "Love" at the core of its brand and the bags are made from the highest quality, ethically sourced Italian leather available.

Affected personally by illness in the family, breast cancer is something that founders Chris & Ashley can closely relate too. To support breast cancer research, they created CUTEY as a small UK-based Artisan Company. Since launching on Valentine’s Day 2013 CUTEY has gone from strength to strength booming in popularity, amassing over 400,000 followers on Twitter, and 15,000 fans on Facebook.

The methodology behind CUTEY's brand is "love, caring and passion," inspired by the most important thing in life, the ones you love. The CUTEY brand represents "romance, loving & luxury."  With all of it’s bags named after the most romantic cities & capitals of the world including; Paris, Bruges, Rome, Tuscany, New York, St. Lucia, Vienna, Venice & Florence.

The bags, made from the highest quality ethically sourced Italian leather, are beautifully crafted featuring some signature CUTEY marks such as the CUTEY heart shapes zip lock, interior design CUTEY heart pattern and the CUTEY signature locking device, giving the bag the luxury feel you deserve from a designer handbag.

CUTEY offer a Free UK Delivery service as well as worldwide dispatch, with next day dispatch on all items. The CUTEY luxury leather bags are the perfect gift for a loved one or for yourself-- and you don’t need to feel as guilty in indulging knowing the profits are going to a great cause.

Learn more about their support for women's breast cancer research and why this cause hits them so close to home.  For more CUTEY "bags for breast" fund-raising program and more information on their luxury hand-bags, please go to- http://www.cutey.co.uk/bags.

*  J/24 World Champions Win TP52 Super Series in Copa del Rey! By winning 6 of 11 races, QUANTUM RACING simply smoked their hot competition in the TP52 class recently while racing for the regatta win and the overall 52 Super Series championship win off Palma Mallorca, Spain.  The American team, which is skippered by Ed Baird and has Terry Hutchinson as tactician, enjoyed the sparkling sea breeze which topped 20 kts at times during the last race to deliver the final race victory, running out their third successive 52 SUPER SERIES regatta win after triumphs in Barcelona and Ibiza.

Competitor Nikolas Zennström paid them the ultimate compliment, admitting the QUANTUM RACING crew were pretty much unstoppable, “At the end of this regatta we are pretty happy with second. We wanted to win regatta, we gave it a shot and we are sailing the boat well but Quantum Racing are just sailing better.”

For the Quantum Racing team, formed in 2008, it is the first time they have won Spain’s biggest and most prestigious regatta. And, it took TWO J/24 World Champions (Ed & Terry), not just one, to pull off a formidable tour'de'force on the race course.  Surprised?  Perhaps not, that's what tough J/One-Design competition teaches many of the world's best sailors participating in premiere regattas around the world.   It will be interesting to see if another J/24 World Champion, John Kostecki (the tactician on Oracle's AC72 for skipper Jimmie Spithill) can pull off what many consider the improbable task of beating the Flying Kiwi's on-board Emirates Team New Zealand AC72 in the America's Cup 34 Finale.  Time will tell if all that one-design experience will come into play!

* J/World J/80 Sailors are "Cape-to-Cape Challenge" Champions!  Yes, you better believe it, according to J/World Annapolis Director, Kristen Berry.  "This past weekend I was coaching in Cape May/Lewes, DE with a three man team of 70-somethings who are the epitome of cool.  They purchased a J/80 in 2011 and have been sailing and training with their eyes set on winning their local championship - the Cape to Cape Challenge.

I was fortunate enough to be asked to sail with these guys, and we had a blast and ended up edging out a J/105 (Max Power) and J/70 (Little Rascal) in the 12 boat spinnaker PHRF fleet to win the event overall. It's a great story about the timeless nature of J/Boats and sailing itself.

The owner of Little Rascal is hosting a J/70 event this weekend that will have a bunch of enthusiastic owners participating.  Lewes, Delaware is becoming a great place for sailing and with Rick Pfarr as the local "pied piper" and cheerleader for sailing, I believe it will become a regular spot on the southern Chesapeake summer schedule."  If anyone has any interest in these events, and more, please be sure to contact Kristen Berry at J/World Annapolis Sailing School.

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* 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

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The J Cruising Community 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/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.

J/Newsletter- July 31st, 2013

Cowes Race Week Preview 
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week is a key part of the British sporting calendar taking place in early August each year. These dates result from early traditions when the great and the good came to Cowes between Goodwood and the Glorious Twelfth – day one of the grouse shooting season. The event is a great mix of competitive sailing and a vibrant social scene and has evolved enormously since the early days; it now attracts up to 1,000 competing boats, around 8,500 competitors and over 100,000 visitors.

Hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Cowes Combined Clubs, the sailors are treated to incredibly challenging, fun sailing; especially when each day dawns with a new course on the famous Solent-- full of capricious currents and shifty, gusty breezes.  The event puts a premium not only on boat-handling and boat-speed, but on the navigational capabilities of the crew to find all the marks and make it back to the extraordinary finish line immediately off the flag deck onshore lined with massive cannons at the Royal Yacht Squadron.

There is a combination of IRC handicap racing as well as a multitude of J/One-design classes participating.  Starting with the one-designs, there will be J/70s, J/80s, J/109s and J/111s sailing.  In the nine boat J/111 class, a number of veteran Cowes regatta and race winners will be present, including SHMOKIN JOE (Duncan McDonald), J-DREAM (David & Kirsty Apthorp), MCFLY (Tony Mack), JEEZ LOUISE (James Arnell) and JITTERBURG (Cornel Riklin).  In addition, new teams participating in Cowes Week include Sebastien de Liedekerke's team from Belgium will be sailing DJINN, ICARUS sailed by Andrew Christie and John Scott, SWEENY skippered by Kees van Vliet from The Netherlands and TOE IN THE WATER led by Capt Lloyd Hamilton MBE.

The J/109s are showing up in force with twenty-three boats, many with new teams aboard sailing their first Cowes Week on 109s.  Amongst the veteran teams that could be a factor include DESIGNSTAR 2 (Roger Phillips), INSPARA (Tor Mclaren), J2EAU (Jean-Yves Tabourot and entered by Williams F-1 Racing Team), JAZZY JELLYFISH (Anthony Eaton), JUMPING JELLYFISH (David Richards), JUMUNU (Jamie Sheldon), JUNO (Ross Walker), JYNNAN TONNYX (Owain Franks and Jean Lockett), ME'JULIE (Hedley Aylott), SARDONYX IX (William Edwards) and STALKER (Steven Tapper).

Fresh of their participation in an enormously difficult J/80 World Championships in Marseilles, France, some teams are still licking their wounds while others have bitten the bullet and are going for it at Cowes Week!  Nevertheless, while entries are down for the J/80s, the thirteen teams are looking forward to some excellent sailing and a number of top teams will be in attendance, including FREDDO (Shaun Priestley), J.A.T. (Chris Taylor), JABBA (Vladimir Phillips), JUICY (Donald Suter), RASCAL (Jamie Diamond), SWALLOW (Chris Body) and WILD WALLY (a family affair with Robert Walters, David Walters and James O'Neill-- J/39 owners).

The field of eight J/70s are certain to see some of the match-ups get heated up again that took place at the J/70 UK Nationals earlier in the year at Cowes.  Certain to be tough sledding for many as virtually all the boats have had their flashes of brilliance over the course of the summer.  Amongst the leaders could be NORTH SAILS (Ruairidh Scott), BOATS.COM (Ian Atkins), TEAM SPITFIRE Powered by SLAM (Wing Commander Simon Ling RAF) and JENGA 8 (Paul & Marie-Claude Heys).  However, since many of the new teams are racing up the learning curve, don't be surprised to see these teams in the front row, including DJANGO (Malcolm Jaques), JUGADOR (Jack Davies), PHEEBS (Simon Cavey) and WILSON COVERS (Ian wilson).

The world of IRC handicap racing will have J teams distributed from IRC 3 Class (J/122s and J/133s) down to IRC 7 Class (the classic J/24s).  Starting at the top, there will be strong competition between the three J/133s and the J/122 duo.  Yves Grosjean's JIVARO, Ian Dewhirst's JUMP and Angus Bates's ASSARAIN IV are all J/133s that have been accustomed to winning offshore and around the cans.  However, the J/122s like JACOBS LADDER and MINT JULEP (David Cule) have also proven they're tough competitors.  The proverbial "fly in the ointment" could be the J/120 EL OCASO, that famous American navy blue boat that eclipsed the Caribbean winter circuit, she will be well sailed by Mike Caldwell and crew.

Yet another J/120, RHAPSODIE V, sailed by the French team led by Jean Jacques Godet will be sailing with a somewhat optimized IRC rating. She'll be challenged by the recent IRC UK Nationals Champion, the J/35 BENGAL MAGIC skippered by James Chalmers-- would be interesting to watch this one from the bleacher seats!

IRC 5 Class is the domain of the champion J/97's and the rest of the 35 foot J's (like the J/110 SHADES OF BLUE sailed Ed Holton) and a veritable armada of J/105's.  Looking into the J/105 ranks you'll find a cadre of offshore and course-racing champions like KING LOUIE (Fiona & Malcolm Thorpe), FAY-J (Stan Fenton) and JOURNEYMAKER V- Chris Jones.  Giving them a run-for-the-roses will be JIN & TONIC (Charles Nicholson and Neil McGrigor), MOSTLY HARMLESS (Natalie Jobling), JACANA (Paul Wood) and JOS OF HAMBLE (Roger Williams).  The J/97's will be well represented by JACKAROO, JIGGERY POKERY (Rob Orr), JET (James & John Owen) and INDULJENCE (Nick & Adam Munday, recent winners in the IRC UK Nationals, too).

Another J/97 configured for a lower IRC rating is sailing in IRC 6 Class- Charles Ivill's ETB TYRES JIGGERY POKERY.  They will be accompanied by some fast J/92s's like past winners WHO'S TO NO (Richard Sparrow) and J'RONIMO (David Greenhalgh).  Also sailing is a the fast, beautiful J/32 cruiser-racer, DOMAINE, skippered by Chris Burbidge.

In the small boat IRC 7 class, two J/24s will be dueling for class honors, including VINYL SOLUTIONS skippered by Simon Lack and JUPITER helmed by Edmund Gatehouse.  Sailing photo credit- Rick Tomlinson.  For more Cowes Week sailing information

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J/70 Great Lakes Preview
Jud Smith J/70 Clinic, too!
(Buffalo, New York)- The inaugural J/70 Great Lakes Championship, sponsored by Towne Auto BMW-Mini, is being held at the Buffalo Yacht Club from August 10th to 11th.  Located at the far eastern shores of Lake Erie, and just a stones throw from the famous Niagara Falls, the twenty-five plus J/70s already registered should have excellent sailing.

Renown for getting nice sea-breezes in the afternoon, the natural amphitheater formed by the geographical convergence of the northern shore of Canada merging with the southern shore of New York provides enough heating to give the sailors a reasonable chance of good winds each day from the WSW.  Because the race course is not far from the thundering mists of Niagara Falls, east-flowing current does come into play for the sailors on their windward laylines and approaches to the leeward gates-- should make for fun, challenging sailing!

The fleet will have great competition, especially with addition of more new owners who are on the fast, steep learning curve as well as some of the class veterans whom have won or placed well in a number of regatta in the busy 2013 season.  Top teams include Jud Smith, Joel Ronning on CATAPULT, Tate Russack (DIESEL), Jen Wulff (JOINT CUSTODY), Don Finkle (JUNIOR), Gary Tisdale & Adam Burns (PIG's EAR), JB Walsh (THING), Kyle Fast (TORQEEDO), Marty Kullman (TOUCH2PLAY), Joe Colling, Marty McKenna and a Canadian team sailing- Andy Papierz on DYNAMO from Toronto, Ontario.

Jud Smith will be running a J/70 speed/ tuning clinic on Friday August 9 and Marty Kullman will also be there assisting the sailors.  Please contact Tom Lewin at email- TLewin@roadrunner.com or ph# (716)-861-3700.   Sailing photo credits-  Bronny Daniels @ Joysailing.com. For more J/70 Great Lakes sailing information

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J/Teams Sailing Copa del Rey
(Palma Mallorca, Spain)- The Copa Del Rey Audi Mapfre is one of the premiere European regattas held every summer in Spain's most famous sailing venue- that glorious mountain island of the international sailing jet set- Palma Mallorca.  Hosted by the gracious members of the Real Club Náutico de Palma, the 38th edition of the event will be sailed from July 27th to August 3rd.

So far the sailors have been challenged by the unusual NE’ly wind direction, with tacticians having to search their memory banks to recall the best strategy for what ultimately proved to be an excellent opening contest for Spain’s showcase annual regatta.  The day started with a gradient northwesterly breeze, between 15 and 16 knots, that gave the race committee the opportunity to hold a fiercely-fought and spectacular race. However, the breeze gradually died in the afternoon as the gradient and the local thermal were canceling each other out.

The J/80 one-design class, always a popular boat at Copa del Rey, has a field of fourteen teams that includes several of the top five J/80 teams at the recent J/80 World Championship in Marseilles, France.  At the top of the list is Hugo Rocha sailing TURISMO DO ALGARVE from Portugal-- the current 2013 J/80 World Champion.  He will certainly be challenged racing in Spanish home waters-- as the local teams include Carlos Martinez on DELTASTONE and Jose Maria Van der Ploeg on FACTOR ENERGIA (the 2012 J/80 World Champion)!

Sailing in the ORC 1 handicap class are the J/122 NOISY OYSTER from France sailed by Olivier Parchet and the J/111 BLACK BULL from Italy skippered by Pietro D'Ali from Yacht Club Italia.  Sailing photo credits- Jesus Renedo/ Sailingstock.com.   For more Audi Mapfre Copa del Rey sailing information

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Chester Race Week Preview
(Chester, Nova Scotia)- This year's Chester Race Week is sailing from August 14th to 17th and will again have a large turn-out of J's ranging from the classic J/24s, J/29s, J/30s, J/35s and J/36 to the modern J/80, J/92s, J/109 and J/120s- a total of sixteen J's in all, about 38% of the fleet of forty-two handicap racers.

Yacht racing has been a major summer sport in Chester for well over 150 years. Its roots were planted in the mid-19th century when the fishermen raced each other to markets in Halifax or New England. As sailors and fishermen have done forever, they loved to get together and talk shop. Sailing races for pleasure and bragging rights was inevitable. As the gatherings and races occurred more regularly, the Annual Fishermen’s Regatta was born. The regatta was a show case for locally built boats of different designs, as well as for sailing skills.

Adding to the regatta's interesting history will be a special appearance by one of J/Boat's co-founders.  Says Chester Race Week Chairman John Curry, "The Alpha 2 White class looks like it’s going to be pretty interesting this year!  Rod Johnstone is going to be racing Gary Bennett’s J/35 J'AI TU on that course.  Rod is probably best known for inventing the J/24 in his garage.  The rest, as they say, is history.  All you J/35 owners, if you haven’t already registered, better get on the ball! In addition to sailing in the Regatta, Rod J. has consented to do a “How to Sail your J/Boat in Chester Race Week” session on the Yacht Club steps on Friday morning.  There will be a reception in his honour at the Yacht Club from 6 to 8 Friday evening (August 16th) surrounding the prize-giving."

The weather forecast of mostly southerly winds (SE to SW quadrant) of 8-15 kts from Wednesday to Saturday should make for good racing as the partly sunny days could enhance the onshore flow with local sea-breeze effects in the gorgeous bay ringed with islands. Nevertheless, the fleet may experience some showers and thunderstorms for part of the day on Saturday.

Leading the charge in the Alpha 1 Division are the J/35 J'AI TU as well as the J/36 VELOS-ITY (David Morgan from RKYC) against a trio of local Farr 30s.  In the Distance 1 class are the J/109 WISC (Paul Rafuse from RNSYS), the J/35 CRACKERJACK (Peter Traves from Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron) and two J/120's- GRAND CRU (Mike Kennedy from Chester YC) and BLACK PEARL (Ross Leighton from RNSYS).

In the Delta Distance Course are the famous J/92 POOHSTICKS (Colin Mann from Lunenburg YC) and the J/80 GOAT WHISPERER (Dale Robertson from RNSYS).

Finally, it looks like the five J/29s may all be sailing in the Bravo 1 course, including PARADIGM SHIFT (Williams/ Matthews), SILVER WOMAN (Andrew Childs), HAKUNA MATATA (J Wood from LYC), RUMBLEFISH (Scott Covey from LYC) and WINTER PROJECT (Brad Fleet/ Ivan Carey from LYC).  Also sailing in this class is the J/30 FLUX skippered by Jordan MacNeil from RNSYS).  Also sailing are two enthusiastic J/24 teams, WAVE RUNNER (Will Nauss/ Countway from CYC) and ADRENALINE RUSH (Greg Blunden from RNSYS).  Sailing photo credits- Heather McGuire    For more Chester Race Week sailing information

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J/Sailing News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The last weekend of July was extremely busy on the international sailing calendar.  Top of the list was the famously giant Travemunde Woche sailing in the gorgeous bay northeast of Travemunde, Germany.  Hosting thousands of sailors, tens of thousands of spectators and well over two dozen one-design classes of all types, including classic wooden yachts, the host Lubeck Yacht Club also played host to the German J/22 Open during Travemunde Week.  Further south in Italy, the J/24s completed yet another major regatta of their summer sailing season with the J/24 Palio di Anzio Regatta.

Across the Atlantic in the Caribbean, the J/24s also completed their incredibly successful and popular summer sailing series in Barbados with their Harris Paints Summer Regatta.

On the American East Coast, the J/70s held their New England's in Marblehead, MA along with the Sperry Topsider Marblehead NOOD Regatta (also hosting J/24 and J/105 one-design classes).  In Narragansett Bay, the J/30's held one of their largest J/30 North American regattas ever held at Barrington Yacht Club.  On Lake Ontario, the Youngstown YC held their 40th (and last) Youngstown Level Regatta; earmarked by the debut of the J/70 class-- also sailing were J/24 and J/35 one-design classes along with PHRF classes that had J/111, J/109, J/105 and other J's participating.  In the Midwest, the Little Traverse Yacht Club hosted their famous Ugotta Regatta with one-design J/105s sailing along with a large PHRF handicap contingent that also had J/42s, J/111s, J/109s and J/35s.  Down in Texas, the Texas Offshore Circuit in Galveston Bay, Texas was concluding with an excellent performance by a J/105.  Out West the Santa Barbara and King Harbor Yacht Clubs hosted their popular Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race, an 81nm event that attracted a host of J/Teams (J/29, J/30, J/105, J/109, J/111, J/125, J/145, etc) in this sleigh-ride classic that goes offshore around the Channel Islands.

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.

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Regatta & Show Schedules:

Aug 3-10- Cowes Race Week (70, 80, 109, 111)- Cowes, England
Aug 9-11- J/109 North Americans- Chicago YC- Chicago, IL
Aug 9-11- Verve Cup Offshore (109, 111)- Chicago, IL
Aug 9-13- J/27 North American Championship- Oakville, Ontario
Aug 10-11- J/70 Great Lakes- Buffalo YC- Buffalo, NY
Aug 14-18- J/111 North Americans- Chicago YC- Chicago, IL
Aug 22-30- J/24 Worlds- Howth (Dublin), Ireland
Sep 9-14- J/70 EuroCup Regatta- Lago di Garda, Italy
Sep 26-28- J/70 North Americans- Annapolis YC- Annapolis, MD
Sep 26-29- Rolex Big Boat Series (70, 105, 120)- St Francis YC- San Francisco, CA

For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.

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Sleigh-ride to King Harbor
J/30 3rd in Class & Fleet Overall!
(Santa Barbara, CA)- The 42nd running of the popular California offshore classic, the 81nm Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race, was truly the "tale of two cities" (the fast boats and the little boats).  The weather forecast seemed normal for the race, a light SSE breeze clocking around after the start to SW and slowly building into the WNW at 10-18 kts during the day and, perhaps, dying by evening.  Toss in plenty of sun, the spectacular seascapes of the Channel Islands, cute little brown seals swimming everywhere (great white shark lunch!) and amazing schools of porpoises ripping through schools of fish or racing underneath the bow wave and you have the ingredients for a near perfect downwind roller-coaster ride down the California coastline.

As has often been the case, what appeared to be a "normal" SB-KH race was nothing like the sort.  While the initial part of the race held true to form, the fleet starting under headsails then switching to mostly Code Zero's or reaching chutes to fetch Anacapa Island, what happened after that was not what the "playbook" was prescribing.  Getting to Anacapa Island's northern turning point is a bit like the "Looking Glass" in the Wizard of Oz or, as some have put it, "The Twilight Zone"-- one never knows what's beyond it once you've entered it.  Some say go tight along the western side of the island, others says go outside at least 1.5 to 3.0nm to avoid the inevitable wind-shadow cast by the 1,000 ft plus ridge on Anacapa.  Seeing little or no wind inside, most all the bigger boats (over 35 feet) set for an outside, longer course.  Some exceptions included the J/111, J/120 and others that magically shot the middle-left position and snuck through.  But, the smaller boats never had that issue as most simply turned left at the island, set chutes and sailed nearly direct to King Harbor at a bearing of 98 degrees! To confound the "local knowledge" experts even more, the anticipated "geographical shift" often found by sailing towards Point Dume just north of Malibu, not only happened (with the breeze shifting from 300 deg to 270 deg) but the wind kept backing around to 235 deg near the finish line at the entrance to King Harbor.

As a result, the big winners were the later, slower boats to start the race at 12:25pm.  The ocean greyhounds that took off first got the short end of the stick in this year's edition.  PHRF D class simply cleaned house in the Top 10 overall, with the J/30 FRICTION LOSS taking 3rd in class and 3rd overall while veteran Santa Barbarian offshore champion Larry Leveille sailed his famous J/29 RUSH STREET to 5th in class and 6th in fleet!  Good show for these teams!

Starting at the same time as PHRF D was PHRF C class, with the J/33 TIGGER sailed by Fred & Suzanne Cottrell taking class line honors and 2nd overall on handicap, 9th in fleet and 13th overall.

Also starting later and reaping the benefits was PHRF Sprit B class, which was mostly a "J/Navy"- 9 of 10 boats!  Leading the charge down south was Brian Kerr's J/92 DOUBLE DOWN, taking class and Sprit Fleet honors and 12th overall. Second in class, 2nd in Sprit fleet and 14th overall was the J/105 ARMIDA sailed by Tom Bollay.  Third in class, third Sprit fleet and 15th overall was another J/105-- TWELVE BAR BLUES skippered by Chuck Spear.  Rounding out the top five in class was the J/109 LINSTAR helmed by Len Bose and in 5th was Dan McGanty's J/105 AQUABELLA.

Sweeping the top two spots in a duel to the finish for PHRF Sprit A class were the J/111 and J/120.  In the end, while Bill Webster & Mike Moorhead's J/111 JATO took class line honors, the winner on handicap was Gary Winton's J/120 SHENANIGANS by nine minutes.  They both finished 5th and 6th, respectively in Sprit Fleet and 23rd and 25th overall of 75 boats.  Here's a YouTube video of JATO's ride to King Harbor- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqQ-grLqGGA

In PHRF Sprit ULDB A class, the J/125 and J/145 had a rough go of it, with one boat heading too low and the other heading too high off on the initial run to Anacapa Island, and then getting too far south (to right of rhumbline) on the way down to King Harbor.  Consequently, Viggo Torbensen's J/125 TIMESHAVER finished 4th in class and Carolyn Parks' J/145 RADIO FLYER took 6th.

The host finishing club, Kings Harbor YC hosted their incredibly delicious "shrimp feast" on Saturday afternoon in conjunction with the awards ceremony (part of the secret recipe- cayenne pepper, olive oil, lemon).  It was a fitting end to a beautiful race on a sunny day overlooking the Pacific Ocean and harbor.
Sailing photo credits- J/Boats and Bronny Daniels @ Joysailing.com.  For more Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race sailing information

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BLUE MEANIE Crowned J/30 North American Champion
(Barrington, RI)- The Barrington Yacht Club and the Southern New England J/30 fleet hosted this year's near record breaking fleet of nineteen boats in the 2013 North American Championship held in northern Narragansett Bay.

Blessed with good weather and some good sea-breezes during the course of the regatta, the team of BLUE MEANIE skippered by Steve Buzbee and crew from Raritan YC in New Jersey managed to hold off the fast-closing team on EVELYN (sailed by Luke Buxton from Salem, MA) to take the championship.  While both boats started off slowly, they both learned the ropes of the Bay as well as how to handle their competitors tactically.  BLUE MEANIE's 5-4-2-1-1-3-4-5 for 20 net pts was enough to take the gold by just 3 pts!  EVELYN's scoreline of 3-6-3-6-14-1-1-3 for 23 net pts was ten clear of the third place boat-- Chuck Stoddard on FALCON from the host Barrington YC.

The battle for third was quite close, with just four points separating the next four boats!  Chuck's team were fast out of the gates the first day, as they should for being the "local hero's", but they couldn't keep up the pressure and managed to tally a 1-2-11-7-8-5-2-8 for 33 pts net.  Just behind them by one point was Clare McMillan's Barrington YC team on WICKED, taking 4th with 34 pts net.  Fifth was Carl Sherter's Cedar Point YC team on FAT CITY with 35 pts, sixth was Ken Deyett's Kittery Point YC (Maine) team on JEROBOAM with 35 pts (losing the tie-breaker) and seventh was Jon Burt's Hull YC (Massachusetts) team on MARGAY with 37 pts.  The balance of the top ten were Kevin Dakan on BLITZ in 8th, class leader Bill Kneller on RHAPSODY in 9th and Mark Rotsky on NEMESIS in 10th.   For more J/30 North Americans sailing information

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J/Teams Enjoy Youngstown Level Regatta XL
(Youngstown, NY)- 181 boats raced on five circles in the 40th and Final Youngstown Level Regatta on the weekend of July 27-28.  For most of its history the Level has been the largest weekend keelboat regatta on Lake Ontario, at one time hitting a monstrous 466 boats!   Those were the days of 50 boat J/24 fleets and one design starts for most of the J designs popular at the time.  Since then things had settled down to a more manageable size but the Level still held a prominent place on the calendar for most racers within hundreds of miles.  Youngstown Yacht Club finally decided 40 years was enough and the organizers and volunteers deserved a break, so this was the last Level, to be replaced next year with a new event with details to be announced this fall.

Sailors did not want to miss out on the fun of the final event so attendance was up by almost 40 boats over 2012.  Conditions were generally favorable, light to moderate with the exception of a brief squall that came in Saturday afternoon that curtailed racing for the day.  Various J models were entered in 9 of the 26 divisions, and the largest division in the event was the J70 class with 17 boats.  In IRC 0 Bob Hesse and crew aboard the J111 Lake Effect lost the tie-breaker for first place, settling for second as they had done in Key West in January.  They have been dominating local PHRF racing this summer.  Stephen Trevitt in Crime Scene won the J35 class by two points over Mark DePaul in Remarkable.  In PHRF 1 the four J109s took the top four places, with Robert Eckersley's Blue Streak finishing ahead of Ed Werner in Moccasin and Murray Gainer in Lively.  Mark Bowman's J29 FROB Untamed was second in PHRF 3 and second and third places in PHRF 4 were taken by Mike Seitz in his J27 Northern Seitz over Dan Mather's very successful J30 Crusader.  The PHRF 7 division was made up of J22s and J24s, with Jack Doyle in his J22 winning over the J24s of Kevin McAuley and Tom Raes.  In non spinnaker racing Doug Clarke's J35C Rogue Wave was second in M&J 1.

The headline J70 fleet enjoyed their first major one design event on Lake Ontario with boats coming from Newport, the Chesapeake, Lake Erie, Connecticut, New Jersey, Ontario, Indiana, Florida and various NY ports.  In addition several borrowed boats were helmed by out of town sailors, including past J105 NA Champ Rolf Kaiser of San Francisco and long time J24 skipper Mark Pincus of Florida.  Competition was stiff with 5 different boats taking bullets over the 8 race series.  In the end Kerry Klinger edged out Marty Kullman by taking the final race, with Kris Werner finishing third.  This was Kris's first taste of real action in his new J70 and he had J24 hotshot Rossi Milev aboard to help him get up to speed.

The regatta was judged to be a terrific success with many fond memories being shared and praise was lavished on the volunteers for their years of hard work.  Everyone wants to know what YYC has our our sleeve for 2014 but we aren't quite ready to announce the sequel just yet. Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes @ TimWilkes.com.    For more Youngstown Level Regatta sailing information

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Greenwald Tops J/70 New Englands
GHOST Smokes J/105s, AIRODOODLE Two-Peats J/24s @ NOOD
(Marblehead, MA)- The Sperry Topsider Marblehead NOOD regatta featured the inaugural J/70 New England Championship and fleets of J/105s and J/24s-- all co-hosted by the famous trio of yacht clubs in the harbor (Eastern YC, Boston YC and Corinthian YC).  Of the 150+ sailboats participating, the largest brand represented were J's with 42 boats (28% of the fleet) sailing in the waters off Marblehead. The sailors were treated to a wide variety of weather conditions and in the end, the J/70s had very close racing with just 15 pts separating the top six while the J/24 and J/105 fleets saw runaway leaders take top honors.

Continuing their string of 2013 regatta wins in J/70s was Bennet Greenwald's team on PERSEVERANCE, taking the top spot by the narrowest of margins over local Marbleheaders- Jud & Cindy Smith on USA 179.  In fact, both boats led the fleet from the very first day and after three days of racing ended up tied on total points, but after the toss race was factored in Greenwald's team won by just two points net.  Joel Ronning's CATAPULT team again managed to finish on the podium, taking third overall with 20 pts net.  Local hero Tyler Doyle (some of famous sailmaker in Marblehead, Robbie Doyle) sailed his best regatta so far, taking fourth in class.  Also sailing a strong series was the team of Heather Gregg-Earl & Joe Bardenheier on MUSE Powered by Atlantis Weathergear for 5th place.  Heather was also top women J/70 skipper, followed closely by Suzy Leech on JUNKANOO in 6th.

The largest J/class, the eighteen J/105s, were treated to a bit of a "schooling" by another local Marblehead hero, Bob Slattery sailing the famous GHOST.  Counting six 1sts for the scoreline, Slattery's team won by a country furlong with six net pts for a 15 pt win, an unusual event to occur in the highly competitive J/105 class.  Behind them was the duel for second and third with five boats all having a clear shot at the podium.  Locals Fred deNapoli on ALLEGRO SIMPLICITA sailed a steady 3-3-2 in the last three races to seal the deal and grab second overall with 21 pts.  Having an excellent regatta was Charlie Garrard on MERLIN with 26 pts, also sailing a solid 2-4-4 to snag third overall.  The rest of the top five included Peter & Doug Morgan on STEELAWAY in fourth and fifth was Jon & Stuart Wales on BANTRY.

Last year's J/24 class winner, Jubilee YC's John Denman on AIRODOODLE, simply smoked everyone, counting seven 1sts in their tally for a total of 9 pts net, winning by 8 pts.  Second was Mike Taber's team on XINGU, taking the only two remaining 1sts, for a total of 17 pts.  A distant 3rd was John Wells on SHELDON J with 25 pts.  The remainder of the top five was Mike Lachmayr's BLACKFIN in fourth and Greg Williams GRACE UNDER PRESSURE in fifth.  Sailing Photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com.   For more J/70 New England's & Marblehead NOOD sailing information

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Menzner Crushes Travemunde J/22 German Open
(Travemunde, Germany)- The 124th Travemunde Woche was a perfect rehearsal for the big anniversary in 2014, when the Travemunde Woche celebrates its 125th year. This year's event had ten fantastic days of sailing with great weather and lots of sun. The newly installed SAP Sail Cube, which enabled the public to watch the sailing action "live on-line", was an enormous asset this year.  Plus, the newly built seating facilities, which were provided by the town of Lübeck, turned the beach promenade into a real sailing theatre.  Dierk Faust, the Chairman of Travemunde Woche for the Lübeck Yacht Club said,  “Whereas the wind conditions created a few difficulties for us here and there, the onshore entertainment was fantastic.”

Enjoying every minute of the onshore festivities and excellent race management offshore were the seventeen J/22s participating in the German Open, hosted by Lubeck YC's Travemunde Week team.  Taking top honors was Martin Menzner's German crew that included Frank Lichte and Christian Drews, their six 1sts in eight races was a blitzkrieg of the J/22 competition.  Second was Reiner Brockherhoff's French team of Christoph Declerque and Charles Micahux with 16 pts.  With five 2nds, Frank Lammerskitten's German team of Sven Harder and Martin Hinrichsen could've finished second overall were it not for their inconsistent three 5ths they had to account for in their overall scoreline, settling for third place instead.  The rest of the top five included Svend Hartog's German team (Dirk Fischer, Anne Westfehling, Stefanie Schweder) in fourth and Nico van der Kolk's Netherlands team (Stephan Peulen and Julius Jansen) finishing fifth.

Visitors on shore were provided with a fine festival covering 80 thousand square metres with everything that makes life enjoyable. “A total of 200 stand operators of all sizes and with varied and very different offers made the TW a very successful event in Travemünde. Practically everyone was represented from young to old. The Holsten Beach Area had wonderful programmes for older generations, especially the ensemble with the SAP Sail Cube and the Pilot Stage for near-shore race viewing. "The international cuisine on offer to all the spectators, such as “Pfaffenglück” or organic burgers, as well as Italian delicacies, were very well received,” said Uwe Bergman at the end of the event. “We didn’t reach the one million mark of visitors because of the sweltering heat during the second half-– many people preferred to say on the beach!”   Sailing photo credits- Bilder von Christian Beeck   For more Travemunde Woche J/22 sailing information

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QUARTIERE LAVINIO MARE Wins J/24 Palio di Anzio Regatta
(Anzio, Italy)- The second edition of the Palio di Anzio J/24 Regatta was won by Quartiere Lavinio Mare. The crew, skippered by Gianni Riccobono, wins for the second consecutive year.  In second place was from Anzio was Marco d'Aloisio sailing DON J and third was Massimo Noons at the helm of JULIO CAESAR with a local crew from Anzio's neighborhood sailing center.

It was a beautiful and historic sailing event blessed by good winds, good race management and organized by the non-profit organization Palio Anzio.  The event is a celebration of the history of the port of Anzio and the eight districts that make up the city surround the port.

For some historical perspective, it was in 1761 that Cardinal Antonio Pignatelli of Naples was planning on joining the Conclave in Rome sailing by water.  However, he was caught in a gale which forced him to take shelter in the Gulf of Anzio. Here the generous citizens of the town welcomed him for the time necessary to be able to return to the sea and reach Rome, carrying a promise that, if he became the Pope of the Catholic Church, that he would build the port of Anzio. That promise came true, as he was elected Pope Innocent XII. After a few months of living in Rome, he recalled the promise and returned to Anzio, this time by land, to lay the first stone of the new Port of Anzio near the ruins of the ancient port of Nero!  Today, the crew of Anzio Lavinio, by winning the trophy for the second time may have the opportunity for a three-peat performance next year!   For more J/24 Italy sailing information

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CREATIVE DESTRUCTION Ugotta Regatta Overall Winner
J/111 NO SURPRISE Takes PHRF Overall
(Harbor Springs, MI)- Sailboats from all over head to Harbor Springs each summer for one of the grand Great Lakes sailing traditions- the Little Traverse YC Ugotta Regatta.  Sponsored again by Credit Suisse, the Regatta brings together some of the best sailboat racers in the lakes to Little Traverse Bay in between the famous Chicago Mac or Bayview Mac Races.

The series begins with one-design racing on Friday followed a tour-of-the-bay course on Saturday and windward-leeward racing on Sunday. The weekend’s festivities kick off bright and early Friday morning with  a fun tradition: a long line of happy people beginning at sun up outside Irish Boat Shop to purchase the 2013 Ugotta Regatta t-shirt. Each year, the shirt design changes and with a limited production, the lines begin early to score a coveted shirt.

Friday night finds a "Welcome to Harbor Springs Celebration" at the Irish Boat Shop for racers only- an awesome cookout with excellent local beers and wines to savor for the masses of sailors-- always an incredibly popular event.

On both Saturday and Sunday mornings, the Club hosts the famous "Pancake Breakfast".  Open to the public and racers, the Pancake Breakfast is a delicious way for the boat teams to quickly fuel up before getting on the water. One highlights (and tradition) of the breakfast- the young Racers flip less-than-perfect pancakes over their shoulders to land on the roof of the sail shed behind them.

In this year's event, six J/105s competed. For the tour of bay on Saturday, the course was 18 miles under overcast skies with variable winds building to 18 knots over four hours. Mac/Bayview winner PTERODACTYL (Mark Symonds) participated. Why not do the 2 Mac races and finish buoy racing in Harbor Springs?  Little Traverse Sailors, a boat of primarily junior sailors came in second, showing that the J/105 is a great boat for juniors to compete in high-end regattas. Carter Williams' CREATIVE DESTRUCTION won the J/105 division, and was overall winner for regatta (beating out Windquest, J/111s, GL70s, etc.). This was the first time a J/105 won the entire regatta. Taking third overall in class was Mark Symond's J/105 PTERODACTYL-- the Mac Race winner!

The handicap honors in PHRF 3 Class went to the J/111 NO SURPRISE sailed by (remarkably enough), local host and hero David Irish!  Their dominant 3-1-1-1 record was, in fact, the best record in PHRF and for the overall regatta with just 6.0 pts to count.  Last year's winner, Dick Lehmann's WIND CZAR took 6th overall with a 1.5-3-12-15 tally.  Larry Taunt's J/35 BAD DOG was 9th, Larry Schell's J/35 TOUCH OF GREY was 11th and Brad Schell's newly-unwrapped J/111 UTAH was 12th.

In the PHRF White sails cruising division, the J/42 JAYWALKER sailed by Bill Stellin continued her fast cruising tradition to take 3rd overall in her class.  For more Ugotta Regatta sailing information

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BANKS ESPERANZA Captures J/24 Barbados Regatta
(Barbados)- Skippered by Ian Mayers, the BANKS ESPERANZA J/24 team continued an impressive run of form to completely eclipse the J/24 division of the Harris Paints two-day regatta.  It was another show of late-season magic from the ESPERANZA crew, who also dominated and won the First Citizens Regatta earlier in the season in Holetown.

In the Harris Paints event, which was also the 30th year of sponsorship by the company, and which featured shifty winds on the southcoast, ESPERANZA's slammed nine other rival crews to win three of four races. They finished fourth in Race 4.  “We were looking to make a clean-sweep but we didn't have a great start in the last race, although we made up some ground. Our crew is in good form and we proved that we are capable of challenging the top boats in competition,” said skipper Mayers.  Impulse, skippered by Neil Burke, finished second and HawkEye, skippered by Robert Povey, finished third overall while also winning Race 4. Fourth was Die Hard, captained by Robbie Yearwood, and fifth, ISIS, captained by Nicholas Lashley.

The six-member Barbados J/24 Youth team also used last weekend's regatta as part of their preparation for the for BVI –Premier Cup International regatta which is being contested in Tortola on Saturday and Sunday( July 12-14).

Significantly, the Harris Paints regatta was the last of six regattas making up the 2013 Jaguar/ Landrover series in the race for the national championship of J24 racing in Barbados.

Despite their late season heroics, Esperanza were unable to deny Williams Industries HawkEye the championship as they pipped them by one point to secure the right to be called national champions.  After six regattas, HawkEye collected nine points while Esperanza finished the season on ten points, for second place in the Jaguar/ Landrover series.

HawkEye earlier in the season won the Taylors Cycle Centre regatta , were second in the Mount Gay regatta in mid-May, and won the Lucky Horseshoe regatta in early June.  “It was a very competitive season. Our main goal was to win the national championship this year and our crew made it happen. We came out with a mission and accomplished it,” said Robert Povey, skipper of HawkEye.

Champions in 2012, Impulse finished the season third overall, on 12 points, while Fully Covered, skippered by Bruce Bailey , finished fourth with 16 points. ISIS, skippered by Lashley, were fifth overall on 26 points.

The Jaguar/ Landrover series is organized by the J/24 Club of Barbados and President Gregory Webster praised, sponsors, sailors and other partners for helping to create successful events and an outstanding season.  For more J/24 Barbados sailing information

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J/105s Sweep Texas Offshore Circuit  
(Galveston Bay, Texas)- The Texas Offshore Racing Circuit (TORC) concluded on July 26 with Galveston Bay Cruising Association's Texas Race Week (TRW) offshore of Galveston. In addition to TRW, the TORC consists of two offshore distance races each of approximately 90 miles. Winds ranged from 5-15 on Thursday to Saturday's 12-19. Surprisingly the weather was not as hot as usual so the sailing was fabulous.

The TRW spinnaker fleet included two J/105s, two J/109s, a Melges 32, an Olsen 30, a Navy 44, and an Express 37. After three full days of racing, Brian Uffelman's J/105 AVICI took first with a spectacular 2-1-1 followed by Bee Bednar's J/105 STINGER in third with 3-4-3. Having participated in the entire TORC, AVICI, STINGER and the J/109 AIRBORNE were the only boats competing for the Texas Navy Trophy. Brian Uffelman's AVICI finished first, Bee Bednar's STINGER second and Dave Christiansen's AIRBORNE third.  For more J/105 sailboat information

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J/Community

What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide

* J/80 Class Elects Jose Maria "Pichu" Torcida as International Class President! The Cantabrian double World Champion is looking forward to his tenure as leader of one of the world's elite international one-design classes with large fleets competing in the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Spain.

"The J/80 class is definitely the best one-design sailboat in Spain, with over a hundred boats, and it involves many senior sailors. The fleets with significant activity include Catalonia, Baleares, Murcia, Andalusia, Canary Islands, Galicia, Cantabria and Basque Country. From a world perspective, Spain is third in the total number of boats after the USA and France, and in terms of results in international competitions is the first," declares Torcida.

The objectives for his next journey are clear: "Keep doing great with the J/80 class as each day new classes appear  and the competition is tough. Working with professionalism and with great enthusiasm, for boat owners and J/80 sailors, I am convinced that the class will have, internationally, many great  years ahead."

"Our work in Spain to promote the class has been a success, with over 100 boats on a regular basis battling with powerful fleets scattered around the Spanish coast."

The J/80 class, recognized by ISAF (International Sailing Federation) in 1995, has had in the last ten years impressive growth worldwide. These boats are easy to operate and high performance, designed for a crew of 4-5 people. Its sail plan, with a powerful 65 sqm gennaker, provides the J/80 exceptional performance at high speed, ideal for both professional and amateur sailors.

"The performance of the J/80 is very good and the boat as a whole works well for a lot of people--  size, number of crew, ease of handling, good surfing, and cost," said Jose Maria Torcida, "In Spain we follow the constant work and dedication of Alex Diaz, President of the J/80 Spanish Association. This year marks the seventh championship of the Santa María Cup VII in Hondarribia Spain!"

In Spain, despite being a young class, global successes was not expected from the outset. Since 2007 the J/80 Worlds have seen many good performances by Spanish sailors-- including Pichu Torcida (2007, 2010), Ignacio Camino (2008, 2011), Rayco Tabares (2009) and José María Van der Ploeg (2012).  Torcida hopes to expand on that success to help other nations build their J/80 class presence and improve the overall quality of sailing-- the J/80 class should anticipate having two years of exciting leadership by one of her great and enthusiastic champions!  Fotos de Jose María Torcida: ELENA TORCIDA. Fotos de J80: Pierick Jeannoutot.   For more J/80 International class sailing information

* J/120 SLEDGE HAMMER- here's a great story from the front row of the Bayview-Mackinac Race by team member Tim Lewin.  If you recall, this team was the consummate "outsider", spending considerable time and preparation to travel across Lake Erie to participate in this year's Bayview-Mac Race starting just north or Port Huron.  Here is Tim's commentary:

"Put eight out-of-town Renaissance sailors on a 40-foot well-designed J/Boat and push everything to the max.  That’s the recipe the J/120 Sledgehammer team worked up for this year’s Bell’s Bayview to Mackinac long course race.  We all had sailed similar A-symmetrical boats, but never together.  Half of the boat is family and the other half might as well be at this point.

The forecast looked light for the first half of the race.  We knew of a possible right shift with weakening conditions.  Clear air, fast angle and possible jib to code zero change ran through our minds.  Off the line at 12:20pm with speed on and little immediate concerns.  Up the track at 3pm we found ourselves in third, with the code zero keeping us moving in light conditions.  Pete kept us going as fast as possible in the light breeze.  We felt wave trains hitting us from dead ahead, noting that more breeze would be coming.  Eventually, the first place boat headed up to our angle, changing from code zero to AP-1.  They were close enough to hoot and holler if they so chose.  On a higher and most definitely slower angle, Hot Ticket went from one o’clock to five-thirty in less than twenty minutes.  Feeling refreshed, our crew laughed and had twice baked potatoes and quarters of chicken.  The breeze had freshened, rain had come and gone and our next move weighed heavily on all of us.  We came close to a land- forced tack.  Having the right side in our minds, we took the tack a little after 8pm.

First watch started at the 9pm sunset.  Excitement ran through our minds as we now had inter-boat competition.  Whoever chomped down the most miles or claimed highest boat speed would have infamous glory!  Sloppy waves left us rocking and rolling during off watch.  Twelve-thirty came and B team could not take it anymore.  A team took control on Port tack.  Feeling sluggish and useless, I sat on the rail and dreamed that I could see each wave coming.  The full moon helped us a lot throughout our trek to find optimal trim in the ever-changing medium breeze.  My dad took the wheel after Crusty kept us going as fast as possible.  Feeling exhausted, he handed it over thirty minutes later.  Not driving a big boat for quite some time, I was nervous.  I did alright for the first couple minutes.  Then I stood the boat straight up.  Having turned the wheel aggressively, I got it back down to a normal upwind angle.  Then, half a minute later, the same thing happened.  Crusty exclaimed, “You can’t do that, get the boat back down!”  Turning the wheel aggressively once more, I tried to settle her back down.  “Let’s tack” Crusty said.  At 2:45AM we got the 100 degree shift!  It was time to get up and go!  The breeze came back on and we were ready for takeoff.  Crusty went down to get a short sheet and snatch block and I may have inadvertently gotten him a tad bit wet.  Blasting through a close reach at 60-75 degrees true wind, boat speed rang up to 8.5 knots with a varying 5-12 degrees off of our one and only mark’s course.  Back braced on the rigid backstay and hands white knuckled on the wheel, I felt like a Volvo Ocean Racer with sheets of water exploding off our bow and landing behind the wheel, soaking everyone from my dad to me.  Lying furthest forward, dad easily got my ten years worth of foredeck water exposure in those two hours!

Wake up time for B team, and I watched each of their faces go to confusion.  Liz was sick, Tommy got sick and Louis was soon to be.  I could not even go down below for most of my off watch because we were slamming off some elevator drop waves.  Watching Louis get sick sparked my stomachs interest in doing the same.  Bedtime shortly after.

Next wake up was by a hand and not a wave, so I was feeling pretty good.  Sun was at 9AM and the breeze was off our starboard side, creating more fun close reaching.  Waves shrunk due to less fetch and we were all getting excited about turning the corner and putting up our big red A-sym whomper.  Doug nailed the GPS coordinates and we rounded the mark with ease at 9:30am.  Ahead and behind us were J/120’s which kept us well motivated.  Fowlies torn off and warm coffee livened us.  Rotations in and out of trimming, driving and naps kept us all fresh.  Hot Ticket headed toward Canada.  Flying Irish headed to the American shore, keeping us pickle in the middle.  We kept it fast and straight.  It was almost time for bed again and Louis came up the stairs with some rather exciting news.  Hot Ticket was not the J/120 ahead.  We would later learn that it was Kashmir- a J/111! Night came again and it was time for A team to go off watch again.

Three hours later, it was time for A teams last on deck shift.  B team had chomped down miles in strengthening wind and waves.  Flying Irish was way off toward the American shore and we thought they had been gaining.  B team lost track of them at dusk, but we knew they were roughly a mile away.  Crusty drove downwind like a bat out of hell while Dougie ground the spinnaker sheet and kept our A1 full.  I began pumping the main like it was going out of style and dad stood watch as our eyes as we were starting to really light up the boat speed screen.  Just before taking the shift, my brother Tommy exclaimed “11 knots- Beat that suckers!”  A team got all riled up and began our shift with 13 knots!  Take that Tommy!  Wave trains were being ridden on consecutive and most of the time the main would stay in for a period after pumping.  AC/DC lyrics began playing in my head and I was feeling super human at this point.  I knew we were up there on the list and I wasn’t going to let any wave pass us on our sleigh ride to the finish.

The finish required two turning points before crossing the line.  First would require a 20-degree to port turn, which would keep us inside of the A1 zone. The second would bring us into either A1 or code zero conditions, breeze pending.  We decided to wake up B team from their one hour of rest, just to be safe.  As soon as the sleepy four made their way on deck, the breeze dropped from 20 to 12.  Everyone stayed on the rail and kept it down.  Two gybes were required to clear land as our angle rose due to the dropping breeze.  The Mackinac Bridge started to twinkle in the distance, and we were all pretty sure that we could see the lights of the Pink Pony glistening on island.  As we got closer, a sea of red buoys made navigation a challenge.  Doug popped down below for the remainder to guide us through the channel.  We were looking for the four second flashing green for a long time, but never could find it.  We used our relative position to keep sure depth and direction were OK.  We spotted the lighthouse and got the anticipated excitement of radioing in our position.  The spotlight lit up our big red chute like a Chinese lantern.  We knew the finish was near but made sure we passed through it by what seemed like a half of a mile at the time.  Chute down in the pitch black- I’m glad we didn’t have to do many douses!  Official finish time:  3:16AM.  Happy 60th birthday Dad!  Nothing like being the first BYC boat to land the top of two podiums!"

* The J/22 European Championship was recently sailed on the Zierickzee in the Netherlands.  One of the crew members sailing, Nadine, wrote a wonderful story about her experience:

"The long awaited main event this year was finally there, 28 boats registered, 5 coming from Germany and another 5 from France. Also a strong Dutch field including a big fraction from Drimmelen, as well as from around the Brassermeer and of course the Student teams were registered.

The weather prediction was relatively cold, but well sailable with a light breeze from west/southwest increasing and decreasing – making the competition together with the current an interesting tactical game…

Audrey was studying the tides for our Jabbadabbadoo, Clive added his experience from sailing days around the Solent, I was the logistic and admin responsible and Stan was actually just organising the complete Europeans.

Our goal was set to play in the first third, with the occasional visit to the top ten and maybe top five in this superb field of the best J22's of Europe. So after the nice but long sail through the Zierickzee canal under the huge turbulent bridge to the racing area the first start was a bit sobering – we started more or less second row. There is a difference between 15 boats and 28 at the start (which we almost forgot in the last two years).

We worked and found some speed in the upwind legs managing a 11th place to start the series. Not exactly where we wanted to be, but acceptable. The second race went similar, with a slight worse start and some misjudgments on the good side of the course, so that we ended up 14th seeing the leaders Banarama, Jazzy, Jamsession, Kantoorbutler and Gap only from the far.

We almost missed the preparation signal for the next, thinking we had a slight break and were head over heels falling in the starting sequence of the third race; apparently that was not too bad for us, because we found our start and the speed crossing back after a couple of minutes most of the field on port. Woohoo what a feeling rounding the upwind buoy as part of the top five. Now our new purple spinnaker lily felt like the Whomper we named it after! The tides where correctly predicted and we started understanding the wind – giving us the third place on the finish.

Feeling this high we hungered for more, recklessly giving everything in spot-on maneuvers and managed to cross the 4th race as first over the finish, what a feeling: Jabbadabbadoo!

The racing instructions allowed a fifth race and we were on a run, this race was dedicated to a fight on the last leg with Jazzy, millimeter trim work and tacks gave us the 2nd place only leaving us behind Banarama, who won deserved on incredible speed.

But back on shore we learned that the second place was scored as OCS, frustrated and devastated we saw the third place overall turning into a seventh. With sailing, being super happy and deeply frustrated are often just instances away… but some Champaign in the B&B and a dinner with all the class lifted the spirits (but not necessarily our tiredness

The second day promised stronger winds and we wanted to fight back. However, first it stayed by the wish of the fighting as our start was mediocre and we could not gain enough speed seeing 14 boats finishing in front of us. But we had seen the influence of the tide and the favorite side of the course giving us an advantage in the second race. There after a clear start we were fighting in front of the fleet for a place in the top 3. Indeed a second place it was – appreciated with a great Jabbadabbadoo at the finish line and reinforced confidence.

It was not completely our day – like an elevator on random course we ended the third race 25th.  At least it was due to our own fault  as we had to do a 360 after a bit too close encounter with the mark: The field by now was very close together, so we found out that it is costly to do some honour rounds.

The conclusion of the day was a fourth place showing that we can be where we want to be, just not consistently – or that someone was pressing our elevator button in the right direction again.

In the harbour as a very nice surprise was Stan’s family welcoming us and sharing the stijger-beer together with the complete J22 class: Having 28 boats during the competition made the beer an excellent social event giving the opportunity to laugh about today’s encounters, brag about wind and tides and in general just having an awesome time that a lot of other classes were jealous of.

It felt a bit a weird starting the third day with the last two races after such an elevator day. On one hand we knew we can, but on the other hand we exactly also knew too often we just don’t.

Anyway, we wanted to show that the good places where no accidents – so we trimmed in the hour before the race like mad, adjusted the rig (the wind prediction was medium wind, but in the hour before the race we had everything from wind still to strong gusts). And we found the right setting concluding a great wonderful European Championship with a 3rd and a 4th place ranking in the end result on place 7.

Despite some downs and the many ups in this regatta, we enjoyed the sailing in a big fleet (yes, even the starting!) and the chatting with so many nice people and crews. It was an event to be remembered, especially with beautiful sunshine during the last day's ceremony where we even got the prize for the winner of the day!

Congratulations to the teams that achieved a top ranking. It was also a pleasure to see so many new crews sailing with enthusiasm that reminded us of our own fight up the tail of the fleet. All boats realized that competing in a large fleet is more fun, but the fun of competing is just as intense and rewarding in the top as it is in the tail of the fleet.  Thanks to all making this possible and a big thank you for Anna Schakel who provided some great pictures of the Europeans."  Sailing photo credits- Anna Schakel   For more J/22 JABBADABBADOO sailing information

*  Sixteen PHRF Racers to Fit a Budget?!  SAILING WORLD Magazine recently published a handy article on sixteen PHRF racers that you can own and campaign on a moderate budget.  Written by the editorial crew of Bill Brockway, Kurt Hoehne, Tony Bessinger, they provide some insight on what might work for you, four of them are J/Boats (J/27, J/29, J/30, J/35)!  Here's their commentary:

"The cheapest way to race is on someone else's boat. But, if you have dreams of thrusting the silver urn aloft at the awards banquet while praising your crew, you'll have to buy your own ride. The one thing standing in the way, you say, is the expense. But with handicap racing, you don't have to spring for a big-ticket racer. There are many competitive older designs you can buy and campaign for the cost of a new sport utility vehicle.

The most popular rating rule in the USA is the Performance Handicap Rating Fleet. So, if you're interested in buying a used boat, and want plenty of opportunity to race, it not only makes sense to buy one that fits your budget but performs well under PHRF. You want a boat that rates well in your region, but you don't want to sail a dog. A simple, but effective way of measuring a boat's abilities without sailing it is to determine its sail-area-to-displacement ratio. On most boats, the SA/D ratio usually works out to be between 14 and 30, with higher numbers representing lighter, faster boats. Cruiser/racers have ratios between 16 to 20, racer/cruisers have ratios greater than 20, and high-performance racers have ratios 24 and above. A SA/D calculator can be found at http://www.sailingusa.info/cal__sad_ratio.htm

Thanks to the Internet, searching for a PHRF winner is more fun than work, but to narrow down your search we've tapped our resources to narrow down your search to find 16 gems that shouldn't be overlooked.  Please read more here on SAILING WORLD's website.

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* 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

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The J Cruising Community 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/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.