J/70 Lake Constance Class Development(Friedrichshafen, Lake Constance- Austria, Germany, Switzerland)- The “Bodensee” as Lake Constance is known in central Europe is perhaps one of the most remarkable bodies of water in the world. Steeped in history and at the middle of a “tug-of-war” between various empires over time in the middle of Europe, today “the lake” enjoys a somewhat neutral position in the world of politics and empires— no one has jurisdiction over the sailors whom enjoy its spectacular sailing venues— be that Austria, Switzerland or Germany!
As a result of its unique place in history, Lake Constance has a remarkably collaborative approach to life on how one manages one of the most beautiful lakes in the world! With no jurisdictional powers over the lake, three major European nations exercise their “community of interests” by cooperating together on a wide variety of sailing, environmental and social issues. In this case, summer, fun, beaches, sun-bathing, boating and sailing are the principals that drive all towards a common interest to enjoy a shared passion for the water!In a remarkable development over the course of the past year, for the first time Germany and an entire region of central European sailors have made a decision to promote a single class within their clubs and throughout the entire region! The project initiated from Constance sailor Christian Rau, an experienced European one-design racer. Together with other successful sailors from the racing scene at Lake Constance, they developed a concept that could be the basis for the development of a relatively inexpensive and fast boat, which could be promoted by all of the clubs and, most importantly, could be leaders in developing a new EUROPEAN-wide one-design keelboat class!
According to Bo Riechmann (J/Boats Germany Dealer Mittelman’s Werft), “it´s really quite remarkable, in fact unbelievable, that such a large group of clubs have collaborated on such a large scale! The Lake Constance Sailing Association has around 100 sailing clubs with 20,500 members sailing over 10,000 sailboats in the 18-25 ft size range and at least 70 clubs were present to select the J/70 as their next “one-design club keelboat”! The driving issue was to consolidate the dozens of keelboat classes that have evolved over time into one that was “easy-to-sail by all age groups (especially women & children), ramp-launchable, easily transportable around Europe, and affordable”. The J/70 helped to overcome significant issues related to the limited “in-water” docks & moorings that were available around Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as for the rest of Europe. The storage issue simply became a choice of whether it was your drive-way at home or a local dry-sail facility next to a launching ramp.”The Lake Constance Sailing Association is planning to organize five main one-design events on the lake for the 2014 summer sailing season. In addition, they will also take part at seven other main events on the lake. As a result, new J/70 one-design sailors will have at least twelve regattas to sail next summer on the Bodensee! Most importantly, everyone (community sailing club or private yacht club) can take part at all events. Henning’s Mittelman’s Werft team will be providing a fun “twist” to the series, providing a “Golden Spinnaker” to the current series leader for each event— so everybody will be able to see which boat is leading the overall score going into each event! For more German J/70 Class Association information (just recently organized). For more J/70 & Lake Constance Sailing Association sailing class information.
Quantum Key West Race Week Update(Key West, FL)- The annual winter pilgrimage to the sunny, friendly climate of the Florida Keys in late January is showing healthy participation by J/Sailors! This spectacular event presents world-class competition over five full race days. Entering its 27th year, Race Week offers exceptional racing and fun shoreside parties in wonderful Key West. The Florida Keys and Key West are the perfect southernmost vacation destination! Yes, even the first J/24 Midwinters sailors in 1978 can attest to that fact!!
Premiere Racing’s reputation for excellent race management and regatta organization promises to deliver another great regatta and ideal winter get-away for all sailing enthusiasts. If you haven’t already, make plans now to start off the New Year with the best sailing there is this side of the Caribbean’s aquamarine waters and warm, gentle trade-winds.
So far, 105 boats have signed up for Key West, with the two largest one-design fleets being J’s. The 64 J/Teams registered in four classes represent 61% of the fleet, a veritable J/Fest down in the Florida Keys! By far the largest one-design fleet at the event, the forty strong J/70 Midwinter Championship fleet, already has representation from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, Great Britain and continental Europe. The next biggest fleet are the fourteen J/80’s competing for their 2014 Midwinter Championship with several of their top teams participating from across the country. In the “big boat” J/PHRF handicap world, ten boats are participating including two J/122s, three J/111s and a fast J/125. Thrown into that mix are a new J/88 speedster, a J/109, J/44 and J/24. Head on down and join the fun! Last year’s Key West was epic, 2014 promises to be even better! Sailing photo credits- Onne Vanderwal.com For more Quantum Key West Race Week sailing information
J/24 Midwinters Announcement(Coconut Grove, Fl)- Coral Reef Yacht Club and J/24 Fleet 10 would like to welcome the J/24 Class to the beautiful waters of Biscayne Bay in Coconut Grove, Florida for the 2014 J/24 Midwinter Championship Regatta- being held from February 19th- 23rd, 2014. The committees are working on finalizing details for local housing with club and fleet members as well as finding the best hotel rates in the surrounding area and we will be posting that information soon.
Also be looking for some entertaining stories from past Midwinter Regattas at CRYC in the 80's and 90's like.... “Do you know where the Black Flag came from”? Look forward to future news to find the answer and expect to see the original version of the Black Flag on the 2014 starting line after the first general recall (that is, if you don’t behave)! And, some of our most entertaining TV sailing personalities of today (think AC Cup recently) got their start sailing J/24's in the 80's on Biscayne Bay ... there are stories to be told! Oh, those were the days!Coral Reef YC are looking forward to showing everybody a great time with some of the best winter sailing you will find anywhere. Head on down and join the fun! If there is anything you need to know, simply contact Mark Pincus, the Regatta Chairman and Fleet 10 Captain at email- mwpincus@aol.com or phone# 305-915-1438. Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com For more J/24 Midwinters sailing information
J/Sailing NewsThe Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
Last week one of the premiere sailing events in Europe concluded their five regatta series on Berlin’s spectacular Wansee. The Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga was a resounding success, with eighteen of Germany’s top sailing clubs participating in fleet races in a new fleet of J/70 one-designs. The combination of Olympic and World Champions sailing as team members with their yacht club members made for some fun times, great camaraderie and new-found friends. Plus, everyone got a chance to travel to some of Germany’s best sailing hot spots— Tutzing, Travemunde, Hamburg, Friedrichshafen and Berlin.Having nearly as much fun sailing another classic around island race were members and friends of the Royal Hong Kong YC. This past weekend saw over 200+ sailboats participate in RHKYC’s “Tommy Bahama Around Island Race”; this year it was a record-setting heavy-air extravaganza for those completing the a 26nm “around Hong Kong islands” course. The J/80s sailed as a one-design fleet while other J’s (J/109, J/111, J/145) sailed both HKPN and IRC handicap fleets.
Across the Pacific Rim, the California sailors were enjoying the first of the three-part J/22 California Dreamin Series. Hosted by St. Francis YC on San Francisco Bay, top match-racing teams from California dueled all weekend long with the hope of winning the three regatta series and qualify to sail the legendary Ficker Cup held in Long Beach, CA.
Over on the East Coast of America, the 27th annual SORC Nassau Cup Ocean Race took place from Miami to Nassau, Bahamas. It was an epic blast reach and surf all the way across the Gulf Stream to Nassau; making it especially fun for a renowned J/105 crew!
Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below has many entertaining stories and news about J/Sailors as well as cruising blogs about those who continue to enjoy the Caribbean and the South Pacific, staying warm while others are trying to stay warm up north. Check them out! More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page! Below are the summaries.
Regatta & Show Schedules:
Nov 16-17- J/24 Regata de la Revolucion - Puerto Vallarta, MexicoNov 16-17- J/70 Fall Fling Regatta - Hampton, VA
Nov 21-25- J/24 South American Championships- Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dec 6-7- Jamaica Jammin' J/22 Regatta- Montego Bay, Jamaica
Jan 19-24- 2014 Key West Race Week- Key West, FL
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Hamburgers Masters Of J/70 Segel-Bundesliga!(Berlin, Germany)- What began as a dream and passion to grow sailing across Germany became, for even the most diehard detractors, one of the most successful sailing projects ever launched in European sailing history. Some may point to the Extreme 40 catamaran sailing series or RC-44 one-design series as examples of how to grow participation in sailing amongst the elite of the sailing world. However, no one has demonstrated, until this year, how to grow sailing at a grass-roots level that was “all-inclusive” and fun! Perhaps more importantly, make it a remarkable learning experience with many of Europe’s best sailors participating (e.g. Olympic Medallists and World Champions) and get everyone cheering enthusiastically for their respective sailing clubs to win! That was the secret of the inaugural J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing series held in five locations across Germany this past summer.
The exciting conclusion of the series on Berlin’s Wansee saw a bunch of northern “Hamburgers” trounce their “southern” friends from Berlin and points south in Germany. And in the end, the eighteen sailing clubs/ yacht clubs and hundreds of sailors that participated from across Germany were all the real winners; each club saw tremendous interest grow in the event all summer long with many wishing to participate the next time around!
The finale on the Wansee took place in about as picturesque and dramatic a city lake-front as anyone could imagine. It served as tremendous theater for the finalists to battle for not just the Berliner regatta honors, but the overall series honors as well.
The Berlin/ Wansee regatta saw tough competition, especially from the host club sailors that demonstrated excellent local knowledge of the tricky wind conditions. Indeed, the first two places went to the locals, with the Schweriner YC team comprised of Ingo Koehn, Torsten Haverland, Lars Haverland and Uwe Thielemann winning an impressive series with seven finishes in the top three! They were followed by their colleagues at Verein Seglerhaus am Wansee with the team of Malte Kamrath, Ulrike Schumann, Frithjof Kleen and Nils Schröder. Taking third was Lindauer Segler-Club, fourth was Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and fifth was Muhlenberger Segel-Club.
As a result of their fourth place finish in the Berlin/Wansee Regatta, the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) team from Hamburg were declared the overall winners of the inaugural Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga series! The NRV team that consisted of Johannes Polgar, Florian Spalteholz, Klaas Höpcke and Niklas of Meyerinck sailed a remarkably consistent series over the course of the five regattas, consistently finishing in the top five— (Tutzing- 5th, Travemunde- 2nd, Hamburg- 1st, Friedrichshafen- 4th, Berlin- 5th). Their skipper, Johannes Polgar, said “we could hardly believe our luck! It was a crazy season for us! Fantastic that we were able to bring the trophy to our friends and members in Hamburg!”Behind NRV in the overall standings and taking second prize for the series were the Wurttembergischer YC team. While sailing fast and smart in Tutzing (4th), Travemunde (5th) and Friedrichshafen (1st), their team members didn’t quite hit the ground running in championship form in Hamburg (7th) and in the Berliner finale (9th).
The biggest battle happened to be for the final position on the podium for the series with at least four teams vying for the coveted bronze medal. By sailing their hearts out in Berlin, the local favorites (Verein Seglerhaus am Wansee with skipper Malte Kamrath), rode their second place onto podium by a whisker! The VSaW team started the series slowly in Tutzing, but closed with a flourish at Friedrichshafen (2nd) and Berlin (2nd) to claim the bronze for the overall series. The balance of the top five were quite close, finishing just two and three points behind VSaW, respectively. After starting the series quite strongly - Tutzing (1st), Travemunde (3rd), Hamburg (3rd)- the proverbial “wheels fell of the silverware shopping trolley” for YC Berlin-Grunau’s team. The last two events for YC B-G were tough pills to swallow, having to count the Friedrichshafen (9th) and Berlin (12th) to finish fourth. Just one point back was the very consistent team from Chiemsee YC, counting a Hamburg (2nd), a 5th and three 6th places to hang in for fifth overall.
After five months, it is quite clear the concept of the first Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga has been a great success. The acceptance of the first nation-wide club competition in Germany is very high amongst the sailing community. The five events that were held in the first year were dominated by local patriotism, passion, camaraderie and fairness between the sailors. So far, there are now more than 30 other clubs that are interested in participating for the 2014 sailing season!
Many happy memories were recorded for all of the sailors, the organizers, sponsors and the host clubs. Below are the links to the photos and some nice sailing videos for each one of the events.
June 7-9- Tutzing/ Starnberger See
http://segelbundesliga.de/fotogalerien/tutzing/
http://segelbundesliga.de/fotogalerien/tutzing-tag-2/
http://segelbundesliga.de/fotogalerien/tutzing-tag-3/
July 19-21- Travemunde
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/travemuende/
Day 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfhhFYNsXTU
Day 3- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30Wikkt8jGk
August 30— September 1- Hamburg
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/hamburg/
Day 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u974BNOD0H8
Day 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyZKlCmAuqg
Day 3- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u974BNOD0H8
September 27-29- Friedrichshafen
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/friedrichshafen/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QToUl73acWY
November 8-10- Berlin finale
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/berlin/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZDIhI9WUr4
For more Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information
J/Teams Blast Around Hong Kong Islands!Veteran J/Sailors Love Windy, Wavy Conditions
(Hong Kong, China)- Hong Kong's largest and most inclusive sailing event, the Tommy Bahamas Around Island Race, featured more than 200 sailing boats, together with outrigger canoes and coastal rowing boats. All teams battled it out over the 26nm course that is known as the “Round Island Race” (e.g. all around the islands that comprise Hong Kong)! Cool race, spectacular vistas of the world-renown city and breathtaking views of the ginormous, lush, jungle green mountain-tops. Anyone looking out of their window in Hung Hom or Chai Wan on the morning of the start would see hundreds of boats converging on Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour from every point of the compass for Hong Kong’s biggest annual celebration of sail and paddle on the water.
The Around the Island Race became an annual event in 1983, however its origins go back to 1864 when six boats raced around Hong Kong Island to Starboard (clockwise) and Hong Kong’s sailors have since regarded this route as a tricky challenge with unpredictable wind shifts. The race course features a 26nm circumnavigation of Hong Kong Island to starboard, which has been sanctioned by Hong Kong Marine Department since 2003. This year there was record-setting breeze, so the Royal Hong Kong YC PRO, Ms Inge Strompf-Jepsen, managed to fire off twenty separate starts for sailboats at RHKYC’s Kellett Island clubhouse.
With the replenishment of the northeast monsoon filling in overnight, many competitors took one look at the conditions and decided that prudence was the better part of valor. This included the majority of the beach cat classes, where even the most battle hardened sailors took one look at the conditions whipped up by the 15-18kt easterly in the harbour and decided that the 25kts plus and two to three metre seas at Cape D’Aguilar were not for them or their boats.With 258 entries, this was the biggest prospective fleet recorded for the 26nm circumnavigation. With even Cyberport Gate getting a good 20-25kt blow and the relatively flat stretch along the south and south west of Hong Kong Island meant the entire fleet would likely be on record-setting paces for their respective classes. Indeed, after the finish times were recorded and handicap times applied, it was pretty clear that most records fell from previous years.
Amongst the J/Teams, there were some excellent performances. In the highly competitive IRC 2 Class, the J/111 MOJITO sailed by Simon Blore had a tremendous race, taking second overall and narrowly missing the overall win by a mere minute and a half!
Taking a comfortable fifth overall in the IRC Cruiser class (white sails) was the super quick carbon flyer, the J/145 REDEYE skippered by George Taylor.
In the HKPN 601-910 class, the J/109 WHISKEY JACK sailed by veteran Hong Kong offshore campaigner Nick Southward, managed to pull off a third in their class in the challenging breezes.
Still savoring their classic J/35 NO ONE ELSE was Emily Chan & Sidney Leung, skippering the boat to a third overall in one of the largest classes in the race- HKPN 981-1070 class.
Finally, the J/80s enjoyed a large turn-out for this popular race; their fourteen boat one-design fleet predictably had some very close quarters sailing with just four minutes separating the top six boats after 26nm!! Fun sailing for those crews! Topping the fleet was Jonny H skippering J-CHI. Just a few seconds behind them was Ben Bulmer’s JASMINE in second, followed by Henry Wong’s FOOTLOOSE in third, Sam Phillips skippering MOZZIE in fourth and Lim Boon Kian helming LILA to fifth overall. For more Tommy Bahama Around Island Race sailing information
Silvestri Leads California Dreamin Series(San Francisco, CA)- This past weekend the St Francis Yacht Club hosted the first stop of the three event 2013-2014 California Dreaming Match Racing Series using its fleet of identical one-design J-22s. Despite delays each morning for the wind to fill in, typical for off-season on SF Bay, the RC managed to complete 11 flights for the eight teams.
First overall went to local San Francisco Bay favorite Russ Silvestri and his team of Mario Yovkov, Erica Mattson, and John Collins, who scored 5.5 points. Second with 4.5 points went to past winner and fellow St. Francis YC member Nicole Breault and her team, followed by a three-way tie among skippers Shawn Bennett (St. Francis YC), Dusty Durant (Long Beach YC) and Jimmy Barnash (Rochester YC) just a half point back.
All of the teams enjoyed beautiful afternoon sailing conditions and tight racing with mixed win-loss records all across the board. The 8 teams regroup at San Diego YC on Jan 11-12 for the second stop, also in J-22s. Sailing photo credits- Cindy Zammit For more J/22 California Dreamin Match Race Series sailing information
J/105 LOKI Surfs Nassau Cup!(Nassau, Bahamas)- The famous SORC Nassau Cup Race took place this past weekend in what many would’ve considered “champagne sailing” conditions for their “hang ten” ride surfing the big waves across the Gulf Stream to Nassau, Bahamas. Unlike what was expected for the start and very d
issimilar to the previous couple of days, all the PHRF class started on time and under beautiful blue skies at 1105 hours Saturday morning. The winds were out of the North at 10-12 knots and the forecast showed a pretty large front that would power the fleet home in near record time.After the teams had awoken to gorgeous sunny skies for their finish off the majestic Nassau Harbor Lighthouse, they immediately headed to “Race Central HQ” at Nassau YC for the warm greetings and legendary (e.g. amazing!) Bahamian hospitality. Enjoying it more than most may have been David Bond’s J/105 LOKI, taking third Overall and again placing on t
he podium for at least the past three years! Congratulations to the LOKI team for their perseverance and happy times had by all.Unique to the event this year was the J/22 Match Race Regatta. After the dust cleared, the crew that won included Eamonn deLisser, Tim Banks and a local Bahamian youth sailor— pretty cool that is! In all it was another great regatta with good racing, close finishes and the legendary Bahamian hospitality of the Nassau Yacht Club. Sailing photo credits- Carole Wing For more Nassau Cup Ocean Race sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Don Finkle from RCR Yachts, the J/Dealer in upstate New York, wrote a nice perspective regards why successful one-design sailboat classes have a “collegial atmosphere” amongst their sailors. Here are Don’s comments as posted in Scuttlebutt:There are not as many racing sailors out there as I thought there were. Much has been said about the decline in sailboat racing so that is no secret, but it dawned on me recently that it is worse than I had thought.
When I was sailing 36 foot racer-cruisers, we usually sailed with and against people we knew from year to year, even as we moved around. And those people normally stayed with the same crew, or maybe switched from one boat to another within the same fleet.
Now that I sail mostly on J/70s we travel a lot more and are exposed to a much larger pool of sailors, many of whom I did not previously know. So I pay a lot more attention to the other sailors in our fleet, who they are, where they sail, their backgrounds, etc. I want to meet new sailors, follow their accomplishments and hopefully learn from them.
What I have found is that many of these people sail in a variety of boat designs, not just in one class. They may have a favorite but they can be found in different boats in different events, sometimes driving, sometimes crewing.
Where I am going with this is that if you name four different fleets of say small keelboat one designs you don’t have four distinct sets of sailors. Many of the names sail in multiple fleets, so the total number of participants is less than you would first think. I figured this out by looking at the results of the J/70 class at first, then scouring the results of other classes….and the same familiar names cropped up on scoresheets all over the place.
Some of these people sail Melges 20s, Melges 24s, J/80s, Lightnings, J/22s, J/24s, etc. in addition to the J/70, often 3 or 4 different classes. This is not a bad thing at all; it means that sailors get to try and enjoy different boats (there is no perfect boat) and meet more people as they move around. But it can give the impression that there are a greater number of sailors than is actually the case.
Each class is thus in somewhat of a precarious position. With sailors hopping from class to class they might not have the long term commitment to any one, so any given class could find itself with a drop in attendance at any time.
The exception to this would be those classes that focus their energy on sustaining membership based on a collegial atmosphere, involvement at a social level, being inclusive of sailors of varying ages and abilities, etc.
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.
* Jim & Heather Wilson just completed a circumnavigation of our "blue planet Earth" in June 2013 on their J/42 CEOL MOR. Said Jim, "The odyssey of CEOL MOR is over, for now. We completed our circumnavigation on our J/42 when we crossed our outbound track in Britannia Bay, Mustique. We were, however, still 2,000 nautical miles from home. So we continued on through the Windwards, the Leewards, and then through the British Virgin Islands. After a farewell 'Painkiller' at the Soggy Dollar, and a last meal at Foxy’s, we made the 1,275 nautical mile passage to the Chesapeake and completed our port-to-port circumnavigation when we arrived in Annapolis on June 28, 2013. We had been away 1,334 days, completed 259 days of ocean passages, and sailed 30,349 nautical miles (34,925 statute miles). Read more about their adventures in their well-documented blog here: http://www.svceolmor.com/SVCeolMor/Welcome.html
* J/160 AVATAR headed for the Caribbean, again! We LOVE these updates from our cruising J sailors that continue to criss-cross the Seven Seas. This one comes from Alan Fougere, sailing his beloved J/160 AVATAR. Alan sent us an email update commenting on their passage south this winter, "In mid-December AVATAR completed her sixth transit to her winter Caribbean home, Grand Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI (seen above) from her home port in Quissett (Falmouth), MA. A crew of three, Captain Alan (e.g. me), Crew Pablo Brissett and Mark Conroy, covered the 1,500 nm trip in in her best time to date- 7 Days 5 Hours, averaging 8.7 kts, that's about 208 nm per day! Amazing passage it was! Rainbow at right far offshore was some of the amazing phenomenon we experienced on this fast offshore passage.AVATAR will participate in the BVI Sailing Festival/Regatta again in 2013, where last year she won the Nanny Key Cup Cruising Class race around the Island of Virgin Gorda. Here are some photos for you to share with the J/Community at-large. Enjoy!"
Best, Alan Fougere/ AVATAR
* Bill & Judy Stellin recently had an interview about cruising on their J/42 in the Wall St Journal called "Retiring on the Open Sea". The Wall St Journal asked Bill to reply to dozens of questions that flooded into the WSJ's Editor desks. Here's the update:Retiring on the Sea: Answering Readers' Questions
Advice about selecting a boat, ocean crossings, itineraries and safety
The article in our WSJ Online December retirement report about eight years spent sailing the Mediterranean— "Retiring to the Open Sea"— prompted many questions and comments from readers. We asked William Stellin, who wrote the story, to answer some of the most common queries.WSJ- "What kind and make of boat did you use? Looking back, would you have picked a different boat?"
Bill- "In 1995-96, J/Boats of Newport, RI, came out with a new cruiser/racer model, the J/42. We bought hull No. 6 of this popular 42-foot sailboat and named it JAYWALKER. This was our fourth boat since beginning sailing in 1975.
Although long-distance cruising wasn't what we had in mind when we purchased JAYWALKER, it soon became apparent it had the ability to carry us easily and safely anywhere we wanted to go. Because the boat is light, it sails well in light winds, which means very little motoring is necessary.
People often ask (and argue) about what boat is best for cruising. Any boat that is strong, safe, fast, comfortable and easily handled by two people should fit the bill. One thing for sure, fast is fun—and important when trying to avoid bad weather."
READ MORE ABOUT BILL'S INSIGHTFUL COMMENTARY AND THOUGHTS ON WSJ ONLINE HERE
* The J/42 JARANA continues their epic voyage around the Pacific. Continue to read about Bill and Kathy Cuffel's big adventure cruising the South Pacific headed for New Zealand. Their blog is here: http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/
* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for extended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary finished their double-handed crossing of the Atlantic, landing in Portugal on their J/130 Shazam after completion of their ARC Rally. Read the latest news at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/shazam/.
* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world's oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between. Anyone for Cape Horn and penguins?? Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM friends above).- Bill and Susan Grun on the J/160 AVANTE are also sailing in the Pacific archipelago, read more about their great adventures on their blog (http://web.me.com/susangrun). Read about their latest adventures as they've gotten to New Zealand- "Avante Cruises the Pacific".
- Eric and Jenn on the J/160 MANDALAY also sailed the Pacific archipelago, read more on their blog at http://www.sailmandalay.com. Eric and Jenn are J/World alumni took MANDALAY up and down the West Coast (Mexico, CA), then to the South Pacific and New Zealand. MANDALAY is back in San Francisco now, and in the J/World fleet--she is available for skippered charters, private instruction, and corporate/executive groups.
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The European scene is catching up quickly with fleet development already taking place in virtually all major sailing centers across the UK and continental Europe. While the strongest fleet so far has been the Solent-based J/70 sailors in the UK, their cross-Channel colleagues are creating enormous momentum. J/70s enjoyed excellent fleet growth in Italy, hosting the first EuroCup on Lago di Garda for sailing teams from Germany, UK, Monaco, Netherlands, France and Russia. Expect to see fleets growing in the Benelux/ Netherlands region, France, Germany, Monaco, Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Denmark) and Russia. The German J/70 fleet has generated significant interest due to their Deutsche Sailing Bundesliga (
Over the course of the three day event, it was clear the “local talent” led by SDYC’s Brad Rodi would have their hands full fighting for fleet honors against defending champions Bob Little from California YC, Scott Harris from Coronado YC and Dustin Durant from Long Beach YC. After the first day of sailing, Harris’ CYC team led the pack with 9 pts, followed by SDYC and LBYC. In fact, the top five were all within three points of each other! 
By the final day of the regatta, it was clear the defending champion Cal YC was unable to overcome their first day black flag penalty, falling short of winning this year’s Lipton Cup by only one point! In fact, the entire top five was essentially determined by their finish positions in the eighth and final race— what a cliff-hanger, with just 7 pts separating five boats! Cal YC’s principal competitors, the local SDYC gang, nearly blew the regatta in the last race with a 6th place! Nevertheless, the winning SDYC team that included Brad Rodi (skipper), Chris Busch, Andrew Campbell, Steve Hunt, Al Pleskus, Molly Pleskus, and Chuck Sinks could finally breath a sigh of relief afterwards! Taking third was Harris’ Coronado YC team just one point back with a final race 5th for 30 pts. Fourth was Payson Infelise’s Newport Harbor YC team with 4th in the last race to finish with 34 pts, just one point in front of fifth place finisher Durant representing Long Beach YC that won the last race to complete their results with 35 pts! Some tactician’s “heads had to be exploding” and skipper’s had to be “sweating bullets” on the final leg of the last race! 
From the archive Mr O'Connell notes, "On the Shannon Estuary, with the Knight of Glin's encouragement, the numbers of commercial sailing trading vessels were growing apace, with the establishment of towns and sea-going trade along the Estuary. It soon became an established fact of life during the summer months, that interested groups decided to organize at each small port regattas for all the types of craft to be found on the Estuary.”
