J/105 Masters Preview(San Diego, CA)- The International Masters Regatta was established in 1975 by St. Francis Yacht Club Member, Don Trask. For years, the worldʼs greatest master sailors such as Elvstrom, Buchan, Burnham, Tillman, Trask, Irish, Harken, North, Holland, Hinman and Dickson have competed in this prestigious international sailing event on the San Francisco Bay. The San Diego Yacht Club is proud to host the event for the third time in 2014. The competition always attracts some of the world’s best master sailors on an “invitation-only” basis.
The regatta is sailed in J/105 one-design and will include buoy-racing inside the beautiful bay alongside San Diegoʼs gorgeous waterfront. In the gentile sea breezes of 8-15 kts, the starts are often right up against the enormous USS MIDWAY, a US Navy aircraft carrier that saw duty in World War II. To make matters more interesting, the fleet often sails long starboard tacks alongside the newest US Navy nuclear carriers, like the USS NIMITZ, with the fleet playing the shift and compression puff along their 1,200 foot length and 20-story tall topsides. Calling for “room to tack” is often a hot topic amongst the cagey’ole master skippers and tacticians!
This year’s class of masters includes last year’s winner, Chuck Nichols, plus the regatta’s founder Don Trask (with Russ Silvestri and Chris Snow in his crew). In addition, there are a number of World Champions and world-class sailors participating, like Augie Diaz from Miami, FL, Bruce Munro (with Annie Gardner, Paul Heineken & Chris Perkins in his crew), Dick Enersen (photographer extraordinaire from San Francisco), Tom Ehman (America’s Cup veteran with Larry Ellison’s ORACLE and Vice Commodore of Golden Gate YC, also a long-time J/24 sailor in Newport, RI), Dennis Durgan (with Bill Menninger aboard), Bob Fisher (famous yachting journalist from Great Britain and author of many famous yachting books), Jon Andron (with Benny Mitchell in his crew), Don Martin, Gary Jobson (with Jud Smith and Bill Campbell aboard) and, finally, Jon Wright (with an America’s Cup quality crew of Scotty Vogel, Billy Trenkle, Vince Brun, John Maccausland, and Peter Isler!). It should be fun racing and many a tall tale will be shared amongst this cast of characters! For more J/105 Masters sailing information
(Seattle, WA)- Fun in the sun! What everyone imagines when they think of the Seattle Yacht Clubs annual Grand Prix Invitational, right? Following the most beautiful 70 degree fall weekend and falling on the heels of the well attended (if lightly sailed) Puget Sound Sailing Championships the Seattle Yacht Club Grand Prix invites boats from around the PNW that have won or podium finished in every type of race imaginable. From distance races like Swiftsure and the Tri-Island Series to the mid-distance PNW races like the South Sound Series and Center Sound Series, to weekend rally races like Round the County, to shorthanded races like Northern Century and Race to the Straits and with a few buoy weekends and round the cans thrown in for good measure. Grand Prix brings in racers off the podium of more races than you can count from a vast area of racing with over 500 different yachts competing over the year.
The Seattle Yacht Club always encourages the one design fleets to sign up for Grand Prix, but this difficult move has been traditionally hampered by the invitational nature of the event. But, try they do and with the tremendous turn-out over the year by the J/105 fleet, they may have a chance come race day, but if not it will be some great PHRF racing with the J/109’s, J/105’s, and J/80’s joining in with the other well sailed PHRF boats to create some solid racing divisions. Now picking which boats will go in which class is difficult at this early date and, as expected, how do you pick who is going to stand out in a group invited to race because they stood out! Unquestionably, the J/105’s are always competitive around the buoys but what if conditions warrant a mid-distance course? Then, all bets are off on that score!
Seattle Yacht Club also invites boats that have competed and won in cruising class races and so far, 5 boats have signed up for what’s traditionally been called a “White Sails” class. Already signed up for this fleet is the J/133 CONSTELLATION. It is hard to imagine which way it will go. Hopefully, a few more boats join the fray so the “White Sails” class can continue to grow in popularity. For more Seattle Grand Prix Regatta sailing information
(Annapolis, MD)- The 3rd annual J/70 Fall Brawl will be taking place from October 25th to 26th on the Chesapeake Bay, hosted by Eastport YC. Thirty-one teams are currently registered, many of whom are participating in the regatta as their first trip headed south to Florida for the J/70 Midwinters in Key West and the Quantum J/70 Winter Series at Davis Island YC in Tampa, FL.
Hong Kong J/80 Class Championship(Hong Kong, China)- The fifth Hong Kong J/80 Class Championships will be held on the 1st & 2nd of November. The event is organized by the Royal Hong Kong YC, one of the oldest sailing clubs in Asia with a history dating back as far as 1890. Expected to be the biggest international J/80 event in Asia thus far, over twenty J/80's are planning to participate with some of the high profile sailors from the region. This year a number of visiting teams will travel down from Mainland China to test their skills against the local fleet.
The regatta will be sailed off the southern tip of Lamma island, in open waters. November typically offers optimal sailing conditions; East-North Easterly breezes of between 12 and 18 knots, a light swell and clear blue skies. Add in local hospitality, stunning location and facilities of the host- the Royal Hong Kong YC- and its no wonder this event is growing in popularity. For more J/80 Hong Kong Championship sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
Fall sailing continues break new ground in the world of J sailing. This past week, the first J/70 SAILING Champions League took place in downtown Copenhagen, Denmark, right in front of the famous “Little Mermaid”. The hosts Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub put on a fantastic showing with the help of their friends at German “Segel-Bundesliga” and the Danish “Sejlsportsligaen”. The prior week saw the J/70 Deutsche Segel Bundesliga in Friedrichshafen, Germany take place on Lake Constance (the Bodensee), hosted by the Württembergischer YC.Down in the Mediterranean, the spectacular Rolex Middle Sea Race started with a record fleet of boats on their 608nm circumnavigation of the islands surrounding Sicily. Included were world-class offshore sailing teams on a trio of J/122s, a J/133 and a J/109.
Finally, the on-going Garmin Hamble Winter Series, hosted by the Hamble River Sailing Club, enjoyed one of their nicest, but most challenging weekends yet for J/70s, J/80s, J/109s, J/111s sailing one-design and the larger boats like the J/88s, J/97s and J/111s also sailing in IRC handicap in their Big Boat Series.
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:
Oct 4- Nov 30- Garmin Hamble Winter Series- Hamble, EnglandOct 24-26- J/105 Masters Regatta- San Diego, CA
Oct 24- Mar 8- Monaco J/70 Winter Series- Monte Carlo, Monaco
Oct 25-26- J/70 Fall Brawl- Annapolis, MD
Oct 25-28- China Cup International Regatta- Shenzhen, China
Oct 30- Nov 2- French J/80 Nationals- La Rochelle, France
Oct 31- Nov 2- J/105 Lipton Cup- San Diego, CA
Nov 1-2- Seattle Grand Prix Regatta- Seattle, WA
Nov 1-2- J/70 Chesapeake Championship- Deltaville, VA
Nov 1-2- J/Fest Southwest- Lakewood YC, Houston, TX
Nov 8- Hot Rum Series #1- San Diego, CA
Nov 10-16- J/24 South American Championship- La Punta, Chile
Nov 16- Around Island Race- Hong Kong, China
Nov 19-22- J/105 International Invitational- Hamilton, Bermuda
Nov 22- Hot Rum Series #2- San Diego, CA
Dec 4-7- J/22 Jamaica Jammin’ Regatta- Montego Bay, Jamaica
Dec 6- Hot Rum Series #3- San Diego, CA
Dec 13- Feb 7- Quantum J/70 Winter Series- Davis Island, FL
Jan 18-23- Quantum Key West Race Week- Key West, FL
Mar 4-7- Bacardi Miami Sailing Week- Miami, FL
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
Denmark Wins SAILING Champions League(Copenhagen, Denmark) – Twenty-three clubs from fourteen nations competed over three days (October 17-19) off the spectacular Copenhagen city waterfront. The sailing featured incredibly tight-racing at a world-class level, boats rapidly changing positions from mark-to-mark as wind-shifts and tactics came into play on the tight 10-13 minute race course. While the premiere of the SAILING Champions League may have ended on a cloudy, drizzly day, the atmosphere was absolutely brilliant amongst the teams competing in fleet of identically-matched J/70s. In total, 45 races were sailed over the long weekend. Fortunately, there was good breeze each day and the spectators in front of the world-famous “Little Mermaid” were treated to front-row seats in a true “stadium-sailing” format, the boats were often tacking just 20-30 feet off the seawalls! No wonder, among the 92 sailors were more than 22 Olympic sailing medalists, multiple World Champions from various classes and even Volvo Ocean Race winners!
The sought-after silver bowl from Robbe & Berking will stay with the hosts from the Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub in Copenhagen, it was their KDY Team in the end that won by a mere 0.5 points difference over the second place team- Circolo Canottiere Aniene (Italy). Third was the Oman Sail Team that notably sailed in the top three virtually all three days!In the “Sail for Charity” campaign, where technology partner SAP donated 25,000 Euro to the World Childhood Foundation, it was the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein Team (Germany) that won that “charity race”, raising the most money of any of the teams participating.
The final outcome of the regatta was not settled amongst the top three clubs until the very last race. At the end, the Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub (KDY) with helmsman Michael Hestbæk (participant at the Olympics in the Star 2012 in London), Joachim Aschenbrenner, Lucas Lier and Frederik Berg took the lead with their J/70 and made their mark in the history books by winning the first SAILING Champions League.
“It feels fantastic to win on home waters. We felt the pressure before the last race. We had a little advantage at the start and it worked out for us”, explained a very happy Michael Hestbæk after his arrival ashore. Their team was excited to lift the five kilogram silver bowl from Robbe & Berking – the Robbe & Berking SAILING Champions League Trophy – into the air (fortunately, no one went swimming, as is the tradition after winning regattas).
The Italian team from Circolo Canottiere Aniene in Rome (consisting of pro-sailor Lorenzo Bressani, Offshore World Champions Matteo Mason and Samuele Nicolettis and Michele Paoletti) started off the series with an astounding record of six 1sts and two 2nds in their first nine races! But then, the “wheels went flying off their shopping trolley” in the 10th race on the second day. Whatever “magic dust” they were using seemingly disappeared. As the winds went more west and the fleet could sail longer courses, it seems the Italians kept “jogging right” when everyone else was “going left”. Posting a second to last in that last race clearly killed their momentum and confidence. During the grand finale Sunday, the CCA team struggled to finish mid-fleet in the championship round of all the top teams. In the last race, KDY finished 4th while CCA took a 5th, just enough for KDY to take the championship. In the “Sail for Charity” campaign, fans of the 23 international clubs helped “vote” for the favorite teams; as a result, technology partner SAP donated 25,000 Euros to the World Childhood Foundation (Childhood) founded by the Sweden’s Queen Silvia. “SAP is very happy to collaborate with Childhood. It’s an honor to help Childhood to do great things,” said Sofia Hesselkilde, Senior Marketing Manager of SAP Denmark. Susanne Labonde, Executive Director of the World Childhood Foundation in Germany adds, “I’m excited to be here at this great regatta. Special thanks to SAP for the donation and to all the supporters, who voted for their club. The journey will go on in 2015 and I’m looking forward to it.”
The KDY raised the bar quite high for clubs hosting the event in the future. Ashore and on the water, sixty volunteers arranged a perfectly organized event. “I am proud that we hosted the premiere of the SAILING Champions League here in Copenhagen. To be honest, I didn’t think that it is possible in such a short period of time. We are ready for next year and hope to be part of the SCL again,” said Lars Ive, Vice Commodore of the KDY.The organizers of the SAILING Champions League– the German “Segel-Bundesliga”, the Danish “Sejlsportsligaen” and the Royal Danish Yacht Club– did an extraordinary job managing the entire program of 45 races (15 for each club). After experiencing close racing in a spectator-friendly format, it was clear the sailing “Bundesliga” has caught fire and a number of other countries will soon be copying the format and introducing their national sailing leagues in the near future. For more SAILING Champions League regatta information
Rolex Middle Sea Race Update(Gzira, Malta)- As of late Tuesday afternoon, it appears the two leading J/122 teams from Malta, ARTIE and OTRA VEZ, are leading the race both IRC Overall and IRC Class 4! The teams are about halfway around the spectacular 608nm course– a rigorous anti-clockwise loop around Sicily that introduces numerous “corners” that present challenging and complex meteorological shifts. The route includes passing by the Aeolian and Egadi Islands, as well as Pantelleria and Lampedusa Islands. One of the most stunning vistas is Stromboli, the active volcano that is a course mark. Here are the latest reports from the Rolex Middle Sea Race website.
DAY 3 PM Update 1700 CET Analysis
By Midnight, virtually the entire fleet racing in the Rolex Middle Sea Race had passed through the Straits of Messina, heading for Stromboli, the active volcano that marks the most northerly part of the 608 mile course. As high pressure moved in from the north, the area around Stromboli had virtually no gradient wind and for those yachts yet to reach Stromboli, a south flowing current has slowed proceedings even further. For the competitive offshore yacht racer, performing well in light wind is more difficult than blasting through a storm at top speed.
After two nights at sea, the crew may well be at their lowest energy level for the whole race. The rhythm of offshore life has not been established and the ever changing wind saps energy through numerous sail changes. Concentration also becomes difficult. After the excitement of the start, adrenalin levels are now lower and keeping alert is not as easy. In light airs, losing focus on the helm, or on the sail trim, can be very costly and stalling the boat in little wind makes it difficult to get going again.
Half of this race takes place in the hours of darkness. When the crews are deprived of the sense of sight, spotting changes in the wind on the water becomes difficult but other senses tend to make up for this deficiency. Feeling the breeze on your cheek, sensing the heel of the boat, hearing the sails flap or the bigger wavelets tapping at the hull, these become the prime indicators. The first two days and nights of the Rolex Middle Sea race have not been about surfing down big seas with the salt spray hissing past the wheel, but racing well in light airs is a dark art, and there are plenty of magicians out there.
At Stromboli two Maltese yachts in IRC Class 4, OTRA VEZ and ARTIE were first and second in IRC over the whole fleet. Aaron Gatt Floridia's Maltese J/122 OTRA VEZ was leading the class at Stromboli after time correction and immediately headed south towards the Aeolian Islands. At 0900 CET OTRA VEZ was sailing almost two knots quicker than their Maltese rival, the J/122 ARTIE skippered by Lee Satariano.
Frustrating as it may be for the crews racing on the slower yachts, time is not standing still. In fact, the lack of breeze should be very encouraging. The overall winner of the race could easily be decided by the current weather conditions, a slow start for over half the race with a fast finish for the smaller boats.
DAY 4 AM Update 0900 CET Analysis
The fleet continues to battle the light winds but are making significantly better progress. Boats that have taken a more northern route after passing Stromboli appear to be benefitting from slightly more breeze than those boats along the shore of Sicily.
Floridia's OTRA VEZ may no longer be the overall leader of the race. Their local rivals, Satariano’s J/122 ARTIE, had a very good night. ARTIE passed OTRA VEZ around midnight. OTRA VEZ tacked south and ARTIE covered them from in front and both yachts are now heading for the Sicilian coast, presumably looking to benefit from more wind as the land heats up during today. But for the moment, it looks as though ARTIE has the upper hand.
Perhaps the biggest movers overnight include the other J/122 DAMACLE (skippered by the Italian Roy Caramagno), not more than 10nm behind her sisterships, and the J/133 OILTANKING JUNO (helmed by David Anastasi) and the J/109 JARHEAD (sailed by Greg Nasmyth from Great Britain). Amazingly, all three J/122s are in front of the Volvo 70 MONSTER PROJECT that appears to be stuck along the Sicilian coastline! And, two fast TP52s are all of 30nm in front of them (e.g. getting smoked on IRC handicap time).
DAY 5 AM UPDATE 09:00 CET Analysis
92 yachts are still racing in the Rolex Middle Sea Race. The expected frontal system arrived around Midnight last night at the northwest corner of the course. Reports of storm force winds and big seas have been received by the Race Committee and 25 yachts had officially retired from the race by 15:00 CET on Wednesday 22 October. The Race Committee has received no reports of any injuries to crew from the fleet.
The yachts still racing cracked sheets last night, hitting the turbo, flying downwind at incredible speeds. It will be a blast on board, surfing down waves with the salt spray hissing at the rail and warm water breaking over the bows and cascading down the deck. This speed comes with a price, if the boat loses control or accelerates into the waves too fast, the loads involved can be too much resulting in damage. The saying; 'To finish first, first you must finish.' will be very much the mantra.
IRC 4 Class: By morning, only two yachts in the class had passed Pantelleria, Lee Satariano's J/122, Artie was nearly four hours ahead of Aaron Gatt Floridia's J/122, Otra Vez. Artie is now the clear favorite to win the class and have a real chance of winning the race overall. The majority of the fleet is close to Pantelleria experiencing storm force conditions.
Ross Applebey, co-skipper on a 48-footer called in by satellite phone this morning. “We have two reefs in the main and the storm jib up, we saw 48 knots of wind and we have seen waves of over 20 feet. It is pretty nasty out here and we are most definitely concentrating on keeping everyone safe on board rather than boat speed. However, we surfed down a wave and it was too much for the rudder. It was a sickening sight as half of it appeared out of the back of the boat and for us the race is now over. Although Pantelleria is only a short distance away, we cannot steer towards the harbour there, so we are making are way towards Mazara del Vallo on the Sicilian coast and should be their tonight – absolutely gutted would be an understatement.”
DAY 5 PM UPDATE 1500 CET Analysis
Lee Satariano's Maltese J/122 ARTIE has emerged as the hot favorite to become the overall winner of the 2014 Rolex Middle Sea Race. However, at 16:00 CET, Artie was still 80 miles from the finish and the Mistral storm is still raging. In addition, there are several yachts behind Artie that could still claim the overall prize. On board Artie, Sebastian Ripard spoke to the media team earlier today.
“The waves have been as high as 30 feet and the wind speed often gusting above 40 knots, it has been a really wild ride.” Commented Sebastian. “With the full main and jib top sail, we have been flying along. The game plan has been a mixture of pushing as hard as we can but also protecting the boat, so we have been taking it a bit easier in the big gusts of over 40 knots and then going for it when the wind speed drops a little. All the way to Lampedusa we have been VMG running but when we turn the corner, ARTIE will be on a beam reach and we expect the waves to be crashing into the cockpit. Everybody will be on the rail, head down, hiking out for the final 100 miles. We expect to finish the race late this evening at around midnight.” Find Rolex Middle Sea Race on Facebook For more Rolex Middle Sea Race sailing information
Three Regatta Wins Gives NRV Commanding Series Lead
(Friedrichshafen, Germany)- “As you were” may have been the stand-down phrase after “colors” were struck at sunset for the past five stages in this year’s Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga. After all, it’s not often that the first event in a summer-long series of events becomes the prognosticator of the ultimate outcome after sailing hundreds of races. However, that was indeed the case once the top three teams on the podium completed their first regatta in Starnberg; with NRV (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) in 1st, VSW (Verein Seglerhaus am Wansee) in 2nd and DTYC (Deutscher Touring YC) in 3rd! Consistency paid off for these teams with steady crews and, for the most part, avoiding massive pitfalls along the way. NRV’s series-long scoreline is impressive, Starnberg 1st, Travemunde 1st, Berlin 2nd, Kiel 2nd and Friedrichshafen 1st. Their collective total of 88 high points for the series gives them a very comfortable 18 pt lead over the next closest team.
The first day started out slowly for the 38 teams assembled on the Bodensee. After a gray, foggy start to the day, the breeze slowly filled in by 1400 hrs and the sun popped out, too! Friedrichshafen showed up with fantastic weather at its best! The catch was that the wind was slow in coming. Consequently, despite the PRO’s best efforts, only two races were sailed on the first day of the 45 scheduled!
At this time, NRV was already leading the last event. But, the “local heroes” were clearly WYC, winning four of their first eight races and matching NRV with number of 1sts! That was quite a turnaround performance compared to their last outing in Kiel where they had some bad races and ended up mid-fleet!
The final day was unusual in that it was the first time that teams that had been sailing in the Premiere League and the Standard League would end up meeting one another. There were a total of 144 sailors from 36 sailing clubs that, ultimately, sailed a total of 66 of 90 schedule races on Lake Constance!
"It was a bit lucky for us to win today as well. It is a nice feeling and we now stand firm as the winner of the 2014 Segel-Bundesliga. The victory was only possible because we had such a great team," said helmsman Carsten Kemmling of NRV.
"After a bad race this morning, we had almost written off the qualification into the Premiere League in Hamburg. That we had performed so well during the afternoon was very surprising. We need a lot more training opportunities to be able to participate at the top level in the Premiere League," said Wilhelm von Weyne from WVH.
The grand finale, the sixth and last event, of the 2014 Deutsche Segel Bundesliga takes place in J/70s at Hamburg, Germany on Alster Lake, concurrent with the Hamburg Boat Show that also takes place from October 30th to November 2nd. Coincidentally, this may put even more pressure on the host NRV team (the “home-boys”) to sail well on their home waters! For more J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information
(Hamble, England)- All last week the forecasts agreed that this weekend was to be a brutal one. But contrary to the expectations of most of the fleet, the weather gods allowed the race team to fit in one race on this, the third Sunday of the 2014 Garmin Hamble Winter Series – but it was in conditions that put boats and their crews to the test.
As boats motored out of the Hamble in the early morning, conditions seemed mild, with a light breeze from the South-south east. But as they cleared the lee of Calshot Spit, it built to around 18-20 knots. With the wind forecast to increase further throughout the day, the race committee broadcast their intention to sail only one race, which was gladly received by the fleet.
By 1200 the wind had built to 25 knots, which combined with bright sunshine provided some stunning sailing for the 70-odd competing yachts – along with the odd impressive wipeout. The starting line was near Royal Southern buoy, with a cascading course up to marks near the Bramble Bank for most classes.
The four J/88s that are sailing IRC 2 Class are all taking their turns at posting awesome performances on the water. At this stage, Paul Ward’s EAT SLEEP J REPEAT is lying 2nd overall with Ivan Trotman’s JOJO in 4th, Stew Hawthorn’s JIFI in 6th and Dirk Van Beek’s SABRIEL JR in 8th.
In IRC 3 Class, the J/97 BLACKJACK came in second, at the head of a trio of J/97s for their sole race. As a result, Andy Howe’s BLACKJACK crew continue to lead the series with a scant 6 pts, but closely followed by Charles Ivill’s J/97 ETB TYRES/ JUST LIKE THAT in second with 8 pts!
The J/109 one-design fleet saw Adrian Wheal’s JOLLY JACK TAR beat Owain Franks’ JYNNAN TONNYX to take the top spot. The series leader continues to be Roger Phillips’ DESIGNSTAR with 6 pts, followed by Wheal’s JOLLY JACK TAR and Chris Burleigh’s JYBE TALKIN, in 2nd & 3rd, respectively.
Back at the club, the day sponsor was Key Yachting, which provided Champagne and other prizes to the winners in each class.
Doyle Sails Hamble One Design Championships
This weekend also hosted the second of two Doyle Sails Hamble One Design Championships. Racing on both Saturday and Sunday, the J/70, J/80 and J/109 classes enjoyed some thrilling, close racing in exciting conditions over the weekend.
Over the two weekends, the J/109s fitted in 9 races. This class was won by Tony Dickin’s JUBILEE, tied on points but edging ahead of Iain MacKinnon’s TIGHT SOLIUS II on countback. Steven Tapper’s STALKER was in third place.
In the White fleet, the thirteen boat J/70 class was racing for a place at their 2015 J/70 World Championships. Over 10 races, it was David Atkinson’s JAWBREAKER that topped the fleet, finishing 9 points clear of Simon Cavey’s JUST4PLAY. Nick Munday’s J7T was third. TEAM RAFBF SPITFIRE skippered by Capt Simon Ling is sitting on 4th and 5th is Andrew Barraclough’s JENGA 8.
The thirteen-boat fleet of J/80s was won by Douglas Struth and crew in DSP. They finished eight points ahead of second-placed Brian Denney’s JALAPENO, with Yannig Loyer’s J/OUT-OF-THE-BOX in third place. Stu Southan’s JOYEUSE took 4th and Patrick Liardet’s AQUA-J placed 5th.
Thanks to all competitors and to the volunteers and race officers for their help in making the Doyle Sails Hamble One Design Championships possible.
Next weekend sees the return of the MDL Hamble Big Boat Championships and the fourth weekend of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series, for which the day sponsor is the Impala 28 class, this year celebrating its 35th Anniversary. Thanks for report contribution from Ben Meakins. Sailing Photo Credits- Hamo Thornycroft and Bertrand Malas For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
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“We gybed 12 times on the way north to Gothenburg. We had 4 people as the total crew, it was perfect to keep weight down but still push hard. We blew the A2 kite halfway there (3 years of hard racing took it’s toll) but the A5 was just as fast when the wind was over 20 knots. With all the gybes and some extra distance, we averaged 11.78 knots during 10.5 hours and topped 20.64 kts! WOW! Pretty good way to end a great season of sailing!” Thanks for Peter’s report; they have big plans already for their 2015 sailing season! Watch the J/111 BLUR sailing video here
https://vimeo.com/109449668
J/Cruisers
J Cruisers continue their adventures around the world, below are a selection of most excellent "blogs" written by their prolific publishers. Some terribly amusing anecdotes and pearls of wisdom are contained in their blogs. Read some! You'll love it.
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J/160 SALACIA has been sailing in Australia in the Whitsunday Islands. Guess who decided to throw themselves across their bow as they cruised comfortably to their next destination? A giant whale! Look at this amazing photo!
* Jim & Heather Wilson just completed a circumnavigation of our "blue planet Earth" in June 2013 on their J/42 CEOL MOR. Said Jim, "The odyssey of CEOL MOR is over, for now. We completed our circumnavigation on our J/42 when we crossed our outbound track in Britannia Bay, Mustique. We were, however, still 2,000 nautical miles from home. So we continued on through the Windwards, the Leewards, and then through the British Virgin Islands. After a farewell 'Painkiller' at the Soggy Dollar, and a last meal at Foxy’s, we made the 1,275 nautical mile passage to the Chesapeake and completed our port-to-port circumnavigation when we arrived in Annapolis on June 28, 2013. We had been away 1,334 days, completed 259 days of ocean passages, and sailed 30,349 nautical miles (34,925 statute miles). Read more about their adventures in their well-documented blog here: http://www.svceolmor.com/SVCeolMor/Welcome.html
* J/160 AVATAR headed for the Caribbean, again! 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.
Commenting on the team’s performance in Incheon, Dr Ben Tan, President of the Singapore Sailing Federation said, “Our sailors were up against the big boys of Asia, such as China, Korea, Japan, and they did Singapore proud. The hard work of our sailors and the attention to detail of the support team brought us this excellent set of results. Singapore Sailing will continue to build on our breadth and depth so that we can continue to deliver for Singapore.”
For the ninth year, the top Swedish champions selected each year in different sailing classes gathered for the Master of Masters Championship. The two-day event in Bastad today is one of the most prestigious in Swedish sailing. This year 34 Swedish champions and five wild card entries approached the starting line, ready to take to the sea and figure out who is the best of the best; who is the master's master! The courses were short and concentrated, tactics and maneuvers must be in top form and mistakes were very costly. The format was a round-robin on Saturday followed by two-semifinals Sunday morning; with the top three of each semi going into the final championship round at 1400 hrs Sunday afternoon.
For the first time in the history of the Barcolana, the finish line was just off Piazza Unità d'Italia. The new course of this year's race was designed with one aim only: to make the regatta more enjoyable for the competitors and more impressive for the spectators on land. That is why the start was closer to the shore, the first leg was shorter, the buoy along the "return course" towards Miramare was close to the Castle and the finish line was in the city centre in front of the enthusiastic spectators watching the Barcolana Regatta.
After meeting up with my fellow crew members at Houston Yacht Club we headed down to James Liston's J-120 Aeolus. James has been a great customer and friend and I always enjoy sailing on his boat. This year we were sporting a brand new Code-0, Carbon GPL Genoa and an AIRX Code 1A spinnaker. We felt we had a pretty good arsenal to compliment the 3A, Max class running spinnaker and spinnaker staysail. Mark Michelson from Dry-UV not only supplied some fantastic crew shirts he also supplied us with a weather routing synopsis. Not sure it would benefit my good friends on the Viper 640, they were looking at a wet ride!
We were plugging along in around 15kts of wind (I think, as our TWS was way off most of the time). The wind was steady and some of the crew (no names) were getting a little seasick. One in particular had an unfortunate incident and slipped down below hurting his shoulder and rendering him incapacitated. Sort of dropping like flies, which put more pressure on the guys on deck.
* Charlie Enright and Team ALVIMEDICA have started the Volvo Ocean Race off Alicante, Spain and they are now five days into their first 6,500+nm Leg #1. They successfully navigated the Straits of Gibraltar and, needless to say, they are enjoying a real one-design race with dramatic swings taking place nearly hourly as the duel with the six other contenders for the race lead. They’ve gone from 1st to 5th, then back to 1st more times than you can remember. Epic, drama-filled days, creating enormous anxieties for the navigators making new “calls” just about every hour (often less!). It’s turning into a mind-numbing game of nerves as each crew “bobs & weaves” through the fleet and whatever the wind Gods deliver to them as they play gybing angles downwind off the coast of Africa. For many, it’s been a maddeningly frustrating start to the race as they are now past the Canary Islands and sailing on a southwest course along the African coastline towards their next mark off Recife, Brazil. Unlike the last race, this time the whole fleet took the “classic” trading ship route down along the coast of Africa before going hunting for the offshore tradewinds. Also sailing fast is the J/80 superstar sailor from Spain, Iker Martinez on MAPFRE and J/24 ace Ian Walker from Great Britain leading Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing! 